Bill Johnson Sermons [September 16, 2021] | Watch The Signs

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 we have uh this series that we're doing uh the transformation series if there's anything that we have taught or done practiced pursued through the years that should cause a real burning conviction in the heart of this church family i would think it would be this subject because revival when it has its full effect brings transformation is it was never intended that revival would be reduced to a week of meetings or a month of meetings or two years of meetings it was always intended that that fire of the move of god would work its way the illustration was given to me years ago was a fire uh always starts at at the bottom so revival always begins with a poor and if it's not economically poor it's at least always the poor in spirit and it burns up up that wall if you will if you can imagine just bricks in a wall layer after a layer of culture in society until it reaches the upper echelons of society and the part that was incomplete in that illustration is when it touches the upper parts of society then it influences the mind molders those who shape culture and the move of god is supposed to uh work its way all through culture and society so thoroughly and so completely with such great impact that those who establish culture create culture are affected by the move of god the the bible calls us salt and light but then it says the kingdom is leaven it doesn't say we're eleven it says the kingdom is leaven we are salt we are light salt imparts influence light attracts to safety it's a city set on a hill the city set on a hill that's all lit up doesn't do you any good unless you go to the city it's the city set on a hill is actually an invitation it's an invitation for safety for refuge nourishment shelter it's it's an invitation so when the lord says this defines us in these terms he's actually describing the nature our nature in christ and how it is to affect the world around us whether it's the word used or not makes little difference the influence is under transformation you can have many people saved and not transform a city you can have many people attend church and not transform a city [Applause] the nature of salt is it needs to be sprinkled evenly over the whole meal it's not complicated jesus said you're the salt of the earth if the salt has lost its flavor it's good for nothing needs to be thrown out so salt adds flavor salt actually enhances the flavor of a meal we would never take the salt shaker take the lid off and pour the entire contents in the corner of the plate but that's what we do it's called church we make sure that we huddle together and stay together because we don't trust we don't trust the righteousness of christ in us enough to allow ourselves to be sprinkled throughout society now that's changing so that's that statement is not entirely true because we've been we've been working on that but that's our history our history has been we're afraid of being contaminated and so here we are in the corner of the plate and yet the influence that we're supposed to bring the contribution we're supposed to make which is fascinating to me that the lord actually values secular culture i don't mean he values sin carnality any of that stuff but he has actually invested things in that part of the world just just the way jesus used language the the the way he he called his 12 apostles as you know because we've been through this for years but that's a secular term which tells me then he had value for what i believe was a god-inspired idea in the roman and greek culture that he would later use he wasn't afraid of it being contaminated he knew that that part of the world would actually steward a concept that he didn't want his own people israel to steward [Applause] he he values he values the artistic expression [Applause] i remember so many years ago hearing somebody ask this question he said how can an ungodly immoral antichrist type person write a beautiful song not because they're demonically inspired i'd never thought that through before not because they're possessed by demons but because they're made in the image of god and so the lord actually hides his graces in the lives of people that sometimes are not yet born again but there's a grace a touch of god on their life it doesn't mean it it qualifies them for salvation you understand we're not talking about that but we're talking about the the fact that god actually values stuff that we don't always value thankfully that's changing and we're learning we're learning that he thinks different than we do a couple weeks ago i talked to you about this uh this concept of ecclesia uh something that the eds of osu and others have really championed for quite a while and i really do believe it's it's uh getting that down in our our christian culture has the potential of truly transforming our nation the united states but the nations of the world represented here the ecclesia the concept of two or three gathered in his name and that's where he marks his presence and what this pandemic has done is it's forced us it's put us into a position forced us to learn what the real strength of the church is i love the thousands that gather i just i love it so much and i miss i miss it really big i love together but there's a prophetic direction set in the corporate gathering but the strength of the church is the two or three the strength of the church is in the two or three because that's where he marks that's where he begins to mark a group with presence now you might say well he's already in me the holy spirit is in me my body is his temple and that's true so two or three gather together what's the point he's already with me by myself that's true but every time we gather in his name now just picture this i gather with a friend of mine we both have purposed to co-labor with the lord to see his purposes accomplished in the earth we make that agreement together he said he had come into the midst so together we have this covenant we will live in and abide in this presence of god and we will learn to pray from the abiding presence to see his purposes accomplished in the earth we're not talking about just a casual gathering recall we're talking about the intentional gathering of people that say you know what he said he'd be here so i'm going to look for him and i'm going to look for his heart and i'm going to pray consistent with his heartbeat because i want to see his purposes accomplished in the earth you were designed to have every prayer you ever pray answered but the key to that is that abiding presence it's tapping to that heartbeat of god it's having that sense of oh i can feel the the burden i can feel the weightiness of the lord on this subject i may have ten things that i want to pray for that are on my list but when he says seek first the kingdom i find out what's on his list it doesn't mean mine don't matter it's just when i prioritize them i lose them [Applause] it's i got 10 things on my list if those are the only things i pray about they are not met with the measure of presence and power that they deserve why because i i came at them incorrectly i i don't want to make this a a bad formula it's just this is the bible it's actually in the book seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness all these things will be added to you so when i come to the lord constantly about my ten things on my list and i never looked him for what's on his list then i don't ever approach my ten things with his strength i approach it simply as a servant begging the almighty god to invade there's a difference between praying as a servant praying as a son the abiding presence is that which uh i don't know if i want to say qualifies somehow it engages me into the heart of god to pray his prayer over my situation but i begin by praying with what's on his mind he he may bring up something you know of a friend that is really struggling and i may spend 20 minutes praying for that one friend and ignoring everything that's on my list because i got caught up praying for this friend what happens he knows my list he said all these things these things are added as we engage with them all right that's too long of an introduction on that i i took a detour but you get the point anyway is that uh is that we are designed to pray we are designed for answers to prayer we are not designed to not get answers for prayer it's the reason that chris gore i think told us years ago said jesus never taught us on how to deal with answers unanswered prayers because he never had any it's a great point he didn't have any so here we are transformation is a target so where we're going to start is in romans chapter of 12 if you would go there even though it's a passage that many of you could quote i want you to see it on your on your inner bibles anyway [Applause] romans 12 we'll start with verse one we'll read verses one and two i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to god which is your reasonable service in other words it's the intellectual thing to do verse 2 and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind you that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god let's read verse two again do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god if the mind wasn't important if the mind wasn't valuable it wouldn't be worth renewing he focuses his energy if you will his purposes his workings in our life every moment of every day to teach us to think like he does when i embrace worry i intentionally war against the mind of christ when i entertain thoughts and ideas that are in conflict with god i'm actually feeding that which wars against the mind of christ the mind of christ is completely different if i could illustrate the mind of christ is not just hopeful facing a problem in other words when jesus feeds the multitude with loaves and fishes a children's a child's lunch it's not because he can imagine the possibility of a miracle it's because he lives aware of resources that are greater than the problem that he's facing there's an awareness there's a consciousness there's a consciousness of living from a realm of unlimited resource towards a problem faith sees faith dwells in a place where nothing is impossible and for that to be the um the shape or the molder of how we think is is huge but it begins with our salvation it begins with our salvation in this little word called repent repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent i grew up in a world where repentance was coming to an altar weeping before the lord confessing sin it's a it's wonderful and i never want to take away from that because it's so vital [Applause] i began to see in scripture that the word repent actually means to change the way you think but here's the big mistake repentance is not an intellectual exercise repentance is not an intellectual exercise it's not saying i just got to think different about this problem it's not that at all the bible says godly sorrow produces repentance godly sorrow is what influences a shift in perspective godly sorrow it's seeing the the lost condition that we were in before we met christ and the fact that he saved us when we could not save ourselves when we were dead so how many good choices can dead people make you you can't you can't find god being dead he has to find you and wake you up to the possibility of salvation so the weightiness of our salvation so we see the the absolute lost condition of humanity we see that he called us by name something happened in us and we said yes seeing that simple thing carried out to its logical conclusion is i have a change in my perspective of reality i was dead i'm alive i was lost i'm found that is the inspiration for the renewed mind that's the beginning place that's where it starts don't be conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind the renewing of the mind here this particular word be transformed is the same basic word that's used in the gospels to describe jesus on the mount of transfiguration so if you can imagine jesus takes peter james and john with him they go up on a mountain and he stands on this mountain all of a sudden it says he becomes other is actually the language it's used he becomes other he he he suddenly takes on a different image and shape if you will he his his clothing and i think it's luke's gospel his clothing is lightning flashes it's not you know it says the whiter than any launderer can make it yeah times a billion it's lightning we're not talking about a good washing we're talking about lightning lightning is his clothing and he stands there and the disciples were sleeping they're now completely awake as they behold this one and the voice of the father comes this is my beloved son hear him so it's a divine moment here's what i want you to see in the natural jesus is clothed with lightning that is transformation the renewed mind in the spirit realm is what that is in the natural realm the mind of christ the mind of christ is the beginning of transformation the mind of christ is the beginning place [Applause] transformed mind transforms a person a transformed person transforms a city i like the strategies for serving in politics and business and all those things and and the lord is blessing and the opportunity of churches all over the country all over the world that are doing that serving their communities it's a beautiful thing but apart from the mind of christ there's not lasting transformation because we are actually discipling a world on the reality of god who has conquered every enemy of mankind discipling a world to think and to draw from possibilities that they never thought were even even available before the renewed mind makes hope possible let's just take a look at this for just a moment longer i i know we've been over this before but but i have the mic so said be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good acceptable and perfect will of god i've heard people say there's the good will of god the acceptable will of god and then there's the perfect will of god that's stupid that's just dumb there's the will of god it's good acceptable and perfect it's the will of god is all three things you don't get away with while there's an acceptable no no no no no don't do be stupid don't don't try to make it in by the skin of your teeth give yourself completely to the good acceptable perfect will of god those things flow from the transformed mind what is the will of god the best definition i can find in the bible is your will be done on earth as it is in heaven just think this through with me your will be done on earth as it is in heaven clearest definition i can find is on earth as it is in heaven what is god's will for a given situation in your life in your life on earth as it is in heaven what ushers that in transformed mind do not be conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove i believe miracles take place by anointing miracles take place by great faith but miracles also take place through the flow of the renewed mind ushers in the reality of god's will on earth the renewed mind doesn't yield to the opposing thoughts the opposing uh things the war that goes on in the hearts and minds of people the battleground is the mind the renewed mind lives from a different place and the transformation that we hope to bring to our cities has to happen in here first has to happen in here jesus in confronting his disciples on this this whole issue they were they they would be involved in a miracle and then the next day they would question not the miracle but the reality of the kingdom they were supposed to see they they would deny it um jesus talks to them they're afraid of not having enough food for lunch the day after they multiplied food so he asked them a question why do you reason that you have no bread why do you reason why does your reasoning start with what you don't have why do you start as you find foundational thought why do you build upon a foundation that's that weak you have no bread you've started with what you don't have and you build logic from that place it's an improper foundation and it'll have to be removed anything you build on that the longer you dwell on what you don't have the higher the building you're going to build that has to come down [Music] and that's what repentance does repentance goes to the very root thought the very emotional attachment to a way of thinking the self-talk that is so destructive jesus wants to go to the root of that not in punishment but in deliverance see in the kingdom of god freedom is not just from something it's unto something when we are set free and in the natural you can have a prisoner that's released from prison and yet he's still homeless and has no job unemployed is he free yeah yeah in part but that wasn't then that in the kingdom it's not like that it's freedom from something unto something and when the lord sets us free from this from the life of sin and serving self to him he actually engages us with this ability to broker the reality of his will in the earth we are by nature transformational people and the the tragedy occurs when we have a greater confidence in the return of christ than we do the power of the gospel the challenge is is around the world there is great anticipation for the return of christ is that wrong absolutely not it's going to be more glorious than any of us could ever imagine but that's not my assignment my assignment is to live in and display the power of the gospel and if i have more confidence in the return of christ than i do the power of the gospel i disqualify myself as a transformer because the power of the gospel is for here and now the return of christ is for the church the power of the gospel is for the world we we know that a drug addict can come forward receive prayer be set free from drugs i remember one sunday night right down here we prayed for about 10 people that were addicted to drugs and stuff and two of them which i didn't know at the moment two of them were over 20 years uh addicted to heroin and we prayed a group prayer we didn't pray with him individually a group prayer and one of the guys came to me six months later he said do you remember when he had us come forward i said yeah he said me and my buddy we've been addicted to heroin for over 20 years and we were set free have not had desired drugs at all since that moment so we know that the lord can do that for an individual we have seen where he does that for a family that's supposed to reveal the nature of god to believe for a city in a nation that's what it's supposed to do it's supposed to be that seed god's nature doesn't change when we're now talking about a neighborhood that nature of god to redeem and to restore doesn't change when we're talking about an entire city it's the exact same gospel if you will it's the cloud the size of a man's hand if we anticipate what is possible because what we've seen him do with that one individual or that one household then the renewed mind says we need to run for cover because it's about to rain and are you getting the analogy there it's elijah sees this cloud the size of a man's hand he's been praying for rain and as soon as he sees the cloud the size of a man's hand he runs and he says it's about to is this about about to be a downpour the way we treat our small moments is what qualifies to be entrusted with big moments [Applause] we pray for massive downpour you know outpouring of the spirit [Applause] what did you do during the song when there was that special wave of presence that went through the room it's it's those little moments the tiny moments are what god gives us to see to measure us for what we can carry i can respond to the power of god touching me and making me you know incapacitated for three hours it's not hard to respond to that but that moment of inspiration when i don't have my bible open i'm actually driving home and there's that moment where he touches my heart regarding something what do i do with those moments see we are we have been we have been bought with a price with a purpose a purpose in mind and it is the transformation of a life a family a a a legacy our households and cities and nations it's the intent of the lord you know we we read in scripture about the evils of wealth and all this stuff do you know it also says that there's a day coming when the wealth all the wealthy of the earth will bow before him in worship it's in the book it's in psalms it's on the left page up towards the top it's in the 20s [Applause] so here the scripture says we are salt and we are light and then it says the kingdom is leaven now let's let's take a look at just this thought for a moment it says the kingdom of heaven is like leaven it doesn't say i'm leaven it says i'm salt and light the kingdom of heaven is like leaven in the measure i seek first the reality of his dominion for my city in that measure the kingdom becomes leaven in my city in the measure i make the reality of god's lordship and dominion his sovereignty in the measure i pursue that in the practical application of where it fits into my city through my place of influence in the measure that i seek first the kingdom of god the dominion of god being released into my city and the measure i pursued that as top priority is the measure in which leaven actually is worked into the kingdom and has its effect think about this once you've put leaven in the dough you can't pull it out you can look at it and say well it's not working it will it will there's heat coming fire activates whatever leaven is in the dough fire activates it you find out you find out what you've been sowing into your own self-talk when a problem comes what leaven has been planted in the dough of my heart it comes to the surface when a difficulty comes is there hope is there anticipation of great faith is there a sense of breakthrough that this is all in the sovereign plan of god to bring us into increase and breakthrough or has the self-talk flooded my soul to where a problem causes the leaven of unbelief to rise to the surface you get the point i'm trying to make the seed of transformation for all society is already in the heart and mind of every born-again believer it's already there jesus turns to his disciples and uh one of my favorite stories in fact i just i just caught a verse when i was opening my bible this morning where the disciples are looking at a multitude to feed and jesus says you feed them you feed them and you know the story they get the loves fishes there's the multiplication of food when they didn't know what to do he didn't withdraw the command when they didn't know how to do it he didn't withdraw the command everything all of his interaction with his disciples after the initial commission you feed them everything he said after that point was to equip them to do what they couldn't do he said what do you have so we just have a boy's lunch all right step one put them in groups of fifteen hundred step two let's divide this up into 12 baskets so each have one step three go hand it out step four what he did was he he gave them baby steps to complete an impossible assignment but the miracle came from them he didn't take the loaves and fish his throat and year ago shall sam create a big pile of food would have been a disaster with a hungry crowd instead it multiplied as it was handed out the point is you already have the seed of the the kingdom display the miracle is already in you because it was commanded you it was commanded to me it was in the command go into all the world preach the gospel disciple nations i remember talking to a greek scholar guy a bunch of years ago and he said the the action verb in that verse is actually not go it's disciple it's basically as you're going life's going to take you all over the place so as you go do this you have the seed within you to bring transformation to an individual life a family line to an entire city keep that in mind you are here for a reason for a purpose in chapter 15 of romans there's another passage i'd like for you to look at and then i want to try to bring some sort of a conclusion to this this message chapter 15 verse 13 says now may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the holy spirit now i i love this verse and i i'll be honest with you it it's not one that has made a lot of sense to me although i believe it because it's in the word it's true but what has stood out to me says may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope how by the power of god failing to interact with power is failing to live in the fullness of hope there is a connection between the life of power and supernatural hope now there are people who have hope it's just the power of positive thinking they just believe things will turn out for the good i get that i'm not talking about that kind of hope i'm talking about the kind of hope that is anchored in the nature of god and the commission of man it's a hope that says i am here for divine purpose and because of that i must display the confrontation of the impossible when jesus says you feed them he once again is famous for commanding us to do stuff that's impossible it's no different than when he said heal the sick or raise the dead it's the same thing as he brings us the command the commission i'm i'm i'm introducing you to what you can't do now do it and somehow in the surrender to the impossible command is the capacity to do what he said we can't what we can't naturally do [Applause] he says you feed them and in this verse we have this beautiful description that we would abound in hope it's not just a hope of positive thinking it's a hope that sees the beginning from the end living with the realization there is not a problem on the planet that he doesn't have an answer for and while i may not have it in mind i do have it in my relationship i may not know what it's supposed to look like but i have inherited the mind of christ and i will pursue the specifics of that of that insight of that application so this is what he says that you may abound and hope by the power of god jump down to verse 18 for i will not dare speak of those things which christ has not accomplished through me in word indeed to make the gentiles obedient in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of god so that from jerusalem round about to liquium i have fully preached the gospel of christ let's condense verse 19 in mighty signs and wonders by the power of the spirit of god i have fully preached the gospel [Applause] i owe it to my own soul to be exposed to miracles because my soul is not healthy apart from the regular exposure to that which i cannot control that which i cannot explain that which did not originate with me [Applause] if there is anything that that is prevalent outside of a fiery move of god it's the it's the absence of awe it's the absence of all there's something about a people that don't know what's happening but know it's good there's something about people don't know where we're going but i'm following the cloud i i'll never forget uh teaching that jack hayford did and and his church uh in van nuys california church on the way is one of my most favorite places i've ever been to and i love him so much and that ministry but i remember he he he was teaching once and he says you know people ask he they went from you know 14 people i think on their first service all up to i don't know 14 000 or something crazy and seven services a day it was it was just nuts and so people would ask him how did you get from there to here he says if i tell you it will look like we knew what we were doing because it's it's so strategic if i tell you i'll give you the impression we actually knew what we were doing we didn't we just followed the cloud and now looking back i can give the outline of what we did it looks like we had great wisdom and insight does that make sense that's where we are the life of power is that i don't know what to do next but i am so filled with all i'll follow a cloud i'll follow the cloud i have such hope why because i've seen god work in me and through me i know this cloud is worth following i'm going to pursue this one why because i have an assignment i don't know how it's going to work but i know the impact of my life as salt and light and every demonstration of the presence and power of god reveals the kingdom god you are working the kingdom as leaven into the culture of this city of this of this life it's my yes that is a part of the influence of kingdom in a city it's my yes to live on the edge where miracles become normal fully preach the gospel how it's in miracles signs and wonders it's in the power of the holy spirit that's old material for you and for me but i i'll be really honest with you i need and want a fresh baptism in this that i have said yes to a hundred times a thousand times a fresh baptism because i feel like in this strange season that we call to you know time flies except when you're in a pandemic [Laughter] the longest 20 years of my life has been 2020. the lord has so positioned us in in spite of the season the way it looks on the outside for many power says this is the time to abound in hope because god is known for addressing impossible situations and he saves the day when people run out of solutions when there's no more answers [Applause] i want you to stand we're going to pray and those of you that are at home if you're in the car don't stand unless you pull over some i want us to i want us to pray together and i i guess what i would i want to i probably could have shared what i shared today in five minutes because all i really have to say is hope comes from power and power keeps us in awe and it's that approach to the renewed mind that enables us to be transformational there's something about wisdom there's something about power there's something about hope all these things are what release kingdom into culture and that's what transforms but it's got to start with me it's got to start with me i can't i can't give away what i don't have chris mentioned it earlier the whole thing jesus sleeping in a storm you know you can't impart a piece that doesn't enable you to rest in the middle of a storm you know we have authority over any storm we can sleep in the whole concept is that place of personal peace qualifies me to exercise authority over chaos peace is actually the antithesis of chaos it's not just discomfort it's not just worry and fear it is actually the absolute opposite of chaos and disorder peace is that which orders my heart a right and it's uh you know you you see you see people in you know gurus and people and cults and stuff they illustrate a life of peace but they only have peace in a world they control they don't have peace when they're in the middle of chaos they only have peace in the atmosphere where they control all their constituents then they can model peace but they do not have the peace in the middle of a storm because that's a person that's a person and the lord has put us in the middle of craziness for a whole bunch of reasons but one is for us to discover for ourself what it looks like to live in peace and i you know what i'm praying for us for me for all of us is i i want i want the dimension of all i i i it sounds almost like a correction and then and i don't feel that because i feel like we live with the sense of all but i feel like the lord's about to upgrade the awe can i say shock and awe shock he's about to upgrade he's about to upgrade the awe because the all is what produces the purest oil from our life is that place of awe so father [Applause] we say yes and amen to the assignment for transformation we do we just say yes we say amen amen restore in every one of us all the viewers restore the all of god in a way that we've never known before a whole new level introduce us give us an increased appetite for the impossible we hear you saying to us you feed them you feed them you feed them lord i pray for that to echo through our hearts until we rise to that place of incredible hope according to power that you would flow in us and through us in a way that changes the world around us i pray this in jesus name i also know that there are people watching i i when others speak i i'll get on youtube and and or bethel tv and watch the comments there's so many people that watch these services these gatherings that aren't born again they don't know what it is to have a personal relationship with jesus oh my goodness i i would just say surrender surrender jesus is the only one qualified to run our life and he invites us to come into our relationship with him to be forgiven of sin and he actually gives us a new nature so i'm going to exhort and encourage you right online with the people you're with just tell whoever in the chat room on betheltv or youtube just just tell them i want to know jesus i want to surrender my life to jesus and do that right now amen let me close with this comment this is my third and final conclusion fear always attracts the information needed to legitimize its existence fear always attracts the information needed to legitimize its existence and we say no we will not be governed by fear we will demonstrate the king and his kingdom in jesus name amen all right blessings bless you guys 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] 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 ibethel.org why don't you grab your bibles if you would to end open to philippians chapter four i've had two recurring themes in in my heart for the last um at least six months in fact i wrote out uh we're going to read verse 8 a little bit but i i wrote out a whole study on that um that i did maybe maybe as much as a year ago at least six eight months ago just for myself just just because i could feel what was happening in the air so to speak i've been very very much aware of the battle that has been going on for many people in their thought life in the mind and um i i don't like uh talking about anything negative in a way that fuels it uh sometimes uh we have the ability to talk about problems and we act and we actually make the problems grow and so i'm not interested in that of obviously but i do want to address a a couple things the two items that have been on my mind a lot are going to emerge today in today's talk one is the issue of prayer the whole thing of first love relationship with jesus and the second is the whole issue of the of the mind and what god has uh assigned for us to do with with the mind the enemy is is very very nervous about several things about your life and mine one is that he works to keep keep us exposed to anxiety stress those kinds of things because that undermines our creative expression it's very difficult to operate out of a place of health when you're anxious and stressful when you're filled with anxiety and stress the goal is survival not creative expression and and the lord really desires longs to express who he is through his people his own nature his the way he functions his beauty the glory the creative all that stuff flows through a yielded believer when they are free from the issues of anxiety and stress and it is possible to live free of anxiety and stress jesus illustrates it he's headed to the cross and he's giving thanks we'll look at that a little bit more later but the point is as both paul and jesus illustrate something that's almost scary profound and how they modeled life going into the most difficult situation possible but they did it not just as survivors not just to stay positive and you know stiff upper lip that whole thing but as an overcomer they went into a hellish situation it came out absolutely glorious because there was a way to think i'm not talking about mind over matter i'm not talking about just mental exercise i'm talking about a perception that comes when we see what jesus sees we see the way he sees so the enemy has several things that he's very very i believe nervous about uh three i'll mention uh to you today the first is is this issue of uh of creativity and i'm not putting these in in perhaps the right order but i'm just gonna randomly mention them the first is the creative expression no one who knows who god made them to be would ever want to be anyone else the uniqueness of every individual is so beautiful and so profound that stepping fully into who god made us to be is the greatest privilege in life and there is no comparison when you look at another person as to what you could actually become by god's design so the creative expression is very rich and very real the second thing is that the enemy uh is very very nervous about um the whole issue of of of our first love relationship with the lord that's been on my mind a lot lately and the lord is just kind of restoring my own heart stirring the pot so to speak about this intimate relationship with god because what happens is anxiety infects love you can't be anxious and keep the kind of fervent relationship with the lord that all of us long for i don't mean that we've rejected him he's rejected us i i'm not saying that i'm just saying anxiety is exalting another ideal over what he has promised i am actually giving my heart my thoughts to that which is inferior to the word of the lord it is true that love annihilates fear but it's also true if i embrace anxiety fear any of that stuff that i have allowed something into my life that will infect love and the first thing to be addressed is my is my first love relationship with jesus i remind you of the passage in revelation chapter 2 where jesus is addressing the church at ephesus a great church and he honors them for so many things but then he says i have this against you you've left your first love that that you used to burn with you don't burn with anymore you've got the structure down you've got the skill down you're functioning the gifts well but this first love this burning affection that we are to carry for jesus is not like it used to be and then he gives specific instruction so we've got the creative expression we've got the first love and the third thing i would mention is that the attack on uh the the fear let me back i'm sorry every thought comes from fear or love every word out of my mouth comes from fear or love so what does what does the enemy want to undermine then he's working if he can if he can get me to compromise my first love then he can get me to lose my sense of identity and that's what fear and anxiety does it causes me to lose track of the tools he's given me the authority he's given me peace is is a huge part of god's economy for us as a believer um i've talked to you even in recent weeks and months about this issue for me whenever i you know i i let's just say let's take a it's eleven o'clock in the morning and i'm feeling all anxious and stressful and i go man what happened and i just i i i asked myself the question where did you leave your piece because i had it it's mine it's my possession so i just got to find out where i dropped it so i i back up and i go okay oh yeah i was feeling stressful there there oh it was that phone call i got this morning and it might not even been a bad one but my reaction to information or to a situation was for me to become anxious and i embraced a lie i embraced inferior information over the word of the lord over my life it wasn't a conscious decision but it happened nonetheless and so what i have to do is always have to repent my way back to where i left my peace repent confess my sin pick it up and just realize it's my permanent possession peace in the kingdom is is very very uh profound because peace is not the absence of something it's the presence of someone peace is actually a person it's the abiding presence of the spirit of god in my life i'm not saying i can drop it or leave it in the sense that he abandons me but my my the the felt awareness of him gets laid aside in the world peace is always the absence of something it's the absence of noise or war or conflict in the kingdom you can be in the middle of all those and have peace because peace is a person so i repent my way back embrace peace once again and use that as my lifestyle we're going to look at why now um one more one more two more comments before we open the scripture although you already have it open right philippians 4 you're so good i'm in your life to teach you patience that's why i'm here the other side of this issue that we'll read about in a moment is the amazing purpose in prayer prayerlessness is costly it probably would be worth a study sometime just to look at the cost of pearlescent prayerlessness but let me give you two things right now in scripture it says you have not because you ask not so the implication in that verse is prayerlessness creates lack we often think in terms of lack being god's sovereign will for our life and it's not it's just lack fills in where perilous prayerlessness exists hey man bill it's very good point amen keep it up stay encouraged and the second price that i will mention to you about prayerlessness is jesus taught he said pray so that you will enter temptation pray make sure you maintain prayer in your life so that you don't enter temptation so the implication is if i am prayerless i will face temptation i have no grace for and it doesn't mean i am prone to sin i may resist the temptation but the problem is prayerlessness created a battle i didn't need to fight prayerlessness put me into a conflict of a war of wills of decision and let's just say i win i make it through i don't do what i was tempted to do the problem is is because i was prayerless i actually attracted the situation into my life that was completely unnecessary if god designs for us to face a battle it's only because he's already given us the tools to win and he wants to punish the powers of darkness it's never so that we would fall or falter if he allows the battle it's only that we get to enforce his purposes in the earth but there's many battles that people face that were brought on by prayerlessness i'm just here to encourage philippians 4 philippians 4. let's read some scripture together we'll start with verse 4 rejoice in the lord always again i will say rejoice i remind you paul writes this from prison he's giving us tried and tested truths out of his own experience rejoice in the lord always i don't know if you've ever looked it up but that word always means always again i will say rejoice let your gentleness be known to all men the lord is at hand be anxious for nothing that's one commandment i have obeyed 100 of the time [Laughter] because everything i've ever been anxious over came to nothing maybe that's not what he meant all right be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through christ jesus be anxious for nothing but everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus there's a picture painted for us in this part of philippians 4 of a military guard protecting a person's heart and mind heart the place where thoughts come from the mind itself and that military guard is there because of the previous verse pray over everything with thankfulness if you look at the nature of thankfulness it is i don't think we could over emphasize that i'm not sure that it's possible to exaggerate the power of thankfulness jesus on the night in which he was betrayed he took bread he broke it and he gave thanks he's about to be betrayed by judas and he's about to be forsaken by all 11 disciples that he is now breaking bread with he's about to experience the most gruesome death anybody's ever faced not only because of the crucifixion the scourging all that he went through but because of the weight of sin itself that came upon him you know what it is to sin and feel guilty and shameful multiply that by billions of people with millions of sins on one particular individual when the soldiers came to kill the three on the cross they didn't have to kill jesus because he was already dead why because the weightiness of sin that's why he said god why'd you forsake me because in that moment he became sin and was forsaken by the father the two thieves had to be killed because theirs was just a crucifixion i don't mean to make light of it i'm just saying the weightiness of sin he became that which the father despised which was sin but he did that so that we could become what the father delighted in and that was the righteousness of god it was an exchange so in that moment which was his most difficult moment most difficult moment in all of human history in that moment he broke bread and he gave thanks i'd like to suggest that these difficult moments throughout scripture are the moments where he sets an example a model for us that can and must be followed the thankfulness regardless of circumstances to maintain maintain thankfulness in those circumstances keeps us like attached to life source in a sense in a very practical way maintaining thankfulness keeps us sane when things are not going right keeps us connected to the to the right thing so we've got this interesting passage i want you to look at it again 6 7 and this time we'll read 8. be anxious for nothing verse 6 but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to god now here's the result and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through christ jesus verse 8 finally brethren whatever things are true whatever things are noble whatever things are just whatever things are pure whatever things are lovely whatever things are of good report if there's any virtue if there's anything worthy uh praiseworthy meditate on these things what do we have here we've got we've got two um two verses that give us instruction the first one is pray over everything with thankfulness verse 8 says think on these things sandwiched those two verses sandwich the promise and the promise is his peace will protect you but it has responsibility given to you and me on both sides the first has to do with prayer and the second has to do with what we choose to think about jesus gave an illustration a a kind of a parable he he talked about the human being like a house and in this illustration he said if a house has all this junk in it and it's clean and it's swept but the owner doesn't refill the house with correct things the enemy that once dwelled in the house comes back seven times worse but the house in this in this example is actually a human being and so here jesus says pray over everything i'll guard your heart and mine now fill the house with the right things do you understand that you you can think about anything you want nobody has control over your mind i can think about pink elephants right now if i want to and i just helped you to do the same you're welcome no one controls that part of our life so what's the issue is that when we begin to submit ourselves to the inferior we allow anxiety stress to fill our minds with although the what-ifs that have no life to them there's no promise to them and the enemy again is working to undermine identity first love relationship and this whole thing of being an authentic representation of jesus he fears that he fears it so much that in the book of zechariah when zechariah was talking about these four beings rose up in the earth to destroy the people of god they're illustrated with the term horns horns are figurative for authority for powers and so the lord says these four horns were raised up in the earth to just to wipe out the people of god and god's answer was to raise up four artisans the creatives in other words the authentic expression of who jesus is in a human being he was gonna in the four corners of the earth he was going to do the same thing in the four corners of the earth have an honest authentic representation of who jesus is released through his people and that authentic expression would be the very thing that would defeat the four horns that authentic expression of people who reign remain in first love and find that is their identity that is what the enemy works at every time he tries to stir up the stress the anxiety all the junk because when i am anxious i have bought into something that's inferior i love this verse verse 8. i i like it because i like really practical things because i need practical things he says i this is just some of the study that i did for myself this last year sometime but he said look at verse 8 again finally brethren whatever things are true things that are true are absolute and they're liberating remember truth sets you free so think about that which is absolute and liberating whatever things are true whatever things are noble that word noble is honorable revered whatever things are just that is righteous correct innocent whatever things are pure that's holy and sacred whatever things are lovely that's pleasing and agreeable whatever things are good report that's well reported of it's attractive whatever things are if there's any virtue this word virtue is moral goodness but it's also excellence and if there's anything praiseworthy this i don't know if if this will make sense to you but sometimes i'm having i'll have been having a real battle maybe somebody you know just did something that really really was against what they should have done i'll be nice somebody just really steps outside the line of what they're doing and maybe representing me or us as a house whatever it might be and you know like anybody else i got this mind thing going on where i've got to make sure that i stay i can't ignore a problem if i'm responsible but i also don't have to fuel it with my own stress and anxiety because then i will come to wrong conclusions and i will misapply truth for my sake and not theirs that was more true than you realize and the scripture says i'm supposed to fill my mind with certain things and if i'm struggling with that here's what i do i will think about my wife because she is everything in verse 8. she is she is so true so absolute so life-giving she is so lovely and praiseworthy and virtuous she is so excellent all those things i honestly will just stop if i'm having a difficult day go okay i've got to recalibrate what is it that i love about my wife and i start to think specifically about those things and it's hard to be mad at anybody when you start thinking of those kinds of things are you catching my drift here it's hard if i'm filling my heart and mind recalibrating what's important recalibrating my heart my mind my thought life to what's valuable as soon as i do that something takes place in in me where i'm at a place where i maybe i have a responsibility with this individual that is just betrayed or done something dumb maybe i have a responsibility there but when i recalibrate my thoughts as to what is righteous and good i don't come to that person that i need to work with abusively i come to them in grace does that make any sense to you you know this thing has to be practical and jesus illustrated it the best i want you to look at one more portion of scripture and then we'll uh we'll wrap this up go to john 13. john 13. this is something we studied here i think a couple years ago now but it very very meaningful passage to me jesus is soon to go to the cross i've already described a little bit just the suffering that he was to go through the abandonment by all of his disciples the betrayal by judas himself all of this that he was that he knew about that he was just stepping into in this moment it tells us what he was thinking in that moment which is this was this is what floors me he he was doing what we were instructed to do in philippians 4. so this is what he is conscious of in verse 3. jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from god and was going to god rose from supper laid aside his garments took a towel girded himself the next couple verses he washes the disciples feet there's three things that are very specific for any person in this room let me let me announce to you why i'm talking about this today i felt this morning in praying that god was actually going to end a mental battle for a number of people and it will end in here today i i really sense that this morning i felt like i had a word of promise from the lord regarding this if you've been here any length of time you know i don't throw that kind of a statement out very often but i felt this morning that the lord was going to bring peace to a chaotic anxious thing for a number of folks and i i've not seen uh a season like this in fact there's been a number of suicides across our nation of high-profile people even in ministry and it's just one of the most horrible things bitterness is immature murder self-condemnation and self-hatred is immature suicide in other words it's just undeveloped and it's the reason we have to stay so far away from those kinds of patterns of thought it's not that i'm gonna go kill myself it's just that it is already killing me life and death is in the power of the time we even people who don't murder still speak unkindly and release death into a given situation so in this passage it tells us this jesus knowing so that tells me what jesus was conscious of as he was about to head into this betrayal cross situation what does it say it says jesus knowing all things had been given to him by the father there's an interesting twist you're about to lose your life and what you're thinking about is that everything is yours you're about to suffer the greatest loss anyone has ever experienced and what's on your mind is i've already re-inherited everything this is this is this is practical he says jesus knowing all things had been given to him by the father just a little insert here jesus as god already owned everything but he laid that down if you will to become a man and he now re-inherits everything as a man it's mentioned in john 16. so here it's identified he says jesus knowing all things have been given to him by the father number one and number two he came from the father and he was about to go home in other words he's going to step into eternal purpose and eternal destiny so what was he thinking about when he was about to be betrayed that unlimited resource and a destiny that can't be challenged or changed that's that's about as practical as it is it gets facing betrayal crucifixion all the stuff is thinking about i've just inherited everything now as the son of man and i'm about to ascend to the father into eternal destiny eternal purpose and the third thing he did was he washed his disciples feet what's the point come back next week and i'll tell you it's an overused joke sorry to me the serving is what this will be a weird illustration jesus mindful everything was his he was going to the father two-part epoxy it was the serving that brought him together it was what makes practical his own confidence in his own destiny is the fact that he lost nothing by going low many people can't go low because their identity is wrapped up in a title or a position when jesus illustrates going low is actually revealed his security why'd you stand now i'm in a moment i'm going to give people an opportunity to meet jesus it's the most important thing that could happen today so i'm going to ask everybody to not walk around because i don't want anyone's restlessness to affect anybody else's opportunity to respond to an invitation i want you to respect that there's always a chance when we have this amount of people in a room that there are our folks here who have never had a personal relationship with jesus the bible calls it being born again it's simply faith that we put in christ to follow him alone that brings a transformation to the heart of a person born again from the inside out changed and that is made available to everybody here and i want to give the opportunity if you would be one who would say bill i don't want to leave the real room i don't want to leave the building until i know that god has forgiven me of sin and that i've been brought into his family i want to follow jesus if that's you then i just want more yards put a hand up in the air and i'll just acknowledge you where you are if that's you just put a hand up right here yep see you bless you for that wonderful everybody else is there another one back over here there's another one back over here a bless you yeah wonderful beautiful another one where over here okay oh excellent beautiful wonderful is another one over here thank you it's the greatest greatest thing ever it's the greatest miracle ever anyone else real real quick we have three that i could see responded to this invitation here's what i want to ask we have people that we know and trust and i want to pray with you and talk with you it's not about bethel or membership it's about your walk with jesus because we want you to experience his love in a way that changes everything from this moment on so i'm going to ask two things to happen at the same time i want to ask the ministry team to come to the front and i want to ask the three people that raised your hand and any others that i missed just walk right up here to this team where this banner is and these folks here will talk with you and pray with you so if you would just leave your seat wherever you're at come down here right now ministry team come quickly [Applause] yeah those those who raise their hand come on come on down here i want to make sure yeah bless you bless you bless you right here all right all right well i love that here now i want to pray over you because i i really i really felt strong this morning that the lord was going to end for many many many people he was going to end a mental battle that has been going on for a long time in fact i just i feel like i just should announce this is this is the end of that of that season of anguish anxiety nothing ends circumstances don't always immediately end sometimes it's me who need to change so that they can change and i just i really believe that the lord's releasing your grace for this right now so let's pray together and then i'll turn it over to tom and we'll wrap it up all right so father i thank you for the the fact that you give us tools that work and that we can expect and anticipate things to be different simply because we have anchored our hearts into the superior not to be influenced by the inferior i'm asking now for a grace over the heart and the mind of the people of god that our thought life would accurately represent who you are and the resource you've made available for us i ask all of this in the wonderful name of jesus thanks for listening to the sermon of the week this weekly podcast is now being translated to several languages visit podcasts.ibethel.org [Music] you

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Id: 5AXnvczVnk4

Length: 80min 57sec (4857 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 16 2021