Arise and Shine - Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

thanks so much i love how well all of our teams from our sound people to camera people to worship teams to prayer teams to ushers to they just all do a good job and i'm happy i'm happy they're here i think this is in a restaurant there's a sign that shows where the men's room is and with the women's room and it says men to the left because women are always right so south oh yeah i think this one's funny i i know this will offend some but you know i'm just in the mood i'm just in the mood this business is guarded by a shotgun three nights a week you guess which three [Laughter] there's a picture in a restaurant of a basket of eggs this advertised boneless chicken [Applause] there's a sign on a door it says push if that doesn't work pull if that doesn't work we must be closed [Laughter] i ate salad for dinner as mostly croutons and tomatoes really just one big round crouton covered with tomato sauce and cheese fine i ate a pizza women belong in the kitchen men belong in the kitchen everyone belongs in the kitchen kitchen has food yeah i just entertain myself with these slightly humorous things i wish i had a dollar every time i got distracted i wish i had a puppy denial anger bargaining depression acceptance the five stages of waking up [Laughter] do you know the correct term for gluten-free sugarless vegan brownies compost [Applause] i'm just reading the news that's all i'm doing has anybody here ever sent a text message to somebody and as you push send you realize spell check change the word into something not good at all this one is for you spellcheck has got to be my worst enema well i love you too thanks um anybody right any horse people here just a few of you well this is for you for fast riders we have fast horses for slow riders we have slow horses for those who have never ridden we have horses that have never been ridden [Applause] i'll just end with that one the last time i rode a horse it it tried to kill me it did it it how old was i oh in my 20s it's been a while this this horse was demon-possessed it was i'm sure it was i'm sure it was they had to keep it in a small corral because it would run itself to death why did they let me get on the back they're supposed to know he doesn't know anything put him on the slow horse they put me on this horse and it ran like lightning across the field and then it ran back and i'm i'm hanging on for like dear life and it runs right for a tree with a low hanging branch because it because it wants to be delivered not of the demon that it has but of the person that's on its back i'm telling you i hugged that thing the branch went right over my head scrape my back that's my horse-loving story has nothing to do with anything just thought i'd keep you up to date don't you open your bibles hurry hurry and open them or it'll just get worse go to isaiah 60. um we're not going to study isaiah 60 but it'll be a kind of a launching pad isaiah 60 is a chapter that we have looked at oh goodness probably 20 times in the last 20 years and the reason is a good reason the lord really changed my life uh in the reading of that chapter it was in may of 1979 and it was on thursday afternoon and i was walking around the back of the church facility there in weberville and i like to walk and pray you never fall asleep when you keep walking so that's kind of my secret uh so i was in the back of the church and just walking back and forth and praying which was my my custom and um and i just began to read out of isaiah 60 and i it's hard for me to describe what happened except that i knew that i was in the middle of a divine moment and i hadn't had many of those like especially of that nature i hadn't had any um i had encounters you know with the lord where he's touched me deeply and you know the weeping and the response to him the the tenderness that we experienced so often in worship but this was different it was like my head was exploding in a in a positive sense with sudden understanding of where the church fit into the whole picture and um and it was life-changing it's it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it has affected every day of my life since 1979. it's it was this month oh 1979 that's like how many years ago a lot for 40 years ago so this is a 40-year anniversary come on i didn't think through that but it works for me we'll work with it and uh and so i began to uh i i was reading through isaiah 60 and he spoke to me and he spoke to me quite clearly from what i was reading and he just told me this is a present word and i remember i remember that next sunday i could hardly wait till sunday this is a thursday and on sunday after the worship ended i said i feel like the lord spoke to me and here's a here's a word from the lord for us obviously it's in the scripture so it's always for us but he he highlights things for certain seasons and uh and so i read it and everybody responded with uh praise and you know i don't know that any of us understood what it meant but but you don't have to when you when the lord breathes on something you can you can say i'm clueless at what it means but it brought life to me and and that sometimes is the big challenge is if you only get life through what you understand you really sell yourself short because there are times the lord will actually speak something to you that you won't understand but if you're receptive to what he's saying you're receptive to what he's saying there's life in it and so anyway this is one of those moments and that was a sunday morning sunday night dear friend of ours was speaking here at bethel my dad was pastoring here at the time her name is iverna tompkins she's just one of my all-time favorites and heroes and she was speaking that night and and uh so uh i got there late because of the drive from weaverville so i ended up sitting in the back and at the end of her message uh i felt like man i need to read this i need to read this portion of scripture for everybody it was present but it was it was a long sanctuary and i was way in the back and i thought man i'm going to get halfway down the aisle and and they're going to end the meeting and so she turned it over my dad and he he just kept talking and talking and i thought well i could have had i had enough time to get up there and and so then somebody else came up and they were talking and it just it just seemed like it wouldn't end and it was like it felt like the lord was setting the stage so i saw and and one of the elders in the church a friend of mine over in the corner of the building and i i went over to him i said jim i said i feel like i've got a word from the lord this is what he did he looked at it he just looked at it he said yes i didn't realize there was history he looked and he says yes this is the word of the lord. so i i i went down the aisle my dad saw me coming and and of course welcome man i said i feel like i've got a word from the lord so so he gave me the mic i read several verses out of isaiah 60 and and the people of course responded with great celebration because of the word and we'll read these verses in a moment and then iverna tompkins who was through speaking sitting on the front row she came up and grabbed the microphone and she said i forget how long i i think she said just last month i was with charismatic leaders from around the nation that gathered together and five or six of them came to that gathering with this chapter saying this is the word of the lord for this moment for this season so you know it went from it really touched my heart too this is for the church in weberville to whoa reading's included to oh this is like for the whole planet it just it just it just kind of grew in that sense of significance let's read the first five five verses and this is a little awkward for me because we read this so often and this actually isn't what i'm going to study but it'll set the stage all right so verse one arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord is risen upon you for behold darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you then gentiles shall come to your light a new american standard says nations which i'd rather use that term nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising lift up your eyes all around and see they all gather together they come to you does anybody remember whenever jesus told his disciples to lift up their eyes does anybody remember that john chapter four lift up your eyes look on the fields they're all white under harvest are you are you flowing here because this is the way this evening's gonna go so you you've got to be tracked with me all right so he says lift up your eyes all around and see they gather together they come to you your sons will come from afar your daughter shall be nursed at your side then you will see and become radiant your heart will swell with joy because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you the wealth of the gentiles shall come to you let's go to verse 5 again you will see and become radiant your heart will swell with joy one of the translations says your heart will tremble and be enlarged tremble and be enlarged there's this very strange connection between the trembling of the fear of the lord and extreme joy i know they sound like opposites but that's only in the natural world in the kingdom they are actually very closely related in psalms 2 it says rejoice with trembling in psalms 2 it says rejoice with trembling it's too late i got the same response out of the drum set so it says verse 5 you will see and become radiant your heart will swell with joy because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you the wealth of the gentiles will come to you now i'm thankful for the abundance of the lord the provision of the lord the finances the promise of of fulfillment all that stuff but when he's talking about the abundance of the nations and the wealth of the the of the sea being turned to he's talking about the harvest i'm thankful for all that he provides for me financially i'm grateful for that but the real wealth is people the sea of humanity the wealth of the sea will be turned to you this is a prophetic you've got to understand prophetic terminology to really glean from this chapter it starts by saying arise shine so here we are waiting for something to happen and god says arise get up and shine all right well i know how to get up but i don't know how to shine so we're going to look at that in a moment it says arise and shy take your place and shine because your light has come in john chapter 1 it says jesus is the light that enlightens every person that comes into the world so there are many who would say this chapter is referring to natural israel now i've got to be very careful here because uh there there is a movement of what's called replacement theology where people believe that the last days is everything about the church and not to do with natural israel i don't believe that i need to clarify that i don't believe that but i'm only going to emphasize the church part tonight all right i believe very strong that natural israel has a place in god's end time plan you only have to read romans 9 10 and 11 to come to that conclusion paul paul hit that very very hard so i believe that but let me just set that aside and just emphasize the church in this passage so he says arise and shine take your place take your posture shine why because your light has come jesus is the light there is not another light coming it's not referring to another period because there isn't another light it may unfold more profoundly in years to come but i have no excuse to sit and wait for something else to happen because my light has come so here's what he says he says your rise and shine and something profound happens when you arise in the glory that the lord has placed in your life it attracts the glory of the lord to where it will actually be seen over you in the same way that water attracts water money attracts money favor attracts favor mercy attracts mercy so glory attracts glory anything in the kingdom that is stewarded well increases to him who has much more will be given beside it's the nature of the kingdom anything whether it's revelation insight whether it's uh the anointing for healing whether it's friendship whether it's favor in business does not matter what it is anything that we steward well in his name actually attracts more of the same the opposite is also true if i treasure things that are wrong it will actually attract if i value gossip and i don't have that gate to guard my language my heart i will actually attract gossip if i don't have a standard of morality in in the jokes or the kinds of stories i literally will attract people come to me out of nowhere and tell me some horrible joke why because like attracts light so anything we steward well in fact that's why in the gospel of mark jesus taught guard your ears because whatever standard you set it will be given to you so if you have a standard for the testimony guess what you attract testimonies if you have a standard a measurement standard members is a measurement a measurement that allows for encouraging words you will attract encouraging words if you have anger and bitterness in your heart towards a group of people or a political party or anything that's going on of that nature you will actually attract things that reinforce your resentment you know that's worth the whole day right there if we can if we can just get that one fixed we'll be all right just get that thing settled because whatever whatever you treasure is what you attract verse 3 says nations will come to your light let me take the second half of verse 2 the lord will arise over you his glory will be seen upon you i don't know if there's another promise in the bible that excites me more than that one and if you understood what he meant it would set you off as well because it is all about the manifestation of the glory of god in the earth that is the target from day one has been that the glory the manifested presence of king jesus would be seen realized visibly recognized all over the earth everything is building to this crescendo this great orchestra is playing and it's building to one point in this building as we speak and the crowning moment on human history is where the glory of the lord becomes manifest and here he says whenever you take your place and you shine it attracts the glory and his glory will be seen upon you if you i love to read about uh revival moments and high point moments in church history and some of the most incredible things i've ever read about have to do with the glory of god being seen upon an individual or a group of people i've been in in wales where the welsh revival really is some of my favorite stuff in church history and i've gone there a friend of mine got me into a little chapel where the lightning of god first fell on evan roberts and it's not a place that's open to the public so it was nice to be able to get in there and to sit and i've i've spent hours in there on uh two or three different occasions and just to reminisce to think about this that has happened when the glory of the lord would be seen upon people and i i remember them telling me that there were that they would not have scheduled meetings they would just gather whenever they could look down at the chapel and see light inside the building and they had no electricity it was when the light of god became visible people would put everything down and they would come you know when god gets their head of you you might want to show up it's kind of kind of a way i i know of time show at history where there's i i never intended to go in this direction but let me just hit it for a moment i know times in history where the where the glory of the lord has has been seen we've actually had times where flames have been seen shooting up from our facility here when inside was just a worshipping group of people or there was breakthrough and presence and power and people would drive by and see the flames uh azusa street they would call the fire department and they would show up to put out the fire and all there was was the presence of god of worshiping people and so it's not that we're in for the show we're not in for the for the uh you know the bragging rights so to speak it's just that we be a people that arise and shine that would be a people that take our rightful place not in ruling in serving rightful place in yielding to the presence of god and the end result of this was lift up your eyes they will gather together they will come to you that is the old testament version of john chapter four lift up your eyes look on the fields they're white to harvest all right is anybody tracking with me here all right so here's the deal isaiah 60 61 and 62 are at least for me the most reformational chapters in the bible if you understand any kind of prophetic language there are there's years worth of material in these three chapters if you have any kind of desire and i hope everybody in the room does a desire for reformation do you understand that if everybody in redding were to get saved tonight we would still have economic issues tomorrow we'd still have family crises and other things why because it's one thing to get born again it's another to get the way of the king and his kingdom working in how we think and how we do life that brings about the kind of reformation that we're looking for whether societal change culture is transformed this is this is what we burn for as a team constantly it's what we talk about praying to dream about um it's this issue of reformation and i i personally do believe we are at the beginning stages of a great great awakening great we can call it awakening reformation or renaissance i like all three terms so somebody figure out one word that has all three of those in it it'll be renowation yeah i think i'll quit right there before i look any more dumb all right so here's these three chapters just take one look with me at isaiah 62. just one real quick look i'm not sure how much of this i'm actually going to get through tonight but we'll we'll play around for a few minutes anyway yeah yeah yeah i i don't feel rushed i just don't want to kill you with too many words all right so let's just start with verse one we'll take we'll take verses one and two for zion's sake i will hold i will not hold my peace for jerusalem's sake i will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns the gentiles or the nations shall see your righteousness in all kings your glory you will be called by a new name which the mouth of the lord will designate you stop right there these are i hope that you see are obvious reformational decrees and promises um in hebrews chapter 12 there is this interesting section of scripture that says number one we have not come to mount zion that burns with fire to where anyone who touches the mountain excuse me mount sinai we've not come to the mountain where it burns with fire that if anybody touches the mountain they will die okay here's this picture moses is up on the mountain the people of god are told not to go near the mountain even if an animal goes up there it'll die this is a holy moment where god is giving the law the ten commandments to moses and so here's this divine moment and the new testament writer hebrews writer says we've not come to this mount we've not come to the mountain of judgment and then he says we've come to mount zion mount zion and then he goes on and he says the new jerusalem the church of the redeemed the firstborn what is he saying the old testament terminology for zion and jerusalem oftentimes in prophecy those two phrases zion and jerusalem are old testament terms that point to a new testament reality called the church a new name will be given to her jerusalem is the term that refers to the community of the redeemed zion is a section within the city of jerusalem and it was set aside entirely for worship it was a hill it wasn't a mountain even though it's called mount zion i mean when god's there a hill is a mountain that's the point zion means sunny place so it's a hill in jerusalem it gets the sun rise first sunny place all right so jerusalem is the community the redeemed zion is a terminology that refers to the worshiping community is there anyone in the worshiping community here are you guys still alive like like is this is this all right so here's what i want you to see chapter 60 starts off in this reformational theme chapter 62 puts the crowning touch on this reformational theme we'll look at a little bit more in a minute in the middle is the portion of scripture that jesus quoted in luke chapter 4 when he said the spirit of the lord god is upon me to bring recovery of sight to the blind to heal the brokenhearted all this ministry stuff so here we have we have isaiah 60 reformation isaiah 62 reformation and in the middle of it we have the spirit of god coming upon jesus to do the impossible hold that in mind in first corinthians chapter 12 we have teaching on the gifts of the spirit first corinthians chapter 14 we have the exhortation to pursue earnestly the gifts of the spirit what's in chapter 13 it's a chapter of love it's the chapter of love that makes 12 and 14 work i'd like to suggest you it's isaiah 61 the spirit of the lord god is upon me that makes 60 and 62 work it's the same it's the same combination of chapters they fuel each other and they make it possible i have had i have been burning in my heart with hope for the church since may of 1979 and no one can talk me out of it because i see i see our place in scripture i realize it's not an easy road i realize there are challenges along the way i get that but when you when you see god's intention his plan then you know how to pray i can't settle for anything less than what he says so there how long have i been going anybody know there's no timer up there no i'm not unlimited i could kill you i could all right i'm i'm going i'm not stopping but but i i need to find a place to land here in a few minutes um here's what i want you to do i want you to look at isaiah 62 this is the portion of scripture i actually wanted to look at maybe someday i'll have the courage to take all three chapters and we'll just take a month on it three four weeks anyway verse one again for zion's sake i will not hold my peace who is zion don't don't think location in the middle east again i believe god's doing extraordinary things here but for tonight's sake think in terms of the people have devoted themselves to worship all right for zion's sake i will not hold my peace for jerusalem's sake i will not rest until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns the gentiles shall see your righteousness what does it say in isaiah 60 nations will come to your light here let's let's let's merge new testament jesus said light let your light shine before men in such a way they see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven light that is to shine from the life of the believer are the good works that represent who jesus is which is both integris acts of kindness towards people and demonstrations of power it's not one or the other verse three you should be a crown of glory in the hand of the lord a royal diadem in the hand of your god look at verse 6 i have set watchmen on your walls o jerusalem they shall never hold their peace day or night you who make mention of the lord do not keep silent give him no rest until he establishes and makes jerusalem a praise in the earth we're not talking about the church becoming famous in the sense of you know like a rock musician or actor or an athlete or something like that we're not talking about that we're talking about the people of god becoming so fully who god designed them to be that the nations of the earth celebrate who god has made the church to be this is actually all through the scripture this is all through the scripture in jeremiah says this referring to the people of god it will be to me a name of joy praise and glory befall before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that i do for them and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that i make for your success i'm not talking dollars but it's included in a minor way your success in knowing how to reign in life is what the nations ache for they ache for they ache for why they're alive and how to do it well they ache for fulfillment in why they're alive for some it's business for others it's in raising family for others it's in art it's expressing themselves in wholesome ways that add quality of life to a city to a culture the list is endless but there's an ache in the heart fulfillment by stepping into god's design for life and you have access to what no one else has access to the you the church the body of christ has access to something in the lord that is not to exalt us in the sense that people now come and serve our vision it's not that it's that people see him through us and are attracted to this hymn that we serve you are the light of the world the salt of the earth the light of the world a city can a city cannot be hidden a city that that is lit up is recognized when it is dark and people look to that city because they're in darkness and they need nourishment they need safety they need refuge they need community they need all the things that a city on a hill speaks of and they are attracted in the night in the darkness to that place in hopes that they will find what they were born for we know that we are sent to the nations of the world missions is is just it's all through my life my my my family background my church background it's a heavy heavy emphasis on world missions and i'm in i will always be in in supporting and going and sending but there's an aspect of the gospel that sometimes gets neglected there is the go of the gospel but there's also the come that we would actually become something that people would come to a city set on a hill does not go somewhere people go to the city to find the safety to find the refuge to find a place of healing to provide they may come for strange reasons they may come to that city set on the hill which is not our church services it may include that and that's fine but that's not the point it's not trying to get more people into the building it's it's that people would come into a place where they find a sense of belonging among the people who just simply know how to do life and throughout scripture there's this thought there's this theme that the people of god would be a praise in the earth a praise in the earth do you get praise do i get praise i don't think so let your light shine before men in such a way they see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven there is praise as a result of people of the people of our community seeing that we are actually doing what we were born to do caring for the poor caring for crises and in tough situations you know that we stand in a place of hope there's something that happens in the heart of a community that says it says there's there's something right about this they don't use their religious conviction just to try to drain the community of money but instead they they contribute into the health and the well-being of the community a praise in the earth is the theme of scripture it's a reason i have hope for for the church in these days that regardless of what's going on around us things are actually getting better it doesn't mean every situation is better but it means the overall picture is getting better why i'm glad you asked come back next sunday and i will tell you that's that's old sorry that's just bad the scripture says the government is on jesus on his shoulders and there's no no end to the increase of his government no end to the increase when did it start at least when it was spoken and so if he says it starts now and it will never decline then guess what it's increasing yeah but have you heard what happened here and what happened there it doesn't matter read what it says it's never decreasing it only increases when you when you start to think that way and believe that way guess what you attract the news that reaffirms that that is true but if what i value is the bad news it doesn't mean i like it it doesn't mean i celebrate it but if that's what i hold to i will attract that which affirms my unbelief [Applause] i think it's hosea 3 verse 5 says people in the last days people will fear god because of his goodness is that crazy people will fear god because of his goodness think about that for a minute you work hard at work you you've been there for several years you got a you got a decent raise and and and that's the goodness of the lord and we just give thanks to the lord for that but it's not the measure of goodness that causes anyone to drop to their knees to get that kind of response it has to be so extreme that everybody around you knows you could have never gotten that on your own this could only have come through the hand of god and when people see the hand of a god released in an individual's life it it brings about that fear of god early in jesus ministry in the gospel of luke chapter 5. peter and the guys are with jesus and he tells him to cast the net out again which he did on a couple occasions and they did and the load of fish that they caught started to sink one boat so he called for another boat to come and help it started to sink the second boat as well what is peter he's a fisherman which means what he's a businessman who catches and sells fish right he's not working for outdoor life taking pictures of fish he catch to sell his latest lure he's a businessman who catches and sells fish so jesus tells them to cast out the net the catch is so extreme that it actually starts sinking two boats and peter does what drops to his knees and begins to confess his sin he drops to his knees he says he says depart from me i'm a man of unclean lips i'm i'm an evil man i'm a sinful man he starts confessing to jesus jesus hasn't preached at all about peter's need for repentance peter's been hanging out for a while this isn't like the first rodeo that he's been on with jesus it's just this time he brought such extravagance and extreme blessing into his life that it took all the wind out of the sails and he dropped to his knees and began to confess sin it began to repent the goal is always repentance but it doesn't come only because you tell someone to repent sometimes it's because they taste of god's goodness in a measure that is beyond anything they have seen or understood before and they fall to their knees and yield themselves completely to this one this is it a praise in the earth god's intention is that you would inspire that your life that our life together would bring out a song in reading that's never been heard before a song and your city nation that you belong to that the church would be so connected with each other doing life together welcoming people in being yes evangelistic obviously but the profound thing that happened with the disciples is they belonged before they believed jesus brought them into the inner circle before they knew who he was you know you'd think if you're going to choose disciples and you're god you'd want to pick people that think you're god just a thought and he doesn't take them through that quiz he just says follow me and they learn through the journey who he is but they belong before they believed and there are nations cities and nations represented in this room and by our friends our church family literally around the world that watch us uh on bethel tv god is wanting to bring because of your success in life don't be afraid of the term it's a biblical term it's not cars and mansions and planes it's that we do life well it's the fact that we live with a sense of peace we've won the battle over the mind we know what it is to be content with our slot and place lane that god's given us in life we know how to flourish in our assignments we know what it is to be faithful in our service in honor of the lord the things that he values we value the things that he doesn't value we don't have time for and we just illustrate how to reign in life and some of you are about to bring the song of the ages out of your city and out of your nation a song that's never been heard because they never yet had a chance to sing of the greatness of god actually seen in a measurable way through how people do life he says take no rest for yourselves and give him no rest until he makes jerusalem a praise in the earth he's talking about watchmen watchmen those everybody in this room is a watchman in some measure any area of responsibility that you have you're to be a watchman for a watchman is not a gossip who gathers information to spread a watchman is a person who looks for activity outside the walls of the city and when they see it they sound the alarm it's called prayer it's that we we realize we've been called summoned to a place god this is working well these people are thriving god we bless that we pray that increases or we've got a crisis over here father this family is falling apart this group of people is having such great difficulty of stepping into their identity what do you do that's where you pray you partner with god himself to see his purpose as realized in the earth it's the watchman role take no rest for yourselves give him no rest be inconvenienced that you might pray don't just pray the easy stuff pray the hard stuff pray the impossible stuff take your place on the wall you've been given sight so that what you see will cause you to pray you have not been given sight so that you can gather information we're not doing studies on the well-being of our cities those are fine but that's not the purpose the purpose is he allows us to see what we see because he's hoping we'll take what we see to him in prayer it's this connection remember his overall commission is on earth as it is in heaven what is that it's a prayer it's a prayer the backbone of this assignment is to pray all right let's wrap it up with this verse 10. go through go through the gates prepare the way for the people build up build up the highway take out the stones lift up a banner for the peoples i remember when i first read that i was so i i i don't know how to describe this when you read something that god is breathing on you come alive inside and somebody asks you what does it mean and you say i don't have a clue i have no idea what he's talking about all i know is i got very happy reading that and that's how it was when i read that for the first time i just was stunned by the life that i got out of his word but i could not have explained it so how does the verse start it's a command to go through gates now look at chapter 60 it's only about 15 20 verses earlier verse 18 the second half of the verse says you will call your wall salvation and your gates praise so when he says go through the gates what is he doing he's assigning us to a role in the kingdom of being worshipers go through the gates but these gates are not just any gates in the book of revelation the city of god has gates and those gates are made out of one solid pearl talk about strange imagery prophetic imagery but if you think through this you we can each discover a profound lesson in this prophetic language a gate in the bible is a pearl how are pearls formed through irritation how is the gate of praise formed in your life that gate through which god invades it's when i'm facing something i don't understand that is frustrating or disappointing to me and i give him thanks and praise and anyway every time i do that something is being formed in me that attracts god to invade my present situation it would be it would be well and good if that was the only part of the story that god would invade through that gate if you will he will come through that gate to to heal and to restore and to refresh and do all the things that he does but this lesson has gone far beyond our personal needs and personal benefit by obeying god he has now described your evangelistic role and he says go through go through the gates clear the way for the people remove the stones the dusty rubble strange picture what's amazing about this this imagery is way of people as we did tonight we gathered the team led us in thanksgiving and praise and worship we celebrated his goodness we became filled with peace with just this love and affection for him not realizing that what was peaceful for us is actually warfare to the powers of darkness it never became devil's focus it's not supposed to be that's why he says the prince of peace will soon crush satan underneath your feet the devil never becomes the focus the prince of peace is the focus so here we are delighting in him ministering to him giving thanks to him by the way just let me answer something when you're giving thanks don't just say thank you be specific thank you god for my family when you give him praise don't just say i give you praise i give you praise because he's i think he's sitting there going when are you going to do it i had a glorious hunk of deer meat for lunch today it was a sign and a wonder and i had a glorious hunk yesterday and the day before that and the day before that and the day before that and the day before that and the day before that and the day before that and then in some of those days you're throwing dear sausage in the morning so bambi and i get along very well when my wife serves me this is going to sound strange to you but one of my most favorite things ever and i don't know what's happened i almost feel like i'm backslidden one of my most favorite things to eat ever is sauteed spinach [Music] it's ruining my own self-image now sauteed with about a quarter cube of butter helps and tons of salt and pepper that spinach just comes to life just talks to you potatoes all this stuff anybody getting hungry with me i when when when i'm eating this i don't go praise you benny praise you praise you praise you she's going to look at me like what's wrong with you what i do is i say honey this meat is amazing this is a gift from god this is so good this is so good i can hardly stand i take another bite and i go oh oh this is so good i can hardly stand myself this is so good and then i tell her honey don't tell anybody but i love sauteed spinach as i take another bite like this is amazing all this butter you cooked it just right this deer meat is rare like it's supposed to be because it's so lean and i get very specific and what i'm so happy about because that's what you do in praise when now i'm getting very serious here you get a bad news report from the doctor is where you begin to celebrate specifically the healing grace of jesus that is available for every person in every situation and you don't just you don't just go general you get very specific why because you're building a gate you're in the middle of conflict of thought conflict of experience and you're you're violating what circumstances are telling you by declaring the greatness of god just got a second notice on a bill that we haven't paid you are jehovah jireh god i absolutely celebrate you you are my provider not just someday you are right now you are the god who provides right now god i celebrate your kindness your victory that it is nothing for you to provide for us abundantly this is who you are an extravagant extreme father peter in his rebellious state you gave him abundance god i know that in any condition i am in you are the father this applies for me and it draws me nearer to you and i give you praise do you understand what i'm what i'm saying here is is to form the gate why because it's going to be a gate that will be your position of authority for reformation because the gate that you grow or develop in your personal life over the personal issues becomes the gate that you enter through that actually starts affecting the atmosphere and climate of the city that you live in he says here go through the gates clear the way for the people what is it here we are just peaceful worshipers of god declaring his goodness his kindness giving him thanks announcing his greatness not realizing that we are removing the obstacles from your neighbors in their thinking the obstacles that exist in lies and deceptions and strongholds they are being dealt with through you as a worshipper and you're like a spiritual bulldozer that's literally building a highway it says build a highway for the lord what is a highway it's a place of easy access what is the result of your praise it's that you make it easier for for people to find god it's it's not the only evangelistic tool but it's a part of it helps to establish righteous climate helps to establish a climate where people consider the possibility that there is a god who loves them that a year ago never would have thought about it but because you moved into the neighborhood and you take time every day to exalt the name of jesus the thought patterns have changed not because you control them not because you tell them what to think but because you've cleared the airwaves you've helped to build a highway a highway by being a true worshiper why don't you stand i'll read the last two verses of isaiah 62. i'll read it in the context of verse 10 so just listen verse 10 go through go through the gates prepare the way for the people build up build up the highway take out the stones the hard places the places of of objection take out the stones lift up a banner over the people do you understand that when you declare the greatness of god you're waving a flag a flag marks ownership you wave the flag of the lord this city belongs to jesus verse 11 indeed the lord has proclaimed to the end of the world say to the daughter of zion surely your salvation is coming his reward is with him his work before him they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the lord and you shall be called sought out a city not forsaken do you understand that the church has been mocked for decades as a group of people senseless no purpose no impact just religious traditions and such and it's not that you know there's persecution there's opposition that comes into this picture as well it's not that the lord is trying to boost our ego but he's wanting to do something so significant in you and in me in the way we do life that the nations of the world stop and take notice and they say they are a people that god did not forsake they are sought out they they are sought a out not forsaken a praise in the earth a people whose life inspires the song out of the hearts of those who have been lost their whole life brings the song out of their hearts so lord we i pray for that i ask that that the grace for releasing this song into our communities our cities our nations represented that something would happen in the body of christ in all the cities and nations represented here that the world would change their song people would actually be attracted to you because they can see we're not alone we're not just maintaining some sort of tradition we're sons and daughters of the king of all kings the lord of all lords who openly gives the invitation for all to come and to receive lord i pray that not only would our evangelism be powerful our missions praying for the sick all of that but that we'd become a people that others would come too and that your glory will truly be seen upon us in a way that brings cities and nations to their fulfillment to their identity i ask all of this in jesus wonderful mighty name everybody said amen amen

Channel: Bill Johnson Teaching (Official)

Views: 65,740

Rating: 4.8329158 out of 5

Keywords: bethel.tv, bethel church, bill johnson sermons, faith, bill johnson, holy spirit, bill johnson 2020, bill johnson ministries, bill johnson bethel, bethel tv, bethel church redding, sermon bethel, is God good?, christian theology, Christian, church, miracles, bethel miracles, bill johnson ministry, prayer

Id: BCkdGH7je5A

Length: 61min 29sec (3689 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 26 2021