Death in the church? This is not a mere story but a revelation. One that should stir up a cry for revival in your heart.
Growing up as a religious girl was fun. We would go to church, dance all we can, sing all we can and then settle down to listen to a short sermon. For most youths like me, sleeping was not a big deal during sermons. Well, there were the good days, when the preacher would come up and start up with so much charisma that would make you think, God had something in store for you today. Such was today’s service. At the beginning of the sermon, I had thought God had something great for me. I had listened with great expectation until I began to feel dizzy and off I went…
Then the preacher shouted: “In Jesus name”, It was this time I looked around to see if others noticed that I was dozing. To my wildest amazement, the choir mistress sitting directly by my right was also sleeping. Then I looked left and found the spiritual prayerful brother Paul with his bible opened on his laps, I was glad someone was serious. Just before I relax to continue listening to the sermon, brother Paul’s bible fell down from his laps. He didn’t even notice. He was fast asleep.
See also, How to Follow and Fulfill God’s Purpose For Your Life?
Then I took my eyes away from the choir to the elders, not a single one of them was awake. Then I started feeling strange. The pastor was still preaching. I looked towards the protocol corner and found out that all of them were dozing. Just when I thought I could signal to the pastor to look through the congregation, his voice ceased. The dead silence in the church auditorium sent shivers down my spine. Just a seconds ago, I was still hearing the voice of the man of God preaching. I looked up towards the pulpit. My pastor was there with his head in between his bible that was opened wide. How strange!
Then I saw another man – tall, huge and fierce. He was sitting on one of the chairs behind the pulpit – laughing hysterically. I was scared. A voice whispered to my ears from no where “Open my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death”. The boldness came. The confidence came. I closed my eyes and shouted with every strength that I had: “LORD OPEN MY EYES LEST I SLEEP THE SLEEP OF DEATH”.
I opened my eyes and all eyes were on me. The pastor was on the pulpit but not preaching. He was looking directly at me. I looked towards the pulpit and the fierce laughing man was not there. I scanned through the congregation, nobody was sleeping and all of them seemed to be all gazing at me at once. This was when it dawned on me that I just had a dream that had been so real, so much that the last sentence from my dream was loud enough to disrupt the service. It then dawned on me the message God was trying to pass across to me. In the midst of the funfair that goes on in most of our churches today, God is saying, death is come into the church, for sin is death.
For death is come up onto our windows and is entered unto our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young man from the streets. And let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the Lord. Psalm 13:3, Jeremiah 9:21
The church today is depraved. We’ve lost our signs. Evil is reigning and darkness is prevailing. The Godly are resigning. We need a revival! Who will start it? Who will raise the banner? Who will stand in the gap for a while? This is a cry for revival. Who will take death out of the church?
Written by Fruitful Esther John