“If I pray for you, and you experience a miracle, you’ve just seen what God can do. If I pray for you and you don’t get healed, then you’ve just seen what I can do.” Bill Johnson shares on Pentecost Sunday the absolute importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. We must be filled with God’s power, grace and wisdom so that we can bring answers and hope to the situations around us.
well hello again bethel family uh it’s
it’s fun to be able to talk to you at
least this way uh we have so many
in our international community nations
all over the world that are watching
that’s pretty fun i i love meeting you
talking with you when i
uh travel and get to see you in your
church or conference or whatever
and i really appreciate all the good
reports and then of course our local
family
we’re just so thrilled that at least we
get to spend this kind of time together
and praying that quickly we can gather
once again
in the building i can hardly wait uh
people have sent me pretty
hilarious videos on what it’s going to
look like our first sunday back
um it’s it’s uh it’s all right but
anyway we’re we’re just thankful
my goodness what did you think about uh
the songs that were
led this morning god uh revivals in the
air and
uh this new album that’s just been
released oh my goodness
it’s just incredible i i just downloaded
it so quickly
and uh been been playing and celebrating
what god is doing
in the earth and uh when you face
a crisis and difficulty one of the
things that gets us through
is promise and hope the promises of god
give us hope gives us a sense of a
future
it doesn’t mean we ignore challenges and
we’ve got so many of them right now
as a nation and nations of the world
it’s not just the us
but nations of the world are facing so
many huge challenges
but it’s overwhelming if i face them
without the promises of god
if i face them without the sense of hope
that jesus
actually has a plan he actually has a
solution
and it’s maintaining my heart feeding
on that solution just keeps me not only
alive
it keeps me sane or at least as sane as
i’m ever going to get
and so we we really celebrate the fact
that jesus
has a purpose and a plan
something i’ve stated many times in the
last 12 months
is that every problem that exists on
planet earth
and i mean balancing your checkbook at
home
to the ozone layer to the racial
conflicts or whatever it might be
every single problem that exists on the
planet
god has a solution in his mind at this
very moment
and he simply looks for his people to
come
to him and pursue those mysteries those
secrets
and some things are revealed quite
clearly in scripture some things
we really have to press into but i
remind you of the scripture of psalms
excuse me proverbs 25 verse 2
that it’s the glory of god to conceal a
matter so he hides things not from us
but for us
it’s the glory of god to conceal a
matter
and then it’s the glory of kings to
search out a matter so your royalty my
royalty in a very real sense is
demonstrated royalty because who our
father is
royalty is demonstrated by this
privilege to seek god for solutions
and now is the time where where we
really really need that
again and again i would have said that
last week and the week before but
boy it’s just heightened the awareness
of our need of
god’s intervention is just getting uh
more critical week by week i
wrote something this week i wanted to
read as i start then i’m going to move
quickly
into the subject of pentecost because
that’s what
excuse me that’s what today is is we’re
celebrating
pentecost sunday racism
is evil it is demonic to its core
to treat people with dishonor because of
their skin color is absolute foolishness
to turn that dishonor into violence is
barbaric
and inhuman in christ we have the
privilege
and responsibility to oppose racism
in all its forms and to stand with those
who have suffered
under its weight i wanted to start by
just declaring
our absolute commitment to protect those
and to stand on behalf of those who are
um abused or are rejected or
judged in some manner or in some cases
violence as we’ve seen
this last week is just crazy and uh so
we as a church are just
doing all we know to do to take a very
strong stand to say listen
this this foolishness has to stop and uh
so
we’re gonna do our part we’re standing
with people and really fighting on
behalf
of those i love one of the phrases in
the song today that we sang it says
marching on our knees
my goodness what a great picture knees
being on our knees is a place of prayer
it’s a place of deep intercession
and that’s the place where great
advancement comes so i’m going to be
talking
about the concept of pentecost
and how it happened how it came about so
if you would open your bibles
and we’ll go right to acts chapter 1 and
i want to talk to you
out of this this amazing
chapter many people think
that jesus’s final words to the church
was go into all the world
preach the gospel disciple nations
it wasn’t his last words his last words
were wait in jerusalem until you receive
the promise of the father
wait in jerusalem until you’re clothed
with power
from on high the go
is essential the weight prepares us
for the going and the whole point of the
waiting
is there is something more than what
you’ve seen to this point there’s
something more
that god has in store for you imagine
yourself
one of the 11 remaining disciples and
jesus
appears to them one of the moments he
appeared to them is in john 20
where they were hiding in a room
thinking they were going to be killed
next
if you can imagine the hostility of the
hour they are literally
afraid for their lives as they hide out
in this room
jesus always knows where we are and so
he just appeared walking through the
wall
however he got there they were that
didn’t help the fear issue at all
when somebody just appears and they
didn’t know it was jesus so you got to
keep that in mind
jesus just appears in this room they
their
fear just got come compounded and they
are terrified and jesus says
peace to you that didn’t help because
they were there in way too much fear to
receive any kind of peace
and so jesus showed him the scars in his
hands
his side his feet when they saw that
they recognized
this is jesus we saw him crucified
as soon as they realized that they they
began to experience the peace that jesus
promised and he said again to them
again to you i say peace to you
this is important to realize in this
moment of
sometimes we’re so filled with fear and
terror that
that we can’t find peace and yet it’s
it’s here
it’s here there has to be a turning and
what happened in the
hearts of the disciples there was a
turning they recognized oh it’s
jesus he is with us and when he spoke
peace the second time
he breathed on them the holy spirit came
upon them and
they received true peace all right
here’s here’s the deal
jesus gave them in that decree
go into all the world preach the gospel
he gave them
a commission what else did he give them
in the commission
our response are yes to the commission
of god
is what connects us to the authority of
god
they were given authority in that moment
but then he said
wait in jerusalem why because we need
both authority and power
that is how jesus ministered it’s how
the disciples ministered
when they were deputized under jesus’s
anointing they were deputized if you
remember in luke 9
jesus gave his disciples power and
authority he gave them both
to function in while he was on the earth
but when he left
and went to the right hand of the father
they had to
find once again this place of authority
in this place of power
because now they were going to do it
without jesus being at their side
i remind you of something that i think
is is so critical so
important one of the comments that jesus
made to his disciples
that i’m sure was about the most
difficult thing to comprehend they’ve
ever heard him say
he said it is better for you that i
go now imagine that they’ve spent three
and a half years
with jesus they can ask him anything
they are constantly impacted by his
actions his words
they learn from his behavior everything
is an
overwhelming three and a half year
school
of discipleship and in this moment
of of absolute adoration they want to
sit at his right hand at his left they
want to be there
as he takes a dominion over the kingdoms
of the world
and they’re all positioning themselves
to be a support to this messiah
and then he says it’s better that i go i
can’t imagine any
hearing anything in their position it
would be more
opposite of what they would normally
feel he said it’s better that i go
because if i don’t go i can’t send the
holy spirit to
you here’s the deal picture this you’re
one of the eleven
jesus is at your side at any moment you
can reach out and touch him
you can ask him a question you can
receive instruction
he is there just guiding you with his
eyes even the way he does
life there’s a constant lesson of what
it is to know god to follow god he’s
right here
and yet that one who is right here said
it’s going to be better if i go
because i’ll send the holy spirit so
here’s the challenge
is your relationship with the holy
spirit
better than if jesus were standing at
your side
if it’s not better then we’re not
utilizing
what god actually provided for us by
giving us
the indwelling presence of the holy
spirit and the power of the holy spirit
that rests upon us
this is what we were assigned to we were
assigned to this the gospel of the
kingdom of god
paul says is not in word only
it is in power there must be the
demonstration of power
power in our personal life to overcome
sin temptation those kinds of issues
but its power for the miraculous its
power to confront
the impossibilities of life this is what
we are assigned to live in to walk in
is to walk in the absolute power of god
to demonstrate the resurrection of jesus
every time you and i pray for someone
and there’s a miracle
it’s a demonstration that the
resurrection of jesus
is real if i pray for you
and you experience a miracle you’ve just
seen
what god can do if i pray for you
and nothing happens you’ve just seen
what i can do
it’s the absolute clothing with power
that makes it possible for us to
demonstrate the reality
of the resurrection of jesus christ
when we get to acts chapter 1 we see
twice in the first few verses
him talking about the kingdom of god all
of you parents know that
when you’re about to leave the house and
your your kids are in the house
you have final words of instruction
maybe they are staying with their
grandparents maybe they’re staying with
a babysitter but you have final words of
instruction the final words are your
most important words that’s what they
you want them to remember
before you leave for the evening or for
a week whatever it might be
jesus’s final words to his disciples
was instruction in the context of weight
was instruction about the kingdom of god
it says in verse 3 the last part he says
he spent 40 days speaking to them of
things pertaining the kingdom of god
the very next words out of his mouth
excuse me the very next thing out of his
mouth is he says
john baptized with water you will be
baptized
in the holy spirit not many days from
now so the disciples then
say hey i got a question when are you
going to restore the kingdom
when are you going to restore the
kingdom to israel and jesus says
it’s not for you to know the times but
excuse me but you shall receive power
verse 8 when the holy spirit has come
upon you
and ye shall be witnesses what’s the
point i want to make
twice in chapter 1 is the conversation
about the kingdom of god once it was in
his instruction
second time it was their question when
are you restoring the kingdom to israel
both times the very first subject he
turns to
after talking about the kingdom of god
was the baptism in the holy spirit i’d
just like to suggest
use this as kind of a springboard i’d
just like to suggest
that the introduction to the realities
of the kingdom of god
is the baptism in the holy spirit it
immerses us
into a reality and this is available for
everyone this is not has and has not i
i i don’t like that that that whole
argument that whole concept this is
available for everyone who confesses
christ
that the spirit of god would come upon
us he’ll manifest differently
but the point is jesus is represented
well
that’s what we’re looking for that jesus
is represented
accurately for who he really is i want
you to move
fast forward now to verse 14.
verse 14 says these all continued with
one accord
in prayer and supplication with the
women
and mary the mother of jesus and his
brothers now this is an interesting
verse
we know from the rest of the chapter
there’s around 120 people so let’s just
say 120 people which is interesting to
me
because jesus elsewhere in scripture
says after his death he appeared
to over 500 people
but there was only 120 in the prayer
meeting
i don’t know where the 380 went i’m sure
they got it later
i just don’t want to miss when he shows
up
i don’t want to miss so here they are it
says they continued
in one accord in prayer it’s established
that the prayer uh out of unity
had been taking place in this chapter
this is extremely significant
look who attended the meeting of course
we have here mary the mother of jesus
uh some of the women that were
supporters and his brothers why is that
important
because one of the last times we read
about his brothers they didn’t believe
he was the messiah
and they tried to trick him into going
into a public place
to receive ridicule and opposition so
something has happened during this
journey where they’ve come to the
realization they’ve spent all this time
growing up with the son of god in the
house imagine that realization
you’ve also got the 11 disciples who
spent
their time three and a half years
succeed in their ministry for sure
but they were also caught
comparing themselves with one another
thinking they are better
than the other arguing as to who was the
greatest
so we’ve got this accumulation of 120
people
who have many issues throughout their
life together
and yet this 10 days of prayer i don’t
know
if they settled the issues before before
they started the 10-day prayer meeting
or if they got ironed out in the prayer
meeting do you remember when
peter denied jesus and jesus shows up
afterwards
and he says to peter do you love me more
than these i think he was asking
peter do you love me more than the other
remaining ten
do you do do you really think you love
me more than everybody else
because there was this this arrogance
this superiority this
this thing that rose up in him to think
everybody else is going to blow but not
me i’m i’m the most secure one here
and jesus confronted that in him and it
was
in that repentance that he was fully
restored so let’s get back to the story
here
they continued in one accord in prayer
my translation adds the word and
supplication let me talk to you for just
a moment about the issue of prayer
our prayer life
reveals how conscious we are
of the god who is with us
you can’t have someone as glorious and
significant
as the spirit of god resting upon a
person
and have that person not talk to him
the depth of our prayer life reveals the
level
of awareness we have to the spirit of
god in our lives
i’m not talking theologically all of us
as believers can say
we know that the holy spirit lives in us
we know that the holy spirit walks with
us he guides us he teaches
i get that i know that i’m talking about
the daily ongoing consciousness
of the holy spirit of god
david said in the old testament he said
i
daily set the lord before me it’s not
that we can position god where we want
he’s
he’s not under our command we are under
his
but david was saying he’s everywhere so
i
turn my attention to god being with me
and that
consciousness of god in his life is what
in
many ways enabled him to be the greatest
king israel ever had
so let’s get back to the subject the
second thing i want to challenge you in
for most people our prayer life
are times where we’re pursuing comfort
pursuing peace
the pleasure of the lord now comfort
pleasure let’s just take those two words
those are biblical concepts god
is the one who designed pleasure he is
the one who designed comfort
he is the one who who made us to be able
to rest in him
i’m accepted in the beloved he delights
in me i’m his treasure i’m the apple of
his eye
all those things are absolutely 100 true
but what happens when we distort
our pursuit of comfort we sacrifice
having a lifestyle of impacting prayer
there are prayers of fellowship with
lord
which is refreshing reassuring
building hope building faith but the
apostle paul taught at one point about
prayer being likened unto
giving birth he actually said and i’m
in labor for you
until christ is formed in you and he was
uh the context there
was prayer so think about this this is
an awkward
subject but it’s it’s it’s the intensity
of prayer
and for those who only pursue a
relationship with god
of comfort and pleasure will never know
the kind of prayer that moves mountains
you have to be able to feel
the grief of the lord the
pain of a situation as parents we know
what that is
to be in a a a painful situation with
our children
but here’s the final thing is we come
before the lord
and we pray unto until
it is lifted until there is that sense
of breakthrough
i remember my brother is uh he’s 10
years younger than i am
bob or bobby at the time when he was 11
months old
he was very very near death in fact the
doctors
uh said that he he was within 12 hours
of dying
i remember my my mom’s parents lived
with us at the time in fact for a good
part of my life
growing up years and they lived with us
during that season and i remember my
grandfather
going to his knees i still can see i
could take you to the place
where he knelt in front of the couch in
our living room
and he was there for an extended period
of time and he was praying you see
my grandparents also lost a child
at 11 months old this whole thing
flashes back on them he dug his
heels in if you will in in a place of
prayer he marched on his knees as even
a better way to say it and he knelt in
front of that couch and he began to pray
and intercede as a kid i
10 years old i did 11 years old i didn’t
know what all he was doing or experience
i mean i knew he was praying i knew
bobby was in serious trouble but i i
didn’t get
then what i get now he he
he dug in to that crisis that we were
facing as a family
and he prayed and he was there
for hours and i remember
when he got up if i remember correctly
it was about two o’clock in the
afternoon
he got up off his knees and he turned to
the family
and he said bobby will be okay
why because he had a fight
the fight is not with people the fight
is with
the powers of darkness that kill steal
and destroy
so often we blame so many other people
for what’s going on
but he dug his knees into the ground if
you will and he contended with that
that thing until it was broken and he
turned to the family he said bobby will
be okay
my parents when they got back to the
hospital that afternoon
the doctors said in so many words
there’s been a very interesting
turnaround
since about two o’clock this afternoon
that’s when grandpa got up and said
bobby will be okay you see there’s
something about
prayer that moves mountains it means
that i’m not
looking for a life of pleasure and
comfort only
i’m looking to make a difference and to
make a difference
i’m going to dig my heels in and i’m
going to contend for a breakthrough
because a breakthrough must come
the problem happens for many
as they feel that burden of the lord
they don’t ever give it to him
and so they walk around as depressed
people look like they’ve been
baptized in pickle juice you know they
just they just have no joy about them
that’s not the answer either the answer
is i’m going to prove
how holy i am by how depressed i am that
is that is
anti the whole point that we’re making
here
is that we pray unto something prayer
is supposed to be a moment of exchange
that moment sometimes lasts for days
that moment sometimes lasts for moments
read nehemiah’s prayers in the book of
nehemiah
one sentence prayers that moved
mountains but see if the prayer doesn’t
move me
it’s not likely to move him
so here’s this moment in prayer where we
come before the lord and
jesus himself said come to me
you who are weary and heavy laden
there’s a lot of folks watching this
that are weary and heavy laden heavy why
maybe it’s the coronavirus maybe it’s
uh maybe it’s the racial conflict maybe
it’s something completely different
it’s it’s the business that you lost
during this thing
maybe it’s the fact you don’t know what
you’re going to do when you’re able to
get back to work
it could be any number of things health
crisis whatever it might be
there’s a lot of folks watching this
broadcast today
that are weary and heavy laden
jesus speaks to you and he says come to
me
you who are weary and heavy laden step
one we’ve got to know who to go to
we go to him i don’t go to him plus this
person this person this person
he’s not something i try he’s not on
trial we are
i go to him but i go to him to make an
exchange
so jesus said come to me you are weary
heavy laden i will give you
rest think about it you come to me with
your stuff
and i will give you my stuff let’s make
the exchange
as i’ve told so many of you so many
times through the years
if you walk into the presence of god
heavy burdened
and you leave the same way you came in
then you weren’t praying you were
complaining
might want to write that one down prayer
automatically means
here is an exchange i’m giving you
i i was willing to carry this into your
presence
this that i’ve experienced in life but i
see you as the source of life
let’s make the exchange i receive now
your rest
i want to welcome you into this kind of
a journey i need to move on quickly here
we get down to chapter two and he says
in verse one he says when the day of
pentecost had fully come
they were all with one accord in one
place again
here’s this one accord concept one
accord not
not a car not the accord one of course
120 people and one accord that would be
a lot of people
all right one accord they’re in unity
unity is not uniformity
now listen carefully
most people’s understanding of unity is
the fight for uniformity
true unity requires diversity
and a man shall be joined to his wife
and the two shall become one they are
not the same
diversity is required for biblical unity
unity does not tolerate
diversity it celebrates it
it’s what makes it so beautiful
the second thing i would say about unity
is it’s not something you and i can
create
most human efforts for unity
as noble as they may be
are simple attempts for agreement and or
understanding not evil
not bad just insufficient
the scripture says in ephesians chapter
4 i think it’s verse 2
he says preserve the unity of the spirit
in the bond of peace preserve the unity
of the spirit and the bond of peace
tells us a couple things about unity
number one preserve i can’t create it
it’s already in existence
how did it get there it’s the unity of
the spirit
true biblical unity is is
seen wherever the holy spirit has
influence
anytime you see in a relationship a
husband or wife
a church family a nation
anytime you see real true
unity not just we’ll agree for this
season
true biblical unity it is the result of
the holy spirit’s
influence in those individuals lives
jesus prayed a prayer that they might be
one but what did he join to it he said
i gave them my glory that they might be
one what is the glory
the glory is the manifested presence of
jesus seen
as the holy spirit comes upon his people
i gave them my
glory i gave them the manifestation of
the presence of god upon them why
that they might be one
you never see where there’s a mighty
outpouring of the holy spirit let’s just
take some of the things we’ve seen
happen in this room i’ve watched this
for years
when the spirit when the power of god
shows up in a room i don’t mean just for
miracles although i’m i’m all in
for that when the power of god shows up
in a room
it’s hard to find anyone who’s mad at
somebody else
there’s something that takes place in
that in that environment
where all the hostilities all the
objections all the
stuff you know the love remembers no
wrong i’m not keeping an account
why it just all lost its importance in
the presence
my challenge my challenge to you is
pentecost yes
it’s about the demonstration of power
but the basis if you if you consider
the platform for this manifestation of
the power of god the resurrection
the testimony of the resurrection of
christ through power
the platform was they prayed together in
one accord
they were they were united in heart
so much so if they saw one of their own
brothers or sisters in need
they would sell a position a possession
to take care of that need the point is
is it was it was unity to the point of
self-sacrifice
in other words i’ll pay any price to
maintain this
what does it look like to preserve the
unity of the spirit
it means i am willing to invest
i’m not just going to pray something and
then to ease my conscience
and and move out of doing something
i’m not just going to check check the
box that i prayed for unity
i’m going to follow my prayer with
action i was thinking this morning
one of my favorite stories is where
israel marched around
the walls of jericho crazy story they
marched around for seven days the last
day seven times they lifted up a shell
let’s just use this as kind of a unique
picture
the marching around the walls for me
symbolizes prayer
once the shout was lifted up and the
walls fell
they still had to go in and take
possession of what was there in other
words
prayer removed the obstacle to their
victory they still had to go exercise
victory
prayer is vital you you and i must pray
we must pray until
we can get up and say bobby will be okay
but there still needs to be then
followed with an action that says
all right let’s go see our son let’s go
see our grandson let’s do
whatever the the situation demands in
the case that we’re facing now as a
nation
it’s important that we pray but it’s
also important that we pursue
and make sure communication is open that
it’s
honest that we are they’re loving one
another we don’t need agreement
we need just the love and affection uh
for people
when they’re mourning you know you’ve
had the greatest day of your life
put it aside mourn of those who mourn
so often people will see somebody
receiving attention
because they’ve had great loss as we’ve
experienced this week
and then others in the group will say
but what about me what about me i
suffered this i suffered that
you know what give people their moment
let’s
weep with those who weep let’s just let
the dust settle
let’s weep with those who weep let’s
pray for and pursue in action
the healing grace of god for every bit
of disorder that exists
in our nations now
it says in verse 2 suddenly there came a
sound from heaven
i taught on this several years ago and i
i
want so much to talk about it today but
i i
let me just say that thousands of people
from jerusalem gathered together because
they heard a sound
i just want to suggest you the sound was
not
120 people praying in tongues
it was not 120 people praying in other
languages
reading is not the biggest cultural
center in the earth
and yet you can go downtown and you see
four or five of our arabic students
talking in their language
they’re not going to draw a crowd of
thousands
you’re not going to awaken an entire
city like jerusalem
to something simply because you’re
speaking four languages
we already see from the testimony here
the city was
filled with people speaking in other
languages
that wasn’t it what drew them
was the roar of heaven there was a sound
there was the sound of the heart of god
that was released
into the earth and it awakened an entire
city
and they they dropped their toys their
work tools their
their pots and pans whatever they were
doing at nine o’clock in the morning
and they were drawn to where this sound
occurred
and when they saw these people praying
in other languages
apparently acting so much disoriented
because there was the thought that they
were intoxicated
they stand there and they start mocking
them
they were confused all kinds of
reactions that were negative reactions
people say well if it’s a real revival
there’ll be no offense
the opposite is true the opposite is
true
anytime god shows up there will be
offense
it’s just it’s the it’s the way it is
one one of the great prophets from
the recent years said god will offend
your mind
to reveal your heart
and in that moment they mocked
and peter stood up and i want you to see
this
in chapter 2 verse 14 it says
peter standing up with the eleven raised
his voice and he said men of judea oh
who dwell
in jerusalem let this be known to you
and heed my words
these are not drunk as you suppose
since it’s only the third hour of the
day that’s a strange argument
i want to convince you that they’re not
drunk like you think they are
how can i say that it’s nine o’clock in
the morning
strange argument but then he begins to
read and i want you to see what he reads
what he declares he quotes this out of
the book of joel the prophet joel
it shall come to pass in the last days i
will pour out my
spirit on all flesh okay stop for a
moment
when the holy spirit is poured out where
the spirit of god
is working in a group when he is truly
free to do as he pleases
he breaks every barrier that we create
and i want you to look at them right now
i will pour out my spirit on all flesh
all flesh every race
when the spirit of god shows up it’s a
level playing field
there’s not haves and have nots there’s
not this race versus this race this
class versus this class
all of that stuff is is obliterated
in the presence of god that’s why we can
say preserve the unity
unity is the fruit of his working in and
through us
so look at it again i will pour out my
spirit on
all flesh your sons
and daughters will prophesy sons and
daughters
the gender barrier and there’s only two
the gender barrier is broken in the
outpouring of the spirit
your young men will see visions your old
men will dream dreams
the age barrier is broken in the move of
the spirit
on your men servants and maidservants i
will pour out my spirit in those days
the class barrier those who are the
wealthy those who are the poorest those
who are the servants of others
the class barriers broke what’s the
point when the holy spirit shows up in
power
it’s a level playing field it’s critical
for us
we see even when jesus would multiply
food we’ll see
that he multiplied the food with the
four thousand
the five thousand but you’ll notice
a note in that number it will say
and 5 000 besides women and children
women and children were oh yeah see in
the culture of that day
they counted a crowd by the number of
men in the crowd
and then they mentioned and women and
children
it’s interesting then in
one of these stories the one who was
ignored
the child is the one who had the
seed for the miracle the loaves and the
fishes
the ones who nobody counting
counted jesus counted
and brought him into the place where his
lunch
became what seeded the cloud for the
multiplication of food
you see in old testament in
the culture of the day new testament the
gospels
what you see is you see a crowd counted
by the number of men
but all of a sudden something happens
the holy spirit shows up
there’s 120 people in an upper room
praying
how many men how many women doesn’t say
why because they’re treated the same
see jesus destroys he destroys
the power of division now we have to
live in it he destroys the power of
division
that exists between all flesh
he’s the one who destroys that barrier
between
men and women what men are qualified to
do what women are qualified to do
he’s the one who destroys that barrier
that dividing wall
he is the one who destroys the well
god speaks through the aged or it’s just
the young people that have the real
spark for revival
he’s the one who destroys that dividing
wall he destroys it and calls it
foolishness
he’s the one who comes and he touches
the lowest
of the low in this context the servants
the slaves of another master and he
gives them
access to the same wonderful and
glorious
outpouring of the holy spirit that is
offered to all
we have to be careful that we don’t
return
to a cultural standard that exalts
one group above another
we have to protect our heart to make
sure that we don’t move
to cultural values
sometimes good sometimes very corrupt
that we don’t return to cultural values
instead of
kingdom values in the outpouring of the
holy spirit jesus said it
i gave them my glory that they might be
one preserve
the unity of the spirit normally on a
day like today
i would spend the bulk of my time
talking to you about our need for the
absolute power of god
my goodness uh there’s just never been a
time where it’s been more needed than
right now
we’ve got to have the demonstration of
the resurrection power of god
flowing through the lives of believers
like you and like me
there are so many pandemics there are so
many
crises cancer and various kinds of
illnesses
that people carry they they
under the weight of that affliction
infirmity
they need someone like you that will say
you know what
i’m not parable powerful by myself but
i’m also not by myself
the spirit of god is in me the spirit of
god rests upon me
and because that’s the reality i live in
i would love to pray for you
and let’s see this thing broken this is
who we are folks this is who we are
every nation of the world is crying out
for the authentic resurrection
resurrected jesus
to be put on display where we confront
these things that are wrong
today i’m taking a special emphasis more
than i would normally
because of what’s happened in our own
nation here tragically
in these in this last week and let’s be
honest
ongoing periodically for
our entire lifetime it’s got to stop
but it’s not going to stop because you
and i
somehow just become better people i
i i believe in human effort so forgive
me if
if you misunderstand that i i believe we
need to do all we can do
once the walls of jericho are down we
still have to use human effort and go in
and
take possession of what god promised but
here’s the deal
the spirit of god comes upon us as a
people
because there is a a demonstration
of who jesus is in our unity
one of the metaphors that is used in
scripture is that
i am a member of the body
of christ let’s be honest
if we were to see the body of christ
the way we often act we would have a
hand over there
a finger over there
a leg over there divided parts
that don’t seem to get along and people
who suffer
with horrible diseases illustrate and
manifest to us what it’s like
to have arms that don’t cooperate
that have legs that they cannot control
they cannot stand on
i’m in regular conversation with a dear
friend of mine
all she wants to do is walk all she
wants to do
but she can’t she is so bound in this
wheelchair
and so we’re contending for her for
olive to arise
and do a walk because it’s the destiny
of the lord he
made those legs to walk on so it’s you
and it’s me
it’s yes it’s a demonstration of the
power of god but right now i want to
call your attention
to people around you people around me
that need an extra moment
they need reassurance
more than just when they’re watching but
when they’re not watching
we take a stand and we just say
not on my shift not on my shift that
kind of behavior
is unaccepted unacceptable
jesus loves every race in fact let me
just say this
what every race in this area we have the
native americans
what they contribute to our life is rich
it’s glorious we have the the continual
uh
migration i’ll use a term of the
hispanic
population that comes they bring such
quality of life to us the
african-americans the list goes on and
on i
i know i’ll miss people but the point is
we are
better because they are in our lives
they don’t deserve just
toleration they deserve celebration they
deserve honor
and i’d like to suggest to you that’s at
least
one of the biblical manifestations
of the power of the spirit of god
coming upon his people the demonstration
he said it jesus said it love one
another
so they’ll know you follow me
let the display of your care your
affection
your concern it doesn’t even mean that
we have to agree on everything
it just means i won’t let what i think
is different than what you think
interfere with the love we have for one
another
this is all in demonstration of the love
of god for every person
watching anytime we have a broadcast
like this with literally
tens and tens of thousands of people
that watch from around the world
i would want to say to you listen
come to know jesus
come to know jesus i’ve been thinking
about this verse the last few weeks
it says jesus made this statement he
said
what does it profit a person if they
gain the whole world
but they lose their own soul what does
it profit you
if you reach this dream and this
accomplishment you’re applauded by this
group
you’re celebrated by that group you get
all these accolades poured into your
life
what does it profit us if we get all
that
but we lose our own soul profits nothing
eternity is a long time it’s not a scare
tactic it’s a reality
and jesus comes in his tender mercy
and he says come to me you who are weary
and heavy laden i will give you rest i
will give you
the holy spirit who is the person of
rest
he is the person of peace and i will
release that into your life so i want to
encourage you
we have counselors we have pastors we’ve
got people on
our youtube channel we have people on
our bethel tv channel
ready to pray with you if you would say
bill i
don’t want to end this broadcast without
surrendering my life to jesus
then that’s what you do you just get
online you make the phone call do
whatever you need to do
but say i need to get right with god i
need to know what it is
to be forgiven of sin to be brought into
the family of god
i want to pray for you i want to pray
for those that are coming to christ i
want to pray for all of us
we have we have the opportunity to stand
in the middle of a dark dark moment
with the love and the compassion of
jesus
and to demonstrate jesus is
truly raised from the dead he is alive
in me and he is alive in this moment
and i will not let any disagreement
separate us
because you’re more important to me than
my
whatever so father i pray right now
in the wonderful name of jesus first of
all for those who would come to christ
let the conviction of the holy spirit be
released
over this entire audience so that every
single person
those who have have not walked with
jesus and also those who would
who have allowed uh uh differences to
rise up in their heart where they’ve
been hostile or arrogant or
indifferent towards another group of
people or maybe a family member
god forgive us and heal us for this
nonsense
restore us to the heart of jesus in the
way we value and treat each other
i pray that you bring many many many
into the kingdom today
and that you would help us as the body
of christ
to demonstrate what it is to value one
another
and to stay connected in our love for
you
i pray this for the honor of the name
jesus
amen thank you thank you thank you so
much
for joining us today i bless you in the
name of the lord