Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, June 2nd. If you were to list your favorite books of the Bible, it'd probably be a long time till you got to the book of Jude. Today's podcast begins a series on this little book that reveals a very relevant message to the 21st century church. You can't place a value on the book in the Bible by its size or by how many verses it has because the little book of Jude only has twenty-five verses. And when you compare that to the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew, just one chapter in Matthew has three times as many verses. There's seventy-five verses in Matthew twenty-six and twenty-five verses in the whole book of Jude. So when somebody speaks of Jude, it's not first, second, third chapter, it's just verses because there is only one chapter in the book of Jude. But you can't minimize that book.
How many of you have ever heard a series on Jude? Somebody said a series? Yes. So that's what we're going to do. It won't take us long. But this book is very applicable to what is happening all about us today.
And I think we'll see that when we begin to understand what's happening. I want us to read the first four verses at the beginning this evening. Jude a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James to those who are the called beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Well, let me give you a little background about this book.
It won't take but a few moments. First of all, more than likely, this Jude is like James, that is, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's interesting that neither James nor Jude introduce themselves as the half-brother of Jesus Christ, but both of them say a bondservant of Jesus Christ and of course Jude says a brother of James. Now if you go back for just a moment to, go back to Matthew chapter 13 and look at a couple of verses here. The 13th chapter of Matthew, let's look at verse 55. The question is, is not the carpenter's son, is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas or Jude?
And then of course there are other passages that relate to that, but more than likely, this is the Jude who was the half-brother of Jesus Christ. Now, he says, if you'll notice in verse 3, he says, I really started to write you this letter about this subject, but I changed my mind and decided to write about this subject. He says, Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, he says, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered unto the saints. Now, he says, the reason I'm writing you this letter is to appeal to you to contend for the faith. So I simply want to take these third and fourth verses here to talk about what he means by contending for the faith. Now first of all, let's look at the motivation. What motivated him to write this letter, change his mind from sharing with them about their common salvation to challenge them to contend for the faith. What does he mean by contending for the faith and what was his motivation? Well, here's what he says his motivation was.
He says, first of all, his motivation was the infiltration of false teachers. Look in verse 4, for certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how did they get into the church? They crept in. They sort of sneaked in. They came in a little bit at the time under the guise of being one thing. They came in as something else.
Listen to what he says. He says, certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out. What he's referring to here is there are many prophecies in the past about false teachers coming to the church and upsetting and dividing the church.
Now, he says, how they got in, they just crept in. That's why God's people need to know the Word of God to be able to identify error. Now, how does a person learn to be discerning but by learning the truth of God's Word? If you know the truth of God's Word, you can sit and listen to anybody preach. And when you do, if they come across with some false doctrine, something inside of you just flares up.
I don't mean you get angry, but I mean big red flags begin to flash. Mm-mm. Something's going, something's wrong.
That's not right. Now, what is that? The Spirit of God warning you that you're about to be taken in by something. God wants you to have a discerning spirit that you're not taken in by anything or anybody anywhere at any time because we are to separate ourselves from false doctrine. Now, if you listen to all the things that are going on on television, you're going to get a whole lot of false doctrine. Did you hear so-and-so? Think, I hope I didn't.
For the simple reason, it is so absolutely totally non-biblical. We have to be very, very careful. So I'm saying to you, don't be taken in by any kind of personality, no matter who it is. He said these people crept in and they crept in unnoticed. Now, how could a false teacher creep in unnoticed? Because they came in camouflaged.
They came in saying the right thing, acting the right way. Doesn't mean we should go around suspecting everybody, but God's people need a discerning spirit. You only develop a discerning spirit by getting into the Word of God and filling your mind and your heart with it. So when something erroneous comes by, you spot it, the Spirit of God. It's like He sends you a signal there's something wrong.
Now, sometimes it is very well camouflaged. And that's why we have to be very discerning. So He's issuing them a warning. Now, the important thing as He speaks of them, He says these persons are marked out for this condemnation.
They're ungodly. And here's what they're doing. They're turning the grace of our God into licentiousness.
Now, what they were doing is simply this. They were saying because God's grace is so great, then we don't have to worry about being legalistic. So, you know, if God's grace is all this great, don't worry about the flesh.
Don't worry about the flesh. And so what they were allowing for is all kind of sensuality, all kinds of acts of disobedience to God. And what's happening here is these folks have come in and this, listen, this happens to so many good churches. Well, I know your last pastor said that you shouldn't drink wine. And your last pastor said, and on and on they go.
And what happens? Before long, you've taken a group of wonderful people and you've absolutely doused their spirit. Now, some of you may belong to a church where the pastor doesn't believe all the Bible. Then I want to say to you in a very loving fashion, you ought to change churches. Because I want to tell you, they're going to corrupt your children. Any man who stands behind a pulpit is responsible to God and he's responsible to the families and to the individuals of that church by God's anointing and wisdom to teach the truth, nothing but the truth, so help him God, in order to protect the families of that church. Don't stay in any church another Sunday where you know that your minds are being corrupted and you're there because your grandfather was there and your great grandfather helped build this church and my parents, they gave money to build this church.
How can I leave real quick like? I know a lot of folks who are in trouble because they can't leave the building though their minds are being corrupted. Somebody says, well, you know, I know better. I want to tell you something, my friend. If I very cunningly began to just slip in a little teeny bit, just a grain or two here and there, there's some folks that say, oh, he wouldn't mislead us.
Now, God knows I wouldn't if anything in the world. But I want to tell you, my friend, there are a lot of folks teaching a lot of false doctrine, erroneous stuff, and I want to tell you, it's going to increase. Listen, men who do not teach the truth should be confronted with the Word of God. That is their primary responsibility, to teach and to preach the Word of God.
So this is what's motivated them. Now, here's what Jude says, verse three. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith. So we said, here's the motivation, false doctrine by false ungodly teachers. What is the meaning of contending for the faith?
What is he saying here? Now, that word is a present infinitive, to contend earnestly. It is in the present tense, which means that whatever it means, it's something that is continuously to go on. It's the only time in the Bible you'll find that word. But it has a root meaning, and it has a root word that we'll find in some other places. But what he's saying here is when he talks about contending for the faith, he means to fight for it, to stand for it.
But I want you to notice two things before we explain all of that. When he says, contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. What is the faith he's referring to? He's not referring to personal faith, my faith in Christ, but he's referring to the whole body of doctrine. What we believe about salvation, what we believe about Christ, the Holy Spirit, God, future things, faith, grace, the attributes of God, all of these things. He says, the faith once delivered to the saints, that is the whole body of doctrine, what we believe. If I should ask you tonight, what do you believe as a Christian?
I wonder if you're clear enough to be able to state that clearly. What you believe about salvation, what you believe about sanctification, what you believe about the Holy Spirit, what you believe about God, what you believe about Christ, what you believe about the church, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the things that we believe. That's what he's referring to here when he says, earnestly contending for the faith, which was once for all delivered to the saints. Now, how did God do that? God the Father revealed it through the Lord Jesus Christ, who shared it with his apostles, and who shared it with the body, with the church in those days. And so oftentimes you'll find references to how the gospel is spreading. Well, how does the gospel spread? It spreads as a result of God's people sharing the truth, and as the gospel is spread, it is spread all over the world. Now, Paul says, for example, in Colossians Chapter 1, he says, speaking of the gospel, which has come to you, just as in all the world also, it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing. He says, now this gospel, this message, this doctrine of the apostles, this body of doctrine, this faith, was delivered to us, not simply to be believed and to be kept, but to be shared. Now, he says, which was once for all delivered to the saints, he says we are to contend earnestly for it. The word contend here is a word that I want you to notice as it's used in other places. Go back to, you say, well, didn't you say it was only used one time?
Only used one time. But the word in the Greek is ergonizomai. But the word ergonizomai is found a number of times in the Bible, and that Greek word I want you to notice beginning in 1 Timothy, look, if you will, in chapter 6, because this is a root of the word we talked about a few moments ago, and so it has a similar meaning that is just a different ending on the word and makes it, when we say it's only used one time, it does not mean the meaning is only used one time, but that particular word. In 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12, look at these words, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession the presence of many witnesses. When he says fight the good fight, that is the word he uses.
Ergonizomai, we're talking about a struggle, we're talking about a fight. Look in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 7. Paul says in verse 7, I have fought the good fight, same word. And then in 1 Corinthians 9, 25, look there for a moment because this is the most familiar one.
1 Corinthians 9, 25, listen to what he says. He's talking about the games now. And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable crown, a wreath, but we are imperishable. Everyone who competes, the word contend is a word of action. It speaks of struggle. It speaks of wrestling. It speaks of tension. It speaks of stress. It speaks of battling, warring, fighting.
What is he saying? He says that we who believe us should be ready and willing to do what? He says to stand for the faith. Contend for it. Battle for it. Fight for it.
Don't compromise it under any condition. Now if that be true, you may not always be considered nice if you contend for the faith. Standing for the faith. Standing up for the truth. Unwilling to yield to erroneous doctrine, false teachers, and those who do not believe that all of this book is the inspired infallible word of the living God. He says we're to contend for it.
That means we're going to have to get in battle for it. The whole book of Jude is a warning, a declaration, and an appeal that the people of God understand the truth of God so that they cannot be mesmerized by erroneous effective speakers who are eloquent in their speech, impressive in their personality, but deadly in their doctrine. And he says, I appeal to you. Do not sit by and let it happen, he said, but contend earnestly. Strive, struggle, pay the price in order to defend the faith of what you believe.
Now my friend, if you're a parent, you must do it. You cannot afford to have your children sitting under doctrine that will absolutely destroy their morality, their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their faith in the Word of God. He says we're to contend for the faith. That does not mean that we are to be un-Christlike, but neither are we to be weak and to give in. We are to be strong about the great doctrines of the Word of God. It's your business and mine to know the truth, to defend the truth, and to share the truth with courage, with boldness, with fervency, with conviction, with faith, and with fruitfulness, expecting God to bear fruit when you're not true to His Word. Let me ask you one last question. What would you do if somebody took all of your Bibles away from you at your house and you could never have another one as long as you live? You couldn't hear any more sermons and you couldn't talk to anybody else about the Bible.
Then what would you do? They come in blue, red, wine, brown, black, gray, white, you name it. But there isn't but one. Man's never made anything that has a value equal to that. If you owned ten Rolls Royces or a thousand or a million, if you owned a thousand of the biggest homes in America and you own a hundred million acres, the finest land in the world, all that would be like a toothpick compared to this. You have in your hands tonight the most valuable, the most valuable material thing ever given to mankind. It's only material because it's paper and leather, but the message is eternal. And I want to ask you tonight, do you have the courage to stand for the truth of this book when everybody around you is laughing at it, mocking it, criticizing it, disbelieving it?
Do you have the courage to stand for it? Now think about this. Ever since this book was put together by God, men have done everything in their power to destroy it. They've burned it. They've cut it up. They've removed it from society.
They've done everything imaginable. God wrapped up the whole story in one phrase. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Thank you for listening to Contending for the Faith. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
