Personal Testimony of the Coming of the Gift
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 1
Concerning the coming of this gift of healing, I can only relate to you the experience as it came to me. It is my sincere and honest belief that gifts are foreordained of God. Many do not believe in foreordination, but it is proven by the scriptures that many events of the Bible have been divinely foreordained. For instance, the birth of Christ was foreordained from the Garden of Eden. And about 712 years before the coming of John the Baptist, Isaiah saw and spoke of him as the voice of one crying in the wilderness. The prophet Jeremiah said that before he was formed in his mother's womb, God knew him and ordained him a prophet over the nations. I believe that foreordination is responsible for this gift for this reason also: I had no religious background. My parents were of different religions, and because of that I never went to church.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 2
The first time that I had any idea of what the future held, I was about the age of seven, having just entered school in a rural section a few miles north of Jeffersonville, Indiana, where my father was a private chauffeur for a wealthy family. I have always loved to fish and hunt...even my conversion did no take that out of me... and that late September afternoon some of the boys had gone down to the well-stocked fish pond to fish, while I was having to carry water for my father. I regret to tell you what the water was to be used for. My father drank very heavily, and at this particular time they were making whiskey, so I had to pack water to the stills, which would be running that night. Coming down the lane, I set my little syrup buckets down and dropped down under a tree to rest for a few moments, crying because I couldn't go fishing with the rest of the boys. While sitting there by the tree, something took place which I can never forget. Seemingly, there was the sound of the blowing of the wind through leaves, but, looking up, I saw no leaves being shaken nor any sign of a wind. I sat still, startled and wondering where the noise was coming from, when I heard it again, so I picked up my buckets and started up the lane. This time it came again, louder than before, and as I looked back to see what had happened, I noticed that about half-way up in the tree there seemed to be a whirlwind, out of which an audible voice spoke these words: "Don't ever smoke, drink, or defile your body in any way, for there will be work for you to do when you get older." I was so frightened I didn't know what to do. Screaming and running to the house, I fell into the arms of my mother, who thought I had been bitten by a snake. I told her I was just scared, so she put me to bed and was going to call a doctor, thinking I was suffering from nervous shock.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 3
Now, friends, I am aware that many people would scoff at this story, but I cannot be responsible for what others say. I am only responsible for my own experience. Needless to say, I never did go by that tree anymore. I would detour down the other side of the garden to avoid it, for I thought there was a man in the tree. It was the angel of God, and later in years, I met him face to face and talked with him.
A few weeks after that, I was playing marbles with my brother, when an odd feeling came over me. I sank down by a tree, and, as if in a trance, I saw a large span rise up and cross the river, and watched while a number of people fell off into the river and drowned. Coming to myself, I ran and told my mother, and again she concluded that I was just a nervous child. Twenty-two years from that time, the Municipal bridge was erected across the Ohio River, and that same number of workmen were drowned, falling off the bridge. You see, these things did not come about by prayer or desire, but were foreordained in the divine will of God.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 4
The next event of this nature came about one day while I was going to the river with my dad and another man. They had offered me a drink of whiskey, and because I wanted to find favor with the man so he would let me use his boat, I started to take the drink. But as positively as I am speaking today, I heard that sound like the blowing of the leaves. Looking around, and seeing no leaves or sign of the wind, I put the bottle to my lips again, when I heard the same noise, only louder. Fear swept over me as before; I dropped the bottle and ran away, while my own dad called me a sissy. Oh, how that hurt!
Later on, I was called a sissy by my girl friend when I told her I didn't smoke. Angered by her mockery, I took the cigarette and was going to smoke it anyway when I was arrested by that familiar sound, causing me to throw down the cigarette and leave the scene crying because I could not be like other young people, while the jeers of the crowd rang in my ears.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 5
These are only a few of the many similar things that happened all down through life. There was always that peculiar feeling like someone standing near me, trying to say something to me, and especially when I was alone. No one seemed to understand me at all. The boys that I would have associated with would have nothing to do with me because I wouldn't smoke or drink, and all the girls went to dances, of which I couldn't partake either, so it seemed that all through life I was just a black sheep, knowing no one who understood me, and not even understanding myself. But I did not know at that time what the great future was holding as I know now.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 6
The next important event that I remember came about when I was near the age of nineteen. I was strolling through the carnival grounds one night with some other boys, when a voice called out, "Say, you...Come here!"...Looking back, I saw a young lady sitting under a tent, an astrologist. She motioned to me to come over to her, and, thinking she wanted me to do something for her, I obliged. She said, "Say, do you know that you were born under a sign and there is a star following you? You were born with a gift." Of course, the boys got to teasing me about 'having a gift,' so I tried to pass it off with some remark to the lady, who told me that though I resented her telling me that, someday I would understand what she meant. I tried to push these things in the back of my mind, working at different jobs, never satisfied, moving from one place to another, having to suffer the death of my wife and baby, and many other sorrows which were almost more than the human heart could bear. I sought peace and satisfaction in everything imaginable, but seemingly there is a space of about ten inches over the fifth rib of the human body that just won't fill up until Christ comes in. And besides my own griefs, there was always that feeling of something hovering over me, adding to my misery. Finally, my love for nature brought me to a job as game warden for the state of Indiana, which carried me to different parts of the state.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 7
One day I was standing on a crowded bus going to Henryville, Indiana, and, feeling that someone was looking at me, I turned to a pair of steel-grey eyes, which belonged to a very nice-appearing lady. She said to me, "You're lonesome, aren't you?"
"No, ma'am," I answered and kept looking out the window, thinking she was attracted by the uniform and just wanted to talk.
She spoke again, "Maybe I'd better explain myself. I'm an astrologist."
"Well," I thought, "I might as well hear what she has to say."
"You're certainly resenting this, aren't you?"
"Yes, ma'am, I am."
"You think I want to talk to you about religion, don't you?"
"I do not know."
"You are religious, aren't you?"
"No, ma'am."
"Perhaps I could tell you something about yourself. You're from the west aren't you?" she questioned me.
"No, ma'am."
"Then you want to go west."
"Oh, well, that's different. I have always wanted to go west," I answered, thinking I would let her talk on and compare it with what the other astrologist had to say.
"The reason for that is your birth," she went on.
"What do you know about my birth?" I asked curiously. "Young man, if I tell you just the very moment you were born, will you believe me?"
"Well, I'm quite a fundamentalist, and if somebody tells me the truth, I have to believe it," I answered. And I still believe that--if it's true, it's true.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 8
Well, don't ask me how she did it, but she told me the very minute I was born. There was a young sailor standing behind me, and I asked her if she could tell him when he was born. She said she could not, and, not understanding this, I questioned why she could tell me and could not tell him. She said it was because there was a sign following me....and my heart sank, for it brought back a fresh recollection of what others had told me. She asked if an astrologist ever spoke to me before, and I told her no, lying to the lady.
"Do you know anything about Jesus Christ?" she asked.
"I know he was supposed to be the son of God," was about all I could say.
"Do you know anything about how he was born?....What came to worship him first?"
"Three wise me, if I remember correctly."
"What were they following?" she kept on.
"A star, I believe."
"That's right. Then they must have been astrologists, for they were watching the stars," she confirmed. "Young man, I have spoken to men in the White House. I forewarned President Harding about his peculiar death, and I have somewhat to speak to you about. You were born under a certain star to be a gifted person. Hasn't any minister ever told you that?"
"I don't have anything to do with ministers," I replied.
"Then listen to me: When Jesus Christ was born, there were three wise men from the East who followed what is commonly known as a star; but there were actually three stars which met at Bethlehem, and coming together, made the one star that hung over Christ. At that time, God sent the greatest Gift He ever gave to the world, His only begotten Son. When the wise men left, those three stars separated and have never come together since. God always declares His works in the heavens before He declares them on the earth, and these wise men were watching for the prophet Balaam's prophecy that a star would come out of Jacob," she continued, quoting many scriptures with which I was not familiar, but I listened intently as she went on. "Now these stars have never come together again, but every few years they cross their orbits, and when this happens it signifies that in tribute to the birth of Jesus, there is another gift sent back to the earth. And when you were born, these stars crossed. There was a star following you when you got on the bus in Jeffersonville; I saw the star above you, and I do not understand why others have not told you about it before now."
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 9
Lest any should misunderstand, I shall later show that the practice of astrology is unscriptural and certainly not for a Christian to play with (Isaiah 47:13-14) and this astrologer's account of the Christ-star is her explanation, and is not found in scripture. But it is scriptural for even Satan to give witness to the gift of God, and that is my reason for relating these conversations.
By then, you can imagine how I was feeling. Arriving at my destination, I thanked the lady and left the bus, but I couldn't dismiss the strange feeling that hovered over me continually, causing me to be nervous and jumpy, miserable around people, yet dreading to be alone, fearful every time the wind would blow. "What could it all mean?" I asked myself over and over. Sometime after that I was converted and gave my life to Christ. (I have written a brief sketch of my life in a little book called "Jesus Christ the Same Yesterday, Today and Forever.")
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 10
After my conversion, which took place in a little shed behind our house, I took up affiliation with a phase of the Baptist church and became a local elder, being ordained by Dr. Roy Davis of Jeffersonville. After a successful tent revival there, they built for me a tabernacle, which is still located at 8th and 10th Streets, known as the Branham Tabernacle, and for a number of years I was rather successful as a minister having baptized several thousand people and seeing many conversions for the glory of almighty God. Even then I had success in praying for the sick, though yet not knowing what it was all about, and many times visions and mysterious things would come to me, which numbers of people around Jeffersonville can verify.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 11
One time in particular which I might mention: I was at a certain place on the Ohio River, baptizing a large number of converts, amid a great throng of people who gathered on the bank to see the service. It was a warm afternoon, and there while the skies were like brass, a great bright star came and hung over where I was standing. Many of you will remember reading that in the newspapers. It has appeared many times since. Sometime ago I was in a large city for three nights service, among many hundreds of people. The first one I prayed for was a small child, whose feet had been drawn up by polio, causing him to have to walk on his toes. As usual in our meetings, the audience was sitting with heads bowed in reverence as I had the boy in my arms and was praying for him, when it seemed that a bright light was turned on me. I wondered at the rudeness of the custodian in turning the spotlight on me, and as I opened my eyes in wonder, there before me stood the morning star! I dropped the little boy, or either he jumped from my arms....I did not know what happened, for it seemed that every nerve in my body was paralyzed. As he hit the floor his feet became normal, and for the first time in his life he walked naturally off the platform. The audience was in an uproar; his mother fainted; a Nazarene girl, who was a friend of the child, was playing on the piano, "The Great Physician," and when she saw the miracle which had been performed by our dear Lord Jesus, jumped up and ran away some fifteen feet from the piano, her hands up, crying and shouting....and I know it sounds unbelievable, but hundreds can verify this....that piano never missed a note, but kept right on playing that song. Many great things happened. Over seven hundred people gave their hearts to Christ that night. Many of you people that were there will read this....God bless you. I am still trying to do all I can for Christ.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 12
Now by way of explanation concerning a question which frequently comes up. Many ministers have asked me, "Brother Branham, what do you think about astrology? Do you do this by the power of astrology, and if not, why do you give those astrologists public credit for having prophesied to this thing?" I can only say this: tell me one place in the world where the power of astrology is healing the sick. Of all the star-gazers, fortune-tellers, mediums, etc. that the world has known, tell me where one has opened the eyes of the blind, made the deaf to hear or the dumb to speak. There is only one way.... through the name of Jesus Christ and His shed blood at Calvary. But what is so strange to me (in the days gone by as also today), are facts like the following: when the Gift was lying in the manger, the priests were in the temple debating whether of not there was any resurrection of the dead, and at the same time, a group of wise men came from afar and recognized the Gift of God to the earth. Surely, I say astrology is of the other power, but even the devil has to testify of God's gift. Let those wise men be whoever or whatever they were....they did testify of God's gift and came to worship him before the priests in the temple did. Also when Paul and Silas were in Philippi, and the priests and ministers of the city were calling them impostors and ordering them to prison, a certain little fortune-teller cried out to the people that those men were sent of God to show them the way of salvation. Isn't it strange that this little slave-girl, possessed of an evil spirit, recognized the power of God in Paul and Silas, when the officials didn't even accept them. Wasn't it strange that, in another instance, when many were saying that Jesus was Beelzebub, the devils in a man cried out and said they knew who He was....the devil confessing to His divinity, and the Pharisees saying He was the devil. And so it is today, that many are doubting and fussing among themselves about their doctrines and theories, and keeping the people away from healing meetings, while God's divine gift is working on through the earth and many of them missing it. Oh, clergymen! I trust the God that you will wake up. Not because I was made a carrier of this gift; I have nothing to do with its coming....God sent it. When the children of Israel were down in Egypt crying for a deliverer, God sent His angel to Moses. Moses had nothing to do with it....it was God's angel that did the work, performed the miracles. Moses was just a mouthpiece for the angel.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 13
I must tell you of the angel and the coming of the Gift. I shall never forget the time, May 7, 1946....a very beautiful season of the year in Indiana, where I was still working as game warden. I had come home for lunch, and was just going around the house taking off my gun, when a very dear friend of mine approached me and asked me to go to Madison with him that afternoon. I told him it was impossible as I had to patrol, and while walking around the house under a maple tree, it seemed that the whole top of the tree let loose. It seemed that something came down through that tree like a great rushing wind....I staggered....they ran to me....my wife came from the house, frightened, and asked me what was wrong. Trying to get hold of myself, I sat down and told her that after all these twenty odd years of being haunted by this strange feeling, the time had come when I had to find out what it was all about, or I would never return anymore. The crisis had come. I told her and my child good-bye, and warned her that if I did not return in a few days, never to look for me. And here, dear reader, is the part of this mysterious experience which has to do with your healing, so read prayerfully and carefully. That afternoon I went away to a secret place to pray and read my Bible. I became deep in prayer; it seemed that my whole soul would tear from me. I cried before God....I laid my face to the ground...I looked up to God and cried, "If you will forgive me for the way that I have done, I'll try to do better....I'm sorry that I've been so neglectful all these years in doing the work you wanted me to do....will you speak to me someway, God? If you don't help me, I can't go on." Then along in the night, at about the eleventh hour, I had quit praying and was sitting up when I noticed a light flickering in the room. Thinking someone was coming with a flashlight, I looked out of the window, but there was no one, and when I looked back, the light was spreading out on the floor, becoming wider. Now I know this seems very strange to you, as it did to me also, but remember, your healing depends on whether or not you believe it, as you will see later on. As the light was spreading, of course I became excited and started from the chair, but as I looked up, there hung that great star. However it did not have five points like a star, but looked more like a ball of fire of light, shining down upon the floor. Just then I heard someone walking across the floor, which startled me again, as I knew of no one who would be coming there besides myself. Now, coming through the light, I saw the feet of a man coming toward me, as naturally as you would walk to me. He appeared to be a man who, in human weight, would weigh about two hundred pounds, clothed in a white robe, had a smooth face, no beard, but with dark hair down to his shoulders, rather dark-complected, with a very pleasant countenance, and coming close, his eyes caught with mine, and seeing how fearful I was, he began to speak. "Fear not. I am sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar life and your misunderstood ways have been to indicate that God has sent you to take a gift of divine healing to the peoples of the world. IF YOU WILL BE SINCERE, AND CAN GET THE PEOPLE TO BELIEVE YOU, NOTHING SHALL STAND BEFORE YOUR PRAYER, NOT EVEN CANCER." Words cannot express how I felt. He told me many things which I do not have space to record here. He told me how I would be able to detect diseases by vibrations on my hand. He went away, but I have seen him many times since then. He has appeared to me, perhaps once or twice within the space of six months and has spoken with me. A few times he has appeared visibly in the presence of others. I do not know who he is, I only know that he is the messenger of God to me.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 14
Needless to day, I started praying for the sick people. I do not claim to take the place of a doctor....I think that God put doctors here at assist nature, but they are only men....God is almighty. The great things which have taken place during these twenty-one months are too innumerable to ever be recorded, but God has confirmed the angel's words time after time. Deaf, dumb, blind, all manners of diseases have been healed, and thousands of testimonies are on record to date. I do not have any power of my own to do this....I am a helpless human until I feel His presence. Many people who have attended these meetings know that their diseases and sins have been told them right from the platform. Dear reader, please do not misunderstand my poor, illiterate way of trying to convey all this to you. I say it that you might have a clearer understanding of how to take advantage of God's gift. He told me to be sincere and get the people to believe, and that is what I am trying to do. Remember, we never question God's ability; we know that He can do all things, but the problem is getting one human to believe another. God always has something or someone to work through, and I am only an instrument used by Him. No mortal can take credit for performing a miracle, and I am just a mortal. I do not know how much longer God will permit me to do this, but by His grace, I intend to serve Him the best that I know how by serving His people as long as He allows me to live.
Testimony of the Coming of the Gift - 15
In conclusion, to you who are seeking healing in these meetings. Let me leave these two rules which you must follow, in order to receive that which you expect of God.
1. You just believe this record which I have told you, and that this Gift of Healing, given by the Lord Jesus Christ, is a means that God has provided for your healing.
2. Promise to live for God with all your heart the rest of your life.