Introduction
On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Peter in explaining the working of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit seen upon those filled with the Spirit, quotes from the prophet Joel saying: "It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." It was as a direct result of this outpouring of God's Spirit, that the message contained in this booklet was given in vision and prophecy under the inspiration and power of the Holy Spirit.
Ten years ago the Lord found me, a thoughtless little country girl of seventeen. He not only convicted me of sin, saved and baptized me with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4, but He also called me to leave Father and Mother, houses and lands, high school, and future dreams of earthly popularity, and bade me go into all the world and preach the message of salvation, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the soon coming of the Lord.
Thus it was that before the age of eighteen I found myself preaching the Gospel, weak in myself, but strong in Him. Never having attended any earthly Bible school, I clung to the promise that I was to take no thought for what I should say, but that He would teach me in the needed hour, also that out of my innermost being should flow rivers of living water, knowing that "This He spake of the Spirit," who had come to dwell within me. Time and space will not here permit me to relate the numerous times and ways the Lord took this poor, ignorant tongue of mine and spoke through me words I had never learned, without any thought on my part they came rolling out. Vital, forceful, eloquent words poured through my lips not from my head but from my innermost being. While speaking thus with closed eyes and uplifted hands, the tears would stream down my face, and many precious souls flock to the altar seeking salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and to Jesus belongeth the Glory, for He did it all. Hallelujah.
While in London, England, waiting for the boat in which to embark for China, I was asked by a wealthy man if I would speak to a congregation of people for him that night. Inquiring of the Lord I felt it was His will and told the man that I would go. That evening a beautiful limousine with liveried attendants called for me and I entered with weak and self conscious steps, crying: "O Lord, do help me to do Thy will tonight." On the way I wondered whether the meeting would be held in a cottage or in a mission hall, and as I gazed with wonder upon the beautiful streets and buildings, the car stopped in front of the most imposing and spacious edifice of all. Thinking that perhaps a small room in this immense building was used for a mission hall, I was hurried up the steps and into the side door of the place.
It seemed that I was led through the door and on to the platform before I had time to realize that this building, one big city block square, was packed with people and I was to speak to them at once. I remember vaguely my attendant whispering into my ear that we were late, and then I heard the voice of a man on the platform saying: "Now our sister will speak to us and bring the message." Before I realized it, I was standing dazed and confused before the largest audience I had ever spoken to. The gallery, the pit and the rostrum were all filled; there was no seat for me to sit in, and to add to my confusion just then the footlights flashed into brilliancy all around me, and there I stood, a slip of a girl with my Bible in my trembling hands. I had never prepared a sermon in my life, would not know how to go about it, and not a thought came to me; I just lifted my heart to God and silently prayed:
"O God, if you ever helped me in my life help me now!"
Just then something happened:—the power of God went surging through my body, waves of glory and praise swept through my soul, until I forgot the throng of eager faces that had a moment before seemed to swim before me, forgot the footlights, and the learned men with their long tailed coats, forgot that I was only a child of eighteen, and that many there with their gray hair knew more in a moment than I in the natural could know in a lifetime, and "I was in the Spirit."
All this takes a long time to write, but it happened in a moment, for those who put their trust in God shall never be put to shame. My mouth opened, the Lord took control of my tongue, my lips and vocal organs, and began to speak through me, not in tongues but in English. The Spirit spoke in prophecy, and as He spoke through me I did not know what the next word was to be; certainly the water did flow, not from my head but from the inner most depths of my being, without my having aught to do with it.
As I spoke thus for one hour and a quarter, there did not seem to be a stir in all the vast audience, and as I spoke I saw a vision of a great circle, composed of ten smaller circles as shown on page one. This big circle seemed so big that its top reached the sky; it was the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, from its opening on the day of Pentecost, to its closing at the coming of the Lord Jesus. The vision was so indelibly stamped upon my mind that I had my husband draw it from my description that all may see as simple and plain as the Lord showed it to me. Before starting to speak, I opened my Bible with closed eyes, trusting God for my text, and my finger was guided to a certain verse; when I opened my eyes and read it this was the verse the Lord had given me:
"That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." Joel 1:4.
Just so when I came to the bottom of the circle, and the dark ages were pictured in their horror, my hand automatically turned the page over to the second chapter and placed my finger upon the following verse:
"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." Joel 2:25.
I have in these pages written the message as it was given the best I can remember it, so as you read forget the poor earthen vessel, forget the present writer, and give the glory to the Lord for it is He, and not I, who is worthy of praise forever.
I am yours, the least of all saints,
Sister Aimee Semple McPherson
The Three Dispensations
Just as there are three in the Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, so there have been three separate and distinct dispensations or periods of time.
First came the dispensation of the Father as recorded in God's Word throughout the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. Throughout the dispensation He would bestow a great gift, even Jesus His only begotten Son, upon the earth, as our Redeemer and the propitiation for our sins. At the close of that period of time God the Father kept His word, and true to His promise gave Jesus, as His great Love Gift to the sinner.
Secondly came the dispensation of the Son, as recorded in the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Now, just as the Father had a gift to bestow upon the world, even so Jesus, who is our salvation, tells us over and over again that He longs to bestow a gift upon all those who believe on Him, even the gift of the Holy Spirit. All throughout His ministry upon this earth, with ever increasing emphasis, Jesus depicted to His followers the importance of their receiving this gift which He was to bestow upon them when He went away.
Jesus seemed to a certain degree to be limited in the scope of His ministry, was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, was able to be in only one place at a time, etc., and declared in John 16:7, "It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart I will send Him unto you." Plainly Jesus thought it more important for us to receive the Holy Spirit than for Himself to stay upon this earth. Thus just as the Father kept His promise and sent Jesus His love gift to the sinner, so now in turn, Jesus kept His word, and prayed the Father to send the Holy Spirit, His gift to the believer.
Thirdly came the dispensation of the Holy Spirit which opened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). This dispensation we are still living in and will be living in until Jesus comes for His waiting Bride.
The days of Jesus' tender ministry upon earth were over. He had eaten the last supper. He had been tried in the sinner's stead and had died in the sinner's place. He had been laid in the lonely tomb, resurrected in power and triumph, had walked forty days upon the earth after His resurrection. He had promised for the last time that He would not leave His little ones comfortless, that He would pray the Father that He would send another Comforter even the Holy Spirit who when He was come would in His office work—
teach them all things, (John 14:26).
reprove of sin, of righteousness and of judgement, (v. 8).
lead them into all truth, (John 16:13).
not speak of Himself but of Jesus, (v. 13).
show them things to come, (v. 13).
glorify Jesus, (v. 14).
take of the things of Jesus and reveal it unto them, (John 16:15).
testify of Jesus, (John 15:26).
endue them with power from on high, (Luke 24:49).
pray through them with groanings that could not be uttered, (Rom. 8:26).
The last words of Jesus before His ascension, before the clouds received Him out of their sight, as recorded in Luke 24:49, and Acts 1:8, were concerning the importance of tarrying for and receiving the Comforter whom He would send.
Tarrying for the Coming of the Holy Spirit With glowing hearts and the Master's command, "Tarry until ye be endued with power from on high," still ringing in their ears, the little flock of about a hundred and twenty went their way to the "upper room" in Jerusalem, to await there the advent of the Holy Spirit, the opening of this great, new dispensation of the Spirit with one accord in one place in prayer and supplication." One accord, O what unbroken harmony is depicted in these simple words. Thomas was not saying to Peter: "Peter, what are you doing here? You denied the Lord thrice, you cursed and swore, the Lord will never baptize you with the Spirit." Peter was not saying to Thomas: "Well, Thomas, what are you doing here? You always were an old doubter anyway, don't think you will receive anything from the Lord." Ah no! They were with one accord in one place in prayer and supplication.
The Coming of The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven" (and bless God, there has been a sound ever since when the Spirit falls upon a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
What Meaneth This? "And when this was noised abroad the multitude came together." (Beloved, if the Holy Spirit is falling in your midst you will not need oyster suppers or box socials or Christmas trees to bring the multitude. Your only trouble will be to find seats for the people,) "and were confounded," just like you have been perhaps, "because that every man heard them speak in his own language. They were amazed, they marvelled, they were in doubt. Sober-minded folk asked the question: "What meaneth this?" Mockers declared: "These men are full of new wine." O what an uproar! What an excitement! You dear people who dislike confusion and demand that things be done "decently and in order" would have been scandalized.
"But Peter," a new Peter, no longer afraid of the opinions of people, "Standing up," (the Holy Spirit when he endues you with power puts a real "stand up for Jesus" spirit within you and takes the cowardice out) "said: these are not drunken as ye suppose...but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." Then as Peter preached that mighty sermon under the power of the Holy Spirit, among other things he told his vast audience to:
"Repent and be baptized every one...in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins," and then, too, would "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Furthermore, just as though he looked away ahead through the coming years and saw the doubts in some of your minds, Peter declared that the promise is "not only unto you" but "unto your children and unto them that are afar off," that means you, brother, sister, for he goes on to say, "even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Now, if God has called you, the promise is unto you. How glad I am that the Spirit through Peter drove these nails and clinched them on the other side till there is not the shadow of a loophole for you to thrust the wedge of doubt into.
Circle I.
The Ushering In of the Dispensation of the Holy Spirit Accompanied by Mighty Signs and Wonders. On the day of Pentecost some three thousand souls were saved. Then we see Peter and John going up to the Temple to pray, pass a lame man at the beautiful gate who asks alms of them. Peter answers: "Silver and Gold have I none;" (I do not think the Pentecostal people ever were or ever will be overly blessed with silver or gold) "but such as I have I give unto thee; in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk." The lame man was healed instantaneously, and whether the priests in the Temple believed in manifestations or not I know not, but at any rate the man went into that Temple walking, leaping and praising God.
In Acts 5:16 we see the multitudes out of the cities round about Jerusalem bringing sick folks and those who were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one. Sick were brought forth into the streets, and laid on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. Signs and wonders were wrought everywhere by the hands of the Apostles true to the word of Him who had said, "greater works than these shall ye do because I go to My Father."
While the tree seen in Circle One stood in its perfection, the Church stood blazing with the full Pentecostal Power and glory of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' words were fulfilled, and in deed and in truth they were endued with power from on high. Timid Peter, who had feared a little girl who had asked him if he knew Jesus, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit had made him to flaming evangels.
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not unto the Jews alone, but also unto the Gentiles. In Acts 10 we see Peter answering the voice of the Lord who told him through a vision, going down to preach Jesus unto the Gentiles. "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the Word," the Jews who came with Peter were astonished that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gifts of the Holy Ghost, "for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God."
Again in these wonderful days of the former rain outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we see Saul, on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians, slain and prostrated in the road by the power of the Spirit, hearing the voice of Jesus saying: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Later we find Paul not only converted and baptized with the Holy Spirit with the Bible evidence of speaking with other tongues (1 Cor. 14:18), but himself preaching salvation and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19 Paul, finding certain disciples at Ephesus, asks them whether they have received the Holy Ghost since they believed. They tell him "No." They have not even heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake in tongues and prophesied." This marvelous manifestation of speaking in other tongues accompanied the infilling of believers with the Holy Spirit everywhere. Simon offered money for the power to bestow that which he saw and heard.
The Tree With Its Perfect Fruit. Every gift and Fruit of the Spirit was manifested in the Church till the 9 gifts and the 9 fruits of the Spirit hung as 18 perfect apples upon the perfect tree. "For to one was given by the Spirit the Word of Wisdom, to another the Word of Knowledge by the same Spirit, to another Faith by the same Spirit, to another the gift of Healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of Miracles, to another Prophecy, to another Discerning of Spirits, to another divers kinds of Tongues, to another the Interpretation of Tongues." The sick were healed, miracles wrought, and when messages were given in other tongues in the assembly, someone gave the interpretation. (1 Cor. 14:27). Each of the 9 Fruits was in the Church: Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance, Longsuffering, so we have the perfect picture visualized in "Circle 1" of the Chart on the first page. Thus ends the first chapter of the early Church History, leaving the tree rooted and grounded in the faith of Jesus, every limb, branch, leaf and fruit in perfect power and strength.
Circle II.
The Palmerworm at Work. O glorious days of harmonious love and unity, days when none called aught that he had his own, days when the children of the Lord had all things in common, when they were beaten and imprisoned, days when prison bonds were broken, signs and wonders were wrought, how we have often wished they might have continued.
These puny minds of ours only feebly grasp events of the past, and are utterly unable to probe the depths of mystery shrouding the future. Unlike us, however, the great mind and eye of the Almighty God beholds the future as clearly as the past. Before His burning eyes of Fire, and the Glory of His presence, darkness turns to day, and the deepest mists are rolled away. Looking thus ahead with clear, unerring eye God saw, and moreover prophesied through the prophet Joel, that the Church would not always retain this glorious state of Power, saw the palmerworm, the locust, the cankerworm and the caterpillar were going to rob and strip and mutilate and destroy this perfect tree with its gifts and fruits. He saw that the Church, or tree, was going to lose gradually more and more, till it would be left desolate, barren and despairing. The falling away and destruction of the perfect tree did not occur in one day. It was a gradual deterioration accomplished day by day and stage by stage.
One day the palmerworm appeared, eating and destroying as it went, until as the years went by the gifts and fruits of the Spirit began to disappear from view. Not so many sick were healed as of yore, not so many miracles were performed, faith was on the wane, when someone in the assembly had a message in tongues there was no one who had the gift of interpretation, messages in prophecy were not so frequent as of yore. The fruits of unselfish love and joy and peace were also attacked by the palmerworm who grew bolder and bolder day by day. Gradually the eighteen apples began to disappear from the staunch and upright tree which had stood so gloriously heavy laden for many years after the day of Pentecost.
This state of fruitlessness was indeed a condition worthy of lamentation, but the pity of it all is that the devastation did not stop with the havoc wrought by the palmerworm. Other years and other worms took up the work of destruction where the palmerworm had left off, and "that which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten."
Circle III.
The Locust at Work. The work of the locust is of course wrought upon the leaves. Sweeping over vast territories of country, he strips and lays barren all that he touches. Thus not only were the gifts and fruits of the Spirit lost sight of by the vast majority of believers, but the personal incoming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in other tongues was also in a great measure lost sight of. The old time seekers' meetings, the earnest prayer and praise meetings were disappearing; formality and sectarianism were taking their places.
As humility, godliness, and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit vanished, persecution and reproach vanished also. As meetings of the older order were converted into dignified services of a more orthodox form, the Holy Spirit as a gentle dove was quenched and grieved and stifled till He silently withdrew His wonder working manifestations, and joy and gladness were withheld from the sons of men.
Because it meant too great a sacrifice, too much emptying out and humbling in the dust before God, too much seeking and waiting, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not received as of old. Then came men who professed to have the Holy Spirit in a new way, i.e., without the Bible seal or evidence of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. This simplified matters greatly, and the professor no longer needed to be a possessor. Thus the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was lost sight of by many, though there always was a remnant of a faithful few Spirit-filled saints through whom God manifested Himself in a real and supernatural way.
It was a sad day when the leaves were thus stripped from the tree and the locust had done its work, but days that were still more sad were to follow, for we read, "that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten."
Circle IV.
The Work of the Cankerworm. After the fruit and the leaves had been destroyed, the cankerworm immediately made his appearance and began his work upon the branches and tender shoots of the tree, making cankerous and unsound that God fearing walk of Holiness above the world and sin, so long enjoyed by the children of the Lord. As the sap, the life of the tree, was consumed and the branches became more and more cankerous, and unsound things that used to seem sinful appeared sinful no longer, the world that used to be barred outside the doors of the Church now leaned back in contented languor in the cushioned pews, or sang in the choir.
Christians let down more and more in the high standard of Holiness unto the Lord which they had been holding aloft and now it trailed bedraggled and unnoticed in the dust. Quickly upon the trail of the cankerworm followed the caterpillar, and we read "that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten."
Circle V.
The Work of the Caterpillar. We are now nearing the bottom of the large circle. The perfect tree is perfect no longer. Stripped of her fruits, denuded of her leaves, her branches made white, laid clean bare, it was not long till the trunk and the roots began to decay and the caterpillar made his nest in the decayed and rotted hollows of the tree.
No tree can eke out its existence without leaves through which to breathe, and its branches and limbs through which the sap and life courses through its veins. For a believer to live without the Holy Spirit, the breath of life, or the Holy life of Jesus as revealed by the Spirit, coursing through his veins, is to eke out a meager, barren existence nowhere recorded in the word of God. And now in circle five we see the tree in the most lamentable condition yet described, fruit gone, leaves gone, branches bare, trunk decayed and rotten, a nest for the caterpillar. In other words, the gifts and fruits of the Spirit gone, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit gone, separation and Holiness gone, Justification by Faith gone. Well might the Angels lean over the battlements of Heaven and weep, the noble Church, the perfect tree which had once stood clad with Power and Glory of the Holy Ghost, there remained now naught but a name, not even a remnant of her former splendor, as she entered into the DARK AGES.
Circle VI.
The Dark Ages. No wonder they are called the Dark Ages. Ah! dark indeed is the night without Jesus. He is the Light of the world, and when the Church lost sight of Justification by Faith, lost sight of the atonement, the blood of Jesus, there was a total eclipse and the face of the Son of Righteousness was obscured, and the succeeding years that followed are known as the Dark Ages. Men and women groping in this gross darkness tried to win their way to Heaven by doing penance, by locking themselves up in dungeons, walking over red hot plowshares in their bare feet, and inflicting unnameable tortures upon themselves and upon one another, blindly trying by some work or deed to pay the debt that had already been paid on Calvary's rugged cross. They had lost sight utterly of the fact that "Jesus paid it all, All to Him we owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."
The great arrow you see in the chart had been steadily going down and down and down, pitilessly and relentlessly going down as I saw the vision, till it seemed as though it would never reach the bottom. And now it had struck the bottom, the church had lost all, the tree was dead.
Angels might have wept, mortals might have wrung their hands, and their souls have failed them in utter despair, but God, Hallelujah, looking on ahead into the future still, had spoken through the prophet Joel (Joel 2:25), saying:
"I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." Oh, beloved, do you see it? Then shout aloud and praise Him! Why that was ALL, think of it, All that has been lost was to be restored. Hallelujah! What a promise! Impossible with man is possible with God.
Now the Church had not lost all this "all" at one time. The restoration came as "meat in due season," as line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, till today we are nearing the completion of this Restoration, and Jesus is coming soon to take His perfect Church, His Bride, His fruit-laden tree unto Himself, where transplanted from earth to heaven the tree will bloom and yield her fruit by the great River of Life, forever.
No, God did not restore to the Church all at once what she had lost. He was willing to do so to be sure, but they did not have the light at that time. Therefore, the last thing that had been lost was the first to be restored. They had had a name that they did live but were dead and, therefore, must needs repent and do their first works over again before taking any higher step.
Circle VII.
The Years of the Caterpillar Restored. Just before the arrow began to ascend, and the work of Restoration began, we see the scene of ruin depicted by Joel in all its awfulness, in the first chapter of Joel, "the meat offering and the drink offering cut off, the field wasted, the corn wasted, the new wine dried up, the oil languisheth, the vine is dried up, the fig tree languisheth, the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men. How do the beasts groan, the herds of cattle are perplexed, the sheep are made desolate, the rivers of water are dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness." Then one day amidst all this desolation God began to move, the treading of His footsteps was heard, and in Circle VII we see the roots of the tree again sinking deep into the earth and Justification by Faith restored. This is the way it all came about:
Martin Luther. Martin Luther one day was walking up the steps of the cathedral on his hands and knees, over broken glass, endeavoring to do penance, thereby seeking to atone for his sins. As he was toiling painfully and laboriously up the steps in this manner, blood trickling from his hands and knees, cut by broken glass, he heard a voice from Heaven.
"Martin Luther, The just shall live by Faith."
At the words, a great light fell from Heaven. It banished the darkness and doubts, it illuminated the soul of Martin Luther, and revealed the finished work of Calvary and the blood that alone can atone for sin.
"For nothing good have I, Whereby Thy grace to claim, I'll wash my garments white In the blood of Calvary's Lamb."
The days that followed were eventful days, epoch making days, fraught with self-sacrificing and suffering. The Lord had spoken, and promised that all the years that had been eaten should be restored. Out of the seas of travail and suffering that followed the preaching of Justification by Faith there was born a little body of blood-washed, fire-tried pilgrims, willing to suffer persecution for His name's sake.
You have read perhaps how Martin Luther and his followers were turned out of the churches, spoken against falsely, and accused of all manner of evil. As Martin Luther, Calvin, Knox, Fletcher and many other blessed children of the Lord stood firm for the truths of salvation and a sinless life they suffered all manner of persecution. God's Word says, "They that will live godly shall suffer persecution," (If you or your church profess to live godly and yet never suffer persecution, if you have become popular and the shame and reproach of the cross is gone, there is something radically wrong somewhere, for those who live godly still suffer persecution.)
As the noble tree again put down her roots of justification into the fertile soil of faith, as life again began to surge through the trunk and the limbs of the tree, every demon in Hell seemed to be raging and howling against those who saw and accepted the light of salvation. Martyrs were burned at the stake, stoned to death, swung from public scaffolds, suffered the tortures of the Inquisition, their eyes were put out with hot irons, they were beaten till great gashes were cut in their backs, salt was rubbed into the wounds and they were cast into the dark dungeons still true and unflinching for Jesus. They were tortured in unspeakable ways, beheaded, sent to the guillotine, the Covenanters were driven from hill to hill and often had to hide themselves in caves in order to pray or sing the praises of the Lord, hunted and harassed at every turn.
But God had said, "I will restore the years that have been eaten", and in spite of the burning stake, in spite of the blood and fire and the deep waters of tribulation, in spite of the raging of the demons of hell, the great arrow that had so long been going down had at last started upward and was never to stop till it reached the top and the tree was again restored to its perfection.
Persecution cannot stop God. Floods cannot stay His step. Fire cannot delay His progress. So line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, the work of restoration has been going on. Not only did the Lord restore the years the caterpillar had eaten but: years the cankerworm had eaten.
Circle VIII.
The Years of the Cankerworm Restored. An entire consecration, and holiness unto the Lord were preached. God called out a still more separated people with a deeper realization of what it meant to live a life wholly given up and consecrated to the Lord. The people a step lower always seem to fight the people a step higher. Nevertheless as the work of sifting and separation went on God led His people forth to higher heights.
As one church grew cold, lost their first love, or fought higher truths, they lost out spiritually. As soon as one creed would refuse to walk in the light as given by the Lord, or begin to organize and set up their own rules and ceremonies and took with Him and left them to their forms and ceremonies in their dead walls and set up what He called, a "called out of a called out" flock. In many instances the recording angel had to write upon the door of the fashionable churches—
"Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead," or "You have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." But the work was not stopped; somewhere people were praying, somewhere hungry hearts were meeting in little cottage prayer meetings, or on the street corners, and the tender shoots and branches were being thrust forth on the tree. Consecration and holiness were being preached and the years of the cankerworm being restored.
John Wesley. He was a man with a message. He too suffered persecution. Preaching on the street corners in those days, faithful followers were stoned, and rotten eggs thrown in their faces. But not defeated. The power of God was manifested in the dear old Methodist Church, also in Charles Finney's meetings in a wonderful manner. Men and women were slain under the power of God. At times the floors were strewn with the slain of the Lord. Signs and wonders accompanied those who preached the "meat in due season."
While these churches lived godly, prayerful, mighty lives in Jesus, they suffered persecution. But when they too began to drift into the same cold, formal state as the others before them, the power and manifestation of the Spirit began to lift from their presence. When supper rooms take the place of upper rooms, and concerts the place of prayer meetings, the Spirit is grieved away. As each body began to organize and throw up walls of difference, God simply stepped over them again and called out another separated people, willing to suffer and sacrifice for Him. Then came the day when William Booth was called upon to decide whether he would compromise or would follow the greater light God gave him. As he hesitated a moment his wife called from the balcony of that thronged church:
"Say No! William."
And William Booth said "No!" and refusing to compromise went forth preaching the message that had been given him. In the early days of the Salvation Army they were unpopular, suffered persecution, were a peculiar people, just as the others before mentioned had been in the beginning. They too, were stoned and imprisoned. Some were even martyred, but neither the devil nor his agents could stop God and His work of restoration. In these early days of the Army it was nothing uncommon to see men and women slain under the power of God. Some of their number manifested in their midst. True to prophecy, while they lived prayer meetings, dancing before the Lord and mighty power were their separated holy life they were persecuted and unpopular with the world. Then came the Holiness churches wonderfully blessed of God, and the Lord moved in their midst in a mighty manner.
These dear people, many of them, thought that the Lord had now restored ALL He was going to restore to the Church, and believed that they had all the Lord had for them. But not so! God had said, "I will restore the years that the locust, the cankerworm, the caterpillar and the palmerworm has eaten." This caterpiller and the cankerworm had been restored, What about the years eaten by the locust and the palmerworm? When God says "ALL" does He mean all or only half? Why, He means all, to be sure. Therefore, next:
Circle IX.
The Years of the Locust Are Restored. Although in previous years many saints had received the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues as in Bible days, yet upon the church at large the years which the locust had eaten in Circle III, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, in other words, had not been restored in any great measure. Therefore, this was the next to be restored. Peter in quoting from the prophet Joel says, "In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Joel says that He who gave us the "former rain" moderately, will cause to come down for us the rain, both the former and the "Latter Rain" in the first month.
Latter Rain. It was just a few years ago that this latter rain began to fall. Perhaps you recollect the great Welch Revival, where under the preaching of Evan Roberts, the fire fell. Many were saved, and baptized with the Holy Spirit, spoke with other tongues.
Over in Muki, India, a missionary, Pandita Ramabai, was praying with a band of Hindu girls. They had spent days and nights in prayer, when suddenly the Spirit was poured out in their midst as He had been on the day of Pentecost. Visible fire rested upon the girls went for water to extinguish the fire it was discovered that what they saw was the fire of the Holy Spirit, such as Moses saw in the burning bush that was not consumed. These dear Hindu girls who received the Holy Spirit, spake with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance when they received the Holy Spirit. One girl spake in the English language (which she had never learned) and this is the message which was spoken through her: "Jesus is coming soon, get ready to meet Him", and the great revival spread on and on. Almost simultaneously the Spirit was pouring out in our own United States of America, in England, in Canada, in Africa, upon missionaries in China, and in the islands of the sea. Never was such world-wide revival known to spread so quickly and simultaneously. The Spirit was poured out exactly as those who had received in Bible days had done.
In order to receive the Holy Spirit one had to be empty, and willing, so they humbled themselves and laid the pride and their Holiness in the dust. There the Lord met them and filled them with the Holy Spirit. Poor and rich, black or white, the mistress and the maid alike received the Holy Spirit when they humbled themselves and sought with all their hearts. Those who received, praised the Lord and magnified His name, as no one but Spirit filled saints can do. Waves of glory, floods of praise swept over assemblies who had received the Holy Spirit. There was no way of stopping this great revival, it seemed.
Latter Rain Truths Fought. Just as demons and men had fought the restoration of the years eaten by the caterpillar and cankerworm, so now they fought with renewed vigor the restoration of the years that had been eaten by the locust. Again history repeated itself and the saints a step lower, unwilling to humble themselves, fought those who had gone a step higher, and many refused to walk in the light. They failed to realize that God really meant what He said when He promised to restore "ALL" that had been lost. They lost sight of the fact that the Lord was coming for a perfect church clad with all power and glory of the first days and did not understand that we are still living in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit and will be till Jesus comes.
Preachers jumped to their pulpits and began to condemn those who had received the Holy Spirit in the Bible way; they cried "Wildfire! Excitement! Hypnotism! False Teaching!" etc. All sorts of names were flung at them, and, oh, the blindness of these dear persecutors' eyes! They who themselves had been persecuted for former light of a King, a radiant star of in-persecuting those who were moving on into greater light. Papers printed to condemn the outpouring of the Spirit, great preachers mounted their platforms and denounced it, but they could no more stop God from restoring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and pouring out the latter rain than the former persecutors had been able to stop the restoration of Salvation and Holiness unto the Lord.
Those Who Fight the Holy Spirit Lose Out. Those who fought the Holy Spirit, barred their doors or put up umbrellas of unbelief, began to dry up spiritually, immediately. Assemblies and churches that once were on fire for God and preaching Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, the moment they rejected the Holy Spirit, began to lose their power. Oh, why did they not see that this latter rain outpouring of the Spirit was just what they needed and had been pining for! Why could they not just have humbled themselves and let the Spirit who had been "with them" now come "in" them, making them the Temple of the Holy Ghost! All the fighting and persecution, however, were unable to quench the outpouring of the Spirit, upon those who sought earnestly with pure and humble hearts.
To fight the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was just like a man with a broom in his hand endeavoring to sweep back the tidal waves of the Atlantic Ocean. While he is sweeping it back in one place, it rolls in in countless others; moreover, if he remains long fighting the waves with his little broom, the next wave will soon flow over him and he will be "one of them." Hallelujah!
A broom cannot stop the tide of the ocean, neither can fighting stay the falling of the latter rain, for God hath spoken it. "In the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh." Oh, stop fighting God and open up your hearts to receive and welcome His gift, the Holy Spirit.
During the past twelve years, hundreds of thousands of hungry seekers have received the Holy Spirit.
Thus in Circle 9 on the chart, I saw in my vision, the leaves which had been eaten by the Locust were again restored to the tree. Just as many in Circles 7 and 8 had believed that when the Lord had restored full Salvation and Holiness they had all there was for them, so now many who had received the baptism of the Spirit believed that once they had been filled with the Spirit and had spoken with other tongues, they really had all the Lord had for them, and stopped seeking for more. This, however, had not been all the church had lost, and was, therefore, not all that was to be restored.
Circle X.
The Years of the Palmerworm Restored. Just as the Father bestowed the gift of His only Son Jesus to the world, and just as Jesus bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father upon the believer, so now in turn, the Holy Spirit has gifts to bestow upon those who receive Him. The nine gifts and fruits of the Spirit seen in Circle One are again being restored to the tree. Many blessed children of the Lord stop short at salvation and consecration and fail to receive the Holy Spirit, also many who have received the Holy Spirit stop short and fail to covet earnestly the best gifts.
In seeking more of God's will to be wrought in our lives after having received the Holy Spirit, do not ask for more of the Holy Spirit, because if you have received Him you have received all of Him. He is not divisible. Either you have, or have not received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if He has come in and taken up His abode and spoken through you with other tongues, as in Acts 2:4, pray that you may be more yielded to the Spirit who dwells within.
Someone says, "Oh, do not seek the gifts, seek the Giver." But beloved, if you have received the Spirit you have received the Giver, and Paul says "Covet earnestly the best gifts. Seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church. Let him who speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret, that the church may be edified; covet to prophesy," etc. There is a real genuine gift of prophecy even though the enemy has tried to imitate it. Discerning of spirits is needed, gifts of healing, etc., should be in our midst.
The Gifts and Fruits Are Again Appearing Upon the Tree. In Circle 10 we see the fruit not yet fully mature, perhaps, but as we pray and yield ourselves to the Spirit, He will divide to every man severally as He will, and cause the gifts and fruits of the Spirit to be visible in our midst.
Jesus Is Coming Soon. Coming for a perfect church, clad in power, in glory, for the perfect tree with every gift and fruit hanging in luscious mellow, developed perfection upon her branches. Oh, let us wake up and press on to perfection! The winter is over and gone, the spring with its former rain has passed, the summer is passing and the latter rain has long been falling. The harvest is at hand and the Master is searching for ripened, developed fruit. Praise God for the roots and trunk of salvation! Praise God for the firm, strong limbs and branches of holiness and consecration! Praise God for the green leaves, for the Holy Spirit, but the Master demands fruit from His tree these last days before His coming, Not green, immature fruit, but perfect fruit. He is whispering just now,
I Will Restore All the Years That Have Been Eaten. Dear ones, there is land ahead to be possessed. Let the fruit of Love be wrought out in your life, with Joy, Peace, Long-suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness and Temperance. Let us get back to Pentecost, and on to the fullness of Pentecostal power and glory recorded in God's Word, for Jesus is coming soon, very soon, for His perfect, waiting church, His bride, unspotted with the world; His tree with its unblemished and perfect fruit. Soon He will lift us up and transplant us to the heavenly garden where the arrow is almost to the top now, the hour when Jesus will burst the starry floor of heaven and descend for His beloved is at hand. The great clock of time has almost reached the appointed hour. Let nothing hinder the work of preparation in your life. Watch that we do not fall into the same snare.
Let us beware that we do not fall into the same snare which other people formerly used of God have fallen into: snares of formality, of coldness and organization, building walls about ourselves and failing to recognize the other members of our body (for by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY). If ever we put up walls and fall into these snares of formality, God will step over our walls, and choose another people as surely as He did in days of yore. He will not give His glory to another, but will take the foolish to confound the mighty, the weak to confound the strong.
Press on, therefore, to perfection; do not stop short of God's best. If you lay down your crown, another will take it up, the number will be complete, none will be missing, only those who have pressed on all the way to His Standard will be caught up. If you have been doubting God, doubt no longer. He is waiting to restore all the years that have been eaten, and cause you to stand forth in that glorious perfect tree company, ready and waiting for Jesus.
AMEN.