"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

(Heb. 13:8)

CIRCULAR LETTER April 1995

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet you most cordially in the precious name of the Lord with the words from Ephesians 1:3-5:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will."

Even before God created the first human beings at the beginning of time, according to Genesis 1, in His image in the spiritual body, and according to Genesis 2, from earth into a body of flesh, He had already predestined us by grace to be His sons and daughters. By virtue of the fully accomplished redemption, we were then placed into our eternal destination and are only waiting for the transformation of our bodies. God has made the intentions of His will known to all the world and appointed His own as rightful heirs (Romans 8:17).

Adam was initially created in the image of God in a spiritual body. But in this first state, he had no connection with natural creation. Later, the Lord formed a body of earth for him and set him into a body of flesh. Now, as part of the earthly creation, man was no longer part of the spiritual realm.

The Lord Himself then came out of the spiritual body, in which He was in the Old Testament, into a body of flesh and suffered here in His human body on behalf of mankind and died for us. In Him we have the Redemption, the complete forgiveness of all sins and transgressions according to the riches of His grace. After His Resurrection, the Lord appeared in a transfigured body in which the spiritual and fleshly realms were united. He is risen indeed, revealed Himself to His disciples for forty days, and ate and drank with them. He came and stood in their midst, even though the windows and doors were closed, and said, "Peace be unto you." When doubts arose in their hearts, He said: "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luke 24:39). After the transformation, we will have the same resurrection body, in which both realms, the natural and the supernatural, are united.

In the time of Noah, the LORD God said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh…" [Genesis 6:3] The Spirit of God has been humbled in the children of God, who are a part of the fallen creation. In the supernaturally begotten fleshly body of our Redeemer, the Spirit of God found rest, came upon Him, and dwelt in Him. This is the testimony of God: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In the beloved and God-pleasing Son, begotten by the Spirit, all true sons and daughters of God, who were also begotten and born again by the Spirit of God, have become the temple of the Holy Spirit, in whom God is well pleased.

God's plan of salvation proceeds as He has ordained it in eternity. This expresses God's eternal purpose which approaches fulfillment towards the end of time. The realization began with the self-manifestation of the Father in the Son and ends with the revelation of the sons of God. Everything happens at the right time: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."

First of all, God had to have a human body on earth, begotten by Him through the Spirit, in which the spirit, namely the whole fullness of the Godhead, could indeed dwell. By virtue of the accomplished redemption, all those who have been pardoned by God, born again as sons and daughters, receive the same Holy Spirit while they are still in their bodies of flesh. "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts…" (Galatians 4:4-7).

It was God's will to have sons and daughters after the example of His only begotten Son, who would then live forever in perfect harmony and fellowship with Him. In the earthly creation, Satan has succeeded in bringing the first human beings and all after them, through carnal begetting, under his influence. Like Adam and Eve, all human beings have a natural disposition to sin because they are part of the fallen creation. Satan himself has rebelled against God and has thus fallen out of the divine order. Then he also tore mankind out of it. Fellowship with God can only exist in creation with Him as Creator and with Him as Redeemer with the redeemed. The true believers carry in their hearts the certainty of being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ in the consummation, in the Rapture, through the transformation of the body into the image of Jesus Christ.

An important correction

At a time when the whole world is globally informed, the events associated with biblical end-time prophecy do not remain hidden from us either. According to Matthew 24:14, the true gospel of the kingdom of God is to be preached to all nations as a witness; only then can the end come. All nations also include the more than 40 nations of the Islamic world, which must be included in this proclamation of the divine message of salvation.

The Jews were the first whom God included in His plan of salvation; they will now be the last, for His glory. Because Israel is completely surrounded by Islamic countries, it forms a very special focal point, also with regard to faith in the one God. The Muslims also believe only in the one God, whom they call Allah. Like the Jews, they reject the doctrine of the Trinity to the utmost.

According to the first commandment and hundreds of utterances of God in the Bible, the Almighty is not a three-person God, but a one and only God and Lord. This is testified to us again and again in many places from the beginning, later in the Law and through the prophets into the New Testament. The one true God and Lord says: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me!" [Deuteronomy 5:7]

It is disastrous that the doctrine of the Trinity, which was discussed at the end of the 3rd Christian century and formulated in the 4th century, has been unwittingly adopted by the traditional denominations since the Reformation. The dogmatic formulation about a three-person God, a so-called three-in-one, is indeed foreign to the Bible. For a truly biblical believer, one thing is certain: he can and will only believe as the Scriptures say. God has left His own clear testimony, and His servants and prophets have also borne testimony of Him in His name. Human imaginations have no place here. God is not as we imagine Him; God is as He presents Himself to be. The doctrine of the Trinity is neither prophetic nor apostolic and certainly not of divine origin. It is neither witnessed to in the New Testament nor in the Old Testament. Should three have existed from eternity and each of them is to be equally omniscient and omnipotent?

In the Old Testament, during the four thousand years from Adam to Christ, not a single person has prayed to God with the phrase: "Heavenly Father…". This was not possible at all, because only through the begetting of Jesus Christ, the Son, did God become the Father. Before that, He was Creator, Sustainer, King, Judge and has already revealed Himself in the Old Testament in manifold ways, such as in the form of an angel and in the supernatural cloud of glory.

Especially when it comes to the Godhead, anyone who is serious about their faith should ask, "What does the Scriptures say about this?" Likewise, one should only be satisfied with an answer that actually comes from the Word, not an interpretation, because it alone exists before God. The Lord Himself instructed His people: " Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD!" (Deuteronomy 6:4). In the persecutions by the Trinity Church of Rome, countless Jews preferred death to acceptance of the doctrine of the Trinity. They are bound in their conscience to God's eternal Word. They cannot and must not believe otherwise. The first three centuries of Christianity passed without an intellectual explanation of God. As long as the fear of God and the revelation of the Word and the Spirit was in the church, there was no speculation about it.

To the extent that, in the course of church history, after the initial beginning, the proclamation detached itself from the word of the Old Testament and Judaism and paganistic philosophical ideas began to penetrate. Anyone who has studied the first centuries of Church history will also know that the highly celebrated Church teachers had neither a biblical conversion nor born again nor did they personally experience Jesus Christ, let alone recognize God. Not a single one of them is reported to have had a divine calling and sending. They were neither apostles nor prophets, they were merely "Christian philosophers" who stirred up hatred against the Jews. Very soon the experience with God, which can only be made in Christ as an experience, became a so-called "Christian doctrine and tradition". It was then no longer a matter of receiving Jesus Christ and following the biblical path, but of certain teachings that made sense to the mind and were preached.

The disputes about the Godhead at the councils would have been unthinkable in Jerusalem and among Jewish Christians. In this connection it must not be overlooked that until the time of Constantine there was no unified church at all. Most church historians pass on the falsehoods introduced by the Church of Rome. They speak of an "early Catholic epoch" and even refer to men such as Irenaeus and others who lived in the 2nd century as "representatives of the Roman state church". The truth is that until the end of the third century there were only the various Christian faiths, all of which were persecuted in the Roman Empire. The worst persecution took place in the years 303-306 under Diocletian. After that, Constantine set the course for a unified church in which all these directions were to be combined. The cruel persecution contributed to nominal Christianity bowing to the wishes of the ruler, and thus the foundations for the Catholic state Church were laid. In the year 381, Christianity, which had been combined with earthly political power in the Roman Empire, was declared the state religion, and the papal history only began in 441 with Leo I, who was Bishop of Rome. Every other version was invented afterwards and does not correspond to the actual development.

As far as the Godhead is concerned, for example, we find repeatedly the saying from the mouth of the Lord: "By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD…" Not only in the Old Testament in the conversation with Abraham and in the prophet Isaiah, but also in the New Testament in the letters to the Hebrews, it is mentioned that God could not swear by no one but Himself. If there had been two persons like Him, He could have taken one on the right and one on the left and, with both hands raised, swore by them. Such a thought is not far from blasphemy. On closer inspection, the doctrine of the Trinity is blasphemy because it is directed against God Himself and against His Word.

All the promises in the entire Old Testament that were made with reference to Jesus Christ only found their fulfillment and thus their existence when they became reality. When we read in Psalm 2: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee." or in Isaiah 7: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel…" or in Isaiah 9:6: "… For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…", then we can read and comprehend the realization and fulfillment in detail in the New Testament.

A son was not born in heaven – there was no one in heaven who needed to be redeemed. The Son was born here on earth through the virgin, as God had foretold through the prophet. It was not God in heaven who gave birth to a son, but, as it is written, "… a virgin shall conceive". The doctrine of the Trinity was brought into being by people who had no historical perspective of salvation at all and knew nothing of the divine plan of redemption, devised by Him before the foundation of the world, whereby He predestined us to be His sons. This divine purpose could and had to be accomplished here on earth with mankind in a very practical way through the Son of Man, who is the beginning of this new divine creation.

It was only at the moment when the begetting and birth of the Son took place that the Old Testament words of God were fulfilled: "I will be His father, and He shall be My son." and also: "He shall cry unto me, 'Thou art my father' …, Also I will make him my firstborn." (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 89; Hebrews 1:5-6 and other verses).

Every address that refers to God or comes from Him was always in the singular and not once in the plural. Nor has any prophet or apostle ever applied the three passages which contain the word us, which are cited as evidence by the proponents of the Trinity, to the Godhead. This was done later by the Christian philosophers who did not know God. For example, in Genesis 1:26 it says: "Let us make man in our image…" Here God did not talk to Himself, nor did he speak to any of God's persons who do not exist, but to the angels and hosts who were present when He created heaven and earth. This is confirmed to us in Job 38:4-6 in connection with the creation account: "… When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." The Lord has always been seen surrounded by heavenly hosts. This is also clearly described in Isaiah chapter 6, when the prophet saw the King, the Lord of hosts.

The prophet Micah also saw the Lord on His throne and the heavenly host on His right and left, to whom He spoke (2 Chronicles 18:18). In Genesis 11, the Lord speaks to the angels, the ministering spirits, who surround Him: "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language." Whether it is written us or we, it never refers to a plural God, but to Him and the angels who surround Him.

In the New Testament, as already mentioned, our Lord confirms the oneness of God: "And Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.'" How beautiful that even the scribe with whom the Lord spoke confirmed these words as true. If only the scribes of today could confirm the word as true! But a scribe can only do this in conversation with the Lord and Master, because only from Him, in whom God revealed Himself in human form, does clarity come. "And the scribe said unto him, 'Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he.'"  (Mark 12:28-34).

Paul also confirms at the end of the Epistle to the Romans: "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever! Amen." (vv. 25-27).

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul describes the revelation of God as Father in heaven and in Jesus Christ our Lord as the Son on earth: "… But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." (v. 6).

Jude, Jesus' brother, concludes his letter with the words: "… To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever! Amen."

The manifestations of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which are part of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation, do not entitle any human being to make different divine persons out of them. In the Son the Father has revealed Himself, and through the Holy Spirit He is operating. What is important is that we recognize the manifestation of God in Christ from the standpoint of the redemption plan and our eternal predestination as sons and daughters. The Godhead should never have been a point of contention, but rather had to be brought to the attention of mankind by the proclamation, namely, that God was in Christ and reconciled the world to Himself. It is not three persons who have been independent from eternity – that would really be a pagan God – but it is a true God who manifested himself in three ways: in heaven as Father, in connection with our redemption in the Son, since the founding of the congregation by the Holy Spirit.

There is only one "Lord's Prayer", not an "Our Son" and not a "Our Spirit". The Lord taught us how to pray, namely, "Our Father which art in heaven…" Everyone can read how the apostle Paul in particular addresses God in his prayers and writes: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The designations "God the Son" and "God the Holy Spirit" are not found in the Holy Scriptures, it is always only "God the Father…", nor is the designation "eternal Son", but only "everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6) and "everlasting God" (Isaiah 40:28). The manifestations as the Son and as the Holy Spirit always refer to God and are derived from Him: Son of God, Spirit of God. A Bible correction must indeed begin with the most important subject.

From the perspective of the plan of salvation, all those who accept God's salvation in Christ have been reconciled to God through His death on the cross. By being born again, God has made children of God out of children of men. Thus the God of heaven has become our heavenly Father, for in Christ, the firstborn among many brethren, as the introductory text testifies, we were predestined to be sons and daughters of God before the foundation of the world, according to the good pleasure of His will. Since we have become sons and daughters of God by virtue of redemption, the Savior called the redeemed His brethren, because He who redeems and sanctifies, as well as the redeemed of old who are sanctified by Him in the truth of His Word, are from the same Father (Hebrews 2:11). So our Redeemer, as the Son of Man, could say, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to My God, and your God."  (John 20). "Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness." (Romans 1:1-5). God has taken us into His eternal plan of salvation in Christ. By grace we are allowed to experience its realization.

The Name of the Lord

The difference between what designations and titles are and what a name represents is actually known and easy to understand. Yes, God is all in everyone and in everything. For example, Creator is not a name, but expresses what God is in relation to creation. The same is true of Him as Saviour, as Healer, as King, as Judge, and so on. From the beginning, God has manifested himself to His own – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for example, as Almighty God.

But when the time came for the covenant with Israel to take place, the LORD God revealed Himself in the name Yahweh (Exodus 6:2-3). From then on, this name applied to the entire time of the First Covenant and consisted of the four letters YHWH, which were later called the "Tetragrammaton". Experts have calculated that it appears more than five thousand times in the Bible.

For the New Testament covenant, the prophecy of the name reads as follows: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). And then we are informed that this Immanuel was given the name Jesus. Unfortunately, the name has been rendered in the Greek form in our Bibles. The original Hebrew form of Yahshua expressed who it was in fact who became man. Embedded in the name Yahshua is Yahweh; it means Yahweh Saviour, as Immanuel means "God with us."

Ever since the New Testament was written in Greek, our Lord's name has been rendered as "Jesus" in all Bible translations throughout the world. Obviously, God had no objection to this and certainly answered the sincere prayers that millions of believers have sent up to the throne of mercy during the time of grace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. All biblical baptisms were also performed in it too. What Paul wrote in Colossians 3:17 applies before God in every language: "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus."

No one needs to learn Hebrew, because God speaks to every people in their own language. So we are told that each of the 17 different nationalities gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost heard in his own language what was said under the guidance of the Holy Spirit: "… And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, 'Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?'" (Acts 2:5-12).

If brothers now appear who think they have to use the Hebrew names for baptism and prayer, then this is not correct. As soon as the time comes for the Jews, they will, of course, use the name in their language. What is written in our Bibles applies to us until the end. God has done great wonders and signs by the power of the name of Jesus Christ. HE has vindicated His Word in our generation, especially in the ministry of Brother Branham, just as He did in the time of the apostles, even though the Hebrew language was then used, and in our day the available words and concepts as they exist in our Bible translations. The brothers who now want to distinguish themselves once again with so-called "special knowledge" are not under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They cannot discern that God has His way with the church from the nations and only later with Israel.

These brethren have to put up with the accusation of acting on their own authority, because it is done out of the motive to present something special and thus be special. Before God, the name as we find it in our Bible translations is valid for the congregation from the nations. For the Jews, what is written in their language will apply. God will not use a man of the Gentiles to give a Hebrew teaching.

Moreover, even the inscription that was placed on the cross was written in three languages: Hebrew, Latin and Greek (John 19:19-22). If God had made a point of emphasizing only the importance of the Hebrew language, then He would probably not have allowed the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" to be placed in the other two languages. As we all know, the salvation of God came first to the Jews, and then to all the Gentiles, from whom the Lord chooses a people for His own possession. This is a warning to the brethren to return to simplicity and integrity of word and action within the congregation of the Lord.

Confession of Sins

As we all know, it is the intention of Satan, the old accuser, to deny redemption to the redeemed by any means and thus throw them out of the state of grace. Unfortunately, he always finds people who make themselves available to him as tools in the congregation. For example, they then ask others in a very pious way to dig up sins from the past. They are said to be obstacles to the Spirit of God and the supernatural work of the Lord and thus to the flow of blessings. One specializes mainly in the area that belongs to the fall of man. Here, however, we must make a very clear distinction between the Spirit of God convicting us of a sermon through the Word, so that we lay down to the Lord what troubles us, or whether it is someone who demands of us a "confession of sins" in front of others. Even if this difference may not seem so big to everyone at the moment, it is actually sky-high. Only where the Spirit of God is at work will there be pleasing repentance and inner bowing before God, combined with reconciliation, forgiveness and purification, as David said: "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;' and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin…" [Psalm 32:5]

But where people make the demand under pious pretext – but always only with others – that they have to undergo a purification, perhaps even listing things and asking whether they have occurred, believers who have already experienced forgiveness are defiled anew, yes, irreconcilability and enmity are re-established. On what biblical grounds should a believer who has received assurance of salvation and praised the grace of God go back to his past after ten, twenty, or more years of following the Lord to get something out of it? This in itself is a repudiation of total and complete redemption and forgiveness. What does Scripture say? Scripture says, "… Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases…" [Psalm 103:3]

God laid the entire curse and all sin on the sacrificial lamb. The Redeemer was made sin for all redeemed, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. He was nailed to the cursed tree so that we would be delivered from the curse and become the blessed of the Lord. Paul writes: "… Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." (Romans 4:25). Of justification, the man of God, William Branham, said that it means that man is restored before God to the state as if he had never sinned. Our Lord said to His own, "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." [John 15:3]

God speaks through the prophet Isaiah: "… though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." [Isaiah 1:18] According to the New Testament letters, we are dealing with an everlasting salvation. By the blood of the Lamb, every damage has been made well, every guilt forgiven, every sin has been blotted out. The certificate of debt is torn apart once and for all, as it is written: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." (Colossians 2:13-14).

In the statements of the letter to the Hebrews, this is summarised to us: "… By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days', saith the Lord, 'I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them'; And 'their sins and iniquities will I remember no more'. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:10 +14-18)

What good would it do a person if he were to rummage around in his life anew after ten, twenty, thirty years of being a believer? Paul says that it is shameful to even speak of what happened in secret. But it is precisely those who present themselves in such a holy way who indulge in their lust when others bring something out of their personal realm. The consequence of such confessions of sins, however, is that the "confessor" thereby withdraws from grace and forgiveness and returns to the old state. An irreparable irreconcilability and enmity is established because the work of redemption accomplished on the cross of Golgotha is set aside.

Paul was the teacher appointed by God who also gave the instructions as to how the work of the Spirit actually takes place in the church. In 1 Corinthians 14 he says: "If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth." This is the biblical work of the Holy Spirit in the church of the living God! No one is exposed, and certainly not the sins of the believers, who have long since been covered and forgiven by the blood of the Lamb, but the intention of the unbelievers, who, for example, come to a meeting with evil intentions, is revealed in a very concrete way. The person in question knows exactly that he and no one else is meant. He is specifically addressed, the secret thoughts of his heart are revealed, and so, as it is written, he falls on his face—not on his back—and confesses, "God is indeed at work in you."

However, wherever self-proclaimed prophets and prophetesses conduct their business, it is in fact always associated with personal prestige or advantages for them. By supposedly engaging in the spiritual realm, they derive earthly benefits. One seeks her out like they did back then with the witch of Endor, without knowing what is at stake. A gift of the Spirit does not attract people and does not bind to a person, but to God. Anyone who presents himself as spiritually gifted has already betrayed himself, because it is pretended that the gift belongs to man. In fact, however, all the gifts of the Spirit remain subject to the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Wherever the Holy Spirit operates gifts, attention is not focused on the bearer of the gift, but on the Lord, who works all things in all. God never wants us to look up to a man and even become dependent on him in the assumption: there God reveals everything. In such cases, the person concerned can no longer walk with God and make decisions out of personal conviction in the freedom of the spirit, but is directed by self-invented visions and prophecies that make the deception perfect.

From the Scriptures we also learn that it was not believers who had already been following the Lord for years, but new converts, who had come to faith in Christ, who confessed their previous deeds in public because they happened in public and all were more or less affected by them, who publicly burned their magic books (Acts 19). Not a single one has publicly confessed anything personal – not even unbelievers who have just experienced the conversion process. Those who had stolen went to the one they had harmed and made good there – not by confessing elsewhere, but by doing the deed on the spot. Wherever people have become guilty, they have made amends for the harm done to those affected. Everything else is settled by everyone with their own God.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord emphasizes that people who want to make an offering on the altar, if they become aware that something is wrong, must leave the offering and make it right with the person concerned, whatever it may be.

As already explained, the Holy Scriptures do not teach a kind of confessional, let alone a public confession, but that everyone puts things in order where he has fallen. In Matthew 18 Peter asked if it was enough to forgive up to seven times. The Lord answered, "… up to seventy times seven!" If we thus confess our shortcomings, "… He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

A general confession of sins is not only unbiblical, but also nonsensical because it serves no purpose at all. For example, if we have sinned against someone, and we confess it publicly without having spoken to the person concerned, then he knows nothing about it, and consequently neither the one against whom we have committed nor we who confess it have anything to gain from it. The so-called "pious absolution" goes back to the time of the Middle Ages and is a purely Catholic institution of indulgence. Only those who have sinned against us can we forgive. We owe neither forgiveness nor confession to another.

The word from James 5:14-16 is often taken out of context and used to call meetings with a special confession of sins. But this passage, like all the others, must be left in the context in which it is written. This is about a believer who belongs to the congregation who has become ill. He should not step up to the podium in the church and confess there, but before the elders whom he had called to him. They are to pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: " And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up…" Only then follow the words: "… and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." This is exactly where the next verse belongs; "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed…"

There are diseases that come upon a person as a result of a direct transgression of the Word. In order for him to regain healing, the Spirit of God—no other—will admonish the person concerned to confess the matter. Then God will answer the prayer of the elders, bestow healing and raise up the sick again. Every word of God must be considered with the utmost care and left in the context in which it is written. Only in this way will we escape the pious cunning of Satan, who always deals with the Word unlawfully, never leaving a single word as it is, but always takes it out of context. We have to pay attention to that. It remains what God's Word says: "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." [Romans 4:7-8] God cannot count and punish twice. Our guilt and sin have been laid on the Lamb of God. He was wounded, beaten, and martyred for our sins and diseases. Our punishment was laid upon Him that we might have peace, and by His wounds we have been healed. Amen.

Charismatics – Toronto Blessing

After the Second World War, a special, God-blessed revival began, reminiscent of the days of the Apostles and our Lord. God used William Branham as a trailblazer, who was one of the first having divine authority to appear on the scene. Later, a wide variety of directions developed from this. Impressed by Brother Branham's powerful meetings in Durban, South Africa, in 1951, David DuPlessis followed the man of God to the United States. There he found a home in Dallas, Texas, with Gordon Lindsay in the ministry "Voice of Healing" and thus contacts all over the world through the international connections.

David DuPlessis, who comes from South Africa, became known worldwide as "Mr. Pentecost". I met him in the USA and in Rome, in the church of John McTernan, and also in Germany. He is regarded as the founder of the charismatic movement, which he brought especially into the Catholic Church. He was an observer at the Second Vatican Council. Since that time, many men have appeared who made special claims and spoke of the work of the Holy Spirit. On this point too, the question must be asked: What does Scripture say about this? What does Scripture say about the following questions?

1.) May a man come forward and say, "I am here in place of the Holy Spirit? I represent the Holy Spirit? …"

2.) May someone breathe on people who come to pray and say, "Now you have received the Holy Spirit?"

3.) Is the charismatic man allowed to command when the audience should laugh, clap their hands, jump, etc.?

4.) Is there any indication in Scripture that people would have fallen on their backs in the presence of God?

Each of these questions must be answered in the negative, on the basis of the authority of the Word, and such a practice must be rejected as unbiblical:

1.) No man represents the Holy Spirit, who alone works the supernatural. Such a claim is false.

2.) It is only the risen Lord, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, who baptizes with Spirit and fire. HE alone breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."

3.) The preachers are committed to the preaching of the Word, and bring the audience not under their influence, but under the divine influence. The connection is not made by the preacher to the people, but the people are connected to God. No one has the right to deceive the audience in various ways and to present all this as the work of the Holy Spirit.

4.) There is not a single case in Scripture where people have fallen backwards in the presence of God—that only happened under divine judgment. Every man fell on his face before God – Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, right down to the crowd that bowed their faces down on the stone pavement at the dedication of the temple in Solomon's day [2 Chronicles 7:3]; also Peter, Paul and John on the island of Patmos. This is what we are told in the Holy Scriptures. So what happens in the charismatic assemblies is, measured by the Word, unbiblical and the work of men, a great deception and temptation.

Then the charismatic takes off his jacket, swings it with all his might and shouts: "This is how the Holy Spirit blows." People fall on their backs, their hands and feet outstretched, thinking they are experiencing the power of God. The strange thing is that the leaders themselves are not, as they claim others say, struck down by the power of God—they remain firmly on their feet; the power of God does not seem to have any effect on them. Maybe they need to keep everything under control? That is peculiar. Actually, they should be seized first. The whole thing is actually a deceptive manoeuvre that many fall for. The only bad thing is that people who hunger and thirst for God are deceived and fooled in such a way and then still think that they have received the Holy Spirit. All this will, at the latest, become apparent as a deception at the return of our Lord. What then? Then it is too late to experience the genuine work of the Holy Spirit, which always happens in connection with the promised Word. Then they will no longer fall on their backs, but on their faces, and in their disappointment they will cry out: "Lord, Lord, open to us…"

One would like to sound the wake-up call with the voice of a trumpet. It is such a deceitful age in which we live. Truth is presented as error and error as truth, what is right is denounced as wrong and what is wrong is presented as right. As Pilate did then, so too can it be exclaimed today: "What is truth?" Which is correct? What is real? What is biblical? After all, it is about one's own salvation, which has to be worked out with fear and trembling. Since there is so much imitation and deceit in the religious field, Biblical teaching is urgently needed. If you were to ask all these "Hollywood evangelists" and "show masters" specifically: "When and where did the Lord call you? What commission has He given you?" then great silence would come over them. Or one would talk about impressions and give an evasive answer, which is always the same: "I believe that the Lord has called me…"

The emphasis on the Trinity in their meetings also speaks for itself and is a clear evidence that these people are not found in the Holy Spirit, who is always the Spirit of the Word, but in the Catholic tradition. When would a man of God ever have ruled over the Holy Spirit, commanded Him, or prayed to Him? All this is done in order to bring the various denominations under Roman influence. There is a lot of wind being made, but God is not in the wind.

There is also enthusiastic talk and writing about "fire conferences", but God is obviously not in the fire either. He is not available to men, but does everything according to His Word; and what is not done according to His Word does not come from Him. The charismatics, including the people of the Toronto Blessing, do not preach biblical repentance and conversion, nor do they practice biblical baptism of faith or celebrate the biblical Lord's Supper. They do not even include the fundamental teachings of the New Testament church in their preaching. They are completely outside the Word.

Hands are laid on all people so that they may receive the Holy Spirit, without first preaching of Christ crucified and conversion to Him. According to the clear testimony of Scripture, they are the ones who appear as anointed ones of the end times, as false Christs. They prophesy, cast out devils, do great things, but it is to them that the Lord says: "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity!" [Matthew 7:23] Such men may easily be classified as the shopkeepers to whom the bridegroom sends those who will not find their way into the wedding feast.

Whoever comes to the Lord now and has his experiences with Him will then be allowed to go to Him. Those who now make their experiences dependent on people will also be sent to them. The elect cannot be deceived. They are the Word-Bride of the Word-Bridegroom and will be sealed with the Holy Spirit on the day of their bodily redemption. Thank God for leaving us with His clear and true Word. Everything that happens in the spiritual field must be put to the test. The Holy Scriptures are the sole guideline for teaching and life.

Europe – Vatican – Israel

It has never been as obvious as it is now that the Vatican has a say in the political unity of Europe. The Pope has long since consecrated all of Europe to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and placed the Eastern European states under the patronage of the two Slavic apostles. Unfortunately, this is not a laughing matter, but an occasion to think about where the journey is going. According to biblical prophecy, the Roman Empire is the last world empire that is now rising through the European Union on the basis of the Treaties of Rome. The Catholic Church is the spiritual world power that also dominates other religions through its political power.

In the magazine "Idea-Spektrum" of March 8, 1995, on page 6, we find a report on a conference of the "Confessional Movement" in which the evangelical pastor Albert Jansen is quoted. The subtitle of the article reads: "All Evangelical churches are dependent on the Vatican." At this conference, Jansen denounces the Vatican's claim "that Roman Church law represents divine law for all people." This report continues: "In the meantime, there is 'spiritually no longer an independent Protestant church in Germany'. Everyone has become dependent on the Vatican." There is talk of Evangelicals having only "a pious fig leaf function".

Secular media openly report on the Vatican's role in the unification of Europe. It is becoming increasingly clear who is setting the tone and direction. Jesuit-trained personalities sit everywhere in the governments and the highest offices, especially at the headquarters in Brussels. We know from Bible prophecy that it must come to this. And that is why our Lord's warning is issued: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing." [2 Corinthians 6:17] Those who belong to the church of Jesus Christ cannot remain in any denomination. The many submit to the Antichrist, and the small flock of the elect submit to the head of the congregation, which is Jesus Christ.

With regard to Israel, the Vatican is raising its voice ever more loudly, and the demands are becoming ever greater. In the news magazine "Focus", issue 39, 1995, there is the article on page 342: "Jerusalem – holy bone of contention". Very significant in this article is the statement of the Vatican's cultural attaché, Richard Marthes: "The Vatican does not need recognition from Israel, the PLO or the UN in order to negotiate." He emphasizes: "Whether directly or indirectly, the Vatican will always have a stake in the future of the city."

The question could be asked: Why has the Vatican focused its policy on no other city in the world as much as on Jerusalem? The answer is, that the Scriptures may be fulfilled and that the covenant foretold by the prophet Daniel may come into being. First, the Jews fall for the Antichrist; they are still spiritually blind, the veil will only be taken from them when they recognize Christ as Messiah.

It is also very significant what J. M. Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, son of Jewish parents, said on January 10, 1983, when he was appointed Cardinal: "I remain a Jew". Hard to believe. It shows that without revelation neither Jews nor Gentiles can recognize God's plan of salvation. But one thing we do know: that God is able to write a straightforward plan of Salvation even on the crooked lines of human history! We really do live in the time when all things come to an end. How important is the prophetic word, which shines on all to whom it is revealed in its fulfillment!

By His Commission￼

Meeting Announcements

God willing and the time of grace still lasts, it remains the case that on every first weekend, meaning the first Sunday, of the month in Krefeld and on every last Sunday of the month in Zurich, meetings will take place as usual.

The following meetings are planned for the period from Good Friday to Easter Monday, to which we especially invite you:

Böblingen near Stuttgart, Friday, April 14, 1995, 2:30 pm,
Kongreßhalle, Tübingerstraße, Württembergsaal, BAB 81, exit Böblingen/Sindelfingen

Salzburg, Saturday 15 April 1995 2:30 pm
Hotel Europa, Rainerstraße, near the main railway station

Bratislava, Sunday 16 April 1995 2:30 pm
Kalvínský kostol, nám. SNP

Graz, Monday, April 17, 1995, 2:30 pm
Heimatsaal, Paulustorgasse 4

Youth Meeting

May 24 to 28, 1995
Schönenbüel near Wolflialden

near St. Gallen, Appenzeller Land, Switzerland

Blessed youth meetings have taken place. The desire has been expressed to announce such meetings. It would be nice if all young people from different countries could participate this time. At the last meeting, Brother Pesahl was present, I was also there for a few hours and felt at home in the pleasant youth prayer meeting. Many have had a personal experience with the Lord for the first time. All young people are hereby invited. It is supposed to be an international meeting.

If you would like to participate, please contact Br. René Keller, Amselweg 20, CH-8400 Winterthur, Tel.: 052/212 40 75 for more information.

Meetings in Switzerland

From Ascension Day, May 25, 1995, to May 28, the following meetings have been scheduled, to which we also cordially invite you!

Winterthur, Thursday, May 25, 1995 2:30 pm

Stadtcasino, Stadthausstr. 119

Lausanne, Friday 26 May 1995 7:30 pm

Congregation of Brother Barilier

Bern Saturday, 27 May 1995 2:30 pm

Hotel Kreuz, Zeughausgasse 41

Zurich Sunday, 28 May 1995 2:00 pm

Volkshaus Helvetiaplatz