Mike Bickle shares a prophetic dream about the end-time conflict described in Revelation 12, emphasizing the need for the church to deepen its understanding and faith in preparation for the challenges ahead. The dream serves as a warning to the IHOP leadership and the broader church, illustrating a scenario where, in the face of demonic forces, panic ensues instead of prayer and authority. Bickle stresses that living understanding and faith are crucial for the church to operate in power during the end times, as the church's final hour will require a mature response to the intense spiritual warfare. He encourages believers to actively seek a deeper relationship with God and to prepare for the coming challenges with urgency and faith.

Let's pray. Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus for the light of your countenance to shine on our spirit tonight. Lord, I ask you for living understanding. I ask you for impartation. And I thank you in the name of Jesus. Amen. Go ahead and turn to Revelation 12. This morning, I had a very long and powerful, powerful in the sense it was compelling to me. It was still resting on me. Prophetic dream about the end time conflict that's described in Revelation chapter 12 and the victorious church operating in power in the midst of it. But it was, the dream was mostly a correction to me and to the IHOP leadership. It was a preventive correction. It was warning us to go deep and stay focused that we didn't have the measure of understanding and faith that we hoped we had at this hour. So it was really a dream to me and the IHOP leadership team, but I'll let everybody else that could be edified by it take it. I'm going to read a bit of it because the dream just went on and on for just hours and just throughout the night. And so I just want to highlight certain parts of it. Paragraph A, I was speaking at a large prayer conference. Now this is, I don't expect this is an actual conference that I'll speak at someday because prophetic dreams are often symbolic. You don't press the details in the prophetic dreams, but you look for the message in them. So I don't anticipate this being an actual conference that I'll ever go to, but I was speaking at a large prayer conference and it was in a big fairgrounds, huge fairgrounds, you know, miles and miles. And there was a baseball park, a large one in the fairgrounds and about 40,000 people were in this large baseball stadium. And I was speaking in the afternoon sessions on prayers, a prayer conference, and many leaders and the people in their streams, many leaders from different streams in the body of Christ, particularly those that would be identified as charismatic streams. And I focused in on one man, a man that I have tremendous esteem for and affection and respect for, Bill Johnson. Some of you know Bill Johnson and he represented many ministries. I don't think it was him particularly. He was a symbol of many ministries and what he symbolized and it was clear to me in the dream, he symbolized leaders in the body of Christ in these various streams that are contending to move in the power of God. I mean they're going a hundred percent to operate in the power of God and they have an excellent spirit. Now those of you that that know Bill, you know that he is known for his humility and his meekness and his generous spirit. And I could think of several other leaders that come to mind when I think of that kind of characteristic. I think of John Arnett in Toronto, tremendous man. John and Carol, they contend for the power of God and they have an excellent spirit. Reinhard Bonnke. I think of Wendy Alec who is, you know, going on the line all the way to see the power break forth across the earth. Anyway, I could go on and on. But the, and many, many leaders were there. I didn't see the, the faces of other leaders but I knew many streams were present. But Bill was the premier example of a man with an excellent spirit that was giving his all for the power of God and that was a very positive reality. And we were all enjoying fellowship together. All these different streams. I remember being struck how friendly and kind. I mean, you know, you know, maybe 50 or 100 streams in the body of Christ. All different, you know, parts of the body that were focusing on the prophetic, focusing on the power of God. And we were all there together having a great time, enjoying a warm fellowship. They asked me to speak in the afternoon sessions. I had two sessions. And so I was preaching on prayer and the power of God and the end-time judgments of God and how the three of them all come together. And so I spoke one session, took a break, spoke the second session. And during the break of these 40,000 people, and again there might have been 50 to 100 streams of the body of Christ, all these leaders, international leaders, and it was a great time. A lot of folks were debating and it was a actually an enjoyable, friendly debate. IHOP people were debating with people from other streams. People in other streams were debating each other and it was a friendly, warm debate. They were saying, what about this verse and what about that verse? And they all had their Bibles out and it was actually, I remember being struck by the humility and the kindness that everybody had. I thought, this is a miracle. This is beautiful. I mean, zero hostility that I could see. And I remember being struck by it. I thought, wow, this is, this is the power of God in itself. And I have here at the bottom of paragraph B, it was enjoyable. Everybody was enjoying it. It was intellectually stimulating, but this was the negative. None of the points of view, including IHOP, was imparting faith to anybody. It was just all kind of cool, intellectually stimulating, putting the puzzle together and having fun and enjoying it. And the Holy Spirit stirred my heart. Even my own speaking was not imparting living understanding and power. And so I was going, uh-huh, I was struck by this. Again, I want to emphasize, because this dream was really about IHOP and the Lord refocusing us in a, in a more precise way in this stage of our journey. Paragraph C. Then the suddenly came. The suddenly. I, we come back, I do the second session. It's, it's just at the end of the second session. I'm getting ready to start a ministry time. And suddenly the most horrifying thing takes place. And with 40,000 of us, we look up. And the events described in Revelation chapter 12, verse 7 to 9, or 7, actually through the chapter, they broke out. They suddenly began to happen. Now again, I don't expect to be at a prayer conference with a bunch of leaders and this event happened at that time. I believe all that's just symbolic. Revelation chapter 12. Let me read the scene that John prophesied. Now this is actually going to happen literally, not figuratively. It's in the future and it's going to be real. And it's, it's so intense. It's almost, I mean, it's difficult to lay hold of, except the Holy Spirit connects our heart to it. It says in Revelation 12, verse 7. And John's prophesying. He's describing an end time series of events. War broke out in heaven. And Michael the archangel and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon is clearly the devil. It says it in just a moment. And the dragon and his angels, their fallen angels, their demons were fighting against Michael. This is all happening in the heavenly realm. Now this very type of battle happened in Daniel chapter 10. That's a famous chapter for those of you that have studied prayer and warfare over the years. In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel's praying and fasting on the earth and a big angel comes and is warring against the demon principality. And this angel is not breaking through. And then Michael the archangel breaks in and helps him because Daniel's praying. So Daniel's praying and this good angel cannot, cannot drive the demonic principality from his position of power over Persia, over Iran, modern day Iran. And so this angel's going, come on Daniel, I'm, keep praying, keep praying. I can't push this big demon out of the way. And then because of Daniel's prayer, Michael comes. Michael the archangel and possibly, there's other events going on we don't really know. But Michael drives this big demon prince. A demon prince is a principality. Now many of you are aware that in the spirit realm there are, there are demonic, there is a demonic hierarchy over cities and nations. Over every city there's a demonic power responsible to establish strongholds in that city. There's demonic powers. They're called principalities. That means a high-ranking demonic spirit, demonic principalities over nations or geographic areas. Now there's angels as well over cities and nations. And the angels, the good angels and the, and the fallen angels, which are demons, demons are fallen angels, the good angels and the fallen angels, they war against each other to the degree that the prayer, that the saints pray on the earth. When the saints pray more, more angels war against the bad, the fallen angels. Well that's what's going on. But we don't see the prayer end in Revelation 12 in this passage. Now we know throughout the book of Revelation the prayers are going, ascending to God in great numbers, in great authority, in, in an intensity, in an authority, in a faith never known in history. Prayer is ascending during the book of Revelation events like no time in history. But John sees Michael and a multitude of angels, not just fighting a principality, but he's fighting against Satan himself and all the principalities. I mean this is the mightiest battle taking place between angels in history. Verse 8, Satan the dragon and all of his angels, that means all the demonic principalities over every nation. I mean there's 232 nations of the earth. They all have a principality and probably principalities over major cities within that nation. Verse 8, the demonic powers and principalities did not prevail, which that's good. They lost. But that's the good news, they lost. But there's a downside, very temporary downside, that there was not found a place for them in the heavens anymore. So they were cast down to the earth and they're confined to the earth and their hostility on the earth is intensified. So verse 8, they did not prevail. These demonic powers and principalities and all the lower ranking demons. And a place was not found for them in the heavens any longer. Right now the demonic principalities are in the heavenly places according to Ephesians 6, 12 and several other places. The demons, the powerful ones, are in the spirit realm, in the mid heavens, warring against the events of the righteous on the earth. Verse 9, so the great dragon, that's satan, the devil, the serpent of old was cast out. He was cast to the earth and his angels, that means all the demons were all cast to the earth. So we're talking about billions, billions of demons confined to the earth against their will. And we'll look at in a few moments later, they're really angry about this, really angry. And they're raging against the inhabitants of the earth. So what is happening as I finish the second session in this prayer conference, Back to the Dream, because I'm aware of this passage and this passage is clearly in my mind. And so I'm getting ready to, you know, finish it and have a ministry time and suddenly we all look up and there are these huge demonic spirits descending from heaven to the earth but they're coming to that conference as well. Not in particular, they're coming, they're descending all over the earth but they're coming right in our midst. And these demonic principalities, I don't know what rank of demonic angel I was looking at but I just assumed they were principalities. I'm meaning high-ranking ones. There's various categories and orders and I don't have great insight into that but there's several different categories listed in Ephesians 6, 12. But anyway, they look like large snakes but and they were literally in the sky and all of our eyes could see them, all the 40,000 plus everyone in the city, everyone could see them. They were not just large snakes, they were a hundred yards, the size of a football field. I'm not talking about a snake the size of this building. I'm talking about the snake the size of a football field. And I say, and I have in the notes here about 50 feet thick or I mean about the width of this building, 50 more. I'm just saying 50, I didn't know but it was huge and they were coming down with such cruelty in their face and such evil and they were very, very angry. They were being not, they were not being relocated to the earth. It says here in Revelation 12 they're cast to the earth, meaning it's against their will. They just lost a strategic battle over human history and they're being confined to the earth and three and a half years later they all know they're going to be cast into prison in the bottomless pit. So they come to the earth first and then they're going to be cast in the bottomless pit second for prison and then after that thrown into the lake of fire. So they know after this event it's all downhill from there. Now they had a large, each one of these big snakes had like a dragon-like head. I mean the the head of the dragon was like about half the size of this room. It was huge! It was just inconceivable to me and the, so my sermon is over, my message and we all look up and we are terrified. We are terrified. Now you would think having just preached on prayer, everybody stirred up, nobody prayed to rebuke those demons. Everybody, me included, we ran. We ran. People, there was just hysteria. There was panic and some were just terrorized. Everybody was in a panic in the sense of let's just get out of here. Nobody said calm down, got on the microphone and said let's get the prayer of agreement and bind the power of this and drive it away from these fairgrounds. There's this vast fairgrounds. I mean we, I mean the the prayers of the saints is actually causing these demons to be cast to the earth, but they didn't need to be cast on us because they were coming down biting people and it was terrifying and all and the saints were in panic. I mean they, they, they were kind of in a frenzied, not calm, gathered, unified, praying against it, but scattering. Nobody apparently, I mean there might have been an exception, but I certainly wasn't the exception. Nobody had that I could see, had the depth of understanding or the maturity of faith to take the microphone in the sense of gathering all the people in unity and say hey, the composure, let's use the name of Jesus and take authority over this. Nobody did that. They were all running for their lives. I ran and I felt the terror of the event. They were coming down biting people and it was terrible. It was terrible. They were so cruel and evil. The leaders were running. I don't know if all of them were, but I assume. I, I didn't stop and count. I was running. So you know, I don't want to read into it and say there wasn't one among us who didn't stand. I don't want to add that to it because the message was mostly about me and all the IHOP leaders were running and not together. We were all in each to his own. I mean, that's funny, but I was sad by this because after I woke up, I thought, I think, I, you know, after I wake up, I said, Lord, I wish I would have had the composure to make sure some of the others got out, but I got out first and I thought I was ashamed of that actually. I felt sad that that was my response. Most of the people, the 40,000, if not all of them, I don't know, most were in confusion, including the whole IHOP group was there in the vast majority. Now, if we have understanding, understanding is critical. Some people think understanding is just getting the data right on the Bible charts, the end time charts. If you can put the right events in the right place, you have understanding. No, biblical information like that is helpful, but that's not the essential issue. Having living understanding is what causes our spirit to be calm so that instead of running, we stop our spirits calm and we actually get in a place of faith and we call on the Holy Spirit's power. But if you don't have understanding, you may not stop and reach for faith in that hour because without understanding, I mean, it was horrific beyond anything I've never seen a scene like this. It's inconceivable the magnitude of evil. Now, this event in Revelation 12 of the Satan coming down is real. It's really going to happen and the church will really be on the earth and my assumption is we will really see it, really see it. Now, will they look like 100 yard snakes? I don't know because in a prophetic dream, you don't press the details. You don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. I'm not that concerned what they look like, but I have the assumption, it's not a Bible doctrine, that when this happens, we, I'm talking about the believers and unbelievers, billions of people will actually see this with their natural eyes because the demons will be on the earth and they will be manifesting to the natural eye and releasing power, but the church will operate in power like no time in history in that hour. It will be the church's final, finest hour. Now, we, you don't wait till then. You know, you don't wait and, you know, and start with 500 pounds on the weights. You start with 10 pounds and work up to 50 and work up to 100 and you build your faith. Nobody starts with the, you know, 500 pounds on, on a certain weight exercise. The world champion might do that, but they started years ago with 10, 20, 30 pounds. So we don't say, well, we get there and then we'll see what happens because the, the spiritual principle, again, it was a prophetic dream, is symbolic. I don't, again, expect it to be like this, but the idea is, is that the people were, because they were in, they did not have understanding, even those that had data, data information about the end times is not the same thing as living understanding. And IHOP did not have living understanding. We were as frenzied and panicked as everybody else was. But again, understanding is what causes you to have calm in your soul when you got spiritual understanding and then you reach to God in faith and you operate according to his will at that point in time. So understanding and faith, they go hand in hand. I mean, they overlap for sure, but there's a point where you stop and you say in the name of Jesus, but you don't even get to that point of, of, of common and composure if you're fleeing in panic. And Jesus said, Luke 21, verse 26, he said that fear, fear will, will be the predominant emotion or response across the earth. Fear, men will faint for fear. Luke 21, verse 26, paragraph F. Now John goes on now to describe more of the scene. And I, this is literal, this is really going to happen in the future. And I believe this will happen in the lifetime of some of you in this room. I believe this will actually happen in the lifetime of some of you in this room. These events, John said, verse 12, whoa, I mean, he records this, the, the, uh, uh, sentiment of heaven, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth, whoa, to the people who live on the earth, whoa, to the people, the inhabitants in the sea, those that are on, uh, uh, ships and, and, and involved in sea trade for the devil has come down to you. Now this, the devil comes down regularly through his demons and, and even the devil himself will come on the earth. Occasionally, you know, I don't know details about that, but I assume that's how it operates, but the devil is coming down in the long-term sense, not for a visit on his own terms. He's being confined to the earth for three and a half years. Then he goes to prison for a thousand years. Then he goes to the lake of fire after that. Whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth, revelation 12, verse 12, for the devil has come down to you and he has great wrath or the NIV says fury. He's very angry. He is so angry. Why? Because his time is short. He's three and a half years from going into prison. He doesn't want to go to prison and his prison sentence is described in Revelation chapter 20. You could just read it on your own, where he's bound in chains and put in a, in the pit for, for 1,000 years. Verse 17, now the dragon, which is the devil, was enraged. He went to make war with those that have the testimony of Jesus. He was enraged, so he decided to wipe out the church. Because the praying church is, has some role. I mean, it's Jesus's death on the cross and his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father 2,000 years ago, why he's defeated. But the praying church is related, is related to the release of that defeat in the earthly way. So he's going after the saints to make war with them. He's very, very angry at the saints. Going back to the dream, paragraph G. So these multitudes of these large snakes, they were everywhere on the horizon. I could see them, you know, as far as my eye could see, descending, you know, in cities far away, wherever. And again, I don't know what ranking of principality and power, maybe all different levels of ranking, but they were coming down in such large numbers and smaller ones besides these large ones, smaller demons. And there was this soot, there was this wet, this is the best I can come up with, muddy, thick ash that was descending in large quantities like rain. It was coming down with them. And the people all over the fairgrounds, it was a very large fairgrounds, they were leaving the ballpark and trying to get out of the fairgrounds. I don't know where we were running because it was happening everywhere, but we were running anyway. And this thick, muddy ash was descending and coming on everybody. And the sky was darkened, and this ash was falling on everybody, and it was terrible. Finally, I made it, you know, you know, I'm just guessing, maybe a mile. I mean, I'm really going. I've been going for a while. I make it to the out of the park. And again, I don't, in a dream, it's kind of irrational. Why do I want to get out of the park? Because this is a global thing, but it seemed so intense in that park. And maybe because we were having a prayer conference, there was a particular focus. I don't know. Many did not get out, and these snakes were biting them. Okay, top of page two, paragraph H, for those that are following on the handout. And the reason I wrote this down, because I want you to be able to read it and recall it. Then I finally get to the edge of the fairground. You know, I'm just guessing a mile away. It was quite a run. And there were these policemen there, and they were evil. And this muddy ash was not falling on them. And they told me, go back into the fairgrounds, or we're going to put you in jail. I said, no. Do you know what's going on in there? And they had an evil look in their eyes, says, we don't care. Go back in, or we will put you in jail. Because I was thinking they might be helpful. And so it strikes me they're a part of the Antichrist systems. Well, you know, because there's various expressions of that in the end times. Now I was in a dilemma. I had thought, I just escaped from the most intense danger imaginable, and I have to go back into it. So what struck me, there was no way out of this crisis in the natural. Because I escaped, and then I ran into the political, I mean the, the police authorities. And they were going to put me in prison. I said, there's no way out of this in the natural. The only way out of this is by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now I'm standing there by the police, and they're threatening me, you better run back in the middle of that, you know, that intensified fairgrounds where these demonic principalities were descending. And I was looking at the police thinking, I don't know what to do. I don't want to go with these guys with handcuffs, because they were getting their handcuffs out. I go, I'm not going with them. They are really bad news. But I don't want to go back in there. And I'm thinking to myself right there, I wish, I was thinking, oh I wish we, I'm talking IHOP now, because all the IHOP people were scattered everywhere. And I'm assuming they were in the same dilemmas on the other side of the park or wherever they were. I said, I wish we would have taken the events of Revelation 12 more seriously years earlier. That we would have really imagined that human history would come to this point of intensity. I was wishing we had prepared by going deeper in God, by taking hold of the things of the Spirit in a more focused, in a tenacious way, in the early days. And I believe we're in the early days. I believe we're some decades away from this. But I remember thinking, I wish we would have taken the intensity of these events more seriously 10, 20, 30 years ago. I didn't have a date. I'm just saying in the early days. And I say to myself, because we had all these debates just, you know, a little bit earlier after my, in the break of my prayer session. We had a prayer. I gave a teaching. We took a break. You know, maybe, you know, a half hour break and we're all talking. I said, I said to myself, the debate about the power of God is much bigger than the power we actually walk in. Because everybody had theories about how it would work, because no one knew it would break in suddenly that afternoon. And I said to myself, because it struck me when I woke up, I said, the debates about the power of God are far bigger than the power we operate in today. And that was a statement to me. I mean, the Lord wasn't correcting someone else. He was talking to me in this dream. This dream was to me about me, but as a good friend, if I'm miserable, I want to bring you into this conviction with me. No, I want us all in this thing, but it was real clear who he's talking to. And I woke up with urgency. I mean, it was a stunning, I was just there in my bed, you know, at 2.30 in the morning. And I just said, we have to go after Jesus and operate in greater faith today with greater zeal than ever before. Paragraph J, when I woke up, I was clear, this is a positive note, that this is not the condition the body of Christ will be in that day. But the Lord was showing me, this is what will happen, this is what would happen if that day came right now. And I understood, I was very aware, the Lord is, was saying, it's not going to happen right now. But if it would, this is the chaos my people would be in. And so I, I was like, oh, I'm so glad this is a dream. It was so vivid. You've had dreams like that, where the power of the Holy Spirit is so real. And I woke up, I went, oh, yes, yes, it's a dream. This is good. But there will be many in the body of Christ, many, many, many that will be in faith and understanding in that day. And again, I think it's some decades away. But you don't start lifting 500 pounds the day of the event. Again, you work up for years and years, you grow in your understanding, you grow in your faith by exercising it day by day. Paragraph K, the message of the dream. I mean, it's, I'm saying the message several ways. I'm making kind of the same point each time. IHOP needs to be more urgent in going deep in our walk with Jesus. We need to be more urgent in growing in faith now, today, February 209, not even March 209, but today, tonight. And we need to eat the scroll. And of course, those of you that are around here, that's a phrase from Revelation 10, where the angel gives John the apostle the little book, or in one passage it's called a scroll. And, and they, and the angel told John to eat it, which means to digest the truth about the end times, to eat the scroll. So in Revelation 10, John was commanded to eat the scroll. In other words, to assimilate understanding about the end times. And Ezekiel was told the same thing, Ezekiel 2 and 3. He was told by the angel, eat the scroll. So I, the message was, we need to go deep in our walk with Jesus. We need to go, we need to be serious about growing in faith in an intentional way. And we need to keep eating the scroll. Because again, if you have understanding, instead of panicking, that everyone's first response, seemingly everyone, again I don't know that it was everyone, but their first response, they were fleeing because it was terror, be, it was more terrorizing than you could fathom. More than you could have fathomed. I mean this, everybody was almost paralyzed with fear. And if you have living understanding, you go, wait a second, this is part of the plan. We win, we know what's going on. Instead of bolting in a panic, you stand and you reach to the Holy Spirit and to the Word of God and Jesus and you operate in faith right there. You say, wait a second, no, no, we don't have to flee. We have authority over this demon. They're coming down, but they don't have to come down on me. They go down somewhere else. I mean, for real, we want, I believe God for geographic areas, which are large geographic zones of the glory of God, where the demons don't operate in those zones. I really believe this. I believe there'll be supernatural provision, like when Moses was in the wilderness, after the slaves of the children of Israel were free from slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh, when they went out there, the water came out of a rock. Moses spoke to the rock and water came out. Food showed up every day. There was a pillar of fire and a cloud and the demons didn't get in that glory zone. Three million of the children of Israel, three million of them were protected. And I would believe that that is a prototype of different geographic regions all over the earth. So the fact that we're at a prayer conference and we're being targeted and nobody stood, but they all fled, that's not good. Because you know, I'm probably like some of you, I imagine things like this and I'm always kind of really resolute in my faith. You know, I'm taking authority, but in the dream I fled, like, oh wait, what happened? That's not right, that's not good. Because I imagine myself having a different response. Again, it's a prophetic, symbolic dream. It's not actual and the Lord is saying, this is how it will be some years, nobody knows how long, if these events happened and the body of Christ was in the state it's in right now, this is where you would all be, you included. Jeremiah 23, verse 20. This is a passage that I refer to regularly. It says that the anger of the Lord, the anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed all the thoughts of His heart. And it says in Jeremiah 23, verse 20, in the latter days you will understand this perfectly. There will be a people, and I don't mean one little group. I'm talking about millions and millions worldwide. There will be a people all over the earth that love the name of Jesus, that in the latter days they will understand God's plan and His battle plan. They will understand it perfectly. And I think the word perfectly, we would be, we would interpret that as in a mature way. It doesn't mean like every single detail will be known to the nth degree, but it means in the latter days there will be a people, and again millions of believers in many streams in the body of Christ, that will understand this perfectly. Because we're all in this thing together. Now these different leaders that were in this stadium, we're all in this thing together. We're going after the power of God. And again they were from 50 or 100 streams and, and there was a love and a humility. We're in this thing together as shepherds across the body of Christ. And no one has all the details right. And we will all get, uh, fine-tuned as the decades unfold. All of us will change some of our perspectives. All of us will. Because nobody has it clear right now. We all have it at best broad strokes. So we're all in this together. Those that think this and they think that, they all love Jesus. They all love the power of the Holy Spirit. Even the guys that don't love the power of the Holy Spirit, they will. I mean if they love Jesus in the word, they will. They'll say you know what, that Holy Spirit stuff that we were against all these years, we're for it now. And others will say, you know all this, get ready to resist the great oppressor that's rising up. We didn't think he would. Well he's risen up, guess what, we're in now. So don't get all concerned about who believes in the gifts of the Spirit and who believes this about the end times or that. We're all in this thing together. The people who love Jesus that live in humility and meekness. And this whole stadium was full of people like this. Paragraph L. Then I, it was clear to me that I hop, and I'm focusing on us, but other streams as well. We had empty arguments. Empty arguments about God's power and the end time drama. What I mean by empty arguments, they were fun. They were intellectually stimulating, but they didn't produce impartation. We didn't have impartation and neither did the other groups. So at the end of the day, it was Bible jeopardy moving information around, enjoying fellowship together. It didn't prepare anybody to move in greater power in the end of the debates. They were empty. They were not evil, but they were empty. They didn't actually cause a vital, a vitality in people's faith and understanding to grow. Whether the, they were arguing in this direction or the other direction, whether they were in between or had half and half, nobody in that dream was, their message was producing a vital understanding and faith that actually was more than just Bible information that was fun to talk about. And the Lord was saying, it's not going to be enough. He was telling me this in the dream. You must have living understanding. You must have your spirit engaged with the Holy Spirit, not just at meetings and not just at the, you know, the, the healing outreach. You need to live engaged with the spirit and feeding on the word, you know, as a lifestyle that you don't take breaks from. You know, we don't do IHOP and then in our free time, we go do the other stuff. And then later than the next day, we come back and do IHOP. That ends up nothing at the end of the day because our relationship with the Holy Spirit has to get to a place where it's sustained and matured. Paragraph M, we're just simply as a, as a people, and I don't say this mean, I mean, I like IHOP, I like us. It was clear we're just too immature to debate theoretical debates. We're, in this dream, we were just too immature. And the Lord was saying, set your face towards me and my word, you know, be kind to everybody, but don't entertain all of these ideas because there's a lot of debating that will happen in the next decade or two. Don't even go there, not because you're better than that, because you don't really know enough to make a difference to the people you're debating with. That's what it was. It wasn't that where we were beyond it, like, you know, let the poor little, whatchamacallits, you know, go debate, whatever, and we won't. No, the Lord's saying, you don't have enough to debate with that would impart to anybody that would actually change them in a dramatic way that would meet the crisis of what's coming. And I was, yes, yes, Lord. Another dream, the Lord was warning me to set my face towards Him, paragraph M, to set my face towards His word, to refuse the temptation to get Bible information so I could look good and present myself as, you know, I really got it together, and the Lord says, throw that away. There is an urgent hour coming to the planet. The greatest revival in history and the greatest crisis are coming together. It will be more intense than we can imagine. Those with the greatest insight in the end times, and I say this with no false humility, those with the greatest insight that I know, myself and the others, scale of one to ten, we're a one. Nobody's an eight. We're a one. And the Lord's saying, don't even, you don't have a clue how intense and real this will be and how great the power will be. It will be sufficient to transition human history to the age to come. Beloved, it's not going into a kind of a new season, you know, just kind of a new fad or a new kind of a season in history in this, in this traditional sense. We are transitioning, the planet is, to the age to come. And there's a intensity of events that are positive and negative that are a part of the birth-paying process of transitioning the planet under Jesus' leadership to the age to come. And it is radical and dramatic beyond anything we can imagine. One of the best examples, but this is even not even sufficient, is Noah. I've given this example many times. The Lord tells Noah, it's going to rain. Most of you know, there had never been rain up to that time in history. The water, the ground was watered from beneath. It never came from above, ever. He tells him, the Lord tells Noah, build a boat. There are no boats. Build a boat. What's a boat? And it's going to rain. What's rain? It had never rained before. We're talking about unprecedented. There is nothing to compare it to, but it says in Hebrews chapter 11, I believe it's verse 7, that he was warned by the Lord and he acted in godly fear. And he said, okay, I don't know what a boat is and I don't know what rain is, but I know what your voice is. And he obeyed, beloved, not a decade, not two decades, a hundred and twenty years. He is staying steady and the neighbors are absolutely finished with Noah. 20, 30, 40 years, not an ounce of rain. 50, 60 years, not an ounce of rain. 89 years, not an ounce of rain, no hint of rain. Noah, what Noah did made no sense till it started to rain. Then the foolish, the most foolish man on the earth is suddenly within one minute the wisest man on the planet. Beloved, the book of Revelation, those events that are prophesied for our benefit, there is nothing comparable to them, far beyond what Moses did with Pharaoh in terms of releasing the power of God. We're talking unprecedented and it will take, Hebrews 11 verse 7, godly men and women that are moved by the fear of God. Hebrews 11 verse 7. And they're moved by the fear of God and they obey God and they stay steady. Now I've been studying this for some years now and I am, I, you know, I exercise my mind in trying to imagine these events. I pray about them, I talk to the Lord about them, I give me insight. What I saw this morning was so many levels higher than anything I ever imagined. I would, you know, I just said, Lord, I don't know anything. I mean, it was dramatic and it was powerful and real. I believe, I'm assuming, again, believers and unbelievers together, I mean, both groups will see this event with their natural eyes or at least some part of it, maybe not every part of the, of Satan coming down and all the demons. That is, that is just beyond anything we can imagine. Paragraph O, forerunners must begin to hear the now word of the Lord. And I'm saying to the Lord after this dream, of course we've been saying this for some time, many of us, the now word of the Lord must be confirmed with power now. Lord, how are the forerunners going to get serious without without power packing up the forerunner message? Many people in the church in the West, Western world, they are focused on becoming culturally relevant. And that is a good value, actually. I believe there's many wrong applications to that value. But the value of being relevant is good. That means you make it easier for people to understand. And what happens often in the quest for relevance, people dumb down the message and throw out the message and they just end up cool and cool often. Substitutes for relevance. Cool is not relevant, even though you might even get a crowd. Cool. Doesn't deliver anybody from a demon, but the value of being relevant is a very important value, but we need power on the word. If we're going to be relevant, I talked to leaders here and there and many leaders, and I don't say this negative against them. I mean, many are just desperate. They want their ministries to grow. Most guys I know, and I just know lots of leaders of the body of Christ over the years, as anybody wouldn't spend a ministry over 30 years. We just, you know, if you've been around a while, you just know a lot of them. Most guys and gals that I know are not very content or satisfied with their ministry. So it's real. It's a real temptation to kind of do cut and paste, build your ministry, you know, study the magazine, study the websites. And if people have cool, trendy clothes and looks and sounds and technology, hey, let's do cool and trendy. Let's all get together around the latest, you know, international affairs, current affairs, and let's all identify based on that. Let's pass the info and, you know, be high tech and kind of all kind of have the cool look in the field, the dress and the dance moves, and let's all do it. But that's not going to drive any demons out, nor will it convince any forerunners to go eat the scroll. Some say, Lord, Lord, you know, if we're going to be relevant, we have to power. Lord say, that's right. Say, Lord, we need power to break this bubble that so much of the church is in. We got to penetrate the bubble because much of the church is stuck in the abyss of entertainment, and there's a bubble around them, and we got to break through this bubble. The only thing that's going to do it is the fear of God, the power of God, and the breaking in of the Holy Spirit's presence. Well, it's great to say it, but the Lord says, okay. He goes, I want you coming after me with a new, with it, with even a greater focus. I'm not talking about preaching louder or preaching longer or turning up the volume on the sound, you know, the sound for the worship team. That's not the kind of intensity I'm talking about. I'm talking about a tenacious focus that stays focused and follows through. That's the kind of intensity I'm talking about. I'm not talking about style in a worship set. I'm not talking about volume at the sound system or what the technology looks like. I'm talking about in our private life, a tenacity, a focus that is resilient, that has followed through. That's the intensity that we need the body of Christ. I'm saying, Lord, release tokens of power, and I believe he's going to do that. Top of page three. We're going to bring this to an end in just a moment. Some people, they teach that the events of Satan coming down to earth in Revelation 12, 7, many, many, uh, scholars say, well, that happened at the cross. Satan was cast down to the earth at the cross, and now he's confined to the earth. But Paul the apostle taught in Ephesians 6, 12, that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, rulers of darkness. Now there's, when you read the whole passage, there's five categories of demonic hierarchy here. And again, in the dream, I don't know which of the categories, maybe I saw some of each. I don't know. Or maybe they don't even look like these snake dragon figures. I don't know that either. I don't really care really about that. What I care about is the intensity of what the Lord was saying. But the point here, Satan is still in the heavenly places. He's not being confined to the earth. And I've read, uh, a good number of scholars that say, well, it's figurative. He's not really cast down to the earth because it already happened. Beloved Satan is not confined to the earth with great rage because his time is very, very short. That's not happening. He's not here yet. This is yet a future event. That's the point I'm making. And it's a event that is linked to the prayer movement because remember what I started with in Daniel 10, Daniel's praying and Michael the archangel joins the other angel to cast the demonic principality over Persia or modern day Iran to push it out of its place of influence. This battle of Michael the archangel casting Satan out, it is because of the work of the cross undoubtedly. But there is a human response of the global prayer movement in the Daniel position. We're fasting and praying and these principalities are not just moved out of a position of influence over one nation. They are cast to the earth, never to be in a place of prominence in the spirit room ever again. After the earth, three and a half years later, they go to the pit a thousand years later. After that, they go to the lake of fire. Paragraph B, Jesus defeated Satan at the cross. I want you to read this paragraph on your own to get it clear. Satan was defeated at the cross, but the full scope has not been manifested openly in an earthly way until the end time events. The defeat is final. The defeat is sure. The authority is clear. Satan has been disarmed. Jesus is ascended to the place of all power, but in the earthly context, the full victory has not been openly and fully manifest. One of the well-known oft quoted principles that you will hear at the end of paragraph B, the already but not yet paradox of the kingdom, meaning the kingdom is already here. Jesus died and rose from the dead. The kingdom is here, but it's not yet here in fullness. Satan is already defeated. I mean, he really is, but he's not yet driven off the earth yet. So it's a very common quoted principle, the already but not yet paradox of the kingdom. So somebody says that the kingdom here, yeah, it's already here, but not yet fully the same defeated. He's already fully defeated, but he's not yet driven off the planet. But the end time scenario with the prayers of the saints working together under Jesus's finished victory at the cross will actually cause Satan to be driven off all influence on the earth and from his place in the spirit realm. Paragraph D, this is just almost unimaginable. It's one of the most unique dynamics you can fathom. I mean, I can't even fathom this. Billions of demons on the earth in the way that they're not now. I'm talking about all of the spirit realm confined to the earth openly in manifestation. Beloved, there'll be parts of the earth that will be hell on earth. It says right there in Revelation chapter 12, verse three. Actually, that's wrong. That should be Revelation 13, verse two. Now that I look at it, the dragon gave the Antichrist his throne. There's going to be a man on the earth that has the throne of Satan after this event, after Satan gets cast out, he's going to give his throne to a man. This is unheard of. Again, that's Revelation 13 too. I got it backwards. There will be hundreds of millions of demons. There are one category of demons, millions and millions that are in the bottomless pit right now. And there's many more that are in the heavenly realm above, but a lot that are already in the pit, they're going to be released out of the pit in Revelation nine. So millions are released out of the pit, hundreds of millions, and many more are confined from the sky to the earth. The point is the entire kingdom of darkness will be operating on the earth nearly, if not entirely. There might be some stuck down in the pit, who knows, but the vast majority will be functioning on the earth. It will be hell on earth in various parts, but it will be the glory of God in other parts of the earth as well. There'll be no time like it. And the people that are ready in their understanding in the latter days, I read the verse to you, Jeremiah 23, they will, their understanding of God's ways will be perfect. They will have understanding of it. Their faith will be mature and millions will be in the other or billions will be in the other position. Okay. Now we're going to end with this paragraph E the saints here. We still are right here. Revelation 12, same passage. I mean the verse after Satan's cast to the earth, the next verse is Revelation 12, 10, because that was Revelation 12, nine, now we're 12, 10. The power of Jesus is being manifest on the earth. Like no time in history, the power of God will be on the church for the final three and a half years beyond any time in history. And look at this verse 11, the saints will overcome this dragon. We will overcome him by the blood of Jesus. That's the finished work of the cross by the word of our testimony, by what we declare, but beloved, we have to have understanding to testify. The word of our testimony isn't just, you know, some years ago, I got saved at a Billy Graham crusade. That's not the word of our testimony. The word of our testimony means what do you believe about God and what his will is in that point in time in history? What do you believe? What is your testimony about what's happening? And so the finished work of the cross, the blood of Jesus, the saints, not backing away from his end time purpose, but understanding it and testifying without, with boldness, with no timidity, the word of their testimony, they will declare the overthrow of these world powers of darkness, the antichrist, they will talk about his overthrow while he's mounting up in world glory. And they will boldly, and they will even lose their life, some of them, by that testimony, but they won't back down. And the third thing that they will have is they, they will have a commitment not to back down even if it costs them their life. So there's three things. The finished work of the cross. Everything is built on the finished work of the cross. But it's not applied in our life if we don't hold the testimony. If we don't declare the truths, and not just the truth of our victory, but actually the truth of what God's doing, even in that time of history, it will be very unpopular to hold the word of our testimony. That will cause more trouble to more people because they must say what God is saying. Very politically incorrect. And they, but there's a third part. They will love Jesus more than they love their life. They say if I, regardless what it costs me, I'm in it till the end with no backing away. Those three things together will make up the, those three things working together will cause people, the weakest among us, will overcome and the power of God will be on us. Amen. Let's end with that. Let's just stand before the Lord. Just as the instruments come up, I'm gonna just have the instruments play without even starting a worship song yet. I'm just gonna wait on the Lord for a few minutes. The Lord's telling me, Mike, I want you to be more focused and more resilient. You can't imagine how important these next years are. Again, it may be some decades, it may not be. I don't know. Maybe longer, maybe shorter. Nobody knows. The day of the hour, nobody knows. I'm gonna have us even just for a minute, not even do any music for just a minute because I always tell them to do it. So, but I'm going to change my mind here for a second. Let's just wait on the Lord quietly for just a minute. Holy Spirit, here we are. Here we are, Lord. Lord, ask for the release of your power right now in this room. Weak and broken people in the flesh. The Lord says, it's for you. There's nobody out there that's not a weak and broken person. All of my apostles and prophets of days of old were people just like you. So, Lord, here we are. Ask for the spirit of conviction. Release the spirit of fire, the spirit of burning on the forerunners, the release of your glory. More, Lord. We ask for more of your manifest presence. Release your fire. Release your glory right now, Lord. Whatever you want, Lord, release your glory, your manifest glory in this room. We're waiting on you, Holy Spirit. Release your fire. Lord, release the light of your countenance on us as a whole room of people. Just release light on our spirit right now. Look at us, Lord, with your face like the sun. Gaze at us. More, Lord. I don't know what he wants to do, but I just want to give him room to move. Lord, just release your stirring, Holy Spirit. Come and stir the water, so to speak. Come and stir your people. Touch their spirit right now. Lord, I ask you for living understanding. I ask you for the mantle of understanding. Now, some of you, you're feeling the Holy Spirit resting on your head right now, on the back of your head, on your face. You just feel that energy of the Holy Spirit. That's you. I want you to go ahead and come on up here. Just stand on these lines, if you would. He's talking to you tonight about understanding. That's why it's his glory. It's just a token of his presence resting on your mind. Again, just stand on those lines so we got room to... Lord, I ask you to increase your glory right now in this room. I'm going to pray the Jeremiah 23, verse 20, and in the latter days, they will understand it perfectly. Lord, I ask you for mature understanding. I ask you for prophetic dreams. Now, we want that for everybody, but the Lord's, the reason he's resting on them is, it's like he's, it's a neon sign saying, this one needs prayer tonight. This one needs prayer tonight. That's what he lets his presence rest on people, and he indicates it. They need prayer tonight. Lord, I ask you for compelling, even dramatic insights. Lord, what I saw this morning was terrifying, terrified my spirit. I ask you for terrifying, as well as exciting, faith-building experiences in the Holy Spirit, even in the night, dreams and visions in the day. Lord, those that are standing up, I ask you, release your glory on them now. Increase it. Increase the measure. Increase the measure of how you're touching them right now. I'm going to invite about 50 of you up here that you are, you've said yes to the forerunner calling in your life at one time or another. Come on up if you would, and because we're praying for understanding. We're praying particularly for end-time understanding, for urgency, because it's this understanding that creates urgency. So if you are, you've said yes to this calling in the past, whether you live in Kansas City or not, that doesn't matter. Come on up, lay hands on these, and just say, Lord, give understanding. Jeremiah 23, verse 20, in the latter days you will understand it perfectly, says the Word of the Lord. In the latter days they will understand it perfectly. I ask that you would open their eyes, even like you opened Daniel's eyes. Open their eyes. Give them clarity, supernatural visitations that confirm your Word, that speak your Word to them. Lord, I'm asking you for insight. What I saw this morning was insight into Revelation 12. I'm asking you for insight in the Word, not something exotic out there on the edge, but something that's actually in the Bible to open the eyes of your understanding. Now release your fire, Lord. Release your fire. And when you pray for folks, I encourage you to stand in front of them, just because when you, you might talk to them, you might say a simple phrase like, show mercy, and they'll hear it. You might say something to them. It kind of postures you more to minister to them. Feel free just to move around. You don't, you can move clear to the other side of the room later. You don't even have to go to the guy next to you. Lord, release your glory. Release your glory right now. I ask you for dreams and visions. I ask you for living understanding, Lord. As for the lightning strike from your throne, lightning and thunder from your throne, like bolts of lightning to touch their spirit. Raise up messengers. Raise up messengers that have prophetic insight. Pour out your spirit on your people. Pour out your spirit on your people. Pour out your spirit on your people. Let it rain. Let it rain. Pour out your spirit on your people. Pour out your spirit on your people. Pour out your spirit on your people. Let it rain Let it rain