Hey Jude, Let's Fight


Jude 3 (ESV) 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.

Contend.  This is a fight.  I find many Christians seeking comfort and ease on this side of heaven... I wonder what Bible they read, if any at all.  We are not prescribed the unencumbered life if we claim to have faith in Christ Jesus.  It's going to be difficult at times.  It's going to be inconvenient.  It's going to take a hard nosed attitude at our adversary.

What do we fight?  We fight FOR the faith once for all delivered.  That is, we fight against deception and perversion of the Scriptures.  We fight to preserve the Gospel from those who would come in from among us and distort the message for their own purposes.  We fight against those who secretly worm their way into our fellowship with ulterior motives and cause division.

The question is: Are we picking the right fight?

Notice who we aren't supposed to fight:
Jude 22–23 (ESV) 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.

We are supposed to have mercy on the doubters and save the sinners among us.  I find many Christian people tend to miss this ministry and take aim at the doubters and sinners instead.

Yet, Jude, right before revelation, keeps us on target if we would only listen.  The fight is real, the fight is actual.  The fight is IN our members not with those outside.  

How do we fight?  We pray.  We build ourselves up by praying in the Spirit.  If there was another more powerful weapon, Jude would have mentioned it.  But there is not.  It is the most powerful weapon of our arsenal and the most neglected as well.  Let us pray!

Where do we fight?  In the presence of God's Glory!  While we fight, the Lord Jesus fights for us.  While we preserve His message, He preserves us!  He is the one "able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy." 
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, help us fight the "good" fights.  Help us have mercy on those who need it and deserve it.  Help us to know the difference.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more

Hardship Makes Strong Friendship

Just when you think it's all over for Jeremiah, as the nation comes against him en masse, as the officials and priests want him to die, some really great things happen on his behalf. Some leaders come to his defense.  Jeremiah 26:16 (ESV) Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” Just a few verses earlier the priests and "prophets" were calling for his execution. But verse 16 teaches us that there is always someone who will hear the Word even when we do not see it.  Not only do these officials hear the Word of the Lord, they know the history of the Word of the Lord. This is not the first time God prophesied disaster for the nation.  Jeremiah 26:17–19 (ESV) And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to a...
Read more