Matthew 09 - A massive healing campaign

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Forgiving his sins can heal a paralyzed man

MATTHEW 9:1   And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.

Jesus had grown up in Nazareth but had then moved to Capernaum which is on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.

MATTHEW 4:13   And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast…

The city of Capernaum saw many miracles. Thus, they had confidence that Jesus could heal. But the religious leaders were unhappy because they feared that the people would follow Jesus, not them.

When Jesus was present they brought in a paralyzed man knowing that Jesus had a remarkable ministry of healing. The ordinary people had faith in Jesus. The religious leaders were determined to break the faith that the people had in Jesus. They used the usual trick wherewith religious leaders discredit a God-given ministry. They called Jesus a blasphemer and a devil.

MATTHEW 9:2   And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

Sickness, like death, entered the world because of sin. In the original sinless Eden, there was no sickness nor death until sin entered. So, Jesus showed that His power to remove sickness was a result of His power to forgive and cleanse away sin.

MATTHEW 9:3   And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.

The scribes, who were religious rulers, were very upset and jealous at being upstaged. They could not heal a paralyzed man. So, they desperately sought to find fault. That is typical of modern-day religious leadership. If someone does something better than they can then they will seek to somehow blacken his name. The religious leaders ignored the great benefit to the paralyzed man who could now walk. They preferred to accuse Jesus of blasphemy because He forgave sins.

The religious leaders were desperate to stay in charge, even if that meant that the man had to stay paralyzed.

MATTHEW 9:4   And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

:5   For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

MATTHEW 9:6   But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

Redemption involved forgiving our sins due to our transgressions as well as the healing of sickness according to Isaiah.

ISAIAH 53:5   But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

MATTHEW 9:7   And he arose, and departed to his house.

The proof was in the miracle. With his sins forgiven, the paralyzed man stood up, completely healed.

MATTHEW 9:8   But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

This powerful healing was impressive.

Pay tithes because an apostle was a tax collector

MATTHEW 9:9   And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

A tax collector was a hated person. Yet Jesus chose one as a disciple.

Matthew presents Christ as the King. A King rules a Kingdom. Kingdoms run on taxes which pay for the expenses.

So, Jesus chose a tax collector to remind us that we need to pay tithes to enable the Gospel to spread worldwide.

Jesus ate with sinners

MATTHEW 9:10   And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

Jesus ate with many of the sinners in the city. This was too much for the Pharisees.

MATTHEW 9:11   And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?

:12   But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

Jesus had just demonstrated by healing the paralyzed man that sickness and sin are connected. Sinners are spiritually sick due to their unbelief. So, by mixing with sinners Jesus was trying to get through to those who needed salvation. Healthy people do not need a doctor. Saved people do not need a Saviour. In order to be the Saviour, Jesus had to mix with the sinners who needed salvation.

MATTHEW 9:13   But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Mercy is more important than sacrifice. We should always be in favour of getting sinners saved rather than just mixing with the righteous and ignoring the sinners.

Disciples of John the Baptist followed John not Jesus

MATTHEW 9:14   Then came to him the disciples of John,

saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?

Who disagreed with Jesus? None other than the disciples of the prophet and first forerunner, John the Baptist.

But they did agree with the Pharisees.

How can message-churches agree with the modern-day denominational Pharisees in ways that disagree with Scripture, the Word?

By putting a man in charge of each church and making up doctrines from a man's quotes that are not found in Scripture.

This is scary. John the Baptist was the first forerunner who had introduced Jesus as a Man to the Jews. Some disciples were so impressed with John that they preferred to follow what John said rather than follow Jesus.

They were so impressed with John that they saw no need to follow Jesus.

JOHN 5:35   He [John the Baptist] was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

The same happens today where star-struck message-people are so dazzled by brother Branham's ministry that they prefer to follow their interpretations of brother Branham’s quotes rather than follow the written Word. So, they end up not following Jesus as certain of their beliefs are unscriptural.

Andrew was the only disciple of John the Baptist who is recorded as being chosen as one of the original 12 disciples by Jesus. Even Andrew was never considered to be in the top three disciples, as were Peter, James, and John. So, being a dedicated disciple of brother Branham does not necessarily mean you will be chosen to be a follower and disciple of the written Word.

MATTHEW 9:15   And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

The disciples of Jesus are the disciples of the Bridegroom who will go to the Wedding Supper. The disciples of John the Baptist were not following the Bridegroom. They preferred the quotes of their prophet rather than the Word of God. Eventually, the disciples of John would use one of his quotes, where what he said was very wrong, to doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. John's disciples could not tell the difference between a true quote and a wrong quote. They just ran after any quote.

Today the followers of the end-time prophet all-too-easily replace the written Word of God with the prophet’s quotes or worse still, their interpretation of the prophet’s quotes. Pastors claim, on the strength of a quote to be the supreme authority of the church, despite all the differences that exist amongst pastors. But no Scripture gives a pastor such authority because pastors are only mentioned once in the New Testament and condemned six times in the Old Testament. Thus, we have a flood of different doctrinal voices and a number of dissimilar authorities as each pastor claims to be the complete authority.

For example, brother Branham never said that the 7 Thunders have uttered. But many pastors say that they have uttered. The Word of God has been pushed aside by prophet-followers who misquote him.

With enough preachers producing an energetic flood of quotes and interpretations of quotes, it is easy for mass hysteria and social pressure to engulf people. People are too scared to stand alone against the church and to remain in the church they have to accept “I have a quote” as a replacement for “It is written…”

Bible truth cannot be established in a church that has a pastor as the one-man-dominant-leader as that is the wrong organizational structure for the church. Small local churches that were ruled by local elders were what the apostles set in order.

MATTHEW 9:16   No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.

You cannot have the old Catholic church organization that has one man in charge of each church as the head of the church, and then fill that church with revealed mysteries from the written Word. Because the revealed Bible mysteries would show that a one-man-leader is the wrong structure. God hates the Nicolaitans, the spirit of elevating a man above the laity or congregation.

MATTHEW 9:17   Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

The new, deeper truth of our day must be put into a more Scriptural church structure.  Small local churches that are run by local elders in the same way as the apostles established the early church. We cannot put the new deeper revelations of Scripture into the old Catholic-inspired church systems where each church had a human head. We cannot regard brother Branham as infallible as that was a Catholic tradition established in 1870 when they called the Pope infallible. Copying Rome is not the way to discover deeper Bible truth. The increasing Bible-illiteracy of the message churches as they interpret quotes (like their claim that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 Presidential election in America) is not going to reveal deeper Bible mysteries.

Supernatural healing and raising the dead

MATTHEW 9:18   While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.

:19   And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.

The attention is now focused on Jesus and not John the Baptist.

MATTHEW 9:20   And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

:21   For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

Touch Jesus and you get healed. He is the Word of God. So, believe the written Scripture.

MATTHEW 9:22   But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

MATTHEW 9:23   And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,

The girl was dead but people were making a great noise. People mistake noise for spirituality.

MATTHEW 9:24   He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

By laughing at Him they indicated no real depth to their sorrow.

MATTHEW 9:25   But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

When the noisemakers left, the power of God was silently manifested.

MATTHEW 9:26   And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Jesus had really embarked on a powerful healing campaign.

Blind men saw but then disobeyed Jesus

MATTHEW 9:27   And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

They were blind to the truth of their day. He will be Son of David in the Millennium or 1000 years of peace. So Jesus walked past them. He expects us to recognize the truth for each age.

MATTHEW 9:28   And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

Jesus questioned them until they spoke the truth. Jesus Christ is Lord.

MATTHEW 9:29   Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

Then He healed them.

MATTHEW 9:30   And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

MATTHEW 9:31   But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

Yet they did the very opposite of what He asked.

Brother Branham asked us to worship Jesus and become Scriptural in what we believe.

As the message-believers begin to open their eyes and see the truth they are fooled by their message preachers into uplifting brother Branham and using his quotes to replace Scripture.

His followers think they obey by doing the opposite.

57-0922  HEBREWS  CHAPTER  SEVEN.2

But the full and complete authority of the church is the pastor.

Read that in the Bible, see if that's not Bible order. That's exactly right.

There is no one above the elder.

From this quote, the pastor becomes "the elder" and the complete authority of the church.

No Scripture says this, so we are disagreeing with the Word, just like John the Baptist's disciples disagreed with Jesus.

But another quote says things differently. All the authority rests on the full congregation, not one man.

57-0922  HEBREWS  CHAPTER  SEVEN.2

The congregation, in full, has all the authority.

The early church was run by elders and nobody had any higher authority than any local elder in a local church.

57-0908  HEBREWS  CHAPTER  FIVE  AND  SIX.1

But I believe in the supreme authority of the local assembly.

… Show me by the Bible

what's greater, in the Bible, than a local elder to a local church?

No mention here of a pastor. Just any elder.

So when you build on quotes, you easily hit contradictions.

By concentrating on suitable quotes (and ignoring the quotes that do not fit the doctrine that suits them) preachers get people to hero-worship brother Branham as if he is the Son of man and the Voice of God. Only the Bible is the Voice of God.

Then people no longer require Scripture for what they believe.

65-0725  THE  ANOINTED  ONES  AT  THE  END  TIME
…"the seventh angel's Message, opening up the Seals."
What is it?

Not the angel is the Son of man;

but the messenger is revealing the Son of man.
Can you get it separated now?

63-1226 CHURCH  ORDER
... and my absolute is the Word, the Bible.
64-0823  QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS.1
But those who can accept the Word in Its fullness,

not me preaching It, because It's the Bible says so.

Those who accept that is free, because the Word's already been judged.

60-0804  AS  THE  EAGLE  STIRRETH  UP  HER  NEST

We know the Bible is right; that's not my voice; that's God's voice, speaking

63-0630   THE  THIRD  EXODUS

... for they can hear plainly the God's Voice, calling, through His Word

...  Listen to the Bible, the Voice of God calling to you in this day.

The Bible is the Voice of God and we must prove the message from Scripture.

65-0801   THE  GOD  OF  THIS  EVIL  AGE

… so that the peoples that has believed the Message that the Lord Jesus has given me for this hour,

might know what's taking place,

and placing it in the Scripture.

65-0429   THE  CHOOSING  OF  A  BRIDE

While, the true Bride attracts the attention of God, by keeping His Word.

Religious leaders keep condemning Jesus Who is the Word

Religious leaders said that Jesus, the Word, was the prince of devils.

Somehow, religious leaders end up condemning the Word of God as being flawed and contradictory.

MATTHEW 9:32   As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil.

The healing campaign continues.

MATTHEW 9:33   And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.

Whatever was wrong, Jesus had complete power over everything.

MATTHEW 9:34   But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

The religious leaders were totally outclassed. They now called the Messiah the prince of devils.

This was a severe lack of logic. If Satan cast out his own devils then his kingdom would be divided and unable to stand.

Teaching rain comes first then a harvest or latter rain

A teaching rain of truth must come before the latter or harvest rain.

MATTHEW 9:35   And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,

and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Jesus focused on teaching and healing.

When brother Branham’s ministry was given to him for the former or teaching rain, God also gave him a very powerful healing ministry. This attracted the attention of the people.

MATTHEW 9:36   But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad,

as sheep having no shepherd.

People are also scattered around today as their church leaders do not know how to reveal the deeper mysteries of Scripture.

Each pastor claims to be the supreme authority of his church. Yet there are many differences amongst message-pastors.

Many message-preachers claim that there are mistakes in the King James Bible. Thus, despite certain mistakes in certain sermons of his, people hold brother Branham up to be infallible and the Absolute. Consequently, his quotes, even when wrong, are considered to be the supreme authority.

As a result, message-people are scattered in their minds as they vainly try to discover what the truth actually is. And they reject anyone who disagrees with them which makes sure that they cannot be corrected.

They are unable to build up the truth from those quotes which can be established in Scripture.

The former rain is the teaching rain.

From 1947 to 1965 brother Branham recorded his sermons so that we could learn how to follow his revelations through the Scriptures.

His message was supposed to make us Scriptural as he taught us the meanings of the Bible symbols and the basic Bible patterns. Then our responsibility is to teach others how to be strictly Scriptural as we explain the meaning of one Bible verse by making it understood in terms of other Bible verses.

If we are Scriptural, then Jesus is the Shepherd of the sheep because He is the Word of God.

The written Bible is then the only ultimate authority.

PSALM 23:1   The LORD is my shepherd;

So, we must only reveal the truth that agrees with all the Bible verses. If a Scripture contradicts our beliefs, then we are wrong.

Because people no longer regard being strictly Scriptural as being important, they are not even sure who their Shepherd is.

Is it the Bible? Is it brother Branham? Is it their pastor? Is it some important senior pastor? Is it some important person who knew brother Branham well?

MATTHEW 9:37   Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

What God is looking for is people who have been taught how to be Scriptural. Then we must go out and prove that what brother Branham taught can be proven just from the written Bible.

His revelations must be placed in the Scripture in order to establish that they are true.

Before the latter or harvest rain, there must be a former or teaching rain. If we cannot teach the truth from the Bible then there will not be a harvest of the Seed Word of God.

The final seed that is harvested is identical to the seed that was planted at the beginning.

MATTHEW 9:38   Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

There is a sad lack of people who are able to prove the truth just by using the King James Version of the Bible, as it is our Absolute.

Yet there is a big harvest so there are many people who would like to hear the truth.