Sermon(Rev 22:1-5): Holy Spirit and Christians

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025251406

 

 

 

Scripture reading:

>> 1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystall, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; 4 they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5)<<

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Truth has universality. The love here and the love in heaven are not particularly different from each other. The love of God and man is the same here and in heaven. Of the truths about God, what is beneficial to man is that he is love, and this love of him gives eternal life to us. Today's biblical text well illustrates the life of believers in heaven. However the life in heaven and the life here on earth lie in the same line. Therefore if we understand the text of the Bible well, we can live now on earth tasting the kingdom of heaven.

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The theme of today's words of Bible is the lively life of the Christians who have received the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God the Father and of God the Son. He came from the Son as well as from the Father, and does the work of creation, preservation, sanctification and salvation. (This is about the Trinity, which I've explained in detail in >창조주 하나님(God the Creator): https://blog.naver.com/stevision/221747893118 < This Holy Spirit proceeded from (came from or occurred from) the Father and the Son, and is in the world and is performing the work of creation and salvation Himself. The v. 1 shows this symbolically well. "Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystall, flowing from the throne of God (the Father) and of the Lamb (the Son). (Rev 22:1)" Here 'the river of the water of life, bright as crystall' symbolizes the Holy Spirit. And the throne is not two separate seats but one seat. (I'd like to interpret the verse like that.) It implies that the Father and the Son are one (or one substance). This means that the sending of the Holy Spirit (into the world) is a joint action of the Father and the Son. As the crystalline clean water of life gives life to all creatures, so the Holy Spirit gives life to them.

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In a word, the characteristics of the Holy Spirit are >clear as crystal< and >water of life<. My brethren, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. Truth is the state of 0% of falsehood. Brethren, the Holy Spirit never lies. on the contrary, Devil has no truth in himself. Devil deceives people and distorts the truth to distract and seduce the people. But the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, is crystal-like. He whose heart the Devil has occupied lies always. Some Christians tell lies to and practice deception on the world, and say that they do so for the profit of the church. It was never done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never uses lies and deceptive deeds in order to prosper the church. Falsehood corrupts man's conscience and the church. This is the work of Devil. All works of falsehood will be consumed in the flames later at the day of the judgment of Jesus. They will never do you good! All works done in falsehood will turn out to be vanity. But all the works of the Holy Spirit are transparent. When the Holy Spirit comes upon a man, he will speak truth and act honestly. Christians in whose heart the Holy Spirit resides show a clear heart like crystal. If the Holy Spirit is in the church, the church becomes a congregation of saints that is clear like crystal. The church where the Holy Spirit dwells is honest, clear and transparent even in the eyes of the people of the world. Of course, it won't look so if they misunderstand it one-sidedly. Jesus said, "Be wise as serpents. (Mt 10:16)" You must not mistake this word as "You can tell lies like serpents if necessary." It is a true wisdom for the church to be innocent as doves (Mt 10:16). The dove represents the Holy Spirit. As you expected, there is fullness of purity where there is the Holy Spirit. It's a problem indeed these days that the church does not look so innocent in the eyes of the people of the world. 95% of the responsibility for that lies with the clergy. They live so because they are not full of the Holy Spirit but of greed. Janglos (elders), could you have offered up so much money if you had earned that money honestly and without lies? Could you have bought such luxurious cars for the money you earned honestly? Can you tolerate the excessive luxury of some pastors if you offer up the money you've made honestly? Think about it, reflect on yourselves. Please offer up money that you've earned in a clean conscience!

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The Holy Spirit is life itself. So there must be life activities where the Holy Spirit is. Have you seen the Holy Spirit work on the stone? He does not do it. The Holy Spirit is the water of life. The common element of all living creatures is the water. Water must be present always where the life-phenomena occur. Likewise, all living beings receive life from the Holy Spirit whether they know it or not, whether they acknowledge it or not.

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My brethren, who are Christians? Those with the name of Jesus on their foreheads are Christians. This means that they acknowledge themselves as Jesus' possession. Just as the owner of the cattle claims the ownership on the cattle by branding them, so Jesus inscribed his name on the foreheads of the saints. (They have spiritual inscription on their foreheads.) Christians are those who believe in Jesus as their Savior and who willingly obey his commandments. on the forehead of him who thinks, 'I am mine,' is his own name. This man, though going to church every day, is not a Christian. The Holy Spirit, who is like crystal clear water, comes upon those on whose foreheads Jesus' name is inscribed. Isn't it natural for Jesus to send the Holy Spirit to someone on whose forehead his (Jesus') name is inscribed? He who sends the Holy Spirit is Jesus, so anyone who pursues truth and life must inscribe Jesus' name on his forehead. Is there anyone who really wants to be freed from the disgusting falsehood and to enjoy the truth, or to be freed from the perpetual death threats and fears and to enjoy the peaceful and abundant life? You must believe in Jesus as your God and Savior, and receive the Holy Spirit he sends to you.

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When the Holy Spirit comes upon us Christians, the phenomena of life take place, for the Holy Spirit is life. When the Holy Spirit works in us, cure of disease takes place. The Holy Spirit is one who restores all nations. My brethren, do you suffer from any physical (and mental) diseases? Receive humbly the Holy Spirit, the Life, into your heart, and try to receive his healing power. If you live in Jesus, and if Jesus' name is on your forehead, the Holy Spirit will work in you and heal all your dirty diseases so that you can live in healthy body and spirit. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of creation. Even if a new and terrible illness occurs in this earth, it can't hinder the healing of the Holy Spirit who is the life itself. The Holy Spirit can cure all the new diseases. Some diseases are cured immediately when the Holy Spirit comes into a man. Dirty mental diseases are that kind. Some people have brain disorders that cause mental illness. This mental illness can be cured by drugs. If a computer program has logic errors, it doesn't work as expected. If you eliminate such bugs from the program, the program will work normally. Human mind, too, has a kind of logic structure, so it shows an abnormal function if the logic structure has bugs. Such a disease can be cured through psychiatric counseling. But some mental illness results from the distortion and destruction of liking. In most cases, Devil seizes the mind of a man and makes him love dirty things. Necrophilia, Homosex, zoophilia - all these mental diseases occur when the filthy Devil occupies man's mind. (Hey gays, you're sufferers of filthy mental disease!) These mental diseases can be cured only if the filthy Devil, the dark power, retreats. If the crystal-like Holy Spirit comes, such filthy Devil will run away immediately. Because the Holy Spirit is the God. My brethren, do you want to have clean and healthy body and spirit? Believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit!

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When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we can eat the fruit of the tree of life. The Holy Communion is a sacrament ordained by Jesus. Jesus gave his disciples wine and bread, saying, "This is my blood and flesh." "So Jesus said to them, >>Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.<< (Jn 6:53-56)" So our predecessors of faith thought that they ate the food giving eternal life when they ate the bread and wine of the Holy Communion. I don't know the exact details, but think that Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life gives us also now on earth the fruit of the tree of life through the bread and wine of the Holy Communion. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus, too. Jesus promises us to live in us when we eat his flesh and drink his blood through the Holy Communion. My brethren, the Holy Spirit will live in us and give us the power of life that enables us to live the everlasting life if we believe in Jesus as the Savior and participate in the Holy Communion. The everlasting life that appears in us is the life of Jesus Christ in us through the Holy Spirit. You live eating the fruit of the tree of life every day if you are full of the love for Jesus and are determined to live according to his commandments. You have already been living the eternal life. Jesus' commandment is to love our God and our neighbors. If you're filled with this love, you are sons and daughters of the God who lives forever. "So we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 Jn 4:16)" You can enjoy the eternal life that never rots away if you believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit.

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If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you're a cursed one no more. Those who live with the Devil in their hearts are cursed, but those who are freed from the Devil and who live with the Holy Spirit are given the rich blessings God has promised. Now we have become the beneficiaries of the blessing of God. Dwelling in us, the Holy Spirit changes us into children of God. The Holy Spirit sanctifies our body and mind and makes us the children of God. God says to us who are sanctified so, "My dear children, I want to bless you."

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God will grant us the best blessing in the world if we make our body and spirit holy by living according to God's words, and make us the temple of God. The blessing is to see the face of God in the heavenly temple where the God is, and to live there forever with him. "They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev 22:4-5)" "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. (Jn 14:20)" My beloved brethren, if we have Jesus in our heart while living in trouble for a moment here on earth, he will allow us the infinite time in the heaven. The life in heaven is >living as a king<. In this world, one becomes a king through politics, however, the most difficult thing for a king is politics. There will not be such difficult politics in the heaven, so the life in heaven is the life of a king without politics, which means that we who are as high as a king in the heaven will be served by angels. In fact, how wonderful it is to live as a king on earth, if only the difficult problem, that is, the politics, is excluded! The life in heaven is not less good than that. For example, we can see a side of the life in heaven in the Queen of England, who has little involvement in politics, who, nevertheless, is receiving all kinds of service as a (female) king.

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We, even here on earth, can live in the light of truth brighter than the sun if we live in the Holy Spirit, because he who has the Holy Spirit in his heart has the truth in his heart, so that he is not seduced by the philosophy and disciplines of the world, but can walk in the way of truth and lead others in the way of truth and eternal life.

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I pray earnestly that the Holy Spirit come to you who believe in Jesus as the Savior, lead you in the truth, make your body and spirit healthy and strong, and help you taste the eternal life in advance.

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Chong Tack Kim

                                    - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -