Designed to Hear From God – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

wow it’s nice to see people

humans humans

i love you too i discovered i am

addicted to humans

and it’s a serious addiction not even 12

months of withdrawals could change it

i am still still here good to see you

and i’m glad uh glad that you showed up

um

open your bibles if you would the gospel

of john chapter 12.

it’ll take me a few minutes to get there

but i’ll read something to you first

a wife asked her husband to go to the

supermarket

said get a carton of milk and if they

have avocados get six

short time later the husband came back

with six cartons of milk

the wife is surprised and asked why why

did you get six cartons of milk

they said they had avocados

we’ll prayerfully meditate while you

ponder what i just read

the good news is it can only go up from

there

there’s only one way to go we’re going

to improve all right

it’s funny how people believe that we’re

designed but they don’t believe in a

designer

and yet we have been very intricately

designed

for many many things one in particular

is we are actually designed to hear from

god

it’s in our nature as a believer to have

faith but it’s our nature as a human

being

to hear from god people

will say well i just don’t hear god

speak well then you couldn’t be born

again

because our conversion is in response to

his invitation it’s never initiated by

us

it’s interesting you can have a

gathering like this and

preach on evangelism and people will

come to christ

and i don’t know that any of that them

that came

would say i clearly heard the voice of

the lord

and yet they became aware of their

unsaved condition

and their need for god what is that the

result of

it’s a result of hearing from god

see comprehension is not the evidence

we’ve heard

comprehension is not the evidence we’ve

heard we

tend to put god on the same level

as we are as humans talking to one

another and yet god’s

languages are so diverse

and oftentimes he speaks things that are

so deep and so profound and so beyond

our paid grades so to speak

that he speaks to our spirit man in a

way where he makes a deposit that may

take

days weeks or even months to unfold

but it is true many times people

perhaps in business you you make this

decision for your business

and it just turns out to be just this

gold mine decision

and others of you make a decision for a

family member maybe

as a gift that you give and it was

unusually timely and you didn’t know you

had no clue and

and you make that phone call it could be

any number of things but

what happens is we oftentimes make that

brilliant idea of not

realizing that god actually ministered

to us in the night

weeks before the event because he knew

it was coming and he spoke to us

and he prepared us for that decision

that we think is brilliance

and it was actually the product of the

voice of god

he speaks how many of you have

been in moments or seasons where

you you would say i just i’m not hearing

i don’t hear from the lord very well in

this season

but i but i sense his presence i’m going

to

say that all right that’s his voice

he is the word

when the word shows up his

effect is voice

we don’t interpret it as voice and yet

it is

it’s as clearly the voice of god as

anything we’ve ever heard

he speaks by presence

in luke chapter 4 jesus quotes this

verse out of the old testament

man shall not live by bread alone but by

every word

that proceeds from the mouth of god man

shall not live by bread alone

but by every word that proceeds from the

mouth of god

we are alive because he speaks

we live as an evidence of his voice

you sitting there doing nothing but

listen to a guy talk

is evidence he speaks

if it were possible for someone to not

have an ability to hear from god

the moment he spoke they’d have an

ability to hear from god

because he creates when he speaks he

spoke the worlds into being

in romans 10 it says faith comes

by hearing and hearing by the word of

god

faith comes by hearing hearing by the

word of god why don’t you quote that

with me

faith comes by hearing and hearing by

the word of god

i i grew up hearing people teach on that

and and the most common thing i would

hear

is that faith comes from hearing the

word of god it’s not that’s not what it

says

it says faith comes from hearing

hearing comes from the word of god

we listen to god’s voice not to find

something in addition to scripture but

to clarify what’s been written

rhonda worley gave us an illustration so

many years ago where the father

spoke to abraham to sacrifice his son

and as the sword is coming down the lord

spoke and said

never mind and he emphasized how happy

isaac was that his dad kept listening to

the lord

many isaacs have been slain because

people listened to what he had said but

not what he’s saying

it’s the present tense voice is actually

the cause of faith

the very nature of faith implies i am

hearing

you just have a situation come up and

you just believe god for this

breakthrough

how did you get it he spoke

i hope that what happens as a result of

today is that we broaden our perception

of how god speaks to us

we’ve talked before on the multiple ways

god speaks and it’s always fun

the stories are fun and we all have

unique

uh experiences in in the voice of the

lord

i’m not wanting to go into that today i

just say it’s bigger than you could

imagine

but what i would like to emphasize today

is that you have already been designed

to perceive into here it’s already

in your design the passage out of hebrew

hebrews 5 says having your senses

trained to discern good and evil having

your senses such human physical

senses can actually be trained

by immersion in the presence can

actually be trained to recognize good

and evil

i know you already know this but um when

they train

uh people who work in the banking system

to recognize counterfeit money

they only study real money they never

study counterfeit money

they just become so exposed to the real

that the the

counterfeit stands out they may not even

know why they just know there’s

something wrong with this

and that’s how you discern good and evil

is you don’t discern evil by studying

evil you become immersed in the person

and anything that doesn’t fit in there

is evil

it’s immersion in presence

and the emphasis that i one primary

emphasis i want to make today

is the very fact that presence is voice

and i’m not always ready to to

understand or to move in what he’s

saying to me that’s why

you be in a time like we had this

morning where the worship team is

leading and it’s just this unusual aware

of god’s presence

don’t be quick to try to figure out what

he’s doing

just be the pliable child be be the

the sailboat with the sail that just is

moved by wind

we we just catch what god we just catch

the fact that he’s here

and i i don’t discover him through

analysis

i discover him through surrender

it’s not that understanding is wrong he

commands us to pursue wisdom and

understanding

it’s vital

but the problem happens when we only

obey what we understand

because then we have a god who looks a

lot like us he’s our size

and what he’s looking for is a people

that are yielded to him who say yes

before he speaks

and we’ll look at it in a moment if i

remember

that the yes before he speaks is

actually what attracts his voice

so we have this statement in romans 10

faith comes by hearing and hearing by

the word of god god

will not speak inconsistent with his

written word

that’s why exposure to this is what

helps us to recognize

that which is outside of his word

i i heard this funny story i don’t think

i have all the details right but it’s

close enough you’ll get the picture

this family is driving on a mountain

road and their

little boy just out of nowhere declares

there’s a

there’s a big rock in the road right

around the the turn

and the father was driving was somewhat

stunned by the word and

went around the corner a little slower

than normal and sure enough there’s this

huge rock

in the middle of the road they were so

impressed that their kid could hear from

god

they said what else is he saying he said

we need to stop at mcdonald’s when we

get to town

which sounds very typical for all of us

i got it right once let’s see if i can

extend it into my will

i’ve got a great plan for your life so

let’s

so faith comes by hearing but the

capacity to hear

comes from exposure to his word if it

was just

the recording of his word i’ve got

multiple

translations on my phone i could play it

all night long and by the end of the

week i’d have the faith of wigglesworth

if he just came from hearing

scripture i don’t want to downplay that

because i do

that i i love to listen to the word of

god

but faith comes from

hearing the the living voice

the one who is ever present who in that

moment

i don’t know what he just said i just

can tell that he just deposited

something in my life

i’ll never forget oh 40 goodness 40 some

years ago i was on staffing with my dad

and i remember i

i had this period of time where i was

reading through isaiah

and i got to isaiah 62 and while i read

beyond

that chapter stumped me and it was

almost like it reached out and grabbed

me

and i i would read it and reread it

reread it

and you could ask me what does it say

and i would have to say

i do not know all i know is that when i

when i read it it grabbed me and it

spoke to me

and i don’t understand it i could never

explain it

but something’s happening inside of me

because of what i read

i believe that that is biblical learning

where your spirit man

learns before your natural man but it

doesn’t mean we’re not supposed to

pursue the understanding i want to be

able to explain i want to be able to

illustrate but oftentimes the lord

speaks to us here first

and it’s that sensitivity to the fact

that he’s here

what is he doing i don’t know but i’ll

i’ll cooperate whatever it is

i don’t want to dictate him i want him

to dictate me

and then all of a sudden you just have

this seemingly passing

thought seemingly passing thought i

should call

so and so and you do and you’re at a

crisis moment

that if you weren’t leaning into the

fact that

presence’s voice you might have missed

it

presence is voice

there’s this other passage and don’t

worry we’re going to get to john 12 in a

minute we’re all i’m almost there

i have to totally exhaust you first then

we’ll read the scripture

and there’s this verse in hebrews 1

verse 3

says that he sustains or upholds

all things by the word of his power so

the billions of universes

are actually held in place because he

speaks

you have the capacity to sit here

because he speaks

it is his voice that keeps us alive

it keeps us engaged

so much of what we understand in life

came simply because he spoke to you in

the night

he spoke to you through a friend a

circumstance a situation

he arranged all the players in your life

to deliver this insight this piece at

this time

and it prepared you to make the big

noble decision later in life but it

started as such a small concept

because god is building in us the

ability to become the word made flesh

forgive me if that sounds blasphemous

let me explain it jesus is the word made

flesh

he’s wanting his word to be made flesh

again

he’s wanting people you and me to be

able to model and illustrate exactly

what he says

that when you look at our lives you see

the life of christ you see what has been

written in scripture so faith comes by

hearing but the capacity

to hear the the uh emphasis of hearing

is comes from the word of god

jesus taught in parables not

to illustrate truth it’s one of the

strangest things i always

just grew up hearing the parables of the

good samaritan and

you know on and on the seed and the

sower all these wonderful wonderful

stories that he gave

but as you go through matthew 13 and you

find out the disciples

asked him about the parables and he

explained to them

that i teach in parables so that those

who

don’t understand won’t understand

let me rephrase it he he hides truth in

parables

so that those who are not ready to obey

will not understand because if he

increases

the knowledge of those who are not ready

to obey he just

increased their accountability it’s the

mercy of god for him to conceal truth

and then make it to where only the

hungry can find it

so there’s this there’s this posture i

i i used to have this massage chair i’m

going to be

getting another one soon thank you jesus

but that massage chair was the will of

god

it it was the will of god

and uh you know you just push the right

button and you’re just in heaven that’s

all i can say is

is the verse is fulfilled on the earth

as it is in heaven and i’d be sitting in

that chair and benny would be

sitting in another one in another chair

and she’d say honey i’m joining in the

kitchen you want something to eat i go

oh yeah i’m starving

i wasn’t starving enough to get out of

my chair and go get it

i was starving enough that if the

conditions are right and you actually

bring it

to me i will consume it

and many people look for the word of the

lord that way if it comes to me if it’s

forced upon me if it comes just right

i will receive it but i don’t have the

courage to get up and to pursue

there’s not the leaning into there’s not

the anticipation

what would he say if i told him yes

before he spoke

what would he say if i told him

i will do it no matter what he commanded

me to do

there’s an interesting verse in john 7.

it says if anyone wills to do his will

he shall

know concerning the doctrine or the

teaching whether it is from god or

whether i speak on my own authority

jesus

speaking now he says anyone who is

willing to do

his will will know

whether the teaching is from god or not

what is this saying think through this

if i’m

willing to do whatever god says my

hearing will be clearer and i will be

able to distinguish that which came from

the father versus that which came from

a person the distinguishing gift

came through the willingness to obey

it’s the willingness to obey that

actually positions a person to hear now

john 12.

you still have your bibles and they’re

open to john 12

you’re very patient people you get extra

points all right verses 23 through 26

jesus is talking about what it looks

like to follow him

verse 27. he’s about to go

to his death and so he’s making a

reference to this jesus speaks in verse

27

now my soul is troubled and what shall i

say father

save me from this hour but for this

purpose

i came to this hour i made a list once

a study i did through the whole new

testament to find any time jesus

would indicate why he came to earth it

was just fascinating to

to create that list and um

for example first john 3 8 says he came

to destroy the works of the evil one and

there’s this wonderful wonderful list

he came to reveal the father you find

that a lot throughout the gospel of john

but this one says he came for this

purpose to die on a cross that’s why he

came

he says he prays this prayer verse 28

father glorify your name

then a voice came from heaven saying i

have both glorified it and will glorify

it

again therefore the people who stood by

and heard it said it had thundered

others said an angel has spoken to him

then jesus answered and said this voice

did not come because of me

but for your sake now no miracles happen

in the following verses he’s just

explaining and then we come to a

conclusion

verse 37 but although he had done so

many

signs before them they did not believe

in him

although he had done so many signs

before them they did not believe him

in him that’s fascinating because the

the more

common story throughout the gospels is

people believe

because of the signs but in this

particular case

a crowd had been exposed to the miracles

but it did not bring them to faith it

did not bring them to surrender

and that’s supposed to be the purpose is

it reveals the heart and nature of god

lays out the covenant of god brings the

invitation for relationship

that’s the purpose of miracles

and in this case it says although they

had seen the miracles they did not

believe

that is verse 37 but follow me now

that was their condition before

the father spoke audibly from heaven

and jesus gives this profound

explanation

he didn’t speak audibly for my sake

it was for yours and yet

half the crowd heard thunder and the

other half thought

it was angels but it wasn’t for them

in other words there’s a natural

explanation and there’s a supernatural

but it’s impersonal and it’s not for me

i can relegate whatever’s going on to

well who knows what’s going on but it’s

it’s either there’s a natural

explanation or there’s supernatural

activity it’s just not for me i

i remember people would say that about

about the revival they would say

we know it’s god it’s just not for me

so here’s what i’d like to the picture

i’d like to paint for you is here’s a

group of people

that have been watching jesus do what he

did

and they were not brought to faith

you know you’re brought to faith because

you’re brought to surrender

faith is a result of surrender not

striving

so here they are they’re not brought to

place of faith

like so many others instead they’re in

this place

of unbelief which is the ultimate sin i

i believe it’s just my opinion

the ultimate sin the the the attempt of

the enemy is always to lead us into

unbelief

because in unbelief we stand in defiance

to his nature of perfect faithfulness

i owe him the response of faith because

he is so faithful

anything less is a defiance

of his of his nature

that’s a good point bill just keep keep

going for it

keep going for it all right so here they

are they’re in this place where they see

they behold

they are not moved to faith what’s the

other option

resistance callousness hardness of heart

in that condition jesus prays this

prayer

father glorify your name and the father

speaks

audibly to a crowd

jesus clarified it that wasn’t for me

that was for you

to think that the father didn’t speak

clearly

violates his own personal standard for

how we are to minister

don’t stand in front of a group of

people and preach in tongues

you’re supposed to preach with clarity

we are communicators

tongues has a role it’s just not for

preaching to people

are you getting what i’m saying so he

gives instruction on clarity of speech

and for him to speak to a crowd and not

be clear

on his end violates his own standard

so what does it tell us it tells us he

spoke audibly to a crowd

but their own resistance filtered

that voice into thunder and angelic

activity that wasn’t for them

i i use this illustration because i

believe it’s possible and necessary for

us to live

in continuous anticipation

of what god might be saying what he

might be

doing it’s the the term that we use

early early days

is leaning in i could find myself we

would come together night after night

after night

i could find myself just leaning into i

know he’s here

i know he’s going to do something

wonderful i don’t know what it is

i just want to cooperate that’s all i

want i just want to be able to say yes

my whole approach um in that season

day after day after day is two questions

that asked number one did god show up

number two did i do what he said if i

could answer yes to those two

questions it didn’t matter how many

people came or how many people left it

was a good day

because i did what he said he came and i

did what he said

there’s this anticipation

some people in the natural speak so

softly in a room you actually find

you want to hear them and you find

yourself leaning or maybe you’re

eavesdropping

in the airport and somebody behind you

is talking quietly

secretly

the whole point is is when we want to

hear we lean in

we lean in we

anticipate

and what the lord

speaks to us in the john 7 passage is

that the willingness to obey

before he speaks is what

attracts his voice into our situation

the two things that i’m looking for

today and talking to you about this

this whole thing is number one is just

acknowledge god talks all the time

i’m not always aware of it but he does

but the second thing is is in that

position of anticipation

what might god be saying now

here’s the thing that’s that’s

fascinating to me i don’t know how this

works for you

most of the time when i ask god a

question i don’t get an answer

immediately

rarely do i get an answer no some of you

you just have this

ongoing conversation and i’m jealous of

you

but just right now be quiet

i don’t want to hear your story i want

you to hear mine

most honestly most of the time when i

when i have a question for the lord

maybe a scripture i said god i don’t

understand this i ran into

something this last week i mean every

time you open the bible there’s stuff

you don’t understand but this one

puzzled me

i don’t get this i’ve done that through

the years

and and he’ll speak to me but rarely in

that moment

it might be a month later but when you

ask the question you have the

responsibility to recognize the answer

when it comes

because sometimes it will come through a

friend

in conversation not even knowing that

they’re answering your question

it may come on a tv show it may come

on a worship album that you’re listening

to it may come as just an

inspired thought you’re driving down the

road and you go oh

i get it now

but it’s because you’re in in

anticipation of the one who speaks and

somehow

positioning ourselves as hearers of god

is huge and here’s the bible says don’t

despise the day of small beginnings

what does that mean don’t discredit

infancy

don’t discredit what you think is

inability instead of focusing on small

ability

did that make sense it made perfect

sense to me

when you discount whatever progress

you’ve made

and you criticize yourself or think

little of yourself because of what

you’re not

you actually hurt the progress you’ve

made

i’ve heard people say well this isn’t

revival go ahead you know that

three-foot circle you’re standing in may

not be

in fact if i got to vote i would agree

with you

i see god do something powerful and then

i watch the critics now i don’t even

mean

i don’t mean the people who don’t like

us i’m talking about the people who like

us

and i’m not saying this to somehow strip

sympathy i’m trying to point to the fact

that sometimes

we have a seed that started to grow and

somebody comes in and kills it because

it’s not a full grown tree

i remember my first trip to argentina

one of the first things i wanted to do

was go examine

this that i had heard about read about

for so many years

the amazing outpouring of the spirit

that they were experiencing and i i

wanted to

i wanted to see if it was anything

similar to what what we were

experiencing

and besides the amazing conversations i

had with

leaders and people that were so

affirming to me i basically went down

and came back with this conclusion

the art the revival there was like a

huge

red ripe sweet apple

and what we were experiencing had just

started to form on the tree

and it might be sour it might be bitter

but it is 100 percent apple

and you don’t steward this into maturity

by discrediting it discrediting it

translate that now into your ability to

hear from god

never say again never apply

imply again it’s hard for you to hear

from god because it’s your nature

to hear from god it’s your nature

it’s who you are it’s in the design

everything about you was wired and

designed

to perceive to recognize to have

fellowship

and exchange with the almighty god

everything about you

i’m not as good at it as i want to be

but i’m better than i used to be

and it’s not now what it’s going to be

but it’s my yes before he speaks

that positions me to anticipate

to lean in

you hear better

you perceive better

it’s the strangest things i’ve i’ve

watched it in

meetings where extraordinary miracles

take place and i do

so many of these kinds of things with

with randy clark one of my

my best friends and a guy i learn from

all the time

but i watch him and i learn from him

how often there’s the most

subtle impression

when we think of word of knowledge when

we think of prophetic word i

at least think of something much more

obvious

that’s a no-brainer of course that’s the

lord not those

that subtle little impression that says

someone was injured in a white van

that rolled over

and it says it’s as easy

to miss as it is to get

it wasn’t demanding you actually had to

lean into it to recognize it and then

all of a sudden

you’re you’re fed up with trying to

protect your own dignity and your own

reputation

and you think what’s the worst that

could happen nothing

and that’s already happening

[Applause]

and then all of a sudden i was in a

meeting where that actually happened

i used that as an example and there were

i believe five people in the room

that had been in white vans that had

overturned

what are the odds you know there’s a

couple thousand people there but still

what are the odds that you have anybody

in the room that’s been in a white van

that flipped over

and then to have five that all had the

same experience four were instantly

healed

just in moments and the fifth one i

don’t i don’t know about

but the point i’m trying to make is it’s

not about signs and wonders it’s not

about

the prophetics now about any of that

it’s about the fact god talks and you

hear

me lean in and you’ll you’ll

recognize better what he’s saying

if you’ll just say yes before he speaks

um

so

did i read the passage to you out of

second corinthians

okay let me just read it to you

i i’ve spoken twice already and there’s

one more to go

by the end of that one i won’t even know

what city i’m in

just joking second corinthians 3 16

nevertheless when one turns to the lord

the veil is taken away

strange verse when one turns to the lord

the veil is taken away

you would think the veil is taken away

so the person could turn to the lord

it’s backwards

in his mercy the veil isn’t lifted until

they turn

because there’s enough evidence to the

voice of god in every human being

that if there’s that turning then

suddenly

what has kept them from clear perception

of the things of god

is lifted and they see clearly

the clarity of sight is the reward

for turning

the clearness with which we hear from

god

is oftentimes the um

the clarity with which he speaks to us

and the code which we hear

is given to people he can trust

with what he says

i know this sounds a little awkward but

there’s a different responsibility

before the lord if you receive a slight

impression

then versus the audible voice

the audible voice you have no excuses

the subtle impression it wasn’t as clear

we want to grow in the clarity with

which we hear

but what regulates that clarity is our

yes

before he speaks

all right i’ve already said it about 20

times it’s probably enough

we’ll just wrap this up let’s do this

i know that whenever you talk about

leading into the lord and hearing these

unusual things

that i create space for weirdos

to rise to their surface finally there’s

somebody who understands me

and they then have permission to do all

these weird things and blame it on jesus

but i don’t i don’t ever have the

intention

of preaching a balanced message

there has to be risk in what i say

the written let me rephrase it the risk

for what i

say has to be greater than the risk for

those who will misuse it

and while i know that people will lean

in

quote unquote and they will do stupid

things they’ll blame it on god and

they’ll say i taught them

there’s a whole other youtube video

right there

the risk is worth it because maybe

there’ll be 10 people in this room

that will just lean in and hear things

that they’ve never heard before

and realize he’s been talking all this

time

perceive things about their life their

family their destiny that have

never been acknowledged before and

suddenly there’s this

domino effect through a family line

because somebody was leaning

to hear to recognize and they said yes

before the command

came that’s worth it

even though now i have to endure the

weirdos

there’s always a chance anytime there’s

this many people in a room and i forgot

to acknowledge our amazing

online bethel family my goodness it’s

it’s a growing family

and it’s literally all over the world i

forget how many 130 nations or something

amazing i want to acknowledge and honor

our online family bless you guys for

being so

faithful you’ve been faithful for a long

time

and uh it’s only it’s taken this weird

season to fully appreciate you as much

as

as much as i do right now i travel

around the world

not lately lately i travel around my

neighborhood

[Laughter]

but i travel around the world and i have

people grab me all the time and they’ll

thank me for bethel tv and now for the

youtube so

bless you thank you i know that there

are people watching in fact there’s

somebody who has had multiple heart

attacks

i think it’s it’s at least two it could

be

it could be three or four but your

health is very compromised

you’re in you’re in a physical condition

where there is not hope

for recovery in the natural because

things are just shutting down i believe

that over the next 30 days

god is going to reconstruct your heart

it’s not

an instant in a moment thing although i

think you’ll sense the presence now

but the lord over the next 30 days is

going to rebuild

and restore that organ the organ that

that heart for you but i i wanted to

throw out the net so to speak i know

that there are people online there are

so many that have come to christ in

these

recent weeks and months and there could

be somebody here who has never made that

confession of faith

in jesus christ i want to ask all of you

to stand and hold your places if you

would

and we’re going to have ministry time

and all that up here in just a moment

but first i’d just like to have you

stand if you would thank you

and i just want to give the invitation

if there’s anyone here

you do not have a personal relationship

with jesus where you are his disciple

you are his follower you have committed

your life

to follow this son of god the son of man

jesus christ

you’ve never been born again changed

from the inside out

but you’d say bill i don’t want to leave

this building until i know that i’m

right with god if that’s the case then i

want you just to put a hand up where you

are and we’re going to make an agreement

with you

just real quickly put a hand up so

that’s me i don’t want to leave until i

know that i’ve been forgiven of sin i’ve

been brought into his family

okay i’m going to assume everybody in

the room is in the boat

so those who are online please

acknowledge that you want to surrender

your life to jesus please do so

in the chat room we have pastors we have

all kinds of people there that are

ready and able to pray for you guys you

wouldn’t believe how many people have

come to christ

online and it’s just been and

extreme miracles i mean people out of

comas

by praying online over facetime or

youtube or whatever so we just declared

that healing word

that uh that invitation for salvation to

everyone who is watching

tom why don’t you come and just wrap

this up for me