Subject 8 : The Holy Spirit
[8-1] The Holy Spirit Works Within God’s Word Of Promise (Acts 1:4-8)
(Acts 1:4-8)
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 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 ends of the earth.’”
Is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit a gift from God or is it given due to efforts on one’s own behalf?
It is a gift given to the person who receives the forgiveness of his sins, and contains the meaning of the fulfillment of God`s promise.
It is a gift given to the person who receives the forgiveness of his sins, and contains the meaning of the fulfillment of God`s promise.
Once I had the experience of receiving flames of something like the Holy Spirit through prayer. But these flames didn’t last long, and soon died out in the face of accumulated sin. However, now I want to show you the truth about the Holy Spirit, which will dwell in us for eternity, not through the false spirit easily extinguished by sin, but through the true gospel. The Holy Spirit I will now introduce to you through this message is not something that you can receive through prayers, but only through faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I want to lead you to receive [1]the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through this book. You will realize that the Holy Spirit inspires the message I’m delivering to you. It’s God’s absolute desire for us to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at this time. You can learn about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and receive it through this one book. If this book is not enough for you, I advise you to read the two books published by me previously. You will receive perfect faith before God through these books.
| 1The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of the born-again, who have been forgiven for all their sins by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Once He comes into a saint, He resides in him forever, and never leaves him as long as he believes in the gospel. He gives conviction to the saints, leads them to know God’s will in the Bible, strengthens them to overcome the temptations and difficulties inherent in this world, and lets them bear the fruits of the Spirit in abundance. God glorifies the body of the saint as the temple of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39, John 14:16, 16:8-10, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, Galatians 5:22-23). |
Many Christians are trying to receive the Holy Spirit as when He descended on Jesus’ disciples on the Day of the Pentecost. Some people have earned great sums of money by exploiting this method. They pretend that the Holy Spirit is something that can be obtained through human effort. They want to have visions, perform miracles, hear Jesus’ own voice, speak in tongues, heal diseases and cast out demons. However, they have sin in their hearts, and are under the influence of evil spirits (Ephesians 2:1-2). Even now many people continue to live without knowing that they are under the power of evil spirits. That is why Satan lures and deceives people using all kinds of methods such as wonders and miracles that are really just illusions.
Jesus ordered His disciples “not to depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). The receiving of the Holy Spirit revealed in Acts is not through “experience,” “devotion” or “prayers of repentance,” but through “waiting for God’s promise” to give the Holy Spirit to them. What we should learn from this passage is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit doesn’t happen through the desperate prayers of men. It is God’s gift, which can only be obtained through complete faith in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit, which the Father God and Jesus Christ gave to mankind. The true indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens through faith in the gospel that Jesus Christ gave us. God gave us truth of the water and the Spirit so that we could receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 3:3-5).
The phrase “the Promise of the Holy Spirit” appears many times in the New Testament. Peter says in his sermon (Acts 2:38-39) on the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, “It is God’s promise to give the Holy Spirit to those who receive the forgiveness of sins as a result of believing in the beautiful gospel.”
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a gift given to those who receive the forgiveness of their sins, and contains the meaning of the fulfillment of God’s promise. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament is not something that can be obtained through the compromise between God and men, but is a promised gift from God. Therefore, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as revealed in Acts, is not something that can be obtained through prayer (Acts 8:19-20).
The Holy Spirit comes upon only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Jesus gave us. Jesus promised His disciples to send the Holy Spirit so that they could have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). So, His disciples waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise.
By looking at the beliefs of those in the Bible who received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we realize that it happened not through their efforts but by the will of God. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit that came upon the disciples in Acts did not happen on the basis of human endeavor or spiritual achievement.
The coming of the Holy Spirit upon His disciples, as it was written in Acts, soon came true. It was just as Jesus had said, “not many days from now.” This was the first blessing at the time of the early church. By looking at the Scriptures, we can see that God’s promise was not fulfilled through fasting, prayers or self-sacrifice, but through faith in Jesus. After Jesus’ Ascension, believers received the forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the same time.
The Holy Spirit came on Jesus’ disciples suddenly from Heaven!
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). Jesus’ disciples gathered together as they waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise to send them the Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit finally came upon them.
“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat 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” (Acts 2:2-4).
The Holy Spirit came on them “suddenly from Heaven.” Here the word “suddenly” means that it was done not through human will. In addition, the phrase “from Heaven” explains where the Holy Spirit came from, and also counters the idea that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can be obtained through human will or effort. The phrase “from Heaven” shows that saying the Holy Spirit could be obtained through prayers is a fraudulent claim.
In other words, saying that the Holy Spirit came suddenly from Heaven means that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit does not happen through earthly means, such as speaking in tongues or self-sacrifice. Jesus’ disciples at first spoke in tongues to preach the beautiful gospel to the people from every nation. The reason for this was to allow them to preach the gospel to foreign language speaking Jews in their own language through the help of the Holy Spirit. People from every nation thought it strange that they heard the disciples’ speaking in tongues in their own languages, because most of the disciples were from Galilee.
“Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:3-4). Here we should pay special attention to the phrase, the Holy Spirit “sat upon each of them.” The disciples, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit in one place, already believed in the gospel of being born again of water and the Spirit.
Many Christians nowadays misunderstand this part of the passage, believing that the coming of the Holy Spirit occurs with a sound like the blowing of the wind while they are praying. However, this is a misunderstanding about the Holy Spirit that arises from ignorance and confusion. Does the Holy Spirit make such sounds when He comes upon people? No, He doesn’t.
What people hear with their ears are sounds that Satan makes when he devours people’s souls. He makes these sounds when he works with illusions, mimicking voices and false miracles in efforts to plunge people into confusion by pretending to be the Holy Spirit. People mistake these things for evidence of the coming of the Holy Spirit. People also think that the Holy Spirit comes with a “Suihhh~” sound like that of a mighty wind. They are being deluded by demons. The coming of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts was achieved only through faith in the beautiful gospel.
Peter’s faith (1 Peter 3:21) was perfect enough to allow him to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
By embossing the incidents of the first Pentecost in Acts 2, God wants to emphasize the truth that the Holy Spirit came on them because they already believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But people usually think of “Pentecost” as the time when the Holy Spirit comes down from heaven with some supernatural signs and tumultuous clamor.
That is why nowadays in revival meetings, it is believed that one can receive the Holy Spirit through frenetic prayers, fasting, or the laying on of hands. Phenomena such as demon possession, falling unconscious, falling into a trance for several days, or shivering uncontrollably are not works of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a rational Being and doesn’t disregard man’s personality. He does not behave insolently toward man because He is the Personal God who possesses intelligence, emotion and will. He comes on people only when they believe in the words of the gospel of the water and the Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Peter testified that the Holy Spirit had come upon the disciples as the prediction of the prophet Joel. It was the fulfillment of God’s promise, which said that the Holy Spirit would fall on those who receive the remission of their sins. In other words, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given to those who believe in the truth that Jesus was baptized by John and crucified in order to save all mankind from their sins. Peter’s sermon, along with Joel’s prophecy, shows us that we need to know why Jesus was baptized and why we must believe in it. Knowing this truth leads Christians to receive the Holy Spirit.
Do you believe in the beautiful gospel that Peter testifies to? (1 Peter 3:21) Or do you still have useless and superstitious beliefs irrelevant to the beautiful gospel? Do you try to receive the Holy Spirit through your own doing regardless of God’s plans? Even if someone believes in God and offers prayers of repentance in hopes of washing away their sins, there is no other way to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit other than by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Are you still waiting for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, despite having no knowledge of the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Do you know the true meaning of the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, which causes the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart? You should know that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is possible only when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The true indwelling of the Holy Spirit can be allowed only to those who believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. We thank God for giving us His gospel of the water and the Spirit, which lets us receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
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