CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
Jude 1-3
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: THE PROS & CONS OF IMITATING
1. A new missionary recruit went to Venezuela for the first time. He was struggling with the language and didn't understand a whole lot. He attended the church he hoped to serve in, but arrived late and the church was already packed. The only seat open was on the front row.
2. Since he didn’t know the language, he decided to imitate the man sitting next to him.
a. When the man sang, the missionary tried to sing;
b. when the man prayed, the missionary prayed.
c. When the man stood up or sat down, he did too.
3. Then he perceived that the preacher was giving announcements. People clapped, so he clapped.
4. Then the preacher looked toward him and said something and he saw the man next to him stand up. So he stood up too.
5. Suddenly a hush fell over the congregation, so he sat back down.
6. After the service ended, the missionary recruit met the preacher, who said in English: "I take it you don't speak Spanish." The missionary recruit replied: "No I don't. Is it that obvious?"
7. "Well yes," said the preacher, "I announced that the Acosta family had a newborn baby boy and would the proud father please stand up."
B. TEXT
1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. 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 you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
C. THESIS
1. Our Scripture this morning calls for us, not only to imitate, but to recapture the freshness and transformational power of the Gospel as it was in the New Testament.
2. We’re going to look at what the Original Gospel looked like, examples of Contenders, the nature of the Original, and its High Price.
3. The title of this morning’s message is, “Contending For the Faith.”
I. CONTRAST BTW COMMON & ORIGINALS
A. THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IMITATIONS
1. Gal. 1:6. False Gospels, False Christs.
2. So we must be able to distinguish the true, Original Gospel from the Counterfeits.
B. ORIGINALS ARE HARD TO COME BY
1. Imagine holding an original copy of:
a. The Declaration of Independence
b. The Liberty Bell
c. Original music score of Bach, Beethoven, or Braums;
d. Notes of Leonardo da Vinci
2.DIFFERENCE OF VALUE BTW ORIGINALS & COPIES
a. Elvis Pressley -- many impersonators
1). Cigarette case with picture $12.06
2). Collector Plate $20.00
3). Autographs $99 -$500
4). Clothing, guitars, cars $millions
b. Vince van Gogh (painter)
1). Posters of paintings $1 - $3.99
2). Limited Edition Prints $195.
3). Actual Oil Painting $9 million
C.COMPARING COMMON/ GENUINE
1. Definition for “common;” – occurring frequently, ordinary. Of mediocre or inferior quality; second-rate. Same is true of the Gospel.
2. Imitations...anyone can copy them; they look right, but they’re not genuine; no real substance.
3. But imitations exist ... because the flesh can imitate them; but only God can produce the genuine!
4. Paul talked about “other Jesus’, other spirits, other Gospels than the original (2 Cor. 4:11).
5. Jude challenges us to “holy dissatisfaction” until we contend and gain what the Apostles/ early believers had in the Book of Acts.
II. EXAMPLES OF CONTENDERS
A. ELISHA WAS A CONTENDER
1. When Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha said, “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 2 Kgs. 2:9.
2. Words for Elisha’s mindset were “excellence, superiority, distinction, greatness.” If you can do more for Christ, then why do less?
B. PAUL WAS A CONTENDER
1. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him [even] in his death….I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” Phip. 3:10, 12.
2. Many of us are ambitious in business matters, but are we “spiritually ambitious?”
C. JAMES & JOHN WERE CONTENDERS
1. James & John wanted to on Jesus’ right and left in His kingdom! Jesus asked them, “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from My cup, but to sit at My right or left is not for Me to grant” Mt. 20:21-23.
2. You may think their motives suspect, but Jesus admires people who press for the best, spiritually; that’s why both of them were in Jesus’ inner circle.
D. THE CANAANITE WOMAN WAS
1. The Canaanites were under a curse (Gen. 9:25). Yet in Matthew 15:21-28, a woman came to Jesus asking for her daughter to be delivered. Jesus told her He wasn’t sent to the Canaanites. She wouldn’t take “No” for an answer. The disciples said, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us” vs. 23.
2. She even followed Jesus into a house. Four times she accosted Christ. The 4th time Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour” (vs. 28).
III. NATURE OF THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL
A. REVOLUTIONIZES LIVES
1. LIVES
Sinners -- Saints
Immoral -- Moral
Violent -- Peace loving
Stingy -- Giving
Paul says, “Such were some of You.”
Paul said, “I was a violent man.”
There is a divine life which flows out from the Cross of Christ – It has awesome effects. Romans 1:16; “For this Gospel IS the power of God to all who believe it…”
2. CULTURES. The original Gospel is more powerful than any culture into which it comes.
3. Marriages/families -- prodigal father/son -- brought together.
B. HAS A RISEN, OMNIPOTENT JESUS
1. You must come to know the Living Jesus Christ! He’s Alive! Don’t assume you know all about God because you’ve been in church; you must spend time seeking Jesus!
2. He demonstrated miraculous power over:
a. Sickness and disease -- healed 1,000’s, incurables.
b. Power over the Spiritual Realm -- demons obeyed Him.
c. Power over Nature -- He walk on water, commanded the winds and the waves, altered physical forms, etc.
d. Power over Death -- He raised three people from the dead and then raised Himself from the dead!
C. STOPS THE WINDS & WAVES
1. “Jesus Christ: the same, yesterday, today , and forever!” Heb. 13:8.
2. “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” Mk. 16:17-18.
D. ILLUSTRATION
1. “About twelve years after the famous preacher, Donald Grey Barnhouse, graduated from Bible College, he was invited back to preach in chapel. When he arrived, he noticed one of his old professors had taken a place near the front to hear him.
2. When the service was over, his old professor came up and said, ‘If you come back again, I won’t come to hear you preach. I only come once. I am glad that you are a big-godder. When my boys come back, I come to see if they are big-godders or little-godders, and then I know what their ministry will be.’
3. Barnhouse asked him what he meant. He said, ‘Well, some men have a little god, and they are always in trouble. He can’t do any miracles. He can’t solve the problems around them. They have a little god, and I call them little-godders.
4. Then there are those who have a great God. He speaks, and it happens. He stretches forth His hand, and miracles occur. He shows Himself strong on behalf of those who fear him. You have a great God and he will bless your ministry.’ ”
IV. HIGH PRICE OF THE ORIGINAL
A. A SURRENDERED LIFE
BUT “FULL-POWER” DOESN’T COME CHEAP!
1. SELF-SACRIFICE; forsaking all else.
a. “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me’” Matt. 16:24.
b. “At once they left their nets and followed Him” Mk. 4:20.
c. “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” Phip. 3:7-8.
2. GAIN THROUGH LOSS! You won’t gain unless you lose!
B. PURSUIT OF GOD
1. CONSECRATION YOUR LIFE TO GOD
2. They had a hunger/ thirst for God – they waited 10 days in the Upper Room!
C. BAPTISM OF POWER
1. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high” Luke 24:49.
2. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven….They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Acts 2:1-4.
3. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit revolutionized their lives. They could revolutionize their culture because they themselves had been revolutionized!
4. I believe this is the weakness of American Christianity – WE DON’T CONTINUE TO LET THE REVOLUTION WORK IN US!
5. We squeeze it into a box; push it into a corner; we stymie and choke off the outworking of that power and dam it up!
D. OBED. TO THE MISSION OF CHRIST
We were born for war; if we don’t fight the enemy, we’ll end up fighting among ourselves!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Dear Abby, a newspaper columnist, once printed the story of a man who went to a psychiatrist complaining that he was always hearing radio broadcasts.
2. Thinking to humor him, the psychiatrist asked him what he was hearing right then. He named the radio show, and to the psychiatrist’s amazement, the actual show was on and the show’s host was indeed saying what he said!
3. It was discovered that the man worked in a glass bottle factory and had gotten silica crystals in his dental cavities. The combination of silica, saliva and some bridgework had literally transformed him into a walking crystal radio receiver!
4. He was referred to a dentist who cleaned his teeth, filled his cavities, and redid the bridgework. As a result, the patient "went off the air," and no longer heard the broadcasts.
5. How many believers were once "tuned in" to the Spirit, but after getting cold and indifferent, no longer hear the Spirit's voice speaking to them? Do you still hear the Spirit speaking to you?
6. God help us to get back our first love again, to get the real Jesus in our lives, and begin to hear that still small voice of God speaking to us!
B. THE CALL
1. 2 Chron. 7:14 humble, pray, seek Face, turn – hear, forgive, heal their land.
2. Commitment to again “Contend for the Original Faith.”
