My Burden for God’s People

I don’t know the best way to start this or what the details of the subject matter to start with, so I’ll just speak from my heart and let the Holy Spirit just guide me with whatever God would have me to say. I feel a heavy burden for God’s people and am not sure what to do about it beyond all of the subjects I have already written about.

Yes my burden is for God’s people, those who are believers in God and His Son Jesus Christ. My burden is not for all of the unbelievers in the World, for I don’t believe that I could sustain such a heavy burden that is required for so many people.

I say that I have this burden for God’s people, which I mean for all of those believers in all of the Christian Churches and especially for those who have been captivated by the messages that William Branham preached to his church and all of those who are continuing to believe what he taught for so many years that are not in alignment with the scriptures in the Holy Bible.

Jesus was reported to have said in the scriptures: “If any person will come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. I feel this burden so strongly that it feels like I am bearing the same cross that Jesus bore and am carrying it for Him and it feels like more than I can bear.

I am just one small person in this life out of the millions of people that have lived and feel like this burden for the truth of God’s Word is upon my shoulders alone and don’t know what I can do about it that I haven’t already done. So alone do I feel because no other person have I found that stands with me in agreement with the revelations that I have received. It feels like the whole World is in opposition to what I believe including my family and friends who have all forsaken me in my quest for truth, the truth that I believe with all my heart that God has revealed to me.

Probably the most profound thing that has affected all Christian Churches is the teaching that Jesus was God who came in the flesh. According to the scriptures Jesus made it clear in so many ways and so many times that He was the Son of God that was sent by God to do His work on Earth and that He was not God, but the only begotten Son of God. Our bible teachers have selected a few Bible scriptures and have taken them out of context and have used their interpretations to convince the people that Jesus was God and that is in opposition to the gospel which states that God sent His Son and didn’t come to Earth Himself.

That is not the only deceptive interpretation of Bible scripture that is being propagated, but is the one thing that can keep the people from being lost by not believing the Gospel which is required for the salvation of our souls.

Yes, I have a burden for all of the mainstream churches which have elevated Jesus to a position equal with Jehovah God our Father and Creator of this World when the Bible states and Jesus says that the Father is greater than the Son.

Then my burden extends to those “Message of the Hour” believers who are a result of following the teaching of William Branham. These who have been taught that they are the Elect of God who were chosen before the World began and only they were able to receive the “Revelation” of the truth which he taught. This they teach which positions them in the Body of Christ to be accepted as the Bride of Christ at His return the second time. This teaching is in direct opposition to the scriptures, but is accepted because of the influence of what they are told about William Branham’s ministry, not what they know firsthand, but what unscrupulous men have propagated in order to maintain the captivity of those who will listen. Then reinforce their position by displaying the picture of William Branham with the halo above his head that is supposed to vindicate that his teaching has God’s approval.

If what they teach is the truth of God’s Word, then the rest of the church World are lost because they are not believers of the message that is being taught.

Yes I have a burden and a cross that is heavy and difficult to bear because it appears that my journey is up a steep hill that has been built by years of indoctrination of the people of God, who have been taught that the only way to salvation is to believe the “Message of the Hour”. Yes they teach this is the way to salvation no matter what the Gospel of Christ says. Who are we to believe? Should we believe the gospel of Branham or the Gospel of Christ that the Son of God preached?

God has inspired me and guided me as I wrote a book containing the revelations of the truth of God’s Word. He has inspired me to write over one hundred articles on this site about many Bible subjects including many truths about William Branham’s life and ministry, the revelation of many things included in his ministry according to his own words, but the people close their eyes if the truth is in opposition to what they have been deceived in believing. What else can I do when I put the truth before their eyes and they refuse to believe and instead hold their beliefs to the fables that sound so good to them.

God has ordained some to be teachers of the truth to bring us all into the unity of the faith so we will no more be like children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleigh of men and cunning craftiness with deceitfulness in their hearts using every method they have to keep the children of God in bondage to their beliefs. Paul the Apostle said that the time would come when the people will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they receive teachers having itching ears that will turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. Well that day is now and the people of God are being lost in the confusion not knowing the way they should go.

This burden that I bear is not one that I chose, nor one that is pleasant to bear, but God has given it to me for His own purpose and not for my pleasure and all that matters to me is that it serves His purpose. If I never see the results of my effort, it matters not because it is for His purpose and if I leave this life not knowing, He just might reveal the purpose of it on the other side.

Nevertheless, I will not faint from the load that I carry in this life, for I know that God will achieve the results that He intended and that’s all that really matters.

I recently watched and listened to a sermon by a Donny Reagan from the Happy Valley Church and was, if I can use the term “blown away” by the arrogance of this preacher when he stated that only the “elect”, which he was referring to the “Message of the Hour” believers can hear the voice of God. Well I’ve got news for you preacher, God did not make the World for you only, nor does He make Himself known to only your group. His Word is recorded in the Bible for all to learn of Him and by His Word, the World can believe to eternal life. God didn’t have the Bible written so only “your elect” can read the truth between the lines, so put on your show of antics to impress your little group and if they refuse to believe only the “Message” and not the written Word of God, you will have to answer to Him for the errors of your teaching and not just you personally, but all those who partake calling yourself message preachers in the message churches.

As for me, for I am nothing more than a tool for God who will persevere until God wills that I am through witnessing for the truth of His Word. I believe that I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith and if I am near to the finish of my course, I pray to my Heavenly Father that all my efforts were His will. None of those things that opposed me, move me, neither do I count my life dear to myself, for nothing is more important for my life than to do the will of He who sent me.

My prayer for all of God’s children is that your eyes will be opened for to see the truth of His gospel and be given the time to repent before the end of this age arrives and you all turn from the deceptive fables that you have received and turn to the truth of His Word contained in the Bible which He inspired His servants to write for all that seek His face.

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Defending The Bible

Without the bible, we would not have learned about God. We call the bible the Word of God, but we don’t believe what it says. The bible says that God sent His Son into this World to speak the words of His Father and to provide the way for us to inherit eternal life, but we don’t believe that the words Jesus spoke meant what He said. If the words that Jesus spoke are not exactly what the Father gave Him to speak, then the Bible is not truly the Word of God.

The bible quotes God as having said: “I will give you pastors after my own heart to feed you with knowledge and understanding”, but most pastors in the church fail to defend the bible because they teach their own interpretation of what the bible tells us. When Jesus ascended into Heaven after His Earthly ministry was finished, he gave the church pastors and teachers to bring everyone into the unity of the faith, but instead the pastors and teachers that we have brought more division into the church because of the teaching of their own interpretation of God’s Word because they have not defended the bible and the written words of God contained in it.

The bible tells us that He anointed certain Apostles and Prophets to speak His words to the people and these words of God were made to be bible scripture. Then some people say that in order for the people to understand what bible scripture means God sent another prophet to interpret what the original Apostles and Prophets and even His Son said. This is nothing but an oxymoronic concept thinking that one anointed person like the Apostles, the Prophets and Jesus’ words needed to be interpreted by another prophet for His people to understand what His Word means.

Remember that it is because of the bible that we came to know God and the gospel of salvation that His Son Jesus Christ preached. Since that is true, then why would we want to turn from the bible and the gospel of Christ to another gospel that denies Jesus as being the Son of God? The Apostle Paul said that if someone teaches another gospel than the one we have accepted from the preaching of God’s Son, that person should be accursed.

It is God’s will that we all accept His Word and preserve it. A Prophet by the name of Jesus of Nazareth who was the announced Son of God was sent to the World to introduce a New Covenant that would insure that we receive eternal life and the gospel that He preached is the only truth of God’s Word. Believing the bible and the gospel of Christ is the only hope we have to be saved. Paul the Apostle said that even if any person or even an angel from heaven came preaching some other gospel than the gospel of the bible we should not believe it.

The bible gave us the way, the truth and the life because it gave us Jesus Christ who is the only way and the only truth and the only life. There is no other way except to believe what God has given to us, He gave us His only begotten Son and only those who believe in the Gospel contained in the bible will be saved and inherit eternal life with Him.

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Why I Am Not A Message Believer

Why I Am Not A Message Believer By Ron Cox

What I mean by this for those of you that are not familiar with what a message believer is, in the context for which it is meant, means that I am not a believer in everything that William M. Branham taught which is known as the “Message of the Hour”.

First I want to tell you something about my background, my relationship with William Branham and the prime reason why I had become a true believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I knew William Branham because of the relationship that he had with my Grandparents, Roda and Ella Cox who lived in Jeffersonville Indiana. How and when my Grandparents became to be associated with William Branham I do not know. I do know that my Grandfather became a Deacon and a member of the board of trustees of the Branham Tabernacle for some time and was the secretary treasurer of William Branham’s Evangelistic crusades up until William Branham’s death in 1965.

Since I was raised by my Grandparents who were close friends with the Branhams and was friends with his son Billy Paul while we were teenagers, I began hearing from my grandparents about the amazing ministry that he was involved in and from William Branham himself in the frequent visits he had to our home.

I don’t remember at what age I began to study the bible and William Branham’s ministry, But over the years until after his death I became completely versed in his bible teaching and believed everything that he taught. If there was a group at that time which were known as “Message Believers”, I was one of them without realizing it.

Over many years I engaged in intense bible study based upon the teachings of William Branham and as my faith increased in both God’s Word and the accuracy of William Branham’s teaching and his ministry, I know that only by hindsight that God was preparing me for a ministry of my own.

Then the day came in 1991 when I was at that time 55 years old, when God spoke to me and opened a door for me to begin the ministry that He had prepared me for. As I was preparing for the first message that I was to give, God spoke to my heart that whatever I was to say, I had to be prepared to defend my words by using scripture for the basis of my messages. That was when God revealed to me that I could not depend on what I had learned from William Branham for the defense of my teaching because a lot of what he preached was in direct conflict with what bible scripture stated.

That realization certainly put me in a state of disillusionment and depression and I didn’t want to believe that my friend William Branham was in error over so many things. I remember just begging God to not show those things to me because of my faith in his teaching over so many years. Nevertheless, God showed me that if I was to engage in the ministry that He had given me, I had to base my teaching on what was in scripture, without any man’s interpretation being a part of it.

Here was a man that I admired and grew to love him as a brother in Christ. Here was a man that was the epitome of a true man of God, that God was revealing Himself through his ministry. Here was a man that I trusted and because of his ministry my faith increased a hundredfold. Then God had to show me that he was in error in his teaching of scripture and it felt to me as though my World had just collapsed around me.

Over the years it became aware to me that not one church that I was familiar with was not in error at least in one thing that they were teaching for doctrine. If they could be in error in one aspect of scripture interpretation, they could also be in error in many things.

When it came to William Branham’s teaching, he based it on his own interpretation of what the scripture says by doing what he called “reading between the lines of scripture”. He stated that the real message was not on the lines of scripture, but was between the lines and unless it was revealed to everyone, the truth would not be understood. The problem with this is that everyone would have to base their understanding on the revelation that he received. This just cannot be, because each person must have their own revelation of the truth of scripture and not just blindly accept a revelation from someone else. Reading between the lines is nothing except saying, here is my interpretation. Although the bible says that scripture is of no private interpretation.

As time went on, God showed me that William Branham’s commission from God and his ministry was evangelistic in nature and preaching the Gospel of Salvation was what he had been called to do. At no time, according to William Branham’s own words did God ever change his calling from being an Evangelist to being a Teacher or a Prophet. William Branham wasn’t equipped with the knowledge of scripture needed or prepared to get into another calling. He wasn’t educated enough to be a Teacher and wasn’t anything like what the Old Testament Prophets were like. As a matter of fact, he was totality out of character to be a prophet of God as was demonstrated by what the Old Testament prophets were.

I believe that William Branham may have become sidetracked in his teaching with a mistaken interpretation of the scriptures in Matthew 16: 15 thru 18. Jesus said that it was revealed to Peter by God that Jesus was the Son of God. That is when Jesus said: “upon this rock I will build my church”. I believe that William Branham took this passage to mean that the church would be built upon revelation. I see the meaning of this scripture a different way than he did. In my understanding Jesus was saying that His church would be built upon the fact that He was the Son of God. This may have been a revelation for Peter to understand who Jesus was, but it doesn’t take a revelation for us to see who Jesus was. His identity is clearly shown in the scriptures we have that Jesus is truly the Son of the living God. A revelation is not needed to understand that.

William Branham in my estimation believed that everything you learn must come by revelation and he said many times that “the church is built upon the spiritual revelation of God's Word (Amen.), the spiritual revealed truth from God's Word, coming from God out of heaven to every heart. Amen.” He said many times that you cannot understand the meaning of any scripture in the bible without a spiritual revelation of what it means. But I contend that just can’t be true. Most of the scripture in the bible is straight forward and requires no revelation for you to understand what it means, but it must be taken in context with other relevant scripture. Scripture must interpret scripture.

I have said and William Branham has said that if any revelation you receive is not backed up by scripture or contradicts scripture the revelation is wrong.

So that is why I am not a “Message Believer”. I believe that the scripture says what it means and means what it says without having to receive a revelation about it. William Branham let what he called spiritual revelation about the meaning lead him into error in most of his teaching. This can be understood by reading many of the articles I have posted on this blog site. If you want to see the truth of God’s Word, then go read them. If what I say is not backed up by scripture, not by reading between the lines, but reading what it plainly written on the lines, then don’t believe me. If Bible truth, without someone’s interpretation of it is not of your liking then leave the blinders on your eyes and avoid the truths that are presented to you.

When I was a “Messenger Believer”, or anyway a follower of William Branham’s ministry, I didn’t realize that other messenger believers didn’t believe the Gospel of Christ as the scriptures present it. I’m talking about the part where it states that Jesus was the Son of God, just as it was revealed to the Apostle Peter. So my hope is that God will open their eyes and include them in the Body of Christ. The bible says that you must believe the Gospel in order to be saved and the Gospel states that Jesus is the Son of God and not God the Father Himself.

Choose this day who you will stand with, the bible truth as it is written, or the interpretation of some man.

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William Branham and THE SEVEN SEALS

What does the Bible say about the Seven Seals?

This is not another interpretation by man!

The Opening Of The Seven Seals

 Every person who has attempted to obtain the secrets of the symbolism used in the Bible for understanding the opening of the Seven Sealed book of Revelations Chapter five through eight, has developed their own interpretation of its meaning and none have been successful.

 

Do You Know Why?

 

Please Don’t Take My Word For It

Read What The Bible Says About It

One of the most mysterious happening written about in the bible is the opening of the seven seals. Because of its mysterious nature, men for many years have been inspired to discover the meaning of the seals and the book that was sealed by them. These men ranged from the most prominent church leaders to the most notorious cult leaders that came along. Many books have been written by an assortment of people that contend that God revealed the secrets to them and only their interpretation was the truth.

Those who apply their interpretation to the meaning of the seven seal openings believe that God has given them some insight or revelation into their meaning and think that their stature in the church will attain to a higher status by their explanation of what the seals represent.

If by any chance one of these revelators did hit on the true meaning of what these seals or the book that was sealed by them represent, they have had no means to verify the accuracy of their discovery, unless verification was made by the appearance of Jesus Christ Himself. After all, the book and the mystery of the seals was given to Jesus Christ Himself.

One such revelator ( William Branham) said that seven angels from Heaven came down and opened the seals for him, revealing the true meaning of them and punctuated his announcement with the statement of “Thus Saith the Lord” to verify that God gave the revelation to him.

Since there is no evidence that Jesus openly vindicated any man’s interpretation of the meaning of the seals, we can with a large degree of certainty be assured that this mystery still remains a secret.

If these men would just stay with the scriptures instead of applying their interpretations without regard as to what the scriptures state, they would see that God did not intend for any of us to know the meaning of them on this side of Heaven. Why is that? It is a fact that the seals are not opened here on Earth, but in Heaven.

Where was the scene of this event taking place? Why it was in Heaven in the presence of the Throne of God. Revelations chapter five tells us that Jehovah was sitting on His throne in Heaven and had the book in His right hand. A proclamation was made by an Angel that no man in Heaven, or on Earth, or under the Earth was worthy to even look at the book, let alone open it. There was only one person worthy enough to receive the book and that was Jesus Christ.

Now do you wonder when this event might take place? You should, because it is important to note who else was in Heaven at the time Jesus opens the book. Still in the fifth chapter it says that those who were in Heaven sang a new song saying:

“You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;”

Since those present had been redeemed by Christ out of every nation on the Earth and have been made kings and priests and are in Heaven at this time, this event has to take place after the First Resurrection and the Rapture.

Until the time that this event in Heaven occurs, the seals and the book has not been opened and no person living on the Earth will ever know the true meaning of what these seals represent, or what is contained in the book no matter what anyone says they know.

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The History of Mankind

According to the Bible

The bible is the only source of the facts concerning the origins of Planet Earth and Mankind that has been recorded in a reliable document that has managed to survive over thousands of years. Although the bible goes into much detail about a lot of people and events, this writing will not. What we will cover are those important and relative facts that will present to the reader, as much as possible, a chronology of events and those persons who were a part of those events as they happened. References to bible books, chapters and verses will not be included in this narrative, nor will theological theories or interpretations of what the bible literally addresses.

In the beginning, if there even was a beginning, God existed in the World. The very first thing that we are told is that God created the Heavens and the Earth. Though we are all aware of what the Earth is, we should understand that the Heavens consist of all the space above the Earth which contains the Stars and other planetary objects which are called by various names such as moons, asteroids, meteors, other planets such as our Earth, etc.

After God had created the Universe and all that it consists of, He created other Heavenly beings like Himself. Supernatural Heavenly beings that became known as Angels, Arch Angels and Cherubims. Some of these Heavenly beings would later be seen as and called the children of God and a family of Heavenly beings known as “Elohiym” in the Hebrew language, a family of gods. As we also have learned later on because Jesus made the statement that He was with the Father God before He came to the Earth and was to return to His Father, Jesus was one of these “Elohiym”, a member of this heavenly family of gods.

We are told that God decided to develop the Earth to be a place for mankind to dwell on by giving it dry land, bodies of water, grass, trees, the fish of the Sea, fowl of the air, and land creatures such as beasts, cattle and other small creatures. After God had completed developing the Earth, it was then ready for Him to put mankind upon it.

 

The Beginning of Mankind

The bible then tells us that God then created mankind upon the Earth, both male and female and instructed them to fill the Earth with their offspring and take a position of domination over every other creature on Earth that He had created. An important note to be made here is that God instructed mankind to eat only of the fruit of the trees and the seed of the herbs of the ground and nothing was mentioned that they were to eat the meat of those that He had created, neither were they instructed to till the ground to grow crops.

The translation of the bible tells us that God had ended His creation on the sixth “day” and rested on the seventh “day”. This word “day” could have also been translated as a period of time and not just a literal day of 24 hours.

After all of this, God realized that there was not a man that He had created that had the knowledge to till the ground and be a farmer to grow food, so He proceeded to rectify and provide for that need.

So God made another man, not being created as the first were, but formed from the dust of the ground which was one man who became known as Adam. Then God planted a garden in a place called Eden and put the man Adam in it for the purpose of tilling the ground and taking care of everything that God caused to grow in the garden.

God then realized that Adam was alone in the Garden and needed something to keep him company and be a helper to him. So to provide that need for Adam, God formed from the ground, just like He formed Adam, different kinds of animals and fowl and gave them to Adam, but this did not provide the company or the help that Adam needed. So the next thing that God did was to remove from Adam the female DNA which was in Adam and made a woman to be Adam’s helper and mate.

Now before Adam was placed in the Garden, God told Adam that there was one tree in the Garden that Adam was not to eat of its fruit, for if he did he would die. This was the first law that God had given to man along with the warning of the consequence that he would face if He violated God’s commandment.

There was also a beast in the Garden that was more like a man than he was an animal and convinced Eve, Adams wife, that she would not die if she ate of the fruit on the forbidden tree. So when Eve ate of the fruit and didn’t die that caused Adam to disbelieve what God had told him and he also ate of the fruit.

When God found out that Adam had doubted His word and disobeyed Him, He banished Adam and Eve from the Garden and prevented them from ever returning there.

 

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

After Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden there were two sons born of them, Cain and Abel. During the course of time Cain became jealous of his brother Abel because he found favor with God and killed him. Cain then left the house of Adam and found a wife in the land of Nod, who was of the first creation of mankind and made his home there.

(Just a note from the author: The people of the first creation of mankind were later referred to as the Gentile Nations. Cain by taking up residence with them could have introduced animal sacrifice to God to them since they were historically known for a lot of sacrifices including those of their own children to please their gods. Cain could also have introduced farming to them because of what he learned from Adam. Up until that time these Nations depended upon the fruit of trees and herbs of the fields for their food since they didn’t have the knowledge of growing food from the ground that Adam had.)

After Abel was killed and Cain left for another land, Adam and Eve produced another son who they named Seth. Following the birth of Seth there followed seven generations of their descendents before Noah was born. Men of these generations started to intermarry with the women who were part of the first creation of mankind. Because of this and the kind of lives these descendents of Adam were living with the people of these other Nations. Mankind had gotten so wicked that God repented having made this linage of man on the Earth and decided to destroy all of them. But since Noah had found favor with God, He instructed Noah to build a wooden Ark in which Noah and his family could escape the fate of what was going to happen to all of the others.

Then Came the Flood

So in the eleventh generation of the linage of Adam God brought on a flood of water that destroyed all of Adam’s descendents except for Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. After the flood had covered the Earth and Noah’s family had been in the Ark for about one year, the waters subsided and the Ark rested on a mountaintop. After Noah and his family left the Ark, God blessed them and commanded them to go forth and replenish the Earth with their offspring. The three sons of Noah then went out and their families spread across the lands of the Earth and many generations of their offspring were produced in the lands alongside of those in the Gentile Nations

The Call of Abraham

Shem, one of Noah’s sons after many years had passed had a descendent named Abraham who had found favor with God and God made a covenant with him that he would be the father of many nations if Abraham would obey Him in all that He would command him to do. So Abraham did what God commanded him to do and over the passage of time Abraham had two sons. One of his sons named Isaac was the father of Jacob, whose name was later changed by God to Israel and who took his family into Egypt because of a famine in their land.

A Journey  into Egypt

When Israel took his family into the land of Egypt there were about fifty of them and 215 years later when the nation of Israel would be delivered from Egypt they numbered about two million.

While the Israelites were in Egypt a man named Moses was born who was destined to be the one that God chose to deliver the people out of Egypt and lead them to the land that God had promised to Abraham. Moses was raised in the house of the Pharaoh of Egypt, but when he learned that he was of the Nation of Israel, he took it upon himself to attempt to deliver his people before the time was right with God. Because of this, Moses was forced to leave Egypt and found refuge in the land of Midian and took a wife of Jethro who was a priest in that land.

As time passed by, God made himself known to Moses and sent him into Egypt to free the Israelites from the bondage they were in. After God performed many supernatural signs by Moses, Pharaoh consented to free the people and allow them to leave his land.

The Exodus from Egypt

Moses led the people through the desert to Mount Sinai where he received the ten commandments from God and the laws and ordnances they were to live by. As they were traveling through the desert and were about to cross over the River Jordan, the people rebelled against crossing into a land that they feared even though God had promised it to them. Because they disbelieved God’s word about their being able to take possession of the land across Jordan, God condemned them to wander in the wilderness until every one of them of age perished. The only ones of the Nation that survived the wilderness journey were those who were not of age when the rebellion occurred, along with two men who had been faithful to God’s word, Joshua and Caleb.

At the end of the wandering in the wilderness and they were ready to cross the River Jordan into the promise land, Moses turned the leadership of the Israelites over to Joshua. Moses was not allowed to take the people across the River because he had trespassed against God during the journey. According to the bible, Moses went up onto a mountain and died there, but even though the people searched for his body, they couldn’t find it.

Crossing the River Jordan

So Joshua led the people of Israel across the River Jordan into the land of Canaan that God had promised for Abraham and his descendents. Then Joshua and the Israelites defeated all of the Nations of the land and took possession according as Joshua had divided it among them.

After about 470 years in their new homeland and having been serving under many Judges over the people of Israel, they decided they wanted a King to rule over them the same as other Nations had. So against God did the people rebel and insisted that a man be placed over them as their King and God obliged them by having the Prophet Samuel anoint Saul to be their first of many Kings. So Saul ruled as King for forty years and was replaced by David and after him, David’s son Solomon.

The Israelites taken Captive

Then after about 370 years of being ruled by many different kinds of Kings, some good and some bad, Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon came into the land of the Israelites and defeated them and carried many of the people into captivity at Babylon.

After having been in captivity for 70 years the Israelites were released to return to their own land and spent the next almost 500 years being troubled by many other nations and rulers and culminated by the Romans taking possession of their lands in about the year of 37BC and remaining during the time of the life and ministry of Jesus.

Before the birth of Jesus there was a ruler over Israel by the name of Herod the Great who ruled from 37BC to 4AD and was the one who had young children slain in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill a boy who he was told was being born there that would grow up to be the King of the Jews.

The Roman rule over the Israelites continued through the life and ministry of Jesus up to the year of 70AD. Because of all the rebellion of the Israelites against the rule of Rome, the legions of Rome besieged Jerusalem and those Israelites who were not killed were taken captive and sent to other parts of the World as slaves to the Gentile Nations.

For about 1900 years these captive Israelites remained in these foreign lands before returning to their lands to begin new lives in the land that God had promised to Abraham. In the year of 1948 Israel then became a recognized Nation again under their own rule. There they will remain until the last day appointed by God has come according to the bible.

As for the Gentile Nations, unless they have been converted and accepted the Gospel of Christ, they will perish. In any case, this will mark the conclusion of mankind on the Earth.

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Can You Face the Facts

Can any of William Branham’s followers who call themselves Message of the Hour believers face the facts about William Branham’s ministry? The answer to that is probably no, or maybe with few exceptions. You must look at it this way, for most of them to dedicate many years of their lives believing what they have been taught by William Branham himself and now to admit that the real facts do not support what they have heard, they would view all of that time in their lives to be wasted. What a blow to them that would be. So what is their recourse? To continue believing as they have been and hope for the best? That doesn’t sound like the intelligent thing to do because there is too much at stake.

Since the first time years ago when I examined William Branham’s “Tent Vision” experience, it was evident that the interpretation of that vision was not revealed to him by God. Have you ever questioned why God would give him a vision of something to take place concerning him in the future and not give him at least the interpretation of it before he died, let alone the fulfillment of the vision? The way that I see it, was that the interpretation of the vision, nor the fulfillment of the vision was for him.

There was a part of his “Tent Vision” where he said that the light left him which had been with him for a long time. When I was trying to understand what significance that would be, it was revealed to me exactly what that meant. I was made to understand that it was the light above his head in the picture which was published in 1950 that had been a part of his ministry for 15 years. That tent vision would point to that light being removed from the picture because of the importance it had with the people who took it as a sign of God’s approval of his ministry. Then we must look at the fact that if God was in full approval of William Branham’s ministry, then why in just 15 years would He have allowed his ministry to tragically end before some prophecies and visions had taken place?

I am not going to list all of the known details of the origination of this picture that was developed in January of 1950, but because of everything I have learned about it, I have concluded that this picture did not depict the appearance of a supernatural heavenly being above his head, but did occur on the negative of this picture because of another reason. Instead, this was the occurrence of an anomaly that occurred and was used to perpetuate a false belief as to what it was and why it occurred.

This picture became the glue that has held William Branham’s followers together for 60+ years, believing his prophecies that never came to pass, believing his visions that never came true and believing his teaching of the bible was by divine revelation while it contradicted much of the scripture that God had inspired chosen men to write for our benefit.

So many years ago I made a prophecy that this light would disappear off all the pictures in existence and would serve as the proof that God was displeased with the influence it has had by influencing the acceptance of false bible teaching by this man.

Just as I believe that God has revealed to me that He will remove the light in this picture, the devil has said that if it happens, the people will believe that he was responsible for removing it. To start off with, if God was responsible for the light appearing in that picture, there is no way that He would allow the devil to remove it. When God, the Holy Spirit causes this light to disappear and if the people say that it was the devil that did it, that would constitute blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which would not be forgiven by God according to scripture.

Without this deceiving picture and the fabrication of the events surrounding its presentation, William Branham’s followers would have nothing more to hold them to his beliefs except for hearsay. All that it takes is to make a close examination of everything he said in his recorded sermons and you can be certain that his teaching was not according to scripture and was not of God. This has been accomplished by myself and many other people and the results of these examinations are spread across the Internet. Of course at the time that these recordings were made, none of his close followers and confidents ever dreamed that such close scrutiny of his ministry would be possible as it is now.

Unfortunately these facts that have been made known mean nothing to his followers because they have been made to believe that the devil has used people to distort the facts about his ministry. Can they face the facts? Oh yes they can, but they have been blinded by that light that appears above his head and that is why God is going to remove that light so that His people can finally see the truth.

My friends. Take a little advice from a former Message of the Hour believer who personally knew Brother William Branham, who loved him as a great man of God and believed all that I heard about his ministry was perfectly true according to the Word of God.

Then came a day when the Lord opened my eyes to the fact that our Brother left his first love and his calling of God to Evangelize and pray for the sick and he began to take the place of a Bible Teacher of which he was not called to do.

He began to deceive himself into believing that the bible scriptures needed to be interpreted according to a revelation that he believed the Lord gave him and got into error by teaching in opposition to what the written Word of God stated.

Everyone needs to think hard about this for their souls sake and decide whether you are going to believe the written Word of God, or the misleading interpretation of Brother Branham. There is too much proof that has been revealed and published that substantiates what I have published on my web site and the Lord has vindicated to me that these things are true.

You must make your decision today who you will believe and follow. Will it be the Word of God that’s in the Bible or the word of man. It’s that simple and your decision will determine your future destiny.

 

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Spiritual Discernment

Discernment is a gift of the Spirit to be used to determine right from wrong and what is true or false and works in the believer who has received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and is led into all truth by the Spirit for which it was given.

There are some people who could stuff themselves with Scripture until it came out their noses, and they'd still refuse to let the Spirit teach them anything. They're not trying to discern at all; they're seeking support, not truth. It is a must that we stand with Scripture, or we will fall for anything

The only way to grow in spiritual discernment is

a) by relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit who indwells every true Christian, and
b) by studying God’s Word, the Bible. These two go hand-in-hand.

This reliance both on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and on God's Written Word will keep Christians focused on God and the truth of what His word really means.

If Christians were to rely only on their ability to listen to the Holy Spirit, they would leave themselves open to all manner of private teachings and interpretations -- without any rules by which to rest such revelations. At the same time, if they were to rely only on their own ability to interpret and apply the Scriptures, they would leave no room for God's guidance in revealing to them the riches of his Word.

As Christians our focus should always be on the living God, with whom we have an interactive relationship.

If you have the spiritual gift of discernment you will be able to tell the difference between right and wrong. People with this spiritual gift have the ability to look at something in a way that weighs whether it fits in with God's word and intentions. Discernment means looking beyond the surface of what's being said or taught or written to find the truth in it. Some people liken the spiritual gift of discernment to "gut instinct," because sometimes discerning people just get a feeling when something's not quite right.

This gift is very important today when there are so many different teachings and people claiming to be close to God. People with this gift help keep each of us, our churches, our teachers, etc. on track. However, there is a tendency for those with the spiritual gift of discernment to feel they are always right. Pride is a huge hurdle for those with this gift. Discerning people many times have to put their pride aside and go into prayer to be sure their "gut" is actually God's intentions and not just their own judgment clouding things.

It is even more important in these last days of bible prophecy because of all the false teaching that is taking place in the multitude of Churches around the World. It is evident that many different doctrines are being taught and there is no unity in the understanding about the truth expressed in bible scripture.

The Apostle Paul taught:  (2 Timothy 3:1-7)  “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Why is this happening? It simply is because most people have not the gift of spiritual discernment.

Jesus said: (Matthew 24: 5  “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ (I have the anointment); and shall deceive many.” He continued to say: (Matthew 24: 24)  “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders (which are not of God); insomuch that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

The Apostle Peter said: (2 Peter 1: 20 thru 2:2)  “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you (It exists today), who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord Jesus that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” (The way of truth which is written in Bible scripture.)

 

The Apostle John also said: (1 John 4:1-3)  “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

 

That same spirit of Antichrist is working in the churches today causing the division of the churches and the animosity between believers, which is not evident by the individual believer either because they have not received the indwelling true Spirit of God, or the gift of spiritual discernment has not been received by them.

Most important is that Spiritual discernment agrees with Bible scripture if it is of God.. Only then can we be certain that we are standing on solid ground where we cannot be shaken off of the truth of the Bible and God’s Word by a spirit of error which is prevalent in the World.

John wrote in his first letter acknowledging that there does exist a Spirit of truth and a spirit of error. The only way that a person can discern the difference between the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error is by the Bible scriptures. The Spirit of truth will be in agreement with scripture and the spirit of error will lead a person to believe an interpretation of scripture over what the scripture actually states.

Jesus said that God would give the Spirit of truth to the believer which would be in us and would guide us into all truth and testify to us the truth about Jesus being the Son of God the Father. ( John 14:16-17, 15:26, 16:13-14)

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William Branham, a Twentieth Century Prophet?

What is a Prophet?

A Prophet is a mouthpiece for God. God speaks through a person who is a Prophet in order to tell the people what He wants them to know. God said if there is a Prophet among you, I will speak to him through a dream or a vision. (Num 12:6) God said that when a prophet speaks anything in the name of the Lord, and it doesn’t come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. Deut 18:22) God said that if a prophet should presume to speak anything in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, that prophet shall die.

William Branham prophesied that God told him that his son Joseph was a Prophet. His son Joseph is now 58 years old and has never spoke anything in the name of the Lord to prove himself to be a Prophet of God. This is one of the failed prophecies of William Branham that he presumed to speak in the name of the Lord which did not come to pass.

William Branham prophesied that God told him Los Angeles would be under water before his son Billy Paul was an old man. His son Billy Paul is now 78 years old and will turn to age 79 this year. This is the age of an old man and Los Angeles is not under water as William Branham prophesied in the name of the Lord. God did not speak those words to William Branham. This is one of the failed prophecies of William Branham that he presumed to speak in the name of the Lord which did not come to pass. What does his son Billy Paul Branham say about this? Billy Paul said: “since Los Angeles is not yet under water, I must not be an old man”. I cannot give a prophecy about this because God didn’t tell me, but I will make a prediction. I predict that when Billy Paul Branham dies, Los Angeles will still be above water which will prove once again that his father was a false prophet.

William Branham prophesied that God showed him that the United States would be destroyed and be in ashes by the year of 1977. He continued to say that this same year would mark the end of the Gentile dispensation and the rapture would occur before the Lord turned back to the Jews. This is now the year of 2014. It has been 37 years since this prophecy was to have been fulfilled and the United States still stands and the rapture has not taken place. This is one of the failed prophecies of William Branham that he presumed to speak in the name of the Lord which did not come to pass.

William Branham presented himself as a Prophet of God to the people that he ministered to and the prophecies that he made in the name of the Lord did not come to pass, this makes William Branham a false prophet and not an ordained Prophet of God. God said that if a prophet should presume to speak anything in His name, which He has not commanded him to speak, that prophet shall die. William Branham did die at the young age of 54, a few years younger than his son Joseph is today.

In Old Testament times God had to use ordained Prophets to speak through for His people to know His will because there were no written scriptures for the people to read and know God’s commandments. It was not until God begat His Son Jesus who He sent to Earth as a Prophet to introduce God’s New Covenant with the people and through the mouth of Jesus was God’s words spoken. Those who were present during the ministry of Jesus and heard the words of God spoken through Him were responsible for the written Word of God to be published for all of us to read and know His will.

In these New Covenant times God has no reason to use an ordained Prophet unless He decides to inform the people of something new in His plan that is not covered in the scriptures that were written. If that is needed to be done, God speaks through someone with a gift of prophecy which is a gift of the Spirit, not for man to use, but for God to use.(1 Cor 12:10) Did William Branham have a gift of prophecy? It’s very possible and God could have executed that gift through him at times.

It is not necessary for a person to be a Prophet of God for prayers of healing to take place, because it is God who does the healing. It is not necessary for a person to be a Prophet of God for a prophecy to take place because it is God who does the speaking through a person’s lips. Having a picture taken with a halo of light appearing above a person’s head does not make that person a Prophet of God because there are other reasons for that to occur. Not even the Prophets of olden time, not the Apostles of the Lord Jesus, not even did Jesus have a halo of light appear above His head that is in any record. Was William Branham greatly anointed more than these who I mentioned?

One very important thing that we must keep in mind is that the scriptures of the bible contain the words of God that were published by those He used to pass down to us and nothing spoken by anyone can contradict those words of God. If any person that says they have a revelation to the effect that does not agree with written scripture, that revelation does not come from God, because God’s Word does not contradict God’s Word and any revelation that does that is a false revelation. William Branham, in his teaching of scripture erred in doing this throughout his ministry and was in error for doing this and because of his doing that, he lost his life at a fairly young age of 54 years old.

Now I want to quote exactly what William Branham said himself:

“Now, here we are then, right up here to the end of the time when... If God did call me (Now listen, this is not to be repeated.), if He did call me to be His prophet, then I'm certainly not holding the office of one. Prophets don't evangelize. A prophet hides himself in the wilderness alone with God, until he gets exactly directly what God wants him do, and he stomps right out and gives his Message, and back into the wilderness he goes again. He's not an evangelist, holding meetings and getting cooperations and all these things like evangelists do. He don't teach like evangelists. He has THUS SAITH THE LORD, and that's it, and that's all. He gives it, throws it out, and lets the chips fall where it will, and then away he goes again. Nobody knows where he's at, and he's in isolation somewhere. Now, I cannot... or... If He's called me to be that, I cannot be an evangelist. And if He's called me to be evangelist, I cannot be a prophet. Now, you get what I mean?”

William Branham allowed the people to believe that he was God’s Prophet for the purpose of increasing their faith in order for receiving their healing in his meetings. He said that the Angel told him that he must get the people to believe him in order for them to receive their healing from God and he did everything that he could to accomplish it. Because he allowed the people to believe that he was a prophet, the people believed everything he said even if it was against scripture and that’s where the greatest harm has been done in the church.

So there you are. William Branham knew that he was not a Prophet and said so. God’s Word proves that he did not pass the test that would qualify him to be a true Prophet and besides that according to God’s Word, he was a false Prophet whose prophecies did not come to pass.

I don’t know what else to say other than to believe the Word of God, believe the inspired scriptures, believe the bible, believe the words that Jesus spoke and turn away from the private interpretations of scripture that man has taught and which are wrong.

I apologize for quoting a lot of scripture here, but this is important and relevant for the church today.

2 Thess 2:7-12 For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now allows will allow, until he is taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

 Many good people have believed a lie in this day because of the signs and lying wonders and are under strong delusion and fail to believe the truth.

Yes, William Branham is gone, but there are a lot of his disciples who continue to teach in their churches the false doctrines that he developed. Without a doubt, many good men of God who have been deceived and believe the lies that have been promoted by the WBEA and the VOG recording organizations headed by William Branham’s sons.

What will you now do with this knowledge in light of God’s Word that points you to the truth?

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The Most Important Thing

All people who believe in God, even though they do agree in their common belief that God is the creator of all things, do have differences in their acceptance of other bible doctrines that prevent everyone from coming together in the complete unity of the faith.

One thing that is made clear in the scriptures, is that in order to be saved and inherit eternal life, according to a statement by Jesus, is that you must believe the Gospel and be baptized. Out of these two requirements, the baptism has been under interpretation by many churches as to what the baptism formula should be. Some say that you must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Others say that you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Still others differ on the way the person should be submerged in the water. Since the scriptures are not perfectly clear about the method or formula, I believe that any of these methods would comply with the command by Jesus to be baptized.

Although the scripture does speak to a particular formula to be used, which was commanded by the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. Peter commanded the people to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Since this method was approved by Jesus, it stands that anyone not baptized in the name of Jesus Christ would not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Without going into all of the involved details at this time because they are covered in much detail in other articles that I have written, it stands that those who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and have received the Holy Spirit will avoid the final White Throne Judgment. While those who have been baptized in other ways still have the opportunity to inherit eternal life, but that will be subject to the outcome of their final judgment by God.

The one and only thing that is imperative in all of these cases is that all people must believe the Gospel, no matter how they are baptized and the Gospel states that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. There are many churches that hold to their teaching that Jesus was not only the Son of God, but that He was God the Creator Himself. This belief, although controversial is not supported by scripture by a preponderance of the evidence that the scriptures provide.

The Deity of Jesus Christ being God was the main issue taken up by the Nicene Council in 325AD and as the result of their discussions it became accepted that the Deity consisted of three persons (the Trinity) being composed of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, which made Jesus the second person of the Trinity and being a part of this triune being it made Jesus God. The conclusion that Jesus was God by this Nicene group was instrumental in producing a doctrine that has permeated in many churches since that time.

Since it is imperative according to scripture that in order to receive eternal life, the belief in the Gospel stating that Jesus was the Son of God becomes the most important belief that must be accepted.

 All of the articles that I have published have been for the benefit of all churches and all people for the purpose of directing their attention to actually what the bible scriptures state. Unfortunately most people have become comfortable with what they have heard in their churches, which unfortunately have been a mixture of bible truth and mans interpretation of scripture.

One group of believers who are very near to my heart and so important to me because of my prior association with their church and teaching are the followers of William Branham who call themselves Message of the Hour believers. It completely saddens me that this message of the hour that they believe and hold to is so contradictory to bible scripture and because of the fame of their founder, blinds them to the biblical truth that exists.

The most important thing that has been taught to this group of believers which is contradictory to the Gospel is that Jesus and God are the same person. Of course this also has occurred because of the Trinity teaching that began many years ago when it was decided that Jesus was a part of the Godhead.

This teaching arose from William Branham saying that God made Himself a body in the form of Jesus in order to come to Earth and shed His own blood for the redemption of mankind. This is not what the Gospel of Christ says and is preventing this group of believers from believing the true Gospel which is the most important thing and could prevent them from inheriting eternal life. The words of Jesus as He preached were “repent and believe the Gospel”. To repent in this statement of Jesus is to turn from your unbelief in the Gospel and believe what it says.

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What does God expect of us?

The most important thing that God expects of us is to believe that He exists and that He will reward those that diligently seek Him. To believe that God exists requires faith, which is the conviction that God exists without the need to visibly see Him. The will of God is for all mankind to believe on Him whom God has sent; the only begotten Son of God and whoever will believe in Him will inherit eternal life.

The only way that mankind has to know God and what His will is for us is by reading and studying the Bible scriptures which were written by men who God has inspired to write according to the history of God’s interaction with mankind in the past.

The very first words that were written in the Bible were that God created the Heavens and the Earth. In actuality, the correct translation from the Hebrew language into English of those words say the “the Gods created the Heavens and the Earth”. A careful reading of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis makes it clear that at that time God did not exist by Himself, but had already created a heavenly host of beings who the Bible describes as the “Elohiym” ( a Hebrew word) which were present at the time of the creation of the Earth, Although they were not Gods as the ancient people believed and in some cases were referred to as the sons of God who were in Heaven with Him.

There are some Bible teachers that explain away the translation error of “Elohiym” to God instead of “gods” by teaching that God is singular and plural at the same time, that the Hebrew word of Elohiym means God and gods. This is absolutely untrue. According to the Hebrew language “God” is translated from the Hebrew word “elowahh” which means one God and “Elohiym” should have been translated to the English word “gods”.

Now in saying this, I want to make it clear that our one God Jehovah was the one who created the Heavens and the Earth as it is stated in Genesis 2:4. Although to make it just a little more confusing, the translators of the Bible, starting in Genesis 2:4 and in all but four scriptures throughout the other scriptures changed God’s name of Jehovah to the word LORD.

Now why does this matter? Looking at the scope of salvation in the totality of the Bible scriptures, why should we consider this at all important to make an issue out of it? I’ll tell you exactly why. This is just one perfect example like many more where man has changed the meaning of the words that God inspired in the original writing of the scriptures as the translation into English took place.

Now to get back to the question of “what does God expect of us”? God expects all of us to believe the truth of what He inspired holy men to write as He revealed it to them and not what man has mistakenly written and taught because of their misunderstanding of written scripture.

Jehovah God wants us to have faith in Him and His Son Jesus Christ and in the truth of what the original scriptures said, but we are hindered from receiving the complete truth because of the poor interpretation of Bible scripture by man who have not been sent by God to teach us truth.

Now can you see what I am pointing out to you? I’m sure that you can see it, but many of you just can’t believe it can you? Many of you are clinging to what you have been taught, that God would never have allowed mistranslations, or misinterpretations to be allowed in His Bible. You all have been dependent upon those men who have translated the Bible into English, upon those men behind the pulpits in your churches to teach you, those teachers who God has not sent to do these things.

Man couldn’t even get past the first verse in Genesis without making misleading changes in the Holy scriptures, so this was just reflective of what they have done throughout the Bible. You don’t think so? Just read the articles that I have written where I have pointed out many more of these errors that man has been responsible for. But you won’t will you? Why? Because you are comfortable sitting in your church pews just soaking in the things your preacher has been feeding you and making you feel good.

It is written in the scriptures that God has placed in the church some Pastors and Teachers for the purpose of bringing all into the unity of the faith, but have these Pastors and Teachers done so? If you can’t look around at what other churches are teaching then you are blind or just don’t want to see the truth. All of these Preachers and Teachers do nothing more than to teach what their Bible schools and theological seminaries have taught them to believe, but because they haven’t been sent by God, they don’t seek out the truth of the scriptures in order to speak God’s Word as He wants it taught.

What does God expect of us? He expects us to seek out the truth of His Word, believe it and hold on to it.

I’ll end this with a quote from the Apostle Paul who said: “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good” (or honest or true). The written word that is in the Bible is our link, our connection, to know of God and the truth of His Word.

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