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When Heaven Invades Earth
Week 12 : Chapter 17
May 10 – May 17, 2008
In
this final chapter, “This Present Revival,” Johnson continues to
encourage the Church to press into all God has in store for us and
paints a Scriptural picture of the Bride the Father is preparing in
this season. We will display these characteristics in ever
increasing measure:
- The Wisdom of God (Ephesians
3.10-11) to be made known by the Church not only to this world
but also to the principalities and powers. We are a light to the
nations offering the Good News of Jesus Christ and wise ways of
living displayed in standards of Excellence,
revealing the Father in Creative expressions of
art, science, business and education and all done in
Integrity which expresses His nature of holiness in our
lives.
- A Glorious Church (Ephesians 5.27)
manifesting the actual presence of Jesus, seen in the continual
presence and anointing of the Holy Spirit dominating the lives
of believers. “The glory of God is the manifested presence of
Jesus” (181).
- Without Spot or Wrinkle (Eph. 5.27)
“The Church is to make herself ready...” by making her obedience
complete (182).
- Unity of Faith (Ephesians 4.13) “is
the faith that works through love... (Gal.5.6). We will hear His
voice together and demonstrate great exploits” (182) as an
outgrowth of unity of faith.
- Knowledge of the Son of God (Ephesians
4.13) Revelations of Jesus as He is now “will launch the Church
into a transformation” unlike any experienced before (183).
- Mature (Eph.4.13) Maturity of
function without jealousy, members working in harmony,
complimenting each others gifts which have been brought to full
potential through discipline
- Filled with the fullness of God (Ephesians
3.19) which is His love entering every chamber of our hearts,
every facet of our lives. An intimate love relationship with
God that will “..help us receive and release all that He has
desired. “Jesus will actually be seen in the Church, just as
the Father was actually seen in Jesus” (184).
- Gifts of the Spirit Fully Expressed
(Acts 2.17-21) “The outpouring of the Spirit in the last
generation will touch every nation on the earth, releasing the
gifts of the Spirit in full measure upon and through His people”
breaking racial, economic, gender and age barriers. “These
manifestations of the Holy Spirit will be taken to the streets
where they belong. It is there that they reach their full
potential” (184).
- Greater Works (John 14.12) “And the
works He referred to are signs and wonders. It will not
be a disservice to Him to have a generation obey Him and go
beyond His own high water mark. He showed us what one
person could do who has the Spirit without measure. What could
millions do? That was His point and, it became His prophecy”
(185).
- Thy Kingdom Come (Matt. 6.10) “He
directs us to pray this prayer because it is on His heart to
fulfill it. ...The present reality of the Kingdom will become
manifest ... in the everyday life of the believer. That world
will break into this one at every point where the Christian
prays in faith. The lordship of Jesus will be seen, and the
bounty of His rule will be experienced” (186).
These
points describe a Church explosive in the supernatural, whose
privilege and destiny is to fulfill God's full intention for His
people. This will require stretching and change. “In reality, what
we think of as the normal Christian life cannot hold the
weight of what God is about to do.” Johnson further prophecies that,
“very little of what we now know as Church life will remain
untouched in the next ten years” (187). This Kingdom can only be
received with the faith of a child.
“His intent is grand. ...let's
press on to a renewed hunger for things yet to be seen. As we pursue
the Extravagant One with reckless abandon, we will discover that our
greatest problem is the resistance that comes from between our ears.
But faith is superior. And it's time for us to make Him unconcerned
about whether or not He'll find faith on the earth.”
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