Holy Spirit, Come Back to Your Church

When God birthed his church, he poured out his Holy Spirit on it. He baptized it in the Holy Spirit, filled it with the Spirit, and anointed it with the Spirit. And wherever the Spirit of God is present, there are clear proofs or evidences. Yet if these evidences aren’t seen, then the Holy Spirit isn’t present.

My question is, does the modern-day church show forth these evidences? Does your church? Is it moving in the power of the Holy Spirit? Moreover, does your life show these evidences? Are you living and walking in the fullness of the Spirit?

Joel prophesied that when the Spirit comes, one evidence of his presence would be prophetic teaching. Joel described this as an exciting time when older believers would have spiritual dreams and young people would receive visions. God’s people would experience wonderful deliverances, and there would follow a great harvest of souls.

The prophet Isaiah also describes what happens when the Holy Spirit falls upon a people. He prophesies, “The spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest” (Isaiah 32:15).

Isaiah is saying, “When the Holy Ghost comes, what was once a barren wilderness becomes a harvest field. A dead patch of ground suddenly overflows with fruit. And this is no temporary harvest. That field of fruit will grow into a forest. And you’ll be able to take cuttings from this forest year after year, and build on your fruitfulness continually.”

Isaiah adds, “Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field” (32:16). According to the prophet, the Holy Ghost also brings with him a message of judgment against sin. And that message produces righteousness in the people.

Suddenly, the minister’s preaching changes. He no longer settles for a dead or dry sermon. Instead, he preaches God’s pure Word, and the message is set aflame with conviction. Slumbering people now realize, “This has the anointing of the Holy Ghost. I can bring my backslidden friends here, and know the Spirit will speak to their hearts.”

Now, the Holy Ghost always begins his work in the pulpit. If judgment begins in the house of God, it’s only right that the Lord starts his work with his shepherds. He deals lovingly with them, convicting them of every idol, every fleshly lust, every measure of self that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Indeed, that is the work of the Spirit: to convict of sin, righteousness and judgment.

Yet Isaiah isn’t speaking of a one-time outpouring of the Spirit, what some people think of as “revival.” Isaiah is describing something that lasts. Studies by Christian sociologists show that most present-day revivals last for an average of five years, and leave in their wake much confusion and dissension. I know of some churches where so-called revivals took place, but now, within just a few years, there is no trace of the Spirit left. Those churches are dead, dry, empty. Houses that once held 1,000 are now cavernous tombs, with only fifty people in attendance.

Yet also I know of churches where the Spirit was outpoured fifty years ago, and God is still mightily at work there today. That’s the work of the Spirit that Isaiah is describing.

There is no longer a cry against the flesh and foolishness infiltrating God’s house. We see this in a letter I received from a devoted pastor who serves in a major Protestant denomination. He grieved over what took place at his denomination’s annual conference:

“We voted to support partial-birth abortion, even though the U.S. Congress has voted not to. What a sad thing when the Congress is more godly than a church.

“Our new moderator, who is to serve as the spokesman for the next two years, openly supports the ordination of gays and lesbians, and is, in fact, from a ‘more light’ congregation (so named because they believe they have ‘more light’ than the rest of us on the matter of homosexuality). As a minister in this denomination, I am now allowed to bless same-sex unions. How can I bless that which God calls perverse?

“We voted on whether or not to strike from our constitution the language that prevents the ordination of ‘self-affirming, practicing homosexuals.’ Thankfully, it did not pass, but the vote was 259-255 — only four votes from total abomination. The ‘more light’ churches are rejoicing because they believe at the next assembly — in 2006 — the vote to ordain gays will pass. I think they’re right.

“It’s almost as if we are looking for ways to offend the Almighty. The denomination voted in June to censure Israel and to order divestiture of all the denomination’s holdings — some $7 billion — from all Israeli companies and from those companies that do business with Israel…

This man is being forced to leave his denomination, because the Holy Spirit appears to have been lifted. There is no longer a restraining force on sin or flesh, so anything goes. And all hell breaks loose.

When the Holy Spirit comes, his first work is to cleanse his church. He cleans out anything that hinders the flow of the Spirit of God. And that means cleansing every individual. All flesh is chased out. Gossips and others who have bitter tongues against the godly are exposed. Those who lie and falsely accuse others are isolated and made to stand and face the truth. Soon, those who cause strife are living under a dark cloud of their own making.

That’s the way it all happened at Pentecost, when the Spirit came. Scripture says that when Peter began to preach with the Spirit’s anointing, the people’s hearts were pricked. They cried out, “What must we do to be saved?” Thousands came to Christ that day. They didn’t need to be convinced through gimmicks or professional entertainment. No, they recognized their sin, and they wanted freedom.

And those who didn’t face up to their hidden sin were exposed. In fact, one couple — Ananias and Sapphira — paid for their deception with their lives. You may get away with hidden sin in dead, dry churches, but you can’t in a church where the Holy Ghost is present.

You see, the Holy Spirit is also the administrator of the peace of Christ. He portions out peace both to the pulpit and the pew. Yet there can be no peace without righteousness. Isaiah continues his prophecy: “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:17–18).

Peace comes because righteousness is at work. The Holy Spirit is busy sweeping out all unrest, disturbances and condemnation. What follows is peace of mind, peace in the home, and peace in God’s house. And when God’s people have the peace of Christ, they aren’t easily moved from it: “When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass” (32:19–20).

Isaiah’s prophecy about the Holy Spirit was directed to Israel during Uzziah’s reign. Yet it also applies to God’s people today. It’s known as a dual prophecy. The fact is, every generation needs an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And I believe the church today hasn’t seen anything compared to what the Holy Ghost wants to accomplish.

There are also clear evidences when the Spirit isn’t present or being poured out. Isaiah describes these dreadful conditions: “Many days and years shall ye be troubled … for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. Tremble … be troubled … They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city” (Isaiah 32:10–13).

In other words: “Your life will no longer be fruitful. Your family, your church, your relationships will stagnate spiritually. Wake up! You need the Holy Ghost to return.”

What are the thorns and briers that Isaiah describes here? They signify emptiness, dryness, disappointment. Such times often come in the form of unholy congregants who rise up and create havoc. All over the world, at our ministers’ gatherings, my team and I meet hundreds of pastors who testify of such thorns. They speak of being vexed in spirit by an individual or clique who believe they’re the spiritual authority.

These thorns are unruly, undisciplined, continually stirring up chaos. They’ve persecuted every pastor who’s served their church, harassing them and spreading gossip. They think the minister should be poor, laboring like a slave. And they end up scaring off every new convert. The church is kept small because of their constant disturbances.

As a result, many pastors are ready to quit. They don’t see any fruit in their ministry, and now they’re tired, weary, worn down to nothing. Their wives have seen how despondent they’ve become, how they’ve lost heart. So they encourage them, “Honey, please quit. You don’t have to put up with this kind of pressure. Even a secular job would be better than this.”

Already, churches around the world are closing by the dozens each day. When our ministry was in England last year, twelve magnificent church buildings were “desanctified,” meaning their doors were shut for good. Some were sold to become nightclubs. One was even sold to an occult group, to be turned into an occult museum.

The thorny people who contribute to this tragedy are like the Israelite fathers who came out of Egypt. Those unruly men kept rising up against Moses’ authority. And they eventually became unredeemable, because of their unashamed murmuring and complaining. God also warned Israel, “If ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell” (Numbers 33:55).

The truth is, you can’t change such people. They’ll live and die in a wilderness of despair and confusion, just as they did in Israel. Their hearts simply become harder and harder, until they’re totally resistant to the Holy Spirit.

Right now, I believe the church of Jesus Christ needs a house-cleaning. And no preacher or evangelist has the power to clean the house. It can’t be done by charisma or power or abilities. No, the last thing the church needs is another manmade gimmick, or set of how-to books, or list of methods to motivate a dead congregation. Those things amount to what the prophets called “going down to Egypt for help … trusting the arm of the flesh.”

Cleaning God’s house is the work of the Holy Spirit alone. And when he comes, his work is thorough, from top to bottom, from pulpit to pew. It doesn’t matter how large a church is; it may number in the multiple thousands. The fact is, if that church isn’t filled with Holy-Ghost righteousness — if there isn’t a Spirit-filled minister in the pulpit, if sin isn’t being exposed and forsaken, if there is no altar of repentance — there will only be emptiness. That church is a house of death.

As a pastor, I have to recognize that it’s possible for me to allow the Holy Spirit to leak out of my soul. You ask, “Leak out?” Yes, the Holy Ghost abides in us as a well of living water. And if my heart isn’t at rest — if I become discouraged and lose my peace, if I indulge in introspection, if I allow feelings of failure to linger in my spirit, if I entertain thoughts of giving up ministry because of hardships — then I know I’ve allowed the Spirit’s living water to leak out of me.

At times, you may find yourself asking, “Why is my soul downcast? Why am I so discouraged? Why do I have all these fears?” You have to know, that is always a Holy Ghost issue. As Isaiah says, when the Holy Spirit is poured out, peace is the result. And if that effect isn’t present — if there is still turmoil — then we have to look into our own hearts. Isaiah shows clearly that all trouble, fruitlessness and despair are from a lack of appropriating the power of the Holy Spirit.

Again, Isaiah tells it like it is. He says the Spirit wasn’t poured forth because of Israel ’s carelessness and ease. In short, the problem was spiritual laziness. “Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters” (Isaiah 32:9).

The phrase “ye women” actually refers to the whole congregation. This imagery appears throughout Scripture: Song of Solomon refers to God’s chosen as “daughters of Jerusalem.” Psalm 45:13 speaks of Israel as “the king’s daughter.” Elsewhere in the Old Testament the phrase “daughters of Zion ” is used. And of course, in the New Testament, the church is known as the “bride of Christ.”

God twice warns Israel here about being at ease. First we read, “Rise up, ye women that are at ease … ye careless daughters.” Then Isaiah adds, “Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones” (Isaiah 32:11). The Hebrew word for careless here means “bold, confident.” What’s being said is, “Rise up out of your ease, O believer. You’re bold in your sin. You’re so confident in yourself that you’ve become spiritually lazy. Shake yourself out of this state of carelessness!”

As I look around at the church today, I see multitudes of believers lying in beds of self-confidence. They despise prophetic messages and shut their ears to all warnings to awaken. Such believers are slumbering at the very midnight hour.

Amos writes, “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria … Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat … that chant to the sound of … musick … That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph” (Amos 6:1, 3–6).

When Isaiah writes, “Be troubled, ye careless women,” the word for troubled means “shudder with fear.” God is speaking to dead churches here. He’s warning them that they’ve lost the Spirit. Instead, they’ve become churches that move in the flesh, serving people not bread or living water but hay and stubble. They love entertainment, so they don’t want a prophet in their midst. They’re more interested in numbers than in repentance and righteousness.

Beloved, Isaiah’s warning has never had more relevance than right now. I feel a divine troubling in my heart, a trembling in my soul, because of what I see coming. All it’s going to take is a single terrorist bomb, killing tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands. And in an hour, the whole world will be in a panic.

We don’t want to hear it, but even world leaders are warning of this probability. Some experts say the situation is no longer a matter of “if” but “when.” Soon, Jesus’ own prophetic words will be fulfilled before our eyes, as men’s hearts begin to fail them for fear. How many will suffer heart attacks as world markets crash … as multitudes crowd the highways, fleeing to mountains and deserts … as world leaders tremble and hide in their bunkers … as millions of youth run wild in the streets, totally unrestrained, because they’re convinced they’ll die tomorrow?

At one time, many Christians would have protested this kind of preaching, crying, “Stop, we can’t handle this. It’s too upsetting. Give us a positive message.” I believe those same Christians would have cried, “Impossible!” if I had stood before them in August 2001 and declared, “In a single hour, the Twin Towers will fall, brought down by two terrorist hijackers. Thousands will die, and the whole world will weep.” I would have been accused, “You’re fear-mongering!”

I’m scheduled to preach in Spain this month. If I had gone to that country a few years ago, and prophesied that hundreds would die in a terrorist train bombing, few would have believed me. I try to imagine myself preaching in Russia last year, and saying that nation would weep because hundreds of schoolchildren would be killed by terrorists who took them hostage. Such a message would have sounded unbelievable.

The truth is, we’ve already been given a glimpse of what’s to come, in Florida and the South during the awful hurricanes. All roads south were closed down, while lanes leading north were choked with millions trying to flee a wild, unleashed nature. Service stations were soon empty of gas, and hotels were over-packed. People ended up just driving, with nowhere to go. The damage in that region is being estimated in the billions of dollars.

Isaiah’s prophecy warns, “It shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place” (Isaiah 32:19). In short, these weather catastrophes are God’s warnings. He rules and reigns over the forces of nature. And never in history has he brought judgment on a people without sending them warning after warning, in love.

How are we to prepare for the terrible things to come? With repentance, according to Isaiah: “Rise up, ye women that are at ease … be troubled, ye careless women … Tremble … They shall lament” (32:9–12).

Where will there be pastors who’ve been shut in with God? Where will we find shepherds on fire with the Holy Ghost, men who can offer hope and repentance?

Where will fleeing multitudes be able to find churches that offer a place of refuge, where the Holy Spirit calms them with truth? In such churches, no one will be gossiping or focusing on the petty things of life. No one will be careless about their walk with Jesus. Nobody will be talking about church growth, or going out to movie theaters to sit with scorners and take in filth. No, there will be but one issue for every pastor and layperson in such churches: “Do I have a supply of the Holy Spirit in me? Do I have his supply to minister to others around me who are distraught with fear?”

So, how can we ministers prepare? What must congregations do? Isaiah tells us there can be no hope, no future harvest, no fruit, “until the spirit be poured upon us from on high” (Isaiah 32:15). Every church, every ministry, every shepherd and every believer must experience an outpouring of the Spirit before the coming judgments arrive.

Let me remind you of Isaiah’s words: “My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (32:18). Wherever the Spirit is poured out, there is peace, quietness, assurance. Yes, there is to come a time of violence, terror, panic and distress of nations. But in that hour, God will have pastors and a holy people who seek him for a fresh supply of the Holy Ghost. These people are already worshiping him in truth, and trusting him for a personal Pentecost. Out of their lives will flow rivers of living water.

Indeed, as the destructive forces of nature are unleashed, and our places of pride and commerce are humbled, the Spirit will be poured out from on high. Yet this outpouring will fall only on those who pray. It will come only upon those who tremble at God’s Word, who rouse themselves from slumber, who strip themselves of all confidence in the flesh, and seek to be given a broken spirit and contrite heart.

Moreover, Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is given only to those who ask in faith. I ask you: have you been filled with the Holy Ghost? Have you lived, walked and moved in the Spirit? It doesn’t matter how prosperous your church appears, or how successful your own life appears. Even if you can answer yes to all these questions, your supply of the Spirit always has to be renewed. Paul speaks of his own “supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” and asks the Philippians for “your prayer” (Philippians 1:19).

I thank God for all the pastors and churches today that haven’t lost the Spirit. I’m grateful for every man and woman who’s aflame with the Holy Ghost, for every on-fire church that is birthing life. Yet, tragically, there are so few left. My heart cries, “Oh, Lord, oh, Holy Spirit, come back to your church. Come back and sweep away all our foolishness. Come back and touch us with a burning passion for Christ. Come back and clean out all the schemes and plans of men. Shut down all fleshly religious TV and media that do dishonor to your name.

“And, Holy Spirit, stir my soul. Draw me to the secret closet of prayer with you. May there be no more hurried prayers from me. Discipline me to wait on you, to cry out, to not give up until you fill me to the full. And give me your promised peace of mind. Supply me with your quiet rest and assurance that you’ll see us through whatever comes.”

Isaiah leaves us with this good news: “Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen” (Isaiah 44:1–2).

Finally, Jude assures us: “Beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude 17–21).