Mark Dunman reflects on Smith Wigglesworth's prophecy over Britain and calls for continued prayer at this volatile time.

God makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarged nations and disperses them. (Job 12:23)

I believe God has responded to the prayers of those Christians who have long felt that the EU was no place for Britain. It is indeed a momentous decision. I support 'Brexit', as it popularly came to be called, for a very specific reason. I believe that Britain cannot fulfil its destiny while spiritually shackled to a European Union which is hostile to our God, the God of the Bible.

Britain's Destiny: Mission and Revival?

What is this destiny? I believe that, in part, this destiny is to support the re-establishment of the State of Israel, but I also believe that it is to fulfil the promises made in the prophecy given by the great evangelist Smith Wigglesworth in 1947, shortly before his death. For those readers not familiar with the prophecy¹ I reproduce it here in full:

During the next few decades there will be two distinct moves of the Holy Spirit across the Church in Great Britain. The first move will affect every church that is open to receive it and will be characterised by restoration of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The second move of the Holy Spirit will result in people leaving historic churches and planting new churches.

In the duration of each of these moves, the people who are involved will say 'This is a great revival.' But the Lord says 'No, neither is this the great revival but both are steps towards it.' When the new church phase is on the wane, there will be evidenced in the churches 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 movement 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 the Welsh revivals of former years. The outpouring of God's Sprit will flow over from the United Kingdom to the mainland of Europe, and from there, will begin a missionary move to the ends of the earth.

I believe this prophecy to be from God. It has already been partly fulfilled. I came to faith in the 1970s during what I see as the first phase of the prophecy, the restoration of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. I lived through the second phase, the planting of new churches. We now await the third phase, a truly amazing revival which will start within our shores and radiate out to Europe and then to the world.

I believe Smith Wigglesworth's prophecy to be from God - it has already been partly fulfilled and we now await its third phase.

Other Christian leaders such as Derek Prince and Jean Darnall have prophesied a time of revival prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Derek Prince saw one great final wave of revival, while Jean Darnall saw fires of revival being lit up all over the British Isles.

Urgent Need for Continued Prayer

I did not believe that this could happen while Britain was part of an increasingly pagan/humanist Europe. To me this is the significance of the vote to leave Europe. Britain could not move forward spiritually while still in Europe; now it has the opportunity.

However, the need to pray is even more urgent. No one pretends that the moral state of this country warrants the mercy of God. The many groups that have been praying below the radar need to continue:

• We need to pray for the Church, most of which seems to view the EU solely in political terms.
• We need to pray for healing and reconciliation between the opposing sides in this referendum.
• We need to pray that we will make a good transition to being on our own – in particular that God will not allow the nation to become disillusioned with its choice.

Finally, we need to pray for a restoration of Christian values and a recognition by the nation and its government of our Judaeo-Christian heritage. We are a tolerant nation and we can live with other religions practising their faiths, but we should not tolerate other faiths (including atheism) attempting to marginalise our Christian heritage. We are a Christian nation and in my view it is perfectly reasonable to ask people of other faiths to respect this fact.

Nevertheless, this will not happen without prayer. Our spiritual enemy, satan, and his kingdom of darkness, will seek to neutralise the result of this Referendum. We have to pray and intercede for what we believe is right for this nation.

Britain could not move forward spiritually whilst in Europe. Now we have the opportunity, the need for prayer is ever more urgent.

Take Heart

I urge all Christians who have prayed for this result to continue and even to step up their prayer. The moral state of this nation is dire, but we can take heart from the fact that God can stir the fires of revival in a nation, whatever its moral and spiritual state, as the Wesleyan and Welsh revivals testify.

What God needs from those who are already his children and in his kingdom, is sustained, heartfelt prayer and intercession. Let us go to it!

Author information: Mark Dunman is the author of two books which we reviewed here at Prophecy Today earlier in the year: Has God really finished with Israel? (2013), which challenges Replacement Theology, and The Return of Jesus Christ: the end or the beginning? (2015), which examines the various millennial positions taken by the Church through history and discusses whether we are approaching the return of Christ any time soon.

Both books are available at markdunman.com, at Christian bookshops and on Amazon. Click here to read Paul Luckraft's interview with Mark from earlier this year.

Notes

1 There is some disagreement as to whether it was Smith Wigglesworth who gave this prophecy. However, he was known to have given a similar prophecy to David du Plessis in South Africa in 1936. What matters to me is that it has all the hallmarks of a genuine prophecy from God (Deut 18:21-22), not least because part of it has been fulfilled. See also Prophecy Today's feature on this prophecy as part of the 'Testing Prophecies Together' series.