I had a dream in which I saw the church being persecuted. This dream speaks of persecution. At first, I could not understand how a warning of persecution fitted with many promises of revival. After studying the scriptures, I began to see how the two go together. The following table explains the role of persecution and revival as the church goes down the pathway from spiritual poverty to victory.

Pathway from Spiritual Poverty

to the

Kingdom of God

Church

World

Spiritual Poverty

Materialism

Preparation

Spiritual Hunger

Apathy

Spiritual Refreshing

Shaking

Focused Fellowship

Political Populism

Battle

Confrontation

Resistance

Persecution

Hostility

Holiness

Judgement

Victory

Spiritual Outpouring

Repentance

Evangelism

Harvest

Victory

Transformation

Kingdom of God

This table sets out a pathway from spiritual poverty to victory. The cells from top to bottom show what must be passed through. The church must go through each of these stages to get to our goal. There are three broad stages: preparation, battle and victory. We must understand how we should live at each of these stages.

The left-hand side describes the state of the church. Each cell describes an experience that the church must pass through. The state of the church has an effect on the world.

The right-hand side describes how the world responds to the church at each stage. For example, the current spiritual poverty of the church has produced materialism in the world. Each cell on the right describes a stage that the world must pass through.

To read this page, work through the cells from top to bottom and left to right. Read each of the hyperlinks to find out more about each stage.