Between the period of October 1952 when I first met Bro. Branham until October 1953, when our fellowship with the Methodist church ended, quite frequently we visited the Tabernacle in Jeffersonville during which period we began to hear him touch on many bible subjects, one particular subject he frequently spoke upon was the baptism of the Holy Ghost and how badly we needed that baptism (to actually complete the spiritual new birth). During this period we also heard him teach on many great bible doctrines which were discussed in Part 1 of this message.
REVIVAL A DISCOURAGEMENT
Our local church changed student pastors and the new man desired to conduct a weeks’ revival, asking me to conduct the singing. Monday night came and I led two songs and the pastor prayed a short prayer, preached for about 30 minutes, and gave the invitation which brought no response. All week long the story remains unchanged, nevertheless daily I am agonizing before God to send a mighty revival and save lost souls. I felt if we could only get Bro. Branham in this Church he could set it afire spiritually, not realizing in a few months God was going to take Raymond Jackson completely out. Beloved, one thing is for you to be talking one way to God while he is working quite the opposite. The meetings remained unchanged and I became more and more miserable with each passing service. Lord, let your mighty hand be felt in this meeting as we see you working in the Tabernacle. By Saturday night I feel like the biggest hypocrite there because I can’t see anything accomplished! Sunday night came and the Dean of Asbury College, along with the college choir was to be with us. Surely this educated man will shake things up tonight – I thought, while leading my usual two songs. The pastor introduced the speaker who spoke in such terminology of which I had never heard! Undoubtedly it was a marvelous address could I have only decoded those educated college terms he was using. The meeting ends with me being more despondent than ever. Depressed in spirit I cry out, Lord if an educated man like this can’t move those people, what chance does a poor 8th grader like myself have? Seeing no need to continue on in the promise I had earlier made the Lord of preaching his word, I simply said Lord, I will never preach anymore – although I will support the work and live for you.
DREAMS OF RECEIVING HOLY GHOST
Despondent and disheartened I drifted off to sleep that night only to see myself in a dream walking down a highway approaching a large city. At the edge of the city was a ballpark or something where a large tent sat. Casually entering the tent which resembled a huge arena, I could hear a typewriter in the background pounding away. My thoughts were, this must be one of those huge tents used by Bro. Branham and other men who pray for the sick. As the man looked up from the typewriter I noticed mile cards in his hands and the thought struck me, these are prayer cards used by these men as they lined up their people for prayer. Can I do anything for you, said the man. No, I am just looking around, I declared. Sir, I perceive you have a need, said the man, may I pray for you? Certainly, I said. As he laid his hands on me the tent seemed to disappear and I saw Jesus coming in the clouds to me with outstretched hands. Once his arms were around me I began to weep for it seemed a million volts of electrical joy were shooting through my being. The currents of joy became stronger as I wept louder and I felt if it didn’t stop soon I would fly into a million pieces. Suddenly I awakened to find myself shaking like a leaf with a pillow in my hands, on my knees ready to go off the end of the bed. In those days, although we were hearing much concerning the manifestations of the Spirit and his operation while listening to Bro. Branham teach the word, yet having never experienced anything like this I couldn’t imagine what it was all about. I had gone to bed discouraged, never intending to preach anymore only to have a dream like this. Later I had the privilege to relate the dream to Bro. Branham who simply looked at me and said Bro. Jackson, the Lord is getting ready to lead you off into some deep water. Actually I didn’t understand what he meant by deep water, although hearing him teach much on the gifts of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Ghost I felt sure it had something to do with an experience with the Holy Ghost somewhere ahead.
On one occasion while speaking about people needing to receive the Holy Ghost, I shall never forget him looking straight at me and saying — and it is good for you Methodists too! Because he had stated this, during that period you could find me trying to apply his teaching to my life. Therefore I prayed much in the woods or while riding the tractor etc., Continually crying out to God–Lord, give me the Holy Ghost! Beloved I must pause here to say, I find it personally revoking when I hear of someone in this movement in this late hour with the audacity to inform anyone-that no one receives the Holy Ghost today seeing the Holy Ghost will not be given until a short time before the bride goes out! Beloved, if you don’t have the Holy Ghost before then, you wouldn’t even know if God did do something outstanding for the bride BEFORE HE TAKES HER AWAY! Furthermore I must say, the individual who is so misled by their own private interpretation over a statement made by Bro. Branham later in his ministry which gave them this idea no one has received the Holy Ghost should have been around in those early ’50s when Bro. Branham spent so much time teaching the people they should receive the Holy Ghost. etc.!
This cry of my soul for the Spirit continued until April 1953 when a brother from the Tabernacle was kind enough to take me to a salvation, healing meeting in Louisville, Kentucky where, under the ministry of another man, I received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. God’s servant had declared I needed the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and God has now led me to this campaign where I am to receive the Baptism of the Holy . Ghost. Thus another spiritual doctrine taught by this prophet shall become a reality in my own life! No, Beloved, God has not sent this prophet for human beings to ignorantly deify his flesh and make him God as some have found themselves guilty of doing! Instead, God sent this man and vindicated him as a prophet with a message that through the message he delivered, the revelation of it might straighten up our carnal thinking and place our salvation as well as our testimony back in line with the scriptures!
INVENTORY PRODUCES REALITY
Sitting there in the service, I began taking inventory of myself and realized for the first time because of all these beautiful scriptural doctrines taught by this prophet, all of which was none other than the framework of the original faith believed by the early saints and taught by the apostles, that if I am to continue in fellowship with this marvelous truth, there is certainly a deadline as to how much longer I can possibly remain in fellowship with the Methodist Church! Friday night, the evangelist says, I will be praying for all you who desire the Spirit of God in your life and if at all possible fast a meal or two on Friday. Friday night came and after having fasted all that day I went into the service with the highest of hopes – this would be my night — AND IT WAS!
FILLING WITH THE SPIRIT
I was the 5th person back in the prayer line. The evangelist reached out to pray for me when suddenly that dream I had related to Bro. Branham whereupon he informed me God was about to lead me out into deep water — all returned! Just as in the dream, when the man laid hands on my head everything seemed to disappear and I saw Jesus. The next thing I knew I was flat on my back unable to raise up from the floor. Six months before this I could recall having read a booklet concerning how people received the Holy Ghost and some of the different manifestations as to how people reacted under the power of God. Closing the book (back then) I thought, this is certainly not for me! Only here I am six months later laying flat on my back on the floor, unable to move, wondering how I got here. How disgraceful this must look I thought, I had better get up. However the moment I placed my elbows under my body to rise, I could get no further because it seemed two large hands were holding me down! Straining every muscle, it seemed impossible to rise off the floor. No, I wasn’t afraid, I was in my right mind, I simply couldn’t get up! Suddenly I felt that joyous current flowing through me that I had felt in the dream once Jesus placed his arms around me. Every light in the place seemed to become one gigantic light as the place seemed to begin whirling as what felt like a million volts surged through my body! If it didn’t stop I felt I would die! Finally the brother who brought me slipped his arms around me and as I was helped to my feet I could hear the congregation singing “I Have Found A Way.” I thought, Lord, I truly have found the way!
To my knowledge I never spoke in tongues, although no one could make me doubt I had not received the power of God and I simply couldn’t wait to return to the Methodist Church and share with our pastor the news of my joyous new experience, only to hear him reluctantly declare Bro. Jackson, be sure you know what you are doing. More and more, after April 1953, I became aware I didn’t belong in this church.
I remember Bro. Branham so often declaring, you must have the Holy Ghost and although Bro. Branham did not teach it was imperative you speak in tongues to have received the Holy Ghost as were the Pentecostals who were bearing down heavily with their “initial evidence” doctrine, nevertheless, surprising as it may seem to some Bro. Branham was definitely not opposed to speaking in tongues: On the contrary, he taught much about speaking in tongues – in line with the gifts of the Spirit, declaring the gifts of the Spirit were for the church and should be in operation in the local assembly to edify, uplift and strengthen the body of Christ. Having heard all these things only served to create a deep hunger within my heart to be a part of such an operation of the Spirit as this, I began to pray that God would permit some spiritual gift to operate through me seeing Bro. Branham had spent much time speaking upon the gifts found in I Cor. 12:1-10.
GIFT OF TONGUES SOUGHT
Throughout the summer of 1953, seemingly whenever we visited the Tabernacle Bro. Branham was continually preaching along the line of the Holy Ghost and the nine gifts of the Spirit, bringing in such statements as — you must have the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Spirit must be in operation in the local church etc. Therefore here I am again seeking God, down in the cornfield, in the woods etc., crying out to the Lord to allow me to be used and let me speak in tongues! No, I never intended that I needed the gift of tongues to assure me I had received the Holy Spirit as taught from the man made doctrine of “initial evidence” produced by pentecostals somewhere around 1903. I wanted tongues because Bro. Branham had been teaching that the nine gifts of the spirit should be in operation in the church and tongues was certainly one of those gifts! This cry continued in my soul until shortly before October 1953 when we left the Methodist Church.
GIFT OF TONGUES RECEIVED
An evangelist had erected a tent at Evansville, Indiana. Somehow I had the feeling if only I could get into a place where those gifts of the spirit were operating perhaps God would do something for my hungry heart. Beloved, allow me to interrupt our thought to point out something-could you have been in those great Holy Ghost meetings between 1946-1956 and examined the overall picture as to what was going on in that hour, in purity and true holiness against the sham and deceptive move going through the earth today under the disguise of the workings of the Holy Ghost in the name of Glossolalia or Charismatic revival, as today long haired, hippie type preachers, dressed in mod clothing, stand on platforms encouraging others to merely receive a gift of speaking of tongues and furthermore seeing how today once they do speak with tongues these people are apparently never encouraged to walk on any further in the truth of God’s word. Because today the feeling is – bible doctrine (truth) which the Holy Ghost promised to lead us into is dividing the people!
Therefore they merely promote this one little idea of speaking in tongues which is rapidly being used more than anything else in the world-to unite all denominational religion together today uniting denominations, both Roman Catholic and Protestants who sneered at that genuine move of God sweeping the earth between 1046-1966, spearheaded by this prophet William Branham and later joined by other men who saw his ministry in action, who slowly began to fast and pray, entering into that realm of the divine healing ministry. For had you been back in those great campaigns sweeping America (and the world as well), during those 10 years before 1956, you would quickly see something is drastically wrong today! Seemingly in that ten year period. God was definitely visiting the gentiles (especially in America) in one of the greatest sweeping revivals ever known to man!
I will illustrate it by the very first night of this great tent meeting in Evansville, Indiana. The evangelist did not look like a modern day hippie with a goatee and shaggy beard, with uncut hair down past his collar, quoting popular glossolalia phrases declaring glossolalia will bring all the religious people together (without Bible doctrine) as you hear today! No, those men never heard of such terms in those days because these men who fasted and prayed believed it was the power of God that would get the job done! They were not dependent upon some flashy TV or movie personality who had merely received tongue speaking in their life, but never entering any further into the word-to get the job done!
The power of God did the work-the power of God drew the people! And these dedicated men in those days believed and preached a holy, clean, consecrated, separated life from the world. Theirs was a straightforward, uncompromising Bible preaching and believe me it was certainly producing mighty results in 1953-54! The first night the evangelist read the scripture, suddenly a person popped up giving a message in tongues and followed. For approximately 10 minutes this seemed to sweep back and forth across this great congregation. Sinners in those days did not have to be pleaded and coaxed to be saved-only given the opportunity to repent as they were greatly affected, falling under heavy Holy Ghost conviction of sin seeing this was truly the hour the Spirit of God was visiting and moving mightily in America especially dealing with sinners and furthermore introducing a deeper spiritual move in the life of believers of which thousands were forsaking the denominational world to walk on deeper in God’s spirit.
What a powerful, sweeping conviction settled down over that service (which simply was not an uncommon sight during that hour) and once the evangelist closed his message, presenting his invitation, even on the very first night, like stampeding cattle, sinners with tears streaming down their faces seemingly couldn’t wait to get to the front for prayer.
A message in tongues suddenly burst forth and the interpretation was, Yea, I say unto thee tonight, if thou cometh to receive a blessing and believe in thine heart, thou shall receive, it shall be granted unto thee. That was for Me! Once the sinners were led to another tent for prayer and counselling, the evangelist addressed the remaining congregation by saying — you people who are hungry for something from God – come forth. Boy, was I hungry and I wasted no time getting into that line crying out Lord, I don’t care what you do to me, turn me inside out if you desire. Just as that evangelist reached to pray for me-again I felt drunk and began to stagger under the power of God as that electricity of glory surged through my soul once again. The thing I was fighting almost a year ago while reading the book on the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, I now find myself eagerly walking into. Feeling myself falling, I heard the evangelist say carry him out and I was dragged over and placed face down in the straw. Laying there, feeling so drunk on the Spirit I asked God to grant my desire! From the pit of my stomach I could feel something turn and start toward my throat. It felt something like tiny marbles my mouth flew open and I heard myself speak in a different language. The moment that word went forth another took its place and for fifteen minutes this seemed to continue – laying in the straw with little marble words rolling out of my mouth. Later my strength returned and as I stood up, I thanked God for satisfying my soul.
DESIRE TO SPEAK AGAIN
Throughout that week I continued to pray, yet no longer did I hear those strange little words and I wondered — Lord, will I ever speak in tongues again? On a Saturday night we returned to the tent services. The evangelist delivered his message and gave his altar call for sinners then turning to the congregation said let’s all stand and pray that God may come down and touch our needs. Standing holding the baby in my arms, I began to pray when suddenly something hit my mouth and I found myself praying in a different language. Oh! how the Lord blessed me and I was so very thankful that I had believed the teachings of the man of God who had taught me for many months just how much I needed the baptism of the Holy Ghost as well as how badly the church needs the nine gifts of the spirit in operation within the body of Christ. Going home that night the wife says to me, ‘ we are going to have to leave the Methodist Church and with joy still bubbling over in my soul I answered-Yes, we are!
BIBLE DOCTRINES WE HAVE LEARNED
Beloved, October 1953 arrives and time has come that we must break with the Methodist Church in order to give our fullest attention to the great Bible teachings taught by the prophet of God in Jeffersonville, Indiana, teachings which our soul longs and thirsts for. Already we see the revelation of baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, according to Matt. 28:19 and Acts 2:38 and we have obeyed it. God has opened our eyes to the beautiful revelation of the One God who is manifested in three offices and who has never been three separate and distinct persons—and this we have accepted: Predestination, Eternal Security, Sanctification, Divine Healing, Footwashing accompanied with communion–along with the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the gifts of the Spirit as taught by this prophet of God have now all been accepted into our hearts and lives, and now praise God even the gifts of the Spirit are beginning to operate in our life. The prophet has taught us that there are nine wonderful gifts of the Spirit and that God desires to use us in the operation of these gifts for His glory.
Furthermore, we have not only seen people miraculously healed from their afflictions and sicknesses, but also in this one year we have observed the doctrine of predestination and eternal security to be two more doctrines which we hear nothing about in our local church as being scriptural and playing a precise roll in the foundation of the christain faith as Bro. Branham taught.
TEACHING LED TO BREAK
The student pastor being away for a few weeks, the following Sunday morning presented me an opportunity to be in charge of the service. This being our final service I preached on Mark 16: “These signs shall follow them that believe.” Finishing the message I informed the people this would be our final service as we felt we could do no more, encouraged them to go on deeper in the word with God and enter into these marvelous things our heart had encountered. Beloved, I’m showing you all of this simply because there’s far more to this message than merely informing people that God sent a prophet and that his name was William Marrion Branham! These bible doctrines taught by this prophet must be accepted into your life!
ATTENDING TABERNACLE ONLY
Once we began attending the Tabernacle it didn’t take long to realize more and more the importance of this Bible, how it is the very ordinance of christian teaching! So often we would hear this man of God emphasize in his preaching how that at the Tabernacle-we have no law but love. no creed but Christ. and no book but the Bible! In his reference to the statement no law but love, Bro. Branham was distinguishing between what the Tabernacle taught from that taught by the Seventh Day Adventists concerning law. Beloved, when you leave the law of Christ. which is love, the only law left for you to teach is that Mosaic law delivered to Israel by the Prophet Moses. Therefore, when Bro. Branham would declare we have no law but love, no book, but the Bible, he simply meant we have no creed book or no by laws other than the Bible! And no other creed but Christ! And once you’ve summed all of that up, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
Because our hearts did hunger and thirst after the real truth of God’s word it was easier for us perhaps to grasp the truth he was presenting as the very basis of the real scriptural plan of salvation which originally had been taught according to the early apostles, men of whom Jesus left to be in charge of his body of helivers and earnestly prayed for their success as ministers of truth in John 17.
PROPHET PREACHES PAUL’S GOSPEL
Bro. Branham highly prided himself on having taught the gospel exactly as did the apostle Paul, the Jewish apostle unto the gentiles, who declared if any man (or even an angel of heaven) preach any other gospel than that which I have preached, let him be accursed! Bro. Branham often said, I preach the Gospel just like Paul did, because I don’t want to be cursed! (Gal. 1:6-9)
As I said, through this period of attending the Tabernacle we are hearing Many Bible doctrines taught which will restore us to that original faith and, most important, we are hearing about the need of pie baptism of the Holy Ghost and how the nine gifts of the spirit need to be in operation in the local assembly.
In those days he bore down heavily upon how the gifts needed to be in operation within the church. Therefore hearing this marvelous truth which you did not hear in your local churches, and having already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit made me now, more than ever, begin to seek God that he might allow a true gift to operate in my life.
LORD GRANTS MESSAGE IN TONGUES
It was in November 1953, shortly after leaving the Methodist Church, and months having passed since receiving the baptism of the spirit and later having received the gift of tongues, that God gave me still another precious experience…speaking in tongues or giving forth messages in tongues. One Saturday Night shortly after this I saw myself in a dream seated near the back in the Branham Tabernacle and what do I see…there I am giving a message in tongues. As soon as the message in tongues is finished from the front of the building I hear the interpretation coming forth. The following morning we go to church and Bro. Branham is again preaching on this subject of Holy Ghost and gifts! Finishing his message, a message in tongues comes from the front while all the time I am feeling that strange anointing falling over me. Fresh in my mind is that dream and as that anointing hits me I am scared and nervous. Inside I am feeling, if I don’t open my mouth I will burst. By this time the individual in front was finished and I felt like sliding under the seat, nevertheless I feel if that dream the night before is true, at least I must open my mouth and the moment I did, tongues began rolling out. When the message in tongues ceased, from the front. exactly as the dream had indicated came the interpretation. I tell this not for any glory but that you might know because of what I had been taught from the scriptures by the man of God concerning the gifts of the spirit, coupled with the fact of the hunger that was in my heart for spiritual things, now more than ever I am convinced not merely from the teaching, but from a personal experience that this route of the gifts of the spirit in operation is what God desires for his church! Truly God desires to build a body of believers, called the church, solidly upon his revelated word whereby through the gifts all may experience and see the marvelous things of God.
PART 2 – – – OUTSIDE MEETINGS
Continuing on with what I personally see and hear in my hour, similar to that of which Luke as well as Matthew, Mark, and John wrote about concerning what they saw and heard in their hour-we are in those years of Bro. Branham’s ministry from October 1953-56.
HEALING OF GEORGIA BRUCE
Bro Branham had been asked to come out to the little community of Charlestown, Indiana for a one night meeting. Beloved, this prophet preached wherever the Lord sent Him. Whether the crowd was large or small mattered not to him. God simply vindicated his ministry wherever he went and that drew the crowd. In this Charlestown meeting was a sister, who for approximately 15 years has been a faithful worshipper at Faith Assembly. This sister has an outstanding testimony of God healing her of cancer in one of Bro. Branham’s services. Sis. Georgia Bruce was healed in this service and as she testifies….”more than a year before I had lost my vision and was sent to Louisville, Kentucky to Dr. Spurting, one of the finest brain surgeons around. He placed me in the Norton Infirmary where fluid was drained off my brain and X-ray pictures taken which revealed a mass on the left side going around my head. Brain tests which were also taken indicated it was too bad to operate. A year later I was sent to the Baptist Hospital in Louisville where again more X-rays of the brain are taken and they urge immediate operation by Dr. Spurting who declares there is no use seeing it has gone too far! The cancer was now spread throughout my body. I was living on 8-10 raw eggs and milk daily. I heard of Bro. Branham’s meeting in Charlestown as I could get no one to take me I drove alone in a downpour of rain without the slightest notion how to get there. The Lord led me to a friend who showed me the way. However I was most disappointed when Bro. Branham announced he would not be having a regular prayer line yet he would be happy to anoint anyone with oil and pray for them who wished to. I was one of 30-40 people who went forward. He simply anointed and prayed for each one until he came to me. THE GIFT CAME UPON HIM AND HE SPOKE TO ME UNDER A VISION TELLING ME THE LORD SHOWED HIM MY CANCER WAS HEALED. At the Branham Tabernacle the following morning he called me aside and informed me he had not told me all he saw in the vision. He said I would not pass my cancer, instead it would have to dissolve through my bloodstream and I might become pretty sick for a while, nevertheless, keep on believing. Some years later at the Jewish Hospital they again took X-rays of my brain along with another brain test. However this time, PRAISE THE LORD! ALL X-RAYS REVEALED MY HEAD TO BE CLEAR OF ANY SIGN OF BRAIN TUMOR!
Thank God we were privileged to attend a number of these outside meetings especially after October ’53, some of which I desire to mention. No, we were not privileged to attend all the meetings as we would have enjoyed doing, seeing we still farmed. It could only be on weekends that we could attend. One of those outstanding meetings took place at Connersville, Indiana, a town just east of Indianapolis, the capital.
CONNERSVILLE MEETING AND WHAT I SAW
There are two outstanding things which happened in this meeting I would very much like to share with you in order to give you a glimpse or an idea as to how the operation of this most unusual gift (knowing one’s secrets of the heart) which lay in this prophet’s life worked. Perhaps having been so young in ‘this ministry may account as to why these two events stand out so vividly in my mind. Always remember the only reason this gift lay in this prophet’s ministry was not to confirm that he was the word of God or God himself in flesh, no, on the contrary! Those gifts were to confirm his spiritual office only and never to bear testimony that he was deity in the flesh. Although I must say being in one of his meetings would remind you so very much of those days you read about in the life of our Lord Jesus when he walked here upon earth-how people were continually coming before him and their needs were met. Jesus Christ was the word made flesh, but Bro. Branham was only a gifted prophet in human flesh to whom the word of the Lord came! See, there is a vast difference!
GIFT REVEALS WOMAN DESIRES CHILD
One particular case which deserves mentioning was that of a missionary and his wife who I believe had journeyed from far away Africa and as the missionary’s wife approached Bro. Branham in the prayer line, for a few moments he simply looked at her (a total stranger), not having the slightest idea about either one of them, said under the anointing. “You’re missionaries from Africa.” Addressing the wife he says, “You’re not here because you’re sick, but all of your married life you’ve prayed for a child and as yet there is no child to bless your home.” Yes, that is true, as all things were true which he spoke under that anointing for without that anointing upon him he would not dare say anything because he was as helpless as any man when it came to knowing the secrets of the human heart. That missionary couple had traveled from Africa to Connersville, Indiana to get this man of God to pray for them that God might grant them a child. We had previously been privileged to see such things happen during the period of time we had been attending the Tabernacle in Jeffersonville, only there it was on a much smaller scale. Out here in these larger type campaigns involving far more people, he would stand for lengthy periods discerning or to be more technical perhaps we should say, under the anointing as the word of knowledge operated so powerfully in his life as God would manifest the very secrets of the human heart to his prophet, whereby he might point out their needs and by doing so, would in turn, build the individual’s faith that they might receive by faith from God their needs. When God revealed to him the desire of this woman’s heart concerning the child she had always wanted and I heard him pray. I knew in my heart somewhere down the road of life, that woman would bear her child!
In our congregation today is a sister who for years had remained childless until the prophet prayed for her and told her she would bear a child-today she is the mother of three! No doubt many of these people coming into the prayer lines of whom God being gracious enough to reveal to His servant their needs without anyone informing him a thing, were never heard from again. Nevertheless, somewhere down life’s road, It’s positive God met their needs.
2nd OUTSTANDING EVENT
The second outstanding event in the Connersville meeting I wish to mention deals also with the operation of that gift in knowing the secrets of the heart when he informed one individual standing before him in the prayer line not only the city from which they had come, but also the very street on which they lived. Yes, even down to the very house number! Often in these meetings God would even reveal their names to the prophet. Beloved, if you don’t think such supernatural manifestations as this would not cause goose bumps to rise upon a young person’s spine such as myself who had been brought up through the denominational ranks first in the Church of Christ, and then into the Methodist Church in a valiant search for truth, you simply don’t know what you’re talking about! It left a profound impression-that gift (the gift in his life of knowing the secrets of the heart) coupled with that Holy Ghost anointing which always accompanied the operation of the gift while working through this prophet’s life as he stood under this special anointing of God. Yes, beloved, when you finally discover truth and understanding which your young heart seeks after and as a bonus find God also working along with this truth in such a supernatural demonstration of His power, you have actually received far more than what you could ever hope for.
GENTILES SEE GIFT JEWS SAW
When you began to witness those demonstrations of that gift of the spirit (knowing the secrets of the heart) in such utter perfection as was manifested in his life and ministry you could not help but be awe struck because suddenly you realized you were witnessing an anointed ministry, one of such nature which had not been upon this earth since the days of our Lord Jesus Christ! Again I repeat, this same gift (of knowing the secrets of the heart) which lay in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord while here on earth and on many occasions was demonstrated to the Jew-was the same gift which was in this prophet’s ministry being now demonstrated not before the Jewish believers but to the Gentile believer because none of the Gentile believers had ever had the privilege of seeing that gift in operation in the life of Jesus Christ-seeing the Gentiles of that hour only knew “Christ after the spirit, not after the flesh.” ( 2Cor. 5 : 16). Now both Jew and Gentile believers can testify to having seen that gift of knowing the secrets of the heart in operation here on this earth! Although by no means did this gift make William Branham to be the Lord of glory, yet perhaps it can help to explain to you why some people were thrown off track in believing he was the Lord of glory. It’s a shame mankind cannot simply praise the living God for what he is doing without getting himself all side-tracked and wind up missing the entire purpose of God for the hour. No the gift did not make him God nevertheless in the Twentieth Century at the close of the grace age (even as Jesus stood at the close of the law age) it did permit the Gentiles an opportunity to witness the operation of the gift that had not been on this earth since the fleshly days of Jesus Christ! Nowhere in the pages of church history (including even the acts of the apostles) can you find where such a gift of knowing the secrets of the human heart operated in anyone’s life as was manifested so perfectly – so often, so accurately upon as many people of all nationalities, as in this humble life of this one human being, the prophet of God who was merely a gentile sinner saved by the grace of God and filled with the Holy Ghost in 1933.
WHEELCHAIR CASE WALKS
In this Connersville meeting I watched him one night after having already finished discerning the prayer line, move down in front of the platform where lay stretcher cases and wheel chair cases. Whether he prayed a mass prayer or not I cannot say, my view was blocked by the huge crowd standing around the stretchers, nevertheless, suddenly I saw a man who had been confined to a wheelchair leap from that chair, stand on his feet and begin shouting the praises of God. The man’s praises electrified the congregation into a frantic uncontrollable uproar of praises unto God over something that you just didn’t see in the denominational church world.
RELATING LIFE STORY
It was in Owensboro, Kentucky where I first heard the prophet relate his most unusual life story before an audience, although I had read his biography before, however that wasn’t like hearing him personally telling it. I remember weeping as he related that sad but true story of how first as a lad this unusual gift worked in his life through visions and etc., when around the age of seven a vision appeared before him of a huge bridge spanning over water and as he watched, a portion of the bridge collapsed and a number of men fell to their death in the waters below – a vision which frightened him an once he related it to his mother she could no more understand the visions than he, yet some twenty years later on the Ohio River between Jeffersonville, Ind. and Louisville, Ky. a bridge connecting the two cities was being built when a section collapsed and that exact number of men shown in the vision fell to their deaths. He told also of how in his adolescent years he had been misunderstood and was looked down upon as a strange peculiar child seeing how upon numerous occasions he would hear the voice of the angel of the Lord speaking to him out of a whirlwind such as (Job 38:1, 40:6) telling him to never drink, smoke, or defile his body in any manner, for when he was older there was a work for him to do. He related also, of the angel of the Lord appearing (in a ball of fire similar to a star) hover over him and speak to him in the presence of a great multitude of terrified people while he was in the process of conducting a baptism service in the Ohio River in 1933. The message was, as John the Baptist was sent to forerun my first coming, you are sent with a message to forerun my second coming! An event so astounding in that hour it drew national attention through the press and radio. All these events are clearly set forth in his biography titled “A Prophet Sent From God.”
1937 FLOOD AND ITS TRAGEDY
He also informed us of the great tragedy that befell him in 1937 when the great swelling of the Ohio River brought a mighty flood sweeping over Jeffersonville and surrounding areas which, for a time, separated him from his young wife. Finally, when they were reunited he found her in a hospital having contracted a deadly illness and in a brief period of time, not only did he lose his wife, but his baby daughter as well. A tragic loss, which left him in such a deep despondent grief stricken condition that on two separate occassions he attempted suicide only to fail on both occasions, once when a loaded rifle failed to discharge the deadly bullet into his body while in the second attempt he was preparing to take hold of a high powered electric line only (somehow) to be knocked from the pole. Later he was granted by the Holy Ghost a dream concerning the whereabouts of both his wife and baby daughter (now a grown woman) since their departure from him. From this dream he found courage to continue in life.
The purpose of this article is not to present a biography of the man, seeing this has been well attended to on numerous occasions, however, a few brief highlights should be mentioned. He told of various meetings he had had with the angel of the Lord who first appeared to him in a theophany body as that of a young man weighing some 200 pounds with black shoulder length hair, explaining to him the peculiarity of
his life and how he had been chosen to forerun the second coming of Christ with a message taking a certain gift (of divine healing) to the world, praying even for kings and statesmen which he did!
These things I had already read in his life story nevertheless to hear him tell his own story was far more touching and realistic and you could not help but weep while listening to one tragedy after another in his life until he personally met the angel sent from God and became fully conscious as to why this most unusual ministry had been placed in his life.
CONVERTS RECEIVING HOLY GHOST
Finishing his story, that night, as usual, he presented the altar call for those desiring to seek the Lord for salvation and after a number of persons had gone forward, Bro. Branham requested all ministers seated nearby to step up and pray that God might baptize these with the Holy Ghost! Contrary to popular opinion today created by certain misguided followers of his message who want to imply no one has received the Holy Ghost since the day of the Council of Nicia 325 AD until 1963 when Bro. Branham by divine authority opened the Seven Seals bringing forth the hidden mysteries of which they contained. All I can say is you should have been back here in these meetings and you would never have swallowed such falsehood! Bro. Branham asked ministers to pray that these might receive the Holy Ghost and seeing that I had recently received the Holy Ghost and had to leave the denominational church to walk on in truth-I was eager that these also relieve the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
HOLY GHOST WAVE 1946-56
Oh my friend, through the years of 1946-1956 in this special wave of the Holy Ghost sweeping the earth First through Bro. Branham and then by other ministers, God who knows those that are his, would alone only know the multitude who received the true baptism of the Holy Ghost in this one (10 year) period alone and was led on into the revelated truth of the word! With hands raised to heaven, I along with other ministers began to pray that these earnest hearted seekers might truly repent of their sins, turn to Christ and be filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38) when suddenly I felt something like electricity surging through my very being and once again I began to stagger like a drunk man under the power of God saying, Lord II, didn’t come up here for this, I came to pray for those people to receive of your Spirit. Nevertheless, the longer I stood there praying, the more I staggered. I felt it was I who was receiving the blessed Holy Spirit rather than they!
FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH SUPERNATURAL LIGHT
Also in this particular meeting I had still another marvelous experience. A man sitting directly behind me whose needs had been shown to Bro. Branham was called out of the audience while Bro. Branham ministered from the platform to the needs of the people standing before him in the prayer line. lt was my first experience to sit close to an individual whom Bro. Branham, while under that anointing, called out of the audience. As he ministered to the needs of those on the platform, suddenly he stopped and turned his eyes, which seemed to be straight toward me. However, it wasn’t me that this supernatural light of God or the angel of the Lord (whom only the prophet could see) was pointing out-or drawing Bro. Branham’s attention unto, it was a man two seats directly behind me.
SUPERNATURAL PRESENCE
Nevertheless the point I’m making is-wherever that supernatural light (angel of the Lord) appeared which accompanied Bro Branham’s special anointed ministry (who had on several occasions permitted himself to be caught in the photographic eye of the camera allowing himself to be photographed along with the prophet where he might be seen by human beings) there was always that presence of the SUPERNATURAL! This supernatural light, according to Bro. Branham, was none other than that supernatural light which met furthermore, was constantly seen by the children of Israel traveling with the camp first in a cloud by day and a fire by night and later hovered over the Ark of the Covenant until shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple during the days of the Babylonian captivity of the holy city by Nebuchadnezzer (519 BC) whose last appearance before being in the life and ministry of Christ on earth, was last seen by the prophet Ezekiel in a vision leave its position over the Ark of the Covenant in the first temple at Jerusalem and disappear over the Mount of Olives! However that same supernatural light accompanied Bro. Branham’s ministry, seen strictly by eyes of an anointed prophet (only) and guided him in these special anointed services! That divine light, though you couldn’t see it, it’s presence always presented such a supernatural atmosphere you couldn’t help but feel goose bumps rise up all over you. Although I didn’t have the slightest idea as to what was about to transpire other than the fact that Bro. Branham simply stood there silently gazing at what seemed to be directly at me. Finally speaking under that anointing which gave him complete control of every spirit in the house, said, you sitting there and when he spoke those words I felt like a blade of grass that had just been frostbitten, I began to wilt. You sitting there, you have TB and then he proceeded on to tell the man a number of other things concerning his life which the man knew to be the truth and verified it was true while praising God for victory. As Bro. Branham spoke I knew that man left the meeting feeling something that he had never in his life felt before!
In this Owensboro meeting it was also my first time to ever hear Bro. Branham discerning out a person’s ailment tells him if he would give up his smoking habit God would heal him. This alone let me know smoking is injurious to one’s health and God doesn’t like it, although Satan enjoys seeing anyone bound by this habit. I know that from personal experience!
HEARING F.F. BOSWORTH
Another meeting carrying a profound influence on my life was held in Evansville, Indiana which not only allowed us again to witness the gift of discernment mightily at work, revealing the needs of the people but it also afforded us an opportunity to see and hear a dear old friend of Bro. Branham speak one night before Bro. Branham came to minister. A man which Bro. Branham referred to as the “old oak tree”. This old warrior of faith, well known within the older pentecostal circles was F.F. Bosworth. Bosworth had come out from under the ministry of John Alexander Dowie of Zion City, in Illinois. F.F. Bosworth was one of the old time ministers of faith in the realm of divine healing, who had collected some 200,000 testimonies of people in all walks of life who had been healed by the power of God. These particular meetings covering that period through 1953-54 afforded us the opportunity to witness the mighty power of God in such manifestations within the lives of individuals as every form of sickness known to medical science was discerned out by this prophet.
HEALINGS TOO NUMEROUS TO MENTION
Under that anointing of the Holy Ghost he would say to an individual…it is gall bladder trouble; it is TB; it is heart trouble; it is Hodgkinson disease; it is deafness; it is cancer; it is leukemia; it is eye trouble etc.. Oh, beloved, the things we saw are simply too numerous to even begin to mention, although later in this story there shall be certain sicknesses mentioned which were discerned and healed by the power of God.
In those early ’50s we were soon aware there was a great deliverance on the move of God’s spirit that was sweeping the earth and being manifested greatly through divine healing as well as multitudes of denominational people receiving the Holy Ghost. During those early ’50s there was great persecution by the denominal church world against this genuine move of the Holy Ghost. And during this period it was also our privilege to hear other men, mostly affiliated within the pentecostal ranks who were also men of faith, anointed to pray for the sick etc..
HIS MESSAGE DIFFERENT
Beloved, I am not belittling these men who truly, in the beginning of this great move, were dedicated to God, yet out of all these men one man, though small in stature, certainly stood head and shoulders in the spiritual realm far above all the rest. These other men you would hear took such texts as Acts 2:4; John 3:16 or something on that order and would speak dynamically with great conviction 45 minutes or so. However, when they finished I would truly have to say unless it had been a subject in someway pertaining to the Holy Ghost I would have already heard that type message while still attending the Methodist church (it should be remembered in those early ’50s that the denominational world had not sinned against God in rejecting truth as much as they did once the prophet after 1956 began to declare more and more the real purpose of his call before the religious world). Even within these denominational churches pastors preached heavily against sin and worldliness. They believed in those days that sin was a terrible thing that would damn your soul: they believed in preaching on the subject of hell and its torments: they too called sinners to repentance as well as teaching their church to stay out of the world and not act like the world, nor be a part of the sinful worldly fashions of the society of the day. Yet I must say, even though I enjoyed these other ministers, when you heard Bro. Branham speak you were hearing things from God’s revelated Word that you never heard before in your life. Such teaching in God’s Word is what made me know this little man stood head and shoulders above the others out on the evangelistic field. Here was a man who had been sent with a message from God and that message was for the church to get back on the foundation of the word of God from which they had strayed!
PERSONAL HEALING—SPRING 1954
In the spring of ’54 I experienced my first personal healing in relationship to what this prophet taught-In the past two years (52-54) we’ve been privileged to be around this prophet and hear his teachings. Furthermore God has revealed to us that the true framework of the original Christian faith as taught by the apostles was the message being brought through this prophet to the church. Determined to walk on in the revelatory word, the time comes for what this prophet has been teaching us on divine healing to be applied personally to my own life. From a lad of the age 10, off and on I had suffered from a serious sinus condition accompanied with miserable pain. You who suffer sinus infections know how severe it can be. The spring of 54, Bro. Branham was conducting a healing campaign at the Open Door Church in Louisville, Ky. For some time I had been studying the scriptures as well as certain literature on how to have faith to be healed. My sinus’ again became so infected I felt sure it would hinder me from the meeting. These attacks became so severe often I would place my face over a pan of steaming hot water seeking relief. The strange part was, always a few hours before the meetings (5:00) the pain lifted.
That Monday night in the meeting I’ll never forget what I saw! As a means to lift the individual’s faith, in order that they might believe God was working on their behalf to meet their needs, Bro. Branham, under the anointing of the Holy Ghost was calling people out telling various ones their house number. street as well as the state they were from! On this particular night I saw him standing under the anointing of the Holy Ghost as that gift of knowing the secrets of the heart was in operation Bro. Branham pointing to a man said, I see a vision of blue water. You are not from this country, you are from Norway. You have heart trouble, and you have come here to be prayed for.” As the man’s hands flew into the air praising God Bro. Branham, still under that anointing, continued to speak and said “Your wife there with you had gall bladder trouble” and up went her hands praising God. Oh my, that’s only a tiny minor portion of how that gift operated so thoroughly and perfectly, as it was demonstrated around the world no less than 7 times.
Throughout that week I thought seriously about getting to the service early enough to receive a prayer card to be prayed for. Nevertheless strange to say each night before leaving home to attend the meeting the pain would cease only to return the following morning in full strength and continue tormenting me throughout the day, again leaving only a few hours before service. I thought, Lord how strange, what’s this all about?” The meeting concluded the following Sunday with the final service held at the armory building in Louisville, Kentucky and still, I had not been prayed for. A few weeks later the severe pain returned and the doctor was helpless to do anything to ease it.
HEALING FOLLOWED DREAM
Going to bed one night, feeling I had done all I could, I reached a final decision. This man of God had taught us faith as he often quoted the scripture “with His stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5, : Pet. 1 2:24). From what I had been taught ; I knew there had to be grace somewhere for me in this thing. That night in a dream I saw myself lying on a hospital bed, two doctors t dressed in white stood over me. A Hand reached into a tray picking up something resembling a chisel along with a little hammer. Placing the chisel to my head I could hear the hammer pecking away on the chisel broke through and laying it down the doctor picks up a small suction cup. I could even hear the squeezing sound once the suction started. When that was completed I awoke wondering if I would have to be operated on. NO BELOVED THAT ENDED THE SINUS INFECTION FOR ME FROM THAT DAY TO THIS! Those tormenting devils left! I’ve never suffered that problem since! Sure, I’ve had common colds, but never sinus problems. Thank God, He knows how to speak to us. While on the subject of personal healing, allow me to mention one more incident which concerns Bro. Branham and faith healing which occurred approximately six years later.
2ND HEALING
Years passed until ’59-60 when I was in the process of Wilding our home. In painting the inside of the house, I failed to follow the written directions on the paint can. Yes, I failed to keep the room ventilated. That night my throat and chest developed a burning sensation and something severe began to set up in my throat, insomuch that after five minutes of preaching or singing my throat would tighten up and I actually wondered would it be possible to finish the service. I was aware the devil had done something and that I must have deliverance. Bro. Branham agreed to meet me at the Tabernacle one night. After a friendly chat he finally said, “Bro. Jackson I understand you’re having a little trouble with your throat.” Yes sir, it truly bothers me, I replied. Well, it’s like this Bro. Branham said, we have our trials. The devil enjoys throwing a scarecrow at us once in a while and you being a minister he’d like to shut your mouth. After talking on for a while like this, he took hold of my hand and prayed a very simple prayer. Lord, this is your servant; he desires to do your will and preach your word. Now the devil has touched this throat but Lord we’re placing it in your hands tonight. Don’t worry about it brother he said, everything will be alright. But, you know as I left that night. I took a terrible cold which settled in my throat. That weekend I thought I wouldn’t be able to sing or preach, and honestly wondered had I lost my faith (for the healing ), or just what was I up against? If you’re done with me Lord I don’t need a voice. But if you aren’t, make it right. The cold cleared away and to this day I’ve never suffered that problem anymore! Like everyone else my throat once in a while becomes raspy from a cold but never this problem. You see beloved. I know from this man’s ministry that Jesus Christ is still the healer of our bodies!
PART 3 – – – BIRTH OF CHURCH
April 1955 arrives and we are still faithfully attending the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville. On a Friday while riding a tractor, planting corn and fasting for God’s leadership in my life, the Lord began to speak to me saying now is the time to start the church! I had already promised the Lord to teach his word, yet, Pastor a church? – that was the farthest thing from my mind! Seeing the evangelist on the field of that hour made me want to be an evangelist. Pastoring was the last thing on earth I wanted to do, nevertheless it is not what you want to do but what God wants that is important. Throughout that day while riding the tractor, just like a mechanical recording it continued to play over and over in my head…NOW IS THE TIME TO START THE CHURCH: NOW IS THE TIME TO START THE CHURCH! Having gone on in my head all day that one phrase, after the supper hour I tell the wife, if this is God speaking to me Monday I am going to town and investigate it further. Saturday I continue hearing the same words. Monday arrives and I am off to town looking for a suitable rental building for a church. God led me to a certain realtor company who did not at the moment have what I needed but recommended another realtor who might assist me. Walking into the 2nd realtors office I asked if they had a building suitable to rent for a church and when the woman at the desk said yes, believe it or not, my mind had already flashed to a certain street and a building. I recalled a year before having traveled along a certain street in New Albany, Indiana and there saw a garage type building with a tin roof which at that time had an apostolic church sign on it. To my knowledge since that time I had not seen or thought of that building nevertheless before the woman could give the street location of her rental I knew she would say 904 State St. and the moment she did I said I know exactly where it is! It didn’t take much persuasion in my mind after looking it over and having the vision to accept it to be God’s will to be the building he wanted our church to begin in.
BIRTH OF FAITH ASSEMBLY
Therefore hti April 1955 we began Faith Assembly Church, although it was not until July that we had our first service and then with no intentions of leading anyone away from their present place of worship. We left our Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights open whereby we could attend the Tabernacle. Thus at least 5 years Faith Assembly’s doors were only opened Thursday night and Sunday night leaving Wednesday night and Sunday morning open for our people to attend the Tabernacle. If for some occasion Bro. Branham was speaking in the area on Sunday night or any other time I felt was important to our services we always closed our doors and went there instead. Though people would question, why did Jackson start a church so near Jeffersonville, my answer simply was and is this…GOD TOLD ME TO! Faith Assembly was never established to compete with anyone seeing it was over five years before we ever had regular church services. Faith Assembly was in existence only in obedience to the Lord.
3RD CHILD, NAOMI RUTH
At this time we were expecting our third child and in our church was a sister greatly used of God in prophecy and though the person today is deceased I well remember the day she approached me saying, Bro. Jackson, I believe the Lord wants to name your third child. I don’t know why but whenever the child is born, she says, will you let me know immediately. If what I am saying is true by then I feel the Lord will have spoken, she continued. July 24, 1955 our third child was born and strange enough we did not even have a name picked out. I wanted to check and see, first, if the Lord was working on the other end with the sister. Hastening to the phone, I called the sister who, believe it or not. had just finished writing down a prophecy for me when the phone rang. What sex is the child? A girl, I answered. Bro. Jackson you don’t have to name the child what I am about to say if you don’t want to, but that you might know this is from the Lord when you see the child it will have a small birthmark on its right shoulder, about the size of a pea. One of those things resembling a strawberry, she says. This will be a sign to you that the Lord has appointed himself to name the child. What is the child’s name to be, I asked? NAOMI RUTH, she answered. Returning to the nurses who had already bathed the baby and rolled her out that I might see her, looked and there it was, on her right shoulder blade that small birthmark!
The following Thursday night the sister handed me the prophecy from the Lord which she had written down shortly before my call. This is the first time I ever received a prophecy and believe me it is quite an experience for a young man who only several years ago had left the ranks of Methodism to follow the ministry of a prophet of God who had taught us such gifts should be in operation in the church of the living God! Gifts by which God himself chooses to lead and direct his people. I care not what level you may obtain with God, there is always somewhere in your life that he will manifest a little something of his supernaturalness–either through an experience of healing or in someway letting you know he is real and not some historical myth; that he is a real living supernatural spirit!
PROPHECY, A SIGN TO ME
May I say there is no more virtue in the child named by the Holy Ghost than any other child. Yet, it was a sign to me and this is what the prophecy said– “Yea, I say unto thee my son, I have heard thy prayers in the day that thou sought me concerning a son—but not yet, my will be done. For as thou doest live, and thou doest now approach a time, I give thee this child as a sign of the season that thou doest now live in. Like as Naomi and Ruth returned to the land and they gleaned–as the harvest was being brought to an end, likewise my son, the harvest in thy fair land is over and thou will now enter into the gleaning season. And when thou hast come through this gleaning season then thou shalt enter a period of time, it is then that I will again visit thee and I will bless thee and thou shalt have a son and David his name shall. be.”
–THE HARVEST IS OVER MY SON IN THY FAIR LAND (time, July 1955). Beloved I will never forget Bro. Branham in April 1956 I believe it was, standing in Chicago and proclaiming I PREDICT AMERICA HAS REJECTED THE GOSPEL! And if you recall beloved, ever since that hour things in the true spiritual realm slowly began to slide to a halt! It was after 1956 that more and more the prophet began to declare openly the need for the church to return to the true revelated word, as his message was now more than ever laying heavy emphasis upon Bible doctrine as the multitudes oegain fleeing from his presence because of his scriptural teachings, (now declaring his teaching to be of the devil!) A man who before 1956 had no problem filling an auditorium of 8,000, 12,000 people, by 1960-61 needed nothing larger than a school auditorium to support the crowd! Yet the Pentecostal world which had openly declared him to be a prophet sent from God, now rejects him because of his doctrines, declaring he is a prophet sent from God but some of his teachings are of the devil. How Beloved could he be a prophet sent from God. And have teachings of the devil! PREPOSTEROUS!
BRIDE OF CHRIST MOVES INTO POSITION
Nevertheless this does not hinder the bride of Christ from moving into position around the word of God as some of the greatest manifestations of God’s power in connection with this man’s ministry is yet to come! No, beloved it is not until after 1956 once the Holy Spirit began to change his frontline program-to that of gathering a bride around the Word of God, that these evangelists on the field, refusing to walk on in the revelation of this prophet as he hammers away at the truth of the word of God, slowly now in order to hold their great crowds and fill their 7 and 8 pole tents must turn to deception and other forms of trickery to maintain their pull among the religious people who are not following after the true manna falling from heaven but instead are following along for the fishes and loaves!
AMERICA REJECTS GOSPEL AS GLOSSOLALIA IS BORN
Yes, it had been in Chicago in April 1956 that Bro. Branham had, predicted that America had rejected the gospel and every since that hour we see everything in the ‘ spiritual realm slowly sliding to a halt, dumping itself into a glossolalia or charismatic type revival which in the end will dump the carnal pentecostal world into the lap of Rome and the one world church shortly before the tribulation begins!
This prophecy I have received, vindicated from God, was a sign the great harvest of reaping souls (such as these huge campaigns had been responsible for doing for the last ten years) was over. Beloved since those days where have you seen great campaigns especially in America where the masses of sinners fell heavily under conviction, where sinners almost run over each other to get to the altar and stand there with tears streaming down their faces to be prayed for. You haven’t seen that in America, have you; In other lands perhaps, but not in America! On perhaps a small scale-this may still have happened in those late 50s or early 60s but nothing on the scale it was when multitudes of thousands were drawn to these great undenominational tent campaigns, when multitudes left their church denominations to follow God in more light of truth!
WIFE EXPERIENCES HEALING
Moving through the summer of 1955 into 1956 our church remained relatively small and the wife is expecting our fourth child. Surely, we feel because of the prophecy, this child will be that boy! Nevertheless, as I look back over those years I can see the leadership of God in hours when things look dark. Since having left the realm of Methodism I had already experienced divine healing, though the wife had not. Happily looking forward to the arrival of our fourth child, feeling certain it will be a boy, as I worked in the hay field one day suddenly I looked up ana saw the wife driving the car into the hayfield, weeping in great pain saying, get me to a doctor quickly, I can’t stand this pain! Dropping everything we contacted the family physician who told us to meet him at the hospital. Her pains became more severe as she now bent double in the seat and we have no idea what it is. Rushing her into the emergency room where she is examined, the doctor informs us it is tubular pregnancy and already I have notified a surgeon who is standing by for my call, however we can’t do anything until this ruptures. When it does she will go into hemorrhage and we will have to operate immediately to correct it. Shots have been given to ease the pain. Beloved, in those years God was dealing with us along the line that he was a HEALER and I am certainly thankful to God he is because there are times when doctors can’t do anything. Nevertheless I am glad our Lord stands ready to move in and take over the situation. Her blood pressure has dropped considerably and nurses are watching it closely, seeing if it drops to a certain count they will have to operate. Entering her room I see she is all smiles. I am not going to be operated on, she says, everything is going to be alright! In an hour of crisis there is always that something about the Lord who is able to comfort you no matter how much pain you suffer. Beloved there is a faith (and extra impartation of grace) that seems to appear in such an hour that apparently never appears any other time. Here I am standing nervously outside, listening to a physician tell me what soon must be done and come into her room and she tells me everything will be alright! The nurse again checks the blood pressure to find it unchanged. Still she insists everything will be alright. Together we pray, Lord don’t let a knife touch this body. Minutes later her blood pressure is again checked and it is up just a bit. Checking at another interval the nurse says it is up still more. Later she checks it and says, everything is looking good! Approximately an hour and half passes and the wife is feeling fine, the pain has subsided. How do you feel, Mrs. Jackson, the doctor asks? Fine, I am ready to go home, she says. Don’t you have any pain? No, she replied. I reminded the doctor about the shot he gave which he informed me could not completely kill the pain only take the rough edges off it.
Completing his examination he says her blood pressure is normal, I am going to release you however if the pain returns come back as quickly as possible. She went home and had a good night’s rest. Why, because we had been taught God was a healer of our afflictions (Psalm. 34:19).
PHYSICAL CONDITION APPEARS TO BLOCK PROPHESIED SON
In relation to the prophecy which I received in 1955 informing me I would later have a son, a dark hour befell my life in the fall of 1956, which normally would block that prophecy! (Thanksgiving Day). Little did I realize God was working something special to fulfill his purpose. I had taken a serious illness, the effects, according to the doctor, has left me unable to father a child. Therefore naturally I am of the opinion the fourth child we are expecting will be the boy. During the dark Thanksgiving Week of 1956, Bro. Glen Funk brought Bro. Branham to my bedside. After we had fellowshipped for a while and they were preparing to leave, Bro. Branham walks over and takes my hand and before praying for me says, Now Bro. Jackson don’t worry, everything will be alright. Somewhere this is for the glory of God. We don’t know why these things happen with this, he continued. The winter of 1956 passes and it is now April 1957 and we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our fourth child which we feel sure will be a boy.
“A VINDICATION”
To show you, dear reader, how these gifts of the Spirit and various manifestations of God taught by the prophet will lead and guide his people’s lives, I will relate a personal experience. I felt impressed to take a missionary trip to Cuba and asked the wife if she would go with me. Wherever the Lord toils you to go I will be willing to go, she says. We are expecting our fourth child in May and together we prayed, as a little sign from the Lord if it was his will for us to go, give us this child early (perhaps as much as 2 weeks) God gave the child a month early, however no one will ever know how my heart felt when the doctor informed me I had a fine baby girl in excellent health. Nevertheless I couldn’t shake that vindicated promise of the Lord in July 1955 where he said in that season I will send you a son and here, medical science has already informed me it will be impossible to ever father another child. Naturally I wondered, where am I? There are times, beloved, the enemy will buffet you with questions you cannot answer concerning the grace of God and his leadership. Bro. Branham had informed me my sickness was for the glory of God. I realize many people reading this might say, you shouldn’t listen or build your hopes on such things as prophecy yet beloved it was through this man’s ministry I had been brought to believe in such things as prophecy as he taught it to us from the Word of God. Regardless to how I felt I accept the fact this is your will Lord and without doubt somehow you will bring the other to pass in your own appointed time.
Here also is the part that glorifies God. In the light of what the doctors had said concerning my condition the Lord knew I was discouraged the child wasn’t a boy. Nevertheless we had already asked the Lord to give the child early if it be his will for us to take the missionary trip to Cuba. I left the wife at the hospital and returned home and that night I dreamed the wife, myself and the children were sailing on a ship, across blue waters. Here we were standing on the top deck all alone. Looking at the guardrail around the deck I said, Honey, these guardrails are not safe for little children up here. A small child could easily fall through the rails into the water. I always wondered when we headed for Cuba, would our ship actually look like that. November 1957 arrives, shortly before Castro took over the island of Cuba and we were off to Florida where we boarded the S. S. Havana for Cuba. Naturally I searched for a deck similar to what appeared in my dream and found none, seeing we were not privileged to go to the top deck because of the heavy traffic in hallways and the top deck was a sun deck. Remaining a month in Cuba and having -returned to Havana we boarded the same ship to return to Florida. It was a windy, nippy day in late December and the water was somewhat choppy. Shortly approaching Key West, Florida we made our way up to the top deck as now it is empty of passengers sunning themselves; As I reached the top deck there it was…yes it even had a red, wooden floor as the dream indicated and there we stood on the top deck with not a soul in sight. I said to the wife, there it is just like in the dream! Going over to Cuba we couldn’t get near the sun deck, coming back it was cold and the deck was empty!
1960—CHURCH AGES TAUGHT
Still as always through the years, even into 1960, we continued to close our church doors on Wednesday night and Sunday morning to attend the Branham Tabernacle and whenever Bro. Branham was around, all church services were cancelled to attend these special meetings. Then came 1960 when Bro. Branham preached the Seven Church Ages. What an unforgettable time that was, as the children of God feasted on the wonderful manna surrounding the 7 Church Ages, revealed by the Holy Spirit to the Bride through his prophet. Already I had studied a little history concerning the various church ages and what each period represented, nevertheless when Bro. Branham took that beautiful study of those seven churches found in Asia Minor (Rev. 2 & 3) by chart etc., and broke them down into their actual historical setting and furthermore from the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he read certain histories concerning events in various men’s lives who lived and ministered in various periods of time showing how and why these particular men were chosen of God, such as the ‘Apostle Paul, Irineaus, Martin, Columbo, Luther, Wesley to be the messengers of their various periods of church history. I remember he mentioned what their ministries were and the reason God chose these particular men to be the messenger for their various ages and hour. Although they did not walk in the light of revelation you and I have to enjoy, nor did they walk in the light that had been in the original apostolic church in the very beginning, nevertheless those men he said. believed in the supernatural power of God and it was because of the way God chose to use these individual men which caused them to be the messengers or star for that particular age. Furthermore, as his diagram indicated he showed how spiritual darkness and spiritual light presented itself in each church age and especially how in the darkest hour of the church age called Thyatira that the darkness of Laodicea, the last church age would be even darker
THE DREAM—OPENING THE ROCK OF REVELATION OF SEVEN SEALS
February 1961 arrives and God gave me the dream which I related to Bro. Branham concerning breaking the rock, which most of you have heard him mention.
Walking through rolling country I was aware in the dream that as I kept on walking, progressing toward a certain strategic point that once I had arrived at that point there I would be meeting many, many people coming from different directions. It seemed I had walked for a considerable distance before I noticed out of the corner of my eye on the horizon of the landscape, individual people walking also. I was fully aware in the dream that sooner or later we would all converge at some fixed point. As I continued walking the landscape began to become more centralized to a point and as I topped a rise or knoll in this particular area of the country through which I was journeying, I noticed in a valley in front of me the lone figure of a man standing by a rock protruding out of the ground. The rock was approximately shoulder height to this man and it was then that I could see this great element of people were standing like a great huge wagon-wheel all around me. On the horizon I could see these people converging toward this fixed point. As we moved toward this lone figure standing by this rock, I could see this great circle of people getting closer together and finally we began to mass in a huge circle, gathering around this man and when we were about 50 yards away from him, in the dream I heard myself speak out loudly, LISTEN TO WHAT HE HAS TO SAY, HE WILL NOT ALWAYS BE HERE! I kept on walking until I came within a few feet and then the circle all converged and congested in and around the man. The man spoke and said “STAND BY THIS” and as he spoke he pointed to a rock which I noticed had about a 6 inch layer of the top of this rock which showed a little hairline crevice which signified there was approximately a six inch layer which was more or less broken, yet the structure of the rest of the rock itself was buried in the ground. Then I heard myself again say, LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS FOR HE WILL NOT ALWAYS BE WITH US! These two statements I heard myself speak out clearly unto the group. Next I saw laying on top of the rock a huge crowbar or pinch bar similar to those used around quarries. This little man who was none other than Bro. Branham, picked up the pinch bar and then I knew what he was getting ready to do. He was going to break off the top of this rock – –
In other words, he was lifting off that approx. six inch layer of rock which would cover a space about the size of a dining room tabletop. It was then I noticed engraved in the edge of this top layer of rock the words “THE ROCK OF REVEALED TRUTH,” and as looked at that I watched the little man and then I knew he was the only one who knew how to use the pinch bar and remove that top layer of rock from the base of the rock without breaking the top into pieces. With one thrust of his hands he thrust that pinchbar into that little hairline crevice and looked at that top layer and as he did he began to move the pinchbar and the top layer moved back off the rest of the rock which exposed a complete new area of stone to which light had never been exposed and neither had ever been exposed to outside day. Once he slipped the rock back he laid that bar upon the top layer of rock and spoke these words, STAND BY THIS! With that everyone began to press in closer to look upon the rock and you could see the beautiful limestone glitter – – as it does sometimes when it has little glittery powdery substance that shines like little snowflakes. Then he began to press out from the circle of people and as he did something within me said “WATCH HIM,” therefore I just sort of turned and from a side vision or from the corner of my eye I watched him and as I did I saw his little figure begin to walk Westward and as he walked West in this low terrain I could see his head and shoulders and his silhouette come up many times and then go down into a valley yet all the time he continued going westward. After a while as I continued to watch him, I saw his figure come up on the horizon and as it did there silhouetted in the evening I could see the sun beginning to set, casting its evening shadows back across the landscape and still watching his little figure going westward it just begin to drop off the western horizon. As I watched I knew he was gone and my heart felt kind of sad. Then about that time everyone began to rise up from looking at the rock and began to cry out, “Where did Bro. Branham go, where did Bro. Branham go? where did Bro. Branham go!” (and now to the portion never related). With great excitement and frustration, and many even began to scream hysterically. “Where did Bro. Branham go,” – with that type of feeling beginning to spread over the people, they began running and going back in the same directions from which they had come. I heard them screaming at the top of their voices and I could still hear it as they disappeared over the horizon going back to the same direction they had converged from in the beginning, and I could still hear them screaming “Oh, Bro. Branham!, Oh, Bro. Branham! Where did Bro. Branham go!” With that it left only a few people standing by the rock and together I could see ourselves standing looking toward the west with a feeling of sadness that he was gone, nevermore to return, yet I still saw us standing by the rock!
I never told this dream until Oct. ’62 when Bro. Branham visited our church for a prayer meeting, it was related to him as we sat in his station wagon in the presence of Billy Paul. Bro. Branham remarked “Bro. Jackson, that is getting ready to take place,” (believe me I had no idea at that very time he was making preparations to move westward). “Bro. Jackson, he said, when all this comes to pass — STICK WITH THE WORD for they will go in every direction and will go after everything!!”
CLOUD OF MYSTERY AND SEVEN SEALS
On Dec. 22, 1962 Bro. Branham had a vision where he was standing near Tucson, Arizona, picking a sand burr out of his pants leg, when a tremendous explosion occurred. (He related this vision to us in Jeffersonville the 30th of Dec.) in a message “Sirs, Is This the Time” where he also mentioned the dream Then he moved to Tucson, Arizona. Over a month later, on Feb. 28, 1963, while out hunting, he noticed a sand burr in his trousers. As he reached to pull it off, a tremendous blast rocked the mountain side. Looking up, he saw seven angels in the form of a pyramid sweeping towards him and for a time he seemed to be caught up in their midst. A voice cried, “Go back east and Bro. Branham knew it was time for the opening of the Seven Seals in the Book of Revelation. The angels returned into the sky and formed a cloud some 50 miles long and 30 miles wide, which was visible for hundreds of miles around. Many pictures were taken of this peculiar cloud, some appearing in Life Magazine, the May 17, 1963 issue: some in Science Magazine of April 19, 1963, along with a scientist’s report as to how it was scientifically IMPOSSIBLE for such a cloud to exist. The highest clouds form at about 10 miles. but this phenomenal cloud was 26 miles up at which altitude water vapor does not exist.
DREAM READY FOR FULFILLMENT
Time moves on into the Spring of 1963 when Bro. Branham preached and declared perhaps for the first time in the history of the church since John received pure revelation on the Isle of Patmos. the pure revelation on the word of God–the breaking of the Seven Seals, Rev. 6. My. how our hearts rejoiced to hear such mighty revelation given for the first time in the history of the church. Recall, John on the Isle of Patmos gave no revelation as to what any of those Seven Seals contained nevertheless it was revealed at the end of the age, through the office of the prophet and church age messenger to Laodicea.
WITNESSED GIFT IN HAND
We now are approaching the summer of 1964 where I want to relate an unusual healing as it was my first time to conic in direct contact with the operation of the gift as demonstrated in his left hand, one of the two signs that was given to him similar to that of the prophet Moses (seeing Moses was also given two signs). Sister Jackson had contracted a bladder infection, the doctor had already prescribed a certain type of medicine which failed to produce results and had changed the medicine. This seemed to check it, nevertheless it would flare back up. This continued for approx. six weeks and I decided to take her to Topeka. Kansas where Bro. Branham was in a campaign, however she was unable to get in the prayer line, Then I remembered some two weeks before having a dream where I saw my wife sitting in Bro. Branham’s living room in Jeffersonville and he prayed for her. Here I won’t go into detail, only to say I saw him holding her hand in the dream saying Sister Jackson, don’t worry everything will be all right.
In the days that followed our returning home, the condition seemed to worsen as the pain became more severe. Finally I said, Honey let us see if we can get an interview with Bro. Branham. After calling Billy Paul, who made arrangements, I brought the wife to his home. Bro. Branham was standing in front of his garage when we arrived. Bro. Jackson I understand your wife has been sick. Yes, she has. What seems to be the trouble he asks. The doctor diagnosed it as a bladder infection. We entered the house where Sis. Branham greeted and seated us when later Bro. Branham entered and sat on the piano stool just opposite the wife and began to talk about everything except sickness. Conversing for approx. 15 minutes, he finally looks at her and says I suppose you wonder why I haven’t said anything about your sickness, I am simply waiting for the presence of the Lord to lead me. Finally he looks at the wife and says something about, you worry a lot, most women do he says. Worry can do certain things to the inside of your body and he told how the body would react. Talking on for a few minutes he finally arose and said Sis. Jackson come here. She arose and both were standing facing each other in the middle of his living room, exactly as the dream indicated. Let me have your hand, he said.
WRIST SWELLS AS COVERED WITH BLOTCHES
I remember the occasion quite well because before taking her hand he removed his wrist watch remarking, I have learned through experience to take off this watch, if I don’t the operation and power of r that gift in the left hand will crack that crystal (I’ve lost a number of crystals). He reaches and takes the ; wife by the hand and no sooner does his hand touch hers when he exclaimed yes, it is more than an infection, it has already advanced into an ulcer-like condition. I can even hear in my ear the thing going ur–ur-r-r-r-r, he said, it is the spirit of that thing coming against the operation of the gift. Continuing to hold her hand, looking at her for a short period he slowly says, you believe don’t you Sister Jackson. Don’t worry. everything will be alright. You just believe. Then he turned to me and said, come here and watch this. See my wrist–his wrist is hard to describe, seeing it is all swollen, covered on the back side with purple blotches. Let’s pray, he says. Beloved when he finished praying his wrist had returned to normal. See there, he F says, Sis. Jackson it is all gone. Don’t worry, everything will be alright, just believe. We sat back down, talked a few more minutes when we were interrupted by a phone call and Sis. Branham who had not been present when he prayed stepped to the phone. After she returned Bro. Branham described to her what had happened. Let’s check that again, he said. Once again he asked the wife to stand up and as he reached out and touched her hand Bro. Branham, looking at his own hand to see its reaction, says, it is perfectly normal. You have more faith than you thought you had. Don’t worry, everything will be alright. Then he reaches over and places his wrist watch back upon his wrist. Watch carefully this next statement as Bro. Branham says, you go back to your doctor and let him examine you and see what he says. However, leaving Bro. Branham’s home she felt wonderful and for two or three days everything was fine. Feeling so good we wondered why bother a doctor, nevertheless three days passes and she awakes feeling almost as bad as she did before. Finally we decided to allow the doctor to check her and see what is wrong. However before we arrived at the doctor’s office all pain vanished and when she was examined she had no symptoms or anything. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health. Slightly puzzled as we left the doctor’s office we suddenly realized why those symptoms returned. Bro. Branham had told her to have herself examined by the physician and we had not obeyed. Therefore the Lord had his way in getting us to a doctor who said everything was alright.
HEALING OF CHARLIE MITCHELL
We are now brought into the last year of this prophet’s life, 1965. where we shall again discuss some personal individuals I know who God healed as the gift of knowing the secrets of the heart operated in the prophet, that second gift spoken of by the angel in 1946 when he visited the prophet. Bro. Branham has returned to Jeffersonville where he is to deliver a series of subjects at Parkview Junior High School in the month of February to the followers of the bride message. Among the subjects he will discuss will be Marriage and Divorce. Bro.
Charlie Mitchell lives in Virginia. He had been a coal miner but was now facing a serious operation. Doctors had informed Bro. Mitchell X-rays showed a large tumor on the left lung. Actually the attendance at this meeting was his last resort before going into surgery. The crowd was extremely large and Bro. Mitchell sat in the back of the auditorium . On the opposite side was a gymnasium with the platform stationed between the two areas. The main auditorium and gymnasium was separated by a curtain. To address the audience in the auditorium Bro. Branham’s back had to be toward these people in the gymnasium. Therefore in order to see both audiences Bro. Branham stood sideways at times. On this particular night after his message had been delivered he was in the process of ministering to the needs Of the people. Bro. Mitchell was sitting far in the back beyond any man’s normal visibility of distinguishing a person’s face praying, suddenly the Spirit of God caused Bro. Branham to say, you back there (Bro. Mitchell much in prayer begging God for help said in his mind he could see a big, all seeing eye looking at him, it was the spirit of God allowing his prophet to see in the spirit the man in prayer in back), you back there. Bro. Branham says, you have been a coal miner – you are now facing an operation, you believe the Lord can heal you Mr. Mitchell? When Bro. Branham, under the anointing, spoke that-Bro. Mitchell’s hands flew into the air. Already he had seen in his mind’s eye an all seeing eye looking straight at him and when the prophet called his name, Mr. Mitchell. He knew this all seeing eye had been looking straight in his mind and heart. You believe God can heal you, go and may the Lord make you whole! Charlie Mitchell who was already in line for an operation (although it possibly would do him no good) returned home and was x-rayed and the very surgeons were amazed trying to decide what had happened as previous x-rays had positively showed a tumor, however now these X-rays showed NO TUMOR. Something had happened–the power of God had healed him.
ANOTHER NIGHT
Our church people were seated on the gymnasium side opposite the auditorium, which more or less placed Bro. Branham’s back to us. As Bro. Branham was discerning and praying for the needs of the people. I will never forget him stopping and making a reference to Abraham’s day concerning the Lord coming to Abraham’s tent with the two angels, all three in a theophany body. Coming to Abraham’s tent with his back to Sarah who was now approaching the age of 90, the Lord said to Abraham he would give Sarah a child and Sarah, in her heart, laughed. The Lord, with his back to Sarah said why did Sarah laugh? We were seated on the left and behind us was one of my deacons, Bro. Billy Cox. At that time, had a small baby girl who had been born with a heart murmur. To my back, there’s a man sitting behind me. He’s contacting God; And what he’s wanting he’s got a baby that’s got heart trouble; And that baby has got a murmur in its heart, so the doctor said; And that man’s name is Mr. Cox. Stand up, Mr. COX. And He told Sarah what she was thinking behind Him. He never turned around! But beloved that didn’t make him the Lord because he turned his back to the audience and spoke to the Cox family about their little girl! Several years later when it was time for the child to enter school she was examined and her heart was perfectly whole!
PART 4 – – – FULFILLING VISION
In March 1945 God gave Bro. Branham a vision in three parts showing him he would send him to the world with the bread of life.
He saw himself walking westward and came upon a mountain (of the Lord) having a church steeple on top. Entering the mountain, he met a woman who called herself Mrs. Methodist and wore a garment which at one time might have been snow white, only now it was very soiled. She asked him if he wasn’t Bro. Billy Branham. Why do you have spots on your lovely garment, he asked. And she replied, I have been very busy. That is right Mrs. Methodist, you have been so busy having many organizations and societies in your church, you haven’t had time for the Lord! I was told you were going to be sent to me, she said, maybe I should awake my husband….then she disappeared. Looking to the left Bro. Branham says he saw a small heap of smooth baked bread. There were white fowls standing around it but they would not eat much of it. Do you know them, the Lord asks. No, replied Bro. Branham. Then the Lord said, that is your Tabernacle and THEY WON’T EAT THE BREAD OF LIFE ANYMORE! I’M SENDING YOU THIS WAY then I journeyed on westward.
Coming unto a plain where a platform was erected (either under a tent or in a large auditorium I was told by the Lord to pull back the curtains drawn around the platform. When I did. Bro. Branham said, I saw a large mountain of the bread of life. Then God said, feed these! Turning around I saw white robed people coming from everywhere making up a large auditorium. Three weeks later the call came to Pray for Betty Daugherty in St. Louis.
SINGLE HEALING PROMOTES REVIVAL
This prophet had come a long way since April 1945 when he was first sent to St. Louis, Missouri by the Holy Ghost where he prayed for the baby daughter of Rev. Robert Daugherty who, already in a dying condition was nothing but skin and bones and scratched and clawed her body like a wild animal. Leading ministers and christians of the city had offered prayer, but to no avail. However God gave his servant a vision how everyone in the room must be standing and what they must be doing, which included the mother and father, at the time of the healing. Whenever Bro. Branham had such great success in certain cases it was always because he had followed in minute detail whatever he was shown in the vision which would be revealed beforehand to him. Therefore by revelated faith he knew when he spoke the word, the work would be done!
This particular healing was to get the eyes of the people outside his own area (where multitudes of healings of all descriptions had already transpired) on him. God wanted to get his prophet before the people of St. Louis, Missouri, then to the nation and then to the world. Approximately three months later, June 14, 1945 Bro. Branham. his wife, nine year old Billy Paul and two sisters from the Tabernacle left for St. Louis to conduct services some 13 years after his visitation and commision at the Ohio River in August 1933 where the angel of the Lord spoke and commissioned the prophet as the forerunner to the second coming of Christ! And you know, no one in those days thought he was the Lord in flesh!
After explaining to the people at St. Louis the gift God had given to him, he called for some very severe cases of cripples, things visible to the eye and on the very first night people walked away healed, leaving walking canes etc., hanging on a wire stretched in the tent to the glory of God. Deafness and blindness were also healed in the first service!
From night to night the meeting grew in crowds as well as the visible power of God in action. St. Louis, Missouri was experiencing a meeting they had never heard before. From here it would be to the nation and then around the world as much as seven times. Reading the account of that first meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, was like Bible days coming alive, yet no one felt he was God. (Accounts of St. Louis meeting taken from book “I Was Not Disobedient To The Heavenly Vision”).
No, I don’t suppose since the days of Jesus Christ walking the shores of Galilee has ever a ministry of this nature been on earth. They didn’t call him God or deity in any form when the angel of the Lord visited him May 7, 1946 when he went away to seek God to understand this strange ministry he had been given. While alone that same star (or ball of fire) that appeared at the Ohio River in 1933 filled the area, gripping his heart with fear as he heard footsteps walking toward him and that voice speak from a theophany body of an angel sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell him of his strange life and misunderstood ways; how God would send him to the world with the gift of healing and if he would be sincere and get the people to believe nothing would stand before him, not even cancer! More over the angel informed Bro. Branham, that as Moses had been given two signs to vindicate he had been sent from God Exo, 4:1-8, so he too would be given two signs. First, he would be able to diagnose diseases by their vibrations which would cause his hand to swell. There was no magical power in his left hand as some mistakenly thought. As Bro. Branham often said there is no power in any man to heal anyone. Healing was purchased by Christ’s death at Calvary, the same as he secured our salvation. The only thing, Bro. Branham says that man can do in the way of divine healing is to point people to Christ’s work at Calvary and help them to get faith for what he has already done for them. The angel instructed him by holding a person’s hand he would be able to tell what was wrong with them.
There was no healing power in the left hand! Later he was to be given the second sign which was , to discern the secrets of the heart, to tell people what they had done in their life, similar to when Christ was on earth and perceived the thoughts of people as the case where he met Nathanael (John 1:48) and the woman at the well (John 4:7). Yet in those days no one knew the real purpose of his call, that he was actually to fulfill the B Part of Malachi 4:5-6 or complete the portion of scripture which the angel was unable to quote -to Zacharias concerning Malachi’s prophecy.
He still wasn’t looked upon as God or deity in any form when in 1948 he crushed a demon spirit within a giant of a man before 5000 people in Portland, Oregon as he charged toward the platform in Bro. Branham’s service with the intention of making a fool of him. However, approaching the platform Bro. Branham rebukes the demon which is instigating this outrage. Bro. Branham, a frail, little man who could have easily been crushed in the arms of his assailant, spoke softly but determinedly rebuking the demon saying, Satan you shall bow before the name of Jesus Christ and the company of this great people! Suddenly the man, who only moments before had challenged the man of God in boastful, blasphemous phrases, gives out a mournful groan and slumps to the floor sobbing hysterically. No, none called him God at such an instance as this and wherever this little man went after 1948 throughout the U.S. and Canada, those cities experienced Bible days living a4ain.
No friend he wasn’t looked upon as God even in January 1950 in Houston, Texas, when the angel of the Lord vindicated the prophet’s ministry by permitting himself to be photographed with the prophet in the presence of 8,000 people while he was in a debate over whether God heals today. The photograph, so widely in circulation, which in that hour carried front page headlines in Houston, Texas of the amazing supernatural eight, was vindicated to be an authentic negative by George J. Lacy. examiner of questioned documents. The challenging clergyman had arranged for two local professional photographers, James Ayres and Ted Kipperman, to take a series of photographs of himself while in debate, after having shot several pictures of the Baptist clergyman, one was taken of Bro. Branham and to their surprise when the professional photographers developed their film, every negative was blank except one—THE ONE TAKEN OF THE PROPHET WILLIAM BRANHAM. On the negative appearing over the head of Bro. Branham was that supernatural light in the form of a halo!
VISION-30,000
No, my friend he was not looked upon as God in those first ten years of his ministry, especially the last three months of 1951 when touring South Africa where In Durban 100,000 people heard his message. seven truck loads of crutches, wheelchairs, etc., were hauled away after the healing services where Bro. Branham faced staunch Hindus etc., and where after a number of people already being healed, they brought to him a poor, deformed beggar who had a chain about his neck and was led to the platform like a dog on his hands and feet. Having seen a vision of this man being healed, Bro. Branham used that to challenge that multitude. He told the missionary to stand this naked creature, walking like a dog, upright. They looked at him unbelievingly. He repeated, Stand him up! They began pulling on him. The man stood up! Though he began to fall then stood erect and looked around! People jumped to their feet and screamed. Doesn’t that sound like the ministry of Jesus. But he wasn’t Jesus! In the altar call an estimated 30,000 stood to their feet to accept Jesus Christ at one time as Bro. Branham denounced their idols and superstitions, priests and temples, etc.
In Bombay, India, in the presence of 400,000, he challenged the heathen priests present to heal a blind man (who he had already seen in a vision, healed along with many other things revealed in his life in the vision) saying if your god be God let him come down and open the eyes of this blind man and we will all fall down and worship your gon t none moved)! But if my God, the Lord Jesus Christ, be God and he opened this man’s eyes, will you forsake your powerless gods and accept Jesus as your saviour? To this they agreed! No, this prophet was not God. That was not why he stood fearless with such Confidence. He stood there with confidence because God Almighty had showed him a vision of the blind man being able to see! None looked upon him as deity, only as a vindicated servant of God.
DANGER TREND—WHEN AND WHY
No, beloved, he wasn’t looked upon as the Lord God, Lamb, Word or deity in any form until after 1956 when God began to change his order of events making the bride message then to he the front line message or message of pre-eminence by no means did this mean it was not still important to he saved and filled with the Holy Ghost and he healed, after 1956! However now as God pushed his prophet out further into the revelatory word of the Lord, he begins to hammer away now more than ever at the revelated truths which make up the foundation of the faith as taught by the apostles and delivered to the early church. See it was more or less after this phase, 1946-56 phased itself out as being God’s frontline program, though many still tried to make it be the frontline message God allows his prophet’s voice to ring down the corridors of denominationalism and call forth that which should make up the Bride of Christ shortly before his coming, preparing a people to be fully alert and sensitive to the Spirit of God and make a complete return to the Word of the Lord as their full hope and trust! It was only in that period, 1959-60, that you would begin to hear people sheepishly approach you asking – Who do you think he is? Naturally they have reference, although not at this time are too many willing to declare it that they actually think he is the Lord of Glory, named William Branham in flesh! See, already that seducing spirit which is here to oppose the Word of God and the true Jesus of the Bible was already working in the lives of certain individuals, some who had gone so far as to be baptized in his name, others were carrying little medallions and cards which read, William Branham is my God! Satan had placed these people in the fellowship of this truth to blur the image of the true purpose that God had called this man unto as he was now ready to push him forward with some of the greatest revelations ever delivered to the church. Yes, it was mainly in those days, you began to hear people say, WHO DO YOU ACTUALLY THINK HE IS! The proportion of this ministry has grown tremendously during the last five years of his earthly life as he had begun to speak the word and things would happen. The Word of theLord was working so mightily in him, especially after 1960, that people are becoming more and more distracted from that of the true revelation which he was bringing out of the Word in order to place our faith, not in him, but back in the Word of God. Irregardless to what he would do, it seemed certain people were leaning now more than ever on the idea that HE IS NOT A HUMAN BEING but HE IS THE LORD IN FLESH!
What causes them to arrive at such a conclusion? Naturally we realize first of all it is a deceptive spirit working to distract as many (outside) people as possible to misunderstand and flee from this message. Yes it stemmed from all the supernatural, God was working through him and we realize according to scripture it had to be this way in the end time! For even as John the Baptist who fulfilled the first portion of Malachi 4:5-6 was also approached and asked the question if he was not the Lord! To whom he, as well as did William Branham, replied, NO. I AM NOT! These men, who absolutely were not the Lord, did have such a ministry that it led certain people to believe they might be the Lord. In this article I present a direct quote or warning by Bro. Branham, , recorded in the Church Age Book, Page 328 which is only another statement out of the many the prophet emphatically declared he was not the Lord,
HE IS ONE OF THE BRETHREN, A MESSENGER AND A SERVANT OF GOD AND NEEDS NO GREATER HONOR BESTOWED UPON HIM. The quote is as follows—
” I want to make one more comparison. between the Laodicean prophet-messenger and John the Baptist, the prophet-messenger who preceded Jesus’ first coming. The people in John’s day mistook him for the Messiah, John 1:19-20. “And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Chirst” Now this last day prophet-messenger will have such power before the Lord that there will be those who mistake him for the Lord Jesus. (There will be a spirit in the world at the end time that will seduce some and make them believe this!) Matt. 24:23-26, “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. Behold I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert: go not forth ; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.”) But don’t you believe it! He is not Jesus Christ! He is not the Son of God! HE IS ONE OF THE BRETHREN, A PROPHET, A MESSENGER, A SERVANT OF GOD. He needs no greater honor bestowed upon him than that which John received when he was the voice that cried, “I am not He; BUT HE IS COMING AFTER ME.”
A WARNING
It wasn’t until 1961 that Bro. Branham. becoming fully aware certain ones were trying to make him God, he broken heartedly left the evangelistic field and returned to Zetlersonville saying, I will stand before God as a quitter before I will permit anyone to look upon me as God! After being thoroughly rebuked in a message entitled THE BRUISED SERPENT many of these people said they repented over their error; however by 1963 when he preached the Seven Seals this idea was again fresh on many of their minds and now for some it seemed there was no stopping, more than ever they had to push this idea against the prophet’s will.
Nevertheless beloved, with him gone from the scene and no one to rebuke this idolatrous idea of him being the Lord or deity in some form. it is engulfing many of those who claim to be followers of this message. I don’t care how many want to make him God, the Lord or something other than what he is, I know he was sent here with a message to restore us back to the true apostolic line of thinking. No. I don’t care how many points a finger of scorn at me. declaring I am not in this message or how many want to make accusations saying I have spoken something contrary to the prophet’s message when the truth is, I have spoken only contrary to their own private interpretation of the prophet’s message. Nevertheless some will say, you have not spoken it (verbally) as did Bro. Branham, having reference to certain statements which, because of the way God permitted the prophet to speak certain things, these statements appear to carry a dual nature. As I have often stated…never has God used a man as he used this man in allowing him to speak certain things in duality of thought concerning certain subjects which did not pertain to salvation) at the end of the age. Everything in this message that will not come in line with the pure revelation of the Word, to which this prophet sought to restore us unto must be shaken off! To benefit those people God allowed that prophet, in the overall setting of this message to make certain statements that will do just that, yet at the same time will never affect the bride, seeing the bride will receive the revelatory portion of the message and walk on into the fullness of the Word! It has been a known fact any person who has ever attacked me over my stand in this message has had to do it without the Word of God to back them up! Because these individuals will always be led to certain statements they find in the message that simply does not link up with the scripture. (There are perhaps 1200 sermons for them to pick over). God meant it to be this way for their benefit! You see, you never find these people studying the Bible. A statement that does not link up with scripture will never place you in the scripture. NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I EVER SAID THE PROPHET MADE A MISTAKE IN STATING CERTAIN THINGS THE WAY HE DID, because in my heart I knew God had a definite reason for allowing everything to be stated the way it was. We are seeing more every day why certain things were stated as they were and what the results of the statement is doing to individuals who, I hate to say, never at any time intended to come into this Word, yet on the other hand, the bride of Christ will not be affected by these few statements but will come in line with the Word of God. I have often stated, whenever any two lines of thought seem to appear in the overall framework or setting of this message which God arranged and placed there for a reason himself, only one line of thought on that subject will lead you into the scripture! No, God did not ask anyone if he could do it this way, he simply did it unto a people who were supposed to be restored to the truth.
There is actually no reason for this to disturb anyone if they would only (in such cases) use their Bible as the final guideline. Now were it not for these few scattered statements in places, seemingly giving the message another thought then you would have such a perfect revelation of such nature delivered unto you that perhaps the Bride could have ended up with only the endtime message (or what some calls the revealed word) in her possession. However it is those few statements, placed by the Holy Spirit to cause us in the final analysis to have to return back to the Bible for the final say! Anytime we have ever taken one of these statements in our publication we have, without fail, showed where one statement fitted perfectly in the scripture while the other did not This does not mean the prophet made a mistake or error in speaking it, seeing God had his reason for allowing it to be spoken. God willed certain statements to be worded in a certain way to benefit certain people! When we say this, so often people get mad, yet if they were a Bible believing Christian they would not. I have never yet had one person who told me–you didn’t say it like the prophet did, always having reference to some dual statement they found in the confines of this overall message, to ever once take their Bible and show me where I scripturally chose the wrong statement. What they are peeved about is I didn’t choose the one they wanted me to! Perhaps if they could show me in the scripture where it fits I would consider it! I chose the one that fit the scripture and beloved you had better do the same if you intend to be in the Bride of Christ, No one denies he didn’t make other statements concerning certain subjects, but the question is — for whom did God have him make that statement, stated in the manner it is or spoken in the manner it is? Years ago I made a statement having strict reference to the fact of how so many people want you to carnally treat and interpret this message (which is on tape). My statement was, if I had to accept and believe this message on that basis and had to treat it in respect to how some characters expect you to in order to be in the message, that is embrace their idea of it, if I had to look upon it as they expect me to, to me then it would be nothing more than warmed over gravy! People say Jackson blasphemed! No, I did not say the prophet’s message, handled as God intended it to be handled, was warmed over gravy–God forbid! Perish the thought! In that message is a pure revelation of Christ to the Bride as well as enough scattered statements placed here and there by the Holy Ghost which is not in line with the Word, but is for a certain people—there are enough statements there to allow them to form their own little gospel which has no Bible foundation whatsoever! And because these individuals will not allow the written Word of God to have any pre-eminence of their life they are absolutely faced with nothing but their own ideas as a guideline to distinguish what is truth when facing dual thoughts placed within the message. Therefore in my heart, irregardless to how certain people want to say he is the Lord or want to make every single word which he uttered, that is causing every little phrase of his speech to be represented as being God’s Word, as if to say every word was the voice of God to the bride—none of that will keep me from following the message for I know this revelated truth was sent to place me back in the scripture. Therefore I have purposed in my heart, regardless to what people think of me, there is nothing going to separate me from what I believe this man to be. No, the devil can’t pile enough obstacles in my way to keep me from following the revelated message brought by this prophet which restores us back to the scriptures. fulfilling that office of the restorer in Mal. 4:5-6. Bro. Branham was no more the Lord in flesh than John the Baptist, although both men walked in the spirit and power of Elijah. Many people write to me expressing the discouragement they face as they come in contact with certain ideas promoted within this message, propagated by certain individuals. All I can say, beloved, if you stop following someone merely because of a certain people who will always be there as agitators to the truth of the message, you are not following God, but man!
REFORMATION LEADERS FACED PROBLEMS WITH FANATICISM
Every leader throughout the Reformation faced his hours of great discouragement as he tried to deliver a truth to the people, seeing always a realm of that which would do the movement no good always attaches itself to bring reproach against it. Satan always places certain people there to harass and buffet the revelation causing as many as possible to flee from it. Martin Luther, though he brought a revelation in his hour–the just shall live by faith, was greatly harassed by so-called believers or followers who never did follow the true revelation of his message! Instead were only placed there by Satan to muddy the water of the truth he was bringing which naturally caused these to stick out like a sore thumb whenever anyone mentioned Luther’s movement. John Wesley as well had his problems with the same kind of fanatics, as well as did the messenger to the Laodicean Age. However I seriously doubt any follower of the Reformation leaders ever went so far off the deep end as some today have at the end time to think and project, not only was their leader God in the flesh but every word he uttered was to be eaten by the bride in that day! Beloved, you are to follow the revelated truth which restores you back into the scriptures and please never judge the instrument through which the truth is being delivered by that which you will always see collected around it!
BEYOND THE CURTAIN
We will climax our story now because this is the year 1965, the Lord took his servant home, but on and on we could go with many more things to build this story. In a graveyard a few blocks from the Tabernacle in Jeffersonville. Indiana, for 8 years has laid the body of a prophet of God who had a scriptural office and who gallantly and courageously fulfilled that office and now awaits the 1st resurrection along with all the other saints-where according to his vision called, “BEYOND THE CURTAIN OF TIME” he once visited this place where the souls of just men are resting, waiting for that hour for the return of Christ to the earth when all the saints shall come with him. In a vision he saw men and women in the bloom of youth screaming, Oh! my precious brother! We are so happy to see you here! To this he said, I don’t understand. Then that voice which he said, was speaking above me said you know it is written in the Bible the prophets were gathered with their people. There are millions here Bro. Branham said. There aren’t that many Branhams! And the voice said, they are not Branhams, they are your converts, the ones you have led to the Lord. Some of these women you think are so beautiful were better than 90 years old when you led them to the Lord! And again they screamed, if you hadn’t gone, we wouldn’t be here! After this, Bro. Branham asked, where is Jesus-I want to see him so bad. They said-now he is just a little higher, right up that way. Someday he will come to you. You were sent for a leader and God will come and when he does he will judge you according to your teaching. Oh I am so glad, said Bro. Branham. Does Paul have to stand like this; does Peter have to stand like this? They said yes. Then, said Bro. Branham. I have preached every word they preached. I never diverted from it one side to the other. Where they baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, I did too! Where they taught the baptism of the Holy Ghost, I did too! Whatever they taught, I DID TOO! And those people screamed and said, we know that and we know we are going with you sometime back to earth. Jesus will come and you will be judged according to the word you preached us and if you are accepted at that time, which you will be, then you will present us (your converts, not the entire bride) to him and all together we will go back to earth to live forever! Then, Bro. Branham said, do I have to return back now? They said yes, but keep pressing on. (the vision ended). (May 1960) No doubt for the few remaining years the prophet had after the vision he was more determined than ever to preach that gospel exactly as the apostles did.
PROPHECY OF 1955
Returning to the prophecy of July 1955 for a few closing remarks concerning the birth of our third child, a girl, which the Lord named in the prophecy, Naomi Ruth. The flame to me meant the Lord was speaking of a condition and period which we would be soon coming into after July 1955, a period the prophecy referred to as the gleaning period. As the Lord showed the purpose of the gleaning period in the prophecy, the prophecy ended saying, after the gleaning period had served its purpose we would enter into still another period of time and then God would visit us with a son, and David his name shall he. We have brought out through this article the things which happened to our lives as we were affected by this man’s ministry. Two years after the prophecy we had the birth of our 4th child which was another girl. Because this physical condition had developed which the doctors said rendered me unable to father another child. I walked through many months wondering what this was all about yet in my mind I remembered Bro. Branham saying, don’t worry this sickness is for the glory of God.
The years move on and our lives are continually affected by this man’s life and ministry as the Lord blessed us in many ways. The year 1965 arrives, a year which in many ways was a very climaxing year seeing it was the hour the Lord chose to remove his prophet from the scene. Back around the first of August 1965 I had related a dream to Bro. Branham which is published in full in Vol. 4, No. 3 of The Contender concerning, what I shall call, the horse dream. It was at this very hour, unbeknownst to us, the wife had conceived.
DAVID–PROPHESIED
December 1965 came and the Lord took his prophet, Bro. Branham. April 5, 1966 the wife gave birth to OUR SON whom God way back in July 1955 had promised to bless us with and as the prophecy said we named him David. May I say these statements are made only to glorify God because the wife nor I feel any better than anyone else. Allow me to make three statements concerning Naomi Ruth, our third child and David our fifth. (1). These two children are very similar in nature, (2). Both have fairer complexion than the other three (3). and both these children have blue eyes, while the other three have dark eyes. We only say these things to glorify the Lord and show our respect and love for this man whose life and ministry was used by the Lord to bring us out of bondage and ignorance unto this glorious and marvelous light of truth brought to this generation by God’s servant and prophet, Bro. William Marrion Branham.
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