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But you, beloved,
building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
THE STUDY:
Jude issues
his last command: Believers must wait for
the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that
leads to eternal life. Mercy is the
emotion that arises when one sees another person’s affliction. It is frequently
used in Scripture to refer to the eschatological hope of God’s people (e.g.,
Matt 5:7; 2 Tim 1:18). The mercy of God as revealed through Jesus Christ
enables believers to have hope for the future. Not even the faithful Christian
escapes condemnation except by the Lord’s mercy. Our hope of salvation is based
solely on mercy.
Waiting
for (prosdechomenoi) is also used
in eschatological contexts to describe the expectation of believers for the
last day (e.g., Mark 15:43; Luke 2:25; 12:36; Acts 24:15; Titus 2:13). It connotes
eager yet patient expectation and the kind of lifestyle that should accompany
such hope for deliverance.
Believers have hope for the future
because the Christian life has eternal
life as its goal and the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ as its basis. Jude enjoins his readers to focus their
attention beyond the disruption of the intruders to the glorious day of Christ.
On that day, the Lord will return bringing judgment to the false teachers and eternal life to the faithful believers.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY
WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that as believers we have a Goal and a basis for it! The goal is eternity with the Father and the basis is the mercy of Christ. Without Jesus we have no way of spending eternity with the Father, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7)
CONCLUSION:
Dave, a childhood friend of mine, and I would
lay in the back of his dads truck and answer the question that was on most of
the kids of that age: “What am I going to be when I grow up?” Dave was going to
work on cars and have his own business. I on the other hand was going to be an
architect and have 2 kids named Danielle and Zack and live in North Carolina.
To update
you: Dave works as a Financial Loan Officer and I am a Minister with three
kids, one is named Danielle, and living in Northeast Ohio.
We all should
have goals in life: goals in our marriage, goals for our kids, and goals for ourselves
individually. But our ultimate goal should be eternity with the Father. We nurture
this goal through Christ! As a matter of fact all of our life goals should be
centered on the one who can, not only help make them come to fruition but
exceed our greatest expectations: CHRIST! It is through His mercy, love, and
grace that we will see these goals achieved.
Today, let
Christ be your goal and all the other goals will either fall to the way side or
fall into place.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Powers, D. G. (2010). 1 & 2
Peter/Jude: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible
Commentary (293–294). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.
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