Bill Johnson Sermons [September 13, 2021] | Trust In God With All Your Heart

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 when you face a crisis and difficulty one of the things that gets us through is promise and hope the promises of god give us hope gives us a sense of a future it doesn't mean we ignore challenges and we've got so many of them right now as a nation and nations of the world it's not just the us but nations of the world are facing so many huge challenges but it's overwhelming if i face them without the promises of god if i face them without the sense of hope that jesus actually has a plan he actually has a solution and it's maintaining my heart feeding on that solution just keeps me not only alive it keeps me sane or at least as sane as i'm ever going to get and so we we really celebrate the fact that jesus has a purpose and a plan something i've stated many times in the last 12 months is that every problem that exists on planet earth and i mean balancing your checkbook at home to the ozone layer to the racial conflicts or whatever it might be every single problem that exists on the planet god has a solution in his mind at this very moment and he simply looks for his people to come to him and pursue those mysteries those secrets and uh some things are revealed quite clearly in scripture some things uh uh we really have to press into but uh i remind you of the scripture psalms excuse me proverbs 25 verse 2 that it's the glory of god to conceal a matter so he hides things not from us but for us it's the glory of god to conceal a matter and then it's the glory of kings to search out our matter so your royalty my royalty in a very real sense is demonstrated royalty because who our father is royalty is demonstrated by this privilege to seek god for solutions and now is the time where where we really really need that again and again i would have said that last week and the week before but boy it's just heightened the awareness of our need of god's intervention is just getting more critical week by week i wrote something this week i wanted to read as i start then i'm going to move quickly into the subject of pentecost because that's what excuse me that's what today is is we're celebrating pentecost sunday racism is evil it is demonic to its core to treat people with dishonor because of their skin color is absolute foolishness to turn that dishonor into violence is barbaric and inhuman in christ we have the privilege and responsibility to oppose racism in all its forms and to stand with those who have suffered under its weight i wanted to start by just declaring our absolute commitment to protect those and to stand on behalf of those who are abused or are rejected or judged in some manner or in some cases violence as we've seen this last week is just crazy and uh so we as a church are just doing all we know to do to take a very strong stand to say listen this this foolishness has to stop and uh so we're gonna do our part we're standing with uh people and really fighting on behalf of those i love one of the phrases in the song today that we sang it says marching on our knees my goodness what a great picture knees the being on our knees is a place of prayer it's a place of deep intercession and that's the place where great advancement comes so i'm going to be talking about the concept of pentecost and how it happened how it came about so if you would open your bibles and we'll go right to acts chapter 1 and i want to talk to you out of this uh this amazing chapter many people think that jesus's final words to the church was go into all the world preach the gospel disciple nations it wasn't his last words his last words were wait in jerusalem until you receive the promise of the father wait in jerusalem until you're clothed with power from on high the go is essential the weight prepares us for the going and the whole point of the waiting is there is something more than what you've seen to this point there's something more that god has in store for you imagine yourself one of the 11 remaining disciples and jesus appears to them one of the moments he appeared to them is in john 20 where they were hiding in a room thinking they were going to be killed next if you can imagine the hostility of the hour they are literally afraid for their lives as they hide out in this room jesus always knows where we are and so he just appeared walking through the wall however he got there they were that didn't help the fear issue at all when somebody just appears and they didn't know it was jesus so you got to keep that in mind jesus just appears in this room they their fear just got come compounded and they are terrified and jesus says peace to you that didn't help because they were they're in way too much fear to receive any kind of peace and so jesus showed him the scars in his hands his side his feet when they saw that they recognized this is jesus we saw him crucified as soon as they realized that they they began to experience the peace that jesus promised and he said again to them again to you i say peace to you this is important to realize in this moment sometimes we're so filled with fear and terror that that we can't find peace and yet it's it's here it's here there has to be a turning and what happened in the hearts of the disciples there was a turning they recognized oh it's jesus he is with us and when he spoke peace the second time he breathed on them the holy spirit came upon them and they received true peace all right here's here's the deal [Applause] jesus gave them in that decree go into all the world preach the gospel he gave them a commission what else did he give them in the commission our response our yes to the commission of god is what connects us to the authority of god they were given authority in that moment but then he said wait in jerusalem why because we need both authority and power that is how jesus ministered it's how the disciples ministered when they were deputized under jesus's anointing they were deputized if you remember in luke 9 jesus gave his disciples power and authority he gave them both to function in while he was on the earth but when he left and went to the right hand of the father they had to find once again this place of authority in this place of power because now they were going to do it without jesus being at their side i remind you of something that i think is is so critical so important one of the comments that jesus made to his disciples that i'm sure was about the most difficult thing to comprehend they've ever heard him say he said it is better for you that i go now imagine that they've spent three and a half years with jesus they can ask him anything they are constantly impacted by his actions his words they learn from his behavior everything is an overwhelming three and a half year school of discipleship and in this moment of of absolute adoration they want to sit at his right hand at his left they want to be there as he takes a dominion over the kingdoms of the world and they're all positioning themselves to be a support to this messiah and then he says it's better that i go i can't imagine any hearing anything in their position it would be more opposite of what they would normally feel he said it's better that i go because if i don't go i can't send the holy spirit to you here's the deal picture this you're one of the eleven jesus is at your side at any moment you can reach out and touch him you can ask him a question you can receive instruction he is there just guiding you with his eyes even the way he does life there's a constant lesson of what it is to know god to follow god he's right here and yet that one who is right here said it's going to be better if i go because i'll send the holy spirit so here's the challenge is your relationship with the holy spirit better than if jesus were standing at your side if it's not better then we're not utilizing what god actually provided for us by giving us the indwelling presence of the holy spirit and the power of the holy spirit the rest upon us this is what we were assigned to we were assigned to this the gospel of the kingdom of god paul says is not in word only it is in power there must be the demonstration of power power in our personal life to overcome a sin temptation those kinds of issues but it's power for the miraculous its power to confront the impossibilities of life this is what we are assigned to live in to walk in is to walk in the absolute power of god to demonstrate the resurrection of jesus every time you and i pray for someone and there's a miracle it's a demonstration that the resurrection of jesus is real if i pray for you and you experience a miracle you've just seen what god can do if i pray for you and nothing happens you've just seen what i can do it's the absolute clothing with power that makes it possible for us to demonstrate the reality of the resurrection of jesus christ when we get to acts chapter 1 we see twice in the first few verses him talking about the kingdom of god all of you parents know that when you're about to leave the house and your your kids are in the house you have final words of instruction maybe they are staying with their grandparents maybe they're staying with a babysitter but you have final words of instruction the final words are your most important words that's what they you want them to remember before you leave for the evening or for a week whatever it might be jesus's final words to his disciples was instruction in the context of weight was instruction about the kingdom of god it says in verse 3 the last part he says he spent 40 days speaking to them of things pertaining the kingdom of god the very next words out of his mouth excuse me the very next thing out of his mouth is he says john baptized with water you will be baptized in the holy spirit not many days from now so the disciples then say hey i got a question when are you going to restore the kingdom when are you going to restore the kingdom to israel and jesus says it's not for you to know the times but excuse me but you shall receive power verse 8 when the holy spirit has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses what's the point i want to make twice in chapter one is the conversation about the kingdom of god once it was in his instruction second time it was their question when are you restoring the kingdom to israel both times the very first subject he turns to after talking about the kingdom of god was the baptism in the holy spirit i'd just like to suggest use this as kind of a springboard i'd just like to suggest that the introduction to the realities of the kingdom of god is the baptism in the holy spirit it immerses us into a reality and this is available for everyone this does not haves and has not i i i don't like that that that whole argument that whole concept this is available for everyone who confesses christ that the spirit of god would come upon us he'll manifest differently but the point is jesus is represented well that's what we're looking for that jesus is represented accurately for who he really is i want you to move fast forward now to verse 14. verse 14 says these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and mary the mother of jesus and his brothers now this is an interesting verse we know from the rest of the chapter there's around 120 people so let's just say 120 people which is interesting to me because jesus elsewhere in scripture says after his death he appeared to over 500 people but there was only 120 in the prayer meeting i don't know where the 380 went i'm sure they got it later i just don't want to miss when he shows up i don't want to miss so here they are it says they continued in one accord in prayer it's established that the prayer out of unity had been taking place in this chapter this is extremely significant look who attended the meeting of course we have here mary the mother of jesus some of the women that were supporters and his brothers why is that important because one of the last times we read about his brothers they didn't believe he was the messiah and they tried to trick him into going into a public place to receive ridicule and opposition so something has happened during this journey where they've come to the realization they've spent all this time growing up with the son of god in the house imagine that realization you've also got the 11 disciples who spent their time three and a half years succeed in their ministry for sure but they were also caught comparing themselves with one another thinking they are better than the other arguing as to who was the greatest so we've got this accumulation of 120 people who have many issues throughout their life together and yet this 10 days of prayer i don't know if they settled the issues before before they started the 10-day prayer meeting or if they got ironed out in the prayer meeting do you remember when peter denied jesus and jesus shows up afterwards and he says to peter do you love me more than these i think he was asking peter do you love me more than the other remaining ten do you do do you really think you love me more than everybody else because there was this this arrogance this superiority this this thing that rose up in him to think everybody else is going to blow up but not me i'm i'm the most secure one here and jesus confronted that in him and it was in that repentance that he was fully restored so let's get back to the story here they continued in one accord in prayer my translation adds the word and supplication let me talk to you for just a moment about the issue of prayer our prayer life reveals how conscious we are of the god who is with us you can't have someone as glorious and significant as the spirit of god resting upon a person and have that person not talk to him the depth of our prayer life reveals the level of awareness we have to the spirit of god in our lives i'm not talking theologically all of us as believers can say we know that the holy spirit lives in us we know that the holy spirit walks with us he guides us he teaches i get that i know that i'm talking about the daily ongoing consciousness of the holy spirit of god david said in the old testament he said i daily set the lord before me it's not that we can position god where we want he's he's not under our command we are under his but david was saying he's everywhere so i turn my attention to god being with me and that consciousness of god in his life is what in many ways enabled him to be the greatest king israel ever had so let's get back to the subject the second thing i want to challenge you in for most people our prayer life are times where we're pursuing comfort pursuing peace the pleasure of the lord now comfort pleasure let's just take those two words those are biblical concepts god is the one who designed pleasure he is the one who designed comfort he is the one who who made us to be able to rest in him i'm accepted in the beloved he delights in me i'm his treasure i'm the apple of his eye all those things are absolutely 100 true but what happens when we distort our pursuit of comfort we sacrifice having a lifestyle of impacting prayer there are prayers of fellowship with lord which is refreshing reassuring building hope building faith but the apostle paul taught at one point about prayer being likened unto giving birth he actually said and i am in labor for you until christ is formed in you and he was uh the context there was prayer so think about this this is an awkward uh subject but it's it's it's the intensity of prayer and for those who only pursue a relationship with god of comfort and pleasure will never know the kind of prayer that moves mountains [Applause] you have to be able to feel the grief of the lord the pain of a situation as parents we know what that is to be in a a painful situation with our children but here's the vital thing is we come before the lord and we pray unto until it is lifted until there is that sense of breakthrough i remember my brother is he's 10 years younger than i am bob or bobby at the time when he was 11 months old he was very very near death in fact the doctors uh said that he he was within 12 hours of dying i remember my my mom's parents lived with us at the time in fact for a good part of my life growing up years and they lived with us during that season and i remember my grandfather going to his knees i still can see i could take you to the place where he knelt in front of the couch in our living room and he was there for an extended period of time and he was praying you see my grandparents also lost a child at 11 months old this whole thing flashes back on them he he dug his heels in if you will in in a place of prayer he marched on his knees as even a better way to say it and he knelt in front of that couch and he began to pray and intercede as a kid i 10 years old i didn't 11 years old i didn't know what all he was doing or experience i mean i knew he was praying i knew bobby was in serious trouble but i i didn't get then what i get now he he he dug in to that crisis that we were facing as a family and he prayed and he was there for hours and i remember when he got up if i remember correctly it was about two o'clock in the afternoon he got up off his knees and he turned to the family and he said bobby we'll be okay why because he had a fight the fight is not with people the fight is with the powers of darkness that kill steal and destroy so often we blame so many other people for what's going on but he dug his knees into the ground if you will and he contended with that that thing until it was broken and he turned to the family said bobby will be okay my parents when they got back to the hospital that afternoon the doctors said in so many words there's been a very interesting turnaround since about two o'clock this afternoon that's when grandpa got up and said bobby will be okay you see there's something about prayer that moves mountains it means that i'm not looking for a life of pleasure and comfort only i'm looking to make a difference and to make a difference i'm going to dig my heels in and i'm going to contend for a breakthrough because a breakthrough must come the problem happens for many as they feel that burden of the lord they don't ever give it to him and so they walk around as depressed people looks like they've been baptized in pickle juice you know they just they just have no joy about them that's not the answer either the answer is i'm going to prove how holy i am by how depressed i am that is that is anti the whole point that we're making here is that we pray unto something prayer is supposed to be a moment of exchange that moment sometimes lasts for days that moment sometimes lasts for moments read nehemiah's prayers in the book of nehemiah one sentence prayers that moved mountains but see if the prayer doesn't move me it's not likely to move him so here's this moment in prayer where we come before the lord and he jesus himself said come to me you who are weary and heavy laden there's a lot of folks watching this that are weary and heavy laden heavy why maybe it's the coronavirus maybe it's uh maybe it's the racial conflict maybe it's something completely different it's it's the business that you lost during this thing maybe it's the fact you don't know what you're going to do when you're able to get back to work it could be any number of things health crisis whatever it might be there's a lot of folks watching this broadcast today that are weary and heavy laden jesus speaks to you and he says come to me you who are weary and heavy laden step one we've got to know who to go to we go to him i don't go to him plus this person this person this person he's not something i try he's not on trial we are i go to him but i go to him to make an exchange so jesus said come to me you are weary heavy laden i will give you rest think about it you come to me with your stuff and i will give you my stuff let's make the exchange as i've told so many of you so many times through the years if you walk into the presence of god heavy burdened and you leave the same way you came in then you weren't praying you were complaining might want to write that one down prayer automatically means here is an exchange i'm giving you i i was willing to carry this into your presence this that i've experienced in life but i see you as the source of life let's make the exchange i receive now your rest i want to welcome you into this kind of a journey i need to move on quickly here we get down to chapter two and he says in verse one he says when the day of pentecost had fully come they were all with one accord in one place again here's this one accord concept one accord not not a car not the accord one of course 120 people and one accord that would be a lot of people all right one accord they're in unity unity is not uniformity now listen carefully most people's understanding of unity is the fight for uniformity true unity requires diversity and a man shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one they are not the same diversity is required for biblical unity unity does not tolerate diversity it celebrates it it's what makes it so beautiful the second thing i would say about unity is it's not something you and i can create most human efforts for unity as noble as they may be are simple attempts for agreement and or understanding not evil not bad just insufficient the scripture says in ephesians chapter four i think it's verse 2 he says preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace tells us a couple things about unity number one preserve i can't create it it's already in existence how did it get there it's the unity of the spirit true biblical unity is is seen wherever the holy spirit has influence anytime you see in a relationship a husband or wife a church family a nation anytime you see real true unity not just will agree for this season true biblical unity it is the result of the holy spirit's influence and those individuals lives jesus prayed a prayer that they might be one but what did he join to it he said i gave them my glory that they might be one what is the glory the glory is the manifested presence of jesus seen as the holy spirit comes upon his people i gave them my glory i gave them the manifestation of the presence of god upon them why that they might be one you never see where there's a mighty outpouring of the holy spirit let's just take some of the things we've seen happen in this room i've watched this for years when the spirit when the power of god shows up in a room i don't mean just for miracles although i'm i'm all in for that when the power of god shows up in a room it's hard to find anyone who's mad at somebody else there's something that takes place in that in that environment where all the hostilities all the objections all the stuff you know the love remembers no wrong i'm not keeping an account why it just all lost its importance in the presence my challenge my challenge to you is pentecost yes it's about the demonstration of power but the basis if you if you consider the platform for this manifestation of the power of god the resurrection the testimony of the resurrection of christ through power the platform was they prayed together in one accord they were they were united in heart so much so if they saw one of their own brothers or sisters in need they would sell a position a possession to take care of that need the point is is it was it was unity to the point of self-sacrifice in other words i'll pay any price to maintain this what does it look like to preserve the unity of the spirit it means i am willing to invest i'm not just going to pray something and then to ease my conscience and and move out of doing something i'm not just going to check check the box that i prayed for unity i'm going to follow my prayer with action i was thinking this morning one of my favorite stories is where israel marched around the walls of jericho crazy story they marched around for seven days the last day seven times they lifted up a shower let's just use this as kind of a unique picture the marching around the walls for me symbolizes prayer once the shout was lifted up and the walls fell they still had to go in and take possession of what was there in other words prayer removed the obstacle to their victory they still had to go exercise victory prayer is vital you you and i must pray we must pray until we can get up and say bobby will be okay but there still needs to be then followed with an action that says all right let's go see our son let's go see our grandson let's do whatever the the situation demands in the case that we're facing now as a nation it's important that we pray but it's also important that we pursue and make sure communication is open that it's honest that we are they're loving one another we don't need agreement we need just the love and affection uh for people when they're mourning you know you've had the greatest day of your life put it aside mourn of those who mourn so often people will see somebody receiving attention because they've had great loss as we've experienced this week and then others in the group will say but what about me what about me i suffered this i suffered that you know what give people their moment let's weep with those who weep let's just let the dust settle let's weep with those who weep let's pray for and pursue in action the healing grace of god for every bit of disorder that exists in our nations now it says in verse 2 suddenly there came a sound from heaven i taught on this several years ago and i i want so much to talk about it today but i i let me just say that thousands of people from jerusalem gathered together because they heard a sound i just want to suggest you the sound was not 120 people praying in tongues it was not 120 people praying in other languages reading is not the biggest cultural center in the earth and yet you can go downtown and you see four or five of our arabic students talking in their language they're not going to draw a crowd of thousands you're not going to awaken an entire city like jerusalem to something simply because you're speaking four languages we already see from the testimony here the city was filled with people speaking in other languages that wasn't it what drew them was the roar of heaven there was a sound there was the sound of the heart of god that was released into the earth and it awakened an entire city and they they dropped their toys their work tools their their pots and pans whatever they were doing at nine o'clock in the morning and they were drawn to where this sound occurred and when they saw these people praying in other languages apparently acting so much disoriented because there was the thought that they were intoxicated they stand there and they start mocking them they were confused all kinds of reactions that were negative reactions people say well if it's a real revival there'll be no offense the opposite is true the opposite is true anytime god shows up there will be offense it's just it's the it's the way it is one one of the great prophets from the recent years said god will offend your mind to reveal your heart and in that moment they mocked and peter stood up and i want you to see this in chapter 2 verse 14 it says peter standing up with the eleven raised his voice and he said men of judea oh who dwell in jerusalem let this be known to you and heed my words these are not drunk as you suppose since it's only the third hour of the day that's a strange argument i want to convince you that they're not drunk like you think they are how can i say that it's nine o'clock in the morning strange argument but then he begins to read and i want you to see what he reads what he declares he quotes this out of the book of joel the prophet joel and it shall come to pass in the last days i will pour out my spirit on all flesh okay stop for a moment when the holy spirit is poured out where the spirit of god is working in a group when he is truly free to do as he pleases he breaks every barrier that we create and i want you to look at them right now i will pour out my spirit on all flesh all flesh every race when the spirit of god shows up it's a level playing field there's not haves and have nots there's not this race versus this race this class versus this class all of that stuff is is obliterated in the presence of god that's why we can say preserve the unity unity is the fruit of his working in and through us so look at it again i will pour out my spirit on all flesh your sons and daughters will prophesy sons and daughters the gender barrier and there's only two the gender barrier is broken in the outpouring of the spirit your young men will see visions your old men will dream dreams the age barrier is broken in the move of the spirit on your men servants and maidservants i will pour out my spirit in those days the class barrier those who are the wealthy those who are the poorest those who are the servants of others the class barriers broke what's the point when the holy spirit shows up in power it's a level playing field it's critical for us we see even when jesus would multiply food we'll see that he multiplied the food with the four thousand the five thousand but you'll notice a note in that number it will say and five besides women and children women and children were oh yeah see in the culture of that day they counted a crowd by the number of men in the crowd and then they mentioned and women and children it's interesting then in one of these stories the one who was ignored the child is the one who had the seed for the miracle the loaves and the fishes the ones who nobody counting counted jesus counted and brought him into the place where his lunch became what seeded the cloud for the multiplication of food you see in old testament in the culture of the day new testament the gospels what you see is you see a crowd counted by the number of men but all of a sudden something happens the holy spirit shows up there's 120 people in an upper room praying how many men how many women doesn't say why because they're treated the same see jesus destroys he destroys the power of division now we have to live in it he destroys the power of division that exists between all flesh he's the one who destroys that barrier between men and women what men are qualified to do what women are qualified to do he's the one who destroys that barrier that dividing wall he is the one who destroys the well god speaks through the aged or it's just the young people that have the real spark for revival he's the one who destroys that dividing wall he destroys it and calls it foolishness he's the one who comes and he touches the lowest of the low in this context the servants the slaves of another master and he gives them access to the same wonderful and glorious outpouring of the holy spirit that is offered to all we have to be careful that we don't return to a cultural standard that exalts one group above another we have to protect our heart to make sure that we don't move to cultural values sometimes good sometimes very corrupt that we don't return to cultural values instead of kingdom values in the outpouring of the holy spirit jesus said it i gave them my glory that they might be one preserve the unity of the spirit normally on a day like today i would spend the bulk of my time talking to you about our need for the absolute power of god my goodness there's just never been a time where it's been more needed than right now we've got to have the demonstration of the resurrection power of god flowing through the lives of believers like you and like me there are so many pandemics there are so many crises cancer and various kinds of illnesses that people carry they they they're under the weight of of that affliction infirmity they need someone like you that will say you know what i'm not parable powerful by myself but i'm also not by myself the spirit of god is in me the spirit of god rests upon me and because that's the reality i live in i would love to pray for you and let's see this thing broken this is who we are folks this is who we are every nation of the world is crying out for the authentic resurrection resurrected jesus to be put on display where we confront these things that are wrong today i'm taking a special emphasis more than i would normally because of what's happened in our own nation here tragically in these in this last week and let's be honest ongoing periodically for our entire lifetime it's got to stop but it's not going to stop because you and i somehow just become better people i i believe in human effort so forgive me if if you misunderstand that i i believe we need to do all we can do once the walls of jericho are down we still have to use human effort and go in and take possession of what god promised but here's the deal the spirit of god comes upon us as a people because there is a a demonstration of who jesus is in our unity one of the metaphors that is used in scripture is that i am a member of the body of christ let's be honest if we were to see the body of christ the way we often act we would have a hand over there a finger over there a leg over there divided parts that don't seem to get along and people who suffer with horrible diseases illustrate and manifest to us what it's like to have arms that don't cooperate that have legs that they cannot control they cannot stand on i'm in regular conversation with a dear friend of mine all she wants to do is walk all she wants to do but she can't she is so bound in this wheelchair and so we're contending for her for all of to arise and do a walk because it's the destiny of the lord he made those legs to walk on so it's you and it's me it's yes it's a demonstration of the power of god but right now i want to call your attention to people around you people around me that need an extra moment the need reassurance more than just when they're watching but when they're not watching we take a stand and we just say not on my shift not on my shift that kind of behavior is unaccepted unacceptable jesus loves every race in fact let me just say this what every race in this area we have the native americans what they contribute to our life is rich it's glorious we have the the continual uh migration i'll use uh a term of the hispanic population that comes they bring such quality of life to us the african americans the list goes on and on i uh i know i'll miss people but the point is we are better because they are in our lives they don't deserve just toleration they deserve celebration they deserve honor and i'd like to suggest to you that's at least one of the biblical manifestations of the power of the spirit of god coming upon his people the demonstration he said it jesus said it love one another so they'll know you follow me let the display of your care your affection your concern it doesn't even mean that we have to agree on everything it just means i won't let what i think this different than what you think interfere with the love we have for one another this is all in demonstration of the love of god for every person watching anytime we have a broadcast like this with literally tens and tens of thousands of people that watch from around the world i would want to say to you listen come to know jesus come to know jesus i've been thinking about this verse the last few weeks it says jesus made this statement he said what does it profit a person if they gain the whole world but they lose their own soul what does it profit you if you reach this dream and this accomplishment you're applauded by this group you're celebrated by that group you get all these accolades poured into your life what does it profit us if we get all that but we lose our own soul profits nothing eternity is a long time it's not a scare tactic it's a reality and jesus comes in his tender mercy and he says come to me you who are weary and heavy laden i will give you rest i will give you the holy spirit who is the person of rest he is the person of peace and i will release that into your life so i want to encourage you we have counselors we have pastors we've got people on our youtube channel we have people on our bethel tv channel ready to pray with you if you would say bill i don't want to end this broadcast without surrendering my life to jesus then that's what you do you just get online you make the phone call do whatever you need to do but say i need to get right with god i need to know what it is to be forgiven of sin to be brought into the family of god i want to pray for you i want to pray for those that are coming to christ i want to pray for all of us we have we have the opportunity to stand in the middle of a dark dark moment with the love and the compassion of jesus and to demonstrate jesus is truly raised from the dead he is alive in me and he is alive in this moment and i will not let any disagreement separate us because you're more important to me than my whatever so father i pray right now in the wonderful name of jesus first of all for those who would come to christ let the conviction of the holy spirit be released over this entire audience so that every single person those who have not walked with jesus and also those who would who have allowed differences to rise up in their heart where they've been hostile or arrogant or indifferent towards another group of people or maybe a family member god forgive us and heal us for this nonsense restore us to the heart of jesus in the way we value and treat each other i pray that you bring many many many into the kingdom today and that you would help us as the body of christ to demonstrate what it is to value one another and to stay connected in our love for you i pray this for the honor of the name jesus amen thank you thank you thank you so much for joining us today i bless you in the name of the lord 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 disciplining nations and fueling personal revival you have the opportunity to give at bethel dot tv slash podcast slash donate [Music] [Applause] 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 several years ago i was doing a study i had noticed that they were awkward awkward it's probably the wrong word uh unusual responses to trial famines difficulties in the word and so i began to do a study this is quite a few years ago now and since this whole virus issue came up these things have come to mind because what i want for me and what i want for us is to learn how to respond biblically to a crisis that comes up what are the different ways that uh the people of god in history have dealt with famines plagues pestilence all those things the number one response that we are to have we find in the second chronicles 7 14 if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray turn from their wicked ways seek my face turn from their wicked ways then i will hear from heaven forgive their sin heal their land always when there's difficulty that comes up it gives us a reminder to refine our focus and to make sure that we're standing on solid ground that our attitudes our behavior our relationships all these things are are really in in divine order but the unusual uh approach to uh in this case we're going to look at three famines in the bible and i want you to see the unusual response of different uh people of god throughout history so the first one is in genesis 26 and if you've got your bibles with you which i hope you do you're at home or somewhere where you have a bible i i want you to open to genesis 26 i want you to see the most unusual response to a famine by one of our heroes of the faith of history one of our forefathers and that's isaac and i want to begin with verse one it says there was a famine in the land besides the first famine that was in the days of abraham and isaac went to abimelech king of the philistines in gerar the first phrase there was a famine in the land then we jump to verse 12 and it says then isaac sowed in the land and reaped in the same year a hundred fold and the lord blessed him the man began to prosper he continued prospering until he became very prosperous i love that verse it's like god really wanted us to understand what took place here since he began to prosper he continued prospering until he became very prosperous but the point was verse 1 says there was a famine in the land verse 12 says isaac sowed in the land during that famine it's an odd time to plant crops generally when we talk about sowing and reaping in the in the church we're talking about giving this actually technically is not a giving passage it's a good principle but that's not what's uh at stake here isaac was sowing into his future this is a business decision he is uh he has crops he has uh uh livestock and this is his future this is his business and so he is investing in his own future what's unusual is at a time when uh crops aren't being harvested when uh there's not uh financial progress being made by the typical uh uh people or farms or ranches or whatever he sows into the land and he reaps a hundred fold a hundred times what a normal harvest would be that's extraordinary it's a supernatural harvest what is this what is this all about is the fact that isaac took was intentional in sowing into his own future sowing into his own business if you will he made decisions that would otherwise seem foolish it would be normal to want to eat the seed but instead he planted the seed i remember a missionary friend of many years ago sent a newsletter out and i of course was a a recipient of that newsletter and he made this comment he said for the first time in my life i understand what it means in the bible when it says to sow in tears and to reap enjoy sow in tears reap in joy and then he began to describe in africa his missionary in africa began to describe the the mothers who would have children strapped to their backs and and they would take the seed that they were hungry to eat but they chose instead to plant it in the ground and so they planted it and they were crying while they were planting the seed they knew that they could that would be one meal for them now but if they planted it it could be a whole season of meals and so there was that challenging decision in this particular case i want to encourage every business owner i want to encourage every employee every person uh listening to this broadcast that to take the isaac approach to this virus to the shutdown of businesses all the stuff that's crazy that's going on this is an opportunity for us to really sow into our own future to come with hope we have a reason to hope his name is jesus he has conquered every enemy and he causes everything to work for good to those who love god and are called according to his purpose that's you and that's me and so for some of you it may be taking an online course it might be uh buying a a book and reading a book during the shutdown time where you learn better how to maybe advertise or whatever it might be the point is is that you that all of us are making aggressive decisions about our own future that we're anticipating breakthrough we're positioning ourselves for breakthrough we're even sacrificing because we believe that god is breathing on that offering so i want to encourage you i believe this is a time for us to show great courage and great faith it's not a time to be foolish it's not a time to be careless but it is a time to be intentional so that we give god something to breathe on if you will to cause it to abound and to prosper so this is not a generosity verse this is a verse that deals with us investing in our own future the second story is uh is is very unusual in some ways more unusual than this one and it's found in nehemiah chapter 5. if you would turn to that one i'd love for you to see this one there's a little bit more involved in the detail here what's happening is there's a famine and the the people have got israel here uh they're running out of money they have no crops to harvest they uh uh they're in big trouble and so they're selling their their lands to other people and in this case uh one jew would sell to another jew but the point is is is these lands were the permanent inheritance of individual family lines this that when they inherited that land that was marked for them that was to be theirs and their family from that point on so when they sold them they were actually selling something that god had given to them and so it's a very very uh difficult situation so i want you to look at this uh it's in nehemiah 5 and we're going to start with verse 2. we have several verses to read so follow along for there were those who said we our sons our daughters are many therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live there are also some who said we've mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses that we might buy grain because of the famine there are also those who said we've borrowed money for the king's tax on our land in vineyards yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren our children as their children and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves some of our daughters have been brought into slavery it is not in our power to redeem them for other men have our lands and vineyards and i be this is nehemiah talking he says i became very angry when i heard there the outcry and these words after serious thought i rebuked the nobles and said to them each of you is exacting usury which is interest from his brother so i called a great assembly against him let me explain this situation when nehemiah examines he hears the cry of the people they're saying we're starving to death we're not able to eat we've had to sell our own children into slavery which is just the unthinkable and nehemiah sees he goes into the root of it and it's that brothers were buying brothers lands and they were putting heavy heavy interest on any payments that were to be made and they were losing they were losing their ability to buy food and so he he rebukes them and he restores them to a place of family and national covenant here's the point is that this is a time where many of us were being forced to stay in our own homes for example we uh we are confined quarantined to our own homes what's the point is this is the time to renew and restore relationships family first the body of christ the people of god it's not a time to take advantage of somebody in their difficulty this is where we adjust the opportunity for personal gain to accommodate the people that are in pain the people that are suffering the people that are suffering uh experiencing loss or diminishing of wages whatever it might be that we do whatever we can to stand as a family to give biblical support loving support financial support wherever possible i'm i'm reminded in acts uh chapter two through five is where the church experienced this great revival they began to sell their lands and do all kinds of stuff and what they did is they made sure that nobody among them was lacking nobody among them was poor it wasn't a mandate from the top it was something that erupted within them and that's important it's not a governmental decision of of everybody has the same it was an internal decision that says i care for my brother i care for my sister i want to make sure that they are supplied for that they have food to eat that they they have shelter to live in this is a time right now in a time of crisis not for us to withdraw and to become preoccupied with our own needs our own circumstances instead it's an opportunity for us to aggressively pursue those that we know that might be in trouble maybe they have maybe they have a financial crisis maybe they have a medical crisis whatever it is the point is is that we turn our attention towards the people of god and rally to their case rally to their cause you may have neighbors friends we've encouraged people you know call the senior citizens around you those who may not be able to go and get groceries and so we have a lot of our teams that are doing that right now they're they're doing that very thing calling their neighbors and friends but also our own church membership to call to find out where the needs might be the point is this is a moment where instead of reacting to the fear of the day which is running rampant instead refine our focus on our practical simple devotion to christ and to his people i want my love for god to be seen and measured by my love for people in this unusual story the famine happened but we never hear it spoken of again it says though their compassion for each other their devotion to one another silenced the voice of that storm silence the voice of that famine the last story i want to ask you to look at is in acts chapter 11. and this is um this is obviously new testament and it's a it's an interesting story for so many reasons because once again a famine was coming uh to really devour uh from people and uh so what we've got here is in acts 11 we'll start with verse 27 it says and in these days prophets came from jerusalem to antioch and one of them named agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world which also happened in the days of claudius caesar then the disciples each according to his ability determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in judea i love this particular story for a whole bunch of reasons but i guess my favorite part is that when they heard that a famine was coming remember it says in the whole world so that means the people that are hearing this word can tell there is a famine coming in their direction and it's going to affect their life the first thing they did this is remarkable the first thing they did is they took an offering that's the last thing that so many people would ever think of during that's where you would retreat you you you do whatever can to survive instead in this particular passage they moved aggressively to receive an offering and to send it to the brethren of judea they did it each according to their ability so there was no manipulation there was no uh somehow coercion where they where they had to relinquish goods it wasn't that it was there was this overwhelming thankfulness for god's promises and they decided to plant a seed the first story we read is about isaac who sowed seeds but it was not it was not generosity it was he's sowing into his own future into his own business it's important the second one was covenantal relationship to sow into that and make sure that there was health there but this last one actually has to do with money itself they took an offering and they gave it to the brethren in judea this means a lot of things it could be an act of compassion i've heard people say that brethren judea were in great crisis financially and so if that's the case this obviously was a very noble thing to do to receive an offering but i would like to suggest to you that there might be just a little bit more to the story than that judea this is where the ministers of the gospel came from to antioch to bring the gospel people in this audience if in this church if you will the people of this body of believers are converted because somebody came from judea and brought the good news to them i would like like to suggest that yeah this is probably a gift of compassion but even more so it was a gift of honor a gift of honor and that gift of honor while the famine happened we never hear it spoken of again it silenced the appetite it dulled the teeth it silenced the voice of this famine that was going to affect so many people's lives it's never spoken up again there's something profound about generosity in times of personal need i know around here when we've had different uh crises and challenges financially that's what i've gone into uh our uh uh financial people's office and i'll say i need you to write a check for such and such a church in town they they aren't able to pave their parking lot and and we'll we'll just we'll aggressively go after that right now we had a guest that was supposed to speak uh to us this uh this i think it was this week if not if not this week next week and uh and itinerant people all of their travel is shut down and so uh this last week we sent this friend of ours an itinerant minister we sent him the honorarium as though he had spoken here we wanted to honor him and thank him for his ministry his devotion to us through the years we've done this through the years where we've where we've had individuals who have uh not been able to make a conference that they were a guest at and uh and because they they had a medical report and the doctors told them uh you're not to travel during this season and so we just write out a check we send the honorarium to them i got a text this morning from what our one of our staff guys who uh uh they are uh using the cash app to pay you know the the beautician that uh had to cancel the appointment to do his wife's hair but they're paying her as though uh the hair uh the hair appointment was kept and uh doing the same with uh the trainer at the gym and all these things the point is this is the moment to sow into people's lives aggressively to display honor because i refuse to bow at the threat of this famine so to speak in this case of irish i refuse to bow to this thing and instead i'm going to move aggressively in generosity to uh to take the teeth out of the bite of this thing and i believe that we're going to see a very quick quick end to this virus but i want to be found carrying on the heart of the lord as this thing comes to a close i want to be found in that place of of radical obedience to the lord where we care about people's souls we care about people's well-being we serve them the best we know how i have found personally that um you know just being shut in at the house except for moments like this being shut in at the house it's a tremendous opportunity just to walk around my home or to walk around our property and just to pray just to intercede to lift up praise obviously to the lord but to pray for these neighbors to reach out to people to to make the phone calls to do all that we can it's the generosity of soul it's buying the gift cards uh just uh send a text to a restaurant owner uh yesterday to be able to buy gift cards um to help to sow into their ongoing business we want our city to do the impossible in this moment we want your city to do the impossible in this moment and that is to thrive in the face of loss instead of go backwards i want to see us advance and i believe together as the people of god this is the moment to advance this an advancement now is a miracle and that's what advancements are supposed to be so i i want to i just want to declare this to you teach teach you first of all from the word three different unusual responses to famine or the laws but also to challenge you to challenge us as a church family to stay with stand with resolve and have that devotion of commitment let me go over the three things invest in our own personal advancement in business in perhaps uh uh you your accounts or whatever the point is is that you sow into your own personal development because you believe you have a future and a hope secondly is to reaffirm covenantal relationships reaffirm the devotion to people the people of god the household of faith but also to to this city and then third is this thing of generosity i believe that the seeds of generosity in times like this are so uh they so attract god into an environment to prosper and to bring increase so that's what we're doing here we've we have a number of staff obviously they can't come we have a huge staff they can't come to the office and work so we're directing their attention towards our city directing their attention towards neighbors members of our family and i believe that the lord is honoring that approach to generosity i want to encourage you to do the same thing i want to pray for you because i the prayer that i've prayed more than goodness i think i think probably i've prayed for this more than any other five things combined in the last five years i've been praying for the spirit of breakthrough god identifies himself in david's life as the god of the breakthrough baal perism was the name he's the god of the breakthrough that when there is an obstacle he breaks through the obstacle when there is a season of difficulty he breaks through and brings increase he's the god of of answers and solutions regardless of the problem and so i want to pray because i believe it's not just to be a breakthrough season for the church i think it's individually i think that every person i know i've been i've been prayerfully meditating on a particular verse i would invite you to join uh join with me in kind of discovering the depth the richness of this verse it's the passage in john 15 verse 7 where he says if you abide in me my words abide in you you will ask whatever you desire and it will be done for you if you abide in me and my words abide in you you will ask what you want and it'll be done all of us like outcomes we like the answer to prayer we like the graduation we like the purchase of the home the where we move in we like we we like those kinds of things we like we like the conclusion um but god likes the journey i like thee and everything will be added he likes the abide in me and let my words abide in you so what i've chosen to do for me in my own journey in this season is to turn my attention i'm i'm literally giving my time in this season to learn one verse better not to quote it i can quote i've been able to quote it for years not that to live it fully what does it mean to abide in christ what is what does it mean to be in continuous ongoing affectionate relationship with him what does it mean to stay connected to the presence of god before his face in an ongoing way what does that look like was what does it look like for me to have to carry that awe and that awareness that the spirit of god is in me the spirit of god is resting upon me what does it mean to be that deeply connected to the heart and mind of god abiding in him and then he says that my words would abide in you that's where as we read his word something stands out to us in this case this whole thing of an offering in uh in a time of famine stands out to me it's been on my mind for for years what does that look like to face an external a problem what does it look like to act in the opposite spirit and then for god to bring a breakthrough what does that look like and so we carry these words in our heart uh you may have a different word there may be something that the lord spoke to you about your family maybe it's a personal promise of something he's going to do and this looks like the most impossible season for that to happen well guess what it's the most likely season for the breakthrough to come because he's the god who majors he brokers in impossibilities and so i i'm going to ask you join with me on this abiding in god this affectionate love for him continuously where his word where i can at any at the drop of a hat in any moment be able to quote to you declare to you this is what god is saying to me in this season i want to monitor those two parts of my life and let him monitor my prayer life where things happen where things breakthrough takes place so father i'm praying right now that for the entire bethel family our bethel community around the world our guests and friends who have joined us let this be the season where we see a spirit of breakthrough a mantle an outpouring of anointing for breakthrough would come upon every individual upon every household god i pray it for our city i pray for the cities represented that a mantle of break the most impossible situations would turn and reverse for the glory of god that this would be the hour where you receive the glory for every turning that takes place in our cities in our nation god we play it pray for america we pray for switzerland and japan and korea and all these countries all around the world that are joining with us right now that there would be a turning and there would be a massive deliverance of this that the enemy has turned towards us that instead there would be a mighty deliverance a mighty healing that would take place in household after household god instead of retreating in fear i pray that you'd release the mantle for health and healing upon the people of god that we would aggressively stand on behalf of our neighbors and friends to see healing and deliverance take place in the name of jesus god i pray for every business person that's watching that you would defend them in that business you would promote them in that business that their online success would more than make up for what's not walking through the door because of closure that you would give wisdom for how to maneuver in this season that's different than every past season that you'd help us to know how to invest in our future in a biblical manner that you show us where we need to to store up our strength one another with one another in our families in our church family and you show us where janet what generosity looks like in this season i pray all of this that the name of jesus would be exalted held in the highest honor amen amen amen please um i've been carrying this thing in my heart for days and in fact chris was supposed to get up today but he kindly bowed out so i could share what was in my heart i feel like this is a prophetic template and it's going to be applied differently probably for every household but there's a prophetic template on how we face the threat of loss how we face uh challenging situations so i encourage you re review these things pray over these things but the last thing i want to do is i know that with such a large online audience that there's always the opportunity for people who have never made a personal commitment to the lord jesus christ the greatest miracle of all is the salvation of a soul jesus tugged on my heart he showed me his love he called me to himself and i said yes i called upon the name of the lord and he saved me he forgave me of sin he delivered me from my past and he made it possible for me to walk with him that offering that gift of salvation is offered to every person watching this broadcast that may not have a personal relationship with jesus my goodness if there was ever a time where it should be obvious we need a savior we need a deliverer we need a father who works on our behalf who defends us it's right now i want to encourage you but it does cost it costs you this it's not your dollars it's your life it's the fact that we turn from our life of sin self-serving to become a disciple of the lord jesus christ and i'm going to ask you just to pray with me right now just just say these words with me father i come to you i come to you as a sinner i come to you in need of forgiveness i ask you to forgive me from all sin i turn from them i will not serve any other god but jesus i will not follow any other lifestyle but the lifestyle of jesus and i ask that you would fill me now with your holy spirit and make it possible for me to live as a representative of jesus and the earth i ask this for the honor of the name jesus amen amen well thank you thanks for uh for joining us in this unusual setting this unusual context but thank you thanks for taking time out of your day i bless you in jesus name i pray that the face of god would shine upon you i pray that every single household would have increase of divine encounters divine experiences and i pray for everybody watching that god would release over you over me a gift of faith for this season in jesus name amen thanks for listening to the sermon of the week this weekly podcast can be heard in multiple languages on our betheltv website if you'd like to partner with us in discipling nations and fueling personal revival you have the opportunity to give at bethel dot tv slash podcast slash donate [Music] [Applause] you

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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: 1uKi2Qhce8I

Length: 77min 51sec (4671 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 13 2021