Signs and Wonders God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty Years/Chapter 35
CHAPTER XXXV
SERMON ON VISIONS AND TRANCES
“Where there is no vision the people perish.” (Proverbs 29.18.)
This fact has been proven all through the Bible. When the people of God were true and faithful, the Lord made known his presence by visible signs, and revealed himself and many things to them in visions.
Then they always prospered in every way, and the fear of God fell upon the heathen nations and they fled before them, and cried out, “There is no God like the God of Israel,” and God’s cause was glorified in the earth.
But when they were backsliders and disobedient God hid His, face. There were no visions and the people perished in every way. They went on from one sin to another, substituting form and solemn feast and the outward, and offering polluted sacrifices, and trusting to human wisdom, and works, instead of the Power and Spirit of God.
Then He took away His Spirit, and visions, and signs of His presence. They were left in darkness over three hundred years, till Christ came, and then they did not know him. They crucified the Lord of Glory and turned loose a murderer on helpless women and children. Nearly the whole Jewish nation perished. All this happened because they would not be led of the Spirit of God.
When the new and living way was ushered in the Lord gave many visions to show that Christ had come; that the Son of God was on earth; that no one need perish, but whosoever would be born of the Spirit, Christ would come and dwell in them, and abide with them forever, and manifest and reveal himself to them through the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost would glorify him by revealing the things of God to us and by showing us things to come.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost was seen, heard and felt, thousands were brought into the spiritual kingdom of God. Peter stood up in a blaze of Holy Ghost power and glory, and said when God poured out His Spirit on His sons and daughters they would see visions and dream dreams and prophesy. He told them that these signs would be sure to follow the outpourings of the Spirit.
The Lord said to Miriam, “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision and speak to him in dreams.” Moses said, “Would to God all the Lord’s people were prophets and all would prophesy.”
Peter says we will all prophesy when we have the spirit of God, and visions is one of the signs that we have the Spirit.
The Lord says if we are prophets He will make himself known to us in visions. The heathen, or gentiles, were perishing; they knew nothing of the religion of Jesus.
God used two visions to bring about a great revival, where the whole congregation was converted and filled with the glory of God. This was the first Holy Ghost revival among the heathen. It was a sample of all that was to follow. When the people saw the visible signs of the presence of God in their midst, and He revealed himself to them, everyone felt they were in the presence of God, and sinners came rushing to the loving arms of Christ and were saved from the awful doom that awaits the unsaved.
“Where there is no vision the people perish.”
Those who are opposing the demonstration of the spirit today say we do not need these things, that we are progressing with the age, that we want an intellectual religion, that we must explain and present the word from a human standpoint in a scientific way.
In these last days the masses of so-called religious teachers belong to the class Paul said, who have a form of Godliness but deny the power. From such, turn away. They will not endure sound doctrine, will turn the people away from the truth.
These false teachers are in a worse condition than the Jews were. They are sinning against much greater light. They are willingly blind, and are teaching their followers to hide behind a refuge of lies, trusting to doctrines, and traditions of men, “In vain do they worship me,” saith the Lord.
The judgments of God in the most awful way are coming upon the false church.
We might say they did not need these visions in the revival at Corinth. Why did not the Lord call all the apostles, and the thousands of holy men and women who were filled with the Holy Ghost together, and let them do the work? No, he was going to show them, and us, that it is not by human power, wisdom, or a great multitude, but by His power and spirit that the people must be saved. They knew nothing about the great work till it was over, and the waves of salvation swept all over the country till they reached the apostles.
It was four days from the time of Cornelius’ vision till Peter came with six Jewish Brethren. The news of the wonderful Vision, and that such a servant of God was coming to lead them to Christ, spread. They believed that God had been in their midst and was coming in great power to save. They were convinced and convicted, and left all their work and came together; were just waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven to come in their hearts with power and glory.
Some say Peter did all this mighty work. God did it all, through the Holy Ghost. Peter only preached one sermon. He preached that repentance and faith in a living, risen, Christ would bring a present Salvation and a living Christ in their hearts to abide with them forever.
The ways and wisdom of God are foolishness to the unsaved, but God hath revealed them to his chosen ones; yea, the deep things of God! Oh, praise the Lord for the wisdom and knowledge, the fellowship and presence, of the Lord who lives and walks with us continually.
Stephen was not an Apostle, but he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost, and we all are commanded to be filled with the same power. He did great Miracles among the people. When he so nobly defended the risen Christ, fearless of losing his life, his false accusers looked on his face and said it looked like the face of an Angel.
The pure Gospel accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost, cut them to the heart. They would not accept it, and they gnashed upon him with their teeth. (Acts 7.54-55-56.)
“But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into Heaven and saw the glory of God—and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
And said, Behold, I see the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Saul, who was one of the best scholars of his day, and had a polished form of religion, would not believe in or accept Visions, or visible demonstrations of the power of God; so when he saw the glory of God, and heard Stephen tell the wonderful vision he had seen, when the howling mob gathered around Saul helped them on, and consented to his death.
Now the great persecution commenced. Saul, like a bloodhound, who had got the smell of blood, followed the trail, filling the prisons, and putting the Saints to death. (Acts 26-12.)
While on his way to Damascus to take the Saints from prison to put them to death, about noon, when the sun was shining in all its strength, this man who did not believe in the visible power of God, said he saw a light from Heaven above the brightness of the sun, “Shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.”
He and all of his party were struck to the earth as dead men. There was no loud praying or singing, or religious excitement to put these strong men in that condition. God had sent a shock from the battery of Heaven.
Saul, who had hated demonstrations of the Spirit, saw at once he was lost and on the way to hell. The Lord showed him while lying under the power of the Holy Ghost, that he must preach the Gospel, and wherever he went he must tell about all he had seen and heard, and things that the Lord would show to him in the future. Jesus appeared to him then and talked to him face to face, and many times after in vision.
The Lord used three visions to bring about the conversion of Saul, one of the brightest scholars of the Jewish Church. He was under deep conviction, neither ate nor drank for three days and nights. He counted the cost. When he accepted Christ he was filled with the Holy Ghost. The first thing he did was to preach a living Christ, and to throw open the prisons and stop the awful persecution, and show the despised followers of Jesus that he was their friend and brother. The Churches all had rest, and the waves of Salvation swept over all the land.
See the glorious results to the Church and the world. All brought about by three visions.
“Where there is no vision the people perish.”
Paul never doubted the power of God nor any demonstration. He knew more about the personality of the Holy Ghost, and his many offices, gifts, visions, revelations, divers operations, leadings, teachings and power, and taught more about these things than any, or all the rest of the apostles, and he proved clearly that all this power would be for the people of God forever.
The Book of Revelations is the most wonderful of all in the Bible. Christ appeared to John in person and gave him one vision after another. He showed him the Heavenly City, the Great City, the City of Gold, and the Jasper walls. The City lieth four square—fifteen hundred miles high, as long and wide as it was high. He was told about the climate, the inhabitants, and their occupation. He had visions of the great judgment day, of the lake of fire and brimstone and all the lost that were swept into it. The Lord told him to write all that he saw and heard, and show it to the Churches, and they were to (show it to the world.
The prophet said, the time would come, if any one had a vision, when they would be ashamed to tell it. That time is here. The masses of church leaders look upon everything supernatural as a disgrace and cry out, “Hypnotism,” “Excitement,” “Drunkenness,” or some other power. Just like the Jews, progressing with the age, they are satisfied with dead form.
The churches are filled with unconverted people. Where there are no visions the people perish. If there is not power enough for visions, there is not enough to save a soul.
The gift of visions was especially promised in the last days. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and hey shall prophesy.” (Acts 2.17-18.)
Thank the Lord, those days are here, and God is revealing Himself to those who come to Him in the right way in special gifts, in healing all manner of diseases, in all the fullness of the Holy Ghost power. Hundreds are having wonderful visions, and wherever these signs follow the word, all classes flock to Christ.
Dr. Talmage went into the Brooklyn tabernacle one Sunday morning and said to his congregation: “I have been to Heaven; I have just got back and will tell you what I saw.” The first one he met in Heaven was his mother, who had been dead thirty-two years. He knew her and talked to her. He saw many he knew while here on earth, and many were made known unto him that he had never known; saw white horses hitched to golden chariots standing a the doors of mansions, and others driving through streets, etc.”
Many noted men and women, and all classes of the children of God, are bringing messages from Heaven to earth. These things, with many other signs of the times, show us the Lord is coming soon for his saints, and to punish a lost world. The Lord help those who profess to love Him, to have enough of His spirit, to know the power of God!
“Where there are no visions the people perish.”
Paul says, while he was praying in the temple he fell into a trance. Paul said he would come to revelations and visions of the Lord. He was carried away to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell, but God knew. He heard and saw wonderful things.
That was a wonderful experience. He could not tell whether he was carried away soul and body, or whether his spirit left the body for awhile. But he was conscious of being carried away and knew it was the power of God. Paul said when the church came together if anyone had a revelation, to tell it. (I. Cor. 14.26.)