<TITLE>05. Par 17-19</TITLE>L-17 You come against Mohammedanism, Buddhism; you see all the different kinds of religions. They have bibles: Koran and so forth that they read from. They're just as happy and rejoice in their religion, as we are now, but their religion never promised nothing but life after death. But our religion promised the same things that Christ did, we'd do till He come again. And when they read This they expect It to be manifested. That's where we fail.
We have done everything but what Christ told us to do. We've built churches, seminaries; that never was ordained in the Bible to do so. Preach the Gospel, was what Christ said do. The Gospel wouldn't come in Word only but through power and the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. Right afterwards, He said, "These signs shall follow them that believe."
I want to ask you something. In the solemn Writings here tonight, we are constrained or commanded by the apostle or by the writer to "Earnestly contend for the faith."

L-18 Can you hear me on the right side, over there? Don't hear good? I just thought that... Can you hear over here pretty good, on the left side? Is this better over here now, can you hear this better? I was too close. I'm sorry.
We are commanded by the Bible to contend. The only place in the Bible I ever found that we were to contend. We're not supposed to have contentions, but this one place we are commanded to "Contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints."
Now, if I say to our Methodist brethren, "Do you contend for that?"
They'd say, "Yes, sir."
My Baptist brethren? "Yes, sir."
My Pentecostal brethren, "Yes, sir."
Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness...?... whatever, "Yes, sir."
I believe you're right. I truly believe that you do, in all the measure that you've been taught to.
But now in doing so, there's got to be... Because there is so many, too much differences among us, there's got to be somebody right and somebody wrong. So, to make this thoroughly understood, there's only One who has the supreme authority and that's God, to answer this question. Do you believe that? So, we ought to know that we know what the faith is that we are supposed to contend for and rightly so. Now, there's none of our faith: our Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and all--all denominations was organized this side, the days of the early saints.

L-19 None of our organizations originated in the New Testament...?... The Catholic was the first, three hundred sixty something years after the death of the last apostle, the Catholic Church was born. After fifteen hundred years of dark ages Martin Luther came out, first reformation; fifteen hundred years this side of the death of Christ; after that came Calvin, Zwingli, then John Wesley, Calvin, Knox, so forth, Alexander Campbell. And on down to these last days, comes in Nazarene, Pilgrim Holiness, and Pentecostal, and so forth on down; just continually following the same pattern of organization, everyone.
But now, in the conglomeration of nine hundred and sixty some odd different denominational churches, we...?... them that they are contending for this faith. We all know that there is a question though, is to go back to the Bible and find out what type of faith they had and then compare it with what we are taught: and find out whether that would be the faith that we are to contend for, yes or no. That ought to settle it, don't you think so, everywhere?


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