In Matt. 13:36-41, Jesus has dispersed the multitude at the Sea of Galilee and entered into a house. His disciples puzzled over the parable of the tares In the field asked him to explain it. Said he, he that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. Christ, in the beginning, taught the true revelated word of God which set in motion all that was necessary for those true believers in the beginning of the grace age to find eternal life. The first age saints were the very product of the true word seed itself, thus the good seed are the children of the kingdom, while the tares are the children of the wicked one. The tares which our article is primarily discussing must be dearly understood not to be the drunkards or the bank robbers nor the gamblers–no, they are not even sinners in general of the world. Instead they are religious minded individuals who have entered into the fellowship of the saints of the kingdom of God. They are people who go through life in pretense of a religious motivation, yet in reality are never concerned about the revelation of Christ which gives them the new birth and placed their soul in fellowship with God. These individuals once placed, always in the movement where the Spirit of God is working, becomes the actual enemies or the hindrance to the spread and growth of the gospel of Christ in that par-ticular move of the Spirit. When truth comes knocking at their heart’s door, they never accept, instead they fight it! It only proves in the end, irregardless to their testimonies, the spirit guiding that type of individual is certainly not the Spirit of Christ. No, the spirit guiding that type of individual is the anti-Christ spirit!
WORKING PARALLEL
The Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the anti-Christ are two opposing spirits working parallel within the same movement. No, I did not say these two opposing spirits with opposing objectives work in harmony, they only work parallel within the same movement. The spirit of the anti-Christ works in the movement strictly to offend, to hinder or run in opposition wherever possible to the true move of the Spirit of Christ to block further revelation from entering that movement where God is working.
A BINDING MINISTRY
Moreover the tares which satan planted in the kingdom, especially in the second church age, according to Christ are the children of the wicked one! Why? Because the devil sowed them in the kingdom. The harvest, which is the effect and culmination of all both the wheat and tares have accomplished in the kingdom, Christ says comes at the end of the world or the end of the dispensation of grace. The reapers, the angels or Christ’s final ministry to wind up the seventh gentile church age will take out of the kingdom all things that offend God. Verse 40–therefore the tares or the workers of iniquity, according to Christ, will be first gathered together and later burned in the fire of God’s wrath. Naturally the tares being bound together into one bundle is their final state of existence within the kingdom of heaven sometime before the rapture of the church and sometime before God’s judgment burns them.
Verse 41–the Son of Man shall send his angels (endtime fivefold ministry) and they (Not something else) shall gather out of his kingdom of heaven all things that offend him. Remember his spiritual kingdom (the kingdom of God) is placed inside the life of the true believer. If God is in you and you are in him, that is His spiritual kingdom. But it is in the realm of fellowship within the kingdom of heaven where Satan plants his tares for the purpose of destroying the fellowship and unity of the true believers.
COULD NOT REMAIN
How does Satan gain entry? By placing tares into the true fellowship of the church walking in unity with the Spirit. As already stated, Satan was already doing just that around 90 A.D. and out through the dose of the first church age. By the time the church entered into the second age, around 153 A.D., Satan was already planting his tare seed or his false believers within the fellowship of the church this time to remain inside the fellowship until he had completely destroyed its unity and belief in the true gospel. Those tares trying to introduce their contrary revelations around 90 A.D. (those false pretenders) were not permitted by the Holy Spirit to remain in the church fellowship. Though in the second age we see the tares, not as seed but as plants already sprouted up within the kingdom are now permitted by the Holy Ghost to remain in the fellowship of the kingdom until the end of this 7th age. Planting tares with contrary revelation to disturb the fellowship of the true church is Satan’s avenue to bring in his many minor agents of anti-Christ who John declared around 90 A.D. was already attempting to tear down the framework of Christian teaching and belief concerning the true gospel and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. With each consecutive church age within the kingdom of heaven, satan through that same approach attacked and bombarded the church fellowship seeking to destroy not only the true revelation of Christ in the church but also destroy every true Christian doctrine embraced by the early church which produced such unity and fellowship in the first age by substituting in the place of revelatory truth, dogmas, creeds and traditions to be brought in and laid upon the foundation of Christ, thus still continuing to use the name of Christ, though in 325 A.D. reducing his authority to a second person!!
Part 1—Protestantism Restored Lost Truth
Satan in 325 A.D. builds himself a church system which through the dark ages rocked Europe to sleep as they embraced traditions, dogmas and creeds that was used to be substitutes for the true gospel of Christianity. Proceeding slowly out of the dark ages, through what we know as the Protestant reformation successfully beginning around 1517 on up to our 20th Century, God was in the process through the reformation in a progressive manner of restoring little by little, back into circulation and into scriptural identity the various biblical truths that had virtually been done away with in the dark ages by that dreadful anti-Christ spirit using his carnal agent, the church of the dark ages and her head bishops!
DAUGHTERS RULE
Coming out of the dark ages Luther received a revelation that the just must live by faith; Calvin received the revelation of the security of the believer while Knox received the revelation of predestination and later Wesley in 1738 received the truth about sanctification and living a holy clean life before God. Coming into the 20th Century, through the Pentecostal revival God restored to the church the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. While still in those early years of the 20th Century God restored through the Pentecostal move the revelation of his oneness along with the true mode of water baptism according to the apostles in Acts 2:38. Yet sad to say, like the mother of harlots who ruled the dark ages, her daughters (Rev. 17:4-5) ruled the Protestant reformation under the influence of the anti-Christ spirit which, by a certain how in each movement, had successfully planted into every particular movement of the Protestant reformation enough tares who, as time rolled on, found themselves in key positions whereby they might be influential in blocking any further revelation from entering the already established movement.
CONTROLS MOVEMENT BY 4TH GENERATION
Each movement under the influence of the antichrist spirit was still denominating and organizing around their one particular truth. Such an event of organized religion bottles up the present truth and serves to hinder and keep previous truths already revealed by the Spirit out of each movement or blocking the movement from ever receiving truth that will later come! Because remember by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation of the beginning of any truth given within the Protestant reformation, the anti-Christ spirit, working contrary to the true spirit of God, already has enough tares planted within the fellowship of any movement to guide its destiny over the brink of disaster!
One’s spiritual life can only progress or grow as it is permitted to be linked to other revealed truths also in the word of God. Satan’s idea through organized religion is to prevent that from happening! Thus, throughout the lengthy Protestant reformation we see a Bible truth planted here and a Bible truth planted there, yet because it is all quickly bottled up in separate systems it prevents an element of believers on the outside of that particular realm of fellowship to be able to fellowship those inside and vice versa.
TRUTH CHOPPED UP
Therefore I ask you, if biblical truth that is already delivered is left all divided up in that manner unto the very end of the age, how would God possibly be able to return for a church which, according to Paul’s revelation (Eph. 5:77) must be one without spot, wrinkle or blemish, when all we had to offer him was believers embracing only certain portions of apostolic truth and them all scattered in different movements, all split up and all fussing with each other, totally unable to agree scripturally because of their carnal doctrines within their own movement (with each other)!
A MESSAGE NEEDED
Therefore it was of necessity in the plan of God in order to receive that church unto himself without spot, wrinkle or blemish, that He send into the closing gentile church age a gentile messenger that as the Jewish religion which also was all chopped and divided up into various religious groups in John the Baptist’s hour when he appeared clothed in the spirit and power of Elijah, (Luke 1.17) to present unto the Jew believers a message whereby the true believers divided into all segments of religion in that hour might enter into one message in order to be able to receive Christ at His first coming, likewise would a gentile messenger be dispatched to the closing Laodicean church age to a gentile people, also terribly divided into various beliefs and ideas, with a message to bring the true believer’s heart into agreement, an agreement with the scripture as taught by the apostles in order they, too might be ready for the second coming of Christ.
RESTORING SPIRIT
This gentile prophet messenger appearing at the end of the Laodicean age would come to do a job that no reformation leader had done. First of all, according to Mal. 4:5-6 ( B-part ), he would be clothed in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the endtime children back into the teachings of their apostolic fathers. God would send that very same spirit of Elijah upon a man at the closing of the Laodicean gentile, lukewarm church age who would present a message from God to bring all these divided people into one Bible message. The spirit of Elijah rested on John the Baptist to fulfill A-Part of Mal. 4:5-6 according to Luke 1:17. See our article “The Mystery of the Coming of Elijah”
ANTICHRIST SPIRIT MOVES IN
All those dark age teachings had been the culmination of the many anti-Christ spirits working in the dark ages to bring in all these various creeds, dogmas and church systems. Nevertheless, as the reformation began to move out around 1517, the anti-Christ spirit will not remain in the dark age system but will now invade the reformation to do the same thing it has always done–to block, to hinder in whatever way possible the spread of TRUTH or to see no new TRUTH links up with other TRUTH. No, beloved, just because there has been a reformation has not done away with the anti-Christ spirit. Simply because Luther brought faith in God did not cause the anti-Christ spirit in any particular measure to take a back seat or go off and sit down somewhere, no, those anti-Christ spirits are still on the scene having invaded every ruo:eineat of the Spirit of God to offend Christ in whatever way possible. Those anti-Christ spirits will remain on the scene until they have served and fulfilled their devilish purpose. Just as they were permitted to enter into the fellowship of the early church and gradually build up that system from what they introduced in the second church age, through the 4th age, to do their evil work in the dark ages, those spirits will hang around until the end of the GREAT SEPARATION! Neighbor, you will always see these spirits hanging around where the true message is!
Invading Final Movement
Let us find out how we may identify these spirits hanging around this message. Identifying people is not important, but identifying spirits is! No, these anti-spirits do not enter to harass this last message brought by a prophet through their same old teachings used to deceive the Protestant reformation to lead them back. Yet what they inspire to be taught carries their same old effects, same old objective and purpose and that is to take everyone possible away from the word of truth who is not grounded in the holy scriptures and link them back up with the spirit of Catholicism which was in the dark ages! Recall John stated these spirits entered in around 90 A.D. to implant within the true church fellowship of that hour disunity among those walking in true apostolic teachings through false teaching in order to tear down the true unity and fellowship of the believers walking in a true undefiled revelatory message.
Likewise in the final age, Laodicea, these same anti-Christ spirits enter into this movement which was suppose to have been restored back to the very same original teachings of the apostles and we see the same old effects of these spirits replayed as they continue working contrary around this true endtime message! They only serve to lead people away from the truth because remember this time God will not permit these anti-Christ spirits to enter inside his revelatory message. ABSOLUTELY NOT!! This message is different from. Protestantism seeing they only carried TRUTH IN PART!
CANNOT ENTER REVELATION
God will not allow these spirits to destroy nor tamper with the revelation of his TRUTH. However he will permit them to hangaround the true revelation and continue to hack away at it, thus these anti-Christ spirits who invaded all the other movements which, remember, carried only truth in part will never be allowed to tear down this true revelated message because this message (being the last) carrying the whole truth must still be lifted up!
PRESENT ON IDEAS
Therefore those spirits will definitely be allowed to have or to present their own ideas concerning this revelatory message but remember it is only their ideas of what he said they will be permitted to propagate. I repeat, these anti-Christ spirits seen in this endtime movement who can not have anything to do with this restored revelation of the word are allowed by the Holy Spirit to take away every living soul who attaches themselves to this movement not grounded in the scriptures nor who has any intentions of standing loyal to the true revelation linking one’s faith and doctrine back into the revealed scriptures, but instead links their deceived spirits back in with the spirit of the dark ages, and get this—that spirit will not even require those individuals to leave this movement in order tote linked back into that spirit! God used his own prophet as a means to speak certain things here and there for that spirit to feed upon and be able to succeed in its purpose!
LOVE THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE
Beloved, you do not fool God, God knows those who are His and those who are not and furthermore he knows how to distract those who will not follow his spirit! Recall when that anti-Christ spirit started out in the first age before the church had ever lost its first love for the word (Rev. 2:4) the Holy Ghost did not even allow that spirit to remain inside that beautiful true fellowship around such a pure undefiled revelation! That is why John declared, they went out from us because they were not of us for had they been of us they would no doubt have remained with us (I John 2:19). However, recall in the second age after that church lost its first love for the truth of the word, according to the second parable in Matthew 13, those anti-Christ spirits did enter back inside the fellowship and from that time on they were permitted to remain and grow into great pre-eminence until they reached the dark ages.
REFORMATION DID NOT STRAIGHTEN UP CHURCH
While all these various teachings or truths during the reformation were existing in these various denominations which had come out of the dark ages or Romanism, each of these movements we must remember was a gradual breaking away from the power and influence of the old Roman church system, an institution of nothing other than dogmas, creeds and traditions handed down through centuries of time as the papal power changed the true doctrines of the Bible and instituted in their place certain teachings which would fit the church system of that hour to be most acceptable to the world. No, by no means did the reformation straighten up the church to the point of preparing it for the rapture, on the contrary, it seemed through the hindering work of the anti-Christ spirit to serve only to further divide it!
GOD RESTORED TRUTH
Would such a statement mean that God was not in the reformation. Certainly not, God was in the reformation! He was restoring lost truths! To Luther he restored faith; to Calvin the security of the believer; Knox, Predestination; Wesley, sanctification; baptism of the Holy Ghost and restoration of gifts by the Pentecostals and finally the oneness of the Godhead and water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ by the oneness movement of Pentecost. Absolutely, God was in the reformation, He restored truth! All these revelatory truths which are Bible doctrines were God’s successive order in restoring to his church the true basic formula as to how he purposed in the beginning that man should be saved.
ETERNAL SECURITY A BIBLE DOCTRINE
Paul and Peter both taught the eternal security of the believer, As I have said before the doctrine of eternal security itself is not salvation. In essence eternal security means this—how many times were you born into your natural earthly family, ONLY ONCE, RIGHT? Beloved, much of this stuff we hear today which brings out the evangelical side of the reformation stems primarily from your Armenian (Wesley, etc.) teachings. Whosoever will may come, is the universal call yet never forgot God knows who will and who won’t come. He simply does not tell us who will or won’t, it is his business to know! Since he knows who will and who won’t, he therefore knows who will accept his eternal gift of life. Yet, remember the person who accepts God’s plan, a plan which I remind you was already formulated in his mind long before the foundation of the world, is the person who was present in the mind of God or in his knowledge long before the individual himself ever came into being. Such an act on God’s part shows both his sovereignty and foreknowledge. Since God knows who will accept, the eternal spirit sees to it this elected person has eternal security through his journey of life. Because according to scripture they were chosen, predestinated, elected, justified and glorified before the foundation of the world. Rom.8:29-30. The scripture further declares their names, who accepted his salvation plan, were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world, not the night they accepted Christ ( Eph. 1:4, Rev. 13:8).
GOSPEL FOR ELECT ONLY?
Does these scriptures imply that God only sends his gospel out to the elect? Certainly not!! He sends it out to the ends of the earth saying whosoever will let him come and partake of the water of life freely. Never forget, God is fully aware of who will come and furthermore he knows how to get them to come. No man comes unto me to accept me as their personal saviour says Christ in John 6:44, except the Father the great Eternal Spirit draws or calls him. All that the Father giveth me, that is who has been wooed to me by the Spirit, shall come to me and I will in no wise cast out, (Jn. 10:26-30.)
Many make a start, go through outer forms, many even join the church. From an outward appearance they go through all these commotions. But it is God who looks on the heart, he sees whether that seed of birth takes place. That is why they last a little while and then fall away, as explained by Christ in His first parable, but the seed that fell on good ground had altogether a different story. Some of that seed brought forth 30, 60, 100 fold! Therefore in the reformation it was Calvin, who brought out eternal security of the believer. Remember eternal life does not lay in the doctrine itself, you could accept the doctrine all day long and never be born again. It is only the true born again who have the eternal security. Eternal life comes only through the new birth. The doctrine itself only shows the individual who has received eternal life, the sovereignty and keeping power plan of God for each believer who accepts his true formula for birth.
PREDESTINATION–BIBLE DOCTRINE
Knox in the reformation brought out predestination to show in the beginning God foreknew all things, therefore he knew how to regulate things, how to set things in motion to bring every precious soul or seed who would accept Him into His redemptive plan. Nevertheless, as God used the reformation to restore these spiritual truths back to his church we see within the framework of each organizational system such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, Knoxism, Wesleyanism, Pentecostalism, that because of these tares placed by satan into each movement through the anti-Christ spirit, satan formed organizations around these previous truths to bottle them up or hem them in and along with these truths the anti-Christ spirit brought into the various organizations certain old ideas of the mother system of the dark ages.
STILL DIVIDED IN 20TH CENTURY
Therefore entering the 20th Century we note the people of God are still scattered throughout all these bottled up systems. For so long people had thought when Christ comes He will take from all these systems the good and simply leave the bad. This teaching may have been justifiable in bygone hours of the reformation, however, today there is an entirely different light on the subject which links in with the scriptures proving this was never God’s intention. Recall in each previous age God only required the believer to walk in obedience to the light and truth revealed in his hour. Yet scripturally, it is an established fact in the closing of that final gentile church age God would send something to gather the true elect child of God out of all this religious confusion and bring them together in order to perfect their faith as well as their doctrine whereby they might be a people who once again, as was in the beginning, he believers who could stand as a united people perfected in every aspect of the gospel in order that at the end of the age the end time believer might be the same in likeness as they were in the beginning. Irregardless to what theology says about it, all scripture, parables, etc., points to this fact—it is God’s plan!
FANATICISM GAGES MOVEMENT’S SPIRITUALITY
By all means I am fully aware there are many people in the following of this man’s message who have taken certain statements in relation to the teachings of the man and gone completely into the extreme just as they did in every reformation movement. You will always have that to contend with. Even Moses had to contend with certain fanatics who would not remain with truth. Departing from Egypt Moses also had a great crowd that followed him who was everything else but spiritual. Remember, it is always this crowd the world is allowed to see and the spirituality of the movement is always judged or gaged by that fanatical bunch! The extreme side is the devil’s way by which he fights and opposes God, his opposition. Nevertheless the true seed is not placed here to stumble over Satan’s counterfeits and extreme imposters. The true seed is here to learn how to walk in the light of the truth. This they shall do provided they are not marked somewhere with the world, and believe me if they are, somewhere they will hit a snag in their spiritual growth and definitely go by the wayside as so many others have done!
Part 2—Twofold Purpose of Message EXTREMITIES ON HOLY GHOST
Before answering the question in certain people’s mind–what did the prophet to the age actually come to do, may I say that many of those who do go off the deep end are quick to discredit everything Luther and any of the other reformation leaders did. They make such void, empty statements based on their understanding of certain statements at various times the prophet would make. Some will even go so far to the extreme as to declare NOBODY SINCE 325 A.D. HAD THE HOLY GHOST UNTIL THIS MAN CAME AND BROKE THE SEALS OF REVELATION 6 in 1963! We know that to be the fact because we have a signed statement by a minister to this effect, who for years has been associated around this message.
NEED OF HOLY GHOST
Some even dare to go further into fanaticism by declaring no one has as yet received the Holy Ghost! May I say, as badly as we need the Holy Ghost in this how to show us error, WE BETTER HAVE THE HOLY GHOST! For without the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost, you are not only none of His but you can not even be baptized into the body of Christ! Make sure you have the Holy Ghost–without the Holy Ghost to guide you into all truth it is impossible to understand this message.
WHAT DID MESSAGE DO?
Now to answer that question–what did the messenger do? To some extremist he brought a message to such an extent that they no longer need the revealed scriptures and are quick to tell you so. That beloved is not what this messenger came to do, he did not come to take you away from the revealed scriptures in your Bible—YOU WERE ALREADY AWAY FROM THE REVEALED SCRIPTURES WHEN HE CAME! He came to place your faith and your doctrine back in the revealed scriptures! That is what Mal. 4:5-6 declared he would do! It is the anti-Christ who works parallel to the true message who will use any means or any statement possible which he can insert into an already exalted mind to assure them they no longer need the revealed scriptures of the Holy Bible. The anti-Christ spirit must first get you away from the holy revealed scriptures onto something else which he impresses you will serve the purpose of the scriptures before he can lead you on into the second and third stages of his plan which will link your spirit into the spirit of the dark ages! But they say, Oh, he brought the message for this hour just as the reformation leaders brought the message for their hour (which gives them the excuse to forget their Bible saying they do not need it). Sure, he brought the message for this hour, I agree with you although you must never forget the message he brought continually cried out to all believers—GET BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD! GET BACK TO PENTECOST! GET BACK TO WHAT THE APOSTLES TAUGHT IN THE WORD! His message was one continual — GET BACK, GET BACK, GET BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD’. UM)
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE?
Let us discuss the message; What is the message? According to one person, supposing to be helping other ministers understand more clearly what the message was, declared he could tell anyone in three words what the message was. The message said he is William Marrion Branham. Let us see if the message itself warning an endtime people to get back to the word to prepare themselves for the coming of Christ is William Marrion Branham!
CONDEMNED ANTICHRIST TEACHINGS
Throughout the many years since 1954, I had the privilege to hear this man preach the Bible, his Godgiven message had two objectives. Because of the authority of the prophetic office God invested in this man to fulfill his portion of Mal. 4:5-6, Rev. 10:7, God gave him a ministry of knowing the secrets of the human heart, a ministry which far exceeded any ministry found anywhere in the Reformation or we might add even in the Book of Acts, for where, in history, do you read where any man (other than Christ) could line up people and tell them, one after the other, their sickness, circumstances around their sicknesses, events in their lives, who they were and where they came from–I KNOW NOT ONE! Objective No. 1 of his message was to condemn all anti-teachings from Romanism to Lutheranism, to Calvinism, Wesleyanism and into both segments of Pentecostalism.
TRINITARIANISM CONDEMNED
Basically what were some of these anti-Christ teachings he condemned? Recall the first thing Satan sought to do in order to destroy the true unity and fellowship of the early church was to destroy revelation of who Jesus Christ was and 300 years later he made a trinity doctrine out of it. How often did this man stand and by using the word of God, history and illustrations as well, condemned trinitarianism. Sure, Luther brought out faith in God yet he never condemned trinitarianism. That is why his followers are still trinity believers—it was not time to bring it out.
TRIUNE BAPTISM CONDEMNED
When the prophet condemned trinitarianism his message also condemned the triune mode of water baptism. No, the message never did away with Matt. 28:19, it only brought into spiritual light the revelation of Matt. 28:19 which says, baptizing them in the name (singular) of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Since the scripture mentions only the singular name (of father, son and Holy Ghost) you have only one name to baptize in. (Acts 2:38 revealed the redemptive name).
Otherwise, you would have three different names in which to baptize—one name for the father, one for the son and one for the Holy Ghost–that is if they are three separate persons of equal status, etc. Matt. 28:19 does not say in names but in the name (singular). Father and son are certainly not names of any one and the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost signifies what or who he is, but that isn’t his redemptive name, Acts 2:38 carried the redemptive name. Jesus declared in John 5:43, I came in my father’s name. Friend, if I came in my daddy’s name I would come in the name of Raymond Jackson. However, my daddy and I are two separate individuals. I could not say as Christ did in John 14:9, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. No, I could never say if you had seen me you would have seen my daddy.
In the sense of deity we are not dealing with two persons of the flesh, we are dealing strictly with one eternal spirit called God the Father who is the Holy Spirit – the Jehovah of the Old Testament. When God the Holy Spirit of the Old Testament was manifested in human form and took on flesh you then saw the sonship side of Jehovah. God is everywhere a Holy Spirit at the same time. Yet he formed a vessel of clay that in it he might place his own life. This by no means vacuums or takes the Spirit God out of the universe nevertheless, when he placed all his divine attributes of His own eternal life into this little vessel of flesh to give that vessel of flesh life in order to walk on earth, to talk and see as man, then God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19) spoke through his fleshly lips, walked in His feet and saw through His fleshly eyes. Who could do that? ONLY THE SPIRIT GOD! That is why from a flesh standpoint Jesus could say it is not I, meaning the flesh, but my Father that dwelled in me that doeth the work. Jesus said, I came in my father’s name–his father was the Holy Ghost (Matt. 1:18-20). Then Christ said in Jim. 14:26, the Comforter, (Holy Ghost) will be sent in my name. Acts 2:38 declares that name is Jesus Christ.
CONDEMNING MESSAGE
The prophet’s message condemned such things as triune water baptism, using three separate names as well as infant baptism which was scriptural and sprinkling which is the poorest excuse for baptism of them all! Whoever heard of sprinkling dirt over someone who is dead! You place the dead under the ground! All these traditions originated from Romanism of the dark ages and not one of them was taught nor practiced by the early church.
Sprinkling, confirmation, church membership, organized religion, priesthood were all condemned in his message. WHY? Because they are products of the anti-Christ spirit which has always opposed the true ministry and revelatory teachings of the scripture.
3 STEPS OF DARKNESS 1-DESTROY WORD
Antichrist spirits invading those church ages prior to the dark ages were continually leading people more and more away from the authority and infallibility of the Holy Scriptures, a lesson of War-ning endtime believers could profit mightily from….
2-INFALLIBILITY OF MAN
Therefore, once the infallibility of the scriptures written by prophets and apostles had been destroyed in that person’s mind the anti-Christ’s second step or move after having removed the infallibility off the scriptures was place that infallibility on a certain man—a mistake the endtime believers must not make! It was mainly over the infallibility of a man (the pope) which brought about the split between the Greek Orthodox eastern churches headed by Constantinople with certain European churches headed by Rome in the 8th Century.
3-WORSHIP DEAD
The anti-Christ can never produce his objective in any movement until first he destroys in the individual’s mind the infallibility of the scriptures! Following step two we see His third step into the dark ages is the in-troduction to the worship and fellowship of the dead or communing with the dead, prayer to the dead (Mary), etc., which Bro. Branham in his message condemned as the highest order of spiritualism known! I warn you this spirit has already invaded this endtime movement! Hardly any Catholic would admit they worship Mary, instead would declare they only worship God yet is it not strange before they can ever look toward God they must first say. Hail Mary, Mother of God, etc.
VIRTUE IN CHRIST ALONE
Prayer to the dead, purgatory and relics in the church were all condemned in his message. What do we mean by relics in the church? Go to Europe and there in churches you will see bones, bits of clothing, chains, cups, rusty nails, etc., supposing to belong to some saints and carry certain virtue. These things receive quite an unusual place in the worshiper’s mind and heart seeing he feels there is some kind of holiness or virtue in these objects supposing to have belonged to some saint. Beloved, there is no virtue in places and things, the virtue is in the Lord Jesus Christ! You are on the wrong track to think virtue lies in anything else!
NEITHER MESSENGER WAS MESSAGE
Believe me when I say, the message delivered by that prophet was not something totally and completely alienated away from this Bible nor was it designed to lead you away from the scriptures! This message is definitely not the man himself used of God to deliver the message although there are those who would quickly inform you he is the message. That anti-Christ spirit will use any means available to entice you to believe such a thing in order to distract your mind from what the true purpose of the message is and that is to restore you to the teachings of the apostolic fathers. The man himself was no more the message he brought than John the Baptist who fulfilled A-part of Mal. 4:5-6, Mal. 3:1 and Isa. 40:3 was the message in his hour while he prepared a people’s heart for the first coming of Christ. John was a man also destined to fulfill scripture. He, too, brought a message and his message said this, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, Matt.3:2. It was John’s responsibility in that hour to prepare a people’s heart who Malachi referred to as–the hearts of the fathers to the children! In other words, it was people old and young all confused or mixed up in religious beliefs exactly like we had at the end of the grace dispensation. Yet through John’s message, the true seed of that hour bound up in various religious groups, would begin to follow the teaching of John and be in position to recognize the Messiah when he appeared on the scene.
John, you recall, was questioned — WHO ARE YOU? ARE YOU THE CHRIST? ARE YOU THAT PROPHET? TELL US THAT WE MAY GIVE AN ANSWER TO THOSE WHO SENT US!! Jn. 1:19 28. I am not the Christ nor that prophet Elijah, although remember according to Luke 1:17 the angel told Zacharias, John’s father, before his birth his son John would be clothed in the spirit and power of Elijah. Therefore John was truthful when he said I am not that fleshly prophet Elijah nor the Christ, I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, MAKE HIS PATH STRAIGHT, etc. (Isa. 40:3) Another translation reads, I am a voice of one shouting in the wilderness, make the road (straight) for the Lord. John knew exactly who he was and what he had been sent to do. His message was to prepare the hearts of a people for Christ’s first coming. There is one among you, John said, who as yet I do not even know however, I will know him when the time comes because he who sat me said I would recognize him by a certain sign. This person when he comes I am not even worthy to unloose his shoes. When he comes he will indeed baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, Jn. 1:31-34. Matt. 3:11. Not until Acts 2 did Christ through the Spirit ever begin to baptize with the Holy Ghost and fire.
COMMISSIONED WITH TWOFOLD MESSAGE
I repeat, the little man commissioned in the Ohio River by the angel of the Lord in 1933 while in the process of baptizing his 17th convert declaring to him he had been chosen to take a message and forerun the second coming of Christ even as John the Baptist had been chosen to forerun the first coming, etc., was not the message although he brought the message! His message carried two objectives. Objective number one we discussed–His message con-demned Catholicism for everything she had taught, trinitarianism, triune baptism infallibility of a man (pope), worship of the dead, celibacy of priests and nuns, mass, infant baptism and sprinkling. While objective number two of his message was to pick up all the necessary truths already restored by the Holy Spirit to the church through the hours of reformation by Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, Pentecost. His message took those salvation truths which had been held for so long in separate religious organizations separated them from all error and placed them all back together within the scriptures – placing them in their proper relationship, one to the other in relation to man’s salvation. Shocking as it may sound to some, Bro. Branham never restored faith, eternal security, predestination, sanc-tification, baptism of the Holy Ghost, the Godhead revelation nor water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Face it, many people had already received the Holy Ghost, been baptized the scriptural way or received some other portion of this salvation truth restored in the Protestant reformation before he ever came on the scene!! Yet some will say, then what did he do? Mal. 4:5-6 shows him in the prophet office of the spirit of Elijah as a restorer. As a restorer at the end of the age naturally he fulfilled Rev. 10:7 as the messenger to Laodicea. The office of the spirit of Elijah is a restoring spirit.
RESTORING SPIRIT 3-FOLD
Let us notice a three-fold appearing of the spirit of Elijah for the purpose of restoring something. Recall in Matt. 17 Christ was questioned by his disciples who had seen a vision of Jesus clothed in his millennial glory discussing something with Moses and Elijah. Coming off the mountain, his disciples asked—why do the scribes and elders say that Elias must first come? Note, the scribes and elders like so many today were looking for the literal, fleshly appearing of the Elijah of old but not the spirit of Elijah resting within a man. When Jesus makes the following statement bear in mind John the Baptist is already dead! Jesus answers, I say unto you that Elias shall come and restore all things, Mal. 4:5-6. Note, shall come is “future indefinite” but Jesus continues by saying, I say unto you that Elias has already come–referring to John, Luke 1:17. See, Christ is actually showing his disciples that in the measure of restoring that was of necessity of that hour, Elias had already come and accomplished all he was supposed to do for that hour. However since Christ said Elijah shall come (John being already dead at the time) shows the work of that restoring spirit of Elijah carries within it still a future tease operation somewhere later. In that hour of time the spirit of Elijah, resting on still another man, would come to restore and place back in its proper order according to scripture, certain things that had gotten off course pertaining to the gentile church and that beloved is exactly what the messenger to this age did!
DID NOT RESTORE ALL THINGS
However, allow me to caution you by saying that even with the coming of the spirit of Elijah on a gentile prophet’s office at the end of the age he did not restore all things by any means! He came and took all the Bible truths that had been restored through the reformation and placed them all back into one message. He even broke the seven seals of Revelation 6 and brought into light what the reformers could not because of their hour and just as in John’s ministry when that spirit of Elijah restored all which was necessary to be known in that hour in order for believers to be ready for the first coming of Christ. Likewise did the spirit of Elijah on this gentile prophet office restore all things necessary for the endtime Laodicean saints or true seed to be ready for the coming of Christ to receive his bride. He restored all the mystery necessary to the end time people to fulfill Rev. 10:7. He restored all things that was necessary for the gentile church to be ready for Christ’s coming yet that restoring work did not cover the restoring of all things!
3RD PHASE FOR JEW
What about after the gentile church is secretly gathered out and the gospel returns back to the Jew to gather out the 144,000! Never forget, that spirit of Elijah will be in that hour also in Israel resting once again upon another Jew–and once again he will do some more restoring, and during that appearing will complete the restoring of all things of Matt. 17:11. One Jew who is referred to in Revelation 11 as one of the prophets will have received the spirit of Elijah while the other Jewish prophet in Israel who gives the anti-Christ a fit of rage received the spirit of Moses, and together what a work they do! In that hour the restoring work of the spirit of Elijah completes the words of Matt. 17:11 THAT ELIAS WILL RESTORE ALL THINGS! In that hour he will restore all things necessary for the 144,000 who are to receive the revelation of who Jesus is—that he is God–to fulfill Isa. 9:6 etc. With that final operation among the Jews, that completes the mighty office work for the restoration spirit of Elijah!
Therefore, do not think for a moment, as so many have, that Matt. 17:11 applies strictly to the officework of Bro. Branham—It does not! Bro. Branham restored what was necessary for the gentile bride church to know yet he restored nothing to the Jews which is the final step in God’s restoring program.
PLACED ALL RESTORED TRUTH INTO ONE MESSAGE
The restoring spirit of Elijah coming upon this gentile prophet placed into one message all those divided truths already restored in the reformation over which men for hundreds of years had fussed and stewed in their various denominational circles, who seemingly could never come together in unity and fellowship around the revealed scriptures in the Holy Ghost, instead they sat in their separate camps unable to go any further in the Spirit of truth nor could they connect up to previous truths already revealed simply because of their organizational teachings. In this condition there they sat, all bottled up around their own little truth, fussing with each other as this vindicated prophet messenger to Laodicea came on the scene with a ministry of such unusual attraction, one the like of which had never been seen in the grace age. Yes, he restored all those salvation truths which had been argued over and could not be understood in Protestantism. No, he did not go contrary to any one of these restored truths, instead, like no other man’s ministry (especially those reformers) while condemning Catholicism and all its false teachings, he took all those truths and placed them back in the scriptures in their biblical setting, one to the other to show an endtime elect people that all these restored truths were originally in the gospel of Jesus Christ and did all belong back in the scriptures. He shows all these truths were written, recorded and embraced in the lives of the early church in the first age.
RESTORING THE CHILDREN TO THE FATHERS
Since this was the first time such a gospel of salvation had ever been proclaimed since the first church age, God gave his servant a special gift ministry which would fulfill the latter part of Mal. 4:5-6, seeing John the Baptist had already fulfilled the first part. Fur-thermore, being the prophet messenger to the Laodicean age he must also fulfill Rev. 10:7. His message cannot be a message outside the contents of this Bible. On the contrary, it is a message found INSIDE the Bible! Moreover this message is bringing out in its full true identity all the early church’s teachings in order to fulfill Malachi’s prophecy in the latter part where Malachi says “he shall turn the hearts of the children (back) to the fathers.” Who else would the children spoken of there be, other than the endtime believers of the gentile grace age who had been scattered amid all this reformation, denominational confusion of fussing and fuming over these various restored apostolic teachings. That spirit of Elijah resting on a gentile prophet would turn those gentile children around and restore them back through his message to the teachings of their apostolic fathers. Apostolic fathers who, under the Old Testament dispensation covered by John’s ministry, were none other than the children of the law age referred to in the first part of Mal. 4:5-6 and destined to become apostolic fathers in the beginning of the grace age.
PREACHED SAME GOSPEL
Therefore if these apostolic fathers always baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this prophet in order to restore the endtime children would do likewise. If our fathers taught one God (not trinity), he would also. If our apostolic fathers who were then the children in John’s period closing the law age taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost, he would do likewise. Acts 2:38-Acts 19:1-5, Acts 10:44-48. If they who once were in the role of the children but later became the fathers of the faith in the grace age taught sanctification, predestination, eternal security– this endtime prophet in order to restore the endtime children back to the teachings of their apostolic fathers must do likewise! Whatever they taught, he must teach (else we were not restored to their teachings). Teach things that were not taught in the dark ages seeing they had been lost but had been restored in part in various stages of the reformation, here a little and there a little but for the first time since the early church, would now all be placed in one message and presented at the end of the age.
Concerning his message, he was once asked–Bro. Branham do you preach the same gospel message Paul preached? To which he replied, I sure hope so because Paul said (Gal. 1:8-9) if anyone, even an angel from heaven, would come preaching any other gospel than that which he had preached to the Galatians, let that person be accursed, and I sure don’t want to be accursed, was the prophet’s reply!
PROTESTANTISM DID NOT REMOVE ANTICHRIST SPIRITS!
All these antichrist spirits began to manifest themselves at the close of the first church age, coming over into the second age after the church lost its first love, seen as tares sprouting up out of the ground coming into the church fellowship, only this time to remain there and not be driven out by the Holy Ghost as they were in the first age. They will continue to remain and implant their apostate teachings in the fellowship until they successfully destroy the true unity and fellowship of the church, thus leading the church off into the dark ages. Through the reformation God would restore back into circulation an identity of various truths, yet bear in mind the restoration of truths did not remove these devilish pagan anti-spirits. On the contrary these spirits would remain on the scene working parallel to the true spirit of God in each movement to offend, hinder and oppose all the truth in whatever measure possible. Moreover, they are seen working more closely in parallel to the Spirit of Christ in the endtime to separate and lead away from true restored teaching! Their purpose is now no longer hidden, it is to link up every individual who has been led away from the authority of the scriptures in this movement back into the spirit, (not the organization) but the spirit of Catholicism that ruled the dark ages through whatever route that spirit chooses to accomplish its goal!
LINKED TO DARK AGE SPIRIT
Everyone not ordained according to the foreknowledge of God shall be led back into that spirit of pagan, heathen darkness seen in the dark ages. All those not ordained to eternal life who are connected with this message must go that route. Those offensive antichrist spirits will absolutely linger around this endtime message until they have successfully separated, gathered up and sent back into that idolatrous, heathen spirit of the dark ages every living soul not ordained to walk in this true restored message brought by this prophet.
In order to perfectly link up everyone possible of this movement with that dark age spirit of Catholicism, the anti-christ, a ntiword spirits seek three steps, three steps I remind you that led the church into the dark ages. (1). Remove the authority and infallibility of the holy scriptures. (2). Place that infallibility over on a man and (3). To completely enter the raw pagan darkness is to seek fellowship with the dead. All three steps are already present in this movement. M a matter of fact things are being done the dark ages had not heard of.
Part 3—A Look at Protestantism After Message Came
Is it not strange that for hundreds of years, up until around the 60’s, those protestant movements could seemingly never come together in unity! No, not until this man delivered his restored message which eventually brings out every true seed from these various groups to walk in unity and fellowship of this one message ordained to place their faith and doctrine back in the word of revealed scripture. Note something–no sooner does this happen in the early 60’s around the time this prophet is breaking into the seals for the true seed, that antichrist spirit out in the religious world is also making his preparations for the setting of the stage to bring together another kind of unity! That spirit prepares to bind together in ecumenical unity his iniquity workers or tares left. That spirit begins a program of ecumenicalism to bring together in unity all those not affected by this message and remember this comes about without the scriptures being the central theme! All will be bound together in one huge bundle and the unity will be totally false and will be a unity in no way based on any restored portion of Bible truth as taught by the early church. On the contrary it will be a unity of systems and organizations which has already deserted truth and embraced traditions! Yet note this unity of the antichrist cannot come about until God first removes his true seed from these movements and secondly, these tares out of various groups are willing to forsake much of their treasured tradition they have embraced for years. Then and only then can the tares be able to come together in one body of fellowship. They will arrive at a unity, though false as it may be–they will arrive at it because the world conditions will press them into that hour of unity.
DESERTING TRADITIONS FOR UNITY
Already we are witnessing their anxiety to ditch, not Bible truth they did that long ago, many of their old treasured things held so dear in order to embrace a complete new vision of world unity and equality. The systems as they accept every kind of spirit in the world have already become so apostate that spirituality is no longer the heartbeat of any of it! It is strictly for a worldly position and recognition in the world. Whatever new thing comes along the world has to offer, the modern church goes right after it!
NEW CATECHISM
Through the 60’s and 70’s we witnessed this great ecumenical spirit working inexhaustibly to produce that desired unity. Old walls of indifference seen standing for hundreds of years rapidly crumble as illustrated by the recent catechism designed to be used by Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists. The recent meek toned catechism produced by 36 respected protestant and Catholic theologians is designed to replace the old catechism used by the three main bodies of religion.
A catechism is a manual of questions and answers on doctrine used by the various churches. This new catechism to be used by the three main bodies has been hailed as the book carrying the vision of ecumenical unity for the 21st Century. Concerning the resurrection of Christ the book says “Christ’s resurrection has been a permanent problem.” At one point in defending the belief of the trinity it remarked diffidently (shyly) ‘that it may not have been such a bad idea after all.’
The catechism rejects a number of ideas that Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists have traditionally affirmed. For instance, the orthodox idea of original sin is discarded. The old Catholic catechism taught it was a moral sin not to baptize infants whereas the new catechism states there can be no fundamental objections if parents let children decide on their own whether to seek baptism, as Baptists do. The book, placing considerable limitations on the Bible, says that we can learn virtually nothing from scripture on precise questions of sexual morality. The ten commandments are, to a large extent, conditioned by their age. Many New Testament passages are described as interpretations that were made later by the church instead of accounts of what Jesus said and did. The common catechism rejects Pope Paul’s 1968 decree against artificial birth control and makes a strong case for Christian social endeavorment. The book spends much time covering themes that protestants and Catholics have always been united on and in essence says there is very little left to be argued about.
PLACE FOR UNCLEANNESS
Once every true seed has I eventually departed her boundaries, she will then become nothing other than a cage or resort place for every foul, unclean spirit including every perverted homosexual and sodomite spirit to be gathered unto her! The anti-Christ spirit working among the denominational world, unifying all religions of so-called Christianity, will soon be ready to unveil its man of sin or lawlessness of 2 Thess. 2:3-4, as all men will be required to worship him as God! That is the ultimate goal of the anti-Christ spirit now working feverishly among religious people who refuse the message of the Laodicean messenger.
Think of it, in that hour all these religious movements which once followed the teaching of some reformation leader who stepped out to walk in truth, after the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation the tares having worked their way into key positions within various movements to hinder the truth etc., will now all be completely turned over to satan. Why? Because they no longer serve any useful purpose in God’s program. With his true seed out, nothing is left but to tie all the separate bundles into one bundle and burn them! Matt. 13:40).
SECURITY NOT ENOUGH
The true seed are no longer deceived by these spiritual deathtraps out of which they were called. It does not matter how sincere individuals may appear, sincerity has nothing to do with it! Look back 2000 years ago into that great mob screaming Crucify Him, Crucify Him! No doubt you would have seen many sincere people standing there. The problem was they were all completely void of what God had been doing in their midst for 3 1/2 years, they had completely missed His message!
FOOLISH VIRGINS NOT TARES
Remember the major purpose of the anti-Christ spirit seen at the close of the seventh church age among lukewarm Laodiceans is to unite all the tares who are now in separate bundles into one huge bundle and present it to His man of sin. However, everything out in the religious world during that hour when the anti-Christ spirit is ready to present all this traditional religion, tied into one neat bundle by the ecumenical spirit, unto his man of sin, according to Matt. 25:1-13 everything caught up out there will not be Satan’s tares! That is true. According to Matthew 25, a setting which occurs at the closing of the kingdom of heaven on earth, while everything among religion was being tied together and unified through this ecumenical spirit, a cry was made by a messenger of the bridegroom.
CRY AWAKENS ALL VIRGINS
This cry which sounded throughout the world awakened all the sleeping virgins of that hour. His message was behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him! It is the last church age message God will ever send to his gentile church! It was the midnight hour and all the ten virgins who had been waiting for the Lord or bridegroom had all fallen asleep. Only the messenger who entered their midst was not spiritually asleep to the need of the hour. His message began to awaken all virgins from out of their spiritual sleep. Some, naturally, awoke before others but eventually through a process of time they were all awakened. Once awake they began to trim their lamps. Why? Because spiritual darkness was all around them and they needed a light to travel by.
NO OIL
Those classified as foolish virgins, Jesus says, were also awakened by the commotion of the message and finally awake they make a startling discovery—THEY HAVE NO OIL! What little revelation of truth they had accepted in the reformation hour had gone out of their hearts. The oil of the truths they had accepted had gone out because the scripture said they had no oil or Holy Ghost. Therefore it would have been impossible for them, even though they awoke to the need of oil, to have entered into this revelatory message of light and truth until first they could get some oil to create a revelatory light within them. You must have the Holy Ghost in order to understand or see this revelated message in this hour. It all boils down to this—the oil message the Pentecostals had been preaching since 1900 up until around 1958 had done the foolish virgins virtually no good! They simply had not accepted the oil message, whereas the wise had.
ACCEPTED SOME TRUTH
Remember it was not Luther, Calvin, Knox or Wesley who had preached the oil message, no, what revelational truth they had delivered certainly carried within it a certain amount of oil but it was not the oil needed here! No doubt these foolish virgins had accepted various truths restored in Protestantism because as these restored truths were burning in their soul, some light was being fed in their bosom off the oil within the truth which they had accepted. Yet, if you will not allow truth in the word to continue on in your life, your light and fire will go out! Whatever truth they had previously accepted one thing was for sure they had not accepted the oil revelation which taught the religious world they needed the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
MISSED HOLY GHOST MESSAGE
Nevertheless when they became fully awakened by this messenger or cry they were now awakened to the realization they had missed the great Holy Ghost message. As a matter of fact they had slept through it. At any rate they had not felt it necessary up until this hour to get involved in the Pentecostal experience. Recall these people are not Satan’s tares! No doubt through their religious history they had been awakened unto some restored revelation in the earth being preached in Protestantism and whatever truth they had they thought was sufficient enough to carry them through until they met the Lord! But I repeat, they neglected the last message of the Holy Ghost and that was receiving the oil and while trimming their lamps they discovered they now had none! Trimming their lamps simply implies they were trimming carbon from the wicks to furnish a clearer light which is none other than removing carnal traditions which had collected around their previous revelations in the word. Why? Because they were examining the possibility of more light in the word. I can’t see that, they would exclaim! The foolish could not see it because they did not have any more oil to furnish light on the word. LET ME HAVE SOME OF YOURS, ex-claimed the foolish to the wise, that we may have some light to see what is going on! Remember you must have light in yourself or you can not understand what is going on!
PREVIOUS TRUTH LIGHT EXPIRED
Their oil which produced light was gone! Light from their last revelation had gone out because it had not been permitted to link up with other truth in the word! Remember you keep the light of revelation burning in your bosom only as you continue walking on in further truth of the revealed word! This, in turn, furnishes you more oil to keep your lamp lit. Thy word, O God, is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway said the Psalmist.
The wise answered the foolish, WE CAN NOT GIVE YOU ANY OF OUR OIL SEEING THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US. But you go unto the merchants who buy and sell and there get oil. While the foolish departed from the wise in search of oil, the wise who had extra oil in their vessels and had trimmed their lamps enough to know there was still more light to be received in this message, go on into this revelated message of the hour to learn of its truth.
AN ENDTIME SETTING
The parable is strictly an end-time setting and does not apply to Satan’s tares he planted therefore let us place it in the setting of the world. It was around 1958 when that Holy Ghost deliverance, salvation, healing revival of more or less an interdenominational nature began to subside which had been proclaimed throughout the earth for some ten years. For ten years auditoriums and tents, the largest ever known to be used for religious gatherings, had been filled to capacity and often running over. Every modern means available to man was thrown into this special worldwide effort to inform mankind of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and the receiving of the baptism of the Holy Ghost along with the healing of their sickened, diseased bodies. As that frontline message of God in receiving the oil went forth, a message preached by Pentecost since the turn of the 20th Century, God was honoring those efforts and for the last ten years of that period men from every walk of religious life was being used in this effort to reach the world with the news of this Holy Ghost gospel. A revival of oil! The foolish sleep through it!
FROM 1948-58
Hardly a nation but what did not feel the effects of this move. As that ten year (1948-1958) revival demonstrating the power of the Holy Ghost simmered down it had presented denominational people with more Holy Ghost truth than they had ever known in the history of their movement. Untold thousands, having received various Holy Ghost experiences, had now forsakened their old, dead cold movements which openly declared this new move to be of the devil! And remember, as this oil message which preached a clean holy life had gone forth, glossolalia revival as it is known today was unheard of!
NEW OIL MERCHANTS
As the deliverance revival subsided, that message or cry of the endtime began to go forth by the man who had already been used greatly to spearhead this past ten year revival. While this message of Bible truth in the 00’s was going forth to produce a people who would come together around the spiritual unity to the word, the bundling of the tares was already beginning to take shape. And get this, a new so-called Holy Ghost oil movement was springing up which was destined to have a great impact on the religious world. A movement which I say would no longer hold to the old line teaching of holy consecrated living as had the oil message of the past 60 years proclaimed. No, this new oil message won’t even be interested in Bible doctrine! To them Bible doctrine only divides the people. This new movement referred to as glossolalia or charismatic revival, a term never used in the sixty years prior when the great oil message was going forth, today has been hailed by leading theologians as to carry the greatest single impact of any movement for the spreading of the ecumenical spirit of unity among all groups. Why? Because denominations as well as Catholics by the tens of thousands are united in this glossolalia movement who already speak in tongues and profess this new ecumenical, up to date charismatic experience. As we stated, one reason for its popularity is that it does not cater to that old fashioned holy living, dedicated, Christ centered life preached by the old time Pentecostals, and furthermore steers away from Bible doctrine as far as possible feeling Bible doctrine divides the people!
We say all this to show you the setting and what is going on in the world as the foolish virgins depart from the wise in search for oil. The wise having extra oil with them showed they had not neglected the genuine Holy Ghost oil message as had the foolish. This class of people are called foolish virgins who no one will ever be able to identify until the proper hour has gone out among the new oil merchants in search for oil. That is identically the setting carried on throughout the 60’s! The great worldwide healing, salvation, Holy Ghost revival reached its peak, especially in America, around 1958 while most of the foolish virgins were still spiritually asleep in some portion of the Piolestant reformation teaching.
BRIDE MESSAGE-FRONTLINE
Around 1958 God desired to change the order in his program. Now the frontline message will no longer be the Pentecostal oil message as the Pentecostals had declared since around 1900. God’s spotlight or the frontline message now becomes the bride message as God called his people out of all “isms” to place them in his last message for the gentile bride. Here she will accept the fullness of the scriptures as she is restored back by the office of the spirit of Elijah unto the teachings of her apostolic fathers. And believe me to return back you will have to have the Holy Ghost to make that kind of move! I repeat, without the Holy Ghost you cannot understand this message! Remember, to say God changed the order of His program with the spotlight now falling on the bride message does by no means imply that a person could no longer receive the Holy Ghost. Certainly they could, the only thing is–that it is no longer God’s frontline message. And as the oil message as taught by the Pentecostals including holy living, sin fighting etc., falls now to the second most important position in God’s program an entirely new group of oil merchants are brought to the front line to carry on the oil message. Now it is to be carried on with an entirely different slant and purpose although it is still possible to receive the Holy Ghost even under these new oil merchants.
Throughout the 60’s and into the 70’s the denominational tares, striving through their own unity, become more and more bound together, progressing toward that final hour when the man of sin comes forth who later demands human worship. At the same time God’s message is still going forth waking sleeping virgins, calling upon them to separate themselves from such things. The parable of Matthew 25 pictures the virgins rising from denominational sleep or religious sleep and began to trim the carbon or carnal teachings off their lamp wicks in order to spread a far better light of revelation in their soul. Remember, the more revelation you receive into your vessel means the more oil you will have by which the revelated light of God’s word may brightly burn in your life.
AWAKENING TO A FRIGHTENING REALITY
Beloved, I am not condemning what is going on in the religious world surrounding this ecumenical move concerning the glossolalia revival but I will say one of these days when that thing has served its purpose and has rolled up into the yard of Romanism to empty its cargo, it is going to leave many souls (many foolish virgins) who are out there in that thing hanging out on a limb crying, O God, where do we go from here! No beloved, in that hour everything caught up in that glossolalia spirit is not going to be at all happy once they are fully awakened to where this thing is actually taking them. Some will want to jump off the bandwagon who today think it is the greatest e move on earth. Back in the 50’s, even before glossolalia was known, when the deliverance movement was going strong I invited a young Jewish it convert being mightily used in the it deliverance movement to visit our area. After searching in vain for a large building I finally contacted a certain Pentecostal church who e graciously opened their doors for the one night meeting. I have no doubt God placed a gift in this man’s life and used him to pray for many sick people. After the service he discussed with other ministers the possibility of coming to Louisville, Ky. to the Assemblies of God in a large gospel tent that fall. Since that time his name has grown among the evangelist in the deliverance field yet beloved, I am aware if a man will not walk on with God in the revelation of his truth when his opportunity arrives (Matt. 25:6), somewhere along the line he reaches a point and it is a point of no return. That man must then turn unto some form the world will accept! Today this man has a network of television programs and like most other evangelists who have had to turn and compromise from previous convictions to become identified with glossolalia movement, he, too, pushes such singing celebrities as Johnny Cash, Pat Boone, Roy Clark—singing personalities frequently seen entertaining the glossolalia movement. I am not condemning, only saying, and may it be a warning to all of us, when any man refuses to walk on into more truth of God’s word once the Lord presents a message that brings more truth for people to walk on in, then the ministry of such men reaches a certain point and can go no further in truth. From that hour on watch it, it will turn every time strictly to a worldly manipulation. Evangelist after evangelist so mightily used from 1948-1958 fell into that trap and today you see them change their style of dress, with long hair etc. because they must bear that hippie look in order to be effective.!
COMPLETE SELLOUT COMING
Nevertheless, God’s message over a process of time continues forth awakening the virgins. This message called out and sought a people who would come back to that same original gospel preached in the beginning. Regardless to how spiritual people may still appear to be out there in some phase of the new ecumenical religious world, mark it the day will come as this rapid growing unity gains momentum having everything tightly locked up headed for unity with Rome, people will unbelievably sell out! WHY? Because world conditions will force it.
When that apostate unity comes some type of universal decree will no doubt be drawn up to show what this unified church intends to stand for. Basically it will stand for peace and prosperity in the world, social equality, racial equality and all such carnal advantages belonging to carnal mankind in order that the carnal mind may sit comfortably within her ranks. But the gospel they preach will not be a gospel of Bible salvation, it will be strictly a social gospel for world recognition and once all this takes on its Jerusalem setting in order to fulfill 2 Thes. 2:4, watch out! Beloved, you let world conditions force a brief nuclear war and you are going to meet that anti-Christ, not as a deceptive spirit but fully incarnated in this man of sin. sooner than you ever expected!
Part 4— Identifying Spirits
MESSENGER NOT THE LORD
Bear in mind, the foolish virgins who never before in all their religious experience had ever been awakened to the reality they had need of the oil message are now somewhere out there seeking oil for their lamps. As the wise virgins who had extra oil awakened and trimmed the wick of their lamp (the word) and entered into the study of this endtime message, who do we see enter into the movement (not into the message) to await his opportunity but this anti-Christ spirit. Recall, Jesus in Matthew 24 speaking of just how close this spirit would be in the last days in relation to the truth, said it would be so close to… the truth that if it were possible it would deceive the very elect! Bro. Branham further warned the movement which followed him that the seventh church age messenger would have so much power with God it would cause some of the following to actually believe that the seventh church age messenger was the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
Do not believe a spirit teaching such a thing as that, warned the prophet! It is absolutely not true! The seventh church age messenger is not the Lord Jesus, he is merely your brother in Christ, a prophet messenger and needs no greater honor than this!!
Beloved, to emphasize that messenger to be the Lord Jesus Christ is nothing but a low down trick of the devil to throw you into idolatry and back in fellowship with the spirit that controlled the dark ages!
LIGHT REVEALS CHRIST LIGHT REVEALS CHRIST
That anti-Christ spirit moves in alongside to work parallel with the true message and don’t forget that spirit has moved in to offend God and lead everyone away from the word possible back into heathenism! As that prophet brought truth from the word to place the true bride believer back in line with the word as the parable shows, the trimming of the carbon or carnal teaching off the lamp wick allows a greater flow of oil to burn and present a brighter light in their soul-it is presenting a beautiful revelated picture unto them as the word of God is quickened and becomes a reality once they see where this message fits and lines up perfectly in their Bibles (lamps). That picture scene is none other than the revelation of Jesus Christ in his revealed truth.
EFFECT HUMAN STATEMENTS HAD ON SOME
God, knowing this would be the final gentile message to his church, now permits all these anti-Christ, anti-word spirits to invade the movement and work parallel to the revelated message. How? By feeding these haughty, exalted, carnal minds of various in-dividuals who God knew had attached themselves for one reason or another to the movement of this message but in reality had no in-tentions of walking on with him in the Holy Ghost. God permits this prophet to make certain human statements, statements placed purposely within the overall setting of this message, which the anti-Christ shall use to feed into individual minds certain carnal revelations which absolutely have no scriptural backing whatsoever! Most of those carnal revelations received are strictly concerning the man himself! Statements were placed within this message for them to feed upon and feed upon them they did! Therefore these specially placed human statements were never intended for the bride seeing she would receive or feed off the revelation in the message and be led back into the word of God. A spiritual mind can not help but feed on spiritual revelation while a carnal mind cannot help but feed on carnal revelation. Yet never forget, a spiritual revelation for, the bride of Christ always comes strictly out of the word of God and will always place you back in the word of God showing you where you have erred—it will never, ever place you in something else other than the word itself!
In order to identify these various spirits working parallel with the revelated message, we must examine certain things. I used to think eventually all these foolish confusing, unscriptural revelations people tried to propagate would play-out–Unscriptural revelations people have concocted over certain statements made by the prophet from time to time. No, they are definitely not statements which could be classified as a mistake because they are dual statements purposely carrying two separate lines of thought placed within the message. They are little seed grains of thought dropped along the route which the anti-Christ picks up and impresses certain people to accept while the bride receives the revelation of the message and enters into the fullness of the revelated scriptures in God’s Bible! Yes, my prayer was people in the message would shake themselves and repent of all this nonsense and foolishness, however, now I know better—it can not ever stop until it has accomplished its full goal seeing it is the work of the anti-Christ spirits! You can not change it, no one can. It must be this way in order for these anti-Christ spirits to do their work. Why? Because it is the great separation of the chaff or husk from the original true grain wheat seed of the message. Yes it is the GREAT SEPARATION which takes all this stuff away from the true seed.
HUSK BEING SEPARATED
However, when we say GREAT SEPARATION within this endtime message please do not confuse that statement with the GREAT SEPARATION found in Matt. 13:40 because that separation deals with tying up of the denominational tares into bundles! That is strictly organized religion. What you have in this movement that is swept away or fanned away from the threshing floor (God’s word) is not something you can tie up into a bundle. Your bundles of tares are out there in denominations. This message can never be organized nor can it ever produce an organization–it can only produce an organism, a unified body of Jesus Christ. However, the operation of all these anti-Christ spirits working close to the revealed message within the movement will definitely create little “isms” or little separate “factions”.
What is going on in this endtime movement is likened unto a farmer making the final separation of everything from his wheat before the day of the thresher or combine a fan of some description is used on the farmer’s threshing floor in order to blow away all dust, husk or chaff particles from the pure ripe wheat grain before the ripe harvested wheat goes into the barn. Anyone knows you can not tie a husk into a bundle, all you can do with that stuff is sweep it up into a pile and burn it—that is exactly what John the Baptist declared Christ would do with the chaff in the endtime message at the end of the age!
JOHN PROPHESIED IT
John the Baptist explained the fanning process of the chaff being blown away from the wheat once brought upon the threshing floor as a work directly produced by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That it is he, John said, who is holding the fan in his hand or as was used in olden days in this winnowing process, a winnowing fork which tossed the wheat into the air and the wind blew away all the lighter chaff particles while the beautiful ripened grain of wheat fell back each time upon the threshing floor. In other words, the wind was not strong enough to take away the true ripe seed of wheat. Paul tells us not to be carried away by every wind of doctrine (Eph.4:14)
In Matt. 3:11-12 John the Baptist was asked the question if he was the Christ. No, said this prophet clothed in the spirit of Elijah, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance saying believe on Him who is to come (Acts 19:1-5), but he who is coming after me will baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire. This operation of Christ we are fully aware, did not take place until Pentecost. And recall, Christ was not present in the flesh (but in Spirit) when He baptized believers in the Holy Ghost, nor has He ever been present in the flesh to baptize anyone in the Holy Ghost. Yet John declared this was what Jesus would do! Something else John declares Jesus would do which could only affect the believers at the end of the age because this second thing Christ would do could not be accomplished until the wheat had first been gathered out of the field and brought upon the threshing floor where the final winnowing process must take place to completely separate all the chaff from the wheat before the -wheat is taken into the barn, ac-cortlIng to the ,parable Of 40§L-, We have a complete article on this entitled THE FAN which is yours for the asking. Therefore I will only make a few statements concerning Matt. 3:12, the second thing John declared Christ would personally do.
HOW CHRIST SIFTS
(Quoting from Williams translation). His winnowing-fork is in his hand, he will clean out his threshing floor and store his wheat in his barn but he will burn up the chaff with fire. Remember Christ was not present in the flesh when he accomplished John’s first statement of baptizing with the Holy Ghost. Nor will he be present in the flesh at the end of the age to accomplish his fanning separating process upon his threshing floor although he will be present in Spirit in the revelatory Spirit of the endtime message. Remember it is he, through a certain process, doing this fanning the chaff away from the wheat. Christ who is the revelation of the word of God is present in this endtime message brought by the prophet to the bride and it is these dual statements placed within the confines of the message which serve as the fan to fan everything which is not pure wheat away from the word! God’s word is His threshing floor and that is what people have been brought to by this endtime message! He brought you to God’s threshing floor where the final process begins! Beloved, no leader in the reformation movement ever spoke a message of God, placing within his message dual statements with one line of thought leading you into the word of God, while the other statement, if followed, will blow you off in the opposite direction from the word or threshing floor! These statements or thoughts which do not carry you to the word of God serve only one purpose and that is as a fan to blow you if possible completely away from the word of truth! This is the only message of God which ever carried a fan built into it! And that is because it is the final message to the bride of Christ as she is brought to the threshing floor for final separation! Christ is in this message fanning away everything from Himself that is not true word seed before the pure wheat can be carried to the barn. I repeat, no other message ever had a fan built into it, Matt. 3:12! That is exactly what these ministers are doing today who carry winds of carnal revelation they have concocted off these well placed statements! STAY WITH THE WORD! Never in the history of the church has there been a message which could be identified like this. Why? Because no other message carried a specially built in fan within it to completely blow the chaff away from the wheat while upon the threshing floor.
WORLD SEES FANATICISM
The denominational world looks skeptically upon this man’s message and sniggers when they hear the name Wm. Branham mentioned, saying, Branham, oh, that is the man whose followers believe him to be God, isn’t it? Satan sees to it such fanatical idolatry as this is the only thing that will ever be looked upon in relation to the message. It is Satan which makes them look at it in this light because they are not ordained to actually See it VeVelatOry wise’, a5` what this man was to do, therefore, they themselves, being tares mainly, cannot help but see such idolatrous things because they themselves are already taken in by an anti-Christ spirit! Therefore these spirits will continue to work until they have taken their toll and linked every soul possible back up with that spirit of the dark ages. Remember it was that specially built-in fan, of certain statements placed into this message that ‘ Christ used to blow all the chaff away from the true wheat grain.
WHAT ANTICHRIST DID TO TRUE ONE GOD REVELATION
When this prophet seventh church age messenger began to unfold the mystery of God pertaining to the gentile church, is it not strange that while in the process of showing to the church the doctrines of salvation which included such topics as predestination, sanctification, baptism of the Holy Ghost, water baptism in the name of the Lord etc., there did not appear to be any confusion over His teaching. No, there did not even appear to be any confusion once he began to bring forth the one God revelation. Everyone said amen to this also. However, the sad part was some of the followers who heard him teach out of the word of God the revelation that God was one because of that offensive anti-Christ spirit working parallel to the message began to take the true one God revelation and place it over on Bro. Branham as if HE WAS GOD! He who was supposed to be the messenger to the age now becomes an idol god to various ones! That beloved is just as much anti-Christ in our generation as what was taught in the first church age which was contrary to the revelation of Christ making it anti-Christ! Why? Because what was going on in the first church age around 90 A.D. which John called anti-Christ was perverting the revelation of the true deity of Jesus Christ! If you can’t accept this to be an anti-Christ spirit, perhaps because of some close associate being caught up in this spirit, then listen to Bro. Branham as he stood in defense of his call and preached the message THE BRUISED SERPENT after having become so grieved to discover that certain ones were trying to make him to be God or the Lord Jesus Christ!
RATHER BE QUITTER THAN ANTICHRIST
Beloved, what do you think he was talking about when he declared in that message, I had rather go down as a quitter than to be called an anti-Christ! And of all the pleading this man did to straighten out people’s minds concerning the fact he WAS NOT GOD in any manner, shape, form or fashion, still we continually hear those unwise statements which only feed this spirit such as O, BUT HE WAS MORE THAN A MAN. A statement like that should be carefully explained. When a person is cornered who makes such a statement as this, usually they will say–well, I mean he was a prophet. But beloved to leave that statement laying in the open with no explanation only feeds that carnal mind who already accepts him as more than a man, which to them means he is either God or he was the Word, or he was the Lamb! One man who was questioned as to why he believed Bro. Branham to be the Lamb said, well, didn’t the Bible say the Lamb was the only one that could open the seals in Rev. 5 and didn’t Bro. Branham open the seals–therefore that makes him the Lamb. A pathetic carnal interpretation which will send anyone completely off the word of God! Naturally it was the Spirit of God who gave the man the revelation of the seals but all some people can ever see is just the flesh of the man and no further! YE ARE gods!
A desperate brother, confused over the issue, wrote to one who should have been in position to help him, asking if Bro. Branham was God seeing there was much confusion on the subject. The reply he received was, HE IS GOD TO ALL THOSE WHO ALLOW HIM TO BE GOD!
Usually a person when cornered who makes statements of that nature always falls back to one of the few scriptures they will ever use, John 10:33-36 where Jesus is about to be stoned by the Jews because he, being a man, made himself G-O-D. In verse 30 Jesus said to the Jews, I and my father are one! They said, we stone thee not for a good work but because you blasphemed, because thou being a man maketh thyself G-O-D— the great eternal one. Jesus answered, is it not written in your law I said ye are gods ( Psm. 82:6), gods here has no reference to anyone being deity! There are no deity—gods. God is one supreme being!
If he then called them gods (small g-o-d-s) to whom the word of God came (and the scripture can not be broken) say ye to him who the father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemeth because I said I am the Son of God. Without any explanation of the passage nor taking into consideration that whenever Jehovah God is mentioned or his word or when that word became flesh and became the Son of God, in each case the (G) is capitalized! But when the prophet to whom the word of the Lord came in the Old Testament is mentioned as being gods to the people, they certainly were not deity! It has no implication that the individual prophet himself was Jehovah God as we often hear related to this endtime prophet by certain ones!
WORD TO PROPHET ONLY?
When people continually say the word of the Lord comes only to the prophet, how do they explain the thirteen books of the New Testament written by Paul who was an apostle! As a matter of fact practically the entire New Testament was written by New Testament apostles, not Old Testament prophets! I grant you, the word of the Lord concerning prophecy, judgment, blessing and so forth did come to the O.T. prophets for the people but Paul over in the N.T. was not a prophet and the word of the Lord came to him! When anyone tries to blow up the little (g)ods to make them equal to the big one (G)od, deity or supreme being, you are taking the scripture completely out of setting! The prophet was a god to the people only in the sense he brought the word of the Lord to them; NOT because he personally was some deity being! Heb. 1:1 says, God who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son—who, we must remember, also was in the world in the office of a prophet. Amos , 3:7 declares, God will do nothing except he reveal his secrets unto his servants the prophets (more than one). Example–God would not destroy Sodom until first he told his prophet Abraham. Gen. 18:17. Therefore John 10:34 has no reference to Bro. Branham, who was a prophet, being the great Jehovah God! Bro. Branham said he had rather go down as a quitter than be called an anti-Christ!
PROPHET NOT GOD
Others will say, well in a sense he is God–what is wrong with that? Everything, beloved, is “Tong about it! That man himself knew to make him God in any measure or to be called the Lord was nothing but the work of an antichrist spirit. For a while it appeared after he had preached this sermon, THE BRUISED SERPENT where he defended his call declaring he was merely a brother in the flesh, that this anti-Christ spirit subsided for a time. Nevertheless when God took his messenger from the scene, leaving the letter of the message in the hands of the people to see what they would do with it, that anti-Christ spirit bounced right back. Why? Because the prophet is no longer present to defend his position. And is it not strange that with so many being affected by this spirit, those who are in position to attack this thing seemingly won’t lift a finger to defend his truthful position! As a matter of fact, what is usually said only feeds into this spirit.
NEW NAME DOCTRINE
Sometime ago in South America the anti-Christ spirit found itself a person who could be impressed. Since the scripture declared the true believers would one day receive a new name–one which no one but him who received it would know (Rev. 2:17)–this person in South America comes up with the idea and begins to teach it, quite freely, winning many disciples that the new name of the saints is none other than the middle name of Bro. Branham; Thus, through this new name teaching many are deceived as they are being baptized, married and even prayers are prayed in this name of the prophet—GOD FORBID SUCH IDOLATRY! One brother, influential enough with the believers there wrote them a warning letter concerning this idolatry which had hit the movement in that part of the world, declaring to them the MESSENGER WAS NOT GOD in any measure using as his basis Bro. Branham’s sermon THE BRUISED SERPENT.
GAINING GROUND
Now that the prophet has departed the scene and the message is in the hands of the people, the Holy Ghost will take those truths and apply them unto the hearts of his true elected children and will defend the truth in the light of truth, while the anti-Christ spirit will go right on gaining ground, using various statements in the message to teach that stuff, sowing that seed wherever possible into the hearts of other people who, in the first place, do not have the Spirit of Christ within them. In the end that poor, deceived person is worse off than that deceived person out in some trinitarian denomination headed straight for unity in the false church. Those around this message should know better! Sooner or later as the true bride comes more in unity of truth and the religious world moves out to fulfill the final apostate Babylon system, I know this message will have very few local churches that will uplift it or even hold to it. Nevertheless, this message will be uplifted and will shine bright enough the true elected child of God will not only hear and see it but will come to it and furthermore they will know the truth, in the message leads them into God’s word also!
We have many in this following who have drifted from one teaching to another, proof they are all nothing but anti-Christ spirits. Some will say, you call these people anti-Christ. I did not but if you begin to harbor and believe things totally unscriptural, that is definitely anti-word, is it not? Watch that spirit and you call it what you wish!
SON OF DAVID DOCTRINE
On the day of the first moon landing when Neil Armstrong placed his foot on the moon, ac-cording to one person connected with this message, God left the mercy seat that day and came down in fullness into his body! And since that hour he has been known as the Son of David or at least that is what he is to be called when he reigns over the millennium! To back this position he uses Rev. 14:6-7 referring to the first angel who is himself and he is now preaching the everlasting gospel. The so-called bride of Christ under this man’s ministry (700 in number) fled to India in 1971 to await the rapture which is to happen in the middle of 1975. We unfortunate ones who believe this message sent by the prophet who could not make it to India for the rapture, according to this man, are a type of Lot and his family in Sodom. For the European people there is a place somewhere in Europe for their temporary safety while the American people may use the state of Arizona and the city of Tucson for their place of safety. This man not only feels he is the Son of David but also has his two witnesses, one in Germany and one in America. These two men are supposed to fulfill the role of the two prophets of Rev. 11. According to them the millennium begins at the end of 1977 and the new reign of the millennium will be under this Son of Man from India who, since the moon landing, is already the Son of our God, Jesus Christ, awaiting his new role in the millennium as the Son of David!
1977 MILLENNIUM USHERED IN
Ch. Age Bk. Pg. 322
This man and his two prophets are continually using phrases and statements made by Bro. Branham which they link into their own personal ministries. One statement made by the prophet they use which seems to be a favorite of theirs is when he said–I feel all this will be over and the millennium will be ushered in by 1977! No doubt at the time he said this it was really how he felt! It must be remembered the prophet made this statement in 1960 and at the rapid pace everything was coming together then with world events happening so rapidly., no doubt at the time he said this it was really how he felt! no doubt at that time he felt in his heart something unusual would happen in 1977. These people and many others who base their idea of the beginning of the millennium on this statement must remember the time must cover the take over by the man of sin, the tribulation etc.. ALL THIS MUST BE ENDED IN ORDER FOR THE MILLENNIUM TO BE USHERED IN BY 1977! ! According to this new Son of Man theory, in order to have everything over and the millennium to be ushered in sometime in 1977 their teaching is the tribulation time gradually began in 1973.
DATE SETTING FELL FLAT
We might add also because of that one statement of the millennium being ushered in by 1977 and so many taking that statement, not to be a statement he personally felt himself but because he was the prophet, whatever he said was absolute. Because of that one statement, the millennium be ushered in by 1977 ever since the year 1970 there has been more dates set by people in this movement as to the coming of the Lord than you could shake a stick at! Sometimes as many as three different date settings in a year and I think you know everyone of them has fallen flat! Yet, do these people arise and say Brethren, I was wrong and I repent. Please forgive me for this erroneous teaching? No, they go on their merrymaking way spreading still other doctrines just as carnal.
I shall never forget sometime in 1972 after we began to print certain articles showing the people there was yet seven more years or one prophetic week to be fulfilled for the Jew or Israel, according to Daniel 9:24-27, a brother took issue with me, saying That is impossible because Bro. Branham said all would be over and the millennium ushered in by 1977. There isn’t time for such a teaching of 7 years left as you are presenting! I want you to know, said the man, that by 1973 the bride will be gone from this earth! Well, since that time I have not heard from the brother. I just wonder if he made it!!
We will never forget when Bro. Branham was so cautious to teach to the bride through many inspiring messages that there was yet one FULL WEEK out of the seventy weeks of Daniel yet for the Jew; and said by divine inspiration that Christ was cut off just a few days after he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday 33 A.D. Through every means possible at his disposal he sought desperately to show, first by scripture, second by a drawn chart, third by Jewish calendar that only 69 weeks out of the 70 had transpired. Then several years later, for no apparent reason he began to throw out such statements as “Jesus was cut off in the middle of the 70th Week,” leaving the idea now there is only 3 1/2 years left for the Jew. Immediately people started throwing away everything he previously said when he proved from the Bible there was one full week left for the Jew. They can not find in the Bible one place where Jesus was ever cut off in the middle of the week because Dan. 9:27 does not teach what some would like to make it appear–that it is the prince (little p) who is cut off in the middle of the week! Friend, read that verse again, it is not the prince who is cut off in the middle of the week! That prince, after he made a covenant with many for seven years, in the middle of the week (70th), he breaks it (the covenant). He is not cut off but something else is! The scripture says HE causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease! That is what was cut off—NOT THE PRINCE!
Furthermore, there isn’t one person who ever showed to me in the Bible where Jesus ever made a seven year covenant with Israel and broke it, nevertheless the prophet leaves the world with these statements hanging, these statements which will not link you back up with scripture. But some say–what difference does it make, he was the prophet–whatever he says goes. HE ALSO SAW ONE PROPHET CANNOT ANNUL WHAT ANOTHER PROPHET HAS SAID!! He further stated, a true prophet cannot receive a revelation contrary to the word! . Beloved, I submit to you God had a reason for that prophet to leave those statements hanging as he did. No, I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where Jesus was ever cut off in the middle of the prophetic week but I can show you in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church where they believe Jesus WAS CUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 70TH WEEK!
NOW I ASK YOU, WHY WOULD A PROPHET, SENT TO DELIVER US FROM THE TEACHINGS OF CATHOLICISM AND PLACE US COMPLETELY BACK IN THE SCRIPTURE, MAKE A STATEMENT TO THIS EFFECT UNLESS IT WAS GOD’S PURPOSE, AFTER HAVING PRESENTED THE TRUTH TO THE BRIDE OF CHRIST AND PROVING IT BY THE SCRIPTURES, TO HELP THOSE WHO HAD NO INTENTION OF ACCEPTING WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH TO BE LINKED BACK INTO THAT SPIRIT OF CATHOLICISM –AND GOD CHOSE HIS OWN PROPHET TO MAKE THE NECESSARY STATEMENTS TO GIVE THEM THE NEEDED PUSH TO PUT THEM BACK ON THAT ROAD!!! FINAL
LOOK AT FOOLISH VIRGINS
For a brief moment let us bring back the foolish virgins who were last seen out in the glossolalia world seeking oil in Matthew 25. The denominational world, including pentecost as well as your undenominational type people who rejected this bride message, has already been caught up in that spirit. Yet, while many today are willingly going along with that spirit, pentecost included, feeling in their hearts they are in God’s direct will, yet as that antichrist spirit unifies this denominational world into one church system and a decree is made and that church presents to the world its by-laws showing what it will stand for in this world, those foolish virgins seen in Matthew 25 awaken to a new reality and they are going to know now something definitely is wrong! This movement isn’t at all what they thought it was. Verse 10—and while they went to buy oil the bridegroom came and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins saying Lord, Lord, open to us. And he answered and said verily, I say unto you, I know you not!
RETURNED TOO LATE
Note, a great deal of time transpired in v.10 after having been in the glossolalia movement for a considerable time seeking oil, they returned. No, they certainly aren’t coming now, they are still caught up in this other movement. They have not recognized the ultimate danger as yet BUT THEY SHALL! And when they do they will do an about face and just as the prophet to the age declared–these foolish virgins will hear there has been a message in this hour and they will come seeking that revelation once the hour arrives for the false church to be united. But not only has the false church been united so has the little bride of Christ through the message! The foolish come knocking on the door but it is too late because the bride has already gone into the full revelation of Christ as will be taught by her fivefold ministry and note – the door is shut! It is then the door is shut when the wise servants are in the process of giving meat in due season to the bride, Matt. 24:45-48! To the wise servant the Lord says he makes ruler over his household and ruler over all his goods.
DOOR SHUT
The foolish come knocking at the closed door of the message and the spirit of the Lord inside the message says, depart from me I don’t even know you. And they sadly turn back to face their utter fate that awaits them in the hour of dark tribulation!
All these little antichrist spirits running parallel to this message, some ten years following the death of the prophet, are impressing people with different thoughts.
PRIVATE RESURRECTION
Some are saying, my hope is in nothing other than a private resurrection of Bro. Branham. I do not belittle the individual because the individual belittles themselves through their own testimony. For centuries the gospel was always preached to build the hope of mortal creatures in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The prophet to the age stood and pleaded in the name of the Lord Jesus–there is an empty tomb, Christ is risen! If we have painted a picture of an empty tomb to humanity, why would mortal man in this message openly declare, my hope is in the resurrection of Bro. Branham? I want to go on record as saying MY HOPE IS IN THE FACT JESUS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD. I look for the prophet to be raised along with all the other resurrected saints of God who have passed on. I look for his resurrection then, not sooner or later! No, beloved, I have never looked for a private resurrection for this man. I know when all the saints of God come forth from the dead, if I live true to God I will see that prophet and when we stand before God to be judged at the judgment seat of Christ I will stand there and give an account to my risen saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, for the things the prophet taught me and how I treated it. The prophet taught me my faith was to be in the resurrected saviour, that although he died and went into the ground my hope is in Jesus Christ. And I can have the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, in my bosom who is none other than the Spirit of Christ in the earth redeeming mankind unto himself. No, he is not here as a person in the sense of flesh today but it is the spiritual sense of the risen Christ himself in my heart. That must be our hope! That is the hope of every true child of God. That has been the hope and attitude of christians for all church ages.
PREFER BOOKS TO BIBLE
Some people even go so far out on the limb as to say, if they had to make a choice and give up anything they would far rather give up the bible than the spoken word books! Don’t Jackson know what he is saying, some would say who have this attitude. I would have to turn around and say, O little one, do you not know what you are doing; do you not realize what spirit you are falling into the hands of; you are doing the same things poor Catholics did in the dark ages when the priest hood forced the people to destroy and burn publically their scriptures for fear they might receive some revelation and break off from them. No, they did not want the children of God to receive a revelation. Destroy the authority of the scriptures and they could keep them scared. And by destroying the infallibility of the scriptures they were able to cause them to accept the infallibility of what a man said over the scriptures!
FALLING UNDER SAME SPIRIT
Don’t you see the picture of the devil? Can’t you see how he wants to keep people in fear? The very same spirit that worked back there many hundreds of years ago to get that church of the dark ages organized and built, that same spirit is here present today to take away every endtime person who will not follow God in the Holy. Ghost, create that same fear tactic, create that same motivation and place within the minds of the people that same old attitude and reaction and lead them right back into fellowship with that same old spirit, never once removing the individual away from the movement. Beloved it is that same old spirit just using a different approach but if you are spiritual enough you will be able to see through it. When the church began to get off course in the first century, it took the antichrist spirit hundreds of years to get the people linked in with the dark age spirit. However, today seeing we too are being restored to the true apostolic pattern, Satan accomplished in less than two generations what required him hundreds of years to do in the beginning. Truly we are living in the age of the GREAT SEPARATION and it won’t take another 20 years to complete it!
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