Revival in the
UK/Europe - Prophetic words received
They Will Return Carrying Their
Sheaves "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out
weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with
him." Psalm 126: 5,6
The Gospel departed from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and reached the ends of the
earth. If we consider the chronological order of this sequence, the "ends of the
earth" are the latest continents to receive the gospel. Brazil, Argentina, United
States, some African countries, Korea, China and Russia are examples of nations in these
continents.
Revival in the ends of the earth
When God blessed the British Isles with Revival in the past, the result was thousands
of missionaries going to the "ends of the earth". Now, there is a great harvest
being reaped in these countries. God's promise in this Psalm is that those who sow with
tears will return carrying sheaves with them.
Psalm 126 is one of the "Songs of Ascents", ma'alah, or lit. a
journey to a higher place. It points to things to happen. It says about someone leaving a
place, and as he goes, he spreads the seed. It will grow and produce fruit, but the
"movement" of this Psalm does not stop there. It says about the sheaves being
gathered and returning to the place where the sower came from. The sower is Jesus, but he
trusted his task for the Church, and the seed is the Gospel. We left Jerusalem and spread
the seed until the ends of the earth, but now God is bringing the sheaves of the harvest
back. The whole Christian world is looking at the countries in the 10x40 Window, where
Jerusalem is, as the final target for the Church.
Our
way back to Jerusalem
The way back to Jerusalem passes through the UK, the place where most of the
missionaries to the "ends of the earth" came from. Following the principle of
Psalm 126, as Britain was a place to send the seed in the past, now it is a place to
receive the sheaves back. This is why we meet so many people from the ends of the earth
here saying: "I was doing well with my church in my country, but God said to me to
leave everything and go to the UK, because there is revival coming." God is bringing
the sheaves back! But we are not stopping here. We will complete the way back. And this
path passes through the European Continent, the Eastern Europe, and the countries in the
10x40 Window.
It is a time for songs of joy. We have the testimonies of so many brave people who left
everything they had to preach the gospel somewhere else. Our country, Brazil, witnessed
missionaries being devoured by beasts, attacked by native Indians, suffering tropical
diseases, losing members of their families, being rejected and hated. Just to tell us that
we did not have to be slaves of sin anymore, but we could receive God's love through the
sacrifice of Jesus. They could be well included in the list of the "Heroes of
Faith" in Hebrews 11.
A
greater revival in the UK
God prospered this good seed, sowed with tears. Brazil has been witnessing thousands
getting saved everyday (To know more of what is happening in Brazil: go to The Brazilian Revival), and God is changing the
nations that received British missionaries. However, as God brings back the sheaves to the
UK, what will happen here will be like the summing up of what is happening in each one of
these places. It will be greater and stronger, in such a way that will spread all over the
European Continent and the 10x40 Window.
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears
say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take
the free gift of the water of life." Rev 22:17
The 'younger' and 'older' sons invited for the same
party
In Luke 15, when the younger son comes back home, he planned to say to his father:
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son; make me like one of your hired men." But when he comes to his dad,
before he says the last part of it, he is interrupted by him, who will quicken his
servants to bring the new clothes, sandals and the ring (signs of sonship), and to prepare
a party. The father never allowed him to say "make me one of your hired men",
because he was not willing to have another worker, but his son back.
The older son found difficult to welcome his brother back, because he thought that he
was the one who should deserve recognition. He was working hard for that, and grace was
something that he could not understand.
The
rebellion of the servants
Paulo Borges (Sal da Terra Fellowship, Brazil) shared once about the "Rebellion of
the Servants". We can mention Cain and Abel, two brothers who had different reactions
towards our Father in heaven. The younger one offered life before God's Altar, and was
accepted, but the older one offered the fruit of his hard work on the fields. When his
offer was rejected, he rebelled against God and killed his brother.
Joseph was the youngest in his house, and because of his special relationship with
Jacob his father, his brothers hated him (Gen 36:4). Like with the lost son in Luke 15,
his dad gave him a richly ornamented robe, as a sign of his love. Finally they consumed
their rebellion trying to kill Joseph.
In Luke 10, Martha opened her home to receive Jesus. While she was busy with her work,
her sister Mary made an option for relationship, and sat at Jesus' feet. Jesus was not so
impressed by Martha's effectiveness as she would like, but was delighted to teach
"lazy" Mary. It brought rebellion in Martha's heart, and she rebuked Him because
of that. Jesus will say that all that stress was not necessary. Only one thing is needed,
and it is not our hard work, but our relationship with Him.
Restoring
workers as sons
The words of the good father to his older son in Luke 15 could well be the words of God
to Cain, to Joseph's brothers, to Martha, and to you and me: "My
SON, you are always with Me, and everything I have is yours." This man
was angry because, in his understanding, he had been slaving for his father and never
disobeyed his orders. He did everything he was supposed to do, but in his own words, he
was living as a slave. He could not grasp that he was a son, not a hired man, not a slave.
He did not have to work to deserve his father's presence, because, although he could not
recognize it, he was already with his father. He was killing himself trying to deserve a
young goat, but he forgot that when his father divided his property between both sons, he
was given half of it. However, he never really believed in that. Grace was beyond his
understanding.
When God spoke to us about the Church in the UK, he said that this church was like the
one in Ephesus: A church of deeds, hard work and perseverance (Rev 2.2), but like the
older son of Jesus' story, a church to be restored in her first love. God wants to restore
our IDENTITY as sons and daughters of him, and He says: "My
SON... "; He wants to restore our
understanding that He never left us, nor forsook us, and He says: "...you
are always with Me..."; He wants to restore our understanding that He
gave us everything through His son Jesus, and He says: "...everything
I have is yours."
God is preparing a party in the UK, because the lost children are coming back home. Are
we ready to party with them? Can we leave our mind-set of work and effectiveness to
prioritize relationships? Are we aware of our identity, our place with the Father, and
what we have in Him? Only a grateful heart can celebrate. We can only be grateful to our
Father if we know who we are, where we are and what we have in Him.
Reopening the well that our forefathers dug
Many nations drunk from the British Spiritual well in the past. However, like the well
that Abraham dug (Gen 26.18), the enemy blocked the British springs.
Isaac had to reopen the well, so people could drink from this source
again. God is bringing back the Spiritual sons of Britain, so together, we can have the
water flowing again.
A time to mend our nets for the last fishing
The church started with the ministry of Peter in Acts 2. When Jesus called Peter, he
was letting the nets down for fishing. But the words for the last days came through John
(Revelation). When Jesus called John, he was mending nets with his Father. The ministry
for the last days is a ministry of mending nets - forming, restoring and strengthening
relationships.
A church to be restored in her first love
Like the British Church, the church in Ephesus was amongst the most important ones of
its time. It was perseverant, wise, brave, wealthy, and the mother of other churches.
However, Jesus says that she had to be restored in her first love for Him (Rev 2:4).
The Bride's passion for the Bridegroom has to be revived, so the fruit of this
relationship can be released. |
