Guest Speaker: Bill Johnson

well it is it is a real privilege to be here I'm so glad to finally get to this part of the country I have a personal affection affinity for the vineyard movement I'm raised Assemblies of God classical Pentecostal and I'm very very thankful I'm grateful because I was introduced to the move of the Holy Spirit at a very early age I got to see wonderful things I got to see Kathryn Kuhlman and and some of the things that are in history of the some of the great moves of God but it was always it was always the hero it was always the big the big guy you know the big in her case the big lady the the specially anointed one you know that that did all all the the supernatural stuff and the rest of us just you know cheered him on and were just grateful and thankful it was never never a negative thing whatsoever but I my my my grandparents actually sat under under the ministry of Smith Wigglesworth we have some interesting family history and in my my uncle was a soloist for Aimee Semple McPherson and so we've got a lot of that stuff in our background so the dialogue about the miraculous was common it was it was just a normal way that we lived I remember my grandfather telling me as this young man he said he said not everyone liked Wigglesworth you know he was he was all goodness in his late 80s and here I was probably 18 19 years old and he said not everyone loved Wigglesworth these he was it was so rough in his so so bold in his faith you know he's really offensive and the realization is everybody loves him now because he's dead you know I mean Israel did that with all their prophets you know the Israel loved all the prophets after they died you know they'd build monuments to him and all this stuff but while they are alive they were very offensive and and you start to realize that people that make a difference are oftentimes offensive it doesn't give us permission to be careless but it it's just a reality faith offends the stationary faith just offends people that are stationary and I tell our folks I see you know if you are cautious about life everyone around you call you wise you just won't move many mountains there has to be that element of risk and so anyway back to my appreciation for you guys and just your history what you have brought to the world is in 1987 I as I was pastoring and I had this burning in me for to see what was in the Bible actually happened you know in our church family and and it just seemed like every time I open the Bible it's there and I couldn't escape it and and I I didn't agree with the folks that said it you know it died out with the cannons a ssin of Scripture died with the last apostle I didn't buy into that I had too much family history but I also wasn't seeing it in my life and says extremely frustrating to believe one thing experienced another and I remember 1987 it took a bunch of our leaders now we went to Anaheim to John Wimber conference and it was a wonderful experience is a bit frustrating not that anything going on was frustrating it was just personally frustrating because I was reminded by being there for several days every single speaker the teachings that I heard unusually so were the exact things I had been teaching the last couple of years and some of the same illustrations I mean it's almost freaky and the same illustrations and I said they're realizing I believe the same we have our theologies very similar what we believe God wants to do and is doing in the earth but I looked around me these everybody around me had fruit for what they believed I just had theology and it was that was a frustrating point for me it was a it was a it was a it was something that forced me to to cross a line and it wasn't that I wasn't praying for the sick I mean we were it's not all about healing I tell people healing is not the whole gospel but neither is the gospel whole without it you know so it was that the test for me was this breakthrough in the physical healing and I remember I remember seeing people that just went after and we had been doing it but he's never saw anything happened the week after I got home from Anaheim we start seeing miracles and we didn't pray any different we didn't do anything different it was it was the most it was the most bizarre thing I probably didn't understand what had happened in that environment until I met Randy almost 20 years ago now and started seeing the concept of impartation but strangely the impartation that we received as a whole team we went home as a whole team we lined everybody up all you know all the team that went we invited the people for we began to pray for people the power of God at people there was miracles of healing in great Encounters of the Lord and except for the one elder that wasn't able to come nothing happened in his line which he told me about this last week again we like we had a good laugh he wasn't the problem he just wasn't there to catch the disease you know some sometimes you honestly you receive an impartation just by your association with people just because you're in the room you're in the room with something happens and I and I do believe in the laying out of hands part but but sometimes sometimes I think we fail to recognize what is actually in the air it's best because we're we're associated with a group of people so we I never got closer I don't think I don't think I ever got within 100 feet of John Wimber or Blaine cook or any of the guys Brent Roux was another one that was there at that time and I don't think I ever got closer than 100 feet to any of them so there was no laying out of hands there was no prayer I don't remember any prayer or any pronouncement any prophecy about us caring we just saw what was happening got stirred up went home prayed for somebody got healed fact the first person I saw experienced a miracle was a non-believer in a store it was a friend of mine the owner of his store is going to retire in his 40s because the arthritis is so bad in his hand in his arm he couldn't use the tools and he couldn't reach anymore for the boxes on the shelf and and I I had to stirring him because where I just was and I but there's too many people in the store and I just didn't have the confidence or the courage whatever to pray for him them so I came back the next day I think it was the Lord actually I came back the next day and he brought up the subject he again he said Billy says I'm going to have to retire I said I said what's going on I did and he told me about the arthritis in his arm again and I said how about we pray I feel like like God would like to heal you and he said yeah that would be great it kind of shot me because you know the only resistance you usually see to being pray for us from other Christians but this guy who's not a believer yeah it's a great idea pray for so he sits down in his chair and I put my hands literally on his shoulder his arm and just pray for that healing grace to be released him and commanded arthritis to go very simple prayer took you know 15 seconds and when I still pulled my hands back and he's moving his hand his arm around and he's in absolute shock and so am I he's completely completely healed and I mean he's doing everything you know that he could he's moving you know I'm naturally all around the room checking this and and he says he says if in fact I came by came back I had to go to Spain I think the next day I came back like a couple weeks later I went right in to see him and I go into the I go into a store and he says a bill he says you're a healer and I just let him talk because I started thinking you know he's doing the best he can to encourage me and we have enough issues with our own theology so that I'm not going to rebuke his I'm just going to let him talk because he's trying to complement and and it's more important that you let him express the best he can so I let him talk to me for a little while and he honor me the best I knew how and I said David I said you know what actually happened so we have this happen in church said Jesus just comes he walks up and down the aisles he gives this one encouragement he gives us one a word of wisdom he heals this one and sometimes he just stops he says you know this is so much fun I want my people to enjoy this so I'm going to give the healing anointing here but I'm going to make sure that he connects with him after the meeting and he'll pray for me he'll give him the gift that I just gave him so I just described it something like that and and I said you were actually visited by Jesus and I had the great privilege of just being a vessel you know and so I came back to see him like a week or two later and see how he's doing I walked into the store he started to say you're bill you're a heel or they stopped himself he said I was visited by Jesus so the very very fun but that was my that was the beginning for me and I felt so so thankful so appreciative of being with a group of people that just knew who they were I knew what God wanted to do in the earth and it really such a confidence in Anna courage into us as an entire church so we had seven or eight of us we just started going for you know we started we had a class on healing and we find that we would watch videos of people and in the the variety from Mario Murillo is a personal friend of mine very deeply indebted to them to Charles and Francis hunter you know and Wimber so we've got we've got opposite ends of the healing ministry we just figured let's just get exposed to it you get what you're teach so let's just teach it and see what happens so we just begin to mimic literally to copy whatever they did we would just copy it and and pretty soon it just started spreading throughout our whole church of the whole city but my my debt of gratitude is as to the vineyard because my my background I don't want to blame my background I'm going to blame me as the one who would apply but my background basically said it's for today but somehow it while it was never spoken it seemed to be modeled that you had to have an unusual gift on your life to do it and I just never thought I qualified for that I just I couldn't I couldn't do it all these guys did and so when I when I went to the vineyard I saw ministers one-on-one it's simple you ask him questions you pray and just you know you measure you see what's going I thought I can do that I can say like I can't do the Benny Hinn thing and in a you know in a big crusade I can't do the Kathryn Kuhlman thing but I can do the one-on-one and we started to see breakthrough and just the most encouraging thing so I just I just I just want to say thank you I it's it's such an honor to I I don't I won't say I take every opportunity to be in a vineyard church because I just have too many too many invitations right now but I jump at the chance I make let me put this I'm excited when I have that clearance from the Lord to go to a vineyard and the reason is is I feel like there's there's a part of what's happened in me that I owe you thanks for and so thank you and it's a it's an incredible privilege to be here to see what's happening in this part of the world and in your multiple campus this is pretty cool I I didn't know how to maintain it we we would pray for the sick and you know when you're a small church a loss is pretty devastating you know when you're in your large church when you've got a thousand to five thousand however many thousands of people we having a Church's you've always got something happening so if you want to stay encouraged you can you know it says it's not hard to find the action of God somewhere you know but in a little church sometimes all of your prayer efforts are on this one crisis and so that baby dies and what happens it just deflates the courage of the entire church and and I didn't know how to sustain it I I remember when I saw this thing in scripture where it says that God lit the fire on the altar but the priest kept it burning that concept rocked me so in 87 I was in Anaheim I really got impacted and we we saw unusual visitation we had unusual things happen our children's ministry we had we just had the power of God fallen places and it was exciting it didn't scare me in the sense that I wanted to control it I I knew enough about the move of God that that was never a passion of mine but but I also didn't know how to sustain it I just didn't know what to do I I had that that mindset that that revivals moves of God are seasonal they come and they go and so I was just kind of set up to accept the fact that it's not permanent and in other words my theology was based on the history of revival instead of the nature of God the nature of God is he goes from glory to glory the nature of God is there's no end to the increase of his government the history of of ival always ends but that that is not necessarily because of God so think about the concept God lights the fire on the altar the priests keep it burning so how long the fire burns is not up to God so it would come and go for 1987 to February of 95 I remember getting on a plane to fly to Toronto in doubt I remember just just print I was so hungry to see the more that I had you know you taste of something is to come it's not continuous but you've had a taste you never ruined forever for anybody else that's what happened I had this taste of what God was doing in the earth and and it would come and go you know every six months or something something would happen and then then we I personally just go down again February of 95 I flew with a friend of my back to Toronto and I prayed this price of God if he'll touch me again I'll never change the subject what that meant for me was and that was the the word for word that was the prayer I prayed but what it meant it would be important for you to know it meant that God I saying if you would touch me again I will never add what you're doing to what we're doing because that's what I found how it happened as I looked back I could see I took the move of God and I added it to what we were already good at so the move of God was a part of who we were and so on this trip to Toronto I said god I feel touch me again I'll make what you're doing the only thing I do and so I I went to Toronto and oh goodness I it was it was crazy it was crazy it was it was everything I saw going on in the room I had seen before but it's different when you see it with ten people in a prayer room and 5,000 people in a conference I mean it was it was it was mind-boggling to see this much activity in a room and so I'd close my eyes because I was it was a sensory overload it was just over what I closed my eyes and and as soon as I did I'd sense that same presence we would feel in this that outpouring in a small prayer room with other people and I'd realized oh this is home this is right I'd opened my eyes it was crazy time closed my eyes I'm okay you know it's a bummer when you have to spend your entire week with your eyes closed but events I got accustomed to and the Lord Justice is stretching us as people and I remember I remember going and praying that prayer and and the first night you know I I got prayed for five times the first night I have jokingly say they could have had an altar call for african-american pregnant pastors wives and I would have gone forward you know but they could have had you know they could have invited us forward for anything and I was there you know and I and I did I get prayer every single chance I could for the week five days six days whatever it was that I was there and it was wonderful but I didn't have any any kind of dramatic encounter but I knew I had tasted of why I was alive it all it did was echo and amen what happened to me in 1987 it was this it was it was different manifestation but the same presence the same power it was unto something very very significant and I remember just just saying all right you've got the rest of my life for this I give myself to this I tell her folks I say you know if the if the fire starts to wane be the person that jumps on the fire we need fuel to keep a fire going be the person with the burning heart because it'll never die as long as our people with burning hearts it's it's not the passion for miracles it drives me I mean I I love them I'm so thankful that you know I've lived without them I've lived with I prefer with it is much better it's been it's much better that you know to face an impossibility and just live with that sense of confidence that the God who invades the impossible is in me and and we're going to go after this so it just changes everything it just it makes everything a target you know and so I've lived with and I've lived without but what I've what I've noticed is what's stirred up in me is not not the need to have another notch in my Bible of another case of cancer as much as I celebrate that being a yield I actually live from it from a different place I pursue the miracle only because there must be evidence of the resurrected Christ who lives in me there must be evidence of the resurrected Christ if you look at this one verse it's a it's a theme verse for me it's in acts 10 I I was I was writing one of the books I was writing as writing chat with short devotional chapters and I happened to be writing on this concept of God with us and what I did years ago is I went through it I looked for every place where the Lord in any way revealed himself to be with somebody and you see with Moses you remember in Exodus 3 or where he says certainly I'll be with you and you see with Gideon you see a throughout scripture you see the Spirit of the Lord comes upon get in which interestingly if you look at the original language the spear or didn't come upon Gideon the original language says and the Spirit of the Lord clothed himself with Gideon that's extreme that's extreme that my heart burns for that one God that God would put me on like a glove so here you look through the scripture you find these places where God reveals himself to be with one with someone it is always directly following or immediately preceding a commission that is absolutely impossible so if you think about it the revelation of God's presence upon his people is for the impossible assignment they've been given and if you connect the dots and you look at Matthew 28 the Great Commission what is the Great Commission is to disciple Nations there's two Commission's there one in Luke 1 in Matthew one of them is to make disciples of Nations the other is to disciple nations themselves one is individual converse the other is to shape culture through the salvation of entire nations stunning fairly impossible assignment not something any one of us could pull off but he says and I will be with you even to the end of the age so when I look at this stuff in scripture I see I see in Matthew 24 the verses that are quoted all the time on W wars and rumors of wars all these are these kinds of things you know the Lord wasn't giving the church a promise it wasn't saying here's the things I promise to your earthquakes famines Wars persecutions tribulation it wasn't giving us a problem promise he was describing the conditions into which he was sending his last days army he was saying this is what I'm sending you into this is the environment don't let it frighten you because you're going to be a redemptive solution in the midst of that of that issue of that problem I will be with you always even to the end of the age so you think about whenever the Lord reveals himself being with someone it's it's for the purpose of invading the impossible now we know he lives in us we know that the Holy Spirit is in us he lives in us to comfort us to encourage us strengthen us to teach us to direct us to guide us to convict us all those things but when he manifests himself upon us it is always for the impossible it I believe it's a very important distinction to make the way the way I share with our folks and say listen he's in me for my sake but he comes upon me for yours he's in me tilt my inner world he comes upon me to shape my outer world so this verse when I was writing this particular chapter I actually took just a moment to write it's like I don't remember six seven hundred words per those little chapters and I wrote about this particular verse let me read it to you how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit with power and he went about doing good healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him I love that verse so much I loved it so much that when I see on the clock any any no matter where I'm at if I look at a clock and it says 1038 if I can take a moment to stop everything and pause I will stop everything in pause and just quote the verse and give thanks to the Lord that Jesus went about doing good healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him and I and I just prayed that kind of repair if I'm driving sometimes I'm in front of the church and I look at the clock I see it I just take that moment in my heart but just keep on talking but the point is it's a it's a memorial stone for me it's a it's a point where I stop and I recognize Jesus established an example for us they can and must be followed he didn't show us a direction that was impossible they showed us a direction that was only possible with him so here's this verse when I was writing this chapter I was writing this out about 10:38 and I looked over at the clock and it turns to acts 10 it turns to accidentally turns to 2 to 10 38 on the clock and I went goodness gracious even as I write this it turned it's like those little things that the Lord just just to confirm because I made a decision a long time ago this is going to be one of the memorial stones in my and one of the ways I'll recognize I won't be having reminders up to twice a day that that Jesus invaded the possible impossible he he went about doing good he healed all who were oppressed of the devil because God was with him you know one of the most startling things that I've been becoming more and more aware of is that Jesus modeled something for us to follow I do get in trouble on this one because sometimes people misunderstand what I say are my examples Jesus is God he didn't attain to that position he's eternally God then went number two he's always always been God never took a vacation all right he's eternally God is the great mystery all God all man when he was walking the earth but the part that I emphasized is a for the for the sake of training people is that Jesus chose to live as a man dependent upon God he hacks what he did is he model what life could be like for anyone who had no sin number one and number two was completely empowered by the Holy Spirit so this is what he mottely illustrated this mode of lifestyle now he's eternally God but he lived as a man and and that man Jesus couldn't do any miracles that's why he said the son of man can do nothing of himself he made it very clear you know after his temptation angels came to minister to him how many of you understand God wouldn't need angels to come and minister to him but as a man with limitations he's chosen to live in a restricted sense of what what he can do this is important to know because that's that's the key of this verse if he if he does his earthly ministry as God then he doesn't need the revelation that God is with him because he himself is God right so what is he doing he's illustrating something that can be followed if he does his miracles as God goodness I'm still impressed I mean you read the Old Testament you see the water out of the rock you see the pillar of fire you see all but you know you see all the stuff I just stand back and go Laurie - god this is amazing but when I see that Jesus did what he did as a man in right relationship with God I'm no longer too content to stay where I am somehow the example summons me summons me Jesus does he have to give me a command it summons made calls me it-it-it it refused to stay in the condition I'm in because I have seen what it's possible and I'm you know I may never do it well I may stink at it my entire life but I don't have the right to change the assignment I don't have the right to change the assignment to what I do well and call that ministry I mean you know you can go to you can go to school you can get trained for all kinds of things in ministry that I think are important the worship the music the leadership the writing the all the stuff that we do in ministry all of us whether you're a pastor behind a pulpit or you work at the repairing cars or whatever it is we're all in ministry you can go to school be trained in ministry and you can be trained in everything but what Jesus said to go do he said heal the sick raise the dead cast out devils cleanse lepers I'm not saying I'm not saying that's all you should do but I'm saying at least do that with everything else you do I mean if you're right music right music but pray for the sick too you know if you leadership and you're those who motivate others and you're a good manager of people and you're this now that's awesome but make sure when you find someone dead you least try you know you least try - right you just you just got to put yourself in a place where where we are attempting to do what Jesus said to do and so what I what I picked up from the vineyard back in 1987 was the need to take risk was the need to it was almost like what I needed to do is I actually needed to open up the opportunity for God to come and demonstrate who he is he was going to respond to my initiative my action to create space create space means that I take time would you mind if I prayed for you which I did in that store Dave do you mind if I if I just prefer I think God would heal you just creating a space in a church service is you know what we're going to pray for anyone with loss of hearing today we're going to you just are you to use this creating room somehow in your life in the morning you pray say God I'm looking for someone just to share the gospel with you you're just looking for opportunities just what you wanna do is you just want to say God here's this vacancy come be who you are and it was it was that that I picked up in that environment and it wasn't that hard it was it was pretty simple it was here's this here's this amazing father that has such a passion for people such a love for people that he's just looking for a moment to invade he's looking for a moment to to come into agreement with his delegated authority his people on the earth and he's just looking for that agreement so that he might invade that situation and bring life for this death bring healing where there's brokenness and you and I are these these people that just you know as John Wimber would say we all get to play I mean that's that's just the classic historical statements we is a historical statement - we all we all get to play this is this is actually what we get to do and this is you know we had somebody write a book sometime ago and they criticize their church which I don't know why anyone who'd do that but but they said oh they're just another Disneyland and I thought that's awesome Disneyland is called the happiest place on earth I think Disneyland needs some competition I think our churches should be known for a happier places in Disneyland they didn't mean it that way but that encouraged me a lot when they said that so I'm taking it as an encouraging word but the point is is that we have this incredible opportunity to live with anticipation that God is going to invade the impossible and here's this here's this verse that describes the one we're following Jesus anointed of the Holy Spirit and power and he went about doing good and healing all not ever when I pray for it gets healed but ever when he prayed for got healed I can't afford to change the standard I've got to change the vehicle the vessel I've got to do something here no guilt shame because that doesn't get me there my lifestyle is in public I take risk in private I cry oh god you've gotta do something I have people at the end of our services we have people that just fly in we have healing rooms open on Saturday mornings and we will have sometimes 600 people or more that have come from all over all over the world sometimes they they fly just in critical critical conditions and they'll fly in just to receive prayer just hoping that this will be their miracle and we have some extraordinary stories amazing stories a little boy that was dying they didn't know if he didn't make it on the airplane ride his muscles are deteriorating he can't eat anything he's fed in Urbania sleigh at night and he comes in and he's just just completely healed he's now three three years later they made a movie about him in Norway and extraordinary stories so we have those but we also have the ones that didn't get healed on Saturday so they stay over on Sunday and I'm at the back door always shaking hands with people you know when they leave because it gives me a chance for connection I just and I love to be at people assigned back to shaking hands and they'll usually be a line and then I'll get over and pray and and when they're healed I mean I I'm the happiest camper around you know and whether or not I'm not going to do guilt and shame and I'll never blame them ever and sometimes they go away in the same wheelchair they wheeled in with and then I go get along with the Lord and I say God they came thinking that when they came here they would meet you and all they met was me and neither of us are impressed you've got to do something with me so that when they come with whatever measure faith it took to bring them here that they would encounter you and they would leave knowing they were touched by God they would leave known that they just received a grace a gift from the Lord Himself so the Lord has revealed himself on your movement and I stand in awe and I think your greatest days are ahead but he's revealed himself as with you he's revealed himself as with me for a reason because we're surrounded by impossibility did I say I was ending I'm allowed to if I did then this is my second ending in our staff meetings we've got about I don't have to our staff meeting I think that's two hours and we take the first hour and a half and our staff meetings just to share stories of miracles from the previous week and we sit there just shaking her head week after week I do the same thing in our board meetings the reason is I don't want us to move into making decisions unless we're conscious of the God who invades the impossible the only way I'm willing to live this infectious hope that God is with me because I'm facing something that I can't face without him and survival isn't the goal victory is the goal so let me pray for you father I I am so thankful I'm thankful for what you're doing here with this amazing group of churches and thankful for what you're doing in the whole movement it's just it's amazing the testimony rings clear throughout the earth and I prayed that you would come with yet another wave that would ignite inspire empower and that from the vineyard and from the various movements in this part of the world there would come such a pure stream of power such a pure stream of love such a pure stream of integrity of character that it literally would shape this part of the world and would it go on to shape Nations I'm asking for every single person that that hears this word that there would be this this sense of calling the sense of purpose the sense of destiny that you would give to each of us that we're here to shape the course of history we're here to be people who by nature invade the impossible let that be birthed in the hearts of every single person that that be what this family of churches is known for as a people that were born to invade the impossible and I pray this that you would be exalted I pray this that you would be honored amen

Channel: thevineyardchurch

Views: 6,106

Rating: 4.8202248 out of 5

Keywords: Bill Johnson, Awakened To Destiny, Holy Spirit, Vineyard Church, VineyardLIVE, The Future Is Now

Id: CtwH4EmtCFE

Length: 33min 59sec (2039 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 13 2016