Contending for the Faith

Really what does it mean to contend?

Does it mean to push one’s view?

Does it mean to be argumentative?

Or does it mean to the Bible be true?

Some believers don’t understand,

What you really meant Bro Jude,

So some arguments get out of hand

And some can become rather rude.

As if contending were not enough,

You have asked us to be earnest,

So sometimes we get so frantic

In our attempt to show who’s best.

Sometimes we engage in competition

Out of which comes fierce discussion,

We raise our voices in contention

But conclude with no changed position.

So Bro Jude what do you really mean

When you say to earnestly contend?

It appears one must know the faith

From the point of creation to its end.

 

What is it that is mostly attacked?

I am sure it is the creation account,

Many scoff and label it a fairy tale,

Evolution’s become their holy Mount.

What we must defend is the faith,

The whole body of Christian truth,

Not somebody’s intellectual opinion,

But all that the Bible gives as proof.

 

So let us take this verse bit by bit,

It is Jude chapter one verse three,

“Beloved”, must mean the believer

So the context you can clearly see.

Jude had written with all diligence,

About the salvation shared together,

But felt it needful he should write

About the faith that was once delivered.

The saints having received that faith,

Were charged with the responsibility,

Of proclaiming without fear or favour

Creation one, creations two and three.

Creation one, in the beginning God,

He created the heaven and the earth,

Creation two Jesus died and rose again,

And now we can have the new birth.

 

Creation three is the promise to come,

Of a glorious new earth and heaven,

And forever will dwell God’s beloved,

Meaning those who have been forgiven.

We all share a common salvation,

This every believer should understand,

But the faith once delivered to the saints,

Should be shared by the Christian band.

The Lord entrusts us with His word

That is entire and whole and complete,

So we should deliver it with clarity,

And in tact, should Jude have to repeat?

This we must all do until Jesus returns,

Provoking one another to love and works,

And of course whenever it’s necessary,

Giving a poke to a brother who shirks.

Many today are too bright for the faith,

And have turned to other revelation,

They, listening to voices in and around

Have come to a different conclusion.

This faith once delivered so long ago

Needs no vindication from any man,

Anyone who tries to add to God’s word

Certainly has gone astray of His plan.

In such cases we do need to contend

Earnestly for the faith not with the man,

For we are not called to be contentious

But allow God to do only what God can.

Do note the safeguarding of the faith,

Was not merely given to the leaders,

But each and every saint was equipped

To assist the preachers and teachers.

Every Christian believer is mandated,

That he should earnestly contend,

For the faith that was once delivered,

This is the faith we must all defend.

God the Creator created the world,

This we are told in His inspired word,

From their estate our fore-parents fell,

Consigning all mankind to an eternal hell.

God the Word empathized with our loss

And came to this world to die on a cross,

Then rose from that grave triumphantly,

A sacrifice for sin offered for you and me.

God the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost,

Given by the Father,  promised by the Son,

He now indwells every Christian believer

Whom he has enabled this race to run.

Christ is coming again to judge the world,

I guess by now you have already heard,

“Heard it time and time again,” you say,

Harden your heart and it might go away.

You vigorously attack your only lifeline,

Yet cry out for help each and every time,

You feel your loss each time you lie down,

But on God’s word you continue to frown.

You attack creation’s story with delight,

Blast contenders of the faith out of sight,

Nothing the Bible says seems to you right,

Evolution’s the thing morning, noon and night.

But Christian believer let us not retreat,

We’re pressing on to victory not defeat,

Contend earnestly for the faith we repeat,

The victory is ours, so grand and so sweet.

Delight yourself in the apostle’s doctrine,

Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone,

The Living Word our example and object,

The Written Word as our direction alone.

 

Defending and contending for the faith

Must be spread with urgency and care,

Salvation’s message to the lost is vital

For it is much later than it does appear.

God our ever-conquering Vanquisher,

And Jesus Christ our eternal Saviour,

Help us to achieve via Thy Holy Spirit

All that you command as we endeavour.

Stewart Russell © 2014

The Visitor

 I had met him before

But not personally

Now he was at my door

Most definitely.

 

At the most inopportune time

I heard the gentle tap

I was about to dine

So I just opened the flap.

I told him it was late

I wasn’t prepared that day

He said he’d checked the date

That was all he had to say.

I marveled at his timing

Didn’t matter I was dining

His head perceptively inclining

Inviting me to join him.

“Not now!” I insisted

My plea he simply resisted

And though I had persisted

Declared me then enlisted.

I called him an intruder

A rank and total outsider

Telling me what to do

Imposing on me his view.

Of all the things to interrupt

A man’s meal, his drink, his cup

Not even willing to delay

But on me forcing his way.

You’ve no say in the matter

Away with all the chatter

That time has finally come

Signed and sealed, it’s done.

Thought I would entertain him

A good meal to him I gave

Only to find I couldn’t win

His face was stern and grave.

  

I made another offer

Of someone who was old

He dismissed it as a bother

The night was getting cold.

With dread I tried again

To suggest another name

The drunkard up the street

Would make a better treat.

His head again he swayed

Much to my dismay

“Not the drunkard up the street

It’s you I must repeat.

Well I hoped he wouldn’t deny

If I took another try

That rapist up in prison

Why can’t his life be taken?

Again he shook his head

And then he gravely said

His time will come I am sure

But you must go before.

A glance at the long list

Revealed my name at top

Took a chance I dare not miss

But that became a flop.

Trying the order to bend

I wrote my name at the end

But the order he’d not forgotten

And started from the bottom.

“It’s your time,” he reaffirmed

And your date I have confirmed

Doesn’t matter how you squirm

Tonight ends your earthly term.

No amount of pleading

Will see your time receding

Pay attention to my heeding

Follow me; I’ll do the leading.”

On all the other occasions

I had watched him function

And while expressing my sympathy

Still happy it wasn’t me.

Now my visit had come

Way past the setting sun

Light and life away they ebbed

Soon I’ll lay cold and dead.

Death the fairest equalizer

The most potent tranquilizer

An insensitive family divider

A most unwelcomed visitor.

Doesn’t matter where you are

Could be near or even far

Could be rich or even poor

He’ll walk right up to the door.

He called at mine today

How I wished I’d been away!

I could broker no delay

Now cold in the ground I lay.

Stewart Russell © 2014