The article starts on the lower portion of page 94 and continues at the bottom of page 95.
Branham’s first speech in Finland
May God’s peace be with you! It is a great privilege for me to be able to be in Finland. I have waited for this moment for a long time. When I heard that I’d have this opportunity, my heart has just been beating with joy. We love Finland over in America. We have a great respect for the people of Finland. When I arrived into your country, I felt a heavenly atmosphere. I know that you have suffered a lot, and suffering leads to prayer. All things work together for good to them that love God. When I was in Texas, I received a telegram that I could come to Finland, and since then, I have carried it with me as a precious memory and a treasure. I’m sorry I can’t speak the Finnish language. But soon there will be a day when we all speak the same language, when we get home to God. Lord, let that day come soon!
When the Angel of the Lord gave me his gift, he said that the whole world would be my field. I’m glad that Finland is the first country where I can be, outside the English speaking nations. I came through London, Paris and Stockholm, but I’m glad that I can start my ministry here. I’m here to help you. I do what I can, and I hope that it will be a blessing. I hope that you’ll be praying for me while I’m serving the people.
You have heard that the gift comes from God, and I have nothing to do in getting it. I’ve been born in a poor home, in a log house, where there was no floor, just the ground as the base. All my life the people have not understood me. I always felt that some being was near me and followed me. (He told parts of his life story that has been published in the books “Heavenly vision” and “Heavenly calling”.)
It would take time to tell you all about what happened. I often see what happens later. First there was a voice speaking to me when I was young and now it all has developed. Once when I was baptising converts; there were about 130 of them and 3000 people to watch. It was a clear June afternoon. When I was baptising the seventeenth, I heard a voice: “Look up!” A bright star appeared and shone above me. Some fainted, some ran up the hill. I hope and believe that it will appear in Finland as well. I am a stranger to you, but I don’t feel like one. Here’s a heavenly atmosphere. I believe that God will prove to you that I am speaking the truth. Anyone can speak whatever they want, but if God vindicates it, then it’s right. We pray and God vindicates it. God’s speech is the speech of love and I know He, whom I believe in. He will do great things in Finland as well.
Some papers call me “a divine healer.” That is a great mistake. I’m not that. Only God is. If someone could claim that name, it is Jesus Christ. But He said, “It is not me, but the Father who dwells in me.” If He did not claim this name, how could I! God is gathering His church in this time and the blessings of the Spirit come to us. We live in the shadow of His coming. He will gather His church together and take His own from this chaotic world. Then we won’t be travelling from country to country, praying for the sick.
I wish I could speak an hour with each of you, but it is not possible. But one day I’ll be there with you, where the sorrow and sufferings are gone and it is a much better place to be.
The gift I’ve been given works so that I have often seen a heavenly being in a form of a star. (“Heavenly vision”, pg. 19, 20). When the round light came upon me the first time, it was like from a flashlight. It grew bigger and when I looked up, there was a yellowish green star above me. That’s how it has always appeared to me. This light has come into one picture. (Look the writing on page 85!)
I’m here for the first time and I expect great things from God. The same voice that spoke to me as a child from the top of the tree, (“Heavenly vision”, pg. 6) has talked to me ever since. I told Him, “Lord, I have no education, I’m from a poor home.” But the Lord said, “I am with you.”
The Angel said, “If you can only get the people to believe, no power of sickness can stand against you, not even cancer.” But how could I make the people to believe? The Angel said He would give me two signs, and because of them, the people would believe. The first one is that by taking the sick by the hand, I get to know what are their illnesses. And the other one, that I would know their most secret thoughts and events of their lives. Moses received two signs from the Lord, and He gave me these signs as well. When I take the sick person’s right hand into my left hand, I can feel the spirits. My hand turns red and you can see white lines in there. The bacteria, spirits of the illness, are then fighting against the gift from God in me. When the sign comes down, it shows that the sick has been made well. “If they don’t believe this sign (in hand), you’ll be let known the secrets of their hearts, what sin has caused their sicknesses,” the Angel told me.
If it doesn’t happen like I have said here in Finland, I am a false prophet. If it does, believe in God. Yet, this sign does not heal anyone. It shows that you need to believe in Jesus Christ, that He is here to heal. If faith is not right, the gift feels that as well.
After Brother Branham’s speech they started calling the sick on the stage.