Title: Ten Days of Waiting/2004.5.16
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Acts 2:1-4, Ezekiel 37:1-10
Jesus was in the world 40 days after his resurrection. And when he ascended to heaven, Jesus said to his disciples.
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me.
John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:4-5
The disciples believed this and gathered in Jerusalem and began to pray earnestly. I didn't know when the promised Holy Spirit would come, but I held on to the promise Jesus gave and prayed. We know that it was ten days, but those who were praying at the time did not know whether it would be ten days, a month, or a year. Nevertheless, he prayed with faith. A new phenomenon suddenly appeared in the disciples who were praying in faith. The great inspiration of the Holy Spirit came.
The Bible describes the phenomenon of the coming of the Holy Spirit in three ways.
First, 'sound like the wind'
Second, 'to splitting like tongues of fire'
The third is 'speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance'.
These three phenomena show the appearance of the coming of the Holy Spirit and at the same time show the change of the person who has received the Holy Spirit.
First, the Holy Spirit who descended as a 'sound like the wind'
What would the wind sound like? The Bible says that when God created man, he breathed in God's breath and breathed out the energy of God.
Yahweh God made man out of dust
He breathed breath into his nostrils, and man became a living soul Genesis 2:7
Unlike animals, humans have become 'spiritual beings' because God breathes life into them. The Bible translated this 'breath of God' as 'the breath of God'. Man becomes a living being by the breath of God. When this breath of God is gone, man is alive but dead, breathing but only a shell.
Human beings, a spiritual being, need to be filled with 'the breath of God' to have a taste of life, to have a bright face, to have strength in the soul, to live with emotion, to live with joy, to live with thanksgiving, and to live vigorously. The breath of God has gone out.
When is it? The day Adam and Eve sinned, they escaped on the same day. The 'breath of God' escaped through Satan's opening a hole in the soul of doubt, sin, lies, and disobedience. So, human beings live like the dry bones of Ezekiel's Valley, but they will only become dead souls, breathless souls, and wandering souls.
The descent of the Holy Spirit is to receive this 'breath of God' again. The event of closing the hole of doubt, sin, and disobedience in our souls with faith and refilling it with 'the breath of God' - that is the work of the Pentecost of the coming of the Holy Spirit. How could this history be only at the time of Pentecost? It can be filled by anyone who longs for today and who obeys today. The life of a believer is a life filled with the vitality of God. The 'sound like the wind' is the sound of the breath of God.
The Holy Spirit came through the second 'tongs of fire'
In the Bible, fire always symbolizes the presence of God. It means that God is here now.
When he led Israel in the wilderness, he led them with a pillar of fire. When he met Moses, he spoke in the flames of thorns. When he gave Isaiah a mission, he consecrated his mouth with the charcoal fire of the altar.
Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is the work that gives the assurance of God's presence that God is with us. It makes people who believe in the fact that God is with me have fervent zeal. Therefore, a person who is filled with the Holy Spirit is a person of mission and a person of zeal.
The appearance of 'fire with tongues splitting' to the disciples shows that the work of God's power is present in each and every one of the disciples.
Today, He will work fervently with 'burning tongues of fire' on those who yearn for the Word, all believers who want to be faithful, and all those who pray for change.
that you are the temple of God
Don't you know that the Spirit of God dwells in you! 1 Corinthians 3:16
The Holy Spirit is with you who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord. If you do not quench the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and practice even the Holy Spirit, you will be more full.
Third, the Holy Spirit who gave 'according to the giving of the Spirit
Humans are beings created in the image of God. God created the world with words. Therefore, humans have also become talking beings. But with the fall of man, his words also fell. Humans were beings who spoke the truth according to the truth, but they followed Satan's temptations and became beings who spoke lies. Thus, human history has become a history of disobedience. Human history is the history of disobeying God and more listening to Satan. The words of the Tower of Babel testify that human beings disobeyed and disobeyed God, and that the confusion of words came.
The history of tongues showed that the confused words were corrected again by the coming of the Holy Spirit.
When this sound was heard, a great crowd gathered
Each of them heard what the disciples were saying in their own tongue and made a commotion.
All were astonished and marveled, saying, Behold, are not all these speaking Galileans?
Why do we hear each of us in our own dialect? Acts 2:6-8
With the coming of the Holy Spirit, the confusing words were cleared up. It happened when we spoke according to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. In the work of the Holy Spirit, the words of unbelief were replaced with the words of faith.
A person of the Holy Spirit speaks 'as the Spirit has given him to speak,' and even walks in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16), and lives according to the Holy Spirit. A person of the Holy Spirit becomes a positive person. Be an active person. Be a man of Amen. Become a person of obedience. Therefore, after receiving the Holy Spirit, the early church members were able to keep their faith despite the terrible persecution and to be faithful to death.
So, what must we do today to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit?
1. Hear the voice of grace.
Listening to the Word, remembering it, and putting it into practice. And to repeat it. At that time, you will experience the Holy Spirit walking with me. I will know that I am under the control of the Holy Spirit.
2. Cut off the influence from the words of distrust and negativity.
I have to throw away bad experiences, failure experiences, and garbage thoughts from my storehouse of faith. And on the contrary, I hope you will diligently bring out good experiences, experiences of love, experiences of recovery, and experiences of prayer.
3. Repent and bear the fruits of repentance.
If you repent and receive forgiveness of sins, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Because the Holy Spirit is holy and pure, He dwells in the pure heart.
4. Welcome the Holy Spirit.
Some people believe in Jesus while being wary of earnestly believing in Jesus. It's always a good distance. However, there is no emotion in such a person, and the Holy Spirit is not present. Because the Holy Spirit is present on those who welcome. Because the Holy Spirit comes upon those who long for it. Because the Holy Spirit comes upon those who obey.
5. Decide and practice a life that pleases God.
We need to think and decide how to please God. I hope that you will become a saint who moves the heart of God.
I hope that the special morning prayer meeting for the ten days preceding this Pentecost will be an opportunity for everyone to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We do not know when the inspiration and fullness of the Holy Spirit will come to me. The disciples only believed in the promise and received the filling of the Holy Spirit while praying. He did not say that if you pray for ten days, you will receive it. It was simply believing, longing, and praying. We believe that when we believe and pray like that, God will give us abundant grace.
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