Transcript
It’s time to begin our service. I send you all my greetings, and I hope and pray you are doing well.
In case this is your first time joining us, and you may wonder who we are and what we are up to, my name is Charles Paisley. Most of our listeners here are formerly members of the cult following of William Branham. This is a little mission we run from here in the Jeffersonville Indiana area, right where The Message was born. I am formerly the associate pastor of the second oldest Message church in the world. On this side of things, I and the other ministers I work with are running a small mission to do outreach and offer comfort, support, and healing to the many people who have been exiting the Message over the past few years. Also, we take a look at the plain reading of scripture. We come from a religion that totally got lost in the weeds of interpreting the symbolism in scripture and ended up completely losing sight of the plain reading of the Bible. They elevated their interpretation of symbolism over the plain black and white and red reading of things. On this side, it is our desire to ground ourselves on Christ the solid rock.
Today we are still in our series on the book of Ephesians, chapter 3. We are continuing our study of the first half of the chapter. I invite you to open your Bibles and turn there with me. I will read the first twelve verses.
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—
Ephesians 3 ESV
2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,
5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7 Of this gospel, I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things,
10 so that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Let us pray.
Lord God, as we approach these scriptures this morning, you see our honest desire to understand these things. Speak to our hearts and open our understanding. Let us see the truth, for we know the truth will make us free. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Introduction
Well, brothers and sisters, last week I ended by telling you that we were going to look at The Mystery of God today, and that’s exactly our topic.
This topic is of very special interest if you came from the Message of William Branham. The mystery or the mysteries of God would be in the top ten list of the most important things to The Message. William Branham taught that the mystery of God was the revelations which he preached. He would almost always say it in the plural, the mysteries of God, though, of course, in scripture, it is always singular. It is never plural; it is always singular in the Bible—the mystery.
One of the most important teachings of the Message was that William Branham came to reveal the mystery of God. Most Message preachers connect this mystery to Revelation 10:7, where it says, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” They claim that the voice in Revelation 10:7 was the voice of William Branham, and he was that seventh angel. According to this belief, the revelations he preached marked the finishing of the mystery.
So, that is a very standard belief in most Message churches – that William Branham was the man who finished revealing the mystery of God. Now, I say that’s how most Message churches believe it, but not all of them. Of course, William Branham definitely said that himself. He explained plenty of times that he was finishing the mystery of God through the sermons he was preaching. He even said it several times when he preached his sermon on the seven seals. That idea, that he was revealing the mystery, was part of what he claimed the angels told him.
So, if you don’t believe that Revelation 10:7 is about William Branham revealing the mystery of God, then you would be admitting that William Branham was lying about what the angels told him. And that is really the only two options there – either William Branham was revealing the mystery of God, or he was lying about what the angels told him. There is not another option there.
Now, as I said, most Message churches do believe that William Branham finished revealing the mystery of God – most of them, but not all of them. There are churches in the Message that do not believe William Branham was revealing the mystery of God, and those are the Message churches I come from.
We never believed that William Branham revealed the mystery of God. Somehow, we just pretended William Branham never said any of that. We totally rejected the idea that William Branham had come to reveal the mystery of God and just pretended like he never said that. Raymond Jackson was that way, and his successors are that way too. They all pretend William Branham never said he was revealing the mystery of God.
If you just stop and think about that a little bit, that, by itself, tells you that our leaders, where I come from, thought there was something wrong with what the angels told William Branham. It’s really hard to make sense of that – how our preachers could throw away and dismiss what the angels said to William Branham that was supposed to have come to him by divine revelation, but they reject it and somehow still think William Branham was some sort of a prophet yet was preaching false revelation.
For us, we put this into the “fan is in his hand” category, which was our loaded language for saying William Branham taught the mystery of God wrong on purpose to purposefully deceive the people who were not elect. So, that is why we just ignored literally everything William Branham ever said about the mystery of God.
As we start out, I just want to point that out to you and make sure you understand that background because it may help you understand why I am emphasizing certain parts of these verses.
Here’s the thing: where I come from, our churches specifically, I think we actually had a right understanding about what this mystery of God was. This is not going to be something new to you if you come from the churches who followed Raymond Jackson, but it is going to be totally different compared to what the angels told William Branham when he preached with the revelation of the seals.
So, as we turn our attention here to Ephesians chapter 3, we find that the apostle Paul in these verses is talking about the mystery of God. Now, these are not the only verses about the mystery of God in the scripture, and the apostle Paul is not the only one of the apostles to talk about the mystery of God. Peter and John both wrote about it too, and Paul talks about it in several epistles. Besides here in Ephesians, he also gives a pretty lengthy explanation in 1st Corinthians chapter 2, also telling what the mystery of God is.
Today, let’s examine these verses and let’s see what the mystery of God is all about. Let’s see who revealed the mystery of God and when it was revealed. And I will burst your bubble right away – it wasn’t William Branham, and it was not the 1960s. So, let’s work our way through these verses. Let me read verse one and two.
When Was The Mystery Revealed?
Ephesians 3
1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you,
In these first two verses, Paul lets us know he is speaking primarily to a gentile audience. We know it’s not only gentiles though. If we just went back to the last chapter, it’s clear Paul was also writing to Jews. Ephesus was a mixed congregation, of both Jew and gentile. But here in chapter 3, Paul is singling out the gentiles. And what he is saying here is especially targeted to them.
And in verse 2, Paul explains that he has a stewardship of God’s grace for the gentiles. Something had been committed to Paul. Paul had been given a mission to fulfill by Jesus. And that mission was to share the gospel not just with the Jews, but also with the Gentiles. And he had the mission from the very beginning of his ministry. And from the beginning, when Paul met Jesus on the Damascus road, and then went to Damascus and was baptized. We see that Jesus told Paul that he had been chosen to carry the gospel to the gentiles.
That was a special mission Paul had. And we know Paul preached also to Jews. So Paul was not preaching strictly to gentiles. And we know other preachers went and preached to the Gentiles too. So Paul was not the only preacher fulfilling a mission to the gentiles.
So, in one sense, Paul was not alone in his mission. But that was an important part of the mission God gave to Paul. He was commanded to take the gospel to the gentiles.
And that is what Paul is speaking of in verse 2. He was a steward, he was someone who had a responsibility. And that responsibility was to share the gospel to the gentiles.
And now notice verse 3. Paul writes,
“[you have heard] 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.”
In verse three we see Paul mentioning this mystery. And he has already written about it briefly. If you went back to chapter 1, you would find that. We covered that in our lessons when we looked at chapter 1 back in November. And Paul already mentioned this mystery in chapter 1, but he did not really explain it there. In chapter 1, he left it as an open subject. But here in chapter 3, Paul is going to explain what he means, he is going to explain what this mystery is all about. And that is what he is saying there in the third verse.
And if you notice, and this is really important, notice there in verse 3, Paul says the mystery was made known to him. The mystery had been made known to Paul.
Verse 3 is important. Verse 3 lets us know, this mystery is something that had been revealed when Paul was still alive. Paul already knew what the mystery was. Paul already had the revelation of what the mystery was when he wrote down the book of Ephesians. Paul was not someone who thought the mystery of God still needed to be revealed. It was already revealed. It wasn’t finished. But it was revealed. And that is important to notice here.
The mystery of God was already revealed to the apostle Paul.
And, as we read this verse 3, we could ask ourselves the question, what would Paul think, if someone came up to him, and said he had not finished revealing the mystery of God? Do you think Paul would have accepted that? Do you think Paul would have agreed, and said the mystery of God had not been fully revealed?
And, when I read this third verse, and the ones after it, I don’t see any opening in Paul’s language, that would lead me to believe there is any opening here for someone to say the mystery had not been fully revealed. Everything about the way Paul talks about this confirms to us that the mystery was already fully revealed by the time he was writing this book of Ephesians.
And he says so for the first time right here in verse 3, “the mystery has been made known to me.” “The mystery of God has been made known to me.” He doesn’t say, it was partially made known to me. It was mostly made known to me. He just says, “it was made known to me.” So there is not really any opening in that statement to suggest that there was something about this mystery that Paul did not understand.
And as we come to verse 4, Paul will double down on that. Read verse 4.
4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
Now this is something. Paul is confirming that he has been granted insight into the mystery. He sees the mystery, he understands the mystery, he has been given the insight into the mystery.
And in verse 5, he tells us he is not the only one. He tells us it is also revealed to the holy apostles and prophets. They all understood it. It wasn’t just Paul. The rest of them understood the mystery too. And John wrote about it. And Peter wrote about it. And others understood and wrote about it too. If I wanted to take two or three lessons on the mystery of God, I could walk you through each of their epistles and show you. But we are focusing on the book of Ephesians today. And one thing we cannot miss is that Paul is telling us there in verse 5 that a whole lot of people understand what this mystery is. And it was already revealed before he ever sat down to write the book of Ephesians.
In other words, the mystery is not a mystery anymore. And they already understood back then.
Verse 5 tells us when the mystery was revealed. And it was not in the 1960s. Verse 5 says, “now.” It has now been revealed. Now. Right there, right then, 1900 years ago. It was already revealed. The apostles and prophets already knew what the mystery was, way back then. It wasn’t something they were waiting for. They were not looking for some last day prophet to come tell it to them what this mystery was. They already had everything they needed, right then and there, to understand this mystery.
And this mystery is the exact same one talked about across the New Testament. It is the mystery, singular. It’s not the mysteries plural. Whether you read it here, or in the writings of Peter or John, or even in Revelation 10. In Colossians, or 1st Timothy, or second Thessalonians, or Romans. It is the mystery – singular.
William Branham just totally made up the whole mysteries, plural, thing. There is just simply no such thing, as it relates to Revelation 10:7.
There is the mystery singular. That is it. And it was already revealed 1900 years ago to Paul, and Peter, and John and all the early church.
What Is The Mystery?
And what is the mystery? Paul is going to tell us exactly what it is in verse 6. Verse 6 is the big unveiling. Verse 6 is going to tell us what the mystery is. And what do you think it’s going to be? Is it going to be the secret meaning of the color of four horse riders? Is it going to be something that explains the obscure hidden meanings in the symbolism of prophecies and parables? Is that what it is? Let’s find out. Let’s read verse 6. Paul writes,
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
That is the mystery of God. And the truth is, if we went and looked at other verses, which will take you see what Peter wrote about it before we end this lesson. If we looked at other verses, the mystery is even a bit broader than this. But the aspect Paul is drawing attention to here is that the Gentiles would be saved by Jesus Christ. The gospel of salvation, which Paul was preaching to the Gentiles. That was the mystery. It was not about uncovering the hidden meaning of symbolism. The mystery was that God would, by His grace, save everyone who had come to saving faith in Christ. And yes, that mystery was in the symbolism of the parables Jesus gave. It was hidden in the symbolism of Old Testament prophecy. It was obscure. But it wasn’t anymore. The understanding had been revealed, by Jesus Christ, to the apostles.
And when we go to Revelation 10, and it says the mystery of God should be finished when the seventh angel begins to sound, that is exactly what it means. When the seventh trumpet angel blows his trumpet, the mystery will be finished. Salvation will be finished. Redemption will be finished. Everyone who is going to be saved will be saved. And it will be finished.
And that fits all the scripture.
The mystery will be finished when that seventh angel sounds his trumpet. And the people who tell you the seventh angel was William Branham or the angel to Laodicea, they are lying to you. There is not a shred of bible for that. They only believe that William Branham was that seventh angel because William Branham said so. And he copied that from the Jehovah witnesses.
Revelation 10:7 has nothing to do with the angel to Laodicea, and it has nothing to do with William Branham, and it has nothing to do with revealing hidden mysteries. Absolutely not. That is why it is so important to look at the plain reading of scripture because if you listen to a crazy crackpot, they will just make stuff up out of whole cloth. And some people will believe it, even if what they are saying doesn’t match the plain reading of scripture.
They can invent elaborate concoctions about the end of the day that does not actually fit with the plain reading of the Bible. They have got so lost in the weeds, they can’t see the forest for the trees. They have elevated the interpretation of symbolism over the plain reading of scripture, which is a total and gross abuse of the Bible. They are not teaching the word of God. They are abusing the word of God.
Read verse 6 again. And let’s allow the Bible to tell us what the mystery of God is. I don’t really care what a false prophet and his false five ministries say the mystery of God is. It doesn’t amount to anything; their words have no value. But what the Bible says, I will let the Bible tell me what the mystery of God is. And let me read it again, in verse 6.
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
I choose to believe Paul. That is who I choose to believe. I will trust that Paul knew what this mystery was. And I will throw away the false messenger, and his false message, and his false prophets, and his false five-fold ministry. And I will trust that the apostle Paul actually knew what he was talking about. And Paul said, read it in verse 6 again.
6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things.
Ephesians 3 ESV
You notice again what verse 9 says. Paul says the mission had been given to him to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery. It was Paul’s special job to bring to light for everyone what this mystery was. It wasn’t William Branham’s job to bring this mystery to light for everyone. It was Paul’s job.
And it was his job, not just for people in his day, but he says in verse 9, it was his job to bring it to light for everyone. Everyone. That would include you and me.
William Branham had no role to play in this. In fact, if someone makes it their job to reveal this mystery, they are actually denying the very words of the apostle Paul.
And when we get in our mind that the mystery of God has to do with special messages from God or seven thunders or understanding secret symbols, we are so far out in left field, we can’t even see what is right.
And that is where many of us were in the doomsday cult. We were so far out in left field; we were so wrapped up with a fundamentally wrong understanding of what this mystery even was that we were looking in all the wrong places. We were on a wild goose chase for the answers to secret mysteries which really had nothing to do with it all. The mystery of God was, and always will be, the plan of salvation and redemption of lost mankind as revealed by Jesus Christ to the apostles. Period.
Let me read the next three verses. Paul says why God revealed the mystery. God revealed the mystery:
10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Ephesians 2 ESV
Amen. Paul is telling us in those verses not only what the mystery is but he is telling us who God revealed the mysteries to. And not only did he reveal it to the apostle for the salvation of lost mankind, but he also revealed it so the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places would know and understand the mystery too.
Turn with me to 1st Peter. Let’s read what Peter says about this mystery. We will find out it lines up with what Paul said. In chapter 1, let’s read three verses starting at verse 10. Peter writes:
10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
Now Peter here is speaking of this same mystery. It was a mystery the prophets of old desired to understand. They inquired and searched diligently to understand it. They wanted to know about Christ, the prophecies, the grace to come. Everyone wanted to understand this mystery. Even, verse 12 tells us, even the angels in heaven wanted to see it, even the angels in heaven wanted to understand it. Just like Paul wrote back in Ephesians. It had to be revealed so that even the powers in the heavenly places could see the mystery.
1 Peter 1 King James Version
And just like Paul, Peter tells us right plainly what this mystery is that the Old Testament prophets and even the angels of heaven were trying to figure out. It was the gospel which was being preached by the apostles. The gospel message was the mystery of God, that Christ had come to save the world as an act of the grace of God.
That was the mystery.
When Will The Mystery Be Finished?
Let’s go to Revelation 10:7, and let’s apply what we have read here to Revelation 10:7. It says – and I am reading the English Standard Version because there are words in the original Greek which are left out of the King James version in this verse, so I am reading you the ESV. It says:
but in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7 ESV
Let me read that again:
but in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7 ESV
And I want you to notice, when we read this from the English Standard Version, it very clearly says this is the seventh trumpet angel. This is not the angel to Laodicea; this is the seventh trumpet angel.
The only reason anyone ever believed this was the angel to Laodicea is that William Branham said so. But it absolutely is not. I have a lesson in our William Branham series if you want to look into that more deeply. But almost every single translation puts the trumpet in this verse. The King James Version is one of the few translations that don’t. But if you go back and look at the original Greek, you will find the trumpet sounding is in the original Greek. For whatever reason, the King James left out the word trumpet, but it is in almost every other translation. And if you just simply read Revelation chapter 8 and chapter 9 in order – it is very, very obvious this is the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The only way you arrive at this being the angel to Laodicea is by slicing and dicing the book of Revelation and not reading it in the order it was actually written, which is exactly what we did in the places we came from.
The false apostles where we come from call that rightly dividing the word of truth, but it is actually just a screw-up, a dishonest way to approach scripture. There is nothing divine or Holy Ghost-inspired about it. It is just confusion.
So let me read this one last time:
but in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7 ESV
Notice how the rest of that verse is exactly matching what Peter or Paul wrote? Paul wrote that the mystery had been revealed to the apostles and the prophets, and the mystery is the plan of salvation, the plan for the redemption of all lost mankind, not just the Jews but the Gentiles too.
And when this seventh angel sounds his trumpet, that is exactly what will happen. The mystery of God – which is the plan of salvation – will be finished. It will be over and accomplished.
And when we go forward to Revelation chapter 11 and we read about the seventh trumpet, we will see that is exactly what happens. When this seventh trumpet sounds, the plan of salvation is completed; it’s all over. And I will say, that is exactly what we believed this seventh trumpet was in the churches I come from. We believed the seventh trumpet was the trumpet for the return of Christ and the final judgment of the wicked. So that part is not really anything I didn’t believe before. Let me turn over to chapter 11 and read that:
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Chapter 11 Verse 5
And so, I think we can see there when this seventh trumpet is blown, the kingdom of God is coming to earth, and the reign of Christ over the whole world is beginning, and the wicked are destroyed, and the righteous lived happily ever after. That is what these verses are conveying. That is what happens with the sounding of the seventh trumpet. That is the finishing of the mystery of God, the finishing of the plan of salvation.
Moving On
And, as I bring this lesson to a close, brothers and sisters, it is very easy to write William Branham out of our beliefs. It’s not really that hard to do. You can do it as simply redirecting the Malachi prophecy to John the Baptist or the Two Witnesses of Revelation. You can direct Revelation 10:7 to the seventh trumpet angel. We write William Branham out of the shout and out of the midnight cry, and that’s it. You have totally removed him from your belief system.
And you could, if you wanted, go on with everything else just the same. It can be that simple. Everything else he copied from other people. And maybe those other people are right. You could just let go of William Branham and keep the rest. And instead of trusting William Branham, you could just trust the people he copied it all from. You could do that if you thought that was the right thing to do.
Now, I have not done that myself. I think maybe some people have. I think we need to look at more than just that.
And so, I am doing my best to take a very humble approach to scripture. All of these wild ideas – which they have told us all these years was in the bible but really it never was – that stuff has got to go.
I fully believe that you and I are going to live to watch the entire generation who knew William Branham go to their grave. Not because of some sort of divine wrath, but simply because that it’s not very far away. It’s only a few more years, and there will be none of them left. And what is so sad is that most of them will go to their graves trusting in a lie.
And it will be you and I that are left here after all their doomsday prophesies fail. After they are dead and gone. After countless more lives are upended and destroyed by their constant strife. You and I will still be here to pick up the pieces and go on.
And they can rail like nuts all they want to today. The truth is they have already lost. But you and I have a choice to make. Are we going to go on another generation with this nonsense? Or are we going to bring the focus back to Jesus Christ, which is where it always belonged.
Many of them will go to their graves as frauds and deceivers, and they won’t have to live with the ramifications of all their false predictions. But you and I will because we will still be here.
Let’s stop the cycle. It is in our power to walk away from the madness and walk with Jesus instead.
Let me offer you some encouragement today. There is a way to escape the wrath to come, and his name is Jesus Christ. There will be a day when this trumpet will sound, when this mystery of God will be finished, when salvation will be completed.
And if you want to be on the right side that day, the ticket is not a false message from a false prophet. The ticket is the salvation which Jesus Christ offers you. Being justified by his blood, you shall be saved from all wrath. Wrath in hell, wrath in the tribulation, wrath in any and every form. You will be saved from it. You are not appointed to wrath if you are in Jesus Christ (1 Thes 5:9). You do need the mystery of God to make it. You sure do. But the mystery is not understanding hidden symbolism from the book of Revelation. The mystery is the knowledge of Jesus Christ as your savior. The mystery is the revelation of the gospel.
Stop tying yourself into knots trying to make sense of a false message and just start accepting the plain reading of scripture. Ephesians 3:6 plainly says what the mystery is. The mystery is that Jesus came to save whosoever will by the grace of God.
And if you are someone who has spent decades in that false religious system or even if you have spent decades teaching people a false doomsday religion, I want you to know it’s not too late to change your ways. It’s not too late to turn away from your false message.
There is grace for you, and there is salvation for you. And thanks be to God, there is salvation for me too.
God bless you, brothers and sisters. There is more in Ephesians chapter 3 I still want to look at with you, and Lord willing, we will do that next week.
But for today, I hope and pray that the mystery is not a mystery to you anymore.
Prayer
Let me close in prayer.
Lord God, thank you for the Holy Spirit who is our teacher. Thank you for the holy bible, which contains your word. Thank you for delivering us from a spirit of delusion. Thank you for helping us see our Savior plain and clear. Deliver our friends and loved ones who still trapped in the doomsday cult. Convict the hearts of their leaders, that they might see the gospel and lead more and more people back to Jesus. This we humbly ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.