Subject 12 : The Faith of the Apostles Creed
● Sermon on the Holy Spirit 4 : When Does the Holy Spirit Come?
( Acts 2:1-4 )
“When
the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place. 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.”
When Did the Holy Spirit Come to This Earth?
Now, I would like to explain how the Holy Spirit comes to people.
The
main passage of Acts 2 tells us that the Holy Spirit descended on the
disciples on the Day of Pentecost. Does this mean that they, who had
already received the Holy Spirit, received more fullness of the Spirit?
We must find out about this first.
Some
people claim that after believing in Jesus, we must once again receive
the Holy Spirit such as the phenomenon shown in Acts 2. We must ponder
upon this claim and examine how nonsense such a claim is.
As
a matter of fact, those who make such a claim do not know the truth
revealed in the Bible. We receive the Holy Spirit as a gift simultaneous
to the remission of sin that we receive when we believe in Jesus (Acts
2:38). How can we receive the Holy Spirit separately, only after a
considerable lapse from the time when we first believed in Jesus? Such
faith is not the correct faith. Even now, there are many people who,
despite believing in Jesus as their Savior, are yet to receive the
remission of sin that can wholly cleanse their hearts as white as snow.
These people are sinners, and therefore, the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in
them. You must realize that those who believe in Jesus in this way
believe in Him in vain. You must then also realize that the Holy Spirit
comes to only those who believe in Jesus within the true gospel and are
born again.
The
Holy Spirit was sent to this earth after the resurrection of Jesus.
When Jesus was on this earth in the New Testament’s time, the Holy
Spirit had not descended on the disciples yet. Jesus said, “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"
(John 7:37-38). And the Apostle John clearly interprets this, saying,
“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” (John 7:39).
Therefore,
it was only after His Ascension that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as He
had promised (John 16:7). Acts 1:4-5 backs this interpretation: “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.’” This
was true that the Holy Spirit had not yet come to this earth and into
the hearts of the disciples, up until the Day of first Pentecost in the
Early Church period.
To
whom, then, has Jesus given the Holy Spirit? He has given the Holy
Spirit to those who believe in His baptism and the blood of the Cross,
for this truth is the truth of the remission of sin. Jesus has given the
Holy Spirit only to the saints and the Apostles who believed in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the hallowed
Spirit of God. The word “holy” means “separated from sin.” Like this,
the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the hearts of sinners.
The
disciples of Jesus were the ones who had followed Him and heard His
Word while He was on this earth. They believed in Jesus as their own
Savior and Lord who blotted out all their sins with His baptism and
death on the Cross. The disciples also heard all that Jesus told them
when He appeared before them after His resurrection: “You shall be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.” They believed that all their sins were
passed onto Jesus when He, coming to this earth as their Savior, was
baptized. Because Jesus was their Savior, He was baptized, shouldered
the sins of the world, was crucified and died on the Cross, and thereby
saved them perfectly from all their sins. Those who likewise believe
together with the disciples in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
have received the Holy Spirit as a gift.
We Receive the Holy Spirit as a result of Believing in the Gospel of the Water and the Spirit
Human
beings can receive the Holy Spirit as a gift by believing in the gospel
of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in other words, is a gift
of God that He gives only those who have been forgiven of their sins.
Let’s assume for a moment that I gave a pair of sunglasses to someone as
a gift, saying, “Enjoy your summer vacation! This is a small expression
of my thanks for your help.” If this person were to say to me, “I only
have $10 right now, but here, have it for now,” what would all this
mean? It would mean that the sunglasses were not a gift but a good he
just purchased. A gift is something that is given freely, 100 percent.
If we had paid a price for it, no matter how small, then it is not a
gift at all.
Because
the Holy Spirit is given only to those have received the remission of
sin, when people’s sins disappear from their hearts by believing in
Jesus, the Spirit of God then simultaneously and automatically comes
into their hearts.
In
short, the Holy Spirit is given to the born again the same time they
truly believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Jesus has
perfectly saved those who believe that Jesus accepted all the sins of
our entire lifetime passed onto Him when He was baptized, and that He
bore all the punishment of sins by shouldering all our sins and all the
worldly sins of mankind and being crucified. It is to those who believe
in this that Jesus Christ gives the Holy Spirit as a gift.
Because
the Spirit of God is a gift given to those who have received the
remission of sin, all that people have to do is just accept Him. Because
the Holy Spirit is a gift given to any saint who has received the
remission of sin, He dwells in the hearts of the saints. Those who have
the Holy Spirit in their hearts have the witness of the Word to the
remission of their sins.
The
Holy Spirit does not come in a hot and electrifying sensation. Nor is
He felt emotionally. Far less does the Holy Spirit descend in the state
of complete absence of ego as demons are summoned by witchcraft. Because
the Bible says, “Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of
fire, and one sat upon each of them,” some of you may think and claim
that a certain feeling arises when the Holy Spirit descends on you.
However, you must know that such an experience is nothing to do with the
Holy Spirit, but is merely the sign of being demon-possessed.
There
used to be a professor at a seminary who claimed that when the Holy
Spirit descends, He descends through the electrified hands. But this is
not how the real Holy Spirit descends. You must therefore realize that
if there is any spirit that comes into you like this, then this is not
the Holy Spirit. Some people mistake demons descending on them as the
Holy Spirit. They misunderstand and misbelieve these demons to be the
Holy Spirit. When demons come in, people can feel them, but the Holy
Spirit cannot be felt. The Holy Spirit quietly descends on us, together
with the remission of sin, when we believe in the gospel Word of the
water and the Spirit.
Absolute
majority of today’s Christians have not been born again by the gospel
of the water and the Spirit even as they believe in Jesus somehow. They
are still trying to receive the Holy Spirit after a few and even more
years since they first believed in Jesus. But, you must realize it is
wrong to try to receive the remission of sin and the Holy Spirit
separately after believing in Jesus. Trying to receive the Holy Spirit
separately after believing in Jesus, they climb up some mountain and
pray, and do all kinds of crazy things in church, crying and wailing.
These are all symptoms of the demon-possessed.
If
we cannot receive the remission of sin once for all when we believe in
Jesus, then we cannot receive the Holy Spirit separately later on. If
people try to receive the Holy Spirit separately afterward without the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, they will be possessed by demons
instead. Often, when people go to such places as prayer houses and
fervently pray to God to give them the Holy Spirit, they do receive
something. But what they receive is not the Holy Sprit, but demons that
feign to be the Holy Spirit. You must realize that such happenings are
frequent, and that you cannot try to receive the Holy Spirit without the
gospel of the water and the Spirit.
To
lead a biblically sane life of faith, one must believe in the gospel
Word of the water and the Spirit. First of all, receive the remission of
all your sins by the faith in the true gospel! You will then receive
the Holy Spirit as a gift. When Jesus has blotted out our sins of the
world with His water and blood, if you remain ignorant of this and only
pray ardently to receive the Holy Spirit, you will then end up being
seized by demons.
People
misunderstand the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and just believe
that Jesus has blotted out their sins only with the blood of the Cross.
What would have happened had Jesus died on the Cross without first
accepting all our sins passed onto Him through His baptism?
The
Old and the New Testaments match with each other perfectly. In the Old
Testament, sins were passed by laying hands on the head of a sacrificial
animal. Likewise, God made Jesus take upon the sins of the world by
being baptized by John. Had John not passed the sins of the world to
Jesus through baptism, these sins would have still remained as they
were, even until now. This is why like the Old Testament’s laying on of
hands, Jesus Christ had to take upon all the sins of the world by being
baptized by John, the representative of mankind, prior to His being
crucified. It was because Jesus Christ was baptized by John that He
could go to the Cross and shed His blood.
Everyone
must all believe in Jesus, who has blotted out the sins of the world
with His baptism and blood, and he/she must thereby be remitted of all
his/her sins. Only when one’s sins are remitted can he/she receive the
Holy Spirit. If someone still has sin in his/her heart even as he/she
believes in Jesus, then the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in this person’s
heart.
We Can Receive the Holy Spirit Only When We Have the Righteousness of God
The
remission of sin and the Holy Spirit are not received separately. Those
who are ignorant of this do not know the whole truth, and so they go to
prayer houses or other such places, fast and pray. What do they do when
they become too weak to finish that fasting? They think about Jesus’
crucifixion and bear with their hunger, saying to themselves, “My hunger
means nothing compared to Jesus’ crucifixion!” There are many such
people who are trying desperately to receive the Holy Spirit while
living their spiritual lives with their sins remaining intact in their
hearts.
What
you must know clearly is that fasting per se is not what is important.
What is truly important is to know and believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit given by God and thereby have all your sins be
remitted by faith. God wants you to know and believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit more than to pray and fast with devotion. Why?
Because this is what would bless you.
If
someone prays, “Lord, give me the Holy Spirit,” does the Holy Spirit
then come to this person even when his/her heart still remains sinful?
How can the hallowed Holy Spirit dwell in the hearts of the sinful? Only
demons can dwell in such hearts of the sinful. Demons make the hearts
of the sinful their houses, while the Holy Spirit makes temples out of
and dwells eternally in the hearts of those who have received the
remission of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the
blood of Jesus Christ.
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