Title: If You Can't Go to Church
If you can't go to church
Acts 19:1-7
*This manuscript was delivered on July 29, 2007.
Since our tour of Mt. Baekdu ends on Saturday, we hastily finished preparing the sermon.
Your journey will fill your sentences and languages with holy nutrients.
In verse 1, there is a person named Apollos, who is said to be good at speaking, fluent in the Bible, learning and knowing the 'Ways of the Lord', diligently talking about Jesus, and teaching accurately (Acts 18:24-25) . At the very end, he has one problem: he only knew John's baptism and did not know the Holy Spirit's baptism (25b). According to the text, when Paul was visiting Ephesus while Apollos was in Corinth, there he met some disciples (probably of Apollos) and asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” I didn't even hear it." They knew well with their heads, but they didn't know how to live with their bodies.
The followers of Jesus and the people of the Early Church did not learn much. However, they had more than knowledge: they were filled with the Holy Spirit. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was filled with the Holy Spirit, acted in Galilee, was crucified, and resurrected. In the book of Acts, the resurrected Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit he received from the Father on believers (Acts 2:33). The entire book of Acts shows how those who were filled with the Holy Spirit preached the gospel in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (1:8). It is truly a miracle that the gospel was preached from Jerusalem to Rome amid the poor traffic conditions of that time. It was not because they did well, but because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. When we describe characters such as Peter, Philip, Paul, the seven deacons, and Stephen in the book of Acts, the phrase that they were filled with the Holy Spirit is not omitted.
The vision of people filled with the Holy Spirit spreading to the ends of the earth actually comes from Jesus. Jesus did not have an individualistic, heroic view of history. If Jesus had such a point of view, instead of carrying the cross, he would have enjoyed great popularity with people with many miracles and charisma without any problems. But Jesus saw that his suffering, resurrection, and ascension to the Father might be painful for them at first, but beneficial in the long run. Because the Holy Spirit will be poured out on many people.
No matter how powerful Jesus was, it would have been difficult for Jesus in the flesh to overcome the limitations of Israel. However, those who received the power of the Holy Spirit went beyond the limits of Judah and Samaria and became witnesses of the gospel to the ends of the earth. The work of the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, is to teach us all things and to remind us of all that Jesus said (John 14:26). Therefore, it is now possible for those who have not met Jesus to come to know and confess Jesus more than those who have met Him in person. The Apostle Paul confessed that he did not see Jesus in his lifetime, but he did see Christ, right? Isn't that all because of the Holy Spirit?
Many believers today understand the Holy Spirit as something like a flag. Today, people who practice qi instill qi into others and even heal sickness with qi. The Holy Spirit cannot be such a material thing. However, believers are reminded of the filling of these spirits in the term “filled with the Holy Spirit,” and they think that the more they pray and put in their devotion, the more they receive the Holy Spirit and receive power.
“Filling with the Holy Spirit” is not like this. It is being possessed by the Holy Spirit. As I entrust myself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which I do not know, I am able to do the Lord's work by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is, in modern terms, entering “into the system of the Holy Spirit.” When people who had never seen Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit, they met Jesus and became witnesses of the gospel. When they, the little people of society, were filled with the Holy Spirit, they became more confident and courageous than those who were educated. When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, who could not escape the limits of Israel, they became people with the ability to challenge the ends of the earth without fear. Therefore, from this biblical point of view, it is not the individual's ability that matters, but whether he has entered the system of the Holy Spirit.
Although Jesus was not lacking even as a charismatic leader, he did not stop there and saw a vision of a system of the Holy Spirit in which many people could receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Because of this system, the gospel was able to spread beyond Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
If we enter into the system of the Holy Spirit and live with the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, wouldn't we be happy, free, and creative?
In verse 6 of today's text, it is said that those who did not know that there was a Holy Spirit were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Those who enter into the system of the Holy Spirit will have this special experience. The incident of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost is even more dramatic. Their appearance was so hot and exciting that those who were watching said, “They are drunk with new wine” (Acts 2:13). The characteristic of a person who has been filled with the Holy Spirit is in this kind of immersion and ecstasy. Rather than being theoretical or cynical, they are people who fall for, fall for, go crazy and get drunk. On the one hand, we listen to the sermons and study the Bible in class 201, but on the other hand, we celebrate the joy of sharing the gift of the Holy Spirit while fervently praising and praying, immersed in the fellowship of the saints, and zealous for service and devotion. You have to experience it.
The world tells us not to discuss life without getting drunk. It means that everyone feels that there is something in people that cannot be satisfied by rationality alone. Man needs not only the Apollonian (reasonable) but also the Dionysian (drunk and indulgent). But it is when we are intoxicated by what springs up within us, not when we are intoxicated by external substances, that we experience true ecstasy. When we love someone, when we feel true freedom, when we feel happy, we are ecstatic. This freedom and love can be felt most fully when we are in the Holy Spirit. That is why a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit can be more drunk than a truly drunken person and truly feel ecstatic.
Instead of living with the faith of Apollos, we must immerse ourselves in the system of the Holy Spirit. So, although we are lacking in many things, let us live freely, creatively and with inspiration, and live a life of being drunk and crazy and falling in love with the people we love and what we do like a drunken person.
This is what we need today.
This is the only way to live as a victorious believer and to become a victorious church.