Troubled

As I peruse the book of Acts, I can’t help but notice a glaring discrepancy between the Church of Acts and the Church of today. It is a sad commentary, but the Church we presently see in the earth bears little resemblance to the vibrant and miraculous body of believers chronicled in scripture.

In many arenas, the Church has become a smoothly running, exquisitely precise machine, but it is absolutely useless against the onslaught of the enemy. All too often, the Church is a sophisticated organization, but a dying organism---a far cry from what God intended.

Of course, this regrettable state of affairs was not God’s idea. God never intended for Pentecostal power to dissipate or wane over the centuries. It was always His intention to see the Church move from faith to faith and glory to glory until she reached “the measure of the stature of the fullness Christ.” (Eph 4:13)

In fact, it was Paul’s understanding that the people of God were to press toward the mark of the high calling of God (Phil 3:14) until they reached it and entered into the full measure of the Spirit’s power. What began in a measure was designed to end up in fullness.

The Book of Acts wasn’t only to be a divinely inspired document recording the historic happenings of bygone days. It was actually meant to model the apostolic blueprint for the contemporary Church of the 21st century. Believers in the know regard the Book of Acts as a working manual and divine pattern for the present day Church.

God spoke clearly to me regarding the Church and said, “As I was with the apostolic Church of the book of Acts, so will I be with the Church of today!” Then He said in emphatic terms, “I will do it again, but not just repeat Myself; I will exceed Myself!”

While nothing is too hard for the Lord, it will take a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church to accomplish such an exploit of restoration, but we will see it! Consider the fact that 2000 years ago, God transformed a company of 120 believers captive to religious tradition into a worldwide missionary Church of signs, wonders and miracles, and He did it in a moment of time. Why shouldn’t we believe that He will not only do it again in our day, but surpass and exceed anything He has done in the past, as He prophesied He would?

I believe what the old revivalists in the early ‘70s told me, “Pentecostals are at their best when things are at their worst.”

Now David, a man after God’s own heart, and greatly beloved of the Lord, made similar observations of the Church in his day. David records an interesting statement in Psalm 77, where he said:

I remembered God, and was troubled: … Selah. (Psa 77:3).

According to context, David was saying, I recall the many miracles God did for Israel so long ago. I remember the years when He stretched forth the Right Hand of His Power and performed wonderful exploits for His people in need. What He did in days gone by is constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about those times when He flexed His muscle and wrought mighty deliverances.

When David considered the absence of God’s miracle power in his own generation, he was deeply troubled. The discrepancy that existed between that day and his broke David’s heart. He longed for the old time power of God to be poured out. He thirsted for it passionately like a deer that panted for the waterbrooks.

What I most admire about David in this Psalm is that he allowed himself to be ‘troubled’ rather than to remain in denial like the proverbial ostrich that stuck its head in the sand as though nothing was wrong.

I believe the Body of Christ needs the same kind of troubling today: a troubling that will drive us to our knees crying out for the fires of God to burn again in our generation; a troubling over the fact that many have settled for the fading memory of revival while God desires to strike our churches with a fresh visitation of miracle power. The Church at large seems content with an appreciation of historic revival without experiencing the concrete reality of it. This is unacceptable and intolerable!

Many of our leaders refuse to address the fact that God’s power, which was so prevalent in the book of Acts, is all but absent today. Still others relegate it to the past, say the day of miracles is over, and manufacture doctrinal positions excusing their barren and impotent condition. Then there are those that have explained revival ad nauseam but never experienced it, studied it but never apprehended it, pondered it but not yet possessed it. They have a hundred recipes for it, but have never tasted the full meal.

Like David, we ought to be ‘troubled’ with the vanishing signs of Pentecost until God reverses the condition and completely restores our birthright of power. Once you’ve tasted of the fire of revival as I have, you cannot settle for the smoke and ashes of religion. Who will come to terms with our spiritual condition and ask the question, “Where are our signs?”

The exciting news is that this people planet is about to experience the greatest manifestation of God’s power and might it has ever seen, witnessed or known before! We are seeing the first blush of that now. I am expecting such a deluge of signs and wonders that skeptics and doubters will have to sit up and take notice. Liberal media outlets such as CNN and MSNBC will be forced to report that we are living in a strange but undeniable time of miracles.

You say, “Well preacher, have you ignored what our prophets of gloom and doom are declaring?” No, I haven’t ignored it, but I’m seeing the other side of the coin as well. The Bible declares that the end-time will usher in “the great and terrible day of the Lord.” I don’t ignore it will be terrible for some (the religious hypocrites as well as the skeptics and doubters of our day). Yet, I refuse to ignore that it will be great for others. The same waters that lifted the ark for Noah and his family drowned the unbelievers who refused to come in at the door. While Israel was experiencing the Passover deliverance and carrying the spoils of riches during the Exodus, Egypt was mourning over the death of the firstborn. It was great for the believer, but terrible for the unbeliever.

The Holy Spirit is calling for a return to true apostolic Christianity that will require radical prayer and radical repentance from each and everyone of us that calls on the name of Jesus. We are not called to build a kingdom but be the Kingdom. A successful church is not measured by the multiplication of its members, but by the authenticity of its witness of God’s original intention.

It’s not so much that we need to move forward, as it is that we need to move back and return. True advancement is going back to God’s original intention, His original pattern. The way forward is the way back. We must ask for the old paths---the paths that lead to authentic apostolic Christianity, the paths that God spoke about through His prophet Jeremiah:

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…(Jer 6:16, emphasis added).

We live in a society where people are lonely, broken and afraid. Society is bland, colorless and devoid of any real meaning right now. The unbeliever knows it. He knows Hollywood’s glamour is a farce. He knows technology has failed to deliver the goods. He realizes politics and education have fallen short of their expectations. The banking system is the bankrupt system and Detroit has had a blowout and lost its wheels. Where can people turn but to the restored and glorious Church? And if the Church would just be the Church, we wouldn’t know where to put all the people. We would witness a global jailbreak out of a failing world system into the glorious kingdom of God. All the secular institutions of the world have stepped up to the plate and struck out. The bat is in our hands now, and it’s time for the Church to step to the plate and hit the ball out of the stadium.

The Church is at a crossroads, she is at a turning point. This is a red-letter day and a flagship moment for the Church. God will send landslide victories to the Body of Christ that will turn the heads of unbelievers. We are moving toward such an outbreak of God that it will result in the greater works ministry promised by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:12). We are being taken into a depth of the Holy Spirit’s power we’ve never been before.

As we press for our birthright of power and authority allow me to administer a bitter dose of reality. We need to understand that Satan isn’t going to sit back, twiddling his thumbs, as we make spiritual strides into our inheritance. We must understand the nature of the warfare we are engaged in, because our adversary, the devil, is vehemently resisting us on every front.

Be aware that Satan wants to wipe away every trace of true apostolic Christianity from the earth. If he could have his way, he would sponsor the funeral services of the bride of Christ and replace her with an inferior counterfeit.

To be sure, this hell-bent fiend of darkness would rather have a backslidden church in the earth than no church at all. Why? Because a backslidden, lukewarm church serves his insidious purpose to discredit the validity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

No doubt, Satan continues to amuse himself by taking every opportunity to ridicule and dishonor the Lord’s Church. Prime time television, cable and media syndications such as HBO are Satan’s center stage, upon which the Body of Christ is the butt of endless punch lines delivered by his jesters, Bill Maher and others, who will seemingly say or do anything to make those who dare to publicly profess belief in God the Creator appear foolish. The truth is rather the reverse; as we read in Psalms: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God… (Psa 14:1, emphasis added)”

Most devastating of all, Satan is continually firing psychic artillery at the mind of the church in order to intimidate, dehumanize and rob her of her divine potential.

Consider the story told of an old grey haired gold miner that rode into town on his mule to get some supplies during the days of the California Gold Rush. While tying his mule to the post, a young gunslinger who’d had too much to drink stepped out of the Saloon. He pulled out his six gun from its holster and squeezed off three shots in the air to get the old miner’s attention.

“Hey, you old coot,” he yelled, “Have you ever danced to a six gun?”
The old miner said, “I don’t believe I have.”
“Well, start dancing!” shouted the gunslinger as he fired off three more shots at the old gent’s feet. The old man shuffled his feet and danced a little jig. Suddenly he stopped on a dime and said, “Youngster, I ain’t dancin’ no more.”
“Why, I’ll blow your toes off, old man!” roared the gunslinger.
“No, you won’t,” the old miner calmly replied. “You see, that’s a six gun in your hand. I’ve been counting and you’re out of bullets. You’ve run out of ammunition.”
The old miner whipped around, reached for the mule pack, and pulled out a sawed off shotgun. He pressed the cold barrel under that gunslinger’s chin and asked,
“Hey boy, have you ever kissed a mule?”
The young gunslinger lost control of his bladder and sheepishly said,
“I don’t recollect that I have, sir, but I’ve always wanted to.”

Some of you have been doing the Six Gun Shuffle long enough. The devil has been threatening and intimidating the church. He’s been hurling his missiles at the church. He wanted us to dance to his music and back off from the supernatural power of God. Some of us may have lost a few toes, but bless God, we’ve been listening and we’ve been counting and he’s run out of ammunition. There ain’t no more bullets in his gun---only empty threats. He has no power to threaten or harass you any longer.

It’s time to take out the shotgun of the name of Jesus and squeeze the trigger. Don’t aim for his head, aim for his buttocks, because two thousand years ago Jesus already blew his brains out on Calvary’s cross. Jesus stripped him of his authority over the believer and said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth.” (Matt 28:18)

Now it is our turn to take this power and authority to the nations. If not us, than who? If not now, then when?