The Monday after the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on September 23, 2024 by under
Scripture: Jude 20-25 (NKJV)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
25 to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Devotion
The Epistle of Jude is short, but it is so important to the Church—especially in our time as we grow ever nearer to the Day of Judgment and holy Resurrection. The entire letter warns about the risk of the faithful being drawn away from Christ and into the realm of the devil and sin. This reality is all around us in the multitude of apostate, heterodox churches. Most of us know former believers who have become apostates, abandoning the faith of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Many of those people become the adversaries against whom Jude appeals for to us to contend “for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
Though much of this letter is about those who are perishing, it closes with our test appointed for this day. The fire from which we are to snatch others is the fire of God’s coming holy judgment. This is to be accomplished through the confession of Christ’s mercy and love, which desires and works for the goal of faithful repentance and eternal salvation. We are urged to strive to deliver the erring from their apostate path, but we are also warned to be cautious and avoid being subtly pulled or deceived into their sin.
Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee, grant Thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow Thee, the only God; 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.
