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By understanding the power & authority Jesus gave his disciples, every disciple can be trained to heal the sick as Jesus did as evidence of the gospel to the lost. John 14:11-12 is now being fulfilled. The endtime revolution in missions has begun—in order for the Great Commission to be fulfilled and for Christ to return.
In Daniel 12 the following message about the end times was delivered to Daniel by the angel of the LORD Most High:
Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”
Indeed we are now in the Last Days. With the advent of IT, scientific knowledge and advancements in the material world are increasing exponentially—just as spoken by the angel.
In the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ moreover declared that during these Last Days—along with persecution, hate, apostasy, and the appearance of many false prophets deceiving many people—the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. The above signs accompanying the Last Days are now clearly being fulfilled in the West and especially in America.
Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
During the time that remains before the end and the coming of the Messiah, the billions of souls around the world who have not yet heard the gospel must hear it. But in most places in the Third World today, missions is struggling—and not even a shadow of the explosive missions which we find in several places in Acts. This dilemma demands a revolution in missions.
This revolution has already begun. The restoration of missions as in Acts has begun, especially in India—soon to be the most populous nation on earth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is now beginning to fulfill the puzzling, nearly incomprehensible promise he made so solemnly in John 14:11-12.
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. VERY TRULY I TELL YOU, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Nameless and faceless disciples (not just the famous “superstar” preachers) are now being trained to do the miraculous works that Jesus did as indisputable and compelling evidence to gospel-resistant peoples—Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and idol-worshipers in the Third World—that He is one with the Father and the only way to Him. As a result, we are now witnessing extraordinary harvests among these resistant people groups, harvests which resemble what we read of in Acts.
The key to this is going back to the gospels where even before Pentecost Jesus gave supernatural power and authority to His disciples to heal the sick and cast out demons exactly as He did. The purpose of this power and authority was to provide compelling evidence of the gospel being shared with those who did not know Jesus.
In Acts after Pentecost when reaching out to the Gentiles (albeit with far greater effectiveness) the disciples continued to heal the sick and cast out demons in this very same way—through the use of authority and power. They clearly were not using the very different gift of healing when ministering in the context of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to the lost. The work of the Holy Spirit after Pentecost did not nullify what Jesus taught and commanded His disciples in the gospels. Rather the Holy Spirit empowered them to carry out the commands of the Lord in the gospels more effectively and fruitfully.
Power & Authority vs. Gift of Healing
To be an effective witness of Jesus Christ, every disciple is given a measure of the Lord’s supernatural power and authority. But not every believer has the more special gift of healing for ministering to the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:30).
Ministering healing with power and authority is relatively simple and clear cut as we see in the ministry of the Lord Jesus in the gospels. But ministering with the gift of healing is more complex and can require the direct leading of the Holy Spirit.
With this understanding, every disciple can be trained to heal the sick as Jesus did as evidence of the gospel to the lost. John 14:11-12 is now being fulfilled. In such a way the endtime revolution in missions has begun—in order for the Great Commission to be fulfilled and for Christ to return.
Going back to the gospels and training harvest workers EXACTLY as Jesus trained his disciples