TROUBLEMAKERS in the CHURCH
by David Wilkerson
We need more troublemakers in the
church! I pray that every member of the body of Christ would become a
troublemaker! We need an army of troublemakers who have become so full of the Holy
Ghost they will stir up and trouble New York City and every other city around
the world; trouble their wicked institutions - challenge the established dead
churches - trouble the leaders, the mayors, the city councils, the community
leadership! In other words, we need Holy Ghost troublemakers moving in the
Spirit, proclaiming the kingship of Christ so effectively that whole cities are
stirred!
Paul and Silas were two the
world's biggest troublemakers! The Bible speaks of "men that have risked
their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts
(Acts
Paul had upset the status quo. He
had challenged the devil who had been having his way
for years. The slave-owners of the delivered woman then dragged Paul and Silas
into the market- place to stand trial before the city magistrates. The charge
was, "...These men... do exceedingly trouble our city" (Acts
In a state of shock, the
officials probably responded, "What? An earthquake?
The prison doors opened? Their chains all fell off? They didn't even try to
escape? The jailer joined their faith? They're Romans?!?" Now, they were
really afraid. It was a crime to beat Roman citizens (Paul and Silas were both
Romans). "What do you mean they won't budge from our jail? They demand
what? For us to come down and apologize and escort them out
of jail? " And they came... and brought
them out... begging them to leave the city" (Acts
I love it! Here they were, not
flaunting their spiritual authority, but merely acting as ambassadors of King
Jesus. As they had witnessed Christ's power being mocked, Paul and Silas now
wanted that little riverside prayer group to see how God manifests His power to
those who stand up against the forces of hell. They went directly to the house
of
I preach a great deal on prayer
and I believe in the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous. But praying
alone, praying by two's and three's, or even in a
large prayer meeting will not alone shake a city! Elijah was a man of powerful
prayer, but it was more than his prayers that shook Ahab's kingdom and enraged
Jezebel: He called the false prophets to
Elijah was not a polite gentlemen with the devil and his crowd. While
"...they leaped upon the altar... Elijah mocked them [derided
them]" (1 Kings
The church of late has cowered
before the powers of darkness due to the lack of holiness, for the Scripture
tells us, "...The righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1). Some
will say, "But Jesus was meek - He never opened His mouth or resisted when
they took Him to be crucified!" But that was because the hour of darkness
had come, the hour He was to be given into the hands of the enemy. He was not
silent in the temple when driving out the money-changers. He was not silent when
calling religious leaders serpents - blind guides - whited sepulchers - a brood of vipers (see Matthew 23). He
even told some boldly that Satan was their father!
Many churches today are full of
silent, gentlemanly diplomats, not wanting to make waves! Nobody wants trouble!
So the devil's kingdom goes unchallenged. We have more than enough smiling,
mousy Christians!......
~SOURCE: http://www.tscnyc.org/