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. 

See the Prophecy...Click here  

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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Religious Cults

I am simply amazed and overwhelmed by the interest that has been demonstrated by the tens of thousands of people from around the World who are searching for information about Religious Cults.

As you read in this article about the two religious cults being focused on, you should think about the possibility that you very well might be a member of a religious cult and not aware of it.

As you think about what a Religious Cult is like, it might be a lot different than some of the notorious and extreme ones like are reported on in the news media. A Religious Cult could be any organized assembly of people who are held together by a set of beliefs that make them different from other organized assemblies of people. It could be and might be what you recognize as your own Church that discourages the people from visiting or socializing with family members who are not in the assembly or another religious assemblies of people.

It is obvious that almost all churches schedule their worship services at the same times of the day and week, such as Sunday morning and evening, wednesday evenings and at times Friday night prayer services. Almost all of the churches do this in order to prevent their members from visiting other churches in fear that they might lose some of them. This is a tactic of a cult to strenghten the hold on their people and prevent them from hearing and considering another different view about what they have been taught in their regular assembly.

If you make a search on the Internet for a listing of religious cults in Jeffersonville Indiana, two names will come up.  The search displays the names of “Branhamism” and “B.R. Hicks. The word Branhamism is given to a religious group that adheres to the teaching of William M. Branham who founded the movement known recently as the “Message of the Hour” or “Message Believers “and has its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana. B.R. Hicks is the name of the founder of Christ Gospel Church, which has sister churches around the World, with its headquarters in Jeffersonville Indiana also.

Both of these religious movements have one thing in common which is the acceptance of their individual founder’s interpretation of the Bible. Even though the doctrines of these two movements are miles apart, they share the distinction of being recognized as cults by the majority of other religious organizations.

The method of interpretation of Bible scripture by these two founders of their respective movements also differs in its own unique way. Where BR Hicks bases her interpretation of scripture on her knowledge of the Hebrew language and how it relates to the correct translation of the Bible into English, the interpretation of Bible scripture by William Branham is based upon the act of reading between the lines.

Hicks method of teaching draws heavily on Old Testament scripture and teaches the adherence to the Mosaic law and types and shadows. They also practice something that relates to the Urim and Thummim which was what the breastplate of the high priest was called. When the people wanted to inquire something of the Lord, they would take it to the High Priest and the answer from God would return to them through this breastplate. Where Rev Hick’s church practice this is by forming a committee in her church which would receive an inquiry from the people and this committee would inquire of God and return the answer back to the people. This appears to be only a method of control for the church to have over the people, where this committee takes the place of the Urim Thummim from the Old Testament.

Branham viewed bible scripture as being a letter from God and compared it to a letter from his spouse, where the real message is not always stated in words, but because of the relationship of the writer and the reader, you need to understand the message that is not in words, but exists between the lines and can only be understood in that fashion. This again only served as a method of providing him with a way of giving his own interpretation of scripture to his church.

Even though these two groups are viewed as cults, to be in all fairness, they differ very little from any other religious group or denomination of churches. Every Church has its own private interpretation of what Bible scripture means because of what each Pastor or Minister of each church believes and in effect, puts their own interpretation into their teaching. So in that respect, all religious congregations are in a way cults in their own respect.

Another religious movement was formed in 1948 called the World Council of Churches and had its first assembly in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its goal was to unite all Christian Churches around the World under a common set of beliefs. Over the years attempts were made to set and adopt a common set of doctrines that all churches could agree on, but to this date have failed in its mission. The only common thread that holds this group together is the belief in a God. Other than that, they can be viewed as just a World Council of cults which stand by their own individual interpretation of scripture that keeps them from having real unity in the faith.

Unity in the faith can only come about by the understanding that there is only one truth. Which truth exists only in God’s Word without man’s interpretation being any part of it. Until such time as the church recognizes that and turns from man’s interpretation of scripture to the truth of it as it was written in the original languages, we will not have any unity in the faith and the many religious cults that exist will continue as they are today.

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