Chapter 3
3
True to Scripture
At Adullam we experienced many of the results that the Bible promises will follow when the Holy Spirit comes in power. This confirmed to us that what was happening was from God. We would like to mention some of these results.
They knew they were saved1
Through their visions and the other ways in which the Holy Spirit impacted their lives the children became deeply aware of their own sinfulness. They realized that there was no hope unless God was merciful to them and helped them. But in their despair God in His grace brought home to them just as clearly the amazing truth that they had been saved. One person after another came to the place where they could say ‘I know I am saved.´ The Adullam family was transformed as one boy after another met God. The whole atmosphere of the place was changed. There was so much joy and glory that it bubbled over. While the boys were at work preparing ground for a new garden they praised the Lord so much that some of the local lads mocked them with ‘Praise the Lord´ whenever they met them. When one boy went into a store to buy some nails, before he realized it he said, ‘Hallelujah! I want some nails.´ This particular tribes boy was one of the first to be filled with the Holy Spirit. One day on his way to work he was so full of joy that he danced down the street praising the Lord.
They spoke in other tongues2
Knowing that their sins had been forgiven and that they were born again the children began seeking the Lord more and more. They were carried deeper and deeper into the things of God and, although most of them had no experience of any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, God had told them to seek Him for His Holy Spirit, and this they did. They were fully immersed, or baptized, in the supernatural Spirit as the apostles and first disciples had been and over twenty of the people at Adullam spoke in other tongues as they did on the Day of Pentecost.3
They prophesied4
Early on in this move of the Holy Spirit God spoke to us through one of the smallest and humblest of the children. No one present at the time doubted that the Lord was speaking to us directly through that young boy. There was something about the voice, the penetrating power of the words, which gripped our hearts in a way that we can´t described. We had never experienced anything like it before. We all knew we were hearing directly from the Lord. Later, quite a number of the people at Adullam began to prophesy, and we became more and more amazed at the wonderful things that God was doing among us, using those the world despises to reveal His plans and purposes.
They saw visions of unseen worlds5
One of the most striking evidences of the work of the Holy Spirit was the way in which He fulfilled this promise:
‘But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.´ (John 16:13-14)
The Holy Spirit gave these simple believers, who had only been taught the Bible for a few months, the most amazing revelations of the truths of Christ, His salvation and the future. It was truly wonderful.
The visions were often given to several people at the same time and nearly all them were seen by quite a number. Even some of the very young boys, six years of age, received them. The visions came while they were under the power of the Holy Spirit but it was not like a dream, it was very real. In many cases afterwards the children came to ask if the Bible said anything about certain aspects of what they had witnessed in the visions.
These were some of the visions they saw: Christ tied to a post and scourged; Christ bleeding on the cross while people looked on and scoffed; the body of Christ taken from the cross, carried to the tomb and placed in it, then the tomb being closed; an angel opening the tomb and Christ´s resurrection; His appearance to the women, to the disciples by the sea, and to those in the upper room; the ascension of Christ and the descent of the two angels; heaven; detailed visions inside the New Jerusalem in heaven; angels; the redeemed; hell; the condition of the lost in hell; demons; the devil; the great tribulation and what will happen to those who love God and to the beast during that time; the battle of Armageddon; the binding and imprisonment of Satan in the pit; the great supper of God and birds eating the flesh of the kings and world leaders; the coming of Christ with His angels; the sun and moon changed; heaven quake and earthquake and the destruction that will accompany the coming of Christ; the resurrection of those who know God; the marriage supper of the Lamb in Paradise; detailed views of our mansions in heaven and other heavenly scenes.
They studied the Bible
The Holy Spirit created such a great interest in the children, even the smaller ones, in Bible study that they wanted to know if they could stop studying ‘earthly books´ and just study the Bible.
They prayed and praised God
Since the unseen world had become so real to them, it is no wonder that there was a change in the community‘s life of prayer and praise. While not everyone spoke in tongues, all except a very few were so filled and anointed with the Holy Spirit that our joyful praise and worship of Christ the King often seemed almost to touch heaven. Although there were times when we wondered if these heavenly citizens would ever come down to earth again, we needn´t have worried. The Holy Spirit was clearly very much concerned about those on earth for in one particular prayer meeting boy after boy pleaded with God in real intercessory prayer for the lost, praying that God would use us all as courageous warriors for Him in this battle for righteousness. Their experience of the Holy Spirit made prayer more than a formality for we were all now convinced that our real enemies are the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
They preached in the power of the Holy Spirit
After two or three weeks of the Lord´s dealings with them, nearly all the children wanted to preach the gospel, even the younger ones. When we went out onto the streets we experienced the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Some of both the younger and older boys hardly seemed like our boys when they preached under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, not timidly and apologetically as before, but with real authority. Hell and heaven, the devil and his power, Christ, His blood and His salvation, were no myths to these boys. They knew the Lord had told them to preach, and they were given the message, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.´ We rejoiced as we listened to them preaching with such conviction, warning people to escape from God´s anger and explaining salvation in Christ. On some occasions the power of God was especially evident and there was some unusually miraculous preaching.
At the Chinese New Year, when the streets were filled with all sorts of people out for a holiday, having given out thousands of tracts, we formed a circle on the street to preach the gospel. One of the older boys had prepared a sermon on a New Year theme, but when the preaching began, the Holy Spirit came in such power that he suddenly began speaking in another tongue, while someone else interpreted. As soon as the Lord was through with one interpreter that boy would step back and another would feel the anointing to preach. As soon as this person stepped into the circle he would get the interpretation. This went on for an hour or two while as many people listened as could get near enough to hear. People who would never normally listen to the gospel now listened most attentively as these boys spoke with a passion that must have appeared strange and unusual. As we came away from that service conducted by the Holy Spirit in such order and beauty, each preacher having been chosen by the Lord, each one speaking under direct inspiration from Him, we were deeply struck by these wonders from God. This must have been what the preaching of the Church was like in the beginning and what it seemed so clear that the Lord wanted it to be in the end.
Not that speaking in other languages with interpretation was either in the beginning or subsequently to be the regular order of preaching, but as 1 Corinthians 14 clearly shows, it is intended to be part of the Lord´s method of preaching the gospel in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. In such preaching the mind of the speaker is not engaged: before he opens his mouth he does not know what words the Spirit will speak through his lips. This is pure prophetic preaching.
There were a few other instances of preaching with tongues and interpretation in some of the villages.
The Lord was the preacher on several occasions in our little street chapel. For two or three nights the youthful preachers, under the real anointing of the Holy Spirit, preached the most inspiring sermons I have ever heard from Chinese evangelists. It seemed as if those sermons would stir anyone to repentance.
God showed His love in still greater power a few nights later when a boy in his teens was preaching very powerfully; his eyes suddenly closed and he began to prophesy like an Old Testament prophet under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit. His manner suddenly changed; the form of the Chinese sentences became rhythmic and perfect; the address changed to the first person with sentences such as, ‘I am the Lord God Almighty, the one true God, who made all things, who now speaks to you through this boy.´ ‘Against me have you sinned.´ I cannot describe the impact of the boy´s penetrating words and the sense of having been ushered into the presence of God. The seats of our little chapel were soon filled, while as many people as could see gathered around the door, listening in awe and wonder. If there was the least commotion, the Lord commanded order, speaking through the boy and saying, ‘Make no mistake in this matter. Listen carefully and understand. I the Lord God have all authority in heaven and on earth. To me every man and every demon must give account. I know all about every one of you. I know all your sins. I know how many hairs there are on your head. There are fifty-six of you living in sin here tonight. Repent tonight and I will forgive you.´ For half an hour or more we were truly in the presence of a prophet, as the Lord in this way rebuked those people for idolatry, ungodliness and all their vices, bringing them to the brink of despair. Then, as in the case of the Old Testament prophets, God spoke of the glories He had prepared for His people. Like a loving father he pleaded with them to repent that night. He spoke of the distress and destruction that would come to their nation in the day of God´s anger. All these things were repeated several times with exhortations to listen to every word as from a God who would hold every person present accountable for his own soul after that night.
When the prophecy was finished the boy sat down. There was not a movement or a whisper. It seemed to me that every person must know that God was speaking. Nearly all those present had come in while the boy´s eyes were shut. When the Lord spoke of fifty-six present under the power of the devil and sin, one of the boys carefully counted the people present who did not belong to the Adullam community. There were fifty-six.
Two demons are cast out6
The Lord had told the boys through prophecy and direct revelation, ‘Demons must obey me.´ They saw the Lord prove His word when two demons were cast out of a man.
There is not sufficient space to give full details of the man´s history but we had known him for a number of years and he also lived with us for six months. For many years he had been the victim of depression. Because the darkness surrounding his life had been so intense he was ready to take his own life and we had kept him with us to prevent this. He was always sad. Every effort we made to lead him to Christ was completely useless: his mind was completely blind.
The Lord used three people to cast out the demons. One demon, the size of a man, had an awful, black appearance. Several children saw him come out. As the Lord used one boy, suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit for the task, to rebuke the demons, they put up a final fight to keep the man in their possession. The man´s hands clenched together, his eyes were shut tight and his whole body became rigid and resisting. Finally the Holy Spirit brought revelation to the man´s heart, his body relaxed and his hands went up in praise to God.
Several children saw the demon after he came out, rushing about in great anger and seeking someone to enter or overcome.7 All the children, having heard the commotion when they were about to eat their meal and come in to see what was going on, were standing about with their hands in the air, thanking and praising God. Since they were all looking to Jesus and were covered by His blood the demon had no chance to get hold of any of them. The schoolteacher, who was not truly converted, also came in and was looking on in curiosity but was not praying. The angry demon, seeing his opportunity, seized this man and threw him to the floor with a thud. The second demon sat on him, preventing him from getting up. Several children saw this. Our gardener, who some years before had been miraculously delivered from opium, saw it too. He was suddenly filled with the Holy Spirit and cast the demon out of the room.
I only saw the two men, the one set free and the other suddenly fall to the floor beside him. I supposed the schoolteacher had fallen to the floor under the power of the Holy Spirit as there was such a strong sense of His presence in the room. When he was able to get up I asked him why he had been crying and why he fell. He said, ‘I wept from sheer terror. Something awful happened. Everything became black; I saw myself about to go into a black pit at the foot of a terrible mountain.´ While he was on the floor he saw himself being put in chains by the demon and about to be carried off into utter darkness – but he was set free again.
The physical appearance of the man from whom the demons had been cast out changed at once. He spoke of the peace and joy that he now experienced. At the time he was delivered from the demons he was given a vision of heaven. When he lay in bed at night thinking about the Lord he was so happy that he wondered if it was right for him to have such great joy.
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