The
Midnight Cry:
A Prophetic Witness to the Church Today
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11
The Coming MIRACLE EXPLOSION!
What is about
to hit this world is going to rock it to its foundations!
"What is that?" you
may ask.
The power of
the gospel of the living Christ!
This world is about to
witness a demonstration of awesome supernatural power. It will see and hear
of a spate of the most dramatic, controversial and 'unbelievable' miracles
taking place in the name of Jesus Christ! Dead people will be raised back to
life! I don't mean those who are on their sick-beds close to death, but
those long dead. Not just one person. Not two or
three. At least 50 of them!! People who have been dead FOR YEARS!
"Oh, yeah, I know. When
Jesus returns, the resurrection will occur and the dead will be
raised."
No. I'm not talking about
that resurrection to immortality in the near future. I mean NOW! I'm
referring to this mortal life. Flesh and blood. Bone and sinew. Walking,
talking, eating, sleeping human beings. Ones who have not yet received
immortality are going to be raised from the dead! 50 such individuals are
going to walk this earth again after having been dead for years.
Imagine a dead corpse, lying
in a grave, decomposing. Or perhaps you'd rather not! It's not a pleasant
thought. After several years, the flesh has gone and all that is left are
the bones which once served their physical purpose.
Then imagine giving these
bones flesh and blood. Could you do it? Of course not! Then think of the
spirit and breath coming into that body and causing it to live. Could you
command such power into it? No way!
There is only One who can
perform such a feat. He is the One who holds all power in His hands, and the
forces of life and death. El Shaddai, the Almighty God!
But what if He tells you to
raise the dead?
"Oh, come now. Don't be
ridiculous!"
I'm not being ridiculous.
What if He says to you: "Go, raise this person up in My Name. Give him
life!" Well? Do you have the faith to do so? Do you know Him that well?
Do you recognise His voice well enough to be able to discern when He gives
such a command?
It is not an unreasonable
command. Jesus told His disciples back then to raise the dead on occasion
(Matt 10:8). Peter prayed life back into Dorcas (Acts 9:40). Paul prayed
life into Eutychus (Acts 20:9,10).
Jesus raised the dead on at
least three occasions. He assured us that we would do the selfsame
miraculous feats He did, only greater in numbers because He has a bigger
work to do today (Jn 14:12).
Anyone can
do these things! Anyone, that is, who has the faith. The question is: do you
have the faith? Are you believing or are you dead spiritually?
"Anyone
who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing" (ibid.). The key is
having faith IN HIM. Too many only have faith in themselves and in what they
can see. They are too tied to the things of this world. Or they are cloned
by the teaching of their church to the level of perfunctoriness. Routine has
made them dull. Vibrant faith in the presence of Jesus in their lives is
lacking. Spiritually, they have died.
They need a resurrection
themselves – a new surge of life in their spirits.
Well, hold onto your hats,
for the wind of the Spirit is about to blow for those who can take it –
for those who want it. God will blow on you if you want Him to. Jesus says
He will do anything we ask if we are motivated to live for His glory.
Do you want it? Or do you
merely want mediocrity in the physicality of living? Many are totally happy
with a comfortable life, sitting tight in the convenient little niches they
have created for themselves. They don't want to set the world ablaze like
the great preachers of the time. They only want to be spectators. They don't
want to exit their comfort zone. To light the fires of God takes courage,
discipline and sacrifice. Few are willing to pay the price.
What Is About To Come
Jesus is alive! He is active.
He is doing His work through those who are willing to pay that price.
The first apostles paid with
their lives to light the first fires of revival. Things have not changed.
The same price is necessary today.
Those who seek to save their
lives, however, will be unaware they are actually losing them. But those who
are willing to lose them for the sake of the gospel will gain them with
glory in the life beyond.
What about you? Are you
losing your life now? Or are you holding onto it?
Christians will come to God
for all sorts of specious reasons. They want God. They want His power. They
want certain good things. They want healing, success, prosperity, abundant
living in this life. But Jesus was not bringing us primarily a gospel of how
to find success in this life. His message was one which should cause us to
focus our hopes on what is to come. God always has something better ahead,
if we are looking to Him constantly.
That is as true in the
physical dimension as it is in the spiritual sphere. And it is true in this
time of revival we are entering. The power of God is going to do some
awesome things.
When you totally give your
life to Him, your shadow passing over the sick can make them well. God did
that for Peter (Acts 5:15). He will do that again. Here was incredible
divine power being manifested through a man who only months before had
denied His Saviour in trepidation. Why did God use Peter? Because he totally
surrendered his life without conditions.
He was not out to get. He
sold out to God. He was not in it for what he could achieve for
himself. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who only give to get. They
have come to God for what they can get from Him. They still hang on to their
own personal idols. They won't part with their money to bring truth to
others. They are more concerned about their own security. They let others
shoulder the burden.
There are those who want to
cocoon themselves in their home or their church and shy away from witnessing
for Christ. Why are they so fearful? Don't they realise HE IS ALIVE!? That
He will give them the right words when the opportunity arises? Sadly their
faith in Him is so weak! They don't look for such chances. They would rather
such opportunities don't arise!
There are those who ignore
the needs of the needy. They profess Christ's name, read His Word and pray
to Him each day. They may even pray in tongues and utilise some of the power
in the gifts of His Spirit, but when it comes to really
helping others and taking risks to do God's will, well… they decline. They
would rather stay within their comfort zone.
Each one of us must
take risks for God. We are called to do so. Jesus took the greatest risk
possible when He risked all to live as a human for our sakes. Can't we
reciprocate in even the smallest ways? What if He had sinned? He would have
failed. We would have had no Saviour. What if He had struck back at His
persecutors in those final agonising moments on the cross? One sin was
enough to blow it!
He gave His all for you and
for me. We must respond likewise.
A friend confided in us
recently of a dream he was given by the Lord. He saw a sieve being shaken.
In this sieve were people – Christians. They were holding on to all sorts
of things in their lives represented by the mesh of the sieve. But
underneath the sieve was Jesus. Those who let go and fell through, fell into
His arms. Ironically, those who stubbornly clung on out of fear, or pride or
self-reliance, were actually resisting God's shaking.
If you are one of those who
clings to the sieve, let me ask you this. Are you not prepared to take
risks, knowing He is in full control and can carry you? Come on! Where's
your faith in Him?
"He who has faith in Me
will do what I have been doing…" When you pay the price,
He will come up with the goods. It is as simple as that. That
is the formula for spiritual success. Healing, deliverance, whatever it is
you want, the key is here. All you have to do is turn it. It's up to you.
If you want to be a part of
what is to come, you can be.
Peter, John, James and the
other apostles all performed miracles. Through what they did and said, they
shook their world. Those who preach the gospel with power
always do. It is the power of God which bears testimony to the message and
the One behind the messenger. You cannot preach the gospel for a
witness without the demonstration of miraculous power. Power
witnesses! Divine power witnesses for God.
What is the greatest witness
of divine power? Raising the dead! Satan may try to counterfeit some other
divine manifestations (although his power is not anywhere near as great as
the Holy Spirit's), but there's one thing he cannot counterfeit. He can't
mimic putting flesh on dead bones and then giving the corpse life.
The disciples prayed:
"Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders
through the name of your holy servant Jesus" (Acts 4:30). The result
was electric. "The place where they were meeting was shaken…"
When your conviction and
commitment is as great as theirs, you will shake the world too!
God has left the best wine
till last. The greatest harvest is yet to come. The greatest miracles are
yet to be witnessed. The dead have been raised before, even in our lifetime.
But none has come back from the dead to match the miracle that occurred when
Jesus died (Matt 27:52). You will hear of that soon!
We know of a little boy who
died over ten years ago who will be brought back to life. We also have been
told that another teenage boy who died of leukaemia will be resurrected. And
we expect a 20 year old girl who was murdered to be restored. God has not
told us everything. The secret things belong to Him.
Why is Jesus going to do
these things? To bring glory to the Father (Jn 14:13). If we have the same
godly desire in our hearts, Jesus says, "You may ask Me for anything in
my name, and I will do it."
Are you prepared? Are you
prepared to say to dry bones, "Live, in Jesus
name!"
Are you laying down your life
so He can use you? He will if you let Him. God does not show favouritism
(Acts 10:34). The power of God is not just for apostles or prophets. It is
for all those who submit to Him.
What God is about to do, He
will do whether you want to be a part of it or not. He IS going to raise the
dead!
"This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring
you up from them… Then you, my people will know that I am the Lord [Yahweh,
Heb, the one who has life inherent], when I open your graves and bring you
up from them" (Ezek 37:12,13).
God is about to demonstrate
some of that power to this unbelieving world. It will result in an explosion
of life. Spiritual revival! Get ready!
Malcolm B.
Heap
(This article was first
published in Awake! Awake! Vol. 4 No 1, Nov/Dec 1995.)
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