Miracles Are A Must

Note from the moderator:  As I was reading the article below from Andrew Strom regarding the need for “mighty demonstrations of the Spirit” to accompany the faithful preaching of the Word, I was reminded of a powerful vision that the Lord gave me a number of years ago.  The Lord told me in a vision that after a certain allotted “time of prophesying” had occurred, a period of dramatic “signs and wonders” would then follow.  In the vision, I saw “exhausted prophets” boldly and wearily teaching and preaching to the people of God who were just sleepily and complacently sitting in the church pews seemingly paying no attention to them at all.  After a long while, I heard a loud Voice proclaim, “It is enough!  For those who have had ears to hear have heard and believed already!”  At that moment, the mouths of these tired prophets were silenced.  I heard the Voice then say, “I will do this:  For it is written, ‘Prophesying is for the believers; but signs are for the unbelievers!'”  Whereupon, I then saw the chests and arms of these tired prophets begin to swell with divine power which seemed to energize them and give them supernatural strength.  I saw them then speak boldly to the lame and deformed people among the church crowd: “Be whole and be healed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!”.  Instantly, the people who were in wheelchairs stood up, the deformed and lame became whole, and the sick were healed.  All of the people sitting in the church pews then instantly woke up, and fell to their knees, and confessed that God was alive and real.  I then heard the Great Voice say, “As it is written, ‘Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God, and no flesh will glory in His presence” (Rom. 14:11; I Cor. 1:29).  As word quickly spread of what happened, great crowds of people began pouring-in to hear the words of the Lord and to see the glory of God revealed in the midst of His people.

By Andrew Strom ([email protected])

If anything I am known as a ‘word’ preacher. For years and years I have prayed for a ‘Revival’ anointing on my preaching – and in the last 3 – 4 years I have certainly noticed an increase. But I am well aware that this is only half the story. As Revival history shows us – the ‘word’ by itself can have tremendous power to convict and transform lives. But without MIRACLES I have to question whether we really are representing true New Testament Christianity. I am totally convinced that we must have BOTH – the ‘WORD’ and the MIGHTY DEMONSTRATION of God’s power.

In 1947 Smith Wigglesworth gave a prophecy about 3 coming moves of God. Concerning the last (and greatest) of these he said:

“When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be evidence in the churches of something that has not been seen before: a coming together of those with an emphasis on the word and those with an emphasis on the Spirit. When the word and the Spirit come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the nation, and indeed, the world has ever seen. It will mark the beginning of a revival that will eclipse anything that has been witnessed within these shores, even the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals of former years….”

-There it is- “The WORD and the SPIRIT” joined.

Let me ask a simple question: What did people “see” when they came across Jesus’ ministry? -They saw a simple, piercing gospel being preached and also the ‘kingdom’ being domonstrated through healings and miracles. -That is basically what they saw. And what did people “see” in the ministry of the apostles and
evangelists of Acts? -They saw the same thing. -An anointed, piercing gospel and mighty demonstrations of God’s power – both together. In fact, we really should ask ourselves- Is it possible to preach the gospel (in the full New Testament sense) without signs and wonders? -If we are being truly scriptural, surely we would have to answer- “NO, IT IS NOT.”

Another question- Why is the casting out of demons so important in demonstrating the ‘kingdom’? Well – what it is showing is the greater AUTHORITY found in the name and the ‘king-ship’ of Jesus Christ. Even demons have to obey Him! Suddenly everyone sees this beyond a doubt when a demon is cast out before their eyes. I remember the first time I saw this happen as a teenager – before I was a true Christian. The person screamed and writhed as the demon was cast out – just like in the Bible. And what was the result in me? -CONVICTION! Suddenly everything was ‘REALLY TRUE’! I felt like running forward and surrendering to God on the spot.

And this is why I am opposed to casting out demons in a “back room” somewhere. Notice that Jesus never did this. He cast out demons in PUBLIC – so that the ‘kingdom’ was demonstrated and God was glorified. Notice too, the absence of “3 hour marathons” in casting out demons in the Bible. They had the anointing and authority from God – and deliverance was mostly quick and decisive.

We have got to see the ‘Word and the Spirit joined’ like this in our day. In fact, I would love anyone on this List who moves powerfully in these areas to email me. -We have got to encourage and bring forward these kinds of giftings once again.

When I was in Michigan recently a leader there gave me a word. God was deeply moving in people’s hearts that weekend – we had people getting baptized and everything. Yet he said to me- ‘Last night I got a word for you. You need to hook up with others who move powerfully in miracles and healings – so there is a balance. Not just in preaching – but powerful “demonstration” also.’ -That was the gist of his word to me. And my spirit said, “AMEN!”  I got a strong sense of confirmation that this was a “Now” word.

I immediately thought of a brother in Arizona whom I know moves VERY powerfully in these areas – without hype or any of the other nonsense. -Just pure power of God. -And already we are talking about ministering together.

So please be aware that I fully intend for our meetings and gatherings in the future to be just as full of ‘DEMONSTRATION’ as they are of the “WORD”.

And I am serious about wanting to hear back from others who move powerfully in these giftings. It is time to see a “joining” of that which God has always wanted to bring forth. (-Simply reply to this email to get in touch. My email is- <[email protected]> )

Could this be the hour for the joining of the WORD and the SPIRIT, my friends? Is this what God has been wanting to do?

Taken with permission from http://www.revivalschool.com/

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