Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints. Sermons I. HIS CONCERN FOR THEIR WELFARE. "Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you." 1. It was a, ready, prompt, entire diligence, because there was danger in delay, and the constraint of love was upon him. 2. It is right that ministers should be diligent about the most important concerns, the interests of truth and the welfare of the flock. 3. Jude showed his concern for the saints by committing his thoughts to writing. (1) Writing gave them permanence. Words pass away, but writing remains. "This shall be written for the generation to come." (2) Writing secured a wider circle of hearers. Every age of the Church, as well as the first, has been benefited by this brief letter of Jude. (3) It is a great sin to undervalue the written Word of God. II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT OF HIS WRITING. "Our common salvation." 1. The nature of this salvation. (1) It is the deliverance of man from the guilt and power of sin and the complete redemption of his soul and body in the day of judgment. (2) It begins in the present life. (3) God has given us his Word to show the way of salvation. 2. It is the common salvation of all sailors. "Our common salvation." (1) Christ, the Saviour, is common to all the saints. (2) There is but one common way to heaven. There is but "one faith." (3) The blessings of salvation are common to all believers, Jew and Gentile. (4) It is a salvation of which the early Christians had an experimental knowledge; it is "our common salvation." III. THE NECESSITY FOR HIS WRITING. "I was constrained to write unto yon." This arose: 1. From the evil doctrines of the antinomians. 2. From their subtle arts. 3. From the too great readiness of the saints to be deceived. 4. The exposure of seducers is a necessary part of the ministry. IV. THE NATURE OF THE EXHORTATION JUDE ADDRESSED TO THE SAINTS. "Exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints." Christians must suffer the word of exhortation, which is an excellent help to religious steadfastness. 1. The matter to be contended for. (1) It is the doctrine of faith, or the truth which is to be received in order to our salvation. It is called "faith" because it is the instrument used by the Holy Spirit to work faith. (2) It is the faith "delivered" by God, not discovered by man. The natural man can no more perceive than he can discover the things which are of God (1 Corinthians 2:24). (3) It is the faith delivered "once for all." No other faith will ever be given. No new doctrines are to be added to the circle of faith, though the truth may be cast in new forms, and shaped according to the intellectual and spiritual exigencies of each age. Therefore (a) it is a great sin to despise the faith delivered to us; (b) we ought to be thankful for it; (c) we ought to receive and obey it in the love of it; (d) we ought to guard it against heretical perversions. (4) It is a sacred deposit placed in the hands of trustees - delivered to the saints. Not to holy prophets and apostles merely, but to all saints, even in ages destitute of prophets and apostles. (a) It is a solemn trust, involving great responsibilities. (b) The saints are to keep the faith for their own salvation and comfort. (c) They are to keep it for generations to come. (d) How much is the world indebted to the saints! (e) The trustees of the faith ought to have holy hands and holy hearts. 2. The duty of the saints to contend for the faith. This duty implies (1) the importance of this faith, for it is the best things that Satan is most anxious to destroy; (2) the presence of adversaries seeking to corrupt or destroy it; (3) the need of Divine strength for contending for it with effect; (4) the various ways in which the saints are to contend for it - (a) by refuting and convincing gainsayers, (b) by praying for its success, (c) by confessing it boldly before men, (d) by mutual exhortation, (e) by holy example, (f) by suffering for the truth. - T.C.
Beloved. 1. Piety is no enemy to courtesy.2. The work and labour of a minister should proceed from love to his people. 3. People should study to be fit for the love of their pastor. 4. The love of a minister must not be slack and remiss, but vehement and ardent. 5. Loving a minister's person has a great influence upon loving his doctrine. 6. The aim of minister in being beloved of his people should be to benefit their souls. 7. The love of a minister to his people should procure love again from his people. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.) I gave all diligence 1. Greatest diligence is always to be used about the best things, about matters of greatest concernment. It is madness to make as great a fire for the roasting of an egg as for the roasting of an ox; to follow the world with as much fervency as we do holiness: and about trifles to be employed with vast endeavours. It is impossible to be too diligent for heaven, and difficult not to be over-diligent for the earth.2. All that ministers, even the best of them, can do, is but to be diligent, to take pains and endeavour (1 Corinthians 3:6). One thing to preach, another to persuade. 3. Diligence in duty is the commendation of ministers. The light of knowledge without the heat of love, speaks him not excellent. He is not made for sight, but for service. 4. People who partake of the minister's diligence, must take heed of negligence. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.) To write unto you Writing is a great help to promote the common salvation. By this means we speak to the absent and to posterity; and by this means are the oracles of God preserved in public records, which otherwise were in danger of being corrupted, if left to the uncertainty of verbal tradition. Apostolical doctrine being committed to writing, remaineth as a constant rule of faith and manners. Finally, by writing, the streams of salvation are conveyed into every family, that in the defect of public preaching good supply may be had in this kind (Judges 5:14). Again, in controversials there is great use of writing, controversies not being so easily determined by the judgment of the ear as the eye. In the clamour of disputations and violent discourse, usually there is such a dust raised, that we cannot so soon discern the truth as upon a calm debate, and mature consideration of what is delivered in writing.(T. Manton.) Of the common salvation I. INVITE ATTENTION TO THE THEME. "The common salvation."1. Salvation is adapted to all. It meets the case of man, as it provides — (1) (2) (3) 2. The salvation of the gospel is sufficient for all. As well exhaust the Godhead as exhaust it. If you were bid betake yourself to that mighty ocean, would you say there was not water enough for me to bathe in? 3. The salvation of the gospel offers itself freely to all. II. EXHORT THE URGENCY OF PERSONAL APPROPRIATION OF THE COMMON SALVATION. It suggests mournful considerations. Is what lies within the reach of all, what comes as a boon to be forfeited. Ah, what a dismal consummation from such preliminaries! It is no dubious problem, that, in order to any benefit, the salvation must be appropriated; otherwise it is worse than of no avail. For that dishonoured salvation must throw a dismal complexion on your eternity. It must add intensity to all its retributions. (Adam Forman.) 1. The full admission of man's entire depravity and ruin. 2. The necessity of an entire and sole dependence on the finished work of Christ. 3. The necessity of the influences of the Holy Spirit, for the regeneration and sanctification of the soul. II. THE WONDROUS SCENES IT DISCLOSES. 1. Look back to the counsels of eternal love. 2. Observe the scenes of the Redeemer's advent. 3. Look to the scenes of purity and bliss above. III. THE DISTINGUISHING BLESSINGS IT CONFERS. 1. Pardon and peace. 2. Adoption and dignity. 3. Comfort and preservation. 4. Present pleasure and joyful anticipation. IV. THE PERSONAL ATTENTION IT DEMANDS. (W. Spencer.) I. THE UNDERLYING CONCEPTION OF A UNIVERSAL DEEPEST NEED. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." The tap root of all human miseries lies in the solemn fact of human transgression. That is a universal fact. Wide differences part us, but there is one thing that we have all in common: a conscience and a will that lifts itself against disliked good. Beneath all surface differences of garb there lies the same fact, the common sickness of sin. Now, do not let us lose ourselves in generalities. Whatever you may want, be sure of this: that your deepest needs will not be met until the fact of your individual sinfulness and the consequences of that fact are somehow or other dealt with, staunched, and swept away. II. THE COMMON REMEDY. "The common salvation." There is one remedy for the sickness. There is one safety against the danger. There is only one, because it is the remedy for all men, and it is the remedy for all men because it is the remedy for each. Jesus Christ deals, as no one else has ever pretended to deal, with this outstanding fact of my transgression and yours. He, by His death, as I believe, has saved the world from the danger because He has set right the world's relations to God. On the Cross, Jesus Christ the son of God bore the weight of the world's sin, yours and mine and every man's. Further, Jesus Christ imparts a life that cures the sickness of sin. Christ deals with men in the depths of their being. He will give you, if you will, a new life and new tastes, directions, inclinations, impulses, perceptions, hopes, and capacities, and the evil will pass away, and you will be whole. Jesus Christ heals society by healing the individual. There is no other way of doing it. If the units are corrupt the community cannot be pure. III. THE COMMON MEANS OF POSSESSING THE COMMON HEALING. My second text tells us what that is — "The common faith." If it is true that salvation is a gift from God, then it is quite plain that the only thing that we require is an outstretched hand. It is no arbitrary appointment. The only possible way of possessing "the common salvation" is by the exercise of "the common faith." (A. Maclaren, D. D.) II. BECAUSE IT CONCERNS ALL CLASSES. III. BECAUSE IT SATISFIES A COMMON NEED. IV. BECAUSE IT IS ADAPTED TO MEN OF ALL RACES AND EVERY CLIME. V. BECAUSE IT IS THE THEME OF ALL THE WRITERS OF SCRIPTURE. Learn — 1. To accept this salvation. 2. To publish it. 3. To defend it. (James Hoyle.) II. CHRIST IS OFFERED FREELY TO ALL, IN ORDER TO BE RECEIVED ALTOGETHER AS HE IS EXHIBITED IN THE GOSPEL. 1. In His complex character as God-man. 2. In all His offices as Mediator, Prophet, Priest, and King. (F. Frew.) II. The gospel is not only called "the salvation," but "THE COMMON SALVATION." This may be intended to intimate — 1. That the salvation which the gospel reveals flows to believers from one common source — Christ. 2. That it is the same salvation that is enjoyed by all the children of God. 3. That the salvation of the gospel is common to every age, and class, and clime. 4. That all true believers have a common interest in this salvation — that they are all alike bound to maintain its doctrines, to vindicate its principles, and to promote its practical designs. III. The gospel is also here described as "THE FAITH ONCE DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS." IV. THE MANNER AND SPIRIT IN WHICH WE ARE TO "CONTEND FOR THE FAITH." V. THE REASONS WHICH RENDER THIS CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH NECESSARY. 1. Because men are by nature hostile to the truth, and therefore disposed to pervert it. 2. Because the glory of God is peculiarly connected with the preservation of His truth. 3. Because the uncorrupted truth is essential to the salvation of man. 4. Because we are bound in this matter to follow the example of our Lord and His apostles. (W. McGilvray, D. D.) 2. Christ and heaven are full and satisfactory; they are enough for all. 3. None should be willing to be saved alone. Heaven was made for a common good. 4. They who teach others the way to salvation, should be in a state of salvation themselves. He who has sailed into foreign coasts, discourses more thoroughly and satisfactorily than he who has only map knowledge. 5. The commonness of salvation to all believers should be a great inducement to every one to labour particularly for salvation, and that they may not miss of it themselves. 6. There is but one way to heaven. There are many nations, more men, only one faith. 7. The partakers of this "common salvation," who here agree in one way to heaven, and who expect to be hereafter in one heaven, should be of one heart. (W. Jenkyn, M. A.) (S. Otes.) II. BECAUSE YOU CAN COMMUNICATE IT TO MANKIND EVERYWHERE. I have spoken of various forms of religious service, and various modes of religious action; now of many of them it may be said that they arose out of the necessities of some given district, and that they relate exclusively to the peculiarities of that district. But you cannot tell me of any region of earth where Christianity cannot be instituted; the man does not live to whom it may not be preached, and by whom it may not be forthwith enjoyed. The nation cannot be found under heaven to which it may not be sent. The government does not exist under which it will not survive. Peculiarities, geographical, local or national, cannot be found whereby it would be set at nought. III. BECAUSE IT IS ADAPTED TO MANKIND EVERYWHERE. It is not only required by them in the general, but it is adapted to them severally, wherever they may be found. There are great peculiarities — personal peculiarities amongst the human family. 1. What peculiarities there are, for example, in respect to constitutional temperament! One man is cheerful, so much so that some would say of him, that he is volatile and gay. Another man, on the contrary, is taciturn. It would be said of him that he is gloomy or morose. Others partake of each of these peculiarities in a manner which, perhaps, may be said to constitute the temperament we most admire. The gospel when brought to bear on these peculiarities, ministers impulse where it is required — it ministers equanimity where that is required, and strength where strength is required. It preserves cheerfulness from degenerating into levity, and seriousness from degenerating into gloom. 2. Again, what peculiarities there exist with respect to age! The young man needs to be reminded that the world is a great delusion, and to be kept under constant, powerful, yet cheerful check, lest he put darkness for light, and light for darkness. The man of business needs to be reminded that this is not his rest. The man of threescore years and ten needs to be succoured, comforted, and cheered by the consolations of the gospel. It takes the young man and the maiden, and administers counsel and instruction to them. It takes the man of business, and is like a monitor at his very elbow on the exchange, bidding him not to forget the things which are unseen and eternal. It goes to the old man's chamber, and makes all his bed in his sickness. 3. Yet again, there are peculiarities with respect to intellectual power. There are some men who are profoundly intellectual, and there are other men who are not profoundly intellectual. There is a very great variety of gradation between those two extremes; but mark! The proverbs, the parables, the doctrines, the invitations in this Book were made as much for the sage as they were for the rustic; and, engaged as men of the most opposite intellectual power may be upon the examination of it, I would defy anybody to tell whether the philosopher or the peasant were most at home. 4. Then there is another peculiarity with regard to the degree of each person's criminality. It is adapted to the profligate, the blasphemer, the dishonourable — to adopt the language of the Apostle Paul, it is adapted to the disobedient, the lawless, the ungodly. IV. BECAUSE IT MAY BE PROFFERED TO ALL MANKIND, EVERYWHERE. So explicit are its declarations, so unrestricted are its invitations. "Believe thou on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved!" The light of heaven is unrestricted, and the light of the gospel is equally so. (W. Brock.) (R. W. Dale, D. D.) 1. For the purity of the faith. 2. For the influence of the faith. 3. For the propagation of the faith. II. THE GROUNDS which justified the apostle in making this duty so imperative. 1. The importance of the faith in itself. 2. The proneness of men to deteriorate or pervert the faith. 3. The violent opposition of avowed enemies, and the seduction of secret foes. 4. The Divine origin of the revelation. III. THE SPIRIT AND TEMPER in which, as Christians, we should discharge the duty. 1. Our methods must be spiritual, not carnal. 2. Our efforts should be enlightened and scriptural. 3. We should contend for the faith with great earnestness. 4. We should combine with firmness a charitable spirit. 5. While active in the propagation of the gospel among our fellow men, there should be a consistent exemplification of religion in our own lives. 6. We should give ourselves to prayer, accompanying all our exertions with ardent supplications for the outpourings of the Holy Spirit. (C. Barry.) 1. Christians are not called upon to contend for — (1) (2) 2. We are to contend for —(1) The great facts of the gospel. The incarnation, miracles, sufferings, death, resurrection, etc., of Christ.(2) The essential doctrines of the faith. The fall of man. Divinity and atonement of Christ. Influence of Holy Spirit. Salvation by faith.(3) The experimental power and influence of the faith. Practical holiness. II. THE NATURE OF THIS DUTY. "Earnestly contend." 1. Not with bigoted zeal. 2. Not with secular, carnal weapons. 3. In a Christian spirit. 4. Judiciously. 5. Practically. By example, as well as precept or rebuke. III. THE NECESSITY OF DISCHARGING THIS DUTY. 1. It is enjoined by Divine authority. 2. By contending for the faith you will yourself become more established in it. (Josiah Hill.) 1. The word faith here must be understood as meaning the objects of faith — all the great doctrines of the gospel which we must cordially believe, and all its holy precepts which we must diligently practise. 2. This faith was once delivered to the saints. It was communicated first to the evangelists and apostles by the teaching of Jesus Christ and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and was by them spread abroad in the world. II. HOW ARE WE TO CONTEND FOR IT? 1. We must strenuously contend for this faith, as a prize of inestimable value. 2. We must also contend for this faith with great diligence. It should be our daily study and prayer that this faith may be firmly rooted in our own hearts, and in the hearts of all who are placed under our care or under our influence. 3. We must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, with much anxiety. We must be "sober and vigilant," as knowing that we are exposed to many enemies, who would rob us of our faith. 4. We must further contend for this faith with constant perseverance. Surely you would not wish merely to fight some battles well in contending for your Christian faith, and then give up all for lost.Conclusion: 1. If any additional motives are necessary to persuade you thus to "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints," consider —(1) How much your present peace and eternal welfare depend upon this contest.(2) Consider how strongly you are urged by a principle of gratitude to hand down to others the pure faith of the gospel which you have received from your fathers.(3) There is another motive which should strongly urge you in this arduous contest: This is the love of Christ and of your brethren. (John Bull, M. A.) II. THE OBJECT FOR WHICH WE ABE DIRECTED TO CONTEND. We are to contend earnestly; but it is "for the faith once delivered to the saints." In other words, we are to contend, not for any notions of our own, not for any private views, personal feelings, imaginary distinctions, but for that which God has revealed. It is not easy to say how much the character of contention is affected by that, which is regarded as its object. If the object is personal, the contention becomes personal. Self-love, in that case, mixes itself with the feelings of the moment; and pride and vanity, and a hundred other evil tempers, are enlisted in the cause, and add bitterness and warmth to the dispute. On the other hand, he who wishes to defend nothing but "the faith once delivered to the saints," can contend, and earnestly too, without allowing his earnestness to exceed its proper limits, or become violent and intemperate. The cause in which he is engaged sanctifies the spirit with which it is advocated. The consciousness that he has truth on his side makes him calm. The assurance of God's word gives certainty and steadiness to his reasoning. (H. Raikes, M. A.) 1. First, surely we may gather reassurance from the past history of Christianity. Human nature is one and the same beneath all distinctions of race and class. Christianity has already in the past shown a marvellous power so to get down to the permanent roots of human life and to pass in substance unchanged through the greatest possible crisis and most radical epochs of change in human history. 2. Should we not find reassurance in the fact that the panics with which the faith of our own generation has been assailed are storms which the ship of Christian faith is already showing signs that she can weather? For example, it cannot be denied that the horror with which, not wisely perhaps, but certainly not unnaturally, new conceptions of evolution in nature were at first regarded by theologians and Christian teachers is passing away, and they at least are declaring on all sides and in all good faith that they do not find their frankest acceptance at all inconsistent with a Christian belief. 3. Again, if we are tempted to take an over-ideal view of development as the law of the world, and to fear that Christianity by the very fact that it claims finality proves its falsity, is there anything more reassuring than to consider carefully the broad fact that Christian morality has as a matter of history vindicated its claim in this respect. A morality — an ideal of human life, individual and social — promulgated in Syria 1800 years ago, proclaimed in its completeness by a few mostly uneducated men of Jewish birth and training, within the limit of a few years — this ideal has remained through the ages, and almost nobody seriously claims to find it deficient. At any rate those who do, appeal very little to our consciences and better reason. But, then, what a vast admission is here! It means that morality has, under circumstances when such a fact was not at all to be expected, vindicated its finality; each successive generation has but to go back and drink its fill afresh from that inexhaustible source of a moral ideal which is Catholic. 4. And if we are convinced of this, if we are convinced that in this moral and spiritual sphere of human life an ideal promulgated 1800 years ago in an Eastern country has shown every sign of being universal and final, if we are convinced that the law of evolution has here something which in actual experience limits its application, then it seems no great step to ask a person to admit that this finality shall be attributed not to the life merely in ideal and effect, but to what St. Paul calls the "mould" of Christian teaching which fashions the life. For just as surely as in the lapse of years we identify the Mahommedan character with the Mahommedan creed, and in the creed recognise the condition of the character, just so surely we must recognise the whole organism of the historic Christian system as the condition of the Christian morality. Is there any consideration in the world which can call itself scientific which would justify us in supposing that a life consciously and confessedly moulded by a body of truths can go on existing without those truths? Is it not contradicting all principles of science to imagine that a changed environment of truth will not produce a changed product? The prayerful temper must excite our admiration, but is it not inconceivable that the prayerful temper can be developed except on the basis of a belief in a personal God to whom we can have personal and open access? The temper of penitence we know to be one of the most absolute essentials of spiritual progress. But the temper of penitence is the simple product of a belief at once in the personal holiness and personal love of God, a belief which can become conviction only in the revelation of Christ. (Canon Gore.) 1. That faith is a gift. 2. That it is once given. 3. That it is given unto the saints. I. And first, THAT FAITH IS A GIFT, it is evident by the apostle's own words where he calleth Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith, as the Athenians were called the inventors and perfecters of all good learning. But the Church hath all her learning, religion, and faith from God; He gave it at the first, and He confirmed it at the last. This doctrine serveth to humble us; to let us see that it is not in our power, that faith is not hereditary: God beginneth it, and increaseth it, and finisheth it. II. But to proceed to the next point: THIS FAITH WAS ONCE GIVEN, once for all, once for ever; which commendeth unto us the constancy of God, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of change; He speaketh, and it is done. There is such mutability in men, that they change like the moon, they alter like the cameleon; but God alters not, but giveth His gifts to His Church once for ever. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Note this word "once" so often repeated — once God gave the law, once He gave the gospel. III. Thirdly, THIS FAITH IS GIVEN TO THE SAINTS. By saints he meaneth the children of God. First, in respect of separation, for they are elected and gathered out of this world. Secondly, in respect of vocation, they were saints by calling. Thirdly, in respect of regeneration. And lastly, in respect of justification or imputation, because the holiness and sanctity of Christ is imputed unto them. In that this faith is given unto the saints we learn that holy things are not to be given to dogs. The songs of nightingales are not for the ears of asses. (S. Otes.) I. Our first endeavour must be to ASCERTAIN AND VERIFY "THE FAITH ONCE FOR ALL DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS." 1. The treasure. What is it? "The faith," that is the phrase. It is a record of certain specific facts about the Lord Jesus Christ — if you please, a creed. To be sure there are creeds and creeds. Men have built around the great citadel of revelation certain out-works of theology which may be mere rubbish and worse than rubbish; and it is well for the citadel itself that the enemies of Christianity should destroy these. 2. The casket, what is it? It is that which contains the treasure. 3. The custodian is the church, the everlasting succession of Christ's true, living, human witnesses, who first received this truth from God. The truth was delivered, not invented by man, not reasoned out by man's intellect; delivered, handed by God to man; delivered once for all. II. It remains to state and unfold THE DUTY OF CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH once for all delivered to the saints. 1. It is sure to be contended against. Christ is the "Prince of Peace," but He is also a "man of war." He "came not to bring peace on earth but a sword." Christ's own track to His throne lay through thorns and blood. The truth is sure to be contended against. Heretics were Divinely predicted; therefore they are credentials of the faith. 2. It is worth contending for. It destroyed the old polytheistic civilisation. It changed the face of the world. It brought in a new and better era for the race of man. It emancipated the mind. Look back eighteen hundred years to what the world was. Gibbon writes of "a sinking world." I use his phrase. There was no promise of a noble future for the race. The home, as we conceive it, was not. The marriage tie had no sacredness. Man as man had no rights, and the individual was sunk in the state. Power, power was the one idea of ancient Rome. A modern French painter has caught the idea and represented it with wonderful fidelity. I mean Gerome; whose canvas shows us the Coliseum with its eighty thousand spectators hungering for the sighs of cruelty. The gladiatorial combat has proceeded, until the wretched victim has fallen at the feet of his more brawny or fortunate conqueror. He is weak, let him die. So said the vestal virgins, and so said ancient Rome. It was not far from that very time that plain, homely man wrote a letter to some people in Rome and said, "I am ready so much as in me lies to preach the gospel to you which are at Rome also; for it is power." Here is power against power. It is the power of God against the power of man. It is "the power of God unto salvation" as against man's power of destruction. 3. It is worth our while to contend for it. God's great way of making His truth mighty is by putting that truth into living men. His way of getting for His truth currency in the world is by putting it into the mouths and lives of men with hot hearts, making their hot hearts hotter by means of it, and so thrusting it before the unbelieving multitude. It is wonderful how any truth once lodged in a human soul will enlarge and ennoble that soul. Many a scientific thought without any moral aspect has lifted up a man into nobler thinking, and more earnest working, and a higher grade of living. Thoughts essentially moral and religious have still higher developing power. (C. D. Foss, D. D.) II. THIS BODY OF TRUTH IS REVEALED. It was "delivered" — divinely, as we know from other statements of God's Word. It is not a matter of intuition. Intuitions cannot be pleaded in behalf of the common practices of morality even, far less for a complete system of religious faith. It is not a matter of philosophical speculation. It is final, and it is authoritative. It is of great moment to find out exactly what the truth is which has been revealed, for once found we may have a faith which is sure and which binds. III. IT IS A COMPLETE BODY OF TRUTH. It was delivered "once," not once upon a time, but once for all. Nineteenth century sinners are like the sinners of all the preceding centuries, and nineteenth century salvation is the same salvation which Paul preached. IV. IT WAS "DELIVERED TO THE SAINTS." And so has it come down the line of evangelical succession ever since. The Church and the family have been God's appointed agencies for perpetuating and spreading far and wide His truth. Do we despise knowledge which comes to us through the channel of tradition? Is the boy's belief in the earth's figure less real because, instead of a scientific proof of it, he has been told only that it is round like an orange and not flat like a plate? Then why should we undervalue the religious beliefs which multitudes hold because they were taught to hold them, and it has never occurred to them to call them in question or even to verify them. We may trust the Church to act as trustee of the Bible without allowing it to make the Bible, or without accepting doctrines which it teaches outside of the Bible, just as we may trust a servant to go to the druggist to bring some medicine, when we would not allow him to put up the prescription. If, then, the Church is in possession of a definite body of truth — if, moreover, this truth is contained in the Bible — it would seem to follow that any objection to a formulated expression of it is very weak. For the Bible is practically of no use to us unless we are able to impose a meaning on what it says. We have entered into an inheritance of truth because of a pious parentage and a faithful ministry, and we are under solemn obligation to transmit that truth to the coming generation. (The Study.) 1. The faith is Divine in its origin. 2. The faith is adapted to man's moral needs. Three truths force themselves upon our notice when we study man in his moral relations. (1) (2) (3) 3. The faith is complete in its contents — "once delivered," i.e., complete. To it nothing can be added. Astronomy may discover worlds of light in the heavens, but it does not add to the universe. Every star was there before astronomers lifted their telescopes skyward. Astronomy may enlarge our knowledge of the heavens and thrill us with new views of heavenly beauty, but it cannot create a new star. Music cannot add a new tone to the scale. The octave is the final measure of possible tones. So with the faith. Theology cannot add to it. The Bible will gain in interpretation, but no new principles can be added to its contents. II. To WHOM WAS THE FAITH DELIVERED? "To the saints." 1. Saints are the depositaries of the faith. 2. Saints are the disseminators of the faith. III. WHAT IS OUR DUTY IN REFERENCE TO THE FAITH? "Contend earnestly," etc. 1. We must hold to it experimentally and consistently. Not to the theory, but to the practice; not to doctrine merely, but to salvation as a blessed reality. 2. We must hold it with courage and resolution. 3. We must contend for it with simplicity and sincerity. (W.Hansom, D. D.) II. WHO MUST STRIVE, AND IN WHAT MANNER? I answer, All in their place, and in that way that is proper to them. 1. Private Christians must have a share in this holy contention; their duty is partly —(1) To search out the truth that they may not fight blindfold, or by an unhappy mistake lavish out their zeal upon fancies which they affect, or ordinances and doctrines of men.(2) To own the profession of the truth, whatever it cost them.(3) To honour the truth by their conversations. There are heretical manners as well as heretical doctrines; and there are many that are otherwise of an orthodox belief, yet make others sectaries and disciples of their vices. Therefore Christians are called to "hold forth the word of life "in their conversations (Philippians 2:16), and to "make the doctrine of God the Saviour comely" (Titus 2:10), by glorifying God in that course of life to which they are disposed.(4) To comprise all in a few words, whatever maketh for the truth, either with God or men, all that must the people do. 2. There is something that the magistrate may do: "He is the minister of God for good" (Romans 13:4). I cannot see how they can be true to civil interest unless they be careful for the suppression of error. Besides that error is masterly and loveth to give law, therefore, ere it be too late, they should look to the civil peace, for if men be quiet God will not when His honour and truth and worship is neglected. 3. Ministers are to contend for the truth, for by their office and station in the Church they are captains of the people in this war against Satan and his adherents (Titus 1:9). Ministers must contend, partly by preaching, warning the people of the wolves that are abroad (Acts 20:29); partly by disputing (Acts 15:2; Acts 18:28), that by the knocking of flints light may fly out. (T. Manton.) 1. That, in opposition to infidels, we exhibit the evidence of the authenticity of the Scriptures. 2. The next step, in defending the faith delivered to the saints, is to maintain the ground that the Bible is not only an authentic record, but that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God"; that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." There can be no firmer ground on which to rest our religious belief and our hopes of salvation. 3. We are to contend for those principles of interpretation which will lay open to our view the true meaning of the Scriptures, and not bring to them a meaning derived from our own preconceived opinions. 4. We are to contend for the very system of truth which was delivered to the saints; to maintain it in its simplicity and purity, unadulterated with additions from the speculations of men. 5. Contending for the primitive Christian faith implies a defence, not merely of what is expressly stated in the Scriptures, but also of what may be clearly inferred from the truths revealed. II. Our subject may be further illustrated by considering SOME MODES OF THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION, WHICH ARE NOT NECESSARILY IMPLIED IN CONTENDING FOR THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN FAITH. 1. A. defence of Scriptural doctrines do not necessarily imply that we prove them to be true by a course of argument independent of revelation. The evidence on which they rest is this, that God, who cannot err, and will not deceive, has caused them to be revealed to us as true. But we have to deal with those who do not admit the authority of the Bible. Is it not necessary on their account to resort to a course of reasoning, to establish religious principles? If you can prove all the truths of Scripture by a course of reasoning independent of Divine testimony, what need is there of inspiration? 2. Contending for the faith delivered to the saints does not necessarily imply that we contend for any particular form of words, different from those of Scripture, in which we or others have thought proper to express this faith. 3. Defending the truths of revelation does not imply, of course, a defence of the philosophical theories or hypotheses which have been proposed to explain the grounds, and reasons, and causes of what is revealed. 4. Contending for the faith delivered to the saints does not imply that we undertake to free it from all the difficulties which may be connected with the truths revealed. 5. Defending the primitive faith does not necessarily imply that we earnestly contend for every point which may be connected even with fundamental doctrines. 6. Contending for the Christian faith does not imply a defence of all the additions which have been made to this faith, with a view to supplying supposed deficiences in the Scriptures. (Jeremiah Day, D. D.) 1651 numbers, 1-2 8237 doctrine, false Persevering Grace. Jude 1:24,25. The Manifestation of the Church with Christ. The Twofold Bearing of this Fact. The Redeemer's Return is Necessitated by the Present Exaltation of Satan. Salvation. Saved by Grace; The Character of Its Teachings Evidences the Divine Authorship of the Bible |