“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life” Jude 20-21

I remember, as a little boy, the property that my parents bought to build a house on. A concrete slab had been poured on the property, and on it was some weathered wood and a partial foundation. Someone had started construction of a house, but it remained unfinished.

The Christian life begins with a good foundation, but a foundation is meant to be built upon. Jude appeals to us to be "building yourselves up on your most holy faith.” We build through an active relationship with our Lord Jesus and his people, by a deliberate effort to know and live the truth of scripture. We build both individually and corporately.

We build by praying in the Holy Spirit. “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” Ephesians 6:18. Praying in the Spirit is a deliberate focus and concern for the well-being of the people of God, that they press on in their walk with Christ, and especially in the most difficult times.

We build by keeping ourselves in the love of God. The only we we can do this is to remain in relationship with Jesus, the Son of God: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love” John 15:10.

We build by “expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.” We maintain a resolute focus on the Second Coming of Jesus, at which time we will receive the fullest measure of mercy; namely, the gift of eternal life - resurrection, immortality, and entrance into the kingdom of God.

To neglect to build ourselves up on our most holy faith is to digress and decay. Like many things in life, maintenance is required. We cannot coast or drift along, for we will surely be carried away from our faith rather than closer to it.

Much of Jude’s letter is devoted to a warning and description of those who would subvert our faith and shipwreck our salvation. These words punctuate the need to build ourselves up. We must ever be vigilant and diligent. If presenting Jude’s words to you today has helped you in so doing, then I am blessed, and my faith has been further built up along with yours.

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