We need long periods of interacting with and being empowered by the presence and glory of God. Interacting with the manifest presence of God opens up another dimension – a place and presence where we can be touched by God in no other way; it is a place of revelation, commissioning, and empowerment.
ACTS 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
ACTS 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
If we want the kind of power and glory the Apostle Paul talked about in 2 Corinthians 3:18 we have to meet the conditions.
2 CORINTHIANS 3:7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
Paul is saying that the New Testament Church should experience far greater Glory that was upon the Old Testament Church. Paul goes on to explain how this is achieved:
2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We need to behold the Lord for long periods. In doing so, we undergo change and thus being empowered and equipped. When this happens, ministry becomes effortless because our habitation and empowerment are of God:
2 CORINTHIANS 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; There is a saying – you cannot breathe in once and breathe out twice. In other words, unless we have drunk deeply of the Lord’s presence, we cannot breathe out ministry. The early church learned to live in God. Their ability, their success was commensurate with the impartation they received from the Holy Spirit:
JOHN 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
The apostle Paul came to a place where it was no longer Him that was doing the ministry:
GALATIANS 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21. I do not frustrate the grace of God.
Why is it that all revivals to date have waned? We pray for revival, but really what we need is to be able to stay in the place where the results of revival are constant.
Church history repeats the same pattern: we pray for revival which eventually comes and then wanes. Revival is designed to bring the church back to normal. The idea is that we should stay at the level of the blessing of God brought in by revival.
Continuous revival should be the norm and this will eventually be so, but we need to understand the reasons for losing it in the first place.
Most revivals are lost because we organize them instead of letting them flow like a river where they will. We use revivals to build something for ourselves, we become defensive, protective, and controlling. The only form of control acceptable in church life is self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
Secondly, revivals are lost because we neglect “temple worship” – the continuous place of empowerment. The temple was the place where sacrifices were made. The constant laying down of our lives is essential; being in the manifest presence of the Lord continuously is necessary for permanent revival. It was from the temple that the water of life flowed into the streets:
EZEKIEL 47:1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
8. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. 9. And it shall come to pass, that everything that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and everything shall live whither the river cometh.
A temple is a place of worship and surrender, a place where we are renewed, changed, and empowered by the Glory of God to spill out into the streets with the life-giving water of the Gospel.
Behind the ever-changing political and global movements on the earth today, there is one underlying cause – that of the struggle for world dominance.
It is the underlying cause of all political, economic, and social intrigue in the world today. Behind this great struggle for power is Lucifer, the arch-enemy of man and the Church. There is a battle raging over this planet that will not cease until Revelation 20:1-3 is fulfilled:
REVELATION 20:1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Adam was given planet Earth as a sacred trust. His job was to bring heaven to Earth. This was the beginning of extending God’s Kingdom throughout the universe.
The fall of Adam and thus all of mankind did not change this purpose of God. Adam gave away his authority over this planet to Lucifer:
LUKE 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Adam delivered his authority over the planet to Satan; Jesus died on the cross for all mankind and started a new race – a new creation in the Earth. His seed would crush the head of Satan and take back this planet:
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.
Jesus gave the commission:
MARK 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The early church saw a Pentecost harvest; the end time church will see a great ingathering:
EXODUS 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year (end of the age) when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Israel kept three major feasts: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. The feast of harvest, the first-fruits, was Pentecost. The feast of ingathering, Tabernacles, was at the end of the year:
MATTHEW 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48. Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. 49. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.
The coming final harvest will be so great; it will destroy the current structure of the church. God has reserved for the church in this generation the final and greatest spiritual harvest the world has ever seen.
Good and evil have grown and matured in every generation for thousands of years as continuous sowing. But it will all terminate in this generation. One of the laws of the harvest is sowing and reaping:
JOB 4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
GALATIANS 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
AMOS 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
Between now and the end of the age, more people will come into the kingdom of God than all of those from Pentecost up to now. Every village, tribe, and tongue will hear the Gospel and see it demonstrated in great power. There will be nothing like it in history to compare it with.
Large cities will experience zero crime as huge populations experience great conviction of sin as they come under the conviction of the Gospel of the kingdom.
Pornography, prostitution, illegal drugs, and abortion will cease in many regions. Large businesses will shut down for days at a time to let the employees attend special outdoor meetings.
Whole nations will give themselves to prayer and fasting for seasons. The Lord will be manifest visibly constantly. Coffee breaks and lunchtimes will become times of prayer and study.
Cities will sponsor bonfires for burning pornography and witchcraft material. Hundreds of warlocks and witches will come to the Lord. Jails will become churches and produce many mighty men and women of God.
Miracles will exceed even the greatest biblical marvels causing whole nations to acknowledge Jesus. Leaders of some of the most powerful countries in the world will come to the Lord and urge their people to follow the Lord.
Darkness will reign in many places; whole cities will be under the reign of evil while others will be under the reign of Jesus.
In some areas, the church will be completely wiped out with many martyrs resulting, but they will be a seed for an ever increasing harvest. The appearance of angels will be so common; they will cease to be a marvel.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN
ISAIAH 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me [are] for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
Teenagers and even pre-teens will be at the forefront and will become some of the greatest evangelists, healing the sick and casting out demons. Some will take dominion over hospitals and heal everyone, even in mental hospitals.
Even as Satan tried to destroy all the children in the time of Moses by killing the infants, even so with this generation of children, abortion, drugs, pornography, sexual abuse – millions of kids have been and are being dragged through the dregs of hell, sin, trauma, and despair.
But I want to tell you a truth: as deep as Satan has his roots in them, they will be filled with God after deliverance.
JEZEBEL, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CHILDREN
ISAIAH 47:8 Therefore hear now this, [thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9. But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
DEATH AND HELL, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR CHILDREN
MATTHEW 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
DANIEL 7:18 But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.