The Story of Agnes Shippy
Video Transcript
William Branham used the phrase “Thus Saith The Lord”, something not found in the New Testament, over 1600 times in his sermons:
- I want to know directly from God, so that I can say it’s THUS SAITH THE LORD.
- …Cause, if He puts His Words in — in a person, well, then it’s not the person anymore; it’s Him. Then if the man is saying it, in himself, then it won’t amount to anything anyhow. But if He’s, the Word of the Lord, is in the man, It’ll come forth, and then it’ll be—it’ll be just exactly right. That was what we were commissioned in the Bible, over about the 20th chapter of Deuteronomy, I believe, It said, yeah, “Watch, and if one speaks in the Name of the Lord, and it doesn’t come to pass, then don’t pay any attention to that person.”[1]
It is important to note that this is a “one strike and you’re out test” and it is a very serious test:
- But any prophet who fakes it, who claims to speak in my name something I haven’t commanded him to say, or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die.”
- You may be wondering among yourselves, “How can we tell the difference, whether it was GOD who spoke or not?” Here’s how: If what the prophet spoke in GOD’s name doesn’t happen, then obviously GOD wasn’t behind it; the prophet made it up. Forget about him.[2]
If we can find one instance where William Branham said something in the name of the Lord that was to happen, and it didn’t come to pass, you are commanded to walk away and forget about him. In June 2017, we interviewed Sylvia Perkins on the Off The Shelf podcast. You can listen to that interview at the link below ([https://offtheshelf.life/podcast/ots-29-sylvia-perkins-1/ click here).
Sylvia attended Branham Tabernacle as a child. She was in many of William Branham’s services and even watched TV at the Branham house with Joseph, the youngest of the Branham children.
She was at the funeral of William Branham and attended Lee Vayle’s church for 18 years following William Branham’s death. She was at the opening of the cornerstone of Branham Tabernacle after it was struck by a car and saw what it contained. She even had an interview with William Branham where he told her, she was a prophetess.
Here is Sylvia’s testimony:
- I would have loved to have shared this story with you on video but it is just too triggering and emotional for me. I tried to rehearse the words this morning but I broke into tears after just a few words. This incident deeply wounded me and I am not now, or possibly ever, in a place to talk about it.
- It was the summer of 1961, and my mother, Agnes Shippy, struggled to keep up with her household chores and gardening. She had contracted polio as a very young child and wore braces through high
school. Her foot and leg were deformed and one leg was shorter than the other. Prayer for healing was her constant companion, and when she heard about a faith healer based in Southern Indiana, she tearfully entreated my Dad to take her to be prayed for.
- We got a pickup camper and traveled the country, eagerly awaiting the time when she could get to "Brother Branham" to be prayed for so that she could receive her healing. She just knew that when she was healed, her entire large family would believe and follow this wonderful prophet she had found.
- Finally, about a year later, the longed for moment arrived. She and I stood before "the prophet". As he began to pray a generic healing prayer. She grabbed his arm, and said, "Brother Branham, I have suffered All my life with polio and have a deformed foot."
- William Branham looked heavenward briefly, then proclaimed, "Thus Saith the Lord, she shall have it."
- It was clear he was referring to her request for healing for her foot.
- Fast forward 32 years… I was caring for my mother in my home as she was dying of ovarian cancer.
- My mother had constantly proclaimed her healing. After all, she had received “Thus Saith the Lord.” It could not fail! When her family saw this wondrous miracle, they would all be "saved",
as she had been taught that the only true way to salvation was by believing every word this now long dead prophet had spoken.
- Two days before her passing, I was putting lotion on her legs, and she pitifully asked me, "Is my foot healed yet?"
- With tears in my eyes, I sadly had to shake my head, “No".
- Later that same evening as we were having a very deep conversation, as many people do with their loved ones prior to their passing, I asked her, "Mom, if you could change one thing from your past, what would it be?
- After a long silence, her one word response tore my heart out and made me seriously examine our long held beliefs.
- "Everything."
Sylvia’s mother had faith in William Branham because he said, in the name of the Lord, that she would be healed. But William Branham’s Thus Saith The Lord failed. If you are a follower of William Branham, don’t end up as Sylvia’s mother, regretting her faith in a false prophet.
Our faith should be in Jesus Christ and in no one else. As Tim Keller said, I would rather have weak faith in a strong branch than strong faith in a weak branch.
Some message followers will respond that Sylvia’s mother wasn’t healed because she didn’t have faith. But I would ask you to find me a passage in scripture where Jesus or one of the apostles pronounced someone well and they weren’t healed. It never happened.
William Branham said that if it’s just the man saying it, in himself, then it won’t amount to anything. That’s what happened. It didn’t amount to anything. William Branham was faking it. Forget about him.
Footnotes