The Midnight Cry:
A Prophetic Witness to the Church Today

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08
Are You Ready?
What lies ahead for the Church? A prophetic insight.

What He was specifically referring to is the restoration of the physical life of a child who died about 11 years ago. Marc tragically died of cystic fibrosis at about age 4, an innocent victim of one of Satan's curses on humanity. God has previously told us that He will bring this young boy back to life – no longer aged 4, but somewhere in between that age and the age he would be now, had he not died.

The restoration of his life will parallel a restoration that is to occur in the life of the Church at this end time. God is about to impact this nation in a big way with the Gospel message. This will bring revival to the Church and project the Gospel to this nation as a witness – and in other nations – before the Second Coming occurs in a few years' time.

What is about to occur in this country has never before occurred in all its history! Are you ready? When it happens it will explode in a very short space of time. It will be triggered by the events of just one week!

This is what God is trying to convey to us. When God moves, we had better keep up with Him or we will be swept away by the flood of events that will follow in the wake of this tumultuous occurrence.

The dead have been raised before. Resurrecting the dead has occurred in the ministries of several servants of God from Elijah to the present day. But never in the history of the Church since the resurrection of the Lord (Matt 27:53) have people been brought back to life who have been dead and decayed – truly 'gone'!

Never to my knowledge has God predicted such an occurrence through His prophets. This presages a much greater prophetic awareness in the days ahead. It will be part of a massive revival on an unprecedented scale. Are you ready?

It is coming! It is sure! It is nearly here!

"It Will Pass Through And Overflow"

While at the National Christian Leaders' Conference at Northampton, England, organised by Colin Urquhart in October 1993, I was minding my own business when God spoke to me. He moved me in my spirit to want to say out loud that revival is coming to this nation very shortly. Since it was not opportune to blurt out this prophecy aloud in the meeting when others were praying silently, I wrote it down and handed it to the convenor of the meeting who read it out to those present.

God said, "There is coming an outpouring of My Spirit upon this land. It shall pass through and overflow and cleanse the hearts of My people that they will serve Me in singleness of mind and purity of heart.

"It shall not wait; it shall surely come," says the Lord.

You cannot contain or restrain God's Spirit. When God moves, nothing man does can stop Him. Revivals have come and gone in the past and the revival now coming will be no exception. That is why God says His Spirit shall pass through and overflow. No-one will be able to contain what God does. It will happen. It will come, and it will go.

Though it surely comes, not everyone will take the benefit of what God will offer through it. The people of God, who are truly committed to Him as Abraham was, will be able to make use of it. Their hearts will be cleansed and purified, and their minds given the resolve and single-mindedness that only God can give. They will receive restoration and new life. New vigour and dynamism will be injected into their lives and ministries. They will be able to do much good.

However, there will be much chaff who will not benefit from what is about to happen. They will be swept around in the currents which the Holy Spirit will create, confused by the direction in which God is leading His people. This flood of the Spirit will wait for no man. It will come with a purpose. Part of that purpose will be to restore lost knowledge and truth to a Church still not fully seeing in the twilight.

Are you ready? This is all preparatory to the dawning of the New Age — Christ's Age, the Millennium (Rev 20:4). Then, all truth will be completely restored to all peoples (Acts 3:21).

Many will interpret this new wave about to break on the scene as a work of the devil. They will not understand. Because dramatic new understanding of God's truth will be given, God will expect higher standards from His people. The Lord is our pace-setter. He is moving forward and is leading His Church into a restoration move of holiness. The chaff will not understand and will be unable to perceive the mind of God in this move.

Restoration and revival exacts a price from those who want to be beneficiaries. The higher God takes you with Him, the deeper you must go first. God is looking for a new depth of commitment from His children. For some, what He will ask will simply be too much. They will fail to accept the new knowledge about to be presented to the Church. They will step back from His perfect will.

Will you? Are you ready?

Look To The Spirit

In Revelation 19:7 Jesus encourages us to "rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready." How is she to get ready?

In Jesus' parable of the virgins, depicted by ten (the number of man) virgins, she is not ready. She has become drowsy and has fallen asleep (Matt 25:5). She is too humanly reliant. She is not relying sufficiently upon God for guidance, leadership and revelation. She is looking too much to man. She has consequently fallen asleep.

God is about to awaken a sleeping Church — a Church which has, for the most part, slept for about 1900 years! She must accept the fine bright clean [holy] linen the Lamb offers her; she must put it on. She must accept this new truth about to be presented. Those who do not will step backwards like many have done before (Jn 6:60-66). It will not be humanly possible to accept this new truth. It will not be what most will want to hear! You will only be capable of receiving it through the oil of the Holy Spirit (Matt 25:3).

"Yet whenever that may be coming — the Spirit of truth — it will be guiding you into all the truth" (Jn 16:13, CLNT¹).

New revelation is coming. Are you ready?

Jesus said, "You are My friends if you do what I command" (Jn 15:14). Abraham was a friend of God, because he was prepared to do anything which God commanded. Are you prepared to do whatever God commands? He is going to ask of you a new thing that hitherto He has not required of you. And yet it is not a new thing that He does. It was not new to the early Church. He will ask you to surrender your ways to His in a manner you least expect. Are you ready?

Expect The Unexpected

"Look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told" (Habakkuk 1:5). The way God works always surprises; often it astonishes; sometimes it shocks. Surprise, astonishment, shock, and disbelief will emerge as a result of what is just around the corner for the Church.

The coming revival is not going to be what most Christians expect. It is not primarily intended to swell the membership lists of churches, although it will have that effect to a certain extent. It will not primarily occur through the established channels or the most well-known ministries, although they will be involved. It is not a move of man; it is a move of the Spirit. And the Spirit of God never does things to bolster the established organisations of men.

It will not consolidate power; it will challenge it. It will not conform to traditional patterns; it will defy them. It will not magnify leaders of churches; it will humble them. This is a move of holiness and holiness starts at the lowest level. This is a move which will challenge fundamental beliefs and divide groups where there is resistance to the lead of the Spirit. Churches which want to cling stubbornly to traditional concepts will be swept aside and left like flotsam on the shore.

There has never before been a move of God like the one coming! Are you ready?

"In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations... and I will fill this house with glory" (Haggai 2:6,7). The present structures of churches will be shaken by this new move of God. It will bring persecution. "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth-pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other" (Matt 24:7-10).

The new wave of the Spirit ahead is going to precipitate an unprecedented shaking, which will trigger hostility and persecution in those who fail to move forward in the light of God's Truth. Many Christians will die for their beliefs, but he who stands firm despite the persecution will be saved (v 13). Through it the Gospel will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations. There is no other way.

This is not what the broad Church expects. It is not what most like to hear. But it is the truth. It will come and it will not be easy. Are you ready?

"Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for [that day will not come] until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, and even sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God" (2 Thes 2:3,4).

The new truth to be revealed to the Church will not be accepted by all. It will be fiercely resisted in some quarters. Some Christians, who ought to be submitting their lives to Jesus and all He says, will step back from following Him further. Many enjoyed the charismatic move and some other moves of the Spirit in the Body of Christ. This time, however, many will rebel and fall away from what God desires of them in the coming restoration. They will refuse to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thes 2:10).

They have got all they want. They don't want any more (Rev 3:16-18). Those who rebel at the new revelation will shut Jesus outside the door (v 20).

After this wave of the Holy Spirit has reached the whole world with the Gospel, evil will rise up to take its place. "Because of rebellion, the host [of the saints] and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground" (Dan 8:12). The rebellion will cause desolation and "the sanctuary" and "the host" will be trodden underfoot (v 13). Deceit will prosper (v 25), and many will reject what God wants them to do. Former Christians who have violated the Covenant will be corrupted, although "the people who know their God will firmly resist" this evil and will be strong in Him (Dan 11:32).

The end-time revival, whilst bringing millions into the Kingdom of God, will merely be a stage in the more important purpose God has in mind — the restoration of all things. This is the purpose of the work of the 'Elijah'. Before Christ returns, the 'Elijah' will do his work of restoration (Mark 9:11,12).

For this to occur, people must be receptive to 'his' message. That is described in Isaiah 40:6-7. "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them." It is a message of humility that can only be received in humility. Brokenness always precedes true change and restoration. You can either receive it or refuse it. Which do you really want?

"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance... the axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (Luke 3:7-9).

Are you producing the fruit of repentance? Will you do all that He asks when the time comes?

Malcolm B. Heap,  January 1994.
(This article first appeared in Awake! Awake! February 1994.)

¹ CLNT: Concordant Literal New Testament. An accurate concordant translation of the Greek, conveying its literal meaning. Available from The Concordant Bible Society; and in the USA from: Concordant Publishing Concern, 15570 West Knochaven Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91350, USA.

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I have just begun to read this article and am at the place where you say that nothing can stop this move of God. I feel led to share this vision the Lord gave me a short time ago. [Editor’s comment and interpretation in square brackets.]

I saw a tornado... then there was rain, very heavy rain. The drops seemed to be light, but there were zillions of them. So strong was the rain that it pushed the trees over. [God humbles people, and challenges institutions by His outpouring.]

There was a wind with this rain, it made the rain come as if in torrents [the outpouring of revelation, and Holy Spirit power from God]. It was strong enough to break a stop sign off. [Satan wants to stop it, but he won’t be able to.] I saw the metal stop sign bent over, but also the bottom half of the old-fashioned wooden stop sign was still there and I could see the jagged edges as it too was broken. [’Old-fashioned’, unbiblical, wrong traditions which have been long held, are going to be broken.]

Then I saw spasms of light come from the heavens, the light fell on the trees, then another spasm of light dropped onto them, and then a third. [God’s revelation and outpouring comes in waves. Three depicts finality.] The first two seemed to cover all the trees, the last covered just part of them. [The final revelation or outpouring will not cover the whole Church – all Christians – only those who are prepared and ready to accept it.] The trees that were the most bent – or at the front of the storm – got the third spasm of light. [The majority of believers don’t want this from God. They are not prepared to pay the price to be at the forefront of the storm, and accept the ‘battering’ that comes from uncompromising acceptance of God’s Truth.]

During this the word "storm" was impressed on my mind. [The truth God is going to reveal and restore to the body of Christ is unpopular. The majority of Christians don’t want it. Many will resist it and fight against it. Hence it creates a storm.]

I believe the vision was saying that there will be NO stopping the Lord this time. Not the former, nor the modern ways of man. In other words, not religious spirits, nor those who think they have let God out of the box (but still want some control) ...nothing!

The winds are blowing, the rain is falling. BUT we will all yield to the wind, and the rain, for it is of God. [All who are fully compliant with the Spirit will yield to it, but it will separate the chaff from the wheat, also.]

Those who have gone through the wilderness and have allowed the Holy Spirit to purge the things that are not of HIM from them will receive the third spasm or burst of light...

Would be interested in what the Lord would show you regarding this vision.

My reply (Malcolm B Heap) follows:

<< I saw a tornado.....>>

What the Lord is about to do is going to create huge turbulence in the Church. He is going to give 'new' doctrinal points that He wants the Church to accommodate in its teaching and practice.

But some of these aspects of Truth which the Church has forgotten and left to fall into desuetude, are not going to be welcomed by many. The promotion and acceptance of these aspects are going to cause ruptures.

This is why the word "storm" was impressed on your mind. It's not going to be pleasant at first.

This tornado is going to induce fear in many – fear of the consequences of accepting the truth God is revealing, and fear of admitting "we were deceived on such basic points all along!!"

If you are puzzled as to what these points of doctrinal truth are, I will be covering them one by one in articles placed on part of our web site at www.midnightministries.org.uk/mc_index.htm.

<<... then there was rain, very heavy rain. The drops seemed to be light, but there were zillions of them. So strong was the rain that it pushed the trees over. There was a wind with this rain, it made the rain come as if in torrents. It was strong enough to break a stop sign off. I saw the metal stop sign bent over, but also the bottom half of the old fashioned wooden stop sign was still there and I could see the jagged edges as it too was broken. >>

Zillions of particles of rain
The water of the Word cleanses. It comes in lots of little 'particles'. A little here, a little there; line upon line, precept upon precept, etc. But when it is all together, it creates a great torrent, which, when combined with the wind of the Spirit, just blows away everything that dares to stand in the way of what God is doing.

The stop signs
There are many ministries and church leaders who have stood in the way of this present move of God and who have (up to a point, and only temporarily) stopped it going forward. The old fashioned stop sign represents those ministries that are deeply rooted in old church traditions and are often the most stubborn to resist new things from God. It also represents old church dogmas and practices that are not biblically correct, such as Christmas, Easter, Sunday worship, resistance to the gifts of the Spirit, true worship in the Spirit, and hierarchic church structure, etc.

The bursts of light from the heavens
This move of God will allow the pure light of God's Word (Ps 119:105 – "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path") to shine on the trees. Trees need light to produce food for growth. Likewise, believers need proper teaching and exposition of God's Word so they can grow.

Three bursts of light
This light from God came in three bursts. Three in the bible often symbolises finality. This will be part of the final move of God before Jesus returns – the complete restoration of biblical truth that was lost to the Church through the Dark Ages.

Three bursts of light in this vision also depicts the plurality of what God does. Revival will not be confined to one sector of the Church by any means. The majority of believers will accept the first two phases of what is poured out from heaven, but the third phase they will not accept. The light that God pours out from on high to complete (third) His restoration of truth to the Church is too much for a large body of Christians to accept. So that light or revelation will not fall on them.

Yes. I agree that nothing is going to stop the Lord. We are entering a very turbulent time, though. The new revelation (appreciation or exposition) of truth that will be presented – via a platform that will be created by the miraculous – will be violently opposed in some quarters. But all those truly begotten of the Spirit will accept what God is revealing with this new light. The light is not anointing per se, but it obviously comes with anointing from God for no truth can be revealed without it.

Perhaps where you are coming from, and the believers with you will accept all that God is going to give. Perhaps God is saying that you will all yield to what God does. But there will be many elsewhere who will not yield and who will stubbornly refuse the fullness this outpouring because it involves accepting truths which hitherto have been anathema to them.

Malcolm B Heap, November 1998

Deborah writes:

I had a vision of Jesus. He was walking on a rocky shore by what looked to be an ocean or sea. He was looking across it and I could "feel" what He was feeling. He was wanting to come for His bride, but He was wanting her to be completely prepared. He was anticipating yet patient... and as soon as the Father says "go" He would be off to get her (us). It was powerful! His love for His Church is beyond anything one could imagine. I knew it would be soon that He would be coming, He was pacing the way a groom would when waiting for his bride when she is already in her chamber.