Bill Johnson · Bethel Church · Published March 30, 2026
0:00 Jesus said, greater works than these shall you do. It was never meant to decline. It was always meant to increase. So that initial outpouring of the Spirit was supposed to be the New Testament standard for how we do life. That lifestyle of walking in the assignment of the Lord, the commission of the Lord, the power of the Lord is for every single believer. One of the most bizarre portions of Scripture for me in all of the Gospels is in John chapter 3. And in John 3, he says, of himself, he says, He who ascended first descended. he who ascended first descended now jesus this is in the beginning part of his ministry he's not yet died so he's not been resurrected so he's not yet ascended none of that stuff has happened and yet he's telling his disciples i am the one that ascends into heaven but first i descended to earth what does that say it's saying that in his earthly ministry he is still ascending into heavenly realms he's giving us a sneak peek of what it looks like to be seated in heavenly places in Christ All right.
1:45 he said no one has ascended to heaven Jesus says in 313 John 313 no one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven that is the son of man who is in heaven things you don't understand are invitations so embrace them embrace them because it means he's going to take you on a journey. Doesn't mean you'll have the answer by 10 p.m. tonight. It means that you're embarking on a journey where you'll discover what it means. Jesus says, no one has ascended to heaven except the Son of Man, pointing to himself, who first descended, who is now in heaven. and yet he's standing on planet earth.
2:44 So he's revealing the kind of lifestyle that he lived that you were born for. All the things that you ache for that seem to be so impossible are actually connected to your relationship with the Holy Spirit and your positioning in heavenly places. So giving attention to this theme in scripture because it's all through the scripture whether you see it or not, it's there. giving attention to this theme in scripture helps to awaken your heart for hunger you don't have to understand it to embrace it but you do need to hunger for it you need to hunger for things that you can't explain things that you can see the shadow of maybe in scripture that jesus how was it that everyone he ministered to was healed well maybe this is part of the reason he ascended into heavenly places how is it that everyone he cast demons out of it actually worked or every person he raised from the dead he never failed once how is that possible well maybe maybe because his position helped him to see what the father was doing and hear what the father was saying maybe there's a connection there that he has actually made available through his death and resurrection to every person in this room every person is born again the thought that we get saved just so we have fire insurance, sells the gospel so far short.
4:09 I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm just saying we were born for something. If you can imagine Israel going through that horrible wilderness and finally crossing that final river into the promised land and living and dying on the banks of the river, it would be absolutely horrible because there's cities to possess. There's crops that have been planted to inherit. There are fields. There are livestock. There's all kinds of stuff that have been prepared for them to inherit. And yet we stand on the banks of the river and say it's all mine, but have explored none of it. Faith explores what revelation reveals. It's vital that we provoke ourselves to explore what it is that God is showing to us, because he's not showing us stuff to make us smarter. He's showing us stuff so we know where to go. He shows us stuff so we know what to hunger for. So I can't make anything happen, but I can get hungry. And something happens to hungry people.
5:06 They're able to pull into their day, oftentimes what was reserved for another hour. God actually speeds up the process of our development through hunger. all right Ephesians 4 let's get back there and see if we can what it says he ascended I just described that to you he descended into the lower parts of the earth in the Old Testament and Luke 16 covers this really well if you ever want to study it in the Old Testament which is everything until Jesus died so all the healings in the Gospels that was all Old Testament The Old Testament didn't end until Jesus was raised from the dead. all the gospels that you read while they are in the books the bible called the new testament they are actually revealing what jesus had to do to close out the power of the the voice and the demands of the law when he rose from the dead, he was the firstborn from the dead, not the first person to raise from the dead because he had raised many himself.
6:31 In the Old Testament, they were raised. But he was called the firstborn from the dead because he was raised from the dead never to die again with a physical body that can eat fish and yet walk through a wall who can travel at the speed of thought. a heavily glorified body that is more real than this and yet functions by superior laws. and that firstborn from the dead means there's more to come and so every person who is born again you haven't just become a religious church member the spirit that entered Jesus's body after three days being dead and raised him from the dead, that Holy Spirit is the spirit that caused you and me to be converted, born again.
7:35 It's the exact same spirit. And learning to yield to that spirit is a part of what I'm gonna call divine health. Because Romans 8 says, the Holy Spirit who lives in us gives life to our mortal body. learning to cooperate with him, to yield to him, to partner with him, to be surrendered to him is the entire Christian life. He says, if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. I love this verse so much. No one has ascended. Now, we know that after Jesus died, he was resurrected. He ascended to the right hand of the Father and was glorified. Okay?
8:28 resurrected, ascended, glorified. That was years later. This is early in the storyline. And Jesus says, no one has ascended except for me, the son of man who is in heaven. I love this verse so much because it reveals to us how he literally lived from heaven towards earth. There is what some refer to as the ascended life.
9:00 For most of us, our Christian life is living from earth towards heaven. In other words, we get into situations and our cry is that God will come and deliver us out of that situation. and that's a good place to start. But he's wanting to teach us how he qualified us to be seated in heavenly places in Christ at the right hand of the Father. It was never meant to be reduced to a doctrine only. I mean, theology doctrine is very important because that's the essence of truth. But those things are supposed to lead us into a relationship, into an encounter, into an ongoing experience. It was never meant to be that we could just quote a scripture and tell you what we believe and not demonstrate it. It does me little good for me to tell you God is my provider and have no provision.
9:57 God is my healer and see no healing. So here in this passage, Jesus said, nobody's ascended except for me. So now this is before his death. No one has ascended. So that tells us then in his time with the father, there is an ascending where he literally lives from heaven towards earth. when you live from earth towards heaven you ask god to come and fix a problem when you live from heaven towards earth you co-labor with him and declare the problem fixed or solved or changed So then... I hope you don't mind bouncing around because this is going to be very disorganized and you're just stuck.
10:55 So I don't know. There is a back door, but if you get through before I do, just go home. All right. Look with me at John chapter five and let's take a look at something here that's so wonderful. So just a couple chapters to the right. I love this. He says, verse 36, I have a greater witness than John's. How many of you know John was the greatest prophet of all? One person knew that. It's actually in the Bible. It's in Matthew 11. John was considered the greatest prophet of all. How many of you know that now? Man, you're making me nervous. I can see I've got an uphill climb tonight. I can see. I'm teasing it. I have a greater witness than John's for the works which the Father has given me to finish. The very works that I do bear witness of me that the Father has sent me.
11:54 Okay, now just think. The works that I do bear witness of me. What works? the word works is mentioned I think 21 times in the gospel of John it's always good to study a subject in the context of that particular writing and or that writer so in the gospel of John the word works is in there I think it's 21 times if I remember right 17 of those times it's without question miracle signs and wonders one of those times you may remember it says and greater works than these shall you do because I go to the Father. So what he is saying here is the works, the miracles, the signs, and the wonders, they testify of who I am. now keep your finger in John 5 I don't know if I should keep apologizing all night maybe I won't maybe I'll just make you run through the gospels keep your finger in John 5 and turn to John 10 John 10 verse 37.
13:05 if I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. all right john chapter 10 verse 37 if i do not do the works of my father what are the works the works are miracle signs and wonders those works testify of his identity yes yes i'm i'm giving you the answer before i ask the question so everybody should pass this test if you're just listening. If I do not do the works of my father, do not believe me. the prophets announced who Jesus was.
13:59 John the Baptist came, announced who he was. Nature, the star in the east, announced who he was. Angels showed up and testified who he was. Jesus says, you can ignore all of those if I don't do miracles. if I do not do the works of my father, do not believe me. he said greater works than these shall you do now i've heard people say what's greater because there's more of us no no that's not what he's saying that's a pointless illustration i'm going to be for him to say i'm going to be followed by millions of people who believe and they will do more than i did as one person that's a pointless point He is announcing greater.
15:03 a woman touches Jesus' garment and is healed. But when Paul was in ministry, they took clothing from his body, sent it to somebody, and they were healed. It's greater. You don't exalt the Lord by exalting his works above his promise. if I do not believe the works excuse me if I do not do the works of my father do not believe me go back to John 5 the works that the father has given me verse 36 to finish the very works that I do bear witness of me that the father has sent me Jesus said if I don't do the works don't believe me I'm looking for the church to stand before the nations and say if we do not do the works do not believe us Thank you.
16:00 we're not off the hook John 20 Jesus said as the Father has sent me I send you you don't get to pick and choose what that looks like John 5. You still all right? Yeah. Verse 37. And the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form. Here's an important verse. but you do not have his word abiding in you because whom he sent him you do not believe.
16:52 Okay, look at it again. You do not have his word abiding in you. So Jesus is making observation. He's got some Pharisees here. He says, you don't have his word abiding in you. How do I know? Because you didn't believe me when I showed up. What does that mean? The abiding word prepares us to accept what God is doing. before he does it. I want to use as a backdrop for tonight's message, and I'll just, well, I might read it in a minute. I quote a lot of scriptures, and I'm finding I need to take you there so you see it in your own Bible.
17:37 But it's a cornerstone passage on our existence, on why we're here and what our assignment is. It's in John 15, 7. If you abide in me and my word abides in you, you can ask whatever you want and it'll be done. It's not about having our way. It's about having our place of significance and purpose. I think it's the Wesley brothers that said, God does nothing in the affairs of men except in response to prayer. I believe that's true. if I own a home here in Reading that you are renting from me, even though I have the master key, I cannot enter that home without your invitation, even though I own it. I have to be invited by you to come into the home, even though I own it.
18:33 the scripture says God made the heavens for himself, but the earth he made for men. And he put men in charge, men and women in charge of a planet. And he comes at our invitation. So everything about this transformation of planet earth is our co-laboring role with him. the first assignment he gave Adam and then Eve was be fruitful multiply subdue the earth it was expand the garden your delegated authority I put you in charge of a planet now take over that was the assignment when Adam and Eve sinned they gave the keys of their authority to a serpent when Jesus died he rose again and he said I got the keys back all authority has been given to me therefore go so what did he do he restored us to a place of co-laboring with him how is the co-laboring role realized number one through prayer number two through obedience consistent with the prayer Thank you.
19:49 am I complicating things or are we okay all right so he does not have us pray one thing and then live in opposition right he doesn't say he doesn't say pray like this and then live the opposite of that so what does he do he says pray like this your will be done your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We want your world to influence this one. How does it come? Through the delegated authority coming as a co-laborer before the master of the universe, inviting him to enter our home, inviting him to enter our place of influence. Jesus answered and said to him because I said to you I saw you under a fig tree do you believe?
20:42 you will see greater things than these and he said to him most assuredly I say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man and I saw a ladder on the earth reach to heaven and angels were ascending and descending you'll see greater things than these. You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. Why is that significant? A few verses earlier, actually in verse 14 of chapter one, the scripture says, Jesus is the word of God made flesh. One of the ways it's described is, is Jesus, the word of God made flesh.
21:37 Jesus is the house of God or God tabernacled among us in Christ. so what is Jesus is the initial model or illustration of what God intends to do in the New Testament church So Jesus is the tabernacle of God, the dwelling place of God on earth. he introduces himself, I'm the light of the world. But before he left, he said to you and to me, he says, you're the light of the world. It's not that we take his place. It's that he extends what he carried to the believing human race. and not to not step to not at least attempt to step fully into what jesus was what he illustrated and modeled is to miss the point so here Jesus announces to Nathanael and the guys that are there that you're going to see greater things than me calling you out by a word of knowledge that I saw you under a fig tree and of course they did but they they saw whether they saw visibly angels coming and going they saw the effect of the angelic realm partnering with Jesus.
23:14 Now, God can do everything himself and never need an angel. but don't be stupid and argue against his design because he can also do everything without you and me and he can do everything better he could stand on planet earth and speak in such a way that everybody on the entire planet would hear him in their language and it would be much more convincing than what you and I do the point isn't what is God capable of doing The point is, what is his plan? His plan is to take broken, redeemed humanity and use them in such a way that only God can get the credit for what gets accomplished.
24:06 His longing from day one was co-laboring. It was the partnership between him and people. so Jesus then was the prototype of what the body of Christ was to look like we are called the body of Christ for a reason. The Bible says the government will rest upon his shoulders, not his head. The Bible says that... that everything, Ephesians chapter 1, every power, every dominion, every ruler, every name, everything is put under his feet.
25:00 It doesn't say under his chin. the mind of Christ is actually to take the things he has declared to be true and cooperate in our thinking with what he says to be true even though you don't feel it it's not mind over matter it's not getting hyped and psych yourself out it's not that it's coming to agreement with what he says Thank you. let's do this go to John chapter 20 and Luke 24. Okay, so we'll have those two chapters open. now the 11 remaining disciples are here in verse 19 the same day at evening being the first day of the week the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews jesus came and stood in their midst.
26:17 And he said to them, peace be with you. When he said this, he showed his hands, them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So they weren't glad when they first saw him because they didn't know who he was. They were terrified. First of all, they're hiding because they're afraid they're going to be killed by the Jews. They're hiding. And then somebody walks through the wall. it doesn't it doesn't help the issues of fear you know when somebody just appears through the wall and that's what happened and so they they aren't having it there you can imagine i mean you can imagine they are they were terrified already now they're terrified terrified on steroids i mean they are terrified and so jesus shows his hands on his side they realize who he is because remember when Jesus appears over and over and over again, he appears as other, constantly, differently.
27:14 Rode to Emmaus, they'd walked with him for years, but they didn't recognize him. Because we're to recognize him not by external appearance, we're to recognize him by spirit. if you just do it by externals, then he has to meet certain qualifications for you to recognize him. People do the same with revival.
27:39 Certain ways of revival should look like, and then he comes along and he does joy. And a lot of people just couldn't handle it. They couldn't see in Scripture that in his presence is fullness of joy. It just didn't compute because what this people needs is to be on their faces repenting and yet God gave them joy and they rejoiced out of their lifestyle of sin. It was different than what everybody expected.
28:14 When you learn to recognize by presence, not by externals, then you realize who's in charge. so here we have he showed them his hands on his side verse 20 then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord Jesus said to them again peace to you as the father has sent me I send you and when he said this he breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit so the 11 disciples remaining disciples received the Holy Spirit in John chapter 20. the indwelling born again experience was made available to the disciples in John 20 he breathed on them and he said receive the holy spirit he's not doing a symbolic act everything he did was very calculated and intentional in Luke chapter 24 before Jesus ascended to heaven for the final time before Pentecost he said in verse 49 behold I send the promise of my father upon you but tarry or wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
29:49 What's the point? They received the Holy Spirit in John 20 but before Jesus ascended to the Father he told the guys stay in Jerusalem until you're clothed with power. There was the indwelling but there was the clothing. There was the baptism. biblically they can happen at the same time but the initial revelation was there are two distinct experiences when jesus was raised from the dead he appeared to his disciples he actually appeared and reappeared for a period of 40 days the word pentecost means 50 so from the resurrection of christ to the day of pentecost is 50 days for 40 of those days jesus appeared and reappeared giving final instructions to his disciples one of the first things he did when he first appeared to them he walked into a room where they were hiding for fear, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. When is a person born again? When they receive the Holy Spirit. So the 11 were actually born again in that upper room experience, if you will, or in that hiding place where they were.
31:09 The Spirit of God came upon them, and they were converted in that moment. What followed was instruction that Jesus gave them in Luke chapter 24. He said, I send the promise of my father upon you, but wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued or clothed with power from on high. So here are the disciples. They've just received the spirit of God, the indwelling of the spirit. They are born again. They receive that gift. But then Jesus follows and he says, don't leave Jerusalem until you are clothed with power. So in other words, as we've talked in recent days, the authority that God gives us as believers is released to us in the commission. It is our yes to his mission. The authority that we walk in is equal to our yes to his mission. But then he says, stay in Jerusalem until you're clothed with power. So power comes from the encounter.
32:06 Authority comes from the commission. Power comes from the encounter. That was Luke 24. In Acts chapter 1, I'm hurrying, so forgive me for talking too fast, but I need to try to get to the reason I'm talking. And I'm not there yet. So I've got to dance around a couple subjects first. So in Acts chapter 1, verse 4, he said, And being assembled together, this is obviously after the resurrection and before the day of Pentecost, which is in Acts chapter 2. Being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, you have heard from me. For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. What I'm trying to do with this is in Luke 24, verse 49, he said, I send the promise of my Father, stay till you're clothed with power. Acts chapter 1, he says, you will receive the promise of the Father, the clothing of power of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I'm just trying to make the connection between the promise of the Father and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 3, we'll find a place to land this thought in just a heartbeat here. In Acts chapter 3, Jesus was raised from the dead he says he is exalted at the right hand of God having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit which he poured out on the people in Acts chapter 2 and he says this that you see and hear so there was a visible manifestation and there was a hearing audible manifestation of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit alright just about finished here with this verse 38 Peter said repent let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sin baptism is not an option if you're a believer and you've not been baptized get baptized he didn't suggest it he commanded it for the remission of sin for you
34:15 shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit okay listen to the language repent and you will receive the All right, here's the one thought I want to get. Is the baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to that initial generation of disciples and believers. It started with the 11 in that room. It went to the upper room with 120. And then it spread to thousands, literally. The first day, there was 3,000 more added. So this momentum of the promise of the Father was actually engulfing the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. And what happened is they were brought into the purpose for why they were left on planet Earth. They were not here just to occupy space and lead a good, upright life.
35:09 But they were here to make a difference in the course of history for entire nations. But here's the part I want you to see. he said this promise is for you original generation your children next generation and to as many who are far off who are called by his name what does that mean it means that what started 2 000 years ago was never meant to decline it was supposed to be for every single generation following and the amazing thing to me is that when you receive something from the Lord, and let's say I pass it on to my children, I receive from my parents, I pass it on to my children, when you receive and you steward what you've been given correctly, it actually creates the platform for increase. so what started extraordinarily so in acts chapter two was always meant to increase in momentum every generation for two thousand years but in the process for whatever reason people dropped the responsibility for healing dropped the responsibility for deliverance and in many cases even dropped the responsibility of preaching the gospel for salvation and so there was this horrible decline there was always a remnant there was always people living and what we're talking about which is wonderful news but there was this overall there was a horrible decline that was never meant to be god always intended to that first generation to increase the next was to receive an increase the next to steward well and increase why jesus said greater works than these shall you do it was never meant to decline is always meant to increase is always meant to gain momentum.
36:59 So that initial outpouring of the Spirit was supposed to be the New Testament standard for how we do life. That lifestyle of walking and the assignment of the Lord, the commission of the Lord, the power of the Lord is for every single believer. Okay. Now, yeah, yeah. All right, now, yeah. That was a clap of pity right there. Matthew 28 Matthew chapter 28 Matthew 28 is where we have what has affectionately been called the Great Commission.
37:39 Jesus came, verse 18, Matthew 28, verse 18. Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Stop right there. Jesus is now, if you're unfamiliar with the story, this placement in Scripture. He is raised from the dead. he is now meeting with his disciples to commission them. As we've stated many times through the last few years, our authority comes in the commissioning. Our power comes in the encounter. We need both power and authority to do what he's called us to do. Power comes in the encounter. Authority comes in our yes to his mission. It's the commissioning. so here Jesus says all power has been given to me all authority has been given to me the very fact that he would make that statement here he is emphasizing the fact that he in this moment is identifying himself as the son of man because God never lost his authority God never lost his authority.
38:54 He never gave up his authority. But Jesus took on flesh, and in doing so, the perfect Lamb of God qualified me for an inheritance. He got for me a position, an assignment, eternal life, but a specific purpose for life that I could not have earned if I had all of eternity to try to earn it. he qualified me for it through his death and resurrection in this moment he says all authority has been given to me that's telling us somebody out there has no authority the accuser of the brethren has no authority.
39:35 All he can do is talk until somebody with authority believes him. He accuses, he manipulates, he intimidates, but he talks. He's the roaring lion, not the biting lion. He makes noise until it can get someone intimidated enough to agree with them. And when I believe a lie, I empower the liar. Come on.
40:07 Believing a lie is a self, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. All right, so here he says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples, verse 19, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age it's an amazing assignment that you and I have been given we have to change our sense of identity first an individual can disciple an individual but only a nation can disciple a nation an individual can i heard somebody say recently an individual can disciple an individual but only a nation can disciple a nation god calls us a holy nation first peter 2 9 a holy the church is a holy nation a holy nation to have the capacity to disciple nations means we have to know what we're doing number one there's got to be a sense of unity and sense of divine purpose there has to be this collective, it's called unity of the faith in Ephesians 4. That group of people can actually help to disciple nations into their purpose and destiny.
41:26 he says in verse 20 teaching them to observe all things i've commanded you what does that mean all right the original 11 what did jesus teach them Matthew 10 verse 8 Heal the sick He didn't say pray for the sick He said cleanse lepers That which defiles and separates People from one another raise the dead cast out demons every single believer has been given an authority to carry out this mission to leave it for those who stand behind pulpits is actually to weaken the actual effect of the pulpit it's in our corporate yes that everything grows together And he says, teach them to observe.
42:32 So what does that mean? That means the original 11 teaches the next generation. That generation teaches the next. The next teaches the next. The standard is supposed to be maintained. My favorite illustration for this, I've shared a number of times through the years, as a pastor, acquaintance of mine, I didn't know him well, but an amazing man. He was, his church, they were building a new sanctuary. and he wanted to be involved somehow. He didn't have any building skills, but he would talk to the contractor at the end of the day and said, is there anything I can do? And he kept asking him day after day. And finally the contractor, I think maybe out of pity or something, he finally thought of something he could do. And so he gave the pastor, the pastor came and said, is there anything I can do today to help? And he said, yeah, he says, there is. And I forget the exact number, so I'm just using the illustration. He said, yeah, we have 100 boards here that need to be cut to eight foot, two by fours that have to be cut eight foot in length. And the pastor was so excited because he finally got to do something.
43:29 So he took the tape measure out and he measured eight feet exactly, drew the line, he cut the board. And then instead of using the tape measure, he used the board that he just cut. And he put it on top of the next board. He drew the line and then he cut accordingly. He took the newly cut board and put it on top of the next one. and cut, and so he did through 100 boards.
43:53 It's not a problem if you're cutting three or four boards. If you're cutting 100, the last board you cut is about nine feet in length because every time you mark that line off the end of that board, it's about an eighth of an inch longer than the previous. It's not much of a difference from one generation to next, but there's a big difference between today and Jesus. the original standard that jesus established for us was supposed to be maintained for the multiple generations but because we've embraced the i don't know whatever i don't know i don't think it's been thought through but we tend to compare ourselves with previous generation are we maintaining what they gave us are we doing any better are we valuing what they valued The standard was set by the original generation. and that's the measurement.
44:49 That's the only one that holds up. So here he says, teach these things to the next generation and to the next and to the next, which was what? What did he teach them? At least in part, what he taught them was to heal the sick, not pray for the sick. to take the assignment. It's mind-boggling to take the assignment soberly that it's my job to heal the sick. And you say, Bill, well, we're not healers. We pray and he does the healing. I get it. It's just not what he said. My problem is with what he said.
45:29 You see, when you just pray for the sick, when you don't get a miracle, you can blame the sovereignty of God. and guilt and shame will never bring us into breakthrough but getting our face before god will increase that demonstration of your presence and power in through my life so here we have this commission in matthew uh 28 19 going to all the world preach the gospel take this message of the present reality of the kingdom of god that's the message that god uh in his heart his dominion has an answer and solution for everything that's out of order that's inconsistent with heaven itself that's our message it's a present tense reality that's the message every person in this room has been designed by the lord to give birth to something that's impossible god has ideas he puts them into words and he speaks them and those words form inside the heart of surrendered individuals and from that comes a demonstration of who jesus is and I would never want to put on an equal level the birth of anything that you and I would anything that you and I would give birth to on an equal level with the virgin birth of Jesus, the Messiah God eternal, taking on flesh while I would never want to put it on an equal plane, I will say in a very scary way, there's more similarities than you might be comfortable in imagining because the Lord wants to bring forth something out of every life, out of every heart, something that is absolutely impossible.
47:15 We're going to look at an interesting story first in a series that I've been threatening to do for a while. I'm putting on hold again for just the dates aren't working out right for me. So I'm going to be dealing with Abraham a little bit in that story. But today is going to be Sarah. So I want you to go to verse 9 of Genesis 18. We'll read a few verses here and then go to Hebrews 11. Verse 9, they said to him, they, literally, God showed up in the flesh, a theophanies, an appearance of the Lord in the Old Testament. With the angel or whoever he decided to bring, where is Sarah your wife? He said, here in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life. and behold, Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely bear a child since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?
48:39 At the appointed time I will return to you according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And he said, No, but you did laugh. Got a couple problems with this story. One is Sarah laughed at God, and two, she lied. So we have some issues here. In Hebrews 11, we read the same story. It's a little bit different in Hebrews 11. Verse 11, by faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Now that's the same story. It was just rewritten after repentance.
49:38 What story do you have that he rewrote after you turned to him? He doesn't hold on to the memory of past failures to bring up at an appropriate time to add weight to his story against you. This is his record. This is his personal diary of Sarah's life. Her picture hangs on his refrigerator, and this is the way he wrote the story. By faith, she received strength to conceive, bring forth a son, because she considered him faithful. I think New American Standard says since she considered him faithful. The word there for since, or in this case because, is actually translated because or when. So think of it this way. Sarah received strength when she considered him faithful.
50:34 Sarah received strength to conceive, bring forth a son, because or when she considered him faithful. Think about this. she had a role the role was to think about his faithfulness the power of the miracle is not in my efforts it's not in my sweat it's not even in my fasting should the lord lead me to fast the power is in the word that he speaks everything that we do is just to accommodate the word that he has spoken but the power is in the word that he said in this particular case the promise was brought forth that she would have a son and it says when or because she considered or thought about his faithfulness it was in that consideration dwelling on meditating on it was in that she received the ability to bring forth the son I love the fact that the Lord has rewritten all of our histories.
51:40 that's amazing to me he's rewritten the story and according to the way he wrote it you look good You're going to say, that's not the way I remember it. And he's going to say, your memory don't count. Sarah was advanced in age, and she couldn't have a son. Hannah was of a ripe age, but she was barren and couldn't have a son. She travailed in prayer. She contended. She wept. She fought for, in a sense. In fact, she was so disheartened. It's in 1 Samuel 1. She was so disheartened by not having a son that she came before the Lord and wept so bitterly, the word is used, so bitterly that the priest actually thought she was drunk.
52:39 Thought she was out of her mind. And she responded to him, please don't think of your servant as drunk. And then began to explain the bitterness of soul. Something happened through her contending that enabled her to reverse the effects of barrenness and to become the mother of a son. And then there's the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. she wasn't married. And I love the story so much. I talk about it often, so forgive me if it's repeat for you, but it's just one of the stories that baffles me. There's several that I just returned to over and over and over again. This is one of them, John the Baptist and the anointing came upon Jesus is another that I got to review every couple of months. But here's the one, the Gabriel appears to Mary and says, you're highly favored of the Lord, which is interesting because highly favored in heaven doesn't mean you're automatically highly favored on earth.
53:43 As Joseph was about to leave her, her entire family was disgusted with her, and she ends up being called the mother of the illegitimate child. But that's just from earth's perspective. Eventually, God's favor wins out. God's favor is never anything you have to apologize for. the angel speaks to Mary, you found favor in the sight of the Lord, you're going to conceive, bring forth a son. She has a question, how is that possible? I'm a virgin. And the angel says, the spirit of the most high will come upon you. I don't know about you, but the answer doesn't help me. Like I still have the same question I had when you gave me the answer. How can that happen since I am a virgin? Oh, the spirit of the most high will come upon you. how can that happen since i'm a very i still have the same question but mary did the wisest thing and one of the most profound concepts in scripture is she stated to the angel be it unto me according to your word so we've got three miracle births here one is abraham and it happened when she considered the promise she considered god's nature his history and faithfulness the second there was a contending. There was a travail in heart. Sometimes the only way you get breakthrough in certain areas of your life is to get before God and be brutally honest. A lot of folks don't know how to do that. Now, I would not suggest you accusing God. I've heard people doing that, and they lived. He's more patient than me. I'd have been throwing lightning bolts, but at least to scare you.
55:22 but honestly i i think it's appropriate for every believer to have moments where you come before god and you say i know it's impossible for you to lie but it feels like you lied to me i think it's important to own up to what you feel why because it is actually honesty in worship in john 4 it says those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth in spirit is a partnership with the Holy Spirit. It's a co-laboring role that we have in ministering to Jesus, the Lamb of God. But in truth means nothing hidden.
56:03 To do this thing, you know, to give praise, but to hide who we are is not honest worship. And he's looking for people that will literally come and lay everything before him and in spite of everything and in the midst of everything to declare his greatness. Somehow that brought about the miracle for Hannah. And then there's Mary. Mary who just yielded. So we've got Sarah considered, Hannah contended, and Mary surrendered. And each of them are expressions of the kingdom to bring rich fulfillment in life. What is fascinating to me is the Lord wants to manifest what he's doing in the earth through people. And he's not embarrassed by you. In fact, he loves being known as your God. he loves the idea of manifesting himself in your gifts, through your gifts, your history, your family, the good, the bad, the ugly, in the midst of whatever you carried into the relationship.
57:11 He loves being recognized by others as your God in the midst of that. I love these stories of these impossible births. You know, the word miracle is probably used in society more with the subject of childbirth than any other subject. The miracle of childbirth. Stunning. And we want to honor you with that. But I want to challenge every believer. There is a miracle that God has been planning eternity past. A miracle. Something impossible. something that can only be brought forth in its purest form through you. It can't be done by someone else. There's a representation of this wonderful Savior, this wonderful King, that can only be brought forth accurately, powerfully, purely through you. And the world is crying for it. They're looking for the expression of Jesus in and through you.
58:16 the Bible tells us that that all the earth, he is the desire of the nations is the phrase. That means everybody wants a king like Jesus. and since you're his body, everybody wants a body that represents Jesus well, and that's who you are, highly favored, chosen, set aside for the impossible. I believe in the fulfillment of dreams and visions and purposes and all of that stuff. It's something that we talk about fairly often. I do. It's not another excuse just to raise up selfish believers. That's nauseating. But somehow in a reaction to potential selfishness, there's a whole branch of the church that has killed the capacity for dreaming so that we make sure we don't become selfish. You know what? I'm willing to take the risk, as you know.
59:20 I want to see the expression of Jesus in and through you in ways that the world is aching for. Some of you carry certain gifts and graces on your life that are so unique. In fact, everyone does in some measure, but it's so unique that there is a gospel to be written. Don't quote me. I'm not adding any books to the Bible in spite of my reputation on YouTube. but every one of you have has a gospel story that can be only told through your life experience there is a book to be written in through your experience with this wonderful savior that will touch people, whether it's the Greeks and the Romans or the cowboys,
1:00:21 or it's the mountain men, or it's the businessmen, it's the film editors, it's the musicians, it's the politicians. There's a gospel story to be written in and through your life. This is to be read by countless numbers of people that will represent him well.
Machine translated from the source