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Receiving the Holy Spirit.
Have you received the Holy Spirit since you
believed?
Well you said Amen but I'm probably going
to show that maybe you haven't.
Even though you speak with tongues, you may
not have received the Holy Spirit.
You say, where are you going?
Well stay with me.
Father, I need you.
Spirit of God, Holy Spirit, I need your
anointing.
I cannot preach this without your Spirit speaking
in me, to me, and through me.
I pray Lord for those in the annexes
and overflow rooms and here in the main
auditorium that you would come and speak a
word, a strong word to our hearts.
Lord, sanctify our ears.
Give us ears to hear what the Spirit
has to say.
Touch me now.
Let us speak your mind.
Amen.
I'm quoting to you from 2 Peter 1
-3.
You don't have to turn there.
But one verse.
Seeing that his divine power, that's the Holy
Spirit, has granted to us all things pertaining
to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
him who called us by his own glory
and excellence.
God the Holy Spirit is in us and
has given us all the resources pertaining to
life and godliness.
And how?
Through the knowledge.
It's a knowledge.
It's not a manifestation in itself, but it's
a knowledge.
Through that knowledge we come in to the
receiving of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I've claimed to be baptized with the
Holy Spirit since I was eight years old.
I remember the time and the place.
Eight years old at a camp meeting in
a sawdust floor when the Spirit of the
Lord came upon me and I was filled
with the Holy Spirit.
I remember the passion for Jesus that resulted.
And I was there for some two hours
or so and could not move because the
Lord by his Spirit laid his hand upon
me and called me to preach when I
was eight years old.
So I have known the working, the manifestation
of the Holy Spirit.
I have communed with the Holy Spirit.
I have walked in the Spirit.
I've tasted of the Holy Spirit.
I've communed with the Holy Spirit.
I have studied everything from Genesis to Revelation
that has to do with the Holy Spirit.
And I would say I've been filled with
the Holy Spirit.
He abides in me.
And I trust that he will speak to
me to you now.
Yes, I believe in the baptism.
I believe in the filling of the Holy
Spirit.
I believe in the manifestation of the Holy
Spirit.
But lately I've been asking myself the question,
Holy Spirit, have I truly received you?
Do I really know who you are and
what I have in me?
You see, you can have something very valuable
in your heart and not be able to
understand it.
You can't enjoy or use what you don't
understand.
God wants, through the Scripture I just gave
you, through the knowledge of him, through the
understanding, God has to turn the lights on,
so to speak, so we know who he
is, so we know what we have.
There's a story told of a farmer years
ago who farmed a rocky piece of soil.
He had a small farm.
And all his life he toiled as a
poor dirt farmer in that small farm.
And he died in poverty.
And he died in discouragement.
And when he died, he passed the farm
to his son.
And his son was farming one day and
he picked up a piece of nugget in
an ore, it looked like a gold streak,
and he had it assayed and found out
there was gold on the property.
And, of course, he became a very wealthy
man.
And that's a simple story, but it tells
you that some people labor all of their
life thinking that they have this treasure, believing
they are filled with the Holy Spirit, that
they have received the Holy Spirit, but they've
truly not received him in his power, and
he is not doing in their life what
he's been called to do.
You do not receive him until you have
allowed him to accomplish his eternal purpose for
which God sent him.
Do you understand?
I'm going to give you just a light
of where we're going with this this morning.
And I've been asking myself, you know, Lord,
have I truly received the Holy Spirit in
his fullness?
Not just a manifestation, isn't it something that
we keep saying when we get in a
problem or trouble, Oh God, send a sweeping,
come down Holy Spirit, we're looking for some
power to come down from heaven and sweep
away our problems, when all along that treasure,
that power is within us.
That power is here.
And we think we're in a Holy Ghost
meeting, and people run all over the world
to get in what they call a Holy
Ghost meeting, where they say the fire has
fallen and somewhere the Holy Spirit has come
down from some cosmic area, and now people
are falling and people are manifesting.
Folks, I believe in the manifestation of the
Holy Spirit, and I'm not knocking that whatsoever.
But you see, there's a deeper walk with
God.
There's an understanding, a quiet, something that's happening,
a daily understanding, a daily yielding and giving
oneself over to the guidance and comfort of
the Holy Spirit, rather than running off somewhere
and saying, Oh God, I'm seeking the Holy
Spirit.
If you're walking with Jesus, you were saved
by the power of the Holy Spirit, and
he abides in you.
You don't have to travel anywhere to find
him.
He abides.
This is his temple.
He is here.
John the Baptist said to the Pharisees, There
stands one among you whom you don't know.
And Jesus said to Philip, one of his
own disciples, Have I been so long with
you, Philip, and yet you have not known
me?
How long have you said you know the
Holy Spirit?
How long have you said I'm filled with
the Holy Spirit?
And I wonder if the Holy Spirit can
say to many of us this morning, If
I've been with you so long and you
don't know who I am.
There is one in you, among you, and
you still don't know who he is.
I wonder if we do not measure up
to the believers in Paul's time.
There seems to be something missing, because during
Paul's time, especially in Thessalonica, people were going
through the hardest time of society in his
age, in his time.
They were being persecuted.
They were in incredible situations.
They were losing their homes and their goods,
and they were in trials.
Their homes were being bombarded out of hell,
and yet they didn't quit.
In great afflictions, they were encouraged.
I'm reading to you in 1 Thessalonians 1,
5 and 6, Paul writing to the Thessalonians
like a church.
Our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost,
in much assurance.
And you became followers of us and of
the Lord, having received the word in much
affliction, with joy in the Holy Ghost.
And Paul says this, you became examples to
all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.
And from you sounded out the testimony of
the Lord in every place your faith has
been spoken of all around.
He said you have become a testimony to
nations, to vast numbers of people, because they
know the suffering in Thessalonica, they know what
you've been through.
They know that you're going through the greatest
testing of your life, and they have heard
of your joy in the time of much
affliction.
And you've become a testimony.
He said you rejoice in the midst of
your pain and your much affliction.
And you could go to that church and
everybody said, you go there and you're going
to find that society under great pressure, stress.
And you're going to find that the pastor's
rejoicing, you're going to find the people in
that congregation rejoicing.
And this became the testimony that people in
a hard time can still have the joy
of the Lord.
Paul said you're the talk of nations.
What did they know about the Holy Spirit
that we don't know?
Because never in history have we seen so
many believers under affliction.
There's never been a time like this, of
many believers suffering financial crisis after financial crisis.
We think of what we've seen when we
travel around the world.
Pastors quitting in every nation by the hundreds.
The same thing happening here in the United
States.
This past week I talked to a leader
of a great Pentecostal movement, organization, denomination.
And he said, David, we're losing pastors on
the left and on the right all over
the nation.
Churches are closing.
Pastors are under such pressure, under financial pressure,
marriage problems, children in rebellion.
You look at the church of Jesus Christ
today and you see incredible problems.
People going through situations that are indescribable.
You see fathers who are unemployed and they're
in panic because they can't find a job.
They can't support their family.
And they say, what am I going to
do?
I may lose my home.
There are elderly people that are on a
mailing list that write to us.
And they tell of their situation, their friends
that are elderly, that are in pain, excruciating
pain, because they can't afford to pay for
their medications.
And they're suffering like we've never seen.
My team, my advanced team right now is
in South America.
And I got a call last night from
Bettina who sets up our pastors conferences around
the world.
My son and I, Gary, and I travel
all over the world in these ministers conferences.
And they were, the team just came from
three very poor nations in South America.
She said, Brother Dave, I went to this
country, it was poor.
Next country it was even poorer.
And now she's in one of the poorest
nations.
Just close.
Ministers from various denominations come together to plan
our coming.
And Bettina has a presentation.
I have about a five minute, something from
my heart.
And then there's some tapes of other conferences
and reports from ministers of how God moved.
Bettina started the presentation and all the pastors
began to weep, just cry.
And Bettina and her associate began to cheer
up.
And they said, what is going on in
this room?
And Bettina said, please talk to me.
And they said, we are so discouraged.
There is no money.
There's no money for our wives or our
children, for even the necessities.
And we want Pastor Dave to come, but
nobody comes here to our particular country.
We don't even have enough money to get
to the meetings.
And you see, we pay even to come.
We'll rent buses and they said, well, we'll
come in tents and we'll sleep in tents
around the venue.
Anything, this would be like Christmas to us,
but we don't have the funds.
And many of them are just so discouraged.
They have to work a secular job and
then they try to pastor on top of
that.
And the despair and absolute discouragement.
Saying we feel abandoned.
And I remember when we were in one
country in South America last year.
I saw a leader of a denomination, a
whole denomination.
And he had traveled 10 hours to get
to our meeting.
And we didn't know he didn't even have
enough money to get home.
And the Holy Spirit put on my heart.
I'm not boasting, just the Holy Spirit said,
give him a thousand dollars.
And he began to weep.
He said, that's a year's salary.
A year's salary.
Folks, we live in America.
You sit here now.
You have money to get back home.
You probably have enough money for lunch.
And even though you live paycheck to paycheck.
And you have no confidence, no idea sometimes
of what happens in the slum areas.
Where in Rio de Janeiro, there'll be 250
,000 people living in the slums overlooking Rio
de Janeiro.
And you see Christians in there, sleeping on
dirt floors.
And when it rains, water pouring through their
little tin sacks.
And still see them praising God with the
joy of the Holy Ghost.
Incredible to see how God can take care
of his people in those hard times.
Even though it's just bare sustenance, still having
the joy of the Holy Ghost in their
heart.
Knowing and understanding him.
As very few do, even in the best
of times.
And I see this trouble breaking out.
And so we're driven.
Absolutely driven to our knees.
And we say, oh God, what do I
say?
What do we preach?
What do we preach to those who need
comfort?
What do I preach this morning to you
that are sitting here now and you're going
through the trial of your life?
Whether it's children.
Whether it's looking into the future and you
can't see very far.
And it's so undecided what lays out there.
The possibility of losing everything.
The possibility of losing a job.
And so we're driven to our knees.
Folks, when we go to these countries especially.
I said, Lord, I can't, I can't just
have, we don't have the resources to just
help everybody.
It would last a week and we'd be,
we couldn't even travel.
And I can't come and just preach pity.
And we can't preach platitudes where we just
say, oh, tomorrow the sun's going to shine.
It's not sympathy.
It's the word of God that must come
forth.
It's something from this book.
It has to be something of the power
of the Holy Spirit in us.
That we have within us the power and
authority to withstand anything that hell throws at
us.
Anything the devil would throw at us.
Or society or nature.
Whatever it may be.
There has to be something from God.
There has to be a word from heaven.
I didn't, this is not the message I
started with.
I started with another message called War on
the Saints.
From Revelation 13 chapter.
Where it says the dragon, which is the
devil, gave power to the beast.
And that's, that is the ruling entities.
That's the government forces and the institutions and
special interest groups.
Like, could be gay and lesbian coalition.
It could be some political group.
It could be others that have their own
agenda to be forced upon society.
But the Bible says the dragon gave power
to the beast.
And the beast overcame.
Let me read it clearly.
And power was given unto him over all
kindreds, tongues and nations.
Power was given to him.
And the Bible says the beast overcame them.
Overcame.
And you look at what's happening now in
this country and in this nation and around
the world.
Many believers are staggered in their faith.
Their faith is shipwrecked.
The beast, the powers.
You see, every institution now is being challenged.
The institution of marriage is challenged.
Right now they have a problem because one
of the gay couples who got married just
recently has filed for divorce a week after
they were married.
And now they can't get a divorce because
the law, the Constitution says that the only
people can get divorced is marriage between a
man and a wife.
Just hold it.
Hold it up.
You see, we're into a time of lawlessness.
The beast power that is arising.
And see, that's where I was coming from
because I read this.
Power to make war against the saints and
overcome them.
Power to make war.
To test and try the elect.
The Bible says the devil come to try
even the elect of God.
To deceive if it were possible even the
elect.
And I read these words.
It's a mad dragon.
In other words, Satan empowering wicked governments, possessing
wicked special interest groups.
An outright war to shipwreck the faith of
people who are being tested.
Numbers have been overcome.
It can't be denied.
The devil has so caused questioning among some
believers.
They look at the hopelessness of their condition,
few human eyes.
And they said, what's the use?
And they've given up.
They're no longer, they say, it's too much
of a struggle.
I don't want to go on like this
anymore.
And their faith has been shipwrecked.
Now, Jesus spoke of an hour of power
and the rulers of darkness.
For the rulers of darkness.
When they took him captive in Gethsemane, this
is what he said.
This hour and the power of darkness is
yours.
Just before the cross, just before the light
break forth.
They that sat in darkness saw a great
light.
That was when Jesus came out of the
grave.
And he dispelled the darkness.
But Jesus said this hour, this last hour
belongs to you.
And the powers of darkness.
There's an hour of darkness given to the
rulers.
God has allowed this final test to the
Jewish nation.
And even to the Gentiles who believed him.
Will you believe in the hour of darkness?
Will you believe that I'm sending you, Jesus
said, the Holy Ghost.
I'm not going to be here, but my
spirit will be with you.
I will not be just in Jerusalem.
I will not be just in Judea and
Israel.
I'll be all over the world.
And I'll be abiding in the hearts and
the lives of all who trust me.
Now, beloved, we are facing now Satan's last
hour of power.
Both in Daniel and Revelation, we're warned in
the last days there'll be a gross darkness
that will cover the earth.
And for a short season, for a short
season, it's going to look like the devil
is winning on all fronts.
Now, you stop and think about it.
If you are a true believer, your heart
grieves when you see how fast this nation
is spinning into chaos.
The immorality.
Television has become a filthy cesspool.
The movies.
The theater.
Here, just across the street, what's playing next
door?
Wicked.
That's the name of wicked.
The boasting, the pride.
Coming against everything that has held this society
together for centuries.
Falling left and right on all sides.
Being challenged by these evil forces and the
beast spirit that's unloosed on the earth today.
It's going to seem like the devil has
even defeated many in the church.
In fact, ask so many thousands of Christians
on our mailing list.
Some are here visiting us today and you're
on our mailing list, you get our messages.
And the number one complaint is, I can't
find a church that has life.
I can't find a church where there's any
fire of the Holy Spirit.
I talked to a couple recently, a godly
couple, and they've just moved to another city.
We've tried at least 25 churches and we
couldn't find one where the word of the
Lord was coming forth with conviction.
There was no fire, there was no anointing.
It was death.
And when you see this happening, I see
it all over the world.
Absolute death and discouragement.
And you look at it and you say,
it looks like the devil is winning.
It looks like he's going to have his
day.
Well, folks, that's all he gets.
He gets a short time.
A mad devil has come down on earth
mad because he has such a short time.
That's what the Bible says.
And he's throwing everything out of hell.
But folks, God foresaw these days.
God foresaw these days before the world was
formed.
That he had a plan in place.
He had a plan.
God wasn't taken by surprise by all this
wickedness.
Not at all.
And folks, this is the whole point of
my message this morning and I want you
to hear it.
God had a plan.
That you and I would not only survive,
but we'd be more than overcomers.
No matter how wicked the world became.
No matter what the devil would bring on
society.
We would have within us, what the Bible
says, a power that is greater than he
that's in the world.
He that's in you.
Who is he that is in you?
The Holy Spirit is in you.
And he that is in us is greater
than he that is in the world.
When you go to the book of Revelation,
you read about what is coming in the
last days.
You read about beasts.
You read about dragons.
You read about horned beasts.
You hear about Antichrist.
You hear about Mark of the Beast.
You hear of all of these images and
creatures.
Yes, they have a meaning.
But let me tell you something.
You don't have to know the meaning of
all these beasts and all of these things
that are happening.
You don't have to fear the Antichrist.
You don't have to fear the Mark of
the Beast.
You don't have to fear any of that.
Because no matter when Jesus comes, and I
believe he can come at any moment.
But no matter what, God says, I have
given you and you have abiding you every
resource, every power, everything that you need.
Now, what about these afflictions in hard times?
Let me tell you this.
The power of the Holy Spirit is not
released in us until we take him as
our burden bearer.
I'll say it again.
This is the heart of my message.
You have not fully received the Holy Spirit
until you allow him to do what he
was sent to do.
You have not fully received him.
He may be abiding in you, but you
can ignore the Holy Spirit.
You can go on.
Don't tell me we've received the Holy Spirit
when we've been told to cast every burden
on him.
That he is our burden bearer.
And that's why Jesus Christ sent him.
The Father sent him through the Son.
If the Holy Ghost abides in us, it's
not just manifestations.
It's this quiet, ever increasing knowledge.
If I turn every problem, every burden over
to the Holy Spirit, I'm receiving him.
I'm allowing him to do what he was
called to do.
I'm receiving him.
You can call me to come and visit
your house.
I've been like this.
When I was a young evangelist, and then
when I came to New York and started
Teen Johnson, I had to travel to help
support the work and also to help establish
new drug centers across the United States.
And I would stay in homes, pastor's homes.
And I remember vividly going into one home.
They put me in a bedroom and said,
God bless you.
And if you want to think deep, the
refrigerator's got some hot dogs and Pepsi.
And they never, that was it.
There was no fellowship.
I was there.
Sure, they opened the door to receive me.
But they really didn't receive me because they
didn't fellowship with me.
They didn't talk to me.
They ignored me.
And I still remember to this day.
I remember the hurt.
And I just walked around an empty house.
And they were always gone.
They were doing their own thing.
Even one of them had a boy who
was in trouble, a teenage boy.
I had the answer.
But they never consoled me.
They knew I had the answer.
That's why they invited me.
And still ignored.
We say, well, the Holy Spirit has been
sent to empower us to be witnesses.
True.
But what is the witness?
The witness is not just talking about Jesus
to the sinner.
That's scriptural.
That's necessary.
It's more than getting your Bible out and
trying to lead people to salvation through the
word of God.
That's true.
And that's what we're called to do.
But folks, there's more to it than that.
The receiving of the Holy Spirit.
The real witness is the believer who all
around them know that there's overwhelming problems and
trouble.
And yet they see the joy of the
Lord.
They see a peace.
They see a secret.
There's something coming out of that life.
You see, a long face and a downcast
look is not a testimony.
People going around murmuring and complaining and talking
about their problems to everybody.
That's not the testimony to a lost world.
The testimony to a lost world is somebody
approaching you and they know what you're going
through.
They know that you suffer.
They know that there's pain.
And they find you encouraging them.
There's something of a hidden joy.
There's something breaking out in you that they
don't understand.
And they're going to ask you what your
source is.
They're going to ask you where the power
comes from.
Then you begin to witness.
And there's not one in this place that's
not going through something of a trial.
And if you're not, wait till six o
'clock this afternoon.
Paul spoke of having the sentence of death
upon him.
But we had the sentence of death in
ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God who raises the dead.
And in the original Greek, he said we
had a response of death.
What he's saying, I looked at my situation.
I looked at what I was going through
and some believe that this was, Paul was
enduring a sickness that could have been fatal.
Some believe that it was when the mob
came against him in Ephesus.
But Paul was going through one situation where
he said, when I look at this and
I look into the future, my only response
is the only way out of this is
that I die and go to heaven.
That I'm at the end.
I have a sentence of death on me.
I don't see any human way out of
this.
I have the sentence of death on me.
And some of you know what I'm talking
about.
God put this burning in my soul.
That there be those that are sitting here
right now.
And you are in a situation that's unlike
anything you've ever been through in your life.
And hear it from the Holy Spirit.
You look at it from every angle.
You figure every way you can figure.
But you finally come to the conclusion.
There's no way out.
It's death.
And even a desire.
Lord, I can't handle this anymore.
Take me home.
We were pressed down, burdened, beyond strength.
We even despaired of life.
Utterly at a loss to find a way
of escape.
Utterly at a loss.
Pressed down beyond strength.
And even the great apostle Paul said, I
just wanted to die.
The sentence of death.
The only response I have now, humanly speaking.
I don't see any way out.
You see, God allowed this in Paul's life.
To literally force him.
To never trust in his flesh.
Never trust any human way out.
But to cast himself completely on the power
of the Holy Spirit.
And folks, God sometimes allows things in our
lives.
And he allows it in those who walk
closest to his heart.
Whom the Lord loves, he chastens.
And we can't see it, but often it's
one of the greatest evidence of the love
of God for us.
That he says, I want to raise up
in you and through you testimony.
Of the power of my spirit.
And those who have given up trying it.
You see, you haven't received the Holy Spirit
until he's in full control.
May I say it again?
You have not, I have not received the
Holy Ghost and his fullness until he's in
control.
Until I list, I go to the Holy
Ghost and I name every burden I have.
I name every crisis I'm in.
And I name it and say, here it
is, Holy Spirit.
It's written that there's power in me.
Now I turn this over to you.
And do it.
Turn this over.
I'm not going to lose sleep over this.
I don't care what it is, I turn
it over to you right now, Holy Spirit.
And you start naming them.
You start laying them down one after another
and say, Jesus, Lord, I can't handle this.
It's beyond.
As I've said so many times to this
Pope, the evidence of faith and trust is
rest.
When you're able to look it in the
eye and say, alright, if I die in
the process, I get glory.
I go directly to the heart of Jesus.
I'm going to trust you even if this
ends up that the solution is death itself.
Because I can't take it on myself any
longer.
Praise the Lord.
Paul trusted in the Spirit and God answered.
Now, God is not going to leave you
the rest of your life where you're at.
He's not going to allow you to suffer
all your days without bringing seasons of deliverance.
You see, let me show you what Paul
said.
Who delivered us, speaking of the Holy Spirit,
who delivered us from so great a death.
And he now delivers.
And whom we trust that he will continue
to deliver.
Paul the Apostle says, I trusted the Holy
Spirit.
There was no way out, but I trusted
the Holy Spirit.
And he gave me a way out.
He delivered me.
And I am now evidently in another struggle.
I'm in the process of being delivered again.
And he said, no matter what I face,
no matter what downs the road, I believe
I can be delivered by trusting in the
Holy Spirit, in the power of the Holy
Ghost.
How many times has he delivered you?
How many times has he brought you out?
You see, the issue is not just saying,
well, the devil is after me.
Yes, the devil does these things, but sometimes
God allows the persecution.
God allows seasons of affliction.
He allows these overwhelming things because he has
no place else to go to find the
testimony.
He has no other place to go but
those who have walked close to him.
Where is he going to find it?
The majority of those who walk a distance
from here are cold or backslidden.
No matter what happens, no more did God
allow in their life, they'd turn bitter.
But God knows better about you.
And I hope he knows better about me.
That no matter what comes, no matter what
I face, and I don't know what's ahead
for me, and you don't know what's ahead
for you.
But there has to be this confidence in
God.
We're not looking to the devil to get
discouraged that he has the power.
No, no, no, the Bible says that God's
in control of all things.
God has all the power, God has all
the authority.
And my message to you this morning is
get your eyes off of conditions.
You say everything's going down?
Yes, there'll be judgment.
But even when times of judgment, God says,
I will deliver my people in that dark
hour.
Folks, we're not in darkness.
We've seen the light.
And that's what we need now, the revelation.
And I'm asking the Holy Spirit, oh Holy
Spirit, be my friend.
Let me talk to you.
Be closer than my wife, be closer than
my children, be closer than anyone I know
on this earth.
And oh Holy Spirit, let me know and
settle this issue once and for all, that
you care, that you've been sent to bear
all my burdens, and I want to receive
you in your fullness.
Of His fullness we've all received, the Scripture
says.
Of His fullness we've all received.
May I say one last thing in closing?
If you're going to turn everything over to
the Holy Spirit, and this just came to
me before the service that I had to
share it with you.
Take it as this unfathomable counsel.
If you're going to let the Holy Ghost
be in charge, you're going to have to
be ready for changes.
You see, God sent messengers into Sodom and
Gomorrah.
Lot and his wife opened up their home
and received these men.
These men had the power to deliver them.
It was a time of judgment, pending judgment,
impending judgment.
And God sent deliverance.
But you see, Lot's wife resented them, I'm
sure, being there, because he's talking about changing
everything.
He's talking about, you may have to lose
everything now.
You may have changed all your plans.
This is what you see, this is what
you want to hear.
And I'm sure Lot's wife was praying, oh,
I'm trusting God.
I have a great God, he's going to
either delay judgment, or he's going to work
a miracle for me, I'm staying right here.
And the angel of the Lord said, no,
if you're going to let God be in
control, you're going to give the reins, you're
going to be delivered, but you're going to
have to be willing to go another way.
You're going to have to leave your plans.
And if you wait on the Holy Ghost,
he'll tell you what those plans are.
The angel told him clearly, he said, we're
going to have to get you out of
this city, you're going to have to give
up this house, you're going to have to
do this.
You see, God, if you're going to hold
on, say, well, this is the plan, this
is what I feel is right, you're going
to be in turmoil.
And when things don't happen the way you
think they should happen, and you're going to
dig in and say, whatever, I'm going this
way, you've not received the Holy Spirit.
Because receiving the Holy Spirit is saying, Holy
Spirit, whatever you, you know the way, you
lead, and I'll follow.
And if you wait on the Lord, he'll
give you that direction, he'll tell you the
way this is to go.
But many of you have not seen deliverance
yet because you're holding on to your plans,
not willing to let the Holy Ghost lead
and guide you.
Now, they had to literally take them by
the hand and drag them out of that
city.
But they were no danger, they were going
to be safe, God was going to feed
and clothe and take care of them.
But the Lord says, you have to let
me in control.
And folks, in the days of judgment ahead,
we're going to have to be willing to
let God make all kinds of changes in
our life and say, Lord, I'm not going
to fret about it, I'm not going to
try to plan out into the future, the
future is yours.
Does this make any sense to you at
all?
Will you stand, please?
Now, I know because the Holy Spirit told
me that there are numbers here in this
place this morning.
You're here in Times Square Church and day
by day, recently, it's become darker, darker and
more unsettled.
And you're going through the time of your
life, I don't know what it is, it's
between you and the Lord.
But God told me to comfort you and
bring you hope.
Get your eyes off of the devil, get
your eyes off the beast condition that's in
the land today.
Don't fret about politics, don't fret about any
of this, keep your eyes on the Lord.
And ask the Holy Spirit to take full
control of your life.
God has a way, yes, He does.
He's going to deliver you.
This is not going to go on, this
nightmare is going to end.
God has ended every nightmare I've been through.
And you know why I have hope for
the future?
Because even though there may be a nightmare
tomorrow, I have a history with the Lord.
I've seen His delivering hand.
And folks, you've got to look back and
say, I was in this mess and God
delivered me.
I was in this trial and He delivered
me.
God's been good, God's been faithful.
I'm going to open these alders for those
that are in a crisis.
You say, Pastor Dave, this message was from
heaven to my heart.
Because I really don't see any way out.
Maybe a financial hole that you're in.
It could be physical pain, it could be
sickness, it could be disease, it could be
anything.
But you say, Pastor Dave, I'm in a
crisis.
I need help.
I need the Holy Ghost.
I need to trust the Holy Spirit and
I've been staggered.
And the enemy wants to plague me with
doubts and fears.
I want you to come.
I'm going to pray for you and believe
God.
And in the annex, the same thing.
You can just go to the front and
stand between the screens and I'll pray for
you there.
And up in the balcony, go to the
stairs on either side and come to the
front.
Now, if you're not right with Christ, you
have turned away, you've backed away from Christ,
you're not walking with the Lord, and you
don't know Him.
You've never been right with God.
You've never known Jesus as Lord and Savior.
I want you to get out of your
seat and come and join these that are
coming now.
Holy Spirit, do your miracle now.
Oh, my great physician, Jesus, the healer, come
and heal the hurts and the wounds in
this congregation this morning.
In Jesus' name.
I talked to you just a moment ago
about the two angels that came to deliver
Lot.
And even though they received him into the
home, they hadn't received him in the purpose
for which they were sent.
And there's not full reception until that happens.
Now, in that day, they had to drag
them out.
They had to work against their will.
And literally took them by the hand, dragged
them out of the city.
Now, in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit,
He doesn't work that way.
He will not drag you into a place
of faith and confidence.
And unbelief aborts the work of the Holy
Spirit.
He cannot, He will not work where there's
unbelief and fear.
And so you're going to have to ask,
Lord, forgive me of my unbelief.
Holy Spirit, forgive me.
The Holy Spirit is the one who gives
us power over sin.
Power over doubts.
You say, well, how do I believe?
Well, how did you believe to get saved?
And then how did you believe that Christ
come into your heart?
That same simple faith.
Holy Spirit, I commit myself to a life
of dependence on you.
I'm going to depend on you.
I'm going to talk to you.
Have you been talking to the Holy Spirit?
Wherever you go.
You know that New York, you can talk
out loud anywhere.
You can talk to Jesus anywhere.
No one will look at you.
And those from Alabama will say, another crazy
New Yorker.
I'm not being facetious.
I'm telling you, talk to Him.
All hours of the day.
Get up in the middle of the night
if you have to and your burdens.
Say, Holy Ghost, I can't handle this.
Take it, help me.
You're my comforter, I believe that.
And trust that He will comfort your heart.
He will come and be your guide.
I want you to repeat this with me.
Holy Ghost is my burden bearer.
Again, the Holy Ghost is my burden bearer.
So I give Him all my burdens.
Raise your hands.
Say it right out loud.
Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me the
Holy Spirit.
Thank you for cleansing me.
I give you my sins, my doubt and
unbelief.
Thank you for the Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit, I give you the reins of
my life.
I put you in charge.
And I cast all my burdens.
On you.
Right now.
Now give Him thanks for answering you.
Lord, I thank you Jesus.
I give you my burdens.
This is the conclusion of the message.