This recording is provided by Times Square Church
in New York City.
You're welcome to make additional copies for free
distribution to friends.
All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is
a violation of copyright and other applicable laws.
This recording cannot be posted on any website.
However, written permission to link to the Times
Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing
info at timessquarechurch.org.
Other recordings are available by calling 1-800
-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square
Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New
York, 10019.
The supply of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I don't know how many of you
can see I've been filled with the Holy
Spirit.
Well, was that enough for you or do
you want to supply a constant flow of
the Holy Spirit?
According to my Bible, there's supposed to be
in us those who claim to be filled
with the Spirit.
Out of our belly shall flow.
In other words, the Holy Spirit is given
to give.
In other words, if you don't give, why
would you need a supply?
If it's not flowing out, why should God
flow it in?
The Holy Ghost is given to spend.
You want to hear it again?
The Holy Ghost is given to spend, to
give to others, to flow out.
You don't keep the Holy Ghost.
You have a constant flow of the Holy
Ghost in you.
You're nothing.
You and I are nothing.
We're not reservoirs of the Holy Spirit.
We're channels of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I know the devil has tried to
steal that word channeling.
You know, spirits channeling for spirits and all
that.
I'm not going to let him steal that
word.
That's a God word.
That's a Bible word.
And let him do with it what he
wants.
We are channels of the Holy Spirit.
And we get our blessing.
We get the glory of the Holy Spirit
by not only having him inhabiting us, but
that out of our innermost being flow rivers
of living water to our wife, our husband,
our children, to others around you, to sinners,
to the whole world.
That's what I mean by the supply of
the Spirit.
Go to Philippians, if you will, please.
First chapter of Philippians.
Please let me hear the rustling of the
leaves.
With my hearing, I couldn't hear it anyhow.
Philippians 1, verses 12, 13, and 19.
Verse 12, But I would, you should understand,
brethren, that the things which happened unto me
have fallen out, brethren, unto the furtherance of
the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ
are manifest in all the palace and in
all other places.
Verse 19, For I know that this, he's
talking about his suffering, shall turn to my
salvation or my deliverance through your prayer and
the supply of the Spirit of Christ.
Would you repeat that last sentence, the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ with me?
And the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ.
The supply of the Spirit.
Holy Spirit, we don't have church without your
working, without your moving, without your coming upon
us, without your presence manifesting Christ.
And now, Lord, I bring this word to
you that you've instilled in my heart and
let it flow like a river.
Give us ears to hear what the Holy
Spirit has to say.
Lord, I want this word to change me.
I want to get something.
Lord, if we get just three or four
thoughts out of this message that we can
take home and that we can apply it
in our time of need, we can apply
it in a time of terror or trouble
or crisis, then, Lord, we have received something
from your mind and from your heart.
Lord, sanctify this vessel.
Cleanse and purge my lips and give us
ears to hear what the Spirit has to
say.
In Jesus' name, amen.
In Philippians, Paul unburdens his heart to the
church.
He just opens up his heart here in
the first chapter of Philippians.
In this first chapter, he's running over with
joy and excitement.
Now, that's amazing because he's talking about abundant
rejoicing.
He's talking about making your requests known with
joy and nothing terrified by your enemies.
He's talking about the peace of God that
passes all understanding.
And he's saying, rejoice, brethren.
Now, that's amazing because he's in a prison
in Rome, in a cell in which he
cannot even stand up.
It's so small.
It's not even the height of a man
and he has to bend.
And he's been there two years when he's
writing these words.
And he's writing these encouraging words.
You see, he's in Rome and they have
ignored him.
And those who are supposed to be believers
in Rome have ignored him.
They will not take his pastoral messages.
They are preaching Christ, but they're preaching Christ
with contention.
They have gossiped about him.
Not only is he in prison, not only
is he away from friends and loved ones,
not only is he in pain, not only
is he in chains, but those he loved
and respected most have turned against him and
become his enemies.
They even intercept his mail.
And during all this time, he's listening to
reports that other Romans and traders and those
coming from ships and coming from Israel and
coming from other countries are telling about those
that he's mentored who are having great results
around the then known world.
And all of the cares of the church
still pressing upon him.
And listening to those around him preaching with
contention and with envy and with strife, in
spite of it all, Paul maintains his joy.
He's a rejoicing man.
He is not murmuring, he's not complaining.
He is not angry with God.
There are no questions coming from this man's
lips.
He said, yes, there are those that are
envious, they distort my gospel.
Still he's overflowing with this quiet confidence in
God, this deep joy that you can't get
from anything in the world or from the
praises of man or any achievement in the
flesh.
He's writing down the Philippians and he says,
what he's saying in essence, you know what
I'm in, you know what I'm going through.
But he said, I'll tell you, I have
a secret.
I've discovered something in my Christian walk.
He says, I know that these things shall
turn out from my deliverance through your prayers
and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ.
Now, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of
Jesus Christ.
That is the Spirit he received of the
Father and through the Son given to us.
He is the Spirit of Christ, the Holy
Spirit.
He said, I know that all these personal
trials that I'm going through, all of these
sufferings, God has a purpose.
And he said, it's a sanctifying thing, it's
purging me, it's taking every bit of ambition
out of me, it's taking ego, it's taking
strife, it's taking self-pity, it's taking everything
that I had in my flesh and it's
purifying me because I have discovered a flow
of the Holy Spirit.
There's an endless supply.
And I picture this apostle thinking of the
Holy Spirit as a pure ocean, an unmeasurable,
immeasurable ocean.
And he's picturing a channel, a wide, deep
channel into his own soul.
And a supply of the Spirit that enables
him to face anything.
Because Paul is saying, I don't rule my
own life.
I'm not in control of any situation in
my life.
I can't control the fact that I'm in
prison.
I can't control the fact that they're preaching
Christ with contingent.
I can't change my condition.
But I am not in control.
I have given all control to the Holy
Ghost.
Every decision, I consult with Him.
I walk with Him.
And I have a friend here in prison
with me, and his name is the Holy
Ghost.
He talks to me and I talk to
him.
This man is living and walking in the
Spirit.
And he has a constant supply of the
Holy Spirit, he says.
He said, God, what he's saying is, in
all my trials, I've discovered this great, wonderful
thing.
The Holy Spirit, while I'm in trouble, because
I'm trusting Him, is ever increasing His flow.
Ever increasing.
That is what happens to the Christian who
surrenders completely to the will of the Holy
Spirit.
Where he says, I have no will of
mine.
Many of you sit here listening to me
now.
And you try to control the things in
your life.
You pray about it.
You say, God, do something.
And then you go ahead and try to
do it yourself.
God just says, get out of the way.
The Holy Spirit says, you want to give...
please get out of the way.
And I'll tell you, when you pray, you
seek God.
You set your heart to seek God.
The Bible says, you are given the Holy
Spirit as you ask.
But it has to be something you ask
in faith.
Now, in the New Testament, we read of
men who are full of the Holy Ghost
and power.
Now, how do you distinguish somebody that's full
of the Holy Ghost and has power?
Now, in many charismatic circles and Pentecostal circles,
often power is mistaken for loudness.
Fastness of preaching.
Or someone who can lay hands on you
and knock you out.
Or somebody that has, you go to this
man and he has power and he's full
of the Holy Ghost.
He gives words.
He can read your mind.
And folks, I believe in manifestations.
I believe in...
I preach loud.
I preach fast sometimes.
And I can't keep up with Pastor Carter
and Pastor Neal.
But you know these men are full of
the Holy Ghost and power.
I'm not disparaging that at all.
But you see, that's not the evidence.
That is not how you distinguish a man
that's full of the Holy Ghost and power.
Those that are sitting among you.
There are many, many sitting here full of
the Holy Ghost and power.
Probably the most unknown, unknowledgeable.
Those who are not known in the congregation
are often those who are most filled with
the Holy Ghost and power.
You see, you can do all of these
things.
Cast out devils and heal the sick and
lay hands on people.
And you can preach with so-called authority.
But you can do all those things without
the Holy Ghost.
That's what Jesus said.
He said, on the judgment day, many will
come.
Saying, we've cast out devils, we healed the
sick, done mighty works.
And the Lord says, please get out of
my sight.
I don't even know you.
Those things are possible without the Holy Ghost.
Because they have a personal, physical charisma.
And you better know what is the Holy
Ghost than what is human flesh.
Especially in these last days.
Not every Christian, not every preacher has the
same measure of the Holy Ghost.
The measure of your Holy Ghost is according
to the measure of your faith.
I say it again.
The measure of the Holy Ghost in you
is according to the measure of your faith.
Paul the Apostle, writing the church, he said,
how did you receive the Holy Ghost?
Was it by the preaching of the law
or by the hearing of faith?
He said, he that ministered to you the
Holy Spirit.
Or who gave you the Holy Spirit?
How did he do it?
How did he give it to you?
Was it through the law?
Was it through something of the flesh?
Or was it of faith?
Did he see faith?
Were you sitting in a meeting and faith
gripped your heart?
And the word was made real by the
Holy Spirit.
By the hearing of faith.
The Holy Ghost is given to those who
respond in faith.
And faith comes by hearing, yes, but there
is no other way to get in the
flow of the Spirit other than to living
in faith.
Believing that the Holy Ghost is real.
That he abides.
That he will keep his word when you
commit to him.
How do you know?
What is the measure?
The man, the woman who is truly full
of the Holy Ghost and power.
And the power is the outworking of the
Holy Spirit.
It's the Holy Spirit doing what you've given
him the privilege to do.
The true Holy Ghost man is the one
who's given complete control of his life to
the Holy Spirit.
In other words, the person among us here
who's laid down every burden.
Who have problems, financial, physical, mental, spiritual.
And one by one he's taking them to
the Holy Spirit and saying, I can't do
it anymore.
There is no way out.
I'm up against the wall.
But if the Holy Ghost abides in me
as it's written in the word, and I
accept that and I believe that, then the
Bible said I have a power working within
me.
The power that worketh inside of me is
the Holy Ghost.
And so I resign.
I resign my will, my ambitions.
I resign everything to Him and I get
out of the way.
I go to the Lord and I pray.
And I wait for Him to speak to
my heart.
And I'll tell you the Holy Ghost has
a voice.
And He does speak to those who trust
Him.
And I'll find something else.
I found out something in my walk with
the Holy Spirit.
That if He doesn't give you clear direction,
if He doesn't say, yes, go here, go
there, do this, do that, He's going to
tell you, just be still.
Because I've got a way out and I
don't want you to interfere.
If I told you, you'd mess it up.
I'm not being facetious.
I live that.
I know that.
Many times I've seen the Holy Ghost tell
me, just be patient.
And I'd see God start and I'd get
all excited and I'd jump in and help
Him.
And I got second best instead of first
best.
God supplies the Spirit through the importunity of
faith.
See, what do you need?
What is it that you need?
The Holy Spirit is all sufficient.
Now, the man of God, full of the
Holy Ghost and power, is distinguished by how
much the Holy Ghost He puts in charge
and how many areas.
You cannot be in the Spirit and walk
in the Spirit and give Him 90 percent
of all the issues in your life and
you maintain the control of a few issues.
The Holy Spirit says, no, I won't work
with you that way.
So you have to examine yourself and say,
well, is there fear in one area of
my life?
Am I trying so hard in the flesh
to accomplish something?
And say, Lord, everything is fine in my
life, but I've got one problem.
And you don't seem to be helping me,
so I'm going to just grit my teeth
and get to it and try to make
it happen.
No, no, no, no.
The Holy Spirit will not work with you
unless He's in full control.
He won't forsake you, but if you want
to see His work and power released in
your life, you see an increase of supply
of the Spirit depends on an increase of
faith.
Now, you search the Scriptures and you'll find
in nearly every instance you read of one
who's full of the Holy Ghost and power
in the Scriptures, you'll find faith.
Listen to Stephen.
Man, the Bible said full of the Holy
Ghost and power.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost,
looked up steadfastly into heaven.
Now, they were stoning him.
And he saw the glory of God and
Jesus standing on the right hand of God.
Behold, I see the heavens open and Jesus
at the right hand of the Father.
But you have to go back to chapter
6.
That's in chapter 7, chapter 6.
Stephen, a man full of faith and the
Holy Ghost.
See, faith precedes the receiving of the supply
of the Holy Spirit.
Stephen had an incredible supply of the Spirit.
How do you face, how do you face
a crowd that's stoning you and about to
go into eternity without this great flow of
the Holy Spirit?
Now you see it flowing out of him
and he prays, Oh Lord, forgive them, hold
nothing against, charge them nothing against this sin.
Don't charge them with this iniquity.
He's flowing out of that blessed Holy Spirit.
And you say, well, if the Holy Spirit
has power to deliver, why didn't Stephen get
deliverance?
Why didn't God deliver him if he's full
of the Holy Ghost and power?
Well, what better deliverance can you get?
Look up and there's an open heaven and
Jesus standing there with open arms.
How many of you would turn down that
invitation?
That's deliverance.
Glory beats a gun.
Now Peter was a man, the Bible says,
full of the Holy Ghost and power.
You know that he goes to the temple
one day, take beautiful, and there's a lame
man and he prays with him and the
man leaps and walks.
That's an act of faith.
You see the lame walk.
You see many, many people healed.
You see Peter walking the street and his
very, people fall, the shadow of Peter falls
upon some that are lame and they're healed
walking in his shadow.
This is a man of faith, a man
full of the Holy Ghost and power.
The Bible said he was led by the
Spirit.
One day in the Spirit, he's in a
seaside town called Joppa and he's praying.
And this is around the new hour, he's
praying.
He's seeking God.
And a voice, there came a voice to
him saying, speaking in other words.
There came a voice to him speaking.
Now I want to tell you before I
go any further, that if you get along
with God, you see the supply of the
Holy Spirit is not for the person who
abandons prayer and has no time to seek
God.
You're disqualified of the supply of the Holy
Spirit unless you are seeking God and you're
in touch with God and you're praying and
giving Him time.
This is the middle day and Peter's on
the housetop, a flat rooftop, and he's praying.
And he's talking to the Lord and talking
to the Spirit.
And a voice came to him speaking.
And I'm telling you that same voice that
Peter heard is ours to hear.
And if you get along with the Lord
in your crisis, in fact, go there when
you don't have a crisis.
Make it a practice to go often into
His presence.
And having major petitions, just sit in His
presence and let Him speak.
I talk to the Holy Ghost.
I have communion with the Holy Ghost.
That should be the norm for every Christian.
He's a gift given to me by the
Heavenly Father through Christ.
He is my friend.
He's my partner.
He's my real estate agent.
He's my marriage counselor.
He's my financial counselor.
He's my comforter.
He's my guide.
Everything I need He has and He abides
and lives in us.
Oh, we talk about the Holy Ghost and
most of us when we talk about the
Holy Ghost think only of speaking in tongues.
Now, I can say with Paul I speak
in tongues more than you all.
In prayer, in my private prayer, I speak
with tongues to the Lord.
I believe in that with all my heart.
But there's so much more to the Holy
Ghost.
That is experience.
That's an experience.
I'm talking about a lifestyle.
I'm talking about an exciting way to live
where you can be quiet and peaceful though
your world is turned upside down.
And everything looks hopeless.
You can be joyful and thankful.
I'm going to prove that to you just
a moment from the Scripture.
But you see, he's on the rooftop praying.
And the Spirit said to him, Arise, go
to the door, and don't doubt anything.
And the Lord says there are going to
be three men knock on the door.
Now, to me, that's pretty clear direction.
Peter, I want to talk to you.
You've been praying.
I want to speak to you.
There are three men that are going to
knock on the door soon.
I want you to go down, open the
door, hear them out, and whatever they tell
you, go with them.
How many would like to have that kind
of guidance?
Raise your hand.
Keep it there.
And say with me, Thank you, Holy Spirit.
You're the same Spirit that spoke to Peter.
So speak to me.
Now, I don't do that very often.
But I want you to remember what I'm
telling you now.
He says, go.
A knock came on the door.
And of course, these men came.
And he hears this report.
Cornelius has seen an angel.
The angel came and talked to him.
And said, Send a Joppa.
There's a man there named Peter.
And tell him that you saw an angel.
And he's to come and preach the gospel
to you.
Now, Peter didn't go with those men because
it was the right thing to do.
Listen to me closely.
It was very right.
Peter could have said, You know, this is
wonderful.
If he hadn't heard from the Holy Spirit.
He came down.
The Holy Spirit had given him clear direction.
He could come down.
Maybe he didn't wait long enough.
Or he didn't want to pray that day.
And the knock came.
And he's not heard from the Lord.
But it sounds so good.
Here's an opportunity to reach the Gentiles.
And then, especially when he's told that an
angel appeared.
Well, the Lord seems to have put his
hand on this.
This has to be right.
Because an angel came.
That doesn't make it right.
I don't care who talks to you.
Did you hear from the Holy Spirit?
And you see, on the way down, he
took six men with him, the Bible says.
Brethren.
And they're on the way.
And I'll tell you, I believe.
Now, these were Jews.
Some of them, I believe, probably from the
circumcision.
Because in the church of Jerusalem, there were
two groups.
One who believe it's by faith alone.
And many of the Jews believe you have
to be circumcised.
If you're going to have faith in Christ,
then you have to be circumcised.
Or you can't be saved.
It was called the circumcision party.
And I'm sure that on the way down,
there was conversation.
Paul, are you sure you heard from God?
After all, we're not allowed as Jews to
talk.
We're not to associate with Gentiles.
These are Gentiles.
Cornelius is a Gentile.
All his family.
You're going to hold a revival with Gentiles.
You're going to stir up the whole church
in Jerusalem.
The circumcision crowd are going to wonder if
you're going to eat with them.
Because that was a real no-no.
You don't eat with the Gentiles.
And Paul says, all I know is I
heard from the Holy Ghost.
I heard His voice saying, go and don't
doubt anything.
And who am I to argue with God?
So he goes down.
And you know what happened.
Halfway through his message, the Holy Ghost fell.
And they were all filled and baptized with
the Holy Ghost.
All got saved and baptized.
He goes back to Jerusalem after that.
And sure enough, the circumcision crowd jumped on
him.
We hear, Peter, we have heard.
I'm talking about Paul.
Not talking about Peter.
I was looking at Philippians here, Paul.
Peter, word has come to us that you
went and held a meeting with Gentiles.
Yes.
Yeah, but you ate with them.
He said, yes, I did.
And brethren, let me tell you why.
I was walking in the Holy Ghost.
I heard from the Holy Ghost.
God spoke to me.
When I first heard it, I said no,
Peter says.
But the Holy Ghost spoke to me again.
And this time, I said yes.
And that was it, he said.
And he told the church in Jerusalem, who
was I to withstand God?
All that we had Christians today who can
say, I know what I'm supposed to do.
I know where I'm supposed to go.
Because I've been on my face with God
and I've heard from the Holy Ghost.
God wants us to have believers that way
who know and are assured of their path.
If the Holy Ghost has said, just be
still, then they're still.
Philip was a man full of the Holy
Ghost and power.
When you study the life of this evangelist,
you begin to understand God's aversion to the
concept of success that's infecting the church of
Jesus Christ today.
There's a concept among ministers, especially today, that
success has to do with how big your
church is, how large the facility, how many
people are being added, and bigness and growth.
And this has been the measurement of success.
And God despises anyone measuring success through bigness
or numbers or any physical kind of growth.
God wants the church to grow, but that
can't be the criterion of success in the
eyes of God.
Philip is in the church of Jerusalem and
the apostles have decided that they were waiting
on tables and they made the decision that
they had to give themselves the prayer and
the word of God.
They told the church body, now you have
a vote and you put in seven men
full of the Holy Ghost and power to
wait on the tables.
And Philip is at that meeting.
Can you imagine Philip sitting there at this
meeting with the church of Jerusalem?
And he's an evangelist and he has a
heart for souls.
He has a burning desire to reach cities
for Christ, which later will happen in his
life.
But he's an evangelist and he's got a
message.
He's a man full of the Holy Ghost
and power.
And he knows that God's given him a
message.
He knows that he has the authority.
He knows that he has the spiritual ability
given to him of God.
And he knows he can preach the gospel
with authority.
But they're trying to find seven men to
wait on tables and work in the kitchen.
And he's sitting there, I'm sure, daydreaming in
the spirit of winning, shaking cities for Christ
and going to places unreached yet by Paul
or anyone else, or by Peter.
He wants to go out and minister.
He's heard what's happened in Caesarea with the
Gentiles.
And he's burning with a desire to win
souls.
And suddenly he hears his name, Philip, by
majority.
He's voted in as one of the waiters
of the tables for the widows at the
first Jerusalem home for widows.
Jerusalem's first home for widows.
And he hears his word, wait on tables.
And suddenly the apostles are standing in front
of the congregation.
They ask these seven men to come up
and they lay hands on and pray for
an anointing to wait on tables.
Now, how would you take that if you
were a minister of the gospel, and you
knew God had spoken to your heart, you
knew you were capable of doing wonders for
the cause of Christ, not out of ambition,
but through anointing of the Holy Spirit.
And here he is now.
They're praying for him for grace and authority
and anointing to do the dishes, clean the
tables, and serve the food.
Now, you want to know a man full
of the Holy Ghost and power?
He's not the man out there just preaching,
doing all these things that are burning in
his heart.
No, because this man has a supply of
the Holy Ghost in his soul.
And he humbles himself.
And he's saying, Lord, if that's what it
is, I will serve you here.
And this man humbled himself.
And I'm sure people came to him after
that knew him and said, Philip, how can
you do this?
How can you take this low place?
You're one of the finest preachers.
You're an evangelist.
Your heart's burning with passion.
We've heard you preach.
We've seen people healed.
You've laid your hands on them.
People are filled with the Holy Ghost when
you touch them.
And what are you doing, wasting your time?
You've got a wife and four children.
How are you going to live?
You don't find one word of complaint.
You don't hear him question anything.
Because you see a man who's truly full
of the Holy Ghost and power has had
his ego removed.
His ambition is gone.
He doesn't have a will of his own.
He says, Lord, where you lead me, I
will follow.
If I'm in a low position, I'll stay
there till you move me.
But until you do, if I have to
stay here the rest of my lifetime, you'll
provide for me.
You'll provide for my family.
I'm going to trust you, Holy Spirit.
If this is a Pentecostal Holy Ghost church,
as they call it around the world, here
in the heart of Jerusalem, then I will
be example.
I will minister to these widows.
Yes, it's a small circle.
Yes, I'll be unknown.
But I'm going to give him everything I
have in this place.
And this man is faithful.
He had learned the secret of contentment.
That secret of contentment is that the Holy
Spirit is a living water.
He's living water, meaning ever flowing.
He's never stagnant.
And he said, what comes in must flow
out.
And he's saying, if I'll flow out to
these widows, he may seem fit to increase
my flow.
You see, your flow depends on how big
your pipe is.
If it's pipe from the reservoir, so to
speak.
You need a bigger pipe if you want
a bigger flow.
You need a bigger channel.
And this man, because he takes this humble
place and just simple trust in God where
he's at, he's not wanting his circumstances to
change.
He wants to be everything he can be
through the power of the Holy Spirit right
where he is.
And as he does that, he knows that
there'll be an increase.
God will increase in time.
And oh, how quick things can change for
a man like that.
Things can change overnight.
Persecution came to Jerusalem.
And the Bible said the church was scattered
abroad.
Philip goes down to Samaria.
And he begins to preach up and down
on the streets.
And that city is shaken by the Holy
Ghost.
Multitudes are saved.
The Bible said the lame began to walk.
Demons began to flee.
The Spirit had come upon this man now
and had taken him into an enlargement, in
a large place of more usefulness.
And God is blessing.
The Holy Spirit comes down.
Multitudes are baptized with the Holy Ghost when
some of the apostles came to help.
And now it seems like Philip's time.
I want to be clear on this.
I want you to see it.
He's already put in his time, so to
speak.
He has suffered.
He's been humbled.
He's taken the low place.
And now you say and you look at,
oh, thank God, this is Philip's time.
Now pastor of one of the fastest growing
churches in the country.
Now bring his wife and children.
No more separation from his family.
Now there'll be a steady income.
And this is going to be just wonderful.
It's God blessing.
It's something that looks so good and so
right and so according to mind of God,
the mind of God.
Oh, but that voice.
That voice of the Holy Ghost says, Philip,
get up.
Go down to Gaza.
There's a fork in the road when it
comes out of Jerusalem, down towards Judea, toward
the desert.
And just go.
I find no word in the scripture that
he said one word of complaint.
Not one murmur.
Takes his cloth skin bag of water, perhaps,
and a few rolls, bread rolls.
And you find this man way out in
the desert.
There's nobody there.
As you were talking about those filled with
the Holy Ghost and power.
Don't go to some big church.
Now there are some full of the Holy
Ghost and power and big church.
Churches.
That's not the point.
But you're looking in the wrong places, folks.
You want to see the man, the woman
with power and the Holy Ghost?
Go to some lonely place where nobody can
see them.
There are no cameras there.
There's nobody to applause.
There's nobody to encourage him.
He's out there having left this great revival.
Then he's all by himself.
And this man is not moping.
This man is not griping.
He's not complaining.
He's dancing and saying, thank you, Holy Spirit.
Thank you for leading me.
Thank you that I don't have any ambition.
I'm not trying to please anybody.
I'm looking for nothing from this world.
But you sent me.
And I'm here.
And you are with me.
And you've revealed Christ to me.
Because that's what the Holy Ghost does.
He reveals Christ.
If you're full of the Holy Ghost, you're
getting more and more of Jesus.
And you've got a hunger and a thirst
after his word.
But this man is all by himself.
And suddenly he hears the clanking of a
chariot.
A guy just slowly loping along in a
chariot because he's reading.
He's not driving the horses.
And he goes by and the Holy Spirit
says, go get in that chariot.
And he said, so this is it.
One man.
And I'm going to get him.
Thank you, Holy Spirit.
This is going to be great.
He's reading Isaiah.
And he said, do you understand that?
And you know this story.
He said, no, I don't.
And he preached, opened it, opened up Isaiah
53 to the man.
He said, I want to be baptized.
He baptizes him.
And I'll tell you something.
When you give the Holy Ghost full control,
he becomes your chariot.
Did you hear me?
He becomes your chariot to take you places
you've never been in the Spirit.
Things you've never seen.
That if you told people, they would think
you're crazy.
Because the Holy Spirit is taking you in
the heart of Jesus.
And you've seen things about Jesus.
You've been near the aroma of Christ.
You have known things about Jesus that if
you told, everybody would kind of, oh, yeah.
Sure.
But nobody can take it from your heart.
Because as soon as he baptized him, he
got out of the water.
And he started walking.
Suddenly, he's gone.
The Holy Spirit, do you want me to
read it to you?
And when they had come up out of
the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip.
The eunuch saw him no more.
And he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found in Azotus.
And passing through, he preached in all the
cities.
See, all those cities he wanted to preach
in, he's now preaching in.
Until he came to Caesarea.
The Holy Ghost became his chariot.
And picked him up.
You know, a lot of Bible scholars say,
that's not true.
He was just in a trance.
And he walked all the way in a
trance.
Well, can you imagine?
This man has just been saved and been
told about the power of Christ and the
Holy Ghost.
She's a man, dazed, walking down the road,
dazed.
That would have destroyed his testimony.
No, I believe what the Bible said.
The Holy Ghost picked him up and took
him.
You give the Holy Ghost control.
I'm telling you, he'll take you places in
Christ.
He will take you places you've never been.
He may take you to the mission field.
Now, you'll have to go by plane, but
you'll get there.
He'll take you.
He'll do things that you couldn't believe possible.
You see, the story ends wonderfully.
Because you get to the end of Acts.
And you get to the 21st chapter.
And you read this.
You see, the Bible says, Philip went to
Azotus and all the cities.
And preached and then went to Caesarea.
Because he went there to set up his
house.
He's got four daughters.
And listen to this.
Here's how the story ends.
Paul's company.
In other words, Paul's traveling through with a
traveling group of evangelists.
And they came into Caesarea to the house
of Philip.
And he abode with them.
And the same man, in other words, Philip,
had four daughters.
Listen to it.
Virgins who prophesied.
Hey, you ask Philip.
Now he's an older man.
And he's experienced.
And he has a good reputation with the
world and with the church of Jesus Christ.
And you come to Philip and say, Philip,
what's the greatest thing you've learned in your
life?
What's the greatest blessing now that you've reached
this age?
You've seen so much.
You've done so much.
What is it?
Was it that revival in Samaria?
He said, oh, no, no, no, no.
Well, what about the Ethiopian in the desert?
Oh, that was wonderful.
But that's not what I remember the most.
It's not the greatest joy in my life.
Well, what is it?
I have four daughters, full of the Holy
Ghost, moving in the spirit.
In the same spirit that I've moved all
my life.
And when I'm dead and gone, I've got
four girls going to carry on the ministry.
I've got something of God.
And I can tell you, Philip looks back
and says, I'm so glad I didn't murmur
in front of my kids.
I didn't complain.
I didn't question God.
I trusted the Lord in front of my
family.
And now my family is serving the same
God I serve.
Full of the Christ I serve.
Full of the spirit that I serve.
You ask me what my greatest joy is?
Same.
Four children in the ministry.
A week and a half from now, I
go to Birmingham.
For the first time in my life, I
have the privilege of having both of my
sons preaching with me.
I'm not saying they have to be in
the ministry.
But I'm saying there's a wonderful thing that
happens when, in your hard times, your family
sees you trusting the Holy Spirit, who alone
knows the way.
I've had my 45 minutes.
Will you stand, please?
A closing word.
Would you hold steady for just a moment,
please?
In the annex and here in the main
auditorium.
I've tried to impress upon you how important
it is to understand this truth.
That the Holy Spirit wants to be in
control of everything in our lives.
That's why he was sent.
Yes, he's a comforter.
But he's everything.
And his great work in his ministry is
to make Jesus Christ known and real in
our lives.
Because it's all about Jesus.
It's all about the Son.
But without the Holy Spirit in control of
your life, you can really never fully trust
Jesus to be in your life what he
promises to be.
He's a burden bearer.
I'm asking you to buy a step of
faith this morning to cast every care on
him and say, If you're saved, that is
the work of the Holy Spirit.
You can't be saved without the Holy Spirit
doing a work in your heart.
But you have to ask him to come
now, Lord, start flowing.
I need the flow of the Holy Spirit.
And that's just by faith, believing that he'll
do what he said he would do in
his Bible.
He said, It will flow.
You have a supply available to you.
Please, don't be just a little puddle somewhere.
Let him flow and cleanse all the filth,
everything else.
Let the Holy Spirit come and sanctify you
and encourage you.
Father, I thank you for the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, thank you for sending him.
Holy Spirit, let this be a church.
Let this be a people.
Everyone hearing me now, let us be a
people.
Just by an act of faith, say, I
will not take on the responsibility that's not
mine anymore.
I give you, Holy Spirit, the full responsibility.
Lord, there are some things in my life
right now that are pending, having to do
with finances, having to do with our crusades,
our minister's conferences and things.
And I just give it to you, Lord.
I'm not worrying about anything.
I'm not trying to figure anything out.
I'm just saying, Lord, here it is.
You have to do with it what you
will.
I'll accept your will.
I accept what you have for me.
You don't have to explain it all to
me because I'm going to trust you.
You'll work it out.
Give me directions.
Speak to me when it's necessary.
But, Lord, I'm going to live my life
surrendered and yielded to the Holy Spirit and
bring that flow to my heart, I pray,
that supply daily.
We need a daily supply of your Holy
Spirit.
Do it, we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now, I'm going to give an invitation, and
I want you to hear me.
This is an invitation in the annex.
You can go to the hallway behind you
and to the lobby, and they'll show you
how to get down here, and you can
come to the altar.
We'll pray for you.
Up in the balcony, go to either stairs
on either side and come down, and here
in the main auditorium.
Folks, don't come just because it's your practice
to come.
I'm limiting this.
Now, listen closely.
I'm limiting this invitation to those who are
in a situation now where you've been doubting.
Now, I'm being honest with you.
There's been a flood of doubt in your
life that things were under control.
You've got a sense now that things are
out of control, and you haven't seen any
hope.
You haven't seen anything change, and there's some
panic, and there's some fear, and there's some
doubt.
I want you to bring that doubt to
this altar, and I don't want you to
take it away.
If you don't know Jesus, you come.
If you've been running from Christ, if you're
backslidden, come also.
But you come only as the Spirit draws
you, and you say, I admit.
There are going to be a lot of
people coming, so don't worry about it.
Don't look around.
See who it is.
But God wants you to jettison and get
rid of all of that doubt and fear
and unbelief.
He can't work.
You're clogging up the channel.
You're clogging the pipes, so to speak.
He wants to flow, and He can't flow
where there's doubt, and there's fear, and there's
unbelief.
You're going to have to get rid of
it, and rid of it today.
And this is a good time to do
it right here and now.
Please don't come for any other reason than
that.
Those who are being harassed and hounded by
doubt and fear and unbelief, and you say,
I just don't know what's going to happen.
There's been some fear.
There's been some concern.
Oh, God, are you still there working in
my life?
Listen closely to the word of the Lord.
Verse 5 in James 1.
If any one of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all
men liberally.
In other words, he's not a respective person.
He gives to all who ask.
And he does not upbraid, and it shall
be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
For he that wavereth is like a wave
of the sea driven with the wind and
tossed.
Let not that man think he shall receive
anything of the Lord.
He calls it double-mindedness.
A double-mind is standing here saying, well,
I don't know.
I'm not sure.
I'd like to be sure.
I don't know.
You have to say, I am going to
just step out in faith, blind faith, and
say, Lord, I believe.
I believe that you have a way out
of every one of my problems.
I believe that you are in me, with
me, and I'm just yielding it all.
If you've been backslidden, you know how to
come back.
A simple prayer of the heart, a simple
reaching out to the Lord.
If you've never given your heart to Christ
and this is the first time, all he
asks of you is an open heart and
a godless sorrow for sin that he himself
helps to produce in your heart.
I want you to pray with me these
words.
Now, remember what he said.
Nothing wavering.
If you waver, if you still allow doubts
to flood in, he said, don't think you
receive anything of God.
And he says that in love because he's
waiting for you to come to him with
simple, childlike faith.
That's all I have.
I don't have a complicated faith.
I don't have something I got from a
theology book.
I got it simply by getting tired of
the way things were going and trying to
do it myself.
You get sick and tired of being sick
and tired.
You just say, Lord, here it is.
I quit.
I'm not going to try to figure this.
I'm just going to believe you every waking
hour.
I'm going to get up in the morning
and say, Lord, it's yours.
I trust you.
And all through the day, I never leave
the house.
I never get in the car without saying,
Holy Spirit, protect my eyes from seeing anything
that's evil.
Holy Spirit, guard my lips that I'm not
going to see anything that's un-Christlike.
Holy Spirit, when I get up, help me
to show my wife the love of Christ.
Help me.
And the more you do that, the Holy
Spirit's faithful because you're calling on him.
If you trust him, you're going to call
on him.
And you're going to commit everything to him.
Pray this with me right now.
Holy Spirit.
For reminding me of my doubt and my
unbelief and my fears.
I bring them to you.
And I cast them on you.
You said cast all your cares on him
who cares for you.
Thank you, Jesus, that I know you care
for me.
You know where I'm at.
You know what's happening in my life.
Holy Spirit, cleanse and sanctify me.
I trust in the blood of Jesus for
full pardon, forgiveness of my sins and my
unbelief.
Now Holy Spirit, reveal Christ to me and
take control of everything in my life.
Now let me pray for you, Father.
I thank you for a people willing to
yield, willing to surrender.
Now you have to take us further.
You have to show us how we do
that.
And Lord, we start by just making the
Holy Spirit the object of our focus.
We keep our eye on Jesus.
And Lord, the Holy Spirit comes and says,
will you trust me in this?
Every time a crisis, every time something comes,
Lord, things are coming at us from all
sides.
And sometimes we fail to consult you.
Sometimes we make a decision without talking to
you.
But then Lord, remind us and help us
to say, I'm sorry, Holy Spirit, and then
give it right back to you.
Hallelujah.
Lord, this can be an exciting life.
Lord, we can stand against anything when we
are fully surrendered and yielded to the Spirit
of the living God.
Say, thank you, Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Raise your hands right now.
Invite him in.
Come on, right now, Holy Spirit, talk to
him in your own words.
Holy Spirit, I invite you to direct my
life.
I invite you to speak to me.
I invite you to take control of my
life and every situation in my life.
Give him thanks.
Come on, everybody in the house.
Lord, we give you thanks.
Hallelujah.
This is the conclusion of the message.