Spiritual Gifts Are for the Church Today - Bill Johnson Sermon | Bethel Church

37:07 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. I realize that probably much of what I felt in my heart to share tonight has been heard quite a few times over in this group, so I will consider it a privilege to preach to the choir. this verse is used often to somehow to persuade people that miracles are not for today which to me sounds like the most I don't get it should I say what I'm really thinking that's just stupid Jesus didn't warn against prophets.

38:28 He warned against false prophets. He didn't warn against signs and wonders. He warned against false signs and wonders. The implication, when you warn of something false, the implication is there's something true. Otherwise, you would just make a general blanket statement, And just be careful of anyone pursuing miracles or declaring they've seen them or practiced them or whatever it might be.

38:55 This verse, I personally think has been misunderstood. So I'm just going to share with you just a few thoughts. And go to verse 21 again. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. That's the first part. There's actually three parts to this passage. There's two statements that are made, both dealing with different issues, and then there's a conclusion. The first statement that's made is that not everyone, just because they are able to say, Lord, enter the kingdom, but those who do the will of God. The will of God is listed in so many different ways. For example, in the Great Commission, we know the will of God. Go into all the world, preach the gospel, disciple nations, teaching them everything I've commanded you.

39:51 We know that's the will of God. We know that the will of God is represented well in the commission that was given to the disciples in Matthew 10. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, cleanse lepers. We know that's the will of God. We know that to walk in integrity. We know that walking in character and purity. There's frequent times in Scripture where that is emphasized as the will of God. But there's one statement in Scripture that so summarizes the will of God in such a way that it includes every, it includes under its umbrella, if you will, every other reference in the whole Bible to the will of God. And that is found just previous to this, a chapter earlier, in what we call the Lord's Prayer. It's actually the disciples' prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

40:50 The clearest description of the will of God in the Bible is in that prayer. It's a word that refers to the dreams, the wishes of God, the things that he desires. It is held in contrast with another word in the New Testament that describes the will of God. And that word is actually used to describe that which is fixed. It is set. It will happen. You can vote yes. You can vote no. You can participate. You can oppose. It doesn't matter. It's going to happen. This particular word is the word that actually refers to the dream of God, the passion of God, the things that he would love to see happen. For example, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance. We know that people perish, but it's not God's will. It's his desire, it's his wish, it's his dream that all would come to repentance.

41:44 And so we have this mandate from the Lord to be engulfed in the will of God, which is on earth as it is in heaven. Another great place where the will of God is spoken of and represented well is in Romans 12, verse 2, where it says, Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind that you may prove the will of God, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. The will of God takes a renewed mind to continuously and consistently manifest or demonstrate. I don't want to present this as a burdensome law. I just want to make a distinction. The will of God is heaven on earth. If there's cancer, his will is no cancer.

42:39 If there's migraines, his will is no migraines. If there's torment in the night and you can't sleep, his will is no torment. If there's sin, if there's addiction, his answer is forgiveness. He has solutions for every situation. This verse says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, enters the kingdom, but it's those who do the will of God, which is what? Bringing heaven to earth. you study the whole of scripture take a look at it what is the will of God that's what he says not everyone enters just because they know the right words they have to embrace the heart and mind of God that's a part of the process of entering into the fullness of who God is and then the very next verse is interesting because he says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and then many wonders in your name.

43:41 Why is that verse mentioned? Because those are the people that have committed themselves to the work of God without the relationship with God. So he's adding a qualifier. He says, all right, you got to do the work of God. You got to be about the Father's business. restoring people, loving people, seeing people get free. Got to be about the Father's business. You have to be about the Father's business. Period. And then he says, but there are some that think they're about the Father's business because they do prophecy, they do all this stuff, but they have no relationship with God. This verse is interestingly used by people to somehow give a reason for no miracles today. I don't quite understand how that fits. My approach is this. If someone who doesn't walk with God can do miracles, then those who walk with God are without excuse.

44:36 That just felt good. If those who don't walk with the Lord in relationship with God can somehow use the name Jesus and get miracles, then those who walk with God are with no excuse. I would never want to imply that those who don't do miracles aren't going to heaven. Please don't misunderstand me. The will of God is redemptive in nature. And all across the body of Christ, people who believe in miracles, people who don't, are constantly looking to see people get healed and delivered in the sense of their sin and restored to God. That is the will of God. That is the work of God. But understand that when Jesus refers to the will of God in fullness, he is literally talking about his world changing this one so completely that it is continuously able to be modeled, demonstrated, put on display because the people's minds have been renewed through this experience with his world invading this one. And then he says, but for those of you that were in the crowd when someone got healed and you were in the group that prophesied a good word, don't think that that by itself qualifies you. And what does he say? He says, depart from me, you people of lawlessness, because I never knew you. This verse reveals the only thing in the Bible that is actually more important than knowing God.

46:11 There's only one thing more important than knowing God. It's God knowing you. I've had people say, well, he knows everything about me. Yep. I know a lot of things about Willie Mays. I know a lot of things about President Reagan. I know a lot of things about whoever. You name some famous person, but I don't know them at all. There's a difference between knowing facts and being invited into the personal part of the life. And so when the Bible says that the Lord is looking for those who worship in spirit and in truth, he's looking for those who have the spirit of God in them and on them, and they worship in truth, which means nothing hidden. It means that I have literally opened myself up for the inspection of God, and I give him the good, the bad, and the ugly, and that is the part of my worship expression.

47:09 I hold nothing from him. so when the Lord says depart from me I never knew you he's actually talking about a group of people that somehow adhere to the external things but never have a place of personal brokenness personal yieldedness where a relationship is the basis for the miracles That's it. That's all I had to say. When you're done, you're done. Thanks. No word.

48:23 I never like the thought of using the mandate for miracles as a burden. I like to use it as a summons. It would be like me bringing to you an invitation to attend a party of the person you admire most, that is the most out of reach, but you have such admiration for them, and they've invited you personally, they've summoned you to attend something. The Lord himself modeled the will of the Father. He modeled it continuously.

49:17 It's not complicated. It's not confusing. It may not be easy, but it's not confusing. The one thing it's not is it's not confusing. The will of God is on earth as it is in heaven. And the enemy uses the weightiness of the word to condemn those who try and fail. and poison or dilute or somehow affect the brilliance of the fact I've been summoned. I've been summoned to something. I feel like there are some in this room where you have such a history of negativity that when something happens that was intended to be, you know, a very positive thing in your life, it's easy just to turn to see the...

50:24 the wrong thing. I've told this story before, but I remember I was in Texas, and two nights in a row I ended up praying for people after a meeting. And I ended up spending just a very, very long time praying for only five people. And every one of them had MS. And not one of them was healed. and you know you can walk away from that experience and you can you can say well i just don't have what it takes you know you know all this stuff we we we have these head games that go on and say well you know next time somebody comes to me with that problem i'm going to find somebody else in the room to pray for them because this is this is really getting to be a bummer you know you watch person after person go out in the same wheelchair they came in with but I started pondering what an unusual coincidence it is to actually have five people I think those were the only five I prayed for in two evenings which we've got a room full of people there's miracles all over the room but somehow I ended up with five people two one night, three the other just praying for these folks with MS not one of them being healed and it would be so easy to read that invitation and read it as though it said, Bill, you don't have what it takes, instead of reading, Bill, you've been summoned to find what it takes because it has been hidden for you. I put these five in front of you so that you'd be moved with my compassion to apprehend what it takes. It means a journey in the secret place. It means a cry has to come out that's more than the intellectual cry that says we need miracles to validate the power of the gospel and the presence of Christ in our lives. It's beyond that intellectual concept of reading the scripture and seeing that there's miracles on every page. It's beyond that. It's something

52:30 that volcanically erupts in you because you get moved with sorrow, with compassion is a better term, moved with compassion for somebody who's locked into something they can't get out of. And they're looking for someone that believes they can pull them out. And as disheartening as those days were, and I've had hundreds since then,

52:57 every one of them come as an invitation. they didn't come to disqualify me they came to reaffirm the call on my life and the call on yours I don't know anything else to do but to get along with God and cry out specifically get into the public place and take risk it's the only two things I know how to do everything else has meaning but not a lot. It boils down to this. I must do the will of God. I must do the will of God. And if it's not working, criticizing me won't help it work. I mean, you know, if it would help, we'd all be walking like Jesus, healing everyone.

53:53 Accidentally healing people. It just doesn't work that way. There's no progress by turning inward with self-judgment or criticism. But what does happen is the farther you go with Jesus, the less you take with you. And in this pursuing of the Lord, something takes place where encounters happen, where there are dimensions of God that become entrusted to the people of God. I realize when I talk about the measure of presence, People say, well, you know, we have all of him. He's given to us entirely. Yeah, yeah, that's true in part. It's in the contract.

54:40 But as I've told you countless times now, there's a big difference between what's in my account and what's in my possession. And learning to live in what he has given to me, assigned to me. So here's what I want to do. I want us to pray about the will of God for our city. The will of God for your city. The will of God for you. That you and I would learn to become obsessed, possessed with the will of God. I love the will of God. I love the will of God. I hear people half joking all the time. The will of God is so challenging and so difficult. there's life and there's death. One of those is the will of God. This isn't that complicated. It's like this is good. This is bad. There's heaven. There's hell. One's the will of God. One isn't. This isn't complicated. I love the will of God. I love the will of God.

55:43 I love the will of God. I love it. I love it. I love his will. I love what he thinks of. Every time he vetoes one of my ideas, it's because he has a better one. I love his will. He's got good ideas. Every time he says no to one thing, it's because a better yes is coming. Every time he says wait, it's because it's gaining interest.

56:13 He's got no tricks up his sleeve in the sense that he wants to spoil and deceive and trick. He's not that way. He's better than you can imagine. He's just a perfect father. So I want us to pray. I want us to pray. I want us to pray this. In the slight chance there would be somebody in this room that the Lord would say of you, and you know it, I never knew you. Well, then tonight you get to make that right. Because I want the miracles, the passion for the will of God to come simply to every heart because we know God. and we've let him know us. nothing hidden, everything. He sees it anyway. You might as well cooperate.

57:09 You might as well get points for showing him what was there. So I want you to stand. I didn't intend to go in this direction tonight, but, you know, if there's someone here that would just say, you know, you don't know the Lord, you've never been that one that's just opened up your life completely for him to have everything, to see everything, to participate in everything in your life. If that's never happened for you, and you would just be willing to say, Bill, I don't want to leave this place until I know I'm right with God. If that's you, just put a hand up real quick. Right over here, right? Anyone else? Just put a hand up high because I don't want to miss you. Way back over here, there's another one.

58:02 All right. Anyone else? Yeah. Entrance, I see that one. Yeah. Anyone else? It didn't even cross my mind to do this tonight, but after reading, I thought, you know, it's probably smart. So here's what I want the two of you. If you'd come up here, I'm going to have somebody just pray with you. I'm going to have somebody pray with you. Come right up here to the front, and if we can get a couple guys to just love on these two. Church, bless them while you come. This is wonderful. Yeah.

58:37 God bless you. God bless you. Wonderful. Beautiful. Tom, come in here and help. And, yeah, come on up here. Let's have one of our other guys come and help here. I want to come up here. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. You guys, you know what? You can take them right over to the side. I don't want to make them a spectacle at all. I just want to bless them. Anybody else coming forward for that? You're coming up for that? All right. Come on. Bless and good. This is wonderful. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have everything about the will of God be the overflow of knowing God and God knowing you?

59:31 wouldn't it be wonderful to have everything, everything about the will of God that would just overflow? You know what? I feel like the Lord is releasing a new confidence. I do. I feel like he's releasing a new confidence. I felt that when Mark Sharona was here, if you weren't here for the family camp, the thing we just had here Thursday and Friday night yesterday, get the messages, especially Mark Sharona's on Thursday night and Friday night. They're on the website. Just download them, enjoy them, please. They were so profound. I just feel like both the prophetic conference and Mark Sharona coming, God enabled our guests that came to serve us and actually release something. Release something. Grab your portion.

1:00:30 Just grab it. You guys look weird, but it's okay. At least you don't have white stuff coming out of your nose and your mouth. You're here. to grab hold of that for which we were laid hold of to grab hold of that for which he laid hold of us Lord, I thank you that a new confidence is being released. It's almost like some of you, you needed a clean slate, you get it from tonight on. You get it from tonight on, a clean slate. Lord, I pray that there would be an unusual grace that would rest on every person, every person for the will of God.

1:01:29 the will of God to participate and to see the will of God are you ready for crazy miracles? Really, really, really. I'm serious. Now, I don't mean in here. We see them in here, and I'm thankful. I was walking around praying this morning, remembering the Sunday the gal got out. She had a stroke 36 years earlier and got out of her wheelchair, and the Lord healed that paralyzed limb, paralyzed from the stroke. I was just walking around this morning praying and remembering some of these things. Born deaf, pointing to the speakers in the ceiling because hearing for the first time and story after story, countless stories. I'm thankful for that and for that to increase. But I'm talking about in your life outside of here when you talk with a friend.

1:02:23 Come on. This is the will of God. This is the will of God. Jesus summoned us to participate in his will. That none would perish. That all would be freed. That all would know life. That all would hear the voice. Know the voice of God. Know their identity in our loving, perfectly loving Father. Pray these things, will you? Just start praying. Pray what you want to see happen. In fact, shoot for the moon. Go for big ones. Don't pray convenient prayers right now.

1:03:05 Wheelchairs empty in public places. People healed by the shadow. The declared word changing a family's destiny. Cycles of poverty broken. Generational curses broken. off of poverty, those who have been locked into the welfare system, be broken in a word, broken with a word, that favor would come, that marriages would just, they would wake up in the morning and have fresh love for one another, that somehow healing would come in the night, a deliverance would come in the night. We pray for this, Lord. We pray for our neighbors to catch the infection of passion with God. Passion for God. That nothing would be impossible. That hundreds of millions of dollars would be released into the kingdom to establish kingdom works all over the world.

1:04:06 We call for this in Jesus' name. We call for this in Jesus' name. Hometown victories. cancer free zone the cancer would not exist could not exist in this room All right, before I really should pray, one more thing. Put a hand on the shoulder and just pray. Renewed mind to demonstrate the will. The will of God. The will of God through this one. The renewed mind through this one. The renewed mind through this one. Manifest the will of God through this one. Manifest the will of God here. Do it in extreme ways.

1:04:57 Extreme. Beautiful, beautiful. All right, you did good. All right, I'd like to have our ministry team come to the front. We're going to do a fire tunnel tonight. I feel like tonight the Lord is really just going to impart refreshing. It's a fire tunnel or a car wash. If there's bugs on your window, then we want to get those off too. I believe that the Lord is going to bring encouragement and strength and refreshing to people. So if you're on the ministry team, come on up here. Some of my staff help to get everyone organized. By the way, we'll be coming down the center aisle. So if you want to start moving this direction, that'll help. I do suggest women that are coming through the prayer line, bring your purses. We do have predators that come that love taking purses.

1:05:55 and not everyone who comes through the doors is yielded to the Lord.