The Midnight Cry:
A Prophetic Witness to the Church Today

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12
Raising The Dead: Miracles For Tomorrow?

Some people in the Church just love to argue! Sceptics argue about the miracles of healing being performed in the name of Jesus. They argue about spiritual gifts. They argue about doctrine. They argue about what God means in His Word.

However, there is one thing they cannot refute. Raising the dead!

When dead people come to life, sceptics may like to argue, but they haven't got a leg to stand on. Resurrecting a dead person is the ultimate miracle for us as mortal humans.

How can you convince a sceptic of the existence of God? You can't – unless he wants to be convinced. Generally, unbelievers don't want to be convinced of anything, except their own views. But, if there is one miracle that has greater power of conviction than any other, it has to be raising the dead!

Only God can create life. The One who holds life in His hands declares: "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life" (Deut 32:39).

It Has Happened Before!

Have you seen the dead raised? I doubt it. Few have, although some have heard accounts of such remarkable events. There are a few mentioned in the Bible.

When Jesus was resurrected, some other saints who had died and been buried were raised out of their graves and appeared to many people (Matt 27:52,53).

Why did this occur? As a witness to the nation that Jesus was the Son of God and that they should never have killed Him! It led some to repentance.

Never before had such an unusual event occurred. It was unheard of. People don't ordinarily come back to life after being buried! But it happened when Jesus died. The miracle pointed to Him as God's servant, and more besides!

Apostles and prophets have been given authority by God to bring dead people back to life on occasion. Peter prayed life into Tabitha (Acts 9:40), and Paul prayed for Eutychus (Acts 20:7-12).

In the Old Testament, Elijah raised the widow's son (1 Ki 17:17-24), and Elishah prayed life into another young boy (2 Ki 4:18-37).

Jesus, of course, the greatest prophet of all time, raised Lazarus (Jn 11), the widow's son in Nain (Lk 7:11-15), and the daughter of the synagogue ruler (Lk 8:40-46).

In recent times, there are verifiable accounts of several people being brought back from death. In Nigeria, at least six people have been resurrected through the faith of believers in the late Benson Idahosa's church which numbers several millions.

David Pytches reports 10 separate instances of the dead being raised, from various sources around the world, in his book Come, Holy Spirit.

Smith Wigglesworth, noted as the 'apostle of faith' earlier this century, raised at least 14 people from the dead. He even called his wife back from death when she died. These accounts are to be found in Albert Hibbert's Smith Wigglesworth, The Secret Of His Power, and in other biographies of this remarkable man of God.

George Stormont relates this incident: "Bishop Ronald Coady and his wife were ministering in New South Wales, Australia, in 1950 where they met a Methodist deaconess called 'Sister Mary'. She brought them large quantities of tracts to use in their crusades.

"While there, they were reading Stanley Frodsham's book, Smith Wigglesworth, Apostle of Faith. The incident of his raising a young woman from the dead especially had gripped them, and when Sister Mary came in, they read it to her, adding, 'How we should love to meet that lady!'

"She said, 'You know that lady.'

"They protested that they did not, but she persisted, 'You've known her for some time. I am that lady.'

"The three of them laughed together with holy joy at God's 'coincidences'. She then told them of being paralyzed from the waist down in 1922 and of being seriously ill. Wigglesworth was holding meetings in her town, and her friends urged her to let them take her to a meeting for prayer. However, she did not believe in divine healing and did not wish to be prayed for.

"She soon became worse and, in fact, was dying. Her friends asked if she would allow the evangelist to pray for her if they brought him to the house. She finally consented, but he was delayed. Before he arrived, she died.

"Sister Mary Pople related that she went to heaven and was allowed in the throne room. She saw the Lord Jesus sitting on His throne. She saw light such as she had never seen and heard music such as she had never heard. [There are many similar accounts today of experiences such as this.] Her heart was filled with rapturous joy.

"As she looked at the Lord, He pointed to the doorway by which she had entered, and she knew she had to go back even if she did not want to. When she went through that door, she heard a voice that later she knew was Smith Wigglesworth's.

"He was saying, 'Death, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.'

"Then he commanded Mary to live. Her eyes opened, and those who had been weeping around her bed began to rejoice. She arose and dressed, and there was a knock at the door. Some girls from her Bible study group had arrived, thinking she was dead. To their surprise and joy, Mary herself opened the door to them. She continued in the Lord's service for many years. Not only was she raised from the dead, but she was totally healed of her sickness that had been unto death and of the paralysis that had bound her for years" (Wigglesworth, A Man Who Walked With God, pp 55, 56).

What Is About To Happen

In early 1993, Jesus spoke to my son Richard and told him that He is about to do it again. Just as dead people were brought back to life and appeared to many after Jesus' resurrection, to witness to Jesus, so He is about to perform similar miracles.

Richard has seen the Lord three times, although he was not told of this forthcoming miracle (or rather miracles, plural) during any of these occasions. Jesus' appearing to Richard was an important part of his preparation for his prophetic job.

Jesus later told Richard through words of knowledge that two boys known to us and who died several years ago will be restored to physical life. Also, through a dream and its subsequent interpretation which Jesus gave Richard, we were informed that 50 people are to be raised from the dead in the foreseeable future as part of the end-time witness.

In this dream, Richard saw a trailer loaded with mattresses – 50 of them! He wondered what this meant, and when he enquired, the Lord told him that those who had been resurrected would be so busy telling the world what Jesus has done for them that they won't need to sleep!

We have received much ridicule from unbelievers about this! I don't know of any others who have been moved by the Spirit to prophesy such bizarre events, but I would be interested to know if any have. We know resurrections are coming.

The closest confirmation came from Morris Cerullo, who prophesied on 8th August 1995 at Mission To London in three statements:

• "We will see the resurrection power of God again."

• "We will see the dead raised."

• "We will see such supernatural manifestations that the world will know…"

Why Does God Do It?

Restoring life is a stupendous miracle from our human perspective. But to God it is 'nothing'. He has life inherent. All He needs to do is speak the word and it will be granted (Matt 8:8; Mk 9:23). But He doesn't play games. There is an important purpose for every act of God.

He is drawing our attention. Not to the ones used to perform such feats (they can do nothing by themselves), but to their message.

Elijah was used to challenge idolatry and apostasy in the nation of Israel. Elisha continued his work in a time of gross spiritual deception. Jesus came with a new message from God – the gospel. And the apostles were being used to establish the Church.

All the resurrections from the dead occurred at a time of spiritual reformation. God was doing a new thing. He was exposing sin, proclaiming truth to ears that desperately needed a fresh appreciation of the Word of God. Prophets and preachers were 'raised up' for that purpose. The miracles pointed to the prophets. They authenticated – backed up – their message. They confirmed that God had indeed given them the words they were proclaiming.

As the widow of Zarephath declared: "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the Word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth" (1 Ki 17:24).

The message God has given us to declare to the established churches is not a palatable one. It involves dramatic reform and will create great upheaval. But, though it seems divisive, it is from God. Because of the depth of deception in the Church, God will perform miracles of such magnitude to break through the walls of prejudice and unbelief.

A prophet's function is to direct the people to their God. Raising the dead does just that.

Malcolm B. Heap
(This article was first published in Awake! Awake! Vol. 3 No. 8, Sept/Oct 1995.)