Then Maria had a great vision. Angels came into her room. They took her to the West, over prairies, lakes, forests, and rivers where she saw a long, wide field of waving golden grain. As the view unfolded she began to preach and saw the grains begin to fall like sheaves. Then Jesus told her that, "just as the grain fell, so people would fall" as she
preached. Finally Maria realized that she would never be happy until she yielded to the call. In response to this great vision from God, she humbly answered "yes" to His call upon her life and asked Him to anoint her with great power.
One particular meeting was held in a town called Devils Den. No minister had ever been successful there, and people came to mock her. They were looking to see the female evangelist who would soon run out of town shattered and defeated. But they received the surprise of their lives! Sister Etter might have been a woman, but she was not one to be taken lightly. She knew the key to spiritual warfare, and the fervency of prayer that unlocked heaven. For three days Maria preached and sang. No one moved. Finally, on the fourth day, she exercised her spiritual authority through intercession and tore down the demonic principality that ruled over Devils Den. She prayed that God would show a great display of His power to break the people's stiff formality. That night, people throughout the meeting cried and repented to God. It was the greatest manifestation of the presence of God the town had ever witnessed.
(God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
The "Trance" Talk
"Fifteen came to the altar screaming for mercy. Men and women fell and lay like dead. I had never seen anything like this. I felt it was the work of God, but did not know how to explain it, or what to say."
After laying on the floor for some time, these people sprang to their feet with shining faces while shouting the praises of God. Sister Etter said that she had never seen such bright conversion.
The trances became the talk of the day. Hundreds flocked to taste of this outpouring, while others went to observe or ridicule.At one meeting, fifteen doctors came from different cities to investigate the trances. One of the doctors was a world-class leader in his field. Sister Etter wrote of it this way:
"He did not want to admit the power was of God. He would have been glad if they could prove it was something else. He came to investigate...but was called to another part of the house. He went, expecting to find something new. To his surprise he found his son at the altar and wanted his father to pray for him. He could not pray. God showed him what he was, and what he was doing. He began to pray for himself. While praying he fell into a trance, and saw the horrors of hell. He was falling in. After a terrible struggle God saved him. He went to work to win souls for Christ."
Sister Etter also wrote of a party that several young women attended at which they thought they would have fun and act out a trance. But they were immediately gripped by the power of God, and their mocking turned into loud cries to God for mercy.
Once an elderly man who had traveled the world was visiting an area where Maria was ministering. He was a religious man, so he decided to attend one of her meetings out of curiosity. As he witnessed the meeting, he made some joking remark to his friends concerning the display of power. Filled with pride, the man boldly headed for the platform to investigate. But before he reached the pulpit, he was "struck to the floor by the power of God" and laid there for over two hours. While in this state, God showed him a vision of heaven and hell. Realizing he had to choose, he immediately chose God and was born again. Then he came to, praising God (God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Broken Rib Healed
Thousands came to Dallas, some from over two thousand miles away, bringing the sick and afflicted for healing. One man had three broken ribs from a fall. He could hardly stand because of the pain. Sister Etter laid her hands on him and offered the prayer of faith, and instantly, the bones that were turned inward came into place. At first, he flinched when she touched him, but he ended up pounding his ribs realizing the pain and swelling were gone.
Tuberculosis Healed
Another man was brought in on a cot, suffering from tuberculosis. His condition was hopeless, being also plagued with a fistula, an open sore that had left a deep hole in his body. But when Maria prayed, the power of God hit the man. He jumped off his cot and ran up and down in front of the crowd. Then he rode home sitting up with the others and gained four pounds a day from that day on.
Cancer had eaten the entire side of one man's face and neck. The cancer was so painful, he had to be taken from the first meeting. But when Sister Etter laid hands on him and prayed, the power of God hit him. The pain, stiffness, and burning left immediately. He was suddenly able to turn his neck from side to side, then he got up on the altar and preached to the people.
(God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Deaf and Dumb Healed
One night, three people that had been deaf and dumb, all strangers to one another, stood at the altar, weeping, hugging and shouting because God had opened their ears and given them their speech. Many others looked on and wept, making their way to the altar to know God and be saved. One of the three formerly deaf and dumb went on to testify: "When Sister Etter put her finger in my mouth at the root of my tongue and then in my ears, commanding a 'deaf and dumb' spirit to come out, God instantly opened my ears and gave me my voice."
(God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Cancer Healed
One woman had a double affliction of cancer and tuberculosis. She was like a living skeleton. All the best physicians of Dallas had given up on her. She was brought in on a cot, and many thought she would die before Sister Etter got to her. When prayed for, she was instantly healed and jumped up from the cot shouting! Then she came to the rest of the meetings every night and sat with the others. Though she was still very thin, all who knew the woman said that she was gaining weight and improving daily.
Invalids walked from their sick beds, the deaf heard, the blind saw, arthritis was instantly healed, tumors destroyed, dropsy eliminated. In short, every manner of sickness and disease that dared to show itself at Sister Etter's meetings, bowed its knee to Jesus Christ and was disintegrated by the fire of the Spirit. And all of this in spite of the doctrinal divisions.
(God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Elizabeth Waters remembered these meetings like this:
"I remember like yesterday, my girlfriend and I rolled my mother in a wheelchair about six or seven long blocks.... Two big men carried the wheelchair in front of the round pulpit as it was already lined up with wheelchairs. It was so hot, my mother begged to be taken home, but I insisted on staying. Praise the Lord, she was pointed out to be put up on the pulpit, where that beautiful little lady I won't ever forget, spoke to my mother. I saw her reply by shaking her head and then she [Sister Etter] hit her on the chest (it looked hard to me). It was like a bolt of lightning struck her, she leaped to her feet and flew around, jumping for joy. All the people yelled and screamed, I doubt if they had ever seen anything like it before.
Many more miracles were seen. We almost had to tie my mother in the chair coming home. She wanted to walk, but she was weak as she had been bedfast for two years. When we got home, my grandmother and more neighbors were waiting for us. My mother stepped out of the wheelchair and walked up the stairs. They all yelled and cried. From that day on my mother was completely healed, healthy, fat, and loved the Lord." (God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Speaking in Tongues
One incredible Tabernacle story involved a Romanian family. Their daughter suffered from tuberculosis and two Pentecostal women had come to their house to pray for her. Discovering that their daughter had been healed after the prayer, the family searched for a Pentecostal church and found the Tabernacle. During their first service, a lady who had been miraculously healed from cancer, stood and delivered a message in tongues for twenty-eight minutes.
Some wondered why Sister Etter allowed her to continue so freely in the Spirit for such a length of time. But their questions were answered the next Sunday when it was learned that this woman was speaking Romanian, a language she had never heard nor learned. This little Romanian family heard a message from God in their own language as they sat listening, completely overwhelmed. The father was the only one who could speak English. It has been said that Maria and the Tabernacle members "learned to expect such experiences as much as some congregations expect to sing the doxology at the end of their services." (God's Generals - Roberts Liardon)
Tumor Healed
Another Tabernacle tale involved the healing of a young boy. He had tuberculosis and developed a tumor the size of a fist. When his mother took him to Maria she said, "We'll just cut it out with the Sword of the Spirit" With that, Sister Etter took her Bible and "whacked" him on the neck, and the boy was healed. (God's Generals - Roberts Liardon) This boy became an evangelist named Roscoe Russel.
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"And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matt. 24:6,7,8,14)
"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment," (Heb. 9:27)
"...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2)
You can receive the gift of eternal life now, click here.
