Contend for the Faith

Introduction

Contend for the Faith

Spurgeon said,

The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes Chapter 3

The great business of the saints is to defend, if necessary with their lives, the faith once delivered to them. We are put in trust with the gospel. We are trustees of a divine deposit of invaluable truth, and we must be true to our trust at all costs.

We talked about a Christian by the name of Antipas in this morning’s message. Tonight we will talk about the need for the church as a whole to contend for the faith.

Let’s get into the meat of the letter of Jude tonight and we see immediately the need that led to the writing of the letter.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Jude 3–4 ESV

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

1. Know the Gospel (v.3)

Jude 3 ESV

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude wanted to write to the church and discuss the salvation that they shared in Christ, but a greater need was pressing that Jude needed to discuss with the church.

In order for the church to contend for the faith, they needed to know the faith they were fighting for.

How many of you tonight feel that if you were given the opportunity to share the gospel, you could do so?

I think that one of the main reasons that people don’t share the gospel with others is, aside from a fear of rejection, they fear that they don’t know how to share the gospel.

Let me say that if you know the gospel yourself, you can share the gospel.

2. Contend for the Faith (v.3)

Jude 3 ESV

3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

We have to stand up for the faith.

What does in mean to contend?

It doesn’t mean going into isolation or finding a bubble to hide in. Many times we would love to do this wouldn’t we! There was a great movement of people to this sort of lifestyle with monasticism. People sought to escape the world with simple living.

If we are being honest, a lot of us do this. We would rather avoid people we don’t like rather than engage them.

Jude says to contend for the faith,. This is certainly true of speaking out for Jesus, but we can also contend for the faith by persistently trying to reach them.

Some people are hard to reach. We may get the courage up to share the gospel with them, but we don’t get a positive response from them to the gospel. Contending for the faith, can be continuing to share the gospel with them, even after they have rejected it. I’m not suggesting in a way that bashes them over the head with them, but rather taking opportunities as they show up.

But what about praying for them. We can contend for the faith in prayer as well. We can fight our battles on our knees over their souls. We can stand in the gap for our nation and our world in prayer and beg God for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and an awakening of darkened hearts to the gospel.

3. Identify False Teachers (v.4)

Jude 4 ESV

4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

The reason that Jude had to change what he was writing about was the false teachers that had come into the church. He challenges the church to identify these false teachers and make sure they are watching and testing the spirits, as Paul puts it, to make sure they can identify these false teachers and deal with them.

Jude describes the false teachers in several ways in several ways.

• They creep in

• They are condemned

• They are ungodly

• They pervert grace

• They allow licentiousness

• They deny Christ

A lot of these traits have been discussed over the last several weeks as we’ve studied 2 Timothy and these letters to the seven churches of Revelation.

Conclusion

Paul said in Phil 1.27

Philippians 1:27 ESV

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

May that be our prayer as well.