Hosting The Holy Spirit | Benny Ho

i trust that you all had a great time of rest and a great time of just exploring our own backyard of western australia i'm sure you have gone to many places and all that and i trust that you have come back refreshed and ready now to actually engage 2021 i think 2021 is going to be a brand new year that god is going to be moving in the midst of his people and i've been we have declared 2021 as a year of the holy spirit in our own church and we're trusting god and we are all praying this one simple prayer come holy spirit come among us come and move in our mess you know i want to share with you something as we kick off the year and next week we'll be casting the vision for the year but this week i just want us all to have our hearts postured to be able to host the manifested presence of god to be able to host the holy spirit in our midst every time we gather whether it's in our connect groups or it is in our corporate gathering amen are you ready for the word this morning if you are i'm going to invite you to go with me to luke chapter 5 i want to read for you a description here luke chapter 5 verse 17 uh onwards here's an incident that took place in the ministry of our lord jesus listen to this luke chapter 5 verse 17. one day as he was teaching the pharisees and the teachers of the law who has come from every village of galilee and from judea and jerusalem was sitting there and then he added this one phrase that goes like this and the power of the lord was present for him to heal the sick and the power of the lord was present for him to heal the sick father i pray that this morning you will anoint your servant so that i may deliver your word out of a posture of humble bonus lord become humbly aware that we are so disqualified in ourselves but yet both because you have said to us greater works than this shall you do and lord we come asking you to teach us how to host the presence of the lord in our midst lord it is our desire as a congregation as a church all of us want more and more of your presence in our midst so we commit this time of sharing now to you in jesus name we pray amen now the scripture tells us that there are places and situations where the power of god can be present to such an extent that it can be tangibly felt now if it is true that the power of the lord can be tangibly present in one instance it would also mean that the power of the lord can be tangibly absent in another instant is that right if the power of god can be present in a particular instance it can also be absence in a particular instance and that's why there are some churches in some places you walk into and you could tangibly sense the presence of the lord they're just something in the atmosphere that builds faith and carries the spirit of revival now i know that theologically we all know that god is omnipresent how many of you agree god is omnipresent in other words he is everywhere he feels all in all there's nothing you and i need to do except god is present he is omnipresent that's a theological fact but we also need to realize brothers and sisters that the presence of god can be experienced in three different dimensions i think we can experience the presence of god in three different levels let me outline them for you number one is this it's the omnipresence of god and we all know that this is the theological fact whether you believe it or not whether you acknowledge it or not god is everywhere he feels all in all and this is true whether you are a christian or you are a non-christian that's the only presence of god how many of you amen that and god is present right now in our midst whether you realize it or not whether you acknowledge it or not god is here and we all say amen to that that's the omnipresence of god okay an unchangeable theological fact number two is this the second dimension is the practice presence of god now every one of us here consciously practice the presence of god every time we pray every time you read the scripture every time we lift our hands and we worship god what are we doing we are consciously practicing and acknowledging the presence of god that is here see and all of us do acknowledge the presence of god how by practicing the spiritual disciplines and how many of you know this is only applicable to believers only christians will practice the presence of god that's the second dimension and all of us here have ac have experienced that but here's another dimension that i don't think we should be satisfied just to know that god is here and then we acknowledge it through our worship etc i think we can press into another dimension a dimension where god manifests himself tangibly in the midst of his people there's a manifested presence of god it's a dimension that we need to come into and experience and this is when the presence of god become tangibly felt in a place you could feel it you could sense it one example some some of us have experienced this right you walk into a hall you walk into an auditorium even before the worship begins you are weeping already in your seat why it's the tangible presence of god touching you in a real and tangible way the worship begins and the next thing you know tears begin to flow to use the words of john wesley the founder of the methodist church he said my heart was strangely warmed when he had that encounter with god at all this gate that literally transformed his life john wesley said my heart was strangely warm what is that that's the manifested presence of god now the best way that i can illustrate for you what the manifested presence of god is like will be this now we all know that there is moisture in the air isn't that true right right now there is water in the air h2o it's all over us but can you see it no you can't you can't see it right but how many of you know that when the conditions are right when the temperature is right when the humidity is right air heats the cold surface and next thing you know mist appears what is that that is water manifesting itself but all the while you and i know the water is in the air it's just you can't see it but when the conditions are right boom it happens water manifests itself in the same way brothers and sisters the presence of god is like this we know that god is always here why because he is omnipresent and that's why we practice his presence through the spiritual disciplines that's why we pray that's why we worship this morning but how many of you know we can go beyond into the manifested presence of god when god when the conditions are right when the conditions of our heart is right guess what god will manifest himself in our miss and what is the condition that will actually bring about the manifested presence of god i think it's hunger it is our hunger for his presence is our desire for him is our thirst for him our hunger will create a landing pad for the presence of god to land right here in this place our hunger will pull god out of his dimension and into ours and when god manifests himself anything can happen when god manifests himself miracles signs and wonders can happen not because of anybody's any any great no not at all it's just the presence of god and i believe brothers and sisters that we will see a greater manifestation of god if we would be hungry if we were thirsty for him and fcc let us learn to host the manifested presence of god in our midst whether it's in our connect groups whether it is our corporate gathering we learn to host the presence of god and when the holy spirit is welcome when the holy spirit is honored he will be delighted to move in the midst of us now tell your friends it's just like just like us right when we visit a home when we go somewhere where we are warmly welcome then guess what we will feel at home and then we are likely to show up again right it's the same the holy spirit is a gentleman and where he is welcome he will make his presence felt remember second samuel chapter 6 verse 11 and 12 it says this the ark of the lord remain in the house of obed edom the guilty for three months see and the lord blessed him and his entire household when obed edom was hosting the ark of the covenant in his house the bible tells us that he he and his whole household they were being blessed if we learn to host the holy spirit in the midst of our gathering we will see the blessings and the favor of god in this house god will bless now my question is this how can we hold the holy spirit what do we do to host the manifested presence of god ah the lord put three things in my heart for you as we enter into 2021 and this is how we host the presence of god number one is this we rise up in worship rise up in worship right when you think about the ark of the covenant what you see there is a mercy seat it's a box a mercy seat on top and then there are two angels that are bowing themselves to to the presence of god that is in the middle the two angels bow themselves towards the presence of god with death with their wings touching one another now as though shadow beans bow in reverent worship before the shekinah glory of god so we must bow in worship before our king and as we bow in in the presence of god and we as we worship him out of the depths of our heart the presence of god manifests itself psalms 22 verse 3 the psalmist said thou art holy o thou that inhabit the praises of israel i like that word you know the word inhabits literally can be translated to sit that god sits on the praises of his people so guess what brothers and sisters every time we worship god with all of our hearts guess what we are doing we are building a throne in which god can come and sit on and where god sits he rules and that's why you start to see things happen signs wonders miracles begin to happen because god is reigning in this house then the sick can be healed the oppressed can be set free the broken heart that can be lifted the weak can be strengthened hallelujah you know the prophet elijah elijah in the old testament that dr dan talked to us about last week he demonstrates for us the prophet elijah really demonstrates for us how worship can actually prepare the way for the flow of the spirit worship is an amazing thing and brothers and sisters please hear me worship is not just coming and let's sing a few of our favorite songs that's not what it is something powerful tangible happens every time god's people worship him in spirit and in truth see in first in second kings chapter three let me tell you the story it's amazing in second kings chapter three there was a king by the name of jihoram or some in some translation it says joram the king of israel at that time he declared war on the neighboring country of moab okay and jehoram then called his allies he gave he caught a few of his allies to go together with him to attack moab and the allies were the king of edom and then the king of judah who is jehoshaphat and then they said let's together we three kings let's go and fight against moab and on their way after traveling towards moab they discovered that they ran out of water and they were really not making any headways and that was at this point in the desperation jehoshaphat the king of judah suggested why don't we go to the house of elisha who is the prophet of the lord at that time and ask him for a word should we go and attack or should we not you see because we seem to be going nowhere so they said let's go and find out from the prophets and so they went when they got there elisha did not want to even receive them he did not receive them well why because in elijah's heart he was still very mad at one of the kings and that's johoram we know why because jehoram is the son of ahab and jezebel you see and in the heart of elijah he was still very mad with with the ahab and jezebel why because they killed his um because of what they did to elijah his mentor so he was still not happy with them and and when they came what elijah said to them was in second kings 3 13 where he said this why what do we have to do with each other he said to them he said go to the prophets of your father go to your prophets of your mother who is he referring to ahab and jezebel he's saying what do we have to do with you since you guys trusted in the prophets of ba'a'al then you go ask them why come to me see and he would not even have seen them he would not even have given them an audience except for the fact that he had some respect for the king of judah which is jehoshaphat and so because of jehoshaphat giving face to jehoshaphat if you if i can put it this way he decided that okay i will seek the lord for a word for you but you know the atmosphere here is so bad i can't handle some of these kings here you're so evil that he actually first thing he asked for was this bring me a heart piece in other words bring me a musician let that musician minister let the musician play and then i say the lord see look at second kings 3 15 first thing he said was this but now bring me a happiest and while the happiest was playing the hand of the lord then came upon elijah and what came forth was a powerful prophetic word brothers and sisters listen to me through worship the inspirational gifts of the spirit are activated he said bring me the happiest bring worship change the atmosphere and then the prophetic word came forth we see the same principle illustrated for us in the life of king david in first samuel 16 16 and 17. you know what happened was by that time king saul was rebelling against the lord and then this is what happened he says when first samuel 16 16-17 whenever the spirit from god came upon saul david would take his heart and play and the relief will come to saul and he will feel better and the evil spirit would lift him you see when king saul disobeyed the lord the lord actually allowed or actually he opened up a door and allowed a demonic spirit to torment him a spirit of tall men would come to king saul and whenever saul come under torment it was always the worship of david that set him free and true when true worship invades the hearts of god's people and the place that we are gathered the spiritual atmosphere becomes conducive for faith and revival see and that's what he was crying for worship builds a landing strip for the presence of god to land in our midst i know and i tell you this it opens the doors of the church to welcome the manifested presence of the lord and make it comfortable for his habitation worship is the place where god feels at home it's a place of his rest it's a place of his strength and power so here's my challenge to you brothers and sisters of fcc no let us bring passionate worship to god every time we gather whether it's in our homes or is here let's just bring passionate worship to god that will cause god to come and make his habitation with us build a resting place for him that the release of his power will come forth and we all say amen to that and that is why it is in worship brothers and sisters please hear me you know it is in worship that we will learn to dominate the spiritual atmosphere and we don't allow the prevailing atmosphere to dominate us see even when i come into places where i know that the spiritual atmosphere is sterile it seems dead we do not come under it but we allow that we don't allow the atmosphere to invade us but instead we rise and we take over in jesus name we pray strong in the spirit we press in until the darkness is broken and god's manifested presence breaks in and brothers and sisters i want you to know this we are made to dominate the spiritual atmosphere we can so instead of coming into this whole sunday after sunday expecting a boring time of worship same old same oh no man we are here to dominate the spiritual atmosphere you know i believe that we can tell our spirit man to come alive i know 8 45 is very early but you can tell your spirit man to come alive and worship the lord with all your heart your mind and your strength and we purpose to give to god extravagant praise exuberant worship and extreme passion and if worship is the ethos of this church then it must not just rest with the worship team it's got to be embraced by every one of us are you with me people and because we have decided to dominate the spiritual atmosphere dominion will come into our soul so we don't just come to church sunday after sunday sit there passively and watch things happen but we have come to dominate the spiritual atmosphere we have come to let heaven come down to earth and we dominated i am purpose every time i tell you i kid you not every time i step onto that place and i start worshiping my hands will go up and i will say god come and do it days when i don't feel like worshiping doesn't matter i am here to dominate the spiritual atmosphere are you with me and every one of us can imagine if all 800 or 1000 of us lift our hands and we dominate the spiritual atmosphere something powerful will break in the speech around every time every time we take control this future climate and we change it from something that is dead to something that is vibrant and then demons had to bow to the king of kings and the lord of lords dominion will enter our soul number one brothers and sisters thing we do to host the presence of god in 2021 we rise up in worship rise up in worship see here's number two step out in faith i believe it's the time for faith step out in faith worship will cultivate an atmosphere of faith worship cultivates an atmosphere of faith and it takes us into the realm of the unseen the realm of the supernatural the gifts of the holy spirit brothers and sisters are operated by faith faith in operating the gifts of the spirit is the same as faith for the salvation of a loved one or the of faith for finances whatever we must step down our comfort zone and see our prayers answered the body of christ will then judge the manifestation if it is from god or it's not which means to say this every single one of us here must be willing to be accountable to the body and remember this faith can also be spelled r-i-s-k faith is taking risk for god you see we cannot step into the stream of the spirit except for a willingness to take risks for god you know when i first started operating in the gifts of the spirit we are not skilled in them and we can often be uncertain is that god or is that me you know we can be uncertain about in my own experience you know i often receive something from the lord but due to fear due to the fear of taking risks i didn't respond to the prompting of the spirit and as a result grieved him i've grieved the spirit many times because of that you know not too long ago i think it's about a year or two ago i was doing a seminar in singapore and i remember when i when i was teaching there was a group of maybe 100 people or so and as i was teaching there was one sister sitting in the crowd that stood out to me she just kept standing out to me and i just somehow knew in my heart that she wanted to conceive a child but she could not and i wanted to pray for her and i know that i must pray for her but somehow i just did not respond to that prompting because so many things was happening so i just kind of push it aside push it aside and then after the whole thing was over and i didn't do it but sometimes i think it is due to laziness you know i become lazy in my spirit do you know it take diligence actually move in the things of the spirit and i became lazy but by the end of the seminar the whole thing was over i finished teaching we closed it at the end of the seminar this same lady came up to me personally and she asked me for prayer guess what she asked me to pray for exactly she wanted to conceive a child now can you imagine if i had had responded to the prompting experience and i called her out and actually she would have known that god knows how much more powerful how much more faith building it would have been for her if that is the case right but i failed you know to step out in faith and take risks for god and as a result i let something that is so powerful has been diminished you know because of my own disobedience to take risks for god number one brothers and sisters stepped out in worship step up in worship number two stepped out in faith see and i believe that in 2021 this year it holy spirit prompts you listen if the holy spirit prompts you wherever you are whether in school whether you are in the marketplace if the holy spirit prompts you share the gospel with this person or you know pray for this person you just stepped out take risks stepped out for god just do it you know take the risk step out and do it and you will see god work on your behalf and my challenge to you stepped out in faith i'll leave you one last thing let's go all out to honor all out to honor another aspect of this is also learning to honor the holy spirits working in each other's life learn to honor that you know i've spoken to several pastors for an observation that i've made you know about the body of christ and let me share them with you know i've observed that oftentimes we have pastors and leaders who seems to move powerfully in the spirit when they are ministering in other people's churches you understand it's like when they go outside and the minister elsewhere why they move powerfully you know in other people's churches but they don't see the same thing in their own church or you think about when we have a mission team right that goes from here to east timor the mission team that goes to cambodia and then they see god use them mightily you know to heal the sick you know to to cast out demons and all that but they don't seem to see the same thing when they get back home why i often wondered you know why and not too long ago the lord helped me to see that one of the issue is that of honor honor because when you go out there say i take auntie rose and we went to beijing right to do to do ministry to the people there until they learn and we went as a team amazing things happen demons will cast out people get you all kinds of stuff happen i tell you why is that so i tell you why it's because you go to cambodia you go to thailand as a team right send from the church the people there are waiting for you with great expectation because the way they see you is that this great man and women of god coming all the way from australia they are coming to minister to us so they are already they see you as men and women of god they honor you as that and as a result they reap honest reward because they honor you as such that's what they they read from you and because they receive the prophet they receive a prophet's reward can i put it that way you know this is what happened in matthew chapter 10 verse 41. listen to this anyone who receives a prophet because he's a prophet now here's the here's the qualifying point okay it has to be real it has to be authentic okay if anyone receives a prophet because he's a prophet they will receive a prophet's reward anyone who receives a righteous man because he's a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward now we have to ask ourselves so what is a prophet's reward it's not the love offering they get at the end of the service okay that's not the prophet's reward okay what is the prophet's reward the prophet's reward is prophecy then the evangelist's reward is souls right the teacher's reward is revelation the apostles reward it's breakthrough the pastor's reward is nurture those are the the rewards you reap when you receive that man that woman of god are you with me you receive a prophet and you get the prophet's reward in other words you honor the gifting that is in each other we will see a manifestation and reap the benefit of it in our midst why because when you honor the gifting that is in one another you are at the same time honoring the working of the holy spirit in that person okay and when you honor the spirit and you honor what spirit is doing in different in different ones of us in their life then that's what you reap and i you know what there are so many gift things that are in this hall they are amazing men and women of god that is here the holy spirit works in their life but our role is to honor that to recognize that and then to pull it out if you see lester as a prophet you will pull out from him every prophetic jews that's in him and he's got a lot you know amazing amount what a gift of exaltation is in our brother because we honor him as dead we will pull that from him you know i i am not a prophet by any measure okay i'm not a prophet by calling you know i always tell people mine's a non-profit organization you know but where i go when i go and minister in church camps etc and i do a lot of them every time i go to the church right the people are eagerly expecting they paid a lot to go to the camp they have saved up to be there and they are excited about what god is going to do they are so eager to receive so hungry for the lord they literally squeeze the prophetic jews out of me and i've got very little you know and they squeeze it literally out of me and even though i don't have much that's always enough to go around they will queue up after every meeting they line up in rows expecting me to pray for them and i would just do it because you know i'm already there you know they draw it out of you and i just lay hands i just speak and after that i don't remember a thing i said i really don't but god is moving amongst them see and not because of me it's because they are hungry and those who receive me as a teacher they really set me on fire to teach i can just go on and on revelation of the revelation insights of the insights is incredible but what is the catalyst i tell you what the catalyst is is the ingredient of honor and because we honor the person and the working of the holy spirit in their life we are honoring the lord himself and then awesome things begin to happen listen to this brothers and sisters there's nothing that quenches the flow of the spiritual gifts in the church more than looking at one another critically not recognizing not receiving not honoring the gifting there is in one another and even the lord jesus could not move in greater power when honor is not given that's why when jesus went to minister in his own hometown he was not honored because all they don't see him as a mighty man of god they see him as a carpenter's son that's what they saw him as so in the end what happened if all you see is a carpenter then all you get is a cupboard that's it so you look at what happened in mark chapter six verse three to five right it says isn't this the carpenter that's their response isn't this a carpenter isn't he mary's son the brother of james joseph judas and simon and his brothers his sisters here with us and then they took offense at him they were offended with him and then jesus said to them only in his hometown among his relatives in his own house is a prophet without honor he could not do any miracles there except to lay his hands on the few sick people and heal them and he was amazed at their lack of faith they did not honor jesus as the man the messiah and that is why they did not see his greater works i think we should practice honor and reap honors reward as we enter 2021 i want to challenge you brothers and sisters i'm excited we'll see what god is going to do as we learn to host the presence of god in 2021 you can have the best organized prayer group the best cell group strategy the best you know sound system the best teaching the best sermons we can have the best of everything but without the anointing of the holy spirit without that touch of god we would not be able to rock cities and impact nation the holy spirit is the key to reaching the world and that is why brothers and sisters we must be hungry for his presence and power there's something about hunger that draws the manifested presence of the lord you know i've been traveling many years now and over the years i've observed where the holy spirit is strongly manifested in places is where people are hungry for his presence do you value the anointing are you hungry for more of his manifested presence samuel was an anointed man of god but he did not value the anointing until it was too late elijah however was a man who valued the anointing and we saw that from what dan shared with us last week he chased the anointing all the way from kill god to battle from battle to jericho from jericho to jordan so much so that his mentor in the end had to turn to him and say so what do you want and he said you know nothing i all i want is twice the anointing that you have and even elijah had to say you have asked a hard thing but how many of you know if you are hungry god will meet you and that's exactly what god did elijah picked up that mantle from elijah and he literally went on to do twice the number of miracles that elijah did you read through elijah did seven recorded miracles elijah did 14 and elijah's hunger created that landing place for the manifested presence of god and it's our hunger that's going to hold the presence of god i'll leave you this last point and then we're going to pray ii corinthians 5 17 we all are familiar with this verse right it says now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom now the lord is the spirit and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom when you look at this verse closely you know we know that where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom now if god is omnipresent now think with me if god is omnipresent then he is everywhere isn't it now if that is the case then won't it be true that there should be freedom everywhere because god is everywhere right then shouldn't there be freedom everywhere but you and i know that this is not the case there is no freedom in the casino there's no freedom in the brothel there's no true freedom in the prison cell so what is paul saying to us then i think you mustn't forget the phrase that comes before that it says now the lord is the spirit and then where the spirit of the lord is there will be freedom that word lord there is the word kairios which means supreme in authority supreme in authority so i think what paul is saying here is this when the holy spirit is given the supreme right to rule there will be freedom are you with me that's the key it's not just where the spirit of lord is there is freedom but the lord is the spirit in other words if we let the holy spirit take charge in fcc there will be freedom in this house let him be in charge 2021 is going to be a year where he let the holy spirit take charge in our life let him be lord in all that we do anything that displeases the lord i want it to be ripped out of my life so that the spirit will be the lord he is given supreme right to rule and where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom you want freedom let the holy spirit be lord and the supreme and there will be freedom and then the word and the spirit together we are going to see discipleship at its past discipleship with roots and wings deeply rooted in the word but yet with the wings of the spirit the soul the new heights hallelujah thank you lord i'm trusting god for this and i'm hungry to see this happen there's a deep dissatisfaction in my spirit because i think god has more for us than what we are experiencing right now there is so much more and i'm hungry to see god move among us would you stand together with me thank you lord thank you jesus i like every head bow every eyes closed for just a few moments this morning thank you lord i'd like you to just stay where you are for just a few moments we're not finished yet but i want us to respond to the lord you know i believe that 2021 is going to be a year where god's spirit wants to rule supreme among us and say yeah well i'm hungry i'm thirsty to see god move and everything begins with a hunger for the lord and i i like what a.w toaster used to pray he says god i long to long for you i thirst to be made thirsty i hunger to be make hungry in other words sometimes we know we are not hungry we are not thirsty i'm not that desirous but something inside of you say god make me hungry make me thirsty i want more if that's the case you know i think god will meet us where we are you know and i don't want to be satisfied where i am but i want more so here's what we're going to do today you know i wonder how many of you would join me in saying pastor we are with you i really want more of the manifested presence of god in our midst i want to be made hungry i want to be made thirsty and just your desire you know in a few moments i want to pray and i'm going to ask us to respond to god by really hungering after him in worship but let's all together let our hunger form a landing pad for the presence of god to land in our midst and let's make 2021 you're really a year where we say come holy spirit you know he said if that's your desire today i'm going to invite you why don't we just come to the author just come as we are and we say god i'm i may not be that hungry but i want to be made hungry i may be i don't feel the thirst but i want to be made thirsty but the others of us were really hungry and you know you're ready you know i'm going to invite you you'll come to the front and let's go to let's formal a landing spot for the presence of god to land in our midst and let's learn to host the holy spirit in a few moments we're going to pray so that's your desire as the worship team comes i'm gonna invite you to step out from where you are and let's just come and say god make us hungry make us thirsty it has your desires just step up from where you are and let's just come let's feel this altar and let's together hunger for the presence of the lord more of him more of him in our midst

Channel: Faith Community Church Perth

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Length: 40min 16sec (2416 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 06 2021