A revolution is coming to Christianity that will eclipse the Reformation in the sweeping changes that it brings to the church. When it comes, the present structure and organization of the church will cease to exist, and the way that the world defines Christianity will be radically changed.
What is coming will not be a change of doctrine, but a change in basic church life. The changes that are coming will be so profound that it will be hard to relate the present form of church structure and government to what is coming. The new dynamic of church life will overshadow the Great Awakenings in their social impact, transforming cities and even whole nations. It will bring a sweeping sense of righteousness and justice to the whole earth. However, we must not be fooled into thinking that this is an end of the night, or the end of man's battle with darkness.
What is coming to the church is a metamorphosis from the cocoon stage to the emergence of the beautiful, soaring, beauty that the church is called to be. For a time this transformation will release a life force that will be so great that it will dominate the news around the world. The church will truly be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. The light of the gospel will shine through the church to the degree that the whole world will see it, and the gospel will be clearly, and powerfully presented to every nation on earth.
We are not quite to the flashpoint when this revolution will break out. As we get closer it is becoming more clear what it will look like, and what it will accomplish. The future leaders of the church are now being given a vision of radical New Testament Christianity being restored to the earth. It is time to heed the call and allow the Lord to lead His people to the new wineskins that will be able to hold what is about break out upon the earth. Whenever there is a choice to make between the new and the old, choose the new. To be a part of what is coming, we must have the faith of Abraham who was willing to leave the security of the known to seek God in unknown places. The future leaders of the church will be willing to risk all to seek the city that God is building, not man.
Revolution or Civil War?
I have also written about a coming "civil war" in the church, but this coming revolution is different. The civil war was the result of the confrontation with, and removal of, several major spiritual strongholds within the church. The revolution that is coming will be more expansive than that. It is not the result of a confrontation with negative forces as much as it is the emerging of Christianity from an immature devotion to forms, formulas, and rituals to become a life force that
overwhelms evil with good.
Just as the American Civil War was fought around a few locations in just a handful of states, most of the church will not be involved in the actual battles of this "spiritual civil war," though it will affect us all to a degree. Likewise, most revolutions do not begin all at once, but are the result of social pressures and forces that build up over many years, or even generations. The revolution that is coming upon Christianity has been building for centuries. Attempts to ignite it on a church wide basis has come in almost every generation, but it was not the time. However, we will not have to wait much longer.
These previous attempts to ignite a revolution in the church often accomplished positive advances for the faith, but did not bring the intended sweeping changes to Christianity. Just as forces within the earth break occasionally through a volcano or earthquake, the great revivals and moves of God over the last centuries have been where the great spiritual forces have been building and have occasionally broken through. However, what is coming will seem like the breaking forth of all of the volcanos and earthquakes the world has ever known at once. This will be one of the major events in the history of the world. During this time, the foundation will be laid for the kingdom of God to come to the earth.
Discern the Times
As the Lord said, "the harvest is the end of the age" (Matthew 13:39). The end of the age will be the time of unprecedented harvest. He has saved His best wine for last, and determined that the last would be first. The last great harvest before the end will cover the earth with the knowledge of the Lord. The sense of the presence of the Lord will be everywhere. Unprecedented miracles will become common place. Home groups will explode into large congregations. Small congregations will suddenly have thousands. Sports stadiums and arenas will be the only adequate place for services in the major cities as long standing differences and enmities between churches and denominations melt under the intense heat of this great move of God that is coming.
Great revivals are taking place on several continents at this time. Christianity is presently growing faster than at any time in its history. Some have estimated that more have come to Christ in the last decade than during the entire church age from the first century. Estimates range from 200,000 to 400,000 people coming to the Lord every day! Of course, some of this is due to the fact that there are as many people alive today as there were in all of the previous centuries of man's history combined. Even so, there has never been a harvest like what the world is presently experiencing.
However, as I warned in my book The Harvest, a revival is coming that will be so great that many will think that it is the harvest that is the "end of the age"--but it is not it! It is only the gathering of the laborers for what is coming. That is where we are now. If we do not understand this, we will not be prepared for what is coming. It will be much greater than any previous revival, awakening, or move of God that the world has ever seen.
When this great world-wide move of God breaks out, it will come like a tidal wave. The churches and ministries that are not prepared will be swept away by it. Just as surfers learn to discern the pattern of the waves, and then start paddling rapidly to be moving in the right direction when the big one comes, we must do the same thing. As the Lord warned, we spend a lot of time trying to discern the weather, but do not know the times. If the average Christian would spend as much time seeking to understand the times as they do just watching the weather, it would create a major awakening within the church.
What is Coming?
The armies of God in heaven and on earth are mobilizing now. When they march, it will be the most awesome and fearful sight the world has ever seen. In some places, this army will appear so fast that it will seem to have come out of thin air. Instantly, the greatest spiritual force the world has ever seen will descend upon the earth. To those who are unaware of what is now taking place, it will be like peacefully going to sleep and waking up the next morning to the fact that your entire city, and in some cases, nation, has been occupied by a foreign army. This will be because the army existed right in the midst of the cities without anyone realizing it, including many who are in the army.
This will happen suddenly because Christians will begin to stand up for the Lord, for the truth, and the gospel. Instantly, the church will become an overwhelming spiritual force. Whole cities will be taken for Christ before the evil forces of those cities even suspect an attack against their strongholds.
Because this is the true liberation army, salvation, healing, and restoration will flow like rivers of the glory of the Lord through the streets. Rejoicing is not an adequate word to describe the celebrations that will then break out across the earth.
The Lord instituted feasting as a primary way to worship Him in the Old Testament. It was feasting before the Lord that I saw breaking out in every city that was touched by this coming move of God. When the Lord is moving, people want to meet all of the time, just as they met in the temple, and then from house to house in the book of Acts. This feasting was the result of a fellowship like has not been known on the earth since the first century church experienced breaking out everywhere. Huge streets were blocked off for spontaneous feasts. There will be large gatherings in parks, stadiums, and other public places. There will be many cities where home groups will be meeting on every block, every day.
I saw large worship services breaking out at truck stops and in airports. Wherever people were gathered, celebrations would break out. Some turned into spontaneous marches for Jesus. The marches will begin gathering multitudes as they go, while singing, worshiping, and proclaiming the glory of the Lord.
One interesting aspect of what I saw was that Sunday morning was just about the only time that people did not gather to worship or celebrate. The reason for this was that people were sleeping after all that had been going on the day and night before. Gatherings would begin again Sunday afternoon.
A second interesting characteristic of what I was shown was that it was hard to find anyone who was a leader of what was happening. One person may be used to start a march or block party, but then someone else would start the next celebration. Anyone might begin speaking or preaching, and a large crowd would gather to hear them. The anointing and presence of the Lord were so great that anyone who was presumptuous would be obvious immediately, and they would quickly stop. As the celebrations and rejoicing continued, gift giving and sharing erupted. Because of this, whole cities were instantly rid of poverty and want. Because the joy of this giving was so great, cities that were touched in this way would then seek other cities, and even countries to help. Whole news programs were devoted to the extraordinary works of charity that were taking place. These news programs and reports fanned the flames of generosity and sharing even more. This kind of love is a spiritual force that no evil can resist or stand against. The magnitude of this overflow of thanksgiving to the Lord by helping the needy almost instantly changed the spiritual atmosphere of the cities that were experiencing it.
Because faith works by love (Galatians 5:6), this great river of love will also release some of the most extraordinary miracles ever witnessed on earth. The greatest miracles are always released through compassion. The river of love that is going to break forth will empty hospitals, asylums, jails, and prisons. Broken bodies and broken hearts will be healed. This is an army of restoration that will take deserts and turn them into gardens like Eden.
Just as the Holy Spirit moved upon the earth when it was formless and void, or as some translations stated it, chaos, He still delights in taking that which is empty, void, or in chaos, and turning it into a beautiful new creation. People who are empty and void of meaning in their life are going to be overflowing with purpose. Cities that are in chaos will be transformed into demonstrations of harmony that will cause the world to marvel.
We, as Christians, need to begin seeing the world's greatest problems as some of the greatest opportunities to see the gospel of the kingdom demonstrated. We must start loving those cities and nations, and as we do, our faith for them will grow. Faith releases the One who is the answer to every human problem. The greatest understanding that releases His power is the simple truth that "Love never fails" (I Corinthians 13:8). Everything that is done in His love will succeed.
The Dark Side
The light that is coming is great, but so is the darkness. Wherever the great spiritual awakenings and revivals are not happening, evil will be released in a much more concentrated force. In many places, lawlessness will increase so that there will almost be a complete breakdown of order and justice. In the end, where love does not prevail, fear will. This will be a fulfillment of Isaiah 60:1-2:
"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
Here we see that at the same time darkness is covering the earth, the glory of the Lord is appearing upon His people. Never has there been such a conflict between the light and darkness, and never will they have been so easily distinguished. At that time, those who are not walking in the glory will be walking in deep darkness. Those who are not in the spiritual ecstasy of the love of God will be in the deep pits of depression and bitterness. When this last great move of God breaks out, the whole earth will be in the "valley of decision," and everyone on earth will have to make a choice between light and darkness.
How Do We Prepare?
As we get closer to the time of this coming revolution, true revivals will be breaking out from time to time. There will also be increasing debauchery and breakouts of violence such as was experienced in Rwanda. We must learn from both when they occur. We are in need of Christian news teams who have discernment, wisdom, and the ability to articulate the important factors from these events when they happen.
We must comply with the Ephesians 4 mandate for New Testament ministry. True New Testament ministry is a team. For it to be a complete team, we need all of the equipping ministries that are listed here. None of these ministries are presently functioning as they are called to be, and won't until they fit together as the team. The church is built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, and neither of these ministries are presently functioning with the maturity and stature in which they are called. We must continue to pray for and pursue the restoration of these ministries to the church.
We must also keep in mind that even the greatest prophetic ministry still sees in part. To see the whole picture we must put the different parts together. We are told in Isaiah 52:8 (KJV): "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion." Prophets were often called watchmen in the Old Testament. We see in this scripture that they will see "eye to eye," or in unity when the Lord restores Zion. When this unity comes, all of the prophets will have learned to fit their different pieces of the vision together.
One of the most dangerous things that can happen to Christians is for them to become isolated from other Christians who are in other movements or denominations. One of the most important things that we can do is to reach out and develop relationships with other streams in the body of Christ. There must be a realization of the truth that when one member suffers, we all suffer. When one member rejoices, we should all rejoice. We must learn to take it personally whenever any church from any denomination or movement comes under attack. We must learn to esteem each congregation as an important stronghold for the truth, and come to the aid of one another when assaulted.
The church is composed like a body, with different members that have different functions. When we only gather with those who are like us, it is like having all of the arms gather in one place, the legs in another, the eyes somewhere else, and so on. This is the primary deception that is keeping the body of Christ immobilized and unable to advance in a coordinated way. Because of this, we are very ineffective in taking ground, but also in holding it once it is taken. This is why the fruit of so many great revivals and movements can hardly be found even shortly after their peak.
When we take ground that we are not prepared to hold, it will leave things in a worse state than before. When a demon is cast out, it will wander around and then say, "I will return," and bring back seven more. It is encouraging to see so many churches and movements become skilled in spiritual warfare and aggressively determined to attack enemy strongholds to take ground for the kingdom. However, without a substantial degree of unity, it will be impossible to hold on to any significant gains. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church, singular. As long as we are churches, plural, they will be able to prevail. We have no choice but to work together if we are going to accomplish anything of true significance that will last. On the night before the Lord was crucified He prayed for us:
"that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
"And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one;
I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me (John 17:21-23).
If we knew that we had less than twenty-four hours left on earth, we can be sure that we would only pray that which is the most important to us. We know that the Lord prayed the most important desires of His heart that night. We also know that the prayers of the Son of God are going to be answered. Before the end comes, there will be a church that comes into the unity for which He prayed. Then the whole world will know that He was sent by the Father. Why can't this be us? What could we possibly have to do that is more important than seeing this most important matter to our Savior becoming a reality?
As John 17:22 states, it will be the glory that makes us one. We must become seekers of His glory. When the glory of the Lord breaks out in any kind of revival, renewal, or special advancement of the gospel--go. See it, touch it, experience it, seek to understand it, and be changed by it. However, let us do this from the strong foundation of a deep relationship to the local church. If this unity is not being practically lived out with a group of people in real relationships, it is not real.
A Warning
To navigate through the times ahead, the church is in desperate need of mature prophetic ministries. We do not have one at this time. We, at MorningStar, have taken some ground and are now seeing hundreds of people mature in prophetic gifts in our home church, with thousands more now walking in a level of prophetic gifting around the world. We are thankful for this, but I was warned by the Lord that we, MorningStar, would not survive what is coming if we did not grow dramatically in the prophetic gifts and ministries.
The greatest prophetic gifts in the world today are not at the stature of what will soon be needed in every congregation and city. We must continue to "Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy" (I Corinthians 14:1). We must pursue all of the spiritual gifts out of love, but there is a special need for prophecy, for seeing ahead, so that we will be able to navigate through what is coming.
There are still too many encumbrances that have not been cast off that are clouding our prophetic vision. For many, television is keeping them from having visions. Other things like self- seeking and self-promotion, lust, wasting time, and a multitude of petty sins are like leeches draining believers of their life. We must learn the lessons from the mistakes that were made by many in getting carried away by what others were saying about such things as Y2K. If we are going to have a prophetic ministry that is deserving of such a high title, we must have the highest standards of honor and integrity. We are in need of a deep, cleansing move of repentance.
The prophetic ministry is important, but one of its main jobs is to prepare for the greater ministry which is coming. The apostolic ministry will be restored to the church. The ministry that was used to open the church age will be the one that closes it out. The apostolic ministry that is coming will unify the other equipping ministries that have been given to the church, raising all of them to levels of authority and power unprecedented since the first century.
Just as there was a horde of pseudo prophets released to create confusion in the church when the Lord began a focus on restoring that ministry, there will likewise be a horde of false apostles released. Our team received two very specific dreams warning about false "apostolic movements" that were built more on organization than relationship. The dreams indicated that these were trying to bring forth apostles that were really more like corporate CEOs, and the movement that they led had the potential to do great damage to the church. The enemy's intent with this false apostolic movement was to have the church develop a deep revulsion to anything that was called apostolic, just as he was able to do through discipleship and shepherding
movements a few decades ago.
Unfortunately, this has been a pattern with the restoration of every ministry to the church. It seems inevitable that there will always be a "Saul" before there is a "David." However, when a "Saul" emerges and goes spiritually insane, we can be encouraged that the authentic will not be far behind. No true spiritual advance has ever come without opposition to it. So:
If you love, you will still be opposed by the self-centered. Love them anyway. By this you will grow in love, and will help set many captives free.
If you have faith, you will be opposed by the fearful. Determine to grow even more in faith, as this is a great opportunity to please God even more.
If you are humble, you will be opposed by the proud. Humble yourself even more, as this is your opportunity to grow even more in God's grace.
If you are reasonable, you will be opposed by the illogical and unreasonable. Do not leave your high position to fight on the low ground of the foolish. In due time, your steadfastness will expose the folly of your enemies, and lead others to greater heights.
If you are successful, you will be opposed by the jealous. Criticism is rooted in envy and will be the constant companion of success. Succeed anyway and you will bear fruit that remains, while critics are never remembered for long.
If you are honest and straightforward, the perverted of heart will still mistrust you, and assign ulterior motives to all that you say and do. Be honest and straightforward anyway. Truth will prevail and is stronger than any lie.
If you are a person of great vision, you will be opposed by small people with no vision. Do not think that this is strange, but seek to rise to even greater heights so that you can see further. The higher you rise, the less you will be able to hear their murmuring, and you will begin to hear angels sing.
If you are a builder, you will be attacked by those who are friends of the destroyer. If they are able to tear down anything that you build, determine that you will build it again better. Build with God and you will by your works destroy the works of the devil.
If you discover the new wine of God, do not think it strange when you are opposed by those who have become old wineskins. Just keep finding and serving the new, and the staleness of the old will become obvious to the true seekers of God.
The greatest of quests is to sail the River of Life to find its true Source. Those who do will be assailed from the banks by those who have stopped along the way. All who go further than they have been are an affront to them--a reminder of their defeat. Do not waste your time with their arguments or you too will eventually stop. Press on and you will quickly leave them far behind, and your courage will inspire others to follow their true heart's desire.
In all that you do, do what is right, true and faithful. You will be opposed by the enemy of the truth. Always remember that the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. The Lord "always leads us in His triumph." We cannot lose if we do not stop. Never, never, never give in.
Until the bridg e b etween heaven and earth is co m plete, we still have work to do. If our tim e on this earth co m es to an end, let us enter His presence with our feet still m oving forward, our hands still laying stone upon stone,
with our eyes still searching for higher ground.