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DECEMBER 11
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advantage. But you, beloved, remember the them out of the fire, hating even the garment
words which were spoken before by the apos- defiled by the flesh.
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tles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you
you that there would be mockers in the last from stumbling,
time who would walk according to their own And to present you faultless
ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who
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cause divisions, not having the Spirit. Before the presence of His glory with
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on 25
20 exceeding joy,
your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, To God our Savior,
21 Who alone is wise,
keep yourselves in the love of God, looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Be glory and majesty,
eternal life. Dominion and power,
And on some have compassion, making a
22 Both now and forever.
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distinction; but others save with fear, pulling Amen.
DAY 10:Who was Jude, and why did he write his letter?
Although Jude (Judas) was a common name in Palestine (at least 8 are named in the New
Testament), the author of Jude generally has been accepted as Jude, Christ’s half brother. He is to
be differentiated from the apostle Judas, the son of James (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). Several lines of
thought lead to this conclusion: 1) Jude’s appeal to being the “brother of James,”the leader of the
Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and another half brother of Jesus (v. 1; Gal. 1:19); 2) Jude’s salutation
being similar to James’s (James 1:1); and 3) Jude’s not identifying himself as an apostle (v. 1), but
rather distinguishing between himself and the apostles (v. 17).
Jude lived at a time when Christianity was under severe political attack from Rome and
aggressive spiritual infiltration from gnosticlike apostates and libertines who sowed abundant
seed for a gigantic harvest of doctrinal error. It could be that this was the forerunner to full-blown
Gnosticism which the apostle John would confront over 25 years later in his epistles. Except for
John, who lived at the close of the century, all of the other apostles had been martyred; and
Christianity was thought to be extremely vulnerable. Thus, Jude called the church to fight, in the
midst of intense spiritual warfare, for the truth.
Jude is the only New Testament book devoted exclusively to confronting “apostasy,” meaning
defection from the true,biblical faith (vv.3,17).Apostates are described elsewhere in 2Thessalonians
2:10; Hebrews 10:29; 2 Peter 2:1–22; 1 John 2:18–23. He wrote to condemn the apostates and to
urge believers to contend for the faith. He called for discernment on the part of the church and a
rigorous defense of biblical truth. He followed the earlier examples of: 1) Christ (Matt. 7:15ff.;
16:6–12; 24:11ff; Rev. 2; 3); 2) Paul (Acts 20:29,30; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; 4:3,4); 3) Peter (2 Pet. 2:1,2;
3:3,4); and 4) John (1 John 4:1–6; 2 John 6–11).

Therefore they shall be like the
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morning cloud
December 1 1 And like the early dew that passes away,
Like chaff blown off from a threshing
floor
Hosea 13:1–14:9
And like smoke from a chimney.
13 When Ephraim spoke, 4 “Yet I am the LORD your God
trembling,
He exalted himself in Israel; Ever since the land of Egypt,
And you shall know no God but Me;
But when he offended through Baal
worship, he died. 5 For there is no savior besides Me.
Now they sin more and more,
2 I knew you in the wilderness,
And have made for themselves molded 6 In the land of great drought.
images, When they had pasture, they were
Idols of their silver, according to their filled;
skill; They were filled and their heart was
All of it is the work of craftsmen. exalted;
They say of them, Therefore they forgot Me.
“Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!” 7 “So I will be to them like a lion;

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