Beginning Tomorrow Today - By Timothy Sherman

T he Spirit and Power of Elijah

''And he will turn many o f the children o f Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the Spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the dis obedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:16-17). The spirit and power of Elijah is the spirit and power of Almighty God. As in all prophetic anointing and power: "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). Every holy prophet in the Bible was moving and declaring by way o f the Spirit of Christ within them to testify something spe cific and unique: "To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things which angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:12) The spirit of Elijah is one of awakening and revival and ref ormation and of the restoring of all things. The spirit and power of Elijah prepares the way and makes ready a people for both His first and His second coming. It is known for salvation for the coming generations. The anointing that was upon Elijah brought salvation to the back-sliding nation of Israel in the Old Testament. The anoint ing of Elijah was upon John the Baptist to preach repentance and salvation and to baptize those who would later follow Jesus. They were preparing the way for Jesus' first coming and for the church and for those being saved, both Jew and Gentile. 110