Rev. James Allen
This agreement our politicians have hammered out with Iran: is something that has not been read, something the government does not even know exactly what is in it, neither house or the Senate. They will never know what is in it. People will vote for something because they are told to. I have never asked you to believe what I say, except for looking in the Word to see if it correlates with the Word of God. The Bible talks about, let one speak and others judge, which is what I want. That is what I expect; so that there is no schism between us when something comes about. We never expect that there will be any false moves, or made up things; just to get attention, or to get in fellowship with someone, or to strive to have fellowship. I have nothing to gain to tell you anything but the truth here on this earth. It all lays on the other side, except for the benefit of the saints of God. That is the thing about it. If I were looking for popularity, there would be a lot more people here that never would have left. Because we made a stand for certain things, that brought about division. Sometimes it turns out like that. The Bible says it will bring forth division, but I never thought about anything that I was led to say: would be bringing division, until division first came, then everything that is a revelation is controversial with people. I have learned that you just have to look at the Word of God and go on unperturbed by those who would cause a problem. I had a map of the West Coast. This one shows more, because it goes all the way down to Argentina, to that fault line. It goes up through here all the way to British Columbia, and then off toward Japan. That is the red line you see here. The yellow line is the probability of where it will go, that puts a big dent in it. As I said earlier, it estimates seven million people that are affected in that area by that, because this is where the cities are, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, all those large cities, Seattle. They spoke about seven million people. That is a lot of people. I know there have been movies, or documentaries that have been made; of what that it would look like, if and when it does come. I am not saying if it comes, I am saying when it comes. As the scientists look at it and see the movement of the earth, that is what they are looking at, because there are two plates here. One of them is rising over the other, pushing against it, and it can just push so far and then it collapses. I remember Bro. William Branham telling how far back under the ledge they had taken submarines, some fifty miles or so underneath the earth. That is a long way. The thing about it is, as it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. That has to be judgment. Some people have said, well if it don’t happen, He will have to raise up Sodom. I have never gone that far, God knows what He is doing, I don’t have to instruct Him as to what will happen, or what He will do. That is His business. But looking at the time and the season we are living in, there are many things that can happen in the next few months according to the word of the Lord. I can go back to what is really going on now in America especially, to see that judgment is on the rise. There are tornadoes, there are floods in places that have not been that way before. Most of them have been centered more or less in the central part of the United States, up until the last year or so, especially this year. They are in New York or wherever these tornadoes are happening. We must look at these things as being judgments of God. It is really a pre-event to the things that are really going to happen later on. The national leadership in this country, is what God looks at, the national leadership in this country has failed. They have not failed God, they have just failed because they had no God in their mind. If they did, it was something false. Here we are now, 2015 at the end of the Jewish year within one month. We are watching. That is what the Bible says, watch and wait. That is what we are doing, we are watching; watching events as they are coming about, so that we can keep up to date with what God is doing. These things are just precursors to what is really going to happen later. What I am saying by this; is God looking for some people that He can put His hand on, that are going to follow Him no matter what the circumstances are? A lot of people say they know God, but do they know His Word? You cannot live by the Word of God, if you do not have it in your soul by faithful study of it. Many have applied themselves to thinking that sometimes an excited experience will be enough. I don’t watch it, but these young people that get on television and show themselves: When you see them shaking their head up and down and getting out of their mind, they are feeling something, but it is not the anointing of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is one thing, but the devil is another spirit: a counterfeiter, and he tries to make his show as something God has ordained. Saints of God: Listen to me: It takes a spiritual mind to know the difference. There are many preachers out there now; that are either preaching finances or preaching healing. Blind eyes are being opened, hands are being healed, but you never see those things taking place. Even if I did see it; it would not change my faith in the Word of God. I remember reading last week, where the disciples came to Jesus and said, we found a man that was not following you; that was praying for the sick. Jesus said, Let him alone: Those that are not against us are for us. In other words, He was saying, do not allow yourselves to get mixed up with it: just let it go. There are a lot of things going on out there that may look great to some, but we must be on guard against what it may lead into. Like I said before, just about every week, we have someone calling; wanting to help us. Last week, someone called; wanting to come here and teach our young people how to worship. Think about that brothers and sisters: I ask you, do you have to have someone come in here to teach us how to worship God? Worshiping God is automatic for saints that have the Spirit of God abiding within them. There is a learning process of course, but we learn to worship Him by the leading of His Spirit that is abiding within us. You cannot worship Him until you have that experience. If you have not yet received the Holy Ghost, learn to yield to His leading until you know you have Him abiding within. No preacher, nor anyone else can give you the Spirit of God: It is a personal experience; that you have once you realize that it comes only when you yield your will to His will. That is when your salvation experience really becomes a walk with God in this life. Let us go now; to Ephesians 5, which is a very familiar scripture around here. If these preachers out here today, had lived in Jesus’ day, they would have heard Him say: this is an evil and adulterous generation that looks for signs; but there will be no sign given to them; except that of Jonah the prophet, as he was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth, and He just left it that way. I will start with the 25th verse. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it.” As I said this morning: that is a comparison. He was comparing a love relationship between a man and woman in this life; with the love of God that He will put within our hearts when we yield to Him. I will read a little further in this, because there is something on down here that I want you to see. “That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” That is the first thing. He has to clean it before these other things can be done, with the Word. The water is a cleansing agent, but it is not a cleansing agent itself altogether. It is a means of taking away what the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed. “That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, (I went over that this morning, He said not having spot. In other words, He is saying there is a place within himself to keep these spots away, because He said not having spot.) or wrinkle, (I explained it this morning in that way, when we sit down, I usually ride to church with my jacket off so that it is not wrinkled. Because that is an illustration, not having spot or wrinkle. That is what shows up to the outside. The cleansing is an inward experience, but what we do with that cleansing is that we let that cleansing take place on the inside so that the outside is not affected. The washing of the water by the Word, He is not saying , that we might get these things, He is saying that, so that we may keep from these things. Paul talks about being separate from the world, but what I am talking about is being anchored in the Word, so that the devil cannot pull us away. He may shake our little boat, but that anchor will hold it. The Word is our anchor.) or any such thing, (As long as we are in this flesh, we are subject to mistakes. A mistake is not a spot or a wrinkle, if we have been honest. If I do something that I know is not Word advised, then that is a spot or wrinkle. However if somewhere, (I am trying to make this simple, like I am driving down the road, I know there are people on the highway that do not want anyone to pass them. Some people are just that way. There are people that will not drive over forty five and they do not want you to pass them. I usually do not stay behind anyone that is driving forty five in a fifty five mile zone. Going to Salem the other day: I passed this person that was driving that way, and they pulled over the white line on me. I just jerked over close to the edge and went on around them. I did not curse them; I was just glad to get around them and go on. We should never let anger guide our feelings because anger is a point of contact for the devil. The Bible says be ye angry and sin not. It could have been written: Though you may get angry; do not allow that anger to cause you to sin. We have to know how far to go with that. If you get angry; do not let that anger cause you to sin. I mentioned something about some young sister the other night, what they were trying to put over on her by some gay teacher. That has been resolved. See? If we don’t let the devil get hold of us because of these things which are trials and tests, we can just keep walking right on with the Lord. They are tests that I do not want, and I do not have to worry about ; because I don’t have to go to school. I do not see why anybody in their 80’s would want to go and finish college, but there are some that do. I guess they just want to be young again, but that will not do it. They used to say, once a man, twice a boy, or twice a child. I will do what I have to do in this world and leave other things alone. If I see somebody that I think is half way right when election comes around, then I will vote for them, but that is far as I am going. I am not campaigning for any of them. People call you; wanting you to commit to someone. I have already committed to the only One that I will commit to. I have committed to Him a long time ago. As far as politics go: the good person usually does not get in office anyway. People complain about crooks all the time, but yet they helped elect them.) but that it should be holy and without blemish.” That is a big word, blemish. That is what He is looking for in us: that is what He is looking for in me. Don’t think that I am trying to put the price too high. I am trying to get it to a place where we can live and be happy in Jesus Christ, and get these bad feelings out of our lives. I am talking about these fleshly desires; these fleshly hopes that grab some. A blemish is to err in body or mind, to put something in the body or to put something in the mind that is not spiritually right. You might say: Well that is just the way I am. That is the kind of attitude that the Spirit of God in you will get rid of. He will not make a place for an attitude like that. What if the Lord Jesus had said that? He would come right down to the cross, all the way to the garden before the cross, and there He prayed, Father take this away if it is your will. He comes and finds the disciples asleep, and what does He do? He goes back again, and prays the same prayer. He gets no answer, because His course was already predetermined. He knew what He was going to have to go through with. When Paul looked at it, he talked about it and said He become a curse by hanging on a tree, all for us, to take that curse away from us. Then he went back the third time. It said the disciples slept for sorrow. But after He went back the third time: this is our Lord, He went back the third time and prayed again and said, let it be so according to thy will Father. That did not take the pain away. That did not take the cross away. He is not going to take everything out of our way: We are going to have to be overcomers. It makes us stronger when we do overcome, because we can look back and see that God put something there to strengthen me. Can you look at that for yourself? Nevertheless, He said, not my will but thine be done. Then the battle is over. What do I mean; the battle is over? He had submitted to the will and purpose of the Father. He knew there was a way out. He said He could have called for more than twelve legions of angels. He could have done that; but it took the cross to finish what was to be. As Paul said, when He saw the glory that was to follow, He took the shame to follow the will of the Father. There; the most perfect man that ever lived, had to be stripped naked before men and women, and bear the shame of it. It bothers me to think of it now. It was not by some accident: It took that to complete the plan of His Father. There they were: men that hated Him, sitting there around Him; gambling over His garment, He already knew from scripture, that they would do that. He was fulfilling the scripture; bit by bit by bit, as He carried the old rugged cross. The glory was not in carrying the cross, and neither was the glory in the crown of thorns, the glory was that He died for us. He took our shame with Him. Furthermore, He took our shame to hell; so that we would not have to go there. We sing the song, Oh what a Savior. oh Hallelujah: is what we say when we think of what He wrought for us there that day. Yes, His heart was broken, and also His bones; there on what we refer to as Calvary. He shed innocent blood to set us free from what was before us: I was talking about spots and blemishes on our robes. We know what a spot is, so let me remind you what a blemish is: A blemish is what we have when we err in body or mind, or in reproach. A blemish is to disgrace that which empowers our reputation, or to taint or reproach. I do not want any of these things in my garment: because I do not see it in Revelation 19, and we know He is coming after a glorious Church; without spot or wrinkle, or blemish. In Matthew 13:43, He is talking about a Church that is going to shine. Paul talked about a shining in an evil generation. We are here; among all kinds of wicked and God hating humans of every kind. We are commissioned to overcome all of that as long as we are still here. He goes ahead to say, “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church.” That is how much He loved us, He is comparing a marriage relationship with His love for us. That is what this chapter is all about. This is what I said awhile ago. “For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” It goes all the way back to the beginning; when God had created Adam and took the rib from him and created Eve. See? It was a part of Adam. Bro. Jackson said He took a little bit of bone and a little bit of flesh to make the woman. We are His flesh and blood through the offering of Himself, because He was our offering, that the offering of bulls and goats and heifers could not take care of. As he goes on here, he is still likening marriage to the relationship between Him and His Church. “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” He is talking about that relationship between a man and a woman, (not between two men or two women). This church world that is all around us: that we are living in the midst of, before it is all over with, they will accept the mark of the beast. Preachers are already preaching in these big churches that it is alright to drink wine. They get that from their Mama; which is the woman of Revelation, chapter17. “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” See: He puts this altogether in a relationship. I want to go to 2nd Peter, chapter 2. Listen to this .“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of, And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: those whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” One man with a message, held that world together for a hundred and twenty years. It says, he was a preacher of righteousness. This world is being held together by saints of God. I could say this, He is waiting for us to get ready, but no, He is getting us ready. He is not waiting on anything. God does not have to wait on anything: He is performing according to His plan and purpose. “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, (Notice the wording of this) condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly; (Those perverts of Sodom and Gomorrah were living in an ungodly way so pay attention to the wording here)And delivered just Lot, (that refers to justified Lot, not just Lot. He had two daughters that were spared when God’s judgment came upon all the rest.) vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.” Lot was the picture of the foolish virgins, because he chose, without God’s help, the direction which he would go, not thinking about the consequences. There was Abraham, that gave him the choice. God in this hour, has given us a choice. We are here by the grace of God and nothing else, because the grace of God: that comes through predestination. I want all of you that love God to know that you are here tonight; because you are predestined to be here, and not because you made a choice one day in your life. God, by in His great foreknowledge knew from the beginning of creation who would love and worship Him. We did not know until our time to surrender came, but God knew from the beginning of creation; where we would go in life. Though you make a choice it will not stick; if it is contrary to God’ foreordained plan for your life. “For that righteous man (Lot) dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.” Do you know what happened? It either was not too bad when he went there, but after awhile his family gets caught up in the thing. It is better to resist. He had two daughters who were virgins. But he had other family members also; because he had son-in-laws. I remember Bro. Jackson going over that years ago. He had preached on; “Remember Lot’s Wife.” He said Lot’s wife got tangled up in all the mission work, the sewing bee’s, soup suppers and all of that. When the time came for them to leave, she was too tied to that. It was not the life style. I don’t believe she was living like those perverts , but she was thinking about what all she would have to leave behind: Like, I am not going to have a home, and I am going to loose part of my family, maybe even grandchildren. But Jesus said, I will put it this way, if I take hold of the plow and look back, I am not worthy of the kingdom. What you have in your life, or whatever you may have that is holding you back in your life: ditch it, it is not worth what it will cost you. That is an awful price to pay. I am not trying to be mean by saying these things, I am just trying to be honest. This is what Paul preached, and this is what Peter preached. We must be without spot, or wrinkle, or blemish, or any such thing. I like this part, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. (Temptations some times come our way, God is able to deliver us out of them, so that we are not bogged down in the same old way.) and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.” There is a difference between godly and ungodly living. There is a difference in living right and living wrong. “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption.” It is because spots, and blemishes, and wrinkles, sometimes come into a life. “And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you.” The devil in no way can come up to your level, but he wants to bring you down to his level. Then he will spit on you. “Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. (those that are clean, having been washed in the water of the word, having kept the blemishes, the spots and wrinkles away) escaped from them who live in error.” There had to be an escape. Sometimes there has to be a pulling away from certain things. “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” If we let something in our life overcome us, to that thing we are brought into bondage. How many want bondage? I have talked about some of these things before. Sometimes we have to break a spirit that has ruled our life, or the life of family members before us, we have to break that in order that we may become loose. I have seen things that were passed down and down and down, never letting anyone find freedom. But somewhere, if we look at the Word and we believe the Word, there is a way to freedom that can also be passed to those coming on: and stop that trend. God always has a way for us, to stop all this stuff that has kept some bound. I am especially concerned, because I am a pastor that wants the best for all of God’s people; all of His sheep. Please do not think I am standing up here to get on somebody today. This is not easy. I don’t know how you feel, but we cannot just follow a path on and on, that may have been a wrong path all the time. Somewhere we have to break loose from things that are taking us the wrong way. If we do not find the way, then we pass it on down to our children. Maybe some of you do not know what I am talking about, but I do: so bear with me. Some people get into patterns of a lifestyle, and there are spirits behind it that just keep pulling you along. I do not expect everybody to be shouting, but I know there is an answer: so that we can be set free; that we may be free from the spots, wrinkles, and blemishes. What does the Bible say we must do? It says we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. If you have a garden you know it requires cultivation, watering and feeding. The only thing I ever planted was tomatoes, but the one thing I certainly did not plant was weeds. I had a tomato plant last year, that they took pictures of, because it was 91 inches tall. I had one that started out that way this year, a certain brother brought it to me. It was over three feet tall when he brought it, and it never did get to be four feet tall. After awhile I just gave up and said, weeds, go ahead and take it: It is yours; you can have it this year. I am not out to grow weeds. I am not preaching this message to down any of you. I want you to be lifted up, but sometimes we have to do something a little different in order that we may be lifted up. As I was saying this morning, while sitting there yesterday in a chair, an uneasy feeling came over me, thinking about it, and it began to dawn on me, we are very close. One of these days, and it is not going to be very long, there is going to be the last call for salvation. The door is going to close, and some are going to be left out. I am not talking about any certain person in here. There is a whole world out there that is going to be left out; as well as some that may have sat here for years. The denominational world of religion, the independent world, is going to be out there; still weeping, singing their same songs, and still preaching their little messages, and will not realize that it is too late; It is all over, and they have missed it: The door for them is closed. When I hear them talk on television, some of those so-called prophetic preachers, say there are two billion Christians: I say, where are they? Jesus took twelve apostles and changed the world. You cannot tell me there are two billion Christians out there: changing nothing. “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” How serious! I was not the first one that taught this. You can blame me for what I say, but then blame Peter for what he said, and if you are going to blame him, go back and blame the Holy Ghost: because Peter was inspired by Him. “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened (It has happened) unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” I want to go to the next chapter; in verse 10. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” All of this happens at the end of the tribulation. “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” That is after the battle of Armageddon has taken place. He is warning us. “Nevertheless we, (you and I) according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” There is a better day coming. The Bride is going to be caught away before all these other things happen. “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” He did not make a name in the world, being someone riotous; a person, blameless. “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, (If I stopped there, then I would not know, would I? But listen to what he said.) which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, (You have a lot of unlearned people in this message, unlearned and unstable. Who is to blame for that? Notice what he said about it; They (wrest.Check the definition of wrest) as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” That is sad. I do not say that with glee, it is very sad, a very sad picture. “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, (you knew them before) beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, (Every time you see something coming, inch up a little bit higher, grow.) and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” I preached the message awhile back on the godhead, and some went all the way out of the scriptures; trying to disprove what I said in the message. You could not disprove it by the scriptures because everywhere you look, there it is, just like a flashing red light. You know what a flashing red light is, it means stop. There it is, flickering, blinking, trying to get our attention. (Think on that!) Grow and get above these things, get taller than the devil. Don’t look up to him, let him look up to you. He is a defeated foe, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is defeated. Thank you Father! Thank you for your love for us. I will close this for tonight.
PART 16 8-16-15