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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