Sermon on the Holy Spirit: Do You Welcome or Stifle the Holy Spirit?

So every believer has the Holy Spirit. The question I pose to you this morning, for those here and those watching online, yes, you have the Holy Spirit, but does the Holy Spirit have you? Yes. Have you yielded your life? Have you surrendered to that influence that flows from within? In John 7:38, Jesus says, out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. In other words, that influence comes from within and affects every aspect of our lives. So the first question I want to ask you, do you grieve him or do you please him? Ephesians 4:30. And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Now, what I find interesting about this particular verse is that it's often read in a way that inspires fear and uncertainty. But we know that as born-again believers, we have the assurance of salvation, not the guesswork of salvation. Often we imagine that on Monday if we do well, we're saved. On Tuesday if we make a mistake, we're on our way to hell again. And that the Holy Spirit comes and goes and comes and goes. And that when you pray, he comes closer. When you don't pray, he leaves. Or today I know I'm going to heaven. Tomorrow I'm not so sure. Or man, if I died at just the wrong time when I wasn't living according to what I would call perfection, then I might have missed it. But then that means that you trust not in Christ's sacrifice to save you but in your good works and in your good timing. Now I'm not saying that we ought to live however we please because the Scripture very clearly here says that the Holy Spirit is grieved. But notice that the Holy Spirit's response to our compromise and sin isn't to abandon us but to abide within us and grieve. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. He's not just a foursome filling. Many believers have come to believe that the Holy Spirit is like a mist in the air, an energy that flows about the service, an influence on the room, or maybe the chills that you feel during the worship. But the Holy Spirit is a person. Now when I say that the Holy Spirit is a person, I don't mean that he's mortal. I don't mean that he's physical. I don't mean that he's fallible. I mean that the Holy Spirit is personal. The Scripture here tells us, don't grieve him by the way you live. The Holy Spirit, as a faithful friend, will not abandon you, but you will sense his heart breaking When you compromise. When you listen to that gossip instead of shutting it down, he grieves. That's why when you walk away from the conversation, you have this subtle guilt hovering about your head, feeling like something just wasn't quite right. When you allow for the cravings of the sinful nature to overtake you and you partake in what you know is sinful, he grieves because it's not what God has for you. When the Holy Spirit tells you time and time again to do something, to go somewhere, to give something, to say something, and you withhold for the fear of man, you withhold for looking foolish, you withhold because you don't understand the instruction completely, you grieve him because of the compromise. You can grieve him by your actions, and you can grieve him by your inactions. How many times have you heard Christians say things like, "Well, you know the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me the past few months, and He's been speaking to my heart. And you know, I just I know He's saying it, and I'm just kind of struggling here." My friend, once you know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, delay is disobedience. Sins of commission, sins of omission. But here's the other side of this. If the Holy Spirit loves me enough to be grieved by my disobedience, then the Holy Spirit loves me enough to be pleased by my obedience. Amen. You ever notice that when you do what's right, there seems to be this weight that's lifted off your shoulders? Or perhaps you're tempted to be distracted by something of this world, And instead of being distracted, you become focused on the things of God. You can actually, in moments like this, sometimes sense his pleasure. Believers can sense his grief. This is why I say that the most miserable people on earth are Christians running from the call. Amen. Because every day you have to feel the weight of his hand. Every day you have to sense that heaviness on your heart. Every day you have to convince yourself that he's not speaking to you when you know full well that he is speaking to you. Let me give you some advice when it comes to the Holy Spirit. You're not gonna win the debate. He is more persistent than you are stubborn. He's more loving than you are flawed. He's more faithful than you are sinful. And so while you might think that you can convince him or persuade him or say, Lord, if there's any other way, eventually you'll find yourself saying, nevertheless, not my will. But your will be done. But your will be done. Years ago, I was sitting in the car with one of our ministry high donors. And if you don't know what that means, it means these are people who invest heavily financially into the ministry. And I was sitting in the car with this gentleman when I get a call from Pastor Michael, my brother. And Pastor Michael calls me. He had been on the phone with someone who called our office who was offering to give something significant. And I don't remember all of the details of the conversation, but they were trying to get my brother to agree to something that was not biblical. And he calls me just a little concerned thinking, hey, did I make a mistake here? Because this person says they were going to give, but now they're not because I didn't agree. He says, but here's what they wanted me to say. All details aside, basically this person was trying to manipulate us by use of their money. You know, they give and then they want to control. Not the guy in the car with me, the one that he was talking to on the phone. So I said, don't worry about it, it's no problem. We hang up and then I turned to my friend and he says, what was that? I said, well, one of our donors was upset because we weren't doing what they wanted us to do. You know, they're trying to control us with the money that they give. Sometimes that happens. And I said, but you know, I don't have to worry because I've got you as our source. The moment I said that, I felt grief in my heart. And it was like someone turned the heater on full blast. My ears, I could feel them getting red. And I thought this was just internal. I look at him, he looks at me, he goes, did you feel that? And I said, Lord, you're my only source. Lord, I don't need to trust in man. But here's the point. My foolish off-the-cuff comment though it was partially said in jest, was a revelation of what was in my heart— reliance on man— and it grieved the Holy Spirit. Amen. Come on. The grief of the Holy Spirit, his conviction, is not a punishment; it's a gift. When you stop feeling that conviction, that's when you're in trouble. When you stop sensing that grieving, that's when you know that you have a lot of work to do. And we as believers want to remain in that sense of his presence. As I said just a few moments ago, some Christians are of the mindset that the Holy Spirit comes, goes, comes, goes, comes, goes. That's not what's happening. Rather, the sense of his presence is becoming more intense and less intense. When you stand in a worship service and you feel the air become thicker, when you're committing yourself to prayer and you feel and you sense that joy overflowing, when you're sitting under anointed preaching and you can feel the burning in your heart, that is the sense of his presence. Now we don't live by feelings, but often the way that we live can weaken that sense of the presence of God on us. So it's not that he is distancing himself, it's that you become less sensitive to his presence when you disobey. And I want to be clear here as to not inspire legalism. This does not mean that if you don't sense him, you're in sin. I'm saying that sometimes that can contribute to it. So then the Holy Spirit becomes the motivation for holiness. You're not just avoiding sin because you're trying to avoid some divine punishment. No, you're saying within yourself, I can't do it because it will hurt him. Amen. I can't do it because it will grieve his heart. I can't do it because I don't wanna lose the beauty of the sense of his glory resting on my being. Amen. So then love, not legalism, becomes your motivator. Do you grieve him or do you please him? The second question I wanna ask you, do you stifle him or do you welcome him? 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. Many scoff at the manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power, and let me just say something very plainly. Sometimes Christians can be weird. Amen. Okay? And I'll say something else as a follow-up. Sometimes Christians can be unnecessarily weird. You don't think we're already different enough we have to go adding to it for theatrics? But you know, among a new generation of believers, there is an attempt— and mind you, I believe this attempt will fail. I believe it is failing. There is this attempt to do away with the manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power because of this idea that now we're more refined. Come on. Now we have it together. Now we understand. Now we're learning from everyone else's mistakes. And while we, of course, don't claim necessarily any one denomination, you look at the moves of the Holy Spirit within the earth, you look at the churches that are the fastest growing, You look at the ministries that are making the biggest impact. You look at the movement that is adding to its numbers more than any other movement, and it's the movement where the Holy Spirit's power is welcome. Amen. God is in it. That's not gonna change anytime soon. But there are a few religious who attempt to stifle the Holy Spirit. And I bring that to your attention only to say, don't allow that in your heart. Amen. It's okay to ask questions. It's okay to express doubt. It's okay to have tough conversations. It's okay to call out the unnecessarily strange. But be careful of what you allow in your heart. Watching YouTube videos and reading blogs of people where all they do is criticize the move of the Holy Spirit. Come on. It begins to harden your heart to the things of God. Again, nothing wrong with these things. You want to get some perspective, do it. But if that's all you're filling yourself with, mocking people when they worship, scoffing when the power of God touches them, making fun when the gifts are expressed. Here, the Holy Spirit is welcome. May the same be said of your home. May the same be said of your ministry. May the same be said of your life. That the Holy Spirit is welcome. And again, we want to avoid the unnecessary strangeness. You know that sometimes a genuine move of the Holy Spirit can be happening and it's real power, it's the real glory, but then people respond to it real unnecessarily? That's called mixture. And I often wondered why that was because there were some instances where you could see the power of God's moving, yet something someone did or said just didn't feel right. Well, that's because the power was moving and the person may have responded in a way that wasn't godly. I was driving up to a revival meeting in Aliso Viejo, California. I was taking a group of young men and we were talking about revivals past and just excited for the service, preparing our minds and hearts. And there was one individual in the group who wasn't being cynical, wasn't being skeptical, but just was a little aloof, you know, kind of looking at some of the videos we were showing, making a joke here or there. Nothing very cynical in the heart, just a little bit skeptical, just a little bit cynical, just kind of poking fun just a tad. And so I began to tell the group, like, well, you know, yeah, sometimes it can be a little strange, but the power of God moves like that, and it's very real. I've experienced it myself. I said, just ask the Lord to reveal it to you. We're in that service and this friend of mine who had been just a little doubtful just said, you know what, okay, yeah, I kind of make fun of it, yeah, I kind of, but I'm just gonna kind of just slightly crack that door open. And he was just kind of saying, okay, Lord, if this is you, show me. Well, he gets called out. I have the video. If I have his permission, one day I'll show it. He gets called out. The preacher calls him, come down here. He comes up. He's kind of just looking like— doesn't even really respond. The preacher lays hands on him. He's out on the floor. He said he didn't even realize he fell. Wow. When I help him up, he's shaking and sobbing under the presence of God. And we're talking for a good 15 minutes, sat there in his chair, Trembling under the beauty of the glory of God. Now, now listen, listen, listen, listen. In the culture today, very few things are sacred. We don't understand the sacred anymore. Yeah. We're losing our reverence as a culture for the supernatural as we become more secular-minded. Yes. Don't let it be so in your heart. Amen. Either God exists and his power moves, or God exists and his power doesn't. And if his power moves, how can you not respond to the divine? Every aspect of your being was designed to respond to the nature of God. God created the physical being. It responds to his presence. God created the emotions. Your emotions can sometimes respond to his presence. You were created to respond to him. In Luke 8:33, I want to show you something. Luke 8:33. I'll begin reading there and we'll go down a few verses. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned. That's quite the setup, I know. There's a whole context before that. When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran. People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus's feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed, and all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake. Notice here, the people of the region after seeing this miracle, after seeing a man tormented by demonic powers sitting there in his right mind, after seeing the transformation of a life, bondage is broken, tell Jesus, beg Jesus, go away from us. We don't want you here. There was something about the miraculous flow of God's power that had inconvenienced them, that had caused them fear, that had caused them discomfort. And because of that fear, discomfort, cynicism, and doubt, instead of celebrating what God had done for this man, they begged him to leave because it was too strange. Because it was offensive to their minds. People of God, the gifts are for today. Amen. The gift of speaking in tongues is for today. The gift of prophecy is for today. Our responses to God, manifestations of his power, that's for today. Miracles are for today. Healing is for today. Dreams and visions are for today. Deliverance is for today. May we never say, go away from us, because it cost us our reputation. People criticize me all the time by calling me hyper charismatic. I wear that as a badge of honor. I'm not just hyper charismatic, I'm supersonic hyper charismatic. If charismatic means the gifts of the power flow, If charismatic means the Holy Spirit is welcome, yes, I am hyper charismatic. Don't be ashamed. People will tell you, "Oh well, that's going to turn the visitors off." My friend, do you know what they're promoting in the world these days? You look at the perversion around this world. They say men can be women, women can be men. Everything's upside down. Society crumbling, and I'm supposed to believe they're turned off to the gospel because someone cries during worship? Come on. Look, I'm not equating the manifestations of the Holy Spirit's power with those strange things directly. I'm simply saying that the idea that they're so offended by that which is strange and supernatural that they reject the gospel is just not biblical. What did Jesus say? Why do they reject the gospel? He says, here's the verdict. Light has come into the world and they rejected the light. Why? Well, because the manifestations of his power? No. Well, because people were praying in tongues? No. They rejected the light because they loved the darkness. Yeah, come on, amen. So this is why we have to stand on what works. There's no greater church builder than the Holy Spirit. We're not gonna do this without him. That's right. It's time to stop limiting the Holy Spirit to back rooms and special services. It's time to stop saying, well, not in front of the new converts, well, not in front of the visitors. My friend, when somebody gets saved here, we wanna see them filled with the power of the Holy Ghost the very moment they are saved. He's not a liability, he's not a risk, Yes, he may cost us our reputation. That's where the power is, of no reputation. I'd rather err on the side of the Spirit. It's better to offend people than to offend the precious Holy Spirit. Amen. Do you stifle him or do you welcome him? Third question I wanna ask you. Do you ignore him or do you tend to his presence? Ephesians 6:18, we read, pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. Here in this verse, this is not a reference to the gift of speaking in tongues. To pray in the Spirit is to pray in the influence of, by the power of, And according to the will of the Holy Spirit to flow with him in prayer, to submit those prayers to his nature and will. We live such distracted, fast-paced lives that we forget the ancient paths into the glory. Society all around us has changed. Everything at your convenience, everything on your time. Amen. everything by your preference. But God hasn't changed. Are we trying to upgrade prayer? Are we trying to rush the things of the Spirit? They still take time. You need the Word in you. You need prayer as a part of your life. There's a— There's an idea known as practicing the presence of God. Simply put, it means to commit to having the Holy Spirit in your mind and the things of God as often as possible, not in a legalistic way, not in a way where God will punish you if you don't think about him for 10 minutes, just in the posture of the heart, desiring to be more aware of his presence. Amen. He's not far from you. He's not off at a distance waiting for you to make a mistake. He's not folding his arms, looking down at you and saying, well, you only read 3 chapters of the Bible today instead of 4, so I'm going to withhold my goodness, my presence, my love from you. Or you say, my goodness, I missed prayer on Tuesday. You're not going to show up on Wednesday with him tapping his foot saying, well, well, well. Look who decided to show up. I can't tell you how many Christians I talk to and they say, I just wanna get back what I had with God. My friend, you never lost it. That's right. I'll tell you what you did lose, your belief in it. Come on. Your faith. Now why did you lose your faith in it? Well, because of the compromise. Because of ignoring him. You see, fast-paced life, a fast-paced life Doesn't cause God to distance himself from you. It causes you to become less sensitive to him. Hurry and worry go hand in hand. Why are we in such a rush? I say to myself every day. Except I don't say we because then I need deliverance. I ask myself that often. I say, why am I in such a rush? What's the hurry? And you get down to it, it's fear. Yeah. It's fear. Colossians 3:16, let the message about Christ in all its richness fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God. with thankful hearts. That says right there, let's appreciate that phrase for a moment. Let the message about Christ in all its richness fill your lives. Psalm 1:1-3. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or stand around with sinners or join in with mockers, but they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbanks, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. This is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit that's available to you always. Psalm 139:7 declares, I can never escape from your Spirit. I can never get away from your presence. Just that simple awareness of him being with you. He's that faithful friend. In moments of celebration, the Holy Spirit abides rejoicing with you. In moments of disappointment, he's there to reassure you. When you feel like he's a million miles away, your faithful friend hasn't so much as left outside your front door. Amen. When you make a mistake, he'll pick you up. When you experience the tragedy of the loss of a loved one, he's the ever-present comforter. When you're frustrated as you read the word, crying out, I don't understand these spiritual truths, the Holy Spirit is teacher. When you begin to find yourself giving in to old habits again, the Holy Spirit is there to convict and to warn. When you're making connections with people who don't have your best interest in mind, the Holy Spirit, who hears conversations you don't hear, who's in rooms you're not in, begins to cause a disconnection. When you're confused, He'll bring clarity. When you feel the weight of depression crushing your soul, he's the oil of gladness that brings joy overflowing. When you don't know what step to take, he's directing the steps of the godly. When you find yourself in a situation that you can't quite navigate, he's the giver of wisdom. And you're crying out to be used by God. He's the power upon you. When you're doubting your identity and salvation in him, he's the Spirit of adoption crying out within you, Abba Father. When you don't know what to pray, he gives you the words to pray. When you don't feel like praying, he gives you the fire to pray. When you're praying, he gives you perseverance in prayer. When you feel like you can't worship because you're in some valley, he reveals Jesus to you that you might worship in spirit and in truth. When people misunderstand you, he accepts you. When people reject you, he makes his presence abide with you. When you feel useless and like like you contribute nothing and like you failed. He's your helper, ever-present, always there, his mind always fixed on you, and we ignore him to scroll on social media? We say no to an invitation to pray because we got to get caught up on the latest series. We reject the invite to a conversation because we'd rather talk with someone else. Don't ignore the one who's always thinking about you. Don't withhold from the one who's never withheld from you. Do you ignore him, or do you tend to his presence? Precious Lord, I thank you for your word going as a seed planted in our hearts. May the presence of the Holy Spirit water that seed, cause us to bear much fruit. Change us, Lord. Cause us to be more like Jesus. Remove those things that are not of you. Remove those things that are not of you. Amen. I pray that you were challenged by that message to welcome the precious Holy Spirit. I want to take a moment to invite you to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry. This ministry is growing rapidly. It's reaching more and more people as the months go by. Many are being saved, healed, delivered, and empowered. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. So I'm calling on you, my brothers and sisters, to help Us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit all around the world through events, media, and church planting. To become a monthly supporter of this ministry, you can go to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. Your monthly gift is key because not only does it support us on a monthly basis, but monthly gifts are more predictable, thus allowing us to plan for the future. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. Whether monthly or single, large or small, everything counts. So go to the website right now and ask the Holy Spirit what you should do to be a part of this movement.