The Holy Spirit and You

You cannot try to be Instagrammable, cool, and have an encounter with God. You cannot be thinking about how do I look, how are people perceiving me? They're not. They're too busy obsessing over their own selves. So be set free. Get like Zacchaeus. I would rather be desperate and have a God encounter when things are pretty okay than have to have a God encounter when I'm, you know, behind the April and things are going really bad. Welcome to the CityLight Church Podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with CityLight Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. Hallelujah. So we had a phenomenal Easter service last Sunday. Easter services, I should say. We're celebrating the crucifixion and the resurrection, and of course, after the resurrection Jesus, He hung around for 40 days. He didn't go right back up to heaven, and He was seen in a 500 people, and He was teaching. That's also why I said that the resurrection is one of the most attested to historical facts. In historians, they at least have an analogy that Jesus lived, and then some may argue obviously about the resurrection, but the Bible isn't the only thing that records the resurrection. There's other first-century documents. There's the testimony of countless martyrs, and all of the disciples were martyred, but also thousands after them. And if it was some great conspiracy, they wouldn't have given their lives for a lie. He gives their life for a lie. Amen. Like if they were a part of some conspiracy, and Peter was in on it, and now historically Peter was crucified upside down because he wouldn't renounce Jesus, like as he's dangling upside down, and they're about to murder him. That would have been a good time if he was lying to say, guys, guys, guys, slow down here. I've admitted. JKLOL. I was just messing around. Now let me off this thing. They never did. You don't die for a lie. And we have some recordings of what Jesus was teaching about after his resurrection. And one of the last things, actually not one of the last things, the last thing he said before the ascension, was you shall receive power, it's Acts 1-8. You shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. So you're going to have this dunamis, that's the Greek word, power, where we get dynamite from. You're going to be empowered from heaven. Right before that, a few days before his crucifixion, he was teaching on the Holy Spirit. John, chapter 14, 15, 16, that was passed overnight. He was talking about the Holy Spirit being the comforter. The Holy Spirit being the one called alongside to help. He said, don't worry, I won't leave you like little orphans. And then he said something interesting. He said, I will send him and the third person, and then he said, I will come to you in the first person. And he vacillated between the third and first person. This is important. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, but I thought they were separate. They are. But now you're saying they're the same. I am. What's the answer? Yes. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, and Jesus is among us here. He went bodily into heaven, but he's here, and he indwells all who believe in the person of the Holy Spirit. So I would think if his last words were about the Holy Spirit, that's an important topic. And he even told his disciples, think about this. His disciples had a front row seat for three, three and a half years to the greatest teacher of God's word, the world had ever known. Jesus Christ himself. You know, talk about a master class. Send $5,000, and you'll have this master class, we'll get on Zoom together, two hours. You talk about a master class, they walked with him, they ate with him, they studied under him. And even still, though they had a front row seat to the greatest teacher of God's word ever in history, still, Jesus said, don't even think of doing anything for me, don't even think of evangelizing until you're first in dude with power, power. A powerless Christianity is a dead Christianity. Go into Jerusalem, wait for the Holy Spirit, and be in dude with power from on high. So if the disciples had to be filled with the Holy Spirit, those who had once again had a front row seat to the very teachings of Jesus, if they had to be in dude with power from on high, how much more do we? Because we didn't get that privilege, we get it today through God's word. So an encounter with the Holy Spirit is really not optional for Christianity, a relationship with the Holy Spirit, it's not an option. It's oftentimes in the church treated like an optional thing, you know, you can, if you want, but we know that some of you are a little scared, so you know, for you who are scared, we just have form without function, religion, remember, it was religion that crucified Christ, you say, what's religion? Religion is the form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof. That's in the New Testament, a form of Godliness, but no power, and every century had its own version of it. For centuries, a form of Godliness was, you know, nice cathedrals, pretty steeples, giant bell towers, stained glass, you go in, there's no power, but you have the form. Today it's just changed, there's laser machines, fog machines, first impressions, steam outside, spinning signs, woo, can't wait to have you here. But if there's no power, and no lives are going to get changed, so you just have this paddock, paddock, paddock, it feels good, warped, really perverted Christianity, script of the power of God. And Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, He said, you know not the Scriptures nor the power of God, that's religion, that's why the Pharisees are the ones who crucified Him. You know not the Scriptures nor the power of God. So New Testament Church is biblically literate and experiences the Holy Spirit. They know the power of God. And I want you to know right now, everybody here qualifies. Everybody if you're hungry, if you're desperate, because you got to be hungry and desperate. You can't have the attitude of, well, God, if this is all true, and you want to touch me, we'll do it, you know, chase me, I dare you. If you look at the ministry of Jesus, there's nobody he touched with that attitude. He didn't chase people down and say, please let me bless you. Oh, there goes one, touch the hem of my garment, come on, no, they pressed in after him. They illegally pushed through crowds to get to him. They tore roofs off to get to him. Zacchaeus caught God's attention. You know what the Bible says about Zacchaeus? Not politically correct. And the Greek looked up, it says, you know, in the Bible, he was short in stature. And the Greek means midget. Bible's so rich, there's so many, and it says he was wealthy, and a wealthy people dressed apart. There was no such thing as stealth wealth back then, understated elegance. You're wealthy, you got the silk robes, you got the jewelry, people think they know what bling is today. You're all blinged out, and you're a midget. And he's like, you know, the Bible says thousands of people are trying to get to Jesus as Zacchaeus is like, I can't even see him, because I'm short in stature. So you know what Zacchaeus does? He climbs up a tree and dangles just to get a look at Jesus. And it's his whole procession, thousands of people, they all want to take a look at Jesus, all touch Jesus, and Jesus stops the whole thing and looks up and goes, Zacchaeus, I must have lunch with you today. What drew Jesus to the dangling midget? Well, first of all, Zacchaeus had to humble himself. This is not how wealthy people behaved, elite people, lofty people. He humbled himself. I don't care, people are going to talk about me. I look like a fool, I look ridiculous, it doesn't matter, my whole reputation, my image, all that now takes a back seat. The only thing that matters is Jesus, I'm climbing up this tree, you know how ridiculous that must have looked? I want to take a look at him and Jesus said, what an honor, he stopped the whole thing and said, I must eat with you today. Zacchaeus is hunger and his desperation drew Jesus to him and it is always that way. The woman with the issue of blood, it is very important to know that she was illegally pressing through that crowd she had an issue of blood, she shouldn't have left her home according to the law. But she did so anyway, why, she was so hungry, she was so desperate. And so we're having special meetings next week. They're only special if you get hungry, otherwise there'll just be another series of meetings. The power of God is activated via hunger, pursuit, desperation, hallelujah. And this nation, this wonderful nation has a long and rich history of revival. Before I even get to this nation, let me just show you that the church was birthed in the move of God. The church was obviously not birthed in religion, Acts chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 shows the birth of the church, this is 50 days after the Passover, the day of Pentecost. And let's look at how the church is birthed, because Jesus he spent 40 days teaching and talking about the Holy Ghost and then he left after 40 days so they had about 10 days of waiting and they waited in the upper room. You know what the upper room is, it's the same room that Jesus had the last supper in. There was only 13 of them having the last supper there, but 120 of them crammed in on the day of Pentecost, all the disciples, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and over 100 others that are unnamed. And it says when the day of Pentecost had fully come, because remember he said don't even think of doing a thing until you first endured with power from on high, so they're calling out, they're waiting, waiting doesn't mean, waiting means you're in anticipation, there's a pursuit there, and you're not waiting for the effiging to arrive, like I'm just, you know, and how you wait today, just scrolling, what are you doing? You know I'm waiting on the Lord, no, it's actually very beautiful in the Hebrew, the word weight. You know that Hebrews would have tassels, it actually means two strings of the tassels that are intertwined together, that's the root of the word weight, that means your soul, your spirit is reaching out to God, intertwining with His, there's a long, you can't actually teach someone how to wait on the Lord, because someone looks at you, really just does look like you're waiting, but what's happening on the inside is a yearning, a longing, you're reaching out, and so they're waiting, when the dead Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and suddenly they came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, notice that it doesn't say a gentle breeze, I just want to show you that God, He made an impression, and God didn't come quietly, in the amplified it says a violent tempest blast, He came a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting, then they appeared to them, divided tongues as a fire, and once out upon each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance, so the church of the Lord Jesus Christ was birthed, obviously, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, this is day one of the church. The church of Jesus will only continue filled with the Holy Spirit, and you see this throughout the book of Acts, the book of Acts is the historical account of the first years of the early church, they were constantly getting refilled with the Holy Spirit. Again, two chapters later in Acts 4, they're filled again, there's an initial filling, and the evidence is speaking in tongues and they get refilled, and refilled, because we are vessels that burn oil, and oil will run out if you're just burning oil, you've got to be refilled and refreshed with oil, hallelujah. And so you never, ever learned this in school, I never learned this in school, but if you impartially study history, American history, you will see that I believe, to me, it's plain as day, more than any other nation, this nation has a rich history of revival that actually shaped and molded the entire trajectory of the nation. The way we relate to one another, molded civics, molded the culture of the nation, yeah, some of you, you know, you're just been in America your whole life, and so you think like this is just a default state of mankind, no, the default state of mankind is pretty barbaric, pretty rough, you still see it in the majority of the world today, we just came back from Guatemala, we've been going since 2009 in the mountains of Guatemala, and it never occurred to me, some things are just looking, you know, you go through life, you look, it never occurred to me until the Mike McCone, the head there, he said, because I said, why are there these walls around these houses, because if it's a house, any nicer than a shanty, there's a 15 foot wall around it, because well, you have to have a wall, because if you don't, people coming, steal your stuff, and it goes, you know, in America, you don't need giant walls around the house, I go, wow, never thought of that, I wonder what builds a nation where you don't need walls, and what happens to a nation where you need walls, the spirit of God, and the foundation of the spirit laid, oh yeah, so you had in the 1740s before America, even was America, the great awakening, and you really want a good time going study the great awakening, study a character, there's many characters studying one by the name of George Whitfield, who would ride around on horseback and preach to coal miners, 10,000 of them would come out, these, these were not metro-sexuals, of a soft disposition, it's a hard pioneering barbaric men, coalmen, 10,000 of them would come out, glaring at him, what do you got to say, preacher man, faces, these are the accounts, the written accounts, coal all over their faces, and George Whitfield will begin declaring the gospel, declaring the goodness of God, calling them to repentance, and thousands of heart and men, the accounts say just their black and faces with a colson, you would just see white streaks on their faces, they fall to the ground, worshipping Jesus, that shaped our country, it shaped you, this is stuff we don't learn in school, for example, slavery has been the default state of man since there ever was man, before man even mastered agriculture they were enslaving one another, it was normal, normal on every continent and every place, why in the world would great Britain be the first country to abolish slavery in the 1840s, and then the United States following 30, 40 years after that, why, because they just decided to be nice? In the early 1800s the saying was the sun never sets on the British Empire, the largest empire, wealthy, this little island on the east of the Atlantic, little island nation, wealthy, colonizing, slavery, and then all of a sudden they're the first to stop it at great economic detriment to themselves, why, do you think it was like today, like those protesters, purple hair, nose ring, with signs? No, why did they stop? There was a probe but not like that, because of the revivals that God said, look when they were in small busy enslaving one another, it was just the norm, they didn't know any different, we're just doing what we've always done, and then when revival comes wow, Jesus comes, he establishes his lordships, he adjusts the needle of what true morality is, and real Christians, not religious, real Christians then come alive, and the religious are gas, and real Christians start going hey, maybe this isn't good, maybe there's a higher level we can go to, and they're the ones who start pushing this, and great Britain is the first to abolish it, then the United States, and most people don't know that right now, right now, today, is today April 12th, April 12th, 2026, there are more slaves right now today than any other point in human history, over 50 million around the world, where in nations that haven't been touched by the breath of God, by the precious Holy Spirit of Jesus, so revival is fundamental, it's instrumental, not just the shaping of a nation, which is pretty important I think, but to the trajectory of that, do you think it's just by accident we ended up, the greatest nation, and when I say the greatest, yeah, there's some patriotic pride, I'm an immigrant, but I just mean by every metric right now, we're number one, and look, and maybe you're pumped up by the media, and it's incredible to me, that now you have people living in America, all they have to do is say, all they want to do is talk negative things about America, and you're saying there's plenty of things we need to fix, plenty, but to anybody who that's all they want to talk about, I would love to launch you into another nation, spend six months there, I would take you, would love, make sure you get this, but put you in a giant slingshot, like in a loony tomb's cartoon, and go to my nation, go to former Yugoslavia, live there for six months, go work your tail off for 350 euro a month, and you'll be like, you come back with a little flag, an uncle Sam hat of God bless America, people are so fat and so spoiled here, and they go, I don't like we're doing this, I still like that, this is the most gospel saturated country, go to another, go to my form and say, I'm a Christian, I believe the Bible, and the look at you, like you have three heads, hallelujah, let me read to you an account from the second grade awakening, which was in the early 1800s, and here's what America looked like before these great awakenings, there were churches everywhere, but there were religious churches, see without a fresh fire, without a fresh outpouring, religion always comes in, and remember religion is a form without the power, there were dead churches, so God raised up revivalists to bring a breath of fresh air from heaven into these churches, so then that's not just nice quiet little churches, but we're actual transformation happens, a young man who attended the famous 20,000 person revival at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, look that out, the Cane Ridge revival, in 1802 captures the spirit of these camp meetings, James Finley, a Methodist circuit writer speaks of the revival, he wrote down his observations, he said the noise was like the roar of Niagara, Niagara falls, as he's approaching the meeting it sounds like the roar of Niagara, probably very different than his Sunday church experience, the vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm, I counted seven ministers all preaching at one time, some on tree stumps, others in wagons and one standing on a tree, which had in falling lodge against another, I stepped up on a log where I could have a better view of the surging sea of humanity, the scene that then presented itself to my mind was indescribable, and one time I saw at least 500 swept down in a moment as if a thousand guns had been opened up upon them, can you imagine 500 people, they fall to the floor as if a thousand guns were unleashed on them, why do they fall? I have my masters in theology and I have an answer for you, it's because they couldn't stand anymore, that's it, have you ever put the wrong wattage light bulb in a socket, I have, and it pops, and so you know when you said God touched me, yeah he really he grays by you, because if he touched you without you having a glorified body your head would explode, all right he grays by you and you felt his presence and now your face is shining like a lighthouse for a week afterwards, but he didn't really really touch you, so he's describing that, God is so awesome, and he's alive and not dead, and this is your privilege, this is your right as a Christian to have a God encounter, no child of God should be without a God encounter, multiple God, you have the right, in Ephesians Paul said I pray that you would encounter experience the love of God which cannot be known through mere intellectual ascent, that's what he wrote, you have to have an experience, Moses had an experience, David had an experience, Elijah had an experience, Elijah had everybody God ever used had an experience, Paul had an experience, mine in his business, well I wasn't really mine in his business, but wasn't necessarily chasing, chasing to promote Christianity, I mean his business it was personally getting Christians and he got blasted off his donkey, that's an experience and now we have someone who wrote over half the New Testament, and even as our example Jesus had an experience coming up out of the water, he had an experience with the Holy Spirit, that's the service, in other words it's your birthright to have a God encounter, because there's people under the sun on my voice, I give you credit, you've made it this far, you've hung onto Jesus, yeah you've never had a real encounter with him, which is in that sense awesome, you really are doing it all by faith, but I gotta be friendly, I would not be here preaching after all these years if it was all by faith, passage, do you ever feel God, no, you ever have an encounter, no, well how do you do, what you do, you know, I'm just stick to it if this, I wouldn't, I would, I would have backed so you would have read about, I'd be one of those crazy, you would have read about me in the paper, if it wasn't for God coming to me, refreshing me, times when I wanted to quit, times when I was weak and he would breathe upon me, I would not have made it, Hallelujah, thank God for his faithfulness, thank God for his presence, hallelujah, and by the way when when when God comes, he he won't move upon a person who's full of pride, it's actually impossible, you have to come with humility, specifically what I mean by that is, you cannot care how you look, you cannot care about your reputation, your image, you gotta be like Zacchaeus and go climb a tree, and if everybody's making fun, you look at the mech, look at how his robes dangle, he looks like a little woodland creature dangling from that, from that branch Zacchaeus didn't care, let me read to you this this story, how many of you have ever heard of Charles Finney, wait please raise your hands, you've heard of Charles Finney, all right thank you for those seven people who know a little something about revival history and the history of Christianity, there would not be biblical Christianity in this country if it wasn't for these revival meetings, do you get that? This stuff for you forgot or you were never taught it in school, how do I know because I forgot it and I wasn't taught it in school, and I'm studying it now for the last few years, do you know how crazy it was when we started to push westward, we had the original 13 colonies along the eastern seaboard and we had the bright idea manifest destiny, it's our destiny to push all the way to the Pacific Ocean, they had to push through thicket, they didn't have carnivore snacks that they could take with them in a sealed plastic bag, yet they had to get five to six thousand calories every single day, these were hard men and they would push and push and then different towns started to pop up, but quickly they became lawless towns, nobody to establish morality, do you know how quickly man devolves without that, why were they lawless, why was there no morality, because the people who came didn't have Christianity, didn't have Jesus, and then God blew his wind and sent revival, if that didn't happen it could be two countries, the eastern part called the United States and western something that resembles more like Yemen, more Afghanistan, with 50 different clans and tribes all hating and fighting each other, that's the direction we were heading in until the Lord came and moved on his people, Charles Finney, look him up, read about him for a real good time, find out about George Whitfield and read some of the accounts from his ministry, Charles Finney, one of my favorite conversion accounts is that of Charles Finney, born in 1792, he was a lawyer with little knowledge of the Christian faith, one day Finney decided he needed to read the Bible since so much of the law was based on it, but he had never read it, the more he read, the more convicted he felt over his sinfulness, one day he determined within himself to get right with God, so he went into the woods to pray, yet every time he started to pray, he thought he heard someone in the woods and he would stop afraid that he might be seen praying, he really wanted to protect his cool lawyer image, he was an intellectual, eventually he realized the great pride in his heart that it should bother him if someone saw him praying and that broke him down before the Lord and I'm going to continue to read the amazing encounter he had with God, but I want you to note that first he had to die to self, he had to die to his pride, he had to die to his image and you will always find that that's step number one, you cannot try to be Instagrammable, cool and have an encounter with God, you cannot be thinking about how do I look, how are people perceiving me, they're not, they're too busy obsessing over their own selves, so be set free, get like Zacchaeus, get like the woman with the issue of blood, look I would rather be desperate and have a God encounter when things are pretty okay than have to have a God encounter when I'm you know behind the eight ball and things are going really bad, Jesus said fall on the rock and be broken otherwise the rock will fall on you and grind you to a powder, I prefer to willingly fall on the rock and get the good broken as oh Lord I need you, I'm yours, you got me, then me doing my own thing and then God has to get my attention and the giant rock falls on me, grinds me to a powder, now the prayer is different, I go oh God I'm sorry, oh God forgive me, I straight away and I look at my life, it's in disarray, please come back and help and he does and he's loving but better the first way, that was Jesus's advice at least, he even said better to fall on the rock and be broken than a boulder to come on you like your wily coyote and grind you to powder, all right so he's in the forest, he's like I don't want anyone to see me praying, my image, my rep and then he goes that's so proud, prideful, so that breaks him down but that is only the beginning of his conversion story, he went back from the forest to his house where God met him, there was no fire and no light in the room, nevertheless it appeared to me as if it were perfectly light, as I went in and shut the door after me it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face, it did not occur to me then nor did it for some time afterward that it was a holy mental state, on the contrary it seemed to me that I saw him as I would see any other man, in other words he's saying this wasn't going on in my mind but there was a radiant light and I saw Jesus and I saw him like I would have seen Bob if he came in through the door, any other man, he said nothing but look at me in such a manner as to break me right down at his feet, how many of you know what he's talking about, you know what he's talking about, you're not participating into it but I know some of you and Jesus has come to you and did he say anything it doesn't have to, one look from his eye and you get everything, you get the whole message instantly crystal clear, I fell down at his feet and poured out my soul to him, I wept aloud like a child and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance, it seemed to me that I bathed his feet with my tears and yet I had no distinct impression that I touched him, that I recollect, as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost, I love that because you know you still live in a body, you know you get uncomfortable in prayer, you got to adjust, you got to move, if any probably got cold, so he's like oh let me, this is an incredible encounter but oh fire place let me go by the fire and as he's doing something natural the Lord says one more and he gets a mighty baptism and the Holy Ghost speaks in tongues for the first time, those of you have gotten kind of you know exactly what he's talking about, I know when I get up off the floor God hold over me but you gotta blow your nose and I'm going over to get a tissue and guys, one more, thank you Lord, now it's all over your face, you don't care, more Lord, thank you Lord, as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire I received a mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was anything, any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul, I could feel the impression like a wave of electricity going through and through me, indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, what is he like, he's love and he loves you and he heals because he loves and he fixes your life because he loves and he will fulfill the destiny he placed upon you because he loves and he will fulfill his promises to you and his word because he loves Hallelujah, you know somebody might read this and say this sounds like a modern day charismatic, you know one of those really effeminate ones, always talking about love, glory, liquid, honey, cloud, yeah this is 200 years ago, this is a staunch attorney and how else could he describe the presence of the guy that goes it was like liquid love, it's exactly how I hear people describe it to me, that's exactly how I would describe, what's it like when you gotta touch you, it's like waves of like tangible love, for I could not express it, he said liquid love for I could not express it any other way, we hear you Charles, it seemed like the very breath of God, I can recollect distinctly that it seemed like a fan, like that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings and again some you know exactly what that's like with the presence of God, waves of liquid love and one way, another wave and it's like there's angels fanning their wings, you kind of catch your breath in between the waves braced for the next one, no words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart, I wept aloud with joy and love, just notice something, he's not sitting there with his legs crossed on quiet, there is a manifestation and I get it manifestations make people uncomfortable and I get it, there are religious people who are a little weird, I get it, there's people who get in the flesh, there's people who get in the emotions, so you know there's people who use their iPhones for crime, I don't stop using my iPhone, right, there's people who use Bitcoin for crime, I definitely don't start stacking Bitcoin, you can find anything and find an excess and go oh that's not good, anything, you know some people use cars and subways for evil deeds, you need to boycott those things, oh you don't throw the baby out with the bath water and so I get it, there's always going to be excess, there's always going to be flakes, there's always going to be weirdos, but it doesn't mean that we don't pursue the real because there's a counterfeit, hallelujah, so the manifestations have been and you need to be okay with that, you look at the new testament, the gospel accounts, when people touched Jesus, they did not do it politely and quietly, they did not seeing like a British butler, oh thank you Lord, Charlie good, sir, it says they went walking and leaping and praising God, the woman with issue of blood fell down trembling, when demons left the madman of Gadara, it wasn't quiet, an entire herd of over 5,000 swine, fell over a cliff, when the paralytic was healed, they ripped the whole man's roof off, they're a manifesto, you know what by the way that's in Luke chapter 5, do you know what it says concerning Jesus's meetings in Luke, read Luke chapter 5 where it starts off by saying the power of the Lord was present to heal and Jesus has this amazing miracle ministry there and then the people who were there, you know what I love this, it says quote, we have seen strange things this day, you know what things that city light have gotten too normal and too safe and not enough people are leaving going we have seen strange things this day, YouTube is not threatening to shut us down not since COVID anyway and that's not good you know Jesus said we'll want to you when everyone speaks well of you there has to be a healthy amount of persecution and speculation so Lord may you may you bring more strange things hallelujah hallelujah we have seen strange things this day if you ever see something you don't agree with you don't like whatever that's great keep it to yourself and pursue God yourself that's it's as simple as that well I think that person is emotional in the flow okay what about you they might be they might not be don't worry about it if anybody gets real wacky we have leadership here we have enough trained leaders we'll get to them I found I've seen that in the presence of God things kind of sort themselves out over time you know I the way I was when God was calling me to ministry when I was first starting my relationship with him I was what what today I would consider like a flaky person I was I was 18 19 years old had no like training and God started to touch me so like it would be dead silent in the church service and I would start laughing hysterically the only one and to to pass your hall of hands credit he never rebuked me that's why sometimes that'll happen here and I'm like man you know usually it's done like in you know like there's a move away and it's going to be 5 6 7 8 but I just like God's going to store whatever out so why was I laughing and start because God was touching me maybe I could have laughed a little quieter but I'd be laughing I'd be weeping I'd go to Times Square church where I knew they didn't allow that stuff and so the no one thing would hit me but they had amazing worship amazing everything they just didn't allow that there was a big deal back in the 90s didn't allow you to like manifest anything you know you know who supported who got support from Times Square church to the two and a one million dollars a year Heidi Baker do you know who Heidi Baker she told me this story personally you know how she goes holy she was actually she would be manifesting and Times Square church called her up and said if you keep doing that we're going to cut back your support because she would go oh like the Lord with touch and she would just be preaching oh and they said you know you're you saw you look insane and we don't believe in that and if you keep doing that we're we have no choice but to pull back support so she would get hit with a hug and she'll go holy holy so to this day like 30 years later she'll go holy but that's the story of why she says holy because she didn't want to lose a million dollars a year you can't make this stuff up you know what I have more to read here but in in in in the early 1900s got sent another mighty move of God that was known as the Azusa street revival anything about that that was in 1901 1902 1903 that was like less than 40 years 30 years after slavery was abolished 30 years Jim Crow in full effect racism rampant and you know who the leader of the Azusa street revival was a black man by the name of William Seymour I'm making a point of this specifically because you look at the photos where they're in a barnyard a stable and it's and it's William Seymour black with a sea of white faces do you know how crazy that was in 1901 1902 1903 do you know what those racist white people had to go through in order to submit themselves they had to die to pride in order to receive that is always the door there's a door called humility in other words those people had to be so hungry and so desperate for fresh move from God that they would be willing to put themselves under the authority out of someone that they were told or the lives was inferior to them in the 1950s you have the voice of healing revival 70s Jesus movement and in the 90s God did something very special and he poured out his spirit through my old pastor my current pastor Rodney Howard Brown other other voices but he did something really special in Toronto in Toronto four million people came in through those doors if I didn't go to Toronto I don't know if I would have ended up in full-time ministry that one week there so marked me it was such an outpouring of God's presence and the mark of that outpouring was intimacy with the Lord you don't even realize you're still enjoying music that's a result of that revival in the 90s you know it's speaking of time square church because I used to go there when I wasn't in college and come here and I remember I'd bring lost people unsafe people the songs were never too God there were always about God there was a song we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit in the spirit and all the woman go in the spirit right like what is that like you have to be a theologian to understand that song I brought a friend that was female with me and I'm like what is she she's going we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit there was no direct singing to God that were these weird songs but then this revival where God revealed his heart and his love and you're no longer singing about God you're singing to God that was brand new and today if you were the Hillsong elevation Bethel name anyone there's still reaping from the harvest they've got produced during that revival in the 90s and we have we have really a phenomenal opportunity because John and Carol are not the senior pastors of that church in Toronto where for 10 years they had meetings six days a week twice a day where it felt like a bubble from heaven was there where people were crawling out of their cars through the parking lot to get into the meetings they're going to be with us next weekend Friday Saturday and Sunday and they carry something when I'm with them it feels like really I'm with Jesus it's tangible it's palpable because the anointing is stuff good stuff and that stuff will get on you that stuff will change you that stuff will heal you and John is 85 years old now I don't know how old Carol is I'll never ask then no one says but you know what that means I mean just practically statistically speaking we don't got decades left with them so I always treat every meeting like it may be our last with them and this is a once in a century mantle that they carry so I want to get whatever I can get from that precious mantle it is absolutely absolutely scriptural there is an anointing an impartation by association if I was some swayed patched pipe smoking theologian but completely dead that's how you would be in about a year's time you then come in all alive and out fire but you put yourself under me and I'm like that you're going to end up being like that why because there's an impartation by association Elisha got a double portion of Elijah's mantle how because he followed him wherever he went you know what Elisha was to Elijah it says he poured water over his hands he was his water boy you've heard of Chaiwala this is a waterwala just being a system got to wash your hands and basically he was his valet but because he spent so much time with him when Elijah was caught up into heaven his mantle fell upon Elisha because there's an impartation by association you know what the bible says about Joshua it says he was full of the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him what happened impartation by association there's a bigger impartation by association when you're in close proximity physically to somebody you can get an impartation by association reading a book sure you can watching a video sure you can totally different than when you actually see them see the pores in their face get physically close they lay hands on you don't don't tell me it's the same oh yeah and they're going to be here with us and i want you to come hungry i want you to come expecting because what we got to do here and who you need to become in order to get the job done in New York City requires an amazing fresh move of god and for you to have a new and fresh god encounter hallelujah hallelujah can we just play that video do you do you have it they made this little video hello there all you wonderful friends in New York City we're so excited we're coming to see you again yeah we got a great weekend coming a city light church in april 17 18 in 19 and so we're expecting the Holy Spirit to show up in power and in love aren't we care we sure are we're expecting him to come down just it is glory his healing his love oh it's going to be a great weekend and don't miss it especially we want him to touch your pastors and so fire on you all fire on you there boy in in Jesus wonderful name and bless you all you're a wonderful church family you are hello there i actually never saw that part i've never watched it that far actually stopped 70% in because they were too cute it was i was like i got to stop there too and that's how they are all the time that's actually how they are like i picked them up at his hotel room last time and Emily still reminds me of this he goes hey boy it which is by the way why i go by book because even my closest friends can't pronounce my name right goes hey boy what do you think the chances are that i could get a Starbucks you know i've picked up evangelism they're got like two years under their belt and they're like take me to Starbucks and this this amazing world class minister hey what do you think the chances are per chance perhaps maybe if it's okay with you it's so sweet so humble hallelujah i want you to get under his ministry i want you to have him lay hands on you i want you to have a different kind of week this week you can't get something new by always doing the same old same old you got to do something different so this week however you know how get hungry i'll be praying for you to get hungry to get desperate pray differently jump out of bed and just go god do something new you said i've never prayed like that exactly surprise god if you can surprise your wife surprise your roommate do something different you know what i did i shaved off all my hair yeah in college i went full telly savalas for boo don't make me get into it it was weird it wasn't scriptural i just read an ax that Paul he was doing some Hebrew thing he took a vow made an oath and shaved off all his hair i'm like that's how we got god's attention so i shaved off all my hair later i learned oh that you know i don't really have to do that but god responded not cuz shaving off the hair is a key it's that i did something ludicrous you have to be willing to do something ludicrous to get the miraculous i'll say that again you have to be willing to do something ludicrous to get the miraculous what was the name of that Syrian general naman naman filled with leprosy this is in the bible filled with leprosy he hears Elijah can heal you this is a bridge story for revival so this great Syrian general goes to find uh Elisha actually and Elisha sends his servant Gehazah he doesn't even want to see the general why because he's messing with him he's offending him intentionally god will always offend your pride to expose your heart so this is this is like the president rolling in imagine the president maybe some of you right now be like nah i'll send my sister to we won't get into that we won't get into that what happened it was so beautiful it was all good just a week ago and now all right you know there is no you just have to come to the decision that you know that you're only going to find Jesus in Jesus amen that's it you know so he sends his servant and the the general's offended but he's like all right i still want to get healed and Elijah says tell him to get healed he's got a dip in the Jordan river seven times now the Jordan river is not a pretty river it's a muddy river that overflows it's not it's not pretty and this general's like he wants me to dip in that filthy river what about Damascus what about back home in Syria there's these crystal clear rivers i could dip in that what was he doing offending his pride to expose his heart so he the general filled with leprosy was about to say forget this but one of his assistants said hey hey if you if you would have asked you a difficult thing you would have done it here's really asking you an easy thing can't you just do this so he does it and he dips down one time he was told to dip seven times full of leprosy not even a hint that anything was going to be different and the seventh time he went up it says that the leprosy was all god and he had baby skin this is how the Lord works with us he will ask you to do something preposterous ludicrous in order for you to get the miraculous he will expose your pride or offend your pride to get to your heart worship team come on up i want to sing a song together i want you just to lift your hands right now don't forget we have to vote we got to get out there and rock the vote but that's in about a few minutes we're not rushing this this is important thank you Jesus thank you lord rama ke la la vata sa pala rama darar esh da supporta canana manta darara hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah say this lord jesus help me to be desperate make me even more hungry help me to surrender i want say this with your whole heart i want to see your face i want a fresh anointing i want a fresh encounter thank you jesus this is the city light church podcast if you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about pastor boy on janskik and city light church visit us at citylightnyc.com that's citylightnyc.com feel free to visit us online or in person anytime we would love to connect with you we pray that you have been encouraged today that you have been reminded how much god loves you and that you are surrounded by grace thank you for listening make sure that you subscribe to city light church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide