FALLING UNDER THE POWER

FALLING UNDER THE POWER

Rev. 1:17-18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

The appearance of The Lord has incredible effects upon human beings, in John’s case, the visible effect was that John fell to the ground like a dead man. The other effects were not as obvious to the casual observer. After this encounter with The Lord, John had a series of visions that not only effected John, but has had a profound result on the whole world throughout every generation. There are many Christians today who do not value this type of spiritual manifestation. I would expect that from unbelievers and even from the non-Spirit filled evangelical crowd, but there is a Holy Ghost operating table. This is where people get healed, delivered, and experience spiritual transformation. There are a large number of so called Spirit-filled Christians who speak openly against falling out under the power of God. Actually, that used to be me. I saw excesses (you know, shoving people to the ground) and I was adamantly opposed to that manifestation; at least until it happened to me. I was caught by surprise the first time I went out under the power. The thing that surprised me the most was from that event onward I experienced a profound change in my life. There was a greater hunger for the word of God, an insatiable thirst for His presence, and a stronger anointing on my life and ministry. Not only that, people began to fall under the power in our services. We call it the being touched by the manifest power of God that changes everything in your life. Here is what Adam Clarke said about this passage.

“I fell at his feet as dead. The appearance of the glory of the Lord had the same effect upon Ezekiel: and the appearance of Gabriel had the same effect on Daniel. The terrible splendor of such majesty was more than the apostle could bear, and he fell down deprived of his senses, but was soon enabled to behold the vision by a communication of strength from our Lord’s right hand.”

So I learned some powerful lessons from that encounter. First, don’t judge everybody by some people’s behavior. Secondly, don’t criticize what you don’t understand. Maybe there are some experiences with God that others have tasted that you haven’t. After all, The Lord is infinite, omniscient, and all powerful. Thirdly, don’t judge a spiritual experience by outward behavior alone. If we had seen the strange behavior at Pentecost (or even Azusa Street) we may have misjudged. Who would have thought the one eyed son of an ex-slave from Louisiana would usher in a move that would have millions of followers one hundred years later.