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| A Marian apparition |
According to some prophecy experts, the Azusa Street Revival that began in a rundown Los Angeles church about a century ago became the catalyst for a great global revival that will culminate with the return of Jesus Christ.
The man who lit the match for this "revival" was William Seymour, the pastor of the Apostolic Faith Mission that was located on Azusa Street in Los Angeles.
Seymour believed that the church had fallen away from the faith into liturgical rot and hackneyed religiosity. And he believed that world was also badly in need of a great revival. He also believed that this revival would be ignited by the sort of miracles that hadn't been seen since the beginning of the church in the early 1st century.
Seymour was convinced that God had chosen him for this ministry. And he claimed that the Lord revealed to him that a great explosion of miracles would begin to spread across the world sometime in the early 21st century.
Seymour predicted that "in 100 years there would be an outpouring of God's Spirit and His Shekinah Glory that would be greater and more far reaching than what was experienced at Azusa."
Though the exact date of Seymour's prophecy isn't known, his followers believe that he revealed it in 1909.
Since that time, several revival groups have sprung up and promoted Seymour's bold prediction. These groups include the Latter Rain Movement, the Third Wave (Awakening) Movement, the Word of Faith Movement, the Kansas City Prophets and the Vineyard Movement.
More than 100 years have passed since Seymour gave his prophecy. And we still haven't seen the sort of miracles that Seymour claimed would be taking place by now. Still, there are those within the Christian church who maintain that this revival is going to happen. Among them are Rodney Howard Browne, Sid Roth, Shawn Bolz and Perry Stone.
Is a revival coming? You bet there is. Is it going to feature great signs, wonders and miracles? Absolutely.
However, biblical prophecy warns us that this revival is going to be a clever counterfeit from Satan that will be so powerful that millions of sincere but biblically illiterate Christians are going to fall for it.
Here's what Jesus Christ warned concerning this counterfeit revival: "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matthew 24:24-25)
The apostle Paul also warned that a counterfeit revival based upon supernatural events would take place in the last days preceding Christ's return: "The coming of the lawless one (Antichrist) will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Could this be the "revival" that the end time prophets are predicting? Indeed, it is. Remember that Christ warned that this will be no ordinary spiritual deception. It will be so powerful that it will seduce many Christians to "abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)
In fact, many professing Christians have already abandoned the faith to follow the false prophecies of Browne, Bolz, Roth, Stone and others who are leading many astray. These folks are convinced that William Seymour was a true prophet of God and his prophecy is about to be fulfilled.
When will this counterfeit revival begin? And what will spark this grand deception? In Part III, we'll provide the answer.
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