“… I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt. 16:18). The Lord has redeemed His Church, and He builds it upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). He has revealed His secret about His Church to His holy apostles and prophets (Eph. 3:4). The people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem have been exposed to the destructive wrath of their enemies. That is how it is with the Church from all nations, which is founded upon the apostolic Word that came forth from Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed 19 times, and the Jews were scattered throughout the entire world. They were persecuted and murdered. The earth is also soaked with the blood of the martyrs of Christ (Rev. 17:6).

In view of the internal situation of the Church, the Apostle Paul admonished the elders with these words: “… take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood …” (Acts 20:27-30). He foresaw that “wolves would enter in among them and not spare the flock” and that “from their own midst men would rise and preach heresies.” Both things happen: persecution from the outside and deception from the inside. The latter we experienced through Satan’s attack on the local church here, the place from which the Word went forth into all the world, when the evil one called upon all the forces of hell to destroy God’s work in 1979. We have already felt the effects of the foretold pressure and the religious persecution on certain occasions.

The mighty blessings we experienced here were almost comparable with those of the early church. The proclamation of the Word and the use of the spiritual gifts were in harmony. We often heard “Thus saith the Lord …” — and it was indeed so. There was an almost paradisiacal atmosphere in our meetings, and we were looking forward to the impending return of the Lord.

In the blessed time until Easter 1976, edifying and comforting prophecies came forth; for instance: “Behold, Thus saith the Lord: … My saints, my bride, gathered at this place where I have built my sanctuary … Behold, Thus saith the Lord: My people, I have chosen this place as my sanctuary … Behold, Thus saith the Lord: My people, oh, that your eyes would be opened and you could see the bow of my covenant which I have stretched out over this place … also in the pillar of cloud I am here and I am resting over the platform, I am with you …” Then the enemy sneaked in, beguiled and deceived.

During the meeting on June 5, 1976, I was compelled by another prophecy to ordain to the ministry a brother and his wife who had been mentioned by name. Thereafter, the thus saith the Lord still came forth frequently, but now it was the wrong inspiration under the influence of the serpent, as it came to light later on. It was not until that Saturday morning in November 1978, when the Lord urged me with an audible voice, “My Servant, search through the Book of Acts to see if ever a man and his wife were ordained to the ministry!” and I finally came to know that the prophecy, among other things, had been contrary to the Holy Scripture.

All of us, even the ministering brethren, were still greatly affected by the blessed time and certainly did not consider the possibility that the enemy would slip in under the cloak of piety and so cunningly avail himself of the same lips which had previously conveyed the Lord’s directives. Besides the spiritually gifted sister here, a supposed “prophetess” from Berlin and two esteemed brothers who did not attend the local church were also involved in this.

We shall not go into any further detail about the intentional destruction, the ensuing attempts at character assassination, the hatred and the enmity, which have torn apart marriages, entire families, and even congregations. The same sister renounced the church and took the written records of all the prophecies that had come forth from her lips, there were over 40 of them, tore them apart before my eyes, and threw them in the wastebasket. What followed must be left to the White Throne Judgement. Uncontrolled words were uttered, such as: “I must destroy you; I must destroy your work … if I stay with you, I cannot destroy you.” That was the direct influence of the enemy, who had enticed a woman to separate from her husband and choose to hire a divorce lawyer.

After the act of destruction, inconceivable words came from the same lips, even the statement: “Never again will I enter this building, not even if the dead should rise.” And behold, all who gave credence to this voice and let themselves get pulled into this gainsaying have separated from the church and are going their own way and have become despisers (Acts 13:41).

The enemy had come into the flock to smite the shepherd and to scatter the sheep. The worldwide effect thereof was that even ministering brethren became a prey to this corrupting influence, which explains why they are spreading corrupt teachings and participating in the character assassination of the one who bears the true Word of God. Still, this remains in effect for all eternity: “… the gates of hell shall not prevail against the true Church.”Now a new phase begins. The resurrecting power of our Lord will be manifested in His Own.

What happened in the Garden of Eden under the influence of the evil one in the natural realm and brought about the natural death, that also happened here in the spiritual realm and, God be merciful, caused the spiritual death of many precious souls. However, if the work of destruction had not taken place, then Satan as the angel of light would have continued his deception and the two different seeds would have never been manifested. God allowed the seduction in the Garden of Eden as well as here, for the sole purpose of putting an end to the intermingling. Nevertheless, we will only be able to correctly place it if we read Brother Branham’s sermon “Marriage and Divorce” once again and recognise why he had to go back to the beginning, to the beguiling of Eve and to what came thereafter, and why he had to confirm it with the thus saith the Lord.

We are confident that the heavenly Bridegroom will call out His earthly Bride and complete her preparation. God knew how He would carry out His plan of Salvation after what had happened in the Garden of Eden. He also knows why He allowed the events that unfolded here to come to pass. It was most certainly part of His perfect plan of Salvation for the end time.

Satan is obviously standing before the Church, as it is predicted for the last phase before the Rapture (Rev. 12). He initially succeeded in his ambition to bring irreparable reproach and shame upon the messenger and the message, for he was apparently permitted to sift out the Bride Church. However, we can rest assured that the wheat remains in the sifter. Only the chaff will be scattered in the winds of the many different doctrines. Everything that has occurred since the beginning of time is undoubtedly included in the plan of God, Who will now, at the end, destroy the works of the enemy, even bruise Satan under our feet shortly (Rom. 16:20), and victoriously complete His Work of Redemption unto the day of the Return of Christ. Jesus is the victor, and our faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1. Jn. 5:4); therefore, we expect His final work to conclude shortly in complete clarity and truth as the crowning ending to the plan of Salvation.

By God’s grace, all who belong to the Bride Church will listen solely to the voice of the Bridegroom, be brought back into the step, and thus experience their completion. A heavenly reward is awaiting the chosen ones for following the Lord under all circumstances to the very end. From now on, we shall no longer look back but rather declare, as Paul did in his epistle to the Philippians, “… I do forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (3:13-14).

With thanksgiving I can testify as the Apostle Paul did, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” (2. Tim. 4:17).

“… I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Mt. 16:18). The Lord has redeemed His Church, and He builds it upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). He has revealed His secret about His Church to His holy apostles and prophets (Eph. 3:4). The people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem have been exposed to the destructive wrath of their enemies. That is how it is with the Church from all nations, which is founded upon the apostolic Word that came forth from Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed 19 times, and the Jews were scattered throughout the entire world. They were persecuted and murdered. The earth is also soaked with the blood of the martyrs of Christ (Rev. 17:6).

 In view of the internal situation of the Church, the Apostle Paul admonished the elders with these words: “… take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood …” (Acts 20:27-30). He foresaw that “wolves would enter in among them and not spare the flock” and that “from their own midst men would rise and preach heresies.” Both things happen: persecution from the outside and deception from the inside. The latter we experienced through Satan’s attack on the local church here, the place from which the Word went forth into all the world, when the evil one called upon all the forces of hell to destroy God’s work in 1979. We have already felt the effects of the foretold pressure and the religious persecution on certain occasions.

 The mighty blessings we experienced here were almost comparable with those of the early church. The proclamation of the Word and the use of the spiritual gifts were in harmony. We often heard “Thus saith the Lord …” — and it was indeed so. There was an almost paradisiacal atmosphere in our meetings, and we were looking forward to the impending return of the Lord. 

In the blessed time until Easter 1976, edifying and comforting prophecies came forth; for instance: “Behold, Thus saith the Lord: … My saints, my bride, gathered at this place where I have built my sanctuary … Behold, Thus saith the Lord: My people, I have chosen this place as my sanctuary … Behold, Thus saith the Lord: My people, oh, that your eyes would be opened and you could see the bow of my covenant which I have stretched out over this place … also in the pillar of cloud I am here and I am resting over the platform, I am with you …” Then the enemy sneaked in, beguiled and deceived.

During the meeting on June 5, 1976, I was compelled by another prophecy to ordain to the ministry a brother and his wife who had been mentioned by name. Thereafter, the thus saith the Lord still came forth frequently, but now it was the wrong inspiration under the influence of the serpent, as it came to light later on. It was not until that Saturday morning in November 1978, when the Lord urged me with an audible voice, “My Servant, search through the Book of Acts to see if ever a man and his wife were ordained to the ministry!” and I finally came to know that the prophecy, among other things, had been contrary to the Holy Scripture.

All of us, even the ministering brethren, were still greatly affected by the blessed time and certainly did not consider the possibility that the enemy would slip in under the cloak of piety and so cunningly avail himself of the same lips which had previously conveyed the Lord’s directives. Besides the spiritually gifted sister here, a supposed “prophetess” from Berlin and two esteemed brothers who did not attend the local church were also involved in this.

We shall not go into any further detail about the intentional destruction, the ensuing attempts at character assassination, the hatred and the enmity, which have torn apart marriages, entire families, and even congregations. The same sister renounced the church and took the written records of all the prophecies that had come forth from her lips, there were over 40 of them, tore them apart before my eyes, and threw them in the wastebasket. What followed must be left to the White Throne Judgement. Uncontrolled words were uttered, such as: “I must destroy you; I must destroy your work … if I stay with you, I cannot destroy you.” That was the direct influence of the enemy, who had enticed a woman to separate from her husband and choose to hire a divorce lawyer.

After the act of destruction, inconceivable words came from the same lips, even the statement: “Never again will I enter this building, not even if the dead should rise.” And behold, all who gave credence to this voice and let themselves get pulled into this gainsaying have separated from the church and are going their own way and have become despisers (Acts 13:41).

The enemy had come into the flock to smite the shepherd and to scatter the sheep. The worldwide effect thereof was that even ministering brethren became a prey to this corrupting influence, which explains why they are spreading corrupt teachings and participating in the character assassination of the one who bears the true Word of God. Still, this remains in effect for all eternity: “… the gates of hell shall not prevail against the true Church.”  Now a new phase begins. The resurrecting power of our Lord will be manifested in His Own.

What happened in the Garden of Eden under the influence of the evil one in the natural realm and brought about the natural death, that also happened here in the spiritual realm and, God be merciful, caused the spiritual death of many precious souls. However, if the work of destruction had not taken place, then Satan as the angel of light would have continued his deception and the two different seeds would have never been manifested. God allowed the seduction in the Garden of Eden as well as here, for the sole purpose of putting an end to the intermingling. Nevertheless, we will only be able to correctly place it if we read Brother Branham’s sermon “Marriage and Divorce” once again and recognise why he had to go back to the beginning, to the beguiling of Eve and to what came thereafter, and why he had to confirm it with the thus saith the Lord.

We are confident that the heavenly Bridegroom will call out His earthly Bride and complete her preparation. God knew how He would carry out His plan of Salvation after what had happened in the Garden of Eden. He also knows why He allowed the events that unfolded here to come to pass. It was most certainly part of His perfect plan of Salvation for the end time.

Satan is obviously standing before the Church, as it is predicted for the last phase before the Rapture (Rev. 12). He initially succeeded in his ambition to bring irreparable reproach and shame upon the messenger and the message, for he was apparently permitted to sift out the Bride Church. However, we can rest assured that the wheat remains in the sifter. Only the chaff will be scattered in the winds of the many different doctrines. Everything that has occurred since the beginning of time is undoubtedly included in the plan of God, Who will now, at the end, destroy the works of the enemy, even bruise Satan under our feet shortly (Rom. 16:20), and victoriously complete His Work of Redemption unto the day of the Return of Christ. Jesus is the victor, and our faith is the victory that overcomes the world (1. Jn. 5:4); therefore, we expect His final work to conclude shortly in complete clarity and truth as the crowning ending to the plan of Salvation. 

By God’s grace, all who belong to the Bride Church will listen solely to the voice of the Bridegroom, be brought back into the step, and thus experience their completion. A heavenly reward is awaiting the chosen ones for following the Lord under all circumstances to the very end. From now on, we shall no longer look back but rather declare, as Paul did in his epistle to the Philippians, “… I do forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (3:13-14).

With thanksgiving I can testify as the Apostle Paul did, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” (2. Tim. 4:17).