THE BREAD BASKET

(WHO HAS IT?)

Thought for the book taken from the

Message delivered on January 1, 2004

Dawsonville, Georgia U.S.A.

©2004 by Ben Howard

All rights reserved. This book cannot be sold, nor in any way be used

for the soliciting of funds.

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version Bible

Published by the Sound Of Liberty

7286 Hwy 53W, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 U.S.A.

www.SoundofLiberty.org

TwoAnds@soundofliberty.org

THE BREAD BASKET

(WHO HAS IT?)

Greetings to you in the lovely name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to bring you a message from the Word of God, entitled, The Bread Basket (Who Has It?). Being a minister of the gospel, and a church-goer, I’ve often heard ministers make comments on ‘the bread of eternal life,’ but have never really made a study on the subject myself; but suddenly becoming very interested in the subject I decided to make a study on the bread of life. I find it not only very interesting, but also of great importance to our very salvation. I sincerely pray that you will be enlightened spiritually by this vitally important message.

Now to begin our study, let’s go to Genesis, the first book of the Bible. There we find the tree of life mentioned. On one occasion Jesus told His disciples to go back to the beginning to find the truth on a subject. So I decided to use the same technique on this subject and found it worked very well. You can’t beat God’s way of doing things, can you?

In Genesis 2:9, we find the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil mentioned. This, of course, was two laws that God set before His children. The law of eternal life was keeping God’s Word, all of it; and bringing forth children God’s ordained way. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was disbelieving God’s Word to reproduce by their knowledge, not waiting for instructions from God. The fact is, Adam and Eve failed to eat of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden and changed the course of the history of the world by eating of knowledge. Well, our first chance of eating of the tree of life is now lost, but God did give us a ray of hope; He made us a promise that the tree of life would be offered to us again in the last days. This time it would be called the bread of life, given by Jesus Christ who is, of course, THE Bread of Life.

God always shows His plan through types and shadows, long before the plan is brought in plain view. So on this subject of the bread of life, He showed through His prophets and priests, many types of what the real bread would be -- again the real bread is Jesus, the Word; of which the manna that was given to Israel under Moses was a type of the real bread of life.

GOD’S WAY OF GIVING THE BREAD TO THE CHURCH

(BOTH TO THE JEWS AND GENTILES)

In the Book of Galatians 2:6-9, it is made very clear that there were two main apostles to preach to two different people. Two leading apostles with the bread basket. The bread in Peter’s basket was basically the same as that in Paul‘s basket; it was seasoned just a little different for the Jews and Gentiles. Peter knew how to get the Jews to eat the bread of life (to accept Christ), but there was no one that knew how to preach this new gospel to the Gentiles better than Paul. When It came to getting the Gentiles to eat the bread (accept Christ and His Word), Paul was undisputedly the man for the job.

It is fitting now to read Galatians 2:6-9. It says, “But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me. But contrariwise, when they saw that the “gospel of the uncircumcision (to the Gentiles) was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision (to the Jews) was unto Peter. For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas (Peter) and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me (Paul), they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship: that we should go unto the heathen (that is what the Jews call us), and they unto the circumcision (the Jews).”

Now that it has been established that there were two leading apostles, with two different slants on the bread basket, we want to look at some of the WHYS and HOWCOMES! To begin with, the gospel in the Old Testament times was basically to Israel, and since they lived under the law, they adapted many customs, and a way of life unlike any other people on earth. There were many kinds of meats and drinks that were forbidden under the Law of Moses. Then there is that ‘all important’ custom of circumcision, which is almost a matter of life and death to a Jew. That is only a few of the things the Law of Moses demanded, and there were many hundreds of traditions that men added to the list. Not only did all these things make the Jews a peculiar people, but they were looking for a King that would bring them out of captivity, which would be their God and would put down all their enemies and bring peace to the whole earth (Isaiah, Chapter 65). It is easy to see why they missed Jesus when He came as a baby in a manger. They were looking for a King coming in power to put down the Romans. They missed His coming, have we? (For further enlightenment listen to audio entitled, They Missed His Coming Have We?) Now about the Gentiles (all other nations), for the most part, the Gentiles worshipped some type of pagan god, and knew nothing about the true God. They lived in open sin and immorality. This was the world when Jesus came. Now when Jesus came He offered Himself to the Jewish nation after preaching to them for about 3½ years, but they rejected Him and crucified Him, saying He’s a deceiver. Jesus made no attempt to get the Gentiles to accept Him, but went to the cross to die for the sins of the world, but He arose from the dead and ascended back to God, after instructing His apostles for forty days and nights. When was Jesus coming back again, and how was He coming? Those are good questions, and even now seems hard to answer. Peter was there when Jesus ascended back to heaven as a visible man in a cloud. This seems to have had a great impact on Peter’s thinking. After all, the two angels said, “This same Jesus (Acts 1:11) shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” So when Peter preached his sermon in Acts, Chapter 3, about Jesus and His promise to come again, he said in Verse 21, “Whom the heaven must receive UNTIL the times of restitution of ALL THINGS, (meaning the millennial reign) which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” (Paul wasn’t around when Peter preached that sermon.) These prophets spoken of in Verse 21, were Old Testament Jewish prophets that prophesied about the coming Kingdom of Israel when their King would come (Isaiah, Chapter 65, Zechariah, Chapter 14, and many other places). Peter did not understand that before these prophecies could be fulfilled that God had to fulfill other prophecies that had been prophesied by the Old Testament Jewish prophets. One example is Hosea 2:23, God said, “I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God.” This prophecy is strictly a prophecy that God was going to grant repentance to the Gentiles, which Peter did not understand when he preached his Acts, Chapter 3, sermon. It was later after the gospel went to the Gentiles that James (Acts 15: 13-18) got a glimpse of what God had ordained for the Gentiles. Yet the mystery of God was not revealed to any of the Jewish apostles except Paul, and he was an apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13).

THE MYSTERY OF GOD

What is the mystery of God that Peter and the other Jewish apostles could not understand? It was the mystery that God was granting salvation to the Gentiles. This mystery was given to the apostle Paul whom God had ordained and called to preach specifically to the Gentiles. Paul said in Colossians 1:25-27, “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which was given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God, (Speaking here of Hosea 2:23 and a number of other scriptures.) Verse 26; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations (it was hid from the Old Testament Jewish prophets that God was going to have a Church made up mostly of Gentiles), but now is made manifest to His saints. Verse 27, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Now the mystery spoken of in Revelation, Chapter 10:7 is a singular mystery that deals with the church ages. This mystery is made clear by the seventh church age messenger and deals with the journey of the church from Pentecost to the end of the church ages. I preached a message sometime back entitled, Their Mystery and Our Mystery, which brings out further revelation on the subject.

Now the Jewish believers were expecting Jesus to return shortly after Pentecost “ON A CLOUD” OR “IN CLOUDS (visible) OF GLORY” as a visible man to start the Kingdom Age (1000 years reign of Christ.) Jesus had told His disciples (in the four gospels) that the Son of Man would come in clouds with great power and with all His holy angels. So who could believe anything different; for that was His promise. Zechariah 14:4 said His feet would stand on Mt. Olives. There was no reason to look for the return of the Lord any other way, accept to look for Him to come in clouds back to this earth. The Jews didn’t know that between the time Jesus left this earth as a man, and the time He was coming back as a man, that there would be a secret coming. This secret coming is what the bride of Christ calls the rapture or catching away of the true Church. This is to take place before the tribulation begins. Then after the tribulation is over, Christ comes back in clouds of glory and all the saints with Him. (Zechariah 14:4) Naturally Peter being the apostle to the Jews to whom the promise of the Kingdom was made, would look for Jesus in this manner.

PAUL’S REVELATION AS A MESSENGER TO THE GENTILES

(How He Came Into His Message)

When Paul was converted to Christ he did what most other Jews did. He immediately began preaching to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. (Acts 9:20) Although his first contact with Jesus was as a great light on the road to Damascus, he only stayed in Damascus a very short time. He (again like most Jews) went to Jerusalem to work with the apostles. But Paul was at Jerusalem only a short space of time until his preaching got him in trouble with the unbelieving Jews, and the apostles had to send him away (Acts 9:28-31) lest the Jews kill him. It seems Paul’s preaching always got him in trouble. He was a liability to the apostles at Jerusalem. So at their first good chance they sent him away. Reason: Fear for Paul’s personal safety - same reason he was sent from Damascus. It seems Paul’s ministry never did hit-it-off just right with the Jews. Acts 13:45-51 finds Paul at it with the Jews again. This time he tells them that he is to be a light to the Gentiles; shakes the dust off his feet against them, and away he goes to Iconium to preach the Gospel. You guessed it - at Iconium he got in trouble again with the Jews. (Acts 14:1-7)

Later Paul came to Antioch and that is where he began to bump heads with the Jewish preachers about law and grace. So after much dissension and disputation, away Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem. When they got there, there still had to be a lot of disputing before any agreement could be reached. Paul’s belief in the grace of God caused him to protest against the doctrine that came from Jerusalem. Yet he respected the apostles and elders at Jerusalem and their decisions were very important to him at this time. Paul only got a partial Grace message at Jerusalem, but it was better than what the Judean preachers were preaching - saying the Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses (Acts, Chapter 15).

PAUL’S GOSPEL MOVES HIM CLOSER TO THE GENTILES

AND FURTHER FROM THE JEWS

After Paul’s trip to Jerusalem, his gospel was more geared to the Gentiles than it had been before his trip. After the Jerusalem meeting he was absolutely sure that the Gentiles didn’t have to be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. Nevertheless, the meeting did not leave Paul with a complete grace message, for he brought letters from the Jewish apostles commanding the Gentiles on what they could eat, drink, etc. Later Paul gave his own revelation on the subject (Romans, Chapter 14), as he understood his calling and message that God had entrusted to him. This covered a period of several years.

GOD WILL NOT LET PAUL GO TO EPHESUS WITH A GOSPEL

THAT IS NOT PURE GRACE

Paul was growing more into the calling that God had called him to as the years passed. Although Paul received his gospel by revelation, at this time he still held to some of his Jewish tradition, as is evident in Acts 16:3, for he had Timothy circumcised. As the Jews rejected the gospel more and more, then more of the Gentiles accepted the gospel. It seems that Paul’s ministry kept pace with the change. Remember here that the gospel to the Jews had a slight mixture of the law, but more and more Paul’s gospel became pure grace. So that by the time we get to Acts, Chapter 18, Paul’s gospel just isn’t attractive to the Jews. After Paul (Acts 13:51) shook the dust off his feet, we find him saying in Acts 18:6 to the Jews (after he shook the dust off his raiment), “Your blood be upon your heads: I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”

Now a new phase of Paul’s ministry begins as he completely cuts loose from the Jews and the Jewish-type gospel. This brings us to about 50 A.D. Now God sends Paul to Asia where he was forbidden to preach some years before this. God sure knows what He is doing, doesn’t He? It is noteworthy to show here that although Apollos, a great preacher, was won to this gospel at the city of Ephesus (in Asia), he did not preach this gospel there. Apollos was preaching about John’s baptism when converted, but Acts 18:27 shows Apollos leaving Ephesus. This left Ephesus and Asia wide open for Paul’s new gospel of total grace as God ordained. Now Paul understood that the bride of Christ was to be the Gentiles, not the Jews, as Brother Branham made known to us when God used him to reveal the 5th seal; showing that the Jews were brethren, God’s wife. The bride, the wife of Christ are Gentiles, and God called Paul to preach to her. Having said this, the question arises, what will happen to the Jewish church since they rejected Christ the Word? Will the Jews be restored back to their original position along with the Gentile church in this last day? The answer to that question is this: They will be restored back to a relationship with God, but not as part of the Gentile church. God has a plan for them that does not include the Gentile church. He sends two prophets to Israel as the Gentile bride is raptured.

As this time period begins, Israel is awakened to realize her place in God’s plan, and the foolish virgins realize they have missed the rapture. At this time, the foolish virgins are the church, and Israel has turned to Christ and recognizes Him as their King and Savior. God will deal with Israel; as the Gentile bride enjoys the marriage supper in Heaven, and the plan of God rolls on.

PAUL GOES TO EPHESUS WITH MY GOSPEL

When Paul was sent to Ephesus by the Holy Ghost, he began to speak very boldly. Ephesus was now Paul’s home base for the Gentile churches. He finally came into his office. Paul was under no Jewish influence here, so that left him free to preach whatever God revealed to him without any fear of offending the Jews. Something new began for St. Paul in about 50 A.D. He found his own ministry and gets a new understanding of what God has called him to do. For the first time Paul began to speak with very clear authority, not looking to Jerusalem for instructions on what to preach as he begin to fulfill his ministry. From here Paul announced his office, an apostle to the Gentiles, and even said, “This is the way according to my gospel.” (Romans 16:25)

When Paul came to Ephesus, his new ministry was expressed in His own letters to the churches. Notice here, that from Ephesus, Paul sent his own revelation to the churches. He said, “I am the apostles to the Gentiles.” (Romans 11:13) He said, “I charge thee (to the ministers).” (2 Timothy 4:1). He had now fully come into his ministry, after some eighteen years. He told Timothy to preach the things that he had heard him preach (2 Tim 2:2). He was under Jewish influence at first, but not now (50 A.D.), as he preached to the Gentiles.

The book to the Ephesian Church brings out Paul’s revelation beautifully. Paul brings in the revelation on the ministry in Ephesians 4:11, of which Peter spoke nothing about. In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul brings in the revelation of how Christ comes into His people, and is manifested in them. He also brings this out very clearly in Galatians 4:19; saying Christ would be formed in us. In 2 Corinthians 4:11, Paul speaks of Christ’s own life being manifest in our mortal flesh. In Colossians 1:27, Paul said, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” Paul knew about the rapture or the secret catching away of the saints. Notice as we have already mentioned Peter’s sermon in Acts, Chapter 3, he spoke of the Lord coming back to earth to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament. Paul knew this too, but Paul always stressed the point that the Lord comes INTO His people first. Peter looked for the Lord to come back as a visible man to the earth to start the Kingdom Age; although he knew Christ had to be manifested in His people. This shows us that each apostle presented the bread of life just right for the people he was ordained to give the bread to.

All this I am writing is not meant to be just a look at what happened to the early Church for the sake of having that knowledge, but it is written in hopes that it will help you see what God is doing in this last day move of His Spirit that we are now living in.

JESUS WITH THE BREAD BASKET FOR BOTH

JEWS AND GENTILES

Now watch how perfect God’s plan is. When Jesus came into the world, He came preaching only to the Jews. The gospel had not gone to the Gentiles at this time. It did not until several years after Pentecost, and God raised up Paul and gave him the gospel for the Gentiles, after He used Peter who had the keys to open the door for us. Keep in mind here that the Gentiles are called out to be the bride of Christ, not the Jews; (now this is not saying that through time that there was not a few Jews that God ordained to be part of the bride of Christ), but Peter had the gospel for the Jews, as Paul had the Gospel for the Gentiles who were called for His namesake. (Acts 15:14) Notice what Peter did in Acts, Chapter 10. He heard Jesus say, “Go not to the Gentiles, salvation is to the Jews.” But, Peter by divine revelation went to the Gentiles with the Gospel. All this was ordained of God for this time, although Peter did not fully understand it. He had the keys to the Kingdom of God, so he had to open the door for us, but in Acts, Chapter 11, it shows the other apostles rebuking him for going to the Gentiles; so he did not have a desire to go back to them. His job was over as far as preaching to the Gentiles, therefore he left them to Paul, as Acts 11:19 confirms; saying about the Jewish apostles -- as they preached the gospel with the Jewish slant to it, and I quote: “preaching the Word to NONE, but unto the Jews only.” This clearly shows Gods great plan for the Jews and the Gentiles.

JESUS CHRIST CALLS THE APOSTLES

While in His “Son of man ministry,” Jesus Christ calls twelve apostles to assist Him in His ministry (Matthew 10:1-8) telling them not to go to the Gentiles, but go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This sets a pattern for the thinking of the Jewish apostles concerning the Gentiles. After the resurrection of Christ this wasn’t changed, until God sent Peter to Cornelius’s house, a Gentile whom God gave the gift of the Holy Ghost. This begins a new era of the working of God; for by the time of Peter’s visit to the Gentiles, God had already spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-17). Paul saw a great light as Jesus made known to him that He was the Messiah whom he was waiting for, and he (Paul) was to be the minister of the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul was one born out of due season, not having been part of Christ’s earthly ministry, but was converted a few years after Pentecost and was never a part of the ministry of the twelve apostles to Israel. So we place him in a different ministry. He was “the apostle to the Gentiles,” (Romans 11:13), and the Gentiles rallied to Paul’s ministry in the early church. Then after Paul’s death, the church fell away from the original Word (Revelation, Chapters One through Three). But the good thing here is that it is restored back again in this last day as Christ Jesus comes back in Spiritual form to perfect the bride; as we have been laying the foundation for in this writing.

JESUS COMES TO THE GENTILES

In Revelation 10:1-7, we find Jesus coming to the earth again. This time to the Gentiles in a spiritual coming; and just like the Jews missed Jesus coming to them, so has the Gentiles.

Now in order for Jesus to be the same to the Gentiles that He was to the Jews, He had to have a man that He could come to and demonstrate His power and virtue through. This man would have to be a Gentile, and would have to show the sign of the Messiah to the Gentiles, just as Jesus Christ Himself showed the sign of the Messiah to the Jews in His fleshly body. It has repeated again in this last day for the Gentiles through Brother William Branham who was a prophet like unto Jesus; not Jesus, but like unto Jesus. God sent the spirit of Elijah to this age.

In the New Testament order, Jesus Christ could not come to just one man with the fullness of His ministry, for there are five offices of the New Testament ministry, namely: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers (Ephesians 4:11). This brings us to the question, “How could Jesus then be to the Gentiles the same as He was to the Jews; seeing all that God is (all that He wanted us humans to know) was manifested in one man, the Lord Jesus Christ to the Jews?” That is a good question, and the answer is really very simple, once we understand that God sent the spirit of Elijah, the spirit of an Old Testament prophet to this age.

Now read and learn: In the Old Testament times the Word of the Lord came to the prophet, and God would use one man many times to bring His Word to the people. Although this was God’s way of speaking, it was not made official until Moses came to Mt. Sinai with the children of Israel. God told Moses to gather the people together and He would come down on the mountain and speak to them. So Moses did as God commanded him, and God came down to speak to the children of Israel as He promised He would. But when the people saw what was taking place, the mountain was on fire, and there were thundering and lightning and the sound of the trumpet, louder and louder, and then God began to speak. This so filled the people with fear, that they said, “Let not God speak to us any more, lest we die.” (Exodus 19:16-18, Deuteronomy 18:17-19, and Hebrews 12:21) So God said, “I will not speak to them anymore like this, but will raise them up a prophet”, (notice the word, Moses said the prophet would be: Like unto me.), and I quote Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” meaning Jesus Christ of course. This established God’s way of speaking to His people in Old Testament times. Every time He got ready to speak to His people, He always used a prophet, one man, to bring His Word to the people. This is the Old Testament pattern. Now, when God said He would raise them up a prophet, He was speaking of Jesus Christ, His Son. All the prophets that came before Jesus came, were only types of that prophet that Moses wrote about. So in order to show the authority of that prophet, Jesus Christ, God sent His Word by the prophets. That is why Brother William Branham (with the spirit of Elijah, an Old Testament prophet on him) would say: The Word of the Lord comes only to the prophet. This should identify the spirit that was on Brother Branham, the spirit of Elijah is promised in Malachi 4:5-6, “Behold, I will send you Elijah, the prophet before that great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

Oh how great God’s plan is!! He knew that the Church would get in the mess it is in before the world began. He knew the Jewish part would be fulfilled, as they rejected Him, after He called out enough of the Jews to rule with Him in the millennium reign, and He knew the Gentile part of the church would fall away from the Word. God knew that after the church failed, and went into the Dark Age that no ordinary ministry could call the Church back to the Word. That is why He had in His Word, “I will send you Elijah the Prophet.” Through an Old Testament prophet, He (Jesus) could manifest Himself and bring the Word to the Church again, until the five fold ministry came into being. God showed the sign of the Messiah to the Gentiles, using only one man. This brings back the Word. Now God can get a bride for Christ in this last day, using the five fold ministry that He has ordained to perfect the saints. Isn’t God’s ways wonderful!! Romans 11:33-36; “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God: how unreachable are his judgments, and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

In closing may I say again; the gospel will return to the Jews once again in this last day, as two prophets prophesy to them as is recorded in Revelation, Chapter 11. Many will turn to the Lord, but not to be part of the gentile Bride. By this time, she is already raptured into Glory. May God bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Note: Please read the book entitled, Ministries Of/With Similarities, for the furtherance of the move of God in this day.

AUDIO/VIDEO SERMONS AND BOOKS

All sermons by Brother Ben Howard are recorded on Cassette tape, CD's, DVD's, and Mp3 formats. Also, there is a collection of published books that are available for download or by request as well. Please feel free to visit us at our website often as new materials are constantly being added, or write to our postal address below.

Sound Of Liberty

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