 If the church is going to survive this hour, not just survive, but thrive in this hour, we need the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. It's the only chance that we have of really coming against the strategies of the enemy that are for today, and there are many wicked agendas playing out before us in this day and age. This is why God has raised you, friends of the Holy Spirit, because that's what this room is filled with. That's who's watching us online. We are friends of the Holy Spirit. People who walk with Him. It's why you're here because you love the presence of the Holy Spirit, because you love His Word, because you love to worship Him, because you love to have your faith stirred. You are God's answer to the wickedness in this generation. God has determined to place you here and now on the timeline because there is a call on your life, because there are gifts within you, there are ministries yet to be birthed, there is spiritual, powerful potential packed within you, and the Holy Spirit is your partner in releasing that which God has placed inside of you. You are called for such a time as this. Don't worry about what's going on in the world. Whenever I see society and political parties and economic structures tending toward disorder, if I compare it with the rest of human history, I become excited, because I know that God always seems to show up right when you think it's over. Right when you think it's done and there's no way out, the Holy Spirit comes in and surprises everyone. It's like the prophet Elijah when he called down fire from heaven. Elijah called down fire from heaven because he wet the altar. Why did he wet the altar before calling down fire? Elijah wet the altar before calling down fire because he wanted to prove that it wasn't a work of man. He wanted to prove that this fire can burn through anything. When I look around at the way the world is now, I don't see demise. I don't see the end of the church. I don't see things tending toward the end as far as the world believes the end will go. What I see is a glorious church rising and the power of the Holy Ghost moving, and I don't care what prophet told you what God has not done with America. I saw that America is not in the Book of Revelation. Yet, so are hundreds of other nations not in the Book of Revelation, but that's because the focus is on Israel. But that doesn't mean that America doesn't have a part to play. In fact, in the Scripture you'll see in the Book of Jeremiah that there's a prophetic clause where God will relent of punishment or from punishing a nation if that nation will turn to him. If a nation turns to him, he blesses that nation. If it turns from him, he brings down judgment. But here's the great thing about it is that what God needs in any nation is a righteous remnant who are not willing to let go. So stop throwing up your hands in defeat and saying, okay, Lord, get me out of here. He put you here. That revival might come. Stop listening to conspiracy theory prophets. That's really what's happened in this day and age. The conspiracy movement in America has blended with the prophetic ministry, and we have pollution. I'm just being real with you guys. There's pollution. Whereas the prophetic ministry was supposed to bring godly warning that led to repentance, some of the prophetic movement is now bringing this sense of doom and gloom from which there is no turning back. But every time God sent a prophet, it was always to turn the hearts of the people. It's when God stops sending prophets that you're in trouble. So stop listening to the mixture of the flesh and put your ear to what the Holy Spirit is saying. Lift your eyes and see the harvest is ready. The harvest is ripe. Laborers are few. The issue is not the harvest. The issue is the laborers, that God is looking for people who will surrender themselves and say, here I am, send me. He's just looking for a select few. And you are that remnant. You are that spirit-enpowered group of people who isn't going to back down from the lies of the enemy. You're not going to back down from the darkness if you only knew the power that God put in you. If you only knew, you're not a beggar. You're royalty in the spirit. If you only knew the places of authority you're seated in, I'm not coming at this going, oh my goodness, I'm just going to do what little I can to see what little can be accomplished. And hopefully God blesses my meager efforts. And Lord, please just a little drop of your spirit here and a little drop of your spirit there. No, God has given you the authority of heaven to call down the rain of the Spirit and turn things around. We're the head, not the tail. We're the authority, not the servants. We are God's authority in the earth. Every believer is the Holy Spirit. This is one of the questions that is put to me most often. Brother David, how do I receive? How do I receive? How do I get him? What you need to understand is that the moment that you were born again, the Holy Spirit of God came to live within you, not a portion of the Holy Spirit, not a new convert version of the Holy Spirit, not a junior Holy Spirit, not a baby Holy Spirit, not a less potent Holy Spirit, but the same Holy Spirit who was in Christ, Jesus Himself, came to dwell in you the moment you gave your heart to the Lord. What does the Bible say? In Ephesians 1.13, the Scripture says, And when you believed in Christ, when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own. How? By giving you the Holy Spirit whom he promised long ago. When did I receive the Holy Spirit when I believed in Christ? The moment you repented of your sins, the moment you turned to Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God came to dwell in you. This is why you're so frustrated. This is why you're seeking and not finding, because you're looking for something as if you don't have it. You're looking outwardly instead of inwardly. You're looking at experience to validate a truth that you should already know by faith. I never had that shaking of the electricity on my body. I never felt the heat. I never broke down and cried. I never fell over. I haven't spoken in tongues yet. What does the Bible say? When you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit. So, we have backwards thinking when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit. We think that we get saved and then receive him, when in reality you couldn't have been saved in the first place without him. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in me in fullness the moment I give my heart to Jesus. Once we become convinced of this truth that every believer has the Holy Spirit, the natural question then becomes what is this other experience described in the Scripture? What is this something more that believers talk about? What is this extra touch of power that I've heard so much about? Here's a question for you. You have the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have you? Acts chapter 4 verses 29 through 31 say this, And now, O Lord, hear their threats and give us your servants great boldness in preaching your Word. Stretch out your hand with healing power. May miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your Holy Servant Jesus. Acts 4 verse 31, After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the Word of God with boldness. This event that occurred was after the day of Pentecost where the church had already received the power of the Holy Spirit. Wait a minute. Did not they already have boldness? Were not they already witnessing miracles? Hadn't they already received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost? Yes, yes, and yes. In fact, Peter and John were among that group. In Acts 4 go up a few verses to verse 23. The Bible says, As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. Now, wait a minute. Peter preached with boldness in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, yet here in Acts 4 the Scripture says that after the Holy Spirit comes upon them, Peter and John present in that room, that then they began preaching with boldness, then they began seeing miracles. Church, what this shows us is that the move of the Holy Spirit, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, isn't a one-time experience. It's a continual state of being. It's not like water in a cup. It's like wind in a sail that continually moves that ship forward. It wasn't that they received more from the Holy Spirit. It was that they surrendered more to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is all in. Are you? He's fully committed. He dwells inside of you. You have the Holy Spirit, but it's in the surrendering to the Holy Spirit that what we have in us manifests around us. You already have your spiritual gift. You already have an anointing from on high. That's the first on 227 says, You already have the ability to understand the word. You already have your preaching gift. You already have boldness for evangelism. You already know how to pray, but it's untapped power that rests within you. And the only way you tap into that power is by surrendering to the Holy Spirit in greater depths. For every level of surrender, there is a level of power that comes. Thank you for watching EncounterTV. Don't forget to subscribe and click the notification bell. Also, help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.