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(there is an uncopyrighted public domain version of this book that you can use without first obtaining permission at http://carlandtracey.com/books/visions%20beyond%20the%20veil.pdf)
No careful observer could have been with us during those weeks of the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit and doubted that there are two Kingdoms in constant conflict. As surely as angels minister and the Holy Spirit leads to a real Kingdom of light, so surely do demons hinder, while the devil presides in a realm of evil spirits in a kingdom of real darkness. One kingdom was made as certain to us as the other. Man was clearly revealed as the battle ground.
The Bible teaches that there are "the lower ranks of evil spirits and the higher" (Rom. 8:38. Weymouth) and that our conflict is not "with mere flesh and blood but with the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world" (Weymouth Eph. 6:12). Both Old and New Testaments teach the reality of a Kingdom of darkness and the reality of demons.
We related how demons were cast out of one man and how the larger demon was seen to rush about the room in great anger, finally seizing upon an unguarded school teacher, who was looking on, and throwing him to the floor. In this instance two boys saw this big, black, man-like demon enter the man of his possession. Several children saw the cast-out demon, chased out of the room by a Spirit filled young man, take temporary refuge behind some small trees in our court. This demon and the accompanying one about half his size were seen by children who were praying with closed eyes and by some whose eyes were open. But all saw the same things at the same time. The appearance of the demons was the same to each individual.
In the Adullam Rescue Home we had a young girl who very evidently was open to demon activity. She said that before coming here she was subject to "fits," or spells of unconsciousness. A short time after she came, she and some of the other girls went for a walk outside the city. On the way back one of the new girls who was half-blind and half-witted lingered behind and lost her way. The older girl, having gone to find the one who was lost, was returning home with her when she saw three demons before her, a few steps away. One was "as tall as a door" and was accompanied by two others about the size of a boy twelve years old. All these demons were dark in appearance, with big eyes and awful faces. The two smaller demons being apparently subject to the large one, obeyed and followed him. The girl was frightened at what she saw. The large demon, coming near, seized her by the head. She became dizzy and almost unconscious. She could scarcely walk. She could hardly see the street and had to be led home by the other girl whom she had gone to seek. Upon reaching home she was better for a time. A little later, while we were at supper, some one came in saying that the afflicted girl was in her room unconscious. We found her prostrate on the floor, breathing as if in a peaceful sleep, but we could not awake her. After praying for her we all assembled in the regular evening prayer meeting. Soon the girl came in perfectly well.
She said that she seemed to be bound by chains and dragged by demons farther and farther down a great dark road, while all the time she was silently praying; then she suddenly realized that the Lord had set her free and she was able to rise. At once she became conscious, and her mind clear. As she sat on her bed alone in the room, she saw the three demons whom she had met on the street now in the room. But now she felt no fear, for she knew that the Lord was Conqueror. Accordingly, she drove the demons out of the room in "the name of Jesus." As they reluctantly receded step by step she followed in the name of Jesus until she drove them along the walk out of the large Chinese door at the entrance of our compound. In the several succeeding months that she was here she had no more "fits" or unconscious spells.
I have given these two instances somewhat in detail, because the effect of demon activity in both cases was so evident that any kind of an observer could have told that something supernatural had taken place. We might tell of many instances of demon activity that have come under our observation the last few years, but these two are sufficient in this connection; we want to tell something of the demon activity in connection with the special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
When there were manifestations we did not understand we kept praying and trusting the Lord, but decided not to interfere unless we clearly saw something that was harmful or sinful. After eight weeks of wonderful manifestations of the Holy Spirit we were most thankful that we had allowed such liberty among the children. We saw how marvellously the Lord had led them, and things we did not understand at first proved to be part of the Lord's plan in giving us some of the most wonderful and precious revelations.
Among these unusual revelations were those of the demons the children saw.
While some of the children were having a blessed time in the Holy Spirit, others went to sleep when they tried to pray. Those under the anointing could often see demons by those who were drowsy and could not pray through. They saw demons coming in through the open window or the door. Sometimes they saw demons lazily reclining under the table or upon a couch that was in the room. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the children, with closed eyes, in the Name of Jesus would rout the demons out of their places and follow them until they went out of the door or window.
They frequently followed these demons out of the room, opened a front or back door to the compound, and chased the demons off the premises. When demons appeared on the scene they were often seen by several persons at the same time.
Some of the children had seen demons before. We found that in spite of all our teaching about the Lord they were still so afraid of demons they dare not go to their rooms alone at night, and they covered their heads when they slept. Through these revelations, however, the children found that the largest and fiercest demons were unavailing against the smallest child covered by Jesus' blood, so that, for the first time, we had a happy lot of Chinese children who had lost their fear of demons, were not afraid in the dark, and were not afraid to sleep with uncovered heads.
You may wonder what the Demons were Like.
The demons seen are best described as resembling the demon idols in Chinese temples. According to the Bible [1] and according to the Chinese, much idolatry is demon worship. Making idols of the demon type is an attempt to reproduce the likeness of demons that have been seen.
The children saw demons as "high as a door," with pointed chins and warty heads. There were others of different appearance too, some half this size. There were smaller ones two or three feet high and little ones a few inches high, following the larger demons about.
The large, big-eyed, fierce-looking demons are the ones to be feared as having power to bind and take captives to hell.
The hosts of the powers of the air and their works of darkness in cooperation with demons on earth were seen by various Adullam witnesses, whose testimony is as follows:
The government of the hosts of evil is in mid-heaven. Here are thrones from which the devil's angels exercise their Satanic government over the earth. These rulers of darkness vary: some are larger in stature than others; there is variation in dress, crowns, facial expression, disposition, and authority. In all respects they are as devilish in appearance and acts as the hosts of Satan are expected to be.
These rulers of evil are in constant contention among themselves, each resenting the authority of those higher in power, each jealous of the other and all covetous of the seats of highest rank. Those in higher rank hold their positions, not by consent of the lower orders, but solely through their own superior fierceness and power. Cliques and individuals are in constant conflict and quarrels.
All have crowns that represent various orders and ranks. All desire to sit on the thrones above and supervise the work of evil on earth, rather than descend on delegated duties to further the demonical powers below.
Those of highest rank sit on thrones in the mid-heavens, ruling over innumerable hosts of evil spirits, from whose number delegations are constantly dispatched to earth to entice its inhabitants, to withstand the forces of righteousness, to strengthen weak places in the demonical forces of earth, and to bind and to drag the souls of evil men to hell when they die.
Although these wicked angels fly in high heaven to the very gates of the New Jerusalem and although they descend to earth and fly in its air, the center where they congregate in countless numbers is in the region of the thrones of authority in the mid-heavens. Here evil hosts of wicked spirits of all sizes fly hither and thither or move about more deliberately. A certain halo surrounds the wicked angels of higher rank.
All are similar in some respects: All have wings, all have crowns, all belong in the heavens. The delegated messengers go to earth only temporarily. Their evil errand finished, they again return to the heavens.
The hosts of evil spirits on earth are very different from the devil's angels. These on earth do not have wings; they can walk and run rapidly; and they move freely but apparently do not leave the earth. They vary in size from a few inches to ten feet in height, wear gaudy colored clothes of many stripes, and have fancy caps of various shapes and colors; some, on the other hand, wear rags or filthy garments.
Some of these demons on earth have very little power and are of a rather harmless order. Others, however, are large in stature, fierce in appearance, and have great power. These on earth withstand the work of righteous men and the work of angels among men. In one of their conflicts with an angel, earthly demons of highest rank, assisted by others of lower rank, gathered about the angel, trying to strike him with clubs, swords, and other weapons. Through faith and praising the Lord, the angel so withstood this onslaught that no blow fell upon him nor could an evil hand touch him. The demons of less power, standing at a little distance and watching the conflict, upon seeing their companions unsuccessful in their attack, besought the powers of evil in the heavens to send a reinforcement of the devil's angels from the air. In response to this entreaty a detachment of ten angels were sent down. As these approached the earth the demons below clapped their hands in joyous welcome. When the wicked angels from above reached the scene of conflict these less powerful demons, receding a distance, stood in respectful quietness in the presence of the Satanic delegation from above, who now took up the conflict with the angel. These forces the angel also withstood with praises and faith until suddenly the Glory of God descended and entirely routed all the hosts of evil.
The boy who saw a Christian die also saw what takes place when the unconverted die.
When one man who did not know the Gospel died, his soul, after being liberated from the body, wandered about unhindered from place to place on earth, until one of the devil's angels, descending from the sky with chains, bound him and forced him down to hell. The death of a professing Christian who had known the Lord, but had not truly repented, was still more terrible. When this man was dying, demons by his deathbed waited in fiendish delight for the liberation of the soul of this hypocritical, one-time professing Christian. The demons began to bind him before he was entirely out of the body and completed the binding of their captive the minute he drew his last ungodly breath. The hypocrite did not enjoy one moment of freedom to wander about the earth. An object of ridicule to his demon captors, in terror he was at once dragged and pushed into hell.
One such ungodly man was the special sport of demons who, having bound him in chains, dragged him along on the earth, again and again jerking him up on his feet only again to drag him down and haul him along like a dead dog. After furnishing amusement for his captor the man was dragged down the dark road to the infernal regions.
There was a boy dragged from Adullam to Hell because he had been so bad he was discharged as errand boy by an officer in the army. After seeing him begging on the street for several days we took him into the Adullam Rescue Home. He promised to reform, made an outward showing of decency, heard the Gospel for a considerable time, and professed repentance.
Different articles disappeared from the Home, but the thief was not found until this boy was caught on his way to sell the stolen plunder. We then put him out of the Home.
After several months of beggar life, during which time this boy repeatedly promised to reform if only we would allow him to return, we gave him another chance. The Lord also gave him another chance, for there were manifestations of the Holy Spirit and supernatural revelations sufficient to make the way of life clear to the most simple. This boy himself had anointings of the Holy Spirit, when the Lord dealt directly with him about his sins and showed him the better way. In spite of all this the boy ran away and joined a street gang of beggar-thieves. A few months later he fell and broke his arm, infection set in, and he was about to die when he was picked up by a hospital worker. In the hospital he was so hopelessly disobedient that he was thrown out and was soon in a dying condition on the street. Coming to us with promises of repentance, we pitied him and took him in once more.
Day by day he neared the end of the way. The night before he died I was awakened by unearthly shrieks that sounded like uncanny howls of some wild animal or of some fiend. The next day when the boy died I was away from home. As he lay in death throes, delighted, awful hellish demons gathered about him. When his soul was leaving his body the boy seeing his captors, wept, yelled, shrieked, and cried at the top of his voice in wildest terror; "Mr. Baker, help! help! help! O, Mr. Baker, come quickly ! Mr. Baker, Mr. Baker, Mr. Baker! Help, they are all about me with chains! They have come for me. Help, help, Mr. Baker, help! Oh, oh, oh, help! help! help! They are binding me with chains. Help! help! Oh, oh, oh, help! Oh—h—e—l—"
Over and over again children had visions of hell and the lake of fire. The first time any one was under the anointing of the Spirit he usually had a vision of hell. He was bound in chains by demons and taken through a region of darkness. Some children could hear demons all about them in this region. If taken far, they could see a dim light in the distance which proved to be reflections from the lake of fire. Some children were forced so near they could see the lake of fire ahead. All the time they were pleading the blood of Christ, asserting that they would not obey and would not be subject to the slavery of their captors. They believed Jesus would surely save. We have already told how at this climax, before the lake of fire was reached, the Lord did intervene with His blood-bought salvation.
The Bible pictures hell as a place of blackness and darkness, [2] and it teaches that part of the devil's angels are now reserved in chains of darkness awaiting judgment.
The children saw not only darkness in hell, but also the Lake of Fire that was always approached through a region of stygian darkness. [3] In vision they were led to the edge of a great lake of molten fire in a semi-dark pit from which arose clouds of smoke. When the smoke settled low the fire in the lake was less distinct. When the smoke lifted a little, the burning lake with red and greenish flames and its inmates could be distinctly seen.
When the children were peering down into this pit in hell we saw them taking a firm hold on some piece of furniture or getting down on their hands and knees, cautiously bending forward to peep into the infernal regions. They looked a moment and then drew back, afraid lest they fall in. They were horrified at what they saw. Then very cautiously they looked again and drew back. Sometimes the children lay flat on their stomachs, lest they slip and fall while looking over the brink of the lake of fire.
The lost were seen going into hell. Some fell in, some walked over the brink, and some were bound by demon chains and cast into hell by demons. One boy saw groups of the wicked bound in bundles, ready to be cast into this furnace of fire. [4]
When the fire abated and the smoke settled down the moans of the miserable could be heard. When the fire at intervals increased in intensity and the smoke lifted a little there were shrieks and wails of agony.
One person was rolled on the floor and caused to cry out as would a suffering soul in hell.
In the lake of fire were oceans of hands reaching up for help. Those below appealed to those looking in upon them to come to their rescue. We could hear the children talking to them just as you can hear someone talking over the telephone and get but one end of the conversation. We could hear one end of a conversation like this: "I can't help you." "No, I cannot do anything for you." "But when you were alive you would not obey the gospel." "No, it is too late; before you got here I preached to you, but you made fun of me and despised Jesus. Now you know I told you the truth." "No, I cannot do anything; this is the judgment of God." "If you had obeyed, you would now be enjoying heaven with us." After some such conversation the children were led away to enjoy the presence of Jesus in heaven or the glories of the golden streets of the Paradise of God.
Lazarus could see the rich man in hell tormented in flames, and the rich man could talk with Lazarus, but he could not cross the gulf. When Christ reigns as King of Kings upon the earth the redeemed nations will look upon the lost. [5]
One boy saw his grandmother in hell, whom he had tried to win to Christ. She was once a sorceress and murderer who had withstood the gospel she heard in her village and caused many to refuse the light. Other children also had visions of relatives in hell. This tribal boy who saw his grandmother in hell was the boy who saw his little sister and his believing aunt in heaven.
There was no vision of anyone in heaven or the name of anyone on the mansions by the golden streets who did not trust in Jesus. Those in hell were all unbelievers. One night when the Lord spoke through a small boy in wonderful prophecy, among the things he said was, "There will be no one in heaven except those who believe the gospel."
After the Lord had taken the boys and girls through most wonderful and systematic lessons in the Holy Spirit they nearly all came at last to the parting of the roads.
In this vision, repeated until it seemed the impression could never be forgotten, the one in vision seemed to be standing by the cross at the parting of the two great roads. The one was the narrow way of life that leads to heaven and glory; the other was the broad way to hell and destruction.
Great, busy, hurrying multitudes—multitudes hustling with business, carrying great loads of sin and rushing along with the affairs of life -- were passing by in endless streams and countless numbers. The child was the preacher at the cross roads. Again we heard one side of the conversation: "Hello! my friend! Please wait a minute; I want to speak to you. Say, do not go down that broad road; it leads to hell and ruin. I have been down that way and have seen hell for myself. Stop here by the cross and let Jesus wash all your sins away. From the Cross of Christ here you can start up this other road that will lead you to heaven and everlasting life and joy. Oh! that fellow does not believe it. There he goes on down the broad road. What a pity! I will stop this other man and see if he will believe. Hey there! Just a minute! Say, do not follow that crowd. They do not know where they are going. That road leads to destruction; that is the road to the lake of fire. Please don't go on. I came out here to stop as many of you as possible and give you fair warning. Better turn aside here, let Jesus wash your sins away, and go with us up the road to heaven where God is. Oh, there he goes, too!
"Here is another. Wait a moment! Say, come out of that crowd. Cannot you see there is no one traveling back this way? They all go down that road; no one ever comes back. That is the broad road to hell. Stop here by the cross, believe the gospel of salvation through Jesus' blood, and you will be safe. There is no other road further on. This is the only road to heaven. Turn in here or you will be lost too.
"Oh, what a pity he does not believe me. There he goes with the others."
Sometimes the youthful preacher would decide that if no one believed him he would follow the wilful crowd to see what happened. When he arrived with the crowd at the brink of the lake of fire in hell, we heard him say, "Look at that crowd falling into hell! Not one escapes. Everyone goes in." Slowly drawing near the edge of the pit and leaning over and looking down into the lake with its suffering multitudes, the preacher said: "I cannot help you now. I told you all about this back there at 'the gospel cross roads,' but you would not believe. No, you would not believe, even if I could help you out. No, I am helpless now. If you had listened when I warned, the Lord would have saved you; you came on and fell in because you would not take advice. No, I can't. I am going back to the cross roads to see if I can find someone who will listen, and stop a few at any cost."
He was occasionally successful in persuading one to listen. Then he would say, "Now, you get down there at the foot of the cross of Jesus and pray. Oh, you don't know how to pray? Well, you say what I tell you. 'Jesus, I am a sinner! I was on my road to hell. I am only fit for hell. The big load I carry is only sin. Forgive my sins and teach me to live only for your glory. Amen'." There was rejoicing then as the sinner was saved and started up the narrow road, while the preacher went out to try to rescue another deluded traveler.
These visions, with some variations, were repeated many times, making it clear that salvation was only by repentance and belief in the blood of Christ, through the preaching of the gospel; that the many were called; that few were saved; that the road to destruction is broad and multitudes pass that way; that the way of life is narrow and few there be that find it. [6] It was made equally clear that the Christian is to stand in the gap at the parting of the ways and persuade and warn to the limit of his ability.
We have told how the boys, even the small boys, went out at that time and preached on the streets with unction of the Holy Spirit, sometimes under direct inspiration such as we had never before witnessed.
I will close this chapter with the story of the university student who went by the cross roads.
Opposite our front gate lived a university student who was to have graduated from the university that year. After moving here I talked with him, asking him to come over and discuss the Bible and Christianity in a friendly way. He came a few days, and I felt certain he was convinced of the truth of what I said. The questions he raised seemed to be answered to his full satisfaction.
Through him I managed to get a chance to talk with some of the other university students during their vacation. I had been going to their rooms ten days, when there came the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Adullam. The students were friendly, and I felt that the student I have mentioned saw clearly the truth of the gospel. I could see that, although he was polite, he was not disposed to accept the truth and did not seem to like the friendly way the other students responded to the Bible discussions.
One morning when one of our girls was out at our front gate it happened that this young university student was out there too. The girl began telling him he ought to be a Christian, in a simple way urging him to believe in Jesus to save him from his sins, make him a good man, save him from hell, and lead him to heaven.
"What's the use of my being a Christian? I do not need to be saved."
"You might die suddenly in your sins, and you would go to hell."
"Who are you?" scoffed the student. "You are a little snip of an ignorant girl, just a sort of useless beggar. What do you suppose you are trying to do? You are trying to teach me something when you are not worthy to even talk to me. I am a university student. I am wise. I have read many books. I have been many years in Peking. I can speak and read English as well as Chinese." He then spat in her face and told her to mind her own business.
Two weeks later hearing a funeral commotion in the front alley, I was surprised to learn that they were carrying this university student to his burial; I had seen him on the street a few days before. One of the boys said that as we were going out to preach, a few days previous, he had offered this young man a tract, but he would not take it.
I knew nothing of this conversation with the girl. About a month later this girl was in a trance under the power of the Spirit. After seeing visions of heaven and the glories of the redeemed she stood still and bent over as though looking into hell. This is what I heard: "Ah! There is hell. No, I cannot; I have no power to help you now. You certainly are in an awful plight. It is you who are worse than a beggar now, all dirty, all filthy, and suffering in the lake of fire. In fact, you look worse now than any beggar I ever saw. I thought you told me you were rich and that you had a great education. Where is your education now? Well, I cannot help you now even if you do apologize. That may be, but I have no power. No, only Jesus can save you, but when I told you about Him you made fun of Him and cursed me."
"Look what we beggars who believe in Jesus have received in heaven: all is joy, all is happiness; all is love in the city of golden streets with its wonderful Paradise of God."
Then the girl seemed to be crossing the lake of fire over a narrow bridge. We saw her walking as though she were walking a rope, placing one foot carefully in front of the other while extending her arm on either side until she recovered her balance. With a sigh of relief she said, "My! this is dangerous! But the Lord will help me. I will get across to the other side." Then she carefully brought the other foot forward and nearly lost her balance again. She praised the Lord until she recovered her balance and proceeded as before. In this way having crossed the room, she seemed to be safely in heaven, past every danger of ever falling into the lake of fire.
Whatever the effect of relating these visions may have on others, these things have taught us in Adullam to believe more assuredly than ever in the reality of heaven and the Kingdom of God and the reality of hell and the Kingdom of the devil. More positively than ever do we assert that the way through this life that leads over the dangers of the lake of fire, the way that "overcomers" must travel, is like walking a rope which must be traveled step by step with fear and trembling. [7] Only the Lord Jesus can sustain us in the balance so that we may not topple in to the right, or escaping that, fall to the left. We are surer than ever that God means for us to stand by the cross at the cross roads to point sinners to the narrow, little-traveled road that starts at the cross and leads by it on up to heaven and the life the Lord has prepared for them who love Him. How can any be saved without this salvation; how can any escape who neglect this salvation? "For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" (Heb. 2:2,3)