The following 2003 sermon speaks for itself as Dr. Michael Brown portrays himself as an apostolic/prophetic leader leading a holy army of radicals called to revolutionise the church and culture in the 2000s. Please note that Dr. Brown aligns himself under the ‘apostolic ministry’ of Che Ahn, along with Brown’s own Apostolic team, lending himself as an apostle with a direct message from the Holy Spirit – with Apostle Che Ahn confirming Brown’s message as legitimate.
To bolster his apostolic/prophetic message, Dr Brown engages in ‘omen reading’ by examining the dates of people’s deaths over the decades to confirm that his message and spiritual strategic direction is of God. Not only does he talk about Brownsville and ‘The Call’ and other NAR leaders and events in this sermon, he quotes directly from Latter Rain heretic, T.L. Osborne towards the end of this sermon. In the quote, T.L Osborne praises the heretical ministries of Aimee Semple McPherson and Smith Wigglesworth among others. But Dr. Brown appears to be taking this extract from another edition of TL Osborne’s book, ‘Healing the Sick’ (pg. 297).
It is worth noting that this book highlights the dangers of TL Osborne’s false gospel, the same false gospel Dr. Brown appears to advocate:
“Faith recognizes things that the scriptures declare are ours now and claims them, regardless of physical evidence. For example: With his stripes, we are healed. This is not a promise; it is a statement of fact. You do not hope for that. Faith claims it now, believes it, and acts upon it as a statement of fact.
You get out of bed. You discard your aids. You act your deliverance, just like you would act upon the word of a lawyer who said you had a thousand dollars in the bank which had been left to you in a person’s will. You would not hope his words were true or that someday you might have a thousand dollars; you would act on his words. Never say, “I hope I will be healed someday.” You were healed. Believe that, act accordingly, and health will be yours.” [pg. 323]
Another example:
“Appropriation of Faith
Healing is a finished work as far as God is concerned; but we have to appropriate it by faith, knowing that the work is done now, regardless of the symptoms which we may feel or See. Faith is believing, confessing, and acting on the finished work of Christ according to what is written in the word of God.
Peter declares: By whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2:24). We do not pray healing down from heaven or persuade God to do what was accomplished at Calvary. What we do is appropriate healing in identically the same way that we appropriate salvation.” [pg. 377]
Again the false gospel of Dr. Brown echoes through heretic TL Osborne (emphasis added):
“In connection with the Lord’s Supper, the cup is taken in remembrance of His blood which was shed for the remission of our sins (1 Cor. 11:25). The bread is eaten in remembrance of His body on which were laid our diseases and the stripes by which we are healed (1 Cor. 11:23-24; Is. 53:5).
48. Jesus said that certain teachers were making the word of God of no effect through (their) tradition (Mark 7:13). Human ideas and theories have for centuries hindered the healing part of the gospel from being proclaimed and acted upon as it was by the early church.
49. One tradition is that God wills some of His children to suffer sickness and that, therefore, many who are prayed for are not healed because it is not His will to heal them. When Jesus healed the demonpossessed boy whom the disciples could not heal (Mark 9:18), He proved that it is God’s will to heal even those who fail to receive healing; furthermore, He assigned the failure to the disciples to cure the boy” not to God’s will, but to the disciples’ unbelief (Matt. 17:19-20).
50. The failure of many to be healed today when prayed for is never because it is not God’s will to heal them.” [pg. 390]
In other words, if you are a true Christian pastor, teacher, evanglist or leader who believes in the biblical gospel, you’re preaching a false gospel that make “the word of God of no effect.”
For more information on this sermon below, see the following sermons.
Unpacking Michael Brown – his ‘NARpostleship’ & involvement in the New Apostolic Reformation.
In the above article, Ps. Chris Rosebrough reviews this sermon where Dr. Brown gave the impression he was an apostle, receiving direct revelation and strategy for his church. Apparently God spoke to Dr. Brown about a “revival revolution.” Brown claims that this new wave of revival will bring “an understanding that there must be New Wine skins.” In other words, Dr. Brown is truly an enemy of the gospel, declaring war on anyone who does not embrace the “new wineskin” church or “new expression” of Christianity.
Coming out: Michael Brown proudly NAR – advocating New Apostolic Paradigm.
Is Dr. Michael Brown nothing more than “an NAR wolf hiding in Charismatic/Pentecostal sheep clothing”?
Sermon Title: The Next Wave – A Revival Revolution,
Preached: 2003.
Source: The Next Wave – A Revival Revolution – Michael L. Brown, YouTube, https://youtu.be/Za0pz71AE0c, Uploaded Jan 14, 2019. (Accessed January 20, 2024.)
TRANSCRIPT:
I was supposed to deliver this message last week but we switched it to this week.
Some of you know that we have a school of ministry that’s about a year and a half old in New York City. And I spend at least every Monday in New York City, all day teaching all day, and then with night classes Monday night. And the nice thing is, now living in Charlotte, not only being close to physical proximity to New York but also having an airport that’s not a Regional Airport like we have in Pensacola. We learned in Pensacola, one of the things that we learned ther, if you were Christian and you died in Pensacola, you went to heaven by way of Atlanta. So, no matter which way you’re going, if I was heading elsewhere to Florida South and Florida, I first had to find North to Atlanta to get there.
If we were going west to California, we first had to go east to Atlanta to get there. But now we can just hop on a plane and an hour and a half later be in New York, which means that I’m able on a number of Sundays to be with everyone on Sunday nights. Of course, we’re always here on Thursdays and through the week. And then also to be back for our school, for our Tuesday chapel service. Anyway, that’s a delight. We were hardly able to do that together in Pensacola, but I’m glad to be with all of you, and those that might have been coming for a few weeks but we don’t know each other, glad that you’re here. Welcome! And it will be wonderful to see what the Lord wants to do in the coming days and months. Amen.
How to walk closely with the Lord and be depressed and discouraged all the time. You may have the [inaudible] of a suffering, dying world. You may struggle sometimes because you see the inadequacies of your own life. But if you’re walking in harmony with God and the presence of God is fullness of joy, and our God is a God full of hope and vision and vitality. So, I want to encourage you tonight to open your ears and to really ask God to speak to you.
I don’t bring messages like the one I’m going to bring tonight lightly. I don’t bring this in any kind of cavalier way and hit or miss and let’s just see what happens. God’s really impressed these things on my heart, and this is our first opportunity to share them with the community here. I do want to reiterate what my good old friend Tom Barry mentioned with our visiting friends that are here. The Simenities and the Ashers, some of whom we haven’t seen for something like – how long – 18 years, few years for the others. So, it’s wonderful to see you guys. We do have a lot of history together, and it’s amazing to be here together tonight.
Well, let’s pray. Father, we love you and we honor you. We pray for the ears and eyes and understanding of our spirit to be enlightened. We pray for truth to rise in our hearts. We pray that which is your voice, that what you were saying would be deposited deep within us. Change us, speak to us, move on us so that we can make an impact in this world for your honor and glory. That your kingdom be advanced, that your Great Commission can move towards fulfillment. Use us, oh God. Make us fully usable. We pray through your word in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Turn with me to Numbers, the 20th chapter. Numbers, chapter 20.
Those of you who know me know that I normally teach and speak without notes. Often, I’ll go through a whole semester, a trimester in our school without notes. And generally, when I speak, I don’t know until the moment before I speak which way God wants me to go. That’s not good or bad. That’s just the way He’s worked with me through the years. Then every so often, he lays something on my heart in such a dramatic and clear way that then I need to write it down. And I’ve got a few pages of notes as I speak to you tonight about the Next Wave, the Coming Wave of Revival.
A few weeks ago, I was headed out to California. Twice a year, I meet together with Che Ahn and Lou Engle and other brothers and sisters that are part of the apostolic leadership team of HIM (Harvest International Ministries). Nancy and I are part of that, representing FIRE and the ministry that we do. And right before I was going, Che wanted me to speak Sunday night for his congregation in Pasadena. God started to stir in my heart, and I felt I really needed to seek His face and find out what He wanted me to bring that night. Even though this was days in advance, I felt I needed to hear from heaven. And there was something specific He wanted to say. He began to deal with me about the Next Wave, the characteristics of the Next Wave, and how we, as God’s people, need to prepare our hearts.
I didn’t want to be presumptuous about this. Though some years back, about 10 years ago, as God was stirring my heart in the hearts of many in the early days of a refreshing renewal and speaking to us that a wave of revival was coming, I began to write out some things. Some of the current needs, some of the problems and the refreshing that was taking place nine-ten years ago, and what it would take to move from refreshing to revival and what was coming next. I put it out in book form. And then some years later, when we were in the midst of the revival in Pensacola, people read those things and thought I had written them once they’ve come to Pensacola. I said, “No, these were written before. These were things we were preaching before, and God would prepare our hearts.”
I felt the same thing again now, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous. I didn’t just want to assume because God spoke certain things to me before that I was hearing again. Amd like everybody else, we don’t hear the voice of God in some supernatural dramatic way every day. Plenty of times, you think, “Is this God? Is this not God?” We learn as we go on. But there are other things He really nails you if he really speaks to it, and they stay with you for years and years, and you can’t shake them. I really felt He was moving on me and wanted me to speak on this.
Then I got a call from Che. Just wanted to touch base before I came out. Cheon and Lou Engle putting together these Call events that many of you know about around the country and around the world that have grown hundreds of thousands for prayer and fasting. And Che said, “Mike, did you get my memo with the topic we want you to speak on Sunday night?”
And I preached for Che a number of times, and he’s never given me a topic. We have guest speakers coming all the time. We don’t give them a topic. I preach constantly around the world, and nobody gives me a topic. He said, “Did you get the topic that we want you to address Sunday night?” I said, “No.” He said, “We want you to speak on the Next Wave of revival, the coming wave of revival.” Well we started to laugh. I said, “Man. God laid this on my heart several days ago, and that was all the confirmation I needed. Just a call from Che, asking for me to speak on the same thing. And we compared notes. And I said, “God doesn’t give me messages days in advance. And he said, “We never assigned topics; it was one of those God things.”
Where are we right now? What in the world is going on? We’re gonna read scripture in a moment, but I want to say this plainly: as God’s people, we have no time for prophetic speculation and end-times fantasy. The reason that God speaks in His word is not just to titillate our interest so we want to get all excited about events in Jerusalem nine millions of years from now. God’s word is practical; if God speaks something to a generation, it’s so that generation will respond properly and be ready for the things that He is going to do.
I remember when I was saved in 1971. As the years went on, I heard a lot of teaching about end-time prophecy and the return of Jesus. A lot of speculation. And I remember joking about it. I said, “Somebody is going to write a book in the 70s, and the book is going to be about why we know Jesus is coming in the 70s. And after a few more years, they’re going to come out with a second revised and improved edition, how we know Jesus is coming in the 80s. I used to joke about that. And then sure enough, a dear brother Little Rock Arkansas puts out a book in 1988 on ’88 Reasons why Jesus is coming in 88′. And people- listen to me- people quit their jobs over this. They racked up all kinds of debt because, quote, “They were going to leave it for the Antichrist.” There are even churches that had rapture practice. I kid you not. They may have done in a light-hearted way but that was the mentality. “We’re out of here!”
Now there may have been a lot of sincerity in it and these people may have believed these things. Nonetheless, it was falling in a reproach. That even the day of his return was predicted. The thing that was all the more tragic was not that the book went out and hundreds of thousands of copies (and I’m sure a few people genuinely met the Lord through it). But what was not tragic was not the gullibility of the body, one dear Dutch friend of ours living in Israel said that the greatest sin of the American church is gullibility. It wasn’t just the gullibility of the thing and the sensationalism of it, but tragically the next year he came out with a revised and improved edition: ’89 Reasons why Jesus is Coming at 89′.
Thankfully there was no third edition.
Why am I saying that? I’m saying that because the things that I want to address tonight are not, “Oooo! Aaaa! Isn’t that interesting! Wow. Wild!” It’s that we will understand- and I encourage you to prayerfully test all of these things and to watch in the coming months and years and see what God does and how it lines up with what we’re saying. That all needs to be prayerfully tested and weighed before the Lord. But this is spoken to both encourage us and to challenge us. It’s spoken that our hearts would be prepared. It’s spoken so that when God does move we will not stand against it and reject it, resist it and misunderstand it. We will not be like some of my forefathers who waited for the coming of the Messiah. And then when He came, rejected hHim because he didn’t come the way they were expecting him to come.
Numbers chapter 20.
“In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.”
This is the 40th year of the wilderness wanderings and all those 20 years old and more (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) we’re going to die in the wildenress. Those who were twenty years old and more, when Israel came out of Egypt, they were all going to die in the wilderness and a new generation, some of them just little children, some of them in their late 50s, a new generation would go in and take the promised land.
And Miriam was part of the leadership of the first generation. So to mark a major season of transition, there are significant deaths. The first one being Miriam who dies in the first month of that fortieth year.
Then if you go down to verse 22,
“The whole Israelite community set out from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. Get Aaron and his son Eleazar and take them up Mount Hor. Remove Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar, for Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will die there.”
Moses did as the Lord commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, the entire house of Israel mourned for him thirty days.”
This takes place in the fifth month. And look at the clear transition. Aaron’s priestly garments are taken off of him and put on his son. Moses, Aaron and Aaron son’s Eleazar all go up the mountain together. And then the two of them come down without Aaron and now the son is wearing the priestly garments. It is a very clear sign of a generational transition.
And then of course the last one who has to go is Moses. And according to Deuteronomy 34, Joshua had a spirit of wisdom on him because Moses had laid his hands on him.
I remember being in England in 1994 with a man that has become a dear friend of ours known to many here, Derek Brown. And Derek was ministering. He was just preaching and in the midst of his message he made a simple point that many times a sign of major transition is people dying.
Well people die all the time. People are born all the time. People die all the time. But he was talking about significant deaths. Deaths that get your attention, marking a transition. And it dawned on me. Wait a second! We had some major deaths around that time. This is around May of 1994. And in April of 1994 Richard Nixon had died. And then a month later in the same Hospital in New York City, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, JFK’s Widow. That got my attention.
And then in June there was a death in the Jewish community that many wouldn’t have known about but he was probably the most influential leader among the Jewish people worldwide. The grand rabbi of the Lubavitchers. These are ultra-orthodox Jews based in Brooklyn who have their missionaries out all over the world. Massive Jewish educational movement all over the world. They believed that he was the Messiah. They were waiting for him to reveal himself as Messiah at the age of 92, after having had a stroke that had paralyzed him for two years.
That they wore their beepers around the world just so that they would get beat the moment he revealed himself. They had the Messiah hotline. I’m talking about real stuff. And instead he dies in June. And that got my attention and I realized that major transition – we are in a season that is going to move us from renewal to bona fide revival. I don’t mean the whole of the country. I don’t mean the whole of the world. But there was something God was doing that was going to deepen and intensify.
And then in September of that year, Leonard Ravenhill, who was a great champion of revival, and in our generation. The author of ‘Why Revival Tarries’. Prayer warrior man that- that became a very dear friend the last five years of his life. He had a stroke in September of 94 and I knew he’s done. He’s finished his labors. He’s prayed with tears for revival probably for 60 years. He’s done. He’s ready to move on to his reward. He’ll be gone before the year is out. Of course we prayed often for him. But sure enough, around Thanksgiving of 94, he went to be with the Lord.
And then 95 something that’s touched many of the people here, revival broke out at one Church in Pensacola. And fire from there literally spread around the world. There’s a time of transition. I just want to say one other thing personally.
And I don’t often speak this. And I don’t get caught up on dates and times and, “Oooo! Aaaa! Look at this!” But certain, you can’t help but notice. So I want to give you a context for everything I’m about to say. I want to stand here as a witness.
I was saved 11 years- it was actually the 11th month of that year that some of the folks that are here today just visiting, we were all in an outpouring of the Spirit together. That was in 1982. And from that point on there was a promise that burned in me that God was going to pour out His Spirit that we’d be part of a revival that would touch the world.
I couldn’t shake this thing. Even when you question yourself and you say you’re crazy, and-and you lay it down- you say, “It can’t be God”- He keeps bringing the thing back. It was seven years from that point, ’82 to ’89, before God released me to start writing on revival. And then in 89, connecting me with Leonard Ravenhill. That was also the connection with Steve Hill. That’s how we knew each other, through saintly old Len. Seven years: ’82 to ’89. And then it was seven years from first getting released to write on revival and the connection with Leonard Ravenhill, that God called me to be in the midst of the revival in Pensacola, to serve in the leadership there. And then it was seven years from that point until He called us to leave and we came here. From 1996 to 2003. And certain things is just – it was a little bit too much in terms of overkill. How can you miss the message?
Our last graduation of our school of ministry in Pensacola was seven years to the week of my first visit there. There was a sense of completion. It was also our tenth graduation. Five at our first campus and five at our second campus. Not only that, our last week there, in terms of altogether as a body having a public service as a church plant there, Pensacola FIRE, going after God that’s been planted. But our last week for the community that was there together, we finished up at a building that was owned by a group called New Dimensions. And that was their first Sunday in the building that used to be our school campus, that was purchased by them, which was also the first Sunday that Brownsville Assembly got back into their old building that had been hit with lightning. It’s almost like- you ever play the shell game and you can’t quite figure out you know where someone puts money under a shell? And they switch and you can’t find it. I mean everything switch[es] again. And then [poof!] kind of back to the way it was with a few major changes.
And it was like God was saying, “You’re done. Move on. Time for something new. A season’s completed. Time for something new.” And it struck me as we were driving here, with a moving truck, our house and Alabama still for sale, but we moved into an apartment here in Charlotte. As we’re moving, it struck me, “Isn’t this interesting. When the years in Pensacola with spiritual warfare and attack and intensity, and we look at it more as it as a battle on anything in the midst of all the wonderful things God did, just very intense front lines.
But Nancy and I were talking. I said, “It’s kind of an amazing thing. We went down there. Just the two of us. And seven years later here we are in Charlotte with this extraordinarily devoted godly leadership team; with a tremendous staff faculty for our school of ministry; with a community of several hundred believers that have moved here in the last few months; with a school with young people, older people, on fire going after God with missionaries that came out of the work we were involved with in about 25 different nations, preaching the gospel full-time; with the early stages of a stirring Jesus revolution. It’s kind of wild to see!
No it’s not just speaking into the air. Look! We are all here! Here we are in the Greater Charlotte area. Have you noticed that? With fresh marching orders and a fresh hunger that God is ready to do something.
There are things that burned in me for years that I couldn’t shake. I’ve shared some of this with some of you but for all of you. There was a promise of revival. Being part of an output that would touch the whole world. And we got the first deposit of that in Brownsville.
And then there was this thing that was unshakable. We’d be part of a school, raise up a school that would send out thousands of radicals preaching the gospel all around the world. And then- Boom! – suddenly out of the blue somethings birthed. And it’s ongoing now with laborish preaching Jesus all over the place with bearing fruit.
Those of you that greeted Joe Wu and were glad to see him, I was glad to see into the last report I got. He was looking out for land mines in Afghanistan. Pastor was taking him out on a ride across some field there, talking about one of the last groups they had out that hit a landmine. And Joe casually asked was the guy hurt and he said, “He was killed. Get in the car.”
If you notice when Joe sits down he is a little shaky, a little nervous, there’s a reason for it. I noticed him walking outside. He just kind of moved like this every so often. What I’m saying is our guys are out there on the front lines. You understand? Doers of the word.
These things burned in me for years and years and years and – ‘Boom!’ – we begin to see them happen. And then from the late 90s, I have been unable to shake this thing of a coming Jesus revolution of a radical moving. Especially among young people. But something that will literally have a generational impact. Something that will literally take back moral ground that was stolen out from under our feet in recent decades, actually have an impact on a generation.
And the amazing thing is, you hear people preaching the same thing that haven’t read what I wrote. They heard from the same God I heard from, carrying the same burden, running the same race. Something is going on. And then I’d be in New York. And for those of you who don’t understand it, New York is a challenging place for the extension of the gospel. You understand?
You’ve got millions and millions of people there but it’s a war zone spiritually. A lot of people go there briefly with a great vision, great excitement and and they run out after a few months because the pressure is too intense. Every time I go to the city I’ve walked the streets late at night and prayed, God would start visiting my heart. Visiting my heart about a wave of revival that was going to come and touch New York. Can’t shake it- I can’t shake it to this moment, the same way He moved on the many about things before Pensacola, before our schools.
When Derek Brown spoke at our graduation in Pensacola, the end of May, he then stayed around and spoke on a Sunday night which was our concluding FIRE service there with our group. And I called Scott from New York City. And I said, “Hey bro! How did the service go with Derek?” And- and he said, “You got to listen! He was out in the parking lot.”
Some- how many of you were there for that night? Many of you. Awesome! And he felt this. To open the door. There’s an open door set before us and to walk out. And you guys walked out. And many were touched by the Spirit- the Spirit fell on many in the parking lot. All I know is Scott’s got the phone there, and I hear people weeping and cry out in the background. And I got stirred by God that night. I was in this little apartment, the Jews for Jesus which we use in New York City.
And I was alone in that apartment, and I got stirred with this reality. And the reason I said everything up to now is to say I’m not speaking empty words. I got stirred with the reality of outpouring that was going to come to this region here. I mean it was so real to me. And I know many others have heard and so many others have prayed. I’m not saying because we’ve com it’s happening. I’m saying because we’re here we get to be part of it. Praise God! I was stirred by this.
It was one of the most sacred times I’ve had. Late-night, seeking the face of God. And I saw- being in the thick of a move of God here, and going into the city and taking the fire from here and bringint it there- I mean it was overwhelming.
And then a number of happen in recent months that got my attention. So let me step back, look in the past for a moment and then talk about now. You know in 1Chronicles 12:32, it’s a passage I’ve preached out of often in the last couple of years. It talks about the sons of Issachar. They were part of the mighty man of David’s army. But it doesn’t mention that they were skilled with shields or swords or weaponry or that they were well-trained in armor. It simply says that they understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
The reason that it’s important to understand what’s happening- I don’t mean every last detail of prophetic- I don’t mean every news event and what’s happening. I remember people telling me years ago that Gorbachev was the Antichrist because, “Look he’s got that birthing he’s got the Mark of the beast.” I remember talking to one woman years ago and she- she said, “Have you figured out this is when Reagan was president.? Have you figured it out Ronald Wilson Reagan? Count the letters. Six, six, six.”
So you’re telling me that Ronald Reagan is the anti-Christ? I’m not talking about trying to speculate. I’m talking about when God’s doing something in a generation, when he’s giving loud and clear signs. When it’s clear that something is happening in society but it’s clear that the devil is doing something- we as God’s people should understand it.
As parents you would want to understand it if something major was going on with your kids. They’re under severe spiritual attack, they were getting pulled by their peers – something was going on. You’d want to know it. As pastors and leaders, you’d want to know it with a flock of believers if something is going on. But we as God’s people in this earth as his prophetic people, all of us his body, should understand what’s happening so that we know what to do. So that we know how to live. So we know how to respond. So we know how to pray. So we know how to prepare.
That’s one reason God gave prophecies about the coming of the Messiah to the Jewish people. It was not only so they would recognize him when he came but their hearts would be ready and they would be praying and preparing.
Let me just go back to the past for a moment. We talked about Miriam Aaron Moses dying and a sign of major transition for Israel. And then the new generation, called the Joshua Generation by many, raised up to take the land, which was a mixture of older and younger together. I look back in the 60s when there was a counterculture movement, a counterculture revolution that swept through America and changed our society. Aside from advances and civil rights and a few other things, changed our society for the worse, brought us into a situation where we are today because there were certain significant deaths towards the end of that period of the 60s 1968 two. Major assassinations five years after the assassination of JFK Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in 68 riots. Erupting in cities all over America and in shortly after that Robert F Kennedy. Assassinated. It was a sign of the chaos of the era.
I have books in my library just focused on the year 1968, which was such a major transitional year. It was marked by significant, major deaths in our country. By 1969, what do you have? Woodstock. By 1969, you have the beginning of the gay liberation movement in New York City, and so on and so forth.
Well, something else also happens. This is a day of all the dreams of young people—the whole hippie movement. There are probably some former hippies here. Sometimes I’ll ask, just out of curiosity, if any of the guys here were the first ones to grow their hair out when they were in high school. You know, you were the first ones to grow your hair long, and some totally straight guy in a suit and tie who’s bald will stand up. I always point them out to the young people and say, “That’s what’s coming. Stick around long enough.”
But there was this dream, you know—we’re going to make the world a better place. And you know, Woodstock, peace, man, no more war and strife, and make love, not war. But that dream was so filled with sin, that dream was so filled with flesh. There were some significant deaths in that whole culture in 1970 and 1971. The two kings and the queen of rock and roll—again, two men and a woman—all died at the same age. I mean, these things get your attention. First, Jimi Hendrix in September of 1970 at the age of 27, then Janis Joplin a month later at the age of 27, and then in August the next year, so all within 12 months, Jim Morrison at the age of 27. It was almost an exposing of the death of that whole culture, of the fact that if you just give yourself over to sin and immorality and drugs and alcohol, it’s going to bring a premature death.
But what happened to that very culture, to that very group of people? The Jesus People movement, it’s full-blown around 1971, right on the heels of these deaths. God is raising something up. We have a dear missionary friend, Clark Sloan, who will be in town this week visiting us. He’s written a book about the journeys of their missions team in Italy and around the world. Christ is the answer. They lived in tents and trailers, some of the most amazing, wild stuff you can ever imagine. I hope we can help get the book published at some point. The book is called “The Circus of God.” He sent me a CD with a lot of pictures of the teams that they had in the 70s that were going around preaching to the world. It looks basically like a hippie gathering. I mean, you’re talking about people who all came out of the hippie movement but got saved and are now missionaries. Some have been on the field for over 30 years. God did something very deep and real, extraordinary, and it was marked by those major deaths.
Many of you were suddenly awakened to a major transition we are in right now. Some of you were recently awakened to it because it was broadcast so loudly by the Lord. It seems there are some major deaths in the entertainment industry. People die every year, but there were two prominent ones that got your attention. Bob Hope turned a hundred and died; that got everyone’s attention. He was a hundred, then died, but we didn’t really think much about it. Katharine Hepburn, one of the greatest female actresses that Hollywood ever saw, she died in her 90s. You don’t really put these things together because people are always dying and things happen.
On the Christian ministry side, a few months back, Larry Burkett, who was probably the best-known teacher in the body on finance and dealing with debt, he goes to be with the Lord. Then Bill Bright goes to be with the Lord, a man involved in the planting of hundreds of thousands of churches around the world and sharing the gospel message with several billion people around the world. He goes to be with the Lord at the age of 81. But none of this really caught my attention. Then Johnny Cash died. Another significant entertainment death. What got my attention about that was the same day, there was a lesser-known actor, TV actor John Ritter. He died the same day, and it got my attention for this: that’s interesting, another major entertainment death.
What I didn’t realize, because I do not follow Australian country music—to the extent that I do not follow American country music, just my own preference and background—much, much less do I follow Australian country music. But did you know that the Johnny Cash of Australia, a man widely hailed in his country, known as the Johnny Cash of Australia, he died seven days after Johnny Cash. How interesting.
When Kenneth Hagin went to be with the Lord at the age of 86, I thought, Kenneth Hagin, Bill Bright. The light started to go on. Then these other ones, I realized something is going on. First, I had this thing in my heart for months: another wave is coming, another wave is coming, a fresh wave, something greater than what we’ve seen, something larger scale than what we’ve seen, something not contained to one group here or there or there, something more intense. Now these deaths begin to happen.
We had dinner with Rick Joyner a few weeks back, and he was talking about September 24th, that he was reading in Haggai, God speaking on the 24th day of the ninth month. It got his attention; it was just a word for Israel, but it got his attention. He began to think, “September 24th, something’s going to happen, something’s going to happen.” I was sitting with Nancy on September 23rd. We were having dinner and we were talking about these deaths. And I said, “Is there more to come? There are more that are going to go be with the Lord. Who’s next?” This is, I began to think, who’s next?
The next day comes, September 24th, and I was about to go to a leadership meeting. I saw an email that came in, and it just said, “Subject: Derek Prince.” I didn’t have to read the email. I knew and understood Derek Prince has gone to be with the Lord at the age of 88. Then, just so interesting, the next morning, I get an email, “Did you hear that Steve Hill’s mom went to be with the Lord yesterday, September 24th?” Then later that day, I get an email from India, “Have you heard Dr. Titus just went to be with the Lord September 24th?” He was one of the great pioneers, one of the best-known Indian leaders around the world, a dear man we got to know.
Suddenly, my inside started to shake. It was leading right into the Jewish holidays, the biblical calendar, the Feast of Trumpets, the wake-up time, the Days of Awe leading to the Day of Atonement. My insides were shaken with the reality that God is trying to get our attention. Major transition is coming, major transition is coming.
I went out to speak in California. By the way, the Johnny Cash of Australia was known as Slim Dusty, just for your records. I get out to California. Before I get there, it’s a Friday. How interesting, rock singer Robert Palmer and sports writer George Plimpton both died the same day. I get out to California on a Saturday, I get in the car, rent a car, and I’m stuck in LA traffic. I put the radio on to see if there’s news or something. The first item that comes on is that Donald O’Connor died in Los Angeles at the age of 72. I thought, isn’t it interesting? Here I am in Los Angeles, and the first news item is the death of another media person.
Then I was struck: the people that have gone to be with the Lord, spiritually and even on the secular side, they were pioneers. I was writing this in my notes, “Pioneers, pioneers.” I get online at the hotel before going out to speak and check the news. There it says, “Althea Gibson, tennis pioneer, dead at 76.” Then I get in from the meeting that night, and I check the news again. There’s more news: directing pioneer Elia Kazan, dead at 94.
And when I wanted to open the door to the hotel that morning, there was a USA Today newspaper there, and the front page was covering all these deaths. Because they don’t have news coverage on Saturday and Sunday, they make up for it on Monday. So, it was covering all of those front-page stories: this pioneer, that pioneer. Then, another interesting headline read, “Ailing Pope Appoints New Cardinals.”
The scary thing is, as much as God has been getting our attention—and there may even be another significant passing or two before the year is out—the scary thing is, as much as God is getting our attention, He’s reminding us that He’s God, and He knows what’s happening, and we don’t.
Some of you were here a few weeks ago and heard a wonderfully insightful comment from Howie Morgan on a Thursday night service. If you don’t come to our Thursday services, we welcome you. By all means, come at seven o’clock every Thursday.
Howie was reading from the words of Jesus in John 15, “I am the true vine.” I was focusing on the “I am” part and said something very profound: when Jesus says, “I am,” it means you are not. The emphasis is on His being everything. He’s our source of wisdom; He’s our source of understanding. It’s not a matter of, “Okay, all these people are going to die,” then transition to, “Okay, now let’s do something.” No, now let’s hear from heaven. Now let’s ask God, “Are we positioned? Are we ready? Are we where you want us to be?”
Nancy and I are 48, almost 49. We have one grandchild and two more on the way in the next few weeks, God willing. We’re conscious of being older than we used to be.
I once attempted to play ball. I was never fast to start, but I once severely strained and mildly fractured my ankle playing basketball. One of the guys with me told me I must have been at least three inches off the ground.
I find that if I completely switch my diet to a way that would have rapidly lost weight in the past—eating one meal a day, total low-fat—all it does now is maintain the current fat level. On a more serious note, spiritually, I’m always trying to walk worthy of the calling and walk worthy of the position in which God has placed me. I recognize that I’m not a kid; I’m not a baby. I should walk with a certain maturity and integrity, and each year try to take more of that out in the Lord.
But when I started reading about all these pioneers—Bill Bright at 81, Kenneth Hagin at 86, Derek Prince at 88—having finished their course, I looked at their ages, I looked at their lives, and I said, “I feel like a kid again.” I feel about 18 on the inside. Nancy and I always talk about that; we feel like kids in terms of our outlook, zeal, and passion. But there’s a sense of, “Wow, now it’s really going to get intense. Now it’s really time to put your spiritual armor on and walk close to Jesus,” because this is some of what we’ve been waiting for and praying for and sowing into.
Thank God for everything He’s done up to now. Thank God for the wonderful things many of us have experienced. You’ve experienced in your own life. Thank God for it. But all that is just a foretaste of what’s coming. That’s there to get us hungry for something more, for the glory of God—not for our own carnal satisfaction or the latest exciting trend—but for the glory of God, for the deep fulfilling of the longing of our souls, and to touch a dying world.
There are seven things I’m going to quickly cover that God has laid on my heart. I say again, test them and watch and see what happens. When I asked God for a title to the message, He laid something on my heart. I thought, “I just know. The only thing that saves the next wave is revival revolution.”
Have you ever tried to pick up something that’s heavy and round, and you can’t get your arms around it? I said, “Alright, a revival revolution. What does that mean?” Because these are two nouns; it’s like a river ocean, a hurricane earthquake. I mean, what does it mean? And yet, I knew on the inside what it meant—the combining of these two things.
Number one: There will be a combining of the two spheres: revival and revolution. The power of the revival joined with the militancy of the Jesus revolution. When we speak of the Jesus revolution, we’re not talking about a call to arms. If those words and terms are not familiar to you, we’re not talking about human anger or rebellion or, God forbid, bombing abortion clinics or bashing homosexuals. We’re talking about radically impacting the world through the power and sacrificial message of the gospel. We’re talking about radical, dramatic, sweeping change. There will be a combining of the two spheres: the power of the revival with the militancy of the revolution, the passion of God joined with the zeal of man, raising up the church to touch the world.
Those of us who have been part of revival and the moving of the Spirit in the past have a certain hunger because we’ve seen what God can do, and we’re not content with anything less than visitation. Oh yes, we will go about our daily business, and we will be disciples, and we’ll be faithful in the little things. But having been touched by something greater, we say, “God, do it again.” But in the midst of that, now there are a lot of people with a radically revolutionary spirit who say, “Whatever the cost or consequence, we’re going after God, and we’re going to make a difference. We’re willing to lay our lives down if it’s for the kingdom.” There will be a combining of the power of the Spirit and the passion and zeal of man—a revival revolution.
Number two: This wave will build on advances of the last wave. This wave will build on the advances of the last wave. Did you step back and think, “Ten years ago, things were very different in a lot of ways than they are now”? Oh, there’s been a steady moral decline in America, a lot of other junk. It’s an amazing thing to me. In our school of ministry here, our incoming class is all young. Our first-year class doesn’t have a single parent in the entire first-year class. It’s amazing how many young people we have for those that are part of the school of ministry here at FIRE.
And what’s frightening to me is when I ask 18, 19, 20-year-olds, “How many of you have seen a major moral decline in your lifetimes?” All the hands go up. They’re shocked at how things have fallen. They’re shocked at what’s on TV and in front of the media now compared to when they were younger. We’ve got a dear brother here who’s in his 80s. You wouldn’t know it—full of life and vigor—but at his age, he could tell us a whole lot more of what’s changed. But I’ll talk about even in the last ten years, there’s been a lot of negative stuff that’s happened, but there’s been a lot that God’s done that’s very positive.
There has been an understanding that there must be new wineskins. There has been, according to the title of one book, a rethinking of the wineskins. Many people have asked, “What is church?” When I wrote the book, “Revolution in the Church,” challenging the religious system with a call for radical change, the thing that I found most interesting was all the people saying, “It’s not radical enough.” We’ve been thinking about these very same things for some years. I knew it was out there. I knew it was in people’s hearts: questioning of leadership structure, questioning of how things are supposed to be done, redefining what community means. So many of these things are necessary.
Not only that, there is a revived youth who will be ready for battle. I have had the privilege of preaching in lots of churches over these years, and it was a steady thing. I can’t say I ran into this 100% of the time, and I’m sure there were exceptions, but I’ve compared notes with many others who are in youth ministry and traveling ministry, and we all have basically the same experience. We go out; I’d be preaching in the late ’70s, early ’80s, and maybe there’s a tenured congregation, you know, maybe five hundred, eight hundred, a thousand people, three hundred people, whatever, going after God. A lot of people were hungry and thirsty and serious. And I’d think, “Where are the young people? How come?” And so, I’d ask, “Where are the young people?” And then they’d tell us, “Oh, you know, our youth group is going to be in the service tomorrow night.” And there’d be like twenty kids, maybe, in a church of a thousand. Twenty kids, huddled over to the side, making it clear they did not want to be there. And youth pastors would tell me, “It’s so frightening. They’ll be here, crying and raising their hands one night, and then going out and partying and sleeping together and watching unclean movies the next.” And I began to grieve. I said, “God, we’ve lost a whole generation.”
I got saved at sixteen and a half. My heart’s always been specially knit to young people, seeing them get saved and right with God at the same ages, college age in particular. I started to grieve. I said, “Lord, we’ve lost a whole generation.” They were always the smallest in number; they were the least interested, the least focused. They were the ones that just wanted to be entertained and seemed to be lacking in depth.
Now, it’s my experience almost everywhere I go, here and in other parts of the world, that the most on fire, the most radical, the most committed, the most determined, the most willing to go for it at any cost or consequence are the young people. Do you understand? Something major has happened in the last ten years. And again, I say this is not just my experience, but it’s been confirmed by the experience of leaders all around the world who say it the same way. There’s been a major youth revival, a major moving of God. No, not everywhere. No, not in every group. And now, contrary to ten years ago when these people were just being reached in the early stages <FLAG>, now these guys are ready to be on the front lines.
Something struck me. I talked about those significant deaths in 1994: Richard Nixon, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and others that got my attention in terms of major transition. Well, this is perhaps another way of getting our attention. I was there the night the lights went out. All right, everybody stay steady. It is no big deal. This is not terrorists, okay? And amazingly, the mic is still on. Listen, I hope that you live long enough to have stories that go beyond “I was there the night the lights went out.”
Now remember, if you’re a Baptist, then that was simply a mechanical malfunction. If you are Pentecostal, that’s the devil trying to oppose the message. If it was one of our own services, perhaps we forgot to pay the light bill. But since we’re here at Evangel and they’re responsible, good stewards, it was none of the above. If we ask the wise, they say probably someone just shut it off. Practical wisdom. That’s what it was: someone working in the back just shut the lights. God bless her. But the fact that it happened in the middle of a message like this perhaps has some meaning.
So there were these major deaths in ’94, but there was one that in a certain way was more significant than anything. I didn’t catch it then; now I’m looking back at this major transition. There was somebody who epitomized the youth culture, someone who represented that generation. And in case we didn’t get it, just like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27, he died by self-imposed shotgun blast <FLAG> also at the age of 27. Kurt Cobain, again, a symbol <FLAG> of the death of that culture and the emptiness and bankruptcy of what was happening among the young people.
But look at what God has done in these years. I mean, who would have thought of gatherings like The Call DC <FLAG>? Some of you were part of that. These other Call events: 300,000 or more gathering, mainly young people. Think of it. Some of you got to be part of the largest gathering of Christian young people in America’s history, for a day of prayer and fasting and crying out to God. These events would continue to draw tens of thousands around America, around the world. Something’s going on. So many of our missionaries, so many of our fire laborers all around the world doing exploits for God. They’re young people.
Yes, we need, we must have the joining of the generations: the fathers and the sons together, the mothers and the daughters together. Otherwise, we are doomed to fail. But with the true Joshua generation, who knows what could happen? This wave will build on the advances of the last wave. Changes in church structure will enable the release of the body for the work of ministry. A revived youth will be ready for battle, and those who survived the last wave are—or at least should be—the wiser for it, and all the more broken and dependent on God.
Number three: the heightened moral crisis in society, actually led in particular by the homosexual agenda—though this does not mean that all gays have an agenda, it means that there is a militant, strong agenda among many who are aggressive and at the forefront—the heightened moral crisis in society, coupled with the quagmire in Iraq, will produce a holy backlash. In other words, a lot of people are going to say, “This is crazy.” A lot of people are going to start asking questions about the meaning of life. A lot of people are going to have a stirring, and even that the devil characteristically overplays his hand. He always goes too far because he is who he is. And when he goes too far, that’s when many people who wouldn’t have waited and wouldn’t have been stirred do awaken and get stirred.
We were sitting in a mentoring group in my office in Pensacola before the war in Iraq, and the students in the mentoring group were asking, “Mr. Dr. Brown, do you think that the coming war in Iraq is going to draw the kind of protest the Vietnam War did and be a major controversial thing in America and around the world?” I said, “I really don’t see it coming like that.” How amazing. The funny thing is, I talked to a bunch of others; they didn’t quite see it coming like that either. And again, it reminds us how little we know unless God gives us insight. Here we are, still stuck in the midst of a very difficult situation.
I’ve written down in my notes here: I feel like 9/11 will be in the air again, perhaps the recent Osama bin Laden tape, if it’s really him, released just a few days ago with broadcasts of more terror, just reminds us. I don’t live in fear. I fly Continental <FLAG>. Think about it. I’m not afraid of it, but there’s a reminder of the fact that things are not the way they used to be. There’s a reminder of the fact that war is among us everywhere. In the midst of this, God is going to use it, and Israel too will be in the center, to the consternation and stumbling of many. Israel increasingly will be on the cutting edge of dividing people.
Number four: this wave will be violent, as in spiritually. Again, I do not mean physical violence. Jesus will never lead us in the way of physical violence. Jesus is not an excuse for our personal anger. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The Jesus way is to put down your sword, take up your cross. We overcome evil by good. But as much as we need the gentle streams of refreshing, as much as we constantly need the joy of the Lord, this next wave will not primarily be a quiet stream wave, but one with an intensity, as in Acts 2, with the intensity of the Spirit moving there at Shavuot <FLAG>, Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. This struck me. I always think of Scripture when someone tells me when they’re getting married: you know, this date is just another month as a chapter and the day is a verse. And I always think of Scripture. I wake up, I look at the clock and whatever time it is, I think of Scripture references.
Judge Roy Moore, in the thick of the controversy—I’m good friends with people very close to him that attest to his godliness and purity and humility—but the first date set for his trial, being held in contempt, is November 12, 11/12. And the moment I see 11/12, of course, I think Matthew 11:12, where Jesus said, “The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” We are in a spiritually violent conflict. But hear me, this next wave will be turbulent, like a mighty thundering wave, and it will bring the church into holy conflict with the world. Let me say it again: this next wave will bring the church into holy conflict with the world. Some of us could die on the battlefield. No, we do not take life, but our lives may easily be taken standing up for Jesus. That happens around the world.
Now, it’s my experience almost everywhere I go, here and in other parts of the world, that the most on fire, the most radical, the most committed, the most determined, the most willing to go for it at any cost or consequence are the young people. Do you understand? Something major has happened in the last ten years. And again, I say this is not just my experience, but it’s been confirmed by the experience of leaders all around the world who say it the same way. There’s been a major youth revival, a major moving of God. No, not everywhere. No, not in every group. And now, contrary to ten years ago when these people were just being reached in the early stages <FLAG>, now these guys are ready to be on the front lines.
Something struck me. I talked about those significant deaths in 1994: Richard Nixon, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, and others that got my attention in terms of major transition. Well, this is perhaps another way of getting our attention. I was there the night the lights went out. All right, everybody stay steady. It is no big deal. This is not terrorists, okay? And amazingly, the mic is still on. Listen, I hope that you live long enough to have stories that go beyond “I was there the night the lights went out.”
Now remember, if you’re a Baptist, then that was simply a mechanical malfunction. If you are Pentecostal, that’s the devil trying to oppose the message. If it was one of our own services, perhaps we forgot to pay the light bill. But since we’re here at Evangel and they’re responsible, good stewards, it was none of the above. If we ask the wise, they say probably someone just shut it off. Practical wisdom. That’s what it was: someone working in the back just shut the lights. God bless her. But the fact that it happened in the middle of a message like this perhaps has some meaning.
So there were these major deaths in ’94, but there was one that in a certain way was more significant than anything. I didn’t catch it then; now I’m looking back at this major transition. There was somebody who epitomized the youth culture, someone who represented that generation. And in case we didn’t get it, just like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27, he died by shotgun, self-imposed shotgun blast also at the age of 27. Kurt Cobain, again, a sibling of the death of that culture and the emptiness and bankruptcy of what was happening among the young people.
But look at what God has done in these years. I mean, who would have thought of gatherings like The Call DC? Some of you were part of that. And some other Call events: 2-300,000 or more gathering, mainly young people. Think of it. Some of you got to be part of the largest gathering of Christian young people in America’s history. For entertainment? Hype? No. For a day of prayer and fasting and crying out to God. These events would continue to draw tens of thousands around America, around the world. Something’s going on. So many of our missionaries, so many of our fire laborers all around the world doing exploits for God – they’re young people!
Yes, we need, we must have the joining of the generations: the fathers and the sons together, the mothers and the daughters together. Otherwise, we are doomed to fail. But with the true Joshua Generation, who knows what could happen? This wave will build on the advances of the last wave. Changes in church structure will enable the release of the body for the work of ministry. A revived youth will be ready for battle, and those who survived the last wave are—or at least should be—the wiser for it, and all the more broken and dependent on God.
Number three: the heightened moral crisis in society, actually led in particular by the homosexual agenda—though this does not mean that all gays have an agenda, it means that there is a militant, strong agenda among many who are aggressive and at the forefront—the heightened moral crisis in society, coupled with the quagmire in Iraq, will produce a holy backlash. In other words, a lot of people are going to say, “This is crazy.” A lot of people are going to start asking questions about the meaning of life. A lot of people are going to have a stirring, and even that the devil characteristically overplays his hand. He always goes too far because he is who he is. And when he goes too far, that’s when many people who wouldn’t have waited and wouldn’t have been stirred do awaken and get stirred.
We were sitting in a mentoring group in my office in Pensacola before the war in Iraq, and the students in the mentoring group were asking, “Mr. Dr. Brown, do you think that the coming war in Iraq is going to draw the kind of protest the Vietnam War did and be a major controversial thing in America and around the world?” I said, “I really don’t see it coming like that.” How amazing. The funny thing is, I talked to a bunch of others; they didn’t quite see it coming like that either. And again, it reminds us how little we know unless God gives us insight. Here we are, still stuck in the midst of a very difficult situation.
I’ve written down in my notes here: I feel like 9/11 will be in the air again, perhaps the recent Osama bin Laden tape, if it’s really him, released just a few days ago with broadcasts of more terror, just reminds us: I don’t live in fear. I fly Continental. I don’t think about it. I’m not afraid of it, but there’s a reminder of the fact that things are not the way they used to be. There’s a reminder of the fact that war is among us everywhere. In the midst of this, God is going to use it, and Israel too will be in the center, to the consternation and stumbling of many. Israel increasingly will be on the cutting edge of dividing people.
Number four: this wave will be violent, as in spiritually. Again, I do not mean physical violence. Jesus will never lead us in the way of physical violence. Jesus is not an excuse for outburst of our anger. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword. The Jesus way is to put down your sword, take up your cross. We overcome evil by good. But as much as we need the gentle streams of refreshing, as much as we constantly need the joy of the Lord, this next wave will not primarily be a quiet streams wave, but one with an intensity, as in Acts 2, with the intensity of the Spirit moving there at Shavuot, Pentecost, the Feast of Weeks. Agin, this struck me. I always think of Scripture when someone tells me when they’re getting married: you know, this date is just another month as a chapter and the day is a verse. And I always think of Scripture. I wake up, I look at the clock and whatever time it is, I think of scripture, scripture references.
Judge Roy Moore, in the thick of the ten commandments controversy—I’m good friends with people very close to him that attest to his godliness and purity and humility—but the first date set for his trial, being held in contempt, is November 12, 11/12. And the moment I see 11/12, of course, I think Matthew 11:12, where the words of Jesus said, “The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” We are in a spiritually violent conflict. But hear me, this next wave will be turbulent, like a mighty thundering wave, and it will bring the church into holy conflict with the world. Let me say it again: this next wave will bring the church into holy conflict with the world. Some of us could die on the battlefield. No, we do not take life, but our lives may easily be taken standing up for Jesus. That happens around the world.
There’s a quote I had cited some years back, and I was reminded of it again a few weeks ago when preparing for this message. James B. Taylor, in the 1800s, said, “The world may frown, Satan may rage, but go on, live for God. May I die in the field of battle.” Or missionary C.T. Studd, great sportsman, aristocrat, who left everything in England and Cambridge to be a missionary first in China, then to pour out his life in Africa. Shortly before he died, someone sent in him these verses:
‘But the victors, when they come,
When the forts of folly fall,
Find thy body near the wall.’
You want to be there, right up front where the action is happening for Jesus. We’ve had enough time sitting back on the sidelines, and making excuses, and waiting for next time. Well, many times have passed us by; we have no more excuses. It’s time to throw ourselves in and say, ‘Father, here I am. Make my life fully usable, however I can bring you the most glory, however I can touch the most people, however I can be the most effective witness, however I can demonstrate your compassion and mercy, however Jesus can be exalted through me. Here I am, whether by life or by death, I want to glorify Him.’ That should be the normal heartbeat of every single child of God.
It’s not radical; that’s normal.
Titus Brandsma, the Dutch Catholic priest martyred by the Nazis in 1942, said, “Those who want to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.”
“Those who want to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.”
The days of trying to save our lives rather than stand up for Jesus must be over. Do we use wisdom? Yes. Do we embrace long life as a gift from God? Absolutely. Meditate on Psalm 91 until it comes pouring out of your brain. If you don’t believe that, but that’s part of our victory: you can’t take my life; I belong to Him. All you can do is promote me. Brother Andrew (we’ve quoted him often), with Open Doors Ministries, a fearless servant of God, said, “Our Lord said ‘Go.’ He said nothing about coming back.” This must be the spirit and the attitude of those caught up in this next wave. He said there are no closed doors to the gospel, provided that once you go through the door, you don’t care whether or not you come back out.
When I was writing a series of books on answering Jewish objections to Jesus, I had one lengthy question dealing with the Holocaust. Many of you said, “How could I ever believe in God, let alone think about Jesus, after the Holocaust?” It was something I wanted to treat with sens- with sensitivity. I prayed I didn’t want to touch it, agonized over it, until God really gave me a fruitful approach. But in that answer, I quoted from Basilea Schlink, who just went to be with the Lord a couple of years back, a godly German leader, a Lutheran, who had been a member of the angelical Sisterhood of Mary.
And look at what she wrote to her fellow Germans two years after the Holocaust. And she said,
“We are personally to blame. We all have to admit that if we, the entire Christian community, had stood up as ‘one man’, and if after the burning of the synagogues on Kristallnacht—the beginning of the Holocaust—we had gone out in the streets and voiced our disapproval, rung the church bells, and somehow boycotted the actions of the SS, the devil’s vassals would probably not have been at such liberty to pursue their evil schemes. But we lacked the ardor of love, love that is never passive, love that cannot bear it when its fellow men are in misery, particularly when they are subjected to such appalling treatment and tortured to death. Indeed, if we had loved God, we would not have endured seeing those houses of God set ablaze, and holy divine wrath would have filled our souls.”
The church will come into conflict with the world.
Number five: this will be a revival of the fear of the Lord. The Days of Awe are upon us. There is a tremendous lack in society as a whole of the fear of God, even a recognition of authority and reverence for that. There is a tremendous lack in our society. Tremendous lack in the body, the fear of God. I’m convinced in my own life there’s a lack of it—something I talked to the Lord about. And meditate on Scripture because of this. The next revival, because of the awesome things that God does and how He will reveal Himself, will be a revival of the fear of the Lord.
Number six: new wineskins have been prepared for the new wine and new wine there will be. New wineskins have been prepared for the new wine and new wine there will be. Still the nature of the harvest—hear me carefully—the nature of the harvest—that is, the types of people who will get saved—will surprise us. Due to the extreme ravages of sin, the conversions will be equally extreme. So prepare for a radical ingathering. No matter how ready we think we are, we do not fully understand what sin has done to a generation. We do not fully understand how deeply raped and abused this generation has been. And people are going to get saved in ways that will surprise us and come to us in ways that will surprise us. And if we think we are ready, we are not ready. That’s like the churches when I got saved in the early ’70s; most of them were not ready for the Jesus People Movement, for this ingathering of hippies and radicals and rebels. Only a small percentage of those who could have been discipled, nurtured, raised up, and sent out were actually treated like that. I’ll say it again: prepare for a radical ingathering.
Number seven: this next wave will be, must be, can only be about Jesus. We cannot deflect it to lesser causes. In the greatness of His glory, unless the causes will fade. We cannot deflect it with attention on people; it must be—God is jealous for this. This is something He will guard—it must be about Jesus in a deeper way than anything we’ve known. Let me read you something and I’m going to close. T.L. Osborn, mightily used in healing the sick around the world for decades now— I’ve been in some cities, one in Africa, one in Scandinavia, where to this day you can point to the- what God did in the churches around the world.
In Holland, one city, brothers were telling me about when he came in, the impact that his ministry had: “And that’s when my dad got the call to go into ministry. That’s when these churches were planted. That’s when this happened, that happened.”
In 1947, he said,
“During our time of pastoring in the church in McMinnville, (Brian Parkman got this quote for me), God dealt with me in many wonderful ways. It was during this time that a lady in our church happened to inform me of the death of Dr. Charles S. Price, a man greatly used in healing in that day. (In 1947), I’d never met the man, but I had read scores of his wonderful sermons. And through doing so, I’ve learned to love the man dearly. When I heard of his death, I went to the church and began to weep aloud. It seemed as though I could not contain my grief. The faith heroes of the previous few years began to pass through my mind like a panorama. I thought of Wigglesworth, (Smith Wigglesworth died in ’47), of McPherson, of sister Aimee- (he mentions different ones – and of others) – not one of whom I had ever met or heard preach, but they were gone forever from this world’s scene of action. I should never meet them here. The world would never again feel the impact and marvellous influence of their ministry. We would only talk of them and hear of their exploits of faith. Oh, it broke my heart. It all seemed very strange to me as to why it should affect me like it did when I didn’t even know these people. I began to ponder it all. I said, ‘Lord, those great heroes are gone now, and millions are still dying. Multitudes are still sick and suffering. To whom will they go now for help? Who now will stir our large cities and fill our large auditoriums with the magnetic power of God, healing the sick and casting out devils? What will this world do now?’
God heard and answered my questions in a marvellous way, though not immediately. The Spirit spoke thus: “My son, as I was with Price, McPherson, Wigglesworth, and others, so I will be with thee. They are dead, but now it is time for you to rise, to go and do likewise. You cast out devils, you heal the sick, you raise the dead, you cleanse the lepers. Behold, I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy. Be- be not unafraid, be strong, be of good courage. I am with thee as I was with them. No evil power shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As you get the people to believe My word, I used those men in their day, but this is your day. Now I desire to use thee.”
I believe the very same thing is being said by the Spirit of God to us. Pioneers, mightily used, have passed on before us, and God is saying: “It’s your time, your hour, your generation—take hold of it. Seize the moment.”
The Great Commission is a call to go and change the world. We’re part of the Jesus Movement, called to bring holy revolution to a godless world, sent by the Father to bring liberation to the captives. That’s why we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We must move forward with the Jesus Revolution, but now in the life, power, and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can stand against it. As Evan Roberts said, “A whole church on its knees is irresistible.”
Here’s how we’re going to end. It’s a little different then what you might be used to—not in the service but in this part. Then our other leadership team and our worship team will be here to continue, and I’ve got to catch a flight.
“Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Galatians 4:16
Categories: Fire Church Ministries, New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), The Call