The above photo was taken in 1953 at the beginning of ministry,
￼he photo below in April 1986, holding tickets at the local press interview.

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

Heb. 13:8

CIRCULAR December 1986

Special greetings to all of you in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ with the scripture found in Phil. 3:12-15, “Not as though I had already attained, ei were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”

In this short portion of scripture very deep thoughts and truths are being found. Whoever is called of God through a heavenly calling, has started to follow Christ and has a definite goal before him. Nobody can claim or be convinced to know everything or to have experienced all, but we can stretch ourselves out to receive new and greater blessings while keeping the goal before our very eyes. Not the blessings are our end, not experiences but to reach ow God-set destination.

Small differences can come up in the knowledge, but the goal remains the same. In view of these differences, Paul writes, “… in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Our salvation and our eternal destination do not depend upon teaching or knowledge, but they are founded exclusively upon the finished work of redemption and upon the complete reconciliation with God through the death of Christ on the Cross of Calvary.

It is not in arguing with one another, but in a real walk with God, that we go from clarity o clarity and from knowledge to knowledge “… till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). To the measure in which we obey and practise the Truth, we grow in love in all things into Him, until we reach the perfect image of the perfect man, and then we are not tossed about by the doctrines, but in the contrary, are taken away from all misleading interpretations. It is not possible to grow in the Spirit with false doctrines, because the Holy Spirit can only connect and work according to the Word of God. Behind every false doctrine there are wrong spirits.

In general, someone who is called by God should not look back. As an example for this, the scripture refers to Lot’s wife. The apostle Paul has also referred to this thought and stated that we should forget the things which are behind us and have our eyes set upon the goal which is before us and go forward. We have to believe that through Calvary, as far as God is concerned, everything was settled. A complete justification was given to us. That handwriting which was against us was torn to pieces. Our sins were thrown into the sea of forgetfulness, where it is the deepest. In addition to this, there are things which God has done for us, and there fore, they are worth of being mentioned.

Spiritually speaking, nobody should return to where we came from, because God has called us to come out. A good example for this is Abraham, who because of the Word of the Lord, forsook his homeland and moved into a strange country Most of us are acquainted with the history of Abraham. God called him and gave him promises which he believed and saw fulfilled. In Hebr. 11:9-10, we read about him, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwell ing in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

The true believers are called “Abraham’s seed”. They put up their tents as he did here on earth, but know that they are only guests and pilgrims here. They look for the city Abraham looked for and know that on that day in the great feast they will sit together with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the heavenly glory (Mt 8:11). In Gal. 4:28, Paul writes, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” Whosoever is truly born again of that seed of God, wifi believe and experience all the promises God made.

This circular letter is more or less an exception, because in this we shall mention a few things which occurred in the twenty years of this great work. We shall look back with gratitude toward God and see some of the high lights and emphasize them. All in all, it is now 33 years that I have preached and served the Lord as good as I could. Already in 1953, I spoke at the International Pentecostal Conference in the city of Kassel, West Germany. I still remember very well that I used then the text on Rev. 3, from verse 14, where it speaks about the message to the Laodicean church age. At that time I had never heard the name “William Branham”, and never knew of his special calling or ministry. But already then, I was being led to understand by the Spirit of God that we are now living in the last of the church ages, which is Laodicea.

If I look back on the direct leading of the Holy Spirit and consider the many times when I received the Word of God divinely revealed, then it fills me with deep gratitude and thankfulness. They were not dreams and imaginations, not something that one would make up, but were fundamental and concrete illumination that led into the Word, the will of God and finally into the whole council of salvation, which was taken and decided from eternity and is now coming to its completion.

The love towards the Word of God was already placed into my heart, when I was a child. At home the Bible was lying always on the table; it was only taken off for the meals. And as soon as one of us six children in the family could read, we had to share in the daily devotions, which my father conducted, and everyone took turn to read two verses.

My father, who also ministered the Word, was a real friend to me and also a great help in every way. Right until his last day I paid him the due respects.

All who knew my mother can confirm that she was a woman who had taken her f place. Never was she loud nor was there any fuss or fight. In reality she had the character of a God-fearing wife of which the Holy Scripture speaks and requires.

As far as I know, I have kept the fourth commandment, “Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother.” I cannot remember to have ever withstood what my father or mother said. But by the grace of God, I could respect them with all my heart. For me, whatever they said was like a commandment. Surely, it was the Lord who had placed this attitude and willingness into my heart. He was the One who gave the grace to do accordingly. Of my own, I would never have been able to do this.

A NEW CHAPTER

With the year 1955, a new period of life began in the spiritual realm. I participated in the most blessed meetings of Brother Branham held in Karlsruhe, West Germany. What I saw and experienced there during one week was nothing less than what the Book of Acts records. It is not an exaggeration to say that the confirmed ministry of this humble man of God had a very great similarity with the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Certainly, I was deeply impressed and touched by what I saw and heard and could experience. But I did not stop there. An inner voice spoke to me, “This man has an outstanding calling with a special commission connected to it.” With many thousands, I could experience when after his preaching he gave the altar call and prayed for those who would surrender to Christ. Then he called a prayer line, and by divine revelation he could say everything God showed him in visions. It was clear to me that he couldn’t have known a single person or anything from their lives. He didn’t know a word of our language and had never visited Switzerland and Germany before. Here I experienced for the first time that before God our life and the heart of every individual is like an open book.

In the true meaning of the Word. things happened through this ministry which we could experience, as they are recorded from the ministry of Jesus Christ. He spoke to Nathanael whom He didn’t know, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!… Before Philip called thee, when thou wart under the fig tree, I saw thee” (Jn 1:47-48). The Lord had said to Philip, “Follow Me.” He then went and spoke to Nathanael, and said, “We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write…“ After Philip had shared his testimony, Nathanael asked him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip gave him the best answer, “Come and see.” What a wonderful invitation by a man who had entered to follow Jesus Christ! In the same way, everyone who truly has experienced the Lord will testify to others, so that they also can be brought to Christ and be fully convinced.

Nathanael was so overwhelmed and cried out, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.” It was the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ as the Son of Man by which the one group was drawn to Him and the others rejected. The real true believers accepted, but the rest withstood. As Andrew took his brother to one of the meetings, the Lord looked at him whom he had never met and said, “Thou art Simon, the son of Jonah; thou shall be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, A stone.” Peter was so overwhelmed that the Load knew him and also knew his father’s name! This was the direct sign that He was the Messiah. When the Lord spoke to the woman at the well, He said to her, “… thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband…” The woman saith unto Him, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet … I know that the Messiah cometh, who is called Christ; when He is come, He will tell us all things.” Jesus saith unto her, “I that speak unto thee am He” (Jn 4:16-26).

Whosoever reads the four gospels, meets with the prophetic ministry of Jesus Christ over and over again. It was the sign that He is the Messiah. But it was also the testing point. The religious leaders took offense and declared, ‘This man is in connection with the devil. He is Beelzebub.” That was very bad, but it is still worse now, if someone sees the Spirit of God moving, and the same things happening as then, and ascribes it to the devil. The Lord said then, “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men; and whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven men.”

In John 14:12, Jesus made the promise that those who believe in Him would do the same works which He had done. Whosoever then ascribes the things God is doing as originating from Satan, the same has pronounced his judgment of doom upon himself for ever.

Hundreds of thousands have witnessed the absolute infallible gift of discernment and revelation in the ministry of Brother Branham. It was a combination of seeing and hearing. That which was seen and heard was then declared as THUS SA1TH THE LORD. The prophets were originally called “seers” (1Sam 9:9), because whatever God wished to reveal, they first saw in a vision. Then the second phase of the gift started to work, and by divine inspiration they received the true sense of what they had seen and knew the precise meaning of what needed to be declared. So they pronounced it as THUS SAITH THE LORD. The Word of God came to the prophets. In the same way our Lord Jesus accomplished His ministry as the Son of man. He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do; for whatever things He doeth, these also doeth the Son in the same manner” (Jn 5:19).

Precisely this was experienced and witnessed by multitudes through the many years in the ministry of Brother Branham. After the preaching, he gave the altar call and asked sinners first to come to the Lord and surrender to Him and then he prayed for the sick. Whether in U.S.A. and Canada, in Europe. in Asia or in Africa, regardless of race, people or language, the Spirit of God always and everywhere moved in the same unfailing way. It would be sacrilegious and a mockery, if some oody would declare God to be fallible or even think that He is not perfect in all His knowledge. In fact, it would be ridiculous and blasphemious to think so. Even today there are many recorded sermons as a living testimony and are available to all who wish to convince themselves of this mighty ministry.

I was privileged to experience this personally at my first encounter with this man of God. Brother Branham came towards me, stopped about 2 meters in front of me, pointed at me and said, “You are a minister of the gospel.” I was just inquiring at the hotel reception “Drei Linden” in Karlsruhe-Durlach about him, because I had a great desire to at least shake his hand. We never before had met each other. What I experienced then and on a number of occasions afterward, and what I heard and saw personally, nobody can dispute or take away from me. Because of this significant encounter with Brother Branham, the year 1955 remains to me of very special importance.

In June 1958, during the Voice of Healing convention in Dallas, Texas, U.SA., where approximately 100 evangelists participated, I came to know suddenly as by divine revelation that the prophetic ministry of Brother Branham has to be looked at from the scriptural point of view. He was somehow different from the rest of all the others. After that one week of being together with Brother Branham, I realized his special calling and commission and knew that his ministry was connected directly to the plan of salvation. Since that time, I began to receive the sermons he preached in Jeffersonville, U.S.A. They were being sent to me in Germany, and thereby, I had the possibility of growing up spiritually under his ministry. All the things which were made known to us through the progressive revelation, I could believe and understand by the grace of God.

CALLING TO THE MINISTRY

Most of you are acquainted with the experience I had on the 2nd of April, 1962, directly at the dawning of a new day. It was extraordinary. The words of the Lord which I heard just penetrated through the innermost of my soul. In fact, it seemed that they were going right through my bones. Even today, I could repeat the very tone and set the punctuation according to how the Lord spoke. I was so overwhelmed by the absolute and the finality which was in those words. I knew: here speaks the One who spoke and called all things into existence.

What He told me then has been proved true and fulfilled through the last twenty years in this world-wide ministry. I moved from city to city and from country to country, proclaiming the Word of God, as I was commissioned. Also with the second part of what He said I have tried to be faithful too. The spiritual food – the promised Word for this day and time – which was stored in, was given out. Also I followed His order not to establish local churches or to publish a song-book, be cause He said, “It is the mark of a denomination.”

Because of the audible voice and the divine calling, the year 1962 has an out standing significance to me. As mentioned before, I started to preach right after my conversion, but because of this experience with the Lord. I have the assurance that I am not only preaching, but that God has ordained me to do so. I cannot for get the 3rd of December, 1962, when Brother Branham, because of divine revelation, confirmed the experience which I had and the calling of God to preach His Word, as I was commissioned on the 2nd of April.

VARIOUS TASKS

As with everyone who was called to the ministry, so I could only do what He has called me to accomplish. I could not simply imitate and do what others have done, but I had to be faithful in the ministry given to me by a divine calling. If we search the Holy Scriptures, we can easily find that all the men of God had received totally different assignments to carry out.

The prophet Noah did not do any signs or wonders, but built the ark as the Lord had adviced him to do (Gn 6:22).

Abraham was not a prophet walking around the country and calling people to repentance. He only did what the Lord had ordered him to do. He just went and reached the promised land.

The ministry of the prophet Moses was again totally different. There we read about mighty signs and wonders, because God had ordained it to be so. He only did what the Lord had told him to do.

The ministry of Joshua differed from all the others, but he also did exactly what he was commissioned.

Both, Elijah and Elisha worked mighty signs and wonders. Because Elisha asked for a double portion, he performed exactly the double amount of miracles as Elijah did.

The prophet Isaiah spoke in the 66 chapters of the plan of salvation and wrote about it. In all the Old Testament there is not one book like this, which could be compared to it. But there is no mentioning of a visible divine confirmation of his ministry. He was the one who spoke about the birth of Christ, about the task of John the Baptist, of the sufferings of the Redeemer, and also about the new heaven and the new earth. But if somebody would have compared his work to the one of Moses, he could have asked, “What about the confirmation of your ministry, Isaiah?”

Let us consider Jeremiah and Ezekiel who also shared a part of the plan of salvation and prophesied the way it would proceed. Let us take the prophets from Daniel to Malachi. Each and every one of them, God had determined for some special purpose. Not one did copy the other, but every one had an original calling and a ministry according to the plan and purpose of God. No one can try to say, this one was great, and this one was small, here God confirmed, and there He did not confirm. Everyone who had an original calling from God and a ministry according to the plan of God did not copy anyone else. The first thing a child of God must have, is respect towards a divine decision, and to acknowledge a heavenly calling. This respect every true child of God will also pay towards those whom He has called and placed in His ministry.

If we go to the New Testament, we meet first the ministry of John the Baptist. He had no signs and wonders to prove anything, but he preached the Word of God for that hour, the true message of the Almighty for that moment, and he prepared the way of the Lord. Jesus said of him, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” (Mt 11:11). Also in the Book of Acts and the epistles, we meet the ministries which were numerous according to the divine calling. The job to be done by Paul was a different one than that of Peter. Of Timothy or Titus was not the same recorded as of Peter and Paul. But one thing all servants of God had in common: the same Word and the same revelation; although different commissions, but the same Spirit and the same fountain they were drawing from.

Nobody can expect of me to imitate the ministry of Brother Branham. But everyone can be sure that I preach the same pure, divine message which the Lord has so graciously confirmed. As Brother Branham could say, “I have preached the same what Paul preached”, and millions cried, “We are resting upon that!“, just as certain as that I can say, “What Paul and Branham proclaimed, that I have preached.”

If I would refer to the many testimonies of healing and supernatural confirmations, we certainly could fill quite an extensive brochure. Here, only one of the latest miracles should be mentioned. It was in April this year, that we received a prayer request for healing by a family in the CSSR. Their child, already sick for two years, was given up by the doctors. No more hope – nothing was more certain than death, which was right near. This healing occurred on a Wednesday night, while we have our prayer meeting in the church of Krefeld. It was a direct answer to prayer.

In the past years, I have mainly been occupied with the translation work, preparing and proofreading the manuscripts and also with the proclamation of the end time message, the Word of God for our time. The closer we come to the end, the more we can expect supernatural confirmation in our midst. Those who hear and believe the Word will see what the Lord can do. On the 3rd of December, 1962, after the conversation with Brother Branham, we went together to his car on the parking lot, and I knew, it was my last opportunity. So I asked Brother Branham, whether I also could pray for the sick. His reply was, “Brother Frank, every one who is called to preach the Gospel, is also called to pray for the sick. Don’t fear, the Lord will be with you and confirm His Word.” Then he put his arms around me and blessed me under prayer.

NEW PHASE

Perhaps the most important phase began for me in the year 1966. As should be known to those acquainted with the message of the hour, the funeral of Brother Branham took place on Monday, the 11th of April, 1966, right after the Easter meetings. That which went on within me, when I saw the coffin being lowered into the ground, cannot be expressed. I have mentioned this and perhaps also written about it. It was hard for me to comprehend that it really happened. I couldn’t imagine how the bride of Christ could be completed without this mighty ministry. After the funeral I returned to my hotel room. There was a deep mourning and many tears, but suddenly there came an unexpected peace and confidence over me. On the same day, an inner voice spoke to me, “Now the time has come to give out the food.” Without having to think about it, I knew what was to be done.

It is not presumptuous nor exaggerated if I say at this stage, that not one of the brothers at that time had any thought of the spreading of the God-given message. Deeply disappointed, all left to their respective places. The expectation of the sudden resurrection of Brother Branham was not fulfilled. No one knew if and how things would go on.

I managed to speak to a few brothers, who were near Brother Branham in his ministry. I could convince Brother Roy Borders that the sermons must be printed, because we would need them in order to translate them into other languages. As far as I remember, the first one was published one year later. I also spoke to Brother Pearry Green and invited him for meetings, that he should testify of the things he had personally seen and heard.

Many of the brothers today seem to have forgotten that without God using me, there would have been no spreading of the end time message, as without Brother Branham there would have been no message in existence. Neither in the English nor in any other language would the sermons have been published. God also used me to arrange the first meetings in Europe. As everyone knows, I have taken the revealed Word of God under difficult circumstances into all the world, including the communistic countries. In doing so, I was only obedient to the heavenly calling.

As one can see, Brother Branham, after the opening of the seals referred to the forerunning of the message rather than to himself, when he spoke of the experience he had on the 11th of June, 1933. In the sermon, It is the Rising of the Sun, he put it like this: “As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, your message will forerun the second” (page 3). God takes his servants and prophets, but the Word remains with us. We also can say at this time with final conviction that “we have the more sure word of prophecy” (2Pt 1:19).

In May 1966, this new phase began through the proclamation and spreading of the God-given message. The beginning was made in West Germany and the surrounding countries. Hundreds came to hear what God had done in our time. It was not my planning and my doing, it was the Lord who had foreseen things, and He is continuing His work. We can be assured that it will be completed at the return of Jesus Christ. Very quickly, the message spread in Western and Eastern Europe, in Africa, Asia and the whole world.

As a span of time, the ten years from 1968 to 1978 were the most blessed ones for me. During that time, we had the broadcast through Radio Luxemburg on every Sunday morning, and by this we reached many in Western and Eastern Europe. The doors were opening everywhere. In those ten years, I preached nearly three thousand sermons. In addition to that, I have made the many missionary trips and translated hundreds of Brother Branham’s sermons. Also the correspondence was very heavy, as it is connected with this mission work. Often I would only write down the scriptures while in flight, and then when I started to preach, it seemed that I was drawing from a never ceasing fountain, where divine inspiration came forth every time. Oh, how faithful has the Lord revealed His Word, illuminated the scriptures and the connections pertaining to a certain subject! Many can testify that God’s Word came fresh from His throne. A few times, I even heard the scriptures which I was to read.

DIRECT INSTRUCTIONS

The seventies were known among those who believed the prophetic message as a time in which the coming of the Lord was fixed for different years. Just then, I was led to buy the piece of ground on which the church was built. With the help of God and the never ending effort of my brothers, the building was completed, and the inauguration took place during Easter 1974. Who would have thought or dared to believe, time would continue so long? Some even accused me of not believing in the near coming of the Lord, because they thought I should not have started to build the church. But by now, I am certain, it has proven to be right to remain sober and steady, because nobody knows when the Lord actually will appear.

As the year 1977 approached which was emphasized to be the final one, something happened which I did not understand myself at first. As far as I could remember, it was on Saturday, the 17th of July, 1976. Just when the darkness set in, I heard the loud and audible voice of the Lord saying, “Go unto the neighbouring lot and dedicate it unto Me, for many people will come from near and far,, who have to be accommodated.” This happened when I came around the church and being just at the spot where the stairs lead down to the basement. Of course I stopped at that very moment, turned around and went unto the neighbour’s lot. There I knelt amidst the scrub, prayed briefly, raised my hands towards heaven and said, “Lord, my God, I do as You have commanded me, and I dedicate this piece of land to the honour of Your Name.”

On the next Monday, I phoned and spoke to the owner. But he was not willing to sell that piece of land. He had already planned a very big project on the whole lot with workshops, offices, salesrooms, exhibition rooms, etc. and said, “I am sorry, but I cannot sell you that piece of land.” I could understand his arguments and could only say, “But don’t forget! God has laid His hand upon this piece, adjacent to our property.” With this the conversation ended.

Within me there was a heavenly peace. His negative answer could not shake my faith at all. I knew that this was not in my hands, but in the hands of Him, who had spoken to me and made that decision. I cannot remember ever having had such blessed a faith in my heart. It was an absolute assurance that it would happen as the Lord had spoken. I simply waited.

Exactly three weeks later, the telephone rang before eight o’clock in the morning. The man at the other end said, “Mr. Frank, I must sell you the piece of land. Can we go to the notary this week?” On the 12th of August, 1976, the agreement was signed. Not one time had I asked God to change or lead this man’s heart – I knew He would do it. I just thanked Him for it. As the time came near and 1977 was so much talked about and the expectations were rising high, we were in the midst of a building programme.

At first only one house was planned. It was just about roughly ready, when
Brother Schmidt met me on the building lot and said, “Brother Frank, that building will not be sufficient for half of the visitors who need to be accommodated.” We both went our ways, but his words stayed with me. In fact, within my thinking it started to work, and the thought occupied my mind, whether a second building was needed.

I came into a very deep inner need, because it was a decision of such a magnitude that I was not able to make, and a Word of the Lord about it had not yet come to me. I sought the face of God with a deep cry of my heart in prayer. What I usually don’t do, I did now: while kneeling I took my Bible, laid my hands upon it and said, “Lord, I have to make such a great decision for which I cannot bear the responsibility. Should it be Your will that two instead of one house are being built, would You let me know?” At the same time I was certain that such an answer cannot be found in the Bible, because it simply isn’t there. But anyhow, I expected an answer. Strangely but surely, I opened the scriptures, and my eyes fell on the 7th verse in 2nd Chron. 14, where it says in the German bible, “So they put up buildings and prospered”. Nobody can imagine what one feels at such a moment. I knew right away while yet on my knees that not one but two houses should be put up. Straightways on the next day, I spoke to the responsible city office, and we got the permission without new drawings for the second building. In this way, it was literally fulfilled that the houses were completed and are serving their designated purpose.

In these two missionary buildings we have the print shop, office rooms and all the other facilities needed to assemble the brochures, copy the cassettes, and also the dispatching is done there. And besides that we have got much space to accommodate people, and also one apartment in each house for somebody to dwell in. If I look back, I can only say and testify that the Lord has helped and led me in every way, be it spiritually or naturally, and has supplied everything necessary to fulfil the commission He has given.

DESTRUCTIVE DOCTRINES

While visiting the U.S.A. in the middle of this year, I was especially confronted with the ideas, called “the revelation of the seven thunders” which, some claim, began to unfold since 1979. They say that the half an hour silence of which Rev. 8:1 refers to, started in 1963 and finished in 1983. It is being claimed that the Lord has broken His silence at the end of 1983, but reference is repeatedly made to the year 1979. Since then the doctrines which are being spread now have begun to shape up – that the seventh seal was opened and the seven thunders were revealed, etc. Never before, one has heard of such mess of wrong teachings and interpretations as now. It is shocking to hear what has become of this message and of the Word of God. Scriptures and quotations are torn and twisted and put together according to one’s own and various imaginations. No true child of God can accept such teachings, because firstly they are added to the scripture and to the message, and secondly they are not dealing with reality at all.

I am told that amongst all the internationally known brethren I am the only one who doesn’t receive the so-called “deeper revelations”. Those who do not believe all these wrong doctrines are supposed to have seemingly missed the coming of the Bridegroom to His bride according to Matth. 25, as now it is being taught that she is married to Him and has become His wife, and He has become her husband. Some even pray and say towards the end, “I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ, my husband.” I am challenging right here to show me one place where Brother Branham prayed in such a manner. I was also told that I didn’t realize the resurrection of the dead and did not participate in the rapture which has taken place into the clouds of witnesses. I took advantage of this opportunity to inform my self about the many things which are now being taught.

The tragic developments in this message already started towards the end of the sixties, and later were only given out in some other forms. Now and then men rose with new interpretations, but every time the same spirits were at work. If you just take the different teachings about the thunders, then they in itself are a total confusion, and one thunder teacher accuses the other for giving a false interpretation and not having things right.

Those who propagate the Parousia doctrine assert that Christ has come on the 28th of February, 1963, to this earth and is now here present. To this, one can only say that He is just as present today as He was present with all the true elect since the day of Pentecost. He gave the promise that He would dwell with us and in us, and where two or three are gathered in His name, there He would be in their midst. He said, “I am with you, even in you, to the end of the world.” So will it be until Christ comes. At His return, the bride of all ages together will meet the Bride groom. I challenge anybody to show me, where the Holy Scripture teaches that a resurrection has taken place in each church age.

The same men who are now claiming that the Lord came in 1963, emphasized various years and especially 1977. Based upon the statement found in the church age book on page 322, about the prediction that 1977 ought to terminate the world-systems and usher in the millenium, that year was especially stressed at that time. Newspaper advertisements with the head-line “By 1977” and a tract with the same title were published. How can one reconcile such contradiction?

It is obvious that it cannot be the Spirit of God motivating those who present false doctrines. What the listeners might not have seen up to this day is the fact that behind those things is the antichrist spirit itself, who then denied that Christ has come in the flesh (1Jn 4:1-6), and now denies, that He will come in the flesh (2Jn 7-11). Of those people there are many within the perverted end time message. To them who wish to be helped, a few scriptures and also quotes from Brother Branham’s sermons are given to assist, if they wish to receive it.

The word parousia is found many times in the scriptures, always specifically pointing out to the direct coining of the Lord and His actual presence. In Matth. 24:4 the disciples asked our Lord, “Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming – of thy parousia?” In I Thess 3:13 we read, “To the end He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming – at the parousia – of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” As known to all Bible believing Christians, 1st Thess. 4 describes the direct coming of the Lord, which He promised in John 14 and will start with the resurrection of those who sleep in Christ and with the changing of the bodies of the ones who live in Christ, and together will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air. In this chapter, verse 15 we read, “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming – unto the parousia – of the Lord shall not precede them who are asleep.” In 1st Thess. 5:23 we read, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming – unto the parousia – of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The One who is now present in the Spirit, will then come in bodily shape. That is parousia – Himself present in person. According to 2nd Thess. 2:8 the Lord shall consume the wicked one – which is the Antichrist – with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming – of His parousia. In James 5:7-8, where our Bible translates “unto the coming of the Lord”, it should read, “unto the parousia of the Lord”. When the scripture talks about the appearing, the word epiphanie is used. When it deals with the coming, regardless of what coming is meant, it is parousia. Whether He comes to take His saints or together with His saints after the marriage supper, it’s parousia. Parousia is His bodily presence. Anyone who knows the Word of God wifi understand and place everything into its proper order.

Whosoever spiritualizes the return of Christ has fallen into the same trap as in the past since Augustin to the Jehovah witnesses and is being deceived as they were. Such a person doesn’t know the Lord, nor the Bible, nor the message. Just as certain as Jesus Christ rose bodily and went to heaven, He will return bodily. Brother Branham has taught this scripturally, and I wish to use only two of his statements. One is found in Christ is revealed in his awn Word, preached 22nd of August, 1965, “Now, the next thing happens, Is when it’s all gathered up into that one Person, Jesus Christ, Bride and Body at the physical return of the Lord Jesus, making His three times when He was brought on earth…”, the second one in Invisible Union of the Bride of Christ, preached 25th of November, 1965, “… the physical return of the Lord Jesus to take a physical people, glorified by His cleansing Blood.” Who can deny what he said to be the Truth? Please note that both of these statements and many similar ones were made in the second half of 1965. Has he missed the second coming – “the parousia” – according to the deceived brothers?

After His resurrection, our Lord said, “Behold My hands and My feet, that a is I Myself handle Me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have” (Lk 24:39). Jesus is not a mythos, He is not an invented explanation, He is the personal God who appeared in human form as the Lord.

Thomas touched Him after His resurrection, laid his hand in His side, and cried out. “My Lord and my God.” As already explained, the same Jesus who rose from the dead and went to heaven, will come back in the same way. Whoever denies it is not even born again, but has a form of godliness and is only taken up with a sensation. At the time of the return of Jesus Christ, our Lord, I Cor. 15:51-55 will be literally fulfilled, “Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruprion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Also all the other scriptures belonging to that great event will then be ful filled. God will bring those who passed away with Christ (1Ths 4:13-18). Let us not forget that the dead will rise with an incorruptible body, and those who live will be changed. If somebody claims, the resurrection has taken place, where are the incorruptible bodies? Where is the change of the living? Don’t try to find a loophole, but face reality and face it now!

How can brothers assert that the Lord has come back in 1963, if Brother Bran- ham right to his end was waiting for Him to return? In his sermon Invisible Union of the Bride he says on page 5, “I am looking for the coming of the Lord in our generation.” In his sermon What is the attraction on the mountain, preached July 25th, 1965, he said: “We’re gathered here tonight at the home church, the Tabernacle, waiting for the coming of the Lord” (page 2).

It is uncomprehensive how brethren can step over such clear statements and teach that the coming of the Lord has taken place. My decision is clear in this point, as well as in all the others. I have taken my stand with the Word of God, as Brother Branham did, and I am still waiting for the coming of the Lord, because when it takes place, we will see and meet those who went before us, and together we shall meet the Lord. There is no promise in God’s Word which would indicate that the Lord would step on this earth then. He only promised to prepare the place and then will return and take us to Himself into the heavenly mansions. But the scripture has to be fulfilled to the letter. He warned us and said, “When they will say, Christ is here or Christ is there, believe it not, because such men are teaching what the false prophets taught, presenting their doctrines as special revelations.”

THE JUDGE

It is a fact that the opening of the seals was a very special event, and also the appearing of the Lord in the supernatural cloud prior to it. This we recognize with deep gratitude in our hearts. But that was not the coming of the Son of man. As mentioned before, Brother Branham constantly referred to the sign of the Messiah in connection with the ministry of the Son of man. As Son of man – prophetic – He manifested Himself through many years. Thousands of times He came down in the supernatural light and was present when Brother Branham prayed for the sick.

On the 28th of February, 1963, when the Lord appeared in the supernatural cloud He showed Himself as Judge. Two statements where Brother Branham refers to that great event should be enough to convince everybody. The first one is found in The Rising of the Sun, preached April 18th, 1965, “They took the picture, not us. And there He is standing there, Supreme Judge, showing that He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. What identification!” (page 45), the second one in Doing God a service…, preached November 27th. 1965, “Something said to me, ‘Turn it right.’ I thought, ‘I think I’m looking at It right,’ Said, ‘Turn It right.’ I thought, ‘Maybe that Voice means, turn It to the right.’ And when I did, you see what It Is: Hoffman’s Head of Christ, at thirty-three. Here, looky here, see His dark beard, His face, His eyes, His nose, and everything else. See the part In His hair here coming up. And He’s wigged with that white Angel wig to show that the Message of Him being God Is the Truth. He is the Supreme Judge of the universe, Supreme Judge of Heaven and earth. He is God, and nothing else but God” (page 14).

The opening of the seals was essential in order to lead us into the mysteries of the Word of God. But did we comprehend, why the Lord revealed Himself as Judge in that supernatural cloud just before the opening of the seals? Do we realize that the judgment begins at the house of God? Judgment doesn’t only mean condemnation, it also means to settle a dispute. Whatever was being preached since the opening of the seven seals is final. We will be judged according to that Word that was revealed and proclaimed since then. A judge sets an end to the dispute of the parties. He has the final word. So the Lord in appearing in that supernatural cloud, as Brother Branham describes Him as Judge, wanted to let us know that whatever He says is final. Remember, He appeared in the sky, not on the earth.

From that day or time on the discussions, the debates about biblical matters were stopped. He is the highest authority, the Supreme Judge, He is the “Federal High Court Judge” and has said what is right and final. He cannot join the parties who are fussing with each other; in the contrary, He stopped the fussing about bib heal themes and spoke what is right. Everyone has to recognize what He said as the absolute. Whatever He spoke cannot be debated about, it must be accepted. How many times did Brother Branham mention, that certain things were only made known since the opening of the seals! Some of them he even didn’t know himself before.

In the different church ages, the Lord has had His messengers to put forth bib lical truths which were illuminated at that time. The believers of each church age will be judged according to the Word which was preached to them.

But now at the end of the time of grace, it was not only the illumination, but the final revelation of Jesus Christ and His Word, and therefore, the whole council of God was made known imm us. Accordingly, we shall be judged.

The time where one believer judges the other is over. Now we must let our selves be judged through the Word that was preached to us. If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged any more. But if we judge others, then that judgment we pro nounce will fall upon us on that day (Rm 2:1). In John 12:48, the Lord said, “He that rejecteth Me, and receiveh not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

We also cannot continue to spread our own knowledge about things, but must let God have His way and believe every Word, regardless of how we saw things be- fore. Those who claim mid assert that the Lord returned and came to earth on the 28th of February, 1963, have not understood that since He revealed Himself in the sky with that white wig as the Judge, He wanted to let us know that now He has the final say, because it’s the final message. The opening of the seven seals was not the end of the time of grace, but the beginning of the last phase for the elect.

PART OF HIS PLAN

Whoever looks back, cannot move on forward. On the other hand, we must settle the past if we wish to face the future. Because the year 1979 is being frequently mentioned, old things came into my remembrance. What I did not wish to believe then has come more clear to surface: Satan wanted to destroy me and force me to step down and to stop preaching. With this, he did not succeed. Therefore, he tries in every way possible to discredit my ministry. Should he succeed, then he will have a very easy going with all those who have departed from the Word. It has become obvious that the same evil spirits that were at work here are continuing the work of destruction everywhere. The deceived people speak it openly and say, “You cannot preach anymore.” Others use a little different terminology and say, “You have got nothing to preach anyhow, because you don’t receive the new revelations.” It is being said, “You have stopped and stayed behind. We are going forward.” The question that remains would be, “In which direction are you going?”

I don’t wish to debate with those people who are under the influence of destructive spirits, because they seem to like it. But I cannot any longer keep silent. To me the work of God is most important of which I am part and have to give an account on that day. If now things are going to be mentioned, it only happens so that all would know that the attacks of the enemy in reality are not meant to be C personal attacks on me. I have done no harm to anybody. The wrath of Satan is against the ministry which God has ordained. It is the divine message which he hates deadly and would like to destroy. Therefore, he jumps at the one who is carry ing it. Has Satan not killed the prophets arid shed the blood of the righteous since Cain from Abel to Zechariah? Why? Because they were carriers of the true Word of God! Amen.

I cannot deny that the Lord has called me into His service with an audible voice. I cannot deny that He spoke several times to me. But that is beyond my influence. Brother Branham could not help but do what the Lord had told him. He was commissioned to store in the food. That statement he made a number of times. I cannot help but be truthful and distribute that food, as I was commissioned. Brother Branham said in his sermon Sirs, is this the time? of December 30th, 1962, “I have done according to what the visions and dreams and things has said to the best of my knowledge. I have laid in all food, that I know how, for them.” (page 53)

Not one time did he mention something about the Lord commissioning him to give out the food. What perfect harmony! Only God could arrange something in such a perfect way. It is not necessary for me to make up an imaginary experience.

Through the prophet Amos God said, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, nor a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the Lord” (chapter 8:11). I am so thankful to God that Brother Branham through divine revelation confirmed my experience of the 2nd of April, 1962, and he said then, “Wait with the giving out of the food until you receive the rest that belongs to it.” I don’t lie, I say the truth in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That part about the waiting I did not understand then, but did not dare to ask. I was sad, because I had expected the beginning of my ministry right then. But I was told to wait! The years of waiting were awful for me. Of course, the Lord knows when to give a promise, and He alone decides when the same is to be fulfilled.

When I made a brief visit to Edmonton, Canada, in the middle of the seventies, Brother D. B. one evening came to see me. He was so impressed by the many letters that have come from various countries from around the work], because with the whole team he had sent out thousands upon thousands of English brochures. At that time, I also gave the Edmonton address as a point of contact. During the conversation he asked me, whether my ministry was found in the scriptures. I just waved with my hand and said, “My beloved Brother, I only do what the Lord told me to do. There is no mentioning of my ministry in the scriptures.” I told him that Brother Branham’s ministry is mentioned and spoken of, and that was enough. It was not twelve hours later, the next morning, the first thing I heard was the loud voice of the Lord, saying these words, “My servant, I have appointed you according to Matth. 24, verse 45 to give out the food to My people.” What can I do about it? Can I deny it? I am only a man, not worthy to be called a servant of God. But His grace is sufficient for me. According to what Paul writes, He takes what is nothing in the eyes of the world, so that all the glory will be given to Him alone.

The ministry of John the Baptist is spoken of in the four Gospels. The Lord Himself testified of the same. In Mark 1:1-3 reference is being made to Isaiah 40:3 and Mal. 3:1. In Matth. 11:10 the Lord again spoke of him with the fol lowing words, “For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.”

The Lord Jesus started His ministry in the city of Nazareth with reading from Is. 61. It was precisely that word promised to Him. Everybody can read Luke 4:17-21. There He made the outstanding statement, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Whether we are dealing with the prophetic part of the scripture or with the promises, both are vindicated through their fulfilment. God always had His men at the right time with the right word in the proper connection with the plan of salvation.

The apostle Paul also could point in all his teachings to the scriptures. We must remember that when he turned from the Jews to the Gentiles, he based his action upon the prophetic word (Is 49:6; Acts 13:46-49). During the discussion in Acts 15, James said, “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…” (14-18). The convincing part of the scriptures is the coinciding of the Old and the New Testament – the total agreement of prophets and apostles.

Brother Branham, therefore, based his ministry on the respective scriptures of the Old and the New Testament. The same has to be now, if we are dealing with the continuation of God’s plan and purpose. God has placed different ministries in the church. Gifts and callings are without repentance (Rm 11:29). Never did He take a call back. Regarding earthly kings, He removes them and He sets them up (Dn 2:21). But never did He take a commission back which He had given Himself. We are dealing with God, and, therefore, must respect His decisions.

Matth. 24 mainly informs us about the things pertaining to the end time. From verse 42-44, we are told to watch, because we don’t know the hour the Lord would come. In verse 45, the Lord speaks of the faithful and wise servant, who would give out the food in due season. In verse 46 He pronounces the blessing, if the servant is found at His coming doing what he was commissioned. In verse 47 he was to be placed over all His goods. This is very important. The Word was revealed in its fulness. We are living in the days of the total restoration of all things. Even the chronological order is most surprising, in fact, it is perfect!

Chapter 25 speaks of the coming of the Bridegroom and also about the wise virgins who were ready to go in with the Bridegroom to the marriage. They will be filled with the Holy Spirit which reveals the Word. At the same time they will fill their vessels also. The manna that fell from heaven was the food to the children of Israel. They also received His Spirit and quenched their thirst. In Neh. 9:20 we read, “Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gayest them water for their thirst.”

For a remaining testimony, the manna was put into the golden pot, and it was placed into the ark of the covenant (Hb 9:4). At this time, God has given us the hidden manna, the spiritual food in due season. Of course, the promise is only given to the overcomers. They are the ones who will receive it. They have ears to hear what the Spirit says unto the churches (Rev 2:17). All I wish to be is a faithful servant to give out the right food at the right time. As one of our dearly be loved brothers from the German Democratic Republic wrote, the ministry of the faithful servant is only for the faithful ones, which are the wise virgins. Another Brother who doesn’t agree with this ministry said, “If Brother Frank has a true call from God, then we all are guilty of sinning against the Holy Ghost.” In this may God be the Judge. All who experienced the mighty blessings through many years should not permit themselves to be side-tracked. Those who wish to justify their conscience try to explain the divine call away. Otherwise, they would have no excuse for their stand and actions. Because this ministry happens in such simplicity, it will only be recognized by those who walk with God and have no preconceived ideas.

Whosoever gives out the food doesn’t need to knock down the tables, throw the chairs or work up an atmosphere, he just needs to obey the voice of the Lord and let the people sit down in His presence, and then they are being fed, as Jesus commanded the people to gather, and then blessed the bread, gave it to those who were called to the ministry, and said, “Give ye them to eat” (Mt 14:15-21). The Word which came from the mouth of God is the clean, spiritual food for our time.

FROM THE DIVINE VIEWPOINT

Every Bible reader knows that Satan was angry with the children of Israel, with their leaders and especially with their prophets who were persecuted and slain. Jerusalem became the target of satanic attacks ever since God had chosen it. No city on earth was destroyed as many times as it was. Even right to the end, God makes the city of Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people (Zec 12:3). We, therefore, should not be surprised, if Satan gathers all his powers to hit the church of the living God and do harm to her. But the gates of hell will not prevail against her.

The Holy Scripture speaks from the beginning of men of God who had a responsibility and a ministry. Both are recorded of them, the good and the bad things, the mighty acts they did, and also what they did wrong. Nobody can put aside David and throw away his Psalms or doubt what he said in the Name of the Lord, simply because he did things which were not right. Would God have thought this way, then He would have to do away with all of His servants. Even the prophets to whom the Word came were just men, although they were called gods (Ps 82:6; Jn 10:35). We have to see the difference between the earthen vessels and the divine contents within them.

In 1st Chron. 21:1 we read, “And Satan stood up against Israel, and enticed David to number Israel” We could ask, “Why was it so harmful for him to do it?” The harmful thing was that Satan had set a trap for David, and he was acting under a false inspiration. Although he was a prophet, he slided into a trap. Since the garden of Eden we know, how subtle the enemy is and the tactics he uses. But usually we detect those things with others and not ourselves. When it fits into his concept, he even uses the scripture, but always hands it back in a twisted way. When David realized what he had done, he cried out, “I have done very foolishly” (verse 8). Being a prophet, he knew that revelation comes spontaneously by inspiration. In this case, he had to recognize that it also can come from the wrong side, through which great damage was done to the people of God. Satan was against Israel, so we read, and he began at the highest point to accomplish what he had purposed. Since the New Testament church is in existence, Satan is against her, and he always uses people with great influence.

Peter experienced a spontaneous satanic inspiration. The Lord corrected him at the spot and said, “Get thee behind Me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto Me; for thou savorest not the things that are of God, but those that are of men” (Mt 16:23). The words of Jesus, “…thou meanest not what is godly but what is human” are of very great importance. We must comprehend that Satan can hide behind human, plausible arguments. He spoke to Eve about getting wise. In James 3:14-16, we read about earthly, human wisdom, which is at the same time called demonical. Wherever Satan is using the human head, the reasoning, he influences the person by false inspiration. Therefore, strife and jealousy and all the rest are left behind Of the fruits which then become obvious, one can easily detect what spirit was at work. The Spirit of God will always come forth with divine wisdom, and this is described in James 3:17-18, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceabe, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace.”

God’s men experienced mighty victories and also defeats. They were recommended and reprimanded, but everything happened to their best. They were founded and grounded and went on with God. They were not responsible towards any man, but to God only. Others drew them into the situation of making them accountable to them, like is shown with the friends of Job. But not they were right, Job was. He said, “How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? These ten times have ye reproached me; ye are not ashamed that ye make your selves strange to me. And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself” (Job 19:2-4). The sad story of Job tells us that Satan was furious against him, and, therefore, made the destruction, so that even his wife suggested that he should curse God and die. For a consolation, we are told to watch the end the Lord prepared for Job (Jam 5:11).

The wrath of God was kindled against his friends who made his life even more miserable. At the end, Job had to pray for them; otherwise, God would have destroyed them. A servant of the Lord stands or falls only to His Lord and not to someone else – not to a wife, not to a family, not the church – but to the Lord only who took him into His service. Paul writes under the leading of the Holy Spirit, “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be held up; for God is able to make him stand.” (Rm 14:4)

A WORD OF CLARIFICATION

I am convinced of the imminent return of Jesus Christ and also believe that everything is foreordained by God. All things have to pass Him first, before they can happen. In the last few years it became obvious that destructive spirits have taken hold of men and women. These spirits are religious, and the people think themselves to be morally blameless. They think it’s the anointing of the Holy Spirit which inspires them. They have a feeling of joy and satisfaction after they have done damage. Not even the thought occurs to them that something is not right. They look at themselves as to be honest and without fault, and don’t even realize that they lead not a single soul to the Lord but leave many murdered souls behind. The time to speak a clarifying word has come. I am one of those who leaves everything to God and prefers to say as little as possible, because only He can change the hearts and the situation of a human being. One doesn’t have to be very spiritual to know that private things should be settled in private. One doesn’t need to be extraordinary intelligent to know that things belonging to marriage should be settled within the married couple. Everybody knows that family problems should be settled within the family. In the same way, it should be understood that things pertaining to a local church should not be brought to public attention but should be settled where they are existing. If someone doesn’t know this ABC of behaviour, he has not yet comprehended the elementary things. But we live in a terrible time of scandals, and not even the church of the living God is spared from these spirits existing in the last days.

Alter so much about my person was brought into public, I have no other choice except to briefly mention a few things, even if some will have a hard time to follow in what I have to say.

As already mentioned, every human being since Adam and Eve can be influenced from two different sources. Therefore, we must check everything and prove it by the Word of God. Because Adam believed what Eve had said and did what she re quested of him, he came under the power of Satan. The Lord God had spoken to Adam; Satan, the old serpent, took a hold of Eve and beguiled her. After this happened, she polled Adam into the transgression.

Paul had this in view, when he wrote that women should not teach nor usurp the authority over men (1Tim 2:11-14). This simply was done because they are so quickly under a wrong influence. Therefore, the apostle had to give a serious admonition, as stated in 1st Cor. 14:34-36, “Let your women keep silence in the churches…” The apostle had the THUS SAITH THE LORD in this case. He under lined what he said with the following words, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (verse 37). Today we find it to be the opposite. Women who believe to be spiritual laugh at such a Word. What type of anointing is upon them?

Every believer has to admit to have been wrong in his judgments or doings at sometime or other and has not always seen things right. As Brother Branham emphasized, there is a possibility with the human beings, especially with those who exercise the gifts of the Spirit, that false inspiration can come. Those to whom it happens cannot be blamed. But the rest is responsible and should watch and judge whether it’s right or not. But there are also such people who purposely speak what they have put together themselves. In their presumption they think to comprehend the will of God in their thoughts and they wish to be assisting the Lord. They know that they are putting together their own thoughts and still they say while presenting them, THUS SAITH THE LORD. There cannot be anything more harmful than this to the church of the living God. In the shoes of such a person who purposely lies to God’s people, I would not wish to stand on the Day of Judgment.

Brother Branham mentioned a number of times that people wanted him to teach how to receive the spiritual gifts. It is more necessary that those who already possess spiritual gifts are taught how to use them. They need a profound biblical teach ing and will have to do accordingly.

NO CHOICE

The following experience and the consequences thereof are hard for me to de scribe. It was on the 16th of June, 1979, when I was at the Danish isle Fanø. Aft er the things which happened here at the first weekend in May and further on, I saw no purpose of me living any longer. How somebody feels who has a commission from God but doesn’t see a possibility to do accordingly, no other person can imagine. Before daybreak I went to the seaside with one thought in my mind, to set an end to my life. I thanked the Lord for the privilege He had given me to serve Him and I also asked Him to forgive me anything that was not right before Him, and receive me by His grace into His glory. I didn’t want to take my life, but I wanted the waves of the incoming flood to bury me. In my desperation, I cried, “Lord, before I come to Thee, would You tell me why all this has come upon me?”

Just at that moment such a mighty thunder broke forth right over me, as it can only be heard during very strong thunderstorms. But there was no thunderstorm at all; it wasn’t a thunder stretched forth but one single vertical thunder clap which was direct over me and then stopped. I thought that it would strike me. From this thunder clap the Lord spoke with a mighty but angry tone, “Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife!” The end of the thunder clap merged right into the beginning of what the Lord said. I fell over to my left. Then I got up and came back to the shore. Returning to the small room, I cast myself on the floor and be gan to read my Bible in Genesis. Then I came to the verse where it says, “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife…! (Gen 3:17). Being conscious of what I am stating and writing, I like to underline this experience with “As certain as God liveth” and “So hath the Lord spokem” If there would be another permissive way to ascertain it, I would use it. What someone else thinks or says about it, the same person will have to answer on the Day of Judgment. I am call ing upon God to be my witness on that day.

Those who are acquainted with the life story of Brother Branham know that he also went through very deep desperations. At one stage he wanted to take his life. I didn’t have the courage to take my life, I just wanted the waves to do that for me. Brother Branham had a loaded pistol which did not go off, when he triggered it. Then he threw the pistol into the air, and it went off by itself.

Those who know of the many prophecies we had here between 1976 and 1979 will understand what our expectations were. We all had been under the impression that God speaks, because through many years the prophecies were right one hundred percent. I was sure that the Lord is speaking through human lips and gives advice.

So that all will understand why the Lord made such a terrible accusation, a few things must be mentioned. In the prophecy given on June 5th, 1976, it was said, “Behold, thus saith the Lord. My servant, truly I have put you into a great work. I have seen your faithfulness and your labour. And behold, today dedicate unto Me Brother K. and Sister R. for service, for the time has come for them to be set into the ministry…“ I acted just according to what was said right there on the spot, laid my hands upon them and blessed them.

The first part was applicable, and, therefore, I fell into the trap. Even after the Lord spoke to me on a Saturday morning at about 11 o’clock with an audible voice, “My servant, search the Book of Acts if ever a man and his wife were or dained to service”, yet I did not comprehend the over-all situation. I was sitting in my office, facing the window, when this happened. I turned to my right, where my Bible was laying on the desk and started reading the Book of Acts. Soon I comprehended that there was no such practice in the days of the apostles. I got up, went to my wife and told her what had happened, and she said, “Brother K. is not even called to preach, he should put on rubber boots and help at the Mission Centre, and his wife should work in the office.” What have rubber boots and office work to do with a dedication into the ministry? This thought which came about by reasoning was a deception and was given to the congregation as “Thus saith the Lord”.

Much later she admitted and told me, “When I saw R. and K. coming into the hall, the thought struck me…” What have human thoughts to do with the thoughts of God? Does not the scripture say, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord” (Is 55:8).

Because since 1976, there was constantly the mentioning of the breakthrough, I listened to everything that was said, although many a times I had something within me leaning up against it. Under no circumstances did I dare to be the one who hinders the moving of God. Therefore, I obeyed whatever was said, even to the last request that Brother Russ, Brother Schmidt and myself should not step on to the platform on that first weekend in May 1979. The elders of the church and myself took a seat in the first row, just because my wife said so! I was told by her that God would use brethren who are not from the local church to bring about the cleansing within the local assembly. Everybody thought God’s time had come. We all were under expectation for the mighty things which have never happened at any moment, of which the whole world was to know.

As it was so similar to what the Lord had said to me on the 17th of July, 1976, “…people will come from near and far…“, I thought, now the time had arrived. According to what Paul writes in 1st Cor. 13, the love believes all things, hopes all things and so forth. That love of God is truly poured out into my heart by the Holy Spirit. Only later I comprehended that the true love is in connection with the Truth. I was sure that everybody who calls the Name of the Lord does it with reverence and in truth. Instead, we had to experience that under the most religious cover a destruction which still goes on has taken its course, which doesn’t find a parallel in church history.

The two brothers from out of town submitted to the same deceptive antichrist spirit, and all who since that time have drawn back are also under the same influence. Who can understand that Satan under the pretense of cleansing and sanctify ing has come all the way to the platform? The time to break my silence has come; the hour of God has arrived. The Lord wishes to manifest Himself in a mighty way. Before the true cleansing, which can only be wrought by the Spirit of God, can take place, that horrible spiritual defiling has to be uncovered. Only then, the Spirit of God can move again. All who are truly upright and are part of the bride will be convinced by the Spirit of God and led to repentance. We are not dealing here with earthly, human shortcomings but rather with a direct satanic defiling which penetrated into the souls of men. Therefore, the start has to be in the soul again, and then go into the next realm which is the spirit, until we come to a total purification and sanctification of the whole man including the body which is a temple of God.

Brother Branham said, we should thank God if that which was predicted or prophesied happens. But he also warns those who use the gifts and said, “If It doesn’t come to pam, then don’t do It any more till that evil spirit’s out of you. God doesn’t lie, He’s always the truth” (Church order, par. 49). There is no need for anybody to fight against such a statement. If things have gone wrong, we have to admit and confess it. Only if those who were misused by Satan will bow before God, they will be forgiven, and those who were pulled into the deception. can be delivered.

The condition and the outcome of such wrong influences Brother Branham describes in the sermon Enticing spirits as follows, “Amongst a lot of people we find where emotions and so forth, there become tattlings and backbitings and all kind of ungodly things. Brother, that’s sulphuric acid in the church, it’s demon power. Spirit of men and women who get among one another and try to push off that this is not right and this is not right, and that’s not right. If you’ll chase it down, nine times out of ten it’s the very person making the stir that’s not right. Amen. God hates discord among brethren.” (par. 90)

“So much demonology, demons working in human souls. Watch where it bears its fruits. Watch what kind of a life a person lives. See the way they’re acting, watch the way they do, see what their motives is.” (par. 118)

We have to be honest and admit that this condition became obvious. It was literally fulfilled what Brother Branham said: demons entered the soul of men and were destructive with it. Whoever remembers the years of the mighty blessings and has experienced the Lord and His lovely presence knows the difference.

Whosoever does not acknowledge that since that time an unparalleled confusion and dispersing has taken place, will not see the necessity for a correction, but in fact, will be against it. Some might have even stepped on to the way of no return. The gossip is like a cancer, destroying and killing. Along with it are all the doctrines which derive from a demonical influence. Even such people who for many years have listened to the true Word of God were poisoned and led astray. The apostle Peter writes, “Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” (2Pt 3:17)

As already mentioned, those who propagate wrong doctrines participate with very great effort in the assassination of character. They are under the same influence as those whom Satan used at that time. You hear the same arguments from them, the same scriptures are referred to, the same quotes are being mentioned. But these people don’t realize that they take things out of context and put them together according to their own understanding. Those poor souls don’t even notice that Christ, the Crucified, with reconciliation and forgiveness was taken away from them. The only thing that remains is enmity and hatred which separates one from another. According to the Word of God, the enmity was only put between the two different seeds (Gen 3:15), but not amongst God’s children. Wherever enmity comes up, Satan has his way. The Lord came to take the enmity away (Eph 2:16) and has reconciled us to Himself and certainly to one another “… and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” (2Cor 5:16-21)

We believe that nothing happens without the will of God. Even the fall was
necessary, because it was part of the plan of salvation. Looking at that which happened here, we have to say the same. As painful as the betrayal of Jesus was by Judas, but it had to be, so the scripture might be fulfilled. It also had to be as Brother Branham said, “The Word of the hour has to be crucified, before it comes forth to new life.”

In spite of the deep and painful ways we have to go through, we may trust God, for all things work together for the good to them that love Him. After the 100 % pure preaching of the Word, we have the right for a 100 % pure moving of the Spirit of God. I am asking each and everyone no longer to participate in unnecessary talks, but seek God in prayer to understand what He said well. The Lord gives a chance to everyone; take advantage of it! It is late, but not too late. We all have to bow before God, as we have stepped into the trap of Satan, especially those who were used to set the trap. That is the only way how that terrible ban can be broken. The time for deliverance from the power of Satan has come.

I can only hold to the reason the Lord spoke about from that mighty thunder. It was the only time in my life that He has spoken in anger out of a thunder to me. Why didn’t He mention other reasons? Why didn’t He make other accusations? I have deepest respect towards the sovereignty of God, and therefore I have to stick to the reason He gave me personally. What He said is true. Therefore, I am not willing to listen to any arguments which don’t touch the real matter. God speaks; Satan argues. It is my firm decision right to the end of my life not to listen in spiritual things to the voice of anyone, except God and His Word. There fore, I had to tell my wife at that time, “For ever I will not listen to what you say any more.” The scripture is right in everything. God alone is truthful, but every man is a liar (Rm 3:4). The moment Satan is discovered in his actions, he looses his hold on those who are purchased by the blood of the Lamb of God.

At this time, I am forced to refer to the revelation my wife had. She told me that she saw under her pillow a snake, rolled together. Yet she laid down without taking it away and thought, “Hopefully she will let me rest.” According to her own statement this was not the case: the snake came forth from beneath the pillow and moved into her mouth and left its excrements behind. Then my wife went to the wash-basin to cleanse here mouth. In the mean time, the snake laid again under her pillow, and she went back to lay down, and the same thing repeated.

At least at this moment, when she told me that, I should have comprehended, that it’s not the Lord but the evil one who uses her mouth. The serpent has left the dirt behind, but not only with her but with all who speak about and share the same things that she scatters. The accuser of the brethren has taken hold of many. In stead of speaking about the testimony of Jesus Christ and about the marvellous things the Lord has done in our time, such a dirt is coming out of the mouth of the people. Obviously, all of hell is busy, and many tongues were kindled with its fire, as stated in James 3. Even the honest confessions are being used against those who wanted to make things right. The deadly poison of the old serpent is being spread with the lips and the tongues, and many of God’s people die spiritually. If the true fire of God comes down as on the day of Pentecost, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit we testify of the great works God has done. Nobody needs to deceive himself or others, the scripture will always be right, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mt 12:34). Those who participate in the assassination of character are serving Satan, who is a murderer from the beginning. Jesus came to give life and give it more abundantly. Satan came to destroy. Everyone can test himself and see what kind of life is being manifested through him.

THE ANCIENT THEME

The old question about marriage and divorce comes up again and again. It seems that this happens purposely to distract from what people teach and do them selves. I have enough of it and also like to say something very clear about this matter. I am convinced that God hates many things, but number one is divorce. From the beginning divorce was not planned.

Of course we realize that this question was not asked by the disciples but rather by the Pharisees. I don’t know if anything has changed since then. In Matth. 19 the Lord spoke about it. In verse 3 we read, “The Pharisees also came unto Him, testing Him, and saying unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” The answer the Lord gave to this question can be read in the verses 4-6.

Again they approached Him and asked, “Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?” (verse 7). From the following verse one can see that it was not a commandment but a concession, not the perfect but the permissive will of God. In verse 8, the Lord answered and said, “Moses, be cause of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” Brother Branham has dealt on this subject pro foundly, receiving first by divine inspiration the actual truth about it, and so he could illuminate the whole matter from all angles and bring things up to date, which are binding for us. But what the Lord said about this subject then is still valid today, “All men cannot receive this saying, except they to whom it is given.” (verse 11) On page 43, Brother Branham says in the sermon Marriage and Divorce, “Until it’s revealed, you don’t know it.” So it is.

I would rather have my feet chopped off than to choose the way to the lawyer and to start a divorcement. In I Cor. 6:1-6, the apostle explains that the believers should not take any case before unbelieving judges. We are to judge the world and even the fallen angels. It’s my deepest conviction that God hates divorcement. He joins together, but Satan puts asunder.

SO IT WAS

Never will I forget the day in January 1981, when laying in hospital, being ill with malaria tropica, not knowing whether I would live or die, I heard the words from the person who set at the right hand of my bedside, “I tell you: should you come out of this hospital, my first way would be to the lawyer.” At the end of January, I was dismissed from hospital, but had to sign that I left on my own risk. Only a few days later, I had to realize that my wife did not only threaten but had actually done what she told me there in the hospital. The letter from her lawyer to me dates of February 9th, 1981.

Already in June 10, she suddenly said to me that she could not eat nor drink with me at the same table or have any fellowship with me. The very same day she left, and her last words were, “You will never see me again.” Then she took an apartment in a place called “Kohlscheid”, near Aachen, about 75 km from Krefeld. At this point, I have to reject any statement or assertion, that I sent away my wife or that I started with the separation or even the divorce. Such statements come from the same demonic poisoned well as did the spiritual deception, whereby great harm was done to the church of the living God.

Through the years, things went back and forth between the lawyers. The formalities necessary for a divorcement were arranged by them. Not one time during these years did she ever express the intention to continue the marriage. She apparently holds the same viewpoint even today. The lawyers then set up a writing on the 13th of May, 1983, which was signed by the two of us. In our country, after one year of separation the decree of divorce can be, but after three years of separation it usually is granted. What can one do, if in the last court session the judge asks the wife, whether she is willing to live with her husband, and she doesn’t reply at all?

In this whole matter, it is obvious that Satan’s aim is to destroy my ministry which is directly connected to the work of God. She told me verbally, “If this would be the work of God, it could not be destroyed. But because it is your work, it has to be destroyed.” In this work she helped for many years, and now with the greatest effort one can think of, whether with believers or unbelievers, grownups or small, everything is being done to reach a total destruction. That such action cannot be normal is understood by everybody.

On the basis of the Holy Scriptures, there is not one reason given to a woman whereby she may forsake or divorce her husband. Even if she tries to bring up one thousand arguments, not a single one will stand in the presence of God or His Word. If somebody thinks to find a scripture which teaches that she can leave her husband, that person should give Bible reference. Never did the Lord permit the wife to give a letter of divorcement to her husband. It is the damned spirit of emancipation which possesses most of the women of today, and so they despise their husbands. In the days of the prophets and apostles, something like this was never heard of, even not under the heathens.

In I Cor. 7:10, Paul has the THUS SAITH THE LORD, “Let not the wife depart from her husband.” If she does it in disobedience to God’s Word, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. It is necessary while dealing with this subject to pay full attention to the things the Lord told the woman and what He spoke to the man. It can never be interchanged but must be left in its original connection. In 1st Cor. 7:1-7, the general thought is expressed that every man should have his wife, and every woman her husband. In Rom 7:2 and 1st Cor. 7:39, we read that the wife is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth. Of course, the same is not said of the husband that he is bound to her as long as she lives. How many add this to the scripture, not even being aware of what they are doing! If a woman leaves her husband, he certainly does not need to remain alone. The Creator has set a proper order for all of humanity. If the wife departs from her husband, he is absolutely free and can marry again Brother Branham teaches this very clearly in agreement with the scripture in the sermon “Marriage and Divorce” on pages 36 to 40.

On page 41, he gave the example of King Ahasveros whose wife was disobedient, and he justified the King’s marriage with Esther. As all who are acquaint ed with the message know, the whole exposition is THUS SAITH THE LORD. The Roman yoke of traditional teachings is totally broken, and God’s people are set free into the liberty of the Spirit within the limits of God’s holy Word.

Before Brother Branham preached this noteworthy sermon, the Lord came down in that supernatural cloud and has spoken finally as the highest authority and judge. We have to accept every Word of God and believe it to be the Truth. Who soever rejects it, takes his stand contrary to God and His Word and tries to cover the whole matter with the Babylonian mantle. Also this subject must be seen in the light of God’s revealed Word, because Satan, from the beginning, has chosen the woman. He will try his utmost to rule her, as he doesn’t find a better tool.

Man was not made for the woman’s sake, but woman was made for man’s sake (1Cor 11:9). God did not say to Eve, “It is not good for you to be alone”, He spoke to Adam and said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help fit for him” (Gen 2:18). A woman who separates herself from her husband, who, according to the Scripture, is her head, she beheads herself and doesn’t know what she is doing. About this theme much was said in the Old as well as in the New Testament. There should actually not be a question about it. In addition to that, Brother Branham has summarized it and has given a total exposition on the subject. I have also dealt with it. Whosoever is right in his heart will understand everything right. If someone is wrong in his thinking, the same will understand everything wrong. There is no sense in repeating the old denominational views on this subject. We have received the true revelation in this message about the Godhead, Water Baptism, the original sin, and every other subject. Whosoever can comprehend it, may do so and thereby testify to stand on God’s side.

There are such gentlemen who prefer to take the way of least resistance. They submit to their wives, not realizing that they are submitting to Satan, who rules over them and receives worship through them. Thereby, the biblical order is being put upside down. The biblical order is that wives must submit to their husbands. The time to restore everything to its original plan and purpose has come, and each one of us must find his right place.

I cannot keep silent any longer. Everywhere believers were thrown into con fusion. Some might have even gone too far and said and done things whereby they crossed the dividing line. It was necessary for me to experience all these satanic tactics, so that I for ever get rid of his clutches.

Satan, the old serpent, has tried his utmost to make the whole deception plausible by using 1st Cor. 5:11. The believers can only be trapped with the Word of God, which Satan misconstrues. What a woman has said about not keeping company or having fellowship with someone is being repeated by all who believe her story. Not being self-righteous, but I am glad to state that not one of the listed items applies to me.

As usual, that verse is taken out of context. In 1st Cor. 5, Paul deals with a young man who lived with his stepmother. Therefore, Paul could base his judgment upon the scriptures and state that something like that is not even heard of among the Gentiles. Such a person has already surrendered to Satan, and, therefore, can be turned over to him. But what have I to do with such a matter?

In Dt. 27, we find the list of twelve curses. In verse 20 it states, “Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife, because he uncovereth his father’s skirt, and all the people shall say, Amen.” Everyone can read about the subject in Lev. 18:8 and many other scriptures. According to the Word of God, Paul had no choice, because that man was under a curse. As we have emphasized before, it is necessary to leave every Word of God in its context. Satan is a master twister and causes confusion.

Throughout the past years many were thrown into a state of desperation. On one side, they are the fruit of this God-ordained ministry and have heard and experienced what the Lord has done right to the ends of the earth; on the other hand, always new rumours and backbitings are scattered, which leads to a terrible conflict within them. It must be awful to live in such a condition. One voice would say, “He is a man of God, he preaches the Truth, he does all he can to further the Kingdom of God”, the other voice then would come and say, “He is a deceiver, he is this and he is that.” Because always new things are spread, people finally give up, and say, “Just leave me in peace” and they drop everything. But this is also not the solution. The right attitude is, that all of God’s people should come together and understand that Satan wishes to destroy, but God will always build up and put together. So we must discern what spirit is working upon whom. The results, the fruit speak of itself. The moment brothers and sisters recognize how subtle Satan misused scriptures and quotes, they can be delivered from his influence.

Not the brothers who are serving with the Word here for over 25 years did lie or deceive God’s people, but those who claim they did. With the preaching there was nothing wrong, and, therefore, nothing needs to be corrected. The roles played were exchanged, the truly guilty try to move everything away from them. Also the two brethren from out of town were deceived by the so-called “spiritual” sisters and did what they were told to do. Satan tried to discredit the ministry of the brethren and thereby destroy their influence. Since this is now uncovered, he has lost every right. All can move out free in he Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHANGE

By the grace of God, just recently it is noticeable that a change is coming about. Brothers with whole churches in different countries have acknowledged that we were brought back to the original teaching of the Word through the ministry of Brother Branham and must not deviate from it in any point. So they are returning to that original Word.

In the last few months, the Lord has opened new doors. Many thousands who had never heard something about the message before came together in meetings in Africa and other places. Also Brother Barilier from Switzerland was recording the mighty things God has done in the French speaking countries of Africa.

The unscriptural doctrines and explanations loose their appeal more and more to those who have came to know the Truth. I will never apologize for the great privilege the Lord has given me to believe His Word and to stick with it, without interpreting or putting my own views into it. Because of this I am glad to suffer and take upon me every kind of accusations one can think of. It will prove true, when all interpretations will have long gone that the Word of God will remain for ever.

We all have to comprehend that not prophets or apostles, or even not Brother Branham, were divine authority within themselves – the divine authority and the binding absolute was the Word of God they received, which proceeded out from the mouth of God and was proclaimed unto us. Why my name and credibility was destroyed is very clear: Satan hates the original Word, and, therefore, he must discredit the one who bears it. To me it is clear that all who are born of God by the seed of His Word and by the Spirit will submit to the divine authority of His Word which remains valid throughout eternity. It’s not the man as an earthen vessel but it’s simply a mouthpiece which God is using.

In recent months, many have apologized, because they recognized what they were doing. All who, in one way or another, have touched God’s calling, I am ready to forgive with all my heart, as God forgave me. I stretch my hand out to everyone, believing in the total reconciliation and forgiveness for all of God’s people. Nobody needs to be ashamed; we all came short and therefore need the grace of God.

What we are to understand of a divine message, we find summarized in 1st John 1:5, “This, then, is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Who of all those who present their home-made message could say, “What I am preaching to you I have heard from Him”? Did the Word not always come to the prophets? Who in our time dares to claim to be a prophet? The message from God, as it was preached through the mouth prepared, anointed and ordained to come forth, we have received and believed with all our hearts. But with all the so-called “messages”, with the various teachings and interpretations we have nothing to do, because they are not part of the original message. They came into existence only in recent years. They are tampered with, they are turned around and decked with statements and quotes. Because of those things, a true fellowship of the Spirit amongst the believers is not possible, for there are so many spiritual directions which have come into existence.

Brother Branham spoke about the completion according to the Word of God which will take place in the divine love. All those who wish to partake in the final round of the work of God will have to take it to their hearts and show by practical doing of two things. Firstly, they have to come out from everything which is not in agreement with the original Word of God. So they become them selves part of the Word promised for this day, before that Word finally becomes a reality in them. Secondly, they have to undergo an inner cleansing and experience true holiness and be actually sealed by the Holy Spirit. That is the only way and they are the only people into whose hearts the love of God is poured out by the Holy Spirit.

The time presses for a decision. That I was kept from all interpretations and heresies certainly cannot be put unto my account. It was the hand of the Lord, because of the divine call to the ministry. What the Lord does, whom He calls and commissions is up to Him. He is sovereign in all things. With His help we shall go further on and proclaim the pure doctrine in all truthfulness and give out the true spiritual food which is the promised and revealed Word for our day.

When the moment comes where the fear of God returns to the church, we shall experience the most mighty things ever done by God. His Word is an almighty Word. Everything in heaven, on earth and beneath the earth has to bow to it. All enemies will be put at His feet and be His footstool. We are convinced more than ever before, that the perfect victory which was won on the Cross of Calvary with reconciliation and forgiveness and everything that goes with it, will become obvious in all those who are redeemed, restored and brought together in the perfect love.

With deep gratitude I look back to the twenty years of ministry. During that time I had to go through deep valleys and I also moved over high mountains. But He that is faithful went with me. God has opened the doors to the ends of the world, in all Europe, Africa, Asia, the Near and Far East, in all the continents – everywhere people are coming by the multitudes who have never heard about what God did in our generation before. Therefore, what He said is now being fulfilled before our very eyes.

The harvest is ripe and is also great. We see the wheat field. I only wished that a multitude of brothers would be called by the Lord of the harvest to participate this world-wide labour and would have to be of necessity in the same Spirit, the same teaching to bring in the harvest together. It is our prayer that the Lord will have His way, confirm His Word and glorify His Name. A real going forward is only possible, if we have managed to deal with the past. As far as I am concerned, that has happened now. Surely we have all learned our lesson.

It is the deepest desire of my heart that God’s will should be done in and through my life. I believe that to all who wish to reach their final destination the matter is clarified. Nobody needs to look back and waste time with what Satan did, but look forward to the things God is about to do. Don’t be occupied with yourself or with others, let us together look upon the Lord and go forth in the strength of His Name. With Paul we shall say as stated at the beginning of this circular, that we should leave all things behind and move on towards the mark of the high call ing in Christ Jesus.

After having translated hundreds of Brother Branham’s sermons into the German language throughout the past years, I now feel to summarize the main thoughts and doctrines and publish small booklets. With the first one I just gave a general introduction. In the following ones I already delt with the Godhead, Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Especially the fourth one which is now coming out about the Antichrist wifi be very good for those who wish to inform some believers who are still in other denominations. Whatever the printing costs might be, everyone should order as many copies as are needed for careful distribution. May the Spirit of God lay those upon your heart to whom the brochures should be given.

Through the years over one million booklets were printed here in Krefeld. This includes the German and the English copies only. Then in addition to those we also took financial responsibility for the printing in French, Italian and other languages in foreign countries. Until now God has provided the means, and He will do so in the future. Never at any time, secretly or openly did we give a hint about money, and we will never do it.

Together we shall unite and put forth our efforts as never before, as we see the time approaching. To all those who did not permit themselves to be confused, I would like to say thank you from the very depths of my heart for your support and your prayers. May God reward you richly and bless you more abundantly. Together we are convinced that the One who began will also move on with us, until He finishes His work with a great victory in His divine love.

I wish you all a blessed 1987. May the Lord bless you, keep you and be with you.

By His commission￼

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

Many have asked about an international convention. The time is not yet. It will be in 1988, as the Lord is willing and pleased.

In 1987 we shall have our regular convention from April, 17th – 19th. All are cordially invited and welcome. For food and accommodation we shall try our utmost. It would be appreciated, if those who wish to participate could inform us. This would help us to plan with lodging, etc. Those who can afford to come but need an entry visa should contact us immediately, as there is a certified statement needed to be presented at the German embassy, before the visa is granted.

Those who travel on a reduced tourist ticket, might need a full week to stay. In this case the day of arrival should be the 15th or 16th. and the day of departure the 21st or 22nd of April.

Should the Lord be pleased to keep us on earth until 1988, then an international convention will take place here at the Mission Centre in Krefeld during the Easter season, from Good Friday, the 1st of April, through the 4th of April. All ministering brethren who preach God’s message of the hour in its original form and all of God’s children who believe it thus are invited. The will of God be done.

Published by: E. Frank, P. 0. Box 905, 4150 Krefeld, West Germany