Bill Johnson - How to Find God's Word for Your Situation in the Bible
Hallelujah! Nice to see you. I want to strongly encourage you to get your tickets early for this Festival of Cultures. It is such an outrageously fun event we have at the Civic every year. Just being able to taste all the different cultures represented in our school and church is fantastic. I forget how many countries are here now; I think it’s over 50. I know that you think it’s in the 70s—it’s a whole bunch! You get to taste food you never thought you would eat in your life. I’m a foodie, so I like the fact that I can go to the fins and get a piece of whale. I mean, it’s just not something you run into here. There aren’t many whales around, but you can get a little whale meat and a little of this and that. Oh, it’s just a lot of fun! So I encourage you to get your tickets already—don’t wait until the last minute. It helps our team to handle everything quickly.
Also, one of the team members was sharing with me this morning about the dramatic increase in testimonies that are financial in nature. Ever since the series I did on Prosperity with a Purpose, there’s been a notable rise. So I just want to declare that and release it—it’s just going to increase all the more. This isn’t a temporary shot in the arm; it’s momentum that God is creating through a transformation in our thinking. The Lord has purpose for increase, and it’s been very encouraging for me to hear the stories because there are some pretty fun ones.
So bless you! Thanks for what you do. Benny and I had two situations in the last year and a half—maybe two years at the most—where we gave friends who were really in trouble financially a fairly substantial gift. The only reason I mention it is that both reported back to me that after the gift, a whole bunch of other things opened up for them. It caused a domino effect. I want you to think in terms of loaves and fishes feeding the multitude. When we measure what we’re capable of doing against the need, we become hesitant, not realizing that God can take what we do, add His momentum to it, breathe on it, and it multiplies in its effectiveness.
In both of these situations, there were issues with income. Long story short, but in both situations, as soon as the gift came, suddenly favor increased with jobs, income, and employment opportunities. Investment opportunities began to flourish in their lives. I believe that’s what happens when you and I step outside of our convenience. Offerings are important, but the offerings we do here are symbolic—they represent a lifestyle and an attitude we carry into restaurants when we look at the waitstaff, the owners, the people who take care of us in hotels, the individuals who repair our vehicles, and our interactions with neighbors and coworkers.
The generosity of heart just says, «You know what? I serve a God of abundance. There are no limitations on what He is willing to flow through me.» I am alive as a generous individual, ready to contribute whatever God pours into me, and there’s something about that that recalibrates our effectiveness in our city. I want to see more and more of this city blessed. So, anyway, I got real happy with these two stories and I didn’t remember if I had ever shared them with you, so I thought this was my excuse.
I have one other story I need to read to you. I don’t know if I’ve read this one to you or not, so if I have, pretend like it’s brand new and you really like it: Young Johnny bought a donkey from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day, he drove up and said, «Sorry, son. I have some bad news—the donkey died.» Johnny replied, «Well then, give me my money back.» The farmer said, «I can’t do that; I already spent it.» Johnny said, «Okay, then bring me the dead donkey.» The farmer asked, «What are you going to do?» Johnny said, «I’m going to raffle him.» «You can’t raffle a dead donkey!» said the farmer. «Sure I can! Watch me! I won’t tell anyone he’s dead.» A month later, the farmer met up with Johnny and asked, «What happened with that dead donkey?» Johnny said, «I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at $2 each and made a profit of $898.» The farmer said, «Didn’t anyone complain?» Johnny said, «No, just the guy who won, so I gave him his $2 back.»
I’m a little concerned this may be giving you some ideas. I’m a bit worried about that, yeah. Every small child is going, «We won’t read this in children’s church.» Grab your Bibles and open to Romans 15, if you would, please—Romans chapter 15.
I want to do something a little different today in that I want to teach a bit out of Romans 15, but my target is quite a bit bigger than just giving you a message. I really want to stir up hunger for the Word of God, for the Scriptures. I love the Bible so much! I will not avoid reading Scripture consistently, regularly, daily—ingesting the Word and letting the Word read me. I just won’t avoid it. It’s something that I hunger for, something that I crave. I just found an app here recently via my wife that reads portions of Scripture audibly, and I’ve been able to go through the entire book of Acts in recent weeks just driving to and from the office. It’s like taking a shower the whole time you drive—you’re just getting bathed in the Word of God.
We had a crisis here just a month or so ago with our daughter Leah, and many of you joined us in prayer. We’re very grateful and thankful that the Lord really spared her life. My mom was in a real crisis as well, and many of you prayed. When I was in Taiwan and heard the news, my first response was obviously prayer, but I told my wife, «We need a word from God. We’ve got to find out what God is saying.» I immediately turned to Scripture and began to look at passages of promise that the Lord had given us in the past. I was just reading, asking the Lord to speak to us, because we’re dead without His voice. We have nothing without the Word of God.
I’ve noticed something recently: how many of you have your iPhone with the Bible on it, or whatever other phone you have? The iPad—I’ve got so many Bibles in every device I own. My goodness, it’s impressive! I’ve got study tools; I can look up a verse, push a number, and it gives me the most detailed word study and commentary. It’s just fun—this is Christian recreation at its finest! I love the Word of God.
But what I noticed is that I’ve been reading the Bible primarily off my iPad for the last year, and as wonderful as that is, I found it wasn’t healthy for me to not have a relationship with the pages. For whatever it’s worth, knowing it’s on the left side of the page, first column, halfway down—that’s priceless! We need to do a commercial: like Visa or one of these, «That’s priceless!» It’s being able to know your way around, and if you have a Bible that’s too good to write in, then throw it away and buy one you can write in.
I remember some years ago hearing about a dear friend of ours from Weaverville named Buck Steel. Buck had literally fried his brain from drugs; he couldn’t put thoughts together and couldn’t concentrate on anything. He just couldn’t function normally in life—his brain was destroyed. But the Lord spoke to him after he got saved, encouraging him that if he would memorize Scripture, God would heal his mind. He began to focus on one scripture, memorizing, working hard with the smallest part. The Lord began to heal his mind. He is now a brilliant creative individual, fully restored.
I talked to someone in this environment who had the exact same thing happen; their brain was destroyed because of drug abuse. When they began to memorize Scripture, the Lord healed their mind. This book is alive! James Goll made a statement on Instagram that I think is priceless: he said, «Complaining about a silent God while your Bible is closed is like complaining about not getting a text when your phone is turned off.» That makes sense! This is how the Lord speaks through and to us—faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes from hearing, but where does the capacity to hear come from? I’m glad you asked! It comes right here, from the Word of God.
What I want to do today is try to connect these three thoughts in Romans 15, because Paul is building something for us that crescendos into the demonstration of the power of the Gospel, essential for the transformation of individuals' lives and the healing of a society and culture.
In verse 4, he says, «For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction.» What is he talking about? He’s talking about the fact that their only Bible in that day was the Old Testament. It’s amazing they could live so well and victoriously while reading the Law and Prophets. The Lord caused that to be the root system, if you will, of the good news we have. Of course, we have the full canon of Scripture—the Gospels, the Epistles—that which was written for us in the New Testament to illustrate and make practical what they were discovering as they studied Old Testament Scripture.
What they had to read was Genesis through Malachi. Here he says, «What was written in earlier times was for our instruction; it was for our edification.» It was for God assisting us to come into New Testament realities. One of the joys for me, and this may be off subject, is finding the grace of God in the Old Testament. It is all through it! One of the big challenges we have as New Testament believers is to consider what ended at the cross, what was changed by the cross, and what made it through the cross unchanged. Those three realities exist as you move from Old Testament to New.
What stopped at the cross? Animal sacrifices. What was changed at the cross? The Sabbath went from a day to a lifestyle. What went unchanged at the cross? Davidic worship—the worship of music celebrating the goodness and greatness of God prophesied in Amos 9 and affirmed in Acts 15 as a present-day reality.
So as I encourage you, and try to summon you into a student’s heart and mindset, know that the Old Testament is filled with—oh boy! Excuse me! I think I just got free from a little tickle—sorry about that!
The Lord has given us a full plate in Old Testament Scripture. He says, «Through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.» The Amplified puts it well: «For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by our steadfast and patient endurance and encouragement drawn from the Scriptures we might hold fast and cherish hope.»
What’s the point? Here’s what you have to see: it’s the power and necessity of a hope-filled life. The target is hope throughout this chapter. The aim is that you would be infectious in hope, and the beginning of this hope is rooted in Scripture. It is the revelation of God’s good news, revealing the perfect Father that draws each of us into our potential—the fact that His face shines over us. He delights in us!
Lamentations 3 tells us He leaps in the air and dances, twisting and turning in joy and celebration over you! The discovery of that ignites something in our hearts that is irreplaceable; it cannot be obtained any other way than through the knowledge of what the Father is like in His celebration of us. This is the good news!
One of our young mothers was praying here several years ago and shared this with Chris. After a time of prayer, she mentioned that the Lord spoke to her, saying, «The person with the most hope has the most influence.» Think about that! The person with the most hope has the most influence. If you want to know who can shape the values of those molders and decision-makers in culture, it’s the people demonstrating the greatest hope. There’s no group of people with access to greater hope than us—those who are born again have reason for absolute joy ahead of time, because we’ve seen what He promises. The anchor is hope!
So here is God getting us rooted in the encouragement and strength that comes from Scripture. Look down at verse 13: «Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.» Now we have a connection here; we have something starting in Scripture that crescendos into an explosive demonstration of hope made possible through the power of God.
Power is essential to demonstrate this message. Without power, it isn’t good news! It is essential that power is demonstrated. Throughout all of the Scriptures, there’s a process for how and why the power of God is demonstrated. It has never been for our entertainment. It’s bizarre that people would come to Jesus; picture this: you’re sitting in the crowd, He’s been healing the sick, multiplying food, and while He’s doing this, people come up to Him testing Him, wanting Him to show them a sign. Think about it! They challenged Him to do that while He was already doing signs. What were they doing? They wanted Him to perform for them, while He was healing and delivering people out of compassion.
God never reduces His power to the will of humanity; it is always to restore, heal, and deliver. Now, let’s move to the heart of the Scripture I want to look at in verse 17: «Therefore, I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things pertaining to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me.» Stop there; that’s a double negative—they cancel each other out! It means I dare to speak of those things which Christ has accomplished through me. What is he doing? He’s bragging on God by telling the complete story. It’s amazing to me because God sent Paul to the Gentiles.
Now, this may mean little to you, but here’s something that fascinates me: Paul, the rabbi, the theological genius trained by Gamaliel, cultured by him, and God says, «I want you to minister primarily to the Gentiles.» Then He takes Peter, a rather rough-cut fisherman, not as eloquent or as knowledgeable in theology, and God says, «I’m going to raise you up, and your primary mission is to the Jew.» That’s divine humor, right?
What is He doing? God actually sees our strengths and our weaknesses. Sometimes He chooses what you’re the weakest at to move through; He demonstrates His strength through our weaknesses. He takes Paul and gifts him to minister to Gentiles. So he boldly goes into environments, like Ephesus, where they worshipped the queen god Diana. The things going on in that town are appalling. He goes into Corinth, where we know what took place with the prostitutes at the temple and the worship of false gods, and yet he walks into these environments, completely unscathed, preaching a gospel with power because that message brings deliverance.
It’s rooted in the Scriptures, moves into a power encounter that ignites hope and brings it onto a supernatural level that becomes contagious! It’s not just positive thinking; it’s literally hope that becomes infectious. Now we have Paul bragging about this glorious work of God in verse 18: «I dare not speak of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed.»
In his message and in his actions—the context, which I’ll prove to you in a moment, is that «deed» is not merely feeding the poor. As valuable as that is, it’s not just about good works; in this context, «deed» refers specifically to demonstrations of miracle power. He says, «I’m not going to brag on anything He hasn’t done through me. I’m only going to talk about what I’ve seen through Him where He enabled me to minister in word and in supernatural miraculous power that complemented the Word in such a way that Gentiles became obedient to God.»
The outcome was that the target was reached because there was an adequate demonstration of God’s love—not just promising an eternity in the future but giving them a taste of Heaven now, where everything that afflicted them was broken off their lives. This is the Gospel—in word and deed!
Yes, that’s a combination you’ll find throughout the Scriptures. I often mark verses that carry «word» and «deed» in the same phrase because our culture allows for words from one person and perhaps deeds from another. Our culture lets you go to business school, get a degree, and be taught by people who never owned a business. But Hebrew culture is rooted in the concept that experience is knowledge.
When Dr. Luke wrote the book of Acts, he started in chapter 1 with, «This is an account, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach.» With Jesus, there are always joined together declarations of the Word and demonstrations of power. You teach, followed with miracles. Miracles need to be associated with the preaching of the Word, or you can have miracles and then explain what just happened. This is an account of all that Jesus began to do and teach.
Nicodemus, the great priest who came to Jesus at one point, was so moved by what he had seen in Jesus that he said, «We know that you’re a teacher come from God because no one can do these signs unless God is with him.» We know that you’re a teacher—word, signs!
Mark’s Gospel ends with the last verse in Mark 16, which illustrates this well. I believe it says, «They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs.» What’s the point? The point is to declare a word He can say «Amen» to! You wouldn’t do this, so forgive me, but this message that soothes us for a day without dealing with the devil that’s involved with the problem—while it may make us feel a little better—is not the message.
The message is: the King has come! His Kingdom is present, and every enemy of the Gospel is to be defeated through our lives. This is a present tense reality—it is not a someday message; it’s a right now message! Yes!
So he says in verse 19, «Mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit.» That’s how it happened—by the power of the Spirit. «So that from Jerusalem, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.» I remember when I was on staff here at Bethel with my dad back in the 70s—specifically from 1973 to 1978. I remember him coming to the church once, and a phrase was used a lot in the Christian Full Gospel community. He had a pastor friend in town from another denomination that wouldn’t agree with some of the things we believe about miracles or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He was really honest and transparent with my dad, saying, «When you guys use that term 'Full Gospel, ' it implies you have the full message and we only have part,» and he said that was offensive. My dad stood up before the church and said, «I’ll never use that phrase again! I don’t want to create an 'us and them' mentality or imply that there are haves and have-nots.» There’s a certain arrogance that creeps into that approach.
I’ve noticed that it doesn’t matter where I go in the world or to which group of believers I’m with; it doesn’t matter the denomination. When they are experiencing God, there’s always an attitude that we are in the middle of what God is doing in the earth, and it would be cool if everyone could learn from us—because it’s hard to imagine that God is doing something as great somewhere else. But how many of you are smart enough to say, «Yeah, we probably have just a small piece of the pie, and God’s doing pretty significant things all over the earth?»
I want to ensure that we don’t use terminology that isolates or degrades another believer who is walking with God and seeking His purpose and will in the earth. Now, I’m going to contradict myself—sorry! Hold that tension. You can’t go up; instead, you go low. You receive by giving, right? You live by dying. You can’t discover your significance until you first discover your insignificance.
In verse 19, he says, «Mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God.» I have fully preached the Gospel, which requires a demonstration of power. It doesn’t mean that every time you have a conversation with someone, a miracle occurs, nor does it mean you have to have an altar call for healing every time.
What it does mean is that there is an increasing demonstration of who God is and what He does, and everyone in this room who is walking with the Lord has an obligation to open the opportunity in conversation or in prayer so that God can do what only He can do. This is assumed in this chapter!
This group of people Paul has been sent to have been converted because he boldly preached, and there were demonstrations of power. The outcome had to be that they surrendered to this one who loved them enough to break off the torments of their lives.
I mentioned to some of our students or team here just last week that I’ve seen more than I thought I’d see in my lifetime. I’ve seen God do more impossible things than I ever thought I would see. If He were to stop doing miracle things through my life or around me, I would still be obligated to preach the same message because what He does is not for my entertainment.
It’s not to improve my self-esteem or help my identity in Christ; it has nothing to do with that. It is entirely about demonstrating the Father heart of God to broken humanity. That’s the message! That’s who He is—a king with an answer, and His name is His Kingdom! I am obligated to preach a message with power—one that God will say «Amen» to.
Here’s the point: I believe that because of the obligation each believer has to demonstrate the power of God, it requires a commitment to Scripture. Faith comes by hearing, and the capacity to hear comes right from that devotion to the Word of God. There’s something He opens up within us to hear at a given moment.
When I got the call about Leah, my first response was to say, «Honey, we need to hear from God! We’ve got to know what He’s saying.» I began to quote Scripture and text verses to my wife and daughter. «Here are some Scriptures—read over these, pray over these, declare these, confess these—do what you need to do, but this is the Word of the Lord over us.»
There is life in what He says! The life that comes to me and my household positions us to spread it to other broken situations around us. We get to taste from it, but we never hoard it. He says, «Drink of me, and out of your innermost being will flow rivers.» What you receive for yourself becomes enough for a nation through you.
What you take and receive for yourself to solve one situation multiplies in you and becomes big enough to impact an entire region! That’s what He’s doing in you.
So here’s the only thing I know to do: the only way I know how to treat this is to say, «Yes!» I don’t want to mislead you; I’m always in a familiar place and a new place simultaneously. So I don’t know how this works; it’s confusing! All I know is that I said yes and will just do what He says.
The secret place is where you spend time with God; it’s the place in your heart where you’ve said yes and you spend time with Him. It is for the enjoyment of who He is and for honoring Him. I like to read the Bible in His presence. I like to be immersed in His presence and glory as I read because then I know something is being imparted to me—not just to me but for others.
In that place, there’s a summons, an invitation, a call that comes on my heart. I’ve seen more than I ever expected to see, but I have seen enough to know if I stop here, I’ll die. I can’t stop here! I’ve seen His heart for people, and I’ve seen the broken condition of humanity too much to walk away and say, «This has been good.»
It’s the opposite. In this place with the Lord, I cry out, «God, You’ve got to do something!» Let me tell you specifically how I pray. I don’t always mention this, but there are times when I pray for someone, contend for their breakthrough, and it doesn’t come. Then I get alone with the Lord.
There’s no guilt or shame that brings us into anything Kingdom related, nor do I blame God. Neither of those responses are safe and both are detrimental. I come before the Lord and say, «Lord, I know that if You were standing in my shoes and you had that child brought to you, You would have provided healing and deliverance to that child.
I tried, but I didn’t succeed; remember, no guilt! God, you have to do whatever is necessary in me so that it doesn’t happen again. You’ve got to do what’s necessary.»
I want to encourage you, but I also want to summon you. You’ve done so much already; I almost feel embarrassed preaching to the choir again. But there’s another level of breakthrough, and I feel our city is crying out for it.
Let me prophesy something: I feel there’s going to be a release of authority in dealing with nature. I’ll leave it there; we will work on that later. But I believe the Lord will give a word to not seek credit for something but to partner with Him for Heaven to come!
Amen! Let’s stand. We’re going to have a ministry team up front ready to pray for miracles in people’s bodies. We’ve had so many incredible things happen! One real fun story involves a gentleman in our community who was growing blind in one eye due to an incurable eye disease. One of our students prayed for him, I think on the street, and then when they went back to the doctor, the doctor said the disease was completely gone!
Then the doctor asked what he had been doing. The guy said, «I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.» The doctor said, «Try me.» The guy responded, «Well, a student from Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry prayed for me.» The doctor said, «Actually, I would believe you; you’re the fourth one today!»
Now, just to insert here, this is never to degrade the value of the medical community that serves us so well. They were significantly used by the Lord to save my mom and daughter’s lives in the last month, and I’m so grateful. It’s not either/or; the Lord is able to work through both, and I’m thankful!
I want to pray for that power encounter for you and for hunger for Scripture. Father, let there be an unusual gift of hunger. I pray that you would use our time together today to disrupt our hunger for the Word of God and the Scriptures! Thank You, God, that you’ve made the reading of Scripture and the obtaining of Bibles here easy and legal. Thank You for that; thank You for the abundance of Your Word.
But I pray that You ignite hearts for Scripture! God, we’re not satisfied with just knowledge; we want word and deed. We want courage for boldness, but we also want to see the demonstration of greater power for impossible situations to be reversed for the glory of God! We pray these things in Jesus' name.