Contending for the Faith

Introduction

As we begin a new year, I will be starting a new series on Who we are as Independent, Fundamental Baptists. Those words mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Starting next week we will look at what we mean by those terms and what we don’t mean by them as well as some history behind them. Starting next week our theme song for the year is going to change and I would like us to practice it tonight so when Sunday morning rolls around, some of us will know what we are singing. This song was written by Micah Herbster and Micah Gillespie from Southland and is called Do all to Stand.

The battle is raging

we’re prone to retreat

The devil attacks

and awaits our defeat

His schemes are deceitful,

we must not buy in

Fight on in Christ’s power,

were destined to win.

Do all to stand,

join in the fight

Do all to stand,

the Lord is our might,

The captain has called us

and given His command

Our triumph’s sure,

so do all to stand.

Our text for tonight is from the book of Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Jude isn’t a book that is preached from a lot though it is quite small. There are at least two controversial topics in the book so I think it is often ignored.

The Jude who wrote this book is the half-brother of Jesus Christ most likely writing unto the churches of Asia Minor. Our text verse is the main theme of the letter, but in Jude 4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” we see why he wrote the letter. False teachers were creeping into the church and turning them away from the faith.

If this was happening back then so soon after the church began, don’t you think it is likely to happen today. Our churches face a threat of theological and moral infidelity and if we are not carefully, earnestly contending for the faith, people will be led astray. Tonight we are going to do a broad overview of the central theme of the book.

Jude’s exhortation

Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Earnestly contend-The idea of earnestly contending is a militant, agonizing fight for something. The church has often been consumed with bitter squabbles over meaningless debates, but that error should not push us aside from fighting for the essentials of the Christian faith. Contending or fighting for the truth is often viewed as unloving, and unkind. Jude is challenging us that there is something worth fighting for. But what is it that we are supposed to fight for?

for the faith- Jude uses a phrase which is often used by the NT writers to refer to the essential cardinal doctrines of Christianity- the faith. Faith is used in many ways in scripture. It is used for the faith we place in Jesus our trust in Him. It is also used to refer to being faithful or trustworthy, but when we see it with the word the in front of it, it is usually referring to the beliefs we hold. There is an essential core to Christianity that if we lost it, we no longer have Christianity. We will develop this even further next week, but in the past few hundred years, people even preachers began to arise who claimed to be Christian but denied that Jesus was God. Do you see the incongruity there? There are certain beliefs and practices that are essential to true Christianity and Jude challenges us to fight for those things.

once delivered unto the saints- This is an interesting phrase because it highlights the fact that by this time, God’s revelation of truth was coming to a close. We see this in two ways: This faith had been delivered past tense unto the saints and it was delivered once or once for all is the literal meaning here. Why is this important? These false teachers coming into the church are described in vs 8 as filthy dreamers. The indication is that they exerted their control over the churches by claiming new revelation given to them through dreams. Think about it, when someone claims to have a vision from God; how do we know if it really is or not. Once that statement is made that person is making an authority claim. They are saying “you must believe and obey what I am about to say because it is from God.” Kindda hard to argue with that.

But Jude wants us to go back to the authority of the scriptures. Where is it that we find this faith once delivered unto the saints? I think most of us know the answer: in scriptures but let’s prove that from the text. The word for delivered speaks of something handed down. Another bible word for this is tradition. If you look at verse 17, you will see where that tradition was to come from the words of the apostles. Where do we find the only reliable record of those words? In the bible.

The faith that we are to earnestly content for are the words and teachings of the apostles as found in the scriptures.

Jude uses militaristic terms earnestly contending is fighting for something. But when you have a battle, you have an enemy. So who according to Jude are we fighting against?

The enemy

Other passages of scripture focus on the power behind the enemy: Satan Himself; however, Jude does not ignore the fact that Satan has generals and captains who fight in his army. Jude turns his attention against these False teachers. The bulk of the book is a description of their evil character and the inevitable judgment that God will bring upon these false teachers. To understand the attack on the faith, we must understand what these false teachers were bringing into the church.

Creeped in vs 4- The first description we see is that they creeped in. When they come in it isn’t always obvious who they are. Often times they will come in and try to sway people to their way of thinking one on one. They will play the game as the seek to get people to join their side. Some don’t think they are causing a church split on purpose but anytime you seek to get others to join you in your disagreement, you are essentially seeking to cause a split.

ungodly vs 4- Without a thought of God in their hearts. There focus is not on the greatness of God or their love for God though they may couch their arguments in spiritual language.

lasciviousness vs 4- unbridled passion- specifically in this case sexual activity vs7. From passages like this we see a connection between false teaching and immorality. They throw off any restraints on how they live and they use their teaching and arguments to support what they want to do. There is an entire organization that has mounted a counter apologetic to try to prove the Bible is pro LGBTQ+. They will take scriptures and twist them to support their immoral lifestyles.

denying the lordship of Christ vs 4,8- The root problem in all of this is that they hate to be under any kind of authority. In vs 4 they deny the Lord God and Lord Jesus Christ; while in vs 8 they speak evil of and despise dominion and dignities. Contextually, these refer to angelic beings. They don’t want to be told what to do or how to live their lives.

charismatic vs 8- we already mentioned the connection with their dreams earlier. But these men will use their supposed spiritual gifts to gain authority over you. They push down other authorities, but exalt themselves.

greedy vs11,16- Jude gives us a glimpse into their motives. These men are greedy of gain. Why would a man be in ministry if he did not believe Jesus was God? The only honest answer I could think of is that it is a means of making money for them. Maybe they are greedy of prestige, influence; but it is greed nonetheless. In Jude they want to take advantage of others vs 16.

I want to make something clear, the enemy is not those who are influenced by the false teacher, but the false teachers themselves. Many people get duped into believing error. Later in the book, Jude will challenge us to rescue those who are under the influence of these false teachers.

vs 22-23 teach that we are to be discerning about how we deal with those under the influence of false teaching. Our warfare isn’t waged the same way in every circumstance. Some preachers only know how to use a baseball bat while others wear woolen mittens. The phrase making a difference literally means making a distinction. Some we are to rescue with compassion. Others we are to rescue with fear urgently snatching them out of the fire. This speaks of a more stern rebuke.

How do I know how to respond to someone in a specific situation? The only answer I can give you is the wisdom of God. God can give you the discernment to know which response is necessary for which person. But we must be careful not to use the wrong response with the wrong person.

The motivation for the fight

As American’s we generally don’t like to fight over anything. So if we have a difference of opinions we assume someone is not being loving. Our motto is to love is to accept one another's differences without saying a word.

Jude challenges us to think of it in a different way. The motivation for the fight is love.

Notice how many times the word love is mentioned in this short book vs 2, vs 3. vs 12, vs 17, vs 21, vs 22

Jude desires the church to perform a rescue mission based on love vs 22

In standing for the truth, Jude says we are keeping ourselves in the love of God

Some who wage the war have forgotten their motivation. They wage a war of hate. And it is often because of this that many in my generation have stopped fighting the battle. Think about it: Why should I fight for the truth?

A love for God who is truth- John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” If truth is God’s very nature and I love God shouldn’t I love truth.

Think about why you love your wife? Is it how beautiful she is, how smart she is, how kind she is. There is something about her that attracted you too her. Now if I love that my wife is always trying to help other people am I going to try to shut that down or enable her to do more of it? If I love that God is truth, then I will seek to further that truth.

2. A love for the truth itself- 2 Thessalonians 2:10 “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Do we have a desire to know God’s truth? Do we value it?

Think about this common illustration. When my wife and I first started courting, we lived in two different states and we would call or email each other. Now because I was falling in love with my wife when she communicated with me I was excited to receive that message from her. I valued the message because I valued the sender.

3. a love for God’s people- I think this really is the one we forget. We think loving people is ingnoring sin and error. But true love seeks what is best for the other person. 1 Corinthians 13:4–6 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;”

If something is hurtful, damaging to people I love, I ought to try to protect them from that. It is not loving to stay silent and let someone walk off a cliff. It is not loving to watch your child destroy their lives and not intervene. If we love God’s people, we want to protect them from the influence of a false teacher. Paul said Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The influence of men like this if left unchecked will spread throughout the body and hurt the church.

Conclusion

So as we begin to discuss why were are independent fundamental baptists, I want to lay down the foundation for why these issues are even important. We must decide what is worth fighting for or we will fight for the wrong things. Worse yet, if we do not love truth, the God of truth and His people; we won’t even fight at all. And our brothers and sisters will pay the price.