You should never go to church without praying, “God, give me Holy Spirit ears to hear. Help me to hear, understand and apply your Word to my life.” Just as the Holy Spirit anoints a pastor’s tongue to speak, he also has to anoint our ears to hear. In a Holy Spirit church, you will always hear a gut-wrenching cry of repentance. In fact, you cannot be a Holy Spirit person until you “cry out from your guts” yourself.
King David’s church wasn’t perfect; in fact, it was a type of Corinthians church. David committed adultery; he killed an innocent man; he walked for a season in horrible deception. After David sinned, though, he uttered this agonizing cry from his innermost being: “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:2-4,11, NKJV).
A cry from the heart is the mark of a Holy Spirit church. Of course, there are people in this church who fail and live in deception. True believers, like David, have become so sensitive to the work and moving of the Holy Spirit, however, that they don’t always need a prophet to tell them they have sinned. They repent before a prophet even comes to them because they feel wounded by their sin.
David said, “The sorrows of Sheol [hell] surrounded me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God…. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me” (2 Samuel 22:6-7, 17-18).
God is going to bring the Solomon church to ruin and resurrect David’s church from out of the ruins. “After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up” (Acts 15:16). This church will have a godly sorrow for sin. It will cry out in anguish and repentance and be wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit!