The Three Signs given to Moses

An anonymous person commented on my posting named “Desperation” concerning the signs that God gave to Moses and the claim that William Branham received the same number of signs as Moses did as follows:

Anonymous said: “The scripture plainly says "two signs". The turning of water into blood was a plague, such as the locust and the frogs. Nowhere in the scriptures does it state "three signs."”

This is just another example of someone reading the scriptures and believing only what they want it to say for the sole purpose of attempting to vindicate the words of William Branham no matter what the scriptures state.

It is important to maintain the context of the scriptures according to the message they present to the reader. In Exodus chapter four, God is speaking to Moses about three signs he is being given for the purpose of convincing the Israelites that God has sent him to deliver the them out of Egypt. In Exodus chapter seven the signs that Moses exhibited and presented to Pharaoh was for the purpose of convincing Pharaoh that God had sent him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and to demonstrate to Pharaoh the power of God in order for him to believe that God had sent him.

Now let’s look at what the scriptures actually say, in the context that God intended for them to convey to the reader.

Exodus 4:1  And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, Jehovah has not appeared unto you. (2)  And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod. (3)  And Jehovah said, Cast it on the ground. And Moses cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. (Sign #1) (4)  And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail. And Moses put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: (5)  That they may believe that Jehovah God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared unto you. (6)  And Jehovah said furthermore unto him, Put now your hand into your bosom. And Moses put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. (7)  And Jehovah said, Put your hand into your bosom again. And Moses put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. (Sign #2) (8)  And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe you, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. (9)  And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which you take out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land. (Sign #3)

Now when Moses presented himself to Pharaoh, Moses did not take the water out of the River and pour it upon dry ground to become blood, instead Moses told Aaron to strike the water of the River (Not pour it upon the ground) and when Aaron did so all of the water became as blood.

This should be clear to the reader that this was a sign to Pharaoh and a plague to the land of Egypt that was to demonstrate the power of God.

Let’s look at Exodus chapter seven:

 

Exodus 7:17  Thus says Jehovah, In this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. (18)  And the fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. (19)  And Jehovah spoke unto Moses and said: Say unto Aaron, Take your rod, and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. (20)  And Moses and Aaron did so, as Jehovah commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

21  And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stunk, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Everyone has the right to believe whatever they choose to believe, that is the choice that God has given each of us. Yes this is the free will gift of God to every person and with the exercise of that free will, to believe or disbelieve the scriptures will determine the judgment of God on us all according to the decision that we make.

God has given us His Word as it is written in the Bible and He expects us to believe His Word and not to interpret it and make it fit according to our personal desires.

The wise Apostle Paul once told Timothy that he should study to show himself approved of God by rightly dividing the word of God. This also behooves us all to do the same by rightly keeping the word of the scriptures in the proper context so as not to misinterpret what God is conveying to each of us.

Jehovah God spoke to Moses of three signs he was to be given in the fourth chapter of Exodus and spoke of only these three things to do in the presence of the people of Israel. These three signs were demonstrated in the presence of the people as was written about in Exodus 4:29 thru 31 and the people believed Moses.

The choice is yours, will you believe God’s Word or the words of a false teacher and a false prophet?

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Will you be ready when Christ returns?

What if it is in December 2012?

The bible tells us that no person in Heaven or on Earth, except God the Father, knows the day or the hour when Christ is to return. But let’s suppose that it is possible that that day just might be in the month of December of 2012. Would our faith be at such a level that Christ would accept us right now and receive us to go with Him?

Jesus was recorded in the bible to have said: “When I return will I find faith on the Earth?” Jesus will be looking for those who profess to be believers, those who have accepted every Word of God and have based their faith on it. Didn’t Jesus make the statement that man must live by every word that came out of the mouth of God? Before anyone can live by it, they must believe that the Word of God is true. Every word that He has passed on to us in the scriptures which are of no private interpretation by any person.

In order to have perfect faith, we must believe every word of God without doubting any of them. Look at what Jesus told His apostles when they were not able to help a little boy when he was suffering a seizure. He said it was because of their unbelief. Jesus said that if they only had a little faith they could speak to a mountain and it would move at their command. So is our faith greater than that which the apostles had? If not, then what is missing? It was probable that at that time His apostles had failed to believe every word of God that Jesus spoke to them. Should we then judge our level of faith in God’s Word relative to where they stood?

Jesus told His disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them and He would return again and where He had been, they would be also. God is not a respecter of persons insomuch as if the Lord’s Apostles would be taken to that place where Jesus had been, then all who would believe in Him will be accepted and taken also.

But there is a condition that must be met before anyone will be received by Him. That condition is the presence of faith which the individual must possess. What does faith mean? Faith is the attribute of belief. If any person confesses their belief in every Word of God, they possess the faith that will insure eternal life for the believer.

It is imperative that every person make an assessment of the level of faith they possess and consider where they are positioned in the Body of Christ, if we are truly in that body. You see, it all depends on our level of faith, which is determined by how much of God’s word we believe.

We cannot pick and choose what we are to believe out of the scriptures.

1. Do we believe that God created the heavens and the Earth as the bible states? The answer should be YES!

2. Do we believe that Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea on dry land as the bible states? The answer should be YES!

3. Do we believe that Jesus was born of a virgin woman as the bible states? The answer should be YES!

4. Do we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead as the bible states? The answer should be YES!

5. Do we believe that God sent His only begotten Son to the Earth as the bible states? The answer must be YES!

It is imperative that we believe what the bible says, especially those words that Jesus spoke because God the Father gave Him the words to say.

Jesus was truly the only begotten Son of God and stated in no uncertain terms that He was the only way mankind could enter into the presence of God.

What I speak to you today in this article is the Word of God that is contained in the Bible just as God had it originally written by those who He inspired to write it.

Shall we pick and choose what we are going to believe because of what we have been taught by man, or are we going to believe the written Word of God which will give us the faith we need to be saved?

If He truly would return in the Month of December of 2012, would you be ready? Is your faith built upon the solid rock of the knowledge of the Son of God or of the sinking sand by denying that Jesus is God’s Son? Jesus said that His Church would be built upon the fact that He was the Son of God, just as He told the Apostle Peter and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Which side of the gates of hell will you be found on if you fail to believe every word that was spoken by God?

As you consider the true written word of God and determine the extent of your belief, let me ask you to consider the following facts that are contained in the scriptures. So that you can see for yourself what the scriptures say, I will supply the Book and Chapter where you can read it for yourselves.

The first misconception that needs to be set aside in deference to what they portray as being the antichrist in their books and movies about being left behind, is that the antichrist is not some superhuman person that is coming along, but is a spirit of disbelief of Jesus being the Son of God.

Quoting the writings of the Apostle John as follows:

1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: but he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

John states in no uncertain terms that anyone who would deny that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God, that person is antichrist.

1 John 4: 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even that now already is it in the world.

The spirit of antichrist has been in the World since the time of Jesus and has been active in most of the churches in this day proclaiming that the man Jesus was not the Son of God, but was God Himself that came to Earth in the flesh that He made for Himself. This demonstrates the teaching of antichrist.

2 John 1: 7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, so that we can receive a full reward. 9 Whosoever transgresses, and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God. He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.

10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed.

John warns us that to adhere to the belief of antichrist can cause us to lose our salvation. He states that we must stay in the doctrine of Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God or the Spirit of God ( The Holy Spirit) is not in us. John goes on to say that anyone who teaches contrary to the Gospel of Christ should not be received by those who are seeking the truth of the Gospel.

We all should keep this in mind how important it is to stay with the written Word of God and not be deceived by false teachers who have the spirit of antichrist.

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William Branham and his organization in DESPERATION

The Voice of God Recordings organization is on the Defense according to their latest publication of their “Catch the Vision” newsletter.

The Voice of God Recordings is getting desperate and has become defensive because many of its followers have begun to question the validity of its claims about William Branham. It really is no wonder since most of the errors in William Branham’s bible teaching have been exposed as not following the scriptures.

Their latest publication of “Catch The Vision” for the year 2012, Volume 2 is a feeble attempt to defend all of the scriptural misinterpretations and misconstrued assumptions about how William Marrion Branham has fulfilled many prophecies of scripture which has been proven to be false by this and many other websites and have exposed the hypocrisy which they have been involved in for many years.

Everything they contend that William Branham was, they have promoted as being the last days return of Elijah the Prophet who was to return and restore the Apostolic beliefs of the First Century, but he failed to do just that. In fact William Branham, with his private interpretations of Bible scripture, which he called his “revelations”, has led a massive number of Christians farther away from the truth of the scripture as they could be.

Yes, the Branham family business, commonly known as the Voice of God Recordings is on its way to be going out of business because of their products not being sold as much as they need in order to provide the income needed by the family and their close friends who work for them.

The “Voice of God Recordings” is quoted as saying: “So if God did, send a Prophet, shouldn’t we believe all that he says?” Well the answer is in fact that we should believe what a sent Prophet of God says as long as he doesn’t interpret the scriptures to say something that they don’t say. They also say that the devil is causing the people to doubt “The Gospel” today. Well in fact the Gospel states that God sent His only begotten Son, but Brother William Branham disputes that and taught that God didn’t send His Son, instead he taught that God Himself came down to Earth in the body that He made for Himself. Well God can’t be the Son if He is the Father that sent Him.

The Voice of God Recordings makes the argument that we shouldn’t try to reason against the Word when in fact they stated some examples with their own reasoning to dispute the errors in the reasoning of others. They are actually correct in the fact that we shouldn’t try to reason against the written Word of God, but it isn’t the Word of God that is being reasoned against, it’s the interpretation of the Word that Branham taught which didn’t agree with the written Word of God.

They also used an example citing the experience that Paul had on the Road to Damascus about hearing the voice and not hearing the voice, in order to make a futile excuse for Brother Branham’s own contradiction of his own words. Just to make a point about the explanation of “did they or did they not hear a voice,” when Brother Branham was asked about it, he couldn’t explain why that contradiction existed in the scriptures. Well if he had of been a Prophet, don’t you think he could have explained something as simple as that?

Yes, once again I quote them as saying: “if God did, in fact, send a Prophet, shouldn’t we believe all that he says? That is true, but you see, Brother William Branham wasn’t a Prophet and he knew it and explained why he wasn’t on many occasions. And they ask, “why shouldn’t we believe what he said?” Well I do believe what he said about not being a Prophet, why won’t they?

William Branham taught that the Bible was the inerrant Word of God and didn’t contain any errors, but it has been proven by many Bible Scholars that in fact it does contain many errors. Now I will say that the errors were not God’s errors, but were a result of those men who translated the original scriptures into English, that’s where the errors came from.

Let me just say this to the Branham family that publishes this “Voice of God Publications”. Do you know what you are doing to untold thousands of believers? I’ll tell you. This false teaching about not being able to understand the Bible without receiving a “revelation” about what it means is corrupting the minds of the people and causing them to disbelieve the true Gospel of Christ. It’s time for you to stop and give all of these people a chance to believe the truth and be saved.

Here you are promoting William Branham as being a Prophet and he wasn’t. The Angel that he said visited him was not an angel from God or he wouldn’t have got it wrong about the number of gifts that God gave Moses. According to what Branham said the angel told him, was that he was given two signs just as Moses was given two signs. Well that’s not according to scripture. The scripture states that Moses was given THREE signs. I don’t believe that an angel visited him at all. If it had of been an angel from God or from the devil, they would have known scripture better than William Branham knew it. So I believe that Branham made this story up himself just to increase the effectiveness of his ministry.

It was also completely untrue that William Branham was given a gift of healing because it failed to work on way too many occasions. The times that healing did take place was a result of the person’s faith in God and had nothing to do with Branham having a gift of healing given to him. A true gift of healing would work every time, just as a gift of prophecy would come to pass every time and neither one did.

Here is something else that goes against him. After preaching a series of sermons on the Seven Seals of Revelations, Branham removed a portion of the seventh seal message from the tape recording and in a private setting replaced it with something else. A true Prophet of God wouldn’t have secretly met with others in a motel room to change the record of what he had preached the night before in order to not lose many of his followers as he thought the original message that he preached would have caused it to happen.

Now what about the two signs that Branham was given to support his ministry? How can the two signs that he used have come from God if the angel that gave them to him did not come from the presence of God as I stated earlier? Just think about that and let the Holy Spirit awaken you to the truth.

Now about the picture with the light above Branham’s head that was taken in Texas many years ago. Was God actually responsible for that occurring? Well it might be possible, but there is no real evidence that God was the cause of it. There are a few other ways that light could have struck the negative in the camera, so don’t rule that out. All that picture has been good for all these years was to cause believers to believe the false teaching that Branham did. Teaching that is in contradiction to the Holy Scriptures. I can’t believe that God would have provided that kind of phenomenon to occur that was going to cause anti-scriptural teaching to evolve and provide His people with an idol for them to hold to and take the place of the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Then the publishers of the “Voice of God Recordings” make an issue in their edition of “Catch The Vision” about the length of time the Israelites were in Egypt, the four hundred years versus the four hundred thirty years. They themselves need to study the Bible a little closer and they will understand that Israel was only in Egypt for 215 years and not 400 or 430 years. Once again, their prophet didn’t have an accurate understanding of this either, just as many other things in the Bible.

Then the publishers of “Catch the Vision” ask the question: “Do you trust what you read on private WebPages over what you hear from the prophet of God?” My answer to this would be which of those do you believe? Shouldn’t it be that you believe that which is the truth and conforms to the scriptures in the bible and not according to the private revelations of some man that contradicts the bible itself while he continues to teach that the bible is the inerrant Word of God. Choose who you will believe. Will it be God’s inspired word or man’s private interpretation of it?

The headlines of the latest edition of “Catch the Vision” reads: “Elijah the Prophet Returns”. This in itself is in conflict with what William Branham himself said. He said that he was not the Elijah which was to come, but this great person, who will straighten out all that has been misconstrued about the bible will come after him and that is exactly what God showed him which was true.

The time is growing closer when the walls of the ministry of the “Voice of God Recordings” is going to crumble down around them. Why so? Because this is just one more part of the movement of the Antichrist and like the scripture tells us about Babylon, in one hour the judgment of God shall come upon them when He removes that false idol that is in the possession of many people all around the World. Then how will they explain to everyone how such a thing could happen and why did it happen? Will they say that the devil was behind it and blaspheme the Holy Spirit who will cause it to occur?

So the Publishers of “Catch the Vision” asks the question of me:

Do we believe Mr. Unbeliever, when God has NEVER vindicated my ministry with a miracle?

Do we believe Mr. Skeptic, when I point out the contradictions of William Branham, rather standing on every word that he spoke?

How about Mr. Impatient, when I say that all of his prophecies did not come to pass?

The Voice of God Publications says that the “Revealed Word for the day” is the truth of what the scriptures actually mean according to the teaching of William Branham. I ask you this, shouldn’t we instead believe literally what the scriptures tell us about the Gospel of Christ? Jesus said that in order to be saved and inherit eternal life it is imperative that we believe what He said and not what any man says.

So if any of you have read the latest issue of “Catch the Vision” it is obvious that the Voice of God publishers are feeling the heat. They obviously know that their time for deceiving the people of God is about to come to a close when this Gentile dispensation ends and that time is at hand.

We must decide this day who we will believe! Will it be the biblical interpretations of a man or will it be the inspired writings of scripture?

 

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Satan’s Big Lie

The Elijah Factor

Since the beginning of time satan has worked at deceiving the people of God into not believing that God’s Word is true. From the time in the Garden of Eden when he deceived Adam and Eve and caused them to fall from grace, to the time today when he has perpetrated the biggest lie ever in order to cause the people to miss their chance of inheriting eternal life in Heaven.

In view of God knowing that this would happen, He made provisions for the truth in these last days to be known by using the spirit of the Prophet Elijah to expose satan’s lie and give His people an opportunity to see and believe the truth of His Word.

Now what is satan’s big lie today and how does the Prophet Elijah fit into the picture? Satan knows that he can accomplish his devious mission by causing God’s people to not believe the Gospel of salvation by deceiving them to believe that Jesus was God instead of believing that He was the Son of God. God knowing that satan would attempt to cause the people to believe this lie, He made provision to use a person with the spirit of Elijah on them to expose what satan was doing.

During the beginning of the new Covenant that God made with His people, it was completely accepted that God had sent His Son to atone for the sin of the World and that was what the Lord’s Apostles preached to the people. It wasn’t until some time after when the Lord’s Apostles had left the scene that the churches around the know World at that time began to be divided over the diety of Jesus. Some of the churches held to the belief that Jesus was the Son of God as the Apostles had taught and some of the churches began to believe that Jesus was actually God Himself that took on the flesh body of Jesus.

Because of this division among the churches, the Roman Emperor Constantine conveyed an assembly of the heads of all the churches to discuss this matter and come to a final conclusion as to the truth about who Jesus really was. Finally these church leaders concluded that Jesus was actually God in the flesh and starting with this belief in the Roman Catholic church, this belief was adopted by many of the churches down through time, even in this day.

Of course the result of this belief caused the people to not really believe the Gospel of Christ which was preached by Jesus and all His Apostles. The Gospel that was taught at that time was that God had sent His only begotten Son to the Earth and those who would believe on Him would receive eternal life. If the people really believed that it was God who came Himself in the body of a man named Jesus and it wasn’t actually His Son, then they didn’t believe the true Gospel and would not inherit eternal life. This is just what satan was after in order to ruin the chance of anyone being saved.

Now we need to look at the Elijah factor in this scenario in more detail and why the Prophet Elijah was chosen by God, not only during his lifetime, but why the spirit of Elijah is important to use in the last days.

As we look at Elijah and who he was and what he represents, we will look at a parallel scenario comparing Elijah and a person who will be known as the End Time Messenger. This person will be referred to in this article as the Messenger.

We’ll start with a prophecy that was made by the Prophet Malachi who was the last Prophet written about in the Old Testament writings. Malachi prophesied about God saying that He would send Elijah the Prophet before the great and dreadful day of the Lord Jehovah to turn the heart of the children to their fathers. This means that the understanding of the children, will be turned back to the understanding of God’s Word as the Apostolic fathers believed. This is speaking of the Lord’s Apostles and what they held as the truth and their understanding of God’s Word. The Lord Jesus Christ also spoke of the coming of Elijah again in order to restore all things. Jesus being made to understand that false teaching about God’s Word that would be so evident in the future years of the church, would need to be restored to what the truth was before man and his many interpretations of it distorted what the truth was.

Elijah came on the scene during the reign of King Ahab over Israel several hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Elijah was virtually unknown at the time of his appearance and was not known as a preacher or prophet at the time. Just as the Messenger of the End Time was the same. Just a common man who was not a preacher or prophet before he began to deliver God’s message to His people. Elijah, just as the End Time Messenger, was a bold man not willing to compromise on God’s Word and with determination proceeded to deliver God’s Word no matter what the opposition brought and no matter what the consequences were. Elijah prophesied of a drought condition to come on the land and said that it wouldn’t rain again until he said it would. Elijah’s prophecy and what occurred could have been taken as a result of circumstances, but the End Time Messenger’s prophecy when it comes to pass cannot be viewed as anything except God’s intervention in order to vindicate His Messenger’s authenticity.

Elijah was threatened by a woman who was Ahab’s wife just as the End Time Messenger was threatened to be destroyed by a woman also. God said that He gave Ahab’s wife an opportunity to repent, but she didn’t and God punished her because of it. If the woman who threatened the End Time Messenger’s life fails to repent, she also will be dealt with by God because of her evil deeds.

Elijah, at the end of his ministry was taken up into Heaven by a whirlwind, not tasting of physical death, just as the End Time Messenger, along with those who are in the Body of Christ, will be carried off at the second coming of Christ.

All of these things prove that history has again repeated itself by types and shadows. The life and ministry of the End Time Messenger was typed by that of Elijah’s and the events in Elijah’s life were just a shadow of better things that have come for God’s people, but only if they believe God’s Word and the signs being shown to them.

Just to touch on another event that is important to a certain group of believers that have been deceived by satan into believing a lie. There was a man who was a Preacher who was baptizing converts in a river in times past that experienced a supernatural event take place. As the baptism was taking place, a bright light appeared in the sky above him and he said that a voice spoke to him out of Heaven saying: “as John the Baptist foreran the first coming of Christ, you have a message that will forerun His second coming”.

There was much speculation by the people for years as to what that message was, but this preacher made it clear to those who would listen to what he had to say, but their ears were closed to the truth. Throughout this preacher’s ministry he prophesied of the coming of a man in the spirit of Elijah that would straighten out all the false teaching that had occurred over the years, but the people insisted that this preacher was that person. This preacher’s final words on that subject were made just under a month before he died in 1965 when he said: “The very word prophet means that " he is a revealer of the Word of God," And that's why today we're in such a need of this great person that's supposed to be sent to us in the form of the prophet Elijah, because it'll be the revelation of God made known to us by vindication.

With this statement he made it clear that he was not that person with the spirit of Elijah on him who was to come and that person’s coming was still in the future.

Well that time has come and that person is here doing just what was prophesied to have happened. Yes the “message” that was to forerun the second coming of Christ was that this person who he spoke of was coming after him and would lead the believers into the coming of Christ and the rapture of the saints.

The prophecy that has been made by the End Time Messenger can be read by clicking on the following link. After reading it, use your browser’s back button to return back here. 

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When this Messenger’s prophecy comes to pass and it will at God’s appointed time, the people of God need to flee from the false teachers which have misled so many for so many years and turn back to God’s written Word and believe it. If they don’t, the rapture will pass them by and they will be in danger of the second death that will follow the Great White Throne Judgment.

Although no other person besides our Father in Heaven knows the day or the hour of the return of Jesus, the year of 2014 is just about over and this could be the time. If there is a shadow of doubt in your mind that you are a true believer in the written Word of God, then you need to make an assessment of just where you stand.

Throughout history many have disbelieved God’s Word and have suffered because of their disbelief. Why take the chance of jeopardizing your chance to receive eternal life by not believing what God has told us in the scriptures. All that is necessary is to believe on His Son, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God that the Father Jehovah God has sent, as is stated in the Gospel and submit to Christian baptism and you will be ready to meet the Lord in the air when He returns.

This is what God expects everyone to believe and do, and has sent me to preach the truth of His Word in these last days.

 

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The Name of Jesus

What is in a name? What is in the name of Jesus? What could be so important about the name of Jesus?

We’ll start off with one statement that Jesus said about His name. Jesus said that if anyone would deny or reject His name, He would deny or reject them before God and the angels in Heaven. Well that does sound to be a little serious doesn’t it? So what is so important about that name that a person would be rejected by God because of denying or rejecting it?

First of all we know from the scriptures that instructions from an angel of God were given that when Mary’s child was born they should call His name Jesus. Yes, a message from Heaven and from God Himself, who had the right to chose the name of His only begotten son and He did. So because this name of Jesus was so important to God, the Father of Jesus, no matter what His reason was it should not be questioned and should be given reverence because it was God’s choice and His right to do so.

The scriptures have told us that the unpardonable sin was to commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, but it appears that to deny or reject the name of the Son of God could very well be something else that is unpardonable in the sight of God.

There is at least one certain Church Denomination that I have witnessed denying the name of Jesus as a part of their doctrine which concerned how they baptized new converts to the faith. Where the bible teaches us that the scriptural method of baptism is in the name of Jesus, this particular church says that’s not valid. They contend that Peter’s instruction in Acts 2:38 really means to baptize by the authority of Jesus Christ and not by His name. Obviously they chose to hold to the words that Jesus spoke about baptizing in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit and they believed that His words have more authority than those of the Apostle Peter. So in doing what they do, they are rejecting and denying Jesus’ name.

There is also another way that certain people reject and deny the name of Jesus. If anyone denies that Jesus is the Son of God they in essence call God a liar because it is recorded in scripture that God spoke from Heaven and said about Jesus: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”. So if God accepted and recognized Jesus as being His Son and personally named Him Jesus, who are we to deny what God has affirmed. If it is denied that Jesus is God’s Son, it’s the same as denying His name.

PREDESTINATION according to the Bible, not man's interpretation.

Predestination For Eternal Life….Not according to Scripture

 

Some were taught about predestination (as it pertains to eternal life) in the following manner: In the beginning, God determined that a certain person would be born and after living his life on this earth, would inherit eternal life. In other words, God de­termined or set in advance what this person’s destiny would be. If God had actually done that, then why would He put someone’s name on the book of life, and then remove it? In doing that, would that not be saying that God either did not predestinate that person or that God made a mistake? Well, we know that God does not make mistakes, so then He must not have predestinated the person in question to have eternal life

Have you never heard of the scriptures saying that God would remove people’s names from the book of life? The following scri­ptures show that God has said, He would blot out the names of some of those written in the book of life for certain reasons. (Ex 32: 33, Psa 69:28, Rev 3:5 & 22:19)

Saying that God determined our eternal destiny in the beginning, is also saying that we do not have a free choice to believe or not believe, to obey or not to obey, and we are not a free moral agent. This is not consistent with the way it was in the beginning and God is always consistent in what He does. In the Garden of Eden He gave Adam and Eve the choice to believe or not to believe His word and He gives us that same choice today. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He changes not.

You might ask why I am addressing the issue of predesti­nation. It’s for this reason. If you have been taught, and do believe, that in the beginning God selected the persons that will inherit eternal life, those would be the predestinated ones, then you must also believe that no matter what you do in life, it will not cause you to fail in achieving that which God has appointed unto you. This concept is taught in many churches and causes those believers to have a false sense of security that does not exist. By the same token, if God did not predestinate a certain individual to eternal life, then no matter what that person does in his life, he can never be saved. But did not God tell Cain that he could be saved if he did well? God also speaking through the prophet Ezekiel said: it was not His will that the wicked die, but that they would repent and live. He also said that only the person that sins would be lost. God also said that He has no pleasure in the death of anyone and would rather that all live. The Apostle Peter said: the Lord doesn’t want any to perish, but all to repent.

Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And unto you shall be his desire, and he shall rule over you.” (Boldface words changed by the author due to a poor translation)

Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die said the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live”?

Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.”

Ezekiel 18:32 “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies, said the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves around, and live.”

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concern­ing his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

God did predestinate certain individuals to perform certain tasks in their life. God said in Exodus 9:16 that He raised up Pharaoh during the time of Moses for a certain task. Paul also told the Ephesians that God predestinated the apostles for a certain work. But even though many more could be pointed out, these serve as examples that God did predestinate and sent certain ones to serve Him in very specific ways.

Exodus 9:16 “And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, for to show in you my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.” (God’s word to Pharaoh)

Ephesians 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” (He was Speaking of the Lord’s apostles only)

Since we have already covered the Scriptures that speak of God blotting out names in the book of life which were in Exodus 32: ­33, Psalms 69:28, and Revelations 3:5 & 22:19, we must realize in order for certain names to be blotted out, they must have been put there in the first place.

In Revelations 17:8, it speaks of certain people “whose names were not written in the book of life. Now why would God put someone on this earth and not give him or her opportunity to re­ceive eternal life? That is just the point, He wouldn’t. For all have the same opportunity to receive the call from God, but if they chose not to heed that call, their names will never be put on the Book. As the scripture says, the call of God comes from hearing the Word.

Romans 10:13-18 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. {14} How then shall they call on him in who they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of who they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? {15} And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! {16} But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who has believed our report? {17} So then faith comes by hear­ing, and hearing by the word of God. {18} But I say, Have they not heard? Yes truly, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”

Ephesians 1:13 “In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in who also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,”

2 Thessalonians 2:14 “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 4:2 “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 22, verse 14, the Lord says, “many will be called, but few will be chosen”. The many that are called, are those who hear the Gospel of the Lord. When they accept that call, God puts their names on the Lamb’s Book of Life. The few that will be chosen are those whose names remain on the book until the end. The Lord said in John 6:44 that no man can come to Him unless God draws him. God draws people into the Kingdom by the hearing of His Word.

This concept of predestination of all believers to inherit eternal life is a result of teaching basically centered on a few verses in the 8th chapter of Romans and on the first chapter of the book of Ephesians. Let’s begin by looking at Romans 8: 29-30.

Romans 8:29 says: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”.

Let’s look at who this scripture is referring to. Who was the first-born among many brethren? It was obviously Jesus. But what makes this verse to be misread is two words that the original translators added to make it read better, but what these added words actually did was tend to change the meaning of the state­ment.

The two words that were added, that was not a part of the original writing, were the words to be after predestinate. If you would read the verse without the words to be in it, it would say:

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did pre­destinate conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren”.

God predestinated Jesus, Conformed to or fashioned like unto, his Son. With the words to be added, makes it sound like someone else was predestinated to be conformed to the image of Jesus. And without a doubt, Jesus was the first-born (of the Spirit of God) among many brethren.

I know what Revelations 22:18 and 19 say about adding to or taking away from the words in the Bible. But I say unto you that if any man, the original translators especially, have added any words to the Bible that have changed the meaning of a pas­sage, making the doctrine inconsistent with other teaching in the Bible, then those words need to be removed, to restore the mean­ing back to the original word of God. And if I did not believe that the Holy Spirit had revealed this to me, I would never dare to touch it and face the possibility of going against the Word of God.

Let’s look at what Romans 8:30 says:

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”.

The thing that drew my attention to this verse was the statement at the end of the verse; “them he also glorified”. The only person that has been glorified is Jesus. In the Gospel of John chapter 7 verse 39, it speaks of Jesus having not been glo­rified as yet, because He had not ascended to the Father and sent back the Holy Spirit. Then John 12:16 speaks of when Jesus had been glorified. Then Jesus Himself talks about it in John 13:31 and Peter also in Acts 3:13. So what the Scriptures say to us is that until the time comes that Jesus returns and receives us, and glorifies us by giving us a new body, then only He, has been glorified up to now.

John 7:39 “(But this spoke he of the Spir­it, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet giv­en; because that Jesus was not yet glori­fied).”

John 12:16 “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”

John 13:31-32 “Therefore, when he had gone out, Jesus said; now is the Son of man glori­fied, and God is glorified in him. {32} If God was glorified in him, God shall also glo­rify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.”

Acts 3:13 “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his Son Jesus; who you deliv­ered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”

The other problem I had was with the word “them” being glori­fied. Since this spoke of more than one person being predestinat­ed and glorified, I questioned the use of the word “them.” Since only Christ has been glorified I felt that possibly they had used the wrong word in the trans­lation process.

When I looked up the word them in the Greek to English dic­tionary, I found the Greek word to be the word “Autos.” It said that the Greek word “Autos” could have been translated to any one of the following words:

 

He               Her              Him             His              it                                           She             Their           Them                    They           That      

Those                   The Same  This Man

Since it was obvious that this passage was talking about Jesus, a more correct translation would have been: He, Him, or This man. This would make the passage read:

“Moreover whom he did predestinate, Him he also called: and whom he called, Him he also justified: and whom he justified, Him he also glorified”.

Then in the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul says that God chose the apostles before the foundation of the world:

Ephesians 1:4 “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love”:

And Paul continues to state that God predestinated them:

Ephesians 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”

Now some have said that Paul was talking to the church in Ephesus and was speaking of the Saints in the church having been chosen and predestinated before the foundation of the world. But that is not who Paul was speaking about, he was talking about himself and the other apostles.

Paul goes on to say that the apostles have obtained an in­heritance after having been predestinated because they were the first who trusted in Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-12 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: {12} that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

Then Paul ends off speaking about the apostles and addresses the Ephesians, starting at the 13th verse.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In whom you also trust­ed, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, {14} Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

The Scriptures must not be taken out of context or they will be misunderstood. These are the only scriptures in the Bible that speak of predestination and they are talking about: (1st), Jesus, in Romans the 8th chapter, and (2nd), the apostles, in the first chapter of Ephesians.

As much as I would like to believe that God has predestinated me to receive eternal life and God having set my destiny, nothing could prevent it from happening, it cannot be right, for it is not consistent with the rest of the scriptures. God put man on the earth and made him a free moral agent, capable of choosing right from wrong. God predestinated and sent Jesus to make a way for mankind to obtain eternal life. And as God says in Genesis 3:22, if man chooses to put forth his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat, he will live forever.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that those who will be saved were predestinated to receive eternal life.

Let’s look at some who are named in the Bible whose names were in the book of life, but chose to turn their back on the Lord. Jesus sent seventy of His disciples out to preach, as is recorded in Luke chapter 10 and when they returned, He said to them to re­joice because their names were in the book of life. Then those seventy rejected His word and turned away from Him. In chapter six of John, because they rejected His word and turned back to their old ways, they without a doubt had their names removed from the Book of Life.

Anyone that has the desire in their heart to serve God, are those whom He is calling or drawing to Himself, and if they obey His commandments and endure until the end, they will be saved.

There were a number of people who were predestinated, chosen by God to serve Him according to the calling that He determined in the beginning. Some of those were the pro­phets, Moses, Jesus Himself, John the Baptist, and the apostles.

These persons had no choice in the matter, for God so influ­enced their lives they could do nothing else, but what He predes­tinated them to do.

But remember what Jesus said about John the Baptist:

Matthew 11:11 “Truly I say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: not­withstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

The person that is the least or smallest in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John. Why? Because John was chosen by predestination and those who are “least” to which He was referring, answered the call of God and chose to believe on their own.

Then also remember what Jesus said to the Apostle Thomas:

John 20:29 “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have be­lieved: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Yes, Jesus says that those who are given the choice to be­lieve by faith in His Word and accept Him as God’s Son are more blessed than Thomas was. If God predestinated all the people in the world, and knew in advance how they were to live their lives; what could we possibly do to please Him?

Once again we have seen how the poor selection of one word and the addition of a word in the translation process can change the meaning of a Scripture. Even though the King James Version of the Bible is the most accurate translation that we have, we must be sure that any subject is dealt with in a consistent manner throughout the scriptures, because the Word of God is consistent and does not change.

I believe that every person living today has the opportunity to obtain eternal life, but there are many who will not take ad­vantage of that opportunity. Some refuse to take advantage of it by keeping themselves separated from ever hearing the gospel. That is why the Lord said that many, not all, would be called. Then there are those who receive the call of God through the gospel, and refuse to accept it; these will never have their name entered on the Lamb’s Book of Life.

So the term predestination, which has been applied to the eternal security of a person, has been misunderstood. It does not pertain to eternal life, but was used by God to foreordain certain persons to perform His will in certain situations. God continues to use man in this day to perform certain tasks according to His will, but in no way does this guarantee that person eternal life. All persons obtain eternal life the same way, by accept­ing Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.

Two scriptures that are used to support the doctrine of predestination for eternal life are Revelations 13:8 and 17:8. These two verses read as though names were put on the Book of Life before or at the foundation of the world. The phrase that causes some to think that is where it says: “. . . from the foundation of the world.”

Rev 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Rev 17:8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

The word “from” was not translated from the Greek in the original scriptures, but was added by the translators. This word “from,” causes these verses to be read as though they mean at the foundation of the world, but from doesn’t mean “at.” A better word that should have been used, and means the same thing as “from”, is the word “since”.

Reading these verses with the word “since” used instead of the word “from”, gives a clear­er understanding of when believers’ names were put on the book of life. They were put there after the foundation of the world, whenever the person first accepted Jesus Christ.

There is nothing wrong with using the word “from” in these verses; the problem is with our definition of what the word “from” really means.

God predestinates certain people to perform certain works for Him, but, according to the scriptures, does not predestinate any certain individual to obtain eternal life.

 

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