William Branham on O.L. Jaggers

The following is excerpted from the sermon, Faith, by William Marion Branham, delivered Friday, April 27, 1956 at the Abundant Life Center in Charlotte, North Carolina:

I remember O. L. Jaggers. The hardest person I ever had to shake away from me was O. L. Jaggers. I didn't want to shake him away from me, but he was so skeptic. Oh, my. He was beating it down, and all the time I knew he believed it in his heart, but he just wanted to see what I was going... So he, Brother O. L. Jaggers, he's a bosom friend, a very fine man, and Tommy Osborn, he was there.

The following is excerpted from the Branham sermon, The Godhead Explained, delivered the morning of April 25, 1961 at the Holiday Inn in Chicago, IL:

I was sitting in O.L. Jaggers’ meeting. Now, we all know O.L. Jaggers. His father helped found the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Now, O.L. is a great man. He’s a great preacher. I told him not long ago, I said, “Brother Jaggers, if I could preach like you did, I’d never even have a healing service.” But he’d got all that blood and wine and stuff when it first started over there. (Excuse me if I’m hurting your feelings, brethren, on that.) That’s all right. God can make blood come, wine come, or oil come... whatever He wants to... but that don’t remit sins! No, sir. No, sir. No indeedy! “The blood of Jesus Christ shall never lose its power, until all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more!”

I said, “Brother Jaggers....” I took him.... I called him up (and I was with the Christian Businessmen), and I said, “Brother O.L....”

He said, “Where in the world are you at?” I was in a little old cheap motel out there, and he said, “You mean to tell me they put you out here?”

I said, “That’s my desire. When I come to you,” I said, “what did you do? You put me over in the Statler Hotel, and I just had to stand in the corner. You set me down at the table, and I didn’t know which knife to use or nothing else; and I went down through there without a coat on, they wanted to run me out.” And I said, “I don’t know how to handle myself.”

He said, “I’ll take you over there if they’re too poor to do it.”

I said, “No, sir.” I said, “What I want to do is have a steak with you if you will pay for it.”

He said, “All right.”

So then we went out to a place, and we sat down, and I said, “Brother Jaggers, I certainly admire your....” And he’s a very dear friend of mine, a precious brother. And I had his little pamphlet, where he had that woman that just come over here from overseas that had that blood in her hands and things. So I had it in here. I just wanted him to deny it once, then I had it right on his paper, you know.

I said, “I have noticed where you are going right along, going to have a big revival.” Started up because the Businessmen had me over there, ‘course.... Looked like people would know if the Holy Spirit can reveal on the platform, can’t He tell me what’s going on in places, brethren? I can tell you word by word, and prove it by Brother Carlson and this brother here, I sat at the meeting yesterday and told these brethren what would be here this morning. That’s right. Exactly. See, because the Holy Spirit woke me up and said, “Stand by the window.” I looked ... the window, and He showed me just exactly this. I said, “Now, brethren....” See. Why, they ought to know it.

Here not long ago a man got up here at the Chautauqua and said, “Brother Branham is a prophet.” I don’t claim to be no prophet. But He said, “Brother Branham is a prophet when he’s under the spirit of discernment, but,” said, “oh, his doctrine is poison. Be careful with it.”

I thought of ... an educated man would say a thing like that. What does a prophet mean? “A divine interpreter of the Word.” The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. But that’s neither here nor ... see. But anyhow, Brother Jaggers....

And I said, “I seen about that woman that’s got that blood in her hands.”

“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, that’s the most phenomenal you ever seen.”

I said, “Brother Jaggers, I love you. First, I want you to put my hand in yours. Let’s say we are brothers.”

He said, “Sure. What’s the matter?”

I said, “You are one of the most powerful preachers that I know of. What an instrument for God that you are!”

He said, “Thank you, Brother Branham. You’re really humble.”

I said, “I’m not saying that to be humble. I’m saying that because I believe it. You are God’s servant. But,” I said, “Brother Jaggers, unless you.... You are running too much out. You haven’t got a counterbalance for what you are talking about. You are basing....”

And here’s what’s the matter with a lot of you Assemblies of God and other men, on these healing services. I don’t blame you. There’s so much called .... And Tommy, here, is a good brother, and we know how solid he stands. But there is so much in the land today under the name of divine healing, no wonder you don’t want to sponsor a meeting in the city. They come and bleed the people and go out, and what have they got? Don’t give the people a bit more than you do from the platform, in your own pulpit. And you’re right, brethren. I’m telling you, you’re right.

But it’s just like I was reading the history of Martin Luther. It said, “It wasn’t a mystery that Martin Luther could protest the Catholic church and get by with it [you have read his history], but that Martin Luther could hold his head above all the fanaticism that followed his revival.” There was the mystery. And when the phenomenal is done, the uncircumcised follows, just like it was in Egypt. And it always has caused trouble out in the land. We know that when we get out there... which raised up Korah, and God had to destroy it. But brethren, I don’t blame you.

Brother Jaggers sat there and tried to tell me that that was the Holy Ghost doing that and said.... And then I had in his own paper.

I said, “Brother Jaggers, now,” I said, “I am a seventh grade pupil, and you are a doctor of divinity and studied to be an attorney. You was raised up in a clean, decent church... the Assemblies of God. Your father helped to found that faith. And you pulling away, that’s up to you. But,” I said, “that’s up to any man that wants to do that. I don’t draw any lines there, but when it comes to a place that an instrument like you... could win thousands of souls to Christ... would build your ministry upon a sensation!”

I said, “Brother Jaggers, you build a column like that, if you haven’t got a counterbalance for that, it’ll fall after while. And you’ve got to have Scripture for what you’re talking about.”

He said, “There is Scripture.”

I said, “Produce it!”

He said, “Well, Brother Branham,” said, “that’s the Holy Ghost doing that.”

I said, “Show me the scripture where it said the Holy Ghost ever made blood come out on somebody, and so forth like that. Just show it to me... oil pour out of them. You said that oil was for divine healing, and you said that woman’s blood would be the salvation of nations.” I said, “If that is so, then what happened to the blood of Jesus Christ? It takes away, and anything that is against it is ‘anti.’ It’s against it.” I said, “It becomes an antichrist doctrine.”

“Oh,” he said, “Brother Branham, you will learn someday.”

I said, “I hope I never learn like that. Now, brother,” I said, “I love you, and you are my brother.” And I said, “Brother Jaggers, you are going to get on a limb after a while that you can’t get back off of! Come back to your church, and come back and stay with the gospel!” And I said, “Don’t build it upon sensations.” I said....

Now he’s got ... he’s baptizing into eternal life. You know, every time you baptize, you go back to a young woman or man. Now that’s going to.... He ain’t going to never die, so he’s on the end of the limb right now. And them vitamin pills out of the Dead Sea... !

You see, but that’s what it is, brother. You start on those little sensations, and you men here that’s got these churches, you let something like that come into the city.... And you know, the devil is shrewd, and he jumps in on those things like that. He fusses at it. He gets people wound up, and he causes confusions in the church and things. But that isn’t so.