The Message of the Hour

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The Message of the Hour, or simply 'The Message', is a term used by the followers of William M. Branham (1909-1965) an American faith-healer and preacher of the mid Twentieth Century, used to refer to his sermons, doctrines, and prophecies. The followers of "The Message" believe these doctrines to form a distinct belief, which they believe to be the same doctrines of the original Christian Churches.

Followers of The Message refer to themselves as Message Believers, Believers, or most commonly, as Christians. Groups of these Christians can be found around the world without any formal affiliation or governance. As such, it is difficult to estimate the number of believers worldwide, although the Voice of God Recordings estimates it to be over 300,000. These Believers use the term 'The Message' to refer to Rev. Branham's teachings and to underline the central importance of his ministry in what they believe is the restoration of the 'true apostolic faith' to the Christian Church. Most of Rev. Branham's followers also view him as a Prophet and the messenger of Christ's second coming based on their understanding of Mal 4:5-6.

The term Branhamism or Branhamite is an exonym generally used to refer to the followers of Rev. Branham by people outside of The Message followers. This term, however, is generally disliked by believers as Branham strongly denounced organized religion and any form of categorization. Anti-Denominationalism is one of the key doctrines of The Message. Anti-Denominationalism is an important nuance that needs to be understood to be able to classify or define the doctrines of The Message in a proper context. Followers of The Message are not monolithic which ads another layer of complication to defining them.

It is difficult to find a definition of ‘the Message’ written by believers themselves because they do not have a statement of faith. They generally believe that Bible is the absolute source of Revelation and the highest authority. Because of this they do not have any religious church by-laws but believe and conduct their selves according to the how they believe the original church did in the bible.

Contents

[edit] Sermons and Books

The primary source for the distinctive doctrine are the recorded sermons of William Branham (more than a 12,000 with the number occasionally rising as further recordings are discovered). Most of these sermons have been put into Book form.[1] These books document Branham's teachings with Bible references. There are also publications by different ministers who distribute news letters and doctrinal tracts based on Branham's teachings.

Many groups of Branham's followers, though not all, regard Branham's sermons as being of equal authority to the Bible. Others regard them as being of generally lesser authority with only those sections for which Branham explicitly claimed to be speaking "Thus Saith the Lord" as being divinely inspired. In Addition to the recorded sermons, William Branham co-authored (along with Lee Vayle) the 1965 book 'An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages' (more commonly referred to as the 'Church Age Book').

But the most important contribution that believers in the Message see is the Revelation of the Seven Seals that Rev. Branham delivered in a series of sermons during February and March 1963. These sermons are believed to have opened and revealed the first six seals of revelation. It is generally believed that when the seventh seal is opened at some point in the future it will result in the end of grace and will begin 70th Week of Daniel which ultimately leads the Second Coming of Christ.

[edit] Size and Distribution of Followers

Branham's doctrinal teachings against ' denominationalism' has deterred the formation of widespread formal associations of Branham’s followers. This makes it difficult to establish how many followers exist today, an unofficial estimate by David Branham (grandson of William Branham) in 1986 based upon literature distribution gave the figure at 300,000 worldwide.[2] Many believe that the figure is much larger today, possibly as high as 1.5 million.

Groups of Branham's followers are widely distributed around the world, including North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Australia and many parts of Asia.

[edit] Major Sects

Another difficulty in establishing an accurate number is that the movement is not entirely monolithic. The interpretations of Branham's doctrines vary between some groups. This leads some leaders to claim that other groups are not "TRUE" followers of Branham. There are also groups that follow Branham's teachings but put much less emphasis on his person than other groups and are therefore not obvious followers of The Message.

It is difficult to put exact numbers on how many fall into the different, groups but some of the distinct group are as follows:

The main stream of the movement is the group that is in association with Branham's family. These include the major ministers Lee Vayle and Pearry Green. This group manages the Voice of God Recordings and is responsible for spreading the Spoken Word tracts. These groups tends to not always have a preaching minister but to listen to recorded sermons of Branham. Many believe he taught the final revelation and there is nothing new to be learned, and therefore not a pressing need for ministers. Amongst these groups there are minor doctrinal differences.

One fringe of the movement believes Branham to be God, Christ, or in some way a manifestation of Christ. Some of these baptize and pray and the name of William Branham. Branham openly denounced these groups while he was living. After his death these groups came to believe he would raise from the dead and continue his ministry and many of them gather at his grave each Easter to be present should he be resurrected.

On another fringe is the followers of Raymond "Junior" Jackson. These followers, while believing in Branham's doctrines, do not follow Church Order as enacted by Branham. They also do not believe that revelation ended with Branham but rather that he was just the starting point for a new ministry who would bring the final revelations.

Although not explicitly stated, The Tabernacle in Jeffersonville Indiana and the Branham family, especially Billy Paul Branham, are generally considered to be the highest authority on the interpretation of Branham's teachings.

[edit] Major Doctrines and Teachings of The Message

[edit] The Godhead and Incarnation

One of the most distinctive features of The Message's teaching is the rejection of both the Trinitarian view of the Godhead and also a rejection of the 'Oneness' views held by those of the Oneness Pentecostals. The Message followers doctrines on the Godhead are an acknowledgement that Jesus Christ was the Image of the invisible God, that all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him (Jesus Christ) and that he was literally the Tabernacle of the Father on earth. (A body hast thou prepared for me)

The Message followers believe that there is One God who is the Father, and that God Himself is a Spirit. They believe that the Holy Spirit and God the Father are the same being but in different manifestations. They also believe that the Holy Spirit is the part of God that dwells in men when they are 'saved'. Their doctrine also states that Jesus is the Son of God just as Adam was a Son of God (a perfect human being), and that God, through the Holy Spirit, entered Jesus at his baptism and then left Jesus in Gethsemane, prior to the crucification, so that he could suffer and die as a mortal. It was because God, in the form of the Holy spirit, was in Christ that he could speak as though he was God, because God was literally within him and using him to speak. This is similar to Modalism. This doctrine is also tied to the serpent seed doctrine to show that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because he was pure and had no link to the serpent. The Message followers believe that the revelation (e.g. understanding) of the Godhead began to be corrupted and forgotten starting with the Nicene Creed, this then ties into the teachings on the Seven Church Ages.

William Branham was quite outspoken in his denouncements of Trinitarianism: :Let me say this with godly love..."Trinitarianism is of the Devil." I say that THUS SAITH THE LORD. Look where it come from. It come from the Nicene Council when the Catholic church become in rulership. The word "trinity" is not even mentioned in the entire Book of the Bible. And as far as three Gods, that's from hell. There's one God. That's exactly right.' (‘Revelations Chapter 4 Part 3, Mercy Throne’, 8 January 1961

While most theologians dismiss this view on the incarnation of God in man as a common feature of Mormonism, most Message Believers see this as a necessary part of the process of redemption and refer to John 3:3 ("except a man be born again, he cannot see (understand) the kingdom of God") with the reasoning that being 'born again' is not a rebirth into humanity, but a spiritual rebirth into God's image, the complete fulfillment of which will become apparent when the flesh is no longer present (Romans 8:21).

[edit] Serpent's Seed Doctrine

The Message followers believe a variation of the serpent seed doctrine. They believe that the original sin resulted from Eve having sexual intercourse with an upright 'Serpent' (at that stage not a snake but the human-like animal between apes and man. They believe the serpent's current form is a result of God's curse in Genesis 3:14). [3]

The Message followers believe that from this relationship Cain was conceived and born. While from a scientific perspective it is unusual to have interspecies hybrids that are fertile, it is not impossible as evidenced by animals such as the Beefalo/cattalo and the Wolphin. The result of these interspecies cross-breeds is that they produce an offspring that has to breed back into one of its parental lineages. With reference to Serpent's seed, this would mean that Cain's children would have come through Adam's daughters, and the evidence of any difference between Adam and Cain's lineages would have been diluted with each successive generation.

Versions of the serpent's seed doctrine appear in a number of sects and cults, notably the Unification church ('Moonies') and the Christian Identity movement where it is used as a justification for racism. The Message followers tend to be cautious of the potential racist implications of the doctrine and the racial tendencies of the world in general, but in general, they do not to carry any of these racist interpretations of serpent seed. They believe that all mankind is created equal and is equally able to become Christian. [4] The Message followers include numbers

The followers of The Message supported the doctrine of the serpent seed with various scriptures including:

for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.(1 Corinthians 11:2b,3)
Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.(Proverbs 30:20)
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked;(Genesis 3:6b,7a)
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;(Genesis 3:16)

Branham identified the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as being Satan, and the tree of life being God himself. Not of all of his followers believe this in the same way. Particularly the followers of Junior Jackson, they believe the two trees were spiritual laws.

The Message followers believe that one basis for the assertion that Eve had sexual intercourse with the serpent was Eve’s claim that the serpent had ‘beguiled’ her (3:13 in the King James Version). Branham taught that ‘beguiled’ actually meant sexually ‘seduced’ or ‘defiled’ rather than ‘deceived’ (which most contemporary translations give). The original Hebrew word is ‘nasha’ ("naw-shaw") which literally means to lead astray or to mentally delude with a secondary meaning to morally deceive. Genesis 3:13 is the only place where it is translated ‘beguiled’. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the word is usually translated ‘deceive’.

William Branham also focused on Adam’s willful decision to join Eve in her sin (e.g. Romans. 5:12-19, 1 Corinthians 15:21,22) as a type of Christ taking on our own sin for our redemption.[5]

The Serpent seed may seem difficult to reconcile with the Biblical claim that God had decreed that man should "Be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28); however, God's curse to Eve in Genesis 3:16 (which came after the first commandment) was that her sorrow and her conception would be multiplied (insinuating a conception had already taken place, and that while God's initial commandment to multiply had not changed, the method of fulfilling that commandment was now to take a different route). Prior to the curse Adam and Eve "were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed". The main stream of The Message believes that God never intended for mankind to partake of sexual intercourse. Some of the fringe elements believe that sex was originally intended, but the sin was sex for pleasure rather than sex for reproduction. (Genesis 2:25).

Further evidence claimed for the serpent’s seed doctrine was that Cain and his descendants showed the characteristics of evil, which were not shown by Abel, Seth and his descendants. To The Message followers, the source of inspiration for the evil acts of Cain and his descendants was revealed in John 1:13, which states "Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother." In contrast to Cain's descendants, Seth's descendants were righteous, particularly Enoch who "walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). William Branham also noted that Cain was excluded from Adam's physical lineage in Jude 1:14 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam". Branham considered that Cain and Seth's lineages are present today.[6][7]

Ultimately this leads to doctrine stating that the doctrine of the serpent seed was essential because it revealed why Jesus had to be born of a virgin birth and the reason why Jesus had to shed His blood.[8]

[edit] Predestination

The Message of the Hour includes a variation of the doctrine of predestination. Followers believe that God, being omnipresent in the past, present, and future, knows what choice a person will make before the person is presented the choices. They believe that in the beginning of time, God knew every event that would occur and the outcome of each event. That would include God knowing before people where born whether or not they would voluntarily serve God. This is taken to show that God has given man free-will but knows what the individual will choose. This doctrine is used to explain how in many different scenarios that people are in control of their own destiny, but God already knows what that destiny is before it occurs.

[edit] Doctrine of Presence

Some in The Message adhere to a doctrine teaching that The Message of the Hour was God was Declaring that God had had down in Spirit form before the physical second coming and that the literal presence of God was necessary to rapture the Christian church away from the earth before the tribulation. It is said that God had not been present this way for some time.[9]

This is applied with varying degree throughout the followers of The Message. The main stream takes this to indicate that God entered William Branham in the same way he entered Christ through the Holy Spirit. One fringe uses this same doctrine to arrive at the conclusion that Branham was equal to Christ, or an incarnation of God himself. While still others believe that Branham, while used mightily by God, was still given a lesser degree of the Holy Spirit than Christ and they believe that this is no different than how any other Christian is given the Holy Spirit but that Branham was just given a greater portion the most .

[edit] The Six Seals

The Message of the Hour includes a set of doctrines that encompass a unique interpretation of the seven seal in The Book of Revelation. The main stream of the followers believe that revelation of the first six seals was given by Branham in 1963 but that the revelation of the seventh is not yet revealed. They believe that the breaking of these seals is the fulfillment of Revelation 10:7. The first four seals are concerning the four horses and it is taught each one represents the means by which Satan will try to delude or destroy the church and they are counteracted by the beast which delivers the seal which is an angel providing the means of escaping the spirits of the horses. The other three seals have quite different meanings.

The First Seal: The doctrine teaches that the first seal concerning the white horse is referring to the spirit of anti-Christ that entered into the churches after the death of the original apostles. It is also taught that the means of counteracting this spirit is the Lion Beast which delivered the seal. The Lion Beast indicates a strong will to overcome.

The Second Seal: The doctrine teaches that the second seal concerning the red horse is referring to the spirit of persecution that affected the church during the second church age. The Calf Beast is the means of counteracting the horse. A calf, as the beast of sacrifice, indicates that giving ones life ensures salvation.

The Third Seal: The doctrine teaches that the third seal concerning the Black Horse is referring to the spirit of wickedness and corruption that affected the third, fourth, fifth and sixth church age. Because of the sins of the church in the third age it is taught that their punishment under this horse was prolonged. The means for counteracting this spirit was the beast with the face of a man, indicating that through men the corruption of the church would be undone and their salvation ensured.

The Fourth Seal: The doctrine teaches that Grey Horse is referring to both the spirit of the Black horse and the White horse mixed together to become gray, so that from a distance it would appear white and deceive many but in reality it is evil. The means for counteracting this spirit is the Beast that is as a Flying Eagle, indicating it is great and high flying spirit that nothing can hide from and therefore all the evil is detected.

The Fifth Seal: The doctrine teaches that the fifth seal provides the means of salvation for Jews who did not accept Christ. By giving their lives in the persecutions against them and by living pure a virtuous lives under the law they may still be saved. Some believe that although they are saved they will have a lesser reward than those who accept Christ.

The Sixth Seal: The doctrine teaches that the sixth seal is a description of the wrath of God which will occur and the end of the 70th Week of Daniel just prior to the physical Second Coming of Christ.

The Seventh Seal: Most followers of The Message do not believe that the full understanding, or revelation, of the seventh seal has been given yet. Most believe it will be revealed with by seven thunders of Revelation 10. Most also believe the seventh seal, chronologically, will occur before the sixth seal, but it is placed as the seventh because it was to be the last to be revealed.

[edit] The Seven Church Ages

The doctrine of the Seven Church Ages is a teaching that the seven messages to the seven churches in Asia stated in Revelation 2 & 3 are describing ages of time which the church will pass through and what would occur on those ages. These messages were intended to be used as a means to escape the troubles of the those times. This is closely linked to the first four seals in the doctrine of the six seals.

The basic flow is that in end of the first age Christians starting losing some of their zeal. In the second age their lack of zeal led to false doctrines being introduce and left unchecked. In the third age, when the church became recognized by the Roman Empire, they became slowly incorporated into the empire and the church began to be more interested in politics than the souls of men. Then in the fourth age complete apostasy slowly set in and much of the original revelations where lost and church became completely corrupt. Then in the fifth age the reformation began and some of the lost revelations where rediscovered. By the sixth age many true Christians had separated from the old church it an attempt to return to the original church values and doctrines. Finally, the seventh age which is present day, many of the separated churches are in some way to become apostate themselves and out of them will come the final church restored to it original doctrines and faith.

[edit] Church Order

Church order is not doctrine, but a method in which church services are conducted. It was originally developed by Branham to limit the use of the Gifts of the Spirit during a service and was then spread to many of the churches that became associated with him and his teachings. It is not followed strictly by all followers of The Message and completely ignored by others.

Church order primarily limited the use of the gift of tongues, interpretation, and prophecy. People who were inspired to, or wished to use those gifts had to go into a side room where the gift would be used and recorded. If it was deemed noteworthy it would then be given to the congregation as a whole. It also limited other expressions of the Holy Spirit, like those in Pentecostalism, in the open congregation.

In some groups Church Order is also used to prevent speaking in church, eating candy or chewing gum, using musical instruments, and in some cases even clapping. These things are not all followed in the main stream of the movement.

[edit] Water Baptism

Followers of The Message believe in water baptism according Acts 2:38. They fully submerge the individual in water and baptize in the name Jesus Christ. This is in contrast with other denomination who sprinkle water on the forehead or baptize in the Titles of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The doctrine rejects baptizing in the titles of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost because Christ says to baptize in the NAME of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The doctrine says that the NAME is Jesus Christ and that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not names, but titles.

[edit] Anti-Denominationalism

One of the central themes of The Message is from Rev. 18 "... Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins". This is taken to mean to come out of the denominations before they are judged and punished by God. The "Great Whore" is interpreted to be the Modern Catholic Church and the "Harlot Daughters" are interpreted to be the various other "apostate" denominations. This belief is similar to that of the Churches of Christ, although derived from different sources.

This belief has prevented The Message from taking on a formal organization of its own lest the followers be judged by God. It is because of this lack of high level organization that lines between the different groups are not clear to observers from outside The Message. Churches are all operated individually being owned by either the congregation, the Pastor, or a board of trustees or deacons. Some of the different groups will have annual regional, national, and inter-national conventions where ministers and followers of the same or similar interpretation of The Message will gather for preaching and discussions. Other than this there is no over-arching governance of The Message as a whole.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ | Branham.org
  2. ^ C. Douglas Weaver, The Healer Prophet, William Marrion Branham: A Study of the Prophetic in American Pentecostalism, 1987, p.149
  3. ^ 'Questions and Answers', 30 August 1964
  4. ^ 'He Cares, Do You Care?', 21 July 1963
  5. ^ 'Ephesian Church Age', William Branham
  6. ^ 'Questions and Answers Hebrews Part 3', 6 October 1957
  7. ^ 'Questions and Answers Hebrews Part 3', 6 October 1957
  8. ^ 'The Mark of Christ', 12 March 1955
  9. ^ From William Branham's sermon [From That Time PP. 227]

[edit] External links

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