Contend for the Faith

Contend for the Faith

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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Jude 3
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.

The above verse reflects the apostate conditions that are in the world today.

There is something we need to do these days: We need to earnestly contend for the faith. Earnestly means seriously.

We shouldn't fool around with this. We shouldn't pick it up and lay it down. No, we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. We need to earnestly contend, that we don't let those things slip that were once given.

We also need to earnestly contend for the Lord to give back those things that have ceased, to where they are in full bloom again as they were meant to be.

Here in Jude 3 we are exhorted to earnestly contend for the common salvation. That is what it's all about! We shouldn't let that slip.

Are you holding on to the common salvation yet letting many things about it die on the vine, not getting back to all that God gave when He brought this common salvation to us?

Looking Back at What God Gave

We can look back to that day when the church was formed on the day of Pentecost and see what God gave us at that time.

Another word that may help put the emphasis where it belongs in this Scripture is the word restore. For God to restore is for God to bring back things which have been lost for one reason or another: things which the church has drifted away from, things which it puts little importance on, things which it doesn't practice any longer.

The church doesn't see any need today for those things which were so important in days gone by.

If you go back to the beginning — back to the book of Acts — and start to look from there, you will soon find when the common salvation came to the Gentiles: Acts 10. Back there is where God gave the Gentiles the same gift of the Holy Ghost that He gave to Israel in the upper room.

We should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered, considering all that was given, going to work on it, making sure we're not laying it aside.

We need all of those things that God, in the abundance of His grace, has provided for us. Why, then, should we lay something aside? It may have been laid aside a long time ago by others, but why should we continue to leave it laying aside?

The Baptism of the Holy Ghost was laid aside for a long time. Going back many generations, you find very few who had the Baptism. It wasn't a common thing back then.

It was in the 20th Century that a great revival came forth of the outpouring of the Spirit, and God began pouring out His Spirit wonderfully. When it became manifest what God was doing, multitudes sought it out. And, certainly, this past century has seen some great revivals where God has poured out His Spirit.

God gave it, and, thus, it is something we want to earnestly contend for. Let's not be satisfied to take less.

Now, when I say that, I don't mean that we're in control and can tell God what to do. I don't mean that at all. I mean that God gave it and that we may not be doing anything with what He has given. There are a lot of things that may be just laying idle.

If we're not doing anything with that which God has given, let's pick it up and get back all that we can by prayer and supplication: seeking God, studying His Word, embracing the promises, doing our best to enter in to those things.

Let those things be manifest in our hearts and in our lives. It's there. What are we doing with it?

Are you laying the Baptism of the Holy Ghost aside? People have laid this aside for generations — just look back at church history 1,000 years ago. Where was the Baptism during that period of time?

The early church had it, but then we find here in Jude that at the time Jude wrote this, somebody was getting alarmed because men were beginning to let the things of the common salvation slip, laying them aside.

God inspired Jude to see this and to sit down and write a warning: that we should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

Understand that it's up to us in a way to take hold of what God gave us. It's what we do, many times, with what we have. We have it and then we lay it aside, letting it slip.

God doesn't let it slip. We let it slip.

What Have You Let Slip?

Now, what have you let slip lately? Where have you slipped back a little? Where do you look and see that you're slipping back?

I'm going to talk about you, personally, for a minute, and ask you a question: Why don't you have the gifts of God in your life? Is it because God took these gifts back? Is it because He's laid them aside? Or is it that you don't seek them out, that you don't have any interest in the gifts of God?

That's all it takes: losing your grip where you just don't have an interest, where you don't take time to pray. You don't seek it out from God, and, therefore, you don't receive it.

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Are you robbing yourself by not persevering and pressing in? by not earnestly contending for that faith once delivered unto the saints? by not earnestly contending for those things which the early church was so blessed with?

When was the last time you got down on your face and sought God to fill you anew with the Holy Ghost, sought Him to put some gifts in operation in your life? When did you particularly seek Him to do that?

Can you look back to say, "Oh, I remember that time!" Is it only that one time you can remember?

It's up to you. You're the loser when you don't contend and keep what God gave you. You're the loser. You're the one who's lacking.

If you're not earnest in your heart in seeking God for His healing power, for His miracles, for His power to be manifest, and then you're sick and you fail to seek God to heal you, you have no one to blame but your own lack of persevering and seeking, your own lack of earnestly contending and asking God for a full restoration in the church of all of His spiritual benefits.

This is what the churches need, what the saints need, and what you need: to earnestly contend for that faith.

Realize, now, that these things that God has provided are precious.

Times change. This generation is not to be compared with the generation of 300 years ago or with the generation of 500 years ago.

When I was a kid, I lived back in the Model T Ford days. Can you remember those days? Can you remember 50 years before that time?

My mom didn't talk much about Model T Fords; she talked about horses. And my grandfather spoke about skidding logs with a team of horses! Life way back then was quite different. If you could step back in time, it would seem strange to your ears to hear one of those Model T Fords come puttering up the road.

We can look back at previous generations and see that every one has not been alike, and every one has not responded in the same way.

A New Pentecost?

Our generations have been privileged to see God pouring out His Spirit to restore and bring down such a blessing. And yet we can see how many are casting that aside today. We find those who have what they call a new Pentecost.

To me, to say there's a new Pentecost is a flat rejection of the old one. Why would anybody want to label Pentecost as new? I would call Pentecost old: the Pentecost that was once delivered to the saints.

Maybe there are those today who are ashamed of this old Pentecost. They want to polish it up and make it look so nice that every one would want it.

Listen, there was that outpouring of God's Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the power and the anointing and the unction and the gifts and the callings. All of these flowed from that.

Why, then, should we want to come along to make a new Pentecost?

I'm not looking for a new Pentecost. I'm not praying for a new Pentecost. I'm praying for a revival, a restoration of the old Pentecostal blessing. That's what we need flowing greatly in this last day: revival like we've never seen before.

God has great things He still wants to do. And He would do these things for His glory.

Don't you want it? Don't you want a full manifestation?

Then earnestly contend for God's blessing upon your life, upon your church, that all which God gave and this generation has let slip by, He would restore and bring back.

So, no matter what we do, we've got to realize in the depths of our hearts that there's a need in our nation, a need in the world. There is a need for those things which we treasure so much. So many places have lost it or laid it aside for something else.

God gave the early church such a great blessing. He got them started in a mighty way, didn't He, with grace and with might and with power and with great gifts and callings? God brought this into being.

He worked to send the gospel out to the nations. Yes, God worked mightily at the beginning of the age, and we need to recognize that we are now at the end of the age.

Signs of the End Times

I believe they faced a lot of hardships at the beginning of the age; they faced a lot of persecution; they faced a lot of misunderstanding, and now here we are at the end of the age.

Look at the things that lie ahead — and not too far ahead.

This world is filled with calamities. If we look carefully at the conditions that prevail, we will see the Word of God is being fulfilled (see Matthew 24).

Matthew 24:37
But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Now, what were the days of Noah like?

Genesis 6:11-13
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

God points back to that event as a warning to our generation. He said, "As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man."

That was a day when violence filled the earth, and we certainly are living in a violent world. When was the world ever this violent? If there were ever another world war, would anything be left of this world? Would there be anything that wasn't destroyed?

If nuclear bombs were unleashed throughout the world, with every major city having six or seven set off at a time, what would be left?

The power to destroy this world is in the hands of man! War today has a violence you can't imagine unless you're out on the front lines somewhere.

And there was apostasy, with the righteous and the unrighteous intermarrying. And the ungodliness that came forth as the result of that, causing God to repent that He had ever made man!

We look at all those things and say, God warns us about that day, likening it to the days to come: As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

Luke 17:28-30
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

We find that the wickedness and ungodly sexual behavior of Sodom and Gomorrah is parallel right down the line to what we see today. We see the same lifestyle, with multitudes caught up in it. Today they pride themselves to where they're open, bold about their sin.

Every large city in this nation is polluted with it. God warned us that in the days when Jesus would come, this would be the example of the condition the world would be in. They're not believing that one day the fire of judgment is going to fall. They continue on in their sin, claiming that God made them that way.

Genesis 19:1-5
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: and they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

The men of Sodom, both old and young, insisted that Lot give them the two men that came into his house that night. Lot offered them his two virgin daughters, but they weren't interested in them. They wanted these two men!

They didn't know these two men were actually angels!

As it was in the days of Noah, it brought a flood. And in the days of Lot it brought a fire.

Judgment by Fire

Now, God gave the sign of a rainbow to Noah, assuring him that He wouldn't cause another flood like that to come upon the earth.

II Peter 3:6-7
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

It's not going to be another flood. It's going to be a fire! a fire judgment like Sodom and Gomorrah — only greater. This fire judgment will melt the elements with fervent heat.

Be Ready for Jesus' Second Coming

Contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints! God isn't asking us to go back to Noah's day nor to the days of Lot. He is just letting us know what it will be like in the days of the coming of Jesus.

In these last days, the apostasy, the slipping away, gets greater and greater. There are things happening today that stagger one's mind.

We want to think about our soul. We want to be right and clean. We want to be holiness unto the Lord — and we want to be ready.

So, in Noah's day they didn't know until the flood came and took them away. In the days of Sodom and Gomorrah they didn't know until the fire came and took them all away.

This gives warning to us. It pays to be ready. In the last days they won't know until the fire judgments of God fall upon them and they're carried away.

Let's settle the issue. What do we need to do? What do we need to do in this last day? What do we need to do until Jesus comes?

Luke 19:13
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

"Be busy until I come. Do the work I gave you to do until I come." Let's walk carefully and prayerfully with the Lord. Stand up for the Lord and be earnest about our faith.

But we'd best be ready. It's not like the Lord has left it up to us to work out some means of escape. No, God has His plan, and only God can ever get us out, ahead of that floodtide of judgments.

Last Days False Teachers

Jude 4
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.

Here God warns about what would be at the end of the age: men rising and turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness is one of the most heinous crimes one could do! Yet you see this today in the church world.

What is greater than the grace of God that brought such a salvation to us — without charge! God's plan of redemption was so great. His grace put Christ on the cross to suffer and bleed in our place.

Last day apostate teachers, whose mission and teaching is to turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, cause great falling away at the end of the age. They teach lies, yet men follow them.

Contend Earnestly for the Faith

It's all here as something we should be alarmed about, knowing that we are called to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints.

Do we really have all of that faith today? Do we need to contend more? Do we need to get down at an altar of prayer more ourselves to contend with God?

"Lord, give us back all that we lost, all that we need for this period of time we're living in before the coming of the Lord. Lord, give back to the church! Bring back into the church the power of God! Generously bring it back, that the church would have what it needs to stand, that the faithful will have what is needed."

It's the faithful whom God will bring it back to. Yes, it's the faithful He will give it to.

God is telling us that we should earnestly contend. The church around the world needs to contend with God in these last days.

So, thinking about how many will turn the grace of God into a giant sex party of some kind.

Lasciviousness: That's not a decent word. The dictionary defines it as "hot, lewd lust." Men burning in themselves. They burn and burn and burn in lust day and night. It's controlling and it's part of the last days, so it's part of the group that is as the days of Lot.

Let's be serious about our faith. I don't want that other way, do you? I want to live a clean, wholesome, holy life. I want to meet Jesus when He comes.

The world is controlled by that old lust spirit, but let us earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Let's be serious about walking in holiness and uprightness before God.

Let's purpose in our hearts to serve God out of a pure heart, that we might have the blessing that Christ came and suffered and died for.

So, we're warned to contend for that. We're warned to be careful that we don't let it slip. We read in Jude a warning about how it could slip, and then we read how it does slip, with many being brought down because they go along with this lascivious program.

It's a blessing to know that God has told us what we should do — telling us to earnestly contend.

Contend in Prayer

Let's think about restoration. Let's think about God wanting to move in this last day with a revival — a revival like we've never seen before. Let's think about the goodness of God and about the promise of God that He would do these things — not for anything man propositions God about, but for one reason: for His glory.

God will work — let's contend for that. Our contending causes God to respond. When men will pray, when men will call on God, when men pray earnestly, it makes a difference. It will always make a difference when you pray and seek the mind of God and seek the heart of God.

It's not hard to receive from God when you go to Him and pray about those things that are dear to His heart. That is contending, and it's contending that pays off. It's contending that moves the heart of God.

Therefore, I would advise you to contend with God about spiritual blessings. I would encourage you to contend with God about spiritual gifts, about a full manifestation of true spiritual gifts in the church, about a hunger sweeping over the hearts of God's people in this day to want these spiritual blessings from God.

Don't be so taken up with other things that you have no interest in spiritual things, that you don't contend with God for them.

Let's contend. Let the church contend with God for these blessings that were once delivered unto the saints. Let the church pray! Let the saints pray! Let every individual believer pray! And let's contend before God about these spiritual blessings.

We don't want to let these things slip through our fingers.

We must contend. See what contending will really bring: getting right in there and seeking God with our whole heart — praying and talking to God, starting a real dialogue with God that goes on and on — because we're down there seeking what we know is in the Scriptures, what we know God would want to do.

God has been moved about a lot of things, and in this day and hour He is moved about bringing revival for His glory. And surely God is going to let the name of Jesus be highly honored in this last day.

He's been so dishonored in this generation, and this falling away is a rejection of Him. This falling away is not that they just fell aside. It's a turning away. It's a rejection of Jesus. That gets down to a real issue: how many times has the Lord been rejected of men! a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53). And in this last day there are many who are in the realm of rejecting the Lord Jesus.

But today let us earnestly contend for the faith.

Does that make sense to you? Do you see the need to seriously, earnestly contend in prayer? Do you see the need to get down and really pray and seek God concerning spiritual things for your life and for the lives of others?

Here's where we should be. This is something you should do. This is something you have to take upon yourself. Do you want those blessings? Contend for them. Do you want to see the great things of God? Contend for them.

When you see in the Word of God things He has spoken which are not being done, contend for those things.

Somebody has to rise up and contend. God will let you contend day after day after day — and then the day will come when you find out He has heard you and He will respond.

Let's contend earnestly. Let's not just lie down, just sit down, and take it easy. The times merit our best service unto the Lord. The times merit our best.

Earnestly contend. Pray for restoration of spiritual things. Contend for them! "God, give me a heart after spiritual things! Yes, God, give me a heart after spiritual things!"