Well, turn back with me, please,
to the epistle of Jude. Very small epistle. We started
looking at it last week. And this week I want to look
at verses three and four. Verses three and four. And the
title of the message is Contend for the Faith. Contend for the
Faith. 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.
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." This letter is very, very relevant
today. I told you last week it was written
thirty to thirty-five years after the ascension of Christ. It fulfills
what we see here as a fulfillment of prophecies of false prophets
coming. Jesus told the church, his disciples,
don't be surprised, false prophets will come, false Christs will
come. the Apostle Paul, others of the Apostles, warned about
these who were coming. And here we are, thirty to thirty-five
years after Christ has ascended back to glory, and the Church
is already being infiltrated by these certain men who have
crept in unawares. If it was true then, it's many,
many, many more times true today. Very, very true. What Jude really
wanted to write about was what we were looking at last week,
the common salvation. He wanted to write to them about
the common salvation, but something became more pressing, much more
needful. What was really needful was to
warn them to contend for the faith because certain men had
crept in unawares. Certain men had come in, false
teachers had come in. The common salvation is what
we looked at last week. It's that pearl of greatest price. It's that most valuable thing
that you can possess in this life. You know, you think of
all of the things that you can possess, and you know how much
the flesh loves to possess things. We love to possess things, don't
we? All of us. Honestly. Let's all fess up.
It's true. Don't deny it. We all love things. We do. But by far the most valuable
thing you can possess in this life is the knowledge of eternal
life. The knowledge that it is well
with my soul. That is by far the most precious
thing. To know of a certainty. that
when it comes to the end of all things, you know, when you die,
I was talking last week about that door of death that we all
come up to. I had a very old uncle, dear
man, lovely man, he was 97 years old and he passed from this life
yesterday evening. You know, it happens all the
time, all the time, that door. What's on the other side of it?
Is it going to be that welcome? That welcome into eternal glory? Is it going to be what most people
hope for, just annihilation? Forget everything, that's not
just, is it? That isn't just. Would just annihilation be justice
for Adolf Hitler? Of course not. Of course not.
Are many others just like him? Not at all. The common salvation
is that pearl. He wanted, Jude wanted to extol
it, he wanted to write about it. He wanted to, as we sing
in the hymns, we sing the glories of that salvation, of the grace
of God. But it was needful to write.
Why? Because certain men had crept
in. And he talks about the need to
contend, contention. We don't like the idea of contention,
do we? you know contention is argument
and opposition and you listen to politics and the chamber of
the house of commons is a chamber of contention one side opposing
the other side they're contending for their positions they're contending
against one another they're being, I know a lot of people find it
quite entertaining to listen to them and the insults that
they fire at one another contention But this is contention, the contention
that Jude is talking about when he says earnestly contend for
the faith which was once delivered to the saints. It's contention
between the saints of God, the set-apart ones of God, who hold
the truth of God against those who deceptively oppose it. They deceptively oppose it. The faith this is what we're
going to look at the faith once delivered to the saints we're
going to look at the certain men and we're going to look at
what it is to contend earnestly in a biblical way what is biblical
contention so first of all the faith there it is in verse three
exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered to the saints the faith the faith the only
one I remember many years ago Prince Charles talking about
the day he becomes King and you know on your coins if you look
on any of the coins of Britain you will see where it's got the
Sovereign's head, the Queen's head on one side and there's
some Latin, Latin abbreviations around the outside and one is
Thid Death it's Latin for Defender of the Faith. The extent to which
any monarch in Britain has ever been a Defender of the Faith
I think is highly debatable but nevertheless that goes with the
title Defender of the Faith and I remember many years ago Prince
Charles saying he didn't want to be Defender of the Faith he
wanted to be Defender of Faith because you know he said Anybody's
faith is good. Everybody's faith is good. It's
all good, and everybody's entitled to their faith. And I want to
defend their right to have their faith. Well, you know... That's
not what the scriptures say. The Bible says that all of those
so-called faiths are a refuge of lies, compared with the faith,
the faith, once delivered to the saints. They're a refuge
of lies. They're not kind of all equally
valid and you're entitled to yours. They're a refuge of lies. And millions, millions, follow
a refuge of lies which is not the truth of God. What is the
faith that the Bible speaks of? What is the faith that Jude is
speaking of here? What is the faith that he's exhorting
us to contend for earnestly? It's that singular body of truth
concerning what? Concerning God. Who is God? It's concerning life. What is
life? What is it about? It's concerning
righteousness, which we must have to be right with God. It's
concerning eternity outside of this realm of time. What is that?
It's concerning justice, concerning the righteousness of God. It's
concerning salvation from the condemnation that our sins bring
under the justice of God. It's concerning our Lord Jesus
Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,
for in him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's
the faith, that's what it's about. It's that which is irreducibly
critical to the salvation of my soul and yours. There's all
sorts of things that we can take an interest in, to do with religion,
to do with what we believe, to do with the way we act, to do
with how we relate to one another, all sorts of things like that,
but the faith is that which you cannot boil down any more simply
than that which is to do with the salvation of my soul and
yours. That which results in a sinner
like me. What am I? What did Happy Jack
say he was? I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. That's me. At my very best I'm
a poor sinner and nothing at all. At my very best, my very
best, that's all you can say about me. I'm a poor sinner and
nothing at all. is going to result in a sinner
like me standing in the judgment of God before the judgment seat
of Christ and hearing, as the scripture says, hearing the King,
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords say to me, Matthew 25,
34, come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Isn't that what you
want to know about? You think about it. You think
about your life. You think about where it ends.
Isn't that what you want to know about? A sinner like you and
me standing before that judgment seat of Christ when all the books
are opened and to hear these words, come ye blessed of my
father inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Don't you want to know about that? It's known as,
in Romans 3 verse 3, you won't be able to keep up with these
so just listen, it's known as the faith of God. There's all
sorts of faiths but there's only one faith of God, the faith of
God. It's one faith, as Ephesians
4 verse 5 says, one Lord, one faith, it's one faith. Romans
10.8, it's the word of faith because it comes through a word
that we hear and we believe. A preacher brings the word, we
hear it, we believe it, we call on the name of the Lord, it's
the word of faith. Philippians 1.27, it's the faith of the gospel. It's the faith of good news.
It's the faith of good, isn't that good news? Come ye blessed
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. That's good
news, that's the gospel. It's the faith of the gospel.
In Jude verse 20, it's Your most holy faith. Holy, different,
separate. Nothing like it elsewhere in
the world. Your most holy faith. In Titus 1, verse 4, it's the
common faith. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3,
which we read earlier, it's not, he doesn't there refer to the
word faith, but it's this, the simplicity that is in Christ. the simplicity, the irreducible
simplicity concerning salvation of a soul. What are the essentials
of the faith? The essentials of the faith.
There are many, many people have written very, very good definitions
of this. Many, many have. But let me just
boil it down to this. It's about the sovereignty of
God. the sovereignty of God. You know
many people say oh I believe in the sovereignty of God but
you listen carefully to what they say and to how they act
and you discover they don't really believe in the sovereignty of
God. If there's a God God must be sovereign. How can you have
a God who is not sovereign over all things? A sovereign God accomplishes
everything he purposes to do. There is nothing that he cannot
do. He accomplishes everything he
purposes to do. And all things are in his hands.
And he causes all things to work together for the good of his
people. How? Because he controls all things. He's sovereign. He
rules over everything. Where is the heart of the king?
Where is the heart of the ruler? In the hands of God. In the hands
of God. I don't care who he was. I mentioned
Adolf Hitler before. Even he was in the hands of God. Even him. We bow to the sovereignty
of God. Secondly, the depravity of man. What we are by nature. Oh, I
believe there's a little bit of good in everybody. Not according
to the scriptures, there is none righteous. No, not one. Totally
depraved. Ah, but there's the ability,
there's the ability to hear and reason and understand and believe
that not according to the scriptures, totally depraved. A sinner is
a sacred thing. Why is a sinner a sacred thing?
because the Holy Ghost has made him so. The Holy Ghost has given
that understanding which the natural man does not receive,
that they are totally depraved before the justice of God, that
they are facing a lost eternity. The essentials of the Gospel,
the essential truth of God is particular redemption, not just
redemption but particular. Another term for it is limited
atonement. That the atonement that Christ
accomplished is limited to his people. That the death of Christ,
the shed blood of Christ, didn't pay the penalty of the sins of
the whole world, should they choose to believe it, didn't
at all. The scripture teaches he paid
the penalty of the sins of his people. of his people. He shall save his people from
their sins. By reading Isaiah 53 this morning,
by my righteous servant, he shall justify, not everybody, but many,
many, his people. This is who it is. He paid the
redemption of his people. Them and them alone. That is effectual salvation. If you have a salvation where
everybody's sins got paid for, just in case they should choose
to believe, and then there are millions and millions and millions
in hell, that's no salvation at all. That's complete failure. God accomplished exactly what
he purposed to do, which was the salvation of his people.
It's about redemption. Redemption? Paying a debt. Paying
to buy back. You redeem something, you pay
its price. And the price of justice before the law of God is death. The soul that sins, it shall
die. You should do this and live, but the soul that sins, it shall
die. How are you going to save those
who are sinners? By one who is holy, bearing their sins and
dying in their place, and satisfying justice, bearing their sins,
being made their sins, being guilty of their sins though he
himself was never a sinner don't ever ever think that but he was
made the sins of his people and counted guilty and the justice
of God didn't punish an innocent man punished one who in that
time was guilty read the Psalms about my sins my sins and going
down into the might this is Christ speaking as he's bearing the
innocent victim bearing the sins of his people and therefore being
counted guilty of those sins and justly being punished for
those sins that the justice of God might be satisfied these
are essentials of the faith once delivered to the saints, that
he completed his work. It's not just a glib phrase,
those three words of Christ on the cross, it is finished, the
work is completed. All that he came to save, he
has saved. All the sin debt that he came
to satisfy, he has satisfied. It is finished. The completed work of Christ.
And what does the scripture tell us in Isaiah? He shall not fail. He shall accomplish his purposes.
He keeps his people. None can ever pluck them out
of his father's hand. The perseverance, the final perseverance
and the preservation to glory of his people. These are the
essentials of soul-saving faith. The faith once delivered to the
saints. I've already mentioned Happy
Jack, I like that man. Happy Jack. I'm a poor sinner
and nothing at all but Jesus Christ. He's my all in all. By his blood, by his shed blood,
I'm counted right with God. I'm made right with God. I'm
made the righteousness of God in him. Are you saved? Do you
know that you're saved? There's only one way of knowing.
Do you know what that is? it's how good you behave, it's
how well you do, it's what you do for this that, no it's not
the scripture doesn't say that let's be people of the book,
what does the book say? the only way of knowing is that
you believe this singular body of biblical truth, you believe
the faith once delivered to the saints, you believe it and how
do you do that? by the spiritual life that is
given to you by the spirit of God as he said to the Thessalonians,
you're beloved of God, I know you're elect, I know you're the
beloved of God because you have believed the gospel of grace
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth
and this message is consistently delivered through the whole Bible,
consistently There's none of it that contradicts anywhere
else. You read Genesis, you read Exodus, the story is exactly
the same of God in sovereign grace saving the people of his
choice. Why is so much of the Bible about
that little nation? Because God is a God of sovereign
grace, and of sovereign choice, and of electing choice, and that
just illustrates what God is. Who does he save? He saves Jerusalem.
Does he mean that pile of bricks and mortar in the Middle East
no he means his people he means his church he means Zion throughout
the whole Bible it's this which was once delivered and once delivered
to his saints once delivered means entrusted to them given
to them to keep entrusted you know if an elderly relative dies
and say it's an elderly grandmother and she leaves you her engagement
ring to her granddaughter an engagement ring and it's entrusted
to you, you know, there's a responsibility on you to keep this, to keep
it, it's something precious, it's something that your grandmother
had and possessed and loved, keep it, keep it, it's entrusted,
well in the same way this gospel is entrusted, listen to what
Colossians chapter 1 verse 26 says, the epistle of Paul to
the Colossians, he's talking about the gospel and he calls
it a mystery, because to a natural man it is a mystery, the natural
man doesn't receive it, cannot foolishness to him spiritually
discerned even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from
generations but now is made manifest, open to his saints, to his people,
to his church 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3 for I delivered entrusted
to you. First of all, that which I also
received, it was delivered to me and I've passed it on to you.
How that, what? Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. It was delivered by God. It's
that which is revealed by God, delivered to his saints. Hebrews
chapter one, the first three verses, God who at sundry times
and in diverse manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he made
heir of all things, by whom he created the worlds, etc." But
he's talking about God speaking, delivering this message of truth
to his people. What did we look at two or three,
was it three weeks ago? Psalm 147 verse 19. He showeth his word unto Jacob. He shows his word unto Jacob. God has delivered his word, the
word of his truth. The faith, the faith, once delivered
to his saints, he's delivered it to his people. To hold on
to it. He's entrusted us with it. Hold
on to it. 1 Timothy 3 verse 9, Paul says, holding the mystery
of the faith in a pure conscience. Holding it. It's treasure. This
truth of God, this truth of eternal life in Christ is treasure, entrusted
to his people. He entrusted it to Abraham. when
he called him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, he entrusted it to
Abraham, and then to Isaac, and then to Jacob, and then to the
Patriarchs, he entrusted it to David, and then to Solomon, he
entrusted it to his people, to the prophets, to Elijah, to Zechariah,
all down those ages he entrusted it to his people. to John the
Baptist. He entrusted the truth of the
gospel of grace. And what were they like? Were
they particularly holy men? No, they were earthen vessels.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. We read in the account
of Abraham all of the blessings of his belief of the truth. Oh,
what a great man. Oh, how revered is Abraham. And
the scriptures tell us all of his faults. They tell us about
his lying to save himself. They tell us about David's adultery
and murder. They tell us about all of the
faults of his people. They tell us about Solomon, despite
his wisdom, flying in the face of that which he wrote to others.
They tell us all the faults in the flesh of these people, but
he entrusted his truth to them. And it was once delivered to
the saints. Now what does that mean? I think
I told you a week or two ago that the scriptures were delivered
over 1600 years. That doesn't sound like once,
does it? 1600 years. But the thing is,
it's one singular message from God. One atoning sacrifice is
what the scriptures are about. You're reading Hebrews, we won't
turn to it now for the sake of time. but Hebrews 9 and 10. See how many times you read about
it being the sacrifice of Christ, unlike the temple sacrifices
which were only pictures, the sacrifice of Christ was once
for all. This is a message once delivered.
One completed message never to be altered. Turn to Revelation
22. Revelation 22 and verse 18. Revelation
22 and verse 18. Those who refute this idea they'll
come up with all sorts of attempts to get round this. but in the
economy of God's spirit of the Holy Spirit the way the scriptures
have been preserved for us and the way they've been put together
look what it says in two of the last four verses of the Bible
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy
of this book if any man shall add unto these things God shall
add unto him the plagues that are written in this book And
if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy God shall take away his part out of the book of life
and out of the holy city and from the things which are written
in this book This book, we sang the hymn just before. How firm
a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith
in his excellent word. Now listen, what more can he
say than to you he hath said? What more can he say than to
you he hath said? You who unto Jesus for refuge
have fled. He can't say any more, he's said
it, it's here. So all of this charismatic error,
all Judeo-Christian heresy, and in that I include Islam, it's
Judeo-Christian, they refer back to Abraham, as they call him
but it's a distortion, it's a heresy, it's a falsehood, it's adding
that which God has never revealed, it's taking away that which God
has revealed the Jehovah's Witnesses are in the same camp, the Mormons
are in the same camp, they add their own writings and this book
stands complete and firm. Now that is the faith. How can
we ever exhaust it? How can we ever say that we've
found the bottom of it and plumbed the depths of it? We can't. We
just dipped our toe in the water in that little look at it there.
That's the faith that Jude is talking about. That irreducible
singular body of truth of the salvation of a soul. That is
the faith. Contend for it earnestly. Because
why? Certain men have crept in unawares. Do you know Jude spends most
of this short epistle outlining the marks of these certain men,
these false teachers that have come in to the church in the
first century. we're going to come back to it
and look at it in more detail but just now this morning I just
want to bring out the main points of these certain men there they
are in verse four there are certain men crept in unawares who were
before of old ordained unto this condemnation ungodly men turning
the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God
our Lord Jesus Christ The Scriptures prophesied that these would come.
The Church is told. We are told by God's Word, by
His Spirit, not to be surprised. There are false teachers around.
The so-called churches are full of them. Jesus said in Matthew
7 verse 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's
clothing. But inwardly, they're ravening wolves. Oh, look at
that lovely, cuddly sheep. Oh, it's just so fluffy and wonderful.
No, it's just wearing a sheep's skin. Inside, it's a fierce wolf. It's a vicious wolf. It wants
to eat the lambs, not protect them. That's what he's saying.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said that. Beware of false prophets. They're
wolves dressed up as sheep. In the so-called church today,
they're rampant. They're wolves, ravening wolves,
fierce wolves, but they're dressed up in sheep's clothing. Acts
20, 29 and 30, Paul says this, I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves, those
who claim to believe what you believe, shall men arise speaking
perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Certain
men crept in unawares. What does that tell us? They're
deceitful. They're wolves in sheep's clothing.
They look like, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11, they look like
angels of light. They look like there's, you know,
we use the expression butter wouldn't melt in the mouth. They
look so innocent and harmless. Jesus said in Mark 13, 22, for
false Christs and false prophets shall arise and shall show signs
and wonders to seduce, to deceive, to trick, if it were possible,
even the elect. But of course, it isn't possible.
God's elect will not be deceived by them. My sheep, said Jesus,
hear my voice, and they follow him. They don't follow the hireling,
they don't follow the false teacher, they detect them, and they steer
clear of them, and they come out from among them. Why is this
important? Because the professing church
of today is plagued with these wolves in sheep's clothing that
the Scriptures warn us about. Who are they? They're elders. in church? Ah, shock! Yes, they
are. I tell you, they are. They're
deacons in churches. They're pastors and teachers
in so-called churches. They're evangelists going about.
But they are, by the test of Scripture, they are false prophets.
Oh, they must look like they're deceitful evil men. No, they
look godly. Oh what a godly man. They look
godly. They sound pious in what they
say. They put on a good show in the
flesh. This is what Paul says to the
Galatians in chapter 6 and verse 12. He talks about those legalists
he was talking about in Galatians who make a fair show in the flesh. and they constrain you to come
under their legalistic thinking. They make a fair show. He tells
us in Colossians chapter 2 that all those that write rules and
regulations about touch not, taste not, do this, obey this
Sabbath day, obey that Sabbath, do this and that and the other.
He says it all looks good as an outward show but it is of
no benefit whatsoever in the state of the soul. No, they deny
the truth. They deny the faith. Look, it
says in verse 4, they deny the only Lord God. Although they
look godly and they sound pious and all of those other things,
they are in actual fact denying the only Lord God and our Lord
Jesus Christ. They deny the truth. They deny
the faith once delivered to the saints. They deny effectual redemption. And what's effectual redemption?
It's particular redemption. You listen to me. If you want
the acid test, this is what I've come to think is absolutely right. If you want the acid test of
truth and error you come right to the point what do they believe
about particular redemption about limited atonement because if
they're a tall woolly on that I guarantee you they're wolves
in sheep's clothing and they will either be plucked as brands
out of the fire prepared for the burning or they will prove
themselves to be what they are which is false teachers what
do they do with their woolly thinking on the subject of particular
redemption. They cheapen the currency of
Christ's atonement. You know Christ's blood was the
money, the currency that pays for the salvation of his people.
And by their woolly views, and their man-centered views, and
their free will thinking views on redemption, they cheapen the
currency of Christ's atonement. They compromise the sovereignty
of God, and they put man on the throne of his own destiny. They
slander the grace of God. How do they slander the grace
of God? Look, turning the grace of our
God into lasciviousness. Do you know what they do? Oh,
now listen to this, this is a good test, isn't it? They say they
believe the gospel, but when they hear people preaching sovereign
grace alone, particular redemption alone, they say, oh, you can't
tell people that, you can't set people free from the law of God
in Christ, you can't do that, because you'll open up the gates
of lasciviousness and immoral living. Is that not what they're
doing? They're turning the gospel of the grace of God in our Lord
Jesus Christ. That utterly liberating gospel
of grace that's not of works, lest any man should boast, but
all of grace, they're turning that grace into an excuse for
lasciviousness. They say, if you preach that
gospel, then people will behave dreadfully. There'll be sin,
there'll be immorality on all sides. That's what they do. They
turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness. The so-called
churches today, those all around us, the legalistic churches that
are trying to pretend that they're not, that's what they do. They
say if you preach sovereign grace and particular redemption, and
Christ alone, and not works, and not anything that we do,
that you'll open the floodgates to sin. They turn the grace of
God into lasciviousness. Now why do they do it? What is
their motive? What's the motive of these certain
men? These false teachers that the scripture warned us of and
in Jude's day were coming in and are all around us today.
What's their motive? Look at verse 11. We'll look
back in future messages. We'll look at the characteristics
of them in more detail because there's so much here. But just
look at verse 11. This is what I want to concentrate
on. Just in verse 11. Woe unto them for they have gone
in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for
reward and perished in the game-saying of Korah. Korah in the Old Testament
is K-O-R-A-H, Korah. What does that mean? What is
it that they're doing? Cain? They've gone in the way of Cain.
What was the way of Cain? It was the way of works religion.
What did Cain bring to God? The fruit of his own works. What
he'd done. Come on God, you've got to accept
this. Oh, we need to see some quality of life in you. We need
to see this. Oh look, look what I'm bringing.
I'm bringing all that that's building up such a good reward
for me when I get to glory. That's the way of Cain. They've
gone in the way of Cain. They've gone in the way of works
religion. What about Balaam? Balaam, you
know Balaam the false prophet who was bribed by the king of
Moab, Balak to try and bring down a curse upon the children
of Israel as they journeyed, you know it's Numbers 21 and
Balaam for greed, for gain, he wanted to get something, he wanted
the prophet that prophet, P-R-O-F-I-T, not prophet he wanted that money
which came from Balaam for bringing down a curse upon God even though
he couldn't do it they're in it for what they get out of it
these false teachers they've gone in the way of Balaam greed
for gain for personal gain for financial gain for reputation
with others we don't want to fall out with them we want to
keep them on side because they'll keep us afloat and they'll support
us and they'll do all sorts for us greed for gain is what it
is they want power with men they want power amongst those that
are called the people of God they want position they want
reputation they want financial gain Paul talks about them in
Philippians 3 verse 19, he talks about them and he says, their
God, little g, is their belly. That's what they're in it for,
what they personally get out of it. They've gone in the way
of Korah, the gainsaying of Korah, in the days of Moses and Aaron,
the sons of Korah. These were people who envied
God's true servants, Moses and Aaron. They envied them, they
slandered them, they tried to pull them down. beware of those
that slander God's true servants the envy of God's true servants
these are the marks of them this is what scripture warns us that
we're up against and tells us that we must contend look, exhort
you, verse three that you should earnestly contend for the faith
that was once delivered the idea of contending is that there's
some opposition and you've got to stand up to it and you've
got to oppose it So what is biblical contention? What is it? What
are we to contend earnestly for? We're to contend for the irreducible
essentials of the gospel that God has revealed to his saints.
Do you want to put it another way? Tulip. Total depravity. Unconditional election. Limited
atonement. Irresistible grace. Perseverance
of the saints. That's the irreducible minimum
of what saves a soul. That's salvation. What are we
not to contend about? The scriptures tell us again
and again, don't contend. Let me give you some. These things. Don't contend about these things.
Don't contend with those that call themselves Christians about
matters of church discipline. you know they're so keen on their
church discipline don't contend about matters of church discipline
about matters of church government don't contend about that that's
not vital to the salvation of men's souls but there are some
people that have open communion like we do anybody that comes
in says they believe the gospel of God's grace that's their conscience
examine yourselves the Lord Jesus Christ served the bread and wine
to Judas Iscariot on the night he betrayed him openness what
I believe but don't contend with those that have closed communion
there are places that you go there are places that preach
the same exactly the same irreducible minimum true faith the faith
once delivered to the saints who operate closed communion
I disagree with them but don't contend with them about it don't
fall out with them don't separate from them because of it focus
on that which is essential there are some places where all the
women have got to wear hats in the meetings because they believe
it's a faithful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11 I personally
don't not because I'm willfully disobedient but because I've
thought about it in the light of scripture and discussed it
with brethren and whilst I accept that some sincerely hold that
position I personally do not think that is at all necessary
I'm not going to contend with people about wearing of hats,
women's wearing of hats in meetings. I'm not going to contend with
people about matters of local social practice in respect to
religion. I'm not going to contend about
what we consider faults in others. You know, look at, oh, have you
seen how they behave? No, don't contend about that. It only leads
to judgment. And Jesus tells us not to judge
one another in that sense. Judge yourself as harshly as
you like, but don't judge others. I'm not going to contend about
formats of public worship. We tend to have three hymns,
a bible reading, and two prayers, and a sermon. Is that right,
or is that wrong? It's the way we do it, but it's
not a matter of contention with other people, so long as it's
got those elements. we won't have the drama and all
the other stuff that are not elements of the true worship
of God but I'm not going to argue with the people who have four
hymns or who have communion every week or anything like that have
opinions by all means but don't contend with others about them
these are not matters vital to men's souls and their salvation
so how should we contend? I'll wrap this up very quickly
we need preachers to preach it we need preachers to preach it
clearly unashamedly not holding back on it to declare it where
there's a pulpit where there's a situation declare this truth
of God, declare it some of you might remember a few years ago
that I preached about as clearly as I think I ever have on John
17 verse 2 on the sovereignty of God how he has power to give
eternal life to as many as the Father has given him and at the
end of it A renowned man came up to me and rebuked me for not
being sensitive to the fact that there was an Arminian pastor
in the congregation, that I should have soft-peddled the election
bit of it. Absolutely not. Preach it! This is how we contend.
Preach it, clearly. Preach it. Don't think about
who's going to be offended by it. The offence of the cross
is the only offence. Try not to cause offence in any
other way, but if it's on this issue, if men will take offence,
let them take offence. But we preach it, clearly. Live
it. You say, I'm not a preacher.
Live it. you know in your witness i'm not talking about being on
the soapbox all the time getting a reputation of being a nuisance
to your neighbors and people can't talk to you without you
getting on this, no i'm not talking about that but live it base your
hope on the truth of it, your hope of eternal life, you have
a hope, the hope that is in you, what's it based on? The solidity
of this faith once delivered to the saints, and one day some
might ask you a reason for that hope, and then, when they ask
you, be ready to tell them the reason for that hope. What else
can you do? I'm not a preacher. Pray for
its success. Are you one of God's children?
Pray. You have access to the throne of grace. Pray for its
success. I will be inquired of, says God,
I will be inquired of the house of Israel to do it for them.
He's going to do it, but he will be inquired of. Pray for its
success. What else? Support it. Support
the preaching of it with your gifts, with your presence whenever
it's preached, with your prayers that it will be supported. You
know when we we put a lot of resources into
doing the new focus conference and I'm delighted that we did
this year and on the strength of that and what the feedback
we got we're planning to do it again next year because it's
such a good thing to do you know the best part of a hundred people
came together to hear this faith once delivered to the saints
upheld and shined and polished and put in the good light. Support
it, it costs money, but let's support it with our gifts, with
our means and encourage one another in it. Mutual support in fellowship
and stand fast in the face of error. God tells us by Paul in
the epistle to the Ephesians that we're to stand fast and
he says you're not alone you're not naked here's some armour
and so he gives them the sword of the spirit and the shield
of faith and the helmet of salvation and the feet shod with the gospel
of peace that's the armour put it on and use it God's given
it to us in his word. And if you're in a situation,
and I'm speaking to those that are listening on the internet,
if you're in a situation where you are desperately trying to
keep going to a church where you know the pastor doesn't preach
this one faith once delivered to the saints, then shall I tell
you what to do? Try not thinking that you can
do anything about it by your presence there. Leave it. Leave
it. Come out of them, my people.
Come out of them. This is what God tells his people
to do. Seek fellowship with others. Even if you're on your own and
the fellowship's via email with others on the internet, that's
better than going and supporting a compromise situation where
what you've got in the pulpit is a wolf, however so subtly
disguised as a sheep, but he's still a wolf. Don't go there.
And strengthen one another in these things. Earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Amen.