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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(11) - Division of Spirit (8) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 1:1 |
Date |
2009-10-16 |
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Scripture
Genesis 1:1
[1] In the beginning God created heavens and the earth
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 11th Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, I explained the names of God the Son.
I also explained the difference between focusing on the outward form and focusing on the heart.
I also talked about the words which are the prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming of the Holy Spirit
Among them, Ezekiel 36:26-27 clearly explains what kind of ministry will be done by the Holy Spirit who will come into the heart of believers.
It says that the Holy Spirit will "remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh," and "cause you to walk in the statutes, and you will be careful to observe the ordinances."
"Removing the heart of stone from your flesh and giving you a heart of flesh" means that the Holy Spirit will help you cultivate your heart.
Along with this, helping the children of God keep the ordinances of God is the most important work of the Holy Spirit.
When God the Son was separated from God the Origin, He was given a duty as "the Savior."
Likewise, when the Holy Spirit was separated, He was given a duty as "the Spirit that helps."
In other words, He was separated from God the Origin to help those who become God's children by believing in Jesus Christ.
Tonight, I will introduce the names that refer to such roles and attributes of the Holy Spirit.
First of all, there is name that emphasizes His role as "the Spirit that helps," which is His original duty.
It is "the Helper."
"The Helper" means that He is the One who protects and helps the believers.
Our Jesus was also played a role of the Helper" when He was on this earth.
Jesus said in John 14:16, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever."
As Jesus was saying that God would send the Holy Spirit, He referred to Him as "another Helper."
It is because Jesus was also playing the role of "the Helper."
In addition, Jesus said in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
Jesus explained what kind of work the Holy Spirit would do who would come as the Helper.
He said that the Holy Spirit would teach all things and bring all that Jesus said to remembrance.
All that Jesus said is the truth.
It is in this way that the Holy Spirit teaches us in truth, and leads us into the truth.
It is because the truth itself is the attribute of the Holy Spirit just as 1 John 5:6 says, "...because the Spirit is the truth."
There is a name that emphasizes this attribute of the Holy Spirit; it is "the Spirit of truth" as in John 14:17.
Jesus said, "That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
God the Holy Spirit was separated from God the Origin who is the word itself.
I told you that God the Holy Spirit separated with the same heart, mind, thought, wisdom, and power of God the Origin.
It is the same with the Holy Spirit who is the divided entity of God the Holy Spirit.
People of the world can neither see, know, nor receive the Holy Spirit.
However, the children of God who are forgiven of sins by believing in Jesus Christ know the Holy Spirit.
It is because the Holy Spirit Himself dwells in their hearts.
Now, I'm going to tell you how the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of wisdom, works as the Helper.
First, the Holy Spirit helps the children of God to be assured of the love of God the Father.
Romans 5:5 says, "...the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
This is the way the Holy Spirit lets the children of God realize the love of God the Father all the time.
And He makes them firmly bound in love with God the Father.
However, until the children of God properly realize the love of God the Father, the Holy Spirit works so hard.
Romans 8:26-27 says, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
The Holy Spirit treasures the children of God who have been bought with the blood of Jesus so much.
And so, He takes care of them so delicately so as not to lose a single soul from among them.
If there are souls who are like a smoldering wick, He keeps on pleading with God to revive the souls.
He asks for God's mercy and kindness for the souls in even greater mourning and compassion than the souls themselves.
In addition, the Holy Spirit pours the spirit of repentance upon the souls who are too weak to turn back from sin.
He helps them realize deeply once again just how great the love really is that God has given them through Jesus Christ.
In other words, He helps them remember the love and turn back from sin.
The Holy Spirit knows well the weakness of souls.
Through the moving inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He helps those with weak hearts.
The original duty of the Holy Spirit is to move the hearts of souls to repent in this way, and to change their hearts to love God the Father.
It is the most important and greatest duty.
Because of this duty, when the Holy Spirit was separated from God the Origin, the quality of His humanity was emphasized more than His divinity.
This is to understand the hearts of the souls better and to help them in their situations.
The Holy Spirit is fair and of just. However, at the same time He comforts the hearts of souls with much mercy, kindness, gentleness, virtue, and love.
Through this kind of work of the Holy Spirit, the children of God can feel and learn the love of God all the more deeply.
As they come to love God all the more in their hearts, they can try harder to live by the word of God.
This is the first role of the Holy Spirit who works within our hearts.
Second, the Holy Spirit makes the children of God His voice, and supervises their hearts to lead them into the truth.
In John 16:13, Jesus said, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth."
Then, how can the voice of the Holy Spirit are heard
The Holy Spirit as a being of personality who dwells in your heart tells you about something concrete, or reminds you of the word of God who is the truth.
These things can be heard in your heart.
For example, in a certain situation, the Holy Spirit reminds of the word of God such as "Give to those who ask," "Love your enemy," and "Those who serve are the greatest."
Or, He can remind you of the word of the truth that you heard during a worship service.
In other situation, the Holy Spirit tells you in detail what to do and what to speak.
For example, Acts 8:29 says, "Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot.""
At that time there was a eunuch in the chariot who was of great authority and in charge of all the treasure of Ethiopia.
The Holy Spirit knew it and made Philip preach the gospel to the eunuch.
Then, what does it mean by "being inspired of the Holy Spirit?"
It is for the Holy Spirit who dwells in you to let you have a thought of "doing something" in your heart.
He lets you have a thought like "I feel like praying," "I feel like fasting." Or "I'd like to help someone."
He also lets you think "This way is more beneficial to the kingdom of God" as you decide something.
As in Acts 16:6, Apostle Paul was "forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia," he was being influenced by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Then, what is it to be "guided by the Holy Spirit?"
When you obey the voice of the Holy Spirit that you hear, or act upon what you had been inspired by the Holy Spirit, it is to be "guided by the Holy Spirit."
Say, you have a wish to receive an answer, and you strongly feel like giving vowed prayer for a certain period of time.
If you think "Ah, it is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit," and obey it with all your heart and strength, it is being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Likewise, to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit is generally called "to communicate with the Holy Spirit."
By the way, the level of communication with the Holy Spirit can vary to the extent you cultivate the truth in your heart.
Let's say, no matter how great a mathematics professor someone is, when he teaches elementary school students, he can teach only the level that they can understand.
The same goes with foreign language teachers.
Even if they know a foreign language very well, they teach only at the level proper for the students they teach.
They speak the foreign language only at the level the students can understand, and the students can answer only to the extent that they can understand.
The same applies to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and to receive the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit in communication with Him.
The Holy Spirit teaches only what you can understand, and guides only to the extent that you can hear and obey.
Therefore, to hear His voice and receive His guidance, it is important to hear and read and understand the word of God who is the truth, and cultivate it in your heart.
The Holy Spirit supervises the truth that is in the heart of souls.
Therefore, you cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit to the extent you have untruth in your heart.
Those who have more untruth than truth in their hearts can hear the voice and guidance of Satan better than the voice and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
However, those who obey even the least voice of the Holy Spirit right away can change their hearts into truth quickly.
Through the deeds of obeying the truth, their faith can grow up.
On the other hand, even though they hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, if they don't recognize it, or if they don't obey it, spiritual change cannot take place in them.
They cannot go into deeper levels of spiritual realm, and they will stagnate.
I urge all of you to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit and come into spirit and whole spirit all the more quickly.
Thirdly, the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit that helps can teach the children of God as if He were a personal tutor; He can also instruct them in something or tell them about the future.
For example, Luke 2:26 says, that the Holy Spirit let Simeon know that he would not see death before he had seen and had the Lord Christ revealed to him.
In addition, our Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 12:11-12, "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
A case is found in Acts Chapter 4 that proves these words.
After Peter and John healed a man who had been lame from his mother's womb, when they preached the gospel, the number of the men who believed the gospel came to be about 5,000.
As the number of believers grew up, the priests and rulers and elders put the apostle in jail.
Then, those who were of high-priestly descent gathered and criticized the apostles, saying, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?"
Then, Acts 4:8-9 says, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people,
if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well.'" Apostle Peter boldly proclaimed that Jesus is the only Christ.
He said, as in Acts 4:10-12, "let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
In this way, as the Holy Spirit had him speak, the Apostle Peter boldly proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ.
Now, how would those who arrested Peter and other apostle react?
Acts 4:13-14 says, "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply."
Likewise, if you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, you can courageously preach the gospel no matter how threatening the situation is in flesh.
The examples are the speech of Deacon Stephen as in Acts Chapter 7, and the testimonies of Apostle Paul as in Acts Chapter 22 and 26.
As you may know from having read it, even before the eyes of Jews who were blood thirsty, Stephen courageously preached the gospel.
Apostle Paul, even though he was arrested, also preached about Jesus Christ he met before the governor of Rome and the king of Judah.
Stephen and Apostle Paul could do it not with their personal wisdom and ability.
They could boldly do it with the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if you find it difficult to speak before people because you have no speaking ability, or you are introverted, don't worry about it.
If you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, you too can boldly preach the gospel just as Stephen and Apostle Paul did.
It is not you who does it; you should let the Holy Spirit who dwells in you do it.
Dear brothers and sisters.
The Holy Spirit can also tell you about the future.
Jesus said in John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."
It is only God the Father who knows what will happen in the future.
Sometimes God the Father tells His children, who are pure in their hearts, about the things of the future.
Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel To His servants the prophets."
Since the Holy Spirit shares the same heart with God the Father, He also knows about the things of the future.
Therefore, those who can clearly communicate with the Holy Spirit can know about the future.
The prophecies that were made in this church have been precisely fulfilled, since it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled will surely be fulfilled when the time that God has set comes.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Fourthly, as the Spirit that helps, the Holy Spirit gives gifts and power appropriately according to the vessel of each man.
A gift is the gift of grace that is given for free. Nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.
They are the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, gift of faith, gifts of healing, the effecting of miracles, gift of prophecy, the distinguishing of spirits, gift of various kinds of tongues, the interpretation of tongues.
These are the gifts of God. As a seeker prepares a proper vessel of heart, the gift can be given either temporarily or permanently.
However, the power of God is in a different level.
Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
This "Power of God" is like a double edged sword, and it is only permitted to those who can use it in goodness.
Once a person is given this power of God, he can revive the dead and even change the weather.
Spiritually enormous power and authority follow you.
Such power should be used only by the will of God.
If it is used by selfish motives even a little bit, the world will become extremely chaotic.
Therefore, the power of God can be given only to those who can perfectly obey the will of God.
In addition, this power cannot be given unconditionally even to those who can completely obey in goodness.
It can be given only when they have piled up countless fervent prayers.
Those who love souls like our Lord loves them, and those who are devoted to the kingdom of God, desperately need the power of God.
They realize that that "the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power."
Therefore, they can have no other alternatives but to fervently seek after the power.
When their prayer of love and prayer of faith reach the level that has been set by justice, God can finally grant the power to them.
Once this power of God is given, it is permanent.
It is possible because this power can be given to the people of spirit that will never change in their heart.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, I will tell you about the final name that refers to the Holy Spirit.
It is "the Spirit of His Son" as in Galatians 4:6.
It says, "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!""
Here, "His Son" refers to God the Holy Spirit.
Just like God the Son, the Holy Spirit was also separated from God the Origin.
Since this first division of the Spirit, God the Origin became God the Father, and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit became His Sons.
Therefore, the most fundamental title of God the Holy Spirit is "the Son of God the Father" as I explained in the 3rd Genesis Lecture.
And I said "the Spirit of His Son" refers to the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit.
However, there is another reason that the Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of His son."
Galatians 4:6 says, "Because you are sons."
It means that the believers are all the children of God; they are sons of God.
John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him (received Jesus as the Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name."
As said, once you become a child of God, you can call God 'Father.'
However, in order to call God "Abba, Father" in a perfect way, you should come into the whole spirit and become His true child.
Those true children who come into the whole spirit can confidently call God 'Father,' and they can also call Him "Abba, Father" in a better intimacy.
Like this, the Holy Spirit teaches us in truth until we come into the whole spirit and become true sons and daughters.
He helps us to understand the heart of God the Father and resemble Him.
Like this, focusing on the work of the Holy Spirit who brings up the children of God to become true sons, the bible calls the Holy Spirit "the Spirit of His son."
In the next lecture, I will start to explain how God the Trinity created spiritual beings that are necessary for the spiritual realm.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
It's taken quite a while to explain how God the Origin was divided into God the Trinity.
However, I believe that you have now come to understand the roles and duties of God the Trinity very well.
How faithfully and without taking a rest God the Trinity has been working from the time before the Creation till now!
David sings in Psalm 36:5 that "God's faithfulness reaches to the skies."
He also sings in Psalm 121:4, "Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."
For a very long period of time, God the Trinity have been managing their respective roles and duties faithfully without changing.
They have done it only to acquire the true children with whom They can share true love.
Therefore, I ask all of you to circumcise your heart faithfully without changing.
And then, may you come before God the Father as a true child who becomes pleasure to Him, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen] |
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