Revival vs Restoration
In many ways the soon-to-be Bride has settled for a lower dream than her Groom. The fiancé by and large is looking for a “fresh experience,” while Jesus is readying to drive evil off the planet and establish an entirely new government centered in Jerusalem. This is the difference between mere “revival” and complete restoration.
Jesus’ plan to accomplish restoration is intense, and it requires agreement from His Bride to accomplish it. By giving mankind dominion over the earth, God has willingly tethered Himself to us to accomplish this intense plan. The final culmination of this plan occurs over a very specific 7-year period called the “tribulation,” which the fiancé is supposed to “glory in.”
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
The 7-years begin with a peace covenant that impacts Israel and is “confirmed”…guaranteed…for 7 years by the world’s final gentile superpower.
The fiancé becomes the Bride when she “makes herself ready.” This is an engagement PROCESS…just like all other engagements…to get the Bride and the Groom ready to share eternity together in agreement. The Bible describes the engagement process for Jesus and His fiancé in great detail…we call it the Book of Revelation. Most people don’t see revelation this way, but it is all about a wedding. At the end the Bride has “made herself ready”
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (8) And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The tribulation…and even more specifically the Great Tribulation…the last 3.5 years…is Jesus’ engagement present to His fiancé. It is the context He gives her to walk victoriously in as a witness to the world that she agrees with Jesus about love…that the judgments He is allowing are better than eternity separated from Him. That life is not possible apart from Jesus…the author…the light of…life. The trouble is the context in which she: a. gets united, b. gets pure in agreement, and c. gets spotless in living.
United: the seven characteristic churches on earth BEFORE the tribulation are only called the Bride after the trouble begins in Chapter 6.
Pure: The Bride agrees with Jesus in prayer night and day for the release of the judgments in the Book, that living wholehearted for Jesus is really worth it, and that He is the one releasing the plans of the Book. That this is His creation, and that life apart from Him is not possible after this generation…it is, in fact, impossible for mankind to live apart from the source of life…He has just been very patient in allowing mankind to come to that realization. The Bride will be pure in agreement.
Spotless: in the most perverse generation, the Bride will choose to walk in an increasing measure of righteousness because she is lovesick for Jesus. Jesus said if you love me, you will obey me. Wholehearted lovers of Jesus are going to a whole new level of obedience. In fact, an entire generation of young people will be raised up by this wholehearted people, and they will “follow the lamb wherever He goes.” These kids surrounded by wholehearted adults will even forgo marriage in an effort to remove everything that hinders an all-out pursuit of Jesus. They won’t do this in a vacuum. They will be shepherded into it by all-in adults who are sick of the materialistic bent of the world. Shepherds like David, who desired One Thing:
Jeremiah 3:14-15 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jesus said, looking into the future, “if you have the privilege of living in this last generation, you have been given much, and much will be required from you”
Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
I was born into a unique generation, and like it or not, much is required of me. This requires searching out Jesus’ well documented plan to return and then making actual costly choices to agree with it. Jesus will not force anyone to respond, but missing the chance to respond will cost me something that could have been mine for eternity, and leaves me vulnerable to the risk of being so offended by what Jesus is about to allow that I would literally “fall away”…turn my back on Jesus and go the way of the world…into trusting a man-based plan.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, (2) not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. (3) Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Many believers want the “good life” they believe they deserve simply because they were born into the most comfortable time and place the world has ever witnessed. They don’t realize they live in an intense “transitional generation”…a time very important to Jesus. They want the “American dream” AND they want revival at the same time. This, according to Jesus, is not possible, because it leaves you with a defiled goal in life…a bad eye:
Matthew 6:22-24 "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. (23) But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (24) "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Many have a dark goal that is focused on the next 30 years, rather than the next 30 million, like Jesus. Because of this, they run the risk of entirely missing what Jesus is doing right now. Many are contending for “revival”, where we all get along, see Jesus do some cool stuff through us, and then add that to a comfortable life if at all possible. Many are excited, but Jesus want them wholehearted. Sincere love for Jesus is not the same as wholehearted. Being excited is far from being wholehearted.
Jesus likes “revival”…the mass renewal of hearts to come near Him. But revival is the OLD thing. The down payment. Jesus wants RESTORATION. He came to make ALL things new, not just our hearts:
Revelation 21:5 And the One sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then He said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."
The great tribulation is coming soon, I believe in years not decades. This is the final harvest. This is the time when the wheat and the tares are mature and ready to transition to the next season…the season of the 1,000 year restoration of all things. No one knows the day or hour this begins, but Jesus said the generation that sees it should know:
Matthew 24:33-34 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know His return is very near, right at the door. (34) I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.
If you are in this generation, you are supposed to know the plan…you are supposed to be ready. You are supposed to contend for the plan. The plan is to unite the Bride in the time of trouble, that she would contend night and day for her geographic location to be a city of refuge, to contend united..in one accord…night and day for the pouring out of the Spirit in signs and wonders so she can be a faithful witness to the world that God…the one with the power…is behind her and the events He is allowing…that Jesus, Her groom is the safe place to escape the trouble, and so that everyone who calls on His name will be saved:
Joel 2:11-12 The LORD is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is His mighty army, and they follow His orders. The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive? (12) That is why the LORD says, "Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give Me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Joel 2:28-32 "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. (29) In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. (30) And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. (31) The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. (32) But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.
The signs and wonders are a means to an end. Revival isn’t the goal…restoration…God reconnected in relationship with man… is the goal:
Matthew 9:6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"
The Bride is going to mature in signs and wonders, and as she does, all of heaven is going to open up more and more. The veil between the supernatural and the physical is going to get thinner and thinner. Cities of refuge…places where Jesus’ followers see well in advance what He is doing and press in with day and night agreement will be a witness to the whole world that the time for the Groom to make war on everything that hinders His bride is here…that He is the One allowing the trouble…that this is HIS earth.
During this process one half of the world’s population will die in 3.5 years due t world war, famine, pestilence, and outright agreement with the doctrines of demons about life. The sun will grow dim, and the moon will turn blood red…the waters of the earth will spoil…and the men and women of the earth will be deeply divided between those loyal to Jesus, and those not….and all of this will swirl around a man who attempts one last great attempt at a socialist utopia with Him at the top. This is intense. Jesus wants me to be ready.
Matthew 24:44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
Jesus said when the wheat and tares mature, they will be harvested together. That means that when sin has reached its fullness, and the Bride is pure and spotless, He is coming back to divide out what is His and burn up everything else.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'"
Many wrongly think that Jesus is coming to rapture the wheat first. This is exactly opposite of what He declared. Additionally, it is entirely contrary to His nature. He wants no one to perish. Jesus is going to allow the events of the tribulation to save people, not destroy them. He is going to have a bride…many or few…that agree with Him about this. He is going to mature His Bride…giving her the context to become pure and spotless, while letting her be a witness t the whole world that HE is the way out of the trouble. Cities that have agreed with Him about preparing for this time will be safe havens in the midst f the storm.
Now is the time to find out if this is true. If it is, now is the time to begin contending for a wholehearted response to Jesus. David sought it, he wasn’t born this way!
Psalms 27:4-6 The one thing I ask of the LORD—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in His Temple. (5) For He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. (6) Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At His sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.
Jesus’ plan to accomplish restoration is intense, and it requires agreement from His Bride to accomplish it. By giving mankind dominion over the earth, God has willingly tethered Himself to us to accomplish this intense plan. The final culmination of this plan occurs over a very specific 7-year period called the “tribulation,” which the fiancé is supposed to “glory in.”
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; (4) and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
The 7-years begin with a peace covenant that impacts Israel and is “confirmed”…guaranteed…for 7 years by the world’s final gentile superpower.
The fiancé becomes the Bride when she “makes herself ready.” This is an engagement PROCESS…just like all other engagements…to get the Bride and the Groom ready to share eternity together in agreement. The Bible describes the engagement process for Jesus and His fiancé in great detail…we call it the Book of Revelation. Most people don’t see revelation this way, but it is all about a wedding. At the end the Bride has “made herself ready”
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." (8) And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
The tribulation…and even more specifically the Great Tribulation…the last 3.5 years…is Jesus’ engagement present to His fiancé. It is the context He gives her to walk victoriously in as a witness to the world that she agrees with Jesus about love…that the judgments He is allowing are better than eternity separated from Him. That life is not possible apart from Jesus…the author…the light of…life. The trouble is the context in which she: a. gets united, b. gets pure in agreement, and c. gets spotless in living.
United: the seven characteristic churches on earth BEFORE the tribulation are only called the Bride after the trouble begins in Chapter 6.
Pure: The Bride agrees with Jesus in prayer night and day for the release of the judgments in the Book, that living wholehearted for Jesus is really worth it, and that He is the one releasing the plans of the Book. That this is His creation, and that life apart from Him is not possible after this generation…it is, in fact, impossible for mankind to live apart from the source of life…He has just been very patient in allowing mankind to come to that realization. The Bride will be pure in agreement.
Spotless: in the most perverse generation, the Bride will choose to walk in an increasing measure of righteousness because she is lovesick for Jesus. Jesus said if you love me, you will obey me. Wholehearted lovers of Jesus are going to a whole new level of obedience. In fact, an entire generation of young people will be raised up by this wholehearted people, and they will “follow the lamb wherever He goes.” These kids surrounded by wholehearted adults will even forgo marriage in an effort to remove everything that hinders an all-out pursuit of Jesus. They won’t do this in a vacuum. They will be shepherded into it by all-in adults who are sick of the materialistic bent of the world. Shepherds like David, who desired One Thing:
Jeremiah 3:14-15 "Return, O backsliding children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
Jesus said, looking into the future, “if you have the privilege of living in this last generation, you have been given much, and much will be required from you”
Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
I was born into a unique generation, and like it or not, much is required of me. This requires searching out Jesus’ well documented plan to return and then making actual costly choices to agree with it. Jesus will not force anyone to respond, but missing the chance to respond will cost me something that could have been mine for eternity, and leaves me vulnerable to the risk of being so offended by what Jesus is about to allow that I would literally “fall away”…turn my back on Jesus and go the way of the world…into trusting a man-based plan.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, (2) not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. (3) Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
Many believers want the “good life” they believe they deserve simply because they were born into the most comfortable time and place the world has ever witnessed. They don’t realize they live in an intense “transitional generation”…a time very important to Jesus. They want the “American dream” AND they want revival at the same time. This, according to Jesus, is not possible, because it leaves you with a defiled goal in life…a bad eye:
Matthew 6:22-24 "Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. (23) But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (24) "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Many have a dark goal that is focused on the next 30 years, rather than the next 30 million, like Jesus. Because of this, they run the risk of entirely missing what Jesus is doing right now. Many are contending for “revival”, where we all get along, see Jesus do some cool stuff through us, and then add that to a comfortable life if at all possible. Many are excited, but Jesus want them wholehearted. Sincere love for Jesus is not the same as wholehearted. Being excited is far from being wholehearted.
Jesus likes “revival”…the mass renewal of hearts to come near Him. But revival is the OLD thing. The down payment. Jesus wants RESTORATION. He came to make ALL things new, not just our hearts:
Revelation 21:5 And the One sitting on the throne said, "Look, I am making everything new!" And then He said to me, "Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true."
The great tribulation is coming soon, I believe in years not decades. This is the final harvest. This is the time when the wheat and the tares are mature and ready to transition to the next season…the season of the 1,000 year restoration of all things. No one knows the day or hour this begins, but Jesus said the generation that sees it should know:
Matthew 24:33-34 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know His return is very near, right at the door. (34) I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.
If you are in this generation, you are supposed to know the plan…you are supposed to be ready. You are supposed to contend for the plan. The plan is to unite the Bride in the time of trouble, that she would contend night and day for her geographic location to be a city of refuge, to contend united..in one accord…night and day for the pouring out of the Spirit in signs and wonders so she can be a faithful witness to the world that God…the one with the power…is behind her and the events He is allowing…that Jesus, Her groom is the safe place to escape the trouble, and so that everyone who calls on His name will be saved:
Joel 2:11-12 The LORD is at the head of the column. He leads them with a shout. This is His mighty army, and they follow His orders. The day of the LORD is an awesome, terrible thing. Who can possibly survive? (12) That is why the LORD says, "Turn to Me now, while there is time. Give Me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Joel 2:28-32 "Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. (29) In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on servants—men and women alike. (30) And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. (31) The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the LORD arrives. (32) But everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved, for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape, just as the LORD has said. These will be among the survivors whom the LORD has called.
The signs and wonders are a means to an end. Revival isn’t the goal…restoration…God reconnected in relationship with man… is the goal:
Matthew 9:6 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!"
The Bride is going to mature in signs and wonders, and as she does, all of heaven is going to open up more and more. The veil between the supernatural and the physical is going to get thinner and thinner. Cities of refuge…places where Jesus’ followers see well in advance what He is doing and press in with day and night agreement will be a witness to the whole world that the time for the Groom to make war on everything that hinders His bride is here…that He is the One allowing the trouble…that this is HIS earth.
During this process one half of the world’s population will die in 3.5 years due t world war, famine, pestilence, and outright agreement with the doctrines of demons about life. The sun will grow dim, and the moon will turn blood red…the waters of the earth will spoil…and the men and women of the earth will be deeply divided between those loyal to Jesus, and those not….and all of this will swirl around a man who attempts one last great attempt at a socialist utopia with Him at the top. This is intense. Jesus wants me to be ready.
Matthew 24:44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
Jesus said when the wheat and tares mature, they will be harvested together. That means that when sin has reached its fullness, and the Bride is pure and spotless, He is coming back to divide out what is His and burn up everything else.
Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'"
Many wrongly think that Jesus is coming to rapture the wheat first. This is exactly opposite of what He declared. Additionally, it is entirely contrary to His nature. He wants no one to perish. Jesus is going to allow the events of the tribulation to save people, not destroy them. He is going to have a bride…many or few…that agree with Him about this. He is going to mature His Bride…giving her the context to become pure and spotless, while letting her be a witness t the whole world that HE is the way out of the trouble. Cities that have agreed with Him about preparing for this time will be safe havens in the midst f the storm.
Now is the time to find out if this is true. If it is, now is the time to begin contending for a wholehearted response to Jesus. David sought it, he wasn’t born this way!
Psalms 27:4-6 The one thing I ask of the LORD—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in His Temple. (5) For He will conceal me there when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock. (6) Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me. At His sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.
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