CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
‘Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.’
The Apostle St. Jude, with an abruptness only equalled by the plainness and impressiveness of his words, no sooner reminds those to whom he wrote of their spiritual privileges than he implies and urges the fulfilment of a spiritual responsibility. The Christian is beloved of the Father and preserved in Christ, but not for a life of inactivity or indifference in reference to Christ’s cause. He has to recognise a solemn responsibility in regard to it. Let us first discover what this is, and then consider the Apostle’s direction for its fulfilment.
I. The Christian is responsible for the preservation of a priceless possession.—The torch of truth has been handed to him: the only torch which can light up the path of life. It is ‘the faith once delivered unto the saints.’ Observe the exactness of the description here. A distinct and definite revelation was made to the saints. Have we that revelation? Have we the very words of those who were first set apart and sanctified to be sharers and custodians of a charge so sacred and momentous? Man’s definition of it will not satisfy us. Have we the words dictated by the living lips or written by the living hand of the chosen messengers of God? We have them as surely as if written with an iron pen upon the imperishable rock. ‘That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,’ writes the beloved John; and St. Paul says, ‘I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ Here are the foundation-stones of our faith. Here is the priceless possession entrusted to us. Christ died for us and rose again. His death upon the cross was on behalf of our sins. He ‘made there’ (we are thankful for the explicitness of the acknowledgment) ‘by His one oblation of Himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’ Look again at the Apostle’s words; for a truth of the deepest importance is declared by them. The faith was once delivered unto the saints. That is, it was delivered once for all unto them. The measure of the revelation rather than the moment of it is pointed out. The measure was not imperfect, but full, complete, and final. It allows of no addition. It admits of no development. ‘Every doctrine, therefore, which can be shown to be subsequent to the revelation of the faith unto the saints is new, and every doctrine which is new is false.’ It is the plain and simple gospel, apart from all human dogmas and traditions, with which we are entrusted and for which we are responsible. Aye, moreover, ‘a system of religion, half human and half Divine, we cannot trust. It is only the infallible Word of God in which we can confide; so that our faith may be perfect and indestructible; so that it “may stand not in the wisdom of man but in the power of God.” In this we shall be safe. In this happy and triumphant.
Amid the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds.’
Oh! for a greater recognition of this responsibility on the part of every member of our Church! God grant this to us!
II. The direction of the Apostle in regard to this responsibility claims our consideration.—The Christian is to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints. The soldier snatches the flag from the falling standard-bearer and upholds it; or, if need be, stands upon it and fights over it. It is dearer to him than his life. So must the Christian treat and regard his faith. The competitor in the torch race not only firmly held his torch, but also earnestly, yea, anxiously and eagerly, urged himself onwards towards the goal. He knew that the one was as essential for success as the other. Without the flaming torch he reached the goal in vain. Even so must the Christian contend. Do you ask, How did they act to whom the Apostle addressed this direction? They fulfilled their duty nobly, devotedly. No opposition could make them relax their hold or effort. Opposition, even when it took the most inhuman shape, only fanned into a brighter flame their faith and the more lit up with its light the spiritual darkness of the world. But whence the opposition? It is a sad dna significant fact that it arose from within the Church. Ungodly men, men without reverence or fear of God, had crept into the Church. Their actions and their words St. Jude does not hesitate to describe. But we pass from the past to the present, and I ask, is there any parallel to this in our time? It is said that history repeats itself. It is as true of the history of the Church as of the world. Now, as ever, indeed, in the history of the Church, the most insidious and therefore the greatest danger arises from within it. There are ungodly men, worldly men, men who would dim and destroy the faith once for all delivered to the saints and set up the light of their own reason in its place. Now, what shall be our attitude in the face of this fact? How will you meet this opposition? How will you avert the danger? There is but one course. It is plainly pointed out by the Divine direction—‘Ye should earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.’ Will you shrink from fulfilling your part? Contend earnestly for the faith; for its finality, for its absolute necessity.
(a) Do it in the spirit of Christ. Not only must our defence of the faith be firm and unyielding, it must also be carried on in gentleness and meekness of spirit. The spirit of uncharitableness, of hatred, of proud and vaunting bigotry is not in keeping with the character of the true follower of the Lord Jesus. Rather does He cherish the spirit of love for the mistaken, and of compassion for those who are out of the way. Of Himself He knows and acknowledges, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’ Let us see that that spirit is seen in us. Fail not, however, to remember that one thing is essential to success in our efforts to fulfil the duty shown by my text to be incumbent upon us. It is that we strive day by day to live up to the faith we are bound to defend. How many are there who profess great zeal in upholding the truths of the gospel of God, and yet the greatest zeal which they could show for it, the greatest witness they could give to it, the strongest weapon they could wield in its defence would be a life consistent with its precepts and its promises. But this is wanting, and in vain they profess to discharge their duty, to ‘earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints.’ Jehu could say, ‘Come and see my zeal for the Lord,’ but the unerring Word of God declares, ‘Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.’ Wise is the admonition of a voice that is now silent—‘Seek to be strong in that great security for soundness of doctrine—a holy life. As an evil life breeds heresies by a spontaneous generation in the human soul, so does a vigorous life of holiness destroy those parasitical corruptions which attach themselves to bodies of a weaker vitality.’ Fulfil the duty in Christ’s spirit and after the example of Christ’s life, and
(b) Do it for the good of men. We grant the power of human learning in its various branches for benefiting the condition of man. Yet, after all, how little it can do compared with the gospel of Christ! It fails to rule the passions, it reaches only the intellect and leaves the heart untouched. The man remains a slave to his bodily appetites, without God and without hope. Not so ‘the faith once delivered to the saints.’ It purifies and ennobles and educates not only for time but for eternity.
(c) Do it for the glory of God. It is by the Christian faith that He is glorified mostly by men. This is the conquering car of the Saviour. It is said that at the coronation of a king every peer of the realm has his station about the throne, and with the touch of his hand upon the royal crown declares his personal duty to the honour which he is called unto, namely, to uphold the crown on the head of his sovereign and to make the establishment of his prince’s throne his chief object and study. The like duty devolves upon every one of Christ’s subjects; the honour is incomparable. Share in this by a Christ-like contention for the faith.
Rev. E. R. Mason.