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"FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT"
The Greek words for "BE FILLED with the Holy Spirit" (Eph
It was MORE OF JESUS that they were hungering after, and He did not
disappoint them, though the road was often narrow and winding. It was a path
that few cared to travel. But it was simply not enough to be Spirit- baptized
and speaking in tongues. They had to be ENDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH,-
baptized with the Holy Spirit AND WITH FIRE. And they had to see God glorified
in their day, in the most profound way possible. They could not bear to live
any longer, the way things were. Where was the power, where was the glory of
apostolic days? They took it upon themselves, and were almost driven onward by
God - to find out.
And so, with fastings and prayer, with agonizing travail and wrestlings such
as Jacob had with God, with ridding their lives not only of their sins, but of
their fleshly, soulish "WAYS" also - the ways of man's strength and
man's power,- they battled on, right into the very throneroom of God. And by
the time they got there they were truly broken and humbled men and women, true
possessors of 'clean hands and a pure heart'. And He met them there in the most
profound way. Tell me, friend, do you hunger and thirst after more of God? Is
it your one desire to love Him with ALL your heart and ALL your mind and ALL
your soul and ALL your strength? And do you desire to see Him glorified on the
earth to the highest possible degree? "And you shall seek me, and find me,
WHEN YOU SHALL SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART" (Jer 29:13).
SMITH WIGGLESWORTH.
Smith Wigglesworth was without doubt one of the most anointed men of God that
has lived in recent times. He was known as the Apostle of Faith, and if anyone
deserved to be described as "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost", it
was him. He lived and walked continually in the presence of God. And the
miracles that accompanied his ministry were of the sort that have seldom been
seen since the days of the apostles. People born blind and deaf, cripples -
twisted and deformed by disease, others on death's door with cancer or sickness
of every kind,- all were healed by the mighty power of God. Even the dead were
raised.
Born in 1859 into poverty, Smith Wigglesworth was converted by the
Methodists at eight years of age. Even then, he was hungry for God and hungry
for souls. He was in the choir of the local Episcopal church. "When most
of the boys in the choir were twelve years of age they had to be confirmed by
the bishop. I was not twelve, but between nine and ten, when the bishop laid
his hands on me. I can remember that as he imposed his hands I had a similar
experience to the one I had forty years later when I was baptized in the Holy
Spirit. My whole body was filled with the consciousness of God's presence, a
consciousness that remained with me for days. After the confirmation service
all the other boys were swearing and quarreling, and I wondered what had made
the difference between them and me." (Stanley Frodsham, 'Smith
Wigglesworth, Apostle of Faith', pg 13. -Most of the following quotes are also
taken from this excellent book).
Later, Wigglesworth was fully-immersed in water by the Baptists. But please
remember that all of his early years of ministry and seeking God came well
before the '
Smith Wigglesworth: "I had the grounding in Bible teaching among the
Plymouth Brethren. I marched under the blood and fire banner of the Salvation
Army, learning to win souls in the open air. I received the second blessing of
sanctification and a clean heart under the teaching of Reader Harris and the
Pentecostal League. I claimed the gift of the Holy Spirit by faith as I waited
ten days before the Lord. But in
After this experience, there was no stopping Smith Wigglesworth. He was a
flame for God, and the fire fell wherever he went. He said: "I believe
God's ministers are to be flames of fire. Nothing less than flames. Nothing
less than mighty instruments, with burning messages, with hearts full of love.
They must have a DEPTH OF CONSECRATION, that God has taken full charge of the
body, and it exists only that it may manifest the Glory of God. A Baptism into
death in which the person is purified and energized..." He was certainly
possessor of an audacity, a daring, a boldness the like of which has rarely
been seen in Christendom in modern times. It was not uncommon for him to
announce in his meetings: "Every sermon that Christ preached was prefaced
by a model miracle. We are going to follow His example. The first person in
this large audience that stands up, whatever his or her sickness, I'll pray for
that one and God will deliver him or her." And the first person to stand,
even if they were the most deformed cripple, would be healed!
On another typical occasion, a man came forward for prayer for stomach pain,
and, commanding the pain to be gone, Wigglesworth punched the man in the
stomach so hard that he was sent half-way across the room (completely healed)!
This kind of thing happened more than once. Wigglesworth believed in COMMANDING
the sick to be healed in Jesus' name. His was an aggressive, holy faith. He was
a "violent" man, taking ground from the devil by force. And yet he
was also a man of great compassion, as well as of great authority. The devil
certainly felt it when Smith Wigglesworth hit town!
A number of people were also raised literally from the dead under Smith's
ministry. Here is his own account of one occasion: "My friend said, 'She
is dead.' He was scared. I have never seen a man so frightened in my life.
'What shall I do?' he asked. You may think that what I did was absurd, but I
reached over into the bed and pulled her out. I carried her across the room,
stood her against the wall and held her up, as she was absolutely dead. I
looked into her face and said, 'In the name of Jesus I rebuke this death.' From
the crown of her head to the soles of her feet her whole body began to tremble.
'In the name of Jesus, I command you to walk,' I said. I repeated, 'In the name
of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, walk!' and she walked." (Pg 59). Not only
was this woman raised from the dead, but she was instantly healed from a
terrible illness also. She began to testify to people of her death experience
and restoration. It has been recorded that Smith Wigglesworth raised 23 people
from the dead in total, over the years of his ministry.
One time when Smith was waiting at a bus-stop, a woman was having trouble
getting her small dog, which had followed her, to go home. First she tried
sweet-talking it, and asking it to please go home. But after awhile of trying
this to no avail, the woman suddenly stamped her foot and said severely: 'Go
home at once!' The dog immediately took off home, with it's tail between it's
legs. 'That's how you have to treat the devil', said Wigglesworth, loudly
enough for all those waiting at the bus-stop to hear. And this was his attitude
toward the devil, every moment of every waking day. He literally travelled the
world in the 1920's and 1930's, and thousands were saved and healed everywhere
he went. Often he would arrive in a place almost unknown and unheralded, but
within days there would be thousands thronging to hear, the power of God
demonstrated in his meetings was so great. God was truly glorified everywhere
he went.
He was a man who walked and lived in the very presence of God. And yet, in
many ways he was a very natural, down-to-earth man. And neither was he afraid
of issuing the odd stern rebuke. His object was to be in constant, unbroken
communion with the Father. He had spent hours and days fervently seeking God in
his early years, but later, "Although his life was a combination of
incessant prayer and praise, and every word and work was an act of worship, he
was not given to protracted periods of fasting and prayer." (Pg 122).
Instead, he had learned the secret of being in continuous, intimate communion
with God (sometimes withdrawing quietly into himself for this purpose), even
when he was in a crowd of people. He walked by faith, and he was "in the
Spirit" at all times. This was one vital secret to his success. He said, "There
are two sides to this Baptism: The first is, you possess the Spirit; The second
is that the Spirit possesses you." (See 'The Life of Smith Wigglesworth'
by Jack Hywel-Davies). He had counted the cost, and everything was God's. He
was a man who truly understood GODLY AUTHORITY, and he WALKED in it by faith.
He said, "'Be filled with the Spirit,' ie., be CRAMMED with the Spirit, so
filled that there will be no room left for anything else." That was the
way he lived. Full of audacity, full of daring, "full of faith and of the
Holy Ghost."
On one occasion, he recalled, "I was travelling to Cardiff in South
Wales. I had been much in prayer on the journey. The carriage was full of
people whom I knew to be unsaved, but as there was so much talking and joking I
could not get in a word for my Master. As the train was nearing the station, I
thought I would wash my hands... and as I returned to the carriage, a man
jumped up and said, 'Sir, you convince me of sin,' and fell on his knees there
and then. Soon the whole carriage of people were crying out the same way. They
said, 'Who are you? What are you? You convince us all of sin'..." (Stanley
Frodsham, 'Smith Wigglesworth, Apostle of Faith', pg 80). This episode reminds
me very much of another bold, forthright and anointed evangelist - Charles G.
Finney, who had found after a mighty Baptism of the Holy Spirit some years
before, that even passing comments that he made pierced people to the heart
with conviction of sin. He had gone on to become one of the greatest Revivalists
of all time. (He died in 1875).
Smith Wigglesworth placed great emphasis on purity and holiness, like all
true Revivalists. He said, "You must every day make higher ground. You
must deny yourself to make progress with God. You must refuse everything that
is not pure and holy. God wants you pure in heart. He wants you to have an
intense desire after holiness... Two things will get you to leap out of
yourselves into the promises of God today. One is purity, and the other is
FAITH, which is kindled more and more BY PURITY." (Pg 125). This one
statement contains what is probably the key secret to Smith Wigglesworth's
outstanding success in God. And it is obviously a key that is well worth
remembering for us also. Another point to remember is that Smith was very aware
of the dangers of money, and guarded himself carefully against the possibility
of covetousness entering in. He was truly beyond reproach in this area also.
It is my belief that Smith Wigglesworth was a kind of direct
"forerunner" of the kind of ministries that are about to arise in our
day. I believe that the coming apostolic ministries, who will be bearers of
true Revival in these last days, will combine the daring, miracle-working faith
of a Smith Wigglesworth with the deeply convicting 'repentance' preaching of a
Charles Finney. And they will move under a mighty anointing that combines the
best of both of these types of ministries. What glorious days these will be!
Smith Wigglesworth himself died in 1946 at the ripe old age of 87, a flame of
God to the very end. May he be an example to us all.
JOHN G. LAKE.
John G. Lake was known as God's "Apostle to Africa". Born in Canada
in 1870, his family soon relocated to the United States, where he grew up. His
healing and preaching ministry spanned the years 1898 (when he saw his wife
instantly healed under the ministry of John Alexander Dowie) until his death in
1935. In 1908, God sent him to Africa, where his anointed miracle ministry
resulted in what has been described as "the most extensive and powerful
missionary movement in all Africa." As Gordon Lindsay wrote, "during
that time he spent five history-making years in South Africa, engaged in a
ministry which in some respects rivalled that of the Early Church." Upon
his return to America, Lake established a ministry in Spokane, Washington which
resulted in no less than 100,000 astounding miracles of healing within the
space of five or six years. He then established a similar work in Portland,
Oregon, which also attracted widespread attention.
Like Smith Wigglesworth, John G. Lake had already experienced mighty
breakthroughs, powerful anointings and a real calling from God for many years
before Azusa Street and the Pentecostal Revival. The following is a condensed
account of the spiritual hunger and preparation that Lake was taken through by
God, near the beginning of the most anointed period of his ministry. (Taken
from the book, 'John G. Lake - Apostle to Africa', compiled by Gordon Lindsay,
and told in Lake's own words):
"Eight years passed after God revealed Jesus the Healer to me. I had
been practicing the ministry of healing. During that eight years every answer
to prayer, every miraculous touch of God, every response of my own soul to the
Spirit had created within me a more intense longing for an intimacy and a
consciousness of God, like I felt the disciples of Jesus and the primitive
church had possessed... Shortly after my entrance into the ministry of healing,
while attending a service where the necessity for the Baptism of the Spirit was
presented, as I knelt in prayer and reconsecration to God, an anointing of the
Spirit came upon me. Waves of Holy Glory passed through my being, and I was
lifted into a new realm of God's presence and power. After this, answers to prayer
were frequent and miracles of healing occurred from time to time. I felt myself
on the borderland of a great spiritual realm, but was unable to enter in fully,
so my nature was not satisfied with the attainment..." (Pg 16).
"Hundreds, and hundreds of people were healed by the power of God
during these ten years. But at the end of that ten years, I believe I was the
hungriest man for God that ever lived. There was such a hunger for God that as
I left my offices in Chicago, and walked down the street, my soul would break
out, and I would cry, 'Oh God!' I have had people stop and look at me, and
wonder. It was the yearning passion of my soul, asking for God in a greater
measure than I knew. But my friends would say, 'Mr. Lake, you have a beautiful
Baptism of the Holy Ghost.' Yes, it was nice as far as it went, but it was not
answering the cry of my heart. I was growing up into a larger understanding of
God, and my own soul's need. My soul was demanding a greater entrance into God,
His love, Presence, and Power. And then one day an old man strolled into my
office, sat down, and in the next half hour, he revealed more of the knowledge
of God to my soul than I had ever known before. When he left I said, '... God,
if that is what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues does, I am going to
possess it.' Oh the wonder of God, that was then revealed to my heart!..."
"Finally I was led to set aside certain hours of the day that I
dedicated to God, as times of meditation, and prayer. Thus a number of months
passed, until one morning as I knelt praying, the Spirit of the Lord spoke
within my spirit, and said, "Be patient until autumn." My heart
rejoiced in this encouragement and I continued my practice of meditation and
prayer as formerly. It became easy for me to detach myself from the course of
life, so that while my hands and mind were engaged in the common affairs of
every day, my spirit maintained its attitude of communion with God... I said,
'God, if you will baptize me in the Holy Spirit, and give me the power of God,
nothing shall be permitted to stand before me and a hundred-fold obedience.'
"I prayed for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit for nine months, and if a
man ever prayed honestly, and sincerely in the faith, I did. Finally one day I
was ready to throw up my hands, and quit. I said, 'Lord, it may be for others,
but it is not for me. You just cannot give it to me.' I did not blame God. One
night a gentleman by the name of Pierce said, 'Mr. Lake, I have been wishing
for a long time you would come over, and we would spend a night in prayer
together. We have been praying for the Baptism for a whole year and there is
not one of us baptized yet. Brother, I do not believe that you are either, so
we can pray for one another." I was so hungry to pray, so I went with all
intentions of praying for the rest, but I had not been praying five minutes
until the light of God began to shine around me, I found myself in a center of
an arc of light ten feet in diameter, the whitest light in all the universe. So
white! Oh how it spoke of purity. The remembrance of that whiteness, that
wonderful whiteness, has been the ideal that has stood before my soul, of the
purity of the nature of God ever since.
"Then a Voice began to talk to me out of that light. There was no form.
And the Voice began to remind me of this incident, and that incident of
disobedience to my parents, from a child; of my obstinacy, and dozens of
instances when God brought me up to the line of absolutely putting my body,
soul, and spirit upon the altar forever. I had my body upon the altar for ten
years, and I had been a minister of the Gospel. But when the Lord comes, He
opens to the soul the depths that have never been touched in your life. Do you
know that after I was baptized in the Holy Ghost, things opened up in the
depths of my nature that had remained untouched in all my life, and that which
was shadowy, distant, and hazy became real. God got up close and let His light
shine into me.
"Shortly after this experience, one afternoon a brother minister called,
and invited me to accompany him to visit a lady who was sick. Arriving at the
home we found the lady in a wheel chair. All her joints were set with
inflammatory rheumatism. She had been in the condition for ten years...While my
friend was conversing with her, preparing her to be prayed with, that she might
be healed, I sat in a deep chair on the opposite side of a large room. My soul
was crying out to God in a yearning too deep for words, when suddenly it seemed
to me, that I had passed under a shower of warm tropical rain, which was not
falling upon me, but through me. My spirit, and soul and body under this
influence soothed into such a deep still calm, as I had never known. My brain,
which had always been so active, became perfectly still. An awe of the presence
of God settled over me. I knew it was God.
"Some moments passed; I do not know how many. The Spirit said, 'I have
heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. You are now Baptized in the Holy
Spirit.' Then currents of power began to rush through my being from the crown
of my head to the soles of my feet. The shocks of power increased in rapidity,
and voltage. As these currents of power would pass through me, they seemed to
come upon my head, rush through my body, and through my feet into the floor...
Even at this late date, the awe of that hour rests upon my soul. My experience
has truly been as Jesus said that He shall be within you 'a well of water,
springing up into everlasting life.' That never-ceasing fountain has flowed
through my spirit, soul, and body day, and night, bringing salvation, and
healing, and the Baptism of the Spirit in the power of God to multitudes.
"Shortly after my Baptism in the Holy Spirit, a working of the Spirit
commenced in me, that seemed to have for it's purpose the revelation of the
nature of Jesus Christ to me and in me. Through this tuition and remolding of
the Spirit a great tenderness for mankind was to awaken in my soul. I saw
mankind through new eyes. They seemed to me as wandering sheep, having strayed
far, in the midst of confusion, groping and wandering hither and thither. They
had no definite aim and did not seem to understand what the difficulty was or
how to return to God. The desire to proclaim the message of Christ, and
demonstrate His power to save and bless, grew in my soul until my life was
swayed by this overwhelming passion." (Pg 16-20).
"I found that my life began to manifest in the varied range of the
gifts of the Spirit. I spoke in tongues by the power of God, and God flowed
through me with a new force. Healings were of a more powerful order. Oh, God
lived in me; God manifested in me; God spoke through me. My spirit was
energized. I had a new comprehension of God's will, a new discernment of
spirit, and a new revelation of God in me.
"Then a new wonder manifested. My nature became so sensitized, that I
could lay hands on any man, or woman, and tell what organ was diseased, and to
what extent, and all about it. I tested it. I went into hospitals where
physicians could not diagnose a case, touched a patient, and instantly I knew
the organ that was diseased, its extent, condition, and location. And one day
it passed away. A child plays with a toy, and his joy is so wonderful, he
sometimes forgets to eat."
Before obeying the call into full-time ministry, Lake felt the need to
dispose of his very successful business interests. He sold everything, giving
the money to God's work, and embarked on full-time ministry with a heart full
of the fire of God. Soon afterward, when he was ministering in a city in
Northern Illinois, God spoke to him clearly and distinctly: "Go to
Indianapolis. Prepare for winter campaign. Get a large hall. In the Spring you
will go to Africa."
John G. Lake continues: "One morning when I came down to breakfast, I
found my appetite had disappeared. I could not eat. I went about my work as
usual. At dinner I had no desire to eat, and no more in the evening. This went
on till the third day. But toward the evening of the third day, an overwhelming
desire to pray took possession of me. I wanted only to be alone to pray. Prayer
flowed from my soul like a stream. I could not cease praying. As soon as it was
possible to get to a place of seclusion, I would kneel to pour out my heart to
God for hours. Whatever I was doing, that stream of prayer continued flowing
from my soul ... On the night of the sixth day of this fast, that the Lord had
laid on me, while in the act of washing my hands, the Spirit said, 'How long
have you been praying to cast out demons?' and I replied, 'Lord a long time.'
And the Spirit said, 'From henceforth, thou shalt cast out demons.' I arose and
praised God." (Pg 21). An opportunity to test this newly-given anointing
to cast out demons came the following Sunday, when a violently insane man was
brought to Lake, who commanded the demon to come out of him in Jesus' name. The
man was instantly delivered, and two days later was released from the
institution that he had been confined in.
In April 1908, Lake and his family left for South Africa. Though they had no
visible means of support, they were miraculously provided for every step of the
way. And thus began a tremendous Revival, with mighty healings, miracles and
deliverances, which was to profoundly impact the African continent for years to
come, even long after Lake was gone. In 1913, following the tragic death of his
wife, Lake returned to America, but by this time the torch had also been passed
on to Elias Letwaba and others in Africa, and the work went on there, in great
power. Lake continued his ministry in North America until his death in 1935,
and like Smith Wigglesworth, he fought an outstanding fight and ran a great
race, right to the very end.
W.V. GRANT, Snr.
A number of great healing evangelists have been led by God to "fast and
pray" for quite long periods in order to break through into greater realms
of anointing and communion with God. W.V.Grant Sr, who was a mightily used and
anointed man of God from mid-way through last century, was one such evangelist.
Before coming into his full ministry anointing, he was one who spent all his
spare time with Jesus in the secret place. This man constantly sought God, and
fasted on the weekends. He read many books of God's servants in the past and
studied his Bible day and night. He would pray for a couple of days until he
got answers. He would not leave his prayer room until he got an answer from
God. This and Christian work was virtually his lifestyle for fourteen years.
He had already received the baptism in the Holy Spirit fourteen years
earlier, and he spoke in tongues. "Yet, I felt like I had a bow without an
arrow, a car without a battery, or a boat without a paddle. I read how Peter
did it, but I could not do it. I had the highway map. I was on the right road,
but on the wrong side." (W.V. Grant, 'Searching for the Supernatural', pg
6). "I prayed around the altar. I fasted three days at a time. I testified
about a supernatural God. I told people that I had the Holy Ghost. I spoke in
tongues to prove it. All the time my heart was crying out, Where are all the
miracles the Bible tells us about?" (Pg 2).
"I was a director over 13 churches... I saw people saved, filled with
the Holy Ghost with other tongues. I saw a few people healed. I preached that
we had the Pentecostal power. But where were the results we saw in the early
church after Pentecost?... I read about 200 books written by Godly men. I read
every word in the Pentecostal Evangel for years... After I fasted three days I
still felt empty. That longing surely can be satisfied in some way? Who was
putting that longing and searching in my soul?" (Pg 3).
"What was I waiting for? Nothing else mattered to me. I wanted to see
His Glory. I wanted to see His Miracles. I wanted to see the dead raised. I
wanted to see the devils cast out. I wanted to see the deaf, blind, and the
mute made whole. Did not God say in the last days the lame man would leap as a
hart, the tongue of the dumb would sing, and the eyes of the blind would be
opened? (Isaiah 35:5)... John said in Luke 3:16, 'He shall Baptize you with the
Holy Spirit and with FIRE'... It was fourteen years after I received the Holy
Ghost and tongues before I received the Holy Ghost and power." (Pg 13).
"If God has called you into a full time ministry of healing the sick
and casting out devils He usually gives you time to give yourselves to fasting
and prayer... Then one night to my surprise the Lord appeared to me and told me
to go on a seven day fast, which I was willing to do. After the fast was over
the Lord appeared to me. I heard the angels singing a song I had never heard. I
wrote it down. It was beautiful! It was like heaven. Then an angel just above
my head spoke these words, 'In My name shall ye cast out devils, ye shall lay
hands on the sick and they shall recover.' As I began to eat I felt something
like an electric current run out at the ends of my fingers and down to the
bottom of my feet. The fire of God was all through my body!" (W.V. Grant
Sr, 'Must I Fast for Forty Days', pg's 20, 36, 37):-
"But on the last day just about break of day, the Holy Spirit began to
speak to me. Mark 16:17-18 - 'These signs shall follow them that believe. In My
name shall you cast out devils, they shall take up serpents, if they drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover'... I got up, and walked, and my feet were burning like they
were connected to a high voltage wire. The Holy Spirit, and Fire was running
all through my whole body from my head to my toes. It seemed like all my
strength had been drained out of me, and the strength of Christ had taken its
place. For several years since, devil's have been cast out, and people healed.
"I had the Holy Spirit for years, but it seemed that now, I was not
only filled, but baptized with zeal, compassion, and with the divine nature of
Jesus, with virtue, and with the fire... If you feel like the Lord has called
you into a special ministry of casting out devils, then remember this: There
are many more things which are just as necessary as fasting. Fasting within
itself will not be sufficient... But when I was called to fast, it was just as
real as being called to preach. I was conscious of the fast, that it was the
Lord's doing and not my own... It takes a longer fast for one man to be brought
to the place where he is yielded to the Lord enough to receive certain gifts in
his life than it does for other men. It took a certain amount of days for me to
fast and to become so yielded to the Lord; it seemed that all my strength left
my body, and the Lord's strength came into its place! Then I felt the virtue
and divine nature, and the fire of the Holy Ghost dwelling in my body, which
gave me power to meet devils and to cast them out.
"But I still have to be led by the Lord when and how to do it. It is
not myself that doeth the works but the Father that dwelleth in me. God will
not trust you with a ministry if you do not know the leading of the Spirit. I
have talked personally to several evangelists whom God has called into a
supernatural ministry. None of them went on forty day fasts without any food.
Since God has given other people ministries of deliverance without a long fast
you can take courage and believe for a ministry without fasting forty
days..."
EVER-GROWING FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
In Acts 2:1-4, we read of the tremendous initial outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon 120 of Jesus' followers at Pentecost. However, soon afterward we
also read of the gathering of believers in Jerusalem (now numbering in the
thousands), where they prayed for boldness and SIGNS AND WONDERS, that God
might be truly glorified (Acts 4:29-30). And we read that, "When they had
prayed, the place was SHAKEN where they were assembled together. And they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the word of God with
boldness" (v 31). There had already been one mighty outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, but now they received another, just when they needed it most, and now
more than ever, SIGNS, MIRACLES AND WONDERS followed them wherever they went.
Jesus said to His disciples: "HEAL THE SICK, CLEANSE THE LEPERS, RAISE
THE DEAD, CAST OUT DEVILS: freely you have received, freely give" (Mt
10:7-8).And He also told them, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions, and OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY" (Lk 10:19).
"He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and GREATER
WORKS THAN THESE shall he do." (Jn 14:12).
As the Scriptures and also Revival history clearly show, a man or woman of
God must often spend years in a "wilderness" of obscurity before they
truly come into their ministry. This will often be a place of barrenness,
"WAITING" and preparation where they must overcome and endure - all
the while being molded and trained by God - if they are ever to reach their
godly potential in anointing and empowerment from 'on high'. While others
concentrate on their careers, or busy themselves with building tidy little
ministries along the usual predictable lines (which often need little of God to
succeed), these men and women are called away into the secret place with God,
from whence they will emerge broken but fired with an unshakeable resolve,
humbled but never cast down. There have always been many called, but few
chosen. As the apostle Paul wrote: "This one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I PRESS toward the mark for the PRIZE of the HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST
JESUS." (Philipp 3:13-14). God often prepares such vessels for many years,
largely hidden from view, before unleashing them upon the world. And then
suddenly they appear, as if from nowhere, to bring glory to their God, to rout
the devil in His name, and to raise His standard in the earth once again. From
such 'mighty men and women of valour', true Revivals are born.
MARIA WOODWORTH-ETTER.
Born in 1844, Maria Woodworth-Etter lived in Lisbon, Ohio. God called her to
preach at a time when people did not believe that women should preach. In fact,
at this time women were not even allowed to vote. She saw the death of her
little children one by one until she decided to obey Jesus Christ and go and
preach the Gospel. It has been recorded that she had one of the most powerful
ministries and anointings - with astounding healings, miracles and wonders -
that has ever been documented in the history of the church.
Reports state that she would come into a town after sleeping in a tent, and
within days there would be approximately 20,000 people in her meetings. At
times, God would give people working in the fields in a fifty-mile radius
around her meetings visions of heaven and hell, and they would fall to the
ground under tremendous conviction. It was like a "blanket" anointing
that would come down upon the whole area. It has been reported that for whole
blocks around her meetings, people would be falling to the ground and
repenting.
The following extracts are taken from the book, 'A Diary of Signs and Times'
by Maria Woodworth-Etter:
"At one time I was praying for the salvation of sinners, and the
Saviour appeared on the cross by me, and talked with me; I laid my hand on his
mangled body, and looked up in his smiling face. Another time I was meditating
upon the love of God in giving his only Son to die for sinners, and of the
beautiful home he was preparing for those who love him, and I seemed to float
away, and was set down in the Beautiful City. Oh, the glorious sight that met
my view can never be expressed by mortal tongue!" (Pg 25).
"In all my sickness and trouble the ministers and people came from the
different churches in the town and had a prayer-meeting in my room. They prayed
in the churches for my recovery. I was willing to die and leave my little girl
and boy, feeling that God would care for them, but the work God was calling me
to do loomed up before me. All these years God had been preparing me - for I
was not willing. I felt like a worm in his sight. I promised God that if he
would restore my health, and prepare me, and show me the work, I would try to
do it; I began to get better immediately.
"I was very timid, and bound as with chains in a man-fearing spirit.
When I arose to testify I trembled like a leaf, and began to make excuses - O
God, send someone else! Then the Lord in a vision caused me to see the
bottomless pit open in all its horror and woe. There was weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth. It was surrounded by a great multitude of people who
seemed unconscious of their danger, and without a moments warning they would
tumble into this awful place. I was above the people on a narrow plank-walk,
which wound up toward heaven; and I was exhorting and pleading with the people
to come upon the plank and escape that awful place. Several started. There was
a beautiful bright light above me, and I was encouraging them to follow that
light and they would go straight to heaven.
"In all these trials God was preparing me and opening the way for the
great battle against the enemy of souls and now the great desire of my heart
was to work for Jesus. I longed to win a star for the Savior's crown. Sometimes
when the Spirit of God was striving and calling so plainly, I would yield and
say, 'Yes, Lord; I will go.' The glory of God came upon me like a cloud, and I
seemed to be carried away hundreds of miles and set down in a field of wheat,
where the sheaves were falling all around me. I was filled with zeal and power,
and felt as if I could stand before the whole world and plead with dying
sinners. It seemed to me that I must leave all and go at once. Then Satan would
come in like a flood and say, 'You would look nice preaching, being a
gazing-stock for the people to make sport of. You know you could not do it.'
Then I would think of my weakness and say, 'No; of course I cannot do it.' Then
I would be in darkness and despair. I wanted to run away from God, or I wished
I could die; but when I began to look at the matter in this way, that God knew
all about me, and was able and willing to qualify me for the work, I asked Him
to qualify me for the work. I ASKED HIM TO QUALIFY ME.
"I want the reader to understand, that at this time I had a good
experience, a pure heart, was full of the love of God, but was not qualified
for God's work. I knew that I was but a worm. God would have to take a worm to
thresh a mountain. Then I asked God to give me the power he gave the Gallilean
fishermen - to anoint me for service. I came like a child asking for bread. I
looked for it... God did not disappoint me. The power of the Holy ghost came
down like a cloud. It was brighter than the sun. I was covered and, wrapped in
it. I was baptized with the Holy Ghost, and Fire, and power, which has never
left me. There was liquid fire, and the angels were all around me in fire and
glory."
"I thought I would go through a course of study and prepare for the
work, thinking the Lord would make my husband and people willing in some way to
let me go out and work. But I could not get my mind fixed on my study.
Everything seemed empty and vacant, and I was restless and uneasy... The dear Saviour
stood by me one night in a vision and talked face to face with me, and asked
what I was doing on earth. I felt condemned, and said, 'Lord, I am going to
work in thy vineyard.' The Lord said, 'When?' and I answered, 'When I get
prepared for the work.' Then the Lord said to me, 'Don't you know that while
you are getting ready, souls are perishing? Go now, and I will be with you.'
"I told Him that I could not talk to the people; I did not know what to
say, and they would not listen to me. Jesus said, 'You can tell the people what
the Lord has done for your soul; tell of the glory of God and the love of
Jesus. Tell sinners to repent and prepare for death and the judgment, and I
will be with you.' Still I made one excuse after another, and Jesus would answer,
'Go, and I will be with you'... Then Jesus said again, 'Go, and I will be with
you.' I cried, 'Lord, I will go. Where shall I go?' And Jesus said, 'Go here,
go there, wherever souls are perishing.' Praise the Lord for his wonderful
goodness in revealing his word and will in such a wonderful way, to such a poor
weak worm of the dust. I saw more in that vision than I could have learned in
years of hard study. Praise His Holy Name. I saw that I must not depend on
anything that I could do, but to look to Him for strength and wisdom."
(Pg. 26-29).
JAMES DUNN.
James Dunn was another mightily-anointed evangelist from the middle of last
century. It has been reported that he had an anointing of similar power to the
famous William Branham, incredible though this may seem. Dunn had been
desperately seeking more of God and his giftings for some time, when the Holy
Spirit told him to pray to be FILLED WITH JESUS and he would also receive the
gifts. Jesus spoke to him: 'Don't pray for the gifts. Pray to be more like Me.'
"I pastored the Pentecostal Holiness church there for two years before
this ministry came to me. I had been fasting, and praying, and I had been
reminding God. I believe God wants us to remind Him about the promises He has
made to us, to call his attention to them. So I was reminding God that when I
was employed in a responsible position for the government, we gave our men the
best tools on earth possible to work with, so that they could do their job
right. I told God that if we as mere human beings could give good tools to our
laborers, how much better tools could He give us to work for the Kingdom of
Christ. I continued praying in that way, and begging God for the gifts. Just
imagine! I would cry: the tears rolling down my face. I would fast until the
preachers in Princeton remarked that my clothes hung on me like a sack, because
I had lost so much weight. They thought that the clothes had belonged to
someone else. I don't know how many pounds I did lose. I was way down in weight.
"One day I was just in a big way of praying; tears streaming down my
face as I was alone before God. I was asking Him again to give me the gifts of
the Spirit. A voice spoke to me and said, 'Just a minute.' And I stopped, and a
voice spoke again, and said, 'DON'T BEG FOR THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT, PRAY TO BE
MORE LIKE ME.' I said, Why Jesus, I had never thought of it in that manner,
what do you mean, pray to be more like you? And the voice said to me, 'THE
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT WILL OPERATE IN YOUR LIFE, IF YOU ARE FULL OF JESUS.' So I
began to pray that I would be just exactly like Jesus.
"It wasn't long after that my wife saw a golden ball floating down the
hall, and it floated into the door, and just as she woke me up, it disappeared.
Shortly after that, one night I was in a state of prayer, my wife was asleep,
it was about 11:00 o'clock. I said, 'God, I am ready to die if it takes that,
to have a better ministry of Jesus Christ! I am not able to do the job
properly!'" (W.V Grant Sr, 'Gifts of the Spirit in the Home', Pg. 24-25:
'Experience of Rev. James Dunn of Princeton, West Virginia').
"Then one night while I was lying in bed and my wife was asleep,
something happened. I was meditating on the glories and graciousness of God,
and upon the things I needed from Him, and all at once, the Great Presence of
God began to flood into the room. He came in such a supernatural way that the
room was filled with His Glory. A great feeling of ecstasy and glory swept over
me, and saturated my very body, mind, and soul. I began to get afraid, because
when you get that close to God, something happens to you. I began to draw back
from this Wonderful Force, and when I did it left. Then I realized I had made a
mistake in drawing back. The next few days, I began to pray as I had never
prayed. In about 3 or 4 nights I was lying in the bed again and I was
meditating and praising the Lord, and asking Him for help and power in my life.
All at once, this great feeling began to come into the room again.
"The very room and atmosphere lighted up. There didn't seem to be any
room for me there any longer, because God so completely filled the place. As I
lay there, I lost all movement of my body other than my eyes. The Great Force
of God moved down across my bed, and overshadowed me, and I felt the strangest,
and most wonderful feeling. From my very fingertips, it began to move into my
hands, and up my arms. I felt as if I were holding 220 volts in each hand, and
it began to surge back and forth through my body. Then and there in that room,
while this was taking place the old me was leaving, and the new me was coming
in.
"From that night on my life was different. Many remarked how completely
my ministry had changed. I had a positive message - a message, that had fire in
it. God talked to me, and told me that if I would preach the message of
deliverance, He would heal the sick. He would give me the Power to cast out
devils. As I listened to this COMMISSION from the Lord, His power surged
through me, and my arm happened to touch my wife's body, and it almost caused
her to jump completely out of the bed. That night God began doing things. He
revealed to me the people's conditions and diseases through the mighty Spirit
of discernment. I found I was a different individual. God showed me things that
I thought were impossible for a person to see or understand. He would show me
the individual that was suffering, what they had, and He would direct me to
them. After I had prayed for them, they would be healed of every disease.
"Now this particular period is the three different times that angels
appeared unto me to do the Lord's bidding. When I was in a revival, after I had
gone on the evangelistic field, after my call into this particular type of
ministry... I was taken up by the Lord into a high place, and I looked out
across a deep blue, beautiful sea of water. I saw two great eagles flying
toward me in the distance, and as they approached closer, I marveled at their
size. Finally they got close to me and they were flying so fast, I said, My, I didn't
think anything could fly that fast. Why those aren't eagles, those are angels
of God. They got close to me, and began to dive like two great airplanes, one
after the other. They just folded their wings, and dived down, down, down
toward that blue sea. Oh, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
They dived into this sea to catch fish there. A voice spoke to me, and said
these were the angels that would go with me into the world, into all portions
of the world, to gather the fish (or to gather men), that he would make me a
fisher of men, and angels would help me; they would protect me, and keep the
evil one from me; they would help me win the souls of men for Jesus Christ's
Kingdom. Many times in our meetings across the nation people have seen these
angels beside me." ('James Dunn, Sign Gift Ministry' by W.V. Grant Sr).
James Dunn was one of those men of God (a little different from Smith
Wigglesworth) who believed in the absolute necessity of regular FASTING for the
continued effectiveness of his ministry: "Fasting keeps the spirit strong
and tends to keep the spirit, and give it control over the body. When a person
fasts, and brings their body into travail before God, their spirit becomes
stronger, and in harmony with God. So I find that in fasting, it gives me
greater power to pray with people, or for people's diseases. It gives me
greater power with God to preach the word, and the revivals are a greater
success. I feel that if a man should ever quit fasting, he is losing out in his
ministry, and in his life for God. 'When you are weak then you are strong.'
This is a separated life. God showed me at the very beginning of this ministry,
that it was a separated life, that I must spend many hours fasting, praying,
meditating, and staying before the Lord." ('James Dunn, Sign Gift
Ministry' by W.V. Grant Sr).
THOSE THAT HAD THE FULNESS BUT FELL IN THEIR WALKS
It is time now to look at some of the anointed men of God who won many
battles against Satan, only to be defeated by him in the very end. It is from
the lives of these men that we can learn some of the most important lessons
related to this form of ministry.
John Alexander Dowie was born in Scotland in 1847, but spent much of his early
life in Australia. He was a fighter in the true sense, boldly battling the sin
and compromise he found all around him - even as a young minister in Australia.
In later years, particularly after his move to Chicago in the United States, he
became probably the most renowned pioneer of Divine Healing worldwide, and by
the turn of the century had become known to millions around the world. In his
early years of outstanding success in Chicago, where the power of God was being
constantly demonstrated, and hundreds were being healed of every affliction, it
seemed as if the devil was summoning every demon from hell to attack and
somehow bring him down. He was arrested over 100 times on trumped-up charges,
ceaselessly attacked by the most prominent media men in the city, and he even
suffered street-riots and attempts upon his life. (-On one notable occasion,
when he had been suddenly warned by a voice from God to leave his office, he
narrowly averted being blown to pieces by a powerful bomb that had been planted
there). Eventually, he won through, with credibility intact (in fact, greatly
enhanced despite all the controversy), and became God's most effective champion
of Divine Healing in America up to that point.
Tragically however, when the early years of constant battle were done, and a
time of relative peace and prosperity settled in upon him, this daring fighter
who had brought healing to America, ended up being deluded by the devil into
dressing in High-Priestly robes and thinking that he was Elijah the prophet.
After this, the end could not be afar off, and John Alexander Dowie died in
comparitive ignominy several years later, an ill and broken man - a shadow of
his former self - having lost his ministry and literally everything he owned.
How one of God's greatest fighters could come to such a tragic end, is
something that should be an object lesson to us all.
The quotations used here are almost all taken from the book, 'John Alexander
Dowie - A life story of Trials, Tragedies and Triumphs' by Gordon Lindsay:
As with many men of God who are being prepared for a mighty ministry, God
had used the early years of Dowie's Christian walk as a "toughening-
up" or training period. Dowie's many struggles and pitfalls, plus the harsh
spiritual 'wilderness' and obscurity of Australia, were used to mold and break
him, bringing a great hunger and seeking after God. As Gordon Lindsay wrote in
the Introduction to his book on Dowie, "when any man is chosen of God to
be used in an unusual manner, God permits him to go through a training period,
which sometimes includes trials and tribulations of the most severe
nature." He said that when Dowie first set foot on American soil at the
age of 41, he was almost completely unknown, but that when the healing
anointing that he had received from God was recognized, and God's perfect
timing came, John Alexander Dowie rose to in- ternational prominence with
astonishing abruptness, as one of God's great leaders of that period. Lindsay
wrote of the decline of Dowie that, "it was at that moment when he began
to engage in secular activities, and departed from the simplicity of his
earlier days, that his decline began."
John Alexander Dowie is described as, "a reformer who, fighting against
the greatest of odds, single-handily challenged the apostasy of his time, and
succeeded in bringing to the attention of the Church visible, if not to its
acceptance, the message of the Gospel of healing - a message of deliverance for
the whole man, body, soul and spirit... Against overwhelming opposition, a
hostile press, bitterly opposed clergymen, antagonistic city officials,
unscrupulous lawyers... he fought for and maintained the right to pray for the
sick. Despite the fiercest persecution, numerous illegal arrests - as many as
one hundred in a year - he outwitted and foiled his enemies, and succeeded in
bringing to the attention of the world, the great truth that Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, and today, and forever." (Pg 3-4). And all through
this period, numerous documented, outstanding miracles of healing were taking
place under his ministry.
Please remember how NEW all this was at the time. Today, the things that
Dowie fought for are taken for granted throughout the Christian world, but in
those days there were basically NO SUCH THINGS as healing ministries or healing
evangelists. Dowie was a pioneer, an instrument of God who paved the way for
what was to follow, just like many Christian Reformers down through the ages.
However, the days of needing to constantly battle gradually drew to an end,
and because of his newfound success and the relative prosperity of his
ministry, Dowie eventually made the tragic mistake of relaxing his guard. As
Gordon Lindsay noted, "Middle age is a dangerous period and not a few succumb
to the temptation at that time of life to spiritually relax (something quite
different to physical relaxation). The great difference between Dr. Dowie and
others was that he had become a world leader whose actions were watched by the
eyes of multitudes." (Pg 195).
"In the days of adversity, John Alexander Dowie learned to lean heavily
upon God. When every other resource failed him, he abandoned his life to the
mercy and graciousness of God. But AFTER SUCCESS HAD COME, when thousands of
people ALMOST IDOLIZED HIM, he apparently did not feel so strongly that same
need. He allowed himself to become so very busy... A fateful mistake! How many
sorrows would John Alexander Dowie have saved himself had he taken the time to
get the mind of God on decisions which were so all important? How many fatal
mistakes men of God have made because THEY DID NOT PAUSE TO TAKE COUNSEL WITH
THE LORD WHEN THEY HAD SOME VITAL DECISION TO MAKE?" (Pg 194).
As Paul Billheimer wrote, "The sands of time are strewn with the wrecks
of the broken lives of many, who were once mightily used of God, but who
suffered shipwreck upon the rocks of SPIRITUAL PRIDE."
In his early days in Chicago, certain people had approached Dowie with what
they claimed as a "direct revelation from God" that Dowie was, in
fact, 'Elijah the Restorer', the great end-times prophet. For their trouble,
Dowie immediately rebuked them soundly and dismissed them from his presence,
warning them never to mention such things to him again. However, the suggestion
that had been planted that day kept ringing in his ears. "According to his
own testimony, he tried to rid himself of it, but could not. A voice seemed to
say, 'Elijah must come, and who but you is doing the work of Elijah?' Time
passed. Then one day there came flooding into his consciousness a strange and
intense conviction that he was indeed Elijah - the one spoken of by the
prophets who was to come and restore all things. The impression came with such
overwhelming power, that his entire personality became absorbed with it."
(Pg 188). In June 1901, Dowie took the fateful step of publicly announcing that
he was indeed Elijah the Restorer. (A claim which was immediately challenged
and denounced by religious leaders all over the world).
By this time, Dowie was also heavily involved with land development. Having
purchased over 6000 acres of land near Chicago, construction was already
underway on what would become 'Zion City', an entire large town to be occupied
by Dowie's followers, and to be run according to "Christian
principles". Sadly, no-one seemed to remember that the New Testament never
advocates separating ourselves from the world in this way, but rather of living
IN the world, but not being OF it. Initially, Zion City was a resounding
success, both financially and in every other respect. But eventually it was to
lead Dowie to financial ruin, and there can be no doubt that it contibuted
greatly to his overall decline. One of his great dreams was to build 'Zion
Cities' all over the world - no doubt part of his supposed mission of the
"Restoration of all things" - from which he and his followers would
begin to exercise rulership in the earth. What fateful days these were.
For many years John's wife had been content, along with John, to live almost
in poverty, trusting God. However, it has been reported that "when
prosperity came to the Dowie family, she lost her simplicity of life: she
bought gowns in Paris and indulged in extravagances..." (Pg 200). All of
this would have been unthinkable to them only a few years earlier. "But
with the prosperity that came to him in America, eventually the simplicity of
his life was altered. He came to the conclusion, and apparently Mrs. Dowie
abetted his proposals, that it would be to his advantage to build a costly
executive mansion in which he could entertain important personages. This large
edifice when finished was elaborately appointed with expensive
furnishings." (Pg 201-202).
In the end, it seemed almost as though the very things that Dowie and his
wife had stood against all their lives, were the very strategies that Satan now
used against them, to destroy them. And to help the tragedy along,- "at
the crucial time of Dr. Dowie's life when he needed help so desperately, it
does not appear that his wife was a spiritual reservoir of strength that he
could fall back on." (Pg 201). At times, especially during this latter
period, there were those who tried to warn him of the dangers of what he was
doing. But he refused to listen. Even when his daughter died tragically as a result
of a fire in 1902, he hardly paused to reflect on his headlong forward
momentum.
The last days of John Dowie were not particularly good. He had fought a
great fight for many years in his early period, but he was defeated in the
latter part of his life. As is so often the case with great Revivals or great
men of God who fall from the path, the harm that they can do and the ridicule
that they can bring upon the Gospel in the end, can almost undo much of the
good that originally came from them. How delighted the devil must have been,
not only to deceive and sideline this great man of God, but also to use him to
bring ridicule upon the very truths that he had originally proclaimed so
effectively. God could not afford to have John Alexander Dowie continuing in this
state for much longer. He had to take him home. Dowie died still believing he
was Elijah, an ill and broken man, crippled in a wheel chair. His ministry was
gone, Zion City was almost bankrupt, and he had lost everything that he once
thought of as his own. "How have the mighty fallen!" He died on March
9, 1907.
William Branham was another evangelist mid-way through last century who was
mightily used of God for a number of years. In fact, there can be little doubt
that he was endued with power to a degree that has rarely been seen since the
days of the apostles. And there is still a great deal of controversy
surrounding his life, death and teachings. To some of his most ardent followers
(who are still around today), he seemed to assume almost semi- divine status,-
a damaging and tragic fallacy that has frightened many sound Christians away
from studying his life. On the other hand, even in his heyday some believers
were sceptical and suspicious of the tremendous power and unusual signs and
miracles that accompanied his ministry. There can be little doubt that Branham
went astray in his ministry in the latter part of his life. (The fact that God
took him home early, and that the cause of death was a car-crash in which his
body became horribly tangled in the wreck, though he lingered on for a few more
days - bears this out). However, it is my belief, and the belief of many who
have studied his life, that in his early years he was one of the most anointed
men of God that has ever lived in modern times.
As Gordon Lindsay wrote in his 1952 biography of Branham's early life and
ministry: "The story of the life of William Branham is so out of this
world and beyond the ordinary that were there not available a host of
infallible proofs which document and attest its authenticity, one might well be
excused for considering it far-fetched and incredible." (G. Lindsay,
'William Branham - A man sent from God', pg 9). Even his birth and childhood
had unusual aspects to them. Born in 1909 in Kentucky, his family soon shifted
to the state of Indiana, where they eventually settled not far from
Jeffersonville. Branham's family were the "poorest of the poor". When
he was seven years old, he experienced the first of many godly visitations:
"It seemed to be a very still afternoon. I stepped back from the tree and
noticed that in a certain place about the size of a barrel, the wind seemed to
be blowing through the tree leaves. Then there came a voice saying: 'Never
drink, smoke, or defile your body in any way, for I have a work for you to do
when you get older.'" (Pg 30).
Branham obeyed these strictures, but he had still not been truly converted.
When he was about twenty years of age, the death of his brother Edward caused
him to again turn his thoughts toward God's call upon his life. However, he
carried on the way he was going (essentially running away from God) for a
couple of years. Finally, he ended up seriously ill - at death's door, in
hospital. And suddenly God visited him again: "Closer the wind came,
louder and louder... I heard that same voice that said, 'Never drink or smoke.'
And the leaves I heard were the same that blew in that tree that day. But this
time the voice said, 'I called you and you would not go.' The words were
repeated the third time. Then I said, 'Lord, if that is you, let me go back
again to earth and I will preach your gospel from the housetops and street
corners. I'll tell everyone about it!'... When this vision had passed, I found
that I felt better." (Pg 40-41).
However, Branham was not completely healed at this time. But he was now
filled with a great hunger after God. "I started out to seek and find God.
I went from church to church trying to find some place where there was an
old-fashioned altar call. The sad part was I could find none... One night I
became so hungry for God and a real experience that I went out to the old shed
back of the house and tried to pray... All at once there came a light in the
shed and it formed a cross, and the voice from the cross spoke to me in a
language I could not understand... as I prayed it appeared again. Then it
seemed to me that there had been a thousand pounds lifted from my soul...
"I knew then that if God wanted me to preach he would heal me, so I
went to a church that believed in anointing with oil, and I was healed
instantly. I saw then that the disciples had something that most of the
ministers do not have today. The disciples were baptized with the Holy Ghost
and so could heal the sick and do mighty miracles in His name. So I began to
pray for the baptism of the Holy Ghost. One day about six months later God gave
me the desire of my heart. He spoke to me in a great light telling me to preach
and pray for the sick and He would heal them regardless of what disease they
had. I then started preaching and doing what He told me to do." (Pg
41-42). Branham began tent meetings in his home town of Jeffersonville, and for
a 24-year-old who was just starting out, these were astonishingly successful,
with up to 3000 people being attracted to the meetings at one time, and scores
of conversions.
Afterwards when Branham was baptizing 130 converts in the Ohio River, a
heavenly light, like a blazing star, appeared above him just as he was about to
baptize the seventeenth person. This was witnessed by the vast 4000-strong
congregation that stood on the banks of the river looking on. Some of them ran
for fear, while others shouted or fainted. A report of this unusual event
appeared in the local newspaper shortly afterwards. It has also been reported
that a voice spoke from within the light, saying, "As John the Baptist was
sent to forerun the first coming of the Lord, so you are sent to forerun His
second coming..." What is certain is that a heavenly light was seen, and
it seems likely also that something along these lines was spoken over him.
It was in this same year of 1933 that a number of significant visions were
given to William Branham. In June 1933 he was given a series of seven visions
relating to world events that lay immediately ahead (and he told his
congregation of these visions at the time). In the first of these he saw the
Italian dictator Mussolini successfully invading Ethiopia, but eventually
coming to a terrible demise - murdered and spat upon by his own people. In the
second he saw America being drawn into a world war against Germany, which would
be headed up by an Austrian. The war would overthrow this leader, and he would
come to a mysterious end. The third vision showed the three 'isms' in the world
- Fascism, Nazism and Communism, and that the first two would come to nothing,
but that Communism would flourish. He was told, "Watch Russia. She will
become a great world power." In the fourth vision he was shown some of the
tremendous advances in Science that would come after the Second World War.
The fifth vision showed the rapid moral decay in the world, relating
especially to women. He was shown this decline from the beginning of the
feminist "liberation" movement of the late 19th century, and the
gradual gaining of worldly power by women, to the eventual election of a 'boy
president' (probably Kennedy - known to have been elected because of the
women's vote) and after this the progressive decline in the way women dressed -
deliberately exposing their bodies more and more in an ever-increasing display
of brazen sensuality. With true womanhood so little valued, a terrible decay of
all flesh came upon the earth, and every form of perversion arose, just as is
prophesied for the Last Days.
In the sixth vision there arose in the United States a beautiful woman,
clothed in splendour and royal robes - a woman given great power, and beautiful
- yet cruel, cunning and deceitful. She dominated the land with her authority.
Branham felt that she represented either an actual person, or else a particular
organization (perhaps the Catholic church?) However, surely there is also the
possibility that she represents a great "Jezebelic" spirit that
utterly dominates the landscape? In the seventh and final vision, he witnessed
a great explosion that rent the entire land and left America a smouldering,
chaotic ruin, with no humanity in sight. This final vision then faded away.
(This last one reminds me of another Branham vision/prophecy, which he referred
to often in later years, that showed that the day would come when the entire
state of California west of the San Andreas Fault, would be wiped out and sent
into the Pacific Ocean by a massive earthquake).
The amazing thing about this series of seven visions is that they were given
at a time (June 1933) when Branham had no way at all of coming to these
conclusions through mere guesswork. In 1933 Germany was by no means ready for
war, Russia was by no means a dominant world power, and Communism was a relatively
minor force in the world. Some of the details given in the visions were just
too extraordinary to pass off as mere coincidence. (See 'The Acts of the
Prophet' by Pearry Green, pg 48-51, for a fuller description). Also, the fact
is that these visions were given to an uneducated, simple man in the
back-blocks of Indiana, a man who had little understanding at all of political
complexities. And the fact that at least five of these visions have now been
precisely fulfilled, means that we should surely take the others seriously
also.
After the baptisms, a church was built for Branham to pastor in
Jeffersonville. The next few years were a fruitful time in his life and
ministry, during which he married a lovely Christian wife and they had two
children. However, several years later Branham came to a crossroads and made a
serious error of judgement that was to have serious repurcussions for his
family and ministry. After attending a Pentecostal convention for the first
time (up until then he had been an independent Baptist), Branham was invited by
these Pentecostals to become a travelling evangelist for them, and he felt that
this was definitely a call from God. However, he allowed himself to be
persuaded by friends that the Pentecostals were "trash" (they were
known as 'holy rollers' at the time - the lowest of the low), and he drew back
from joining with them.
"It was at this time that the anointing of God which had come upon me
left me. It never really returned until five years later... Everything went
wrong. With my church going down, I didn't know what to do. Then began the dark
period of my life when the Ohio River flood that took so many lives, came, and
was responsible for the death of two of those that were the dearest to me in
all the world." (G. Lindsay, 'William Branham - A man sent from God', pg
51). The great Ohio River flood of 1937 claimed the lives of Branham's wife and
baby daughter, and Branham was left heartbroken, with only his infant son left.
This was only eight months after he had drawn back from obeying God and joining
with the Pentecostals, and he himself acknowledged the tragic connection.
For a number of years after this, Branham continued to preach and also work
at various jobs. He remarried, and when a new visitation of the angel of God came
in 1946, he was working as an Indiana state game warden. This was to be the
beginning of his international miracle ministry: "I must tell you of the
angel and the coming of the Gift. I shall never forget the time, May 7, 1946, a
very beautiful season of the year in Indiana, where I was still working as a
game warden. I had come home for lunch... and while walking around the house
under a maple tree, it seemed that the whole top of the tree let loose. It
seemed that something came down through that tree like a great rushing wind...
My wife came from the house frightened, and asked me what was wrong. Trying to
get hold of myself, I sat down and told her that after all these twenty odd
years of being conscious of this strange feeling, the time had come when I had
to find out what it was all about. The crisis had come!
"That afternoon I went away to a secret place to pray and read the
Bible. I became deep in prayer; it seemed that my whole soul would tear from
me. I cried before God...I laid my face to the ground...I looked up to God and
cried, 'If you will forgive me for the way that I have done, I'll try to do
better... I'm sorry that I've been so neglectful all these years in doing the
work you wanted me to do...Will you speak to me someway, God? If you don't help
me, I can't go on'... Then along in the night, about the eleventh hour, I had
quit praying and was sitting up when I noticed a light flickering in the
room... the light was spreading out on the floor, becoming wider... as I looked
up, there hung that great star. However, it did not have five points like a
star, but looked more like a ball of fire or light shining down upon the floor.
Just then I heard someone walking across the floor...
"Now, coming through the light, I saw the feet of a man coming toward
me, as naturally as you would walk to me. He appeared to be a man who, in human
weight, would weigh about two hundred pounds, clothed in a white robe. He had a
smooth face, no beard, dark hair down to his shoulders, of rather
dark-complexion, with a very pleasant countenance, and coming closer, his eyes
caught with mine. Seeing how fearful I was, he began to speak. 'Fear not. I am
sent from the Presence of Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar life and
your misunderstood ways have been to indicate that God has sent you to take a
gift of divine healing to the peoples of the world. IF YOU WILL BE SINCERE, AND
CAN GET THE PEOPLE TO BELIEVE YOU, NOTHING SHALL STAND BEFORE YOUR PRAYER, NOT
EVEN CANCER.'" (Pg 76-77).
The angel told Branham that he would now have two special signs or gifts
operating in his life, given to him by God. The first would enable him to
detect or discern illnesses in people - a visible violent reaction in his left
hand which would make it red and swollen whenever it came into contact with
sickness. The second sign would be a gift that would enable him to discern the
thoughts and deeds in the past life of the individual - specific sins that
needed to be repented of, etc. It was often found that as Branham challenged
people over such specific sins, and they confessed them to God, they would
regularly be healed of whatever ailed them even before he had a chance to lay
hands on them.
This angelic visitation marked the beginning of Branham's incredible
international miracle ministry, and also led directly to the great American
Healing Revival of 1947 through 1955, in which many well-known ministries were
raised up, and thousands upon thousands of people were saved and healed. As
Branham himself said, "The great things which have taken place during
these months are too innumerable to ever be recorded, but God has confirmed the
angel's words time after time. Deaf, dumb, blind, all manners of diseases have
been healed, and thousands of testimonies are on record to date. I do not have any
power of my own to do this... God always has something or someone to work
through, and I am only an instrument used by Him." (Pg 78).
Right to the end of his life, William Branham was renowned for his
transparency, his simplicity and his genuine humility. No doubt this was due in
part to his early life of hardship, brokenness and poverty - a great advantage
when it came to his eventual ministry. I have read several of his early
sermons, and they often appeared to be little more than personal testimonies accompanied
by a simple (yet effective) gospel message. There was little sign of the
somewhat strange, divisive and controversial teachings of his latter years.
After all, the angel had told him that part of his commission was to help UNIFY
Christians of differing backgrounds. Speaking of Branham's "outstandingly
humble spirit", one observer wrote: "There is nothing boisterous or
arrogant about him. He is a meek and humble man... He is a man loved by all.
No-one begrudges him any of his success or is envious of his great
popularity." (David Harrell Jr, 'ALL Things are Possible', pg 39).
Over the following months and years, Branham travelled widely in the USA,
and also to Europe and South Africa, etc. Thousands came from far and wide to
hear him preach and to witness the many outstanding healings, miracles and
'words of knowledge' that accompanied his ministry. Often, he would call out
the name, city of origin and background information of people in the audience
whom he had never met, who had come to hear his preaching or to be healed. Of
all the thousands of such 'words of knowledge' that he gave, none was ever
known to be wrong or inaccurate. His gift was reportedly "exactly
100%". The deaf were healed, the blind received their sight, and even the
dead were raised. There were also a number of meetings where Branham was
photographed with bright 'haloes' or strange lights around him. It became
standard for Branham to have the angel of God standing beside him as he
ministered, and he would often wait for the angel to arrive before he began. It
was also commonplace for Branham to see specific miracles enacted before his
eyes in vision form several days before they actually occurred, so that when he
found himself in the precise circumstance pictured in the vision, he would know
exactly what to do. Astounding! And everywhere he went, God was glorified in
the most profound way.
There can be no doubt that Branham was the initial pioneer and the key
leader of the great Healing Revival of 1947 through 1955. During this Revival,
literally dozens of healing ministries were raised up all over America, some
well-known and others less prominent, but all of them inspired by the example
of Branham and others. Thousands were saved and healed, not just in America,
but in many other nations also. And the mighty 1954 Argentina Revival under
Tommy Hicks (with meetings of up to 400,000 people) also had strong links with
this Revival. Even amongst the better-known evangelists who came into
prominence at that time (such as Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborne, A.A. Allen, Jack
Coe, etc), William Branham was acknowledged as something special - something
extraordinary. "The younger deliverance evangelists viewed him as a man
set apart, like Moses. 'He was number one,' said Richard Hall, 'of the common
run of evangelists that we have now, put twenty of them at one end and William
Branham on the other; he would outweigh them all.'" (Winkie Pratney,
'Revival', pg 220-221).
Later in the 1950's, when a number of healing evangelists were drifting into
showmanship, hype, 'prosperity' doctrines and begging for money, Branham would
have none of it. He was unchanged in his attitude toward these kinds of
excesses right to the very end. One observer wrote of him in 1959: "On my
last visit I mentioned how 'car conscious' American preachers are, almost
judging a man's success by the car he drives. At this particular conference,
where Brother Branham was the principal speaker, they all came up in their nice
cars, the picture of elegance, but Brother Branham drove up in a truck. He
doesn't seem to worry about these things..." (D. Harrell Jr, 'ALL Things
are Possible', pg 162).
However, there were crucial weaknesses in the practices and ministry of
William Branham, which tragically began to manifest themselves in the mid-1950's.
In 1955, largely through his own carelessness and lack of good management,
Branham fell into financial difficulty. He had always been nonchalant, almost
naive, toward all business matters. "He sometimes missed scheduled
meetings and was totally unconcerned about business details. Some of his
business associates came to feel that he was culpably irresponsible. At any
rate, Branham came to write: 'For nine years, the Lord met every need without
my having to pull for money. Then, in 1955, in each of three of my greatest
meetings, the income fell far short of expenses and others stepped in to make
up large deficits'... Branham's difficulties became more complicated in 1956
when the Internal Revenue Service filed a tax evasion suit against him... The unsophistic-
ated Branham, apparently little interested in personal wealth, had made no
systematic effort to account for the thousands of dollars that flowed through
his ministry." (Ibid, pg 39-40). For the remainder of his life, Branham
worked under the burden of a $40,000.00 debt to the IRS. (Which was an enormous
amount of money in those days).
It is obvious that God was little able to financially bless Branham's
ministry any longer, due to the careless and dubious state of his financial
management. This had clearly become a "legal gateway" through which
the devil could now disrupt and tie-down Branham's ministry. And one of the
most devastating results of this was that when most of the other prominent
healing evangelists were called into large, mobile tent ministries (which God
used very effectively at that time), Branham was unable to make this jump, due
seemingly to the parlous state of his finances. Thus, his ministry immediately
began to lose momentum, and it seemed that he was no longer on the 'cutting
edge' of what God was doing.
By 1958, William Branham (along with many of the other healing evangelists)
was deeply re-assessing his ministry. It was clear that the great Healing
Revival was now well and truly over, and there can be little doubt that the
decline in Branham's own ministry had contributed to this. You can never afford
to lose such a leader in any move of God, as history clearly shows. It was
after this that Branham began to gradually withdraw into his own little circle,
where he had an adoring and loyal following. (Essentially this circle was made
up of "Oneness" or 'Jesus- Only' Pentecostals). And instead of his
previous unwillingness to speak about contentious or divisive 'minor' issues,
he now gradually began to emphasize such things more and more in his preaching.
Slowly, these teachings became ever-more alarming and extreme.
As early as 1957, Branham had received a dream in which he was ministering
in a 'white disk' above a pyramid. A voice from heaven proclaimed that no other
man could stand in the disk "unless he die or be killed", and that
Branham was "the only one who can and will stand there." Branham
apparently considered this dream to be of 'spiritual significance'. (Ibid, pg
41). By the 1960's, he had clearly become convinced that he was the end-times
"Elijah" and the true "Messenger of the Covenant". And the
adoring followers in his tight little circle were certainly not going to
contradict him. A number of writers believe that it was when Branham took a 'teaching'
ministry upon himself that he fell into error. It is clear that he had been
anointed and commissioned by God to have a prophetic / evangelistic ministry,
but never one of teaching. And as soon as he got into this area of teaching
doctrine, he began to trespass into realms to which God had never called him,
thus opening himself up to ever-increasing deception. It has been reported that
towards the end, some of his teachings almost bordered on the occult. However,
the original sign-giftings that God had given him never left him, right up
until the time of his death in 1965.
There were a number of men who tried to warn Branham, and to bring him back
into some form of balance, including his respected colleague and old friend,
Gordon Lindsay. But Branham would not listen: "Brother Lindsay said, 'I
begged him not to teach. I said, "... Leave the Bible teaching to the
teachers. Just go ahead and preach and exercise the word of knowledge and gifts
of healing as the Spirit wills, and be a blessing to the Body of Christ.'''
This prophet said to Brother Lindsay, 'I know I'm not a teacher, but I want to
teach. And I'm going to teach!'
"It's dangerous to intrude into a ministry office to which you are not
called. In the Old Testament, if people intruded in to a holy place that was reserved
for those who held certain offices, they instantly fell dead. Under grace,
people in disobedience can last for a while, but sooner or later, those who
intrude into ministry offices to which they are not called will be judged. It
is dangerous to intrude into another man's office." (K. Hagin, 'He Gave
Gifts unto Men', pg 164-170).
A full TWO YEARS before Branham died, Kenneth Hagin, who was renowned for
his accurate prophetic ministry at that time, was given a prophecy about
Branham which he took to Gordon Lindsay. The prophecy read: "'At the end
of 1965, He who now stands in the forefront of the healing ministry as a
prophet will be taken out of the way. He'll make a false step and Satan shall
destroy his life, but his spirit will be saved, and his works will follow him.
Ere 1966 shall come, he shall be gone.'
"I took that prophecy to brother Lindsay, because it's scriptural to
have other spiritual men judge prophecy. I never made it public. Prophets make
a mistake by publicly broadcasting some of these things." God later told
Hagin: "I had to permit him to be removed, because of the damage he was
causing in the body of Christ..."
"... Then brother Lindsay related something else to me that had
happened regarding this same prophet. He said to me, 'This past year, I was
praying with my wife and sister Schrader about the work of the ministry.
(Sister Schrader was a prophetess who has since gone on to be with the Lord.)
We were praying about different projects in our ministry. Right in the middle
of the prayer, Sister Schrader blurted out, 'Go warn Brother [Branham]... he's
going to die.' Brother Lindsay said, 'I was busy, and I let that get by me, and
I didn't go warn him like I was supposed to. Then later, my wife and I and
Sister Schrader were again praying about ministry projects. Again Sister
Schrader blurted out right in the middle of prayer, 'Go warn Brother
[Branham]... he's going to die. He's walking in the way of Dowie.' After his
morning meeting, Brother Lindsay said, 'I talked to him as the Lord had
instructed me, but I saw that he wouldn't listen...' (K. Hagin, 'He Gave Gifts
unto Men', pg 164-170). Please remember that Dowie had also got into error,
proclaiming that he was the end-times "Elijah".
Gordon Lindsay's wife also confirmed the account given by Kenneth Hagin:
"One day Kenneth Hagin came into our offices. He handed Gordon a piece of
paper on which was written a prophecy he said the Lord had given him. The
prophecy stated that the leader of the deliverance movement was soon to be
taken in death, because he was getting into error and the Lord was having to
remove him from the scene for that reason. Gordon took the prophecy and placed
it in his desk. After Brother Hagin left I asked, 'What do you think about
this? Is this Branham?' Gordon answered gravely, 'Yes, it is Branham. He is
getting into error. He thinks he is Elijah. He thinks he is the messenger of
the covenant. The sad thing is that unscrupulous men around him are putting
words into his mouth, and due to his limited background he is taking them
up.'" (Mrs Gordon Lindsay, 'My Diary Secrets', Sixth Edition, pg 152).
Two years later, when driving to Tucson, Arizona, William Branham was
involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. His wife was badly injured
in the smash, and Branham's body was horribly tangled in the wreck. He lingered
on for a few days in hospital, though his head became terribly swollen and a
tube was placed in his throat to assist his breathing. William Branham died on
Christmas Eve, 1965, just before the turn of the year, exactly as the prophecy
had predicted. Once more - "How have the mighty fallen". Satan had
again succeeded in 'taking out' one of God's great servants. And there can be
little doubt that God's full purposes for Branham's life and ministry remained
at least partially unfulfilled. There was talk amongst a few of Branham's
followers that he might rise from the dead after several days, but it is clear
that only a relatively small number believed this. (Such Branham-followers can
still be found around the world today, some of whom adore him with a fervour
bordering almost on idolatry - a sad and tragic epitaph to a once-mighty man of
God).
THE LESSONS WE MUST LEARN
Some people believe that the coming move of God will be so powerful and so
awesome that it will be almost impossible for the ministries involved in it to
fall into error or into sin. I simply cannot go along with this. History
clearly demonstrates that the greater the power, the greater the potential for
subtle pride and error to enter in. This is why God has taken so long in
preparing His future (now hidden) ministries for the coming move. Please
remember that Satan himself was once one of the most splendid and powerful
creatures in all of Heaven - an 'anointed Cherubim' of the highest order, who
walked in the very presence of God. The Creator Himself said of him: "You
were the ANOINTED CHERUB who covers; I established you; You were on the holy
mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You
were PERFECT in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was
found in you" (Ez 28:14-15). "How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Is 14:12). If such a creature as this -
walking in the very presence of God - can fall from grace, then so can we, even
at the height of a powerful God-given ministry.
It is important also to realize the strength and the cunning of our
adversary. The devil has had literally thousands of years to study mankind, and
to learn how to manipulate human beings in the most effective way. He has seen
Revivals come and Revivals go. He has caused great men of God to fall, and
others to stumble or to not fulfill their potential. He is a past master at the
arts of spiritual war, and he plays HARD, with no conscience and no mercy. He
has had thousands of years to perfect his techniques for causing good men to
fall, of setting snares that sometimes take months and years to bear fruit, but
eventually lure men to the demise of their lives or their ministries. He has
seen it all. And yet, by the power of God it is still possible to beat him, and
to beat him well. But we must not be ignorant of his wiles or devices to trap
us. And we must learn well the lessons that history has to teach us.
SPIRITUAL PRIDE
Spiritual pride is the major, but often very subtle underlying root of much
deception, and the fall of many once-promising ministries. A friend from
America who has studied this subject recently told me that over the past 21
years, he has personally known of at least a dozen anointed men of God who have
lost their anointings and ministries. He says that a number have even ended up
dead or in prison. "To whom much is given, much is expected." To
repeat Paul Billheimer's words: "THE SANDS OF TIME ARE STREWN WITH THE
WRECKS OF THE BROKEN LIVES OF MANY, WHO WERE ONCE MIGHTILY USED OF GOD, BUT WHO
SUFFERED SHIPWRECK UPON THE ROCKS OF SPIRITUAL PRIDE." As the Scriptures
declare, "PRIDE goeth before the downfall" (Prov 16:18). If Satan
cannot destroy us from without, then he will destroy us from within.
It is usually through our THOUGHTS - through our MIND - that such attacks
come, with temptations to pride disguised as our own thoughts and feelings, etc.
The devil will happily take a long-term approach with such attacks, slowly
building on what he has been feeding into our mind until he can sway us into
making bad decisions and judgements - blinded by subtle pride in that one
crucial area. His object is to get us to 'BELIEVE THE LIE', and in that process
this prideful deception travels from our mind down into our heart, where it is
much harder to dislodge. Like a seed, it will then grow, and begin to manifest
itself in our lives, until eventually, if it has not been dealt with, God may
be forced to remove us from the ministry He has called us into. We are told in
the Bible that we are to have the "mind of Christ", and that we are
to bring "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2
Cor 10:5).
We are to be full of His Spirit, so that we may have A MIND CONTROLLED, a
MIND DIRECTED, and a MIND FIXED ON GOD. I have found personally that such
'roots' or strongholds of pride, or anything else in our lives, can be dealt
with very effectively by RENOUNCING them, from the very depths of our heart and
soul, in Jesus' name, and casting them away from ourselves as hated things.
(This applies to bad habits and any other form of 'stronghold' also). "For
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds" (2 Cor 10:4). We do not have to let the devil
dominate any area of our lives in this way.
Obviously, those who are involved in powerful ministries are particularly
susceptible to pride entering in, because of the amazing things that they see
happening every day in their ministries, and the temptation to begin taking
some of the glory for themselves, or to start to think that they are something
'special' - forgetting that every gift they have is from God. Such pride can be
incredibly subtle, and the devil delights in placing such ministries under as
much 'pressure' of this kind as he possibly can. However, it is important to
remember that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear. (1 Cor
10:13).
It is significant to note that William Branham was apparently still a truly
humble man in many ways right up until the time of his death, and yet the devil
managed to introduce subtle pride into his mind and heart in a couple of
crucial areas. He presumed to become a teacher when this was obviously not his
calling, and he eventually came to believe inflated "Elijah"-type
revelations about himself and his 'special' position, proclaiming these to his
followers. As the apostle Paul wrote, we are not to think of ourselves
"more highly than we ought to think" (Rom 12:3). Speaking of the fall
of Lucifer, God said, "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour." (Ez 28:17).
It is also important to remember that it is often when we have won our
greatest victories in God, that we are most susceptible to attacks from the
enemy. As Paul wrote, "let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest
he fall." (1 Cor 10:12). We see this particularly in the life of John
Alexander Dowie. It was when he had won through into a period of comparitive
success and prosperity in his ministry that he apparently relaxed his guard,
and became deceived into "BELIEVING THE LIE" that the devil was
trying to sell him.
It is clear from the Scriptures that in the Last Days, there ARE to be
ministries who will go forth in the 'spirit and power of Elijah'. However, as
Gordon Lindsay wrote in his biography of Dowie, "HAD HE BEEN THE VERY
ELIJAH, WHAT AN UNFORTUNATE MISTAKE WAS MADE, IN PROCLAIMING HIMSELF AS SUCH!
John the Baptist was satisfied in declaring himself 'a voice crying in the
wilderness'. When they asked John if he were Elijah, he said he was not. Yet
Christ later said that he was! (Matt. 11:14) Jesus commended the humility of
John who said, 'He must increase, but I must decrease', and declared that none
born of women was greater than he." (G. Lindsay, 'John Alexander Dowie',
pg 190). It is often when such DECLARATIONS of being a 'last-days apostle' or
an Elijah are made, that things begin to go off the rails. The devil's first
priority is to get us to 'BELIEVE A LIE' (usually some inflated or prideful
view of ourselves, or some excuse why a certain sin is 'OK for me') or even to
publicly declare an EXAGGERATED TRUTH, and then to ACT ON IT. After this, as
the deception grows and our blindness in that area deepens, surely only
disaster can result.
However, one of the alarming things about such deception is that THE GIFTS,
THE POWER AND THE CALLING OF GOD already operating in one's ministry up to that
point will usually continue to operate just as powerfully, often right until
death. "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom
11:29). In other words, God will usually not take away such giftings, even if a
ministry falls into deception. And so, they will continue to exercise such
power, often thinking that "all is well" and ignoring all warnings,
until it is too late. A fatal, but oh- so-common mistake. And history is
littered with with the shattered remains of such ministries, who refused to
heed God's writing on the wall until it was too late.
FINANCES
You will notice that with both Dowie and Branham, errors of judgement in the
financial area certainly helped to precipitate their downfall. With Dowie, his
problem was becoming too caught up in financial dealings and the 'cares of this
world' (almost certainly as a result of his "Elijah the Restorer"
revelation). And there can be no doubt today, that God will deal harshly with
anyone who uses their anointing and giftings as a means to wealth and luxury
living. As G.H. Montgomery wrote of the decline of the Healing Revival, and of
a number of evangelists at that time: "Men who preach the meek and lowly
Nazarene to a lost and dying world, and yet live in palatial homes built on
money contributed by God's poor people, cannot call themselves followers of
Jesus."
With Branham, it was the opposite problem, as he obviously couldn't care
less about his finances, and perhaps presumed that "God will take care of
it - I don't need to arrange or give heed to anything". Again, a fatal
form of presumption. I have no doubt that God quietly warned Branham many times
about his finances and lack of accounting or basic organization, but in the end
it took a disaster to make him sit up and take notice - and by then it was too
late, and his ministry was deeply mired in a financial pit from which it never
truly recovered.
I have met a number of men and women of God in recent years who are also
"anti-organization" to the point where if they were in a Revival
ministry, they could very easily suffer the same financial fate as that of
Branham. Their theory is that essentially, "God will do it all", and
many of them see any form of organization almost as a sin. But my question is
this: If God doesn't want humans involved in such ministry-related
organization, then why did he invent the giftings of 'HELPERS' and
"ADMINISTRATORS"? (1 Cor 12:28, RSV. The King James refers to these
as 'helps' and "governments", and they are found in every translation
in the list of spiritual giftings for the church). It is also important to
remember that the Early Church appointed seven men to administrate the funds
collected by the apostles for use amongst the poor, etc. (Acts 6:1-7).
Obviously, such organization does not have to be too similar to today's
churches, but it does need to be streamlined, efficient, and above all -
transparently honest, open and above-board. The last thing we need is shifty
financial dealings bringing reproach upon God's people. The early Salvation
Army, which was a true Revival movement for at least it's first 40 years, had
just such an operation. Obviously, the whole move- ment was modelled on a
mobilized army, with a central command post in London (from whence General William
Booth ruled with a rod of iron!), and supply lines reaching out into every
corner of the world. Like the early church, these people cared for the poor, as
well as for God's ministries, and thousands of people were clothed, fed and
housed (as well as thousands more saved) right around the world. The early
Salvation Army was one of the most long-lived anointed Revival movements that
the church has ever seen, and there can be no doubt that this was greatly
helped by the effectiveness and godliness of their organization. Revival
literally followed them wherever they went. It is very clear then, from this
and other examples, that ORGANIZATION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE OUR ENEMY. In fact,
under God, it can become one of our most helpful friends.
MARRIAGE
We have already mentioned how that in Dowie's latter years, when he was in
desperate need of some balanced spiritual input into his life from people who
were close to him, it seems that his wife was of little help (in fact, probably
quite the reverse). This illustrates just how important a strong and godly
marriage is for God's servants, especially those who are being continually
bombarded by the devil because their ministry against him is so effective.
Those who are married, and who underestimate the importance of their marriage
to their ministry are extremely unwise. The devil will be searching for any
chink in their armour, and if there are weaknesses in their marriage, he will
exploit these to the full. It is interesting to note that in a survey of the
reasons why many divorced women in the U.S. left their husbands, a large
proportion of them answered that it was because of "NEGLECT". Their
husbands had got so busy with their work, etc, that they had neglected their
wives. And sadly, this is true of many Christian ministries also. A tragic and
fateful state of affairs.
More than ever, I believe that in these Last Days, God desires to employ
ministries in which there is a deep love and an obvious spiritual partnership
between husband and wife. And this gives those of us who are married the added
advantage of having someone to "watch our back". Remember, Paul wrote
concerning the qualifications for eldership or leadership in the church, that a
man must be "the husband of one wife... He must manage his own household
well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man
does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God's
church?" (1 Tim 3:2-5). Our family life is far more important to God than
many of us realize, and it gives real insight into whether or not we are truly
suited to being in ministry at all.
DELUDED INTO SIN
As stated earlier, spiritual pride has been the underlying root cause of the
fall of many ministries. The fatal presumption that "all must be
well" (despite whatever sin or deception they're involved in) just because
the anointing is still there, and the miracles are still happening, is
oh-so-common. And it is clearly this subtle pride which gives the devil a
'legal doorway' through which he can begin to deceive them in other areas also.
You would be amazed at the excuses that such deceived individuals come up with
as to why a certain sin is "OK for them", even though it is certainly
NOT OK for everyone else. The devil managed to delude and defeat a number of
prominent ministries involved in the American Healing Revival. He got to some
of them with love of money, ease and comfort, others through selfish ambition
and envy, and some even became drunkards. And yet many of them were still
performing miracles right to the end. But eventually, they lost everything.
Speaking of the decline of the Healing Revival, Gordon Lindsay observed that
many ministers had stopped "fasting and waiting before God." He said
that many of the ministries had declined, "largely because of a lack of
humility and because of a tendency to self-exaltation." He was reportedly
sickened by the increasing emphasis on money. "Lindsay later concluded
that even at the height of the revival many of the evangelists 'hadn't prayed
through, they hadn't touched God for their ministry, they just put up their
banner.'" (D. Harrell Jr, 'ALL Things are Possible',pg 139).
One of the most common of the devil's lures down through history, of course,
has been sexual sin (sometimes of a perverted nature, but usually simple
adultery). Please remember that the devil will be literally throwing everything
at such ministries (though usually in a disguised or subtle way). They are
hurting him, and he will not just stand idly by. He will search and probe for
that one chink in their armour. This is why in the past God has often spent
years training and preparing such ministries in obscurity, before giving them
their anointing and their commission. He had to test them - to see whether or
not they could survive the attacks of the enemy, and the temptations to pride,
etc. He had to feel confident that He could entrust them with His anointing.
And even then, He knew that some of them would let Him down.
In his book, "Set the Trumpet to thy Mouth", David Wilkerson
uncovered some very interesting facts about the reasons why pastors and other
ministries in America were falling into adultery. A survey had been done, and
it became obvious what the number one strategy of the devil was. In the vast
majority of cases, these men had developed a close 'spiritual' relationship
with a woman other than their wife, and this is who they ended up committing
adultery with. They would often pray or discuss the Bible with this spiritual
woman, until eventually they became close and intimate, and would be sharing
things with her that they should have been sharing with their wife. How
'spiritual' it all was! Wouldn't it be wonderful to be married to a woman like
this! (Not that they ever tried to share with their own wife in this way). What
subtle and cunning deception. And Satan has had vast success in 'taking out'
many promising ministries just through this one technique alone. Then there's
the old, "I'm allowed more than one wife at a time" deception.
(Despite what the Bible says in 1 Tim 3:2, etc). Or, "God has shown me
that my wife may die, so I need another companion." As I said before, it's
amazing what the devil can get us humans to believe at times.
Almost every deception plays on secret desires or strongholds deep within
us. Part of us wants to believe that the deception is true. This is why we must
be so searingly and brutally honest with ourselves in RENOUNCING such
deceptions and strongholds, if we are ever going to be truly free of them.
('Self-pity' is another subtle yet deadly one - the true cause of much
depression. Many people quite enjoy having the 'blues' or feeling sorry for
themselves, and this can be a most debilitating stronghold in one's life. Don't
make a "pet" of it - RENOUNCE IT!)
Another thing I also want to briefly touch on here is the danger of
"ENVY" entering into one's ministry. This too can be a very subtle
yet immensely destructive evil. (The Pharisees had Jesus killed due to 'envy',
after all - Mk 15:10). If you ever find yourself feeling like attacking or
murmuring against a leader who operates in more power or is better-known than
you, just check your motives very carefully to see that envy or selfish
ambition is not one of the causes of your antagonism. You would be amazed at
the number of team ministries, etc, that have been destroyed through this kind
of envy of the leadership (whether coming from without, or even worse - from
within the group). Who knows what motivated Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus?
(Remembering that Judas was one of the Twelve HAND-PICKED disciples). For some
time now, I have wondered whether or not the Antichrist that is to arise at the
very end of the age could be one of God's genuine end-time apostles - gone
astray. Does not the Bible call him the 'son of perdition', just like Judas?
And will he not move in powerful signs, wonders and miracles, just like the
genuine Last Days apostles? A frightening thought! (However, God's people will
discern the truth when the time comes). The pattern of the devil's own fall
seemed to be: Spiritual Pride, Envy (& selfish ambition), then Rebellion.
And of course, this same pattern is now constantly found amongst fallen humans
also (even Christian ones, sadly).
For God's true ministries, the secret to surviving the coming Last Days
period is basically the same as it's ever been. They must have a deep hatred of
sin, a genuine fear of God, a searing honesty with themselves, and a heart
after God's own heart - just as His servant David did. Only then can they truly
be sure of "enduring to the end". This is why God has spent so long
preparing and 'breaking' these ministries, before sending them forth to lead
His people out of bondage and into His glorious light once again.
GOD NEEDS LEADERS!
While I have no doubt that the coming move of God will be even more
incredible than the great Healing Revival, and that the outpouring of His
Spirit will be far greater than anything that has ever been seen before, I do
believe that many of the same dangers and the same principles will apply, just
as they always have. We must learn the lessons from history, or we are bound to
repeat them.
One thing I do want to emphasise here, is that just like every previous move
of God, this one will need LEADERS anointed and raised up by God, to advance
and establish His Revival. Some people believe in a kind of
"leaderless" Revival, where God "does everything" and human
leadership is almost obselete. But from everything God has been saying about
the coming move, I would have to be frank and say that such people are deluding
themselves. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN, AND THERE NEVER WILL BE A
"LEADERLESS" REFORMATION-REVIVAL. Tell me this: Would there have ever
been a Book-of-Acts Revival without anointed apostles to lead it? And would the
Jews have escaped Egypt without an anointed Moses to lead them? Would they have
ever taken the promised land without a Joshua? And could they have defeated the
Philistines without an anointed David or a Gideon? The answer is: NO - NEVER!
God has always been, and still is, utterly committed to USING MANKIND as His
instruments and leaders of Reformation and Revival in the earth. In fact, it
would be fair to say that for God NOT to use such human leadership, would be to
GO AGAINST THE ENTIRE BASIC NATURE OF HIS DEALINGS WITH MANKIND. As with every
Reformation-Revival, God simply must have His leaders.
I can well understand why a number of Christians today have become
disillusioned and disenchanted with much of today's church leadership. But I
cannot understand why they would want to do away with the whole concept of
"leadership" altogether. The fact is, God may very well want to use
THEM as leaders in the coming Revival. But I have found that a number of them
hate the idea of leadership and authority so much that it is doubtful if they
would ever heed God's call. (I have to ask:- Couldn't this just be a form of
subtle 'Rebellion'? What is the true motivation behind such a dislike of godly
authority?) This whole thing has been of great concern to me for a number of
years now. It is my belief (backed by much that God has been saying right
around the world) that He has been secretly preparing a company of future
Revival leaders for many years now (hidden, as always) - the Joshuas and Davids
who will suddenly arise in God's perfect timing to lead His people into
Revival. If some of these men and women do not heed God's call, then we are in
big trouble, surely? But on the other hand, perhaps this is just another
example of the truth of the old saying, "Many are called, but few are
chosen"? (I urge you to pray and think about these things).
What God has clearly spoken to me is:- "NO LEADERS - NO REVIVAL".
And He has also said that "WHEN THE NEW APOSTLES ARISE, REVIVAL WILL
BEGIN." Just like the early church, it will be the new apostles who will
carry the genuine Revival anointing in these Last Days, and it will be when
they arise that Revival will truly start. (This has been so with every true
Reformation-Revival). These will be men of enormous godly authority and power.
They will certainly not abuse such authority, but neither will they be afraid
to "reprove, rebuke and exhort" where necessary. And these powerful
ministries, along with the many prophets and evangelists who are also about to
arise, will go forth under a mighty anointing - an army 'terrible, with
banners' - "destroying the works of the devil" in Jesus' name. Many
of these leaders may seem rather 'rough' by outward appearance (just like the
ex-fishermen and tax collectors of the Book of Acts), but they will walk in
total heart-purity before God. And I also believe that though they may not be
'apostles' as such, God is going to use CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS in a tremendous
way in the coming Revival as well (often in a way that may even put the adults
to shame). What glorious days these will be.
SMITH WIGGLESWORTH'S VISION.
The following account is of a particularly powerful vision given to Smith
Wigglesworth during the early part of World War II, when he was being visited
by a young Lester Sumrall (the well-known healing-deliverance evangelist and
founder of the charitable organization 'Feed the Hungry'). This account of
Wigglesworth's vision comes from pg 168-169 of Lester Sumrall's 1995 book,
'Pioneers of Faith':
"... Shutting his eyes again, he said, 'I see the greatest revival in
the history of mankind coming to Planet earth, maybe as never before. And I see
every form of disease healed. I see whole hospitals emptied with no one there.
Even the doctors are running down the streets shouting.'
"He told me that there would be untold numbers of uncountable
multitudes that would be saved. No man will say 'so many, so many,' because
nobody will be able to count those who come to Jesus. No disease will be able
to stand before God's people... 'It will be a worldwide situation, not local,'
he said, 'a worldwide thrust of God's power and God's anointing upon mankind.'
"Then he opened his eyes and looked at me and said, 'I will not see it,
but you shall see it. The Lord says that I must go on to my reward, but that
you will see the mighty works that He will do upon the earth in the last days.'
"... The idea that I would get to see this revival was almost
overwhelming. And in the last decade or so, I believe we have seen this revival
begin to sweep the earth. We have seen amazing moves of God in Africa...
Recently, I was in China and met with the underground church. I was told there
are at least forty-five million Full Gospel Christians in China. I discovered a
depth of prayer and integrity there that I have not felt anywhere else in the
world... So I believe we are seeing Wigglesworth's prophecy begin to be
fulfilled. We are seeing the first stages of it." (-Lester Sumrall died on
April 28, 1996).
Another of Wigglesworth's prophecies states that the last great Revival will
bring a marrying together of the "Word" and the "Spirit" in
a way we have not seen before. There have been many Revivals involving the
spoken 'word' in a major way - notably those of Edwards, Wesley, Finney, etc.
And over the last century there have been many Revivals that majored on the
Holy Spirit. But this is to be one that involves a "marrying
together" of the spoken-word type ministry and the Holy Spirit-focused
ministry. What power will be released when this happens! Can you imagine the
preaching of a 'Charles Finney' combined with the signs and miracles of a
healing revivalist?
Interestingly, in the 1990's a well-known international preacher prophesied
that two prominent Christian leaders must die before the great Revival will
come. This lines up very well with what God has been showing myself and others
about key leaders of the 'Old Guard' needing to pass on before God's new
leadership can truly emerge. In recent years we have seen Derek Prince, Kenneth
Hagin and Bill Bright pass away. It is certainly an interesting prophecy, and a
fascinating time to be alive.
It is my belief that we now live on the verge of the most momentous days in the history of the church. The glory of God is about to come down. And no longer will God's people be a laughing-stock, both of men and of devils. Clearly, the time is soon coming when God's 'mighty men and women of valour' must again come to the fore, as in days of old. I believe that God is again looking in our day for men and women who will risk everything for Him, who have died to sin and to self, who cannot abide fl