Someone once said that the ‘brain’ is a machine of repetition. When something, whether true or false, is presented to the mind and is repeated over and over again, it will believe it as truth.  Here is one thing Adolf Hitler said which is worth quoting: tell a lie and repeat it over and over again, and people will believe it as truth. This is how today’s people’s social behavior, dressing styles, and general mannerism have been altered through what they continuously see on TV or the Internet. When a wrong thing or idea keeps getting the attention of a mind, it will reach a time when the sense of judgement will get numbed and will begin to tolerate wrong things. In that state of ‘numbness’, the mind is dead – it has become carnal!

When as a believer your mind becomes carnal, you will lose interest in spiritual things; you will lose the “joy of salvation” (Psa. 51:12). When the joy of the Lord vanishes, the strength to overcome sin also diminishes for “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh.8:10).  Some who find themselves in this condition, but with a little ‘hangover’ of spirituality, often  try to engage in the so-called spiritual warfare  of  loud prayers, casting out this and that imaginary demon. There have been many times when someone would come for counselling or write an email saying “Brother, I need God to deliver me from wrong thoughts of lust. I have been praying but the problem seems not to be leaving me”. Well, surely if the problem came by your deliberate will to expose your mind, over a period of time, to wrong influences, then it will have to leave you by your deliberate will to subject your mind, over a period of time (i.e. continuously), to the Word of God. Trying to do all the carnal charismatic ‘acrobatics’ to cast away some ‘wrong thoughts’ will only exhaust your flesh but yield zero results because “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Redeeming the Time

The late beloved brother and apostle of the Lord, John Mark Louse of Uganda, in his sermon during his visit to Zambia, remarked in his sermon that in this world Satan has so much robbed our time through various cares of life that a believer is now required to redeem the time in order to spend it wisely in prayer and fellowship. In speaking about John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” – brother John Mark admonished about the one thing that is often stolen, Time, and the need to redeem it if we are to live fruitful Christian lives.

Surely, time has been stolen through various cares and pleasures of life. With the advent of social media many people can’t discipline themselves even with things like concentration with work at their offices or academic studies; the smart phone has become something that someone wants to touch every now and then at anytime and anywhere. What is not immediately seen is how much productive time is lost through such an addiction. Now, how much loss will it be to lose time both for physical and spiritual matters? If one is not careful, this obsession can eventually be so intense that even before one has their daily spiritual devotion in the morning when they wake up, the first thing they would look at are chat or post updates on Facebook or Twitter . At this point it can be said that a person can no longer exercise self-restraint; he or she has become enslaved to a habit. And, when this happens, one cannot be faithful. Faithfulness has much to do with self-restraint in order to live and abide by what is right, and in this case we are talking about God’s Word.

The faithfulness and devoutness of the early church

The early church, as described in the book of Acts, was full of sincere believers whose earnest desire was for spiritual things, not the cares of this life. In Acts 2:44-47 there are five good things that characterized the early church:

1. They had genuine love and compassion for one another.
2. Theirs was a desire for spiritual things, not the carnal things and riches of this world.
3. They were devout, being in prayer every day.
4. They were united in heart and purpose.
5. The believers had integrity and virtuous lives which put them in favor with people.

It is important to know that the fruitfulness of the early church wasn’t haphazard; it was as a result of the faithfulness of the believers as much as it was a result of God’s grace. As in the words of apostle Paul to Timothy, the Lord will use us according to our faithfulness to him – “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (1 Tim.1:12). May it be our prayer that our fellowships (churches) become virtuous, living faithful to the goal of our faith; “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb.10:23-25). Amen.

In this message we are speaking about happenings in religious circles that we believe have done great damage to the cause of the Gospel, despite the proponents being so sincere of doing God a service. Now, it naturally feels bad to talk against something which many people hold dearly and are convinced of it being the right thing. Standing out of the crowd to point out error even becomes more challenging when people assess Truth on the basis of statistics of how many people support it. But on this I would agree with the person who said that “there are lies, great lies, and statistics.” If history has taught us something, it is the fact that many times right things and the people who do them have always been in a minority. This is so because human beings are not creatures of logic but emotion. Often human beings do what other human beings do without questioning the underlying logic or assumptions.
It is for this reason that we respect bold and sincere men like Martin Luther, the reformer; a man who challenged the medieval traditions and dogma of the Catholic system.  “Here I stand, I can do no other”, declared Luther. Some people discerned boldness and sincerity in his words but others beheld insubordination and arrogance. It is a great error to mistake docility for humility, sincerity for arrogance, and worst of all, compromise for being ‘more open-minded.’

“Here I stand, I can do no other”, declared Luther. Some people discerned boldness and sincerity in his words but others beheld insubordination and arrogance. It is a great error to mistake docility for humility, sincerity for arrogance, and worst of all, compromise for being ‘more open-minded.’

Life in a Prison Cell

Have you ever wondered how it was like for Nelson Mandela, that great freedom fighter of South Africa, to be in prison for twenty seven years? Well, it is interesting to note that we mortals are actually like a person who is born a prisoner in a cell; for years he grows up seeing the world through a tiny window – hearing voices of wailing and celebration, and  sighs of relief,  but yet never grasping what or how the world really is. Through the window of the prison cell he can see windows of other prison cells from where voices of other prisoners are heard. One voice asks: How are you? Another, Does anyone love or care about me? Friends, we are all prisoners bound in prison cells of our mortal bodies. However, somewhere in our hearts is the awareness of the existence of the Great Almighty Spirit who transcends all matter, space and the laws of physics, but alas, we find ourselves trapped in miry clay, seeing the world and trying to interpret it only by what we  dimly suspect through the windows of our sight, taste, feeling, smell, and hearing. We see each other, and relate only by words or gestures which may reveal or conceal our true feelings, but feelings which we many times do not even understand ourselves. In all this, however, is the good news that one can break free from this prison when his or her soul hears the Voice of The Creator. When God breathes His Life upon a person, only then does he or she truly begin to live life with a sense of purpose and hope. Somewhere in his soul is a deep joy of freedom. Until a person experiences this Born Again experience, he or she is vulnerable to stories manufactured by different prisoners of this world, each having their own version of what must be Truth. Other prisoners will put on emotional drama to try to depict what they actually don’t understand. We live in a world of taking advantage of each other’s ignorance, and until one receives the true revelation of God, his life is bound to fall prey to crazy people’s circus in this world.

We live in a world of taking advantage of each other’s ignorance, and until one receives the true revelation of God, his life is bound to fall prey to crazy people’s circus in this world.

The greatest event that can happen in a life of a person is to hear the voice of God in the heart. That expression of God’s voice to our hearts, which reveals His Will, is what we call revelation. The revelation of God opens our hearts to understanding the mystery of His Purpose. It lets a person comprehend what world events are heading up to; it lets a person become aware that there is more to life than eating breakfast, lunch and supper. When the revelation of God comes to a person, his life ceases to be haphazard; it gets filled with purpose.

Discerning Tares from Wheat

The realization of God’s will or purpose is what enables you and I to discern truth from falsehood. The desire of true children of God when they gather for worship is not to hear a preaching about how they should be able to buy the latest model of a car or how to make money in order to own an extravagant mansion “for our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil. 3:19-20). Now, this is not to say that a believer cannot be rich. A believer can be rich but his mind is not set on the riches; the riches will one day fade and be no more, and so his faith and preoccupation is about the will of God. That is the kind of life you read the apostles had. It was a life of waiting upon the Lord and His kingdom. It takes a true revelation of the Word to give a believer such a hope and arouse in him such expectation. However, this is not what we see today. There is a strange gospel going around the world – Dollar-Gospel. One doesn’t need a calling to preach it; he or she only needs to know something about motivational talk. Instead of lifting people out of their prison conditions of the flesh, this gospel has imprisoned people into carnality. And talk of carnality, among Christians today! You can no longer recognize Gospel music; it’s everything about rock-n-roll and hip-hop with some words ‘hallelujah’ and ‘Jesus’ in it. You can no longer recognise modest dressing! You can no longer see humility in the ministers! Churches have become “habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev.18:2). Pentecostals are the worst in all this as they have fallen prey to false manifestations of tongues, prophecy, healings and miracles. Their appetite for signs and wonders has led them to manufacture manifestations of the Spirit.  But is this a haphazard occurrence? Should we be surprised by it? If  you have followed William Branham’s ministry, the answer is a big NO to these questions.

Endtime Message Believers beware of Charismaticism!

In 1962, Brother Branham  organised a meeting at which he wanted to address Christians on an important thing about why he stood for what he did, and secondly to explain why the once great spirit of revival in the three main popular ministries – of Billy Graham, Oral Roberts and his – was no longer as active. His sermon was titled The Spoken Word is the Original Seed, and was addressed to all who followed him as well as Pentecostals who had only liked his ministry of divine healing and miracles but disagreed with his Message.  This wasn’t an ordinary sermon as it contained a message that the Lord had spoken to him to deliver. It had THUS SAITH THE LORD. The message is especially important to Endtime Message Believers at this present time when many of them are beginning to entertain charismatic behavior in their assemblies. There are some churches which are beginning to psychologically influence people to  scream and shout amens during a preaching, or to run around, or behave in a way that would depict the presence of God in their midst. Dear friends, yes, God’s power is able to come upon a people and touch them in a way that can cause them to stagger around as it was in the book of Acts, but the moment you see people getting tamed to behave in a certain religious way – whether to be religiously quiet as is the case in traditional churches or to be religiously noisy as is the case among Pentecostals – just know that sincerity is at stake and someone is schooling people into hypocrisy and nonsense.

the moment you see people getting tamed to behave in a certain religious way – whether to be religiously quiet as is the case in traditional churches or to be religiously noisy as is the case among pentecostals – just know that sincerity is at stake and someone is schooling people into hypocrisy and nonsense

Here is Brother Branham Branham’s admonition on the matter of false charismaticism:

That’s what’s the matter with the people today. They can’t wait for the real Holy Spirit to take the Church in position. They’ve got to manufacture something, work up something… all these kind of tommyrot, instead of waiting upon the Lord for the real manifestation…That’s what’s the matter today. You want some kind of phoney make-up, with screaming, jumping, speaking in tongues, or something, instead of waiting for the real Word of God to be made manifest… (p.67, 69).

The question is, Why do people (including some Endtime Message believers) resort to false, manufactured, manifestations? Frist, because of the lack of sincerity, and second, because of the lack of understanding of the time and season we are living in. Such deceived people are like a person who is so enthused at a green grain field that when the time it dries up, he feels depressed and resorts to go and buy artificial green plastic plants to fill up a field. Quite an extreme example but one which illustrates the point that there is a time to everything: a time of planting and a time of growth and a time when the grain has to dry up for the final harvest. This is exactly what the Holy Spirit had revealed to Brother Branham concerning why the exciting revival fires which were so boisterous and sweeping over the land of America in the 1950s were now cooling off. Listen to these important words:

Why then has the revival fires let up? Don’t hear very much more of Billy Graham…Oral Roberts, not burning the country like he used to. My meetings is not even heard of…What’s the matter?…The seeds has been planted. Remember, there is a planting time, then a harvest time. Now, there has been three different kinds of seeds planted. A denominational, Billy Graham, he was the head planter. Oral Roberts, for the Pentecostals; Pentecostal seed has been planted…And then the Word has been planted. Now you’ll have to understand, folks, I ain’t  saying this no more unless God tells me…Three seeds has been planted…Then the kind of seed you have planted in your field will be the kind of crop you will reap. If the denominations wants  more members, that’s what they’re going to get…the Pentecostals want more Pentecostals; that’s what they’re going to get…But the Word is going to produce sons and daughters of God…(P.39 – 40).

Amen. In the light of these prophetic words, is it any difficult to understand why we now have Pentecostal mega churches with pastors who own private jets and motivate their flock into prosperity? You only need a little acquaintance with the ministries of Tommy Osborne, Oral Roberts, and Kenneth Hagin to see what was their underlying motivation for ministry, and what they were sowing in the hearts of their followers. Today the fruit of their ministries tells a lot.

Whom should I believe?

Kenneth Hagin is a renowned Pentecostal preacher who was a contemporary of William Branham. He is a respected figure among Pentecostals. This is one man, along Gordon Lindsay and other such early ministers, who has influenced many Pentecostals to disregard Brother Branham’s ministry. This is especially so, among modern Pentecostals who have no first-hand knowledge of events that transpired in the revival movement in USA. The only knowledge modern preachers have about William Branham is what they are taught in Bible Colleges. In most (if not all) Bible Colleges there is a subject which deals with how to recognize and refute cults. William Branham is often listed as a man who started well and was alright in his ministry, as long as he stayed within the confines of praying for the sick and prophesying, but made a great error when he began to teach. This assertion is often backed up with the alleged prophecy of Kenneth Hagin which foretold about God killing Branham because he was in error. Now, it is beyond the scope of my message to deal with Hagin’s assertion (we may deal with that issue in the next sermon). But, I have four videos I would like you to watch (see the videos at the bottom of this page): the first one is of William Branham, a man all these men – Gordon Lindsay, Tommy Osborn, Kenneth Hagin, and others – believed to be a true prophet, sent of God. This video shows William Branham discerning people and praying for the sick as he was under the anointing of God. The video shows sighs and worship from the audience as they experienced the presence of God in the ministry of the man on the pulpit. The second video is of Kenneth Hagin speaking to an audience and then leading them into what they believe is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The third video is about the prophecy of Kenneth Hagin regarding the death of Brother Branham. The fourth video is a current video of a famous and very rich prophet of Malawi who has become very popular; he is no doubt a crop which has resulted from seeds sown by early Pentecostal revivalists. The fellow now has two private jets. My question to you as you watch the videos is this: if you had nothing by which to judge the truthfulness or God’s vindication of these men but only these videos, what will be your conviction? Whom should you or I, believe? My own answer is one of these men was truly called of God like Moses of old, and the other two are no different from Jannes and Jambres; and like in the words of Saint Paul, “as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was” (2 Tim.3:8).

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The four videos

First Video: William Branham

• William Branham

Second video:

• Kenneth Hagin

Third video

• Hagin’s prophecy

Fourth video

• Malawian prophet

 

CONTINUED IN PART IV

In James 4:17 we read that “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” We can say that the state of having knowledge comes with responsibility, and so, it goes without saying that the more knowledge one has, the greater his or her responsibility and accountability. If a terrible incident happened– say, a house gutted by fire in which there is a little child and an adult; if people rush to the scene and rescue the two, they will demand an explanation of what happened from the adult, not the child. It will be assumed that the adult is of enough age to have been able to prevent the accident from occurring. Likewise, we can also say that if the Lord has allowed us to know something on a deeper level, that knowledge comes with responsibility and accountability. The trouble is, down the road you will come across people who are supposed to know better as grown-ups in spiritual things but yet act and live like toddlers. This situation often arises when a leader of an assembly is not doing his work of feeding the flock with the right knowledge to establish them in the Faith. It is now becoming worrisome to see a growing number of fellowships begin to yearn for carnal charismatic manifestations. In the process many people are getting swayed into indulging in modern perversions of the Gospel. There is a lack of simple discernment to distinguish the genuine move of the Holy Spirit from the counterfeit.

It is now becoming worrisome to see a growing number of fellowships begin to yearn for carnal charismatic manifestations. In the process many people are getting swayed into indulging in modern perversions of the Gospel. There is a lack of simple discernment to distinguish the genuine move of the Holy Spirit from the counterfeit.

In the scriptures we were already forewarned concerning the apostasy of the Endtime: Saint Peter admonished us that  “there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies…And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:1-3). Surely the Word of God is being blasphemed today by unbelievers largely because of the shameful things which are happening in churches. These shameful things are being caused by pastors and bishops whose preoccupation has become ‘Come and receive a financial blessing!’ and ‘Come and see signs and wonders!’ Every time there is an evangelical wall-posta or radio advert it is about some man from Nigeria claiming to have some supernatural gift of “miracles” and “healings”, going about selling the so-called Holy Water. The real motive of all these exaggerations is not a sincere desire to see people freed from oppressions but to increase sizes of churches which of course results into bigger tithes and offerings. These offerings are often spent on the lavish lifestyles of the ‘men of Gold’. These crooks have been effective at exploiting the gullibility of religious and superstitious people. It’s a sad state of affairs. Three times I have been on flights to and from Addis-Ababa (a major flight-connection point for airlines), and it’s been interesting how every time I have been seated next to groups of Zambians coming from revival meetings in Nigeria where they get holy water, oil, and all such things. It is heart-breaking to see people spending so much money running to places where they believe they will receive answers to their prayers. Prosperity Preachers have taken advantage of this desperation and with their shrewd advertising skills have managed to convert it into cash for their pockets. When you look at what goes on in those churches on TV, there is surely a lot of activity there to excite emotions. However, to any discerning eyes it is not difficult to see that what is actually going on is a famine of hearing the true Word of God which revives and establishes a soul; the famine is what is causing people to move about different places – “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it” ( Amos 8:11-12).

The tragic in all this quagmire is that both the imposter and the follower sincerely believe to be doing God a service. But sincerity does not define Truth and it is a fearful thing because a day of reckoning is coming when many shall profess that they did miracles, prophesied and performed miracles but yet the Lord will denounce them as being men of iniquity (lawlessness) – “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:22). Oh, what fearful admonition. But brethren, we have received a Message that should let us know better concerning spiritual things. Very sadly however is the fact that even people who were supposed to know better, having been forewarned by The Message, are also in a terrible state. Much of the mess has been caused by the quotists. These people can look so harmless and good, but oh, when you look at what their behaviour and misconception of the Word has done to the ministry that God sent to call us out of religious dogma, it can leave your heart in frustration.  On one hand are intolerant extremists and on the other are those who would desire to see unity and would want to achieve it regardless of the doctrinal differences in the movement. This leads me to share the third dream.

Third dream: “Is this what you are eating?” 

Recall that in the first dream, I, together with another brother, were helping our pentecostal reverend build a church of straw. In the second dream I was building a structure made of a wonderful material which I was also eating and it tasted like nothing I have ever eaten before. The third dream was totally strange but not difficult to understand. It occurred on a day when I had just come from a meeting of ministers. They were many, and most of them were quotists.  (I believe the quotists and many who have deified William Branham have done gross damage to the man’s ministry. Their works of ministry have only managed to portray him as a leader of a cult – a thing he vehemently fought so hard to the point of wanting to quit the ministry. The strange thing is that most of these folks can have a gentle demeanor. At the ministerial meeting I attended there were gentlemen who spoke softly and hugged, calling each other, “My precious brother.” But the hypocrisy that lies behind that utterance leads me to say that in the Endtime Message Movement if someone calls you, “My precious brother” it’s a quote and not a personal expression of thought. Many believers are only saying it because the prophet said so!  Even so, this particular day when I attended the ministers meeting, the people’s behavior occurred in a different manner to me). The ministers talked with brotherly kindness and respect. I felt guilty in my heart and began to think: “Well, maybe I have been too hard speaking against Branhamism and how it has misrepresented the Message of the prophet… these people seem to be fine and calm and no doubt, they have the love of God…may be we just differ doctrinally but I guess working with them won’t hurt; they seem to be sincere and fighting for the same cause of holiness that I am fighting for…” On and on, and, to and fro, thoughts reeled through my mind. I went home that evening with so much on my mind, thinking about the sorry state of confusion, hate, and disharmony in the Message, and why we all couldn’t work together in unity. Later in the night I forgot about it and then a dream came to me:

I was sitting around a table with about four of the leaders of the ministerial meeting I had attended during the day. The place and environment looked so clean, white and bright. The ministers started eating the meal which was on the plates. The meals included boiled eggs and what looked like salads. Everyone was enjoying the meal. As I pulled my plate to start eating, I got a spoon and just as I was about to put the spoon into my mouth, I noticed filthy worms coming out of the eggs and the other food on the plates. It was a rotten mess on the plates but everyone seemed to be enjoying it. I got horrified as I screamed to the ministers saying, “Is this what you are eating?!” They never minded my exclamation, they simply continued eating the meal. I woke up feeling so thankful as I knew what the Lord was speaking to me.

Human civilization through time

We are speaking about these things because something happened in the 20^th century, and which continues to happen now, to which every serious Bible believer ought to give attention.

something happened in the 20^th century, and which continues to happen now, to which every serious Bible believer ought to give attention.

You will notice that humanity has always gone through different stages of civilization. If you were to take Shaka Zulu, that great African king and warrior, and ‘drop’ him into this present era, there will be just so many things he won’t comprehend. And going further, way back before Shaka’s era, there used to be a time when people survived on hunting and gathering wild food. One’s survival depended on being able to hunt. That was the Hunter-Gatherer Age. Later people became a little wiser as they began to domesticate animals and cultivate land. That way food became closer to man’s home. The hands of time moved further and in England man’s quest to do things faster led to mechanization of   equipment. Hand tools were replaced with power-driven machines. For example the manual process of weaving cloth was mechanized using the Power Loom, and the steam engine was invented which enabled steamboats and locomotives to move faster. This was the Industrial Age.

Great as it seemed, the Industrial Age was only a prelude to the most powerful and ever versatile Information Age. Whilst the Industrial Age was characterized by industrialists hiding knowledge from workers in order to monopolize a skill, the information age is characterized by information being made available to anyone as it rushes through the airwaves and cables, reaching people through television, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, and all such technological devices. When you think of the great scientific developments which were achieved from the 1940s when the first large digital computers came on the scene, the words in Daniel 12:4 about what will happen in the last days should come to mind: “knowledge shall be increased”!

Computer evolution in the Information Age

One remarkable thing about the information age has been the evolution of computers from very large and inefficient ones of the 1940s to the modern small  and portable ones. What once occupied an entire room of a building is now small enough to fit on a palm. The evolution of computers is often referred to as Computer Generations, and these generations have been classified into five categories. First generation computers were in the period from 1940 – 1956. These were very large computers – One computer could fill up a large room . Now here ere is something interesting, first generation computers were very BIG but not reliable. They used devices called vacuum tubes which would often over heat and blow up. These computers consumed so much energy and were hence too costly to run. Even so, they marked a beginning of a new era of digital civilization. I find it interesting to note how the digital revolution of the twentieth century occurred in tandem with the great spiritual revival. The revival began with a man that has rightly been described as a paradox to the twentieth century…

William Marrion Branham

This man’s ministry was nothing like ever seen in the history of the church. Some clergy, including his critics, have admitted that there hasn’t been such a ministry even from the days of the early church. Branham’s ministry began with intriguing signs of the supernatural that took him to an international stage. However, unlike what is common among charismatics he remained humble and sober, and his ministry was not one of exaggeration to entertain crowds or for soliciting money. Some journalists went with ill-conceived minds to expose ‘another impostor’ but many found themselves witnessing something that gave them goose-bump. One such occasion involved a photo which after being developed showed a halo of light over Rev. Branham’s head. The photo was forensically examined by an FBI agent who gave a report authenticating that the image had not been doctored.  Brother Branham’s ministry started BIG – attracting people from all walks of life, denominations, and religions. However, as later events in Branham’s ministry showed, God’s purpose in sending this man wasn’t to merely demonstrate signs and wonders. It is important to know that any ministry that is specialized at only exciting people with miracles, without having a definite message of God for them, is no different from a magician’s enterprise.

It is important to know that any ministry that is specialized at only exciting people with miracles, without having a definite message of God for them, is no different from a magician’s enterprise.

It was sometime around 1954 and 1955 that William Branham began to sound a message that indicted denominational Christianity of its hypocrisy and how it fell from the original Faith of the apostles. Branham spoke against the immorality, corruption, and general worldliness that had crept into the church. This he did without compromise and not sparing his close associates. This was exactly in fulfillment to the commission God gave him in 1933 during a baptismal service when before hundreds of people a bright light appeared out of which a voice came saying “As John the Baptist was sent fore run the first coming of Christ so you are sent with a message to fore run His second coming.” From 1955 onwards, Branham’s ministry moved on to another stage when he would reveal thoughts of people even calling out their names, what they suffered from, and things they had done in their lives. God had already promised him concerning this sign in his ministry. At this time the establishment of organised denominations were still attracted to the man’s infallible gift of discernment.  However, they found themselves at variance with his strong message. Many began to say, “God has called Branham to prophesy but not to teach”. As preposterous as this view was it influenced a lot of Charismatics to continue enjoying Branham’s ministry of discernment, healings and miracles but whilst ignoring his messages. With time there were enough copy-cuts trying to duplicate William Branham’s healing campaigns who managed to sway people into seeking gifts and not the Giver of gifts; loving manifestations and abandoning the Word of Life. Seeds of falsehood had been planted!

Seeds of Falsehood

Pentecostals like Gordon Lindsay, Oral Roberts and Tommy Osborne were among the notable charismatics who got enthused and inspired by Branham’s ministry but yet could not get along with his message.  They moved on and established big ministries which thrived and out of them came more Pentecostal ministries, many which have continued to-date. Branham sowed the seeds of the Word in a people; these men also had their own version of (hybrid) seeds. Through time the fruits of these ministries have manifested. Now friends, when you look at the fruits that have resulted from those early Pentecostal revivalists who were only interested in spiritual gifts and not the doctrine of the Word, it is clear to see that the seed they had been planting in their followers wasn’t that of the Faith which was once delivered unto the saints. What offspring have their efforts yielded? Reprobate ministers whose goal is to make “merchandise” out of people. These men tell their congregants to sow seed of money into this  and that  for them to have a car, a good business, and so on and so forth. Much of what we see on TV today of what is  happening in charismatic churches is so terrible. They have everything from motivational speeches, rock-and-roll, hip-hop, comedy, and all such worldly stuff. In most of these gatherings the dressing of womenfolk has gone way out of line. And these are the so-called Christians who would want to convert decently dressed Islamic woman into what they call the Gospel of Grace. Oh, what disGrace! What has caused this? Compromised preachers who play drama in the church instead of feeding people with God’s Word. Charles H. Spurgeon had correctly foretold this would happen when he said, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats” (Read Jude 1:3, 2 Peter 2:1-3).

“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats” – C H Spurgeon.

…CONTINUED IN PART III.

 (PDF copy of this Message will be posted when the series of this title complete).

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Excerpt video of William Branham discerning people at a crusade – Click link below:

• William Branham Prayer Line
• Paul Crouch and T L Osborne’s testimony of William Branham and how the Pentecostal movement forbid them to associate with his ministry
• Another testimony by Rev. T L Osborne’s testimony
• Eye witness of Branham’s meetings in South Africa

 

 

When God calls us, there is a responsibility that comes with that calling. In Matthew 13:10-11, 17, we read this: “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given… For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” It certainly excited the disciples to be informed that they were chosen of God to know His mysteries. However, of greater importance was to know that the calling of God comes with accountability.

The calling of God is like being contracted by someone to build him a house. The person would have given you the money for the building project and it will now be in your wise judgement and attitude to do the right thing with the resources you have been entrusted with. Here in Zambia there is a lot of building works going on in Lusaka and other cities; new residential places keep coming up and we see construction works everywhere. One thing you will notice is that there are some builders who are just as careless as careless can be in the way they build; they seem not to mind much about what makes up the fabric of the structure they are making. Others use blocks which really look nice but when you hold it up and let it drop, it all scatters in pieces. A house made of such poor quality material can get all plastered and everyone may see it as a good house. However, only time will reveal its state when cracks begin to form.

Dear friends, this is similar to what we have been admonished in the book of Corinthians: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (3:11-13). How we need to sincerely ask ourselves, “What sort of material am I using for the building work of my ministry?” It certainly is better to build a small quality structure which will stand the test of time than an enormous structure which is frail and weak. This is an important matter to reflect on, especially by ministers. Just how many times have we seen foreign missionaries gallivant from one end of the globe to another in an effort to do the work of God, and report of so many a great testimonies of their outreach ministry on the World Wide Web and social media? Often, you and I who are closer to the people and know the reality on the ground knows that many times people may not even be interested in the teaching of the man but only his dollars (which they will receive and play royal to any other man of a contrary teaching) and the futility of such ministry work becomes very explicit. All this comes down to this fact: we should never do a work which the Lord hasn’t called us to do or we will suffer a great loss.

Now, on the other hand are people who have been called but are just as disorganized, having no direction or sense of purpose in their ministry – they have been called but yet not faithful in their ministries. This does not just apply to ministry work but the calling of being a believer in Christ. Listen to this admonishment: “for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev.17:14). What we see in these words are that it is one thing to be “called”, and another to be “chosen” because you have been “faithful.”

A testimony of Three Dreams about Building

Permit me to share something personal about some three dreams that have remained vivid in my memory. I am not a fan of dreams or of hearing people talk about this and that dream they have had. A lot of what we dream often comes from the much business that occupies our minds (Ecc.5:3). However, there are moments when one should know that God has spoken through a dream.

• First Dream

Years back when I came across The Spoken Word, Prophetic Revelation books, and The Contender publications, for the first time I felt I had found something that was the right material for building my spiritual life on. Having been a devout Pentecostal for a number of years, I now could discern that in charismatacism there was so much great zeal but one which wasn’t seasoned with knowledge. One night I had this dream: We were helping our Pentecostal pastor with construction work of a church building. We finished the work and stepped back looking at the completed work. The reverend rubbed his hands with a gesture of satisfaction; we left and the dream ended. My immediate thoughts on waking up were on 1 Corinthians 3:11-13.

• Second Dream

After years of establishing Believers Assembly, I had another dream about building but which was very different from the first one:  I saw myself building a house made of very strong bricks. But one thing was strange; the bricks were made of a strange material that doesn’t exist in this natural life: The material looked dark-greyish in colour. As I was building I was also taking some of this material and eating it. Inside my mouth it tasted so wonderful, than anything I have ever tasted in this  natural life. The dream was easy for me to understand: I knew that the Word which I had believed and which I was also using to feed my fellowship is none other than the heaven-sent bread of life.

CONTINUED IN PART II OF “CALLED, CHOSEN, AND FAITHFUL”

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Called_Chosen_Faithful

 

 

 

In Matthew 13: 3-9 we read about the parable of the sower: as he went about sowing seeds, some fell on the way side and were eaten by fowls, others fell upon stony places and died of the scorching heat of the sun. There were those which fell on thorns whose growth was stunted when they got choked. However, there was the seed which fell in good ground, grew and bore fruit.

The expectation of a farmer               

“Fruit” is the ultimate desire of every farmer. It is the reason for all his toils and labours. In planting the seeds of maize, for example, there will be a lot of activities that will go into the project such as the ploughing of fields, uprooting of weeds, and applying fertiliser to the soil. Over time, a field will blossom with freshness of green leaves. It is usually so much a beautiful sight that one would love to take a photo of the greenery. What is interesting, however, is that despite all the beautiful outlook, the ultimate purpose of the crops manifest after the leaves have dried up and lost all their beauty. At that time, onlookers may see the field as an unentertaining scene, but to the farmer it is a sight of joy and fulfillment! To him the ultimate purpose of all his toils and sweat would have been achieved!  When I was a young child, together with my siblings, mama would always plant some maize around our yard at home. As kids we always felt good when our plants grew and looked green.  However, our joy was short-lived when the stems and leaves turned yellow when the plant matured and produced the cobs. As kids we would have loved for the maize to continue looking green and beautiful. However, our childish desire never stopped the sun from accomplishing its task of drying up the corn plant, nor did it attract any sympathy from mama who actually earnestly waited for them to dry up so that we could soon have some food.

Now, just like a farmer waits on his plants God also patiently waits upon his children to bear the fruit of the Word they received. However, many times when God does a work, we often lose focus of His objective and instead concentrate on unfruitful works.

For instance look at this passage of scripture in Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” What is the theme or subject of this passage of Scripture – is it about the man Elijah or the turning of the heart of man? Clearly, the latter is the answer. As William Branham solemnly said, “Not for one moment do I bring a message to the people that they may follow me, or join my church, or start some fellowship and organization. I have never done that and will not do that now. I have no interest in those things, but I do have an interest in the things of God and people, and if I can accomplish just one thing I will be satisfied. That one thing is to see established a true spiritual relationship between God and men, wherein men become new creations in Christ, filled with His Spirit and live according to His Word.”[1]  So, if that is the objective or purpose of ‘Elijah’s’ ministry then no matter how someone can witness and experience the miracles that would flow out of it, or hear and comprehend the mysteries the prophet revealed and recite his sermons word-for-word, if his or her heart hasn’t been turned (converted or transformed) the ministry would not have fulfilled its purpose in his or her life!

Why Knowledge? 

God never gives knowledge, or reveals any mystery, just for the sake of amusing people’s curious minds; His Word is life which transforms any person who receives it. God’s Word is a life-giving power, not a bundle of intellectual doctrines for soothing curious minds. Unfortunately “perfection”[2] seems to be now viewed as a process of completing or comprehending a syllabus of mysteries. What has this attitude produced but strife and arguments about who is right and wrong? And now there are just lots of ears which are ever itchy, desiring to hear something new but yet are so empty of manifesting basic virtues of a Christian life.

Being fruitful in the Knowledge of Christ

We ought to ask ourselves as believers; in seeing what God has done and the Message He has brought us, have we grown any further into the stature of Christ? Let us remember that the goal of the ministries in the body of Christ is to preach and teach the Word until believers become like Christ –  “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Thus any knowledge given to us as believers should work to take us closer to Christ, and we ought to bear fruit of the Word we receive. Like saint Peter admonished, “ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8); “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

Things that cause unfruitfulness 

In using the illustration of the parable of the sower, we can list three conditions that can cause the seed of the Word not to germinate and bear fruit in a person’s life. Notice that some seeds didn’t grow, not because there was something wrong with them but because of the conditions of where they fell. Thus, a preaching or teaching of God’s Word can be as powerful as it can be but still not change a person because of his or her attitude or condition of heart.

The three conditions:

• Wayside condition
• Stony place condition
• Thorny condition 

Wayside condition 

Concerning this condition the Lord interpreted the parable saying, “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.”  Why would such a person not understand the Word? Is it because he or she is a slow learner or not intelligent enough? Not so, for Christ’s own disciples were uneducated folks and simple men. And think about this again: why would the wicked one find such a person so vulnerable as to easily catch away what was sown in his heart? Well, it’s all about the place where the seed fell –on the way side, not in the field! Being on the wayside, the seeds are not within the confinement of security that is available within a field. When looked at this way we will soon realize that there are some believers who are so careless with where they spend time, whom they spend it with, and what things they look at on TV or the Internet, etcetera. Such are believers whose minds are so filled with all sort of worldly things that the Word they hear doesn’t hold very long in their minds. Such people can be religious but not spiritual. They can make up a population of a local church but yet be far from God as the west is from the east. Such is an unfruitful life. 

Stony place condition 

 In Matthew 13:20 we read that “he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” Every local church will have such characters every once in a while. The person will show up and get excited at the truths of God’s Word he or she has heard, but with time the person finds himself or herself in persecutions or resentments by friends or relatives because of the faith and then eventually abandons the faith.

Thorny condition 

Believers in this condition are those who are ever so obsessed with the cares of this life – trying to raise money for house rent, children’s school fees, Now, much as it is important to work and attend to various commitments in life, we must also be aware that we don’t own our lives. One day your ever reliable ‘mortar’ of the heart will go kaput and the creator will demand of what you did with your life; telling Him that you were excellent at making good business reports and projections certainly won’t be the answer to give. This is what the Lord said: “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful” (v.22).

May the condition of our hearts be the fourth one – good soil with a right atmosphere that would cause the seed of God’s Word to grow in us and bear fruit of righteousness.

Things that cause fruitfulness 

In order to be fruitful one has to live a life of prayer, hearing the Word, and being in company (fellowship) of believers. Psalm 1:1-3, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”.

Dearly beloved in Christ, “Be ye fruitful!”[3]

PDF COPY   Be_Ye_Fruitful

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[1] In the book An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages.

[2] Read Ephesians 4:11-13.

[3] Genesis 9:7.