The Message
It is important that we clarify what the Message is that we are to preach to the multitudes in these Massive Miracle Campaigns. Even the very signs and wonders are to confirm a certain Message. There are those who may successfully draw a great crowd, but then preach a watered down message, or perhaps a message that is more suitable for a believers’ conference.
But when we draw a large crowd to such an event, we must preach the Gospel. In this chapter I will share a couple of thoughts that I think is of utmost importance regarding the preaching of the Gospel. An example of an evangelistic outreach straight from the book of Acts should serve as a great prototype for modern Massive Miracle Campaigns:
“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For the unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: And many taken with palsies and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in the city.” (Acts 8: 5-8)
I have already dealt extensively on the topic that miracles, signs and wonders accompany the preaching of the Word. We once again see this pattern in the manifestation of the paranormal, supernatural element in Philip’s ministry in Samaria. Miracles were performed by him. Unclean spirits were cast out. The palsied and lame were healed. As great as the supernatural manifestations of the power of God was in the ministry of Philip, I wish to emphasize that the people with one accord gave heed not only to what they saw, but unto those things which Philip spake.
The miracles were wonderful, but it was the Message that was the most important. What was it that Philip preached? He “preached Christ unto them.” When we hold Massive Miracle Campaigns, we are not to preach on just any convenient, topic. We are to preach Christ.
There are of course many different ways to preach Christ, but this is how I do it. I would preach a message such as “The Wonder of Jesus,” in which I declare the wonders of our Lord. With that I mean that I explain His eternal pre-existence as the eternal God, and how that He created everything. I proceed to explain how that He put on human flesh and dwelt amongst us. I would extol Him by explaining His miraculous conception and His virgin birth. I then share about His sinless life, and about the power of His miracles and the authority and wisdom of His teachings. Eventually I culminate my message with His atoning death on the cross for our salvation, and His powerful resurrection. I also explain that although He physically ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, that He came to us by His Holy Spirit, and wishes to indwell us. He knocks at the door of our heart and if we open the door by faith He will come in and live within us.
Other times I would preach a message on the hereafter—heaven or hell. Sometimes I would expound on how the sacrifices of the Old Testament typify Christ and how that He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. (Not detailed Old Testament typology, just the simple message.)
Of course I would often preach on messages that stir the faith of the hearer, such as how big and almighty God is, and that He is well able and also willing to save and heal us. It is important to often conspicuously include the Name of Jesus throughout the message, so that people may be reminded that the signs and wonders and miracles serve to point people to Him. It is equally important to emphasize the part that Jesus died on the cross for us, rose again and wants to dwell in our hearts—no matter what the topic of the sermon is.
We may have only one shot at this, and may be the only person to bring this Message to that region for many years or decades. They must remember this—that Jesus died for their sins, rose again and dwells within us. When Paul preached Jesus Christ, He was evidently set forth before their eyes, crucified among them (Galatians 3:1.)
The Message should also be preached with simplicity. If we preach to the learned and sophisticated, then only they will understand. But if we preach in such a way that the unlearnt will understand, then both unlearnt as well as the learned will understand.
Each meeting must also include an opportunity for the multitudes to accept Christ. They should be led in a prayer, repeating something like this after the preacher: “Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent of my sin. Forgive me and wash me with Your precious blood. Cleanse me and make me brand new. I open my heart to You. Come live in me. Thank you for saving me.” People may cry out to God with heart felt prayer, but it is still important to lead them in this prayer, because the Word likens people to sheep—they have to be led. There are times someone would spontaneously cry out to God for salvation, but it doesn’t happen all the time. People can repeat a salvation prayer and still mean it from the heart.
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God…But we preach Christ crucified…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23-24.)
Massive Miracle Campaigns:
The Messenger
As important as the Message is, I must also address the importance of the behavior of the messenger (the evangelist.) Someone said that the believer may be the only Bible some people may ever read. It’s not only vital that we preach Christ and His Message, but also how we do it. How are we portraying Christ and His Gospel?
There are those who seem to have an air of arrogance about them. However, the messenger should come with humility and kindness towards princes and paupers alike. In stead of an air of arrogance, the evangelist should come with humility, yet with power. Arrogance may indicate a lack of spiritual authority.
We must understand that when we come to a region in the Name of our Master, that we are in fact representing our Lord. It is as if He is right there—as if we are Him. In fact He is right there, for they went forth preaching everywhere, the Lord working with them… (Mark 16:20.)
The messenger should live a life of holiness, abstaining from sin both publicly and privately. The messenger should respect local customs where possible, and respect the authorities
The messenger should choose his words wisely, having it sprinkled with salt (Colossians 4:6.)
The messenger should portray peace and love—not anger and contentiousness.
The messenger should preach Christ—not bash other religions. There are those who come to a country and preach against something in stead of for Someone. They bash their gods and make fun of their idols. They belittle their prophet or gurus. A better way to put it is to declare that when they accept Jesus, they will be accepting Him as their only God. This way we cannot be accused of blaspheming their gods or being contentious. Although anything can still go wrong, this avoids a lot of problems.
The messenger should stay out of the politics of a host country. Some evangelists condemn their host country’s government and meddle in political affairs. Whether or not their meddling has any merit, it is still best to stay the course by keeping Christ at the center.
While there might be a time and place to address these things, the servant of Christ should avoid contentious and secondary topics. He should remain focused on the main Message and lift up the Name of Jesus.
I was recently asked by the leader of a small group of ministers in India to encourage his pastors and evangelists. I responded with a letter which included the following:
“Brethren, I wish to ask you to consider some of these very important issues:
1. We must each make sure that we are personally saved and born from above. By accepting Christ, we are not merely accepting a religion. We are actually accepting the Person of God into our beings. We must make sure that we are saved and born from above, and only then can we effectively share Christ with others,
2. We must live holy before the Lord. The servant of God cannot be unfaithful in marriage, or partake of sexual activity outside of marriage. The servant of God must also not allow cursing and ungodly conversation come from his lips. Our mouths are God's tool, and He wishes it to be holy. The servant of God must also be free of financial greed, but at the same time put his trust in God that God will supply in his needs abundantly,
3. We must be filled and baptized with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4 “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and begun to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance,” and Acts 1:8 “You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses...”
4. When we preach, we must keep Christ central to our message as in Acts 8:5 “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” To preach Christ primarily means to declare that He is the Eternal God who came to us in the flesh, in human form. It also means to preach that He lived a sinless life, and that He died on the cross for our sin. That He rose from the dead, and after He ascended to heaven, He came to us by sending His Holy Spirit to us, who may dwell within us when we accept Christ and are born from above. We must also preach about His miracles and that He will come back again physically at some time in the future,
5. We must also allow the Lord to confirm His Word with signs and wonders and miracles following as in Mark 16:20 “And they went and preached everywhere, the Lord conforming the Word with signs following.” Philip the Evangelist is a good example in Acts 8:6-8 “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city,”
6. The servant of God must show love and compassion to those he ministers to,
7. The servant of God must remember that we will all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ one day and give account of what we have done for Him both publicly and privately, and
8. The servant of God must love his wife and children and make sure that they know they are loved.
Brethren, there are many more things that we can discuss here, but I hope that these thoughts have found an entrance into your hearts.”
Perhaps this letter may serve as somewhat of a guideline to the reader of this book as to the demeanor of the messenger and how he/she represents Christ and His Message.
Massive Miracle Campaigns:
Conclusion
I believe that Massive Miracle Campaigns, accompanied by the ministry of miracles, signs and wonders will continue to be a powerful tool in the hands of the church as we come closer to the coming of the Lord. I believe that whatever glorious thing that God did in the early church or throughout church history is to be outdone as we venture into the end times before Jesus comes.
Jesus said that: “…the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he does…” (John 14:12.) I feel that the fullness of this promise is yet to be realized prior to the second and glorious literal return of Jesus Christ.
The early church was born in power and fire and bore powerful witness to the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The early church ministered to the multitudes and they did so with the power of the Holy Spirit and with miracles, signs and wonders.
I believe it is God's will that the End-Time Church do the same. I am not even referring to an old-fashioned revival, as if the power the church used to have would be sufficient for our day. We most certainly need a greater move of God in our generation than those glorious moves of God in earlier church history. In fact, I believe that this final move of God will be greater than what was witnessed in the early church.
The Bible teaches that: "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts..." (Haggai 2:7.) Although this verse refers to a literal temple, it can also be applied to the spiritual temple. The temple was symbolic of the Church or the Body of Christ. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16.) Just as the literal latter temple would be greater than the former literal temple, so too the church of the end times should be greater than the early church: Greater in power, greater in holiness, greater in financial provision, greater in miracles, signs and wonders, greater in numbers, etc. Not at all greater because we are “better” but because the greater challenges and complexities that are typical of the end times demand greater demonstration of power and effectiveness on the part of the end time church. It is evident that the church has a far way to go.
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of they nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelations 3:15-19.)
In this day in which many ministries have fallen into a lust, greed, sodomy and unfaithfulness, the Spirit of God is rebuking sternly, yet calling lovingly and urgently that the end time church would be the powerhouse it is supposed to be. Peter, John, Paul and all the holy apostles of old would be filled with horror if they could see the current state of the backslidden church. Don’t we know that we are to be a shining light and a burning lamp, and that we are to shine forth the greatest manifestation of God’s glory ever to be revealed?
If a sudden supernatural death fell upon those who lied to the Holy Ghost regarding matters of financial integrity in the early church, who would survive a judgment of God upon His house today? Not only are we to be restored to the power and beauty of the early church, but we must surpass it in every way if indeed “the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former…”
The initial Early Church was born in great power. They bore witness of the resurrected Christ to both multitudes as well as to individuals with the stunning power of signs and wonders that accompanied their message. The early church was indeed powerful, but the glory of the latter house (the end-time church) is going to surpass glory that was revealed in the early church.
An astonishing anointing awaits every saint that will dare to chase after their full potential in God! The dead will be raised and the blind will see. Even people with no eyes in their eye sockets will miraculously receive creative miracles. Eyes will be placed into those empty holes. Jesus is alive, and He is still the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. If He did miracles yesterday, He will do so today also.
In John chapter 9 we read of a remarkable miracle that Jesus performed. He healed a blind man in an unusual way by spitting on the ground and smearing mud in his eyes. Some have suggested that the man might not have had any eyes in his eye sockets. If that was the case, Jesus most probably placed clay into the blind man's eye sockets. The Creator had made man of the “dust of the earth.” Since the Creator now was clothed with human flesh, He used the same dust of the earth to form two new eyes for the blind man. After smearing clay onto his eyes, He sent him away to wash at the pool of Siloam. If this is so, those eyes of clay—compounded by the earth from which God made man, and the very spit of Jesus Himself, turned into two bright, beautiful eyes. If Jesus did this during His earthly ministry, He will do so again through His Body on earth today.
Imagine with me: Amputated body parts growing back. Those whose legs and arms are frozen because of strokes or for whatever reason will run and leap and praise His Name. Clubbed feet will be straightened, and the lame will walk. Incurable diseases will be cured. Aids, cancer, diabetes and whatever sickness satan had ever vomited out of the pit of hell will all bow the knee before the power of God and the Name of Jesus Christ.
As God performs these wonders in and through His anointed servants and handmaidens, the crowds will gather. Our small local churches will burst at their seams. Stadiums will be filled in both the western world and abroad. Larger crowds than ever will be drawn to hear about the saving and healing message of Jesus Christ.
When I was just a young evangelist, I had the opportunity and honor to meet evangelist Reinhard Bonnke for the first time in Germany. Although his ministry had drawn many multitudes to Christ, such as 150,000 in Malawi, his ministry had just experienced the greatest breakthrough ever. They had just drawn 500,000 people to a single service. I still remember his words to me that “That which is extraordinary today, will be ordinary tomorrow.” Since then he has had another breakthrough in which 1.6 million souls made a decision for Christ in a single service. The final number of decisions for Christ totaled 3.4 million souls in just that one outreach! And tens of millions since.
These are signs of the fact that the "glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former house." Greater things are yet to come. May the end time Christ-filled believers reflect Jesus to our generation, and may the earth be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea…
"Miracles for the Multitudes" is a combination of two focal points of Joel Hitchcock's Ministry, namely:
(a) Miracles, Signs and Wonders and (b) Massive Miracle Campaigns
This Blog is based on Dr. Joel Hitchcock's book "Miracles for the Multitudes".
To order Joel's eBook, go to http://www.joelhitchcock.com/p/product-store_4.html
www.joelhitchcock.com // www.joelhitchcock.blogspot.com // www.manifestingchristinyou.blogspot.com // www.joelhitchcock.wordpress.com // www.joelhitchcockonline.blogspot.com // www.healingevangelist.blogspot.com // www.endtimerevivalandgreatawakening.blogspot.com
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Permission to duplicate is hereby granted as long as the complete quote does not exceed more than 1,000 words and that due credit is given to the source.
For the website of the church led by Pastor Joel and Heidi Hitchcock in
Georgetown DE, which is an exciting Pentecostal, Charismatic, Word of
Faith, Cross-of-Christ preaching church in Sussex County, Delaware, go
to www.rivercity.co.
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