In Romans Chapter 8 I beleive it is around the 19th verse Paul spaeks of this.....PARAPHARSED "all of creation is graoning for the manifestation of the Sons of God to appear" Now Jesus said in the Word that PARAPHRASED "greater works you shall do" Now, in the last days God said that He shall pour out His spirit upon all flesh, Who are these "Sons" of God and what exactly is the hundredfold outpouring? Will we see in this day and age that all beleivers will not be sick and will be proserous walking in fullness of the Father's will and a massive wave of people running to the Lord. Miracles described in the Word, actually manifesting in this hour....Does anyone believe that this will happen? Why or why not support it scripture

-- Anonymous, December 27, 2000

Answers

Whoa Sister! You do like to get into the Word. Can't fault that one little bit. You challenge me to stretch. Stand by. This may take a day or two. Iron sharpens iron!

Did I hear you correctly in another entry that you're part of the COGIC? I don't know a whole lot about them, but what I do know I like.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

Sister Lori, this is a little long, but I'll save some space by pointing out that I partly anwered this in my other entry in your thread on Revelation. I believe that all true Christians are "sons (and daughters) of God".

Will there be a time when all Christians walk in a way you describe? For my supporting Scripture I'll simply point to the entire Book of Acts and history. It can't happen unless there are some VERY fundamental changes, and it won't happen in the natural. When I compare the book of Acts church with the American church, including the one I attend, I see a great gap. We simply aren't there in the vast majority of cases. Remember the 1st century church operated ROUTINELY in the supernatural (but didn't take it for granted). They also saw thousands brought to Christ at a time, added to their number DAILY, and earned the emnity of the established authorities, religious and secular. You see, part of the deal will be not just health and safety, but persecution. I see small pockets of such revival here and there, and I read of it in places like Argentina and South Korea (over 25% of the country is evangelical Christian), but it has yet to hit this country.

One of our basic errors is too often we seek God's hand instead of His face. We love the blessings of Christianity, and goose bumps that come with a "good" service, but how many of us pursue God in the way of Wesley, Finney, or Wigglesworth? I recall reading where a man went to pray with Smith Wigglesworth and literally had to leave the room. He simply said, "It was too much of God". I submit that many of our services are designed more please man than God. We try to attract people to church with programs, or convince them into the Kingdom with skillful debate, but we don't often enough seek the Manifest Presence of God Very God.

From time to time in history it has happened God's way, Acts Ch 2 being the prime example. God's people gather to pray and repent vicariously of their city's, region's, and nation's sins. It's a long and bitter road, but at a certain point the brass Heavens crack, the demons flee, and God manifests Himself in a thunderclap. Testimonies I've read include people literally climbing the walls or wailing underneath the pews in conviction. People in the surrounding town cower behind walls, and others run to the church only to collapse in a heap inside the door. Interestigly, church deacons sometimes resign on the spot, and ask to be assigned to janitorial duty. It seems some church leaders do it for the prestige, and being in the Manifest Presence leads to powerful conviction. The effect also lasts in a "residual presence", and Christians are approached on the street by people begging to be led to Christ. Others enter the church and demand immediate baptism. Examples of this type of activity occurred during the Great Awakening, the Cane Ridge revival, and the Weslyan revival.

Do I see it happening again? Absolutely, once the church gets really right. First, we must get hungy, really hungry for the Person of the Living God. Not His blessings, which come as a matter of course, but Him Him Him. From there we get on our faces and cry out, put to death our flesh, repent of our sins and vicariously, those of our community. We also seek unity with the entire body of true believers, which may be the hardest part of all. It requires reconciliation between ministers, churches, denominations, and races. We put our differences aside and pray with these believers over the long term in regular meetings where all who name the Name of Jesus are welcome.

But right now too many of us are still too comfortable. We're happy with the way things are, and the warriors are still too few. In my town we have a network of 6 churches devoted to such action. It includes an African American Baptist church, a Spanish speaking Assembly of God, an English speaking Assembly of God, an independent Charasmatic church, a Southern Baptist church, and a United Methodist church. There are also numerous others who come from churches who's leadership hasn't been interested in joining. The sad part is, some of the six dear pastors in the group have factions in their churches that oppose their participation.

So we have to become dissatisfied with the status quo, which means we must become uncomfortable. Discomfort moves people like nothing else. But I believe we'll see it. The health and prosperity you mentioned? Those are just some of the blessings God's children enjoy except for those times (see Job) when He chooses to build us up through trial. But that's really a secondary issue to me. The issues we too often focus on - attendance, finances, backsliders, music, the leaky pipes, become non-issues in a Book of Acts move of God.

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000