Beloved Friends, Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

 This is Brother Frank speaking to you from the International Mission Center in Krefeld, Germany. It’s always a privilege to speak about the Lord, about His promises, about the second coming of Christ, including the evangelistic part, the teaching part, the prophetic part. And we do call this ministry “apostolic-prophetic”, because the Church of the Living God is based upon the Old and the New Testament. All the promises, given in the Old Testament, find their fulfilment in the course of the New Testament. And the Apostle Paul emphasizes and says, “We are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone.” And if we look into what the Apostle Paul has written to the churches in his day, like in Colossians, chapter 1, he speaks about the things, which are given to us in Christ, and Christ the Head of the Body of the Church. 

And, Friends, we have to have our personal experiences with the Lord. It cannot only be a teaching about being born again, it must be the experience. Everything must be connected to reality. And, Friends, if we speak about the second Coming of Christ, we must also speak about the calling out of the true elect, who are the only ones who hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. All the rest will listen to what the churches say, to what this church or the church you belong to says. And if you watch it carefully, those churches in apostolic times were under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And then, of course, after some years brothers came introducing different teachings. 

And, Friends, if we look into the beginning, Friends, just in the creation, as it was in the Garden of Eden, before humanity really started, the enemy came to visit in the Garden of Eden. And he had found somebody he could talk to. And, Friends, we have to understand: if we don’t obey the voice of God, we are going to obey the voice of the enemy. And the original Word of God is given unto us, by which we must live. And every interpretation is somehow against the original Word of God. 

Now, for instance, if I take this book, the Bible: I know that everything written in this book is from God and brings us back to God. No interpretations, no explanations, just the original Word of God. But if I take such a catechism and look from beginning to the end: these are the teachings of men, explanations, interpretations. And then if I would ask you, taking these two books, one into this hand, and one into this, what should I decide? The decision is already made: this one will be closed forever. And this will be opened forever. 

And, Friends, I have to emphasize, whether you like it or not, whether you agree or not: Now, before the Return of Christ, the New Testament believers, those who believe Christ, not only in Christ, but who believe what Christ said; not only believe in God, but believe what God said – Abraham did not just believe in God, he believed what God said and he saw the promise fulfilled. The same must be today. Everybody believes in God, but gives the explanations of a church or of his own. And, Friends, the time has come. Please be not angry. The time has come, like the Apostle Paul is writing in Galatians, chapter 1, that there is only one true Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. But he also writes, “Even if an angel from heaven would come and preach another gospel, he would be accursed.” 

And, Friends, today – I am not judging, I am saying this with a broken heart – everybody has changed the original Gospel, the original teachings. And I usually say: The first and the last sermon must be the same. The first and the last baptism in water must be the same. If I today baptize differently in comparison to the Apostle Peter, the Evangelist Philip or the Apostle Paul, if I baptize in a church tradition instead in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, where should I be placed? Where does the Bible place me? For instance, as we said in the last sermon, that all who baptized in the early church in apostolic days baptized according to the Great Commission given in Matthew 28 “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ”. Why? Because that is the New Testament covenant name. No other name on earth or under heaven is given to us except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Thou shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.”

So, the Apostle Peter understood by divine revelation that the name of Father, Son and Holy Ghost is the Lord Jesus Christ. And, Friends, if you just take the letter, the letter killeth, you have to have the Spirit to show you the meaning of what our Lord said. And therefore, you have to go from Matthew 28 to how the baptism was carried out throughout the Book of Acts and even Romans 6 and all the other times. But it can be preached a thousand times and people remain in their traditions. And again I have to say, that if we worship God our worship is in vain, if we remain in the doctrines of man and in the traditions, the religious traditions (Mark, chapter 7, verse 7). And you can even go back to Isaiah 29, where the same is being said. 

And here in Galatians, chapter 1, the Apostle Paul states in verse 10, “For do I now seek the favour of men, or of God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” How can I please men and God at the same time? It’s impossible. It’s impossible. So my decision by God’s grace is to please the Lord, my Saviour, who gave His life to save me, to save you, who shed His blood. We were precious in the eyes of God. And therefore, God was in Christ, reconciling the world with Himself. So, back to the original teachings! Back to the Bible! Back to the doctrines of the apostles! And, Friends, we have to search the Scriptures to be sure that we are not caught in our own ways, in our own will, in our own traditions. 

And also, not criticizing, but because I am travelling all over the earth. How many times – Should I say it or not? – I was asked, “Do you believe in the prosperity gospel?” I believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but I don’t believe in these “super-duper” evangelists who make merchandise, who make themselves millionaires, multi-millionaires, preaching a prosperity gospel, fooling the people. And, Friends, no, I have never preached about money, I never took an offering in my life, I never presented a program, not a single time in the past 47 and more years! No, I just preach the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, coming back again to the main thought, the Return of Christ, our preparation to meet the Bridegroom, when He comes, to be ready. We have to say this over and again. Matthew 25 will soon be history. 1 Corinthians 15 will soon be history. 1 Thessalonians 4 will soon be history. The Return of our Lord is imminent. The signs of the time speak such a loud and definite language that we cannot close our eyes or our ears to what is happening around the world. As our Lord foretold in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, as the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and to the Thessalonians repeatedly, what would be happening in the endtime: People would depart from the Truth. You can read all these chapters. 

But then again we have the promise that before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes, before the time of grace finishes, before the day of salvation ends, God has promised to send a prophetic message to bring us back to the Word of God. And, Friends, let me say this: When God made the promise to Abraham, “After 400 years I will bring your people out of bondage …”, when that time had come and the 400 years were passed, the Lord God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, gave him the commission, saying, “I heard the cry of My people. I remember My promise. I am sending you, and I am going with you.” If you go through the Old Testament, every time when God made a promise, He fulfilled that promise. And then, we see how the prophets were used of God, right up to Malachi, to foretell what would take place. And there we find the two promises: In chapter 3, “I will send My messenger before My face to prepare My way before me.”, but in chapter 4: “I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the great day comes.” The ministry of John the Baptist was 2,000 years ago, and the sun did not yet turn into darkness and the moon into blood. But the promise that God will send somebody like Elijah to restore all things … Would you open your Bible, would you be ready to read Matthew 17:11, “Verily, verily I say unto you: Elijah shall first come and restore all things.” 

Sure, it’s easy to say, “That was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist.” But John the Baptist in John, chapter 1, from verse 19, was asked, “Are you Christ?” He said, “No.” “Are you that prophet?” He said, “No, I am not.” “Are you the Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Who are you?” And in verse 23, he says, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Friends, every man of God knew his position, his part in the plan of salvation. And, I just have to share it with you: When Brother William Branham received the divine call, the divine commission, he was told, “As John the Baptist was to forerun the first coming of Christ, you are sent with a message that will forerun the second coming of Christ.” That was in June 1933. 

And now we are in 2010. And believe me, my beloved Friends, even on my last trip to Cambodia, to Phnom Penh, and to the neighbouring countries, especially Laos, and then you meet Full Gospel people, wonderful assemblies with music, wonderful, and they never ever heard about what God has done in our time; never heard about the promises for this day; but then claiming to worship God, to worship God. And some can sing for more than one hour. I was so discouraged to come to know that people are kept in the dark with music, with wonderful moving back and forth and claiming to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not deceive you! The Holy Spirit does not keep you in darkness! The Holy Spirit leads you into the promises of God, into the Truth of the Word of God! 

And therefore, if you don’t know what God promised for our time, if you don’t understand and don’t participate in what God is doing right now, how can you claim to be a child of God? how can you claim to be in the Kingdom of God? how can you claim to be in the Church of Jesus Christ? And how could you even claim to be part of the Bride of Jesus Christ, of whom the Scripture says in Revelation, chapter 19, verse 7, “And His Bride has made herself ready.”? Who are they, who are now listening to the voice, to the last message, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. Go ye out to meet Him.”? What does that mean, “Go out!”? We have to go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 6, “Ye, My people, come out from among them!” And, Friends, let me tell you this: We have to come out from all denominations, who are joining in the World Council of Churches and look back and go back to Rome. 

We are not going back to Rome; we are going back to Jerusalem, we are going back to the original teachings. And, Friends, you have to believe this. I say this in the Name of the Lord: We are not only in the endtime, we are at the end of the endtime, and the Return of Christ is imminent. Look to the Middle East! Look to Jerusalem! Look about the negotiations, what should be done and what should be agreed on. Look into all the earth! Look at Haiti! Look at Port au Prince! Look at the earthquakes, which have happened in the last few years. The whole earth is shaking. Look at the wars! Look at the terror! Every day, every day you have news. Something happens every day, every day. And our Lord said three times, “When you see all these things that I foretold, I predicted come to pass, then you know, the time is near, even at the door.”

And especially the gathering of the people of Israel from about 150 nations, returning to the promised land – And let me say this again: the ministry of the two prophets will be in Jerusalem, and they have to come back from all countries on earth to be there, when the promises will be fulfilled to them. And we from the nations must be in the promised Word for this day. We must have the chance to be included in what God is doing right now. We are coming out of all denominations, of all churches, believing the Word of God as the only absolute that we respect. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of God remains forever.”

So, dear Friends, let this not bypass you, let it be placed as a seed into your heart. Believe God. Believe the Scriptures. Prepare, prepare! To be ready for the moment when the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ will rise and we, who are alive, shall be changed, and together we shall be taken up. If you hear His voice now, then you will hear His voice at the moment He returns. If you don’t hear it now, you will not hear it then. 

May God bless you. May He be with you. I don’t wish to please men; I wish to please God. Receive His Word and His blessings. God be with you in Jesus’ holy Name. Amen.