Ten Threats to Revival: Listen to parts one and two online now and get ready to get rocked!

Yesterday’s teaching was part two in the series, and it will provoke you to prepare for judgment and to align yourself for revival.

Go to http://media.johnburton.net and listen right now.

You can follow along with my personal notes here. I hit on the first threat to revival—the local church.

TEN THREATS TO REVIVAL

I. Revival

1. We have to understand what revival is.

1. The simplest definition is wide scale calibration to biblical normalcy.

2. The stuff you read in the Bible will regularly manifest and be a part of our identity.

1. Acts 2:17 17 v“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
wthat I will pour out my Spirit xon all flesh,
and your sons and yyour daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;

2. Acts 5:16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

3. Acts 5:19 19 But during the night tan angel of the Lord uopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,

4. Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and zthere were added that day about three thousand souls.

5. Acts 4:31 31 And when they had prayed, hthe place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and ithey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and jcontinued to speak the word of God with boldness.

3. Arthur Wallis defines revival this way: It is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed, and human programmes abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field. It is the Lord making bare His holy arm, and working in extraordinary power on saint and sinner.

1. Does it not bother anybody that we are at great risk of living our entire lives outside of the normalcy of irresistible power?

1. We live in a day where most Christians have not be blown away by the supernatural force of the Holy Spirit!

1. Brownsville!

2. Toronto!

3. Lakeland!

4. An invisible God was encountered!

5. The spirit of revival will awaken an entire nation!

2. One day when you Google “Detroit revival” the results won't be about the economic revitalization. It will be about the dead being raised.

1. Douglas Shields wrote in 1905 ‘There is a theory that all social and moral advance may be traced to religious revivals. If these comments are true then seeking continuous ‘revival’ should be the major aim of every Christian, in every church and in every age. Revival should be at the top of our prayer lists and preaching programmes. It is how God works.

3. This breakthrough has been prophesied! However, we must handle prophecy correctly.

4. Julia Palermo: “Prophetic words are not automatic guarantees but invitations from the Lord. Faith and obedience bring the manifestation of the promise.”

1. We must go after God and surrender all!

2. Our current calendar, our current focus is insufficient!

3. We can't just hope to show up at an event and see revival break out!

4. Michael Brown: You can no more “hold a revival” than you can hold a hurricane, and that you can no more “schedule a revival” than you can schedule an earthquake.

5. First, consider this quote by Evan Roberts, the hero of the Welsh Revival, as he shares the simple formula for revival: “Congregate the people who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings.”

1. We must give our entire lives to revival!

2. That's what theLab is doing—calling the remnant, the revival hungry people who will make a total surrender!

3. We have come to believe that we can squeeze the hope of revival into our busy lives. We cannot.

4. Revival will reform calendars. The remnant will initiate this reformation by forcibly changing now.

5. Acts 1:4 And while staying1 with them ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for hJohn baptized with water, hbut you will be baptized iwith1 the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6. Everything changed not by the power of the Holy Spirit at that point, but by intentional and sudden change of life.

7. It's worth it!

5. Brian Edwards-A true Holy Spirit revival is a remarkable increase in the spiritual life of a large number of God’s people, accompanied by an awesome awareness of the presence of God, intensity of prayer and praise, a deep conviction of sin with a passionate longing for holiness and unusual effectiveness in evangelism, leading to the salvation of many unbelievers. Revival is remarkable, large, effective and, above all, it is something that God brings about.’

II. Threat 1. The Local Church

1. This first threat is a bit provocative.

1. I love the local church!

1. I love pastors and honor their missions!

2. And, we must have an extreme level of devotion to our local church missions!

2. However, the alarm must be sounded. We must be on the ready to lead people throughout the city to tend to the various fires of revival that will star sparking.

1. This is one reason theLab will be moving from Tribe to Tribe each week… we'll be fanning the flames of revival all over the city!

3. The leadership of Revival Church has their radars on, and we will be leading you into the fire, no matter where or when it is!

1. 40 days of fire! We were there every night! I took only one night off! I was disturbed when I heard rumblings of resistance against what God was doing there through Brian Simmons, who is emerging as an apostle to our city.

2. Keep in mind, in scripture the church, when mentioned, referred to the church of the city. We must be city minded always.

3. Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

1. That wasn't a local church, it was the church in the city.

2. Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.

3. We also see the seven churches in Revelation.

1. To the church at Ephesus

2. To the church in Smyrna

3. To the church in Pergamum

4. Not to first Baptist church, to Revival Church, etc.

4. Since we are the church of Detroit, we must understand our role on a city level.

5. the fear driven competition between so many churches in Detroit is an embarrassment to this city. And we think revival is near? Not until repentance is deep and unity is strong.

1. I believe its time that we are willing to lose our people, lose our salaries, lose our reputations, lose it all for the sake of blessing other churches and ministries in Detroit.

2. We must stop building our own kingdoms.

3. Brian Ming wrote a chilling worship song that included these words: God forgive us for building kingdoms of man on doctrines of demons in your name.

III. Threat 2. A Belief in Fate

1. Many people tend to believe that they have little effect on whether revival breaks out or not.

1. They may say things like, “Nothing will stop God if he wants to pour out in a region,” or “If God wants to bring revival, he will.”

2. A belief in fate minimizes the radical importance of our participation.

3. Additionally, the many prophecies that have been revealing God’s plans for an outpouring in Detroit are conditional.

1. In order to see them come to pass, we must involve ourselves in the process.

2. As Mike Bickle says, “Prophecy isn’t a guarantee, it’s an invitation.”

3. The Great Commission!

4. Matt 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

1. From cover to cover in scripture, man had to do it!

2. We are commissioned and empowered by God to do it!

1. Noah had to build the boat.

2. Moses had to confront Pharaoh.

3. Paul had to start churches.

4. Peter had to preach.

5. The churches of Revelation were indited because of their lack of works.

1. We have to pray, serve, feed the hungry, win the lost, do the work.

2. If you are called to translate the Bible like Brian Simmons, you can't just sit back on the couch and wait for the biblical knowledge to overtake you!

3. You study!

IV. Threat 3. Taking a “Wait and See” Approach

1. Many are sitting back waiting to see if this current outpouring in Detroit is in fact a move of God. The problem? God’s moving is largely dependent on you and me! We have been instructed to tend to the fire, and in our unwitting arrogance we have reassigned that job back to God!

1. We believe God is to do our job of keeping the fire burning when he explicitly requires us to do it. If we don’t build the fire, the fire will go out—even though God’s prophesied plans are to bring the fires of reformation to Detroit.

2. Are you so sleepy that you aren’t active and vibrant enough in the spirit to hear the alarms? Wake up! Wake up!

3. Never again treat the call to battle casually. Never again participate in your local church casually. It’s time to awaken and advance with an alert and ready spirit! If you don’t know how to connect, ask! Ask again! Show up! Be a warrior! Serve!

4. Acts 1:4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

1. No more waiting! No more gazing! Go!

V. Threat 4. The Scattering Movement

1. We are in the end-times, and it’s clear in scripture that we must gather together even more during this historic season.

2. Satan’s plans to overthrow God were well on track as the greatest movement of unity in history was advancing. 

3. Gen 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused[a] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

1. That unity gave strength to the building of a tower that would reach the heavens.

2. God realized the threat and initiated ‘operation scattering’.

3. The language was confused and they scattered all over the Earth.

4. Now, Satan is using God’s own strategy against the most powerful governmental system on the planet—the Church.

5. Instead of gathering in unity that would be strong enough to overthrow Satan’s kingdom, we are being scattered. We are not together.

6. This is why stadiums will be critical in this next season. We must have the city church literally together, in the same place, consistently.

7. Remember, a key element of revival, which is emphasized by Evan Roberts, is daily meetings. Yes, it will be normal for people to be in church, together, under apostolic leadership most every day of the week.

VI. Threat 5. The Seeker Sensitive Movement

1. I’ve often told the people in my church that I will never tone down the activity of the Holy Spirit out of respect of those less hungry.

2. We need burning churches that result in people falling to their faces and crying “Holy!” when they walk through the door.

3. 2 Chron 7:7 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord's house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

4. It’s arrogance to presume that our human strategies are more potent than the supernatural capabilities of the Holy Spirit.

5. When people are in desperate need they don’t look for Clark Kent, they are don’t want someone who looks just like them to come to their rescue. They need to experience the superpowers of the Burning Holy Spirit.

VII. Threat 6. A Lack of Intercession

1. Evan Roberts declared that revival hinges on our obedience to pray and wait.

2. The call in Detroit is for 1000 intercessors to gather together in the same place every Friday night as we release fire and cover this great mission. If we don’t respond, we probably don’t want the consuming fire of revival to come. We won’t be prepared for such a fearful burning.

3. The Tribes are being formed in response to this mandate.

1. We need YOU to start a Tribe!!!!

2. After the 2 Chron 7 fire that hit the temple, we have the famous passage in 2 Chron 7:11-14:

1. 2 Chron 7:11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, 14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

3. We must pray!

VIII. Threat 7. Fear of Loss

1. A key reason pastors don’t advance their churches into the experiential realm of encounter with God is that the risk of losing people, money and their reputation is high.

1. It’s clear that a instituting a marginalized church culture is a much less risky option to develop a growing church in America. However, it’s also clear that  such a culture is void of power and miracles.

2. The world isn’t looking for another man-made system to join. In fact, the world does a much better job of building humanistic kingdoms than the church does.

3. We’ll only see revival when we have the guts to call people into the wilderness of extreme encounter where the Fire and the Cloud leads them into a supercharged adventure.

1. Fear of loss must be replaced by an expectation of loss!

2. I surrender all! It's not, “I hope I don't have to surrender all!”

3. I die daily! It's not, “I hope I can avoid the death part of the program!”

4. I take up my cross! It's not, “I take up my blessing!”

IX. Threat 8. Unbelief

1. Evan Roberts reveals one of the elements of revival is simply to believe God’s promises.

2. It’s stunning how little the church believes in the supernatural. Healing, freedom, power and abundant life are tragically rare.

1. A barometer of our position in Christ has to be whether we can hear or not!

1. John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

2. This is the only way we can believe!

3. Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

4. The only way to be united with Christ in the pursuit of revival is to hear and believe!

5. Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

6. We can't just wait around in doubt, it's time to move!

3. Its no wonder that people are avoiding the church today. We are a people who are living on the wrong side of the Ascension.

4. In Acts 1, the disciples were waiting for Jesus to snap his fingers and work more wonders. They wanted him to establish his Kingdom. But Jesus gave them clear instructions that would shock them to their core. They weren’t to wait and hope for something to happen (hope deferred makes the heart sick)—they were to do it themselves!

5. They transitioned from disciples on one side of the Ascension to apostles on the other. Now, they, as ‘sent ones’, were to believe and act.

6. They were to be the answer to people’s impossible situations. They waited for the necessary power to change the world, and when they received the Holy Spirit, they went everywhere in fiery belief healing, delivering and preaching the Kingdom.

X. Threat 9. Seeking an Enhanced Life

1. People generally want God to make their current lives better. They want an enhancement, an upgrade.

2. However, the demands of revival include the willingness to embrace a fire that won’t warm your flesh—it will consume your flesh.

3. Evan Roberts called for people to gather—but not all people—only those who were willing to make a total surrender.

1. Revival doesn’t enhance lives, it crushes them. If we attempt to advance with a semi-surrendered people, the fire simply will not fall.

4. Since I’ve been in Detroit I’ve heard a lot about revival. It seems the whole region is crying out for it. However, this is where the root of the disturbance in my spirit exists.

1. Most every time revival is mentioned, the intent of that desire is to experience some sort of breakthrough, blessing or restitution.

2. It’s time we STOP crying out for God to revive the economy, for resolved issues, for racial tensions to subside, for a fixed city… and START crying out for God and God alone!

3. God is jealous and he won’t allow Detroit to be satisfied by money, security or anything else until we are satisfied in Him and no one or nothing else!

5. DO NOT expect revival until we return to our first love. It WILL NOT COME! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the situation in this region got dramatically worse. The choice is ours, however.

6. It’s absolutely shocking to me that so much emphasis is placed on the pursuit of breakthrough yet the call to breakthrough into a pursuit of God falls on deaf ears.

7. Will we only gather and pray if we have a hope of personal blessing?

1. Where are all of the hungry people in Detroit? The stadiums should be filled with zealous, praying people every night of the week! Have the cares of life and entertainment so bewitched us that we have become convinced that being with God is not worth it?

8. I propose starting a movement of encounter which only has one goal—to be fully satisfied in enjoying and responding to the Lover of our souls. Nothing else matters. If we all have to live in a cardboard box on the streets of Detroit to encounter God, so be it! Our goal is not financial! It’s not selfish! It’s to be with God! That is all!

XI. Threat 10. A Lack of Immediate Response

1. Joel 1:14 Consecrate a fast;
    call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
    and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.

1. We live in a day where there's Twitter, email, Facebook, video and more… in every house in the city!!! We have phones that are many times smarter than the computer that took a rocket to the moon!

2. There is no excuse to not hear and respond to the prophetic decrees moment by moment!

3. We must be alert and ready! Alarms are being sounded, yet are any hearing?

4. The call a couple of years ago was for every church to gather at Fire in February. Few responded. The same thing with The Call. Few responded. The prophets are calling the church of Detroit to respond, and immediately!

2. This is one reason why church schedules must be flexible.

3. It’s also a reason why daily meetings are critical.

4. When prophetic instruction is received, the entire region must know about it right away, and the people must respond.

1. We have to learn to do two things:

1. Embrace key prophets in the region

2. Stay tuned in, stay in your email, stay ready for an urgent message that just may require you respond in hours time!

5. In Joshua 3, the instructions were clear, and everybody responded in unison.

6. There’s no way to fulfill this mighty mission if we are only together one day a week (actually 2 hours a week!).

1. There’s way too much work to be done!

2. As an example, Mike Bickle recently called an urgent meeting. Most of the departments at IHOP in Kansas City were immediately closed and the people all gathered together to receive an urgent prophetic message.

3. In Detroit, we must promote extreme alertness and flexibility so we can respond moment by moment to the demands of regional revival.

If we are mostly focused on our local, personal ventures, we’ll stay disconnected from the greater, regional mission.