Woman at the well.

Pearry Green.

Once God has done a thing a certain way, since He changes not (for in Him there is no “variableness neither shadow of turning”), the Scriptures teach that He may be expected to act the same way again. However, He can do a new thing, as He did when He sent the prophet Noah, when He called Abraham, when He sent Elijah, when He sent John the Baptist, and when He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ. There were many people who knew the Scriptures each time, who knew the prophecies, but failed to see what God was doing because they did not have the spiritual insight to recognise a God sent man. As we have seen there is no other way to recognise a God-sent man than by the works that he does and whether the scriptures testify of him.

Even Paul, who lived on the earth when Jesus Christ Himself did and had no doubt heard of Jesus when He was here, was not persuaded that Jesus Christ was that prophet of Deuteronomy 18. Also Paul did not recognise John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ. Paul then could not have acted as did the disciples of John, who, when John turned and said, “Behold the Lamb of God,” followed Jesus from that day on. Neither did Paul recognise Jesus and follow Him as did Peter and Matthew the publican when He turned to them and said, “Follow Me.” Paul had to have a personal experience on the road to Damascus.

The Chief Priests and the Scribes and Pharisees did not recognise the Messiah, even though they were diligently looking for Him, for the High Priest did not believe Christ’s affirmative answer to his question as to whether He (Jesus) be the Son of the Blessed. Instead of believing Him when He said “I am,” they blasphemed and used His words against Him. So it was that, when Jesus hung on the cross, He could look down at them and say, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Had they believed Him to be the Son of God, they would not have crucified Him and the entire plan of Salvation would have been lost. Even though He was doing wonderful works, they saw Him only as a man, the carpenter’s son. They overlooked the works and held to their traditions rather than admit that what they were teaching the people was wrong.

There was a little harlot, the woman of Samaria mentioned in the fourth chapter of the book of John. Here John relates how Jesus sat on the well, waiting for His disciples who had gone into the city to buy food, when she came to draw water. He asked her to bring Him a drink, and their conversation went something like this:

“Sir,” she said, “it’s not right for you, a Jew, to ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink.”

“If you knew to whom you were speaking, you would ask me for a drink,” He replied.

She said, “Sir, you don’t even have anything to draw water with. Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well ?”

“Drink of the water that I give, and you will never thirst again,” said Jesus.

Her response was immediate, “Sir, give me this water!” As Jesus said this to her, her thirst was evident; a thirst and a hunger that others did not have, fulfilling His words, “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Then He said to her, “Go call thy husband.”

She was ashamed. “I don’t have one,” she replied meekly.

“You have said right,” came the voice of God, discerning the very thoughts in her heart, “for you have had five and the one you now live with is not your husband.”

Now, see the revelation that came to her heart when she, knowing just a little about the Scripture, said, “Sir, I know that the prophets say that when Messiah comes He will tell us all these things. You say that though we worship in this mountain, the day will come that we won’t. Sir, I perceive you to be a prophet.” At this she ran into the city, exclaiming, “Come see a man who told me all that I ever done! Is not this the Messiah?” She had received more revelation, claiming nothing, than most of the religious people of her day. Jesus said of them that because they claimed to have Light (and couldn’t recognise His ministry), they were blind.

How many times did Jesus discern the thoughts of the people? How many times did He perceive their questions and answer them before they were asked. Was not this an attribute of Emmanuel, God with us, Jehovah the Saviour in flesh? Was it not a “sign”, that Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world was in their midst? Yet they refused to accept it. So He said, “If you believe not what I say, believe the works that I do.” Thus it is today, for He is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

I had been taught these things in Sunday School most of my life, but the first time I ever saw such an attribute of God manifested was at a meeting in January, 1950, in the Sam Houston Coliseum, in Houston Texas. A young woman had come forward to be prayed for. Brother Branham turned to her and said, “Before I pray for you, you need to confess your sin.” She protested that she was a righteous woman; but he said, “You have been unfaithful to your husband.” Her husband was sitting in the congregation at the time. I noticed a commotion in one direction and turned to see. Her husband was coming down the isle, headed for the platform to stop Brother Branham from accusing his wife. The ushers stepped forward to stop him, but Brother Branham said, “let him come.” The man rushed onto the platform and was within ten feet of Brother Branham when he was stopped by the words of the prophet, “Sir, what about you and your redheaded secretary, sitting in the automobile in the lane last Friday night?” Brother Branham continued speaking to the two of them, saying, “The thing you two need to do is repent to God, confess it to each other and be man and wife.” That incident was beyond anything I had ever seen before.

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“Brother Pearry,” he said, “whatever you do, keep your balance in the scriptures; but I will not deny what that Voice said on the Ohio river in 1933!” He continued, “Brother Pearry, I don’t say anything about it in public. People don’t understand what a prophet is. But when that light came whirling down out of Heaven, and those people sitting on that bank saw it, there was a Voice that spoke from it, just as it did to Paul on the road to Damascus. The Voice said, “As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, your message will forerun His second coming.”

Extracts From...
The Acts of the Prophet." Chapter 3
- Pearry Green

Read the full account in
Voice of the Sign.

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?

2 Samuel 22:31-32