A deeper apprehension, through the power of the Holy Spirit, of the prevailing evil in the professing church turns Jude from his original intention. He had purposed writing to the faithful of the salvation common to all Christians, but his heart was moved to exhort them to be faithful and earnest in contending for their most holy faith. " Beloved," he says, " 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." We must go back for the true ground of faith, not to the fathers, nor to the founder of our adopted system, but to the Lord and His apostles. The weight of antiquity, the authority of great names, and the influence of favorite teachers, are not enough to command our faith. We must have a revelation from God Himself. " Let that, therefore," says John, "abide in you which ye have heard from the beginning (the beginning of Christ). If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father." (1 John 2:24; 4:6.) This is what we are to contend for, and to contend earnestly for; not so much to attack what is false, as to contend for the plain, simple, unmistakable word of the living God. All theories, dogmas, and systems must be brought to this test; and if the connecting link with holy scripture is not found, they cannot be matters of faith, though sometimes they may be matters of instruction, either directly or indirectly. But it will ever be found that even sincere Christians contend more earnestly for a favorite notion than for the positive truth of scripture, the latter being quite capable of standing alone on its own basis, but the former requires all the ardor of our zeal to uphold it.
"Remember therefore," says the blessed Lord to the angel of the church in Sardis, " how thou hast received and heard." We must go back to the original to judge the present state. This is the ground of our responsibility—what we have received, and what we have heard. We must account for both—the grace we have received, and the truth we have been taught. Hold fast these, says the Lord, and repent; and, says His servant, earnestly contend, agonize, for them. And there is another saying of the Lord on this subject of the most solemn weight, which we have recorded in Luke 9:26: " For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." Few, if any, who profess Christianity would admit that they are ashamed of the name of Christ; but few, if any, could say, I have never been ashamed of His words. We know of no warning in scripture more deeply searching, more thoroughly sifting, or more detective of our unfaithfulness, than this passage—" Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words." The Lord had just said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." In how many instances we have failed to take up our daily cross, He only knows; and to neglect or avoid the plain force of His words, is to be ashamed of them. How far have they governed our actions, especially in defending the faith we hold, showing grace to our enemies, kindness to all around us, love to our brethren, and in the innumerable details of daily life? The words of Christ are often so directly opposed to the sanctioned maxims of society, that they are willingly overlooked, and consequently we are drawn into the smooth flowing current of things, and His words are treated as merely figurative or obsolete. We speak, of course, in general terms; every one must judge himself in the light of His sayings, which liveth and abideth forever: but we fear that the addition to His name, " and of my words," has not been sufficiently thought of; their depth and breadth are without measure.
Take two examples: one as to social life, and one as to ecclesiastical position. 1. The golden rule—" Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12.) Surely we must all feel how far short we have come, how utterly we have failed, in carrying out the true spirit of this divine maxim. It would be out of place here to refer to particular instances, but they are the words of our blessed Lord and Master, and as His disciples we ought to allow them their due place and full weight in our hearts and ways. It is a rule of easy and of universal application. Are all my dealings with others, whether buyer or seller, master or servant, on the principle that I would like myself to be dealt with? The Lord would have His disciples to act, not according to the ways of men, but according to the grace of their heavenly Father. It is the spirit of this relationship He would have us to cherish. He had just said, " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."
It is not a mere principle or dry rule affecting our transactions with others, but it implies habitual communion with the God of all grace. It is a direct appeal to our spiritual feelings as the children of our Father which is in heaven, and as such knowing His ways in grace with the evil and the good, with the just and the unjust. " Be ye therefore perfect," says our Lord, " even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." This does not refer to the absence of sin in our nature, for as long as we live here below the principle of evil will be in us; but He calls upon us to be perfect in grace according to the perfect pattern which we see in our heavenly Father's dealings with His enemies now. This is the substance of the golden rule—perfect grace. It is supposed that we know the Father, that we know what His grace is to the evil as well as the good, and what will be well pleasing to Him on the part of His children, and that, whatever others may do to us, our business is to act towards them as becometh the children of such a parentage. What true dignity! What real nobility, both of birth and nature! How pitiful to see such high-born souls stooping to what is mean and selfish, and even questionable as to principle, in order to increase their earthly riches! Their spiritual condition must be immensely lowered by such a course. How can they walk in fellowship with the Father of mercies when their thought is, how can we save here, and gain there? and that without considering the welfare of others? Self is the ruling passion, not the honor and dignity of the heaven-born family. Great and eternal is their loss, though their riches may increase. They will be as rust upon the soul. Even the Jew under the law, that knew God and acted graciously, puts all such to shame, " for this is the law and the prophets."
There is one other passage to which we would refer under this head, as we fear it is also much lost sight of. "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matt. 26:29.) This is the Nazarite vow. Christ separates Himself from the joys of earth till the Father's kingdom come. He takes the place of the heavenly Nazarite; and we, being associated with Him as the ascended Man, are under His vow, and ought to be true Nazarites during His absence. This is the Christian's calling—separation in heart and spirit, as well as in practice, from the pleasures of the world. Wine is the symbol of the natural delights of men; but Christ here says, "I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." That is, He separates Himself from joy with His people on the earth until the millennium; and if we as Christians are seeking the pleasures of the world, the joys of earth, the natural delights of men, He can have no fellowship with us) it must be Without Christ, He is a heavenly Nazarite.
Now we may see something of the immense weight and the extensive application of the words, or sayings, of the blessed Lord, and how important it is not to overlook them, or to suppose that they are not applicable now, times being so changed. " The word of the Lord endureth forever." If the golden rule is intended to be a guide and guard for us in all our dealings and ways in this world, the Nazarite vow should separate us entirely from its unhallowed pleasures. And when the conversion of the soul is real, and Christ known and enjoyed, this will be no hardship. It will be an immense relief. Like the spouse in the Song of Songs, every young Christian should be able to say from the heart, " Thy love is better than wine"—Thy love to me, my Savior and Lord, is better far than all the attractions and entertainments of this present life. In Thy presence there is fullness of joy, and at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.