Thankfully, the Lord Jesus spoke of a parable of the growing seed through which He outlined the course the history of God’s kingdom on earth. Just like during the days of the apostles, God is revealing today what happened to His church and why He allowed certain events to happen to the Body of believers and the Gospel Truth once delivered to the saints.

The Gospel of the Kingdom began to be preached to Abraham down to the ministry of John the Baptist. But it was the Lord Jesus who declared the nature and presence of God’s kingdom on earth. Through this Gospel the Church of Christ was formed and established.

Thus, we can see that the church stands and falls with the Gospel. It is no mystery therefore that the true Church should “disappear” with the the disappearance of true apostolic doctrines.

In the parable of our Lord, He showed the different stages of the church’s course through history in the form of a wheat seed. The seed of the Gospel of the Kingdom was originally proclaimed and scattered by the apostles. But like any other seed, It must “die” or sleep for a few season only to rise up and grow towards maturity.

When the apostles died, the true faith was replaced with man-made doctrines, thus producing a man-made church which prevailed through much of the 2nd through 15th centuries. But after the time of the Dark Ages, the Gospel began to grow with the Reformation and succeeding movements, one leaf at a time representing the part of the seed’s life but not the seed itself. The last of the true movements from God was the Pentecostal movement in 1906, which resembled the life of the early church.

Then came the “times of restoration of all things” prophesied by the Lord Himself and by the Apostle Peter. It was to be one of the last works of God before the Lord’s return. Through this ministry the true Gospel preached and taught by the apostles was restored in our day through an Elijah ministry. The restoration work of God in these last days is producing the Church as it should be and as it was in the apostolic days.

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In that short sentence the Lord conveyed enough truths that should keep us busy and sincere for the rest of our earthly days. First of all, when Jesus said, “permit it to be so now…” He was determined to give us an example that we must follow, namely, that we should all be baptized like He did as an example of surrender to the Father’s will.

“Permit it to be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness…”

The Lord Jesus also emphasized the important that we fulfill all righteousness, that is, God’s righteousness. For almost two thousand years since God gave His Law to Israel, not one single person was able to live out the righteousness of God. Not even the prophets, and especially not the Pharisees of His day.

Paul admitted that Israel’s zeal for God could not help make them righteous in the eyes of the Holy God for two reasons: one, they were ignorant of God’s righteousness, and second, they were determined to establish their own righteousness. (Romans 10.2-4)

Earlier in his Epistle to the Romans, Paul had already declared the truth that no one is righteous enough to be able fulfill God’s desired righteousness. But he also said that God was going to reveal His righteousness apart from the Law, but testified by the Law and the prophets. Jesus Christ was the embodiment of that righteousness, which all of us can partake of by faith in Him and in His sacrifice on the cross.

It gave me so much joy when I came to this realization: that God, knowing that our sinful condition makes all our attempts to be righteous futile before Him, declared His righteousness by forgiving us of our sins and making us righteous before Him through faith in Christ! Just as we could do nothing else but live a sinner’s life because of our sinful nature, God makes us righteous through Christ so we could be in a place and a condition where we can now live a righteous life!

To my finite mind, it just makes sense. If having a clean slate gives a person an opportunity to start over again after his failure, so can we as believers of Jesus Christ. And this is why the Lord also introduced baptism as an expression of man’s faith in Him. Paul also said that we have been baptized into Christ’s death, so that just as He rose from the death on the third day, we should also begin a new walk of life by faith. Then we are on a journey to fulfilling all righteousness.

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“For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war?” – 1 Corinthians 14.8

Have you ever heard of trumpet sounding without a music? It’s nothing but pure noise. Imagine how hard it must be for soldiers in the battle field who cannot understand the sound of the trumpeter. Should they march forward? Or should they retreat?

Our life as followers of the Word of God are to be a trumpet in a world already swirling in confusing messages from as many religions. Unknowingly, all of us preach with our actions and lifestyle before our friends, relatives and even enemies. We either confirm the truthfulness of the Gospel or we bring reproach to the cause of Christ.

Thus it is very important that we sound a clear message that comes from the heart and mind of God.We can only do so by taking heed to whatever we hear from the Lord, by obeying His words faithfully, wholly and promptly, by living completely and unreservedly for God and his kingdom.

In that way, whether they choose to listen or ignore the message, we shall have done of part in God’s great plan of salvation.

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This is probably one of the most common questions people throw at Christians. The argument is that, with so many churches today claiming to be the Church of Jesus Christ, either they are all true or none at all. Unfortunately, majority of today’s people stand on either of the two.

Answer

My short answer is this: the true church can be found the Bible, in the Book of Acts to be exact. That was the church established by the Lord Jesus Christ with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon 120 persons who were waiting and praying in Jerusalem ten days after He ascended up to heaven. When the apostles spread out, they went from city to city preaching the gospel and established congregations where people came to receive the faith. Those were the true churches of Christ.

Now for the longer answer. To claim that one belongs to the true church today is not quite easy because we will have to prove a lot of things. I believe the following guidelines can help those who are searching:

1./ The true church today should be standing on and preaching the doctrine of the apostles.

There is – and there can only be – one Gospel. It was personally handed down by the Lord Jesus to His apostles, and you cannot find it anywhere else except in the Bible itself. The falling away, which started in the latter days of the apostles, has come a long way and produced innumerable versions of the Gospel, that we needed a restoration message that will call us back to the Word of God.

2./ The true church today should have experienced a calling out from organized religions and religious systems, to a Bible-centered faith and living.

If we are to be a church, then we have to experience the very meaning of the word. Ekklesia, the Greek word from which the word church or iglesia was taken, means a called out assembly of people. A church then is a people who were called out from wrong beliefs and un-biblical systems of faith to the true Word of God. Jesus called His disciples out of religious then present. So were the saints who responded to the Message. Today God is calling His people out so they can come in to Christ by accepting His pure and unadulterated Word.

3./ The true church today should be living a holy and godly life under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Holiness and godliness are virtues imparted by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word. The words of Jesus has the power to make a clean and holy life out of sinners. Where true Gospel is preached and believed, holy lives manifest and abound.

4./ The true church today should be joyfully waiting and preparing for the promised return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since the days of the apostles, the saints have been mocked and laughed at for this very reason. There are even more scoffers today, and they make fun of the Christian faith especially with regards to this doctrine. But the true saints are not moved. They hold on to the promise because every passing year draws them ever closer to the coming of Christ.

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It was Brother Branham who used the term ‘message’ to mean not only his particular sermon but the content and purpose of his preaching. But this was not even his own idea. The term actually from the supernatural visitation which took place during his earliest baptismal service in the bank of the Ohio River.

Records and testimonies confirm on that fateful day of June 11th 1933, while brother Branham was baptizing the 17th person on the Ohio River, a light shone above him and a voice spoke to him declaring: “As John the baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, you are sent with a Message that will forerun His second coming.” The event was not only seen by hudreds of witnesses, it was also captured and reported by local newspapers.

Supernatural signs and events have followed all the days of the life of brother branham from birth up to his last days on earth. His life was arguably prepared for a unique purpose in God’s plan of salvation. His ministry was not only to preach the Gospel of salvation and deliverance. His was to prepare God’s people for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is a Message from God

The Gospel was first used by the angel of the Lord who announced the birth of the Son of God to the shepherds who were watching over their flocks at night. Since then the term has been used to refer to the life, death and resurrection of the Lord and the message that it declares to the world: that God has sent His Son to die for the sins of men and that forgiveness, salvation and blessings and are available and given to those who will believe. The Gospel is clearly, and quite simply, a message from God.

But while there is only one Gospel (although others try to preach another gospel), God has at various times and means, sent his servants, both divine and human, to deliver His message to his recipients. Israel has received numerous words of warning and exhortations from God through the mouth of His holy prophets.

The End Time Message

The message that we proclaim today is also appropriately called “end time message” because we believe, as many other churches do, that we are now in the end time according to the Bible prophecies. But the message is not a mere declaration that we are now in the end time. The Message declares most importantly the time and season of the coming of the Lord has arrived. The parable of the ten virgins is a beautiful picture of the brother Branham’s ministry. (See Matthew 25.1-13)

This Message is also a word of restoration of all things that concern the people of God as well as His Word. The apostle Peter prophesied in Acts 3.19-21: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” (NIV) Jesus also declared that Elijah will come first and restore all things. (Matthew 17.11)

It is interesting to note that the Message and the Gospel share things in common: (1) both were announced by the angel of the Lord; (2) both announced the presence of Christ; and (3) both were proclaimed in the evening time.

The Message, therefore, is not another gospel, as some might doubtfully think. The Message in fact calls us back to the true and apostolic faith as revealed in the Scriptures. Also, It is not a replacement of the Gospel. On the other hand, it vindicates the Gospel of the Lord Jesus when it declares the Lord’s return is very close t our time.

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