(Poland) Walking in the Spirit — David Wilkerson

Good morning, good morning. Delighted to have you with us this morning. This is going to be a wonderful day. Wonderful day. We received a telephone call from our church in New York City. And Tuesday night they had a few thousand people in a prayer meeting.

And they were praying for Poland. And the pastor said it was like holy thunder came into the building. The prayer sounded like thunder from heaven. And the Holy Spirit led them to pray that God will send an awakening to Poland.

Praying for Awakening and Spiritual Renewal

Wake our churches up. And that Poland never allow apathy in the hearts of the church. Eighteen years ago I was walking the streets of New York. I had started in New York working with gangs and drug addicts.

Then I traveled all over the world as a youth evangelist. And as you remember I was here in Poland in 1986. But my heart was always in New York City. And 18 years ago I was walking right down in the middle of Times Square.

And the drug addicts were selling cocaine. And that week a famous basketball player died of an overdose of cocaine. And it became headline news. So on the streets here's what the pushers were saying. Hey, I've got the good stuff.

I have the stuff that killed the basketball player. Take this stuff and it'll kill you. The commercial was death. And when I heard that something happened in my spirit. Because death had become the ultimate fix, the ultimate high.

And I began to weep. And standing right in the middle of Times Square I started calling on the Lord. Lord, raise up a church in the middle of this foolishness. They're mocking you here on Broadway. All the shows are filthy.

And now they're selling death. I said, Lord, if you raise up a church right in the middle of Times Square I'll help. You send a young preacher. I'll help raise money. I'll hold meetings for him. The Holy Spirit said, you do it.

My wife was in the hotel. This was very late at night. I said, Lord, I'm willing. But we live in Texas. Hundreds of miles away. In a nice house. By a lake. How do I tell my wife we're moving back to New York City?

I said, I need a miracle. I'll come. But you have to tell my wife I walked into the hotel room. My wife was sitting on the edge of the bed. She said, you don't have to tell me. We're coming back to New York.

The Lord had fixed her, had set up her heart. And the Holy Spirit made me a promise. If you go to New York City and start a church. I'll give you a theater that'll take your breath away. I said, Holy Spirit, you told me you'd give me a building, a theater, take my breath away.

This does not take my breath away. The Lord said, you obeyed me. I'll keep my word. After one year, that theater was so full, I went back to the man who owns about 15 theaters. I said, I need a bigger theater.

And there was a man in the church. He said, can I go with you when you talk to the theater owners? I said, yes. I didn't realize how rich he was when I went to the owner of all the theaters. I said, I need a bigger theater.

He said, one of my biggest theaters right on Broadway. But I'm going to open a brand new show. We're spending 10 million dollars on this show. And we believe it's going to be the longest running show in the history of Broadway.

And with that show, and they're getting ready to open a show that honors homosexuality. It's about drugs and alcohol and sex. I said, Holy Spirit, what's going on? You see, when you obey the Holy Spirit, he expects you to wait until he answers.

Walking in the Spirit Through Obedience

It's called walking in the Spirit. We talk about the Holy Ghost so much. We talk about being filled with the Holy Ghost. Baptized with the Holy Ghost. We talk about manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Filled with the Holy Spirit.

And most people here would say, I have the Holy Spirit abiding in me. And the Bible says, if the Holy Spirit lives in you, walk in the Spirit. Very few people understand. If I ask you, what does it mean to walk in the Spirit?

Can you explain it? I have books in my library, very thick books. Written about the Holy Spirit. Complicated theology. And I don't understand what they're saying. Walking in the Spirit is so simple a child can understand it.

And it's this simple. If you believe the Holy Spirit abides in you, if you believe this is the temple of the Holy Ghost, then just do what he tells you to do. Believe that he has a voice. I can't conceive, I can't believe that the Holy Spirit would live in me and not talk to me, answer my questions, and lead me and guide me.

Very few Christians, very few pastors, walk in the Spirit. He said if you live in the Spirit, walk in it. Obey him. Yield to his leading. He will guide you. He will give you directions whether to go to the right or to the left.

And I began to walk in the Spirit. You can have the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You can speak in tongues. You can preach about the Holy Ghost. You can talk about the power and the manifestation of the Holy Ghost.

And be totally ignorant about walking in the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will not govern us. He will not take his throne of exalting Christ in us and leading us. He has been given to us to give us the knowledge of Christ, but he's also given us so there's no confusion in our walk.

We know where we're going and we know what to do. And you have to set your heart on that walk. Years ago he had told me to go to New York City to work with gangs. That was over 45 years ago. And I obeyed him.

Now there are 500 of these drug centers around the world, but it's not just hearing God occasionally lead us by his Spirit. It's getting up each morning and believing that the Holy Spirit in you if you're determined to obey him, you will do what he tells you to do.

And if you just stop before the day starts, Holy Spirit lead me. Speak to me. Guide me. And you yield your will to his will. He will speak quickly to you. He will not hold back on you. And he will protect you from all delusion.

He'll give you discernment because you will know what is of the flesh and what of the Spirit. You will know the voice of the enemy and the voice of God. Those who are determined to walk in the Spirit you say, I'm going to take everything in my life to him.

And when he speaks, I believe what he says. Jesus said, I do nothing without the will of my Father. He said, I can do nothing without my Heavenly Father. He said, I don't even speak a word without consulting my Father.

How do we expect to do something Jesus himself could not do? I hear people say, well, God's given us a spirit of wisdom. He's given me an intelligent mind. I should make my own intelligent decisions. That is not walking in the Spirit.

People say, well, we live by counsel. We have counselors who lead us. I believe in counselors. But when you take counsel from men you better take it to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will give you a yes or no.

Of course, it's to be expected that the Holy Spirit will never speak anything contrary to the Word of God. And you see, when God told me to start walking in the Spirit, I said, you have to explain it.

You have to make it so simple there's no question in my mind how to do it. And I prayed and sought the Lord. The Holy Spirit said, I'm going to give you three words that explain the walk of the Holy Spirit.

Saying Yes to God's Promises

Here are the three words. Just say yes. This is taken from the words of Paul the Apostle. All things with him are yes and amen. Paul said, it's not no, no or yes, yes. It's always yes and amen. And God spoke to my heart.

Do you want to walk in the Spirit? Are you tired of the confusion? Because you see, walking in the Spirit ends all strife. You're no longer dependent on trying to figure things out with your own intelligence.

Any child can understand. If he can keep all the galaxies on their course if he can keep the sun from scorching us to death he can direct my life. If I believe that and if I yield my will to him and I give him quality time to sit and listen why are we so formal with Christ?

Why are we so formal with the Holy Spirit? We treat him as if some far-off dignitary rather than one who lives and abides in us. One we can freely talk to. One we can trust the smallest detail of our lives into his hands.

Just say yes to his promises. And I said, that's so simple. Explain it to me. He said, I have to have from you a yes spirit that you look at my promises. I will lead you. I will guide you. I abide you.

The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. I will never leave you forsake you. And I started going down the promises and I started looking at those promises. Amen means let it be so and the Bible says it is yes, yes and amen hold on to it.

And I was walking in my prayer room. God said, I have to get a yes out of your soul that every promise is mine. And I cast my future. I cast my life on it. And then I said it again. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord.

The spirit of the Lord shall guide you. He shall lead you into all truth. And I said, yes. I raised my hands. I clenched my fist. Yes, yes. That's mine. I claim it. It's a yes that I will never take back.

And He cannot lead us until we have that irreversible yes. And yes, I have protection. I can know the voice of the Spirit. Because the Spirit abides in me. And the Bible said He fights against the spirit of lust.

He resists my flesh. And when my flesh is trying out for a voice. When my voice or the devil tries to pretend to be the voice of God I believe the Spirit in me is greater than the Spirit of the devil.

The Spirit in me is greater than my flesh. If the Bible said there's a war between the flesh and the Spirit. Who has so much unbelief they would think the flesh can win the battle. No, I take you back to the day I went to the theater owner.

Testing Faith While Waiting for God's Promise

I said, I need a bigger theater. He said, I'll make you a deal. The week that show closes I'll let you rent. He said, the play called Cats is the longest running show on Broadway. It's been running 11 years.

We expect this to go longer. We're putting 10 million dollars and we don't expect to lose that money. It was a test to faith. We started praying God, shut it down. Make it the biggest failure. Not the longest running show.

But the shortest running show. You see, when God gives you a promise. When the Holy Spirit tells you something and you know in your heart it's God. He will test your faith. To see if you will continually walk in the Spirit.

I said, Lord, I believe. This is the theater. Took my breath away. The Lord said, this is going to be the theater. The opening night I was outside the theater. And it took them about two months to get the show going.

And this was the opening night. Now this theater is where they mocked Jesus for two years with Superstar. Jesus Christ. Superstar. All these big stretch limousines came up. All these rich people. All the movie stars.

They're trading in. And the devil's trying to speak And laugh at us. This is the best thing they have. And the devil speaks. He's trying to rush you and make you in a hurry. He won't let you wait on the Lord.

I was outside and just prayed. They opened the show. And halfway through the show. A few people started coming out. And a woman came across the street. I was standing in front of the theater. Across the street.

Praying Shut it down. Kill the show. Give us the church. Lady comes out in a big fur coat. The chauffeur opens the door to the big limousine. And I went over to her. I said, excuse me. How did you like the show?

She said it's the worst show on Broadway and it's going to die. I did a dance. That next day. It got the worst reviews in the history of Broadway. Worst reviews in history. And all the critics said it's going to die.

It lasted four days. Shortest play on Broadway. The businessman and I went to see the owner. He said you made an offer. He said yeah but you can't afford it. You don't have the money. What are you saying you're just a poor preacher.

He had no respect for me whatsoever. And the man that went with me He said yes he can afford it. And then he told the owner who he was. And all the businesses he owned. To make this story short We moved into the theater.

We rented it. And the young man who played Jesus Christ in Superstar Who was high on drugs the whole time. He was a cocaine addict. The whole time he played Jesus In Jesus Christ Superstar. Right in that building God said If you're going to mock me here I'm going to turn it into a church.

And that's what God did. And the young man who was Jesus Christ in Superstar Got saved and filled with the Spirit And dedicated the building for Jesus. For 18 years now That church has been filled to capacity.

And Sunday morning You better come an hour early to get a seat. And the altars are filled with people coming to Christ by the hundreds. And God kept his word. And I'm here to tell you now God wants to lead us.

The Queen of Sheba and the Greater Wisdom of Christ

He wants to lead me. The Bible said she had many questions Many problems. She heard of a man in Jerusalem by the name of Solomon. A man who could answer hard questions. A man could give you direction.

She was a queen of what would now be Yemen. She decided to go to Solomon. I don't know what those problems were. But she said I don't care what it takes. I don't care what the sacrifice is. I have to have answers.

My counselors can't answer it. All my parliament and all my leaders cannot answer my heart crying. But there's a man I don't know how she heard about him. The whole world at that time knew about him. So she got a caravan ready.

She had to go 1500 miles Round trip Three months one way Through a dangerous desert wilderness. She had to take a small army with her Cooks and interpreters. The Bible said it was a big caravan Through the hot sun.

Week after week She came to Solomon. She communed with him About everything that was in her heart. Every question about life The past and the future About nature About family Every question she'd ever had in her mind.

Solomon answered her questions. Not one thing was hidden from the king. He told her all she needed to know. Solomon gave the queen everything she desired. Whatever she asked he gave to her. Then Jesus takes that story.

And he's speaking now to the religious leaders of Israel. They all knew the story of the queen of Sheba. They taught it in their schools. They taught it in their synagogues. She was a legend in Israel.

And Jesus said Remember the queen of Sheba. She came from one of the furthest parts of the earth To get direction and wisdom and counsel from Solomon. And Jesus said The queen of Sheba shall rise up on the judgment Rise up against this generation and condemn it.

For she came from one of the furthest parts of the earth To get direction and wisdom from Solomon. And behold a greater than Solomon is here. I don't want the queen of Sheba to be a witness against me.

And rise up on the last day And say Why did you walk in confusion. Why did you do things without taking it to the Holy Spirit. Why did you do things just because you thought there were right things to do.

And she will say I traveled all of these miles for One man answered my questions Everything in my heart. And it was more than I could have believed. But you You had a greater than Solomon. You had the spirit of wisdom.

Who is the spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus Christ. I believe in the Trinity. I believe in three personalities and the Godhead. But Jesus said I will come to you. And I will manifest myself to you.

And he says. And the Bible says The Lord is that spirit. The Lord is that spirit. A greater Jesus said it. You have a greater than Solomon. Why don't you come to me. You don't have to go 1500 miles. You don't have to have donkeys and caravans filled with gold and silver.

You are invited to come. Come bring forth your strong reasons. The Holy Spirit says Come let us reason together. Come on conference with me. Let me lead you. He invites us into his counseling chamber.

The one thing that is lacking Is that we can't believe such a wonderful story. But we simply can't believe That he can lead us And guide us. And the reason many of us will not walk this kind of life. The devil has tried to bring a delusion.

The devil knows the joy that this kind of walk produces. He knows the walking in the spirit by faith. Can bring the people of God into the rest that's been promised. He knows that this kind of walk produces joy unspeakable.

Discernment Amid Charismatic Confusion

So he has produced a lie. He has taken. He has made an example. He has taken those who are not yielded. He has taken even ministers who are not living a holy life. And they have stood before the world and before congregations.

And they say, God told me This is what God said. And we have heard such foolishness. There's a book out right now. Somebody sent me a copy. And the man said, let me tell you what it's like to walk in the spirit.

He said, when I get up in the morning I go to the cabinet. And I say, Holy Spirit. Which cereal do I eat this morning? And the Holy Spirit tells me which box to pick. Then I ask the Holy Spirit. What color socks I should put on.

And what color suit. The Holy Ghost picks my tie. Foolishness. Absolute foolishness. And so the average intelligent Christian.

The intelligent pastor. We become hardened.

We become immune. We become so much foolishness. I have heard so many people come to me. Over the years I have a word for you. And now when somebody says that to me I say, boy, you had better be on your knees.

You had better heard from God. You had better be walking a righteous life. Because I'm going to know. Because I know what the will of God is. And whatever you tell me It better match what I heard from God.

We've got people going around. Giving words. Giving prophecies. Who said, the Holy Ghost told me. But you see, that's made us immune to the true walk of the Spirit. We want to throw the whole concept away.

Because we've seen and heard so much charismatic foolishness. Now don't get upset about the word charismatic. It means something entirely different in the United States than it does here. I don't even like the word.

Sounds like a disease. Like asthmatic. And I'm not making fun. Because in the United States I'm called a charismatic. We put names on these things That don't mean anything. The important thing is this.

If I want the Holy Ghost. And I want to walk in the Holy Ghost. And I want a true Holy Spirit experience. It has to be more Than just manifestation. That's why I'm here today. That's why God sent me to work with drug addicts.

Pentecost Beyond Blessing and Tongues

I was just a young preacher. I pastored for five years in a little town. I told last night about my first church. This is my second church. I pastored for five years. We called Pentecostal Full gospel.

I don't even like the term full gospel. That suggests that other people only have half a gospel. But that's what we claimed to be. People came to get blessed. But nobody was getting saved. Nobody was witnessing.

And I was living a comfortable life. Go home after church. On Sunday night. Turn on the television. And get a Coca-Cola. Put my feet up on the chair. Watch a shoot-em-up movie. Wild cowboys. Hours Till I fall asleep.

But one day I said, Oh God. Is this what Pentecost is? Is this the Holy Ghost? Where people just come. Get blessed.

Talk in tongues And I can say with Paul in my devotions I talk in tongues more than all of you. But I said, Oh Lord There's nothing happening We're just maintaining. These people are happy I marry them And I bury them And we have wonderful fellowship.

We have these big meals And we eat together And we fellowship together. And the world's dying And I'm going to hell. And I began to seek God Sold the television set.

Spent months Broken and weeping. That's when God said There's a whole world. I want to show you the Holy Spirit. I want to show you what Pentecost is. And if it's genuine Pentecost I don't care whether you call it Baptist Holy Ghost Whatever the denomination may be.

If it's true Pentecost It has to work in the poorest country As well as the richest country. It has to work in Mozambique Like it works in New York. And I saw what Pentecost is. I saw how God can break hearts By the Spirit.

The Gospel Reaches Drug Addicts Through the Holy Spirit

That's when I wrote the book The Cross and Switchblade. The publisher of that was a Jewish man. And the first edition Didn't mention the Holy Ghost. And that was the key to our program. The Holy Ghost was convicting of sin.

People were now out on the streets With me, walking everywhere. Young people were coming out of their churches And going with us on the streets. Alcoholics, prostitutes, drug addicts Weeping and getting saved.

The same week that The manuscript was finished. Some of my advisors said He's Jewish. Don't talk about the Holy Ghost. I said, but that's the secret The power of the Holy Spirit To lead you to drug addicts And give you the message And guide you And give you the program.

And that same week An Episcopal priest In the United States Was in the headlines. The Holy Spirit breaks out In an Episcopalian church. It told them about All kinds of manifestations Of the Holy Spirit.

And the Jewish publisher Called me and my associates In the office. He said, you see these magazines They talk about this thing Called the Holy Ghost. Everybody in the country Talks about this. Aren't you one of those Holy Ghost people?

I said, yes sir. He said, go back home. You give me two chapters On the Holy Ghost. That's how it happened. I thank God For the Spirit. I thank God so much For His Spirit Who has made Jesus so close So real To His church.

The Church Sent Beyond Its Four Walls

Now He wants something more. He wants the church of Poland To hit the streets And to get out of the closure Of four walls And to begin to proclaim the Gospel To a hungry nation. Tomorrow in the second session I'm going to share a prophecy.

I'm not a prophet. I never claimed to be a prophet. But occasionally I'm a watchman. And He does speak prophetically Occasionally. And I was sitting in my hotel room And the Holy Spirit Just opened this up.

Gave me this Incredible prophecy About the church in Poland. And I'll be sharing that. But there has to be in us A hunger To say, oh God. There has to be more than this. Let me see the Holy Spirit And all the majesty and the glory That God made in me.

God wants to lead you To places you've never been. This country should be sending Missionaries all over the world That has already begun. God has such great things in store. I'm going to close in just a moment.

My son will be speaking In the next session. And you're going to hear from heaven. Actually, Gary has pastored Longer than I have Including in Times Square Church In New York City. He has pioneered churches In most places that I go.

Bishops come to me. They say, Pastor Dave We like your preaching. But we relate more to your son. That makes me feel good. Will you stand. Music team, would you come please. I would suggest that most of you Who heard me this morning Have known what it's like To walk in the Spirit.

A Prayer for Deeper Dependence on the Holy Spirit

You consult the Holy Spirit. But you'll be tested on it. I'm going to pray for you now. Especially for those who say Pastor David. All the voices that are in the land now. So many voices coming from all directions.

I want to know the voice of the Lord. I want to be one who walks in the Spirit. Just lift your hand while I pray Heavenly Father. Send the Holy Spirit With revelation knowledge. And cause us to say in our hearts This morning.

Yes. Let it be so Yes and Amen. I will believe God. I will go to the Holy Spirit. I will trust the Holy Spirit. I will open up my heart again. I will open my heart wide. And you said that if we live in the Spirit And the Spirit lives in you.

Then walk in the Spirit. Obey the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit we obey you. And we trust you as a guide. Let there be many who make a new commitment now In my life In my home In my ministry I will depend more on the Holy Spirit.

And not on man Not on others But on the Holy Spirit. Now raise your hands if you will please. And thank God for the Holy Spirit Who abides in you. We are to honor the Holy Spirit. We are to worship the Holy Spirit Who brings Christ to us.

Lift your heart to Him right now. Give God thanks. Speak it out. Thank you Holy Spirit For abiding in me. I surrender My will. Come Govern my life. Lead my life. I give you my will In the name of Christ our Lord.

Glory be to Jesus.