The Lord is going to release the spirit and power of Elijah in an unprecedented way in these last days. It is an exciting time and we must have eyes to see what the Lord is doing. This article will lay a foundation for the subject and ministry, address the history of those who have ministered in this anointing in recent times, bring new insight into the ministries of Elijah and John the Baptist, release a greater understanding of the spirit and power of Elijah, and an understanding of those who will be operating in it. It is the Lord’s will for His people to understand the spirit and power of Elijah so that they will partner with this anointing, instead of resist it.
The Foundations
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:5-6 KJV).
John the Baptist was sent to one nation before the first coming of Jesus Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). This time period was the day of mercy and forgiveness, not the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Therefore the scripture in Malachi is referring to the time period right before the end of this age (present day), in which Jesus will return to judge the world. Jesus, with a play on words, stated that the spirit of Elijah had already come (with John), and He added that it will come in the future:
“And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13 NKJV).
Jesus clearly states that the spirit and power of Elijah has come (referring to John), and that it “is coming first and will restore all things.” If we pair that statement with the passage in Malachi, then we understand that the spirit and power of Elijah is coming first before Christ returns to the earth in what is referred to as the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Christ will use this anointing, which is going to come upon a select company of believers, to restore all things in the church that have been lost. All things will not be restored on the earth until Christ comes. Not all of the church will be restored prior to Christ’s return, but only the remnant of overcoming disciples that has become the Lord’s bride. This portion of the church will be restored and come to the fullness that the Lord intended from the foundation of the world. It’s the Lord’s will for the entire church to experience full restoration, but currently only a remnant are choosing to be fully restored.
The Outpouring
The spirit and power of Elijah will not be an anointing for all believers or a generation of believers as some ministries and teachings have suggested. The spirit and power of Elijah was not released to all of Israel in the time of John, but to John alone. In our time, the Lord will need to reach the whole earth, so there could be thousands who are chosen to walk in the spirit and power of Elijah. The exact number and the choosing is up to the Lord. We can not pray for this anointing and we should not. It is the Lord’s decision. To attempt to force something to happen or to take a call unto ourselves could be disastrous. Part of growing up in the Kingdom of God is learning to be content with what the Lord has given us or called us to.
Those who are chosen to carry the spirit and power of Elijah are not special in any way. In fact, these people will come to know just how weak, incapable, and useless they really are. These vessels will be placed in specially designed spiritual wildernesses that will absolutely devastate them. They will be allowed to suffer much in order to be prepared for the Master’s use. Generally, it will take years and oftentimes decades for the Lord to prepare these people for this particular calling. They must be emptied of their self-life as Elijah and John were, so that they will carry out the Lord’s will instead of their own.
If you are not called to this ministry, then you should thank God. The preparation process is brutal. Those who are called to this ministry will know it. The Holy Spirit will make it clear by the burning fire shut up in their bones. It’s something that burns so hot, that it takes you over and consumes you. You begin to care deeply for the things of the Lord, and your concern for the state of the church becomes overwhelming. When this anointing burns in you, the burden of the Lord overtakes you. You begin to hate the religious system that currently calls itself the church. You can not tolerate lukewarmness in the church. The fire of God controls you.
The Preparation
John the Baptist was sent into the wilderness at an early age for his preparation. The Holy Spirit trained him there and released the spirit and power of Elijah to him. John probably had over two decades of preparation for about a year of public ministry. Jesus prepared thirty years for three and a half years of ministry. Ministry must never be our goal or our focus. If it is, we will suffer great loss. The Lord must be our first love, our focus, and our everything. Then we will enjoy the wilderness of preparation because we are with Him in His presence. When He is our life, we will obey His will even if it means having a very short public ministry. What should matter to us is being pleasing to Him and fulfilling what He has given us.
Like John, Elijah grew up in the wilderness school of the Holy Spirit. Elijah probably didn’t fit in to what was called the church at that time. He was an outcast. The Spirit’s anointing was wrapped around him even before his commissioning. The anointing was showing Him the Lord’s will for His people. But the spiritual leaders where Elijah grew up, did not understand him. They felt he was a trouble maker because he did not think how they thought. Elijah was not “alright” with the religious system set up among God’s people. This naturally put the priests (pastors) in opposition of Elijah. He was rejected from the synagogues by the leadership, because he could not submit completely and unquestionably to their authority and their doctrines of men. The leaders discerned the anointing on Elijah and knew the Lord had chosen him. They were threatened by him and the authority he would carry, so they pushed him away.
Like Jesus, he was driven to the wilderness places to commune with the Lord. Elijah’s communion with the Lord became everything to him. As he sat in the Lord’s presence day after day, his desire for public ministry faded until it was completely gone. Elijah wanted the Lord, and to simply be hidden away with Him. The Lord had become his life, and the Lord fathered him. Elijah had to be fathered by the Lord away from the church, because had the church leaders raised him; they would have tried to mold him into their image. The Lord did not want Elijah to be like the spiritual leaders, He wanted Elijah to be like Himself; and to call the spiritual leaders to repentance.
Then one day, the Lord told Elijah that He was going to send a famine, and that he was to go announce it before Ahab. The prophet was sent.
The Assignment
After decades of a hidden life, Elijah begins his public ministry by releasing what many would refer to as a “negative” prophetic word. If Elijah would have come out of the wilderness and said, “ The Lord is getting ready to release a powerful revival. He will heal the sick, raise the dead, and bring in a billion souls to His Kingdom;” he would have been the most popular prophet in the country. But instead of prophesying according to the desire of peoples’ hearts, he spoke the word of the Lord. Elijah was not worried about his popularity, like many of the prophets were and are today.
Elijah spoke the truth from the throne of God. It instantly made him hated by the state-run church and by the government. Elijah spoke a word of judgment when most of the other prophets were saying only good things were coming to the nation. The people did not want to hear a prophetic word of judgment. They wanted to hear a prophetic word in which they would all receive spiritual blessing. The Lord however had seen that the nation had turned from Him, and in His great wisdom determined that some chastising was in order. He had decreed a three and a half year famine (James 5:17), and Elijah was the messenger who delivered the message.
The message that those who walk in the spirit and power of Elijah must deliver in these last days, will not always be popular. We have entered into the final time before the Lord’s return, and judgment is beginning in His house (1Peter 4:17). Jesus is coming to slay wicked people and destroy the armies of the earth who hate Him (Revelation 19:13-15 and Isaiah 63:1-6). Therefore the Lord will require these messengers to prepare His people by bringing a revelation of “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2). The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” at his first coming. However the rest of that proclamation must be finished prior to His second coming. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on those who are going forth in the spirit and power of Elijah to proclaim the day of the vengeance of the eternal Godhead. This message will release a healthy and necessary fear of the Lord, which will help prepare the bride.
At the conclusion of Elijah’s first big public word, his ministry comes to a complete stand still as he is commanded by the Lord to retire again to the wilderness. Elijah wasn’t offered a pastorate at a mega church, nor did he get placed on the conference circuit for the Charismatic Movement. He wasn’t exalted by God’s people as many famous leaders are today. Elijah went quietly away out of the spotlight and into the secret place. The ministry of the spirit and power of Elijah is not a ministry for those leaders who want to be well known, recognized, popular, and connected with all the other “big leaders” from around the country. The ministry of the spirit and power of Elijah is that of complete dedication to the Lord, in which the Lord’s words are spoken regardless of the personal cost to the vessel. Speaking the truth from the Lord costed Elijah everything. He was again an outcast, and he couldn’t even conduct business in town or enjoy the luxuries of normal people. Elijah did not have a multi-million dollar Christian television show. However he did have the one thing that is more important than everything else, the Lord.
The Confrontation
After three and a half years of living in obscurity, the Lord calls Elijah to return to the public spotlight for a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal are those who are continually prophesying (1 Kings 18:29), yet there is not any transforming life coming from their words. These prophets only prophesy from their own hearts and tell the people what sounds good to the human soul. These prophets were numerous then and they are numerous now. Their prophesying sounded really good, but is was not coming from the Holy Spirit; and therefore it was leading people away from the Lord. Elijah doesn’t show up and prophesy to the people a bunch of good things that they want to hear. Rather he challenges them to repent from serving a false god, and to turn to the living God (1 Kings 18:21). The Lord uses His messengers to bring transformation into His image, not simply make people feel good by giving a prophetic word that is pleasing to the hears. His real messengers will call people to repent of sin. This includes challenging people in the current church from worshipping the idol of ministry, or any other thing they value more than the Lord.
Elijah killed the 450 prophets of Baal, but the 400 prophets of Asherah remained alive (1 Kings 18:40). This may have been a mistake that costed Elijah in the future. These prophets ate at Jezebel’s table and brought her spiritual power (1 Kings 18:19). In 1 Kings 22 we see that the 400 prophets of Asherah are still a powerful prophetic voice in the nation, and the people are giving heed to their prophetic sound. The same prophetic voice is dominating in our nation today. When our nation is far from God, much of the church is only focused on itself and its own blessing; the prophets should be calling us back to the Lord with a message of repentance. Instead, just like the prophets of Asherah, our prophets are only telling us what we want to hear and what makes us feel good (1 Kings 22:6). Because we have listened to this voice instead of the voice from the throne, we have given ourselves over to deception just like Ahab did.
Much of the church is in the same place as Ahab. The church hates the real prophetic because the real prophetic does not always prophesy good concerning the church (1 Kings 22:8). The church views their prophesying as “evil” because it is not what she wants to hear. The church has come to a place in which she can only hear what is “positive,” even if the Lord wants her to see a “negative” truth. If we do not desire the truth above all else, whether negative or positive; we will be swept away in the deception that is coming, and be destroyed along with Ahab.
The spirit and power of Elijah will rest on a company of believers to preach the truth, and to confront the false prophetic. Just as Elijah killed the 450 prophets of Baal, the Lord will use these vessels to bring an end to the false prophetic ministry in the nations. Those moving in the spirit and power of Elijah will be given true authority from the Lord. At the command of the Lord, they will embarrass the false prophetic in the church. The false prophets in the charismatic church will call for fire from Heaven and the Lord will not answer. Their prophecies will fall to the ground. The real prophetic ministers sent by Lord will minister in great power from Heaven, and they will prophesy accurately. The real from the false will be made clear in the days ahead.
During the time of Elijah, God’s people and prophets had turned away from Him to their own idols. Much like today, the church has turned from Him to the idolatry of ministry and many other things. Therefore the Lord has sent a lying spirit into the mouths of the many in the current prophetic movement (1 Kings 22:19-23). The focus of these prophets has become keeping their ministries going. Instead of the secret place and delivering the true word of the Lord; their priorities are building their ministries, being accepted by other leaders, getting their words put on the major prophetic websites, and being invited to the major conferences around the country. In order to maintain this and get money for their ministries, they must give prophetic words that the people want to hear. These “prophets” are controlled by the people and the religious system, rather than the Lord. Therefore, the Lord sends them a deceiving spirit so that they will believe a lie. These prophets can no longer hear the voice of the Lord accurately, because spirits of deception have attached to them.
“But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?” (1 Kings 22:24 KJV).
As this scripture indicates, the prophet that had been deceived didn’t even know that his prophecy was false. He was in such deception that he thought the Holy Spirit was still with him and that he was actually giving the word of the Lord. The fact was, the Holy Spirit had departed from him, and an evil spirit had come upon him just like king Saul (1 Samuel 16:14). Many in the modern day prophetic movement are just like Zedekiah. They truly believe they are still giving the word of the Lord. These are teaching doctrines that state the Lord no longer judges, all while ignoring many scriptures in the New Testament that state otherwise. These prophets are leading the Lord’s people astray just as the prophets of Asherah did. Major defeats will come to the body of Christ if we continue to give heed to these prophets.
The Two Messengers
Two people ministered in the spirit and power of Elijah in recent church history. These men were John Alexander Dowie and William Marrion Branham. John Dowie was an apostle and Willam Branham was a prophet. The spirit and power of Elijah rested upon them to confront the religious systems of their days and to bring people out to the Lord. They both had extremely powerful ministries and thousands of people were healed and saved under each ministry.
Gordon Linsey, in his biography on John Dowie’s life, states that at a certain point in Dowie’s ministry; a false prophet visited Dowie. The man prophesied to Dowie that Dowie himself was the Elijah that was to come (spoken of in the scriptures). Dowie rebuked the man, rejected his word, and made him leave. However for some reason the word had lodged in Dowie’s heart, and he did not completely disregard it. Over time, the false prophetic word begin to grow in Dowie’s heart. Years later it came to fullness as Dowie begin to proclaim himself to be Elijah.
Carrying the same anointing that Elijah had, and actually being Elijah are two very different things. Believing this word from the false prophet opened Dowie up to a great deception. There must have been something in his heart that liked the word that he was given by the lying spirit, otherwise he would have cast it aside permanently. The enemy will attempt to use the false prophets of Asherah to bring down those who the Lord has chosen to walk in the spirit and power of Elijah. We must let the Holy Spirit speak to us through Dowie, and help us so we do not make the same mistakes. The Lord is using the life of Dowie for this purpose now.
The deception began to increase as Dowie believed that he was Elijah. Dowie began to believe it was the Lord’s will for him to built the city of Zion. But the Lord did not want a earthly city built for Him. His desire was and is for His people to be built into the Heavenly city of Zion (Hebrews 12:22). Dowie departed from the Lord’s will and begin enacting his own plan and vision. He departed from his calling and the spirit and power of Elijah was lifted from him. Dowie ended badly.
The Lord brought sickness on his body in judgment. His judgment however was a manifestation of God’s love and mercy. The Lord loved Dowie so much that he wanted him to repent and be saved. Dowie could no longer minister or lead because of his sickness. On his sick bed he turned again to the Lord in repentance. The Lord then took him home to Heaven. Dowie’s body had been delivered over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit could be saved (1 Corinthians 5).
William Branham ministered in a powerful prophetic gifting like that of the Old Testament prophets. He was very accurate and mightily used of God. At some point in his ministry he begin to give heed to a seducing spirit, just as Dowie had. Deception crept in to Branham’s ministry. He started to believe he was called as a teacher, which he was not. Branham took the teaching office unto himself when he was not called by God to it (Hebrews 5:4). Branham’s doctrines such as the “serpent’s seed” and others began to poison the body of Christ. The spirit and power of Elijah had to be lifted from Branham. The Lord then had to take Branham home by means of a car accident. Had the Lord not taken Branham early, many more believers could have been deceived and Branham could have turned away from the Lord completely. The Lord’s judgment is His mercy.
Those who the Lord is calling to minister in the spirit and power of Elijah must learn from the mistakes of Dowie and Branham. They are not to believe that they are the “only anointed prophet” of the Lord. They are not to take into their hearts the lie that they are Elijah. There is only one Elijah, and he may come back to the earth and minister (Revelation 11). John the Baptist understood that he was not Elijah, and that he was simply ministering in the anointing of Elijah by preparing the way of the Lord (John 1:21-23).
Once we start to believe a lie, we open the door to greater deception. Those called to minister in the spirit and power of Elijah in these end times must stay very close to the Lord. They must let Christ manifest His humility through them in order to stay away from pride. Most importantly, they must withdraw often into the secret place as Elijah, John, and Jesus demonstrated. Abiding under the shadow of the almighty is the only sure way to stay protected from the enemy. Abiding in the excitement and thrill of ministry and miracles will led to major failure. Ministry and miracles will come, but the private place of intimacy with the Lord is paramount.
The Ministry
“And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord....” (1 Kings 18:30-32 KJV).
The spirit and power of Elijah will be released upon a company of believers to repair and rebuild the alter of the Lord that has been broken down. The place of true devotion, prayer, communion, and worship must be reestablished in God’s people. The spirit and power of Elijah will take us to a level of devotion to Christ that we didn’t think was possible. The fire that comes from this anointing will push us toward the Lord. The Holy Spirit will also use this anointing to restore the apostolic ministry to the church (twelve stones). The release of the messengers in the spirit and power of Elijah will make a way for the true apostolic ministry upon the earth. The apostolic ministry that is currently operating in the church is nowhere near fullness (and there are currently very few true apostles). This will change as this anointing is released by the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the spirit and power of Elijah will also include turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers. They will impart an understanding of the importance of spiritual fathers and spiritual sons, which is necessary for rapid and safe spiritual advancement. Spiritual families will be born and strengthened wherever these ministries operate. The hearts of men will also be turned to love their neighbor as themselves, as a grace will be released from this ministry to empower us to do so. Most importantly, the spirit and power of Elijah will turn peoples’ hearts back to the living God. If people refuse to turn their hearts toward each other and to the Lord in an area where this ministry is operating, the Lord will release a judgment and strike the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).
The release of this powerful ministry requires a decision and response from our hearts. It is a plumbline ministry from the Lord. It will call out to all in the church who are mixed in their devotion to the great King. It will challenge them and declare, “ How long will you falter between two opinions or lifestyles. Either serve the world’s system or serve the living God. There can be no more mixture in your lives!” The Lord will use the spirit and power of Elijah to measure his people. Those who repent and turn to Him in dedication and holiness, will go on with Him to become His bride. Those who stay in the mixture of this world will run a great risk of falling away from Him completely.
The spirit and power of Elijah will prepare the way of the Lord by causing people to turn to the Lord and become fully obedient to Him. These ministers will not draw people to themselves or their own ministry. Elijah called out to the people to turn to the Lord, not himself. John the Baptist’s ministry and influence was decreasing, because Jesus’ influence was increasing in God’s people. John was happy to stand next to the Bridegroom and witness the intimacy between Jesus and His bride.
The spirit and power of Elijah will oppose and confront those ministers and ministries which are drawing people to themselves. There are currently many men and ministries doing this, and the righteous anger of the Lord burns because of this. The spirit and power of Elijah will move in the jealousy of God to bring His people out of these traps of the enemy. Nothing is more awful than the Lord’s people being kept from Him by ministers and ministries that were supposed to lead people to Him. There will be a great spiritual clash over this matter in the days ahead.
The Pitfalls
After the confrontation with the false prophetic ministry (prophets of Baal), Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah. The people that just rallied with him to kill the 450 false prophets seemed to disappear. They wouldn’t kill the 400 prophets of Asherah, and they wouldn’t go with him to take back their nation from the wicked rulers. Elijah felt abandoned, rejected, and all alone. He ran away into the wilderness. Self-pity started to attack him and he wondered if anything he had done had mattered. He wandered in the wilderness away from his purpose. The enemy had deceived him, and he could no longer see clearly. On Mount Horeb, the Lord asks Elijah twice what he is doing there. Both times Elijah gives the exact same answer:
“And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” (1 Kings 19:9-10 KJV)
Elijah had entered into deception believing he was the only one left. He had forgotten about the hundred prophets of the Lord that were hidden (1 Kings 18:4). Elijah had given up hope on all of God’s people, because he had been rejected by many. This caused him to turn inward and only look at himself. He was blinded from seeing the God who breaks the mountains with His wind, brings earthquakes, and creates fire out of thin air (the almighty God). Elijah lost faith in the people of God and drifted into discouragement, because if no one wanted the Lord; then what could Elijah do? The enemy was successful in blinding Elijah from the fact the 7,000 people had not worshiped Baal, and were still serving the Lord. Because Elijah believed the lie that he was the only one left, he couldn’t finish his assignment. The Lord had to give the rest of his assignment to Elisha.
John the Baptist was also opposed by Jezebel when he was in the prison cell. Herodias was possessed by the same spirit that controlled Jezebel. This is demonstrated in her same immoral lifestyle, manipulation, and lust for power. While John was imprisoned, the Jezebel spirit in Herodias attacked John. The enemy will always hit us hard when we are in a weak state, going through a hard trial, and when we are confused about what the Lord is doing in our lives (or why He is allowing certain things to happen to us).
John had seen the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus, and He was told by the Father that he would see this happen to the Son of God (John 1:32-34). John knew the Jesus was the Son of God that was to come. He had been entrusted with much. But John was confused in his prison cell. If Jesus was the Christ, why didn’t He rescue John from prison? John knew the scripture in Isaiah 61:1 that states the Spirit of the Lord will rest on the Messiah in order for Him to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison of those who are bound. But Jesus didn’t rescue John from prison. John was an expendable one, as messengers of the Lord are. John was going to be killed in the prison and he knew it.
Jesus did not do what John wanted Him to do. When the Lord does not do what we want Him to do, our expectations can be absolutely crushed. When our expectations are crushed, we are at a high risk from quitting our journey with the Lord, or backing away from Him. When we expect Him to do something or do it a certain way, and are let down; it can lead to spiritual devastation. This is what happened to John. After this happened, Jezebel struck him with confusion and doubt. She used his wound to gain entrance. John could not see clearly anymore, and he started to doubt that Jesus was the One. This was very critical because even John’s eternal life depended upon him believing that Jesus is the Christ.
John started to become bitter and angry. He sent two of His disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you he who comes or should we look for another?” Jesus’ response is powerful, “Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” (Matthew 11:6 WEB).
Jesus does not do what we want Him to do. He does not have to, because He is the King. The only way we can be safe from having our expectations crushed and falling away from the Lord, is to lay down our lives. We must give ourselves over to Him fully. We must tell Him that He can do with us whatever He desires to glorify His name; which includes crushing our plans, goals, dreams, calling, and desires. Only when our lives are completely laid down and completely His; will it no longer be about what we expect the Lord to do. We will simply be His slaves, and whatever He does we will accept and love; even if we are in jail. Since He lives in us and is with us, we could never be abandoned. We must pick up our crosses and follow Him to the place He was crucified. This is the only way to keep ourselves from becoming offended with the Lord and backing away from Him. His love can keep us on the path of life if we choose the cross life.
Jesus goes on to say, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11 NKJV).
The scripture makes it clear that the Kingdom of Heaven includes all of those in the Old Testament who walked with the Lord (Matthew 8:11). Jesus states that even the least of us believers (in Heaven) will be greater than John. John was the greatest man born in the natural and a phenomenal messenger of the Lord. But in the end, he doubted everything and almost denied Christ. This is very scary and should send the fear of the Lord into our hearts. If John was barely saved and is least in Heaven, we must walk very closely with the Lord so we are not destroyed by Satan.
The end times messengers who will move in the spirit and power of Elijah must learn from their spiritual fathers Elijah and John the Baptist. They must beware of the power, tricks, and deceptions of the spirit of Jezebel. She will be prowling around seeking to destroy these end times messengers. These must abide in the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to stay protected.
The Miracles
Those whom the Lord has chosen to minister in the spirit and power of Elijah will release signs and wonders. John the Baptist never worked miracles, but we are not called to be as John was nor Elijah. We are called to follow Jesus and to be His disciples. Jesus did say that His disciples would do greater miracles than He did (John 14:12). The main point about this that the Lord would have us to understand, is that Jesus only did those things He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). These messengers will only do what they see the Lord doing. The Lord is not healing every person, everywhere, all at the same time. Jesus’ ministry demonstrated this. Jesus was sent to the pool of Bethesda to heal one man. Once He healed that man, He left because there were many people there (John 5:12). The scripture states that there was a great number of sick people in that area, but yet Jesus only healed one man. The Father was only healing one person so Jesus only prayed for one person.
In the church today we pray for everyone or for anyone who wants prayer. We have been taught by leaders to “practice” praying for the sick. The Bible does not teach this. We have been taught to pray for everyone. Jesus did not do this. Just because we feel like praying for someone who is sick, or our human compassion desires to pray for someone who is sick; does not mean the Father is healing that person. Most of our failure in seeing people healed is related to the fact that we prayed for someone the Father wasn’t healing. We can only do what the Father is doing. If the Lord hasn’t shown us or spoken to us in some way about a person being healed, then most likely the person we pray for will not be healed (unless we got lucky and guessed correctly).
Jesus saw everyone He prayed for healed because He had seen the Father healing them. He could do nothing of Himself. We would see everyone we prayed for get healed if we only did what we knew the Father was doing. The Lord will test us on this issue. If we pray for everyone, or pray for certain people that we want to, we have failed the test. Jesus waited 30 years before He prayed for one person. There were many sick people around that the Father let go unhealed, and Jesus didn’t pray for one of them. When a certain time had come, the Father released Him to pray for the sick, and even then; only ones whom He was shown to pray for. Jesus was obedient. If we desire to be entrusted with the healing power of God, we must be obedient as well.
We must pass the test of waiting until the Lord tells us personally that it is time to heal the sick. Just because the Lord says it to someone else in the scripture, does not mean He has spoken it to us. We are not Jesus’ 12 disciples in the scripture. If He gave them a command to heal the sick it applies to them, not us. Only when He tells us personally to heal the sick, do we heal the sick in obedience. We don’t heal the sick because we understand that God can heal, we heal the sick when we are told to do so. True disciples wait for the command from their Master. If we can not accept this then Christ is not our Master, and we are simply Christians going around doing what we want to do. Jesus obviously knew His Father could heal the sick, yet waited for His Father to give the command before He healed the sick. We will either be like our Master who saw everyone He prayed for healed, or be like many of the current leaders in the church who see some of the people they pray for healed. It’s our choice. Do we want to stay where we have been at for the last 50 years, or do we want to go on with the Lord to perfection?
The spirit and power of Elijah will only be entrusted to those who have learned to wait upon the Lord and only do what they see Him doing. These messengers must pass this test in order to walk in this anointing. The test will take years or decades. Almost anyone can wait on God for five or six years, so the Lord will test obedience over decades. Many are called, few are chosen.
The Appearing
Elijah himself has been appearing to certain prophets of the Lord in recent years. He has been appearing to prepare the forerunners, who will in turn prepare the messengers. He has appeared to Terry Bennett, Rick Joyner, Neville Johnson, and Sudhu Sundar Selvaraj. These are just the ones I know of. Elijah has probably appeared to many more leaders around the world. His appearing would indicate to us that time is now short and the end of this age is at hand. The things that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 indicating His coming and the end of the age, are taking place all over the world at an increased rate. To believe that things will continue on as they always have, and that we have a lot of time left in this age; is a great deception of the enemy. We must allow the Holy Spirit through the spirit and power of Elijah to make us ready for the coming of the King. The things prophesied in the book of Revelation are going to come to pass. Great turmoil is going to come upon the nations, and we must be prepared so that we are not swept away in the delusion and chaos.
The False Elijah Ministry
Just as the ministry of the spirit and power of Elijah is being released in these final days to prepare the way for the Lord’s return, so is the false ministry of Elijah being released to prepare the way for the antichrist. Elijah had the authority of God to call down fire from Heaven (1 Kings 18:38 and 2 Kings 1:10). Satan will give the false prophet of the antichrist (the false messiah) authority to call down fire from Heaven in order to mimic the Elijah ministry:
“He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” (Revelation 13:13-14 NKJV).
Just as Elijah proved he was a messenger sent from God by calling down fire, so will this false Elijah tell the people of the world that he is sent by God. Then the false prophet will call down fire from heaven and it will come. The people of the world will be amazed. They will say, “Surely this is a prophet of God.” Then the false prophet (moving in the false spirit and power of Elijah anointing), will point the people of the earth to the antichrist. He will turn the hearts of the people to the false father (Satan). He will claim the antichrist is the Messiah, and that God has granted him the authority to perform great signs and wonders in order to prove that this man (the antichrist) is the true messiah. The world and many lukewarm Christians will be in awe. Some in the Charismatic Movement, who have made signs and wonders their idol, will be swept away in the delusion. They will fall away from Christ to the antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 9-12 and Matthew 24:11). For if their god is miracles, signs, and wonders; they will follow their god instead of Christ. When they see the fire come down from heaven, and the great power of the false prophet; their deception will be complete. The false spirit and power of Elijah will give them just what their hearts have been worshiping.
Under the Satanic authority of the false prophet, false messengers will arise: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24 NKJV).
This company of false prophets will move in such power, that there is potential for even the elect or mature believers to be deceived. If it is possible for the elect to be deceived, how much more the weak Christian who is living a worldly life? What about the Christian who many go to a public meeting once a week, but does not have a deep personal walk with the Lord? Basically they believe in Jesus as their Savior, but spend all their time focused on work, various activities, and entertainment. If Christ only has a small place in the believers’ life, when difficulty and confusion comes, the falling away can easily occur:
“As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy; Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away.” (Matthew 13:20-21 AMPC).
It is possible for believers to live comfortably for years or decades with the seed of Christ never taking root (especially if life is comfortable). But what will happen when these weak believers see the false ministry of Elijah being released, along with the ministries of all the false prophets under him? They will be swayed by the works of power being demonstrated, and easily deceived by the source of that power. We will only be able to tell if the signs and wonders are from God, if we know the Lord inwardly. If we have an intimate relationship with Christ inwardly, then we will know the real from the false; because we have been in the presence of the real One. The real signs and wonders brought forth by the Lord’s messengers will be accompanied by an inward knowing, and an inward presence of the Lord. The false signs and wonders being released will be accompanied by a weird inward feeling indicating something is not right. Again, only those who truly know the Lord will be able to discern the difference. The signs and wonders being done by the false prophets will be legitimate healings and miracles, but the source of them will be Satanic.
Anyone who submits to the ministries of these false prophets will fall under Satanic deception. If believers go to their meetings (believing these false messengers are from God) to be prayed for and receive healing, they will be healed. Then because they allowed these false prophets to minister to them, demonic spirits will attach or enter the believers. The believers will be given over to seducing spirits of delusion, and believe that these false prophets are really sent by the Father. “How could they have been healed from a sickness they have been struggling with for a decade other then by the hand of God?” they will reason. The delusion will go deep into their souls. The believer will start to disregard certain scriptures (many believers that will be deceived don’t even know the scriptures), and the antichrist will gain power over their souls. He is the messiah of Hell, and many will follow him there. The great falling away from the faith will occur, and many will choose the wide path to Hell just as the true Messiah, Jesus, prophesied (Matthew 7:13-14).
But the real Elijah will appear, for He never died. The two witnesses, which many believe to be Moses and Elijah, will have authority for three and a half years at the end of this age during the ministry of the false prophet. There will be a show-down against Satan, and the Lord’s two witness will be invincible during this season. If someone attempts to kill them in order to stop their message, fire will come out of their mouths and kill their enemies (Revelation 11:5). The judgment of God will come forth from them in power. These messengers will release the same plagues on the earth as Moses and Elijah (Revelation 11:6), even though many in the church don’t believe God still judges or releases judgment. The false prophet and his messengers will play off of this deception. The voices in the false prophetic have already been preaching that God does not judge, in order to prepare the way for the false prophet. The false prophet will tell the world that these two witnesses claiming to be from God, could not possibly be from God; because they are releasing judgment.
The false prophet will say, “Since God is merciful and loving He does not judge. Look at these two witnesses, they are prophesying droughts, turning our clean water into blood, and bringing plagues upon us. I want peace and safety on the earth, and these two men are prophesying judgment. God only wants to give you life. This man (the antichrist) is the true messiah from God. He is offering peace and security on earth. He is not here to judge the world, but to save it. Come out from under the influence of these false witnesses who are only doing acts of violence against mankind. Only Satan would commit acts of evil like killing people with fire coming out of his mouth. Only Satan could be behind this. Look at the miracles and healings I am performing. God gave me this power so you would believe that I am the messenger of the true messiah. Follow the way of peace and love that I am preaching, not the way of judgment and death that these two witnesses are preaching.”
And many believers who have believed the lie, that God is not currently releasing judgment will be swept away in the deception; because they don’t know the real Jesus. They only know of a Jesus that the false prophetic has preached (the forerunners of the false prophet). These believers will conclude that the two witnesses releasing judgment must be of the Devil. They will reason, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and God comes to give life and have it more abundantly. Therefore, these two witnesses are false. The prophet (false prophet) must be pointing us to the true God (antichrist).” The deception of many in the church will be complete. Because they believed false doctrine, and didn’t have a full revelation of Jesus Christ; they will fall away from Christ to the antichrist. The great falling away is coming, and we must be prepared.
The Message
The message of the spirit and power of Elijah will be Christ. Elijah called people back to God, and John the Baptist pointed to the Lamb. True ministry reveals the Lamb and draws people to Him. False ministry points to itself or its leaders. It attempts to get people gathered around it or involved in it. The Lord’s messengers try to gather people to the Lord and get them involved in Him. John the Baptist didn’t preach His own ministry or attempt to gather disciples to himself, but rather lead them to Jesus (John 1:35-37). The spirit and power of Elijah will not tolerate ministers and ministries who are drawing people to themselves. There will be a divine confrontation over this issue in the church in the days ahead, and the Lord is going to win.
The End of the Book
I have heard a number of leaders and believers make the statement, “I’ve read the end of the book and we win!” While it is true that Christ has already won, and that He will have a remnant of overcomers along side Him; it is not true that all of us believers have won. The greatest release of evil that the world has ever seen is upon us and we have not won the battle yet. To think we have already won is arrogant and dangerous. This kind of delusion can derail us in the coming days. We must persevere through great trials and tribulations to the end of this age. Only then have we won.
The Bible shows us that many believers will fall away from Christ at the end of this age during the time of the antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). The scripture also shows us that the antichrist will be given authority to make war against believers and kill them (Revelation 13:7). We are entering into a time of great calamity where one third of the earths’ population will be wiped out (Revelation 9:18). To think that we have already won the battle is foolish and a dangerous deception. There are many hardships coming that we must overcome before we can say that we have won.
The spirit and power of Elijah is being released to prepare us for the last battle that is coming. It will not be easy. Only those who know the Lord, and walk with Him closely will win the battle. Lukewarm Christians will be killed or will take the mark of the beast in order to feed their families. The true disciples of Christ will be prepared spiritually and physically for what is coming. These are the ones who overcome because they did not love their lives unto the death. They will either survive the end of the age and be caught up in the air at the Lord’s return, or they will be martyred for Christ. There is a vast different between being a martyr and simply dying because you are foolish. Many Christians will die because they are foolish, not because they were burning witnesses for Christ. The spirit and power of Elijah will help many believers be transformed into overcomers before great tribulation comes. Let us embrace what the Holy Spirit is doing in these end times and be apart of the Lord’s overcoming remnant.
