Bethel

“In this third trance, He revealed to me a persecution coming upon the Bride of Christ. It was revealed to me that there will come a day when they'll kill you and think that they do God a service. It showed myself being martyred. They were in the process of it for the Gospel. Only It didn't say 'Gospel,` It said, 'The Faith`.. (1961)

back to the top

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. (Luke 1:1-4)

Forasmuch as many have taken it upon themselves to speak of things concerning the life, ministry and martyrdom of Robert Lee Lambert (called Bob or Junior), as prophesied by him in 1959 and confirmed by his preaching until the time of his murder in 1973, many often reviling this man about whom they know little and understand less, it seemed good to us who were eyewitnesses, associates and co-workers with him to set in order the truth concerning this man of God. That he was a revivalist, a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and message of Malachi 4, a pastor and teacher, faithful to each of these offices, and that he was the first martyr for the end time message, seems lost upon those who repeat rumors, half truths and downright lies in an attempt to shore up their own crumbling positions as guides to those who desire to follow the message of Life in the Laodicean age.

He has been falsely accused of many things: that he claimed to be Elijah; that he preached that no one has the Holy Ghost; that he did not believe in Divine healing; that he turned against God's prophet, William Branham, and preached his own message; that he claimed to be an eighth church age messenger; that he was the leader of a cult; that he tried to fit himself into a ministry that did not belong to him; that he broke up churches; that he was judged of God for playing a prophet; and that he died by being hit with a piece of wood during a robbery.

Even among those who have met or heard him minister, few know very much concerning details about Brother Bob, his early life, how he came to Christ and to the message of William Branham, his visitations of the Spirit, his dedication to upholding the Gospel, his desire to see the Scriptural Promises of God manifested in the lives of believers by the coming of the Headstone Outpouring. There is a sincere desire to know more about the man to whom many looked as a confidant, a friend, a counselor, a hunting or fishing companion, and, certainly not least, a shepherd who loved, respected and preached the message of William Marrion Branham without compromise or doubting.

It is with these things in mind that we, his friends, associates, family members, his sheep and fellow ministers both in the United States and abroad, have taken this step to begin to put in order those things which we have seen and heard and those things of which Robert Lambert, himself, testified. We feel that it is very important to portray his honesty, sincerity, dedication to God, humility, compassion and love against a backdrop of steadfastness, an uncompromising stand for the Word and boldness to preach the Truth and to rebuke those found in error. As a worshipper, he was shameless; as a friend, he was loving and faithful; as a seeker of Truth, he was untiring. He was an unusual man, an odd man-a truly honest man is always odd-but he tried to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as closely as he could.

Some of us were eyewitnesses almost from the time of his conversion; others came to know him only during the last few years of his life. All who truly knew him have a story to tell, how they were helped and blessed by this man of God and his own peculiar ministry that was based upon the Scriptures, the teachings of William Branham, God's prophet and final church age messenger, and upon direct revelation to him by the Spirit of God.

Testimonies of many of those closest to Brother Lambert have been gathered on audiotape. These form the basis for much of the material presented here. The bulk of information comes from Brother Lambert's own testimonies and frequent personal comments made during many of his recorded sermons.

We should mention here one man in particular, Brother George Parylla, who knew, loved and appreciated Brother Lambert almost from the beginning. Having met Brother Lambert in the dead of night during a retreat to wait upon the Lord in a little log cabin in the mountains of Kentucky, Brother Parylla became his associate. After Brother Lambert moved to Connecticut in 1967, Brother Parylla became his Assistant Pastor. Brother Parylla served as Pastor of the assembly from 1979 until he went to be with the Lord in 1992. His testimony is among those used for this work.

As with any person who is not born in the limelight of life, most details of Robert Lambert's early life have melted into the obscurity of time. Even after his conversion, the ministry that God gave him took him from place to place so often because of persecutions that it was not always possible to leave behind those mementos of passing that would cause the possessor to realize the significance of his visitation. This was, in part, due to unbelief in the hearts of "professors of Christianity."

It was also due in part to an active desire among many not to hear about another Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a Bride's revival, a "Speak the Word" ministry and other portions of Brother Branham's message that were not to their liking and that may have pinched their conscience or life style too much for them to accept. Still others may have felt their positions of honor threatened by a man who could, with the Word of God, take away the foundation of some of their most cherished beliefs, e.g., "The latter rain has already fallen;" "All is over;" "The Blood is off the mercy seat;" "The Bride now has Perfect Faith and Perfect Love;" "We are only waiting for the rapture." Some, no doubt, felt chastened by a man who was severely critical of the permissive attitude among the ministry concerning unholy living, television, participation in sports, immodest dress and sexual misconduct.

We know that there are many others who came into contact with Brother Lambert and who loved him and his ministry but were prevented by circumstances and, in some cases, by unsupportive leadership, from maintaining their Christian relationship with him. It is our hope that, following the publication of this book, many more details concerning his life, in the United States and in the countries that he visited, will be provided by those whose lives were touched by this man. We hope that some will search their archives and discover audio tapes of his early sermons that could be provided to us for inclusion in our library.

Brother Lambert's ministry was different from those which were popular on the field in his day: evangelism, emphasis upon signs, wonders and miracles, international recognition by publication of books and magazines. This man of God, yoked with the burden of the Lord, expressed in groanings cryings and sighings in prayers, fastings and studying the Word and message fourteen hours a day in his early years of conversion and, until his martyrdom, staggered not at the Promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory to God. Hidden in the "back part of the desert," his entire ministry was dedicated to those who believed him.

He taught them the deeper things of God and prepared them by the Scriptures and the message of William Branham to receive another Outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Thus he highlighted the Token message of Brother Branham. During the second half of his ministry, he accepted few invitations to minister to other message groups, refused to send out his audio messages and refrained from doctrinal discussions with ministers. Because the things that God had revealed to him were misunderstood, some persecuted him and several became international impersonators of some of those deeper truths which the Lord revealed to him concerning:

• "The New Ministry of William Branham,
• " The further ministry of Christ and his Bride prophesied by Brother Branham,
• " Speak the Word creative power,
• " The Son of Man revealed in judgment upon rejectors of the message,
• " Revelation10:1 the Covenant Angel (Christ in judgment),
• " The white horse rider,
• " The Super Church by the coming of the Headstone,
• " Outpouring of the Holy Ghost,
• " The Presence of Christ,
• " Christ's appearing and coming in relation to the opening of the seven-sealed Book,
• " Christ to be glorified in the end time Bride, and
• " Manifested sons of God.

He clearly outlined those doctrines accompanied by the great supernatural Presence and Power of the Holy Ghost. Ministers as well as lay members and sinners were stunned by God's awesome Presence, and the clarity of the Word. None who opposed his teachings were able to disprove them by the Scriptures or message of Brother Branham. It is impossible to deny the impact that such a unique ministry has upon our lives.

This is a story that, we trust, will afford an opportunity to message believers, inquirers, critics and naysayers to discern for themselves the motives and objectives of a man who gave the "last full measure of devotion" for the Gospel of Christ and to conclude whether our pastor was a false anointed one or a true servant of God. We of his little flock already are fully persuaded that Brother Bob was a born revivalist who planted a seed of faith into the hearts of several ministers and believers. He brought them under a Supernatural inspiration and the Presence of Christ, thus preparing them for the promised Bride's revival by another Outpouring of the Power of the Holy Ghost.

Even twenty-nine years after Brother Bob's martyrdom, we are reminded of Stephen, the first martyr of the Lord in the New Testament.
(Acts 6:10-15) "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, this man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel."

(Acts 7:59) "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit."

This, then, is the story of Robert Lee Lambert, the man we affectionately call, "Brother Bob."

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

Joy reigned in the household of Robert Lambert and Linde, his wife, at the birth of a son whose name was to be Robert Lee Lambert III. Little "Bob" or "Junior," as he was known by his family in West Virginia, was born July 28, 1930, very early in the "Great Depression," in Kenova, a small town (perhaps 4,000 population, today) at the western border of the state near the juncture of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers which also mark the Ohio and Kentucky state boundaries. Just across the Ohio River, the town of South Port is equally small and, just across the Big Sandy River in Kentucky, the town of Catlettsburg is even smaller. The Lambert home place was just outside the flood wall of the Big Sandy.

Bob was the eldest child of Lyndell Preston Lambert and the only child of Robert Lee Lambert II.

Tragedy soon struck the household. In 1933, when Junior was only three years of age, his daddy died leaving his mother, Linde, to raise a small child during some of the hardest economic times America has had to endure. She took a job in the local glass factory to provide income for the necessities of life. However, Linde soon married again becoming Mrs. McDaniel and bearing four more children, two daughters, Drinadell and Marcella, and twin boys, Ron and Don. All the world seemed better until Linde contracted tuberculosis. As her health deteriorated, Junior, now nine years old, had to take on adult responsibilities, not only doing the house work-cleaning, washing, cooking-but also caring for his mother, his sisters and the twin baby brothers who were still in diapers. As he became expert in changing the babies' diapers he began to develop a philosophy and a sense of humor. He made up a little song that said, in part, "I'm the ti-dy di-dy man."

Linde's death in 1940 made Junior an orphan at only about ten years old. As Mr. McDaniel was not up to the task of raising the five children, the McDaniel children were divided among close relatives who raised them as best they could and providing such education as they could afford. Junior went to live in a foster home.

A shadow fell across the land even as the great depression began to wane. All Europe was involved in a war begun by a madman, Adolph Hitler, and his fellow warmonger, Benito Mussolini! Japan, under the leadership of Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Tojo, seemingly had a free reign in China, taking more and more territory and needing yet more to provide raw materials and fuel for its factories. Then, suddenly, without warning or provocation, on December 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes bombed the United States naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, sinking many ships and taking the lives of several thousand sailors and marines.

The repercussions of this act changed the lives of every family in America. Many young men-sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, friends-went off to war. Every person was expected to do his or her part to support the massive effort it would require over the coming few years to defeat an oppressive enemy. Many women went to work in the factories making guns, airplanes, tanks, clothing, canned food-anything that would help to bring the war to a successful conclusion. And every boy's thoughts turned to war and what he could personally do to defeat the enemy.

After living perhaps two years in a foster home, in 1942 Junior asked to live with his grandparents who, though poor, were scrubbing out a living on a little piece of ground. Robert Lee Lambert, Sr. (called "Lee") and his grandmother, Ella Bellomy Lambert were an odd couple-he was tall and slender; she was short. Lee liked to attend services at the local Baptist church; Ella claimed to have too much work to do at home. There were also two girl cousins living with "Pa" and "Ma" as the grandparents were known to the cousins and to the neighborhood children who often came to play. Betty and Corrine's mother had also died and their father had asked Pa and Ma to take them in. Pa and Ma had raised seven children of their own of whom Junior's father was the youngest having been born in 1912. Now they had a new family to raise, Junior and his cousins.

Earning a living was difficult and it fell Junior's lot to care for the chickens, horses and pigs, to plow the fields in preparation for planting corn, cabbage, potatoes, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, pinto beans, squash, cucumbers and even a few watermelons. He learned which trees had the best apples-and kept a few sticks handy to knock them out of the tree. As a minister in later years he often told his congregation that you could always tell where the best apples were by the sticks under the tree.

During these times he learned many lessons, not the least of which was that to look back while plowing was to court disaster. A moment of inattention could, and did, bring the reward of a bloody nose, caused by the tip of the plow becoming hooked under a large stone or root, thereby causing the handles to fly upward to be stopped by the first chin or nose they encountered. Incidents like this enriched his sermons later, especially when ministering on a text like that found in Luke 9:62,
"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Life behind the plow for a twelve year old can be very difficult, especially when he knows that just a short distance away is a river teeming with catfish or water that is just the right temperature for swimming or that the trees in the bottom land along the river are full of squirrels whose meat would make a very tasty stew. However, the belt or razor strap hanging on the nail, and first hand knowledge of the pain they could inflict, helped him to focus his attention on the work at hand.

Living in an area accustomed to violence from the early days of the Republic, a growing young man would be expected to learn to protect himself, giving as good as he got and tolerating no disrespect to his mother, sister, wife-his womenfolk-or to his good name. Junior learned to use both his fists and his rifle even as an active outdoor life made him tanned, lean and strong.

Education suffered as every able-bodied person was expected to work and support the "war effort." Considered very smart and well liked by most of his classmates, nevertheless, Junior did not do well in school. Perhaps to cover up his own sadness and his longing for a real family with his own father and mother, he laughed a lot, telling stories that made others laugh. He began to miss school, leaving home as if going to school but not arriving, spending the day no one knew where. After completing only about seven years of formal education, Junior dropped out of school to assist his grandfather, now seventy-three years old, on the little farm

Despite his lack of education, Junior had an active mind. His lack of parental love and guidance during his formative years forced the development of an independent attitude and resourceful spirit. During these years he also began to develop a sense of propriety that was unusual in one so young. In those days, girls were not allowed to wear pants or shorts to school-only dresses. It was very unusual even to see them clothed in what was considered male attire outside of school. On one occasion, a young female cousin, slightly older than he, wanted to wear a pair of his dungaree trousers to a function she was attending and she actually put them on. After a sharp disagreement as to whether she should wear the trousers, his grandmother sided with Junior and made her take the dungarees off. The cousin then told him that, "If I can't wear them, you can't either." She took them and cut a large hole in the front of the trousers.

The progress of the war in Europe and in the Pacific held every person's attention. Every home and farm was scoured to find rubber and scrap metal products to turn in to be used in the "War Effort." Even used fat from butter or pork was collected and used in the manufacture of munitions. Adventurous young men longed to join the Army, the Navy, the Marines or the Army Air Corps and they dreamed of the glory they would receive from successful combat. Junior was no exception. However, World War II ended in 1945 when Bob was still too young to offer his services on active duty.

Throughout his years as a youth, although his grandparents did their best for him, he longed for a real family with his own father and mother. He loved to see families that enjoyed life together. He liked to see a boy go up to his dad and give him a kiss. In his own family, the business of scratching out a living seemed to leave little time for demonstrations of love and appreciation. He felt that his younger half brothers and sisters loved only themselves. In fact, he said,"Seemed like nobody that was kin to me loved anybody, just loved themselves."

There were many churches around Kenova including Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal and others. It seemed to Junior that they were on almost every other corner, vying for space with the fifteen or so gasoline filling stations in town. Though he did occasionally attend services at a local Baptist church where his grandfather attended, the hypocrisy he witnessed caused him to realize the apalling lack of sincerity among the people. Later he said that many, while walking to church, would hold their Bible inside their coat or under a newspaper, showing the Bible and discarding the newspaper only when near the church. The churches held little attraction for him and he, therefore, had little or no religious training.

Still, as a youth he had a dream that he was to be a servant of God some day and he gradually became more conscious of the call of God in his life. However, he feared the Lord and tried to run from Him. He felt that he loved the Lord Jesus but did not know how to approach Him.

Once, as a youngster, Junior ran away and went with a traveling circus for a short time. When he was but sixteen years old, he and a young friend lied about their ages in order to get into the army, spending a few months in training before discovery and discharge. When legally of age-at age seventeen, probably early 1948-he again joined the United States Army Air Force.

During several life threatening situations Junior (Bob) would promise the Lord that he would serve Him but once the situation passed he would return to his old ways. Around 1950 while serving at Eglin Field, an Air Force base near Pensacola, Florida, he went to a local beach to swim with four of his buddies. Apparently caught by hidden currents, his four friends all drowned and he alone survived after crying out to the Lord to save him. Another time (shortly after his discharge from the service) he survived almost certain death when he wrecked a brand new convertible automobile. He was miraculously delivered and walked away. All who saw the car were amazed that anyone could have survived the accident.

While still in the service of his country, in 1952 Bob became sick with a debilitating disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), so named for the three doctors who first described it, affecting his back and legs. Genetic in nature, the condition brought about his discharge from the Air Force with a seventy percent disability. Though his upper body remained strong and he continued to exercise as much as he could, the muscles in his legs began to atrophy and his legs eventually became little larger than broom sticks. He later said that, "I couldn't stand on my toes if you paid me a million dollars." This condition was the cause of his receiving a monthly disability check for the remainder of his life.

His period of military duty overlapped that of the Korean Conflict (June 25, 1950 until July 27, 1953). However, Bob did not have to serve in active combat. The Lord had a more important job for him, not in destroying souls but in pointing them to Calvary.

Around the same time that he became sick, "Pa" Lambert, the one who had taken him in as an orphan, passed away. His Grandmother had previously died in 1948. This added further to his feeling of loneliness and isolation.

Returning to his boyhood home in Kenova, with little constructive work that he could do and having a lot of time on his hands, Bob tried his hand at several different occupations. He was a clothing salesman, he worked at a glass factory and he worked at an animal slaughter house. Unsuccessful at any occupation, he began to drink and to run around with his old acquaintances.

Still searching for love and companionship, he courted and married (in January 1954) a Kenova girl a few years younger than himself, Shirley Gayle Webb, but even that did not completely satisfy the emptiness in his heart. Their first child, Mark Aaron, was born before the end of 1954 and a daughter, Vickie Ellen, was born the following year.

In the process of time Shirley again expected the birth of a child. This time, however, Bob's rapidly worsening disability required medical attention. Even as their third child was about to be born, Bob and Shirley were making preparations to leave Kenova and go to Coral Gables, Florida, a suburb of Miami, where there was an excellent hospital for military veterans.

On the first day of January 1959 was born to them, Timothy Lee Lambert. Bob Lambert, 28 years old, in a weakening condition, with a wife and three children, running from God, without denominational background or religious training, knowing little of the Bible, an ungodly sinner, had come to the end of his road.

"What we need today, to be spiritual, is a person that will humble themselves before God, if they haven't got a penny, and will pray till that spirit within them is satisfied with the goodness of God, and a revival takes place on the inside of their heart, that changes their attitudes and atmosphere that they live in." (William Branham, "Be certain of God," 59-0125M, Par. 21)

The consciousness of a "Call" in a man's life often comes with a feeling of great responsibility that compels him to God's service. He becomes a love-slave to God's children like a mother to her suckling child-to protect, love and serve. A born leader will lead men to righteousness or, if rebellious, to unrighteousness. We understand that Moses was a trained warrior, conquering cities for Pharoah, before the Lord called to him out of a Burning Bush in the desert to bring Israel out of Egypt. Even Brother Branham tried to turn from God's leading and be like his friends-to smoke cigarettes and drink moonshine whiskey. He wanted to be "Big bad Bill," a "Tarzan," but God would not allow it. Bob Lambert wanted to be six foot six and be able to whip the meanest man in town. He loved a fist fight and considered it a disgrace to cry. God had some work to do.

God often brings his servants through a rugged school of training. Poverty, hardship, affliction, trials, persecution and, even threat of death brought an awareness of the needs of mankind so that he, Robert Lambert, could enter into their suffering and provide succor to those in need. The Bible tells us that even the Lord Jesus was tempted in all points as we are and that, "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) Although that genuine God-called man ran from the Lord, God, by His chastening rod of adversity and affliction, brought him into submission to His Own Will.

At present, we know little of the birth and very early life of Robert Lee Lambert III. However, we do know from his own testimony that he became aware at an early age of a calling from God, a drawing and a desire in his heart that was not satisfied by the things that he did, the places he went or the people with whom he became associated-even his wife. As his condition deteriorated, Bob began to try to find God, but no one, it seemed, could answer the cry of his soul. He went to a Methodist church and to a Baptist church for help but the only answer he got was to join the church. He heard nothing of the Power of God to heal and knew nothing of a "Pentecostal" experience. Yet, there was a "deep calling to the deep" that demanded an answer.

Arriving in Miami, Florida the third week of January 1959, Bob Lambert, sick for seven years, unable to work, dying and not ready to die, without a knowledge of the Salvation of Jesus Christ, without money to support his wife and three children, no relatives and with only one friend in town, was taken to the Veterans' Hospital in Coral Gables at the edge of the campus of the University of Miami. Some of the nation's best doctors practiced at the hospital. Upon admission, he was held for evaluation to determine what treatment would be necessary or appropriate.

Shirley, leaving the children with a young girl in a home across the street from where they were staying in a strange neighborhood, went to see Bob at the hospital. After visiting for a time with him, Bob told her to call his friend, Eddie, to come see him and to take her back to the house. Eddie, it seems, had spent the day gambling on dog races at a local greyhound dog track and was tired but he said that he would try to come to see Bob the following day. It just about killed Bob that his best friend would deny him help in his hour of need. In despair, weeping and crying, Bob told Shirley that he just wanted to be left alone to die but he wanted Shirley to stay with him. He did not want to leave this world alone.

Bob Lambert later said,

"[Eddie] didn't think enough of me to even come after her, my wife. He didn't know it but that was the end of it to me. That killed me, broke my heart. I thought, 'My last friend that don't care enough about me to even come to my bedside and me dying.' So, I said to my wife, 'If I did live through this, I don't want to ever see a human being again." "Oh, I didn't know that Jesus was right there all the time. Thank God for Jesus."

Another incident drove him even deeper into despair. A minister made rounds through the wards. When he came to Bob Lambert, he did not ask about the condition of his soul, offered no prayer for his healing, offered no a word of comfort. As Brother Bob related it,

"He did not say, 'Friend, do you know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior?'" His only question was, "Are you Catholic or Protestant?" "After I said, 'Protestant,' he left my bedside and didn't even ask me for prayer."

He survived the night and the next day Bob was taken to Ward 15, the paraplegic ward where there were men who had no hope of ever returning to a normal life, men who would die in their beds, men who were shot up, shell shocked, sick with tropical diseases from combat service in the jungles and rice paddies of Korea. He said,

"I began to notice all these men, up and down this aisle, were terrible afflicted, 'paraplegic patients,' they call them in the Army. They're completely paralyzed, some can't talk, some lie in comas. Most of them are just skeletons, dead men lying in their beds." "I have never experienced anything like it and, if I live a thousand years, I'll never forget it. Death all around me. And I said to myself, 'Surely, there must be more to life than what I see here and what I've experienced."

"And, as I looked across from me at this man, very handsome man, was a jet pilot, and he was all paralyzed from head to toe. Handsome man. There, I was looking at him and something happened to me down on the inside. I can't explain it but there…. I was raised up an orphan, rough and tough, and I thought it was disgraceful to cry. There, tears started dripping out of my eyes and off my chin. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. And I noticed that, somehow, I would be hypnotized and watching this man. I couldn't get my eyes away from him. And I lived on through another day. Day after day, I watched this man. As I watched him, I thought, 'My, that man has a terrible life. He's only twenty-one or twenty-two years old. His body is a wreck, his brain is caved in; he can't work.' Beside his bed, he had a picture of his wife and two children.

"I watched his wife come in one day. They had nothing to talk about. Her husband would never rise out of that bed. She was a beautiful young lady about twenty-two years old. What did they have to talk about? Her husband would never rise up out of the bed. She couldn't say, 'Darling, when are you coming home? Darling, are you feeling better?'

"And then something happened to me that I could see right into that family. I could see that woman's thoughts. I could see his thoughts and I could see the heartache of both of their hearts. She could look and see his twisted, tormented body with the back of his head caved in, his mental faculties very bad, his knees all twisted up. My! How the tears streamed from my eyes and it haunted me night and day.

"Got so bad that I thought I was being hypnotized. I would read a magazine. His bed was directly across from me. Name was Eddy. He couldn't do anything, all crippled up in the horriblest way. Had to feed him, had to do everything. And I was reading a magazine trying to get my mind off of it. And all I could think of was the suffering of that man. I'd try to read the magazine and it would go down and then I'd come to, maybe. I don't know how long. There, I'd find myself staring at the man. Well, I didn't know what was causing this.

"One day a man was talking about the healing power of God and I cried out. And I didn't realize what I was saying because I had always respected the Lord. But I said, 'If there's a God that heals, why don't He come in the hospital?'

"Oh my. I was not seeking for God. I had given up. I had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior all my life, but I had never been born again, Friend. I had joined the Baptist Church, shook the preacher's hand. But I was not born again. I didn't know my Lord.

"And all my life, I would say things and they'd come to pass. I couldn't understand it. I would look in the mirror and I'd say, 'Something strange is the matter with me.' And I married my precious wife. And I told her when I married her, that I was a very strange fellow. I didn't know what was wrong with me. She had a hard time. I'd go for thirty days and never sleep because I'd lie at night and try to figure out what was the matter with me. I'd say things and they'd come to pass. I was miserable in the condition that I was in. I was searching for something and I didn't know but it was Jesus. Jesus that I was…. My heart, my soul was crying out to the Lord and I had nobody to tell me about Him, to lead me to Him.

"As I watched this boy dying, tears began to flow down my face and I cried day in and night out. I couldn't understand what was taking place in my life. It got so bad that I told the Doctor, 'Listen doctor, I'm going home today. I can't stand this suffering any more. This boy over here, I cry day and night.' The doctor was very amazed and said, 'Why Bob, you're in bad shape yourself, Son. I want to help you.' I said, 'I don't need any help. These guys… I'm in much better shape than they are in. Just let me go home. If I'm gonna die, I'd rather die at home.' I couldn't stand the suffering in that ward."

Out of the hospital, Bob and Shirley rented a house from Charlie M____, who was staying in Miami for the winter. He was from New York City. Charlie, a Christian and a Pentecostal, was zealous to witness for the Lord. Since Bob was obviously sick, he needed healing. Conversation with Bob revealed to Charlie that he also needed salvation. This was fertile ground for a zealous Christian to work in. Even before Bob and Shirley moved into the house, Charlie gave Bob a tract and witnessed to him about the saving Power of Jesus Christ. Since Charlie and his wife were about to return to New York, Bob moved his family in with them until they left.

Brother Lambert later said of Charlie that,

"He loved the Lord, he worshipped God in a Pentecostal way that you know out here. He really had something real. He had met the Lord. He kept telling me that the Lord Jesus Christ could save me, heal me. And he kept at that day after day. So, finally, he was getting ready to go back to New York City. You know, it's kind of offensive for someone to speak of Jesus so much and you don't know Him. And he would come out of his room and say, 'Praise the Lord' and 'Hallelujah.' It's a little bit of an embarrassment if you've never met God. I'd never heard of that. I thought the man was crazy. But nevertheless, I couldn't hide from the fact that this man lived a life that I'd never seen before. He lived what he was talking about. I noticed every morning he would come out of that room with a smile on his face.

"Now, I was miserable in the morning. I just might slap my wife, I might take my spite out on the children and whip them. I've taken my fist and rammed it through hard walls. I've hit automobiles with my fist and caved them in. I was in trouble all the time because I had a chip on my shoulder. But I was hungry for the greatest Treasure that is on the earth today. Some think it's money, a home, cars, but the greatest treasure you'll ever find is the Lord Jesus Christ."

"That man constantly coming out of his room in the morning with a smile on his face, praising his God, did something to me. As I sat there, I finally told my wife, 'They're utterly out of their minds. They're crazy. They'll only be here a few more days. We'll put up with them that long.'

"So, as I would sit there at the breakfast table, I said, 'Charlie, how can you do that, come out every morning…. You just rise in the morning, aren't you grouchy?' He just laughed and said, 'Bob, you need the Lord Jesus Christ, Son. He'll heal your body.'

"He asked me to go to a little church with him. There at that church, after the preacher got through preaching, big old Charlie M____ grabbed me by the arm and, next thing you know, I was at the altar. This was embarrassing to me. I thought, 'I wish I hadn't come.' And I just puffed up all evening because he embarrassed me like that. My, how we think so much of this flesh that's worth about fifty cents after it's gone. We pamper it, put a hundred dollar suit on it and let it ride in a white Cadillac, live in fine homes. We think that flesh is so wonderful and it's not worth anything. But I thank God for that inner man. That inner man is the one that I'm worried about. I don't care a thing about this outside man.

"I loved the man so I couldn't get mad at him. And so, in the process of time, the next few days he left for New York City. I thought, 'Well, that's the end of him, I won't be bothered about all this religious stuff so much.'
"Now mind you, I was not seeking God. I was not seeking God at all. I thought, 'Boy, I'm glad to be rid of that guy.'

"But Charlie had turned me over to his brother, Joe, who was more fanatical than he was! I tell you, that man was up there…. (My wife worked and I was home all day taking care of the children.) He wore the grass out between my house and his house. What I'd go through with during the day listening to that man. He was on me just like a West Virginia hound dog after a rabbit. I tell you, I never saw anything like it. Every time he came, it was 'Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.' That's all I heard. I tell you, I never get tired of hearing that Name now. Talk about Him all you want to and it just makes me feel good.

"Joe was like his brother, just as sweet, always smiling. I wonder sometimes how guys can smile like that all the time, teeth just showing all the time. I said, 'Surely he is one of those holy rollers, one of them fanatics.' But, he finally won me over. I saw that he had that same thing his brother had. He really loved the Lord.

"Well, he got me down to that church again. I went down there. Hands up, praising God again. I thought, 'Well, they're just crazy, they're just ignoramuses. That's all it could be.' But then a fear came over me and I said, 'Oh, I shouldn't have said that.'

"They made an altar call and Joe grabbed me and there I went, my face turning red as fire. I said, 'Oh, I knew I shouldn't have come.' But there was my first contact with the Lord. I'd kind of made fun of these people for the way they worshipped the Lord. It kind of scared me as I was standing there at the altar. I remembered that I had promised the Lord when he saved me from drowning, that, if He would save me out of this, this time, 'I will serve You.' And then I faced death another time and I walked right out of death and still you'd think that I'd give my life to God but I didn't.

"Those things came to my mind as I stood there and made fun of these people and I thought, 'I don't know how to talk to God and I don't know that He'd ever heard anybody that prayed, anyway.' I was in a predicament. I felt convicted but hadn't seen anything real. I believed there was a Lord Jesus Christ but, how to find Him, I didn't know, though I'd tried several times. I thought that there just wasn't much use. That was my attitude, but I was expecting to die and I feared the Lord.

"And so, I thought it would do good if I'd ask God to forgive me for making fun of these people. I asked Him in my heart, 'Lord, I'm sorry that I made fun of these people. You forgive me.'

"Then something in my heart started to move and it said, 'You know, you're going to die and you're going straight to hell!'

"Oh, it just scared me bad. I was scared of God; I was scared of preachers; I was scared of the Gospel. I said to myself, 'Yeah, that's right.'
"And Something said to me, 'Why don't you try it one more time?'

"And I got to rolling that around and I thought, 'Yeah, what if I tried it one more time, maybe I could really find God this time.' But then I thought, ' No, I've done gone too far. I'm too bad of a sinner. He, He'd never save me. I'm too bad off.'

"You know, that's the way all sinners think, that you're just so bad that Jesus can't save you. Brother, the biggest sin I know of is that you don't believe that the Blood of God is powerful enough to save you from your sins. That's the biggest sin I know of.

"So it came to my heart, 'Lord, I don't know how to pray but I'm gonna try it one more time, because, after all, I'm dying. I'm gonna go to hell. It'd pay me to try it one more time.'

"Oh, that's the way it is, Brothers and Sisters, when it looks like everything has failed, just try it one more time. If you can't go another foot, go an inch. Make ground for the Lord

"There was an old man, skinny, looked like he could hardly walk. All at once his mouth flew open and he started rattling in some kind of a funny sound. I turned around and looked and, Brother, the fear of God came upon me. I said, 'Lord, please help me, what is all this?'

"Well, I said, 'Lord, is it possible that You could save a guy like me? Could you save me?'

"Brother, when I cried out for that Rock, the Power of Pentecost fell upon me. I turned around and fell on that man and I said, 'I'M SAVED! I'M SAVED!'

"And, Brother, the Power of God fell in that church and they said they'd never seen such a night as that. Brother, they didn't know what had happened. That was the first time that I ever felt the Power of the Spirit. He rested upon me. He started from my head and went right on down. I knew that some Supernatural Somebody had just touched me. I felt His touch. I let out a squall… I was praying and I was hollering and Brother and Sister, I was kissing girls, I was kissing women, I was kissing old men, young men. I was happy. I wasn't worrying about dying any more!"

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (I Corinthians 1:26-29)

The time is April 1959. Robert Lambert, twenty-eight years old, dying, without friends, without money and without hope has moved from Kenova, West Virginia, his childhood home, to Miami, Florida, with Shirley, his wife, and their three children. One, a new-born baby, little Timothy Lee, is only three weeks old at the time of the move. After spending a number of days in the Veterans Hospital in Coral Gables, overwhelmed with the despair he saw in the hospital and convinced of his own impending death, Bob asked to be released to die at home. Taking residence in a home temporarily occupied by a zealous Pentecostal Christian, Charlie M______and his wife, Bob rejected his efforts to convert him to Christ, but, eventually, attended one church service out of respect to Charlie. When Charlie left Miami to return to New York City, his brother, Joe, took over the job of converting Bob. Finally, attending one service with Joe at a local Pentecostal assembly, he called on God and was saved by the cleansing Power of the Blood of Jesus Christ. In ecstasy and in great joy he rushed home to tell his wife. Brother Lambert takes up the story:

"I jumped in the car and they [Joe and his mother] got in there with me and the Power of that Living Christ filled that car and they were weeping and shouting and praising God. We took off toward home to tell Shirley I'd just met God. I didn't know how to explain it but I know that I'd just met Somebody that heard my prayer. Nobody could tell me any different. I was about half way home, maybe a block from the house, and I remembered that we needed some bread and milk. I turned around and went back to a store and ran inside and began witnessing for Jesus. I said, 'I just met God!' Started telling everybody about it.

"I tell you, when you get this thing, something real, Brother, you've got to tell somebody about it or you're just like a locomotive going down a track, you'll blow up if you don't tell somebody about it. You know, that's when you really know that you met Him, when you begin to tell everybody about it.

"So, I ran home to tell my wife about it and it was very late. (The people had told me they'd never seen the Power of the Holy Ghost fall in that church like that before.) I went into that house thinking I'd say, 'Honey, I'm not gonna die. I'm saved!' I went in there and…. You know, she was sound asleep!

"My wife worked very hard, but it was very disappointing to me because I wanted to tell her that this old mean, ungodly husband that she put up with so many years had just got a touch from the Lord. He's real!

"But she was asleep. I thought, 'But this is just how the Lord works things.' I wasn't that thoughtful of my wife that I wouldn't wake her up. If it'd been some other reason, if I was drunk or something, I would have awakened her, but I didn't wake her up. I thought, 'Well, let her sleep. She works hard.'"Then, as I was ready to unbutton my shirt….

"Now, I understand there's a lot of fanaticism; there are a lot of spirits that deceive people. The only way that I'd know it's real is to watch it and see if it comes to pass. Then, if it's in the Word and it lives the life, it's the Lord. There are a lot of bogus things but there are a lot of real things, too. I heard the still, small Voice of God speak in my ear. It said, 'GET THY BIBLE.'

"I talked back to it. I knew it was the Lord. I said, 'Well, Lord, I can't read the Bible, I tried it but I never could understand it.' He said again, 'GET THY BIBLE.'

"Well, I'd never heard any talk like that. I picked up this little Bible very nervously and scared because I'd never heard the Voice of God before. I ran to the kitchen, turned on the light and opened the Bible up as I was weeping and crying. Brother, those Scriptures got big as boxcars. That Spirit almost knocked me down. As I started to cry, that same One that came upon me at the church, came upon me again and It scared me as It got stronger. I didn't know what to say but I knew It was God. I knew that Person talking to me was God.

"Then after I read that [Scripture], I heard the Spirit of the Lord, the Voice of the Lord saying, 'GO DOWN TO JOE'S HOUSE.'

"Now, Joe was the man that wore the grass out between his house and my house witnessing to me. Joe was sick and his mother was sick. They were farmers from the apple country of West Virginia spending the winter in Florida to recuperate.

"And then I heard another voice that was not like that first Voice. It said, 'Don't you go down to Joe's house. He's asleep and he doesn't want to be bothered with you and besides, it's raining.'

"Again I heard the first Voice, 'GO DOWN TO JOE'S HOUSE.'

"Boy, I took off running out of that house as fast as I could go and it sure was pouring down rain but it didn't stop me. I put that little New Testament down in my shirt and buttoned it up and out I went as hard as I could go, my wife still sleeping. I banged on the door. Old Joe stuck his head out and said, 'Who is it?' I was standing there getting soaking wet in a tropical deluge and he said, 'Who is it?'
"I said, 'It's Bob, Joe.' And he said, 'Yeah, what do you want?'

"Now, more than likely, he should have just let me on in out of the rain but I guess the Lord just wanted things this way. And out of my heart my voice spoke and I didn't realize what I was saying but I said, 'The Lord sent me here.' 'Oh,' he said, 'Come in.'
"Joe and his mother were just having coffee. We'd just come in from church within about thirty minutes or an hour.

"Then I got scared. I thought, 'Now, how do I know that was the Lord? Now, did you ever, Bob Lambert, did you ever hear of God speaking to anybody? Who do you think you are that the Lord would speak to you? The Lord, speak to you? What if he asked me what the Lord said? I don't know. What if he says, 'What did the Lord say?' What are you gonna say?' Oh, boy, I was getting nervous. Who ever heard of God speaking? Oh, I was having a terrible time.

"While I was thinking, all at once I could feel myself falling into something I'd never felt before. And it got to where I was leaving and going into another dimension. I couldn't hear those people talk. I could see them and I could hear them but it was getting faint.

"Finally, as I came out of that, the woman was saying, 'Young man! Young man! You're not listening to what I'm saying.' Grandmommy was a big talker. She could talk for four hours and never slacken a bit.

"But that struck me and got me out of that and I said, 'Yes Ma'am, Yes Ma'am, I'm sorry.' And I looked at her real straight and she started talking and away I went again. This time I couldn't help it. I was gone. That Spirit came upon me and put me in another dimension, which, I understand now in the Bible, would be called a trance or a vision. I don't mean those things that you make-believe you see out here with your eyes closed. No, I mean something real.

"There as I slipped into this, just like a little gear, all at once I was relaxed, but it takes God to relax you, shift the gear for you. If you try to shift it yourself, you got man in it. But God shifted that little gear. How that works, I cannot explain. All I know is that He shifted it and I went in it. And I couldn't hear this woman or man any more. I was too far gone. But then I heard a Voice speak right up out of my insides. It struck my vocal cords and started talking. It was not me at all. I had nothing to do with it whatsoever. I listened to the Voice just like you are listening to me. But it was my vocal cords and the tone of my voice-it was my voice. And the Lord said, 'RISE UP AND LAY THY HAND ON THIS WOMAN.'

"Now, I don't know anything about those things. I have never been exposed to divine healing or anything like that. 'Rise up and lay thy hand on this woman.' All at once, something picked me up, walked me over there, my hand shot out, went upon the woman's head and Jesus Christ spoke out. Not prophecy, dearly beloved, that Lord, that God of heaven, our Savior spoke out and healed the woman, turned around and healed the man!

"And then God kept right on speaking and spoke to me and said, 'EVEN THOUGH THOU WAST A SINNER, I LOVED THEE.' The Power of God filled that room where we were standing. Those people have never gotten over that to this day. Grandmother has died now, but they stirred that country giving their testimony about this thing that happened in their little old kitchen. And there, God Almighty spoke to me just as plain as I am talking to you."

Brother Bob went on in his testimony to explain that he wanted to share this experience with his listeners so that they could understand the things he did. He wanted people to understand why he did them and he wanted the support of born again Christian people to pray for him. He genuinely believed the Voice that he heard and that something very unusual was getting ready to happen. Brother Bob continues:

"Oh, I love the Lord Jesus Christ today because He was the only One that could help me. He was the only One that could give me a hope, could give me something to live for. He was the only One that could give me salvation. And when I heard Jesus speak and heal that man and woman, He spoke to me and called me as His servant and told me what kind of a servant I was. And He showed me the hospital and the man that I had cried over and He said, 'BECAUSE THOU HAST HAD COMPASSION ON THY FELLOW MAN, I HAVE GIVEN THEE THIS GIFT.'

"And He told me of a most unusual ministry that I have found in the Word of God that I believe is to take place very, very soon. And He kept right on speaking and told me, said, 'BECAUSE I AM NOT COMING IN YEARS, I AM COMING SOON AND BECAUSE OF THIS I MUST GIVE THEE THESE THINGS ALL AT ONCE FOR I WILL MAKE A SHORT, QUICK WORK UPON THE EARTH. I WILL NOT SEND THEE TO SCHOOL AS I HAVE MY OTHER SERVANTS BECAUSE I AM COMING SOON. I MUST GIVE YOU THESE THINGS ALL AT ONCE.'

"Now, you know that without even a supernatural sign, it would have to be a Supernatural One to reveal such things as you have heard. No little fellow like me, in such a short time could know those things. It's impossible. Mind you, I have no background of the Word of God, none whatsoever, none at all. But that God spoke to me and said that He'd give me these things all at once because He did not have time to train me and school me as He did other servants. And then He told me some personal things that I don't think that it would be pleasing to the Lord for me to reveal to you. I don't think I should say anything about it.

"But there was a statement made by Jesus…. And I'll say this because it's very necessary to know what kind of a ministry we're coming into today. He said, 'AND THE WORDS THAT WILL PROCEED OUT OF THY MOUTH WILL BE AS FIRE TO SCORCH HAIR ON DOGS' BACKS, SENDING THEM SCURRYING FROM WHICH TO HIDE.' Just like that, He said it, word for word. I could never forget it as long as I live. I didn't understand that. I thought fire would come down out of heaven and scorch literal dogs where, maybe, I'd be preaching.

"Now, I saw myself in the hospitals and I saw a ministry that was so stupendous and tremendous that it left me almost a hairline from insanity when I came out of this anointing. I saw a ministry…. Now, mind you, this was on the 28th of April [1959] and I was 28 years old. All these things are for a reason.

"When the Lord finished speaking, naturally, I thought the world would come to an end. He said, 'A short, quick work….' I thought maybe it'd be the next night. I didn't know. I was scared to death

"Now, when I came out of that trance I realized that I was in this kitchen and the Voice stopped speaking. The Voice had spoken directly to the people and talked to them, just like I'm talking to you. And then He talked right to me, just like He'd called my own name. Now, you can imagine what that did to me. I never had heard of God speaking in the Supernatural, never knew that God does those things but, yet, with all of that Power and Anointing on me (which I didn't know to call It 'Anointing' or 'Power') I just knew It was God.

"I went home as quickly as I could, with the Fire of Pentecost upon me, and went in, woke up my wife and told her that God had just appeared to me, had spoken to me and called me to be His servant. It scared her totally to death. She sat up on the bed and thought I had gone totally, raving mad. She got so scared, the whole bed shook all over. I guess she thought I was going to kill her. She thought, 'Surely, my husband has lost his mind.' I wouldn't dare tell her any more that God had said because she was ready to jump out of the window and run.

"She woke up the next morning, I got her breakfast and she went off to work very nervous and hating to go. I guess she was afraid I'd kill the children during the day. That's the way it is, you know, when you meet God. The natural man thinks right away that you've gone too far, your old mind has popped. Yeah, 'Watch out, don't get too religious, you'll go crazy.' They don't tell you about all those people that went a little farther and got something real, they only tell you about the ones that didn't get something real.

"Now, we had some friends staying with us, Randy B____ and his brother-in-law. They had come from West Virginia to Miami to look for work. When my friends got up, I thought, 'Maybe I can tell my friends because Randy knows me better than anybody. Maybe he'll understand and I can tell him. Maybe he's heard of God speaking to people before.' I was wanting some consolation because this that had happened to me was too much for me. Why, I'm no theologian, I'm no doctor. Why, a little old fellow like me…. I don't even hardly know my ABCs. Only went to about the seventh or eighth grade and flunked them two, I believe). How could God speak to me?

"As I was fixing their breakfast…. I never liked to miss a meal. If I missed breakfast I would be a sick boy. And as I was preparing breakfast for my friends, the Spirit of the Lord said to me, 'DON'T EAT.' Here It was again, just like It was before, said, 'DON'T EAT ANYTHING!.' I heard It just clear as a bell, 'DON'T EAT ANYTHING!' Why, I never heard of fasting. But I didn't, I wouldn't dare eat after I heard that. But I said, 'Now Lord, I'm gonna get sick, I don't eat, I get sick.' He said, 'DON'T EAT ANYTHING.'

"I sat down at the table and they were wondering why I didn't eat breakfast. Then I began to tell Randy when he was about half finished with his eggs. I couldn't hold it any longer, so I launched in to tell him about the Lord Jesus appearing to me last night. You know, we'd kind of drank beer together and ran around to the baseball games together and this was too much for Randy. I could see he was getting scared and his brother-in-law was getting scared. I said, 'Oh, Rand, the end of the world is here. The Lord Jesus is ready to come back to earth. You got to get saved!' (As if I could save them.) 'Now, you just got to get saved, your wife, your little baby boy, oh my, you can't miss this, Randy, and go to hell, you got to be saved! The end of the world is here.'

"Randy hung his head down. He knew that his friend of the night before was not the same man. He could see it. And then I became so burdened for him. I began to cry and say, 'Oh, Randy, the end of the world is here. You got to be saved.'

"Randy dropped his fork and said, 'Oh, oh, Bob, we got to get out of here. We're gonna be late for that appointment." The other guy left his eggs and he started to get up but, before he got up, I started speaking in another language. That held them spellbound.

"He said, 'Oh, what was that? What was that?' Boy, It just rattled off like a pistol firing, bang, bang, bang, bang, and It stopped. I had no control over It at all. Boy, that got me because I had never had anything like that happen to me. I speak a little hilly-billy, that's about all. But I knew that, there It is, and all that Anointing all over me, just like It was last night. And they said, 'Oh, oh, oh, what's that? My, did you hear that? What was that?'

"Then it came to me. There was a little old church by the railroad track in the lower end of town where I was born. They call it 'tongue-talkers,' 'holy rollers.' Immediately that came to me and I said, 'That's tongues, that's what it is.'

"Man, they took out of that house and they didn't lose any time, but, oh, I was having such a good time right then! I didn't care whether they believed it or not. I believed it and I was having a glorious time and that was all that mattered. Praise God! If people don't believe that God is real or that we have a good time about it, that's all right. So, I began to worship the Lord.

"The children got up, were running around and making a lot of racket. The Lord spoke to me and said, 'PUT THY CHILDREN TO BED.' I said, 'Why, Lord, they just got up. That's a hard thing to do, but I'll try it. He said, 'PUT THEM TO BED. I WANT TO TALK TO YOU.' Try to get three kids back to bed about eight-thirty, nine o'clock.

"I put them in there on the bed and I talked to them just like the Lord told me. I said, 'Now children, now lay right down here, the Lord wants to speak to Daddy again.' The Spirit of the Lord came upon them and they went to sleep.

"I walked out in the kitchen and passed the icebox [refrigerator] and the supernatural Anointing came upon me, just petrified me and I went into another of those visions. He told me about the ministers, revealed some of their lives to me and what they were doing, about the money, Cadillacs, and personal things that probably wouldn't be good to tell plainly. There, I saw this minister come before me and then I heard Jesus revealing his life. Laid it right out in the open. I'll tell you what the Lord Jesus said to him and, if you're driving one of these cars, please, don't be offended at what I say. This was to this man. It may not pertain to every man.

"Jesus said, 'WOE UNTO YOU, FALSE PROPHET, YOU HAVE LED MY PEOPLE ASTRAY, YOU, WITH YOUR SILK SOCKS ON, YOU, WITH YOUR SILK UNDERWEAR ON, YOU, WITH YOUR BILLFOLD PADDED WITH MONEY, YOU, DRIVING IN YOUR CADILLAC, YOU'VE LED MY PEOPLE ASTRAY. FALSE PROPHET!'

"That man has taken the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and used it for a vocation, for a way of life to make merchandise of this people and did not tell them the truth but he lied unto them. It made me walk straight on the money part. That's the reason I have always been scared of money.

"And so it is today. There's many a minister that doesn't have the backbone, that doesn't have the boldness to stand up and tell the people that the end of the world is here and to get themselves right with God and to come out of that harlot system out there.

"Come out of that denomination organization, friend. The Bible didn't say, 'Stay in there,' It said to 'Come out of her.' You may stay in there if you are being used of God. But, if you're growing dead in there, Brother, you had better get out of there. I exhort you today that you cannot sit under a man today that is not called of God. It is not worth sitting under a man today that does not have a burden for souls, that does not have a burden for the world situation. We need a burden, we need to be crushed from a burden, with the situation that things are in today. The biggest amazement to me is how the people can have no burden.

"Now, I don't know how long that lasted but I heard the Voice of God speak. Now, mind you, I didn't know that any of these things were in the Bible. I didn't know a thing about the Bible, not one thing. After this was over, I came out of it. But I could not understand that. I said, 'Fire scorch a hound dog's back? False prophets? Oh my, what does this mean?'

"Naturally, as I came to myself and realized that I was there in the kitchen and that Spirit on me. I started worshipping the Lord and crying. I found myself over in the corner praying in the Spirit. Oh, such joy, such joy unspeakable! I have no words to describe it. Such joy, my cup…. I know what David meant, 'My cup runneth over.' My cup was running over in super-abundance.

"Now, I no more than got off my knees there, walked half way across the kitchen and He struck me again. I went into another trance. That's the third time. I tell you, the Day of the Lord, the wrath of Almighty God rests upon this nation. It shall utterly be destroyed from the face of this earth, THUS SAITH THE LORD. 'I SHALL UTTERLY DESTROY AMERICA FROM THE FACE OF THIS EARTH,' SAITH THE LORD.'

"In this third trance, He revealed to me a persecution coming upon the Bride of Christ. It was revealed to me that there will come a day when they'll kill you and think that they do God a service. It showed myself being martyred. They were in the process of it for the Gospel. Only It didn't say 'Gospel,' It said, 'The Faith.' The man that was doing the martyrdom, well, I tell you what, they were going to cut my head off. That was kind of hard to understand at that time but it's not too hard to understand now, seeing the world organizations and how they are talking.

"And the Voice of God, the Voice of God-it wasn't me. They tried to get me to deny this faith. It said, 'Deny this faith or we are gonna do such and such a thing.' Then I heard the Voice of God speak and say, 'GO AHEAD AND DO IT THEN.'

"It wasn't me. Boy, I thank God, His Scripture said, 'Don't meditate what you say in that day but there'll be a Word given you.' I heard God speak and said, 'GO AHEAD AND CHOP IT OFF THEN.

"Then, the next thing, you know, I came out of that. I was standing there and Mark-he was just a little tot but he will never forget this. He had me by the pants leg and he brought me to myself by pulling my pants leg and said, 'Daddy, Daddy, are you gonna have your head chopped off?' Now, he heard that Voice of God speaking in that trance and he said, 'Daddy, are you going to have your head cut off?' I said, 'Son, I don't know.' By that time the children were up.

"When this anointing was coming off of me and I realized I could see my hands and I knew who I am again, I was hitting my hand and I was saying, 'John the Baptist, John the Baptist, milk and honey, John the Baptist, milk and honey.' Why, 'John the Baptist, milk and honey?'

"Of course, when you come off the anointing like that, you're just ready to collapse, you're so nervous. Usually you just have a bulging headache and you're just so upset you don't know what to do. Just the least little thing just makes you a nervous wreck. Poor old….

"God bless that prophet [William Marrion Branham] in this land. How people have mocked him when he had such a supernatural anointing that it was Jesus speaking to you. It was not him. When I went to see him, I sat there and I saw Jesus speaking through human clay.

"How the ministers have assembled themselves together and have spoken against that man. God have mercy upon your souls. God have mercy upon your souls. Don't you ever say anything about anybody that's anointed of God. I don't care what they're doing or what they're thinking, don't you say anything about them. You're just killing yourself right then. I've learned not to say anything about anybody. Even if I don't agree with them I don't want to utter one word against them.

"Now, I saw that vision of martyrdom and God took me to the Word and began to show me. I found everything that Jesus told me. He led me to the Word of God. Right there, Brother, those false prophets are right in there. Isaiah is packed full of false prophets; Jeremiah is packed full of it; Ezekiel spoke about them; Second Peter spoke about them. I don't have time to quote all the Scriptures but to take you right through there and lay out everything that God told me in that room. And everything else that Jesus Christ told me is coming to pass.

"Do you think that Jesus Christ is going to put up with you and me as He has all these years? My Friend, the Blood is getting ready to be removed from the Mercy Seat. I tell you that.

"In the morning I rushed to my wife. There was another man sitting there but I said, 'Honey, God just told me that He was sick of the worship of the churches.' She didn't know what to say. That other man jumped all over me and just tore into me left and right and I began to cry. I said, 'Well, Lord, You said it.'

"Now, that went on, the Supernatural, for days, the anointing of God, for days, such a….

"I seen a ministry coming upon the earth, right before the coming of Jesus Christ. I saw a ministry, that was exactly just like the Lord Jesus, exactly. It was Jesus Christ incarnated in human vessels. Because He spoke out of them by His Word and brought to pass what was spoken, right before your eyes. The Creative Word of God made manifested through human vessels.

"I was only a few days old in the Lord. I could not understand it. But Jesus said, 'I WILL NOT SEND THEE TO SCHOOL AS I HAVE OTHER SERVANTS. I MUST GIVE THEE ALL THESE THINGS AT ONCE.' Jesus also spoke these words to me and I did not understand them. I was afraid to tell anybody about it. 'I AM SICK OF THEIR WORSHIP, I AM SICK OF THEIR WORSHIP.'

"Oh, dearly beloved, can you comprehend what a fast work God is doing today? When He raised up an ignoramus like me from West Virginia, so bashful that I couldn't even sell a typewriter or sell anything. But He picked me up. I could preach overnight under the anointing of God."

Now, it is evident, from Brother Bob's own testimony, that he had come in contact with a Divine Supernatural Being. The very night he was saved, healings and prophecies followed in the presence of others-believers and unbelievers. That Supernatural Being spoke out to him, and to others, in the first person. He knew that he had met God, that God had called him into a special ministry and that God was to teach him the Word in a short time.

This Supernatural Being continued with Brother Lambert wherever he went, home, at church, traveling. This has been verified by many testimonies of people who have felt that Presence while they were with Brother Bob. When he subsequently went out and began to preach, the Presence of God would fill the place where people were gathered. It created many emotional responses among the people ranging from great fear to unexpressible joy, reverence and faith. This Presence bore witness to the Truth that he preached and, on several occasions, made Himself visible to other people, appearing with an open Bible in His hand, mouth open and ready to speak. God's Supernatural Presence reached out to people, both sinners and Saints, as they thought the right thought or spoke the right word in their homes, in their cars, at services and even on the rare occasions when he went overseas. His death did not take that Presence away from those who stayed true to God's Word.

It must be remembered that Brother Lambert, at the time of his conversion and these prophecies, had the equivalent of only about seven years of formal education, no knowledge of the ministry of Brother William Marrion Branham and virtually no knowledge of the Bible, having run from God and seldom attending church services as a boy and young man. He was a sinner saved by God's Grace, called to be God's servant and to die for the Gospel of Christ.

back to the top

And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. (Jeremiah 1:16-17)

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12-13)

"For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the Word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His Name. But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." (Jeremiah 20:8-9)

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:32)

Brother Bob Lambert has been contacted by a Divine, Supernatural Being. He has just come through a glorious but fearful conversion to Christ, that included, not only receiving Jesus Christ as his personal Savior but also, the same night, the healing of his friend, Joe M____, and Joe's mother. There was prophecy concerning his own ministry, persecution coming upon the Bride of Christ, the state of the Church and the ministry already on the field, and circumstances of his own death. Bob Lambert knew that he had met God, and that he had been called to a special ministry and that he was to be taught the Word in a short time. Now, desiring fellowship with others of "like precious faith," he began to reach out to try to find others who had experienced a real encounter with the Lord. Brother Lambert continues his story:

"Immediately, I started preaching. Now, my wife knew that had to be God. 'Boy, if that guy is preaching, that's got to be God.' She didn't think I was crazy any longer after that. And I thank God that, just a few months later, she became one of those fanatics, too, by the Grace of God. The Lord knows how to work all those things out.

"But I began to go through my first training and that first training was: Was I going to believe the Word of God or was I going to believe every testimony that I heard? Was I going to believe that every preacher on the field was a servant of God or was I going to stay with the Word of God?

"Now, my nature was, and I say this truthfully and humbly, that, if your story contradicted my story, I would believe that you were right and I was wrong.

"I went to try to find my brothers and sisters and there is where I had a time. I went to the Baptists, I went to this one and I went to that one but I couldn't find that ONE who was speaking to me at home. This caused much heartache, much sorrow, much trials. I met the evangelists on the field and the big tent ministries, but I could have nothing to do with that. The Lord revealed that this thing was Jannes and Jambres. I would have nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Now, right there is enough to know that I had God's leading. That's enough right there, if nothing else, to let me know for sure that it was God. People came to me and pleaded and begged and put pressure on me because of the calling that I had and the way that it happened. It stirred the place where I was.

"I went out into this thing called 'Pentecost.' I can't blame any person for being afraid of Pentecost today-Pentecost denomination, I'm talking about, not the Baptism of the lovely Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"And let me exhort you, Brethren, you ministers, shame upon you going around and taking men's jaws trying to make them speak in tongues. Why, any intelligent man, any country hick would know better than that. Brother, you don't baptize anybody in the Holy Spirit. God Almighty does the Baptizing of the Spirit. You'll get these people caught by some spirit that's not the Lord!

"And so I began to go through a test and a trial. I was nervous and torn up because people got a hold of me and they said they were not a denomination. They believed in winning souls and giving up your houses and go in the mission fields. I said, 'I'm afraid because God told me not to have anything to do with man or schools or anything, that He'd teach me. But they said, 'Oh, you got to have help, you got to have spiritual help, you are a baby.'

"So, they got a hold of me and there's where I got in trouble. I did just exactly opposite to what God told me to do, but I loved Him. I loved fellowship. I thought they were all my brothers and sisters.

"Then I was in a missionary camp of people that are in the mission field. [For a short time, Brother Lambert, with his family, moved into a small twenty-eight foot trailer in a small park the 'missionary camp,' near twenty-seventh avenue and sixtieth street in Miami-Ed.] There I saw some of the most horrible things. They went mixed bathing; they cut their hair; if they went to the Pentecostals, they would wear no lipstick; if they went and witnessed to the Baptists in their churches, they wore lipstick. But they prayed, they prophesied, they spoke in tongues. And I was sick, spiritually sick, running a temperature of about one hundred and four! They said, 'Oh, the Lord called me,' and 'The Lord told me this,' and 'The Lord told me that.' And I'd meet this minister, 'Oh, the Lord appeared to me in my home.' 'I saw an angel.' 'I saw a light.'

"I prayed and said, 'Oh Lord, here I thought everybody has had this kind of experience I got but the story they tell is contrary to the one that You told me!'

"They believed that there were three gods. Three gods! They'd pray to Jesus god a while and then pray to the Father god a while. But it was the Lord Jesus that I talked to. It was the Lord Jesus that saved me. He was the One I talked to. I couldn't understand all this 'three gods.' They'd try to explain it to me and I'd talk to my wife and she said, 'I don't understand it.' I said, 'Well, is God three gods? Is there three gods or one God, Shirley? Oh my, I'm so confused, I don't know which way I'm going. And then I ran into the question, 'How were you baptized, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, or the Name of the Lord Jesus?'

"Then God revealed to me who He was. I found out that the Lord God Almighty was none other than the lovely Lord Jesus, God tabernacled in human flesh."

This "missionary" group was led by a man who was loose in his morals and deficient in his understanding of what it means to be a missionary of Christ or even a Christian. In later years, members were accused (but not convicted) in several countries of child abuse, child labor and even use of prostitution to attract converts. Upon the death of this "leader" in 1994, the group acknowledged that the man had encouraged his followers to engage in a form of sexual evangelism, which he referred to as "Flirty Fishing." They claim that this practice was discontinued in 1987.

Brother Lambert continues:

"God led me from this group of missionaries I was with to preacher to evangelist after evangelist. And I hold my hand to God that I could not find the real genuine article in any of those things, yet I knew that there was one. Money beggars, did not live any life, baptize you any way they want to, believe in three gods and mixed up in the things of the world and won't live holiness. I couldn't have anything to do with that. And, mind you, since I met Jesus Christ, I've never been mixed up in a denomination and I've been a holiness preacher. God would not let me do those things.

"The Jehovah Witnesses said, 'He's not the Almighty God." "I said, 'Then, John the Revelator made a mistake when he said, 'He's the Almighty God.' (Revelation 1:8) He's the Almighty God, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, both the Root and the Offspring of David. Brother, if you can make three gods out of the root and offspring you sure got something to do. He's both the Root and the Offspring. He's the root in the ground and He's the branches and the trunk of the tree and all three of them.

"So, the people said, 'You got to go see the man of the hour.' 'Oh,' I said, 'Who is that?' 'Well, the man of the hour, God's man of the hour is____.' And they told me his name.

"I said, 'When I heard that man on the radio the other day, I was afraid that God would strike him dead for the statement he made and I knelt down on the floor.' I said, 'I by no means will go see that man!'

"And they put pressure on me. Old saints, you see, and started to scare me. That's the way they do, try to scare you into coming their way. And I said, 'If I am a servant of God, either he is right and I am wrong or I am right and he is wrong.' And I said, 'I think that I'm gonna go ahead with that One that's speaking to me because what He tells me is contrary to what that man is saying. You say that He's God's man of the hour? That may be so but I won't take any chance on it because nobody is gonna tell me that you got to give twenty dollars to move God to heal you. God don't heal you because of your twenty dollars. The Bible says, 'By His stripes we were healed.' That's good enough for me.

"They got mad at me and never spoke to me again. They said, 'You talked against God's anointed and, now, you've lost your ministry.'

"I said, 'Let me tell you something, if I be a servant of God, if I be a servant of God, the Voice that speaks to me is true and the voice speaking to him is a lie!'

"I met man after man. You read about the man from India that made NBC News for three years. I had seen him on the news reel in 1950 when I was stationed at Eglin Field in Florida. He was hailed to be a prophet. I spent a day, led by the Lord, in his house. If I ever heard supernatural things, it was in the presence of this man that was demon-possessed. The Lord revealed to me that he believed that he was the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw angels, he did miracles, he did that and made NBC News for three years. Mr. A___ is an antichrist. He destroyed many souls. Any person that believes that he is the Lord Jesus Christ is an antichrist. I don't care how supernatural you may think your ministry is.

"But there I learned a powerful lesson, that you cannot believe every testimony that people have. No matter what it sounds like, how good it looks or how great it is, if it's not in the Word of God, it's not of God. This was very trying for me. And I went home and went through one trial after the other.

"I met another great evangelist. When I walked in he saw a vision of me coming. Yes, it was true! Told me everything, called me right out in the audience. And what he told me was true. So I said, 'Surely, this is a man of God.'

"Now, I was trying to find a man of God. Now, if I would be lying to you, I'd have to be crazy to stand in this hour, in this time, to a little group that I am pastoring two years and get up and lie like a dog to you. But the Lord had revealed to me that there was an Elijah, a John the Baptist, who was going to take His true people to the land of milk and honey. The One that appeared to me is the One that saved me and the One that showed me these things is the One and the self-same Person. If He told me one word that's contrary to the Bible, then I'll disbelieve and say, 'I'm lost!' It's either God, all God, or it's all wrong to me. And that Voice said that there was a ministry of Elijah that was going to take the true Bride back to the Word of God."

Now, Brother Bob Lambert was greatly burdened for the world because of the things that God had shown him over many days-judgment coming on the earth, persecution, a short, quick work, martyrdom-and, in particular, he had a burden for Mexico. Because he, no doubt, made the fact known to the "missionaries" with whom he had been meeting, they dropped him off at the nearby home of Andrew ('Andy') and Grace Collins who, it was widely known, supported missionaries going to various overseas locations, providing meals and a place to stay while in Miami and also providing transportation locally. While it is not clear just what these "missionaries" had in mind when they left Bob Lambert at the Collins home, it is clear that the meeting was to prove beneficial to him.

As they began to become acquainted and to discuss the desire of this young man to minister in Mexico, they asked him if he had heard of William Branham. Bob replied that he had heard of him and, perhaps, that he had read something about him. The Collins asked if he would like to hear a sermon of Brother Branham's and Brother Bob answered that he would.

Brother Lambert sat down to listen to a sermon and became so enthralled by what he heard that he began to weep. He put on a second sermon. He was given lunch. He put on a third sermon. He was provided supper. At about eleven o'clock in the evening, the Collins told him that he could come back again. He said, "Oh, can I?"

Early the next day, Brother Bob was back again to spend the day listening to Brother Branham's sermons. After two or three days of this, the Collins loaned him a tape recorder and a stack of tapes that he took to his home. When he would finish a stack of tapes he would come back for more.

[During the summer of 1959, this scribe met Robert Lambert, having been taken to his home (no longer in the trailer park but in a concrete block house) by Andy Collins. When Brother Bob opened the door, we saw stacks of tapes and the tape recorder on the floor of the parlor-and little else. Brother Bob had been sitting and making extensive notes from the things he heard, notes that would become an essential part of the foundation of his own sermons in days and years to come. Though, at the time, I understood little of the hour-long discussion of the Scriptures and the ministry of William Branham, I realized that this man, Robert Lambert, was a real man of God.-Ed.]

During the summer of 1959, Andy Collins took Brother Lambert to Jeffersonville, Indiana to hear the prophet of God in person. There, he was to have a very surprising experience. But we will let Brother Bob tell it:

"Now, ministers that had great education came before me and told me that I was wrong and that I needed to go to college. But Jesus said, 'DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. DON'T ASK THEM ANYTHING, THEY HAVE NEED TO ASK THEE.'

"I said, 'Father, they've been to college. They know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.' He said, 'ASK NOT THAT MAN ANYTHING, HE HATH NEED OF ASKING THEE.'

"Then God would speak supernaturally and give me a sound rebuking. Said, 'BE STILL AND BE QUIET IF YOU WANT ME TO TEACH YOU. STAY AWAY FROM MAN. LEAVE MAN ALONE. STAY AWAY AND I WILL TALK TO YOU.'

"But, would I do it? No, I just had to go, boy, I had to go.

"I walked right in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Something told me to talk to [a certain] woman. And I wouldn't do it. I was afraid to. I thought, 'Well, instead… (See?)

"You got to, if God tells you to do something, do that much and then stand right there. And if He does not tell you anything else, just stand right there. He will tell you the rest of it. But a lot of the time, we want God to tell all to us so we can see it real plain and understand it real good before we do it. Something said, 'TALK TO THAT WOMAN.' But I wouldn't do it. So then I got all hurt and tore up because I didn't do it.

" I walked into a hotel and there she stood with her husband. Then I got scared again and I said, 'Oh, what am I going to say?'

"The man [that I was with] said, 'I am going to go over.'

"He went over and got her and her husband to come over. As soon as she came over, the Spirit of God hit her before she got to me. She began to tell me all the things I was doing, told me the things that the Lord had told me that only the Lord knew about.

"I said, 'That's right, that's right, that's right, yes ma'am.'

"Then she shook me real bad and I never got over it. She said, 'You just came out of a missionary camp, didn't you?' And I said, 'Yes.'

"She said, 'Like trailers, a lot of missionary people, full of devils. A missionary camp full of devils.'

"Brother, I could have gone through the floor. That scared me to death. But It went right on speaking, Brother, revealing secrets and some of them were not too good. I said, 'That is good and bad. I know that must be God.'

"Brother, let me tell you something. That changed my life right there. I said, 'Lord God, I tell You, Lord, I will never believe anybody if it's not according to Your Word. I don't care who it is. I will never believe anything that is not in Your Word regardless of who it is. I will take Thy Word.' "God began to change me right there. I started walking alone with the Lord Jesus and listening to His still small Voice. He began to train me in the Word of God. I get this a little bit here, a little bit there."

It was during this same trip that Brother Lambert visited the home of Sister Ella Branham, Brother William Branham's mother. He wanted to hear from Sister Branham's own lips the story of the Angel, the Pillar of Fire, that came into their little, humble cabin, at the time of Brother Branham's birth. A photograph of the Pillar of Fire had been taken in Houston, Texas in 1950. A copyrighted copy of this photo is in the United States Copyright Office, which is located in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Sister Ella passed away on October 27, 1961 after a short illness.

During the latter part of 1959 and into 1960, Brother Bob visited many churches and ministers in various denominations. He observed customs, heard their doctrines and often spoke out in defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In speaking of this, he said:

"I used to go in different churches when I was young. I used to hear them testify, especially in Pentecost. I never ever joined a denomination, never. The Lord would never let me do that. I have never come out of anything. I have always followed the leading of the Holy Spirit. I have never been entangled with any denomination. I used to hear them say, 'Does anyone have a testimony?' I would hear them jump up and say, 'I'm saved sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost and have a mind to go on. Pray for me because the devil just beat me down so this week, I don't know whether I'm going to make it or not.'

"Well, I never could really understand that, how you could be saved, sanctified, filled with the Spirit, Sealed with God, (Huh?) and have a mind to go on. Then out of the next breath start crying and have everybody pray for you, the devil just beat you down, you didn't know whether you were going to make it or not. 'Just pray that I hold on to Him, though.'

"I heard several testimonies like that, one night, and I got up and preached the Word of God and, I tell you, I never saw such big eyes and opened mouths in all my life. I preached on the finished works of Christ and they had never heard it on that fashion before.

"No, Sir. I'm saved! I'm saved by the Grace of God. I'm saved and I stay saved. Not, if I go on and preach, or if I don't go and do this tomorrow or maybe I would make a mistake. That has nothing to do with it whatsoever. I have a Mediator. I have a Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. But I love Him so much that I don't want to do anything wrong. But if I do something wrong, I fall down and say, 'Lord Jesus, forgive me.' I don't say, 'Lord Jesus, save me again.' No, I'm always saved. I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and, when I did, I was saved. Now, I'm a Christian and by faith I look to the shed Blood. The Blood that came out of the side of Jesus Christ at Calvary [and the Water and the Spirit] were the three elements that saved my soul."

In 1960, Brother Lambert went to a mountain cabin in Kentucky to pray and fast and wait upon the Lord. The cabin was owned by a follower of the message of Brother Branham, Brother Pat Tyler. Brother Tyler was (as described by Brother Branham) a "converted gangster, an outlaw, a gunman, killer." The cabin was without electricity or running water, snake-infested, full of spiders and other vermin but it was remote-a good place for a man to be quiet and to wait upon the Lord. It was late and very dark when he arrived but he found someone already there, occupying the cabin. Going inside, he called out and was answered by a Brother George Parylla who had already gone to bed in the cabin loft.

George Parylla was also a friend of Brother Tyler but had not previously met Brother Lambert. After talking for a short while and since the hour was late, they both went to bed. They could become acquainted in the daylight.

Brother Parylla had come to the Lord in December 1957 while living in Brooklyn, New York, fruit of the ministry of Brother Branham in Newark, New Jersey (just across the Hudson River from Brooklyn). Brother George's brother, Ray, had attended a meeting in which Brother Branham preached the sermon, "Sirs, We Would See Jesus," (57-1211). During the prayer for the sick near the close of the service, Brother Branham, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, spoke to Brother Ray revealing a physical problem that he had and further telling him that he had a brother at home with a nervous breakdown. Brother Branham then prayed saying, "Father God, give him the desires of his heart. May he go tonight and receive everything that he's asked for…."

Brother Ray went home and told Brother George about the meeting and to get up, that the Lord had healed him, and he explained what had happened. When Brother George believed, he got up, received his strength, gave up his sinful ways and began to witness to the Grace of God in his life. Though he lived a sanctified, exemplary life, and continued telling the story of what God had done for him, he felt the need for a deeper experience with the Lord.

For more than two years, Brother George had continually waited upon God for a personal Outpouring of the Holy Ghost. When his church friends told him that he had already received it, he became confused and determined to go on a fast, to see no one and to wait upon God for a clear answer to this question. For this reason, he went to his friend's cabin in the hills of Kentucky.

Recalling this encounter in 1969, Brother Lambert said:

"I was preaching deep, deep, deep revelation that people just could not understand. I told a brother back there in the back [Brother George Parylla]… He was down in the mountains of Kentucky. The brother was fasting and praying, trying to find the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and everybody told him he had it.

He said, 'Don't tell me that, I don't have it'

"He lived more life than most of them that said they had It. And there I met old George, and we loved one another, took a liking to one another. Old George would believe me and I just had a busting out. (See?) I just had to tell somebody some of these things. And I would get old George over there and I would tell him some of these things God told me, and old George sat there; he would believe me. He would not understand it. He would look kind of off in the distance every now and then, but he did not doubt it. He believed it.

"And then he did not see me for several years. He was down in New York City listening to Malachi 4:5's tapes. [As he listened, he would say,] 'Look at that! That Lambert told me that years ago.' Then he would go on a little bit, put on a little tape and say, 'Look there! There it is again.' And, 'He told me that, too.' And it went on like that for days. And he said, 'Boy, I got to find out if that man is still preaching the same thing that he told me years ago.' "Old Brother George came in one day and I said, 'Brother George, I am still preaching the same thing.' So we have been together ever since. Been searching, trying to find some place where they preach the real, true, unadulterated Word."

Brother George Parylla was to become a mainstay, a pillar in the little assembly in Connecticut, eventually becoming, after Brother Bob's death, pastor of the group until the Lord took him home in 1992. But more of that later.

Early in 1961, Brother Lambert had an experience that was to bring him to the attention of the Pentecostal world and, in particular, the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship.

On Thursday, January 26, 1961, Brother Lambert (with missionary Brother Henry____ and another minister, Brother Jimmy____) was led of the Lord to travel from Miami to Sarasota, Florida, a distance of almost two hundred miles. They went to attend the final three nights of a two-week revival meeting being conducted by Dr. John H. Osteen, a popular Baptist minister from Houston, Texas. Dr. Osteen was in cooperation with Pastor Gerald Derstine, a charismatic Mennonite leader in Sarasota. Pastor Derstine was the Executive Vice-President and Treasurer of an extensive ministry under the name, "The Gospel Crusade, Incorporated." This work included, in addition to ministering to his own congregation, evangelism, publication of "Harvest Time" newsletter, along with Gospel tracts, and conducting religious conventions at a campground maintained for that purpose.

Unknown to Brother Lambert, Dr. Osteen, feeling led of the Lord, had told Pastor Derstine that he was returning to Houston. Mr. Derstine said that he had wondered who God would provide for the remaining three nights when the three men from Miami arrived saying that the Lord had told them to come and see him. After talking for some time, the men all went to bed and…. But we will let Brother Bob tell of his experience:

"In 1961, the Lord paid me a visit in Sarasota, Florida that shook up Sarasota, Brother. They never have gotten over it. Great tent meeting going on, a great convention. And a little old humble man like me, not knowing it, and the man of God, Brother O'Steen was preaching, looked at me and said, 'God sent you here, I'm leaving.'

"That scared me to death, him being a great preacher and me being just a little old hillbilly. And I said, 'Surely, Brother, not so. I came to hear you!' And then he said, 'No, God spoke to me, He sent you here. I am leaving.'

"Well, I had never preached before, just a little old teeny handful would come out and hear an ignoramus like me. And so, there, in the room that night with two men, a missionary and a Jesus Name preacher, there He came in the room…."

[Editor's Note: Bob Lambert's testimony and Mr. Derstine's comments concerning this visitation are in the tract, "God Spoke," which is reprinted in its entirety at the end of this chapter.]

"That night, I went to bed and went to sleep. Sometime after three o'clock in the morning, I saw a vision so fearful that when I came out of it, I was so weak and trembling that I had to wait a little while before I got the strength to wake my two companions.

"As the first vision came upon me, I saw the sign of the Son of Man in the sky and a great Cross that brilliantly lighted up the heavens. Then there was a great and mighty wind that was going through the streets of the cities of the world. Destruction was coming upon the world so fast and a Voice was crying out, 'It's not doctrine, It's the Blood of Jesus Christ!"

"The Lord was calling, 'Oh, run ye, My people, under the safety of My Wings! I will cover thee as a hen would cover her chicks.' Then, as I ran about in the vision, I cried out, 'Oh, people, people, fall down and accept the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for thy sins! It is either Heaven or Hell-there are only two places-and I don't want any to go to Hell!'

"When the vision was over, I finally woke my companions as I cried out, 'Wake up, my brethren, God has visited me!' When they were awakened, a great fear came upon all of us in the room. All of us began to tremble and shake under the fearful Power of God. It was like unto the mighty fear of God that had fallen on Mount Sinai after God had brought forth signs and wonders when He used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.

"Finally, about five o'clock, I went to Brother Derstine's room and asked him to pray for me that I could receive comfort and peace from the Lord. I wanted to hide from the wrath of God. I said, 'God gave me a vision of the wrath of God, the Day of the Lord, the judgment God is going to send upon the world and our land. Oh, my God, my God, I wish I had not seen this!' Then, before Brother Derstine could pray for me, I cried out, 'I feel I must go up and down the streets and tell the people!' Then, as Brother Derstine prayed for me I began to have some peace and was able to go back to my room.

"As I returned to my room, the Lord came in where we had been sleeping and we could hardly stand His Presence. The anointing of the Lord was upon me for hours. The Spirit of the Lord is confirming the message that God is trying to give to the people so that even a fool should not doubt. As the Lord took control of my voice and my whole being, He said, 'THE VILENESS, THE WICKEDNESS AND THE SINFULNESS OF HUMANITY HAVE COME UP AS A STENCH IN THE NOSTRILS OF ME! THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS AND THE MOCKERY OF THE PEOPLE KEEPING THE WORD OF GOD IN FALSE MANNERS IS AN ABOMINATION IN MY SIGHT! I WILL STAND THIS NO LONGER! MY WRATH AND MY JUDGMENT IS COMING UPON THE EARTH!'

"When daylight came, the Lord again took possession of my being and He spoke through me for four hours. He said, 'THE WRATH OF GOD, THE DAY OF THE LORD, IS HERE NOW. THESE THINGS SHALL BE KNOWN AROUND THE EARTH. THERE WILL BE OTHERS THIS PARTICULAR MORNING THAT WILL KNOW THAT THIS IS THE HOUR AND THAT I AM NOT GOING TO WAIT ANY LONGER.'

"The Lord is confirming the message that God is trying to give to the people so that even a fool should not doubt. God is telling us to clean up ourselves and get ready to meet the Lord. He wants us to wake up, shake off our unbelief and keep on fire for Jesus Christ who said that He desires that we be either cold or hot or He would spew us out of His mouth.

"We need ministers that are called by God-not those who have called themselves into the ministry. We need ministers who will fulfill the Will of the Lord Jesus Christ, not their own will. During this vision and anointing of God, He impressed me to tell all ministers that God is going to have a voice through which to speak to the people. The voice of these ministers is to cry out to the people saying, 'Repent! Repent! The wrath of God is coming! And who shall be able to stand it?'

"This is the last harvest! God is thrusting in His sickle now. Let us witness to everyone. Let us pray that the Lord of the harvest will thrust forth laborers into this, His last harvest."

"Oh friend, there is something…. Oh, we better be ready. It is going to be terrible if you miss this. There, God revealed to me-not knowing it-with the same Voice that He spoke to Noah and spoke to me almost the identical words that He spoke to Noah. He said, 'THE VILENESS AND THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN HAS COME UP BEFORE ME AS A STENCH IN MY NOSTRILS AND I CANNOT STAY MY HAND ANY LONGER. I AM GOING TO POUR OUT MY WRATH UPON THE PEOPLE.'"

Within a very few days word came from such widely separated locations as Orlando, Florida, Haiti and Kitchener, Ontario that others had experienced a similar visitation on the same morning, with similar pronouncements of coming judgment.

Brother Bob went on and preached the final three nights of the special meetings and returned to Miami. Brother Derstine was so impressed with the Power of God that was present in the prophecies and the ministry of Brother Lambert that he took steps to publicize the event. Articles were published in the April 1961 issue of "Full Gospel Men's Voice," a monthly magazine published by Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI), and in the April/June 1961 issue of "Harvest Time." The story was also published in the tract, "God Spoke," that was given broad distribution. Brother Derstine also used this as the keynote to the message of the February 1961 Regional Convention of the FGBMFI in Washington, D.C.

The anointed preaching of Brother Lambert at this meeting made a strong impression upon others. The late Mrs. Caroline Robinson, a woman of considerable piety who was living on Marco Island, Florida, and attended the meetings, made a statement to her sister (mother of this scribe) that Brother Lambert was the most spiritual man that she had ever seen.

The publicity and notoriety brought about by these events brought several invitations to preach and someone even offered to buy him an airplane and fly him all over the world to the churches. Of the invitations to preach, not the least important was an invitation to speak at the Miami Beach convention of the FGBMFI to be held at the Americana Hotel in May 1961. Though he ultimately was not given the floor to preach, he witnessed practices and beliefs that illustrated some of the hypocrisy and false belief that were common in the modernist charismatic movement. Attendance at the convention did provide the opportunity to make contact with someone who would invite him to the geographic area where he would finally build a permanent congregation.

Following Brother Lambert's experiences in Sarasota in the final days of January, 1961, he, along with Brother Henry and Brother Jimmy, returned to Miami, Florida. During the journey (of some 200 miles) they chanced to pass a movie theater on which the marquee advertised a movie then showing, "The Facts Of Life." Brother Lambert's recent experience, which included visions of coming judgment on America, was so real and the judgments seemed so imminent that he felt compelled to stop and enter the theater. On entering, he went to the front of the theater and began preaching to the people there assembled, telling them that the real facts of life were that judgment was coming upon America, that they were sinners and that they must repent to escape! Of course, the theater management did not take kindly to this interruption of their showing of the movie and quickly and forcefully escorted him outside.

An unusual event occurred in Sarasota, Florida, on January 27th. We had been conducting a revival for two weeks with John H. Osteen, Pastor of Lakewood Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, as the evangelist.

With only three nights remaining of the revival, he felt led of the Lord to return home. I wondered who God would provide for the remaining three nights, but He sent three men from Miami, Florida. They said the Lord had told them to come to see me at Sarasota.

That night they retired not knowing that an unusual event would happen. At five o' clock, I heard a knocking on my door, with someone crying out: "Brother Derstine! Brother Derstine!"

When I opened the door, one of the men, trembling all over, pleaded: "Brother Derstine. Please lay your hands on me and pray for me! God gave me a vision of the wrath of God, the day of the Lord, the judgment, God is going to send upon the world and our land. Oh! My God. My God! I wish I had not seen this!" Before I could pray for him, he cried out: "I feel I must go up and down the streets and tell the people!" I asked God to comfort him and give him peace.

Upon returning to the room where he and the other two men had been sleeping the Lord came into the room and the power and brightness was so intense that the men shielded their eyes with their arms and cried out for the Lord not to come any closer for they could not stand His Presence! The fear of God was upon them.

Then the Lord spoke through one of the brethren as his voice and his whole being took on a different form, giving forth this message.

"WRITE THIS DOWN: THIS IS OF THE LORD!

The vileness and the wickedness of man have come up before Me as a stink in my nostrils. And I will not be able to stay My hand any longer. I am sick to My stomach. The mockery of My word in the religious systems of America are an abomination to Me, I have come to My bursting point and will spew out My wrath upon the land."

That morning, when daylight had come, at approximately nine o' clock a group of twelve assembled in my office to hear more in detail what happened through the night concerning the vision of Bro. Lambert.

For four hours he admonished us and prophesied to us under a strong anointing of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes he would tremble and shake, sometimes he would kneel. It was as though God was speaking directly to us! It was fearful! The Lord declared: "The wrath of God, the day of the Lord, is here now! These things shall be known around the earth! There will be others, this particular morning, that will know that this is the hour, and that I am not going to wait any longer!"

The next evening, we had a service for the public and a minister from Orlando. Florida. was LED of the Spirit to come to this particular meeting to have fellowship with us. He did not know about this vistitaion we had, until he heard the speaker relating the testimony of the great vision. With great fear, this visiting minister of Orlando told us of his terrible dream (vision) he had the same night concerning the great wrath of God coming upon our land. He told us he saw such terrible things that he wished he had never seen this dream (vision). This was identical to the vision Bro. Lambert had on the same night.

Three days later, we received a letter from missionaries in Haiti telling us of the great unusual visitation of God which they experienced on the night of January 27th. One of the missionaries, in writing this letter stated what his wife experienced in her vision that particular night: "The Lord showed her terrible persecutions that are coming on the earth and how that many will be killed and maimed. She saw a large city whose buildings were falling upon people and huge fires were to be seen everywhere. Some knelt before idols for help and the idols fell on them. The Saints were hidden during this time, but the Spirit-led saints were not affected by all this trouble and they said that it was because they were led by the Lord, and He (Christ) had overcome the world, and that they too had overcome the world through Him.

Several days later, I attended the Regional Convention of Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International at the Continental Hotel, Washington. D.C. I was….called upon to speak and in my message I was proclaiming that what God showed and revealed to us in Sarasota. Amongst the many men from all over U.S. and Canada, was a man from Kitchener, Ontario. Canada, who stood to his feet and trembling began to tell the congregation in this meeting that he also had an identical vision from the Lord of the great wrath of God coming upon the North American continent. He said that it was such a terrible sight, he wished he would not have experienced this. The significant fact was that his vision also came on the same night as the other three aforementioned.

This grips my soul and heart and causes me to truly believe that God has spoken to the world. The Scripture tells us that in the mouth of two or three witnesses let everything be established. Matthew 18:16. Again in your Bible the verse found in Amos 3:7, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets."

Truly God's message to His people is to set your house in order; prepare yourselves. Joel 2: 12., "Therefore also know, saith the Lord turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for He is gracious and merciful. Slow to anger and of great kindness and repenteth Him of the evil.

Read the full chapter of Joel 2. Even as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. If you wait until you can see it with your natural eyes and understanding, IT WILL BE TOO LATE. For we walk NOT by SIGHT but by FAITH. Even so come Lord Jesus.

BY GERALD DERSTINE
Editor Harvest Time Magazine

Last night I went to bed and went to sleep. Some time after three o'clock in the morning I saw a vision so fearful that when I came out of it, I was so weak and trembling that I had to wait a little while before I got the strength to wake up my two companions. Finally, I woke them as I cried out to them: "Wake up, my brethren! God has visited me!"

The vision first came upon me as I saw the sign of the Son of Man in the sky, a great cross that brilliantly lighted up the heavens. Then there was a great and mighty wind that was going through the streets of the cities of the world. Destruction was coming upon the world so fast, and a voice was crying out: " It's not doctrine, it's the blood of Jesus Christ!"

The Lord was calling: 'OH RUN YE, MY PEOPLE, UNDER THE SAFETY OF MY WINGS; I WILL COVER THEE AS A HEN WOULD COVER HER CHICKS!' Then as I ran about in the vision, I cried out, people, people, fall down and accept the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for thy sins! It is is either heaven or hell - there are only two places - and I don't want to go to hell.

When the vision was over and I had awakened my companions, a great fear came upon all of us in the room. All of us began to tremble and shake under the fearful power of God. It was like unto the mighty fear of God that had fallen on Mt. Sinai, after God had brought forth signs and wonders when He used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt.

Finally about five o'clock I went to Brother Derstine's room and asked him to pray for me that I could receive comfort and peace from the Lord. I wanted to hide from the wrath of God!

Then the Lord came into the room where my companions and I had been sleeping, and we could scarcely stand His presence. The annointing of God was upon me for hours. The spirit of the Lord is confirming the message God is trying to give to the people, until even a fool should not doubt.

God is telling us to clean up ourselves and get ready to meet the Lord! He wants us to wake up, and shake off our unbelief, and keep on fire for Jesus Christ, Who said that He desires that we be either cold or hot, or He would spew us out of His mouth!

We need ministers that are called by God not those who have called themselves into the ministry. We need ministers who will fulfill the will of the Lord Jesus Christ, not their own will. During this vision and annointing of God He impressed me to tell all ministers that God is going to have a voice through which to speak to the people. The voice of these ministers is to cry out to the people saying: "Repent! Repent! The wrath of God is coming! And who shall be able to stand it?"

This is the last harvest; God is thrusting in His sickle now; let us witness to everyone. Let us pray that the Lord of the Harvest will thrust forth laborers into this, His last harvest.

My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

Remember, if you follow Christ, you'll be hated by people, for all that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecutions. And if you come to Christ, you'll not come by any church, or any denomination, or any creed. You'll come by the Blood; that's the only avenue in. And you cannot bring no one with you; you'll come alone and stand on your own confession and your own faith. You'll not ride in on the pastor, or on your mother's faith. You'll come as an individual when you come to God. And many times we make those foolish choices. (William Branham, "Strait Is The Gate," 59-0301M, Par. 59)

When Brother Robert Lambert received an invitation to preach at the Miami Beach convention of the Full Gospel Business Men International, he was pleased. This would be an opportunity to speak directly to many of the people in the full gospel movement and, especially, some of its leaders. The convention in May 1961, coming on the heels, as it did, of the publication of the accounts of Brother Lambert's January experience in Sarasota, Florida, would be filled with Pentecostal clerics and lay persons alike who had read the accounts of God's pronouncements of judgment upon America and they would want to know how to prepare themselves to avoid the destruction ahead.

But, alas, it was not to be. Though he prepared his message and spent much time before the Lord in fasting and prayer, he was not allowed to preach. This is not to say that the event was a waste of time for this man of God. On several occasions God had shown him the condition of the ministry and the modern churches but, still, it came as a shock to see for himself the depths to which professing believers had fallen.

Brother Lambert tells the story:

"I left Sarasota after a tremendous visitation of the Lord. I saw utter destruction that made me want to run out in the nighttime, even in my pajamas. I wanted to scream from house to house, 'Get under the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to rocket her out of here!' The greatest hurricanes, the greatest tornadoes, the greatest earthquakes, the greatest famines, the greatest pestilence is coming. Shame on you if you're not praying and seeing that, my friend!

"Oh please, Preachers, please, my brethren, it's not worth it. Your job, your salary from the church is not worth it. My friend, it is not worth it. Tell the people the Truth, with a burden, with a compassion, that he'll listen to you. Not all of them…. God's people will listen. His sheep know His Voice. Won't they listen to us? God's sheep will listen.

"It's not worth it, Brother, six hundred dollars a month, a new car, a new home, tickling their ears. Don't you ever read the Bible? Don't you ever read Isaiah and the false prophets? Who do you think those men are, my Brother? Who are they? Who are those men that have fleeced the wool from God's sheep for their own covetousness? Two things I stay away from, as much as possible, preachers and money. Your money does not interest me, my friend. There'll never be a man that'll stick his finger in my face and say that I took up an offering. Never, never will you ever do that to this young man! You'll never get me to fail my God over your filthy, stinking money!

"Pastors, South America is weeping and wailing for missionaries. Let me tell you, the Church has not yet even gone into Mexico and converted it. They have not even heard of Jesus. Don't you tell me they have. Yes, denominational organizations. There's people down there with no burden, no power, taking the organization doctrine. They are living in a church, sitting down in the city. Did they go into the mountains? Did they go in to the poor? They went down with six-dollar white shirts on, eighty-five dollar suits, driving fine cars. Try to preach the Gospel to a man, wife goes out and beats her clothes on a rock. They eat out of an old dirty kettle of ground beans, when they have that. And they drink water, if they can get that."

The experience Brother Lambert had with the Lord in 1961 became known throughout the world by way of the Full Gospel Men's "Voice" magazine, the "Harvest Time" newsletter and tracts that were printed under Gerald Derstine's direction. This brought an outpouring of interest in his ministry and a desire among some to exploit the phenomenon of God so powerfully using a man to speak of the coming judgments. One group even wanted to buy him an airplane and fly him all over the world to preach in the churches. However, when he began to preach the Name Jesus Christ, water baptism in His Name, the requirement that every member of the Bride must have a genuine experience of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, along with other truths of the Gospel, including modest dress and women's place in the church, some of the same people who had been used in the tongues and interpretation turned against him and said that he had lost his ministry and that he had turned into a false prophet!

Until the day he went to be with the Lord, Brother Bob pointed the people to the prophet, William Branham, and said that they must listen to that man of God. Still, if you are God's servant, you are always God's servant. The Bible says that "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Romans 11:29) And, of course, every man is responsible to God for the gift that is in him.

From the very beginning of his ministry after his conversion, Brother Bob preached the necessity of the true Baptism of the Holy Ghost in the life of the believer and looked for an Outpouring of Power in every meeting.

After attending the FGBMFI Americana Hotel Convention during which there were many supposed manifestations of the Spirit, Brother Bob said,

"A little still Voice told me, said, 'It's not of God, they are deceived and they are the five foolish virgins and they're not getting My Spirit.'

"There was a man that believed God had called me, and I, a little old fellow among all them great big doctors and great big evangelists with a big tent ministry, just a little old nobody like me. And, here, I say it, 'It's just…. They're deceived!'

"I saw their best evangelists, some of them, a devil, working right around them, couldn't any of them discern them. If they had the Holy Ghost, why didn't they discern that spirit?

"The Lord God told me [a certain] woman was demon possessed. The very devils, that proved that I was right, threw the woman down and caused the awfulest mess. If I ever saw a serpent crawling and foaming at the mouth….

"They came back there to get me to cast the devil out. I said, 'Go get some of them mighty men of God up there to cast it out!'

"Why, the thing was prophesying and speaking in tongues, deceived every one of the preachers. I got up and walked out of there, wouldn't have anything to do with it. Went up to my room, got down on my knees and said, 'Lord God, get me out of such a mess as this as people don't even know God or the devil, can't even discern between….'

The Bible said, 'Try the spirits, see whether they be of God or not.'

"Talking about, 'Oh, a hundred and fifty got filled with the Holy Ghost last night. Hallelujah!'

"But I believe the Voice that spoke to me. I don't care if there are thousands of preachers there, I'll believe the Voice that spoke to me. You know, a lot of people say, 'How can you be right and everybody wrong?'

"There were four hundred preachers, one time, who were sure they were right. [See, Elijah, I Kings 18:17-41 and Micaiah, I Kings 22-Ed.] Turned out that one man was right. They were all wrong and one man was right. No, I've learned, Brother, that I'm going to believe Him who is speaking to me. I don't care what anybody says.

"I was so disappointed at the Americana Convention. Shame, shame, shame upon those ministers down there, public bathing. It's a disgrace to our God. Carry their Jesus down there in the presence of those ungodly women, naked. Bathed themselves and talked and chatted with them. Even invited me. I shuddered and was scared to my shoes. My toes would curl up.

"I went up to my room and fell down and said, 'Oh God, how far we are from Brother Wesley! How far we are from those men of God! They cried out and the first thing happened, when the Spirit of the Lord came, the women began to jerk their earbobs off; they began to wipe their make-up off; they began to take all of that junk off of their faces and scream out to God. Yet, if a minister today would say that, they'd think he is utterly crazy!

"I've ministered under the anointing of God and say that, as I am today (and have been), to say that. They'd make fun of me. And it wasn't me. Let it alone. Ministers of God called themselves 'prophets,' walking down in the Americana Hotel into a pool with scarcely any clothes on. It wouldn't be any different if I came up here and ministered to you (God forbid!) in my shorts.

"Let me tell you what I do when the Presence of the Lord comes to me if I'm lying in the bed. (I usually sleep with my shirt off.) I gently pull the sheet up over me. I tell you, men of God, when you come into the Presence of a Holy, wrathful, fearful God…. There is not any fear in the church today. I'll tell you, 'THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,' one of these days a minister will be ministering, you'll laugh and you'll scorn, you'll drop out in the floor dead, my friend. That day is upon us today.

"I've been ministering and see a young couple laughing at me and I could not help it but my finger went out and the Spirit of the Lord called them out. The pastor of the church wouldn't know what to think. And I'd scream out to God, 'Please have mercy upon their souls, Lord. Don't do anything to them, Lord.' And fall down in the floor and scream out to God. And then, one couple, I'd pray and I said, 'Father, please help them Lord.' They fell down on their knees and repented.

"Brother, you don't have enough money to hire me to come in public swimming with you. As I told a minister in the Americana Hotel, 'Son, you're not fit to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ if you don't know that much. If your Holy Spirit in you hasn't possessed you enough that you're not sensitive enough in the Spirit to something that terrible, Brother, you had better get back to your prayer closet and make you a contact with God!"

[Editor's note: My wife and I also attended that "full gospel" convention. Public swimming in a state of near undress was one of several manifestations of ungodliness among these "Pentecostal believers." Those present were invited to view the water baptism of a number of "converts" in the hotel's fresh water swimming pool. Candidates for baptism as well as those baptizing were to wear bathing suits. We refused even to view such a corrupted excuse for a holy sacrament of God.]

If Brother Lambert's previous visitations and revelations from the Lord had not fully convinced him of the degree of apostasy present in the church world, his experiences at the May 1961 convention did so. However, having a door slammed in one's face does not necessarily mean that there is not another door open somewhere. In fact, there was another door opened for him eventually leading in a direction that he could not have anticipated. As the convention goers began leaving the hotel, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to Brother Lambert and told him to "GO DOWNSTAIRS TO THE LOBBY." He was obedient to the move of the Spirit and immediately went down to the lobby of the building. He takes up the story:

"I went downstairs and a man and wife were going out the door. At the last second, the Lord said, 'JOIN YOURSELF TO THEM.'

"You talk about God! Of all the people there, they were going out the door with their bag, had their car parked there and they were in a hustle-bustle getting out of that big hotel on Miami Beach. I walked up and grabbed a hold of them and said, 'Just a minute.' Well, that, 'Just a minute,' caused a lot of trouble. It split a lot of churches and has been causing trouble ever since.

"Now, John____, who had been fasting, was probably a little bit discouraged and despondent because he thought that all of his seeking God and giving up all that food was in vain. You know, God never moved on the scene until the Hebrew children were right up to the edge of the furnace. And John was right up to the edge of the door.

"Brother John was president of a chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men in central Connecticut. As he and his wife went out the door, I caught them, out of the thousands of people there. I had been thinking that I was going to speak at this convention but they never let me. There I was, just as discouraged as John was. I thought, 'My Lord, I have spent all the money that a poor brother had and I begged him, Lord, not to pay my way over here to this big extravaganza.' And I said, 'You told me it wasn't of God."

"I tell you, when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon you, there's nothing you're afraid of-death or hell. You're not afraid of anything. Jesus is the only One that I'm afraid of. I fear what He'll do to me if I don't tell you what He brings up through me.

"A man was sound asleep one night. I was lying in bed making love to Jesus way up in the early morning hours. That man's mouth came open and he said, 'Fear not, Son, I'm with you and I'll be with you everywhere you go.' That man was sound asleep. Oh, God, how that tickled me so good! To think that my God, that big God, is right inside of me, part of Him, just walking around with me. He can talk to me any time He wants to."

Details are sketchy here, but we can safely assume that this man, to whom Brother Lambert was directed by the Voice of the Lord at the close of the convention, invited him to speak to the local chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men who met over breakfast at the Villa Capri Restaurant in Wallingford, Connecticut.

Immediately, Brother Bob began to make preparations to go North. On the way, Brother Bob stopped briefly in New York City with a group of Branham message believers where he obtained a copy of the sermon, "The Bruised Serpent." [Now entitled "Revelation Chapter Five #1," 61-0611M-Ed.]

In Connecticut, he was able to preach on two occasions, once at a house meeting in Canterbury, in eastern Connecticut, and once at the Villa Capri restaurant. The devil never gives up trying to entrap God's servants and he used this opportunity, through false accusations and improper application of the Word of God by local leaders, to cut off fellowship that Brother Bob had established with certain charismatic leaders. Of course, we understand that God was moving Brother Lambert to walk only with Him and leave the organizational ministry alone! So, it seems that the devil often ends up doing the Lord's work!

Brother Bob was determined to stay with the Word of God despite the influences of respected "men of God." Where the Bible disclosed that the early converts were all baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38; 4:12; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5), he realized that there must, of necessity, be a connection between Peter's revelation (Matthew 16:13-20) and Jesus' command (Matthew 28:19). He knew that the promise of the coming of Elijah, the prophet, according to Malachi 4, had to be something more than a preacher coming to preach righteousness and holiness, exhorting the people to wait upon God to receive the same manifestations of the Spirit that the Pentecostal organizations had claimed since before Brother Branham was born! He realized that Paul's exhortations to "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (II Corinthians 6:14), "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (I Timothy 4:12), that women should "learn in silence with all subjection" (I Timothy 2:10), and that wives should "submit yourselves unto your own husbands" (Colossians 3:18), were not idle rhetoric but were intended to be followed. He understood that it was important to follow John's instruction to "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4:1), and he believed Peter when he wrote that "There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction" (II Peter 2:1). AND he knew what God had told him.

Brother Lambert's first sermon in Connecticut at the house meeting in eastern Connecticut was to a group of twenty or more persons. Those present included some who later were part of the Connecticut congregation sitting under his ministry. The group also included Mae Isaacson (then married to a Mr. Daggett) who had been the interpreter for Brother Branham when he visited Finland in 1950. Of this meeting, in his testimony of 1969, Brother Bob said:

"I preached that Jesus Christ is none other than God Almighty. I preached water baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, holiness, hell-fire and brimstone-something that the other evangelists wouldn't preach. But I didn't care, Brother, if you never gave me a penny and I had to eat cornbread and drink branch water, I'd tell you the truth. I didn't care if I never got another meeting. I thought, 'Long as I was telling what is in my heart, let her go!' I was preaching against women preachers, I didn't know it. Well, I didn't know you'd get mad at me. I never thought that you'd get mad at me. It never dawned on me that anybody'd get mad. I thought everybody loved God. The Bible said, 'They that love My Word, nothing shall offend them.' [Psalm 119:165]

"So, I believed that. And then I was up around…. They called a woman (See?) to preach before I did. 'Well,' I thought, 'Oh, that's terrible.' The more I listened to it the worse I felt.

"Well, I said, 'Now Lord, I got to tell them all about that. I see that they don't know that, (See?) I got to tell them.'

"So, the place was packed out; a man that founded a big Bible college was there. (He was the big fellow of it.) I ain't got no sense, just say what God said.

"Just like Micaiah, 'I don't know about all that, I'll say what God puts in my mouth.' I'll say what God said. Shoot me, kill me, hang me, cut my head off, I'm gonna still say what God said. (See?)

"And I walked right up there, opened my Bible. Oh, they believed God sent me; oh, they prophesied…. They got themselves in trouble. (See?) I'd hear them say, 'Yea, thus saith the Lord, you're my prophet, yea, thus this, thus that.'

"That's all on record. And then, when I got up and told them the Truth, I wasn't a prophet any more. That ended that right there, 'You lost your calling right there.'

"Not that I believe I am a prophet. You know, a New Testament prophet is nothing but an inspired preacher, anyway. But I got up there and thought, 'Now, I got to help these poor little people. I see that they don't know that.' (See?) And I was just feeling so good and I said, 'You know, I want to read something right over here in my Bible, found over here in Timothy where Paul said….' And I read it. And I said, 'I'm not preaching but I'm just going to talk to you a little bit.' I read down there and I said, 'I see here where Paul said that 'I forbid a woman to teach or usurp authority over the man.' She is forbidden to preach the Gospel.' And I quoted a few other Scriptures.

"I said, 'Now Sister,' as I leaned over on the pulpit…. (You know, I saw this many times. Lord! I wouldn't do it now. It would scare me to death. Yeah, I would, too. I take that back.) And I looked down there…. Oh, it got quiet in there. Why, I didn't know that man had founded the big Bible institute and his daughters were pastors and everything. Well, I didn't know. If I had known that, I, I,…. I'd have said it anyway! And I looked down there and I said, 'Sister, you know, the Lord's never called you to preach His Gospel. He hasn't called your husband, there, to change the babies' diapers, either, while you are preaching and out in the ministry.'

"Oh, it got quiet. I said, 'If anything about it, Brother, He called you to preach the Gospel and called her to be a good keeper at home!'

"Well, his face turned red, blue, orange, got the works. And then he blew up and I thought he was gonna…. Out that door he went! Jumped and ran out! I said, 'Oh my, what have I done? That man got mad and ran out the door!' I thought, "My! Can you imagine that? Got mad!' Then I thought, 'Well, oh boy, I'm done here. Look, I'm in trouble here.'

"I said, 'Sister, I love you. Because I love you, I don't…. Maybe the preachers wouldn't tell you that, but it's the Truth. If you'll believe that, one day you'll love me for that. Maybe not now. May be a little hurt now, but one day you'll love me for it.'

"And I went on preaching. God just anointed the Word so strong that they couldn't resist it. And even the old brother that had the women preachers, pastors, came over and hugged my neck crying. He said, 'Brother, that's the Word of the Lord.' He had to, had to say it was God.

"I had heard a real prophecy that night as I came in. A man told me I was His servant and all these great things I was gonna do. I listened and the little old brother that was working with me was all enthused. I said, 'Oh Brother, don't pay any attention to that. That brother would turn against me in a minute.' And he did. But the prophecy sounded awful good, though. It told me to 'Wait here,' and 'You do this.'

"The Lord said, 'Don't have anything to do with that. You come over here in the country and wait on Me, Boy.' That's what I did."

At the Villa Capri restaurant on Saturday morning (July 22, 1961), Brother Bob gave his testimony and spoke of Brother Branham's announcement about leaving the field and the disclosure of the treachery planned by the ministers in Chicago. He differentiated between the man, William Branham, and the office that was in him. Also, he made it very clear that his own ministry had to be subordinated to that of Brother Branham. In this 1961 testimony, Brother Lambert said, in part:

"Now, I've got to say this. Some of you may never hear it, I don't know. But, I've got to tell you this. In New York City, there came a tape into my presence of a prophet of God. You all know the one I'm talking about. I'm not glorifying this man. I am responsible; I have to recognize this office. The office that God has given me has to come under this office. I cannot help it. I have to listen to this office. Do not listen to this man. I do listen to this office because I know Jesus is that office. He's in that office and that office is great authority.

"Without government, we can't have an army with Power. There has to come unity before there can ever be Power to deliver the world. They had unity at Pentecost. Just as soon as someone raised up with any different, it got something, it got a blast from the Holy Ghost right then. Just as soon as Ananias and Sapphirah fly up, they went down. This Book cannot contain all those that went down like Ananias, Sapphirah. He just gave us one example. He didn't have room to put them all there. So, I told you that there will be the same thing again today.

"A sinner cannot stand in the congregation of the righteous. The fear and the wrath and the Power of God are coming back into the Church again. Real gifts of God are going to be operated and will reveal your heart. You will not be able to sin and come into the Church of Jesus Christ, that beautiful Bride with that beautiful Power. Your lie will be detected right away and will be laid out in the open so that you may repent of it.

"Would you pray this prayer for me, that God would put a greater anointing upon me? I've only ministered the times you can count on your hand. I've only ministered just two, three, four, five times. Pray for me, Brothers, please, pray for me. Will you?

"Now, I want to tell you this because I, by the Spirit and anointing of the Lord, have said some things this morning that may have astonished some of you ministers. And so it should, with what we've heard down through the ages. If you were not astonished, if you were not aghast at what I said this morning, then I'd go back to God and say, 'Lord, what's the matter with me, Father? I did not have Your Word this morning, Lord.'

How he labored; how he waited; how he cried into the night, year in and day out. We'll never know the tears that he shed for you and me. To think that they would let the old enemy get in and do a thing like that to that precious prophet of God. And on this tape, I heard these words.

"I'm telling you what was on this tape. I'm not saying this, I'm telling you what was on this tape that was told by this prophet. You can check into it if you will. You can write down and get the tape called "Bruised Head of the Serpent," I believe.

"There was seventy well known ministers, one of them, probably, one of the greatest evangelists in the world and a great man of God, Brother Tommy Hicks, and many others. I say his name because it's on the tape, you'll hear it anyway. They got together and I think the way the tape went, had laid a trap for this prophet of God.

"My brother, do you think that you can trap a prophet of God and he not know what you're doing? Impossible! You're hurting yourself. Do you know, they met Jesus in him, not him.

"Seventy of them were there and they were going to challenge him over baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They said that he was 'Jesus Only.' That man is not 'Jesus Only.' Neither am I. I simply believe in one God in three offices. I've only met one Person. That is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've never come in contact with those two. So, I found out that Jesus was inside of me, the Holy Spirit, His Spirit. Jesus does not have two individual Spirits and two individual Souls, nothing but a tabernacle of flesh, that omnipotent Spirit dwelling in Him. Man-God, a God-man in the earth. Think of that, Friend. You can't love the Lord like you should unless you have that revelation that God loves you and me and says 'Not with His Own Blood, His Son's Blood, the Office of the Son, the Office of the Father, and the Office of the Holy Spirit.' He's in the Holy Spirit's Office in you right now.

"They challenged him over this. The Angel of the Lord came to him, Jesus came to him and said, 'They've laid a trap for you. They are going to trap you over this, of Who I am and over My baptism.'

"Brother, don't you ever come against the Holy Ghost. I charge you in the Lord Jesus Christ. (That's His Name, no other Name given under heaven that we can be saved by-the Lord Jesus Christ.) Every knee will have to bow to that Name. They will not bow to the title of Father; they will not bow to the title of Son; but they'll say, 'The Lord Jesus Christ.' They'll bow to that Name. We cherish that Name. We make love to Jesus in that Name and so we have got to go in the water in that Name, because it was a commandment.

"That doctrine right there…. I can't help but say this. I don't want you ministers coming to me and arguing with me about that. I would not argue Scriptures with you brothers. I'm just telling you this that you may go home and pray about it. I love you. I can't help if Jesus tells me these things. I'm ignorant. Jesus just tells me this. (See?) Then He turns me over in the Bible and I see it. I have to do what He tells me to. (See?) Water baptism does not save anybody. But Jesus said to do it. And I want to do it. I charge you, today, you'd better get in the water in that Name.

"Have you ever seen your brother with his head removed for preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? You will see it. It will cost you your life to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in this day. Make up your mind. No longer can you be wish-washy with God. Make up your mind this day whom you'll serve.

"I rejoice at the thought that I might lay my old flesh down and let it die for the Lord Jesus Christ. Brother, if this was ever a day to please God, it's today. I exhort you today, God is looking for a vessel that'll consecrate himself to God, that will not listen to some brother, that will not listen to me in my own natural self, but will obey the Voice of the God.

"You're at the end time. You will have to give account for great light that has been shed. No longer can you hide from the Bible doctrine; no longer can you hide from persecution because it will be impossible. Your church doors will be closed. Every church door that does not go into the World Council of Churches shall be closed. No longer will you be able to come up behind the pulpit and just preach a little sermon. No longer, my friend. That's getting ready to close now.

"My friend, I have read of these great men of God, John Wesley and all those men. I would to God, you would go back there today and hear them crying out against these things. Those men would utterly shudder. They'll probably shudder today, looking down upon you and me, thinking that you're ready for the Bride of Christ. My friend, you're not ready for the Bride of Christ. You can never make it in the condition that you are in, neither myself. Do you understand that? I said, 'You will never, never, never make the Bride of Christ, the condition that you're in, here this morning.' There is coming a purifying Fire upon the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is coming a ministry forth in the land that will clean you up. If you don't listen to them, God will lay a sword right down there and cut you right off. I've already been shown it of the Lord. God has laid a sword down through His Church separating the chaff from the wheat. Which do you want to be this morning, dearly beloved? Wake up! The Day of the Lord is here!

"Oh, my friend, if you could see your brother before I got here. If you saw me then…. How my soul cried out for you all-hours. I thought the tears would never stop and the travailing would never end. Oh, how you people can't get a vision. Without a vision you'll perish. Without a vision you'll perish. What are we for? What are we for but to win the lost to Jesus?"

With much more exhortation, Brother Lambert called on the assembled group to call on God, to dedicate themselves to the Lord's work, to preach pure doctrine and not compromise with the forces dominating the world today. They should not look for the material things that often accrue to a well-liked minister. He pointed out that much of the world still needs the Gospel preached, that we are at the end-time and that the coming of the Lord is at hand. After a period of worship and prayer for the ministry, for the people and for himself, the meeting was closed.

Following the Connecticut meetings, as Brother Bob was getting ready to head back south, a number of people came to the house where he was staying to persuade him to stay and minister to them. He had never considered the possibility that the people to whom he had just preached so hard and so straight would want him to stay and be their pastor. But he did not stay. There was more training ahead before he would settle down with one congregation. He takes up the story (1969 Testimony):

"And I, the next thing you know, everybody started coming in the house. 'Hello. Yeah. Yeah. Hello.' A car pulled up and here came another carload in. Boy! Next thing you know, boy, they're lined up out there. And they said, 'Look here, Boy, you can't go off and leave us out on a limb here. What are we gonna do? We've heard this thing, what are we gonna do?' I said, 'My, my, I never thought of that. I never thought…. I got to preaching, I didn't know what you did after that. Here's all these people, they want to come out of all these churches. They want to. They want to get lined up with this true Elijah ministry.

"Now, the Bible said, 'Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven.' But before that hydrogen war comes, in other words, 'I'll send Elijah the prophet.' Did the Bible say that? Did it say a group of men? No! Did you say it was John [the Baptist]? Why didn't the earth burn? Better look the Bible over again. John the Baptist, who foreran the first coming of Jesus Christ, was Malachi 3. But Malachi 4 is the one I'm talking about. After that prophet comes…. There are five comings of Elijah-that spirit of Elijah-in Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, Malachi 4:5 and the Elijah to the Jews [Revelation 11:3-12]. That's five. Don't make it four. Five of them.

"So I knew that, that Voice that spoke to me in Florida and said Elijah was here, He revealed to me that it was none other than William Branham. Only, I didn't tell the people it was William Branham. I would describe the ministry, what he'd do and how it'd be. And they read between the lines. Then, when I could see that they would understand, I'd tell them that it was William Branham. Of course, that cut me off immediately. I didn't have another open door. Cut me off. And I went through training."

How fickle are the acclamations of men toward other men who are used of God! The Bible and history are filled with examples of men who demonstrated the move of God in their lives but who, nevertheless, were criticized, scorned, repudiated, scourged, crucified, sawn asunder, hunted like dogs, burned at the stake, boiled in oil, buried alive, shot. In many instances, attempts were made to erase the very memory of such godly persons from the records of men. However, "It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing." (I Peter 3:17)

As was explained previously, Brother Bob, with his two friends, had gone to Sarasota, Florida at the end of January 1961 where he was used mightily of God. The local pastor, Rev. Gerald Derstine, had seen to it that news of the event was published and distributed world wide. At that time, Mr. Derstine was very kindly disposed toward Brother Lambert and his ministry.

On March 1, 1961, Mr. Derstine sent a cordial letter to "Rev. Robert Lambert," and beginning it, "Dear Bro. Bob:" In the letter, Mr. Derstine told of a meeting in Washington, D.C. [February 1961] in which he had related the events surrounding the January visitation. He also told of plans to publish the information in the "Men's Voice" magazine.

On August 2, 1961, Mr. Derstine sent a considerably less cordial letter to "Robert Lambert" (no more "Rev.") and beginning it "Dear Bro. Lambert;." The stated reason for sending this letter was that he (Mr. Derstine) had already received an accusation against Brother Bob "from a pastor of a church which you ministered in in Connecticut."

Apparently, the accusations were three-fold: "teaching quite strongly on the Jesus only doctrine," "condemning women ministry in you (sic) travels," and "that you have an unteachable spirit."

When Brother Bob had spoken of the trap laid for Brother Branham, he said,

"They said that he was Jesus Only. That man is not Jesus Only, neither am I. I simply believe in one God in three offices. I've only met one Person, that is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ." ["Testimony," 1961]

It appears that this pattern of support followed by condemnation was to be a common one over the next several years. Of this period, Brother Bob said:

"I went through training, meeting every kind of spirit that God could bring me just to test me-many hundreds. I feel like David, 'Lord, You tried me every minute of the day, You tried me.' Everything happened to try to get me off the Word. Minister brothers that I love dearly would come and the Lord would let them do [something]. And then I'd get in an awful mess by listening to them.

"And, oh, He'd just tell me, 'If you're going to walk with Me, you must walk alone. You must walk alone.' He kept telling me, 'You must walk alone.' And He said, 'Be still and be quiet."

back to the top

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3)

It should be obvious by now that Brother Robert Lee Lambert was a revivalist. He looked for a mighty revival that would restore the Power of Pentecost back to the Church. In 1961 he said,

"The Bible says, 'They that know their God, (in Daniel) shall do great exploits.' Dearly Beloved, the ones that know God today are going to do great exploits, they're going into the hospitals and clean them out; they're going into mental institutions and clean them out; they're going to carry the Word of God into the nations and into the capitals. It's the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that will take us home."

He was zealous for the Word of God and he was a strong supporter and believer in the message brought by the prophet, William Marrion Branham. He saw the Power of the Holy Ghost active in the life and Ministry of Brother Branham and firmly believed, based upon the Scriptures, statements made by Brother Branham and his own experiences, that this Power should be manifested in the life of every true believer. The condition of the churches and the sins of their ministers, the coming judgments of God upon the world as well as the change wrought in his own life infused Brother Bob with a dedication and zeal to warn others of these things so that they might escape the wrath to come.

Although he looked for the blessings of the Power of God in the Church, Brother Bob realized that the work of the Holy Ghost in the early Church also brought quick judgment (and even death) upon make-believers, like the seven sons of Sceva and Ananias and Sapphira, for their sins. He firmly believed, until he went to be with the Lord, that a real return of the Power of Pentecost would produce the same thing again in the end-time Church. In his message to the Full Gospel Business Men in July 1961, he said,

"One of these days a minister will be ministering, you'll laugh and you'll scorn, you'll drop out in the floor dead, my Friend. That day is upon us today."

Whenever he could, although severely hampered by his own limited financial resources, Brother Lambert attended meetings at which Brother William Branham would be preaching. He spent long hours in prayer in addition to many days fasting and asking God to bless Brother Branham's ministry.

On many of his trips he drove an old Volkswagen automobile of a model that was popularly referred to as a "beetle." This auto was small and often needed repairs but it got good gasoline mileage and was generally reliable. On other trips he rode with friends who were also attending the meetings in various cities.

In this way, he met many ministers and other supporters of the ministry of William Branham from Florida to California and from Maine to Texas and Arizona-and counted them among his friends. He visited their congregations, some composed of only a handful of people meeting in a home, and often was invited to preach to the assembled believers.

In his 1969 Testimony, Brother Lambert had words of warning for those who tried to impersonate or to ridicule the ministry of Brother Branham:

"I say this of my own ten years [experience], there has not been one man that went before that prophet to try to deceive him that God did not cut him down. There are plenty of graves tonight over it, so many, I would hate to try to count them. Not one thing could triumph over that ministry. And I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that God told me that Elijah would be here and I saw how he would stand. I know what a prophet is. A prophet is the Word of God.

"I have heard great ministers say, 'I have a great ministry just like Brother Branham.' I said, 'You have? What kind of a gift, Brother?' 'Well, discernment, you know, I discern just like he does.' I said, 'You do? You have gift of discernment?' 'Yeah.' I said, 'That is not a gift of discernment working, Brother. That is an office of a major prophet. There is only one of them spoken of in the Bible. Show me yours.'

"I say this humbly, I have never had a man who could stand face to face and disprove that. Privately, I have challenged them all over the country to do it. I have cornered them as they came out of the pulpit and said, 'Brother, that is as contrary to the Scripture as can be and I want you to give me one Scripture to base that. You deceived hundreds of people there tonight and I want you to show me in the Bible where that is so.' I never had a one that could do it.

"They know they are blowing up a big bag and nothing in it. The Bible said that He would set Elijah-one man-to turn the true hearts of the people back to the true apostolic Word of God so that there could be a Bride for Jesus Christ. Let us wise up, Brothers and Sisters.

"You know that there is going to be a Mrs. Jesus somewhere. There has to be a true Bride somewhere. And how are you going to get a true Bride? No other way than for God to send a Prophet like He promised in the Bible. Well, you believe you are right; this one believes that he is right; and this one believes that he is right. But God has got to come right behind it and back it up and prove it!

"The ministers in Illinois challenged the man of God. [April 1961] The Angel of the Lord came right beside him and revealed everything about it and scared them off. Catholic priests, Pentecostals, Jesus Name preachers, Trinitarians, great evangelists like Tommy Hicks. Where is he now?

"I was supposed to preach a meeting with him in Georgia. I was going to tell him, 'Tommy, you have been wonderfully used of the Lord, but when you laid that trap for God's prophet, you're doomed, Boy, till you repent!' What happened to him? Where is he now? Brother, when he lied and did what he did to God's prophet, he never rose again. He is down and all the rest of them who said that they did not believe his doctrine and laid a trap for him.

"Brother, I believe in 'put up or shut up.' They, everyone shut up. And Tommy Hicks buried (I got a picture of it.), buried his head and hid. [See picture included in the Spoken Word message "The Godhead Explained," William Branham, 61-0425M] That's all right. You can be used of God but don't you ever touch God's prophet. Don't you ever come against the Word of God or you are doomed right there."

[According to Brother Branham's own account concerning the incident, the Angel of the Lord had revealed to him that the Greater Chicago Ministerial Association intended to trap him concerning doctrines on Serpent's Seed, the Godhead and Baptism in Jesus' Name. The Angel also revealed to Brother Branham a number of details concerning the meeting, including the facts that the meeting would not be held in the hall on which a monetary deposit had been made and where certain individuals would be sitting at the meeting. Brother Branham's challenge to the assembled ministers for someone to take his Bible and show him where he was wrong, apparently, is not available on tape. But, as Brother Branham said, "They was brighter than I thought they were. They knowed better than to stand there." (Is This The Sign Of The End Sir, 62-1230E, Par. 42-4)]

On February 14, 1963 in a clinic in Miami, Florida, there was born to Bob and Shirley Lambert a daughter, their fourth and last child. As a mark of love and respect to the family of Andrew and Grace Collins, the baby girl was named Ruth Elaine. The third and fourth daughters of the Collins were, respectively, Elaine Hope and Janet Ruth Collins.

Now, the devil never tired of trying to do damage to this man, Bob Lambert, who had so given his life to the service of the Lord. When it was determined that Shirley was well enough to go home, Brother Bob went to pick her up at the clinic. However, when they went to get the baby, they were asked to sign a statement that they knew that the baby was deceased and they could not take it. They understood the statement to mean that the baby was "diseased" and would have to remain a short time longer at the clinic. They would have go back for her later. As Bob and Shirley drove away, a feeling of foreboding came over them and they felt compelled to return to the clinic immediately. Upon their return, a nurse brought little Ruth Elaine out to them wrapped in a blanket and told them, "There's nothing wrong with your baby." One can only speculate but it seems apparent that someone at the clinic was in the business of acquiring and selling babies. This was and continues to be a lucrative business throughout the world.

On another occasion, the devil's agents came upon Brother Bob on a lonely beach area near Miami. He enjoyed going there to pray and watch the moon rise over the Atlantic Ocean with the waves washing up on the sandy shore. While praying on this particular night, he felt something evil and opened his eyes to see a group of men standing around him. One of the men asked, "What are you doing?" Brother Bob answered,

"I am a servant of that One up there. I am a servant of that One up there that made all of this and I am praying to Him."

On yet another occasion, as he was leaving a church service, he was stopped at a red light with his wife and another lady in the automobile. A would-be hijacker stepped up and said, "Get out. This is MY car!" Brother Bob said he took the door handle and said,

"'This car belongs to ME!' I just looked him right in the eye and drove off and waved 'Bye' to him as he stood there with his mouth open."

Telling of these incidents, Brother Lambert went on to say,

"I believe with all of my heart that the angels of God are here today to minister to the heirs of Salvation. Even before you get your inheritance, they are here watching over you."

Brother Bob's desire to minister to the Spanish-speaking people also brought him into contact with people from the islands of the Caribbean and, in particular, to men who were already ministering there. One such minister from Jamaica, having heard of the forthcoming meetings in Jeffersonville at which Brother Branham was to preach on the seals of Revelation Chapters 6 and 8, caught a plane to Miami where Brother Bob met him at the airport.

The drive to Jeffersonville itself (some eleven hundred miles) was uneventful. However, the ministry of the Word, night by night, was outstanding to Bob Lambert. While many others enjoyed the meetings and afterward went to places like "Jerry's" and "The Blue Boar" (popular restaurants in Jeffersonville) to fellowship and rejoice, such times would find Brother Bob back in his motel room crying and fasting and praying before the Lord because of the things he heard preached. He often said afterward that the Bible became a new Book to him at the opening of the seals and he seldom preached a message without referring to something that Brother Branham had said in these ten messages.

From mid-August through September 1st, Brother Branham was in Jeffersonville where he preached several very important sermons, including, "How Can I Overcome," "Perfect Faith," "The Token," and "Desperations." Brother Branham said that "The Token" was "the highlights message of my entire ministry."

It is certainly no secret that Brother William Branham enjoyed hunting and that he particularly enjoyed hunting in Colorado, in the Troublesome River, Corral Peaks area, the same area where he rode as a cowboy when but a teenager. Many of those who enjoyed being around Brother Branham also enjoyed hunting (or, at least, enjoyed the outdoor life and the fellowship of the hunters' camps). When Brother Branham, a guide in his own right, said that he would take the ministers to hunt deer in Colorado, many of them made plans to go with him-including Brother Bob. The hunting season had been held open for several extra days in Colorado because of dry weather. The trip was planned for the week beginning October 20, 1963.

At least twelve men were in the party (including Brother Branham) on that October trip. The group included the brothers, John and Earl Martin; three father and son pairs, Banks and David Wood and Welch and Ronnie Evans and Brother Branham with his son, Billy Paul; Bob Lambert, Jack Palmer, Brother Mann and Brother Wheeler. Farther up the mountain were close to one hundred cowboys at a cow camp.

After two or three days hunt, during which several men in the group got their deer, weather reports indicated that a strong blizzard was due to hit the area. On the 23rd, Brother Branham called the group together and advised all who did not have 4-wheel drive or low-geared vehicles to leave the mountain but that he would stay with any who wanted to take a chance on the blizzard. All, except for the Branhams, Brother Mann and Brother Evans, opted to leave the mountain. Brother Bob was traveling with the Martin brothers and had to leave with them. He would like to have stayed and, in retrospect, he dearly wished that he could have stayed and seen for himself the phenomenon of a blizzard, already under way, suddenly stopping and the clouds clearing within minutes. However, he made it a point to be at Jeffersonville when Brother Branham returned on November 10th and, in the evening sermon, told the story of what had happened.

[Brother Branham tells of this trip and of the experience of commanding a blizzard, already started, to "Go to your place," and for the sun to shine for a space of four days, in a sermon called "He That Is In You," Jeffersonville, Indiana, 63-1110E, Par. 56-149 and also in "Testimony," preached at the Life Tabernacle, Shreveport, Louisiana, 63-1128.]

This was probably the first time that Brother Lambert had been close to such a mighty display of the awesome Power of Almighty God working through a man to command nature but he quickly realized that the timing of the recent sermons and the demonstration of Divine Power on the mountain in Colorado could not be mere coincidence. He also knew that it is not in the power of a man to do such things but that this was the Token on display. He made this message, "The Token," the theme of his own ministry until the day he died. In every sermon thereafter, he proved "The Token" message one more time.

Robert Lee Lambert understood by Divine revelation the ministry of William Branham (Elijah the prophet) for he saw demonstrated the spoken word ministry that is to come to the Church of Jesus Christ by the manifestation of the sons of God when God will speak out, in the first person, blessing or cursing men for their attitudes that will be manifested toward the Ministry of Christ.

It was further revealed to him that the ministry of Malachi 4:5-6, was laying a foundation for a Super Church to come by the Headstone Outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, he emphasized total obedience to God's message, respect to his prophet, fellowship, prayer, sanctification and consecration to God-all in preparation for message believers to receive God's Promise of the endtime.

He was overcome by the call of God in his life, fully absorbed by his God-given mission to establish the vision of a Super Church by another Outpouring of the Holy Ghost. This was evidently manifested in his daily groanings, cryings and wailings, until his eyes were swollen for days, and his ribs sore, as he continued in prayer and fellowship with Christ and His Word.

In his zeal and desperation for God he often confessed that he was backslidden. This did not mean that he was out committing sin. What he meant was that he was not walking as close to God as he wished. This close walk, this close communion with the Lord that he desired included reading the Scriptures, hearing and making notes from the sermons of God's prophet, Brother Branham, worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the constant prayer in which he confessed his shortcomings and called on God to save souls and to prepare His end time Church to receive the Power that was given to the disciples at Pentecost. And it included feeling the Presence of the Lord around him.

He desperately sought for a people that would come under that same burden of the Lord, but it seemed to him that all were rich and had need of nothing, lukewarm and satisfied in their Laodicean condition.

Bob Lambert knew that prayer was extremely important to the professing believer. The prayer that he advocated was not just a brief prayer of thanks for a meal or a short prayer before bedtime but a continual calling upon God for every need and for the ministers and saints. He knew that it is not only the duty of a Christian to pray but that it was also his special privilege to commune with Almighty God and to remain in an atmosphere in which he could hear from God.

In New York in October 1964, on one occasion he took his text from Ephesians 6:18, which says, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." He explained that "watching thereunto," "means being sleepless thereunto in constant, persistent, sleepless overcoming prayer."

Bob Lambert earnestly desired the supporting prayers of the brethren. He said,

"Let me tell you something. You know that my life, my health depends on you? Did you know that? My life, my health, my needs, which are supplied by Jesus Christ, depend upon you. Because, no matter what need I have, God must meet that need through intercessory prayer. God has so chosen it that way, that He has this treasure in earthen vessels and He must have a vessel somewhere that is praying, an intercessory prayer warrior, that the Holy Spirit might pray through that person to supply my needs according to His riches in glory." He went on to say that, "The greatest ministry that is in the earth at this time is a woman that will not talk and rattle her tongue about the other sisters but will get down in ceaseless, overcoming prayer."

He said,

"We wonder why there is so much sickness in the assembly. It is because there is sin among us and, because there is sin among us, we have not prayed through. If you are ever going to have the love of God in your midst it is going to be by prayer in the Spirit. What kind of prayer life are we going to have? That is why the works of the flesh are manifested in our midst and not the Power of God. If we ever get filled with the Holy Spirit and an overcoming prayer life, you will see something in our midst… and not until."

He went on to say,

"I tell you, I love to fellowship with my minister brothers but the greatest need for my life is to get alone with God and pray. The greatest need in my life is not to be popular but to have an overcoming prayer life. The greatest need for the assembly is that every daughter of God and every saint of God in here will get an overcoming prayer life."

He also knew that, while fellowship with the brethren is enjoyable, it interferes with that fellowship with the Lord that He desires and that after twenty or thirty minutes of talk, the conversation was sure to turn to idle talk and gossip. And did not Brother Branham say after the storm in Colorado was stopped, that "Something said to me, 'Why don't you stroll with Me through this wilderness, walk with Me?'"

Brother Bob, when in Miami, would often take one or two of the brethren and go to the little building used for services and, although it was very hot, he would pray and agonize before the Lord, sometimes for hours. It has been said by those who knew him that when they went to his home for a visit, after a short while he would excuse himself and say,

"I have to go and fellowship with Him."

It was this close fellowship with the Lord that prepared him to receive frequent visitations from the Lord, often between three and five o'clock in the morning when others were asleep. Many times, however, as has been related by many people, the very Presence of the Spirit in the house caused others to waken and begin to stir about, as they knew that something was happening. At such times Brother Bob would softly call out to the others to be still and not move around, because the Lord was in the house! At other times in conversation someone would think the "right thought" or say the "right word" and the Presence of the Lord would move around the little group, sometimes causing them to weep or to fall on their knees in worship of God.

Brother Bob longed and prayed for the Lord Jesus to show Himself in some manner so that he could see the Lord's face. Brother Branham's account of seeing the Lord while he was praying for his unsaved father in the broom sage field only caused Brother Bob to seek more earnestly for such an experience.

It seemed to Brother Lambert that the Lord was hiding Himself from His servant and well did he understand the lament of Job when he said, "Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him: On the left hand, where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him; He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him." (Job 23: 8,9) But Brother Bob continued in fasting and prayer. He could echo again the words of Job when he said, "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." (Job 23:12)

Speaking on "Fellowship," Brother Bob emphasized that it must first be with the Father and His Word, then comes our fellowship one with another. Then we are walking in the Light as He is in the Light. We must strive to maintain that fellowship with the Lord that we had when we were born again and fell madly in love with the Lord Jesus Christ. That fellowship is broken by our own carelessness and willful acts committed against one another, failure to obey the Word as it is ministered to you or a love of the things of the world.

The Lord said to him, "MY SON BECAUSE MY PEOPLE FIND TIME TO FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER AND HAVE NO TIME TO FELLOWSHIP WITH ME, BEHOLD I WILL DO A WORK IN THEIR DAY, THAT THEY SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND."

back to the top

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. (John 6:45).

My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. (II Kings 2:12)

God is faithful who promised His servant, that He would come and teach him His Word, only that he should be still and quiet. God provided a prophet to teach him, the great prophet, Brother William Branham. God supernaturally revealed to Brother Lambert that Elijah was on the earth. In due course of time he was led to the prophet and his message. He humbled himself to the prophet and his message and, with great reverence and respect, sat at his feet to learn in full obedience to the word that proceeded out of his mouth.

The opening of the seals of Revelation, chapters six and eight, was of the greatest edification to Brother Lambert and was in direct fulfillment of God's Promise to him, that He would teach him His Word. He later expressed such in his preaching until his martyrdom. The greater things that he understood were directly linked to the spoken word ministry and judgments of God declared to him in 1959. This was symbolized by the appearance of the cloud in the form of a white-wigged judge that appeared over the desert of Arizona on February 28, 1963.

Brother Bob received a Divine revelation of the Son of Man, Christ, the full body Word of God, coming to be glorified in his Bride by another Outpouring of the Holy Ghost like the day of Pentecost. Then judgment will begin at the house of God because the Son of Man, revealed in mercy to the religious world through Brother Branham's message, was rejected.

He also firmly grasped by revelation the antichrist and the false anointed ones and how they will bring in false doctrines to pervert the message. He attacked and exposed as antichrist all teachings that are contrary to the Word of God and the message of Brother Branham even while Brother Branham was yet alive. Already certain false doctrines were creeping into the message circle. He exposed:

1. The idolatrous deity heresy that Brother Branham was God or the Lord Jesus Christ;
2. The assertion that all was fulfilled in Brother Branham and the opening of the seven seals;
3. The teaching that all is over for the Bride of Christ;
4. The lie that there are no more preachers but Brother Branham; and
5. The doctrine that Church Order, as taught by Brother Branham, was only for the Branham Tabernacle and should not be observed by others.

Mid April 1965 again found Brother Bob in New York at the Local Christian Assembly, welcoming people into the assembly who were contending for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. After recognizing and greeting a group that had come in from Connecticut to attend the services, he told the people that one who is led by the Holy Spirit must get serious with God and wait upon the Lord. He went on, saying that there was a key somewhere to unlock the great Outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the people of God who were believing and that, though we have received the restoration of the Word, The Church must return to the Power of Pentecost. Brother Lambert then paraphrased comments made by William Branham ("Perfect Faith," 63-0825E, Par. 73), saying, "'Could you compare the Christians today with those that walked in the Power of the Spirit of old? How many would like to see a Church like that arise?' My heart cried out when he said that. He said, 'Well, there is one on the road.'"

Brother Lambert spoke out very sharply in support of Church Order as taught by the Bible and by William Branham. He was convinced that Bible order is absolutely necessary if the Church is to receive the Power of Pentecost. Without doubt, he had listened to many of the questions and answers now included in the books called, "Conduct, Order and Doctrine," published in 1973 by Spoken Word Publications (now Voice of God Recordings). He was present when, at the opening message of the preaching on the seven seals of Revelation, chapters six and eight, Brother Branham preached "God In Simplicity," March 17, 1963. Concerning Church Order, Brother Bob said:

"Oh, there have been a lot of thieves and robbers came up and try to start different works, tried to start different assemblies. But, they only did it because they wanted to be a pastor and have a good job and have an income coming in. So, therefore, they didn't feed the sheep because they loved the money.

"Jesus said, all that ever came before me was shepherds like that, just cared about the tithes and offerings, let the women do anything they want to. They wouldn't preach subjection to the women. They wouldn't preach, 'Everybody get in Bible order.' They wouldn't preach Church Order. They just want to be a hireling shepherd and let the wolf spirits come in and settle upon the people. The demons come in and get upon the people. And then the hireling shepherds don't have enough faith of God to stand out on the Word of God and rebuke them off of you.

"God loves His sheep and God predestinated them shepherds. And God loves you and He will finally lead you to them someday. The hour is at hand; Church Order has been set in position; Bible government is in order now. You may not find it very many places-maybe only one or two places-but shall the unbelief of others make void the faith of God of Abraham? No! God will only establish it.

"It was always a little group that God used to contend for Pentecost. We found it only fell on an hundred and twenty. We find that every time revival started He only took one man, only took one little group.

"Now, I ask you a question, how could He set you in the service when you are not in Bible order? How could you be Baptized with the Holy Ghost and you are not in service?

"Now, when God is getting ready to give birth, supernatural Baptism of the Holy Ghost, which puts you into service, He had to have an assembly set in Church order, Bible order, shepherds to take care of them. Because, now, they are in service. You can't be in the service…. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost gives you Power to put you into service. You can't be in service unless you are in Bible order."

Days later, Brother Bob could not get away from the need for Bible order in the Church. He also felt keenly his (and the Church's) lack of Power to take a ministry into the world that would deliver lost souls around the world. He said, in part:

"God could never thrust the Bride into the harvest because He had no local assemblies in Church order. How could [I, with] all my crying that I have done, all my burden of praying and crying out to God, 'Lord, send me. Lord! Oh God! I hear them souls around the world.

"I come to the table and could not eat and tears just rolled down my face. Said, 'Oh, God, they are starving all over the world and I have got all this food.' And I just go to the bedroom and cry and weep to the Lord. 'Oh God, if you could only send me somewhere, Lord. If You could only send me somewhere.' And I tried to run out ahead of the Lord. No good. Why? Because there is no Bible government, no Church order, nobody that believes the Word of God. Everybody saying, 'It is all over.' It is not all over yet. God is going to be glorified. God is going to have a Bride. This Gospel shall be preached by the Bride into all the world yet."

The Lord used him to speak to the people from Connecticut, many of them known to him, who were in the process of moving to Arizona to be near the prophet of God, William Branham. That Brother Branham had already told the message believers not to give up their jobs and homes to go to Arizona and be near him seems to have made little difference to many. Someone from Connecticut had written to Brother Branham about a move and he told them "You're making the worst move you ever made in your life.Don't you do a thing like that." ("Questions and Answers," "Conduct, Order and Doctrine," 64-0823M, Q-269).

Brother Lambert had much to say on the subject to try to persuade the people of the error of their undertaking. He said:

"Where is the Church of Jesus Christ at tonight? Running around all over the country trying to follow a man. I want to tell you tonight that we are not following a man. We are following the Word of God through a man. We are not following some man.

"I want to tell you something tonight in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Any man that says that William Branham is God is of antichrist spirit. He is my Brother William Branham. I am not going to follow no man to Arizona. I am not following no man nowhere. I want to find my place in the Body of Jesus Christ.

"You show me a man that is running all over the country trying to follow William Branham, I will show you the most carnal-minded Christians that is in the message. I know what I am talking about. I know every one of them and that is the most carnal-minded thing that ever was. Why? They are only hearing what a prophet said. You can't do that. You can't just say what he said, you got to see it for yourself in the Word of God.

"I met every one of them spirits. I was out there when they come out there and saw a spirit of devil upon each one of them. Brother Billy Branham told me all about it. Said, 'That spirit, Bob, come out of Flagstaff, up in there.' It is an old spirit. But the devil just knew he could deceive the people with it and he did. Their carcass will die in the wilderness out there. But if they are seed, they will come along-through chastisement, through many trials."

Then, because of the widespread carnality and unbelief that he saw manifested among the followers of William Branham, Brother Bob went on to say,

"We are going to just wait until Brother Branham is taken away. (And he will be, more than likely.) Then what is all the people going to do that is not in Bible order? Without Bible order, without a five-fold ministry, the Bride of Jesus Christ will perish."

"I wish I had whole Connecticut down here tonight. God…. You pray for me that God will send me up there to turn that devil from them precious people before it's too late. They are going to wake up and be in the second resurrection. You believe that, don't you? If you don't come this way, you are going to perish.

"Brother, I want to tell you something. They haven't got [unity] in Arizona, they got every kind of spirit devil out there that you can name. They are in free love; they are in immorality; they are in believing that Brother Branham is God; they have no Bible order; they believe he is God. He is a man like I am. The only difference is (and I thank God) he is a prophet."

Brother Lambert had already moved many times. He had gone from Florida to the west coast and many places between. He had visitations from the Lord-often occurring between three o'clock and four o'clock in the morning. And then he saw himself standing

"about halfway to the east in West Virginia, a place that I despise and hate very much. But I saw my wife and I back in West Virginia. I kept watching the east coast, waiting for something to happen. I didn't know what it was-I was waiting for something to happen. My wife knows. I related these things to her."

Brother Bob had been trying to pastor a small church but received much opposition from women. He said:

"'Shirley, we got to go. The devil's beating me to death here with these women and I can't stand it any longer. I ain't doing nothing; I can't progress; I'm sick of fooling around with this thing and I can't stand it no longer. Let's move again."

"We throwed a little handful of clothes in an old car-no money, hardly-and away we went. And I was miserable and grouchy and I was upset-didn't have no victory-oh, I was in terrible condition.

"Then, I was sitting there, and the Spirit of the Lord moved around me and reminded me, after I was already packed and made up my mind I was going back to West Virginia-there the Lord said, 'Remember what I told you?' And there it was-I was already on my way. Well, that made me feel better and gave me some victory to get there.

"And when I got back there, I finally just forgot about that and went on, daily routine, trying to raise my family and be a Christian, going down once in a while to hear Brother Branham."

Believing that God had a work for him to do somewhere in the northeastern United States, Brother Bob made a move to his hometown, Kenova, West Virginia. This provided several benefits. They were within a three or four hour drive of the Branham Tabernacle in Jeffersonville and within a ten to twelve hour drive of New York (where the pulpit was open to him).

That they had moved into a spiritual desert soon became obvious and Brother Bob soon felt the need to attend the unannounced (but word gets around) services in Jeffersonville.

Mid-July 1965 found Bob Lambert preparing to attend services at the Branham Tabernacle. The reader will recall that the Spirit had told him to "Be still and be quiet if you want Me to teach you. Stay away from man. Leave man alone. Stay away and I will talk to you." The Spirit had also told him that he did not need to ask any man anything. Nevertheless, it had been Brother Bob's desire to have an interview to discuss his own ministry with Brother Branham.

He had tried earlier to schedule such a meeting but found a very long waiting list and a screener who felt that he was not yet ready for a private interview with the prophet. The screener interrogated him for a while and asked him, "What if he tells you the Lord never appeared to you?" Brother Lambert answered and said,

"Oh, he couldn't do that. If he's a prophet, he couldn't do that, 'cause he can't go past the Word of the Lord and the Word of the Lord done come to me."

Following this, Brother Branham had stepped into a trailer where Brother Bob was and began to tell him that he (Bob) was no match for the devil and that people would try to destroy his ministry by attacking him. Brother Branham went on to give him a parable. Two brothers were on a mountain killing snakes. The more they killed, the more snakes that came in their place. Finally, one of the brothers sat down and rested and told the other brother, "Brother, throw down your stick. I've found the way out. You can't fight it but you must rest in Christ."

Brother Branham also had given Brother Bob two other parables (possibly at another time). One parable concerned an old horse and a young colt working timber. The colt, strong and eager to move the log, broke the harness in his impatience. The other parable involved two men putting shingles on a house. The old man used a hammer to drive one nail at a time to fasten the shingles and Brother Branham let him know that he was the young man using an automatic gun to drive down many revelations in one sermon.

During one interview, Brother Branham told Brother Bob that he should continue to accept his checks as a disabled veteran. Since he would be a hated man because of his ministry, none would support him financially but would speak terrible things about him and persecute him. He must stay with the Word and, if God should tell him to go down to the cemetery and raise up George Washington, he should go by Faith and call him up! Though greatly edified by that personal interview, Brother Bob did not understand all that Brother Branham said to him.

In July 1965, however, Brother Lambert was still troubled about the lack of progress in his own ministry. So it was that, on July 17th, while driving his car through Jeffersonville, he saw Brother Branham walking. He jumped out of the car and said…. But we will let Brother Bob tell it:

"When he came by, I said, 'Excuse me, Brother Branham.'
"'Hello, Bobby, what can I do for you?'
"I said, 'I just want to ask one question, Brother Branham and that's all. I hate to bother you.'
"He said, 'What is it, Son?' "I said, 'Brother Branham, I ain't accomplishing nothing. I'm sitting around. It's just terrible. I don't know what to do."
"Brother Branham said, 'Well Son, the world's a dying all around. Are you lazy?'
"'Uh, no Sir, I don't think so.'
"He said, 'Well, I thought you was just lazy. My, the world is dying all around you. Get out there. This certain Brother went over to a certain, certain place and a certain country. Oh, he is just burning the place up with the Message.'
"Boy, my heart just melted. 'Oh Lord, I want to go.'
"And he said, 'Go on out there, Son.'
"And I thought, 'Well, Boy!'
I said, 'Brother Branham, you mean, just go?'
"'Yeah, just go.'
"And he just stood and looked at me.
I said, 'Brother Branham, just go out?'
"'Yes, the world's dying all around you. Get out there.'

"But, you know, that is what my head wanted to hear. And, Boy, I could just see myself taking off to the mission field, Boy, just phooey on America. I'm gone. But something down in here said, 'NO!' I said, 'Yes,' up here but down here said, 'No, No, No.' And when that thing was registering, 'No,' so loud, I had to open up the prophet for something else. I said, 'Brother Branham, you mean just go?'
"He said, 'Go.'

" I said, Brother Branham, the Word! The Word! What about the Word that you preach? What about, 'Hear Ye Him?' What about the placing of a son? What about, 'I don't do nothing till my heavenly Father shows me first?'

"Boy, his eyes came to life. He looked that way, he said, 'Oh Son, I misunderstood you. I misunderstood you.'

"Boy, I got to feeling better then.

"He said, 'I misunderstood you. You mean you want to wait upon the Lord?'

"I sighed and almost cried, 'Brother Branham, that's the only way I can go. Something won't let me go the other way.'

"Oh,' he said, 'Let's sing that little song, They That Wait Upon The Lord. Now, Bobby, God will do more with you in five minutes than you could do in a lifetime going the other way.'

"I said, 'Brother Branham, that's the way that I want to go.'

"He said, 'Are you gonna be there in the morning?'

"I said, 'Yes Sir, that's what I'm here for.

"He said, ' I've got a message for you.'"

Naturally, Brother Bob went to the Tabernacle early (on Sunday, July 18th) to get a seat so as to be able to hear clearly the Word that the Lord had for him.

After preliminary greetings and announcements, Brother Branham read his text from Mark 7:7:

…In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of man.

His sermon was "Trying To Do God A Service Without Being The Will Of God." (65-0718M) Again, Brother Bob takes up the narrative:

"What did the prophet of God say? Brother, he fired that Word down out of there and that ought to have stopped every preacher in his tracks. What did they do? It scared them for a little while but, Boy, they took the bit back in the mouth and took off running again. And I say, 'In the Name of the Lord, they'll miss the real genuine move of God when it comes.' Wait and see who is right.

"Brother Branham was preaching away and all at once he looked down there and he turned over to me and looked right at me and he pointed his finger at me and said, 'He that hath a ministry, let him wait on it.' Brother, that ended that thing from there on out. It never bothered me again. Never did it bother me again. What was it, when he talked to me? 'Remember this song, Brother Bob. They that wait upon the Lord…' Amen. Jesus that demonstrated the Faith, said, 'Go down there and wait. Wait.' Well, I don't see nobody waiting, do you?"

[The reader may wish to refer to Brother Branham's sermon, paragraph 45, where he said, "Wait on your ministry."]

Brother Lambert had forgotten that he had already used similar words just three months earlier in a sermon in April 1965 when he said,

"I have been waiting upon the Lord and, you know, I am so thankful to God that He loved me enough to set me aside and give me time to wait upon the Lord. And, I don't think any minister, whoever he is, or any lay person will ever be a benefit to God until they learn to wait upon the Lord."

Brother Bob was back in New York in late August, preaching at least once and lamenting his lot in the desert of Kenova but encouraging the little congregation at the Local Christian Assembly. But soon he would be moving to a desert of a different kind.

Around this time, Brother Bob made a visit to a town some one hundred miles northeast of Kenova where he had an experience that he never forgot and to which he referred frequently. As he told it:

"Then I went to Parkersburg, West Virginia, to visit Brother John Martin. Brother John was gone and everybody was gone but Brother Blair's mother and father. They gave me a bedroom to myself and I went to bed that night. About four o'clock in the morning, the Lord Jesus came to me and He woke me. Naturally, it startles you and you're afraid but I lay there, His great, august Presence in the room. Of course you can't keep from crying-I was crying and wiping my tears-just listening. I said, 'Lord Jesus, I love You. Lord, what do You want me to know.' And I'd listen, you know. Maybe thirty minutes went by. Nothing. Then, all at once, I heard something. Now, whether I heard an audible Voice…. I don't know how I heard it, I just heard it-real soft. And It said, 'SOMETHING'S GETTING READY TO HAPPEN.'

"I said, 'What? Something's getting ready to happen?' I said, 'What, Lord? What, Lord? Your prophet said something's getting ready to happen. What's getting ready to happen, Lord?'

"Here It come again. Maybe I waited another thirty minutes, fifteen, ten minutes. He stayed right in the room. I said, 'What? What, Lord?' And I was crying, saying, 'Oh, I love You, Jesus. What, Lord?'

"Here It come. He said, 'ELIAS HAS COME ALREADY AND YOU KNEW IT NOT!'

"'What do You mean, Lord?' Then I waited a few more minutes.

"Nothing happened. I said, 'Now, let's see. Something's getting ready to happen. Elias has come already and we know it not.' I said, 'Lord, I don't understand. What's getting ready to happen?' And then, my mind began to think on different things and, all at once, I thought the right thought. And I thought (I didn't whisper this out, I don't believe, but in my heart) I said, 'Lord Jesus, You know, Father, I always believed what You showed me, that You was gonna pour out Your Spirit as You did on the day of Pentecost.' Whoosh! I said, 'Lord Jesus….' Now, that felt good when I was thinking that and then I began to talk to Him. I said, 'Lord Jesus, is the thing that's gonna happen… are You gonna pour out Your Spirit?' Boy, that packed me out of the room!

"Oh, My! Boy, it was hard to keep quiet. Boy, I was wanting…. I felt like jumping out of bed and screaming as loud as I could scream! I said, 'Lord, You're gonna pour out Your Spirit?' Oh, my! He just flooded me with His Power. And then, I had it then. (See?) And then I got brave. I said, 'Where, Lord? Where? Where? Where, Lord?' I said, 'Lord, I know that You've got to have somebody to believe that before it can happen.' I said, 'I ain't got no church. I don't know no group of people that's near; they don't even believe that, Lord. Where will You do it? Where, Lord?'

"Then, all at once, I heard Something say, 'IT'S COMING OUT OF THE EAST.'

"And now I started to doubt. I said, 'Lord, is that You? Was that You? Lord, am I imagining this? Am I making all these things up, Lord?' (Presence right there!) I said, 'Lord, it's coming out of the east? Why, Lord, everybody's looking for it to come out of the west!' But, all I know is what I heard, 'It's coming out of the east.'

"And now I started to doubt. I said, 'Lord, is that You? Was that You? Lord, am I imagining this? Am I making all these things up, Lord?' (Presence right there!) I said, 'Lord, it's coming out of the east? Why, Lord, everybody's looking for it to come out of the west!' But, all I know is what I heard, 'It's coming out of the east.'

Immediately, Brother Bob began to make preparations to move closer to the City. However, not wanting to live in the City, he went to Pennsylvania. He told a friend, Brother Carlton McGahee, who, with his wife, also began to look for a home in the area. However, when it came time to contract for a house that they had determined would be appropriate, Bob Lambert, somehow, could not bring himself to sign the documents. Something was not quite right so he decided not to make the move.

Pastor Coleman and his assistant, Pastor Hunt, of the Local Christian Assembly in New york City, were greatly loved and honored by Brother Lambert. He especially admired the humble attitude of Brother Hunt, and, in turn, they loved and respected him as an anointed servant of God, since many prophecies by members of the congregation vindicated his ministry publicly. They also admired his love, desperation and outstanding revelations upon the Scriptures and the message of Brother Branham.

In April 1965, Pastor Coleman, while introducing Brother Lambert to his congregation, had declared some of his own doctrines which he upheld at the local assembly. They are as follows: He has the Holy Ghost, but was looking for the latter rain to come with a return of Pentecost to his assembly. He said that we are being raptured day by day-it is going on right now-and also that the five-fold ministry was not yet formed but that he was looking for it at the coming of the latter rain. He further stated that God is in Brother Bob Lambert and then presented him to his congregation. ("Joy Unspeakable," 65-0415, New York, Robert Lambert)

On that occasion, Brother Bob expounded upon the opening of the seven seals and the placing of the sons of God, a five-fold ministry, a Bride's revival by the seven thunders and another Outpouring of the Holy Ghost coming to the East. Those revelations were quite new and farfetched to their understanding. Brother Lambert realized that he should not discuss with other ministers the things that the Lord taught him by revelation. This was especially so when, in a dream, he saw Brother Branham walk up to him and place his index finger upon his lips, never speaking a word to him before going away.

For a short time the congregation in New York was stirred, but soon things began to die down there. It was not until the early nineteen-seventies that Pastor Coleman started to preach a doctrine partly based upon some of the marvelous revelations which he heard from Bob Lambert. But, needless to say, he did not accomplish the goal of a return of Pentecost and the Perfection of the Bride. However, he gained popularity around the world among message believers for several years as that chosen one to first reveal the seven thunders.

Brother Lambert and, later, those who followed him, became unpopular, hated, despised and rejected as he preached the Plan of God from the opening of the seven seals. This is ordained to produce a Bride's revival for the Rapture of the Church by the coming of the Headstone.

October 1965 brought another move, another destination, another place to live. Brother Lambert had met Brother Pearry Green some time before in Jeffersonville (apparently in 1964) but only became acquainted with him when Brother Pearry spent some time in New York. Pearry Green had a church and a business in Beaumont, Texas, where he had sponsored Brother Branham's meetings in March 1964. He also was instrumental in establishing telephone hookups so that believers in as many as twenty-eight locations throughout the United States could listen in to Brother Branham's sermons as he preached.

Because Brother Branham had expressed his concern about believers who had moved to the Tucson area but had no place to worship, Brother Green told him in September 1965 that he would sell his business and establish a place of worship in Tucson for those who wished to attend. On October 2nd, Brother Green went to examine property that another brother had located and, on the way, was joined by Brother Branham. The building was one vacated when two congregations of the Assemblies of God merged. On October 11, he was back in Beaumont where he was joined by Brother Bob and Brother Carlton McGahee.

Brother McGahee had retired from the United States Air Force in 1963 moving with his wife, Rosa, three sons and a daughter, to Tampa, Florida to attend Florida Bible College in Temple Terrace, a Church of Christ school, in order to prepare himself for a ministry. While attending the college, he became involved with local area prayer groups where he was encouraged to seek a further experience with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Being sincere and being convinced that this was in accordance with the Scriptures, both Carlton and his wife, Rosa, began to seek the Lord and were rewarded for their sincerity. As Brother Branham was scheduled to hold a series of meetings in Tampa at the McKay auditorium, someone at a prayer group said that they should attend. This they did and witnessed the wonderful Power of God operating through a man by the ministry of the Word and by healings and other manifestations.

Being met, after one of the services, by a lady who was a follower of Brother Branham, they were asked whether they had heard any of his sermons on audiotape. They had not and asked which tape they should get. The reply was, "Serpent's Seed."

They could see that this was a genuine move of God far beyond what they had seen in the Church of Christ and Carlton quickly left the college. Desiring to go to Nebraska to visit Rosa's mother, they decided to stop off at Jeffersonville, Indiana, which was on the way, to hear Brother Branham at his home church. After hearing several sermons, they went on to Topeka, Kansas, still "on the way," where Brother Branham held his next meeting. Upon arrival, they sent post cards to several Church of Christ ministers inviting them to the meetings.

Attending the Topeka meetings, on Friday night, Brother McGahee was shocked to see Brother Branham stop after the first person in the prayer line, rock back and forth on his feet and say, "Now, I keep feeling that coming from out there. Somebody said, 'He guessed that.' Now wait just a minute. I did not guess that, lady. Some, see, they…. You can't hide a thought, now, see, 'cause He is here now. And I take every spirit in here under my control, in the Name of Jesus Christ, see, for the glory of God. I didn't guess that."

Brother McGahee wondered if that spirit might be coming from one of the ministers they had invited! A few minutes later, they heard the prophet say to a black man, "Your sins are forgiven you, my brother." ["Perseverant," William Branham, 64-0619E, Par.199 and 229] This caused a lot of confusion in their minds about how a man could forgive sins-until the next morning at a Business Men's breakfast they overheard Brother Branham say to the man, "I understand the Lord forgave you last night."

They obtained a prayer cloth from Brother Branham and, going on to Nebraska, pinned it into Rosa's mother's blouse because she was dying from cancer. In a very short time, the Power of God healed her and raised her up.

The McGahees met Brother Lambert in Phoenix during a California trip in late December 1964 or in January 1965. As Brother Bob told it, "The Holy Spirit led me to Brother McGahee out in Arizona. I was looking at him in the meeting, Something spoke to me and said,

'That man is sincere.' And I kept watching him and Something said, 'You have got to get to him.' So, I got to him and I began to tell him little things that the Lord wanted him to know and we have become to be close friends and to love one another very much. And I am just thankful to be able to go to Arizona with that precious Brother McGahee and his family."

Brother Lambert, upon learning that a church was to be established in Tucson for Brother Branham and the local believers, had agreed to go and help with the work. Brother McGahee, also, had agreed to help and was making the mid-October trip without his family to get the leading of the Lord, to scout the area for lodgings and to make any other necessary arrangements.

On Monday, October 11th, after meeting in Beaumont, Texas on the way west and attending services at Pearry Green's church, Brother McGahee was invited to give a testimony and Brother Lambert preached a message called, "The Last Day Ministry." In his message, Brother Bob took for his text, Ephesians 4:11-13 which speaks of the five-fold ministry. He held up and pointed to Brother Branham's ministry saying:

"Now, sooner or later, when you begin to travel around in the meetings of the messenger of this hour, you are going to run on to many interpretations of this message that God has given to this man called William Branham, which we know to be the Seventh Angel Messenger to the last Church Age that we are living in, called the Laodicean Church Age. One interpretation is that 'there is no five-fold ministry. That has been done away with because 'That which is perfect is come now and that which is in part is done away with.' There are no more gifts of the Spirit. We don't need them any more because we have the perfect resurrected Christ working among us in the perfect manifestation of the Son of God made flesh.'

"We have just now received the restoration message of Malachi 4. That message has almost been completed.

"Therefore, there could not have been a five-fold ministry in operation by the Holy Ghost until God had first restored the main thing which was the Word of God.

"We have had all kinds of churches and denominations have tried to produce an Apostolic Church, but none has been able to produce this Apostolic Assembly because it was contrary to the Word of God. God predestinated before the world that He would send a messenger in the last days that would turn us back to the faith of the doctrine of the apostles."

Brother Bob continued, speaking out against many of the manifestations of unbelief and heresy that existed then and continue to exist at this writing. He said:

"After you hear a message from this prophet, you go right on walking. And many of us fail to do what he says. Many of the women hear him say, 'Don't cut your hair,' and you go right on and cut your hair anyway and you say you believe the message! Many say, 'If you believe the message you surely got it. We need another experience of the dynamic Power of the Holy Ghost resting upon us to make us fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.

"How can you feel the Presence of Jesus Christ when you come in your church and keep on talking the way you do here? How can you expect to have the anointing of the Holy Ghost in your midst when you talk the way you do? You don't believe He is here when you do that. I challenge this church here tonight: if you will set this church in Divine order, as the prophet has said, you will begin to feel the anointed Presence of Jesus Christ.

"We find that, in this hour, God has sent this restoration prophet to restore a true five-fold ministry. This is typed out also. This five-fold ministry, the Bride, got the double portion because this ministry was fooled by what that prophet said. This ministry went walking right along with that prophet though they walked on for a space of time. They never did forget the words that that prophet said, 'If you see me go, you can have what I ask for.' I believe that, in this hour, there are men somewhere that are going to stay with this message and, if the time ever comes (and I believe it will) that the messenger will be taken from them, that they will strike the waters also and say, 'Where is the Lord God of Elijah?'"

Brother Bob had not wanted to preach and had actually asked Brother McGahee to bring a message. He came under heavy criticism for things he said but Brother McGahee said, "Brother Bob, it blessed my soul. I would like to have a tape of that just to send to my wife."

After a few days in Tucson, Brother McGahee returned to Tampa to sell his home and to wind up his affairs there. The Lambert family rented a house in Tucson. Brother Pearry Green and his family returned to Tucson in November and began services in the building that would be known as "The Tucson Tabernacle."

Hardly had he arrived in Tucson when events began to show Brother Bob that this was not the right place for him. Shortly after the family set up housekeeping, Timmy, almost six years old, became sick. A lamp was turned on and left near the bed so that he could see to get up at night, if necessary. Timmy's older brother, Mark, preferring to sleep in the dark, not realizing the danger, draped his trousers over the light. Of course, the trousers caught fire and then their wool blankets. The door to their bedroom was closed. Brother Bob tells what happened:

"We were lying in bed and we closed the bedroom door. My wife and I had our prayers and we were tired but I was not asleep yet. Shirley said, 'Honey, do you smell smoke?'

"'No, no.'

"She said, 'Honey, would you get up and open the door?'

"Well, I was about half asleep, you know, getting sleepy. A guy just wants to get in bed. He don't want to get up. Feels so good. So, I said, 'Oh, that's all right.'

"She said, 'Honey, would you open the door?'

"I thought, 'What is the matter with her?' 'Well,' I said, 'All right.' And I got up and opened the door and laid back down.

"And she went, 'Sniff, sniff.' 'Honey, I smell smoke.'

"'Oh,' I said, 'I don't smell smoke. You imagine that.'

"She said, 'HONEY, I SMELL SMOKE!'

"I said, 'Well, I don't smell any smoke.' 'NOW, I SMELL SMOKE! BOY, I SMELL IT!'

"Boy, up out of there we come. I think I beat her out of the bed and down in the hall. I jerked the door open and I seen the bed aflame. Had two little boys in it, Mark and Timmy and Timmy was sick. I made it in there when the fire went, 'Poof,' and the blankets were burning and the fire was shooting right around their heads. They would have just gone up in blazes. I screamed and both of them, eyes open, were scared to death, seeing that bed on fire.

"They came out of the bed and I grabbed the blankets. By that time, the mattress was on fire and the whole room was burning. I began to fight that fire and was almost overcome with smoke. It just filled the whole bedroom up, you couldn't even see.

"I staggered out, ran back in, stamped a little bit, ran and got water and got the fire out. It took longer to get the smoke out.

"And we just walked up and down the hall praising and thanking God. I said, 'I'll always do what is on our heart, no matter how little it seems.' It may look like a simple thing but it may mean your very life."

Brother Bob went on to say,

"That is when the Lord spoke to me and said, 'GET OUT OF TUCSON!' Oh, Friend, I will never forget that. Like to scared my wife to death. She got so scared, she started shaking all over with the Presence of God so strong in the room."

Naturally, it was necessary to tell Brother Green that he would not be staying. Brother Green was understandably upset and, as Brother Bob put it, "He raked me pretty hard." But the Lambert family was not to leave just yet.

Some people later mocked at the deeper things of God that Brother Lambert was preaching and treated him with sarcasm, since they were more recognized in the message and were in contact with the Branham family. Some later preached the resurrection doctrine soon after Brother Branham died. Brother Lambert exposed that spirit of idolatry as unscriptural until the time of his martyrdom.

Brother Branham first visited the Tucson Tabernacle on November 21, speaking for only a short time but expressing thankfulness that there was a church available, not only for his family but also for those friends of his who had moved into the area. Also, he announced that he would be holding a series of meetings at the Life Tabernacle in Shreveport, Louisiana (November 25 - 28, 1965). That he expected very great things to happen in the meetings had already been communicated to some of the brethren. But let Brother Bob tell it:

"There were about three or four of us, Pearry Green and a few others. He said he expected something to happen in Shreveport about this audible Voice of God speaking out and people just screaming, hollering and fainting and passing out. And he told about how Junior Jackson had the dream of it and two other dreams had come in the mail. I guess I turned just as white as a sheet because, the way Brother Branham told it, it sounded like it was going to happen in Shreveport!

"Before I ever knew that was in the Bible, God's Spirit came upon me one time and anointed me and I saw that very thing and I heard God's audible Voice speaking from heaven. I wouldn't dare tell nobody because I was afraid they would think I was crazy. I just held it in my heart. Maybe a year and a half later, He came to me in His Power and He showed me again and I heard the same thing but, the last time I heard it, Brother Branham was gone off the scene. He was gone! He wasn't on the earth any more. Maybe another year passed by and He showed me [Brother Branham's] funeral. By then I had told my wife. I saw this tremendous earthquake and Brother Branham wasn't there and I heard God's audible Voice speaking from heaven vindicating Brother Branham's ministry. The supernatural Voice of God just spoke out and the people were just quaking like they were scared to death.

"What shook me so bad and turned me just white was that what I saw was that Brother Branham wasn't there when it happened…I said, "Shirley, when Brother Branham goes to Shreveport, there is not one thing going to happen, not one thing."

"Of course, I heard it come through the telephone hook up and was just as calm in my heart because the Revelation had done pushed the enemy back off of me and got away from me. And then went right on through and nothing happened. Brother Branham said, 'We're expecting something to happen.' He went on and told it and went on and, well, it never happened."

Anyone who has heard the closing sermon of the November 1965 Shreveport meetings, "On The Wings Of A Snow-White Dove," (65-1128E) knows that Brother Branham seemed to be waiting for something to happen. At the beginning of the service, he had said, "I wished you were only here to see this a-waiting, expections on the people's faces as they're jammed in the building tonight; having a wonderful time…. It was a really a kind of a-couldn't say a coincident, it was simply just the hand of God that worked it out. There's a brother here that had a dream sometime ago about this thing happening, said I was standing in a pair of white trousers, in Indian moccasins. And that's just exactly the way I was standing when I called Brother Jack for the meeting here, just exactly, (at Carson, Colorado) Indian moccasins and a pair of white Levi trousers on. Brother Leo, if you're listening in, I was just meeting you in a few minutes. So that's when the meeting took its birthplace right there."

Then, near the end of the sermon, he seemed very melancholy. He kept singing the song, "On the Wings Of A Snow-White Dove," and he prayed four times at the end of the sermon-other than prayer for the sick. He said, "Lord, Your servant's reporting for service. Amen, I'm ready!" He kept singing and waiting for "A sign from above, On the wings of a dove." But it never came.

On December 5th, after attending Sunday morning services at the Tucson Tabernacle and eating lunch, Brother Bob, wanting to have a time of relaxation, decided to take a ride on one of Brother Pearry's horses. As spirited horses are apt to be a little skittish for the first few minutes after a rider mounts, so this one wanted to show his independence by bucking and rearing and trying to rid himself of his rider. Though Brother Bob was an experienced rider and had often ridden horses belonging to the Martin brothers in Arkansas, this time the horse managed to throw Brother Bob to the ground, injuring him. The injuries seemed to be serious so he was taken as quickly as possible to a nearby Veterans Hospital where the doctors and staff did all they could for him. When it became apparent that he was dying, Brother Bob's friends started trying to contact William Branham for prayer. But Brother Branham was in service.

After the services closed, Brother Branham was able to go get something to eat and return to his hotel. Following a disturbance around the hotel swimming pool in which some boys tried to drown another boy, he finally got to his room. At around one o'clock in the morning he received a call from a friend of Brother Lambert.

Brother Branham told about Bob's accident and the conversation the next evening, also in San Bernardino, in a sermon called, "Modern Events Made Clear By Prophecy." (65-1206E, Par. 4) He said: "Looking out upon the audience, setting here before us... A minister friend of mine in Tucson yesterday was riding a horse. This horse threw him. Another man called me at one o'clock this morning to my hotel and said, "The man's at Veterans Hospital, and his eyes are glassy, his back's mashed, his kidney's are pushed out, and his heart's about to fail." And there I got down on the floor on my knees, telephone, got him on the other end, and prayed for him. And here he sets here tonight, setting right there. That was last night. Bob, would you just stand up there, and.… God answers prayer, morning, night, noontime, midnight, or anytime."

Later in the same sermon (Par. 217), Brother Branham explained the problem with the horse, comparing it with the modern hybrid church. He said: "That's what's the matter with the church; we've hybrid it. That's what was the matter with Pearry Green's old horse up there; he throwed that boy the other day; he's nothing but an old quarter horse. See? The only thing it is, he.… It's just like a mule, he's-he's.… A mule don't know who his papa or mama is; he don't know nothing; he's half mule and half horse, and half this and donkey; he don't know what he is. You could never.… He'll wait all of his life to get to kick you. That's right. You can call him, say, 'Come on, boy. Come on, boy.' He'll hold his ears up, and 'Haw. Haw. Haw.' See?"

Brother Bob provided more of the details during a sermon almost three years later. He said:

"Laying there, a brother knows, back all mashed up and my kidneys swollen out and the devil say, 'You will die before you get to the hospital.' Swollen out, so sticking out like that, my kidneys. Kidney bust, you're dead!

"I said, 'Cannot be. Just get a hold of the prophet.' Found him in a motel way off in California. How did I find him? I don't know. Just happened to think of a motel and called him.

"Brother Branham said, 'How did you ever find me? This must be God.'

"The brother said, 'Brother Bob hurts. He wants you to pray for him.'

"They got me on the phone. I knew if I get to that phone, I would be all right. I… My! I was in pain, shock, eyes all glassy and I got that phone. My old heart…. Just think it was not going to beat.

"Got that phone and he said, 'Son, can you hear me all right?' And I said, 'Yes, Sir.' He said, 'Let's pray.'

"And he knelt down and said, 'Heavenly Father, my little minister brother, who has been ('Has been! O, God!'), who has been a burning flame.' ('Well, how about now? What about now?')

"He said, 'He has been.' (I had quit preaching. I didn't tell him but the Lord knew.)

"He said, 'He has been a burning flame. Show him why he is hurt, Lord. Heal him, Lord. Raise him up to preach the Gospel again.'

"Boy, I came up out of there. I didn't care what anything said along with what he said. Don't tell me it was not a comfort."

When he saw his wife after being healed, he told her, "I ain't nothing but a 'has-been.'"

The following evening, December 7, 1965, Brother Branham made his last trip to the west coast of the United States, preaching on "Leadership" in West Covina, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. The gathering was a banquet of the Full Gospel Business Men. He mentioned a "turn of the corner" (Par. 7) necessary when a brick mason is building a house; he talked about how Israel came out of Egypt, two million strong, but just two people went in, "One out of a million." (Par. 172) And he told the people, "I'm an old man. I haven't got much longer to stay, but I've got to tell you the Truth. If this is my last message, it's the Truth. See?" (Par. 182)

A communion service was announced by Brother Pearry Green for Sunday evening, December 12, 1965. Though Brother Branham refused to bring the evening message, he did serve the bread and the wine which represented the Body of Christ and he brought a one-half hour message on "Communion" that provided a clear distinction between the "Spiritual Communion" practiced by some and the "Literal Communion" taught in the Bible.

Brother Lambert and Brother Green and others assisted in the service. Brother Bob had brought out a coffee table for the purpose of holding the bread and wine before it was blessed. When Brother Green selected brethren to assist, he had not realized that there were actually some who believed in spiritual communion. However, Brother Branham cleared this up saying, "See, that reason I'm saying this, so that you would understand what you're doing. You don't… if you walk into anything blindly, you don't know where, what you're doing. You can't have even confidence if you don't know what you're doing. But you must understand what you are doing and why you're doing it." ("Communion," Par 11.)

Early on Saturday morning, December 18, 1965, Brother Branham with his family in one car and Brother Billy Paul and his family in another, began their journey to go to Jeffersonville, Indiana. Driving eastward, they passed through Las Cruces, Alamogordo and Roswell, New Mexico, on the way to Clovis. About thirty-five miles into Texas, on the road to Amarillo, with Billy Paul in the lead car, Brother Branham's car collided head-on with an old car driven by a drunken boy accompanied by three companions. The boy and a front seat passenger were killed. Brother Branham was critically injured, Meda, apparently dead, being touched by the prophet's hand, recovered in a few months.

Brother Branham, though terribly injured, lingered until Friday, December 24, when he succumbed at 4:49 p.m.

That Brother Branham had provided intimations of his impending death many times cannot be denied. Just one additional quotation of Brother Branham will be given here, taken from "The Seventh Seal," 63-0324E, "The Revelation Of The Seven Seals," Par. 567-3.

"Maybe this ministry that I have tried to take people back to the Word has laid a foundation; and if it has, I'll be leaving you for good."

And we will insert one Scripture, noting that, in the Hebrew calendar, the ninth month (Chisleu) corresponds roughly to December. Haggai 2:18:

"Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD'S temple was laid, consider it."

Brother Bob had seen Brother Branham taken away during a visitation from the Lord and had spoken of it on several occasions. He even told of an instance when another man came to him and told him that he had seen Brother Branham killed in an automobile wreck. As the man's manner of speaking was not mixed with humility, Brother Bob told him that he knew it but that

"The Lord didn't like the way you said it!"

Brother Bob said that the man died a few months later in an auto wreck similar to that in which Brother Branham was fatally injured.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. (Hebrews 11:8)

The passing of God's prophet, Elijah of Malachi 4 and Matthew 17:11, the ministry of Ezekiel 47:4b, the messenger of Revelation 3:14 and of Revelation 10:7, devastated the vast majority of his close adherents. Brother William Marrion Branham had talked of many things concerning the end time ministry and the placing of the Bride of Christ. He had spoken of a tent ministry; he spoke of a Third Pull ministry; he spoke of preaching a message to be called, "The Trail Of The Serpent;" he spoke of future great campaigns in Africa, India, Mexico, the Far East; he prophesied the destruction of Los Angeles by a great earthquake that would cause it to slide beneath the sea; he saw a vision in which he saw "nothing but debris, craters and smoke all over America;" and he talked of atomic destruction. He also said, just a few days before his auto wreck, "I'll ride this trail again; I got to bring a message."

But, in addition, he said many other things. Brother Branham often spoke directly and indirectly of his leaving this life. In fact, in the sermon on the Seventh Seal, he said, "I'll be leaving you for good." Never did he say or even suggest that, having departed; he would come back from the dead except in the general resurrection of the Saints.

Now that Brother Branham has died, these people have to figure out how, in their mental conception of the man's office, he will be able to fulfill these things he spoke of. Some were in despair, reasoning that, since the man is now dead, the things he spoke of cannot happen and the entire message that he brought is false and that Brother Branham was a false prophet and, further, that they themselves were deceived. Many of them, including some of the ministers most closely associated with Brother Branham, decided that Brother Branham had to rise from the dead! He would rise in a private resurrection!

Some expected him to rise almost immediately; some no doubt, just a little more circumspect, said they would not be surprised to find his casket empty; some looked for him to rise within three days; some, no doubt, expected him to rise at his funeral service. When their hopes and expectations were dashed, they expected him to rise in three months or, certainly, at Easter 1966.

That this did not happen was not a surprise nor even a concern to those who truly believed the Scriptures and the many times that Brother Branham spoke of his leaving, either outright or by parables. It certainly was not a complete surprise to Bob Lambert, who had spoken several times publicly of his expectation that Brother Branham would be leaving. At the same time, we can be sure that this in no way lessened the hurt in being deprived of the man he considered his friend and his father in the Gospel.

Even though they had been told in no uncertain terms that it was a bad move, Tucson was a place to which many people gravitated who had differing opinions concerning Brother Branham's teachings. It was reported that William Branham, himself, said that there were nine different interpretations of his message in Tucson alone!

After Brother Branham died and his body was placed in a casket, Brother Bob had one, his only, opportunity to preach at the Tucson Tabernacle. During Brother Green's absence from Tucson, perhaps on Sunday, December 26th, Brother Lambert preached a message at the Tucson Tabernacle to a diverse group. They loved the prophet but held many conflicting opinions concerning the message that he brought. Brother Bob explained it well:

"I never seen such a demon power packed out congregation in my life. Good people, loved the prophet of God. I'd sit there and feel…. Every time service started you would hear the chains coming in, rattling, them big balls dragging. Everybody come to service and get up and say "Prophet, prophet, prophet, prophet, prophet." Just like a Polly parrot, "Prophet, prophet." Why, we know about the prophet. We know he's a prophet. The devil ain't afraid of that. And everybody setting there in the tombs of Gadarea. Just dead. They'd say, "Well, the only thing I know is just wait until he comes back!" They'd come in dead and go out dead.

"I got one opportunity to preach. I cast out devils left and right. Even though the prophet of God was lying up there in his casket ready to be buried, I got a chance to bust the devil in the nose, Buddy, and I let him have it. I went up there scared to death, knowing that they don't believe in anybody else but Brother Branham, knowing that they don't have revelation and everything is just bound. Terrible! No liberty, nobody could sing. Why come to service at all? Just come to a funeral procession.

"Then I said, 'Lord God, I can't preach Revelation here. They will throw me out of the church. What will I do? What can I say? This man is a great educator and a great speaker and I'm ignorant and unlearned.' And I went up there and those old demons just hovering over everybody. I opened my mouth and the Lord struck my vocal cords, Brother, so help me. And it was just like an automatic rifle going.

"I want to tell you something, Brother, those shackles and chains began to break. All at once, people started jumping to their feet and hollering 'Amen' for the first time. They got so carried away that somebody was so bold enough to call those demons' hands. I preached holiness, hell-fire and brimstone. I preached everything that I could preach. It was just rolling out and you could just hear them old chains just popping and cracking.

"When I got through, the people were so carried away, they ran up there and grabbed me like I was the hero of the football game. It embarrassed me. They all ran up there and patted me on the back, 'Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Glory to God, that was the Holy Ghost. That was the greatest meeting we've ever had.' (And the pastor's wife had on a short dress and high heel shoes.) The Holy Ghost just got on everything but there was nobody offended. People were crying, repenting.

"When the pastor came back, they said, 'Oh, Brother, we've had a great meeting since you've been gone.'

"He said, 'Oh, you did? Who preached?'

"'Bob Lambert!'

"'Ummm.'"

The following Sunday, the chains were back and many of the people asked to have Brother Bob preach again. When, after several services, he did not preach again, some came to him and suggested starting a separate church but Brother Bob refused. He told the brethren to stay and be faithful to the pastor but pray that God will open their eyes.

After some time, Brother Bob was asked to pray during a service. When he did so, he began to preach in his prayer, calling the devil just like it was. He prayed:

"'God, here we stand tonight with the greatest revelation, and we are bound by demon power.'

"I began to let that out in prayer and you could hear the chains busting. Everybody began to praise God and worship the Lord. You could hear everybody talking later. And the pastor said, 'Why, that was the greatest service we've ever had in Tucson. That's the greatest service we've ever had.'

"Why was it? Because some little brother let the Lord have His way in prayer."

Brother Lambert traveled to Jeffersonville, Indiana in late December to attend the funeral services that were to be held on the 29th. Upon arriving at Jeffersonville, he went to a motel [motor hotel] where he found ministers and laity, alike, in great turmoil, some almost in a nervous prostration. Upon visiting one room, a sister came to him and said, "Brother, could you come over and pray for this one? My husband is just like to have a nervous breakdown." Another person, an outstanding leader among the Branham followers, just went to pieces and began raving and carrying on. The man began telling the great things he had done, things he had bought and what he had planned to do. Then, in deep despair, he said, "Oh my, he's left us in a worse shape now than we ever were. We would have been better off in a denomination. Well, if he don't come back, he's not Elijah the prophet!"

Brother Bob said, "I let him rattle on a while and I said,

'Everything is right on time, my Brother.' And it kind of shocked him. I said, 'Everything is right on time, there is nothing out of cater. There are no mistakes, no accidents with God. This is not an accident, it is the Will of God.'

"There, I stood back after seeing the funeral [in a vision] and seeing it all. For years, I prophesied to my wife and I just waited and then I watched them. Now I have been watching them all these years, seven years. Here they were all gathering together at Jeffersonville waiting for something that will not be, all because they didn't heed how they heard. They heard wrong and their sayings went out. Interpretations went out and became doctrines. There they sat in bewilderment and confusion by not taking heed to what they had heard. Brother, when a prophet of God comes on the scene, when a prophet of God comes on the scene, it's a time to sit up and stand at attention. Walk around in fear and trembling to know that something like that is on earth."

When the time approached for the funeral service, on Wednesday, December 29, 1965, many hundreds of people from many states and Canadian provinces and other countries began to gather in the building and in the parking lot. Though the service was not to begin until one o'clock p.m., the Branham Tabernacle was filled to capacity by eleven o'clock. Hundreds of expressions of love, sympathy and support from around the world filled the available space in the form of flowers, cards and letters with the overflow extending outside the building. Local friends and officials attended and mingled their tears with those of Brother Branham's family and adherents. Policemen cried; the mayor of the city cried, everybody cried. Why? Because he left footprints upon the sands; because he felt the pain of the infirm, the sick, the afflicted and yielded himself a vessel of honor in the Hands of Almighty God.

But, yet, there were some, ministers, who found a place in the back of the assembly, who were not of one mind with the assembled mourners. As Brother Lambert observed:

"I saw those preachers come there to the funeral and there they sat in the back. And instead of them mourning and groaning and agonizing with God and instead of sitting there with a bleeding heart to see the only man that had the goods lying there in a casket and to see the Bride in the shape she's in and see the Church in the shape it's in and the world in the shape it's in… There lay the only man that had the right approach to God. And there were those backslidden, Cain preachers in the back.

"God, forgive me for saying that, but, Oh Lord, have mercy, I'll never forget that. Here, I was sitting back there, almost passed out with grief, knowing that I had seen that funeral just like it was and there it was! I sat in there, everybody thinking, "Just a little sissy in there, just couldn't stand it!" People don't know anything. There, I sat in there, my heart killing me, my soul wrenched out of me, and there sat a bunch of big fat preachers sitting there talking about their meeting that they were going to have. God, have mercy upon them.

"Preachers? We got too many of them! That's what is the matter with everything. Instead of them crying to God and sorry, [they're saying], 'Now, what's God gonna say? Where's your Brother Branham now? Oh, he got killed on the way to Texas. He got into that old 'Seed of the serpent' doctrine, old 'Jesus Only' doctrine and God killed him.'

"But God would say, 'Did not I testify of his gift? Why didn't you believe him? Where's your brother?' 'Well, am I my brother's keeper?' 'Yes, yes, you're your brother's keeper. You keep your brother.'

"I remember that Voice screaming out one day. It said, 'All you false prophets and all you false teachers that sat in these meetings and sat in your offices and heard these tapes, that know that they are right. One day you'll reap what you sowed, you false prophet, you. Your day is coming and it is close at hand. It is close at hand.'" (William Branham, "Anointed Ones At The End Time,"65-0725M)

But there were others who, at this time, were wondering about some things. Upon hearing of the prophet's demise, a certain brother in the South began to pray. He had grown up in a Pentecostal denomination, claimed salvation from an early age, and had an experience that he believed (and others confirmed) was the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. When, however, after a few days the euphoria wore off and he found that the Baptism in him did not produce the effects that the Holy Scriptures said should follow, he began to question what was wrong.

After some years, he began to hear the recorded sermons of William Branham on tape-and he began to realize that the Baptism he had claimed did not begin to compare to the Baptism demonstrated daily in the life of the prophet. Therefore, when Brother Branham held meetings in his city and made a call for those who desired the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, this man went forward for prayer but did not receive the object of his deep desire.

Now that Brother Branham has gone, though saddened, this man remembered that, many times, the prophet had spoken of the Coming Word, and now began to pray, "Lord, it took us many years to come to the realization that Elijah, the prophet, was on earth in a ministry. Help us to see the coming ministry quickly and to understand it."

Bob Lambert had a command from the Lord to "GET OUT OF TUCSON." Not knowing where to go but knowing that he had a Word from the Lord that He was going to pour out His Spirit somewhere in the East, he tried to find some leading from the Lord where to go. He did not wish to run ahead of the Will of God as he had done at times previously and he could no more go to the prophet of God to get answers. As he told his wife:

"I don't know, Shirley. He said, 'Leave Tucson.' By faith I just have to go. I just feel in my heart that I'm gonna go South. Let me start South and then if I start by faith, the Lord will show me where to go."

Without disclosing what it was, Brother Bob said that a supernatural thing happened on the day his family left Tucson.

Their twelve hundred mile journey eastward across the southern states of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas took them to Many, Louisiana.

Though Brother Lambert appreciated the release from the demon pressure that was present in Tucson, he had no intention of relaxing to "hunt and fish 'til Jesus comes." There were no established churches for message believers in the immediate area and he believed that he might be of service in ministering to such local believers as wished to meet in homes or in some rented building. He did not forget that he had a commission from God and, though his minister friends had confessed in early 1965 that they did not have the call of God in their life. He told them,

"Brethren, you all ain't got nothing to worry about. I'd just go ahead and quit preaching. But pray for me. I'm in trouble! I met Him and talked with Him."

(Just a few weeks after this incident, after Brother Branham had spoken of a restoration of the five-fold ministry, many of the minister brethren rushed up to Brother Branham to be ordained. Fifteen men were thus ordained on April 18, 1965. ("Does God Ever Change His Mind About His Word?")

Brother Bob began to minister to a small group in Many. He called for separation from sin and unbelief, exhorting and leading the way to a more diligent, regular prayer life and asking that the people observe, as much as possible, Church Order in their assembly. He also preached the Token message-an Outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon those contending to be in the Bride-with Power like that given to the Church on the Day of Pentecost.

He then began to preach in other locations in the area. Following a late March series of meetings in Many, Brother Bob went up to Shreveport where there was a small group of believers who had heard Brother Branham at the Life Tabernacle. This particular Friday night there was another lady present from just over the state border in Longview, Texas, who attended the Many services and who would later move north to Connecticut.

Taking his text from Matthew 19:12 and Esther 1:1-5, Brother Lambert preached on "The Eunuchs of the Lord Jesus Christ." He likened a spiritual eunuch to a natural one, the distinguishing mark of whom is that he has no seed of his own but a spiritual eunuch will only plant the Seed of the King. He went on to say,

"Any time that you see a man compromising with the evening light message for popularity and money and everything else, you will know right then that he is not a spiritual eunuch." And, pointing his remarks directly to his audience, he said, "You people better watch out who is pregnating you with the Word of God. You had better make sure that a spiritual eunuch is preaching to you. You better not let some so-called man out here, that claims to be preparing the Bride, be preaching to you. There is only one message that will prepare the Bride, in this evening time, and that is the message of the eunuch-prophet of Malachi 4. He only planted one hundred percent Word, unadulterated Word of God."

Many people say they want a Pentecost but Brother Lambert asked a very hard question,

"Yeah, but do you want an Ananias and Sapphira? One of these days, [sinners] won't be able to stand in the congregation of the righteous and the Kingdom of the Lord because they would be called out. We say we want a Pentecost but we don't want to pay the price that goes along with it."

Speaking of God's spiritual eunuchs, he said,

"They are easy to tell because they preach the same message, they preach the same revelation that the prophet and messenger did. They don't have any seed of their own to plant."

He was often questioned concerning his commission and, if he was right, why was he not out on the field where he could be heard by everyone. In reply, he said,

"You know why? It's because they don't like the message of a spiritual eunuch. They want somebody to come and tickle their ears and tell them what great power we are going to have with God."

And then he expressed his fear of entangling influences, saying,

"I would rather live on soda crackers and black-eyed peas or anything than eat steak every day and preach in one of these Jezebel houses or run out ahead of God in some tent meeting. If you want to be a spiritual eunuch for Jesus Christ, you only want to say what the King said. Say, 'It is written; it is written; it is written; I believe the word of Elijah; I believe the word of Elijah.'"

A substantial number of people among those who loved Brother Branham had looked for him to rise from the dead-as did Christ-within three days. When this did not happen, they looked for the event to occur in ten days, and again in three months. None of these "prophecies" found fulfillment but, desperate to bring back their beloved prophet, some prophesied that he would be restored at Easter-April 10th. It developed that some of these were sitting in the small congregation at Many. When Brother Bob learned that some of the group planned to go to Jeffersonville to be witness to the momentous event, he told them, in no uncertain terms, what he thought of the idea. He told them,

"You go on up there. I ain't going. But when you come back, I'm telling you, IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, it ain't gonna happen. And YOU write it down, IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, that it IS gonna happen. Then we'll see who has the bad spirit. And when you come back, I'm gonna preach the Word of God right down to you."

It didn't happen. The people reluctantly returned to take their medicine and, true to his word, Brother Bob told them, "This will be my last sermon!" He poured the Word of the Lord on them until they could take it no longer. Then he closed his Bible, went back home, closed his suitcase, backed up a rented moving van and was gone in two hours!

Brother Bob moved to Shreveport, where he had some success preaching. He said:

'I got over at Shreveport and got going good. I said, "Oh, it looks good over here, Carlton [McGahee], looks like the people are really gonna move with God.' 'Wonderful! I'll be right over.' Got over and it looked so good that we wanted to kind of establish something there for the sake of Brother Branham, you know how long he preached in Shreveport. Boy, they started to come out over there.

"We leased a big building, bunch of money, and a lot people gave money in on it. Had a big church, seat about five hundred, big air conditioners and, Boy, we were almost a denomination, there, for a while-Almost! Just the building-that's all." But, the lease fell through!

While Brother McGahee was in Shreveport, he accompanied Brother Bob up to Indiana where they met with Brother Orman Neville, Pastor of the Branham Tabernacle. Brother Neville had a preaching appointment so the brothers went with him to a small group in Pekin, Indiana for a Monday evening meeting on June 13, 1966. Brother Lambert, being asked to give a testimony before the message, said,

"If I would want to say anything, tonight, I'd like to say something that would help you. I think many people today say, 'Glory to God, praise God, Brother Bob, the Rapture's ready to take place.' Well, however, I just can't hardly see it that way because I believe, if the Rapture took place tonight, outside of looking at predestination, I just don't know who'd go in it. It's because we're not in shape for the Rapture. I think that we have played church for a long time now and I believe that there is something coming from the Lord. I believe that thing is judgment to the house of God. I think that we need this. I think that will be our salvation.

"There's a lot of people got a tape recorder experience instead of an experience with Jesus. It's that experience that the Lord Jesus Christ is gonna take you through. And I have to say this is the truth. It hurts me to say it but the people that are called the Bride of Christ live less than anybody else I know of.

"Everybody is sitting around and wishing and crying, 'Oh, Moses come back, Moses come back, Moses…' If Moses would come back we wouldn't be in a bit better shape than we are today. And we are in pitiful shape. Brother, I'm looking for everything that they had at Pentecost and more too. I'm looking for the manifestation of the Sons of the Living God.

"Brother Branham was nothing but the first fruits that are coming to maturity to manifest a double portion of God that He promised in this hour to show us. He's gonna show a Bride off. Don't think God's gonna show a Bride off that's all beat down and saying, 'Moses, come back and take us in the Rapture.' Where is that in the Word of God? It's nothing but a man-made, carnal interpretation!"

Brother Lambert finished his "testimony" by saying,

"I tell you what. God never called me to compromise with the kooks because of fellowship. That's why I told Brother McGahee, 'I'm not hiding down in the timbers of Louisiana, but I'm gonna stand and preach the Word of God just like He put it." And in a final request for prayer, he said, "If you don't like what I said, no doubt, you won't pray for me."

Brother Bob then moved his family just a short distance east to the small town of Minden. Here he sojourned, a pilgrim in a strange land. Settling in, he tried to minister to those who wished to hear him, always holding out the Promises of God, exhorting the hearers to dedication and prayer that they might enter into that perfect communion with God that He requires, and exposing the Satanic beliefs and doctrines that were creeping in and manifesting themselves among the end time believers.

In August, the Lamberts drove down to Miami, Florida to look in on and to encourage some of his friends whom he had known from the beginning of his Christian experience. While in Miami, Brother Bob brought three messages on "Satan's Deception," "Eli Priesthood," and "Spiritual Eunuchs," preaching at the local Believers' assembly. The McGahee family traveled from Tampa to join in the worship for the Saturday and Sunday evening services.

Closing his sermon on the "Eli Priesthood," (The Man-Child Made Manifested) Brother Bob told the group,

"When this Man-Child is made manifested, it will bring judgment upon the church world for rejecting their sign that was among them. Put that in the Bible now, Brother, and see if that isn't right-rejecting the sign that was among them. And that will be the final vindication of Malachi four!"

The Lord began anew dealing with Bob Lambert about the East. One day sitting at a shopping center in Miami Brother Bob picked up a Testament lying in the car and opened it. He read, "Spirit, water pouring out from under the throne, the East gate." (Ezekiel 47) And he confessed that he did not understand it.

Before leaving Florida, he went to Tampa to visit Brother McGahee. At four o'clock one morning, the Lord came in the house and showed him things concerning the East. The Presence was so powerful that It caused the McGahees to go to their knees in prayer but they didn't know what was going on. And Brother Bob returned home to Minden still not understanding where the Lord wanted him to go.

Time passed slowly in Minden. Bob Lambert had a small pension coming in, based upon his military disability. He did not need offerings from poor believers to pay his expenses. (In fact, in Miami he had graciously refused an offering at the close of his preaching, asking that the pastor of the church take the money and use it instead to help pay for his radio broadcasts.)

Brother Bob often left home early, saying that he was going squirrel hunting, but, more often than not, he would spend the day crying and praying, confessing his sins and asking the Lord for direction. As he prayed, he said,

"Lord, I'm just sick of all this. You can't build no Bride. You can't have no Church." He just went around crying all day. "I'd get off of the horse and cry; and go and shoot a squirrel, cry; back on the horse, cry; home, cry; cry in the bed. Cry all the time, cry, cry, cry.

"And then I'd go in, and I'd say, 'Well, I'll go in and read my Bible.' And I'd get my Bible and open it up, there it is again, forty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel. And it said, "Spirit, water flowing out of the east gate." Oh, He'd pack me away on that. 'Oh, Lord, what? Water pouring out of the east gate? What?' And then the more I'd look at it and read it, the more Spirit and anointing would come. I said, 'Lord, what are You trying to show me?' I read all about that temple and that water coming out, pouring out from under the Eastern gate, clear up to here and then a river that you couldn't pass over-Spirit all around me, anointing me. And then I couldn't understand it and I put my Bible up.

"Well, the next day I'd forget all about it, maybe. And I'd say, 'Well, I'll read my Bible a bit.' And I'd go in there and pick my Bible up (And I wouldn't have any paper or anything in It.). I'd pick it up and I'd forget about that and look down and, 'Son of man, water coming out of east gate.' Here He'd come again. And I'd get to bawling and crying and bawling and crying. 'Lord, what in the world do You mean here? I don't understand.' And I'd read that and read it and read it and couldn't get nothing out of it."

Brother Bob continued to cry and pray and wait upon the Lord seeking an answer to his question about where the Spirit of the Lord was to be poured out and what he must do in the service of the Lord. God never really blessed his work in Arizona or in Louisiana. Every time that he seemed to be getting a work started, something would happen to tear it up and send him on his way. Once again he had a visitation from the Lord. Within two weeks he would be gone! He told his wife and began to prepare for another move. But he was not prepared for what he later described as the shock of his life.

A genuine move of God often requires preparation on both ends of a move or with two or more parties that He is using to accomplish His ends. So it was in this instance.

Around late February or early March, 1967, certain brethren felt that they needed a pastor to serve the needs of the message believers in Connecticut. They commissioned one of their group to call Brother Bob and invite him to Connecticut. Whereupon, John _____ made the telephone call and told him of the invitation.

About that same time, Brother Bob received another invitation to move somewhere in the Texas area.

Since Brother Bob had been much in prayer for several months about the Lord's Will for his life, he felt convinced that the call to Connecticut was from the Lord and he consented to make the move though he knew that demon power was strong there and that the area had a reputation as a "preacher's graveyard!" His previous travels to Connecticut had occurred when he was but a novice-not really prepared to meet the challenges of pastoring a church.

With some misgivings but fully prepared to trust God to make a way before him, Brother Bob quickly packed his goods and rented a truck to make the move. To help with the move and to drive the truck back to Connecticut, Brother Howie Aitken took a plane down to Shreveport where he met Brother Lambert for the first time.

Brother Bob took his little convoy (consisting of an automobile, a truck/camper and a horse trailer) on a little slower route. He went first to Memphis, Tennessee to visit Brother Chandis Davis and his family. Brother Chan, desiring also to be of assistance, volunteered to drive the camper to Connecticut.

Robert Lambert had fought many battles with the devil and his representatives over many years and in many places. He moved dozens of times, trying to find the place where he could be of service to the Lord. It seemed to him that most of his problems came from women preachers. Many of the women were active ministers in one church or another but many more were ministering through their husbands, influencing and subjecting others to their will by idle gossip or by intentional disregard for the truth. Lies were told about Bob Lambert and his family; his dedication to God was called into question; his commitment to serve the members of his little congregations was belittled. His minister friends were often influenced by the lies and innuendos whispered in their ears by unrepentant women who desired nothing more than to kill his influence. Even the solid Brother Orman Neville was influenced for a time against Brother Bob because of a woman's lies.

As Brother Bob stated it,

"I've fought devils in women for [many] years. I've tried to build a church in West Virginia; I tried to build a church in Arizona; I tried to build a church in Shreveport, Louisiana; I tried it in Many, Louisiana. And you know what defeated me every time? Women! Women! They ran me out of Connecticut twice. They ran me out of Many; they ran me out of Louisiana. Everywhere I ever preached, the Spirit of God came. Everywhere that I ever preached, people started driving from Texas and everywhere. Where's the group that is in Shreveport now? How did it get there? The Lord blessed my ministry and called them all out of Jack Moore's church where Brother Branham had preached through the years. Some of his oldest people. And then what? After the people, seeing that and being blessed, then they listened to the devil in a woman who raised up and ran me out of town."

When, as he was led of the Lord, he returned to Connecticut for the third time, he moved with a resolve that, "The devil has had his last day." This was to be the final battleground with the devil. This was to be the end of the line, the end of the trail. Remembering a famous painting of an American Civil War hero turned Indian fighter (who died with his troops at the battle of the Little Big Horn), he challenged,

"There ain't a devil in hell big enough to run me out of New England. You've heard of Custer's last stand? (And the devils were there thicker that the Philistines were around the well of Bethlehem.) This is Custer's last stand! Did you hear that? This is LAMBERT'S LAST STAND!"

He was to be severely tested for his challenge. Some of the same spirits that plagued Brother Branham rose up in the congregation. Spirits that he had steadfastly preached against did not want to subject themselves to his ministry. Deluded men rose up in the congregation who were sure that they had a ministry to the Bride. Some tried to project that they had a prophetic ministry. He even had to battle to maintain, in the congregation, a zeal to obtain the Promises so often spoken of by God's true prophet, Brother William Marrion Branham.

At their new home in Connecticut, Brother Lambert began to hold meetings in the home of John and his wife (March, 1967). After a few meetings, Brother Bob announced that they would have to "move the nest." Apparently, there were some in the group that had been known to bring division and he hoped that these would break away at the time of the move. They moved the services to the basement of a member's home in Hamden where they continued through Sunday, December 10, 1967. Realizing that Church Order was, at best, difficult to maintain in a private home, he moved the church to a Grange hall in North Haven. Finally, in April 1968, the first services were held in Durham, Connecticut in a leased building, the former Durham Cleaners.

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. (Song of Solomon 2:9)

I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7)

The journey from Kenova, West Virginia to Miami, Florida to New York to Connecticut to Jeffersonville, Indiana back to Miami and Kenova, to Tucson, Arizona to Louisiana and, finally, back to Connecticut, with many, many side trips and stops along the way took eight long years. Following a supernatural conversion in which he saw visions of coming judgments of God, had healings take place and was shown the ministry of the messenger/prophet to the seventh and last church age, Robert Lee Lambert traveled over much of the United States making many friends-and not a few enemies. His unyielding stand upon the Word of God and his zeal to try and point the modern Church back to the Christ of the Bible caused many to love him but many more to reject the message that he tried to bring.

Even the modern Pentecostal movement, which carried the banner of the age following the Azusa Street experiences in 1906, would not hear this man who had such a moving and powerful testimony. Perhaps his lack of education and his West Virginia hill country English caused many to stumble but, more likely, it was his uncompromising stance on Bible doctrines. He preached water baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ, the requirement of a true experience of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost-as the early Church had it-to be eligible for the Rapture, the Scriptural place of women in the Church and modest dress. The love of many for modern worldly entertainments-sports, television, movies, mixed bathing-caused many more to close their doors and their minds to his ministry.

Certainly, he preached a message that forced the hearers to face their own spirituality-or the lack, thereof. His words caused many to look into the dark recesses of their very souls and what they found there, often, was worse than they could face or bring out into the open so that repentance could be made. Many looked and found pride, others found love of money, some found that they enjoyed power over other people, still others found a lust for flesh that carried them beyond their own hearth. Many of those who heard Bob Lambert could not face the fact that the basis for their belief system was flawed and crumbling.

Bob Lambert preached and witnessed wherever he could-churches, movie theaters, sidewalks, house to house-and he often felt led of the Spirit to go and say a few words to some individual who was open to hear the Gospel of Christ.

In the early years following his conversion, Bob Lambert tried to find other people in whom the Spirit of God was moving and he wanted to believe them whenever they told him that they had heard from the Lord, that they had seen spiritual visions, that they had spiritual dreams and that the Lord was using them to do great things. His desire for fellowship with Spirit-led people caused him to spend time with many groups and personages. Some of the men whom he sought out had well known television or radio ministries, some claimed to be prophets or the sons of the prophets but there were others who confessed that they did not have a true call of God as a foundation for their ministry and only felt a desire to preach.

Being introduced to the recorded sermons of William Marrion Branham, the end time prophet messenger, whose ministry was foretold in the Scriptures, Brother Bob realized that this was the Elijah that God had shown him at his conversion and who was prophesied to come by the prophet, Malachi. Quickly hearing all the sermons locally available at the time in Miami, he went to hear in person this man who, not only had a supernatural call of God but, demonstrated the same Power that was central to the New Testament Church through an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Thereafter, he went to hear this man of God as often as he could, receiving instruction from the sermons and, occasionally, from personal interviews.

Valuing instruction in righteousness above his necessary bread, he was present whenever Brother Branham preached many of his most outstanding sermons. It was his privilege to go on the hunting trip with Brother Branham in October 1963 when a blizzard was stopped at a word from the prophet. It was Brother Bob's great privilege to stand and assist when Brother Branham served in his last Communion service at the Tucson Tabernacle on December 12, 1965.

For almost seven years prior to the passing of Brother William Branham, Brother Lambert had been trying to find God's leading for his own ministry. Though, according to his own remarks on several occasions, he had moved some seventy-five or more times, he could not find that location where it would please God to have him minister. Shortly after arriving in Tucson, Arizona in October 1965 to assist another minister, the Lord had spoken to him saying, "GET OUT OF TUCSON!" Even before this, Brother Lambert had been shown that the Lord intended to do a great work in the East.

Following the funeral services for the prophet, moving eastward, Brother Bob took his family to Louisiana, arriving finally at the town of Minden where he remained for almost one year, preaching from time to time at local assemblies throughout the Middle and Southeastern United States.

Spending much time in prayer and fasting, the Spirit and Presence of the Lord accompanied him constantly, often bringing to his mind Ezekiel 47 and things concerning the East. Brother Bob frequently rode his horse into the forests to be alone and to wait upon the Lord. Sometime in late February or early March 1967 he told his wife that they would again be leaving within two weeks. Within a few days, he received the call that resulted in his moving to Connecticut where he already had experienced two encounters with the forces of darkness.

Arriving in Connecticut in March 1967, Brother Bob began to preach and to reestablish policies and practices that he had already tried to persuade people to accept all over the country. He preached Church Order, the woman's place in the home and in the Church, the necessity for regular, fervent prayer for the ministry and for the Church. He preached the absolute requirement that eligibility for the Rapture includes both a new birth and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost-as it was given on the Day of Pentecost. He steadfastly pointed his listeners to the seventh age messenger/prophet, William Marrion Branham, saying that they must hear that ministry. Part of the dedication and consecration before services was to keep silence while traveling to the meeting and to approach the worship with sincerity and reverence. And he preached that there is coming a mighty Outpouring of Power like the early Church had. He said,

"I want to tell you something. This temple, this spiritual temple of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be inaugurated and dedicated by the Holy Ghost, one day. And it is going to be the same kind of a dedication that they got in the upper room. It is going to suddenly come to His temple. Jesus Christ is going to suddenly come to His temple."

His own dedication to the service of the Lord required that he separate himself from fellowship with the brethren and stay alone in his room waiting upon the Lord in prayer and in reading his Bible. As he testified, it was here that a supernatural Being came to him and began to tell him things and to open his understanding to the things that had been shown him earlier. This Being gave him revelation on many things that caused him to exhort the people, "Something's going on. It's great and all among you and none of you know what is going on. You'd better get to praying." During this time, he continued to, "Lay the Word out there and prove that Capstone Token, week in and week out, year in and year out."

It was around this time, also, that the Lord showed Himself to Bob Lambert. As he told it,

"One night, I wasn't even seeking the Lord and He came to me. I saw myself standing in a very unusual house that represented the House of Prayer. It was deserted and I didn't understand it at first. I looked through the door. It was a lattice type affair of a door and I felt Somebody looking at me. I thought, 'I ought to go up to the door there. I believe there is Somebody looking at me.' I got up there and I peeked down like that. When I peeked down, Somebody on the other side peeked down too. And I looked into the face of Jesus. Oh! It just took my breath away. I grabbed for the door and said, 'Jesus!' As I grabbed the door open, He stepped back like that and was gone!"

Brother Bob had little fellowship with other ministers and, realizing that some of the doctrines he taught were controversial, forbade his congregation to tell one thing that he was preaching outside the assembly.

After a few weeks of meetings in the home of a member of the congregation and finding opposition from certain quarters, he told one of the brethren that, "We have to move the nest." He hoped that, by doing so, the opposing forces would leave the assembly. They began to hold services in the basement of another member of the group. Here, after a time, it is said that the woman of the house would not even attend services. Seeing that the spiritual quality of the meetings could not improve under such circumstances, Brother Lambert again moved the congregation to a rented hall. This was some improvement but he learned that, to find the anointing of the Lord in his preaching, he first had to preach the evil spirits out of the building. These dark forces were left there by users of the hall who held parties and other worldly functions at times during the week.

Finally, in April 1968, a little more than one year after moving to Connecticut, Brother Bob moved the assembly to the one-time Durham Cleaners, now converted to clean souls rather than clothing. Along the way, some of the disruptive elements had dropped out of the assembly and he now believed that he had the nucleus of a group that would press on to receive an Outpouring of the Spirit.

During this initial year of getting settled, reacquainted and reestablished in the doctrines and practices that he believed would prepare the group to enter into revival, a number of people began to come into the assembly. On Saturday, April 22, 1967, Bill Mallison stopped by Brother Bob's apartment but left on learning that Brother Bob was waiting upon the Lord. (Some time previously, he had stopped someone from criticizing Brother Lambert by saying, "One day I will sit under that man's ministry.") He was in the service the following morning-clean shaven, after wearing a beard for some years. Also, Howie Aitken's mother and aunt, both from Rhode Island, were in the service the same day.

On October 1, 1967, a family was in service for the first time having just moved up from somewhere in the South. In December 1967, visitors were in service, having just arrived from Alabama. During this period, Brother George Parylla moved from New York to hear Brother Bob preach. Others moved from Texas, Arkansas, New York and other places.

There were some among the believers of the end time message who looked on Brother Branham as God on earth or as Jesus Christ in the flesh and looked for him to be resurrected and go out in a great tent ministry to fulfill things that he had seen in visions or were spoken in dreams. Others took the view that all had already been fulfilled, that the Bride had entered into her ministry at the opening of the seals, that there was nothing left to be preached because the prophet had preached it all! Still others, arrogant, ambitious, proud, desiring power over the saints, proclaimed that they, too, had visions and dreams and that Elijah's mantle had fallen on them or on some "good brother."

One man, looking for support and a following, wrote (in part), "Those who claim to be in the Bride of Christ in the message of Branham or in the remnant have to stand with E____ B_____ as the Voice of the Archangel…and all who don't stand with his message are reprobate…. We dust our feet off against you in the day of Judgment as a testimony against you if you do not receive B_____ and recognize his authority…."

Brother Lambert had a more middle-of-the-road view of his own ministry and of that of William Branham. He realized, as the Apostle James said (James 1:18), that Brother Branham was a "kind of firstfruits" of the end time ministry of Christ and that the works demonstrated in his life were to be demonstrated in the Bride of Christ.

Brother Bob greatly loved and appreciated the prophet's ministry. In the opening prayer of one of his sermons, he prayed,

"We love your great prophet that You sent among us, Lord. And if Thou should tarry a thousand years (which we know that You won't) this love that we saw shed abroad in the heart of this man called William Branham and the great message that you gave him, Lord, if there would be a thousand more years, we believe it would ring on to our hearts."

He went on and said,

"I don't think that you could ever build a monument, as far as mortar and stone is concerned, to this evening light message. But, if there could be such a thing as a monument to this man called Brother William Branham, that would be when the Bride really becomes what She is supposed to be. I think it will be a monument to Brother William Branham."

Given the condition of the church in the years following the departure of God's prophet, Brother Bob was apprehensive lest the investigating angels carry a poor report back to the Father. But as he said,

"I am so glad that the Holy Ghost came and gave a report like this: 'Yes, it is sad, Heavenly Father, but You have a few sons down there that know why Your prophet came. They are not preaching a tent ministry. They are preaching the unadulterated Word of God and rebuking and chastising with the Word and causing Your sheep to line up in green pastures. I want to tell You that the sons down there are feeding Your sheep. They are dropping that fresh-killed meat from the tapes right down in the beaks of the eagles. And they are growing in Grace, Heavenly Father. They are lining up with every bit of the Word of God. They are just encouraging one another and they are praying. They are reading their Bibles and they are seeking Your Face.'"

Brother Bob went on to say,

"Wait for the real thing. Don't take something else. Wait for the real, Brother. Don't worry about it. Brother, I don't care if anybody knows where Robert Lambert is; I don't care if anybody knows my name; I don't care if anybody likes me. All I care about is the Word of God and proving myself and that I will receive Power and Authority for that day that we are living in, to see God, Jehovah, come down and vindicate Brother Branham's ministry once again and say, 'Why did you reject him?'"

Brother Bob loved the Branham family and he and Billy Paul had become good friends. Whenever one of the family was hurt, he felt it deeply. Therefore, when he received word in late June 1967 that Billy Paul and Loyce's baby had died, and feeling led of the Lord to do so, he quickly decided to go to Jeffersonville to try and comfort the family. But it also would be an opportunity to see some of his minister friends. As he said,

"It is our old roosting place, our old nesting place-where we heard the great eagle prophet bring so many great messages. We are going down there to be with our brothers and sisters, to listen to some tapes, and hoping and praying, that God would heal His little Body in this hour-that He will put the anointing Salve of the Balm of Gilead, pour It all over the little Bride, as we gather in Jeffersonville."

Bob Lambert also thought much on the little assemblies at which he had ministered in the South, in Louisiana, in Arkansas, in Texas and other places. He felt that there were many souls crying for help in the face of almost overwhelming apostasy and unbelief among some of the ministers and those charged with the welfare of the various flocks following Brother Branham's message. He believed that he could help them if he had a pulpit to preach from.

When he received a call from a minister in Arkansas who had suffered much for the Word of God and the end time message and asked for an opportunity to discuss some questions, Brother Bob went to prayer. He wanted a few days to recuperate from flu symptoms that had bothered him for about three weeks and he needed a short rest from the responsibilities of a pastor. Also, he felt that he could help the people. The brother, in standing for the Word, had lost about seventy-five percent of his congregation but was determined to stay with the message regardless of the cost. Brother Bob said that he would go, alone, unless it was not the Will of the Lord.

Realizing that he would be gone for a couple of weeks, he preached a sermon on Sunday morning (October 1) that would give his congregation something to think about until his return. He said,

"You remember, Brother, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, I am telling you this, that something is going to come on the scene. Somebody is going to realize who they are and what the Seals has done for them and they are going to do the same things that Jesus did when He was here. And, Brother, it will be so humble and simple, it will pass right through the midst of the people and they will miss it again. Now mark her down and see if it don't happen."

Referring to Brother Branham, he said,

"There was a man that realized who he was, what he came for and what God had done for him through the Blood of Jesus, a sinner saved by Grace."

Brother Lambert went to Arkansas because he wanted to get away and be alone with the Lord and he felt that he could help the brethren. He also enjoyed getting out into the great outdoors in the fall of the year to enjoy nature and to hunt squirrels or to fish a little bit. In Arkansas he found that most of the people believed that everything was all over and that there was nothing left except the Rapture but that Brother Branham was to come back in a private resurrection riding a white horse and ride the trail again. He also learned of many lies being told about him (Brother Bob) personally and people were so unspiritual that they would not even bother to check and see whether there was any substance to the accusations. He said,

"Friend, I have never seen the condition that is prevailing around people that call themselves followers of Reverend William Branham. They have hardly any understanding of why God sent this prophet. If you can find a real born again believer, they are as scarce as hen's teeth, that is living something. They say that, if you don't come and hear the message through one man… And all the tapes are stored up in one man. I don't believe that. All kinds of heresies."

During his trip Brother Bob did hear from God. He was not to go anywhere to minister but to wait on God and minister to the little congregation in Connecticut! Upon his return home, he told his congregation that,

"The only thing that I caught was a mess of good Arkansas chiggers and some seed ticks. I didn't kill a squirrel and I didn't catch a fish."

Nevertheless, December 1967 again found him traveling toward Arkansas where he stayed for a few days at the home of friends. Though faced with much opposition, on the 31st he preached one message at Mt. Ida and returned home.

November 1968 found him, together with several members of his congregation traveling to Jeffersonville to attend Thanksgiving weekend services at the Branham Tabernacle. It was customary, following Brother Branham's passing, for the believers to meet and play tapes and there were some who, no doubt, expected the prophet to rise from the grave. The Durham group did not believe any such thing but they liked to go and meet old friends and worship together around the Word of God. Although they were warned before leaving home that they would meet a test in Jeffersonville, they had no idea that Satan had a trap set for them that would result in severe chastisement once they returned home.

The group took rooms at the Avalon Motel in Sellersburg and, presently, began to meet others from various places. A small group was there from Tampa, Florida, and someone brought and introduced a minister who proceeded to exhort and to preach a message! Apparently believing himself to be a prophet, he prophesied that the following Spring a great people would rise, seemingly, in the Rapture. He preached for some time and many listened intently, shouting and praising God. He had been on a forty-day "prophet's fast." However, while he claimed to believe Brother Branham's message, he did confess that he differed with Brother Branham on one or two points. This should have been a flashing red light but some did not take heed. Brother Bob felt that he should stay away from this meeting and deal with his sheep later. Once home, he sharply rebuked those who had listened to such heresy, calling it an intellectual interpretation and saying that Brother Branham said that the end time false spirits would be a millionth of a hair more deceiving than at the Last Supper.

During the period 1967 through February 1969, a number of preachers visited the Tampa assembly where Brother Carlton McGahee held meetings in his home. One of these men, having heard two or three sermons of Brother William Branham, felt qualified to preach the message. Most came with little more than a "social gospel."

Another preacher, a big man in the message of Brother Branham, in conversation with this scribe (February 1969) and responding to a comment that "We don't have what they had on the Day of Pentecost," quickly asked, "What? Do you want to be another William Branham? Do you want to be another Apostle Peter?" Of course, the answer was, "No." He then said, "Do you believe Brother Branham to be God's prophet? Do you believe him to be Elijah of Malachi 4? Do you believe what he said to be the truth?" The answer, now, was, "Yes!" He then said, "Well, you've got It, Brother!" I did not know how to answer this to a prominent preacher of Brother Branham's message but I knew that I didn't have It so I said no more..

Just a few days later, a little man named Bob Lambert stopped by and said that, "You people here in Tampa are awful short!"

In early 1969, Brother Lambert, together with Brother George Parylla and Brother Chan Davis, had gone to the island of Jamaica to see if he could be of assistance to a group of native believers who were in considerable poverty. After helping to move the people to another location where food was available and rendering such other help as he could give, both in Word and in materials, it is sad to say that they did not make proper use of such love sacrifices.

He returned to Miami, Florida. While staying with friends there, he received a call from his friend, Brother Carlton McGahee who invited him to spend a little time in Tampa. Brother Bob told him that he could not preach outside his own assembly unless he was definitely led of the Lord and that he already had his plane ticket for return to Connecticut from Miami the following day (Sunday). After much persuasion, he agreed to go to Tampa for an overnight visit and to return home to Connecticut from there.

Brother McGahee and this scribe drove to Miami on a Saturday afternoon, picked up Brother Bob and Brother George and returned to Tampa. Returning home at around one o'clock Sunday morning, the brethren went to bed. Well before daylight, a Presence entered the house and woke everyone up. The Presence revealed to Brother Lambert that he could preach to the little group that met in the McGahee home-about fifteen to twenty persons. He, therefore, preached on Sunday afternoon and thereafter each evening through the following Sunday except Saturday.

After Brother Lambert preached in the McGahee home, a report went out among message believers that, "The Tampa group is in Bob Lambert's camp!" The question is, "Why, after other preachers brought forth their message in Tampa, did no such report go out?"

In late July 1969, Brother Carlton McGahee and his wife Rosa, feeling the need for a vacation, went to Connecticut to visit with the Lambert family and to hear Brother Bob preach. One has to believe, also, that their former desire to move to be with the Lamberts was not far from their minds.

In one of the sermons they heard, "Patience To Inherit The Promise," Brother Bob spoke of the promises made to Abraham. He said that entering in to the Promise requires separation from unbelief. He went on to show that, as soon as the separation from Lot was made, God came to Abraham, confirmed His Promises and began to bring them to fulfillment. He finished his sermon by saying that

"The biggest trouble among the Elected today [is that] they don't have patience to wait for Life, so they go ahead and imagine that they have it. They don't have patience to wait for the Token, so they already go and say, 'Well I got It when I believed the message.'"

In another message, "Vain Jangling," Brother Bob warned against a condition that was to manifest itself in just a few days. He described the confused ramblings of a person with a pretended revelation as contrasted to the simplicity and clarity of a true revelation that edifies the people of God. He said that many ministers try to make themselves sound great and spiritual to the people-great spiritual powerhouses-and they make the message of God so hard to understand. Then the people go away with their minds full of questions.

He went on to explain that failure to believe and be obedient to all the Word of God will stop the person from growing in Grace and that "failure" will become their "Kadesh-Barnea." And he paraphrased Paul's words to Timothy saying,

"Don't get up and preach a pretended intellectual conception of my message. Don't be a hypocrite; don't play hypocrite to the saints of God. Get a real Divine revelation of the message of the hour and preach that to the sheep."

"But," he said, "I believe that real Divine revelation preached by the servant of God is so simple that it takes away all the questions and establishes them in the faith and edifies and strengthens them and encourages them. The sheep will only be edified by the revelation of the preaching of the Word of God. That is the only thing that will edify the Bride."

Then Brother Lambert took the opportunity to strike out hard against a prominent example of a pretended revelation in what has been characterized as the "resurrection doctrine." He said,

"When the messenger of the hour left the scene there was so much of, 'Oh, I know there will be a resurrection in three days. I know it. I have faith and everybody that doesn't believe it is the seed of the serpent, because it's faith and you are an unbeliever. You don't believe the message of God because you don't believe that there will be a resurrection in three days.'

"And what was it? It proved out that they were all over the United States like that in hundreds of people that supposedly had a faith. Faith is a revelation. Paul said, 'Don't play the part of a hypocrite preacher.' Brother, when you say that you have a revelation and you don't have it, you are playing the part of a hypocrite!"

A few minutes later, confronted with a display of irreverence in the congregation, Brother Bob lashed out,

"It's hard when you are not reverent. I feel sorry for people whose hearts are wicked and dark. How terrible it is!"

Feeling the need to get away for a few days of relaxation, following the Sunday services, he took his family and the McGahees and went up to the state of Maine, leaving Brother George Parylla in charge. Then the enemy struck!

A prominent member of the congregation, Brother Cliff, encouraged by several women, went to Brother George, telling him that he had a commission from the Lord to preach a series of ten messages and the great revival that all looked for would begin. He claimed that he had been visited in a vision, or maybe it was a dream (he wasn't sure it was even reality), by seven little birds with helmets on. Brother George allowed him to preach a message on Thursday evening but put in a call to his pastor. Because they were in a remote location, it took a while to reach Brother Bob but, returning the call, he told Brother George to take the pulpit and not allow any more preaching until he returned.

Brother Bob returned and the "preacher" again took the pulpit on the tenth of August, bringing two messages.

Brother Bob went to the pulpit on the following Thursday evening (although the "preacher" had been scheduled) to tell the people that he intended to make a trip to Israel. It had been on his heart to go for a considerable time and had tried on several occasions to make arrangements to go and had not been successful. He would be leaving on the following day, Friday. Brother Chan Davis would be going with him. It was his desire to be baptized in the Jordan river where John the Baptist preached and baptized. He wanted to walk where Jesus walked and to visit the tomb where Jesus was laid and from which He was resurrected. He wanted to visit Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. His heart and thoughts had been much on Israel, especially, since the "Six Days War" in 1967 when he had shed many tears for that little nation. He said,

"There is something about Israel. I can hardly talk about it now. It just brings tears to my eyes. I love Israel. The only reason that I am going to Israel is because of a desire in my heart. And the Lord is fulfilling that desire at this time."

He said that, if the Lord would make a way, he would like to encourage God's children and tell them how he appreciated Jesus Christ and His vindicated prophet, Brother William Branham. He said that he had tried to pattern his life after the example left us by Brother Branham and he said, "I knew that there was a man that God had called, God had anointed, God had trained and God had sent." And he also said,

"And let it be known to this congregation that God does not ever use a man in great power and authority until He has him trained. Let that be understood. He trains His servants before He ever vindicates them with great power.

"The Bride of Christ is not required of God to believe any individual that comes with a revelation, a vision, a dream or any appearance of any supernatural. The Bride of Christ is not obligated to believe that. She is not obligated to believe it. And you will not be held accountable if you do not believe it, whatsoever. There will be no blood required at your hand, whatsoever. And, if anyone would ever tell you that the blood would be required at your hand, that is an error. That is an error.

"When a man like William Branham is vindicated of God by infallible vindication, then you are required by God to believe those signs. But if you were to believe a man that is not vindicated of God that gives you a sign or a wonder and is not vindicated by the Bible and you were to believe it, you are in disaster. You are in disaster!"

And then he spoke of himself. Brother Bob pointed out that he had tried to be a faithful shepherd-not because he desired to be a pastor, but because the Holy Spirit had placed him in that position. He said that he would be more than happy to sit under the ministry of a qualified man of God.

Some remarks had been passed by some of the super spiritual group that were claiming to have the key to revival. They accused Brother Bob of running from the Presence of the Lord, of condoning sin in the assembly and in his home, of failure to turn over certain men to Satan for destruction of the flesh because of their sins. In answer to these accusations he said,

"I would like to know how that a man that stays ten and twelve hours in a room, year after year, could be running from the Presence of God. I have been trying to find the Presence of God daily. I have not been running from the Presence of the Lord."

Brother Lambert set himself firmly in opposition to some of the things the "preacher" was saying: that "The pastor is off the Word of God;" "There will be no persecution for the Bride;" "God will pour out His Spirit after these ten messages are preached;" "Brother Davis and Brother Bob are Moses and Elijah to the Jews." Brother Bob said,

"As far as I know, Brother Davis isn't Moses, and, as far as I know, I have never found out that I was Elijah. As far as I know, I am not sent to the Jews, spiritually. I bought a movie camera today and I am going to shoot a lot of the old orthodox Jews' pictures, but I won't be preaching to them. I tell you that."

He then took a text from Deuteronomy 1:18-46 and preached a short message, "And Israel Abode At Kadesh Many Days." In this sermon, he told the people that he did not believe that anything would come of the preaching and that the true revival will not start that way but that the people should hear the man out. They should let him preach until he was finished and then get ready to repent because nothing was going to happen. He said,

"Before there can be a revival, there has to be a price for revival. And the price for revival is utter death. And there is not one person in this assembly ready for revival, not one person! This Bride is going to be tested more than any living human being that was ever upon the earth. And God has loosed more demons from hell to come against this Bride to try to deceive Her than all the other ages put together 'until the deception,' as the prophet of God said, 'would come down to a millionth of a hair!' And this thing that is moving has got a head full of hair.

"He doesn't know whether it's a vision, whether it's even reality. If the man that received it don't even know whether it is even real, I want nothing to do with it! A revival is a move of God in Power. The blind see, the lame walk and the dead are raised and the Gospel is preached in the Power of the Resurrection. I have told you time and again, that is exactly where you are at tonight-Kadesh-barnea. You have progressed no further than Kadesh-barnea. You ain't going to have no revival and you are going to abide at Kadesh many days!

"I would like to ask you a question. All you people that are so spiritual here, I would like to ask how many of you are weeping and wailing between the porch and the altar? How many of you are so burdened for the lost and dying that you have been weeping and wailing for the last two months? There ain't a one of you going to have revival or be sealed until you get in that condition."

One of the things that bothered Brother Bob so much was that he had labored so hard in the Word of God and preached so diligently for two and one-half years and most of the people, although claiming great spirituality, were deceived and carried away by an empty wind of doctrine that was based upon an uninterpretable dream. He advised those who believed the "preacher's" message to find another shepherd and turned over the care of the Durham congregation to Brother George Parylla charging all those found in error to "quickly repent, fast and pray, purge your heart, find out what you done wrong."

The "preacher" continued to preach his message and actually delivered himself of eleven sermons before he was finished. However, following Brother Bob's departure for Israel, his words reflected a less confident tone about obtaining the hoped-for revival.

This scribe's family, while on vacation, attended the final four of the eleven sermons brought by the "preacher."

The "preacher's" sermons included much Scripture reading, particularly from the New Testament with a few comments between. Evidently, he expected his hearers to understand by revelation some deep truths that were hiding there and that understanding would bring the revival. However, as noted above, he seemed less sure of attainment of the stated goal. During preliminary comments at the beginning of his eighth sermon on Friday evening, he said, "I can't go on. You're not desperate. You are wicked and rebellious." A short time into his message, he laid down a challenge for "all or any to stand and have a show-down with the Word." One man in the congregation, who had recently moved from a southern state, rose to his feet, walked resolutely to the pulpit, turned and faced the congregation and said, "I don't believe it!" And walked back to his seat. The "preacher" continued on and, presently, stated, "I know what the Third Pull is. I have tried It out!" And peevishly/childishly added, "So there!"

The "preacher" then made a striking statement, "I laid out the foundation in my first messages how it [the revelation] would go!" He had previously said that, in order to understand the revelation and have a place in the revival, a person must hear all his sermons from the first.

On Sunday morning, this scribe requested to hear the first tape and the "preacher" promised to furnish it. However, on Sunday evening, he said that the tape was lost! That this was a patent and transparent lie is obvious. This man had made prophetic claims but now, in a single statement, shows that he is not fit to handle the Word of God!

The following Thursday evening, during his eleventh and final sermon, he made a true statement: "There has been a lot of nonsense over this message. Jesus is not pleased with it." Although he had already stated that he had "tried out" the Third Pull, he said, "It really is not for this time." After making several other statements and claims that do not fit either the Scriptures or the message of the end time prophet, Brother William Branham, he closed the meeting and his series of sermons. And NOTHING HAPPENED! No Outpouring of Power, no Bride's Revival, no manifestation of the Spirit that could, in the least, be construed as vindicating his message.

One thing did happen. On his last sermon, the "preacher" said, "I know I'll have to go, He's already revealed it to me." The "preacher" had already told Brother Lambert that he would repent if the Revival did not come. But he did not repent. Upon his return from Israel, therefore, Brother Lambert told him that he should take those who believed him and set up his own congregation.

On the Sunday morning following the separation of the "preacher's" group from the Durham assembly, the size of the congregation was much thinned down. It is said that seventy percent of the congregation left to follow a false prophet. However, there were a faithful few who remained, including some who had been considered by the superspiritual "preacher's" group to be weak spiritually. These few remained and became stronger in the Word of Truth. They continued to wait upon God for the fulfillment of His Promise.

Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)

Following the split of the congregation in 1969, during which most of the people left the assembly to follow the heretical teachings of a man who was already shown to be a false prophet, Bob Lambert continued to preach the same Gospel of Jesus Christ and the message brought by William Branham that he had held up to the people previously. The people who remained continued to affirm their faith in God and His Promises.

Those who left the assembly included some who had moved from other states to hear Brother Bob preach. Some of those leaving were deceived by a bald-faced lie to the effect that Brother Bob had kicked them out. He did not. He only told the little 'Preacher" that he should take those that he could persuade to go. None ever acknowledged the extent of their error-and none ever rejoined the congregation.

If Brother Bob was discouraged, the Spirit of the Lord encouraged him. Though he certainly was disappointed greatly that so many seemingly spiritual people had stumbled at unsubstantiated and unvindicated preaching, Brother Bob took comfort in the assurance that God's Word is true and that God will perform all His Promises and we are not to look to the devices of man but believe in, trust in and rely on God alone. God honored that trust by revealing to him in a greater way the message of William Branham and anointing him with a power in his ministry that supernaturally moved in the hearts of men and women in many parts of the country.

And so it was that the Heath family from New Hampshire completed their move, already begun, to become a part of the Connecticut assembly. In the following weeks and months, other families moved to the area to hear the Gospel of Christ from the lips of a man uneducated, crippled in body, lacking in this world's goods (and not desiring much) but firm in his commitment to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and a coming Outpouring of Power that would restore a Church like the one that existed after the day of Pentecost.

In January 1970, after much prayer and meditation and waiting on the Lord for direction, Brother Bob, accompanied by a fellow minister from Indiana, went to Trinidad, West Indies, not to preach but to learn the truth of reports he had received concerning a revival in progress on that island and to handle a certain matter as a favor to Brother Roy Borders. In the summer of 1966 while in Miami, Brother Bob had met a man from Trinidad who had been disfellowshipped from a church. As the man had nothing except one boiled egg in his pocket, Brother Bob fed him and led him to the message of the prophet William Branham. The man had returned to Trinidad where he began preaching Brother Branham's message, establishing churches in the area and acting as their bishop.

Brother Bob found the report concerning the revival to be considerably exaggerated. When this man and several other ministers came to his hotel room for discussions, he gave them some words of correction. He met another young preacher who, despite his youth, seemed to have more understanding concerning the Gospel of Christ than his fellow ministers. Brother Bob was able to answer certain questions for him and encouraged him greatly. He began a correspondence with the young man that continued until his passing in 1973. During his stay on the island, Brother Bob visited local churches and, though he did not preach, he was prevailed upon to give a testimony and took the opportunity to exhort the brethren.

In Connecticut, families began attending services, some driving as much as five hundred miles for Sunday worship. Other families commuted from New York State, from Delaware and other places. Within little more than one year following the separation, the Renner family had moved from Florida, the Johnstones from Canada followed by the McGahees from Florida, the Vegas from New York City. In a short time others arrived. One man, "Ted," with his brother and a friend, moved from New Jersey having arrived in the United States from Yugoslavia. Ted gave a testimony in which he told of his former life behind the "Iron Curtain" and of his having had "some success" as a contender in the Olympic games. Several families moved from upstate New York and from Pennsylvania and from other states. Sam Lisi, a disabled veteran who had played trumpet with the U.S. Army band, brought his talents from New York City and became a mentor to young aspiring trumpeters-including Brother Bob's younger son, Timothy. There was such a gathering of automobiles from various states that the local townspeople noted that the Durham assembly had "a very active congregation." It was a rare Sunday during which there were no autos from other states.

Did these people, that included tradesmen, shopkeepers, a policeman, a certified public accountant, a school teacher, a librarian, mechanics, salesmen, a retired U.S. Air Force flying officer, housewives, did these come to hear a seventh grade education tell the people that they received the Promise of God when they believed the prophet of God? Did they come to hear that the work of the Bride is all over and we are just waiting for the Rapture? Did they come to hear that all was in Brother Branham and all we have to do is lie in the sun and become matured? Perhaps they came to hear a seventh grade education tell them that they needed to fellowship more with the other congregations, maybe organize a sports organization and set up some competition with other believing assemblies! Nonsense! Remember that many of these people left responsible positions where they were well paid for their efforts. Many left nice homes, friends, loved ones, pleasant surroundings but counted these things as naught for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

No, my Friend, they came to hear a revivalist preach a coming revival-a move of God in Power-that will clean up and set at liberty the Bride of Christ that presently is bound in unbelief of the Promises of God that were demonstrated by the prophet, William Branham. They came to hear a man who could reach down into the depths of the prophet's message and come up with a golden nugget that he would polish until, in its glow, all could see themselves in a mighty Bride's revival that would reach the very ends of the earth through the Son of Man ministry. The prophet, William Branham, himself, said, "I'd rather have my family go to hear a preacher that didn't know his ABC's, if he knowed Christ, than to have them with all their education." ("Where Has Thy Strength Gone, Samson?" Los Angeles, CA, 59-0702)

God blessed him and increased his strength in the Gospel through revelation, although his physical strength slowly declined as a result of the rare disease that was responsible for "Pharaoh's" support until he went to be with the Lord. The Presence of the Lord was never very far away and, as many have verified through their testimonies, it only required the right thought, word or phrase to bring God's mighty Presence. The manifestation of the Presence of the Lord came in various forms including driving a person to his knees or sudden weeping for no other apparent reason. One brother, having accompanied Brother Lambert on a foreign trip, was traveling back to his home alone by air and that Presence continued with him all the way home. As he traveled, he continued to weep so much that the airline attendant asked him if anything was wrong. He replied that he was just a "cry-baby." Others, in conversation with Brother Bob, found their questions answered though the conversation did not necessarily relate to the question that, itself, remained unspoken.

The men of the assembly met on Saturday evenings to wait in prayer for the Lord to bless his minister and to anoint him to preach and they prayed for the congregation so that they could hear and understand what they needed to know. Then, in early October 1970, some of the men remembered that Brother Branham had often spoken of all night prayer meetings. Among many other things, Brother Branham said: "Where is the all-night prayer meetings we used to have? What's happened to it? Where's that deep sincerity and pressing on with God? What's the matter? We've been cut away from it." ("Presuming," Cleveland, TN, 62-0408) So the Saturday evening prayer meetings became all night prayer meetings, after which the brethren went home to freshen up before the Sunday services.

Brother Lambert continued to lift up the Promises of God to the people and to emphasize the teachings of Brother Branham concerning the New Ministry, the White Eagle, White Horse Rider, Joshua Commission, Tent Meeting, Son of Man in judgment, and mercy rejected. He continually proved that the Bride must be a part of that ministry. Many times Brother Branham had spoken of a ministry coming that would operate through the Power of God to create living beings, to resurrect the dead, to heal the afflicted, to control the very elements and to impart Eternal Life-all by the Spoken Word. Bob Lambert constantly preached on the absolute requirement of a contending member of the Bride of Christ: that he or she be born of the Spirit and that they go on to be filled with the Spirit. He pointed out that the New Birth and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost are no more the same thing than were Peter's revelation (Matthew 16:16) and the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4). He also stressed that there is an appointed time and season for all things.

Brother Bob said that those in the Bride are sons of God and will be manifested as such in creative power after their adoption. The Bride must be possessed of creative power before the Rapture takes place. Did not the prophet say, "Man was made a lesser god, and given a domain on the earth? That's the reason that the world today is groaning, waiting for the full manifestations of the sons of God. Oh, there's great, deep and blessed teaching in that, that someday man will still come back into his right place and his domain will be the earth. And he will speak to the tree or to the mountain or to anything and it'll just go in place, just like it was intended to be." [William Branham, "God's Provided Way of Fellowship," Klamath Falls, OR, 60-0709]

As more people came into the assembly and the all-night prayer services continued unabated, excitement grew and there was a general feeling among the congregation that something was about to happen. Some of the men who had recently arrived did not immediately obtain work, living instead upon resources they had brought with them.

There followed a "solemn assembly," during which many in the congregation fully expected to see the beginning of a great move of God. During this three-day period, many fasted and prayed, hardly leaving the building. The services alternated between prayer, worship, singing and some exhortation. As the meeting drew to a climax, there were many displays of fanaticism with screaming and jumping and some people reading to the congregation scriptures in which the reader fancied he or she had found some great revelation. Near the end of the meeting, Brother Lambert got the people settled in their seats and told them to sit quietly and see if the Lord would honor their "faith" with a manifestation of His Presence, taking, for example, Acts 2:4 where the Bible says that a rushing mighty wind "filled all the house where they were sitting." Nothing happened.

After the meeting, Brother Lambert straitly told the people that they had experienced "false birth pains" and that they needed to get a prayer life at home. He chastised the people for their unspirituality, saying, "You were dying on me." He further told the men to get jobs. He quoted Scriptures and said that a man who doesn't work should not eat and that a man must provide for his family or be counted worse than an infidel. He said that, if there were some who did not need to work to support themselves, they should work anyway so that they would have something to give to others.

During the time of his moving about from place to place before he became established in Connecticut, Brother Bob became friends with many people, including ministers, who tried to follow the teachings of William Branham. Occasionally, when he felt he needed a rest from the pressures of bringing two or three messages a week, he would visit some of these people in Maine, Indiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and other places. From time to time one or another of the ministers would return the visit for a weekend of services. He generally tried to refrain from preaching in other assemblies but occasionally felt pressured to preach. At such times he tried to bring a sermon that would encourage and strengthen the local congregation in the basic doctrines espoused by the prophet. Sometimes, however, he would bring a thought or quotation that, although based strictly upon the Scriptures and Brother Branham's message, was so foreign to the thinking of the people, they thought that he was "off the Word." They would go to their local pastor and inquire. Many, however, refused even to hear doctrines that were contrary to their own preconceived ideas and walked out of the meetings.

Most of the message believers held that, after Brother Branham's passing, there was no more to be done, that one received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost when he believed the prophet's message, totally rejecting the Scripture that says, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" (Acts 19:2) They also rejected the many statements by the prophet that this was not so but was "Baptist doctrine." They believed that the Bride was already made up, that the Bride seed only had to "ripen in the sun" and then go in the Rapture when Jesus appears in the skies. They failed to understand that there remained a great work to be done in Africa, India and Mexico. And what about Russia? Brother Branham said, "What God needs in Russia is one man anointed with the Power of God, with the Power of the Holy Ghost." ("Just One More Time, Lord," Phoenix, AZ, 62-0120E) And of Japan, he said, "We're looking for the greatest religious meeting that's ever been in the history of the world when we come to Japan. There's only two thousand full Gospel people there. And they are worshipers of Buddha and their god is defeated. They're a great nation without a god. So I want to take Jesus to them." ("Blind Bartimaeus," Lima, OH, 57-0127E)

Most of the world has never yet heard the end time Gospel of Christ. Professing believers have failed to understand the need for fulfillment of Brother Branham's "Third Pull," or if they did accept it, many believed that Brother Branham must return in a private resurrection (or at least rise among the first in the first resurrection-about thirty to thirty-five days before the Rapture) to complete his ministry. Brother Bob was able to tie these things together, saying that there must, of necessity, be another Outpouring of Power upon the Church through the Holy Spirit-Power that will set the Church in order and will set in motion a ministry that will go throughout the world in a harvest, of which Brother Branham reaped but the firstfruits.

When the people, therefore, heard a man preaching and exhorting them to fast and pray and prepare themselves for one last great harvest, this was foreign to their thinking and many rejected it out of hand. Beyond mere rejection, some went on to ridicule and persecute this humble little man, although they could not withstand his doctrine either by the Scriptures or with quotations from Brother Branham's sermons.

When his detractors found they could not tear down his doctrine, they often resorted to attempts at attacking Brother Lambert with trivial matters. Following a sermon in which Brother Bob frequently knocked or even pounded on the pulpit for emphasis, he entertained a visiting minister at his home. The visitor sat silently for forty-five minutes just looking at Brother Bob who knew that he was getting ready to come against him with something. Finally, the visitor spoke and said that he had a criticism to make. Brother Bob thought, "Here it is!" The visitor told him that he needed to have more respect for God's pulpit. Brother Bob relaxed and answered the man, "Yes, you're right. I need to have more respect for the sacred desk." Later, after the man had gone, Brother Bob played a taped sermon of Brother Branham and lay down across his bed to listen. After a short time, he realized that all he could hear was Brother Branham pounding the pulpit! He said, "Yes, you too, Brother Branham!"

On one occasion, hearing that that there was a group of believers in Pennsylvania caught up in the "resurrection doctrine," Brother Bob traveled there to meet with them with the express purpose of delivering them by the Word of God from their error. Some were grateful and, after hearing a taped sermon carried down to Pennsylvania by a man not authorized to do so, began to travel to Connecticut to hear the man of God and later moved so that they could attend all the services. However, as we shall see later, the spirit that goes with that resurrection doctrine is very persistent.

Bob Lambert knew that his view of the message of William Branham and of many of the Scriptures was controversial. He strongly felt that, through preaching the Word of God, he could help a little group, the Durham assembly, to progress to the point that they could receive the Promises of God and thereby become the group that Brother Branham spoke of when he said, "These other nine different spiritual gifts should be operating in the Church to keep the Church clean. Like the Ananias and Sapphirahs and so forth, the Spirit of God rise up and call somebody out and tell them they're living wrong and rebuke that sin openly. And that's what the Holy Spirit is in the Church for-to keep the Church clean and ready for the coming of the Lord." ("What It Takes To Overcome All Unbelief," Yakima, WA, 60-0729) And again Brother Branham said, "Give me a Church; give me ten men who're really jewels of God, the Royal Seed. Put them men together and watch what'll take place. Give me this little houseful of people like that and I'll show you a Light that the world will run to it. That's right. That's what God wants us to be." ("Thy Seed Shall Possess The Enemies' Gate," Phoenix, AZ 62-0121) Where were the ten "jewels," the "Royal Seed" that Brother Branham asked for?

Knowing these things-that the followers of Brother Branham were not in unity and that many did not believe even some of the most fundamental statements of the prophet on modesty, Christian living, worldly entertainments and the need for a consecrated life, a new birth and a return to the Power of Pentecost-Brother Lambert believed that he should concentrate on stirring the fires of revival in his own assembly. Once these fires were burning brightly, he could say to the world that this is what the prophet spoke of. Therefore, to protect his people from strong criticism, he often instructed the congregation to hold in confidence these things that he preached and not tell them outside the local group. Likewise, he straitly charged the people neither to make personal copies of his sermons nor to allow the audiotapes of his messages to be heard by persons outside the assembly. He even withheld his tapes from his closest minister friends, the pastors of other assemblies. He had no wish to cause disharmony among the brethren, their congregations or individual believers with his preaching of the deeper things of God that might be foreign to them. At that time there were few, if any, who spoke of the "New Ministry," but only of "the Rapture." The general belief seemed to be that, if you believed that Brother Branham had fulfilled the end time Elijah ministry prophesied in Malachi 4, you had already received all you needed to complete this earth's journey. Brother Lambert taught that the best thing his congregation could do was to believe the Word and prepare themselves to receive the promised Outpouring of Power through the Holy Spirit and then they would be able to prove to the world that what he taught, and they believed, was true.

Nevertheless, on occasion, a sermon would get out of the local group and, though he was careful and diligent in every sermon to prove his doctrine by the Scriptures and by the message of Brother Branham, one of several things would happen. It might bring a backlash of criticism-as he had warned-it might cause confusion in the minds of people taught otherwise by their own pastor; or it might be used by another minister as that minister's own doctrine but without a full understanding of its implications.

A very few very limited exceptions were made to his policy of not allowing his sermon tapes to be circulated. Following his February 1969 visit to Tampa, Florida, Brother Bob allowed Brother McGahee and another brother to have some of his sermons but charged them not to allow any others to hear the tapes or even to disclose their existence.

Though many discount the need for personal revelation, Brother Lambert believed and taught that revelation is of supreme importance to the believer. He often quoted Brother Branham who said, "The importance of revelation by the Spirit to a true believer can never be over emphasized. Revelation means more to you than perhaps you realize. Now I am not talking about this Book of Revelation and you. I am talking about ALL revelation. It is tremendously important to the church." ("Revelation Of Jesus Christ," An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages, Page 13)

Brother Lambert firmly believed and taught that true revelation must come from God alone and that God will use the preached Word to open the understanding of the believer. No one should attempt to tell his revelation to other persons. He often said that God does not have grandchildren. Rather than trying to pass along revelation in conversation, he would frequently ask a question such as: "Have you heard Brother Branham's sermon, 'Adoption?'" "Have you heard, 'Ephesians Parallels Joshua?'" "Have you heard 'The Token,' "You really need to hear that." "You know, Brother Branham said that 'The Token' was the highlights message of his entire ministry, but the ministers aren't preaching it. Why?" But he never would discuss revelation in private conversation.

He was often vexed that people wanted to discuss revelation with him while he wanted to be a normal human being and leave the preaching for the pulpit. Many of the brethren following Brother Branham like to "spiritualize" their conversation and try to show that insignificant details have spiritual meaning. Brother Bob tried to discourage this as much as possible. In 1971, he bought a boat so that he could fish and relax with the brethren from time to time. After several trips with different ones, usually taking several at a time, he called one man who had not previously gone with him and invited the man to spend a night on the boat. The seas were relatively calm, the fishing was good and the conversation was ordinary-NO discussion of the message, doctrine or of Church business-only of the business at hand, fishing. After the second afternoon, Brother Bob said that he would like to stay out another night and fish again the next day-if the man did not have any important business to attend to. Some time after returning home Brother Bob made a comment that "That was the best vacation I ever had."

In many different ways Brother Bob told his congregation never, under any circumstances, to try to make him anything great because he was only a dirty, ungodly sinner saved by the Sovereign Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there were times when fanaticism got the better of certain individuals. One such instance, to which this scribe was witness, happened this way: Brother Lambert walked out of the church building following a Sunday service and was met by a certain man who had suffered from a brain injury as a soldier but nonetheless loved God's servant. Immediately this man kneeled in front of Brother Bob and began worshipping him as Jesus. Brother Bob quickly turned away and waved his arm shouting, "Get that man away from me. I am not Jesus; I am not the Son of Man; I am a sinner saved by Grace!"

That people would idolize a man is nothing new and, although it is strictly condemned in the Bible and by the seventh church age messenger, it should come as no surprise. Paul and Barnabas experienced this at Lystra and had to restrain the people (Acts 14:8-18). Brother Branham experienced it and threatened to leave the evangelistic field because of it (See "Revelation Chapter Five # 1," 61-0611, Jeffersonville, IN). Brother Lambert often referred to Martin Luther, saying that it was no mystery that God was able to use him but the mystery was that Luther was able to hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed him.

Brother Lambert continued to hold up the Promises of God before the people, pointing to Brother Branham as having demonstrated the operation of those Promises and showing the people by the Scriptures that the Promises are to the Church of God-not just to one man. As the people began to see that this applied to them as individuals, they began to shout, "Amen!" and to praise the Lord whenever something was said that they particularly liked. It was as though they could see a great blessing in store for them but could see none of the pain and persecution it would bring and none of the sincerity, prayer and dedication required to obtain it. This began to develop into a kind of fanaticism. Some, no doubt, not wanting to be found less spiritual than others, also began to shout and praise the Lord. They began to scream, jump up and wave their arms while shouting. It became very difficult for the preacher to finish his message and made it almost impossible to hear all that is on the taped messages.

The man called "Ted" went beyond all the rest in his demonstrations. Whenever he responded to the preaching, he would make great sobbing sounds and stomp his feet on the floor, quickly wearing out the carpet. On one occasion, this man stomped on the toe of another worshiper causing great pain and agony, loss of wages and, finally, an operation to repair the damage done. Next, "Ted" began pacing up and down in front of the congregation, loudly slapping the furniture, including the piano, organ, recording table and the pulpit!

Brother Lambert was slow to step in where others claimed spirituality. He would watch a situation or listen to a person expound on their idea, waiting quietly for them to cross the Word of God. Then he would pounce like a lion and say, "Just a minute. You crossed the Word there!" He would then proceed to expose their interpretation with the Scriptures and quotations from Brother Branham's message. Likewise, he was slow to deal with the progressively disruptive actions of his congregation. This showed his restraint, allowing every seed to grow and to manifest what it was. As the Scripture says, "By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:16, 20)

During the summer of 1972, Brother Bob was feeling a little restless and wanted to go seek the Lord. For several years he had wished to renew contact with a missionary minister friend, Henry Langrude, then thought to be living somewhere in British Columbia, with whom he had gone to Cuba around 1959 or 1960 (and who was present when God spoke to Brother Lambert in Sarasota in 1961). Brother Bob also hoped that he might get a chance to do a little hunting in British Columbia. Therefore, he began to make his preparations for the trip by truck camper in August 1972.

Leaving George Parylla and Carlton McGahee in charge in Durham, he took his family first to Jeffersonville, Indiana where he preached a few services. Then, leaving most of his family to return to Connecticut, he took his friend, Don, and his older son Mark. They drove out to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, driving straight through the three thousand miles by taking turns driving and by sleeping in the camper.

Brother Bob, finding that the cost of hunting guides was too high for his liking, began to look for his friend, inquiring at local churches. No one knew where to find Henry Langrude. As he began to despair of finding his friend, they went to Ft. St. John, and stopped at a little Pentecostal church. Brother Bob asked the pastor about Henry Langrude and learned that "Henry will be here in the morning!"

After driving northward toward Ft. Nelson to see more of the country, the party returned the next day around noon. It is needless to say that Henry was extremely surprised when he saw Brother Bob. Brother Bob refused to preach though he did stay over for the services the next day (Sunday). There was an evangelist present who was to preach for the morning service.

The people had been praying for revival but it was obvious that they needed a simple, direct message on holiness because most of the women were dressed in short, tight dresses, had short hair and many of the people exhibited other evidences of a lack of spirituality. Don gave a short testimony and had the people laughing. When Brother Bob gave his testimony, the laughing stopped. Following the morning service, they prevailed on Brother Bob to preach for the evening service.

Because he did not wish to bring the confusion that could result from preaching a single sermon on the end time revelation, Brother Bob preached a plain, down to earth, holiness message on faith. He knew that a "Pentecostal" church would understand that kind of message whether or not they practiced it. At the close of his sermon, many of the women, young and old, began to run to the altar without being asked and began to pray and repent.

During this time of repentance and soul searching, one young woman of around seventeen or eighteen years of age fell into a trance and began to describe some of what she was seeing. When Brother Bob asked her to describe more completely what was happening, the young lady did not want to talk about it. When he prevailed on her, she described a strange scene, which she could not understand, seeing a large number of birds flying. At a certain juncture, many of them fell into a deep chasm. Brother Bob felt that the vision was for his benefit.

Few, if any, claim to understand all the implications of this vision. Nevertheless, we believe that it was a prophecy that was fulfilled only a few months later.

During 1972, Brother Bob visited Trinidad three times for the purpose of strengthening and encouraging the brethren who had begun to follow the end time message. There are faithful brethren who were eyewitnesses to his ministry and the things that were done both during and after his lifetime. We will let them tell their story.

During 1972, Brother Bob visited Trinidad three times for the purpose of strengthening and encouraging the brethren who had begun to follow the end time message. There are faithful brethren who were eyewitnesses to his ministry and the things that were done both during and after his lifetime. We will let them tell their story.

In Brother Lambert's zeal and love for winning souls unto the Lord, he met a stranger sitting on a park bench in Miami, Florida in mid sixties. He introduced himself as a minister of the Gospel, and the stranger in return introduced himself as a preacher from Trinidad, in the Caribbean. This foreigner and visitor to the United States had some bad experiences with religious people, and was thrown out of their company and left stranded with only one boiled egg in his pocket (he was a poultry farmer in Trinidad). Brother Lambert helped him financially, and introduced him to the message of the prophet, Brother Branham. When the preacher returned to his country, they both kept in contact on the message. Brother Lambert kept supporting him financially so that he could promote the message in Trinidad. The first message assembly was founded a few months later in Central Trinidad. An evangelist had preached and left a few Spoken Word books in 1964, and a few had believed. From that group other message groups were established in different parts of the country. The preacher became a bishop over the other pastors and groups.

Brother Bob first visited Trinidad in January, 1970. He desired to fellowship with the bishop once again, and to be blessed by the progress of the message. He had come along with a prominent message preacher from Jeffersonville, Indiana, who was a good friend to him, and both were united upon the truths of the message, that there will be a Bride's revival by another Outpouring of the Spirit, like the day of Pentecost, before the Rapture.

About that time, leaflets from Trinidad were in circulation that came to the attention of Brother Lambert, that the bishop was having a great revival of salvation and Divine healing, with 500 people attending prayer meetings. Lambert, fully convinced of the things that God had revealed to him concerning the Bride's ministry, revival, and Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, said to his preacher friend, who he was trying to convince of the deeper things of God and the new ministry of Brother Branham to be manifested in power, "If there is revival in Trinidad, God never spoke to me! Let's go and see. There will be no revival when we arrive there." There was none, as he had predicted, and Brother Lambert returned home with great disappointment in the Trinidad bishop and friend. However, he and the minister friend from Indiana had a most important mission to accomplish in Trinidad on behalf of Brother Roy Borders, former campaign manager for Brother Branham and editor of the Spoken Word Publications, relating to an evil report brought upon his name by a preacher in South Trinidad.

Faithful eye witnesses now pick up the story of God's first martyr for the message of Malachi 4:5-6, Pastor Robert Lambert, and his ministry on that little island in the Caribbean. They state the following:

Robert Lambert and his preacher friend from Jeffersonville, Indiana arrived in Trinidad January 1970. Rumors were in circulation that he is a false prophet, and all message believers should beware of him. This resulted in his staying at a city hotel without any communication with message ministers or believers. The bishop visited after several days, he being also affected by such lies that were imported from Lambert's enemies in the U.S.A. He took him to the home of a young minister of the message who had been informed by Brother Borders that Brother Lambert would be coming to that country and that Brother Lambert was versed in the message of Brother Branham. The young minister wanted to ask certain questions that he had written about to Spoken Word Publications. The bishop introduced Brother Lambert to the young minister but time did not afford him to ask his questions.

Several ministers were troubled by the rumors they had heard about Brother Lambert. They wanted to approach him, but did not want to do so without the help of the young minister, who they considered knowledgeable in the message, and who they also considered to be an evangelist and teacher of the deeper things of God. They believed that he was a real man of God, called to preach the Gospel by many supernatural experiences, and who had heard the audible Voice of God. This man lived a dedicated, sanctified and holy life, unchallengeable by his enemies. He accepted the invitation to prove Brother Lambert true or false, and to take the opportunity to ask his questions as recommended by Brother Borders.

They entered the hotel room where Brother Lambert was staying, since they found the door already opened. He said to them, "I knew four men were coming to me," and cited his preacher friend as a witness that he was under the Presence and Power of God in a trance for about an hour, the Lord revealing many things to him. His friend confirmed the same. Brother Lambert rebuked them about a make-believe revival, false claims of divine healing, discernments, and multitudes attending services, as stated on the leaflet, since he had visited the tent meeting that was in progress and found five people in the tent, quack discernments, and no divine healing. The young man of God was not offended but was prompted to ask his question, which related to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Seal of God, as preached by Brother Branham, on "The Stature of a Perfect Man", that was in contrast to what was published on the same subject in the Church Age Book under the title of "The Holy Spirit in Every Age" (page 139-145). He desired to know what was the difference. The former teachings seem to make it hard for the believer to acquire the Seal of God, and the latter made it so easy-simply believe the message of Brother Branham-the New Birth and Baptism of the Holy Spirit is one and the same.

The answer given by Brother Lambert to all the ministers present was very outstanding, convincing and Scripturally acceptable. He tied it in to Acts, chapter 2, the Seal of God on the day of Pentecost, and Ezekiel 47:1-4. They all left the hotel room fully convinced that Lambert knew more about the message of Brother Branham than all the preachers that ever came to Trinidad and that he had a most wonderful gift of teaching the Word by an anointing and Presence of God that was superior. The young man of God realized that there were many things in Brother Branham's message that he needed to know, and that he had met a man who knew more than him and who could be a pastor to him, even as Paul was Timothy's pastor and, though he was a minister, he looked up to him for spiritual guidance. Lambert decided to stay in Trinidad for three more days because of the humble attitude manifested by the ministers whom he had rebuked and the quick understanding of the man of God to comprehend the deep things of God.

The man of God, who was considered a teacher, took the liberty to tell Brother Lambert that he had no part in the quack revival of the bishop, and that he had disassociated himself from the tent meetings because the origin of it was not of the Holy Spirit, but came about by a rebuke that the Lord had given to the bishop, saying that he is a notorious liar and that he is numbered with transgressors. (The bishop pleaded guilty in the presence of his humble wife, who confirmed the same, and also a minister friend.) He also took the liberty to explain to Brother Lambert about his wilderness experience, when he and a preacher friend bound themselves under oath to drink no water, and eat no bread until the Lord would reveal Himself to them. His friend had quit, but he continued to fast and pray in the jungle. In a vision, Brother Branham appeared unto him with two men at his side, and there appeared the moon in the western skies, and the audible Voice of God said, "There shall be light in the evening time." His body stretched out stiffly as a dead man, and the Voice again said, "As your body is stiff upon this bed, so shall you walk with this man's message." Then a whirlwind blew, that entered his mouth and quenched his thirst, and the Voice again said, "As the coolness of this breeze quenched your thirst, so shall this man's message quench your thirst for righteousness." (Other things were also revealed at the same time, which he did not tell Brother Lambert at that time.)

When Brother Lambert heard that experience, the Presence of God came upon him strongly. He stood upon his feet and shouted and took the man of God aside and told him many things in relation to that experience, and confirmed that the presence of two men on Brother Branham's side was the Lord revealing that he and his preacher friend were sent to him to help him in the message and to edify him concerning the promised Bride's revival by an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit like the day of Pentecost.

Brother Lambert was introduced to one of the message groups at Diego Martin, North Trinidad, where the man of God ministered. There he was introduced to two young men, an exhorter and a deacon. He refused to minister but testified and exhorted the brethren briefly. The Presence and the Power of God fell upon the people as never before. He later explained that he was forbidden to preach by the Lord.

There was a second gathering in the hotel room. Many ministers and certain brethren were present. Brother Lambert again challenged the bishop on his quack revival and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Seal of God, which he claimed to have received in Pentecost (so-called) before he came to the message. Brother Lambert challenged his claims by asking, "How could you receive the Life of the seed before the seed came by Malachi 4:5-6?" The bishop was very embarrassed by his defeat. Ministers present lost confidence in him and jeered at him. Many eyes became opened to his lack of spirituality. To shield his embarrassment, he said loudly, "I see what you mean." Lambert said,

"This man saw nothing, but only admitted that because the great Light of God shined upon his darkness, and as soon as I leave this country, he will stab me in the back."

Many ministers gathered together with deacons, and song leaders, and certain brethren at the bishop's original church to ask Brother Lambert many hard questions. He answered all their questions and, when he discerned a contrary spirit on a few ministers, he challenged them on revival, the five-fold ministry and the stature of a perfect man in relation to the Seal of God. None was able to withstand him and seemingly agreed with him on doctrines.

The bishop never forgave the man who was instrumental in feeding him and leading him to the message, and automatically used of God to establish the message in Trinidad. He started a campaign of persecution against Lambert, and influenced all under his control against him and his teachings by misrepresenting what he believed and taught. Popular lies are that he doesn't believe anyone has the Holy Spirit, that he jumped up in a meeting of Brother Branham's and proclaimed himself to be Elisha the prophet, and also that he doesn't believe in Divine healing or a five-fold ministry, that he believes that he is an 8th church age messenger, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The man of God refused to take sides against a servant of God and such wonderful enlightenments upon Brother Branham's message. However, upon the advice of Brother Lambert, he went back to Brother Branham's message, and searched the Scriptures to see if those things are so, as Lambert taught. After many months he declared Lambert to be a man of God preaching only a revelation of Brother Branham's message. He became his student, as Polycarp was the student of John, but not until the audible Voice of God spoke again to him in 1972, confirming that Lambert was His servant, and a born revivalist.

Awed by the marvelous ministry and impact of the Presence and Power of God that accompanied this humble servant and his preaching, several ministers believed and preached a revival and a return of Pentecost, even up to this time, though others have denounced him as an anti-Christ and have followed false prophets, deceptions and heresies.

Brother Lambert returned to Trinidad in January of 1972 for a vacation with his wife. He came looking for the man of God who had asked him those outstanding questions on the Seal of God, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He later said that he knew that God had revealed the revelation to him, so he went to Trinidad to see how the young man was faring in the message and the preaching of the Promises of God. He did not have a proper address so he stopped at a junction and inquired from a police officer. He blessed that unsaved man who was saved after a short time and who began to prosper materially. (He is now a deacon at Bethel.) He said, "God knows where he is." At that very moment the young man of God was passing with another preacher from Waterloo, Central Trinidad. Brother Lambert pointed out the car and they recognized him. They sent the taxi cab away, took him and his wife in their car, and returned to the man of God's home. When he entered his prayer house next to his home, Brother Lambert was blessed and very excited as he noticed a diagram depicting the deeper things of God which relate to the new ministry of Brother Branham, the loosing of the seals, the manifested sons of God, and the manifestation of the third pull by the coming of the Capstone. Then they took him to North Trinidad to the former message group where he testified in 1970. He again met the Diego Martin pastor and he and his wife stayed at the home of the pastor's sister, who was considered a highly spiritual woman by her brother and several believers.

With the help of the Waterloo pastor (a man with a charming personality, tender natured and well admired for his friendliness and good works with sacrifices, preaching, and a Christian testimony), Brother Lambert and his wife were taken for a vacation on the tiny and beautiful island of Tobago. He greatly admired the beauty of the country and the marine life. The man of God embraced the opportunity to ask him more questions on the deeper things of God which were not clear to him. When he got his answers, both preachers understood more about the five-fold ministry, why the Scripture said "apostle," then "prophet." However, a question was yet unanswered, how Peter got born again before the blood of Jesus Christ was shed on the cross. God later revealed it to him.

On their return from Tobago, Brother Lambert preached several messages again highlighting a Bride's revival by another Outpouring of the Spirit, but this time he spoke some great revelations which none of the preachers had ever heard. Several preachers were gathered from around the country. What he taught had never been mentioned by other preachers locally, or from abroad. The revelations were amazing to all and confirmed by the witnessing of the mighty Presence of God. Such revelations were based upon the new ministry of Brother Branham and how it relates to the Bride's revival and the seven thunders. It showed a mixed multitude following the message in type of Israel going to the Promised Land, when, out of the mixed multitude, a chosen number entered the Promised Land, and the rest of the people that followed Moses perished in the wilderness. This was amazing to all that heard him because they believed that all that followed Brother Branham out of organizations are the Bride.

Amongst the ministers who attended, some were unbelievers in the Promises of God. He discerned the spirit on a preacher's wife who did not believe all the Word. He later told the man of God who had asked those many questions that that spirit would come up against him, that she would preach strife and contention to her husband, and her husband would do her preaching on the pulpit against him. This came to pass a few months afterward, and dis-unified both preachers until now. However, the Waterloo pastor and the Diego Martin exhorter continued to preach a coming revival, and the Promises of God, but the deeper things of God seemed to be far-fetched to them. They continued to confide in the man of God for leadership after Brother Lambert returned to the U.S.A. However, they stood in doubt of him because of certain questions that he asked them concerning the things that were preached by Brother Lambert, since he was very careful to examine thoroughly by the message of Brother Branham and the Scripture before he accepted, preached, or established any doctrine from the pulpit, because of God's command to him in his wilderness experience. They interpreted his questions as doubts in the Promises of God.

Brother Lambert returned to Trinidad in June 1972 with two preacher friends, one from Jeffersonville, Indiana, and the other from Georgia, U.S.A., and a third man from his own assembly. Many more people gathered to hear the Word than in previous times. Many ministers of the message were assembled, some because of curiosity and others for strifes and contentions. Brother Lambert discerned their spirits, and identified them as scribes and Pharisees. The presence of Christ and the anointing by which he spake subdued his critics by his great boldness of speech, for he was valiant in battle, even as the martyr Stephen who rebuked the Pharisees for their unbelief. His two preacher friends had wonderful things to say in their nightly messages, but the Presence of the Lord made the difference between their preaching and Brother Lambert's preaching, which was awesome. It was exciting, convincing, and truthful. Some danced, others shouted and screamed. At the end of his last message, the preacher from Georgia, U.S.A. was leading a dismissal song when his eyes came open to an angel, with his mouth open ready to speak. He knelt down and beckoned to Brother Lambert to take the pulpit. A great surge of the Spirit, and a super anointing fell upon the congregation. Many felt numbed in their bodies after the service was dismissed. Nevertheless, that negative element relative to the super-spiritual woman was an offense to the man of God, who could not accept it or be comfortable with it.

Those meetings united many message believers on the Promises of God. Another Trinidad minister from Bamboo Settlement, North Trinidad, and two others from Guyana and Suriname came into the fold. They were overwhelmed by the Spirit and Power of God's Presence. Their joy in hearing the Word was immeasurable. They expressed great emotions along with the crowds who shouted, praised, and worshipped God. There was something very outstanding in those meetings that the man of God kept his eyes upon. It involved loud screamings by the super-spiritual woman, sister of the Diego Martin pastor, who had been appointed pastor by the man of God. . She was gaining grounds in that meeting as most super-spiritual. He did not appreciate the screaming of that woman, even because she screamed before and disturbed his altar calls, until at a certain meeting he walked over to her from the pulpit and asked why she was screaming. She said that she was seeing a serpent in front of her. He knew that she was troubled by an evil spirit. Brother Lambert later confirmed that there was a spirit around that woman, and that she was a nervous case. Nevertheless, her pastor brother, and her husband, with others, had great confidence in her as a spiritual woman, and catered to her dreams and nervous impulses. They were partly guided by such fanaticism.

Because of the influence of this man of God, esteemed by the congregations to be a teacher of the deeper things of God, anointed by the Spirit, and one who hears from God, many confided in him, because they were led to the Lord and delivered from deceptions and fanaticism of all kinds by his gift. This would later cause him some persecutions, and bring up a spirit of jealousy from the other ministers. He humbled himself, though he discerned that spirit, and was forewarned of such attitudes by Brother Lambert, who told him that he was a spiritual leader amongst the ministers. He strived to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. That super-spiritual woman played a great part in promoting such evil conspiracy. She was discerned and exposed from the pulpit, and she and her brother both repented, but that spirit continued to work in jealousy and evil-speaking undercover, and was nervously afraid of the man of God because he knew her spirit. The preachers interpreted that to mean that he was ruling the women by fear, psychology, and a lack of wisdom. Added to that reason, the man of God once wrote a book upon the subject of how deceptive psychology is and presented Jesus Christ to all his readers. He testified of this for many years to the glory of God and it never became an issue until jealousy, strifes, contentions, and self-exaltations overcame the minds of those wonderful preachers.

By the steadfastness of this man of God, considered by the other ministers as an evangelist and teacher in the Word and the message, he established the holiness message of Brother Branham to the letter, denouncing immoral living, dressing of women, televisions in the home, sports, mixed bathing, foolish jestings, smoking, drinking, and such like. These things were fully supported by his wonderful preacher friends, even from the beginning when they all came to the message of Brother Branham. These holiness standards were established in such a manner that Brother Lambert on his visits never had to teach such holiness standards, nor correct any believer, but he greatly admired and testified to others about the holiness standard of the churches pastored by the ministers.

By close observation of Brother Lambert, he seemed to have held back in his preaching, and his daily communications, things of vital interest in the message, and the deeper things of God in the Word. He said that his revelations are not yet for the public, but only for believers of his church, and the few that believe him. He held no private meetings with them, schooled none privately, refused to let them have his tapes, and even took his tapes home to the U.S.A. after he preached in Trinidad. Ministers knew those things were based upon the new ministry of Brother Branham, but how to line them up in the message and the Word, they did not know. The man of God was gently rebuked on a few occasions for asking too many hard questions, and told that since he is preaching by revelation, it should not contradict the revelation of the message and Lambert's teachings of Brother Branham. Their teachings never came into conflict with Brother Branham's message. This gave the congregation even greater confidence in the ministry of the man of God, but also created jealousy without measure in the hearts of negative elements in the form of ambitious preachers.

Brother Lambert returned to Trinidad again in December, 1972 with his two preacher friends, who preached for a few days, since they themselves were now trying to grasp the deeper things of God. Then Lambert followed with several outstanding messages. A super anointing was attendant on the words he spake. The Spirit of the Lord anointed the people in a manner that was never felt before. The people rejoiced greatly. Both believers and unbelievers were present. Critical ministers attended. Believing ministers supported the meetings. Many were delivered from their prison houses of interpretations and false doctrines. A preacher and his group fully accepted as truth what they heard from the lips of Lambert, and the Power of God subdued them. They later sat under the ministry of the man of God, and now are pillars in the temple.

Brother Lambert highlighted again a Bride's revival by another Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the creative Power of God, by the third pull ministry, and the second coming of Christ, revealed as the Son of Man. When he struck that revelation, waves of glory seemed to emanate from the words that he spoke. Several scriptures relative to the coming of the Lord were tied together in a few minutes, standing out of the Bible as never heard before. And like a thunderbolt of lightning, he stated that Christ is now standing upon the earth, the revealed Word, the Son of Man, Revelation 10:1.

There were also certain things in the messages of Brother Lambert, that December, that were very outstanding other than the great revelation of the Son of Man, the revealed Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He suddenly shouted out, "I want to tell you your problem here. You have too many preachers on the pulpit!" He even, in an anointed manner, indicated that he would die with his sacrifice, as Abel died with his. The man of God caught that by revelation and proclaimed from the pulpit that Brother Lambert would be killed. How and when, he did not understand. This came to pass shortly after such proclamations. The man of God had no previous knowledge of Brother Lambert prophesying in his early ministry of his future martyrdom.

After those great meetings, revelation, Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit, Brother Lambert returned home with several members of his church who had attended the meetings. Many locally who had come with the wrong attitude found much to criticize, things they understood not by revelation. Some of those accusations were that he said he is the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he was wrong to say that Christ is now standing on land and sea (Revelation 10:1). He was also falsely accused of saying that nobody has the Holy Ghost, and except you believe him, you are lost. No such things were said in those meetings. All that was preached related to the new ministry of Brother Branham, the creative Power to be manifested by the Bride and the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man with His angels. Such things were left open for Divine revelation of the Holy Spirit to the Elect of God.

All expected Brother Lambert to return to Trinidad for another time of revival in August, 1973, to sit and feast in the Presence of God, but were disappointed by the sad news that he was murdered in a park near his home. Many false rumors and lies quickly went around the country by his enemies, slandering certain reasons for his murder. Some projected that he was robbed by bandits and murdered, that he was hit by a piece of wood and died. Others said it was a love triangle. Jealous preachers said that God slew him in judgement because he claimed to be an eighth church age messenger. We learnt a little later from reliable sources that his assassin used a heavy and blunt instrument, inflicting many wounds on the back of his neck and head, desperately trying to chop his head off. This report blended in with the prophecy of Pastor Lambert that he would die as a martyr and attempts, would be made to chop his head off. The man of God was fully convinced that Brother Lambert died as a martyr for the message of Malachi 4:5-6. Many of those rumors became more ridiculous and commonly accepted amongst message believers who have not heard the truth.

The atmosphere among the believers, especially the ministers, was distressing. Confusion of minds and bewilderment set in amongst the ministers. The man of God was questioned about the meaning of such a tragic event. From the pulpit, he said, "It is the Will of God. It was prophesied to be, and that does not change the Promises of God. There will be an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit; there will be a Bride's revival, just as it was promised to us by the message of Brother Branham. Brother Lambert only reminded us of such Promises, making them much clearer, and did his part to prepare us for the receiving of the Promises of God. He has fulfilled his mission on earth, and went to be with the Lord until the great trumpet sounds." These things which he proclaimed confidently from the pulpit encouraged, strengthened, and revived the ministers that were about ready to faint, since, in their carnal minds, they attributed the Promises of God to the man instead of Christ and His Church. Disappointing consequences were about to follow their unbelief and lack of Divine revelation and born-again experience.

The condition of the church, its leaders and ministers was prophesied a few months before the martyrdom of Brother Lambert. When he went to British Columbia to seek the Lord, the Lord sent him a message by a young woman, who fell into a trance and told him her experience. He later wrote the man of God, and related this vision to him. He understood by revelation the facts of that prophesy: that the people who now look for the fulfillment of the Promises of God should continue in the faith, looking for the fulfillment of those Promises, or be lost, as a sharp turn in the ministry of Christ is expected, and every believer must make that sharp turn in following Him, the revealed Word of God, the Son of Man. Those who fail to make that turn will become black crows and fall into a great, dark chasm. Lambert emphasized that we must listen to the Lord or perish. This experience and letter of warning which the man of God received was taken very seriously and caused him to view the spiritual condition of the church in a new light. It also helped him to prepare himself, and believers who trusted him for spiritual leadership, for the negative consequences that were prophesied to follow.

The Lord showed him by a supernatural experience that the Waterloo, Central Trinidad pastor would assume full and complete leadership, guiding the Diego Martin pastor from behind the scenes, and that he would be overcome by that spirit and fall into a delusion of Satan, and they both would substitute false teachings in place of the Word of God. The experience seemingly showed some hope of deliverance for the Diego Martin pastor from such deceptions. However, this hope was not confirmed by the Lord. This revelation further guided the young preacher, and gave him courage and determination to stand faithful with the message and Promises of God, relative to the New Ministry of Brother Branham, to be manifested in the Bride. He spoke to the ministers and warned them to expect false prophets to arise and lead the church astray. The Waterloo pastor, by his charming personality, had gained much influence over the ministers and the congregations but failed to heed that advice. He said that the Word which we heard is too plain for any false prophet to arise and deceive them as ministers and believers.

A deception of Satan was already moving in a most subtle manner amongst the people through the ministers. It was a "resurrection doctrine" brought down to Trinidad from Connecticut, U.S.A. by two men. They were also the authors of that doctrine, and were proven to have had that spirit upon them and others before they moved to Connecticut from Pennsylvania.

After the man of God heard certain subtle indications of this doctrine from the pulpit, he wisely inquired from the men about their beliefs. Others came to him, complaining of such false doctrines. He did not readily oppose it, since he wanted to know more about the deception that was projected. He communicated with the ministers and authors and quietly listened to the doctrine outside of the pulpit. They gave him Lambert's message tapes for the first time. Later he learned that they were pirated from the church library at Connecticut, contrary to the desires and instructions of Pastor Lambert. He also received many quotation books, which they called "The Third Testament."

Their doctrine projected that the secret of life after death must come by the first resurrection and will be upon the earth for about thirty to thirty-five days, when it will fulfill all the Promises of God made to Brother Branham, termed as his New Ministry. That will be the revelation of the seven thunders and the third pull. It will bring rapturing faith to the Bride of Christ.

Based upon this doctrine, they taught that neither Brother Branham nor Brother Lambert were born again. Also the apostles were not born again, because they all went to the grave. When the man of God was certain of their beliefs, he denounced it as anti-Christ. This caused them to denounce him as a deluded servant of God, who stood in need of deliverance. The congregations which they controlled were all deceived except a few who continued to believe the man of God.

The man of God was slowly losing his influence upon the lives of the people. Satan had his program in place, because he could not work with his deception while the man of God was standing behind the pulpit and had control over the spiritual welfare of the people. The three pastors secretly schooled the people, telling them that the man of God believes that he is a prophet; he is a psychologist; he influences the people by psychology; and he is in a delusion of the devil. He is a servant of God, but the people have too much confidence in him and they idolize him. Also, that he indicates in his preaching that he is Christ, the Son of man. They also indicated such lies to the believers from the pulpit.

By the device of the Waterloo and Diego Martin pastors, the pastor of Bamboo Settlement was influenced to take back his pulpit and congregation from under the pastorship of the man of God, although he had previously resigned, giving twenty-one reasons why he should not preach the gospel because he was not called to do so. Lambert had advised that, for him to run ahead of God's program, is to commit spiritual suicide. The man of God had been voted in as pastor. This plan to resume the pulpit was very effective, because the Bamboo pastor was used as a scape-goat while the two conspirators stayed in the background.

The man of God resigned and converts, made under his ministry during his pastorship, followed him, refusing to sit under such ministers and such false resurrection doctrine. Though few in number, they worshipped at a believer's home and the man of God waved the Promises of God before the people in full faith and assurance, denouncing as heresies the "resurrection doctrine" and everything contrary to Brother Branham's message.

The Spirit and Presence of the Lord abode with them, the Word grew from strength to strength, and the believers waxed stronger in the message. The other groups united together with their ministers and, with overseas support, began to fight to completely destroy the influence of this man of God. But God was with him and the people believed the Promises of God and wavered not in all their persecutions but were strong in faith, looking for the fulfillment of the Promises of God.

The pastors set a date for some great happenings on July 4, 1976, since it would be two hundred years of America's independence. They were a great united group, with plenty of emotions, pomp, pride, and self-exaltations. They expected the first resurrection, the seven thunders, the secret of life after death, the coming of the Capstone, the Bride's revival, the fulfillment of all the Promises of God, and then the Rapture to take place. When these predictions failed, there was a division among them. Many became worldly and involved in the vices of Sodom. They went back to their televisions, sports, fornications, adultery and immoral dressing.

The super-spiritual woman was the model for the women. At length, one of the authors of that doctrine married a divorced woman and is yet living in adultery, awaiting the resurrection with his co-author and a few other deluded people, having no faith for anything to happen until the next generation. Others sought a new hope by a new interpretation. There was a false prophet willing to give them that false hope, to their own destruction. This brought in a second deception, which we will speak about later on this report.

The man of God went to Connecticut, U.S.A. at God's appointed time when they needed him at a crucial time. He was of great help to the believers in Brother Lambert's church, confirming the Promises to them and emphasizing their fulfillment. Several from the resurrection group came to hear the Word of God. The mother of one of the rich resurrectionists believed and was miraculously delivered from that doctrine. Her son took great offence in her stand against him and his doctrine. For a time, he attended the services each time the man of God visited the saints just to be defiant. He was rebuked sharply for his unbelief on many occasions. He became very bitter against the pastor of the assembly, the saints and the man of God.

With the cooperation of a former treasurer of the church, and a few others, they filed a lawsuit against the church by fabricating a lie; which stated that the finance of the church was about ready to be shipped to the man of God in Trinidad. Some of it was in gold coins, Brother Lambert's investment for the church. All the church funds were ordered by the court to be held in a bank, until the matter was decided. This became a big scandal on the U.S. newspapers and on TV. The man of God became the scapegoat. The story also was on the headlines of a scandal newspaper in Trinidad.

During that time of battles, the man of God continued to strengthen the church against their enemies, who provoked the church on service days. He continued to rebuke the lying rich resurrectionist for his infidelity, since he continued to be defiant in attending services at the Connecticut church, named "Full Gospel Christian Assembly." The Lord spoke to him and revealed the victory in that matter. In his experience he was fishing on a big pond for fishes. Several trees were around the pond. Suddenly he caught something out of the muddy waters. It did not feel like a fish but he pulled it out of the water, and it was a big water buffalo. He was surprised. The animal was too strong for him. He ran quickly to a tree and wrapped the strong fishing cord around it, thus binding the animal so that it could not go back into the water.

He went out of the room at the pastor's house and told him about his experience and further said to him, "It's that rich man that desires the Lord's money, and the Lord will bind him." They both went to church and the rich man dropped a note into the offering plate requesting to speak to the man of God or the pastor of the church. They entertained him, and he expressed his desire to settle the matter out of court and returned the church finances. He requested that the pastor pay his lawyer bills. The pastor was reluctant to pay him any money, because he had caused the church all the troubles and much expenses but the man of God reminded him that Brother Branham, though he was right in the tax lawsuit that was brought up against him, paid the sum of money that they charged him and that money will be a witness against such infidels on the day of judgment. Thus we should pay the money and this will also be a witness against that resurrectionist. He agreed and the money was paid, and the court returned the funds to the church.

The resurrectionist came to the pulpit and confessed that he was wrong in taking the church to court for the tithes and offerings and also confessed and apologized to the pastor and other officers who had to answer charges in court because of his lies. His accomplice in the matter, the treasurer, never repented. His whole family was destroyed spiritually, and he died not long after. The author never repented to the man of God for causing such scandal on his name but excused himself by saying that the media is responsible. The Lord sent him stronger delusion. He went out and married a backslidden woman, twice divorced, and yet claims to be born again and have a revelation of Christ and the message of the hour.

The man of God, according to prophecy that the Lord had shown him many years ago, continued to be of help to the saints of God at Connecticut. Under his preaching the goats went out and the sheep came in. Those that went out speak evil of him and run down his name. He is hated, despised and rejected by people that don't know the truth. Nevertheless he kept the oversight of the flock and continues to help the ministers and saints even at this present time. They all look for another Outpouring of the Holy Spirit to happen in Eastern United States where the people of God faithfully uphold the Promises of God.

A second deception followed. They accepted a man, a false prophet, as the Christ, God veiled in human flesh. The events which followed the second deceptions are confirmed by defectors, who were involved, believed, and contended for such heresies, and also by faithful eyewitnesses who came close to that deception but were not entangled and those who contended for the faith of the Promises of God and stayed clear from such delusions and teachings but desperately denounced them as anti-Christ.

The false Christ, the author of the second deception, claimed to have been an athlete, six feet plus inches tall, and was a former believer of the message. He was a number-one suspect by the state police for the unsolved murder of Brother Lambert. He came to Trinidad in 1974 with the resurrection group, who defended him of his accusations. He took cover under their doctrine until he gained influence and full control over those deluded ministers and church members and, like a python, squeezed the life out of sincere people who had survived the resurrection deception.

That false prophet and false Christ has a personality like that of the pope—gentle, smooth and tender and cries at will. In many ways his nature and personality blended in with the Waterloo pastor. This convinced the pastors and the congregation that he had the seven virtues, the Divine nature of Christ. In addition to that, he was proclaimed by many, and introduced himself, as a Eunuch. He deceived them, since they had no revelation of Christ and did not hear His Voice from the opening of the seals. Thus, they followed a stranger and the gates of hell prevailed over them because they were not built upon the rock of Divine revelation of the Son of Man. The man of God discerned and denounced him as a false prophet and anti-Christ after he tried to convince him about his doctrines on three occasions.

In a church meeting, the man of God took the liberty to denounce as lies his claims to be a prophet and other statements. That false prophet stood up and tried to oppose him. He was put down in a few minutes, but he was determined to prove those accusations right, to discredit the man of God. After the service, he tried to convince believers loyal to the man of God that they do believe him to be a prophet. He failed miserably, and afterward hit the man of God with his fist on his shoulders several times. Those three deluded ministers and a few deacons, with several members, later attacked the church of the man of God, because they were not allowed to speak on his pulpit. They made a great ungodly commotion, accusing him as a false prophet, but could not say what doctrine he was preaching contrary to the message—and are unable to do so even now. He told them that they are in a delusion of the devil, and challenged them to move the sheep off the Word if they can. He left the scene of brawlings, jeerings, and false accusations after they were forced to remove their vehicles from blocking the car belonging to the man of God. The man of God then officially separated from those ministers, and their members, who have never repented up to date. They pretend to know many things that they don’t want to say about the man of God. When questioned, they say “You don’t know that man, boy; we know him.”

The false Christ, with the three ministers, preached and established many heresies and subjected the innocent people to many unscriptural practices. They introduced the “soul-mating” doctrine; certain people became “spiritual brides” and sons were born from their spiritual union. The super-spiritual woman was the chief bride of the false Christ. Her spirit blended readily with the spirit of the anti-Christ, because she was now demon possessed. Witnesses detailed their close communications, which resembled that of a husband and wife. They are too personal to include in this brief report. However, the ministers and believers accepted him as the Christ in His second coming from under the seventh seal and the seven unknown thunders. Several men left him with their wives in a room alone. Others left him in their homes and went to work because he was Christ to them, a natural and a spiritual Eunuch—until a sex scandal came out of such dumb and ignorant beliefs and practices. The Diego Martin pastor confirmed these and other things to his deacon, who has since then denounced those ministers and their doctrines. He and his family fellowship at Bethel.

The deception that the people were subjected to climbed higher and higher into unbelief, infidelity and the heights of demonic realms. They were taught that the Bible, which the Bride should be reading for this age, is the one in the heavens, that the written Word has lost it’s meaning and that the message of Brother Branham was for the church ages. They were also taught that the preaching of Brother Lambert was false, and of the anti-Christ, and that he was a “blue-eyed monster and needed to be killed.” Certain Scripture references were given to prove this special revelation from God to the false Christ who also indicated, in no uncertain terms, that he was used of God to do this great service. He previouly gave a different revelation, that Brother Lambert was supposed to be killed and be crushed like a rose to give forth his fragrance to the church. They were taught that, since the Word and the message were not applicable to the Bride age, they no longer needed the books and tapes of Brother Branham or of Pastor Lambert. They were taught that the church ages would be closed in 1977 and there was no need to be assembled and conduct religious services. They closed their three churches and sent the people to live their own lives. The people understood that they were to go and “corrupt the seed.” This also was a doctrine that, if they were truly born again, their seeds must corrupt like a natural seed and then bring forth life and perfection, because a spark of life is in them from their birth. Many went to Sodom to corrupt the seed, others to India to bow before Sai Baba, a Hindu philosopher who claims to be the reincarnation of Christ and all the Hindu gods, some are yet his faithful disciples, except two, who were miraculously delivered by the Lord. They with their children now fellowship at Bethel.

The home of the super spiritual woman and her husband was the main place of abode for the false Christ. His office, where he interviewed the women alone, was a bedroom and the church that they closed down was attached to the house. From there he read the "bible in the heavens" and gave them the interpretation, which they believed faithfully by the influence of their ministers. They separated husbands and wives from all intimacy, and commanded them not to come together until he had the consent from God by seeing it in the skies. Several women grew lonesome and had nervous breakdowns. They were guilty of some immoral acts. These included two pastors wives, one of Bamboo settlement and the other of Central. Since this pastor’s wife no longer follows the message, this disqualifies him as a minister because he is yet married to her, but he has returned to the pulpit-- after five years of closing down his church by the command of the false Christ.

The false Christ interpreted the sign of Scorpio, the tail of the scorpion with the poison, to be the man of God that denounced him as anti-Christ and the head of the scorpion to mean the pastor and retired U.S. Air Force major who expelled him from the church in Connecticut, U.S.A. He portrayed himself as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the second coming of Christ who, alone, had the ability to read the bible in the heavens and interpret the mysteries of the seven thunders. The preachers were obliged to stop preaching for this and several other reasons.

The man of God visited the Diego Martin pastor at his home after the church was closed down, and tried in love to turn him away from his error and desired of him that he would repent for the ungodly commotion at his church with the other ministers. He refused to repent and further confirmed the doctrines of the second deception and stated that he expected something great to happen in 1978.

The Diego Martin pastor confessed to the man of God that the Presence of Christ, which was attendant in the meetings of Brother Lambert had departed from them. The man of God humbly confessed to them that the Presence and Power of the Spirit, which he inherited from Pastor Lambert, his ministry and revelations, never left him or his congregation, because they stayed faithful to the message and the Promises of God relative to the new ministry of Brother Branham. Despite all the humble pleadings of the man of God to persuade the Diego Martin pastor for three hours, the pastor became angry and said, “Christ is not with the man of God, his church and his people.” The following day, he came with a deacon and apologized for speaking such blasphemies, and further confirmed that he believes that Christ is amongst the people. The Diego Martin pastor always maintained a humble disposition and was honest towards the Lord in seeking eternal life. Even in his deception, he confessed sincerely that the man of God is a true servant of God. However, he sought leadership because he himself lacked capacity as a leader. The Waterloo pastor took advantage of this situation and passed on many of his ideas, discernments and doctrines to him, especially against the man of God. Some of these fabrications he believed beyond his better judgment and tried to dismiss them, but in vain. The Diego Martin pastor is on record as trying to influence a brother that the man of God believes that he is a prophet. He was caught in the very act by the man of God and never repented for such a lie. But the man of God excused him, knowing that he is in a strong delusion according to prophecy. However he acquired a lying spirit and told lies for many years to cover the evil fruits of his deceptions.

This third deception had its genesis before the churches were closed and the pastors commanded to stop preaching. This deception has its roots in the first doctrine of the resurrection and is deeply imbedded in the second deception of the false Christ. The Central and Diego Martin pastors claimed to have had a supernatural experience in the U.S.A., which appointed them as two prophets typed out in the two legs of the son of man. In order to be deceptive, they usually deny this claim of prophet-hood on the secretive basis that they are called as prophets and are yet in training. They are only to be sent at the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit to reap the harvest of the world, which Brother Branham never reaped under his new ministry, and to fulfill all that was left unfulfilled by the messenger and obviously turn the Gospel over to the two witnesses of Revelation 11 and the Jews. This claim of prophet-hood was confirmed by some of their officers and believers who boldly proclaimed that they will never deny that the two pastors hold the office of prophets, when questioned by the man of God at his church. When they came to spy out the liberty of the saints in recent years, they were asked to leave because their purpose was not right. On magnetic tape the Diego Martin pastor indicated that such offices are a secret, and he should not be constrained to speak about it. He also admitted that he once believed the resurrection doctrine and the doctrine of the false Christ, believing him to be the very Christ. In a later conversation, he denied saying those things.

Q- Deacon: The resurrection doctrine. Now I was in it too. How we got in that, and what did we really believe at that time?

A- Pastor: Yes. Well everybody was, Brother Don, Brother Mike, everybody was.

Q- Deacon: Everybody was expecting a resurrection doctrine?

A- Pastor: But that died off quickly when we came to our senses.

Q- Deacon: 1975 vision. Did the Lord really say that you and (Waterloo Pastor) were two prophets?

A-Pastor: Brother that’s a personal thing. Let’s leave that alone. That has to be vindicated. Leave that alone. See that, just leave that alone. You see (Deacon), sometimes you would constrain me to say certain things that I don’t want to say. After you left this last time, I was really broken up because certain things I don’t like to say concerning myself.

Q- Deacon: How did we get involve in Teddy’s doctrine?

A- Pastor: We got involved in it because we had confidence in him.

Q- Deacon: How did you reject Brother Bob and the revelation; what year?

A-Pastor: Reject Brother Bob and the revelation; I would say that happened around 1980.
We weren’t preaching. We weren’t doing anything…It’s Teddy who propagated those things (meaning, about Brother Bob).
After Teddy had spoken to us; he told us about Brother Bob; he lied about Brother Bob’s life and in so doing he took away from us the confidence that we had in Brother Bob, and when we see a man and his life like that, we automatically turned down Brother Bob as false. We had looked at Brother Bob that he was a false man. I looked at him as false because of what Teddy had said.

Q- Deacon: How come you come back and you accept Teddy as the true Christ?

A- Pastor: We turned down Brother Bob because of his life, and we accepted Teddy under a delusion. He covered our eyes with his love, his humility. You couldn’t help but love him.

Q- Deacon: That is how you came and believe him to be the Christ?

A- Pastor: Yes. You see, at that time I had nothing adverse against Brother Bob, I just look at it as false. I looked at the man as false.

Q- Deacon: Last time you told me that you and a couple others believed that Teddy was the Christ. You and who are these couple that believed Teddy was the Christ?

Q- Deacon: He brought a deep revelation that was not written in the Bible and he made us to believe that he was the Christ?

A- Pastor: Right. We got that impression. But, you see, that only went on for a period of time, which I believed that it had to be until he was revealed, until we got to find out who he really was.

Q- Deacon: Pastor, you were deceived then?

A- Pastor: Yes. Naturally I was deceived. When we were deceived by Teddy, that spark of life was there. A man could be born again and be deceived, that is what I am trying to tell you.

Q- Deacon: Pastor, all these things that Teddy said about (The Man of God), does the people still believe these things?

A- Pastor: I don't think so. They have turned down everything Teddy said. We put and X on everything that he said. We conclude that he was a false prophet. So we don't believe that. Nobody believes that. I don't believe that. I don't think Bruce would do that. The Bride, this end time Eve, cannot be deceived if she receive a revelation.

Q- Deacon: So, Pastor, how you and the church was deceived?

A- Pastor: You and everybody else will still be deceived or toss to and fro unless you become the revelation.

Q- Deacon: That is when she becomes the full body Word?

A- Pastor: Yes. The full body Word is when you receive a revelation and you grow. Not because today you receive a revelation, Brother, you won't be deceived.

Q- Deacon: That revelation is the new birth. Right?

A- Pastor: Right. I believe a man could be deceived, he could see, and unless he doesn't become that revelation, Christ, that was open at the seven seal, he will continue to be deceived.

A- Pastor: The Lord showed us in 1975 that Brother Don and Brother Mike will come back and believe this thing, and preach it.

A- Pastor: Brother (Deacon), you're going to find out that even though you were deceived, you still had that spark of life in you.

The two Pastors of Waterloo and Diego Martin reopened a single church in Central Trinidad in 1983 in the name of Branham, Lambert and Jesus Christ, stealing the name of Brother Lambert's church in Connecticut, "Full Gospel Christian Assembly." The third minister who was a custom officer disassociated himself from them. He was arrested and charged for his involvement in illicit drugs; his family was destroyed spiritually; corruption overtook the home; he finally migrated to North America. Rumours are that he preaches for his pastor friends when he comes to Trinidad. Few people came back to fellowship with them, while all the rest went back into the world. They gathered messages of Brother Branham and Pastor Lambert and mixed heresies out of their three deceptions and made a deception greater than all by which they were further deceived. These men have brought an evil name upon the message of Brother Branham and upon Brother Lambert and his teachings as few have done before them since they claim to represent both the prophet and the revivalist, Brother Lambert.

This fourth deception is even more subtle than the former ones since it is disguised by deceits, pretensions and hypocrisies in admitting to their congregation that they were deceived but have denounced those deceptions. However, that in itself is an interpretation and heresy to keep the people in bondage. They explained to the people that all their deceptions and the events that accompanied them were ordained of God, and He allowed it as a lesson to them, that they might better understand the anti-Christ and any more deceptions that may arise, since the mistakes of prophets are ordained of God. For this reason, they do not see the need to repent because, in their thinking, the greater doctrines that they upheld in the first deception were brought over into the second deception, upheld by the third deception, and have now become the foundation upon which the fourth deception is built.

The fourth deception now governs their congregation, which is made up of their children, too young to understand the diabolical deception that they now trust as their salvation, and also innocent people who came to their church since it was re-opened in 1983. This has produced a fourth deception that now holds the people in the house of Hell, awaiting their deliverance by the Spoken Word and Third-Pull Ministry, to be manifested by the Bride shortly before the Rapture.

In all of this, those preachers never repented to the man of God or his people for persecuting them and following deception. The Waterloo Pastor clowned for years in mockery of the man of God, preaching repentance to them, and they continued to keep the people away from truth, indicating that the man of God is deceived, and that he does not want them to come to his church because he hates them. God, in his Grace and loving kindness, has shown great mercy to a handful to allow them to escape such diabolical deceptions. They are they, which testified of many things from the inner circles where the man of God could not go and their testimonies are true. The greater part of their testimony is not included here because of limited space, but could make up a book in itself. Another book may be necessary if these two pastors, and other persons who were involved in the deceptions exposed here, become defensive, try to become deceitful liars, and deny or challenge the things that are written in this most factual report, supported by many witnesses.

About the time of the writing of this report, we were surprised to learn that the Diego Martin Pastor is denying his own testimony and answers to the deacon's questions as above. This is in order to make new church members. Some heard of the several deceptions in which the church was involved. Such humble, sincere and honest followers of the message diligently enquired of us of the things they heard. They were given a partial report. The former deacon contacted the Diego Martin Pastor, explained to him that he was requested to contribute his knowledge of the ministry of Brother Lambert in Trinidad to this Bethel report, which will be included in the life story of Brother Lambert. He reminded him also about the above questions and answers of 1984, and many other events which they both experienced. The Diego Martin pastor flatly denied his major involvements covering up most of what he confessed and is on record as above, by lies, and hypocrisies saying that the deacon misunderstood him. He contacted the deacon on the following day and said that he had a sleepless night, and said that those things was only for a short time and expressed an opposite story to the truths of his deceptions. Because of his dishonest attitude, we are forced to document both his testimonies of 1984 and July 2002 that our readers can compare both his testimonies and judge for themselves what kind of spirit is upon this deluded Diego Martin pastor. The major proof, which cannot be explained away by such lies is that the pastors closed their three churches for about 5 years. This proves that they all honored and respected that anti-Christ as the very Christ.

RECORDED CONVERSATION OF JULY 2002, BETWEEN DEACON AND DIEGO MARTIN PASTOR

Q- Deacon: What year, the resurrection doctrine, did you all accept that he was going to come back? Remember we was waiting for him to come back from the grave? Could you remember what year it was?

A- Pastor: everybody had believed that for a few days.

Q- Deacon: What year you received the revelation of your ministry as two prophets (Two Pastors), that's when you all went up in the States? That's when you told me that you all were going to be used as the two prophets to reap the harvest.

A- Pastor: We believed that the Lord then spoke to us and told us a lot of things. When we came back, we came and said it will have a great harvest in the States and we believe that the Lord is going to use us, me and Brother…..(Waterloo Pastor), but we did not go and say about no two prophets. I don't know where that come out from. I put an X on those things. I said that if that have to come to pass, it will come to pass. I am just waiting to see. If it's of the Lord it will come to pass. If not, just leave those things alone.

Q- Deacon: But (Pastor), you told me you believed that Teddy was the Christ.

A- Pastor: No! No! No! I never believed that.

Q- Deacon: You told me that (Pastor). You're forgetting. You told me that you and (Waterloo Pastor) believed that.

Q- Deacon: You all believed that the man was the Christ, and must become a spiritual bride to the man.

A- Pastor: No boy! I feel you get mix up with this thing. No! No! No! No! You mean to say I will believe something and now I will deny it?

Q-Deacon: But, I know for a fact that you told me these things. What I am telling you here is what you told me: "You and the (Waterloo Pastor) and a couple of the spiritual ones did believe that Teddy was the Christ."

A- Pastor: No!

Q- Deacon: You forget when you did meet me, and told me everything he did do to the sisters. And a next time I went back by you, and we did sit down in the Maxi and you tell me that you had believed that this man was the Christ, and certain ones.

Q- Deacon: But how you turned down the message for all these years and called the man false?

A- Pastor: I never do that.

Q- Deacon: You say you never believed that you and (Waterloo Pastor) were two prophets. You definitely had believed that. You told me that.

A- Pastor: I am telling you this, because what ever told us this, we thought it was the Lord. Whatever spoke to us told us that, "You are two legs," I may have told you that.

Q- Deacon: So there is where you all got the understanding that you all would have been two prophets?

A- Pastor: I didn't use the words "prophet." But we cut out that talk since then. We put a blank on everything, but, you see, the things the Lord spoke to us, we see many of the things come to pass.
Well, as far as my personal belief is, I will keep that as a personal secret. Because there are other secret things, but I don't preach that. That's nothing I will propagate or preach.
I am very sorry if I had offended you in any way by following Teddy. If it wasn't for us, we would not have found out about (???). Nobody knows that he was the murderer, but he confessed that to us. I told you all those things.
I feel that what you all have down there is an intellectual concept. I feel people are being deceived. Just as how you think we was deceived, and we were really deceived, you all are being deceived down there.

Q- Deacon: If that is not a Presence, and there is a Presence there changing people's lives, and people living a holy life, dressing right, they not playing sports, they not watching television, they not in the world, and you are saying it's not the Presence of the Lord, what it is in Bethel? What presence we have?

A- Pastor: All my family and most of them people inside there they live holy lives.

Q- Deacon: But (Pastor), they living holy lives and they are in the world: watching television and playing sports, everything of the world?

A- Pastor: Who you know is watching television and playing sports? Who you know does that?

Q- Deacon: But (Pastor), everybody have a television in their house. You never checked your believers' house or what?

A- Pastor: I don't know what you talking about. I wonder if they fooling me? That is something we does come down hard against.

Q- Deacon: But what about sports; and you have a sports side does play a next section?

A- Pastor: But I don't find anything wrong, like once a year the brethren will come together and we will have some fellowship with some of those brethren just for fellowship. That isn't nothing. I don't see nothing wrong with that. If you see something wrong with that, that is you all opinion. I won't call that sin.

Q- Deacon: You told me that you believed that Teddy was the Christ and you also told me that Teddy lived with couple of the sisters.

A- Pastor: No! No! No! No! It had two sisters who were not Christians in the church.
One of those girls used to interpret Spanish, and they had a book by Rudolph Benevides only in Spanish, and one of the girls was getting involved with Teddy, that's because Teddy tell her that if you don't come and be with him and so on, her husband will die. And out of fear….but she was not a sister, she was not a Christian.

Q- Deacon: But Pastor, you tell me the man live with couple of the sisters.

A- Pastor: No boy. I thought I had told you it was…well since you know. It was she. He didn't actually; well I can't really come and tell you the people's problem. But she wasn't a part of the church. (Indication and name of person called, not documented).
I wouldn't doubt this, that during the time of Teddy, I had cooled off Brother Branham and Brother Lambert's ministry, not that I denied it and put it down, but is that I was concentrating on what this man Teddy was saying, trying to get what he was saying. He was talking about the constellation. As the time went on we kind of drop off Brother Branham and Brother Lambert, you know: not concentrating and things like that.

Pastor: "Last night I gone on my bed. I can't sleep. This is the truth. I think you had a little misunderstanding. We believed that Teddy believed that he was the Christ. He himself had believed that he was the Christ. I remember believing that Teddy had believed he was the Christ. That is what he had believed, but we didn't believe that. I didn't believe that he was the Christ, cause I was trying to remember how I could say a thing like that when I never believed that, but then it come back when I called this morning then she remind me of that. (The "she" referred to here is the superspiritual woman and the pastor's sister, whom he consulted before having his second conversation with the deacon.)

"We opened back church in '80 but not in a big way. We called back everybody and made things right. "It's not to say we were deceived on the Word. We were deceived by the man, but I am sorry that it happened, but I couldn't help it."

It is important to state at this point that multiple discussions on various subjects were held between the Diego Martin Pastor and his former deacon, which can be documented in a later work if the pastors will deny this report.

The Diego Martin Pastor apologized to the deacon for speaking blasphemous things against Bethel and the spirit of God that's amongst us for many decades. We trust that he do not continue to speak against the Spirit of God, for this is blaspheming the Holy Ghost. Nevertheless his apology has reflected to us a hope for his deliverance some day. He is definitely in a delusion held by the power of Satan, working through the Waterloo Pastor. However both The Waterloo and Diego Martin pastors, their church, their offices, their teachings, and their own unholy living do not in the least represent Brother Branham or Brother Lambert, or their teachings.

The true representation of what Brother Branham and Brother Lambert both taught and practiced can be witnessed at Bethel church, Freeport, Trinidad. The cornerstone bears the name of Robert Lambert, the first martyr for the message, as the founder. This testimony is true because there was no other preacher that pointed us back to the Word and established us upon the message of Brother Branham as he did. After thirty-two years, because of that humble servant who sealed his testimony with his blood, we have the same vision of the fulfillment of all the Promises of God relative to the new ministry of Elijah the prophet, our precious Brother William Branham. Amen.

"Thus, what the church was at Pentecost is the standard. That is the pattern. There is no other pattern. No matter what the scholars say, God has NOT changed that pattern. What God did at Pentecost He has to keep on doing until the church ages close.

"Now don't get led astray here. When I said that God and His ways never change, I did not say that the church and its messengers could not change. The church isn't God. So she can change. But what I said was that because of the unchanging God with unchanging ways we can go back to the beginning and see the first and perfect act of God and then judge by that standard. That is how it is done. The True Church will always try to be like the original at Pentecost. The True Church of today will try to approximate that early first one. And the messengers to the churches, having the same Spirit of God in them, will try to approximate the apostle Paul. They won't be exactly like him; but the true messengers will be the ones that come the closest to Paul, who was free of all men, sold out to God, and gave forth the Word of God only, and manifested the Holy Ghost in power. None else would do. You have to work from the original. As like begets like, the True Church will always be the one that tries to follow in the steps of her founders at Pentecost and her messengers will follow the apostle Paul, the first messenger to the first church age. It is that simple, and that wonderful."

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. (Psalm 31:15)

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4)

When any man has finished his works, he steps down. When I quit preaching, I set down, but not until I quit preaching. When you're a working, when you set down, your work is finished. Jesus set down at the right hand of glory, but when He seen the first martyr dying for the cause of Christ, the resurrected Lord Jesus brushed back the skies, and He must've raised from His Throne to give a special welcome to little Stephen to bring him home. (William Branham, "Mighty Conqueror," 56-0401, Par. E-54)

Brother Lambert and his family returned to Connecticut from Trinidad on the first of January 1973. On Wednesday evening, January third, he did not feel that he should attend the services in Durham, although he would have known that the people were anxious to hear the report of his trip to that island nation. He asked Brother Carlton McGahee to take charge of the service and he prepared his message.

Following the worship service, Brother McGahee took his place at the pulpit and began to preach as he often had. Not long after beginning his sermon, a man called "Ted," considering himself to be "super spiritual" and having more understanding and revelation than others but who, apparently, had begun to dabble in the occult, began to speak out and began pacing back and forth in front of the congregation. As he continued this under the influence of a spirit, he began to prophesy and to pronounce judgments on various people. Brother McGahee tried to persuade him to sit down and be quiet but he continued his tirade, shouting out, "Kill'em, Kill'em!" "You will pay!" and "You will be hungry by Spring."

When Ted would not stop, Brother McGahee dismissed the service and some of the people began to leave. Others, however, remained, some out of fear and others to see what would take place. Some began to try to repent to Ted. He ignored some and "forgave" others. Many did not know what to make of this as they had considered Ted to be a spiritual man and feared to do or say anything that might appear to be in opposition to him.

The next three days were days of prayer and fasting, repenting and nervous anticipation for the elders and others in the assembly and for the pastor, Bob Lambert. When he came to the pulpit on Sunday morning, Brother Lambert prayed for pastor and congregation, alike, and pleaded for forgiveness for our "lackadaisical attitude" and our "great slothfulness." He finished his prayer and said, "Greetings to each and every one from your pastor and mercy and Grace and peace unto thee from the Lord Jesus!" This was like a release to the people-a healing balm. Many recognized it as such and began to worship and praise the Lord. But he went on and warned the people that they cannot continue in spiritual laziness and expect the Grace of God.

As he continued, he said,

"Let it be known that there is a Church established in Trinidad that is powerful, on fire for the Lord Jesus. What you sat and heard, year after year, and took it commonly…. Some of you sit there yet in your sins and your disobedience. What took years to produce in this assembly was done in a matter of days in Trinidad."

He said,

"I'm so thankful to God that we are not in the hands of man. If we were in the hands of man today, we would all perish. But I am so thankful to God that we are in the hands of the Lord Jesus, that the Blood of Jesus Christ was shed at Calvary, that when we do wrong, we don't have to suffer like David did. But we can cry out for mercy of the precious Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Fountain of all Mercy."

The physical demonstrations of many in the congregation continued and progressed to the point that Brother Lambert could no longer allow it to continue. In February, Brother Bob preached a sermon called "Crucified In The Place Of A Skull," on which he suddenly put a stop to all such nonsense saying that it grieved his spirit and he had suffered with it long enough. He did not mind the people saying "Amen," if they agree with the Word. This let him know that the people were still awake and listening.

In his correction of the congregation, Brother Bob told them that their antics of making noise, jumping, etc. did not impress him and instructed the people to "read the sign" (A sign hanging from the ceiling in front of the pulpit that reads, "Be still and know that I Am God" -Ed.). He said that he wanted the "quality of the Holy Spirit" in the service and that "there is more power in quietness than jumping and noise." Further, he said, "Watch for judgment. Just love everyone. You might be heading for a fall." Some, including the East European, apparently took offense and he began to absent himself from many services.

Brother Bob wanted the people to be free to worship the Lord and to respond to the preaching of the Word. At the same time, he did not want to see the people become lopsided in their worship, allowing the flesh and carnal impersonations to overcome true worship. All true worship must be sincere. He often made a comment like, "Don't jump any higher than the life you live."

In his extensive travels he had seen many instances of insincere worship that had gotten people in trouble with the Lord. In the local assembly a woman once came to visit from another state. As the people were worshiping and praising God, she began (as he described it) to try to climb a steel pole (a structural support for the building). Before the next service, the Lord revealed to Brother Bob that the woman was living in adultery with a man who also was visiting at the time. He immediately confronted them and sent them home.

There were some in the Durham assembly who considered "Ted" a spiritual man. When Brother Lambert put a stop to Ted's irreverent activities, that should have served as a warning to all. Brother Lambert had told the congregation more than once that, if he began to pull back from a man, they should take notice and begin to pull back also. Instead, some seemed to hold "Ted" in the highest regard.

That "Ted" had begun to think more of himself than he ought to think began also to be evident. One sister, still a part of the congregation, witnessed an event that should give pause to any who held Brother Bob's ministry in any degree of esteem. One day she saw Brother Lambert and "Ted" in what appeared to be a heated conversation behind the church. She also witnessed "Ted" pointing and waving his finger in Brother Bob's face.

On another occasion, Brother Bob and another minister were talking to "Ted" in Brother Bob's camper truck close under Brother McGahee's window in Durham. The discussion was heated and there was some shouting going on. "Ted" evidently believed he was a prophet and the two ministers were trying to dissuade him of his ideas. Brother Bob told another young man, now a highly regarded minister of the message of Brother William Branham, "That's the worst spirit I ever had to deal with."

On yet another occasion, in the spring of 1973, "Ted" met another brother going home from work one day and, while driving, signaled him to pull over. "Ted" got into the man's car and talked for about forty-five minutes trying to persuade him that Brother Bob had sinned greatly and, therefore, would have to be "crushed like a rose."

In March, Brother Bob preached a sermon called "Two Trees In Eden," with a lesson for the contending Bride of Christ. He discussed the conditions in the Garden of Eden, pointing out that before Eve could fall, she had to accept the serpent's doctrine. He gave a warning to those who say, "The devil made me do it." "But you helped him out!" He spoke out on illicit sex, pointing out that, in Old Testament days, homosexuality was punished by stoning. He spoke out on Cain's technology, saying that it built the automobile that was made a "whorehouse." He told a story of Lucifer as the beast in the Garden, having entered the body of the serpent and saying, "I've got a body now, I can kill her." Brother Bob described that beast as he visualized it-"big, real athletic, hair, sex, vocal chords and hands." "There he was, sitting, picking his teeth, waiting for Eve to come by." But he also had words to say about Eve. "She should have stayed home. Mommy out of the kitchen is out of place." He said also that he had no respect for any man that would take back a woman, a wife, who ran around. "I would not do it." In a thinly veiled reference to Brother Branham's message on "Serpent's Seed" (58-0928E), Brother Bob said, "It was sex in the beginning and it is sex now." And saying that "the devil thrills you and then he kills you."

Before closing, Brother Bob spoke of leaving for Israel with his minister friend, Don, although he really didn't feel to go. He had been encouraged to go by his wife. And he spoke of Joseph "Little Joe," Rumore, coming to Connecticut and to remember him in pra