My church is not what it should be

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

Nobody has the rule over a local elder

Some elders preach and some do not, but it is a group of local elders that must run each local church.

No church is a safe refuge as make-believers and unbelievers gather with the believers.

62-0704  WE WOULD SEE JESUS

Always remember, keep three classes of people in your mind. They're always there, that's: believers, make-believers, and unbelievers. They're in every crowd. See?

Wherever you have believers, there are make-believers and unbelievers too. So who are you fellowshipping with? That is the problem with every church.

65-1206  MODERN EVENTS ARE MADE CLEAR BY PROPHECY

Remember, there's always three groups of people in every bunch of people you gather, that's, make-believers, unbelievers, and believers. We have them in every group. They've had them in all time.

Even the Branham tabernacle was not immune to the invasion of the Philistines.

So, we can imagine the extent to which the Philistines have invaded the other message-churches. After all, they came closest to the truth and would thus be the biggest target for the enemy.

59-0628   A DECEIVED CHURCH BY THE WORLD

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Philistines is on thee, Branham Tabernacle. Philistines is on you, Pentecostal.

'Course the Philistines got you, rest of you, long time ago when you organized yourself so tight, nothing could come in 'less you was a Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, or something.

You wouldn't have nothing to do with the rest of them.

Each church organizes itself into a tight group that accepts no advice from outside itself. Then the Philistines have taken over that church.

Conforming to a church is not going to help us discover the Bible truth.

65-1204  THE RAPTURE

The first thing comes, when He starts descending from the Heaven, there's a shout. What is it? Is a Message, to get the people together. A Message comes forth, first. Now, lamp-trimming time, "Rise and trim your lamps." What watch was that? The seventh, not the sixth. The seventh, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Rise and trim your lamps." And they did. Some of them found they didn't even have any Oil in their lamp. See? But it's lamp-trimming time.

… A shout, what is the shout? It's the Message going forth, first, the living Bread of Life bringing forth the Bride.

The “shout” is the Message, but it is not when brother Branham revealed the Bible mysteries to us.

The “shout” is when the Bride individuals are able to reveal the mysteries of the King James Version for themselves.

The next quote was preached one month before he died. Brother Branham was still looking for the “shout” in the future. So, he did not classify his own preaching from Scripture as the completion of the shout.

He had proved what he believed from Scripture. But now the Bride members had to be able to prove those beliefs from Scripture for themselves. Only then would brother Branham’s ministry have achieved it aim.

1965-1127  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.

The future “shout” must come from the Bride individuals, not from brother Branham as he left the scene one month later.

62-1111  WHY  I’M  AGAINST  ORGANIZED  RELIGION
Notice, the 19th chapter is the next, "After these things." Did you notice here in the 19th chapter, "After these things"? Watch what? After what?

After the Message of "Come out of her!"
"After these things," watch, "is the shout of the Bride saints, with the Bridegroom,
going to the Marriage of the Lamb."

We have to come out of the churches with their man-made rules that elevate a man above the other people.

The local church is ruled by the local elders.

An elder is an adult male whose responsibility is to tell the people what is in the Bible and thus tries to stop them from being unscriptural.

There is no higher authority than a local elder in a local church. No man is above him.

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?

Nobody was ever asked who their pastor was

Christians are classified as priests.

I PETER 2:9   But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,

All priests are equal. Only the High Priest is above them.

Consequently, only the High Priest Jesus is above an elder. The thoughts of Jesus are written in the King James Bible. We listen to Him alone.

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.

God set up the church by using the apostles to write the New Testament and the prophets who wrote the Old Testament. Then God placed teachers to sew together the New Testament and the Old Testament.

But there was no mention of pastors. God did not use pastors to set the church at the beginning.

The seven church ages reveal a hidden plan in the Bible that has structured our past and will shape our future.

The seventh church age “of the Laodiceans” is where the Laodiceans make up their own church structure and its rules such as putting a pastor in charge of a church, which is unscriptural. Thus the church of the Laodiceans is being vomited out of God’s mouth. In the end Jesus, Who stands outside each church door, is appealing only to an individual, not to the church.

A church can only have one Head, Jesus. So if the pastor claims to be the head of the church, Jesus has to leave. The church is the body of the Lord. No body can have two heads.

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

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

REVELATION 3:20   Behold, 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.

God spues out every church at the end but, standing rejected outside every church, He still appeals to an individual who loves the Word more than he loves his church.

Earthly Empires are built upon the blood and sweat of slaves.

The Heavenly Kingdom is built upon the Blood and Sweat of Jesus.

King James Bible, the only true Bible, was accepted until 1880. After that it was rejected and replaced by the modern versions.

The Greek influence that is visible in the middle of the Gentile image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, was strongly based on self-glorification and a strong desire to be competitive and better than everyone.

Greeks were brilliant at defending error, and that attitude continues as churches cleverly defend the changes made by the new Bible versions.

This attitude has infected the church world.

II THESSALONIANS 2:1   Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

We can only gather together effectively if we return to believing the written Scriptures of the King James Bible. We cannot be effectively gathered together under the headship of some man.

“Who is your pastor?” is an unscriptural statement.

“Pastor” singular is not mentioned in the New Testament.

"Pastors" is mentioned once in the New Testament, in the plural. So a church does not have one man as a pastor. Many elders perform pastoral care in a church as they look after the problems of the people.

No New Testament church had a pastor as its head. A pastor applied to any elder who had the wisdom to offer pastoral care which encouraged people to cope with their various personal problems. There could be many pastors in one local church, helping the people with their family problems, work problems, relationship problems, personal problems, health problems, motivational problems, financial problems, etc. All that takes a lot of time and one pastor can only deal effectively with a few people. Another pastor would need to deal with another group of individuals. Certain pastors would have specific skills. This one was an excellent marriage counsellor, another one understood the intricacies of the work place. Another pastor better understood the problems associated with issues like depression or rejection. No one man can solve all these issues for everyone. A team of pastors is better equipped to help and encourage the people.

The doctrinal issues that the people were faced with would be resolved by Bible teachers. Their answers always go back to Scripture. Thus, they never ask unscriptural questions like, “Who is your pastor?” which can only cause confusion.

“The tithes belong to the pastor” is equally unscriptural. But men claim to be a pastor in order to get the tithes. It is a meal ticket. Then they defend their false position as head-of-the church in order to keep their power and money. Their power to take your money.

God set the church without mentioning 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.

When God set the church in place, He used three ministries. Apostles, teachers, prophets. There was no mention of pastors. Pastors had no doctrinal place, just a place of helping people with their personal problems and issues.

I CORINTHIANS 11:17   Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

We are worse off when we gather together in a church that has a human head.

An unscriptural structure under a one-man-head is Nicolaitan and cannot guide us to the Truth of God’s Word. That is why human quotes are increasingly replacing Scripture today, which is a disaster. People believe in Christmas, Good Friday, Lent, Shrove Tuesday, a seven-year Tribulation, and they claim to know what the seven Thunders are.

61-0218  BALM IN GILEAD

I said, "I been back to mother church ever since I receive the Holy Ghost." I said, "You mean the mother of organizations, not the mother of church. We're borned into it, not joined into it, borned into it." That's right. All right.

1965   CHURCH AGE BOOK  CHAPTER 9   THE CHURCH OF THE LAODICEANS.

“Be zealous and repent.” Now this false church has zeal; make no mistake about that. Her zeal has literally been that of the Jews, John 2:17, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten Me up.” But it is a wrong zeal. 

It is for the house of their own building. It is for their own creeds, dogmas, organizations,

their own righteousness. 

They have put the Word out for their own ideas.

They deposed the Holy Ghost and made men into leaders. 

They have put aside Eternal Life as a Person, and make it good works, or even church conformity rather than good works."

People develop a belief to justify their prejudice.

TV evangelism and books: selling some kind of self-help religion, or promoting a “give-to-get” scheme that finances their rather privileged lifestyles.

You cannot just build on a human quote

We are born-again of the Holy Spirit. Forcing people to join a church is a Babylonian spirit.

Nebuchadnezzar forced all the Babylonian people to bow down to a statue of Daniel, the revered prophet. Today, message churches force people to bow down to the quotes of the end-time prophet William Branham. If the quote contradicts Scripture, then they claim that they must stay with the quote. If one quote contradicts another quote, then they mistakenly just pick whatever quote suits them. That is no basis for establishing truth.

In "Daniel’s 70 Weeks" brother Branham spoke of a 7-year Tribulation.

In "The Revelation of the Seven Seals" he spoke of a 3.5 year Tribulation. Which statement is true and why?

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 was not made. The covenant that God had made over 2000 years before with Abraham and his seed was now confirmed in Christ, Who is the Seed of Abraham.

Jesus was supposed to have a seven-year ministry (1 week prophetically) but was cut off in midweek after 3.5 years.

His death ended all the animal sacrifices and Temple oblations. Thus there is only 3.5 years of this prophecy left to the Jews. God will return to them during the 3.5 years (1260 days or 42 months) of great Tribulation.

In Daniel’s 70 Weeks brother Branham spoke of America being destroyed by 1977. That never happened.

Speaking of the 1963 Cloud which brother Branham never saw and which he never stood under, he said that the angels were photographed going up. In another place he said they were photographed coming down. The only evidence of the angels that he had was one photograph on the back cover of Life magazine.

He also said that the Cloud hung in the air all day. (It actually hung there only for 28 minutes after sunset).

So, you cannot just run with one of his quotes to produce a sensational doctrine. Rather keep quiet.

65-1127  TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT IT BEING GOD'S WILL

It was at then, when that man died, that David with the anointing saw what he had done wrong. O David, you pastor, can't you see your dead creeds and denominations you're holding on to? Can't you see what it's doing? It's killing a Uzziah.

Spiritually dead, and you wonder why there ain't no revival; letting your women cut their hair, paint their face, wear shorts; send your boys away to ricky schools, and so forth like that, where half of them comes home homosexuals, and everything.

65-1127  TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT IT BEING GOD'S WILL

           Notice David's objective: he was bringing the ark to his own house.

That wasn't the capital, that wasn't the place, it belonged in Jerusalem. But David was bringing it to his own house,

he wanted the revival to be on his own denomination.

"Oh, if you're Assembly, all right. If you're Oneness, all right. If you're Pentecostal, okay."

Each pastor trying to produce a revival in his own church.

65-1128  GOD'S  ONLY  PROVIDED  PLACE  OF  WORSHIP

Out there in Tucson, is listening in this morning, I once wondered...

I've always constraining people, "Go to church, no matter where you go."

And I seen the people kind of pulling back, and going this way. And I thought, "What's the matter?"

I went to some of them,

"The first day you're there, they'll approach you, 'Join our church.' If you don't do it, you're not welcome." See? See?

It's a forced thing, it's forced upon you, see, and that's Babylon.

But in Christ, you come in by election; not by force, your heart pulls you in.

God did not put His name then in Babylon. Closely now.

He cannot put His Name in Babylon, the churches.

Oh, they, they put His Name in there, but He never. No.

Message pastors have picked up the Babylonian spirit of forcing everyone to be in submission to them.

The Bible never says, “Join my church”.

The Bible never says, “Go to church”.

The Bible never says, “Who is your pastor”.

The Bible never says, “The tithes belong to the pastor”.

Joining a church just produces impersonation

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.

Your pastor cannot get you in. Your church cannot get you in.

So, what is the use of the modern church structures? It cannot be of that much value because

joining a church just makes you impersonate being a Christian.

This is the biggest weakness of church fellowship. The desire to belong makes the individual conform to the traditions of the church.

You, as an individual, have to get God’s Will in your life by following the King James Bible.

“Who is your pastor?” is not a question that was asked by the first church age.

We are to get back to the beliefs of the first church age. No church then had a pastor as head.

So, we should also not be asking that question as if there is one pastor who is supposed to be in charge of a church.

The New Testament mentions pastors (plural) so there are more than one pastors in a church.

A pastor as the head of a church is Nicolaitan as the first church age never did that.

But “pastors” are condemned six times in Jeremiah.

There were no pastors in the Old Testament, so Jeremiah was condemning the future pastors prophetically. By becoming the head of the church, the pastor has opened himself to Jeremiah’s condemnation.

The Seed of the woman (Jesus) will bruise the head (singular) of the serpent. If a pastor declares himself to be the head of a church then Jesus, as the Word of God, will bruise the pastor.

GENESIS 3:15   And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The church only has one head, Jesus Christ the Word.

EPHESIANS 5:23   For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church:

The church is ruled by a group of elders who are equals.

These elders may have ministries or they may not have ministries. But no man is above them.

I TIMOTHY 5:17   Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Not all elders are preachers.

The idea of a church-group changed when the internet rose up about the year 2000. Since then things have changed.

Pastors always claimed to be the boss of the local community.

But on the internet, individuals can now fellowship world-wide. We are now no longer confined to our local community. Linking up people around the world has created a new kind of fellowship.

People have trouble with change because it can be intimidating, overwhelming, and unpredictable. Change can be difficult to adapt to, and can cause stress or anxiety for some people. To help people accept change, it is important to provide support, understanding, and resources. It is also important to provide clear communication about the change and help people understand why the change is being made. Make sure to provide time to adjust and allow people to process the change in their own way. Encourage open communication and provide a platform for people to ask questions and express their concerns. Finally, recognize the effort people are making to adjust to the change and celebrate small wins along the way.

Our biased view of reality makes us ignore some aspects and exaggerate other aspects. Our thoughts thus evolve to deceive us and mainly serve to confirm our bias. We assign names or tags to fragments of reality. We are locked into a time of change. We need situational awareness. A compass beyond our control. The Bible telling us where we are and in what direction we should be heading.

The internet can create worldwide church groups

There are seven parables of the Kingdom of Heaven (the seven church ages) in Matthew Chapter 13.

The seventh parable speaks of a NET.

The internet that sweeps through the sea of restless nations and carries the Gospel to the ends of the world.

MATTHEW 13:47   Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

The truth is published on certain websites that travel through cyberspace to reach to the ends of the earth. All kinds listen in.

MATTHEW 13:48   Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

But truth is difficult to comprehend, especially in all the clever unbelief that floods the world at the end of the seventh church age and blinds the people to the King James Bible. It took seven angels to reveal the truth of the Seven Seals to brother Branham.

We do not realize how much help we need from unseen angels to enable us to grasp the truth. Unlearning our past mistakes and errors is an extremely difficult process.

MATTHEW 13:49   So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,

At the end it is a spiritual battle for Bible wisdom and understanding that we cannot achieve in our own strength.

We need all the help that we can get.

MATTHEW 13:50   And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Great Tribulation awaits the saved foolish virgins.

They got saved by listening to the Bible tell of the sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf. After that, they foolishly began to focus on church traditions and decided that it was not necessary to be strictly Scriptural.

MATTHEW 13:51   Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. The inventions of the early 1900s were the car, the airplane, tape recorder, and radio broadcasts. Brother Branham used them all.

At the end, Jesus puts the emphasis on understanding the revealed mysteries.

Only the wise virgins will understand the revealed Bible.

DANIEL 12:10   … but the wise shall understand.

We must now use the internet to create a worldwide church of interlinked individuals. One person somewhere is an evangelist out on the streets. Another person elsewhere is a pastor who offers wise pastoral care on how to cope with personal problems in a complex world. Someone else on another continent is a Bible teacher. These different people can link up over the interNET.

MATTHEW 18:20   For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

A group of local elders rules the local church

All ministries are plural so there can be more than one in a church

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

Notice. All the ministries are plural. There should be more than one in each church.

The apostles wrote the New Testament. The prophets wrote the Old Testament. So, if we stay strictly Scriptural then we automatically have apostles and prophets who rule over us.

HEBREWS 13:17   Obey them that have the rule over you,

and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you

This verse is not written to an elder.

There is nobody that rules over an elder.

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?

Obey “them”.

“Them” is a group of local elders who are equal, and they rule the local group together.

If they remain strictly Scriptural then they are subject to the apostles of the New Testament and the prophets of the Old Testament. Brother Branham is the end-time prophet who takes us back to the apostolic fathers who built their beliefs on the outline of the Old Testament prophets as they showed how Jesus fulfilled the Law.

We live in an age of restoration

We do not follow brother Branham as a man. We follow the mysteries of the Bible that he revealed. These mysteries, if we understand them correctly, will restore us to the beliefs of the apostles. The doctrines are not true just because brother Branham said so. The doctrines are only true if that is what the early church believed.

That alone tells us what direction we must head in. The Bible forms our compass to guide us.

You get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because that is what Peter said. Not because that is what brother Branham said. The end-time prophet simply guided us back to what the early church believed.

The seven church ages are represented by the Jewish candlestick.

The first church age had the truth which was lost by the fourth church age which was in the Dark Ages.

The Reformation in the fifth church age of Martin Luther began the restoration back to the first church age.

Our seventh church age must complete this restoration.

That is the only direction that we are expected to move in. The eagle-insight of the end-time messenger taking us back to the lion-truth of the first church age apostles.

We are not the seventh age as if that is an age on its own.

We are part of a 2000-year plan whereby the seventh age has to be restored to the first age.

The maize seed that is planted dies and the maize plant then undergoes certain changes and looks very different.

But in the end the original seed is restored on the plant so that the harvest can take place. In the last day, the seed is only reaped off the plant at the end when it is identical to what was first planted in the beginning.

HEBREWS 13:17   Obey them that have the rule over you

“Them” is not a man, a pastor.

Paul is writing to the congregation who must listen to what the local elders say.

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 made the local elders from Ephesus to be the overseers of the Ephesian church and feed the flock by doing the preaching and teaching.

Peter agreed with this.

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:

: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;

Don’t preach to earn money. Do not try to be the boss (lord over God’s people).

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

Elders must always strive to get people to be Scriptural.

Obeying the Bible is how the individuals will be judged.

CHURCH AGES BOOK. PERGAMOS CHURCH. NICOLAITAN DOCTRINE

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.
Thus, that which started as a deed in the first age was made a literal doctrine and so it is today.

Bishops still claim power to control men and deal with them as they desire, placing them where they so will in the ministry. This denies the leadership of the Holy Ghost Who said, "Separate Me Paul and Barnabas for the work where-unto I have called them" This is anti-Word and anti-Christ.

The early church met in houses

A church is a group of individuals who fellowship together to learn from each other.

Today, individuals from around the world link up using the internet to form a widely separated church as they can now fellowship with each other. Many communicate via ZOOM technology from their homes.

A church is no longer a local group that meets in a “church” building. “Church building” is unscriptural.

The first church never had church buildings (as they are wrongly called). They met in homes or in the open air or underground if there were caves or catacombs. The earliest “church building” ever discovered by archaeologists was dated around AD 220, which is 120 years after the apostle John died.

The internet connections that we use from home is taking us back to home fellowship, the way it was at the beginning.

When Saul persecuted the early church, he had to find the Christians in houses.

ACTS 8:3   As for Saul,

he made havock of the church, entering into every house,

and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Paul greeted Aquila and Priscilla in Rome who had a church (a group of believers) that met in their house

ROMANS 16:3   Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

:5   Likewise greet the church that is in their house.

Calling a building a church is totally wrong. That is why the Bible never says, “Go to church”.

You are part of your local church.

Paul writes to the Colossians and also refers to the Laodiceans. This is a clue for our seventh age. Nymphas and some believers met in his house.

COLOSSIANS 4:15    Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.

We do the same today when we sit in our houses communicating over the internet.

Any adult male believer is an elder. And there is no authority figure above an elder, except for the King James Bible.

Bible teachers are supposed to use brother Branham’s quotes to get an understanding of the revealed mysteries of Scripture. They do not use his quotes to reinforce the errors of the church’s organized religion.

The Holy Ghost tells us to get out of all the churches

The final call comes after the ministry of the mighty angel in Revelation 18, which is a good description of brother Branham’s ministry. The supernatural power in his ministry was amazing. His condemnation of the organized churches was intense.

REVELATION 18:1   And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

:2   And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

The maessage of the angel was to condemn the Babylonian church structure that is unscriptural and relies on force, making submissive slaves out of the people.

REVELATION 18:4   And I heard another voice from heaven,saying, Come out of her, my people,

that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

It was not the angel that said, “Come out of her”.

So, do not look for brother Branham to say that you must leave your church.

“Another voice from Heaven” is the inner conviction of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the believer. It is not the voice of some person on earth.

By telling us to get out of the churches, the Holy Ghost is admitting that Christ, the Word, is outside the church.

That means that all churches have the wrong structure and have various wrong beliefs that God does not tolerate.

If you have listened to brother Branham’s teachings, and proved them from the King James Bible, then you can come to no other conclusion than that all the message churches are no better than the denominational churches. They have all bowed down to the Nicolaitan spirit of elevating a man above them and then allowing the leader to interpret brother Branham’s quotes in such a way as to lead you away from Scripture.

If you are wanting to be Scriptural, you will listen to Bible teachers who teach from the Bible, not by interpreting quotes.

Bible teachers use quotes to understand the Bible, they do not use quotes to replace the Bible.

63-0724  GOD DOESN'T CALL MAN TO JUDGMENT WITHOUT FIRST WARNING HIM

But, you see, in the church there is the pastor, and that pastor is a special person. He's built to where he can put up with the fusses of the people. He's a burden-bearer, he's the ox of the team. He a man that can sit down when somebody's got something against somebody else, and sit down with them two families (and take neither side) and reason it out and bring it right back into sweetness. See? He's a pastor, he knows how to take care of things.

Pastoral care is not being in charge of a church.

“Pastors” in the New Testament is only mentioned once, and is in the plural. A pastor is not one man who is in charge as the reference is pastors, plural.

Any elder who offers advice on problem areas such as helping an individual with work problems, home problems, personal problems, etc. is providing pastoral care and can be called a pastor.

The following list is the order in which things work.

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

The apostles showed how the New Testament fulfilled the Law of the Old Testament prophets.

The New Testament and the Old Testament establish the foundation for the church.

God uses evangelists to get people saved.

Then God uses pastors to help people get over their personal problems.

Finally, God uses teachers to establish these saved people in the Word of God. At that stage they do not look up to any one man, they only look up to Jesus Christ Who is the Word of God. Having been dealt with by different people, they are less likely to hero worship one man and more likely to just want to believe Scripture.

Only the Bible can make their faith perfect.

63-0724  GOD DOESN'T CALL MAN TO JUDGMENT WITHOUT FIRST WARNING HIM

The evangelist is a special man. He's a man that's burning like a fireball. He runs into a city and preaches his message, then gets out of there somewhere else. See, he's a special man.

An evangelist does not have to be tied down to a single church. He operates outside the church. On the streets where other ministries do not tend to operate. Sometimes out of fear because that can be a tough ministry when he is facing tough gangsters.

The evangelist is also an elder and as such does not have anyone above him. He has to be a brave elder who often takes risks when he is on the streets.

An evangelist is a different kind of person. He sees life in the raw and has to cut out the stone blocks with a big saw and a big hammer. That is not delicate work. Nobody else can tell him what to do because nobody else has experience in those harsh conditions.

Other ministries preach to the converted so they know they are safe behind their pulpits.

63-0724  GOD DOESN'T CALL MAN TO JUDGMENT WITHOUT FIRST WARNING HIM

The teacher is a special man. He sits back under the anointing of the Spirit and is able to take the Words and put them together by the Holy Spirit, that, the pastor or evangelist either one could not compare with him.

The Bible teacher is responsible for developing Bible doctrine.

The pastor has no right to set himself up as a Bible teacher because the pastor cannot stay with Scripture. He does not have that gift to interpret the Scripture by running a pattern through other Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.

The Bible teacher will never develop a doctrine from quotes.

He will use quotes to reveal the Bible verses.

A Bible teacher will never replace a Scripture with a quote.

Somebody who bases their belief on a quote or an unscriptural statement is automatically saying that they are not a Bible teacher.

All three of these ministries, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, are elders. Thus they have no man above them telling them what they must do.

All three are only subject to the authority of the Word of God.

All three operate as a team by being submissive to correction if somebody points out to them where they are not being Scriptural.