Bill Johnson teaches on the power of the Gospel and the Great Commission. The “go” of the Gospel is essential whether it be through missions abroad or in your own hometown, but Jesus’ instruction to the disciples was to first wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power. Receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and walking in His power is available to every believer and is vital as we follow in Jesus’ footsteps, representing Him well and extending His Kingdom through the power of the Gospel. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:23 The Great Commission (Jan 28 2024 Sermon) 13:04 It Is Better for You That I Go 27:26 Wait Until You Receive the Holy Spirit 42:29 Walking In the Power of the Gospel Subscribe for weekly videos: https://bit.ly/bjmYoutube

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Bill Johnson is a fifth-generation pastor with a rich heritage in the Holy Spirit. He is senior leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, and is passionate about seeing Revival and God’s Kingdom established and revealed in the lives of individuals, families, communities, and nations. Bill’s teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven, hosting the Presence, and the renewed mind has helped thousands around the world to step into their true identity in Christ, God given purpose, and walk in a supernatural lifestyle displaying both purity and power. #BillJohnson #BethelChurch #Power #Gospel

most Believers have greater faith in the

return of Christ than they do in the

power of the gospel and the concept

behind that statement is the fact that

we know Jesus is coming back and when he

does he’ll fix everything instead of us

believing that the power of the Gospel

that’s been given to us is what fixes

[Music]

everything good so good we’re so blessed

Jonathan and Cindy is part of our part

of our house bless so these guys are

amazing they they know what it is to

really lay their life down and go into

tough places so we’re we’re just so

privileged thanks thanks for what you’re

putting together for us um I’ve got just

a few minutes left and and uh got a

couple thoughts to uh to share with you

um open your bibles if you would to

Matthew 28 even if you can quote the

passage look at it anyway and uh Matthew

28 and then Acts chapter 1 so we’re

going to look at two portions of

scripture

and I’m going to read uh while you’re

turning uh in your Bibles I’m going to

read um a favorite uh Psalm of

mine Psalm 22 is considered the me a

Messianic Psalm it’s about the death of

Christ and it ends with these

words all the ends of the Earth shall

remember and turn to the Lord that’s an

extraordinary statement all all the ends

of the Earth shall remember and turn to

the Lord and all the families of the

Nations shall worship before you for the

kingdom is the Lords and he rules over

the Nations all the prosperous of the

Earth shall eat and worship and it goes

on promises like this are not simply to

be read and uh applauded there’re to be

they’re invitations you know they’re

invitations they can either stay there

on the page or they can become an active

part part of our prayer life uh

something uh one of the one of the most

amazing uh here’s the hard part of

praying for Nations and praying for uh

unreached people groups Etc is you don’t

get daily feedback to keep you

encouraged you have to do it because of

the call of God and who you are in

Christ if you need the constant daily

motivation you know praying for the sick

is easy because you see breakthroughs it

keeps you motivated but uh but on this

on the bigger scale you have to be

motivated out of an identity issue a

call of God and uh missions groups uh a

number of years ago I don’t remember now

I I’ve heard before but I I think it’s

like back in the 80s maybe 70s but

certain missions groups around the world

started targeting What’s called the 1040

window it’s a it’s uh uh we saw the map

earlier the 1040 window is a a uh

geographical section of planet Earth

where a large part of the unreached

people groups live as you saw on on the

on the map but what happened is Prayer

Ministry groups started targeting they

started realizing that’s where the most

of the people are so we need to pray for

them so if you can imagine now 10 20 30

years later of these groups constantly

praying into that we have Story upon

Story upon story of of people who live

in that area who have never heard the

gospel they have a man in white show up

in their dreams they’ll have a a vision

they’ll have an encounter with what they

call the man in white and it has become

so

common um it’s not to replace the going

because they still have to hear the

gospel but they have these encounters uh

with the man in whites become so common

that I know of a guy who goes in front

of a mosque and he just stands there and

when people come in he says have you

seen the man in white if they say yes he

saids stand over here and I’ll tell you

who he is and then if they if they

haven’t seen the man in white they

actually they they just go into the

mosque so after everybody showed up and

they got a pile of folks here that have

seen the man of white he then goes over

and shares the gospel tells them who who

the man of white is it’s amazing but how

does that happen the the atmosphere over

these parts of the world are shifting

because of long-term prayer long-term

prayer it’s not just the you know the

the the Casual prayer on a mission

Sunday which is important but it’s it’s

the long-term Focus to say you know what

we want him to get his full reward we

want psalms 22: 27 that I rich moments

ago to be fulfilled where all the

families of the earth bow before him

were all the nations all the ethnos all

the people groups of the earth not just

uh the 200 Nations that exist all the

different people groups and so this is

who we are as a church family

um here let’s read these two passages

and then I’ll try to I’ll I’ll do I’ll

do more next week and uh hopefully it’ll

make more sense then but let me plant

the seeds for it right now in Matthew 28

we have have what we refer to as the

Great Commission starts in verse

18 Jesus came and spoke to them saying

all authority has been given to me in

heaven and on Earth go therefore Make

Disciples of all the nations baptizing

them in the name of the Father the Son

and the Holy Spirit teaching them them

to observe all things that I have

commanded you and I remind you he

commanded them heal the sick raise the

Dead cast out Devils it was never

supposed to end

that’s right that’s

right is this mic

[Music]

on it was never supposed to end it was

never supposed to end it’s a part of the

Gospel he said this gospel will be

preached All Nations not 200 Nations but

the ethnos the people

groups and when the gospel of the

kingdom is preached in the gospels is

followed with miracles signs and wonders

so the prophecy that this gospel will be

preached in all the world and then the

end shall come is a gospel that is

demonstrated with power it’s a gospel

that illustrates the resurrection of

Jesus teaching then to observe all that

I have commanded you and lo I Am With

You Always even to the end of the age I

love that last phrase one preacher said

he don’t fly for that reason because

Jesus said Lo I’m with you

always that’s that’s a corny joke but it

wasn’t mine I’m just I’m just the

messenger Acts chapter uh 1 Acts chapter

1 verse uh 8 but you shall receive power

when the Holy Spirit has come upon you

you shall be witnesses to me in

Jerusalem in all Judea Samaria to the

end of the Earth all right so here’s the

deal we are required to walk in

authority and and power it’s what Jesus

did it’s what he Illustrated he

commissioned his disciples Luke 1:9 he

gave them Authority and power but then

when he ascended to Heaven they had to

get their own they were under his

deputized anointing if you will and so

uh in Matthew 28 he shows up and he

announces all Authority’s been given to

me he passes that Authority on and it is

in everybody’s life in this room in the

measure we’ve said yes to his mission

Authority comes in the commission but

power comes in the

encounter Authority comes in the

commission power comes in the encounter

and so Jesus received power when the

spirit of God Came Upon him at his water

baptism very next chapter we see him

functioning in miracles signs and

wonders there’s a connection

there Matthew 28 all authority has been

given to me go therefore Luke’s version

adds this part don’t leave Jerusalem to

are you clothed with

power Luke wrote Luke go figure and acts

put the two together you see a seamless

story

yes here’s my

point Authority and power are both

essential to living and demonstrating

the gospel but in the two Champion

verses that deal with these subjects

they are both tied to our influence on

the Nations

come on Matthew 28 disciple Nations

because of authority Acts chapter 1

you’ll receive power be Witnesses in all

the Earth all the nations the whole

point is Authority and power is what

qualifies us to influence

Nations and the the bottom line is and I

I’ll I’ll tell you more personal stuff

uh probably next week but the the

missions thing has been a huge part of

my life as long as I can remember I was

I was you know weaned on it so to speak

and so we just we always had

missionaries in our home it was always a

huge part of our life just Benny and I

we we gave pretty extreme before we even

married and we brought the two uh to

together the commit commitment to World

missions it’s who we

are and and it’s it’s it’s not optional

you know how we do it is different you

you you everyone can pray most everyone

can send that’s giving and some get to

go yeah well actually everybody gets to

go CU this is a nation that needs

discipling so when when we dismiss you

in a couple minutes you’re going to go

into all the world and preach the gospel

of the Kingdom but this is this is who

we are and recognizing that it is

actually in our DNA that he wrote in in

his word the promises where entire

nations people groups would be brought

to him that

that is coursing through his own veins

that’s his own prayer life if you will

is to intercede and to pray for us and

to pray for the Nations that’s our

privilege so what I’m hoping that all of

us get to do is up our upgrade our first

of all our sense of identity and

responsibility for

Nations you know maybe the Lord

highlights a nation to you or a

missionary or

both and then just on a regular basis

throughout the week you just start

praying maybe pick up a newspaper but

you pick up a

newspaper sorry I manifested for a

moment I I think I’m okay

now and you see an article about that

nation that gives you Insight on how to

pray it’s it’s it’s a very significant

thing so all right go and

stand

yes

Lord you know um we’re going to I’m

going to close in prayer here in just a

second so hold on if you wouldn’t

mind but you know the the the big deal

is that there there obviously could be

people in this room right now that have

have

never have never given your life to

Christ have never received his

forgiveness don’t know what it is to

be Bible calls it born again it’s where

we change from the inside out and if

there’s anybody in this room before we

pray for also has

a a crowd of

missionaries um I I want to give this

opportunity if there’s anyone here that

would just say Bill I don’t want to

leave the room I don’t want to leave the

property until I know what it is to know

God to be forgiven to be adopted into

his family if there’s anyone in that

place just quickly put your hand up

right now and just by do doing that

you’re saying bill I don’t want to leave

till I know I have found peace with God

what it is to be forgiven do so real

quickly I’m I’ll wait just just a moment

I just want to make sure everyone has

the opportunity for this we also have so

many people

online uh that have been healed this

week the Randy clar conference was

outrageously wonderful and so many

people got healed online and and it it

may be that some of you uh who are

online would say I don’t know Jesus and

I want to just write in the in the chat

box and there’ll be a pastor there to

help you all right let’s just pray

father I ask that You’ impart a Grace

for Missions um even those who have

never even given it a second thought

that you would just teach us what you

think and that you would help us in this

this radical adjustment for this hour to

embrace the Nations coming to Christ and

to celebrate everything we hear we honor

you for the testimonies today wow wow

wow wow

resurrections amazing we honor you for

it everybody said

amen now you remember when Jesus chose

the 12 he met with them and it says he

gave them power and authority do you

remember that it’s in Luke 9 he gave

them power and

authority I’d like to describe it this

way Jesus came commissioned from the

father

so he had all

authority when he was baptized in water

he came up out of the water and was

clothed with the spirit of God the Holy

Spirit rested upon him in the form of a

dove and remained so I like this I like

to put it this way Jesus came to

Earth having been commissioned from the

father to come take our place in

death and be the sacrifice he came with

authority I don’t think he came with

with power now as God obviously he’s got

all power but the point is is he chose

self-imposed restrictions to live with

the limitations of a human being

although he has access to everything as

God make sense kind of all right so he

came with what Authority how do we know

because the authority comes in your The

Authority you walk in is equal to the

your submission to the

commission

Authority is directly connected to the

commission I think Chris valon is the

one who put it this way first he said

commissioned you have to be in

submission to the primary Mission that’s

how you’re co-

missioned all right does that make sense

so he came to Earth with authority

because he was commissioned by the

father but he still needed to be clothed

with power and so he comes to John for

water baptism John says I’m not worthy

to untie your shoes Jesus says permit it

he baptized him in water the spirit of

God comes upon him in the form of a dove

and remains so there he receives power

if you read in Luke Chapter the end of

chapter 3 the beginning of chapter 4 it

was after that water baptism where the

spirit of God Came Upon him it was after

that power was displayed but not until

then all right now fast forward Jes

Jesus is at the end of his life he’s

already commissioned the 12 there’s 11

left he’s already given them power and

authority but what does he do after he

dies he resurrects he appears to them

and in Matthew 28 Jesus came and spoke

to them Verse 18 saying all authority

has been given to me in heaven and on

Earth therefore Go Make Disciples of all

the nations baptizing them in the name

of the Father the Son and the Holy

Spirit teaching them to observe all

things that I’ve commanded you you what

are some of the things he commanded heal

the sick raise the Dead cast out Devils

here in the Great Commission he’s saying

Teach Your disciples what I commanded

you which includes healing and

deliverance and all all the other

things

yeah I with you always even to the End

of the Age so the point I want to make

is even though all 12 of his disciples

11 remaining even though they had

already been given power and authority

when Jesus was was on Earth I like to

put it this way they were deputized

under his mantle of anointing of call of

anointing his power and authority so

they function Under the Umbrella of his

gift I’ve seen it happen so I I we don’t

have I I could take time but I’d end up

killing all of you

so but but i’ I’ve seen it where where

you work with someone in their gift and

and their anointing actually affects you

and as long as you’re with them you

function like them and you think you’ve

got it and then you try to do it on your

own it doesn’t work well it’s it’s it’s

it’s it’s it’s like a wakeup call oh so

so that anointing wasn’t mine yeah yeah

you yeah it’s it

just you have you just you just pay a

price for those things that’s all and uh

so anyway um so here’s Jesus he comes

back and he the first thing he does is

he tells them they have

authority well I thought they already

had Authority yeah they were deputized

under his but now they’ve got to have

their

own so what does he do first thing he

does is he appears to them he says all

authority has been given to me therefore

go what is he doing he’s imparting

Authority Authority for the

mission the great co-

Mission and then he says don’t leave

Jerusalem till you’re clothed with

power I thought they already had power

yep they were deputized now they have to

get their

own now they have to get their

own

you remember Jesus told his disciples

it’s better for you that I go I doubt

there was one disciple that believe

that because they’ve got him right there

I me they’ve got him right there they

can ask him anything he corrects them

it’s you know it’s the only time they

were embarrassed and felt good about it

you know it’s like Jesus just adjusted

stuff in their lives and it was disc

continuous and he said it’s better that

I go and then he made this Jesus made

this statement in John I think 14 he

says the Holy Spirit who is who is with

you will be in

you the spirit of God who is with you

will be in you and that’s what he was

announcing so in John 20 he breathed on

them they received the Holy Spirit and

then he said but we’re not

done don’t leave Jerusalem till you’ve

been clothed with

power

one of the kind of bizarre stories in

scriptures of

Gideon I want to have you turn to this

one it’s in chapter 7 or8 I think it’s

chapter 8 it’s on the right hand side of

the page but it’s right at the top First

Column and it says in my translation new

new King James says and the spirit of

God Came Upon Gideon and it was an

extraordinary feat that was accomplished

but in the footnote it says

literally it

means the Holy Spirit clothed himself

with

Gideon I said I wasn’t going to turn

there but some of you don’t believe me

so I’m going

to the spirit of the Lord Came Upon

Gideon he blew the

trumpet soldiers gathered to him Etc it

says the spirit of the Lord clothed

himself with

Gideon if an Old Testament concept of

the Holy Spirit clothing U it was

Michael Thompson who told us this 20

probably 7 28 years ago he said said the

Holy Spirit In this passage put Gideon

on like a

glove that’s what we

need is for the spirit of God to put us

on like a

glove it’s got to fit

well that glove can’t have a mind of its

own that glove can’t have a preconceived

idea this is what it needs to look like

it’s actually it’s got to be Supple

tender very

flexible so as the Holy Spirit puts you

on puts me on he does what he

wants so he tells them in Luke 24 don’t

leave Jerusalem till you’ve been closed

with power now let’s go to Acts chapter

one and I’ll start I’ll start wrapping

this up

now remember we started uh this thing

tonight by just this one concept this

most difficult to comprehend concept of

God wanting to fill us with his

fullness I can’t think about that very

long because it’ll hurt my head

so acts chap 1 verse 2 until the day in

which he was taken up after he through

the Holy Spirit was given had given

Commandments to the apostles whom he had

chosen to whom he also presented himself

alive after suffering by uh many

infallible proofs being seen by them

during 40 days and speaking of the

things pertaining to the kingdom of God

so what’s the point after his

resurrection he kept appearing and

reappearing to the 11 disciples and

others outside of the original group he

would appear to them over a period of 40

days Pentecost means 50 so from the

death of Christ to the day of Pentecost

is 50 days but he spent 40 hanging out

with the guys which means there was 10

days that they had a prayer

meeting so he says don’t leave Jerusalem

till you’re clothed with

power

[Applause]

wow I wonder what they did in those 10

days 10 days is a long prayer

meeting they

already have been competing with each

other thinking they’re better than the

other so they got 10 it probably took

them 10 days to get this stuff kind of

fixed just throw him in a prayer room

and don’t leave don’t let him get out

you

know and uh Peter you know he already

said I love I love you more than all

these and so Jesus showed up said do you

love me more than these and so they had

few things to kind of work out in this

prayer

meeting it’s interesting Jesus actually

appeared the scripture says to over 500

people announcing what was to happen

we don’t know how long how many people

were in the room when the prayer meeting

started but we know 10 days later there

was

120 what were they what did Jesus talk

to his disciples about during the 40-day

period the kingdom of God that’s the

message being assembled together with

them verse four he commanded them not to

to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for

the promise of the Father which he said

you’ve heard of from me for John

baptized with water but you shall be

baptized with the Holy Spirit not many

days from

now when they had come together they

asked him saying Lord will you at this

time restore the kingdom to

Israel he said it’s not for you to know

the times are season which the father

has put in his own authority but you

shall receive power when the Holy Spirit

has come upon

you

twice the disciples brought up

conversation and asked questions and

twice Jesus turned the subject to the

kingdom of God and the outpouring of the

Holy

Spirit there’s a tremendous book um I we

have copies somewhere I’m going to

promote one of these days it’s called

The Cure of all

ills and you know I did this study years

ago on um on

water uh uh Rivers uh pools uh Lakes

rain those kinds of

things and it the conclusion I came to

is all through the Old

Testament Israel would have a problem

with an enemy army they would have a

problem with moral breakdown in their

own culture they would have a problem

with following after other gods it

didn’t matter what the problem was God’s

answer was rain rivers

pools which in that context is always

the outpouring of the holy spirit so

it’s like it it’s like it doesn’t matter

what problem you have what you need is

God it’s SEC Cure All In other words

there there actually is a simple answer

to every problem you need an immersion

in the spirit of God it doesn’t mean you

don’t need counsel it doesn’t mean you

don’t need this you don’t need that but

what you need most of all what we need

what I need is an immersion in the

presence because everything

becomes settled everything becomes

settled in the

[Music]

presence verse 8 he says you shall

receive power when the Holy Spirit has

come upon you you shall be witnesses to

me in Jerusalem in Judea Samaria to the

end of the

[Music]

Earth 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 is

essential the wait 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 is

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 host ility 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 com

compounded and they are terrified and

Jesus says peace to you that didn’t help

because they were they’re 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

crucify 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 ab some times 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

going into all the world preach the

gospel he gave them a commission what

else did he give them in the commission

our response our 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 Jes 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 and 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

A2 year tool 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 hearing

anything in their position that 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 11 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 they 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 uh sin

Temptation those kinds of issues but

it’s power for the miraculous it’s 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 wait

was instruction about the kingdom of God

it says in verse three 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 um

excuse me the very next thing out of his

mouth as he says John baptized with

water you will be baptized in the Holy

Spirit now not many days from now so the

disciples then say hey I got a question

when are you going to restore the

kingdom uh 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 you shall be Witnesses

what’s the point I want to make twice in

chapter

one 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 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 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 ver

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 uh disciples who spent

their time three and 1 half years

succeeded in 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

10 do you 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 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 uh

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 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 re 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 am 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 uh 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 vital thing

is we come before the Lord and we pray

un until it is lifted until there is

that sense of breakthrough

most Believers have greater faith in the

return of Christ than they do in the

power of the

gospel and the concept behind that

statement is the fact that we know Jesus

is coming back and when he does he’ll

fix

everything instead of us believing that

the power of the Gospel that’s been

given to us is what fixes

everything instead of him returning to

fixed stuff maybe he’s coming

to pick up what is

[Music]

fixed so to the measure of the

stature of the fullness of Christ and

then he uses this phrase a mature man a

perfect

man now I don’t know this is

mindboggling this is uh this is

troubling he actually has put us on a

course that says this is where you’re

going to end up you the people of God

and the world gets a bigger mess and the

church gets more divided and he still

hasn’t changed his

plan he still hasn’t said ah too much

work never mind I’ll just come back and

fix it myself he he he just didn’t do

that he just didn’t do

that

I’m fascinated by well by Everything

Jesus did but a story that stands out to

me in this moment is the fact that

Jesus the disciples had come to him

saying the crowds the crowd needs to go

home we have no food they’re starving s

away and Jesus said you feed

them which is just a classic moment

because you got to imagine the disciples

are waiting for him to laugh and hit him

on the shoulder and say just kidding you

know after after he gives this command

but he doesn’t he doesn’t he doesn’t

break into laughter he says you feed

them and and they’re nervously trying to

figure out how in the world can we do

that if we had the food we we couldn’t

do

that and so Jesus all he

does is

he he gives them

he gives them something to do he says

have the people sit down in goups of 50

and

100

okay anybody have food here yeah there’s

a kid with lunch all right so Jesus

could have created of nothing but he

usually creates with

something it’s fascinating that he he

easily could have just from nothing but

these Miracles that we see in scripture

actually started he had something to

work with and so in John’s gospel when

he talks about this

situation it said when he broke the

bread when he gave

thanks he distributed to the disciples

and it it became more than enough but

when he gave thanks what did he give

thanks

for he gave thanks for not

enough

he gave thanks when it was way

insufficient see when you take what

isn’t enough and you baptize it in

thankfulness it becomes supernaturally

positioned to be more than

enough it’s the power of Thanksgiving

it’s the power of a thankful heart

wow an unthankful heart is is imprisoned

by numbers and limitations and

restrictions a thankful heart is

positioned to see

increase in John’s gospel it says there

are 5,000 men besides women and children

this happened at two different

times this the multiplying of through at

least twice that we know

of and it’s says there are 5,000 men not

counting women and

children where did the Loaves and Fishes

come

from from a child someone who didn’t

count you heard it in the video tonight

with the Beth Global Response

where Ukrainian people are saying we we

we thought the world forgot us we

thought even God forgot us and he said

the world maybe has but God hasn’t

forgotten there’s there’s something

there’s

something profoundly significant by

recognizing the value of an

individual and here Jesus honors a

child I don’t know if there were other

lunches that were there wasn’t important

it was the one that was given to him was

from a child and Jesus

Took and he didn’t throw it in the air

and go

Shazam I mean let’s let’s face it crowd

control you don’t you don’t create a

mountain of food in front of a thousands

of hungry people instead what he did is

he divided it into 12

baskets and the disciples

distributed how much was in a basket I

don’t know that much I don’t know

but 12 baskets is not enough to feed

5,000 men besides women and children can

we say 15,000

people 12 baskets isn’t near

enough unless it multiplies as you’re

giving it

out so when Jesus said you feed them he

didn’t change his mind when they

said we have no

food he didn’t change his mind when they

were puzzled by The Challenge he didn’t

change his mind all he did was enable

them to do simple actions that he would

bless and cause food to multiply in

other words there’s a point of

obedience most Miracles are connected to

a point of obedience and we usually wait

for something to happen to us when often

times we’re supposed to take Faith and

put it into an action yes

the blind man go wash in the pool of

silom that’s a cruel assignment for a

guy who’s blind you’ve got to go to

another geographical location and

washing a specific

pool but there was something in his

makeup that needed confronting is too

strong of a word it needed to be there’s

something that needed to be exercised in

him in his

obedience

so many times we see actions we see

blind bmus take off his Beggar’s robe

there’s a a profound action it’s what

qualified him as a legal beggar in that

culture people would see that garment to

know he was legitimately blind and

needed help so when he took that off

extraordinary Act of Faith but actions

have to take place I I I remember

Through The Years so often I would I

would have people do something um not uh

you know if you’ve got a broken ankle I

wouldn’t say stand up here on the stage

and jump off to test and see if it’s

healed Gabe might

but I I I wouldn’t do that unless he

told me to I wouldn’t do it out of the

principle of Faith please listen to this

carefully

I will not put anybody at risk out of

the principle of

faith I at times will have to put myself

at risk out of the principle of Faith

because I’m not getting a

breakthrough but I can’t I have no right

to put you at

risk let me illustrate

it is it true that the Widow gave her

last meal to the prophet and that was

the key to her economic breakthrough for

the next season is it

true read your Bibles because it’s in

there it’s a really good story so it’s a

it’s an it’s it’s a principle of Faith

she emptied her own resources and gave

to the

prophet I’m grieved at how often I hear

people in this position use that to tell

people that’s what they need to do you

never put somebody else at risk

unless he says

so and the most terrifying thing I think

for that Prophet was for him to bring a

word to a widow who was down to her last

meal and he’s got to tell her that the

key to her breakthrough is you feed me

first some would automatically think

that’s arrogance I think it’s the

absolute greatest demonstration of

humility because it’s obeying to a point

you make yourself look

foolish I want you to look uh with me at

uh John chapter

3 and I I’ve talked about this so many

times I feel a little bit embarrassed

doing it again but I it just actually at

the end of worship I felt like I felt

like I should talk to you about this

and I’ll I’ll try to hurry through the

parts I’ve done so many

times so when Jesus told his disciples

you feed

them and they were clueless as to what

to

do they knew they didn’t have

enough he didn’t change the assignment

he just Ena them through simple

step-by-step instruction enabled them to

do what was actually

impossible when Jesus says to you and to

me go into all the world preach the

gospel disciple

[Music]

Nations you may be like me going wait a

minute all we’ve got is a kids

lunch and if we’ll listen further he

gives a

stepbystep approach cuz he’s not

changing his plan he’s not going to

change his mind he’s not going to

say all right it’s a little rough making

you like me I’ll tell you what I’ll try

to make you like

[Music]

John or Fred you know

whoever it doesn’t change his plan he’s

got he’s got an assignment for you and

and for me