Arise and Shine – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church

Isaiah 60 commands us to arise and shine! Bill Johnson walks us through this powerful statement and what it means for the church. Our hope is to be a people that reflect His glory across the earth.

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thanks so much

i love how well all of our

teams from our sound people to

camera people to worship teams to

prayer teams to ushers to they just all

do a good job

and i’m happy i’m happy they’re here

i think this is in a restaurant there’s

a sign that shows where the men’s room

is

and with the women’s room and it says

men to the left because women

are always right

so south

oh yeah

i think this one’s funny i i know this

will offend some

but you know i’m just in the mood i’m

just in the mood

this business is guarded by a shotgun

three nights a week

you guess which three

[Laughter]

there’s a picture in a restaurant of a

basket of eggs

this advertised boneless chicken

[Applause]

there’s a sign on a door it says push if

that doesn’t work

pull if that doesn’t work we must be

closed

[Laughter]

i ate salad for dinner as mostly

croutons and tomatoes

really just one big round crouton

covered with tomato sauce and cheese

fine i ate a pizza

women belong in the kitchen men belong

in the kitchen

everyone belongs in the kitchen kitchen

has food

yeah i just

entertain myself with these slightly

humorous things

i wish i had a dollar every time i got

distracted

i wish i had a puppy

denial anger bargaining depression

acceptance

the five stages of waking up

[Laughter]

do you know the correct term for

gluten-free sugarless vegan brownies

compost

[Applause]

i’m just reading the news that’s all i’m

doing

has anybody here ever sent a text

message to somebody

and as you push send you realize

spell check change the word

into something not good at all

this one is for you spellcheck has got

to be my worst enema

well i love you too thanks um

anybody right any horse people here just

a few of you well this is for you

for fast riders we have fast horses for

slow riders we have slow horses

for those who have never ridden we have

horses that have never been ridden

[Applause]

i’ll just end with that one

the last time i rode a horse it

it tried to kill me it did it it

how old was i oh in my 20s

it’s been a while this this horse was

demon-possessed

it was i’m sure it was i’m sure it was

they had to keep it in a small corral

because it would run itself to death

why did they let me get on the back

they’re supposed to know

he doesn’t know anything put him on the

slow

horse they put me on this horse

and it ran like lightning across the

field

and then it ran back and i’m i’m hanging

on for like dear life

and it runs right for a tree with a low

hanging branch because it

because it wants to be delivered

not of the demon that it has but of the

person that’s on its back

i’m telling you i hugged that thing the

branch went right over my head

scrape my back that’s my horse-loving

story

has nothing to do with anything just

thought i’d keep you up to date

don’t you open your bibles hurry hurry

and open them

or it’ll just get worse go to isaiah 60.

um we’re not going to study isaiah 60

but it’ll be a kind of a launching pad

isaiah 60 is a chapter that

we have looked at oh goodness probably

20 times in the last 20 years

and the reason is a good reason the lord

really

changed my life uh in the reading of

that chapter it was in

may of 1979 and

it was on thursday afternoon and i was

walking around the back of the church

facility there in weberville

and i like to walk and pray you never

fall asleep when you keep walking so

that’s

kind of my secret uh so i was in the

back of the church and just walking back

and forth and praying which was my

my custom and um and i just began to

read out of isaiah 60 and i it’s hard

for me to describe what happened except

that i knew

that i was in the middle of a divine

moment and i hadn’t had many of those

like

especially of that nature i hadn’t had

any um i had encounters

you know with the lord where he’s

touched me deeply and you know the

weeping and the

response to him the the tenderness that

we experienced so often in worship but

this was different

it was like my head was exploding in a

in a positive sense

with sudden understanding of where the

church fit into

the whole picture and um and it was

life-changing it’s

it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it

has affected every day of my life since

1979.

it’s it was this month oh 1979 that’s

like how many years ago

a lot for 40 years ago

so this is a 40-year anniversary come on

i didn’t think through that but it works

for me we’ll work with it

and uh and so i began to uh i i was

reading through isaiah 60

and he spoke to me and he spoke to me

quite clearly from what i was reading

and he just told me this is a present

word

and i remember i remember that next

sunday i could hardly wait till sunday

this is a thursday and

on sunday after the worship ended i said

i feel like the lord spoke to me and

here’s a here’s a word from the lord for

us obviously it’s in the scripture

so it’s always for us but he he

highlights

things for certain seasons and uh

and so i read it and everybody responded

with uh

praise and you know i don’t know that

any of us understood what it meant

but but you don’t have to when you when

the lord breathes on something you can

you can say i’m clueless at what it

means but it brought life to me

and and that sometimes is the big

challenge is if you only get life

through what you understand

you really sell yourself short because

there are times the lord will actually

speak something to you that you won’t

understand

but if you’re receptive to what he’s

saying

you’re receptive to what he’s saying

there’s life in it and so anyway this is

one of those moments

and that was a sunday morning sunday

night

dear friend of ours was speaking here at

bethel my dad was pastoring here at the

time

her name is iverna tompkins she’s just

one of my all-time favorites and heroes

and she was speaking that night and and

uh so

uh i got there late because of the drive

from weaverville so i ended up sitting

in the back

and at the end of her message uh i felt

like man i need to read this

i need to read this portion of scripture

for everybody it was present but it was

it was a long sanctuary and i was way in

the back and i thought man i’m going to

get halfway down the aisle and

and they’re going to end the meeting and

so she turned it over my dad

and he he just kept talking and talking

and

i thought well i could have had i had

enough time to get up there and

and so then somebody else came up and

they were talking and it just it just

seemed like it wouldn’t end and it was

like

it felt like the lord was setting the

stage so i saw and and one of the elders

in the church a

friend of mine over in the corner of the

building and i i went over to him i said

jim i said i feel like i’ve got a word

from the lord

this is what he did he looked at it he

just looked at it he said yes i didn’t

realize there was history

he looked and he says yes this is the

word of the lord. so i

i i went down the aisle my dad saw me

coming and

and of course welcome man i said i feel

like i’ve got a word from the lord so

so he gave me the mic i read several

verses out of isaiah 60

and and the people of course responded

with great celebration because of the

word and we’ll read these verses in a

moment

and then iverna tompkins who was through

speaking

sitting on the front row she came up and

grabbed the microphone

and she said i forget how long i i think

she said

just last month i was with charismatic

leaders from around the nation that

gathered together

and five or six of them came to that

gathering

with this chapter saying this is the

word of the lord for this moment for

this season

so you know it went from it really

touched my heart

too this is for the church in weberville

to

whoa reading’s included to oh this is

like for the whole planet

it just it just it just kind of grew in

that sense of significance

let’s read the first five five verses

and

this is a little awkward for me because

we read this so often

and this actually isn’t what i’m going

to study

but it’ll set the stage all right so

verse one

arise shine for your light has come

and the glory of the lord is risen upon

you

for behold darkness shall cover the

earth

and deep darkness the people but the

lord will arise over you

and his glory will be seen upon you then

gentiles shall come to your light a new

american standard says nations

which i’d rather use that term nations

shall come to your light and kings to

the brightness of your rising

lift up your eyes all around and see

they all

gather together they come to you does

anybody remember whenever jesus told

his disciples to lift up their eyes does

anybody remember that

john chapter four lift up your eyes look

on the fields they’re all white under

harvest

are you are you flowing here because

this is the way this evening’s gonna go

so you you’ve got to be tracked with me

all right so he says lift up your eyes

all around and see they gather together

they come to you

your sons will come from afar your

daughter shall be nursed at your side

then you will see and become radiant

your heart will swell with joy

because the abundance of the sea shall

be turned to you

the wealth of the gentiles shall come to

you let’s go to verse 5

again you will see and become radiant

your heart will swell with joy

one of the translations says your heart

will tremble

and be enlarged tremble and be enlarged

there’s this very strange connection

between the trembling

of the fear of the lord and extreme joy

i know they sound like opposites but

that’s only in the natural world

in the kingdom they are actually very

closely related

in psalms 2 it says rejoice with

trembling

in psalms 2 it says rejoice with

trembling

it’s too late i got the same response

out of the drum set

so it says verse 5 you will see and

become

radiant your heart will swell with joy

because the abundance of the sea will be

turned to you the wealth of the gentiles

will come to you

now i’m thankful for the abundance of

the lord the provision of the lord the

finances the promise of

of fulfillment all that stuff but when

he’s talking about the abundance of the

nations and the wealth of the

the of the sea being turned to he’s

talking about the harvest

i’m thankful for all that he provides

for me financially i’m grateful for that

but the real wealth is people the sea

of humanity the wealth of the sea will

be turned to you

this is a prophetic you’ve got to

understand prophetic terminology

to really glean from this chapter

it starts by saying arise shine so here

we are

waiting for something to happen and god

says arise get up

and shine all right well i know how to

get up but i don’t know how to shine

so we’re going to look at that in a

moment it says arise and shy take your

place

and shine because your light has come

in john chapter 1 it says jesus is the

light

that enlightens every person that comes

into the world

so there are many who would say this

chapter is referring

to natural israel now i’ve got to be

very careful here

because uh there there is a movement of

what’s called

replacement theology where people

believe that

the last days is everything about the

church and not to do with natural israel

i don’t believe that i need to clarify

that i don’t believe that

but i’m only going to emphasize the

church part tonight all right

i believe very strong that natural

israel has a place in god’s end time

plan you only have to read romans 9 10

and 11 to come to that conclusion paul

paul hit that very very hard

so i believe that but let me just set

that aside

and just emphasize the church in this

passage

so he says arise and shine take your

place

take your posture shine why because your

light has come

jesus is the light there is not another

light coming

it’s not referring to another period

because there isn’t

another light it may unfold

more profoundly in years to come but i

have no excuse

to sit and wait for something else to

happen because my light has come

so here’s what he says he says your rise

and shine and something profound happens

when you arise in the glory that the

lord has placed in your life

it attracts the glory of the lord to

where it will actually be seen over you

in the same way that water attracts

water money attracts money

favor attracts favor mercy attracts

mercy

so glory attracts glory

anything in the kingdom that is

stewarded well increases

to him who has much more will be given

beside

it’s the nature of the kingdom anything

whether it’s

revelation insight whether it’s uh

the anointing for healing whether it’s

friendship whether it’s favor in

business

does not matter what it is anything that

we steward well

in his name actually attracts more of

the same

the opposite is also true if i treasure

things that are wrong it will actually

attract if

i value gossip and i don’t have that

gate to guard my language my

heart i will actually attract gossip

if i don’t have a standard of morality

in

in the jokes or the kinds of stories

i literally will attract people come to

me out of nowhere

and tell me some horrible joke why

because

like attracts light so

anything we steward well in fact that’s

why in the gospel of mark

jesus taught guard your ears

because whatever standard you set it

will be given to you

so if you have a standard for the

testimony guess what

you attract testimonies

if you have a standard a measurement

standard

members is a measurement a measurement

that allows for

encouraging words you will attract

encouraging words

if you have anger and bitterness in your

heart towards

a group of people or a political party

or anything that’s going on of that

nature you will actually attract things

that reinforce your resentment

you know that’s worth the whole day

right there if we can if we can just get

that one fixed we’ll be all right just

get that thing settled

because whatever whatever you treasure

is what you attract

verse 3 says nations will come to your

light

let me take the second half of verse 2

the lord will arise over you his glory

will be seen upon you

i don’t know if there’s another promise

in the bible that excites me more than

that one

and if you understood what he meant

it would set you off as well

because it is all about the

manifestation of the glory of god

in the earth that is the target from day

one has been

that the glory the manifested presence

of king jesus

would be seen realized visibly

recognized

all over the earth

everything is building to this crescendo

this great orchestra is playing and it’s

building to one point in this building

as we speak

and the crowning moment on human history

is where the glory of the lord becomes

manifest

and here he says whenever you take your

place

and you shine it attracts the glory

and his glory will be seen upon you

if you i love to read about uh

revival moments and high point moments

in church history

and some of the most incredible things

i’ve ever read about have to do with the

glory of god

being seen upon an individual or a group

of people

i’ve been in in wales where the welsh

revival

really is some of my favorite stuff in

church history

and i’ve gone there a friend of mine got

me into a little chapel where the

lightning of god first fell

on evan roberts and it’s not a place

that’s open to the public so it was nice

to be able to get in there

and to sit and i’ve i’ve spent hours in

there

on uh two or three

different occasions and just to

reminisce to think about this that has

happened

when the glory of the lord would be seen

upon people and i

i remember them telling me that there

were that they

would not have scheduled meetings they

would just

gather whenever they could look down at

the chapel

and see light inside the building and

they had no electricity

it was when the light of god became

visible people would put everything down

and they would come

you know when god gets their head of you

you might want to show up

it’s kind of kind of a way

i i know of time show at history where

there’s

i i never intended to go in this

direction but let me just hit it for a

moment

i know times in history where the where

the glory of the lord has

has been seen we’ve actually had times

where

flames have been seen shooting up from

our facility here

when inside was just a worshipping group

of people

or there was breakthrough and presence

and power and people would

drive by and see the flames uh azusa

street they would call the fire

department and they would

show up to put out the fire and all

there was was the presence of god of

worshiping people and so it’s not that

we’re in for the show we’re not in for

the

for the uh you know the bragging rights

so to speak

it’s just that we be a people that arise

and shine that would be a people that

take our rightful place

not in ruling in serving rightful place

in yielding to the presence of god

and the end result of this was lift up

your eyes

they will gather together they will come

to you that is the old testament version

of john chapter four lift up your eyes

look on the fields they’re white to

harvest

all right is anybody tracking with me

here all right

so here’s the deal

isaiah 60 61 and 62

are at least for me the most

reformational chapters in the bible

if you understand any kind of prophetic

language

there are there’s years worth of

material

in these three chapters if you have any

kind of

desire and i hope everybody in the room

does a desire

for reformation

do you understand that if everybody in

redding were to get saved tonight we

would still have economic issues

tomorrow

we’d still have family crises and other

things

why because it’s one thing to get born

again

it’s another to get the way of the king

and his kingdom working

in how we think and how we do life

that brings about the kind of

reformation that we’re looking for

whether societal change culture

is transformed this is this is what we

burn for as a team

constantly it’s what we talk about

praying to dream about

um it’s this issue of reformation and i

i personally do believe we are at the

beginning stages

of a great great awakening great we can

call it awakening reformation or

renaissance i like all three terms

so somebody figure out one word that has

all three of those in it it’ll

be renowation

yeah i think i’ll quit right there

before i look any more

dumb all right so here’s these three

chapters

just take one look with me at isaiah 62.

just one real quick look i’m not sure

how much of this i’m

actually going to get through tonight

but we’ll we’ll play around for a few

minutes anyway

yeah yeah yeah i i don’t feel rushed i

just don’t want to

kill you with too many words all right

so let’s just start with verse one we’ll

take we’ll take verses one and two

for zion’s sake i will hold i will not

hold my peace

for jerusalem’s sake i will not rest

until her righteousness goes forth as

brightness

and her salvation as a lamp that burns

the gentiles or the nations shall

see your righteousness in all kings your

glory

you will be called by a new name which

the mouth of the lord will designate you

stop right there

these are i hope that you see are

obvious

reformational decrees and promises

um in hebrews chapter 12

there is this interesting section of

scripture

that says number one we have not come

to mount zion that burns with fire

to where anyone who touches the mountain

excuse me mount sinai

we’ve not come to the mountain where it

burns with fire

that if anybody touches the mountain

they will die okay here’s this picture

moses is up on the mountain the people

of god are told

not to go near the mountain even if an

animal goes up there it’ll die

this is a holy moment where god is

giving the law the ten commandments

to moses and so here’s this divine

moment and

the new testament writer hebrews writer

says we’ve not come to this mount we’ve

not come to the mountain of judgment

and then he says we’ve come to mount

zion

mount zion and then he goes on and he

says the new jerusalem

the church of the redeemed the firstborn

what is he saying the old testament

terminology for zion

and jerusalem oftentimes in prophecy

those two phrases zion and jerusalem

are old testament terms that point to a

new testament reality called the church

a new name will be given to her

jerusalem is the term that refers to the

community of the redeemed

zion is a section within

the city of jerusalem and it was set

aside

entirely for worship it was a hill it

wasn’t a mountain

even though it’s called mount zion i

mean when god’s there

a hill is a mountain that’s the point

zion means sunny place so it’s a hill in

jerusalem it gets the sun rise

first sunny place all right

so jerusalem is the community the

redeemed zion is a terminology that

refers to the worshiping community

is there anyone in the worshiping

community here

are you guys still alive like like is

this is this

all right so here’s what i want you to

see

chapter 60 starts off in this

reformational theme

chapter 62 puts the crowning touch on

this reformational theme we’ll look at a

little bit more in a minute

in the middle is the portion of

scripture

that jesus quoted in luke chapter 4

when he said the spirit of the lord god

is upon me

to bring recovery of sight to the blind

to heal the brokenhearted

all this ministry stuff so here we have

we have isaiah

60 reformation isaiah 62 reformation

and in the middle of it we have the

spirit of god coming upon

jesus

to do the impossible

hold that in mind

in first corinthians chapter 12

we have teaching on the gifts of the

spirit

first corinthians chapter 14 we have the

exhortation to pursue earnestly the

gifts of the spirit what’s in chapter 13

it’s a chapter of love it’s the chapter

of love that makes 12 and 14 work

i’d like to suggest you it’s isaiah 61

the spirit of the lord god is upon me

that makes 60 and 62 work it’s the same

it’s the same combination of chapters

they

fuel each other and they make it

possible

i have had i have been burning in my

heart with hope

for the church since may of 1979

and no one can talk me out of it because

i see

i see our place in scripture i realize

it’s not an easy road i realize there

are challenges along the way

i get that but when you

when you see god’s intention his plan

then you know how to pray

i can’t settle for anything less than

what he says

so there

how long have i been going anybody know

there’s no timer up there

no i’m not unlimited i could kill you i

could

all right i’m i’m going i’m not stopping

but but i i need to find a place to land

here in a few minutes

um here’s what i want you to do i want

you to look at isaiah 62 this is the

portion of scripture i actually wanted

to look at

maybe someday i’ll have the courage to

take all three chapters and we’ll just

take a month on it

three four weeks anyway

verse one again for zion’s sake i will

not hold my peace

who is zion

don’t don’t think location in the middle

east

again i believe god’s doing

extraordinary things here

but for tonight’s sake think in terms

of the people have devoted themselves to

worship

all right for zion’s sake i will not

hold my peace for jerusalem’s sake i

will not

rest until her righteousness goes forth

as brightness

and her salvation as a lamp that burns

the gentiles shall see your

righteousness

what does it say in isaiah 60 nations

will come to your light here let’s

let’s let’s merge new testament jesus

said light

let your light shine before men in such

a way they see your

good works and glorify your father who

is in heaven

light that is to shine from the life of

the believer are the good works

that represent who jesus is which is

both

integris acts of kindness towards people

and demonstrations of power it’s not one

or the other

verse three you should be a crown of

glory

in the hand of the lord a royal diadem

in the hand of your god

look at verse 6 i have set watchmen

on your walls o jerusalem

they shall never hold their peace day or

night

you who make mention of the lord do not

keep silent give him no rest

until he establishes and makes jerusalem

a praise in the earth

we’re not talking about the church

becoming famous in the sense of

you know like a rock musician or actor

or an athlete or something like that

we’re not talking about that we’re

talking about

the people of god becoming so fully who

god designed them to be

that the nations of the earth celebrate

who god has made the church to be

this is actually all through the

scripture this is all through the

scripture

in jeremiah says this referring to the

people of god

it will be to me a name of joy praise

and glory befall before all the nations

of the earth

which will hear of all the good that i

do for them

and they will fear and tremble because

of all the good

and all the peace that i make for

your success i’m not talking dollars

but it’s included in a minor way

your success in knowing how to reign in

life

is what the nations ache for

they ache for they ache for

why they’re alive and how to do it well

they ache for fulfillment

in why they’re alive for some it’s

business for others

it’s in raising family for others it’s

in

art it’s expressing themselves in

wholesome ways that add

quality of life to a city to a culture

the list is endless but there’s an ache

in the heart

fulfillment by stepping into god’s

design for life

and you have access to what no one else

has access to

the you the church the body of christ

has access

to something in the lord that is not to

exalt us

in the sense that people now come and

serve our vision it’s not that

it’s that people see him through us

and are attracted to this hymn that we

serve

you are the light of the world the salt

of the earth the light of the world a

city can a city cannot be hidden

a city that that is lit up is recognized

when

it is dark and people look to that city

because they’re in darkness

and they need nourishment they need

safety

they need refuge they need community

they need all the things that a city on

a hill speaks of

and they are attracted in the night in

the darkness to that place

in hopes that they will find what they

were born for

we know that we are sent to the nations

of the world missions

is is just it’s all through my life

my my my family background my church

background

it’s a heavy heavy emphasis on world

missions

and i’m in i will always be in in

supporting and going and sending

but there’s an aspect of the gospel that

sometimes gets neglected

there is the go of the gospel but

there’s also the come

that we would actually become something

that people would come

to a city set on a hill does not go

somewhere people go to the city to find

the safety to find the refuge

to find a place of healing to provide

they may come for strange reasons

they may come to that city set on the

hill which is not our church services

it may include that and that’s fine but

that’s not the point it’s not trying to

get

more people into the building it’s it’s

that people

would come into a place where they find

a sense of belonging

among the people who just simply know

how to do life

and throughout scripture there’s this

thought there’s this theme

that the people of god would be a praise

in the earth

a praise in the earth do you get praise

do i get praise

i don’t think so let your light shine

before men in such a way they see your

good works and

glorify your father who is in heaven

there is praise as a result

of people of the people of our community

seeing

that we are actually doing what we were

born to do

caring for the poor caring for crises

and

in tough situations you know that we

stand in a place of hope

there’s something that happens in the

heart of a community that says

it says there’s there’s something right

about this

they don’t use their religious

conviction just to try to

drain the community of money but instead

they they contribute

into the health and the well-being of

the community

a praise in the earth is the theme of

scripture

it’s a reason i have hope for for the

church in these days that regardless of

what’s going on around us

things are actually getting better it

doesn’t mean every situation is better

but it means the overall picture is

getting better

why i’m glad you asked

come back next sunday and i will tell

you

that’s that’s old sorry that’s just bad

the scripture says the government

is on jesus on his shoulders and there’s

no

no end to the increase of his government

no end to the increase when did it start

at least when it was spoken

and so if he says it starts now and it

will never decline

then guess what it’s increasing

yeah but have you heard what happened

here and what happened there it doesn’t

matter

read what it says it’s never decreasing

it only increases when you

when you start to think that way and

believe that way

guess what you attract the news that

reaffirms that that is true

but if what i value is the bad news

it doesn’t mean i like it it doesn’t

mean i celebrate it

but if that’s what i hold to i will

attract

that which affirms my unbelief

[Applause]

i think it’s hosea 3 verse 5 says people

in the last days people will

fear god because of his goodness

is that crazy people will fear god

because of his goodness think about that

for a minute

you work hard at work you you’ve been

there for several years you got a

you got a decent raise and and and

that’s the goodness of the lord and we

just give thanks to the lord for that

but it’s not the measure of goodness

that causes anyone to drop to their

knees

to get that kind of response it has to

be so extreme that everybody around you

knows

you could have never gotten that on your

own

this could only have come through the

hand of god and when people see the hand

of a god

released in an individual’s life it

it brings about that fear of god

early in jesus ministry

in the gospel of luke chapter 5.

peter and the guys are with jesus and he

tells him to cast the net out again

which he did on a couple occasions

and they did and the load of fish that

they

caught started to sink one boat so he

called for another boat to come and help

it started to sink the second boat as

well

what is peter he’s a fisherman which

means what

he’s a businessman who catches and sells

fish

right

he’s not working for outdoor life

taking pictures of fish he catch to sell

his latest lure

he’s a businessman who catches and sells

fish

so jesus tells them to cast out the net

the catch is so

extreme that it actually starts sinking

two boats

and peter does what drops to his knees

and begins to confess his sin

he drops to his knees he says he says

depart from me

i’m a man of unclean lips i’m i’m an

evil man i’m a sinful man

he starts confessing to jesus jesus

hasn’t preached at all about peter’s

need for repentance

peter’s been hanging out for a while

this isn’t like the first rodeo that

he’s been on with jesus

it’s just this time he brought such

extravagance and extreme blessing into

his life

that it took all the wind out of the

sails and he dropped to his knees

and began to confess sin it began to

repent

the goal is always repentance but it

doesn’t come only

because you tell someone to repent

sometimes it’s because they taste of

god’s goodness

in a measure that is beyond anything

they have seen or understood before

and they fall to their knees and yield

themselves completely to this one

this is it a praise in the earth

god’s intention is that you would

inspire

that your life that our life together

would bring out a

song in reading that’s never been heard

before

a song and your city nation that you

belong to

that the church would be so connected

with each other

doing life together welcoming people in

being yes evangelistic obviously but the

profound thing that happened with the

disciples

is they belonged before they believed

jesus brought them into the inner circle

before they

knew who he was you know you’d think if

you’re going to choose disciples

and you’re god you’d want to pick people

that think you’re god

just a thought and he doesn’t take them

through that quiz he just says follow me

and they learn through the journey who

he is

but they belong before they believed

and there are nations cities and nations

represented in this room and

by our friends our church family

literally around the world

that watch us uh on bethel tv

god is wanting to bring because of your

success in life don’t be afraid of the

term it’s a biblical term

it’s not cars and mansions and planes

it’s that we do life well

it’s the fact that we live with a sense

of peace

we’ve won the battle over the mind we

know what it is to be content with our

slot and place

lane that god’s given us in life we know

how to flourish in our assignments

we know what it is to be faithful in our

service in honor of the lord

the things that he values we value the

things that he doesn’t value we don’t

have time for

and we just illustrate how to reign in

life and some of you are about to bring

the song of the ages out of your city

and out of your nation a song that’s

never been heard

because they never yet had a chance to

sing of the greatness of god

actually seen in a measurable way

through how people do life

he says take no rest for yourselves and

give him no rest

until he makes jerusalem a praise in the

earth

he’s talking about watchmen watchmen

those everybody in this room is a

watchman in some measure

any area of responsibility that you have

you’re to be a watchman for a watchman

is not a gossip who gathers information

to spread

a watchman is a person who looks for

activity outside the walls of the city

and when they see it they sound the

alarm

it’s called prayer

it’s that we we realize we’ve been

called summoned to a place

god this is working well these people

are thriving god we bless that we pray

that

increases or we’ve got a crisis over

here father

this family is falling apart this group

of people is having such great

difficulty

of stepping into their identity what do

you do that’s where you pray

you partner with god himself to see his

purpose as realized in the earth

it’s the watchman role

take no rest for yourselves give him no

rest be

inconvenienced that you might pray

don’t just pray the easy stuff pray the

hard stuff pray the impossible stuff

take your place on the wall you’ve been

given

sight so that what you see will cause

you to pray

you have not been given sight so that

you can gather information

we’re not doing studies on

the well-being of our cities those are

fine but that’s not the purpose the

purpose is

he allows us to see what we see because

he’s hoping we’ll take what we see

to him in prayer it’s this connection

remember his overall commission is on

earth as it is in heaven

what is that it’s a prayer it’s a prayer

the backbone of this assignment is to

pray

all right let’s wrap it up with this

verse 10.

go through go through the gates

prepare the way for the people build up

build up the highway

take out the stones lift up a banner for

the peoples

i remember when i first read that i was

so

i i i don’t know how to describe this

when you read something that god is

breathing on you come alive inside

and somebody asks you what does it mean

and you say i don’t have a clue

i have no idea what he’s talking about

all i know is i got very happy reading

that

and that’s how it was when i read that

for the first time i just was stunned

by the life that i got out of his word

but i could not have explained it

so how does the verse start it’s a

command to go through

gates now look at chapter 60

it’s only about 15 20 verses earlier

verse 18 the second half of the verse

says you will call your wall salvation

and your gates praise

so when he says go through the gates

what is he doing

he’s assigning us to a role

in the kingdom of being worshipers

go through the gates but these gates are

not just

any gates in the book of revelation

the city of god has gates and those

gates are made out of one solid pearl

talk about strange imagery prophetic

imagery

but if you think through this you we can

each discover a profound lesson

in this prophetic language

a gate in the bible

is a pearl how are pearls formed

through irritation

how is the gate of praise formed in your

life

that gate through which god invades it’s

when i’m facing something i don’t

understand

that is frustrating or disappointing to

me and i give him thanks and praise and

anyway every time i do that something is

being

formed in me that attracts god to invade

my present situation

it would be it would be well and good if

that was the only part of the story that

god would invade through that gate if

you will he will

come through that gate to to heal and to

restore and to refresh and

do all the things that he does but this

lesson has gone far

beyond our personal needs and personal

benefit by obeying god he has now

described

your evangelistic role and he says

go through go through the gates

clear the way for the people

remove the stones the dusty rubble

strange picture

what’s amazing about this this imagery

is way of people as we did tonight we

gathered

the team led us in thanksgiving and

praise and worship

we celebrated his goodness we became

filled with peace with

just this love and affection for him not

realizing

that what was peaceful for us is

actually

warfare to the powers of darkness

it never became devil’s focus it’s not

supposed to be

that’s why he says the prince of peace

will soon crush satan

underneath your feet the devil never

becomes the focus

the prince of peace is the focus

so here we are delighting in him

ministering to him

giving thanks to him

by the way just let me answer something

when you’re giving thanks

don’t just say thank you be specific

thank you god for my family when you

give him praise don’t just say i give

you praise i give you praise

because he’s i think he’s sitting there

going when are you going to do it

i had a glorious hunk of deer meat for

lunch today

it was a sign and a wonder

and i had a glorious hunk yesterday

and the day before that and the day

before that

and the day before that and the day

before that

and the day before that and the day

before that

and then in some of those days you’re

throwing dear sausage in the morning

so bambi and i get along very well

when my wife serves me this is going to

sound strange to you

but one of my most favorite things ever

and i don’t know what’s happened i

almost feel like i’m backslidden

one of my most favorite things to eat

ever is sauteed spinach

[Music]

it’s ruining my own self-image

now sauteed with about a quarter

cube of butter helps and tons of salt

and pepper

that spinach just comes to life just

talks to you

potatoes all this stuff anybody getting

hungry with me

i when when when i’m eating this

i don’t go praise you benny praise you

praise you praise you

she’s going to look at me like what’s

wrong with you

what i do is i say honey this meat

is amazing this is a gift from god

this is so good this is

so good i can hardly stand i take

another bite and i go oh

oh this is so good i can hardly stand

myself this is so

good and then i tell her honey don’t

tell anybody but i love sauteed spinach

as i take another bite like this is

amazing

all this butter you cooked it just right

this deer meat is

rare like it’s supposed to be because

it’s so lean and i get very specific

and what i’m so happy about because

that’s what you do in praise

when

now i’m getting very serious here

you get a bad news report from the

doctor

is where you begin to celebrate

specifically

the healing grace of jesus that is

available for every person

in every situation and you don’t just

you don’t just go general you get very

specific

why because you’re building a gate

you’re in the middle of conflict of

thought conflict of experience

and you’re you’re violating what

circumstances are telling you

by declaring the greatness of god just

got

a second notice on a bill that we

haven’t paid

you are jehovah jireh god i absolutely

celebrate you

you are my provider not just someday you

are right now

you are the god who provides right now

god i celebrate your kindness

your victory that it is nothing for you

to provide for us abundantly

this is who you are an extravagant

extreme father

peter in his rebellious state you gave

him abundance god

i know that in any condition i am in you

are the father

this applies for me and it draws me

nearer to you and i give you praise

do you understand what i’m what i’m

saying here is is to

form the gate why

because it’s going to be a gate that

will be your position of authority

for reformation because the gate that

you grow

or develop in your personal life over

the personal issues

becomes the gate that you enter through

that actually starts affecting the

atmosphere

and climate of the city that you live in

he says here go through the gates clear

the way for the people what is it

here we are just peaceful worshipers of

god declaring his goodness his kindness

giving him thanks announcing his

greatness not realizing

that we are removing the obstacles

from your neighbors in their thinking

the obstacles that exist in lies and

deceptions

and strongholds they are being dealt

with through you as a

worshipper and you’re like a spiritual

bulldozer

that’s literally building a highway it

says build a highway

for the lord what is a highway it’s a

place of easy access

what is the result of your praise it’s

that you make it easier

for for people to find god it’s

it’s not the only evangelistic tool but

it’s a part of it helps to establish

righteous climate helps to establish a

climate where

people consider the possibility that

there is a god who loves them

that a year ago never would have thought

about it but because you moved into the

neighborhood

and you take time every day to exalt the

name of jesus

the thought patterns have changed not

because you control them

not because you tell them what to think

but because you’ve cleared the airwaves

you’ve helped to build a highway a

highway by being a true worshiper

why don’t you stand

i’ll read the last two verses of isaiah

62.

i’ll read it in the context of verse 10

so just listen

verse 10 go through go through the gates

prepare the way for the people build up

build up the highway

take out the stones the hard places the

places of

of objection take out the stones

lift up a banner over the people

do you understand that when you declare

the greatness of god you’re waving a

flag

a flag marks ownership you wave the flag

of the lord

this city belongs to jesus

verse 11 indeed the lord has proclaimed

to the end of the world

say to the daughter of zion surely your

salvation is coming

his reward is with him his work before

him

they shall call them the holy people the

redeemed of the lord

and you shall be called sought out a

city not forsaken

do you understand that the church has

been

mocked for decades as a

group of people senseless no purpose

no impact just religious traditions and

such and it’s not that

you know there’s persecution there’s

opposition that comes into this picture

as well

it’s not that the lord is trying to

boost our ego

but he’s wanting to do something so

significant

in you and in me in the way we do life

that the nations of the world stop and

take notice and they say

they are a people that god did not

forsake

they are sought out they they

are sought

a out not forsaken

a praise in the earth

a people whose life inspires the song

out of the hearts of those who have been

lost their whole life

brings the song

out of their hearts so lord we i pray

for that i ask that

that the grace for releasing this song

into our communities our cities our

nations

represented that something would happen

in the body of christ

in all the cities and nations

represented here

that the world would change their song

people would actually be attracted to

you

because they can see we’re not alone

we’re not just maintaining some sort of

tradition

we’re sons and daughters of the king of

all kings the lord of all lords

who openly gives the invitation for all

to come and to receive lord i pray that

not only

would our evangelism be powerful our

missions

praying for the sick all of that but

that we’d become a people that others

would come

too and that your glory will truly be

seen upon us

in a way that brings cities and nations

to their fulfillment to their identity

i ask all of this in jesus wonderful

mighty name

everybody said amen amen