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At
the 'Street Meeting' Sunday 04-04-04, in Mid West City, Oklahoma; there
was a case of a heckler from a local bar that repented of his ways, under
the power of God and sought forgiveness after God's mighty hand touched
him.
This is not an overly rare
thing, as you will see in this report taken from the Salvation Army.
The existence of signs and wonders is still real. Used with the advice
of jesus.org.uk.
'AWESOME, BEAUTIFUL, THINGS'
Signs and wonders were a feature of the work of the early Salvation Army
and others, as recorded by William Booth's son, Bramwell. The gospel of
Mark in the last chapter gives us biblical examples. The following is
a sample of those early works in England.
According to Salvation Army Commissioner, Elijah Cadman, "Strange,
beautiful things happen when God has His own way with a man or woman."
All my life I have been interested in what are sometimes spoken of as
bodily manifestations, though I have had a considerable degree of misgiving.
One of the earliest instances of this happening was in the course of
a mission to Cardiff by Robert Aitken - not a Salvation Army mission.
In the course of this mission some opposition and ridicule developed and
Mr. Aitken was specially attacked for certain remarks he had made on retribution.
I was walking up the street one day when I saw Mr. Aitken approaching.
A number of men, on seeing him, flocked to the door of a public house
and jeered at him as he passed, one of them offering him a pot of liquor.
Mr. Aitken turned sharply round on this poor fellow, and said to him in
his deep voice, but with extreme tenderness, 'Oh, my lammie! How will
you bear the fires of hell?'
At those words the man instantly dropped on the pavement. He fell like
a piece of wood, apparently losing all consciousness for the moment. One
or two people assisted him, Mr. Aitken looking on, and presently there
on the side walk he came to himself and sought the mercy of God, afterwards,
as I learned, becoming an earnest Christian man.
At other times, I saw the extraordinary breaking down of ungodly persons
in the presence of God. I have seen men in our meetings, who were raving
and blaspheming when the service began, suddenly broken down as though
some physical power had laid them prostrate on the floor, and, after a
time of silence, weeping and penitence, they were confessing their sins
and imploring the mercy of God.
One case is recorded in my journal of January 16, 1878, of a meeting
following our half-yearly Council of War at Whitechapel, when nearly all
our evangelists were present.
"At night Corbridge led a Hallelujah Meeting till 10pm. Then we
commenced an all-night of prayer. 250 were present until 1am, 200 or so
after. A tremendous time. From the very first Jehovah was passing by,
searching, softening and subduing every heart. The power of the Holy Ghost
fell on Robinson [he was a North Country pitman of especially powerful
build] and prostrated him. He nearly fainted twice. The brother of the
Blandys [two evangelists of ours] entered into full liberty, and then
he shouted, wept, clapped his hands, danced amid a scene of the most glorious
and heavenly enthusiasm. Others, meanwhile, were lying prostrate on the
floor, some of them groaning aloud for perfect deliverance ... It was
a blessed night."
My own course, and the course adopted by most of our leaders in the presence
of those influences, was, while never opposing or deprecating them, to
take care to have the subjects of them immediately, or at any rate as
soon as it was possible, removed from the public gathering. This rapid
removal from the open meeting was a wise thing. It effectually prevented
any vain or neurotic persons from drawing attention to themselves. But
it is important to remember that we seldom had any cases that were not
entirely sincere.
I must have heard hundreds of testimonies to the wonderful help received
during or in consequence of these visitations ... In a certain number
of cases we had remarkable revelations occurring during the period of
unconsciousness. These were, however, relatively few in number, for though
I heard of many who had been conscious of remarkable things, they did
not, as a rule, seem anxious to say much about them. There was a kind
of restraint upon them.
One of these cases was a woman called Bamford, an Officer from Nottingham.
After a visitation of this kind, which came upon her during an 'All night
of Prayer' in which she lay for nearly five hours unconscious, and during
which her countenance was most evidently brightened, she gave a picture
of something she had seen, relating chiefly to the felicity of the redeemed.
It made a profound impression upon my own heart, and, I believe it afterwards
helped her to win hundreds of souls for God, for she constantly referred
to it in her work as an Officer.
Nor can I dwell at any length upon equally well authenticated instances
of Divine healing. The Army has ever had in its ranks in various parts
of the world a number of people unquestionably possessed of some kind
of gift of healing. If extravagances have gathered around the subject
in some quarters, they ought not to be permitted to obscure the central
fact, which is that the healing of the sick by special immediate Divine
interposition, in answer to prayer and faith, has undoubtedly occurred.
Excerpts from Echoes and Memories by Bramwell Booth - London, Hoddr and
Stoughton 1925.
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