In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

As we've mentioned over the past weeks, we are living in the last days. Our Lord Jesus could return at any time. But don't misunderstand. We don't know how close we are to the end. We cannot predict when Judgment day will be. But our Lord Jesus wants us to think of it as coming "soon." And it is coming soon, but we don't know how soon. "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." We should be ready all the time! And while we wait for our Savior to return, may we:

1. RECEIVE THE WORD

{20a} "Build yourselves up in your most holy faith." The picture here is that of a building that is going up on a firm foundation. In verse three, our foundation is described as "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (Jd 3). We are "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (Eph 2:20). Our firm foundation is the Bible, God's holy Word.

The Bible convicts us of sin and reveals our Savior. The Bible points us to Jesus as our only Savior. We couldn't live a perfect life, so he did it for us. We couldn't earn our way to heaven, so he did it for us. We couldn't pay for our sins, so he did it for us. We couldn't conquer death, so he did it for us. And because Jesus lived for us and died for us, and atoned for all of our sins, we can be sure that we are forgiven in God's sight. As we hear that message of Christ crucified and risen for sinners, the Holy Spirit creates and strengthens faith in our hearts.

God wants us to hear his Word and study the Bible so that we grow in faith and knowledge of God's will. Don't be satisfied with what you know. Keep growing in your knowledge of God's Word. The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. Some of our professors knew the Greek New Testament by heart, and could find any passage in the Bible. But these humble men always had more to learn and consider in God's Word. If they had more to learn, we do too. Sometimes it doesn't register right away. You might have learned something when you were a child in confirmation class, and it really didn't seem to mean much until you were older. Sometimes we grow in our appreciation of the gospel. We appreciate God's forgiveness more, over time.

Are you growing in faith and knowledge of God's Word? Are you really in God's Word? Jesus said, "If you remain in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed." As we draw closer and closer to Judgment Day, be sure that you receive the Word, and glorify our Savior. Then, be sure to...

2. PRAY

{20b} "Pray in the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit created faith in our hearts and made us God's children, so that we can pray. God wants us to pray continually. Are you ashamed that you don't pray more? Remember that the sin of failing to pray enough was also paid at the cross. Let's not beat ourselves up about past sins, but instead look at what a privilege it is to know that God invites us to pray and promises to hear our prayers. Just think: the Almighty God of heaven and earth invites us, his believing children, to talk to him in prayer! He promises to listen and answer. There is no toll. There is no cost. You will never get a busy signal.

God is not too busy for us; we are not too busy to pray. Really, we aren't. You can pray while you work and even when facing an emergency. The story is told that there was a fire on a ship. Some Christians said, "Let's go to the other end of the ship, kneel down, and pray." But the fire was burning the ship, so a missionary onboard said, "No, let's stay right here and pass buckets of water, and pray hard all the while we're doing it." Prayer is not a substitute for serving the Lord, for obeying his commands. But as we serve and thank God, let us pray. Let us pray at home.

Let us pray right here in worship services. In today's bulletin, you will find many opportunities to worship our Savior. Our worship services are centered in the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. We remain in God's love, by keeping ourselves in God's Word, by receiving the gospel in Word and Sacrament. In worship, God serves us with his Word, and we sing his praises. He serves us with the Lord's Supper, and we thank him. We hear a message from God, and then we pray to God. Our devotions can be like that too. Read a Bible passage, and then pray about it. Read the Bible passage and devotion in Meditations, and then pray the prayer. Luther often prayed for hours as he worked his way through Scripture. He would read the passage, ponder it, and pray. That is just one example of how to pray. Pray for others. Pray for spiritual blessings. Pray thoughtfully, presenting your requests to God. Pray thankful prayers. But above all, pray in Jesus' name, and asking that God's will would be done.

Pray as you "wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." Believers will receive eternal life. But that is only because of our Lord's mercy. We earned a verdict of "guilty," but Jesus changed it to "not guilty." God has been merciful to us. Now, our merciful Lord wants us to:

3. BE MERCIFUL

{22} "Be merciful to those who doubt," to those who are wavering. Some are weak in faith. Some waver because they don't know much of God's Word, or because they have been misled by false teachers. Reach out to them, before they lose their faith completely! Help them with God's Word.

{23a} "Snatch others from the fire and save them." When people are caught in sin, they are perishing and they may not even know it. When church members live in sin or stay away from God's Word long enough, they can lose their faith. And, all unbelievers go to hell. So, in Christian love, we need to snatch them from the fire, if that is possible. This may call for heroic measures. It might call for tough love as we confront them with their sin. It might mean seeking help. If your neighbor's house caught fire with him in it, would you say, "oh, well" and ignore it? I would hope not! Even if you don't run into that burning house, I would hope that you would care enough to call the fire department. Shouldn't we be even more concerned about that man's soul? Think about it!

{23b} "To others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." Sometimes, we need to be very careful. It might not be wise to run into that burning house. You could die in there. You might want to leave that for the firefighters. Sometimes, it's the same way when people are caught in sin. You might not want to be the one who has to answer all the questions, or hear all of the cruel comments, or take all of the unfair blame that stuck sinners dish out. It might be wise to proceed with great caution, so that they don't pull you into sin with them. Sin and temptation is not to be trifled with. If you play with fire, you could get burned!

There are many temptations out there. And many people have fallen. We hear stories of how pastors fell from faith, or elders, not to mention all the people who used to sit in the pews. This sinful world can be rough, and the devil plays for keeps! If you are afraid that you might fall from faith, take another look at this last paragraph. As you continue to feed your faith with God's Word, remember that {24} God "is able to keep you from falling." The certainty of our salvation does not rest in our weak and wavering hands, but in the hands of almighty God! Sometimes, I like to think of a little girl walking hand in hand with her father across a patch of ice. She is holding his hand, but the real strength is in her father's hand. He will not let her go. And so it is with us. We are holding onto God by faith, but it is really his grip that gives us our certainty. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, once said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (Jn 10:27-28).

On the Last Day, Jesus will bring you and me and all believers to heaven. Just think of how happy we will be when all of the trouble, all of the temptation, all of the sorrow, all of the pain is behind us, and we are finally in heaven! It's going to be great! Look forward to that. And as you live in these last days, glorify our Savior! You know, if you look closely at these verses, you can find all three persons of the Triune God. Let us praise God and say: {24-25} "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy -- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."