Issues Of Faith

• Letter on: Truth On Trial

The texts for this message is taken from John 5:39-47, and John 8:12-19,36-40,45-49.

Please read all texts referred to herein for edification, and in order to give substance to the message, in view of Rom. 10:17. In these two texts, Jesus Christ our Lord resorted to, and pointed always, to the Scriptures, trying earnestly to show the Jews of that hour, the truth of God he brought, and the importance of the ministry God gave him in the light, for the redemption of Adam's fallen race (John 1:17; Heb. 9:15). BUT THE MORE LIGHT HE SHED ON THE SCRIPTURES, AND THE MORE HE POINTED THEM TO THE SCRIPTURES OF TRUTH, THE BLINDER THEY BECAME. Yet, the very Laws of Moses, and the scrolls of the prophets they read every Sabbath day, spoke of him, and pointed to him. Yet, they still could not see truth, and their hatred of Christ grew (Acts 13:27-28). Yet, no one could convict or accuse him of sin (i.e. of unbelief)! John 8:46; John15:25. He was said to have a devil ! In fact, they said he had Beelzebub, the prince of devils ! This they said of a man that told them nothing but truth, healed their sick, raised their dead, made their cripples to walk, and even opened the eyes of their blind folks! They said that he was not of God! They called him a fraudster, and banned people from even mentioning his name! If any one did, he was thrown out of the Synagogue, in the name of the Lord! John 9:22-24,32-35.

Eventually, all the various assemblies and sects ganged together against Jesus Christ, having all rejected him individually. They united together to reject and crucify the Messiah. It was an hour of a serious but false unity, because unity outside truth (i.e unity against the truth), nomatter the numerical strength, is a rebellion! That is what it amounts to! The various leaders of Jewry, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Scribes, the High Priests, had moved the Nation to hate him totally. Yet, Christ did no wrong but stood firmly and faithfully for the truth of God! That was his offense.

When we come to Luke 23:1-25, they had moved men to stand before the judgment, and lie against him. They twisted his words and actions, accused him of things he did not say or do, making him look contemptible in the eyes of the people, and the poor innocent folks bought all the lies! They believed it! Even though some of their accusations didn't come together (i.e. they were contradictory and didn't make sense), yet, the people, trusting their leaders foolishly, still believed it! What an hour! And all was done in the Name of God! My! Even Pilate told them in verses 4,13-15,22, after having examined Christ. "I FIND NO FAULT IN THIS MAN". But they were more vehement about it, and went raving mad: Christ had to be crucified! Pilate's counsel that Christ be merely chastised was not enough, as long as he lived! Jesus Christ had to be killed! They were not going to settle for less. The issue however is this: Why would a highly religious people, people who were the leaders of Judaism, call for the complete annihilation of an innocent man? Why did they hate him so passionately? It wasn't enough that they threw mud at him, smearing him seriously, maligning his image and character before the people; it wasn't enough the shame and disgrace they brought on him; it wasn't even enough that Pilate's soldiers beat Christ mercilessly, till his visage was marred more than any man's: He just had to die! Why such extreme level of hatred from a religious people, a people who ought to show exampleship of God's love, humility, and of the patience of the Lord? The truth is they had been taken over completely by the spirit of error, though they did not know this, nor would they accept it: They had become demon possessed! Instead of looking to the mirror of the Word of God, to find out if indeed the things Christ said were so, so as to shake themselves away from the satanic anointing that had come upon them, they became more resolute in their devilish course. The question is, Why? Jerusalem was the light house of the world! Why would a people, a religious people, people that were the most religious on earth at that time, go down such a terrible path, as killing God's principal vessel, the Messiah, the Son of God?

The answer for the question above can be found in Matt. 27:18. It is written that Pilate "KNEW THAT FOR ENVY THEY HAD DELIVERED HIM". That's it! Yes!!! Even Nicodemus the Pharisee admitted: "WE (the Pharisees) KNOW THAT THOU ART A TEACHER SENT FROM GOD" John 3:1-2. Yet, they condemned and rejected him! As long as he lived, he was a threat! They could not afford that! They were simply taken over by the green eyed monster, called jealousy! They felt extremely intimidated by his ministry, his unparalleled level of understanding, the gift of God he possessed, the grace of God upon his life, and the effect his ministry had on the people. They felt, if they let him go on like that, their ministry would diminish; neither were they going to accept his ministry, which to them, came out of the "blues"! That would be to play the second fiddle, and lose their pre-eminent position over the people! They were too proud, too arrogant to do that! Yet, they could not stop it! The grace of God upon Christ was too overwhelming and unstoppable! The only option left for them was to have him killed! And because of envy and jealousy, borne out of their selfish ambition to continue holding rulership over the people, Christ became their number one enemy, and they succeeded in getting rid of him! They got rid of their "common enemy". Afterall, Christ was just one little bitty man: so they thought! But so did the brothers of Joseph! Matt.21:38; Gen. 37: 19-20.

What these foolish people did not understand, is that whatsoever you do to Christ, you do to God. And when they put Christ on trial at Pilate's judgment hall, it was their very God they put on trial! They just could not see beyond the flesh of the poor innocent lone man, to see the God of truth he represents and characterized. Their godless ambition and pride, and the spirit of envy and jealousy that ruled their lives, blinded them so much, they just could not see beyond "a man"! Therefore to them, all they said and did, was not to God, but to a mortal, a mere mortal. They expected the people of Israel to trust them to do the "right"! My! And the people actually fell for it, out of blind trust! They threw away the divine wisdom of searching out truth for themselves, on issues of eternal life!

This is a very serious thought I am presenting before you tonight, God helping me, and it behooves us to consider it very well, and watch our ways, for all the spirits are now here: The spirits that moved the Jews to crucify Christ; the spirit that opposed the true servants of God all through ages of time; the spirit that resisted truth, and used subtlety and deception to move God's children out of the way of truth, is right on earth now. These are perilous times indeed, and we need to seriously watch the Word (2Tim. 3:1-12; 2Tim.4:1-4; 1Tim.4:1-2). If there is any time the children of light should exercise great discernment, it is now, for satan is at his deadliest onslaught, knowing that his time is short, and the signs of the time calls for spiritual alertness. May God help us all, for He is our All-in-All. We really need God to enlighten our eyes of understanding, so as to be able to walk in the right path, and do the perfect will of God, as is revealed in the light of truth, for time is short.

Jesus Christ unequivocally warned: "VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, HE THAT RECEIVETH WHOMSOEVER I SEND RECEIVETH ME; AND HE THAT RECEIVETH ME RECEIVETH HIM THAT SENT ME" -John 13:20. I must point out that the reverse is also true, that whoever rejects whomsoever Jesus sends, rejects Christ! This shows undoubtedly, whatsoever you do to a true servant of Christ, you actually do to Christ! It is vicarious! This should let you see that you must look beyond the flesh of a frail lone man, a servant of God, to see the Christ he represents, and characterizes, by virtue of the anointing of truth he bears. You have to! You have to see the truth a man stands for, and give him respect for that, as a true child of God, FOR UNTIL YOU CAN FAULT OR JUDGE SOMETHING BY THE SCRIPTURES, YOU ARE ONLY MAKING NOISE, AND ANYBODY CAN MAKE NOISE! WHAT YOU MUST EVEN REALISE IS THAT YOU CANNOT JUDGE ANYTHING BY YOURSELF: IT IS THE WORD THAT JUDGES ALL THINGS - Eph. 5:13. It therefore means, it is not enough to say something is wrong, and also judge it as wrong: YOU MUST SHOW HOW IT IS WRONG BY THE SCRIPTURES, AND ALSO JUDGE IT BY THE SCRIPTURES, SO THAT EVERYTHING MAY BE BY THE TRUTH, AND NOT OF OURSELVES, AND BY IT, ESTABLISH GOD'S ELECTED SEEDS, IN THE TRUTH OF SUCH JUDGMENT. Until you can do that, and until you do that, you are only beating your gums together, as Bro. Jackson often stated, and anybody can do that! Judgment by the Word, is the only true judgment, because it is not your judgment, but God's own judgment, by His infallible Word. Otherwise, such judgment in God's eye is null and void, and of no effect whatsoever. Moreover, such judgment, being anti-Word, is anti-Christ, and amounts to a spiritual judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is not physically here with us, but is with us spiritually, as he is revealed by the revelation of the Scriptures. Hence, whatsoever you do unto the revealed truth, you do unto Christ, spiritual, and consequently, you do unto his Father, God Almighty Himself. That is an absolute fact of the Bible you cannot get out of, no matter which way you turn (John. 15:17 - 23).

Let us look at Samuel, the Prophet -Priest, which God set over Israel, as the spiritual guide and ruler over the affairs of the Nation of Israel, under the leadership of the Spirit of Elohim, the God of Israel. In 1st Samuel 8, the people wanted to be like other nations, and therefore requested for a king from Samuel. Already, Israel had a king, even as Balaam the Prophet for hire saw, and prophesied in Num.23:21; for Jehovah is Israel's King! But the unseen headship of God, was revealed and expressed through the seen headship of Samuel, a prophet - priest, which God set over them to guide them in their spiritual and every day affair. Samuel is a type of Christ! 1st Samuel 8. Samuel therefore cried to God, after he failed to persuade the people of God to change their mind, that they may maintain their separate and distinct identity and existence, as God's chosen race of people, under the divine headship, which God established. But what was God's answer to Samuel is verse 7: "And the Lord (Elohim) said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: FOR THEY HAVE NOT REJECTED THEE, BUT THEY HAVE REJECTED ME, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM". Think about that! But how can you tell Israel that? How can you tell Israel that their request was actually a rejection of God? They wont listen to that, nor would they believe it; for as far as they were concerned, it was a man, and not God, that they rejected! But was it? These are serious issues that demand serious consideration, lest we be fighting against God Himself, in what is currently on ground, affecting the bride of Christ today. In Acts 9:1-8, when Saul was committing havoc against the disciples of Christ, all he saw were mere men and women. He didn't see what they stood for, neither did he see who they stood for. He surely didn't see God behind them. As far as he was concerned, he was dealing with a bunch of rebels and human religious pests that needed to be contained: "Tares", they would be called today. But what did the Lord tell him, when he was struck down on his way to Damascus: "And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME? And he said, Who at thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I AM JESUS WHOM THOU PERSECUTEST: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks". Think about it! What does this let you know? Whenever you persecute a Servant of God, or the Saints of God, FOR THE TRUTH OF CHRIST THEY STAND FOR, you are persecuting Jesus Christ himself: You are only hurting yourself, for you cannot kick against the pricks. That is as plain as day, for every seed of God ought to have eyes to see, and a heart to understand the ways of his God, with so much light the bride of Christ has been given access to, around the world. What excuse would we have, for turning on our Maker? Let Acts 5:38 - 39, and Acts 23:9 instruct you.

On the strength of the above stated scriptural facts, you must know, when Micaiah was hated, slapped, and shut in prison, for his firm and unwavering stand for truth, it was God they were persecuting, though to the king and the 400 deceived prophets, their action was against one lone mortal! (1kings 22). When the three Hebrew Children were put on trial for not bowing the knee to an idol, it was truth that was on trial (Dan. 3:19; Psalm 12:6). When Martin Luther was judged as a heretic at the Diet of Worms, on account of the truth of Christ that he stood for, it was Jesus Christ that was tried and judged. When Bro. Branham was rejected by the religious world, and condemned as a false prophet, it was the God of truth that was rejected and condemned: Hence the prophet indicted this generation in his message titled, INDICTMENT, for crucifying Christ afresh. When the Branham movement persecuted and rejected Bro. Jackson, for his firm stand for truth, on the C.O.D. issue, amongst other truths, it was Jesus Christ they persecuted and rejected. The same applies right now. We are facing the same conditions, the same scenario, and the same trial: Truth is once again on trial. It is not the trial of a man; it is the trial and judgment of Jesus Christ: For when they tore down truth, and condemned and banished a man from Faith Assembly, for his stand for truth, and vehemently sought to wreck his character, it is to the Lord they are doing all that, only that they don't know. But time will not permit me to talk of Jeremiah, and his travails on account of truth; or of John the Baptist, in the hand of Herod; or of Stephen; or even of Paul the Apostle; or of John Huss of Bohemia; or of William Tyndale etc. All these men were tried, persecuted, condemned, viciously smeared, and rejected, for their stand for truth, while some were even killed. This they did to them, thinking they were doing God a service (John 16:1 - 4; Matt. 5:10 - 12; John 13:20): But it was really to God, they did all these things. Truth is once again on trial, though they think it is a man that is on trial; the God of truth is once again under judgment.

The ministry at Faith Assembly have succeeded in taking the eyes of the saints completely from the Bible, and the poor folks now don't seem to remember or even care, that the matter on ground did not start with issues of character or image, but one that borders strictly on truth: "He That Is To Come"! Their letter of 29th December, 2004, asking for a retraction of the book, stated all the issues!!! WHO SWITCHED THE ISSUES? WHO CHANGED IT? WHEN DID IT CHANGE? WHO SHIFTED THE POSTS? HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO SWITCH IT, THAT THE PEOPLE LOST ALL SENSE OF DISCERNMENT OF TRUTH? The ministry has gone so wild in their open and consistent persecution, that they care less about maintaining a Christian image as ministers of the gospel of Christ! Things have degenerated on the internet into a mockery of Christianity, and yet the people love every bit of it!!! Jer. 5:30,31. If Bro. Jackson had carried on like his pastoral successors are doing today, Faith Assembly would never have been a light house, and I surely would never have stepped foot in it, in the first place, for I cannot stand foolishness! I say that humbly and with respect to every man! Yet, I know, more persecution, more mud slinging, more character assassination, more damage, is going to come for me from these brothers, until the cup of the Amorites is full. And then God will judge it severely: but their cup must be full first. They have even forgotten that this is the end, and God is not going to allow the foolishness of men to get in the way of God's revealed master plan for the bride of Christ of the end time. They seem not to remember what the day is saying, and that things have changed. They have forgotten that God will not at this late hour, allow man's selfish plan and secret agenda to override or nullify His master plan for the bride, at this LAST MOVE for perfection. Something is coming at the end of all this. Somebody needs to awake! Somebody needs to see something! Everything has to determined on the sole basis of truth. But who will listen???

LISTEN TO ME: AN ISSUE CANNOT START BEING ONE THING, AND END UP BEING ANOTHER. THAT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE! Truth is what is on trial today. And don't ask: Can one man be right and the masses wrong? Yes!!! They even admitted I am 95% right, though they have not yet proved by the Scriptures how I am 5% wrong! Think of it! God will not nullify truth in order to give you a ministry!!! No! Look in your Bible: Noah was right, and the whole world was wrong! Micaiah was right, and the 400 prophets were wrong! Lot was right, and the whole of Sodom and Gomorrah was wrong! John the Baptist, and subsequently Jesus Christ, were right, and the Nation of Israel was wrong! Martin Luther was right, and the whole Roman Empire was wrong! William Branham was right, and the entire religious world was wrong! Raymond Jackson was right, and the whole Branham movement was wrong! We are at the end. Use truth as your yardstick. You cannot fail, little flock, though you will be persecuted for your stand for truth, and called "tares". Let these Scriptures encourage you: only let truth be your motivation, and your absolute for all things - 1 Pet. 3:13-18; 1 Pet.4:14-19. It is well, for we are going up, knowing of a certainty, that truth will have the last say, the last laugh, for truth will be triumphant. You must stand for truth, regardless of what happens, for we cannot be ashamed of the truth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour, though we may face persecution and rejection for now. Eternal life means much more than what the devil can throw at us. Amen. Moreover, we must also understand, that every judgment and persecution of truth, only serves to bring about the fulfilment of God's fore-ordained revealed plan for His people, always ( Acts 13: 27-34; Acts 8: 1-4, note verse 4; Gen. 45: 4-7; Gen. 50:15-20 ).

What a great privilege it is to be persecuted on account of a firm stand for the truth of Christ. Yet, it is my sincere prayer that God will forgive these brothers, and open their eyes to truth, that they may shake themselves from the influence of the enemy, for no one was created to stand against his Maker. May God have mercy, for we are what we are by the grace of God alone. Amen.

Shalom.