Bill Johnson - Holy Spirit Unity
Well, hello again, Bethel family. It’s fun to talk to you, at least this way. We have so many in our international community from nations all over the world watching; that’s pretty fun. I love meeting and talking with you when I travel and get to see you in your church or conference. I really appreciate all the good reports. Of course, our local family, we are just thrilled that we can spend this time together, praying that we can gather quickly once again in the building. I can hardly wait. People have sent me some pretty hilarious videos about what it’s going to look like on our first Sunday back. It’s all right. But anyway, we’re just thankful. My goodness, what did you think about the songs that were led this morning?
God, revivals are in the air, and this new album that’s just been released—oh my goodness—it’s incredible! I downloaded it so quickly and have been playing it, celebrating what God is doing in the earth. When you face a crisis or difficulty, one of the things that gets us through is promise and hope. The promises of God give us hope; they give us a sense of a future. It doesn’t mean we ignore challenges, and we’ve got so many of them right now as a nation. Nations all over the world are facing huge challenges, but it’s overwhelming if I face them without the promises of God. If I face them without the sense of hope that Jesus actually has a plan and a solution, maintaining my heart, feeding on that solution keeps me not only alive but sane—or at least as sane as I’m ever going to get.
We really celebrate the fact that Jesus has a purpose and a plan. Something I’ve stated many times in the last 12 months is that every problem that exists on planet Earth—balancing your checkbook at home to the ozone layer to racial conflicts—every single problem has a solution in God’s mind at this very moment. He looks for His people to come to Him and pursue those mysteries. Some things are revealed quite clearly in Scripture; for other things, we really have to press in. I remind you of the Scripture in Proverbs 25:2 that says it’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, not from us but for us. It’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it’s the glory of kings to search out a matter. Our royalty, my royalty, in a very real sense, is demonstrated royalty because of who our Father is. This royalty is demonstrated by our privilege to seek God for solutions.
Now is the time when we really need that again and again. I would have said that last week and the week before, but the awareness of our need for God’s intervention is becoming more critical week by week. I wrote something this week I wanted to read as I start, and then I’m going to move quickly into the subject of Pentecost because that’s what today is: we’re celebrating Pentecost Sunday. Racism is evil; it is demonic to its core. To treat people with dishonor because of their skin color is absolute foolishness. To turn that dishonor into violence is barbaric and inhuman. In Christ, we have the privilege and responsibility to oppose racism in all its forms and to stand with those who have suffered under its weight. I wanted to start by declaring our absolute commitment to protect those who are abused, rejected, or judged in some manner, or in some cases, violence as we have seen this last week, is just crazy.
As a church, we are doing all we can to take a strong stand to say this foolishness has to stop. We’re going to do our part. We are standing with people and fighting on behalf of those who need it. One of the phrases in the song today that we sang said, «Marching on our knees.» What a great picture! Knees being on our knees is a place of prayer; it’s a place of deep intercession, and that’s where great advancement comes. So I’ll be talking about the concept of Pentecost and how it happened, how it came about. If you would, open your Bibles to Acts chapter 1, and I want to talk to you out of this amazing chapter. Many people think that Jesus’s final words to the church were, «Go into all the world, preach the gospel, disciple nations.» They weren’t. His last words were, «Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Father.»
Wait in Jerusalem until you’re clothed with power from on high. The «go» is essential, but the «wait» prepares us for going, and the whole point of the waiting is that there is something more than what you’ve seen to this point. Imagine yourself as one of the 11 remaining disciples. Jesus appears to them. One of the moments He appeared to them is in John 20, where they were hiding in a room, thinking they were going to be killed next. If you can imagine the hostility of the hour, they’re literally afraid for their lives as they hide. Jesus always knows where we are, so He just appeared, walking through the wall—however He got there didn’t help the fear issue at all when someone just appears. They didn’t know it was Jesus, so you have to keep that in mind: Jesus just appears in this room, and their fear just got compounded—they’re terrified.
Jesus says, «Peace to you.» That didn’t help because they were way too filled with fear to receive any kind of peace. So Jesus showed them the scars in His hands, His side, His feet. When they saw that, they recognized, «This is Jesus; we saw Him crucified.» As soon as they realized who He was, they began to experience the peace that Jesus promised. He said again to them, «Peace to you.» This is important to realize—in this moment, sometimes we’re so filled with fear and terror that we can’t find peace, yet it is here. There has to be a turning, and what happened in the hearts of the disciples is that there was a turning. They recognized, «Oh, it’s Jesus; He is with us.» When He spoke peace the second time, He breathed on them; the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they received true peace.
Alright, here’s the deal: Jesus gave them, in that decree, «Go into all the world, preach the gospel,» and He gave them a commission. What else did He give them in the commission? Our response—our «yes» to the commission of God—connects us to the authority of God. They were given authority in that moment, but then He said, «Wait in Jerusalem.» Why? Because we need both authority and power. That is how Jesus ministered; that’s how the disciples ministered. When they were deputized under Jesus’s anointing, they were deputized. If you remember in Luke 9, Jesus gave His disciples power and authority to function while He was on the earth. But when He left and went to the right hand of the Father, they had to find, once again, this place of authority and power because now they were going to do it without Jesus being at their side. I remind you of something I think is critical and important: one of the comments that Jesus made to His disciples must have been the most difficult thing to comprehend that they ever heard Him say. He said, «It is better for you that I go.»
Now, imagine—they’ve spent three and a half years with Jesus. They can ask Him anything. They are constantly impacted by His actions, His words; they learn from His behavior. Everything is an overwhelming three and a half years of discipleship. In this moment of absolute adoration, they want to sit at His right hand or left hand. They want to be there as He takes dominion over the kingdoms of the world, and they’re positioning themselves to support this Messiah, and He says, «It’s better that I go.» I can’t imagine hearing anything more opposite than what they expected. He said, «It’s better that I go, because if I don’t go, I can’t send the Holy Spirit to you.»
Here’s the deal: picture this—you’re one of the eleven, and Jesus is at your side. At any moment, you can reach out and touch Him. You can ask Him a question. You can receive instruction. He is right there guiding you. And yet the one who is right there said, «It’s going to be better if I go, because I’ll send the Holy Spirit.» So here’s the challenge: is your relationship with the Holy Spirit better than if Jesus were standing at your side? If it’s not better, then we’re not utilizing what God actually provided for us by giving us the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit that rests upon us. This is what we were assigned to. We were assigned to this; the gospel of the kingdom of God, Paul says, is not in word only, it is in power. There must be a demonstration of power—power in our personal lives to overcome sin and temptation, but it’s power for the miraculous; it’s power to confront the impossibilities of life.
This is what we are assigned to live in: to walk in the absolute power of God to demonstrate the resurrection of Jesus. Every time you and I pray for someone and there’s a miracle, it’s a demonstration that the resurrection of Jesus is real. If I pray for you, and you experience a miracle, you’ve just seen what God can do. If I pray for you and nothing happens, you’ve just seen what I can do. It’s the absolute clothing with power that makes it possible for us to demonstrate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we get to Acts chapter 1, we see twice in the first few verses Him talking about the kingdom of God. All of you parents know that when you’re about to leave the house and your kids are in there, you have final words of instruction. Maybe they’re staying with their grandparents, maybe with a babysitter, but those final words are the most important words—you want them to remember before you leave for the evening or the week.
Jesus’s final words to His disciples were instructions in the context of waiting, instructions about the kingdom of God. It says in verse 3, the last part states, «He spent 40 days speaking to them of things pertaining to the kingdom of God.» The very next words out of His mouth are, «John baptized with water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.» The disciples then say, «Hey, I have a question: when are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?» Jesus answers, «It’s not for you to know the times, but you shall receive power.» Verse 8: «When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be witnesses.»
What’s the point I want to make? Twice in chapter 1, the conversation is about the kingdom of God. Once it was in His instruction; the second time it was their question. When are you restoring the kingdom to Israel? Both times, the very first subject He turns to after talking about the kingdom of God was the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I’d like to suggest that the introduction to the realities of the kingdom of God is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It immerses us into a reality, and this is available for everyone. This is not «haves» and «have nots.» I don’t like that whole argument; this is available for everyone who confesses Christ, and the Spirit of God would come upon us. He’ll manifest differently, but the point is Jesus is represented well. That’s what we’re looking for: for Jesus to be accurately represented for who He really is.
I want you to fast-forward now to verse 14. Verse 14 says, «These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.» Now, this is an interesting verse. We know from the rest of the chapter there were around 120 people. Let’s just say 120 people, which is interesting to me because Jesus, elsewhere in Scripture, says after His death He appeared to over 500 people, but there were only 120 in the prayer meeting. I don’t know where the 380 went; I’m sure they got there later. I just don’t want to miss when He shows up. Here they are; it says they continued in one accord in prayer. It’s established that the prayer out of unity had been taking place in this chapter. This is extremely significant. Look who attended the meeting: of course, we have Mary, the mother of Jesus, some of the supporting women, and His brothers.
Why is that important? Because one of the last times we read about His brothers, they didn’t believe He was the Messiah, and they tried to trick Him into going into a public place to receive ridicule and opposition. Something has happened during this journey where they’ve come to the realization that they’ve spent all this time growing up with the Son of God in the house. Imagine that realization! You’ve also got the eleven disciples, who spent their time—three and a half years—succeeding in their ministry for sure, but they were also caught comparing themselves with one another, thinking they were better than the other, arguing as to who was the greatest. So we have this accumulation of 120 people who had many issues throughout their lives together, and yet this ten days of prayer— I don’t know if they settled the issues before they started the 10-day prayer meeting or if they got ironed out in the prayer meeting.
Do you remember when Peter denied Jesus, and Jesus shows up afterwards and says to Peter, «Do you love me more than these?» I think He was asking Peter, «Do you love me more than the other remaining ten? Do you think you really love me more than everybody else?» There was this arrogance, this superiority, this thing that rose up in him to think, «Everybody else is going to blow it, but not me. I’m the most secure one here.» Jesus confronted that in him, and it was in that repentance that he was fully restored.
So let’s get back to the story. Here they continued in one accord in prayer. My translation adds the word «and supplication.» Let me talk to you for just a moment about the issue of prayer. Our prayer life reveals how conscious we are of the God who is with us. You can’t have someone as glorious and significant as the Spirit of God resting upon a person and have that person not talk to Him. The depth of our prayer life reveals the level of awareness we have of the Spirit of God in our lives. I’m not talking theologically; all of us as believers can say we know the Holy Spirit lives in us, walks with us, guides us— I get that; I know that. I’m talking about the daily, ongoing consciousness of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives.
David said in the Old Testament, «I daily set the Lord before me.» It’s not that we can position God where we want; He’s not under our command; we are under His. But David was saying He’s everywhere, so I turn my attention to God being with me. That consciousness of God in his life is what enabled him to be, in many ways, the greatest king Israel ever had. So let’s get back to the subject. The second thing I want to challenge you in: for most people, our prayer life consists of times where we’re pursuing comfort, pursuing peace, and the pleasure of the Lord.
Now, comfort and pleasure—let’s take those two words; those are biblical concepts. God is the one who designed pleasure. He is the one who designed comfort. He is the one who made us to rest in Him. I’m accepted in the beloved; He delights in me. I’m His treasure; I’m the apple of His eye. All of that is absolutely 100% true. But what happens when we distort our pursuit of comfort? We sacrifice having a lifestyle of impactful prayer. There are prayers of fellowship with the Lord, which are refreshing, reassuring, and build hope and faith. But the Apostle Paul taught at one point about prayer being likened to giving birth. He actually said, «I am in labor for you until Christ is formed in you,» and he was talking about prayer.
So think about this—this is an awkward subject, but it’s the intensity of prayer. For those who only pursue a relationship with God of comfort and pleasure will never know the kind of prayer that moves mountains. You have to be able to feel the grief of the Lord, the pain of a situation. As parents, we know what it is to be in a painful situation with our children. But here’s the final thing—as we come before the Lord and we pray until it is lifted, until there is that sense of breakthrough: I remember my brother—he’s 10 years younger than I am—Bobby, at the time when he was 11 months old was very close to death. In fact, the doctors said he was within 12 hours of dying.
I remember my mom’s parents lived with us at the time—for a good part of my life growing up, they lived with us during that season. I remember my grandfather going to his knees; I still can see; I could take you to the place where he knelt in front of the couch in our living room. He was there for an extended period of time, and he was praying. You see, my grandparents also lost a child at 11 months old. This whole thing flashed back on them. He dug his heels in, if you will, in a place of prayer. He marched on his knees, which is an even better way to say it, and knelt in front of that couch and began to pray and intercede. As a kid, 10 or 11, I didn’t know what all he was doing or experiencing. I knew he was praying; I knew Bobby was in serious trouble, but I didn’t get then what I get now. He dug in to that crisis that we were facing as a family, and he prayed. He was there for hours, and I remember when he got up.
If I remember correctly, it was about two o’clock in the afternoon. He got up off his knees, turned to the family, and said, «Bobby will be okay.» Why? Because he had a fight. The fight is not with people; the fight is with the powers of darkness that kill, steal, and destroy. So often we blame many other people for what’s going on, but he dug his knees into the ground, if you will, and contended for that thing until it was broken. He turned to the family and said, «Bobby will be okay.» My parents, when they got back to the hospital that afternoon, the doctors said, in so many words, «There’s been a very interesting turnaround since about two o’clock this afternoon.» That’s when Grandpa got up and declared, «Bobby will be okay.»
You see, there’s something about prayer that moves mountains. It means I’m not looking for a life of pleasure and comfort only; I’m looking to make a difference. To make a difference, I’m going to dig my heels in, and I’m going to contend for a breakthrough because a breakthrough must come. The problem happens for many as they feel that burden of the Lord and they don’t ever give it to Him; they walk around like depressed people, looking like they’ve been baptized in pickle juice. They just have no joy about them. That’s not the answer, either. The answer is not to prove how holy I am by how depressed I am. That’s anti the whole point we’re making here: prayer is supposed to be a moment of exchange. That moment sometimes lasts for days; it sometimes lasts for moments. Read Nehemiah’s prayers in the book of Nehemiah; he has one-sentence prayers that moved mountains. But see, if the prayer doesn’t move me, it’s not likely to move Him.
So here’s this moment in prayer where we come before the Lord, and Jesus Himself said, «Come to Me, you who are weary and heavy-laden.» There are a lot of folks watching this who are weary and heavy-laden. Why? Maybe it’s the coronavirus. Maybe it’s the racial conflict. Maybe it’s something completely different. It’s the business you lost during this thing. Maybe it’s the fact you don’t know what you’ll do when you’re able to get back to work. It could be any number of things—health crisis, whatever it might be. There are a lot of folks watching this broadcast today who are weary and heavy-laden. Jesus speaks to you, and He says, «Come to Me, you who are weary and heavy-laden.»
Step one: we’ve got to know who to go to. We go to Him. I don’t go to Him plus this person, this person, this person; He’s not something I try. He’s not on trial; we are. I go to Him to make an exchange. So Jesus said, «Come to Me, you who are weary and heavy-laden. I will give you rest.» Think about it. You come to me with your stuff, and I will give you my stuff. Let’s make the exchange. As I’ve told many of you through the years, if you walk into the presence of God heavy-burdened and you leave the same way you came in, then you weren’t praying; you were complaining. Might want to write that one down. Prayer automatically means there’s an exchange: I was willing to carry this into your presence, this that I’ve experienced in life, but I see you as the source of life. Let’s make the exchange; I receive now your rest. I want to welcome you into this kind of journey.
I need to move on quickly here. We get down to chapter two. He says in verse one, «When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.» Again, here’s this «one accord» concept—not a car, but one accord. There are 120 people in one accord; that would be a lot of people! One accord. They are in unity. Unity is not uniformity. Now, listen carefully: most people’s understanding of unity is the fight for uniformity. True unity requires diversity. «A man shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.» They are not the same. Diversity is required for biblical unity. Unity does not tolerate diversity; it celebrates it. It’s what makes it so beautiful. The second thing I would say about unity is it’s not something you and I can create. Most human efforts for unity, as noble as they may be, are simply attempts for agreement and/or understanding. Not evil—not bad—but just insufficient.
The Scripture says in Ephesians chapter 4, I think it’s verse 2, «Preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.» Preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace tells us a couple of things about unity. Number one, preserve—I can’t create it; it already exists. How did it get there? It’s the unity of the Spirit. True biblical unity is seen wherever the Holy Spirit has influence. Anytime you see in a relationship—husband and wife, a church family, a nation—anytime you see real, true unity—not just, «We’ll agree for this season"—true biblical unity is the result of the Holy Spirit’s influence in those individuals' lives. Jesus prayed a prayer that they might be one, but what did He connect to it? He said, «I gave them My glory that they might be one.»
What is the glory? The glory is the manifested presence of Jesus, seen as the Holy Spirit comes upon His people. I gave them My glory; I gave them the manifestation of the presence of God upon them—why? That they might be one. You never see where there’s a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Let’s just take some of the things we’ve seen happen in this room. I’ve watched this for years: when the Spirit of God shows up in a room, and I don’t mean just for miracles, although I’m all in for that—when the power of God shows up in a room, it’s hard to find anyone who’s mad at someone else. There’s something that takes place in that environment where all the hostilities, all the objections, all the stuff—you know, love remembers no wrong; I’m not keeping an account—why? It just all loses its importance in the presence.
My challenge to you is, yes, Pentecost is about the demonstration of power, but the basis—if you consider the platform for this manifestation of the power of God, the resurrection, the testimony of the resurrection of Christ through power—the platform was they prayed together in one accord. They were united in heart so much so that if they saw one of their brothers or sisters in need, they would sell a possession to take care of that need. The point is that it was unity to the point of self-sacrifice. What does it look like to preserve the unity of the Spirit? It means I am willing to invest. I’m not just going to pray something, ease my conscience, and move out of doing something. I’m not just going to check the box that I prayed for unity. I’m going to follow my prayer with action.
I was thinking this morning about one of my favorite stories, where Israel marched around the walls of Jericho. It’s a crazy story. They marched around for seven days, and on the last day, seven times they lifted up a shout. Let’s just use this as a unique picture. The marching around the walls, for me, symbolizes prayer. Once the shout was lifted up and the walls fell, they still had to go in and take possession of what was there. In other words, prayer removed the obstacle to their victory. They still had to go exercise victory. Prayer is vital. You and I must pray. We must pray until we can get up and say, «Bobby will be okay.» But there still needs to be action that says, «Alright, let’s go see our son. Let’s go see our grandson. Let’s do whatever the situation demands in the face of what we’re facing now as a nation.»
It’s important that we pray, but it’s also important that we pursue, to make sure communication is open and honest, that we’re loving one another. We don’t need agreement; we just need love and affection for people when they’re mourning. You’ve had the greatest day of your life? Put it aside; mourn with those who mourn. So often, people will see someone receiving attention because they’ve had great loss, like we’ve experienced this week, and then others in the group will say, «But what about me? What about me? I suffered too!» You know what? Give people their moment. Let’s weep with those who weep. Let’s just let the dust settle. Let’s pray for and pursue—in action—the healing grace of God for every bit of disorder that exists in our nations.
Now, it says in verse 2, «Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven.» I taught on this several years ago, and I want so much to talk about it today, but let me just say that thousands of people from Jerusalem gathered together because they heard a sound. I just want to suggest that the sound was not 120 people praying in tongues. It was not 120 people praying in other languages. Jerusalem is not the biggest cultural center on Earth, yet you can go downtown and see four or five of our Arabic students talking in their language, and they’re not going to draw a crowd of thousands. You’re not going to awaken an entire city like Jerusalem to something simply because you’re speaking four languages. We already see from the testimony here that the city was filled with people speaking in other languages. That wasn’t it.
What drew them was the roar of heaven. There was a sound—the sound of the heart of God that was released into the earth—and it awakened an entire city. They dropped their toys, their work tools, their pots and pans—whatever they were doing at nine o’clock in the morning—and they were drawn to where this sound occurred. When they saw these people praying in other languages, apparently acting so disoriented because of the thought that they were intoxicated, they stood there and started mocking them. They were confused; there were all kinds of negative reactions. People say, «Well, if it’s a real revival, there’ll be no offense.» The opposite is true. Anytime God shows up, there will be offense. It’s just the way it is. One of the great prophets from the recent years said, «God will offend your mind to reveal your heart.» In that moment, they mocked, and Peter stood up.
I want you to see this in chapter 2, verse 14. It says, «Peter standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said, 'Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and heed my words. These are not drunk as you suppose, since it’s only the third hour of the day.'» That’s a strange argument. I want to convince you that they’re not drunk like you think they are. How can I say that? It’s nine o’clock in the morning. Strange argument. But then he begins to read, and I want you to see what he reads, what he declares. He quotes this out of the Book of Joel: «It shall come to pass in the last days I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.» Okay, stop for a moment. When the Holy Spirit is poured out, where the Spirit of God is working in a group, when He is truly free to do as He pleases, He breaks every barrier that we create. I want you to look at it. «I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh.»
Every race—when the Spirit of God shows up, it’s a level playing field. There are not «haves» and «have nots.» There’s not this race versus that race, this class versus that class. All of that stuff is obliterated in the presence of God. That’s why we can say preserve the unity. Unity is the fruit of His working in and through us. So look at it again: «I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.» Sons and daughters—the gender barrier is broken in the outpouring of the Spirit. «Your young men will see visions; your old men will dream dreams.» The age barrier is broken in the move of the Spirit. «On your menservants and maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.»
The class barrier—those who are wealthy, those who are the poorest, those who are servants of others—the class barrier is broken. What’s the point? When the Holy Spirit shows up in power, it’s a level playing field. It’s critical for us. We see it even when Jesus would multiply food. We’ll see that He multiplied the food with the four thousand, the five thousand, but you’ll notice a note in that number that will say, «And 5,000 besides women and children.» Women and children were, oh yeah! See, in the culture of that day, they counted a crowd by the number of men in the crowd, and then they mentioned the women and children. It’s interesting then, in one of these stories, the one who was ignored—the child—is the one who had the seed for the miracle—loaves and fishes. The ones whom nobody’s counting counted. Jesus counted and brought him to the place where his lunch became what seeded the crowd for the multiplication of food.
You see, in the Old Testament, in the culture of the day, in the New Testament, the Gospels, what you see is a crowd counted by the number of men. But all of a sudden something happens: the Holy Spirit shows up. There are 120 people in an upper room praying. How many men? How many women? Doesn’t say. Why? Because they’re treated the same. See, Jesus destroys the power of division. Now we have to live in it. He destroys the power of division that exists between all flesh. He destroys the barrier between men and women—what men are qualified to do, what women are qualified to do. He destroys that barrier that dividing wall. He is the one who destroys the well: «God speaks through the aged, or it’s just the young people that have the real spark for revival.» He destroys that dividing wall, calls it foolishness. He is the one who comes and touches the lowest of the low—in this context, the servants, the slaves of another master—and gives them access to the same wonderful and glorious outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is offered to all.
We have to be careful that we don’t return to a cultural standard that exalts one group above another. We have to protect our hearts to ensure that we don’t move toward cultural values—sometimes good, sometimes very corrupt—that we don’t return to cultural values instead of kingdom values. In the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said it, «I gave them My glory that they might be one.» Preserve the unity of the Spirit. Normally, on a day like today, I would spend the bulk of my time talking to you about our need for the absolute power of God. My goodness, there’s never been a time when it’s been more needed than right now. We’ve got to have the demonstration of the resurrection power of God flowing through the lives of believers like you and like me.
There are so many pandemics, so many crises—cancer and various kinds of illnesses that people carry. They suffer under the weight of that affliction, that infirmity. They need someone like you who will say, «You know what? I’m not powerful by myself, but I’m also not by myself. The Spirit of God is in me; the Spirit of God rests upon me, and because that’s the reality I live in, I would love to pray for you, and let’s see this thing broken.» This is who we are, folks. This is who we are. Every nation of the world is crying out for the authentic resurrected Jesus to be put on display where we confront these wrongs. Today, I’m taking a special emphasis, more than I would normally, because of what has tragically happened in our nation this last week. Let’s be honest: it’s an ongoing situation periodically, and for our entire lifetime, it’s got to stop. But it’s not going to stop because you and I somehow just become better people.
I believe in human effort, so forgive me if you misunderstand that. I believe we need to do all we can do. Once the walls of Jericho are down, we still have to use human effort to go in and take possession of what God has promised. But here’s the deal: the Spirit of God comes upon us as a people because there is a demonstration of who Jesus is in our unity. One of the metaphors used in Scripture is that I am a member of the body of Christ. Let’s be honest: if we were to see the body of Christ the way we often act, we would have a hand over there, a finger over there, a leg over there—divided parts that don’t seem to get along. People who suffer with horrible diseases illustrate and manifest to us what it’s like to have arms that don’t cooperate, that have legs they cannot control—they cannot stand on.
I’m in regular conversation with a dear friend of mine. All she wants to do is walk—all she wants to do—but she can’t; she is so bound in this wheelchair. We’re contending for her, for Olive to arise and walk because it’s the destiny of the Lord. He made those legs to walk on. So it’s you and it’s me. Yes, it’s a demonstration of the power of God, but right now I want to call your attention to people around you—people around me—that need an extra moment. They need reassurance more than just when they’re watching. We take a stand and we just say, «Not on my watch. That kind of behavior is unacceptable.» Jesus loves every race. In fact, let me just say this: every race in this area—we have the Native Americans; what they contribute to our life is rich and glorious. We have the continual migration, I’ll use a term, of the Hispanic population that comes; they bring such quality of life to us. The African Americans—the list goes on and on.
I know I’ll miss people, but the point is, we are better because they are in our lives. They don’t deserve just toleration; they deserve celebration. They deserve honor. I’d like to suggest to you that that’s at least one of the biblical manifestations of the power of the Spirit of God coming upon His people. The demonstration—He said it, Jesus said it—"Love one another, so they’ll know you follow me.» Let the display of your care, your affection, your concern— it doesn’t even mean we have to agree on everything; it just means I won’t let what I think is different from what you think interfere with the love we have for one another. This is all a demonstration of the love of God for every person watching. Anytime we have a broadcast like this, with literally tens of thousands of people watching from around the world, I want to say to you—listen, come to know Jesus.
I’ve been thinking about this verse the last few weeks. It says Jesus made this statement: «What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world but lose their own soul?» What does it profit you if you reach this dream and this accomplishment? You’re applauded by this group, you’re celebrated by that group; you get all these accolades poured into your life. What does it profit us if we get all that but lose our own soul? It profits nothing. Eternity is a long time. It’s not a scare tactic; it’s a reality. Jesus comes in His tender mercy and says, «Come to me, you who are weary and heavy-laden. I will give you rest. I will give you the Holy Spirit, who is the person of rest; He is the person of peace, and I will release that into your life.»
So I want to encourage you; we have counselors, we have pastors, we’ve got people on our YouTube channel, we have people on our Bethel TV channel ready to pray with you. If you would say, «Bill, I don’t want to end this broadcast without surrendering my life to Jesus,» then that’s what you do. You just get online, make the phone call, do whatever you need to do, but say, «I need to get right with God. I need to know what it is to be forgiven of sin, to be brought into the family of God.» I want to pray for you; I want to pray for those who are coming to Christ. I want to pray for all of us. We have the opportunity to stand in the middle of a dark moment with the love and compassion of Jesus to demonstrate Jesus is truly raised from the dead. He is alive in me, and He is alive in this moment. I will not let any disagreement separate us because you’re more important to me than whatever.
So, Father, I pray right now in the wonderful name of Jesus, first of all for those who would come to Christ. Let the conviction of the Holy Spirit be released over this entire audience so that every single person—those who have not walked with Jesus, and those who have allowed differences to rise up in their hearts—where they’ve been hostile or arrogant or indifferent toward another group of people or maybe a family member—God, forgive us and heal us from this nonsense. Restore us to the heart of Jesus in the way we value and treat each other. I pray that You bring many, many, many into the Kingdom today and that You would help us, as the body of Christ, to demonstrate what it is to value one another and to stay connected in our love for You. I pray this for the honor of the name Jesus. Amen.