AN APPEAL TO PENTECOSTALISTS
AN
OPEN LETTER TO A MEMBER OF THE ELIM FOURSQUARE
By ALBERT G. TILNEY,
B.A.
Thank you for so kindly letting me
have the three books* by Pastor Barratt and Principals
Parker and Jeffreys. I have read them with much interest, and not
without profit. For they deal pretty
thoroughly with a most important matter which Christians in general ignore or
are ignorant of. And they deserve to be
heard. I trust that they themselves
would listen to friendly yet cautious inquirers who neither charge them with
trickery nor accuse them of being the servants of Satan. I am sure they are good and sincere men to
whom I respond considerably. I am sure, too, that they have had supernatural
experiences, but goodness and sincerity are no guarantee of infallibility.
* 1. In
the Days of the Latter Rain by Thornas Ball Barratt,
Revised Edition, 1928, London, Elim Publishing Co. 2. The
Model Christian, setting
forth the Fruit of the Spirit of Christ and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, by Principal Percy G. Parker (of the
Christian Workers’ Bible Correspondence School), Victoria Press, Park Crescent,
Clapham Park, May, 1933. 3. Pentecostal Rays, the Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, by George Jeffreys (Founder and Leader of
the Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance), London, Elim Publishing Co., Park Crescent, Clapham Park, July,
1933. These are briefly but respectfully
quoted as B, P, J respectively.
You have told me you are sure I have been born again but my
sincerity and goodness are no safeguard against my error (in your judgment) in thinking
they may be partly mistaken. As a
language master (realizing only too well how little French or German can be learnt
in four or five years), I am satisfied that to be able to speak overnight any
tongue untaught is really a miracle, and both professionally and spiritually I
frankly confess I wish I knew the secret of it. Personally, I am still after
these gifts we are told to covet earnestly and to desire, with inspired
emphasis laid negatively upon tongues and positively upon prophecy (1 Cor.
12: 31; 14: 1, 5, 39). For they were not called
temporary, and were never more needed than to-day. Moreover,
every Apostolic church was thus supernaturally
endowed, and these and other gifts probably lasted at least into the third
century of our era. So far I entirely
agree with our authors. But have they unchallengeably
demonstrated that their own supernatural manifestations (which I neither doubt
nor despise) are, in reality, the Pentecostal succession of the Latter Rain,
swelling the grain in the ear just prior to the Harvest which is the end of the
Age?
It is a momentous claim, and demanding the most convincing
proof. And the authors attempt to prove
their claim along two main lines: first, by the alleged similarity to the
Apostolic of their present-day phenomena, linked doubtfully,* at intervals in
this dispensation, with the Montanists, Camisards, and Irvingites (B. P.
77, pp. 60-69, endorsed by P. P. 113 J. pp. 196-200; the last-mentioned
acknowledging, P. 181, “In the present-day revival
with its signs and wonders we are continually reminded that this is another
outbreak, only on a larger scale, of the Irvingite
movement”) next, by the deduction that since their fellow-members
exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (which we are most happy to admit), the Gifts
they possess must therefore necessarily be the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. For, they say in effect, good people cannot
possibly be under the power of bad spirits. (B. 96, 106,
J. 148-150). You dear people are
undeniably elect, that is, the very kind of people our Lord foretold would be
deceived by Satan in these last days, if it were possible.** But how could Satan deceive the very elect
except by an appearance of most satisfying piety and scripturalness?
As the king and god of this world he is
as religious as he is resourceful. Who,
then, can unmask this expert, all-deceiving, counterfeit-chris?
who expose this subtlest, most elusive spirit?
Transforming himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11: 14),
he is quite capable of doing good that evil may come, with serpent-wisdom
yielding more than pawns to win a queen. A bad spirit may undetected lurk behind a good
man, for where evil is unsuspected it can exist with impunity.
* Vide Irvingism, and the Gifts of the Holy Ghost,
D. M. Panton.
** Not “if it
were impossible.” if you say you will come to-morrow, if
possible,‑ that implies a positive possibility.
Now this implies mixture, which our
authors, quoting James 3: 11-12, try to show is impossible. But the very context, vv. 8-10, reveals (like 1 Sam. 10: 10; 18: 10 and 2 Cor. 6: 14-16) the mixture, not indeed of plants or
waters, but of the deceived or deceitful human tongue, the actual point in question.
B., however, does admit mixture, though only of the divine and human (pp. 107,
135); in this he seems followed by P. (p. 161) who considers that Paul’s
injunction to “let the other judge”
the prophets (1 Cor. 14: 29) is a proof that even in Apostolic days oracles were of mixed
origin, human and Divine (instead of doubtful, Divine or demonic). The same writer (PP. 173-182) apparently believes
that, as on a gramophone, “many hundreds of sentences”
can be at will repeated in an unlearnt tongue. But J., speaking of tongues, is clear (p. 148)
that “that which tens of thousands of believers in our
day experience must either be of Divine or satanic origin, for there are only
two sources from which the power can emanate.”
Let us note that Satan
and his spirits can acknowledge
Christ, indirectly preach the Gospel
(Acts 16:
17-18), announce the second
Advent (2 Thess. 2: 2), and quote Scripture
while omitting an essential condition (Matt. 4:
6). Then, too, Satan can enter and fill believers, as Peter or Ananias; he can cast
out Satan (Luke 11: 19; Matt. 12: 26); he can bind and so, presumably,
unbind or cure, in addition to healing lunatics (Luke 13: 16); he knows and acknowledges Jesus and
Paul, and can expose false exorcists
(Acts 19:
13-18). Hence we cannot
always tell him by his badness. On the
contrary, he is an adept at mixing, and thoroughly baits his hook and conceals
himself with a fleece. So he gained
admittance among the gifted Corinthians, (2 Cor. 11: 4). The Gibeonites
deceived Joshua and the elders, and because, too, they “asked not counsel at the
mouth of the Lord” (Josh. 9: 14). They trusted their eyes, their ears, and their
feelings instead of God’s oracular test, far more effective than our mere
praying. Have we to-day a reliable Urim and Thummim (Num. 27: 21) that, neglected, allows deceit and
defeat? It is not enough to say that the
Lord is our Shepherd, He will keep us. True,
He is ABLE to keep us from falling,
and He WILL keep us only IN ALL OUR WAYS. For we
are not merely sheep, surely; we are disciples, students, servants - intelligent
and responsible human beings with definite instructions to guide us. We neglect them at our peril. Satan, however, will shrink from exposure,
forbidding tests, or suggesting others that are worse than useless. He will declare they are unnecessary,
irrelevant, even blasphemous. While God aims at self-revelation, Satan aims at self-concealment, avoiding the
light (John
3: 21). And while blasphemy in the early days consisted
of attributing to Satan the works of God, in the latter days
blasphemy will consist of attributing to God the works of Satan. Hence the arch-deceiver will especially resent
and resist the successful application of Divine challenges framed infallibly to
unmask him. But better
mistake Jesus for a ghost than a ghost for Jesus, Who welcomes (Matt. 14: 26; Luke 24: 39)
verification.
Now healings that are not mere nervous adjustments possible to
doctors and psychologists, but which include the claim to raise the dead (J. P.
202), need to be incontestably verified. Are they? Were not our Lord’s cures impossible to
physicians, and immediate, complete, free from convalescence or relapse? Why then does J. (p. 125) assert – “The root meaning of the word ‘healing’ is a gradual recovery”? Can this be an accommodation? For neither Young’s Concordance nor Parkhurst’s Lexicon thus attempts to alter the Scripture
record. If healing depended entirely
upon faith, it might be said that the faithful could be independent of at least
spectacles and artificial teeth. Concerning
outsiders, however, we read (J. P. 233) that the evangelist “lays hands on the sick, regardless of the particular person’s
faith or obedience, and the signs follow,” though in the Church “outsiders may continually come to be prayed for and not be
healed.” Are then the uncured
faithful always faithless, disobedient? And
are outsiders mostly healed abroad, in distant lands?
What a pity, too, that prophecy is reduced so often from
foretelling to forthtelling! But can real prophecy be simulated by
preaching or by recitation and quotation?
“The message is nevertheless from God; that is,
if it is consistent with the general teaching of the Bible” (B. p. 108),
and “Anyone who has a natural flow of speech can closely imitate prophetic
utterance” (P. p. 160). Again we are
tempted to suspect accommodation of the higher to the lower. If we really had a heavenly telephone, could
we possibly ring up our loving Father too often? (1 Sam. 23: 2, 4, 10, 12). Could we bore the One Who numbers the very
hairs of our head? Yet B. (pp. 131-132)
criticizes the mistake of “trying to be guided in all
the affairs of life by that means,” preferring prayer, common sense, and
a decided force of circumstances (if revelation fails), even in more important
matters. Following him, P. agrees (p. 161) – “Neither should the prophetic gift be sought for individual
guidance.” For
things are not what they were “in those early days,
when the gift was still in its virgin purity” (B. p. 132). Must that be a good and perfect gift come from
above that, less than useless, is sometimes harmful? But as a matter of fact, are any of the ‘prophecies’ really worthy of a place in an
appendix to the Word of God?
Coming now finally to Tongues, we reach at once, perhaps, the
highest and the lowest gift; lowest in Biblical order and easiest to
counterfeit, but high enough to be considered by many a proof of the Baptism of
the Holy Spirit, and, despite Babel, Balaam’s* ass, and probably Moses, Solomon and
others, the only and characteristically New Testament miracle or sign. In
*The cases of Balaam, Saul, Caiaphas and the corrupt Corinthians show there is no
necessary connection between spirituality and inspiration.
But the chief danger of all seems to me to lie in the very
method of “getting under the power”, as B calls
it. Is all this emptying, scouring, and
abandonment, really Scriptural? Have we
a right to resign our bodies and wills in such a way? And are Christians anywhere in the Epistles
taught to wait or pray for the Spirit? What
is to stop a dusky spy from slipping past a sleeping sentry
who even when awake has no password, is unarmed, forgetting disguises or
pretence? (1 Sam. 14: 6-16 and 1 Kings 12: 22).
“Spirituality and numbers”, confidently
replies J. (pp. 227, 255 *). B’s equally
restless answer is desperate and ominous.
“Even if he [Satan] did try to make use of ‘tongues’ when we, in seeking our
Pentecost, are under the Blood, and are abiding by the Word, and have sought
Divine protection against the onslaughts of the enemy, God would be no better
than the gods of the heathen, if He delivered us to the cruel tyranny of our
most bitter enemy - the Devil.” Yet he repeatedly scents danger. “A lying spirit has
been at work in some cases that have appeared” (pp. 172, 156, 154, 127);
“there have been Satanic
counterfeits in this, as in all religious movements”. P. echoes (pp. 114, 167) a similar confession
of fear. And while B. and J. emphasize
the misgivings and opposition of Christian leaders (B. p. 154, J. p. I52) - B.
lamenting that “even Holiness teachers are condemning
this whole movement as of the Devil” - what they fail to see is that
there may be a cause. For one thing, the
logic and assumptions, particularly of B., are most unsatisfying. There seem, too, to be actual errors in spite
of the bold and disarming title of
FOURSQUARE. In spite of the claims
to supernatural guidance, Foursquare Gospellers seem divided on British-Israelism, which is not commended to the universal Church;
there are those, too, who cling to the superseded Sabbath and the Law of Moses;
their attitude to women’s public ministry is unscriptural in the light of 1 Corinthians 14: 34,
37, 1 Timothy 2: 12; and
the notorious Mrs. Aimee McPherson
does not appear to have been disowned by them.
* “There can be
no danger,” he says, “of any person receiving an evil spirit
if he is seeking the baptism with the Holy Spirit,” though on page 171
he admits that “the protection of God against the powers of darkness cannot be
claimed even by the child of God if he persists in adding to or taking away
from this pattern” (of the N.T. Church). Is 1 John 4: 1-6
included?
But let us come at last to THE BIBLE TESTS THEMSELVES, the oracle and ephod of the Law and
Testimony. These are to try the spirits
speaking through the prophets, for “many deceivers are entered into the world, who
confess NOT that Jesus Christ is
come (and is coming) IN THE FLESH”; a significant omission in the
original ‘revelation’ through the Sunderland Boddy girls (B. p. 184), as also in Ferrar Fenton’s daringly erroneous rendering of the crucial Shibboleth of
John’s Epistle. Now an honest man, even
when he has successfully made purchases with suspected banknotes, will surely
submit to having any others in his possession examined by experts, who while
not questioning his integrity, will trust nevertheless only to what the
microscope reveals. We know that you
dear friends yourselves would pass the tests of 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 John 4, but we urge you to do what we fear you have never
been able to do, viz., to get the spirit you have received to confess by its personal
positive answers to God’s own criteria that it is the Spirit of God, under no
Divine embargo of silence as in the Gospels (Mark 1: 34; Luke 4: 41). All other tests are out of place or out-of-date.
Our sole, safe, sure touchstone password
and watermark must be the Lord’s HEREBY!
We respectfully but resolutely insist on
seeing the heavenly image and superscription, before we can pay tribute to what
J. (p. 226) describes as “the greatest and most
continuous revival since the days of the apostles.”
-------