Understand How the Holy Spirit Moves in the Bible

I want to talk to you about the nature of the movement of the Holy Spirit. What are the markers of a genuine move of the precious Holy Spirit? When he moves, you will notice that he, of course, moves according to biblical patterns, which is one of the points I'm going to be bringing up here this evening. But you will also notice that the Holy Spirit, number one, moves unconventionally. The Holy Spirit moves unconventionally. In Genesis 1:2, we see that the Holy Spirit hovered like a dove. In Genesis 41:48, we see that he moved through Joseph's dream interpretations. In Exodus 31:1-6, we see that he brought about expert craftsmanship. That's one of the more fascinating ones, to me at least, that it took Holy Spirit empowerment to give craftsmen the ability to do what they do. In other words, the Holy Spirit doesn't just empower us for the supernatural but also for the practical. He doesn't just anoint prophets and priests, he anoints moms and dads, and he anoints workers and students and so forth. And then Judges 14:6, we see that he gave supernatural strength to Samson. In Matthew 1:18, we see that he caused the Word to become flesh. Amen. In Acts 2:1-4, we see that he arrived as a wind. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see that he distributes spiritual gifts. Now I want you to take note that none of these movements, none of these actions look anything like the other. And in fact, if you had been judging the Holy Spirit only on what he had previously done, you would have missed him in what he was doing at that time. So when it comes to the movement of the Holy Spirit, the question is never, has the Holy Spirit done this before in this exact way? The question is always, is it in his nature to do it? Some, because they think that they can put God in a box, because they think that God can be reduced to a philosophy or a theology, they become offended by moves of the Holy Spirit that don't align with the specifics with which they are comfortable. And in this way, they show their own arrogance and pride in that they imagine they're the ones who say what God is and is not allowed to do. And they hide behind clever-sounding excuses like, well, it's not according to me, it's according to the Word. But realize that the Word of God reveals the nature of the power of the Holy Spirit. But nowhere in Scripture does it tell us that he's limited to just those actions. Of course, nothing the Holy Spirit does will ever contradict the Word, which is my next point. He moves biblically. But just because you're offended by what he does, just because you can't intellectualize what he does, just because you're a little uncomfortable with the way he moves, doesn't mean that it's entirely unbiblical. If we were to judge the Holy Spirit based solely upon his past actions, we would miss him. Yes, we must be grounded in the Word, and we take those biblical principles and apply them as points of discernment. But never are we to say to the Lord, Lord, you cannot move beyond what I understand. That's right. Never are we to say to the Lord, Lord, you cannot move beyond what I'm willing to accept. That's pride, that's arrogance. It's what the Pharisees did when Jesus began to carry out his ministry. Number 2, the Holy Spirit will always, always, always move biblically. Amen. In John 14:26, we see, but when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit, He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. So the Holy Spirit points to Jesus. The Holy Spirit reminds us of the teachings of Jesus. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. The Word centered upon Christ is the focus of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:26-27, we read, and the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father, who knows all hearts, knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in— what? In harmony with God's own will. The move of the Holy Spirit will never contradict the clear teachings of Scripture. Amen. Now, this is a little nuanced, and this is where many people miss it. Say, for example, the phenomenon commonly referred to as being slain in the Spirit. You'll often hear people criticizing that because they can't find the specific instance where it occurs just as they want it to be seen in Scripture in order to accept it. What we do see in Scripture is, A, That God's presence sometimes manifests. That's biblical, you can't deny that. Yes. B, that sometimes God's manifested presence causes a temporary physical reaction. Yes. Well, that's all throughout Scripture. Sometimes they had trouble standing, sometimes they wept, sometimes they trembled in fear, but the manifested presence of God would cause a temporary physical and sometimes even emotional reaction. Those are 2 biblical principles. And therefore, we see that the slain-in-the-Spirit phenomenon is in line with biblical principles, is in line with the Holy Spirit's nature. To that, often a believer might reply, well, what we see in Scripture wasn't necessarily that people laid hands on them and they fell down backwards and they began to shake. There again, they're looking for ultra-specifics when we already have the biblical principles. And this is why we have to be careful because that really is just pseudo-intellectualism and it's fear disguised as an argument. And really, there is no biblical standing to even present such ideas, especially when we see the fruit of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's power in this manner. To some, that may look strange. To some, that may make them uncomfortable, but that's not really what determines truth now. Many things the Holy Spirit did made people quite uncomfortable. In fact, when the Holy Spirit first came upon the church, they supposed that they were drunk. Amen. In fact, many mocked them. And what's interesting to me is you'll have people saying that we should reject moves of the Holy Spirit because the world will mock us for it. Well, wait a minute. When has the standard ever been what the world determines as acceptable? I mean, They can't even get their own things straight, I'll tell you that. Agreed. It was never the offense at God's power. It was never somebody being maybe weirded out by a move of God that caused them to reject the gospel. It is always the heart that would rather sin than holiness, that would rather darkness than light. And so yes, the Holy Spirit moves unconventionally, whether you like it or not. The Holy Spirit moves biblically in that what he does can always be somehow grounded in biblical principle, even if not the specific instance. And of course, we understand also that the Holy Spirit moves powerfully. That's number 3, meaning that there will be some fruit that comes about as a result of what the Holy Spirit does. Now, I've seen people cry in the presence of God. I've seen people laugh in the presence of God. And then I've watched other Christians look on and say, well, what's the point of that? It's fruitless. And I'm thinking, how do you know? Wow. How can you possibly know what's going on in that individual? How can you possibly know how that changes their life? How can you possibly know whether or not some bondage is being broken or some inner healing is taking place? That's to judge from the exterior. But the move of the Holy Spirit brings transformation. The power of the Holy Spirit is for transformation, not for show. Amen. Now, it's exciting to watch his power move. It's a demonstration. It's supposed to be something you see. A wonder is supposed to make you look on with wonder. Amen. A miracle is beyond imagination. Signs are something we're supposed to look at. So yes, there is demonstration. But there will always be power. And when I say power, I'm talking about effect. I'm talking about transformation. I'm talking about fruit. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, for the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. He brings forth liberty. Luke 4:18, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. For he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Notice here there's a purpose. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free. So there will always be a purpose to his moving. There will always be a result that comes about. Number 4, he moves mysteriously in that we can't always understand what he's doing. We can't always see the end result. And in fact, sometimes we may miss what he is doing simply because we're not paying attention. In John 3:8, we read, the wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14-15. People who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it. For only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. This is why people often just don't understand you. Amen. People of the Spirit are always going to be a little bit strange. Now, this doesn't mean that we need to add to strangeness unnecessarily. You don't have to do that. The movement of the Holy Spirit is strange all its own, and that's okay. It's not supposed to look like what the world looks like, and the world isn't supposed to necessarily always be accepting of it. Yes, God can move on their hearts. They can be intrigued. But we, again, don't determine what is true by what the world accepts or rejects. We don't determine what is true by what makes us esteemed in the world's eyes or not. That mysterious move of the Holy Spirit means that we're not always going to understand every aspect of how he's working. And to think that it's ours to understand, again, is pride. It's arrogance. This is why we have to trust in the Word, trust in the Spirit, And just accept that sometimes the Holy Spirit moves mysteriously. Amen. Number 5, the Holy Spirit moves gracefully. There is an elegance to his movement. Now, sometimes the power of the Holy Spirit is very intense, and you'll see examples of his intensity, like in a deliverance. When someone's being delivered, that doesn't look very graceful. But you see, it's the individual's response to the power that may not be so graceful. But that doesn't mean that the power itself, that the nature of the Spirit himself isn't graceful. Amen. For example, you see that person getting delivered. Guys, exorcisms still happen today. Demons still possess people. That's biblical. You see a demon come out of someone, it's going to freak you out if you've never seen it before. I remember the first exorcism I saw. I was actually filming it, and there's this false sense of security that cameramen gain when they're holding the camera, like nothing bad can ever happen to the camera guy. But you better believe in that moment when I saw it, I just backed away and I took real good advantage of that zoom feature to get in. Amen. It was perplexing. It was fascinating. It was terrifying until it was explained to me what was happening. But you know, when that's happening, that doesn't look so graceful. When people respond to the power of God, I've seen people receive inner healing, years and years of abuse being healed. They're sobbing, they're weeping, they're shaking. That doesn't necessarily always look what we would deem as graceful, but that doesn't mean what the Holy Spirit is doing isn't itself graceful. Again, our responses may vary, but the Holy Spirit himself, his power, his nature— there's a grace to it, there's an elegance to it. One of our dear partners was commenting to me yesterday as they watched the time of ministry where we were praying for people. She was telling me, I noticed that there was real intense power, but the way it flowed was, was very peaceful. It wasn't showy. Now again, there's demonstration to it. It's going to be a little showy on its own. We don't need to add to that. But there's this real grace to it, like the dove descending upon Jesus. Amen. Luke chapter 3, verses 21 and onward. One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit in bodily form descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, You are my dearly loved Son, And you bring me great joy. One of the symbols of the Holy Spirit is the dove. I was teaching that in a class earlier today in the day session. 99% of you were there. You heard about the nature of the dove, the grace, the gentleness, the innocence, the purity that doves mourn. This is speaking to the Holy Spirit's elegant nature. Now, there is intensity to the Holy Spirit, make no mistake. There is force to the moving of his power, but also he is graceful. Amen. And so when we demonstrate the Holy Spirit's power in our ministry meetings, we wanna make sure that we are welcoming that intensity, but also not being so showy in terms of the flesh that we're taking away from what is genuine by adding what is human. And this is where we have to be accepting of that, because if we don't accept that the multifaceted nature of his power, we become hypercritical. And in becoming hypercritical, we miss moves of the Holy Spirit. You may have noticed in our meetings too, as our dear partner commented yesterday, that there is that beauty to the movement. Yes, it gets intense sometimes. Yes, it can get a little dramatic. That's just by the nature of the Holy Spirit. But there always remains that heavenly elegance. That class. And this is where we, as hosts of the presence of the Holy Spirit's power, have to be mindful that gracefully and powerfully are not contradictions. Gracefully and mysteriously are not contradictions. There is class, there is elegance, there is grace. He is gentle. The Holy Spirit doesn't make you senseless and silly. He makes you sharp. Yeah. So we have to be careful that we're not adding Number 6, the Holy Spirit moves timely. This is key because often we miss what he's doing because we're rushing past him or we are stubbornly planting our feet, not wanting to move ahead. Again, that's number 6, he moves timely. In Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, we read this. On the day of Pentecost, all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. Think about the fact that the people who were gathered in that upper room had been waiting for that moment from the time that Jesus had told them to wait. Amen. Now, why didn't Jesus just allow for the Holy Spirit's power to be poured out upon the people as he ascended? That would have been really neat. He goes up and the power comes right down. What does he tell them? He tells them to wait, and he— they waited in that place For the Holy Spirit to choose his timing, you cannot force the move of the Holy Spirit. You cannot work up with hype and emotion and man-made technique what only God can pour out. Far too many believers trying to make something happen, make a show instead of experiencing a move. And this is why we have to respect his timeliness. We say, Lord. We're asking you to move, we're asking you for this or that, and then you trust him to move in his own timing. This also means that when he does begin to move, we don't pull back and say, Lord, not yet. Why would we say that? Why would we say, Lord, not yet? Well, because sometimes when he moves, he moves, number 7, inconveniently. Now, on the timing of the Spirit, just real briefly. You have to trust that his timing is perfect. Perfect. And so many times we say, Holy Spirit, why did you wait until the last minute? And sometimes the Holy Spirit will wait until you've exhausted all your effort, poured out all your emotion, tapped out every resource, exhausted every connection, tried every strategy so that when the power begins to move, you know who did it. You know that it wasn't you. So what do I mean when I say he moves inconveniently with number 7 here? Well, I don't mean that he moves in a way that's harmful or disorderly. God is a God of order. Amen. Now, this is interesting because Christians who avoid the move of the Holy Spirit often quote scripture out of context in an attempt to downplay what the Holy Spirit is doing. They don't even realize they're doing it. And I'm telling you this just so that you yourself are aware in your own heart of these troubled areas that could ultimately affect your surrender to the Holy Spirit. Often, you'll hear Christians say things like, you know, when they see the power of God moving or people getting healed, they'll say, well, God is a God of order, as if God's order contradicts the intensity of that power. Come on. Or they'll say, well, the Holy Spirit gives you self-control. Why are they responding to the power that way? Well, that's self-control in terms of mastery of your character, moral uprightness. That has nothing to do with a reaction to an actual manifestation of power. If it's cold and you start shivering, nobody says you lack self-control. If you accidentally touch a live wire and you shake, no one's going to say you lack self-control. Why? Because that is a response to a reality. That is a response to an actual source of power. In the same way, when the Holy Spirit begins to move, a response, a reaction to that power is not the same as a lack of self-control. Again, context considered, we learn that self-control is talking about that mastery of self, that character, the spiritual discipline. It has nothing to do with how we respond to the power of God. When the people in the book of Acts all began speaking in tongues, nobody stood up and said, hey, you all lack self-control. When the miracles happened and the people began to rejoice and jump around, nobody said, hey, no rejoicing, you lack self-control. You see, again, these are clever-sounding excuses that make it so we can reject the power of the Holy Spirit because we're so afraid of what we don't understand. That's it. And this is why I believe That the Holy Spirit moves inconveniently. Again, I don't mean he moves disorderly. Yes, he'll contradict man's order, but that doesn't mean he's contradicting God's order. And yes, he'll move in a way that sometimes we don't prefer, but that doesn't mean he's harming us. I'll give you an example of this. Go to Acts chapter 16, beginning at verse number 6. Next, Paul and Silas traveled to the area of Phrygia and Galatia. Because the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed north for the province of Bithynia. But again, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. So instead, they went on to Mysia, to the seaport of Troas. Wait a minute, Holy Spirit, we're trying to preach the gospel here. We're trying to fulfill Jesus's command. Some might have told him, "Oh, that's not the Holy Spirit because Jesus told you to spread the word." Well, you see, the Holy Spirit will sometimes give you instructions that will cause it so that the way you thought God was going to do it doesn't play out that way. You say, "Well, the Lord promised me a miracle." Well, how are you going to get that miracle? I don't know. I've shared about how Jess and I for years were struggling with infertility, and we were praying for a miracle. Doctors told us you have to do medical intervention. So we prayed. We didn't have resources to do that. So I said, we just gotta believe for a miracle. And I remember one day I went to Jess and I said, Jess, my dear, we've cried our tears. felt the pain over this. I said, now from here on out, it's faith, and we're going to go forward believing even if it never happens. I'd rather go the rest of my life believing for the miracle than give up one day too soon. And so that's what we did— faith. And we took her to a pastor friend of mine who has a miracle healing ministry. And you know, it's funny because I'm, I was— I'm in the healing ministry, and I would say, Lord, Amen. But here's the thing, here's the thing. Even with the healing ministry, people fail to recognize sometimes that even the miraculous gifts are subject to the sovereignty of God. No one has the power to just wield healing. Not even the apostles had that. It may seem like it, but who was ultimately the one working through them? It was the Lord. Yes. You think they did a miracle outside of God's will? Good luck. No one has that kind of ability. So even in the Old Testament with the prophets, even in the New Testament with the apostles, though it may seem like they had the power to, at their own will, wield miracles into existence, no, it was God appointing those miracles and their ministry for that time. So we can ask, we do the possible, God does the impossible. So Jess and I were believing, and I just recognized, okay Lord, you know, I can pray, you're the healer, there's only one healer. And sure enough, we took her to go see this pastor friend of ours. I tell him, I said, this is what we need, this miracle. We're praying for our child to be born, and we Just, you know, nothing's working. He goes, this is my specialty. He grabs Jess by the hands, prays for her. She falls out under the power in the hallway. Yes, Lord. I pick her up, we go home. 2 weeks later, we found out we were pregnant. And it was funny because, it was funny because When I picked her up off the floor, he goes, David, it's done. I go, are you sure? He goes, I'm positive. It's done, David. And it was. But with Lillian, God didn't do it that way. Wow. We didn't have that wow moment, like, oh my goodness, it just— there's no explaining this. We had to use practical means. See, we often experience God in one way and then expect him to repeat the template, but God refuses to be put in a box. God refuses to be subject to your understanding. That's right. And so it was inconvenient. I didn't want it to happen this way. Lord, what will the people say? Because I'm in the healing ministry, I can only imagine the criticisms. Thankfully, I never preached against medical intervention, 'cause that would've made me a hypocrite. No, I'm serious. I tell people all the time, you believe you're healed? Good, go get your doctor to check you. What did Jesus say to the lepers? Go get checked. Go get checked. Have them check you out. Did not Jesus say, That it's not the healthy who need a doctor, it's the sick? Why would he use an analogy of medical professionals in a positive light if he himself looked negatively upon them? Did not Paul write to Timothy, a little wine for the stomach's sake will do you good because you are sick so often? I'm thinking, Paul, why didn't you just lay hands on him? Sovereignty of God. The Holy Spirit moves inconveniently. They wanted to go and preach the gospel in Asia. He said, no, not yet. They wanted to go and spread the word in that foreign land. The Holy Spirit said, no, not yet. And they obeyed. Another example, Mark 5:15-17, please. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid. Verse 16, then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. You guys know the story. The demoniac, legion of demons, Jesus expels the forces of darkness. They jump into a herd of pigs. Yes, it's a herd. I didn't know it was a herd, but a herd of pigs. They go into the sea, and then watch this, verse 17, and the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone. Now, there's a lot of speculation as to why they said that. One of the reasons that is given, and it's possible, was because of the fact that a bunch of pigs had been killed. That's the economy he's dealing with now. Or it could just be that it was just a terrifying thing. Who knows why, but either way, they didn't like what he had done. They didn't like the fact that he had driven the demons out of this man. They wanted him to get out of there. May it never be said of us that when the power of God begins to move, we say to Jesus, go away from us. Because the criticisms will come, and they've always been there. Yes. Look, my prayer is that moves of the Holy Spirit like we see here become commonplace in the church at large. Amen. My prayer here is that these moves of the Spirit are normalized in the church en masse in America and around the world. And I believe that one of the keys to seeing that happen is to accept that the Holy Spirit moves biblically, is to ground ourselves in the graceful move of the Holy Spirit. It is to recognize that there has to be a class and an elegance and a proper way to present that power, yes. But it's also going to be in recognizing sometimes his movement costs you. We pray for revival, and then when it comes, we say we're too busy for it. Wow. We ask for his power, and then when it begins to move, Preach, amen. We tell God to use us, and then when he calls upon us, we give excuses. Sometimes the movement of the Holy Spirit will be inconvenient, and this is where we have to be accepting of that. Now, I wanna pray that we would be people who would accept the move of the Spirit in whatever form. And I wanna pray that for you as well, watching all over the world. So in this room, lift your hands, pray out loud in the Spirit, please. You watching online, I want you to accept, to receive, to welcome the power that is present here. Lord, in the name of Jesus, I thank you that your power is flowing like a mighty river. And I pray, Lord, that you would cause us to be people who accept your power, who accept your move, however it may look. Lord, teach us to be grounded in your word, Study to show ourselves approved. Teach us to embrace the elegance that is your nature. Teach us to be submitted to your statutes. Teach us to move according to your will. But Lord, also help us to look beyond what is acceptable to us. Help us to not criticize what we don't understand. Help us to not be afraid when we don't understand. Even now, keep praying, church. There are people watching me now that are wrestling with this. You're wrestling with, well, I don't know. It's— I don't know what to accept, what not. It's— I'm just right on that fence there. Amen. Let me tell you this: people who are very emotional have issue embracing the fact that we're supposed to study and be grounded in the word, but people who are very intellectual have trouble embracing that we're not always going to be able to understand the Holy Spirit's power. Both extremes are unhealthy. Both extremes are damaging. Both extremes are unbiblical. The move of the Holy Spirit is fundamentally supernatural, and that is the nature of his power that we must embrace. So Lord, I thank you that your power is moving. Bring deliverance to your people, bring healing to your people, and let them experience that touch of your hand. Amen. Now you in this room, lift your hands and repeat after me. And you watching online, just begin to type your prayers out loud. You in this room, say after me. Say, Holy Spirit, you're welcome here. Teach me to be grounded in the word and to trust you as you guide me according to the word. And help me. Help me. To accept. Accept. Your power. Your power. Even when I don't understand. Even when I don't understand. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Type that in the comment section, a big amen. In fact, even now, even now, you're sensing that power on you. You might even— there are some watching, you're even trying to deny it. Like, no, no, how can this be? We've had people in the services who say, I didn't think any of this was real, shaking under the power of God. It's the same power at the early church. It's that same ancient Holy Spirit power flowing. Just receive that. Some of you might feel like heat coming on you. Others, you've already feeling like that electric sensation. Never mind the feelings, just focus on him and understand that he's doing a work in you. May we never, ever, ever reject the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Now I want to talk to you, Ishmael, as you stay with me, about a few things in regards to the ministry. And you watching online, I want you to hear this. I know we have several partners watching online from around the world. As well as viewers from around the world. And whether you're a partner or not, you are welcome. That's why we made this stream available to everyone. But what you're tuning into here this evening is our 2nd annual partner retreat. These are people who've partnered with the ministry monthly, who've taken the time to come out this weekend. All partners received the invitation. Some decided to come. And of course, as I said, we welcome those of you watching online. But I want to take this moment to really cast the vision for the years ahead that the Lord has shown me for the ministry. And I want to share with you what our platform is. We've heard a lot of talk about platforms and policies lately. I'm sure most people are just saying, enough, we're done hearing about it. But this is a different agenda. This is a different platform. This is a kingdom platform. These are heavenly policies. that we as a ministry are going to seek to implement, not just in this ministry but in churches throughout the world. The movement of the Holy Spirit cannot be stopped. Get ready, it's coming to a church near you. Get ready, it's coming to a city near you. Get ready, it's coming to a nation near you. Can't stop it. You can't stop it. You might as well get on board. There's no stopping it. And in fact, we are seeing a rapid growth It's amazing what the Lord is doing. So I want to share with you our agenda, our policies, and then I'm going to share with you the various different ministry operations that we have, and then I'm going to invite you to sow into that here present and watching online. The vision, or I should say the agenda, that we have set before us as we enter soon the year 2025. Number 1, we wanna win souls. That is, we wanna share the unfiltered gospel of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers through large-scale national and international events, as well as across various media platforms. You know, please hear my heart because I don't at all want to sound critical of other ministries. I would never criticize the Lord's servants, and I believe every ministry plays a vital role. We need all parts of the body of Christ, so don't hear what I'm not saying. We need all parts of the body. Everyone's unique. I just want to describe to you the way that our ministry is unique. Every ministry brings something different, and I want to explain to you what our ministry brings that is different. And that is not a criticism on the rest of the body because they're focused on what God gave them to do. And so, but I'm saying what God gave us to do. The Lord showed me why. I want to be careful about the way I say that. I recognized, and it possibly was the Holy Spirit pointing it out to me, I recognized that in the church we don't see very many evangelistic events anymore. We see lots of gatherings, lots of conferences, lots of seminars, revivals. Those are great. I love them. I go to them. If there's a revival, I'll find where it is and I'll go myself. But we don't hear of evangelistic ministries all that often anymore. That is large-scale events where people come and the clear, unfiltered gospel message— I'm talking about salvation in Christ alone through faith alone, salvation message— we don't hear it preached all that often. When we do, it's 5 minutes at the end of a service or maybe on the streets, but not very many events in the Christian world are dedicated to that. And so that is a void we see our ministry as filling. And again, Not criticizing other ministries. Everyone has their unique assignment. But one of the ways that we want to present this in a unique way is that even among the evangelistic events, there aren't many demonstrations of miracles and power and deliverance. And again, everyone's called to do it as they see fit. So the unique expression of this ministry is that we do large-scale evangelistic events, And at the same time, we believe for healing miracles. What we see it is as Billy Graham meets Kathryn Kuhlman, where the salvation message is preached clearly, where people repent of their sins by putting their faith in Christ alone, the finished work of the cross. Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace through faith, not of our own. We declare that the blood of Jesus, the message of the cross— we need this preaching again in America and around the world. And then, on top of that, we pray for the sick. We pray for those who need deliverance. So that is win souls. Next on the agenda is to disciple a global army. That is, we wanna build a global movement of strong, committed, and vocal Christians— that's key, vocal Christians— through Spirit-filled teaching and preaching, raising a spiritual army that impacts the world and remains Jesus-centered, Bible-based, and Spirit-filled. That means we want to empower others. This is the power of multiplication, that as we make disciples, not just members and watchers, but as we make disciples, they themselves can go out and minister the word. That discipleship of a global army has to do with the preaching of the word, the teaching of the word, with prayer and impartation. Number three, ignite global revival. Spark revival across the globe by introducing this generation to the Holy Spirit and encouraging the deepening of their commitment to prayer. Of all the things that our ministry is known for, the number one thing I hear from people is, I learned about the Holy Spirit from this ministry, or I began to speak in tongues for the first time through this ministry because I thought it was all this other strange stuff, or I heard teachings with misconceptions because of misapplication of texts, like you're not supposed to pray in tongues in public and so forth. And because of that, we're getting people coming to us saying, we learned about the Holy Spirit through this ministry. We began to truly understand the work of his power through this ministry. And so we, as a ministry, wanna continue to do that. That's one of my passions. The Lord, I believe, called us to introduce this generation to the Holy Spirit. Amen. And so that is a part of the mandate to ignite global revival through introducing believers to the Holy Spirit and encouraging the deepening of their commitment to prayer. So the Holy Spirit and prayer. Next, we want to empower the next generation. Ensure the continuation of revival by mentoring youth and young adult leaders through dedicated internship programs, equipping them to lead with passion and purpose. Gen Z is for Jesus. Amen. Millennials are for Jesus. Boomers are for Jesus. Every generation is for Jesus. I don't believe this nonsense, this idea that we should be huddled in a corner with our hands raised toward Christ saying, get us out of here, it's time for us to retreat because things are getting so bad. No, my friend, the gospel still has power, and the Great Commission will not fail. The gates of hell shall not prevail. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. And so we believe that the next generation can be empowered to carry on this work, which is important for the continuation of revival. Promote spiritual gifts. Normalize the use of spiritual gifts like tongues, prophecy, and miracles in churches worldwide by teaching and demonstrating their power and relevance today. Look, in any movement, you're gonna have pushback, but this is why we have to be consistent about the teachings we release on tongues and the gift of healing. A lot of misconceptions, especially concerning Paul's writings in 1 Corinthians 14. There's a lot of forced reading on the text. It's called proof texting, where we take our preconceived ideas of what we've been told about the gift, and then we force it onto the text and try to make Paul say what he wasn't actually saying. And once you've had that dismantled, it's impossible to see it like it was before. And then you begin to normalize the use of these gifts in churches. There's a reason why the tongue talkers are the fastest growing movement in America. There's a reason why we see the power of the spiritual gifts also coinciding with the fastest growing and the furthest reaching ministries around the world. Having said that, speaking in tongues, miracles, the gifts, not just for Pentecostals, not just for charismatics, it's for everyone. It's for every denomination, all believers. And so we want to see the gift of tongues normalized. I want to see evangelicals praying in tongues. I want to see Baptists praying in tongues. I want to see Methodists and Presbyterians praying in tongues. We will see the normalization of the gift of tongues, of the gift of prophecy, and all spiritual We want to champion healing and deliverance, boldly practice and teach the ministries of healing and deliverance while sharing powerful testimonies of those who have experienced God's transformative power. We're going to continue to pray for the sick. We're going to continue to share healing testimonies. We're going to continue to cast out devils. We're going to continue to pray for deliverance. We're going to champion healing and deliverance, not as reserved. for back rooms and special services, but on the forefront of what God is doing in this generation. We wanna strengthen biblical literacy, equip believers with a deep understanding of God's Word, grounding our movement in sound doctrine and the Holy Spirit's guidance. This is so key. This right here, the lack of biblical literacy, is why so many reject the move of the Holy Spirit. Because often the people who embrace his power reject that literacy. Again, because different types of people are drawn to different types of things. You'll notice that the intellectual is a little more drawn to the studious side. The people who are a little more emotional, a little more spontaneous, they're drawn to the more supernatural side. You need both word and spirit, and that balance has to be had. So we're going to ground our movement in biblical literacy, the proper study of the text, rightly dividing the word. Embrace and honor the Holy Spirit's power. We will boldly embrace the movement of the Holy Spirit even when it appears unconventional or strange to the world or to religious critics. And so that I talked a lot about in the message today. We want to advance biblical unity. Now this is key. Because often we forget what the fundamentals of the faith are. The Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. The Bible is inerrant and sufficient. And it's because I believe it's sufficient that I know it connected me with the God who still speaks. Yes. And so we believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. We believe in Jesus's deity. His sinless perfection, his atonement for our sins upon the cross, his bodily resurrection, his ascension. We believe in a literal eternal heaven. We believe in a literal eternal hell. We believe in the Trinity— God, one God existing in 3 persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are fundamentals, and we tear each other apart for peripherals. Wow. Look, I've made it very clear where I stand on the spiritual gifts. But you're not going to hell if you don't speak in tongues. That's not how that works. You're not going to hell just because you don't pray for the sick. We as the church have to be gracious toward one another and recognize that everyone is on a journey in their walk with God. Everyone is being sanctified. Everyone is doing their best to get this right. We have to be patient with one another. And so while rejecting outright heresy, while rejecting unbiblical teaching, We also embrace unity where there are some disagreements among the brethren where both sides have a good point. Like, for example, people often ask me, Brother David, do you believe in once saved, always saved? They have their pitchforks and torches ready, and no matter how I answer it, they're going to basically crucify me for it. Same would be true of y'all. Not you, but they would do it to you. I mean, not you guys here. We all love each other. Amen. But you know, I think about that and I think, what does it matter? You're not going to judge them. They're not going to stand before you when they die. You don't sit on the throne. Amen. And so you look at something like that, once saved, always saved, or what we call eternal security versus the other side, which is the idea that you can lose your salvation. But really think about this. Imagine that there's a man who's coming to church. He comes, he gets his life right, starts following Jesus. Then he goes back out into the world, begins to live like a sinner again. Well, the person who believes once saved, always saved is going to look at that man, he's going to say he was never saved to begin with. Look at that. The person who believes you can lose your salvation is going to look at that man and he's going to say, well, you know what, it looks like he lost his salvation. But both of them agree that that man needs to get right. Both of them agree that that man needs Jesus. So what good does it do other than to satisfy your need to win a debate, to be able to be right on these things? And I understand these are important, but not so important that we tear each other apart. Brother David, what about the rapture? Are you pre-, mid-, or post-? Pre. Does the rapture happen before the tribulation, during the tribulation, after the tribulation? I say I'm pan-trib. It all pans out in the end, and ultimately Jesus is Lord. And you know, but then you get them saying, well, Brother David, you have to prepare people. Yes, prepare them, not scare them. Yes. I can prepare them. How? Well, if Jesus comes before the tribulation, you need to live like a Christian. Amen. If Jesus comes in the middle of the tribulation, you still need to live like a Christian. And if Jesus comes after the tribulation, guess what? You still need to live like a Christian. So again, these things are good for debates and discussions, but in general application, we all generally agree, even down to so many other doctrines that we could look at. But let me tell you something. This is bigger than denominationalism. This is bigger than doctrinal disagreement. This is bigger than Republican versus Democrat. We're citizens of heaven. We're citizens of heaven. By the way, people say, "Well, you know who should?" Well, you know what? It doesn't matter because you know who the nations belong to, right? The church. The nations— America does not belong to the Republicans. America does not belong to the Democrats. I don't care if that offends you. That's the truth. Amen. America belongs to the church. The nations of the world don't belong to the Democrats or the Republicans. The nations of the world belong to the church, and we serve the one seated upon the throne. So we embrace biblical unity while never compromising. There are some things we take hard stances on and say, nope, that's unbiblical, and I'm not, I'm not changing my mind about that. But on those other things, there needs to be biblical unity, and that's one of the things we as a ministry want to see advanced. Finally, we want to fuel global missions, that is, advance global missions by dedicating a portion of ministry resources To support like-minded, proven, effective churches, organizations, projects, and missionary efforts worldwide. For example, and I share this what I'm about to share. Understand this is not me bragging on my deeds. You're all partners here, and many of you watching online support this ministry. You ought to know how your support is making a difference. So I'm reporting back to you saying, here's where your support went. Do you realize that this year alone our ministry? supported local churches and building projects here in America. We've given away over $100,000 this year alone. That's generosity. You've supported things like Ethiopian water projects. And just recently I heard back— in fact, yesterday I heard back a report from the finances that we sent over to the Philippine Islands where we helped To finish a church that was in need of being built because they outgrew their church experiencing revival, and we were able to send that. That's part of our our goal to see missions fueled around the world. So that's the agenda. Here's how we're doing it. The first expression of ministry is worship. Worship is that powerful arm of this ministry that we want to make sure we are giving proper honor to. How many of you appreciate and love the worship ministry of Stephen Montezuma? And I want to make. this clear to the partners here and the people watching around the world. This is an anointed man of God who's partnered with us. And so it is the partnership of that evangelistic ministry with that worship ministry that's created this unique dynamic. We refer to ourselves as the dynamic duo, and he surely is anointed. And that worship is an important part of what we're doing to see these things fulfilled. The next thing that we're doing as a ministry is worldwide and local events. Now, the events that we're doing around the world are getting larger and larger. As many of you know, we've had to switch to arenas now. So it used to be sometimes churches, sometimes large conference centers. Now it's always at least a large conference center or an arena. And as the price for these continues to grow, the cost continues to go up, We rely on your support for helping us to make it happen because we don't charge a registration fee for people to come. We make sure it's open and that there are always at least some or mostly free seats for the people. Now, I'm being told some are saying, well, you know, some arenas make you charge. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But right now, this is what we're able to do, and it's because of your generous support. We also have the ministry known as Holy Spirit School. Now, many of you don't know that we actually have an online Bible training program, and it is 100% free. Now, when I say 100% free, I don't mean put in your credit card information, watch 50%, and then pay to get the other 50%. I don't mean that you get a shorter version of a class. I mean that the courses— everything from the modules, all of the videos, all of the audio, the digital downloads like the workbook, book, all of the tests, and even the certification 100% free. That's done through the Holy Spirit School Online because of partner support and donor support from those of you who are generously watching from around the world. So thank you for that. We're also expanding the Holy Spirit School because we're doing in-person, which is part of the vision. On this property, we want to build dorms for students to come and be a part of the in-person Bible training program. And not many of you know about this either, but there's also a Holy Spirit School Zimbabwe. Now you say, what do you mean by that? I thought it's online. A few years ago, I received an Instagram message from a man named Ellen, and he said, I don't know if you'll ever see this message, but I just wanted to tell you that we love the Holy Spirit School here in Zimbabwe. And he told me that the people locally there, because of their limitation on data, would watch the class. They were talking hours of teaching. They would watch it a few minutes at a time because they'd have to wait for the data to load, watch a few minutes, come back the next day, watch a few minutes, come back the next day. And this is how they were completing the courses. He said, is there anything you can do to help us to connect internet out here? Well, you as the partners did more than that. We created an internet cafe in Zimbabwe. that is funded by the ministry. They have internet, they have computers, they have printers for certificates. They even have hats and, and what are those called, polo shirts for when they graduate. They're given these things and they get to sit in that cafe and they get high-speed internet. They can watch the class through and through, and that's a part of the Holy Spirit School. We also are working through— in fact, actually I have this noted here that this year alone we had almost 10,000 students go through Holy Spirit School just this year alone. That's powerful. The next way that the ministry is fulfilling this vision is through media. This has been a staple of our ministry outreach since the beginning, and as many of you know, we have been given grace in this area. The Lord has blessed us for his ministry to be fruitful and effective for the sake of the gospel. From what I can see from the statistics that I've been given, I know that YouTube alone has over 2 million followers. Facebook has 1.4 million followers, and then across all platforms, just under 5 million people regularly engaging with the content. But that doesn't even— that doesn't even give us the full story because there are millions and millions and millions of people who are being blessed with the content that haven't subscribed, haven't followed. That's okay. I mean, if you're watching now, you should subscribe, but if you haven't, that's okay. We're glad you're blessed by the content. And then finally, and this is somewhat of an announcement— in fact, I've shared this all with you, our partners. I've shared this on the partner call. I've shared this locally. But this is the first time that the audience, the worldwide national audience, is finding out about this. And we're very excited to announce that while continuing to do all these other works— and I want to make this very clear— the events, the media, the Holy Spirit School, the worship, all of that is going to continue. We will always be an evangelistic ministry. We will continue to do everything we have done. So I don't want you to hear this announcement and get the impression that everything else is stopping. This is not instead of; this is in addition to. Coming April of 2025, the grand opening of Encounter Church. Now, it's going to be held here in the studio, and for a time, it will be able to contain it as it is right now. We're Turning away hundreds every service that we have, except for this one, 'cause this is partners and it was all done through registration and so forth. But our healing services, our regular services, they're overflowing. We have people in the studio, in the cafe, in the foyer, people standing outside, even in the rain, they were standing out there, and then people sitting in their cars just watching the livestream, just wanting to be on property, and still hundreds turned away after that. We need to expand. We need to grow. And so this is why I'm asking you to support the ministry because of all of these things that we're doing. That's our agenda. And then you also know the structure of our ministry and how we're seeing lives impacted around the world. So I'm going to invite you now to be a part of that. Let's go ahead and begin to pass out those envelopes. You watching online can use the information at the bottom of the screen if you'd like to know more information on some of these projects. You can of course check out the website. I'm encouraging you to give general gifts to the ministry and allowing our financial staff to best steward. It's best to just give a general gift as opposed to earmarking and then allowing our staff, uh, the financial staff, to plan and to allocate. And I appreciate those general gifts that are coming in. That message of course is more so to our partners who understand our delegation system. But you watching online, as usual, you're gonna go to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. You can also become a monthly supporter, which is greatly appreciated. How do y'all like being partners of the ministry? So these are our partners here, and they've been with us faithfully. Many of you watching online, thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you to all the partners. As we pass out those envelopes, will you please welcome to the platform My good friend Patrick Jankowski. Will you please welcome him to the platform, church? So this is Patrick Jankowski, and I wanted to introduce him to you, our partners here present, as well as to you, our partners watching around the world. Now, you probably have seen Patrick before. He's the guy catching the people when they're giving testimonies or getting prayer. He's very good at that. But many of you don't know that he's actually the head. Of the ministry's partner department. This means this is your primary— yeah, they all know and love Patrick. This is your primary contact, and I want you to know why we put him in this position. I want you, our monthly supporters around the world, to know that we are committed to the work that we are doing together, and it is in our togetherness that we have the highest impact. And I wanted you to know that we were assigning our best to present themselves to you Make themselves available. I want partners to know we have we have phone lines, we have emails, we have texting. There are ways you can contact this ministry. Get in touch with us. Get to know us. There are all kinds of ways, as I said, you can correspond. This is your primary contact, and I've asked him to represent me before you, the partners, so that you know you're taken care of. You know that you're appreciated. You know that you're loved, and you know that most importantly, you are connected to what God is doing here. So Patrick is a man of few words, but I wonder if you could spare a few for our partners. I will, I will. And just so everyone knows, we did not match on purpose. I feel we're family here. It's great. Uh, as mentioned before, and I'm not sure if it was last night or tonight's service, but it's like a family here. So with the partners here and even online, thank you so much for being a partner with the ministry. Pastor David did mention many of our policies, our kingdom policies, as well as our visions and our expressions of ministry, which we cannot do one without Jesus Christ, but then also without the support of our partners, supporters, and even prayer warriors. So thank you so very much for being a part of the ministry. We truly appreciate you and appreciate you being here in person and online. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you, Pat. Well, let's go ahead and pray over your giving, and I wanna pray over you as you give as well. Let's believe God. I know this is not why you give, but I wanna believe this for you. I wanna pray that God would increase you, God would break the power of debt, and that God would bring a miracle on your behalf. We can't decide how, we can't decide when. That's up to God, but we're gonna ask him for that, and we can ask our heavenly Father for supply. So, Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift that one to you now who is giving sacrificially, generously, and out of a love for you, out of a love for souls, out of a love for the gospel. I pray, Father, that you would increase them, produce a harvest of generosity in them. And Lord, I pray that you make us all weapons in your hand. that we might win the soul of a generation. We thank you, Lord, that through these gifts, the works of the devil will be destroyed in the name of Jesus. We honor you. We bless you. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And all of God's people said— Amen. Nothing is impossible with God.