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Subject 12 : The Faith of the Apostles Creed
● The Faith in the Word of God Leads Us to the Spirit-filled Life
To reemphasize once again, it is those who believe in the Word of God in their hearts who can be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we hold onto the Word of God, when we believe in it and rely on it, the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts gives us faith and strength, approves our faith as right, and helps us at our side so that we can live our lives by believing in this Word. This is why He is called the Holy Spirit, the Helper or the Counselor (John 14:16).
Like this, to be filled with this Spirit, the Bible tells us, “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Regardless of how weak your faith is and what your circumstances are, when you only believe in the Word of God and hold onto this Word, the Holy Spirit works forcefully in your lives and turns you into the people of faith. And when you are holding steadfast to the Word of God, the Holy Spirit strengthens you and thereby enables you to overcome Satan. He allows you to stand against Satan with your faith and transforms your surroundings.
When you are holding onto the Word of God, the Holy Spirit makes you pray, strengthens you, enables you to stand against the Devil when he attacks you, and empowers you to throw away every disbelief when it arises in your heart. Also, this Word makes you turn around from the errors of your faith, and it turns you into the people of faith like a rock standing firmly on the Word of God. Like this, believing in and taking this Word is absolutely essential for you to be filled with the Spirit.
If you neither believe in nor take the Word, but only pray blindly to be filled with the Spirit, you can never be filled by the Spirit in such ways. You must most assuredly hold onto the Word and take it. Only after doing so can you be filled with the Spirit by praying in Him.
From looking at these things, we can realize that being filled with the Spirit can come about only by believing in and taking the Word of God, discerning what the will of the Lord is and following this will by praying and redeeming the time, uniting together into the gatherings of God’s Church, serving the Lord, and spreading the gospel. The Holy Spirit, of course, always helps us and works in our lives, but depending on whether we believe in the Word or not, and whether we hold onto it or not, the Holy Spirit either works forcefully or leaves us alone to our own strengths. Therefore, to be filled with the Spirit, we must think about the Word that tells us that the Lord has saved us, and we must have the joy of salvation by believing in this Word. We must believe in our hearts that spreading this gospel is the will of the Lord, and we must preach and serve it.
If you are the truly born-again righteous, then you must have had the experience of being inspired by the Holy Spirit when spreading the gospel, enabling you to speak the right words on the spot, and of your hearts being filled spiritually. Therefore, we must realize clearly that we cannot reach the fullness of the Spirit outside the Word of God, the will of the Lord, and the life in the Church, and that it can neither be attained by our own efforts.
In seeking to be filled with the Spirit, many of today’s Christians blindly attend special meetings so-called “Tarrying Meetings,” and in such meetings they pray, speak in the so-called tongues by making weird sounds, cry out the Lord’s name, chant after slogans, and do all kinds of things trying to receive the Holy Spirit. But these are all completely foolish and groundless acts. The Holy Spirit is not someone who comes into our hearts just because we beg Him desperately. On the contrary, those who teach so and who try to be filled with the Spirit in this way end up being filled with the Devil instead. When we contemplate on, believe in, and take the Word and the will of the Lord that have saved us, and when we serve the gospel, we can then finally be filled with the Spirit. But we must remember that praying in our own emotions, overdriving ourselves, and doing all kinds of weird things will only result in being filled with the spirit of the Devil.
The Fullness of the Spirit Is Real
In the preceding discussion, we have discussed what the fullness of the Spirit is, and I am sure you have full understanding on this topic. If we have a clear, intellectually sound understanding about the Spirit-filled life, we then take the Word with our hearts. We must hold onto the Word everyday, even if it is only a couple of passages. And we must ask ourselves what kind of the Word is necessary for our present circumstances, look for such Word, and then hold onto it in our hearts. This Word will then change our circumstances and transform our hearts. When this happens, our faith and hearts will mount up with wings like eagles, and run toward the will of the Lord without being weary, just as Isaiah 40:31 assures us, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” This is not just hypothetical, but it is real.
When we the born-again believe in the Lord in our hearts and serve Him, consider church gatherings as precious and participate in them, and unite our hearts for the spreading of the gospel, then our hearts become filled with the Spirit naturally. We live, in other words, always immersed and filled with the Holy Spirit even without any particularly special effort. But what about people who are not like this? When such people do not unite with the gatherings or works of the church, they gradually move away from the church and eventually end up blaming and leaving it.
For you and I not to leave the Lord, regardless of how our acts and reflections are, and regardless of how great or small our faith is, all that we have to do is just grab the Word of God by believing in it unconditionally. Why? Because the power of the Word of God belongs to those who grab the Word steadfastly. This is why it is very important to take the Word of God. Like this, we can be filled with the Spirit only when we live in this way.
We Must Not Be Drunk with the Wine of the World
Ephesians 5:18 states, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” The “wine” here refers to all the things of the world. If we lose our hearts to the things of the world, then we cannot be filled with the Spirit. The lust of the flesh obstructs the desires of the Spirit. We the born-again can live only when we are filled with the Spirit. But the fullness of the Holy Spirit requires that we take the Word, and, as such, it is only when we thus take the Spirit that our lives as the righteous become worthy.
Not doing so, if we instead live drunk with the world half the time and with the Spirit the other half the time, then there is no joy at all. Then, we would end up serving the gospel half-heartedly, and when we thus only go through the motion of doing the works of the Lord, not only do other souls remain unable to receive the remission of sin, but also our own lives of faith as the righteous become meaningless. This is why we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must live the Spirit-filled lives. Only then can we avoid leaving the Lord, and only then can we wholly receive the power that is found in this Word spoken by the Lord.
We Must Strive to Come Together with Psalms and Hymns
We must always believe in and live according to what Ephesians 5:19-21 tells us: “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
Indeed we must. If we do not believe in the Word of God, how can we thank Him for our salvation, and how can we live by our faith? Also, even if we have already received the remission of our sins, if we do not hold onto the Word of the Scriptures all the time, how can we live with our hearts filled with the Holy Spirit? Such things can never happen. On the contrary, in our lack of faith we will easily be discouraged by small things that happen in everyday life, and even if we are touched by the Spirit while at the church, when something happens back home, our hearts will lose strength in no time. You and I must live only by believing in the Word of God.
We must live by serving the gospel in our lives, by believing in and taking the Word and praying. The Holy Spirit will then automatically help you, guide you, hold you steady, give you power and blessings, enable you to do the works of the Lord, to follow Him, and to stand against the Devil, and make everything work. Once you know it, being filled with the Spirit is very easy. I hope that each and every one of you would believe in the Word of God wholeheartedly.
The Holy Spirit Works in the Believers in God’s Word
Contrary to what many people of today believe, the Holy Spirit does not come down while they just turn off all lights and cry out the name of the Lord incessantly. Why? Because the Holy Spirit always works in accordance to the Word.
To this very moment, I have never served the Lord in a big fuss. I have instead worked faithfully to the best of my abilities, believing in all the Word of the Lord in my heart and knowing His will. I do not try to achieve everything all at once either. Instead, I pray all the time, consult with other servants of God, and unite with them in one purpose, that is, serving the true gospel. When I reach a decision, I then make the necessary preparations, and to the best of my abilities I do the works of the Lord little by little. In no time, and without even realizing, I see that many things are then achieved. Preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit has also been done in this way so far, and the Lord has worked forcefully in this endeavor. The works of the Lord are not achieved by following the dictates of some emotional sentiments, but they are implemented rationally and coolly by following the Word of God and believing in it in our hearts. Everything else that comes after that is all taken care of by the Holy Spirit then.
When kids do wrongs, their parents usually treat them coldly until they truly admit their mistakes. When even a human parent do so, wouldn’t God the Holy Spirit rebuke us cold-heartedly when we go astray against the will of God? But, as soon as we repent of our wrongs, and thank God for perfectly saving the wrongdoers like us, He embraces and encourages us tenderly to keep on following His will.
What Must We the Spirit-filled Do?
The Lord tells us about the end of the age and the signs of the times, saying, “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” (Matthew 24:7). And he says that the Great Tribulation will soon follow these. It looks as though now is this time then, particularly when we look at natural disasters or the current political situation of the world. What is it, then, that we must do now? It is none other than obeying the Lord’s command to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit throughout the whole world.
We must then preach the gospel now, but we must do so by first asking God for the best possible method. We must not carry out this task tumultuously only with our strategy, strength and will, but the first thing that we must do is to pray to God to give us the faith and strength necessary to the spreading of the Lord’s gospel, to strengthen all His people, to bless us both in our spirits and flesh, to allow us to serve the gospel, and to fill us with the Holy Spirit.
When we thus do what is feasible for us and gradually expand the boundaries of our ministries, the Lord is pleased by us, and He will enable us to achieve great and many things in the future. Each of you will experience just how much our Lord actually holds and helps us, for we the righteous have already experienced for countless times that whenever we wanted to do something and prayed about it, it was actually fulfilled as intended. Does this then mean that we do such things out of our own strength? Of course not! In fact, we know nothing, but because God is pleased by what we do, we mount our challenge by faith, seeking His help, holding onto and taking the Word even more, and waiting in faith. One day, the Lord lets us to go to such and such places, and then we see that the workers and souls whom we have been looking for are waiting for us there.
For example, when we sought to preach the gospel overseas through literature, we needed people who could translate our books into different local languages. No matter how hard we looked, they were not easily found. But God made sure that the people whom we were looking for would have plenty of time to finish their training, and then had them ready for us when the time came.
We must realize that to follow the Lord and to be filled with the Spirit are not such difficult feats to achieve. We should realize that these things are very easy for those who have received the remission of sin, and that after thus receiving the remission of sin, God then works orderly, according to His Word, in the lives of those who believe in and take this Word. When we live immersed in the Word of God and His Church, the fullness of the Spirit comes about on its own accord.
What the born-again want is the fullness of the Spirit. Preach the Word and spread the gospel. You will then be filled with the Holy Spirit. When you serve the Lord with your hearts, you will be filled with the Spirit, and when you spread the gospel, you will also be filled with the Spirit. When you unite your hearts with the Church and live together, you can live a Spirit-filled life. This is very easy for those whose hearts are with the Church. But for those whose hearts are not united with the Church, there just is no way that they can ever be filled with the Spirit. Would the Holy Spirit come without any regard to the written Word of God? The Holy Spirit does not work outside God’s Church and the works of the gospel.
How to Be Spirit-filled
First, those who want to receive the Holy Spirit must, above all, know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and thereby receive the remission of their sins.
Second, they need to have a clear and consecrated faith in the truth that God gives the Holy Spirit to only those who have received the remission of sin, even now from the Apostolic Age and on (Acts 2:38).
Third, their hearts must turn away from the sin of not believing in the Word of the Bible and from their disbelief.
Fourth, to receive the Holy Spirit, their souls need to be taught with the concrete Word. They need to listen carefully to the blessed Word of being born again of water and the Spirit, and when needed more, they should share the gospel fellowship personally with the servants of God and receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will then make them believe in the Word of God in their hearts, be born again, and receive Him. But if they try to receive the Holy Spirit without any discernment by blindly giving prayers of repentance or trying to live a life of self-holiness, or if they unconditionally yearn after the Holy Spirit and attempt to receive Him through self-injurious and fanatical fasting or mountain prayers, they will only end up falling into great confusion.
We must remember that the Spirit of God is not given just because people want to receive Him on their own, but He comes to only those who are ready to receive Him. The Holy Spirit does not come to those who give mountain prayers, participate in a charismatic meeting, or pursue only gifts, all on their own. If you think that you received something akin to the gift of the Holy Spirit while participating in such meetings or from your own beliefs, there is something else that you must think of first. And this is whether or not there are sins in your hearts. If there are sins in your hearts, then you must realize that what you had received is not from the Holy Spirit, but from the Devil, and you must cast it out. We must first realize where and in whom the Holy Spirit truly works.
There is something that we must not forget in seeking to receiving the Holy Spirit. This is to believe equally in both the baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:15) and His blood of the Cross. The Holy Spirit is independent, but He comes only to those who believe in the baptism of Jesus Christ and the blood of the Cross as the remission of their sins. Like this, the Holy Spirit comes to and works in the lives of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit as their true salvation.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
When we look at the Bible, we can see that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are mentioned in several places. Representative of such lists of gifts are found in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and Ephesians 4:11. But today, we will look at the nine gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12.
1) The gift of the Word of knowledge: This is the knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel of the water and the Spirit that is hidden, in accordance to the special providence of God, in the Word of the Bible written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The ability to clearly explain and spread this gospel of the water and the Spirit is the very gift of the Word of knowledge.
2) The gift of the Word of wisdom: The gift of the Word of wisdom does not refer to human wisdom, such as one’s brightness or intellect. This gift of wisdom is the gift of solving the various issues raised by people by explaining the Word of the Bible with faith.
3) The gift of faith: The gift of faith is the gift of having action-oriented faith in the Word. This kind of gift is given when we hear the Word of God, and then believe in this Word with pure faith. The Holy Spirit works so that faith in the Word of God would rise in the hearts in the saints. With this gift, God also enable us to save people’s souls from their sins.
4) The gift of healing: Instead of trying to heal the sicknesses of the flesh, the saints must realize that God wants them to realize the will of the Lord first through their physical illnesses. He wants them to know the providence of God from their illnesses, to obey this providence, and to heal their spiritual illnesses first rather than the illnesses of the flesh. The Lord advises us to pray for the healing of the sick (James 5:14-15), and such prayer is a prayer that every saint can give.
5) The gift of the working of miracles: This refers to the power of faith that believes in and follows the Word of God. Miracles refer to the faith that believes in the Word of God that defies the laws of nature known to us in general. Such a faith of the saints enlivens and empowers their lives of faith, enabling them to bear even more fruits. God makes the saints act by faith.
6) The gift of prophecy: This is believing in the Word of God and spreading it on His behalf. Through the Old and New Testaments, God has already revealed to us His will and plan. So the true prophets can most certainly prove the correctness or fallacy of the prophecies of others through the already written Word of God. Therefore, those who do not spread the Word of God written in the Scriptures by faith are false prophets. The rightful prophecy is spreading the Word of God by faith. By preaching to people the written Word, the saints and servants of God must enable them to worship Him, and to edify, exhort, and comfort each other. Jesus Christ has given, along with His body, the Church, the gift of faith that believes in the Word to the servants of God.
7) The gift of discerning of spirits: The discerning of spirits is the ability to discern whether people have received the remission of their sins or not just by hearing what they say. For us who are now living in the end times, if we do not have this gift, we would then risk being deceived by the Devil (1 Timothy 4:1). With this gift, we can discern those who seek after and follow only the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and can distinguish the born-again from those who have not yet received the remission of sin and the Holy Spirit.
8) The gift of tongues: When it is said that the saints speak in tongues, it means that they speak the truth of the Kingdom of Heaven. When the saints are praying to God in a personal setting, it is possible for them to speak in tongues, which can be understood only by God. But rather than trying to speak in tongues, we must put more efforts into understanding the Word of the Bible. We must realize that we would rather speak five words with our understanding to teach others than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Corinthians 14:19).
9) The gift of the interpretation of tongues: This is the ability to teach the will of God for everyone’s understanding by interpreting the Word given by Him. This gift of the interpretation of tongues was given in the Early Church period for the sake of spreading the gospel, and now it can be found in the ministry of translating and interpreting the gospel teachings. If one can speak in local languages, he/she would need no interpreter, but those who face the barriers of the many languages of the world can work through interpreters.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). The fruits of the Spirit are manifested as shown in the above verse.
Love: Love is the heart of Jesus. All the commandments and laws of God can be summarized as “to love God and to lover each other.” But, we should remember that prior to our love for God, God first loves us unconditionally. His love is revealed in the Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Word that delivers everyone from sin and makes him/her God’s own child. Those who receive the love of God through the true gospel sufficiently can have the heart of Jesus, that is, the love.
Joy: This is the indescribably glorious joy that arises from the depth of our hearts when our souls are born again by believing in the salvation of the remission of sin. This is why Paul, having received the remission of sin, could be joyful even in prison, and the saints of the Early Church could also rejoice. There is joy in the hearts of the righteous who have received the remission of sin (Philippians 4:4).
Peace: Peace fills those who have received the remission of sin, which is invincible at any circumstances. There cannot be peace in the hearts of those who are afraid of God’s Judgment for their sins. But it is the peace of our minds that have received the remission of all our sins once for all, as white as snow, by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The gospel of the remission of sin enables us to overcome our fear of sins, and it gives us the conviction of salvation and strong courage. Also, those who bring peace are approved as the children of God (Matthew 5:9), enjoy the joy of having received the remission of sin (Proverbs 12:20), and live a righteous life (James 3:18).
Longsuffering: Starting with our faith in the Word of being born again and of the remission of sin given by God, and with the strength of His Spirit, we bear the fruits of longsuffering in all things. These fruits of longsuffering are found in the hearts of those who have been saved by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, and they can be attained from our long fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Kindness: Kindness refers to understanding others and kindly teaching them the Word of truth. This entails a heart that has compassion for other souls, just like the merciful grace of God that has saved sinners through the baptism of Jesus and the blood of the Cross.
Goodness: Goodness means being virtuous and decent. Matthew 12:35 states, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” For those who have become righteous before God, the fundamentals of their hearts are good and meek. So when we look at the people who have become righteous by faith, we can see their essential goodness and meekness in the depth of their hearts.
Faithfulness: Faithfulness refers to the faith that does not ever change under any circumstances but serves the gospel without fail. Faithfulness here entails “faith” and “loyalty.” Like this, only those who have received the remission of sin by believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit can be faithful to God.
Gentleness: Gentleness is a heart that completely understands others and that obeys the will of God. The gentle are the ones who pray even for their enemies who stand against them.
Self-control: Self-control refers to the ability to keep oneself under control. In particular, it refers to the ability to restrain, rein in, and control over the sinful and corrupted lusts of the flesh that run against the Holy Spirit. In other words, it means to live a life that is prudent, without self-indulgence, and under control. It goes without saying that we need self-control over bad things, but even when it comes to good things, we must always have self-control.
The Spirit-filled Life
We cannot live the Spirit-filled life by our own will or effort, but it is possible by Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20). We believe that our bodies have now become the instruments that are used to fulfill the will of Christ. Our minds have the thoughts of Christ, our will is ruled by the will of the Lord, and all our character and abilities are given to Him as offerings without any exception—living in this way is living a life that is filled with the Spirit. This is not a life of spiritual poverty, defeat and despair, but it is a life of constant victory, joy and affirmation that has the power to save the world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit (Romans 8; Acts 17:6). The characteristics of the Spirit-filled life can be summarized as the following.
It is a life that is always thankful for the joy of receiving the remission of sin (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7). It is also a life that pursues the righteousness of God. Those who rejoice with the will of the Lord are those who have been filled with the Spirit. Those who are overjoyed with the spreading of the gospel of the water and the Spirit are the ones whose lives are filled with the Spirit. Those who believe in, follow, and obey the written Word of truth lead their lives with the fullness of the Spirit.
The Results of Being Filled with the Spirit
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
• The faith of power: Those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit receive the right to become God’s children (John 1:12). The power that is given to us as the children of God is the power to overcome our sins and to carry out the will of God in this world. It is the authority to control over the demon-possessed and to save them with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is the authority to heal spiritual illnesses (Mark 16:18), to overcome the curses of Satan (Luke 10:19), to enter into Heaven (Revelation 22:14), and to live by believing in all God’s Word of promise (2 Corinthians 7:1).
• The faith of victory: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit that solves our problems. In this world and in our lives, there are countless problems that cannot be solved on our own (Zechariah 4:6-7). Even Christians cannot escape from the reality of the countless problems that life brings to them. But when we are filled with the Spirit, we can have such problems solved as the following and live a life of victory.
First, we can overcome the temptations of the world. The Holy Spirit enables us to decisively overcome and triumph over the temptations and enticements of sin that approach our hearts ceaselessly.
Second, we can solve the problem of death through the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Spirit, we can boldly overcome the endless fear and dread of death. Spirit-filled Christians can look toward the hope of Heaven and can more than overcome the problem of death (2 Corinthians 5:1).
Third, when we are filled with the Spirit, we can love, with the gospel of the water and the Spirit, even those whom we cannot possibly love on our own, and reach our happiness.
Fourth, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be freed from the life of curse brought by Satan. By believing in the remission of sin given by Christ and the fact that that we have now become His children, we can triumph, through the Holy Spirit, over the fear and terror brought by Satan.
Fifth, the Holy Spirit enables us to overcome all kinds of despair. When Elijah fell into despair, he regained his strength by hearing the voice of the Word of God, and when the disciples of Jesus fell into despair, they also rose up again by believing in the Word of God and only through the power of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, when we become filled with the Spirit by believing in the written Word of God, we, too, are more than able to rise up from the dejection and despair of our lives (John 14:16-18).
Above all, the Holy Spirit is the witness of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Like this, the greatest interest of a Spirit-filled saint is to live a life that witnesses the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not give us mystical gifts or transcendent experiences. If you think that the Holy Spirit led you into mystical experiences, then this is not the work of the Holy Spirit but of the Devil.
The Day of Pentecost, therefore, is the very birth date of the Church. In this light, the Spirit-filled Christians use all their strengths to plant God’s Church, to serve it and to expand it. The result of being filled with the Spirit is to live a life that testifies and serves the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by God.
Maintaining the Fullness of the Spirit Continuously
1) The born-again must cast aside their greed of the world. And they must take the Word of faith and truth (Ephesians 6:17).
2) Read and believe in the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12).
3) Gather together in the Church everyday (Hebrews 10:25).
4) Confess your sins and have faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit (Psalms 51:4-5, 11-13).
5) Follow the desires of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16).
6) Do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
7) Do not quench the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
8) Stay away from the hearts of the flesh, and believe in and spread the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit (Proverbs 4:23; Philippians 4:13).
9) Live a life that unites with God’s Church and spreads the gospel of the water and the Spirit at every opportunity. You will then be able to maintain a life that is always filled with the Spirit.
Put differently, to be Spirit-filled we have to receive the holy Spirit first, and to receive the Holy Spirit, we must first cast out our sins that weigh our hearts down. This is the utmost important condition to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 states, “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Proverbs 28:13 also states, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” To wash away our sins, we must first believe in the baptism of Jesus and His blood, and thereby be cleansed of all our sins.
We must believe in the power of the water baptism of Jesus and be baptized in faith. Matthew 3:16 states, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.”
Believers receive their baptism as the mark of their faith that believes that all the sins of the world were passed onto Jesus when He was baptized. Therefore, those who believe according to the Word of the Lord must be baptized. Let us never disobey God by refusing to be baptized, thinking of baptism only as a formality.
Of course, to be Spirit-filled, we must pray to God by believing in Him. Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
To all the saints gathered at the Mount of Olives just before His ascension, Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the Holy Spirit permitted by the Father. The saints obeyed His Word and accordingly gathered together and prayed in an upper room in Jerusalem, and when the Day of Pentecost arrived, suddenly the Holy Spirit filled them all, descending on them like a rushing mighty wind and divided tongues of fire.
There is something that we must pay particular attention here. This is the fact that while there had been 500 brothers who had heard the Word of the Lord and witnessed His ascension, there were only 120 who actually prayed to Him in obedience to His Word.
To maintain the Spirit-filled life, we must spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit incessantly.
In Matthew 7:11-12, our Lord said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things [the Holy Spirit] to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets [the core teachings of the Scriptures].”
Water must be flown; if it remains stationary in one place, it will corrupt eventually. Likewise, those of us who have received the grace of the Holy Spirit with the remission of sin must devote ourselves to spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
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