Subject 12 : The Faith of the Apostles Creed
● Sermon on the Holy Spirit 1 : How Can We Receive the Holy Spirit?
( John 7:37-39 )
“On
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out,
saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who
believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom
those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Is the Receiving of the Holy Spirit a Separate Experience to a Christian?
Most
Christians think that believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit
are two different things. This is why they are trying very hard to
receive the Holy Spirit. When most of the believers in Jesus are mired
in such confusion, how much frustration would God the Father have! The
only way for them to escape from so much confusion is to clearly know
the gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it.
Jesus
said in John 7:38, “He who believes in Me, out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.” The phrase “as the Scripture has said” means
that whoever believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can
receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of those
who believe that Jesus Christ came to this earth by the water and the
Spirit and has saved sinners from their iniquities.
When
one knows and believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the
Holy Spirit then flows in his/her hearts like a river. Jesus said that
anyone who thirsts should come to Him and drink. Those in whose hearts
the Holy Spirit flows like a river are the ones who have received truly
amazing blessings by believing in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. Like this, the Holy Spirit does not come as a separate
experience to those who believe in Jesus “as the Scripture has said.”
Those
who earnestly seek to receive the Holy Spirit believe that if they were
only to pray ardently and blindly, He would then come down upon them.
But such faith has nothing to do with the true gospel that enables us to
receive the Holy Spirit given by Jesus.
Thinking
that one can receive the Holy Spirit given by the Lord even as he/she
rejects or ignores the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not the
truth. Without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given
by Jesus, we cannot receive the Spirit of God. We cannot buy Him as we
buy goods with money. The Holy Spirit comes on us as a gift only when we
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Why
are people unable to have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their
hearts even as they believe in Jesus? The answer to this question is
found in the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord.
The
reason why Christianity has become so murky is because many have
misunderstood the Holy Spirit who, as described in Acts 2, came on the
Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. Most of them think that the Apostles
received the fullness of the Holy Spirit by earnest prayers.
Even
though Jesus does not give the Holy Spirit to those who are sinful,
there are still many people who persist in their stubbornness. When
those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit thirst
after this Holy Spirit and insist on their own obstinacy, demons
claiming to be Jesus then come into them, and they end up becoming
fanatics possessed by these evil spirits. Therefore, people must not try
to receive the Holy Spirit by force in their own stubbornness.
It
is very dangerous for someone who has not received the remission of sin
to ask for the Holy Spirit. We must realize that this is akin to asking
for what is only impossible.
The
Bible says that the authority of those who have received the remission
of sin is great. In John 20:23, Jesus said, “If you forgive the sins of
any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.” As such authority is given to those who have received the
Holy Spirit. Their authority is great, and their responsibility is also
great. Jesus told Peter, “I give you the keys to Heaven.” This is the
authority of none of than those who have received the remission of sin
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The
authority of those who have received the remission of sin and the Holy
Spirit into their hearts by believing in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit is truly amazing. They have the authority to lead people to the
way to Heaven as well to let them to be cast into hell. Therefore, if
the saints do not spread the gospel of the remission of sin to sinners
and leave them as they are, then they become the ones who leave these
sinners to their destruction. The authority to forgive people’s sins is
thus given to the saints.
We
give our thanks to God for guiding us into the gospel of the water and
the Spirit that has enabled us to receive the Holy Spirit. We have
received the Holy Spirit by believing in the baptism of Jesus and the
blood of the Cross as the remission of our sins. The gospel of the water
and the Spirit is the only true gospel that enables people to receive
the Holy Spirit.
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