Subject 12 : The Faith of the Apostles Creed
● Sermon on the Holy Spirit 3 : The Essential Qualification To Be the Apostles
( 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 end of the earth.’”
In
God’s plan of salvation, the ministries of Jesus were absolutely
required. The contents of these ministries were the baptism that Jesus
received from John, His shouldering of the sins of the world and death
on the Cross, and His resurrection. A promise was made between God and
us that He would give the Holy Spirit as a gift to those who believe in
this truth. The Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who have been
forgiven of their sins is a gift that is permitted only to those who
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit exactly as set by God.
Acts
1:4 says, “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.’” Jesus commanded the
Apostles, “To receive the promised Holy Spirit, do not leave Jerusalem
but wait.” Jerusalem refers to the Church of God spiritually, where the
gospel of the water and the Spirit is found. Therefore, God commanded
the saints of the Jerusalem Church to stay in the Church to receive the
Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Is the Gift to the Born-Again
The
Apostles continued to hear the Lord’s promise that He would send the
Holy Spirit to them. Acts 1:5 states, “for John truly baptized with
water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from
now.”
We
must realize that the Bible tells us that the faith of those who have
received the Holy Spirit is not a result of their own acts or deeds, but
it is a result of believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
(Acts 2:38, 3:19). In other words, whether we can receive the Holy
Spirit or not is absolutely depended on God’s established promise, and
not on our own efforts or any spiritual achievements.
As written in the Four Gospels, the Holy Spirit comes inevitably to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
The
Spirit of God “is a gift permitted to those who believe in the
remission of sin given by Jesus.” We can reaffirm in quite a many
phrases in the Bible that the Holy Spirit descends on those who believe
in the gospel of the baptism of Jesus and His blood. Those who have
received the Holy Spirit in the Bible are the ones who believe in the
gospel of the water and the blood as their remission of sin.
But
from the main passage above, we can see that the power of this Holy
Spirit is not for the flesh, but for world mission. “You shall be
witnesses to Me.” The purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in
other words, is to make us Jesus’ witnesses. And for us to become His
witnesses means to become His workers who preach the gospel of the water
and the Spirit for the rest of our lives. The saints already belong to
the Holy Spirit and they are His servants. The Holy Spirit works with
the gospel of the water and the blood. This is the power of the true
gospel.
When
we take a close look at the account on the first Pentecost in Acts 2,
we can find that that the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the disciples
was for them to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by
Jesus. In the ministries of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of His coming
must be found in the spreading of the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
When
it comes to the “Day of Pentecost,” Christians generally associate it
with chaos, set loose the very moment the Holy Spirit. They associate it
with the kind of gatherings where some people are lying on the ground,
some are muttering something to themselves in strange tongues, while
still the others are shaking uncontrollably with their hands as if they
were shocked by electricity. But this is not the work of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not work like this. He works only with and
within God’s Word, especially with the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
Do
you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that enables you
to receive the Holy Spirit? Or are you still seeking after man-made
methods to receive the Holy Spirit? Does the Holy Spirit come when
people repent their sins with their prayers of repentance, or when they
abandon their idols? Do we receive the Holy Spirit by praying?
What
truly enables us to receive the Holy Spirit is the gospel that came
about by the baptism and blood of Jesus. There is no other way but to
know the gospel of the baptism and blood of Jesus, the gospel that
allows us to receive the Holy Spirit given by God, and to believe in and
accept this gospel into our hearts.
The
descending of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was the
fulfillment of the Word of prophecy given through the Prophet Joel (Joel
2:29). And God gives the Holy Spirit to those who, now in this age,
believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes
to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the
Truth that Jesus has at has blotted out all the sins of the entire world
through His baptism, His blood on the Cross, and His death and
resurrection. You, too, will surely receive the Holy Spirit as a gift
when you believe in the gospel of the water and the blood.
What Kind of Gospel Did Jesus’ Disciples Believe?
The
disciples were the ones who believed in the baptism and blood of Jesus
as the pivotal elements of their salvation. Why? The reason is well
described in the passage from Acts 1:21-26. When the Apostles selected
another Apostle to replace Judas, they selected someone who believed
that Jesus’ baptism through which He took upon all the sins of mankind.
In other words, having faith in Jesus’ baptism was the most important
qualification for the disciples to be the supplementary Apostle. Of
course, they had to believe in the truth that Jesus was the Son of God
and had become the Savior of sinners. Here, we can know the faith of the
Apostles. In short, the disciples of Jesus believed in His whole public
ministries: His baptism, crucifixion, death on the Cross, and
resurrection. Like this, to become an Apostle, one had to believe that
Jesus had received baptism from John the Baptist to take the sins of the
world onto His body.
To
become His disciples in this last age, we, too, have to believe in the
truth of the water and the Spirit. If people ignore any single element
of Jesus public ministries—His being Godhood, His baptism through which
He took upon the iniquities of sinners (Matthew 3:15), His bloodshed on
the Cross, and His death and resurrection, then they cannot become His
disciples. Do you believe in Jesus while ignoring His baptism? Then, you
cannot receive the remission of sin, but will be destroyed as a sinner
instead. For all of us to become Jesus’ disciples, we must believe in
the baptism that He received and in the blood of the Cross.
To
those who have the same knowledge of truth as the Apostles of God had,
He has filled them with the Holy Spirit. We also can receive the Holy
Spirit when we have faith in Jesus who received the baptism from John
the Baptism, died on the Cross, and was resurrected from the dead in
three days.
Before
the advent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples
had been weak and cowardly. But when God poured the Holy Spirit on them
as He had promised to the Prophet Joel, they all became strong and bold
to preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit publicly.
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