“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa. 46:10).

As believers of the Bible we are convinced that God will accomplish His plan of Salvation in a marvellous way. Back then our Lord Jesus said to the believers, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out …” (Lk. 21:20-21). Please, pay close attention! They did that as soon as they saw the armies nearing the city. The well-known historian of that time, Josephus Flavius, wrote that all who believed in the Messiah left Jerusalem before it was destroyed in ad 70.

Our Lord further spoke about the things that would happen right toward the end. He mentioned the signs in the sun and in the moon, perplexity and distress among the nations, earthquakes and famines. Then He said in regard to Israel, “Behold the fig tree … So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” (Lk. 21; Mt. 24). We are the generation that sees all these things come to pass.

Now the Lord is also addressing the true believers – those who believe and accept His Word and vigilantly watch for the biblical prophecies in their fulfilment, “When ye shall hear of the negotiations about Jerusalem, then take heed. That is the time when all true believers come out and flee from the religious Babylon and return to the Lord and His Word of promise!” We most certainly live in a very special time period in which the biblical prophecies for the end time are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Everything points to the imminent Return of Christ, which no one and nothing can prevent.

Satan could not foil God’s plan in heaven; he could not hinder God’s plan in paradise. Satan could not prevent God’s plan with Israel, not even when he had all the Hebrew children put to death – Moses stayed alive, for he was ordained to be the prophet. The enemy did not succeed when Miriam and Aaron judged God’s servant and questioned whether he was the only one to whom God spoke (Num. 12). He could not spoil God’s plan with Israel when Korah and Dathan along with the 250 elders stood up against Moses, causing a split in the congregation of Israel (Num. 16). Yes, he was the only one to whom God appeared in the burning bush and whom God had ordained to be His prophet with a special commission! In spite of all the difficulties, he carried out his commission until he arrived with God’s people at the border of the Promised Land (Deut. 34). Then God continued His plan with Joshua.

Satan could not destroy God’s plan when Herod had all the children under two years of age killed because of the birth of the Redeemer. Satan could not prevent anything that was in God’s plan, not even when Judas betrayed our Lord. God always kept watch over all things and ensured that His plan came to fruition. His decision remains for ever valid. Thus saith our Lord, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That undoubtedly remains true until the day she appears without any spot or wrinkle in His presence in glory (Eph. 5:27).

Even the teachers of heresies that already presented themselves in the days of the apostles could not stand in the way of the plan of Salvation. Neither will the false prophets who make their appearance in the end time be successful in stopping God’s plan. The Apostle Peter wrote, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies …” (2. Pt. 2:1). He very clearly pointed out the danger. Even after the Apostle Paul had proclaimed the whole counsel of God, there were men who rose up and introduced heresies, thereby drawing some people away to follow after them (Acts 20:17-32). Until today simple believers are likewise pulled out of the Church and prevented from following Christ by getting drawn into following men who present wrong doctrines.

In the message to the Ephesians the angel of the church was told, “… thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” (Rev. 2:2). Regardless of the claims someone makes, if the proclamation of the Gospel does not agree with the doctrines of the apostles (Acts 2:42), then according to the testimony of the Holy Scripture they are heresies.

In the message to the church in Pergamos the Lord made a very serious complaint, “… thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam …” (Rev. 2:14). It is obvious that the teachings of Balaam were contrary to the doctrines of the apostles. One might deem it impossible that the enemy had found his way into the Church already at the very beginning in order to prevent the plan of Salvation. According to the testimony of the Scripture, the Church of Jesus Christ is the place of divine manifestation on earth, it is the Body of Christ, the pillar and foundation of the truth (1. Tim. 3:15). No lie originates in the truth (1. Jn. 2:21), it is always a perversion of the truth. For instance, a subject can be biblical, but what men say or write about it can be entirely unscriptural. That is the way it started in the Garden of Eden: Satan stayed with the subject, but not with the truth.

In the message to the angel of the church in Thyatira we read about another grievance, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants …” (Rev. 2:20). It certainly was known that God had placed only apostles, prophets, and teachers, etc., into His Church, but not prophetesses or female apostles and teachers. And yet it happened already during the time of the apostles that a woman presented herself as a prophetess and teacher, seducing the servants of God. It was the intention of the enemy right from the beginning to seduce God’s people.

Through the Prophet Ezekiel God already told us about the intolerable distress that the misuse of spiritual gifts puts on people; it is even killing precious souls. Thus saith the Lord, “Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?” (Eze. 13:17-18).

In the church of Thyatira the enemy used a woman who had the gift of prophecy to mislead God’s servants who were impressed by her gift. They were deceived because they did not have the gift of discernment. Even the men who bore the responsibility in the church looked up to her with respect and did not realise that they themselves, and consequently the church they had been entrusted with, had lost the respect toward the Word of God. The gift of prophecy does not make a woman a prophetess, much less a spiritual teacher. The four daughters of Philip had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21), but were not prophetesses.

Prophets placed by God into the Church are part of the fivefold ministry (Eph. 4:11). The gift of prophecy is one of the nine spiritual gifts (1. Cor. 12). In the Old Testament we read about the prophetess Miriam (Ex. 15), about a prophetess Deborah (Jud. 4), about a prophetess Huldah (2. Ki. 22), and about a prophetess that Isaiah took as his wife (Isa. 8:3), but not one of them had a ministry for the Church. The same was the case with the prophetess Anna, as reported in Lk. 2:36-38. All things pertaining to the plan of Salvation were revealed to His servants, the prophets and the apostles (Eph. 3:5; Rev. 10:7; a. o.). Ministries and gifts must be correctly placed into the divine order and must be left where they belong.

Satan will always interfere wherever the Spirit of God is doing something special in a church. And each time he does it with the same intentions: to destroy the divine order, to question and to twist what God has said, and to cause confusion and discredit the servants of God in order to disrupt the work and plan of God. Nevertheless, the counsel of God shall stand for ever. The Church of Jesus Christ will not be overcome by the powers of hell. The Lamb’s Bride may temporarily come out of step, as Brother Branham saw in a vision, but she cannot be deceived. She will be brought back into step and will be ready and sanctified to participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19).

Satan especially rages against the true Church and against Israel, for they do have a special part and purpose in the plan of Salvation. The world would have never heard about any children slain in the old Egypt, if Moses had not been ordained as a prophet for Israel right from his birth. There would never have been any children murdered at Bethlehem, if the Son of God had not been born there.

Let us take a look into our time: Satan left all the great evangelists and churches in peace. There was only one man who had to go through the most severe trials, even in his own church.

It was William Branham, who had been chosen from birth (Jer. 1:5) and consecrated to God right to the end of his life. At seven years of age, he heard a voice speaking to him from a whirlwind, coming from the top of a tree, “Don’t never smoke, or drink, or defile your body in any way. For there’ll be a work for you to do when you get older.” He was a promised prophet with a ministry directly connected to the divine plan of Salvation in the end time. The attacks came from the clergy of the various denominations, and they came because he, as a man sent from God, preached the true, biblical doctrines, which they could not fit into their denominational concepts.

The worst attack was when somebody that was close to him in the beginning reported him to the Internal Revenue Service. Brother Branham apparently did not know the earthly practices as well as he knew the spiritual things in the Kingdom of God. In his meetings people had put checks that were made out in his name into the offering. He signed them and they were used to pay the expenses of the individual meetings. Then a whole box of those checks was presented to him, and he was accused of having used the money privately without paying any income taxes. The amount in question was half a million dollars. The I.R.S. demanded over three hundred thousand dollars in back taxes. His passport was confiscated and he was not allowed to leave the country. The investigation went on for five years. He spoke to me about it and expressed his regret that he could not accept my invitation to join us for meetings in Germany together with David DuPlessis. The trip he had planned to Sydney, Australia, in 1959 also had to be cancelled because he could not leave the United States. He further told me in confidence the name of the brother who eventually paid the sum of forty thousand dollars on his behalf, the amount agreed upon by the lawyer and the I.R.S.

On November 28, 1963, Brother Branham, among other things, also spoke about the tax case. He said, “For five years now, I’ve wondered what was wrong. I felt in my heart like I was all crushed down with something, and I couldn’t make out what it was. During the time of this great crushing … And the government had me under an investigation … I Owed the government three hundred thousand dollars. And they wouldn’t let me leave, and I had to stay here. … Now, I felt like I was crushed, for the last four or five years …” If the greatest man of God in our time would not have had to fulfil the most important commission in connection with the plan of Salvation (Mal. 4:5-6; Mt. 17:11; Mk. 9:12), then Satan would have left him alone. Once again he said, “I had been feeling that horrible burden. I’ve cried. I’ve prayed. I’ve confessed. What can I do? What is it that I’ve done?”

The Prophet Jeremiah also had to experience even back then that his people were defaming him and wanted to report him. That is how it is written, “For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.” (Jer. 20:7-13). This can happen to every servant of God. Jealousy forces people to religious persecution, as it happened with Cain, who was a child of the evil one (1. Jn. 3:12). Our Lord foretold what would happen in this regard, “Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (Jn. 16:2). We can talk about all these things recorded in the Scriptures, but only when we experience them first-hand do we realise how very devastating the consequences really are.

We can talk about the fall of Lucifer and about his followers, whom he took down with him. We can talk about Eve and how she was deceived, and also about Adam, who was disobedient and therefore was pulled into the fall as well. We can further refer to what happened already in apostolic days in the churches, look back especially to the seven messages to the churches, but the issue at hand is not the past that is far behind us. Our concern now is what God is presently doing and also in what manner Satan sneaked in to disrupt God’s plan of Salvation in its end phase.

Many of you can still remember the mighty blessings that happened in the sixties and even more so in the seventies. After Brother Branham was taken home to glory, the end-time message went forth triumphantly from this place into all the world, just as God had ordained it from all eternity. The local church grew spiritually and also in numbers. The blessings of God were felt and experienced in every meeting. During that period of time, the Lord often spoke to us and unveiled the mysteries of His Word, as He had revealed them to His servant and prophet. People came from all over to hear the pure message, the true Word, and to have a personal experience with the resurrected Lord.

This almost “paradisiacal” state, however, did not please the enemy at all. So, toward the end of the seventies, he launched a vicious attack on the work and the local church, trying to destroy the harmony. With Eve the alteration of one word in Gen. 3 sufficed to pull all of humanity into the fall, as Brother Branham emphasised it many times. Here Satan tried to bring down God’s work with a fatal blow, through the mouths of those who had separated from the local church, by misusing and perverting one Scripture after the other and one quote after another. The main goal was to discredit and to destroy the servant whom God had ordained to carry His Word. Inconceivable accusations were invented, which even culminated in statements that labelled him as the antichrist, a sodomite, and the deceiver of the Bride. As is typical for an operation like that, it was all orchestrated and circulated behind his back. The Apostle Paul described the actions of such people quite clearly:

“Their throat is an open sepulchre;

with their tongues they have used deceit;

the poison of asps is under their lips:

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Destruction and misery are in their ways:

And the way of peace have they not known:

There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:13-18).

To reach his goal, Satan attacked the marriage by misusing and misinterpreting 1. Cor. 7. As though it were common practice, a woman who had separated from the church suddenly said to her husband, “I can separate from you – I just have to stay single; that is what the Apostle Paul said in 1. Cor. 7.” That was the satanic lie in connection with the planned destruction. However, that is not the way it is written at all, and before verse 11 there still is verse 10, wherein it is written, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the LORD, Let not the wife depart from her husband.” This was not the Apostle Paul speaking, but the Lord. Is that statement not clear enough? Is it not in agreement with all the other Scriptures that deal with this subject? Does it not coincide with what Brother Branham taught in accordance with the Lord’s command, especially in his sermon “Marriage and divorce”?

In verse 11 we are merely told, just in case it has already happened, “But if she departed, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband …” Not if she at some point in the future decides to depart or to file for divorce, but only when it has already happened, then she should remain alone or be reconciled with her husband. None of the other Scriptures that pertain to this subject were even taken into consideration. Satan only used one Scripture, exploiting a play on words with “separation” and “divorce.”

All who wish to partake in the Rapture must come out of this satanic deception they have succumbed to, whether they were influenced by hearsay or someone’s writing; they must be set free from that spell. Only then the divine order in the church, family, and marriage can be restored, starting with 1. Cor. 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

Just as all the people in Israel who were bitten by the fiery serpents had to look up to the brazen serpent to be healed, in like manner all who have been poisoned by the deadly venom of the serpent must now in faith look up to Christ, the Redeemer, for He is the One Who bruised the serpent’s head. Only by looking, in faith, to the crucified Saviour can they be healed from that deadly spiritual poison (Jn. 3:14-17).

Initially, it seemed as though all had come to an end here in the Mission Center. We had just finished putting up the two buildings, as the Lord had commanded on July 18, 1976, when all hell broke loose. However, God did not allow Satan to cross His plan and blessed us with a new beginning. He continued His Work according to His Will. Since then, millions of people around the world have heard the true Word, countless souls were saved and many were brought out of spiritual confusion. The preparation of the Bride Church continued, in accordance with the revealed Word.

A few years later, Satan initiated a second strike: On August 25, 1987, someone reported me to the tax revenue office for supposed tax evasion. Only after the conclusion of the proceedings did I find out that it was someone very close to me. Naturally, the officials will believe family members when they make such accusations. Unbeknownst to me, six other men were interrogated as witnesses – brothers who used to be part of the congregation. On account of what was recorded in the official transcript, on Monday, October 31, 1989 (reformation day), six men, revenue and police officers from Düsseldorf, arrived at the Mission Center before eight o‘clock in the morning. They searched all private rooms and offices, confiscated all documents and carted them off in boxes. I was being charged with 19 allegations. As a result, the non-profit status of the Mission Center was immediately revoked. They demanded the payment of 340,000 DM in corporation taxes and 220,000 DM in property taxes. We would never have been able to raise those amounts. From the human point of view, this seemed to be the end of the local church and the missionary work, once again.

Without any doubt, it was the Lord Himself Who led the director of the local tax office in Krefeld to speak for me, so that I was not taken into custody as it was originally planned. To the glory of God, I can say that during all the years of the investigation I did not have to cancel a single missionary trip and was able to continue my commission in faithfulness to the Lord. To the utter amazement of all the investigating officers, the lawyers and the courts, after years of thorough examinations there still was not a single irregularity to be found, neither in my private dealings nor in the Mission Center. In December 1999 the High Court in Düsseldorf finally pronounced the “not-guilty” verdict in my presence.

No one can imagine what I went through in all those years of that investigation. Over and over I had to face the accusations. Again and again I had to deal with the lawyers and with the tax revenue office. 

The largest local newspaper gave a detailed report about the victory in court with the headline

“Accusations against the Mission Center were rescinded”

The text underneath the photo reads like this, „Pastor Ewald Frank rejoices about the victory in the court. The “Freie Volksmission” – “Free People‘s Mission” has regained its nonprofit status.

The authorities have returned the confiscated documents.”

Still, in the end, we experienced anew the manifestation of the victory of the Lord. God was not only with His servant and prophet William Branham during the five years he was under investigation, He was also with me during the many years of the most severe trials. Satan tried with all his might to destroy the confidence in the bearer of the Word and thereby hinder the distribution of the pure end-time message. He could not succeed because the thus saith the Lord of June 11, 1933, still stands true today: “As John, the Baptist, was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, the message that is given you will be a forerunner of the second coming of Christ.” This message is what I continue to carry, by the authority of my divine commission and calling, since Brother Branham was taken to glory.

After a conversation with the person who falsely reported me, during which Rev. Pearry Green was also present, that individual reimbursed the Mission Center part of the related expenses by transferring 30,000 Euros. Yet, until today there is no sign of any feelings of guilt or remorse. Was it indeed final? Is there no going back possible? Will the offer of God’s grace continue to be rejected? Does what God said in the Old Testament no longer apply in the New Testament, specifically the statement, “Cursed be he that dishonoureth his father or his mother.”? (Deut. 27:16; Mk. 7:10). Will the character assassination and the murder of souls continue in view of the imminent Return of Christ? Will the enmity last to the very end? How can people who cannot even greet one another claim to be truly ready for the Rapture? Today I call upon all those who believe God’s message to start praying and fasting, so that God might put a stop to all the attacks of the enemy and complete His Work of grace in a wonderful way.

I do not complain and I do not accuse. I rejoice in the fact that, also, not one of the personal accusations is true (Mt. 5:10-12). If just one of them were true, then the Lord Himself would have made His first mistake when He commissioned me. God knows all things, and everyone must now decide whether to believe the words of God or those of the slanderers. The Apostle Paul dedicated an entire chapter, namely 2. Cor. 11, to recount all the trials he had to go through, as he had previously done in chapter 6. Today I can proclaim, just as he did in his time, “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).

In the early church the apostles and elders carried the responsibility for all doctrinal decisions (Acts 15; a. o.), for God has placed the different ministries only into the church, and they are given for the edification of the congregation. Furthermore, there was always only one local church in each of the different cities. Divisions are always the work of the enemy. In view of the impending Return of Jesus Christ, it must be emphasised that the believers at the beginning were under the direct guidance of the Holy Ghost and therefore very close to one another. There were no divisions back then, no false brethren, and no wrong teachings. We are now experiencing that we are being brought back to the very beginning. That is why all divisions, which are caused by strange teachings, must cease immediately, and solely the pure doctrines of the Bible must be proclaimed.

The unity of a local church is very important. Our Lord said, “A kingdom, a house - and certainly a church - divided against itself shall not stand …” and “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.”

During the time of the crisis, Brother Branham asked the congregation of the Tabernacle to give the following pledge, “I solemnly promise to support the Branham Tabernacle in all its programs directed by its Pastor Rev. William Branham. I promise not to speak against Bro. Branham or any of his programs and will rebuke any one that does such. I will stand by him right or wrong, as he stands for God. Amen.”

Thus saith the Lord, speaking to His Own, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together and come to thee …” (Isa. 49:16-18).

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa. 46:10).

As believers of the Bible we are convinced that God will accomplish His plan of Salvation in a marvellous way. Back then our Lord Jesus said to the believers, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out …” (Lk. 21:20-21). Please, pay close attention! They did that as soon as they saw the armies nearing the city. The well-known historian of that time, Josephus Flavius, wrote that all who believed in the Messiah left Jerusalem before it was destroyed in ad 70.

Our Lord further spoke about the things that would happen right toward the end. He mentioned the signs in the sun and in the moon, perplexity and distress among the nations, earthquakes and famines. Then He said in regard to Israel, “Behold the fig tree … So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” (Lk. 21; Mt. 24). We are the generation that sees all these things come to pass.

Now the Lord is also addressing the true believers – those who believe and accept His Word and vigilantly watch for the biblical prophecies in their fulfilment, “When ye shall hear of the negotiations about Jerusalem, then take heed. That is the time when all true believers come out and flee from the religious Babylon and return to the Lord and His Word of promise!” We most certainly live in a very special time period in which the biblical prophecies for the end time are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Everything points to the imminent Return of Christ, which no one and nothing can prevent.

Satan could not foil God’s plan in heaven; he could not hinder God’s plan in paradise. Satan could not prevent God’s plan with Israel, not even when he had all the Hebrew children put to death – Moses stayed alive, for he was ordained to be the prophet. The enemy did not succeed when Miriam and Aaron judged God’s servant and questioned whether he was the only one to whom God spoke (Num. 12). He could not spoil God’s plan with Israel when Korah and Dathan along with the 250 elders stood up against Moses, causing a split in the congregation of Israel (Num. 16). Yes, he was the only one to whom God appeared in the burning bush and whom God had ordained to be His prophet with a special commission! In spite of all the difficulties, he carried out his commission until he arrived with God’s people at the border of the Promised Land (Deut. 34). Then God continued His plan with Joshua.

Satan could not destroy God’s plan when Herod had all the children under two years of age killed because of the birth of the Redeemer. Satan could not prevent anything that was in God’s plan, not even when Judas betrayed our Lord. God always kept watch over all things and ensured that His plan came to fruition. His decision remains for ever valid. Thus saith our Lord, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” That undoubtedly remains true until the day she appears without any spot or wrinkle in His presence in glory (Eph. 5:27).

Even the teachers of heresies that already presented themselves in the days of the apostles could not stand in the way of the plan of Salvation. Neither will the false prophets who make their appearance in the end time be successful in stopping God’s plan. The Apostle Peter wrote, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies …” (2. Pt. 2:1). He very clearly pointed out the danger. Even after the Apostle Paul had proclaimed the whole counsel of God, there were men who rose up and introduced heresies, thereby drawing some people away to follow after them (Acts 20:17-32). Until today simple believers are likewise pulled out of the Church and prevented from following Christ by getting drawn into following men who present wrong doctrines.

In the message to the Ephesians the angel of the church was told, “… thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.” (Rev. 2:2). Regardless of the claims someone makes, if the proclamation of the Gospel does not agree with the doctrines of the apostles (Acts 2:42), then according to the testimony of the Holy Scripture they are heresies.

In the message to the church in Pergamos the Lord made a very serious complaint, “… thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam …” (Rev. 2:14). It is obvious that the teachings of Balaam were contrary to the doctrines of the apostles. One might deem it impossible that the enemy had found his way into the Church already at the very beginning in order to prevent the plan of Salvation. According to the testimony of the Scripture, the Church of Jesus Christ is the place of divine manifestation on earth, it is the Body of Christ, the pillar and foundation of the truth (1. Tim. 3:15). No lie originates in the truth (1. Jn. 2:21), it is always a perversion of the truth. For instance, a subject can be biblical, but what men say or write about it can be entirely unscriptural. That is the way it started in the Garden of Eden: Satan stayed with the subject, but not with the truth.

In the message to the angel of the church in Thyatira we read about another grievance, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants …” (Rev. 2:20). It certainly was known that God had placed only apostles, prophets, and teachers, etc., into His Church, but not prophetesses or female apostles and teachers. And yet it happened already during the time of the apostles that a woman presented herself as a prophetess and teacher, seducing the servants of God. It was the intention of the enemy right from the beginning to seduce God’s people.

Through the Prophet Ezekiel God already told us about the intolerable distress that the misuse of spiritual gifts puts on people; it is even killing precious souls. Thus saith the Lord, “Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?” (Eze. 13:17-18).

In the church of Thyatira the enemy used a woman who had the gift of prophecy to mislead God’s servants who were impressed by her gift. They were deceived because they did not have the gift of discernment. Even the men who bore the responsibility in the church looked up to her with respect and did not realise that they themselves, and consequently the church they had been entrusted with, had lost the respect toward the Word of God. The gift of prophecy does not make a woman a prophetess, much less a spiritual teacher. The four daughters of Philip had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21), but were not prophetesses.

Prophets placed by God into the Church are part of the fivefold ministry (Eph. 4:11). The gift of prophecy is one of the nine spiritual gifts (1. Cor. 12). In the Old Testament we read about the prophetess Miriam (Ex. 15), about a prophetess Deborah (Jud. 4), about a prophetess Huldah (2. Ki. 22), and about a prophetess that Isaiah took as his wife (Isa. 8:3), but not one of them had a ministry for the Church. The same was the case with the prophetess Anna, as reported in Lk. 2:36-38. All things pertaining to the plan of Salvation were revealed to His servants, the prophets and the apostles (Eph. 3:5; Rev. 10:7; a. o.). Ministries and gifts must be correctly placed into the divine order and must be left where they belong.

Satan will always interfere wherever the Spirit of God is doing something special in a church. And each time he does it with the same intentions: to destroy the divine order, to question and to twist what God has said, and to cause confusion and discredit the servants of God in order to disrupt the work and plan of God. Nevertheless, the counsel of God shall stand for ever. The Church of Jesus Christ will not be overcome by the powers of hell. The Lamb’s Bride may temporarily come out of step, as Brother Branham saw in a vision, but she cannot be deceived. She will be brought back into step and will be ready and sanctified to participate in the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19).

Satan especially rages against the true Church and against Israel, for they do have a special part and purpose in the plan of Salvation. The world would have never heard about any children slain in the old Egypt, if Moses had not been ordained as a prophet for Israel right from his birth. There would never have been any children murdered at Bethlehem, if the Son of God had not been born there.

Let us take a look into our time: Satan left all the great evangelists and churches in peace. There was only one man who had to go through the most severe trials, even in his own church.

It was William Branham, who had been chosen from birth (Jer. 1:5) and consecrated to God right to the end of his life. At seven years of age, he heard a voice speaking to him from a whirlwind, coming from the top of a tree, “Don’t never smoke, or drink, or defile your body in any way. For there’ll be a work for you to do when you get older.” He was a promised prophet with a ministry directly connected to the divine plan of Salvation in the end time. The attacks came from the clergy of the various denominations, and they came because he, as a man sent from God, preached the true, biblical doctrines, which they could not fit into their denominational concepts.

The worst attack was when somebody that was close to him in the beginning reported him to the Internal Revenue Service. Brother Branham apparently did not know the earthly practices as well as he knew the spiritual things in the Kingdom of God. In his meetings people had put checks that were made out in his name into the offering. He signed them and they were used to pay the expenses of the individual meetings. Then a whole box of those checks was presented to him, and he was accused of having used the money privately without paying any income taxes. The amount in question was half a million dollars. The I.R.S. demanded over three hundred thousand dollars in back taxes. His passport was confiscated and he was not allowed to leave the country. The investigation went on for five years. He spoke to me about it and expressed his regret that he could not accept my invitation to join us for meetings in Germany together with David DuPlessis. The trip he had planned to Sydney, Australia, in 1959 also had to be cancelled because he could not leave the United States. He further told me in confidence the name of the brother who eventually paid the sum of forty thousand dollars on his behalf, the amount agreed upon by the lawyer and the I.R.S.

On November 28, 1963, Brother Branham, among other things, also spoke about the tax case. He said, “For five years now, I’ve wondered what was wrong. I felt in my heart like I was all crushed down with something, and I couldn’t make out what it was. During the time of this great crushing … And the government had me under an investigation … I Owed the government three hundred thousand dollars. And they wouldn’t let me leave, and I had to stay here. … Now, I felt like I was crushed, for the last four or five years …” If the greatest man of God in our time would not have had to fulfil the most important commission in connection with the plan of Salvation (Mal. 4:5-6; Mt. 17:11; Mk. 9:12), then Satan would have left him alone. Once again he said, “I had been feeling that horrible burden. I’ve cried. I’ve prayed. I’ve confessed. What can I do? What is it that I’ve done?”

The Prophet Jeremiah also had to experience even back then that his people were defaming him and wanted to report him. That is how it is written, “For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.” (Jer. 20:7-13). This can happen to every servant of God. Jealousy forces people to religious persecution, as it happened with Cain, who was a child of the evil one (1. Jn. 3:12). Our Lord foretold what would happen in this regard, “Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (Jn. 16:2). We can talk about all these things recorded in the Scriptures, but only when we experience them first-hand do we realise how very devastating the consequences really are.

We can talk about the fall of Lucifer and about his followers, whom he took down with him. We can talk about Eve and how she was deceived, and also about Adam, who was disobedient and therefore was pulled into the fall as well. We can further refer to what happened already in apostolic days in the churches, look back especially to the seven messages to the churches, but the issue at hand is not the past that is far behind us. Our concern now is what God is presently doing and also in what manner Satan sneaked in to disrupt God’s plan of Salvation in its end phase.

Many of you can still remember the mighty blessings that happened in the sixties and even more so in the seventies. After Brother Branham was taken home to glory, the end-time message went forth triumphantly from this place into all the world, just as God had ordained it from all eternity. The local church grew spiritually and also in numbers. The blessings of God were felt and experienced in every meeting. During that period of time, the Lord often spoke to us and unveiled the mysteries of His Word, as He had revealed them to His servant and prophet. People came from all over to hear the pure message, the true Word, and to have a personal experience with the resurrected Lord.

This almost “paradisiacal” state, however, did not please the enemy at all. So, toward the end of the seventies, he launched a vicious attack on the work and the local church, trying to destroy the harmony. With Eve the alteration of one word in Gen. 3 sufficed to pull all of humanity into the fall, as Brother Branham emphasised it many times. Here Satan tried to bring down God’s work with a fatal blow, through the mouths of those who had separated from the local church, by misusing and perverting one Scripture after the other and one quote after another. The main goal was to discredit and to destroy the servant whom God had ordained to carry His Word. Inconceivable accusations were invented, which even culminated in statements that labelled him as the antichrist, a sodomite, and the deceiver of the Bride. As is typical for an operation like that, it was all orchestrated and circulated behind his back. The Apostle Paul described the actions of such people quite clearly:

“Their throat is an open sepulchre;

with their tongues they have used deceit;

the poison of asps is under their lips:

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Destruction and misery are in their ways:

And the way of peace have they not known:

There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:13-18).

To reach his goal, Satan attacked the marriage by misusing and misinterpreting 1. Cor. 7. As though it were common practice, a woman who had separated from the church suddenly said to her husband, “I can separate from you – I just have to stay single; that is what the Apostle Paul said in 1. Cor. 7.” That was the satanic lie in connection with the planned destruction. However, that is not the way it is written at all, and before verse 11 there still is verse 10, wherein it is written, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the LORD, Let not the wife depart from her husband.” This was not the Apostle Paul speaking, but the Lord. Is that statement not clear enough? Is it not in agreement with all the other Scriptures that deal with this subject? Does it not coincide with what Brother Branham taught in accordance with the Lord’s command, especially in his sermon “Marriage and divorce”?

In verse 11 we are merely told, just in case it has already happened, “But if she departed, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband …” Not if she at some point in the future decides to depart or to file for divorce, but only when it has already happened, then she should remain alone or be reconciled with her husband. None of the other Scriptures that pertain to this subject were even taken into consideration. Satan only used one Scripture, exploiting a play on words with “separation” and “divorce.”

All who wish to partake in the Rapture must come out of this satanic deception they have succumbed to, whether they were influenced by hearsay or someone’s writing; they must be set free from that spell. Only then the divine order in the church, family, and marriage can be restored, starting with 1. Cor. 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”

Just as all the people in Israel who were bitten by the fiery serpents had to look up to the brazen serpent to be healed, in like manner all who have been poisoned by the deadly venom of the serpent must now in faith look up to Christ, the Redeemer, for He is the One Who bruised the serpent’s head. Only by looking, in faith, to the crucified Saviour can they be healed from that deadly spiritual poison (Jn. 3:14-17).

Initially, it seemed as though all had come to an end here in the Mission Center. We had just finished putting up the two buildings, as the Lord had commanded on July 18, 1976, when all hell broke loose. However, God did not allow Satan to cross His plan and blessed us with a new beginning. He continued His Work according to His Will. Since then, millions of people around the world have heard the true Word, countless souls were saved and many were brought out of spiritual confusion. The preparation of the Bride Church continued, in accordance with the revealed Word.

A few years later, Satan initiated a second strike: On August 25, 1987, someone reported me to the tax revenue office for supposed tax evasion. Only after the conclusion of the proceedings did I find out that it was someone very close to me. Naturally, the officials will believe family members when they make such accusations. Unbeknownst to me, six other men were interrogated as witnesses – brothers who used to be part of the congregation. On account of what was recorded in the official transcript, on Monday, October 31, 1989 (reformation day), six men, revenue and police officers from Düsseldorf, arrived at the Mission Center before eight o‘clock in the morning. They searched all private rooms and offices, confiscated all documents and carted them off in boxes. I was being charged with 19 allegations. As a result, the non-profit status of the Mission Center was immediately revoked. They demanded the payment of 340,000 DM in corporation taxes and 220,000 DM in property taxes. We would never have been able to raise those amounts. From the human point of view, this seemed to be the end of the local church and the missionary work, once again.

Without any doubt, it was the Lord Himself Who led the director of the local tax office in Krefeld to speak for me, so that I was not taken into custody as it was originally planned. To the glory of God, I can say that during all the years of the investigation I did not have to cancel a single missionary trip and was able to continue my commission in faithfulness to the Lord. To the utter amazement of all the investigating officers, the lawyers and the courts, after years of thorough examinations there still was not a single irregularity to be found, neither in my private dealings nor in the Mission Center. In December 1999 the High Court in Düsseldorf finally pronounced the “not-guilty” verdict in my presence.

No one can imagine what I went through in all those years of that investigation. Over and over I had to face the accusations. Again and again I had to deal with the lawyers and with the tax revenue office.

The largest local newspaper gave a detailed report about the victory in court with the headline

“Accusations against the Mission Center were rescinded”

The text underneath the photo reads like this, „Pastor Ewald Frank rejoices about the victory in the court. The “Freie Volksmission” – “Free People‘s Mission” has regained its nonprofit status.

The authorities have returned the confiscated documents.”

Still, in the end, we experienced anew the manifestation of the victory of the Lord. God was not only with His servant and prophet William Branham during the five years he was under investigation, He was also with me during the many years of the most severe trials. Satan tried with all his might to destroy the confidence in the bearer of the Word and thereby hinder the distribution of the pure end-time message. He could not succeed because the thus saith the Lord of June 11, 1933, still stands true today: “As John, the Baptist, was sent to forerun the first coming of Christ, the message that is given you will be a forerunner of the second coming of Christ.” This message is what I continue to carry, by the authority of my divine commission and calling, since Brother Branham was taken to glory.

After a conversation with the person who falsely reported me, during which Rev. Pearry Green was also present, that individual reimbursed the Mission Center part of the related expenses by transferring 30,000 Euros. Yet, until today there is no sign of any feelings of guilt or remorse. Was it indeed final? Is there no going back possible? Will the offer of God’s grace continue to be rejected? Does what God said in the Old Testament no longer apply in the New Testament, specifically the statement, “Cursed be he that dishonoureth his father or his mother.”? (Deut. 27:16; Mk. 7:10). Will the character assassination and the murder of souls continue in view of the imminent Return of Christ? Will the enmity last to the very end? How can people who cannot even greet one another claim to be truly ready for the Rapture? Today I call upon all those who believe God’s message to start praying and fasting, so that God might put a stop to all the attacks of the enemy and complete His Work of grace in a wonderful way.

I do not complain and I do not accuse. I rejoice in the fact that, also, not one of the personal accusations is true (Mt. 5:10-12). If just one of them were true, then the Lord Himself would have made His first mistake when He commissioned me. God knows all things, and everyone must now decide whether to believe the words of God or those of the slanderers. The Apostle Paul dedicated an entire chapter, namely 2. Cor. 11, to recount all the trials he had to go through, as he had previously done in chapter 6. Today I can proclaim, just as he did in his time, “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).

In the early church the apostles and elders carried the responsibility for all doctrinal decisions (Acts 15; a. o.), for God has placed the different ministries only into the church, and they are given for the edification of the congregation. Furthermore, there was always only one local church in each of the different cities. Divisions are always the work of the enemy. In view of the impending Return of Jesus Christ, it must be emphasised that the believers at the beginning were under the direct guidance of the Holy Ghost and therefore very close to one another. There were no divisions back then, no false brethren, and no wrong teachings. We are now experiencing that we are being brought back to the very beginning. That is why all divisions, which are caused by strange teachings, must cease immediately, and solely the pure doctrines of the Bible must be proclaimed.

The unity of a local church is very important. Our Lord said, “A kingdom, a house - and certainly a church - divided against itself shall not stand …” and “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.”

During the time of the crisis, Brother Branham asked the congregation of the Tabernacle to give the following pledge, “I solemnly promise to support the Branham Tabernacle in all its programs directed by its Pastor Rev. William Branham. I promise not to speak against Bro. Branham or any of his programs and will rebuke any one that does such. I will stand by him right or wrong, as he stands for God. Amen.”

Thus saith the Lord, speaking to His Own, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together and come to thee …” (Isa. 49:16-18).