The Contender Vol 12 No 2

IN ST. MATTHEW 3:11-42, WE FIND JOHN THE BAPTIST, THE FORERUNNER OF THE FIRST ADVENT OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, UTTERING THESE WORDS: “I INDEED BAPTIZE YOU WITH WATER UNTO REPENTANCE: BUT HE THAT COMETH AFTER ME IS MIGHTIER THAN I, WHOSE SHOES I AM NOT WORTHY TO BEAR: HE SHALL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST, AND WITH FIRE: WHOSE FAN IS IN HIS HAND AND HE WILL THOROUGHLY PURGE HIS FLOOR, AND GATHER HIS WHEAT INTO THE GARNER: BUT HE WILL BURN UP THE CHAFF WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE.” THOSE TWO VERSES ALONE HAVE RAISED MANY QUESTIONS IN THE CHURCH WORLD THROUGH THE YEARS, BUT WHEN YOU ADD TO THEM SOME WORDS THAT JESUS UTTERED, (JOHN 14:15-18) THERE ARE EVEN MORE QUESTIONS. THEREFORE I FEEL THAT IT WILL BE BETTER TO DEAL WITH THE SUBJECT IN A MESSAGE, THAN TRY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS INDIVIDUALLY. BY APPROACHING IT THIS WAY: ALL OUR READERS OF THE CONTENDER WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE IN THE ANSWERS WHICH WE WILL GET FROM THE SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES AS WE ANSWER SUCH QUESTIONS AS, WHAT IS THE HOLY GHOST? WHAT WILL HE DO FOR THE BELIEVER? HOW CAN HE DWELL IN A BELIEVER? DO YOU HAVE TO SPEAK IN TONGUES TO RECEIVE THE HOLY GHOST: WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE, AND DOZENS OF OTHERS. READ THE MESSAGE PRAYERFULLY, AND ALLOW THE COMFORTER, WHICH IS ALSO THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, TO COMFORT YOU WITH THE TRUTH WHICH WE SHALL PRESENT FROM GOD’S HOLY WORD.

SINCE NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY NOR THE HOUR WHEN JESUS WILL COME AGAIN, LET US TAKE THE WORD OF GOD AND ESTABLISH THE SEASON THAT HE WILL COME IN. THE BIBLE GIVES US THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES THAT WE ARE TO LOOK FOR, IF WE WANT TO KNOW THE APPROXIMATE TIME, AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO CONCENTRATE ON IN THIS MESSAGE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT WORLD CONDITIONS WILL HAVE TO BE LIKE IN ORDER TO BE AS THEY WERE IN THE DAYS OF NOAH? AND OF LOT? DO YOU KNOW WHAT PAUL TOLD THE THESSALONIANS ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH? WOULD YOU KNOW HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE ANTI-CHRIST THAT IS TO COME? ALSO, WHAT ABOUT ALL THE MIRACLES THAT WE ARE HEARING ABOUT FROM THE CHARISMATIC GROUPS? WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THE SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE. WE WANT TO SHOW HOW THE FIG TREE (ISRAEL) IDENTIFIES THE GENERATION THAT SHALL SEE THE COMING OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THEREFORE I URGE YOU TO BEAR WITH ME THROUGH ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES THAT I FEEL IT IS NECESSARY TO USE. TEXT: MATTHEW 24:27-36

IN THIS LITTLE MESSAGE WE WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, AND ALSO THE GIFTED MEN THAT GOD HAS SET IN THE CHURCH FOR THE PERFECTING OF THE LIVING ELEMENT OF HIS BODY IN THESE LAST DAYS. WE WANT TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT MEN SAY ABOUT VARIOUS THINGS, THEN SHOW YOU WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS ABOUT THEM. WE WILL ALSO SHOW WHY THERE IS NO LIFE LEFT IN THESE DENOMINATIONAL SYSTEMS OF RELIGION, AND WHY IT IS NECESSARY FOR TRUE BELIEVERS TO BE RESTORED TO THE FAITH OF OUR APOSTOLIC FATHERS. WHEN YOU READ THE PARABLE OF THE THIRTY, SIXTY, AND HUNDRED FOLD, DO YOU THINK OF IT AS A GRADUATING PROCESS OF BELIEVERS? MANY PEOPLE DO, BUT THE TRUTH MAY SURPRISE SOME OF YOU. LET US JUST LOOK AT THESE THINGS TOGETHER, AND TRUST THE HOLY GHOST TO REVEAL TO EVERY HEART THE TRUE REVELATION THAT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

THIS IS A SUBJECT THAT ALWAYS MAKES ME A LITTLE NERVOUS AS I TRY TO GET STARTED ON IT, FOR I REALIZE THAT MANY IDEAS AND PERSONAL FEELINGS ARE HANGING IN THE BALANCE. TRADITION HAS BLINDED THE EYES OF A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO STAND DESPERATELY IN NEED OF AN ANSWER FROM THE WORD OF GOD ON THIS SUBJECT: THEREFORE I PRAY THAT I CAN SAY EXACTLY WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD HAS LED ME TO SEE IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN PREACHED HERE IN FAITH ASSEMBLY BEFORE, AND WE HAVE PUBLISHED IT, BUT GOD HAS OPENED UP A FEW THINGS TO ME SINCE THEN THAT REALLY CLINCH THE THING. THERE IS NOT ANOTHER SUBJECT IN THE WHOLE GOSPEL THAT SATAN HAS USED FOR A CLUB TO BEAT PEOPLE, AS MUCH AS THE SUBJECT OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. HE KNOWS WHAT CAUSED THE TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, FOR HE WAS BEHIND IT ALL, AND HE KNOWS THAT THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE IS STILL SUFFERING THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT ACT IN THE GARDEN, BUT AS LONG AS HE CAN KEEP CHRISTIANS FROM UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE MIND OF GOD IS, ON THE SUBJECT OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE, FORNICATION AND ADULTERY, HE CAN KEEP THEM UNDER A CLOUD OF GLOOM, DOUBT AND CONFUSION. I FOUND THE SAME CONDITION IN NORWAY WHEN WE WERE THERE. I DID NOT PLAN IT, BUT THE SUBJECT WAS LAID UPON MY HEART TO DEAL WITH ON THE VERY LAST DAY WE WERE THERE. I HAD A LITTLE FEELING I WOULD BE CONFRONTED ON THIS, WHILE THERE, BUT IT WAS NEVER MENTIONED. THEN ON SATURDAY NIGHT, BEFORE WE WOULD HAVE THE LAST SERVICES ON SUNDAY, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE EVERY OTHER SUBJECT WAS CLOSED TO ME EXCEPT THIS ONE. I FOUND OUT WHY, LATER. WHEN THE MESSAGE WAS FINISHED, THEY SAID, BRO. JACKSON: THAT HAD TO BE THE LEADING OF THE LORD. THEY HAD SITUATIONS THERE THAT WOULD HAVE LED TO BROKEN FELLOWSHIP IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN CLEARED UP SCRIPTURALLY. THAT JUST SHOWS HOW GOD IS ABLE TO MEET THE NEED OF HIS PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY MAY BE. ONE THING I DID DISCOVER THOUGH, IN DEALING WITH THIS MESSAGE THERE: THE NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE ONLY HAS ONE WORD FOR TWO DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIPS. IN THE ENGLISH, WE USE THE WORD, FORNICATION, TO DESCRIBE ONE RELATIONSHIP OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE, AND ADULTERY FOR ANOTHER: THEREFORE MANY STATEMENTS WE MAKE ARE A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO GET THE FULL MEANING OF THE THOUGHT BEHIND THEM. I FOUND OTHER SCRIPTURES SUCH AS EZEKIEL 38, REV. 17 & 18, ETC., WHERE THERE WAS A SIMILAR HANDICAP, BUT GOD ALWAYS MAKES A WAY FOR MEN TO FULFILL HIS PURPOSE. PRAISE HIS NAME!

Rev. James Allen looks at different topics related to the end time.

IN THE YEARS SINCE A.D. 96, MEN HAVE CONSTANTLY PROBED THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK TRYING TO FIND SOME KEY TO THE MYSTERIOUS LANGUAGE WITHIN, BUT GOD HAD THESE THINGS SEALED UP UNTIL THE TIME OF THE END, AS HE TOLD DANIEL CONCERNING THE THINGS WHICH HE SAW. IN ORDER TO HIDE THE MESSAGE OF THIS BOOK FROM MEN OF OTHER GENERATIONS, TIL THE GENERATION COME WHICH SHOULD SEE THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL REMAINING PROPHESIES, GOD ALLOWED JOHN TO SCRAMBLE THE BOOK IN SUCH A WAY THAT ONLY THE HOLY GHOST COULD UNSCRAMBLE IT, AND THAT ONLY AT THE PROPER TIME.

WE ENDED OUR JANUARY ISSUE SPEAKING OF HOW ZECHARIAH 10:3-4, IS BEING FULFILLED RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES AS WE SIT WATCHING OUR TELEVISION SETS; SO THAT IS WHERE WE WILL PICK UP.

Rev. James Allen, pastor of Faith Assembly Church, continues taking a deep look into Revelation chapter 10 and its implications, both historically, presently, and in the near future. Something of great importance happened in 1963 during the ministry of Rev. William Branham which is still having an impact in modern times. In this edition the Seventieth Week of Daniel is also covered in part.