Articles
for the Benefit of Members and Ex-Members of the WCG
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45
How Long Revival?
Many sincere believers eagerly anticipate revival in Britain.
A number of contemporary prophecies indicate it will come. But will it fulfil expectations? When will it come and how long will it last?
Here is what one prophet and his family received from God on the matter.
I was at a non-denominational meeting of Christians in
the south of England a few years ago, just minding my own business, when God
spoke to me. He spoke in my head. It was a prophetic word.
The people there were all praying for revival and God
answered their prayer. What God said to me was this:
"Revival will surely come. It will pass through and
overflow."
I was a bit taken aback at first. Why should He speak to
me with this word? I was only a visitor, and certainly no one of any repute.
I was a builder for 17 years, and never sought anything to do with the
ministry. In fact, I shied away from the limelight in any form. I still do.
I wrote down what I clearly 'heard' God say. It was not an
audible word, but it was strong enough to 'feel' that it was an 'outside'
prompt. It was not me conjuring up the words. And anyway, I certainly
wouldn't have thought it up! I was somewhat 'green' about this thing of
revival, and the last part about passing through and overflowing
didn't make much sense to me.
Revival Will Pass Through
I mused on what this 'word' might mean, and as I did so,
God revealed more to my mind. Since I have explained this more fully in the
article True Revival in our journal Awake! Awake! of
Jan/Feb 1996, I will not repeat that here, except to say this.
1. If a celebrity were to pass through your town, unless
you were expecting him you wouldn't know of his coming.
2. When he arrives, if he isn't recognised, his visit will
not be of any consequence.
There is a parallel for us to note about what God is about
to do in the spirit.
1. He is the greatest Celebrity! But His coming is
experienced by those with a particular expectation. Ironically, it is not
necessarily those who have been seeking revival who will experience it! Only
those who truly hunger and thirst for righteousness will be
filled (Matt 5:6). Those who are seeking an experience will be disappointed.
God is not primarily in the business of giving goose-bumps! He is in the
holiness business.
2. God always surprises. He uses new people and new
places. He raises up from the unseen those who will be His next
'crowd-pullers'.
For these and other reasons, this coming revival will pass
through. It will not stay. The majority will not recognise the performers,
and the message they will bring will not satisfy the ears of most.
God has a work to do, and His work is not to please the
personal desires or aspirations of those who seek secondary matters. Primary
matters on God's agenda involve preparing the Church in holiness.
Unfortunately, too much about revival has come to centre
around 'performers' and 'performances'. Many are in danger of losing the
real focus which is on God and becoming like Christ in disciplined Christian
living. It's not primarily about being slain in the Spirit, laughing,
crying, rolling around on the floor, or any other physical result of
receiving a touch from God.
If those manifestations occur as a result of true
brokenness in the one Jesus has touched, that is fine. But they are
secondary. They are effects of revival, not revival itself.
Revival has its core in the heart response of man to God's call.
First and Last Revivals
The Father calls and His children respond. This is the
essence of revival. It always has been and it always will be. It is
generated by God, not by man.
In John 6:44, Jesus states that God initiates anything to
do with salvation. Revival does not come by the will of man (Jn 1:13). It is
the result of a sovereign act of God. He initiates it by divine fiat. Our
duty is to respond and gratefully accept what He gives.
It may shock some, but the majority do not want what is
coming. The next revival will present challenges that most don't want to
face. It's not going to be easy.
Nor was it easy for the early Church. Jesus' first major
revival in the New Testament, of course, was that which occurred on
Pentecost. You know the story, but one overlooked aspect is that they were
keeping Pentecost. If they hadn't been, they would have been out of the will
of the Father and wouldn't have received.
We know that Pentecost is the Feast of First-fruits and it
pictured the coming of the Holy Spirit into believers to make them the
firstfruits of God's harvest. But what if it had been another holy day which
fore-shadowed that event? What if it had been, say, The Day of Atonement?
The Church does not ordinarily observe that day, but it is in the same
league as Pentecost. There is no difference in holiness between any of God's
annual holy days (Lev 23, Deut 16).
God is telling us something very significant by using one
of these occasions to pour out His Spirit on those who were ready! The
Church, for the most part, has overlooked this matter. It needs to reform.
Then there is the matter of being ready. The disciples had
been taught by Jesus for 3 1/2 years prior to this event. It was an
intensive programme. And the end of it was humbling.
Peter was crushed after he betrayed His master. The other
disciples were equally mortified to have to look back at how they disowned
Him and fled.
God produced this humbling. It wasn't something that the
disciples maintained by their own supplications. It was a fearsome thing
that came upon them. Panic overtook them when their preconceived notions of
how things would work out, utterly failed! All their ideas collapsed around
their heads! They locked themselves into the upper room where they met out
of fear that their end would be next!
Their world had come to an abrupt end.
The same must happen to the present Church, too. Renewal
has come and gone, but renewal has not transformed the Church as fully as
God desires. For revival to occur, God has to totally crush the
preconceptions of..... dare I say it..... you!
Your preconceptions must be shattered. You have faith that
the organised Church you see is in step with what God wants. But it is not!
It is woefully out of step in many ways with what God intends. If I were to
list some of the things which must be reformed in its structure and
observance, you would shut me down at this juncture.
But the example of the disciples in about 33 AD should be
sufficient to illustrate the point for now.
After they were crushed and humbled, God could pour out
His Spirit. Elation followed.
That's the part that people like. It's the part that
people are praying for. It's the bit they want and which they recognise. The
trouble is, it's not coming before the painful bit which comes first, and
too few may be really responsive to that!
The first NT Pentecost was the occasion of the first major
NT revival. The last one in this era is mentioned in Revelation 7. Likewise
a terrible crushing occurs first, after which there can be great rejoicing.
John sees a mass of people, vast beyond number. He asks the angel who these
people are. The angel replies:
These are they who have come out of the great
tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb (Rev 7:14, NIV).
The Millennium soon follows when all people have their
opportunity to receive salvation. God calls everyone to know Him then,
unlike now.
What is interesting to note from John's account are the
words about the ones who are accepted - "they have washed their
robes". They DID something. They responded to what God asked them to
do.
Revival hinges upon our willingness to respond to God's
sovereign call. We have to put on the robes of righteousness Jesus offers us
if we are to be part of His bride (Rev 19:7,8). He doesn't put them on us,
as some claim. He gives them to us, but WE must put them on.
Too many preach an empty message of grace, as though Jesus
has done it all for us. He hasn't. Otherwise anyone and everyone could be
saved. James wrote that our faith is exemplified and amplified by our works
(actually Jesus' works in us). Works by themselves don't save, but neither
does grace.
The revival around the corner will only benefit you to the
extent you put on the robes of righteousness He offers you then.
When Is The Revival Coming?
People always like to know when something is coming.
Historians pigeon-hole events by dating when they occurred and we have a
similar mind-set. But God doesn't give dates in the Bible - and rarely in
contemporary prophecy, either - not surprisingly. If we knew when everything
would occur in a nice neat sequence, we would tend to sit back on our
laurels and fail to achieve what God wants.
However, He has given many indicators about the future.
What we have received from God are published in Awake! Awake!, our
regular journal.
One that we printed in September 1996 was a word God spoke
to me in July 1996. It was very cryptic. He just said: This
nation has three years left. I thought at the time that He
meant Britain had three years remaining before the great tribulation to
come. But it is possible He meant that its ability to morally reform will
cease from 1999. Consequently, Britain is heading into 'deep water'. Perhaps
her national troubles will begin to escalate during late 1999 and on into
2000 and 2001.
The turn of events for the worse often generates a certain
seeking of God. And humbling caps it off. This national demise may well be
instrumental in triggering the coming revival.
Paul Slennett and Clifford Denton have written in Earthquake
in the City about a prophecy God has given concerning an earthquake
which will ruin London and this country's economy. Other calamities and
setbacks will also send shockwaves through the nation.
On top of that, a feature of the coming revival will be
the raising of the dead. You may have read of the dozen or so people Smith
Wigglesworth raised from the dead in his ministry. He died in 1947, so many
of our generation have not heard of his exploits. But what is to come will
dwarf those wonders by comparison.
God told us in 1993 that at least 50 people are to be
raised from the dead! Then between 1994 and 1996 God gave various dreams
indicating that Diana, Princess of Wales, would have some contact with us. I
had sent her some of our publications and I wondered whether they would bear
fruit. But the way God works is beyond our reasoning. Little did we know
that she would die in a horrific car crash! It was even further from our
minds that she would one day be brought back to this mortal life. But that
is what God has said. (More details about those revelations are given
opposite.)
I don't think there has been a personality that has
captured the hearts of so many people than the Princess of Wales. If she is
the tool God uses to grab the attention of this nation so He can proclaim
His message to this people, who is going to argue with God? Would you? Do
you disbelieve Him?
Remember Thomas? He could not bring himself to believe
that Jesus would rise from the dead. There are many unbelieving 'believers'
in the Church today who mock at this prophecy that Diana will be raised.
They will see it. I hope they will believe then!
One last thing. God told us also that this revival will
last two years. It will pass through and overflow.
Malcolm Heap, 12 March
1998
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Diana
Queen of Hearts
Around Midnight between August 30th and 31st, 1997, Princess
Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in Paris. She died shortly
afterwards. The calamity has stunned the nation.
I am writing this short note a day later, 1st September.
Yesterday, Sunday 31st August, in an unprecedented move, the BBC cancelled all
its regular programmes. Instead, it devoted the whole day's viewing to
coverage of this traumatic event. Diana's death has plunged the nation into a
state of deep shock.
Tributes are flowing in from all quarters. She has been
hailed as the most popular public figure of our century, the greatest
celebrity ever, and the greatest humanitarian Britain has had! The accolades
are, to my mind, almost beyond belief!
Some even suggest erecting a memorial to her, alongside
those of Queen Victoria, and Sir Winston Churchill.
There is no doubt that this young woman captured the hearts
of the majority in this country and the hearts of many more around the world.
Because of her good looks, position in society, and charitable heart she
earned a very prominent place - which she didn't really want, because it
caused her to be hounded by the paparazzi.
She lost her privacy and became the victim of so many
people's scrutiny and fantasy. Yet she just wanted to be an ordinary person,
and to be treated as such. Instead, she became a sacrificial lamb, slain on
the nation's altar of desire because of its unfulfilled aspirations.
Indications From God
Over the past three or four years, God has given us certain
prophetic revelations about Diana, which show that she figures prominently in
His plans for this nation - and, by extension, the world. I will share those
briefly with a few of you here. I am not sharing this with all, because most
people would not understand. I hope you can grasp the scope of what God is
about to do. It is almost mind-boggling!
1. The first 'word' about Diana was in 1994, when our son
Richard received a prophetic word from God that she would one day meet with us
in our cellar. He was standing in the cellar at the time when God spoke -
while we were in the process of digging it out. (The cellar is to be used as a
meeting hall to worship God.)
How could Diana meet with us in the cellar, unless Diana is
raised from the dead?
2. The second 'bit' of revelation was given to our daughter
Tonya on 7th January, 1996. She was given a dream of a little ship which
depicted our ministry. Tonya was on the back of this boat. She saw Princess
Diana sitting in a corner of the boat next to Helena. Many other people were
sitting all around outside the boat.
What does that depict, if not the massive publicity which
would come from Diana's return? It would give the gospel a great boost!
More than 8 years ago, my wife prophesied that the gospel
would go to this land via publicity. The ordinary man will not listen to 'wafty'
church leaders. He is not shaken by anything the Church says. But God has said
that this nation will have a witness before it goes into captivity, and He
knows how to shake it! He will shake it!!
3. On 9th March, 1996, Helena was given the following dream.
Rather than type it out again, I am going to insert here the text as it was
recorded at the time:
In this dream, Diana visited our home and was talking with
Helena, who wanted to give her a drink of water. Helena was looking for a nice
glass to offer her the water in, but didn't think we had anything suitable.
Eventually she did find a suitable glass and gave her a drink.
Diana's hair was dishevelled and she was concerned to have
it put right. She sat down in a little hairdressing room where there were
people who could help her with her hair.
Then the scene changed. Helena was shopping. She saw one
large slab of cheese from Albania and took especial note of that and
determined to buy some. But she had no money in her purse so went to Richard
and got the money and went back to pick up the shopping.
Then Richard was showing Helena a bright blue bottle. She
said, "That's nice. Don't throw that away. We can put the pens in
it."
Interpretation: This is the third dream
about Diana being aware of our ministry. (We have already sent some small
publications to her at Kensington Palace which her secretary has
acknowledged.) In the future she will have contact with us, particularly
Helena, who will give her spiritual help. Water symbolises the Holy Spirit. We
may not think we have the right way to present what people need spiritually.
But seek and you will find. There is always a way when it is God's will to
reach a person who is in need.
Her consciousness about her hair is perhaps allegoric of her
inner feelings of failure, and her desire to straighten out her spiritual
appearance. She is all too aware of her own inadequacy and insufficiency as a
wife and as an heir to the throne. She has blamed herself for her marital
failure when she was not to blame. She has suffered feelings of grossly
diminished self-worth, even self-hatred. She will need an understanding
compassionate heart to help her receive the Holy Spirit and heal those inner
wounds. Perhaps Helena is the only one who can help her initially drink in the
Spirit of God. Then others can help her too (the little room with others
present).
What the cheese from Albania means we don't know. Albania's
people suffered horrific oppression, deprivation and injustice under an
iron-fisted rule. It was the ultimate in despotic autocratic tyranny. Diana
has suffered in that way too, in her recent personal life.
It looks like Richard will handle our money. We don't have
any of our own anyway! We have debts, but no money. So, perhaps the dream
reflects the way our son Richard (and elder daughter Tonya and others) are
supplying our present financial needs.
The attractive blue bottle may represent a container for
liquid and the Word of God. Blue is a royal colour. Perhaps, in spiritual
terms, it could represent Diana. Possibly, it also represents our
publications, some of which we can tend to take for granted and could
carelessly underestimate the value they contain. If we have grown accustomed
to their contents, we must not underestimate their full value to others.
Perhaps it means we should be careful about the little things around us, not
to dismiss them lightly just because they are familiar to us.
4. In another short dream which I (MBH) received earlier
this year, Diana appeared at our doorstep disguised as someone else
(presumably so she could escape the paparazzi). Jokingly she said, "Do I
look like my look-alike?" There were some other details in the dream,
which I don't now remember. At the time I received it, I didn't think it was
significant enough to record it. The dream conveys her sense of humour and her
desire to meet with us.
You may make what you like of these dreams, but there is
only one proper overall meaning from God. What I believe He is saying is that
Diana will not remain just a celebrity to be remembered. She will return again
- be restored to physical life!
If that blows your mind, then read of the exploits of Smith
Wigglesworth who raised (some say) a dozen people from the dead. His faith did
not stop when their hearts did. His faith was centred on God. He saw beyond
the natural, into the spiritual dimension, and what he saw he grasped.
I believe God wants us to see certain things from what I
have related to you here. He didn't give them for entertainment, but as part
of His grand design. The gospel is going into all the world for a witness
before Jesus returns. What better personality to use to convey a final 'blast'
to the United Kingdom and to the world than via Princess Diana?!
If you can see it, grasp it too, and the faith of the
mustard seed will grow as it lives in you. Don't let your vision of Jesus die!
Allow Him to stay alive in your heart, and when the time comes for this
greatest 'publicity stunt' of all time to occur, He can use you to fulfil your
part in it.
Remember:
- All things are possible to him who believes.
- God will shake all nations before the Desired of all
nations comes.
- The gospel will go to the ends of the earth before His
return.
- God always uses human instruments to reach others.
- You are part of His team. He will use you, if you make
yourself available and exercise what He gives you.
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Princess Diana To Be Resurrected!
The caption above may come as a shock and provoke disbelief. I
dare say it will encourage ridicule and scorn. The statements of prophets from
time immemorial have done that, so it is nothing new.
What is new is the revelation.
God speaks in many ways to us today. One way is through His
prophets, as He has always done in the past (Amos 3:7).
New revelations to prophets precede and accompany new moves of
God. There is a message God wants conveyed to His people as an essential part of
this next move He will instigate. You will hear of this message, although it is
not a welcome one to most. It will come on the wings of an eagle.
Diana will be raised to life also as a part of what God is
about to do on the earth. We are reporting here what God has conveyed to us by
way of dreams and other revelations. It is contained within the accompanying
paper Diana - Queen Of Hearts.
It will be a sign from God. The appropriate response on your
behalf is to believe the sign and believe His prophets (Jn 14:11; 1 Kings 17:24;
2 Chr 20:20).
Sincerely, in Jesus' name,
Malcolm B Heap
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Further Reading
Who is the End-Time Elijah? God promised to send us Elijah
the prophet before the end of the Age and the Day of the Lord. Is he a man or
more than a man? God is moving, and will do more! 52 page booklet.
(£2.00)
The Controversy Concerning Law and Grace: This booklet
explains the relevance of works in the believer's life. Most believers
misunderstand the matter of God's grace and His attitude towards 'law'. His
grace does not exempt us from moral duty! Here is the truth from the New
Testament. It may surprise you! 56 page booklet.
(£2.00)
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