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Why we must reject the message: Difference between revisions
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:''And the saddest of all, when I read about Jesus, guess who was on my mind!? Now who continually placed himself in every Scripture he could think of to put my mind on him instead of my Savior? If that didn't take me away from Christ, I don't know what did! Yes, I had to repent with an unbelievable brokenness. I still weep as I write this. | :''And the saddest of all, when I read about Jesus, guess who was on my mind!? Now who continually placed himself in every Scripture he could think of to put my mind on him instead of my Savior? If that didn't take me away from Christ, I don't know what did! Yes, I had to repent with an unbelievable brokenness. I still weep as I write this. | ||
==William Branham pointed to believing his message as the evidence of the Holy Spirit== | |||
William Branham stated: | |||
:''If you are true seed, you will hear that Word; the Spirit will baptize you into the body of Christ, filling you and empowering you, and you will receive the Word for your day and age. See how clear the true evidence becomes when the Word is revealed to you? | |||
:'':''Now we have been constantly saying that the true evidence of being baptized with the Holy Ghost is for the believer to receive the Word for the age in which he lives.<ref>William Branham, An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages, Chapter Four, The Smyrnaean Church Age, para. 154-3 and 155-1</ref> | |||
:''There's only one evidence of the Holy Spirit that I know of, and that is a genuine faith in the promised Word of the hour.<ref>William Branham, 64-0823E, Questions And Answers #2, para 44</ref> | |||
But the Bible tells us something entirely different: | |||
:''And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.<ref>Ephesians 1:13 NIV</ref> | |||
:''But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as He has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.<ref> 1 John 2.27 (NLT)</ref> | |||
:''By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.<ref>2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)</ref> | |||
==Message ministers point to the message more than to Christ== | ==Message ministers point to the message more than to Christ== | ||
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==William Branham taught a two-tiered Christianity== | ==William Branham taught a two-tiered Christianity== | ||
There is no division in the [[The Body of Christ|body of Christ]]. | There is no division in the [[The Body of Christ|body of Christ]]. But William Branham taught that you can't really know God apart from William Branham. It is not the Holy Spirit that leads us into truth, but William Branham alone. | ||
The New Testament teaches no two-level or two-class Christianity. Nowhere in the Epistles do we read of Paul or Peter telling a church that is having problems, “''You all need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit''.” Nowhere do we hear of the risen Lord Jesus speaking to the troubled and weak churches in Revelation 2–3, “Ask me to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” Clearly the two-level or two-class view taught by all of these groups throughout history does not have a solid foundation in the New Testament and neither does William Branham's teaching on the subject.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 777.</ref> | The New Testament teaches no two-level or two-class Christianity. Nowhere in the Epistles do we read of Paul or Peter telling a church that is having problems, “''You all need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit''.” Nowhere do we hear of the risen Lord Jesus speaking to the troubled and weak churches in Revelation 2–3, “Ask me to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” Clearly the two-level or two-class view taught by all of these groups throughout history does not have a solid foundation in the New Testament and neither does William Branham's teaching on the subject.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 777.</ref> | ||
==The message is built on lies== | ==The message is built on lies== | ||