David Diga Hernandez - Waiting on the Holy Spirit

Hello, David Diga Hernandez here, and you are watching Spirit Church on the Encounter TV Network. The scripture says that they were all together in one place when suddenly they heard a sound from heaven. This, of course, is talking about the day of Pentecost, when the church was first filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want to talk to you about waiting on the Holy Spirit. This is so important for you to learn, not only for your life but also for your ministry. We need to learn, as believers, as ministers, as pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets, and apostles, to wait on the person of the Holy Spirit because in the waiting, there is power. I’m going to talk to you about that right now, but first, Steven Moctezuma is here with me, and he’s going to lead you in some very anointed worship, and then we’re going to get right into this message.

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As you can tell, I’m not in the studio. In fact, I’m coming to you from my hotel room in Chicago. The event schedule and the film schedule conflicted, and rather than leave you with no content this week, I thought, why not film something right from Chicago? So if you hear background noise, just know we’re in the city of Chicago, and it’s part of the ambiance. Now, let’s go to Acts chapter 1, verse 8, where the scripture says this: «But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.» This is a powerful verse; there’s a lot here, and we’re going to delve into some of it right now. Just to give you a little context, Jesus is talking to the disciples—those he has ministered to during his time on earth. He is about to ascend and gives them instructions to wait for the promise of the Father, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit or the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Then he tells them that when that happens, they will receive power. So I’m speaking to you about waiting on the Holy Spirit. Here we see, first of all, the church waiting on the person of the Holy Spirit. I found this interesting because these were people who had heard the teachings of Jesus. In fact, they likely heard him say things that aren’t even recorded in Scripture. These are people who had heard his parables, witnessed the miracles, seen the healings, watched him raise the dead, and witnessed the authority of Christ as he cast out demons from those tormented by demonic beings. I realized something: if the teachings alone were enough to build the church, they would not have been instructed to wait. If the parables alone were enough to build the church, they would not have been instructed to wait. If the miracles and the authority that Christ demonstrated while casting out demons were sufficient to build the church, they would not have been told to wait. But they were told to wait for the promise of the Father, to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, today, you and I don’t have to wait in the same way; we’re not waiting for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Rather, we are waiting to be attentive to the Holy Spirit; we are waiting for instructions from the Holy Spirit while we obey the written word of God. We wait to hear the word of God spoken to our hearts by the Spirit of God. Moving on, as we continue to read this verse, the scripture says, «And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.» Notice he says, «You’ll be my witnesses.» I preached a message titled «The Purpose of Pentecost,» and in that message, I talked about the reason we receive the power of the Holy Spirit: that reason is evangelism. We do not receive the power to show off; we do not receive the power to gain esteem. We receive the power that we might preach the gospel and snatch souls from the kingdom of hell. We glean that from that portion of scripture. It goes on to say «in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.» I want you to notice that there is a progression of ministry. This is what happens when you wait on the Holy Spirit: God begins to promote you; God begins to elevate you. In Jerusalem, a city in Judea, in Samaria, regions, and to the ends of the earth, which obviously refers to the entire world. This pattern, though not exact in our lives, demonstrates how God works through his church and how God works through the believer who waits on the Holy Spirit. You see, some believers, when they enter ministry, imagine that they will stand before thousands. They imagine receiving accolades, becoming famous preachers, having followings, and being esteemed. However, that really isn’t the purpose of power; that really isn’t the purpose of ministry, nor the purpose of having a relationship with the Holy Spirit. But we do see that God promotes progressively. God gives to us as we steward what he has already given us. The power of the Holy Spirit, as we wait upon him, will do several things in our lives. First, it will touch us personally. Only those who have been touched by the glory of God can be used for the glory of God. I mention that often because it is so important. If your life has not been personally touched by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, how can you ever move to the next step? And don’t make a mistake: there are levels to the anointing, there are levels to power, there are levels to ministry, and there are levels to authority. If you don’t believe that, there’s no room for growth. Sure, we’ve received all things in Christ already, but are we able to use those things to their full capacity? The potential is there; the power is there, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re making full use of what God has given us. That comes progressively. So the anointing has to touch you personally. If you’ve not had a personal relationship with Jesus…