The Spirit In The Bride

Well, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to John chapter 14. John 14. And if you don’t have your Bibles, you can follow along on screen as well. John chapter 14. We recently began a new series called The Spirit and the Bride. Everybody say that together: “The Spirit and the bride.” And we spent some time contrasting the original day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, and the day of Pentecost that I believe the Lord is bringing about today, where we are in the church, in this time, and how the Lord wants to bring a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our midst today.

So we’re coming to John chapter 14, and this was the night that Jesus was arrested, the night before He was crucified. During one of His final conversations with the disciples, He brings up several themes, but one of them is the Holy Spirit. I want us to start in John 14 verse 16. This is what Jesus says: “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

I want us to notice — and this is what I feel like the Lord is emphasizing — notice Jesus is saying, listen, the world does not know the Holy Spirit because they can’t see Him and they don’t know Him. But you know Him, because He dwells with you. But notice Jesus also says, “and He will be in you.” He will be in you.

Well, Jesus continues to talk about the Holy Spirit that night, and in John 16 verse 7 Jesus says, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” And so Jesus is saying something very interesting to the disciples — these disciples who had walked with Him for three years, who had seen the miracles, who had seen the power, and had seen the healings take place. And Jesus is coming to them and He’s saying, listen, it is to your advantage that I leave. Why? Because I’m sending another Helper, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit.

It seems odd, but how many of you know Jesus knows what He’s talking about? Right? I sometimes hear believers say, “Oh, if I could have walked with Jesus, if I could only…” And it’s fun to imagine those things, but how many of you know we have a greater advantage than that? We have someone called the Holy Spirit. Amen. We have another Helper who was sent by Jesus when He ascended into heaven.

Well, I want you to notice Acts chapter 1 verse 4. This is forty-three days after the conversation we just read in John 14. Forty-three days later, Jesus is speaking to His disciples before He now ascends into heaven, and it says, “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’” And so here we are. Forty-three days earlier, Jesus was saying the Holy Spirit is with you, but He will be in you. And here Jesus is saying, just like John the Baptist baptized with water, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

And so the disciples begin to ask Jesus questions, and one of the questions they begin asking is, “Jesus, is this the time that You’re going to restore the kingdom here on earth?” And notice what Jesus says in Acts 1 verse 7. Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the season which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Spirit in the bride

And so when we’re talking about the Spirit and the bride, in Acts chapter 2 we see that the Lord birthed the church with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And now, today, where we are, I believe the Lord is bringing about a rebirth of the church through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So we’re in the series The Spirit and the Bride, but today the title of the message is “The Spirit in the Bride.” Everybody say, “Spirit in the bride.” In the bride.

You know, the church is meant to be the hope of the world. Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. You’re the salt of the earth.” There is supposed to be something distinct and different about your life. But how many of you know that only happens when we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, when we allow the baptism, that filling of the Spirit, to come on our lives? It’s the Holy Spirit that makes the church what Jesus envisioned the church to ultimately be.

Which is why He commanded His disciples, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise.” In other words, Jesus was saying, I don’t want you to just go and start telling people about me. I don’t want you to just tell people the gospel, the good news. No, you need someone called the Holy Spirit. Why? Because when He comes upon you, you will receive power — to be what? Witnesses.

There is something that Jesus has made available to us called the Holy Spirit that we must make room for in our lives. When the Holy Spirit comes in your life, He empowers us to do the things that God has called us to do. How many times do we go through life with good intentions, saying, “I want to serve the Lord, I want to see His plans come to pass for my life,” and we get so tired? How many of you know we spend so much time operating out of our flesh, and out of what we know, and out of what we have? And the Lord is saying, no, no, I want to pour out my Spirit on you, and you will function in His authority, you will function in His power and that anointing, that we would be people who are filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, with the Holy Spirit, God empowers us to do the things He’s called us to do. But without the Holy Spirit, we cannot be the church that He’s called us to be.

Now, we know that Jesus moved with the power of the Holy Spirit. We see it in Luke chapter 4 verse 1. It says, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” And then verse 14 says, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.” And so Jesus is telling His disciples, listen, this is exactly what I did to function and to fulfill God’s plan for my life here on earth, to fulfill my earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit was on my life. And Jesus was telling them, you need to do the same thing.

And so in the coming weeks we’re going to talk about the restoration of the kingdom of God within The Spirit and the Bride. But today I was just really led by the Lord that we must first talk about being filled with the Holy Spirit: the Spirit in the bride.

Power

I want to share four things that happen when the bride of Christ is filled with the Holy Spirit. Four things that happen when the bride of Christ is filled with the Holy Spirit. Number one is power. Everybody say, “Power.” Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

Well, we know that Jesus ascends into heaven, the disciples go back to Jerusalem, they begin to pray in one accord, and we see in Acts chapter 2 verse 4, it says, “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Another word for filled — we also say they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. To be baptized with the Spirit means you are filled with the Spirit and overflowing with the Spirit on your life. You’re being baptized into something, and when you come up and out, it is dripping from who you are. It’s so evident and so powerful that when people come into contact with you, they’re not just coming into contact with you, they’re coming into contact with the Holy Spirit Himself.

You guys see what I’m saying? To be filled is to be baptized, to be covered. It’s the same thing, to the point where when people come into contact with you, they are being changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so Acts 2 verse 4 says, “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” And so this was the first sign of that power. They began to speak in a spiritual language, in a heavenly language, and in languages, earthly languages, that they did not know. That was that first sign of that power, but it’s not all the power.

We see in Acts 2:17 — everybody’s wondering, they’re speaking these other tongues, and people are wondering what’s happening, and so Peter stands up, filled with the Holy Spirit, and he says, “It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” And then notice, he says, “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” How many of you know that’s power? To prophesy means you are speaking and releasing God’s word into the atmosphere — things that you did not know, things that you could not come up with. You’re receiving them from God through the Spirit, and you’re speaking them out and declaring them to God’s people. That’s power. Amen.

He says, “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions.” In other words, God begins to open up your eyes to show you things that He is doing in the Spirit, things that He wants to do to encourage the body, to encourage the church. He says, “Your old men shall dream dreams” — not just normal dreams, but dreams where God is communicating, and He’s speaking things, and He’s releasing things. Maybe it’s for your life; maybe it’s to bring encouragement to someone else.

And then verse 18 says, “And on my menservants and on my maidservants…” What I love about this is that this is basically saying, listen, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will receive power, and it’s not just for the elite. It’s for everybody. In other words, the Holy Spirit is the great equalizer. There is no partiality based on your influence, based on your wealth, based on your popularity or charisma. He says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,” including your menservants and your maidservants. “I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy.”

And then we see in Acts 2:41, we continue to see this power. It says, “Then those who gladly received his word” — Peter’s word — “were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” I want you to think about this. These were three thousand devout Jewish people, and they just changed their mind. They heard the word of the Lord, they heard Peter preaching with the power of the Holy Spirit, and these weren’t just normal words. They were anointed. They were coming into their ears and into their hearts, and the Holy Spirit was doing something in them that caused them to do a 180: I’m no longer going to behave or conduct or move in the manner I had before. No, this is it. This is the truth. How many of you know that’s power? You know, three thousand people were added to the church that day.

Stop disqualifying yourself

You know, I’m bringing this to us because I believe that there are so many people in the body of Christ who unnecessarily disqualify themselves. They say things like, “Well, I’m not good enough. I’m not smart enough. I’ve tried that and I failed.” And I believe the Lord is saying, no, no, no, open yourself. Let me fill you with my Spirit, because when I fill you with my Spirit, you will receive something called power — power to do the things that I’ve called you to do, power to say the things that I have for you to say, to change atmospheres, to change environments. Why? Because you’re not just walking around in your own understanding anymore. You’re not just doing things according to your own effort. No, you’re filled with the Spirit and you’re moving in the power of the Spirit. How many of you know the power of the Holy Spirit makes all the difference?

It is time to stop disqualifying yourself. When you look in the mirror, what do you see? You probably see some of your failures. You probably see some disappointments. You probably see things — and maybe you’ve even heard things. Maybe you’ve heard things in church; maybe you’ve heard things in your quiet time with the Lord as you’re praying. And somewhere in your heart you say, “That couldn’t be me. I can’t do that. That’s not for me.” And I believe the Lord is wanting to bring that to us today, and He’s saying, stop disqualifying yourself. Open your heart to my Spirit and allow me to give you something called power.

Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” I mean, there’s more to this. Listen, in Acts chapter 3, right, Peter and John, they’re walking into the temple, and there’s the lame man at the gate, and he’s begging for alms. And Peter says, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you: In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.” And the man gets up and leaps and walks. How many of you know that’s the power of the Holy Spirit? You will receive power. Power for what? Physical healing. There is power when we receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

Power to be witnesses

The second thing that happens when we’re filled with the Holy Spirit is witnesses. Everybody say, “Witnesses.” I love how Jesus — the very first thing that He says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses.”

This is so important, because if you’re a believer in Christ Jesus, you have received something. Amen. You’ve received eternal life. You’ve received a reborn spirit. You’re not seeing things the way that you used to see before. But how many of you know it’s not meant to end with us? Aren’t you thankful that someone in your life didn’t keep it to themselves, but shared it with you? And Jesus is saying, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power to be witnesses. There are so many people that need what you have been given. Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.”

And we can go out with good intentions, and we can say, “Hey, you want to come to church?” And that’s good, right? Like, we should invite people to church. Amen. I said we should. But the greatest testimony to those in your life is the Holy Spirit in you, where you’re no longer the same. And you’re not weird — we’re not talking about weird. We’re talking about a real change on the inside, where people see you and they know there is something different. It’s different about the way you’re talking, it’s different about the way you think, about what you value, how you carry yourself. You will receive power to be witnesses.

This is why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Listen, if you’ve given your life to the Lord, you have a born-again spirit and the Holy Spirit is in you. But we’re not just talking about the Spirit in you. We’re talking about being filled — filled to overflowing. You guys with me? Filled where it’s on you, it’s just dripping off of you. You see, when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, being a witness becomes natural to who you are.

We see in Acts chapter 8 verse 4 — Paul was persecuting the church, right? And he was persecuting them so violently, so oppressively. I want you to notice what happens here in Acts 8:4. It says, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere” — to get away from the persecution — but notice what they were doing — “preaching the word.” Why were they preaching the word? Because the Holy Spirit was so filled and so a part of who they were. The Holy Spirit was dripping off their lives, so that even in the midst of persecution, what was naturally coming off of their lips was the word of God, the truth of God. Can you imagine? Your life is in danger, you don’t know if your family is going to make it, you don’t know who you’re going to run into down the road, but as I go, I am so in tune and so filled with the Holy Spirit that I cannot get the good news off my lips. It says that they went everywhere preaching the word.

“Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles that he did.” Notice, Philip is being filled with the Spirit and there’s power coming out of him, in his power to be a witness. “For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.” Amen. How many of you know we need to be filled, baptized with the Holy Spirit, and we need to stay full of the Holy Spirit, so that we can have the power to be a witness?

I mentioned this last week. I had everybody raise their hands. I said, who here has been praying for people in their family to receive the Lord? In fact, do it right now. If you are praying for people in your family to receive the Lord, raise your hand. Amen. Number one, don’t stop. But number two, the more that we can open ourselves to being filled with the Spirit, the more power to be a witness there is in our lives. Amen. And we’re going to talk about how to open ourselves up to that in just a moment.

Wisdom for dark times

But number three, what comes with being filled with the Spirit: wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge. How many of you today — I need a little bit of wisdom in my life. Sometimes I don’t know what to do, and a lot of times you look back and it’s like, I did the wrong thing, right? We need wisdom, but especially in these times, because the Bible says darkness is covering the earth, and deep darkness the people, but the Lord will arise over you. Times are getting darker, and we need to know how to navigate well. When we are filled with the Spirit, there’s something called wisdom and knowledge that comes — not just natural wisdom, supernatural wisdom. Things that you do not know, things that you could not understand.

Listen to what Jesus says in John 16. Again, this is Jesus talking to the disciples the night before He was crucified. John 16:12, Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” How many of you know the Holy Spirit gives us an advantage? The Holy Spirit gives us an advantage. “And He will tell you things to come.”

I cannot tell you — and you would think that we would do this all the more, because I know many of you here have experienced this very thing — where you begin to call out to the Lord, you begin to open yourself up, and maybe you came in one way, but all of a sudden He starts speaking things to you. He starts telling you things and showing you things. He reminds you of scriptures, He reminds you of truth, of reality. And maybe you came in with anxiety, maybe you came into that moment with fear, but all of a sudden there’s this sense of joy, there’s a sense of peace, but there’s also wisdom and direction that you’re receiving from Him.

One of the greatest advantages of my life is being able to stop what I’m doing, close my door, begin to call on the Lord, and allow Him to speak. And He’ll do it every time. How many of you know the Lord is always speaking? The question is, have our ears been tuned to hear what He’s saying? There’s different ways we can tune it. We’re not going to go into all that. One of them is by being in the word, knowing the word, reading His word. One of them is through praise and worship. We’re going to get into this, okay? We will talk about some of that.

But listen, one of the greatest advantages we have is that when you don’t know what to do, you can go to the one who knows everything to do. You may not know what’s going to happen, but how many of you know the Holy Spirit knows what will happen? And you may not know the right decision, but how many of you know the Holy Spirit always knows the right decision? Amen.

I was reminded of this, and I believe this is from the Lord. I referenced this already, in Isaiah 60 verse 2, where the Lord speaks to the prophet Isaiah about the last days. He says, “Behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” And I was reminded of the night that Jesus was betrayed, where He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The crowd shows up to arrest Jesus, to beat Him, to take Him to the cross. And Jesus says, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” And I was reminded of what Jesus was saying. Some translations will say it this way: “But this is your time, and the time of the power of darkness.”

Well, isn’t that what Isaiah says? “Darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the people, but the Lord will arise over you.” Who? Those who have received the Lord, who have made Him Savior, but those who have been filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will show us how to navigate in dark times.

There is a temptation in the church to fight fire with fire. We see protests, we protest. We see people post on social media, we post on social media. How many of you know that’s the enemy’s game? We’ve been given someone called the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who will give you wisdom on how to speak, wisdom on how to answer, wisdom of when to say and when not to say. We need wisdom. We need this from the Holy Spirit, how many know, more than ever.

And maybe there’s times where you’re in a conversation with someone and you just want to say it. “I just want to say it. I’m going to give you the righteous belt of truth, right, and I’m going to unleash this on you.” And how many of you know there is a time for that? But there is also a time where it’s going to do more damage, because the Lord knows where that person is, and the Lord isn’t wanting you to just be right in that moment. The Lord is after that person’s heart. He wants everyone to know. And sometimes people are in a place to receive; sometimes they are not. How many of you know we need the Holy Spirit to guide us on what to say and when to say it?

I’m not saying that so that we move in fear. Amen. I’m talking about living in a reality, living in a reality of being filled with the Spirit. Didn’t we just say that when you are filled with the Spirit, He empowers you to be a witness? That means when you talk about the Lord, it comes off naturally, and the things that you’re saying — it’s not meant to divide, it’s meant to invite. You with me? There is something so natural that happens when you are filled with the Holy Spirit. It just happens. You don’t plan it, you don’t try to make it happen, you don’t try to conjure it. It just happens.

I remember this one time — and I’ve shared this story before — we were doing a neighborhood outreach with some young kids, and we were in an area, and they were coloring and they were talking, and they’re like, “Hey, this is the picture that I drew.” And I began to talk to them, and I was like, “Oh, well, do you know what that picture is?” And they said, “Yeah, it’s heaven.” And I began to talk to them about heaven, and I just began to ask, and sure enough, that conversation — these are little kids, right — it just flows. And I was like, “Do you want to give your life to Jesus?” And they said, “Yeah.” And I was like, “Well, let’s do it right now.” And they said, “Yeah,” right there. There is something that just naturally happens when you have been filled with His Spirit and you open yourself up to Him, where you don’t need to force it. You don’t need to fight fire with fire. No, you’ve been filled with the power of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit

And the power of the Spirit is different. In fact, that’s the fourth thing that comes with being filled with the Spirit: spiritual character. Everybody say, “Spiritual character.” Listen to this. Galatians 5:22 says, “The fruit of the Spirit” — in other words, the evidence of the Spirit on your life — “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

In other words, when you are living a life being filled with the Spirit, these characteristics are natural byproducts of your life. In other words, there can be turmoil all around you, there could be division, and you are filled with peace. There can be fear everywhere, and you are filled with joy. When you are filled with the Spirit, these things are a natural byproduct that are coming out of you: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control.

So in dark times, when we are wanting to match behavior with behavior — violence with violence, protests with protest, slander with slander, retaliation with retaliation — how many of you know we must be in tune with the Spirit? And if we are, the fruit of the Spirit will begin to manifest. You know, the way that we respond in these times, it’s your responsibility. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, your response will tend to be love, joy, kindness, grace.

You see, when you walk in love with people and you begin to speak His truth with kindness, how many of you know people are changed? And people are redeemed by the power of the Holy Spirit. People are changed when we walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Saul turns into Paul. The demonized become the purified. The hurting become vessels of healing, and the forgotten become the chosen. The power of the Spirit of God helps us to walk in love and see the power of the Holy Spirit come into the lives of other people. Amen.

How to stay full

So how do we stay full of the Holy Spirit? Well, number one, if you’ve given your life to the Lord and you’ve not prayed to receive the Holy Spirit, or had someone pray that you would receive the Holy Spirit, we’re going to do that in a moment. But to stay full of the Holy Spirit, you must take time on a daily basis and invite the Holy Spirit into your life, where you will literally come to Him, and you’ll begin to look to the Lord, and you’ll just begin to pray and call on the Lord and just say, “Lord, fill me with Your Spirit.”

And take a moment to repent of any sin in your life. Repent of any sin, to make sure that you’re connected to Him. How many of you know when we confess our sins, He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us? We need to make sure our heart’s in a place to be filled. And if we’re out of alignment, it’s like He’s pouring a pitcher but we’re standing over here, right? We need to kind of shimmy on over and get into the river of living water, where He is filling us and refreshing us.

And we begin to call on Him, we repent of any sin, and we pray and invite the Holy Spirit in our life, and we say, “Come, Lord, fill me with Your Spirit. I thank You for the life that You’ve given me, that You’ve saved me, that You’ve purified me, that You washed me. But Lord, I need a fresh filling of Your Spirit today.” Maybe I’m coming in hurting, maybe I’m coming in with depression, but as you begin to call on the Lord, He begins to fill you. And as He fills you, what comes? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. All these things start coming. Anybody else experienced this before? Yeah. It’s so simple.

This is why Jesus said, “Ask, and you will receive.” He’s saying, I’m not holding back on this. I gave my life, and I’m ascending into heaven so that you can receive another Helper, the Holy Spirit. And when you call on Him, He will come and you will be filled. Amen. He doesn’t leave us dry. He doesn’t leave us empty vessels that have nothing to offer. No, no. He said when the Holy Spirit comes, you will be filled with power. You will receive power to be witnesses. In other words, you will always have something to offer, because my Spirit is in you.

And then, if you’ve received your spiritual language, as you’re praying — what I do, I just begin to pray in the Spirit. How many of you know the Bible says that when you pray in the Spirit, you’re praying the perfect will of the Father? He knows how to pray better than you do. In fact, He’ll start praying things that maybe weren’t on your mind. But I love how Paul says it. He says, I pray in the Spirit more than any of you, but I also pray in my understanding. In other words, when you begin to pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will start showing you things on the inside about what He’s saying. Maybe it’ll be a person, maybe it’ll be a situation, but He begins to show you things.

And this is what I do. I’m praying in the Spirit, and maybe one of you comes to mind, and I begin praying for you in my understanding, and I’m partnering with the Holy Spirit in prayer. And then when I’m done, I go back into the Spirit. How many of you know this is how we fill ourselves up? And listen, if I’m so tired and I’m so weak, I humble myself and I just begin to worship. I just begin to declare who He is, and I begin to say, “God, You are good. You are God; I’m not. God, I worship You, and I exalt You.” And how many of you know the Bible says He dwells in the praises of the people? When I start worshiping, He’s there. And when He’s there, the Spirit of the Lord is there, and I invite Him. You guys with me?

This is not complicated. He makes it so easy, but we must make room and make ourselves available to this. And I’m just telling you right now, this is how I would start my day. We’re navigating this time of darkness, this time of confusion, where things that were right are no longer right, and things that were wrong are now right, and there are things that were okay before that are now illegal, and there are things that were illegal that are okay. It’s a mess, and we don’t know how to solve it. Listen, you don’t know. Nobody knows. That’s why Jesus is coming back. Because Jesus is coming to re-establish His kingdom, to reset things in order, to put things back.

But until then, He sent His Spirit, that we would be people who open ourselves up to be filled with the Holy Spirit, that would function in power to be a witness, that would walk in love and in joy and in peace, and that even though darkness surrounds us, we have a navigation system called the Holy Spirit, who leads us by light, who shows us the direction we need to go, the things that we need to say, the things that we need to do. Aren’t you thankful that He didn’t just leave us to figure this out? He said, no, no, I’m going to send another Helper. Amen. This is good.

Lord, fill me

And so here’s what I would like for us to do. We’re going to go ahead and stand together. We’re going to begin to call on the Lord. And I’m just going to ask that we bow our heads, we close our eyes. But this is what I like to do: I like to open my hands to the Lord and just receive from Him. I find that when I physically follow what the Lord is doing and leading me to do, my heart is in a better place to receive it. And so if I’m humbling myself, I’ll get on my knees. If I’m receiving something, I hold my hands out like a child.

But let’s just do this with our heads bowed and our hands lifted. Just begin to call on the Lord, and pray these things with me. Just say, “Lord, I need You. Fill us with Your Spirit. Lord, do what You want to do. Lord, any sin, Lord, I confess to You. Come, Lord, strengthen me by Your Spirit. I yield myself to You today. Not my will but Yours be done; Your kingdom come. Fill me with Your Spirit today, and I believe that You fill me afresh today. Thank you, Lord.”

And I’m just going to ask right now, if you’ve received your spiritual language, go ahead and begin to pray in your spiritual language. And if you have not, just continue to invite Him. Just invite the Lord. Say, “Lord, fill me with Your Spirit.” Fill me with your Spirit. Come on, church, let’s begin to pray in the Spirit. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. We worship You, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Fill us afresh today. Fill us, Lord. We receive Your Spirit. Thank you, Lord.

And then, if you are here and you’ve not given your life to the Lord, I’m going to ask that we all pray this together. Before we’re filled with the Spirit, we need to have a reborn spirit. We need to be born again. This is what Jesus said. And so I’m going to ask that we all pray this out loud together, in a voice loud enough for the person next to you to hear. Say this with me: “Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to take my place, to die for my sins. I receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Forgive my sins. Cleanse me from unrighteousness. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, and make me the person You created me to be. From this day forward, I call myself a believer, a follower of Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Amen. And now we’re going to pray. We’re going to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us. Say, “Father God, I ask You now to fill me with Your Spirit. May I be baptized with Your Spirit. I receive power. I receive strength to be a witness. I receive supernatural wisdom and knowledge. And I declare I will bear the fruit of the Spirit. Do these things in my life. I yield myself to You today. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Amen. Amen. Let’s thank the Lord. Can we thank the Lord for the word this morning? Number one, if you prayed that salvation prayer for the first time, just let us know. Just tell somebody. We would love to connect with you. But number two, if that’s the first time that you have prayed to receive the Holy Spirit — how many of you know the Bible does not promise a feeling when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit? Now, Jesus said, “Ask, and you will receive.” And so I’m standing with you in faith that if you prayed that, you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and that His power will be evident in your life from this day forward. Amen.

It’s so important. We need to do that. And here’s what Paul says: “Don’t be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” That is a continual filling. How many of you know, church, we need to do this regularly, where we come and we just open ourselves up and we say, “Come, Lord,” and begin to pray in the Spirit if you’ve received your spiritual language. If you have not received your spiritual language, I’d love to pray for you to receive it. It’s not a freaky thing. It’s a free gift from God, and it’s something that He’s given us. And so we would love for you to receive that this morning.

But I don’t know about you, but I’m excited for what the Lord’s going to do, because I believe He’s speaking so loudly that He is preparing His church to be the church He’s always dreamed of, to be the people He’s always dreamed of. Amen. That we would not just make church the thing that we do — no, but that we would long for Him and want Him. You know, we say things like, “He’s my all in all.” He is, and that means in everything. He’s my everything. Every corner I go around, I’m looking for Him — not like some — no, I’m looking for Him because He’s everywhere and He’s at work. Amen. Let us partner with the work of the Holy Spirit as we go from here. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.