Title Power (Luke 04:16-19)
Content: To believe in Jesus is to experience the cross. This is to crucify our passions and desires along with our flesh, just as Jesus shed His blood for us. What does it mean for the body to be crucified? It means that my old human personality is crucified. This is painful. I can only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The experience of the cross and the experience of the Holy Spirit occur simultaneously. Even though we say that we have received the Holy Spirit and received grace, the reason we return to our original state in a short time is because we have not experienced the cross. Can you see your sins crucified? This means that Jesus took the place of our sins. When I die, my sins die, despair dies, and all the forces of darkness within me are shattered. This is the crucifixion.
▶ Characteristics of those who have received the Holy Spirit
My mother had a profound influence on my religious life. She is a person who lived a life of faith with her grandmother, who believed in Jesus and eventually became martyr. On the other hand, my father believed in God from a young age, but my grandfather was an unbeliever.
My father believed in Jesus late, and my mother believed in the motherhood. So, my father believed in Jesus fervently, and my mother quietly believed in him. My father prayed specifically for 4-5 hours a day. But my father had a lot of trouble with demons.
My mother believed quietly, but no demons were disturbed. If you believe in Jesus well, your children will hardly have the work of demons. Those who believe in those days have many histories of demons. To me, the mother remains a symbol of the One who has received the Holy Spirit. Then one day, my mother received the Holy Spirit at a revival meeting. From that day on, my mother worked hard to evangelize. He bought and delivered ramen in a box to the village and helped the poor.
Without realizing it, they keep talking about Jesus and help the poor silently. My mother was quiet and patient. However, he was a man of unparalleled courage when needed. I think like this. Is this the original mother's character?
Or is it the new disposition of the one who received the Holy Spirit? I looked at my mother and said, 'Humans have natural dispositions they receive from their parents, but they have special gifts from the Holy Spirit. I have come to know that there is spiritual grace.” May the special gifts and blessings of the Holy Spirit be upon you tonight as well.
▶ The work of the Holy Spirit
Some people hurt others just by talking. A person with a wound is easy to hurt others. But a person who has no wounds will not hurt anyone no matter what he says. No matter what I say, how would it be if it were a word of blessing, a word of benefit, or a word to save others? This is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit heals the wounds in my heart. When I am healed, everyone around me will also be healed. Jesus had unique spiritual powers. How was Jesus able to show amazing grace and miracles in His ministry? If you look at the Bible, you can find that Jesus had a decisive moment.
“At this time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John, but John stopped him and said, “I need to be baptized by you. It is fit to be fulfilled.” Then John gave permission. Jesus accepted it, and as soon as he came up from the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him, and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my Beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17).
In Matthew 3, when Jesus was 30 years old, he went to the Jordan River to baptize John the Baptist. John the Baptist rejected Jesus' request because he knew that Jesus was the Son of God. “I need to be baptized by you, so why do you want to be baptized by me? I will never baptize you.” But Jesus said, “Baptize me. Baptize me to accomplish the righteousness of God.” How could a sinner baptize an innocent person? How can a man baptize God? This was John's dilemma.
An innocent person does not need to be baptized. Yet, Jesus said he would be baptized. Who carries the cross? The sinner loses. An innocent person does not need to carry the cross. But why did the sinless Jesus carry the cross? He died on the cross for our sins, not his own. Why did Jesus want to be baptized? Not because of our sins, but because of our sins. Finally, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and came up from the water. From that point on, things happened.
“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16). -17)”
This was the baptism of the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus who had been baptized with water. After this, the ministry of Jesus begins to be introduced. When Jesus spoke, it was a miracle, and that was the gospel of the kingdom. These events continued until Jesus died on the cross, from death to resurrection, and from his resurrection to his ascension into heaven.
When Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit, he was subjected to three temptations by the devil.
First, it is a physical test. Jesus was fasting for 40 days, but the devil came and tempted him. “How hungry are you? Turn this stone into bread. Then the hunger will be resolved, and there is no need for you to die on the cross!” In response, Jesus cast out the devil with the words of Deuteronomy, saying, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus cast out the devil by the word of God, not by his own authority. But the devil does not give up.
The devil takes a second test. They take Jesus to the top of the temple and tell him to jump down. “If you jump, won't the angel keep you from hurting your feet, as it is written in the Psalms? If you jump down and see that you are not hurt, won't people say you are the Messiah?” Again, Jesus counterattacked with the word of God. “Do not put the Lord your God to the test!” The devil is defeated again.
Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain where he can see the world and tempts him like this. “All these I will give to you if you bow down and worship me.” Jesus fires a direct shot at the devil. “Get away, Satan!” Jesus defeats the physical, mental, and spiritual temptations of the devil.
How could you pass the test? According to the Bible, after being baptized with water by John the Baptist, that is, after being baptized with the Holy Spirit, Jesus possesses the spiritual power to overcome any temptations of Satan, even the death of the cross. “And these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover (Mark 16: 17-18)” After receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Jesus defeats the power of Satan with the simple word.
In Luke 4:14, we see an amazing expression.
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit”
After being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus came to Galilee. When Jesus came into Galilee in the Holy Spirit, every time he preached, every miracle he performed, every time he expressed his love, he was able to pour out everything in the kingdom of heaven. The lame were raised, the lepers were healed, the deaf ears were opened, the demons came out of the possessed, the storms were calmed, and the dead were raised.
We believe in Jesus and try to do things by relying on the power of our own reason. Whether we are doing volunteer work or singing praises, we are troubled within our scope. Then I get tired and give up. Why? Because I try to do it only with my strength and my thoughts It is because we do not have the faith and spiritual attitude to do it with the power and grace God has given us. God's way is very strange. If you do not proclaim with faith, nothing will happen, but if you declare with faith, miracles will happen. When Jesus taught the Bible according to his customs in the synagogue on the Sabbath, he revealed where the power of the Holy Spirit came from.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, To proclaim the year of grace and the day of vindication of our God, comforting all who mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2).
▶ Whoever will be saved
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was given to a special person, such as the king on the prophet's side. However, the characteristic of the New Testament is ‘whoever’. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. God said, “I want to use you to preach the gospel to the poor, not just for my sake, but to bring beautiful news to the poor, the sick, the deaf, the blind, and the desperate. So I pour it out on you.” Here we learn that the essential condition of ministry, the essential condition of believers in God, is the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
“God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
Miracles happen with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When Moses built the tabernacle under God's command, he built it according to the dimensions God gave him. “And take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and anoint it and all its utensils, and sanctify it in it; and it shall be holy. Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and wash with water, and put on Aaron in holy garments, and anoint him to sanctify him, so that he may serve as a priest to me. and put on them a robe, and pour oil on them as you anointed their father, so that they may serve me as priests; and since they have been anointed, they shall be priests for ever and from generation to generation” (Exodus 40:9-15).
I want an anointing here today. To anoint with oil means to belong to God.
“After that the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, for the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. They went forth on their way, and when the cloud did not rise, they did not go out until the day when it rose; and all the house of Israel personally saw in all their journeys that the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night. Exodus 40:34-38)”
When there is God's anointing, a cloud rises. When the cloud rises, the glory of God fills the temple, and the pillar of fire and cloud will guide Israel. This is the secret. To be anointed means restoration and healing. “I washed you with water and removed your blood and anointed me” (Ezekiel 16:9), “I cast out many demons and anointed and healed many sick people” (Mark 6:13). It is the work of sanctification, sometimes the work of healing the sick, the work of healing the wounded.
(2005-05-09 04:28)