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Subject 8 : The Holy Spirit

[8-16] The Mission of All Who Have Received the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 61:1-11)

The Mission of All Who Have Received the Holy Spirit
(Isaiah 61:1-11)
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the foreigner shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the Lord, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery for burnt offering; I will direct their work in truth, and will make with them an everlasting covenant. Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people. All who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the posterity whom the Lord has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”
  
 
What is the mission of those who receive the Holy Spirit?
It is to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all the people of the world.
 
What should a person who has received the Holy Spirit do? He should preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all people. God entrusted the beautiful gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit to those who have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Those who were forgiven for their sins before God receive the Holy Spirit. Then why do you think God grants the gift of the Holy Spirit to them?
To give them the final guarantee that He has made them His children, He gifts them the Holy Spirit. He also wishes to help them overcome Satan. He makes those who have been forgiven for their sins and who have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit do the following:
 


He makes them preach good tidings to the poor

 
What is the good news for the poor? It is the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God ordered those who received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to preach the beautiful gospel to the poor. Those who received the Holy Spirit, since they have the hope of Heaven, are never satisfied with things on earth.
God granted the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the poor and forgave them for their sins. He then granted the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to them and let them into the eternal world. God commanded the righteous to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the poor. He also persuaded them to spread the belief in God and Jesus. The reason that God gave us the Holy Spirit was to preach the beautiful news abundantly to the poor of the world.
 


He sends us to heal the brokenhearted

 
How does our Lord heal our minds? He heals the brokenhearted with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There are many people with broken hearts. To them, life is worthless, and their own righteousness is wrecked. They have humble and painful lives because of their sins. Therefore, they are occasionally tormented by their doubts about life. All men wish to live gracefully and want to enjoy prosperity in their body and soul, but this does not happen easily in the same way as when people have been robbed of all their possessions by burglars.
Likewise, those with sin in their heart are continuously robbed of all their righteousness, and at last, go to hell because of their sins. That’s why the Lord, pitying the brokenhearted, commanded us to preach the beautiful gospel to them. With what words did God heal them? He did so with the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. He healed the brokenhearted and also granted them eternal life.
 


He proclaims liberty to the captives of sin

 
He grants freedom to the captives. What does this mean? It means that God has freed the souls of people from all the sins of the world. He has given this mission only to those who received the Holy Spirit, and they can free others from their sins.
Man has a body and a soul. And his body and soul lives, being bound by the curse of sin and the law. He can’t do anything but to live as a captive of sin, regardless of whether or not he believes in God. Born with sin, he can’t help but sin. Thus, he is destined to live as a captive of sin throughout his life. He lives in this way and is destined to be destroyed in the end.
This is why he lives this unavoidable life while indulging in self-pity regarding his weakness which has put him in this position. God sent the Holy Spirit to those who can’t but sin and are destined to die, so that they could preach the beautiful gospel to the inmates of sin, and give the captives the freedom from all their sin.
 

He comforts all who mourn
 
What did God give to those who mourn? Giving them the gospel of forgiveness, God comforts all the people of the world who mourn. He sent Jesus Christ into this world to forgive mankind for their sins. And to pass all the sins of the world onto Him, He had Him baptized by John and die on the Cross. That’s how God purified us of our sins. Thus, God saved us from all the sins of the world.
Our Lord comforts all who mourn by informing them of the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. By doing so, He blesses those who suffer from an incomplete faith. He leads only those who have the Holy Spirit to preach this beautiful gospel, to heal the brokenhearted and to free the captives to sin.
The purpose of our existence in this world is to be forgiven by our Lord and then to preach the beautiful gospel to those who are bound to sin and need comfort to be freed from sin. God tells us that though our lives are short, they are not worthless at all. That God prepared the remission of sin and marvelous blessings for mankind is proof of this fact.
Our Lord also bequeathed all who mourn with a crown of glory. This means that sinners are forgiven for their sins thanks to Jesus’ baptism and can thus enter the Kingdom of Heaven. If one is forgiven for his sins, he is refreshed in his mind and comes to appreciate this marvelous blessing. Our Lord crowns him with glory. He gave sinners the gospel of the water and the Spirit and made those who believe in it His children. Those who believe in this beautiful gospel are made to feel joy instead of sadness.
Just as all men are born and die with a cry, joy is momentary, and their minds are mostly full of sadness. However, God met them and caused them to be born again with hope and delight. Likewise, those who are born again by believing in the beautiful gospel live a new life and have new work. In addition, they are able to do what God wants, and that is to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all the sinners of the world, drive out all sadness from their hearts and let them enjoy all manner of delights and happiness instead.
Those who are forgiven for their sins by God give glory to Him. He told the righteous to preach the beautiful gospel. He told them to preach who He is, what gospel He gave us, and how glorious is the Kingdom of Heaven He prepared for us. We can see the glory of God in those forgiven by Him. Those who mourned in their life before being filled with the Holy Spirit now delight in happiness, those who were bound to sin now feel the pleasure of freedom, and those who lived a worthless life now live a righteous life. These all reflect the glory of God. God referred to the righteous as those who would rebuild the old ruins, raise the former desolations, and repair the ruined cities.
In fact, this beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit was the gospel preached by the Apostles in the days of the early church. Jesus was sent into the world about two thousand years ago. The beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit had been preached in this world until AD 300. The gospel preached by the righteous today is the same gospel of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostles preached at that time. However, in the days of the early 4th century Roman Empire, when Rome made Christianity a state religion and gave its citizens freedom of religion, the gospel of Jesus’ baptism was tarnished and gradually disappeared. It was after this, when Christianity as the established religion became more and more prosperous, that the very people who preached the true gospel vanished.
Why was the faith of those who believed and preached the true Christianity and the true gospel changed? After Christianity had become a state religion of Roman Empire, Christians became liberated from various restrictions and came to enjoy the same privileges as the Roman citizen. Christians were then able to marry Roman nobles, and could also enter government service. Because of this privilege, their faith was reduced from a faith of resurrection to a mere religion. From then on, the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit disappeared, and a diminished form of the secularized Christianity began to flourish.
God commands us the last Christians at the time of His immanent return to preach the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit which was cast into ruin for such a long time, and thus save mankind from their sins. He will revive the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit that was preached in the days of the Apostles. The gospel in the days of the Apostles was the beautiful gospel of Jesus’ baptism and His blood on the Cross. He calls us the men who repair ruined cities. He made us learn and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and made us farmers of His vineyard.
God gave us the same mission He did through the Apostles. He made you and me preach this original gospel of the water and the Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor.” God made those who had already received the Holy Spirit preach the gospel and gave us the Holy Spirit.
God crowned us with flowers, removed all sadness, and put the garment of praise on us by inspiring delight in us. Those who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts sow the seeds of this beautiful gospel for others to receive Him. Then they will also accept the gospel given by our Lord, be forgiven, and at last receive the Holy Spirit.
We have become God’s workers. You and I are blessed with glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. However, God made those who don’t have the Holy Spirit blind so that they cannot know, see, or understand this beautiful gospel. They may be able to make others believe in Jesus nominally, but can never make them receive the Holy Spirit.
The Lord has done the following things through those who have the Holy Spirit. He made them preach the beautiful news to the poor and heal the brokenhearted with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He also presented the captives to sin with the true freedom of salvation and comforted all those who mourn with the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. He set free those who are bound to sin because of their weaknesses, presented them with joy and hope and then ascended to Heaven.
Following this, the Holy Spirit who dwells in us made us preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit to all people. Jesus Christ told those who are forgiven and have the Holy Spirit within them to save all sinners from their sins. The Lord empowered those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be in charge of what He planned to do. He made all righteous people do His work. We are His workers, the ones who were appointed as stewards in His vineyard, God’s church. We are His servants. God has given us these amazing blessings.
We realize our weaknesses when we look at our flesh, but since God works with us, we believe in Him and have become His servants by faith. We believe God will do many great works through us and spread His dominion over us.
God decided to rebuild the desolate fortress of the gospel in the ruined cities. He promised that He would raise the former desolations and repair the ruined cities. I believe there will be a revival of the gospel once again throughout the world!
This however is not my will. I believe it because God said it would be so. Our Lord made those who have the Holy Spirit preach this beautiful gospel to the whole world. He sent His Son into this world and fulfilled the gospel, and I believe He is achieving His will again through those of us who have the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in this beautiful gospel will see the glory of God. Hallelujah!
 
This sermon is also available in ebook format. Click on the book cover below.
The Holy Spirit who Dwells in Me - The Fail-safe Way for You to Receive the Holy Spirit