Circular December 1999
/ Ewald Frank
Sprache englisch
Andere Sprachen
1. 1
Special greetings to all of you near and far, in the East and the West, in the North and the South through the dearly beloved name of our Lord Jesus Christ with 1 Tim. 1: 12,
»And I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, in that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry …«
Likewise has He put me into the ministry in His Church. It was His decision; I was not even asked, only commissioned. My relationship with Bro. Branham is as the one with Timothy and Paul was. Timothy was supposed to commit to other faithful brethren what Paul taught, so they would be enabled to teach the same message (2 Tim. 2). The concern is always the pure, sound doctrine of God’s Word. Paul really put it to his heart: »But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.« (2 Tim. 3: 14-15). As we are still living in Bible days and the divine order has been restored, the same is fully vindicated with me. God so led that I read the Holy Scriptures already when I was twelve years with a direct innermost desire. I would compare parallel scriptures searching for the true significance and was given the understanding about the things I was reading.
Before meeting Bro. Branham in 1955 in Karlsruhe, Germany, for the first time, I did have my personal salvation experience with the Lord, when I was not even 16 years, during a Pentecost conference in 1949. It happened to me as the Bible records it. A preacher from the USA by the name of Hall Herrmann ministered on that weekend in the church of Rev. Paul Raabe in Hamburg, Germany. At the end of the meeting it was announced that all who wished to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost could remain behind. I was among the approx. 120 who gathered for prayer. Before midnight I experienced the wonderful blessing of being filled with the Holy Ghost. Truly, I was placed into Glory, a deep peace and a joy unspeakable and full of Glory of the Lord filled my soul and I praised God in an unknown language. From my innermost a well sprung up into eternal life, as our Lord had said to the Samaritan woman. The Spirit of God was moving during that evening prayer meeting in such a mighty way that all who were present had their personal experience with the Lord.
Since then 50 years have passed during which I have been privileged to follow the Lord consciously. Since 1953 it has fallen my lot to preach the Word and proclaim the Gospel. In these 46 years I was allowed to lead many, many souls all over the world to my precious Lord and Saviour through the proclamation of His Word. To me the year 1999 is like a memorial, like a year of jubilee. Now at the end of the same I should like to ask all of you to join me in praising God for His faithfulness. Let us together thank the ever true God for His never failing presence, knowing that He leads His Own in a wonderful way. The Lord is true and faithful.
A special blessing for my spiritual life were the 10 years during which I knew Bro. Branham until he was called home in December 1965. I attended his meetings in Europe and the USA, visited him in his house. I had the honour to eat with him at the same table, ride in the same car, him sitting behind the steering wheel. Since 1958 the sermons he preached in the USA were sent to me in Germany. So I actually grew spiritually under his ministry and was therefore always up-to-date with what God was doing.
As the least of those the Lord ordained to the ministry I was permitted to preach the whole counsel of God in the past decades all over the world. As Paul could testify having heard the Lord speaking to him in his Hebrew mother tongue when calling and giving him the commission, so I can say truthfully with the same assurance before God, His holy angels and before all the people to have heard in the German language the mighty, all penetrating, commanding voice of the Lord on 2nd April, 1962, just as a new day was about to break. From the same One Who said after His resurrection, »All power in heaven and earth is given unto Me.«, I received the commission audibly in my mother tongue. Every word the Lord spoke was clear and exactly pronounced with emphasis. Gladly I call the Lord Himself to be my witness in regards to this experience.
Since that time I have obeyed the heavenly calling, travelling from city to city, from country to country, from continent to continent to proclaim the Word of God and to distribute the spiritual food to others who are hungry to hear the Word (Amos 8: 11; Mt. 24: 45). I cannot and will not share all the supernatural experiences I had. In the course of the years I heard the audible voice of the Lord a number of times and received instructions. These experiences with the Lord have a great meaning to me personally. If I share a few with you, then only for the reason that all the true children of God would rejoice with me knowing the Lord is faithful in a real way and manifesting Himself still today, for which we give God all the glory.
The last encouraging experience I had in the Bulgarian city of Varna at the Black Sea on Thursday, 15th July, 1999, just about midday. It is still having effect on me.
I was transferred into Glory and saw something like a beautifully illuminated festival hall of ivory. Again I call upon God to be my witness. A heavenly choir was singing mightily. All were looking in the same direction from where the light came and had their arms stretched out, a little higher than the horizontal position. They were singing in the German language Psalm 34. The voices were so harmoniously that it all sounded like one mighty voice. When singing verse 7, »The angel of the Lord encampeth round about those who fear him, and delivereth them.«, they were singing louder, the voices vibrating, and as in a refrain they were singing at the end of the verse, »and the angel of the Lord is now here«. The same repeated with the next verse, »Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusteth in him.« After these words they sang even mightier, »Yes, the Lord is now here.«
I realised that the Psalm was according to the Bible translation of Martin Luther which I mainly read during my youth. In Glory will be people from all nations and languages, singing the praises of the Lord. I also recall that the nine words God spoke to me on 16th June, 1979, before daybreak with a thunderclap voice also were according the Luther translation. As I am reading a number of different translations I was quite astonished.