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(It is a fiction. The names, characters and incidents are imaginary)
Revival in America
Revivals break out in all the churches in the city of Houston excepting the main-line denominational churches. Thousands of Christians who flock to the Jesus of Nazareth are getting revived. The convicts undergoing sentences in the same prison cells are convicted of their sins and repent of the same. There is rejoicing by the prisoners. The very presence of the Jesus of Nazareth has brought conviction of sins in the minds of the prisoners. The resurrected Jesus cannot be put to the prison cell at all because He is omnipotent and omnipresent. Though He is in a prison cell, He is present everywhere.
In every nook and corner of the city of Houston, there is the fire of revival. It spreads to other parts of America also. The prisoners in the other jails of Houston and other towns of America are also being convicted of their sins. The rate of crimes in the city of Houston and other towns and cities is also coming down. The cine halls and night clubs are becoming empty in the city of Houston. Everyone goes to the Jesus of Nazareth. Every church is filled up and the church services go on continuously day and night. Drunkards are throwing away the liquor bottles. Marriages are being restored. Remarried spouses are forsaking their present unlawful mates and going back to their original covenant spouses. Hollywood actors and actresses are repenting of their sins and leave their adulterous relationships.
The newspapers and the television channels carry this news of revival. Every child of God is a missionary to the unsaved. People standing in the street and preach the gospel. Senators are organizing special prayer meetings inside the Senate Hall. The President and the Vice-President are busy organizing prayer meetings in the White House.
However, the popular pastors of mega-churches find the number of their congregations dwindling day by day. Instead, all their congregation members are becoming pastors in their home churches and preaching in the streets. Many of them are now determined to go to distant nations in Asia and Africa as missionaries. In the evangelical crusades of the popular evangelists, the thousands who filled their meeting halls earlier are no longer there because all these thousands are now preaching to the unsaved and praying for the sick.
A popular evangelist
These pastors and evangelists are now coming to know the One, the Truth in their midst. They also want to see the Jesus of Nazareth. One of the evangelists who attracts millions all over the world now goes to the Jesus of Nazareth. On seeing this evangelist, Jesus asks him, “My son, you have been toiling in My vineyard all these years without doing My perfect will. Follow Me”. The evangelist replies, “Lord, I have been following You all these years. I have been prophesying in Your Name and doing wonders in Your Name”. Jesus tells him, “My son, Follow Me”. The evangelist replies, “Lord, You know that I have been following You”. Jesus finally tells him, “Sell all what you have and give it to the poor saints in My Body and then follow Me”. On hearing this, the evangelist goes back disappointed for he has great possessions.
A popular woman teacher of the Word of God
One woman of God who is very popular all over the world through her television programs and who goes all over the world preaching the gospel and teaching the people of God now goes to the Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus tells her, “My daughter, I know all your labors. Do you love Me i.e. My Body?” She replies, “Yes, Oh my Lord, I serve you all these years. You know that I love You”. “With the material blessings I gave you, take care of the members of My Body who are being persecuted all over the world and minister to them”. On hearing this, she goes back disappointed for she does not want to discontinue her popular meetings and television programs just to take care of the persecuted members of the Body of Christ.
Apostles and Prophetess
Many pastors make a beeline to meet the Jesus of Nazareth. Two servants of God, namely Apostle John Peter and Apostle Mary Juniata, go to the Jesus of Nazareth. The following is the record of conversation between them and Jesus.
“Lord, I am Apostle John Peter from the Church of First Assembly of God, Las Vegas…..
“Lord, I am Apostle Mary Juniata from the Church of the Calvary…in Shreveport”
Jesus asks both of them, “How can you call yourself My apostle…?”
Apostle John Peter tells him, “Lord, I have established a number of churches in Las Vegas and other places of this nation”.
“I have not appointed you as My apostle. You have established only churches of a particular denomination, which believe in certain doctrines, which are at variance with the whole counsel of God, or the complete doctrines of the Bible. You have established churches in those areas where a number of churches are already in existence and where the foundation of the gospel had already been laid. As an apostle, you should have established churches in those areas where the Son of God was not named or where the gospel has not reached. For instance, people like John Hyde, Evan Roberts, David Brainerd, Jonathan Edwards, etc. left the comfort and luxury of their own nations and went to the other nations where the Son of God was not preached earlier”.
Now one of the disciples asks the Lord, “Lord, how can I identify someone as an apostle?”
“He should have borne the marks of apostleship on his body by way of suffering and persecution in My Name. You can read about the experiences and life of an apostle from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. Sitting in a church with all the modern comforts, none can be an apostle”.
One servant of God now approaches the Jesus of Nazareth and introduces himself, “I am Pastor Moses Steve of the Church of the Living Waters, Santa Cruz….”
The Lord asks him, “Where are your co-workers in your church or the elders in your church”
“The elders are in my church to look after the administration of the church…….”
“Do they minister to the congregation in your church?”
“Of course, during my vacation, they give messages on Sundays…..”
“The ministry of a church elder or a pastor is not only to give messages on Sundays but to minister individually to the sheep under his care. If you read the Acts of apostles and the epistles written by the early apostles, you will find that the earlier New Testament churches were administered by a body of disciples i.e. deacons or elders”.
Now a woman of God, calling herself, Prophetess Deborah approaches the Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus tells her on her face, “I have not appointed you as a prophet. Under the New Covenant, there are only prophets and not prophetesses. Even a woman of God is also a prophet. At home, you are not obedient to your husband, and you never spend time in prayers but spend most of the time in writing blogs in Christian websites and covet the praises of others for your writings. Your life is not holy. In the church, you prophesy so that the congregation may recognize you as a prophetess. You always praise the congregation members while prophesying and you flatter the pastor in particular as a sycophant. You use all kinds of phrases and certain Biblical terms while heaping praises on your pastor. The whole congregation feels elated on hearing the words of your prophecies. You steal God’s words and speak the same on your own. If you are a true prophet, you will give God’s messages which may bring deep conviction of sin in the hearts of the people there; which may bring words of comfort to the weary.
The Lord further tells her, “A prophet always remains in the wilderness. He is not seen here and there. God sends him/her to a particular church or to a particular group of people or to a particular nation for conveying His messages. He/she will not hanker after pulpit. The prophets are not popular because the people of God generally do not accept them. They boldly and frankly point out the spiritual deficiencies in their lives without mincing words. The words of prophecy would flow out of the mouth of a true prophet at all times. He/she does not prophesy only during the church services, keeping some particular person or a situation in her mind. A prophet, once prophet, is always a prophet. A New Testament prophet need not say, “Thus saith the Lord” as the Old Testament prophets.
The prophets are likened to the white corpuscles in the blood which attack a hostile germ when it tries to enter the body. The white corpuscles form part of the in-built immune system of the body. If the white corpuscles are depleted or overpowered, the body will become susceptible to dreaded diseases like AIDs etc. Likewise, God has tempered the prophets in the Body of Christ to protect it against the false prophets and teachers. They are the watch-dogs or the watchmen unto the House of God.
Law and Word of God
Rev.Jesuslover, chief pastor of Good Samaritans’ Church and other leading church leaders did not believe the Jesus of Nazareth even after witnessing the great revival in their midst. Though the multitudes exhorted them to withdraw their written complaint, they did not do so. They still claim that it is not the Jesus of Nazareth. They started influencing the Democrats in the Senate to speak against the President and the Republicans. The hearts of these people are still hardened.
Jesus Himself told the police authorities not to withdraw the complaints filed against Him and His disciples under the law of the land. He simply told them, “I came into the world not to destroy the Law but to fulfill the Law”.
In the meantime, a team of police officers from America landed in Delhi, India and verified the antecedents of the One who stayed at the address furnished in the passport, and the antecedents of the eleven persons who were taken by Jesus to America. The testimonies of all these people were found true. Mohammed was cleared of his suspected terrorists’ links. The American police returned to India after collecting all the evidences and then submitted their investigation report to the Judge concerned. The only charges that are sustainable against Jesus were taking of His disciples illegally without visas and beating of the people in the church of Good Samaritans in the city of Houston. The charge against His disciples was giving their consent to the illegal travel to America without valid visas.
The Judge summoned Jesus and His disciples to the court of law and read out the charges framed against them. The Judge was convicted of his sins in the presence of the Lord. He started weeping for his sins. But Jesus told him, “You have to do your duty. I am standing before you as an accused. You have to judge Me according to the evidence presented before you……”
When the charges were read out to Him, Jesus simply accepted the same. He said to the Judge, “I have to obey the law of your land. I have to give Caesar what is due to him and to God My Father what is due to Him. As the Son of God, I had to bring My people from India for fellowship with My people in America. But as a law-abiding citizen, if I am found guilty of the charges as per your letter of law, I have to undergo the punishment. Since I took My disciples with Me to America, I take the entire responsibility for their action. I plead that they may be released. Even now also I can take them back to India in My Spirit. But I will not do so because My people in America would take care of their financial needs for going back to India. I had to bring them in My Spirit because none of the pastors whom I had blessed in India came forward to take My disciples to America by an airplane.
I am standing as an accused before your law. I will be in your prison to undergo the sentence. Pronounce your sentence against Me.
When the Judge pronounced His judgment, the President of America, the Senators, the key officials of the government, church leaders, foreign diplomats, and businessmen were sitting in the audience gallery watching the court proceedings.
The Judge pronounced the sentence of 6 months imprisonment and a fine of $ 10,000 against the Lord. Since the Lord had no money, the President, the Senators, the businessmen, etc. rushed to the chamber of the Judge for making this payment. But Jesus refused to accept it. Jesus told the Judge, “Outside the court room, a poor widow is waiting to hear the judgment and she will pay the fine on My behalf”. An official of the court goes outside the court room and brings in that particular widow. Her name is Donna. She takes permission from the Judge to go to her bank to bring the money. After a while, she comes back bringing all her life savings to possess this Jesus. She gives all what she has to the court of law to possess the One Who has given His blood for her.
The Judge sets free all the disciples of the Lord. The saints in the churches of America come forward to pay for their return air-tickets to India and then took home all the disciples. The saints and disciples of the Lord in America treated them well in their own houses. When the time for their departure came, these saints came forward to minister to the disciples from India. These disciples of the Lord after enjoying their fellowship with the disciples of the Lord in America returned happily to India, knowing well that the Jesus of Nazareth cannot be held in the prison of America any longer and that He is with them till the end of the age.
Jesus went back to the prison to undergo the sentence of imprisonment for 6 months. The multitudes of the saints in America were happy to have the Jesus of Nazareth in their midst. The jail cannot hold Him, the resurrected and glorified Jesus of Nazareth because He is omnipotent and omnipresent. The saints know this secret which the other unsaved people do not know.
