Matthew 13 - The 7 Church Ages, part 1

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The Jews reject the Man and the church rejects the Word

The Jews opposed Jesus, the Man. The church opposes Jesus Who is the Word of God.

Jesus is the Word of God.

In Matthew Chapter 12, Jesus hinted about the Gospel going to the Gentiles.

2000 years of Christian history is then divided into 7 church ages according to Matthew Chapter 13.

Matthew Chapter 12 mentions the opposition to Jesus from the Jewish religious leaders.

So Chapter 13 outlines the opposition of the church leaders to the Word of God because Jesus is the Word.

Church leaders would lead the church-goers away from what is written in Scripture until they would believe things that are not written in Scripture.

A simple check. We were never asked in the Bible to celebrate Christ's birth. Pagan Romans celebrated their sun god's birth on 25 December. This was established by the pagan Roman Emperor Aurelian in AD 274.

Christmas tree? 25 December? These have a pagan origin.

Each church elevated one man, a bishop, to be the head of the church. This was unscriptural and the bishops opened the door to pagan influences and doctrines. Lent, the rosary, and the sign of the cross that imitates the T of Tammuz (also known as Nimrod) as well as a round bun (for the moon goddess) and a T made from pastry on it. From which we got the hot-cross bun. Nimrod is the only person who was called El Bar, God the Son. The Trinity entered and Jesus became God the Son.

"God the Son" is completely unscriptural and appears nowhere in the Bible.

Jewish religious leaders were enmeshed in Roman politics. The Roman Catholic Church, as it developed, would get itself involved in the politics of Europe. The sea represented the restless masses of Europe where the Roman Catholic church rose to power. So Jesus sat by the seashore to illustrate the ongoing struggle between the land (the righteous) and the sea, the rebellious masses with their seething undercurrents.

REVELATION 17:15    And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Most of the earth's surface is the sea. This symbolizes that the majority of the people will prefer to believe error. Taking the people away from the written Word makes the church leaders increasingly popular.

MATTHEW 13:1

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

Jesus came out into the open as a symbol of bringing the church's future progress out into the open.

He wants us to be able to see how error has influenced and undermined the church.

The seashore is important in Scripture as it is the dividing line between land and sea.

The sea represents the unrighteous, restless multitudes of people who shift with the changing currents of fashion, popular doctrines, and political correctness. The sand on the seashore was chipped or worn off a rock at some stage by the forces of nature. Christ, the Word, is our Rock. Believers are born again of Him and remain part of His Word (Scripture). We have to be chipped off the Rock of our salvation, Jesus, by our rebirth.

I CORINTHIANS 10:4And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:

and that Rock was Christ.

Thus the sand on the seashore represents the righteous. The seashore represents the limits of the sea. God will only allow the sea (the unrighteous) to go so far in their attempts to undermine and destroy the righteous (the seashore sand). The righteous represent the limits that evil cannot go past.

Sea waves endlessly flow over the sea sand. But each wave reaches its high point and has to flow back down into the water.

So the sea sand survives the ceaseless battering of the waves. The sea waves help to keep the sea sand clean.

JOB 26:10He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

This Earth has its limits. An Earth day is 24 hours. Light and darkness cut each other off so that each has a limited time. The sea cuts off the land. Life is cut off by death. Ultimately light will replace darkness, and the sea will disappear.

Death, the sea, and the darkness of night are symbols of what goes wrong on Earth. These are essential for our growth. Hardship, grief, sin, error, deception, worldliness, etc. are essential to test us, strengthen us, punish us, and give us an adversary to struggle against. Struggle is the law of growth.

Defeat and difficulty are the hammer and anvil, where a person's character is hammered out and made strong. When we compromise with error, we simply become wishy-washy great Tribulation fodder. Thus, what is wrong is simply an instrument that is there for a while to mould us into what God wants from our lives. That is far more important than what we want from our lives.

I CORINTHIANS 10:13    There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,

who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;

but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God will never ask us to bear more than what we can cope with.

A big calamity is actually a compliment. God thinks that we are strong enough to survive the calamity.

In the end, there will be no more sea. No restless people opposing Bible truth

REVELATION 21:1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;

and there was no more sea

The first heaven is the Millennium, the 1000 years of peace. This will be the first taste of Heaven on earth because Jesus will be ruling.

Great Tribulation ends with Armageddon, and then the Millennium starts. At the end of the Millennium is Judgement Day. Then the sea explodes to get rid of all the evidence of our scientific age. Thus, there will be no more sea. The crust of the earth will be destroyed, and the flames will go way out into space to burn up all the satellites. On the ashes of the Earth's surface, God will build His new Earth.

A mighty pyramid-shaped mountain will reach up into space with a slant height of 1500 miles. The Holy City, New Jerusalem, will descend onto this mountain. The Capstone will be Jesus, Who is the Light of the world. So there will be no more night there. A light on top of a pyramid means that all the sides will be in the light. There will be no darkness there.

REVELATION 21:25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day:

for there shall be no night there.

The time is coming when there will be no more sea and no more darkness.

Error and evil are temporary until they have served their purpose.

JOB 14:5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

No one can go beyond the limits that God has set for them.

Fallen human nature needs to be cut off from its natural greed and selfishness. Each of us must learn to cope with the limits that God has set for us. These limits are essential for our survival.

Daniel saw the Greek king Alexander the Great as a he-goat moving from the west towards the east and conquering.

When Alexander then made plans to conquer the west, then he would be moving towards the west. But the vision only spoke about moving from the west, not to the west. So when he planned on moving to the west, he died mysteriously. This should caution us to never move outside God's Word.

DANIEL 8:5   And as I was considering, behold,

an he goat came from the west

on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

God's Word limits the Bride. We have to remain within the Scripture.

Each cell in our body is limited in terms of its size and function.

Cancer is simply a cell that has rebelled against its limits, and it grows for the sake of growing.

God uses evil and error to mould His church through seven different ages, but eventually, evil will be done away with.

Until then, the Church must contend with and oppose the error of its age.

God creates and controls evil for His purposes

By preaching on the seashore, which remains in place despite all the sea waves, Jesus is actually telling the future church to stay within their limits, which are the Scriptures. He is also saying that the sea waves will endlessly wash over the Bride (the seashore), but the waves will recede, and the seashore will remain.

JEREMIAH 5:22Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence,

which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree,

that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Good sets a limit to evil. Evil will never eradicate the truth. Believers can be dispersed, but the truth will spread due to their dispersion. Believers can even degenerate, but new ones will rise up in other places.

Salt limits the spread of decay. To save His children, God limits the spread and power of evil. Evil can only flow down the channels that God allows. So far, and no further.

The Mongol horde overran Russia and eastern Europe under their military genius and general Subutai. The Hungarian army was eliminated. Western Europe was at their mercy because the Pope was wasting his efforts on fighting the Holy Roman Emperor, who was German. Then Ogedei, the Mongol Khan who was a son of Genghis Khan, died from excessive drinking after a brief reign of only 12 years. His son Guyuk then took the whole army back from Europe to Mongolia as a new Khan had to be elected. Helpless Europe was saved by one man’s death far away in Mongolia at this critical moment of time. Thus God pulls strings so that His Will triumphs.

ISAIAH 45:7I form the light, and create darkness:

I make peace, and create evil:

I the LORD do all these things.

AMOS 3:6Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid?

shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

To create depth in a picture, an artist uses light colours for highlights and dark colours for shadows. Light and dark are totally under the control of the artist. Each light and dark colour can only occupy a certain specific portion of the picture.

To make a light colour really stand out, it must be right next to a very dark colour.

So Christians who find themselves attacked by strong forces of darkness end up looking very bright. Hence our respect for those brave missionaries who ventured into the dark regions of evil. Their light really blazed brightly in the intense darkness.

To create depth of character in us, God has to paint our lives with light and dark events. So, good and evil people are used by Him to mould us. Both types are totally under His control.

AMOS 3:7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

The Bible is a Book of Prophecies, giving us clues to future events.

We must search the past to inform the future.

Pagan Rome died and resurrected as the Catholic church

REVELATION 13:1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,

having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The pagan Roman Empire is seen as a vicious spiritual monster arising out of the restless peoples of Europe.

The seven heads represent the seven hills that the original city of Rome was built upon.

A city had to be surrounded by a wall (shown as a red line).

The Capitoline hill had the Temple of Jupiter, the headquarters of the pagan Roman empire.

The Caelian hill has the Lateran Palace complex, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.

REVELATION 17:3So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

A woman is a church. The Roman Catholic Church rose up to take control of these vicious spirits that had controlled the pagan Roman Empire. Emperor Nero began killing Christians. The Popes took over this spirit and slaughtered tens of millions of non-Catholics in the Dark Ages.

We can see Vatican City, which is an independent country, right next to the seven hills as if Vatican City, as a church, is riding on the seven hills.

REVELATION 17:9   And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

REVELATION 17:15

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Revelation Chapter 13 starts with John standing on the seashore. Why?

666.

Chapter 13 ends with the mark of the beast which is linked to a man and his number 666.

The sand of the seashores cannot be numbered.

This implies that the righteous, represented by the sea sand, will not take on the mark of the beast as that mark sweeps through the people on this over-crowded planet like waves sweeping through the sea, which represents the unrighteous. There is more sea than land. There are more sinners than saints on earth.

GENESIS 32:12   And thou saidst, I will surely do thee [Jacob] good,

and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

The mark of the beast will sweep through the world.

REVELATION 13:16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

     :17    And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

     :18    Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

The mystery number is 666.

What does it mean?

JOHN 6:66   From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

We get a clue from John 6:66.

The disciples walked away from the Word of God.

We take on the mark of the beast when we become unscriptural.

MATTHEW 15:8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

     :9    But in vain they do worship me,

teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

This is the problem with church people.

They find their safety in a crowd and desperately want to belong to a church.

They move away from Scripture and accept the plausible traditions and doctrines of man.

Christmas is a vain tradition that became a commandment

Try finding the 25^th December in the Bible.

Matthew Chapter 2 Verse 11  says the wise men went into a house, not a stable.

MATTHEW 2:11

And when they were come into the house,

they saw the young child with Mary his mother,

and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Joseph was not present so this is not the stable scene when Jesus was born. Jesus was not a baby in a manger, He was a young Child in a house.

They gave gifts to Jesus, not to each other.

Our Christmas shopping spree of buying presents for friends and family has nothing to do with the Bible.

December 25^th is in the middle of the cold and wet winter. Shepherds could not be out with their flocks at night as they would be far too cold. It is cold and rainy, or else snowing.

Only shepherds went to the stable, not the wise men.

Rome could not try to tax people in the middle of winter and force Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem when snow could make the roads impassable. Christmas cards are equally unscriptural.

The Bible never asked us to celebrate the Lord's birth.

Christmas is the gospel of greed and material gain.

Christmas is certainly not the Gospel of Matthew and Luke. Yet most people spend themselves poor, thinking that they must do this for religious reasons. Then January is a desolate month of recovery. Aptly named as Janu-worry.

Lenin, the Communist dictator, said that Christmas is the extension of Capitalism by religious means in order to get rid of all the year-end stock.

Our Christmas time is emotionally pleasant but very unscriptural.

Where does the date come from?

The pagan Roman emperor Aurelian, a brilliant cavalry general, united the Roman empire that had split into three sections. He completed the task in the year AD 274  and returned to Rome, where he then declared the 25^th December as the sun god's birthday, Sol Invictus, to celebrate the empire's reuniting.

The Persian god Mithras also had his birthday on 25 December. So this date became widely accepted as a key festival (which basically meant it was honoured as a typical big pagan booze up and orgy). This date became such a widely accepted pagan festival that Christians also joined in.

To stop the flood of Christians who were enjoying the pagan festival, the Catholic church, around AD 350,  just before Pope Julius 1 died in AD 352, created an alternative festival.  Julius hijacked the same date as the sun god's birthday and called it the birthday of the Son of God. And so Christianity merged into paganism and became Churchianity.

Over the centuries paganism died out in Europe, and only the Catholic church version of 25 December remained, the so-called celebration of Christ’s mass. We are more concerned with following some emotional tradition or some great man and belonging to and being popular with some special church group or organization rather than following Christ, the Word. Special Events in the Catholic church are referred to as a mass. So they called Christ’s so-called birthday celebration Christ’s mass. This soon became known as Christmas. Then people realized it had nothing to do with Christ. So “Christ” was crossed out of Christmas, and it became known as  Xmas.

Do you really think that God is impressed with all this?

A mass is a Catholic event. Protestants never want to take part in a mass. But they are fooled into taking part in Christ's mass, Christmas.

JEREMIAH 33:22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,

neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.

HOSEA 1:10Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered;

and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

So the seashore represents the righteous which, like the sand of the sea, cannot be numbered and thus cannot take on the number or mark of the beast.

Staying with Scripture is the only way to avoid taking on the mark of the beast.

1st parable sows the Seed Word in the first church age

MATTHEW 13:2And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

The crowds gathered unto Him. The people on the seashore wanted to be close to Jesus. This illustrates that the Bride will always stay close to the Word of God.

Jesus was in a boat, so He was above the sea (the restless masses) and not in the sea. Fishermen pull fish out of the sea, which symbolizes being saved. The people stood on the shore and thus represented the righteous because they were listening to Jesus, Who is the Word. Listening to Scripture is the key to being righteous.

Jesus sat down.

He was not standing and jumping around in an arm-waving emotional manner.

He sat and spoke in a calm voice. His sermon depended on its deep content, not on an impressive delivery technique.

MATTHEW 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

     :4    And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

The first church age began with the preaching of the Word.

The seed is the Word of God.

The fowls were the enemy that got rid of the Word.

Replacing it with human tradition and philosophy.

    :5    Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

    :6    And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Some make a good start but had a shallow conversion experience.

If times get hard, they give up on God.

     :7    And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Some grow in the church world because they want to be accepted and popular. But church opinions and traditions replace the written Scripture. Thus they never achieve their potential.

     :8    But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

    : 9    Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Good ground is deep.

Each seed can push out its own roots and develop its own potential. Not limited by church error and church ignorance of the Bible.

This parable represents the first church age that was influenced by the apostles. They sowed the seed, which represents preaching the true Word. The sower (the preacher) was not criticized for how he sowed. It was the soil, the hearts of the listeners, who were criticized.

The apostles wrote the New Testament that became the foundation of the first church age.

We must always stay with what they wrote.

MATTHEW 13:9    Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

This statement is basically repeated to each church age. It is repeated seven times in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3.

REVELATION 3:6   He that hath an ear, let him hear ....

This is the key verse of this sermon. Jesus is talking about the seven church ages who need to listen to God's Spirit as He reveals the Word for each church age.

LUKE 8:11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

The first parable is lengthy, which means that much Scripture was preached while the apostles influenced the age.

The fowls got rid of the seed, so they are the enemy.

The sower is not criticized whether he sowed (i.e., preached) well or badly. The criticism is reserved for the soil, which represents the hearts of the hearers. Don’t complain that someone told you the truth in some inadequate way.

How the seed was scattered is immaterial. The soil (the heart) where it falls is all that counts.

Jesus used parables so that most would not understand

MATTHEW 13:10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Jesus had spoken a parable. The people did not understand, but they left anyway.

They were not interested in understanding the truth. That was too much like hard work. They would have to think for themselves and risk disagreeing with the religious leaders.

Only the disciples came back to Him and asked for an explanation.

Today the churches read much Scripture that they cannot correctly understand. But they just move on and dismiss the difficulties as an irrelevant detail. Thus their Bible-ignorance remains.

MATTHEW 13:11 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.

Scripture is written in a way that cannot be easily understood by the casual reader.

Only when a person is born again of the Holy Spirit can their inner eyes of insight be opened so that they can link the Scriptures together to arrive at the truth.

God must also send a messenger at the end time to reveal the mystery of God.

REVELATION 10:7But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

This angel or messenger will also be a prophet. That makes him a human messenger, not a supernatural messenger like the angel Gabriel. So we also need an inspired prophet, like Paul, Peter, and John were, to teach us the mystery of Who God is and what His salvation plan over 2000 years is, etc.

The end-time prophet has to reveal many mysteries in Scripture that the churches never understood, such as telling us what the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is.

The revelation of these mysteries will enable the mystery of God to be finished which is when the individuals at the end are able to prove for themselves from the Bible the same beliefs that the first church age had.

The last church age must be restored back to the first church age.

The first church age was when Roman persecution of Christians was started by the emperor Nero who burned down most of Rome in AD 64 to rebuild it and then conveniently blamed and killed the Christians. Christians were forced to meet in secrecy, often in small groups. They looked to the apostles for leadership, and the influence and writings of the apostles were pre-eminent until after the death of the apostle John around AD 100.

Before he died, John collected the 27 Books together that formed the New Testament.

That is why he could say at the end of the Book of Revelation that nothing more must be added or subtracted.

The apostle's goal was not to build up big church organizations.

ACTS 8:4Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Groups of elders ran the small local churches.

ACTS 20:17   And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

ACTS 20:28   Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

The writings of famous men soon replaced the Scriptures

The destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD 70  removed any obvious centre of Christian worship.

The meetings being held in private houses, or in any rooms that could be obtained, or in the open air, no special buildings were required. (The Pilgrim Church by E H Broadbent  page 3)

But slowly, the wisdom of man began to replace faith in the Bible.

Justin Martyr (AD 100 – 165) began to interpret certain aspects of Scripture in terms of Greek philosophy. He also drew a clear separation and distinction between the Son and then the Father, Who alone is the Creator and the only true God. He never referred to Christ as the “one true God”. Christ as the divine Logos (Word) is another God beside the Father, according to Justin Martyr, who says “by other I mean in number, not in will”.  Thanks to the fame and influence of Justin Martyr, human opinion was beginning to replace the Scripture.

Then other men like Tertullian (AD 160 – 220) from Carthage in North Africa became famous and drew followers after themselves.  The opinion of these so-called church fathers began to replace Scripture. People quoted clever men rather than just quoting what the apostles wrote in Scripture. Tertullian was the first writer to present the Trinity doctrine. When writing of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit he said that “these three are one substance, not one person”. The word “Trinity” is unscriptural, but people no longer cared to stay with Scripture.

"Of one substance" is Greek philosophy, it is not written in Scripture.

People claimed that Father and Son were of the same essence (whatever that means). "Essence" is an unscriptural word that comes from Greek philosophy.

Clever men began to dominate the people.

This is Nicolaitanism, the lifting up of holy men above the laity who are the ordinary people.

As more believers joined in, unscriptural rules were made in the interests of a more efficient church organization. Slowly the churches moved away from the Bible pattern of a group of elders and accepted the leadership of one man.

As each local church became controlled by one man instead of a group of elders,  it was just a matter of time before a bishop came to mean a man in charge of a local church group. The Roman empire had political Metropolitans who were in charge of certain regions. The churches copied this office, and church Metropolitans were promoted up to control a group of bishops in a region or province. These were lucrative positions, and ambitious men competed shamelessly for these positions.

In the interests of organizational efficiency, there needed to be one person in charge of a church.

So as the church grew, a Cardinal had to be appointed to be in charge of a group of Metropolitans. The final step was to appoint a Pope to be in charge of the Cardinals.

A very efficient, though unscriptural, organization had been established which would spread around the world.

Nicolaitanism ("Nico" means conquer i.e., conquer the laity or congregation), the creation of an Aaronic priesthood between God and the laity  (the ordinary people) was here to stay. From a human perspective, this seemed a great way to serve God, but unfortunately, God hates this system.

REVELATION 2:6But this thou hast,

that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans,

which I also hate.

At first, the people hated this idea of elevated church leaders.

But by the third church age of Pergamos that started in AD 312 people wanted these dominating church leaders and their personal opinions that were based on Greek philosophy, not the written Word.

Notice Pergamos has a Greek ending due to the influence of Greek philosophy that separated the Father and the Son into two separate Persons. The normal name of the city is Pergamum.

By the third church age, people wanted to hold onto the idea that these elevated church leaders should run the church and tell them what to believe.

REVELATION 2:15   So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,

which thing I hate.

MATTHEW 15:9   But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

However good an idea seems to us humans; it simply takes us away from God if it is unscriptural.

When we believe the unscriptural ideas that some man says, then we are actually not Christians. When Bible-error clouds our worship, then Jesus does not accept our worship. We worship Him in vain; we are simply wasting our time.

God wants us to believe the Truth as our first priority.

MATTHEW 13:12      For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

This is a very rewarding verse for the Bride and a very chilling verse for the foolish or fooled virgins.

If you believe the true patterns and symbols from Scripture, then there is no end to the deeper truths that God will reveal to you from the Scriptures. Previously difficult verses will just be unfolding as God deepens our insights into the basic patterns of the Bible. This is like the flowing River of Life. The same patterns keep repeating. We used the quotes to start understanding the Bible patterns. But then those revealed Bible patterns allow us to unfold even more of the Scripture.

The Bible believers keep understanding more of the Scriptures.

But for those who replace Bible patterns with interpretations of quotes, end up in a puddle of quotes that are not reflected in Scripture, and thus their understanding of the Bible grinds to a halt. The more they build up their theory on misinterpreted quotes, the more they lose sight of Scripture. They soon lose sight of basic Scriptures that they once knew because those Scriptures no longer fit in with their manipulated quotes.

They start saying that "Mercy is over". That is about as bad a mistake as a person can make.

They say, "Mercy is over except for the Bride". Try finding that statement in the Bible.

Eventually, "I have a quote" replaces, "It is written".

As quotes take pre-eminence over Scripture, so Bible-ignorance becomes the hallmark of message-churches.

The quote-preachers understand less and less of the Bible.

MATTHEW 13:13    Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

So Jesus teaches in terms of symbols and patterns. This filters out the Bible believers. Only the patterns of Scripture can then make sense of the parables. Those who rely on quotes and human opinions simply cannot puzzle out the meanings of the parables.

Jesus never wanted Scripture to be interpreted in terms of clever Greek philosophy (human opinions) nor did He want us to use unscriptural words like “Trinity” to explain the truth. So people read the Bible and then mess up their understanding by applying human intelligence and opinions which cannot interpret Scripture in terms of other Scriptures.

MATTHEW 13:14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

Isaiah warned that human opinions are very shallow and dumb us down so that we cannot see a deeper truth in Bible verses.

A deeper understanding of Scripture is called "insight" and is also referred to symbolically as your "right eye".

But you have to love Scripture more than any other human literature or human preaching in order to open this "right eye" of a deeper spiritual insight.

Then everything you hear has to be compared with Scripture. We must only believe what gives us a deeper insight into Scripture. We must be able to establish this insight purely from Scripture verses.

MATTHEW 13:15   For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Studying the Bible is hard work. People are too lazy to do it.

Trying to understand a difficult Bible verse requires you to know all the other relevant Bible verses needed to explain that verse. That is time-consuming. Learning more about the Bible takes much time as the Bible has many pages. There are 31,102 Bible verses.

So a quick-fix is to splice some quotes together to give a superficial answer. Then you do not need to read the Bible.

Lazy people prefer TV and videos as these are more entertaining. But they give us a very shallow insight.

Jesus does not want anybody in His Bride who does not put the Bible first. He does not want us unless we regard the King James Bible as perfect and infallible. Our Absolute.

So the entertaining preachers and the quote-experts will attract all those who do not believe that the Bible is the Voice of God. Calling William Branham the Voice of God is an unscriptural statement as "Voice of God" is not mentioned in the New Testament.

MATTHEW 13:16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

The disciples stayed with Jesus. As apostles, they always stayed with the Scripture.

Paul went to Athens to convert the Greeks, not to learn philosophy from them.

The apostles never used the words Trinity, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Easter eggs, or Easter bunnies, archbishop, cardinal, Pope, etc. They never applied the word “church” to a building.

The apostles never believed that Christ would come as a supernatural cloud in the desert.

The King James Bible is the Absolute Voice of God

1963-1201  AN ABSOLUTE
That's the way it is in Christian life. There is a stopping place, and there is a going place. God's Word is that absolute.

Brother Branham said that calling him infallible was awful.

62-1007  THE  KEY  TO  THE DOOR
That's what gets things scrupled up, you see. That, they claim in here that some brethren up there that said that I sent them up there, and they're preaching that men should leave their wives and hunt for their spiritual mate,

and that I am perfectly infallible.

That there's nothing... And, oh, some of the awfullest things you ever heard.

Only the Bible is infallible. Only Jesus, revealed in His Word, is the Son of man.

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?   

John the Baptist revealed Jesus as a Man walking amongst men. William Branham revealed Jesus walking through the pages of His Word.

A prophet, like William Branham, is a son of man. Only Jesus is the Son of man.

64-0614  THE  ODDBALL

That's what the Angel told me, "Get the people to believe you."

And if I tell the Word of God, it ain't "believe me," it's "believe the Word."

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, William Branham is the voice of the seventh angel. Do not deify brother Branham. He is not Jesus Christ, he is one of the seven stars in the right hand of Jesus Christ.

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 they--the Word's already been judged.

62-0318 THE  SPOKEN  WORD  IS  THE  ORIGINAL  SEED.2
Now, all these things I've said, if they don't jive with the Bible, or dovetail with God's Word, they're wrong, they're wrong,

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.

63-1110  HE  THAT   IS  IN  YOU

Believe all the Message. Believe That. If it isn't written in the Bible, then don't you believe it.

John the Revelator twice fell down to worship the angel who showed him those great visions. He was twice told not to do it.

So we have been warned. No worshiping of angels. Do not worship the seventh angel.

COLOSSIANS 2:18   Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

The stars fade when the sun rises.

A prophet points to Christ but then fades as Christ rises when He is revealed in His Word.

61-0611  REVELATION  CHAPTER  FIVE.1

And, because of that, it forces me to say I am leaving the ministry, is because that there is something arose up amongst the people that's caused me to do it, that is, that I have been taken from my bracket of a "minister" or "brother" and being called Jesus Christ, and so call... and that would brand me as an antichrist. And I'll meet God as a quitter before I would meet Him as an antichrist to take away from Him.

61-0611  REVELATION CHAPTER FIVE.1

And the other day in Canada a brother showed me a little ticket of a thing he's packed in his pocket, said "William Branham is our Lord," baptizing in the name of William Branham. And a little... a precious... If it had been an enemy, if it had been my enemy I would have knowed it was a joke. But a precious, darling brother come up to confess his sins and his wrongs and say his faith in me as being Jesus Christ.

And I have got letters at home, and calls from Chicago and different places, asking me if I believe that dogma.

And I got all kinds of letters that's come in the last few days, and calls from different places, so, saying that I was Christ. Brethren, that is a horrible, disgraceful, ungodly lie of the Devil! See? See, I am your brother. Now, that would run any person from the field. That would make anyone that loves Christ run from the very thing.

56-0902 THE  HANDWRITING  ON  THE  WALL

I want you to notice that the beginning of the Gentiles, when God dealt with them, they got haughty in their heart and forced every man to worship the image of a holy man.

And the Gentile age was issued in with that; it will go out in the same way.

The Babylonians were forced to worship an image of the prophet Daniel.

Today, message preachers force people to deify and worship an image of the prophet William Branham by calling him the Voice of God and claiming that his sermons are infallible. Despite him predicting that America would be destroyed by 1977.

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.

65-0429  THE  CHOOSING  OF  A  BRIDE

But the Word of God attracts the Bride of Christ.

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

63-0707   THE  INDICTMENT

I don't care what you believe; it's what the Bible says.

63-0707   THE  INDICTMENT

Where is He crucified at? From the pastors. You hypocrites.

64-0830   QUESTIONS  AND  ANSWERS.3

To make me the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, would be an antichrist

Understanding Bible mysteries is a great privilege

MATTHEW 13:17   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.

This verse is to tell us how highly we should regard the revelation of the Bible mysteries.

God hid the understanding from all the great prophets of the Old Testament.

Revealing these mysteries to the disciples was a huge privilege for the disciples.

But Judas preferred to focus on betraying Jesus, Who is the Word of God, as long as he made money out of the deal.

Modern preachers are paid to preach. To stay popular, they have to betray certain Scriptures that are not accepted by the churches.

For instance, no Scripture says a pastor is the head of the church. But six Bible verses criticize or condemn pastors.

For example.

JEREMIAH 23:1   Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

:2   Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

The word "pastor" is only mentioned once in the New Testament which gives the pastor no authority to be the head of the church.

EPHESIANS 4:11   And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Here pastors are mentioned as fourth out of five ministries. They have an important ministry of pastoral care that counsels people with their personal problems, family problems, and work problems. But teaching the deep Bible mysteries is not the ministry of a pastor.

When God set ministries in the church He never mentioned pastors.

I CORINTHIANS 12:28   And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

The apostles established the New Testament truth as Scripture. Prophets established the Old Testament. The end-time prophet has to turn us back to the apostolic Bible truths. The teachers are to prove what brother Branham taught is strictly Scriptural and prove his message from the Bible.

After telling the people the first parable, the next step was for Jesus to give the apostles the meaning of the parable.

This clearly indicates that Jesus was revealing the mysteries of Scripture to the apostles. They had to understand the truth because they had to establish the first church in the full truth. Thus the first age understood the truth.

The concept of seven church ages was a hidden mystery that the Jews did not realize was part of God’s plan.

But Jesus was beginning to open the disciples' eyes to this profound truth.

Devoting this whole Chapter to the seven church ages meant that the church ages are crucial.

Look what Saint Paul said.

EPHESIANS 2:7    That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Paul knew that there were "ages to come" in the future.

He gives a very subtle hint by writing this in verse 7.

Seven ages to come.

This explanation of Paul implies that the early church understood the truth of Scripture, thanks to the apostles' influence.

The first parable was preached and then its meaning was given.

This implies that the first church age understood the mysteries of God.

The first church knew what God was doing in their day.

MATTHEW 13:18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

 :19    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.

Hard hearts just reject the Word of God.

The fowls are classified as the wicked one, the devil.

He comes in many disguises with one aim in mind, to stop us from believing the Bible. If you use unscriptural words to explain your beliefs, you are on the wrong track.

The Devil is a Satanic figure wearing the mantle of good intention to disguise his or her inner malevolence.

MATTHEW 13:20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;

     :21    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.

Shallow Christians want truth as long as it is only accompanied by benefits.

Any difficulty and unpopularity or sacrifice is not acceptable.

They only believe in the Gospel of gain and easy living.

A prosperity doctrine.

MATTHEW 13:22He 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.

This is the Gospel of Popularity and the Gospel of Greed.

I will serve God with my friends and my family in my church. I will serve God while I pursue my ambitions and make money my way. (Any dubious deals and selfishness are just called “that is business”.)

MATTHEW 13:23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The word "understandeth" means they knew what God was doing.

DANIEL 12:10   ... but the wise shall understand.

Only one-quarter of the seed fell on good ground. One group was good. Three groups were not good. One versus three.

One God who is Jesus Christ versus the Trinity who is one God in three Persons.

The first church age ended around the year 170 AD as the influence of the apostles had decreased after the death of John in AD 100. Church-goers were slowly fooled by clever men with clever speculations who quietly took over the churches' leadership.

Each church had to have a bishop in charge of it.

A church organization was being established under the centralized control of a one-man church leader.

This organized system replaced the rulership of the local church by the local elders.

Look how Paul established the first church in Ephesus as the foundation for the seven church ages.

ACTS 20:17   And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.

ACTS 20:28   Take heed therefore unto yourselves,

and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God,

which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Paul told the elders to feed the local assembly of Ephesus.

He did not put a pastor in charge.

Never was a pastor declared to be the head of the church.

ACTS 20:29   For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Paul was killed by the pagan Roman emperor Nero who died in AD 68.

Silently and unnoticed the Bishop took over the church

From AD 70 to about AD 120 is a silent age in the church because we have almost no letters or documents actually written at that time.

We rely a lot on the writings of Irenaeus, but he was only born about AD 130. We do not have his exact birth date.

If he was about 30 when he began writing, then he would start writing about AD 160. So the events from AD 70 to AD 120 happened long before him and he had to rely basically on hearsay and not on actual letters written during those years. During this time, the legend emerged that Peter died in Rome. There is no historical evidence of that. During those strange silent years, the Bishop quietly and unnoticed emerged as the head of the church in a city.

The church suddenly had a human head.

Paul spoke of wolves who would come in. A new definition of a church leader.

A man who insisted that everybody should follow him.

A bishop was just an elder. But now he suddenly claimed to be a one-man leader. He claimed to be the head of the church.

ACTS 20:30   Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

1965   AN EXPOSITION OF THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES    CHAPTER 5   NICOLAITANES

Now the truth of the matter is the word 'elder' signifies who the person is, while the word 'bishop' signifies the office of the same man. The elder is the man. Bishop is the office of the man. 'Elder' always has and always will refer simply to a man's chronological age in the Lord. He is an elder, not because he is elected or ordained, etc., but because he IS OLDER. He is more seasoned, trained, not a novice, reliable because of experience and long-standing proof of his Christian experience.
But no, the bishops did not stick to the epistles of Paul, but rather they went to Paul's account of the time he called the elders from Ephesus to Miletus in Acts 20. In verse 17 the record states, "elders" were called and then in verse 28, they are called overseers (bishops). And these bishops, (no doubt political-minded and anxious for power) insisted that Paul had given the meaning that 'overseers' were more than the local elder with official capacity only in his own church. To them, a bishop was now one with extended authority over many local leaders. Such a concept was neither Scriptural nor historical, yet even a man of the stature of Polycarp leaned toward such organization.

By AD 70, most of the apostles had been killed, and the early church had been established.

When the apostle John died about AD 100, he had collected the 27 Books which formed the New Testament. Only John was spiritual enough to know which Books to choose.

REVELATION 1:13   And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,

The central candlestick had been lit when the Holy Ghost came down on the Day of Pentecost.

By AD 100, the New Testament had been written and approved by the apostle John.

All the church had to do was stay with the apostles' doctrines and keep spreading their doctrines around the world.

But it was not to be.

Paul and the apostles had kept the Devil at arm's length and thereby protected the early church from error.

But once they had died, ambitious men began to pervert Scripture to make it seem that one man should be the head of a church.

The slippery slide down into the Dark Ages began when a man elevated himself up to be in charge of a local church.

Nicolaitanes.

The spirit that God hates.

REVELATION 2:6   But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

REVELATION 2:15   So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

Evil deeds that are not eliminated remain in the church to become habits and they eventually become the accepted doctrines that the church holds.

They hated elevated human church leaders in the first age.

Then they got used to this idea as the years went by.

"Hold" means that the church "wanted" this dominating human leadership.

Then they wanted human leaders, as Bishops, in the third church age. After the Reformation of 1520, the elevated Nicolaitans called themselves reverends or vicars or ministers or pastors.

Historian Francis Sullivan claims that there was no single bishop of Rome until after AD 150.

By AD 170 the leadership of the church was changing, as well as the attitude towards the communion bread and wine. This date can be considered as the end of the first apostolic church age.

Since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good.

Only the Bride members, who are strictly Scriptural,

will distinguish the true signal or message from the confusing noise of popular opinion.

Individuals soon pick up the fashions and follies that are sanctioned by the church crowd, where people tend to preen themselves before the mirrors of self-admiration.

They forget that popularity is just a smokescreen. Smoke and mirrors are the symbols of subtle deception. Truth is blurred in a crowd.

A centralized organization replaced apostolic doctrine

One-man church leaders emerged as Bishops.

The church became controlled by the doctrines and beliefs of the Bishop.

The Bishop assumed control over all church beliefs and practices. One man was thus in charge of everything.

They saved people by giving them the unbroken round wafer (called the Eucharist) that replaced the broken unleavened bread. Eating the wafer is what saved a person, according to them.

People started to get used to this idea. Tell a lie often enough and people will believe it.

So, by around AD 200 it became an accepted doctrine that you were saved by eating the wafer.

Only the Bishop, or an appointed priest, could drink the wine.

This set the clergy above the people and gave the clergy great power as only they give the people the eucharist wafer.

IHS were the initials of the Egyptian trinity of Isis, Horus, and Seb.

Isis was the wife, Horus was the father, and Seb was the son.

Then the Egyptian trinity was modified by replacing the wife/mother Isis with the Holy Ghost to produce the Roman Catholic Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Greek philosophy introduced the unscriptural idea of one-God-in-three-Persons. But in the process, the Triune God lost His name because you cannot find one name for three Persons. So the Christian God became nameless and still remains nameless today. If you want to embarrass a Christian today just ask them to tell you the name of their Triune God.

By AD 200 the eucharist had been officially changed from a memorial of salvation to being the means of salvation.

Changed from a thanksgiving meal to a meal of salvation.

Eucharist (or wafer) and baptism, instead of being an outward sign of redemption, became a means placed in the church to provide salvation.

An appointed leader replaced the local elders

An appointed bishop slowly emerged to control the church by himself.

Bishops were appointed and claimed to become a succession from the apostles.

This was the easy way out for them, instead of having to prove the truth from vigorous Bible studies. So they found it easier to make up unscriptural doctrines.

Only the bishop could perform the Eucharist, as the communion was now called.

The Bishop being in control of a church soon became the Bishop in control of a city.

Even that was not good enough. The Roman Bishop also wanted to be in control of all the other churches.

Around AD 195, trying to gain supremacy over the other churches, Pope Victor 1 said that the Easter celebration of Calvary must not happen on the full moon as happened in the Exodus Passover,

but must be held on a Friday.

This became known as the unscriptural “Good Friday”. To spend three nights in the tomb before His Sunday morning resurrection, Jesus had to be crucified on a Thursday.

Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday night were spent in the tomb.

MATTHEW 12:40    For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We do not have a record of a church building being built prior to AD 222 - 235.

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, writing between AD 248 and AD 258, was the first writer to refer to saint Peter alone as the founder of the Roman church. Cyprian then claimed that the bishops of Rome were Peter’s successors. Cyprian was writing almost 200 years after Peter’s death.

This doctrine of Peter as the first Pope of Rome and the following Popes being his successors was officially adopted by Pope Damasus in AD 382, at a Roman council. This was more than 300 years after the death of Peter.

In that year of AD 382, the Roman Pope Damasus accepted the title of Pontiff, or High Priest of the Babylonian Mysteries from the eastern Roman emperor Theodosius.

By AD 450 Pope Leo I demanded to be recognized as the Pontiff because this gave him great authority amongst the pagan barbarians who were breaking up the pagan Roman Empire.

Pope Gelasius I, ruled from AD 492 to 496. He began to be called Vicarius Christi or Vicar of Christ.

Boniface in AD 722 referred to Pope Gregory 2 as Vicar of Peter, in the place of Peter.  Vicarius Petri.

Human leadership, based on being the successors of Peter, had now fooled the church.