Contending Earnestly for the Faith

Thank you, Harmony. We really appreciate that. Beautiful song. Wonderful message for all of us. God will never leave us and He will never forsake us. We can count on that.

Well, brethren, throughout history, God's chosen people have had an opportunity to contend earnestly for the faith that God Himself had delivered to them. From Old Testament times, the patriarchs and the prophets had to contend earnestly to remain steadfast to the faith that they had received.

From the very first century of the New Testament Church, Jesus Christ and the apostles all had to contend earnestly to remain faithful to their calling. Many of them, in fact, most of them in the early New Testament Church, especially the leaders, had to die for what they believed.

What about the called-out ones today? What about you and me? Do we have to contend earnestly for the faith in which we believe? How strongly do you believe in God, His way and His calling, your calling? Is your belief and faith strong enough in your faith, in God's way of life, to contend earnestly for it? How strong is your faith in your faith? Today, I'd like to consider all of us to consider what it means to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to each and every one of us. By looking at the why, the how, the when of contending earnestly, we will understand more fully what it means to contend earnestly. Why do we need to contend earnestly? How are we to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to us? And when do we especially need to contend earnestly? I hope to answer all those questions for you today.

Today, we're going to focus on the what, the why, the how, and the when of contending earnestly for our faith. So first of all, what does it mean to contend earnestly? Now, I'm sure you remember this phrase, to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered. Many of us know where that phrase is. Some of you may not, but you've probably heard the phrase. It's found in Jude, the book of Jude. This was Jesus' brother Jude. And there's only one chapter in the Bible, so it's actually Jude, verse 3, where Jude writes, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary. He says he found it necessary to write to you, exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turned the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this vivid Greek expression, it's a long word, difficult to pronounce. I will give it an attempt. Epagonidzomahii. That's what it says. It's what it says. That's how you're supposed to break that down. Anyway, it's translated to contend earnestly and is related to the English word agony, which makes sense when you think about it. It is associated with strife, with agony and combat of a most vigorous and determined nature.

The present tense of the verb indicates that the Christian struggle will be a continuous and an intense one. It's not something to take lightly or to take for granted. Jude believed that the fundamental and the foundational tenets of the Christian faith were under attack.

Nothing but very vigorous opposition would be sufficient in order to prevail.

The use of such an expression suggests that, number one, the matter is very serious. We are at war. And that's how we, as Christians today, should also look at how we are to contend earnestly. We are literally at war. We are at war because Satan is a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour and he is spiritual wickedness in high places. And he would like to destroy each and every one of us. So we are at war. And secondly, secondly, this is not a time. Now is not a time to be unprepared, not a time to be unarmed spiritually. We're 2,000 years beyond the time when Jude wrote this, but how much more perilous in some ways are the days that we live in today? It may be more subtle. Back then you had Nero and you had other people that were persecuting very blatantly and flagrantly.

Today it's a more subtle warfare. Satan can be very subtle at times, but that doesn't mean it's not just as important for us to contend earnestly for the faith that has been delivered to us. Let's go to Hebrews 11. We would recognize this, most of us, as the is the faith chapter. Hebrews 11. And there's a lot in the the faith chapter, but we're not going to read most of it. We're going to skip over a lot of what it says about Noah and his faith and Isaac and Abraham and Jacob and Joseph and Moses. But we're going to go to verse 32 to begin with.

It says, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Remember Daniel? Daniel was about to be eaten by lions, but God stopped the mouths of the lions because Daniel had faith. He trusted in his God and God delivered him out of the mouth of the lion.

Quench the violence of fire. What about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? God did a good job of quenching that fire, didn't he? Quench the fire, the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong. So admittedly, we are all weak, aren't we? As God's people, we're made of flesh. We're fleshly beings. So that in mind, we are a weak people in many ways. We should be humbled by our weakness, but we may be made strong if we rely on God and on Christ. If we have our faith in our Father and his Son, then we need not fear because we are made strong as the men and women of Hebrews 11 were made strong. They became valiant in battle. They turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received... Now, I don't think that's talking about aliens, like, you know, not out of Roswell. This is foreigners, strangers, not so much aliens. So you can't say the Bible gives credence to outer space folks and things like that. All right.

Verse 35, women received their dead, raised to life again. We all remember Lazarus, who was raised to life, and Mary and Martha were quite elated. When that happened, certainly, others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. So there is a better resurrection. That's obviously the first resurrection, the Scripture tells us. It's a better resurrection to be in the first resurrection. If God calls us now, this is our day of salvation. This is our time to be resurrected, the first resurrection. So that is our calling to a better resurrection. Still, others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. We know that God's people at times were imprisoned. They were stoned. Paul was stoned. How many times? They were sawn in two. They were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, homeless, afflicted, tormented. No doubt freezing at times, probably too hot at other times, of whom the world was not worthy. So this is what the Bible says. It says that the world isn't worthy of those who are truly faithful and who follow God and obey Him and serve Him. They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth, and all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. They did not have the resurrection at that point. They're still awaiting the better resurrection.

We, too, wait on God. God, having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. So God is in the business of making us perfect. We're not there yet.

But thankfully, that is our calling to become perfect, to become like Jesus Christ, to see Him as He is, as He returns, to be changed to Spirit, and to be like Him. So that is a wonderful calling, a high and a holy calling. Verse 1, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. Have you ever noticed that sin can ensnare each and every one of us quite easily?

And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. So we are to endure to the end. The same shall be saved to endure to the end. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So we have to place our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ, who is the captain of our salvation. We are saved by grace because we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and our Master, our soon-coming King, our High Priest. We've accepted Him. We believe in Him. We trust in Him.

It is in Him that we will be given salvation. We don't earn our salvation. We can earn our salvation. It is a gift that God gives us, the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

So we look to Him, the author and finisher of our faith. So we do have to have faith. We do need to trust, believe, put that faith in Christ, and then He will finish that for us, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So certainly we look to God. Verse 3 says, for consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

We need not become weary and discouraged as long as we look to Christ, who endured that suffering for us. He died for us. He was beaten for us. And so we can be certainly grateful for all of that. So back in the old days, they had to contend earnestly for their faith.

But what better modern-day example than those of us who really did contend earnestly back in the 90s? You know, quite a few of you were around during the 90s. 93, 94, 95. A lot was going on in the Church of God at that time. And Satan was attacking, and he was doing it from within.

And it was subtle in many ways, and many people felt they felt prey to Satan the devil and his deceptions. So what better day modern, what better modern-day example than those of us who did contend earnestly and are still here with us today and are striving to be faithful. And, you know, God is extremely merciful. Some he's brought back. Some he's brought back over the years, and he continues to bring people back. And we should continue to pray that God will open the minds of some who may have been deceived. And there's still time for some to come back to be a part of that first resurrection. So we may think that things aren't as bad as they were back in the old days, and in some ways they're not. In other days they're just as bad. You know, they're just as difficult. They're just as hard. And we have to endure to the end, and we have to stay faithful throughout everything. Not long ago we heard about our brethren in Bangladesh just last year and what they had to go through in order to stay faithful. They had, they were, some of them were kicked out of their village. They had to leave their village.

They could not continue there, or they would have likely been killed.

So they had to pick, pack up their bags and go. In Haiti in 2025, people were running for their lives there. You know, we just don't know what could happen next. You know, certainly it seems relatively safe here in this country, and likely is for a time. But we just don't know what's, what's around the corner. We don't know what's around on the horizon. So we always need to be prepared spiritually and be ready for whatever comes our way so that we may contend earnestly for the faith that God has given to each and every one of us.

Now let's ask the question, why do we need to to contend earnestly? I've already covered that to some degree, but let's talk a bit more about it. Why do we need to contend earnestly today? Is it possible for someone to creep in unnoticed today? Like Jude talked about how they crept in unnoticed back then. Again, that's already happened in our modern history. Some have creeped in and have deceived many. Could it happen again? Probably not in exactly the same way, but it could possibly happen again. And so we must always be on guard, always be vigilant, and ready to stand up for the truth, for God's way of life.

So we should be always on the lookout for false teachers who would attempt to corrupt our faith or cause us doubt regarding our faith. We've seen some of that in recent histories. We have seen it many times in others who are no longer among us because they were, as I mentioned, already deceived. The faith is that body of doctrine that we are to believe that's revealed in the Holy Scriptures. You know, that's the truth, the faith that we need to adhere to and stick with. It is simply God's way of life revealed in His Word. So how strong is your faith in your faith?

Do you really believe what you believe? That's a question that we should ask ourselves from time to time. In Acts chapter 2, it speaks of a vibrant church, a church that began on the day of Pentecost, the New Testament church. Let's go back to Acts chapter 2. We read this on Pentecost, but as a brief reminder, Acts chapter 2 will recognize right away that we're breaking into Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Verse 36 of Acts chapter 2, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart because they were the ones saying, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Some of those people were a part of that. Not everyone, certainly. There were some that were not engaged in all that, but some, no doubt, were.

And they had been deceived. But now they're cut to the heart. And they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent, Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is a gift that God gives us to give us courage and strength and faith.

For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, He testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. We could say the same thing today. Be saved from this perverse generation in which we live. Then those who gladly received His word were baptized. That day about 3,000 souls were added to them, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine.

Again, the faith, the doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles, and all who believed, they were all there together. They were working together, and God was with them, and God was blessing them, and taking care of them, and providing for them. This kind of reminds me of a story. You know, I know that over the years, in the true Church of God, some have tried to masquerade as the Church of God. They claim to be the Church of God, but they're not teaching what the Bible teaches. They may be teaching part of what the Bible teaches, but they're not teaching it to the fullest extent, and we don't claim to know everything either.

But it's pretty obvious that God has revealed things to us that He has clearly not revealed to much of mainstream Christianity. They don't see it the way we see it. Their eyes have not been enlightened. Their minds have not been opened. So it reminds me about what I heard about a Roman Catholic priest, an Anglican priest, and a Baptist preacher. I don't know if you heard about this or not, but they were standing near a river. They were conversing. They were talking about things. Of course, religion came up, and the subject of which Church was nearest to the teaching of God was something that they engaged in.

The Roman Catholic priest said that, of course, there was no argument that the Roman Catholic Church was closest to what God wants and what He teaches. They were descended directly from the apostles. In fact, Peter was their first pope. He said, in fact, so close are we that I can even walk on water like Jesus. And so the Catholic priest proceeded to walk on the water, and he walked across that river.

The Anglican priest said the Anglican Church was very similar in origin to the Catholics. He also demonstrated his ability to walk on water. The Baptist preacher, however, said that he did not care about their origins. He studied the word and preached it purely, and without any embellishments, so he reasoned that he knew the scriptures far better than either one of these priests and was much closer to it. So he reasoned within himself, since they could walk on water, then he should be even better at it.

So he took one step forward, and he sunk knee-deep into the river. Then he took another step and completely disappeared.

He was gone. He was not walking on water. And at that time, the Roman Catholic priest whispered to the Anglican priest, do you think we should tell him where the rocks are?

Got a few chuckles. It's not bad. Yes, this is a joke, but perhaps we may learn something from it, and it should apply to the sermon, right? You know, if you're going to tell a joke like this one, you better tie it into what the subject is. Well, we believe all of the above are on the wrong path in certain ways. None of them can really walk on water either. They can walk on rocks hidden under the water if they know where they're hidden. We believe they are deceived in their religion, but many are very sincere, and they're good people, and we should show respect to all people. God tells us not to be a respecter of persons, but we should show respect even if someone is deceived. They still deserve some respect, and we should not look down on them because if God hadn't called us, we might be attending a Catholic church ourselves. In fact, some of you probably have done so, or a Baptist church, or an Anglican church, or some other type of church. There's lots of them out there.

So some are very sincere. Some may actually know where the rocks are hidden, and still they pretend to be able to walk on water. So they continue in deception. Some of that happens in in the religions today. They perpetuate deception. Now, others are just simply deceived. They don't really know any better. They're just deceived. Some may know better and still are not really yielded to God at all, and they're doing their own thing, and reaping the consequences of it. Now, for us, Jesus Christ is the rock. He is the foundation upon which the church of God is built. He is the head of the true church of God, and with Him, all things are possible. We can literally walk on water, perhaps, if that's God's will, because it's already happened to a human being, correct? Remember the Apostle Peter. He did walk on water, and there weren't hidden rocks. It wasn't that he was stepping on the rocks. He was literally walking on the water because he had faith in Jesus Christ, and he looked to Him, and he was doing just fine until he noticed that the waves and the wind were pretty violent around him, and then he began to doubt. Doubt entered in, and that's when he began to sink when doubt entered. But as long as his faith was strong, he was able to walk on water. Now God isn't calling everyone to walk on water these days. Frankly, I've never walked on water. I would like to. I hope one day I shall. I'm looking forward to that. That would be very cool to be able to walk on the surface of the water wherever I want to go. I think flying would be even more cool, but you know, that's days ahead.

But the point I'm making is, Satan is the one who is out there to destroy us one way or the other, and doubt is one of the biggest tools that he uses. He wants us to doubt. He wants us to to lack faith. He wants us to stop trusting in God and look more to Him and to ourselves and to others than we do to God. That's called idolatry. That's what he wants to see us engaged in, is idol worship. Instead, we need to look clearly toward God. Satan is our adversary. He is demonic. He has also demonic beings. He has earthly minions out to destroy us spiritually as well, usually not overtly or blatantly, but more subtly. They're more subtle in their attacks. They move society further and further away from God, and it affects us in the process. And we've all been affected by this world that we live in. There's no way we couldn't be affected by it. You know, it's very pervasive.

So we do need to contend earnestly, because there are a lot of dangers out there. There's a lot of very potential dangers for us. So why do we need to contend earnestly? Because God's truth is what really counts. You know, God's way of life is what really matters. Not all the fluff and the frivolous things that are all around us that we're bombarded with continually. It is our faith that really counts. The truth that we've been given, that's been revealed to us, should be very precious, very valuable, should be very real. We need to be awake spiritually. We need to be strong spiritually if we're going to continue to survive spiritually. Times will get more and more difficult. Intense pressure will be applied along the way to the kingdom of God. So maybe we've had it pretty easy, a lot of us. Not everyone here, a lot of people have gone through a lot of trials, various types of trials, various things that have happened, but quite a few have been relatively unscathed. I think I've been relatively unscathed. There have been a few things that have awakened me from time to time, and I know Satan is out there seeking to devour anyone that allows him to do so. So it is a narrow path that leads to eternal life and the kingdom of God. There will be intense pressure applied along the way to the kingdom. So we need to stay on that narrow path. We need to have faith that God will deliver us and keep us on the path, and that He will give us the gift of eternal life. So we have a wonderful future ahead of us. Everyone in this room has a beautiful future. I hope we can see that future. I hope we're excited by that future. I hope that we are bound together by the future that God has in store for each and every one of us, and that we try to spend as much time together as we can, as God's people, feeding off each other in a right and proper and godly way, setting the kind of example for us that God would have us to set for each other.

So again, it matters what we believe, and we should stick to the truth, stick to those things, and be grounded in the truths of God. Are you able to give an answer for why you believe what you believe? You know, we all need to be students of this book. This book should be written in our hearts and in our minds. And as we go through the sermon, we'll see that God has given us everything we need. We don't need to long for anything else because it's all been supplied for us. And the answers are found right here in the pages of the Bible. So we should be students of this book, and we should know what it says, and we should continue all our lives. The Bible doesn't get old. Some of us have been studying the Bible for 50 years, and it isn't old. It's vibrant, it's alive, it's living. And we will certainly learn if we take that seriously and we study our Bibles. So again, we need to contend earnestly because Satan is not one to give up easily. He will continue to try to get the best of us. He will continue to attack us spiritually.

And not only that, we have human nature. And that's no small thing either. Human nature is an obstacle to faithfulness and obedience to God. It's easy to be corrupted by the flesh, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, the envy, the jealousy, all of these things that Galatians chapter 5 talks about, the works of the flesh. We do need to battle that as well. So we'll talk a little bit more about that. Let's go ahead and go on to another question. How are we to contend earnestly? How are we going to do this? Well, Paul describes the nature of our warfare in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. He describes how we should approach things. So in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, we'll start with verse 3.

He says, For though we walk in the flesh, Paul's talking about himself and everyone else, we walk in the flesh. You walk in the flesh. I walk in the flesh. But we do not war according to the flesh. If we're trying to fight a fleshly battle, then we're fighting the wrong battle.

This is a spiritual battle for the weapons of our warfare. I said earlier that, you know, if you know jujitsu, it's not going to help you that much. You know, if you are an MMA cage fighter, it's not going to help you much because our battles are not fleshly. Our battles are spiritual, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Okay, who wants to set up strongholds in your life? Who wants to control you? Who wants to manipulate you? Satan wants to set up strongholds in your life. Satan is a master at addictions.

You know, he wants us to be addicted to something, and there are many things that people can be addicted to. That is a stronghold, and if Satan can get you addicted to something, then he will be able to manipulate you and control you in ways that you don't even think are possible.

But anyone who's been in the clutches of an addiction knows what I'm talking about. Now, it's a very powerful, fleshly kind of urge and thing that is difficult.

And there's, again, there's many types of strongholds that Satan can set up in our lives.

Verse 5, casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself, he's telling us that's what we need to do. We need to cast down arguments in every high thing. You know, don't get caught up in pride about how wise you are and how easily you can defend your faith, because that's not really what it's all about. You know, God tells us not to get too involved in these types of things. I think there's a balance there. I meet with a friend who's still a friend who really doesn't believe what we believe, but we're still trying to maintain a friendship, and we respectfully disagree. And for the both part, it seems to be working.

You know, we can show some respect for each other, even though it's not easy all the time, you know, because when someone's trying to convince you of something that you don't believe and rejected many years ago, and still they're not giving up, you have to be careful you don't get too wrapped up in arguments and things like that. You have to be careful even then. So, getting back to verse six now, it says, bringing every thought of verse five, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. So that's how you contend earnestly learn to bring every thought into captivity. You know, if it's a wrong thought, an evil thought, an ungodly thought, an unproductive thought, then you need to bring it into captivity. You need to imprison that and put it over here where it can affect you.

That's what it's saying. Don't dwell on it. Don't think about it. God says, meditate on those things that are right and good and pure and lovely. You know, don't allow yourself to go there where Satan wants you to be. He wants to keep you in prison. That's what Satan wants. And he can do that through your thoughts if you go there and if you dwell on those things that are unhealthy for you, that will draw you nearer to Satan, then he has you where he wants you. On the other hand, if you can resist Satan, he will flee from you. He has no power over you. If you rely on Christ as your Savior and you resist him, he must flee from you. Now, he may come back—in fact, he will come back at a time—he's looking for an opportune time to come back. You've probably read Matthew 4 and Luke 4 about the temptations that Satan brought upon Christ. You know, it's in the Bible. He was tempted—Satan was trying to get the best of Jesus. He was trying to tempt him to sin, and Jesus was resisting him all along the way. And finally, it says in Luke 4 that Satan left him because he knew he wasn't getting anywhere with him, but he was looking for an opportune time to come back. Jesus never gave him an opportune time.

It doesn't really record any other temptations because Jesus didn't give him an opportune time. Jesus was close to the Father, and he was walking that narrow path, showing us the way to live, not sinning himself, but setting that perfect example for us.

But Satan, trust me, is looking for an opportune time. If you resist him and you're successful, that's wonderful, and that's what we should do. And we should continue to do that. However, if we let down our guard and we're not vigilant, and we give in and we start becoming lethargic in our Bible study, in our prayer, in fasting, then Satan has an opportune time because we're weaker spiritually. We're not as strong as we could be. And so he's looking for an opportune time to come back and see if he can get the best of you. So please, please be good to yourself. Don't allow that. Fight the good fight and keep Satan away. Resist him. He will flee from you.

Okay, let's go to Ephesians chapter 6, and here we'll read about the whole armor of God.

We're told to put on the whole armor of God. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Again, it's not a fleshly battle. It's a spiritual battle, but we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places, the demonic spirits, the Satan, the devil. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. This is his advice to all of us. Take on the whole armor of God. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, the truth that we've been talking about. Don't let anyone take the truth away from you. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, if you're walking with Christ and you're being righteous, then Satan, he can't get to you. But when you begin to sin, then it's that easy. It's that much easier to sin. It's that much easier to continue down that path. So don't take the first step towards sin. Instead, be righteous, as it says. Having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You know, you're doing the will of God. You're walking with Christ. You're shodding your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. God's good news of the kingdom of God. Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. That doesn't sound like an easy road, does it? It sounds like God expects quite a bit of us. He doesn't want us to take it so nonchalantly or easily. He wants us to take it more seriously. And do these things, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, stirring up the Spirit of God, allowing God's Spirit to guide and direct you, being watchful to this end, with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. So we are all in this together, all of the saints. The call of God at this time, there's a better resurrection that God has in store for us. So we should gravitate together, spend as much time as we can together. Here in Cincinnati, we have a lot going on. You know, there's many opportunities to spend with each other. Why not spend it with each other as opposed somewhere else? That might be the best use of your time. Of course, you have to decide where you want to spend your time. So putting on the whole armor of God... See, I think we... Well, we read just a little further. He says, And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly, as I also ought to speak. So those God has given leadership in the church, they are to speak boldly the truth of God, cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, show my people their transgressions, the house of Jacob, their sins. We're not supposed to speak smooth things when we get up here and say everything's all hunky-dory and you don't need to...

You don't need to take it seriously. You know, God says, no, we need to be faithful.

That takes effort. That takes the whole armor of God. All right, let's go on to the last part of this. We've got about 15 minutes. Let's talk about five times or instances when we especially need to contend earnestly. I mean, obviously, we always have to contend earnestly because we don't know where the next attack's coming from.

We don't know what's going to happen around the corner. So we always have to be willing and ready to contend earnestly, but there are some things that Satan will certainly use and you have to be on guard. So the first one, when someone today denies God's authority, you know, there are lots of people out there. Young adults go to college and, you know, they're not going to hear God's truth expounded at the University of Cincinnati. You know, that's not likely to happen. They will hear that there is no God, from some at least, not everyone, but from some. So when anyone is denying God's authority, we must contend earnestly for the faith. We must not be duped by lies.

Jude had to deal with those who would deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have to deal with the same thing today. There are those who will deny God the Father and Jesus Christ. We must not. The Greek word translated Lord is kureos here. It comes from the root word kureos, which means supremacy. Kureos is speaking of one who is supreme in authority. God is supreme in authority. Jesus Christ, along with him, I and my father are one. They're supreme in authority. People have always denied God's authority, but that denial is becoming stronger and stronger in today's society. Worse and worse, in many ways, in today's society, we're too civilized to be spiritual, aren't we? We're too enlightened. You know, we live in an enlightened time. We don't have to believe in a God that tries to control you or what people what people claim and what they say. So denial is becoming stronger and stronger and worse and worse in today's society. I mean, the theory of evolution is even though it doesn't have a leg to stand on. It's still being espoused and the books, the books claim certain things. It's the theory of evolution and yet somehow it became a fact. There's no facts with that. So shocking changes are taking place in people's belief regarding a supreme almighty God. Outright defiance to God's clear instructions regarding our conduct as His children is being espoused, it's being promulgated, it's being taught, it's taken for granted in many cases. Even in religious circles, this is increasingly taking place. In the last 15 years of the 20th century, from 1985 to 2000, some of you heard about the Jesus Seminar. Okay, so it was pretty popular at that time. And basically, a bunch of so-called biblical scholars met and completely denied that Jesus was divine. According to their website, the scholars, the fellows, determined that only 18% of the sayings of Jesus Christ were authentic.

And only 16% of the deeds attributed to Jesus in the Bible really happened.

Okay, so that's what's out there. And you can run across all kinds of ideas that people will try to promote. There are lots of religious people in America and throughout the world, but most don't faithfully read and study God's Word. They don't really live by it. They haven't written it in their hearts and minds because God hasn't yet called them to know and to understand these things. So we have to be on guard that if someone's denying God's authority, then we should deny them and not let them get a foothold in our lives. There are many scriptures that talk about authority. I'm not going to take the time to go through them, but Christ is the head of the church by the Father's authority. Christ is the head of our church. Jesus said that if we receive those He sends, we are receiving Him. And we always have to be careful that we are following those who are following the truth. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. That's always been our guide. Mr. Armstrong would say that. Follow me as I follow Christ. Don't follow me as I... if I don't follow Christ, then certainly don't follow me because Christ is the rock and the foundation. He is the way, the truth, and the life. We have to follow Him. Let's go on to a second time when we really need to contend earnestly. When people suggest that God's revelation is incomplete, that we should contend earnestly. If they're saying that this isn't enough, or it's lacking, or they put down the Bible, or they want to add something to it like the Book of Mormon, or the Quran, or any other such book, there's only one name given under heaven whereby we may be saved. And that's the Christ that's taught in this Bible. It's not Hindu, or Buddhist, or any other Islam. That's not it. This is where we find true Christianity is in God's Word. So, reject those who would say otherwise. I remember getting a... Now, this was some wacko. I'm sorry, but we've seen some of this, where a person that was affiliated with the Church of God somewhere wrote what he called the Little Book of Revelation. It was that big, it was that thick. It was much larger than the Book of Revelation. And he promulgated a lot of his own stuff.

And it was just, it was a farce. You know, I mean, hopefully no one believes that stuff. But there are a lot of gullible people out there. I'm not saying any of you are gullible, but I am a shocked at how gullible people can be sometimes. So always be on guard.

Always look for the truth, and cling to the truth. Thirdly, when people tell you that God's law is down the way, we should contend earnestly for the faith. Now, as I mentioned, that happened in our own fellowship, and we had to contend earnestly for the faith.

Now, we really did have to contend earnestly. I was getting up early in the morning, blowing the dust off the Book of Galatians. But I was also blowing it off of every other book of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, because that's where we find the truth, from Genesis to Revelation. And so, Satan has his way of twisting things, and messing up people's minds, and he even uses the Bible sometimes to do that.

So we have to be wiser, we have to be closer to God, we have to be able to see through the deception.

Anyone that says the Bible or the Scriptures are done away, just remember Matthew 5, 17 and 18. Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. Christ did not come to destroy anything in regard to the holy and righteous law. Even Paul himself calls it a holy and righteous law. Holy, just, and good. And Paul said, circumcision is nothing, uncircumcision is nothing, but what really matters? Do you remember what he said? 1 Corinthians 7 verse 19, what matters is keeping the commandments of God.

That's Paul himself. That's clear. That's understandable. It's not, you know, some would say, well, we need to follow the commandments of Christ, but not the Ten Commandments. That is a straw man. Jesus Christ was there talking to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, delivering the law because Abraham obeyed my voice, kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Jesus Christ, before he became known as the Christ, was the one delivering that word to Abraham. So we must not be deceived by heresy. Just cling to the truth. Remember that some in Jude's day would turn the grace of God into lewdness or licentiousness. That was happening. Paul had to combat that. God forbid, he said, God forbid that we should sin more just so we can be forgiven. That's not the kind of attitude God wants from his people. Titus chapter 2, 11 and 12 says, we're to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. That's what we're supposed to deny. Don't get into the party atmosphere where that kind of stuff takes over and people follow that. That leads to destruction. It doesn't lead to eternal life.

We are to deny ungodliness and worldly lust. We are to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. That's what Titus chapter 2 verse 11 and 12 says. It means just as much today as it did back then in this present age. It meant a lot back then, and God's it means exactly the same thing today. We are to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. A fourth time is when God allows personal tragedy to come upon you or a loved one.

This has thrown lots of people because God does allow personal tragedies to happen in our own families, in our own lives, and that's difficult. You know, that's hard when a loved one dies, and perhaps they die prematurely, and they're taken away from us, and there's not a thing we can do to bring them back right now. We can keep their memories. You know, we can think fondly of them, but they're not coming back right now. That's not God's will at this time. So when God allows personal tragedy to come upon you, maybe a loved one dies, then will you be faithful? Will you stay with it? Ecclesiastes 9 verse 11. Let's read just a few verses here in Ecclesiastes chapter 9.

Ecclesiastes 9 verse 11.

Like I said, this has thrown a lot of people throughout the ages. How could a loving God allow this to happen? Time and chance happens to us all. You know, God allows that. Verse 9, instruction from Solomon, Live joyfully with a wife whom you love all the days of your vain life, which He has given you unto the sun. All your days of vanity, for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform unto the sun. So he's saying, enjoy your lives. You know, embrace life. Enjoy your life. You're supposed to do that, but do it in a godly manner. Do it in a godly way, and whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. So there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you're going. And he goes on to show that, well, let's just read verse 11. I returned, I saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift, not always, nor the battle to the strong, not always, nor bread to the wise, not always, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill, but time and chance. It happens to everyone. And God is not a respecter of persons, and he may allow time and chance to happen to us.

And how will we respond? Will we respond in faith?

Looking to the kingdom is the key to getting past these personal tragedies in our lives. We have to look beyond the present, the temporary to the eternal. This life is temporary, but God's kingdom is eternal, and it is lasting. And this temporary situation is going to pass. Perhaps not before death, in some cases, but it shall pass. Now, Satan would love for us to develop to develop a root of bitterness toward God or toward others for allowing or causing a tragedy to come upon us or our loved ones. But we must not go there, because God has promised to never leave us and to never forsake us. So whenever a trial like that comes upon us, he will be there to help us through it. So we have to rely on him. We have to wait on him. We have to draw strength from God the Father and from Jesus Christ. Okay, let's go on to the last point. Number five, when Satan is attacking, we need to contend earnestly. Satan, I guess, isn't always attacking.

He's looking for that opportune time, when I mentioned earlier. But he will attack, so are you aware when Satan is attacking? Sometimes he can be very subtle, as I mentioned. He can be very deceptive, but sometimes he can be very overt in his attacks. So we have to be prepared for whatever comes our way and be ready. And the key is to always be close to God. If we're always close to God, then we have nothing to fear because draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Resist Satan and he will flee from you. So there is protection. There is help against our enemies. God gives us all the help that we need. So, brethren, we do have a very special, precious calling. It is precious to us, just like our children. This morning we had all these children up here, and they sang songs to us. They were extremely cute. We were taking pictures of them.

It was a very wonderful celebration and a ceremony. But we should love the truth like we love our children.

We're not going to forsake our children. We should never forsake the truth.

The truth is precious, just like our children. Now, there's no question that we're saved by grace, as I mentioned earlier, by God's graciousness in sacrificing His Son for each and every one of us. And by Christ's graciousness and His willingness to give His life for us, we know that we can contend earnestly for whatever comes in the future. God has given us the means. We have what it takes because God is with us.

We contend earnestly when we're always seeking repentance for our sins.

Last week, in the sermon I mentioned in the morning, that God wants us to become a church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But in this life, we're not going to be perfect, are we? Not in the flesh. So God's looking for a repentant church. He's looking for a repentant people who are willing to say, look, I was wrong. You know, I sinned. You know, I should never have done what I did. I should never have said what I said. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Those words are powerful. Please forgive me. I should not have done what I did. So we all need to be willing and able to say those words. You know, if we blow it, if we sin, if we, you know, there's lots of ways to sin, right? Lots of ways, a whole bunch of ways to sin. So if we sin in any of those ways, and may God give us the strength to say, I'm sorry, I hurt you by what I did, by what I said, whatever it is, please forgive me and let's move on together. Now that's what we can all do. But we have to admit where we've been wrong. And we have to take ownership for where we've blown it. And if we don't know about it, then please come and see me. If I'm one who's offended you, then come and see me, because I may not be aware of it. And if I was aware of it, then I would likely say, look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, or I shouldn't have said it, or I was wrong.

We should all be willing to do that.

So the call to contend earnestly is a call to vigorously contend with all the spiritual weapons that we have at our disposal. And we have lots of them.

God has given us lots of spiritual weapons, first and foremost, with the word of God applied first to ourselves, and then to others. First, we get the plank out of our own eye, so we can see clearly to help others.

And we're not so self-righteous and judgmental toward others.

We must also contend earnestly utilizing the Christ-like characteristics that are mighty in God for pulling down those strongholds, bringing every thought into captivity unto the obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ.

The call to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered is just as real for you and me today as it was nearly 2,000 years ago when Jude wrote those words of admonition and warning.

So are we taking this warning to heart? Are all of us taking this warning to heart? How strong again is your faith in your faith? Will we all continue to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to us? Your calling and your salvation depends upon it.

Your calling and your salvation depends upon it. And with Christ with you, you will not fail.

So let's keep up the good work. Keep fighting the good fight.