Restoration of Faith

Many people believe that there is a prophetic message to the bride of Jesus Christ in this last church age.  They claim that the 7^th angel is to restore the Word of God, and that the 7^th angel’s every word is equivalent to the Word of God (Bible). In other words, the 7^th angel’s every word is the “restored Word of God”.  Brother Branham makes the following statement:

496    And what's the evening Light come out for? What is the evening Light for? To restore. Whew! You get it? [Congregation says, "Amen."--Ed.] The evening Light is for the same purpose the morning Light was for, to restore what was cut down by the Dark Ages, through Rome. God is going to restore, by shining forth the evening Light, (what?) restore the whole Word of God again, the full manifestation of Christ in His Church. Everything that He did, just exactly the way He did, it would be again in the evening Light. See what I mean? Oh, is that wonderful? ["Amen."] And know we're living right here to see It now, the evening Light, exactly according to prophecy. The evening Light come out to restore what? To restore what the bugs had eat up.

 62-0422 THE RESTORATION OF THE BRIDE TREE JEFFERSONVILLE IN.  V-3 N-15  SUNDAY

Let us look at what scripture has to say about the topic:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse

MALACHI 4:6

Analysing this verse, let us define the key words according to the Bible.

What does turn mean in the Bible?

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations

EZEKIEL 14:6

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him

LUKE 17:4

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance

ACTS 26:20

In the book of Revelation chapter 3 the Spirit rebukes the church and they are left with only one option:

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

REVELATION 3:19

Turn literally means to change direction. The Bible associates “to turn” with “repentance”, meaning a turning away from your current state of belief and way of living to what the Word(Bible) commands.

The word “turn” is also associated with “to turn back”, “restore” or “to return” to an original state. The Hebrew word is “shuwb” meaning “to turn back” or “to return”. The disciples of Jesus knowing this verse in Mal 4:6 asked him about it and He answers:

10. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

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

MATTHEW 17:10-11

We can therefore conclude that in Mal 4:6 the fathers were to repent (turn away from their current belief and way of life) and turn to a new belief and way of life that Jesus taught at His 1^st coming. At the time this verse in Malachi was written, the teaching of Jesus is still in the future, but in our present time it is in the past. The children( in the future) were also to repent, and to turn back to a way of life and belief that was given by Jesus in the past to the first church.  The children must therefore turn back to an original

What does heart mean in the Bible?

You have to love God with all your heart so that the word of God dwells in your heart. Without your heart pumping blood no organ in your body can receive oxygen to continue its function. If the Word of God is in your heart it can be distributed to any part of your body to glorify His name. The 1^st and most important commandment in the Bible is:

 5.  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6.  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

DEUTERONOMY 6:5-6

36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 

37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

38. This is the first and great commandment.

MATTHEW 22:36-37

12.  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 

13.  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

JOEL 2:12-13

The heart describes spiritually the inward belief (faith), conviction, desires and determination of the inner man.

17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 

18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

MATTHEW 15:17-19

Therefore if you only follow Christ as a rule and there is no inward conviction and desire to serve him with every fibre of your being, it is all in vain.

5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

6. Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

EPHESIANS 6:6

The word in this particular verse is singular “heart” and not “hearts” showing that this is something the fathers were sharing in common.  There are many fathers but one heart.

32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

ACTS 4:32

Therefore the fathers and the children had to turn their common inward belief, conviction, desire and determination to the teaching of Christ.

19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

EZEKIEL 11:19

What is the only one thing that all the fathers and their children could have in common that influences their entire being and that spans through more than 1 age?

What they believe ! This is the only thing that they both can share, therefore it is their faith.

To the fathers, the message when Jesus was on earth was :

15. And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

MARK 1:15

The word faith only occurs twice in the Old Testament. To the fathers, this was a total paradigm shift. They have always lived by the strict rules of the Law and now to live by faith was a totally new concept for them.  But Jesus showed the fathers that their salvation was never by the law. Rather it was by a promise to Abraham and that God would provide a redeemer and that they should believe on Him for their salvation. And Christ living a perfect sinless life was the fulfilment of their law.

16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

17. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. 

18. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 

19. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 

20.  Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 

21. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 

22. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 

23. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 

24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

GALATIANS 3:16

To the children waiting for His second coming the message is:

8. …… Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

LUKE 18:8

Many people today profess to be believers of Jesus Christ but their life and actions do not bear the fruits of a Christian life.

21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

MATTHEW 7:21

For believers today (Children) it is not a question of just believing or rather professing to believe, but it is what you believe. And if you truly believe and have the faith the Bible talks about, then your way of life will reflect it.

18. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

JAMES 2.18

We might have faith, but do we have the same faith as what our fathers had? Because that is the only faith God will honour as acceptance to His bride. And if we have the correct faith we will do the same works as our fathers who applied what they believed to every situation of life and in their worship of God.

Who are the fathers and who are the children?

There are two sets of fathers mentioned in this verse. The secular Christian movements have interpreted this verse to relate to the local house hold of any given family. But looking carefully at this verse, it refers in the first part to the fathers turning to the children (not their children) and in the second part to the children turning to their fathers. There is therefore a definite relation between the children and the fathers in the second part of the verse but no real relationship between the fathers and the children in the first part of the verse. Further Luke1:17 and Matt 17:11 prove that this verse has partial fulfilment in the ministry of John the Baptist.

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

LUKE 1:17

The second part of the Malachi 4:6 is only to be fulfilled in the future.

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

12. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

MATTHEW 17:11-12

14.  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

 MATTHEW 11:14

There is a much deeper spiritual meaning behind this verse than the application to just the average family household. This verse is a prophecy talking about the coming of Elias before the 1^st coming of Jesus Christ and before the 2^nd coming of Jesus Christ. Just as the Jews have always believed that the coming of the Messiah will be in one event, so do people today also not see there is a twofold coming of Elias.

Another example of a twofold fulfilling of prophecy in Scripture is Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1

1.  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 

2.  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 

 ISAIAH 61:1-2

18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

19.  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

LUKE 4:18-19

The day of vengeance lies in the future because the day of the Lord is actually the tribulation time.

Who are these fathers and children then? We need to identify fathers and children in the past during Jesus Christ’s 1^st coming.

4. Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; 

5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen

ROMANS 9:4-5

The Bible says the fathers who were during Jesus Christ’s 1^st coming are Israelites. So the 1^st fathers in the verse are the Israelite leaders and elders who were alive in Jesus' day as they call themselves the “Sons of Abraham”, the 1^st father of Israel.

9. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

 MATTHEW 3:9  

These Israelites had to turn to Jesus and his disciples who were young men compared to the elders and were thus regarded as their children.

32.  And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, 

33. God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

ACTS 13:32-33

 33.  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

ST JOHN 13:33

The disciples of Jesus Christ, while he was on earth during His 1st coming, are the “children” in the 1^st part of Malachi 4:6

 19. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

GALATIANS 4:19 

4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

3 JOHN 1:4  

Both Paul and John calls the disciples of Jesus Christ converted under their teachings “children”. We know Paul was not married neither had he any children. As in Galatians 4:19 these are the converted disciples of Jesus Christ.  The disciples who as young men were the “children” to the elders of Israel had grown up to become the fathers of the early church as they looked on their converts as children.

The disciples were the children because they were young men at the time of Christ’s 1^st coming, but they grew up to become the fathers of the Christian converts and as such, they are the fathers of all Christian converts who believe their teachings. The church got lost as time went on and they drifted away from the New Testament teachings to follow the ideas of great men. Thus they even called themselves Lutherans, Wesleyans etc. to show who their spiritual fathers were. Today God is looking for a church where the teaching of the apostles is believed so that those converts are once again children of the original apostles and do not follow the great men of their age.

15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 

17. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

ROMANS 8:15  

The disciples of Jesus Christ today, filled with His Spirit, are those who are children of the apostles who are the true church fathers.

Those who believe the teaching of the apostles are the “children” in the 2^nd part of Malachi 4:6

Therefore the apostles of the 1^st church are the “fathers” in the 2^nd part of Malachi 4:6

Therefore the meaning of Malachi 4:6 correctly interpreted by scripture is as follows:

And he(John the Baptist) shall turn(Call to repent) the heart(faith) of the fathers(Israel) to the children(the disciples that followed Jesus Christ on earth ), and (now there is another ministry where a second John the Baptist must come to turn or restore what the 1^st Church once had) the heart(faith) of the children(the disciples of Jesus Christ today) to their fathers(the teaching of the apostles to the 1^st Church), lest I come and smite the earth with a curse(a curse lingers on, this is the atomic bomb which is a forerunner of Armageddon). 

MALACHI 4:6

Brother Branham says:

And that's exactly what the Bible said would take place in the last days, and a call from Malachi 4, "to restore the Faith of the children back to their fathers again." And right after that, the wicked walked... or the righteous walked out upon the ashes of the wicked; the whole world was to be burned. And the atoms are hanging over yonder, the bombs in the rack.

63-1124M  WHAT SHALL I DO WITH JESUS CALLED CHRIST JEFFERSONVILLE.IN  V-6 N-6  SUNDAY

143    But in Malachi 4, He said, "Just before the great and terrible Day of the Lord shall come, when the whole earth will burn like a oven, and the righteous shall walk out upon the ashes of the wicked," that's the Millennium, "I'll send Elijah the prophet." And what will he do? "He will restore the faith of the children back to the apostolic fathers," back to the Word. He'll have to be a prophet. "I'll send him." He'll be thoroughly identified. His nature will be the same as Elijah's was, exactly. His Message will be right on that line. He'll condemn, tear down. No fellowship, no cooperation, no nothing, but he'll have THUS SAITH THE LORD.

64-0313  THE VOICE OF THE SIGN BEAUMONT.TX  FRIDAY

354 See where we're going, don't you? Why? The first Elijah was a rejected man by the churches. And Jezebel and Ahab was the head of them churches: church and state, it's all together. And Elijah revealed Ahab's sins to him and commanded the whole church to turn back to the true Word.

If that isn't exactly what the second Elijah is supposed to do when he comes to this church in this day: restore back the original faith. I don't see how you're going to squeeze away from it. That's right. Turn back to the true Word. That's right.

63-0321  THE FOURTH SEAL  JEFFERSONVILLE IN  THURSDAY

If we go back to the 1st quotation of Brother Branham in the beginning of the study, it might be easy to say that the 7th angel’s purpose is to restore the Word of God. But when we compare this statement with the Bible we see it is not the restoration of the Word, but the restoration of the Faith in the Word. What Brother Branham really meant is clarified in these last 3 quotations and these actually match what the Bible says.

But why can’t the Word of God be restored?

6. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 

7. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

PSALM 12: 6-7  

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

MATTHEW 24:35  

God’s word can never get lost or change, we can only loose our faith in God’s word due to the clever schemes of Satan.

But why the big fuss about such a small issue?

If you believe that the 7^th angel’s purpose is to restore the Word of God then you will believe the 7^th angel's every word is equal to the Word of God. The question then becomes: What is your absolute foundation? How are you going to test if your  belief is correct? Are you going to rely your belief on a mere mortal man that is subject to human error, or on Almighty God's word?

Remember when Jesus Christ returns he will be concerned about what you believe, what is the root of your faith?

8. ……… Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

LUKE 18:8

The lesson we need to learn is that everything the 7^th angel says must be taken back to the Bible. If it matches then believe it, if it doesn't, leave it alone. Build your beliefs on Scripture, the Bible, and not on quotations from Brother Branham.

Brother Branham says:

 And if that inspiration doesn't compare with the Bible, then it's wrong. See? It's got to be the Bible. No matter what inspiration it is, it's got to come... Here is God's Foundation. No other foundation is laid but This. And what This is, if what I would say would be contrary to This, you let my words be a lie, because This is the Truth. See, see? And if an angel would tell you something that'd be different from This, Paul said, "Let him be unto you accursed." Even an angel of light... Now, there's many great things. I only... the only... I chose two days, 'cause to get this subject to the people, that was yesterday and today, of the afternoon meeting.

 DEMONOLOGY RELIGIOUS REALM  CONNERSVILLE IN  DE 41-78  TUESDAY  53-0609A

6. Now, I'm not trying to usurp authority or something like that, but, you see, a man or anything with two heads to it, it--it doesn't know how to go. God never did have two heads to His Church, He never did, it's one head. He always dealt in every generation as we've studied through the Scriptures, there's always one individual that He deals with. Because you get two man, you got two opinions. It's got to come to one final absolute, and my absolute is the Word, the Bible. And as a pastor here of the church, my absolute is the Word, and I want... I know you are brothers, you kind of look to me to be your absolute to what... as long as I follow God as Paul said in the Scripture, "You follow me, as I follow Christ.

CHURCH ORDER   JEFF IN  COD  THURSDAY  63-1226

 8. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

10. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

11. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

12. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

GALATIANS 1:8-12

Brother Branham cannot teach anything that Paul didn't teach and his biggest purpose is to restore the disciples of today back to the foundational teaching of Paul. Brother Branham cannot say anything different to what Paul said otherwise we are not restored. We do not want anything new, we just want what the early church had.

According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

 I CORINTHIANS 3:10

May the Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you.