Preface

Two verses of Scripture promise to show us our future: Isaiah 45:11 and John 16:13.

In Isaiah 45:11 the Lord actually invites us to have a wholesome curiosity about our future, especially about where we fit into His overall plans. He says, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons. It's as though He is saying to us, "I just wish you were curious enough about yourself, your ministry, your family, and your future to ask Me about it all."

Then in John 16:13 He assures us that the Holy Spirit will show us things to come: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth ... and he will show you things to come.

God is omniscient. He has all the facts, knowledge, and insight about us. But He wants us to know them too. Some Christians just aren't interested or curious enough about the future to bother asking. When I ask other believers how they feel about the future, I get a variety of responses.

Listed here are a few with my response to them.

•    God knows the future; if He wants me to know, He’ll show me. Too passive and casual. You have not because you ask not. (James 4:2.)

•    I’ve got too much to handle now. Just surviving during this present hassle is all I can do. I can’t take anymore right now!

Sometimes present activities are easier to handle when you anticipate and visualize all the good blessings the Lord has promised to the overcomers. Short-range activities are always easier to manage when you're motivated by long-range goals.

•    Forecasting isn’t the calling of the Christian Church. Predicting the future is too far out, too uncertain, too shaky a foundation. These people leave predictions to the psychics, clairvoyants, seers, astrologers, and fortunetellers. The Bible forbids these activities and encourages believers to look to the Lord for guidance and direction. The entire occult world is based on falsehood, deception, and delusion.

Before one of the Super Bowl football games, there was a newspaper article in which fifteen or more leading psychics predicted the outcome of the game. Not one was accurate. Every one of them missed it! Why leave the future to the wrong ones when we can go to the right one, Jesus, and get the information we need?

I'm interested in the future of the Christian family. This book is my forecast of things to come. Time will tell if I'm right. I want to share with you what to expect in The New Wave of the Holy Spirit.

—Dick Mills

The New Wave of the Holy Spirit

There have been two great waves of the Holy Spirit in the 20th century. The Pentecostal outpouring during the early 1900's brought us a new wave of the miraculous. In mid-century, another great wave of the Holy Spirit's presence was felt as historic churches, both Catholic and Protestant, experienced a gracious visitation from the Lord.

All over the world people sensitive to the movings of the Lord believe that a new wave of God's glory and power will be coming in. What a joy it is to hear Spirit-filled saints around the world —Singapore, Scotland, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand—talking about the next wave of the Spirit. It has been a blessing to travel extensively and meet many of these precious people of God.

After much inquiry, I've made a list of distinctive signposts as indicators that God is doing a new thing in the earth. This list is not original with me. I'm only reporting what praying people everywhere are saying. However, I will elaborate on each point.

1.    The Local Church—Focal Point of Worship

In recent Bible reading, one word has stood out to me: flocks. The Lord is the Shepherd; and whenever saints gather to worship, they become one of His flocks. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God (Ezek. 34:31). Parachurch groups and the electronic church (radio and TV) are only meant to be subservient to the thrust of the local church.

I believe that the next great move of the Lord will be conspicuous in the local church. We're not ruling out auditorium meetings. There will always be times when crowds gather in large auditorium meetings. David the Psalmist referred to these gatherings as "the great congregation," the amassing of believers on a large scale. (Ps. 22:25.) Don't rule out local churches in the future being tremendously blessed by the Lord.

The local church functions week in and week out, steadily pressing onward toward the goal of spiritual perfection. I see the local church having a great visitation of the Holy Spirit for several reasons:

1. The local church has a relationship to the needy neighborhood.

2. World conditions in the future will cause believers to worship close to their residence.

3. Economics could dictate distances traveled.

4. Due to security reasons and civic violence, government restrictions could limit large auditorium meetings and restrict gatherings to the local church.

I foresee the local church as being like a hospital in the community to heal and mend our society—spirit, soul, and body.

2.    New Emphasis On Evangelism

World conditions are such that people are now turning to the Lord in desperation. The Good News of the Gospel has greater appeal to our injury-plagued society than ever before. It's easier to talk to the average non-Christian today because of the problems he or she is experiencing. Christians who are built on The Rock have a greater credibility than non-believers, who are building on the sand and seeing their houses crumbling during the present storms of life. (Luke 6:48,49.)

Evangelism and soulwinning will be conspicuous features of the new wave.

3.    New Alerting to Spiritual Warfare

"Flabby" saints are learning to put muscle into their prayers. As predicted in Psalm 2, the heathen are raging and the people are imagining a vain thing; the kings of the earth are taking counsel against the Lord’s anointed. Believers are equipping themselves for the conflict by putting on the whole armor of God in prayer.

One person said, "The saints are getting out of the playpens and into the trenches."

Another said, "It's time for believers to get off the charismatic cruise ship, where all is fun and games, and get onto the battleship, where we can shell the enemy's strongholds."

Spiritual warfare will be a conspicuous feature of the new wave.

4.    New Call to Intercession

It is a joy and a relief to see prayer groups emerging spontaneously everywhere. What's so encouraging is that they are not being structured, programmed, or organized. It's just happening! Saints are being alerted by the Spirit for a prayer discipline. You know something is going to happen when all that spontaneous prayer develops.

5.    New Commitment To Personal Holiness

The first wave in the early 20th century went to extremes regarding dress codes, legalism, and a rigid list of do's and don'ts. Holiness was reduced to an external. The second wave at mid-century swung like a pendulum the other way, taking a passive attitude about world separation and holy living.

The new wave will equalize the positions of extreme legalism and extreme permissiveness. Like a pendulum that settles for the middle, it will normalize with an awesome holiness and righteousness befitting the Church of the Living God.

When the Church is between the great incoming tides of blessings, Christians go through an experience of pressing on while the tide is out. The only difficult thing about the tide being out is that debris and litter are visible on the beach. It isn't a pleasant thing to experience the moral garbage that is surfacing in some churches and in some lives. Judgment is beginning at the house of the Lord.

Christians are getting their act together and discovering that holiness is becoming to God's people. Holiness is a result of the awe-inspiring presence of the Lord. It causes people to see how close to the Lord they can be and how far from the world's mentality they can stay. A permissiveness in the past has caused believers to see how close they could get to the edge of the cliff and still maintain a relationship with the Lord. The awareness of God's righteousness and holiness in the future will be so inspiring and breathtaking that believers will scrupulously avoid the edge of the cliff. In the future we will see believers flee fornication and youthful lusts, avoiding the appearance of evil and clinging tenaciously to the Lord and His promises.

Holiness will be a distinctive feature in the life of the overcoming Christian.

6.    New Modes of Worship

The presence of a holy God will bring an approach in worship that will be truly majestic.

Instead of singing about the Lord, we will be singing to the Lord. Instead of leaders having to exhort saints to praise the Lord, spontaneous worship will burst forth.

Someone has said, "Thanksgiving is our response to the Lord for answering our prayers. Praise is our response to the Lord's character and attributes. Worship is our response to His presence."

Psalm 100 gives us the progression: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise (v. 4). Come before his presence (or worship Him) with singing (v. 2).

7.    New Surge of the Miraculous

Moses was told twice by the Lord, "Go back and face the evil world system. I'm going to multiply My signs, wonders, and miracles in the land." (Ex. 7:3; 11:9.)

I liken these two occasions to Pentecostal Renewal 1900-1950 and Charismatic Renewal 1950-1980. These two waves of the miraculous were a demonstration to the unbelieving world that Jesus is truly the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Heb. 13:8.) His power has never been withdrawn, yet the world still persists in its unbelief.

I'm believing that the last chapter of the church age is still to be written. The world hasn't seen anything yet compared to what they will see. It's going to take something drastic to catch the attention of a drowsy, indolent, apathetic, disbelieving world.

God has the answer in His Word. A greater display of the miraculous is going to occur. The generation alive at the coming of the Lord will have no excuse for their unbelief. We can expect the church age, which began with a burst of the supernatural evidences, to end full circle at the Second Coming. The Church will once again have apostolic purity, power, and productivity.

When Jesus returns, the Church will go out in a burst of power and glory!

8.    New Wave of Deliverances During Worship

I believe the worship in the future will be so awesome and so majestic that great deliverances will take place while saints of God are worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth.

We have a mass of hurting people in our society. They are the "humpty dumpties" who had the great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men, including the king's psychiatrists, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again. The good news is that Jesus can and does put people back together again. This mass of hurting people I call the walking wounded are going to be transformed while entering into the worship of the future.

The purest form of expression we have today is singing the Word of God, using the Bible for a hymn book. The difference in the future will be the presence of the Lord. The Lord is going to fill our meeting places with a dimension of His power and glory that will be most awesome.

Many of the greatest miracles in the future will occur during worship. There will be total restoration of alcoholics, homosexuals, rape and incest victims, people who have been violently abused, cancer victims, and others who are injured in spirit, soul, and body.

The Psalmist David spoke of the Lord's power and glory being seen in the sanctuary. (Ps. 63:1,2.) I foresee in worship and in the honoring of God's Word through song, prayer, utterances, and sharing that people's needs will be met on the spot.

Isaiah 64:5 says God meets those who rejoice in Him. Can you imagine what will happen when the Lord meets a congregation of true worshipers with a wealth of saving deliverances? It's happening! It will continue to happen wherever pure worship is being offered up. (Ps. 22:3.)

9.    Coming Wave of Persecution

As the Holy Spirit sweeps the world, inundating the Church with His presence, the enemy will be stirred with a malignant hatred that will bring persecution to believers worldwide. This should not surprise us. Jesus warned that it would happen. Within the Gospels the words persecute and persecution are mentioned fourteen times by Jesus.

The persecution of the future will be a fulfillment of Psalm 2:1-4 which reads:

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

I believe the persecution in the future, especially in America, will be a sophisticated form of ridicule, mocking, and verbal abuse. "The heathen rage" is verbal tumult. "Rulers take counsel" is negative rhema power. Reverse rhema tears down verbally instead of building up positively. Saying, "Let us break their bands asunder" is another verbal outburst of acrimonious antagonism against the Lord's Spirit-filled anointed.

The main thrust of the coming persecution will be verbal abuse against the righteous. Look for sarcasm, ridicule, and mockery. There will be sacrilegious movies, dramas, and TV programs aimed at discrediting all faith in God. Along with obscene movies, blasphemous plays, vulgar TV programs, and comedians mocking the Christian, there will be a barrage of venom aimed at the Godfearing.

Everything that can be done to discredit Christians will be done by the media. But this will only fan the flame of revival. God will use our persecutors to do our advertising for us and publicize our existence. When they announce, "Stay away from those people who carry their Bibles around with them," curious people will want to find out what's going on. Although it is intended to scatter us and thin our numbers, persecution only produces multiplication of our ranks. According to Exodus 1:12, opposition will cause us to multiply and grow.

Most of us don't relish sarcasm, ridicule, and mockery, yet we will face it as God's Spirit is poured out on all flesh. Job 5:21 says the Lord will hide us from the scourge of the tongue. Psalm 31:20 says the Lord will keep us secretly in a safe place from the strife of tongues.

Hollywood movies and TV will sink to new lows of moral depravity. Christians will be held in contempt while comedians make fun of the righteous. At the same time believers will be so busy doing exploits in Jesus' name that they will be oblivious to what is going on. Christians will be so caught up in evangelizing the world, seeing the sick be healed, and getting people ready for the Second Coming that they will be too busy to retaliate or even answer the critics.

Persecution in the early Church caused Christianity to grow by leaps and bounds. (Acts 8:1,4.) The word persecute means "to scatter people by verbal harassment, malice, and hostility." Acts 8:4 says, They that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

Antagonists to the Gospel will go too far by trying to scatter the flock. The end result is that the Gospel will reach the ends of the earth. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

Persecution will come, but Christians will be doing the greater works that Jesus promised in John 14:12. God can immunize so that all verbal assaults the enemy's crowd throws our way will leave us more determined to please Jesus and joyfully do those things He has commanded us to do.

10.    New Wave of Unity in the Christian

Church

While the world is falling apart, the Christians are falling together. Unbelief is an isometric that will cause believers to toughen up. Jesus' prayer for unity in John 17:21 will be answered. We will live to see it happen.

Man's attempt at unity is puny and dismal because he starts with the wrong assumption. Man tries to legislate, program, organize, and promote unity. The League of Nations, United Nations, World Council of Churches, and Ministerial Alliances function at the human level and must struggle with human ineptitude.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it (Ps. 127:1). Unity is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Paul told the Ephesians to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The Holy Spirit is the unifier and uses the Word of God, rhema and logos, as the agent for bringing unity.

Doctrine will never unite the Church. Doctrines divide.

Modes of water baptism will never unite the Church. The Church has fought for centuries over sprinkling, pouring, immersing, infant baptism, and adult baptism.

Eschatology, the doctrine of future things, won't unite the Church. The present-day Church is fragmented with over twenty different views on the coming of the Lord.

The one thing that will unite Christian believers is love—love for the Lord Jesus, love for His people, and love for His rhema promises. Having spent a lifetime in the 7700 rhema promises of God, I am equally at home with liturgical believers (Episcopal, Lutheran, and Catholic), non-liturgical believers (Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist), Holiness believers (Nazarene, Free Methodist, Missionary Alliance, and Wesleyan groups), Pentecostal believers (Foursquare, Open Bible, Assemblies of God), charismatic groups (Women's Aglow, F.G.B.M.F.I., Inter-Church Renewal, Christian Centers), and Word of Faith groups (groups who have an honest love for the Word of God and Spirit of Truth).

The centrality of Jesus as Lord, the presence of the Holy Spirit's ministry, and the emphasis on God-breathed rhema promises is the coagulant that brings unity to these varied groups. We're coming together around Jesus, His logos and His rhema.

Another unifying influence that will be surfacing is persecution at the international level.

When the Russians lined up at the Finnish border, it looked like that tiny country would be swallowed up by the USSR. The three major religious groups, under threat of annihilation, buried their doctrinal differences and began to pray together for survival. The Holy Spirit baptized many at that time. When the Russians withdrew, there was a unified band of Spirit-filled believers.

The same thing happened in South Korea.

Roy Hicks, Sr., tells how a wave of persecution arose in a South American country in the 1960's against all Protestant missionaries. This country had a thousand-mile area marked off for the closing down of all foreign missionary efforts. A Spirit-filled missionary began to fast and pray. He withstood the pressure and invited other missionaries in on a fellowship basis. While the persecution was hot and furious, the Holy Spirit fell on those spiritual leaders and transformed their lives. Now the restraints have been removed and there are many Spirit-filled mission stations that didn't exist before the persecution.

I believe the general disbelief and arrogant unbelief on the part of the non-Christian world will pressure the Christians into a new wave of unity. Someone said, "If, instead of turning on each other, Christians would stand shoulder-to-shoulder against our common enemy, the devil, we could have the war won in 30 days." Unity is coming!

This last great wave of the Holy Spirit will usher in the revival of love. This move of God will encompass all the aspects of the past revivals throughout history, but the love of God will be the distinctive evidence of this glorious move of the Spirit.

What You Can Do About The New Wave

Pray and confess that you will recognize the new wave when it starts happening. Isaiah 48:6,7 says that every new thing the Lord does is not always recognizable at first. He does things "new" that have never been done before.

Pray and confess that you will be a part of the new wave of the Spirit.

Pray and confess that you will not hold God's dealings in your life with disdain or contempt if His move in your life seems small or insignificant.

In Ezekiel's revival chapter (ch. 47), the water coming from the temple at first was only an ooze. Later it rose to the ankles, knees, shoulders, and then over the head. At first it was only a little moisture oozing out under the threshold.

In our society where so many want to start at the top, it would be a mistake to dismiss a visitation from the Lord because its first appearing is humble, small, and insignificant. I'm confessing that all of us will be so happy for the ooze that we'll all wait with expectancy for the intensifying of God's gracious visitation.

1.    Recognize it.

2.    Be a part of it.

3.    Get into the flow of it.

For two to walk together in love, they must be agreed.

Dick Mills is intensely involved in the Scriptural renewal and personal upbuilding of the Body of Christ. He shares the "hidden riches of secret places" with sensitivity and compassion. Few have failed to be touched by the hand of God through this man's dynamic ministry.

Pat Robertson, president of Christian Broadcasting Network, says: "Dick Mills has one of the most unique ministries of any man of God I know. God has gifted him with what amounts to a photographic memory containing thousands of scriptures. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and at an appropriate time, these words are brought forth to minister to the needs of individuals. Dick has been used of God to bring deep spiritual blessings at crucial times in my own life, and I'm sure this is true of tens of thousands of others around the country."

Dick and his wife Betty live in Hemet, California. This veteran of over thirty years has ministered to more than twenty denominations in countries throughout the world, including Israel, England, Australia, Singapore, Canada, and Latin America.

God is calling us to look into the realm of the spirit. For too long Christians have accepted the status quo. But there is a new wave of the Holy Spirit. God is awakening the Body of Christ to trim away the excess weight of this present world and to enter into a new dimension of His presence in the realm of the spirit.

The Spirit of God is calling us to prayer, to unity, and to expect signs and wonders as He culminates this final era with the greatest outpouring of His Spirit that any moment in history has experienced. He is inviting us to use faith for the supernatural—the revival of love that will usher the Church into His presence.

Dick Mills

Table of Contents

Start