— "Behold I Stand At The Door and Knock" (Revelation 3:20) —
Two matters had to be dealt with by the Holy Spirit in order to prepare a Church for the manifestation of the Sons of God and the translation. First, it was imperative to restore the elect to the apostolic faith and correct the doctrinal mishmash created by hundreds of denominations. And there were many revelations of Scripture pertaining to the end-time Bride that had never been clearly taught. The wheat and tares of Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; the anti-Christ of II Thessalonians 2:4: the mystery concerning the rapture; the mysteries of the Book of Revelation, and others. This is precisely why a prophetic forerunner, with a vindicated "Thus saith the Lord," was essential. You will notice ONLY the forerunner of Christ's first Coming, John the Baptist, was able to identify the Scriptures such as Isaiah 40:1-3 that were being fulfilled and only he was able to identify the Lamb. So was it in the ministry of this end-time Elijah concerning the multitudes of Scriptures coming to pass in his day!
The second matter concerned the conduct of the people. You will notice that besides rebuking the traditions of the clergy, John also trumpeted a call to repentance and holy living. Today, we find churches have relaxed their standard of holiness to such an extent that the conduct of their people conforms almost completely with that of the world.
In today's evangelical World, the focus has shifted from holiness to finances. The various projects of many internationally famous preachers are costing billions to build and to maintain. One can hardly attend a meeting or turn on a religious broadcast without being accosted repeatedly for huge sums of money to pay for religious resorts, hospitals, broadcasts, colleges, and universities. Adherents are compelled to support real estate empires and worldwide organizational systems.
In addition to this, mixed swimming, scantily clad women, social drinking, smoking, necking and petting among the young people, etc., has become acceptable in the churches.
Jesus identified these days with the days of Lot and Noah. In them, the prevalent sin was sexual promiscuity and finally, total perversion. The word 'unisex' has been widely used to describe the attitudes, styles and appearances of today's men and women. Over the last 20 years, the trend has evolved until now they are literally exchanging roles. Women are cutting their hair, wearing men's garments, demanding equal rights and have forsaken motherhood and home-keeping to pursue their own careers, while men have become morally weak and perverse, growing their hair like women, wearing blouse-like shirts, tight suggestive pants, high heels, and even necklaces and earrings.
The churches, instead of resisting this perverse decline, have succumbed and adopted most of its standards of conduct, dress, music, and entertainment. Consequently God has given them the portion of the unbeliever. Ichabod has been scratched across their ornate portals and God has abandoned them to the harlot system and the irrevocable mark of the Beast (Revelation 13:15-18).
God, however, cannot forsake His predestinated and in spite of this dismal, end-time scenario, He promises "a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). Once again, God has prepared an ark for a lovely but tiny end-time Bride. Her final call is twofold. One, "Come out of her (Rome and her daughters) My people" (Revelation 18:4); two, come into Christ (Ephesians 1:10), the Living Word of God. She alone will recognize Christ's forerunner and begin to busily prepare for the great translation; the rest will be swept away by modern so-called revivals into the council of churches and perdition. This truly is the last call—there will not be another. The Jews are in their homeland, the Elijah of Malachi 4:5-6 has come and gone, his Message is in the hands and hearts of God's people, and the stage is now set for the rapture!
Multitudes of tapes and books of William Branham's sermons have been distributed all over the world. In country after country,God has raised up churches, and thousands, through the still-speaking voice of His prophet (Revelation 10:7), have been delivered from sin, the world and denominationalism to walk according to the Scriptures. If you have been baptized by some organization under the Titles Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, you need to be rebaptized (Acts 19:1-5) in the Name of Jesus Christ. Every Christian must realize that he cannot follow God without following His Word! The evidence of our love for God is measured directly by our love for His commandments (John 14:15) and we can only know Him as we see Him unveiled in His Word. The Laodicean Church Age (Revelation 3:14-22) presents a pitiful picture of Jesus Christ knocking on the outside of the church, not the heart as so many suppose. Notice (Revelation 3:20) the call sounds to the individual, "any man," and not to the Word-rejecting systems. May whoever reads this, heed the Voice of the Bridegroom and join Him on the outside of everything that has to do with man and enter into His perfect Word!
Jesus promised in Matthew 24:45 that His faithful minority at the end of the world who love to do the will of God would be given "meat (spiritual food) in due season." He promised that while He was withdrawing from an apostate world where there would be "a famine for hearing the Word," but that they would have provision and be nourished. Just as Elijah provided meal and oil for the widow of Zarephath, so the Elijah of this final age has been commissioned to leave a "Message" which would carry the Bride through to the manifestation of the Sons of God and the translation.
— Appendix 1 — Angels —
The Greek word for "angels" is "messengers." It is used in Scripture to mean mortal men and, less frequently, supernatural beings. In both Luke 7:24 and James 2:25, the word is translated "messengers" and obviously means men.
The following excerpt is from The New Scofield Bible footnote to Hebrews 1:4:"Angel, summary: Angel, i.e. 'messenger,' is used of God, of men, and of an order of created, spiritual beings whose chief attributes are strength and wisdom (II Samuel 14:20; Psalms 103:20; 104:4). In the Old Testament, the expression "the angel of the Lord" (sometimes "of God") usually implies the presence of Deity in angelic form (Genesis 16:1-13; 21:17-19; 22:11-16; 31:11-13; Exodus 3:2-4; Judges 2:1; 6:12-16; 13:3-22). See Judges 2:1, note cp. Malachi 3:1, note the word "angel" is used of men in Luke 7:24; James 2:25; Revelation 1:20; 2:1, 8, 13, 18; 3:1, 7, 14.
— Appendix 2 — Witnesses —
Oral Roberts: "A humble devout man of God" (Healing Waters, July 1948).
Gordon Lindsay: "Never had we known of any preacher calling deaf mutes and blind people to be prayed for, and then to see those people delivered on the spot—a ministry that was beyond any we had before witnessed" (The House That The Lord Built).
Jack Moore: "The most gifted of all the evangelists (All Things Are Possible, by David Edwin Harrell, jr).
F. F. BOSWORTH: "When the gift is operating, Bro. Branham is the most sensitive person to the presence and working of the Holy Spirit and to spiritual realities of any person I have ever known (A PROPHET VISITS SOUTH AFRICA, by Julius Stadsklev).
Tommy Osborn: "God has chosen diverse and mysterious ways to reveal Himself to His servants, especially those called for dispensational purposes as was Brother Branham's call" (William Branham's Memorial Service).
"In short, the man we know as William Branham, was sent to demonstrate God again in the flesh" (William Branham's Memorial Service).
"So, He (God) sent forth a particular human vessel surrounded by supernatural signs to attract attention, to make this wayward generation stop and look and ponder and search and think. Thus the halo of Light that appeared at his birth, the star, the angel, the discernment, the gifts, all of these for that purpose. What for? To show us God again. To repeat what He showed us in Jesus Christ when He came in the form of flesh. To remind us one final time. Like Jesus, Brother Branham redemonstrated the very things which made men believe that the true Messiah had come" (William Branham's Memorial Service).
George Ekeroth: "God called this humble man . . . and anointed his ministry to a degree that within a few short years his name was known in the most remote jungle out-station. Wherever you would go in this world you would find that the name of this messenger had preceded you" (Wind Over the 20th Century, by Morris Cerullo).
David Edwin Harrell, Jr: "Most of the participants of the Healing Revival (that erupted in 1947) looked upon Branham as its initiator . . . William Branham became a prophet to a generation . . . Night after night before thousands of awed believers, he discerned the diseases of the sick and pronounced them healed" (All Things Are Possible).
"The power of a Branham service . . . remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the charismatic movement" (All Things Are Possible).
James Morris: "It was Branham, more than any other evangelist, who started the post-World War II fundamental faith healing revival following his encounter with an angel on May 7, 1946" (The Preachers).
"Word radiated in every direction that all manner of diseases and afflictions were healed instantly by the little Indiana preacher. Even cases of raising the dead were published" (The Preachers).
Thomas R. Nickel: "In Bible days, there were men of God who were prophets and seers. But in all the sacred records, none of these had a greater ministry than that of William Branham, a Prophet and Seer of God, whose photograph appears on the front cover of this issue of "Full Gospel Businessman's Voice. Branham has been used by God, in the Name of Jesus, to raise the dead" (Full Gospel Men's Voice, February 1961).
Joseph Mattson Boze: "Sometimes I was scared because of the deep sense of holiness that penetrated the meetings, but I never failed to see the gift of God in operation through His servant and to feel the warmth of love that flowed through his ministry" (The Herald of Faith, February 1966).
— The Message —
The "Message" sent by God through His prophet can change your life and make the Word of God come alive to you. Paul spoke of the Bereans in this manner: "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily whether those things Were so" (Acts 17:11).
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