REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (6) - THE JEAN DARNALL PROPHECY

The revival in Leicester continues.

Meetings where the presence of the Holy Spirit is so present it’s hard to stand. Laughter, people drunk in the Spirit, many on the floor as God ministers to them. Pastors and leaders visiting and taking the blessing with them. One pastor tells the story of having to stop on the way home because the Holy Spirit was still at work. As he said, better to pull over for the Holy Spirit to do His work than be pulled over for erratic driving!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned two prophecies that are particularly relevant for our nation. One was from Smith Wigglesworth, and you can read about it here. The other is from Jean Darnall. Jean was a preacher with a healing ministry. She and her husband lived in the UK for around 25 years and had a significant influence in the early days of the Charismatic movement in the 1970s and 80s. Jean was particularly prophetic, no more so than when she received a vision from the Lord on three separate occasions in 1967. Here’s what she said (this is a precis- the whole vision is told here):

During those weeks a vision came to me. It appeared three different times, during prayer, and it was the same vision each time.

What I saw was the British Isles, as in a bird's eye view. A kind of haze was over the whole, like a green fog. And then little pinpricks of light began to appear from the top of Scotland to Land's End. Then the Lord seemed to draw me closer to these lights, and I saw that they were fires that were burning. They were multiplying from the top of Scotland to Land's End. Then I saw lightening come and strike those fires, the brightest spots particularly, and there was a kind of explosion, and rivers of fire flowed down. Some of those rivers … went right across the Channel and didn't stop there.

The Lord spoke to me, I don't mean that it was an audible voice. But it was a knowing. That strong knowing, like reading at the end of a book and knowing exactly what was going to happen. And you can't change it: it is written. And so it was written upon my heart, the meaning of this vision:

Phase One: The Glowing Fires

The Lord impressed that those fires I saw were groups of people whom He would make intensely hungry for New Testament Christianity. They would start reading their Bibles and saying, for instance, as they read the book of Acts, 'Well, where is this happy church? Where are these people so full of the power of the Holy Spirit? Where are these miracles? Where is this growth, this vitality, this courage, this boldness that these people had? Is that for today – can we have it today? Should the church be this way?'

And as these questions were being planted in their hearts, the Lord Jesus said He would make them very hungry for the Holy Spirit; He would fill them with the Holy Spirit, and out of those gifts would flow ministries that would enrich the Body of Christ. The whole concept of the Body of Christ would come alive, and barriers between denominations and different types of Christians would break down as people met each other. ….He would show them the meaning of the power of the blood of Jesus, the name of Jesus, the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Phase Two: The Coming of the Lightning

Then I asked the Lord, 'What does the lightning stand for?' And he said…the lightning represents a second part of the vision, in which I will bring a spiritual awakening to the nation that will be a witness to the unsaved, to the un-churched, to the non-Christian.

Through these believers I will bring a witness to this land. They will be an army of witnesses. …there will be apostolic signs following and accompanying their testimonies. …..Thousands and thousands of people are going to come into my kingdom through this army of witnesses …. My people rising up, led by My spirit and beginning to move forward with a new faith for evangelism, a new zeal to share Jesus with others. … I will release their ministries of healing and miracles, and there will be signs and wonders accompanying their ministries. So many people will be saved, in the villages as well as in the cities, in the schools, in the government, in media, in industry. It will affect the destiny of this nation; it will determine the course of the times.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (5) - BLESSING THE PASTORS

Last night at the revival meeting we had the privilege of praying for two pastors. One of them was planting a brand-new church in Leicester, having been called with others from the Southwest of England. This is so exciting! The more life-giving churches in Leicester, the higher the water level for all the churches.

It was good to see both pastors were well blessed as we prayed for them, and we trust they will carry what they caught.

It’s a funny thing but maybe 20 or 30 years ago, churches would not even speak to each other, let alone bless other leaders. It’s a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit. In the Azusa Street revival in 1906, the white pastor of the Baptist Church, Joseph Smale, willingly worked with the black pastor of Azusa Street, William Seymour. Two different styles and backgrounds would be harder to find, but when God moves….

Here at Chroma Leicester, the revival continues. The sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit is very real. We see many ‘floored’ by the Spirit, many breaking out in exuberant worship and dance, much laughter. At the youth group last week, there was a moment where teenagers knelt at the feet of Jesus, and as soon they did, God moved powerfully. Teenagers began to weep and fall more deeply in love with Jesus, many encountering Him for the first time.

In another meeting, someone tells of experiencing the power of God for the first time, saying they felt electricity go through them. Another young man describes going into an encounter that lasted almost a day. He had to be carried home and put to bed. God was touching him so powerfully, he was shaking all through the night.

May God continue to work in revival.

REVIVAL IN LEICESTER (4) - THE SMITH WIGGLESWORTH PROPHECY

We are continuing to see revival in Leicester. A continued sense of the weight of the Holy Spirit in our meetings. A lot of outworking in different ways, from holy silence to holy laughter. Someone coming in off the street into the revival meetings and giving their life to Christ. A couple travelling hundreds of miles to be in the meetings, powerfully met by the Holy Spirit. Someone who didn’t believe the revival should be called a ‘revival’ retracting their comments after visiting.

What is happening in Leicester will happen throughout the UK. I want to look at a couple of broader prophecies over our nation. One is given by Jean Darnall (a later blog), and one purportedly by the amazing healing evangelist Smith Wigglesworth.

It’s not entirely clear that the Smith Wigglesworth prophecy from 1947, just before he died, is entirely his own – so as a Church historian I have to say that. But it is very similar to other prophetic words spoken by him and accurately recorded. Despite the lack of full historic proof, I think there is enough of a record to accept it as genuine.

Here is the prophetic word:

 “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 a 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 the 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 Spirit 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 we are in the days Wigglesworth speaks of. The two earlier moves in the UK can be clearly linked to the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches and the New Churches (originally House Church) movement. A restoration of the teaching on the baptism of the Spirit reflected in Pentecostalism from the early 1900s onwards and then powerfully in the 1960s/70s Charismatic movement. And a move out of historic churches into something new as seen in many new streams and church movements such as Pioneer and Newfrontiers, from the 1970s onwards.

That new church move is on the wane. Some of the pioneers are now in glory, others have passed on the movement to the next generation.

And what we are seeing now is the Word and Spirit coming together. Churches across cities are working together in ways unheard of in generations past. The reason they can do so is an emphasis on the Word and Spirit together. Churches with an emphasis on the Word and a distrust of the things said to be of the Spirit have opened up to the Holy Spirit’s work. Churches that have maybe over-emphasised the work of the Spirit in years past have found a new love for the Word and have brought it to its proper place within their meetings.

The Bible teaches end-times with persecution and with revival. Both seem to come together. In the UK, Christianity and the teaching of the Bible is under attack. But at the same time, people are far more open than ever before to the gospel. As we come out of a worldwide pandemic, many are questioning their reason for being – why they do what they do. There is a cry on their lips: ‘there must be more to life!’

As Christians we have the answer.

And as the Word and Spirit work together, we have revival in our land.