Bill Johnson - The Peaceful War; Spiritual Warfare by Worship (02/05/2026)
Bill Johnson welcomes Chris Gore to share a powerful testimony of a man in Malaysia healed remotely from a shattered shoulder while driving—his friend stood for prayer unknowingly triggering the miracle. The sermon "The Peaceful War" from Psalm 68 explores praise and thanksgiving as weapons that scatter enemies, with stories like Jehoshaphat's choir-led victory and Paul/Silas' prison breakthrough, urging believers to set minds on heavenly realities over circumstances for true authority and refreshing.
Chris Gore's Testimony – Remote Healing in Malaysia
Thank you. Thanks. Thanks. Please be seated. And Chris, would you mind sharing that testimony again? Get one of those mics and come on up here. Chris Gore, so good to have you back. He's impacting the world. And we got to minister together in Jakarta here a few weeks back and a couple months ago. And it was so fun hearing the stories of what God's doing.
But this one you shared this morning is brand new, hot off the oven, the stove. Share it. Yeah, we ministered together in Jakarta, and then we had a couple of days suffering together in Bali. I want to suffer more. And then I went on to East Malaysia, where there's a church there called Hosanna Church. It's pastored by a Bethel student that went from here.
She's been pastoring the church, I think, for about 30 years. But she took two years to come to school. And just an incredible, thriving church. And one of the nights in the service, the worship was, I mean, I just, I got up afterwards and said, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I mean, it was just, it was phenomenal.
And I turned to the pastor and I said, can I, is it okay that we just lead straight off into the service from here without, you know, announcements and stuff? And she said, go for it. And I got up and you could just, like, literally feel like the glory of the Lord had just crashed in the room.
It was really good because I didn't need to get to teach. So I could just enjoy the presence and people were just getting healed. And I called out a word for a man who had had a broken shoulder from an accident that never healed properly. And a man stood in the back and he was prayed for by other people.
So I find this out, obviously, the next day. He was prayed for, but he stood on behalf of his friend who wasn't at the meeting. And the friend had had an accident. He had gone off the bank and he was trapped down in the bank with his car for, I believe, it was a number of hours before he was found.
His arm was broken so bad that when they did surgery or they couldn't really do surgery because the bones are so shattered that the arm was held on by muscle as opposed to bone. They couldn't even pin it because there was nothing to pin together. It was all just in pieces.
So he was out driving his car with his wife, obviously, with the other hand. His wife was in the passenger seat and the kids are in the back. He's out driving when that man stood, his friend stood for prayer on his behalf.
And he turns to his wife and he said, something's going on in my shoulder. Like he said, it's not painful. It's just awkward. And he said, I can feel things moving around inside. So his wife says, quick, pull the car over to the side.
She pulls the car over to the side. He says, I can feel like water, like warm water pouring through it. And he said, I don't know what's happening. So he said, well, let's just go home. They swap. She drives. They go home.
Now, the doctor had said that the damage was so permanent that he would never be able to lift a 500 mil bottle of water again, anything past that. He has no strength in his arm. Just that he struggles with that.
He gets home and they had a pallet of, what do you call a pallet? A case, a case of water in the back of the car. He says to his son, can you move the case of water inside, knowing he can't? And his son said, oh, I can't either, because I got to go to the bathroom right now and took off.
So he runs inside the father standing there with the case and without thinking, knowing he can't do it, he bent down with his bad arm. He picked up the whole case and carried it inside, put it in the garage. And it was at that point that he realized he was fully healed.
So much for the power of suggestion. The guy didn't even know he was being prayed for. That's so, so cool. I love that. Thanks for sharing it. And nice to have you home, Chris. Good to have you here.
Introduction to Psalm 68 – The Peaceful War
I want you to open your Bibles to the 68th Psalm, Psalm 68. Let me find Psalm 68 that I have marked with my missions bookmark. Twelve chosen tribes. Shameless plug. And Psalm 68 has been a favorite of mine for, goodness, 40 plus years.
And I was thinking yesterday, I bet I don't think I have ever used that as a primary text since I've been here almost 30 years now. So, I'm going to call this message, and I'm going to call this message, The Peaceful War.
And it sounds like an oxymoron. So let me read to you some oxymorons. Bittersweet. Civil War. Clearly Misunderstood. Deafening Silence. Definite Maybe. Exact Estimate. Found Missing. Growing Smaller. Ill Health. Impossible Solution.
I think my favorite one is this one. Larger Half. Living Dead. Loosely Sealed. Old News. Open Secret. Original Copy. Plastic Glasses. Jumbo Shrimp. But my favorite of all is not even on this list. It's country music.
This is how you offend half the planet. As you make fun of their favorite music. Country music. When Leah was a little girl, she said, Dad, what will you do if I record a country album? I said, honey, I'll pretend to like it.
My son Eric, who has a loss of hearing, he said, Dad, I like country music. Because they all knew growing up I didn't. I said, I like country music. I said, son, you won't when your ears are healed.
So it's an ongoing, humorous, loving conflict. And I bless all of you country music lovers. You know, you're kind of like vegetarians in our world. I just make fun of you all the time. And I'm sorry. Anyway, so I'm sorry. All right, let's get going.
Psalm 68, verse 1. Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. Let those who hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
Worship and Offense from Previous Teaching
We're going to read some more of this in a moment. Last week, I talked to you about worship. And I talked to you about the alabaster vial the woman poured over Jesus, a year's worth of wages. And the disciples were enraged over such waste. And Judas led the choir on that one.
The Bible says, because he was a thief and would steal from the money. And crazy what happened after he was offended at this extravagance of worship. The very next verse is when he went and met with the priest to betray Jesus.
Offense leads to betrayal. And offense that develops will always lead us to betrayal. So we have to deal with offense quickly.
So anyway, so in this scripture story, it refers to enemies being destroyed and driven away. In the Old Testament context, it's always with other nations because we have the people of God and we have all the others who are enemies of the people of God.
So it always illustrates in war, in conflict with other people. In the New Testament, as you read this, please always think in terms of spiritual war. Bible says we don't battle against flesh and blood. Our battle isn't against people. It's against principalities and powers, et cetera.
So any military conflict like this that's given to us in scripture is to illustrate what happens in the unseen world with the demonic, with the realm of evil spirits, et cetera.
Let God Arise – Praise Scatters Enemies
And this passage talks about a God arising. There's so many ways this happens. As you see, when Israel would move the ark from one place to another, Moses would declare, let God arise. And there would be this presence of God that would manifest over Israel. And of course, enemies are scattered and destroyed.
But this picture is actually one of what takes place when you and I give God thanks and praise. It's one of the simplest lessons in the gospel and one of the hardest to practice. Because the most meaningful times of Thanksgiving is when I've got a battle over my thoughts.
The most meaningful time to rejoice is when I feel anything but joy. The most meaningful time, the things that train my heart to respond to Him, to recognize Him and respond to Him, happens in those difficult times.
And the lesson that was given in Scripture on the gates to the city of God made out of solid pearls. Pearls are formed in irritation. So the picture is giving God praise in the middle of irritation or difficulty or disappointment.
And so God is bringing us into, I believe, a greater place of authority and experience in the area of praise, specifically in the area of Thanksgiving and praise. to grab moments that seem to be so opposite of what we would normally feel like giving Him, you know, celebrating His goodness.
The very opposite, moving contrary to emotion and circumstances and voices and all the stuff that is going on around us and giving Him an offering is the most profound effect on the condition of our heart and the actual ability that we have to maturity and to reflect the nature of Christ.
Set Mind on Things Above – Colossians 3
Paul gives us this instruction that is, I think, is more significant than maybe most of us have realized. It's in Colossians 3. He says, set your mind on things above, not on things below.
And we know through Scripture that the unseen world is eternal. The seen world is temporal. So the greater reality is in what we can't see. The inferior reality is in what we can see.
The carnal Christian lives from the visible and from whatever we emotionally feel, whatever we think, without Christ at the center, all of that is carnal Christianity. It is always inferior and is always needing to be rescued.
The carnal believer who lives from their senses, I don't feel forgiven, so I must not be. I don't feel healed, so I must not be. Living from tangible, physical senses, from the circumstances that define us, living from that is a carnal Christian. And they always need to be rescued.
This brings to us a truth that was practiced, illustrated in the Old Testament and made it through the cross and does exactly the same in the New Testament. Now, not... We've done this before, but just to keep us on the same page.
Not everything in the Old Testament made it through the cross. The cross ended animal sacrifice. Thank you, Jesus. Ended animal sacrifice. The cross changed the year of Jubilee from every 50 years to this is the favorable year of the Lord. Every year for the believers, the year of Jubilee.
So the concept remained, but it was changed. Are you with me? But what stayed the same is the effect of praise, of Thanksgiving.
Jehoshaphat's Victory – Praise Leads the Army
For example, in the Old Testament, we have stories like in 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat was... and his people were being surrounded by enemy armies. Enemy nations had rallied together to come against Israel to wipe them out, to destroy them.
And Jehoshaphat caught wind of what they were planning because they actually made threats to him. And it says, he set his face to seek the Lord. And when he set his face to seek the Lord, the Lord gave him very specific instructions.
And the specific instructions were, put your choirs, your worshipers, in front of your army. Now, if you're a soldier and you got a sword and you're outnumbered 20 to 1, you're nervous. maybe.
If you're a guitar player and you're going in front of the army in the battle, the sword guy doesn't even know what nervous is. The guitar player is nervous.
So, I mean, you got to trust your leadership when you get put into a position where, yeah, I heard from God, you're to go into battle first.
And so he did. The Lord actually, through Jehoshaphat, arranged the army to be led by choirs. And it says, he consulted with the people. He appointed those who sang to the Lord who praised him in holy attire.
In other words, they were in righteousness in holy attire as they went out before the army and said, give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness is everlasting.
First point I want to make is that they were assigned to give thanks. I love the Liberty that we have to spontaneously minister to the Lord any time of the day or night, even when we come corporately.
Some of you kneel, some of you dance, some of you sit. It doesn't matter. We have this ability to individually, uniquely express our heart to the Lord.
But there's also a profound role that we don't emphasize a whole bunch, but maybe should, and that is the corporate assignment. Can you imagine having the 3 A.M. shift? You're the choir that shows up at 3 at David's Tabernacle to give thanks to the Lord, and he gives you a list of 10 things you're to give thanks for?
Well, that doesn't feel very honest, very authentic. Join your heart with the will of God. This assignment is the will of God, so join your heart with the will of God until you feel the very thing that you're expressing.
Does that make sense? There are times where we've been given an assignment to respond to the Lord, and there is a place for the unique individual expression, and there is the place for the corporate expression.
Yes, Bill, that was a very good point. Give thanks to the Lord for his loving kindness is everlasting.
When they began singing and praising, the Lord set ambushes against the sons of Ammon Moab in Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so they were routed. So the choir did so good, the army had nothing to do. God actually came and routed the enemy in response to the praise that his people were giving to him.
Paul and Silas – Praise in Prison
This is also true in the New Testament. We see in the book of Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas are put in jail in prison for preaching the gospel. They're in prison, they're behind closed-locked doors, they're chained, they're locked.
And it says, about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. And the prisoners were listening to him. And suddenly, there came a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison house was shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened.
That's amazing. I can imagine an earthquake shaking and doors being opened. I can't imagine an earthquake picking locks. Somehow, in the shaking, angelic presence was released and they were actually released from their chains.
What was that in response to? That was heaven, a greater reality. Set your mind on things above. They chose to live from this reality and as we do that, we give thanks because he's worthy of it now, even though what I'm facing is overwhelming.
He is more overwhelming. And we align our hearts with the reality of heaven and when that takes place, heaven literally invades earth. It comes and there is a shaping of circumstances and situations.
Demonic powers that are involved in various situations that we can't see, that we don't always understand, we don't always discern accurately. Even in that offering of Thanksgiving and praise, something happens where earth is invaded by heaven and there is a change that takes place.
Old Testament and New Testament, Book of Acts.
Isaiah 30 – Praise as Weapon
One of my favorite stories is actually in Isaiah chapter 30. In fact, there's two here that I'll read to you. One, it says, As for the voice of the Lord, Assyria, by the voice of the Lord, Assyria, an enemy nation, will be terrified when he strikes with the rod.
Every blow of the rod of punishment which the Lord will lay on him will be with the music of tambourines and lyres. You didn't realize that when these guys were playing their guitars, they actually had bazookas in their hands.
that God takes the simple strumming of the guitar, the simple lifting of a voice, the melodic violin. All these things are actually instruments that in the spirit world wreak havoc on powers of darkness. Come on.
Now that's more real than your amen. It's reality. See, in heaven, one of the most... There's two things that I would say are the most dominant... Well, I can't make a list. I'll give you two things that are dominating features that exist in heaven continuously.
One is the love of God, the glory of the Lord. But two is the continuous worship, every blade of grass, every flower. They all contain light and they all contain sound. And everything in heaven has this harmonious sound that continuously gives God praise.
There is an overwhelming atmosphere of glory to the Lord because they see without interference. No one who sees without interference can think of any other response but to bow and worship and to give praise, to give thanks.
The big problem that you're facing now, what will you think of it in eternity? Will you still be impressed with its size? Will you see God put it in its place? See, in heaven, we will see everything that we face now that we struggle with. We will see how God orchestrated and put it in its place, inferior to this amazing one who spoke the worlds into being.
How in the world could I fear a problem that's this big when I serve a God who's unlimited in size and in heart for me. I don't think most of us have a problem with imagining God's greatness and significance to fix issues. We just don't always think He's for us.
Set your mind on things above is to literally draw from the reality that exists that heals every inferior perspective that we have on life and purpose and destiny. Heaven heals. Awareness of heaven heals.
Praise in Difficulty – Exercising Faith
I try to live in such a way that no problem ever gets bigger in my consciousness than my awareness of God. As soon as the problem I'm facing gets bigger in my thinking theologically I can always answer God has the answer God is bigger God you know I can always give you the right answer but that's not always what I'm feeding my soul on that's not always what drives me and anytime I do I start reacting to the problem I start allowing the problem to shape my thinking and my behavior.
anxiety comes from feeding on a problem. feeding on a lie. feeding on inferior things So when I'm feeling that anxious thing going on, it's only because I've been eating the wrong meal.
He's not asking me to pretend that His world is greater. He's commanding me to become aware of the greatness of His world. Because I could never again bow in any kind of fear or anxiety, bow with any kind of reverence towards a problem once I've seen the nature of His world.
Once I've seen the vastness of His promise. In Psalms 149, it says, With high praises in our mouth and a two-edged sword in our hand, we execute vengeance on the nations, the enemies of God.
What is that saying? It's saying you were designed for war. But it's a peaceful war. Why? Because here we are just enjoying Him. And the end result of me delighting in Him. Speaking of His goodness, His faithfulness. Giving Him thanks for thinking of everything.
Honoring Him for His incredible deep love and affection and commitment to me. It's such a wonderful atmosphere of peace, of love, of actual real joy. And while I'm doing that, He's kicking the enemies behind on my behalf.
And here's the amazing thing. He comes back and says, Man, you're a powerful warrior. Huh? Huh? Well, was I in war? You know, loving God, affectionately expressing our heart to God is one of the most profound and powerful weapons that we have.
Now, it is a reality to say, Let God arise and the enemies be scattered. It's a reality to say, Let's position ourself to exalt God first, to give Him thanks, to give Him praise. And the enemies are scattered.
But I don't like to give God praise because of its effect on the enemy. I only want to worship because of His worth. I don't want to become enemy conscious. I don't want to be ignorant.
Paul says, We're not to be ignorant of the enemy's devices. So I don't want to be ignorant. He reveals to us that when the lights turn down, the darkness flees.
He reveals to us through Scripture in these stories where the choir goes in first, or where Paul and Silas are singing in prison, and there's an earthquake, and all the doors are open, and everybody's free from their chains.
You don't even have to be prophetic to figure out the significance of that. The praise actually liberates.
I just... I don't want to be ignorant of the effects. I just want to make sure that my heart celebrates the privilege to see and to acknowledge His worth. For that to be the thing that moves me.
If the problem that you're facing right now or should I say problems, plural. I can give you my list, but I won't. If the things you're facing now, if in eternity, they will only be testimonies of God's grace for which you will give thanks, we might as well give Him thanks now.
You see, I can hang my head, and I can sing of God's worth. He's worthy. Basically, when I'm singing, I'm not. It takes a lot more faith for me to rejoice when I'm in pain and for me to give thanks when I'm in confusion.
See, that faith muscle is to be exercised in radical obedience. I'm a believer, not a feeler. I'm recognized in heaven and on earth and in hell as one who believes for the impossible.
Which means that it's vital that in my little world where I got stuff going on that I don't understand, can't fix, can't control, that I can rise above that. I can't change anything, but what I can do is I can make sure that I literally live from the reality of heaven towards earth.
Paul told us, we were, the Apostle Paul told us, we were seated with Christ in heavenly places. I am in Christ. Christ is in me. That is reality. Any thought contrary to that is to slowly pull me from my awareness of Him and His world and then disengage me from purpose.
What praise does is it keeps me connected to His character. It keeps me focused on His presence. It keeps me devoted to what is the most important. That God in this moment where I face this challenge or that trial, He is as good now as He's ever been in all of eternity.
He's as good in this moment for me as He was in the virgin birth, as He was in the resurrection of Christ, as He was in all the stories of Scripture. He's as good as all of those put together right now in this moment.
Even though I face something I can't fix. So I can either live under the influence, the shadow of an unrepairable problem or I can rise in my call, purpose, destiny, design as a living instrument to declare His greatness.
God, You are perfect. You are wonderful. You are the ultimate Father. Father, there's no one like You. You rule over the earth. You rule over my heart. Everything about You is good.
And we rise into these moments and we give Him praise. The side note is the enemy cannot stand it and He flees. And I'm happy about that. But I don't want to watch Him run. I want to watch Him smile. I want to see His delight.
So, that's your design.
Closing Prayer – Refreshing and Harvest
So I pray that the Lord gives us that grace again. Help us again to rise in greater authority, to not be defined by our circumstances, to not be defined by things that seem to be broken, things that seem to be wrong, but instead rise to the occasion to bring glory and honor and praise to God.
This 68th Psalm goes on. It's a part I didn't read to you. I meant to. It goes on. It just says that God. He confirms His inheritance which is people by reigning, by pouring His Spirit out if you can work with me on this, by raining on His people when they're weary.
So the point is you can never get too weary for rain. He's always ready to refresh you. And it's in the context of letting God arise and His enemies be scattered that He visits His people and refreshes His people.
So I pray for that Lord. I pray for such a profound refreshing on us as a church family that our city is refreshed that Redding, Anderson, Shasta Lake City, Palisade, all these places. Man, let's throw a Weaverville in too. Give a Weaverville. Yes, Lord.
Refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord. Oh, man. I'm out of time. I would just... Goodness, I'd like to just add. I don't know if you realize the effect of you being a worshiper at your house or your apartment or wherever it is that you live.
The effect around you is a felt reality. It is a real deal. I've got stories. It'll have to wait for another time.
Let me ask the question. Is anyone here who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus? You don't know what it is to be forgiven. You don't know what it is to be what the Bible calls born again.
But you would just acknowledge to me before we leave this place by raising your hand you'd just be saying, Bill, I don't want to leave this place until I know what it is to be a part of God's family, to be forgiven, to be brought into his household of faith.
I want to be a disciple of Jesus. If that's anybody in the room, just put a hand up and I'm just going to acknowledge you where you are real quickly. Just do it real fast right here. Wonderful. Anybody else? Thank you.