Abstract: For centuries missions has fallen far short of what is recorded in Acts. But today during these Last Days the Lord is restoring to the Church the understanding by which the early disciples in Acts performed compelling miraculous works as evidence of the gospel, resulting in great harvests of souls.
Missions during the era of modern missions has fallen far short of what we see recorded in Acts where within a few generations the early disciples took the gospel to the ends of Mediterranean world reaching the Gentiles, that is, idolatrous Greeks and Romans. One primary reason for this rapid expansion of the gospel was the dimension of the miraculous which provided evidence for the truth of the gospel—just as in the ministry of Jesus Christ himself.
John 14:12 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. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing…
During the current modern era of missions we do not see the same rapid expansion of the gospel. Rather we generally expect missions in gospel-resistant regions of the world to struggle and inch along year after year with a smattering of souls accepting Christ as a result of friendship evangelism and humanitarian works. We do not expect to see results as Peter saw in Acts 9.
Acts 9:32 As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.
The reason for the disparity is obvious. In Acts, mention of the miraculous resulting in many turning to Christ is highly notable, while today such reports are virtually unknown. While a few superstar evangelists today do in fact see huge crowds turning to Jesus in their crusades following miraculous signs, they are but a handful. What they witness is not at all representative of the experience of the hundreds of thousands of missionaries laboring in the world’s harvest fields.
Today during these Last Days, this situation can and is about to change. How is this taking place?
The Lord is now restoring understanding of how He used the early disciples to perform the miraculous works which resulted in multitudes turning to Christ in Acts. Harvest workers in gospel-resistant regions of the world who have been trained according to this understanding are now seeing Acts restored as they proclaim the kingdom of God.
INDIA: Fourteen new house churches planted the first week of January 2019