The Contender Vol. 15 No. 2

Book excerpt: BROTHERS ANS SISTERS: WE ARE TRULY A PRIVILEGED PEOPLE. TO BE LIVING IN THIS HOUR OF TIME, AND TO HAVE THIS PRECIOUS WORD OF GOD REVEALED TO US AS MUCH AS IT IS, IS SOMETHING THAT MONEY CANNOT BUY. WE ARE TRULY FEASTING UPON THE MANNA THAT CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD THAT WE COME IN CONTACT WITH EVERY DAY, THINK WE ARE CRAZY, BUT IF THIS IS A TRUE EXAMPLE OF BEING CRAZY, I WOULD SURE HATE TO BE SANE AGAIN. HALLELUJAH! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! IN HIS GREAT WISDOM AND FOREKNOWLEDGE, HE INSPIRED SAINTS OF OTHER AGES TO RECORD THE THINGS THAT WOULD COME TO PASS IN OUR AGE OF TIME, AND YET HAD IT COMPLETELY HIDDEN FROM THE GREAT SCHOLARS THAT HAVE SPENT SO MANY YEARS OF THEIR LIVES STUDYING IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THEOLOGY, THAT NONE OF THEM EVER RECEIVED A TRUE REVELATION OF IT. JUST TO USE A VERY NATURAL ILLUSTRATION TO EMPHASIZE A SPIRITUAL REALITY, LET ME SAY THIS, WHAT MAY BE GARBAGE TO SOME FOLKS, IS LIFE GIVING, AND LIFE SUSTAINING FOOD TO OTHERS. YOU HAVE SEEN LITTLE CHILDREN, AND EVEN MANY ADULTS, FILL A LARGE PLATE WITH FOOD, AND THEN JUST SIT WITH A FORK, OR A SPOON, AND WALLOW IT AROUND EATING ONLY A FEW BITES, AND THEN IT IS DUMPED INTO A GARBAGE CAN. BUT YOU LET SOME FELLOW COME ALONG THAT HAS HAD NOTHING TO EAT FOR A FEW DAYS, AND WHAT HE FINDS IN THAT GARBAGE CAN BECOMES A GREAT FEAST TO HIM. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR GREAT SCHOLARS HAVE DONE WITH THE WORD OF GOD. THEY HAVE WRESTLED WITH IT, WALLOWED IT AROUND, PICKED OUT A FEW MAN PLEASING THEORIES, AND THEN DUMPED THE REST IN THEIR SPIRITUAL GARBAGE CAN. THEY HAD NO TASTE FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN WATER BAPTISM, NOR FOR THE ONENESS OF THE GODHEAD, NOR FOR PREDESTINATION, NOR FOR ETERNAL SECURITY OF THE TRUE BELIEVER, AND A GREAT PERCENTAGE OF THEM EVEN REJECT THE TRUTH OF THE NECESSITY OF RECEIVING THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. BUT WE ARE LIVING IN AN HOUR WHEN TRUE BELIEVERS HAVE A CRAVING IN THEIR SOUL TO FEED UPON THIS HIDDEN MANNA, AND THEY DO NOT LOOK FOR A DOCTOR OF DIVINITY TO FEED IT TO THEM. GOD HAS AN ANOINTED MINISTRY OF APOSTLES, PROPHETS, EVANGELISTS, PASTORS AND TEACHERS TO DO THE FEEDING, AND THE ONLY DIPLOMA REQUIRED IS GIVEN BY THE HOLY GHOST. LET US KEEP THIS IN MIND NOW, AS WE CONTINUE OUR EXAMINATION OF THE LETTERS WRITTEN TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA BY THE HAND OF THE APOSTLE JOHN, WHO WAS IN EXILE ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS WHEN JESUS INSTRUCTED HIM TO DO SO.