C55) Vision of the Acid Rain Cloud in England.
(by Richard Smith, 1994).
This vision emerged with an unusually vivid degree of clarity on
Thursday morning the 29th September, 1994, just before I was
about to go out and do some studying.
Following a period of pouring out my distressed feelings about the
condition of the Church to Jesus, who is our heavenly Advocate, I
saw ahead of me a large billowing black cloud which carried lots of
soot and other pollutants. Its sulphurous stench revealed that here
was no natural cloud, but rather it was the type of acid cloud which
arises from the explosion of some chemical plant or oil installation.
Blown by its own momentum, the acid cloud was rapidly heading
towards a low waterless desert plain which lay beneath some rocky
mountains. Filling the plain were all types of people whom I under-
stood represented the Christian population of England. Most were
indigenous white Anglo-Saxons, but there were members of various
ethnic minorities as well. These stood for the immigrant population
in England.
FOUR GROUPS. On closer inspection, I could see that this vast
assembly was divided into four main groups. The first of these was
the one that was nearest to the cloud and was obviously coming under
its influence. This particular group can be known as the intoxicated.
Behind them, closely intermingled together, were the second and
third groups - these can be known as the fearful and the angry.
Still further behind at a little distance was a smaller group who
will be known as the prepared. However, one fact was obvious - the
acid cloud was going to cover all four groups regardless of whether
they wanted it to or not.
It was at this point that I perceived that the cloud was blowing in
from the Westerly direction.
In response to this cloud, the first group were laughing, dancing
and singing. A few of their members were lying prostrate and making
all kinds of animal noises. Some were so deliriously happy that they
actually formed a dance line, which - while they were dancing the
conga - snaked its way into the cloud. With a start, I realised
their mistake. Already intoxicated by invisible fumes emanating from
the front of the cloud, this group were wrongly assuming that the
polluted cloud was a refreshing rain cloud that represented God's
presence. They failed to see what its true nature was.
The second group of Christians saw what the cloud consisted of, but
then panicked. Some ran away and tripped over, knocking themselves
out, while others stood there, frozen to the ground, looking in two
directions at once. Like the first group, they too were swallowed
up by the cloud. Their fundamental mistake was to panic in the face
of evil.
Whilst this was happening, the third group of Christians (who also
saw that the cloud was a menace) stood before it shaking their fists
and making all kinds of angry noises. Some were kicking at it with
their feet. Like the previous two groups, they were clad in light,
flimsy summer clothing. Their mistake was to try to fight the cloud
in their own strength. Consequently, they too were swallowed up.
Moreover, as the cloud ate up each of the three previous groups,
there was silence, followed by earpiercing howls of pain, succeeded
by more silence - which was broken only by the odd intermittent moan
or throaty gurgle which very much reminded me of a First World War
gas attack.
THE PREPARED: However, the fourth group of Christians were getting
ready to deal with the threat posed by this cloud. With urgent haste,
they were donning anti-chemical suits of clothing, clamping on gas
masks and putting on strong safety helmets which had a bright light,
like a miner's lamp, attached to it. Above the lamp (which represent-
ed the light of the Holy Spirit) near the top of the helmet was a
bright red spot. At once I discerned that this symbolised the Blood
of Jesus Christ. It was His mark on this group.
Strapped to their sides were white first-aid cases with red crosses
on them. These carried a wide assortment of medical aids to help
those Christians who had been burned by the cloud. In their right
hands they carried strong transparent riot shields, while in their
left hands they carried various types of weoponry. These were ob-
viously designed to fight the various kinds of principalities which
inhabit the cloud.
Suddenly, at God's own timing, they formed a line, linked shields
and marched at an orderly pace into the cloud. They were obviously
directed by the Lord to do this. It was also clear that they were
called to work very closely together. (Note; later, Richard was
shown that the strategy of this group would be to advance at the
Lord's command, fight strenuously, rescue and minister to some of
the wounded; then stand their ground awaiting the next call for
advance).
BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT: Somewhat taken aback by the
implications of this vision, I then used my mind to apply 1 Jn 4:1-3.
In blunt Yorkshire tones, I said "Do you, the spirit who has brought
this picture so vividly to mind, boldly confess that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh"? "Yes, I boldly confess that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh". "Fine, what do you say about the Blood He
shed on the Cross?" "Through the Blood there is forgiveness of
sin. It protected the Israelites from My judgement on the Egyptian
firstborn". "Good. Now let's take counsel together and have some
intelligent discussion. Without repeating all the details that were
revealed earlier, would you please, Abba Father, send your Holy
Spirit to complete the interpretation of this vision?"
THE INTERPRETATION: Still utterly in control of what was happening,
I then slowly took stock of what the Holy Spirit was saying. While
creating a piercing clarity of mind that served to heighten my
intellectual faculties, the Holy Spirit gave me the following inter-
pretation:
1) The acid cloud not only represented what is currently known as
the Toronto Phenomenon, it also represents all that will come out of
that occurrence. The Toronto Phenomenon is so to speak only the
front edge of the cloud. It is paving a way for even more extreme
manifestations of the evil one. In short, "Toronto" can be seen as
a beginning rather than an end.
2) Being blown by its own momentum indicates that within the cloud
there is only what can be described as a hostile alien spirit. It is
the head spirit of many other spirits which inhabit the cloud. More-
over, this alien spirit has been given permission by God to try the
loyalties of Christians in this country. Through a process of sharp
division, which will cause many wounds, it will become really clear
who in the Church is standing by Jesus and who is not. However, some
of those who belong to the first three groups will be given a few
further chances to repent. For a little while, the opportunity to
get back into a right relationship with God will exist.
3) The flat waterless desert plain represents English Society which
is bereft of the Holy Spirit. It may also have some bearing on other
places within the British Isles - even though it is England which is
primarily represented.
Another point to mention is that if the Lord's people had been on
top of the rocky mountains, (which represents nearness to God's
presence) then they would have escaped the influence of the acid
cloud. Their position on the desert plain has left them desperately
vulnerable to the corrosive effects. In other words, being in the
place where Jesus Christ doesn't want them to be has stripped the
Church of many spiritual defences. Far from putting on the armour of
God, it is wearing loose, light summer clothes. Furthermore, being
in the desert place has caused many Christians to seek to assuage
their thirst from the wrong spiritual sources. That is one reason
why the first group greeted the cloud with such enthusiasm. It
seemed to offer an easy way to meet their needs.
4) As was stated earlier, the people in the plain were Christians -
mainly charismatic/evangelical Christians, but there were also a
fair number of representatives from the established denominations as
well. They were conspicuous for their clerical collars, long robes
and self-important expressions on their faces. It was clear that
this cloud is going to have a very widespread effect.
5) As was clearly seen in the vision itself, the four groups rep-
resented four possible reactions to the acid cloud. Only the last
was appropriate to the situation in hand.
In particular, those who stood frozen to the ground looking in two
directions, stood for Christian leaders who were trying to find
expedient diplomatic solutions to what was an impossible situation.
Not surprisingly, most of their supporters were quickly deserting
them - leaving them alone to be swallowed up by the cloud. At this
juncture, I believe the Holy Spirit is clearly saying "beware of
man-made expedients in dealing with the Toronto Phenomenon". What
the Church faces here is primarily a spiritual, not cultural or
psychological problem. Spiritual weapons will be needed to deal
with it.
6) The role of the fourth group, which was the only one really
doing God's will, was two-fold. Firstly it has to use the spiritual
weapons given it to attack the principalities which were in the
cloud. Secondly, it had to help restore Christians from the previous
three groups who had been injured by it. Regrettably, some Christ-
ians they will have to bypass, because they will either refuse treat-
ment or be in such a wild state that it will be impossible to deal
with them.
By no means will all Christians survive the passing of the cloud.
Some will forsake their faith, while others will suffer from perm-
anent physical and mental breakdowns. A few will even lose their very
lives there.
I began to see that the acid cloud was also the cloud of God's
judgement, that will have to pass over the Church until evil is
forcibly removed from it. Only after the acid cloud has done its work
will the Church be pure enough to receive the cloud of God's presence.
This cloud will in turn bring further cleansing and much-needed
revival. However, the time for this second cloud to pass over is not
yet. Any hopes of immediate revival are therefore premature.
This means that taken as a whole, the Toronto Phenomenon does not
represent a time of refreshing, rather it represents what is perhaps
the first instalment of a VERY severe judgement on the churches in
this country.
In a very real sense, the mass of God's people are being handed over
to satan for the destruction of the flesh. Only those who are faithful
to the Lord in all things will be exempt from this judgement - even
though they may be distressed by its consequences. For members of the
fourth group, there is the challenge to stand together and not act as
a group of disparate individuals.
In closing, I believe the Holy Spirit is challenging you who read
this document to decide which groups you belong to - is it to be the
intoxicated, the fearful, the angry or the prepared? Great evil is
coming upon many churches in this country - there exists only a
little time to make this decision.
Richard Smith, 1994