Only believe the „Thus saith the Lord“
/ Ewald Frank
3. Only believe The “THUS SAITH THE LORD”
The words THUS SAITH THE LORD have become of new significance to many. God’s prophets, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, have always been able to say, “THUS SAITH THE LORD” Those who have witnessed the prophetic ministry of Bro. Branham must surely admit, that it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and based on divine revelation, when he said, “THUS SAITH THE LORD”.
We are living in a time when many things are happening, and are almost frightened of what the news might bring next. Pastors and evangelists are trying to understand and rightly explain all things. Many books have been written with the intention of giving better understanding of the world events which are taking place. However, we do not need the well- meant interpretations of man at a time when the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is so near. What we need is the THUS SAITH THE LORD of a true prophet, based on the grounds of the infallible Word of God. We are living in a time when the prophetic predictions pertaining to this end time are finding their fulfillment. Nobody has the right to interpret divine things from the human point of view. Spiritual things can only be discerned and revealed by the Holy Spirit. Just as certain as the Lord God uttered the prophecies through the mouths of His prophets, He did also make known the significance thereof in like manner at the time of fulfillment.
It is not our purpose to defend Bro. Branham or the ministry God has given him. A man, through whom God could perform such mighty signs and wonders for 33 years, does not need to be defended by anyone. Among those who have experienced the work of the Holy Spirit in this generation, it is well known fact that God used Bro. Branham in a special way to spearhead the mighty revival, which swept across the world after World War II. We can truthfully say that no man could do the things that have happened, unless God was with him. Before we look at this subject any closer, we must realize that God does all things according to the plan of salvation, recorded and foretold in the Scripture
Whenever a man of God in the New Testament was chosen to speak or write about things pertaining to the plan of salvation, he always referred back to the prophetic Word. That is what the authors of the four Gospels and also the apostles did. We must acknowledge that God chose His man at the appointed time to perform the things which were ordained to happen in that certain age.
It can be truthfully said then, that every New Testament teaching is based on the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the prophetic Word. All men of God in the New Testament, who were chosen to write or speak, were inspired by the Holy Ghost in the same way as the prophets were. They always referred back to the inspired Word of God, which was spoken before. Every biblical question in the New Testament was answered in the light of the prophetic Word and thereby became the THUS SAITH THE LORD. It was not the answer of man, but the divine answer given by Almighty God according to His Word. Therefore we can understand what Peter writes in 2 Pet.1:21, “For the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” In the same way, men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost according to the will of God, to proclaim the good news of the fulfilled prophecies. In Rom.1:1-2 Paul lays the foundation for that which he writes and builds on. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” The apostles declared here that the promise of the gospel was made aforetime in the Holy Scriptures, written by the prophets.
In reading the letters to the Romans or the epistle to the Hebrews, we see how often the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the prophetic Word is used in the new testamental teachings. In Rom. 9:24-26, Paul defends the conversion of the Gentile with the scriptures and writes, “…even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people; and her beloved, who were not beloved. And it shall come to pass that, in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the sons of the living God.”
In dealing with the same subject, Paul writes in Rom.15:9-11, “…and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the nations, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye nations, with his people. And again, Praise the LORD, all ye nations; and laud him, all ye peoples.”
We see clearly that Paul bases his teachings on the Word of God spoken by the prophets of the Lord. According to Acts 15:13-15, this subject was discussed among the apostles in Jerusalem with Paul and Barnabas. We read as follows, “And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken, unto me: Symeon hath declared how God first did visit the nations, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written…”
It was not only Paul, but we also find James referring to the words spoken by the holy prophets. We must learn once and for all that a scriptural answer can only be obtained from the Bible. In Rom.15:4 the apostle Paul writes, “For whatever things were written in earlier times were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.”
It is very essential that we learn to go back to the inspired Word of God and accordingly find our answer as the THUS SAITH THE LORD. We see that Paul, James and all these men of God did not give answer which they thought to be right, but they were moved by the Holy Spirit to give the answer from the Word of God.
In Acts 8:35 we read the wonderful statement, “Then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”
Stephen was also a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. In his sermon in Acts 7, he often points to the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the prophetic Word. It is impossible to separate the Old from the New Testament. For in the Old Testament the prophecies were given and in the New Testament they were fulfilled. Everything we preach and teach must be grounded on the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the complete Word of God. The purpose of the Word of God is not that we add our own ideas and interpretations, but rather that we see the plan of salvation by the revelation of the prophetic word. For this purpose God had chosen His men from the beginning of time, with true inspiration from the Lord to speak His Word.
We can see that since the days of the reformation, God has restored and revealed one truth after another from the Word of God. Those in every age, who accepted the God- sent messenger and listened to that which was spoken in the Name of the Lord, received the blessing of God. Those who believed the message of the hour were the true children of God. We must see all that is now happening in the light of the prophetic Word, as all the men of God in the New Testament did.
We read in Mt.1:22, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.”
Matthew was inspired by the Holy Spirit and he went back to the prophetic Word, which was given by inspiration. As the wise men came to Jerusalem and enquired where Christ was born, they received their answer also from the Word of God. We read in Mt.2:5, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my people, Israel.”
In Mt.26:31 we read, “Then saith Jesus unto them: All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall scattered abroad.”
We see that Christ also constantly referred to the Word of God. In Mt. 26:54 Jesus said, “But how, then, shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”… “But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.” (v. 56)
If we make a study of this theme, we shall be surprised at how often we find the apostles referring to the words of the prophets.
Mk.1:1-2 reads like this, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God: As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.” (Mal.3:1; Isa.40:3)
Mark immediately directs our attention to the prophets Malachi and Isaiah, and lays the foundation for his Gospel upon the prophetic Word. He emphasizes the THUS SAITH THE LORD to show the people the fulfillment of what God has promised through the words of the prophets. In the fourth verse, Mark makes mention of the forerunner and writes, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
John was the God- sent prophet with the God-sent message to God’s people in that time.
It is of great meaning and importance that we give God’s Word pre-eminence. After Mark had laid the foundation through the prophetic Word, he tells us more about John. His mission and his message are described. It is been mentioned how this prophet dressed and what he ate. Mark leaves off talking about Jesus and continues talking about the forerunner and prophet. This is quite remarkable. The first forerunner of Jesus Christ came and went, leaving a marvelous testimony. In these last days, right in our midst, a drama is taking place, where numerous prophecies concerning this end-time have been and are presently being fulfilled. There is a forerunner, like John, also promised for the second coming of Jesus Christ. This fact will be scripturally verified further on in this booklet.
If the Scriptures tell about the forerunner of the Lord’s first coming, then we can surely write about the forerunner of the Lord’s second coming. God’s complete plan of salvation was foreordained by His foreknowledge, as was the message and the messenger for each age. Also, the people who were to hear the message, were foreordained by God from before the foundation of the world.
We will prove that have taken the THUS SAITH THE LORD as our foundation. Naturally the scribes, who did not believe that John was the God-sent prophet, might have been angry that Mark should refer to him in his writings. They could have accused him, course, of glorify a man, but Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He could write down what had taken place in the absolute certainty of the revealed Word of God.
Beloved, it is impossible for those, who are filed with the Holy Spirit, to deny that which God has promised and fulfilled in this generation. Through the grace of God we have been brought back to the THUS SAITH THE LORD. We can now comprehend the significance of the prophetic Word in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now we come to the question: Why didn’t the scribes recognize the fulfillment of the prophecies in their time? It was simply because they had established their own interpretation of the Scriptures and waited that God should fulfill His Word after their own interpretation. The same thing is happening to the scribes in this generation.
Only those who understand the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the prophetic Word in this time will recognize that the Scriptures are being fulfilled. As certain as God sent a prophet before the first coming of Christ, He also had a prophet forerunning His second coming. In the midst of all the preconceived interpretations of a man, he stood up and, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, brought the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the Word of God to the people of God in this generation. It is high time to forsake all man- made interpretations and return to the Word of God.
We can say that everything that happened to Jesus Christ was according to the Scriptures. His birth, His life, His ministry, His suffering, His death, His resurrection and His ascension were all according to the Word of God. It was all fulfilled according to the prophecies of the Old Testament uttered by the prophets of God. We also see that everything which happens to the church of the living God, from the beginning to the end, happens according to the predetermined counsel of God.
In Lk.4:16 we read that the Lord Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. There was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He read the wonderful passage of chapter 61, which pertained to His ministry then, and began to speak the following words, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
As we have seen, the writers have repeatedly emphasized the fulfillment of prophecies as also did the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved in Christ! Have we understood where the emphasis lies in this time? Do we understand that the Lord Jesus and all the men of God in the New Testament have always referred back to the Old Testament? They continuously illustrated that everything taking place happened according to the Scriptures. This is exactly what we are doing by the grace of Almighty God. We have been privileged to see the Scriptures fulfilled and we are also privileged to write about the things which God has done in our time.
Those neglecting the THUS SAITH THE LORD of the Word of God are blinded in their own haughtiness and are missing out on God. They are not following the Lord according to His plan. Such a person does not build on the foundation of the unadulterated Word of God. He does not build on the rock of the revelation of Jesus Christ, but on his own foundation.
O people of God! Come back to the THUS SAITH THE LORD, so that you can see the fulfillment of the Word of God in this time. Come back to the true faith which is grounded on the Word of God. We are living in a time in which the wonderful predictions concerning the return of Jesus Christ are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Glory be to God, who let the light of His Word shine on them that sat in darkness.
John writes in Jn.6:45, “It is written in the prophets, and they all shall be taught of God.”
By the revealed Word of God we are taught and can now look into the mysteries of God, which were hidden through the ages. In Jn.7:38 we read (Jesus Christ speaking), “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from his body shall flow rivers of living water.”
Only then can the blessing of God rest upon us. These words “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said…”, is more important than we realize. All we do and believe must be according to the Scriptures. We read in 2 Tim 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnish unto all good works.”
If we want to come to the full stature of Jesus Christ and go on unto perfection, according to Heb.6:1, we must read the inspired Word of God and believe all the promises written therein.