Bill Johnson - Experience and Live From God's Glorious Presence
I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks personally and experientially with the Lord. So, let me just get to it. I really don’t have a teaching; I have an exhortation, an invitation—something I don’t even know what to call it. About ten days ago, I joined the School of Ministry out here under the tent, and we had a wonderful time of worship. However, something started to happen—something that maybe had started before that, but I became unusually aware of the glory of the Lord that began to fill that tent. I could feel it tangibly. I’ve had these experiences throughout my personal journey.
I remember when I pastored in Weaverville; I would often take time just to walk through the sanctuary back and forth when nobody was there. I would worship and pray. I remember there was a little piano there, and I would sit and play a bit, just doing whatever I could to give Him the best offering I could. I recall times where the presence of the Lord became so overwhelming that I’m embarrassed to say it now, but I would quickly think of something else to do. It does not mean that when things come to mind, it’s necessarily the enemy; sometimes the Lord brings things to mind that we need to take care of. However, the intensity of His presence was so strong that I found myself getting nervous, feeling a little anxious, and I didn’t recognize it immediately.
It was later that I started to see that there’s a measure of His presence that we all delight in, one that leads us to great discomfort, which is fine because He is the Comforter. So, in my opinion, He makes you uncomfortable so that you need the comfort, and He’s pretty good at that. There was a story with Moses where he couldn’t go any further until he had done what the Lord commanded him to do. In that case, it was to circumcise his sons. He had gone a certain distance, and then suddenly what was a normal journey became one of life and death. I don’t mean to suggest life and death decisions; although I do think they exist for us, I emphasize that we’re on a relational journey, and there come points in time where He has an agenda, and mine won’t do.
I mean, if you’ve been in this a while, probably for most of us—95% of the people who would be watching—every agenda you have has been shaped by Scripture. It’s not that wanting revival is an evil desire; it’s not. However, in His glory, all my agendas, all my ambitions, all my dreams—lofty as they are—have to take place somewhere outside of this glory, because in His glory, there’s only one thing that matters, and that’s being face to face with Him. I’m not there as a pastor, speaker, writer, or whatever else you may think.
I’m not there in those roles; all those hats are left outside the door. There’s only one hat, and it’s the hat of a son—it’s the only one that works in there. I’ve had a sense of this for quite a while, but it’s becoming more tangible, especially in the last ten days. In that tent with the students, I started to rediscover something that hadn’t been lost—though that would be wrong to say—but there’s always a freshness to His presence that makes it feel like you’ve never had it before. It’s so fresh! There’s always something new about 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 from around 2010 or 2011, when my son Eric was leading the second-year School of Ministry. I don’t remember the exact year, but there was a time when they met at the Twin View campus, our second campus, and the room was packed. I guess there were about 300 students or maybe more. As one of the pastors, I had a time slot where I would go over there and speak, and it was always an incredible privilege. I remember walking in during that five-month period and feeling like I was walking into a cloud. It was like walking into a living cloud, not just fog. It was walking into life itself on a level that was so overwhelming. I remember coming in, sitting in the back—sometimes I made it to the front. I’d sit down, and Eric would be there. This wasn’t just led by a great worship time; those were there, and that’s important, but this was different. It was as though the Holy Spirit, the choir director of Heaven, had entered the room, and He was conducting something.
I remember sitting next to Eric as he looked up at me and asked what I wanted to do. I said, «I’m not touching this; I have absolutely nothing to say.» There are times in the glory where that’s the right response. There’s a word—a word of the Lord that comes forth, and it’s the ultimate moment. You want those moments. I don’t want to suggest that when the manifest presence of Jesus comes in that we don’t speak, and teaching goes out the window; I don’t believe that. I’ve seen the opposite happen. There are moments that are overwhelmingly filled with God Himself, and then a word will come forth, and I absolutely believe in those moments. However, this wasn’t that season; it was five months of coming into a room where it didn’t matter.
It’s strange to say you could have this burden, vision, or desire to preach or pray, but in this living cloud of presence, it just doesn’t matter. I don’t even know how many times I actually spoke during that period; it wasn’t very often. I did a few times, but I encountered Jesus a lot. I encountered the love of God, even through people. There was such an unusual interaction during those times. 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, effort, or determination; it’s in the glory that it fits. The reason is that’s what we were designed for. Everything about me that is of Him was designed to fit seamlessly in the glory. I’m wired for that, and so are you. Every born-again believer is wired to recognize Him and respond to Him. Part of that response is obedience. Obedience is the most natural thing in the world in His presence.
Imagine Isaiah 6, where Isaiah says, «I saw the Lord; He was high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.» This overwhelming baptism of presence is where he sees the Throne of God, and then he hears God saying—not to him but in conversation in Heaven—"Who will I send?» There’s something in the glory that is not just to absorb and walk away blessed; it’s to be impacted so that we impact everything around us. When the Lord asked, «Who will I send?» I say, «I’ll go.» I can always tell when people are truly in the glory because they want to serve. You can want to serve without being in the glory, but when you do, the heart of God launches you. It’s not my ministry goals that matter; it’s not me fighting to have my gift expressed or appreciated. All that stuff just dies; it’s so unimportant in that moment. It’s embarrassing to discuss it, because in that moment, all you know is that you hear a heartbeat, and that heartbeat has become yours. Something shifts and changes at least in this moment in how you see life.
I remember that five-month period as though it was yesterday because it feels like yesterday. About ten days ago, in the tent with the students last Sunday night, we had the same kind of moment. I don’t know; maybe we’re just built for tents. I don’t fully understand it, but I know that last Sunday night, I experienced it again. He was there, and that’s all you know. That’s what the glory is: the manifest presence of Jesus. He was just there. You might say, «Well, He’s here now with me.» That’s true; I get that. However, there are so many dimensions of His presence that no matter what you’re experiencing, there’s more. The key to more is to steward what you’ve been given. It doesn’t matter if it’s money, anointing, or gifting; 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 in the mountains that I would become nervous and find something else to do. I don’t say this in shame or embarrassment; I’m just stating reality. There’s no increase in that moment; I’ve found my limit. So, somehow, coming into that place of presence again and again requires that whatever is in me 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; I have many dreams for us. I don’t want to make it overly simple, but there’s a 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: «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; it’s a partnership 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—"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, and 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, experience, routines, and disciplines. They all shout to the past. However, there’s something that is always expanding in His presence—it’s this intangible thing called the glory of God that is always deepening.
Honestly, I don’t think we ever arrive. I have a feeling that Heaven is going to be one continuous journey deeper into glory, and there is no limit. It’s not like the Father says, «That’s all there is; sorry, you’ll have to exist the next hundred billion years with what you have.» It’s just this unending journey into His presence and glory. Ephesians 2 speaks of the riches of His grace, which is one of the expressions of glory. In that phrase, He says that in the ages to come, we will discover the surpassing riches of His grace. The ages to come refer to the billions of years ahead of us in eternity, during which there will be continuous unveiling of deeper levels of this mystery called grace, and that mystery of grace always introduces us to glory.
We find different stories in Scripture that rock me, and I assume they do you as well. One of them is 2 Chronicles chapter 5. It captures this amazing moment in the dedication of the temple. Solomon had… well, let me back up. David, his dad, discerned that there was a shift—specifically, it was a shift in worship. David perceived a reality that existed in Heaven that was not discovered in the law; it was not revealed in the law. He 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 wasn’t important for that season, but it had its limits and measure of impact. It was not where God’s people were going to land; it was on the sacrifice of animals. That was not the landing point; that was the illustration that got them ready for the real Lamb of God, who once and for all settled the issue. Somehow, David discovered this in his journey with the Lord, and the prophets Nathan and Gad confirmed what he was picking up.
Later in Chronicles, it says he picked up this shift in worship, and 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 was looking for people to put themselves on the altar as an offering to Him. It’s not because He’s an egotist needing our affirmation; He’s quite secure. He doesn’t need anything. I hear people say He needs our love; He doesn’t need our love—He’s very self-sufficient in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They make a good team; they don’t need anything, but they desire many things. They desire my heart because it adds something to them that nothing else and everything they’ve made could add. He desires yours, and it’s that wonderful, beautiful expression of turning our attention and affection toward Him. It’s a war for attention because the enemy wants to dilute our 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 feels like everything else is just 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 between my surrendered heart and His heart for me is just the most beautiful thing. When Solomon became king, he built a temple. Many of us are familiar with this truly wonderful story; he built it with the materials that David set aside for him. Solomon gets credit for this extravagant building, but it was David’s wealth that built it; he set the stuff aside. This father-son dynamic is unique as I can find in history where this revival that David was experiencing increased in the next generation with Solomon. Tragically, Solomon didn’t sustain it; otherwise, everything would be different. But for a brief season, there was an acceleration. They learned the value and beauty of ministering directly to the Lord, not just for the Lord.
They still had to do the blood sacrifices because there had to be that point of obedience, and they had to keep sight of the fact that sin is only dealt with through blood. It had to be established in their thinking, and yet here’s the rub—the blood of bulls and goats can’t deal with it; it only postpones the penalty for one more year. There’s this constant reminder that they need the Lamb of God. The law was given as a tutor to lead them to Christ. All of this is part of that journey, but throughout it, they got to taste moments of grace. Grace was not just introduced in the New Testament; it’s seen all through the Old Testament. There are just moments where there’s no other explanation but that God had mercy on Abraham and considered him righteous because he believed—grace. It became the model of every New Testament believer and happened before the law.
Another example comes from Nehemiah’s day. In Nehemiah 8, they found the Scriptures again. They had probably not seen them for a generation or more. They were standing in the open square, and everyone was there—kids, babies, infants. Everyone stood at attention as the word was read, and an overwhelming conviction came upon the people because they realized God’s standard was here, and their lifestyles were down here. They began to weep and mourn because they didn’t qualify. The priests ran among the people and said to stop mourning; this day is holy. I don’t know how you grew up, but I grew up thinking mourning and holy were synonymous. The more you wept, the more you illustrated how holy the moment was. The tears of mourning defiled the holiness of God in that moment. The priests ran among the people, telling them to stop it, stop it. «Send portions to those who have nothing; grab your food, your meat, your wine, and start rejoicing because you understood the words.»
That’s stunning! God’s standard is here, my lifestyle is here, and God says, «The time to rejoice is when you understand that.» It changes everything! You actually rejoice your way into maturity. It sounds like a child; most of us need to grow down instead of grow up. Fast forward to Solomon’s day; he builds the temple, which was likely the most extravagant building that ever existed—I would love to see it. Here’s the moment; the priests have come together. Remember Exodus 19:6 and Isaiah 61:7—the Lord announces to the people of God, «You shall be priests unto the Lord.» 1 Peter 2:9 says, «You are priests unto the Lord.» The Old Testament pointed to the future, saying it’s going to happen. Peter and the Book of Revelation, chapter 1, announce that it is now—not coming.
You have the right and responsibility to minister directly to Him, so everything we see of that nature in the Old Testament is to seed the clouds, to give insight. The Levites who were singing—those of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun—with their sons and brethren stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen. They had to wear linen because if they wore wool, they would sweat, and you couldn’t do anything through your own works or sweat in the presence of God. Everything was to be by grace; here’s another glimpse—you’re never there by your works. It was insisted upon by the Lord. They had cymbals, stringed instruments, harps, and with them 120 priests sounding trumpets. Man, that had to be something! I mean, there were entire family lines; their whole job was just to play trumpets.
Then you think about it—it almost seems silly. Another family line were singers. Another group was just for symbols; the point was that they had to become excellent at what they were doing and carry that mantle throughout their family line. That’s awesome—120 priests sounding trumpets. It came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. When they lifted up their voice with the trumpets, cymbals, and instruments of music and praised the Lord, saying, «For He is good, for His mercy endures forever,» the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house.
What did we read in Haggai? «The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former.» It’s always His intent to take us from glory to glory. Anything less is man’s influence; it’s always His intent to take us from glory to glory. That doesn’t come because it’s my goal; it comes because I surrender to His. Here in this moment, we find I don’t know how many are there. There are at least 120 who are playing trumpets; there are probably the same number or more that are singers. You’ve got the cymbals, stringed instruments—all this stuff. So you have this massive crowd, and they are all playing not for the nation of Israel but for the audience of One, directly to Him. Every strum, every clanging cymbal, every syllable lifted up in song—it’s all for the One.
When that happened, and it became a united sound, the cloud came and filled the temple. Nobody had to stand up and say, «I think it would be appropriate if we went to our knees right now just to honor the Lord.» I believe those moments are fine; I’ve done it and probably will do it again. But it wasn’t that kind of a moment; it was an involuntary act of hiding one’s face from the One who just entered the room. This all happened under an inferior covenant. Inferior covenants do not release superior blessings. If what happened in that context took place in the Old Testament, when they were just learning how to sing to the Lord and honor Him through offerings and praise, then how much more has He not designed it to happen with us?
I remember a prophetic song we had in Weaverville, which was the song of the Lord, where the Lord Himself was singing. I didn’t hear His voice, but we heard it through another voice. I remember the word saying, «Did I not fill the tabernacle of Moses with My glory? Did I not fill the temple of Solomon with My glory? How much more should I fill the place that I build with My own hands, My beloved?» I’m building you. No matter what we throw into the mix, our ambitions for our family, countries, or cities, just put it all in the pile. Everything is profoundly impacted by the glory. Where is this thing headed? I can’t shake the fact that His goal is for the whole earth to be filled with His glory.
Now, He’s God; He could make that happen now, but it would be a military invasion. It wouldn’t be through partnership. His longing is always to accomplish significant things through co-laboring with the yielded people—the ones who have been made in His image, created in His image, responding with His heart to model, illustrate, release, and activate His will on Earth. That’s the heart of God; that’s the privilege we have in this hour. We know His heart—I may be confused by a thousand things, but the one thing that isn’t confusing, if I read this, is that He has me on a track. It’s not a road where I can take directions I want; it’s a railroad track. You can stop or go backward, but you can’t change the assigned direction. The direction is from glory to glory.
I remember I’ve been sentimentally stirred up in the last week or so in my own little world, remembering a Sunday sitting right down there where my son Brian was leading worship. He might have played two chords—I’ve always said it was just one, but maybe there was a second chord too. Something happened at that second chord where He filled the room, and we didn’t get to our first song for 40 minutes. No one was keeping track; it was only after the fact. Why? Because something happens when He comes in. Everything important to you becomes impossible to remember. It’s not like you say, «I’ll bring it up later.» No, you can’t remember it in the manifest presence of the King of Glory. Suddenly, there’s only one thing on your mind; it’s what you were born for.
I was born for this seamless interaction between the King of Glory who has made me qualified when I could never qualify myself. He’s qualified me to be here in this moment. It’s in those moments that we hear Him say, «Who shall I send?» Without even thinking, our hands go up. People who tell me they love to worship the Lord and don’t like to leave that place—I’m not sure they’ve seen Him yet. I’m not sure they’ve actually seen Him, because I’m not sure you can see His heart and not want to go. I don’t know if it’s possible to sit in that moment where you see Him, where there’s an overwhelming sense of who He is and what He’s like, and He says, «Who shall I send?» and you find your hand going up. «I’ll do it! You name it; I’m there.»
I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I trust you. «Go with me; I’ll go.» I’m not sure that anyone who just wants to sit there and do nothing has actually seen what they claim to see. There’s something about that moment of going; the glory never leaves you. It’s not like you’re departing the glory; it’s like you’re entering into a greater realm of glory because you will be an instrument in His hand. Perhaps that’s how the whole earth becomes filled with His glory, as people in His presence carry the presence to bring change. I believe I teach a lot about unfulfilled dreams and the desires we have—I believe they’re meaningful to God. I do. I haven’t changed my tune at all, but strangely, I’ve been apprehended again for something way bigger than us. I love you, but this is bigger than us.
I remember that one Sunday morning where Brian hit that second chord, and I don’t know how to describe what happened. Afterward, in the moment, you don’t know what to do; afterward, you look back and go… He just walked into the room, and that was the moment. I’ll never forget that. We’ve only had that happen on that level one time in 25 years. I remember a Sunday night where the worship team was playing, and it was another one of those moments where the glory just came in. Everybody up here just stopped; everybody out here just stopped. It was as if we were suspended in time. You know how people can get nervous when nothing’s happening? Like especially in Pentecostal circles, someone needs to pray in tongues or prophesy, laugh, get out, dance, or do something. We get nervous with blank spaces.
There was no nervousness in that blank space; He filled it. He just came into the blank space, and suddenly, you didn’t have to tell people to turn their affection to Him. There was just silence. I don’t remember ever hearing silence for that long in a crowd that likes to make noise. It was like the ultimate offering was just to be quiet, but nobody said or suggested it. It was just what you do when He enters the room. You find everything that you could think of to say is completely meaningless. I’m hungry for that again. I’ve tasted it in the last ten days at levels and measures that I haven’t had for a while, and it tells me that we’re being set up, and it’s going to be good.
But it won’t be about you, and it won’t be about me. He has set something in motion, and He wants us to see that He was absolutely serious when He said, «The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former.» The context was there were people who saw the temple before it was destroyed and then rebuilt. They remembered both; the first one built by Solomon was just incredibly glorious, while the second one wasn’t near as beautiful. So you had two groups of people—some were laughing for joy because the temple was built, and others were weeping, saying, «Man, it’s nothing like it used to be.»
The prophecy was very specific; in other words, what you see over here is not it. I’m going to do something in the earth that is going to be far more glorious than even Solomon’s temple, which silenced and stunned the nations' leaders. God will do it again in His house, and that’s you, and that’s me. I feel like there’s an invitation. I wasn’t sure how to label this talk, this conversation today, but to me, I can’t talk about it without feeling invited, without feeling compelled.
Dissatisfaction is a holy gift. See, sometimes our satisfaction in the absence of revival is what prohibits it. Sometimes the absence of the manifest presence of the King of Glory, along with my satisfaction in those moments, may be the very thing that propels that glory. Here’s an invitation: I’d like for everyone watching to join me in this very simple prayer. «God, I can’t make myself suitable, but I can surrender.» There are people watching who don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the most unusual message to invite you into the family, but I’m doing it anyway. In this moment, some of you in your homes will sense a presence you’ve never seen before—never felt, never realized before—but it’s happening now. I sensed early this morning that there would be an encounter with the Lord Himself in your home.
I love the corporate gathering, but see—it was in my one-on-one encounters that helped me realize the corporate stuff. Wherever you are, some of you have never surrendered to Jesus. I want you to simply pray this prayer, and in the online chat room, tell somebody what you’ve done: «God, I give you my entire life so that You would be glorified. Do in me whatever pleases You, that Your name would be exalted. Do in my family, in my home, that which delights Your heart.» The Scripture says the Lord speaks at one point: «I am not ashamed to be called their God.»
I would love to see the Lord of Glory stand over your household and shout to everything that exists, «I am not ashamed to be called their God.» There’s something about to be released in the earth, and it’s through surrendered people. So, Father, we pray right now. I ask that You would use this overwhelming sense of presence to disciple us, that You would teach us this way, that we would never be satisfied with anything less than You. Again, like Moses, we want to say, «If You’re not taking us, we don’t want to go from here. We don’t want to go with just blessings; we don’t want to go just with favor and open doors. If Your presence isn’t what makes us different from everyone else, then we don’t want to go anywhere.»
So I’m praying that for us—us, this tribe, this family, the Bethel family all over the world—mark us with Your glory, God. I invite You to interrupt our dream time; teach us what You like. Open up new pathways of discernment and perception in our bodies, our hearts, and our minds. Expand our ability to recognize You, the Glorious One. The glory of God has become known in the earth; that’s what we want. So I invite You to do that with us as a family. I give You thanks. Amen. If you invited Jesus into your life, please tell someone in the chat room. If you’re a believer who has really found yourself fighting with what God is saying and doing, pray with somebody in the chat room as well. We just want everyone to have this ongoing encounter with King Jesus. Amen. God bless you. Thank you for joining us. Love you all!