Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Brother William Branham and his Angel
Brother Branham testified that an Angel was in contact
with him throughout his life. He said that when he was a young boy the Angel
would speak to him from the top of a tree as he heard what sounded like the
wind blowing through the tree. The first time he actually saw this Angel was
when he was alone praying and the Angel approached him out of a bright light
which appeared in the room he was in. He said that the Angel came to inform him
of a ministry of divine healing that God was commissioning him to minister in.
He recognized that the Angel that visited him was the same one that had been
speaking to him starting when he was very young and knew it was because of the
sounding of his voice. Brother Branham also testified that the Angel was always
present when he was holding his meetings and was responsible for the operation
of the discernment gift and the visions that he experienced.
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There are some who question whether this Angel was
actually an Angel of God or not. That is the reason that I decided to write
this article so that you who read this can decide for yourself after looking at
the facts which are stated here. You will read what Brother Branham said in his
own words along with my comments which will be based upon what I am inclined to
believe as I relate the things that were said by Brother Branham and how the
veracity of the statements line up with bible scripture.
My big concern is that most of Brother Branham’s teaching
on the bible did not conform to written scripture, but consisted of his own
interpretation. Also my concern is just how much of Brother Branham’s teaching
was influenced by the presence of this Angel, especially if he was not an Angel
of God.
Up until I was about 34 years old there was no doubt in
my mind that Brother Branham’s complete ministry was ordained by God. I
believed that he truly was a Prophet of God and had the gift of divine healing.
All of this was my belief because of all that I heard about which took place in
his meetings. Even more than what I heard about him, I knew him personally and
members of my family were actively involved in his evangelist crusades and I
had a personal insight into everything that was taking place in his ministry.
We all considered our relationship with Brother Branham as though he was part
of our family. Had it not been for my discovery in 1969, shortly after his
death, because of my intense bible study, I became aware that a problem with
his bible teaching existed and that was the reason I began to take a closer
look at his complete ministry. If it was not that his teaching was in conflict
with bible scripture I would never have doubted anything about his complete
ministry having been ordained of God. So following is some of what I
discovered.
We are all interested in the truth of this matter because
God has the right for us to know the truth of His Word. So following are the
facts that I have gleaned from the transcript of Brother Branham’s preaching.
This
is all about the Angel according to what Brother Branham said.
“I raised up. I laid down on the bed, and there It was,
above the bed, milling around, like a whole lot of colors in a rainbow, milling
around”
“And then when I opened my eyes, there He was, just above
the bed whirling around and around.”
( Brother Branham speaking to his son) “Now, you remember
that night in Vandalia, Illinois, when you were laying, sleeping on the bed,
and the Angel of the Lord was standing over me there?”
“And I wasn't but eighteen months old when the vision
came. And the very time when I was born, that Angel that you see on the picture
here was hanging over the little crib bed, where I was born in.”
“that Angel stood right over the bed where I was born in
a little cabin down in the mountains of Kentucky. And now that same Angel is
not five feet from where I'm standing right now”
“And--and that Angel of God, at five o'clock in the
morning, April 6, 1909, at five o'clock in the morning, come right in and stood
over that little bed where I was laying.”
“I told her that the Lord was going to heal her. And I...
Brother George and I got down to pray, and when I started to pray, well, that
Angel that I see, that--that you see in the picture, I seen it hanging over the
bed.”
(Note) Here was some very strange occurrences.
An Angel of God that made a habit of flying around over the bed that Brother
Branham was sleeping on. This was similar to Brother Branham testifying that
during some of his meetings the angel would be flying around over the
congregation, hanging over someone he was to call upon.
Brother Branham spoke about waiting for the
Angel to arrive before he could start a meeting because the discernment
wouldn’t work unless the Angel was present.
‘Say, "You're stalling for something, Brother
Branham." That's exactly right. Sure, I'm waiting on Him, and if He
doesn't come, I can't minister. I can do nothing, not a thing.
But when He's here He can do all things, and He can do it through me if
I can submit myself enough to Him. in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I take
every person, every spirit under my control for His glory.”
( Note) Isn’t that something, that Brother
Branham had to wait for the Angel to arrive? The Angel must have been busy
doing something else.
“I want this audience in one control. I want to take
these spirits under my control”
“Don't move now; set still. See, each one of you are
spirits, and every one of those spirits is right in my control. See?”
Do you see what Brother Branham said about him
not being able to do anything in a meeting until the Angel arrived and when the
Angel arrived he spoke through Brother Branham that he was taking everyone
under his control? It becomes obvious that he didn’t depend upon the anointing
of the Holy Spirit to help him in the meetings. He depended upon the Angel to
help him and the Angel to operate the gifts, because Brother Branham didn’t
possess the gifts that the Angel said would be given to him.
Brother Branham said that when the discernment
was in operation, it wasn’t him doing the talking, it was the Angel just using
his voice and talking through him. The only way Brother Branham would know what
the Angel spoke through him was to listen to the tapes after the service was
over. See just a few examples below.
“Now, I do not know what I said to the woman; that wasn't
me talking; that was that Angel you see on that picture”
“Tomorrow you know the only way I will know what I said
to you? When them recorders right there, see them going, see here? When them
recorders they play it back to me, and I see what I said. See?”
“That was Him just using my voice. "What is
it?" you say. It's the way I have just submitted myself to the Spirit. And
He does the talking”
The
following are comments by the Author
Over and over Brother Branham stated that the Angel would
talk through him, using Brother Branham’s voice, but it was the Angel’s words.
For this to work for the operation of the gifts is one thing, but I have a
concern that the Angel might have been responsible for some of the teaching
that did not conform to Bible scripture. Did the Angel just use Brother
Branham’s voice, speaking through him and doing some of the teaching?
One of the most egregious things that I realized occurred
when Brother Branham’s angel first visited him on May 7, 1946. The angel told
him that he was being given two signs that could be used to help convince the
people that God had given him a gift of divine healing and nothing could stand
before his prayer. The angel said that he was being given two signs just like
God gave Moses two signs to prove to the people that God had sent him. The
problem with this is that the angel made a mistake quoting scripture. Moses was
given three signs and not two.
So the angel was wrong about everything. Brother Branham
wasn’t given a gift of healing. Instead he could only pray for sick people and
if they really believed that he had this gift from God, then God would heal
them. Brother Branham also wasn’t given even two signs because it was the angel
that operated the gift of discernment, not Brother Branham as has been stated
before in Brother Branham’s own words.
Brother Branham received a calling from God to be an
Evangelist preaching the gospel of Christ and praying for sick people and was
very successful in this ministry. When the Angel came along, which I am certain
was not an Angel of God, Brother Branham’s ministry changed for the worse.
Because of the operation of these supernatural signs performed by this Angel,
Brother Branham began to think of himself as more than just an Evangelist. He
was convinced that he was a Prophet of God, but there is evidence that his
prophecies did not come to pass as the prophecies of a God called Prophet did.
He thought that his ministry reflected the return of Christ and his preaching
convinced the people that he actually was the return of Christ. When he began
to teach scripture and saw that the supernatural signs continued to work, he
was convinced that God had revealed his interpretation of scripture to be true,
but it wasn’t according to the God inspired Holy scriptures.
One of the most dangerous doctrines that he taught because
of the influence of that angel was the gospel he preached which was a different
gospel that the bible presents and it is of utmost importance to believe the
true gospel of Christ according to the bible in order to be saved and inherit
eternal life.
Monday, July 28, 2014
My Search for the Truth
I find myself in a straight between what I should believe and
what I shouldn’t believe concerning the ministry of Brother William Branham. My
quest is to be certain that my faith is on solid ground and not on the sinking
sands that might cause me to lose the chance of obtaining the salvation of
eternal life with God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Why do
I find myself in this position concerning my belief? The reason is very clear
to me insomuch that I recognize the fact that some of the things that Brother
Branham taught from the pulpit differed from what I read in the bible
scriptures. This is my quest, to determine where the truth lies and accept it
as the complete truth concerning the bible and the Word of God.
Just
for a little background I will recall my experiences with Brother Branham and
the association of my family with him and his ministry. My earliest
recollection is that my grandparents, who for the most part raised me, attend
church at the Branham Tabernacle and became close friends with Brother Branham
and his family. My grandfather was a deacon and a member of the church board of
the Tabernacle. At some point my grandparents began to serve as the
Secretary/Treasurer for Brother Branham’s Evangelistic crusades and worked very
closely with Brother Branham to insure that his wishes were carried out
concerning the responses to those who would write in to him from around the
World.
It was
in my early teenage years that I became more knowledgeable about Brother
Branham and recognized that he was truly a man that devoted his life to serving
God and God’s people. It was also at this time when I began to be friends with
Brother Branham’s son, Billy Paul and we began to be buddies. I saw a lot of
Brother Branham at that time as he frequently visited my grandparents home for
reasons concerning his ministry.
Over
the many years after those days I followed Brother Branham’s ministry and
accepted his teaching of the bible as the true Word of God. I took such an
interest in his teaching that I also began an in-depth study of the bible from
Genesis to Revelations and recorded on paper everything that I was learning, to
be maintained for future reference. I was so involved in bible study including
the history of those things written about, that I would use every spare moment
including vacation times following up on the study of the events told about in
the bible confirming the details with secular historical writings.
Yes, I
truly was a “message believer”, one who had accepted Brother Branham’s teaching
a long time before I was converted to Christianity by accepting the Lord Jesus
and submitted to water baptism by Brother Branham’s own brother, Doc Branham,
at the Branham Tabernacle when at the time I was in my thirties, married and
with children.
For
years I felt the leading of the Lord in my life and on one particular day God
spoke to my heart and informed me that a door would be opened for me to begin a
ministry of my own. It was during this preparation for my ministry that I
realized my inability to defend my teaching of the bible, using the bible only
and not attempting to defend my position with Brother Branham’s teaching which
had been my absolute up to that time. This
awakening began a quest for me to enter into a search for the absolute truth
which has continued until this day.
I
recall when John the Baptist told the people that there was somebody coming
that would baptize them with the Holy
Spirit and with fire. It was about this time that I experienced this
same phenomenon when a fire developed inside of me that drove me to a search
for the truth of God’s Word and continues to fiercely burn inside of my heart
unto this day. A flaming fire that can only be satisfied with the knowledge of
all that God has me to know and understand the complete truth of His Word.
After
completing an extensive word study of the bible from Genesis to Revelations, I
then felt a need to search out and examine the ministry of Brother Branham by
an intensive study of all of his meetings and messages. So I contacted Eagle
Computing in Elizabethton Tennessee and ordered a CD with all of the sermons of
Brother Branham on it. The person in charge of Eagle Computing, Neil Halava,
said something very strange to me, he asked me to not use anything on the CD
against Brother Branham. Obviously he knew something I didn’t know,
but it was only my intention to understand his ministry in greater detail and
not looking to find something to use against our Brother. Once again, it was my
motive to completely understand why Brother Branham teaching on certain bible
subjects was different than what the scriptures were saying to me.
Here
was a man that I completely admired, a man of God that I respected and had such
a tremendous ministry for God that I truly wanted to believe our differences in
doctrine was because of my misunderstanding of what the bible was saying.
Before
I get into what I have learned from Brother Branham’s preaching of his
messages, I felt there were a few things that I needed to consider and keep in
mind in order to assist me in my search for the truth of God’s Word.
Jesus
spoke of being sure you know the capabilities of your adversary before engaging
him. Of course our adversary is the devil and it behooves us to understand what
he is capable of in order to avoid being overtaken by him.
My
bible tells me that the devil was known as a high being in Heaven and at one
time was esteemed by God and promoted into a high position to serve God before
iniquity was found in him and caused his fall. Being in such a high position
with God tells us that he was created with powers above other heavenly beings,
but still inferior to the abilities of God. So with this knowledge, The bible
also tells me that the devil has the ability to perform signs and wonders and
can even cause fire to come down out of Heaven in the sight of men. So with
this knowledge, I must be cautious that what I see and understand could be the
results of the devil’s doings as well as the probability of God being behind
whatever happens, it all depends whether it is for good or evil purposes in the
long run.
One of
the important thing that I must keep in mind is the intention of the devil to
deceive man in order to cause him to disbelieve God’s Word. The perfect example
was with his encounter with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So the devil
has demonstrated that he is a deceiver and a liar with the purpose of
distorting God’s Word for his own gain.
If I
understand it correctly, Brother Branham taught that the true meaning of
scripture could only be determined by a revelation from God and not by just
reading and studying the bible. So with these things in mind, my search for the
truth was to determine if what Brother Branham taught was the true
interpretation of God’s Word which he taught because of the revelation of God’s
Word that he received or not.
Brother
Branham told about a voice that spoke to him all of his life, starting when he
was just a young lad and was told by the voice that he had a work to do for him
when he got older. At that young age, Brother Branham didn’t know whose voice
it was and being so young and frightened by it, he didn’t ask who it was
speaking to him.
The
next time Brother Branham heard the voice speaking to him was while he was
baptizing new converts after conducting a tent meeting in Jeffersonville
Indiana. During the baptismal service a bright light that he described as a
ball of fire came down above him and he said that he heard that voice again say
to him that his message would forerun the second coming of Christ. So I ask,
what was the message that he had that would forerun Christ’s return. Was this
the voice of God that spoke to him or even an angel that came down from the
presence of God to deliver that message to him?
Brother
Branham testified that his original calling was to do the work of an
Evangelist. So what does an Evangelist do? An Evangelist preaches the Gospel of
salvation to make new converts to Christianity. That’s just what Brother
Branham was doing in that tent meeting, preaching a Gospel message of
salvation. Could the voice from above have been referring to that same exact
message of salvation or was it more far-reaching than that?
Then
there was the day when he was out hunting for squirrels and hadn’t seen any
when that voice spoke to him again and told him to say what he wanted and it
would come to pass. So he asked for squirrels to appear in certain places and
they did. Now would God really be that interested in producing some squirrels
for Brother Branham to kill just to make his day? Can I really be certain that
it was the voice of God or an angel of God?
One of
the first and very important things that I read his testimony about was the
time when he was visited by what he believed was an angel that came to give him
a commission from God. It went like this.
In May
of 1946 he was visited by a man that said he came from the presence of God and
Brother Branham stated that the voice of this person was the same voice that he
had heard all his life. This man that appeared to him didn’t introduce himself
as an angel, Brother Branham just assumed that he was. There were times in the
bible when an angel messenger would introduce himself by his name to the person
who he was delivering a message to, but he didn’t introduce himself by name to
Brother Branham and Brother Branham didn’t ask him who he was.
At this
point I question the authenticity of this man or this angel who visited Brother
Branham for the following reason. This person misquoted the scriptures by
saying that Brother Branham was being given two signs to help him in his
ministry just as Moses was given two signs. Well that was in error
because Moses was given three signs not two as this visitor stated. Don’t you
think that if this person actually came from the presence of God, he would have
known scripture better than that? As I read the scripture in Exodus 4:1 thru 9,
it describes three signs that God gave to Moses to convince the people of
Israel that God has sent him to deliver them out of Egypt.
Without
giving any consideration to the remainder of the conversation between Brother
Branham and this messenger, this one error of the two or three signs became
a stumbling block for me. How could a messenger that claimed to come from
the presence of God make this kind of mistake in quoting scripture?
Brother
Branham made the statement that the voice of this messenger was the same voice
that had spoken to him when he was a young boy and had continued to speak to
him all of his life. Now I just wondered if after this messenger made such a
mistake in quoting scripture about Moses’ signs, what other things did he tell
Brother Branham that were not true? The only conclusion that I could come to
was that I don’t believe that this messenger actually came from the presence of
God and would not believe anything that this messenger would ever say.
Then I
wondered if this was the same angel and voice that Brother Branham said that he
heard speaking to him at the River baptismal scene and the other times when he
heard the voice speaking to him about the squirrels in the woods, the part
about Jesus in the New Testament being Jehovah in the Old Testament and many
other things?
I read
Brother Branham’s statements that his gifts would not work in the meetings
unless this “angel” was present with him because he depended upon his presence
for him to receive what he called an anointing for the success of the meetings
even after being told that he was being given two signs to use in the meetings.
Now I read that these signs won’t work unless this “angel” was present with
him.
I can’t
argue with the success of the healings that was reported having taken place in
his meetings because I believe that God would honor the faith of any believer
and heal their bodies with or without the operation of certain signs. After
all, the signs and wonders and healings were intended for one reason and that
was to draw the people to believe the Gospel of Christ. Without drawing the
people in to hear and believe the Word of God, these signs and wonders are of
no permanent value.
Now I began
to look at another subject concerning the belief that Brother Branham was the
fulfillment of the prophecy of the return of Elijah to restore all things.
People
today are looking for Elijah the Prophet to return to turn the hearts of the
children back to the Fathers, but the understanding and the teaching of this is
not according to what is written in the scriptures.
When
the Prophet Malachi wrote about this, it was directed to the people of Israel
and not to the Gentile Nations. Look at what it says in the first chapter and
the first verse of the Book of Malachi. It says: “The burden of the Word of the
Lord to Israel”. Yes it was
spoken to the people of Israel, not to the people of the World.
When
John the Baptist came to fulfill the first part of this prophecy, he came to the
people of Israel. When the second part of this prophecy is fulfilled,
whoever that person will be, he will go to the people of Israel for the
purpose of “turning the hearts of the children of Israel back to their
Fathers”. This has nothing to do with the Gentile Nations. Anyone who is
looking for Elijah to return to preach to the Gentiles is looking for him in
vain because that is not scriptural. The scriptures tell us that when Elijah
does return, it will be in Jerusalem for him to preach to the Israelites and
Moses will be with him. Why Moses and Elijah? First of all neither one of them
saw death because they were raptured and secondly the two of them appeared on
the Mount with Jesus. If you continue to look for Elijah when we are supposed
to look for the return of Jesus, you might just miss the one who has purchased
your salvation. You can call anybody you want to and say they are Elijah or a
prophet, but that doesn’t make it true.
Now
speaking of Brother Branham being a Prophet, I can only turn to what Brother
Branham himself said about this.
Brother Branham said: “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?
“Now, as I have done the work of an evangelist (And here's my
plea.), if that is pleasing to God, and I've done the work all right, trusting
that I've pleased Him, asking forgiveness for all my mistakes, then He may be
calling me from the field of evangelism to be His prophet. Then if it is, I'll
leave evangelism. But if He calls me to be a prophet, I cannot be an
evangelist. If I'm to be evangelist, I cannot be a prophet. I'm mixing the two
offices; that's where I've always fussed about.” “A prophet stays back here
till he stomps right into the hospital, or wherever he's going, with THUS SAITH
THE LORD and say it and stomp back out again. He's no evangelist at all. He
don't hold meetings and discuss things, he's got the Word of the Lord for
whoever he's sent to. If he's sent to the White House, he stomps right up in
front of the White House and it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. If it's to the Governor
of the state, whoever it is, it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. He don't fool around
with a group of churches, trying to get them to come in and take the Word, and
preach these things like evangelists, he's not an evangelist. So you see,
brethren, that's the reason I don't call
myself a prophet. I'm not even in
the office of one. See? Now, you understand what I mean? “
Now I
can do nothing else but believe what Brother Branham said about this subject. I
certainly am not going to say that he was wrong and didn’t know what he was
talking about because what he said was based upon bible scripture.
Now
there is a picture of Brother Branham that was developed showing a light above
his head, which was taken in a Houston Texas meeting in 1950. I’m certain that
we all have a copy of it and have been made to believe that it is evidence of a
supernatural heavenly being. This might very well be true because God does have
the ability to cause something like this to happen. One thing is certain in
that is has provided many people with the evidence they needed which validates
to them that God has vindicated Brother Branham’s ministry.
The
fear that I have about this picture is that it could be serving as an
idolatrous symbol which could cause a person to maintain an excessive
admiration or devotion towards Brother Branham when our thoughts and devotion
should be on the one who provided the way of salvation for us.
Yes as
I said before, it could very well be of God, but it does has the possibility of
being an anomaly or unusual occurrence produced by natural means of which I
have no way of verifying myself. In any case, I would take caution about basing
my belief on a picture instead of the Word of God which is the link to our
eternal salvation.
In my
search for the truth, there still exists differences between the doctrinal
beliefs of mine and verses that Brother Branham taught on certain subjects. My
fear is that the visitor that he received in 1946 and misquoted scripture may
very well have been responsible for some of our brother’s teaching that does
not completely conform to what is clearly written in the bible. I suppose that
all of this will be made clear when the day comes that Christ opens the book
and explains everything to us. I look forward to the privilege of standing side
by side with my brother and learning the truth with him as we stand together
listening to the true story that only Christ can tell.
The conclusion of my search for the truth.
A search for the truth must begin with the Holy Bible because
only the bible scriptures will point us towards God who inspired its writing.
We have to believe that the bible contains God’s Word to us and the study of
what is written in it is the only means available to mankind to learn about why
we are here and what God has in store for us when this short life is over. If
we depend on anything else except the bible for the knowledge we obtain and it
doesn’t agree with bible scripture, it probably is not true.
He
stated that the angel told him that he came from the presence of God, but the
things that he told him were flawed. First this angel said that William Branham
was being given two signs just like Moses was given. Two signs to help
convince the people that God sent him with a gift of Divine Healing. It turns
out that what this angel said was an untrue statement and did not agree with
bible scripture, The scripture states that Moses was given three signs
to use to prove to his people that he was sent to deliver the people out
of Egypt and not just two.
Then
this angel concluded his message to William Branham by telling him that he (the
angel) would be with him to help him in his ministry. This certainly was proven
to be a fact and necessary because William Branham by his own words would stall during the start of a service
just to wait until he knew this angel was present. Then when his angel’s
presence was realized and he felt what he called an anointing come on him, he
would proceed with the service. What I would question was this an anointing of
God or was he being possessed by some other kind of spirit. The reason I say
this is because the first words that would come out of his mouth was that he
was taking control of everyone’s spirit in the audience. Looking at this
testimony of William Branham, along with him telling about this light that flew
around the meeting and hanging over certain people caused concern as to what
kind of spirit was operating during these meetings.
I
believe this was the case because of what happened after he concluded the message
he preached on the opening of the seventh seal. After that service was over he
found something on the tape that he didn’t want to get out and made plans to
rectify it. Could it have been that this angel spoke something through him
during this service that disturbed him? The morning after preaching on the
seventh seal, he met with his tape boys in a motel room and had a portion of
what he said during the service removed from the tape that was going to be
distributed. It wasn’t until after William Branham’s funeral in 1966 that the
powers that be of the Branham Tabernacle decided to release that portion of his
message to the public.
How
could all of this have happened? When this angel first appeared to him, he was
convinced that this was an angel of God that had been speaking to him for
years. Because of this conviction he submitted himself under the control of
this angel which he believed was the anointing that he felt so often and he
probably believed it was the Holy Spirit.
I
believe that it was this angel or whoever sent him to William Branham, that
orchestrated everything that occurred during the many years of his ministry for
the purpose of achieving the end result of what we see now. That result was the acceptance of his
bible interpretation, his revealed word of the hour that went against the true
Word of God in the scriptures. Satan began distorting God’s Word in the
beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden and is still doing it today with the
distribution of his taped messages and through the ministries of the “message”
preachers.
Now on
a personal note I just want to just say this. For many years I accepted
everything that William Branham said to be the truth of God’s Word because of
the marvelous things that were told about what took place in his meetings. Then
came a day when without any prompting from anyone, no other person and no other
preacher, that I realized that what this Brother was preaching was in error
according to the Holy scriptures. This was some 22 years ago when it was revealed
to me that the things I had learned were not according to God’s Word and I had
to do something about it. So I began my own study of the scriptures depending
only on the leading of the Holy Spirit that was accepted by me to be my
teacher.
But
even after I started to reject his bible teaching, I still considered him to
possibly be a Prophet of God with God given supernatural gifts. It was only
after carefully examining what he said during his services did I realize
that something more was wrong. What I discovered was that a lying angel who
misquoted the scriptures had deceived him with little effort and took control
of the ministry with William Branham’s cooperation and submission to its will,
because he believed that God was in it.
Just
thinking about it, there was no way that God would send His Word into all the
World by way of the inspired bible scriptures and after that to send one man
to explain to His people what the scriptures really meant. Was God unjust to
have done this? The answer is absolutely not! So it was obvious that it was not
God who orchestrated this, it was His adversary the devil.
No
person on this Earth can help them to see the truth. God knows that I have put
many people at odds with me including some in my family for attempting to
present them with the facts that are so obvious. Only God can help them. If
false signs and wonders have caused them to go the way they have gone, it might
be that only God can intervene with a sign that can be undeniably from Him.
Well it
appears that my search for the truth has concluded. Being a person, just like
any of you, I choose to believe what the bible says and believe in the
Gospel of Christ and not all the interpretations of man. The wise Paul the
Apostle said that if any person or even an angel from Heaven preach any other
gospel than what he has preached, let them be accursed. That sounds like good
advice to me so I’ll stay with the gospel that he preached and the scriptures
that he drew from.
People
from around the World read my writings every day. Many of them tell me that
they have too much invested in their present beliefs and they are comfortable
with what they have come to believe and accept.
As for
me, I too am comfortable in my belief because I know it is based upon the Word
of God and not some man’s word. If you choose to ignore the facts that have
been presented to you, it’s your God given choice.
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It has
become accepted in life that spiritualism exists and is real. There are both
good and bad spirits that exist in the World. The good Spirits that exist are
those of God and the bad or evil spirits that exist are of the devil. The bible
demonstrates that to us and must be the only source of knowledge we can depend
upon.
There
are many examples in the bible where it describes the evil spirit of the devil
in operation. There in the Garden of Eden when the spirit of the devil spoke
through the beast in order to tempt the first woman Eve. It spoke through a
beast in the Garden who probably could not normally speak because he was a
beast like the other animals in the Garden, but the devil was able to speak
through him. Then there was the example of a possessed man in the land of the
Gergesenes who the devil spoke through to Jesus when he encountered Him.
Now we
see that the bible tells us that the Spirit of God also spoke through a dumb
beast to the prophet Balaam after Balaam whipped him because he wouldn’t move.
Then again on the day of Pentecost when the disciples spoke with other tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Spirit of God spoke through them in
languages they did not know. Another example is In the Book of Acts where the
Holy Spirit gave instructions to certain ones present by speaking to them
through the mouth of one of them present. So we have these biblical examples
where it is possible for both the devil and God can use any vessel that is
needed to speak through to the people.
I have
myself actually witnesses this to occur in my life on one occasion when God
spoke through the lips of someone in my presence and said words that the person
denied ever saying. In other words, they were not aware that certain words came
out of their mouth, but I was a witness that it did happen and can testify that
it was from God because of what came out of this person’s mouth.
Now I
want to present to you some examples of this that occurred during the ministry
of William Branham starting with the visit of an angel that he testified to
have encountered in the year of 1946.
The
scripture in Exodus 4:1 through 4:9 tells about these three signs that God gave
unto Moses. After this the scripture of Exodus 4:29 through 4:31 tells us that these
signs were demonstrated in the presence of the people of Israel and the
people believed all that Moses told them.
Later
on, we were told by William Branham, in his own words that these signs would
only work when this angel was present with him during his ministry services.
This
angel also told him that he was being given a gift of divine healing, but this
gift of healing wouldn’t work unless he could get the people to believe him.
The people would have to believe that he had this God given gift of healing. It
was based upon them believing his testimony by their faith in his testimony or
they wouldn’t receive their healing. That doesn’t sound like a gift that could
do anything without having a condition associated with it.
The
most disturbing thing that William Branham admitted to by his own words, was
that he didn’t know what he was saying to the people because it wasn’t him
speaking, it was this angel speaking through him calling out personal
information about the people. What was very obvious about this was that
according to his own words he would have to listen to the tapes after
the services in order to find out what he said. If this is what took place
during the discernment part of the service, could it have also happened during
the preaching part? Also could it be that the teaching was not him speaking,
but this angel speaking through him? If so, shouldn’t we question if what this
angel said through him agreed with bible scripture?
Now
there are probably millions of believers around the World who have been misled
by false teaching of the Bible and is being continued by this “Voice of
God” Recordings and those ‘Message preachers” who know nothing else but to
continue their prophet’s work, acting like drones who have no mind of their own
of which I have such empathy for because they have been taken in by the prince
of this World.
Can
they be helped? I doubt it because they are where they are because of the signs
and wonders they have been told about. Signs and wonders which can be performed
by the devil as well as God. The only way that you can tell who is behind these
signs and wonders is by confirming them with the Word of God by using bible
scripture and calling on the Holy Spirit to help them.
Here we
have a group of people who can’t agree with each other on things concerning sound
doctrine and will not bring themselves to look at real evidence when presented
to them. They consider themselves to be bible believing Christians and accuse
those who don’t believe what they do to be devils and many other descriptive
things. I have in my own family those who have called me a devil possessed
person and the antichrist because I don’t conform to their belief in the
“Message of the Hour”.
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 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.
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William
Branham prophesied that God told him that his son Joseph was a Prophet. His son
Joseph is now 59 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.
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 to receive 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?
Repent
and believe what the Bible says and NOT the “Message of the Hour” or “The Revealed word for the day”
Sunday, July 27, 2014
I am not a prophet
According
to William Marrion Branham
When
William Branham started his ministry after the visitation of who he said was an
Angel of God who told him: “If you can get the people to believe you, nothing
can stand against your prayers, not even cancer.” It was not enough for the
supernatural signs to be in operation during his ministry to convince the
people to believe him, they needed to believe that he was a prophet of God, so
he allowed them to believe just that in order to strengthen their faith.
He
first began to address himself as God’s servant only, then proceeded to let the
people believe that he was a prophet to insure the belief of the people for
their healing. Some of what he said is as follows:
Quoting William Branham
“Sir, you standing there. You believe with all your heart now.
Do you believe me? Do you accept me as God's servant? Do you believe I'm His prophet that was sent here for your purpose,
that you might be healed? Then will you obey what I tell you to do?”
“Now, look this way, sister. Will you obey me as God's prophet”
“Do you believe me? Will
you obey me as God's prophet and servant, and believe that God sent me here
for your healing?”
“Have you believed me, sir? Do you believe that I am God's
servant, that I am His prophet, that
He sent me here for you?”
So for
years he allowed the people to believe him to be a prophet and that belief
contributed to the success of his healing ministry.
Then
nearing the end of his ministry as he observed the people elevating him above
what God wanted to occur in his ministry, He attempted to make it clear that he
was sent to be an Evangelist and not a prophet. During one of his services in
Jeffersonville Indiana on June 1, 1962, he made the following statements.
Quoting William Branham
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? I don't know what to do. I've done reverently when He told me first,
about me holding the people's hand and praying for them, and then know the
secret of their heart, and all these different things. And brethren, that's
infallible. You know that's to be the truth. Every one of you knows that. See?
And how He told me it would blast across the world. And it's done it, just
exactly. Every nation under the heavens has heard it. Everywhere, newspapers,
tape recordings, everywhere. I don't know how it's ever done it, but throughout
all the world letters coming in and people from way down in Thailand and the
Hottentots back in there, how those missionaries has crowded back in there with
those tapes and given that interpretation of the Word. And now, we hear from
all over the world (See?), around the world”
“Now, as I
have done the work of an evangelist (And here's my plea.), if that is pleasing
to God, and I've done the work all right, trusting that I've pleased Him,
asking forgiveness for all my mistakes, then He may be calling me from the
field of evangelism to be His prophet. Then if it is, I'll leave evangelism.
But if He calls me to be a prophet, I cannot be an evangelist. If I'm to be
evangelist, I cannot be a prophet. I'm mixing the two offices; that's where
I've always fussed about. Standing on the platform... It's never been good,
successful. God has used it, but
I've never thought it was His direct will; it's
been His permissive will. Stand on the platform, a vision or two will knock
you out almost. See? And then if you tell this person how to straighten hisself
up and what to do, and then the next person stands there, he's expecting the
same thing, and you can't tell him 'less Something tells you to tell him. And
then the other people feel like you're a traitor or a backslider or--or a--a
demon or something because you don't tell them what they want to know. See, that's not the office, the way a
prophet operates.”
“A prophet
stays back here till he stomps right into the hospital, or wherever he's going,
with THUS SAITH THE LORD and say it and stomp back out again. He's no
evangelist at all. He don't hold meetings and discuss things, he's got the Word
of the Lord for whoever he's sent to.
If he's
sent to the White House, he stomps right up in front of the White House and
it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. If it's to the Governor of the state, whoever it is,
it's THUS SAITH THE LORD. He don't fool around with a group of churches, trying
to get them to come in and take the Word, and preach these things like
evangelists, he's not an evangelist.
So you
see, brethren, that's the reason I don't
call myself a prophet. I'm not even
in the office of one. See? Now, you understand what I mean? “
So, can
you see and understand what William Branham said. He was not a prophet, God didn’t send him to be a prophet and he didn’t
minister as a prophet. God, through His permissive will, allowed the people
to believe that he was a prophet to be successful in his ministry.
Then
because his followers believed him to be a prophet and when he began to teach, everything
he taught was accepted as the correct interpretation of scripture. Not only
was William Branham not sent as a prophet, he was not sent to be a teacher of
scripture and consequently entered into error in his teaching. But his
followers accepted everything he said and made a little god out of him. That’s
just the reason that God removed him off the scene at such an early age.
A prophet of God
would never contradict the written word of God which our Bible contains. No
prophet of God, who serves as the mouthpiece of God would ever give his own
interpretation of the written word of God, he would just state it the way it is
written.. No prophet of God would ever state that you cannot accept just what
is written in scripture, instead you have to read between the lines of
scripture in order to get the true meaning, but William Branham did just that.
See the following quotes from his sermons.
Quoting William Branham:
At first he taught the following:
“So anything, any teacher, any
Bible expositor, anything else would teach you or try to get you to believe
anything one little iota different from what this Bible says it, it's
a false teaching. It's Satan again just exactly like it was to Eve. God
goes right on, no matter what he does, what Satan does, God goes right on
proving it to be so.”
“Now, I'm going to tell you
what you must not do. Now, you
must not misinterpret the Word. It
means just what it says. It
needs no interpreter. But if you're reading
between the lines and try to make It say something, that in between the lines
says something different than what the lines says, then it's wrong.”
William Branham said: “You say,
"I heard a voice tell me this." If it's contrary to the Word, it
wasn't God's voice. God's voice comes with the Word.”
“If anybody teaches anything
contrary to the Word, I wouldn't believe it”
William Branham throughout his ministry
preached that if you hear a voice, or have a revelation, or read something
between the lines (your own interpretation) and it doesn’t conform to what the
scriptures say, then it’s wrong. Then he turned right around time after
time and did the exact thing that he said you shouldn’t do.
Here is what he taught also and
contradicted himself.
“You know, do you believe the Bible's written so you have to
read between the lines, as I've said? You read between the lines. Not... The
lines is right, but there's a between the line.”
“This Bible is hid from the wise and prudent. I don't care how
great your school is, your seminary, you will never know nothing about God,
until you get in love with God. You have to read between the lines. It's hid.”
“The Bible, you must read between the lines, because God has hid
It from those who just read the word alone. I am quoting Scripture that He has
hid It from the eyes of the wise and prudent, and will reveal It to babes such
as will learn”
“Do you like to read between the lines? Why, the best part of
the Bible is wrote between the lines. Sure it is.”
“Now, you're going to have to read between the lines. Now, you
know, the Bible is written, the message is not altogether right on the letter,
but it's between the lines. Did you know that?”
This
teaching is in error in God’s eyes and must be rejected because
it was not in God’s perfect will for it to take place. The truth of God’s Word
as it is contained in the Bible is clear as it is written and does not
appear between the lines. If you declare that you are reading between the
lines of scripture, you are doing nothing but adding your own interpretation to
it. The Bible says that the scripture is of no private interpretation.
Just as
a footnote:
William
Branham admitted that there was just one thing that had not happened that the
Lord showed him. His interpretation of the tent vision that he received as
being the start of a new ministry for him and declared it as “thus saith the
Lord” never did occur during his life and ministry.
A true
prophet of God is always one hundred percent accurate in all his prophecies or
he is not a true prophet of God.
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