Bill Johnson - How the Holy Spirit Helps You Find Deliverance
I cannot overemphasize the importance of learning to live with continuous affection for the person of the Holy Spirit. There’s something about that abiding presence; it’s not just that He protects us. The closer I stay to His heartbeat, the more I know what to do in a difficult moment. Verse 3: «Surely, He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.» To me, this implies that the fowler would set a trap to catch a bird. He will deliver you from the snare; it implies that maybe you got caught in the snare, and He’s going to release you. So, if you didn’t get the protection you were supposed to have to keep you from the snare, once you’re in it, He’s going to release you. The whole point is that all of you watching—some of you are in absolute divine health; others of you are struggling. He will deliver you from the snare. If you got caught in this snare, it’s not shame; it’s not condemnation. We live in a world of sin, and we get exposed to stuff, and it’s not your fault. The good news is He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
Verse 4: «He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings, you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler.» A buckler is a small shield, so it’s more of a hand-to-hand combat type picture. All right, I always quote this verse when people complain about feathers appearing in our meetings. «He shall cover you with His feathers.» Well, that’s not literal, and I’d say, I know that’s what I thought!
All right, verse 5: «You shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor of the arrow that flies by day.» This is important; the distinction in the New Testament is that the arrows are the enemy’s thoughts. You remember the example of the armor of God? The shield of faith is to absorb the thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and temptations—the junk that the enemy throws our way. So that’s what the arrow comes during the day when you’re alive and thinking. At night, it’s the terror, and He’s distinguishing; if you go to bed with fear, you are embracing the thought that something could happen in the night. It’s that foreboding spirit that Chris deals with a lot—the expectation or anticipation of something wrong happening: «Oh man, I hope something bad doesn’t happen to this person or that person.» That foreboding spirit is the terror in the night.
And so the Lord is actually equipping us to take a position: shield and buckler. The shield of faith absorbs the stuff that comes at us during the day, but we do it so well that when it’s time to go to bed, we can sleep in rest knowing that He will defend us. Now I’m going to throw in a word; it’s not a biblical word. It’s one of the two times in my life I’ve had the Lord wake me up in the middle of the night with His voice. It happened about, oh goodness, 23 years ago—shortly after we came to Redding. We’ve been here, I think, 24 maybe 25 years; I lose track—24 years this last month. So, about 23 years ago, I was awakened in the night with this phrase: «He watches over the watch of those who watch the Lord.»
Of course, we know, in pondering after I heard that, He awakened me with that voice. I don’t ever want to equate that with Scripture; I’m just saying He spoke something to me that was important for me to hear in that season but also right now. He watches over the watch. We know what a watchman is; a watchman is positioned on a wall to see what might be coming toward the city. Good news: we have people coming in to trade; they open the gates. Bad news: we have people trying to sneak into the city to kill, steal, and destroy. The watchman keeps that away, and this verse said He will watch over my watch if I’ll watch Him. So this terror by night is that we go to sleep literally with our eyes on Him, knowing that He will watch our watch on our behalf.
Amen! Bill, that was an excellent point. All right, verse 6 is basically the same: nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, the destruction that lays waste at noon day. Verse 7: «A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked.» I want to be careful here. First of all, the judgment verses in the Old Testament—I don’t want to ignore them; I don’t want to wash them away and pretend they don’t exist. That’s not healthy, nor is it accurate. Whenever I see a person who lives in corruption and evil, it doesn’t matter how deep they are lost; I always pray for mercy. I don’t care how lost they are, how demonized they are, or if they call themselves devil worshipers. That makes no difference to me; I’m going to pray for the mercy of God.
But I will let you in on a secret: in my prayer, «Lord, if they absolutely refuse to repent and they will not turn, then please use Your dealings with them to release the fear of God to the people of God and awaken us to this reality.» Now, another thing I need to say is that just because you have difficulty or are struggling, or you’re sick, or whatever, that’s not the judgment of God. All right, to anybody watching online here, we’re going to pray for this at the end; it’s not the judgment of the Lord—that’s not what He’s doing. This is quite a different deal here.
All right, verse 9: «Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,» referring back to verse one, «No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.» For He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways. Let’s go back over verse 10 and 11 again, and I’m sorry, verse 9. Here’s a reason: «Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil shall befall you, nor any plague come near your dwelling.» Stop right there. I just want to re-emphasize learning to live in the manifestation of the presence of God— the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. I cannot overemphasize the importance of us learning to live with continuous affection for the person of the Holy Spirit.
There’s something about that abiding presence. It’s not just that He protects us; the closer I stay to His heartbeat, the more I know what to do in a difficult moment. The disciples came to Jesus and said, «Why couldn’t we cast the demon out of the child?» Jesus says it only comes out with prayer and fasting. And He didn’t pray or fast. Why? Because the tenderness, the closeness, was already there; the devil was on His shoulder and remained, so there was a continuous ongoing relationship and awareness of the Spirit of God. He didn’t need to turn aside. What is fasting for? It’s to refine our focus. It’s to say no to other appetites so that we can truly hunger for the reality of the unseen promises of God that are to become manifest. That’s what it is; fasting is refining focus.
Jesus didn’t fast in the moment; why? He lived with a refined focus; He lived with the connection to the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. So this promise here is not just this casual, «The Holy Spirit is with us always» thing; it’s the invitation to develop an awareness of the Spirit of God upon our life in such a way. It’s not just to protect me from plagues; it’s to keep me in the center of what He’s doing on planet Earth. It makes me the offensive weapon, if you will—the one who can bring hope in hopeless situations, the one who refuses to cower in the face of threat and disease and all the junk that goes on, unwilling to cower. I will not give honor to a disease; I will not give honor to a disease. Cancer is with a small C; Jesus is a capital J. Always keep it big. It may seem silly to you, but that’s what’s going on in my head.