When Jude wrote to the Christians of his day, he wanted to focus on their common salvation—but instead, he found it necessary to urge them to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” In the sermon “A Call to Contend,” Alistair Begg surveys the warm greeting, necessary appeal, and chilling reminder in this neglected letter’s opening verses. While church history makes clear that periods of declension are inevitable, Jude’s careful, protective tone reminds us to resist the urge to turn contending into contentiousness:
The candor with which … Jude wrote … is regarded as inappropriate in many of our circles. I think it’s one of the reasons that Jude is neglected, because there is a pungency to the way in which Jude speaks that owes no deference to our contemporary concerns of political correctness. He describes these people in graphic terms, doesn’t he? I tried to point it out in the way I read: “waterless clouds,” “fruitless trees,” “wild waves,” “wandering stars,” “unreasoning animals,” “loud-mouthed boasters.” Not a nice list! That was the threat. And so he says, “Beware.”
But I also want to say to you: Beware, too, if you find this kind of thing appealing—if, when I begin to read these descriptive phrases, you find your hackles beginning to rise, the adrenaline beginning to pump. Because Jude, when it is not neglected, is often seized upon as a happy hunting ground for those who are by nature bombastic, pugilistic, and contentious—in other words, individuals who are always spoiling for a fight; individuals who are increasingly antagonistic, they are belligerent, they are combative, and they are generally disagreeable. …
Jude is not writing out of a spirit of condemnation. He is writing out of a spirit of consternation.
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