Have a sense of title
Gospel of John (112) Have a sense of calling (John 20:19-23)
<Receive the Holy Spirit>
The text depicts the scene of the resurrected Lord coming to the disciples. At that time, the disciples were shutting the door of Mark's upper room in fear. Mark's upper room was a place that Mark's mother, who was supposed to have a good fortune, offered for the Lord's community. At that time, most of Jesus' disciples were from Galilee, far from Jerusalem, and they probably lived in Mark's upper room as a group because they had no place to live in Jerusalem.
In the upper room, Jesus came to the disciples who were feeling disappointed and guilty, and the first thing he said was, “Why are you acting so mean! It was not the words of rebuke, saying, “I have been teaching you wrong for three years!” but the warm love and comfort of “Peace be with you.” Therein lies the real voice of reproof. At that time, the disciples' hearts were changed with the loving rebuke contained in the Lord's warm words of comfort.
After giving such a word that challenged peace, he showed his hands and side to confirm the resurrection of the Lord, and immediately followed two words. One is ‘Peace be with you’, ‘Peace be with you,’ and the other is ‘Words that challenge the life of witnesses, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you’. After those words, while breathing out to the disciples for a while, the third word was “Receive the Holy Spirit!”
Why did the Lord tell His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit? This is because it is essential to receive the Holy Spirit for a 'life overflowing with peace' and a 'life of a witness'. Among them, the first life is ‘a life full of peace’. Only when you have a life full of peace can you live the life of a true witness. That is why the Lord repeatedly said in verses 19 and 21, “Peace be with you.” If a life overflowing with peace is the root, the life of a witness is the fruit.
<Have a sense of calling>
After being filled with the Holy Spirit and gaining peace of mind, turn your gaze outward and focus on the vocation to save souls. There is nothing in this world more precious than the gospel that makes sinners eternal people of the kingdom of heaven. Do your best to spread the precious Gospel and confess, “I am doing what I am currently doing for the sake of the Gospel, and I am where I am today.” When you do not lose the purpose of your life, you will be given true satisfaction, happiness and blessings.
One day, Pastor Rick Warren's father was dying and he kept trying to get out of bed. "Honey! Why?” Then the father repeatedly said: “We need to save at least one more soul.” When Pastor Warren bowed his head in prayer, moved by the sight, his father reached out and touched his head as if commissioning. “Rick! Save one more soul.” Then Pastor Warren said. "Yeah. father! I will make it my lifelong goal.” And I was able to do great things by living faithfully to that purpose.
The resurrected Lord spoke as if entrusted to his disciples. “Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (verse 21). God still speaks the same. “Anyone! You too, go out into the world and do your best to evangelize and do missionary work!” This is the primary purpose of God's creation, salvation, and sending into this world, and the purpose of giving the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is not ‘mystical’ but ‘real’.
Before the Lord said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” in the text, he said to his disciples, “Phew!” and exhaled to deliver the spirit of vitality to the discouraged disciples. There was no pretense or showmanship in that action, but at some meetings these days, it is said that they mimic the actions of the Lord and give them the Holy Spirit. However, the wind of the Holy Spirit blows arbitrarily, so it disallows human predestination. Therefore, those who say that they give the Holy Spirit and act like the giver of the Holy Spirit are rather unrelated to the Holy Spirit. Rather, the work of the Holy Spirit can be known through fruits such as 'peace, consciousness of calling, and the power of forgiveness'.
After graduating from Oxford University, Johann Wesley worked as a professor at that university and went to the New World with the dream of becoming a missionary. After suffering for three years and returning to England without much fruit, I was lost in despair. I happened to attend a Moravian meeting and listen to the preface to Romans, and then I was filled with the Holy Spirit. From then on, the history of repentance began to take place wherever he went, and as a result, the Methodist Church, the largest denomination in the world, was born. Always be filled with the Holy Spirit to gain peace of mind and become blessed spirits who carry out the mission of spreading the gospel splendidly.