Israel journeyed in the desert for forty years and then fell short of entering the Promised Land. God’s Word was in the Ark of the Covenant. However, the final result was a shameful one. This is quite astounding: The Apostle Paul compares Israel with the Church in the end-time, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world has come.” (1. Cor. 10:1-13). Is that not strange? Back then God’s people missed their final destination in spite of the pillar of fire and the smitten rock, etc., etc. Disobedience, murmuring, and idolatry were their downfall. All who came out with Moses and were male had been circumcised. Still, they all died, even in spite of their circumcision, “…because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord” (Josh. 5:6b). Only the newborn generation which was circumcised entered into the Promised Land. Then the captain of the Lord’s host appeared to Joshua with a sword in his hand (Josh. 5:13-15) and the victory was manifested.

Today we have to ask, “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isa. 53:1). Who hath obeyed the Gospel (Rom. 10:16)? Who had the experience of the inward circumcision of his heart (Rom. 2:28-29)? Who experienced the renewal by the Holy Spirit (Col. 2:11)? The beginning, the conversion is important, but then we have to stand the test of time in faith and obedience, before we can finally reach the goal after fulfilling the Will of God (Heb. 10:36). The newborn generation experienced the victorious entrance into the Promised Land. The same applies now to the children of promise who believe the word of promise (Rom. 9:6-10; Gal. 4:28-29). They do not stop at the things which happened forty, fifty, sixty or a hundred years ago. They do not go around in circles, but have part in what God is doing right now.

Together with all who believe the divine message we look forward, encouraged, strengthened through the wonderful blessings of the past forty years which God so graciously provided worldwide. But the enemy did not fail to turn against the elect. Back then the Lord said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat …” (Luke 22:31) We did not count on this, but it did happen.

In April 1974 we had the inauguration of the church building, which was constructed upon the piece of property that God had shown in a vision. Right to the end of the seventies we experienced many blessings and the presence of God, especially in the local church in Krefeld. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were present and supernatural things happened. People came from other cities to hear the Word. At the same time I was able to make my missionary trips every month to take the precious message to the ends of the earth. In the middle of the seventies, the year 1977 was strongly being emphasised as the year when the time of grace would come to an end. Brother Branham had mentioned the year 1977 a number of times in connection with the end-time, but never set a date. Brothers who thought that every statement he made was to be regarded equal to “Thus saith the Lord” came to the conclusion that by 1977 the time of grace would end.

In agreement with the sovereign works of God, Who alone decides the time and the hour, it pleased Him to give to me a directive on Friday, July 16^th, 1976, the execution of which was very much criticised in some circles of the end-time message. I had just walked around the west side of the church building, darkness was beginning to set in, when I heard the all-commanding voice of the Lord, saying, “My servant, walk over to the adjacent piece of property. Dedicate it unto Me and build thereupon, for people will come from many nations who will need to be accommodated.” The details of this command are common knowledge. On Monday, July 19^th, 1976, I spoke to the owner. He explained to me his future plans for this property and said, “I just cannot sell it to you.” I ended the conversation with the words, “Mr. Tölke, remember, the Lord God has put His hand upon the part of your property which is adjacent to our lot, on which the church is built.”

Three weeks later, on August 9^th, 1976, the owner called me before eight o’clock in the morning and said, “Pastor Frank, I must sell you that property. When can we go to the notary?” The contract was signed on August 12^th, 1976. By the purchase of that piece of land and the subsequent construction thereupon we actually contradicted the teaching that 1977 would be the end. When the first building was beginning to materialise, Brother Paul Schmidt came to me on the lot and said, “Brother Frank, this building will not be sufficient for half of the people that are going to come.” The next morning I opened my Bible and my eyes fell upon 2. Chron. 14:6, where the German Bible says, “And they put up the buildings with success and were happy.” To me it was an encouragement from the Lord. Thus two buildings were erected in the years 1977/78. I can say with a clear conscience, as Noah did in Gen. 6:22, Moses in Ex. 40:16 and Elijah in 1. Kings 18, that I have done all these things according to the command and the Word of the Lord.

After we had done as the Lord commanded and the buildings were completed to accommodate the visitors, Satan did all he could to prevent what God had said from happening. Of course, he did not succeed, which in itself is the proof that it is indeed God’s work. Israel and the true Church have always been the targets of the enemy. Jerusalem was fought over and destroyed nineteen times. Even now the concern is not Tel Aviv or Haifa, but Jerusalem, the city of God. Likewise it is not just any church, but the true Church of the living God that is the special target of the enemy and the spiritual battleground today. According to Rev. 12, at the end the dragon will stand before the woman and try to devour the man child, who is designated to rule the nations (Rev. 2:26-29), before he is taken to Glory.

Suddenly, the enemy misinterpreted what the Lord had commanded and said, “The leadership of Frank, Russ, Schmidt must go.”, because God had supposedly already appointed other brothers. And indeed two of them came forward and stepped on the platform. Then it was said, “You are not called by God, you are called by Satan. It is your work and not God’s work, therefore it must be destroyed.” It was the declared intention of the enemy to undermine the authority of the one who carries the Word with this blow, and the two brethren that God placed at his side were to be made untrustworthy before the church as well. Brother Branham said, “Be careful. You’re guilty if you speak a word against your brother that’s not right, not just. … You don’t have to stick a knife in a man’s back to kill him; you can break his character and kill him, kill his influence. Speak against your pastor here, say something bad about him, you just might as well as shot him; told something that wasn’t right about him, well, it’ll kill his influence with the people and things like that, and you’re guilty of it.” (57-09‑22). Satan had a goal, he wanted to prepare the platform in the church locally and also worldwide for those who carry his interpretations and wrong teachings. Therefore he first aimed to destroy the confidence in the one who carries the true Word of God.

Until today it remains as the Lord said many years ago with a commanding voice, “My servant, dedicate unto Me as elders Leonard Russ and Paul Schmidt …” The ministry of these two brothers has been a blessing for over forty years in the local church and in many different countries. It was the same commanding voice of the Lord which in 1976 instructed me to buy this piece of property and to build on it. The two large buildings were erected and throughout the past twenty-five years we have been able to accommodate between three and four hundred people coming from all over the world on the first weekend of every month.

All of hell had come forth to obstruct God’s end-time plan in its most important phase and to destroy His work in any way possible. The main attack, as was to be expected, was directed against the one who carries the Word. Slander beyond measure, exceeding anything any rationally thinking person could fathom, was spread throughout the world, things that could not possibly be repeated here. A character assassination was launched, the likes of which had not been heard before, with the goal of causing many souls to die spiritually. All who allowed themselves to be submitted to those destructive spirits still to this day believe and spread the same slander. They do not consider even for a moment that they are purposely violating one of the commandments, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” (Ex. 20:16). In Rom. 1:30 we read about, “… backbiters, haters of God, …” In 1. Cor. 5:9-12 we find out who these people are being compared to.

The killings of the children at the birth of Moses and also the murders of the children at the birth of our Saviour were executed locally, limited to that region. Satan is a liar and a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44), Cain was also a murderer (1. Jn. 3:12), and every believer who hates his brothers is one as well, without exception. Thus says God’s Word, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1. Jn. 3:15). All who have been led astray since then and do not have the desire to hear the everlasting Word of God will be disappointed on that day. Whoever does not personally adopt the love for the truth at the decisive moment is damned to believe the lie. A compromise is not possible. Whoever opens his heart to what Satan says automatically shuts it to what God has said. Light and darkness, life and death are separated from each other for ever.

Now we all have to ask ourselves before God whether God’s decision can be tampered with. Does any human being have the right to demand the removal of the two brothers, the elders who were appointed according to a divine command? Was it right to construct the buildings according to the Word of the Lord to accommodate the visitors, or was it right to, in the contrary, tell those who had come here that first weekend in May 1979 after the meetings that they should all go home, stating, “Everything here is finished for ever.”? This is a decision that nobody can sidestep, and it is of personal consequence for all eternity. Do not be mistaken, God will not allow Himself to be mocked!

Those who have remained steadfast and faithful cannot comprehend that brothers and sisters who listened to the Word of God here, who were saved and healed and had their experiences with the Lord, were baptised and for years participated in the Lord’s Supper, would suddenly turn from them in bitter enmity and avoid any contact. Every true believer should realise that Jesus Christ has taken away the wall of partition and destroyed the enmity. Through Him we have redemption, reconciliation and the forgiveness of all our sins.

“For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Eph. 2:14-16).

Everyone knows that enmity and destruction can never come from God. There is only one of two possibilities: The truth is either what God has decided and what can still be seen here in this Mission Center, or what Satan, who always appears as an angel of light, wanted to achieve.

On the first weekend of each month up to nine hundred people from all over the world come to the Mission Center to hear the Word of God and to be spiritually nourished. The sermons preached in the German language are simultaneously being translated into twelve different languages, so that all who are present can hear the Word preached in their own language. At the same time brothers and sisters all over the world can join us in our services live through the internet. These are facts which cannot be denied and speak for themselves. This question is presenting itself: How can those who live in this city and know about the calling and commission drive with contempt past the place God Himself has chosen? They are not rejecting a man, but God Himself, Who does all things according to His plan of Salvation. Of what use is it to them to speak about the message, about the prophet, about the rapture? Is that the perfect love of which the Apostle Paul and Brother Branham spoke, which never ends and finally will enter into Glory?

Whosoever denies the blessings of the glorious meetings we had in the seventies, which we experienced by the power of God, is in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The revolt happened only at the moment when the self-will of a person exalted itself over the anointing, over the Word and the Will of God. Whoever sincerely compares what the Lord Himself said with that what the enemy spread under false inspiration will quickly realise what is true and what is being fulfilled. We all have to learn from this great lesson for all the future. Right to the end we need and should pray for the gift of discernment. Whatever God says will be according to His Word and always serves for the up-building of the Church. What the enemy spreads and does will always lead to destruction. God only uses His servants. The enemy chooses whomever he finds to have the greatest influence and thereby aims to cause the most extensive damage. What was built up over many years with the help of God, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, tried to destroy in one day.

Israel journeyed in the desert for forty years and then fell short of entering the Promised Land. God’s Word was in the Ark of the Covenant. However, the final result was a shameful one. This is quite astounding: The Apostle Paul compares Israel with the Church in the end-time, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world has come.” (1. Cor. 10:1-13). Is that not strange? Back then God’s people missed their final destination in spite of the pillar of fire and the smitten rock, etc., etc. Disobedience, murmuring, and idolatry were their downfall. All who came out with Moses and were male had been circumcised. Still, they all died, even in spite of their circumcision, “…because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord” (Josh. 5:6b). Only the newborn generation which was circumcised entered into the Promised Land. Then the captain of the Lord’s host appeared to Joshua with a sword in his hand (Josh. 5:13-15) and the victory was manifested.

Today we have to ask, “Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?” (Isa. 53:1). Who hath obeyed the Gospel (Rom. 10:16)? Who had the experience of the inward circumcision of his heart (Rom. 2:28-29)? Who experienced the renewal by the Holy Spirit (Col. 2:11)? The beginning, the conversion is important, but then we have to stand the test of time in faith and obedience, before we can finally reach the goal after fulfilling the Will of God (Heb. 10:36). The newborn generation experienced the victorious entrance into the Promised Land. The same applies now to the children of promise who believe the word of promise (Rom. 9:6-10; Gal. 4:28-29). They do not stop at the things which happened forty, fifty, sixty or a hundred years ago. They do not go around in circles, but have part in what God is doing right now.

Together with all who believe the divine message we look forward, encouraged, strengthened through the wonderful blessings of the past forty years which God so graciously provided worldwide. But the enemy did not fail to turn against the elect. Back then the Lord said to Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat …” (Luke 22:31) We did not count on this, but it did happen.

In April 1974 we had the inauguration of the church building, which was constructed upon the piece of property that God had shown in a vision. Right to the end of the seventies we experienced many blessings and the presence of God, especially in the local church in Krefeld. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were present and supernatural things happened. People came from other cities to hear the Word. At the same time I was able to make my missionary trips every month to take the precious message to the ends of the earth. In the middle of the seventies, the year 1977 was strongly being emphasised as the year when the time of grace would come to an end. Brother Branham had mentioned the year 1977 a number of times in connection with the end-time, but never set a date. Brothers who thought that every statement he made was to be regarded equal to “Thus saith the Lord” came to the conclusion that by 1977 the time of grace would end.

In agreement with the sovereign works of God, Who alone decides the time and the hour, it pleased Him to give to me a directive on Friday, July 16th, 1976, the execution of which was very much criticised in some circles of the end-time message. I had just walked around the west side of the church building, darkness was beginning to set in, when I heard the all-commanding voice of the Lord, saying, “My servant, walk over to the adjacent piece of property. Dedicate it unto Me and build thereupon, for people will come from many nations who will need to be accommodated.” The details of this command are common knowledge. On Monday, July 19th, 1976, I spoke to the owner. He explained to me his future plans for this property and said, “I just cannot sell it to you.” I ended the conversation with the words, “Mr. Tölke, remember, the Lord God has put His hand upon the part of your property which is adjacent to our lot, on which the church is built.”

Three weeks later, on August 9th, 1976, the owner called me before eight o’clock in the morning and said, “Pastor Frank, I must sell you that property. When can we go to the notary?” The contract was signed on August 12th, 1976. By the purchase of that piece of land and the subsequent construction thereupon we actually contradicted the teaching that 1977 would be the end. When the first building was beginning to materialise, Brother Paul Schmidt came to me on the lot and said, “Brother Frank, this building will not be sufficient for half of the people that are going to come.” The next morning I opened my Bible and my eyes fell upon 2. Chron. 14:6, where the German Bible says, “And they put up the buildings with success and were happy.” To me it was an encouragement from the Lord. Thus two buildings were erected in the years 1977/78. I can say with a clear conscience, as Noah did in Gen. 6:22, Moses in Ex. 40:16 and Elijah in 1. Kings 18, that I have done all these things according to the command and the Word of the Lord.

After we had done as the Lord commanded and the buildings were completed to accommodate the visitors, Satan did all he could to prevent what God had said from happening. Of course, he did not succeed, which in itself is the proof that it is indeed God’s work. Israel and the true Church have always been the targets of the enemy. Jerusalem was fought over and destroyed nineteen times. Even now the concern is not Tel Aviv or Haifa, but Jerusalem, the city of God. Likewise it is not just any church, but the true Church of the living God that is the special target of the enemy and the spiritual battleground today. According to Rev. 12, at the end the dragon will stand before the woman and try to devour the man child, who is designated to rule the nations (Rev. 2:26-29), before he is taken to Glory.

Suddenly, the enemy misinterpreted what the Lord had commanded and said, “The leadership of Frank, Russ, Schmidt must go.”, because God had supposedly already appointed other brothers. And indeed two of them came forward and stepped on the platform. Then it was said, “You are not called by God, you are called by Satan. It is your work and not God’s work, therefore it must be destroyed.” It was the declared intention of the enemy to undermine the authority of the one who carries the Word with this blow, and the two brethren that God placed at his side were to be made untrustworthy before the church as well. Brother Branham said, “Be careful. You’re guilty if you speak a word against your brother that’s not right, not just. … You don’t have to stick a knife in a man’s back to kill him; you can break his character and kill him, kill his influence. Speak against your pastor here, say something bad about him, you just might as well as shot him; told something that wasn’t right about him, well, it’ll kill his influence with the people and things like that, and you’re guilty of it.” (57-09‑22). Satan had a goal, he wanted to prepare the platform in the church locally and also worldwide for those who carry his interpretations and wrong teachings. Therefore he first aimed to destroy the confidence in the one who carries the true Word of God.

Until today it remains as the Lord said many years ago with a commanding voice, “My servant, dedicate unto Me as elders Leonard Russ and Paul Schmidt …” The ministry of these two brothers has been a blessing for over forty years in the local church and in many different countries. It was the same commanding voice of the Lord which in 1976 instructed me to buy this piece of property and to build on it. The two large buildings were erected and throughout the past twenty-five years we have been able to accommodate between three and four hundred people coming from all over the world on the first weekend of every month.

All of hell had come forth to obstruct God’s end-time plan in its most important phase and to destroy His work in any way possible. The main attack, as was to be expected, was directed against the one who carries the Word. Slander beyond measure, exceeding anything any rationally thinking person could fathom, was spread throughout the world, things that could not possibly be repeated here. A character assassination was launched, the likes of which had not been heard before, with the goal of causing many souls to die spiritually. All who allowed themselves to be submitted to those destructive spirits still to this day believe and spread the same slander. They do not consider even for a moment that they are purposely violating one of the commandments, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” (Ex. 20:16). In Rom. 1:30 we read about, “… backbiters, haters of God, …” In 1. Cor. 5:9-12 we find out who these people are being compared to.

The killings of the children at the birth of Moses and also the murders of the children at the birth of our Saviour were executed locally, limited to that region. Satan is a liar and a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44), Cain was also a murderer (1. Jn. 3:12), and every believer who hates his brothers is one as well, without exception. Thus says God’s Word, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1. Jn. 3:15). All who have been led astray since then and do not have the desire to hear the everlasting Word of God will be disappointed on that day. Whoever does not personally adopt the love for the truth at the decisive moment is damned to believe the lie. A compromise is not possible. Whoever opens his heart to what Satan says automatically shuts it to what God has said. Light and darkness, life and death are separated from each other for ever.

Now we all have to ask ourselves before God whether God’s decision can be tampered with. Does any human being have the right to demand the removal of the two brothers, the elders who were appointed according to a divine command? Was it right to construct the buildings according to the Word of the Lord to accommodate the visitors, or was it right to, in the contrary, tell those who had come here that first weekend in May 1979 after the meetings that they should all go home, stating, “Everything here is finished for ever.”? This is a decision that nobody can sidestep, and it is of personal consequence for all eternity. Do not be mistaken, God will not allow Himself to be mocked!

Those who have remained steadfast and faithful cannot comprehend that brothers and sisters who listened to the Word of God here, who were saved and healed and had their experiences with the Lord, were baptised and for years participated in the Lord’s Supper, would suddenly turn from them in bitter enmity and avoid any contact. Every true believer should realise that Jesus Christ has taken away the wall of partition and destroyed the enmity. Through Him we have redemption, reconciliation and the forgiveness of all our sins.

“For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby …” (Eph. 2:14-16).

Everyone knows that enmity and destruction can never come from God. There is only one of two possibilities: The truth is either what God has decided and what can still be seen here in this Mission Center, or what Satan, who always appears as an angel of light, wanted to achieve.

On the first weekend of each month up to nine hundred people from all over the world come to the Mission Center to hear the Word of God and to be spiritually nourished. The sermons preached in the German language are simultaneously being translated into twelve different languages, so that all who are present can hear the Word preached in their own language. At the same time brothers and sisters all over the world can join us in our services live through the internet. These are facts which cannot be denied and speak for themselves. This question is presenting itself: How can those who live in this city and know about the calling and commission drive with contempt past the place God Himself has chosen? They are not rejecting a man, but God Himself, Who does all things according to His plan of Salvation. Of what use is it to them to speak about the message, about the prophet, about the rapture? Is that the perfect love of which the Apostle Paul and Brother Branham spoke, which never ends and finally will enter into Glory?

Whosoever denies the blessings of the glorious meetings we had in the seventies, which we experienced by the power of God, is in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The revolt happened only at the moment when the self-will of a person exalted itself over the anointing, over the Word and the Will of God. Whoever sincerely compares what the Lord Himself said with that what the enemy spread under false inspiration will quickly realise what is true and what is being fulfilled. We all have to learn from this great lesson for all the future. Right to the end we need and should pray for the gift of discernment. Whatever God says will be according to His Word and always serves for the up-building of the Church. What the enemy spreads and does will always lead to destruction. God only uses His servants. The enemy chooses whomever he finds to have the greatest influence and thereby aims to cause the most extensive damage. What was built up over many years with the help of God, Satan, the accuser of the brethren, tried to destroy in one day.