04.10-CHAPTER 10 LATER CONDITIONS

CHAPTER 10 LATER CONDITIONS

IT WILL BE OBSERVED that the facts here presented have not been collected from the general history of the Movement and over a great length of time. Every far extended Movement, even if distinctly of God, would in the course of years, because of the weakness of the flesh in believers, yield items for regret. But those here offered are taken from the opening years of the Movement when it was at the initial white heat, displaying its definite and distinctive characteristics, and they concern its chief centres in four countries and its outstanding leaders. They may at least suffice to explain why the present writer could not associate with the Movement, and they are put on record because he is perhaps the only survivor of that period who can guarantee some of them. Without such facts a full and true picture of that early time can scarcely be gained. But is this now necessary? Has not the Movement as a whole sailed into quieter and safer waters, marked by less excess and more sobriety? Outwardly this is happily the case, yet there are indications that the same evil powers are, as might be expected, alert to induce the earlier conditions. A few experiences from later years will justify this statement and enforce the warning. In 1927 I took a long journey off my main route specially to visit a group of the Movement in the far south of Poland. I saw no demonstrations, for they gathered simply to hear me. My message was from Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.” The local leader was a quiet and gracious brother to whom my heart was drawn: but the district leader, supervising this and other groups, was of another type. After the meeting he said bluntly, “I thought from the first that your coming was not of the Lord: now! am sure of it.”

Such was his reaction to a loving exhortation to self-control. It told its own story as to the opposite type of experience and meetings that he fostered. In 1935 in a town in Upper Egypt, the pastor of the church asked me to address them, to which I consented gladly. They met in a small room in an ordinary house. The walls being of black Nile mud, unplastered, the effect was sombre. One small oil light hanging from the ceiling could not dispel the gloom. Along one wall there ran the customary mastaba, a low mud platform used for sitting and sleeping. The pastor and I sat on this. Some twelve or fifteen Copts gathered, men and women. Their bright eyes gleamed against their dark skin, and their long white robes shone against the dark walls and floor. They formed a circle, hand holding hand, and commenced springing lightly from the floor, chanting ceaselessly the one word “Hallelujah” The dancing became faster and faster: a circular whirl set in, getting ever swifter and swifter; the “Hallelujah” became ever louder and louder until it reminded one of the explosion of a motor bike. This useless and violent dance went on for over an hour, becoming more and more frantic, until the pastor at length got them quiet to hear me.

Here also I pressed upon them the same text, “The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.” I reminded them of the Moslem zikr, a similar dance, which I had seen. The proceedings were identical, save that in place of “Hallelujah” they used the name “Mohammed” or a short sentence from their sacred book the Koran. Such dances will go on for long hours, until they reach the desired stage of demon possession, and at length the furious excitement ends in exhaustion and collapse. The Christians were working up to a similar desired climax, only they thought it would be possession by the Spirit of God. I told them that their dance was essentially the same as that of the Moslems, and warned them against the same excess and danger. As soon as I sat down the most excited of the dancers sprang on to the platform in front 39of me, dancing wildly, ejaculating and gesticulating, swinging his fist in my face. Such was his reaction to a loving call for self-control. I must be forgiven for thinking that the whole display was not Pentecostal. It will be remembered that the leader of the Movement when William Booth-Clibborn was “baptized” was on the way to Egypt. The meeting I attended was the condition to which things had come twenty seven years later. In October 1943 an Indian Christian, aged twenty-four, attended a convention of the Movement in north India. A well-known English worker in the gospel warmly commended him to me as a pillar in a Christian assembly. He wrote quite lovingly as follows:

It was a very nice convention. Atmosphere of worship, love, and holiness could be found in most of the meetings. The music was very uplifting. But I was very sad to discover how greatly Satan has deceived very devoted saints... In tarry meetings I saw people (men and women) behaving unseemly. There was such a noise and shouting as if with paralyzed minds. I saw one lady of thirty years old sitting with straight back, teeth joined together with great force, hand going around in the air, hair flowing, dress falling down from head and shoulder. [This would be the sari, the long cloth wound round the body, the end draped over the head, especially in public], sometimes becoming very quiet and sometimes howling very loud, sometimes weeping and sometimes laughing.

Then one man who made a noise at the top of his voice laughed with hysteric tone, jumped on feet from floor and fell down straight at his back in the line of ladies. And like this many disorderly, confused, and mad things took place. The thing that amazed me most was of a case of a South Indian person, who had not spoken in tongues and was seeking tongues, came to the tarry room, bowed down and, like a machine at the most quick speed, he started saying the words “Praise the Lord;” for full one hour without any full stop he went on saying till his throat was dry; his voice became very heavy but he did not stop repeating the words; he was bent on having tongues (afterwards he told me that if the Lord had not given him tongues he would have got himself lost in some jungle). Now what happened to him? that he started losing the balance of his tongue:- Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Praze the Lod, Praze the Lod, Paze the Lod, Puz the Lod, Puz, Puz, Puz, Pizz the Lud, Pay, Pay, Pay, Pa, Pa, P, P, P, P-and now he started shouting and could only say pa, pa, pa, p, p, p; here his tongue starting a very intricate stammering, and suddenly he came to a language like this - chu, chu, chum, chin, chuma, chumy, chemer, chama, chit-chit-chin, chun, chee, chee, etc, etc. After having spoken this for fifteen minutes he broke out into high class Persian and Arabic; then he spoke Sanscript poetry with beautiful metre, and sung Indian classical songs. For all this he took about forty-five minutes. I watched him very carefully.

After this I took him outside alone and asked him as to what actually happened with him. He said he only remembered the time he was stammering; then he went into unconscious state; and when he came to consciousness he only heard from people that he had spoken in tongues, and hence he concluded that he had the “Baptism of the Holy Ghost” as they call it. The next day I could see the signs of tiredness and exhaustion on his face, the second day he could not go out properly because he felt much backache. I risked him if he could tell me that it was real experience of Holy Spirit. He was offended and felt angry. He had mental satisfaction that he had spoken in tongues, but I could analyse from his talk and behaviour that he did not have that joy and life at all which comes after the fulness of the Spirit.

He did not know Persian, Sanscrit, and Arabic at all, but he spoke in them. For first few hours in the night it amazed me cry much, but later on I could compare this to the case of Séance Room where mediums are used by evil spirits. After having spoken in tongues he developed a kind of superiority complex and did show very little humility and undisturbed calmness of the Spirit. Mr. M. and Sister H. joined a lot in noise.

Sister H. did a lot of clapping, shouting, and singing... I saw many other very consecrated people there who talked very helpful things, but my heart becomes full of sorrow when I see them mistaken on this point of tongues.

I enjoyed their love and fellowship. They are dear brothers in the Lord, but it is a great pity how we are deceived by evil spirits of Satan. These are all signs of times and of these later days when even most of the elect will be deceived. I read that evil spirits would not urge spiritual Christians to open sin, such as murder, drink, gambling, etc, but would plan deception in the form of “teachings” and “doctrines,” the believer not knowing that deception and “teachings” and “doctrines” gives admission to evil spirits to “possess” the deceived one as much as through sin. This account by an acute oriental Christian repays analysis. It reveals close correspondence with earlier manifestations, such as abundant noise and unseemly behaviour. It justifies Mr. Gee’s statement that Mr. Barratt’s experience has been known by many others, and it shows a definite continuity of the Movement as years go by. A man falling to the floor among Eastern women would shock all propriety. A woman allowing her veil to fall away and her hair to stream loose in public, while she aimlessly waived her arm in the air, would be gross impropriety, as it would in the West. The case of the man here narrated is of special interest. The English (“Praise the Lord!”) with which he commenced degenerated quickly into mere gibberish. Then he became unconscious and spoke in eloquent Persian, Arabic, and Sanscrit, three very difficult languages to master and of which he knew nothing. It is evident that another spirit to his was operating but found it hard to gain control of his mind and vocal organs and only succeeded when self-control ceased. The earlier literature of the Movement gives many instances of this. It is hard to think that the divine Spirit, our Creator, could be so frustrated and be able only to act on one unconscious. Certainly no such features are given in any of the cases found in the New Testament. And it is in plain opposition to the imperative requirement that one speaking in a tongue must retain complete self-control and be able to speak or not to speak at will.

While this paper is being written opportunity has come to converse with an earnest, experienced Christian, of wide travel, who has attended dozens of meetings of the Movement in different countries. He has no prejudice against it. He is a professional linguist, acquainted with a most unusual number of modern languages. He has never in a meeting heard used anyone of these several languages which he knows, nor has he ever heard one supposed to be speaking in a tongue use what to his highly trained ear sounded like a language at all. The last preceding incident from India confirms other testimonies that sometimes real languages are spoken; the experience just mentioned raises a presumption that a large amount of what passes as tongues may be only sounds. In August 1951 I attended a long session of the annual assembly of The Apostolic Church at Penygroes, South Wales. It was a large gathering from many lands. A brother prayed in stentorian tones, but the prayer itself was very ordinary and the style sounded forced. There were no “tongues” but there was a lengthy “prophecy.” It differed nothing from any ordinary exhortation to Christian living except that it purported to be spoken by God Himself. I have read many such “prophetic” utterances and can only be amazed that godly people should so often presume to put platitudes into the mouth of Almighty God. The ministry that afternoon was spiritually poor. In many small gatherings, where no claim is made to special enduement of the Spirit, I have felt more of His presence and unction. From a far distant Island of the sea there came in 1954 a circumstantial report plainly revealing demonic activity in the Movement. The details are not suitable to repeat here, but they are corroborated by an English evangelist on the spot with much experience of heathendom.

I have a friend with long knowledge of two foreign lands. He is godly, experienced, and, like myself, with no prejudice against the supernatural. He too has personal friends in the Movement. In 1954 with one of these friends he attended a gathering in the south of England. It was led by a veteran, one of the front-rank leaders of the early years. My friend was distressed by the entire lack of helpful ministry, pained by the general hubbub through everybody making all sorts of sounds at once, and grieved by the way the leader strove to work up enthusiasm whenever it flagged.

Thus from widely separated lands there is testimony that the earlier conditions still break forth, if commonly less fiercely. It shows that the spirit foes of God still attack His cause by the same fell tactics as formerly. This calls for ceaseless care, for a watchful mind. 1 Peter 5:8-10.