Your Obedience Is Releasing Breakthrough and Blessing - Bill Johnson Sermon | Bethel Church

0:00 With every answer he gives me, I get 10 more questions, you know. With every breakthrough, I think of 10 more things, oh, we need breakthrough here. Because now hope is finally coming alive for what could happen in my lifetime. Obedience releases what's already been placed in your account. It's doing what he said to do. How many of you noticed we have a little different backdrop here today? A little different than normal. Our school has a play going on this week. I think you saw the announcement. I just have a very important story to read to you. Let me emphasize a very important story. An old Italian gentleman lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, and the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison.

0:59 The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament. Dear Vincent, I'm feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here, my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa. A few days later, he received a letter from his son. Dear Papa, don't dig up that garden. That's where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinny. At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies.

1:47 They apologized to the old man and left the same day the old man received another letter from his son, dear Papa, go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances. Oh, someone sent that to me this week. I thought, oh, I could hardly wait till I get home to share another winter with the family. So fun. We're going to pray for a specific need before we move on any further. I really felt the Lord on that thing that Paul did this morning after baby dedication. It's just really powerful and prophetic. I remember there's a church in Nashville that I've been to so many times through the years, and there are so many people that couldn't have children that now have children.

2:48 and what would happen is one of them that couldn't get pregnant would get pregnant and then they'd bring their friend the next time I was there who couldn't get pregnant. And it was so funny because one year a gal stood there and she's pregnant and she has me praying for her friend. She's pointing to herself and she mouths to me, this is number three. She had that desperate look on her face like, how do you turn this off?

3:18 I really thought the Lord was on that. And we've seen so many of those great miracles. But what I want to do before we go any farther is I want to pray for anyone in the room that has cancer, anyone who has any other life-threatening terminal disease, or anyone who has any kind of a disease that is incurable. You may live, but you live less than, and it's incurable. I would like for you to stand. anyone who's watching by Bethel TV get in on this one it's a very important time this is going to be a great, great breakthrough this morning go ahead and stand if there's any others just be bold, be courageous this is your moment it's not normal for a disciple of Jesus to not have an appetite for the impossible it's not normal you either have to get it disappointed out of you or to be taught incorrectly because it's the normal heartbeat of a disciple of jesus to hunger for impossibilities to bend their knee to the name jesus through our lips we've got people standing and the lord is going to touch them right now and he's going to do it through you so i want this is what i'm going ask. Those of you that are standing close to them, stand around them. Find out the situation quickly. Pray. Those of you that are not close to anyone, just kind of pick one and just kind of join your faith with the people that are praying in that direction and just pray for a real spirit of breakthrough to come upon them and that God would deliver them. In fact, here's what I want you to do. I want you to pray for them and their household. I feel like there's a specific reason for that today that there's an entire household that needs to be affected by this miracle.

5:17 So just lift your voices, begin to pray, and just declare that word over them. that's right the Lord sent his word and healed him Jesus Christ is perfect theology he healed everyone who came to him Jesus paid for their healing. He made full, adequate payment. There's no sense in it being paid for twice. Lord, we ask that you would come and just do blood work, transformation of blood, that all things would be made new. Cancer, I rebuke you in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6:14 You don't belong in this body. We declare health and healing to every situation. We pray for households to be touched by this miracle. Lord God, for those who picked up diseases and what all through lifestyle of sin before they came to you, Lord God, we pray right now that that would be broken. We thank you. Forgiveness has come. We ask now for your redemptive touch on their bodies, on their souls. In Jesus' mighty name. All right, now bless them, hug them, do something nice for them, all right?

6:59 Yeah, bless them good. I'm going to be starting a new series here, I think in a couple weeks. I think a new series. I'm going to actually talk to you about finances and that whole world. I'm not going to start today, but I mention it.

7:38 Today is more than a message. I want to talk to you about principles behind certain things that we see in Scripture. Hopefully that will make sense. I want to give you a context for things that I'll be doing in the weeks to come. It's a strange experience. I have woken up at least twice, and I think it might be three times in the last month, I have awakened myself teaching. But that doesn't happen. When I sleep, I sleep. I mean, I sleep. I'm a sleeper. And I may have dreams, but even those I tend to forget, you know, unless it's a real profound God thing. But I have had two or three times in the last month where I've been teaching you the same message, very specific, line upon line, precept on precept regarding finances.

8:34 And so I'm just warning you. It's coming. And it's actually the experience is what kind of has provoked me to take a little different angle this morning. When this move of God that we've been involved in now, these 18 years, when this thing first started, I really felt strong that the Lord spoke to me and gave me a personal assignment. I felt like he spoke to me and just said that I had a responsibility to make sure that the move of God we were experiencing remained a grace revival. It was just something that hit me real strong, a grace revival. Because it's really easy when When people who are passionate for the Lord, when they don't find expression in joy, they usually find it in legalism. when people who are really passionate for the Lord, you maybe have never heard this before, but people who are really passionate for the Lord, when they don't find their fulfillment or their expression for that passion, when they don't find it in joy, they usually find it in legalism.

9:48 It has to have a manifestation, so thank you. It has to have a manifestation of some sort. And oftentimes, if there's disappointment added to that passion, it will become manifest in things we can control, and that's legalism. And so the grace message has been a very strong part of our entire team. But I will say this, because it is such a priority, and because it is such a healthy and wonderful message, the enemy loves to dilute it, distort it, and counterfeit it. And so because of that, I rarely speak in reaction to something because I don't like to have an un-message. I want to have a message. But I need you to know I'm speaking in the context of what the enemy is doing to weaken the beautiful, beautiful subject of grace.

10:38 Here's the problem that I have. is that many people, when they discover the richness of God's grace, they come to the conclusion there are no more commandments. That is the spirit of stupid right there. They come where they assume that there's no more commandments. Now it's just we just float along in this grace cloud and whatever's going to happen happens. And it's just now all by grace. It's just not right. It may be that all blessings have been given to me, but obedience unlocks them. They may be in my account, but they're not in my possession until there's an act of obedience or an act of faith. whatever the Lord requires. there's cause and effect throughout scripture. Here's another aspect of my target.

11:30 I've been watching people lose interest in the richness that exists in the Old Testament because of this thought that everything in the Old Testament is law and is not useful to us. the law the law required a certain lifestyle a commandment came and people were supposed to try to live it the very fact that it was law was to expose they couldn't keep the law that was that was part of the nature of law as God was exposing in the condition of humanity the need of a savior and the only way that could come the only way that could come was through a command that people could not keep. And that's exactly what took place. Why don't you take your Bibles and open to Exodus chapter 19. We have several passages to go through.

12:29 Here's been what I started to say. So many believers misunderstand the difference between law and grace. law brings a commandment that you are left to try to perform grace brings a commandment that he enables you to perform and that's the primary difference law is you have a requirement a standard to meet up to and to obtain favor and acceptance you have to meet that standard in grace you start off accepted you start off with favor and the command enables you in the command. He enables you to do what he commands you to do. It's a world of difference. The notion that grace has no rules or no commands is absolutely foolish and is really costing an entire segment of the body of Christ right now that is trying to float their way into their destiny. And listen, grace works.

13:29 Grace works. grace is not idle as James said you say you have faith I'll show you I have faith by what I do by my works and that's the whole point and never would I want to reverse the effect of the brilliant message of grace where we have people try to earn their way that's foolish but it's equally foolish to embrace grace and then do nothing Amen, Bill. Very, very good point. All right.

14:09 The early church, there's many people who have lost their value for Old Testament because it's quote-unquote all law. It's not really true. The Old Testament is the only Bible the early church had. Paul wrote, I believe it's in chapter 15, referring to the Old Testament, he says, what was written in former times was written for our instruction.

14:36 Now, where wisdom comes in is it's wisdom to know what in the Old Testament ended at the cross. What in the Old Testament was changed by the cross and what in the Old Testament passed through the cross. Because all three realms are in existence. What ended at the cross? Blood sacrifice for sin ended at the cross.

15:04 There'll never be blood sacrifice for sin again because Jesus, the spotless lamb, offered himself once and for all the atoning blood of Jesus for our sin, the redemption's payment. What was changed at the cross? Well, an example would be the Sabbath. The Sabbath day in the Old Testament became a Sabbath lifestyle in the new. there remains a Sabbath rest for the people, and it has to do with an atmosphere of trust that is the daily experience of the believer. Are you with me? Now, let me insert, I still believe in the wisdom of Sabbath rest, but the point is, theologically, the Sabbath day was changed at the cross. What made it through the cross? Davidic worship. The worship with the instruments, the songs of praise, the thanksgiving, the offering in the presence of God, that existed before Jesus died, and it made it through the cross, completely unchanged, validated in Acts chapter 15 as the pattern for a New Testament church life. So is this making sense? So when we read the Bible, we ask the Lord for wisdom to recognize what speaks symbolically of a New Testament reality, what is the same now as it was then? Because those elements exist, all right? Now, what I want to show you is Exodus 19, verse 6. Let's just read a passage here.

16:38 And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are words, the words you shall speak to the children of Israel. God is speaking out of Moses, and he's giving them instruction to give to the entire nation of Israel. Look at it again. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. Notice that the Lord is calling the entire nation into priesthood ministry. All right? So let's back up in the story.

17:10 In Genesis, we have Adam and Eve. We have their children, their descendants. They multiply, they multiply. Eventually, you come to the catastrophic moment at the Tower of Babel, and there's the dividing of people into languages and nations. God continuously gave himself to all the nations of the world and all the nations of the world continuously rejected him. So what did he do? He chose a man named Abram, changed his name to Abraham and raised up from his seed, the nation of Israel. So if you picture this, he extends himself to all the nations of the world, all the nations reject him. He takes Abram and out of him raises up a nation to display love upon, to provoke the other nations to a righteous jealousy, if you will, to let them know what's available for everyone. That's kind of a cheap and short story, but you get the point. So he illustrates his love because all the nations reject. He illustrates his love on one nation, models for them what a relationship with God is like from a nation, and then makes it available to all the nations. All right. Now within the tribe of Israel, he calls the entire nation of Israel to priesthood ministry. What does Israel do? They reject it. I'll show you where in a moment.

18:29 So what does he do then? He takes the tribe of Levi and he raises them up as a model to the rest of the nation as to what everyone is supposed to be. Do you get that analogy there? All right. So in chapter 19, verse 6, it says, You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. Look at chapter 20. Go down to verse 18. And I'll show you at least where I think Israel rejected that particular call. Now all the people, verse 18, all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Here it is. Then they said to Moses, You speak to us, and we will hear. But let not God speak to us, lest we die. In this moment, Israel chose rules instead of relationship. Tell us what he's saying.

19:28 We don't want to hear it firsthand. give us the preset boundaries. Tell us what to do. Tell us what not to do. We prefer that. We don't want to hear the voice for ourselves. Grace is dependent on relationship. the Lord called the entire nation of Israel into priestly ministry they rejected at this point because they rejected the personal relationship with the Lord where they could hear from him firsthand instead they wanted a mediator they wanted someone to talk to God for them and then just set the rules that actually happens fairly often in the lives of many believers. It's just easier to have a list of what to do and not to do. I'll try to illustrate it.

20:31 One family in the church can't own a TV because God said no. And your best friends own five of them. We would rather have the rule that says yes to TV or no to TV. God says no. Yes to relationship and I'll let you know how to live it. One person gives everything away as they are supposed to in that particular season. Another person starts a savings account, and God ends up putting those two folks together. Why? Because he's not trying to show us this is the key to life, do this, have the savings count or give. He's trying to show the key to life is neither. It's the voice. And so grace is completely dependent upon that voice. Now, I shared all that because I want to read to you out of Isaiah 58, so why don't you turn there, and we'll take whatever time we have left to kind of mess around in Isaiah 58.

21:34 Isaiah 58 is just this champion chapter. And the reason I like it, I'm drawn to chapters or passages of Scripture that give you cause and effect. That show you, if you do this, this will be the result. I love that sort of stuff. And Isaiah 58 is just one of those portions of Scripture where God just makes it real clear, This is what I'm looking for, and this is what you can expect as a result. Under some of the deluded grace message, there would be this thought that God doesn't require specific things from us, that everything's already covered. And the Lord is really good at giving commandments. Here's the thing that concerns me the most.

22:24 You know, Jesus says, Jesus said, you say, or you've heard it said, thou shalt not murder. That's probably a good command to keep. He said, but I say, if you call a neighbor a fool, you're guilty of hellfire. So here's the interesting thing. When people say, well, we're not under law anymore. Yeah, yeah. Don't relax too much. because you just got introduced to a much more severe commandment.

23:07 I mean, it's a lot easier to not murder someone than it is to not call someone a fool. It reminds me of the kid that's driving to school with his mom in the car, and he says, Mommy, how come the idiots only drive when Daddy takes me to school? That's funny. So grace introduces a whole other level of potential out of the life. So when the Lord removed the mandate of law, it wasn't that he removed the mandate of responsibility. What he did is he joined us in living partnership with the Almighty God to do what was unthinkable, what we're incapable of doing before grace came.

24:04 Grace enables. The law requires, but grace enables. Good. Isaiah 58, verse 6. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? Stop right there. That wasn't much of a lead into the verse, was it? Let me try to give it a context. It's fascinating. I hear people teach on this all the time about fasting. This verse isn't about fasting. This is where God is saying, it's easy for you guys to skip a meal. Let me show you what I really want. He says this twice in the Gospel of Matthew. He says, go learn what this means. I desire compassion above sacrifice.

24:57 You show me all the things you can do. I'm not wanting that. I'm wanting this to be rocked to affect the people around you. That's what I'm looking for. And so we're about to read the same thing right here. Is this not the fast I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out, when you see the naked, that you cover them and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light, so here's cause and effect, then your light will break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry, and he will say, here I am. So here the Lord is saying, here's cause and effect. Take care of these things that are important to me. When you do it, it will unleash the open heavens you've been longing for. You will enter a season of answered prayer that you've never seen before. You will come into a season of personal health, replenishing, being revitalized. You'll come into that season, and it's all by you being moved with compassion for the needs of people around you.

26:17 this passage is uniquely linked to Isaiah 61, which I'll show you a little bit more in a moment, I think. Isaiah 61 says, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me to do what? Release captives, recovery of sight to the blind, et cetera. And then these who were healed will be the rebuilders. This chapter is almost the exact same thing, but here it's as a summons, as a prayer in Isaiah 61. It's a confession. It's a declaration of something that Jesus has accomplished. Therefore, you and I must accomplish it. All right.

27:03 Yeah. I'm trying. If you take verse 9, the second half, if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry, satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, your darkness shall be as the noonday. That's amazing when the Lord comes along and gives you a promise and says, listen, your darkest moment in the future is going to be like noon. Understand the language here. He's trying to say, listen, your darkest moment is going to be actually your brightest moment. He says, I'm going to so possess what concerns you if you'll give yourself to what concerns me. Verse 11, the Lord will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in drought.

28:04 Strengthen your bones. You'll be like a well-watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Here's our key verse, verse 12. Those from among you shall build the old waste places. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell. Isaiah 61, for those of you that are not familiar with it, is the passage that Jesus quotes in Luke 4 when he says, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because he has anointed me to bring recovery of sight to the blind, to heal the brokenhearted, etc. Right after that declaration, the Lord says, and they, being those that were broken that got healed, they will rebuild the ancient ruins, raise up former devastations. They will rebuild the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

28:56 Here's what I'm after. I want to rebuild cities. That's what I want. I want to see cities that love God well, that learn the power and the beauty of divine community. I want to see cities that live in the atmosphere of divine favor and know the purpose of prosperity. I want to see every household be free of debt. I want to see every household be free of affliction. I want to see every family know what it is to discover a genealogical destiny, a purpose from every household, recovering what was lost in previous generations. I want to see that. I want to see a city that is actually prosperous from the inside out. I don't mean just wealth for wealth's sake. Wealth is supposed to have a purpose. that we utilize the strength of resource to shape the course of history. It's what I want to see. I want to see the nature and atmosphere of a city so dramatically shift that people find themselves thinking of God when they cut them into the city limits and they didn't think of God for five years previous.

29:58 They start thinking. Your awareness of reality shifts and changes. In this passage, Isaiah 58 and 61 give us keys. 61 gives you kind of the conclusion. The conclusion was, you see all those broken people? The ones that you think are beyond repair? Watch this. I'm going to heal them through you, and then I'm going to rebuild your city through them.

30:23 They are the builders. And I'm interested in building. That's what I want. That's what I live for is to build. I want to see transformed cities. We're seeing great things happen here. I'm so ridiculously thankful. But with every answer he gives me, I get 10 more questions. With every breakthrough, I think of 10 more things, oh, we need breakthrough here. Because now hope is finally coming alive for what could happen in my lifetime. And all of this comes out of this chapter that gives cause and effect. Obedience releases blessing.

30:57 Obedience releases what's already been placed in your account. It's doing what he said to do. Realize that obedience in this realm releases the favor of God in another realm. And my heart burns for people that live with intentionality. I'm so tempted to go into the financial thing right now. Let me just say this one statement, then I'll feel better. I'm really going to go for it in a couple of weeks. I just warned you. Just don't show up for the next two months if you don't want to hear it, because I'm going for it. There's this, the Passion Translation does a brilliant job on this one statement. I actually quoted it a few weeks ago, where he says, out of Proverbs, through your radical generosity, you will awaken the conscience of those touched by your generosity.

32:10 Think about that, awaken the conscience. That means that there are specific things that you and I can do in obedience to the Lord that helps to reset the moral compass in people's lives. there are things that you and i do that a very simple act it's what so many of you do all the time at the restaurant it's so many what many of you do we had somebody here a while back just paid for everyone's night at the hotel down here at the hilton garden somebody just paid for everybody's room that night don't know who it was but it happened here it is stuff like this is happening all the time, or somebody goes in and pays for everybody's meal in the restaurant. All right, you say, well, that's nice, and it's fun, it's recreational, and it is. But what's happening behind the scenes, it is recalibrating the moral compass of people's hearts.

33:10 Because people who move in compassion above sacrifice, Jesus said this twice in the Gospel of Matthew, go learn what this means. I desire compassion above sacrifice. In other words, anyone can go through the routine of giving the money, giving the time, giving the fast, skip the meals, that sort of thing. Anybody can do that and never be moved with compassion. Never be rocked by the condition of humanity around you. And Jesus is saying, listen, this is good. Do this. Do this in the context. Let compassion be what drives you. All right. So the broken, destroyed cities are actually to be rebuilt by these people. Now, I've got to do this one real quick.

34:00 Many believers think it's going to be this almost like a military invasion of God to fix the cities. And I think sometimes we get that because of a certain part of our walk with the Lord is actually dependent or lives or thrives upon the invasion of God, the and suddenlys. And suddenly, there was a rushing mighty wind. I love the invasions of God into a gathering. I love when things began to happen. There's breakthrough in miracles. There's massive conversions. I love those moments. But if we're not careful, we will think it's the military invasion that will change our city instead of the process of radical obedience by those who have been touched by the invasion of God, if that makes sense. Jesus addressed this with his own disciples. He could feel it in their thinking. They weren't into this Jesus dying stuff.

34:54 They were into Jesus become king over everything and we'll help you. We'll be at your right hand, your left. We'll make sure this thing works well because we got a good thing going. The crowds are showing up. Offerings are great. I think it's about time for a new breakthrough. And they're honestly, they're thinking this thing about the kingdom coming immediately. in Luke 19, Jesus, it says, Jesus perceiving they thought the kingdom would come immediately, told them a story. And he said, a landowner had 10 servants. He gave each of them a thousand dollars, a minor, but a minor is the sum of money. Gave each of them, say, a thousand dollars. And he said, now go invest it. When I come back, I want the profits. He came back at an unexpected time, called them all together to him. The first one came to him and said, master, your $1,000 actually made $10,000 more. And listen to what Jesus in his story the master turned to the servant and he says good job. Well done good faithful servant.

35:54 Be in charge of 10 cities. That's an illogical promotion for the handling of $1,000. Are you with me? That's not a reasonable promotion. What is Jesus doing? He's showing that process is what sets up for the immediate turnaround. Faithful process. You know what the key to the city is? It's whatever's in your pocket. it's it's whatever's in you whatever he's established in you you say well I really don't I have problems here I have problems there well what do you do well well I love my kids oh good find someone who doesn't love their kids and help them help them to come into the breakthrough you've had I don't know.

36:51 I'm not very good at this and that, but I'm not in debt. Good, awesome. Take that authority you have to stay out of debt and find someone who's in debt and mentor them and get them out. Find the broken places where you have experience and you have authority because that will be the place where you release the process for the ruined cities being restored. All right, let's go ahead and stand. So I tried to hurry. Yeah, I think I ran the plane into the side of a mountain, but it's all right. It's all right. It was a lot of soft trees.

37:31 Let's have ministry team come to the front real quickly, if you would. we want to open the front to people who just need a miracle. We've got teams of people that will serve you. And so I encourage you to come. Let me pray over you first, though. Father, I ask that you would open our hearts first to see more and more and more of the conditions you've qualified us to fix, to reverse the effects of, to heal. And that this city for one would cause a domino effect of cities who love you well.