Thursday after the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 10, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 24:29-35 (NKJV)
24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Devotion
On Sunday, we heard the verses leading up to this reading from St. Matthew. The tribulation of those days to which the reading is referring is the abomination of desolation. After the destruction of the true Temple, the body of the Lord Jesus on the cross, the generation of the New Testament Church will come. We are living in that generation; the generation when the Word of God will go forth into all the world. Many will come from the four winds to cling in faith to the works and merits of the Lord Jesus.
This generation of the New Testament Church will have its close when our Lord Jesus comes again on the Last Day. The unbelievers will mourn and all those who cling to the Lord Jesus in faith will rejoice, for everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. The sign of the Son of Man will appear in Heaven: the cross of our Lord’s sacrifice for the sins of mankind. This sign is proclaimed to all the world through the Church. Our Lord’s crucifixion for the sins of mankind preached into all the world is the ongoing sign that our Lord is coming soon. We are justified by faith in the forgiveness He won for us by His cross. He will come again on the Last Day to take us to our eternal home.
Prayer: Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, but according to Thy mercy; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
