The  20^th century molten calf

It was at the time when Moses the prophet of God was at the mount communing in the presence of Jehovah to receive the Law and the whole camp was entrusted to the elders who received commandment that in Moses’ absence, if any man had any matter to do, they should go to Aaron and Hur.

It was at the time when the people grew impatient and everyone went to Aaron and said “ Up, make us gods that will go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him”. The same devil who put these words in their mouth and discerned that though the people have gone out of Egypt yet had brought with them a piece of it and hid it in their hearts is the same devil who corrupted the mind of Aaron to make a “molten calf” and called it the very God that Moses preached to them and said “Behold. This be thy God that brought thee out of Egypt”. And so as the Scripture saith “and they rejoiced in the works of their hands”.

Moses brought the message in his day to Israel. And God is expressed in His own Word. To see the anointed Word or the Message of the Age is to see God. To believe it is to believe God’s provided way of the time. You cannot add or take a word from it. What if Noah built the ark but did not follow exactly the Lord’s instruction? Do you think his ark would have survived the flood? It was his provided way of escape as long as he follows God’s order to the dot. And the ark typed Christ. God commanded what kind of woods and materials to be used. He was the author of its design and measurements. If Noah deviated from it even a bit it would not have been the Christ of his time. He may have called it the Ark of God but still it would have just been like the “molten calf “ in his time though they called it ‘the God that brought them out of Egypt”.

Every time a man would inject his own thinking to the Word of God, it becomes the word of man and not of God. No matter if he would use the Scriptures it still would not be God’s Word. Some people use the WORD to express their own thought. Just like Martha who tried to use Christ to express her thought saying “bid her therefore that she helped me”. Jesus is our Lord and if  He is to you, you take commandment from Him and not Him getting commandments from you. Any preacher or any prophet who would be in any pulpit to preach his own thought and would add or take any word from the message of the hour will only be preaching his own “molten calf” though he would say “this be thy god who brought thee out of Egypt”.

Who would have had the courage to tell Aaron that he was doing wrong? Or who would not have believed what he preached in the camp at that time? Did not Moses told them if they have any matter to do they should go to Aaron? Did not God ordained Aaron the high priest to be Moses’ prophet to pharaoh? Or how many times did they witness Aaron was with Moses when he approached the presence of Jehovah? Was not Aaron related to Moses the prophet of God by blood?

If there was any man in the camp who was with reputation and credentials and most qualified. If there was any man in the whole camp who could easily gain the people’s trust, it should be Aaron the High priest of Israel. But then it was written “for Aaron made them naked into their shame among their enemies”.

The same God who sent Moses to be His witness in that age and in every age is the same God who sent a prophet in our time. A witness by whom God revealed His whole mystery. His name is William Marrion Branham. Before God took him away, he made statements like Moses saying “You ministering brethren, if you have questions concerning doctrine, ask my associate brother Lee Vayle.” He left ministers who had been with him in the time of his ministry in times when Jehovah would manifest His presence in the midst of the congregations. He left people who are related to him by blood who put their hands in the ministry when he was gone. Who would not believe these people? Who would take courage to stand against anything they say though it is not according to what the prophet had said? These are like Aaron who have the reputations and credentials. Their names were mentioned in most of the prophet’s sermons.

But in the absence of Bro. Branham (for he is now in the presence of God), some of them preached that Jesus, the Son of God, is not the almighty Jehovah and should not be worshipped as the only true God. That He is a different being from the Father. Some of them preached that the recorded sermons of Bro. Branham should be played as the sermon of the day in every service. Thus denying the power and works of the Holy Ghost through the five-fold ministry. And many other doctrines that are not in line with the message of the hour. And all of them have the boldness to say “this is what the prophet taught. This is the Scripture”. These are like Aaron who once said in the absence of Moses, “This be thy God  who brought thee out of Egypt”. And it is nothing but a PRESENT DAY MOLTEN CALF.

Beware lest we shall be found naked into our shame among our enemies while rejoicing in the works of our hands (man-made doctrines) and not in Jesus Christ. Let us all contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.

--THE THIRD-PULL BRIDE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

KNOW YOUR GOD

(2Co 11:31) The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
(Eph 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 

---God is invisible (I TIMOTHY 1:17). No man hath seen him at anytime(I TIMOTHY 1:17).But He who is invisble expressed Himself in the form of the Word and therefore That who is invisible begun to exist NOT only as an invisible being but also as a Spirit being in the form of what is called the WORD. God as invisible cannot be seen. But as a Spirit, He has an image that can be seen and after which image He created man, who prior to being created as flesh and blood was a spirit being. In what form do you think did God showed Himself to Moses in the wilderness if He is invisible? (EXODUS 33:23)  The Word is the image of the invisible God.

---In the fullness of time, God as the Word created a seed in the womb of a virgin. And when it was born, the Word dwelt therein as the very spirit of that body of flesh and became as one triune being as soul, body and spirit.( JOHN 1:14)  When He died at the cross, the body of flesh was buried but that same Spirit went to preach to the souls that are in prison. I PETER 3:19

---When the Word was made flesh or had a body of flesh, it was born under the law. Which law says, HEAR YE ALL ISRAEL, THE LORD THY GOD IS ONE LORD. Therefore, He being under the Law has Someone whom He should call God. The angel Gabriel declared that He which shall be born of Mary will be called the Son of God which was the fullfillment of what God declared through the mouth of David saying, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE. By declaration, the Word became the Son of God when he tabernacled in a body of flesh and became as one triune being. This is why the Lord has Somebody that He can call Father.( ROMANS 1:4)

---We should not forget that God, only in His form as the Word and not in His form as the Invisible, entered into sonship. The Word(Son)f and the Invisble(Father) is ONE and the same God existing in two different forms. This is why Jesus the Son of God could say while He was on earth talking to Nicodemus claimed that He was also in heaven.( JOHN 3:13) For He as the Word made flesh was on earth but He as the invisible was above all principalities in the heavenlies. This is also the reason why we could say that we have been purchased by the blood of God.  

BE NOT AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE

 LUKE 8:49-56

     49    While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.

     50    But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.

     51    And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.

     52    And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.

     53    And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.

     54    And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

     55    And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

     56    And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

----Every promise of God in Christ Jesus are all truth and they are all ours if we will just BELIEVE. In the above verses, the Lord showed us and gave us example that we should not look at anything that would tell us different from what His Word is saying. Skeptics and critics may say “it isn’t true”. Logic and reason may disagree with it. And even our own senses may declare otherwise. Did not all those who heard the Lord when He said “she is not dead but sleepeth” laugh Him to scorn? Did not him who came from Jairus’ house told them that the damsel is already dead while they were on their way to heal her? Well, she was indeed dead when they arrived. And  even the Scripture is telling us that ” her spirit came back to her”. By it we can know that she was dead before it came back to her. For the body without the spirit is dead as it is written in James 2:26. Therefore, if she was dead, did the Lord tell them a lie for saying she is not dead but sleeps? Of course not , ‘cause if He did, He would not have been the perfect Sacrifice. And besides, He is our Lord who once said “who can condemn me of sin?”  

But then why did He say she was just sleeping when she was already dead? It is because our Lord was not looking at the “REALITY” through His natural senses. He was looking at what His “FAITH”  sees. By faith even the ‘reality’ becomes vanity and unreal. If we are sick and afflicted but have faith to believe that by His stripes we are healed (isaiah 53:5) then  this promise is even more real than what we see or feel. The same is true with all the promises of God.

Now, when we believe we should confess what we believe. The Lord believed and confessed it saying “she is not dead but sleepeth.” No matter how people may mock you and laugh at you, don’t be afraid to speak out what your faith declares. For it was written , “and they laugh him to scorn”. For the servant is not greater than his Master.

Finally, when we believe we should act like it. The Lord did not say “damsel come back to life” but rather said “damsel arise”. Our action should agree with our faith. If we say “I believe” and act another way, this only means that wwe do not truly believe. Abraham believed that God will give him a son who shall be the heir of all his possession. But when God commanded him to offer up Isaac, he did not stagger at the promise of God and was determined to sacrifice him believing that God is able to raise Isaac back to life.

HEBREWS CHAPTER 6

Every minister of the Word gets his inspiration from our Great Teacher. The Lord said that the Father will send the Holy Spirit who will guide us unto all truth. No person should dictate him what part of the Word he should feed to the church. But as God leads him and permits him, and that it should be according to Scripture.  Those things ought he to declare behind the pulpit. Even as Paul who set aside the foundational teachings to move on to a higher level of revelations which he called perfection. And he said that they will tackle those things as God permits.

There are three stages a man goes through before he is finally reborn in the Kingdom of God as there are three divisions of the sanctuary, which are the outer court, holy place and finally the most holy place. It was in the most holy place that the mercy seat was situated where the shekinah glory of God appears.

The three stages of our Christian birth is first, justification. It is when we first heard about the love of God that He sent His beloved Son to be a propitiation for our sin. He suffered and died at the cross, went to hell, and on the third day rose again, appeared to many and then  He ascended up on high to sit at the right hand of the Father until all His enemies are placed under His feet. Then we believed for faith comes by hearing the Word. And as a gesture of declaring our faith and to identify ourselves to God's Sacrifice, we repent and are baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is changing of the mind. Those things we allowed and willingly committed, we now consider us filth and evil. We realize that with such God is not pleased and that we ought not have  done. We realize that as a sinner, we are worthy of condemnation but because of God's grace for sending His Son for us, there is now a provided way to escape the judgment of the Almighty. Then we make our decision to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as a sign that we identify ourselves to the Sacrifice and accept that He was judged in our behalf. We are not baptized in titles but in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For some are baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit which are the three titles of one God whose "name" is the Lord Jesus Christ.

After water baptism, we have now entered into fellowship with the believers as one who has the same faith with them but we have not yet entered into the Kingdom of God. For it was said that except a man is born again of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter God's  kingdom. You have just been through justification, the first stage. Just like our natural birth, which types the spiritual, the first thing that comes forth is water, then blood. And after the blood, life comes forth which completes the process.

The second stage is sanctification. As we continue to hear the Word through the five-fold ministry (apostle, teacher, evangelist, prophet and pastor), our way of living changes. God is setting our mind towards holiness. We begin to act differently as we gain knowledge of the truth. The word sanctify means "to cleanse and set apart for a service". God changes our old worldly principles and habits to follow the admonitions of the Scripture as we "eat the good Word of God". But still this is not the rebirth.

The final stage is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. This is when God seals us to His kingdom. It is the indwelling of God's eternal gene into our heart. The only way for us to inherit the eternal nature of God is to be born of Him. As a natural father expresses his attributes through a seed and that seed becomes an individual being, a child that possesses his father's gene, which gene is the very abstract of all his characteristics. So also is God who is a spiritual Father. He expresses His attributes through  His Seeds in the form of the Holy Ghost which is the spiritual Seed of God. And that Seed becomes an individual being, a child of God that possesses the nature of his Father. This means that if we are a recipient of that Spirit in the way of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, God has begotten us. This time not only we could live a holy life because we were cleansed through sanctification but because we have the very nature of the Holy God as His sons and daughters. Then God anoints us with His Spirit as a gift to empower us for a ministry.

Let us not be confused about the word anointing and rebirth. To be born of God is to be a son of God.  A man can be anointed of the Spirit and yet not a son of God. God by His sovereign will could impart to anyone a portion of His power. For even Satan at first was called the "anointed" cherub. And in the last days, the Lord said that false Christs will come. The word Christ means anointed, which makes the phrase false christs as false anointed. A man can be anointed, or partaker of the Holy Ghost in that sense, and yet ordained to condemnation. As Paul beautifully illustrated it through nature in Hebrews 6:7-8  that," the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. But that which bringeth thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.". The rain symbolizes the Spirit of God that pours upon both part of the earth that brings food and that part which brings thorns and briers. Both are recipients of God's anointing but not both are to obtain God's blessing.

We could say then that a man can be justified (once enlightened), sanctified (have tasted the good word of God), and anointed (have tasted of the  heavenly gift and made partakers of the Holy Ghost) and yet not born of God. He could still fall away and reject the truth which he once embraced. It is the same as crucifying the Son of God afresh for Israel demanded Jesus' crucifixion as a gesture of their rejection.

This is like crossing the boundary of grace and judgment and unpardonable in the sight of God.

Remember Israel in the time of exodus. They all passed through the Red Sea and ate of the manna from heaven. They were all partakers of the water from the Rock and witnesses of God's mighty power. But not everyone crossed Jordan. Not all made it to the promise land except for Joshua and Caleb. Which promised land represents Christ.

He who is a seed of Abraham will finish his journey across the wilderness. Through hunger and thirst, through marah and meribah. Not a Korah or a Dathan or an Abiram can hinder him. He will not look back to see the onions and cucumbers of Egypt. But his heart will be set towards Canaan. For God called His son out of Egypt not to die in the wilderness but to possess his portion in the Land flowing with milk and honey. God be praised forever more!

BY. BRO. ALBERTO ESPINOSA

HEBREWS CHAPTER 5 The Great High Priest

To be a high priest, there are requirements to meet. First, he must be ordained of God. For no one  takes the honor of becoming a high priest  'less it was given to him by God. Israel could not just pick for himself a tribe who will administer the temple works but God had to ordain the Levites for that purpose. It was God's choosing that placed the Levites in that office. For all the tribes was in the loin of Abraham when he paid tithes to Melchisedec after his victory over his enemies. Why not everyone is a priest? It is because God elected Levi before the foundation of the world to minister in things pertaining to God. So is everyone who will stand before the pulpit as modern-day priesthood who will devote themselves in the Word and in prayers. And will serve in the temple of God which is His Church.

Second, He must be anointed of God as His high priest. Aaron who was the first high priest of Israel was anointed with an oil before he actually stepped in his ministration as a high priest. Which oil, in this dispensation of Grace, signifies the Holy Ghost who comes into God's ordained minister to empower him with a gift for his ministry. He must have taken his part in the body of Christ for it was written, "but now God hath set everyone of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.". And again, "for as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office.". Thus, to have an office in the body of Christ is to be a member of it. And by one Spirit we are baptized into one Body.

Third, the high priest could empathize with the people of God for he himself is compassed with infirmities.

Jesus Christ the Son of God had met every requirements. He was ordained of God as a High Priest saying, "Thou art a priest forever, in the order of Melchisedec.". He was anointed of God in the river Jordan when the Spirit of God descended like a dove and dwelt in Him to empower Him with the fullness of the Father. Jesus is not just part of the body but the whole body is connected to Him for He is the Head and that body is His own. He knows your every cares, your afflictions, your frustrations, your needs, your pains. For He Himself suffered and was tempted at all points. And not only he can empathize but it is written that whatsoever thing is done unto us they also have done it to Christ. 

He is the High Priest that can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. He has the power to succor us that call on Him. He who is greater than all our tribulations promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, The Great High Priest, according to the power of endless life.

By. Bro. Alberto Espinosa

HEBREWS CHAPTER 2 (A HIGH PRIEST IN THE ORDER OF MELCHISEDEC)

The Law and the Prophets was the Word of God which was spoken through His prophets as stated in  chapter 1 verse 1 which at sundry times and in divers manners was told and shown to the fathers. And the Gospel which is the New testament was God's Word through His Son and now is being disseminated to us by them who heard it whom God had borne witness with signs and wonders.

It was God's original purpose to make man as the head of His creations. The  earth was supposed to be man's dominion. But because of unbelief, It was taken away from his hand. Satan had the authority over it because man traded his headship with satan's wisdom. But  not ownership because God alone is the sole owner of His creation and to whom He will give it for an inheritance.

Man fell but not forsaken. God by His sovereign grace purposed in Himself that He will redeem man by sending His only Son to take upon Himself the penalty of sin. Jesus Christ the Son of God knew no sin but was made sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God. He suffered, died and on the third day rose again and is now setting in the right hand of God until all His enemy be subjected to Him. If we by faith died with Him, we believe that we also was risen with Him and are now sitting in  heavenly places with Him. And through Him all things shall be put under our feet to be made subject unto us. At present, it doesn't yet appear that all things are subject unto us. For we still suffer. We still grow old. We still embrace corruption  in the flesh. And ultimately, death still knocks at our door. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the will of God should taste death for every man.

It behooved Him to be made like unto us and through death He destroys him who has the power of death, which is the devil. And being victorious over death by His resurrection, death is become to us a defeated enemy. Even as Paul declared, "where is your  sting oh death , grave where is your victory.  Jesus was the firstfruit of the resurrection and those who are dead in Christ shall rise at His coming. But glory to God, we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the air in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye at the last trump, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This vile body that we have shall be change like unto His glorious body according to the power by which He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. There will be no sickness, no sorrow, no trials and tribulation, no death but it will be an eternal joy and peace and life.

While we wait for this glorious day, we are tempted at every side. But we have a great High Priest that can be touch by the feeling of our infirmities, who has been perfected by the things He suffer. This is not to say that He wasn't perfect prior to sufferings. Remember that He is the Word, the fountain of all goodness and perfections. But when He came into the flesh, He came the regular way except for the virgin birth. He had to grow in wisdom and stature. The Holy Ghost was His teacher. For as the Father taught Him, those things He spake. He even learned obedience though obedience would mean pain in the flesh.  Yes, He remained faithful even unto death. As a man He was perfected but as God He was the Fountain of Perfections.

And being perfected in the form of a man He became the Captain of our salvation. God in flesh in the form of His Son suffered and was tempted at all points and became a High Priest  in the order of Melchisedek.

By: Bro. Alberto Espinosa

HEBREWS CHAPTER 4 THE SABBATH OF GOD

When the Scripture said God rested on the seventh day after the completion of all creations and was refreshed, it doesn't mean that the all powerful, almighty, the inexhaustible fountain of strength, got tired and weary after six days of work. We have to remember that the whole bible is God's message to us. He conveys His thought through spoken words, He expresses His will through the life of His people whose story were written in the Holy Scripture. His actions tells us of what He has in mind.

Just like in Eden after the fall, God asked, "where art thou Adam?". Does it mean that the all knowing God didn't know where Adam was? And again before the flood He repented that He created man. Does it mean it was a mistake that He created Adam? I believe that all these things that God did, He was acting out what He had in mind. That if we could just see and read between the lines, we will be able to know what He really means.

When God ceased from all His works and rested the seventh day, He was commanding us through His action that we should ceased from our own dead works and enter His Sabbath. When God looked for Adam, it was to tell us that in our fallen state, it was Him who find us. We did not chose Him but He had chosen us. When He repented before the flood, it was to tell us that we must have a changing of mind before baptism.  For to repent is to have a change of mind.

God commanded Israel through Moses that they honor the seventh day which was called the sabbath day. For forty years in the wilderness they've had many sabbath days and still God was grieved with many of them and had sworn that they should not enter into His rest. Therefore there is a rest that God was speaking of apart from the literal sabbath. We may think that entering the promised land was that rest, for those who fell in disbelief did not enter therein. But it had been a long time since they were in the promised land and still David spoke that when we hear His voice let us not harden our heart as in the day of Israel's provocation, that we, not as they were, could enter His rest.

Thus we can say that it is not the literal day of rest neither entering the promised land that we are commanded to enter. Those are just the shadow of the true rest that God promised His people. It was said that the gospel was also preached to them in the form of the Law and they did not believe. Unto us also is the gospel preached and we believed. And after we believed we were baptized by the Holy Spirit of promise. The baptism of the Spirit brings us into Christ. For by one Spirit we are baptized into one body which is the body of our Lord. We believed and so we enter into Christ who is God's Sabbath. As it was written, "come and I will give rest to your souls".

To enter into God's rest is not without a work to do. It is to cease from our own work and enter into the work Jesus will give us. For He in one account said, "for my yoke is easy and my burden is light". And again, "this is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom God has sent".

Let us therefore labor, as we had been admonished, to enter into His rest. Let us have our faith towards Him, and that without hypocrisy. For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Penetrating even unto the innermost part of our being and exposing the desires of the spirit and of the flesh, and that if our heart is lusting for them. But on the positive side, the Word also can discern the sickness of the body even to the marrows and the disease of our soul. But praise be to God, we have a High Priest that has passed into heavens and has preeminence over all things. A High Priest that can be touch by the feeling of our infirmities for He Himself suffered at all points and yet without sin. Let all our cares be made known unto Him through prayers and supplications with thanksgiving. And if we will just confessed our sins before Him, He is just and faithful to forgive us.

By: Bro. Alberto Espinosa