N. A. R.R. A TIVE OF Fºots.
CHARACTERIZING THE
ºupºnatural ſºnifestation;
N.
MEMBERS OF MR, IRVING's CONGREGATION,
AND OTHER IN DIVIDUALS,
IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND,
AND -
For MERLY IN THE WRITER HIMSELF.
by Robºt Bºxtºn
LONDON .
|AMES NISBET, BERNERs stºr.
MDCCCXXXIII.
Price Two Shillings.






974 “Irvingite.”—Narrative of Facts Charac.
terizing the Supernatural Manifestations in
members of Mr. Irving’s Congregation, by
ROBERT BAXTER, sm. 8vo, sewed, 8s 6d,
SCARCE 1833
B Fºº
/43 +.
G-7
zº 3.5
A 33 3
N A R R A TIV E,
&c.
NARRATIVE OF FACTS,
CHARACTERIZING THE
SUPERNATURAL MANIFESTATIONS,
IN
£ºlemierć of ſlit. Hºrbing'3 GTongregation,
AND OTHER IN DIVIDUALS,
IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND,
.AN ID
ForMERLY IN THE WRITER HIMSELF.
BY ROBERT BAXTER,
sº
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God;
because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”—1 Joh N iv. 1.
“And what I say unto you I say unto all, watch.”—MARK x III. 37.
“And some of them of understanding shall fall to try them, and to purge and
to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for a time
appointed.”—DA N. xi. 35.
LONDON :
JAMES NISBET, BERNERS STREET.
MDCCCXXXIII.
PA-
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A3 3.5
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ºfºr. 7: 3, 7424.2,
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* < * 24-72.
CO N T ENT S.
PAGE
Introduction Q º e ... 1
First information of miraculous gifts, and credence of
them e e e 3
Difficulty in publicly declaring them ... 4
Attendance in London at private meeting for prayer
and utterances 4
Effect of occurrence there e 5
Result of subsequent consideration and inquiries 6
Utterance in prayer for the gifts and accompanying con-
viction te 㺠© 8
Visitation of the power in the communion-service ... 10
Public teaching and Scripture references . . 11
Reading and praying, in power, in National Scotch
Church tº • e . 11
Full utterances and prophesyings on the church and
nation . . © e I2
Mr. Irving's doubts, and their solution 14
Prophetic interpretation of Rev. xi. 15
Preaching in the Spirit at Mr. Irving's . 16
Revelation of translation of the saints º 17
Obvious mistake in utterance e H!
Mr. Irving's further doubts, and their abandonment 20
Course of conviction and subservience to the power 21
Colloquial utterances e 23
Mission on message before the Chancellor . 23
Reflections and proceedings on its failure . 25
Extraordinary occurrence in confirmation of the power 26 .
The explaining away of the failure of the message to
the Chancellor, and prophecy of “abomination of
desolation” o • ſº . 26
Prophecy concerning ordinations, and apostacy of the
Church of England O • * . 28
vi CONTENTS.
PAGE
Prophecy of development of “the Man of Sin,”
mystical and personal , 29
Prophecies against religious societies 31
Prophecy against the Bible Society 33
Prophecy against the Trinitarian Bible Society 34
Prophecy and message to an individual 35
Occurrence at evening meeting 35
Message sending forth missionaries e . 36
Revelation of my calling, and separation from my family 38
Fulfilment of the signs, and delivery of messages thereon 40
False revelation tº e 41
Public ministry in Church of England 42
Prophecy concerning the King and Queen . 45
Return to town º & e . 46
Effect of utterances on an inquirer, and general effect
of presence of unbelievers . e . 47
Contradiction to revelations and utterances, as to my
calling and separation 49
Occurrence re-assuring me in their truth 52
Result of my brother's mission 52
Return into the country e 53
Prophecy concerning the fast day 54
Revelation interpreting Rev. xii. e 55
Prophetic interpretation of Rev. viii. and ix. . 57
Prophetic exposition of Eph. vi. 10–18; and effect of it 62
Development of the doctrine of “baptism of fire” 64
Prophecy of my call to the apostolic office, and of the
gift of signs and wonders • © . 65
Prophecy concerning the Scotch Church, and the call
of Mr. Irving, Mr. A., and others to the prophetic • *.
and apostolic office * e . 67
Prophecy of the casting out an evil spirit 67
Journey to town and message to the congregation 67
Reiteration of coming in of power, signs, and wonders
on the morrow, and delivery of message to Mr. *
Irving . e e . 68
Instance of discernment of thoughts 69
Failure of prophecy of signs and wonders . . 70
Prophecies in public congregation concerning the
church, nation, and pestilence, on the fast day . 70
Instance of discerning of circumstances o . 71
CONTENTS. vii
PAGE
Scene at Mr. Irving's, and attempt to cast out an evil
spirit e & * 2 , W2
Utterance in the public congregation, on Sunday, and
application of it . e e . 75
Development of rejection of the visible elements in the
sacraments, and utterances in the congregation at
the baptism of infants e tº . 77
Prophecy of the ten tribes and their restoration . 80
Distressing circumstances from the failure of pro-
phecies e 82
Testimony against women prayer-meetings, and their
dissolution, and change in Mr. Irving's prayer-
meetings tº g . 83
Ministration as the spiritual administering of the
Lord’s Supper º e e . 86
Message from Miss E. C. on my return into the
country . ſe º e . 8S
Revelation and prophecy appointing day for the gift
of the baptism of fire e ſº . 88
Its failure tº tº 90
Increasing contradictions and difficulties in the work 91
Assurance in it from the confession of Christ come in
the flesh º we . 96
Remarkable occurrence in Gloucestershire . , 97
Circumstances leading to the examination of Mr. Ir-
ving's views as to Christ's flesh, and testimony
in power against them tº e . 98
Discovery of Mr. Irving's errors as to the human na-
ture of Christ, and the holiness of the believer,
and writing to him . º * ... 100
Testimony from one of the gifted persons in Scotland,
to my interpretation of Rev. viii. and ix. . 102
Reply from Mr. Irving, with utterances from Mrs.
C., and Miss E. C. sustaining his errors . 103
Observations on his doctrine {º ſº . 108
Effect of this testimony e & . 116
Conviction that the work was not of God, and con-
currence of my brother tº © . 117
Interview with Mr. Irving and gifted persons on it
and examination of his view of a true and a false
spirit speaking in the same person . . 118
viii CONTENTS.
Restatement of his doctrines by Mr. Irving
Suspicious characteristics in the manifestations
Sincerity of Mr. Irving and other persons engaged
in it º o ſº &
Observations on the text, 1 John iv. 2, on trying spirits
Details and opinion as to gift of tongues, and dis-
cernment of thoughts te ©
Effects of delusion on observation and judgment
Causes which appear to have prepared the way for
the delusion { } e e
Inference as to the doctrine of the second advent
of our Lord ſº e tº ſº
Caution as to temptation to infidelity arising out of
the delusion g
PAGE
. 123
126
129
131
133
137
138
142
Appendix tº © º
144
147
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
MANY circumstances have concurred, in leading
to the publication of the following facts, as well as
in preventing their earlier publicity. Repeated
representations of the duty of such a step, have
given weight to the hope which the writer enter-
tained, that it might be made useful to others who
have been beguiled. An unwillingness to give
pain to those who, still continuing in the work,
are involved in the narrative, joined to the
hope that the Lord might open their eyes to the
delusion, and render any publication unnecessary,
has, from time to time, delayed it; and it is only
since the writer finds them so bound up in their
system, as to deem it an act of deep guilt to confer
with him upon the subject, that he is constrained
publicly to set forth the facts, which have been to
him decisive of the character of the work itself.
Most of the details are, to the writer, very pain-
ful; and, perhaps a secret unwillingness to expose
himself to further deserved scorn and reproach,
may not a little have contributed to delay them :
much, however, as the writer would wish to spare
himself the pain of writing and recording such de-
Y PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
tails, he is so fully aware of the necessity of them,
to prevent apologies or versions of facts, to sustain
the work, and the expectations of those concerned
in it, that he dare not curtail them. He can make
no reparation for the evil he has inflicted; and the
least he can do is to lay aside all personal conside-
rations in the narrative of his proceedings: he may
not have been able to do this faithfully, but he
certainly has intended it.
An observation made to him, with reference to
his explanations, the writer would cursorily allude
to, viz. “Are you not, by ascribing the work to a
spirit speaking in you, endeavouring to discharge
yourself from your own blame and guilt 7” He
can only answer, he does not think so. So far as
intention and honesty of purpose are involved, the
writer does, by such a line, necessarily claim them;
and in so much he does endeavour to exonerate
himself. He does explicitly deny all intention to
deceive, and all intentional imitation of prophetic
power: but he cannot shrink from taking upon
him the blame and guilt of all his wanderings from
truth; and does not think the weight of them at
all lightened, by designating the agency producing
them as supernatural. He ought to have watched
as well as prayed; and, being taken off his guard,
he fell under the temptation of the enemy. Having,
through want of watchfulness, suffered himself to
be deceived; he was led on, from one degree of
error to another, his. darkness and unfaithfulness
increasing at every step, doing things which
FR EL IMINARY OBSERVATION S. xi
were, as he ought to have known, contrary to the
word of God; until his faith being shaken to the
very foundation, the veil of delusion was graciously
torn aside.
Another observation deserves remark—“Why
persuade yourself that the work was supernatural?”
Glad, indeed, would the writer be, if he could,
upon safe grounds, persuade himself otherwise.
He has often endeavoured to pursue the course
of circumstances, and account for the occurrences
from excitement, and the frenzied workings of a
distempered mind; but he finds himself utterly at
a loss, and, without shutting his eyes to most of
the material features of the case, he could not
honestly come to such a conclusion. If it should
be said—“Is there not a degree of delusion or
obliquity of judgment still clinging to you, which
prevents your forming an accurate opinion’—the
writer must leave this to the decision of the reader.
He is conscious, after the proof he has given of
infirmity of judgment, and liability to delusion,
he must continually lie under suspicion; and he
can only pray, that those who may peruse the fol-
lowing pages, may exercise a more sound judg-
ment, and shew greater discernment, and that his
own mind may be continually corrected by the
standard of light and truth.
N A R RATIVE,
&c. &c.
Little did I imagine, when occupied in penning
the pages of the “Layman's Appeal,” in vindication
of the Church of England, against the attacks made
upon her, and in warning against the devices of
Satan as an angel of light, that I should myself so
soon become a victim of his deceivableness. I need
not add with what feelings I now look back on my
delusions, nor recount the bitter pangs which every
remembrance of those whom I have been instrumen-
tal in misleading, brings to me. I have found, to
my sorrow, it is one thing to lead men on into the
power of the enemy, and quite another thing to
deliver them. I have helped on the affliction, but
when discovering my guilt, I turn towards the heal-
ing of the wounds I have deepened, I find myself
utterly powerless. *
For the sake of those whom I may have hardene
or betrayed into a false faith, is it that I feel called
upon to publish my own shame, and confess before
all my transgressions. My God, who in his love
pardons, has heard, I trust, in secret, and gladly
would I rest in the obscurity of my private station
without challenging public attention at all. The
snare in which I was taken, has, however, entangled
so many others, and the busy tongues of partisans
and tattlers are so much excusing and mis-stating
B
2
the facts which have developed its character, that I
am constrained to give a faithful narrative, at the
expense of my own feelings, in the hope the Lord
may open the eyes of the understanding of all who
are seeking his truth, and deliver them from the
“net of the fowler.”
In the detail I am about to enter into, I may lay
myself open to the charge of egotism, in supposing
my doings or misdoings to be worthy of public atten-
tion. This charge, however, I must bear. It is not
my individual stumbling which can hurt the church,
nor my recovery (if God is graciously pleased to bring
me back) that can help the church ; but it is the ex-
posure of the cunning craftiness of Satan, which may
be made useful to the weak members of the church,
and that craftiness, working in the most obscure and
most unworthy individual, may lay bare his sickening
influence over the more prominent and respected
victims of his delusion.
Another charge I must underlie, which is far more
painful to me. The narrative will necessarily in-
volve the conduct of many who have, like myself,
though more excusably, been deceived. The regard
I bear them as sincere, though deluded followers
after truth ; the debt I owe them, as well for the
affectionate kindness evinced towards myself, as also
for the wounds I have inflicted or exercised on them,
by confirming them in delusion; and, moreover, the
longing I have that they might be brought to the
knowledge of the truth ; (for, as the Apostle said of
the Israelites, so may I humbly say of them ; “I
bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge ;”) all these increase
greatly my desire to say nothing which may, in any
way, wound their feelings. It may be they may
consider much of this narrative as disclosing oc-
currences and opinions which, passing in private, in
family worship, and social intercourse, ought to be
treated as confidential ; and thus I may be charged
with blazoning to the public eye, that which came
before me in the confidence of friendly intercourse,
3
and with betraying the confidence of friends. Of
such a breach of confidence, I trust I may, in no
case, be guilty. It is simply my wish to shew forth
the workings of that spirit which challenges, and
for which is claimed, the glorious name of the Holy
Spirit of Jehovah. The utterances of that spirit,
whether in public or in private, are equally to be
examined and weighed; and though it is not right
to open any private and confidential matters, which
concern individuals alone; yet assuredly all matters
which concern faith, discipline, or conduct, must,
even in the opinion of those who regard the utter-
ances as from God, be judged of by the church
according to the apostolic rule; “Let the prophets
speak two or three, and let the other judge.”
Some months before writing the Layman's Appeal,
I had heard many particulars of the extraordinary
manifestations which had occurred at Port Glasgow,
in Scotland. A near relation of mine, having a
friend, a clergyman of the Church of England,
residing in the neighbourhood; I had, from time to
time, received accounts through him, of what was
going on there. Conceiving, as I did, and still do,
that there is no warrant in Scripture for limiting
the manifestations of the Spirit to the apostolic times;
and deeply sensible of the growth of infidelity, in the
face of the church, and of the prevalence of formality
and lukewarmness within it; I was ready to examine
the claims to inspiration, and even anxious for the
presence of the gifts of the Spirit, according as it
seemed to me, to that apostolic command, “ Covet
earnestly the best gifts.” Conscious that nothing
but an abundant outpouring of the Spirit of God
could quicken the church into active life; and that
nothing less than the power of God, put forth in
testimony, could stem the torrent of infidelity which
was flowing in upon us; I longed greatly, and prayed
much, for such an outpouring and testimony.
When I saw, as it seemed to me, proof that those who
claimed the gifts were walking honestly, and that
the power manifested in them was evidently super-
-- B 2
.*
4
natural, and, moreover, bore testimony to Christ
come in the flesh, I welcomed it at once as the work
of God, though it was long before I publicly spoke
of it.
In August, 1831, a dear friend (Mr. A.) visiting
me, I expressed these convictions to him, and added,
I could not publicly speak of them, from the want
which I felt of Scripture warrant for the restoration
of the gifts at this period of the church. Declaring
that it seemed to me consonant with Scripture gene-
rally, and in the form which the manifestations as-
sumed, they seemed to bear the impress of God ;
but that I could not teach men now to look for the
gifts, until I saw more clearly the promise and
prophecy upon which they might be expected.
I should mention, that I had, for twelve months
previously to this, been in the almost daily habit
of reading to, and teaching the poor, in the parish
where I reside; and had found much strength and
comfort to myself, and, I have reason to believe,
it was also accompanied with profit to those who
heard it. I had carefully avoided any assumption
of the ministerial office; so much so, that (though
I do not now think the scruple well founded) I
had refrained from praying with the people when
gathered together; conceiving the privilege of leading
in public prayer belonged alone to the ordained mi-
mister.
At this period I was, by professional arrangements,
called up to London, and had a strong desire to
attend at the prayer-meetings which were then pri-
vately held by those who spoke in the power, and
those who sought for the gifts. Having obtained
an introduction, I attended; my mind fully convinced
that the power was of God, and prepared, as such,
to listen to the utterances. After one or two
brethren had read and prayed, Mr. T was made
to speak two or three words very distinctly, and with an
energy and depth of tone which seemed to me extra-
ordinary, and it fell upon me as a supernatural utter-
ance, which I ascribed to the power of God; the
5
words were in a tongue I did not understand. In
a few minutes Miss E. C. broke out in an utterance
in English, which, as to matter and manner, and
the influence it had upon me, I at once bowed to
as the utterance of the Spirit of God. Those who
have heard the powerful and commanding utterance
need no description; but they who have not may
conceive what an unnatural and unaccustomed tone of
voice, an intense and rivetting power of expression—
with the declaration of a cutting rebuke to all who
were present, and applicable to my own state of mind
in particular—would effect upon me, and upon the
others who were come together, expecting to hear
the voice of the Spirit of God. In the midst of
the feeling of awe and reverence which this pro-
duced, I was myself seized upon by the power; and
in much struggling against it, was made to cry out,
and myself to give forth a confession of my own sin
in the matter, for which we were rebuked; and after-
wards to utter a prophecy that the messengers of
the Lord should go forth, publishing to the ends
of the earth in the mighty power of God, the tes.
timony of the near coming of the Lord Jesus. The
rebuke had been for not declaring the near coming
of Jesus, and I was smitten in conscience, having
many times refrained from speaking of it to the
people, under a fear they might stumble over it,
and be offended. -
I was overwhelmed by this occurrence. The at-
tainment of the gift of prophecy, which this super-
natural utterance was deemed to be, was, with myself
and many others, a great object of desire. I could
not, therefore, but rejoice at having been made the
subject of it; but there were so many difficulties
attaching to the circumstances under which the
power came upon me, and I was so anxious and
distressed lest I should mistake the mind of God in
the matter, that I continued many weeks weighed
down in spirit and overwhelmed. There was in me,
at the time of the utterance, very great excitement;
and yet I was distinctly conscious of a power acting
6
upon me beyond the mere power of excitement. So
distinct was this power from the excitement, that in
all my trouble and doubt about it, I never could
attribute the whole to excitement. Conceiving, as
I had previously done, that the power speaking in
the speakers was of God, I was convinced the power
in me was the same power; and I regarded the con-
fession which was wrung from me to be the same
thing as is spoken of in 1 Cor. xiv., where it is said,
“If all prophesy, and there come in one that be-
lieveth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all,
he is judged of all, and thus are the secrets of his
heart made manifest; and so, falling down on his
face, he will worship God, and report that God is in
you of a truth.” It seemed to be so with me: I was
unlearned; the secret of my heart was made manifest;
and I was made, by a power unlike any thing I had
ever known before, to fall down and acknowledge
that God was among them of a truth.
The day following this occurrence, I devoted to
fasting and prayer, to beseech God to open to me his
mind in the matter, that I might not stumble in my
way. In the midst of my prayer, the promise in
Mal. iv. 5, “Behold, I will send you Elijah, the
prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord, and he shall turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with
a curse;” coupled with the declarations concerning
John Baptist; particularly that in Luke i. 17, “He
shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias,
to turn,” &c. were brought before me, and it was
written upon my mind by a power wholly new to me,
“The Lord is now pouring out upon the church this
spirit and power of Elias, to prepare for the second
coming of Jesus.” This view was altogether new to
me; and I could not then see its propriety so fully as
to clear up my doubts and inquiries concerning the
work; but I had set myself reverently to seek the
mind of the Lord ; and this, to me, unusual and un-
looked-for communication, worked in me a persuasion
7
that this was the Lord's answer to my prayers, and
though I understood it not fully then; that my under-
standing would, in due time, be opened upon it, and
I should see the truth.*
I staid but few days in town, though I had much
communication with those who attended upon the
utterances. No utterance had then been allowed in
the public congregation, but the meetings were
strictly private. I argued upon the impropriety of
shutting up the manifestations; and strongly urged
the offence which, by such a course, was given to
inquirers, who would be ready to infer that they
would not bear the light. The account which was
given me of the purport of the utterances, and the
effect I saw to be wrought by them, served to con-
firm me in the belief of their truth. The word
spoken seemed to be the Gospel of Christ, and the
effect upon the hearers a prostration of pride, and a
devotedness and apparent patient waiting upon God.
The change of views caused by the utterances, was
then, as it appeared to me, very trifling; and, indeed, at
that time, the influence and expectations from the
power of utterance were very indistinct. One thing
I was much struck with, and in a manner startled at.
I knew the views of those with whom I was asso-
ciating to have been, in consonance with my own,
what have been called, “High Church.” I found
them, however, much shaken in this, and was told
the Spirit had spoken very strongly of the Churches
of England and Scotland, applying the name, “Ba-
bylon,” to them. The apparent effect, however, of
this testimony was only to shake; and I did not gather
that they adopted this application of the name,
“Babylon,” any further than as denouncing the
worldly spirit which had crept into the Churches.
The views as to the church, which were then in
embryo among them, appeared to me to have some
weight ; and I purposed to look again over my views
as expressed in the Layman's Appeal, then in the
* See Appenix, A.
8
press, expecting I might find reason to alter them.
On my return home, I did look over and weigh my
former opinions, but saw no reason to alter ; and, ac-
cordingly, I finished the pamphlet and sent it to the
press.
I am thus particular in explaining these circum-
stances, that I may accurately show how unequal
we are, in our own strength, to stand before God;
and how rapidly we may fall from all our convictions
and views of truth, if our God should see fit, in judg-
ment for our sins, to leave us for a season to the
influence of a seducing spirit.
From this period, for the space of five months, I
had no utterances in public ; though, when engaged
alone in private prayer, the power would come down
upon me, and cause me to pray with strong crying
and tears for the state of the church. On one occa-
sion, about a month after I had received the power,
whilst in my study, endeavouring to lift up my soul to
God in prayer, my mind was so filled with worldly
concerns that my thoughts were wandering to them
continually. Again and again I began to pray, and
before a minute had passed, I found my thoughts
had wandered from my prayer back into the world.
I was much distressed at this temptation, and sat
down, lifting up a short ejaculation to God for delive-
rance ; when suddenly the power came down upon
me, and I found myself lifted up in soul to God, my
wandering thoughts at once rivetted, and calmness
of mind given me. By a constraint I cannot describe,
I was made to speak--at the same time shrinking
from utterance, and yet rejoicing in it. The ut-
terance was a prayer that the Lord would have
mercy upon me and deliver me from fleshly weakness,
and would graciously bestow upon me the gifts of his
Spirit, “ the gift of wisdom, the gift of knowledge,
the gift of faith, the working of miracles, the gifts of
healing, the gift of prophesy, the gift of tongues, and
the interpretation of tongues; and that he would
open my mouth and give me strength to declare his
glory.” This prayer, short almost as I have now
9
penned it, was forced from me by the constraint of
the power which acted upon me; and the utterance
was so loud, that I put my handkerchief to my
mouth to stop the sound that I might not alarm the
house. When I had reached the last word I have
written, the power died off me, and I was left just
as before, save in amazement at what had passed, and
filled, as it seemed to me, with thankfulness to God
for his great love so manifested to me. With the
power there came upon me a strong conviction—
“This is the Spirit of God: what you are now
praying is of the Spirit of God, and must, therefore,
be the mind of God, and what you are asking will
surely be given to you.” This conviction—strong as
it was at the moment—was never shaken until the
whole work fell to pieces. But from that day I
acted in the full assurance that in God’s own good
time all these gifts would be bestowed upon me.
In the present day, when spiritual power is almost
wholly denied, it is the fashion to explain all things
upon physical grounds, or by the more illogical de-
ductions from the interminable vagaries and derange-
ments of the human mind. But if facts have any
force in proof, the facts which have lately occurred
have been broad enough to show the active workings
of a spirit; and to show also, that though a super-
natural power is with us, we are not therefore, of
necessity, receiving it of God. The power exer-
cised by the Spirit, in causing instantaneous and un-
looked-for convictions; was very striking and mys-
terious. In the two instances I have already re-
corded, it was produced irrespective of the slow
process by which the mind ordinarily embraces deep-
rooted convictions ; though an apparently logical
chain of proof was always, at the same moment, given
for the conclusion. In the utterances of the power
which subsequently occurred, many were accompanied
with the flashing in of conviction on the mind, like
lightning rooting itself in the earth. Whilst other
utterances, not being so accompanied, only acted in
the way of an authoritative communication; upon
B 3
10
which the mind was left to form its own conclusion
and conviction. This was not singly my own case,
but the case with many others; and my persuasion is,
that such a manner of conviction is a part of the
power which a spirit exercises over us, and if we are
left under the power of an evil spirit, it is what is
written in 2 Thess. ii. “God shall send them strong
delusions that they should believe a lie.”
On another occasion, subsequently to the one last
related, when teaching at a Sunday school, the
power came upon me in the way of constraint ; con-
straining me to leave and return to my study, and
conveying to me very distinctly, the impression that
I might be called to utterance in the church during
public worship that day. Many circumstances seemed
to forbid it—the impression was not so commanding
as to leave me without doubt that it was not of the
flesh or the enemy—the minister was opposed and
would forbid, and all the congregation would be
offended ; other circumstances in my family made it
painful, and even dangerous for me to do so. It was
a sore trial, but desiring to do the will of God, and
leave all consequences in his hands, T turned in
prayer to the 1 Cor. xiv. and sought direction whether
the gift of prophecy ought always to be exercised in
the public congregation. Seeing this so clearly laid
down in the affirmative, it appeared to me my duty
to yield if the power came upon me to utterance, and
in this mind I went. When there, the whole of the
ordinary service passed without any visitation of
power ; but after the sacrament had been adminis-
tered, when kneeling to return thanks, the power
came upon me largely, though the impulse was not to
utterance—my tongue was rivetted as I was repeat-
ing the response, and my soul filled with joy and thanks-
giving, and such a presence of God, as it seemed to
me, as exceeded any peace and joy I had ever before
tasted at that holy sacrament. When reporting to
friends the proofs of the power being of God, this
has always occurred to me, and has generally been
felt by them as confirming the work; since, as we
II.
argued none but the Spirit of God would, at such
a season, be permitted to enter in, and none but
the Spirit of God could produce such fruits in the
mind. It is certainly very mysterious; but if I was
unfaithful to God in forgetting my Lord's injunction
to watch as well as pray; and had admitted the
claims of this Spirit, without trying it strictly by the
doctrines, as we are enjoined to do ; was it not just
and gracious in God to show me, that I was utterly in-
capable by any other test of trying the spirits 2–God
in the word, “Try the spirits—every spirit that con-
fesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God,”
has shown us the rule of trial by doctrine, and had I
been jealous for the holy name of God, and inquired
into the doctrines, I might have been kept from the
power, as afterwards when I did inquire, the Lord
opened my eyes and delivered me. But I must tes-
tify, that looking back upon all that is past, when-
ever the power rested upon me, leading me up to
prayer, or praise, or testimony, or thanksgiving, I
seemed to have joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, and
I cannot even now, by feeling alone, discern that it
was not truly such.
From the time my mouth was opened in the power,
as I have before described, I had great boldness in
my readings and teaching among the poor, in set-
ting forth the manifestations in Scotland and London
to be of God. The Scriptures in Joel, in Malachi,
and other places, seemed to me to be now about to
receive their complete fulfilment; by God's pouring
down upon his church, the utterance and mighty
power, and abounding grace and love of his Spirit.*
In Jauuary, 1832, being about five months from my
former visit, occasion was given me, by a professional
call to London, to visit the brethren there ; within this
interval the utterance from the power had been permit-
ted by the pastor in the Scotch church, and the gifts (as
they were called) were exercised in the public congrega-
tion. For nine months previously, it had been the ar-
* See Appendix, B.
B 4
12
rangement of Mr. Irving, the pastor of that church, to
have prayer-meetings every morning at half-past six,
to pray for the church and for the gifts of the Spirit.
This prayer-meeting was first instituted when the
General Assembly of Scotland was expected to sit in
jndgment upon Mr. Irving's writings, particularly
that on the Human Nature of our blessed Lord.
Its object was then stated to be, to pray that the
General Assembly might be guided aright in its
judgments, and not rashly condemn the truth of God.
The manner of conducting these prayer-meetings
was for the pastor first to open the meeting by sing-
ing and prayer, and then to call upon any one pre-
sent, whether a minister or layman, and whether a
member of his church or not, to read and pray ; his
choice being guided according to his personal know-
ledge of the parties. No commentary upon the
Scriptures was given, but it was simply read over
and followed by prayer. In these meetings I had, on
one or two occasions, been called upon by the pastor,
and had read or prayed before the congregation.
On the morning following the day of my arrival, I
was called upon again, and opening upon the prophet
Malachi, I read the fourth chapter; as I read, the
power came upon me, and I was made to read in the
power. My voice raised far beyond its natural pitch,
with constrained repetitions of parts, and with the
same inward uplifting which at the presence of the
power I had always before experienced. When I
knelt down to pray, I was carried out to pray in the
power for the presence and blessing of God in the
midst of the church ; in all this I had great joy and
peace, without any of the strugglings which had at-
tended my former utterances in power.
Having been asked to spend the evening at a
friend's with the pastor, one of the gifted persons
(Mrs. J. C.) and three or four other persons, I went,
and whilst discoursing on the state of the church,
some matter of controversy arose, on which I re-
quested the pastor to pray that we might be led into
truth. After prayer, Mrs. J. C. was made to testify
13
that now was the time of the great struggle and
power of Satan in the midst of us ; that now we must
take to ourselves the whole armour of God and stand
up against him : for he was coming in like a flood
upon the church, and fearful was his power. The pas-
tor observed that this utterance taught us our duty, as
standing in the church, to wrestle against the enemy;
and whilst he was going on to ask some question, the
power fell upon me, and I was made to speak; and
for two hours or upwards, with very little interval,
the power continued upon me, and I gave forth what
we all regarded as prophecies concerning the church
and the nation—declaring God’s anger rested upon
the nation because of its wickedness and infidelity;
that because of the pride of the world, God had sent
a pestilence, and had smitten in the bowels for abasing
pride; and that the visitation of Pharaoh would come
upon the land, and it would be as a charnel-house
for the multitude of the slain. On the church, the
denouncements against the unfaithful pastors were
most fearful—that it was flowing on into the power
of the enemy, and falling from its office of God's
witness in the earth. These prophecies were mingled
with others most glorious and gracious, as they ap-
peared to us—declaring the Spirit should be abun-
dantly poured forth, and a faithful and mighty
people should be gathered in this land; the pre-
sence of the Lord in the midst of them as of old
time—that the Lord would anoint and send witnesses
into every nation under heaven and speedily gather to
himself out of every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people, a church made ready for her Lord—
and that the Lord was at hand—the morning star
arising among us, and the signs of his coming all
around us.
The power which then rested on me was far more
mighty than before, laying down my mind and body
in perfect obedience, and carrying me on without
confusion or excitement. Excitement there might
appear to a by-stander, but to myself it was calm-
ness and peace. Every former visitation of the
power had been very brief; but now it continued, and
14
seemed to rest upon me all the evening. The things
I was made to utter, flashed in upon my mind without
forethought, without expectation, and without any
plan or arrangement: all was the work of the mo-
ment, and I was as the passive instrument of the
power which used me.
In the beginning of my utterances that evening,
some observations were in the power addressed by
me to the pastor, in a commanding tone ; and the
manner and course of utterance manifested in me was
so far differing from those which had been manifested
in the members of his own flock, that he was much
startled, and in the first part of the evening doubting
whether it was of God or of the enemy. One circum.
stance, as he afterwards mentioned to me, particularly
tried him. I was made to bid those present ask in-
struction upon any subject on which they sought to be
taught of God; and, to several questions which were
asked, answers were given by me in the power. One in
particular was so answered, with such reference to
the circumstances of the case of which, in myself, I
was wholly ignorant, as to convince the person who
asked it that the spirit speaking in me knew those
circumstances, and alluded to them in the answer.
The fact, however, of bidding them to ask and of an-
swering questions troubled the pastor, because two
children in Gloucestershire, who had been made to
speak in wonderful power, and who afterwards were
found to speak by a false spirit, were accustomed to
bid to questioning and to give answers in the power;
and none of the speakers in the pastor's flock ever did
so. He came up to me and said, “Faith is very
hard.” I was immediately made to address him, and
reason with him in the power, until he was fully con-
vinced the spirit was of God, and gave thanks for the
manifestation of it.
I have been since much struck with the incon-
sistency (whenever any doubt is entertained whether
a spirit speaking or working in any one is of God) of
consulting with the spirit, or seeking explanation
from the person who has the spirit. So doing, we at
once put ourselves under the power of the spirit,
15
and are deceived, unless God graciously inter-
pose. One method God has given us for trying
the spirits, and in order to do this faithfully, we must
stand, resting in faith upon our God; and in the name
of our God, reverently towards our God, but without
at all bowing before the spirit we are trying, set out
Christ come in the flesh, and demand a confession.
We are not faithful to our God if we bow to or con-
sult any spirit before we have tried it. When we
once bow, we worship it, and give it power over us to
deceive us. -
On the following morning, I attended the early
prayer-meeting ; and the pastor calling me up to pray,
I had a distinct direction from the power to read the
eleventh chapter of the book of Revelations. I read
it in the power altogether, and as I went on I was
made in the power to expound it—declaring that the
two witnesses were two offices; one, the office
of the prophet, the other, the office of minister—
that the one kind of witness they had for some time
had in the midst of them, in those who spake with
tongues and prophesied (alluding, as we understood,
to the gifted persons who so spake); and that the
other form of witness, the Lord had now for the first
time manifested (alluding to the gift which was mani-
fested in myself), and this should be multiplied
and many ministers sent forth—that thus the two
witnesses were now put forth, and the days of their
prophesying begun. Much exhortation and rebuke
was added in the power, alluding to the state of the
church and world, and the state of the congregation
themselves.—Here the interpretation was wholly un-
thought of by me before I was made to speak it, and
the light on the mind and conviction was not given
me; but I was made to speak the words and was left to
gather and connect the meaning, and confirm myself
in the truth of it; like any other hearer, who received
the words as uttered of the Spirit of God. That the
two witnesses are two offices, I had long before
been convinced. But their connexion with the
power and manifestations amongst us I am not con-
16
scious of ever having thought of until I was then
made to speak it.
The same morning great utterance was given to me
whilst at breakfast, at family prayers, and after-
wards. Mrs. J. C., Mrs. C., and Miss E. C., (who
With Mr. T , and Miss H., were the only per-
sons then speaking in the power in London,) were
present; and the declarations of the breaking forth of
the light and power of the Spirit of God, and the
abundant manifestations of the love of God in his
people were very striking. The call to “stand out
and be separate,” and “ to your tents, O Israel,”
were often repeated by my lips, though I did not
then understand to what we were called, and from
what exactly it was we were to be separated. The
expressions were general, but the whole was calcu-
lated to raise great expectations in our minds, and to
prepare for the things which were to follow.
In the evening T attended at the pastor's
house, where were assembled the young men, who,
during the week, taught in schools, and private
houses, in different parts of London. Here, again,
the power was most abundant upon me; and I was,
for the space of near two hours, made to give forth
to them what was called by the Spirit, “preaching
in the Spirit”—a sermon setting forth the course of
the church from the apostles' days;–declaring,
amongst other things, that in the apostolic days,
the church was as Samson in his strength; that when
the church began to commit fornication with the
kings of the earth, the world was as TXelilah, and
seduced the church to surrender its secret source
of strength, (which was said to be the teaching of
the Spirit;) and, in the stead of it, to seek the ap-
plause, and opinion, and learning, of the world;
that thus shorn of its strength, the church had lain
in the dungeon, until, like the locks growing on
Samson, the teaching of the Spirit was now again be-
stowed and prized ; and the church was now arous-
ing itself to lay hold upon the pillars of the world,
and, in the strength of its God, to bring down all
17
the strong holds of wickedness upon the heads of the
wicked.—The declaration of the two witnesses was
again repeated, and very distinctly we were com-
manded to “count the days, one thousand three
score and two hundred”—1260—the days appointed
for testimony, at the end of which the saints of the
Lord should go up to meet the Lord in the air, and
evermore be with the Lord.
The mention of the going up of the saints brings
me back to an earlier period—after I had first spoken
in the power, but before my return to London—to
explain what was meant by the going up of the
saints, as it was afterwards more at large opened.
An opinion had been advanced in some of Mr. Ir-
ving's writings, that before the second coming of
Christ, and before the setting in upon the world of
the “ days of vengeance,” emphatically so called
in the Scriptures, the saints would be caught up
to heaven like Enoch and Elijah ; and would be thus
saved from the destruction of this world, as Noah
was saved in the ark, and as Lot was saved from
Sodom. This was an opinion I never eould enter-
tain; conceiving, as I did, that our refuge in and
through the days of vengeance, would be some
earthly sanctuary, until the Lord should come, the
dead be raised, and those remaining alive should
be caught up. (1 Thess. iv. 17.) In the interval I
have alluded to, I did, however, experience a sudden
change of opinion ; the passages in Matt. xxiv.
“Two shall be in the field, one shall be taken, and
the other left; two women shall be grinding at the
mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left,”
were brought to me in the power, accompanied with
the sudden conviction I have before described—“This
is the translation of the saints, whilst the rest of
the world are left in their usual occupations.” Ano-
ther passage was also brought to me—Luke xxi. 36.
“Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
Man,”—accompanied by the same overpowering con-
18
viction, “This escape is from the days of vengeance,
and the standing before the Son, is for those who
are counted worthy to be translated.” I was from
this time fully convinced that there would be a
translation of the saints, and my conviction was
confirmed in a most remarkable manner. My wife,
though agreeing with me in general, on doctrine
and in faith, was never able to believe in the utter-
ance and power as of God; but considered it to
be a deceit of Satan, and was most violently opposed
to it, and all views connected with it. About a fort-
night after my conviction, concerning the translation
of the saints, I was casually mentioning my view
to a friend who called, when my wife started, and
said, “Why, have you changed your opinion?” I
had, for some time past, avoided any allusion to
these subjects before her ; but on mutual explanation,
I found the same change, unknown to me, had taken
place in her view ; and, at the same time the convic-
tion was brought to me by the texts of Scripture,
a like conviction was brought to her in the form
of a revelation, as though a voice had said to her,
“The ark is prepared in the heavens, wait for it;” her
mind carried, at the same moment, into the troubles
coming upon the world, and receiving the assurance of
safety in heaven. This was the more remarkable,
as she did not believe in such revelations, or in the
work ; and though she was convinced of this as a re-
velation, yet it did not bring her to believe that the
power of utterance or other manifestations were of
God. On another occasion, unknown to each other,
we each received, at the same time, a revelation
concerning some of our kindred, which shewed us the
work of a Spirit upon us.
To return, then, to the narrative. The prophecy
of the 1260 days testimony and going up of the
saints, set forth a period of three years and a half,
from the time of its delivery, up to the translation of
the saints. The words of the prophecy were most
distinct, to count from that day (viz. 14th January,
1832,) 1260 days, and three days and a half; (Rev.
19
xi. 11.) and on innumerable other occasions, by exposi-
tion and by prophecy, was the same thing again and
again declared, and most largely opened.
On this evening a circumstance occurred in the
midst of my utterance, which, though it made little
impression on me at the time, has since seemed to me
as ordained of God for a witness to us, that we were
deceived. Capt. G., who sat near me when it was
said, “ Count the days, one thousand and three score
and two hundred,” repeated the words after me, in
order to remember them, and saying the words,
“ two hundred,” louder than the rest, the sound
caught my ears, as though he had said, “wonderful;”
this conveyed to me the impression, that he thought
it wonderful I should be made to speak such things:
I turned to him, and was made in the power to
rebuke him for thinking it wonderful, and bid him
search his own heart, for if he was looking after
wonders he would fall into the snare of the enemy.
He did not correct the mistake at the time, but
after I had ceased speaking in the power, I men-
tioned a matter which had occurred on the former
evening, about which I was somewhat perplexed.
When I was prophesying about the judgment of
Bharaoh coming upon the land; “Herod” was in
my mind, and “ Pharaoh” was in my mouth. I
thought I was going to say “Herod,” and I said
“Pharaoh,” and this two or three times. The judg-
ment of Herod was in allusion to the pestilence,
and the judgment of Pharaoh was a very different
thing. I mentioned it to show them there was some
judgment on their parts to be exercised, irrespective
of my view, for I could not then tell them whether
Herod or Pharaoh was meant: so that I argued
God did not keep every word of those who spoke
in the Spirit. After this Capt. G. mentioned the
mistake, and said, he had thought not to mention
it now, but to tell it me in private. Immediately
the power came on me, and I was made to say to him,
“So you would rather be unfaithful to your heavenly
Father, than shame your poor brother. Is this the
20
love you bear to your Father?” There was so much
seeming jealousy for God in this utterance, that it
laid at once to rest the suspicions which the fact was
calculated to awaken ; and my conclusion was, that
God did, in some things, suffer his prophets to stum-
ble, that the people might not stay themselves upon
the prophets, but upon the Lord.
Whilst the people were departing, Mr. Irving
called me, with Mr. Brown, his missionary, into
another room, and said, he was in some trouble as
to what he should do on the morrow, which was
Sunday; whether to allow me to speak in the full
congregation: he had found doubts creep over him
during the evening, though he scarcely dared to
doubt. Mr. Brown's advice, without any deep consi-
deration of the subject, was, “Don’t do it whilst
you have a doubt.” To this Mr. Irving assented,
but turned to me, and asked what I thought. Of
course, under the conviction which I had, I said he
must not forbid it. Afterwards the power came
on me, rebuking him, and reasoning with him, until
he sat down, and said he was greatly tried, and did
not know what to do. I then told him to consult
the prophets who were with him, and immediately the
power came upon Miss H., who was wholly a
stranger to me, but residing with him, and then
received as a prophetess among them ; and she was
made to bear testimony that the work in me was of
God, and he must not forbid my speaking. This
satisfied him, and he yielded at once.
The next day after the morning prayer-meeting,
Miss E. C. at the pastor's house, was made to give
forth an utterance, enjoining upon all deference and
respect to the Lord’s prophets; which served, though
she was not aware of what had passed on the pre-
ceding evening, to confirm him in that which I had
been made to say to him. I was, afterwards, in
the power, in the most fearful terms, made to enjoin
the most perfect submission to the utterances upon
the reasoning, which was quite logical—that if
the utterances were of God, who could hesitate or
21
argue on them, or hesitate in any thing commanded
by them? This was so strongly put, that, as Mr.
Irving on a future occasion observed to me, he was
tempted to doubt whether the Spirit bearing testi-
mony in such a manner to itself, was God’s method of
teaching us submission. I felt also somewhat hurt when
I reflected on it, at the high and almost tyrannical tone
and language which was put into my mouth, though
the feeling was quenched in me nearly as soon as
it arose, by the consideration, “Surely if God is
speaking by you, there is nothing tyrannical in de-
manding unhesitating obedience to his own word.” In
a prophecy which I was made to utter that morning,
there seemed to me some apparent contradiction to
one which I had spoken on the preceding evening,
and I observed to Miss E. C. the circumstance.
She said, with great naivete, “Does that trouble
you?” an answer which showed at once the perfect
confidence she had that the work being of God, it
must ultimately be found in every part in full agree-
ment; and showed also, the effect of that confidence,
in throwing the mind out of the state of watchfulness
over its own actions, and thus giving us more com-
pletely into the guidance of the Spirit which bore
rule in us. I replied, “It does not trouble me, but
it is a matter to be pondered on, that we may pray
the Lord to clear up what seems dark to us.” A.
few minutes after, whilst still meditating on it, the
power came in utterance; and I was made to explain
the last prophecy so as, it seemed to me, to show its
agreement with the first.
To those who have been used to watch over the
workings of their own minds, and who have never been
visited with the temptation of yielding to impressions;
nor visited with any power beyond the mere vaga-
ries of excitement; it may seem inexplicable how per-
sons can be brought to surrender their own judgment,
and act upon an impulse, or under a power working
in them, without daring to question that power. The
process is, however, very simple, and the reasons
supporting it are very plausible, and—the premises
22
admitted—perfectly logical. My own case may be an
example: accustomed to try the powers and weak-
nesses of my own mind in public and in private ;
in business and in religious meetings; in speaking
and in prayer; in reasoning, and in exposition;
I found, on a sudden, in the midst of my accus-
tomed course, a power coming upon me which was
altogether new—an unnatural, and in many cases,
a most appalling utterance given to me—matters ut-
tered by me in this power of which I had never
thought, and many of which I did not understand
until long after they were uttered—an enlarged
comprehension and clearness of view given to me on
points which were really the truth of God (though
mingled with many things which I have since seen
not to be truth, but which then had the form of
truth)—great setting out of Christ—-great joy and
freedom in prayer—and seemingly, great nearness of
communion with God, in the midst of the workings
of the power—the course of the power quite con-
trary to the course of excitement.—It was manifest
to me the power was supernatural; it was therefore a
spirit. It seemed to me to bear testimony to Christ,
and to work the fruits of the Spirit of God. The con-
clusion was inevitable, that it was the Spirit of God;
and if so, the deduction was immediate, that it ought in
all things to be obeyed. If I understood not the words
I was made to utter ; it was consistent with the idea
of the utterances of the Spirit, that deep and myste-
rious things should be spoken. If I were commanded
to do a thing of which I saw not the use; was I to
dare to pause upon God’s command 7 If, indeed, the
thing were clearly contrary to God's truth, it would
have been clear God had not spoken it; but if it was
a thing indifferent, surely (I reasoned) God is to be
obeyed.—If any one is once persuaded that the Spirit
of God speaks in him by any particular mode of com-
munication, it will thenceforth be his study only to
discern that he does not mistake his own feelings
or impulses for that communication; for when the
communication is decided to be from God, faith-
23
fulness to God steps in, and all the faith and
love, and simple reliance on God, which the
Christian through grace possesses, will be enlisted to
perform the command. Awful, therefore, is the mis-
take, if a seducing spirit is entertained as the Holy
Spirit of Jehovah. The more devoted the Christian
seduced, the more implicit the obedience to the se-
ducing spirit; and unless God graciously interpose,
and so overrule the workings of the false spirit, as to
make it show forth fruits plainly and decidedly oppo-
site to God’s truth, there can be no deliverance. He
who hath set bounds to the sea, hath however set
bounds to Satan, and saith “Thus far shalt thou go,
but no further.” Praised be his name, he will not
utterly forsake his people, nor cast away his servants
for ever. Though, as in the case of Job, he may give
even his own into the hand of Satan for a season, yet
will he in the end overrule it to make manifest that
the Lord is of tender pity and compassion, and that
“all things shall work together for good to them who
love God.”
At the public services of the Scotch Church on this
day no utterance was given me, but in the intervals
of service, whilst sitting with Mr. Irving and one or
two other friends, the power was so abundant upon
me, that almost every question which was asked, was
answered in the power, and the wisdom and instruc-
tion which was given forth from my lips, was as asto-
nishing to Mr. Irving as to myself. We all felt as
though the Lord was indeed resolving our doubts,
and graciously condescending by his Spirit to teach
us by open voice. Mr. Irving seemed most fully con-
firmed in the belief, and I was myself exceedingly
composed and strengthened. Looking back upon it
now, I can only say, all this demonstration of truth
and holiness would not have been permitted to de-
ceive us, if we had not forgotten the text, “as an
angel of light.” tº
On the morrow began a more trying and bitterly
painful occurrence. The rebukes which I was made
to give to Mr. Irving, for want of ready and implicit
obedience to the utterance of the power, whatever
24
might have been their effect upon him, had entered
deeply into my own mind, and were at once put into
exercise. After breakfast, when sitting with Mr.
Irving, Mr. P., and a few others, Mr. Irving remark-
ed that Mr. T., when in the Court of Chancery, had
found the power mightily upon him, but never a dis-
tinct impulse to utterance. Whilst he was speaking
on it I was made in power to declare, “There go I,
and thence to the prison house.” This was followed
by a prophecy setting forth the darkness of the visible
church, referring to the king as the head of the
Church of England, and to the Chancellor as the
keeper of the conscience of the king. That a testimony
should that day be borne before him which should
make the nation tremble at what was coming to pass.
That I was to go and bear this testimony, and for the
testimony should be cast into prison. That the abo-
mination of desolation would be set up in the land,
and Satan sit in the high places of the church, show-
ing himself to be God. That the world had now the
possession of the visible church, but for the purity of
doctrine of the Church of England, she, as the last
portion of the visible church, had been accounted
holy by the Lord ; but she had gone on in worldly
cares, and was now so provoking the Lord, and by
worldly mindedness so quenching the Spirit of God,
that God had cast her off. That it was necessary a
spiritual minister should bear testimony before the
conscience-keeper of the head of this church, and then
the abomination of desolation would be set up, and
every man must flee to the mountains. Much was
added of the judgments of God in the midst of the
land. The power upon me was overwhelming. I
gave all present a solemn benediction, as though I
was departing altogether from among them, and
forbidding Mr. Irving, who rose to speak to me
as I was going, I went out under the constraint of
the power, and shaped my way to the court of the
Chancellor, to bear the testimony to which I was
commanded. &
As I went on towards the court, the sufferings and
trials I underwent were almost beyond endurance.
25
Might it not be a delusion ? Ought I not to consider
my own character in the sight of the world, which
would be forfeited by such an act; and the ruin of all
worldly prospects, which would ensue from it, and from
my imprisonment? These and a thousand more subtle
and trying suggestions were cast in upon me; but confi-
dent that the power speaking in me was of God, it seemed
my duty to obey at every sacrifice; and without count-
ing the cost, I gave myself up to God to do with me
and use me as he should see fit. In this mind I went
on, expecting, as I entered the court of the Chancellor,
the power would come upon me, and I should be made
to bear testimony before him. I knew not what I was
to say, but supposed, that as on all other occasions, the
subject and utterance would be together given. When
I entered, no power came on me. I stood in the
court before the Chancellor for three or four hours,
momentarily expecting the power to come upon me,
and as the time lengthened, more and more perplexed
at its absence. I was tempted to speak in my own
strength without the power, but I judged this would
not be faithful to the word spoken, as my testimony
would not have been in the spirit. After waiting this
time I came out of court, convinced there was nothing
for me to say.
The mental conflict was most painful. I left the
court under the conviction I had been deluded. If I
were deluded, how was it with the others who spoke
in the power, one of whom had borne direct testimo-
ny to my utterance being of God; and the others of
whom had received me, and heard me, and spoken
in power with me, as one of them? Here, however,
I failed; I adjudged myself deceived, but I had
not sufficient proof, as I thought, to sit in judg-
ment upon them. I thought I had stumbled, but I
dared not condemn them. I went at once to Mr.
Irving, who, anxious as to the issue of my mission,
welcomed me as delivered from prison. I said to
him, “We are snared—we are deceived; I had no
message before the Chancellor.” He enquired par-
ticulars, but could give no solution. He said, “We
C
26
must wait. You certainly have received the gift;
and the gifts and calling of God are without repen-
tance.” We set ourselves to search whether in any
thing I had mistaken the directions of the power, but
could not discover it. I observed to him, “If the
work in me is of the enemy, what will you say of the
rest who have so joined me, and borne witness of
me?” “True,” said he, “but their's has been tried
in every way.” He then mentioned the trials, of which
one was most forcible and impressive; and that a judg-
ment may be formed, I detail it.
A man, a stranger to the Scotch Church, came up
from the country and spoke in a power in the midst
of the congregation. He was rebuked either by
Mr. Irving or one of those speaking in the Spirit.
Afterwards, being called into the vestry, Mr. T., one
of the gifted persons, with Mr. Irving, reasoned with
him, to show him, from the nature of his utterance,
that the power could not be of God. The man was
obstinate, and would not yield, when suddenly Mr. T.
was made to speak to him in an unknown tongue, in a
tone of rebuke, and the man fell down upon the ground,
crying for mercy. Afterwards he went to two others
of the gifted persons at their own houses; and, wishing
to come in and speak to them, he was again rebuked
in the power ; and, as if by force of the word, was
cast down upon the ground, foaming and struggling
like a bound demoniac. The gifted persons were then
made to pray in the power for him, and, after a short
interval, he became calmed and went away. The first
part of this scene, Mr. Irving told me as himself an eye-
witness; and the second part was told me afterwards
by one of the gifted persons before whom it took
place. Of the accuracy of it I can feel no doubt.
To them it operated, of course, as a confirmation that
the hand of God was with them, and to me it ap-
peared in the same light. It was truly a sign and a
wonder, and Deut. xiii. 1 to 3 affords the only so-
lution of it. . -
Deeply was I troubled and perplexed, and much
was I humbled before God. But my eyes not being
27
opened fully to see that the whole work must stand or
fall together; and not being instructed, as I have
since most painfully been, of the subtlety and cunning
craftiness of the enemy; my prayers were yet made in
a confidence that a work of God was in the midst of
us, and my doubts were of my own individual gift.
In the morning I attended the prayer-meeting,
though so much burdened as not to be able to lift up
my heart among them. An utterance came from
Miss E. C.; “It is discernment—it is di cernment
ye lack: seek ye for it—seek ye for it;” and going
on in the same strain, setting forth the love and faith-
fulness of God. I believe she knew nothing of the
issue of the visit to the Chancellor; but, be that
as it may, the message impressed me as though it
applied to my case, and I was led to think lack of
discernment would be found to have occasioned my
stumbling. However, my heaviness was not removed
until after the meeting, when, at breakfast, the sub-
ject was alluded to, and the text in Jeremiah was
quoted—where it is said, “Thou hast deceived me,
and I was deceived. Then said I, I will not speak
the word of the Lord any more; but the word of the
Lord was unto me as a fire in my bones.” When I had
read this, and was thinking upon it, the power came
upon me, and I was made to say, “The word of the
Lord is as fire, and if ye, O vessell who speak
refuse to speak the word, ye shall utterly perish—ye
have obeyed the word of the Lord—ye went to the
place of testimony—the Spirit was quenched before
the conscience of the King—ye, a spiritual minister,
have borne witness there; and were ye not cast
into prison? has not the dark dungeon been your
prison-house since ye came from the place of testi-
mony? Ye lack discernment:—ye must read the
word spiritually—the abomination of desolation is
set up—the Spirit of God is quenched in all the
churches of the land; and now the mystical Man of
Sin is enthroned, and sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God.”—Then followed a
command to flee to the mountains—to come out of
C 2
28
Babylon and be separate ; and much more concerning
the Lord's work and the duty of his people.—This
acted like electricity. I thought, and those who had
heard the message of the former morning thought
with me, that read spiritually, in which way I ought
to have read it, the message concerning the Chan-
cellor had been fulfilled by my silent testimony, and
my subsequent darkness and bondage. My satisfac-
tion was complete : the explanation seemed then to
me quite satisfactory; though now, I confess, it seems
to me but a deep subtlety for explaining away a
manifest failure of the word. But such is the cun-
ning craftiness of the enemy, that if we put ourselves
under his power, by giving heed to seducing spirits,
our eyes are blinded by him, and our minds are
darkened by him, until we are, indeed, both blind
and foolish beyond belief.
In the course of the same day, and the day fol-
lowing, a prophecy was given to me, that God had
cut short the present appointment for ordaining mi-
nisters by the laying on of hands by succession from
the Apostles. That God would not henceforth re-
cognise such ordinations; though it was declared that,
up to this time, such had been the appointed method.
It was added, this was the consequence of the setting
up of the Abomination of Desolation. The Spirit
of God having withdrawn from the church, the
church was thenceforth desolate; and now God would
endow men with the power of utterance in the Spirit,
as the gift distinguishing those set apart for the
ministry. It was explained, that the Spirit was not
taken from faithful men in the church, but from the
visible church as a body. That the whole visible
church was now cast off as God's church, and God
would bring forth his spiritual church with the ful-
ness of the gifts of the Spirit, and extend it to the
ends of the earth within the appointed time. -
Thus then was accomplished, by the spirit working
in me, a conviction, contrary to my wishes, and con-
trary to my settled views, as 'so-lately expressed in
“The Layman's Appeal;” that the Church of England,
29
as included in the visible church, was cast off and
abandoned of God for apostacy. This conviction,
brought about by a slow process, and by a subtle
mode of condemnation beyond the art of man to con-
ceive. The form and doctrine of the church I was
so settled in, that had the power in me testified
against it, it might have opened my eyes to see that
the power was not of God. But the purity of our
church, in these matters, was always acknowledged
by the power speaking in me; and the condemnation
proceeded upon the fact of the quenching of the
Spirit in the midst of our church. As it was obvious
the Spirit had always been in a measure quenched,
and not so apparent, that the quenching was greater
now than at other times, the plan was adopted of as-
signing the present day as the time of fulfilment on
the Gentile church of those Scriptures which speak
of the setting up of the abomination of desolation,
(Matt. xxiv. Luke xxi.), and as the prelude to the
days of vengeance, spoken of in the same Scrip-
ture, and in many other parts, under the name
of the great and terrible day of the Lord—this
brought with it the persuasion that the long-suf-
fering of the Lord was ended, and the day of
judgment, for this quenching of the Spirit, was
begun. The interpretation of the setting up of
the Gentile abomination of desolation was seemingly
consistent with the difference between the Jewish and
Gentile dispensation—the Jewish being the defil-
ing and putting away the pure worship to make way
for idol-worship, and the Gentile being the quenching
of the Holy Spirit of Jehovah, to make way for the
spirit of delusion. It was also seemingly consistent
with itself—the abomination being said to be the
quenching of the Spirit, and the desolation, God’s
withdrawal of his Spirit.
The mystical man of sin, (2 Thess. iii.) was also
explained to be the spirit of Satan, the prince of this
world, now bearing rule in the visible church; mani-
fest by the worldly mindedness found in her, and to be
(as it was declared) yet more manifest in the oppo-
30
sition she would give to the work and power of the
Spirit, as God would shortly pour down his Spirit
and shew forth his power—that when the Spirit of
God was withdrawn from the visible church, the spi-
rit of Satan entered in and bore sway—and that this
was what was contained in 2 Thess. ii. 6, “And now
ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already
work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be
taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked be
revealed”—as above, ver. 4: “Sitting in the temple
of God, shewing himself that he is God.” “He who
letteth” was declared to be the Spirit of God ; and
the taking of this let out of the way, to be the
taking away of the Spirit of God from the visible
church. The revelation of the man of sin mysti-
cally, was declared to be the manifestation of the
spirit of Satan ruling in the church as the Spirit of
God—Satan, by his spirit, receiving from the
church, that worship which belonged to God, and
so showing himself that he was God. Alas,
the prayer of the Psalmist was answered upon
me, “into the pit that they have digged let them
fall.” I was unwittingly assigning a judgment to
the church, which was my own sentence, though,
thanks be to God, he did not wholly take away his
Spirit from, nor suffer me utterly to fall.
The interpretation applying the 2 Thess. iii. to
the reformed churches, was also declared not to in-
validate its application to the papacy, nor to point to
the complete development of the man of sin:—But
the Pope, at the head of the papacy, was declared to
be the devil's mockery and mimicry of Jesus, as high-
priest over his church, “a priest upon his throne.”
The mystical man of sin, (as before explained) to be
Satan's mimicry of the Holy Ghost, as the spirit of
life and power in the church ; and moreover, that
there yet would be a more fearful manifestation of the
man of sin in Satan's mimicry of Jesus as King of
kings and Lord of lords, coming in the power of
the Father, to bear rule over all the earth. Tha
31
this last manifestation could not be made whilst the
Spirit of God was working upon the earth in a body
of witnesses gathered as a church : but that as God
had taken away the Spirit from the papacy, because
of her apostacy, and Satan's power ruled in her; and
now God took away the Spirit from the reformed
churches, because of her quenching of the Spirit: so
at the end of the three years and a half from the begin-
ning of the prophecy of the witnesses, would God take
away his Spirit and his church altogether from the
earth, by causing his faithful spiritual church to be
caught up to heaven like Elijah; and the earth being
then without a witness for God, Satan should take
to himself the sovereignty, and stand forth in all
hideous power in the person of one man, to receive
the worship of all the earth :—that this in parti-
cular and in fulness was the “man of sin, whom the
Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
destroy with the brightness of his coming.” That the
protestant church, which stood in the way of this full
and final development of the personal man of sin,
would be first overthrown; after having been polluted
of Satan, working as the spiritual or mystical man of
sin. That the papacy would next be destroyed by
him, as too narrow and strait in forms of truth to
permit such a blasphemous and open manifestation ;
and that when all church forms of worship should be
destroyed, then the personal man of sin should stand
forth; exercising all the mighty power and working of
evil spirits; and claiming and receiving for himself,
the worship of all nations, as the Christ of God come
again upon the earth to establish his kingdom. The
person who should be so energized of Satan, and be set
up as his Christ, was at a subsequent period, de-
clared to be young Napoleon.
At the same time that the subtlety of the enemy
had so given forth to our belief the rejection of the
Protestant churches, there was also pronounced a
fearful condemnation of the collective efforts of
men, under the form of societies. This also, pro-
ceeded upon a basis of truth, from which deductions
32
were carried beyond their fair bearing, supposing
them to be made by men judging according to the
analogy of God’s dealings ; but not at all beyond it,
upon the supposition that God did speak in the midst
of us, and had arisen to judgment. It will have been
seen, from what has been said of the church; that, upon
the assumption that the Spirit of God was speaking
in us, we were authorized to infer the time was
come when God did sit in judgment upon the
churches, and did punish, by taking away his Spirit,
their wicked quenching of the Spirit. That such a
judgment would be just, is very obvious ; and that
it may be the mind of God so to punish, we may
infer from the text, “Nevertheless, when the Son
of Man cometh, shall he find faith in the earth º' My
error was, in receiving upon the authority of the
power speaking in me, the conviction that such, and
no other, was the mind of God ; and that this, and
no other, was the very time of its fulfilment. The ,
basis of truth which was taken for the condemnation
of all religious societies, was this ; that all religious
knowledge, or, in other words, the knowledge of
Christ Jesus our Lord, was imparted by the teaching
of the Spirit of God ; that God had ordained in his
church, and by his ministry, through the setting forth
of his truth, to impart the teaching of the Spirit;
that any attempt to accomplish, by the combined
efforts of men, what God had ordained to effect
by the outpouring of his Spirit, was a leaning upon
the arm of flesh, instead of exercising faith upon
God: that from the very constitution of societies,
every part of God's truth which was not popular
would be kept back; and that the accession of mem-
bers, and the increase of funds were more earnestly
laboured after than the setting forth of truth.-On
this we may observe, that there is a numerous body
which falls into the error of supposing societies
are to convert the world ; and speak of, and uphold
societies; under that persuasion we must also see,
that the peculiar snare of the system of societies is to
keep back God's truth, lest offence should be given,
33
and the voluntary association broken or weakened.
These are evils lying at the door of societies, and
of their supporters; and judging as men, we should
soberly consider whether these are of such an extent
as to neutralize all the advantages flowing from
societies, and make it our duty to abstain from them.
Of this every man must properly judge for himself,
in prayer and dependence upon the teaching of
God. For myself, I may say, I look upon them as
the measure of infirmity and evil which is attached .
to societies, as human institutions; and as such to
be particularly watched against, but not sufficient
to call for, or authorize our separation from, societies
in general. But the utterances in power which were
made by me, conveying, as we believed, the com-
mand of the Spirit, condemned societies wholly on these
grounds; and designated them confederacies, applying
to them the word of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah,
(chap. viii. 9, &c.) “Associate yourselves, O ye
people, and ye shall be broken in pieces;” and verse
12, “Say ye not a confederacy to all them to whom
this people shall say a confederacy.” Thus declaring,
as we thought, that our God would not acknowledge
nor bless such associations ; and enjoining us to stand
apart from them, under the assurance that the Spirit
of God would be poured out, and men sent forth
in the power of the Spirit to do that work to which
societies were addressing themselves.
Concerning the Bible Society, a distinct burden
of prophecy was given. That it was the curse going
through the land, quenching the Spirit of God,
by the letter of the word of God. Here, I must
confess, I had laid myself open to receive such a con-
clusion, by the hard and unjust thoughts which I had
entertained of the Society. The latitudinarian views
which are unhappily propounded by many of its
advocates; and the painful want of Christian firmness,
which prevented their at once, upon the call of
their members, formally excluding those whom they
had never dared openly to receive ; must ever, so long
C 3
34
as it remains, continue a source of the deepest re-
gret, and of the most earnest prayer and exertion for
its removal. But the object of the Society, and the
field of labour opened to it, and the blessing of God
which has in so much attended its labours; ought
to make us pause and distinguish between the
Society itself, and its temporary misfortunes and
shortcomings. To call that, therefore, a curse, which
has been, and is yet, productive of so much good,
is to weigh it alone by the evil mixed with it,
and to lose sight of the good altogether. Seeing
strongly the evil consequences which are flowing
from those unhappy measures, I did suffer them
in my mind to outweigh the advantages of the So-
ciety, and was thus prepared for the fearful conclu-
sion which that utterance set before us.
Concerning the Trinitarian Bible Society, a similar
assumed burden of prophecy was given—That it
compassed sea and land to make one proselyte, and
made him twofold more a child of hell than before.
To this Society I, as well as several present, was
attached; and this condemnation was received by
me upon the overwhelming authority of the utterance
of the Spirit, as I believed it; and was sustained by
the reasoning against all societies which had been
before opened to us, and by the fact of the Society
having, in some covert way, condemned the assumed
manifestations, or attempted to exclude their fol-
lowers. But even, notwithstanding this latter fact,
I am not aware of having myself previously been
prejudiced against the Society, but quite the con-
trary: I believe all who were present at these utter-
ances were prepared, either by implicit obedience
to the word as the word of God, or by a reception of
the reasons, to bow to the conclusion. I remember
well, after the burden against the Bible Society,
an ejaculation of Mr. Irving's following immediately,
“It is most true;” and after that, against the New
IBible Society, another ejaculation, showing the
grounds upon which he recognized the truth of this
also, “Being after the straitest sect, a Pharisee.”
35
After these utterances the power came again in
great force upon me; with the conviction flashing in
upon my mind, that the Lord was about to give forth
a burden against a gentleman who had been much
concerned in the divisions of these societies, and had
also taken a prominent part in the Reformation So-
ciety against the setting forth of the gifts of the
Spirit. Trembling deeply for him, I restrained the
impulse to utterance, and lifted up my heart to God
in prayer to spare him. The impulse to utterance
followed me in this prayer, and instead of the
secret prayer only, the utterance broke forth,
taking up the subject of it, nearly as follows:
“Ah ! Lord God, dost thou break forth upon a man.
Spare him, O spare him : consume him not ; but
have mercy upon him.” The utterance passed into a
call upon all present to pray and entreat for him,
lest the fierce anger of the Lord should overtake him.
All present knelt down; and we joined in the most
earnest prayer, one and all, as with one spirit, “taking
the kingdom of heaven by force,” that he might re-
pent of his offence, and be turned to acknowledge the
Lord's truth, and the Lord's Spirit. After we had
prayed, we gathered from the concluding words of the
utterance in power, “that he should be saved, yet so
as by fire.” One present was commissioned to convey
to him the Lord's warning against the course he was
taking, which commission was afterwards duly ful-
filled.
In the evening of the same day, having been invited
to meet Mr. Irving and other friends, I went to dinner,
and found after dinner a numerous party come in, and
amongst them Mrs. C. and Mr. T., (Miss E. C. being
there before.) Miss E. C. before dinner and after, was
made to utter much concerning the low state of the
church and people of God, and the feeling of our in-
firmities by our High Priest; speaking of him as sorrow-
ing over his church, and being continually grieved by
their want of fellowship. I found a great oppression
upon my spirit, though I knew not the cause ; and
as the evening grew on, this oppression increased, un-
C 4
36
til it was quite painful, and yet no definite ideas
were conveyed to me. Great heaviness seemed also
to lie upon all the gifted persons there. A conversa-
tion arose upon the mystery of iniquity, and I asked
them to join in prayer, that God would open our eyes
to see the mystery of iniquity, which was working in
the church. Whilst I was praying, I was made,
without any intention or expectation of such a thing,
to declare in a very marked way, that this mystery of
iniquity was greatly in the midst of our then present
assembly. I knew not in what it consisted, but as I
sat down again, the constraint of the spirit came upon
me, most distinctly revealing that there was unclean-
, ness in the midst of us, and enjoining me to depart.
I got up and said (speaking naturally and not in
power), “The Lord shows me that there is unclean-
mess in the midst of us, whether in myself or in those
around me I know not, but I am commanded to de-
part.” As I said this, the power in Miss E. C. ut-
tered, “Yes, uncleanness,” thus confirming in utter-
rance what was given me in revelation. I beckoned
to a friend whom, in the same revelation, I was com-
manded to take with me, and we went out. When
we had reached the door, a most appalling utterance
broke forth from Mrs. C., remonstrating against con-
formity to the world, and very sharply rebuking all
present. On this I turned back, and hearing the
rebuke, I begged them to kneel down, wishing
to pray God to disclose wherein it was we so pro-
voked him ; but I had not prayed two sentences
before the constraint of the power upon me to depart
was so great, that I could not remain, but arose, took
my friend, and left them. After I was gone, as I
was told by one who remained, the utterances con-
tinued for some time, in sharp and severe rebukes,
though towards the close, more comforting and en-
couraging words were given them.
I was not aware in what or in whom the offence con-
sisted, until the next morning; when as I was proceed-
ing to the prayer-meeting, the power came on me, re-
vealing that it was the worldliness of our assembly in
º
37
which the Lord was provoked. That whilst the
church was low and afflicted, we met together to eat
and drink; and the prophets of the Lord were brought
together after dinner in a worldly form of recreation,
rather than in an ordinance form, and this conformity
to the world was a provocation to the Lord. As I
was about to enter the church the power filled me,
and saying to my friend, “I must go to the place of
testimony,” I walked up the aisle; and when I reached
the reading desk, the utterance broke forth from me in
a severe rebuke; enjoining avoidance of worldliness in
ſeasts and entertainments, and warning them to take
heed to their assemblies. This was followed by a
short recapitulation of matters, which had been on
former occasions uttered, concerning God’s casting off
the visible church, and cutting short the ordination by
laying on of hands by apostolic succession ; God’s
purpose of endowing and sending forth through the
land, and to the ends of the earth, ministers speaking
in power as I was speaking ; and of filling them with
all power in mighty signs and wonders, to bear his
last warning to the world, and to prepare a people
before the great and terrible day of the Lord. I was
then made to give forth a distinct command to all
present, and to all who should hear it, to go forth
and declare, wherever the providence of God should
open a place of testimony to them, the near coming
of Christ, and the coming in of the spiritual ministry.
The command was very express, to go into the high-
ways and byeways, the streets, the lanes, the alleys,
and the public ways, and warn all men, that they
might be prepared for the spiritual ministry, and not
mock at it when it broke forth. The exhortation was
most energetic, to linger not, but go forth, as they
loved their own souls, and the souls of their fellow
men; for if men were not thus prepared, they would
mock at the spiritual ministry, and be cut off as com-
mitting the unpardonable sin of blaspheming against
the Holy Ghost. The command was to all, as God
should open opportunities, and they were enjoined not
to wait for the power of the Spirit, but to go forth in
38
faith, and God would enable them to bear witness.
When I had finished, Mr. Irving was called upon to
explain it to the congregation, which he did. One of
the congregation, whose heart was much set upon
the work, addressed Mr. Irving, asking whether it
would not be proper publicly to return thanks to God
for the gradual and gracious manner in which he had
prepared us for this revelation of his will. Mr. Ir-
ving fully assented, and called upon him to do so, and
this he did accordingly. In conformity to this mes-
sage, many of the congregation went forth pub-
licly to preach, and continue in it to the present day,
being called up before the magistrates on account
of it.
After this utterance, the impression was distinctly
laid upon my mind, that I should have nothing more
to testify at present, among the brethren in London.
In the course of the day my engagements in town
were casually deferred, and having nothing to detain
me, I determined to go into one of the eastern
counties, to pay a promised visit to a brother, a
clergyman. -
On the following morning I accordingly set out;
having no other object or expectation in my journey
than the profit and pleasure of intercourse with a
brother. But as I journeyed on the coach, the power
came upon me in the form of a revelation, conveying
to me, that God had set me apart for a special pur-
pose towards his church, for which he would com-
mission and endow me—that for this purpose I
should be taken away from my wife and family, and
become as a wanderer without home or habitation—
that this separation from my family would be, in
God's hand, a visitation upon my wife for her violence
and opposition to the work of the Spirit of God, and
for her denunciations against me ; and yet it would
be overruled of God in mercy towards her for a
blessing—that I should find my brother at home;
and as I entered his paddock gate, he would come
out of the house door to meet me—that whilst I
was there he should receive the spirit, and speak in
39
the same power in which I spoke—that these should
be signs to me of the truth of the things which were
thus revealed—that I should be made in power to de-
liver to him two messages; one to be carried by him
to my wife, to declare to her what God's purpose con-
cerning us was, and the other to be borne to some re-
lations, enjoining upon them the winding up of all my
worldly concerns, and the future provision for my
wife and family—that a child of my brother should
also be called to be a prophetess, and that I should
minister on the ensuing Sunday in my brother's
church—that when my brother went to carry the
message, he should also be commissioned to baptize
with the Holy Ghost my youngest child, then an in-
fant six weeks old.—I was in great trouble upon
this revelation. The conclusion I gathered from it
was, that I should never see my wife and children
again, supposing the Lord's will to be such as seemed
to be revealed to me. I had not sent my brother
word that I was coming, and I did not know whether
he was at home or not; but deeply anxious as I was
as to the revelation, I in no little agitation looked for
the first sign which was to confirm the truth of it. I
arrived, and as I entered his gate he came out exactly
as was shown me. This confirmation seemed to seal
the truth of the whole, and so unmanned me that I
could not for some time speak to him. After a time,
however, I became more collected, and without
mentioning to him any thing of the revelation, we
spent the evening discoursing on the topics most ob-
viously occurring. He had that evening, for the first
time, assembled some of his people to pray for the gifts
of the Spirit, and it seemed as though I was sent in
the midst of them for their encouragement in it. I
attended the meeting, but no power came upon
me to utterance the whole evening. This had never
been the case since the power had so fully rested
upon me, but every evening, more or less, the power
had been with me in utterance. At night he re-
quested me to conduct family worship ; and here, too,
contrary to custom, no power was with me, either in
40
praying or reading. On the next day, at morning
prayers, no power was upon me, nor for the whole day
was any utterance given. It had for some time been my
habit to observe Friday as a fast-day, and I told my
brother I wished to spend the morning alone in
prayer, as I believed the Lord had a message for us,
which we were none of us able to bear, and I added,
“If the Lord should make you his messenger,
you will not be disobedient.” I did not further explain
myself, nor did he ask any questions upon it. The
revelation I had never spoken of, but I went apart
and spent the morning in fasting and prayer, be-
seeching the Lord to show us clearly his will, and
give us each strength to yield ourselves fully to per-
form it. A
On the succeeding morning, my brother's wife
came to me and said, “Has the Lord revealed to
you what he has done?” On my answering in the
negative, she added, “He has given the Spirit to
— (naming my brother); he spoke much in the
night in power.” Here, then, was fulfilled the se-
cond sign which was given me. My brother shortly
after called me into his room, and in the superna-
tural utterance said, “Every spirit that confesseth
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh.” After a pause I asked
him, if the Lord had shown him what he had for him
to do, and on his answering he had not, I added,
“Let us go to breakfast (which was waiting), the
Lord will declare it in due time.” We went to break-
fast, and whilst there, a letter was brought from a
friend; I opened it, expecting to find it on a reli-
gious matter, but finding it was on a matter of busi-
ness, I laid it down, saying, “It is a worldly matter.”
My brother seeming to misunderstand me as though I
had said, “It is from a worldly man,” said, “Aye,
such were we at one time,” and I began to explain
his mistake ; but as I was doing so, the power came
down upon me, and I was made in power to declare
that the Lord had set me apart from all worldly bu-
siness to his own service; and then followed the de-
41
claration and message concerning my wife and family,
which had been shown me in the revelation; accom-
panied with my putting my hands upon the head of
his child, and declaring her set apart for the office of
a prophetess, and with a command to him to baptize my
infant with the Holy Ghost. I was godfather to his
child, and he had engaged to stand as godfather to
my infant, and there was added in the utterance a
declaration that God had respect unto his ordinances
in selecting these children. After family prayers,
and some further inquiries, he made ready to go, and
called me into another room to speak to his wife,
who had mistaken a part of the message as rebuking
and condemning her ; the power there came upon
me to give him the second message, to our other
relatives, and to enjoin him not to tarry but to pro-
ceed immediately on his mission. He came in again
to say, he did not quite understand what he was to
do to the infant, and in power I was made to explain
to him, that he must take her in his arms, and say
(repeating her name) I baptize thee with the Holy
Ghost, in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. After this I was made to
declare I should minister in his church on Sunday,
and then should be begun the spiritual ministrations
which would never cease until the Lord should come.
My brother proceeded on his journey, and I remained
to perform his services on the following day.
Throughout the same day, much utterance was
given to me, and a visitation of what seemed to me,
upon proof, a mimicry by Satan, of the spirit of re-
velation. A power came upon me after the manner
of revelation, communicating in an indistinct man-
ner, that I should be called to bear witness at Cam-
bridge and in the House of Commons; and that for
this purpose I should be caught away by the Spirit,
as Philip was, (Acts viii.) and it seemed to convey,
that it would be done that very day. No sign in
proof was given me, and I could not yield full cre-
dence to it; but fearing to tempt or grieve the Spirit
42
of God by any despite of such communication I
walked out, and giving myself into the hand of God,
I waited to see whether the communication was of
him. Nothing followed upon it, and I judged there-
fore it was of Satan, who was thus attempting to en-
snare me into a rash following of impulses, or a disbe-
lief of the revelations of the Spirit.
The next morning, being Sunday, we were all of
us somewhat tried in faith. For myself, I had
never had any command over the power, and though
I could refrain from speaking, yet I could not speak
in power when I would, nor continue speaking when
I had begun, unless the power continued with me; I
was therefore tried with the consideration, how shall
I stand up to minister in the church : If I pray or
preach naturally, and not in the power, I shall not
be ministering spiritually, but in the flesh,' as other
ministers do ; and if no power comes upon me, I can-
not minister in the Spirit at all. If I begin to minis-
ter, and the power should fail me, what shall I do?
These, however, were all quenched by the consider-
ation, that He who had, as I believed, commanded
me to minister, would not leave me without power to
fulfil it, and I left myself in his faithfulness. My
sister was also much exercised and tried from the
suddenness and strangeness of the whole. In the
midst of breakfast, a most encouraging utterance
was given me in a most awful oath put forth from
my lips, upon which, as I think, I cannot refrain
from shuddering. After a declaration that the Lord
would sustain me, there was added, “By myself have
I sworn, saith the Lord; by myself have I sworn,
by myself have I sworn, that I will not fail thee; I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” To none
but those who have been spiritually fainting and
ready to fall under a burden of weakness and temp-
tation, and who have tasted the sudden refreshing of
the Lord in the soul, filling them with holy joy and
gladness, can I convey the idea of the refreshing and
strength which was imparted to me from this utter-
43
ance; I was, as it were, girded with strength, and
went on my way rejoicing. -
The power was with me at family prayers, and we
went on to the church at the usual hour, to enter on
the duty appointed. As may be supposed, from the
time it was told me I was to minister in the church,
I was much in prayer, that the Lord would make
plain before me all that I was to do. The result
of my prayerful enquiry was, that I was at liberty
to use the stated service, or to lay it aside, but
that I should find the Spirit breaking forth beyond
and beside the form of service, as well as in the
midst of it. I resolved to lay aside the written
service, and telling the clerk he would not have
any part to take, I entered the reading-desk, putting
on the gown and bands. The power came upon me
in an exhortation to the people, to lay aside their
books, and bow themselves before the Lord, to wor-
ship him in spirit and in truth; that the Lord was
at hand; and as a witness to his people, God was
now sending forth a ministry, not ministering in
the flesh, but in the Spirit; who should teach and
minister in the utterance of the Spirit, and, in due
time, be endowed with all the mighty power of the
Spirit. After some further opening, the people
were called to pray, and kneeling down, the power
of utterance continued with me for about an hour,
in prayer and intercession for the church and nation,
king, ministers, and people ; for the outpour-
ing of the Spirit, the change of heart and life,
and the exaltation of God in the earth. As the
power ceased, I stayed, and while they sang, I went
into the vestry to fetch a Bible. Here I was wholly
impotent, and appeared to myself as though I had
no strength to exhort the people. When I had
returned I had no power. My sister, under the
nervous excitement of anxiety, was seized with
an hysterical fit. All my confidence in God seemed
for the moment to desert me, and I felt as though
my mouth was shut for ever. It was, however,
44
but a moment; the power came down again upon
me, and I read in great power the 61st chapter
of Isaiah, and preached in the power for upwards
of an hour; after which I dismissed the people with
the customary benediction.
In the afternoon service I took the same course,
and the power was with me in prayer and preaching,
as in the morning. The subject preached on was
the Parable of the Virgins. The midnight cry,
“Behold the bridegroom cometh,” was said to
be the declaration of the second coming of the
Lord, begun by preaching, and now confirmed
by the utterance of the Spirit; that this cry, there-
fore, was now proceeding through the earth, and the
wise and foolish virgins were arousing at it; that
the oil was the single simple-hearted reliance on
Jesus, and the lamps without oil marked the 'pro-
fessors who were not singly and alone relying upon
him. Fearful denunciations of judgment were
given both morning and evening, and the reiterated
declaration that, within three years and a half, the
believers in the Lord would be caught up to him,
and the world delivered over to the judgments of
God. Much as was the false prophecy which was
mixed up with these testimonies, and fearful as was
the assumption of speaking by the utterance of the
Spirit, I have been much confounded by the fact,
occurring in this instance, as also in most others
of the public testimonies in preaching; that Christ
was preached in such power, and with such clear-
ness, and the exhortations to repentance so ener-
getic and arousing, that it is hard to believe the
person delivering it could be under the delusion
of Satan. Yet so it was, and the fact stands before
us, as a proof the most fearful errors may be pro-
pounded under the guise of greater light and zeal
for God's truth. “As an angel of light” is an
array of truth, as well as holiness and love, which
nevertheless Satan is permitted to put on, to ac-
complish and sustain his delusions. It is yet more
45
mysterious, and yet not less true, that the truth
so spoken was carried to the hearts of several who,
on this day heard it, and these services were made
the means of awakening them, so far as the change
of conduct, and earnest longing after Christ from
that day forward can be deemed an evidence of it.
The next day, whilst discoursing upon the ser-
vices of the preceding day, my sister observed how
much freedom of prayer there appeared to be for
our king. Soon after this the power came upon
me, and I was made sensible something was
about to be declared concerning the king. The
power increased upon me for many minutes before
any impulse to utterance was felt, and such was
the intenseness of the power, that my whole frame
felt as though a fire was burning throughout it;
when the utterance burst forth, it was a declaration
that the Lord had given the king, to the prayer
of the queen and of the church, and his heart should
be turned wholly to the Lord—that he would de-
scend from his throne, and lay his crown at the
feet of the King of kings—that when his heart was
turned, he would refuse to be the head of Babylon,
which this nation was become ; and yet he should
retain power in the midst of the nation, for the
protection of the Lord's people; that there would
be rebellion in the land when the king turned from
the way of the people—that the sword would pass
through the land—and every man's hand would be
against his fellow—that the pestilence would pass
through the land; that the Lord would not suffer
the famine to come upon the land, because his people
were yet in the midst of it—and that the Lord's
people would be preserved from the sword and the
pestilence, though they would sweep around them—
that I was to stand before the queen to bear the
Lord's testimony to her, and she would bring it
in before the king. I then enquired of the Lord,
who should open the way to the queen, whether
a servant who had been named should do it? The
46
answer given to me from the power was, to take heed
to the question, and to go forth now upon this mis-
sion ; to return to the brethren I had left, and the
Lord would declare it in due time. Then was given
also a mysterious allusion to the three children of
Israel in the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar; and
an intimation that, before the king's presence was
attained, I should have to pass through the fiery
trial to the utmost. Family prayer following, I was
directed to the Psalm, “The king shall joy in thy
strength, O Lord ;” and as I read it, I was made
to chant it in the power.
I returned the same day to town, and the next
morning joined the prayer-meeting at the Scotch
Church. Great presence of the power was with me.
Indeed, from the time I was made to send my
brother with the message, a more than usual pre-
sence of the power seemed to rest upon me. The
trial which I had undergone, after the revelation
concerning my family, seemed to have ended in
a calm giving up of myself to God; and though
the remembrance of them ever and anon would
creep over me, and the thought that I should
never again see them would lay hold of me, and
almost break down my resignation; yet the power
was present to carry away my mind, and bear me
up with the thought; “yet three years and a half and
we shall be joined in the glory of the Lord.” All
that took place at my brother's had so strengthened me,
and enlarged my hope and confidence; that I was most
fully persuaded the work of the Lord would hence-
forth proceed through all the earth, and the mighty
power of God in all the fulness of the gift of the
Spirit would speedily be seen in his church. A power
in revelation had come upon me before I entered the
prayer-meeting, opening to me a message I was
to deliver there; but during the prayers of the meet-
ing, after the same manner of revelation, it was
told me the people's hearts were not open to hear
it, and no utterance was given me, except at the end,
47
when half the people had departed, in a short rebuke
for their hardness of heart. -
A clergyman joined us that morning, who was
enquiring, but had not been able to receive the
manifestations as of God. Having heard of his
prejudices against the work, my expectation was,
that my mouth would be shut in his presence; as
I had almost invariably found, that when in private,
in the presence of persons who denied the work,
my mouth was shut, and the power restrained ; or,
as I then looked upon it, the Spirit was quenched
because of their unbelief. I may be permitted, by
the way, to observe upon this as a remarkable sign.
It was not my own case alone, but all who spoke in
the power, found the same quenching among un-
believers ; so that when unbelievers came in private
to hear the utterance, either no utterance was
given, or such a feeble utterance, as failed to
convey to them the persuasion of a supernatural
power. This Mr. Irving had long º, and
it had led him to judge that it would be more conso-
nant with the mind of the Spirit, seeing that unbe-
lievers quenched the Spirit, to separate the unbe-
lievers and have meetings where believers alone
were admitted. It seemed to me, when believing
the power to be of God, that this quenching was
God’s punishment of unbelief; leaving the opposing
unbeliever without that testimony which was set
before the humble enquirer; and so letting “the
runagates continue in scarceness.” Since God has
graciously laid bare the deceit of the enemy, and
shown the Spirit not to be of God, it is plain to
me that the quenching we found was a want of
power in Satan to work against those who were
standing in faith on God alone, and would not bow
before the power. If the Christian, though an
unbeliever in the work, should yet be unfaithful
to God, and put himself under, or, in the way of
deference to the power, the enemy would jūstly
acquire a power over him; but I am persuaded,

48
God’s defence is so with his faithful people, that
the Spirit of Satan is bound in their presence, or
will be so constrained by the mighty power of God,
as to show forth its true character. I am constrained
to confess, also, my belief that without most griev-
ous offence against God on my own part, Satan
would never have been given such power over
me, and that it is in proportion to our unfaith-
fulness that we are subjected to Satan. It may
be the will of God, in some cases, as that of
Job, to give even one who is called “upright and
perfect” into the hand of Satan for a season. But,
in Job’s case, his trial revealed to him a pride of
heart which he was not before conscious of, and for
which he needed reproof and correction at his Fa-
ther's hand. It is true, the power was quenched also
before the worldly-minded, concerning whom we are
not authorised to say, God's defence was with them.
But this might be Satan's plan to elude inquiry and
examination ; and it is the peculiarity of every new
device of Satan to be at open war with all his former
devices. The spirit of Mahometanism at open war
with the spirit of the Papacy, as both and each were
at open war with the spirit of Pagan idolatry. In-
fidelity wars against superstition, and each new
heretic quarrels with all his predecessors.
On the occasion I was alluding to, however, in-
stead of the power being quenched, according to my
expectations, there seemed to be a greater impetuo-
sity in utterance, and a more broad display of its
character. It was such as to startle and offend the
individual alluded to ; and he not having been gra-
dually brought forward, as all the others present
had, saw nothing but the plain letter of the word in
the utterance ; sought after no explanation, but
judged according to the ear, and departed offended.
Concerning this individual, it was shown to me, more
than once, in the form of revelation, and twice was
it declared in utterance, that he should be brought to
acknowledge the work, and be himself a minister in
it. This, however, has never come to pass.
49
When we were separating, Mr. P. came to
me to ask me to take up my abode with him. I
mentioned to him what had been revealed and
confirmed to me, concerning my being set apart
wholly to the Lord's work; and I added I had a
little professional business in London, which I must
break off, and then I looked for the Lord's direction
as to my future course. When I had said this, I
perceived the power to rest on Miss E. C., and to
be moving to the utterance of something which she
was distressed or troubled upon. I turned round,
and said, “Speak.” She said, in power, “Will you
hear?” I answered, “If the Lord give me grace, I
will.” She went on, in utterance, “Did ye feel the
touch of the enemy? Did ye mark his deceit? Watch,
for the enemy lieth in wait;”—and continued in
a strain of warning ; and passing from that into a
declaration, that great revelations should be given
to me, concluded in an encouraging tone. I ga-
thered from this, there was something in which I
needed to be warned, but I could not understand
what in particular it applied to.
Bearing on my mind the prophecy concerning the
king and queen, I asked Mr. Irving, Mr. P., and
Miss E. C. to go apart with me, detailed to them
the particulars, and, in conclusion, sought of the
Lord farther direction. The power came upon
Miss E. C., with the answer, “It is not yet—it is
not yet. It shall be a plain way: the way shall be
very plain.” From this we gathered, we must
not, at present, look for the fulfilment. Mr. Tr-
ving then asked me the particulars of the revelation
and messages separating me from my family, and
setting me apart. I gave all particulars, which,
though he was before startled, seemed to give him
full satisfaction ; and, after a few observations,
he came up to me, and said, “Well, dear brother,
be not puffed up with the abundance of revelations.”
I was then most grievously weighed down in spirit,
without knowing fully the cause. On his observing
it, and asking the reason, I said, “I know not what
D
50
it is:—I am overwhelmed:—I have yet to break my
connexion with my professional engagements here,
and it seems as though Satan would not suffer me.”
Immediately the power in Miss E. C. cried out,
“To the word—to the written word P’ with peculiar
emphasis upon “written.” This was repeated se-
veral times, to my great confusion. Mr. Irving then
said, “A passage is brought to my mind, whether
the suggestion of it is from below or from above, as
applying it to this case, I cannot tell ; ‘If any man
provide not for his own, he hath denied the
faith.’” Miss E. C., in the power, said, “that is
it ;” and went on to speak of the great stumbling-
blocks which were cast before the people, and of the
woful effects of stumbling and offences. Mr. Irving
then added, “It seems strange to me you should
leave your wife;” and immediately a response, in
power, from Miss E. C. followed, “Ye must not
leave her.” If a thunder-bolt had burst at my feet,
it could not have created half the pain and agonizing
confusion which these utterances cast upon me.
The impression rushed on me like a flood, “The
revelation must then have been of Satan. I have
betrayed my brother into a Satanic embassy—ruined
his character, and ensured his expulsion from the
church—I have sent my wife a lying torture, and
shall seem to her as a monster—and I shall have for.
feited all my professional pursuits, contrary to God's
will, and brought discredit upon the work of God,
and so cast a fearful stumbling-block before God's
children.” (It not even then occurring to me that the
whole work was of Satan.) This was the agonizing
suggestion of a moment. I reeled under the weight
of it. I paused a little, and, under the revulsion of
feeling which always succeeds any violent excite-
ment, I was ready to say, “It is impossible.” I fell
on my knees, and cried aloud to God, “O Lord,
thou knowest that in honesty of heart thy servant
hath performed what has been done, show now whe-
ther thou meanest that he has altogether stumbled
and been deceived; or whether it is, that, though
51
true, it will be a stumbling-block to others.” Racked
with the most fierce mental conflict, I endeavoured to
lift up my soul in patient waiting upon God, and, in a
little time, I seemed to have light upon the subject,
which spoke peace, in a measure, to me. It was, that
the messages and revelations were of God, but that I
had mistaken them, in supposing they called for my im-
mediate cessation from all worldly labour. That the
time of my so ceasing was not yet, and the time of
my leaving my family was not yet; and that the
reproof had been sent me to correct my haste and
rashness in rushing upon their immediate fulfilment.
I now look back in wonder upon my receiving this
explanation as satisfactory. The declaration of my
being set apart was so express, and, in connexion
with my ministering in the church, so immediate; and
my separation from my family was not only my own
inference from the utterance, but the inference of
all the others who heard it, and of my brother who
carried it; and, in utterances also, my wife had been
called a widow, and my children fatherless. The
awe and reverence with which we all regarded these
utterances, in power, did itself prevent that critical
judgment of them which, when weighing them in the
balances, we should exercise. Every seeming con-
tradiction only served to trouble and humble us, and
to lead to a heart-searching, as though the fault were
wholly in ourselves; and if we could, in any way,
clear up the difficulty, by attributing it to our own
misunderstanding, it is obvious this would be imme-
diately resorted to. Relieved, in a measure, though
still heavily burdened, I went to my coffee-house,
and found there a letter which greatly confirmed my
previous persuasion, and settled me in a patient
waiting upon the Lord’s farther opening of his pur-
pose, whatsoever it might be ; and from what had
passed, and from the remembrance of the allusion to
the fiery trial; which, in the country, was foreshown
as to precede the fulfilment of the prophecy con-
cerning the king; I did look for farther trials and
difficulties.
D 2
52
. My wife, as I before mentioned, had never be-
lieved the work to be of God, and all the arguments
and persuasions I could use only seemed to settle
her in the conviction it was a work of Satan. But
the letter I alluded to was from her, to say, her bro-
ther had been to her, and, in power, had delivered
the message: that she recognised the message and
the work to be of God, and desired to submit in
every thing to the will of the Lord, great as was
the sacrifice required of her. This, as may be sup-
posed, spoke to me as God’s own seal of his own
work: as I had, for months past, seen the utter in-
ability of human efforts for her conviction; I now saw
that which, humanly judging, would be likely to pre-
judice her yet more and more, overruled of God,
according to the revelation to me, for her good, in
convincing her and bringing her to the same mind ;
and to be earnestly looking and waiting for the ex-
piration of the three years and a half, when we should
be joined in the glory of the Lord.
In the evening my brother returned from his mis-
sion. It seems, as I had already learnt, he was made
to deliver the message to my wife in power; and, in
power also, took the infant, and said over it the form
of words which were given him. He had gathered
from what had been said to him, that the babe would
speak in the Spirit as soon as this ceremony was per-
formed. The babe did not speak, and he was some-
what startled at it. As he travelled on to the other
relatives, the silence of the babe so pressed upon his
mind that, before he reached them, he more than
doubted the whole thing was a delusion. When he
reached them, he was so oppressed, that he was ready
to burst into tears, with the confession, “ I have been
deluded, and sent to you on a false errand;” when the
power came suddenly upon him, and he was carried
out in utterance of the message to them, all the time
almost trembling at what he was saying. They to
whom it was delivered laughed at him, and, won-
dering at the strange exhibition (for they did
not believe in nor had ever witnessed any of these
53
utterances,) laid hold of his arm to stop him. When
the power ceased, he fell just into the former state,
and told them of what he considered the failure of
the word, as to the child speaking. Having also
gathered from my utterances, that they would at
once receive the message and conform to it; their
disbelief of it confirmed his fears that it was delusive;
and, after a few hours consideration, he sat down and
wrote to my wife, begging her to forget all that had
passed, for he believed himself to have been de-
luded. It is a remarkable fact, that upon these two
points, of the child’s immediately speaking and the
relatives immediately believing; on conferring with
those who were with us when the utterances were
given, we were all of one mind, that there was no
authority for this expectation from the words spoken.
The declaration as to the child was, that it should
be a prophetess, without specifying any time of ut-
terance ; and the declaration, as to our relations, not
at all including a prophecy that they would imme-
diately obey. On this latter point my expectation
was as strong as my brother's, that they would at
once receive the message, until I received the rebuke
at the mouth of Miss E. C.; from which time I was
prepared for some temporary impediment; and, when
my brother arrived, I was not greatly astonished by
his narrative, extraordinary and unlooked for as it was.
A more careful consideration of the utterances
brought my brother to see he had been in error
upon the points creating his doubts and disbelief.
My wife's letter and state of mind also had such
weight with him, that he confessed his want of faith-
fulness, and took upon himself the reproach of
having stumbled in the way of the Lord. His hope,
however, was that my wife's faith would be stronger
than his own, and enable her to withstand the effect
of his letter; and that God would heal the breach in
the mission, and cause his own forbearance and love
the more to shine out of it.
In the midst of such unexampled confusion, I
scarcely knew how to shape my movements. My
54
professional engagements no longer required my
stay in town ; and having no work set before me
there, and great anxiety concerning my family, I
determined to return to them, and there await the
Lord's farther direction. I found my wife relapsed
into unbelief of the work, though the overawing
effect of her brother's utterances and mission was
such, that she could not wholly shake off the impres-
sion that there was some work of God in the midst
of it. I continued in the course of reading to and
teaching the poor, which I had previously been pur-
suing, and found the power much with me, though
not in that fulness and strength in which it had been
in London. In a few days, my wife's difficulties
were overcome, and she again acknowledged the
power to be of God, and, with me, expected the
fulfilment of what had been prophesied.
About this time occurred the motion of Mr.
Spencer Percival, in the House of Commons, for
the appointment of a general fast. On Friday, the
3d of February, taking up a newspaper, I saw that
Government had appointed a day; and as I was about
to read the paragraph which contained the informa-
tion, the power fell upon me, and I was made to
give forth a prophecy concerning it;-that they
who had appointed it did not do it in the de-
sire of humiliation and prayer, but to avoid cla-
mour, and to enable them more effectually to
carry on their godless measures—that it was there-
fore “a fast for strife and debate, and to smite with
the fist of wickedness”—that God would not accept
it at the hands of those who proffered it, but it was
an abomination unto him—that they who com-
manded it would not keep it, but the people of the
Lord would keep it, and would find a blessing rich
and bountiful in the midst of it—that the pestilence
would spread throughout the land, and that the
sword would follow—that fearful would be the ra-
vages of the pestilence—that the church in this land
had forsaken her office, and would speedily fall be-
fore the tumult of the people—that the ministers who
55
had sworn to uphold the king, were betraying and lay-
ing snares for him, by entangling him in popularity,
and bringing all the power of the people against him if
he should hesitate in granting them their full mea-
sures; but that the king was the anointed of the Lord,
and would escape out of their hands, as a lion
bursting through the nets of the fowler.—I was then
commanded in the same utterance to write what
had been declared to a member of the House named,
and bid him go to the House, and in his place
there declare before the nation, what had thus been
revealed: this I immediately did. In the course of
these prophecies, reference was made to God’s
answer to the prayer of Elijah, and it was declared,
that whilst the priests of Baal would afflict them-
selves on the fast day, and call upon their God in
vain—the allusion being to the formal members of the
visible church—the people of the Lord would call
upon their God, and receive an answer by fire; which
would lick up the waters of fear around them, and
be the signal for the complete overthrow of the fol-
lowers of Baal. That the fast-day and day following
would be days much to be remembered ; and a spe-
cial reference was over and over again made to God's
“ answering by fire.” I was not then at all aware
what was intended by this allusion to fire; but it
was to prepare the way for the doctrinal master-
piece of delusion, when the time should arrive for its
development. -
On the Sunday following, the power came in
the form of revelation and opening of Scripture. I
was constrained to read the twelfth chapter of Reve-
lation, containing the prophecy of the woman and
the red dragon; and as I read, the opening of it was
just as light flitting across the mind, opening a por-
tion and then passing away, and leaving me in dark-
mess; the power all the time resting upon me. A
passage would be opened in the clearest manner,
and then the understanding of it would as suddenly
pass away ; until portion after portion having been
opened and shut in this manner, the whole chapter
56
was at once opened in connexion, and an interpreta-
tion given, which I not only had never thought of,
but which was at variance with my previons syste-
matic construction of it. The interpretation so
given was, that the “woman in heaven” was the spi-
ritual church as contradistinguished from the visible
church—the symbol of the visible church being
found in the next chapter, as the “beast rising out of
the earth.” By the spiritual church was meant the
members of the church who were partakers of the
Spirit of God. The being “with child and paining
to be delivered,” was interpreted of the spiritual
church groaning and travailing in pain to bring forth
the testimony of the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
That the great red dragon was Satan, as the god of
this world, influencing all powers and potentates
in church and state, to “devour the child,” or
quench this testimony. That the same child “brought
forth,” was the testimony by the preaching of the
second coming of Jesus to the days of vengeance as
King of kings; that this was “caught up unto
God” by God's sending the heavenly utterance,
or utterance of the Spirit, to seal the testimony
as his own. The “woman fleeing into the wil-
derness,” was the spiritual part of the church sepa-
rated from the visible church, and cast out by the
church and nation. That “the war in heaven,”
was the power of Satan spiritually put forth to war
against the power of the Spirit of Jesus, put forth
in the midst of his people. It was revealed that the
time of this fleeing into the wilderness was now;
began with the days of the prophecy of the two wit-
nesses: viz. on the 14th of January last, and to
continue for the 1260 days of prophecy. It was also
revealed, that the war in heaven was now ; and all
the working of evil spirits which was found in
the congregations, where the utterance of the
Spirit of God was ; as well as all the assaults
which were made by Satan upon the gifted persons
themselves, were declared to be this very fighting of
the dragon and his angels against Michael and his
57
angels. As the end of this war was, that Satan was
overcome, so was it revealed Satan would shortly
be cast out from the midst of us, and the gifted
persons wholly delivered from his inward assaults
and delusions; for it was revealed that he was thus
working even in the minds of the gifted persons,
endeavouring to seduce them to give heed to his
illuminations as of the Spirit of God; the “inha-
biters of the earth and of the sea,” to whom woe is
denounced because of the presence of Satan, were
shown to be the nations and the visible churches ;
the earth symbolizing the latter, and the sea the
former ; and it was revealed, that whilst the spi-
ritual church would have the victory over Satan,
the visible church and the world would be subjected
to his delusions and fearful anger, as “having
great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time.” The overcoming “ by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and
they loved not their lives unto the death,” was
shown as our way to victory, by pleading “ the
blood of sprinkling” for assurance of forgiveness;
by yielding our tongues to the utterance of the
Spirit, and giving heed to the testimony of the
Spirit; and by a fearless and devoted resignation of
ourselves, to speak and do whatsoever the Lord en-
joined upon us.
Great strength and comfort seemed to arise out
of this interpretation to myself, and to those to
whom I was enjoined to write it. The confirmation
which it gave of the former opening of the eleventh
chapter; the seemingly accurate description of the
present state of things; and the assurance of victory,
as well as the exhortation to increasing boldness
arising out of it, were all peculiarly well timed, and
apparently much needed for the support and fur-
therance of the work. -
On the Friday following, the power came again
mightily upon me in a most powerful opening of
Scripture. As the time approached for going to the
meeting, which on every evening in the week I
D 3
58
had in some part of the town or neighbourhood, a
friend had come in to accompany us ; the power
came upon me in an utterance accompanied with the
form of revelation and conviction, and taking up
the eighth chapter of Revelations, opened it.
First declaring that “the third part,” which is the
subject of the judgment of the trumpets, was the
protestant part of Christendom ; the papal and infi-
del parts being the remaining two-thirds. That the
late revolution in France had brought that to be an
infidel nation, and thus had cast Christendom into the
three-fold state preparatory to the judgment of the
trumpets. The “hail and fire” of the first trumpet,
which are said to be “mingled with blood and cast
upon the earth ; and the third part of trees was
burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up,” were
shown to be the two great parties, which throughout
Christendom are now struggling against each other;
the one to preserve the settled institutions of the na-
tions in their present state, the other to change and li-
beralize them. The hail was said to be the conserva-
tive party or tories, and the symbol was thus opened:
That as the water descending from heaven, and flowing
through the earth, was that which caused the earth
to bring forth the green grass, and the trees, and
all fruits; and yet when that water became frozen
as hail, instead of fructifying the earth, it beat
down and destroyed vegetation, and ceased to possess
any vegetative principle; so was it with the subject
symbolized :-the party which was now the conser-
vative party, had in its origin, been the founder of
the civil institutions of the kingdoms ; and taking its
principles from religion, it was able to bring
forth good order, which the grass symbolized ; and
settled institutions, which the trees symbolized ;
and so to make the civil state of the kingdoms, which
the earth symbolized, fruitful and prosperous. But
now its vital principles of religion becoming frozen
and dead, it was as the frozen water, as hail,
casting down, and hurting both the settled insti-
tutions, and the good order of the kingdoms. The
59
fire was said to be the liberals or revolutionary
party, who were now, whilst the conservatives were
languid and frozen, burning with fiery ardour; and
as fire upon the earth, levelled all before it, and
made way for any thing new to arise ; so were the
liberals now destroying all before them ; the green
grass, or good order of civil society, as well as
the trees, or settled institutions, to make way for
the new state of things which they desired to bring
about. It was then declared, that the first trumpet
was already sounded, and the judgment of it had
fallen especially upon this nation, as the head of the
protestant part of Christendom; and all our institu-
tions as well as the settled order of civil society were
undermined, and their foundations gone; and they only
held together for the manifestation of the judgments
of the other trumpets, which were yet to succeed.
That as “all green grass,” and not a third part only,
was burnt up, so was the good order of society des-
troyed by the liberal principles throughout Europe.
At this period of the prophecy, being reminded that
the meeting would be waiting, it was broken off,
and nothing more uttered or revealed upon it for
two days.
On the Sunday following, the power came again
upon me in the opening of the trumpets. The second
trumpet was declared to be God’s judgment upon
the military state, as the first was the judgment upon
the civil state. The sea symbolizing the military
state of the kingdom, as the earth did the civil
state. The mountain burning with fire, was inter-
preted to be the aggregation of the liberals, as seen
in this country under political unions, and in other
countries by different forms of union. The casting
of this mountain into the sea, was declared to be the
collision between united liberalism and the military
state; when the king or government should take
measures contrary to the spirit of liberalism, and
should require the support of the military. The be-
coming blood and dying, was said to be becoming
lifeless in a dead state. The principles of attach-
D 4
60
ment to the state sapped, and military insubordination.
destroyed, the military power would become useless
to the state as not to be depended upon. The ships
were interpreted to be commanders or officers, as
the creatures were the subordinate soldiers. The
third part still applied to the protestant state, and
this country as the principal and the head.
The third trumpet was opened, as applying to
the ecclesiastical state. The “rivers and fountains
of waters,” as the source of fertility to the earth,
symbolizing the principles of religion which fertilize
and make peaceable and prosperous the whole civil
state of the nations. The star falling from heaven,
burning as a lamp, was read as a teacher, who had
been spiritual, and who had yet fallen from his
spirituality by heresy and false doctrine; neverthe-
less continuing to shine as with the light of the
Spirit of God, and to preserve the form of one
of the church of Christ. The third part still as
before the British and other Protestant churches:
the wormwood bitterness of the star was expounded
as the bitterness of false doctrine, which, infusing
itself into the waters, or true teaching of the Spirit,
caused the truth to become corrupted, and men were
spiritually slain by the principles thus poisoned.
The fourth trumpet was assigned to the regal
state of the nation, of which the sun, moon, and stars,
were the proper symbols. The opening of it was,
that the royal power would be in effect destroyed,
though the form of it would, for a time, be pre-
served. Especially concerning this country, it was
said, the king and queen would resign the crown,
and the nobles, as House of Lords, would be de-
prived of their power. This, it was declared, was
the darkening of the third part of the sun, and
of the moon, and of the stars ; the extinguishing
of the regal power was the fulfilling “ the day
shone not for the third part of it,” and the extin-
guishing the power of the queen and nobles fulfilling
the words, “ and the night likewise.” The power
of the king, casting, as it did, light and order upon
61
the whole nation, as the light of the day, and the
delegated power to the queen and nobles, accom-
plishing the same ends in a minor degree. 3.
Into these trumpets, and those following, I have
put, for connexion's sake, the opening of some part
of the symbols, which was given in subsequent utter-
ances, but in the utterance at this time there was
a further opening of these four trumpets, which
followed on in the train of utterance after the whole
had been noticed; reiterating, that the first trumpet
was already sounded, and the second was at hand—
that the Reform Bill would not pass—that the
people thought they had it, but it should not pass—
that then should the second trumpet be sounded,
and the mountain, burning with fire, be cast into
the sea—that the people would then rush against
the military, and the sword be drawn—that the
people would be overcome, but the principles of the
military would be sapped—that the great Captain of
Waterloo would again be made Prime Minister,
and that it was he who should take to pieces the
constitution, and be the instrument of fulfilling the
third and fourth trumpets. From this time, as I
was made to speak in the power on the interpreta-
tion of these trumpets, the certainty of the rejection
of the Reform Bill was looked to by all the followers
of the power in the country, and when the Bill was
finally passed, which was after I had abandoned
the work, it was no slight additional proof of the
falseness of this Spirit of prophecy.
At the same time the fifth and sixth trumpets
were also opened. The fifth as the spoliation of the
church, and the sixth as its complete overthrow,
and civil war throughout the nation. The particu-
lars of these trumpets, with all the various symbols,
were, at subsequent periods, very fully opened,
though it is not material to our narrative to detail
them. It was also subsequently declared, that,
within the three years and a half, all these trumpets
would be fulfilled, the four first trumpets within
62
..º.
--'
two years, and the others occupying the remaining
year and a half.
On the morning following I attended a monthly
meeting, which, long previously, had been formed by
a few friends, for reading and expounding the Scrip-
tures. Three clergymen and myself formed the party.
They were none of them fully convinced of the
manifestations as a work of God, though they were
willing to hear. The part of Scripture which was,
at that time, appointed for consideration, was from
Ephesians, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places.” This Scrip-
ture received that day a practical exposition, which
will not easily be forgotten by any of us. When
in my turn I spoke upon the text, I was more par-
ticularly led to set out the craftiness and deceivable-
ness of Satan, as an angel of light; and, as I pro-
ceeded, the power came upon me, carrying forward
the exposition, and showing how Satan, taking to
himself the guise of the Spirit, worked among all
professors, and even amongst God's own people;
not simply through the world and the flesh, intro-
ducing himself; but more particularly in the form
of suggestions through the senses, and by spiritual
workings upon the mind, raised imaginations, fostered
pride, and wrung from us worship and service to him-
self, whilst we persuaded ourselves we were following
the teaching of the Spirit. The exposition, as I now
look back upon it, was a glorious opening of the
Scripture, and my enlarged understanding of that
text contributed, under God's overruling grace, in
aiding my deliverance from the snares of the enemy,
when my eyes were opened to watchfulness. At
this time, however, the display of this truth was
used to rivet me, and those with me, in the power
of the enemy. After this Scripture had been
opened, the power in me passed on to a prophecy
upon the state of the church—setting out that she
63
was ensnared by the enemy—declaring and de-
nouncing the judgments of God, which were coming
upon her and all the earth—and most fearfully warn-
ing all ministers to stand up in their places, and
teach these things; and declare also what had been
revealed by the prophets to the church, that within
three years and a half the saints would be caught
up to the Lord, and the earth wholly given up to
the days of vengeance. It was emphatically de-
clared again and again, that nothing but the open
preaching of this revelation of the shortness of the
time, would serve to awaken the church and people
from the lethargic slumber into which they were
fallen. The power then passed into a prophecy of
the development of the mystical man of sin, and of
the personal man of sin, in the person of young
Napoleon, in accordance with what is before detailed.
The friend, at whose house we were assembled,
had called in his servants; and when I ceased,
and we were about to separate, he began to say
a few words to explain to them what had been pro-
phesied, when the power fell upon him, and he was
carried out manifestly beyond himself; and, (as he de-
scribes his own feelings,) without any expectation of
it, and when the power came upon him, without know-
ing what he had to say or do, but giving utterance as
he was constrained. The purport of his utterance
was confirming what had been said upon the rapture
of the saints within three years and a half. I was
then in power made to recognize him as called into
the spiritual ministry, and as having spoken by the
Spirit of God, and ordained to minister in the same
power.
All present were much impressed at what had
taken place; and so in an exposition of a warning
against the enemy, were taken captive by him ;
and that too mainly, by the enlarged opening of the
text through his power—truly, “As an angel
of light.”
About this time was consummated the master-
-º-º:
64
piece of doctrinal delusion in the development of
“the baptism of fire,” as it was thenceforth expound-
ed by me, and adopted by the members of the Scotch
Church, and as it is, I believe, still held by them.
I have already alluded to the frequent mention of
“fire,” in the utterances which I was made to give
forth ; these frequent repetitions, without any un-
derstanding on my part, of their meaning, led me,
as may naturally be supposed, into an earnest en-
quiry after God’s mind in it. I had, also, in the
midst of this enquiry, received a letter from a friend
at a distanee, who was unconscious of what was going
on here, but who mentioned his having met with two
ladies in one of the northern counties, who had re-
ceived great gifts of the Spirit; and who alleged
themselves to have been baptized, not only with
the Holy Ghost, but also with fire ; and who also
believed themselves, from the time of this baptism,
to be lifted above sin, and freed altogether from
its power. My friend did not understand what the
baptism by fife could mean, but mentioned their
reference to the text in St. Luke's Gospel, (ch. 3,
ver. 5,) “He shall’baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire.” I had myself no insight into the
matter, and for many weeks no opening of it was given
me; but the utterances became more and more frequent
*in their reference to “fire,” and in prayer I was parti-
cularly carried out to pray the Lord to cause “the fire
of his jealousy” to burn around his people, and
deliver them from the power of the enemy. It was
then revealed to me, that the deliverance which
should be made of God’s people, as expressed in
the twelfth chapter of the Revelations, by Satan's
being cast out of heaven, would be by the baptism of
fire. Next I was made in utterance to declare to
my wife that she should be baptized with fire; and
after many and repeated indirect allusions to, and
openings of, the text above cited, as declaratory of
our Lord's baptizing with fire;—setting out the bap-
tism of the Holy Ghost as given by our Lord,
65
through the laying on of the hands of the apostles;
the subsequent quenching of the Spirit through the
flesh; and the necessity for the Lord's stretching
forth his hand of power again to recover his people,
who were now mingled with the seed of man: –It was
declared in utterance that the Lord would again
send apostles, by the laying on of whose hands
should follow the baptism of fire, which should sub-
due the flesh, and burn out sin ; and should give
to the disciples of Christ the full freedom of the
Holy Ghost, and full and final victory over the
world.
Subsequently to this came utterances, preparing
us for some great favour and grace which, it was
said, the Lord had ordained for us; bidding us en-
large our hearts, lest, through the abundance of
God’s grace and favour, we should stumble in un-
belief, as though the promise was too great for us—
adding a striking expostulation with the church for
hardness of heart and slowness to believe all that
the prophets had spoken—and concludºng that we were
all straitened in our own bowels, whilst the Lord's
love was unbounded ; and the Lord was hindered by
the want of faith, in his love, from doing far greater
things for his church and people than had yet been
seen. Oh! the deep subtlety and cunning craftiness
of the enemy calling, in the name of our God."
for enlargement of our confidence in him, that we
might the more blindly follow on in the course of
his deceivableness. And, Oh! the hollowness of our
own hearts, which drank in flattery and seduction,
and persuaded us we were drinking in the sin-
cere milk of the word, and growing in love and in
meekness. And, Oh! the awful justice, and yet
redeeming grace, of our God, who, because of our
secret pride, which led to a craving after something
more than the gentle dew of the Spirit, morning by
morning, gave us, indeed, meat to our lust, by leaving
us under a spiritual power, which was supernatural
and sweet to the taste, but afterwards wormwood
and ashes; and yet remembering his mercy, repented
66
him of his anger, and snatched us as brands from the
burning.
At the interval of a day or two, there followed an
appalling utterance—that the Lord had set me apart
for himself—that, from the day I was called to the
spiritual ministry, I must count 40 days—that this
was now well nigh expired—that for those 40 days
was it appointed I should be tried—that the Lord
had tried me and found me faithful, and having now
proved in me the first sign of an apostle, “patience,”
(referring to 2 Cor. xii. 12.) he would give to me the
fulness of them, in the gifts of “signs, and wonders,
and mighty deeds;”—that the Lord had called me to
be an apostle, and by the laying of my hands and
the hands of the other apostles whom the Lord
should call, should the baptism of fire be bestowed.
Then was added a repetition of the fearful oath
given on the declaration of my call to the ministry.
“By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord:—by
myself have I sworn. By myself have I sworn, that
I will not fail you, I will never leave nor forsake you.”
I was commanded to go back to the church, where
my mouth was opened, and, on the fortieth day, power
should be given, the sick should be healed, the deaf
should hear, the dead should be restored, and all
the mighty signs and wonders should appear ;
apostles and ministers should be ordained, endowed,
and sent forth to the ends of the earth, to warn the
world of the rapture of the saints, and make ready
a people prepared for the Lord. It was declared,
that when I again stood in the church in London, I
should be made to rebuke them sharply; that they
had sorely pained the Lord and hindered his work ;
and that, were it not that the pestilence had reached
that city, they would yet be left; but now the pes-
tilence was about to break forth, and the Lord would
only stay it for a little season, and in this season he
would have his ministers go forth, in power, to warn
the city, and go thence through the land and warn
the land, that the city and land might not perish in
their darkness unprepared.
67
This full development took place on the Friday
preceding the fortieth day, which would fall on a
Wednesday. On the Saturday or Sunday came
an utterance concerning Scotland—that that was
a land of prophets; that the church there had greatly
erred in rejecting the remembrance of apostolic
government, but God had used them as prophets to
his church ; that because of this, the servant of that
church in London (alluding to Mr. Irving) would not
be given the apostolic office, but would be sent as a
prophet to Scotland, to bear the Lord's warning
before the carnage which would ensue from the
cholera there. This utterance was accompanied
with great power, in the form of revelation, laying
open to me that Mr. A–. would be ordained apostle
for Ireland, and that the clergyman, to whom I
have before alluded as an unbeliever in the work,
would be set apart for the apostolic office in London;
that I should be carried to foreign lands, after pass-
ing through a few parts of this land, and should only
return, at the end of the three years and a half, to
join my family immediately previous to the transla-
tion.
I pass over many minor incidents which occurred
in the course of this week, giving great encourage-
ment, and leading many around into the belief of the
things prophesied. One prophecy, however, must
not be omitted. A servant had, during my former
absence, been taken out of my house deranged. Un-
der the power, it was declared she was possessed by
an evil spirit. She had gone to reside near to the
relatives to whom the message had been sent by my
brother; and, in the midst of the prophecies which I
have last detailed, it was said, when I had, on the
fortieth day, received power, I should go down to
these relatives; and, calling the girl before them,
should cast out the evil spirit, and they would imme-
diately be convinced the work was of God, and con-
form to it.
On the Monday, I went to town, and reaching it
on the Tuesday morning, I joined the early prayer-
68
meeting. In my way to town, I passed by the clergy-
man in the country, who, as I before mentioned, spoke
in the power at his own house, on the evening of our
exposition of the Christian armour. In the few se-
conds I could speak to him, he told me he had had a
revelation, accompanied with a very powerful utter-
ance, in singing, directing him to go, on the following
Wednesday, to perform a miracle of healing upon a
poor cripple, who had, for many years, been bed-
ridden. When he had told me this, the power came
greatly on me, and I spoke two words in an unknown
tongue, the meaning of which was not given me; and
being obliged to proceed on my journey, I had no
other utterance, but, from the effect of the power on
me, an indistinct misgiving upon his message.
When I joined the prayer-meeting in London, I
had forgotten I was to rebuke them, and sat down,
not expecting to speak. Some short utterance,
however, came from me in reference to the subject
of prayer, and Mr. Irving called on me to read
and pray with them. Whilst I was walking to
him the power came on me, and I was made to give
him and the congregation assembled a most severe
rebuke, and then indistinctly to allude to that which
had been prophesied concerning the immediate gift
of signs and wonders.
Going afterwards to Mr. Irving's house, where
were several strangers, I was requested, in Mr.
Irving's absence, to conduct family worship. In the
course of it much was spoken in power concerning
God’s purpose of sending forth spiritual ministers,
and causing light and peace to arise among his
people, and the gathering of blackness of darkness
over the world; and it was prophesied most distinctly,
that unless the Lord's people hindered, on the morrow
would the power be given, and the ministers be
endowed with power to go forth on their mission;
this, also, more than once repeated, so that we
all looked with great confidence and expectation for
the events of the morrow.
When Mr. Irving came in, I was made in power
69
to address him on the subject of the Church of
Scotland, and their offence against God in the popu-
lar constitution of their churches, and the rejection
of bishops as the standing sign of the apostolic office.
I had felt much concerning this message, fearing
Mr. Irving would not be able to receive it, from
the opinions I knew he entertained in favour of Pres-
byterian ordination and constitution. To my sur.
prise, however, and very greatly to my gratification,
he said his mind had been prepared for this, and he
could fully assent to it. Proceeding in my ad-
dress, in the power, after setting forth the glo-
rious work which the Lord was about to do, I was
made, with many pauses and much preparation, to
declare to him, that he was not to be the hand by
whom the Lord would principally carry on this work;
that because of the sin of the Church of Scotland,
he was rejected from the apostolic office, but that he
should be a mighty prophet, and be endowed with all
power, and go to Scotland through the length and
breadth of it; and the enlargement which the Lord
would give him would be so great, that that land could
not contain it; that, as Elijah had under him the sons
of the prophets, so should he have prophets under him ;
that the pestilence had reached its capital, and he
must speedily go forth, ere the pestilence spread, to
bear the Lord's warning to his native land. Mr.
Irving declared his willingness to be laid aside, or
used as the Lord should be pleased to order for his
own glory, and seemed to receive the message as of
God, though he did not, at the moment, enter into
it with that assurance and sanguine hope which after-
wards appeared in him.
On the morrow, at the morning prayer-meeting,
nothing peculiar occurred. At breakfast, seve-
ral strangers to me were present, and having been
made to give forth what seemed a most glorious
prophecy concerning the endowments which would
attend upon the spiritual apostles whom the Lord
would now send forth ; in how much they would
exceed the endowments given to the twelve apos-
70
tles; it was distinctly shown me in the power, be-
fore any one had spoken, that some one person in
the room had a mind which utterly repudiated what
was so prophesied. It was not shown me which
of the parties present it applied to, but the power
was so impressive, that I said openly, “The Lord
shows me that there is one person here whose heart is
hardened against the truth ; let him speak, for the
Lord has a purpose of mercy towards him.” For a
little time no one spoke ; one of the company at last
said, “I know not whether it is I.” I answered,
“You are not shown to be the man.” After another
pause, the conversation became general, and a voice
at the top of the room struck me, and it was shown
me he was the man. I said so to him, and requested
him to speak. He did speak out, and showed very
strikingly, how exactly his state of mind had been
opened to me. This is an incident very striking to
me, and those who had confidence in me, though to any
one who mingles suspicion in his judgment, it will
say nothing. But I know I had never seen the
man, nor to my knowledge, heard the sound of his
voice, before I told out the state of his mind ; and as
soon as I heard the sound of his voice, I recognized
him as the person referred to. It operated as a
confirmatory sign to those who believed in the work,
and I can only explain it upon the text before
quoted, (Deut. xiii.) as a sign permitted of the Lord
to prove us.
The day, however, passed over without any mani-
festation of the power which had been foretold. I
was made in power to speak to Mr. A–, de-
claring the Lord had called him to the office of
apostle; that he would receive the endowment of an
apostle, and speedily go forth to Ireland, to build the
Lord a spiritual church there. On the disappoint-
ment of our hopes for the day, we all seemed to
pause, expecting that the succeeding day might
realize, what the present did not furnish.
The next day, Thursday, was fixed by Mr. Irving,
for a day of fasting and humiliation, to pray the
71
Lord to avert his wrath from the city, in the pesti-
lence which had then entered into it. I attended
the services, and was made to speak much in power
in the midst of the congregation ; declaring the pes-
tilence would be stayed for a little time until the
Lord had endowed and sent forth his spiritual minis-
ters, and then it would burst forth in all fury.
On the missionary interceding in prayer for the land
upon that passage in Ezekiel, which declares that
when woe is pronounced, if the people repent,
the Lord will turn from his anger, I was made to
interrupt him, referring to the other passages, which
declare, when a land sinneth grievously, though
Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should
deliver only their own souls; and made to add, that
this nation had sinned grievously, and the Lord
would not be interceded with for it. That the utter
desolation of the land was decreed by the Lord, and
judgment only now lingered; and then I was made
to pronounce “the decree, Thus saith the Lord,
within three years and a half this land shall be deso-
late '" The opening which had formerly been given
me on the trumpets, was here again in part repeated,
showing and assigning the steps and progress of the
Lord's judgments.—The effect produced upon the
congregation seemed to be very great. Great awe
and reverence seemed to be wrought, and the effect
upon Mr. Irving was very striking; he embraced me
as I joined him in the vestry, and before his elders,
and a part of his congregation, broke out into a
thanksgiving to God for having sent such light into
the midst of them. He seemed from this time with-
out a doubt, that the work which had been foretold,
would immediately proceed ; and began to preach
and teach from his pulpit, the interpretation of the
trumpets, and the doctrine of the baptism by fire, and
forthcoming apostolic mission.
On the Saturday morning, at Mr. Irving's, ano-
ther extraordinary incident occurred, showing to
me, the discerning of the Spirit which spake in me.
In the midst of breakfast, Mr. Irving said, “Our
72
brother —— (pointing to a person sitting by him),
wishes to ask counsel of the Lord by you.” The
gentleman, who was a perfect stranger to me,
then said, that he had purposed to do something,
which he explained, and wished to know if it was
the Lord's will he should do it? The power
came upon me, giving him an answer, and in
it referred to the proceedings of Mr. B–—, of
Oxford; declared how much he was grieving
the Lord by his rashness, and warned us against
following his course. There was nothing in the
question, or in the gentleman, or in the our pre-
vious conversation, to lead to Mr. B ; and as
I was made to utter it, I wondered why he was
referred to ; but on inquiring afterwards, I found
Mr. B–– was a particular friend of the gentle-
man's, and had been instrumental in leading him
into the difficulties about which he asked counsel.
I had not mentioned to any one in London, ex-
cept Miss E. C., what had been spoken con-
cerning my call to the apostolic office; deeming it
proper that I should leave it to the Lord in his own
time to manifest it by the endowment of signs and
wonders as had been promised. To Miss E. C., I
named it, that she might lay it before the Lord, and
ask his mind in it. On the Saturday evening, a
large company assembled at Mr. Irving's house,
with Mr. T. and Mrs. C., and the evening was pas-
sed in prophesying and expounding divers parts of
Scripture, and particularly of the book of Revela-
tions, Into the particulars of the expositions it is not
necessary to enter, but great light seemed to all
of us to be elicited ; and doubtless, as in the
exposition of the part of the Epistle to the Ephe-
sians, which I have before detailed, much truth was
opened, although mingled with and made subservient
to that which was not truth. But at the close of the
meeting, a scene occurred which baffles all descrip-
tion, and on which, whenever I now think, the deepest
feelings of horror and shame creep over me.
Mrs. C. was made, after our exposition was con-
73
cluded, to cry out in a most piercing utterance, that
there was some one in the midst of us who was
provoking the Lord by jealousy, envy, and hard
thoughts of his servants the prophets. Regarding
this, as we all did, as the Spirit of God, every one
was cast back in examination of his own thoughts;
and, as the gift of prophecy was a general object
of desire, many tender consciences converted their
admiration of, and longing after, the gift, into an
envy and provocation. A feeling of dismay seemed
to run through the company, but no one answered.
The accusation was reiterated, with a demand that
the person should step forward, and confess. Many
present, one after another, came forward, and,
confessing some sin, enquired if they were any
of them the culprit. None of these, however,
were recognized as such. The cry again went forth,
and my voice was mingled with Mrs. C.’s, declar-
ing the person who was meant was conscious of it.
The agony expressed on many countenances was
intense ; one man was so overcome, that his
head fell on the chair, as though he were para-
lyzed, uttering an unnatural moaning cry, which
shewed the intensity of his mental agony. I was
made in power to pray the Lord to discover the
offender, and ease the consciences of his children.
But after some time spent in this state, seeing the
person was not found, we prepared to go home.
As I passed Mrs. C. I took her hand to shake hands
with her, when the power came upon her, and, hold-
ing my hand, she addressed me before all the com-
pany; beginning, by setting out Jesus Christ, and
proceeding, as the prophet of Christ, to declare that
Jesus had sent his angel, and touched my lips with
a living coal not many days past; that the word
of the Lord proceeded from my lips, and I was
a prophet, and more than a prophet, for I should
speak with authority ; that I was a chosen stone in
the temple of the Lord ; but warning the people
not to rest in the vessel, for though I was a chief
stone, yet I was not the chief corner stone. Then
E
74
proceeding to declare much trouble and trial was
laid upon me for the church's sake, and calling upon
the people of God to hold up my hands in prayer,
that I might be borne above the trials and assaults of
the enemy. When she had concluded, I turned round
to Mr. Irving, intending to ask all present to kneel
down to pray, when Mr. Irving silently pointed
to a person who stood by, and looking to him I saw
a power resting upon him, and he struggling to
give utterance. I paused, and when utterance
broke from him, instead of articulate words, nothing
but muttering followed, and with this an expression
of countenance most revolting. Lifting up a prayer
to God to judge his own cause, and preserve us
from judging unjustly of a brother; almost at the
same moment an utterance broke from Mrs. C.,
and from myself; “It is an evil spirit.” A thrill
of horror passed through the company, and pre-
sently an utterance came from Mrs. C.—“ Rebuke
the unclean spirit, and command him to enter no
more into him.” The power came upon me, and I
said, “In the name of Jesus, I adjure thee, thou foul
spirit, to come out of the man, and enter no more
into him.” The man, however, continued mutter-
ing and speaking nonsense. Again the command
came from Mrs. C., and the power upon me, and
I used the same words over him again. Lady
, who was present, and had before once or twice
spoken in the power; under an impulse of the power,
rose up, and stretching her hands towards me, cried
out in power, “Greater is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world;” and repeating this several
times, sank down on the floor. We all paused.
The muttering and disgusting utterances continued.
Mr. Irving suggested, “This kind goeth not forth but
with prayer and fasting.” We were, however, con-
founded, and the only explication I could suggest
was, that the word of God had gone forth for the
expulsion of the evil spirit, and we must rest in
faith, that in due time the effect would follow, and
the man be delivered ; and so we parted.
75
The reader will be ready to ask, did not this open
your eyes to the nature of the power working in you ?
But no—perplexed as we all were, and troubled also,
yet it is so fearful a thing to doubt what you have
been acknowledging and serving as the Spirit of God,
that whenever doubt came over us, we thought it a
temptation, and resisted it. There was so much
of light and truth, such a setting forth of Jesus, so
great an opening of the truth of Scripture, that our faith
rested on these evidences, and the dark and stumbling
occurrences we could not unravel, we left with the
Lord to clear up in his own good time. Ah, how
true is the word of God. “If the light that is in you
be darkness, how great is that darkness.” We were
forgetting, that we know not how much of light,
and truth, and holiness, Satan may be permitted
to assume, but that we do know, that not a tittle
of darkness, error, or unholiness, can belong to the
Spirit of God. We must see, in these continually
occurring stumblings, how God graciously kept a
witness in the midst of us, that the Spirit was not
his own ; and how we continually disregarded his
witness, and so hardened ourselves in our delusion ;
for I have seen, by woful experience, that if a warn-
ing of this kind is disregarded, Satan, in a little
time, contrives some system or explanation to do
away with the doubts and misgivings which it has
created, and we are more fully given over to his
power, than if the warning had never been sent
UlS.
The next day, being Sunday, it had been arranged
between Mr. Irving and myself, that I should occupy
his pulpit at the morning and evening services of his
church. He was much struck and impressed with
the power manifested in what was called my preach-
ing in the Spirit, and was very desirous his congre-
gation should partake of his edification. He there-
fore told me he felt bound to offer me his pulpit:
I had no direction from the power as to accepting or
refusing it, but deeming myself called to the spiritual
ministry, I did not dare to refuse it. There were
E 2
76
many circumstances which concurred to make me
shrink from it, but all these I looked upon as sent for
my trial, and I did not heed them. I had been the
same morning to preach at a friend's at the West
End, and had returned to the Scotch church, there
awaiting in prayer the time for commencing service;
just as it arrived, Mr. Irving came in, and said, the
Spirit by Miss E. C. had forbidden it, and directed
him to occupy his own place, and suffer me to sit
among the prophets. He told me he had never
mentioned the subject to her, until she happened to
call as they were setting out to church, and then as
soon as she heard it, she seemed deeply troubled, and
the utterance broke forth.
I therefore sat with those who were called prophets
—much relieved that I had not to take the duty.
The greater part of the service passed over without
any interruption from the power; but towards the close
of the sermon, a young man came out of one of the
pews in the middle of the church, and paraded down
the middle aisle, intending to go out. That door,
however, being fastened, he turned back, and coming
up the aisle, in the face of Mr. Irving, as he was
preaching, persisted in his intention of going out. Mr.
Irving paused, and told him not so to disturb the
congregation, but to remain quiet, until the service
was concluded. He, however, contemptuously disre-
garded it, and went on. Mr. Irving then addressed
the congregation with great warmth, and said, this
young man was a specimen of the young men of the age,
who set light by their fathers, their teachers, and their
God, and were pursuing their own wilful course,
breaking down all subordination and discipline.
Whilst he was saying this, the power came mightily
upon me, and a most appalling cry, or rather shout,
broke from me, declaring, This was the curse which
was upon the land—that the fathers had forgotten
to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord,
and the children were now rising up in judgment,
and would desolate the land.—This utterance seemed
to strike the whole congregation with awe, and one
77
man who sat in the gallery, on the other side the
church, was so struck by it, that he shrieked out
as if in extreme agony; and, notwithstanding every
effort, it was several minutes before he recovered
himself, and ceased from his heart-thrilling shriek.
Mr. Irving then addressed the congregation, and said,
that they had seen, in what had occurred, an example
of what was set forth in the 11th chapter of Revela-
tions, by “Fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and
devoureth their enemies,” (which refers to the two
witnesses)—that I was called of God a spiritual
minister, and was thus one of the witnesses as one of
the ministerial class—that he himself was but a fleshly
minister, and was not able to command discipline in
the church, but that I was a spiritual minister, speak-
ing by the Spirit of God—this word in my mouth was
as fire, and they had all seen the effect; and added,
that so would it be when the full power of this ministry
was come in, that discipline would be enforced.
At this service also another exercise of the power
occurred, on the baptism of an infant, which requires
some explanatory introduction. From the time of
my first public exercise of the power, it will be ob-
served, from what has been before detailed, how
strongly the distinction was taken between my mi-
nistrations and the ministrations of commonly ordained
ministers—mine being called the spiritual ministry,
theirs the fleshly ministry. The same distinction
was carried through the church also—the church
receiving the ministry of the prophets speaking by
the utterance of the spirit, was called the spiritual
church, in contradistinction to the visible church. In
the casting off the visible church, and cutting short
the fleshly ministry, by cancelling the ordination
by laying on of hands, as before declared, was shown
God’s rejection of the visible; and in the gifts of the
utterance, and the sending prophets and ministers en-
dowed with such utterance, was shown, as we regarded
it, the bringing out of the spiritual church. This broad
line of distinction was continually kept in view in all
the utterances. The visible was considered as dis-
78
carded, and the seduction of the enemy was turned
towards the discarding of the visible elements in bap-
tism and the Lord's Supper. It was first declared in
utterance, that when the fulness of power was come
in, the spiritual ministers would baptize with the
Holy Ghost and with fire, and no longer use the
baptism of water, which was John's baptism. That now
Christ was coming into his church, in the full power
of his Spirit, his baptism would supersede that of
John Baptist, according to the declaration, “I indeed
baptize you with water, but there cometh one after
me....he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and
with fire.” The next step was an utterance in refe-
rence to the text, “Behold I stand at the door and
knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in unto him, and sup with him, and he
with me,” with a declaration, that Christ was now
knocking, and now by his Spirit specially coming in
unto his people, to realize with them that which the
bread and wine typified in the Lord's Supper; that
thus the antitype would displace the type, and bread
and wine be laid aside, and that this would concur
with what the apostle says, “As oft as ye eat of this
bread and drink of this wine, ye do show forth the
Lord's death, until he come.” This spiritual coming
was declared not to preclude a personal coming at
the end of the three years and a half, but that
now Christ, in the full power of the Spirit, with the
baptism of fire, was to come into his church, and
would, in the space of three years and a half, pass
through all the world by his spiritual ministry, as he
did in the days of his flesh pass for the same
space of time through the land of Judea in his
fleshly ministry; and then, at the end of this
time, as he was slain and arose from the dead ;
so would his witnesses, or spiritual prophets and
ministers, be slain and rise from the dead, and
ascend up to heaven (as is contained in Rev. xi.);
fulfilling, in their being accompanied by the
saints, the prophecy of the translation of the saints in
three years and a half. And then also should be ful-
79
filled the personal coming, “they who remain alive
unto the coming of the Lord shall be caught up to
meet him in the air.” I had given Mr. Irving an ac-
count of these utterances, and he was at first much
troubled about the laying aside of the visible ele-
ments; but after some consideration he was, as he
told his missionary, Mr. B., in my hearing, quite
satisfied it was of God, and in no wise contradic-
tory of Scripture. It was then held among us,
that when the spiritual church was fully consti-
tuted, water would no longer be used in baptism,
nor bread and wine in the supper of the Lord. I
found some difficulty as to the time when the spi-
ritual church would be fully constituted. In one ut-
terance in the country it was said, that when the
faithful ministers were cast out of the visible church,
they must cease to use the visible symbols. How-
ever, in subsequent utterances, it became confirmed
that the spiritual church could not be fully constituted,
until the full powers of an apostle were given, and of
this we were now in daily, and I may say hourly, ex-
pectation, as the day for which they were promised was
passed, and we could find no satisfactory explanation
of the delay. If apostolic powers were again given,
it would be manifestly according to order that they
should regulate the ordinances of the church.
On this day, however, in the midst of the service, as
is usual in the Scotch church, an infant was brought
to be baptized. I found a power resting upon me dur-
ing the preparatory stages of the ceremony; and
when Mr. Irving took the babe in his arms, and was
proceeding to pour water on it with the usual form of
baptism, an utterance broke from me, “Jesus receiv-
eth thee into his church thou little one, and baptizeth
thee with his spirit.” I was not at all conscious what
I was going to say, until the words broke from me ;
nor was I at all conscious at what interval the power
which rested on me would move to utterance. When
the utterance was given, it was accompanied with the
conviction, that this was the form of baptism of infants
in the spiritual church; and I felt much grieved when
*
80
Mr. Irving proceeded with the ordinary form, and
merely returned thanks to God for the utterance, as
God’s honouring his own ordinance. On another oc-
casion, on a subsequent day, when in the midst of
his congregation, two children were brought to be
baptized, the same utterance, at the same interval,
was given to me, and Mr. Irving persisted in the visible
form, and returned thanks as before. Judging from
the light which has since been given me, I see evi-
dently Mr. Irving was not prepared to abandon the
outward form at that time, and therefore I was re-
strained from mentioning to him my grief at his persist-
ing in it. I was also myselſ shortly after shown, as by
revelation of the power, that until he received the
endowment of a spiritual minister, he could not dis-
pense with the form.
A prophecy, the details of which occurred on se-
veral days, during this visit to London, must not be
forgotten. One evening, at Mr. P's., I met Mr.
R. who had come from North America, and had
been a missionary among the Indians there.—I had
in the country received an utterance and revelation
concerning America, which I was mentioning, when he
declared his opinion, that the American Indians were
the lost ten tribes of Israel. He asked me, if I had
any teaching upon it. I told him I had not, and after
hearing from him that one of their native chiefs was
converted, and now in London, I thought no more of
it. A few mornings afterwards, at breakfast at Mr.
Irving's, a conversation arose upon America, and 1
mentioned what had been revealed to me concerning
it; and Mr. Irving asked, with reference to some utter-
ance, whether I should conclude it referred to the
ten tribes. I paused, for the power rested upon me,
and after a little time, it was distinctly revealed in the
power, and I was made to utter that the American
Indians were the lost ten tribes, and that they should,
within the three years and a half appointed for the spi-
ritual ministry, be gathered back into their own land,
and be settled there before the days of vengeance set
in—that the chief, who was now in London, was a
81
chosen vessel of the Lord, to lead them back—that he
should be endowed with power from on high, in all
signs and mighty wonders, and should lead them back
though in unbelief—that he would receive his power
here, and be speedily sent forth to them. After this I
went with Mr. Irving, Miss E. C., (who had been
present at the foregoing prophecy) and several others
to a Jewish institution, where I was again made to
reiterate to the Jews there present, the promise of
speedy restoration, and vengeance upon all their
enemies. –Being on another evening assembled
with some young men of Mr. Irving's congre-
gation, the Indian chief who had been alluded
to, came in, and I was made in a most triumphant
chaunt to address him as the vessel chosen of God;
and to be endowed of God for the bringing back of his
brethren. Afterwards I supped with him at Mr.
R.'s. The chief did not believe in the message, or in
the gifts, though he was apparently astounded; and
as I conversed with him, his countenance and tout
ensemble was so utterly foreign to my ideas of a Jew,
and so strongly of the Tartar cast, that my confidence
in my prophecy was shaken, and I was quite miser-
able under the fear that I had been mistaken and
deluded in the matter; however, my conscience was
clear of all wilful mistake, and I resisted the fear as
a temptation, though exceedingly tried by it. I
hinted it to no one, and sought counsel of no one ;
but I was relieved from my doubt in a most extraor-
dinary way,+a way which might be called accidental,
did not the very frequent occurrence of such things
in the midst of the workings of the power under which
I and others were walking, show that it was much
more. On the following or next succeeding morning,
as I was walking from church with Miss E. C., she,
without any reference on my part to the subject,
alluded to the prophecy, and said to me, “It is very
remarkable that when you spoke about the ten
tribes the other morning, whilst you were pausing,
the power was so strong and so distinct upon me, I
was ready to give the very utterance you gave, and
E 3
82
the whole was before my mind as distinct as if I had
spoken it.”—This quite dispelled my doubts — I
thought I could not have mistaken the mind of the
Spirit, since the same communication was made to
her at the same time. Thus were my doubts in
this instance removed; and were I to multiply
instances, even beyond what may occur in the
narrative, I should only more largely confirm the
fact, of the subtle lying in wait of the enemy; ready
by signs and workings, (so far as power was
permitted to him) to remove doubts, and cancel
difficulties, and bring us anew into a state of unsus-
pecting confidence in the spirit which swayed us. I
would also point to this simultaneous action of the
power upon Miss E. C. and myself, as an instance of
what continually occurred ; and, as a proof of the
identity of the origin of the manifestations in both.
The subject of this prophecy was so far new to me,
that, I had never had the question of the Indians
being the ten tribes brought before me, old as it is
in the literary world; and, even when Mr. R. men-
tioned it, it made no perceptible impression upon
my mind; nor did I, to my knowledge, ever think
any more of it, until it arose again at Mr. Irving's.
What Miss E. C.’s previous impressions were, I know
not; but, certainly, the prophecy developed no previous
impressions formed in my own mind, but was to me
both a novelty and a difficulty.—The complete failure
of this prophecy is very manifest. The chief went
away to his countrymen an unbeliever in the work,
and none of the powers have been at all manifested.
Not to dwell too long upon minor incidents, I was
weighed down under the delay of the fulfilment of the
prophecy concerning the apostolic endowments on the
fortieth day. Prayer was made daily for me in Mr.
Irving's church in obedience to the injunction given
by Mrs C., on the evening before alluded to ; and
Mr. Irving did not hesitate to pray publicly before
his people, that I might speedily receive the full en-
dowment of an apostle. To add to my distress, I
heard from my friend in the country, who had spoken
S3
in power, and received directions to go and perform
a miracle of healing—stating, that in fasting and
prayer he had gone upon the errand, but had failed
to perform any miracle—that he concluded he had
spoken by a lying spirit, and could no longer believe
we were speaking by the Spirit of God. My pro-
phecy concerning the fortieth day, had been bruited
about in my own neighbourhood, and its failure, to-
gether, with that of my friend, had had such an
effect, that my wife and greater part of the believers
in the country abandoned it as a delusion. My own
faith in it was, however, not the least shaken. I saw
the fiery trial I had to go through in endeavouring to
uphold what I considered to be the truth, in the face
of such seeming failures; and yet, I confidently
trusted God would make manifest his mercy and
power in the midst of it.
I continued yet a day or two with them; and one
morning calling upon Mrs. J. C., she asked me whe-
ther I had any teaching upon the propriety or impro-
priety of prayer-meetings formed of ladies alone;
one of which had been some months established, and
she and the other gifted persons had been in the ha-
bit of attending. I was made in power to declare
they were not profitable—to rebuke her for not hav-
ing sooner discerned it, and to bid her go, as they
met that morning, and declare to them what had now
been spoken. She carried the message to the meeting,
and they all at once agreed to abandon it, but desired
to go to prayer to return God thanks that they had so
long been kept in peace ; when the power came on,
Miss E. C., as she afterwards told me, and she was
made to rebuke them for not more implicitly obeying
the word of the Lord given by me, and to bid them
separate without prayer.—At the same time that
Mrs. J. C. consulted me as to the ladies' meetings,
Mr. J. C. remarked, concerning the select prayer-
meetings at Mr. Irving's church, that he had often
found great heaviness upon him at them. I was then
made to declare Mr. Irving had erred in making
them select— that they ought to be open to all;
E 4
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this was conveyed to Mr. Irving, and he at once
acknowledged his error, and opened the meetings
generally to all. I may here mention, that on a for-
mer occasion, Mr. Irving had consulted me upon the
same subject, and had received a like rebuke. The
reason he made them select was, that he found the
power more manifested when those, who believed
in it as of the Spirit of God, were alone present ;
and, on the other hand, found, in a miscellaneous
assembly, the power was quenched. It was told
him in power, from my lips, that he was offending
in this, by giving occasion to the enemy to say the
manifestions would not bear the light; and, further-
more, by shutting up the manifestation of God’s love
he was practically acting, as though God did not in-
tend the message of his love and pardon to be made
known to all men. He seemed, at the first rebuke,
to yield to the reasoning, but he did not act upon
it; and it was not until the second rebuke was con-
veyed by Mr. J. C. to him, that he publicly declared
to the congregation he had received such a rebuke,
and changed his plan. I understand that now he
has again, under another name, restored select meet-
ings, and I am deeply grieved to find it so : for
here, in the midst of minds duly prepared, Satan
can gradually develop the subjects of his delusion ;
and, going on step by step, can unwarily lead his
victims into extravagances, first of doctrine, and
next of conduct, which they themselves would, with-
out such gradual preparation, shudder to contem-
plate. So long as their proceedings are open to the
public eye, there will always be some warning and
remonstrance set before them, upon the develop-
ment of any new choice. But when shut up to
themselves, the mind is gradually darkened,
and the delusion becomes daily stronger, until
they are ripe for each successive stage of the mys-
tery of iniquity.—As a proof of this, I may allude
to the fact, that they are now avowedly exercising
apostolic functions, upon the mere command of the
voice, without pretending to have the signs of an
85
apostle, “In signs and wonders, and mighty deeds:”
and the individual, who has been thus set apart for
the apostolic office, prays, in their meetings, in the
following strain :—“Lord, am I not thine apostle 2–
yet where are the signs of my apostleship?—where
are the wonders and mighty deeds?—O Lord, send
them down upon us,” &c. He has, as an apostle,
and in the name of an apostle, laid hands on several,
and ordained them to the ministerial office, as evan-
gelists and elders ; yet it is not pretended that the
manifestation of the baptism of the Holy Ghost fol-
lows, with the lying on of his hands!—When I was
amongst them, we were all of one mind, that the
apostolic office could not be exercised, until the signs
of an apostle, in “signs, wonders, and mighty
deeds,” were manifest in the individual claiming the
apostolic office ; and were also of one mind, that
the baptism with the Holy Ghost would attend
the laying on of the hands of the apostle. It ap-
pears in their private meetings this further depth
of “ folly” has been added to the “ folly,” to
which I wickedly introduced them ; and they are
so hardened under it, that they do not now hesitate
publicly to declare it.—Coupled with this also, is
the further “folly” of Mr. Irving's claiming, as
“angel of the church,” authority over the apostle;
and the apostle is put under subjection to the pastor
or angel, as he designates himself. Surely, in
these things, there is a darkness that may be felt.
We may, however, trust, that the word of the
Lord has reached them, which declares, concerning
the deceivers of the last days, (2 Tim. iii. 9.) “They
shall proceed no further ; for their folly shall be
manifest unto all men.”—May God graciously make
it manifest to themselves—But to resume the nar-
rative:
My professional engagements in town being ended,
I purposed going out; but before I did so, I men-
tioned to Miss E. C., as well as to Mr. T., the full
circumstances under which I was sent up to them.
Mr. T. was almost immediately made to declare, in
86
the power, with reference to the powers, and signs,
and miracles which were promised, “Ye shall do it—
ye shall do it!” Miss E. C. spoke once or twice in
the power; and I gathered from it, that I ought to
wait till the morrow at least. One utterance which
she gave was, “Wait and pray, that the glory of the
Lord may burst forth in the midst of the congrega-
tion;” with some other words referring to the con-
gregation then assembled, and leading me to the full
expectation, that on that very evening, in the con-
gregation there met, the power, with signs and won-
ders, would be given. As, however, I went out of
the vestry, one of the extraordinary visitations of
darkness, which I had experienced on more than one
occasion when expectations were not about to be
realized, came over me, laying my mind under the
severest deadness. Nothing whatever occurred on
that evening in the congregation, and I returned to
my hotel. On the morrow, I was made, at the morn-
ing meeting, to give a long and severe rebuke to the
congregation, declaring they hindered the work of
the Lord, and calling upon them to humble them-
selves because of it. Alas! little did I then think
what it was which was hindered.
At breakfast, at Mr. Irving's, the closing scene of
my unhappy ministration among them was no less re-
markable than mysterious. Very great utterance had,
for several mornings, been given me at family prayers
there, and particularly beautiful and comforting exposi-
tions of Scripture were given from the power. This
morning, a clergyman, (who, I have since understood,
was from Ireland, and had come expressly to inquire,
favourably disposed towards the work, but startled at
the doctrines,) was present. He was talking to
Mr. Irving, but I did not hear his observations.
Presently the sister of Miss E. C., who sat by me,
said, “That gentlemen is grieving the Spirit.” I
looked, and saw a power resting upon Miss E. C., and
presently she spoke in rebuke ; but I did not gather
more from it then that the clergyman had been ad-
vancing something erroneous. Mr. Irving then be-
87
gan, as usual, to read a chapter, to which I had been
made, in power, to direct him; but instead of my
expounding as before, the power resting upon me,
revealed there were those in the room who must
depart. Utterance came from me, that we were
assembled at an holy ordinance to partake of the
body and blood of Christ, and it behoved all to exa-
mine themselves that they might not partake unwor-
thily. None going out, I was made again and again,
more and more peremptorily, to warn, until the cler-
gyman in question and an aged man, a stranger, had
gone out, when Mr. Irving proceeded in reading the
chapter. “I am the man that hath seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath,” &c.; and I was made to
expound as usual, with great setting forth of God’s
love in the midst of the trials of his people, and with
great promises of blessing. It was greatly to my
own comfort, and I believe also to that of others. I
then prayed in the power; and when all was con-
cluded, I was made, in power, to declare to Mr. Ir-
ving, that he had seen in this an example of the mi-
nistration of the supper of the Lord, as he had before
seen the example of baptism—that he must preach
and declare them to his flock, for speedily would the
Lord bring them forth—that the opening of the word
was the bread, and the indwelling and renewing pre-
sence of the Spirit, the wine—the body and blood of
the Lord ; and the discerner of spirits would not
permit the unbelievers to mingle with the faithful,
but they would be driven out as he had seen. Then,
in power, I was made to warn all of the snares of the
enemy, and concluded with the remarkable words,
“Be not ye like unto Peter. I will smite the shep-
herd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” It is not a
little remarkable, that upon the call being made for all
to depart who did not examine themselves and receive.
the word spoken in power, as the word of God; the
clergyman I before alluded to professed his faith in
the work, and I was made to tell him he was doubt-
ing and was not confirmed in it. And I have since
heard, that he was in so much doubt, that when he
88
came to consider, he abandoned the work as delusion.
Whilst under the awe of the presence of the super-
natural power, he was so confounded or overcome as
to profess full faith in it, and believe himself to be really
receiving it. I had not any previous idea that on
this morning the ministration of the Lord's Supper
would be given, nor had I, until this was set before
me, any conception what its spiritual ministration
would be.
In the previous part of the morning, Miss E. C.
had been made to speak, in power to me, to the effect,
that I was shrinking from the cross, in being pained
at going back into the country without the endow-
ment promised. This had weighed with me, and my
mind was made up to return. After the noon-day
service, before all the congregation were departed,
she asked me if I intended to go home. On my
telling her I did, she was made, in power, to address
me, which, though in a subdued tone, was perceived
by the congregation remaining, who immediately
stopped. Her message was, that I was right in re-
turning home—that the Lord was well pleased with
me that I had been content to walk in darkness—that I
had been faithful to the Lord, and the Lord would be
faithful to me—that I should return and pass into
deep waters, but yet a very little time, and I should
behold the glory and rejoice. Mr. Irving then in-
formed the remaining congregation, that it appeared
to be the will of the Lord that I should depart for a
little season, and prayed that I might speedily return
with the full powers of an apostle to impart unto them
the gift for which they were longing.
I accordingly returned into the country deeply
depressed, though quite unshaken in my faith of the
work. The difficulties which had been thrown in my
way were great, but I trusted the Lord would over-
rule them all, and I resumed my public teaching as
before. My wife having relapsed into unbelief of the
manifestations, my mouth was not at all opened in
private, until by another remarkable dealing her con-
fidence in it was restored. On the fourth day after
89
my return, I had arranged to begin a public morning
prayer-meeting; and as it gave her such pain, I did
not mention the subject to her. She, however,
seemed to have an impression that something par-
ticular was about to be done, and questioned me so
closely, that I was obliged to tell her. She was
both irritated and distressed, and in the fullest con-
viction that the work was a delusion, did all she
could to dissuade me from having the prayer-meet-
ing. I had, however, only left her a few minutes
to proceed to the prayer-meeting, before a power
came upon her in the form of revelation, calming
all her irritation and distress, and in a moment
filling her mind with peace, giving to her a rea-
son why the powers, and signs, and wonders were
not bestowed upon the fortieth day, and assuring
her of great blessings from the Lord, and a speedy
fulfilment of what had been prophesied. It was also
told her as a sign to prove this revelation to be of
God, that as soon as I came home, when she came to
me, I should say, “Speak—speak;” and then, after
she had told me the revelation, I should speak to her
in the power, and beginning, “It is of the Lord,”
should fully explain what had been revealed to
her. When I came home, I thought she seemed
much troubled, and, unconscious what had oc-
curred, I said to her, “Speak—speak.” Upon this,
she told me the revelation, not saying any thing
about my speaking afterwards; and when she had
told me, the power immediately came upon me to
utterance, and I was made to say, in great power,
“It is of the Lord,” and then to open and explain
it. This so fully concurring with what had been
revealed, cleared away the doubt which the non-ful-
filment of the former promise had created; and she
again fully yielded to the persuasion that the work
was of God. In the revelation, allusion had been
made to the case of Miriam, (Numb. xii. 10;)
and in the utterance which followed, it was declared,
that the power was not given on the fortieth day, be-
cause the church in London had failed in love towards
90
the visible church, which God had cast off. It had,
some time before, been declared, that the separation
between myself and my wife, which the Lord had
ordained, was as a type and figure of the Lord's cast-
ing off the visible church and the visible ordinances.
Now, it was further declared, that God was jealous
for those whom he had so cast off; and, as the camp
of the Israelites could not proceed in its journeyings
until Miriam was brought in again, so now was the
work of the Lord stayed, and the power, in signs and
wonders, delayed until the heart of the church was
turned towards those whom the Lord had made
desolate; and then followed, in the power, a most
emphatic declaration, that on the day after the mor-
row we should both be baptized with fire—so should
we be joined together in the bond of the Lord's bap-
tism—the Lord also joining himself to his desolate
church again, by bringing forth visibly a spiritual
church with spiritual ordinances, in fulness of power
and gifts—that had the church in London manifested
greater love, this baptism and power would have
been given there; but now it should be given here,
and on the day named, we should receive it, and
thenceforward would the work proceed in swiftness
and not again tarry.
Most glorious prophecies, as they seemed to be, fol-
lowed these declarations, and great fulness of de-
velopment as to the constitution of the spiritual
church ; and its progress through the earth to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord.
We were overjoyed with these communications,
and, in fulness of hope and confidence, awaited the
day of fulfilment. The interval was filled up by very
powerful and frequent utterances in interpretation of
Scripture and in confirmation of the work. The day
mamed arrived, and in the evening an utterance from
the power, “Kneel down, and receive the baptism
by fire.” We knelt down, lifting up prayer to God
continually. Nothing, however, ensued. Again and
again we knelt, and again and again we prayed, but
still no fulfilment. Surprising as it may seem, my
91
faith was not shaken, but, day by day, for a long
time, we continued in prayer and supplication, conti-
nually expecting the baptism. My wife gradually
concluded the whole must be delusion, and ceased
to follow it. For six weeks, however, I continued
unshaken to seek after it, but found it not. The
baptism by fire was fully explained, in utterance,
to be, the burning out of the carnal mind, and
subduing every sinful lust of the flesh ; so that
those who received it should be freed from the
law of sin, and thenceforth freed from Satan's
temptations through the flesh—that the fulness of
the presence of the Holy Ghost should accom-
pany it, and thenceforth those receiving it should
walk in fulness of spiritual light and life, and repel
every assault of the enemy; should walk in perfect
holiness, and be utterly freed from sin—that the
gifts of the Spirit would also follow according to the
office to which each individual was ordained of God ;
to the apostle in all fulness of gifts and power, and
signs and mighty wonders; and to all other office-
bearers in due measure—that it was a baptism spe-
cially reserved for the three years and a half of the
last ministry upon earth, and during this period the
ministers of the Lord would be borne about from
place to place, by the Spirit, as Philip was. Bodily
changes, it was also declared, would be wrought by
the baptism; and it was especially declared, that, as
a consequence of such changes, the marriage state
would no longer be blessed with increase, and hus-
bands and wives, sons and daughters, would thence-
forth be called to the ministry, and devote them-
selves to the office of warning the world, until the
expiration of the days of testimony should summon
them to the glory of the Lord.
From the time of my return from town, the diffi-
culties and perplexities seemed on all sides to in-
crease. A few days after I left him, Mr. Irving
forwarding me a letter, added a few lines of his own,
telling me how greatly they were encouraged and
strengthened in London by my last visit, and stating
92
how they looked forward to my return with the full
powers of an apostle; but at the same time adding,
that Mr. F., who had spoken in power amongst us,
had been found to speak by an evil spirit, Mrs. C.
and Miss E. C. having been made so to declare.
This troubled me greatly, for I had been made in
power to declare to him his call to the spiritual minis-
try. He had also been present, and spoke in power
on the last morning of my presence, at Mr. Irving's,
when two persons were sent out; and when it was
declared in the power that the Lord would not suffer
an unbeliever or unclean person to be present at that
holy ordinance, as it was called. Here were contra.
dictions 1 could not explain away, and all I could do,
was to await the Lord's teaching on it.
Next, after a short interval, came a letter from
Mr. Irving, which yet more perplexed me. He said,
“This moment the Lord hath sent me a very won-
derful and wonderfully gracious message, by our dear
sister, Miss E. C., concerning the time which you
have been made so often to put forth. Rebuking
me for having repeated it, and counselling me not
to do it any more ; declaring the word to be a true
word, but containing a mystery ; declaring that the
day is not known, and commanding me to write to
you, to say that you must not repeat this in the flesh,
but suffer the Spirit to say it, how and when he
pleaseth.” Mr. Irving then added, “Here I leave it
without any comment whatever—I am not equal to
the work of commenting upon these words of the
Lord—I am content to walk in the darkness. The
same message which said, that the word you spake
was true, said also, that the day is not known, and
that it is a mystery, and that you, as well as myself
had erred in repeating in the flesh, this matter of the
time. The Lord lead us aright.” I was amazed
at this message, for constantly had I been made
in power to declare the time, and to explain
it, and enforce it; and more than once I had
been made to enjoin ministers publicly to preach
it in the flesh, though they had no gift. I had
93
then nearly fallen into the persuasion, that my
gift could not be a true gift, or, that I had so mis-
taken the leadings of it, as to be no more worthy
to exercise it. But the recognitions and encourage-
ments given me by Mrs. C., and Miss E. C. in
London, held me up against this conclusion. I went
on speaking and preaching in power, and found the
matter of the three years and a half as constantly in
my mouth as ever. I could not refrain from speaking
it; and yet, when any one asked me about it, I dared
not to say any thing in explanation, except in power:
my mouth being shut by this extraordinary message
from Miss E. C. A fact which came to my know-
ledge, after I had abandoned the work, has served to
give me some insight into the message. A sister of
mine, when in London, attending the private prayer-
meetings, before I ever spoke in the power, heard
several utterances from Miss E. C., in which she
most emphatically pronounced, that Christ would
come at an hour when even his own people would
not be looking for him—that the time of his coming
would not be known to his own people. I remember
also, that when preaching in the power at Hamp-
stead, I was made to declare the time in Miss E. C.’s
presence. She, as we were returning, asked me
whether the time had been clearly revealed to me.
I saw she did not receive it ; but she said no more
about it. When I heard of her previous utterances,
my inference was, that she, having a remembrance
of these utterances, and feeling the contradiction
which my utterances gave to them, was troubled
in mind upon it, and that the message sent to me
was a device of the enemy to lull her disquietude,
and reconcile the contradiction. The subtlety of it
is indeed deep—recognizing my prophecy as a truth,
and yet setting it practically aside, by alleging it to
contain a mystery, and, therefore, not fitted to be
named, except in the power. I mentioned this in-
ference subsequently to Miss E. C., but she would
not speak upon the subject.
A little later came another blow—Intelligence was
94
sent me, that Miss H., who had, for months, been
received as a prophetess among them—(who had
been the first to speak in the Sunday congregation,
and whose speaking, Miss E. C., on that occasion,
was made in power to declare, ought to be heard :
to whom, also, I in power had spoken as a prophetess,
and, on a second occasion, Miss E. C. had alluded
as speaking of the Lord :)—that she had, by Miss
E. C., and Mrs. C., been charged with feigning utter-
ances, and they, in power, had pronounced, that the
whole work in her was of the flesh, and not of the
Lord. I had heard her speak, and her utterance
seemed to me, at times, as full and as clearly super-
natural as Miss E. C.’s—She had also begun a pro-
phecy, which Miss E. C. would take up and com-
plete, and she would take up in power what Miss
E. C. had begun, so as to cause Mr. Irving to
remark, how manifestly one Spirit spoke in both.
The particular occasion on which this charge and
declaration was made against her, did not at all
lessen the difficulty.—It will be remembered, I was
made, after the prophecy concerning the national
fast, to write it down, and send it to a member
of the house, enjoining him to deliver it in the House
of Commons. This message, after some delibera-
tion, it was intended to deliver by reading the letter
containing it. By some accident, however, the letter
was mislaid, and it could not be done. Whilst I
was in town the letter was found, and I was con-
sulted, whether reading the letter would be the proper
method of delivering it, and it seemed to me it would
not. The letter was shown to Miss E. C., and she in
power declared to the effect, that the member in deli-
vering it, might be made to speak in the power. We
could not read positively whether it would, without
doubt, be so ; and I was in power made to say, he
might deliver it in the power or without the power.
Circumstances, of which I do not know the parti-
culars, prevented its being delivered in the house,
until the night before the fast day. For some short
time previous to this night, Miss H. had urged
95
the member to deliver it, and on the previous night,
when he had been prevented, she said in the power,
“Satan had triumphed in its not being delivered.”
When, however, the message had been delivered,
Miss E. C., knowing Miss H. had spoken urging it,
rebuked her in power for it, and declared that the
member had rushed before the Lord, in delivering
it, without waiting for the power; upon this unfortu-
nate message, therefore, the two speakers came into
collision, and Miss H. was pronounced a false pro-
phetess. The rebuke, however, proved true, in the
matter of feigning utterances, for Miss H. acknow-
ledged, that in two or three instances, she had
meditated utterances before repeating them. She
was smitten in conscience, and bowed before the
accusation; and I believe, to this day, she acknow-
ledges the justice of the sentence against her, though
in the particular utterance, concerning the message,
and in most others, she declares she did not at all
premeditate.—Explained in any way, however, it was
a most startling occurrence, as involving all of us in
lack of discernment, and two of us in false testimony
to her gift.
Added to all this, the fast day passed over ; and
notwithstanding all the prophecies marking it out
as a day much to be remembered, and the day of
the Lord's answer by fire, nothing had occurred upon
it. Moreover, the servant girl on whom it was de-
clared the miracle of casting out a devil should be
performed, was recovered of her derangement, and
had gone out to service. These prophecies also fail-
ing. Upon my return from town, I saw again the
friend whose attempt to perform a miracle had
failed, I was made instrumental, soon after we
again met, in showing him a gross error of judg-
ment, on another subject, into which he had nearly
fallen: this, I believe, added to the impression
which the power had yet left upon him ; and the
arguments I used to convince him, had such an
effect, that, though he never returned to a full un-
suspecting credence, he again joined the work, and
96
forbore all testimony against it. I was made, on
several occasions, to speak in power to him ; and
declare that the message to perform the miracle
was of the Lord, and only hindered, by want of faith
in the person on whom it was to be wrought, and
that it should yet be fulfilled. These messages he
seemed to receive as the word of God, and for some
time his confidence seemed restored. But as the
time was prolonged, and failures increased, he was
again brought to discard it, though not satisfied that
no work of God at all attended it. Since we both
fully abandoned it, the person on whom the miracle
was to be performed is dead, never having been in
the least degree restored.
Distressing as all these occurrences were, yet I
dared not on account of them suffer myself to deny
the work. The supernatural nature of it was so
clear—the testimony to Jesus so full—the outpouring
of prayer, and, as it seemed to me, the leading to-
wards communion with God, so constant in it; that
I still could not condemn it, but treated every
doubt as a temptation. I rested implicitly upon
the text, “Every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh, is of God;” and felt assured, that
no spirit making that confession, could be of Satan.
I had heard the confession made several times, by the
spirit which spoke in myself and others, and, resting
in the confession, I persuaded myself I was resting in
the faithfulness of God, and that his faithfulness was
a sure defence. Most true is it, the faithfulness of
God will never fail; but God requires of us, the ex-
ercise of watchfulness, and it is but provoking him
when we shut our eyes to the teaching he gives us,
and continue to assert and pledge his faithfulness to a
thing which we ought to have seen to be untrue or
unsafe. In the case of Mr. F., the spirit in him had
confessed Jesus come in the flesh ; and Miss H. also,
when the other gifted persons had been called upon to
confess, had herself given in power the confession equal-
ly with them. Thus, then, had it been shown us, that
the mere confession in words was not of itself a proof
97
of the spirit being of God, and this I ought to have
seen, and to have searched more fully whether the
spirit did really set out the truth as it is in Jesus, and
not to have rested in the verbal confession.
Whilst upon this point, it is necessary I should
refer to a remarkable occurrence in Gloucestershire,
which served to sustain my faith in the verbal con-
fession, as an unfailing trial of the spirit. In the
latter end of the past year, two children of a pious
and exemplary clergyman there, had been made to
speak by a supernatural power. They were twins, a
boy and a girl, and only eight or nine years of age ;
children in whom nothing of a religious turn had been
remarked. Their parents were, unfortunately, led to
seek after the manifestations, believing them to be of
the Spirit of God. From the time the mouths of the
children were opened, their conduct seemed so much
changed, that they appeared most religious and de-
voted children. Their utterance was most astound-
ing ; beginning in the setting forth of Jesus, and call-
ing to self-abasement before his cross; and pre
ing with such recital of Scripture, and such power of
argument and exhortation, as might be said to sur-
pass many able ministers, and certainly quite out of th
compass of children of their age and understanding.
Having, by this demonstration of power, of truth and
holiness, gained the confidence of their parents and
friends; they were carried on to deliver prophecies of
things which were coming to pass—then uttering
commands to their parents and friends, and sending
them here and there—denouncing the judgments of
God upon the church and world, and setting a day for
a particular manifestation of judgment.—Shortly
things were spoken by them which seemed to
their parents contrary to Scripture, and they were
startled by an utterance forbidding to marry. This
was so plainly the work of a false spirit, that their
parents and friends were greatly distressed; and,
though much awed by the influence which the power
had obtained over them, they remembered they had
forgotten the command, “try the spirits;” and they
F
98
wished to try the spirit in the children by the scrip-
ture test. They accordingly called the boy, and told
him their doubts, and that they must try the spirit.
The boy seemed to be much wrought upon by the
power, and in the supernatural utterance said, “Ye
may try the spirits in men, but ye may not try the
spirits in children. Ye will surely be punished.”
They, however, persisted; though the father was so
much agitated, as not to be able to do it; yet the
curate addressed the spirit in the child, and demanded
in the words of Scripture, a confession that Christ was
come in the flesh. Paleness and agitation increased
over the child, till an utterance broke from him, “I
will never confess it.” They were thus satisfied it was
an evil power which spoke in him, and the curate went
on to say, “I command thee, thou false spirit, in the
name of Jesus, to come out of the child.” As the
child afterwards described his feelings, he felt as
though a coldness were removed from his heart, and
passed away from him. They told the child, if he
felt the power coming on him again, to resist it, and
several times he did so. Once, some time afterwards,
from his mistaking something his parents had said to
him, to be a direction to yield to the power, if it should
again come on him, he did yield to it, and spoke su-
pernaturally as before ; but being corrected, and
thenceforth resisting the power whenever it came
upon him, he was entirely freed from it. This nar-
rative, which I first saw in print, has been confirmed
to me by one who was an eye and ear witness of the
whole. If any one should be inclined to doubt whe-
ther any supernatural agency has been manifested in
the adults, and should be led to think excitement,
coupled with a fervid imagination, is sufficient to ac-
count for all that has occurred in them ; he will yet
be compelled to acknowledge, that in these children,
at least, neither excitement nor imagination can
account for it.
Continuing, however, in the exercise of this power
and in daily teaching and preaching the things which
had been declared in power, I was providentially
99
led to an examination of doctrines, for neglecting
which, at an earlier period, I justly suffered what
came upon me. At the recurrence of the monthly
meeting for exposition of Scripture, to which I have
before alluded, the friend to whose turn it had
fallen to choose the subject, chose this, “The word
was made flesh,” with the special view, as I believe,
of eliciting the views which were held by those of us
who believed in the power, he himself deeming it a
delusion. I stated what, as far as I am conscious of my
own mind, had always been my view, viz. That Jesus
took the fallen flesh, but took it free from the law of
sin which we are all born under—by fallen flesh, in-
tending the consequences of the fall, as it respects
our outward relations, and the constitution of our
frame—we having become unsuited to the world
and the world unsuited to us; and we having be-
come subject to pain, sickness, and other infirmities
of frame ; whereas Adam was made suitable to all
around him, and all the world was suitable to him ;
and the diseases and infirmities to which we are
subjected, had no place in him.—Many persons
identify the idea of fallen nature with sin:—The
fall was certainly the consequence of sin, and we, in
our fallen estate, are under the law of sin, which rules,
in all our members. But it is clear the consequences
of past sins are distinct from sin itself; and it is very
easy to understand that Jesus took our nature in that
condition into which sin had brought it; and yet took it
free from all sin—as free as Adam before his fall pos-
sessed it. Jesus came into a fallen world, and took
part of flesh and blood with those whom he was not
ashamed to call brethren, subjected as that flesh and
blood was to all weakness and infirmity; and yet he so
took it, that he took no stain of sin nor taint of corrup-
tion with it. Being conceived of the Holy Ghost, he
took manhood of the substance of the Virgin, but
took it pure, and free from all sin. The law of the
flesh, or law of sin, which was in the substance of the
Virgin, was not in his substance; so that in him there
F 2
100
were no motions of the fleshly or carnal mind, as
there are in all of us.
This my friend fully assented to, but he charged
Mr. Irving with holding the opposite view, and
asserting that the law of the flesh or law of sin, was
in Jesus, and only kept down by the Spirit.—I could
not see this, but contended, as my persuasion was,
that Mr. Irving by “sinful nature” meant no more
than I meant by “fallen nature,” and that my views
were the same as Mr. Irving's.-After much discus-
sion we parted, and I thought little more about it;
until I received a letter from a member of Mr.
Irving's church, making inquiries relative to the In-
dian chief, and the prophecy of the Jews before de-
tailed; and in this letter by way of postscript, he
added, that he had just heard Mr. Irving expound the
eighth chapter of Romans, and he gathered Mr. Irving's
view to be—that our Lord had the carnal mind, or
law of sin, to contend with. My correspondent was
troubled at this, and asked my opinion upon it; he
had heard two utterances in power, which put toge-
ther, seemed to him conclusive—that Jesus had not
the carnal mind to keep down or contend with. One
was from me on Mr. Irving's having asked whether
Jesus was baptized with fire, the power answered,
“No, he had nothing in him to be burnt out.” The
other was from Mrs. C., who, explaining in power
what the baptism by fire was, declared it should
burn out the carnal mind.
After this letter, I thought much on the matter,
but my persuasion continued that Mr. Irving did not
hold the law of sin to be in Jesus. I was, however,
in power made to write to him on the subject, set-
ting forth that the carnal mind was not in Jesus, and
some other points alluded to ; after this my mind
was at rest upon it, under the assurance that if there
had been any error in his view, it would be corrected
from the message I had been made to write to him.
God, however, graciously ordained that the mat-
ter should not rest here. A few days later, a clergy-
101
man from Staffordshire came to me, who, though by
no means disposed to receive the work, thought it
his duty to inquire, perhaps more in the hope of my
conviction than of his own. He examined very
closely my views on the human nature of our Lord,
and declared, when he heard them, that they were
opposite to Mr. Irving's. He produced Mr. Irving's
book on the subject to prove his assertion, and
pointed out many passages; these, however, did
not seem to prove his point: but on the following day,
resuming his position, two passages were found which
showed clearly that Mr. Irving conceived the work-
ings of the law of sin were felt by our Lord. (Hum.
Nat. p. 23.) “And in the face of all these cer-
tainties, if a man will say that his flesh was not sin-
ful flesh as ours is, with the same dispositions, and
propensities, and wants, and afflictions, then, I say,
God hath sent that man strong delusions that he
should believe a lie;” and page 24—" Now if there
had not been in Christ's nature appetites, ambitions,
and spiritual darkenings, how, I ask, could the devil
have addressed these several temptations to his will.”
On reading over this, an utterance in power broke
from me, “He has erred, he has erred”—an utter-
ance accompanied with great anguish under the feel-
ing then that my friend's presence was grieving and
quenching the Spirit, but which I now see to have
been because the utterance was wrung from the
spirit, as a desire of testifying against Mr. Irving to
lull my inquiries.—My friend's argument, which fol-
lowed upon this, was very sound ; –he argued, that
if Mr. Irving had been upholding false doctrine, it
could not be the Spirit of God which was speaking
in his church, or he would before this time have been
rebuked. I, however, thought the spirit in me had
fully testified against this error, and as I had never
myself held it, the character of the work could not be
involved in it. -
These discoveries, and the reference to Mr. Irving's
book, led me to search more fully into the views he
held; and I not only found, on the further reading
102
of his work, that his views were unsound on the hu-
man nature of our Lord, but that he was also still
more unsound on the doctrines concerning holiness;
—he rejecting the imputation of the righteousness of
Christ, and holding a perfect holiness in the flesh.
Besides his works, I also consulted the published
sermons of Mr. Campbell, who had preached in Scot-
land, and was spoken of as the great champion of the
truth in Scotland; and he appeared to be involved
in the same mistakes with Mr. Irving. I was much
disturbed by this, because I thought how greatly the
church was prejudiced by these false doctrines
against what I yet deemed the manifestations of the
Spirit; and in much heaviness, I sat down to write
to Mr. Irving, stating fully his error in conceiving
the law of sin to be in the flesh of Jesus; and stating
also what I conceived to be the truth concerning our
holiness. That as by faith accepted in Christ and
clothed in his righteousness, so we are in the sight of
the Father holy and without blame. But whilst in the
flesh, the law of sin remains even in them who are re-
generate, and the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. And
though our mark and aim should be, to “be perfect
even as our Father is perfect;” yet that we all come
short of perfectholiness in the flesh, and are unprofitable
servants.-As Mr. Irving regarded me destined to the
apostolic office, and set for the instruction of his
church, I had great confidence that he would re-
ceive this, and would be led to retract and abandon
his errors, and thus remove a great stumbling-block
from his door.
A short time before this, I had received a commu-
nication from the Rev. Mr. Dow, who, in Scotland,
was exercising the gift of utterance, after the same
manner as those speaking in London. His sister
had written to Mrs. Irving, and she had sent me
an extract from the letter; declaring, that much
additional light and power had been vouchsafed to
Mr. Dow, and he had in the Spirit given a clear
testimony, confirming my prophecies, opening the
six trumpets in the Book of Revelations, and giving
103
a very full opening of each trumpet. This was an
encouragement to me, giving me, as it did, the
recognition, in my prophetic office, of the Scotch
followers at Irongray.
In a few days after I had sent to Mr. Irving, I
received his answer; and, as this letter was mainly
instrumental in opening my eyes to the delusion by
which we were bound, I give it at length.
“ London, 21st April, 1832.
“My dear Brother.—Read this letter with your
eye on God.—We have great need, especially the
spiritual amongst us, to walk humbly with the Lord.
Your first letter,” containing the utterance of the
Spirit, without any expression of his intention in
sending it to me, led me very deeply to ponder the
subject of our Lord's flesh, and to cry upon the Lord
to examine me; and to the same exercise of soul
had I been drawn by the utterance of the Spirit, and
the experience of the spiritual of my flock in these
days past. These things put me into a fit condition
for receiving the full impression of your last letter,
which arrived last night, after I had preached a
sermon on the Holy Generation of the Flesh of
Christ. This I had done, in order to express anew,
before my people, with all caution and consideration,
what I firmly believe to be the truth ; and to guard
them against the effect of any rash and unguarded
expressions which I might at any time have used.
All night long, my soul, sleeping and waking, was
exercised upon the subject of your last letter. And
it being wonderfully ordered in God's providence,
that Mrs. C. should be in town for a day or two ; and
that Miss E. C., though desirous to go home before
breakfast, was so burdened as not to be able to go :
These two prophetesses of the Lord, who have been
his mouth of wisdom and of warning to me and my
* The letter I had written in power, setting forth that the
carnal mind was not in Christ.
104
church in all perplexities; I called along with my
wife, who had read your letter and read it to me, and
having spread the whole matter before the Lord, and
twice besought his presence, we proceeded to read
your letters in order.—Upon your first letter, there
was no utterance of the Spirit nor expression of any
kind amongst us, but that of assent.—When we had
read the two first pages of the second, wherein you ".
reason upon the words of the Spirit, “He has erred,
he has erred,” given to you upon two sentences of
my book; and bring forward your views of our Lord's
flesh, and of the believer's holiness, in contra-dis-
tinction from mine—we paused ; and seeing there
was so manifest a discrepancy between us, I solemnly
besought the Lord that he would speak his own
mind in the matter. Instantly the Spirit came upon
Miss E. C., and after speaking in a very grieved
tone and spirit in a tongue, she was made to declare
many words which I will not take upon me to at-
tempt to repeat, seeing the Spirit hath discounte-
nanced such attempts. But the substance was most
precisely this—that you had been snared by depart-
ing from the word and the testimony—that I had
maintained the truth, and the Lord was well pleased
with me for it—that I must not flinch now, but be
more bold for it than heretofore—that he had ho-
noured me for it, and I must not draw back—that
in some words I had erred, and that the word of the
Spirit by you was therefore true, –and that if I
waited upon the Lord, he would show them me by his
Spirit, but that he had forgiven it because he knew
my heart was right towards him—that I had main-
tained the truth and must not draw back from main-
taining it. Thereupon we knelt down, and having
confessed my sin, and thanked him for his mercy; I
proceeded to intreat him for you, that you might be
delivered from the snare in which you were taken
concerning the flesh of Christ and the holiness of the
believer. This done, I sought to recover and re-
count the substance of the utterance as above given
that by their help I might report it to you exactly.
105
My wife was mentioning a doubt, whether it should
not simply be left to the Lord, and not dealt with in
the understanding at all; seeing that in your letter
you had gone astray by commenting in your own un-
derstanding on the words of the Spirit, “He hath
erred,’ as applicable to two sentences of my book,
and applied them to my whole doctrine, which the
Spirit had just declared to be “the truth,” that
‘ must be maintained: when Mrs. C. was made to
speak in a tongue with great authority and strength,
and immediately after in English, to the effect,that you
had stumbled greatly by bringing your own carnal un-
derstanding to spiritual things—that truth in the in-
ward parts, the law of God in the heart, wrought
in us the fulfilment of the righteousness of the law
in all our members; and that union with Jesus
brought into us the holiness of Jesus in body, soul,
and spirit—that the Lord would have a church upon
the earth, holy as he is holy ; the light of the
world as he is the light of the world—that some
had sought to bring this about in the flesh—
that you had been snared in the opposite extreme
of denying it altogether, and making a distinction
between Christ's holiness, and that of his church—
that you must be informed of it, because this it was
which was preventing the work of the Lord. There
was a third utterance through Miss E.C. to teach me
that Satan sought to overthrow my confidence in the
truth, and to bring me into a snare, but that I was
called upon to maintain it now more firmly than ever.
“There were no more utterances, but when we
came to that part of your letter where you say,
‘Concerning the vessels by whom he speaks, you,
have fearfully provoked him, and they are ready to
burst asunder under your hands.” There was
* This passage was written under the dictation of the power,
and the impression on my mind was, that he had too much ho-
noured me and the other persons speaking in the power, and
so had dishonoured God. He, and those with him, evidently
read it as though I accused him of behaving ill towards one or
more of the speakers. The very opposite of what I intended.
F 3
106
great indignation felt by both the vessels of the
Lord present, and great sense of injustice felt by
myself. For, Oh! dear brother, I have done all
things to know and follow the mind of the Lord in
respect of them. It was indeed said, I think in
the Spirit, that this in you was the same Spirit of
‘The accuser of the brethren,” which hath mani-
fested itself lately amongst us in one of the gifted
persons who spoke evil of me in the midst of the
congregation. But the Lord hath showed him that
though it was with power, the power was not from
God but from Satan, to whom, by hard and unjust
thoughts of me, he had opened the door. Ah, dear
brother, you have surely been much overseen in
some way or other—search it out. The thing you
spoke of F. and of Miss H., was not of God. I
fear, and am persuaded in my own mind, that you
have not discriminated duly, what is of God and
what is not of him ; and that sin in this matter, un-
discerned and unconfessed, hath brought on greater
falls, as we have seen amongst ourselves ; and that
now you are brought to oppose that very doctrine
which alone can bring the church to be meet for her
bridegroom :—That as he was holy in the flesh, so
are we, through the grace of regeneration, brought
to be holy—planted in a holy standing—the flesh
dead to sin, as his flesh was dead to sin—and that
by the baptism of the Holy Ghost we are brought
into the fellowship of his power and fulness, to do the
works which he also did, and greater works than
these.
“When we came to that passage of your letter
where you censure as “fearfully erroneous' a pas-
sage in the Day of Pentecost, * we were all made to
* This passage is the one (page 39) in which he asserts,
“Baptism of the Holy Ghost doth bring to every believer the
presence of the Father and the power of the Holy Ghost,
according to that measure, at the least, in which Christ, during
the days of his flesh, possessed the same.” I had myself
received what they all held to be the baptism of the Holy Ghost,
and could, therefore, testify practically as well as doctrinally.
107
feel that you were forgetting what you yourself had
been made to utter so abundantly concerning the
baptism with fire and the spiritual ministry.
“I have read this to my wife, and Mrs. C., and
Miss E. C., and they say it is a full and exact ac-
Count. - -
“And now, upon the whole, my well-beloved
brother and prophet of the Lord, I give you counsel
to search and prove what it is that sits so heavy upon
your conscience, for the Lord will surely reveal it.
Concerning the flesh of Christ, we will discourse
when we meet. I believe it to have been no better
than other flesh, as to its passive qualities or pro-
perties, as a creature thing. But that the power of
the Son of God, as son of man in it, believing in the
Father, did for his obedience to become son of man,
receive such a measure of the Holy Ghost as sufficed
to resist its own proclivity to the world and to Satan,
and to make it obedient unto God in all things:
which measure of the Spirit he received in his genera-
tion, and so had holy flesh ; and by exercise of the
same faith, he kept his vineyard holy, and presented
it holy to the great Husbandman. Regeneration,
through faith, sealed in baptism, doth give to us the
same measure of the Spirit to do the same work of
making our flesh the holy thing, the temple of the
Holy Ghost, body, soul, and spirit holy—wherefore
we have the name, “ saints, or ‘ holy ones,’ ‘sons
of God,” as he received those names in virtue of his
generation of the Holy Ghost. If we were to meet,
I think we would not find much difference of mind as
to the flesh of Christ. But as to your view of holi-
ness, it is the very deepest, and darkest, and subtlest
snare of the enemy. If you understood thoroughly
the one subject, you would understand thoroughly the
other. I say not that Christ had the motions of the
flesh, but that the law of the flesh was there all pre-
sent: but that whereas in us it is set on fire by ar,
evil life, in him it was, by a holy life, put down, and
his flesh brought to be a holy altar, whereon the sacri-
F 4
108
fices and offerings for the sin of the world, and the
whole burnt-offerings of sorrow, and confession, and
penitence for others, might ever be offered up. And
thus ought we to be, and shall be, when the flesh
becometh the sackcloth covering.*
“Oh ! brother, I have had many trials, but the
Lord hath sustained me, and I dwell before him in
peace of soul, though in much sorrow, because of
the condition of his church. I shall be glad when
we meet. But, oh! I beseech you, lay to heart the
words which have been spoken by the Spirit, and
doubt any words which may be spoken in you con-
trary thereto. For though an angel from heaven
should come to me, testifying to your views of holi-
ness, I would not receive him.
“Do you hold correspondence with any of my
flock, that you should speak so positively, yet so un-
justly, concerning my treatment of the spiritual per-
sons ! or is there some meaning couched under it
which I do not understand? Did the Spirit say so
n you? If so, doubt that spirit; for certainly it is
not true, they themselves being witnesses.
“Fare you well. May the Lord have you in his
holy keeping. Amen.
“Your faithful brother,
“EDW D. IRVING...”
This letter was at once a great blow to me. Here I
saw doctrines, which I could never have believed
Mr. Irving held, not only avowed by him, but sus-
tained and enforced by the utterance, in power, of
those who were deemed the gifted persons. I had
no copy of my own letter, and had the utterances
been confined to a denial of the accuracy of my views,
* The allusion here is to Rev. xi., where the sackcloth cloth-
ing of the witnesses is spoken of. Mrs. C. had been made to
prophesy that the baptism by fire would burn out the carnal
mind, and our flesh would then become a sackcloth covering,
the clothing of the witnesses, and this is what Mr. Irving was
looking forward to.
109
I should not have dared to question it, as I should
rather have attributed it to some inaccuracy of state-
ment. But here was an unqualified approval of
Mr. Irving's views; and, in the same letter, those
views broadly stated without disguise, and clearly in-
volving heresies most fearful and appalling.
That there was in Christ's flesh a “proclivity to
the world and to Satan ;” and that Christ received
“such a measure of the Holy Ghost as sufficed to
resist” this proclivity, is a doctrine so fearfully er-
roneous, that I cannot conceive any one who has at
all learned Christ, unless he be blinded by delusion,
can allow himself for a moment to entertain. Christ,
—the “Holy Thing,” as born of the virgin, to whom
“ the prince of this world cometh, and findeth no-
thing in me;” also “holy, harmless, undefiled,”—that
in his flesh there could be a proclivity to Satan, which
needed to be resisted :—or that he, of whom it is
declared, that “God giveth not the Spirit by measure
unto him,” should be held to have received only a
measure of the Spirit, and this for the purpose of re-
sisting a sinful tendency in his flesh: this is a de-
parture from the truth, which is broad as the day.
But if any one's eyes should be holden so that he can-
not see its error, singly considered ; when it is con-
jointly affirmed, that “Regeneration through faith,
sealed in baptism, doth give to us the same measure
of the Spirit to do the same work of making our flesh
the holy thing”—dark, indeed, must be our state, if
we do not instantly see how Christ is first abased to-
wards our sinful condition, and we next exalted to
be put on an equality with him: as though Christ had
a work to do in making his own flesh holy, and we
are enabled to do the same work and make our flesh
holy. What said the Apostle Paul, after he was
called to his apostleship, and had been canght up into
the third heaven, and had received gifts of the Holy
Ghost abounding beyond all others : “I know that
in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.”
And again, “So that with the mind I myself serve
the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”
110
And what does he say of every believer who is born
again of the Spirit of God? “If Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin.” Here is no holiness
of flesh, but a plain declaration, that even in those in
whom Christ dwells, the body is dead because of sin,
and the flesh hath no good thing, but serves the law
of sin. The Apostle’s glorying was not that he had
made his flesh holy, but “the law of the Spirit of
life, which is in Christ Jesus, hath made us free from
the law of sin and death;” adding, “If ye live after
the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye, through the Spirit,
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
The living after the Spirit, and mortifying the deeds
of the body, was the Apostle's state, and is our state,
as many of us as are born of God: whereas, if our
flesh were made holy, what need would there be to
mortify it?
I have heard the sophistry which denies that the
tendency or proclivity to sin is itself sin, and which
dares therefore to ascribe the first to our beloved
Lord in his human nature, whilst it is properly indig-
nant at the second. As it regards ourselves, I am
ready to admits that God does not bring us into judg-
ment for such a tendency to sin, when we mortify and
resist it—the Apostle showing the ground of such
mercy, where it is written, “Now, then, it is no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” But yet
we must say, as it is expressed in the article of our
Church, “The Apostle doth confess that concupis-
cence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.” But
who shall say that in our Lord “ the law of the flesh
was all present, but by a holy life kept down,” with-
out feeling that such a statement compromises the
character of “holy, undefiled !” The law of the flesh
is “ the law of sin and death,” or, in other words,
that corruption of nature which is called “the lust of
the flesh,” and which is the mark and consequence of
original sin. Now, surely all will agree, that not a
breath or suggestion of sin—no lust—no desire, ever
arose in or from the flesh of our blessed Lord. The
law of the flesh, which in us daily sends up streams
111
of corrupt desires through our flesh, never was in
him, nor could be in him, so as to need to be resisted
or kept down. To suppose this corruption to be in
Jesus, is to deny his holiness. However much and
however completely you may affirm it to be kept
down, yet if it ever was there, “holy and undefiled”
are set aside at once. -
I would not lay hold of words to convict a man of
heresy, if his real intention was not comprised in
those words. Every man may err in words; and
hard indeed is it, if we should lie in wait for one an-
other, to make a man an offender for a word. The
letter copied, does, however, so clearly show Mr.
Irving's mind, that, far from doubting whether it is
not a matter of words, it is very obvious that his ge-
neral design and view is unsound. As gathered from
the letter itself, and as confirmed by his books and by
subsequent conversations with him, I gather his ge-
neral design or broad doctrine to be this:—That
Christ Jesus, though God as well as man, yet was a
man in all respects such as we are, and was by the
power of the Holy Ghost, from his generation to his
death, upheld in holiness and perfect purity; and
that we, receiving through his blood pardon of
past sins, are now called to receive the Holy Ghost;
and by the same power of the Holy Ghost, shall, if we
faint not, be ourselves, in the flesh, brought into and
upheld in holiness and perfect purity, as fully as Jesus
was.—To sustain these propositions, Mr. Irving sees
it necessary to suppose the law of sin to have been
in the flesh of Jesus, otherwise the work of the Holy
Ghost, in sustaining Jesus in perfect holiness, would
be no precedent nor assurance to us, that by the Holy
Ghost we can be sustained in equal holiness. Here,
then, lies the first error, in ascribing to Jesus that
corruption of nature, as it regards his flesh, which
belongs to all of us. The next error lies in putting
out of sight the imputation of the righteousness of
Christ to us, which is our wedding garment, and in
which we are holy and without blame in the sight of
the Father—seen as standing in Christ; and in the
112
stead of this, requiring us to work out a personal ho-
liness, and, by the power of the Spirit, to make our-
selves holy as Christ was holy. The first error strikes
at the root of Christ's incarnation, and also of the
atonement; the second subtly brings in again the co-
venant of works and bondage. Conjoined, the Mys-
tery of Iniquity is deep and very subtle, but yet
plainly such when examined by the word of the reve-
lation of Jesus Christ.
It is most true, Jesus “was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin.” Sin formed no
lodgment in his flesh; but Satan, the Tempter, tried
him through the world, through the flesh, and under
the array of an angel of light; and in all points as
we are, so was he tempted. We yield to sin, and
embrace it—we are born under sin, and the law of
sin worketh in all our members—our enemy is lodged
in us, and the carnal mind which we all have (though
the children of God follow it not, but resist and keep
it under) is not subject to the law of God, neither in-
deed can be. Jesus never yielded to sin—he was not
born in sin, but in holiness—the enemy had nothing
in him—he had not the carnal mind, and therefore in
his body and soul Jesus had nothing to resist. But
the assaults to which we yield, he repelled—the holi-
ness in which he was born, he ever walked in, amidst
all temptations—and the Lord of the carnal mind,
though, in every form in which he works in the chil-
dren of disobedience, he presented himself to Jesus,
yet was he continually repelled by him whose mind
was “the mind of Christ.”
Most true also is it, that our calling is, “Be ye
perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.” This is our mark at which we aim, the
standard high and lifted up, to which we desire to
conform. This, however, we shall never fully attain,
until we attain unto the resurrection from the dead;
as the Apostle says, “Ourselves also, which have the
first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan
within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body.” We are accepted of God,
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not for the works of righteousness which we have
done, but for that which Christ hath done for us.
We have no righteousness of our own; “there is
none righteous, no, not one ;” but our righteousness
is of Christ, who “ was made sin for us,” “ that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Our justification is through the faith of the Lord Je-
sus; who hath washed us from our sins in his own
blood, and clothed us with the garment of his own
righteousness. Pardoned, justified, and accepted in
the Christ of God, we are called to walk as becometh
the children of God, and for every coming short of
perfection we are guilty. As the Apostle John saith,
“Every one that hath this hope in him purifieth him-
self, even as he (Jesus) is pure ;” so must we labour
to perfect holiness before him. But who is there that
does not feel how far he comes short in this continu-
ally, and is neither “pure as he is pure,” nor “holy
as he is holy 7° And who is there that does not see
from the Word of God, that such was the case with
the Apostles? And such may probably be the case
with every saint of God, until he shall have put off
this body of sin and death, and be clothed upon with
the body which is from heaven. That in this our
fleshly state, “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and
the spirit against the flesh;” and therefore we are
called upon to “crucify the flesh, with its affections
and lusts,” as also to keep under the body; as St.
Paul said, “I keep under my body, and bring it into
subjection, lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
We are now “saved by hope,” but “hope that is seen
is not hope.” We were “made subject to vanity, not
willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope;” and our earnest expectation and our
hope is, “the manifestation of the sons of God,” when
“the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
children of God.” Such is now our state, that not
only do we come short in performing that which we
know we ought to do, but we also “know not what
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we should pray for as we ought.” Our earnest long-
ing and prayer is for a full deliverance from the
body of sin and death, and a full enjoyment of the
presence and glory of our God ; which alone we can
attain at that period which the Apostle alludes to as
“ the manifestation of the sons of God,” when as the
lightning we “shall see the Son of Man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”—
descending from heaven “with a shout, with the
voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and
so shall we ever be with the Lord.” This is our hope,
and the Apostle adds, “ Therefore comfort one an-
other with these words.”
There may be some who apprehend, that, to assert
we cannot attain perfect holiness whilst we are in the
flesh, will discourage our efforts after holiness, and en-
courage us in slothful or unholy living. But surely
nothing can tend so much to excite us to holiness of
life, as the view of the spotless purity of the Lamb of
God, and the ineffable holiness of Jehovah “ dwell-
ing in the light which no man can approach unto”—
“ yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight,” “ and
his angels he charged with folly.” Nothing can
show us our utter uncleanness but this ; no compari-
son of man with man; nor any other glass can we
find wherein to see ourselves in our naked defor-
mity, than the glory of God, shining forth in the
Redeemer Jesus. This will abase us; and that we
may not be driven to despair by the view of this
unattainable holiness, our gracious Father hath re-
vealed unto us, “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption;” “ In whom ye
are also builded together for an habitation of God
through the Spirit;”—giving us here to see, first how
our adorable Redeemer is made unto us all which
God requires of us, which we ourselves could not
and cannot fully yield in ourselves to God ; and next
115
showing us that, in Christ Jesus, God hath built us
together, that by his Spirit he may dwell in us; make
us “temples of the living God,” and fulfil his cove-
nant, “I will put my laws into their minds, and write
them in their hearts ;” so that whilst we bewail our
sins, we may look up to Jesus, and see in him all that
our God requires of us, even perfect righteousness
and sanctification—“the righteousness which is of
God by faith.” Here we find our assurance of pre-
sent acceptance, and of continued and increasing
help and strength in Christ, to follow on in the
way of his footsteps, and strive continually to purify
ourselves even as he is pure. And thus we are con-
tinually abased by the view of our shortcomings, and
yet encouraged and stirred up to more earnest and
enlarged love and service towards our God and Fa-
, ther in Jesus.
On the other hand, I have seen the fruit of that
doctrine which teaches we can now in the flesh attain
perfection. It may produce at first a more earnest
and zealous labour after holiness, and may doubtless
lead to the abandonment of many slothful habits, and
stir up to a more continual and fervent waiting upon
God. But by-and-bye, when, after a season of joy
and peace, corruption is found again and again
struggling in us, so that “the things that I would
not, these I do ;” it is practically, though not men-
tally shown, that absolute perfection is unattainable,
and the guile of the enemy brings in imperceptibly a
lowering of the standard of perfection. This works
on from day to day, until the standard is so far
lowered, that the conscience is less frequently of
fended, and the professor is persuaded he is going on
unto perfection. The end of such a doctrine is, the
debasing of the standard to our level, instead of our
rising to the standard. The frequent effect of it is
also what the Apostle terms “a voluntary humility,”
an undue reverence and estimation of some things
beyond their place, and valuing ourselves the
higher because others do not, as we think, in these
things so truly serve God. Amidst these and
116
other effects of this doctrine, that true delicacy of
conscience, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's
opening to us the righteousness of Christ, is de-
stroyed. The professor sins, and denies it to be sin;
first stumbling in the sins most hidden, as pride or
anger, in some of their subtle forms; and by degrees,
as the feeling of the conscience becomes more obtuse,
passing on without remorse to deeper sin, until the
conscience may become “seared as with a hot iron,”
and the professor may be as “twice dead.” I have
seen this effect working in more than one professor of
that doctrine, though, from the preventing grace of
God, it might not be suffered to go far. But certain
is it, that if the arch-enemy can seduce us to take our
eye off that perfect and ineffable holiness which is
found in Jesus, and persuade us to look for a perfect
holiness in ourselves, whilst we are compassed with
flesh and blood, he will soon teach us to debase the
standard of holiness, and to call darkness light, and
light darkness. And certain is it, that nothing but
the continual view of the ineffable and perfect holi-
ness of Jesus can teach us when we offend, and keep
us humble followers of him—working out our salva-
tion, as it is God that worketh in us—forgetting the
things that are behind, and pressing toward the mark
for the prize of our high calling ; that we may “win
Christ, and be found in him, not having our own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith.” “Let us therefore, as many as
be perfect, be thus minded ; and if in any thing ye
be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto
you.”
These considerations of doctrine weighed with
me, and I could not for a moment doubt the erro-
neousness of Mr. Irving's views. I was then, of ne-
cessity, compelled to conclude the utterances which
supported those views were not of the Spirit of God.
Upon this a doubt arose in my own mind, which,
however, I trembled to entertain; and yet, with such
facts before me, I could not reject: whether the
117
whole work were not of Satan. I could not conceive
of a person speaking at one moment by the Spirit of
God, and the next by the spirit of Satan; moreover
it had been declared in the power by the mouth of
Mrs. C., Miss E. C., and my own mouth, that God
would guard the utterance of his prophets, and they
should never be permitted to speak by the power of
Satan. According, therefore, to my view and un-
derstanding of Scripture, a false utterance convicted
a person of being a false prophet; and this was also
according to the interpretation of the power I had
been acting under. Mrs. C., Miss E. C., and Mr.T.
were therefore, on both grounds, manifestly to be
deemed false prophets; and this, as to the two former,
upon a test of scripture doctrine. Then, was not
I convicted as a false prophet, by the non-fulfilment
of the words I had spoken, according to the test in
the book of Deuteronomy? And might not the whole
be accounted for as a chastisement of God, sent for
the correction of heresy 2 All who were caught in
it having drank of, or sustained that heresy. These
questions and considerations weighed upon my mind,
and almost worked conviction.
On the other hand, so strongly was the whole in-
terwoven in interpretations of Scripture—so much
of the fruits of the Spirit had I seemed to find under
it—so entirely had I become pledged to the work,
and my character and consistency become involved
in it—I paused and weighed, again and again, the
several facts and proofs trembling at entertaining
doubts at all. '•
It had been very providentially ordered, that I
was expecting a professional call from home on the
very day succeeding the arrival of Mr. Irving's
letter, and I had arranged for a week’s absence. The
same post which brought me this letter, brought me
also a respite of my engagement, and left me at
liberty: otherwise, having engagements to preach
almost every morning and evening, I should have
been still more perplexed as to my course; if
I stayed from preaching, it might overthrow
118
the faith of many, and give occasion to the ene-
mies to traduce the work—if I went on preaching
it whilst I had doubts upon it, how could I answer it
to conscience?—There would have been no time for
consideration, but for this providential opening; and
I at once availed myself of it to visit the brother,
to whom I have before alluded. During the journey,
which occupied two days, I was, as may be supposed,
engaged in consideration of the subject; and the
whole train of circumstances, from the beginning ;
with the successive failures of prophecy and contra-
dictions of utterance, when calmly reviewed and
compared with the present fact of the support of
false doctrine were so strongly affirmative of the evil
origin of the work, that, however supernatural I had
found it, and still knew it to be, I was convinced it
must be a work of Satan, who, as an angel of light,
was permitted for a time to deceive us.
My brother, who had continued speaking in the
power, examined the doctrines, and fully agreed in
their fearful errors: he weighed, also, the facts which
I had to state to him, and joining them with other
facts which had occurred within his own observation,
he arrived at the same conclusion as myself.
Being anxious to communicate with Mr. Irving,
I travelled on to London, and reached him on the
morning of his appearance before the presbytery of
London. Calling him and Mr. J. C. apart, I told
them my conviction that we had all been speaking.by
a lying spirit, and not by the Spirit of the Lord.
He said it was impossible God could have sent us
strong delusions, for that was his final judgment upon
the wicked, and we, at least, thought ourselves seeking
after the Lord, and desiring his glory. I answered,
I believed God had sent it as a chastisement for
pride and lofty imaginations; that we had been lifted
up in our own hearts, and God would humble us.
He was astounded; but asked me to stay with them
a little. I replied, I could not stay without rebuking
the utterance, if it were made by any of the speakers
in my presence, and as he would not suffer this, we
119
parted. I saw him again in the evening, and on the
succeeding morning I endeavoured to convince him
of his error of doctrine, and of our delusions concerning
the work of the Spirit, but he was so shut up, he
could not see either. I particularly pressed upon
Miss E. C. and Mrs. C., and upon him also, the non-
fulfilment of the word, and particularly the falseness
of that prophecy which they, as well as myself, had
given, that God would guard the utterance of his
prophets, and not suffer Satan to speak by them;
whereas, in the case of Mr. T. alluded to in Mr. Ir-
ving's letter, he, who was, and I believe is still, re-
ceived as a prophet, had, in the midst of the congre-
gation, with tongues and in English, spoken evil of
Mr. Irving ; and Miss E. C. had since, in utterance,
declared he spoke it of Satan. They, however, could
not see the non-fulfilment in the other cases; and in
this case, they said, we must have mistaken the mean-
ing of the utterance ; that it could not mean God
would keep the utterance always, but when they
were speaking, he would not suffer Satan to mingle
words with his word. A most miserable subterfuge.
The argument upon which Mr. Irving mainly
relied for parrying the difficulties, was this; that the
same person might, at one moment, speak by the
Spirit of God, and the next moment by an evil spirit.
He urged, therefore, that those things which had
failed were from the false spirit, and those which
were fulfilled were of God. I had the most distinct
remembrance, when first I heard Mr. Irving preach
upon the utterances, that he preached the utterances
being the voice of God, were pure water without
admixture—that he might in his expositions, as a
man, fail, or fall into error; but in the word of the
Lord, ministered by the prophets in these utterances,
the most entire and implicit confidence might be
placed, as in every respect and purely “the Truth.”
Out of this position he was, however, evidently
driven by the appalling fact of one of the prophets,
before all the congregation, denouncing him as the
cause of the Lord's anger against the congregation,
120
This denunciation coming with every usual demon-
stration of power and tongues. The only solution
now to be found was, that the utterance at one time
might be of God, and at another time of Satan, even
in the same person. For if this were not admitted,
Mr. T. being by the prophets recognised as having
spoken by God in his former utterances, and by Satan
in this, would either overturn the whole fabric of the
spiritual gifts, and falsify the claims of all the pro-
phets, or must be himself still received as a prophet,
notwithstanding his false utterance.
The mere enunciation of the proposition of a vary-
ing origin, whilst the outward demonstration of ut-
terance remained the same, was enough to shake
even the nerves of Mr. Irving. To be under the
necessity of telling such a fact to his congregation,
and thereby assuring them that they could no longer
give credence to the utterances, without deciding
upon the origin of each message; to tell them, more-
over, that no one could decide this without the gift
of the discernment of spirits; and, lastly, that no
member of his church yet possessed this gift: this
would seem beyond the courage of any minister, and
beyond the power of belief of any people. To this,
however, was Mr. Irving reduced, and to this were
his people subjected.
It was attempted to decide the origin of the ut-
terance in the mind of the speakers from whom it
came, by prescribing a certain frame, e.g. a calm
sense of the love of God in Christ, and of our abiding
therein, as the proof of the utterances from the Spirit
of God; and an opposite state of mind, as a proof of
the utterance being deceitful. This, however, I
could experimentally contradict; for several utter-
ances, which were still held true, and particularly
that which Mr. Dow had confirmed, were made when
I was in the disturbed frame; and others, which had
proved false, were given under the prescribed
heavenly frame: and I was fully persuaded that no
such line of distinction could honestly be drawn.
Mr. Irving contended that Jeremiah xv. 18, 19,
121
refer to such a state of experience in that prophet:
that in verse 18 he expostulates with God for the
failure of his word; and, in the verse succeeding,
God bids him to separate the precious from the vile.
This Mr. Irving interpreted as the separation of the
utterance of Satan from the word of God; and as-
serted also, that in chap. xx. v. 7, where the prophet
saith, “O Lord thou hast deceived me, and I was
deceived;” and in Ezekiel, xiv. 9, “If the prophet
be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord
have deceived that prophet;" these two prophets
evidently declare there may be occasions on which,
for judgment on the wickedness of the people, God
may even cause his own prophets to be deceived.
With respect to the reference to Jer. xv. nothing
can be more gratuitous, than to infer from it that
Jeremiah spake by two spirits, and the precious and
the vile referred to those spirits. The prophet's
expostulation would seem to be that of a man for-
getting his patience; and like Jonah, complaining be-
cause the Lord had not fulfilled his wishes. The text
proceeds, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord, if thou
return, then I will bring thee again, and thou shalt
stand before me.” That is, if Jeremiah would return
from his repinings, and bow himself before his God,
the Lord would yet establish him.—“And if thou
take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be
as my mouth.” If thou wilt separate thine evil
thoughts and repinings, and the evil ways of the
people before thee from that which is true and ac-
cording to godliness, thou shalt yet be my mouth to
them.—“Let them return unto thee, but return not
thou unto them.” Thus telling him when he was
returned to his right mind, he must let the people
return to him; but must not join himself to them, to
work frowardness, as they were doing.
With respect to the other texts from Jeremiah and
Ezekiel; in the latter prophet, the whole verse
stands thus—“And if the prophet be deceived, when
he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived
G
122
that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon
him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people
Israel.” This plainly proves two things; first, that
the text in Jeremiah does not record that God had
deceived Jeremiah ; for, if so, he must have borne
the sentence of excision, instead of glorying, as he
immediately does, in the avenging hand of the Lord
being on his side. It next proves, that whenever a
prophet spoke a lie in the name of the Lord, he in-
curred the sentence of death, being condemned as a
false prophet. It is thus clear that Jeremiah was
like Jonah, again repining against the Lord; and
that the prophet in Ezekiel, if he was ever the pro-
phet of the Lord, ceased to be such immediately on
his uttering a false prophecy.
I cannot, however, refrain from a reference to the
Book of Deuteronomy, in which, as it would seem,
the truth on this question is most forcibly stated. In
chap. xiii. v. 1, &c. it is said, “If there arise among
you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee
a sign or a wonder; and the sign or the wonder come
to pass whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us
go after other gods which thou hast not known, and
serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the voice
of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the
Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul . . . . and that prophet, or that dreamer of
dreams, shall be put to death.” Here we are shewn
that the name of prophet is given to a false prophet;
and also, that for the trial and proving of God's
people, God may suffer a false prophet to give signs
and wonders, which shall be fulfilled. Here we are
also warned, that notwithstanding such signs and
wonders, that prophet must be utterly rejected by
us, as, under the Mosaic dispensation, he would have
been put to death.
In chapter xviii. 20, it is said, after referring to
the coming of Christ, the true prophet, “But the
prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my
123
name which I have not commanded him to speak,
or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even
that prophet shall die.” Here is the reiteration of
judgment of death against a false prophet; and that
the people might without doubt be enabled to dis-
tinguish a false prophet from the Lord's prophet, he
gives them the following plain direction: “And if
thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the
word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a
prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the
thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing
which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet
hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be
afraid of him.” Here then is it plainly told them,
that if a word of prophecy fail, this does, of itself,
prove the prophet speaking it to be false and worthy
of death, which, under that dispensation, would im-
mediately have followed upon it.
Do not these Scriptures prove, that if any one
spoke in the name of the Lord, by an evil spirit, he
would no more have been listened to ? And that it
was impossible Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or any of the
Old Testament prophets could have spoken by two
spirits? We are not now under a judicial dispen-
sation, and, therefore, may not put a false prophet
to death; but he surely must be put out of the
church until he repent ; and we are wilfully putting
ourselves into temptation if we continue to listen to
one who has, according to the Lord’s test, here set
ſº. spoken presumptuously in the name of the
Lord.
I am overwhelmed with the remembrance of my
own blindness and unfaithfulness, by hesitating at
all after one instance of the failure of the word; and
I may well shut my mouth against the like offence in
others. But I desire to confess my sin, and in love
to those who, like myself, are erring, to pray them
to take warning, and no longer to continue such a
provocation.
It is not necessary I should enter into any sub-
sequent communications, which have passed with
G 2
124
those holding the manifestations. After my first
visit, I found the utterance amongst them warned
them against having intercourse with me, and they
now shut themselves up, refusing to hear arguments,
or discuss the subject at all. It may, however, be
only just towards Mr. Irving, that I should give
another letter of his, written some months after my
renunciation of their views, as he there again fully
sets forths his doctrinal views, and if he intended this,
in any particular, to correct the expressions in his
former letter, he ought to have the benefit of it.
“ London, July 6, 1832.
“My Dear Brother,--I can no longer refrain
myself from writing you, in few words, what I believe
to be a most heinous sin, under the oppression of
which you are lying bound. It is the sin of blas-
pheming the minister, and prophets, and church of
God, and calling us ministers of Satan under the
form of an angel of light. Not to bear testimony of
myself, still less to judge thee, O brother, do I
say this, but to assure thee, that herein hast thou
sinned, and dost sin exceedingly ; nor wilt be re-
stored until thou restore thyself to charity with thy
brethren who have never but loved thee.
“My testimony to Jesus is, that in our flesh he
was most holy. That his flesh was in itself no other-
wise conditioned, nor is otherwise to be defined than
ours, with all its laws, properties, and propensities.
But through his anointing of it, and upholding of it
from first to last, it hath no other properties nor
propensities than those which may be predicated of
God—holy as he—pure as he, yet temptible, mor-
tal, and corruptible as ours—until the resurrection
changed its form and fashion altogether.
“Concerning the holiness of the believer, my testi-
mony is, that he ought never to be less holy, both in
flesh and spirit, than Jesus was ; and that the same
power of God incarnate, which presented Christ's
flesh and Spirit holy, is bestowed upon the believer
125
at baptism, to present his flesh and spirit always holy,
through faith. And every short-coming from holiness
is not of necessity, nor of accident, nor of circum-
stance; but of positive will not to believe, and not
to receive the power of regeneration, which is the
continuance unto us of the power of generation in
Jesus.* Wherefore we are called ‘ holy ones,’ and
‘sons of God,” as he was called ‘the holy Thing,'
and “ the Son of God.” He kept the name of the
Father, and glorified it; we have not kept it, and
therefore need continual atonement and intercession.-f
“Furthermore, concerning the baptism of the Holy
Ghost, my testimony is, and ever hath been, that it
is the indwelling of the Father in the members, after
what manner he dwelt in the Head while on earth; for
the same ends, and for what other ends the Father
may have to accomplish by his church, until he
COIN16S.
“Now, brother, you may not apprehend these
things—thy natural mind being very formal, and
wedded to its forms ; whereas, the fashion of my na-
tural mind is rather ideal, or spiritual. But because
thou apprehendest not the truth in that form in which
* The position that the power of regeneration in us is the
continuance of the power of generation in Jesus, is a most fa-
tal one. Implying that act of the Holy Ghost, which formed
Jesus in the womb of the Virgin, was nothing more than that
act of the Spirit by which Jesus is formed in us (as the apostle
says to the Galatians, iv. 19.) or, in other words, by which
we are born again of the Spirit, and made the children of God
by adoption and grace. This virtually annuls the doctrine of
the incarnation, and supplants it by supposing the Son of God
to be made flesh only by inhabitation of the human nature.
Indeed, many of Mr. Irving's positions suggest the idea of
inhabitation instead of incarnation. Mr. Irving's inference
from the position, which follows above, is very lamentable, as
tending to put us on a par with Jesus.
+ To “need continual atonement,” I should conceive, must
be a mere error of expression: but there is much watchfulness
requisite with respect to his view of continual intercession,
which, coupled with his views of fleshly holiness, tends very
far towards the idea entertained by the Romanists of the effi-
cacy of their mass.
I26
I do, shouldest thou say that thy brother hath a devil,
when thou knowest from my fruits that I serve God
with a pure conscience? And my dear flock thou hast
so misrepresented, whom yet thou knowest not.* My
love to thy soul, my desire to see thee standing where
God set thee—a spiritual minister—beareth no longer
that this sin should be upon thee. Repent of it, and
ask forgiveness of the Lord. I fully forgive thee,
and love thee with pure heart fervently, as I have
ever done, and never ceased to do ; though thy words
and letters, of which I have seen some, and heard of
others, have sore wounded me. Repent of thy rash
judgments against the children of God, that thou
mayest be healed of thy sin. I write to thee as a man
of God, and minister of his Gospel, even thy brother
in great love. For I know thou art an honest man,
though thou hast greatly erred through thy rashness.
“Your faithful brother,
“EDWARD IRV ING.”
There are some general characteristics in the
work, which, apart from doctrines or instances of
failure of predictions, cast suspicion upon it. One is
the extreme secresy enjoined by the Spirit, and the
manifest shrinking from public examination. The
Spirit has, both in England and Scotland, forbidden the
writing down of utterances, and even the attempt to
repeat them verbatim. Thus errors and contradictions
are more easily concealed and explained away.
Another is, the manifest denouncement and debase-
ment of the understanding. It is true, the under-
standing must bow, as well before divine mysteries as
before the teaching of the Holy Ghost. But the
Apostle exhorts us, “be not children in understand-
* To the charge here made my reply is, what I say of his
doctrine and of the spirit which speaks and rules in the midst
of them, I desire to speak out of love to them. Not to charge
them or judge them, but to shew forth the cunning of the enemy,
that if possible, they may be delivered. His position, that I am
not to judge his doctrine because I may not apprehend him, is
very unsafe, and what he himself cannot and does not act upon.
127
ing, but in understanding be men;” and prays for the
Ephesians, “the eyes of your understanding being
enlightened that ye may know,” &c. And for the
Colossians, “that ye might be filled with the know-
ledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual under-
standing.” And for Timothy, “the Lord give thee
understanding in all things.” St. John also says,
“We know that the Son of God is come, and hath
given us an understanding that we may know him that
is true.” It is manifest, the grace of God, and the
teaching of the-Spirit of God, purifies and enlarges
the understanding, and gives us to discover, by the
understanding, between truth and error. The under-
standing, therefore, humbled before the Word and the
Spirit of the Lord, is yet used and strengthened by the
same Word and Spirit, and the man of God walks ac-
cording to an enlightened understanding in the degree
of light which God vouchsafes to give him. Now I am
assured, both from the remembrance of my own utter-
ances in power, and from those of others, as well as from
the later correspondence with the gifted persons, that
theSpirit manifested in us all, has always striven to put
aside the understanding, and bring its followers into
an absolute submission to the utterances. To take
from them the habit of judging of the utterances, so
that they may be led whithersoever, and into whatso-
ever the Spirit by utterance may please to lead them.
The doctrine propounded is and was: If contradictions
appear, or failures appear, wait until the Spirit, by
other utterances, shall clear up the difficulty. This is
in so many words declared to me, by one now speaking
as a prophet amongst them ; and another has de-
clared, if she were to attempt to exercise her under-
standing upon what she utters, she should soon stum-
ble; but assuring herself she is speaking of the Lord,
she leaves his veracity in his own keeping. Indeed,
all of them, who know the circumstances here de-
tailed, must be acting upon this principle, for how other-
wise, after such manifest and reiterated failures of
the word, could they still call it the word of the
Lord :
y
128
Another characteristic is, the bitterness of denun-
ciation and hastiness of spirit, found in the manifes-
tations of the power. Many times have I been ap-
palled at the stern and remorseless denunciations
which, under the power, I have been made to give
forth; and I have marked in Mr. Irving, how far
from his natural impetuosity being checked and broken
down by rebukes, such as that given by our Lord to
his disciples, when they would have called down fire to
avenge him, “Ye know not what spirit ye are of"—
his hastiness of temper has been passed over, or utter-
ances against the objects of his wrath have been
given. Not that he has never been rebuked, but
that it has not always been so, but many times the
contrary. There is great show of humility in much
of the working of the power; as it is written, “He
croucheth and humbleth himself that the poor may
fall by his strong ones.” But the end of its working
is not humility. There is in it great flattery, and
power of seduction by flattery, and so most truly is it,
“a seducing spirit;” and yet when any are fully under
its power, it brings most fierce and fiery trials upon
them ; as it is written again, “The enemy hath per-
secuted my soul.”
The last characteristic to which I would allude is,
the spirit of separation, which marks out a line by the
reception or rejection of the utterances—all who re-
ceive the utterance are received; those who cannot,
are not acknowledged, but after the first and second
admonition, are rejected. The effect of this is
very extraordinary. It casts off, under the name
of Babylon, the great mass even of orthodox
professors, and raises up the little church which
does receive the utterances, into the distinctive title
of “The Church.” It appears as holiness and zeal
towards God, surpassing all other professors. At the
same time it takes its own members out of public
observation, and leads them into a comparative privacy;
far away from the correction of example or opinion
beyond their own pale, and so lays them more open to
the seductions of the enemy. Flattering at the same
129
time that it seduces, Christian love is made to turn
upon the centre of the utterances, and sectarian feel-
ings are generated.
Whilst, however, I am constrained to declare these
convictions concerning the spirit, which I in common
with Mr. Irving and his church followed, I must
speak very differently both of Mr. Irving himself, and
also of those of his congregation, who speak in the
power, and others whom I have met there. I believe
they are greatly wronged in public estimation. I
have been obliged to set out many things to the dis-
paragement of Mr. Irving, and I must therefore be
forward to state what my esteem is for him. I
believe him to be a man of God, sincerely searching
after truth, though for the casting down of high
thoughts, and for vindicating his own truth, God has
suffered him to be led away of delusion, and to set
his heart upon that which is not to the glory of God.
Of a noble bearing and of unbounded imagination, it
is more than he can conceive of himself, to have been,
in his later controversies, fighting Satan's battles
instead of God's; and his imagination is too fertile
ever to suffer him to lack explanation. He is con-
fident in his own honesty of intentions in all that he
has done, not being yet sufficiently versed in the de-
ceitfulness of the heart, and the subtlety of that
pride, which clothes itself in the garb of holy zeal, and
plumes its own crest, under the name of contending
for the truth of God. His mind is so imaginative as
almost to scorn precision of ideas, and his views will
thus continually vary, without himself being aware of
it. His energy and activity, swelling into impetuosity,
leave him peculiarly open to error, in all subjects which
require deep thought and patient and continued in-
vestigation. With the brightest talents, no man was
ever perhaps less qualified to investigate and unfold
the deeper mysteries of religion, which not only require
precision of thought, but a continued watchfulness
and patient correction of terms in their statement.
With him one line of truth swells over its parallel
line, and converging lines cut where they should only
G 3
130
meet. Yet, with all this, there is much real candour—
real devotedness—real love to God, and charity towards
all men. In the matter of the manifestations, I believe
him to be greatly tried. He cannot shut his eyes to
facts which are daily rising up before him, and yet he
is (as I was under my first doubts) afraid to entertain
doubts, and deals with them all as temptations; so
silencing doubt, he will give himself up to the power,
and go on until God is pleased, by some broad flash
of light, or some, gross error in the utterances,
to show him its darkness. Up to the period of his
delusion, he was greatly honoured of God in indi-
vidual conversions; and the prayers of such as are
not entangled with him, we may trust, go up continu-
ally to God for his deliverance.
Of those who speak, and of others of his flock
whom I have known, I may say, apart from the
influence of delusion, there is, as with himself, a
Christian spirit and a sincere love of the truth. The
delusion produces a bitterness of spirit and violence
very manifest. But they are deceived and not de-
ceivers, save instrumentally. They may conceal their
failures and mistakes, and explain away their contra-
dictions, under the conscientious persuasion, whatever
is error is of themselves. They may, under delusion,
state and uphold things contrary to good judgment,
and contrary to what we should deem plain dealing.
But I am persuaded there is no intentional guile or
deceit about them : they are really acted upon by a
supernatural power, and they really believe and wor-
ship it as the Holy Spirit of Jehovah.
What a spectacle then is this in the face of the
church 1 Does it not call upon us to lay aside bitter-
ness, reproach, and railing accusations, and out of that
love which causes that “whether one member suffer
all the members suffer with it,” to labour together
in prayer on their behalf, that God would graciously
make manifest to them the spirit which rules among
them, and give them speedy deliverance. No argu-
ments may avail, nor any exposition of doctrine en-
lighten; but God may please to overrule the work-
131
ings of the spirit in them, and make it manifest of
themselves and to themselves, that it is not of the
Holy Ghost. He may then lead them to enquire, why
they have been thus visited, and give them an insight
into the fearful errors in doctrine which have pro-
voked the Lord to “give them meat for their lusts,
but send leanness withal into their souls.” Now,
every Christian grace which they possess serves only
to give credence to the work of the enemy, and clothe
the delusion with a fairer and more seducing charac-
ter. Their own state is a furnace of affliction, and
in the midst of it God doubtless will purify the gold,
and cause it to come forth the brighter. But surely
it becomes us to bear with them in love, and labour
continually for their deliverance.
The difficulty I myself entertained upon the text,
“Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, is of God,” may have occurred
to others, and I will therefore state my explication of
it. It is given explicitly as the test whereby to try
the spirit, and it must therefore be decisive; and as
the word of God is true, “Every spirit that confes-
seth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” must be of
God. In the case of the child in Gloucestershire, the
spirit was not permitted to confess it, even verbally.
But I have in power declared it—not indeed when
the spirit in me was under trial, for no one ever tried
the spirit in me. My brother, in the power, gave
the confession, but I was not at the time trying the
spirit in him. The parties who speak in London did,
I understand, give the confession when the spirit in
them was tried; and I was very anxious to learn whe-
ther the trial of the spirit was fully made. The cir-
cumstances under which it was done, were, I under-
stand, as follows:—When Mr. Irving heard of the
occurrence in Gloucestershire, he thought it right to
call together the gifted persons, to try the spirit. Ac-
cordingly they came together, but (as Mr. Irving told
a friend, from whose mouth I have it) when they were
all assembled, Mr. Irving was in doubt what he ought
to do; being afraid of provoking the Lord by ques-
G 4
132
tioning the spirit, after having so long admitted it as
the Holy Spirit, and having such proof to his own
conviction that it was indeed such ; when an utter-
ance broke from Miss E. C., “Try the spirits.” En-
couraged and assured by this, he proceeded to try the
spirit; and, all except two, broke forth, in a confession,
which he considered tantamount to a confession of
Christ come in the flesh. Again in doubt about the
two who did not join in the confession, he paused in
embarrassment; when, after a short interval, whilst
he was yet doubting what to do, those two broke forth
in a confessional utterance, as the rest had done.
Now, here, as it occurs to me, were two great
errors. First, Mr. Irving, from his own erroneous
views concerning Christ's flesh, was not qualified to
demand a confession ; and next, instead of holding
himself independent of the spirit he was trying, he
acted in submission to it, and thus virtually acknow-
ledged it to be the Spirit of God at the very moment
he was about to try it.
Now it appears, though I desire to speak with
deference, I. That a mere verbal confession is not all
that is required ; for the devils continually bore wit-
ness to Christ whilst on earth, and said, “I know thee
whom thou art, the Holy One of God.” II. That the
person trying the spirit must honestly exercise his
judgment, and not in any manner defer to the spirit
which he is trying. III. That he must also himself
be sound in the faith, or he cannot discover when
Christ is truly confessed. IV. That the confession
should be sought, not only in the simple statement of
the truth, but also upon any points which create sus-
picion as to soundness of faith. V. That those who
are continually in communication and within hearing
of the utterance, must not only judge by a single utter-
ance, but continually compare the utterances with the
doctrine of Christ.
It is obvious that the confession must be, not the
natural utterance of the man, but the utterance of the
spirit ; moreover, that if we are unsound in the faith,
or put ourselves in deference to the spirit, it will
133
have power over us, to deceive us by a false confes-
SIOIl.
As fully proving the inadequacy of Mr. Irving's
test of the spirit, even to himself, it is a fact that
Miss H., who is now declared by the other gifted
persons to have been a false prophetess, was one of
those who in this trial joined in the confession.
I have inadvertently omitted, in the course of the
narrative, the mention of my utterances in other lan-
guages. As considerable stress has occasionally been
laid upon this form of utterance, in support of the
work: I will here allude to it.
A few days before the prophecy of my call to the
apostolic office, whilst sitting at home, a mighty
power came upon me, but for a considerable time no
impulse to utterance; presently a sentence in French
was vividly set before my mind, and, under an im-
pulse to utterance, was spoken. Then in a little time,
sentences in Latin were in like manner uttered, and,
with short intervals, sentences in many other lan-
guages, judging from the sound, and the different
exercise of the enunciating organs. My wife, who
was with me, declared some of them to be Italian and
Spanish ; the first she can read and translate, the se-
cond she knows but little of. In this case, she was
not able to interpret nor retain the words as they
were uttered. All the time of these utterances, I
was greatly tried in mind. After the first sentence,
an impulse to utterance continued on me, and most
painfully I restrained it, my conviction being that
until something was set before me to utter, I ought
not to yield my tongue to utterance. Yet I was trou-
bled by the doubt what could the impulse mean, if I
were not to yield to it. Under the trial I did yield
my tongue for a few moments, but the utterance that
broke from me seemed so discordant, that I concluded
the impulse, without words given, was a temptation;
and I restrained it, except as words were given me,
and then I yielded. Sometimes single words were
given me, and sometimes sentences, though I could
neither recognize the words nor sentences as any lan-
134
guage I knew, except those which were French or
Latin. What strengthened me, upon after consider-
ation, in the opinion that I ought not to yield my
tongue, was, the remembrance that I had heard Mr.
Irving say, when explaining how the utterance in
tongues first came upon Mr. T., that he had words
and sentences set before him. Immediately follow-
ing this exercise, there came an utterance in English,
declaring that the gift of tongues, which was mani-
fest in London, was nothing more than that of “the
tongue” needing interpretation, manifested formerly in
the Corinthian church ; but that shortly the Lord
would bestow the Pentecostal gift, enabling those
who received it to preach in all languages to the na-
tions of the earth. I was on several other occasions
exercised in the same way, speaking detached words
and sentences, but never a connected discourse.
When I went to London after this, I questioned
those who spoke in the tongues, whether they had the
words and sentences given, or yielded their tongues
to the impulse of utterance, without having them.
They answered almost entirely the latter, though
sometimes also the former. I was also, in London,
made to confirm, in utterance, before Mr. Irving,
what had been spoken here concerning the Pentecostal
gift of tongues for preaching; and, such was the rea-
diness with which he yielded to the utterances, that
though he had both written and published that the
Pentecostal gift was not for preaching, he at once
yielded, and confessed his error, giving thanks for
the correction. Oh! that he may manifest the same
ingenuousness in abandoning his opinion concerning
the power, when weighing its fruits he sees it is not
of God. .
My persuasion concerning the unknown tongue, as
it is called, (in which I myself was very little exer-
cised,) is, that it is no language whatever, but a mere
collection of words and sentences; and, in the length-
ened discourses is, much of it, a jargon of sounds;
though I can conceive, when the power is very great,
that it will assume much of the form of a connected
135
oration. One day, in the Scotch Church, when I
was meditating as to the propriety of yielding my
tongue, and was in prayer to God for teaching on it,
an utterance broke from Miss E. C.—“Yield your
tongues to Jesus;” and going on exhorting to an
entire resignation of ourselves to the Spirit of Jesus
speaking and dwelling in us. The instances of such
obvious discernment of thoughts are so numerous as
to take away the possibility of their being accidental
coincidences. In the case of one individual, when
praying in silence in her own room, in three or four
distinct instances, answers were given, in the power,
by a gifted person sitting in the adjoining room.
And in almost all the persons with whom I have
conversed, who were brought into a belief of the
power, instances of obvious discernment of their
thoughts, or references to their particular state of
mind, have been so striking, as to conduce to their
recognition of the power. This is a very mysterious
dispensation; but as a spirit of divination, when any
put themselves unfaithfully under the influence of
the power, it certainly is able, and does make mani-
fest the thoughts of their hearts, imitating the manner
in which we may suppose the spirit of the prophets in
the Corinthian church laid open the thoughts of the
unbeliever, as referred to by the Apostle.
Indeed, the whole work is a mimicry of the gifts
of the Spirit—the utterance, in tongues, a mimicry
of the gift of tongues—and so of the prophesyings,
and all the other works of the power. It is Satan, as
an angel of light, imitating, as far as permitted, the
Holy Spirit of God: according to the degree of un-
faithfulness of the individuals or congregation with
whom it is present, so, am I persuaded, is the degree
of power and consequent deceit which is put forth.
Unfaithfulness is, of course, in proportion to the
knowledge of God's will; and in those persons or
congregations where more of God's truth is possessed
or taught, if they are unfaithful, greater is their
offence than if the same act were committed by those
less informed: according to the principle recog-
136
nized, where it is said, “The servant who knoweth
his Lord's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with
many stripes.” Had the power and manifestations
which have occurred been found in persons of less
attainment in religion, who does not feel that they
could never have commanded the same attention, nor
overthrown the faith of so many as has now been the
case ? I do not here include my own case, nor chal-
lenge to myself these attainments, for as an indi-
vidual almost wholly unknown, my reception of them
would not avail. But those who were well known,
and by multitudes highly esteemed, did give weight
to the manifestations by the weight of their character
and previous profession.
I have sometimes heard the contradictions in the
utterances, and acts of those who speak in power, ex-
plained away by the question, “Does Satan cast out
Satan?”—intending we should infer, that Satan will
not bear witness against himself, and, therefore, that
only one of the parties concerned in the contradiction
can be false. It has, however, been most fully
manifested, that a false spirit does bear witness
against Satan. The warnings against Satan given
by the children in Gloucestershire were very abun-
dant; and the same occurred in Mr. F., Miss H.,
and almost, without exception, all the others who
have spoken in power in the Scotch Church, and
have been rejected as false prophets. It belongs
alone to the Spirit of God to speak the truth always ;
and in every person the same truth ; and, as God
cannot lie, no contradiction can occur in the utter-
ances of the Holy Ghost, however numerous the
persons by whom he may vouchsafe to speak. One
contradiction is, therefore, sufficient to decide, that
it is not the Spirit of God. On the other hand, in
the working of evil spirits of Satan, their very name
is, “ lying spirits;” and their continual work is to
persuade us to believe a lie. One person may be
open to temptation in one particular, and another in
the opposite. One lie will, therefore, be ministered
to the one, and another lie to the other. If these
137
persons should meet, the delusion in one will be
contradictory of the delusion in the other, and yet
both deluded. When persons are much together,
their views and habits become assimilated, and they
may lay themselves open to the same temptation, and
be deceived by the same lie. When I was with the
gifted persons in London, the simultaneous action of
the power on all of us, which continually occurred,
bringing forth the same testimony, proved the power
in all to be of one and the same origin; whilst the con-
tradictions which were developed, in the course of
our proceedings, proved also, that it was not the
Spirit of God, I understand the gifted persons at
Port Glasgow spoke against me, whilst I was speak-
ing in power in London ; and that they are now
speaking against Mr. Irving. At Cambridge, too, I
understand is one, who deems himself called to be
an apostle, and to have arrived at perfection ; and
who sent for a friend, some hundred miles off, to
impart to him the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the
laying on of his hands: but when he came, and the
hands were imposed, the gift did not follow. He
also is denounced by Miss E. C. and himself holds
Mr. Irving and the gifted in London to be deceived.
These discrepancies and disagreements are so many
landmarks, which he who runs may read—showing us
the quicksands of delusion are in their course, and
warning us to stand aside from them.
To those who have never experienced or witnessed
the effect of delusion in perverting the judgment and
shutting the eyes of the understanding, its workings
are incredible. I have found in myself such woful
darkness, want of open and manly confession of
contradictions and failures, and such credulity,
that, when I think of it, I am almost afraid of
making a statement, or advancing an opinion, lest
I should still be under its influence. Facts are
unwittingly perverted and distorted—expressions
and declarations so variously read and understood
—and the mind is so left under a perpetual suc-
cession of movement and impulse, that the remem-
138
brance of facts is blotted out ; and, in an incredibly
short space of time, a man may be made to change
his views, without being conscious of any serious
alteration. The mind becomes like a troubled sea,
driven and tossed by every wind of impulse, and
having no other shore or boundary than such truths
of God as have been written indelibly upon it.
And yet it was very remarkable, that whatever truth
was written indelibly upon the mind, no violent con-
tradiction was ever given to it; and the truths which
were eradicated, were first sapped and mined ; and
the decisive attempt at their overthrow was never
made, until they had been shaken to the foundation.
It is lamentable to see, to what depths of absur-
dity we may, unconsciously, under delusion, be led.
A friend, who lately attended at Mr. Irving's church,
heard him publicly address a servant girl of his, who
was speaking in the power, and tell her to speak
more to the purpose ; for the spirits of the prophets
were subject to the prophets, and she was speaking
beside the question | | When a man can so forget
himself as to suppose the spirit of God can speak
beside a question, and need to be put in remem-
brance, we may well say, “What more ?” For dis-
cipline, it belongs to the pastor to assign the order or
course by which prophets shall speak; but when the
matter of their speech needs correction, surely it is
as if a sunbeam had written upon it, “Beware.”
In conclusion, I cannot refrain from adding a re-
mark or two upon the causes which have, as it ap-
pears to me, prepared the way for this awful delusion.
In these, I desire to speak not in judgment on others,
but simply what I have been conscious of in myself.
In the front I would place a habit of speculating upon
religious truths, in the hasty interpretation of Scrip-
ture, and especially the prophetic portions. That the
prophets were written to be read, and that reading in
faith and prayer will issue in a profitable understand-
ing of them, no one can doubt. Whatever zeal,
therefore, may be manifested in the study of pro-
phecy, and how great soever may be its extension, it
139
is matter of rejoicing, and not of regret. But, alas !
such frail Christians are we, that a little knowledge
may puff up ; and unless deeply humbled under the
sense of our ignorance, and continually watchful to
wait upon the Lord for teaching, we may stumble
over the very way-marks which are given for our
guidance. How much ought we to weigh every in-
terpretation—how slow should we be to speak it—
and how ready to bear with an opposite view, and to
wait for that teaching, which shall give us all one heart
and mind in the matter. Especially dangerous is the
habit of putting forth crude undigested thoughts in
interpretation of prophecy, although they may be
stated under the hope some other person may take
them up and perfect them. Surely we have so much
of glorious revelation made plain to us, that we can
feed upon it in peace and patience, with thanksgiving ;
and need not to cultivate an unhealthy appetite after
crude and novel views, in which we can neither find
rest nor edification. Our minds are naturally prone
to novelty, and vain curiosity is one of the strongest
of our temptations. Every text of Scripture deserves
inquiry, and to seek its elucidation must be praise-
worthy; but great watchfulness must be exercised, lest
the energy of a spiritual mind should be supplanted
by the strong cravings of curiosity, and the restlessness
of an excited imagination.
If, after a patient and corrected investigation, any
student of the word of God should come to a settled
view in interpretation, and should conscientiously feel
that the declaration of it is profitable, let him declare
it; but, in so doing, it will be well for him to re-
member, that, if it contain novel opinions, it ought to
have been again and again weighed and pondered
upon ; and, even after it is put forth, it is more meet
for him patiently and thankfully to answer the scruples
and objections, which his brethren in the church may
express upon it, than to suffer himself to sit in judg-
ment upon them, because they see not with his pre-
sent eyes, but rather the eyes he himself saw with but
a little time ago. Until any student is, himself, fully
140
persuaded in his own mind, it must be utterly unpar-
donable in him to put forth new things to perplex, or
carry away the minds of others.
Another course of speculation has been upon doc-
trines, and generally received truths; in an opening
of them after a new method, or in the giving a greater
prominency to particular parts. The varying circum-
stances of the Church require that her ministers
should be giving meat in due season : and happy is
that minister who is endowed with wisdom to discern
what is needful for the present emergency, and to
minister the same with faithfulness. But there are
minds, whose besetting sin it is to be continually
passing to and fro within the circle of truth ; now
laying hold of one subject, and now of another; and,
as each is embraced, dwelling with such intentness
upon it, and swelling it out so much beyond its proper
bearing, that it is carried over the boundary of truth,
and becomes, if not plain error, at least a distortion
of the truth calculated to lead into error continually.
When such a mind is dwelling upon its favourite sub-
ject, whatever for the time present it happens to be,
it will not only suffer other parts of truth to be dis-
paraged, but will also disparage and think slightingly
of all professors whose minds may not have been car-
ried towards the same development; and who, there-
fore, in the gigantic proportions which it has assumed,
may not be able to discern the embryo truth from
which the whole has sprung. It may be needful for
one congregation, that its minister should dwell upon
free grace, and for another that its pastor should de-
velope and enforce good works: so, of every branch
of the truth, one part is necessary here, whilst another
must be set forth there: one at this time, and another
at an after time : each in season, as the Lord shall
lead them to teach. But if we suffer ourselves, under
even the most glorious opening of any branch of truth,
to advance that branch into the place of the whole
tree, we shall pluck up the stem, and our branch it-
self will wither. The mind habituated to such ex-
tremes is, however, peculiarly open to the assault of
141
the enemy, when he is permitted to put forth not only
enlarged views of truth, but sensible impulses and
signs, in support of his designs.
Amidst speculations the believer becomes unsettled,
because taken off that peaceful view of the work and
glory of Christ, which is his rest. Anxious and
excited, he is continually prepared for new views, or
waiting for new events, which may feed the restless-
ness of an excited mind; and almost, necessarily,
every accession of views and change of events mini-
sters greater excitement, and carries him further from
that “peace of God which passeth understanding.”
It is obvious, no state can be more favourable for the
entrance of delusion: the very restlessness of mind
creating a tendency to receive novelties.
Whether the departure in doctrine has been the
fruit of speculation, or, however it may have had its
origin, this seems to be the door through which the
enemy has come in upon us. The subtlety of the
heresy is very great, both as it regards the humanity
of our Lord, and the holiness of the believer. But
the first branch of the heresy virtually annuls the
test of the Spirit, by enabling a false spirit to con-
fess an incarnation, without holding the truth of Christ
come in the flesh. And the second branch challenges
the possession of the Spirit, in the same fulness and
power as he dwelt in Christ. Thus, whilst the Lord's
Christ is set aside, believers are put upon an equality
with, and arrogate the anointing of Christ himself.
What greater provocation can we offer to our Lord,
than to debase him to the experience of indwelling
corruption, and lift up ourselves to an equality with his
purity, and the exercise of greater powers than himself.
It is well known, that the delusion first appeared in
Scotland, and it was brought to London by Mrs. C., who
was one of the speakers, and gifted at Port Glasgow.
There, as far as I am informed, it has made little pro-
gress; and it was not until adopted and upheld by Mr.
Irving, that it began to challenge much attention, and
extend its influence. No doubt many persons, warmly
attached to Mr. Irving, upheld his general doctrines,
142
and so sustained the heresy, though they did not
themselves fully embrace it: this was the case, both
with my brother and myself, and we neither of us
knew what were really the doctrines held by him
until, by the course I have mentioned, we were brought
to examine them ; and, at the same time, to separate
from them. Nevertheless, as upholding Mr. Irving
on all occasions, I am ready to confess myself justly
involved in the delusion, and my own personal offences
in prophetic speculations and lofty imaginations,
would, even apart from these heresies, sufficiently ex-
plain my punishment.
One circumstance of these manifestions cannot but
force itself upon observation ; that is, the continual
use which was made of the doctrine of the second
advent of our Lord. This was the leading theme of
the utterances. The nearness of it, its suddenness,
and the fearful judgments which would accompany
it, were the continual arguments which were used
to excite our minds, and stimulate our decision ; as
well as to support us under difficulties, and to in-
duce us to lay all other things aside to further the
work. The same thing has, as far as we are in-
formed, attended every putting forth of assumed
prophetic power from the earliest times. With re-
gard to those manifestations, which have been nearer
our own times, we know certainly that it has been
so. With the French prophets, who arose about the
beginning of the last century, and with the followers
of Joanna Southcote, in our own days, the nearness
of the second coming has been the leading doctrine.
The inevitable effect of this fanatical use of the
doctrine is to create prejudice, and to induce a
persuasion that it is a dangerous doctrine. We
must, however, be on our guard against any such
hastiness of decision. Previously to the first ad-
vent of our Lord, many false Christs arose, and
drew away many; and the nearer the advent, the
more frequent and powerful were the delusions.
Doubtless they excited in the minds of the Jews a
strong prejudice, which led them practically to deny
143
our Lord when he came, though they yet professed
to wait for him. We are also expressly warned with
reference to the second advent, that “ There shall
arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show
great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” And
our Lord's caution upon it is, “ Behold I have told
you before, wherefore if they shall say unto you,
Behold he is in the desert, go not forth : behold he
is in the secret chamber, believe it not. For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even
unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be.” We must not, therefore, suffer ourselves
to be brought into an unbelief of his coming, so as
to join the company of the scoffers, and say, “Where
is the promise of his coming?” But must remember
our Lord's injunction, “Take ye heed, watch and
pray . . . . for ye know not when the master of the
house cometh. ... lest coming suddenly he find you
sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say unto all,
watch !” The device of Satan, doubtless, is to cast
odium upon the doctrine, and lull men into a state
of forgetfulness, that “the coming of the Lord
draweth nigh.” Without, however, dwelling further
upon this subject, I would say ; whilst, it appears to
me, these circumstances ought in no wise to prevent
our watchfulness, or patient waiting for the coming
of the Lord; they certainly call upon us to humble
ourselves, under the remembrance that there must
have been much error, in our view of the manner
and circumstances of the coming of the Lord, or we
could not have been so deceived. May God grant
us grace to confess our faults, and, proving all things,
to hold fast that which is good. -
The speculations, manifestations, and other late
proceedings in the visible church, have been most
extensively used to unsettle the minds of Christians.
This is itself very deeply to be deplored, even though
it should as yet have proceeded no farther. These
are, indeed, troublous times, and the greater the
trouble and excitement around us, the more closely
144
ought we to be cleaving to the ground of our hope,
and resting in peace in the finished work of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus. Temptation, however,
moves on all hands, inflating speculative minds to
give forth novelties—arousing excitable minds by
manifestations and wonders—wounding tender con-
sciences upon points of doctrine or discipline, and
separating them under conscientious scruples—de-
pressing the lowly labourer in the Lord’s vineyard, by
the view of the increase of vice and infidelity—stirring
up party strife in the different bodies of Christians, and
sowing bitterness and division among brethren, and
so paralysing their labours. Oh, that we were
watchful to put on the whole armour of God,
and take the shield of faith on our arm, that
resting in the faithfulness of our God, striving
together in prayer, and having fervent charity
among ourselves, we might stand fast in this evil
day, and be nothing terrified by all the assaults
of our enemies. Our Lord warns us against “ lo
here, and lo there,” and shews us the blessing of
those servants whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall
find giving his household meat in due season. Oh,
that we may abide patiently in the sphere of labour,
which the Lord in his providence has assigned to us,
and there bearing witness for the Lord, and standing
fast in Him, may shut our ears to the fears and
troubles, as well as to the signs and wonders which
the enemy may bring before us. Every Christian,
and especially Christian minister, whose mind the
enemy can by any means unsettle, and whose hand of
labour he can by any means paralyze, is so much
gained to the empire of darkness. May we watch
against him, and very narrowly examine every
thought which leads towards separation from brethren,
or from labours, as we would watch against a serpent.
Leaving now (in prayer for forgiveness for its
errors), what has been written, I would only exhort
those whom the Lord may bring out of the delusion,
to watch particularly against the powerful assaults
which will be made upon them to abandon faith
145
in God altogether. Job pleaded before God his
righteousness, and though he is called an upright and
a perfect man, yet Elihu (Job xxxiii.) reproves him,
and shews him that God will, by such visitations,
take away pride from man. That He is just in it,
for He giveth a warning which his people ought to
have seen. And let them remember the case of Job,
and see that the Lord is pitiful, and of tender mercy.
And let them hold fast Job’s integrity, when he said
“What! Shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?” Long after I gave
up the work as delusion, the power so continued with
me, that I was obliged to resist it continually: when
in prayer, the power would come and carry out my
utterance in power, and I was obliged to stop
to resist it. This was very distressing for a long
time, joined as it was to the darkness and dead-
mess of a mind, so long swayed by such delusions;
but, under such circumstances, all we can do is to
hold fast our confidence, that God will not abandon
us; and to watch against every spirit of repining or
complaint against God, humbling ourselves, and plead-
ing the blood of sprinkling of the Lamb of God, who
taketh away the sins of the world : His mercies fail
not, but are new every morning. --
A PP E N D IX.
THAT I may afford the fullest means of judgment to those
who may take the trouble to scrutinize, I have added copies of
three letters written at the time when I was first wrought
upon in this way—and which have been lent me by the
brother to whom they were written. The first shows the
state of my mind at the period of my first utterance under the
power; and the second and third show the progress of the
power, in producing a change of view, and opening and pre-
paring my mind for the further progress of the delusion, during
the five months which elapsed between my first and second visit
to the Scotch Church. In reading them, it should be remem-
bered, we must not suffer truth to be prejudiced because error
has become interwoven with it.
APPENDIX A.
“ Dec. 29th, 1831.
“You would hear, at the same time with ourselves, of the
manifestations which have been made in London, in analogy to
those made in Scotland. For many months I have been per-
suaded the work is of God, and that these are manifestations of
the gift of tongues, and prophesying. It has been a subject of
much conversation among ourselves, and with all friends who
may have come to us; J has always evinced! considerable
doubt as to the character of these manifestations; though,
just previously to my going to town, her mind seemed opening
to them.
“When I was in London, I attended at one of the meetings,
at which a Mr. T. and a Miss C. spoke; the first in a tongue,
the other in prophesying. The prophesying was upon the near
coming of the Lord, and rebuking those who did not faithfully
declare it: it was delivered in a tone and energy which carried
conviction to my soul, that it was the presence, in power, of
the Holy Ghost. As the prophesying proceeded, in rebuking
the unfaithfulness of those who did not declare the near coming
of the Lord, I found laid open the very misgivings of conscience
with which I have, for the last six months, been exercised ;
when I had put back the declaration of his instant coming, to
make way for something which might be less offensive to the
people. In fact, the secrets of my heart, which I had told to
none, were laid open; and I felt myself openly rebuked. The
effect upon me was, that tears ran down my cheeks; and my
anguish of soul increasing, I was obliged to hide my face, and,
as far as I could, suppress my groanings. This, however,
148
lasted only a few minutes; when the power of the spirit was
so great upon me, that I was constrained to cry out, as in an
agony, for pardon and forgiveness, and for strength to bear a
faithful testimony. In these cryings I was, however, at the
time conscious of a power of utterance carrying me beyond the
natural expression of my feelings; and though my first emotion,
on my conscience being smitten, was that of a deeply wounded
conscience, expressing its anguish in a natural way; and,
although I had no expectation of any such presence of the
Spirit, but was simply lying in humility under the chastise-
ment; yet here I was conscious of a constrained utterance, not
my own; and of a power and presence of the Spirit, quite un-
utterable in a natural way. After this I was silent, but, with
composure of mind, my whole body was convulsively agitated;
and for the space of more than ten minutes I was, as it were,
paralysed under a shaking of my limbs; my knees rapping one
against the other, and no expression, except a sort of convul-
sive sigh. During this period I had no other consciousness,
than the bodily emotion, and an inexpressible constraint upon
my mind; which, though it kept me composed, and sensible of
all I was doing, yet prevented my utterance, and gave no dis-
tinct impression, beyond a desire to pray for the knowledge of
the Lord’s will. This increased so much, that I was led to fall
on my knees, and cry in a loud voice, ‘speak, Lord, for thy
servant heareth ;' and this I repeated many times, until the
same power of the Spirit, which I had before felt, came upon
me, and I was made to cry out with great vehemence, both of
tone and action, that the coming of the Lord should be declared,
and the messengers of the Lord should bear it forth upon the
mountains, and upon the hills, and tell it to the winds, that all
the earth should hear it, and tremble before the Lord. At this
instant a gentleman present came to me, and took hold of me,
begging me to rise and compose myself; and whispering to me
that it was the work of the flesh, and that he himself had been
once in the same state; that nobody ought to speak, except in
perfect composure of body and mind. When he stopped me,
I said, almost unconsciously, ‘ thank you, thank you :’ for
during the whole period of my being afflicted, I was under such
a painful constraint, that every word I uttered was, as it were,
wrung from me. My mind was never so wholly filled with the
Spirit, as to be carried willingly along; but there was, through-
out, a struggling of my natural powers against the constraining
power of the Spirit; and when he stopped me, my calmness
returned in an instant; and I felt as though delivered from a
deeply painful constraint. The assertion of my friend, that
I was wrong in yielding to it, confounded me for the moment;
but, after a short pause, I requested all present to join in prayer;
and shortly prayed the Lord not to suffer the weakness or wick-
edness of his creature to cause the work of his own Spirit to
be blasphemed; and, that as He has seen fit graciously to put me
149
to shame, because of my unfaithfulness, He would cause the
testimony of His Spirit to stand before all present as a rebuke,
to provoke to faithfulness, and to a simple and plain avowal of our
hope. I was most deeply troubled and humbled on the following
day, trembling at what had occurred; and, not being able to see
the mind of the Lord in it fully, I made it a matter of inquiry,
in prayer and fasting before the Lord; and not having got any
clear understanding, I simply wrote an account of what had
occurred, and of my own state, to J–— ; she was very painfully
affected by it; being, as she says, persuaded that all these ma-
nifestations are not of God, but delusions; the false Christs,
and false prophets, which we are told shallarise in the last days.
She says it is not according to apostolic order, because it is not by
the laying on of hands, and because it is made by women, who
are expressly commanded to keep silence: and that it is not
in that power which manifests it of God. Mr. A. was at my
house, and she showed my letter to him, and he confirmed
her doubts by his own, and H., who is here also, joins in the
doubt.
J is in such a state of agitation and excitement as to make
her ill, and to threaten very serious consequences, unless the
Lord compose and strengthen her. She says I am possessed
by one of the false spirits of prophecy, and all I can say by
argument, by prayer, or otherwise, has not seemed to convince
her to the contrary. She now seems to express a desire to
hear from you, and thankful, most thankful, shall I be, if the
Lord enable you to give her peace through his word. She is
certainly diligently reading, and in every way anxious to
defer to my judgment, whenever she can ; but in this, she
says, she is conscientiously persuaded, and confirmed in it by
the result of her prayers, that I am giving myself up to a
delusion which will make me fight against God's truth. You
may imagine, dear brother, my own mind in the midst of
these things. Watchful of that providence, which has set
before me such a testimony in the state of my wife—in the
discredit thrown upon the manifestations by Mr. A., and Mr. G.,
of D. (who has been with us, and who has been led to warn
me against these things in the strongest and most affectionate
manner,) I am set in an awful state. I cannot for a moment
doubt the reality of the manifestations; and the Spirit secretly
bears witness with my own spirit, that he has spoken in me;
and leads me to the expectation that he may yet again con-
strain my utterance. Indeed, on several occasions, the same
power, without utterance, has been manifest in me. And yet,
should it be so, I may be made to set before my own wife and
my dear friends a testimony of the power of the Holy Ghost,
which, in their present state, they may blaspheme. But the Lord
alone is sufficient for these things; and I pray he may keep us
all faithful to him, though in the midst of the furnace ; trusting
that we may all come out untouched by the power of that
150
fire, into the midst of which we are cast. I am persuaded all that
_agitation of frame, and resistance in mind, which I manifested,
was deeply wrong, and but the fighting against the Spirit; that
as my friend said, the utterance of the Spirit, when given in
power, is in calmness and composure of frame. He very
kindly told me the whole of his own case ; which, however,
did not answer to mine in the convictions of his own con-
science. There has been, in all this, such a gracious opening
to me of the realities of God’s love to us, and our union with
Christ by the Spirit, that, though the Lord should not think
me worthy of further humbling, yet shall I have reason to
bless God for opening my eyes to the difference of knowing
the truth in word, and knowing the truth in power. Oh that
we were filled with the Holy Ghost, enabled to enter into fel-
lowship with the mind of Christ concerning sin—how should
we abhor sin; and concerning the love of God in Christ—how
should we pray in faith to God; and concerning the sancti-
fication of the Spirit—how should we press on in the desire
that every thought might be brought into the obedience of God.
May the Lord strengthen us all to submit ourselves to his
º will, and to lie in thankfulness under the power of his
WOrk.
“J— says, she looks upon these manifestations as signs to
quicken us in the expectation of Christ's coming: especially
as it is said, that there shall be spirits to deceive, if it were
possible, the very elect. She also says, she thought me in a
very excited state of mind before I went to town, and just
ready to be led astray.”
APPENDIX B.
** 14th Oct. 1831.
“Having a little space given me this morning, I have pur-
posed to write to you, if the Lord will I have a great desire
to lay before you the Lord's dealings with me. You know
not, dear brother, what a fearful witness the Spirit is giving
forth on the unfaithful shepherds, and the mockery of his holy
ordinances in Christ. The Lord’s anger is most fearfully
declared, and his purposes of wrath—written in Ezekiel and
Isaiah, towards false pastors, and hypocritical professors—are
laid upon me with a power which utterly dismays me: I can-
not—dare not—rebel against it; and yet the testimony is of
such a character, that, in searching what the Spirit “does sig-
nify,” I tremble in myselflest it should be the utter desolation
of his church, under the overflowings of the ‘abomination that
maketh desolate.” Meanwhile, the Lord's love is great to-
wards me, and whilst I am in anguish because of this testimony,
the Lord refreshes me exceedingly, by laying me down in
151
reverential awe before the ministerial office, and the holy or-
dinances of his church ; and thereby testifies that he still
holds them in his right hand, and that they shall not be utterly
discarded, but be upheld in the Lord's own power. I know
not, dear brother, whether, in speaking after this manner, I
shall seem to you as one that dreams: but if I do seem such,
you cannot be more startled than I have been ; and, but for
the mighty power of God,—which has several times literally
taken away all my strength, and made me, in body as well as
in soul, melt away in the overwhelming presence of my God—
I should, it may be, be still rebelling against the testimony of
his Spirit. From the time the power of the Spirit came upon
me in London, I have daily, at intervals, sometimes more ſre-
quent, sometimes less, been conscious of a powerful in work-
ing of the Spirit; leading me up into communion in Christ,
and giving me a fellowship with the mind of Christ, and at
times leading me, by presenting portions of Scripture, into an
apprehension of the purpose of God in Christ, which I never
before knew ; and there has been added to this such a con-
straining towards utterance, to declare what the Lord has shown
to me, and yet such an utter incapacity to utter any thing of it,
in the same power in which it has been presented to me, that
I have seemed to myself shut up in prison, with an unspeakable
enjoyment of liberty. Faith has always given me the ex-
planation of it, and enabled me to be composed under it; and
even in those times when there has been no conscious presence
of the Spirit, and Satan has been permitted to buffet me, the
Lord has always sustained me in the faith. .
“On Sunday morning, whilst sitting alone, under the buffet-
ings of Satan, the Lord visited me by the power of the Spirit,
and gave me utterance in the Spirit in prayer—in great
power—and yet in great composure of mind. My mind was
much disturbed before the power of the Spirit came upon me,
but was immediately calmed; and whilst the prayer was made,
my prayer, by a constraint upon body and soul, to which my
soul yielded with delight, and my body with much agony—I
was at the time perfectly conscious that I was made to pray;
and had it simultaneously impressed upon my mind, that as
it was the mind of God's Spirit I was uttering, it was the
mind of God, and would surely be answered. The prayer
was, that the Lord would have mercy upon, and deliver me
from the anguish of my fleshly weakness - that he would be-
stow upon me the giſts of his Spirit—the gift of wisdom—the
gift of knowledge—the gift of faith—the gift of working of
miracles—the gift of healing—the gift of prophecy—the gift of
tongues, and the gift of interpretation of tongues ; –that he
would open my mouth and give me strength to declare his
glory in the coming again of the Lord — that I might be bold,
and his word in my mouth in power and strength; that all the
people of the land might hear and not be able to gainsay it.
152
The love of our God, in pouring out of the fulness of Christ upon
me, was very unspeakably impressed upon me. When the
prayer reached what I have written, the power of the Spirit de-
parted from me at once, and I was left in amazement at what
had occurred. Faith told me then, and confirms me now, in
the mind of God concerning it; but I am simply shut up unto
faith, waiting in calmness and composure upon the Lord.
The same secret workings of the Spirit continue; but I have
no utterance, nor at present any greater power of testifying
than before, just abiding in the faith, that the Lord, in his
own time and own way, will make all things clear. I can
mention these things to you, dear brother, and desire to do
so, that you may remember me in your prayers, and that the
Lord may, (if he vouchsafe) counsel me by you. I tremble
when I look at myself and my own baseness; and I tremble
much more exceedingly, when I think on that which the Lord
has spoken to me. If I say, “will the Lord do thus unto
me?” I am ready to cry out in anguish of spirit, lest I should
be lifting myself up, and in the end dishonour the name of
God. If I would say, it cannot be, I dare not to limit the
Holy One of Israel–Faith says it must be, for the Lord has
spoken it; how and when, I dare not think. Oh, my dear
brother, I am much distressed and bowed down, and entreat
your prayers, that the way may be made plain to me. Look-
ing simply unto Jesus, and resting in him, content to be cru-
cified with him, and to be made an instrument for the Lord's
glory, I am at peace. As more than a fool, I fear the conse-
quences of my folly, and in my weakness shrink from my
faith and say, My vileness, my vileness.’ I am as a vessel
‘marred in the hand of the potter. Henceforth it is good for
nothing.” The Lord is evidently giving again to his church,
the wonder-working gifts of his Spirit. But, dear brother,
(may the Lord give us to speak with awe, and to ponder much
upon it) is this all 2 Is there not in the out-pouring of the
Spirit, which is manifested in the midst of us, an especial tes-
timony to the speedy coming of Christ, and the Lord's judg-
ments upon the earth 2 Is not the continual testimony, ‘ Re-
pent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand 2’ If we look to
Isaiah xl. we shall see the testimony of the going forth of the
spirit and power of Elias, which was individually laid upon
John the Baptist—was unto that revelation of Christ which
will make every eye to see him. “The glory of the Lord shall
be revealed, and ALL flesh shall see it tog ETHER.’ This is
the second coming. Now, our Lord said John was the Elias
which was for to come : still we look forsome manifestation of
the spirit and power of Elias, before the second advent.
John, a man in the flesh, was the forerunner of Christ’s com-
ing in weakness of flesh; and may not the manifestation of
the same spirit in the resurrection power of Jesus, be the
Elias testimony of the coming in the resurrection glory.
153
have not space to say more upon it, but hint it for meditation.
I would also hint the inquiry as to the nature of the cry,
“Behold the bridegroom cometh,’ which must go forth through
the slumbering church. The Lord lead us to all under-
standing.”
“ December 20, 1831.
“Though full of weakness and barrenness in myself, the
Lord is graciously pleased to open more and more his pur-
pose day by day; and we may well praise him together for
the glorious things he hath prepared for them that love him.
Oh ! that we had strength to receive them, and that we were
enlarged into the fulness of that wisdom which is from above,
and were taught really to cease from our own foolishness.
What an unfathomable depth of debasement does become
opened to us, when we see the Lord calling us to walk in the
power of his love, and the beauty of his holiness, and find
ourselves shrinking back from the Lord's voice, and trem-
bling under the sound of the coming streams, which shall
make glad the city of our God. Oh, dear brother, it is a
fearful thing to parley with the Lord's message; yet this is
what we are doing, through want of faith.
The voice of the Lord is among us ; the spirit and power
of Elias shall rest upon us. “The voice crying in the wilder-
ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ The great and dreadful day
of the Lord is at hand ; and the “hearts of the disobedient’
must he turned ‘to the wisdom of the just,’ lest the Lord
come and smite with a curse. Oh that our disobedient hearts
were so turned, then should we not be afraid of bearing the
Lord's message—then should we no longer tremble under the
fear of using our Lord's gift to the dishonour of his name.
Oh ! that we children had our hearts turned to our Father,
and that our Father's love were in fulness in us, that we
might cast out fear; for truly, truly, fear hath torment, great
overwhelming torment.
“The continual testimony of the Spirit is, that the Lord is
about to anoint his servants with the spirit and power of Elias:
to go forth endowed with power from on High,and bear through
the earth the testimony of the coming kingdom, working with
the power of that kingdom, so bearing the testimony of Elijah
before they are, like Elijah, translated without seeing death.
I do glory in the grace of my God, who hath made plain his
way before his servant. The Church is now called to lay hold
of faith, on the promise of Elijah (Mal. iii. 4.), and in answer
to the prayer of faith, to receive the spirit and power of
Elijah—a double portion of the spirit which rested on John the
Baptist— as endowed with power, to go forth as the prophet of
the Lord amidst the priests of Baal, and to bear witness for the
Lord, testifying to the world of the translation of the saints, as
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Noah testified of the ark, and finally to become wrapt from the
world into the presence of Jesus, as Elijah himself.
“If you look to Isaiah xl. you will see the voice is to testify
unto that glory which is to be seen by all FLESH TogetheR.
Our Lord hitherto hath not so been seen, nor shall he be until
‘ every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.’
If you look to 3d and 4th of Mal. you will see the messenger is
unto the sudden coming, as St. Matthew xxiv. tells us, ‘in
an hour when ye look not for him,’ and is also preparatory
to the great and dreadful day, not ‘the acceptable year,’ but
‘ the day of vengeance of our God.” The baptism of John
was of water, though he was filled with the Holy Ghost from
his mother’s womb, because that the Holy Ghost was not yet
given, inasmuch as Jesus was not yet glorified; but the church,
as the messenger of Christ, going forth now in the spirit and
power of Elias, shall not only be filled with the Holy Ghost,
but shall baptize in the name of Jesus with the Holy Ghost and
with fire.
“Our Lord said of John that he was the Elias which was for
to come. He came in the flesh to open the way of Jesus coming
in the flesh. Our Lord said he was the greatest of the prophets,
and yet that the least in the kingdom was greater than he.
The testimony which began in John the Baptist, was confirmed
in Christ, and in him opened. It was, as opened in Jesus,
borne by the Apostles and Disciples, and confirmed by the Holy
Ghost, sent down from heaven. It hath lain in the church
as a candle hidden; but now that the day of vengeance, great
and dreadful from the Lord, is at hand, the Lord is stirring up
his people to ask in faith for the fulness of the testimony; and,
in answer to the prayer of faith, the Lord will endow them
with a double portion of the spirit of witness, and send them
with power to prepare the way before him. The voice is one
from the beginning, “ prepare ye the way of the Lord.’ The
course of testimony is one and unbroken, from John Baptist up
to the very present day, and day of vengeance yet to come,
It has indeed gone forth as the successive blasts of the trumpet,
now waxing louder and louder; now sinking weaker and
weaker; now again bursting forth, as the breath of the Lord hath
blown it, But it is no new thing; it is the voice of the spirit and
power which rested on John the Baptist, and this voice will
contiuue crying in the wilderness, until the church enter into
her rest. Thanks be to our God, the time of rest is at hand.
O Lord, fill up the number of thine elect, and hasten the day
of thy coming. Fearfulness and trembling are upon me, when
, the Lord testifies concerning the Church of England, and other
bodies of men built together in ministry, ordinances, and
discipline, as branches of the visible vine, associated members
of the visible body of Christ. Ah! they will rebel—they will
rebel against the Lord; and the most fearful blasphemy against
the Holy Ghost and the most fierce and murderous resentment
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against the Lord's faithful ones will go forth from them. They
have made an idol of the FORM and of the SENSE, and the Lord,
in his just anger, will break in upon their forms and ceremo-
nies, and they will fight for their idol : they have gazed upon
the things seen, until they are blinded unto the things not
seen; and when the Lord, whose way is in the wind, brings
the reality of ‘things not seen before them, they will reject
and blaspheme. Oh, dear brother, our hearts may well be
sorrowful, for the place of the sanctuary will be defiled, and
that which should have been for the help of the people, shall be
unto them an occasion of falling. We must stand amidst the
blasphemers, even until they cast us out. But no sooner shall
the Lord have opened our mouths, than Satan will open the
mouths of the enemies,
“The Lord has not opened my mouth before any, but thanks
be to him, the power of his presence is with me in private ;
making me to wrestle in prayer, and to be carried onward to-
wards the manifestation of his own indwelling power in Jesus
by the Spirit.”
, J. Dennett, Printer, Uuiom Buildings, Leather Lane.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 O7463 0255