Bill Johnson - How to Grow Your Faith and Follow Jesus Into the Impossible
Good morning, good morning! I’ve got a story to read that I haven’t read in years, but it’s a good one. It’s actually supposed to be a true story, much like that great quote from Abraham Lincoln: «Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.»
All right, in Mount Vernon, Texas, Drummond’s Bar began constructing an expansion of their building to increase their business. In response, the local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from expanding with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up until the week before the grand reopening when lightning struck the bar, and it burned to the ground. After the bar burned to the ground due to the lightning strike, the church folks were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about the power of prayer—until the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means.
In reply to the court, the church denied all responsibility or any connection to the building’s demise. The judge read through the plaintiff’s complaint and the defendant’s reply, and at the opening hearing, he commented, «I don’t know how I’m going to decide this, but it appears from the paperwork that we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and an entire church congregation that does not.» That’s just too funny to not be true.
All right, open your Bibles to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 10, and we’re looking at Acts 10:38. My personal conviction is that Acts 10:38 is an apostolic overview of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, capturing in one verse the impact Jesus had on the world. Verse 38, let’s take a look at it: «God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.» Let’s look at it again: «God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.»
This particular verse is so important to me personally that I’ve developed a routine or a reaction anytime I see 10:38 on the clock. If Benny and I are in the car together and I just happen to look down and it’s 10:38, I quote the scripture and then pray, «God, do it again, do it again where we are anointed by the Holy Spirit and power, healing all who are oppressed by the devil because God is with us.» I just make that a prayer. Sometimes, I’m in the middle of a conversation, and I just pause in my heart and acknowledge the work that Jesus did that is to be carried on again. He actually prophesied over this generation and over every following generation that we would do greater works than he did, and you can’t do greater until you’ve done the same. So we are on that journey right now to see the same breakthroughs that Jesus demonstrated.
Let’s go back to the verse; let’s walk through it: «God anointed Jesus of Nazareth.» Number one, his humanity is emphasized here. I get in a little trouble in this area because sometimes I’ll emphasize the humanity of Jesus, and people make the assumption that I don’t believe he is eternally God the Son. Listen, if Jesus isn’t God, let’s go home; we’re wasting our time. I’ll go fishing; I’ll just find something else to do. If Jesus wasn’t God, then there’s no purpose in his life except being just another inspirational human being. He’s the eternal Son of God, the Lamb of God who alone was qualified to make a payment sufficient to cancel the power and debt of sin over every one of our lives eternally. The Son of God never stopped being God; did I make that clear? Eternally. All right, that’s good.
All right, I’ll try not to spit and yell too much. He is the eternally Son of God; however, entirely—here’s the great mystery of the gospel—entirely God became entirely man. In this passage, Luke, the writer, emphasizes his human side: Jesus of Nazareth, anointed by the Holy Spirit and power. I’d like to suggest that God didn’t need to be anointed any more than he already was. It was his humanity that needed the anointing of the Holy Spirit and power. I’d also like to draw your attention to the fact that when it says «the Holy Spirit and power,» power is not an addition to the Holy Spirit; it’s an emphasis.
Let me illustrate it this way: in Matthew 6:33, there’s a verse that many of us can quote: «Seek first the kingdom of God.» What’s the next phrase? «And his righteousness.» It sounds like, «Seek the kingdom, and while you’re seeking the kingdom, seek his righteousness too.» That’s not what he’s doing; he’s adding emphasis to a part of the kingdom. The righteousness of God, illustrated in how we do life, is to be a primary focus in our pursuit of the kingdom. Does that make sense?
Let me give you chapter and verse: Romans 14:17 says, «The kingdom of God is not meat or drink; it’s not in the natural realm, but it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.» The kingdom of God is righteousness. So when he says, «Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness,» do you get the point I’m trying to make? He’s adding a focused effort on the issue of righteousness. It’s the same here: Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, in other words, that expression specifically of the person of the Holy Spirit, the dunamis of heaven himself. Jesus was anointed. That word «anointed» means to smear; it would be like putting sunscreen on you—you wipe it everywhere. Jesus was completely smeared with the Holy Spirit and power. Everything about him glistened with the presence of the Spirit of God.
Why is this important? Because the way Jesus entered into the miracle realm is an example for us to follow. Let me walk you through this thought process: if Jesus did his miracles as God, we’re all still impressed, but we’re spectators. We stand back and say, «Oh God, it’d be awesome if you did it again.» But when I find out he did his miracles as a man yielded to God, then suddenly I’m no longer satisfied to stay where I’m at. I have to pursue the example that’s been given to me. The example summons me; the example provokes me.
So Jesus, in his humanity, did the impossible. How did he do it? Because he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and power. What did the Holy Spirit do? John 16 reveals to us that the Holy Spirit would reveal what the Father was doing. Are you following me here? All right, I’ll try to calm down in a moment.
So Jesus says in John 5 and in John 8, «I only do what I see the Father do; I only say what I hear the Father say.» How did he know what the Father was doing? It was the Spirit of God upon him that made him know what the Father was saying and doing. All right, it says that Jesus healed all who were oppressed by the devil; everyone that Jesus healed—100%. But not everyone who was sick on the planet was healed.
All right, in Acts 3, we have Peter and John walking to the gate beautiful, and they see a lame man who’s been there for years. The implication is he was there when Jesus walked the earth, but for whatever reason, he didn’t cry out or the Father didn’t lead Jesus to him. We don’t know how; we don’t know why. We just know he was alive in the same city as Jesus when Jesus was healing people. Many believers make what I think is a huge mistake in creating theology around what didn’t happen. Jesus never taught on unanswered prayers because he never had any. He didn’t teach us how to navigate when people aren’t healed because he didn’t have that happen. You can only impart what you have.
He was summoning us, inviting us, compelling us to enter into a stream of life and ministry where we do what he did, and that is where all are healed. Now, I may never be good at this; I may stink at it my whole life. I just don’t have the luxury of changing my assignment to what I do well. Most people look at their gifts, skills, and talents, and they come to the conclusion of what their ministry is by their gifts and talents. In other words, I’ll define my ministry by what I’m good at. Jesus defines our ministry by what we can’t do.
In Matthew 10, he said, «Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, cleanse lepers.» He didn’t say, «Pray for the sick.» He didn’t say, «Pray that they’d be raised from the dead.» He didn’t say that; he said, «Raise them.»
«Yeah, Bill, we’re not healers; we pray for people, and that’s how they’re healed.» I get it. It’s just not what he said; he said, «Raise the dead.» I don’t know if you’ve noticed this yet, but the Father doesn’t seem to have a problem making us uncomfortable. My comfort is not high on his priority list. Personally, I think he gives me commands that make me uncomfortable so I’ll need the Comforter. It’s that combination: «I’m going to put you way over your head; you’ll have to learn how to pray.» Now I’m going to give you an assignment that, if you really believe and understand what this assignment is, you’ll know it’s impossible, that way you’ll really learn to pray.
It’s the Lord who puts us in these situations that are impossible to do. How could you heal somebody? How could I raise anybody from the dead? And yet that is the express command. Why? Because in the command is the automatic implication that you can only succeed through an intimate, tender relationship with God. I believe our talents and gifts are to be used by the Lord in ministry, but I’d hate for anyone in this room to ever come to a complete definition of what your life is about based solely on what you’re good at. Part of what we’re assigned to is what we can’t do.
I may never do it well, but I don’t have the luxury of changing my job description. It says, «Jesus went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.»
Years ago, I did a study where I tried to find every place in the Bible where God said, «And certainly I will be with you.» And what I found was that every time that’s mentioned, it was right before or right after he had given his people or an individual an impossible assignment. So in other words, the presence of God comes with an impossible assignment. When it says «for God was with him,» this is Jesus who is himself God, but again, he chose to live within the limitations of a human being so that he could be a model for us to follow.
So now it says, «He went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.» That statement would be unnecessary if he didn’t depend on living out of his humanity for the fact that God was with him. Moses was given an impossible assignment to lead Israel out of Egypt, and God says, «I’ll be with you.» Gideon was given an assignment to win a battle against thousands of soldiers with 300 guys with pitchers and torches, and God says, «I’ll be with you.» And then he assigns a last-days generation to make disciples of nations—the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19—and he ends it by saying, «And I will be with you.»
What God has given us to do is impossible except that he does it through us. I want you to look at a passage out of Malachi, Malachi chapter 4. I love this verse; it’s a little bit humorous only because of the language. Prophetic language can be funny, you know, promises about getting fat and stuff like that, which some do better than others. Verse 2 of Malachi 4 says, «But to you who fear my name, the Son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. You will go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves; you will trample the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on that day that I do this,» says the Lord.
Here’s a decree: «The Son of righteousness shall arise.» He’s talking about a sunrise; the Son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings—his rays, healing rays. That word «wings» can actually be translated as «hem of a garment.» Remember, Jesus healed when the woman touched the edge of his garment. So it says, «The Son of righteousness will arise with healing in his wings.» Here’s the most important point from that verse that I want to make: healing is a display of his righteousness.
Good, way back before the fall of man, there was no sin; there was no disease. Who was Jehovah Rapha before there was anything to heal? He was righteous. The expression of healing comes out of his righteousness—his absolute beauty and perfection. Righteousness and holiness must be restored in our thinking to their rightful place. All beauty stems from the concept of holiness and righteousness; everything that’s beautiful, everything that’s right. So when you see something that is diseased or sick, righteousness comes upon it and perfects and restores that.
I believe that in our lifetime—I pray in our lifetime—the subject of holiness and righteousness gets restored to its rightful place of absolute affection and adoration for the righteousness of God.
So here we have this concept: what sickness is to my body, sin is to my soul; what sin is to my soul, sickness is to my body. Hundreds of years ago, there was a division in theological camps in the church, and I don’t want to go into why; I understand a little of what happened and why, but I won’t take the time. I’ll just say that several hundred years ago, there was a division over a serious point of theology in the church, and it was this: the word salvation actually refers to being saved and forgiven of sin, but it also, in nature, means being delivered from torment and being healed of disease.
It’s in the word. We use the word «sōzō» for salvation. Somewhere back several hundred years ago, they made a division, a distinction, that you can be forgiven of sin, but healing and deliverance are all additional things. It formed in the church’s thinking that salvation—being forgiven—is the main thing, and if there’s time, let’s get to the rest. The word «salvation» was never meant to be separated from the gospel of salvation. Two parts were meant to be part of the same package: «Welcome! You’ve received Christ! Now let’s get rid of that disease! You’ve received Christ, and you can’t sleep at night—let’s break off that torment!»
In Isaiah 53, we have verses that say, «Surely he has borne our griefs and he has carried our sorrows; he was smitten by God and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities.» Stop right there; let me just tell you what’s happening here. It says he has borne our griefs. That word «griefs» literally means sicknesses; it is—"He bore my sickness.» And it says «And he carried my sorrows.» The word «sorrows» there is actually the word «pain.»
In the crucifixion of Christ, he bore payment for your health and for my health. Now, if I was the Bill Gates of this city, and I said, «Hey, I bought a brand new Chevy Tahoe. It’s loaded with every luxury item you can imagine. I’ve paid for your next five years of insurance; everything’s covered. Just take this car down to the manager; I’ve already arranged it for you, and you can pick up your car.» How many of you would apply for a loan when you got to the lot? No, you wouldn’t because it’s already paid for.
The miracle that you and I need has already been paid for; yet we jump through so many different spiritual hoops to try to repay for something that’s already been bought. It’s religious calisthenics; it’s shadow boxing, dealing with things as though we need to fight to obtain something that is actually already in our account. I may not know how to make the withdrawal from my account, but Jesus doesn’t need to do anything new. As Randy Clark taught us years ago, «For us to beg for healing is for us to assume we have more mercy than he does.»
See, he takes these things personally. We pray for the sick because we want him to get what he paid for. When Saul persecuted the church, Jesus said to Saul, «Why are you persecuting me?» He takes it personally. He thanks you for giving him a cup of cold water. We pray for the sick because we want him to get what he paid for. It’s a relational journey where we learn how to better represent him.
Benny and I moved to Redding with our kids in 1996. After we were here for a while, we started feeling that burning in our hearts to start a school of ministry. It had been in my heart in Weaverville. Finally, it became clear it was time. I met with Chris; we went on a trip together where I was speaking, and I asked him to pray and think about joining us here in Redding and helping us start a school of ministry. He and Kathy, of course, did that, and the Lord confirmed it.
When he came, he had seven businesses, and he closed them down to join us, which meant he had a lot of debt after closing those businesses. I knew this, but it was never announced to the church. One day, I was at the back door. I like to go back there and meet people as they leave, and one of the gals in the church came up to me with a piece of paper folded in half. She said, «Is Chris here?» I said, «No, I forget where; he’s preaching somewhere else this morning, but he’ll be here tonight.» She handed me what I thought was a check, and she said, «Would you give this to Chris tonight?» I said, «Sure.»
Because it wasn’t in a sealed envelope, I felt it was the will of God for me to know what was on this check. I didn’t want to open it while she was standing there, as that would be rude; I’m a very sensitive person. So, as soon as she walked out, I flipped it open like that, and I went, «$30,000!» I looked to make sure it had his name on it—just in case we got something mixed up here. It was his name, and I thought, «That’s amazing!»
So I put it in my Bible. That evening, during pre-service prayer, I was in the room that used to be the dining room when Chris came in. I said, «Hey Chris, come here.» He walked over. I said, «Somebody gave this to me this morning to give to you.» He looked at it and said, «Does that say $3,000?» I said, «No, $30,000.» Chris ruined the prayer meeting; he walked around that prayer meeting waving his check, showing everybody who had eyes to see that he had just been given $30,000.
There was no more praying in that meeting; the anointing for prayer lifted right at that moment. He never thanked me for all that money because I didn’t write the check; I just delivered the check. When you pray for the sick, you’re delivering a check that somebody else wrote.
Faith is an important part of healing. I grew up in a Pentecostal church, Assemblies of God—very thankful for my upbringing. We believed in healing as a central part of the gospel. Nobody ever told me this, but somehow I concluded that if you were one of those very special people, then you could be entrusted with an anointing for praying for the sick and seeing them get healed because in my upbringing, my grandparents—my mom’s dad was baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1914, and his wife, my grandma, was baptized in the spirit in 1930. This was before Azusa Street. They sat under Wigglesworth’s ministry. My uncle was a soloist for Amy Simple McPherson.
So, I grew up hearing these stories. My grandfather would say, «Not everybody liked Wigglesworth because he was so bold in his faith.» He said, «Not everybody liked Wigglesworth.» Of course, we love him now because he’s dead; Israel loved all their prophets that were dead too. It’s the ones that were alive that gave them problems. Bold faith is offensive to the stationary. He talked to me about how my parents took me to see Kathryn Kuhlman several times, and that was a rich highlight. We used to have Mario Murillo come here and preach back in the early '70s.
So many great miracles took place, so I had this idea in my mind that you had to be one of those special persons called by God—an unusual experience or touch from God on your life—that qualifies you to be one of those unique ones. I knew I didn’t qualify. It seems a little weird now because some people think I’m in that position now; let me just say, there are lots of things in ministry that I do very naturally. I’ve been doing them for over 40 years, but healing isn’t one of them. Healing is one of those things I have to push into every single time. Every single time, it does not flow naturally; it flows as a decision, a choice.
This is essential to support the authenticity of the gospel. I will choose to pursue it again. Faith for miracles is a huge thing, but one of the beautiful things about the way Jesus dealt with the subject of faith is that he never punished people who were low in faith. He didn’t punish them by withholding a miracle. He would address the smallness of faith—the smallest measure of faith I can find in the Bible hardly moves the needle on the RTOR scale is the guy who comes to Jesus in Mark 9 and says, «If you’re able.» That’s not the boldest confession of faith there.
«God, if you could handle this size of a request, please help my son.» So he comes with that faith that’s lacking oxygen; he comes to Jesus. Jesus turns the tables: «If you’re able to believe,» and he says the famous statement, «Help me in my unbelief. I believe, but help me in my unbelief.» Great statement! What does Jesus do? He doesn’t look at him and say, «Your faith is too small to warrant a miracle.» What does he do? He addresses the smallness of faith so that when the guy experiences a miracle, his faith can grow.
His trust in God’s promise, nature, and commitment to him as a person would accelerate. Miracles are supposed to accelerate our faith. Jesus didn’t withhold a miracle because of small faith; he would address the issue but then provide the miracle as a place of access to greater faith.
I remember so many years ago; I was in a meeting—actually in Nashville with wonderful friends that I had gone to many times—and a gal came up to me and told me her condition. She said, «I believe tonight is my night; I believe God’s going to heal me tonight.»
Now, you have to understand; I have heard that phrase «God is going to heal me tonight» more times than you can imagine. And I don’t mean that in a put-down way; I’m glad when I hear that because I know people agree with God’s word. But in this particular instance, when she walked up to me and said, «I believe God’s going to heal me tonight,» it stunned me because I could feel the presence of faith. This is no exaggeration: I stepped back; I stepped back. I could physically feel the atmosphere of faith.
Now, it sounds weird now, but I stepped back. I just stared at her and examined her head to toe. What was I doing? Honestly, I wanted every cell in my body to recognize the presence of faith. I stood there; I wanted everything about what was on this woman to impact me, body and soul. I wanted everything about me to be connected to this. I had never seen at that level before ever.
I stepped back, laid hands on her; she was out for about 20 minutes. When she got up, I said, «What’s happening?» She said, «My chest is burning.» As she walked away, I said, «Your faith got you that one.» She had a medical device, a pump that delivered medication directly into her heart 24/7 for all her life. Every morning at 7 o’clock, she would change that bag of medication.
So, she unplugged it. Doctors had told her she could live four minutes at best without the medication. So, she unplugged it. You have four minutes to find out whether you’re hearing from God or not. It was sobering to hear her talk about this. So here she is; it’s now 7 in the morning. She undoes it, and this is nine o’clock at night.
So, she gives testimony to everybody in the room: «This morning, I took the thing off, and the Lord had completely healed her.»
Faith! Glory to Jesus! Faith is a glorious thing, a wonderful thing that everybody in this room should be cultivating. The scripture says, «Without faith, it is impossible to please him.» It’s that vital. Without faith, it also says, «Anything that’s not done in faith is sin.» So faith is central to our behavior, our conversation, our speech, our thoughts, ideas, and plans; all this stuff. Faith has to be at the center.
So here we have this issue of faith. Faith, faith! Faith doesn’t grow as an expression of our will; I can’t determine to have faith. Picture it this way: a river next to me is already flowing. I can step into what already exists. Faith is when I actually participate in how God thinks about an impossibility. Faith grows not through striving but through surrender; it’s coming to a place of abandonment to him. It’s coming to a place where I say, «I may never do this thing well. I just don’t have the luxury of reducing the assignment to what I do well.»
I’ve been assigned to this lifestyle where there’s a continuously flowing river called the will of God. Jesus modeled it by healing all who were oppressed of the devil that came to him. What we tend to do, if you’re anything like me, is when somebody comes to you with a need, you immediately try to think of somebody else in the room who has a greater anointing in that area, and maybe they can pray for that person instead of realizing that the sovereign God arranged for you to meet with that person and pray.
As a pastor in Weaverville, I would pray for the sick often. I never saw anybody healed. I—some died—so I figured I had the gift of eternity! I’d go back to the owner’s manual and get inspired again. I’d try again, you know, but it never leaves the pages of scripture: «These signs shall follow those that believe.» I’d wrestle myself back to a place of faith. Maybe I’d read a book about Wigglesworth or a book by John G. Lake, and stir my faith to try it again.
In 1987, I think it was February of '87, I took several of the leaders in Weaverville down to John Wimber’s Vineyard Church in Anaheim. I’m forever grateful for that movement and that ministry. We went to this conference, and I sat there — it’s the only time this has happened in my life—every teaching that I was in that week I had already taught before, verbatim.
What’s weird is that some of the illustrations they used I had used! It was confirming but not all that encouraging because they had fruit for what they believed—I just had good theology. Many people stop short when you become satisfied with knowledge; you often stop short of a divine encounter. Revelation knowledge is supposed to introduce us to the person that completes the experience, if that makes sense.
It’s the person of Jesus being the healer that rounds out the experience so that I can carry forth. I attended all week and realized that I had to put a demand on what I believe. I came home frustrated and challenged, and that next week, the miracles started immediately. There’s no explanation because they didn’t line us up and lay hands on us; today, we would have impartation times. We believe strongly in the power of God to be imparted to walk in great anointing.
There was no corporate prayer; it was just: we were there, we listened, we observed, and we went home. It started that next week. I have no explanation except I think we underestimate the value of the presence in a corporate setting. We caught something—like a virus, except a good one—like being exposed to radiation. The radiation of heaven is good; it gives you something to distribute to other people.
I went home and went into my friend’s store. When I walked in, there were a bunch of people there, and he said, «Oh Bill, I’m going to have to retire.» He said, «The arthritis in my hands—I can’t use the tools anymore,» and he said, «I can’t reach the shelves to take the boxes off.» He said, «I’m going to have to retire.»
He was probably in his 40s and doesn’t yet know the Lord, but I felt to pray for him. I didn’t have the courage to pray for him in front of the crowd that was there. I’m so glad Jesus loves chickens! Nicodemus visited Jesus at night, you know? Gideon was told to tear down the altar that his dad built in his backyard, and he was too nervous to do it by day because everybody would see him, so he did it at night—so I’m in that number.
I came back a few days later, and nobody was in the room. I was going to bring up the whole conversation I came with but was sweating. He brought it up again, saying, «I’m going to have to retire.» So I said, «Well, I feel like God wants to heal you.» And I said, «Okay.»
He sat down, and I have since found that people who don’t know the Lord are often much more eager to receive prayer than Christians. Christians have to sort out whether or not it’s God’s will for them to be sick, if it’s God’s will—is this the hour for them to be healed? There’s all kinds of hoops to jump through! This guy just thinks, «If there’s a God, certainly he’s capable of healing. Maybe we should return to an unbeliever’s faith!»
So I put my hand on his elbow and hand and spoke to the condition as Jesus modeled in Scripture. I rebuked the arthritis and laid hands on him for maybe two minutes of prayer. When I was through, he began to move his hands and arms around—it was astonishing! I think I was more astonished, but he was also astonished when he said, «It’s all gone! I am healed!» He started moving his arms and hands around.
He goes on, saying, «Bill, you are a healer!» Now, don’t correct an unbeliever for their bad theology. We have enough issues—we have enough issues! So I just let him go on because let’s be honest, he’s complimenting me. He’s trying to encourage me; he’s my friend. When he was through, I said, «I’m so thankful for that; thank you for your encouragement. What God just did is amazing.»
I said, «Let me explain something to you: whenever we come together as a people on Sunday in the church, Jesus shows up. He walks up and down the aisles, and he comes to this person who needs encouragement, and he strengthens them. Then he thinks to himself, 'It’s so much fun giving gifts, so I think I’ll give this person a gift in healing.'»
But it’s not just for him; it’s when he prays for this guy after the service. He’ll just make sure that he gets these two together. This person over here is going to get insight into scripture during worship that this person over here needs to hear. He loves giving gifts so much.
He walks around, and I said, «All that happened to you, all that happened, is you were visited by Jesus. This was one of those moments he gave me a gift that was my privilege to deliver to you.»
The next time I saw him, I had gone to Spain the next week, and when I got home, I wanted to see how he was doing. I knew he was healed! When I walked into his storefront, he saw me and stopped. He said, «Bill, you’re up!» And he stopped and said, «I was visited by Jesus!»
Why don’t you stand? Jesus went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed by the devil because God was with him. Is the Spirit of God with you? As soon as the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead took up residence in everyone in this room who confessed Christ, all of heaven positioned itself to see how you and I would conquer in his name.
We’ve been given the privilege to confront things that are impossible, knowing that this is our assignment; it’s the nature of the Christian life. It may be that there are people in this room who don’t have that personal relationship with Jesus; you don’t know what it is to be forgiven, to have a clean conscience, to have a clean slate. You don’t know what it is to be adopted by God, who is the ultimate father, who brings us into his family, into his circle.
You may never have known what that is like, yet you would say today, «Bill, I don’t want to leave until I know what it is to be forgiven, until I know what it is to be at peace with God, until I know what it is to have Jesus as my absolute Lord, Master, and Savior.» If there’s anyone here who would say that, «Bill, I don’t want to leave until I know I’m at peace with God,» then I want you just to put your hand up right now. Right back over here is one; right over here is another.
Is there anyone else? Right down here is another. I see that one—there’s at least five or six that put their hands up. Yes, another one right here. Yes, bless the Lord! It’s the most wonderful thing in the world! This is just harvest time—Jesus is bringing people in, and I pray that today they would receive the salvation of forgiveness and healing and deliverance because that’s what Jesus provided.
I want to pray for you, then I’m going to let you go. Father, I thank you so much for the privilege of being together like this and the reminders you give us of what the gospel looks like—the gospel of power, the gospel of transformation, spirit, soul, and body. I ask that out of this gathering, you would raise up an army—an army who would contend for the breakthroughs that Jesus alone saw on the earth—that we would once again glorify you through our absolute surrender to your purposes. We pray this in Jesus' name.