“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

(Heb 13:8)

Circular Letter March 1983

I greet all of you very warmly with the precious Word of God from Psalms 50:5: “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

God made a covenant with His People in the Old Testament and also with His New-Testament church. On special occasions, He made a calling that His people should be gathered. This occurred upon deliverance from Egypt through Moses and also when the covenant was made on Mount Sinai.

Joshua gathered the people before entering the promised land. As commanded by the Lord, the priests were to carry the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders. The Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God for Israel with all the promises that were fulfilled at that time.

The prophet Elijah gathered the people on Mount Carmel, where God answered by fire and caused a decision and inner turnover in the hearts of His people.

In Deuteronomy 4:10, Moses reminded the people of Israel of what the Lord had commanded them: “Gather me the people together” and in verse 13 he emphasised the purpose of the gathering: “He declared unto you His covenant.” The Lord God had first revealed to Moses what was to take place. Moses declared the Word of the Covenant he received from the Lord to the people of the Covenant. He saw the land from afar but was not allowed to enter it. However, the people of the Covenant entered and experienced the fulfilment of all the promises God had given to them.

When the Lord commands that His people be gathered, He always wants to do something extraordinary. Since December 28, 1982, I have been more than ever convinced that now God is calling His people of the New Testament covenant together for the last time, because He intends to do something extraordinary. What the Lord told me in that morning with a raised voice is as biblical and up-to-date as possible. “Gather my people unto me with whom I made a covenant by sacrifice!” Overwhelmed by the voice coming from above on the right, I looked left and saw the clock indicating 4:13. This is the absolute truth and I have been newly made aware of the responsibility to continue performing my commission faithfully till the end.

Two parties are needed to make a covenant. God made the eternal covenant with us at Calvary in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, but every individual has to accept this covenant with God. Our “Yes” is manifested through personally turning to Christ, the Crucified. Whoever believes that God has brought the perfect sacrifice for sins in Christ may be His possession. However, as always, it is absolutely necessary to follow God’s call. God’s people must be united to hear the revealed prophetic Word as it came out of God’s mouth. Only through the leadership of the Holy Spirit can there be unity in the midst of His people so that we can first hear what God is saying for the last time and then experience God’s last working in us.

Jacob summoned his sons to a historic event and proclaimed to them prophetic blessings for the future. He said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” (Genesis 49:1) Jacob acted as a prophet. He was not seeking recognition and gathering people to share his own opinion with them – he was a man whose life was subject to the prophetic Word and thus under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. All prophets through whom the Word of God came were led by the Holy Spirit. Likewise, all believers hearing the revealed prophetic Word must be subject to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

God has always called together only those that He has made partakers of His plan of salvation. “Gather yourselves together and I will tell you what God told me.“ This is the only thing that matters. God’s commission, the Lord’s utterance must sound before we can act in His name. Jacob was old, his eyesight was weak, but spiritually he maintained a clear prophetic vision till the end. The mystery consisted in the fact that he had received the birthright and thus the right to inheritance and blessing. So it is with all true believers. At this time, they have the birthright and thus the full entitlement to inheritance and promised blessings from God. Jacob’s wrestling with God paid off: the sun rose over him, a new day began and his end was crowned. At the end of our run, we will also only speak about what God has done in our lives and we will receive the crown of life.

So no more debates, interpretations, fanaticism matter – only that one thing ““Gather my people unto me” is what matters. The calling is loud and clear. Nobody should lightly bypass it, but should be aware that God does not want to gather His people to a man or a doctrine. He requires of us to come to Him, because He made the covenant with His own on the cross of Calvary. No longer does God leave His people subject to the wilfulness of people, but He is unconditionally claiming the blood-bought flock. He takes care of His fold as the good Shepherd who laid His life for the sheep of His fold. With a mighty voice He is calling: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me!”

The time of fulfilment came in the days of Moses. The promise given to Abraham came true after 430 years. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.” Oh, how faithful God is! We shall see and experience the fulfilment of His Word. Moses was commissioned by God to gather the people and lead them out to serve God and not to end in a religious slavery again. First, Moses and Aaron had lengthy negotiations with Pharaoh. Great wonders and signs took place, but Pharaoh’s heart was still more and more hardened. The deliverance of God’s people could only take place when the whole of Israel complied with God’s instructions, killed the lamb and put its blood on the doorposts. The negotiations were over. The whole of Israel was delivered and not a hood was left behind.

The moment God’s people truly claims in faith and receives the full salvation and blood of the New Covenant, not a single member of the body of Jesus will be left behind, but together we will gain still more and more ground of victory and eventually enter the promised land.

On Mount Sinai Moses had to call elders together. Then the Lord descended on the mount, took from the spirit that was upon Moses and put it on the elders present there. Thus, the single-mindedness that came from above and rested on the prophet Moses and the elders sharing his responsibility passed to the entire people. This is the biblical order. Moses and all those who were commissioned were led by the same Spirit and had the same Word and goal. All that rebelled against him died. God never changes His ways and how He acts. The same spirit that was upon Christ, upon all the prophets and apostles and also upon the last church messenger, now rests upon all those who will experience completion through the final ministry. This is the only way to ensure full harmony with God, His Word and harmony in the midst of God’s people.

In the time of Moses, the working of the Spirit was so strong that out of fear Joshua cried: “My lord Moses, forbid them.” Moses said: “ … would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:28-29) What happened on the day of Pentecost? They were all gathered with one accord and the Spirit of Christ came upon the apostles, all who were present and then on the whole New Testament church.

Now, at the end, we can expect full restoration and mighty outpouring of the Spirit. Thus, the church will be transformed to a condition in which it can perform the last commission to the glory of the Lord. He is the One speaking with us. Everything that is our own must be silenced. He does not speak through our thoughts, but only through His revealed prophetic Word, which He watches over to fulfil it. His hand is not shortened and we shall see His Word become reality in this time.

Something to think about

The return of the church of Israel from the Babylonian captivity is of special importance for us. We can read about it in Ezra and Nehemiah. In Nehemiah 8, we read: “And all the people gathered themselves together as one man…” The people gathered to hear the Word of God. The whole Israel newly experienced what God had ordained in His plan and what He wanted to do with them. They gathered with one accord, listened to what God wanted to tell them attentively and let the Word of the Lord enter their souls. Thus, living faith arose, accompanying their entire work. The original foundation was uncovered. The work to rebuild the Temple began. They were in unity and external threats made the people having returned home even more closely united.

The gathering of God’s people also meant departure from Babylon. The fulfilment of the promised God gave to His people cannot be experienced in Babylon. Babylon is a foreign territory and God cannot have His way with us there. Therefore, a call is going forth: “Come out of her, my people…” “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Revelation 18:2-3)

Already in the times of Joshua, the people of Israel came under a curse because Achan of the tribe of Judah had taken a beautiful Babylonian garment from Jericho. Under this garment, he could also hide silver and gold, which he had also stolen. Since the days of the Reformation, the Babylonian captivity of the church should have come to an end, but all Protestant organisations and free churches have taken things that were accursed from Babylon. They are represented by various doctrine, knowledge, traditions and practice. However, the hour of God has come now. It was the tribe of Judah, from which Christ was to come bodily, where the Babylonian garment was found – this was why God could not bless His people.

Today, the Lord is concerned about His church, out of which the man-child – the overcomer shall be born. Therefore, He focused His sight, which is like flames of fire, upon those with whom He wanted to accomplish His intention. As long as anything from Babylon is in our midst, He cannot reveal His victory as much as He would like to. It is not enough to leave denominations and reject the teachings that are clearly unscriptural, but we must accept every correction received from the Word of God to be restored down to the tiniest detail, examine ourselves and be separated from everything that does not agree with the Word of God and comes from Babylon. We are often not aware that we are in possession of such things and we may find them of little importance, but a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

In the times of Jesus, Jews were certain that they acted exactly according to the Law and Prophets. However, they in fact acted according to the Talmud, which originated as late as during the Babylonian captivity. The same tragedy is present in today’s Christianity. Christian organisations, free churches and fellowships are not based on the Word of God, but on what was decided during the “Babylonian captivity” at councils and synods. In Matthew 16:5-12, Jesus speaks very clearly: “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” When the disciples did not understand, He explained: “How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?” This is about unscriptural teachings that do not come from the Spirit of God, but from the enemy, who introduced them and gained access to churches and individuals through them. These do not only include things which are obviously demonic, no, most of them even seem very religious and “spiritual”. Through these teachings demons acquire the right to do their work and God’s restoration through the revelation of the prophetic Word is needed so that we can recognise all that is unscriptural and get rid of it.

It is not sufficient to confess with our own mouth that we have received the Word of God for this time. The Holy Spirit wants to lead us into all the truths of the revealed Word. We do live in the prophetic period, but God’s confirmation will not come as long as we only receive what God is saying with our intellect. Many have been puffed up through knowledge, but had no divine benefit from it. Yet, the Word Bride, having been born of God, exists in this time. The Bride shall receive and accept both the revealed Word and the Spirit and will soon experience the completion of God’s work.

In this time it will be manifested who are those serving God with their hearts and those serving Him only with their lips, those who have been saved through their faith in Jesus Christ and sought and found salvation only in the shed blood of the Lamb of God, who carry the Word of God as God’s seed in their heart and those who only have it in their mouth. All those who believe with all their heart that God speaks to us directly through His prophetic Word shall follow the last call and receive every Word of God as it was given to us. True children of God do not have experience with a servant of God, who is only used as a mouthpiece, but with God alone, who called them and reconciled them with Himself. They become a new creature through God’s work of grace. God’s working begins in their souls and then is manifested in their everyday lives.

Brother Branham spoke about the three realms of man and explained that one can be anointed with the Holy Spirit in the second realm, in one’s own spirit, even if such a person is lost in his/her soul and is not saved at all. The salvation of the soul is the most important thing. That is the only way for an individual that has come to believe to have peace with God. The seed of the Word is in the soul. The spirit fertilises the seed and brings forth the new life of God. God’s law is: “ … every seed shall produce according to its kind”. So it is everywhere in nature, with all species of plants and animals and so it is with God’s children, too. It can never change. God is true forever. God’s seed has always been God’s seed and it shall be God’s seed forever. As surely as the Word became flesh in Christ and took the form of a body, so is now Christ becoming reality in believers.

We are not playing with words here. These are the most important divine facts. It is written about our Lord and Saviour: “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” (Isaiah 53:11). He alone underwent the greatest suffering of the soul so that our souls could be saved. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the firstborn among many brethren. He is the beginning of God’s new creation. As sons and daughters of God, through the same Word and the same Spirit, we shall become the firstborn having the same qualities and the same nature as He. Who really believes the promises will become a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1). This is the test we have to undergo ourselves. It is written: “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” (James 1:18) We are called into being through the uttered Word. So we read it. The Word, the Blood and the Spirit work together in a believer. The full gospel includes it all. Each seed shall produce according to its kind from the beginning till the end. If we are God’s seed, we will be the same kind at the end as God’s children were in the beginning.

The Holy Scriptures show us the characteristics of both opposing seeds which were on the earth from the beginning. Especially the story of Cain and Abel has a lot to tell us. Both were devout, both prayed, but only one of them received an answer from God. The other then demonstrated his own nature and killed his brother.

When Saul was anointed as king, the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied, but his soul was not changed. It was something completely different with David. He was anointed by the same man, but in him the Holy Spirit did not only enter the “second realm”, but the innermost part, his soul, because that is where the Word of God was, which was given to him as a promise and produced a new divine life. This is that mystery of God. David could not hate, Saul could not love. When David could overcome Saul, he said: “And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.” David who represented the true seed of God, who received God’s promises, who made prophetic statements with his mouth, respected the anointing of the Spirit given to Saul, who had no Word of promise.

Saul was only affected in the “second realm”. He could prophecy and then attack David. However, David was filled with the Spirit in the “third realm”, in his soul, because through predestination the Word of God was placed into him. Saul also acted as a prophet outwardly and prophesied mightily, but his nature was completely different. Through this example we can see even more clearly why brother Brahnam placed so much emphasis on the seed of the Word of God in his sermons. David was predestined to be king, the Word of promise was in his soul. Saul was chosen by human standards, therefore God had no reason to bear responsibility for him. The whole mystery lies in God’s predestination according to election manifested through free will (Romans 9:11).

It is especially in the sermon titled The Anointed Ones At The End Time where brother Branham clearly speaks about the anointing of the Spirit, which can come upon everyone including those who have not received the Word of God in their souls. Neither natural nor spiritual rain produces a seed, it only waters it. So is it with the natural Sun and the Sun of righteousness – it will only cause the seed that has been planted to sprout. So it does not depend on the rain or the Sun, although both are necessary for growing, but on the kind of seed. May we experience the perfect transformation and renewal in our souls so that the being of Jesus Christ could be fully manifested in us and God could carry out His final work in His Bride as He intended.

Trip report

The first two months of the new year were already filled with missionary journeys, which God richly blessed again. Unfortunately, here we can only mention very few of the many things God did.

In January, by the grace of our Lord, we had wonderful meetings in India attended by people from near and afar. A man from a full-gospel church near the south Indian city of Trivandrum testified at the end of a conference attended by about 4,000 people: “We had had conferences for 42 years where people had spoken, but this year we had meetings where God personally spoke to us through His Word.” Not only ministering brethren, but all those who were present felt that it was not empty words and stories being presented, but that the Word of God is spirit and life.

We were able to purchase an offset printing machine for our brethren in northern India, so that they could publish brother Branham’s sermons in their local language. These meetings were also a great blessing to many. In Bombay, hundreds heard the Word of God including two Catholic priests and all were overwhelmed and moved by the Spirit of God. It will surely bring a lot of fruit.

The Far East trip in February brought a lot of surprises. I had spoken to large multitudes before, but it was for the first time in Korea that I could preach the Word of God to tens of thousands at once. I was invited by Pentecostal, Baptist and Methodist churches and the Presbyterians and it was my first visit to Korea.

The Lord also opened the door in Taiwan in a wonderful way. Should we have an opportunity to have radio broadcasts in China, there are brethren ready to translate the sermons into Chinese.

There are two small assemblies in Japan, but also there the Lord has His own who He is calling now. Also there, believers from various assemblies and churches and from an international Bible seminary sought to experience more of what God did in this time. Some of them even visited me at the hotel.

For safety reasons I cannot say much about my stay in China, but also there are people expecting to hear God’s message. A brother visited me at the hotel and told me what was going on there. The Bible is printed again so that believers can read it. We are very grateful to God for it. We believe that God also has His chosen ones in China and is calling them out.

Invitation

For Easter meetings starting on Good Friday we expect all of you from near and afar, from our country and from abroad, including those who have so far only hesitatingly watched from the outside. The Lord will surely meet all those who are sincere and will speak to them and will reveal Himself among His own as the One who rose from the dead.

At the end of 1982, we had several meetings starting on December 29. On December 28, the Lord commanded me to gather His people. He alone took care and an unexpectedly high number of brothers and sisters gathered. These services have been unforgettable for all of them. We have entered the last phase. With the assurance of faith, the acceptable year, the year of Jubilee, can be proclaimed. No-one should turn a deaf ear to the last voice of the trumpet. God has turned to us again and will reveal the perfect victory in His church. The Lord began His ministry by referring to Isaiah 61 and started to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Now He is bringing everything to completion. He is the Beginning and the Finisher.

In the Lord’s commission￼