Bill Johnson - Sanctification and the Sword
Awesome! Good! Would you? Thanks, thanks, thanks! Thank you, Congressman. Oh, yeah, we’re going to have a prayer gathering in June where we are gathering several leaders from around the state of California here in Redding. We’re going to have a purpose for the state of California. We believe that it’s not only time; it’s past time, and we’re going to focus together on what we believe the Lord wants to do in healing our state. So, those of you that are around, join with us. I believe it’s going to be a very powerful time.
All right, I got a couple of funny signs: «I don’t need a Valentine; I need eight million dollars and a fast metabolism.» «I don’t want to brag or make anyone jealous, but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.» I love these things! I asked my mom, «Where’s my phone? Where’s the remote? What’s for dinner? Why can’t animals talk?» Things I asked my dad: «Where’s Mom?» That one’s just too true. One more: a recent study found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it. Yes, amen, yes, amen.
All growth is rewarded with pruning. All death is rewarded with resurrection. To forsake all to follow Him is the entrance into a lifestyle that He is in charge of; it’s a crosswalk into resurrection. It’s a crosswalk into breakthrough. Israel traveled from Egypt, which was a picture of sin. So forgive me if you’re from Egypt; just a one-time illustration, that’s all. From Egypt through the wilderness into the Promised Land. The wilderness experience was one of great difficulty and challenge— they had to trust God every day for manna on the ground. Sometimes they were thirsty for days and had nothing.
A rock was struck and water came out of the rock. One time there was a whole supply of quail; it didn’t turn out really well, but they had meat once. There was this ongoing miracle that God trained them with in the wilderness. But the daily provision of manna was not the Promised Land; it was the training for the Promised Land. There are times when we have a perspective of faith that I don’t want to say is immature; it’s just not developed, and that’s probably true for all of us to some measure. We tend to think that the person who believes God for daily provision has greater faith than the person who works and has an income, and it’s not true.
I remember a friend of mine, he’s home with the Lord now, but he was a businessman who was quite wealthy and had a pretty large business that extended from Denver west. I remember we’d have early morning prayer meetings in Weaverville, and he would come early and kneel off to the side, praying. In conversation with him sometime after he began to come to this perimeter, he was there praying for his employees that he would prosper enough to keep them employed so they could put their kids through college. That’s what he was praying for.
See, we’ve got this thing in our nation that’s ugly, and it’s jealousy, exalted as a virtue, where people look at somebody who has more than they do and assume they did something wrong to get it. Jealousy is often exalted as a virtue; it’s called discernment. Anytime you give a virtuous name to a dysfunction, you give it not only permission to stay but also room to set down roots until it actually affects our personality.
The Lord is wanting to expose some of this stuff—not out there, but in here—so we know how to properly celebrate another person’s breakthrough. What’s important is when you’ve been praying for something and somebody else gets your breakthrough, and you know they haven’t prayed nearly as long as you have, which means basically they don’t deserve it like you do. It’s an invitation for personal breakthrough. Believe it or not, it’s actually the mercy of God exposing what could go wrong in the heart so that when your breakthrough comes, it lands in a safe place. Character is the container that the blessing is to rest in, and it doesn’t leak out.
Character is what holds and contains the blessing that the Lord would like to put on our life. What I don’t want to do is create thinking that blessing means mansions and tons of material things or whatever. It sometimes includes that, but if that’s the focus, we’re in trouble. What’s vital for us to learn is in this journey that we deal with what He’s dealing with inside of us because He’s always preparing us for greater breakthrough. I’ve said this to you a number of times through the years; let me declare it again: God disciplines us so His blessings don’t kill us.
He disciplines us so His blessings don’t kill us. He actually longs to put blessings in our lives. Now, some people in this room and many in the church—let me just say generally—are very much afraid and opposed to financial wealth, which I understand the reasoning. I don’t agree, but I understand their reasoning. The problem is they don’t have the same fear of increased anointing, and both will give you access to pride.
See, to think that because I’m pursuing something that’s overtly spiritual, I’m safe, is far from the truth because the greater recognition is the issue. Can we navigate that? See, Jesus walked with an anointing where everyone who came to Him was healed. Everyone the Father sent to Him was healed. Anyone who came to Him with a request was healed; everyone the Father directed Him to was healed.
What would happen if that same measure of breakthrough was put on just one individual in this room? It’d be cool for a very short time, but your name would be a household name within 30 days around the country. Let’s say that you couldn’t be bought; let’s say that you’ve dealt with a money issue, and you couldn’t be lured into compromise for money. Let’s say that issue is settled. You still have a problem because at our local airport would be 50 private jets with suitcases filled with money as they tried to persuade you to come and pray for their dying loved one.
You can’t be bought, but you still have a problem. You can only say yes to one, and you’ve got 49 others that fly away, and you’ve got their faces in front of you that you didn’t have time to pray for. The point is, increased anointing gives us as much access, if not more access, to pride, arrogance, independence—all the things that are dangerous for us—as much as wealth.
So when I talk about wealth or I talk about favor, let me use the word blessing. When I talk about the blessing of the Lord increasing in our lives, there are times when it’s a promotion at work. There are times it’s finding that spouse you’ve been waiting for all these years. There are times where you’re unable to have children, and all of a sudden you’re pregnant with twins.
See, the favor of blessing comes in so many different ways. Sometimes it’s just that people will prefer you at work; there’s no explanation. You don’t have the highest position, but people are just drawn to you. Maybe they automatically confess their personal issues and problems because they trust you. That’s favor; that’s wealth in this kingdom where the Lord adds favor to your life.
Sometimes it’s just the fact that you just get the big breaks; you get the big deals. But the point is the Lord would increase every one of our lives in this realm of blessing if we could carry it for His glory, which means I hold everything loosely because sometimes today’s blessing is tomorrow’s investment.
I’ve been working on this theme for a while and working on a book again. I think I’ve got another week or so and I’ll finish. I talk about this issue of promotion, the issue of blessing, favor, and increase, and how we can navigate it well. What does it look like?
First of all, if Eric were here tonight and I were to give him a brand new truck, that’d be cool; he’d be quite happy. I wouldn’t be very happy if he gave it away. Why? Because I actually gave it to him out of my delight in him; I want him to enjoy what I bought him. I don’t want him to take that gift and, there are times when the Lord deposits something in our life that He just wants to see our delight.
I’ve had times where I’ve given things to people, and they didn’t know how to manage or handle that added blessing in their life, and so they quickly just gave it away. I understand we don’t want to accumulate; we don’t want our identity wrapped up in material things. I get that. But there are times where our confidence in His nature as a Father is revealed by how well we steward a gift that was given to us.
Can you receive a blessing, give Him thanks, and simply delight in it? See, whenever the Lord releases a material blessing, favor, an open door, a promotion at work, whatever—fill in the blanks—whenever He adds blessing to our life, He is always trying to endear us to a world we cannot see.
The problem is when that natural blessing endears me to the visible more than the unseen is where the breakdown starts for me. I believe that the Lord would fill our lives with friends, position, favor, and possessions—all things that testify to a Father who is incredibly perfect. He takes absolute delight in us and the ability to celebrate His goodness in the midst of a very special meal that somebody bought for you.
Forgive me; I’m going to repeat a number of statements just because I want to put it into context for tonight. Some of my favorite stories in church history are when a missionary couple would sit down with their children for dinner, for example, and this has happened frequently throughout history. They would sit down for dinner, but they’d have no food in the house. But they sat down anyway, set the table, and got the forks and spoons and knives; everything’s in place, and there’s no food.
They all sit down, pray, and give thanks for the food. Right about the time they finish the prayer, there’s always a knock on the door, and somebody was moved by God to bring groceries to that missionary family. I love those stories so much; it’s the coolest thing in the world.
I remember Benny and I used to run a street ministry here called the Salt House about 4,000 years ago. It was back in the hippie era; it actually happened; we saw it for real. We worked with a lot of kids on the street and stuff like that. We lived in a particular house downtown, and people would drop in for counseling or deliverance, or maybe they just wanted to try to throw our piano at the front window, which actually tried to happen.
We had a number of wonderful experiences; it felt at one time that every demonized person west of the Rockies came to visit us. I can’t prove that, but that’s what it felt like. It was school for us; we thought we were there for them, but I think we were there to learn.
I remember one morning Benny and I were praying together and talking. We looked at the bills, and I asked Benny, «How much do we need to pay the bills for the ministry? What’s due?» She told me the amount was $300, which would be about $20,000 today. I remember we just prayed, and I walked out of the house. The mail came in the afternoon, but I walked out in the morning and opened the door.
Right to the left of the door was a mailbox, and I just by habit opened it. There was an envelope in there, no stamp or nothing, just an envelope. I opened it, and there was a check for $300. I love when that stuff happens; I mean, Jesus is good at that.
But here’s where I’m at in my life right now: I want to be the guy knocking on the door. I want to be the one who hears, responds, and attends to somebody else’s place because both are places of great blessing and honor.
As the disciples left everything to follow Jesus in Mark 10— in fact, why don’t you look at it? It’d be fun just to have you stare at the Bible for a minute. Mark chapter 10; this is a great portion of Scripture for so many reasons. Mark chapter 10.
Now, I don’t know about you; I like the in-your-face verses. I like the in-your-face verses. I like, «Pick up your cross and follow me»; those are good verses. I don’t want to read over this quickly. I like my coffee unreasonably strong, I like my salt and my hot sauce insanely hot, and I like my Bible to growl at me when I pick it up. That’s just the way it is; this is my approach to life.
So when I find the in-your-face verses, I don’t want to dodge them and assume they’re for somebody else. All right? Don’t give me that look.
Verse 23 of Mark chapter 10: «Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.'» How many of you understand every one of us qualifies as the hard one? I wouldn’t answer if I were you; it’s not a trick question. But let’s just keep reading.
Verse 24: «And the disciples were astonished at His words, but Jesus answered again and said to them, 'Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.'» This time He adds a description to his statement: «those who trust in riches.»
So I’ve asked you the question before; right now we have politicians, we have political realms—they’re trying to figure out how much is too much money for a person to make. First of all, it’s not the government’s responsibility, but I’ll leave that aside since I’m not running for office.
How much is too much money? It’s whatever amount replaces trust. See, for one person $1,000 in the bank is more than their trust level; all of a sudden they turn to the money instead of trusting God. For others, it could be $100 million dollars because it’s not an amount; it’s a condition of the heart.
So Jesus says, «How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom.» Now jump down to verse 26. «They were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, 'Who then can be saved? '» Do you understand they are asking that even about themselves?
All right, verse 27: «Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'»
Verse 28: «Then Peter began to say to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You.'» Jesus answered and said, «Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for My sake and the gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands—with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.'»
I like this verse for a whole bunch of reasons. First of all, what are you going to do with 100 mothers? You get the point. Jesus is using a description, announcing to those who left everything to follow Him that they have access to unlimited resources to accomplish all they’ve been called to do—unlimited resources.
David put it this way; he prayed it in Psalm 119:17. I believe he said, «Deal with your servant bountifully that I may live and keep your word.» In other words, the only way I could possibly fulfill all that you’ve put in my heart is that you would have to deal with me bountifully—the expectation for increase.
I know automatically we think of dollars, and it’s easy to measure, but there are many in this room where money is not the answer. It’s a promotion, it’s a position change, it’s an idea, it’s an invention, it’s a song, it’s a melody that’s never been heard.
It’s just the fact that God is giving us access to His mystery realm because He’s longing to communicate the nature of His heart, the nature of His mind, the nature of His world to this one. It’s the people of God that have access to this realm called the secret things, the mystery of God. Trusting God, pursuing God—so Peter says, «We left everything to follow you,» and Jesus said, «That’s right, and I’m going to add a hundred times as much back into your life— with persecution.»
There’s a promise I’ve never seen on anyone’s refrigerator. I’ve seen a lot of good promises, but that one was never in the Bible promise box.
Follow this with me: Israel left Egypt, went through difficulty so they could be trusted with the Promised Land. Israel went through the Red Sea; Paul calls it the baptism of Moses—through trial and now, through another body of water, a baptism— but this one’s not a still body of water; it’s a river. It’s the purpose of holy spirit baptism to introduce a way of life that you can’t get on the other side of the river. There’s a death that takes place, but there’s a life that becomes clear.
The disciples leave everything to follow Jesus; they have nothing, and before Jesus goes, He says, «I’m going to add a hundred times back into your life.» He wasn’t saying, «I’m going to give you mansions on hilltops.» He was giving them access to unlimited resources to accomplish all they’ve been called to do. Why? Because you trusted me without I can now trust you with.
Before Jesus died, He did this very strange thing—He told His disciples to get a sword. I think Peter was quite happy with that direction. He’d been warming up in his sword-swinging.
So in the garden, they come to take Jesus; Peter knows why Jesus would want him to have a sword—to hurt people, of course. He pulls out the sword and cuts off the servant’s ear. Jesus shakes His head, puts the ear back, and heals it. «Put the sword away.» What purpose did the sword serve?
Take this with a grain of salt; it’s just an opinion. Only Jesus would have you get a sword you can’t use because it is symbolic of an entire realm of resource that is at your disposal for all God calls you to do.
I remember many years ago looking through a fly fishing catalog, which is a great joy of mine. Fly fishing and the catalogs I like the most are hunting and fishing catalogs, and I look through them to discover the will of God for my life. It’s amazing how sometimes the Lord will just speak to you.
I got this catalog from our local fly shop; it’s one of the best in the world. I go through and look at each page, just waiting to hear the Father speak. I will admit it didn’t happen, but I gave Him the chance, and I didn’t throw it away just in case tomorrow He might speak.
I go through the catalog, and at the very end, there are all the items that only true devoted fly fishermen would ever want— a leather couch with a trout etched into the leather cushion; things that are essential.
There were crystal goblets with a famous river etched on the side or a picture of a rainbow trout leaping for a fly; things that no serious fly fisherman would want to live without. I got to that part of the catalog, and now I’m looking at all the goblets.
There was this one section I can still see, right side of the page down the inside column, there were three flasks—flasks made out of pewter or stainless steel or something. Apparently, fly fishermen like to have whiskey or brandy or something with them in case they’re not catching stuff.
I looked at them; it took me like two seconds or three seconds to look through. I looked at them; they just looked cool. I looked at the price, and I thought to myself, «I can afford it.» Then I thought, «I have no use for it.»
I mean, I don’t take whiskey to the river. You know, come to think of it, there is Brand Creek up by Whiskeytown Lake. Maybe that’s where you do it; I don’t know. Anyway, for those of you who aren’t local, that’s actually the name of a place.
So I looked at the price; I thought I have no use for it, so I turned the page, got through the catalog, and put it away. We went to England a week or so later, and Benny and I were at this conference, and a woman brought each of us a gift. Of course, I had Benny open her gift first, and I don’t remember to this day what it was, but it was something you’d give a godly woman—an earring with a cross on it, or picture frame with the name Jesus on it, or something.
Then I opened mine. I opened it up, and there’s a flask! Outwardly, I’m saying, «That’s awesome! Thank you so much.» Inwardly I’m thinking, «You’re kidding! Do you know how many things I have on my emergency list—prayers that need to be answered? Do you know how many things that are important—they’re not life and death, but they’re on my list that need to be answered?
I even have this 'It would be nice' part of the list, and under that is a pile of stuff that wasn’t good enough to make the list. On the bottom of that pile was three seconds glancing at a flask in a catalog and King Jesus reaches to the bottom of this insignificant pile, pulls out a flask, inspires a woman across the pond, and says, „Bill needs one of these.“
It’s my sword; it’s just there to remind me everything’s covered, everything’s good—that He’d actually inspire someone to spend their dollars to buy me something I have no use for because I looked at it for three seconds.
I’m trying to get there; come on, I’m going to get there! You and me, we might have to tag team this one.
Look at this verse again, 29: „Assuredly, I say to you, there’s none who’s left house or brother or sister or father or mother or wife or children—100 wives, Solomon—never mind children, lands for my sake and the gospel who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, lands—with persecution and in the age to come, eternal life.“
I remember several years ago— in fact, this last week was Bob Jones' homegoing anniversary. He died on Valentine’s Day. If you don’t know who he was, he was a wonderful friend of ours, an amazing prophet of the Lord who actually died way back in the 70s. He came before the Lord, and the Lord had one question for him: „Did you learn to love?“
The next moment he found himself back in his body, and he spent from the 70s until three years ago learning to love. If you knew Bob at all, you know that was what he excelled at. He just loved; he loved us so much; he loved people so much.
Jesus took him home on Valentine’s Day. Wow! We were sitting at a table at his funeral after the service; everything was done. I was sitting at a table with several folks that you would know—Mike Bickle, Joyner, a bunch of others—and we were just talking about some of the things that we were experiencing.
If I tell you what it was, it would sound like a complaining session. It wasn’t; we were kind of comparing notes, to be honest. Not everybody on social media is wild about us, which is a shock. It’s a complete shock. You probably didn’t know this, but it’s true!
I have a sign on my phone that says, „On the internet, you can be anything you want, so why do so many people choose to be stupid?“ That’s unrelated to this subject, of course.
So we were talking about some of the things that we had happened; one of the guys there—Bob Weiner from Maranatha Ministries, a wonderful, wonderful man—said, „I just call it income tax.“ Everybody just kept talking, and I said, „What?“
He said, „Income tax! Yeah! The more income, the more tax, the more favor. Learn to handle it well because it determines what you can carry.“ It really does.
Many break down at that point of opposition and rejection. Jesus said, „See if I will not return to you a hundred times as much now in this time with persecution.“ I don’t think the Lord inspires persecution; I just think blessing on people’s lives stirs it up in others.
One of the things we are required to navigate is being with people, and it just doesn’t always feel good. Many turn to retaliation and vindication; they respond in like spirit, and it’s just tragic.
I remember years ago watching there was a real moral mess with a bunch of leaders—I think it was back in the 80s. It was embarrassing. There was this Ted Koppel, I believe, who did this panel, and he had all these major leaders in the church on this panel, and there was just this conversation about all these famous Christians that had fallen morally.
I’ll never forget as long as I live what Ted Koppel said. He said, „When we do investigative reporting, it requires us to do a lot of research, but with these stories, you guys called us.“ Did you hear what I just said? He said, „You guys, Christian leaders called us with information about other Christian leaders. We didn’t have to do the research; you guys called us.“
Throughout history, there have been times where there have been great moves of God that literally just came to an abrupt end because of jealousies, competition, and so many things. Yet never was it in the heart of God to end the increase—the ramping up of what He was doing on the earth—but in order to save those who were carrying that weight of glory so as not to bless them beyond their capacity to bear, and withdrew the anointing.
We’re at a place in a time where I feel like the Lord is wanting to see yet again what we can carry before Him. Can we be misunderstood? Nobody likes it; you never have to enjoy it, but you do have the privilege of giving thanks in the middle of it.
The key three months ago—the Lord spoke to me in the middle of the night—that the key to mental health is giving thanks in everything. The key to emotional health is rejoicing always. Maintaining that aspect, that approach to life is central to who God made us to be.
So here we’ve got this story: „See if I will not add back into your life a hundred times with persecution.“ There’s something about difficulty that keeps us prayed up or we crumble under the difficulty, and I believe that the Lord would love to demonstrate His resurrection power.
He would love to demonstrate what it looks like to have a people that are finally out of the wilderness. Israel went for 40 years around the same mountain because they just couldn’t learn the lesson. The lesson was abandonment and trust. Some people have gone without for their entire life, and all the Lord’s trying to do is to teach trust.
Because once trust is settled, you can be entrusted with the Promised Land. I believe to embrace the assignment that’s been given to us, which is to disciple nations, we have to have this lesson done. I have to be okay with you getting the car I was praying for.
I have to know how to celebrate your promotion when I was hoping it would be my turn. Jesus and Solomon in Proverbs both taught the same concept that when you see somebody else experience a breakthrough, it is an opportunity for us to celebrate their breakthrough as preparation for our own.
The inability to celebrate somebody else’s breakthrough as though it were mine actually pushes back my experience of breakthrough. Left Egypt, wilderness; finally dealt with trust. The Promised Land is where they had to go to work.
It doesn’t sound like the Promised Land for a lot of people. Why was it the Promised Land? Because God would breathe on human labor and bring supernatural increase. There was the partnership of our effort and God’s grace. It is the very thing that God has wanted demonstrated in the earth from day one—the partnership of heaven and earth.
It’s that beautiful marriage of supernatural and natural so that they work together in tandem, illustrating this perfect Father for who He is. I believe that the Lord is giving us an opportunity to see what that’s like again.
So, I want you to stand; we’re going to pray. Oh, I hope He gives you a sword you can’t use! In my closet, there was a shelf where I put a flask, and every day when I got dressed, I had the reminder of what He’s like. He notices the subtle attention of your heart toward something never even big enough to pray about; it’s never even enough to put a dent in the day, but somehow He caught it.
I remember many years ago sitting out at Whiskeytown Lake—there’s no correlation between the flask and Whiskeytown Lake. I was there by myself, had my Bible, it was a nice warm day, and I was reading and worshipping Jesus—just having the most amazing time.
I remember seeing these little bluegill, little perch swimming around, so I picked up these little pebbles and threw them in the water; they’d come up and eat it, spit it out. I was there to torment them; it’s a gift! I’d pick up another little pebble and throw it in; they’d eat it, spit it out.
Then I had this thought cross my mind: „I wonder if they would eat a bee.“ Bees have stingers. So I just— I wonder if they would eat a bee. As soon as I thought it, a bee flew from this side, it stopped right in front of me, lost the ability to fly, dropped into the water, and a fish came up and ate it.
I thought, you know, like everything that’s going on, the meditations of our heart are louder in heaven than our voice is here on earth. So let’s pray. Father, I thank You for the Promised Land. I thank You for the design You have for us, for the absolute, complete fulfillment of life itself, the lineage, our family lines, our relationships with friends and people, how You just set the stage for success at every turn.
The skills, the graces, the gifts that You give us to have a meaningful lifestyle—God, I’m thankful for all of these things— but I pray right now that You would increase the capacity for breakthrough. The eternity would be forever marked because we used everything You gave us for Your glory, that we withheld nothing for ourselves but literally kept everything on the altar for You to breathe upon, for You to bless, for You to partner with.
God, I’m asking that as in this next season, You would teach us what it looks like to have the natural and the supernatural perfectly partnered together. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Put a hand on someone next to you, and I want you to pray specifically: supernatural wisdom, divine wisdom, divine wisdom, divine wisdom, divine wisdom, divine wisdom, divine wisdom. Now wisdom is prophetic in nature, so press into this just a moment longer—divine wisdom.
Let it be accompanied with dreams that would be accompanied with ideas, with solutions that there be medical inventions, medical devices. Let there be technology—technological solutions that would be relational answers, that words would bring healing to a household, to a family.
Every area of life, that You reconstruct the damaged parts of the brain through the prophetic decree of a man or a woman with wisdom. God, we call for this for the honor of the name Jesus, that our cities would demonstrate Your likeness, that our cities would demonstrate Your heart. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Good; put your hands down. Who’s good? Come on up! I want to give you a quick story. In Weaverville, we had one of our key guys in the church; he was an accountant. He had an accounting office and did taxes and all the stuff for businesses, and one of his competitors was opening a brand new office.
He was invited to come see the opening— the grand opening. He stayed for the whole party. At the very end, he asked for the husband and wife; he said, „We’re kind of tight right now, so I didn’t have a gift to bring. Could I just pray for the two of you?“
So they said, „Sure!“ The three of them got in a little circle, and he put his hands on them and celebrated the goodness of God for prospering this business that everyone else would say was a competitive business. He prayed for abundance; he celebrated the goodness of God on this couple and on this business, and he prayed.
By the time he was through, the so-called competitor had tears coming down their faces because they realized—I’m going to use my language—this is how his world works! In his world, it’s possible for both businesses to succeed.
If you see somebody get a breakthrough that you are praying for, even if you have to force yourself, force yourself—celebrate it! Celebrate! If you’re jealous, sometimes giving a gift will silence jealousy! I’m serious! Put something into action—skip a meal, pray for them, do something—but put it into action to silence that voice of jealousy because it’s not to have any place in us. Amen!