Bill Johnson - Designed for Glory
In that tent during that time with students, I started to rediscover something that hadn’t been lost; that would be wrong to say. However, there is always a freshness to his presence that almost makes you feel like you’ve never had it before. It’s so fresh; you know, there’s always something new in what he’s saying and doing. It almost feels like it’s the first time you’ve ever heard him speak. Yet outside of that experience, you can see the history that brought you here, but in that moment, it’s like hearing for the first time.
It reminded me of something. Oh goodness, it would be around 2010 or 2011, when Eric, my son, was leading the second-year School of Ministry. There was about a five-month period—I don’t remember the exact year—but they met at our Twin View campus, which was our second campus. The second-year school was there, and I don’t remember how many students there were; I would guess 300, maybe. Anyway, that room was packed, and Eric was leading. As one of the pastors, I had a time slot to go over there and speak, and it was always an incredible privilege to do so.
I remember walking in during that five-month period; it was like walking into a cloud. I mean, it was like walking into a cloud that was alive. It wasn’t fog; it was like walking into life itself on a level that was so wonderful and overwhelming. I remember I would come in and sit down. Sometimes I’d make it to the front and come to sit down, and Eric would be there. Listen, this wasn’t led by some great worship time—those were there, and that’s important. We just had a wonderful time now, and that kind of instrument that the Lord uses is very significant and important, but this was different.
It was almost like the Holy Spirit, the choir director of heaven, entered the room, and He was conducting something. Wow! I remember sitting down next to Eric, and he would look up at me and ask, «Do you want to…» I’d say, «I’m not touching this; I have absolutely nothing to say.» There are times in the glory where that’s what you do. There’s the word of the Lord; it’s the ultimate moment. I mean, you want those moments. I don’t want to suggest at all that somehow when that manifest presence of Jesus comes in that measure, we don’t speak, and somehow teaching goes out the window. I don’t believe that, and I’ve seen the opposite happen. I’ve seen those moments that are so overwhelmingly pregnant and filled with God Himself in the room, and then there’s a word. I believe that.
But this wasn’t that season; it was five months of entering a room where it just didn’t matter. Strange to say, you could have this burden or this vision or this desire or whatever to preach this or pray for that or do whatever, but somehow, in this living cloud of presence—oh goodness—it just doesn’t matter. I remember during that time, I don’t even know how many times I actually spoke; I did a few times, but it wasn’t very often. Yet, I sure encountered Jesus a lot; I encountered the love of God even through people. There was such an unusual interaction during those times.
You know, Jesus said, «I gave them my glory that they may be one.» There’s something about the glory that makes everybody fit together perfectly. It’s not through striving; it’s not through effort; it’s not through determination. It’s in the glory, and the reason is that’s what we were designed for. I was designed—everything about me, everything about me that’s of Him—was designed to fit seamlessly in the glory. I’m actually wired for it; you are too. Every born-again believer is wired to recognize Him and respond to Him, and part of that response is obedience. So, obedience is the most natural thing in the world in His presence.
If you can imagine Isaiah 6, where Isaiah says, «I see the Lord; He’s high and lifted up; His train fills the temple.» It’s this overwhelming baptism of presence where he sees the throne of God, and then he hears God say—not to him, but in conversation in heaven—"Who will I send?» See, there’s something about being in the glory; the glory is not just to absorb and walk away blessed; it’s to be impacted so that we impact everything around us. The Lord asked this question, «Who will I send?» And Isaiah said, «I’ll go.»
I can always tell when people are truly in the glory because they want to serve. Now, you can want to serve without being in the glory, but when you do, the heart of God is what launches you. It’s not my ministry goals that matter; it’s not about me fighting to see my gift expressed or appreciated or whatever. All that stuff just dies; it just dies. It’s so unimportant in that moment; it’s embarrassing to discuss because in that moment, all you know is that you hear a heartbeat, and that heartbeat has become your heartbeat, and something has shifted and changed—at least in this moment—in how I see life.
I remember that five-month period as if it were yesterday because it has become yesterday. Ten days or so ago in the tent with the students last Sunday night, it was the same kind of moment. In the tent, I don’t know, maybe we’re just built for tents. Maybe, I don’t know, maybe we should just do the big old revival tents and get it over with. I don’t know what it is; I don’t understand it at all. But I know that last Sunday night, I experienced it again; He was there, and that’s all—it’s what the glory is—to manifest the presence of Jesus.
He was just there. You might say, «Well, He’s here; He’s with me now.» That’s true; I get that. But there are so many dimensions of His presence that no matter what you’re experiencing, there’s more. The key to more is stewarding what you’ve been given. It doesn’t matter if it’s money, anointing, gifting, or friends; it doesn’t matter what it is—the key to increase is always stewarding what you have well.
There have been times in my life where, as I stated earlier, that presence, that glory would come so strong in that little sanctuary up in the mountains that I would just become nervous and find something else to do. I don’t say this in shame or embarrassment; I’m just stating the reality. There’s no increase in that moment; I found my limit. So, somehow, coming into that place of presence again and again with whatever in me needs to yield so that there can be more—I can’t describe it, but that’s the journey.
You see, He’s got us on one track; He has one ambition base. I mean, a lot of dreams for us—I don’t want to make it overly simple—but there’s this statement in Haggai chapter 2 that I will never forget. When I first read this as a pastor in Weaverville, it just leapt at me. It’s Haggai chapter 2, which is one of the small little ones; it’s kind of hard to find him. If you get to Matthew, just turn left; if you get to Daniel, turn right—he’s in there.
He says several things here that I think are worth noting, and then I want to talk a bit about where we’re headed according to Him. «According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.» The presence of the Lord makes fear illegal; the presence of the Lord is a partnership, not with a foreign spirit.
«For thus says the Lord: once more it is a little while; I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land. I will shake all the nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations.» My translation highlights this phrase as «desire,» referring to Jesus as the desire of the nations. «And I will fill this temple with glory,» says the Lord of hosts. «The silver is mine, the gold is mine,» says the Lord of hosts. Here’s our phrase: «The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former.»
If God is in charge, there’s always an increase of glory. If we are, we just build monuments to what has happened in the past. We build them in our theology; we build them in our experiences; we build them in our routines and disciplines. They all shout to the past, but there’s something that is always expanding in the presence. It’s this intangible thing called the glory of God that is always deepening.
I don’t think we ever arrive, to be honest with you. I’ve got a feeling that heaven is going to be one continuous journey deeper into the glory, and there is no limit. There’s not an end; it’s not like, «Okay, Father says that’s all there is; sorry, you’ll have to exist the next hundred billion years just with what you got.»
It’s just this unending journey into the presence, into the glory. Ephesians 2 talks about the riches of His grace, which is one of the expressions of glory. In that phrase in Ephesians 2, He says that in the ages to come, we would discover the surpassing riches of His grace. «Ages to come» refers to the billions of years ahead in eternity. In those ages, there would be the continuous unveiling of yet a deeper level of this mystery called grace, and that mystery of grace always introduces us to glory.
We find different stories in Scripture that rock me; I’m assuming they do for you as well. II Chronicles chapter 5 is one of them. It’s this amazing moment in the dedication of the temple. Solomon had—well, let me back up. David, his dad, had discerned that there was a shift—actually, there was a shift in worship. More specifically, David perceived a reality that existed in heaven that was not discovered in the law; it was not revealed in the law. David started to realize in his relationship with the Lord that the Lord wasn’t interested in the blood of bulls and goats.
It doesn’t mean it didn’t count; it was important for that season, but it had its limits, its measure of impact. It wasn’t where God’s people were going to land. The sacrifice of animals wasn’t the landing point; that was just the illustration that got them ready for the real Lamb of God that once and for all settled the issue.
But David somehow discovered this in his journey with the Lord, and the prophets Nathan and Gad confirmed what he was picking up. It says in Chronicles later that he picked up this shift in worship, that the Lord was actually looking for the sacrifice of the heart, the contrite heart, the yieldedness, the fruit of the lips that gives thanks or praise to His name.
The Lord is actually looking for people to put themselves on the altar as an offering to Him, and it’s not because He’s an egotist that needs our affirmation. He’s quite secure; He doesn’t need anything. I’ve heard people say, «Well, He needs our…» He doesn’t need our love; He doesn’t need anything. He’s very self-sufficient.
While the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit make a great team, they don’t need anything, but they desire many things. They desire many things; they desire my heart; they desire for it to add something to them that nothing else and everything they have made could. He desires yours, and it’s that wonderful, beautiful expression of just turning our attention, our affection towards Him.
See, the war that’s been going on over this last year with the pandemic and all the other stuff is a war for attention because the enemy wants to dilute your affection. It’s always to divert attention, to defile affection. There’s something about this reconnection with His presence that is home. It’s just home; it’s home. Everything else is where I’m visiting. This is actually home. I’m sent out from home to do all this stuff, but this is home.
This seamless connection with the manifest presence of Jesus—the seamless connection between my surrendered heart and His heart for me—is just the most beautiful thing.