Have you ever thought of yourself as a servant of God--or desired to be an elder and lay hands on the sick--or had a burning in your heart to preach the Word of the Lord? Perhaps today you long to do something for your Lord whom you serve. You may not carry the gospel across the nations or have the prayer of faith to deliver people in bondage. You may not be a gifted person, or ever manifest a spiritual gift such as healing, or miracles, or prophecy. But there is something you CAN do, and God has asked you to do it. Perhaps you've overlooked it, but here is a commission for every one of you in the Word of God.
It could be you who could be an angel of mercy to a lost soul--it could be you who brought news of the glad tidings. You could be a key figure in another person's life that would be the greatest blessing any book could record.
Let me in the next few moments tell you a true story of such a person--an angel of mercy. This could be you... in the most important role in your life... being a witness of Him and telling the good tidings.
Our story begins with Mrs. Eckenburg: she has said good-bye to her husband and has boarded a bus. Her husband cannot accompany her on this trip as it would be too long for him to take time off from his work, and it would be added expense which they could not afford. Mr. and Mrs. Eckenburg are a couple 50 years of age--they have a modest home, and a simple way of life as this is what their income can accommodate--but they've had a lovely lifetime together and enjoyed many things together through the years. They are common folk who have had to work to make it; often-times it's been hard, sometimes a little easier. Now the bus was carrying her to a destination she did not know of, or anticipate. It was a short time after her first illness she was treated at the San Francisco Stanford University. It was here in June 1955 she became an experimental patient. Mr. and Mrs. Eckenburg chose this university as they could not afford the expense of other treatments or doctors. Here all treatments were free to the indigent, and the finest of doctors would attend her. She was registered in as an experimental patient. This meant you got well as they learned, and if not... well... With little finances this was the best choice--and their only hope.
This was her third attempt to go for treatment. There would be no cutting in this case as the doctors had already told her the cancer was too deeply rooted, and had involved the liver and other organs of her body. When they had wanted to cut into her earlier she somehow had managed to say "No." She didn't want that. And so her next appointment was due in January shortly after the first few days of the new year were past. Mrs. Eckenburg cancelled this appointment for no apparent reason, and when her third appointment was made she started out to keep it for she realized the pain in her body and the speedy growth of the cancer left her no alternative.
She took with her for that appointment a small overnight case which she checked through to the San Francisco bus depot. She had her ticket and a little change in her purse. She had told her husband she would need but little money as it would be a trip straight to the bus depot, and from there to the university. Her husband was to pick her up with the family automobile at the hospital whenever she was discharged. It was October 18 and tomorrow was the day the doctors would begin the experiment. What they would do, and what the family would do if she should die went through her mind--on and on trailed her thoughts. She also thought of God, but as she was not a spiritual woman, nor even born-again, these thoughts did not penetrate too deeply. But for Christian guidance she did decide to take her little Unity book along. This she would read at random when thoughts of her future pressed too close.
It was early morning on October 19 that the bus pulled into Oakland, California, for a 10-minute stop before going on to San Francisco just across the bay. As the bus came to a stop all the passengers got off, but Mrs. Eckenburg, tired from her trip, remained in her seat. She soon would be in San Francisco, she would get off there she knew. While sitting there Mrs. Eckenburg heard a voice speak to her and say, "Go to the street and walk," with such strong emphasis that she immediately obeyed. While walking aimlessly she heard the voice continue, saying, "Stop at 14th Street." At 14th Street her strength abated and she paused long enough to notice a coffee shop across the street. She entered Foster's Cafe and had a cup of coffee, and after a few minutes started out on the street again. Walking a short distance she soon tired again and leaned against the side of a building to rest. It was then that her eyes rested on a lady who was sitting on a bus bench waiting for the local bus to come. She paused a brief moment then decided to go to the bench and sit down. As she sat down she noticed the lady beside her was reading a book. The thought came to her that she too could read her little Unity book for comfort. Our scene is deceptively simple--just two ladies sitting on a bus bench reading books. They were complete strangers--but not for long. God had led Mrs. Eckenburg to an Angel of Mercy who had news of good tidings. He had led her from the bus depot, and now had her sit down beside another woman He had chosen to bring to her the "good news," the tidings of the gospel, and to care for her. In a short while they had struck up a conversation. They exchanged a few remarks and soon Mrs. Eckenburg found herself telling this total stranger of her illness and her destination. The woman said, "Take a look at this book I'm reading, 'A Man Sent From God'--this man is here in Oakland and starts his meetings tonight. He will pray for you. Many are healed of cancer."
Mrs. Eckenburg looked at the woman strangely for a moment not knowing what to think. She had not thought of God healing today, or of such things taking place. Her new friend interrupted her thoughts with many thrilling accounts of God's mercy and healing today upon suffering humanity. Mrs. Eckenburg had never heard such inspiring words and they brought a peace to her heart, and she was comforted as well as encouraged. Never before had she heard anyone talk like this, and of such great and wonderful things!
Again her thoughts were broken by a direct invitation from the woman saying, "Come to my room and rest, this evening I will take you to the meeting. I have a room right across the street." Mrs. Eckenburg and the lady crossed the street and entered the hotel, and the lady got Mrs. Eckenburg a room across the hall from hers. When the room was taken and they were settled, Mrs. Eckenburg decided she would rest a while and went to her room to lie down. She began to think about what the woman had told her, and for the first time in her life Mrs. Eckenburg broke into the spirit of prayer, and she prayed on, and on, until a peace she had never known filled her heart. In prayer and tears she spent the afternoon, and in fellowship with her new-found friend. When it came time for the meeting to start her friend took her to the meeting place at Civic Auditorium in downtown Oakland. On arriving, her friend helped her find a seat and looked after her with gentle concern. In a short while, Billy Paul Branham asked her if she wanted a prayer card. She said "Yes," and thanked him. Soon the service started and it was a sermon such as Mrs. Eckenburg had never heard in her life; it left her weeping and filled with awe. She had never been treated so kindly as she was today, nor had she ever heard of these marvelous things. And now her prayer card was called and she was to stand before this man of God. As the other 14 were prayed for ahead of her, and others called out of the audience, she knew that this man would tell her answers that she and the doctors did not have.
Within a few moments Rose Eckenburg stood before Rev. Branham. He told her she was shadowed with death, and had cancer of the liver, and asked her if she would believe God would heal her if he prayed for her. Her answer was "Yes" and she burst into tears.
The next day, October 20, 1956, at 7 A.M., Rose Eckenburg passed from her body large pieces of corrupt flesh and badly infected blood. The following week on October 24, 1956 at 11 A.M. she passed a large hardened tumor and more corruption, followed by a normal hemorrhage which cleared her blood of corruption and odor.
Friends, Rose Eckenburg lives today and is a real convert to the Lord. It truly is a blessing of God, but remember where it began for Rose Eckenburg--on a bus bench where she met a messenger and witness of the glad tidings of the gospel.
In a city of five million people, God led her to a perfect stranger. This could be you, dear friend, the next time you are alone on a bus bench, or in your car, or on the street, or in a cafe. Wherever it be, you can have in your heart and on your lips words that can bring life to dying, hopeless, staggering mankind. Henceforth remember to witness, and the Angel of Mercy... could be you.
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