God-Shaken: China’s Revival – Born-Again-Christian.Org

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Holy Bible Acts 4:31 KJV

Shaken and Stirred

First: God shakes believers to their knees in prayer, and then He answers, by shaking Heaven and Earth.

It happened in Bible times and it’s happening today wherever believers believe. God’s Spirit covers you, convicts you, and moves you to pray with compassion for the lost.

Some call it ‘a burden’, but it’s actually a tremendous honour and blessing. God is about to use you, if you will be faithful and obedient.

The start of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution in 1967 prompted a renewal of cruel persecution of Christians. Following in the footsteps of King Herod and Emperor Nero, Mao Zedong tried to wipe out the children of God, and in doing so, found he was struggling against the Almighty. Mao had his Gang of Four, but the Lord drew together a group of five believers in a tiny mountain village to pray and fast for their nation of a billion lost souls.

They pledged to meet for prayer each Friday in an upper room, and nothing stopped them from meeting; not foul weather, pressure of work, nor bitter persecution. They didn’t pray like nominal ‘Christians’; they prayed all together, in faith, from their hearts, in tongues, and in Chinese, and God began to answer. Despite the wholesale slaughter of believers in the Revolutionary crackdown, revival broke out around China.

More believers joined the prayer group, and many sick people were healed in answer to their prayers. When a doctor gave up on a child dying from smallpox, a new believer laid hands on him in Jesus’ Name, and the toddler was immediately healed.

Soon most of this small village became Christian, not rice-Christians, but real Christians. Washerwomen stopped arguing, instead they sang and praised God as they worked. Guan Yin Buddhist idols were torn down, and everyone stopped sinning. Farmers worshipped as they tended their fields, shepherd boys danced before the Lord like David watching his flock.

News of the revival spread, and neighbouring villages also embraced the Gospel. This rapid growth alerted the authorities, who ordered the believers to stop meeting; and when they refused, tried to disperse them by brute force.

Winnowing Wheat from Chaff

Persecution like this soon sorts out real believers from make-believers. Which are you?

Make-believers joined the state-approved Three Self church, much as false-Christians follow the ecumenical movement in the West. The Patriotic Committee of the Three Self church, (notice the Orwellian perversion of the term patriotic) prohibits, among other things:

Preaching outside the Three Self church building.
Preaching from; Revelation, Matthew 24, Daniel, or on the Second Coming of Christ.
Private Bible study is prohibited.
Members are not allowed to fast, pray, heal the sick, cast out demons, or to evangelize.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are banned.

Sounds like many denominational ‘churches’ in the West.

Faithful to The King

Despite being imprisoned, beaten, and tortured for their faith, the attitude of the real believers was:

“If we don’t allow ourselves to be refined in these minor storms, how will we stand in the Great Persecution?”

So they stood their ground and fought the good fight, not with guns, knives and bombs, but with the only weapon God instructs His children to wield: His Spirit Anointed word. It is enough.

As the persecution became more brutal, so the number of believers increased. When leaders were dragged away, others immediately took their place. Some of the most valiant being humble Chinese ‘Aunties’ and schoolgirls, tortured for refusing to deny Christ. Sending back word from their cells to continue no matter what happens,

“Be faithful, proclaim the message everywhere, be faithful to what has been committed to you by your glorious King”.

Baptism Unto Death

Water baptism outside the counterfeit church was illegal of course. It was routine to publicly execute believers who dared to be baptised, by shooting them in the head, and presenting the corpse and a bill for the bullet to their relatives.

However, soon there were dozens of new believers to baptize in this small village. So they arranged to meet at midnight and assemble at the nearby rivers and pools in groups. The brethren heard that the Government authorities discovered their plan, and had laid a trap. They were going to dump faeces upstream, pelt them with stones, and arrest them.

What to Do in a Crisis

Nevertheless, the believers decided to continue, and believed for deliverance from the LORD. As they prayed together the Spirit fell, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in tongues praising God.

That is what to do when you face a crisis at midnight in your valley. Carry on faithfully in the will of God, looking to Him alone for deliverance.

So they began their baptismal service singing and praising God loudly, and Heaven met with them.

The place where they worshipped started to tremble and shake, nearby houses rattled, and even the hills rumbled and shook.

Those of you who have survived an earthquake will understand the effect of having the ground beneath your feet tilt and move like a ship on the ocean.

Two things happened next:

The ninety government thugs hired to break up the baptism meetings, and arrest the Christians, ran for their lives!

And the saints went to the deep pools rejoicing, praising God, and baptized every one of the new believers, in perfect safety.

Halleluia!

Reach Chinese people near you with Chick Tracts.

Chinese Love Story
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