Matthew 24, part 4 - Won't come in a desert

We update studies as the Lord Jesus leads us. You can find the latest update of this study at ChurchAges.net

Sunset Peak is in the Sonoran desert

Jesus will not come in the desert.

So He never came to Sunset Peak. Do not be fooled.

MATTHEW 24:4    And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

MATTHEW 24:25   Behold, I have told you before.

We have no excuse if we are fooled today.

Jesus has already warned us that we are in great danger of being fooled.

Today's biggest foolishness is people playing around with quotes so that they can be considered "clever".

Nobody got saved by being clever. Being Scriptural is what protects us.

Beware of doctrines that come from manipulated and spliced quotes.
ROMANS 1:22   Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

MATTHEW 24:26    Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold,

he is in the desert;

go not forth:

The great supernatural Cloud of 28 February 1963 appeared just after sunset (18H40) for 28 minutes just north of Flagstaff in northern Arizona at an impossible height for natural clouds of 27 miles (42 kilometers). There was no face in the Cloud.

There is no mountain or peak below the Cloud.

This photograph was taken from the Tucson Observatory.

Tucson, near Sunset Peak,

is 200 miles south of the city of Flagstaff.

The big supernatural cloud was never seen near Sunset Peak. Brother Branham was in Tucson when the cloud was photographed and knew nothing about it. His first comments on the cloud seem to be made in June.

Then, eight days after they formed the cloud,

the 7 angels that formed the cloud visited brother Branham invisibly at Sunset Peak on 8 March at 8 o'clock in the morning. They commissioned him to go back to Jeffersonville, where they would bring him the revelation of the Seven Seals.

This happened as each angel visited him on separate days, starting with the First Seal on March 18.

The 7 angels formed no cloud on the day of their visitation at 8 a.m. at Sunset Peak.

This photograph was taken from Winslow. It showed two clouds as it was in the path of the moving clouds.

A big supernatural Cloud formed from seven angel's wings and a smaller smoke cloud from an exploded Thor rocket above Vandenburg Airforce Base, earlier that afternoon at 14H52.

You must not believe that that the big Cloud was the Coming of the Lord because the 7 angels who had formed the cloud visited brother Branham 8 days later at Sunset Peak, which is in the great Sonoran desert. And Jesus does not come in a desert.

The great Cloud was never at Sunset Peak. It was at Flagstaff.

The cloud of 1963 was not the Angel of Revelation 10

The big Cloud was not the coming down of the mighty Angel of Revelation Chapter 10.

Almost a year after the Cloud was photographed, brother Branham was speaking of the coming down of the mighty Angel as a future event. The Angel will come down to raise the dead from the seven church ages. The resurrection certainly did not happen in 1963. That is almost 60 years ago.

64-0119 SHALOM

When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more."

When that time comes,

you will rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you will go in.

MATTHEW 24:26    Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold,

he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

“Secret chambers”.

The Parousia doctrine claims that Christ has come and He is in some secret dimension in a way that His Presence (Parousia) is with us.

Do not believe that.

Brother Branham never used the Word "Parousia".

The Seventh Day Adventists have Him in a “secret spiritual chamber”. Whatever that means.

They think He came in 1844. Do not believe any of this.

When He comes He will have the same physical Body that still has nail marks in His hands. Because He will come in the same way that He went.

ACTS 1:11   Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus,

which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go

into heaven.

Jesus assured the disciples that His Spirit would be with the church always, right to the end.

MATTHEW 28:20   Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,

I am with you alway,

even unto the end of the world. Amen.

We must get back to what the apostles taught.

Jesus said that He would always be with His church, in the form of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

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

clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Jesus was always in the midst of His church which is represented by the seven golden candlesticks.

Restore Gospel from East to West after the Dark Ages

Church age 1, started by the apostles, had the true Word of God (which is Jesus' thoughts) as the centre of the church.

The first four church ages saw a move away from the original Bible truths of the apostles. But each age would see some individuals being as close to the original truth as what they could be for their age. These four ages where the truth faded are described by the four churches in Revelation Chapter 2.

Church age 5, thanks to the fearless and brave Martin Luther in Germany, broke the Roman Catholic grip and started the restoration back to the original Bible beliefs.

EVIL was moving away from the centre candlestick of the first church age.

LIVE is EVIL turned around. Moving back towards the central candlestick.

The church fell away from the initial truth until they ended in the Dark Ages of the 4th church age of Thyatira (described in Revelation Chapter 2).

But the church was then restored, starting with the Reformation of Martin Luther in the 5th church age, as described in Revelation Chapter 3.

But at all times, Jesus was there in the midst of His church to help genuine believers.

So God's attention is focused on the restoration of truth in the last three church ages, church ages 5, 6, and 7.

MATTHEW 24:27    For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

This describes the last three church ages, starting with Martin Luther's reformation in Germany in the 5th church age of Sardis (which means Escaped Ones). The Protestants escaped from Roman Catholicism.

In England, the King James Bible was translated to form the foundation of the restoration of truth that would spread worldwide in the missionary age.

Then John Wesley in England restored holiness and outreach which led to the great missionary age. This was the 6th church age of Philadelphia (Brotherly love).

Today, 60% of all the internet websites are English. The next language is Russian with 8%.

So the English King James Version has the widest distribution of all languages on the internet.

The Gospel started in Palestine with the apostles in the first church age. (Indicated by the red dot on the above map). After the Dark Ages, when so much truth was lost, the Gospel of salvation moved across to Luther in Germany (5th church age) then Wesley in England (6th church age) then Pentecost and William Branham in America for the 7th church age,

the church of the Laodiceans (people's rights).

Modern-day churches (symbolized by women) claim that they have the right to make up their own beliefs about what suits them (which is why women wear make-up).

So the Gospel light moved across the world from east to west as each age revealed more truth.

The Son of Man is Jesus, and He is the Word of God.

So the revelation of the Word (the Light) moved from east to west.

Luther taught us to repent, Wesley taught us to live holy and do outreach. Pentecost produced the Holy Ghost baptism. William Branham restored us to the Scriptural teachings of the early church.

As the Bible light moved across the world so it shone brighter until we should be able to see Jesus as the Son of man

walking through the pages of His revealed Word.

Each of the last three church ages revealed more of the Scripture.

We do not see Jesus as a physical Man today, we see Him more clearly revealed in all the symbols and patterns of the Bible.

God became a Man. So Jesus is the only Person who knows how to be the Head of the church.

We must be able to recognize Jesus and His plan for the true church, the Bride, as all the Bible speaks about Him.

In His light, all other leaders just fade away like the stars disappear when the sun returns.

A prophet points to Christ but then fades when compared to Christ.

John the Baptist said:

JOHN 3:30   He must increase, but I must decrease.

If you are in the light of the Son of man then you cannot follow another man. If you are following a man then you are still in darkness.

MATTHEW 24:28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

In defence of just using the King James Version of the Bible.

DEUTERONOMY 4:2    Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

We must not add or remove any words from the Bible.

To change a word, you have to remove the original word and then add in something different. So, if you have two different versions of the Bible then you are disobeying God because something has been changed.

For example, Matthew 24:28 says “aetos” which means eagles.  Vultures is "gypes" in Greek.

So, the amplified Bible and NIV and various other Bibles all interpret “aetos” as vultures to fit their interpretation that vultures feed off a corpse. But they are changing the word. Aetos means eagles. Thus, modern translators change words to fit their understanding of what they think those words should be. That is deadly.

Please explain what Matthew 24:28 means? "Where the carcase is, the eagles will gather".

And what does it mean if you change "eagles" to "vultures"?

This means that the translators think there will be a big battle and a lot of corpses. But they cannot tell us which battle. Besides, "the carcase is singular" and one carcase does not speak of a battle. So they mislead the people. Just like the serpent misled Eve when he changed what God had said.

Thus, translators have sneakily changed the real meaning of the word "carcase" which is to tell us that Jesus Christ, one Person, has been crucified afresh in our day by church preachers.

Rejecting or changing Scripture is to crucify Christ afresh as the Word of God.

Eagles prefer fresh meat. The churches crucify Christ afresh with their traditions that reject the revealed Word of God.

True believers will be drawn out of the Bible-rejecting churches to gather around the Word of God which is revealed by brother Branham's quotes.

64-0823M  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.

64-0719M  THE  FEAST  OF  THE  TRUMPETS

Here now, the Church, that knows nothing but the Bible.

Regardless of ecclesiastical system, denomination, they know nothing about it. It's all foreign to them. They know Him, and Him alone.

True eagles only want to know what the Bible says. They want to understand the Bible symbols and patterns.

DANIEL 12:9   And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

At the end the Bible mysteries will be revealed.

DANIEL 12:10    Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand;

but the wise shall understand.

Only the wise virgins will understand the mysteries of Daniel and Revelation. If we do not understand these symbols then we are bluffing ourselves if we claim to be the wise virgins.

If we do not understand these symbols then we have been fooled and are part of the foolish virgins.

True eagles will not be fooled by all the message churches that seek to replace the Word of God with the quotes.

65-0801  EVENTS  MADE  CLEAR  BY  PROPHECY

And then after the messenger is finished and the Message is done, then they build a denomination upon the Message. And there they die, right there, never come to Life again.

True eagles desperately want to gain an understanding of the King James Bible verses.

HEBREWS 6:6   If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

If you reject or change Scripture then you doom yourself.

The King James Version of the Bible has to remain our Absolute that we can never dare to disagree with.

54-1219  DIVINE  HEALING

You don't have to nail Him to the cross;

just deny Him; you crucify Him again.

They're doing the same thing today. You crucify Him.

63-0707   THE  INDICTMENT

He was the Word; and they rejected the Word. That's one point I want you not to miss, see, I want you not to miss. He was the Word, and, when they rejected Him, they rejected the Word.

And when they did reject Him, they finally crucified Him. And that's what they've done today: reject the Word of God, and accepted their creeds;

and has crucified, publicly, before their congregation,

the working of the Holy Spirit. And they're guilty, and I indict them in the Name of Jesus Christ.

… Yeah, with their creeds they crucify Him afresh.

… . Their creeds and traditions has gotten them away from the Word of God.

… This new Calvary is the church, so-called, most holy places, great pulpits,

Catholicism altar, Catholic altar, called their pulpit. The Methodist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, the Pentecostals, the most holy places, there He receives His hardest pierces. A new Calvary! Where is it found at? In the holy places, the church.

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

… Where did He get His spears at, in His side? Where did He get His pierces? On Calvary.

Where does He get it today? In the pulpit.

… His hardest spear points has been right from the pulpits, where they've criticized and said, "Don't go out to hear that stuff. That's of the devil."

… They're guilty of crucifying the Prince of Life, teaching man's doctrines for His Word.

Coming Capstone destroys the church and saves the Bride

But this rejected Word is what attracts the eagles because God gives them the insight to understand Scripture.

The true Bride wants to know the revelations that the churches vigorously reject.

The soon-coming Capstone that will resurrect the Bride from 7 church ages will hit the feet of the Gentile image which represents the clay of the Bride and the fooled or foolish virgins and the iron of Roman Catholicism.  The Capstone that saves the Bride destroys the church systems. Thus the revealed truth that the Bride loves is hated as a threat to the church systems.

The Capstone will also move to the top of the pyramid of the resurrected New Testament church.

A deeper revelation of the patterns of Scripture scares away church-goers because it exposes their ignorance of Scripture. They realize that it will take a lot of hard work to learn the Bible, and they are scared of that workload. This fear drives them to be angry with those who reveal the deeper truth.

Below anger, there is always fear.

But it was the rejected scraps of bread (representing truth) that Jesus made the disciples pick up after feeding the crowds. His Gospel that the Jews rejected at Calvary was then written by the apostles as the New Testament, and given to us Gentiles.

These are the conditions that will exist during the first half of the fourth seal that tells us about the 7th church age.

We must endure rejection.

There is a flood of unscriptural errors that we have to stand up against.

So we need the revelations of the end-time prophet William Branham to show us the truths of Scripture.

REVELATION 6:7   And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

The fourth beast around the throne in Revelation Chapter 4 was the eagle-age that would reveal the Bible mysteries to the Bride to restore us back to the truth of the apostolic lion-age. The eagle has incredible eyesight or insight.

Then great Tribulation follows at the end of the seventh age as Death takes his ride.

This is mentioned as the future second half of the fourth Seal that is yet to happen in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

REVELATION 6:8   And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This is the future time of trouble that Daniel spoke of. The worst time of trouble to ever hit the earth, that is also called great Tribulation.

DANIEL 12:1   And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be

a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation

even to that same time:

The Second World War started the final events

Let us look back at the awful time of Hitler killing 6 million Jews that ended in 1945 when the Second World war ended.

MATTHEW 24:29

Immediately after the tribulation of those days

"The tribulation of those days" is not the Scriptural great Tribulation that ends in the battle of Armageddon.

This refers to the amateur tribulation or pre-tribulation of Eichman’s Holocaust when 6 million Jews were killed in the Second World war.

The Holocaust was also part of the fifth Seal which represents the persecution of the Jews during the seven church ages.

The Holocaust gave the bride a preview of what the years of great Tribulation will be like.

63-0323  THE  SIXTH  SEAL
... the Jews has went through a pre-tribulation period.

When during the time of this last war, they got to be hated by everybody. And Eichmann killed millions of them in Germany (You just heard the trial.), millions of innocent people slain, Jews, just because they were Jews, no other reason.

... Now, listen at this. Now, it's what Jesus said in Matthew 24:29 and 30.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days.

When this tribulation, this amateur tribulation they've went through here.

Three significant events happened at the end of the Holocaust.

Hitler as a dictator had unleashed the demonic spirits of murder on natural Israel during World War 2.

1.   Just after this Holocaust ended in 1945, brother Branham began his "seventh angel ministry to reveal the mysteries of Scripture" in 1947 to prepare the Bride for the Coming of the Lord.

2.  The Jews were granted the right to fight for a portion of their Promised Land in Israel by the United Nations in 1947 so that the Jews could start returning to Israel. The Jews won this harsh physical battle.

3.  The World Council of Churches was formed in 1948 to unite the non-Catholic churches into the image of the Roman Catholic church beast.

Binding the tares before the wheat was harvested.

The demons that Hitler had unleashed on Israel now entered the World Council of Churches.

Their new aim was spiritual death. Killing the faith of people so that they would not believe the King James Bible nor be able to understand its deeper mysteries.

They heavily criticized the King James Version of the Bible and encouraged the translation of many new and different versions of the English Bible.

The organized churches had to oppose brother Branham in every way that they could. Thus the Bride has a hard spiritual battle to restore the truth of Scripture.

MATTHEW 13:30   Let both [wheat and tares] grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers,

Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:

but gather the wheat into my barn.

If the King James Bible represents our spiritual sunlight, then criticizing it and moving away from it is going to remove much of the light, and thus darkness increases. This is the main purpose of the World Council of Churches, darkening the sunlight so that Christians serve God in unscriptural ways.

As it was in Lot's days, the World Council of Churches encourages gay rights so that the people are unable to find the Door, which is Christ, the Word.

JOHN 10:9   I am the door:

GENESIS 19:10   But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

:11   And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great:

so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

The battle had started between the strict discipline of the revelation of the Bible mysteries and the churches of Laodicea who serve God in a way that suits themselves by ignoring the King James Bible. Laodicea means people's rights. So they claim that they have a right to make up their own beliefs.

Dazzling light brighter than the sun darkened by dirt

"Dark Sun".  The book about the making of the hydrogen bomb.

The man who wrote on the development of the hydrogen bomb (called a thermonuclear bomb) called his book "Dark Sun". A dazzling white light that gets wrapped in dark dust clouds that are forced upwards by the intense forces. This symbolizes the light of Scripture being hidden and obscured by the dust and pollution of human opinions.

MATTHEW 24:29  ... shall the sun be darkened,

and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

The Nazi Holocaust was a preview of the future 3.5 years of great Tribulation which will also be a mad time of slaughter compounded by the fact that nature will be interrupted by the two prophets Moses and Elijah.

Why was this World War 2 Holocaust important? The nations hate Israel. So do many misguided Christians. But the gas chambers of Hitler were so horrific that the nations briefly felt sorry for Israel and by two votes, a motion was passed in the United Nations to award Israel a homeland in 1947. So the Jews finally declared Israel as their country and promptly got attacked by Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and  Yemen. Plus volunteers from Pakistan and Sudan. Supernaturally, the outnumbered Jewish fighters managed to win and secure their homeland, against all odds.

Natural Israel is a warning to the Bride about how intense the struggle is to regain the truth that the apostles once delivered to the early church.

Being back in Israel sets the stage for the return of Jesus to the Jews in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

The amateur tribulation of the Holocaust was the terrible price that the Jews had to pay to get their

homeland back.

"The sun darkened". What does that mean?

In the 1950s, immediately after the Second World War, and in the 1960s the nations developed the hydrogen bomb which is 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. Its explosion is far brighter than the sun but it vapourizes the soil and rock below it and this dust rises up to cover the bright explosion. It looks like a bright sun that is partly darkened as the dust obscures the light.

In 1961 Russia exploded the biggest bomb ever. The mushroom cloud of dust and debris went up to 64 kilometers and spread out until it had a diameter of 100 kilometers. This created a dark shadow underneath it that darkened the natural sunlight.

"Dark sun" is a sign of the times that refers to these nuclear test bomb explosions that created the bombs that will do much damage in the time of great Tribulation. The scientists were seeking to make hydrogen bombs to destroy life during the 1950s and 1960s while brother Branham was using his ministry to reveal the mysteries of Scripture between 1947 and 1965. Understanding these mysteries will enable the Bride to escape the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

The moon shall not give her light.

All the dust that is thrown up into the upper atmosphere to form the mushroom cloud will obviously obscure the moonlight too.

That is a natural fulfillment of this prophecy.

Let us now consider the spiritual implications of this prophecy.

Spiritually, the King James Bible is our sun and source of spiritual light. In 1948, just after the war, the World Council of Churches was formed and since then we now have more than 100 versions of the English Bible. The churches claim the King James Version is flawed and inaccurate. According to them its light is darkened as they believe it is full of mistakes.

They keep finding new manuscripts in Egypt and have decided that it is impossible to have an Absolutely true Bible. So today, almost everybody (including many message-believers) believes that there are mistakes in the King James Bible. So, in their eyes, the Light of truth has darkened. Truth is now the quotes of man. A sad mistake.

The moon represents the church as it reflects the sunlight when the sun leaves. But the churches today no longer reflect the King James Bible as they prefer other versions or else just some person's quotes. So, very little of the King James Bible is reflected by the churches any more.

The churches prefer to reflect human quotes and opinions. Consequently, the world goes into darkness.

DANIEL 12:3    And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

The wise virgins who stay Scriptural are stars that give people direction in the darkness.

"The stars shall fall from heaven" means that modern-day church preachers and pastors have fallen from their heavenly calling of preaching the Word. They now preach what is popular and what the people want to hear. They happily change or contradict or ignore what is in the King James Bible.

The preachers of the Heavenly Gospel fall from their position of telling people the Bible truth. They focus on gold, glory, and girls (money, fame, and women) and prefer to tell people all about the unscriptural errors and traditions that people want to hear.

Laodicea means people's rights. They claim that they have the right to serve God in unscriptural ways, as long as they show a lot of enthusiasm to impress God. Modern churches look like this next cartoon as we approach the time of great Tribulation. Group enthusiasm cannot replace Scriptural accuracy and understanding.

A Sign of an Exodus combines natural and supernatural

Natural and supernatural combine in a sign, like Moses' bush.

A natural bush burned but was supernaturally not burned up.

The bush that Moses saw was natural. But it burned without being consumed which is supernatural.

In 1963 there were two impossibly high clouds above the city of Flagstaff in Arizona. A smoke cloud from a rocket explosion and a supernatural cloud formed by angel's wings.

 MATTHEW 24:29The powers of the heavens shall be shaken

This prophecies of an incredible interruption of nature. Things will go on above our heads that have no natural explanation. Proof that God is intervening supernaturally to make sure that His plan works out.

In 1947 the Angel of the Lord appeared to brother Branham and he began to reveal the mysteries of the written Bible to restore the Bride back to the beliefs of the original apostles.

Now the true church also has to start getting prepared to escape from great Tribulation. But the real key to understanding the mysteries of Scripture was to get the revelation of the Seven Seals.

So God was again going to interrupt nature as a sign to the Bride. It would be a supernatural event that was over our heads that we had no control over.

A sign in the heaven that God was about to reveal the mysteries of the Seven Seals.

MALACHI 4:4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5    Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

Brother Branham came as Elijah to oppose the Jezebel spirit of the dominating Roman church whose traditions and pagan beliefs are killing the chances of people finding the original New Testament truth. He was to turn our hearts back to the early church.

How can attention be drawn to him so that we could notice that he was the prophet that God would use?

Remember Moses.

Moses saw a fire in a natural bush. The bush did not burn up so it was a supernatural fire. His sign was a mixture of natural (the bush) and the supernatural (the fire). So William Branham was also given a sign that mixed the natural and the supernatural as two high-altitude clouds.

At 14H52 on 28 February 1963, a liquid-fueled Thor Agenda D rocket, with three solid-state booster Thiokol rockets, was launched from Vandenberg Airforce base and exploded at a height of 27 miles above the coast of California. A large ring of smoke and debris formed. At this height, the air is so thin that the smoke particles are too dispersed to form a visible cloud against the sun's glare in the blue sky. The smoke blew over towards the city of Flagstaff in northern Arizona. This cloud ring slowly dispersed which is the normal behaviour for such a high altitude cloud. The smoke cloud only became visible briefly after sunset around 18H10. This is typical of a noctilucent cloud (visible at night). But, just after sunset a second much bigger Cloud also appeared some twenty miles in front of it. This Cloud was huge with a circumference of 150 miles. It never dispersed and no scientist knew what caused it because an exploding rocket will only make one ring of smoke. Thus it had to be supernatural as it shook up our known laws of atmospheric physics that cannot explain a natural cloud at that height where there is virtually no water vapour to condense and form a cloud.

The sign for Moses to start the first exodus (the Jews out of Egypt) was a mixture of a natural bush burning with a supernatural flame. This strange sight attracted the attention of Moses.

God also needed a sign to attract the attention of the Bride in our scientific age. This sign of two clouds was to show us that William Branham was about to finally reveal the key mysteries of the Seven Seals in Revelation Chapter 6, so that the Bible-believing Bride could do an exodus out of the church systems.

Above the height that natural clouds can form, in an exclusion zone from 42 kilometers to 65 kilometers, ozone absorbs harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun and it becomes too hot for water drops to form. Any water just remains a vapour. In this "impossible-to-form-a-cloud-of-water-/drops-zone", two clouds appeared.

One was smoke from an artificial man-made explosion. We can explain that. The bigger Cloud in front was supernatural formed by angel wings. One rocket explosion and two clouds. The second bigger Cloud cannot thus be explained by any laws of science.

The powers of the heavens shall be shaken

The laws of atmospheric physics were totally shaken. They had no scientific explanation to offer for the second big Cloud.

This was God giving us a man-made smoke sign together with a supernatural angelic-wings sign.

MATTHEW 24:30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

The big Cloud of angels' wings was the sign of the Son of man in heaven, or the higher atmosphere.

63-0818  THE  UNITING  TIME  AND  SIGN

Never before, since the early church age, did they ever see the things that we are seeing today. And this was only made possible when God sent the Seven Seals and

give us a sign by It, and sent seven Angels

down out of Heaven; and come to bring back that scattered Word in them denominations,

and tie it back into the Word of God again,

to bring down His Holy Spirit.

The seven angels first formed the supernatural Cloud as a sign in the heaven or atmosphere above the city of Flagstaff in Arizona.

Then they came down 8 days later near Sunset Peak which is 200 miles south of Flagstaff, to commission brother Branham to reveal the Seven Seals.

Brother Branham refers the two clouds to two Scriptures.  Matthew 24:30 and Joel 2:30

65-0718   TRYING  TO  DO  GOD  A  SERVICE  WITHOUT  BEING  THE  WILL  OF  GOD
And then in that great observatory, so that the world will be without, they're still wondering what happened. In Tucson, them big observatories took the picture of it up there; still wondering what happened. What is it? They still put in the paper, "Does anybody know anything about what, how it could have happen?" There is no fog up there, there's no air, there's no moisture; thirty miles high in the air. Oh, my!
"There shall be signs in the heaven above.

[Signs, plural from Joel's prophecy. Two high altitude clouds]

And when these things take place, earthquakes in divers places,

then shall appear the sign in the heaven, of the Son of man."

[The sign, singular from Matthew's prophecy. The big supernatural cloud.]

"That day," in Luke,

"the Son of man will reveal Himself again; being revealed,

Hisself." And the world will look like Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, my!

MATTHEW 24:30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:

The sign in the heaven that the Son of man

will reveal Himself in the Scriptures by revealing the mysteries of the Seven Seals.

The Bride would finally discover that

the Bible is an open Book whose mysteries can now be read and understood.

What about Joel's prophecy?

JOEL 2:30   And I will shew wonders in the heavens

and in the earth, blood, and fire,

and pillars of smoke.

"wonders (plural) in the heavens....pillars (plural) of smoke".

"Blood and fire". The Second World War where up to 70 million people were killed.

The Second World War Holocaust caused the return of the Jews to their Promised Land. It ended with two atomic bomb explosions in Japan. Two huge pillars of smoke rising many kilometers into the sky in 1945.

In 1947 the United Nations agreed to give the Jews a portion of Israel.

In 1947 the angel of the Lord came to brother Branham to start him on his ministry of revealing the Bible mysteries.

On the Day of Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel's prophecy but with a significant change.

ACTS 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire,

and vapour of smoke:

Not pillars of smoke but vapour of smoke.

Water vapour makes a rain cloud.

So vapour of smoke makes a smoke cloud.

Consequently, a high altitude rocket explosion was needed to fulfill Joel's prophecy of the vapour of a smoke cloud being far above where smoke can normally rise to.

"Blood and fire".  President Eisenhower had sent 700 military advidors to Vietnam. This effort was starting to fail. President Kennedy could have ended the Vietnam involvement by withdrawing them but he preferred to send about 15000 more military advisers to Vietnam. Then in 1965 Lyndon Johnson escalated the disasterous Vietnam war.

In 1963 the shocking assassination of President Kennedy saw his blood smeared over his wife's dress on worldwide television.

In 1963, the starting sign of the third exodus was a supernatural cloud of angels wings as the sign of the Son of man in the heaven.

Then there was also the man-made smoke cloud of the exploded rocket to fulfill the prophecy of "vapour of smoke".

63-0318 THE  FIRST  SEAL
Takes the Book ... of Seals and breaks them and shows the seventh angel.

For this alone, the mysteries of God, is the ministry of the seventh angel.

Brother Branham had an extraordinary ministry but the peak of his ministry was revealing the Seven Seals which unlocked the hidden mysteries of Scripture.

We have to check his revelations with the Bible.

62-0627  WE  WOULD  SEE  JESUS

... and always search out what I say. If it isn't exactly with the Scripture, don't believe it

54-1219  DIVINE  HEALING

You don't have to nail Him to the cross; just deny Him; you crucify Him again. They're doing the same thing today. You crucify Him.

If we deny any Scripture, we crucify Christ.

The SHOUT is still in the future

The future "shout" is the Bride proving the truth from the Bible.

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:

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.

Brother Branham revealed the final mysteries between 1963 and 1965.

But that was not the shout or message because, in 1965,

one month before he died, he was still looking for the shout.

So, the "shout" never happened when brother Branham was alive.

The "shout" is when the Bride is able to prove from Scripture the things that brother Branham was preaching about.

Brother Branham's ministry was not to learn how to reveal the mysteries of Scripture for himself. His ministry was to teach the Bride how to reveal the mysteries from Scripture for themselves.

64-0629  THE  MIGHTY  GOD  UNVEILED  BEFORE  US

...that God is calling an exodus,

to come from behind the fleshly curtain who tries to impersonate, who tries to join church;

not Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, altogether, but Pentecostal churches.

It is an individual affair. It's you and God. You have to go in, not your group, not your church, not your pastor, but it's you who has to go in.

His quotes are only true if you, as an individual, can find them in Scripture.

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.

Only then can the mighty Angel or Archangel of Revelation 10 come down to raise the dead from the seven church ages with the voice of the Archangel.

That will be the second stage of the Coming of the Lord.

Notice the clap of Thunder that is still to come. We do not know what that is.

When the first Seal actually opens, there will be a clap of Thunder.

REVELATION 6:1   And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,

and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder,

one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

Thus we have a revelation of the opening of the First Seal.

But for the actual opening, there must be a clap of Thunder first.

64-0119 SHALOM

" When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you will rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you will go in.

Almost a year after the Cloud was photographed and brother Branham is still looking for the Angel to come in the future.

So the Cloud was not the coming of the Angel.

The big Cloud was formed by 7 angels as a sign.

Eight days later, William Branham would receive a commission from these 7 angels to open up the revelation of the Seven Seals.

The main event was this unfolding of Scripture as he preached on

the Revelation of the Seven Seals,

would set the stage for the Bride to be able to prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus.

1Now, at last, the Bride could finally get an understanding of these deep mysteries.

Please notice. He called his famous book "The REVELATION of the Seven Seals".

He did not call it "The OPENING of the Seven Seals".

There is a big difference between the revelation of the opening of the Seals and the actual opening of the Seals.

The Seven Seals will only be opened in all their details when the Bride is in Heaven around the throne of God in Revelation Chapter 5.

1965   AN EXPOSITION OF THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES   CHAPTER ONE

And it was not until Revelation 5:6-8 (which follows Revelation 4:2-3 in sequence of time) that we see the "Lamb" taking the book from "HIM" That sat on the throne,

Chapter 4 of Revelation has John caught up to Heaven, symbolizing the Bride being caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Once the 7 Seals were revealed, it was like opening a zip.

Suddenly more and more of these profound mysteries were opened up and revealed to the Bride.  Clearing up these areas of ignorance would enable her to get ready for the catching away of the church. Thus both groups, the Bride and the Jews would finally be ready to prepare for the final countdown.

The great Cloud of 1963  is the sign of the Son of Man up in the heaven. It was never photographed below the height of 27 miles. It was a sign that the mysteries were going to be revealed.

Christ comes down first as the revealed mysteries

The mysteries of God come down as the Word of God.

This must first happen so that the Bride can understand the Bible and prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord in a physical Body.

63-0317   THE  BREACH  BETWEEN  THE  SEVEN  CHURCH  AGES  AND  THE  SEVEN  SEALS

... and the mysteries comes down from God as the Word of God

and reveals the entire revelation of God. Then the Godhead and everything else is settled. All the mysteries: serpent's seed and whatevermore is to be revealed.

[Christ is revealed in His Word. The Bible becomes an open Book].

...  And when the Seals are broke and the mystery is revealed, down comes the Angel,

the Messenger, Christ, setting His foot upon the land and upon the sea with a rainbow over His head

[These last two lines can only happen after 1965 as that was when the Seals had been broken and the mystery of God (the Word) had been revealed].

...  And here He returns back in the 10th chapter

after the coming time, that all the mysteries is to be finished,

and the Seals are to be broke, and proclaiming that its time is no more. And he said, "When the seventh angel has begin to sound, then the mysteries should be finished and

time for the Angel to appear. 

The coming of the Angel was still in the future.

The Cloud was photographed 17 days previously.

At the First Coming of Jesus, there were 40 days between the Old Testament saints' resurrection and the Ascension to Heaven.

The first stage of Christ's Second Coming is the "shout" that reveals the Bible mysteries to the Bride.

This is the former or teaching rain.

The second stage of Christ's Coming: The mighty Angel will come down for the future resurrection.

This will start the latter or harvest rain.

Harvest is when the seeds are pulled off the plant.

The dead saints are first pulled out of their graves.

Then, stage three, the Trump of God pulls the entire Bride off the earth to meet the Lord in the air.

That completes the harvest rain, called the latter rain.

The Bride misses the 3.5 years of great Tribulation as they spend that three-and-a-half-years in Heaven at the Wedding Supper.

Then Jesus and His Bride return for His Third Coming at Armageddon.

Matthew jumps to the battle of Armageddon

MATTHEW 24:30   ...and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

By then the Antichrist Pope has killed all the foolish virgin church-goers as well as two-thirds of the Jews.

So there will be nobody left on earth who will be happy to see the Lord Jesus Coming down in Judgement.

The revelation of the 7 Seals finally unfolds the revelation that the Bride needs in order to be ready for the Lord.

When the Bride can read the Bible like an open Book,

then they get caught up to Heaven in a secret catching away that is not mentioned here because it is so secret.

The Bride is caught up to Heaven and then the Gospel goes back to the Jews when the time of great Tribulation starts.

The 144000 accept the Lord and then are killed.

Then Jesus returns the third time for Armageddon.

Now the scene shifts to the Third Coming of Jesus at the end of great Tribulation.

The antichrist has destroyed the foolish virgins and killed the 144000 Jews. So, when Jesus returns for the battle of Armageddon,  all the followers of the antichrist Pope know that they are in deep trouble.

Since no-one is happy to see the Lord's Third Coming, that means that the man of sin,  the final Pope, has killed every saved Christian who ended up in the time of great Tribulation.

So, make sure that you do not end up in great Tribulation.

MATTHEW 24:31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Angels, plural.

Moses and Elijah who are God's two messengers to the Jews. An angel is a messenger.

They are sent to pull out the 144000 Jews who return to Christ during great Tribulation. Winds speak of war and strife as this is Tribulation time.

"Heaven". These 144000 are the heavenly born-again souls of the 3.5 year great Tribulation era.

This is the sixth seal.

Now we should hear about the Seventh Seal which is the Second Coming of the Lord.

MATTHEW 24:32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

But Jesus just changes the subject.

By not mentioning the Seventh Seal, Jesus makes it clear that it is a total mystery that we know nothing about. Anyone trying to work out when the Lord is coming is just wasting their time.

The 7th Seal is top secret. The Coming of the Lord.

At this time, the Gospel turns to the Jews.

So, Jesus makes no mention of His Coming but speaks of the Jews who will get saved in great Tribulation.

The fig tree is a symbol of Israel.  When Israel becomes a nation, that is an important sign of the times.

Humans declared Israel a nation in 1948.

But none of us know when God declared Israel to be a nation.

In 1967 the Jews won a stunning victory to enlarge their Promised Land but they overdid things and took the Sinai Peninsula which was not promised to Abraham. In 1973 Egypt gave them a big shock. The Jews won the war but then handed back the Sinai Desert to Egypt in 1982. That put them back in the boundaries of the Promised Land.

So, 1982 is probably a better year to regard Israel becoming a nation again.

But now that Israel is back in their homeland, that is a major indication that His Second Coming is at hand.

Israel is God's timepiece. Pray for the Jews.

President Trump did a courageous thing in 2018 when he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

MATTHEW 24:33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

:34    Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

We do not know how long a generation is. Different people come up with different answers.

We also do not know when God regarded Israel as being a nation.

But many of the people who were alive in 2018 when Israel became a proper nation with Jerusalem as its capital, will see the end-time events.

:35    Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

MATTHEW 24:36

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

A quick mention of the Seventh Seal. The Second Coming of the Lord. No-one knows when it will be.

"This generation shall not pass" is an intentionally vague statement. We cannot thus make an accurate calculation, otherwise we would be able to work out when the Lord will return. And that is one secret that we cannot know while we are still in these sinful bodies.

But having seen Jerusalem made the capital of Israel as it used to be 2000 years ago, we can know that we are very close to the end.

MATTHEW 24:37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

:38    For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

:39    And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

This refers back to the seventh church age, just before the Coming of the Lord.

As in Noah’s day, people are focused on enjoying life. The emphasis is on marriage. People marry and produce children. In 2021 there are almost 8 billion people. Every 12 - 15 years or so and we add another billion people to our planet. So obviously, we also have a huge emphasis on marriage. Another sign of the times.

Few will make it

MATTHEW 24:40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

:41    Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Being caught away at the Coming of the Lord is a personal affair. God takes the one who is ready. One was in the field (either working or doing outreach) one was grinding corn (either preparing a meal or making the Bible mysteries understandable so that they can be fed to people as the Bread of Life).

These are the conditions for the fourth Seal at the end of the 7^th church age. Then the true Bride will step straight into the Seventh Seal, the Coming of the Lord.

:42    Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Again reminding us of the total mystery of the Seventh Seal.

MATTHEW 24:43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

We have to be endlessly alert, checking our every doctrine with Scripture. We must have an attitude of being alert and checking, not a complacent feeling that we have arrived and are in need of nothing.

An attitude we need is that we may be wrong and thus must be teachable and ready to learn.

If proven wrong, we must be grateful for the correction, not hurt or distressed. Se must be ready to unlearn past faults and relearn more Scriptural ideas.

A clever person questions others. A wise person questions himself.

MATTHEW 24:44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Again, reminding us of the total mystery of the Seventh Seal.

Until the resurrection of the saints from the 7 church ages occurs, there is no calculation that will reveal in what year the Lord is Coming. We can only know that we are getting close.

"The Son of man".

The word "the" means that there is only one Person Who this refers to. Jesus.

Each local elder must be faithful and wise.

MATTHEW 24:45Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?

"A faithful ... servant".

The word "a" means that no specific person is being referred to.

This can mean any individual who is faithful.

COLOSSIANS 1:7   As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you

a faithful minister

of Christ;
COLOSSIANS 4:7   All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and

a faithful minister

and fellowservant in the Lord:

COLOSSIANS 4:9    With Onesimus,

a faithful and beloved brother,

who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all things which are done here.

God uses each wise and faithful man as a local elder in one of His local churches.

No local church must have one man as its head. No man must be head of many churches. That is Catholic.

Each local assembly is ruled by a group of local elders, never by one man.

I PETER 5:1   The elders which are among you I exhort,

who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

I PETER 5:2   Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,

not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Not for filthy lucre. This gets collected by the pastor and distributed to his yes-men to buy their loyalty.

The pastor refuses to fund his critics so that he can eliminate opposition in the church.

That is how dictatorship works.

No Scripture says that the tithes belong to the pastor.

I PETER 5:3  Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

I PETER 5:4   And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Each elder in a local assembly will be rewarded when the Lord comes.

57-0908 HEBREWS  CHAPTER  FIVE  AND  SIX.1

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

That's right, yes, sir, the sovereignty of the local church, each church in itself.

Their task is to ensure that each local assembly returns to the pattern of the first church age that never had a pastor in charge of a church. If a pastor is the head of the church, then that pattern is unscriptural.

Most of the apostles were dead by AD 70 when the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Thus there was no longer any church with pre-eminence. Then the Nicolaitans quietly took over each local church and elevated a holy man to be the head of the church. God hated that.

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

Nicolaitan is to conquer the laity by elevating a holy man above the laity or congregation.

The seventh angel came to reveal the mysteries of the written Scripture.

MATTHEW 17:11   And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

If he restores all things then there is no need for us to look for a follow-up ministry.

Believers can obviously help each other but there is no dominant ministry that we are dependent on.

If each local assembly studies the message they can be restored to the first church.

People are free to ask for help wherever they feel led, but there is no central worldwide figure that is alive today who everyone has to obey.

That is how the Catholics regard the Pope.

Many have claimed to be the Elisha to follow Elijah or to be the eighth angel. Thus the Nicolaitan's spirit is still strong in the last church age.

But men should not indulge in praising their own ministries.

JOHN 16:13   Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

for he shall not speak of himself;

Only one disciple of John the Baptist, who was Andrew, became one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus.

So following brother Branham is no guarantee that you will end up following the Scriptures.

Especially if the head of your church is a pastor, which is unscriptural, to begin with.

The Dark Ages missed the mark with the Pope using a reign of terror.

Modern day church leaders miss the mark with their reign of error.

So these self-elevating men continue to spread error to all those who uplift them.

Each church only listens to its elevated pastor. This minimizes their chances of ever hearing the truth from outside their church.

But in the last church age, Jesus stands outside the church. Every church. Because he mentions no exceptions.

There are many differently believing message-churches. Thus there is much error circulating. Yet each message-church proudly claims to have the full truth.

Some of the obvious errors:

A seven-year Tribulation has been carried over from the denominations to some of the message-churches.

They claim that the antichrist will make a covenant with the Jews for 7 years and then break it after 3.5 years.

DANIEL 9:27   And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease

The covenant is not made, it is confirmed.

A confirmed covenant cannot be broken.

GALATIANS 3:15    Brethren, I speak after the manner of men;

Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

God made the covenant with Abram in Genesis Chapter 15, using animal sacrifices.

GENESIS 15:18   In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram,

Then the covenant was confirmed at Calvary with the ultimate sacrifice, the death of Jesus after a 3½ year ministry. That ended all the animal sacrifices and Temple oblations.

GALATIANS 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ,

Consequently, there is only a 3½ year great Tribulation left.

Another big error is that a man can divorce and remarry, usually to a younger woman.

When a man and woman are legally married, no divorce and remarriage is allowed.

The woman has to be a virgin. If she is not and did not confess this before the wedding, then her vow is false.

When her husband discovers this, he can divorce her if he so wishes.

Her false vow was not binding and thus, he is free to re-marry.

But if he forgives her then the marriage vow is binding.

ROMANS 7:1   Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that

the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

:2    For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth;

A legal vow is binding until death.

A legal marriage vow binds the woman as long as her husband lives.

Thus this legal vow is equally binding on the man until his death.

A bizarre error is the claim that a man cannot commit adultery against his own marriage.

This claims that a married man can sleep with a single or unmarried woman. Quite awful.

I CORINTHIANS 6:18  Flee fornication.

Fornication is a single person indulging in sex.

Message pastors now specialize in speculating about the mysteries that are not written in the Bible.

Brother Branham's ministry was to finish the mysteries that are written in the Book.

62-1230  IS  THIS  THE  SIGN  OF  THE  END  SIR

Notice his type of Message, "Finishing all the mysteries of God, that are written in the Book." The seventh angel is winding up all the mysteries that's laying loose-ended, all out through these organizations and denominations. The seventh angel gathers them up, and finishes the entire mystery. That's what the Bible said,

"Finishes the mystery of the written Book."

The early church never tried to preach on the unwritten mysteries like what the 7 Thunders are nor when the Coming of the Lord happens.

64-0614   THE  UNVEILING  OF  GOD

And he said, "Well, then, them seven thunders, you see," said, "wouldn't them seven thunders blasting out,

won't that be a Revelation be give to some man?"

I said, "No, sir, it would be adding something to It or taking Something from It."

The early church preached the written Word.

II TIMOTHY 4:2   Preach the word;

MATTHEW 24:46    Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

47    Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.

Our eagle-season is to catch the revelation of a doctrine from the messages of William Branham and then labour to establish that doctrine from Scripture. We must then be able to prove the doctrine purely from Scripture, without referring back to brother Branham’s quotes.

We have to remain faithful to the written Word.

Pastors want power over people

MATTHEW 24:48

48    But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;

49    And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;

The great harlot in Revelation 17 is drunk. So Message pastors drink from the denominational cup of Rome and claim dominion over the church. They claim to be head of the church just like the Catholic priests are head of their churches. They dominate the people and harshly condemn any opposition to intimidate the people into obeying their will and following their beliefs.

They rely on their carefully selected puddles of interpreted quotes because they cannot prove their beliefs from Scripture. Only when you run a doctrine through the Scripture are you partaking of the River of Life.

MATTHEW 24:50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,

Again reminding us of the total mystery of the Seventh Seal.

MATTHEW 24:51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

These people end up in great Tribulation where they will feel very sorry for themselves.

Pastors love to have the pre-eminence. They rule the church. They limit the people to their own knowledge areas and the congregation is crippled in those areas where the pastor is ignorant. Domineering leaders will end up in great Tribulation as God hates the elevated Nicolaitans.

Pastors claim to be shepherds, but the Scripture does not say a shepherd is the pastor.

The Scripture does not say a pastor is the head of the church.

The word "pastor" is only mentioned once in the New Testament, so he has no Bible authority to be the head of the church.

The Bible condemns pastors five times.

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

JEREMIAH 2:8    …the pastors also transgressed against me,

JEREMIAH 10:21For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD:

JEREMIAH 12:10Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.

JEREMIAH 22:22The wind shall eat up all thy pastors,

These are the mistakes that pastors tend to make. It is obvious that power over people corrupts them.

The leadership of the church needs a serious review.

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

This is the only verse that mentions "pastors" in the New Testament.

And in this reference, they are mentioned fourth out of five ministries. Thus they have no Scriptural claim to be in charge of the church. They have usurped that position.

When God set up the church He never even referred to a pastor.

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.

Who should lead the church?

St Paul at the start of the New Testament church said it should be elders.

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

ACTS 20:28Take 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.

St Peter said the same thing towards the end of the New Testament.

I PETER 5:1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

I PETER 5:2Feed the flock of God which is among you,

taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

JEREMIAH 23:2Therefore 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.

God is not impressed with pastors who are in charge.

A pastor has his limitations. He has his strengths, which are good but also has his weaknesses and areas of ignorance, which cripple the people's progress as they seek Truth. Some churches appoint elders, who first have to be approved by the pastor and thus have to be his yes-men. But even this group of elders is dominated by the pastor as the churches have adopted the Catholic model of having one man in charge.

It is impossible to find the full Bible Truth in a church dominated by a man because that whole structure is contrary to the Bible. Full Truth will not emerge within a framework of error.

Dominating leaders of the church is also an indication of the end time where error takes over the church.

Always remember what God said about our seventh church age churches:

REVELATION 3:16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Lukewarm means partly Scriptural and partly unscriptural.

Out of God’s mouth comes His Word. So the absence of Scripture in so much of what the churches believe means that they are no longer in the Word of His mouth. God does not accept us as being partly right and partly wrong. He requires us to be searching for doctrines that are fully correct. In other words, we must be open to correction. We must be teachable. We must want to be taught.

REVELATION 3:17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

There is no “thing” that is darkness. Darkness is the absence of light. God’s Word is light. Being unscriptural is simply an absence of light. This puts us in darkness. Anyone who is in darkness is blind as they cannot see what is going on. The absence of Scriptural proof for our church doctrines simply means we are groping around in the darkness, looking for the Door which is Jesus our Light.

GENESIS 19:10But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them,

and shut to the door.

11    And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

The same happened in Lot’s day. The homosexual men of Sodom searched in darkness, but the door was closed.

LUKE 17:28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

While all seemed to be well, the door closed.

Noah, in Hebrew, is Noe in Greek.

LUKE 17:26And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27    They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

So all seemed to be going well but once again God closed the door.

GENESIS 7:16And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him:

and the LORD shut him in.

There was one door into the ark and God closed it.

Jesus is the Door to heaven.

JOHN 10:7

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you,

I am the door of the sheep.

Both in Noah’s day and in Lot’s day, the door was closed.

So a major indication of the end-times in the 7^th church age is God closing the Door to understanding Scripture.

The churches cannot explain many of the issues in the Bible, and they are also not able to prove many of their doctrines from the Bible.

How do we know that the Door to Truth is closing at the end-time?

LUKE 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

:25    When once the master of the house is risen up,

and hath shut to the door,

and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

:26    Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence,

(much praise and worship)

        and thou hast taught in our streets.

:27    But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

(doing what they know is wrong)

:28    There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out

(into great Tribulation).

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

REVELATION 3:20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:

if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

This verse makes it clear that Jesus stands outside the door of the church.

He is knocking on the closed door.

So the door is closed,

but He is trying to get individuals in the church to listen to Him and He is the Word, the Bible.

LUKE 18:8.... Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh,

shall he find faith on the earth?

This statement indicates that there will be few believers at the end-time.

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

Your faith is only as strong as the amount of Scripture that you believe.

These two Scriptures mean that few people will be able to prove their beliefs from the Bible.

Make sure that you are one of them, even if the rest of your church is not interested. There is no safety in numbers. He only took one from the field and one who was grinding corn.

A sobering fact.

Before the Flood, only one man Enoch was caught up to heaven without dying. Today the Bride has to prepare to be caught up to Heaven before great Tribulation starts. Thus the living Bride will also not see death. If the Flood is a comparison to our day, then the numbers will not be big.

So another indication of the end times is the fact that very few individuals are interested in being Scriptural in all that they believe.

Fewer and fewer people take the Bible seriously enough to read and study It with intense diligence. Why?  Because if they do so, they find that other people are not really interested.

This end-time attitude of indifference dampens their enthusiasm, and they lose interest as well.

So we allow our circumstances to control us instead of God’s Holy Spirit controlling us.

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.