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We must prepare our Hearts for the Revival that’s Coming…
…And in some ways it’s already here
Revival – means to revive or to bring something back from the brink of death. A true revival is not a series of meetings scheduled for a weekend. It’s when life, zeal, hunger, holiness, passion and excitement returns to the people of God for a prolonged period of time. These realities produce new converts, disciples and incredible willingness to serve. If the revival isn’t engineered by men it should also have Holy Spirit manifestations in it.
Marvin Goorman had a vision in his office down in Louisiana several years ago after a guy in his church brought him some lunch. He saw what he called the end time, Pentecostal revival. Some of the things he saw included a revival that didn’t have a human personality associated with it. Children were being used in demonstrations of power as they simply prayed for people.
God’s Kingdom is Expanding
Daniel 2:35
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Some in the Church today have a hope in a coming rapture that can happen at any minute. I also have this hope, however, my hoping doesn’t make it happen any sooner. What does make the return of Christ come sooner?
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
The, “hurry up God and get us out of here mentality” has done a lot of harm to the Church and especially the lost. If I’m saved and sitting in my lounge chair pleading with the Lord to return, in some senses of the word I’m telling the rest of the world, they can just go to hell!
I know sometimes escaping this world can be attractive but there is much work to be done here before Christ returns. This may sound like a contradiction but If He comes today I’m ready, if He doesn’t then I’m compelled to express the kingdom of God through my life because of Christ’s love shed abroad in my heart. (2 Cor. 5:14; Rom. 5:5)
Rather than attempting to simply save a few souls before the rise of the anti-Christ, we should see ourselves as overcoming and victorious in the fact that the Church must come into “fullness of Christ" as taught by the Apostle Paul.
Ephesians 4:13
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 5:25b-27
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Romans 5:20b
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
I believe that as the world gets more and more depraved, God’s power will increase upon his people.
Before the Harvest, the rain.
James 5:7,8
7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Before the harvest, comes the rains, is metaphorical for a move of God that causes growth of the valuable crop, the Church.
A major feature of this revival will be the children of God being revealed. As the end of the age approaches the Christians with overcoming faith will arise within the Church. These revealed Children of God, ones who have come into the full stature of Jesus Christ, will receive the Spirit without measure. (John 3:34) They will be as Jesus was when he was on earth (John 14:12) and will manifest God’s Kingdom in the same manner Christ did.
Romans 8:14-19
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
Outline
- In order to be Children of God we must be Led by the Spirit of God.
- The Children of God have a ministry paradigm shift away from slavery and fear to sonship and love.
- We can have assurance that we are God’s Children.
- Sharing in the Christ Life means sharing in his sufferings and glory, however the Glory outweighs the suffering.
1. In order to be Children of God we must be Led by the Spirit of God.
John 3:3
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
John 3:8
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
2. The Children of God have a ministry paradigm shift away from slavery and fear to sonship and relational fatherly love with God.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We can have assurance from the Holy Spirit that we are God’s Children.
1 John 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
2 Timothy 1:12
That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
Sharing in the Christ Life means sharing in his sufferings and glory, however the Glory outweighs the suffering.
Suffering for Christ
Matthew 10:24,25
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
2 Timothy 3:12
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
When the body of Christ doesn’t upset any of the existing power systems in their realm of influence, there won’t be much persecution. However when the KINGDOM of God continues to be expressed and that expression increases, there will be a power shift, causing those in existing positions of power to get angry.
- Demonized Man with Pigs-Mt. 8:31-33
- Tables of the Money Changers- Mark 11:15
- All the Healing
- All the Deliverance
The Glory revealed in us…
Is this only talking about dying and going to heaven? The CREATION is waiting in eager expectation for the Children of God to be revealed. I believe this is not just talking about heaven because the Creation is waiting.
What does a person do who’s walking in the glory of God? The word glory talks about the manifest presence of God. This person will express God’s glory in a way that would at times resemble Christ.
Things will get worse and Worse
Matthew 24:12,13
12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Prayer
Every revival in our modern time has been predicated by fervent effectual prayer.
James 5:16
16Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].
Hebrews 5:7 (Amplified Bible)
In the days of His flesh [Jesus] offered up definite, special petitions [for that which He not only wanted but needed] and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was [always] able to save Him [out] from death, and He was heard because of His reverence toward God [His godly fear, His piety, in that He shrank from the horrors of separation from the bright presence of the Father].
Make a disciplined and loving effort to get into God’s presence, experiencing his good father’s heart for you. This will revive each of us individually. Corporately we’ll be prepared to receive and thus spread revival fire across our region. Revival is coming, the only question is, is it coming here? Let’s pray.
Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) and Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM (Central Standard Time U.S.A.) If you can't be with us in person please visit via internet video on Jubilee T.V. If you live in Batesville please tune into KBAP 88.1 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.
Jubilee Family Church45 Thunderbird Dr. Batesville, AR 72501
(870) 793-9124