THE MASSIVE MEETINGS IN MESSUHALLI
April 15-18 / April 24-28
On behalf of the organizing church, Eino Manninen, the leader of the Saalem church, welcomed all the guests. At first he read from Acts 4 where the disciples prayed: “Lord, by stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus…”
The speaker mentioned that we don’t have to defend God’s honour. It is enough what God Himself does. Our duty is to pray. In China the soldiers stop fighting when it starts to rain. We are now waiting for the rain of the Spirit. Believers in different circles now we must stop fighting! Let us ask forgiveness and forgive old scores. It’s not about Pentecostal matters, but glorifying the Name of Jesus.
Turning to the American guests our brother continued: “You are welcome to this stark and cold country! Now is the best time of spiritual action and when it gets spiritually warm you’ll be warm enough! The Finnish nation is a much-suffered nation, a nation of tears. When we are really happy, we cry.”
After a prayer, J. Ern Baxter got up to the pulpit. He was explaining the operations of Brother Branham, and he mentioned among other things:
We are happy to be here. Those welcoming words touched our hearts. We admire Finland and we would like to speak and understand your language. The mix up of the languages has its origins in Babel, but in the day of Pentecost they spoke languages that all present understood. That united them. Soon there’ll be a day when we all speak the same language.
These are the days of revival. God is working all around the world. Among the young people in universities is a huge revival going on. Great salvation meetings are being held that are stirring whole cities. In few days as many as 7,000 souls might get saved. Many believe that we live in the last days and we are waiting to see even greater events before Jesus comes back.
We represent Jesus Christ. Brother Branham wishes that Jesus receives all glory through his ministry. The Angel of God appeared to Branham and told him, “You’ll receive the gift of healing that must be taken to the nations of the world.” He was given supernatural gifts but he had to get the people to believe. And there is the great problem. Everything is possible to him that believes. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We cannot receive anything from Jesus without faith. Thousands walked past Him in the day and did not believe. Sin separated them from Him. You have to be ready to get rid of the sin in your life. Many come to get help for their problems but their relationship with God is not right and they stay in their diseases. Then they blame Branham.
When Branham started to have meetings, thousands of sick people tried to get in and got healed. The meetings got bigger and bigger. Invitations came from all over the world but we have to take into a consideration that he is only a human and limited in his ministry.
The gift that Branham received works in such way that when he takes the hand of the sick person into his left hand, the gift tells him the sickness this person is having. I’ve seen thousands coming to him and not once has he been wrong in his diagnosis. To get healed you need faith, since the gift won’t heal you. You need to believe that God will heal you; Brother Branham by the Spirit telling you the illness you have will not heal you.
First Brother Branham worked individually. He prayed for the sick long in a row that he had to be carried away from the meeting. We had to start protecting him so that he could be a blessing for larger crowds. When he comes, the gift has the effect to increase the faith. We ought not to believe only Branham, but we above all must believe the Lord. There are many that wish for a private interview, but if we’d allow it, we’d never reach the crowds. When people see the supernatural gifts appearing in Brother Branham, they believe the Lord. For God so loved all of you that He gave Jesus to die for you. God has sent signs and wonders to measure the depth of this love. Brother Branham is a sign of God’s love for you, so that you may get a blessing for your soul, body and spirit.
The world has made this road narrow. But lift up your heads and wait for the quick coming of Jesus! I encourage you, do not try to get to Brother Branham personally, you may get disappointed. Try to reach God, for God that lives in Brother Branham can heal you when you are sitting there on your seat.
Pray that people would get healed in great numbers! People often forget what we should remember. Keep your eyes upon God and do not let fear take over you. Perfect love casts out fear. God revealed Himself to Israel as Jehovah the Healer. Let us look straight to Him. He heals. However, the salvation of souls must be our first priority. Christ the Saviour is first. We must give our lives to Him and promise that we will serve Him. Jesus said, “Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”
Brother Branham speaks now through an interpreter for the first time. When he comes we wish that you will pray a lot for him. Let us pray that every man and woman might get a living touch from God and would serve Him more eagerly than before.
We must be reverent to God, when the sick are being prayed for. I do not think that there are any problems concerning this since you are a God fearing nation. Brother Branham insists that when he’s praying, everyone bows their heads. The Angel told him, “If you get the people to believe, nothing can stand against your prayers.” Brother Branham was wondering how to get the people to believe. He considers that when people bow their heads during the prayer, it shows that they believe. Those that won’t bow hinder themselves, the meeting, and also put themselves into danger. We’ve gotten so far from the spirit of the Bible that we do not remember that evil spirits are true. They once cried and asked from Jesus permission to go into the pigs. Demons are still real. Many illnesses are affected by demons. Satan comes to a human body in a form of sickness. When Branham prays, he casts out the evil spirits. The demons want to dwell in the unbelieving, and they get a hold of them by sin. It has happened that when people have been disobedient, that those evil spirits leaving the one who’s being prayed for take a dwelling place in despising rebels. We are dealing with real, supernatural things. We are not saying this to scare anybody but we want to make this clear to everybody. When Branham then gives you a permission to raise your head, you may look and rejoice what God is doing.
What is the state of your soul? Brother Branham comes in the name of Jesus Christ, not just to heal the sick but to turn people’s eyes upon Jesus. Is there anyone whose heart is not in a right condition with God? It can be made right now. Jesus died, was buried and He ascended on God’s right hand, and gives the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life to all who believe. Don’t wait for tomorrow, you may have it now. If you believe you’ll be saved. If many would give their lives to the Lord before Branham comes, it would be a great joy to him. Then you would not look all of it that is going on as outsiders, but from the inside and you would enjoy the blessings that belong to every believer. God has made the way to Him easy. Jesus had to suffer a horrible death, terrible pains, and it was our sins that caused Him the darkness of Calvary. All this was because of us. Praise to the Father for His unspoken gift!
The article concludes at the top of page 94.
We grieve when large crowds are unreachable. We have prayed strength from God that all could get help. When Branham has done his part, there will be others to step forward, since anyone can pray to God. And when you see the power of God moving in Brother Branham you can believe that the same power of God moves in the other servants of the Lord. Talk about faith, praise the Lord, and just look to Jesus through a magnifying glass! Every great revival has come as an answer to prayers. If this crowd is in prayer we can see the great power that reaches outside this place and reaches the whole nation.
Lately the Lord has increased His gift on Brother Branham. Branham takes a person in the audience. If his relationship with God is not right, Branham knows it and reveals the secrets of his heart. All of this comes from God. Brother Branham is a simple man, who doesn’t have higher education. When he comes now, receive him with the love of Christ. When you look at him you see the Scripture that tells that God has chosen he that is nothing. All glory is to Jesus only. Brother Branham would be very sorry if someone would try to give him the glory. He loves the Lord Jesus and wishes that Jesus gets all the praise.
As Brother William Branham arrived in the meeting room everybody raised to greet him, singing his favourite song:
Only believe,
Only believe.
All things are possible,
Only believe!