Bill Johnson - Developing a Heart That Hears and Understands God's Word
I believe it’s possible and necessary for us to live in continuous anticipation of what God might be saying and what He might be doing. The term we used in the early days is «leaning in.» We would come together night after night after night, and I found myself just leaning into this thought: I know He’s here; I know He’s going to do something wonderful. I don’t know what it is; I just want to cooperate. That’s all. I just want to be able to say yes.
Jesus taught in parables not to illustrate truth. It’s one of the strangest things. I grew up hearing the parables of the Good Samaritan, and the seed and the sower, all these wonderful stories. But as you go through Matthew 13, you find that the disciples asked Him about the parables, and He explained that He teaches in parables so that those who don’t understand won’t understand. Let me rephrase: He hides truth in parables so that those who are not ready to obey will not understand. Because if He increases the knowledge of those who are not ready to obey, He just increases their accountability. It’s the mercy of God for Him to conceal truth and then make it so only the hungry can find it.
So there’s this posture. I used to have a massage chair; I’m going to get another one soon, thank you Jesus. That massage chair was the will of God. You just push the right button and you’re in heaven. That’s all I can say. It’s as if the verse is fulfilled on earth as it is in heaven. I’d be sitting in that chair, and she’d be in another chair, and she’d say, «Honey, I’m growing in the kitchen. Do you want something to eat?» I’d go, «Oh yeah, I’m starving!» I wasn’t starving enough to get out of my chair and go get it. I was starving enough that if the conditions are right and you actually bring it to me, I will consume it.
Many people look for the word of the Lord that way: if it comes to me, if it’s forced upon me, if it comes just right, I will receive it, but I don’t have the courage to get up to pursue. There’s not the leaning in; there’s not the anticipation. What would He say if I told Him yes before He spoke? What would He say if I told Him I will do it no matter what He commanded me to do? There’s an interesting verse in John 7. It says, «If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine or the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority.» Jesus is speaking now. He says anyone who is willing to do His will will know whether the teaching is from God or not.
What does it say? Think through this: if I’m willing to do whatever God says, my hearing will be clearer, and I will be able to distinguish what came from the Father versus what came from a person. The distinguishing gift came through the willingness to obey. Steve, willingness to obey actually positions a person to hear. Now, in John 12 — if you still have your Bibles open to John 12 — you’re very patient people; you get extra points! Alright, verses 23 through 26. Jesus is talking about what it looks like to follow Him. In verse 27, He’s about to go to His death, and He references this.
Jesus speaks in verse 27, «Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose, I came to this hour.» I made a list once, studying through the entire New Testament to find any time Jesus would indicate why He came to earth. It was just fascinating to create that list. For example, 1 John 3:8 says He came to destroy the works of the evil one. There’s a wonderful list: He came to reveal the Father, which you find throughout the Gospel of John. But this one says He came for this purpose: to die on a cross. That’s why He came. He prays this prayer in verse 28, «Father, glorify Your name.» Then a voice came from heaven saying, «I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.»
Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel has spoken to Him. Then Jesus answered and said, «This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake.» Now, no miracles happen in the following verses; He’s just explaining. And then we come to a conclusion in verse 37. «But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him.» That’s fascinating because the more common story throughout the Gospels is that people believe because of the signs, but in this particular case, a crowd had been exposed to the miracles, but it did not bring them to faith.
It did not bring them to surrender, which is supposed to be the purpose — it reveals the heart and nature of God, lays out the covenant of God, and brings the invitation for relationship. That’s the purpose of miracles. And in this case, it says although they had seen the miracles, they did not believe — that’s verse 37. But follow me now; that was their condition before the Father spoke audibly from heaven. Jesus gives this profound explanation. He didn’t speak audibly for my sake; it was for yours. And yet half the crowd heard thunder and the other half thought it was angels, but it wasn’t for them.
In other words, there’s a natural explanation and supernatural activity, but it’s impersonal, and it’s not for me. I can relegate whatever’s going on to, well, who knows what’s going on. But it’s either there’s a natural explanation or there’s supernatural activity; it’s just not for me. I remember people would say that about the revival. They would say, «We know it’s God; it’s just not for me.»
So here’s the picture I’d like to paint for you: here’s a group of people who have been watching Jesus do what He did, and they were not brought to faith. You know you’re brought to faith because you’re brought to surrender. Faith is a result of surrender, not striving. So here they are; they’re not brought to a place of faith like so many others. Instead, they’re in a place of unbelief, which I believe is the ultimate sin — just my opinion. The ultimate sin — the enemy’s attempt is always to lead us into unbelief because in unbelief, we stand in defiance of His nature of perfect faithfulness. I owe Him the response of faith because He is so faithful; anything less is a defiance of His nature. It’s a good point, Bill; just keep going for it.
Alright, so here they are; they’re in this place where they see, they behold, and they are not moved to faith. What’s the other option? Resistance, callousness, hardness of heart. In that condition, Jesus prays this prayer, «Father, glorify Your name.» And the Father speaks audibly to a crowd. Jesus clarifies it: that wasn’t for me; that was for you. To think that the Father didn’t speak clearly violates His own personal standard for how we are to minister. Don’t stand in front of a group of people and preach in tongues; you’re supposed to preach with clarity. We are communicators; tongues has a role; it’s just not for preaching to people.
Are you getting what I’m saying? He gives instruction on clarity of speech, and for Him to speak to a crowd and not be clear on His end violates His own standard. So what does it tell us? It tells us He spoke audibly to a crowd, but their own resistance filtered that voice into thunder and angelic activity. That voice wasn’t for them. I use this illustration because I believe it’s possible and necessary for us to live in continuous anticipation of what God might be saying and what He might be doing. The term we used in the early days is «leaning in.» We would come together night after night after night, and I could find myself just leaning in. I know He’s here; I know He’s going to do something wonderful. I don’t know what it is; I just want to cooperate. That’s all I want. I just want to be able to say yes.
My whole approach in that season, day after day after day, there are two questions I’d ask: number one, did God show up? Number two, did I do what He said? If I could answer yes to those two questions, it didn’t matter how many people came or how many people left. It was a good day because I did what He said; He came, and I did what He said. There’s this anticipation. Some people in the natural speak so softly in a room that you actually find you want to hear them, and you find yourself leaning in, or maybe eavesdropping in the airport. Somebody behind you is talking quietly. The whole point is when we want to hear, we lean in; we lean in, we anticipate; and what the Lord speaks to us in the John 7 passage is that the willingness to obey before He speaks is what attracts His voice into our situation. The two things that I’m looking for today in talking to you about this whole thing are number one, just acknowledge God talks all the time. I’m not always aware of it, but He does. The second thing is, in that position of anticipation, what might God be saying now?