Words of revival in the charismatic movement. Part 1 of 2.

After looking at words of warning last week, Dr Clifford Hill turns to the many words of revival that have been given through the charismatic movement.

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.

Promises of Revival and Blessing

We look now at prophecies which contrast strangely with the warnings considered last week. By far the most popular prophecies among charismatics have been those promising renewal and speaking of days when great power and prosperity would be enjoyed by the Lord's people.

These prophecies actually pre-date the charismatic movement and began in the Latter Rain Revival movement in North America (see also the part of this series written by David Forbes). It is relevant here to note their persistence over a period of more than 50 years. Concepts which have no biblical foundation, some of which were banned as heretical in the 1940s, have reappeared time after time in the charismatic movement. They have been popularised by charismatic speakers and uncritically accepted.

A prophecy by David Minor which was given to an assembly of the Lutheran Church in the USA had a wide circulation among charismatics reaching many countries. It conveyed a message with a promise of revival preceded by a time of cleansing and purification of the Church. These were described as 'winds'. It is a long prophecy but it is reproduced here in full because of its influence in the charismatic movement.

TURN YOUR FACE INTO THE WIND

The Spirit of God would say to you that the Wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing through the land. The church, however, is incapable of fully recognizing this Wind. Just as your nation has given names to its hurricanes, so I have put My Name on this Wind. This Wind shall be named "Holiness Unto the Lord".

Because of a lack of understanding, some of My people will try to find shelter from the Wind, but in so doing they shall miss My work. For this Wind has been sent to blow through every institution that has been raised in My Name. Those institutions that have substituted their name for Mine, they shall fall by the impact of My Wind. Those institutions shall fall like cardboard shacks in a gale. Ministries that have not walked in uprightness before Me shall be broken and fall.

For this reason man will be tempted to brand this as the work of Satan, but do not be misled. This is My Wind. I cannot tolerate My Church in its present form, nor will I tolerate it. Ministries and organizations will shake and fall in the face of this Wind, and even though some will seek to hide from that Wind, they shall not escape. It shall blow against your lives and all around you will appear crumbling. And so it shall.

But never forget this is My Wind, saith the Lord, with tornado force it will come and appear to leave devastation, but the Word of the Lord comes and says, "Turn your face into the Wind and let it blow." For only that which is not of Me shall be devastated. You must see this as necessary.

Be not dismayed. For after this, My Wind shall blow again. Have you not read how My Breath blew on the valley of dry bones? So it shall breathe on you. This wind will come in equal force as the first Wind. This Wind too will have a name. It shall be called "The Kingdom of God".

It shall bring My government and order. Along with that it shall bring My power. The supernatural shall come in that Wind. The world will laugh at you because of the devastation of that first Wind, but they will laugh no more. For this Wind will come with force and power that will produce the miraculous among My people and the fear of God shall fall on the nation.

My people will be willing in the day of My power, saith the Lord. In my first Wind that is upon you now, I will blow out pride, lust, greed, competition and jealousy, and you will feel devastated. But haven't you read, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"? So out of your poverty of spirit I will establish My Kingdom. Have you not read, "The Kingdom of God is in the Holy Ghost?" So by My Spirit, My Kingdom will be established and made manifest.

Know this also, there will be those who shall seek to hide from this present Wind and they will try to flow with the second Wind. But again, they will be blown away by it. Only those who have turned their faces into the present Wind shall be allowed to be propelled by the second Wind.

You have longed for revival and a return of the miraculous and the supernatural. You and your generation shall see it, but it shall only come by My process, saith the Lord.

The church of this nation cannot contain My power in its present form. But as it turns to the Wind of the Holiness of God, it shall be purged and changed to contain My glory. This is judgment that has begun at the house of God, but it is not the end. When the second Wind has come and brought in My harvest, then shall the end come.¹

This prophecy became influential in the charismatic movement as much for its emphasis upon 'holiness' as for the reinforcing of the expectation of supernatural power. But the concept of 'holiness' it conveyed was not biblical. The Hebrew understanding of holiness was of separation from the world. Hence the prophets could speak of the 'wholly otherness' of God. The temple vessels and priestly garments were 'set aside' from common use for the exclusive service of God.

Concepts which have no biblical foundation, some of which were banned as heretical in the 1940s, have reappeared time after time in the charismatic movement.

But this popular charismatic concept of holiness does not speak of a people 'set aside' from the world for the exclusive service of God a people who have renounced the values and ways of the world. It concentrates upon personal morality; the elementary things which all people of goodwill who accept the Ten Commandments as the basic rule of life should be following. There is nothing special about turning away from 'pride, lust, greed, competition and jealousy' which the prophecy says will cause the Lord's people to feel devastated!

In testing this prophecy, we should ask, why should this make us feel devastated? But the prophecy was never subjected to biblical testing - it was simply uncritically accepted because it sounded good and made people feel good. So it was passed around charismatic churches across the world.

Nobody queried the phrase “Have you not read, ‘The Kingdom of God is in the Holy Ghost?’", the answer to which has to be NO! It's certainly not in the Bible! Yet it is subtly used here to introduce a promise of “a return of the miraculous and the supernatural. You and your generation shall see it”.

This promise is certainly not in the Bible. Nevertheless, promises like this appeal strongly to Western Christians who long for power and prestige in a world where they feel powerless and lacking in social acceptance.

Rick Joyner’s ‘Harvest’

Another prophecy which had considerable influence in the charismatic movement was published as a small booklet entitled 'The Harvest' by Rick Joyner.² In this he predicted a time of worldwide revival and great spiritual awakening.

This was fully in line with the expectations and hopes of charismatics. It was a popular word that was eagerly received and passed on from one to another. It helped to reinforce the belief that a great and glorious, supernaturally-endowed Church was about to be raised up by God.

This belief was picked up and passed on by many charismatic leaders, who incorporated it into their teaching so that it became part of the accepted body of doctrine in the charismatic movement.

Rick Joyner’s ‘Harvest’ prophecy helped reinforce the belief that a great and glorious, supernaturally-endowed Church was about to be raised up by God.

John Wimber and Vineyard

Undoubtedly the prophecies which have had the greatest influence in directing the development of the charismatic movement have been those coming from the Vineyard/KCF ministry. The Vineyard group of churches was founded by John Wimber in 1981 and in 1989 the Kansas City Fellowship of six churches was incorporated. Their major emphasis was upon prophetic revelation.

Wimber recalls that in 1987 he himself was at a low ebb in his spiritual life. He told his congregation that he hadn't heard from God for about two years.³ Nothing was going right in his ministry. David Watson, with whom he had become firm friends, had died of cancer despite Wimber's confidence that he would be healed. Up to that time he had been saying that they were seeing a considerable proportion of healings amongst those prayed for, including the healing of cancer. He has since confessed that that was not true and they actually saw very few healings.

Wimber's cup of bitterness was compounded in 1987 by the discovery of adultery and immorality among his leaders. He struggled to rectify these things during the next year and then he records, “On December 5th 1988 Paul Cain visited me in Anaheim. Paul was living in Dallas, Texas, at that time, and he had a proven, mature prophetic ministry on a level of which I had never heard before…”⁴

Paul Cain had been out of ministry for 30 years since the death of William Branham and his days as a Latter Rain Revivalist preacher. He says that God told him to attach himself to a man with an established ministry in order to promote his teaching about an end-time 'new breed' of men anointed with supernatural power. He could hardly have chosen a more appropriate moment to approach Wimber whose ministry appeared to be on the wane and who was in a highly vulnerable condition. Cain also accurately predicted a minor earthquake in California which convinced Wimber that God had sent him.

Paul came with reassuring words that God was with us. He said, ‘God has told me to tell you in the Vineyard, grace, grace.’ He said that if we repented God would spare us from judgment for our sins. Further, I was admonished to no longer tolerate low standards and loose living in the Vineyard, and to discipline and raise up a people of purity and holiness. My role, he said, would be significantly altered more authoritative and directive…Paul Cain (and others) also introduced a new dimension of ministry and God's working to the Vineyard…We have produced few people with a prophetic ministry…quite honestly, I didn't take prophecy too seriously. All that has now changed. During this past year I have had to look at prophecy seriously for perhaps the first time in my life.⁵

Undoubtedly the prophecies which have had the greatest influence on the charismatic movement have been those coming from the Vineyard/KCF ministry.

Paul Cain was introduced by Wimber as a prophet of extraordinary spiritual power and insight. He was presented to the British churches as the herald of a new breed who would be the end-time people of God possessing extraordinary spiritual power. In the write-up prior to his public meetings in Britain it was reported,

Today it isn't unusual for Paul to call out twenty or thirty people by name in meetings and to know the most intimate details of their lives (family relationships, birthdays, secrets of their hearts, prayers, where they live) and then bring prophetic direction regarding repentance, forgiveness, calling, gifting, and ministry.

However, the most satisfying aspect of Paul Cain's ministry isn't his remarkable prophetic insight into people's lives, although naming people and knowing intimate details of their lives does catch one's attention. More significant is his clarion call by word and example to live holy lives that are submitted to God, and thus join the new breed of men and women whom God is raising up in the 1990s.⁶

This promise of a 'new breed' was central to Cain's teaching. There can be no doubt that Wimber saw Cain as a divine messenger to give revelationary confirmation and support to his own teaching of 'power evangelism', power healing and power for signs and wonders and miracles.

Speaking on Wimber's platform in Anaheim in 1989, Cain said that there was going to be a worldwide spiritual awakening and the Gospel was going to reach every part of the earth. It's going to:

...reach every cavern, every cave, every foxhole, every land, every tongue, every nation...God is going to reach them with the supernatural, with the power evangelism that John Wimber so eloquently speaks about. It is the power evangelism that's going to do it...⁷

I tell you we're in a crisis stage right now where the church is going to be forced to pray and forced to believe for the prophetic ministry because that's our only salvation. If God doesn't raise up apostles and prophets and power evangelists and pastors and teachers, then we've had it because the church is going to fade into oblivion...⁸

This 'prophecy' was based upon Latter Rain teaching and the expectation that the restoration of the offices of Apostle and Prophet would be the key to raising a glorious end-time Church to rule the world. Cain continued:

God has reserved a day after due process and after preparation. God is going to raise up a people out of a people and they're going to be a bunch of nobodies from nowhere. They may not have a lot of degrees and they may not have a lot of clout and they may not have a lot of PR, they may not have a great vocabulary, they may not even be able to do any more than groan in the Spirit, but if that's all they do, it's going to be power. It's going to be powerful and it's going to accomplish more than all the beautiful words of oratory in the world...the Lord is doing his new things in these last days. The gospel of the kingdom is not just the word, it is the word and power. The word will do you no good.⁹

It is hard to imagine what Cain meant by the phrase 'the word will do you no good' as he did not elaborate it, but when such phrases slip out it indicates something basically wrong with the preacher's attitude to Scripture. Cain's prediction that ordinary people with little education and no special status were going to be given supernatural power was a highly popular prophecy received with great acclamation.

Next week: Prophecies of revival contd.

References

1 This prophecy was given by David Minor on 6 April 1987.

2 Joiner, R, 1989. The Harvest. Distributed by Morning Star Publications, N Carolina.

3 Pytches, D, 1990. Some Said It Thundered. Hodders, London, p52.

4 'Introducing the Prophetic Ministry', article by John Wimber in Equipping the Saints, special UK edition/Fall 1990, Vineyard Ministries International.

5 Ibid pp5-6.

6 Springer, K. Paul Cain: A New Breed of Man. Ibid p12.

7 Paul Cain, speaking at 'School of Prophecy', Anaheim, Vineyard Ministries International, November 1989. Transcript of tapes published by Holly Assembly of God, Missouri; Session 7, Part 1, p6.

8 Ibid p7.

9 Ibid p7.

The wind of the Spirit is the key solution for the nations.

Winds of change are once more blowing across Africa. And as South Africa’s Tshego Motaung has well illustrated, it is her own country that is again resisting the phenomenon.

When British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan made his famous ‘Winds of Change’ speech to the Cape Town Parliament in 1960, he was talking of the reality of national liberation sweeping the continent.¹

South Africa’s political elite, however, were in denial of it, resisting the inevitable for 30 years until God intervened in answer to much prayer – specifically in Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk being reconciled through their common faith in Jesus Christ.²

Now there is a new movement of change, writer and political economist Tshego points out – a growing recognition of God’s purposes for Israel among African nations. And the irony is that the black majority government of South Africa is actually moving in the opposite direction again, downgrading their ties with the Jewish state while being taken in by Palestinian propaganda.

Fulfilment for Isaiah 19?

Nevertheless, Tshego is clearly excited by the fulfilment of ancient prophecies as African nations forge closer ties with Israel. As MC for the recent Africa Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC) pre-launch event in Johannesburg, Tshego³ was reminded of the Isaiah 19 prophecy of a time when a highway of reconciliation would link Egypt, Israel and Assyria (Isa 19:23-25).

And she believes that what was described at the time (700 BC) as Egypt refers to most of what we know as Africa today.

“Initiatives like the AICC are some of the tools for bringing fulfillment to these prophecies,” she wrote in a recent online article for Gateway News (South Africa).⁴ “However, it is fascinating to notice how the current South African political leaders are acting in the same way their predecessors did in 1960, when they resisted the winds of change.”

There is a new movement of change sweeping Africa – a growing recognition of God’s purposes for Israel.

A further irony, in my opinion, is that a huge swathe of churches in South Africa are pro-Israel – and are in fact in revival because of that (as I believe the two are directly connected). The wind of the Holy Spirit is clearly blowing across the nation - what other explanation is there for nearly two million people turning up to a prayer meeting on a farmer’s field on 22 June this year?⁵ But the political leaders are trying to avoid the spiritual climate by sinking their heads in the South African sand (of which there is plenty). Like true believers down the ages, the country’s Christians are being counter-cultural and we should pray that their courage will not fail them at this desperate hour.

It is worth remembering that the Church also led the way for change in the apartheid era. Through much prayer and witness and a determination not to back down, they eventually won the battle. If the pattern is repeated today, political leaders will undoubtedly succumb. Perhaps it’s just a matter of when – not whether – the South African government repents; not only of its corruption, but of its anti-Israel stance.

Winds of Change – for Good and Ill

Winds of change have also blown through Britain since the 1960s – and on the whole they have wreaked havoc (rather as Hurricane Harvey has done in the USA) as family life has been seriously undermined and the Church has remained largely silent.

As the social structure of the UK continues to collapse, my prayer is that we will cease to resist the wind of the Spirit that is willing and wanting to rebuild our shattered society. The wind that blew on the Day of Pentecost changed the world (see Acts 2:2). Jesus spoke of a blowing of the wind, and of our response to it, when referring to the need for people to be “born again” in order to enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:8). This wind also came in the form of Jesus breathing on his disciples (John 20:22).

Winds of change have also blown through Britain since the 1960s – and on the whole they have wreaked havoc.

But the blowing of wind can also be negative, as I’ve intimated with my reference to havoc-wreaking hurricanes. St Paul writes about those who are easily led being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14) and when Jesus summed up his amazing Sermon on the Mount, he talked of destructive winds that would topple houses of thought and ideology built on the sand of lies and propaganda (Matt 7:24-27).

Word and Spirit Together

There is a growing movement dedicated to a coming together of the Word and Spirit in our churches which I believe holds out a very precious hope of future restoration. Too many of our churches (in the UK at least) favour one over the other, concentrating on preaching the Bible on the one hand or emphasising the gifts of the Spirit on the other. But many are now recognising that the time has come to weave both streams together.

The result, certainly according to legendary early 20^th Century evangelist Smith Wigglesworth in an extraordinary prophecy made shortly before his death in 1947, will be spiritually explosive.

He said at the time:

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. The outpouring of God’s Spirit will flow over from the United Kingdom to mainland Europe and, from there, will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.⁶

Notes

1 Harold Macmillan actually said: “The wind of change is blowing through the continent. Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact.”

2 See elsewhere in this issue.

3 Tshego Motaung holds an MA in Global Political Economy from Sussex University, has spent years in corporate South Africa and also worked as Trade and Investment advisor for UK Trade and Investment.

4 Motaung, T. Winds of change blowing again in Africa, but will SA get it? Gateway News, 4 August 2017.

5 The actual estimate is 1.7 million.

6 See the full word here. See also Cooper, J, 2015. When the Spirit and Word Collide. River Publishing.

'A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is drawing Muslims around the world to faith in Christ', by David Garrison (WIGTake Resources, 2014, 328 pages, RRP $18.95, available on Amazon or direct from the book's website).

In the face of all the turbulence and strife in the Muslim world that we see on our TV screens and newspapers comes this unprecedented account of what God is doing in the world of Islam today. David Garrison, an American missionary and scholar who studied Arabic in Egypt, has examined a remarkable series of movements to Christ this century by Muslims.

He describes a ‘movement’ as 100 new church starts or 1000 baptisms in a two–decade period. Today, in more than 70 separate locations in 29 nations, new movements of Muslim background followers of Christ are taking place. Although the number of converts are relatively small within the context of the total world Muslim population, the results are extremely significant.

The author’s approach in exploring this extraordinary phenomenon has been to gather information from those directly involved and to present the experiences of individuals from their own perspectives. To this end he interviewed about 1,000 Muslim-background believers from the nine very different ‘rooms’ (geographical areas) where the House of Islam is significantly present. He describes how he interviews converts and seeks to find out why they converted. While acknowledging the weaknesses of this survey and his own biases he has sought to be as objective and accurate as possible. The whole issue of insider research is presented for the reader to assess.

This is a deliberately written book. It does not aim to be an academic treatise but a very readable and stimulating account of God at work. It also provides a good introduction to Muslim demographics and the history of (largely unsuccessful) mission to Muslims. The author seeks to explain why 84% of historical movements from Islam to Christianity have been seen this century and explores some of the barriers that hinder these movements today, as well as the errors of the past.

Above all, it is the testimonies of the new believers which are truly inspiring, especially because of the hatred, fear, deprivation and persecution they face. The author challenges those in the church to pray and get involved with the ministries and missions to Muslims.

Every Christian leader in the UK should read this book and communicate its truth to their congregations. It will put hope and joy in their hearts."

Dr Garrison has done us an extraordinary service in producing this great testimony of God’s activity in our time. The book is easy to read, and any Christian can get the obvious message that God is at work in the House of Islam. Every Christian leader in the UK should read this book and communicate its truth to their congregations. It will put hope and joy in their hearts.