When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2)
The Church needs to be filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit! Just as on the Day of Pentecost, when the Fire comes, the Church will expand and grow. It is time for us to rise up and demonstrate who Jesus is. The world only knows Him as a historical figure, we know Him as the first to rise from the dead to declare the proof of the resurrection and life after death. Reading recently from Luke 2:52, a verse sent to me in a letter in 1943, and following on into chapter 3, I read of the commencement of the ministry of John the Baptist, ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord’. The difficult times in which we are now living are a ‘wake-up call’ to the Church. Our task is to proclaim and declare the Glory of the Lord and His Coming Kingdom. Remember that, according to Jesus in the story of the 10 virgins, only half of the Church enters the Kingdom!
We are living in troubled times, but I believe that the Church is under pressure more than ever now. Persecution is nothing new, Christians have been persecuted for 2,000 years, as was Jesus Himself, but this does not stop us, and should even encourage us to spread the Gospel more actively!
I’m not just looking at the pandemic, God is showing me what lies ahead. As many times in the past, the Lord does reveal the future to me. For example, why He called me to Russia in 1964 by healing my throat cancer, why He called me to hold the East/West Conferences in Germany starting in 1988 - which precipitated the Revival which followed in the whole Soviet Block. Or, more recently, how what the Lord revealed to me, documented in my film ‘The Rape of Europe’ in 2002, foretold both Brexit and what is about to happen now in the EU. In a similar way to Moses, on my mountain this August, as I prayed, I was allowed to see the future! This is why I can tell you that time is short, but as Bible Believing Christians, we are about to face a worldwide persecution greater than the Early Church, before the Lord comes! But during this time, God will reveal His Power in an incredible way!
It is important for Christians and Churches to stand up for what we believe. If we don’t, what I experienced during 30 years of ministry in the former communist territories, will happen here. The Churches will be divided into those who accept government control over their worship and ministry and who are registered, and those who stand firm on Biblical, evangelical truth and are forced underground and face persecution. But out of those underground, persecuted churches, came the revival which has swept across Russia and Ukraine. I see the attempt to restrict our worship will be followed by a control over us when we preach Biblical truth, as is already happening. A judge has already stated that it is against the law to quote the Bible in the street!
I want to see the Church break out of its traditions and constraints! Out of this pandemic I desire to see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit; to see miracles; for Holy Ghost Fire! God can do it! There is only one way to revival today: it is to stand firm on Biblical faith and through suffering and prayer, with repentance, God will honour us. That is why Jesus said, if you will come after Me, take up your cross and follow Me.