There has been a change of administration in this last age. The authority through which God once spoke has shifted. He no longer speaks through the organized church systems of Laodicea. The denominational walls, once used as vessels of light, have become barriers to the revelation of His Word. God no longer uses the organized church world as His voice to the nations. The same way the Word moved from the Pharisees’ temple system to the Body of Christ, the Word has once again changed its dwelling place— from creed to revelation, from system to Spirit, from organization to a people called by His name.
Christ has spewed them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). This means they no longer carry His Voice — they speak their own.
But God has not been left without a Voice. We are now living in a time when the Voice has moved from the church system to the Bride. That Voice now speaks through the Bride of Jesus Christ, the Word-born Church of this hour. Revelation 22:17 declares,
“The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.”
The Voice of the Spirit and the Voice of the Bride are now one and the same, for Christ is being revealed through His Bride.
The Church and the Bride
With this in mind, we must draw a clear distinction between the church and the Bride.
Of course, the Bride is the true Church—the called-out ones, the elect of God—and of that Church Jesus said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).
But not all who claim the name of Christ are of the Bride. As Bro. Branham emphasized, in every age the Word of the Lord addressed two groups—those who are called by His Name, and those who are chosen by His Spirit. The same message goes forth to both, but only the elect receive the revelation and are transformed by it.
A.RESUME.OF.THE.AGES – CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.10
From our studies we have already learned that much of the Revelation is totally misunderstood because we have not formerly known that the ‘church’ spoken of and spoken to in this book does not refer to the pure ‘ekklesia’ the ‘elect’, the ‘body of Christ’, the ‘bride’, but it speaks to the entire body of people who are called Christians, whether they be true or merely nominal. As all Israel is NOT Israel, so all Christians are NOT Christians. Thus we learned that the church is made up of two vines, the true and the false. The two vines are motivated by two kinds of spirits; one has the Holy Spirit while the other is endued with the spirit of antichrist. Both claim to know and be known of God. Both purport to speak for God. Both believe certain very basic truths and differ on others. But since both bear the name of the Lord, being called Christ-ians, and by such name-bearing obviously claim a relationship to Him (God calls it marriage), God now holds them both responsible to Him and therefore speaks to each.
Here we see the divine wisdom of God addressing both vines—the true and the false, the wheat and the tares, the wise and foolish virgins. Both grow together in the same field, bear the same name, and claim the same relationship—but their fruits tell the difference.
The Bride’s Distinction
Therefore, when we speak of the change of administration, we mean that the voice of divine leadership has moved—from systems of religion to the Bride of the Word. God is not using the machinery of Laodicea to declare His counsel; He is using the Word-born Bride who has taken His Name and His Nature.
The organized church, though it carries His Name, has rejected His Word. The Bride, though rejected by the world, has received His Voice. And as it was in every age, the elect Bride becomes the living oracle of God, through whom the Spirit speaks once more.
The Laodicean systems—having rejected Christ the Word—have been spewed out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). That means they no longer speak for Him; they have become their own voice.
But God’s Voice has not been silenced—it has changed its channel. The Voice of Christ now speaks through His Bride, for the Bride and the Spirit are saying the same thing (Revelation 22:17). The administration has not shifted from Christ to the Bride, but rather to Christ revealed in His Bride.
The change of administration does not mean that Christ’s authority has been transferred away from Him. Rather, it means that His authority and anointing are now manifested through His Bride.
Christ is still the Head. All power in Heaven and in earth still belongs to Him (Matthew 28:18). But the Bride, being His Body on earth, works under His direction and anointing.
“As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.” — John 20:21
Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Bride continues His work — extending mercy to the lost, bringing healing to the sick, interceding for souls, and declaring the same Word that He spoke
This means we are His representatives on earth, working in His stead—offering mercy, leading souls to salvation, laying hands on the sick, and continuing His redemptive ministry. Yet we must remember: all power in heaven and earth still belongs to Him (Matthew 28:18). The Holy Spirit was sent not to replace Christ, but to continue His work on earth through a many-membered Body.
When Jesus ascended, He did not leave us comfortless. He sent back His own Spirit — the Holy Ghost — to continue His ministry in another form (John 14:18).
Thus, Christ came in Word form through a prophetic message to restore the Bride’s faith, and He now lives and works through His people by the Spirit. Yet we must always remember: The Spirit is here — but Jesus Himself is not yet physically here. He is still in the Father’s throne, making intercession until the last elected member comes in.
So yes, we have witnessed Christ’s coming in Word form—revealed through a prophetic ministry and manifested in His Bride. But let it be understood clearly: Jesus Himself has not yet returned. His Spirit is here; His Person is still in heaven, making intercession and preparing for His coming.
We look for His literal return to consummate the work of redemption—to bring an end to sin, to change our mortal bodies, and to take us in a rapture. For if there is no coming of the Lord, if there is no resurrection and catching away, then all of this would amount to nothing more than sand castles and pipe dreams. But the promise is sure:
“For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:37).
While we rejoice in Christ’s presence in Word and Spirit, we also look for His literal, bodily return. The same Jesus who ascended in Acts 1:11 will descend again to receive His Bride: “For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:16
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15-1 That’s the reason I do believe that when that Bride is called out and elected and set in the Book of Life, there’ll come a sound from heaven that’ll take such a baptism of the Holy Spirit into that Bride that’ll take Her from the earth in a rapturing grace. God promised it.
I don’t care how many science or how many astronauts they signed up, and everything else, and how many million miles they can see; I don’t care nothing about that. THERE IS A HEAVEN, AND THERE’S A LITERAL JESUS CHRIST THERE THAT’LL COME IN A BODY FORM TO RECEIVE HIS CHURCH AND HIS BRIDE! NO MATTER HOW OLD THE STORY SEEMS, IT’S STILL THE TRUTH; GOD SAID SO. THAT’S WHAT BELIEVERS BELIEVE.
When He comes, He will consummate the work of redemption, change our mortal bodies, and take us in the Rapture. Until that glorious moment, we labor in His stead — preaching, healing, and showing mercy — as vessels through which His Voice speaks to this generation.
That’s our blessed hope—the same Jesus who was taken up will return in like manner (Acts 1:11), and the Bride will rise to meet Him in the air. Until that moment, His Voice continues to speak through His Bride, declaring mercy to the lost and power to the redeemed.
Our faith rests not in theory, but in the living Word of God who has revealed Himself to His Bride. The same Voice that cried, “Come up hither” to John will soon call the Bride upward — not in spirit only, but in reality.
Until then, Christ is revealed in His Bride, the living continuation of His ministry on earth. And soon, the One who now works in Spirit will appear in Person — to complete the mystery and unite the Bride with the Bridegroom forever.
Though Christ has come in the form of His Word, and His Spirit now manifests itself through the Bride, He has not come as shown in Revelation 19:11-16. That Scripture is a prophecy that lies in the future. It is not a present fulfillment.
Bro. Branham gave a distinctive interpretation of the vision in Revelation 19:11–16. This biblical passage depicts heaven opening and Jesus Christ coming on a white horse, called “Faithful and True,” wearing a blood-dipped vesture, with the name “The Word of God” and the title “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Bro. Branham taught that this rider is Christ Himself as the Word of God, and he emphasized its fulfillment as a future literal event – Christ’s Second Coming in power (the battle of Armageddon) – rather than something already occurring in a spiritual form.
Christ Identified as the Word on the White Horse
Bro. Branham was clear that the white-horse Rider in Revelation 19 is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. In his “Seven Seals” sermons, he contrasted this true Rider with the impostor on a white horse from Revelation 6:2 (whom Branham identified as the antichrist). The Revelation 19 rider, by contrast, is Faithful and True and embodies God’s Word in purity. Branham explained that when Christ appears in this role, “He’ll be riding on a snow white horse, and He’ll be completely, fully, the Emmanuel – the Word of God incarnate in a manchurchages.net. [Please note these are links that you can click on that will take you to the referenced quote]
In other words, Jesus returns as “the Word made flesh” (just as John 1:1,14 describes Christ) openly manifested as King. Bro. Branham noted that the white horse itself symbolizes the pure Word – unmixed with any falsehood – saying, “when Jesus comes, it’s on one solid-colored horse – the Word”churchages.net.
This “Word” title directly alludes to Revelation 19:13 (“…and His name is called The Word of God”), which Bro. Branham often quoted. He pointed out that unlike the deceptive antichrist (who has no true divine name and rides a deceptive white horse in Revelation 6), “the rider has no name, but Christ is called ‘The Word of God’”churchages.netchurchages.net. Thus, Bro. Branham centered the identity of Revelation 19’s Rider on Jesus Christ as the victorious Word of God.
Bro. Branham also tied this vision to the ancient prophecy of the “woman’s seed” triumphing over the serpent (Genesis 3:15). He taught that Jesus is the promised seed of the woman who finally conquers Satan. In a Q&A session on the Seals, he summarized the outcome: “The serpent’s seed… (the antichrist) winds up in death… The woman’s seed, Life, ends up on the white horse: Jesus Christ. See? …Serpent’s seed against the woman’s seed”williambranham.com. In other words, Christ on the white horse is the fulfillment of God’s promise of ultimate victory – the living Word defeating the devil’s kingdom. All of the titles in Revelation 19:11–16 (“Faithful and True,” “Word of God,” “King of Kings”) Bro. Branham applied to Jesus in His role as divine conqueror.
A Future Literal Second Coming (Not Merely a Present Spiritual Reality)
We must understand that there are two distinct comings of Christ in the last days.
The first is for His Bride—known as the Rapture—a secret coming when He gathers His redeemed to Himself and takes them to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
The second is with His Bride—the visible, public return of Christ as described in Revelation 19, when “every eye shall see Him.”
In this Second Coming, He appears as the mighty Warrior-King, descending with His saints to take dominion over the earth and to rule as the Son of David during the Millennial Reign.
Importantly, Bro. Branham placed this white-horse coming of Christ in the future, at the literal Second Coming and final battle – NOT as an ongoing spiritual event in the present church age. He taught that the Church (Bride) will be caught up to meet Christ before this event, and then return with Him in glory.
In his sermon on the First Seal, Bro. Branham explained that the Church is raptured by Revelation chapter 4 and “does not appear again until the 19th chapter, when [Christ] comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords with the Church.”churchages.net. In other words, Revelation 19:11–16 describes Christ’s public return with His redeemed saints, after the tribulation, to establish His Kingdom. Bro. Branham explicitly taught a sequence of Christ’s comings: “First coming, He came as a mortal to bleed and die… The second coming is the Rapture… His third coming He’s the incarnate God, God Emmanuel to reign on earth”churchages.net. This third phase – God incarnate reigning as King – corresponds to the Revelation 19 advent.
In fact, he states that the pale horse rider does not begin his ride until AFTER the Bride is raptured and only after he rides in the tribulation will Christ come on His white horse with power.
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Watch… Rides a pale horse as he appears on his ride, this last ride. He’s on his last now. Now, that is not in our day. That will be on down. It’s the Seal foretold. ‘Cause, see, the Church has done gone up when this happens.
195 When Christ appears here on earth, as–as this fellow appears and becomes completely, completely the devil… From antichrist all the way down to false prophet, then into the beast, the devil himself, and he’s riding on a pale horse, colored all up and mixed with all kinds of colors to make him pale and deathly.
But when our Lord appears here on earth, He will be riding on a snow white horse, and He will be completely, fully, the Emmanuel, the Word of God incarnate in a man.
Thus, Bro. Branham viewed the white-horse coming as Christ’s future physical return in power, not merely a symbolic or spiritual reign now.
Bro. Branham’s anticipation of this literal event is evident in his early sermons as well. Preaching in 1959, he prayed earnestly about “the time that we shall *see Him coming, riding on a white horse, coming down from the portals of glory to change and fashion these old corruptible bodies of ours into a glorious body like unto His own”churchages.net. He and his followers were “making preparation” and “waiting for His coming,” looking forward to Christ’s visible return when believers are transformed to be with Himchurchages.net. This demonstrates that Bro. Branham did not teach that Christ was already here on a white horse or that Revelation 19:11 was currently fulfilled; rather, he and his church were “anticipating” that future coming of the Lord in glory.
Indeed, Bro. Branham warned believers not to miss this Second Coming by misplacing it in the wrong time. He suggested some would be so focused on tribulation events that “the first thing you know, those tribulations will break in, and you’ll wonder where is… the Rapture. And it’ll be as it has been: it’s past and you didn’t know it”churchages.net. To Bro. Branham, the true Bride of Christ must be ready to go in the Rapture before the visible descent of Jesus on the white horse. Revelation 19, in his view, was firmly an end-time, post-rapture event – Christ coming with His Bride to execute judgment – rather than an allegory for Christ’s current work in the church. Any present spiritual victories of the Word in the church were, in Bro. Branham’s teaching, just a foretaste or forerunner to that coming physical triumph, not the actual fulfillment of Revelation 19.
“King of Kings” Revealed in Judgment (Armageddon Victory)
Bro. Branham linked Revelation 19:11–16 to the climax of Armageddon, when Christ will destroy the wicked and begin His 1,000-year reign. He often described a dramatic final conflict between Christ’s forces and Satan’s forces. According to Bro. Branham, by the end time Satan (the antichrist spirit) will have united political, religious, and demonic powers (the “mixed” pale horse of Revelation 6:8), gathering the nations to oppose Christchurchages.netchurchages.net. At that juncture, Jesus will descend from heaven on the white horse, with the armies of heaven following. Bro. Branham painted the scene in vivid terms: “Here comes Satan with all… his Protestants, and with his Catholics, all together, marching right up to the battle of Armageddon. And here comes Jesus coming down from Heaven with resurrected saints”churchages.net. The “armies which were in heaven” (Rev. 19:14) Bro. Branham interpreted as the resurrected, raptured believers returning with Christ in glory.
Note carefully in the following quote Bro. Branham states that Jesus in Revelation 19 is returning with the resurrected Saints. Thus this cannot be a past event, that Jesus in some way has already come, but Revelation 19 still lies in the future. He did not spiritualize this event.
129 Here comes Satan with all four corners of the earth with his Protestants, and with his Catholics, and all together, marching right up to the battle of Armageddon. All right. And here comes Jesus coming down from heaven with resurrected saints, vindicated Word. As I said, if God speaks to send you, He backs up what you say. Notice, if you’re an ambassador from heaven, all heaven is behind you. Heaven is consisted of the Word.
130 Notice now, He’s come with resurrected saints, vindicating that his Word is true (so Satan knows, then, the bottomless pit is ready for him, see. Oh, my!); while Death rode the pale horse—mixed creed and denominations—and followed him (oh, my), to eternal separation from God. That’s where he rode them to, eternal separation. Christ rode his church right into glory in the resurrection. – The Fourth Seal
Bro. Branham is clear that this great battle will be between “Death” the pale horse rider and “Life” the white horse rider of Revelation 19. This happens at Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation.
REVELATION 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
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310 Now, here they are joining themselves together, coming to that showdown to Armageddon and riding on a mixed colored horse, with one horse of white, one horse of red, one horse of black, the three different political–a–political power, spiritual power controlled by demon power which is the antichrist, mixing that all together, you got a pale, sickly looking thing he’s riding on. That’s right. Now, notice. Look what he’s riding on. This pale looking, grisled colored horse, mixed with black, red, and white, coming into the battle, gathering his subjects from every nation under heaven.
Did not Daniel interpret the dream and seen that streak of iron running to every kingdom, of Rome? Here they come, gathering. Now, set still for the close just a minute and listen close.
They’re gathering in now to do it, bringing his subjects from the four corners of the earth, riding a pale, sickly, three colored mixed horse: same man.
In Q&A on the Seals, he tells that the battle of Armageddon takes place when the tribulation period is ended.
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341 Would you please explain how Satan is bound a thousand years, being loosed again for the battle of Revelations 20 and 8.
That is not the battle of Armageddon. The battle of Armageddon takes place on this side (See? All right) at the–when the tribulation period is ended.
In the sermon Victory Day he tells that Armageddon is the final battle before the millennium.
63-0421 VICTORY.DAY_ SIERRA.VISTA.AZ SUNDAY_ 127 We talk about, we’ve had several wars, the wars and rumors of wars, and V-days, and V-days, and V-days. And it’ll finally wind up into the great battle of Armageddon. That’ll be the last of it. When she comes to the battle of Armageddon, that’ll settle the whole thing. Just before the great Millennium, Armageddon is to clean off the earth. She repurifies herself with this atomic blowing, and the volcanic ash and thing sinks this soaked blood of men and upon the earth, and sin and crime. She sinks beneath the earth, and the volcanic brays out again, and renews and cleans the earth for the great Millennium. He cleans His Church, during that time, for a people to live here. Amen. I–I say, I like that. Yes, sir. There’s coming a time when it’ll be great.
Here in this quote in Q&A #4, he gives the sequence of events following the rapture. When the bride is raptured, the seventh church age will cease, the tribulation begins, and at its end the battle of Armageddon destroys the world systems by the coming of the Groom with the bride and the Millennial reign begins.
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75 392. Ah… The church age ending and has blacked out, the Bride is called, we have already entered into the tribulation period?
No, no, no, you’re… I wished that I could just have more time on that. See, see? The Bride, when she’s taken from the church, then the church age will cease. Laodicea goes into chaos; the Bride goes to glory; and the tribulation period sets in upon the sleeping virgin for three and a half years while Israel is getting its prophecy; then tribulation sets in upon Israel; and then comes the battle of Armageddon which destroys all things. And then, the Bride returns back with the Groom for a thousand years, the Millennium reign; after that comes the white throne judgment; after that comes the new heavens and new earth and the new city coming down from God out of heaven. Eternity and time blends together.
Bro. Branham stressed that Christ’s title “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” will be openly demonstrated in this event. Jesus will come as a warrior-king to judge and conquer the antichrist world system. “He’s come with resurrected saints, vindicating that His Word is true… while Death rode the pale horse… to eternal separation from God. Christ rode His Church right into glory in the resurrection,” Bro. Branham preached, rejoicing in the outcomechurchages.net. In this victory, Christ the Word utterly defeats the enemy: Life follows the white-horse Rider (Christ), and death follows the deceiver. Bro. Branham explained that the “white” of Christ’s horse means unadulterated truth – “If He is the white horse, and He is the Word, then to mix anything with that… creed or denomination… perverts the whole thing”churchages.netchurchages.net. Thus at Armageddon Jesus comes as the pure Word to make war in righteousness, and His Word-backed power cannot be mixed or overcome. All who oppose Him are destroyed (Bro. Branham often noted how Revelation 19 later speaks of the birds eating the flesh of kings). Meanwhile, the saints sharing in Christ’s triumph prove the truth of His Word – their very resurrection and immortality vindicate Jesus as “Faithful and True”churchages.netchurchages.net.
Bro. Branham taught, this Revelation 19 Coming also fulfills multiple prophecies: Jesus arrives as “Emmanuel” (God with us) reigning on earth, as the promised “Son of David” taking His throne, and as the long-awaited victor over the beast and false prophet (who are cast into the lake of fire in Rev. 19:20). It initiates the Millennium where Christ rules with His saints. All of these are literal, tangible fulfillments in Bro. Branham’s view. He did not allegorize the white horse rider as merely the spread of the gospel or a figurative triumph. Rather, he eagerly expected the day when Christ will physically appear as the King of Kings. “We are looking for Him to come,” Bro. Branham said, “waiting for His coming… we shall see Him as He is”churchages.net. That visible return of Jesus as depicted in Revelation 19 was, for Bro. Branham, the ultimate hope of the Church and the grand finale of God’s plan.
Conclusion: Bro. Branham’s Emphasis on a Future, Physical Fulfillment
In summary, William Branham taught that Revelation 19:11–16 refers to Jesus Christ’s future literal coming in glory, not a symbolic present-day event. He consistently identified the white-horse Rider as Christ the Word of God, coming to claim authority as King of Kings. Bro. Branham’s sermons make it plain that this prophecy points to the Second Coming of Christ in power, specifically the moment after Christ’s Bride is raptured, when Jesus returns with His saints to execute judgment and begin His reignchurchages.netchurchages.net. “Christ… does not appear again until the 19th chapter,” Bro. Branham taught, “when He comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords with the Church”churchages.net.
There is no indication in Bro. Branham’s teaching that he viewed this white-horse coming as already spiritually fulfilled in the current age. On the contrary, he urged believers to look forward to and prepare for this coming event. He preached that the same Jesus who once rode a humble donkey into Jerusalem will ride the white horse of victory at the end of the age – and that every word of that scripture will be literally accomplished by the Lord. As Bro. Branham declared in faith: “We are thinking and anticipating the time we shall see Him coming, riding on a white horse, coming down from glory”churchages.net. For Bro. Branham and his followers, Revelation 19:11–16 was a sure prophecy of the imminent, literal return of Christ – the triumphant King and incarnate Word – rather than a metaphor already realized. All emphasis was on watching for that soon-coming King and rejoicing that “He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True… and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords
The New Administration and the Coming of the Word
The New Administration of this last age is not the fulfillment of Revelation 19:11–16.
That passage points to a future, literal event — the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ in a glorified, corporal body, coming with His Bride, not for her.
In the Rapture, Christ comes for His Bride — calling her out, changing her body, and taking her to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
But in Revelation 19, He returns with His Bride, riding upon a white horse as King of kings and Lord of lords, the Word made flesh manifested in power and glory to execute judgment and to reign.
That moment is still ahead — when Christ and His redeemed Bride will return from the Marriage Supper, descend upon the earth, and begin the Millennial Reign.
In that day He will appear as the Son of David, taking His rightful throne, ruling with His Queen, and fulfilling every promise of the Kingdom.
The change of administration we now speak of, therefore, is not that visible coming, but a spiritual transfer of authority — the Word moving from the denominational systems of Laodicea into the Bride, who now becomes His mouthpiece on earth.
She speaks what He speaks; she moves under His Headship; she is the Voice of the Word in this final age.
But the manifested King of Revelation 19 is yet to appear — and when He does, He will come in person, with His saints, to reign upon the earth.