Wake-up Call - Has the Countdown begun?

“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and for ever.” (Heb. 13:8)

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Dear Friends of the Mission,

I greet all of you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In view of the current events, I have chosen the following introductory statement:

“Behold, I have told you before.” (Mt. 24:25).

Surely, everyone noticed the extraordinary events which took place in August 2005. Indeed, we are now visibly experiencing the fulfilment of the predicted end-time events. Bible prophecy informs us about present and future happenings. So that nobody can say, “Things like these have always been going on!”, more and more incidents will befall the earth, exceeding in magnitude anything known thus far. At the first coming of Christ, in Israel everything that was predicted for that generation was fulfilled. Now being fulfilled worldwide is what was predicted and announced for the end-time period.

The entire world is increasingly looking to Israel, which is drawing attention amidst the Middle East peace process. According to Bible prophecy, the Jews were to come out from all the nations “at the end of days” and gather in the country of their forefathers (Isa. 14:1; Jer.
31:1-10; Ezek. 36:24; a. o.). The man of God, William Branham, emphasised the following, “If you wish to know the time of the day, look at your watch. If you’d like to know the day of the week, look at the calendar. If you want to know the progress of time, look at Israel.” For the »chosen people« and the »chosen land« there are special promises. There are also special promises for the »chosen ones of the New Testament Church«. Everything that will happen before the Bride Church is taken up to the marriage supper in heaven and all that will take place afterward is already written. Then we find predictions in the Holy Scriptures pointing to the end-time events in general, and also the ones very specifically showing forth the last empire, the Roman world empire (Dan. 2:36-45; Dan. 7:19-26; Rev. 13; Rev. 17; a. o.), which is embodied in the »European Union«. Furthermore, we read about the Northern Powers (Ezek. 38; a. o.) and about the Kings of the East (Rev. 16:12; a. o.) which will not join the European Union (Rev. 17:17), unlike the 10 nations which recently signed up. There are countries that will not submit their power to this Union, because they have a task to fulfil in the final execution of God’s judgement.

Almost daily we hear about various things striking the earth which disturb us deeply. We shall only deal briefly with the following events:

Firstly: the devastating natural disasters,

Secondly: the joint ten-day manoeuvre by Russia and China,

Thirdly: the Pope’s visit to Germany,

Fourthly: the evacuation from the Gaza Strip.

Our question is always, “What does the scripture say about a biblical subject and what does it say about the current events?” People always have their opinions, but no one who is earnestly searching for the truth will really be interested in them. Our approach to end-time events must be the same as when we are dealing with biblical subjects: We need guidance from the Holy Scripture. Therein we find the only right answer. Well-meant Christian journalism should not interest us, for thereby only someone’s opinions are circulated among the people. We need the word of prophecy, which upon its revelation becomes a brightly shining light for us in the darkness (2. Pet. 1:19; a. o.).

Especially in Mt. 24, Mk. 13 and Lk. 21 our Lord made predictions of the things which would come upon the earth before His return. He drew our attention to the signs of the end-time, of which we must take heed. Back then the apostles were asking, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” And Jesus answered and said unto them, “Take heed that no man deceive you …”  (Mt. 24:3-4).

After speaking of wars, famines, and earthquakes in Mt. 24, He said in verse 8, “And all these are the beginning of sorrows.” and then in verse 33, “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” The same words are found in Mk. 13:29. Then we have the admonition in reference to the spiritual realm, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  (Mt. 24:11).

In Luke 21, starting with verse 25, we find this announcement, “… and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring …” Thereafter our Lord says “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth near.” (v. 28). It has already begun to happen and worse things are yet to come.

In Rev. 15 and 16 the final apocalyptic judgements are described. Initially it states, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is completed the wrath of God.” We read about the beginning of the woes, which continue to grow in intensity, and then we are also told about the completion of the wrath of God in the short time period of the great tribulation before Christ, our Lord, starts His Kingdom.

The four special events that we will refer to caused a variety of responses. Those who were directly affected fell into perplexity, fearing what might come next and were asking, “Why does God allow these things to happen? Why did it happen to us?” Those who were spared continued on as usual. The ones who believe according to the Scriptures look upon these natural catastrophes as special signs and recognise thereby that the return of Christ is drawing near. They do not succumb to despair or perplexity; instead they lift up their heads and look up, for their redemption draws near. They do not fearfully wait for the West Coast of the USA along the San Andreas fault line to slide into the ocean on account of a mighty earthquake. Now is the time to call out, “Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!”

In December 2004 the whole world witnessed the catastrophic impact of the Tsunami flood-waves in Southeast Asia. During the Summer of 2005 we first witnessed the floods in Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, then in Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, and France. The floods were so immense that many lives were taken and the resulting damage was estimated to be in the millions. In other parts of the continent we had terrible forest fires that destroyed large areas.

Then the whole world heard the reports coming from the USA, especially from New Orleans and the three states that were impacted the most. It surpassed in magnitude anything we have heard of so far. An area the size of Great Britain was devastated by the storm and floodwaters. Millions were directly affected, hundreds lost their lives. President George W. Bush declared that never before had America been struck this hard by the forces of nature. One headline stated, “That is the fist of God!”, another, “Katrina is the consequence of the wrath of God!” Not just an indication with a finger, not a simple gesture of the hand, but a blow with the fist!

Now we need to ask who understood that great lesson. What about the renowned TV-Evangelists, what about the politicians of the USA, the majority of which not only claim to be Protestants, but supposedly fundamentalists who believe the Bible? There are Methodists, Baptists, even Pentecostals among them. How can they justify the actions of the Bush administration, especially the war in Iraq? How can the acclaimed TV-Evangelist Pat Robertson, at a breakfast in the White House, say, “It is much cheaper to have Fidel Castro and Roberto Chavez killed than to have another costly war like in Iraq, where over 200 billion dollars have already been spent.”? Violence cannot be fought with violence! That will lead to a terrible revenge! What Bro. Branham saw in a vision in 1933 will one day come to pass. He looked all over America and saw it destroyed by a military attack.

Would not our Lord have to exclaim with woefulness, “O America, America, thou confesses with your lips that more than 50 % of your 280 million inhabitants are born-again Christians. How often has God called and gathered you in the greatest revival of all times! How often has He shown you what mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation mean! How often have the supernatural works of God been manifested publicly by the extraordinary ministry of William Branham in the years 1946–1965 from coast to coast, especially in California and Louisiana!”? Would the Lord not have to look to America today and say, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Mt. 23:37) and state as He did then about Capernaum, where He lived, “If the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” (Mt. 11:23)? The final strike at the end of this age will be against Israel, which by the Islamic world is called “the small Satan”, and against the USA, which they call “the big Satan”.

Now we will move on to the second point. According to Bible prophecy, the last great battle is known as Armageddon. Gog and Magog, Mesech and Thubal, the nations of the North find special mention. In Ezekiel 38 we can read several times about this, “… out of the north parts, and many people with thee …” And then it even states, “In the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.” (v. 1-10). The prophet was to prophesy once more, about the peoples that dwell in the northern-most parts and would come as a mighty army. That army shall include the Islamic nations: Persia – Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, etc. (v. 5). Again the emphasis is made, “… it shall be in the latter days …” (vv. 14-16).

We all took note of the joint ten-day military exercise conducted by Russia and China in August 2005, an exercise that included their combined air force, fleets, and ground troops. In the last battle the Kings of the East will fight alongside of the armies coming from the North. The Russian bear and the Chinese dragon are united, as the headlines told us, “to efficiently fight the terror and secure world peace”. Of course, they did not tell us how this would be achieved. Whoever looks at the world map finds that the site of the exercise, the city Vladivostok, which was mentioned specifically in the news, is indeed situated in the extreme North when viewed geographically from Israel and is only a few miles away from the Chinese border. The exercise had just been completed when Russia announced that the same manoeuvre would soon be executed in cooperation with India. Something is developing in that region. Whoever reads Rev. 16, from verse 12, understands that for the Kings of the East – where the sun rises – the way has to be cleared along the Euphrates River. In Rev. 9:13-21 we read about the four judgement angels who are bound at the River Euphrates in Iraq. They will be set free during the tribulation time and then the third part of humanity will be killed.

Now we must address all Bible-believing brothers and sisters and pose this question: If those things which will happen after the return of Jesus Christ are obviously in preparation, then how very close must the rapture be? Indeed, we should heed the admonition of our Lord, we should take to heart and be moved by what He said, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth near.”, for, “Behold, I have told you before.”

Now we will get to our third point: The pope’s visit to Germany was more than just a media happening. It is becoming visible to all the world that a man is being made the focal point in place of Christ and is being celebrated. A US-magazine asked the following, “Who is the most important man on earth? The US-president, the pope, or Bill Gates?” As the saying goes, “There are no foolish questions, only foolish answers.” This time it does not apply. George W. Bush has become the most despised US-president of them all. Bill Gates, who revolutionised the computer world, is the richest man on earth, but he has no political or religious influence at all. The pope, however, is undoubtedly the most influential man on earth to whom all religious and political personalities heed and look up to. Therefore, the papacy is in control of the world government by way of globalisation and the world unification process.

Various subjects were discussed when the head of the Roman Catholic Church visited his homeland. One of them was the open wound that has been in existence since the Reformation, separating the Protestant and the Catholic churches. In Rev. 13 we read about this wound, specifically about the wound inflicted by a sword – the Word of God is the spiritual sword –, which was healed. This is now very obviously taking place. What happened in Cologne on August 19^th at the Rhine River has stunned Bible believers. There three hundred thousand young people who had gathered from all over the world shouted together with one voice, “Holy Father, we will not let you go, except you bless us!” We are reminded of the urgent warning our Lord gave, “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Mt. 23:9). It was Jacob who met the Lord God personally and was wrestling with Him, crying with all his heart, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” (Gen. 32:22-32). At the world youth day, a gathering of Catholic youths from all over, the objective was not to experience God through Christ in a scriptural way, but rather to have a religious experience with the pope. The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Jewish synagogue in Cologne on August 20^th has contributed to the improvement of the relationship between the Catholic Church and Judaism, which is very, very strained on account of the events of the past.

According to the Scriptures only God can bless us. However, all these things are in line with the end-time developments: The big falling-away from God and the utter dependence upon a man who claims to be on earth instead of Christ is becoming more and more obvious. The house the pope was born in has already become a cult site. Villages are made into pilgrim places. The Polish Pope John Paul II who died recently is already being called upon as a saint in his birthplace Wadowice and throughout Poland. People do not know that such “prayers” are not addressed to God but to the deceased. They do not realise that it is a religious cult and in no way a worship of God as testified of in the Scriptures. Our Lord said, “God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (Jn. 4:24).

It is absolutely unthinkable that someone in Israel would have called on Abraham or Moses or any of the prophets after they died. It is equally inconceivable that anyone in the days of the apostles would have called upon Peter, James, or John after their passing. That is a man-made, heathen cult that can never happen in Israel or in the New Testament Church. It is indeed a religious misguidance to which many people in different religions have fallen prey. In this matter none of the well-worded, “Christian”-cloaked statements can deceive those who know their God and the Scriptures. The eternal God Who alone has immortality will share His Glory with no mortal man! The testimony of the apostles is this, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …” (Eh. 1:3; a. o.). There is no “Hail Mary …”, etc.

God only came to us in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, Who died for us in our stead. He alone is the way, the truth, and eternal life, and no one on earth cometh to the Heavenly Father except through His only begotten Son, through Whom He revealed Himself personally. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins …“ (Col. 1:14). The true testimony of the Holy Scripture must be made known unto the world by the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. God’s Salvation is not found in any church or religion and no other name on earth has been given to mankind for its salvation except Jesus Christ, our Lord. There really is only one God and only one Mediator (1. Tim. 2: 5). There is only one Advocate with the Father (1. Jn. 2:1) and only one Redeemer. As harsh as it may sound, everything else is merely a religious tradition by which people never come into a personal fellowship with God. Whoever does not personally experience the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, the justification, and the new birth has no personal relationship with God. Then it is only a sanctimonious relationship with the church, dependant upon people and their religious pretences. The only true, divine message is not a church message, it is not a message of dignitaries, but the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord, which must now be preached as a witness to all nations before the end comes. That was also foretold by our Lord (Mt. 24:14; Rev. 14:6; a. o.).

Now we move on to point four. The evacuation of the Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip was very painful for them. It did not help the Rabbis to embrace the Torah and defend their synagogues. The 21 settlements were evacuated with military force. According to the Scripture, the Gaza Strip never became a part of the Promised Land, because it was not occupied by the Israelites in the days of Joshua. The Gaza Strip will be destroyed by a military action and thereafter will be part of the tribe of Judah. “For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the Lord is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah …” (Zeph. 2:4-7).

Before this prophecy is fulfilled and the destruction of the Gaza Strip takes place, the evacuation of the Israelites had to happen, so that they will not be destroyed in that predicted judgement. Only thereafter will Israel live within the boundaries that God ordained, only then will the divine order be in force. Now is also the time for all who belong to the Church of the living God to be placed back into the divine salvation order and to forsake all unbiblical soil.

In the time of Joshua the Lord God fulfilled the promise He had given to Abraham. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” (Josh. 1:3). Taking possession of the Promised Land was a great victory, a triumphant procession by Israel. The Word of the Covenant was in the Arc of the Covenant, carried by the priests. The sound of the trumpets was heard, the River Jordan divided, the walls of Jericho fell. The sun and the moon remained in their places for an entire day, until God’s victory was mani-fested. Unfortunately, that was also when the disappointing part started, for at the time of Joshua the Gaza strip was not fully conquered. That piece of land has remained with the enemies of Israel and has been an ill-fated stumbling block to Israel until this day. Samson was the first one to experience the deceptiveness of the Philistines in Gaza (Judges 13-16).

Promises of God are something very precious, but they must courageously be claimed by faith. This also applies to the believers of the New Covenant. All the promises of God are “Yeah” and “Amen” in Christ, but, as it is written, “… through us.” (2. Cor. 1:20). The believers must claim every promise and conquer the enemy right then and there. What we do not claim for ourselves by faith remains with the enemy and from the area which we have not conquered the enemy will attack us. Faith is our victory and must be manifested on the grounds of what God promised to us.

In Joshua 13 we read, “… and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. This is the land that yet remaineth: all the borders of the Philistines …” Then Gaza, Ashdod, and Ashkelon are mentioned, right to Apek in the North. The historical land of the Philistines is the forty-three-kilometres-long Gaza Strip of today. It was already mentioned in connection with Abraham, who for a while lived in Gerar (Gen. 20). Isaac lived there as well and both of them met with the King of the Philistines, Abimelech (Gen. 26).

In Judges 2 we find the most important lesson about the fulfilment of God’s promises. When they are claimed by faith, the enemies are conquered. If they stay unfulfilled, the enemies remain and make our lives difficult. That is also a great lesson for the believers of the New Testament Church. It is of great significance: Only what we claim with God’s help as our possession, based on the promises in the spiritual and the natural realm, will God indeed give to us. Everything that does not come under the divine influence will be our temptation. For thus saith the Lord, “I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down the altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.“ (vv. 1-5). God remains faithful, He cannot break His Covenant, He cannot take back a single promise. Therefore it is written, “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.” (Josh. 21:45).

That is how it is with the New Testament Church. God made a New Covenant through the Blood of the Lamb. God will not break His Covenant for all eternity; all promises are “Yeah” and “Amen”. They must be claimed by faith, without compromise, and become a reality with us. God did not want Israel to intermingle with the inhabitants of the land and did not want them to use their altars for sacrifices. God wanted His people to be in His country on His promised soil to serve Him alone. The land not occupied by the children of Israel and the promises we do not claim and experience for ourselves will be a fateful pitfall for us.

This happened on account of their worship of the gods of those nations, “And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.“ (Judges 2:20-23).

The lesson we learn from this is that God can only be with us if we believe His promises, claim them by faith, and experience them personally. Before His ascension to heaven, the Lord gave the pivotal promise to His Church and for the service therein, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Lk. 24:49).

“And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost …” (Acts
1:4-5).

As the Church of the living God we have one main promise for our time with view to the Return of Christ (Jn. 14). In connection with this promise we are told that Elijah would come first to turn the hearts of God’s children back to the faith and teachings of the apostles at the beginning. This was to happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes (Mal. 4:5-6). This promise is so vitally important that our Lord referred to it in Mt. 17:11 and also in Mk. 9:12. After the ministry of John the Baptist had been completed, He said, “Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” We do not permit anyone to take this promise from us or to question it. We know John the Baptist had his special ministry two thousand years ago and came forth in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was the fulfilment of Isa. 40:3 and Mal. 3:1. Now, at the end of the time of grace, before the Day of the Lord, before the judgements strike, before the world goes up in flames, God indeed has sent a prophet, as He promised. All who belong to God will claim and believe this promise and by faith partake in what God is presently doing. When someone does not by faith accept a promise God made, even if he claims to be a believer, he will find himself battling the advances of the enemy until the end. God’s Word and God’s promises must not be interpreted, they must be claimed by faith and experienced in reality.

Now, let’s be honest! What about the many groups within the end-time message that with their lips confess to believe the promise of Malachi 4, speak of the rapture, but do not actually experience the fulfilment of that promise themselves?

What about the calling-out, the separation, the preparation of the Bride Church? Should not the message of restoration precede the actual fulfilment of the same?

What about our personal experience of the promises made to us?

What about staking claim to all of the things the Church had at the beginning and that were subsequently lost?

What about the walk with God in full agreement with His Word?

What about the perfect love without which no one will enter into glory?

How long will it take until we reach the same state the original Church was in at the very beginning?

How long shall God’s people wait for the total restoration, as promised to us and preached through the end-time message?

Should we not now, when we see all these events unfold, be forced to recognise that the Church of the firstborn, the true elect, must become one heart and one soul, as it was in the beginning?

Should we not all first experience Acts 2, that is receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit – the power of God – the life of God? Thereupon all other promises that God made will have to follow suit. For thus saith the Lord, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zech. 4:6). Also very important is the promise in Acts 3, that Jesus Christ remains in heaven until the time of restitution of all things has come, as God has promised by the mouths of all His holy prophets since the beginning of time (v. 21).

And finally, one very important statement made by Bro. Branham, “Look to the promises God gave this body. Now, His body is to do the same, because the body is – the Head and body is together. Is that right? If Christ is the Head, was the Word, His body has to be the same thing as His Head was (Is that right?), a church of the Word, born of the Word, virgin born from the Word, not denominational now; virgin born from the Word.” Bro. Branham heard the voice, “Here’s where the Spirit said, ‘Pick up the pen.’ I’ll have to leave some of it go, but I’ve got to bring some of it to you. All right. Now, here is what I’m trying to say to you: The law of reproduction bring forth of its kind (Genesis 1:11). These last days, true church Bride comes to the Headstone, will be the super church, a super race. As they near the great Headstone they will be much like – so much like Him, even they will be in His very image in the order to be united with Him. They will be One. They will be the very manifestation of the Word of the living God.” This the Lord also foretold. Please, believe it and claim it by faith.

We have to understand that now all Scripture, with every promise and every prediction, is being fulfilled. We are not only living in the end-time, we are actually approaching the end of the time of grace. The return of Jesus Christ is very near. The Lord once again says unto all of us, “Behold, I have told you before.” And again He states, “And when you see these things come to pass, lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth near.” He says, “Behold, I come quickly!” Only those who are ready will enter there and they are the ones who believe all the promises and partake in their fulfilment and they are the ones who are sealed by the Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:1-14).

By His commission

Br. Frank