The Message

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This article is one in a series on the Message of William Branham - you are currently in the article that is in bold:

• What is the Message of William Branham?
• Is the Message a Cult?
• The Sub-Sects of the Message
• The Theology of the Message
• Are followers of William Branham Christians?
• What is the Fruit of the Message?
• The Message Dress Code

The Message or the Message of the Hour is how followers of William Branham refer to his teachings. It is also how they refer to themselves generally as a movement. If you are "in the message" then you consider yourself a true follower of William Branham and a true follower of God.

What do followers of William Branham think that the message is?

Glossary Do you want to understand the Message? Here are a list of important terms. Urban Legends Everyone loves stories that are vague on facts. Here are a few popular Message stories. Is the Message a Cult? Its a hard question if you are in the cult.

When you ask a follower of William Branham what the message is, you may get an answer that is difficult to follow. They themselves admit that it is difficult to define, primarily because they specifically try avoid describing it as what it actually is - the teachings and doctrines of William Branham. So they tend to describe it in more nebulous terms:

Has anybody ever asked you what the Message is? I have had it asked me, "You call yourselves 'Message Believers' but what is the message?" I tried to explain it to the person, but they couldn't catch it.

A message pastor expressed it this way:

What is the message of William Branham? The entire message of William Branham was sent to expose all heresies and establish God’s children upon Truth, and the basis of all messages that were sent upon earth, and all revelation sent to mankind by God through his prophet, were to expose heresies and heretics, false prophets, and establish the elect upon the truth.

In the end, the "message" is simply a collection of William Branham's sermons and therefore, his teachings. It is not Jesus Christ, it is not the Word of God. The message is William Branham's take on the Bible and it is filled with error.

What do message believers actually believe?

1. They believe William Branham is the one who introduced them to Jesus Christ.
2. They believe William Branham is the Voice of God.
3. They believe William Branham is the seventh angel in Revelation 10:7.
4. They believe William Branham is the divine interpreter of the Word.
5. They believe William Branham is the Elijah prophet of Malachi 4:5.
6. They believe William Branham is the one who made the Bible come alive.
7. They believe William Branham is the angel who came down in Revelation 18:1 who had great power.
8. They believe William Branham is the eagle prophet of the Book of Revelation.
9. They believe William Branham will resurrect from the dead, take the Message to the Jews, and then have a worldwide "Third Pull Tent Ministry" (New Ministry).
10. They believe William Branham will introduce the world to Jesus Christ at the Rapture.
11. They believe William Branham is A son of man who revealed THE Son of Man.
12. They believe William Branham was caught up in a constellation of seven angels where he received the revelation of the seven seals.
13. They believe William Branham was infallible.
14. They believe William Branham was sent to forerun the Second Coming of Christ as John the Baptist was sent to forerun the First Coming of Christ
15. They believe William Branham is a "Prophet like unto Moses".
16. They believe William Branham is the "Shout", the "Voice" and the "Trump" of 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
17. They believe William Branham resurrected five (5) dead people back to life.
18. They believe William Branham saw Jesus Christ on three (3) separate occasions.
19. They believe William Branham had a special angel sent from the presence of God who stayed by his side his entire life and revealed to him what God wanted him to do.
20. They believe William Branham is their absolute and had the capstone ministry.
21. They believe William Branham was given two signs in his body to know what diseases the people had.
22. They believe William Branham had the gift of divine healing and millions of people were healed as a result of that gift.
23. They believe William Branham had a divine gift of discernment which enabled him to know the very secrets of the heart.
24. They believe William Branham won over a million souls to Jesus Christ.
25. They believe William Branham went beyond the curtain of time and saw all the departed saints in the sixth dimension.
26. They believe William Branham went into the Regions of the Lost and saw the departed souls who were in prison.
27. They believe William Branham only took up one offering in his entire life but then gave the money back.
28. They believe William Branham died as a poor man who had no money.
29. They believe William Branham had a ministry that went around the world seven times.
30. They believe William Branham had thousands of visions and not one of them ever failed.
31. They believe William Branham was the one who God called to restore the true word of God in this age.
32. They believe William Branham spoke with "THUS SAITH THE LORD".
33. They believe William Branham set the last day church in order.
34. They believe William Branham had a sixth sense that gave him supernatural powers whereby he could do things like make chandeliers move.
35. They believe William Branham had perfect love and made a charging bull lay down in a field and a swarm of hornets go back into their nest.
36. They believe William Branham had supernatural powers that he could speak squirrels into existence, resurrect a dead fish, and speak storms out of existence.
37. They believe William Branham is the 7th angel messenger to the Laodicea Church Age.
38. They believe William Branham's message will tell them how to live and how to get ready for the rapture.
39. They believe his son Joseph is a prophet as well.
40. They believe that great signs wonders and miracles followed him everywhere he went.
41. They believe that more miracles were performed in his ministry, than were performed in the ministry of Jesus Christ.
42. They believe if they are good to bride, they will receive eternal life.
43. They believe that if they love Brother Branham, God will grant them eternal life for loving him and his family.
44. They believe that the tape recorder was invented to record William Branham's last day message.
45. They believe God supernaturally transported the exact same rock that Moses stood on when he parted the Red Sea to Sabino Canyon in Arizona and that William Branham stood on that rock.
46. They believe that the actual sword of the Lord (the sword of King Jesus) was once placed in his hand.
47. They believe the word of God only comes to the prophet and William Branham is the vindicated prophet to this age.
48. They believe that every prophecy William Branham gave was 100% accurate and not one has ever failed.
49. They believe that you could never look into the eyes of William Branham and tell a lie.

Is the "Bride" a special category of Christian?

William Branham was not the only one in our age to use the parables of Jesus to split the Church into various groups, such as the bride, the friends of the bridegroom, the virgins, the guests, and the servants. Many exclusive groups do this to make themselves feel special. But this is pressing the analogy too far. We must be careful that we do not become like Nicodemus when he pressed the analogy of birth too far by asking how we could go back into our mothers’ wombs and be born again (John 3:4).

Another common teaching, which was also espoused by William Branham, is that the Rapture will be limited to a special group of “overcomers” (the Bride), and that the main body of the Church will be left behind to go through the Tribulation or to go up in later raptures. If we examine what the Bible has to say about overcomers, however, we see that only those who overcome will eat from the tree of life, they will not be hurt by the second death or the lake of fire, and will not have their names blotted out of the Book of Life (Rev 2:7, 11; 3:5).

To overcome means to conquer, to win. If we do not win, we lose. These verses in the Book of Revelation indicate that those who do not overcome lose out forever.

Who then are the overcomers? I John 5:4 tells us, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” All the born-again believer has to do to overcome is to believe (be an obedient believer and keep on believing) that Jesus is the Son of God. Then God gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:57). He makes us winners.

John declares:

1. Those who have been born of God do not sin.(1 John 3:9)
2. We know that those who are born of God do not sin. (1 John 5:18)
3. No one who abides in him sins. (1 John 3:6)
4. Everyone who does what is right is righteous. (1 John 3:7)
5. Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil. (1 John 3:8), and
6. All who do not do what is right are not from God. (1 John 3:10).

Some have suggested that John refers to an elite group of Christians who have reached a special status in which they no longer sin. But the text does not restrict godly living to a special group of Christians but rather claims that all believers without exception — anyone born of God — do not sin. Hence, a spiritual elite cannot be in view here.

What William Branham taught

William Branham taught that all denominational churches were false and that only by following William Branham would a person be truly in the church:

The church natural, that's in Sodom. But remember, there was one church spiritual, that wasn't in that denominational outfit, either. Called-out group, and they received a message, also, and a messenger. And what was it? Discerning the thoughts that was in the heart. God always proves His Word.

I want to ask you something. In all of the ages, since the church first began, they have never had a messenger to them that his name ended with h-a-m, till now, G-r-a-h-a-m. Right. Down there, calling them out, Oral Roberts, and a Billy Graham, see, h-a-m. There's been Moody, Sankey, Finney, Wesley, Billy Sunday, all them, see, international church like that, world church!...?... There's never been one ending to h-a-m till right now, and that's Billy Graham. See? And that's six letters, G-r-a-h-a-m, six, meaning... Man was born, created on the sixth day. Six is man's number. There he is, to the church natural.

Abraham was A-b-r-a-h-a-m, seven letters. See? Look at the setting of today, and look what's taking place. Abraham had seen many signs and wonders, and everything that God had done. So has the Church. You've received the Holy Ghost, spoke in tongues, done all these signs and wonders. But you're promised, "As it was then, so shall it be again." "It shall be Light in the evening time." Jesus Christ, the same; same Son will appear again on the scene, in His Church, and will do the same thing that He did then, showing that He is the Word made manifest. See? Knowing the secret that's in the heart, revealing and doing the things that He is supposed to do. That's exactly the Word of God.

And then the church natural is just a bunch of people in denominations, that joined. It's no more... I don't even no more call it "church." I don't like to refer to it. I like to refer to it as a "lodge," Methodist lodge, Baptist lodge, Pentecostal lodge. But the Church is the borned-again that's in Christ Jesus, that's new creatures. And so we still see that, that God keeps His Word.

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