THE ENOCH TRANCE
First of all, my name is Bill Lancaster. I live in Texas. I have a wife; Linda, and a son; Seth. I am a piano tech by trade. I am also a musician. I am 40 years old. The events I am about to describe to you are true and accurate.
Before I get started, I want to tell you that I teach nothing but what is written in the Law and the prophets, having been predestined to teach all things in them concerning Christ Jesus; being totally convinced that in due time God will accomplish what he has decreed, in his holy testimony, concerning him. Also, I was chosen to believe, not by any act of my own will, but by divine grace. This same grace also accompanies those who do not receive the truth, as they were predestined to drink that cup, God causing them to believe a lie. My hope is for the reconciliation of all things, through the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection from the dead consciousness of man's bragging about everything he has and does. This new kingdom of love will saturate us from the inside out, ultimately appearing to the world through our mortal bodies. With this act, God will bring life and immortality to light through this good news, not only for us [his elected ones], but also for all those who believe in him because of us.
I want to explain to you, first of all, that this experience was NOT the baptism of the Holy Ghost experience. I tasted the Holy Ghost in 1980, and I don't want anyone to confuse the two, although it was a wonderful beginning [thirty fold]. A friend of mine, Charles Ingram [a true prophet of the Lord] was anointed by God to teach the principles of the kingdom to me, and was told [audibly] by God to give me a "crash course” concerning the sons of God teaching [elected remnant, baptism of the Holy Ghost, fire purification, the inner world to come, etc…]; God saying to him, ”GO TELL BILL: I'M GOING TO MAKE THE FIRST THE LAST, THE LAST THE FIRST; THE HEAD THE TAIL, THE TAIL THE HEAD; GIVE HIM A CRASH COURSE IN MY WORD. I'M GOING TO DO A QUICK WORK; AND I WILL DO A MIGHTY THING WITH MUSIC IN HIM.” I was supernaturally DRAWN to his house, where he told me what God's intention was for me. While he was telling me these things, I heard a mighty wind. I was filled with the Spirit of God to the brim [from head to toe]. That night I prophesied in song with my mandolin. This was followed by many signs and wonders: prophecies, dreams, visions, and such; many which have already come true over the years; many which have not...yet. Because I did not grow up in a religious environment, I had no problem with any of these concepts. I did not have to "unlearn" any previous doctrines. My zeal for God was ferocious, burning out many of my constituents. Anyway, after my six-month crash course was completed [studying every night until the wee hours], Charles and I went our separate ways. I can never repay the debt I owe him. He moved all the way across Texas to Brackettville [on the border of Mexico]. Little did I know, at the time, that God was not through using "Charlie" as an instrument in my life. To call these events miraculous would be an understatement; I will have to tell you some of these other stories in detail at a later date, but for now, on to the "Enoch trance."
The events that I am about to describe happened to me in the month of June 1995. The reason I call them events [plural], is because there were several things that happened in a three-day period leading up to the "trance.” God's very orderly, as you well know, and after these things occurred the scales were removed from my eyes to allow me to see the perfection and order by which they were planned, designed, and executed. I did not recognize the exact sequence until after they were completed.
My life between 1980 and 1995 was to say the least, TRYING. It was a wilderness of illusion. I became complacent, took a lot of buffeting, felt hopelessness, tasted selfishness, watched my pride bubble to the top of the cauldron, and basically lost sight of God in his people. I grew angry, stubborn, resentful, and sometimes just downright hateful. My marriage seemed to drift into a dismal state of doom. In trying [by my own strength] to make Gods' word about me fulfilled, I had several spiritual children with my Hagar consciousness, all the while seemingly drifting farther and farther away from my cherished destiny. Still, during this time, there was that tiny seed of hope and optimism buried deep in the slimy mire of my carnality. Somehow, I knew that God would deliver me from the body of this death [hell]. I felt no sadness, no joy, no nothing. I felt nothingness.
THEN, on June 23,1995, I was on my way towards Oklahoma, from Paris, to tune a piano. I was contemplating about the Word, when I felt the unction to pull over to the side of the highway. I was in the little town of Arthur city, Texas. It sits a couple of hundred yards from the red river [dividing Texas from Oklahoma]. I exited and stopped the truck by the side of the road. The culmination of fourteen years of anguish and suffering hit me all at once. I began to cry uncontrollably. Suddenly a voice spoke out of me and said, “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF EGYPT.” Immediately, the car phone rang. It was Charlie. He was in Palestine, Texas visiting his daughter. Palestine is about a hundred miles south of Paris. I had not seen Charles for about seven years, and was amazed at the timing of his call. He began to tell me about how he had met a black woman named "Bette" at the trailer park where his daughter lived. They were prophesying at her trailer and the whole neighbourhood was being drawn together there. He said that several people had been baptized in the Holy Ghost [including his daughter] during meetings in their double wide. They had been preaching and teaching for three solid days and he wanted me to come. I told him I would come, but really wasn't sure I wanted to. I know that sounds strange, but my state of mind had been sort of “deadened” to spiritual things. That night I told Linda what had happened and we agreed to go. A friend and employee of mine, David Akard, went with us, also, my son, Seth. David was a twenty-year-old kid who helped me move pianos. I had gotten into the Word with him several times and he understood it. He had been raised very strictly in the holiness church, and was fascinated with the concept that all men would be saved. I had no idea what an important role he would play in these events [more on that later]. Anyway, back to the story.
When we got to Palestine that evening, the meeting had already started. This woman, Bette, was teaching in a trailer packed full of people! I'll bet there were fifty people crammed into that tiny living room [all ages, all races]. We took a seat, and she immediately began to badger my wife about CHOOSING God's will. I was bewildered by the level of this teaching and the fact that she picked Linda out so quickly from the rest of the group. My wife was having some major health problems that year and we had endured fiery tribulation because of them [aahh... the subjection to frustration]! Linda acknowledged her request [to trust God] and nodded in agreement [hoping that would appease her]. Well, it didn't! Finally, after Bette asked her three times to obey God, I told her [Bette], "That’s enough! She acknowledged you, now leave her alone!" A silence came over the room. I stood up and walked outside, stunned that I had said this. David walked outside with me. I told him that I wished we had not come and that the last thing I needed was a big dose of religious will-worship piety. I went back into the meeting where they had just finished up. I waved goodbye to Charles, and his wife, and told them I was going home. I still felt the nothingness I had experienced earlier that day, only now; it was magnified by ten. I had just blown up in front of the best friend I ever had and left without even talking with him. None of us said a word on the way home; all I felt was shame and remorse.
When we got back to Paris, I dropped Linda and Seth off and told them I was taking David home. It was evening by now, and we [David and I] stopped by my piano shop to check my mail. When we opened the door we were bewildered by what we saw. Huge flies were covering the walls and ceiling of my store, and I don't mean a few! They were spaced about every square foot, covering the walls and ceiling! Now these were not your normal, run of the mill flies; these were those big flies you only see when something is dead. David picked up a fly swatter and started swinging, but the more he killed, the more they multiplied! When we returned a couple of days later there was not a single fly in that building, dead or alive. To this very day, I am still baffled by that one. I didn't realize it at the time, but after those things were completed I remembered the plague of flies in Egypt [dual straits].
After dropping David off at his house in Arthur city, I headed back home. [Hmmmm...There I was back by that river again]! When I got there, Linda was getting ready for bed. I told her I couldn't believe that I had left Palestine without telling my friend I loved him. I told her I was going to sleep on the couch. She asked me why, and I told her I needed to be alone. Now sleeping on the couch is not something I do, so this was not a normal circumstance for me. I laid down into the nothingness; and when my head hit the pillow the same voice that had spoken in me earlier said, "I'M BROKEN." Then, I fell asleep.
I awoke the next morning to someone knocking at the door. It was Charles! He told me that when I left, Bette told everyone that I had a devil! [No comment]. She then went to preach at another church in Palestine that evening. While she was speaking, a woman attacked her from the audience! She beat her severely. The congregation had to pull her off of Bette. Charles got up the next morning fully intending to return home to Brackettville, but the Lord spoke to him and told him to, "GO TO PARIS AND LAY HANDS ON BILL [and his family].” Now for those of you who don’t know, Paris is NOT between Palestine and Brackettville! When he told us these things, we all gathered around a table in my den. I told him I was sorry for what had happened in Palestine. He said that all was in order, and everything that had happened was for a reason. We had bread and wine. David miraculously showed up just in time for the happenings! Linda, Seth, and I knelt down in my den and Charles laid hands on us and prophesied. I do not remember anything he said, except a special prophecy concerning Seth’s future. Something inside of me was made whole. A part of me was cleansed, in my inner being, that had never been touched -[it was as if I had been washed]. We rejoiced all that day and they stayed with us that night. Joy unspeakable! They got up early the next day and headed out. We thanked God for the great cheer we had all experienced. My family wept tears of joy that day for the healing that had happened within us.
After they had gone, I was sitting in my den reading the scripture, "THAT HIS CHRIST [many membered] SHOULD SUFFER MANY THINGS, AND BE REJECTED AND CRUCIFIED, AND BE RAISED AGAIN ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE PROPHETS." As I was thinking about these things, I looked up to see my wife kneeling at my feet with a bowl of water and a washcloth; and she was crying! I was shocked to see her sitting there, and wondered what she was doing [Linda does not have a Pentecostal bone in her body]! She said that while we were breaking the bread, God had told her to wash my feet; and that she had not done it. She said that he told her three times to do this. I told her it was okay; that she could wash my feet if she wanted to! I did think it was kind of weird-- until that water touched my feet! Another part of me was cleansed, different then the first time. I'm not much on outward show of spiritual things, but to this day I have never experienced any kind of phenomenon like that foot washing.
Linda and I then went into the bedroom to lie down. We were exhausted from the events that had taken place in the past few days; but nonetheless contented. We had no sooner entered the room, than a voice spoke to me and said, “YOU DIED.” Suddenly my eyes were opened, and I saw the chronological events that had taken place in the two previous days! I had died in some way that I had not understood before, [or at least PART of me had died]. That's when I realized that God's law and commandments, concerning his royal priesthood, had not changed; nor had his requirements for priestly service in the tabernacle. The only thing that had changed was my realm of understanding about them ["I AM THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER", says the Lord]. The sequence of events had happened between the outer and inner court of the true temple [inside of us]; a temple where all the articles within are invisible, and we shift upward from glory to glory; while the tablets of life inside remain the same; perfect, unchangeable, immutable. I had entered the outer court [the laying on of hands], washed at the laver [foot washing], been sacrificed at the altar [death], broken the showbread and sprinkled the blood [suffering, forgiveness], trimmed the wicks of the lamps [perfect unity], and burnt the incense [pure joy]. It was revealed to me that the flies were a sign, given me, to show the death that I would die. No one can see God and live! David was there as some kind of supernatural scribe, appointed to record all the events that would occur. In a dream I saw him standing in a priestly garment at the opening to the inner court. David was a witness to all these things, and I believe they are recorded inside of him. God also told me that it was necessary for me to be accused of having a devil, so that the scriptures could be fulfilled! The Holy Spirit had spoken through me, concerning my exodus from [spiritual] Egypt, and the broken state that the cycle of sin had left me in [potters' clay]. No one can approach God and live! Oh, how wonderful is the perfect order of our God! I marvel at his deeds! I was told that no one else but Charles could have laid hands on me. His place in the Melchizedek priesthood order was somehow still of vast importance to God. That is why he was drawn all the way across Texas, for this very purpose! That night I lay down my head in peace. I thought about all the wonderful things that had happened that day. Little did I know that the best was yet to come! I remember looking at my wife, before I fell asleep; thinking about how blessed I was to be with her [and my son]. Then I nodded off to sleep...
The next morning was the third day. I awakened to a gentle, light mist [glory cloud]. It filled the bedroom with the smell of freshness. I could see the sun shining through the shutters. My wife lay asleep beside me. Lifting my head, I looked to my right. There, on my wall, was a three-foot by five-foot moving picture! The vision was resting on my closet doors, and it had a similar appearance to a flat screen television. It was surreal! Our reality is a cheap watercolour compared to that vision’s clarity. I had seen visions before, but this one was different. I immediately knew, in the Spirit, that this vision was special, and that it had something to do with the consummation of all things! I was in awe of its splendour! This is what I saw: There were two men in a desert; both of them appeared to be Arab, because of their beards and the complexion of their skin. The wind was blowing, furiously, and they had on some kind of hoods or turbans to help keep the sand from blowing in their faces. I could see dunes moving three-dimensionally behind them as they travelled. The first man was walking with a rope hanging over his shoulder, tied to a camel [around it’s neck]. The second man was riding on the camel and being pulled along by the first. I could tell he was weak, and the man with the rope was helping him in some way. I could see their lips moving, but heard no sound. The vision stayed on my wall a solid couple of minutes, and then it dissipated like a reflection in a pool does when a rock hits it.
After it had completely vanished, I debated whether I should get up, or wake Linda. I sat up, and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. When my feet touched the ground, a jolt went through my body. There are no words in the human vocabulary to describe what I felt inside. The closest thing in this world would be a million volts of electricity, combined with continual sexual orgasm; but that would be pale in comparison. It was like the baptism of the Holy Ghost multiplied by a million! I fell prostrate to my knees, my skin complexion changed, and I could see the Shekinah glory radiating from me. I began to cry in sheer joy of utter bliss! Every cell in my body was changing and I felt as if I would be transfigured! It was Canaan! I could barely speak, and then only in a whisper. All that would come out of my mouth was one word: WONDERFUL! I woke Linda and told her what had happened. She embraced me. We were in awe of the vision and wondered what it’s meaning was. Then God opened my mind to understand: I had entered into the true Holy of Holies, and was standing between the cherubim of glory! I was on the mount speaking to the burning bush! It was the threshold of transfiguration! I knew that if God filled me one more degree, one more increment, I would be changed! The atoms in me seemed to be oscillating in and out of phase. Until that moment, I never REALLY knew what happiness was. David had accompanied me to the entrance of the Holy of Holies, but could not enter with me. I saw God’s law from this exalted perspective, and was amazed at the true, pure love that radiated from it. What once had been a barrier I could not climb over was now a giant pillar raising me above the lawlessness of carnal flesh! In the Spirit, I could see my sinful self vanquished; like some kind of virus that had been utterly destroyed by a vaccine. Compared to this heavenly state of mind, our NORMAL natural state of being is the equivalent of a spiritual palsy!
Then God spoke to me and said, “YOU’RE NOT GOING TO APPROACH THE LIGHT, BILL. THERE ARE ONLY TWO: THEM THAT APPROACH THE LIGHT AND THEM THAT ARE THE LIGHT; THEM THAT ARE WAITING ON CHRIST AND THEM THAT ARE THE CHRIST. YOU ARE THE PROMISED LAND, THE LAND I PROMISED TO MY PEOPLE, ISRAEL! FLESH, SPIRIT, CHRISTOS! FLESH [left hand], SPIRIT [right hand], CHRISTOS [both hands clasped together: Oneness]. THERE IS NOT ANOTHER ONE COMING [Christ]. THIS IS MY RESURRECTION; THIS IS WHAT I FELT THE DAY I WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD! BILL, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO APPROACH THE LIGHT; YOU ARE THE LIGHT [part of the corporate Godhead body].” Then I realized what the world did not know. God was going to manifest himself through a people to a people! I trembled! When I opened the scriptures, something had changed. My insights were vastly different than before. I realized that every verse was saying the same thing! FLESH, SPIRIT, CHRISTOS! The entire existence of God’s universe could be summed up in a single equation: A+B=C! Flesh + Spirit = Christ! God was colliding with his people! You see that’s what faith is: A - THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR [Spirit] + B - THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN [flesh], FOR BY IT [faith-both flesh and Spirit colliding] = THE ELDERS OBTAINED AN EXCELLENT REPORT [Christos]. Christ is any flesh anointed to save! Then I received the interpretation of the vision. The two men represented two groups of people: Christ- [the Spirit saviours] and Jesus- [those we did not recognize as God’s own flesh and blood; who were waiting for the God in us to raise them from their dead state of mind by not holding their trespasses against them. “IF YOU DO IT UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE YOU’VE DONE IT UNTO ME; FOR GOD WAS IN CHRIST [many] RECONCILING THE WORLD TO HIMSELF, NOT HOLDING MEN’S TRESPASSES AGAINST THEM!” What the world did not know was that the forgiveness of God’s creation would come through a chosen remnant and that they would become God in this world [be still and know: I AM GOD]! The stronger would help the weaker. Total forgiveness would come into the world by them. ABOUT THE SON [plural] HE SAYS, "YOUR THRONE O GOD IS FOR EVER, AND EVER; A SCEPTER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE SCEPTER OF YOUR KINGDOM. YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED SIN. THEREFORE GOD, EVEN YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR FELLOWS. AND YOU LORD, IN THE BEGINNING, LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH; AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS.” No one can become God and live! I was told to go and look at a slide projector as a type of what had happened to me. The image that I saw on my wall was a projection that had originated inside of me, a pre-programmed visual event! The electrical current to the projector was the Spirit, and the Light was God’s radiant glory shining through me. “THERE IT WAS, THE TRUE LIGHT THAT LIGHTS EVERY MAN THAT COMES INTO THE WORLD.” So be it!!!
After these initial revelations, I was shown that the vision was actually some kind of supernatural seed. I did not realize that it would take years for it to sprout and unfold in me. Over the next six months I wept tears of joy continually, wiping my eyes and cleaning up my face just long enough to go in and tune someone’s piano. Then I would immediately begin crying, again, as soon as I was out the door. When I woke up, in the morning, I would literally pinch myself thinking that I was still asleep; and that it was all just a wonderful dream! If I was out in public, it was almost like I was in another dimension, like nobody could see me. But, I could see them, inwardly. They all looked the same! Fat, skinny, pretty, ugly, male, female, rich, poor, black, white, old, young; it didn’t matter, they were all equal in the eyes of God. They were in disguise, and their memories of who they REALLY were had been blotted out. God had caused them to forget their true identity! CHRIST JESUS! The day after the vision I went, with my wife, to tell my mother what had happened. When she saw me, she asked Linda, "What's wrong with his face?" We told her everything that had happened and embraced her. When I saw her through this new set of eyes, I found out what "HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER" really meant! I saw her spotless and holy; not with religious piety, not through a mind flawed with sin, but with true love and honour. Then I knew that the commandment was holy, just, and unchangeable; it was us that needed changing!
After all these things had come to pass, the glory of the Lord tapered off slowly from my spirit. The full blazing fire settled back to the small pilot light it had been before [still constant, still loving]. During that time, I spoke with many people in my everyday life, concerning the miraculous things that had occurred. I am glad that God tapered his glory slowly, or I think I would have died [physically] from a broken heart. I consider myself one of the luckiest people who ever lived, because I saw his fullness and lived to testify about it! I did not begin to cover the marvellous works the Lord did during this time; nor did I adequately describe the teachings and truths I was shown, as they are too numerous to mention in detail here. But I will say this: if one person is touched by these words, then telling this story will have been worth it.
I know a lot of people will read about this experience and think I'm crazy. I know some will say that they’ve heard it all before. Well, I could be crazy, and as for the experience, much of what I saw in the trance I HAD HEARD BEFORE! Only now what was a down payment [Pentecost] became the purchased possession [Tabernacles]; what was Sonship, became Fatherhood, what was theory in my spirit became reality in my flesh! I want them to understand: this is real; I tasted it. There is a land flowing with milk and honey. I do not believe in it; I saw it with my eyes and handled it with my hands [the Word of Life]. There is a glorified body and someone will possess it. Death will be swallowed up in victory! What was theory is now fact. Come tabernacle age! Come Lord Jesus! The faith [thirty fold], hope [sixty fold], and love [hundred fold] of our Lord be with you!