Contending for Our Christian Faith - by Jim Tharp

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith . . ..” (Jude 1:3)

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” (II Timothy 1:6-8)

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (II Timothy 4:5-8)

Jude, a half-brother of Jesus Christ and called to be one of Christ’s apostles, feels compelled to write and urge those who had believed in Jesus as their Savior to “contend earnestly for the faith.” Even though we are reading this Scripture 2,000 years after Jude wrote this warning to the early church of Jesus Christ, I think that we believers should be more serious today about contending for our Christian faith. There are reasons why we must contend for our faith. Most people who repent of their sins and trust in Christ as Savior may not realize that they are being called into a battle against evil. Christian living is spiritual warfare!

The Bible teaches us that the three enemies of the Christian are the world, the flesh, and the devil. By “the world” is meant the very spirit of the age—the system and philosophies of the world (the world trying to control our thinking); by “the flesh” is meant our own selfish natures; and, of course, “the devil” is the evil one who was thrown out of heaven because of his rebellion against God. His destiny is divinely sealed; at the end of the ages, he will be condemned to the eternal fires of Hell. As believers, we must learn to pray earnestly and read our Bibles thoroughly to learn how to defeat Satan with his lies, schemes, temptations, and other attacks.

In II Timothy 1:6-8 we are given the secret of winning our battles against the powers of Satan. The apostle Paul begins by reminding us “to stir up the gift of God which is in you.” This “gift of God” is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who is implanted within us, the very Spirit of Jesus and of God the Father. He is the spiritual Power needed to cleanse us from our carnal selfish natures, purify our hearts, and give us power over the world, the flesh, and the devil!
   

While the Holy Spirit is a given in our experience of being born anew in the Spirit, we are commanded to ask for His fullness of power. I urge us to hear what Jesus promised His disciples—and all of us today—in the Gospel of John, chapter 14:12-17: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

Please notice that Jesus calls the Holy Spirit our “Helper!” The Holy Spirit gives us power to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil! There are areas of power in which the Holy Spirit helps us contend for our Christian faith.

PREVAILING IN PRAYER -by Jim Tharp.

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:25-28)

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:17-18)

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21)

Our Lord Jesus Christ is Himself our example for prevailing in prayer. Immediately after being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus prayed to the Father and was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness....” (Luke 4:1) Before facing the temptations of Satan, He spent many days in prayer in that wilderness alone with His Heavenly Father.

Now Jesus’ baptism was not for Him to get saved by confessing His sins, as it was with the others who were being baptized. Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God who had become the Son of Man—He was not born with the sin virus. God the Holy Spirit had breathed into the womb of the Virgin Mary, and Jesus was born as the Savior of anyone who would believe in Him.

Before He faced the temptations of Satan to be the Overcomer, before He performed miracles, and before He suffered and died on Calvary’s cross to atone for the sins of those who would believe in Him, He became a Man of prayer. And He prayed in the power of the Holy Spirit. We read in Luke 11:1: “Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’”

If American Christians would take prayer as seriously as Jesus and His disciples did, neither the churches nor our nation would be in its present darkness. At this late hour, there is no greater or more urgent command in the Bible for American believers than that found in Ephesians 5:18: “. . . be filled with the Spirit.” For prayer warriors to come against the advancing evil of our day we must be clothed with more than a good education, sound theology, and a convincing personality. The apostle Paul warns us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)

I regret reporting that many of the Christians I have met throughout my 70 years of preaching the Gospel have not been Spirit-filled Christians. I am glad to report that I have seen a good number of believers become filled with the Holy Spirit. I have been privileged across the years to pray with many of them and realize the increase of joy and power in their praying. Many of them have encouraged special prayer meetings to pray for revivals and have been used by the Holy Spirit to fast and pray for spiritual awakenings in the churches where they worship.

The Power of Christian Love - by Jim Tharp

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...” (I Corinthians 13:2-8)

In considering the all-important subject of divine love as experienced in the hearts of Christian believers, I feel led to divide this message on the power of Christian love into three parts.

1. THE PREEMINENCE OF LOVE. As we read in I Corinthians 13, love is supreme, meaning it is above all other spiritual gifts in degree and quality. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, love entered the world. In Jesus Christ we see love defined as meant by our Creator. Before Christ, it is true that Greek philosophers sought to explain what love is. But the natural man alone, no matter how brilliant, cannot deal thoroughly with the inevitable corrupt human nature. All of us have sinned and fallen short of what and who we were meant to be. Only the believer in Christ, one who has experienced a spiritual new birth, can understand true love as it was meant by our Creator. This is explained in I John 4, verses 7-11: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER - by Jim Tharp

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.. . .” (Ephesians 6:17-18)

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude, verses 20-21).

The weakness of prayer in our churches today is due to our lack of knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Too many Christian believers, though convicted of sin and saved by the power of the Holy Spirit, do not go on to become filled with the Spirit. The scriptures quoted above should help us understand that unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our praying will be a religious form but devoid of power. We receive the Holy Spirit when we become a Christian, but at that time we are not ready for the Spirit’s fullness. In trying to live the Christian life, we soon learn we need more power—power to pray, power to resist temptation, and power to understand the Scriptures we read. 

But, when we make up our minds to want this power, we have to ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. When we are hungry enough to surrender our hearts and lives to Christ and allow Him to come first, we are ready to be filled with the Spirit. But, of course, we must continue to obey the Spirit in order keep praying in power.

Rivers of Living Water - by Jim Tharp

“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

The above precious words, which were spoken by Jesus a short while before He died on the cross to save lost souls, should be stamped in gold letters on every Christian believer! Many people had gathered in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, and it was the last day of the feast when all the ceremonies had come to a close. At this critical moment Jesus stepped forward to speak out clearly with conviction and compassion, seeking to impress upon believers that His work would not be finished when He had been slain on the cross and had risen from the dead. He would then return to heaven to be with His Heavenly Father, and they would send the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower praying believers who were hungry for what Jesus had promised—these “rivers of living water.” 

That morning finally came, when after His crucifixion on the third day and after 40 days of appearing as the Risen Christ among His believers, Jesus spoke His final words to 500 believers gathered to hear Him. We read in Acts 1:4-8 that He commanded them that they were not to depart from Jerusalem until they had returned to that city to begin praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As soon as Jesus had spoken those words in verse 8, He ascended to heaven. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey.” (Acts 1:10-12)

Finally, 120 of those 500 followers of Jesus made their way to that Upper Room to pray ten days for those “rivers of living water!” And, we read in Acts 2:1-4 how Christ kept His promise to send the Holy Spirit to those who met His conditions: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Throughout the second chapter of Acts we see the power of these “rivers of living water” flowing through the apostles and believers who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. This same power that had been within Jesus was now ready to work within these Spirit-filled believers! The Holy Spirit would use their message to convict lost souls of sin, calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. On the first day, 3,000 people heard the Gospel, repented of sin, believed in Jesus as Savior, were baptized, and became part of the first Christian Church in Jerusalem. The Church Age had begun. The Holy Spirit would empower the messengers to spread the Gospel to the ends of earth as long as believers hungered for “rivers of living water!”