Bill Johnson - Using Testimonies When We Need Strength
There is something about the testimony that instinctively breathes courage for radical obedience into our souls. It’s a part of the process; it’s how we remain strong in our confidence and faith in God. Psalm 78—are you there? We’ll start right with verse three, which refers to dark sayings and parables. It states, «Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.» What just happened there? Now think while you are reading this. They are being exhorted to train their children not only in the report of the law of God, the commandments, but to train them with the report of His wonderful works, which is what? That’s a testimony. Yes, indeed.
All right, verse 5: «He established a testimony in Jacob; He appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should make known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children.» So if you can see, this was a pattern of a value system for the spoken or written record of all that God has done to be given to this generation so that they would pass it to the next generation, and they would pass it to the next generation. Now it tells us why, and this is important: verse 7, «That they may set their hope in God.» There is something about the testimony that conditions or positions a child or an adult to place hope in God. When a trial comes, their instinctive response is, «I’m going to trust God; He’s the God who works wonders. I don’t understand what He will do; I don’t know how He will do it, but I will trust Him.» Where did that come from? It came because the cloud of their heart, so to speak, was seeded with the thought that God is faithful in impossible situations.
Here it says that they may set their hope in God and not forget His works—the works of God—and keep His commandments. Are you guys still alive? You sure you’re still with me? All right. What I want you to notice is that not forgetting the works of God and keeping the commandments, the testimony, and the courage to obey are connected. This is really a big deal because what we do for ourselves, what we do for our children, our grandchildren, sets the stage for them to have courage because it takes courage to obey God. We want courageous obedience, radical obedience out of our lives; that’s what I want. So here He says we keep the testimony going through multiple generations. Why? So that they’ll put hope in God and that they will not forget the works of God and will have the courage to obey Him.
Now He illustrates it in the next three verses. All right, verse 9: «The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law. They forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.» Okay, walk through these three verses with me. Verse 9: «The children of Ephraim are armed.» In other words, they are prepared for battle; they’re skilled, trained, and have all the necessary equipment. He said, «The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.» So why did they turn back? Why did they become cowardly when there was a conflict? Verse 10 tells you: because they didn’t keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law.
How do you know if you’re not walking in obedience? Spiritual warfare is not where you want to be because you become very vulnerable. So they turned back in the day of battle. Why? Because they had not been walking in obedience. Why weren’t they walking in obedience? Verse 11: «They forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them.» There is something about the testimony that instinctively breathes courage for radical obedience into our souls. It’s a part of the process; it’s how we remain strong in our confidence and faith in God.
What happens if we decline in sharing testimonies? Then we see miracles less. If we see miracles less, we expect them less. If we expect them less, we talk about them less. If we talk about them less, we see them less. We expect this downward spiral to the point where miracles become merely a part of our history. Some time ago, God used to do such and such, which is where so much of the church is right now. It was in their history; it was in Israel’s history; it was in the Book of Acts. It was merely the memory of something that happened back then, but it’s not a current reality. It’s not a present-tense experience. The testimony is supposed to invite us into this relational journey where we learn how to take these things that God has said and simply trust Him. We put our lives on the line to take risks to see what He might do, simply because we’ve been built up by the record of the supernatural interventions of God.
I love it when God gives us a glimpse of what He’s doing because it’s fun to gain an understanding, but oftentimes He moves, and I’m just clueless—a clueless observer frantically trying to learn. I’m not a facilitator, in the sense that I make anything happen; I’ve told Him, «I just want to be in the room. It doesn’t have to come from me; I just want to be a part.» There are things that He does. The moment in Dallas when I prayed for this individual, who, with the lightning, God literally went through him from head to toe, and he was completely delivered and healed of schizophrenia. Completely! He came to me a year later, in his right mind, because God brought a miracle to him. He ended up going to Africa and ministered; I think he personally was able to bring liberty and freedom through his own testimony to about 40 people who were considered insane or mentally ill. It’s a testimony!
Imagine being given a priceless gem. How many of you know if someone comes to you and says, «I’ll give you a million dollars if you can wear this ring that’s worth ten million dollars; you can’t lose it, but you have to wear it"—you can’t hide it away? How many of you think, «You’ve got that ring on your hand; you’re going to be looking at it all day long! You’re going to wrap tape; you’re going to do all kinds of stuff to make sure you don’t lose this thing.» All right, I’m aware of the value of what’s on my hand. Are you aware of the value of what’s in your mouth? It’s the record; it’s the revelatory testimony of the heart, the nature, the covenant of God that actually invites people into a personal relationship with Jesus.
When Paul was in trouble, he would revert to his personal story, to his own testimony. It’s not just the miracles of healing; it’s deliverance. Salvation is the greatest miracle of all, and everybody in this room has that kind of a story. I believe that God wants to give us an upgrade. This may sound a little strange, but the whole thing’s been rather strange. If you want to change the atmosphere of a room, go, you know, say to a restaurant, go into a restaurant with three or four people. Sit down and take the first 20 minutes only to share miracle stories. I don’t mean miracle stories to impress people around you but to change the atmosphere because the angelic realm is fascinated by your perspective of Jesus, the Son of God, and they love hearing the stories of what you’ve had happen, what you’ve seen, what you know about Him. They are enthralled by Him, but with every story we share, they catch another glimpse of what He’s like through the eyes of someone who has been redeemed, sharing stories.
I feel like the Lord would give us an upgrade in this area. I am thankful beyond words for what I’ve seen happen—what we’ve seen happen in this room, what we’ve seen happen in our city. It just floors me sometimes. I get in here early on Sunday morning; I just walk around and remember: oh, colon cancer was healed here; a woman after 50 years in a wheelchair gets out right there after a stroke; she walks right over here. MS, multiple sclerosis, was healed; West Nile virus—no, no—M.E. This same person had several conditions they were healed from. Just walk around this room! The guy who was run over by a 14-ton truck—completely crushed his ankle, and he received prayer over here. There’s a pop, and his ankle is completely healed. Just go through the stories, one after the other—the woman who could hardly open her mouth, very little movement, because she broke her jaw ten years earlier. There was very little movement, extreme pain to open her mouth widely, and the dentist didn’t have time to give her any kind of Novocain because of the pain she suffered, and yet one Sunday morning, just simply praying for those with broken bones, she’s instantly completely healed right back over here— a man with prostate cancer was healed; a woman right down here had a tumor in her breast that just simply dissolved. And the stories go on and on and on. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them, but none of them are badges of honor; they’re all records of a God who is willing to work in and through very imperfect people. He just looks for people that value His nature and will give Him the opportunity to do what He does best: work in the impossible.
I’m there on the journey, and I believe in this fall season we have some things coming up in another couple of weeks—three weeks, maybe. We’re going to be targeting this even more—not the testimony side but the miracle route because I believe it’s a season for an upgrade. This is a season for everyone in this room. Jesus asked questions of His disciples once they were bewildered by the challenge that He had just given them. They were beside themselves, and so He then asked them this series of questions that have helped me a lot. He asked His disciples because they were concerned about not having enough food after He had just multiplied food, like the day before. It comforts me to see other people that think as dumb as I do. When it’s in the Bible, I just feel much better. They’re puzzled by this, and Jesus asked them a series of questions. He says, «Can you see?» You can tell they’re not answering; so He says, «Can you hear?» And they’re still just staring, and He says, «Can you remember?» Those questions have helped me incredibly because there are times I’m always trying to see—I’m always trying to see what God is doing. I’m always trying to hear what He is saying.
So let’s just say in a moment like this, I’m just trying to discern what the Lord is doing around the room, and so He comes to me and says, «Can you see?» My heartfelt response is, «No, I don’t see anything.» Then He says, «What can you hear?» Well, my hearing is better than my sight, but at the moment, I don’t hear anything. Then He says, «Can you remember?» Yes, I can remember! I can remember flying back from New Zealand after spending time with a great hero of the faith for me, Winky Pratney, who had a stroke. Part of his brain literally just blew up, and he was completely healed and restored to his right mind. I was on the plane thinking about this miracle of healing and recalling Roland Baker, a wonderful friend of our house, who had X-rays of his brain showing it was dying, but the Lord completely healed him and raised him up.
So I’m thinking on the plane flying back from New Zealand, «These are the two smartest men I have ever met, and God restored their brains. I’ll bet God is healing brains; I’ll bet that’s what He’s doing!» Can you see? I don’t see it, and I don’t hear it, but I can remember. The more I remember, the better I hear, and the more I hear, the better I see. So we came in here on a Sunday, and I called out, «God is healing brains!» Right back here—you remember this, Kevin? You were right back here praying for this young lady who was dying—dying of terminal systemic lupus of the brain. Chris had a word of knowledge about somebody who had a blow to the head. She was right back there, and when she would get up in the morning, sometimes she’d pass out and be unconscious for 30 days, 30 days! She was dying from this disease, and Chris has this word of knowledge and prays. Here’s this moment: «God is healing brains!» And what happens? She’s completely healed!
Her mother looks at her the next morning and says, «You look like you did before the accident!» Before the accident, she then comes to the school of ministry—I think she’s in Oxford right now; she’s in some smart school because she’s a smarty-smart! The Lord healed a young child over here who had a misshapen head because of abuse. He was two years old, I think, and it misshaped; he was very disconnected; he didn’t associate with people. He’d wake up in the morning and be very disconnected, and some of our students prayed for him after this announcement: «God is healing brains.» They prayed for this child! The next morning, the child comes to his mother—what a miracle! He said, «I had a dream last night! I’m okay now!» They examined him, and his head was back to its normal shape. God is healing brains!
Why don’t you stand? Can you see? No, I’m not seeing much. Can you hear? I try; sometimes I hear. Can you remember? Can you remember? Folks, listen to me. You have a responsibility! This is not just a pastoral issue; this is not just a ministry team issue. This is a people of God issue. What have you seen God do? Here’s the great news: you may say, «I’ve hardly ever seen anything happen. I mean, my own testimony is a great miracle, but I’ve never seen healing or deliverance or any of those things, and that’s totally fine.» I had a long season in my life where I’d never seen anything. But there’s a verse in Psalm 119, verse 111, and it makes this statement: «The testimony of the Lord is your inheritance forever.» Think about it: the testimony of the Lord is your inheritance forever! What is the testimony of the Lord? It’s the full record of anything He has ever done on this planet. He did it with Moses; He did it with Elijah, with David, with Paul, with whoever—it’s your story; it’s your testimony.
No, you didn’t get it! The full record of God’s activity with people is your inheritance! Why is that important? Because the Scripture says, «They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb"—there’s the legal basis—and the word of your testimony. So now, the word of my testimony is not just what I have experienced in my life; it includes what you’ve experienced. So I hear your story, and that’s a part of my weaponry; that’s a part of the tools that I use to ensure I walk in victory in this present situation.