Miracles for EveryoneSample

When the Earth Shook

During our evangelistic outreach in Lubumbashi, Katanga, Congo, such power from God came upon the multitudes, as they listened to the gospel, that the earth literally shook. It happened just as it did when the early church believers were filled with the Holy Ghost, and the place where they were was shaken. God gave witness to the truth of the gospel being proclaimed.

The earth shook so fiercely that thousands of people ran in all directions. That area had never experienced any kind of an earthquake, and it was felt nowhere else in the city. It required several minutes to calm the mass of people and to reassemble them.

On another occasion, God shook the earth to free his witnesses, the apostle Paul and his friend and coworker Silas (Acts 16:26). They had been imprisoned by local authorities who objected to their message, but God demonstrated His power by freeing them from prison. He shook the earth, and they were set free to proclaim the gospel to their jailer. He and his whole family believed in God that night and were baptized (Acts 16:31–34).

This book was first written in the late 1970s. Since then, I have witnessed the same miracles in each gospel meeting during six decades of our global evangelism ministry. For example, I recently returned from ministry in ten major cities of Russia; in cities of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland, Estonia, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan; Thailand, the Republic of Congo, and the Ivory Coast.

When Christ’s followers went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord worked with them, confirming the word with signs. He does the same in this century. Jesus and His gospel have never changed. When His message is proclaimed, in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, it is confirmed by the miraculous.

Believers in the early church were successful. Whole cities were affected. Multitudes believed in Christ. Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, when anyone proclaims His Word with simple faith and acts on His promises, he or she will realize the same results in this century. Our Lord always confirms this gospel of the kingdom with miracles.

God who shook the earth, who shook the jail and set Your servants free, shake me. Set me free from the shackles of sin, shame, sickness, and complacency.