Contend for the Faith
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Understanding Jude- Background
Understanding Jude- Background
Jude- pronouced ‘Jud-ah’, was the half brother of Jesus
He was a traveling teacher/ missionary throughout the region.
Written to a Jewish audience of the early church. This is abundantly clear with the references he gives in his epistle.
This book is a warning to the church about not being drawn away by ungodly, false, selfish desires of the world. The false teachers that had creeped into the church to distort and diminish the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By allowing something, other than the most important love in their life, to draw their focus away from HIM.
Jude was asking them to fight. Fight for what they know is truth.
Is Jesus worth fighting for? Is the Truth of the Gospel worth being a contender for in your life?
Jude 1–25 (ESV)
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 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. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. 14 It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
If sin cold drag an angel from the skies, it may well pluck a minister from the pulpit, a deacon from the communion table, or a church member out of the midst of his brothers and sisters.- Spurgeon
I. Keep to our Purpose- vss.1-4
I. Keep to our Purpose- vss.1-4
Verses 1 and 2 are pretty straight forward, Jude is humble enough not to mention himself as Jesus’ brother but as His servant. Instead calls himself the brother of James. Tradition says that James is the leader of the Jerusalem church.
Verse 3 it is evident that Jude wanted to write about something else. The ‘salvation’ they all shared but something more pressing has come forward. And it is here that his purpose comes clear.
To ‘contend’ for the faith.
Contend is defined as - to strive or vie in contest or rivalry or against difficulties : STRUGGLE (Webster’s)
and here is the ‘why’ he is telling them to ‘fight’ in verse 4. People have crept in the church and distorted the truth of the Gospel.
MacArthur says- “These were infiltrating, false teachers pretending to be true, who on the surface looked like the real thing, but whose intentions were to lead God’s people astray. …They posed as itinerant teachers. And Characterized by three features: 1. They were ungodly 2. they perverted grace 3. they denied Christ.
8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
This was going to happen. The apostles knew this would be a tactic of the devil and his minions. This warning is now for the church to remain vigilant and DEDICATED to the word of God.
When the church does not stick to their convictions found in the word of God, we stumble! Jude was not wanting believers to fall for this trap.
Look how far it had gone. He mentions specifically. UNGODLINESS was present in the practice of the people he was writing. GRACE was being abused ‘I’ll go ahead and sin, I have grace to catch me’ mentality. And the Worst- ‘JESUS He really isn’t Lord’.
How we feeling New Temple? This would never happen to us?
The words of a Casting Crowns song rang in my mind when preparing this today:
It's a slow fade
When you give yourself away
It's a slow fade
When black and white have turned to grey
And thoughts invade, choices made
A price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Its a slow fade
Compromise will cripple your walk with Jesus.
We cannot let the mentality of apathy take hold in our mind. We must fight for our faith. We cannot let busyness, distractions of ‘I don’t have the time’ or other so called priorities, or I just don’t want to be hassled with the struggle or put forth the effort to “CONTEND” for Jesus, creep into our mentality.
II. Don’t let your guard down- Persevere vss. 5-19
II. Don’t let your guard down- Persevere vss. 5-19
We need to know what the definition of Apostasy is: an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or recognize a religious faith
What happens when we refuse to act; refuse to fight for the faith. Well Jude reminds his readers of that fact. Again, here is a Jewish teacher calling his Jewish readers to past unfaithfulness of their great nation.
Now as we look at these we have to understand that Jude uses extra Biblical accounts as illustrations to his point. He’s not equating them as canon, but as profitable writings. He knew who he was writing to, and the culture was immersed in Jewish literature. The books he quotes from under the direction of the Holy Spirit were well known pieces of literature in his day. He uses them as illustrations just as Paul did in Acts, Corinthians, and Titus. It would be like us quoting from something profitable for reading, like J.I. Packard’s “Knowing God’. Its not scripture but certainly reinforces it.
A. Past Examples of Apostacy/ Falling Away vss. 5-11
A. Past Examples of Apostacy/ Falling Away vss. 5-11
Jude starts to list examples of when faith was not contended for:
v. 5- we see the children of Israel not stepping out in faith to enter the promised land when they were told it was theirs for the taking.
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
v. 6- Angels commited this same sin. MacArthur equates this to Gen. 3
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
Even Peter refers to this as well
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
v. 7- We see the all well known story of Soddom and Gamorrah. They lost themselves in their sinful desires, because they would not listen to God’s word when it came to them.
And all of these judgements were clear. Eternal fire.
Jude Continues with what is invading the church, liken to what he has just given them.
v. 8- refers to the ‘delusion’ mankind gets in when we become numb to the TRUTH of God’s word (Macarthur)
10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction,
v. 9- So he brings up the illustration of Michael contending with Satan. (Assumption of Moses) And instead of Michael cursing him under his own power, calls on the HIGHEST power! Our Father in heaven! This is how we deal with Satan and demons, we are not to address them but to seek the LORD’s intervening power! (MacArthur)
We have got to remain close to our faith in our Lord!
v. 10-11 So Jude tells the church exactly what these false teachers are doing. They speak of what they do not know because Satan has blinded them. So they lash out and driven by emotional instinct rather than God’s word. And Jude pities their state of being. And put’s them in the same category of Cain, Balaam, and Korah’s rebellion; ending in the same outcome- judgement.
Do we want to be swayed by these mentalities?
B. Shared Destination vss. 12-19
B. Shared Destination vss. 12-19
vs.12-13- Jude calls the false teachers what they are. They are stains, blemishes, “reefs” on the Lord’s Supper/ Communion the church was practicing. They were a stumbling block. And their destination is just like the examples in the verses before, ‘Utter Darkness Forever’.
Yes those who will not listen, follow, obey God’s word will share the same destination.
v.14- Why is Enoch mentioned? Because he ‘walked with the LORD’ contended for the faith, and Enoch prophesied about the Jesus’ Second coming… ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones’ (MacArthur) Found in extra Biblical book (1 Enoch). The Holy Spirit inspired Jude to write this to show again the judgment that awaits those who will not come to the Lord.
v. 15-16- we see how the angels and/or saints will act in the end. As judges over the ‘ungodly’. And who are the ungodly,’ v. 16- Jude 16
16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
v. 17-19- Be on guard. The Apostles warned us in the last days of this type of people.
Folks, we have never been closer til the end than we are now. We must guard against divisions, the desires of the world (people) those without the Holy Spirit. We must contend for the Word of God. Stand on His truth and let nothing take its place.
What has taken the place of honor in your heart other than Jesus?
III. Desire HisPresence vss. 20-25
III. Desire HisPresence vss. 20-25
A. Our Expectation- vss. 20-23
A. Our Expectation- vss. 20-23
So, what to do church? Jude explains what the church (believers) are to do. He breaks it down into two sections. Personal actions to take, and actions to take toward others:
Verses 20-21- the personal responses to take
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
v. 20- “build upon” (original greek)- continue to grow in your faith. Don’t stop learning, don’t get complacent, don’t settle for what you have.
Paul affirms this as well in Col. 2:7
Colossians 2:7 (ESV)
7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
“pray” our greatest and most under utilized gift. If you want to contend for your faith, “pray”, if you have been complacent “pray”. The greatest place to contend for the faith is on your knees!
Romans 8:26 (ESV)
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
In our weakness....
verses. 22-23- response towards others
v.22- have mercy on those who doubt.
The victims of the apostate teachers need mercy and patience because they have not reached a firm conclusion about Christ and eternal life, and could still be swayed to the truth- MacArthur
Folks be understanding that everyone is not at the same level as you might be. Lack of faith can be frustrating but here we need to ‘pray again’.
23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
v.23- Jude makes the plea here reinforce the mercy that needs to be shown because Christ died for those doubters.
MacArthur tells us that there are stages to the level in which the doubters are being pulled away by the false teaching. Those who are furthest gone from the truth need the straight Gospel. But comes with a warning to be strong in sharing, because of the potential to be swayed by their argument. “the garment”- is the apostate’s debauched life and can spread the contamination.
Misery loves company....
B. Well Deserved praise- vss. 24-25
B. Well Deserved praise- vss. 24-25
These last verses serve as an opportunity to reinforce the purpose of his writing by giving honor where honor is due. And returns to what He wanted to write in the beginning, their shared “Salvation”
v. 24
How do you keep from stumbling, the power of Jesus.
Who makes you ‘blameless’ in the sight of God. The power of Jesus.
v 25
Jude 25 “to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
Praise Him, Give Him glory for all He has done. Rest in HIM!
Can you rest in Him. Or are you tormented by doubt? constantly trying to do things your own way and failing.
(Give the Gospel)
Application
Application
I think one of the most important questions we have to ask after Jude is ‘What is contending for my attention, other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ?’
Praise the only ‘Being’ able to keep you from sin, forgive you of sin, deliver you from sin, wipe your sin away, and forget your sin. We need His presence every second of our lives to keep us from stumbling into sin.
What are you doing to preserve that fact?
What does your life show that you ‘praise’?
What is it going to take to get your attention? What is it going to take to get your family dedicated to the Word of God, the work of His chruch, to spread the LOVE of the Gospel?
Marlon Brando, ‘The waterfront’ “I could have been a contender” but He pursued other things; a life in the mob. Don’t look back hoping, wishing for what could have been. The time is now.
Wake up church! CONTEND for the faith you say you hold so dear!!
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