Filling of the Holy Spirit | Thanksgiving
September 30, 2020
Antioch Mission Church
Wednesday Night Worship
Pastor Dusun Park, interpreted by Deaconess Esther Han
The last promise God gave to the disciples was the filling of the Holy Spirit, and the last thing we must have is thanksgiving, but prayer unifies these things. Don’t pray the prayer you’re thinking about, but you have to restore the prayer of God. When the Lord came to this earth, the first thing He told them was, “Come follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This isn’t something they learned while studying at their desks, but the Lord went to the field and found these people. They weren’t just random people, but they were working as fishermen, and He said, “I will make you fishers of men,” and that was Jesus’ first meeting.
Secondly, in Matthew 5, Jesus changes His disciples’ thoughts because without doing that, they could not receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. We’re going to talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit, but what do we have to do to get this? We actually have to follow the Lord to become evangelists in order to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. So, you have to be motivated by the correct things in following the Lord. When you follow Jesus, you’re saving people, because that’s relevant to the filling of the Holy Spirit. So I hope you’re able to confirm this biblically, then, you are going to be able to do the same thing because it is biblical.
Matthew 5
So, in Matthew 5, Jesus changes the disciples’ thoughts. What kind of thought processes did the Israelites have at this time? These people of God who were supposed to be looking towards Him were all worshiping idols, so Jesus asks, “What is a blessing? Being poor in spirit is a blessing.” What is the blessing you come to church for? If you’re not able to change this, you cannot receive the filling of the Holy Spirit. Are you trying to receive prosperity or physical blessings? Then you will never receive the filling of the Holy Spirit.
If you don’t have this, you can never overcome the field, that’s why you have to change the value you have about blessings, right? They’re captives to Rome, so what’s the point of eating and living well? Coming to America, buying land and houses, is that a real blessing? What is a real blessing? Those who are meek, they are blessed. It is not someone who is prosperous in their heart, but one who is meek. In order for us to receive the filling of the Holy Spirit, we have to hold onto the things that the world doesn’t hold onto, for example, meekness of heart.
Matthew 6
Then, what is prayer? Receiving things from God, is that prayer? “God, give me rent, a mortgage, give my kids a good school,” but what kinds of blessings are those? Aren’t those general things that people seek after? What you must first seek is God’s kingdom, so we must first change our prayers. People are sitting down; what are they doing? Praying prayers of unbelievers, so they’re going the opposite direction of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Right now, this is the Word given to Jews, the people going to church. Unbelievers are exempt because we as believers must reach out to them. May you enjoy this blessing, because without changing this first, talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit is completely useless.
Matthew 7
Matthew 7 tells us not to judge people, to not remove slivers in your brothers’ eyes but to first remove the plank in my eye. When we go to church, we judge others, but that’s completely irrelevant of the filling of the Holy Spirit. So, Jesus isn’t doing some Bible study, but He’s removing the incorrect things. They haven’t even gotten to Matthew 16 yet because without getting rid of these things, they cannot confess Matthew 16:16, so staring with this, He is working through them.
Then He sends them out into the fields, and how much authority did Jesus have such that He saw Satan fall like lightning? These are all the things that must take place prior to confessing Matthew 16:16. In Matthew 13, He talks about heaven, “if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell one mountain to move.” He’s saying, “Heaven is like a hidden treasure in a field,” so he’s telling parables about heaven. So, He’s trying to change them until they realize the value of this gospel, because they’re running after the things of this earth, so God is teaching them, how valuable this is. You say that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, but before that, there is something God is doing.
Matthew 14
In Matthew 14, John the Baptist actually dies because of the gospel. Why does it say that? He died for the gospel, so living is dying. All the apostles were martyred, and so we have to completely change our thinking. The reason we believe in Jesus Christ is not so we can eat and live well, because if you follow after Christ with that kind of goal, what kind of Christ are you following after? We have to take up our cross and die, but some people say, “I don’t want to do that.” Up until this point, people don’t complain, but it’s the same in the church. If we only talk about Jesus Christ, those who focus on other things can’t stand it because it doesn’t match with their calculations. Do you understand? You must change these things for them in order for ministry to come to life. So in the field, Jesus showed works of healing, and He did the miracles of the loaves and fishes, and fed 5000 people.
Matthew 16
And as they went along, Matthew 16, Jesus finally asks, “Who do you say that I am?” In the midst of this, Jesus asks this question, and the confession that, “Jesus is the Christ,” didn’t just come from out of nowhere. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
At this point, it was the first time the confession was made, isn’t that right? Because since Jesus Christ came, this was the first time this was confessed. After the New Testament, we are confessing things that already happened, so at the time this happened, it was different. After going through this process, they’re able to confess that Jesus is the Christ, so what I’m saying is that the Holy Spirit has guided them to this point. Otherwise, this confession that Jesus is the Christ would not have come out.
Is Jesus really the master of my life, the solution to all my problems? Without God’s grace, you cannot confess this, so that’s why Jesus said, “Simon Peter, you are blessed and on this rock I will build my church.” Being on a rock means you’re not shaken. The gates of Hades will not overcome you, and no matter how much Satan attacks you, he will not overcome you. When I believed in Jesus Christ for the first time, this verse really came to me and I had victory in the spiritual battle, because Satan is so deceitful, but when this Word came upon me, Satan left.
“I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven,” and that’s an amazing answer to prayer. And, “no matter where He throws us into, the forces of darkness will be bound, and within that, God gives us the blessing of answered prayers. That’s the blessing of Christ. But we lose hold of that, why? Because the preparations haven’t been complete. We haven’t even organized what prayer is, right?
The Blessing of the Christ
We don’t even know if we’re judging correctly or not, but we judge anyway. But within the confession that Jesus is the Christ is this amazing blessing. That is why in Genesis 3:15, the offspring of the woman has actually come, and when you use the name of Jesus Christ to crush Satan’s authority, that’s why Satan is shocked. No matter how hard you work, if Satan’s not shocked, it’s not going to work out for you. Right? Because Satan has deceived you and you fall into problems.
This is the importance of worship, where the unseen Triune God begins to work, and it is the working of God to prepare your future. When people say, “I can’t do it,” what does that mean? It means, “Before God, I cannot do it,” so they cannot worship before God, but God is the master of our lives and tells us to stake our lives on that. Then He told them to not mention this to anyone. He’s saying, “Until it’s after the incidence of the cross, don’t talk about this.”
I need to see renewal in Christ, but people who can’t say this will say, “That person is a problem,” and they’re judging each other. If you confess that Jesus is the Christ and Christ is perfect. According to what you grab onto, the Word is fulfilled. Even your formlessness comes out in that way, because if you’re formless, that’s what comes out. If you’re holding onto resentment, then resentment will occur.