Mark 09 Only believe Jesus and no other man



Prophets fade in the Presence of Jesus. Do not condemn or offend the end time children who seek Bible truth

First published on the 17th of May 2022 — Last updated on the 19th of July 2024

The preview of the Coming of the Lord at the end time

MARK 9:1   And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

“Not taste death.” This puts the emphasis on the living Bride at the end.

Jesus would show three of the disciples a preview of end-time events.

Jesus was going to take these three disciples (representing the 5th, 6th, and 7th church ages messengers who cause the original first church age truth to be restored after it was lost in the Dark Ages).

The first step is the shout when the Bride learns how to be strictly Scriptural in what they believe. The shout was not brother Branham preaching his Scriptural message. The shout is the Bride proving what he taught from Scripture.

65-1127   I  HAVE  HEARD  BUT  NOW  I  SEE

Dear God, in this solemn moment, it's going to be a time like this when there really will be a clap of thunder someday, and the Son of God shall descend from the heavens with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God, the dead in Christ shall rise.

One month before he died, brother Branham was still looking for the shout in the future. Brother Branham did his part to reveal the mysteries, and now we must become Scriptural and prove his revelations from the Bible before the shout can happen.

After that shout comes the voice of the Archangel to raise the dead from the 7 church ages.

Jesus would give them a preview of how the seven church ages will end in a resurrection of the dead church age saints. Then there would be something very dramatic, the changing or transformation of the living Bride’s bodies. This will be the powerful but mysterious ministry of the seven Thunders which is the final focus of the living Bride that learned to understand the written Word thanks to the teachings of the Gentile prophet William Branham. Then all the Bride is caught up into Heaven. After that, God moves to the Jews during the 3.5 years of great Tribulation by using two Jewish prophets.

The glorious transformation as the bodies of the living Bride change is the main event of this Chapter. It is a matter of extreme importance in God’s eyes. It will be the manifestation of the sons of God on earth.

MARK 9:2   And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

Jesus "leadeth them" means that the end-time disciples will finally learn only to follow the written Word. The disciples were following Jesus, not some man or some group.

Today we see Jesus as the Word of God.

What you say about the King James Bible is what you are saying about Jesus.

Criticize the Bible in any way, and you are criticizing Jesus.

Thus, you must believe that the King James Bible is perfect, the Absolute Truth.

A "high mountain" means that the revealed Bible truth is higher than what clever humans can puzzle out. Jesus alone can take the scales off our eyes so that we can see the truth. The three disciples represent the last three church-age messengers. We must follow them as they followed the Word. Only believe what they teach you from Scripture.

"After six days" is the seventh day, symbolic of the seventh church age of the Gentiles that ends with the living Bride being changed into glorified bodies and then being caught up to Heaven.

"Transfigured" represents the living Bride being changed into their glorious bodies, which is the final climax of the seven church ages when the seventh age believers are able to be restored to the first church age Bible-beliefs.

A "high mountain" means this process is a struggle and will involve a lot of difficulty, persecution, and rejection. But the view from the top makes it worthwhile for those who love Scripture.

“Apart by themselves”. The revealed Bible mysteries will separate the beliefs of the Bride very far apart from the popular beliefs of the churches and the foolish virgins.

 

I CORINTHIANS 15:52   In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

First comes the “shout” as the living Bride learn to be strictly Scriptural. Then the voice of the Archangel to raise the dead Bride. Then comes the glorious change of the living Bride into our immortal bodies. That will be the highlight of your Christian experience as you will then live in a sinless body.

I THESSALONIANS 4:16   For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

:17   Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

Many scholars feel that the Mount of Transfiguration is possibly Mount Tabor. But that is just a guess. The actual mountain is kept secret by not being mentioned by name.  That secret is appropriate because the Second Coming of the Lord is the biggest mystery in the universe.

The seven Thunders that utter after the resurrection of the New Testament saints is also a great mystery that is not written in the Bible. They control the changing of the body, which will transform the living saints. That is also a deep secret that will only be revealed when it happens.

MARK 9:3   And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

White is the combination of all seven dominant colours in the rainbow.

White as snow means all seven church ages have combined to produce the full Bride over all seven church ages. God’s great Plan to redeem His Bride.

The fulfillment of all seven church ages creates the white robes of the Bride's wedding dress.

The last age has to return back to the first age beliefs in order to complete the 7 church ages.

The revealed Word of the seventh Eagle-age must be the same as the written Word of the apostolic Lion-age.

MARK 9:4   And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

For the Bride,

Elias is Greek for Elijah. Elias represents the end-time prophet William Branham who revealed the Scriptures to restore the 7th church age children back to the beliefs of the first church age apostolic fathers.

Elias, as one man, also represents the living Bride at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus. Elias was caught up to Heaven in a chariot and thus never died. As such he represents the living Bride who will have their bodies changed and will thus form a very special group. The only group of people in the history of mankind who never died. They will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Moses, as one man, represents the resurrected Bride from the 7 church ages at the time of the Second Coming.

For the Jews,

Elias and Moses represent the two prophets who will take the Gospel to pull out the 144000 during the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

At the end the church leaders will get it very wrong

MARK 9:5   And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

Peter immediately made the big mistake that the church would make, seeing three people and developing a kind of trinity belief with three places of worship.

These end-time events totally baffled Peter. He foolishly (like the foolish virgins) tried to interpret what he did not understand.

Peter also made a huge error that many message-believers have made today. He promoted a prophet to the same level as Jesus Christ. Peter wanted to build a tabernacle to worship the prophet Elias. Message-believers call William Branham the Son of man and the Voice of God as they prefer believing his quotes rather than the written Word. Thus they wrongly promote brother Branham to the Godhead.

"I have a quote" has replaced "It is written" in their minds.

They wrongly claim, "I am fine as long as I just read brother Branham's books and listen to his tapes, as they are the infallible and Absolute Word of God."

Just like Peter, they promote the prophet Willam Branham to the Godhead.

PROVERBS 29:18    Where there is no vision, the people perish:

We have to have some idea about the future events if we are to discern the seven Thunders when they happen.

Those who rejected the idea of interpreting Scripture by using brother Branham's quotes will not know enough in order to discern the seven Thunders when they utter their mysterious voices just after the resurrection. This will be a very confusing time.

63-0318 THE  FIRST  SEAL
 But think, now he wrote this, but when he started to write those other seven thunders, he said, "Don't write it." He'd been commissioned to write everything he seen. But when these seven thunders over in Revelations 10 uttered, he said, "Don't write them at all." They're mysteries. We don't know what they are yet; but my opinion they'll be revealed right away.

And when it do, it'll give faith for that rapturing grace for that Church to move out.

We just move through everything that we know of; through all the dispensations we've watched everything. We've seen the mysteries of God. We've seen the appearing of the great gathering together of the Bride in the last days, but yet there's something in there that we just can't lighten ourself with. There's something another.

But I imagine when them mysteries begins to come forth... God said, "Hold it back now. Wait a minute. I'll reveal it in that day. Don't write it at all, John, 'cause they'll stagger over it. Just let it go. (See?)

But I'll reveal it in that day when it has need to done."

We will all be staggered when the seven Thunders utter. They will be completely different from anything that we could have thought.

We cannot be raptured in these old bodies. Rapturing faith can only be achieved at the time when our bodies change into the new immortal bodies that can be changed.

HOSEA 4:6   My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,

We have to learn the revealed Scriptures, or else we will miss what God plans to do.

We need to understand the mysteries that brother Branham revealed from Scripture.

 

The disciples were very scared by this event when Peter got it wrong.

His fear drove him to say something totally wrong. In his fear, he should have just waited for God to move rather than following his own impulsive thoughts.

MARK 9:6   For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

They were scared and had no idea what was going on. Another mistake of the church. Saying something and developing a doctrine when you do not know what you are talking about.

We know nothing about the seven Thunders nor the Coming of the Lord, nor His new name because these things are not written in the Bible. We are supposed to learn the mysteries that are written. People fool themselves and others by claiming to know what is not written.

MARK 9:7    And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

Peter’s big error led to God obscuring the whole scene and then telling them to only listen to what Jesus said. He is the Word. Only believe what is written in the Word.

At the time of the resurrection and the seven Thunders there will be much chaos that will obscure what is actually going on. Then you will have to be strictly Scriptural because you will not be able to trust anything else.

MARK 9:8   And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

This was the key moment. They only saw Jesus. Two great prophets Elijah and Moses could point people to Jesus, but we must only believe Jesus. He is the Word. No other man is important. The great prophets Moses and Elijah faded off the scene when Jesus appeared.

We have to put all our faith into the Bible only.

JOHN 1:35   Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;

:36   And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

:37    And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

John the Baptist was a great man and made disciples with his powerful ministry. But when he pointed his disciples to Jesus the Man, then those disciples followed Jesus, not John.

William Branham's quotes pointed his disciples to Jesus as the revealed Word of God. If we have understood what he spoke about, then we must follow the revealed King James Bible, not William Branham. These revealed Bible mysteries will take us back to the beliefs of the apostolic church in the first church age. That is what gives us a spiritual direction to walk in.

Am I doing and believing what the first church age believed?

MARK 9:9    And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

What they had seen here applied to the seven church ages. So, Jesus warned them to keep quiet until after His resurrection as the scene did not apply to the Jews of those days. Thus, they would not understand anyway. Only when the church started on the Day of Pentecost would the death, burial, and resurrection make sense to people.

MARK 9:10   And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

They were baffled by the concept of the resurrection.

This is also a preview of the Bride at the end. The resurrection of the New Testament saints is also going to be a very mysterious time that is going to raise many questions.

The double coming of Elijah

MARK 9:11   And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

They recognized that Jesus was the Messiah. But why did the Scriptures say that Elijah, the prophet, must come before Jesus comes?

MARK 9:12   And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

Jesus then gives a baffling answer.

He refers to the coming of Elijah in the future in order to restore all things.

But John the Baptist did not restore. John the Baptist was the beginning of the New Testament Gospel.

MARK 1:1   The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

MARK 1:4    John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

In addition, John introduced the Jews to Messiah. The Jews had never had Messiah before, so this was not a restoration. This was a brand new event.

John introduced the baptism of repentance. The Jews had never been baptized before. They had a symbolic baptism when Moses took them through the Red Sea, but they remained dry. Individual Jews had never been pushed under water before in a baptism ceremony.

John the Baptist did not restore their faith in the Temple worship as he stayed far away from the Temple and condemned all the religious leaders as vipers or poisoned snakes.

So the Elijah who would restore all things was certainly not John the Baptist.

MARK 9:13   But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

Then Jesus does refer to John by saying that he had already come and been killed.

So, there is another mystery here.

This Chapter has the mystery of the Coming of the Lord that follows the mystery of the transfiguration when our bodies change. That follows the mystery of the resurrection of the New Testament saints, which follows the mystery of Elijah who must restore all the doctrines of truth that the early church had.

The first church age had the full truth from the apostles.

The second church age made the mistake of putting Bishops in charge of each city. Nicolatans. Elevating a holy man as head of the church to conquer the laity or congregation.

The church's love of Bible truth was killed in AD 325 at the Nicene Council when the unscriptural Trinity and the unscriptural Good Friday were forced on the church in the third church age. Then followed the awful Dark Ages when Bible truth was lost and buried in the dirt and darkness of the fourth church age.

In the 5th church age Martin Luther restored salvation by faith alone. The King James Bible was translated and checked for about 160 years.

In the 6th church age John Wesley restored holiness and outreach. This led to the great missionary age that carried the King James Bible around the world.

The 7th church age saw Pentecost restore the power of the Spirit. Then William Branham restored the truth of the first church age by revealing the mysteries of the King James Bible.

William Branham was the future Elijah that Jesus referred to. His ministry was to introduce Jesus as the revealed Word of God.

John the Baptist was the past Elijah that Jesus referred to. He introduced Jesus as a Man.

If we do not hear the Word then we are basically dumb

The Bible is the only truth. We must hear the Bible before we can speak from Scripture.

REVELATION 1:3   Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy,

"Readeth" means to read with understanding. "Hear" means to hear with understanding.

If we do not quote Scripture, then from the point of view of truth, we are effectively dumb.

The biggest problem in the churches is Bible-illiteracy.

The King James Bible has been replaced with over 100 different versions of the Bible, all different. The Devil is making sure that people never hear the King James Version.

Satan has also convinced the people that no Bible can be the Absolute truth.

Church-goers no longer try to prove their beliefs just from the Bible.

Thus 45000 different types of churches and denominations have evolved with their endless disagreements. The church-world is a real spiritual morass of different opinions, with each church claiming to be the only right one.

MARK 9:14    And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

The scribes were Jewish leaders who were questioning the disciples about why they had failed to cast out a demon.

MARK 9:15   And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.

But when the people saw Jesus, they immediately knew that He was the Real Deal.

MARK 9:16   And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

He asked the scribes what the questions were about. But the scribes kept quiet. They knew better than to try to debate with Jesus. The scribes also knew that it was wrong for them to question the disciples as to why they had failed to cast out the demon. If they said that, Jesus would simply ask them why they had not cast the demon out.

Then the father of the demon-possessed son spoke.

An interesting reference to the Gentile church ages where the Fathers of the first church age had the truth. The demon-possessed seventh church age, that God says nothing good about, are the sons or children that have to be restored back to the beliefs of the fathers.

God has to cast this demon out of our age which makes us unwilling to hear the King James Bible and thus incapable of speaking the truth from the King James Bible. So, effectively we are deaf and dumb as regards the truth.

MARK 9:17   And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

My son is dumb. The son represents the children at the end time in the last church age who cannot establish their beliefs just by using the King James Bible. They do not know what the Bible means in so many places that they cannot just speak from the Word.

MARK 9:18   And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

The disciples had no power over this strong demon.

Today we must realize that there is a powerful spirit of unbelief that is unleashed in our age.

MARK 9:19    He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

Jesus groans at our human lack of faith. He sees us as a faithless generation. We so easily begin to doubt in adverse circumstances.

MARK 9:20   And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 

The demon knew that Jesus would cast him out so he demon hammered the poor boy as hard as he could. Often in hard times, the situation gets worse just before Jesus solves the problems. Getting worse is a test of our faith. Can we keep believing as things get worse? Anyone can believe when things get better.

MARK 9:21   And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

This demon had entered the child.

The last church age describes us as the children who must return to the apostolic fathers of the first church age. Thus there must be a huge outpouring of demonology in our age to stop people from believing in the revealed mysteries of the King James Bible. To stop the church from believing the same as the original New Testament church believed.

Demons unleashed the spirit of dictatorship in the First World War. These natural dictators like Stalin and Hitler then unleashed the spirit of killing and destruction on natural Israel in the Holocaust during World War 2. Six million Jews died.

These unleashed demons, after the end of the Second World War, then entered the World Council of Churches to bring the Protestant churches, spiritual Israel, into fellowship with the Catholic Church. Believing the unscriptural Catholic doctrines of organized denominational religion would be the spiritual death of the Protestant churches that could no longer believe the King James Bible.

MARK 9:22   And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

This boy was a preview of the seventh church age.

The fire of two world wars. The waters of the restless sea of nations that fought many wars for independence. Then the restless undercurrents of tribalism and their civil wars. There are about 40 regions of armed strife in Africa in 2022. Then the cross-currents of terrorism sweep through the world.

Now a dictator, Putin, who rules the world’s biggest country, Russia, decides that he needs to conquer Europe’s biggest country, Ukraine, in 2022. Human greed knows no limits. A savage attack of senseless destruction that has worldwide economic repercussions.

Our violent world, with its many poor people, now faces a cost-of-living crisis as food and fuel prices soar. The children who want to be like their spiritual apostolic fathers have to go through a hard time.

We need God’s compassion and help because Jesus is God.

MARK 9:23   Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Our faith is based on Scripture. So we have to believe whatever the King James Bible says.

Only the Bible can reveal God's Plan to us.

MARK 9:24   And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

The father believed in one God as he said, "Lord." The first church age of the apostles believed because they had prayed to God to remove their unbelief.

Thus, they searched the Word of God daily and believed what was written.

ACTS 17:10   And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

:11    These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind,

and searched the scriptures daily,

whether those things were so.

The last church age of the children is more tricky. We have 45000 different kinds of churches, all different, yet each one claiming to be the right church. Then there are over 100 different versions of the English Bible, so take your pick. Then there are over 100 different variations of William Branham’s message. Again, take your pick. Thus hardly anyone believes that the King James Version of the Bible is the Absolute truth. As a result, the level of unbelief in all the churches is escalating because Jesus stands outside the church door as the end approaches.

MARK 9:25   When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

Jesus discerns the real problem. The son is deaf and cannot hear. That is why he cannot speak.

The son or child speaks of the end-time Christians. The father represents the first church age Christians. Elijah must turn the children to the fathers.

If we do not hear from Scripture, then we cannot speak from Scripture.

The Devil never wants you to hear from the King James Bible.

So by changing the translation of the King James Bible into other versions. And by filling people’s minds with unscriptural words like Trinity, Christmas, 25 December, and Good Friday, etc., the churches make sure people cannot hear the truth. Then they obviously cannot speak the truth and are dumb as far as truth is concerned. It is a powerful demon that binds the modern churches to man-made unscriptural errors. That is why church people cannot speak the truth about the Godhead and the water baptism and the 7 church ages.

The coming together of the people represents the uniting of all the churches to produce a one-world-church of Catholics and Protestants. That is the time when this evil spirit, that would not hear Scripture and could not speak Scripturally, is to be cast out of the child (the true believers).

MARK 9:26   And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

Removing the spirit of unbelief was very hard on the son. It caused much emotional pain. It was as if he had died. The church people regarded him as spiritually dead because he rejected their church beliefs. There was not much going for the son. Finding the truth can be very difficult with lots of challenges.

MARK 9:27   But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

The secret to finding the truth is to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

We must not rely on a church experience. People today focus on agreeing with the church rather than agreeing with the Bible. And there are so many different churches with so many different ideas. So how do you find the truth?

We need to remember that Jesus stands outside the church. He alone has the truth. Jesus alone can open the eyes of an individual so that he or she can understand the Word of God.

REVELATION 3:14   And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;

REVELATION 3:20   Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,...

Jesus is not looking for the church as a group anymore. He is looking to uplift individuals.

Individuals rise with the help of Jesus in their knowledge of the revealed mysteries of Scripture, which is the foundation of their faith.

ROMANS 10:17   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

For our faith to be strong, we must believe that the King James Version of the Bible is the absolute truth.

MARK 9:28   And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

The disciples had failed in their faith.

MARK 9:29   And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

This demon of not hearing the King James Bible and not quoting the King James Bible is powerful. Prayer and fasting is a powerful resource that takes much self-discipline.

The resurrection will be a confusing time

MARK 9:30   And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.

Jesus then passed through Galilee but did not want anyone to know.

MARK 9:31   For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

MARK 9:32   But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

We do not understand what the conditions will be like when the dead from the seven church ages are resurrected.

Jesus warned, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, that when the dead were raised that the people would not believe them when they spoke. Why?

Because the resurrected dead will be strictly Scriptural, and no church is like that anymore.

Thus the church-goers of today, who can only argue in defence of their particular church traditions, will argue with the resurrected dead and reject what they say.

LUKE 16:31   And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Imagine if the resurrection occurred at Christmas time. We were never asked to celebrate the Lord's birth. Christmas and 25 December and "Merry Christmas" are unscriptural. There was no such festival in the first two church ages. Christmas was only introduced to the church around AD 350 by Pope Julius I. The resurrected dead would have no idea what the churches are doing with Santa Claus and their red hats. And the church-goers would reject the objections of the resurrected saints, proving that the modern church-goers have not been restored to the apostolic fathers. The popular song "Jingle bells" has got nothing to do with the Bible.

"They understood not," just like Christians today. There is much of the King James Bible that they do not understand and they are scared to ask someone outside their church because they are afraid of exposing the limitations of their church. They desperately want to believe that their church is the right one despite the fact that there are 45000 other churches that all believe differently in places.

The curse of ambitious church leaders

MARK 9:33   And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?

Capernaum means "the city of comfort".

That is what church-goers seek most. A comfortable belief that requires no great effort where they can rest complacently. Christians today want the crown without the cross.

That is why the modern churches, all of them, are described by the parable of the 10 virgins of Matthew 25. A woman speaks of a church. A virgin is a clean woman, speaking of saved Christians in the church. But five were foolish as they had got saved and were then fooled by man-made church errors.

But both the wise and the foolish virgins were fast asleep, waiting for the wake up call. That describes all the Christians in the churches today. Fast asleep.

And when the wake up call comes it will tell them to get out of their churches.

The church is supposed to be a place of refuge but it is actually a trap of deception.

MATTHEW 25:5   While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

:6   And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh;

go ye out to meet him.

This parable says that nobody in any church is ready to meet the Lord. That is simply due to the fact that Jesus is now standing outside every church.

Yet the disciples were indulging in competitive Christianity that claims that "I am better than you." "I am more important than you." "My church is better than your church."

Self-praise is rampant in the churches.

But the disciples were ashamed to admit this to Jesus. In the last church age of the Laodiceans, Jesus says nothing good about the church but rather condemns the church of today for being apostate, blind, unknowing, miserable, lukewarm vomit in the mouth of God. (Revelation 3:14 - 20)

MARK 9:34   But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

They could not speak because of their hidden shame. Each one was pushing his own ego.

Their craving to be uplifted and recognized.

Churches have positions of authority. Ambitious men crave power and money.

They want the power to take your money.

The curse of churches is Nicolaitanism. The elevation of a holy man above the laity or the congregation.

Competitive Christianity. Who is the most important?

MARK 9:35   And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

Never regard yourself as being important. Rather be unimportant and serve others. If you strive to be noticed, then you are out of God’s Will.

MARK 9:36   And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,

A child represents the believers in the end time. The children who have to be turned to the apostolic fathers of the first church age.

Children are puzzled by this strange world that they find themselves in, and they are curious to understand it and have many questions to ask.

We should be like children when it comes to the Bible. Very keen to learn more and have plenty of questions to ask.

MARK 9:37   Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

We need to encourage each other to search for truth in the King James Bible. We need to welcome difficult questions that we cannot answer as this will make us seek answers and remove our church blinkers.

MATTHEW 7:7   Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

MARK 9:38   And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

Another curse of our churches. Sectarianism. If he is not in my church, then God cannot be using him.

“We forbad him”. Closed him down because he is not one of us.

Jesus was not impressed.

MARK 9:39   But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.

:40   For he that is not against us is on our part.

Competitive Christianity is a dangerous trap. God uses people all over the place.

I CORINTHIANS 1:12   Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

Each group thinking that they are better than the others.

 

MARK 9:41   For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

Church-goers easily condemn those who they disagree with.

But kindness has its own rewards.

Those who were kind to the Bride, just out of human kindness, will have their reward.

So do not waste time condemning the person just because you disagree with his doctrine. You can condemn the doctrine, but never condemn the person. Rather be kind to the person.

The person you disagree with may actually be right.

Then you will be better off on Judgement Day if you were kind to the person.

And if the person is wrong then there is no harm done by being kind to the person as that may help the person to change his or her mind.

Do not deceive the children at the end time

MARK 9:42   And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Each church today protects itself and condemns anyone who disagrees with them. Yet no Bible prophecy or parable that describes the church at the end says anything good about the church.

So the person you condemn may well be one of the children who is being restored back to the apostolic fathers. If that is so, then you are condemning yourself.

A heavy millstone is used to grind corn to make bread that you can eat and digest. That is what we should be doing. We should be making the Bible verses understandable by getting a revelation of the deeper Bible mysteries. But this is a heavy responsibility that takes a lot of hard work. Then we can explain the Scriptures to the children at the end time so that they can return to the beliefs of the apostolic fathers of the first church age.

MALACHI 1:1   The burden of the word of the LORD 

If we cannot explain the Scriptures, then we have not understood the ministry of William Branham. And all our Bible errors will hang around our necks like a dead weight that drown us in the restless sea of church-goers with their man-made beliefs and pagan traditions. They also cannot explain many of the Bible verses. They ignore all the end-time prophecies and parables that say bad things about the modern churches. They live in a self-satisfied delusion.

MARK 9:43   And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

Get rid of everything that stands in your way and stops you obeying Scripture with your deeds.

No church works can prepare you for the Coming of the Lord.

You may achieve little on your own but that is better than achieving much with your church traditions. The penalty for corrupting Scripture is harsh.

MARK 9:44   Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Hellfire cannot be put out while you are in hell. Hellfire will finally go out when the last sinners have served their time in hell. Hellfire cannot be eternal, or else you would have to have eternal life to be in hell. But eternal life is what saves you from hell.

MARK 9:45   And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

The churches dictate their traditions as to how you must do the Christian walk and what path you must follow. Get away from what they say. The only path to walk is the one that takes us back to the beliefs of the first church age. Rather limp slowly back towards the first church age than walk briskly along the path of the prosperity Gospel.

MARK 9:46   Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

Hell has no fire escape.

MARK 9:47   And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Your eyes enable you to see. Get away from your own clever ideas that are not Scriptural. Get away from your own opinions that make you see things differently from the Bible.

MARK 9:48   Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

The consequences of being unscriptural are too severe. Flee from your own opinions and from the church opinions that are not proven from Scripture.

We all have to go through the fire of testing.

MARK 9:49   For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

Salt stops meat from deteriorating. Hardship tests us as to whether we really believe the Bible. We are not allowed to compromise our standards. All pretence and error must be burned off us in order to reveal what we really believe.

MARK 9:50   Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

You must have a genuine love for Scripture and a determined desire to understand Scripture despite any difficulties or opposition in your path.

Can you believe when all goes wrong?

When the going gets tough then you have to be tough enough to get going.

Are we prepared to carry the cross?

Then you must have peace with others, whether they follow the truth or not. That is their decision. You cannot make them believe the truth.

 

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” — 1 Corinthians 16:23