BRINGING GOD'S PEOPLE TO THEIR KNEES!
"Then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him" (Zechariah 12:10). I see in Zechariah's prophecy a new vision of the cross of Jesus.
Right now, the Holy Spirit is doing just that in Israel. Multitudes of Jews gather at the Wailing Wall, weeping for their Messiah to come. But one day soon God will remove the veil and they will know Jesus for who He is and weep over having pierced Him!
There is another application of this verse that has to do with the church. There is soon coming a very personal dealing by the Holy Spirit. The church of Jesus Christ has so blunted sin—so whitewashed and overlooked it—that when the Spirit comes down with the spirit of prayer, He will bring a purging as well. There will be weeping, mourning, brokenness—a reality of how our sins grieve the heart of God!
The Holy Spirit is going to move in this way not just in congregations, but in families and in individuals: “And the land shall mourn, every family by itself; the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves" (Zechariah 12:12).
What greater gift could God give His church just before He comes than a powerful, convicting message against sin? He will bring such piercing conviction that we will not be able to tolerate any unholy or unclean thing in us!
In summary, here are the qualifications and marks of the latter-day outpouring of the Spirit:
- A focus on the final harvest of souls.
- A spirit of grace leading to repentance and godliness.
- A spirit of supplication resulting in surrender and an urgency to pray in the Spirit.
- A yearning for Jesus, and mourning, a brokenness and weeping with godly sorrow for sin. Only after such dealings of the Spirit will the true blessing of joy come!
I do not want to miss out on God's last outpouring! I have been praying for Him to include me, and I urge you to do the same. Pray with me now: “Lord, I don't have the discipline needed for Your holy work. You have to give it to me! Give me Your burden for lost souls; put Your weeping Spirit in me. You are my only hope, so I surrender and turn totally to You. I'll do anything You tell me and I will depend on You for everything!”