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Living
Hope Fellowship Church
CONTEND
Training
Material
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
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Preface
(fight of faith)
Jude 1:3 says, “Beloved, 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.”
Jesus didn’t back down from
any hypocrite who got in his face and condemned Him for what
He preached.
You must read God’s Word and
call upon His name to know the real truth. Don’t go along
with just anything. If it doesn’t line up with God’s
Word, you must shun it. God is able to make you strong and
bold in the power of His might!
CONTEND
by Pastor Kevin Badgley
Let’s read from God’s Word out of the book of
Jude. Jude 1:3 says, “Beloved, 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.”
The writer here expressly tells us in God’s Word,
that we are supposed to earnestly contend for the faith
which was once delivered unto the saints. Today many
preachers are not contending for the faith once delivered
unto the saints. It is simply because it causes
contention. When you cause contention, you cause strife,
and people can get mighty mean! However, Jesus didn’t back
down to those who could get mighty mean.
I am amused, yet appalled how Jesus is portrayed
as a wimp. Jesus was not a wimp! Jesus didn’t back down
from any hypocrite who got in his face and condemned Him for
what He preached, and He never backed away from what was
said to him. He always had a word from God for the subject
at hand.
The Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the
hypocrites of that day came against Jesus. The same
theories, doctrines, type of religious leaders, and
religious spirits that came against the hard preaching of
the truth like Jesus had are still alive today. Those
spirits still fight and war against the truth. They are
Anti-Christ in nature, and they desire to quench the Light,
and to stop the hard preaching that needs to go forth in the
land today.
If the church throughout the world was doing its
job, America wouldn’t be going to hell as fast as it is. It
looks more like Sodom and Gomorrah than it does “America the
Beautiful”, the “Land of the Free”, or the “Home of the
Brave”. The rest of the world in general looks similar.
According to God’s Word, the reason for it is that
they have not contended for the faith once delivered unto
the saints. We have 66 books in the Bible, the Word of God,
that tell us about that faith. If you cannot contend, nor
fight for the truth, then you are a wimp. We must preach
God’s Word, and witness for the truth. Yes, we must witness
in love, but we cannot back down in the name of love to get
out of a fight or contention. The Bible declares in Exodus
15:3, “The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.”
Ephesians, Chapter 6:13-18, tells us all about
putting on the whole armor of God. “Wherefore take unto you
the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 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, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;”
It tells us to take the Sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. This Sword (Word of God) is an attack
weapon, but also a weapon of defense. We are supposed to
use the Word of God to contend for the faith once delivered
unto the saints. Why don’t the saints in the church of the
Living God today have the faith that they need to have?
It’s because their faith has been preached out of them,
talked out of them, and taught out of them! It has been
destroyed and taken away from them because there are no
fighters; there are no warriors out there who will preach
the truth just like Jesus preached!
Jude 1:3 says we should, “. . . earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Glory to God! That same faith that performed signs,
wonders, and miracles in the Word of God will perform and do
those things today as God wills! The Word of God says the
Red Sea parted. Cancers were destroyed, devils were cast
out, and the dead were raised. We know it’s been done since
that time, and in modern times by those who contended for
that faith which Jesus delivered unto the saints.
Jesus said in Mark 16:17-18, “And these signs
shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast
out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover.”
If these things aren’t taking place, then
somewhere along the line we have failed. Many say, Well,
these things passed away with the apostles. If that’s
the case, then you might as well tear out the book of Jude
while you are at it. Many have torn out verses of the Bible
that they do not agree with, but they have done it to their
own damnation and cursing.
We have to earnestly contend for the faith once
delivered to the saints, and then live according to that
faith. The Bible declares in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
The Bible declares that the only way to get
possession of the faith that Jesus carried is to do
according to God’s Word which tells us to contend for
that faith. We are to war for it if necessary, and believe
God, and preach and witness the truth to whosoever will
listen, that they may come.
Proverbs 28:4 says, “They that forsake the law
praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with
them.” This strikes a hard note in the world today. If you
are not for Jesus, Jesus says that you are against Him. He
says that if you do not gather with him, you scatter. Don’t
agree with the devil when he says, These signs shall not
follow them that believe.
Don’t agree with the devil when he says that you
have to perform rituals and works in order to get
salvation. Don’t agree with the wicked that say that the
supernatural things of God have passed away, and that you
should not be doing them, or walking in them. If you will
earnestly contend and live according to the true Word of
God, you will wrestle and contend with those who do not
agree with the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ!
The Bible declares that if any man does not agree
with this doctrine, have nothing to do with that man. It
says this in 2 Thessalonians 3:14, “And if any man obey not
our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company
with him, that he may be ashamed.” The Bible declares that
we must walk upright before the Lord, and not back down to
anything or anybody, regardless of how long they’ve been
organized, or how many are in that organization. It makes
no difference. God’s Word is still true, and you should
earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the
saints.
Sometimes the devil is standing in your face.
Sometimes he is in someone who supposedly knows the Word of
God, and they will try to use it against you. They will try
to tell you that you don’t know what you are talking about.
However, if you will read the Word, you will find out what
it says.
Paul preached the Word of God in Athens, on Mars’
hill. Acts 17:22-23 says, “Then Paul stood in the midst of
Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by,
and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this
inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye
ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”
Many today are ignorantly worshiping God. Jesus
said in Mark 7:7-8, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying
aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,
as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like
things ye do.”
God made the commandments. Men try to add to or
take away from the commandments of God, but these men must
be contended with.
Ecumenicalism is of the devil. The World Church
will usher in the Anti-Christ, not Jesus Christ. According
to God’s Word, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, it says, “Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.” That is the destination of
the church that’s left in this world, the remnant, the bride
of Christ that’s supposed to be ushered into the kingdom.
The church does not usher in the Lord Jesus; Jesus
ushers us into the throne room of God. We cannot get to God
the Father, but by Jesus. John 14:6 says, “Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.”
Are you are ecumenical? If you are trying to come
in one accord with all denominations, and all religions, and
races, you are coming into the World Church, and it will
show forth Anti-Christ.
There is a common thing we notice when a person
lives with someone else who has a different faith or line of
belief. They have to compromise with them or speak up
against the things that they talk about. There are so many
variations and denominations in the world today in
Christianity that it causes great confusion.
Some say, Well, there must be something to it,
because so many people are going that way. They said
the same thing in Sodom and Gomorrah. There weren’t but a
handful that were righteous in that place, and after
removing them, God destroyed the place. There weren’t but
eight saved in the Ark when the floods came. Noah and his
family were the only righteous ones at that time.
There is a remnant left in the earth; do not
compromise. Do not compromise, child of God, with the world
fed church, with man made religion, with doctrines and
traditions of men that will only bring damnation to your
soul. You must, rather, reprove them. You must rebuke them
if necessary, and show them according to God’s Word that
they are wrong.
You cannot make it to heaven by going ecumenical.
Many ecumenical people get comfort in thinking that there
are more “against” the old-time, hard-nosed, holiness
preaching than there are “for” it.
You cannot make it to heaven by going ecumenical. Romans
12:18 says, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you,
live peaceably with all men.” However, God’s Word also says
in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
Are you going to get along with God, or are you
going to get along with men? Are you going to contend with
the current World Church, or are you going to contend with
God? Battles can be fought and won in the name of the Lord
against the Whore of Babylon and the things that stand
against the truth. However, no man, no devil, no angel, no
being or spirit has ever won a battle against the Spirit of
the Living God. Do not contend with God, but rather contend
for God for the faith once delivered to the saints!
Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you to bless
every soul that has read this message, and I pray that you
make it clear to them that they must begin to read your
Word, and believe you, and trust you, and call upon your
name to know the real truth. Make them know to not go
ecumenical, and to not go along with just anything that
comes along and says, “Hey, let’s be brothers anyhow.”
Father, I ask you to move on them, and let them know that if
it doesn’t line up with your Word, they must shun it,
regardless of what status that it would give them in the
community. Lord, I ask you to move on every soul to be
strong and bold in the power of your might. God, set every
captive free, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
PASTOR KEVIN BADGLEY
LIVING HOPE FELLOWSHIP, P. O.
BOX 111, GRAND CHAIN, IL 62941
CHURCH / FAX (618) 634-2541
E-mail
livinghope@hughes.net
www.livinghopefellowshipchurch.org
These condensed Bible
studies have been published to help new Christians in their
new walk with the Lord. Kevin Badgley, the author, is the
pastor of Living Hope Fellowship Church.
This is a Living Hope
Fellowship publication.
Webmaster: Lynetta Johnson
©
Living Hope Fellowship, Inc
E-mail
livinghope@hughes.net
Phone
618-634-2541
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