Twentieth Century Prophet

or

The Messenger To The Laodicean Church Age

By

Lee Vayle

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DEDICATION

"The Messenger To The Laodicean Church Age" is gratefully dedicated to those Christian friends and churches whose love for both the minister and the ministry has prompted them to generously publish and distribute this book, in the one hope that many may be enlightened concerning the very soon coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

L. Vayle, (author)

Christian Friends

Mr. and Mrs. Ray Bingaman, West Palm Beach, Florida

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brewer, Thayer, Missouri

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Brown, Lima, Ohio

Mr. and Mrs. George Burcham, Albany, Kentucky

Mr. and Mrs.. L. D. Dale, Troy, Ohio

Mr. and Mrs. William Dauch, Lima, Ohio

Mr. and Mrs. Pearry Green, Beaumont, Texas

Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Harris, Houston, Texas

Mr. and Mrs. Boyd Jones, Beaumont, Texas

Mrs. S. H. Keenan, Beaumont, Texas

Mr. and Mrs. Morris Ungren, Memphis, Tennessee

Mr. and Mrs. R. Watson, Birmingham, Alabama

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I Page

Fixing the Church Ages Historically 7

Chapter II

A Scriptural Messenger 13

Chapter III

The Vindicated Messenger 35

The Manifested Vindication

Chapter IV

Conclusions 64

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PREFACE

It is no doubt true that every generation of Christian believers from the time of the apostles has attempted to attribute to itself the words of Jesus in Matt. 24:34 "This generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled." The purifying hope of the return of Christ must of necessity have been in the heart of every generation; but the actual physical return of Jesus could come only to the final, or end generation. It is believed by the vast majority of Christians that this end time generation is now living. This is based upon the fact that certain historical events absolutely necessary to His return have but come to pass in very recent years. There is actually no major prophetic event that is not now in progress or that must yet come to herald His return. There is left to us only a breathless hush of waiting as it was in the days of Noah when he entered into the ark and the flood delayed yet seven days.

No major event in the plan of God has been without a witness to that impending event. In the days of the flood, the ark was a testimony to the eye while Noah, the prophet, preached the Word. In the time of the Exodus God sent Moses with signs and wonders and the Word. In the days of the first coming of Jesus, there appeared a mighty prophet with the Word. In these last days we are promised a forerunner to the event of the Second Coming of Christ. Hence this booklet now is written in order to acquaint you with those events and also to acquaint you with the Messenger-Prophet who fore-runs the literal return of the Lord when He comes to take His people unto Himself.

Since there has never been a time in Bible History that the people were ready and willing to listen to the witness of God relative to coming events of great magnitude, it is believed that only a few will be even a little aware of the witness God has already given to us and established as proof of His coming. But it is hoped that every reader of this article will think awhile on the contents and ask God for guidance in this critical time.

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THE MESSENGER TO THE LAODICEAN CHURCH AGE

CHAPTER 1

FIXING THE CHURCH AGES HISTORICALLY

The Bible very clearly sets forth that God has appointed a limited time wherein He deals faithfully unto salvation with the Gentiles. In it He calls out a people for His Name. To do this He turns from Israel as a nation, and calls to repentance individually the foreknown of every kindred, tribe and nation. These statements are correct in every detail. Acts 11:18, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Acts 13:46, "It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken unto you: But seeing ye (Jews) put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Acts 15:13-18, "Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His Name. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written, after this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down: and I will build again the ruins thereof and will set it up: that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my Name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth these things. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the World."

This period wherein God is calling out a people from among the Gentiles is known as the "Fullness of the Gentiles." Rom. 11:25, "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits: That blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." It will end when the last elected member is brought in. Rom. 11:7-12. "What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded, (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear) unto this day. And David saith, let their table be made a snare, and a trap and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them; let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles for to provoke them (Jews) to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness?"

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"The Fullness of the Gentiles" is itself the larger part of another well known period of time which is ending right now and is called the "Times of the Gentiles." Luke 21:24, "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." It should be noted immediately that these two periods run concurrently, but one is political and the other is spiritual in connotation. The times of the Gentiles is the political period of time referring to Gentile dominion over Israel. It began when Nebuchadnezzar carried away Israel captive, and it ends when God restores Israel to world dominion. Zechariah 12:4-10 "In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness. And I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." This restoration ushers in the millennium. The fullness of the Gentiles is the spiritual era of the Gentiles wherein we noted that Israel is blinded while light appears to the Gentiles. This period will end when Christ comes for His Gentile Bride.

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The Fullness of the Gentiles set forth by Paul in Romans is identified in Revelations as the Church Ages. They are one and the same. The proof of this is found in Revelation, chapters two and three. Therein is the Spirit speaking to the messengers of the seven churches in Asia Minor. He begins with the messenger to the Ephesian church and ends with the messenger to the Laodicean church. These are all Gentile churches. At no time does the Spirit speak to the church which is at Jerusalem which is a Jewish church. If He were addressing both the Gentile and Israelic churches He must of necessity speak to the church at Jerusalem. But not so. The original church group is left out. This is exactly as it ought to be. God has left off dealing with the Jews. A few Jews, through election, will come in, but not many. These will belong to the Gentile era. See the perfection of this premise in the type of Joseph meeting with his brethren in Egypt. Joseph (perfect type of Christ) has been betrayed by his brethren. Now in Egypt they stand before him. They are very fearful; but in love he greets them. However, the Gentile Bride of Joseph is not there when the brethren meet with Joseph. She is hidden away in the palace. So it is when Christ comes before His brethren--they see His wounds and are full of fear. He treats them in love. But the Gentile Bride is not with Him. She is in the palace, for the day when God deals with the Gentiles is over.

Now it is not an easy or a commonplace task to fix with certainty the seven church ages as to their dates, duration, messengers and other pertinent characteristics. Who would arbitrarily announce himself the authority to do so? Certainly not this writer. Yet any Bible student knows that a certain combination would most effectively accomplish this work. That combination is a scriptural study of history plus Divine Revelation. No one can deny that certain of these ages have passed into history. But since Christ has not yet taken His Bride home, it is evident that we are in one of the ages still extant. The ages that are gone can and will be verified by the study of Scripture in the light of history. (This is how we have ascertained much concerning the prophecies of Daniel.) The immediate age and its characteristics will be revealed by Divine Revelation. This is a MUST in order for the church to know exactly where it is at.

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One can hardly expect the church to be helped if all her information were historical. She would not know what was happening to her. Thus with the perfect combination of history, scripture and Divine Revelation we can assuredly know the truth of the seven ages. Our course, at this time, is to review the ages in the light of history and to ascertain where we are and then implore God to send His prophet to reveal the scripture relative to this age in order that the church know and perform the whole counsel of God.

But to begin with, we most certainly know from Scripture, itself, what the first Church Age was and who its messenger was. The Age was the Ephesian Age and the messenger was Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. It was through Paul that the complete revelation from God came to the Gentiles. This revelation was actually more abundant than that received by Peter and the other apostles relative to the Gentiles. Gal. 2:6b-8, "For they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me, but contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, for He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles." Paul was both the Messenger to the Ephesian Age and also the pastor to the church at Ephesus for he both founded it and cared for it. We cannot set an exact date as to when this age ended. There is no need for an exact date as the Ages like all other of God's eras of time seem to overlap. But it did not last too long for the power of God had abated through unbelief even in the early years. Judging by the actual wane of power this age was not longer than about 170 A. D.

Continuing to fix the Church Ages by referring to Scripture and history, examine Rev. 3:1-6. This is spoken to the church at Sardis and is the fifth age. The key herein is found in Vs. 2. "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." There was no strength in the Dark Ages. Except for a tiny flock, and that widely scattered, there was no strong evidence of true Christianity. But now Luther appears and successfully nurtures the doctrine of Justification and the light begins to glow. The first show of strength in hundreds of years appears, showing definitely that this is the Age of the Reformation of which Luther was the Messenger without a doubt. It was said of him in Sauer's history, "Dr. Martin Luther was a prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues, interpreter, in one person, endowed with all the gifts of the Spirit." This age is well known to have existed from about 1550 to around 1750.

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With the fifth age fixed, it is not difficult to go on and place the sixth or Philadelphian age. Rev. 3:7-13 the Messenger to that golden age of brotherly love was no doubt Wesley. This was the age of the open door, missions, great teachers, tremendous revivals. The Holy Spirit was even more manifested herein than in the fifth age. God was truly giving light, life and blessing. This age lasted from about 1750 to the turn of the twentieth century.

Turning backward and leaving the seventh age to consider at a later time, it is certainly easy to establish in time the fourth age. This is found in Rev. 2:18-29. Here is the age that knew the depth of Satan (vs. 24). The darkest of all ages to this date--little Word--little power. Man had usurped the position and authority of God. The greed of Rome had damned countless souls and in the name of God they blasphemed the very Name and Word of God. This age lasted from about the turn of the sixth century to the middle of the sixteenth. It was the Thyatirean Age, and its messenger was pronounced to be Columba, for he showed forth in his life that which most closely resembled the power and glory of God in the first century believers. That is always the criterion.

The next age that we can easily affix is the third age. Rev. 2:12-17 speaks to the Messenger to the church at Pergamos. But Pergamos is where Satan's seat is. This is when Satan's own religion (ancient Babylonian religion) came out to the forefront. This religion that goes against the Word of God from the time of Cain, now, after the Nicean Council, invades the nominal church and introduces pagan rites, and holidays, etc. It is no problem to fix the dates here, for this is the aftermath of the Nicean Council of about 325 A.D., and before the Dark Ages which of necessity must follow such perfidy. It lasted from the turn of the fourth century to the beginning of the seventh. Its messenger on the same basis we try the various believers, was without doubt, Martin.

By the process of elimination, one readily sees that the second age, Rev. 2:8-11 which is called the Smyrnaean Age lasted from 200 to 300 A.D. No man defended the truth more ably or believed God more firmly and thus manifested the Spirit of God more abundantly than Iraneus. He was well qualified to be the Messenger to that age.

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This finally brings us to the age that we have reserved for the last because it is, indeed, the last. This age also brings us a messenger, as set forth in scripture. That we are now in the Laodicean Age is indisputable. It is at the end of this age that Israel must become a nation and no longer be trodden down of the Gentiles. Today Israel is a nation. She has her own government and all that pertains to being a full fledged nation. The Times of the Gentiles is all but over. Thus the Fullness of the Gentiles is all but over. God's timepiece has struck the Gentile's midnight hour when the Bridegroom cometh. This is the Laodicean Age and according to the Word of God, this Age has both a Messenger and a Message before it expires.

The seven Church Ages have been dealt with only slightly. The coming book called the Seven Church Ages will deal abundantly with the entire subject. Here, however, we are but establishing minor proof for a foundation for our subject which deals with the Messenger rather than the ages themselves.

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CHAPTER 2

A SCRIPTURAL MESSENGER

A careful student must admit that we know certainly who the first church messenger was. It was Paul. He was a Prophet who brought the Word direct FROM God to the people. He was an Apostle for he took the Word of God TO the people. That was his vindication. Gal. 1:12, "Neither was I taught it (the Word) but by revelation of Jesus Christ." He continually called himself an 'apostle' or 'sent one.' Now except for our study of history we found it scripturally impossible to designate who the messengers to the church ages actually were. But hold a minute. There is an obscure passage in Revelation wherein we have a direct allusion to the Messenger To Laodicea. God most certainly has let us know who the messenger to the first church age was, and just as certainly He can and will let us know who the last messenger to the last age is. Paul stood vindicated through an infallible ministry in the Spirit--I Cor. 2:1-5, "And, I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you save Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God." Thus, in the last age this Messenger of whom God speaks must and will have a vindicated ministry in the Word and Power as did Paul or we cannot know him.

This MESSENGER is set forth in Rev. 10:7. "But in the days of the Voice of the SEVENTH MESSENGER, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished as He hath declared to His servants the prophets." This verse clearly relates, NOT to an heavenly angel sounding on a trumpet, but it is the MESSENGER (a man) TO THE LAODICEAN AGE SPEAKING TO US THE WORD OF GOD. The proof of this is amply set forth in Rev. 9:13 and Rev. 11:15. HERE are the two heavenly trumpeters. "And the sixth angel sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God saying to the sixth angel which hath the trumpet." "And the seventh angel sounded and there were great

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voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, etc." Notice that with the sixth trumpet the terrible woes that come upon the earth in judgment. Notice in the seventh trumpet that Christ is set forth as taking His rightful Kingdom. But in Rev. 10:7 the Messenger there is still sounding, and his sounding is declaring the mysteries of God to the church. Notice, too, that in Rev. 10:1-6 we do not have the Lord Jesus taking a throne but He is portrayed here as standing on earth with His head in heaven. "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth; and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven." This is exactly what Stephen said in Acts 7:47-51, "But Solomon built him an house, Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands, as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne and earth is my foot stool: What house will ye build me? saith the Lord: Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did so do ye." This is a picture of Jesus still building His Church on earth. That is what Stephen said referred to Jesus portrayed standing on earth (footstool) with His head in heaven (throne). The message is still going out. It is the last days, however. Time will be no longer delayed. But He is still calling His people unto Himself, but not for long. Yes, this shows us very clearly that this one we call the seventh angel, is no spirit-being. He is a man. He is a MESSENGER, and since he is the last messenger, being the seventh messenger, he is the MESSENGER TO THE LAODICEAN AGE. SURELY WE CAN AND WILL KNOW HIM AND LISTEN TO HIM AS ATTENTIVELY AS DID THE EPHESIANS TO THEIR MESSENGER, PAUL.

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We must now begin our search for this Messenger. There is but one way to do it. We must study the Scripture and see what the Word demands of him. When such a man appears, thoroughly vindicated by the Word, we have our Messenger. It is that simple. Yet it is often in simplicity we fail as did the Jews when they failed to recognize both the Messenger (John) and Jesus the Christ.

Since the truth of the Seventh Age Messenger receiving special attention is found in Rev. 10, we will study that portion as one of the keys to his identity. According to vs. 1-3 a pan of the book of Revelation is unwritten, for John heard the voices but was forbidden to write what he heard. "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; And a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open; and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth; and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices." Students of prophecy admit that there must and will come a time when the content of those voices will be revealed. At present they are sealed up. They are a mystery to us. But it is declared in Rev. 10:7 that all mysteries will be finished at the end of the Fullness of the Gentiles. That is our day. Therefore, it will be in this age that the voices of the thunders must be heard again and this time revealed. BUT SINCE THE WORD OF THE LORD COMES ONLY TO AND THROUGH THE PROPHET, we can now see an evident truth in Rev. 10:7 wherein it is said "As He (God) hath declared to His servants the PROPHETS." This makes the Messenger to Laodicea a Prophet, even as Paul was a prophet. This man will be a Prophet-Messenger in order to receive the un-revealed Word of God and give it to us. It is going to take a prophet to unseal the written words of Daniel's revelation. How much more will it take a prophet to receive the Unwritten words of John.

In order to further magnify this thought, let us attack these verses from another way. We go back over the verses Rev. 10:3-4. "And cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth; and when he had cried seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write; And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." Now here is a great mystery.

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The revelation must be complete and yet we are cut off from knowing what was said. We know that sometime or other we will have to hear them. That time is in the end time. We now ask ourselves, "Who will receive from God the mystery? Will it be the Pope? Will it be the Patriarch? Will it be the president of the World Council of Churches? Will it be the chairman of some denomination?" The answer is, NO! There is ever only one way that God can give His Word for He is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is in Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets." That is exactly what Rev. 10:7 says, "His servants the prophets." Thus this Messenger of the last Church Age will be a prophet! A Prophet-Messenger he will be in order to reveal the mysteries that have been hidden from us.

But hold a moment! Does it not say in Rev. 22:18b "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." How then can any man add unto this book? Surely if he hears and writes the voices of the thunders, he will be adding to this book. NOT SO. For the voices of the thunders are SEVEN and since one CANNOT ADD, it is apparent that what the thunders said, are ALREADY contained in the Word but have remained as seven mysteries to us through the ages. And that is exactly what it all means. Is it not so that a PROPHET reveals and APPLIES the Word to the people? Thus, there will come a Prophet-Messenger to reveal and conclude the mysteries of the Word. And since it is the Word that gives Life and Power and understanding, this final revelation will bring the believing, receiving ones to a readiness to meet the Lord. What other reason could there be? God is always utilitarian in His works.

We must now satisfy ourselves as to what the earmarks of a prophet are. We must also determine from Scripture what specific manifestation a prophet to the Laodicean Age would be required to have. To clarify the last premise, simply recall that Moses had different vindicating manifestation than did Elijah. Both were prophets but in different periods of history, so of course they must needs have qualifying and differentiating phenomena.

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To examine the earmarks of a prophet: These are set forth irrevocably in Deut. 13:1-5, and Deut. 18:20-22. "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave to Him. And that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: Thou shalt not be afraid of him."

It is evident from these verses that God has placed men in this world with the ability to foresee the future or to reveal hidden present things. Now, it is absolutely impossible for any man to know the future for a certainty unless he is dealing in a power that can bring the prediction to pass. Also, no man can of himself perform acts of power that lie outside the realm of human possibilities, unless he is in touch with some force that will do the miraculous for him at his command. But this ability may be common to two groups of men:--Those who are of God, and those who are of Satan. A good example of this is found wherein Moses demonstrated a supernatural power through faith in God; and the magicians of Egypt duplicated the miracles by Satanic ability. There is no doubt but what we could say that God has His prophets and Satan has his. But please note carefully the scriptures presented to you from Deut. Chapters 13, and 18. The prophet who is of God will lead and keep men true to God by God's Word, but the false prophet will lead men astray. Today we can still apply the same test. The true prophet will be a man of the WORD and will insist that all men make the Word the criterion. He will lead men to Christ. His life

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will be exemplary in obedience to the Word, and his motives pure. He will not deal in miracles and foretelling for the sake of material good, but will every time point men and women to Christ and a greater spiritual depth. He will always exalt the Lord Jesus, and that true sweet vision of Christ which he sets forth will not be obscured by any actions of the prophet. This is so, because the spirit of prophecy is truly the Spirit of Christ.

A good illustration of what is set forth here is seen in the lives of two men. They are two prophets--Moses and Balaam. See the concern of Moses who is ready to give his life and his all for the sake of the glory of God and the eternal good of the people he leads. Here is a man crying out against sin, pleading with mankind, and glorifying God. Here is one who can say: "Have I ever taken anything from you? Have I ever told you a lie? When I prophesied, did it ever fail to come to pass? Have I ever led you astray or held anything back from you that you ought to have had? Have I not always led you to God and thought always of your good? Have I not been faithful to both God and you?" But Balaam could not say such as that. In his haste to get money for divining he almost broke his leg as the ass rubbed it severely against a stone wall. In blind greed he tries to make merchandise of whatever gift he possessed. And when he could not get enough power or authority to do Israel harm he conceived a plan to destroy them. This plan was to lead Israel into fornication with the Moabites at Baal-Peor. This was one hundred percent contrary to the Word of God. He led them FROM God This man, Balaam, actually had neither use for the Word of God, or God, or of God's people. He was a self-seeker, a destroyer, But a true prophet all through the Word is set forth as a servant, a seeker of other men's welfare above his own. He does not curry favor with authority, nor does he look down on the lowly, He says and does the Word of God. His devotion to God is in and through the Word, which he personally demonstrates by his ministry and his conduct.

From what we now know it behooves us to shun power that comes from, or through lives of wrong-hearted and wrong-acting men. Shun the words of those (though they speak ever so highly) who would by-pass the Word of God or be in any way contrary to the Written Scripture God has breathed to us for our life's welfare. It would be well to remember that the two Simons are with us yet today: Simon Peter and Simon the Sorcerer.

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There is the great one of God and the other great one who has neither part nor lot with God. There are always two men or two groups who demonstrate power, but one has a wrong source of power. The spirit of Antichrist is here as well as the Spirit of Christ. The spirit of Antichrist in Satan's prophets is so close to the real and true Spirit of God that only the VERY ELECT will escape the deception. Matt. 24:22-24 "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." These true elect ones take the Word. When these true Elect Ones see the prophet and his acts of power, and see that he is right with the Word and never deviates, they know that he is of God and receive him. All that prophet says and does leads them closer to Him Who is coming soon. They look for no other vindication. This is the vindication.

Now to examine what the Scripture sets forth as to the ministry of this prophet and messenger to the Laodicean Age. He is BOTH Prophet and Messenger. Actually he is the MESSENGER to the AGE. He has a MESSAGE. But he could hardly come on the scene as a Messenger and be approved as such without being basically a prophet with whom is the Word and the Power. The office of a prophet qualifies him to be called the Messenger. This is as it was with John the Baptist. Jesus said, "What went ye out for to see? A Prophet? Yea, I say unto you--More than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send my MESSENGER before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." This messenger preceding the first coming of Christ was predicted in the Bible, but not called by name. Do you not think that the Messenger to the Laodicean Age who will forerun the second coming of Christ (which is more spoken of and of greater moment than the first coming of Christ) will not also be found in the Word if we but have eyes to seek and to see? Yes, and he, too, will have the office of a prophet which will vindicate his position as MESSENGER to this age, and that is exactly what Rev. 10:7 says, "In the days of the voice of the seventh messenger, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." No other age has this

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said about its messengers. There is not a hint at any other age except the first and last having a Prophet-Messenger. The other five ages had messengers. They were not prophets. They were reformers. All had messages. All had some revealed light. None of that five had a vindicated, "thus saith the Lord." But Paul did. Now in this last day when the Mystery of God should be finished we will have a Messenger who is also a prophet, and "thus saith the Lord" will again be with us as it was with the Apostle, Paul. This Prophet-Messenger must be among us now, for Israel has returned to her native land. The Times of the Gentiles is soon over so the Fullness must be about completed. There is therefore even now, somewhere, this mighty Prophet-Messenger to this dying age.

But how will we recognize him? This may not be the easiest to discover because we are so complex in our thinking, and so set in our own ideas as to how he should come, and what he will be like, and what he will say and how he will act. But if we will just consider the Messenger of the first coming we ought to find help regarding the Messenger of the second coming.

John came apart from every school of religious thought. He was not a priest, though he was entitled by birth to be one. He was not a Pharisee, nor was he a Sadducee. There is no record that he belonged to the Essenes. He was not educated either formally or religiously by men. He was, however, fined with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, and that same Spirit that Filled him taught him. His aims were so different from those round about him that he was NOT ONLY misunderstood but violently repudiated. He was not truly understood by his own disciples, and much less understood by the groups who came to question him. His coming, his actions, his preaching--all caused more confusion than apparent illumination. He seemed more against men than for men. In all realms, except that of the Spirit, he was absolutely a non-conformist. Except for the Very Elect of that day he was either repudiated or held in doubt. Now then, is it not more than possible that the Messenger who foreruns the second coming of Christ will be every bit such a man? Surely we must credit Bible history when it shows profusely that every major prophet and messenger of God was both misunderstood and finally rejected by all except a bare minority in whom was the same Spirit of God.

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A factual study of the spiritual conditions of the last day or Laodicean Church will give us much insight as to what kind of a person this Messenger will be. In Rev. 3:14-22 "And unto the messenger of the church of Laodicea write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot, so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." According to what is set forth here, the last church of the last age is the most deplorable of all ages, and climaxes its shame and confusion in utter apostasy for Rev. 3:20 says "Behold I stand at the door and knock and if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him." This is none other than Christ shoved out of His own church, and he is now outside trying to regain admittance. This is not a far-fetched interpretation, but the desolate truth, for verse 22 says "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying." This verse twenty has been used for so long on sinners by well meaning but wrong believing personal workers that we have failed to see the Spirit of God is foretelling the exact condition of the Laodicean Age Church. It finally becomes Christless.

Now do not be confused. The reason we have failed to see this truth is because of another failure in our reading the Word of God the way it is written. Read again carefully, Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. Notice that in every single age the Spirit is speaking to those who are true Christians and those who are pretenders, or unbelievers. On one hand He lashes out at their gross sin and on the other He commends them for their piety, faith, suffering, understanding, etc. How is this? The answer is simple. All Israel is not Israel. As Israel means, 'Prince with God,'

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there were multitudes who bore the name as in the days of Elijah, but that did not make them truly Israel. Perhaps there were as many as five million in that day that were Israelites after the flesh, but there were only seven thousand true Israelites that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Today we have an identical situation. A fisherman goes forth to cast a net. All kinds come in. There are eels, serpents, turtles, crabs, lobsters, shrimp, water spiders, frogs, etc., that get in that net--but also there are FISH. A shepherd has a flock, both sheep and goats. A farmer has a field--it contains wheat and tares. Thus we see that all who bear the Name "Christian," (to walk spirit-filled) though entitled to it on the grounds that they believe in the virgin birth, the shed blood, the Holy Spirit Baptism, etc., are not truly WORD BORN, SPIRIT FILLED CHRISTIANS. Today we have second, third, fourth, fifth, tenth, twentieth, and thirtieth generation Christians. But God does not have grandchildren, only children. So the Church today is truly Christian in the flesh as was Israel of old, but the Church that is the REAL BODY OF CHRIST is only a part of that vast outer vehicle, and it is spiritual as were the seven thousand in the days of Elijah. But as Israel after the flesh purported to speak for God, and worshipped God, and regulated the religious life for their day, even so now does the present nominal church purport to speak for God, worship God and regulate worship as we know it today.

This church today is rich. She has vast holdings in real estate and stocks and bonds. Her pastors have retirement funds of multiplied millions. She is rich in worldly goods but poverty stricken in the spiritual. She is so far from God spiritually that God calls her wretched, blind, and naked and she doesn't even know it. Yet for all her apostasy she says she speaks for God. God says, 'You can't speak for me. You are lukewarm. You won't take a truly righteous stand though you claim to believe the major truths of the Word. Thus you are no longer my mouthpiece--I spue you out of my mouth."

Not only is this so, but the organized religious move we have today is so all-embracing that Christ is forced to step outside the church, for light and darkness cannot mix. The Protestants are going to get back with the Roman Catholics in the ecumenical move. Already the Patriarch and the Pope have come into fellowship. America has already had one Catholic president and no doubt will have more to follow.

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The leaders of each group have repudiated the Word and drawn up their own creeds and dogmas as a substitute so that people live no longer by the Word of God. Yet, in spite of all of them denying the holy and infallible Word of God, these same people dare to say that they speak for God. Some go so far as to say they are the vicars of Christ. This is truly antichrist. Christ must needs leave the church to its bankruptcy. As He leaves He has a word to His own: "Come out of her my people and be not partakers of her sins. Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." Rev. 18:4 and 2 Cor. 6:17.

To reject the Word is to reject Christ. When Eve allowed Satan to change but ONE word of the commandments of God, she opened the door to the floods of sin and misery that have dogged the ways of mankind for all these thousands of years. The very last words of Jesus to the church warns, "Don't take away one word--don't add one word--leave it exactly as it is, and go by that." But the church has not listened. She has changed the Word of God to suit herself. Why right now there is a conclave of students from the Jews, Catholics and Protestants who are rewriting the Bible to suit all three groups. No wonder Dr. Billy Graham said that if the Holy Spirit left the church, she would be so unaware of it that she would go on doing ninety percent of what she is now presently doing, and would not miss Him. And that is exactly right. For when the Word is rejected the Spirit is rejected, for the Word and the Spirit are ONE. You can't have God apart from His Word. It is impossible.

Now since these are the true conditions of the church, what kind of a man will the messenger be who comes to this age? He will not be from ANY ORGANIZED group. That would be impossible for organizations will eventually come together, bereft of God. He will not be from any so-called REPUTABLE religious source. He must stand alone, and that FOR GOD and WITH GOD. His manner of life, speech and attitudes both spiritual and material will be unlike others. He will appear to be the same misfit as was John and just as controversial. He will not be popular. In fact any popularity he gains in the early days of his ministry he will lose when he begins to speak the truth as it is given him from on high. But he will be God's man, and the elect will know him as they have always through the ages. This man's ministry will open wider the eyes of the elect but it will close and make even blinder the eyes of those who have become hardened. This is how it was in the days of Jesus.

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Those who had a measure of light and righteousness in His days were the Pharisees. But when they began to question and doubt and reject, all their light turned to darkness and they were utterly darkened until they killed their very Lord. But contrariwise there was a Samaritan lady of ill fame who saw Him at a well. In her sin she believed in Him, and all her darkness became pure light and she lived through His grace while the Pharisees died. Hear, then, this Prophet-Messenger when he comes with the Word, and close not the ears, lest your light become darkness, and the Spirit of God speak no longer to you.

Having seen this much, let us go further in finding what scripture has to say about this messenger. Since this man must come to us in the last day just before Jesus returns, we will naturally examine that time in the light of scripture referring to His coming, and see if we can find illumination on this messenger. Jesus, Himself, gave us the key. Luke 17:26-30. The characteristics of two specific periods of time will reappear at the end time. Those characteristics are from the days prior to the flood and the overthrow of Sodom. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the days that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." As we read these words we need spiritual insight, for all these words tell us is that the world system is waxing worse and worse until it is like the times of Noah and Lot. Now that is true. But what good is it to know what world conditions are if we do not have something from God to help us in those conditions? Or, put it this way: Here is a revelation of what is with the world--now then, what is with us? What is for us? What went on in those days that tells us what is on our side? There are always two sides.

In the days of Noah there were two groups. There were the wicked who perished; but there were also the righteous who escaped. In the days of Lot there were three groups: 1. The dwellers in Sodom, 2. Lot and his family, 3. Abraham and his family. Now if our days are to be an exact parallel to those days we must look for the Spiritual and beneficial side that was theirs and apply that to ourselves.

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Look at the days of Noah. Here is not only a preacher of righteousness but a PROPHET for the Word of God came to him and through him for that day. He warned and preached. He built the ark. This was in obedience to the whole counsel of God and thereby he and seven others were saved. The Spirit of Christ was in this man. But even before Noah there was a prophet called Enoch. Jude speaking about Enoch said that in the desperate time before the flood this man spoke of the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. Imagine that. The Second Coming when there had not even been a First Coming. Here, indeed, is something we ought to know about for we are waiting for the Second Coming right now. Way back there, where for many, many years they had gone against God and His holy Word there arose a PROPHET. There when the sons of God had defiled themselves with the daughters of men--when knowledge was so great, and men so renowned--a period when they were rich and lacked nothing, yet spiritually they were wretched and blind as in this day--yes in those days came a PROPHET. And since our day is to pattern after that period, we will not simply look and see the increase of sin, and the lack of spirituality amongst those that claim to be Christians, but we will begin to look for that Prophet who MUST come. As Enoch blasted out against sin and iniquity, he preached right along about the Second Coming of Christ. The earth was about to be destroyed. So will it be soon. That age of the flood, then, is a type of today when the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh. In Noah's day the righteous were saved. God did it. The wicked perished. That will all happen again. But don't ever forget, as they had a Messenger who was a prophet we are going to have one also.

Take now the days of Lot when Sodom was destroyed. The whole story is in Gen. Chapters 18 and 19. Again we must not have eyes only for the wicked. We must see what is our due and our portion. When the enemy comes in like a flood, God raises up a standard. Isaiah 59:19 "So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." Well,

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the enemy has come in,--let us then look for that standard. In the days of Lot when the cup of iniquity was filled, God did not forget His own elect. They had His special care. What was that care? God Himself appeared to Abraham. There in the heat of the day as Abraham sat at the door of his tent he saw three men approaching. He ran and fell at the feet of ONE of them and cried "MY LORD." At eventide as the two angels (who also appeared as men) went down to Sodom, God started to talk to Abraham. God gave Abraham (a PROPHET) the revelation of the destruction of Sodom. In Gen. 18:17, God said, "Shall I hide from Abraham the thing I am about to do?" No, He could not do that for God reveals to His servants, the prophets, what He is about to do. And as He is revealing to Abraham about the coming destruction He reveals the COMING SON for whom FAITHFUL Abraham longed. And notice this. Here is God appearing in human flesh, revealing to Abraham the time of that Coming Son. As He does so, Sarah laughs in her heart. And God with His back to the tent, wherein is Sarah, knows that laugh is in her heart and He speaks out revealing her very thoughts, even the thoughts of her heart. God the GREAT PROPHET HIMSELF read the heart of Sarah. And this is exactly as it should be. In Hebrews 4:12 we read, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." That is what the Word does. It discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. But the Word is God. Thus the Manifested Word (God) in the presence of Abraham discerned the thoughts and intents of the hearts of those present.

This very act that God did was the very act the SON (God) did on earth. It was this sign that made the elect accept Him as the Messiah. John 1:40-51 "One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiahs, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas: thou shalt be Called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow, Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him,

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We have found him, of whom Moses in the law and the Prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

See from these verses that this sign (reading hearts of men) caused Nathanael to immediately claim this man of Nazareth to be the very Son of God, the King of Israel. Likewise the woman at the well received Christ as the Messiah on the same basis. John 4:14-29 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, l perceive that thou are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiahs cometh, which is Called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that

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he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? Or, why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" She knew that He had to be a prophet. She knew that when Messiah would come He would do that. That would be the SIGN of the Messiah. That would be His Vindication. Now what God did as the Son was exactly what He did as the Father. This is true. Read in John 8:56, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." Jesus was talking about himself at that time. He said that Abraham actually saw His day--the day in which He was, right at that time.

This is what He meant by that statement. Twice in the Old Testament God appeared to Abraham in human form. The first time was when He appeared after the battle of the kings, and was called the King of Salem. Then, later, He appeared at the tent of Abraham immediately prior to the destruction of Sodom. In the first instance His appearance typed Him as the High Priest, the office of which He assumed after His resurrection. But at the tent He typed out His ministry as the PROPHET, which office He would assume during the days of His flesh. Duet 18:15-19 "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desirest of the Lord Thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken, I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." And what He was at the tent, He was on earth and so He is right now. The sign does not change. Only now it will be the Spirit in the Prophet bringing that same sign back to earth. It has to be by way of the prophet, for as Israel cried unto God, "Let us not hear your voice audibly or see the fire visibly, but speak to us through a man, even Moses." God hearkened and has since then spoken only by and thru the prophet. That last day Prophet-Messenger is duty bound to produce that sign if we are in the day that EXACTLY parallels the days of Lot and the destruction of Sodom.

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Now while we are dwelling on that, Christian friend, elect of God, remember that Abraham was not mixed up down there in Sodom. God's elect are a separated people. (Come out of her my people) They are not of the world. Lot was down there, but then, he was not elected. God had not called and separated him. He came along only on the invitation of Abraham. He was a good man, to be sure, but God did not appear to him. Only angels came with a message for him to get out. Lot was not truly separated and neither were his children. They are the nominal Christians who go through the tribulation. The Sodomites, of course, are the wicked, and they are destroyed as it says in Malachi--they are burned to ashes. But how wonderful it is to know that right now God is dealing with His elect as He did with Abraham who is our father in the faith. Truly Abraham's seed will be blessed with Abraham, and visited by God through the Spirit.

Since it is absolutely impossible to deal with a prophet relative to the Second Coming of Christ without considering Elijah, we will do so now. Matt. 17:10-13, "And His disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias shall truly first come and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him not but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise also shall the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist." It will be noted here immediately that the prophet Elijah must certainly return to this earth. But it is also immediately noted that Jesus termed John the Baptist, Elijah. John was not the reincarnation of Elijah. He was John with the same Spirit upon him that was upon Elijah. This is the same case as is seen when Elisha prayed for a double portion of the Spirit that was upon Elijah and he received that double portion of the same Spirit. This did not make Elisha to be Elijah. It simply gave him the ministry by the Same Spirit. Now follow this up to our time. Will we not also have a prophet upon whom this same ministry by the Holy Ghost descends? Will such a one come at the end of this church age? Look at Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

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Here is one of those most peculiar scriptures that in one sweep encompasses two widely separated events dealing with one person. The person involved is Elijah. The two events are his manifestation before both the comings of Jesus Christ. Now of course this is not Elijah indeed, but only the "Elijah ministry" for there is no reincarnation in the Bible. In fact the Word explains these two events. Malachi 4:6a "And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children," is a reference to John the Baptist as set forth in Luke 1:17. "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." This one upon whom the Holy Spirit comes in such a way as to designate an Elijah ministry is the very same in Malachi 3:1a, "Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." of Matthew 11:7-10. "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." Now as it has been pointed out in Malachi 4:6 only the first part of that verse referred to John the Baptist upon whom the Elijah ministry had fallen. The last part obviously belongs to another messenger with the same ministry, who will at some time turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. They will not be the same person. They will be different men, ages apart. Indeed, if this prophet appears today, he will be the Elijah for our day, living 2000 years after John.

Now to understand the meaning involved in Malachi 4:6 let us study carefully the thought, "He shall turn the hearts of the Fathers to the children."

Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children as explained by the Angel is to the end that a 'prepared people are made ready for the Lord.' In Romans 9:23 we learn, "And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory." These vessels of mercy are the ELECT CHILDREN OF GOD. THEY ARE THE PREPARED ONES. And this ministry of John had to do with the FATHERS of these elect ones. Something had to be done to turn the hearts of the fathers to them. It would come through the ministry of John.

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And it did come through that ministry. For when John appeared the fathers were not taking God's Word but their own. They were sinning and calling it righteousness. They voided the Word of God. John came thundering on the scene. Out of the desert he came dressed in skins, and rough and coarse was his exterior. Bold and cutting were his ways. He slashed with the Word and Spirit of God. And they being stronger than the gates of hell cut at men's hearts and brought many to the baptism of repentance and faith that the MESSIAH was about to appear. This ministry in the Spirit that John began was taken up by Jesus, for John had to decrease while Jesus increased. The hearts of the fathers being turned to the Word (written)--it was not so great a step now to turn to the WORD (Manifested). These disciples later became the apostles and they in turn became the fathers of the church, for the Gentile church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Eph. 2:19,20A, "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God: Eph. 2:20A "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets." But the Jewish heart is basically against the Gentile. On their own they never would have received the Gentiles. But this great change wrought by the ministry of John in turning the hearts to the Word consequently led the apostles to turn to the children of God, Gentiles though they were. Acts. 15:14-18 "Simeon declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the World." John had so presented the Word that the fathers received the full revelation on the Gentile children and their hearts turned to them. But since the "fathers fell asleep," the church has drifted. Once more the Word has been left and men have accepted tradition in its place. Now there must and will come a man, a prophet upon whom that same spirit (which was upon Elijah, upon Elisha, upon John) must and will fall. He will bring the Word. He Will turn the hearts of the children back to the fathers, back to the true Word, back to the Word originally preached, back to the signs that follow the Word. He will forerun the Second Coming of Christ wherein Jesus comes to catch away His Bride.

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Yes, a Prophet-Messenger will come to bring the Bride back to the Word and the mighty works that follow the believers. According to that 7th verse in Rev. 10 he will have a message. He will speak much. In that message that foreruns the Second Coming he will be given by God the power to reveal the mysteries that have been hidden. This may sound like a large order. It is, but yet it must come to pass. The reason it must be so, is so basic as to need no explanation. Yet it will be explained. The first messenger, Paul had "Thus saith the Lord," on the scriptures. Since then we have had nothing but division over their interpretation.

In fact the present era reminds one of the day in which Jesus said that the traditions of men made the Word of God of none effect. The denominations have invariably slanted the Word to fulfill their own causes and desires, and thereby much true meaning of the Word had been lost.

In Paul's day he gave the fullness of the meaning. But it has been lost as carnal minds attempted to explain it. Each group that has separated over the interpretation claims to be right and guided by the Holy Ghost. Some or all have to be wrong, for the Holy Ghost cannot lie and cause division, neither is He of two minds. Thus it is imperative that we have a prophet today with "Thus saith the Lord," who will bring the hearts of the children to the exact truth of the fathers. It was abiding in that original WORD that brought the power. We have to get back to the TRUE meaning and then ABIDE in it, and when the Bride becomes a WORD BRIDE she will manifest the works exactly as did Christ. How we look for that Prophet Messenger to come and bring the message of the Word that Jesus might be truly manifested amongst us once more, by the Spirit.

This messenger to the Laodicean age will have a tremendous burden placed upon him. It will be with him as it was with other prophets, especially Moses. The people were oppressed under Pharaoh. For Moses to come and declare himself a prophet of God and worthy of attention and obedience to the Word of God in his mouth, he would of necessity have to gain their attention through some vindication by God that would defy all dispute.

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This can be easily understood. The Hebrews had not had a prophet for about 400 years. Such a length of time would see several generations without the dynamic truth of God in their midst, and a consequent ignorance of God's way. Moses would need supernatural vindication of his ministry to catch their attention and capture their hearts. This is the very same situation when both John and Jesus came. Israel was without a prophet for another 400 years with the consequent deterioration of truth into human tradition. How very difficult it would be to turn Israel to truth by a prophet. Thus when God sent Moses He sent him with two signs. If the people refused the first sign (the rod made into a serpent) they would hearken to the voice of the second sign (the hand placed in the bosom, turning leprous and then clean.) Ex. 4:8, "And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the second sign." God said that the signs were voices. Each time the sign appeared in the ministry of Moses it was the voice of God speaking. It would naturally do two things. It would impel the one to come, and harden the other more and more. That is what the sign did. That is what the voice of God does. It draws some and they come closer to the sign as did Moses himself when the bush glowed, but on the other hand that voice in calling will harden the heart more and more as it rejects God. It happened thus to Pharaoh. It happened thus to the Pharisees. But Moses was not discouraged. He kept on. He knew that God was with him in his calling, for the voice that he was obeying was a Scriptural Voice. A true prophet like Moses will always be one with the Word. The voice that cried out of the bush spoke the Word of God as it had been given to that great prophet, Abraham. It said, "I remember my promise to my people." So Moses listened and obeyed, and in so doing he brought the promise of God for the people of that generation.

Now when God spoke by that sign there was only one avenue left. Israel had to move out of Egypt--the Exodus had to come. There will be a final vindicating sign and our day will be over, too--the Rapture must come. As John the Baptist cried, "Behold the lamb of God," without doubt this messenger to the last age will cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." As the apostle Paul declared the mysteries of God that produced such dynamic faith in the early church, even so now, when that last prophet reveals what Paul did truly teach, that SAME WORD that brought that early church FAITH which is based solidly on the Word, will now bring back that faith, and that will be Rapturing Faith, to meet the Lord in the air and be forever with Him.

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We have then, a most interesting premise. Such a prophet as we have set forth from the Word must appear on the scene. That this is the last day we have no doubt, but we might have a doubt as to who that prophet is. Who is he? Where is he? Who is that man so vindicated by God with visions and signs and wonders? Who is that man who never yet had a revelation fail? Who is he who leads men to God through the Word and never leaves the Holy Writ? Such a man we look for. Such a man even now must be in our midst--a prophet of prevailing truth!

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THE VINDICATED MESSENGER

CHAPTER 3

THE MANIFESTED VINDICATION

There can be no doubt whatsoever that there is a Prophet-Messenger to this last age. The search for that prophet, then, must be of paramount and immediate interest. If such a man is today living, then that man ought already to be working out his ministry to a degree. There must be a ministry that would mark him out as that Messenger. Thus would he be known.

According to our understanding of Scripture this man will not be recognized by the religious systems and orders of the day, so we cannot look for him there. He will not be numbered amongst the ecclesiastical mighty. In fact he could well be as obscure as was John or Jesus. His birth would no doubt be as humble as that of all the other prophets. Without a doubt much of his ministry would be disputed while a part of it would be welcomed. All this is true if he will run true to scripture. And if he is the Messenger he will, of course, run true to Bible pattern.

There is such a man in the world today who is absolutely scripturally vindicated as being the Prophet-Messenger to the Laodicean Age. He has every requisite as set forth in the Word. His ministry is accepted in part, and in part rejected. His birth, upbringing, education, preaching, teaching, ministering in the Spirit, has every scriptural qualification and he is thus vindicated.

That man is Rev. William Branham, now residing in Tucson, Arizona, and formerly of Jeffersonville, Indiana, where most of his life was spent.

William Marrion Branham was born to a very young couple April 6, 1909, in a most humble log cabin in Burksville, Kentucky. For two days after his birth his fifteen year old mother, eighteen year old father, and visitors saw hanging over his crib, a white hazy light that had come in through the window, and stood over his head at birth. No one understood the significance of it, and no one, therefore, put any stock in it relative to his future life.

As long as he can remember, he received visions that he could not understand, and yet whenever a vision was of a future event, it never failed to come to pass exactly as he saw it.

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One day when he was but seven years of age, as he was carrying water for his father, he was startled to hear the sound of wind in the leaves of the tree under which he was resting for a moment. He looked up, but there was no visible movement. As he started to leave, the sound came again, but this time it was louder. Looking up he saw a whirlwind in the tree, and out of the whirlwind there came an audible voice saying, "Don't ever smoke, or drink, or defile your body in any way, for there will be a work for you to do when you are older." He was naturally frightened and ran screaming into the house. Somehow he was unable to tell his mother the experience, so she concluded that William was a very nervous boy and needed rest.

A few weeks later while outside playing, a vision broke across his eyes and he saw a bridge being built over the Ohio river (he was now living in Jeffersonville, Indiana) and as men worked he saw a span fall, taking to death a number of workmen. Twenty-two years later when the bridge was being built at that exact spot as seen in the vision, a span did break away, hurling those men to their death.

Since he did not come from a spiritual home (his father often bootlegged whiskey) he did not realize that God was dealing with him. Thus, when social pressure was placed on him by his father and companions, he would try to drink, smoke and go to dances, etc. But his trials were failures, for each time he launched out to smoke or drink he heard the peculiar sound of the wind blowing and felt the presence of an unseen being. Being frustrated and nervous he tried to keep away from the peculiar life that was his, but he could not.

On two occasions he was accosted by astrologers who attempted to explain to him that he was born under a sign. They both told him that he was the possessor of a gift, though neither told what it was. One of them went into scripture to give him details. Though interested lightly in what was said he shrugged it off as best he could. Later he understood about astrologers and mediums and rebuked them, taking authority over them in the Name of Jesus. But as yet, he was not born again.

He moved out West to become a range hand when about eighteen. But the tragic news of his brother's death soon brought him home. The sorrow of death and the pressure of his strange life caused a nervous debility to set in. His body became weakened. Appendicitis set in. An operation became imperative. While under the anesthetic he felt his life slip away, and for some time his lifeless body lay upon the operating table while the doctor worked frantically to restore his heart beat. During that time he saw visions of heaven and hades. He cried to God and promised that if God spared his life, he would seek Him and serve Him. Much to the amazement of the doctors, his life was restored.

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True to his word he went about seeking God. One day he prayed alone in the wood shed. There a cross of light appeared to him and a voice spoke to him out of the cross in an unknown language. The cross of light then disappeared. He was spellbound with wonder and fear. He had already learned by reading his New Testament that there were different kinds of spirits, so he wondered whether this was of God or not. Once more he earnestly prayed to God and the cross of light appeared again and the Spirit of God spoke peace to his heart. As the joy of salvation flooded his soul, he jumped up and ran through the sheer exuberancy of sins forgiven and peace made with God.

Since it was truly God who was now in his life, he was led to know and understand that the Baptism with the Holy Ghost was for him. One day while looking to God, it seemed as though rain fell upon his body--literally pelting it, and sinking deep within him. He was completely, overflowingly filled with the Holy Ghost.

He sought and found excellent fellowship and teaching with the Missionary Baptists and was soon ordained to preach the gospel. God gave him good success for his tent often had crowds of 3000 and there were many people truly born again.

It was during June of 1933 that as he was baptizing the converts in the Ohio River that a most amazing and well documented phenomenon occurred. As he was baptizing the seventeenth person before a crowd estimated at about 4000 there appeared a blazing whirling star out of heaven with the sound of rushing wind audible to all, and it came and hovered over him. As many ran in fear, and others knelt in prayer, a voice spoke out of the pillar of fire to him and said, "As John the Baptist was the forerunner of the first coming of Christ, so your message is the forerunner of the second coming of Christ." Of course he alone heard the words though others heard the sound. This is exactly as it was when Paul was blinded by God and heard His voice. Others heard a sound but not the actual voice or the words of the voice.

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Being a firm believer in the whole Word of God, and standing firm on the fact that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, he did not hesitate to pray for the sick. Thus all through his ministry he sought to help the infirm. The results were most gratifying until even the hospital personnel admitted to the power of God and knew that when the "little Baptist preacher" came, someone was going to get well.

Now that he was firmly in the Word, it might be expected that the visions would cease. On the contrary they became multiplied and with tremendous results for good, for the visions usually indicated a great need that was going to be met by God, and surely it would take place with never a failure--no not one. Whatever he saw in the vision he would tell, and the results were invariably what the end of the vision indicated. It was a literal "Thus saith the Lord." It was then clearly established that he must be one of whom it is said, "Your young men shall see visions."

Not only did he see visions that always came to pass relative to his personal ministry but he had many recorded visions (which he also related) which dealt with world wide affairs that must come to pass before the return of Christ. Perhaps the most remarkable of these were the following seven:

In June of 1933 when Brother Branham was conducting his services in the old Masonic hall on Meigs avenue, seven major events which are to come to pass before the return of the Lord came to him by way of a vision. It was on a June morning just before he was to teach a Sunday school class that this series appeared while he was in a trance. He saw in a vision that the dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini, would invade Ethiopia and according to the voice speaking to him, Ethiopia "would fall at his (Mussolini's) steps." However, the voice continued and prophesied a dread end of the dictator, for he would have a horrible death and his own people would literally spit on him.

The next vision indicated America would be drawn into a world war against Germany which would be headed up by the Austrian, Adolph Hitler. The voice predicted that this terrible war would overthrow Hitler and he would come to a mysterious end. In this vision he was shown the Siegfried line whereat a great toll of American lives would be exacted.

It might be well to mention here that a subsequent vision relative to this war predicted that President Roosevelt would declare war against Germany and in so doing would eventually be elected for a fourth term.

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The third part of the vision showed that though there were three ISMS, Fascism, Nazism, Communism in the world: that the first two would come to nothing but that Communism would flourish. The voice admonished him to keep his eyes on Russia concerning future involvements, for Fascism and Nazism would end up in Communism.

The fourth vision that appeared to him was one in which there was predicted to be tremendous technological advances right after the war. This was symbolized by an egg shaped car with a plastic bubble roof, going down beautiful highways completely under perfect remote control. There was no steering wheel in the car and the occupants of the car appeared to be playing a game like checkers.

The fifth scene that appeared involved the womanhood of the world. In this scene there appeared the fast moral decay of women. Starting back when she received her so-called liberty to enter into worldly affairs by means of the vote, she soon began to wear clothes that were too revealing. She bobbed her hair and adopted the clothing of men. Finally the vision showed her all but stripped naked and she merely covered herself with a tiny apron about the size and shape of a fig leaf. With her womanhood so little valued a terrible decay of all flesh came upon the earth and with it perversion even as set forth by the Word of God.

Then there arose in the United States a most beautiful woman clothed in splendor, and great power was given to her. She was lovely of feature but there was a hardness about her that defied description. Beautiful as she was, she was yet cruel, wicked and cunning. She dominated the land with her authority, she had complete power over the people. The vision indicated that either such a woman would literally arise or that this woman of the vision was merely a type of an organization which is scripturally characterized by a female. Though the voice did not speak out and reveal who she was, he felt in his heart that this woman represented the rising Roman Catholic Church, and he inserted in parenthesis beside at the end of this vision which he had written out, (perhaps the Catholic church).

The voice bade him look once more. As he turned and beheld, a great explosion rent the entire land, and left the land of America a smouldering, chaotic ruin. As far as the eye could see there was naught but craters, smoking piles of debris, and no humanity in sight.

The vision then faded away.

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Some fine scholars of scripture would warn him that his visions were not inspired of God. He was worried many times about this, and earnestly sought God to let this peculiar ministry pass from him. Yet the visions kept breaking before his eyes and ever coming to pass. No one was harmed by them, but on the contrary the children of God prospered because of them. At this point he had not realized that even Jesus was accused of being of the devil. Neither had he seen that his ministry being identified by astrologers was no different from the time that devils identified Paul's.

The years passed by and he served God to the best of his ability both as a pastor and laborer. He was a game warden with the Indiana State Government. One day, May, 7, 1946, when he was leaving for a little hunting trip with a friend, as he passed under a maple tree in his yard a mighty rushing wind broke loose in the top of the maple. It seemed that the tree would be torn badly. He staggered under the tremendous impact. His wife ran to him, thinking he had become ill. He turned to her and said, "For over twenty years I have not been able to understand this ministry or myself. I can't go on like this. I've got to know the answer. Is this of God? What is it all about? I've got to know. I'm going away, leaving you and the baby. I can't come back until I know the answer. I win seek God with my Bible and prayer, and find out or never come back." What a difficult thing to say and to do. What dedication to God--to know Him or die.

Having thus made up his mind he went alone to seek God in a secret place, determined to know the answer and to find peace in his life. Hiding himself away from all, he cast himself down upon his face crying to God to forgive him of all his failures and earnestly committed himself to the full will of God. When he had prayed his heart out, he sat up, waiting for the answer. About the eleventh hour he saw a soft light appearing. There hung that great star. It did not have points, but was more like a ball of fire. Then he heard footsteps and there approached unto him a man of large stature, perhaps 200 pounds in weight, dark of complexion, with shoulder length hair. His face was beardless. As he caught the eye of this fine looking stranger he was very fearful. But the stranger looked at him very kindly and said, "Fear not. I am sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar life and your misunderstood ways have been to indicate that God has sent you to take a Gift of Healing to the people of the world. IF YOU WILL BE SINCERE AND GET THE PEOPLE TO BELIEVE YOU, NOTHING SHALL STAND BEFORE YOUR PRAYER, NOT EVEN CANCER."

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After explaining this to Brother Branham, the angel went on to say that like Moses he was to receive two peculiar signs, one of which would raise the people's faith, while the other would be a sign of the Second Coming of Christ. The first sign was to be given some time in advance of the second and would be a peculiar sign in his hand. This sign would be that as he grasped the hand of any person who had a germ-type disease his hand would be swollen and take on different shades of color whereby he would know the names of the diseases. If there were other diseases than the bacterial type, the Spirit would let him know by revelation what the trouble was. This gift has been seen by many people and is a tremendous faith builder. However, to simply read about it without seeing a visible manifestation of it is confusing, Yet it is a genuine gift.

The second sign which was to follow would be the ability to know in the Spirit the secrets of men's hearts as well as their physical problems. This sign has also been seen by countless numbers and not only raises faith, but since that ability belongs to the prophet, it is a definite sign of the soon coming of the Lord.

As it does not take long for news of such a great ministry to get around, it was not long until Rev. Branham was called to many places. He held great meetings all over America and in many parts of the world. Some of these meetings overseas are of particular moment for they illustrate the power of God in his life. For example it is well known that the late King George the sixth of England was healed of a leg condition. The King's letter of thanks and praise to God is in Brother Branham's files. Also, a great part of Finland knows of the raising of a dead boy while he was over there.

In Africa where Brother Branham held a service in Durban the crowd numbered over 100,000 and in one afternoon it was estimated that over 30,000 people received Christ as Saviour. This tremendous move toward God came as the heathen saw that the God of miracles still lives, and that He is the only true God. The healing was on this wise: Flanked by scores of preachers and many doctors, Brother Branham preached the Word and then Called on those who needed healing. Amongst those who

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came was a poor deformed creature who shortly after birth had been so cruelly injured that he was never able to walk erect, but actually walked all bent over on both hands and feet, and was therefore much like an animal in movement. The ones who cared for him tried to make a living for him by exhibiting him in the streets as a curiosity. They had put a chain and collar around his neck as one would a bear and he would prance up and down like an animal dancing and thereby hope to gain a few cents to live by. As he came up for prayer Brother Branham had a vision of the man standing upright, healed by the power of God. With this vision before him he then challenged the heathen and unbelievers to accept the Lord as Saviour if this man were to be made instantly well. Many, if not multitudes, knew this man and his terrible predicament. He challenged the heathen, the agnostics, the church members, the various native tribes, and they all agreed that if this man were healed in Jesus Name, then Jesus indeed is God. As soon as Brother Branham prayed the man stood upright. How the people cheered and praised God. After the altar call which was given twice so that none could misunderstand the purpose, it was estimated that over 30,000 came for salvation, while 25,000 received their healing.

At the end of the services in that city, the mayor led in a great parade which featured seven trucks loaded with crutches, canes, and other implements once used by cripples to facilitate movement.

In the city of Bombay, India, where it was estimated that 400,000 came to hear him, he preached the Word of God with authority, declaring they were far too superstitious and that their gods were powerless. To clarify his point he took the leading beggar of the city who was completely blind from gazing at the sun which he worshipped. This man was known to the mayor and all people of the city. In a vision Brother Branham saw who he was, where he lived, how he had become blind. In short he knew his whole personal history which he revealed to the people. They were amazed, but this amazement was not as great as their wonder at what to do when Brother Branham challenged all the leading priests present to come and pray to their gods for the man's deliverance. He challenged the Budists; he challenged the Jains; he called upon them all. None answered this call. When all refused he said to them, "Your priests and leaders have all refused to come in the names of their gods. Today I have come in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ.

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They say their gods cannot heal this man. I say that my God can. Now, then, if, when I pray to my God this man gets healed, will you forsake all these powerless gods and come to Jesus as your Saviour?" The crowd agreed that this was the thing to do. Then according to the vision that Brother Branham had of the man receiving his sight, he took the poor beggar in his arms and prayed. The man suddenly screamed out that he could see and demonstrated it by his actions. Pandemonium broke loose as those poor people tried to reach Brother Branham, just to touch him and be healed.

In Germany he confounded the witch doctors who came out in force to frustrate his ministry. They actually succeeded in bringing a huge black cloud over the tent which with tornadic force would rip it to shreds. Brother Branham stepped on the platform and in Jesus' Name, the cloud was instantly dispersed and the sun shone through.

Perhaps one of the most fascinating illustrations of his public ministry in America is one that happened in Portland, Oregon. In that city there was a man of huge and powerful stature, who, because he was evidently demon possessed, loved to break up Gospel services. He had been very successful in doing this every time he went to a meeting. When Brother Branham came to Portland to preach in a huge auditorium, this same man suddenly appeared during the preaching service and with quick strides came up on the platform. Shaking his fist and threatening to harm Brother Branham he called him a deceiver, a fake, a snake in the grass, a tool of the devil. Brother Branham had been preaching on the power of God, so when the policemen ran forward he waved them back and met the challenge alone. The man drew nearer still threatening. The audience was told to remain quiet and pray. For some reason that vicious person could not come right up to Brother Branham but spoke his invectives from a few feet back. Then Brother Branham with great calmness said, "Satan, because you have challenged the servant of God before this congregation, you must bow before me. In the name of Jesus you will fall at my feet." Strong as that man was, and determined and fierce as he was, he slowly began to wilt--perspiration stood on his brow. Frustration and fear crept across his face. Then with a swaying movement resembling that of a serpent he fell motionless across the feet of Brother Branham. Strong men had to remove him. Then the meeting went on in the same demonstration and power of God.

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A constant flow of marvelous visions have passed before the eyes of this prophet of God. The following are most amazing and enlightening:

VISION I -- WARNING AGAINST SPIRITUALISM

One night, not long after Brother Branham's conversion, he returned from a place under an old oak tree, where before he had engaged in secret prayer. It was some time between one and three A.M. His mother and father heard him as he entered his room, and they called him, telling him his little sister was ill. He knelt and prayed for her and then returned to his own room.

After entering his room, he heard a sound which was like two electric wires rubbing together, causing them to arc. He was working lineman at the time, and he thought there must be a short in the circuit in the house. But suddenly the sound changed, and a strange light filled the room. Then it seemed to him that he was standing in the air. It frightened him very much and he thought be was dying.

After that he noticed that the light was all around him. Looking up he saw a large star just above from where the light was coming. It came closer and closer. Then it seemed he could neither breathe nor speak. Next the star appeared to settle on his breast.

At that point the scene changed, and it seemed that he appeared upon a green grassy hill, and just in front of him lay an old-fashioned four-cornered candy jar. Inside the jar was a large tobacco moth or fly--trying to free itself. He started to turn to his right, and there was the mighty angel standing looking at him. The angel said, "See what I have to show you." Then Brother Branham saw an arm cast a stone, and break the candy jar. The tobacco moth tried to fly away. But it could not get off the ground; its body was too heavy for its short wings.

Then out of the moth came swarms of flies, and one of the flies flew in Brother Branham's ear. The angel said unto him "The flies which you have seen represent evil spirits, such as spirits of divination and fortune-telling."

Then he warned, "Be careful." This was repeated three times. After that Brother Branham came to himself. He could not sleep any more that night. The following day he was very careful. He would watch every move, expecting something to happen at any time. The whole thing was very new to him for it was the first warning he ever had by a vision.

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At noon that day, he went to a little grocery store to buy his lunch. There was a Christian who worked in the store; Brother Branham had just led him to Christ. He afterwards was a great help to Brother Branham in the Gospel work. While there, Brother Branham was relating his vision to him when a lady stepped in the front door of the store.

Brother Branham had a peculiar feeling, and he knew a strange spirit had come in. He mentioned it to Brother George DeArk, his friend. The lady stepped up to Brother DeArk's brother Ed, and said, "I am looking for a man by the name of Branham. I have been told he is a man of God." Then Ed called Brother Branham. When he came where she was, she asked him, "Are you William Branham, the prophet of God?" He answered her, "I am William Branham."

She questioned, "Are you the one that performed that miracle on Mr. William Merrill at the hospital and healed Mary Der Ohanian (she lives on E. Oak St., New Albany, Ind.)--after she had been crippled for 17 years?" He replied, "I am William Branham; Jesus Christ healed them." She then said, "I have lost some real estate, and I want you to locate it for me." Bro. Branham never did understand what she meant by her statement concerning real estate, but he knew that Satan had sent her on this errand.

He then said to her, "Madam, you have come to the wrong person; you must have been looking for a reader or a medium." Then she turned to him and asked, "Aren't you a medium?" He replied, "I am not. Mediums are of the devil. I am a Christian and have the Spirit of God." Upon hearing this she gave him an icy look. Before he could say anything further he heard the Spirit of God say to him that she was a medium herself, and that this was the fly that came to his ear, in the vision.

Then he told her, "The Lord sent His angel to me last night in a vision, to warn me of your coming and for me to be careful. I thank my Lord for His guiding hand. Now this work that you are in is of the devil, and you are come to grieve the Spirit of God." She felt of her heart, and said that she needed some medicine. Brother Branham replied, "Madam, quit doing these things and your heart will be all right." She walked from the store only a short distance, when she suffered a heart attack and died right on the side walk.

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A few days later, Brother Branham was speaking to some mechanics in a garage about the love of Christ, in the same city of New Albany, and he also told the men about the vision. He was just about to ask them to pray and give their hearts to God, when the man from the garage next door said, "Billy, you are welcome in my garage anytime, but leave that fanatical religion outside." Brother Branham replied, "Sir, where Jesus is not welcome I will not come. But I speak that which is true, which God has revealed unto me."

After the man had made this statement, he gave a snarling laugh, then shook his hand at Brother Branham and walked out of the building. But before he could get to his garage, his own son-in-law, backing out of the door with his truck full of scrap iron, struck him, crushing both his feet and ankles.

Two days later, while speaking at a street meeting, a lady with a crippled arm said to Brother Branham, "I know God's anointing is upon you. When you pray please remember my crippled arm. It has been in that condition for several years." He spoke to her, "If you truly believe, stretch out your arm, for Jesus Christ has healed you." Immediately her arm was made straight. The poor woman cried for joy as she knelt and thanked God.

A woman standing by said, "If that religion Billy Branham has is the true religion, I do not want any of it." But as she turned to walk away a peculiar thing happened. She stumbled over a board, and failing to the ground, she broke her arm in 15 places. The arm that was broken, was on the same side as the woman's was that was healed.

VISION II -- THE MILLTOWN VISION

Sometime later Brother Branham was again at his mother's home. Like most other visions, this one came to him about two or three o'clock in the morning. It seemed that he was in a dark woods, and as he wandered along he heard a most pathetic cry. It seemed as if he were hearing a lamb bleating. He thought, "Where is that poor little thing," and he began searching for it through the cloud and darkness. At first he thought that it was saying, "Bah-h-h Bah-h-h-h." But as the sound got closer, it seemed to be a human voice saying, "Mi-l-l-town, Mi-l-l-town."

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Well, Brother Branham had never heard of that name before, and just then he came out of the vision. He began to tell his people that somewhere there was one of God's lambs in distress, and it was near a place Called Milltown. A man by the name of George Wright, who had attended Brother Branham's church said that he knew of a Milltown that was only a little way from where he lived. (Brother Wright's address is De Pauw, Indiana) So the next Saturday Brother Branham went to Milltown.

Arriving there, he looked around but he couldn't seem to see anything that the Lord would want him down there for. Finally he decided he would hold a street meeting in front of a store, but Brother Wright, who was with him, said that he had an errand to do first, and asked if Brother Branham would go with him. He answered, "Yes, sir, I will." They drove up a hill and Brother Branham saw a big Baptist Church, located next to a graveyard. Brother Wright said, "This church is not being used anymore except for funerals." Just as he said that, Brother Branham felt something move over his heart. There was where the Lord wanted him. When he told Brother Wright this, he replied, "I will go and get the keys to let you inside so you can look at it." While he was gone Brother Branham sat down on the steps and prayed, "Heavenly Father, if this is where you want me, open this door for me." The Lord permitted that to happen and he announced a meeting. But he soon saw that the situation would be very difficult, as the churches there had taught the people against Divine Healing.

The first man Brother Branham asked to come to the meetings said to him, "We are too busy to go to any revival; we raise chickens and haven't time for anything like that." However, shortly after that, this man died, so he didn't raise any more chickens.

The following Saturday they began the revival. Only four people attended and they were the Wright family. The next night was a little better. On the third night, a hard-looking man came to the door of the church, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, came in, and sat down in the back. Then he questioned Brother Wright, "Where is that little Billy Sunday, I want to get a good look at him." Brother Wright came forward and told Brother Branham that a very hard case had just come in the building. However, before the service was over that night, he was at the altar crying out to God. His name is William Hall and he is the pastor of that church now.

Soon many were coming and Brother Branham mentioned to the people about the vision. Then Brother Hall came and said, "Why Brother Branham, there is a girl that lives down the hill here, who has been reading your book

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"JESUS CHRIST THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, FOREVER." She has been lying on her back for eight years and nine months, and has never raised from bed. She is tubercular, and the doctors said years ago that there was no hope. She is now about 23 years old. She lies there wasting away and weighs only about forty pounds. The girl has been begging and crying for you to come down to her, but her parents belong to a certain church here, and it has been announced to that congregation that if any of them went down to hear you, they would be dismissed from the church. But will you go?"

Brother Branham answered, "I will go, if you can get her father and mother to say that it is all right." Brother Branham felt that God was leading him down that way. The girl's name was Georgia Carter and her father was a superintendent of a stone quarry. The mother sent word that he could come down and see the girl, but neither she nor the father would be in the house while he was there.

When he entered the room, he saw his little book lying on the bed and he asked, "Do you believe what you have read," She replied, "I do, sir." This was spoken in a voice so low that he had to get very near in order to hear what she said. At that time he did not understand as much as he does now about healing, but prayed for the people as he saw them healed by vision. So he told her about the Nale girl who had been healed, and suggested that she should pray that God would lead him through a vision to pray for her. (Later, he learned, of course, that all may be healed by believing God's Word, although God still reveals to him many healings by vision.)

The meeting went on. God continued to bless until there were several hundred people in attendance. One day Brother Branham had a baptismal service at Totton Ford on Blue River. That afternoon he was to baptize some thirty or forty people. Shortly before, in this locality, a minister had held a meeting there and had preached against immersion. But that afternoon God manifested His power in such a way that over fifteen of his people marched out into the water with their good clothes on and were baptized.

Now all that week Georgia had been praying, "Oh Lord, send Brother Branham to see me again; show him by vision that I may be healed, so I can be baptized with the rest of them." When the day of the baptizing came, the girl was very restless and kept crying. The mother tried to quiet her, but her heart was broken

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and she could not be pacified. After the baptizing was over, Bro. Branham went to Brother Wright's home for supper. Brother Brace, who had been with him during the fulfillment of the other vision, also came along. But at this moment the Spirit spoke to him, saying "Eat no food now, but go to the woods to pray." So Bro. Branham said, "I'm going to pray awhile, but when supper is ready, ring the bell (they had an old country dinner bell) and I'll come." Bro. Branham then went into the woods some distance and started to pray.

But it was difficult to pray as there were a lot of stickers getting into his clothes, and he kept thinking that he would be late for service. However, he started praying with all his heart, and soon he was lost in the Spirit. Finally he heard a voice calling from somewhere in the woods. He raised up, the sun had gone down and it was getting dark. The dinner bell had rung but he had never heard it, and the searchers had been sent out to find him. As he raised up he saw a yellowish Light, shining down into the woods out of heaven. A voice spoke saying, "Go by the way of the Carter's." That was all. Then he heard voices in various parts of the woods calling, "Oh Brother Branham." He started out of the woods and almost ran into Brother Wright's arms. Brother Wright informed him, "Dinner has been ready for an hour and we have been calling you. What's the matter?" Brother Branham answered, "I cannot eat. We are going by the way of Carters. The Lord has sent me that way for the healing of Georgia." Brother Wright replied, "Sure enough?" Brother Wright called, and Brother Brace came. They got into the car and started for Carters, which was about seven miles away. They told the others to eat and then come on to church. They couldn't wait for them, as the vision spoke for Brother Branham to go then.

God was working at both ends of the line. You remember it was like that when the angel spoke to Peter; the people were gathered at Mark's house and they were all praying. Georgia had gotten restless at this time. The mother was so distressed that she went into the next room and started praying. She said, Lord, what am I going to do; that fellow Branham has come here and got my girl so stirred up, and she has been in a dying condition for nine years. "Who is this man anyhow?" After that she got lost in the spirit of prayer. Suddenly she heard a voice which said, "Look up." As she lifted up her head she thought she saw a shadow upon the wall. She saw that it was a person

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and it appeared to be Jesus. She asked, "Lord what can I do?" In the vision the Lord said to her, "Who is this coming in the door?" Then she saw Brother Branham and two men following. She recognized Brother Branham, by his high forehead, and the Bible he was carrying over his breast. She began saying, "I'm not dreaming, I'm not dreaming." She ran into the next room and exclaimed, "Georgie, something has happened!" She began to tell the vision to her. When she was almost through telling it, she heard a door slam. She looked and there Brother Branham was just arriving. He didn't knock. He just entered the door and came in. The mother fell back in the chair, almost fainting. Brother Branham walked straight to the bedside and said, "Sister be of good courage. Jesus Christ, whom you have served and have loved and have prayed to, has heard your prayer and has sent me according to the vision. Stand on your feet for he has healed you."

Brother Branham took her by the hand. Remember she had not raised herself up in bed for many years. They could hardly put a sheet under her, she was so covered with sores. Her head looked almost square; the eyes were deeply sunk and her arms looked like broomsticks at the widest place. But when Brother Branham said that Jesus bad healed her, she immediately arose and got up on her feet! Her mother started screaming. There she saw her daughter for the first time in nine years, walking across the floor, not by her own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, and without any human support. As Brother Branham turned to go from the building, her sister came running in, and she too began to scream.

Later, when her father came home and saw his daughter sitting at the piano playing, he almost fainted. He went down town and began to tell all the people what had happened. The girl went out into the yard, sat down on the grass and began blessing the grass and the leaves. She looked up into heaven saying, "Oh God, how good You are to me." She was so happy.

At church that night the building was packed. When Sunday came they had another baptizing. Both Georgie and the Nale girl were baptized at Totton Ford the following Sunday. Georgie is now a piano player at the Milltown Baptist Church and is in perfect health.

The above illustrations are only two in number. The truth is that there have been thousands of visions relative to healing that have taken place on the platform. There has never been one failure as to their correctness, and neither will there be.

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Those who have been in Brother Branham's services know that every so often he will say, "Thus saith the Lord." When he does, what ever he is referring to will come to pass. Never once is there a failure, If he does not say those words there has been no vision to indicate the positive assurance of the thing coming to pass. To illustrate this in order to make it understandable, let us put it this way. Here are two people who are crippled who stand before him. To each of these he repeats the vision he has seen which tells him who the people are, where they are from and what has caused the condition. Then to one he may say after prayer, "Go your way and believe God." But to another he may say, "Thus saith the Lord, you are healed." That person last spoken to Will then arise immediately, or if God chooses to heal the person a little later, it makes no difference for the person will be well. You see, in the first case he had no vision seeing the first one healed. In the second he saw a vision of the person walking. Every vision is fulfilled exactly as seen.

Here is another example of this. In a meeting once, a blind man came for prayer, As he prayed, Brother Branham said, "Thus saith the Lord, you are healed." The man went on his way as blind as ever. He went to one of the parties conducting the services with Brother Branham and stated that he was puzzled over the outcome of that prophecy. The man played back the tape on which the prayer line service was recorded and sure enough the vision had indicated that Brother Branham said, "Thus saith the Lord, you are healed." He encouraged the man to believe God, telling him that it was true, and that he was like Abraham of old to whom God said, "I have made you a father of Nations... and I will multiply you." To him it meant "I have said you are healed--believe that now it is done." The man was glad and went about praising God for his healing. He sold papers for a living so when not crying out selling, he was praising God for His goodness. One day while getting a shave the barber jokingly brought up the subject of healing and Rev. Branham. The blind man said, "Yes, I know all about that. I went there. He prayed for me and praise God I am healed." As soon as he said that, he was perfectly healed. He leaped out of the chair praising and blessing God.

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In January of 1950 while Rev. Branham was conducting services in Houston, Texas, a most amazing event occurred which established forever the truth that a supernatural light accompanies his healing ministry. It so happened that an enraged minister accused Brother Branham of insinuating that he healed the sick. He also contended that healing was not for today. So insistent was he (along with some other ministers) that some of the official party decided that a debate was in order. This of course was the finest grist for the mills of the press. With what finally turned into a low caliber drama, the so-called Rev. Best asked his photographers (Ayers and Kipperman) to snap pictures while he thrust his fist under the nose of Rev. Bosworth. As he paraded up and down, he asked for several more shots. Finally when it was seen that Rev. Best and his group had won no points but rather that the audience was with the Branham party, the challenge kept coming for Brother Branham to come forward. Now, Brother Branham is a wise, humble servant of God. He knew that if the actual demonstration of the power of the true Word would not cause men to see, a debate or argument certainly would not. But finally he came forward. As he stood in the pulpit the photographers took one more picture, and that was of Brother Branham. As the picture was taken, many people (most did not) saw a brilliant light appear over Rev. Branham's head. When the film was developed at the studio, the eight or nine taken of Rev. Best were completely negative but the one with Brother Branham alone came clear, and there was the light above his head. This photograph was taken to Dr. George Lacy who was then head of the F.B.I. laboratories. He gave two signed statements that the negative had not been tampered with and that there was no double exposure, that every known test had been used and the verdict was that this was a true untouched picture. He personally indicated that this picture was the only true picture of a supernatural being anywhere in the world.

Since volumes could truthfully be written on this man's public ministry and since we do not have that space to continue, it is best to tell of those things which are in his more private ministry and yet which have been seen by his companions with him.

Brother Branham loves nature. He hunts and fishes. He rides and walks for miles. Thus the following of these illustrations will have to do with forests and hills he loves so dearly.

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An Authenticated Resurrection

One day Brother Branham and Banks and Lyle Woods, (two brothers who were formerly Jehovah Witnesses) went to Dale Hollow, Tennessee, to fish. The first morning out on the water, Banks and Lyle began to reminisce about a dear old lady from the Church of God who used to give them fresh bread and milk to eat. As they thought about her Christian kindness Banks said to Lyle that they ought to go back and see her and tell her that they were now saved and trying to serve God. When he said that, Brother Branham felt the Spirit of God move upon him, attracting his attention; and a voice said, "Thus saith the Lord, in the next few hours there will be a resurrection of a little animal." Immediately he thought of a little kitten that his son, Joseph, had hugged too hard and then dropped limp on the floor. He thought perhaps it had now died and that a prayer of faith would raise it up for its owner.

They had fished for a few hours, and then Lyle pulled in a little Blue Gill. That fish was tiny, and yet in one bite it had devoured entirely the bait and hook. There was no way to get the hook out, so Lyle simply gave the line a hard jerk and the hook came out, but with it came the gills and intestines of the fish, As he threw the fish into the water he said, "You shot your last wad, little fella." The little fish gave a flip or two, fell on its side and then floated with the waves, drifting toward the shore.

About 30 minutes later a strange feeling fell over Brother Branham. He looked toward the trees on the shore line and there moving as a whirlwind came the sound of a rushing wind, and the Spirit of God spoke again, "Stand up. Speak to the little fish and it Shall have its life."

Immediately he stood to his feet and cried, "Little fish, I give you your life."

That dead fish, which only seconds before was floating on the lapping waves drifting toward shore suddenly flipped over and swam like a shot out to the depths. Banks Woods felt the awe of the miracle and said as did the apostles of old at the mount of transfiguration, "It is good for us to be here."

Lyle felt worried and said, "Brother Branham, that was for me, wasn't it?"

"No," replied Brother Branham. "It was not."

The men were reliable witnesses of this stupendous event.

Why had God raised that fish? Were there not hundreds of helpless people on Brother Branham's prayer list? Would it not have been better that he raise some cripples, some cancer cases for the glory of God? Yes, He wants to raise them, and this resurrection of the fish shows that God is the God of the whole world, great and small. As He said, Himself, His eye is on the sparrow. It is on the least. He wants to care for His creatures, He loves them all.

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The Caribou and the Bear

Brother Branham has always been a devoted son. So when his mother died he felt her loss most keenly. But the God of all comfort, comforted his heart concerning her. And as a fond parent knows how to distract from loss, He gave him a vision of a future hunting trip in Canada. He related the entire vision to his church in Jeffersonville, months before it came to pass.

In the vision he was hunting big game somewhere in North America. He was not able to tell just where, but he knew the kind of game he was going to bag. One of the prizes was a creature that looked like a deer but was very much bigger. He had never seen or hunted one like it in his life. As he went to hunt the animal he was in the company of two men, one of whom had on a green checked shirt. While stalking this deer-like creature he saw a doe and fawn of the same breed. After getting in position for a good shot he brought the animal down and went over to examine it. As he did so he saw a small hand like that of a child's reach out and measure the horn's length. The tape read exactly 42 inches.

As he brought out his trophy he saw a great silver tipped bear, He killed this bear with one shot. After it lay dead he pondered the thought that he had killed it with just a 270 rifle and 130 grain bullet which is actually too small for game that size. He skinned the bear. Then the vision left him.

About a month later a dear friend invited him to go to Alaska to hunt bear and moose. But the invitation did not seem to fit the vision as the horns of a moose are paneled and the creature in the vision had the horns of a deer.

About another month went by and he received an invitation from Bud (Harvey) Southwick, a class A guide on the Alaskan highway, to come and hunt bear with another Christian Brother, Eddie Byskal, the guide's pastor. Brother Branham had been up there to hunt before and while there he was able to help a very sick boy recover his health. The healing was on this wise.

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Fort St. John is extremely far north. In fact it is up in the Yukon, where the sun does not really set; it just gets gloomy. So the hunters had lots of time to talk about the things of the Spirit. Rev. Byskal was telling Bud about Brother Branham's meetings, about the visions and the healings. Bud then said how glad he would be to have Brother Branham see his brother who had epilepsy, for he was sure something good would come of it. He constantly talked about Brother Branham having a vision and praying for the boy in order that he might be healed.

One day after Brother Branham had just helped his companions to get the horses back onto a trail from which they had wandered he saw a vision of this young man. He had been riding drag (riding the end of the trail) so he spurred up to talk to Bud. He told Mr. Southwick that the vision had shown him that his brother had the seizures from a child, and he proceeded to describe the young man. It was exactly right. He then told him to send for the man, bring him to Ft. St. John and watch over him. When the next attack came he was to tear his shirt off him and throw it in the fire, and the fits would cease. He was told to do all in the name of the Lord and victory was assured.

Well, they brought the boy to Ft. St. John. Bud told his wife that he had "Thus saith the Lord," for him, so all they had to do was follow instructions, The poor fellow had as many as six fits a day when he had a bad time of it. And his next seizure came when Bud was away. But Mrs. Southwick was a Spirit-filled Christian. That little bit of a thing tore off the shirt and threw it in the fire in the Name of the Lord Jesus. The fits ceased and never returned.

So when this letter came inviting him to hunt, he felt he ought to go. He and Fred Sothmann started out, and on the way up told hundreds of people the vision. There were, therefore, many folks who would wait the outcome of the trip eagerly to see if this were the time or not that the vision would be fulfilled.

The two men went so far as to try to draw a picture of the setting in the country and of the two animals that would be taken.

After arriving and talking with his guide, he was informed that there simply weren't animals like that around there. In the first place even deer were scarce around there; then caribou have paneled horns which the animal did not have in the vision, and there were no bears around either, especially silver tipped grizzlies. The country was sheep country so they had better stick to that.

Rev Branham was not concerned, for the vision could be fulfilled at a later date. He knew one thing, the vision would prosper.

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They started out to look for sheep. About three days back in the hills, Eddie fell in a creek, so he went back down to the trailer to change. The others kept on and reached a higher altitude. In the morning they went out and spotted their first try at a kill. They saw a caribou and a calf. Later they saw some sheep. Seeing a bull caribou, Eddie killed it and they dressed it out and took it into camp.

Brother Branham and Bud then went out with the thought of looking on the other side of the mountain for game. Brother Branham decided to scan the mountain view with his glasses. As he did, there was that animal of the vision. He handed the glasses to Bud. He saw a great big caribou but with horns that were different. They were not the paneled kind but more like those of a deer. The animal and the setting of the scenery were exactly right according to the vision.

Bud then mentioned to Brother Branham that there was supposed to be a bear also, and even a man with a green checked shirt. Brother Branham told him to look toward camp. There was Eddie in a green checked shirt that his wife had packed for him, and he had it on now.

Then Bud looked toward the caribou again. He was sure that it could not be taken as it was looking right their way and there wasn't enough covering to hide them. But they went on, and that beast didn't move. They walked up within 35 yards and Rev. Branham shot the caribou. There were others nearby, but they had paneled horns.

Now came the question. Would there be a bear, too? It was something like the Old Testament question: God has provided manna, but can He provide water, too?

Bud picked up the glasses to scan the mountain. He could see the whole area and there wasn't either a bear or even a place where a bear could hide. Bud began to doubt, but Brother Branham reminded him that one of God's Names is "The Lord our Provider." It would be peculiar indeed if God promised a bear and then couldn't provide one. He gave the ram caught in a thicket to Abraham when there weren't any rams around there. So a bear ought to appear on the scene shortly. And it was "Thus saith the Lord" that it would be a big silver tipped grizzly. They had seen the man in the green checked shirt; they had already killed what seemed an "impossible" animal, so they ought to have the third promise come true.

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They started to walk, with Bud expressing his doubts. Not that he didn't want to believe, but it seemed pretty hard to believe with the sun going down, and no bear visible and no place for him to hide.

As Bud was scanning the area in one direction, Brother Branham was looking the other way. Suddenly he asked Bud to turn, and pointing to a spot on the mountain he asked him what he saw. There was the biggest silver tipped grizzly Bud had ever seen. He almost collapsed when he saw it. There was that bear on all fours, about as big as a cow. The wind was blowing through his hair, fluffing it up.

Bud was all for shooting the bear from that distance but according to the vision they were to come within 500 yards. He was afraid of getting too close, for a bear with a bullet in his heart can still come charging and killing, for grizzlies are killers and once were known as the terror of the plain, and often called by the Indians, "The bear that walks like a man."

So they walked on toward the bear. All the while Brother Branham carried that small 270 with the 130 grain bullets. Bud knew that he needed a great Weatherby at least. But the vision had said a small gun at a close distance. The bear would be hit and would come rolling down almost across their feet.

Now a vision is a fine thing to have, but to be a part of it and fulfill it in face of grave danger is another thing. The Apostle Paul had the vision of the ship breaking up and going down and yet all men, even non-swimmers, were to get to shore safely. The vision was wonderful, but it took courage for Paul to be the leader in it. So the two men went on. Brother Branham encouraged Bud with the thought that even if he had but a B. B. gun he could get him, because God's word can't fail.

Slowly but surely they went closer with Bud asking for a shot in the back to break the back bone and cord and render him helpless. But Brother Branham determined it would be in the heart for disobedience to the vision could be failure or disaster. It was suggested that Bud stay behind. No, he wouldn't stay.

Within 300 yards they topped a little knoll and there he was. That huge grizzly saw them, and when he did, he charged. As he drove toward them, Rev. Branham shot him in the heart. The charge was very swift, for of course he was coming down hill. But suddenly he fell over within a matter of only 50 yards from the men.

The bear was dead. It was all perfect according to the vision.

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Bud could hardly talk anymore. If the horns of the caribou would measure exactly 42 inches when they measured them at camp he felt he would start screaming. Brother Branham told him he felt he ought to start screaming right now because they would be exactly 42 inches.

When they got to the camp, Brother Branham told Bud to watch for Eddie's little son who was in camp, to come measure the horns, because it was the hand of a little fellow that he saw in the vision. When Eddie got the tape out to measure the horns, he called his son over to hold the end of it and there was that small hand holding the tape, exactly according to the vision. They measured exactly 42 inches.

Bud could hardly speak. He had seen almost too much, and turned to Brother Bill in wonder and asked him, if Brother Bill would tell him (Bud) where be would be next year. He felt he might as well know everything, he had seen and found out so much now.

Now why does God do things like this? Because he loves us and cares for us. He wants to be in all our lives all the way. Some day we will realize that. I only hope it won't be too late.

The fulfillment of visions is a tremendous thing; but Rev. Branham's ministry has yet another phase that makes one marvel. His new ministry is one wherein he speaks the word and it comes to pass even as he has spoken it. This is according to Mark 11:23 "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart but shall believe those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith." Here are a few illustrations of that spoken word coming to pass.

HEALING OF SISTER BRANHAM

Back in about 1950 when Rev. Branham was in California ministering to the sick, he told Sister Millikian who was ill at the time that she was suffering with Milk Leg. The lady felt that since she did not feel any symptoms of such a disease that it was hardly possible that this was true. Brother Branham showed her the sign in his hand that indicated the condition. Then to show her that when one is perfectly well there is no manifestation in his hand, he reached over taking his wife's hand and said, "Now will you notice there is no change in the condition or color of my hand when I take my wife's hand in mine." But like a bolt of lightning hitting him he spoke out, "Meda, I did not know that there was anything wrong with you. You have a cyst on the left ovary." "Well," said Sister Branham, "I feel perfectly well."

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"That is fine," said Brother Branham, "but it is there just the same."

Now Sister Branham does not give natural birth to a child. Her children have been born by way of caesarean operation. She already had one daughter, Becky, so when she was to be delivered of her second child, Brother Branham asked the doctor to look for the cyst. The doctor did so, but saw nothing.

Years went by and she felt fine. Then her third and last child was born. Again the doctor saw no sign of a cyst.

But in 1962 Sister Branham began to feel uncomfortable with a pain in the left side. The side also began to swell a little. She went to see a doctor and was told that she had a cyst that turned into a small tumor. He advised an operation.

However, the family is a family of faith and they were determined to wait upon the Lord. The tumor kept on growing. They moved from Jeffersonville to Tucson. The doctor who was in charge of her in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote a letter and sent reports with her to a new and fine doctor in Tucson. By this time the growth was so large as to cause real discomfort and give the doctors concern lest it be malignant. Yet the operation was postponed, not only to still seek God, but in hopes that she could weather the storm until after Christmas of 1963 in order to allow the family to return to Jeffersonville for the holidays.

Now at this time Brother Branham had just come from New York where he had a series of meetings. He knew how sick his wife was and how needful the operation was. She had just phoned and said that she could hardly walk and the doctor was pressing for an operation. He asked her to bear up a bit and see if she could make it. Feeling desperately sorry for her, he went into the living room of his home in Jeffersonville (he had stopped off at the old pastorium on his way to a Shreveport meeting from whence he would go to Tucson) and knelt down by the ottoman they usually prayed around as a family. Praying with compassion and sincerity, he begged God to be merciful to her.

Then came the awareness of God. The pillar of fire hung in the room. The voice of God spoke to him, "Stand up on your feet. Say whatever you will and it will be exactly as you say it." Fully aware of this tremendous promise he said, "Let it be that just before the doctor touches her, the tumor will disappear."

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Now the very next day Sister Branham and Sister Norman went to see the doctor for another check up. The nurse helped her put on the white gown preparatory for the examination. She could hardly get up on the table. The doctor came in, looked over his charts and then leaned toward her to examine the size of the swelling. Just as his hand descended and was about to touch her, she felt a cool, shrinking feeling in her side. The doctor felt her left side; then be walked around and felt her right side. In a very puzzled manner said, "That swelling was on your left side, wasn't it Mrs. Branham?"

"Yes, sir, it was," said Sister Branham.

He searched intently and finally said. "I don't know what has happened. All I know is that there is no tumor here now. It is gone. I can't explain it but you have nothing to worry about."

When next Brother Branham phoned his wife from Shreveport. She said, "Bill you know that tumor..." He broke in, "Yes, honey, I know. It is gone."

She said, "How did you know?"

And he told her the story.

GOD'S GIFT TO SISTER MOSIER

During the squirrel hunting season of 1962 Brother Branham and Brother Wood were invited to come in to the home of Sister Hattie Mosier for the noon meal. Now Sister Mosier is a very wonderful Christian widow, who with her two sons subsists on a mere pittance. Yet she faithfully tithes and gives to the welfare of others, never thinking of herself. She has a crippled sister who has never walked. This sainted lady is a testimony to God. Her home has the atmosphere that becomes a Christian lady.

While sitting eating they were all talking about the good things of God. Brother Branham was speaking of the Word and the ministry of the Spirit and kindred things of grace. Suddenly during an especially blessed part of the conversation Sister Mosier said, "Brother Branham, that is exactly true."

When she said that the spirit of God came upon Brother Branham and he said, "Sister Mosier, for that saying, God has told me to tell you that you can have anything you want."

What heavenly power filled that room. Tears rolled down the guest's faces. "Whatsoever you want. It is yours. I give it to you in the Name of the Lord," repeated Brother Branham.

Sister Mosier said, "I don't know what to ask for."

"You can ask for your crippled sister. She will be healed. You are very poor and need money. Ask for it, if you want it. Ask out of your heart and it is yours."

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She looked at him for a moment, and then out of her heart said, "Brother Branham, my two sons are not saved. That is what I want. May they be saved?"

He said, "I give you your two sons in the name of the Lord."

Those boys who before had been laughing and jesting as boys do. They who had no thought of turning to God, nor any desire to serve Him, suddenly turned pale. God's Spirit came upon them in soul shaking dynamism and they cried out and fell down in repentance before the Lord.

Those boys were saved. Today they are members of the tabernacle. They are living for God. They fellowship the Saints at the table of the Lord and in foot-washing, and have a testimony unto the Lord both by voice and conduct.

It would hardly be right to conclude this portion of the vindication without the sign from heaven. You recall that the Pharisees wanted a sign from heaven. It seems many today want a sign from heaven, too. We have already seen the one of the star appearing, but here is another.

THE CLOUD OF ANGELS

For many years Brother Branham knew by revelation that a time would come when God would demand of him that he move out West. Without receiving a direct revelation from God he felt that he would like to go to Tucson. He, therefore, planned accordingly.

On Dec, 22, 1962, as he was arising from bed a vision broke before his eyes. He saw himself out in Arizona standing on a mountain, overlooking Tucson. He leaned over to pick sand burrs out of his trouser leg. His son, Joseph, appeared to be standing near by. He stood upright, and as he did, there came a blast out of heaven from the south. It was such a blast that it shook the mountains, causing rocks to rumble down the slopes. Like a quake it rocked the hills. As this thunderous blast shook the earth, a blaze of light which turned into a group of seven mighty angels swept him up with tremendous speed. The impact of this vision was so great that he literally felt dazed for several days. He wondered if it meant death. He thought he ought to discount that as Joseph was near him and unhurt by the shock of the blast.

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Having discussed this peculiar vision with the author on Dec. 26, we felt, knowing this wonderful prophet of God, that the angels who came with the voice of thunder were sent from God as a token that he would know what was in the tenth chapter of Revelation concerning the seven thunders that John heard but did not write. This was a supposition. No one knew for sure what it meant.

Rev. Branham moved to Tucson immediately. And not being in meetings at the moment he went hunting out in the mountains with two friends, Gene Norman and Fred Sothmann. The two friends did not go in the immediate company of Rev. Branham as they hunted, but were some distance apart. As Rev. Branham was on the mountain slope he bent over to pick a few sand burrs out of his trouser leg. As he did so, a mighty blast came out of the south rocking the mountains so that the boulders rolled down the slopes, and little rocks seemed to dance up and down. For a moment he was fearful that some hunter had shot him. He was so shocked by it all. Then there came in reality seven mighty angels like a pyramid or the letter "V," swooping toward him with the speed of light. He seemed caught up in them, and with their awful thunder. Then a voice cried, "Go back east." He knew it was time to go back to Jeffersonville to preach the seven seals and reveal the unwritten mysteries of the thunders in the book of Revelation.

Now here is the truth. The two men who were with him ran and tried to find him. They had seen the light but had not seen the angels in the blinding light. They heard the terrible thunder as it roared out of the south. They saw the man of God shaken by the mighty vision.

This scene took place outside of Flagstaff, Arizona. On the exact day and time of this tremendous event, what appeared to be a cloud formed in the sky. It was thirty miles across and twenty-six miles high. It was in that part of the atmosphere where no clouds ever form, nor can they form. On investigation (many photographs were taken) they found that there had been no jets in the air and they knew of no way the clouds could have been formed. The meteorologists wrote a scientific paper on this peculiar oval shaped cloud that was so huge and sped toward the east. No one has any idea where it came from, how it got there, and where it went.

But the people who know the truth know about that cloud--a cloud of angels that God allowed to manifest themselves to puzzle the eyes of the world.

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Life Magazine of May 17, 1963 has four pictures of the cloud.

Science Magazine of April 19, 1963, front cover, also has the picture.

In March Rev. Branham came back east to preach on the seals. From the 17th to the 24th he taught. What he taught he had never previously known. In fact, he taught in such a way as to correct certain things he had previously taught. The reason for the correction was, that each day while he waited on God, that amber flame of fire appeared, and, out of the cloud the voice of God spoke revealing to him the exact truth of the contents of the Seals and what the seven thunders uttered.

"Thus saith the Lord," in the mouth of a prophet has returned to this generation--the last generation--for all things are coming to pass according to the Word of the Lord.

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CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSIONS

Having set forth both the scripture and the unusual vindication of the Prophet-Messenger, it is well to correlate both and see in them the marvelous works of God. Think for a moment on the fact that this man is often self-vindicated. In other words there have been times when he has given his testimony and asked others to accept him as a man sent from God. There is not a prophet who appeared on the scene at any time but had to do likewise. When Moses appeared before Israel he said, "God spoke to me out of a burning bush." He then proceeded to prove it by the two signs he had from God. The immediate reaction was twofold, some believed and others said, "We weren't there. How do we know that God spoke to you from a cloud of fire?" But Moses was not discouraged. He kept on. He knew that God was with him in his calling, for the voice that he was obeying was a Scriptural Voice. A true prophet like Moses will always be one with the Word. The Voice that cried out of the bush spoke the Word of God as it had been given to that great prophet, Abraham. It said, "I remember my promise to my people." So Moses listened and obeyed, and in so doing he brought the promise of God for the people of that generation.

Think of John the Baptist, the greatest prophet, at least up to that time. What was his witness? John 1:31-34, "And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit from heaven descending like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost, and I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God." Now here was John with his witness. He said "God spoke to me and told me what I have just told you." There again we have an immediate reaction that was two-fold. Some believed and others said, "We weren't there, so we don't know if there was a voice or not, Furthermore, what sign can you show us?"

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Thus it is with William Branham. He speaks of seeing a light appearing over people. That light was actually photographed, and you can see it in this book. Yet very few have actually seen that light. Now whether you accept his testimony or not is up to you, but remember right now you have accepted that of John and he did not have the signs following him that most prophets had.

Furthermore, it is with Rev. Branham as it was with Moses, for the pillar of fire is absolutely scriptural. And so is the voice, for it has never deviated from the Word. From him, then, we are bound to hear and learn the promise of God for this age.

William Branham also says that an angel appears to him. He even describes him. Your reaction is up to you. You can believe or disbelieve. But no man has a right to repudiate another, especially if the claimant is on strict Bible grounds--angelic appearances are positively Biblical. A self-witness is absolutely Scriptural. God backs up the revelation. As it was with Paul who came with the complete revelation to the Gentiles, God bearing him witness both with divers signs, and miracles and wonders and gifts of the Holy Ghost, so God has borne witness to William Branham for there has not been one time when the vision failed. Nor has there been one time when he has said "Thus saith the Lord," that the word in his mouth ever failed. Though one might be censured for the following, yet it ought to be said. There are very few scriptural evidences in the Bible to vindicate the revelation ministry of Paul. That God actually gave him the complete revelation he lays claim to has but little phenomenal proof from God. YET NO ONE DOUBTS, AND NO ONE SHOULD DOUBT THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE MAN HIMSELF AND THE REVELATION. And today, this man, William Branham has had literally thousands of manifested vindications from God, and with his life containing all the other factors that make up the prophetic office, HE OUGHT TO BE RECEIVED FOR WHAT HE IS,--HE MUST BE RECEIVED FOR WHAT HE IS... "Thus saith the Lord" in his mouth by the Holy Ghost is absolutely no different from the "Thus saith the Lord" in the mouth of Paul, for it is the same Holy Ghost.

The Holy Spirit that spoke in the pillar of fire to Moses is the same Spirit that fell at Pentecost as a cloud of fire, and is the same light exactly that appeared to Paul and blinded him and spoke to him, and that Light or Fire is now with us again and the voice is the SAME VOICE for the SAME SIGNS ARE GIVEN as before, and the prophetic utterance never fails. It is thus the rankest unbelief for men to come to this Prophet and hear him reveal without one mistake ever the various ailments and problems that beset the supplicant who comes for prayer,

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and then turn from that sign and say that he is a prophet only in discerning, but not a prophet in the Word. Oh, faithless one, can you not see that the sign is to attract your attention that you might believe the Word? It is the WORD that counts, and the sign is to lead you to it.

But man runs true to form as ever he did. When Jesus came He attracted them by the miracles of healing, the water turned to wine, the loaves and fishes multiplied. But when He began to teach a word that differed from theirs--when He laid out for them the true doctrines--they turned far from Him. And so it was, that, when Rev. Branham first appeared on the scene, thousands were healed with never a miss. Nothing stood before him. Then he came teaching the Word. God had sent him with a message. But the message differed radically from that of the organized churches' message. For this he was repudiated. But God remains true. He that believes His prophets shall prosper.

In March of 1963, the 17th to the 24th, this man received by direct revelation through the voice speaking out of a pillar of fire, the exact and perfect interpretation of the Seven Seals. These messages are on tapes and will soon be in print.

The voice that spoke to him EXPLAINING the meaning was the SAME VOICE that gave to John the Beloved the original unexplained revelation. Dare any deny it and claim the vision false, we can but say to him, "What proof do you want that a man is a prophet? You cannot go beyond the Scripture that lays down the laws. All have been fulfilled. Nothing is lacking. And if you want a sign of your own ask for it. It but proves that the same unbelief exists today as it did in Israel, for, while the true elect received Christ, based on the sign of reading the hearts of men, the darkened Pharisees stood back repudiating that sign and asked for another. Then when they had crucified the Lord they reaped their grim reward from God for Titus destroyed the city with such ferocity that the blood of those put to the sword filled the gutters while the crosses of those pinioned thereon filled the landscape. "He that rejects you, rejecteth ME" --is still the Word of the Almighty.

The mighty experiences in William Branham's life are too numerous and Biblical to pass by. Take the time that he was baptizing in the Ohio River and 4000 saw the pillar of fire descend. A voice came out of that cloud and spoke to him saying, "As John the Baptist was the forerunner of the first coming of Christ so your MESSAGE (and the world repudiates it)

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is to forerun the Second Coming of Christ." Compare this with John baptizing in Jordan. John was the prophet. The Word always comes to the prophet. There He (the Word) came manifested in flesh. The forerunner and the King were face to face. Soon the Christ was manifested for what He was and John decreased. Think now of how this Prophet in 1933 was baptizing in water. He was a prophet, but unknown to be such amongst the people. Now the SAME WORD again comes to the prophet, for the Word always comes to the prophet. The same light that appeared to Paul and was seen by many once more appeared and was seen by many. And as only Paul heard that voice, so only Wm. Branham heard that voice, but he revealed what the voice said. And soon that manifested Word will return to take His Bride. That is what the message is for. It is to make ready the people of the last day. May those who hear it listen.

When this prophet of God spoke on the Church Ages (which Shall also be in book form) he asked God for a sign that all that he had taught had truly been taught him by the Spirit. There for fifteen minutes 300 people saw the pillar of fire appear on the wall of the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

It has been amazing to many people that this end time prophet to the Gentiles is American born of Irish and Indian descent. But though we have no Biblical claim for his ancestry we have Biblical claims for his birth in this country. In Zech. 14:6-7 relative to the Coming of the Lord it says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night, but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." The sun sets in the West. It rises in the East. The sun of Righteousness rose in the East, Palestine. The church was born at Jerusalem. Since then in every age the Gospel has moved west.

The last three ages have been the most noticeable in the westward move. In the reformation or Sardis Age it was already in western Europe. In the Philadelphian Age it swung further west across the channel into Britain. In this last (Laodicean) age it has swung across the Atlantic to America, which now in its turn has become the vital bastion and disseminator of the Gospel, even as Europe was formerly. Now if we leave the shores of America we will be heading for the East. There is nowhere else to go. Light at eventide means light in America. Thus the Prophet-Messenger must come from this nation.

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Indeed many years ago before this name was even known it was prophesied concerning him calling him by name. It was said that just before the coming of the Lord there would arise a prophet by the name of William Branham and he would be known on the west coast of America for his ministry. It is strange but true that his ministry is best received in the West and God has granted that many mighty wonders have been done there. Even today he has moved from Indiana to a more Westerly state and plans on residing in a western location.

Since this man's ministry is that of Elijah to this age, then we can surely find ample scriptural description. Examine Elijah's nature. The nature of Elijah was that of a man of the wilderness. He was neither sophisticated nor political in his approach to the age in which he had lived. He was boldly and bluntly sold out to God and his speech was not known to go beyond a message from the Lord. He separated himself from the religious order of the day which was the school of the prophets and their adherents. He abhorred perverted womanhood and withstood the prophetess (false religious systems) of his day.

Now then, when this ministry came upon Wm. Branham, we saw the very attitudes and responses in his life as we did in Elijah's.

Bring this down to John the Baptist and again we see the exact nature, attributes and manners of Elijah. With an ear to hear, and an eye to see, it should be the least of difficulties to find this man today who has the Elijah ministry. There is no man living who has all this natural and supernatural vindication as does this man, William Branham, servant of the living God.

A superstitious people often carry a peculiar truth too far. But there is a peculiar truth that should not be passed over, and yet must not be given a meaning beyond its value. The original family name of this man is Branam. His father decided for some reason to add an H to the name; making it Branham. This would not merit any special attention except that now today in the field of spiritual endeavor there are two men whose names end in HAM: Graham and Branham. In their particular ministries they are by far the greatest. Now consider that we live in the time that parallels the days of Lot. We now find a peculiar coincidence. Abram had his name changed to Abraham in order to receive the Son. This man's name was changed also. And see his ministry. He is a prophet to this day, even as Abraham was the prophet to his day. So Rev. Branham is receiving the revelation by the Holy Spirit as to what God is about to do. And where is Rev. Graham? He is down in all the churches, nominal and otherwise, calling out to men to escape for their lives' sake. This is more than coincidence. This is factual.

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Carry this thought of the days of Lot a little further. It was in the heat of the day that God first appeared. It was on a hot Sunday in June in 1933 that the pillar of fire first appeared and was seen by several thousand, when he first was warned about what God was going to do. This was a long time before Rev. Graham was heard of. But now in the evening hours, just the same time the angels went to warn Lot, this man Graham has appeared to warn men of the soon coming of Christ, to repent of sin and flee for their lives.

One might well ask, "Who is the other man typified by the angel sounding to the sinful?" Since these three in the day of Lot all were in one area we can see well that three Americans will be anti-types. Branham, Graham, Roberts. But notice that of those three names the world knows only two: Graham and Roberts. These are they who are on radio, television, etc. But where is Branham? As the prophet (typed out in Abraham) he is back there in the hill country with the elect, receiving the revelations of God for the correctness of the interpretation of the Word in order to bring the Bride back to being a Word Bride that she once more may be the loyal wife and show forth the mightier works that are the portion of a sanctified church.

Now the above may sound presumptuous to say the least. It will be contended that no one has the right to elevate any one man to such a high position and adjudge others to be doing a work of less importance. Not so. This is the sovereignty of God. God made that choice, not we. But think; is it not so that there is never more than one major prophet at a time? Is it not true that God has never used a group of men to reveal truth as many would have us believe is taking place today? Not even the apostles were allowed the revelation by group process. Peter was the first prophet and spokesman, and then Paul, and Paul alone was the prophet messenger to the Gentiles. Then when all were dead save John, he became the prophet in that hour. Surely this is correct. God has to have His prophet for this day and to him alone, through proper vindication, will come the correctness of the interpretation of the Word and its application to this last day.

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It might be argued here, then, that if such be the case, and there is to arise a prophet amongst us, he could well write another Bible. Now, let us consider that. The same Spirit that WROTE the Bible is now again in man to REVEAL the Bible. That is right. And if that Spirit were to dictate another Bible it would end up by being EXACTLY the same Bible already written. It would have to be, for not one word could be changed. Not even a dotting of an "i" or a crossing of a "t." Thus it would be folly to suggest another Bible. It is anything but folly to expect a revelation of the Word for the Word does not only come to the prophet, but to the prophet also comes the revelation of the Word to the people for that day. And that is what we are interested in--the revelation of the Word. Its exact interpretation by the SAME SPIRIT that wrote it.

This premise leads us to a profound conclusion. This man's voice Will be to us just as much the voice of God as was Paul's when he spoke to the first church age. In Thes. 2:13, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the Word of God." To deny that God has raised up a prophet to reveal the mysteries of the ages to this day, and to deny that his voice is the voice of God to this generation is to deny that that voice of Paul was the voice of God to that day. This does NOT make a prophet literally God to the people. But it does clarify Ex. 4:16b "And thou shalt be to him instead of God." Moses was God to Aaron because the Word of God came through Moses to Aaron. Aaron did not have the prophetic office (a gift from God) so he could not himself go to God for revelation. Moses did that. Aaron accepted it. The same holds today. God has told us in Rev. 10:7 that it is a PROPHET who is going to declare the mysteries of the ages and reveal thereby the seven thunders that were sealed up. THEN WE, TOO, MUST HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD THROUGH A PROPHET THAT WILL BE GOD TO US IN THAT CAPACITY. BUT THERE IS WHERE IT ENDS. You don't go beyond that, but neither do you dare stay short of it.

To clarify this further, compare John 10:34-36 and Ps. 82:6 "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." Now the Word of God comes TO the Prophet. It does not come any other way. Paul made this very clear to the Corinthians.

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"What? came the Word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?" The Word of God always comes To the prophet, and then Through the prophet to the people. So then, God calls those to whom the Word comes for the people, gods. The prophets have always been as God through this process to the people. When the prophet, Samuel, was rejected, God said, "They have not rejected you, but me." Samuel was God to the people by means of the Word that came to him. This goes back again to Deut. 18, where the people refused to deal with God directly lest they die, and so God gave them prophets. These prophets dealing with the people by the revealed will of God brought God to the people,

To clarify this even further, compare the three titles of Jesus. He was called the Son of Man, the Son of God, the Son of David. He called Himself the Son of Man continually because He was the Prophet. This is seen in Ezekiel being called by God, "Son of Man." Ezekiel was the prophet. Jesus was the prophet. Today, He is the Son of God, arisen and glorified. He is yet to be the Son of David. Now then, note, Luke 17:30, and do not fail to see this. "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." What day? As it was in the time of Sodom. But what was revealed in that day? Was it not that God appeared in flesh as a prophet to Abraham and Sarah just prior to the coming son, Isaac? (type of Christ) Now if Jesus is to reveal Himself once more as the Son of Man in this last day, and "Son of Man" was His title as a prophet, then it is necessary that the Spirit of God come to the people once more in a Word-vindicated Prophet who will point the church to the coming of the son. (Jesus) Thus, for God to be true to His Word, He has to send us a prophet. We are looking for a prophet. We are looking for Elijah. It is that evident, and exactly that correct.

Again, let me admonish you that the people of God will not come together and be perfected against His coming by groups with various ideas and opinions. It was ONE, (Moses) who came with the Word. It was ONE (John) who came before Jesus. Again, it will be ONE prophet with the Word who will come with a Word ministry that will shake loose the people of God from the world and establish them in righteousness. As to the correctness of these pronouncements, simply look around and ask yourself this, "Who is agreeing with whom on the Word?" It is evident that people are not of one mind--we need again the mind of God--we need again, "Thus saith the Lord'--we need the vindicated prophet.

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It would hardly be fitting to end this dissertation without commenting on what might be a major argument from some. There are those who contend that God is not manifested in the life of a Christian through acts of power, but through the fruit of the Spirit only. Our claim is that both are necessary according to the Word of the Lord as revealed through Paul, who had both the power and the fruit. That which was attributable to Paul can now be attributed to William Branham, the Messenger of God to this age. Though all men, if so inclined, could repudiate his ministry and brand him false, their allegations would summarily crumble when faced with his consecrated and blameless life. No man walks with such power and yet such humility. He invariably esteems others better than himself. The needs of others are always placed above his own needs. He never defends himself against an enemy, but commits all to God. He never has asked or sought payment when defrauded. It can never be said that he refused to give when he had it in his power to do so. In a day when all men seek to be great, he has constantly sought to be small, that God might receive all the glory. He has never sought to have large programs. He does not enjoy large holdings of property. He never appeals for money. Not once has he asked to be served, but asks rather how he might serve others. In times of bitter loss and total dejection, sorrowing and alone, he has worshipped and served his Maker, and loved and honored God's people. If one desires to look for fruit in abundance as a criterion, let him look to this prophet of God with admiration and be stimulated to follow in such footsteps.

Finally, let it be said that if this man is such a man as has been contended, will he not cause undue attitudes in some of those who follow with him? That is so. There will be those who attribute to him what he is not. For them we are sorry. There will be those who denounce him and would destroy him. For those we fear, remembering Miriam and the sons of Aaron and the Princes in Israel who railed against Moses. To those who would not give him the place that God has chosen him to, we fear the most, for their hearts will no doubt become darker and their ways more adamant until they blaspheme the Holy Ghost. But to those who receive a prophet in the name of a prophet we most signally recall to your minds the Word of God, "YE SHALL RECEIVE A PROPHET'S REWARD," all that his office entails--in short, whatever God chooses to pour through him for the people--all that is yours by faith.

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This picture taken at Aberdeen, N.C. in June of 1962 is no less amazing than that taken in Houston, Texas wherein the Spirit of Life is seen photographed above the head of William Branham. Rev. Branham had just pointed to the woman and told her that she was shadowed by death due to cancer, and had but a short time to live unless God undertook for her. A lady, upon hearing Brother Branham say this, felt so impelled in her spirit to take a picture of this dying woman that she did so. When the film was developed the black mask of death was clearly seen over this woman's head. It is absolutely amazing but this 'hood of death' looks exactly like the hood that the executioner would place on his head before he took the life of his victim. Later when another picture was taken there was no death mask upon the sister's face. Today that lady is well and without a sign of cancer.

How startling to realize that the camera has caught for all to see the Light of Life and the Shadow of Death.

[Picture of "hood of death"]