Bill Johnson - God of Transformation: Transformed Mind, Transformed Nation
Alright, well, good to see you and, by faith, all of you online. It’s one of the fun things about traveling—it’s something we haven’t done much of recently—but one of the fun aspects of traveling is that we get to see people all over the world. For many, this particular online service is a church for them or a supplement to what they have in their local church, and so we’re thrilled to have so many friends scattered all over the planet. Like us, the opposite is also true, but we really enjoy this part. Anyway, good to see you, and I’m glad you’re here.
I do have something important to read: Yesterday, my husband thought he saw a cockroach in the kitchen, so he sprayed everything down and cleaned it thoroughly. Today, I’m putting the cockroach in the bathroom. Alright, yeah, for whatever it’s worth, there we are.
We have this series we’re doing called the Transformation Series. If there’s anything we have taught, practiced, or pursued through the years that should cause real conviction in the heart of this church family, I would think it would be this subject. Revival, when it has its full effect, brings transformation. It was never intended for revival to be reduced to a week of meetings or a month of meetings or even two years of meetings. It was always meant for the fire of the move of God to work its way through societies. The illustration given to me years ago was that fire always starts at the bottom; revival begins with the poor. If it’s not economically poor, it is at least always the poor in spirit.
It burns up that wall, if you can imagine bricks forming a wall layer after layer, until it reaches the upper echelons of society. The part that was incomplete in that illustration is that when it touches the upper parts of society, it influences the mind molders—those who shape culture. The move of God is supposed to work its way thoroughly and completely through culture and society with such great impact that those who establish and create culture are affected by the move of God.
The Bible calls us salt and light, but it says the kingdom is leaven. It doesn’t say we’re leaven; it says the kingdom is leaven. We are salt, we are light. Salt imparts influence; light attracts safety. A city set on a hill does no good unless you go to that city. The city set on a hill is actually an invitation—it’s an invitation for safety, refuge, nourishment, and shelter.
So, when the Lord describes us in these terms, He’s describing our nature in Christ and how it is to affect the world around us. Whether it’s the word used or not makes little difference; the influence is under transformation. You can have many people saved and not transform a city. You can have many people attend church and not transform a city. The nature of salt is that it needs to be sprinkled evenly over the whole meal. It’s not complicated. Jesus said, «You are the salt of the earth.» If the salt has lost its flavor, it’s good for nothing and needs to be thrown out.
Salt adds flavor; it enhances the flavor of a meal. We would never take the salt shaker, remove the lid, and pour the entire contents into one corner of the plate, but that’s what we do. It’s called church. We huddle together and stay together because we don’t trust the righteousness of Christ in us enough to allow ourselves to be sprinkled throughout society.
Now, that’s changing; that statement is not entirely true because we’ve been working on that, but that’s our history. Our history has been that we’re afraid of being contaminated, so here we are in the corner of the plate. Yet, the influence we’re supposed to bring, the contribution we’re supposed to make, is fascinating to me. The Lord actually values secular culture. I don’t mean He values sin or carnality, but He has invested things in that part of the world.
Consider how Jesus used language. The way He called His twelve apostles is a secular term, which tells me He had value for what I believe was a God-inspired idea in Roman and Greek culture that He would later use. He wasn’t afraid of it being contaminated; He knew that part of the world would actually steward a concept that He didn’t want His own people, Israel, to steward. He values artistic expression. I remember hearing someone ask this question so many years ago: How can an ungodly, immoral, antichrist-type person write a beautiful song? Not because they’re demonically inspired—I’ve never thought that through before—not because they’re possessed by demons, but because they’re made in the image of God.
So the Lord actually hides His grace in the lives of people who sometimes are not yet born again. There’s a grace, a touch of God, on their life. It doesn’t mean it qualifies them for salvation; we’re talking about the fact that God values things we don’t always value. Thankfully, that’s changing, and we’re learning that He thinks differently than we do.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the concept of ecclesia, something that Ed Stetzer and others have championed for quite a while. I believe it has the potential to transform not only our nation, the United States, but the nations of the world represented here. The ecclesia is the concept of two or three gathered in His name, and that’s where He marks His presence.
What this pandemic has done is force us into a position to learn what the true strength of the church is. I love the thousands that gather, and I miss it; I really miss it. I love being together. There’s a prophetic direction set in the corporate gathering, but the strength of the church is in the two or three. The strength of the church lies in the two or three, for that’s where He begins to mark a group with His presence.
You might say, «Well, He’s already in me; the Holy Spirit is in me; my body is His temple,» and that’s true. So, what’s the point of gathering together? He’s already with me by myself, and that’s true. But every time we gather in His name—now picture this—I gather with a friend of mine, and we both purpose to co-labor with the Lord to see His purposes accomplished on the earth. We make that agreement together, and He said He would come into the midst. So together, we have this covenant; we will live and abide in the presence of God, and we will learn to pray from that abiding presence to see His purposes accomplished on the earth.
We’re not talking about just a casual gathering; we are discussing the intentional gathering of people who say, «You know what? He said He’d be here, so I’m going to look for Him, and I’m going to pray in consistency with His heartbeat because I want to see His purposes accomplished on the earth.» You were designed to have every prayer you ever pray answered. But the key to that is that abiding presence. It’s tapping into that heartbeat of God, having that sense of, «Oh, I can feel the burden; I can feel the weightiness of the Lord on this subject.»
I may have ten things on my prayer list, but when He says, «Seek first the kingdom,» I find out what He has on His list. It doesn’t mean that mine doesn’t matter; it’s just that when I prioritize them, I lose them. If I have ten things on my list and those are the only things I pray about, they won’t be met with the measure of presence and power that they deserve. Why? Because I came at them incorrectly. I don’t want to make this a bad formula; it’s just the Bible: «Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.»
So when I come to the Lord constantly about my ten things and I never look to see what’s on His list, I don’t ever approach my ten things with His strength. I approach them simply as a servant begging God to intervene. There’s a difference between praying as a servant and praying as a son. The abiding presence engages me into the heart of God to pray His prayer over my situation, but I begin by praying with what’s on His mind. He may bring up something, like a friend who is really struggling, and I may spend 20 minutes praying for that one friend, ignoring everything on my list because I got caught up in prayer for this friend. What happens? He knows my list. He said, «All of these things will be added as we engage with them.»
Alright, that was too long of an introduction, but you get the point. Anyway, we are designed to pray. We were designed to receive answers to prayer; we were not designed to lack answers to prayer. It’s the reason that Chris Gore said years ago that Jesus never taught us how to deal with unanswered prayers because He never had any. It’s a great point.
So here we are. Transformation is the target, and where we’re going to start is in Romans, chapter 12. If you would go there, even though it’s a passage that many of you could quote, I want you to see it in your Bibles anyway. Romans 12, we’ll start with verse one and read verses one and two.
«I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.» In other words, it’s the intellectual thing to do.
Verse two: «And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.»
Let’s read verse two again: «Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.»
If the mind wasn’t important, if the mind wasn’t valuable, it wouldn’t be worth renewing. He focuses His energy, if you will, His purposes, and His workings in our life every moment of every day to teach us to think like He does.
When I embrace worry, I intentionally war against the mind of Christ. When I entertain thoughts and ideas that conflict with God, I’m actually feeding that which wars against the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is completely different.
If I could illustrate, the mind of Christ is not just hopeful, facing a problem. When Jesus feeds the multitude with loaves and fishes—a child’s lunch—it’s not because He imagines the possibility of a miracle; it’s because He lives aware of resources greater than the problem He’s facing. There’s an awareness, a consciousness of living from a realm of unlimited resources toward a problem. Faith sees; faith dwells in a place where nothing is impossible. For that to mold how we think is huge, but it begins with our salvation in this little word called «repent.»
«Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.» I grew up in a world where repentance was coming to the altar, weeping before the Lord, confessing sin. It’s wonderful, and I never want to diminish its importance because it’s vital. However, I began to see in Scripture that the word «repent» actually means to change the way you think.
But here’s the big mistake: repentance is not an intellectual exercise. It’s not merely saying, «I just got to think differently about this problem.» It’s not that at all. The Bible says godly sorrow produces repentance. Godly sorrow influences a shift in perspective. It’s seeing the lost condition we were in before we met Christ and the fact He saved us when we could not save ourselves.
When we were dead, how many good choices can dead people make? You can’t find God while being dead; He has to find you and wake you up to the possibility of salvation. The weightiness of our salvation reveals the absolute lost condition of humanity. We see that He called us by name, and something happened in us—we said, «Yes.»
Seeing that simple thing carried out to its logical conclusion brings a change in our perspective of reality: «I was dead; I’m alive. I was lost; I’m found.» That is the inspiration for the renewed mind. That’s the beginning place—don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
The renewing of the mind, this particular word «be transformed,» is the same basic word used in the Gospels to describe Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Imagine Jesus taking Peter, James, and John with Him. They go up on a mountain, and He stands there, suddenly becoming «other.» The language used is that He becomes «other.» He takes on a different image and shape.
In Luke’s Gospel, His clothing shone brighter than any launderer could make them. We’re talking about lightning. It’s not you know, it says whiter than any launderer can make, multiplied by a billion—it’s lightning! And He stands there. The disciples are sleeping; now they’re completely awake as they behold this one, and the voice of the Father comes, saying, «This is my beloved Son; hear Him.»
So it’s a divine moment. Here’s what I want you to see: in the natural, Jesus is clothed with lightning. That is transformation. The renewed mind in the spiritual realm is what that is. The mind of Christ is the beginning of transformation. The mind of Christ is the foundational element. A transformed mind transforms a person, and a transformed person transforms a city.
I like the strategies for serving in politics and business and all those things. The Lord is blessing the opportunity of churches worldwide that are serving their communities. It’s a beautiful thing, but apart from the mind of Christ, there’s not lasting transformation. We’re discipling a world in the reality of God who has conquered every enemy of mankind, teaching them to think and draw from possibilities they never thought were available. The renewed mind makes hope possible.
Let’s take a moment to reflect. I know we’ve gone over this before, but I have the mic, so… «Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.» I’ve heard people say there’s the good will of God, the acceptable will of God, and then there’s the perfect will of God. That’s just not true.
There’s the will of God; it’s good, acceptable, and perfect. Those are three aspects of the same will. Don’t try to make it a hierarchy, as though you’re just squeaking by. Aim to give yourself completely to the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. These things flow from a transformed mind.
What is the will of God? The best definition I can find in the Bible is «your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» Just think this through with me: «Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» What is God’s will for a given situation in your life, on earth as it is in heaven?
What ushers that in? A transformed mind. «Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove…» I believe miracles take place by anointing; they take place by great faith, but miracles also happen through the flow of the renewed mind, which ushers in the reality of God’s will on earth.
The renewed mind doesn’t yield to opposing thoughts. The battleground is the mind. The renewed mind lives from a different place, and the transformation we hope to bring to our cities must start here. It has to begin here.
Jesus confronted His disciples on this issue. They would be involved in a miracle and the next day question the reality of the kingdom they were supposed to see. They would deny it. Jesus talks to them; they’re afraid of not having enough food for lunch the day after they multiplied food.
He asks them, «Why do you reason that you have no bread? Why do you start with what you don’t have? Why do you build logic from that weak foundation?»
The longer you dwell on what you don’t have, the higher the building you’re going to construct that will have to be torn down. That’s what repentance can do; it goes to the root thought— the very emotional attachment to a way of thinking.
Jesus wants to go to the root of that not to punish, but to deliver. In the kingdom of God, freedom isn’t just from something; it’s unto something. When we are freed from sin and serving self, He engages us with the ability to carry the reality of His will on earth.
We are by nature transformational people, and the tragedy occurs when we have more confidence in the return of Christ than we do in the power of the gospel. The challenge is that there’s great anticipation around the world for the return of Christ. That’s not wrong; absolutely not. It’s going to be more glorious than any of us can imagine. But that’s not my assignment.
My assignment is to live in and display the power of the gospel. If I have more confidence in the return of Christ than in the power of the gospel, I disqualify myself as a transformer. The power of the gospel is for here and now, while the return of Christ is for the church.
We know that a drug addict can come forward, receive prayer, and be set free. I remember one Sunday night, right down here, when we prayed for about ten people addicted to drugs. Two of them, whom I didn’t know at the time, had been addicted to heroin for over 20 years.
We prayed a group prayer; we didn’t pray for them individually. Six months later, one of the guys came to me and said, «Do you remember when you had us come forward?» I said yes, and he replied, «My buddy and I have been addicted to heroin for over 20 years, and we were set free. We’ve had no desire for drugs at all since that moment.»
So, we know the Lord can do that for an individual. We have seen Him do that for families meant to reveal the nature of God, believing for a city and a nation. It’s supposed to serve as that seed; God’s nature doesn’t change.
When we’re talking about a neighborhood or an entire city, the nature of God to redeem and restore doesn’t change; it’s the same gospel. It’s the cloud the size of a man’s hand. If we anticipate what is possible based on what we’ve seen Him do for that one individual or that family, then the renewed mind will recognize it’s about to rain.
Are you getting the analogy? Elijah sees this cloud the size of a man’s hand after praying for rain. As soon as he sees the cloud, he runs and says it’s about to pour down. The way we treat our small moments qualifies us for big moments.
We pray for a massive outpouring of the Spirit, but what did you do during that moment when a special wave of His presence swept through the room? Those little moments are what God gives us to measure us for what we can carry.
I can respond to the power of God touching me and incapacitating me for three hours; it’s not hard to respond to that. But what about that moment of inspiration when I don’t have my Bible open, and He touches my heart regarding something?
We have been bought at a price for purpose, and it is the transformation of lives, families, legacies, households, cities, and nations; it is the intent of the Lord.
We read in Scripture about the evils of wealth, but it also says there’s a day coming when the wealthy of the earth will bow before Him in worship. It’s in the book; it’s in Psalms, on the left page, up towards the top, in the 20s.
The Scripture says we are salt and light, and then it says the kingdom is leaven. Let’s take a look at this thought for a moment. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. It doesn’t say I’m leaven; it says I’m salt and light. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven.
In the measure I seek the reality of His dominion for my city, in that measure the kingdom becomes leaven. In the measure I pursue the reality of God’s lordship and dominion in my city through my place of influence, that pursuit is what works the leaven into the kingdom.
Once you’ve put leaven in the dough, you can’t pull it out. You can look at it and say, «Well, it’s not working.» It will. There’s heat coming. Fire activates whatever leaven is in the dough.
You’ll find out what you’ve been sowing into your own self-talk when a problem arises. Has hope been planted, or has the leaven of unbelief risen to the surface?
You see the point I’m trying to make—the seed of transformation for all society is already in the heart and mind of every born-again believer. It’s already there.
Jesus turns to His disciples in one of my favorite stories. The disciples are looking at a multitude to feed, and Jesus says, «You feed them.» You know the story—they gather the loaves and fishes, and there’s a multiplication of food.
When they didn’t know what to do, He didn’t withdraw the command. Instead, He equipped them with baby steps for a seemingly impossible assignment. He asked them, «What do you have?»
They said, «We just have a boy’s lunch.» He then said, «Alright, step one: put them in groups of fifty and a hundred. Step two: let’s divide this up into twelve baskets.»
He gave them baby steps to complete the impossible task, but the miracle came from them. He didn’t take the loaves and fishes and throw them up in the air to create a big pile of food; that would have been a disaster.
Instead, it multiplied as it was handed out. The point is that you already have the seed of the kingdom. The miracle is already in you because it has been commanded to you.
The command is to go into all the world, preach the gospel, and disciple nations. I remember speaking with a Greek scholar years ago, and he said the action verb in that verse is not «go»; it’s «disciple.» As you are going, life will take you all over the place. So, as you go, do this.
You have the seed within you to bring transformation to an individual life, a family line, and to an entire city. Keep that in mind; you are here for a reason, for a purpose. In Romans chapter 15, there’s another passage I’d like you to look at, and then I want to try to bring some sort of conclusion to this message.
Chapter 15, verse 13 says, «Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.»
I love this verse. I’ll be honest with you; it hasn’t made a lot of sense to me, though I believe it because it’s in the word and it’s true. What stands out to me is, «May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope.»
How? By the power of God. Failing to interact with power means failing to live in the fullness of hope. There’s a connection between living a life of power and supernatural hope.
Now, there are people who have hope; it’s just positive thinking, believing things will work out for the good. I understand that, but I’m not talking about that kind of hope. I’m talking about hope anchored in the nature of God and the commission of man.
It’s the hope that says, «I am here for divine purpose, and because of that, I must display the confrontation of the impossible.» When Jesus says, «You feed them,» He’s once again commanding us to do impossible things. It’s no different than when He said, «Heal the sick» or «Raise the dead.»
When He gives us the command—the commission—He introduces us to what we can’t naturally do. Yet within that surrender to the impossible command lies the capacity to do what He said we can’t.
He says, «You feed them.» And in this verse, we have the description that we may abound in hope. It’s not just a hope of positive thinking; it’s a hope that sees the beginning from the end, living with the realization that there is not a problem on the planet that He doesn’t have an answer for.
While I may not have it in mind, I have it in my relationship. I may not know what it looks like, but I have inherited the mind of Christ. I will pursue the specifics of insight into that application.
So this is what He says: «That you may abound in hope by the power of God.» Jump down to verse 18: «For I will not dare to speak of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient—»
In mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, «so that from Jerusalem and roundabout to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.»
Let’s condense verse 19: «In mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God, I have fully preached the gospel.»
I owe it to my own soul to be exposed to miracles because my soul is not healthy apart from regular exposure to that which I cannot control, that which I cannot explain, and that which did not originate with me.
If anything is prevalent outside of a fiery move of God, it’s the absence of awe. There’s something about a people who don’t know what’s happening but know it’s good.
I’ll never forget a teaching Jack Hayford did at his church in Van Nuys, California, Church on the Way, which is one of my favorite places. I love him and that ministry so much. I remember he was asked how he went from a group of 14 people on their first service to around 14,000 in seven services a day.
He said, «If I tell you how we did it, it will look like we knew what we were doing.» The reality is that they didn’t know. They just followed the cloud.
Now, looking back, he could outline what they did that made it appear they had great wisdom and insight. Does that make sense?
That’s where we are—the life of power is that I don’t know what to do next, but I am filled with awe, and I’ll follow a cloud. I’ve seen God work in me and through me. I know this cloud is worth following, so I’m going to pursue it.
Why? Because I have an assignment, and I don’t know how it’s going to work, but I know the impact of my life as salt and light, and every demonstration of the presence and power of God reveals the kingdom of God.
You are working the kingdom as leaven into the culture of this city; it’s my «yes» that is part of the influence of the kingdom in a city. It’s my «yes» to live on the edge where miracles become normal.
To fully preach the gospel, how? In miracles, signs, and wonders—in the power of the Holy Spirit.
That’s old material for you and me, but I’ll be really honest with you; I need and want a fresh baptism in this. I have said «yes» a hundred times, a thousand times. I want a fresh baptism because I feel like in this strange season we’re in—this strange time we call the pandemic—time flies except when you’re in a pandemic.
The longest 20 years of my life has been 2020. The Lord has positioned us in spite of the season as it looks on the outside for many to say, «This is the time to abound in hope.»
God is known for addressing impossible situations. He saves the day when people run out of solutions and answers.
I want you to stand; we’re going to pray. And those of you at home, if you’re in the car, don’t stand unless you pull over! I want us to pray together.
What I want to say is that hope comes from power, and power keeps us in awe. It’s that approach to the renewed mind that enables us to be transformational. There’s something about wisdom, power, and hope—all these things release the kingdom into culture.
That’s what transforms, but it has to start with me. I can’t give away what I don’t have. Chris mentioned earlier about Jesus sleeping in the storm—you can’t impart a peace you don’t possess that enables you to rest in a storm.
We have authority over any storm; we can sleep in the chaos. The whole concept is that personal peace qualifies me to exercise authority over chaos. Peace is actually the antithesis of chaos; it’s not just discomfort or worry or fear. Peace orders my heart just right.
You see people in cults illustrating a life of peace but only in an atmosphere they control; they don’t have peace when they’re in the chaos. They only have peace when they’re in an atmosphere where they control.
They can model peace. But they do not have peace in the middle of a storm—that’s a person.
The Lord has put us in the midst of craziness for many reasons. One is for us to discover what it looks like to live in peace.
What I’m praying for us, for me, and for all of us is that we want the dimension of awe. It may sound like a correction, but I don’t feel that because I believe we live with a sense of awe.
But I feel like the Lord is about to upgrade the awe—can I say shock and awe? He’s about to upgrade it because the awe is what produces the purest oil from our lives.
So, Father, we say yes and amen to the assignment for transformation. We do— we say yes. We say amen. Amen.
Restore in every one of us, and all the viewers, restore the awe of God in a way we’ve never known before—a whole new level. Introduce us; give us an increased appetite for the impossible.
We hear You saying to us, «You feed them.» You feed them. Lord, I pray for that to echo through our hearts until we rise to that place of incredible hope according to power that You would flow in us and through us in a way that changes the world around us.
I pray this in Jesus' name. I also know there are people watching. When others speak, I’ll get on YouTube and watch the comments. There are so many who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Oh my goodness, I would just say, «Surrender.» Jesus is the only one qualified to run our lives, and He invites you into a relationship with Him to be forgiven of your sins. He actually gives you a new nature.
So I’m going to exhort and encourage you: right online or with those you’re with, just tell somebody in the chat room on Bethel TV or YouTube, «I want to know Jesus. I want to surrender my life to Jesus,» and do that right now.
Amen. Let me close with this comment: Fear always attracts the information needed to legitimize its existence. Fear always attracts the information needed to legitimize its existence.
And we say no; we will not be governed by fear. We will demonstrate the King and His kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen.