Nevertheless, God established whole new truths about the laying on of hands; of Fivefold ministry; the restoration of the tabernacle of David; the restoration of sons of God; adoption (spiritual adoption); impartation - a whole range of truths. They paid a price, so we can come into that real easy. However, to grow it - you've got to pay a price; because you've got to take what God has given and develop it.
There have been other moves of God, moves of the Spirit - and most of them have been quite local. There was the charismatic move (which was a global one), and that restored again the flow of the Spirit, the gifts - the home group ministry all fired up under that.
That become a very pastoral movement, and it was meant to change the churches; but in the end, with a lot of these movements when they come - some receive and go on; while others fight it. There's a conflict; then you find a parting of the ways, and something new starts.
In the last 50 years, God has been moving much more quickly; so in the 1950s what He started off (what was birthed out of the 1948 revival) was a restoration of the Five-fold ministries - the truth of it. In the 1950s, a whole group of evangelists began to rise up, globally - all over the world evangelists rose up - healing evangelists, great crusades. In America, and in every kind of country, there were great crusades; evangelists preaching the gospel; people being saved, miracles, wonderful miracles.
In the '60s, there came the whole pastoral movement - cell groups; and some of the charismatic men become the big thing. If you're in church, you went into a small group, you were in a cell group, and there was sharing and so on.
In the '70s there was the teaching movement, so people had teaching. Every church you went to there were teachers, you just got imbedded in teaching. What tends to happen is that church exaggerates the thing that God has given, and then loses perspective, or ends up polarised - that that's the deal and there's no more.
In the 1980s the prophetic movement started, so prophets began to emerge. There were prophetic conferences, prophetic training sessions, all kinds of things like that began to emerge. Then everyone thought the prophets were the big deal.
In the 1990s the apostles started to emerge - church planting, church pioneers; so it's quite clear that God has been doing something over 50 years.
The question you've got to ask is: what next? If you don't look and see what He's been doing, then you won't think He's doing anything. You'll just think: I'll turn up on Sunday; and you'll have no perspective. Without perspective you can't make good decisions.
We need God's perspective to make decisions and choices; so if God has been moving in that kind of way over the last 50 years - what is it moving towards?
Ephesians 4:11 – “He gave those ministries for equipping of the saints for the work of ministry”.
The big shift is not about apostles and prophets and pastors and teaches - it's not about them! It's about the people they're supposed to raise up - it's about you.
The next great move is the Day of the Saints - it's the day of God's people getting out of the church and doing something. That's where God is moving; that's what God is on!
You could say: “I just want to hold back and have lovely meetings, have prophecies and laying on of hands, and blah blah blah.” Go back to the '80s! If you want to stay there that's fine - but God moves on; and we become irrelevant - totally irrelevant.
Are we blessed? Yes - but we're not in the river of God, not in the flow where God is moving. God is clearly, making it clear globally, that in this hour - it's about visions and dreams; about people being equipped; going into the community; about works of mercy and compassion.
It's about going into the various pillars of society, and starting to make an impact where you are. It's about actually taking the life of God out of the church; so the church is about where you come to worship God and be equipped - and out there is where you do ministry.