God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. (Psalm 63:1-3, NKJV)
What we need now is a revelation and demonstration of who God is! Get into agreement with God’s Word. Don’t accept mediocrity and failure. Claim the victory in Jesus Name!
When is God’s Power going to be the greatest? When will it be revealed the most? Not just in the blessing, not just in the church, not when everything is going right. It’s when EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG! That’s the challenge I want to bring to you! David is saying, “Yes, I’ve had those blessed moments, those wonderful moments… But now, everything is going wrong, I’ve got every opposition. I’m thirsty, I’m hungry enough to die! I WANT YOU – NOW – TO SHOW YOUR POWER!”
That’s the challenge! Today we’re faced with many difficulties, a lot of opposition. In many countries, the churches have been shut down, and when re-opened, with so many restrictions that you can’t fellowship or worship properly. Surely at times like this – when we’re facing pandemics, sickness and persecution – this is the time for those of us who know God and have experienced His Power to call upon Him – NOW – to reveal Himself AGAIN! We need a revelation and demonstration of who God is! Of His Power!
In Britain we have quite a division in the churches, even amongst the charismatic and evangelical churches. Some say, “The government says we mustn’t do this, we mustn’t do that,” and they want to respect and obey the limitations. And the rest of us say, “No, let’s stand up for what we believe in, let’s practice our faith!” I believe we have to! We need to see a real practical demonstration of the Power of God in our lives, now more than at any time! I don’t believe we should give in to all the government restrictions. I know people quote the Bible, ‘obey those that have the authority over you’. Yes, but only when that authority is godly and allows us to do what we should do.
Are we going to accept the restrictions that are being put upon us? Aren’t we called to suffer persecution for Christ’s sake? Didn’t Jesus say, “If any man will come after Me and be My disciple, let him take up his cross”? The preaching today is about prosperity, blessing, this and that. But we are called, if necessary, to suffer persecution and rejection with Christ! Our freedoms are being eroded. We’ve got to stand firm!
In the former communist countries they understand what I am seeing coming better than you in the West. Under the communism – many of you no longer remember of even know about it – Christians were persecuted, put in prison. Almost everyone in those former communist countries will have memory of someone, somewhere in their own family, who was imprisoned or tortured, or killed for the sake of the Gospel. What was the reaction in the church? They became divided between churches which would accept all the limitations imposed by the government – including what you could preach on – and those which stood firm on Biblical Truth.
I am concerned that what happened in those countries will come in Britain. There will be churches that will accept rules, legislation and government regulations that say you can’t do this and you can’t do that. And there will be churches that will say, no, we will stand for the truth of the Word of God. We mustn’t be afraid of persecution and suffering. For 30 years I worked with the underground churches in East Europe, starting in 1961. Their testimony under suffering is a powerful witness. The same challenge is coming here, but we must not be afraid of it.
How are we going to respond? I have faced these challenges all my life. When I had the throat cancer, how was I going to react? My own church in Dewsbury was founded on a miracle crusade – the miracles were reported in the local newspaper! Now I had cancer, and my own church said to me, “It’s alright when he’s praying for the sick and they are healed. But now he’s sick, what will he do? He’ll be the first to go to the doctor and get an operation.” No, I had to stand firm, and for 3 months I prayed. At the end of the 3 months, God worked the miracle and healed me – because I refused to give in!
It was the same in prison. So many people wrote to me, telling me God would look after me, that I would be released at the end of my sentence… No! I was in rebellion! Because I have SEEN THE POWER OF GOD! So I challenged the Lord, “If You could work a powerful miracle 2000 years ago and break open the prison doors and get Paul and Silas out, I want to SEE YOUR POWER NOW! Not just in the past, but now that I’m in difficulty, in trouble! I WANT TO SEE YOUR POWER IN MY LIFE!
God not only opened my prison doors, He sent the British Prime Minister, so I came out in a blaze of publicity!!! WOW! Only because I wouldn’t give in! I wouldn’t surrender! Even when I was tortured and tormented in that prison, I refused to give in! And I want YOU to stand firm NOW for what YOU believe in. Call on God to show His Power in YOUR life! In Jesus’ Name! Amen!