Contending for the Faith By Having Endurance

Intro:

So we have been looking at the book of Jude over the last few weeks. And if you remember in our studies what we have been looking at and talking about is the importance of “ Contending for the Faith”

Jude the write of this letter, the half brother of the Lord Jesus, writes to these believers with the intent to discuss “ our common salvation” , he tells us in verse 3. yet something happens that begins to shift his original thought process. The Spirit of God moves in him and leads in a different direction.

and what we begin to see is Jude begin to encourage the believers to “ Contend for the Faith”

and the ancient Greek word translated “ contend” comes from the athletic world- from the wrestling mat. It is a strengthened form of the word meaning “ to agonize”, it therefore speaks of hard and diligent work.

so Jude shifts gears and he exhorts the believers to “contend” or to “ agonize on the mat” for their faith. Or for the truth

And he tells us why we as believers are to fight, to contend for our faith or for the truth..... in verse 4 we saw last week that .... certain men had crept into the church unnoticed ..... and they were dangerous because....

Certain Men

Were long ago marked out for condemnation

Were ungodly

Turned God’s grace into lewdness

Denied the Lord God and Denied Jesus

And so these men were dangerous in deceiving the people and may cause them to lose their understanding of the truth, they may cause the believers to walk away from the truth, from their faith. And so there would be an importance to fight against that attack.

Transition

And as we look at this practically in our lives we can see same encouragement , the same importance and urgency that Jude wrote about for the believers in his time, is just as important and urgent in our times.

that there is an importance and urgency for us to fight and to contend against those things in our lives that will try to take away our faith, that will attempt to take away our understanding of truth.

And Dave talked about this last week. About understanding that these are not the days that we should be fooling around with God. We should not be taking our relationship with God lightly. Because the reality is that there are many things out there in our lives that are geared specifically to move you from your faith, that are meant to get you and i to compromise.

Knowing that if we can compromise in our beliefs , in our moral convictions, in God’s truth...... then we are already on the path of being taken from our faith.

So Jude exhorts us to “ Contend for our Faith”

Transition

Now Jude then transitions in the next few verses. As he stated in verse 4, that these certain men have been marked out long ago for condemnation, or literally , that they will be judged because of their works...

Jude begins to give us (3) examples from the old testament that reveal the certainty of judgement to come to such men. And he reveals why the people in the old testament stories were judged and these stories serves both as an example and a warning for us believers.

So today we will begin to look at one of these examples that Jude gives us. And with the mindset of Jude’s exhortation of “contending” , I titled this message....

“ Contending for the Faith by having Endurance”.

Read

Jude 5 NKJV

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

So here Jude begins to talk about the Nation of Israel.

And he is obviously sharing a story that the readers would be familiar with as he says.... “ I want to remind you, though you once knew this”.

it is obvious that either the readers had forgotten the story or the spiritual application of the story, and so he begins to remind them of the story of the nation of Israel as a way of bringing to remembrance the spiritual application, and to prove the certainty of judgement to the certain men he is talking about in the church.

Transition

Jude tells us of the salvation of the nation of Israel from Egypt. You remember the story found in the book of Gen. Joseph is sold out by his brothers literally and he is taken to Egypt while his brothers tell their father that Joseph died.

Trough different circumstances , Joseph was raised into a position of power just under Pharaoh. And eventually , the brothers of Joseph and their father would make their way to Egypt years later because of the famine in the land, and as a result Joseph would be able to reveal himself and would be able to save his family.

he would have his family stay to live near Egypt. Now many years passed and the family of Joseph multiplied. And a Pharaoh was in authority who did not know about Joseph. And he was afraid of the people of God. So you remember the story....

The nation of Israel were slaves and they were mistreated, and God would hear the cries of the people and would raise up a deliver in Moses.

Now Moses would the one that God would use to take these people out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery and bondage and would begin to lead them into the promise land that God had promised them.

Transition

This is the salvation that Jude is talking about here. The fact that God in his grace and mercy had made a way out of bondage , out of slavery by providing the deliver Moses.

Now the end goal was not just to bring the people out of the land of Egypt, but the end goal was to bring them into the land of promise, the land of Canaan.

This was what we looked at in the book of Joshua, the fact that because of disobedience including Moses’, Joshua would be the one who would take the new generation into the land of promise.

Transition

Now this is important to understand . Because there are many parallels in our lives with the nation of Israel. The fact that we were in bondage, and en slaved to Egypt, or the world. And God in his grace and mercy provided a way out of our bondage by sending a deliver… For you and i it is the same thing. We were in bondage, a slave to sin and God sent a deliver in Jesus. who would pay the price for our redemption.

and just like the nation of Israel, God’s end goal in our lives is not just to set us free, to redeem us.... but his desire is to take us into a higher plane. to live a life after him, to cross the jordan river spiritually and to possess all that God has in store for us. To have a real an intimate relationship with him.

Yet many , for different reasons fail to enter into that promise land and end up walking around in the wilderness for years , never being able to posses all that God wanted in their lives, just barely getting by.

people that are okay with just going to heaven but they have no committment to build a relationship with him

Transition

“ The Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt , afterward destroyed those who did not believe”

and so Jude is making reference to (2) different stories here.

Is how God delivered the nation of Israel out of the bondage of Eygpt

Is the story of Kadesh Barnea (num,.13-14)

Turn with me to Numbers 13

Here in Num. 13, we see the children of Isreal in Kadesh Barnea. And the Lord tells Moses to send out (12) spies , one from ever tribe and to send them to spy out the promise land, the land of Canaan.

and so Moses does and these 12 men go into the land to spy it out and to bring back a report.

What we end up seeing is that the 12 men return . Yet 10 men come back with a bad report.

Bad report

Numbers 13:27–28 NKJV

Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.

The people are strong

The cities are fortified

There are Giants in the land

This was the report of 10 men. Yet 2 men..... Joshua and Caleb had a different perspective.

Numbers 13:30 NKJV

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

So what you have here is that God had promised the land to the people, he had promised to go before them and give them the land, and what was required of them was to have faith and to walk forward to posses the land

Yet what we have is two groups

Groups

Those who had fear and did not believe God (10 spies)

Responded by..

Numbers 14:1–4 NKJV

So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

A. Weeping

They had fear rather than faith

B. Complaining

They questioned the sovereignty of God, called into question where God had them

C. Rebelled

They resolved within themselves to select a new leader and to go back to Egypt, they selected a different Authority in their lives rather than God to take them back into the place of bondage.

Result

Missed the blessing

They were not able to enter into the promise land

2. They were Judged

Psalm 95:10–11 NKJV

For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

2.Those who had faith and trusted God (2 spies)

Resoponded By.

Numbers 14:6–9 NKJV

But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”

Joshua and Caleb had the proper perspective, they understood that God was in control of their lives, including the things that seemed impossible , God would go before them and fight their battles.

Result

They recieved the blessing of entering into the promise land

and so within the example that Jude is bringing to rememberance , he is telling us ....

That just as God brought judgement to those who did not have faith and rebelled against him, so will God bring judgement to these certain men that have crept into the church.

2. That there is a need to keep following God to the very end

Transition

See these children of Israel started off good. They were obviously following God at one point, they obviously had faith in God as they were willing to follow Him into the wilderness

So what happened?

They lost their faith, things came into their lives that caused them to lose sight of God, to lose sight of his promises, to lose sight of his leading and they made bad choices that lead them to rebel.

They didn’t have Endurance in their faith

Endurance - The ability to withstand hardship or adversity especially the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity

Endurance speaks of having the ability to push through a tough time for a long period of time, like a marathon runner. We can all see a runner and we all can come up with the same thought.... that the runner has endurance in order to finish the race.

last year a group of us did a race in Huntington beach. some did a half marathon , some did the full marathon, some did the 5k. But all of us had to train before hand to build up stamina or endurance , so that on race day we would be able to finish the race well.

the bible describes our christian life as a marathon race. A long distance race that is hard, it has many turns and hurdles at times. It will take a long , consistent effort , or endurance to persevere and to finish this race well.

and the reality is that many will not finish this christian life well. They may have started the race well just like the nation of Israel, but they too will be sidetracked by circumstances, by influences that will affect their faith. It will move them from truth, and they will not finish strong.

And so this is why Jude is saying to contend for the faith, to fight hard against the things that are competing for my affection

we are to contend for our faith by having endurance

Hebrews 10:36 NKJV

For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

HOW DO I GAIN ENDURANCE?

By Having the Proper Relationships

Colossians 1:10–12 NLT

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

Paul tells us in the book of Colossians that as we know God more, as we have this personal experience with Him, He will give us strength according to his power, giving us the endurance and peace we need.

and so the closer i draw to God and the more i cultivate my relationship with Him through his word and through prayer, he will give me the strength i need to endure

Endurance starts with a proper relationship with God.

2. By Having a Proper Prospective

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Here the Author of Hebrews tells us to run this spiritual race with endurance. Its what we are talking about. How are we able to do that?

He tells us by “looking unto Jesus”

or in other words, by keeping an eye on the goal, on the finish line.

Like i told you guys earlier, when i was running the race i signed up for, by the end i was tired. I had never ran a half marathon. But the one thing that kept me pushing though was the fact that i could see the finish line. I could see and hear the people cheering us on. And that allowed me to push hard even in the pain and endure knowing that it was almost done.

spiritually speaking this is what this verse talks about, the ability to keep our eyes on Jesus, to see Him as the prize, and being with Him as the finish line. And so we are to daily have this prospective, that my race is almost over, and i need to have my eyes on Jesus which will allow me to keep pushing forward.

3. By Having the Proper Testing

testing is meant to see the quality of something and to develop strength

So having the proper testing can produce great things. In the life of a christian , there are testings in our lives that will produce certain things. And there are different types of testing.

A. Testing that God brings

these are the trials and hardships that God brings.

James 1:2–3 NKJV

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Romans 5:1–5 NKJV

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

so God allows trials and hardships into our lives at times and one of the reasons is to produce endurance , to produce perseverance in our lives

now there are testings that we can put on ourselves

B. Testing that are brought on by me

1 Corinthians 9:25 NKJV

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

1 Corinthians 9:27 NKJV

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

the testing i am talking about is the daily discipline that we are to bring into our lives daily, the exercise of biblical habits, of Godly conduct, just like an athlete who trains and tests their bodies, so we are to bring discipline into our lives

discipline to read God’s word, discipline to pray, discipline to remove things from my life that are not helpful to my spiritual race.

Conclusion

when we talk about “ Contending for the Faith “

having Endurance is key. WE need to fight and to contend against the things that will make me turn from my faith, things that will make me turn from truth

and one way we do this is by fighting to develop endurance in my life