Do you need strength? In this sermon clip, Bill Johnson teaches on the importance of stewarding testimonies. There’s something about the testimony that instinctively breathes into our soul a courage for radical obedience. Remembering testimonies keeps us strong in our confidence and faith in God.
there is something about the testimony
that instinctively breathes into our
soul a courage for radical obedience
it’s a part of the process it’s how you
keep strong in your confidence and faith
in
god psalm 78 are you there
we’ll start what right with
verse three
is referring to dark sayings and
parables he says which we have heard and
known
and our fathers have told us we will not
hide them from their children
telling to the generation to come the
praises of the lord and his strength and
his wonderful works that he has done
what just happened there now think while
you’re reading this
they are being exhorted to train their
children on not only the report of the
law of god the commandments but to train
them with the report of his wonderful
works which is what that’s a testimony
yes
yes all right
verse 5 he established a testimony in
jacob he appointed a law in israel which
he commanded our fathers that they
should make them known to their children
that the generation to come might know
them the children who would be born that
they may arise and declare them to their
children so if you can see this was a
pattern of a value system for the spoken
or written record of all that god’s done
to be given to this generation that they
would give it to the next generation
they’d give to the next generation now
it tells us why and this is important
verse 7
that they may set their hope in god
there’s something about the testimony
that conditions or positions a child or
an adult to position himself to place
hope in god when a trial comes their
instinctive response is i’m going to
trust god he’s the god who works wonders
i don’t understand what he’s going to do
i don’t know how he’s going to do it but
i’m going to trust him where did that
come from it came because the cloud of
their heart so so to speak was seated
with this thought that god is faithful
in impossible situations so here it says
it says that they may set their hope in
god and not forget his works the works
of god keep his commandments are you
guys still alive
you sure you’re still alive
all right
what i want you to notice is is not
forgetting the works of god and keeping
the commandments
the testimony and the courage to obey
they’re connected
this is really a big deal because what
we do for ourselves what we do for our
children our grandchildren we set the
stage for them to have courage because
it takes courage to obey god it takes
courage we want courageous obedience
radical obedience out of my life that’s
what i want so here he says we keep the
testimony going multiple generations why
so that they’ll put hope in god and that
they’re there they won’t forget the
works of god and will have the courage
to obey god
now he illustrates it in the next three
verses all right verse nine
that the children of ephraim being armed
and carrying bows turned back in the day
of battle they did not keep the covenant
of god they refused to walk in his law
they forgot his works and his wonders
that he had shown them okay walk through
this these three verses with me verse
nine the children of ephraim are armed
in other words they’re prepared for
battle they’re skilled they’re trained
for battle they’ve got all the equipment
necessary he said the children of
ephraim being armed and carrying both
turned back in the day of battle so why
did they turn back in in why did they
become cowardly when there was a
conflict
verse 10 tells you because they didn’t
keep the covenant of god they refused to
walk in his law
how do you know if you’re not walking
into obedience spiritual warfare is not
where you want to be
because you you become very vulnerable
so they turn back in the day of battle
why because they didn’t they had not
been walking in obedience why weren’t
they walking in obedience verse 11. they
forgot his works and the wonders that he
had shown them there is something about
the testimony that instinctively
breathes into our soul a courage for
radical obedience it’s a part of the
process it’s how you keep strong in your
confidence and faith in god
what happens if if the the testimony of
the lord if we decline in sharing
testimony then we see miracles less
if we see miracles less we expect them
less
if we expect them less we talk about
them less if we talk about them less we
see them less we expect there’s this
downward spiral
into the point where miracles have
become a mere
part of our history some time ago god
used to do such and such which is where
so much of the church is right now it
was in their history it was in israel’s
history it was in the the book of acts
it was it was the memory of something
that happened back there but it’s not a
current reality it’s not a present tense
experience
and the testimony is supposed to become
that which invites us into this
relational journey where we learn how to
take we learn how to take these things
that god has said and we simply trust
god we put our lives on the line to take
risk to see what he might do
and it’s simply because
i’ve been built up by the record of the
supernatural interventions of god
i love it when
god will give us a glimpse
of what he’s doing
because it’s fun to gain an
understanding
but oftentimes he moves and i’m just
clueless
i’m a clueless observer that’s just
frantically trying to learn
i’m not a facilitator you know in the
sense that i made anything happen i’m
just i’m i’ve told him i said god i just
want to be in the room it doesn’t have
to come from me i just want to be a part
and there are there are things that he
does the moment in dallas where
pray for this individual who
with the lightning oh god literally goes
through him from head to toe and he’s
completely delivered and healed of
schizophrenia
completely he comes to me a year later
in his right mind completely
because god brought a miracle to him he
ended up going to africa and ministered
i think he personally was able to bring
liberty and freedom through his own
testimony to about 40 people that were
considered insane mentally gone
it’s a testimony it’s it’s like
god has give imagine being given um
you know a priceless
gem
uh how many know if you’ve been if
somebody comes to you and says i’ll give
you a million dollars if you can wear
this ring it’s worth 10 million dollars
you can’t lose it
but you have to wear it you can’t put it
hide it away
how many of you think you’ve got that
ring on your hand you’re going to be
looking at it all day long you’re going
to be wrapping tape you’re going to do
all kinds of stuff to make sure we don’t
lose this thing all right
i’m aware of the value of what’s on my
hand
are you aware of the value of what’s in
your mouth it’s the record it’s the it’s
the revelatory
testimony of the heart the nature the
covenant of god that actually invites
people into a personal relationship with
jesus
paul when he was in trouble he would
revert to his personal story into his
own testimony it’s not just the miracles
of healing it’s the deliverance
salvation is the greatest miracle of all
and everybody in this room has that kind
of a story
i believe that god wants to give us an
upgrade
and this will sound a little strange but
but actually the whole thing’s been
rather strange so
it’s that’s
if
if you want to if you want to change the
atmosphere of a room
go to you know say a restaurant
go into a restaurant three or four
people sit down and take the first 20
minutes only to share miracle stories
i don’t mean miracle stories so that you
impress people around you i mean so that
the atmosphere changes because the
angelic realm is fascinated by your
perspective of jesus the son of god and
they love hearing the stories of what
you’ve had happen what you’ve seen what
you know about him they are enthralled
with him but every story we share they
catch another glimpse of what he’s like
through the eyes of someone who is
redeemed
sharing stories
i i feel like the lord would just give
us an upgrade in this area we’re going
to be touching
you know i’m thankful beyond words on
what i’ve seen happen what we’ve seen
happen we’ve seen happen in this room
what we’ve seen happen in our city it’s
just it floors me sometimes i i get in
here early sunday morning i just walk
around and i just i just remember oh
colon cancer was healed here
a woman after 50 some years in a
wheelchair gets out right there after a
stroke she walks
right over here
um ms multiple sclerosis was healed west
nile vir or noah uh m.e uh this same
person had several conditions they were
healed just walk around this room the
guy who was run over by a 14-ton truck
completely crushed his ankle and he
receives prayer over here there’s a pop
his nut his ankle turns cold there’s a
pop and it’s completely totally healed
completely
just go through the story one after the
other the woman who who could hardly
open her mouth just very little movement
because he broke her jaw ten years
earlier and there was very little
movement extreme pain to open her mouth
wide the dentist they didn’t have time
to give her any kind of
novocaine or anything uh because of the
pain she suffered with and yet one
sunday morning just simply praying for
those with broken bones she’s instantly
completely totally healed
right back over here a man with prostate
cancer that’s healed a woman right down
here a tumor in her breast just simply
devol dissolves and the stories go on
and on and on and on there are hundreds
and hundreds and hundreds of them
but none of them are
badges of honor
they’re all records of a
of a god who is willing to work
in and through very imperfect people
he just he just looks for people that
have a value for his nature
and will give him an opportunity to do
what he does best
he works in the impossible
i’m there in the journey
and i believe in this fall season we’ve
got some stuff coming up in another
couple weeks three weeks maybe
we’re going to be targeting this even
more not the testimony side but the
miracle route because i believe it’s a
season for an upgrade
this season five
and it’s it’s honestly for everybody in
this room you know jesus asked the
questions of his disciples once they
were they were bewildered by the
challenge that he had just given him
they they just it’s one of these moments
they’re they’re literally just beside
themselves bewildered
and so he then asked them this series of
questions and these series of questions
have helped me a lot
he asked his disciples because they were
they were concerned about not having
enough food after he just multiplied
food you know like the day before which
is
it just comforts me to see other people
that think as dumb as i do i just and
when it’s in the bible i just feel so
much better
and so they’re puzzled by this and then
jesus asked them a series of questions
he says can you see
and you can tell they’re not answering
so he says can you hear
and they’re still just staring
and he says can you remember those
questions have helped me incredibly
because there are times i’m i’m tr i i’m
always trying to see i’m always trying
to see what is god doing i’m always
trying to hear what is he saying so
let’s just say in a moment like this i’m
just trying to discern what is it the
lord is doing around the room and so he
comes to me and he says can you see and
my heartfelt response is
no i i don’t see anything
so then he says what can you hear
well my hearing’s better than my scene
but at the moment i don’t hear anything
and then he says can you remember
yes i can
i can remember
i can remember
i can remember flying back from new
zealand
after having spent some time with great
hero of the faith for me winky pratny it
had a stroke his brain part of his brain
literally just blew up
and he was completely healed restored in
his right mind i was on the plane
thinking about this miracle of healing
with the brain
and i recall to my mind roland baker a
wonderful friend of our house had had
x-rays of his brain actually dying
and the lord completely healed him
raised him up so i’m thinking on the
plane flying back from new zealand these
are the two smartest men i have ever met
and god restored their brains i’ll bet
god is healing brains
i’ll bet that’s what he’s doing
can you see i don’t see it and i don’t
hear it but i i can remember
and the the more i remember the better i
hear and the more i hear the better i
see
so we came in here on a sunday and i
called out i said god is healing brains
went right back here you remember this
kevin you were right back here praying
for this young lady she’s in fact we
have the testimony in video she was
dying
she was dying terminal systemic lupus of
the brain
chris had a word of knowledge but
somebody had a blow to the head she’s
right back there
and she would uh when she’d get up in
the morning sometimes she’d pass out and
she’d be unconscious for 30 days
30 days
she’s dying of this of this disease
and
chris has this word of knowledge and
pray here’s this moment god is healing
brains and what happens
she’s completely healed her mother looks
at her the next morning says you look
like you did before the accident
before the accident she then comes to
the school of ministry i think she’s in
oxford right now she’s in some smart
school because she’s a smarty
smart
so the lord heals
a young kid over here he had a head that
was misshapen
because of abuse he was two years old i
think he was two
and it misshapen he was very
disconnected he didn’t associate with
people he’d wake up in the morning he’s
very disconnected
and some of our students prayed for him
after this announcement god is healing
brains
and they pray for this child the next
morning the child comes into his mother
which is a mural comes into the mother
and said i had a dream
last night excuse me he was four so this
happened until the time he was two
he said i had a dream last night
i’m okay now
and they examined him and his head was
back to normal shape
god is healing brains
[Applause]
why don’t you stand
can you see yeah i’m not seeing much
can hear i try
sometimes i hear
can you remember
can you remember
folks listen to me
you have a responsibility this is not a
pastoral issue
this is not a ministry team issue
this is a people of god issue
what have you seen god do here’s the
great news you may say i’ve hardly ever
seen anything happen i mean my own
testimony is a great miracle but i’ve
never seen healing or or deliverance or
any of those things and that’s you know
that’s totally fine i had a long season
in my life where i’d never seen anything
but there’s a verse in psalms 119
verse 111
and it makes this statement the
testimony of the lord is your
inheritance forever
think about it the testimony of the lord
is your inheritance forever what is the
testimony of the lord it’s the full
record of anything he has ever done on
planet earth
he did it with moses
he did it with the elijah with david
with paul with whoever it’s your story
it’s your testimony
no you didn’t get
it
the full record of god’s activity with
people is your inheritance
why is that important why is that
important
because the scripture says
they overcame him by the blood of the
lamb there’s the legal basis and the
word of your testimony so now the word
of my testimony is not just what i have
experienced in my life but it includes
what you’ve experienced so i hear your
story that’s a part of my weaponry
that’s a part of the tools that i use to
ensure i walk in victory in this present
situation