The Coming Great Awakening

"OLD WELLS, FALLEN MANTLES and NEW FOUNTAINS"

~by Michael Edds

I moved to a major U.S. city in June 2000 to assume the position as Headmaster for an interdenominational Christian High School. The school was new but had severe problems. Prior to my arrival, a teacher had been arrested for a serious crime. Upon my arrival, the incident had become front-page news in the city. To say the least, I was shocked at the magnitude of the problem and the work that needed to be done. I became angry with God and questioned His direction.

Late one night I could not sleep. I was exhausted from the stress of the challenge before me and still angry with God. Around 2 am, I got up to sit on the couch and pout. In spite of my upset state, anger and disgust, the Presence of the Lord settled in the living room. God did not even pay attention to or address my complaint. Instead, His presence was so strong that I physically trembled. He spoke these words, "Old Wells, Fallen Mantles, and New Fountains." He instructed me to get my Bible. By that time, I too had set aside my complaint. His Presence was so great that I did not know if I could survive it.

I opened my Bible to Isaiah 35: 3-7: "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for IN THE WILDERNESS SHALL WATER BREAK OUT and streams in the desert. AND THE PARCHED GROUND SHALL BECOME A POOL and the thirsty land SPRINGS OF WATER."

Next followed Isaiah 41:17 - 18, "When the poor and needy seek water, and
there is none, and their tongues fail for thirst, I the Lord will hear
them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in
high places, and fountains in the midst of valleys: I will make the
wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."

I was directed to verse 19 of Isaiah 43: "Behold I WILL DO A NEW THING. Now it shall SPRING [BURST] FORTH . Shall ye not know it?" Next came Isaiah 43:19 - 20 which declared, "I will make rivers in the desert...I will give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert to give drink to my people..."

The Lord was moving so quickly through the scriptures that I could hardly keep up. His presence was incredibly strong. I felt like I was floating. Leaving Isaiah, the Lord took me to Joel 2:23: "He will cause to come down for you the rain, THE FORMER RAIN AND THE LATTER RAIN IN THE FIRST MONTH." Then Joel 2:28 was given which states: "It shall come to pass afterwards that I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL FLESH. Your sons and daughters shall PROPHESY, YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS and your YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS."

Finally, Genesis 26:18 finished the scriptures that the Lord was rapidly giving me: "AND ISAAC DUG AGAIN the WELLS of water which they had DUG IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM HIS FATHER."

The Lord revealed the meaning of this vision:

The Early Church experienced the fullness of God. They had the fullness, the gifts and revelation of the Holy Spirit. They were full of boldness, power and anointing. God turned the world upside down through them. The dead were raised, the blind received sight, the possessed were set free, the sick healed and the Gospel was preached to the poor. The anger of Hell was violently aroused. The more the devil persecuted and killed them, the more they multiplied and spread. So Satan changed his tactics. By 300 AD Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. What Satan could not do through persecution, he accomplished through promotion, position, power, prestige, acceptance and prosperity. They SOLD OUT! The Church backslid and soon all humanity fell into the brutality of the Dark Ages.

The purpose of each Great Awakening or the bursting forth of a spiritual well was to restore an element of truth that the Early Church possessed back to the church. Luther restored 'the just shall live by faith'. Wesley, Whitefield, Edwards and the First Great Awakening restored repentance, inward holiness and "Christ in you." The Second Great Awakening with Barton Stone at Cane Ridge in the West and Francis Asbury in the East brought restoration in society through evangelism, missions, and great social renewal such as abolition, child labor laws, and suffrage movement. The Third Great Awakening of 1857 restored the power of prayer. Azusa Street Outpouring of 1905 restored the infilling and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Lord stated that He was going to reopen all of the "old wells" of revival in order to restore TOTAL truth to His church.

Fallen mantles of ministry and anointing that rested upon the great men and women of God of old would be picked up and placed on godly men and women today to finish what was started long ago. They are the "Isaacs" that will revisit the old wells of revival and reopen them. The mantles of ministry did not die nor were they buried with Asbury, Wesley, Stone, Amanda Berry Smith and others. They have only been "on hold" until a generation would be born that could relate to them and pick them up. Isaiah 58:12 refers to them: "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places, thou shall raise up the foundations of many generations, and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in." The Lord said, "What once was shall be again."

Malachi 4:5 prophecies that "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." He said this was not just a generational reconciliation between the old and the young. It is a restoration of His people to the Faith once delivered to the Saints, the Faith of our fathers. The Lord said He was tired of the apostasy, deadness, programs, personality cults, plans and politics that have nearly destroyed His church. He is going to restore HIS church by returning the "Faith of our Fathers to their children (descendants) and the children (descendants) to the Faith of our Fathers." The old wells will BURST forth and the fallen mantles will be picked up. This will be a "suddenly". Isaiah speaks of it occurring in the desert places and on the barren heights. In other words, it will happen in the most unlikely of places.

The Lord continued His interpretat

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