THE COMING VISITATION By Larry Randolph

The Body of Christ is about to have a rare opportunity to experience an unprecedented outpouring of God's Spirit. Yet, I believe that before we can fully receive the kinds of spiritual phenomena that accompany revival, we need to understand that the Holy Spirit who demonstrates the power of God by miraculous signs, wonders and visitations does so within the boundaries of scripture. We must bear in mind that the works of the Holy Spirit will never contradict the word of God, for the Spirit and Word are one. (See 1 John 5:7)

If we are preparing ourselves for a visitation of God, each of us needs to ask these questions: How do I prepare myself for such extraordinary encounters and be certain I am receiving an experience that is of God and biblically sound? Is there a precedent for this sort of spiritual phenomena in the Bible?

The Bible is actually full of unusual and extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit. Luke 24, which describes Jesus' resurrection, for instance, demonstrates a pattern of escalating phenomena. The account opens with an angelic visitation to the women who had come to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body and ends with the risen Lord Jesus Christ appearing to His disciples.

Although there are many examples in Scripture, I believe we need to look at three kinds of biblical phenomena that are relevant to the Church today, because we are fast approaching a time of personal and corporate heavenly visitations. Let's look first at angelic visitations.

ANGELIC VISITATIONS

Angels are God's divine messengers who play a significant role in the unfolding of God's purposes to mankind. For example, the angel of the Lord visited Moses in a burning bush to commission him to lead Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The angel of the Lord also appeared to foretell the births of Samson, John the Baptist, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord appeared to a Roman centurion named Cornelius and instructed him to summon the apostle Peter to his home in order that the Holy Spirit might be poured out upon the Gentiles.

There are a number of other biblical examples of angelic visitation. All of these visitations came during critical times in history. In the light of the transitional age we are living in, I believe that the Body of Christ is once again going to enter a new era of angelic visitation. The message will be the same as it was in the Bible, we have come to the end of a dispensation. The Lord is no longer entombed in the religious place we have prepared for Him. He is risen and has imparted the power of resurrection to all His disciples. And the Church will soon awaken to a revival anointing that is deeply rooted in the resurrection power of Christ.

PERSONAL VISITATIONS OF CHRIST

In addition to angelic visitations, I believe Jesus Christ Himself will appear to individuals as a sign of fresh outpouring. The Risen Lord sometimes strengthened and encouraged believers in the first century Church by appearing to them. After His resurrection He appeared to Peter reassuring him of His love and challenging the distraught disciple to nurture God's sheep.

When the Lord felt it was necessary to enlarge the Church, He also visited Paul on the Damascus road. Jesus visited Paul converting him to Christianity and commissioning him to apostolic ministry. When the Lord was ready to reveal His resurrected glory to His disciples, He began by visiting two men on the Emmaus road. (See John 21:1-17 & Acts 9:1-20)

In the same way that all of these men were radically transformed by heavenly encounters of the God-kind, we, too, are about to receive life-changing personal visitations. Yet, perhaps like Paul and Peter, I wonder if we are aware that our time of visitation is at hand. Like the two disciples on the Emmaus road, we often have no idea that Christ often comes alongside us at our times of greatest discouragement.

Whether we're ready or not, Christ tells us in Revelation 3:20, "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Therefore, to the same extent that the two disciples on the Emmaus road opened the door of their hearts to the Lord, we too, must ask Jesus to visit our house and recline at our table. Why? Because it is in the fellowship of sweet communion that the Risen Lord will ultimately bless us and reveal Himself to us.

CORPORATE VISITATIONS OF CHRIST

In both the Old and New Testaments, the Lord has also visited His people in corporate settings. In 2 Chronicles 5:14, for example, the glory of God so wonderfully filled Solomon's temple that the priests were unable to stand on their feet and conduct their ministry. Compare this to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost where the group of 120 disciples were also overwhelmed by the glory of God as they gathered together in fellowship and prayer in an upper room in Jerusalem. And the resurrected Christ appeared in a gathering of His closest disciples where He showed them His hands and feet and opened their minds to further understand the Scriptures. (See Luke 24) He then blessed the disciples and told them they would soon be clothed with power from on high.

In light of these examples and others like them in Scripture, I am convinced that Jesus Christ will once again appear in church meetings and gatherings around the world. Whether this will be visible in the natural or the spiritual realm, I am not certain. I only know that the Lord will walk right into the middle of many churches and disrupt their programs and agendas.

Like the disciples in Luke 24:41, I believe we will be both frightened and overjoyed all at the same time. As the presence of God begins to move in our midst, we will fall prostrate to the floor and lie there awestruck by unusual and extraordinary manifestations of the Spirit. Instantaneous miracles, healings and other spiritual phenomena will occur right before our eyes. The lame will walk and the blind will see, not because of our great faith or gifting, but because the Sovereign Lord is in the house.

As much as I want to see these supernatural visitations, my faith does not rest on them. I value my relationship with Jesus Christ far above these kinds of experiences, but my faith is not threatened by them either. Since there is real evidence that these kinds of phenomena are present throughout the Bible and the history of the Church, then it should be no surprise that in the glow of the warm fires of spiritual renewal we will see an increase in visitations like these.

Get ready! We are about to enter a realm of revival and spiritual phenomena as never seen before. In fact, current renewals such as those in Toronto, Canada and Pensacola, Florida are, in my view, just the beginning of fresh visitations from the Lord. There will be an unprecedented increase of angelic visitations, supernatural dreams and visions, appearances of Christ, signs and wonders, extraordinary miracles and a host of other phenomenal manifestations which I believe will draw multitudes of people to Christ. The result will be a deeper relationship between the Lord and His Church as well as a great harvest of souls.

Acts 2:17-19, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath...And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (NASV)

Larry Randolph was commisioned by the Lord as a prophetic voice to the nations in 1973. He is a gifted and humorous teacher who illuminates scriptural truths and their relevance to this generation.. Larry is also the author of the widely acclaimed book, User Friendly Prophecy. Return To Magazine Index

(c)2000 Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship Published on The Elijah List by permission from Spread the Fire Magazine