Bill Johnson Sermons [September 05, 2021] | A Challenge to Obedience

welcome to the bethel church sermon of the week we hope you enjoy this message by pastor bill johnson for more information about this podcast and other resources visit bethel.com um i want you to open uh open your bibles please to second chronicles chapter seven it's a very familiar passage which i'm thankful for there are just some portions of scripture that should stand out more than others because there seem to be things that the lord is really breathing on and and i feel it so strong on this passage right now in ways that uh really hard for me to describe i've been looking forward to today i've i uh it's been an unusually uh busy season for us as a staff um you would think with this slowdown there would actually be a slowdown but i didn't notice it if it came it it went past me um it's been an unusually busy time but thankfully uh benny and i were able to take some vacation time uh this month and that was just real wonderful the letdown of course is not being with you but i uh we we did have uh some wonderful time to rest and and uh just enjoy being home so we're we're glad for that um for uh for the last several weeks i i don't know exactly how long but for the last at least two weeks maybe three or four i've been waking up morning after morning often not every morning but morning after morning sometimes in the middle of the night quoting this verse you know sometimes you find divine moments because you you you you're saying something that you didn't come from here didn't come it was it wasn't a premeditated statement it was just something that came up from here just that volcanic eruption and i've been finding this happen to me over and over again in recent weeks and it's this passage second chronicles 7 14. we'll read the whole verse and then i'm going to take you through it we're going to talk about it verse 14 if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land let's read it again if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land for probably 40 years or so of my life this has been a um a standout passage i remember as a as a young man attending conferences at jack hayford's church in van nuys california i remember one in particular where the entire event was about prayer and intercession and speakers would speak and oftentimes this passage would be used as as a real driving force to bring healing to the land to bring healing to 100 plus nations represented by our viewing audience but specifically for the state of california for the nation united states that we bear responsibility for and it's not only in the heart of god it's in the history of god to bring healing when there has been great devastation when there's been great uh disaster uh morally naturally natural disasters that sort of thing wars whatever the lord has a habit of bringing healing and bringing restoration and and doing a work that only he could do and but it is it is instigated by the people that he shared his name with she says if my people it's not it's funny to me sometimes that as christians we get angry for unbelievers acting like unbelievers and i i'm not sure where to go with that but just i'll leave that where it is the lord puts the weight of responsibility for transformation on the shoulder of his own people he didn't say when the nations turned to me he didn't say when those who are struggle with addictions when they get free he didn't say when the marriages are healed he didn't he didn't say any of that stuff he just said if my people the ones that i gave my name to think about that for a minute the ones i gave my name to it's extraordinary because jesus said he said you will ask the father in my name you're going to use my my name you'll ask the father in my name and anything you ask for will be done for you then he says wherever two or three of you are gathered in my name i'm there in the midst then he says wherever two or three of you agree as to touching anything in my name it shall be done for you so the the weight of of responsibility for transformational expressions of god rest on the shoulders of those to whom he has given his name i'm giving you a name now use it to bring change i've given you my name one of the most beautiful things that has happened in this strange season these four months has been we've been reduced to our point of strength which is the two or three gathering in his name as many of you are doing in homes the family unit the two or three gathered in his name the government of heaven rests upon the shoulders of the two or three gathered in his name there's responsibility we are not here taking up space keeping busy until we die or jesus returns we are here with a transformational assignment on earth as it is in heaven and please notice that that expression is linked to a prayer that we pray because we've been given his name if my people who are called by my name i believe that the most important ministry of all ministries is prayer worship and prayer is the premier assignment that we've been given i'm personally thankful that in uh in recent weeks the lord's been refreshing me in what used to be a much greater strength than it has been in the busyness of recent years no excuse whatsoever but there is a strength being restored to my own soul of the place of prayer it's from our knees that we have the greatest effect on the world around us it's from our knees it's from our place of prayer of intercession that we become actual partners with god god's not looking for people who know how to stay busy he's looking for people who know how to represent his heart and i'm not going to represent in action what i've not found in prayer it's the connection with the heart of god that gives me the authority to represent him with absolute confidence in action prayer without action is incomplete in the same way that faith without works is dead we've been called to a lifestyle of prayer and i hope and pray that everyone listening everybody who is here uh can feel the that particular stream deepening in your own soul as i i believe the lord is is to to be honest is trying to get us to repent our way back into a place of righteous influence that god has called us to and that is from the place of prayer he says if my people the ones i gave my name to will humble themselves chris one of the first words we had in the beginning of this unusual season uh chris brought and and he made a statement i think it was something like this the way forward humility is the way forward humility is the way forward perfect and timely word humility is the way forward at a time when it's easy to be hurt and offended and angry and zealous and withdraw and do all the stupid things that we as humans know how to do um humility is the way forward and so the lord said if my people the ones that i gave my name to those are the ones who have actual responsibility i think it was john wesley who said that god does nothing in the affairs of man except in response to prayer that's something that i have actually believed and tried to live aware of as that statement for the last 40 some years is that god looks for partnership without him we can't without us he won't as another statement that i've heard through the years without him we can't without us he won't and so that place of prayer is a place of coming into a place of agreement with the heart and the mind of god to exercise his authority in the earth so that his will is done here as it is in heaven there is the prayer there it is the the contract the the the request that is made um i i itself also made a statement uh this a couple weeks ago that it really moved me he said that something like this the key to answer answers to prayer he says 98 of answers to prayer is from abiding in christ it's living in the conscious presence of the almighty god that is the strength of the answers to prayer it's the two or three gathered in my name i'm there so the whole issue of the breakthroughs in the earth come out of living in that awareness that awareness of the presence of god with me and upon me to make a difference in the world around me that is the connection for answers to prayer and so he says if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and pray it's foolish to be given such a transformational tool such as prayer and not use it it's foolish to face an impossible situation everybody knows how to lift up a panic prayer i'm not opposed to that i'm glad he sometimes answers those but transformational praying is more like giving birth paul actually talked about that he used the he used the concept of giving birth to illustrate prayer he was referring to one of his associates and he said he is praying he is laboring in prayer the word labor as physical labor of a woman laboring in prayer until christ is formed in you was the phrase he used it's a it's a different kind of a praying it's it's it's digging in i know the heart of god i know the will of god and i know there's opposition i don't know necessarily what the problem is i just know i have nothing better to do with my life than to abide in him until the presence of god his own faith becomes my faith and i learn in prayer to petition god but also to represent him as i make decrees to standing opposition [Applause] i understand something like 20 5 26 of christians vote that's insane the moral cesspool that has grown in many of the nations of the world watching this broadcast that moral cesspool has developed and grown on our watch and the lamest excuse invented by the devil himself is that i only have one vote my vote doesn't really matter the devil made that one up to disengage the most powerful influential people on the planet because there's no such thing as a act of obedience that is powerless there's no such thing there's no such i don't care if you're taking a sandwich out of your grocery store to the homeless man in front of the store it is an act of obedience that releases presence and power i don't care if it's the phone call to your neighbor that you haven't seen and you heard that they were sick and you're finding out what's happening every act of obedience of a believer releases presence and power the glory becomes manifest in the atmosphere of obedience the simplest act of physical obedience and the thought that i could do something responsible for my nation and vote for my city and to be powerless is an absolute insult to the power of the gospel that he has given us his name he's given us his name a single act of obedience to the lord just do your best pray vote values not personalities and let's see if we can make a difference i know he's not talking about voting in here but i am it's it's honestly our responsibility is to pray you know there's a lot of people moan and groan they call it intercession and but do nothing outside of that to make a difference in your own culture and we've been called to make a difference it's our responsibility to make a difference if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face the face of god is what we are invited to pursue think about that for a minute because the scripture gives that warning anyone who sees his face dies so it's a great invitation [Laughter] come and die and i tell you what every time we come before the face of the lord something dies that shouldn't have been alive the lord invites us into this ongoing interaction with a countenance of a perfect father so when he says seek my face he's not saying seek my hand i i've i've i have tried to make a strong point for the last probably 20 years that jesus never scolded anyone for seeking his hand blind bartimaeus wanted to see jesus didn't say or you're supposed to seek to know me he didn't gave him healing in his eyes you know the one with the dead relative they you know jesus brought through his hands the power of god to establish kingdom he's never scolded anyone for seeking his hand his blessing i think it's a responsibility we have but forgiveness doesn't come from his hand comes from his face it's from the countenance it's the father who welcomes and that's what's needed right now is a group of people that get recalibrated to the face somehow seeing the eyes of a loving father recalibrates every value in my soul things that were important 10 minutes ago are no longer important things that plagued me or worried me or frustrated me suddenly they don't have the bite that they once had why because there's something about the countenance that just absorbs every offense or distraction that i carry in my heart it just gets absorbed in this face of a loving father and he says if my people the ones i gave my name to if they would just humble themselves seek my face turn from their wicked ways there is a picture given old and new testament [Applause] that to seek the face of god automatically implies turning from something i must turn from the inferior to seek the face of god you can't drag both values into one act he is the all-or-nothing god he is the he he is he likes being first and king i mean he that's him everything is about putting him first so here he says seek my face turn from your wicked ways in hebrews 6 it says turning from dead works faith towards god it's this turning from unto and one of the things that i'm so thankful for about the lord is he welcomes us into his presence regardless of the condition of our heart he can be bitter you can be mad you can be indifferent you can be you know careless it doesn't matter where you're at he says come but you can't leave the same way you came that's that's the whole deal you can't you you can't expect i'm going to bring all this baggage and i'm going to come in and then i'm going to leave the same way that's not how it works we come in before him and we just get refined in the journey that's part of the whole process is that i come to seek his face and things get recalibrated in this in this journey it may be a five minute journey it may be an all-day long journey but it's this journey where i engage once again to the face of god that reveals the heart of god that automatically engages me into my reason for being he said if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek the countenance of this wonderful father i've been reading the last couple days again psalm 67 which is personally a favorite of mine and uh in verse 1 and 2 of of that great psalm verse 1 says lord bless me which i love that prayer i'm into that kind of praying anytime bless me and cause your countenance to shine upon me countenance is a word for favor it's the loving favor of a father it's it's the uh brian and jen just adopted another little boy and uh and we uh we got to have him at our home again last night and and it's just you you don't have you know a parent will make faces to an infant that they would never even make in the mirror to themselves while they were alone i mean you say things you make noises you do all kinds of stuff to this little tiny infant that you don't even know you're doing it just seems to come out of you as you as you and i've been told that children are actually infants are trained in a lifestyle of joy through the countenance of their caregiver and so it's that face and so here we are we seek the face of the almighty god this perfect father who welcomes us welcomes us we come with baggage we leave clean and powerful we come with issues we leave confident he is settling the issues and he says you seek my face you turn from your wicked ways then i will hear that's an amazing statement because the bible tells us he doesn't always hear [Applause] i don't know if you know that or not but the bible says scripture says if i regard iniquity in my heart god will not hear me if i come conscious of sin and i'm unwilling to repent so here he welcomes us he says turn from your wicked way seek my face then i will hear from heaven forgive their sin this is amazing to me forgive their sin personal blessing and heal their land corporate influence their personal breakthrough becomes a transformational influence in the land [Applause] sometimes i think people avoid times of prayer because they think it'll take hours and you know sometimes i've been in moments of prayer where you just lose track of time those are glorious glorious moments [Applause] but history has been shaped by people who prayed simple prayers but they were all in all in the history of our nation we're celebrating independence weekend history of our nation has been shaped by the prayers of a general in an army where it looked like they would certainly lose and they just took the knee and they prayed a simple prayer and everything changed simple prayer a president a governor different ones who just simply take the knee and pray acknowledge the almighty god this is something that we have the privilege of doing throughout the day it's not just the two hour block of time it's the five minutes of surrender here it's the 10 minutes of praise and exalting him there it's it's that riddle throughout my day i never want to escape the fact i carry his name and i carry it for a reason i'm here to make a difference and in the abiding presence of god i've been finding that that the prayer meeting never stops it never stops it started while i was sleeping i found myself praying if my people were called by my name i would wake up bring that bread get up in the morning i would grab my bible sit out on my deck it would continue it continue throughout the day it just it doesn't stop because the abiding presence of the almighty god is upon me as a testimony to me that you hear son to make a difference learn to pray out of abiding learn to pray out of the presence learn to touch to tap into the heart of god express that in prayer and decree and let's do what we're supposed to do make a difference in the earth this is what we are assigned to do this is who we are we're people that have been given this name [Applause] this will seem very elementary to you as it is but this next statement is one that i think is forgotten often and it's this we battle not against flesh and blood we battle not against flesh and blood that's not our problem and to fight effectively in the war we were born into requires a strength that is found only on our knees [Applause] it's only on our knees i'm going to assume that you've been experiencing this as i have i would have been embarrassed to admit it but it feels like more and more i am being delivered from the prayer life that wants to convince god of doing what i want him to do i never would have thought that that it would ever be a desire of mine but i can tell sometimes that the frustration and prayer comes from that and the whole issue about effective prayers it begins in surrender it's not that great things aren't supposed to happen we're designed to make a difference in the course of history we're shaped for that i made a statement here some years ago that you can't find your significance until you have found your insignificance and sometimes it's just that place of going low on surrender where you where you you are not confident of your strength i don't need self-confidence i need god confidence and i i don't want to you know i don't want to speak bad about being self-confident but i've had it it's disappointing it's disappointing self-confidence is no greater than self and it's very unimpressive [Applause] prayer is engaging with the unlimited strength and the unlimited heart of compassion of a perfect father it's that countenance of a father that says son now now pray this now do this now call this person now give this away now do that it's it's that it comes out of it comes out of this the countenance of a father who can guide you with his eyes he looks at you in a certain way and you you just know this is this is not my responsibility it's the abandonment to the heart of god it's the abandonment to the will of god then suddenly we find ourselves praying simplest prayers that move heaven and earth because they come out of abiding they come out of surrender they come out of the acknowledgement that god is with me god is with me not just as a theological statement i sense the might the beauty the wonder of the almighty god who is now resting upon me because he has assigned me to do something i remind you jesus stood in luke 4 before he had done any miracles and he said the spirit of the lord god is upon me and then he declared why the spirit of the lord god is upon me [Applause] and then he announced why it wasn't arrogance see in abiding presence and abiding presence there is courage to declare truth regardless of what it sounds like to somebody else it's not permission to be offensive it's just the spirit of the lord god is upon me to open the eyes of the blind to proclaim the favorable year of the lord and he had not done any of those things i'd like to suggest to you that in that abiding presence comes the god confidence we were all designed for the god confidence that they can look at a situation and say no that will not be happening on my shift no no that will not be happening that disease no we draw the line no further no the destruction of that family line no that ends today it's not a careless prayer it's something that comes from the abiding presence of digging your heels and saying i know the heart of god i know the mind of god and i know why i am here i am here with a purpose and it is to bring an end to that that that will no longer happen [Applause] i want you to stand if you would i'm gonna wrap this up i know i've got more time left but i'm gonna end it in a moment anyway all of you there at home you can stand if you want those of you in your car i like how you said it earlier don't stand if you're in your car don't stand please [Applause] i i i was about to say i feel like commissioning for prayer taking place but it's different than a commissioning it's an invitation it's a summons it's a summons come into the courts of the king i gave you my name for a reason come into the courts of the king learn to recognize my countenance pick up my heartbeat because it's in that abiding partnership my purposes are accomplished in the earth father i pray that you would increase that that global sense of summons the summoning from a perfect father to come and to pray and to make a difference in the earth i'm asking for everybody in this room everybody watching online give us the grace for this season to not fight against flesh and blood to not mistake people for the enemy give us the redemptive touch the eyes of a perfect father the loving heart of a father help us to represent you well i want to end with this i know that anytime we have as many people as we have gathered on bethel tv youtube the various forms formats there's always a high probability that there are people watching that don't have a personal relationship with jesus you don't know what it is to truly be forgiven by god and welcomed into his family i want to say this is your moment now is the moment whoever calls upon the name of the lord jesus christ there's no other name whoever calls upon the name of the lord jesus christ shall be saved wherever you are in fact if you're watching a bethel tv or youtube any of those formats please you can uh write right now on your comment and and get the help of a pastor one of our team that will pray with you i pray for that right now that there will be transformation of people's lives all over the world through this beautiful and wonderful gospel amen now how many of you say amen to the invitation to not fight with flesh and blood but instead abide and see answers amen amen amen thanks for listening to the sermon of the week this weekly podcast can be heard in multiple languages on our bethel tv website if you'd like to partner with us in disciplinations and fueling personal revival you have the opportunity to give at bethel dot tv slash podcast slash donate [Music] [Applause] well hello hello bethel family my goodness it has just been so long so long looking at empty chairs and empty parking lot and all that we just we miss miss you so much i got exposed to covet a couple weeks ago so yesterday it was my first day to be off quarantine i i self quarantined and it's never punishment for me to have to stay home with my wife it was uh actually quite glorious but but anyway i i was free to leave my property yesterday i have a confession to make i went down to the grocery store and i bought every carton of haagen-dazs pistachio ice cream that they had which happened to be six i bought all six of them and i brought them home because that is the will of god for my life now don't send manny please i i have i haven't but i'm just confessing yesterday was a day of victory and triumph as i drove from the grocery store to my house opened one i the entire they're small very small i had the whole thing yesterday and i'm feeling quite happy quite happy um thanks for uh for joining us bethel family and and uh you know we are amazed constantly as a team we meet and review what's happening and we're just trying our best you know to be honest we're just trying our best in the most awkward time to lead well and uh and watching how you guys have uh been so incredibly generous and faithful and support and just the stuff you do meeting in homes so many of your meeting in homes even right now and we just want to bless you just thank you your faithfulness has just been outrageous our worship team just did such a amazing job i i wish so much we could all crowd into the room together days coming soon but but not yet but it is such a joy to to stand here and just to worship jesus when in doubt worship it's never a bad idea i mean it's just always a good idea just to turn my affection towards the lord and declare his greatness his sovereign rule overall the song i've been singing probably the most in the last eight months has been he reigns above it all he reigns above it all my goodness i just sing that over and over and over again and it's not like it's not like it's a premeditated thing it's not like let me find a good song for the season it volcanically erupts and then i recognize god is on this song and so i've been singing that thing over and over again and i encourage you to do the same grab your moment where in uh i mean you'd have to be i don't know brain dead or spent the last eight months on another planet to not realize that we are we're in the most unique interesting times of our lifetime for sure uh there have been uh as we look at history there have been crazy times throughout history where the church uh faced incredible uh difficulties challenges where mankind faced horrible horrible circumstances and so we're not the first generation i don't want to throw a pity party we actually have it quite good by comparison to other times and seasons but we do have our our hands full so to speak as we uh face the dilemmas that are before us and here's what i want to talk to you about today when the lord allows a challenge to come our way the challenge is to reveal need and invite us into breakthrough whenever the lord brings a challenge maybe it's a financial thing could be a health issue like this pandemic it could be any number of things the lord is exposing a need in me if i if i turn to fear he's not shaming me if i turn to insecurity or panic or whatever he's not shaming he's just bringing to the surface where i have built wrong security insecurity is wrong security exposed and he brings it to the surface not to shame me but to bring it out in the open so i can deal with it and move into divine solution move into god's answer so we have uh we have some situations around us right now as a nation really the nations of the world i've uh been uh talking and texting and and what all with people from all over the world in just recent days and and the challenges of our of our friends all over the world is really high but i i want to come to you um encouraged today encouraged because there's not one problem that exists on the planet that jesus doesn't have an answer for right now in his mind he's already got it if thought through well prepared the answers the solution is available i remind you that jesus said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of god is the absolute fulfillment of every single cry of the human heart every longing that we would have in life is fully satisfied it's temporarily satisfied by situations in this life but is in complete fulfillment in this realm called the kingdom of god so when jesus says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand he is announcing he is challenging a generation of people change your perspective on reality otherwise you will always live under the influence of the inferior i have brought my world with me the dominion of the almighty god that brings things into order that manifest the abundance of life the peace of god the the salvation of the lord spirit soul and body this that he brings to us is available as we turn from the inferior embrace this thing called the kingdom of god today i want to i'm kind of i'm kind of here as a messenger to remind i want to remind you of things we've studied things we've prayed things we've done in years past and so i'm going to ask you to open your bibles to the book of acts the book of book of acts and we're going to go to chapter four and i'm going to read to you uh today portions of a story that has dramatically affected my life through the years i'll i'll never forget the first time i saw and recognized this particular passage and um and realized what the lord was calling us to so in chapter 3 we have peter and john come up to a gate there's a lame man there peter makes this statement he says silver and gold have i known the lame man was begging for alms he says i don't have any money but i'm going to give you what i have and then he said in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk man i love that story so much i love it because peter says i don't have this but i do have this i've got a name i've got a name to which every power must bow i've got a name it's been entrusted to me every power must bend its knee in the confession that jesus is lord i've got this name and so he declares it over this guy many of you familiar with the story read it on your own acts chapter 3 he's walking leaping praising god he just received an absolute transformation in his own personal life when we come to chapter 4 we have in verse 13 we have peter and john are now brought before the religious leaders and they are um they are chastised they are rebuked they are punished they are imprisoned because of this name jesus that they preach it actually says in verse 12 there's no other name under heaven by which someone must be saved we must be saved and there is no other way it's critical that we hold that intention because we're not working with multiple options we're working with one king one lord the eternal son of god jesus the christ but in verse 13 i just love the verse it says when they saw the boldness of peter and john and perceived they were uneducated in untrained men they marveled and they realized they had been with jesus spending time with jesus more than compensates for any weakness or deficiency you have having been with jesus you know there's got to be stuff going on in our life where people can look at what you're facing and look at your response and say they don't have the training for that they must have been with jesus there's something about walking with the person that more than compensates for every deficiency and weakness and we're invited into that right now we're invited into that because jesus in this season is giving the church an opportunity to face the obstacle of opposition face the obstacles of pandemics of issues health issues et cetera face them in the power of the gospel i'm gonna i'm gonna exhort you today that we must return to our roots in any way we have uh abandoned or laid aside as not being a priority so just follow with me here says they recognized that they had been with jesus all right so in verse 18 it says they called them these the leaders they called them and they commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of jesus yeah that's hilarious they commanded they didn't suggest they commanded these people of authority commanded you are to no longer speak in this name now this is interesting because jesus the food multiplier didn't defend anybody but when you start demonstrating power and you start making the pronouncement that you must forsake all to follow me then suddenly that name is offensive especially to people who think there's multiple ways to god and they rebuke and they tell them to not preach in the name verse 19 peter and john answered and said to them whether is it it is right in the sight of god to listen to you more than to god you judge oh goodness i just think that's funny i want to see the video clip of their faces whether it is right in the sight of god to listen to you more than to god you judge and then here's this verse we cannot but speak the things we have seen as hurt look at this verse again some translation i forget one says we cannot help but speak that which we have seen and heard can you help it if you can you don't see it is it an option can you turn it on can you turn it off then maybe we need another glimpse something's got to happen the greatest reality in the universe is the presence of the resurrected christ that reality and to fill my heart and mind with all the inferior things and not with the power of his resurrection gives me an option i can turn the message on and i can turn the message off it becomes optional if it's optional maybe i don't see it it's not a shame thing it's an invitation he says we cannot help but speak what we've seen and heard we are living without options my invitation to you today is it's time to sign up again for the lifestyle that has no options no options we were designed by the lord for this hour we're designed for this we've been prepared throughout our entire lifetime i don't care if you have a lifetime of shipwrecks of a failing god doesn't matter what it is everything up to this point is a tool used by god to make you and me a righteous influence in the earth it must be said by the people of god we cannot help but speak we cannot help it we cannot help but speak of the things we've seen and heard it is no longer an option we are so immersed in what god has said and what he has done that is no longer an option i pray that god removes the options for us in this word today all right we're just warming up getting ready for the part that i love so much that i want to read so they were released and verse 23 they were let go they went to to their friends they reported all that the chief priest the elders had said to them and when they heard that verse 24 they raised their voice to god with one accord that phrase is repeated often in the book of acts especially their voices raised up in one accord in other words they were in absolute unity saying the same things praying the same things declaring confessing the same things it's vital not that we say the same things it's vital that we hear what he's saying and by hearing that we all say the same things in other words it's not a humanistic unity we're looking for it is the mind of christ declared on the lips of the people of god they came into that place of unity they raised their voice with one accord and they said lord you are god who made heaven and the earth and the sea all that is in it and then he goes on to to quote this scripture about the nations being enraged sounds very familiar now i want you to come down to peter's prayer peter prays this prayer now this has been this is where i've been aiming for this morning peter prays this prayer that is one of the most courageous prayers prayed in the bible and i'm going to repeat a story that i've told you many times through the years but let me read these verses first verse 29 now lord look on their threats and grant to your bond servant your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant jesus look at it again lord take note of the threats new american standard says and grant that your bond servants could speak your word with all boldness while you extend your hand to heal signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant jesus i love this story a lot why earlier in verse 13 they recognized the incredible boldness that was on peter and john and yet when they were opposed and they were threatened and they were told to shut down what they were doing they prayed for greater boldness they didn't pray for fancier words they didn't pray for any of the stuff that we might have done sometimes we become fearful of certain movements or groups of people and we compromise our testimony to become more appealing and what is actually needed is a greater boldness that the breath of god would breathe on and release his hand to do the impossible because he's responding to a courageous people if ever we've needed to be courageous as a people not offensive not obnoxious none of that junk that's all counterfeits though absolute boldness for who jesus is and for who he what he has said what he has taught what he has promised us so here's this story at a time where they could have prayed god give us favor and the political world give us favor with religious leaders instead they said god turn up the heat our boldness got us into trouble we were imprisoned we were threatened because of our boldness because of the miracle so give us more of what caused us that problem it's a very rare way to pray we generally try to appease those who um i believe we're supposed to be wise i believe we're supposed to speak the mind of the lord i believe we're supposed to love and to serve no brainer that's who we are but there are times where we compromise our own faith in order to take a safe route that does not cause conflict here it is god give us all boldness you gave us some we've seen your name glorified as a result of the boldness but we're asking right now that boldness that caused us such conflict increase it increase it years ago i was told a story about a test pilot in the uk has taken a new plane up i don't remember all the details the circumstances but he was taking a new plane up to uh to see how it handled and all that it didn't have a lot of the the shrouding and stuff inside the cockpit and uh when he got up to a certain elevation as he's flying he happened to notice that there was actually a rat on the plane chewing on a fuel line and as the story goes this pilot feared he did not have time to land the plane and so he took it higher he took it higher because he had oxygen the rat did not he took it up to an elevation where the rat could not survive often times the church notices a rat on board and in panic tries to land the plane sparing the rat when in reality we need this prayer god we got in trouble because of boldness this time give us all boldness increase increase that which we need so desperately right now we don't need a compromised version of the gospel of power we don't need one that fits well into everybody's opinions what we need is the gospel of jesus christ to be on full display that's what we need right now so do what you need to do in us so that we take the moment that you've given us we embrace it fully and realize this problem is an invitation from god it's an invitation by god to become who we're supposed to be declaring what we're supposed to declare practicing what we're supposed to practice here it is they prayed that prayer verse 31 the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit and they spoke the word of god with boldness now the multitude verse 32 of those who believed were of one heart and one soul neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own they had all things in common and with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the lord jesus and great grace was upon them all here's the deal acts chapter 1 says you will receive power that you may be witnesses let's clarify something here you don't need power to tell somebody you're born again it helps but you don't need it you don't need power to give a sandwich to a hungry person all those things are expected those are things we must do but power isn't needed for those actions but power is needed if you're called upon to demonstrate the reality of the resurrection of jesus christ power the lame man walks he leaps he praise god what happened the resurrection of jesus was just put on display through our own cowardice at times through our own weakness of faith through all kinds of things we allow a world to live around us that is grasping at straws looking for answers looking for solutions when the entire time they've never seen the blatant evidence that jesus is raised from the dead we have nothing without the resurrection nothing so this story that begins in acts chapter one power is needed to be witnesses by the time you get to verse 22 they are looking for a replacement for judas who betrayed the lord and it says beginning from the baptism of john to the day when he was taken up from us one must become a witness of his resurrection this whole thing of being a witness of the lord jesus christ certainly includes sharing our story we see paul doing that he would return to his own story on the damascus road and his conversion experience it's a beautiful thing for us to share but we must understand we have been called upon to illustrate prove demonstrate jesus is raised from the dead when the lord i had a situation a number of years ago i was in dallas texas i was doing a conference there with a dear friend and i i just remember two nights i don't remember how long i was there but i remember two nights i was speaking at this particular conference and after the time in the word we'd have time where we're praying for the sick we're ministering to people and oftentimes we'll get down front and we have a line of people and we just work and pray with people somehow i got um off to the side and in two nights i spent hours hours praying over five people hours they all had ms and every one of them left in the same condition that they came in with oh man that's painful because you feel these people are coming to you in this case to me for prayer wanting to meet jesus because see this resurrected one never turned anyone down this resurrected one accomplished everything necessary for a person to be healed and those people came whatever distance they came they heard i was going to be there one of those speakers they lined up and i spent hours praying in two nights for five not one was healed that's the reality and when i pray i come to the lord i say god they came to me wanting to meet you and all they met was me and neither of us are impressed you've got to do whatever you need to do in me so that the person that exhibits any measure of faith could come and could see the miracle touch of jesus i hear people will often make comments about somebody not being healed often people will say you believe that if they're not healed it's because of their faith their weakness of faith and actually i don't i don't believe that at all the bible says it's the prayer of faith he heals the sick and if i'm the one doing the prayer the praying that i'm supposed to be the one with the faith it's not a time for shame it's not a time for introspection it's a time to seek god it's time for someone to be able to look at me and realize he's deficient in every area but i can tell he's been with jesus because he doesn't lack where he needs to have presence where he needs to have power where there needs to be the demonstration of the resurrection of jesus he does not lack i'll bet he has spent time with jesus see jesus would address weakness of faith we know that he did that he would uh to a man with a tormented son he he told him if if you can believe all things are possible for those who believe and the dad is just desperate he says i believe but i also unbelieve too i'm kind of believed to help me in my unbelief and it's a it's a verse that many of us have quoted in our moments of despair because we can identify with it so so incredibly well i believe but help me in my unbelief every time jesus addressed small faith no faith weak faith every time he still provided the miracle every time not one time did he point to weakness of faith and withhold the miracle never instead what he did is he exposed the weakness of their confidence in god and he gave them a miracle to give them access to the greater faith he was talking to them about at one point jesus said you won't believe unless you see many people have read that and i've thought in fact i i grew up years reading that thinking he was criticizing them he was exposing that they had to see to believe what did he do in that moment he provided a miracle why because he knew if they could see it they could believe not displaying the resurrection of jesus through miracles through signs through wonders is to withhold from people the opportunity to believe the opportunity i remember one sunday morning quite a few years ago i was walking through us before quite a bit before the service was to start and i remember right back over here close to the back row there was three or four rows in the back there was a a family was there and there was a man who who um you could tell he was homeless by his clothing his smell everything about him just let you know and this family had found him and brought him to church and so people were starting to come in and i went back just to just to introduce myself to him and after i got there i was talking with him and uh just you know just welcoming him and just telling him how happy we were that he was there i noticed he had a cast a brace on his arm and i said i said hey what happened and he said i fell off a bridge he says i shattered my my arm and it was in a lot of pain it had been done i didn't ask him when but you could tell that it had been very very recent and he was in just tremendous plane he pain he just kind of babied that thing as he as he held that there and so i just began to ask him questions he said yeah i said i felt fell 18 feet off a bridge i shattered my my arm my wrist and i said would you mind if i prayed for that and he looked at me like you know that's a novel thing he didn't come thinking expecting that and he looked down at the family that brought him and they gave him kind of a thumbs up you know so we just prayed a very very simple prayer when i was through when i was through he begins to move his arm and i wish i had a video of his countenance because everything that was wrong was now right all the pain that was there is now gone all the movement that he could not have without excruciating pain really compromising this injury he could do everything he was so astonished he looked at the people that brought him they are so thrilled i'm besides myself in joy it's you know it's one of the great stories where where god showed up and did something when that happens he gets all the glory when it doesn't happen he doesn't get the blame he doesn't get the blame and neither does the person that i pray for but in this case they were healed i went on and celebrated with him and went on met other people and finally the service started at the end of the message i wanted people to surrender to jesus and so as we do we like to always give occasion for people to commit their lives to christ who do you think was the first person that day to surrender their life to jesus of course it was course the scripture says it's his kindness that leads to repentance to not be filled with the spirit of god to not be able to display the resurrection power of jesus and confront those things that are impossible is to withhold from people a taste of the kindness of god a taste a taste of the goodness a taste that actually gives them the courage to forsake this inferior life and to follow after this one the only one who is worthy to direct and to lead my life the resurrected christ here it is here it is it's the witness he's alive it's done in many ways but never is it to be without the miracle we live with a attention attention of we've had so many uh cases of of covet 19 in our city in our own church we've been cr praying like crazy we're just really looking for greater and greater breakthrough we have many many stories and testimonies gobs and gobs of wonderful stories of great miracles but but what people seem to remember in this season right now is oftentimes what didn't happen and i want to look to your bethel family all of our guests that are watching we're just we're thrilled you take the time just to just to watch this message with us but bethel family i want to talk to you face to face for a moment this is a moment where we do not become cowardly we do not become apologetic we do not create biblical excuses for the absence of what jesus accomplished this is where is time to spend time with jesus it's time to do something in some way seeking his face crying out to him with his own word this is what he declared he declared that these signs would follow those who believe he declared greater works than these would he do he declared by his stripes he made a payment in full for the miracle that we need why does it happen by the grace of god why doesn't it happen i'm clueless and that's when i get back before the lord i don't create a religious excuse i don't create a religious excuse i don't deflect the blame the accusation the pointing of the finger exactly they say you believe in miracles why do you wear glasses i said because i can see better with them i better not go there because there's more but we'll just leave that leave that where it is we are a people that have the privileged responsibility to come before the lord and to say father touch me again this time let me see so clearly that i can say i can't help but talk about what i've seen and what i've heard it's not just the message i have seen the message in action and i can't be silent i cannot be silent this is not the time for silence it's not the time for arrogance it's not the time for self-promotion all the other junk that is the counterfeit of real boldness but it is the time for bethel this is your call this is my call this is who we are i'm not saying no one else is i'm just saying listen this is it we all signed up for this this is the moment we get before the lord i the other day i took five different prayer walks you know and we have a little piece of land and just walking and praying constantly walking praying getting up in the morning getting my communion supplies going outside and standing before the lord father you said by the stripes of jesus we were healed and here is this bread this broken body that testifies of the absolute surrender of jesus for our behalf i hold this before you jesus became broken that we could be whole he became empty that we could be full he was rejected so we could be accepted he was despised so we could be celebrated he bore afflictions so that we could be healed father i hold this testimony this witness of the resurrected christ before you and i say father god heal our city heal our city do what is impossible for mankind impossible for any movement only you father can display your your heart in this way we pray bring healing bring it economically bring it bring it relationally in families that have such conflict come to the surface through the season marriages that are just really shattered because of this season the fear the anxiety the businesses that have been wiped out and destroyed god we look to you you are the one that suffered in our place so that we could stand in your place of triumph and victory god i'm asking that you do that and day after day that's what i do and i encourage you come before the lord and pray pray for our church family those who can't we can't get together yet soon i pray soon i pray but we just stand before the lord god bring healing all throughout this church body all throughout this church body and it's not just about bethel it's not bethel reputation it's not it's not a bethel doctrine it's the bible it's the bible the bible says by his stripes we're healed the bible says go into all the world preach the gospel teach them what i taught you which in part was the demonstration of miracles this is the mandate on our life there are no excuses and there are no worthwhile art alternatives this is who we are bethel stand up and take hold of this thing even if you have to do so with fear and trembling just be honest be like the guy in in mark 9 that just says i believe but help me in my own belief i'm struggling that's fine it's just come to him that's all you're gonna do i love the fact no matter what shape i'm in i could be a mess i can be angry i can be bitter i can be distant aloof doesn't matter as long as i come to him i have the opportunity to not leave the same not leave the same to lay it all down before him and have him make that great exchange and i want to encourage you bethel family we need to pray father god heal our city heal our city i know you've prayed it i know you have but i'm going to ask you today to do it with boldness stand proclaim declare this that has been set up to bring destruction of families in our city we say no to you no to you in the name of the lord jesus we pray right now the resurrected presence and power of jesus would be seen realized discovered by every single family in our region every household my goodness it says of asia every person in all of asia every household had heard the gospel in the book of acts after this great revival in acts 19 every single household had heard the gospel i want that right now in my in my part of the world where i live where you live we want every single person to taste of the kindness the goodness the wonder the beauty of king jesus he said taste and see that the lord is good taste is experience see is perception i want people to experience his kindness so that they have a new way to see what our father is like it may be that you've watched this entire talk time and you don't have a personal relationship with jesus you you would be one to say i'm i'm one of those that i don't have i don't know what it is to be forgiven of sin i don't know what it is to have a new nature i don't know what it is to be a part of the family of god i'm not talking about church membership any of that stuff i'm talking about a personal relationship with jesus christ this is what's at stake and you were born for such a time as this but there's no amount of human strength or talent that can get done what needs to be done today it's the yielded surrendered life it's the person like you watching right now that just says jesus i give you my entire life every mess i've ever created everything i've ever been successful in i give it all to you and i ask you please forgive me forgive me of all my sin fill me with your holy spirit help me to be able to illustrate and demonstrate your kindness to the world around me i pray this in jesus name if you've done that i would encourage you you're watching on youtube or bethel tv just let these pastors online let them know and they'll talk with you personally and pray with you there are some of you that are watching that just need a miracle in your body we just declared that healing word this pandemic is inferior to the name jesus it is inferior to the name jesus i declare the name jesus through your household where there's been a horrible infection or somebody that has i don't know if it's a growth or an abnormality in this part of the abdominal area the lord is healing you there is somebody who have you have great pain in your hands and the verse that comes to mind today is uh is to bring before the lord clean hands and a pure heart and when i was thinking about that clean hands i felt like he spoke to me on isaiah 58 and he says stop pointing the finger your hands will be clean when you no longer accuse when you no longer point at this person criticize that one i declared that healing word for you today in the name of the lord jesus the god is restoring households there are marriages there's somebody who has a 14 year old daughter who has you've been estranged with her there's been some major conflict she's a a blonde haired little girl that just a beautiful young lady but there's been great great conflict it's like it's like the spirit of deception has got into that relationship and there's been a torment involved and we just break that assignment today in the name of the lord jesus i want you to know something we could i could stand here announcing things that god is doing for hours and never touch everything i want you to know that we serve a wonderful wonderful father who has you in mind he loves you beyond description and he cares you come to him with your condition your need and say i give it to you please heal my body restore my finances in fact i pray for resurrection power in businesses in the next six months that we would see in our region of the world and all those watching a resurrection power of businesses in jesus name i bless you i wish i could see you and hug you but at least i get a chance to talk to you i just want you to know i love you so much i i'm so thankful so thankful that we get to be carriers of this gospel of the kingdom bless you the kingdom bless you the kingdom bless you the kingdom bless you the kingdom bless you

Channel: The Teachings Of GOD

Views: 256

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: bill johnson messages, sermon, church, bethel church, bill johnson sermons, bill johnson, supernatural, miracles, christian, bethel, holy spirit, revival, holy ghost, spiritual warfare, bethel.tv, presence of god, signs and wonders, bill johnson 2020, bethel redding, bill johnson bethel, bill johnson healing, healing, faith, Jesus, Bill Johnson 2019, best sermons, online church services, bethel moments, presence, sermons, church online

Id: qd93wuEojJ4

Length: 81min 40sec (4900 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021