Hey, these are exciting days to serve Jesus. I've told you before. I don't like boring Christianity. Or you just come to church, give your money, do your thing. I want to take down some strongholds, beat up some demons, take new territory for the Lord Jesus Christ, don't you?
These are exciting days in which to live. In fact, I did a quick Google search, and in the last couple months, mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, The Business Insider, USA Today, and other secular outlets have all had stories on demons and the reality of the supernatural. Isn't it amazing? That the secular world Seems to understand the reality of the supernatural than most Christians do. I find that interesting.
In fact, there's a billionaire named Nicole Shanahan. She was RFK's running mate when he was running for president. Nicole Shanahan, this billionaire politician, recently made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And you know, it's interesting. She said one of the things that caused her to convert to Christianity is she had a an experience with a demonic entity.
And she said, when I realized that the demonic was real, I realized God had to be real. And to make a long story short, she gave her life to Jesus Christ.
So it's amazing that again The secular world seems to understand that we are living in dark times, dangerous times, but for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, these are incredibly exciting times.
Now, I want you to listen to me. Here's how this thing works. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and when He died on the cross, He died for your sins and He died for my sins. He was buried, He came back to life, He is alive today. And now, if you'll repent of your sins and give your life to Jesus, Jesus will come to live inside of you, He will forgive you of all your sins, you'll be adopted as a child of God.
Now that's good news. But I want you to listen to me. There is an encounter with the Holy Spirit available to believers that empowers you to live supernatural lives that are dangerous to the enemy. No, Chad, look, I've been taught. That once you get saved, Holy Spirit comes to live in you, and that's it.
There's no other encounter available for you.
Okay. I don't know where you got that. You didn't get it from that book right there. Because I could take you to passages in that Bible that talk about believers who are born again. They are saved already, but they have this additional supernatural encounter with the Holy Spirit.
John 20, 21, I think is the verse. Jesus takes his disciples, and here's what he did. Have you read this before? He says, He does this, he goes. The Bible says he breathes something.
He goes, Receive the Holy Spirit.
Okay. A few weeks later, the same guys, not different guys, the same guys that Jesus breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit, they have the Acts II encounter when the same Holy Spirit comes upon them, but now He empowers them for service.
So church, you need to listen to me. You and I, if we're going to stand strong in these last days against supernatural forces of darkness, you and I. must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now, there is a biblical connection between prayer. And being filled with the Holy Spirit. All over the book of Acts, you see people praying. And as a result, you see the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit. For example, Acts 1:14.
Jesus ascends to heaven. And for 10 days, do you know what the church does? They have a 10-day prayer meeting. And after a 10-day prayer meeting, you know what happens? Acts chapter 2.
Holy Spirit comes upon them. They prayed and they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. Uh Acts 3.1. Peter and John are going to the place of prayer at the time of prayer. Holy Spirit comes upon them and they heal a lame man.
Prayer, Holy Spirit. Let me give you another one. Acts 4.24. Says the church gathered together. And they prayed.
Verse 31, and then it says, The whole place was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 16. Paul and Silas are going to the place of prayer that stirs up something in the supernatural realm, and they get attacked by a demon-possessed girl. Prayer and the supernatural.
So what you listen to there. I want a supernatural church led by a supernatural pastor, filled with a bunch of supernatural Christians, supernaturally empowered with the Holy Spirit. But you've got to listen to me. An integral part of that is being a praying church.
So here's, look, I'm not saying this is a prophetic picture, but I want you to think about this for just a second. I want you to imagine that God's on the throne in heaven. And he has like a golden pipe, this prayer pipe coming down to us, and through that pipe. He sends answers to prayer. He sends the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and God wants those things to flow.
He wants that prayer pipe to be open. But you need to listen to me. What sometimes happens in our lives is things start to clog that prayer pipe. Hindrances start to come in, and God wants to send a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit or send answers to prayer, but it doesn't get to us because there are hindrances in that pipe. Does that make sense?
And so today, before we pray for a fresh empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Okay. I want to address some hindrances, some things, and I look. I'm your pastor. I love y'all. I'm not being legalistic and bashing you here.
But there's some things y'all gonna have to remove from your life if that flow is gonna take place. If the anointing of the Holy Spirit is going to flow from the throne of God into your life, there's some things you're going to have to remove for your life. There are some hindrances that are preventing the supernatural to become natural in your life. And let me cover six of those. I'm going to park on the first one because we've been going through 1 Peter.
And I'm going to park on the first one and then hit the others real quickly, okay?
So, y'all ready for the number one? Number one hindrance I think that may be preventing God's supernatural answers to your prayers from coming into your life. Maybe Marital issues between you and your spouse.
Now I hit the ladies hard a couple weeks ago. And fellas, y'all are salivating. Go get them, Pastor Chad. All right, fellas, now it's your turn right here. You ready?
So I want you to 1 Peter 3, verse 7. Marriage issues. Can prevent that flow of the anointing of answered prayer. Peter says this. Husbands likewise.
Dwell with them, dwell with your wives. With understanding. Giving honor. to the wife. As to the weaker vessel.
And as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. You see what he's saying right there? Fellas, if you don't treat your wives right, That is a major hindrance that prevents that flow from coming from God's throne into your life.
So, what kind of lives are men supposed to live that keep that pipe flowing freely? How do godly men treat their wives? I want you to look at this. Peter says: number one, dwell with them. Do you see that, verse 7?
Dwell with your wives.
Now off to the side, I want you to write this word down. Um dwell with them. Listen, L-I-S-T-E-N. Listen. Dwell with them implies, men.
You're there. You're present. I know some Christian men who are physically present with their wife, but spiritually and emotionally. You're not present with your wife. Peace is not.
You men, you dwell with them. You don't watch the TV. Uh-huh, uh-huh. She's talking. She won't stop talking.
Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. You're there. I read this a while back, and I think it's actually gotten worse.
A few years ago, they said the average American couple. spends 37 minutes a week in meaningful conversation. That's it. And it's actually gotten worse. 37 minutes a week.
Peter says, No, if you want to be the kind of man that hears answers to prayer, that has that anointing of the Holy Spirit, first of all, you have to listen to your wife, you have to be there. One of my heroes in the faith is this guy. His name is Jonathan Edwards. Jonathan Edwards started the first great awakening. And it's in the 1700s.
He's married to a godly woman named Sarah Edwards. Everybody talk about how beautiful, godly she was. He's pastoring this growing church. The Great Awakening is happening. He's becoming a celebrity preacher, so now he's got demands all over the place.
His wife, Sarah, is at home. She's trying to raise multiple kids, trying to run the house. She's again married to a famous husband. She starts to experience a lot of stress. Her sister dies.
And then winter hit. And Jonathan Edwards' wife, Sarah, went into a deep, deep depression. punctuated by what she called, quote, seasons of giddiness. Today we would call that manic depressive. She began passing out.
It got bad. Her husband is 70 miles away preaching and word gets to him Something's wrong with your wife. She's having a breakdown. He could have stayed out there preaching. I want you to understand this, guys.
Your job, Jesus always comes first. But your job does not come second. Your family comes second. And when he found out that his wife was passing out, Jonathan Edwards went back home. And before the modern advent of psychology and psychiatry, He got home and he sat his wife down at the table.
And he made her slowly go over all the events that had contributed to her nervous breakdown. And he asked her to describe the feelings that surrounded these events. This is before modern psychology. He sits down. And he listens to his wife.
And in fact, He even took notes to make sure that he understood her correctly.
Now, we don't know what happened, but the very act of him simply sitting down and listening to his wife brought her out of that deep depression.
So, when Peter says, Men, if you want to be men who see answers to prayer, dwell with your wives, he's saying, first of all, listen to your wives. Secondly, He says, listen, with understanding. Do you see that? Off to the side, put, learn. With understanding in Greek, it literally says according to knowledge.
Here's what he's saying. Fellas, become a student of your wife with understanding. Learn your wife. Fellas, she's not the same as you are. You do understand that, right?
She's wired differently. I know biologically, she's differently. She's wired differently. Peter says: live with understanding, become a student of your wife. I had to do that.
Look, nothing drains me more than shopping. I don't like shopping. The most relaxing thing in the world is for her to shop. It took time for me to realize I need to lay down my preferences and my desires. And if shopping relaxes her, I'm going to be a student of my wife.
And I'm going to at times Indulge that. Hey, when it comes to shopping Women are grazers. They're like cows. They just graze from pasture to pasture to pasture. Right?
When it comes to shopping, men are hunters. We walk in, we see it, we shoot it, we bag it, we take it home, okay? Lauren, your spouse. Hey, she had to do the same thing with me. It took her a while.
Look, in fact, we had this yesterday. She has now had to learn that if I'm doing something that involves cutting and doing a screwdriver and measuring. That's not the time to say, Chad, let's talk about our feelings. I can't do that. I can't multitask like you can.
I can focus on one thing at a time. She has learned we will talk about the feelings when he's through with the project. That's not the best time to talk about feelings, okay? Here's my point. We need to learn our spouse.
So Peter says. Dwell with them. Listen to them. Peter says, with understanding, learn. And in number three, he says this.
Giving honor, jot this down, that means you lift up your spouse. Phyllis Chivalry is not dead. You still open the door for the lady. That's how you lift her up, that's how you honor her. I know a lot of families practice the sarcasm thing.
I get it, and sometimes sarcasm can be funny, but I want you to understand this: big resentments grow out of little hurts. And maybe we ought to be careful about the way we talk to our wives and about our wives, particularly the kids right there. I think this cutting each other down verbally, ha ha ha, we laugh, we fight. I think maybe we ought to be careful about that. We lift our wives up, we don't put them down.
So you listen to them, you learn them. You lift them up. And then look at this. As to the weaker vessel, do you see that? Jot this down.
That means you lead. When Peter says the men are the stronger vessels and the women are the weaker vessels, he's not talking about intellect. He's talking about physical strength. Men are physically stronger than women.
Now, I know some of y'all are saying, where? I know Ronda Rousey, the MMA fighter, she beat up half the men in this place.
Okay, I get it. Generally speaking, men are stronger. Women are a little behind in the strength.
Now, there's always some overlap. The guys who are weaker on the strength level may overlap with the ladies who are stronger, but by and large, men are stronger than women. And what Peter's saying is that means you lead the family. You lovingly lead the family. Fellas, I'm going to tell you something.
If you practice godly, Christ-like leadership, godly women will love that and honor that.
Okay. And so that's how you live the kind of life that honors that wife and that keeps that flow going with that prayer life. Because here's what, hi, Peter warns us here. He says that your prayers. may not be hindered.
That word hindered is a military term. It means to cut off. If you don't treat your wives right, It cuts off God's provision, God's answer to prayer, God's anointing in your life. That's what He's saying. And why is that?
Well, notice he says there in verse 7. He says, um. You honor each other as um heirs? Do you see this? Airs HEIRS together.
Y'all know what an air is? An heir is a like somebody's child, okay? Like, if I die, my kids are my heirs. My kids belong to me, they are my heirs. Listen to me.
Peter is saying, if you're a born-again believer, And that wife is a born-again believer. You all are God's children. Which means That woman you're married to? She's a daughter of the Most High God. You talk to my daughter disrespectfully.
Yeah. Fuss at my daughter, call my daughter a bad name, and then come to me and say, Hey, Chad, Pastor Chad, bro. Can I borrow $20?
Well, first, I'm not your bro. Why is everybody calling each other bro? I'm not your bro. Secondly, No, I'm not giving you any money. Don't treat my daughter like that and then want me to give you some money.
And I wonder if God sometimes says, what's it? I just watched the way you treated my daughter, and now you're coming to me in prayer. No, we're gonna fix that. Before we give you some answer prayer here, okay?
So I'm not trying to be judgmental. But I'm just telling you fellas One of the biggest hindrances to God's answer to prayer in your life might be that marriage relationship. Y'all still with me? All right, let me give you a second hindrance. Hey, disobedience can hinder your prayers.
Salvation is by grace. You don't earn it, you don't deserve it. I'm going to tell you something. There are some conditions attached to answered prayers. And I want to show you a couple of these verses right now.
Look at 1 John 3:22. And. Whatsoever we ask in prayer. We receive of him Because why? We keep is commandments.
Wow. And we do those things that are pleasing in his sight. Do you see that right there? John just said. You live a kind of life that's pleasing in the sight of God, it opens that prayer channel in your life.
In fact, David himself says something. Psalm 66:18. If I regard iniquity. In my heart. If there are some things in my heart I know should not be there.
I regard iniquity in my heart, and I don't do something about it. Psalm 66, 18, he won't even listen to me. It's a scary verse, isn't it? Look at what James says in James chapter 5, verse 16. Confess your faults to one another, pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, righteous woman, availeth much.
Some of y'all seem to think you can sleep with Satan on Saturday night and then come to church and get filled with the Holy Ghost on Sunday morning. It doesn't work that way. You have to make a decision. Do I want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and live in his blessings and his anointing and experience the supernatural answer to prayer? Or do I want to live like hell and experience none of that?
The choice is yours. And so marriage discord can block that flow. Disobedience can block that flow. And number three. Lethargy Can't hinder your prayers.
Y'all you don't know what I mean by lethargy? All right. If the extent of your prayer life is Jesus, thank you for these mashed potatoes in Jesus' name, amen. Or if your extent of your prayer life is, now I laid me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, I've said it. If that's the extent of your prayer life, ain't no wonder you're not seeing God move supernaturally in your life.
That's lethargic prayer. That's wasting your time and God's time. I've said this before. God doesn't answer prayer. He answers passionate, genuine, heartfelt prayer.
Look again what James says. James chapter 5, verse 16. The effectual Fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Do you know what the word in Greek is? The energeo prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
That word energeo means energetic. We get the English word energetic. That kind of prayer that sweats, cries out to God, calls on his name. That's the kind of prayer that moves heaven. Paul is talking about an associate of his name, Epaphras, in Colossians 4:12.
He says, Look at this. Epaphras, who is one of you. And a servant of Christ Jesus sends greetings. He is Man, look at this. He is always wrestling in prayer for you.
Again, that word in Greek, wrestling, here's a Greek word. Ago nitso my. What English word do you think we might get from that? Agonizing. Paul says this man is an intercessor.
He's a prayer warrior. And he is wrestling with God and agonizing in prayer. When's the last time you sweated and cried in prayer? I know that I'm talking to myself as well. I'm going to tell you how God convicted me in just a second.
Just listen to Leonard Ravenhill. Raven who was a great old revivalist. He said, He said in the late 1700s, early 1800s, there's a great man of God, great preacher, great revivalist named Edward Payson, P-A-Y-S-O-N. He said, I visited Edward Payson's study. And he said, I went to this man's house where this man had been serving God for years.
And he said, I looked on the floor. and are two little hollowed out grooves. on the floor. wooden floor. And I asked the curators, what is that?
Curious a man. That Edward Payson spent so much time on his knees in prayer, he hollowed out two little places in the floor. That's the kind of prayer I'm talking about. One of my heroes again is Dr. David Livingston.
Great missionary, great medical doctor, changed Africa for Jesus Christ. Amazing, amazing man. He had a heart for Africa. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I think when he died, they buried his heart in Africa. I think.
I think his body went to Westminster Abbey, but I think they buried his heart in Africa. But he prayed for that continent. He just wanted to see Africa come to Jesus. And one day it was early, time to get things going. His employees called him.
He didn't answer, didn't answer, didn't answer. And so they're in Africa. They walked into his little hut. And they found his body. On the floor.
By his cot. In a posture of prayer. The man died. praying for Africa. That's the kind of prayer I'm talking about.
And you're looking at a man that has a long ways to go to reach that level. That shouldn't sh okay. I shared this first service and I regretted it. But by the time I did it, it had already gone out.
So now I got to share it second service, and I guess I got to share it with y'all as well. I got a reputation to uphold, so I hate to share this with you, but I. We have this cat. In our house. 15 years.
And it got old and it was dying. And Darla was like, We got to go put this thing down. I was like, I'm busy. I got a lot going on.
Okay, we'll go put the cat down. Let's take him to the vet. And we go to the vet. And I just want them to do the thing, let me go home, bear it, and get on with my day. And so we go to the vent.
And he put that cat down. And all of a sudden, I find myself in the parking lot crying like a little baby with that little cat in my hands. I said, what in the world? I would have never cried about it. You know, they say as you get older, your testosterone starts to drop.
Maybe that's what's happening. Because I was in the parking lot just crying over this crazy cat.
Now can I tell you how I felt convicted? God has brought about four men into my life that I'm friends with. That aren't born again. I've never cried for those guys. They are facing a Christless eternity in hell.
I wept over a cat. And I've not wept over them. Spirit of God's convicting me. Chad, if you want to see revival in your life and in your church, you've got to be a David Livingston. You've got to be an Edward Pays that wrestles with God and cries out to God, lethargy will destroy your prayer life.
I'm running out of time. That clock right there is the biggest hindrance to revival in this church. If we could get rid of that, we'd have revival, I think. All right, here's number four. Unforgiveness.
Can't hinder your prayers. I mean that. I love you. I'm going to keep saying I love it. But one of the reasons why you have not seen God move in your life, some of you, and you've not seen supernatural answers to your prayers, is what Jesus says right here in Mark 11.
Therefore, I say to you. What thingssoever you desire when you pray, believe that you'll receive them and you'll have them. And y'all are, yes, we're Pentecostals and some of y'all are word of faith people. I name it, I claim it. Jesus, like, wait.
I'm not done. Verse 25. And when you stand praying... For gifts. If you have aught against any, that your Father also, which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses.
But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father, which is in heaven, forgive your trespasses. We love verse 24. Pray, believe, name it, claim it. We love that one. We don't like verses 24 and 25.
However, if you're bitter against a brother, you got unforgiveness. Don't waste your time. I had to do this recently. I had to say to a detractor, there's a verse in Romans that says. As far as it depends on you.
Live at peace with all people, which means not everybody wants to have peace with you. It doesn't matter. As long as it depends on you, you live at peace with people. I had to go to a detractor and say, I forgive you for the way you have treated me. I don't care if you forgive me or not, Chad.
I didn't ask your forgiveness. No, no, I know you didn't ask for my forgiveness. I'm not doing this. For you. I'm doing this for me.
Because I want the anointing of God upon my life. I want to see the supernatural in my life. And I know if I hold on bitterness toward you, I will not see that. And so I love you. I bless you.
I forgive you in the name of Jesus because I got bigger and better things waiting for me right here. And so Unforgiveness can blot that flow. And let me give you two more real quickly. Isolation. Hey.
You will not be an on-fire, spirit-filled believer walking with Jesus in isolation.
So, if you feel like this is not the church for you, that's fine. Tell us. Let us help you get connected with another church. But you've got to be connected to believers. If you want to see answer to prayer.
You gotta be connected to other believers. Because Jesus Christ says here, Matthew 18, verse 19, again, I say that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything. that they ask. It will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.
The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation. You want to see answer to prayer, you got to connect with other believers. You ought to be on fire. Spirit-filled believer. You've got to connect with other believers.
In fact, listen, I love this story. Listen to this story. A member of a certain church who had previously been attending services regularly. Suddenly just stopped going to church. After a few weeks the pastor decided to visit him.
It was a chilly evening. And the pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for the pastor's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a big chair near the fireplace, and then just waited. The pastor made himself comfortable, but said nothing. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs carefully picked up a brightly burning ember out of the middle of the fire.
and place that ember to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent. The host watched all this in quiet fascination. As the one lone ember's flame diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.
Soon the ember was cold and as dead as a doornail. Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. And just before the pastor was ready to leave, he picked up the cold. Dead Ember. and placed it back in the middle of the fire.
Immediately, it began to glow once more with the light and the warmth of the burning coals around it. As the pastor reached the door to leave, His host said, Thank you so much for your visit, preacher. And especially for the fiery sermon. I'll see you back in church next Sunday. Church, you remove yourself.
from other believers. you're removing yourself from the corporate fire of the Holy Spirit. There's got to be this connection. And some of y'all isolating yourself, that might be why you're not seeing the Spirit of God move supernaturally in your life. I got one more, I won't have time for this, but doubt, doubt can hinder your prayers.
Uh, Matthew 13:58 says Jesus could not do miracles in his own hometown. Because there wasn't enough faith. James 1 says, If you don't have faith in God, don't think you're going to receive anything from God.
So, the reason why some of y'all have never experienced the supernatural baptism of the Holy Spirit is you don't really know if the supernatural baptism of the Holy Spirit is for today or not. And as long as you have this doubt, you probably won't experience this. I'm just telling you, when you start to believe, that opens the door for God to do some incredible things in your life. Turson, go back to what I'm saying. I want to be a supernatural pastor.
Leading a bunch of spirit-filled supernatural people. In a supernatural spirit-filled church. But that only comes when we have this unhindered prayer pipe going to the very throne of God. It all goes back to prayer. Let me introduce you to one more of my heroes of the faith.
His name was Hudson Taylor. In 1854, he was 22 years old, and he was going to China as a missionary. And in those days, it's very, very dangerous to go to China as a missionary. As the ship that they were on, I think it was, they were getting close to, I think it was New Guinea.
Something weird happened. There was this weird current. They started taking the ship. right toward this reef. The captain, who's a seasoned sailor.
He's terrified. Because not only is that reef starting to get closer and closer, Not only does he know if we hit this reef, this ship is going down. He's looking on the shoreline, and it's lined with cannibals. Hudson Taylor. Ask the captain.
What's wrong? The captain said, the current is taking us toward that reef. Our fate. is sealed. Presently, the captain spoke again.
We're not going to make it. We have done everything that can be done. And young Hudson Tale said, No, We haven't done everything that can be done. Me and my three buddies, we're followers of Jesus Christ. We're going to pray.
So they went below deck. And they began to pray. And a few moments later, they come back and they say, God said, God said That if we pray. He will send his wind. Raise the sales.
The captain said, sir, you don't know how this works. That's not going to happen. I've done this for years. The current is taking us here, there is no wind. Hudson Taylor again said, No, God told us.
If we pray. He'll send the wind. Raise the sales. By now, the first mate, who is an atheist, said, Captain, don't listen to him. They've lost their mind.
And the captain finally came to the point: it can't hurt. We're going to die anyway. He said, young man, What did you say God said? Hey, said God said. If we pray.
He will send his wind. The captain. Raised his sales. The young men prayed. and out of nowhere a wind came.
and steer that ship back to safety. I love that story. Because I think that might be a prophetic word for our church. Cross assembly. If we will pray He will send his wind.
If we will call on the name of the Lord, He will send a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, a fresh move of God. If we pray, He will send His wind. Church, I don't know about you. But I need a fresh Empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Our world's getting crazy and more wicked.
I can't stand on my own flesh and in my own strength. I don't know about you. Maybe you're better than I am. I need a fresh wind of the Holy Spirit to come. Empower me and strengthen me.
Y'all need that too? Look, I want you to hear something. All right. Yesterday, as I was praying, God spoke to me. Not audible, you know what I mean.
God spoke to me. And said, Chad, do you know my Holy Spirit? is the spirit of joy. One of the reasons why some of y'all haven't been baptized in the Spirit is we make this thing so serious and so scary. God's like, it's not scared this.
My Holy Spirit's a spirit of joy. When the Spirit comes upon you, there's joy. I don't know what law of thermodynamics it is, but there's one law of thermodynamics that say two things can't occupy the same space. Hey, Depression and the joy of the Lord cannot occupy the same space. Depression and anxiety cannot operate in the same space.
Something's got to give. And I believe today God wants to fill us again afresh and anew with the Spirit of Jesus. Joy.
Now her day yesterday. And this morning at three o'clock. I'm watching in my own devotional time. I'm watching a sermon from a guy named David Wilkerson. You ever heard of David Wilkerson?
I'm watching an old David Wilkerson sermon out of the blue. Here's what David Wilkerson said: He's like, This is a very depressed society that we're living in. He said, Christian, don't you know that when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, the Holy Spirit brings joy? I was like, that's it. That was the second witness I needed.
I heard this yesterday, and now I'm hearing the same thing today in my devotional time. Let me read some verses to you. Galatians 5, 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. Joy.
Romans 14, 17, for the kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Spirit. Luke 10:21, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit. First Thessalonians 1:6, the joy of the Holy Spirit. Man, you don't have to be afraid of a fresh baptism of the Spirit. He doesn't make you grumpy and weird and crazy, He makes you joyful.
And some of us need a fresh Breath. Fresh wind of the joy of the Lord. And somebody right here is saying, Well, Chad, I'm gonna tell you something. If you're to ask me, What's the one word to describe me right now? I am so weak.
I can't fight temptation. I can't fight depression. I can't, I'm so weak right now. Let me remind you. Week one.
The joy of the Lord will be your strength. You need the Holy Spirit right now.
So stand with me. And if you need A fresh Baptism. of the Holy Spirit. A baptism of joy. In just a moment, I'm going to ask you to come forward.
And I'm going to claim a promise of Jesus. You know what Jesus said this? He said this. How much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to them that? Ask.
Jeremy, what do I do? You lift your hands and you say, Father, I need a fresh infusion of your Holy Spirit, a fresh baptism of your Holy Spirit. I'm weak and I'm tired and I'm depressed and I'm anxious. I need the Spirit of joy right now. You just ask the Father, and Jesus says, If you come to me, here's what Jesus said: the Holy Spirit, like streams of living water, will just gush up from inside of you.
Something's going to happen here in the next few moments. I'm going to ask you just a second to come forward. We're going to pray and just ask God for a fresh gift of the Holy Spirit. And then. We're going to go right into song.
Why is that? Because I was just remembering when I got filled with the Holy Spirit, can I tell you what I did? I was in a Southern Baptist pastor study. Argue with God. About whether this was for today.
And I read the book of Acts, and it's like, well, it's there in the book of Acts. I said, Father, I need this Holy Spirit. I asked the Father for the Holy Spirit. And you know what I did after that? I just started worshiping Jesus.
And as I worship Jesus. Holy Ghost came upon me and I found myself worshiping Jesus. I'm like babbling like a baby. Weeping, babbling, crying out. Enjoying Jesus for the first time in my life.
The joy of the Lord will be your strength. If you're like me, you're tired and you're weary, some of y'all are depressed, some of you are anxious, and you need a fresh baptism of the Spirit, come right now. And let's just ask the Father: Is there anybody in this place that needs Him right now in a fresh new way? Just come. You don't have to be weird about it, you don't have to be crazy about it.
This is just. Ag aye. Enjoy this. Let's have fun. Fun and enjoy this right now.
Enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Lift your hands and lift your voices. Father, right now. We take your son at his word. Your son said, Father?
How much more will you give the Holy Spirit to those of us who simply ask? And so, Father, in the name of Jesus, some are tired, some are weary, some are depressed, some are. Weak. They need a fresh baptism of your spirit in the name of Jesus. We cry out right now.
And I ain't going to do your praying for you. You don't pay me to do your praying for you.
So now lift your hands and lift your voice and say something simple like this: God, just give me more of the Holy Spirit right now. Father, give me the Holy Spirit. I just need it. Right now, just a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to ask our prayer team not to take up prayer quests.
Can our prayer team and maybe some intercessors, elders, deacons, can you just put hands on people and just start praying that they receive the Holy Spirit? Right now. Here we go, right now. The Spirit of God, like a dove. You know, the Bible says He's like a dove, lighting down on you right now.
The Holy Spirit like a dove is coming on you right now. Don't keep your mouth shut silent. Just start praising Jesus. Hold out, my son. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Chad, what do I say? Just say Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. More, Jesus. More of your spirit.
More of your anointing. More of your power. More of your strength. More of your joy. Holy Spirit, come right now.
Hold out, I damn, yes, just lift your hands and lift your voices. Start praising the name of Jesus. He's like a dove. The Bible says he's also like oil. Like oil, starting from your head, the Bible says, and running down your face right now.
Just the oil of the Holy Spirit on you right now. Oh, right, right, right, right, right now. Just receive the Holy Spirit. Just a wave of the Spirit right now. Do you sense that?
Purama sada ra rama right now. Fresh oil of the Spirit. The dove of the Spirit, the oil of the Spirit. The Bible says he's like a gentle breeze. The wind of the Spirit.
Just come right now and refresh you. You're tired and you're weak and you're worn out. I know. There's a fresh wind coming right now. You're about to get your second wind right now.
That second wind is the wind of the Holy Spirit. Oh da da da da da da. Just enjoy what you, enjoy this right now. Uh ra da. Just start praising Jesus right now.
Jesus Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, it's a gift. Do I got to do this? No, you get to do this. This is a great gift from the Spirit of God right now. Oh, no, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Just the joy of the Lord. Receive ye the Holy Spirit right now. Hey, some depression is being broken right now in the name of Jesus.
Right now. Anxiety's been broken right now in the name of Jesus. The joy of the Lord will be your strength. Holy Spirit of joy is coming on you right now. Do you sense that?
Strongholds are being broken. The yoke of the enemy is being broken in your life right now. A fresh wind right now. There's a rattling going on inside of you. Those are dry bones coming back to life right now.
Uh rama mama. All right, we'll have time to kneel here in a second. Everybody, just stand up. Lift your hands, lift your voice right now. I'm just, there's right now a weight of the Spirit coming upon you right now.
Lift your hands. Hey, the biggest, listen to me: the biggest hindrance to you receiving the work of the Holy Spirit is the fear of man. What's that person beside me thinking? What's she thinking? What are other thinking?
Hey, don't worry about what they're thinking. You worry about what God's thinking. And what God is thinking is: I want to bless you and anoint you and fill you. And break this thing in your life. Lift your hands and lift your voice, and let's claim the joy of the Lord Jesus right now.
Yes, she is. This is shh. You're so good, Jesus. Enderebeshika raba bakia, we magnify your name. She Jesus, you're alone with the good ass.
The Lord, the trial. The Lord is my strength. It's more than a free land. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh, my soul, oh, my soul.
Bless His name, all that is within me say: The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
So let it rise up like a river, overflowing, Holy Spirit. And let it pour out with a living overflowing, Holy Spirit.
So let it rise, let it flow. Night to me overflowing Holy Spirit when the mirror overflowing Holy Spirit I got the joy, I got the joy, I got the joy It's the joy of the Lord, it's the joy of the Lord I got the joy, I got the joy, I got the joy It's the joy of the Lord, it's the joy of the Lord I got the joy, I got the joy, I got the joy It's the joy of the Lord, it's the joy of the Lord I got the joy, I got the joy, I got the joy It's the joy of the Lord, it's the joy of the Lord Oh my soul, bless his name All right, Spirit of God is, hey, he's still moving down front. I don't want you to leave here with half an anointing or... Three-quarters of an anointing. I want you to stay in the presence of God until you have everything God has for you.
So I'm gonna pray in this mission, but Y'all stay down front because I think God Some of y'all have had depression for decades. The joy of the Lord is breaking that right now.
Some of y'all are about to walk into hopeless situations. The joy of the Lord is going to give you supernatural strength to walk into that situation tomorrow.
So don't leave here until you have everything God has for you. But let me give you a warrior's blessing. It's an old Hebrew blessing reserved for warriors. And y'all are warriors. You don't shoot guns and drop bombs and stab with knives.
Your weapon is the Word of God and fasting and prayer. And your enemy is Satan and the forces of darkness. You are warriors for the Lord Jesus Christ. And my word for you is this. Hazat Beyamats.
After a rope they order hit. He Emer. Adonai, Eleheha, Beho, Asha, Telach, which is Hebrew 4. Be bold, be strong, don't be afraid, don't be terrified. Why?
Because the Holy Spirit of the living God is going to be with you and in you and around you everywhere you go this week. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen and amen. Y'all dismissed. Stay right here until God is done filling you up right now.
God's doing some great stuff. Can y'all keep missing? Bye.
