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Perfect Faith: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Faith healers.jpg|thumb|250px|right]] | [[Image:Faith healers.jpg|thumb|250px|right]] | ||
William Branham believed that he had "pure faith". He believed | William Branham believed that he had "pure faith". He believed his faith was perfect. | ||
And he believed that magicians have the same kind of faith. | And he believed that magicians have the same kind of faith. | ||
'''But is that biblical faith?''' | |||
=What is New Testament faith?= | |||
William Branham’s view of faith was that if you have enough faith God has to heal you. If you have faith that you will be healed, it will come to pass. | |||
But that is not the New Testament version of faith. | |||
:''For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Pe 1:18–21.</ref> | |||
:''We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 2 Co 1:8–11.</ref> | |||
:''And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Heb 11:6.</ref> | |||
:''What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Php 3:8–11.</ref> | |||
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ga 2:20.</ref> | |||
Biblical faith is saying, “God I have confidence in you, and whatever you choose to do or not do, I trust you." | |||
New Testament faith is not faith in an outcome. Rather it is having confidence in the one who controls outcomes. | |||
==William Branham believed in the faith of outcomes== | |||
If you have faith God must heal you: | |||
:''Now, how many in here doesn’t have a prayer card and wants the Lord Jesus to heal you tonight, raise up your hand. Everywhere in the building, wants the Lord Jesus to heal you. Now, I’m going to say this. If the Holy Spirit does come, and if He comes in His power to work, if you’ll just only look this way and believe that it is the Gospel truth, then '''God’s under obligation to heal you.'''<ref>William Branham, 54-1207 - At Thy Word, Lord, I'll Let Down The Net, para. 93</ref> | |||
You could lose your healing through a lack of faith: | |||
:''Like the cataract, tumor, or whatever it may be, they feel fine for a few days, and then the first thing you know it begins to swell, swell. And then if the patient isn’t truly instructed in the Word of God, '''they’ll lose their healing''' as sure as anything, because they get sick and get twice as bad as they ever was. And that’s the best sign you ever had that you’re healed, certainly, is swelling. It’s gone away.<ref>William Branham, 55-0604 - Jairus, A Secret Believer, para. 21</ref> | |||
=Quotes of William Branham= | =Quotes of William Branham= | ||
''When a human body dies… An undertaker here would know that. Well then, a hunter knows. You shoot a deer tonight and wait. Throw it on the scales and tell the boys how much it weigh. In the morning throw it back on the scales, and see how much it went off through the night. Let it lay there a few days, and then throw it on the scale, and look how much more it weighed than it did in the first place. That’s how I tell the patients: watch about seventy-two hours; corruption sets in. And that body begins to swell like a little dog laying on the street. He begins to swell after he lays there so long. The patient then, that the evil has gone out of the patient, the cancer is dead. For a few days they feel fine. Like the cataract, tumor, or whatever it may be, they feel fine for a few days, and then the first thing you know it begins to swell, swell. And then if the patient isn’t truly instructed in the Word of God, they’ll lose their healing as sure as anything, because they get sick and get twice as bad as they ever was. And that’s the best sign you ever had that you’re healed, certainly, is swelling. It’s gone away.<ref>William Branham, 55-0604 - Jairus, A Secret Believer, para. 21</ref> | |||
''So then this girl, she said, "Oh, I believe, I believe, Brother Branham." Well, she thought she believed. Now, look, she had hope. But faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You see what I mean? Now, I said, "Sister, an ordinary case," I said, "I could have a little time and let you have time, maybe to take about that much faith and go out with it. But you've got to have immediate attention, right now. For I'm going to be honest with you. You'll not live to see the hospital." Now, the parents didn't appreciate that very much at that time. But I'd rather be honest with you, let you know the truth... Wouldn't you rather I'll be honest with you? And remember, friends, I'm not wrestling with flesh and blood; it's spiritual power. I must be honest before Almighty God. See? And because I realize the danger of my own life, and not only mine, but yours. And so she said she would--she believed, but she did not. "Well," I said, "now, look." Now, I want you to notice this, and I want you to be real careful now and take up every word so you can divide it, of a little something that God permitted there. And I'll--I'll see if you've got faith. I said, "Sister, you do not have faith." She said, "Oh, Reverend Branham, I have faith to believe anything." | ''So then this girl, she said, "Oh, I believe, I believe, Brother Branham." Well, she thought she believed. Now, look, she had hope. But faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You see what I mean? Now, I said, "Sister, an ordinary case," I said, "I could have a little time and let you have time, maybe to take about that much faith and go out with it. But you've got to have immediate attention, right now. For I'm going to be honest with you. You'll not live to see the hospital." Now, the parents didn't appreciate that very much at that time. But I'd rather be honest with you, let you know the truth... Wouldn't you rather I'll be honest with you? And remember, friends, I'm not wrestling with flesh and blood; it's spiritual power. I must be honest before Almighty God. See? And because I realize the danger of my own life, and not only mine, but yours. And so she said she would--she believed, but she did not. "Well," I said, "now, look." Now, I want you to notice this, and I want you to be real careful now and take up every word so you can divide it, of a little something that God permitted there. And I'll--I'll see if you've got faith. I said, "Sister, you do not have faith." She said, "Oh, Reverend Branham, I have faith to believe anything." | ||