By Dr. David Yonggi Cho
Did you miss part 4? Read it here: http://wp.me/p8fWJl-2D
Principle #4
Have really good fellowship with the Holy Spirit
The Church is not a human organization. The Church is God's organization. In the Old Testament for 4,000 years God the Father worked. Then, God sent His only begotten Son Jesus. Jesus stayed here on earth for 33 years and he died on the cross redeeming us from sin and death. Then He rose up, ascended to heaven and on the day of Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit. So this is the age of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit represents God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit is the One who is the Leader of the Church and He is the Lord of the harvest and we are labourers.
Without working together with the Holy Spirit, we cannot accomplish anything. We need the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our wisdom, knowledge, power, everything. The Holy Spirit built the first Church and He is dwelling in the Church in our bodies right now.
So to have Church Growth, we should have very deep fellowship with the Holy Spirit and participation with the Holy Spirit. He is our Senior Partner and we are the junior partners.
We should recognize the Holy Spirit and we should welcome Him and depend upon Him in everything.
When I had 3,000 members, I wanted to see the Church grow but something happened and the Church growth stalled.
I prayed very much but the Church was not moving on.
One cold winter day, after conducting early morning prayer meeting, I was sitting alone on the corner of the bench and I was praying and pouring out my heart before the Lord.
Then I fell into a trance and in the trance, I was in the Presence of God. I couldn't see God but I knew I was in the Presence of God. Glory filled the place. Then the Voice of the Lord came into my heart, "My son, do you want to see Church Growth?"
"Yes Father."
Then God said, "Answer this question of mine."
I said, "Father, please ask me."
He asked, "Suppose the Israelites had gone into the wilderness to catch quails with their bear hands, how many quails do you think they might have caught?"
I said, "Well, in the wilderness there wouldn't be many quails and with their bear hands, how could they catch the quails? I think they would have caught about a dozen and many of them would have died by sunstroke."
Then God asked, "Then when I sent my wind how many quails did they catch?"
"The quails were falling like dust upon their camp," I replied.
He continued, "Do you think that I can't do the same thing these days?"
I said, "Of course, you are God! You can do anything!"
God said, "You are using all of your human strength. You are pushing and pulling to have Church Growth but now you've come to the end of your struggle. Why don't you depend upon the Holy Spirit? When I send the wind of the Holy Spirit, sinners will fall upon your Church like dust."
And I said, "God, do that! Do that, please!"
He said, "Have communion with the Holy Spirit."
Then I awoke out of my trance.
So I rushed up to my office and looked in the Bible: 2 Corinthians 13:14. It says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen."
I went to the Greek lexicon. It was written that 'koinonia' was the Greek word for communion. I checked the meaning of 'koinonia' and found out that it was fellowship and partnership.
There, I found tremendous revelation from the Lord. Up until that time I did not treat the Holy Spirit as a real Person. Of course, in the Theological Seminary I learnt. But actually I was taking the Holy Spirit as an influence of God and I was not really treating Him as a Person. So I was careless. I was trying to use the Holy Spirit instead of being used by Him.
So I knelt down before the Holy Spirit. I said, "Dear Holy Spirit, I confess my sin of neglecting you. I have been mistaken about your personality. You are a real Person, a greater Person than my own self, my wife and my family and so from today I am accepting you as a real Person from heaven. I recognize you. I welcome you. I depend on you. Dear Holy Spirit, let's go together."
And at that time, some great sensation came into my heart. Up until that time, I always thought that I was having Church growth but there I turned over all my burdens to the Holy Spirit. He is my Lord. I am His labourer.
So I began to look to the Holy Spirit. He is my Comforter. He is the One called alongside from God to help us. So the Holy Spirit has been with me to help me for such a long time but I didn't recognize Him as a Person. If ever you recognize Him as a Person then you should treat Him as a Person.
I always recognize my wife as a real person so I am careful to treat her well. In the morning, I say, "Good morning dear, I love you. You're pretty."
Sometimes, I don't feel like saying that but I should say that. You see, she's a person. If I don't recognize her and appreciate her, then she'll be depressed. If I continually do that, she'd leave me. So I should be very careful to treat Him as a Person.
Since that time until now, whenever I get up in the morning I say, "Good morning, dear Holy Spirit. Here I am. I love You. I appreciate You. I recognize You. God the Father is working though You and God the Son, Jesus, is working through you. So with you together, let's have a great time winning souls to Jesus Christ. Let's go together!"
Since that time, whenever I come to the platform, I say, "Dear Holy Spirit, let's go. Let's go together."
While I preach, I really beg the Holy Spirit to inspire me. After the sermon, I sit down and say, "Dear Holy Spirit, you have really helped me because I made a mess but you really blessed me and made everything straight."
After having such fellowship with the Holy Spirit, a new dimension of God's power began to come upon my life and when I stood behind the pulpit, I felt the Presence of God stronger than before and soon the 3,000 barrier was broken and my Church was growing from that point to 6,000, 8,000, 10,000 and on and on.
Having fellowship with the Holy Spirit is very important. The Holy Spirit is the Senior Partner. We are the junior.
We must have fellowship and discuss with Him every step. We are not given up as orphans. He is here with us not only with the clergy, but also with the laity.
The Holy Spirit is with us and within us. He is within His Church, the Body of Jesus Christ throughout the world but for such a long time He has been neglected and He was mistreated. That's the reason He was grieved and He could not work.
Many a time, we put institution in the place of the Holy Spirit or human ingenuity and wisdom in the place of the Holy Spirit. That's the reason we don't have the miracle of God in this generation. When we have the Presence of the Holy Spirit, you'll see the continuity of the working of Jesus Christ every day.
One of our men came with a glorious testimony.
He was dying of lung cancer and abdominal cancer. The doctors gave up on him because he was a dying person. He came to Church. He listened to the preaching and accepted Jesus Christ. He cried a lot because he was broken, and he confessed. Then he went to the prayer mountain and prayed and fasted for one week.
After one week, the Holy Spirit came upon him and he felt the Presence of the Holy Spirit so powerfully in his life. He then heard a still small Voice, "Son, you're healed. From today, you're free from cancer."
He was overjoyed and he came down from the prayer mountain and he read the entire Bible twice. Then as he prayed, he fell asleep. He felt that some blue light was hitting him like lightning going through his body. He woke up and said, "This is like what is written in Malachi about the healing light coming through the Sun of righteousness." He said, "I was healed."
And then he was taken to the hospital and the doctors checked him thoroughly. They could not find any vesture of cancer left in the lungs and abdominal places. He was completely healed.
When you have the Presence of the Holy Spirit, you have the continuity of the working of Jesus Christ.
Many people say that, "How come you have such a tremendous Church?"
So many people come to Church and they really experience Jesus Christ in our Church, not because of me; no! Because of the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
They come. They cry. They pray. They depend upon God and the Holy Spirit manifests in the Name of Jesus Christ. Many people receive peace, joy, happiness, righteousness, sanctification and healing and miracle answers from the Lord.
In the 21st Century, we need that kind of experience because we have been hearing about God so much. We've been talking about God so much. Now people need to experience God. They need God instead of hearing about God.
The Holy Spirit is the answer.
When you recognize Him and welcome Him, adore Him and accept Him, He will start to work becausebyou should not depend upon your feeling. He is beyond your senses.
Many people are depending too much upon the senses and when they feel good, "O wow! God is here with is!"
But if they feel chilly, "O, God is not here."
No, it is not so.
God is beyond the your five senses. He is always here though His miraculous presence and by faith He's working.
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Dr. David Yonggi Cho is the senior pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. He shared the seven principles of Church Growth at a Church Growth Conference in London some years ago.
God wants to reach more people with the Gospel, and retain them.
You will learn, as you follow this series, these seven principles of Church Growth.
Dr. Yonggi Cho also has to his credit several bestselling books including Successful Home Cells and The Holy Spirit, my Senior Partner.
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