View source for Does the Church need a "Message"?

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We received an email which asked this question:

:''What are you offering as an alternative to the message that he has brought?

This is really another way of asking whether the Church, the Bride of Jesus Christ, needs a special message from God.

=What the Bible says about this question=

The Apostle Peter tells us this:

:''May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! 

:''I can pray this because '''his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness''' through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence.  Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.  For this very reason, make every effort to '''add to your faith''' excellence, to excellence, knowledge; to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love.  For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, '''they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately'''.  But concerning '''the one who lacks such things—he is blind'''. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has '''forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins'''.  Therefore, brothers and sisters, '''make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin.'''  For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.<ref>Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005), 2 Pe 1:2–11.</ref>

So if we have everything necessary for life and godliness because of what Christ has given us, why do we need a message?  Message people may say that it is because the church has fallen away, and, in many churches (including message churches), it may be the fact that the church is lukewarm.  But Peter tells us exactly why this is the case: People don't make the effort to add to their faith as we are instructed in scripture.  Those who lack such things are blind because they have forgotten how they were cleansed from their sins.  That is why Peter calls us to make our calling and election sure.

The scripture is plain as Paul says:

:'' Our letters have been straightforward, and '''there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand'''.<ref>Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2013), 2 Co 1:13.</ref>

William Branham pointed to himself as the only way to truly understand scripture but all he did was to create confusion and to create division within the body of Jesus Christ.

The church doesn't need the message of William Branham or any other message.  What we do need is to focus on the message that is contained in scripture as Jude emphasizes:

:''Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was '''once for all delivered to the saints'''.  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Jud 3–4.</ref>

The Apostle John also agrees with this:

:''But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and '''you have no need that anyone should teach you'''. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. <ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Jn 2:27.</ref>

What John is saying is that Christians have received the anointing given by Jesus, and it is still at work in their hearts. The Word of God has been conveyed to their hearts by the Spirit, and this is the ultimate safeguard against falling away into heresy.  The thought is the same as in verse 24, but whereas in that verse the readers were told to ensure that their initial teaching remained in them, here they are told that it does remain in them. The promise of divine grace does not exclude the need for human response and effort. Those who have such inward instruction do not need anybody to teach them. Manifestly they do not need to listen to false teachers, inside or outside the church. John appears to be saying rather that they do not need instruction from teachers such as himself—and yet this is precisely what he gives them! This is an interesting paradox, which may shed some light on the fact that John also tells his readers that those born of God cannot sin and at the same time exhorts them not to sin. In the present case, two points may clarify what he means. On the one hand, the instruction given by church teachers must be accompanied by inner teaching by the Spirit which enables the hearers to sift out and accept what is true. On the other hand, the Spirit’s instruction comes through teachers who themselves possess the anointing; Christians possessed by the Spirit give one another mutual instruction, without which no single individual can appreciate the whole of God’s truth (Eph. 3:18).

The last part of the verse is an exhortation to hold fast to the teaching given by the Spirit rather than to be tempted by the false teachers. Three reasons are given for doing so:

#the anointing which the readers have received is a sufficient source of knowledge; it gives instruction about all things. We may legitimately take “all things” to mean “all that you need to know”: there is no suggestion of omniscience here! 
#John emphasizes that the teaching so given is reliable, and is not a lie.
#John reminds his readers that they were instructed to abide in Christ. So, finally, he urges them to remain in Christ, which means that they will remain in the true teaching.

So again the antidote to falling into false ideas of the Christian faith is to be found in holding fast to the initial statement of Christian truth given in the apostolic witness, as this is confirmed in our hearts by the anointing given by the Spirit. It cannot be otherwise with a religion based on a historical, once-for-all revelation. Granted that the Lord has yet more light to break forth from his Word, it is nevertheless from the Word that new understanding issues, and any new doctrine which is not in harmony with the Word is self-condemned.<ref>I. Howard Marshall, The Epistles of John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), 162–164.</ref>

So instead of studying William Branham's word and exalting his message over the Bible, his followers should simply read the Bible, pray and find a good (non-message) church to become a part of (there are a few still around).

=What is really going on behind the question=

Anyone responding to [[List of Issues with the Message|the mountains of evidence put forth on this website]] by asking, "''what are you offering as an alternative?''" has put the cart ahead of the horse. 

Within this website are dozens of factual assertions and questions about William Branham and his message.  Those assertions are either true or false. "What is your alternative offering?" is not relative to that truth quest. In fact, it is my experience that such a question is designed to set up their own circular reasoning circuit. 

Example:

Message believer: "So if WMB was a false prophet, where should we go?"<br>
Ex-Message believer: "Well I now go to a bible believing church that simply preaches the Gospel."<br>
Message believer: "Do they baptize in the titles, Father, Son, & Holy Ghost?"<br>
Ex-Message believer: : "Yes, they baptize according to Matth–"<br>
Message believer: "–but we know that's not right, so you keep your mistakes and I'll keep the prophet and the revealed word."<br>

Message believers will often add: "But brother, it really bothers me that the first thing these sisters do once they leave the message is start wearing pants and cutting their hair."

However, it must be pointed out to them that in their process of judging the message of William Branham, it is erroneous to consider something like that for two reasons:

#It is completely irrelevant when determining whether William Branham's vindications were valid, or his doctrines sound, and
#They are using a standard obtained through the message of William Branham (which has been proven to be false) to judge the standards of people who are saying that William Branham's message is not true.

That simply makes no sense.

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