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The Persecuted Church

 

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The Branham Subterfuge Advanced n the “gifted church”

Many people today do not know they are following Branham inside the “gifted church,” those who claim to be filled with the Spirit.  The idea of new revelation, the office of a prophet[s] ( not just the gift of prophecy) the visitation of angels, the trips to heaven, glory clouds and other Old Testament manifestations, visions and dreams, word faith teachings, Latter Rain all were popularized and found its permanency in the church by William Branham. He is esteemed by nearly all involved in these practices and teachings today.

As I further study this mans life and what made him tick the more I understand the modern churchs ways of error and heresy. Because nearly everything he did nearly 50 years ago has been adopted. Branhams story telling is still unmatched by the best that relate their spiritual experiences to the audience. Some echo him nearly word for word (certainly thought for thought) as they steal his teachings and make it their own. If one takes the time to read his nearly 1,200 sermons they can spot what is copied today, showing there is nothing new under the sun.

Branham was more confused than Joseph Smith on nearly everything that happened, he had two, three or more stories on nearly every event in his life. While most blame this on his lack of education, this could only be related to his grammar, not his memory. For he spoke portions and near whole sermons word for word, sometimes years apart. The man was not dumb, he was ingenious, especially the way he convinced the people that he was sent of God. If one is fully convinced themselves, certainly their enthusiasm can persuade others. Add supernaturalism to the mix and what transpired was a Canard.

It was 17 years after (Aug. 1950) the now famous baptism event that Braham taught in his sermons that 3 years after his conversion Gods glory came down in front of thousands at his first baptism and an angel spoke out loud As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so are you sent to forerun His second coming!” Which ha said was heard by all, but no one heard but him; did he? Branham presents different versions of what he said he heard that day. He said as proof The next edition of the Jeffersonville Evening News reported the incident with the subheading, “Mysterious Star Appears Over Minister While Baptizing,” and was also carried by UPI which not one copy to our knowledge has not been produced, even by the followers of Branham.

In the various versions of what was said “ “As John the Baptist was sent for the forerunner of the first coming of Christ, you've got a--have a Message that will bring forth the forerunning of the second coming of Christ.” (William Branham How the Angel Came To Me, January 17, 1955

“As John the Baptist was sent forth to warn the people of the first coming of Christ, your ministry will warn them of the second coming around the world”  (As I was with Moses, Jefferson, IN Sunday  60-0911M)

“A voice speaking from it, said, "Someday you'll spread the Gospel throughout the world." (55-0724, Enticing Spirits, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN)

Quite a variety of different words of intent. Gordon Lindsay published the book, “A Man Sent From God.” On p. 43 Branham gave an account of this baptismal event but evidently does not include the voice with the message of Branhams ministry as John the Baptists ministry.  The official story Lindsay wrote, describes a prophecy given at a Branham meeting which said, “...that as John the Baptist was sent as a forerunner of the Lord's first coming, so was He sending forth this evangelist [William Branham] and others like him to move the people and prepare them for His second coming”  (a Man Sent from God By Gordon Lindsay p. 105).

Yet no one else had what Branham attributed to himself. Branham adjusted this to mean Him and to this day his followers interpret it as this.

Furthermore the wording “As John the Baptist was sent.” The term “Baptist,” was Branham’s denomination at the time. John the Baptist is not a biblical term even though it is used in certain Bibles (KJV). John did not belong to a denomination. In Greek the word is either baptizo or Baptistes meaning the one who baptizes, or immerses. For us to believe God spoke using this type of inaccuracy, using the vernacular of our day, is hardly acceptable and brings into question where this came from. John came preaching to repent, to the Jews in Israel and stayed in the wilderness, people came out to him.

The real problem surfaces with all the details of how many people were baptized, how many were an audience and what happened by seeing and hearing, what day, what year; which is expressed in nearly 6- 8 different versions. One could make a case for Branham being a modern Joseph Smith, who had 6-7 versions of his visitation in the woods but his intensity of influence far exceeds Smith.

Branham liberally used whomever and whatever he could to make sense of his spiritual experiences and present himself as “the” prophet to the church. “And up here at Santa Rosa not long ago, the minister may be standing present now; they was having a Saturday night of a playhouse. We had several people, about like here. And they was trying to put a man out of the prayer line. And he kept saying, "I'm not wanting in the prayer line; I'm wanting to see this minister."

And I said, "Let him alone," down like this. "What do you want, sir?"

And he said, "How do you spell your name?"

And up here at Santa Rosa not long ago, the minister may be standing present now; they was having a Saturday night of a playhouse. We had several people, about like here. And they was trying to put a man out of the prayer line. And he kept saying, "I'm not wanting in the prayer line; I'm wanting to see this minister."

And I said, "Let him alone," down like this. "What do you want, sir?"

And he said, "How do you spell your name?"

And I said, "B-R-A-N-H-A-M."

He said, "Mother, that's it. That's it." And a lady came forth.

E-54 They had an old paper, turned yellow. They were evangelists, belonging to the Assemblies of God. And twenty-two years, that would be about... That's four years ago, it'd be about twenty-six years now. Twenty-two years before that, one said they had a gift of speaking in tongues, the other one had the gift of interpretation. And when they were... Said they were down praying, twenty-two years before that, and the interpretation come. And this was one of their messages they had laying back, said, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, in the last days before the coming of the Lord, I'll send My servant, William Branham, up the West Coast with..." And there it was wrote on old paper.

And then one night, I was coming out of Seattle, and there was a man standing over there. And he had a book under his arm. He kept telling me, "Brother Branham, you're in the wrong church."

And I didn't know what he was talking of. And he put the book under my arm. It was called the Mormon Word Of God. I don't know what it was. It's a--it's one of their prophets of The Latter Day Saint, some bunch of them, that they claims they see the neophytes. And--and back there a hundred and... long long... how long ago it was, it... on a certain page there... I have the book in my library. It prophesied, their prophet, and said, that, "In the last days that Germany would have a--a ism called Nazis." And it went ahead and said, "In that day, let W-i double l-i-a-m, William Branham be called and set aside in humility for the service that I have called him to." That's right.” (Testimony 51-0509, Testimony, Calvary Temple, Los Angeles, CA)

So a Mormon prophecy was bearing witness to Branham, validating him. What true prophet use a church by a false prophet to validate himself as a prophet? Branham used it, even though he spoke unfavorably against the Mormon church. This same account was recorded a bit differently in his life biography William Branham, a man sent by God by Gordon Lindsay.

On one occasion while in Santa Rosa, California, a man came into the building, and seeking out Brother Branham asked him to spell his name. When he had done this the man held a piece of yellow paper in his hand and said, "That's it, mother." He said that he had come from a Pentecostal Church, and he claimed that 22 years ago, while he and his wife were praying, the Holy Ghost spoke through him saying, "My servant, William Branham will come up this West coast bearing a gift of Divine healing in the latter times." They believed that it was a prophecy that had been given. And when they had heard Brother Branham's name they dug out that old prophecy and there it was written.”

Notice the difference? Come from a Pentecostal Church Thats how it was revisioned in his book, the Holy Ghost spoke through the Mormon on Branham?

Whatever happened on June 11, 1933, it has grown to legendary proportions to advertise Branham's ministry and endorse him as being the prophet for our age. And way too many people accept it without ever looking into the actual details of his life or teaching.

This is no different than his birth story where he claims a light of God, Gods glory entered the room. Branham who spent much of his life in the woods saw nature, and the supernatural working in unity, seen by William Branham's visions and voices.

 "My first prayer that I was going to pray to confess my sins, I didn't know how to do it; so I was going to write a letter to God and tack it on a tree in the woods so He could read it when He come down the path. For I knowed He was there” (59-0419E, Show Us The Father And It Will Satisfy Us, Angelus Temple, Los Angeles, CA) Why would he do this? Because  I knowed He stayed in the woods. (56-0902, The Handwriting On The Wall, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN)

And I wrote out my prayer. I said, "God, I've been an awful man. If You'll just forgive me." I took it and tacked it on the tree. .... I thought if He come by, He could read it, and know that I was sorry for what I done. (56-0902, The Handwriting On The Wall, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN)

Branham said, “How I love it and in the nature I meet God. My first Bible was mother nature. Who could look in the face of that flower and be...?... and say there's no God. Where did it come from...?... No, God is in nature.” (57-0125, Hear Ye Him, Memorial Hall, Lima, OH)

Watch nature. God and nature works in continuity, because God is in nature. See?” (65-1205, Things That Are To Be, First Assembly Of God, Rialto, CA)

Branhams Pantheistic view on God was repeated over and over in short statements.

“And I'm a great lover of art. I believe God is in art, real art. God is in music. God is in nature. God is in His church. God is just all around” ((58-0302, Door To The Heart, Memorial Auditorium, Chattanooga, TN)

I believe God is in nature. God is everywhere” (64-0705, The Masterpiece, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN)

God is in nature. If you'll just study Him, He--He lives in nature.” (60-0804, As The Eagle Stirreth Up Her Nest, Eisenhower High School, Yakima, WA)

God is in His Creation. Do you believe it? … All that believes that God is in nature, let's see your hands. Now, thank you” (55-0625, Show Us The Father, Unknown, Zurich, Switzerland)

I think, the last time I was down here on the West Coast, I preached on the four ways of seeing God; God in His Son, God in His Word, God in nature, and so forth” (64-0209, Countdown, Kern County Fairgrounds, Bakersfield, CA)

Out yonder I see now all that space, that all is God, without form, forever, for eternities, no beginning, no ending. It's all God. Before there was even air there was God. The very beginning of nature of creation was God.”  (The Pillar of Fire Jonesboro AR 53-0509  E-15)  

Branham explains his creation account: “After a hundred billions of years a clinker flew off of it, was a star. And we watch it falling. It fell for several million years, and He stopped it. Another one fell; He stopped it. What's He doing? He's writing His first Bible. We've had three Bible's written. One of them is in the heavens above, the Zodiac. Starts off with the virgin, ends up with Leo the lion, the first coming and the second coming of the Lord Jesus, down through the different ages. Then we find it, till Enoch wrote one and put it in the pyramid. The third is put on paper” (54-0809A, I Will Restore Unto You, Saith The Lord, Shriner Temple, Los Angeles, CA)

He repeated this teaching over and over that there are three Bibles, the first were the stars, nature, the second was created by man, the pyramid. “God is from above. He's writing the zodiac in the sky. Zodiac starts with the Virgin, the first coming of Christ, ends up with the Leo, the Lion, the second coming. And He's writing His first Bible.” (51-0729A, The Resurrection Of Lazarus, National Guard Armory, Erie, PA)

This is why Braham believed the gospel was in the stars and the pyramids were teaching of God, that they were the Bible just as the written word was the bible, but the stars were the Bible before any bible written.

God wrote three Bibles. One of them was the Zodiac in the skies. That's the first Bible. Man was to look up to realize that God is from above. Follow the Zodiac; did you ever study it? It even gives every age, even the cancer age. It gives the beginning, the birth--the birth of Christ. What is the first figure in the Zodiac? The virgin. What's the last figure? Leo the lion. The first coming and the second coming of Christ, all of it is written in there. Then the next Bible was written, was in stone, called pyramid. God wrote in the pyramids. If you study them, watch the ancient histories and wars, how they were built before the antediluvian destruction. The third was wrote on paper, the Bible, for the great, smart intellectual world to come. Now, as God has moved down through the age, we're at Leo the lion. We're at the capping of the pyramid. We're in the Book of the Revelations at the last chapter. (Adoption 1960)

God gave us the gospel in the stars to follow? Can anyone find this mentioned in the word he did give us to follow?

Branham mixed astrology concepts with his Christianity.

It was in the days of the coming of Jesus. Those astrologers went right on up there and worshipped Him, the three wise men(47-1123, The Children Of Israel, Shriner Temple, Phoenix, AZ)

“We're taught in another phase that the three wise men that came to worship Jesus, consulting one another, found out one was from the--the lineage of Ham, one from Shem, and Japheth, those three. And Jesus said when this Gospel's been preached to Ham, Shem, and Japheth's people, then the end shall come....” ( 54-0306, The Unconditional Covenant That God Made With His People, Madison Square Garden, Phoenix, AZ)

Does the bible mention the three wise men were from Ham, Japheth, and Shem?

“Now, three wise men came to see Jesus. The astronomy says that they followed three different stars, and these three stars came together and made the one star. You see? And the three are one, always See?" (61-0119A, The Water Baptism, Golden Arrow Restaurant, Beaumont, TX)

Matt 2:1 “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, v.11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

It does not tell us there were three men, but three gifts. There could have been a dozen men. So where did Branham get this teaching from? The astrologer he met a few years before he joined his first church (Baptist) that said “Well, your birth has something to do with the stars up there."

" Said, "There was three wise men that come to meet the Lord Jesus, and one was from the lineage of Ham, and one Shem, and the other one Japheth." And said, "When they met together at Bethlehem, the three stars that they were from... Every person on earth," said, "they have something to do with the stars." …

And she said, "Now, these three wise men came." And said, "When they three stars, when they... They come from different directions and they met at Bethlehem. And they said they found out and consulted, and one was from the lineage of Ham, Shem, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah." And she said, "Then they come and worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ." (55-0117, How The Angel Came To Me, And His Commission, Lane Tech High School, Chicago, IL)

Branham said they were“ the astronomers of India, magis...”( 62-0319, The End-Time Sign Seed, Tifton Junior High School, Tifton, GA)

Only later does he correct himself “These wise men. We have an idea here that, and we're told by tradition, that there were three wise men, yet we don't know that to be true. The Bible doesn't say there were "three." However, I've had the privilege of ministering in India, from where they come from, and they travel by three's” (63-1216, We Have Seen His Star And Have Come To Worship Him, Ramada Inn, Tucson, AZ)

Now they are from India. Most believe they were from Persia, which would make far more sense since this is where Israel was in captivity and had a certain man, Daniel who influence the nation. More likely they were converts from Daniels day who searched the Bible?

Branham further contrives, “The three ancient fathers coming to pay tribute as they followed the morning Star to Christ... (54-0306, The Unconditional Covenant That God Made With His People, Madison Square Garden, Phoenix, AZ)

This angel was called the Morning star as one of the many names by Branham. This so called light which Branham identified as an angel, the angel of the Lord, (whom he said was not Jesus) was prayed to.

“O Morning Star, guide us and direct us. Forgive us of our sin and help us to be Your servants, Lord”( 53-0327, Israel And The Church #3, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville)

Only God is to be prayed to, prayer is part of true worship. Yet we read Branham said the Morning star lead the three wise men to Christ, so this is the confusion one learns from the man who was the prophet over the last day church.

“Angel of God, I do not see you. But I know that you are standing near. Please, thou knowest my heart, and know how I love these people. Stand by me tonight. …And I know that your Words have been true. I’ve took you at your Word, for you said you were sent from God. I believed you. And you’ve stuck by me. … Now, again tonight, in this March the fifth, this Memorial night, may you stand now and heal every one. Grant it.” (At Thy Word, Lord, (tape #48-0305, Mar. 5, 1948)

I don't believe in worshipping angels. And a true angel would not stand to be worshipped. No. The angel of God will not stand to be worshipped. He'll say, "Worship God," every time. And he'll declare Jesus Christ to be the Son of God every time. And he'll give all praise and all glory to God, take none for himself.” (54-0401, God's Preparation, The Church Of The Open Door, Louisville, KY).

Here we learn two things, the angel that came to Branham, he did not believe to be God, and he claimed he did not worship the angel that was present with him. But what of his prayers to the angel, the one whom he claimed knew his heart, who heals people? Branham did not know so many of his sermons would be collected and compared on what he said.

We were singing that when the Morning Star, the Angel of the Lord made It's first appearance over where I was standing in public, for the first time in my life, at the foot of Spring Street in the Ohio river in June '33, as a young Baptist minister, there baptizing.” (55-0123A, The Approach To God, Philadelphia Church, Chicago, IL)

Branham developed his interpretation of this creature by reading the Bible, until then, he had no exact term for who he was. No identifications were given by this creature except to say to him he was sent by almighty God. Branham took his word, he had no choice.

This terminology was applied many years later. We find that Branham claimed The morning star visited him, who was The Angel of the Lord (who is God as a theophany) an angel, and he said the Holy Spirit was the angel, but he was not Jesus or God, but then at times he was Jesus and God. Whatever he felt at the time was vocalized. What confusion I can agree this was some kind of celestial being, possibly an angel, but of what kind?

Branham had been oppressed by this creature his whole life. As a child he stated “I couldn't dismiss the strange feeling that hovered over me continually, causing me to be nervous and jumpy, miserable around people, yet dreading to be alone, fearful every time the wind would blow.”

every time It comes near me, It alarms me. He almost puts me in an unconscious condition. You never get used to It. 63-0322, The Fifth Seal, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN)

It scared me. It would you” (1951-0717, The Manifestation of the Spirit, Civic Auditorium, Toledo, OH) This sentiment was repeated all through his life.

Branham would say “I do not know who he is. I only know that he is the messenger of God to me” (From "A Man Sent By God" by William Branham). How is this possible? The words of an "angel" that he claimed was the angel of the Lord (who no longer appears to anyone after he became flesh in Jesus Christ that ,s now at the right hand of the Father). So as we can see we have a theological problem with his Bible teaching; a sociological one with his contradictory stories of the same event and a supernatural one, that the power came from a angel that needed to always be present.

The supernatural is fascinating, for some it has a heavy attraction. This is why we are warned and need to be prepared to resist stories that are greater than the apostles whom were hand picked by the Lord to start and oversee his church. That there are other Jesus’ and other spirits (2 Cor.11:4) and they mislead people.

For more on William Branham's life, I recommend the book: “Legend of the Fall.” This is a well written and documented book on the real story of Branham, by Peter M. Duyzer, Published by Canada Apologetics Research Team. There are so many inconsistencies in Branham’s life and doctrine that anyone who has any honesty, using Bible teaching and logic must admit that it can’t be believable; he can’t get his facts straight. His doctrine not only disagrees with the Bible but is internally inconsistent with itself.

This book has insight into what Branham believed and did. http://wmbranham.net/

 

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