Sermons on important subjects by Rev. Paul C. Jong

<1 John 1:1-10>

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life ─ the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us ─ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

If you want to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, firstly, you must know that even a little sin in front of the Lord makes such a fellowship impossible. You might think, ‘How can a man have not even a bit of sin in front of the Lord?’ But if you truly wish for fellowship with the Lord then there should be no darkness in your heart. Therefore, in order to have fellowship with the Lord, you need to know that you must believe in the gospel of redemption and cleanse yourselves of all sins.

If you truly wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, then you first should know and believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and cleanse your sins through faith. If you do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit and do not take it into your heart, then you shouldn’t even think of having fellowship with the Lord. Having fellowship with the Holy Spirit is only possible when all your sins are purged away from your heart through the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

All sins can be purged from anyone’s mind with the truth of His water and the Spirit. The Lord blesses you with the Holy Spirit when you believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. Do you truly want to have fellowship with the Lord and the Holy Spirit? Then recognize your sins and believe in the beautiful gospel in order to purify yourself of sin. After that you can truly have fellowship with the Lord.

If you wish to have fellowship with the Lord, you must believe in the baptism Jesus received from John in the Jordan River and also believe in His blood on the Cross. If people truly wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, they should know who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is the Holy One. And therefore He can dwell only in those who believe in the beautiful gospel.

Let us look at a confession from someone whose sins were cleansed by believing in Jesus’ baptism by John and in His blood, and who now has fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

“There are a lot of different people in this world and everybody lives with his own thoughts and ways. I was one just as them. I had a very ordinary life and from my childhood, I followed my mother to church and naturally came to believe in God. My father was an atheist and frequently criticized me for my beliefs, but the rest of the family all went to church. Going to church was a huge part of my life.

However, during my adolescence, seeing my bedridden father, many thoughts regarding such things as life and death, Heaven and Hell came to me. Most people said that if I believed in God I would be able to enter Heaven and become His child, but I was never sure of that. I was never sure that I’d become His child. I had learned that if I did good on earth then I could enter Heaven and so I tried to do good to the needy.

But on one side of my heart, I knew I had sinned. I might have looked like a good person to others but I couldn’t but feel guilty for my sins. At that time, I made it a habit to go to church and pray, ‘Please let me truly be Your child. Please let me know the truth.’ While praying, I developed a new urge in my heart. Whenever I listened to the teachings of His words, I could not comprehend nor see the words. I was worn out from the emptiness of my life, my sin, death, etc.

I had thoughts such as, ‘I want to be born again. If I can be born again I will not live like this.’ But despite these thoughts I went to church less frequently and my adolescent years passed. I now needed to find a job but it was more difficult than I thought. I was even more distressed and no matter how hard I tried, I could not smile. Looking at myself with an empty heart, I fell into a state of depression. At that time, I heard the gospel from my elder brother.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord”(Acts 3:19). This was exactly the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All I’d learned at previous church meetings was that Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. But this gospel told me that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist to take away our sins and was judged for our sins on the Cross.

I had gone to church all my life and I had pretended to be a child of God but I had failed. I had tried to understand the meaning of His words but I had failed. However, after I heard the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit and believed in it, the sin in me and all the things that tormented me disappeared and my heart became peaceful.

I thought that if I only believed in God with enthusiasm and went to church with perfect attendance, then I would go to Heaven. But God sent me the gospel of the water and the Spirit and my sins were forgiven. He gave to me the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before I received His redemption, I didn’t know about the Holy Spirit nor the notion of speaking in tongues. I just went to church and believed that if I lived earnestly and served my church, then God would bless me. But I came to realize that I could receive the Holy Spirit only when my sins were forgiven through the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.

In my previous life, I was still in sin even though I believed in God. And I lived a lukewarm kind of life, not knowing the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit. But through His servant, who preached the beautiful gospel according to the Bible, I believed and came to know that the Holy Spirit dwelt also in me.

After receiving redemption, at first I couldn’t be convinced whether the Holy Spirit was in me or not. But I continuously studied His words and came to realize that in my heart a new faith was blooming and that I had received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now it is true, and I feel convinced that the Holy Spirit dwells in me! When He forgave my sins, I knew that only those free of sin could become children of God and receive the Holy Spirit.

I also knew that my efforts to look perfect in His eyes or live perfectly would never allow me to receive the Holy Spirit. God comes to those who know that they are sinners and yet do not know what to do about it. He meets those who eagerly seek and need Him.

He made me see that doing good and believing in God with reckless abandon would not get me to Heaven and that Jesus Christ came into this world to save me from my sins through the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. He gave me the Holy Spirit to dwell within me forever.

I thank the Lord for making me His child and blessing me with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If it had not been for the Lord, I would still have sin in my heart and would be condemned to an eternal life imprisonment in Hell.”

Likewise, I once believed only in the blood on the Cross and could not receive the Holy Spirit even if I wanted to. At that time, I believed in Jesus but I had sin in my heart that prevented me from receiving the Holy Spirit. A sinner cannot receive the Holy Spirit in his heart. But still, many sinners try to receive the Holy Spirit even when their hearts are full of sin.

If you truly wish to receive the Holy Spirit and have fellowship with Him, you need to believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit and obtain redemption. Are you still a sinner? Then you can hear the true gospel from those who have already received the Holy Spirit. Those who wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit must have a thirsty heart and trust in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.

Only the righteous can hear the words of the Holy Spirit through the church. They can live their faithful lives by hearing the beautiful gospel but sinners live their cursed lives destined for Hell without ever hearing the gospel.

Therefore, you must learn about the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Why do you need to believe in this gospel? It is necessary for you to escape from the religion of law and build your faith in the beautiful gospel based on the words of God. Jesus’ disciples followed this beautiful gospel and now it belongs to those who have received the Holy Spirit. The beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit is exactly the same as that followed by the apostles in the beginning of the early church. All Christians must receive the Holy Spirit. Only then can they become the children of God.

Those who still do not believe in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit must have sin in their hearts. They cannot have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. In order to have fellowship with Him, they first need to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God gave them and receive the Holy Spirit.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit began after the resurrection of Jesus. Now is the day of salvation and now is the time of His boundless grace. But it is truly unfortunate if we do not receive the gospel of the water and the Spirit and if we live without fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

Do you have fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Are you prevented from having fellowship with the Holy Spirit because of your sins? Then learn about the gospel of the water and the Spirit that God gave you and believe in it. If you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will dwell in your heart and be your companion. The Holy Spirit only dwells in the hearts of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Holy Spirit often reveals His will in the hearts of the righteous. Paul’s ministry with the Holy Spirit was to spread the beautiful gospel.

How can you recognize someone who has received the Holy Spirit? What is the benchmark? The benchmark is whether or not he believes in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit. If the person knows and believes in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit, then he is a person who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not dwell in those who do not believe in the beautiful gospel. The Holy Spirit dwells only in those who believe in the forgiveness of sin that comes from the baptism Jesus received from John and His blood on the Cross. Do you wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit?

Do you know what kind of gospel you need to understand in order to receive the Holy Spirit and have fellowship with Him? The beautiful gospel is found within the faith in Jesus’ baptism by John and His blood on the Cross. If you do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, your sins cannot be forgiven and therefore the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in you. The Holy Spirit demands that people should believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to receive Him.

The Holy Spirit cannot dwell within the hearts of sinners. If you want to receive the Holy Spirit, you must first believe in the beautiful gospel in order to cleanse yourself of all your sins. Also, if you wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you should be faithful in preaching the beautiful gospel. If you want to be led by the Holy Spirit, you must always love the beautiful gospel and attempt to spread it wherever you go. The Holy Spirit is with those who preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is given only to the righteous, those who believe in the beautiful gospel. Only the righteous, those who believe in the beautiful gospel, can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The beautiful gospel that the Holy Spirit approves of is the gospel that was accomplished by Jesus’ baptism by John and His blood (1 John 5:3-7).

Peter also believed in the beautiful gospel and said, “There is also an antitype which now saves us ─ baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). In the Bible, “water” frequently stands for the baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist.

Those who are able to receive the Holy Spirit have received redemption through the beautiful gospel and are free of all sin. Those who believe in the beautiful gospel can worship the Father in spirit and truth by the lead of the Spirit (John 4:23). The Holy Spirit helps the righteous live their lives filled with the Holy Spirit. Those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can live forever praising the Lord. The Holy Spirit guarantees that we are children of God. We may live forever within the gospel of the water and the Spirit and within the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit tells sinners in 1 John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in those who deceive themselves. The Holy Spirit reprimands sinners, saying, “Why did you not believe in the beautiful gospel accomplished by Jesus’ baptism and His blood?”

We will look at a confession of a born again Christian who believed at first that he received the Holy Spirit without the evidence of Jesus’ baptism and His blood. This man now believes in the gospel of the water and the blood and has received the Holy Spirit. Here, we should point out exactly in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.

“God began living in my heart when I realized the reason for my existence in this world. Looking at myself, I think my feebleness to live in this cruel world alone came out as a craving for God. I did not search for God but naturally accepted His existence for He is not visible, but He is there. Of course I asked myself, ‘Is He really there?’ but even the thought of it terrified me for I firmly believe that He is the Creator of all.

Those who rejected God seemed foolish, yet in some ways much more powerful than me. They seemed like they could go through anything on their own and on the other hand I looked like a weak fool. But because I had hopes for the life after death, I looked upon God with even greater respect. I wondered whether Heaven was a place for people like me who feel they are always lacking. And that question made me wish more earnestly for the Heavenly Paradise.

My parents looked down on people with religion and my siblings went to church with no devotion. They thought my devotion to church would soon die out so they didn’t stop me from going to church until I was in middle school. So I went from church to church and finally started going to a small church near my house until I was in college.

The reason I chose to attend this church was that it placed a strong emphasis on the gospel. The pastor of the church was an evangelical revivalist who apparently did nothing that would violate the words of the Bible. I had reasons for leading a religious life earnestly, even when I was stressed and oppressed by my studies.

The reason was that when people called my fellow church members heathens, I believed that my church was right and I was certain that I would go to Heaven. That certainty was based on the gospel. They said that sinners cannot enter the gates of Heaven but the people of other churches also said their hearts were full of sin. I also believed that the people of my church were sinners before I attended the church, so didn’t think much of this criticism.

But those so-called evangelical revivalists were different from what I had experienced in the past. They said that if we believed in Jesus in the correct manner, we were sinless. And only those who are sinless can go to Heaven. They also said that Jesus brought us justice on the Cross and therefore we were not sinners but righteous people. I did not believe this at first, but when I thought about it, it made sense. I was young and I thought that if I wanted to go to Heaven, God would only let me in if I were sinless, for God despises sin.

This church had different beliefs than I was used to and the ritual of worship services was a little different too. But because Heaven is a place where only the chosen few can enter, it seemed that the people in this church had adopted the right beliefs. Because the church stressed Jesus’ flesh and blood, every Sunday we took a bite of bread and sipped wine. Because this ceremony was based on the words of the Bible, I accepted it. But I found out later that people just took part in the ritual without understanding its true meaning.

I believed that the Holy Spirit dwelt in the hearts of believers and in the hearts of the righteous and that He heard all their prayers. So I believed that the Holy Spirit dwelt in me. I was so sure that God was my companion and I never doubted the gospel that I believed in. When I was going through hard times, I talked to God like He was right next to me. I believed that He listened to me when I told Him things that I could tell no one else. So I trusted Him and depended on Him.

I couldn’t understand those who went to revival meetings to speak in tongues and I laughed at those who attended fasting prayer services. Looking at such efforts I thought, ‘Why do they go through such meaningless effort to receive the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit comes on them only when they are sinless and stays with you always. They must be sinners. He would not come on them even with all their efforts.’ I felt pity for them. I thought they were so foolish. With that in mind, I came to think that my belief in the gospel was the best and others’ beliefs were all a lie.

My arrogant heart reached its peak. For 10 years I had led a religious life of my own. But as time passed questions began to rise in my mind and in my heart. I thought, ‘I am sinless due to the gospel of the blood on the Cross, but are all the other believers sinless as well? Do they really believe in this gospel too?’ I didn’t know why I started asking these questions. The questions just came to my mind and I could not ask anyone. This was a personal belief and should not be violated. And it would have been a rude question to ask of someone else.

But I started to ask these questions of myself. While I was in college, I started doing things that used to be restricted by religious precepts and my heart became so dark that my beliefs started to diminish. I was no longer sure of my beliefs. ‘Can I call myself a righteous man? Did Jesus really cleanse me of all my sins?’ Amidst all this confusion, I forced myself to think of the gospel of the Cross and I brainwashed myself with it. But the more I pressed myself, the more lost I became and I did not attend church services anymore. I used my club activities as an excuse.

Amidst all the confusion and chaos, I finally met the truth. I heard about the gospel of the water and the Spirit and it came to me like a bolt of lightning. The impact was so great that I felt like crying. But listening to the gospel, I had to admit that all that I had believed until then was false.

I had never passed on my sins to Jesus. I vaguely had believed that He had taken away my sins and that I was a sinless man, but that was not the case. Why did Jesus come to this world to be baptized? Because He wanted to show us He was as meek as a lamb? To prove that He came as a man? Or to prophesy His inevitable death? I had never dreamt that whatever vague knowledge of baptism I had was of such significance. The truth was that Jesus was baptized by John, the representative of all humankind, and with that baptism, all our sins were passed onto Him.

‘Oh! That is why Jesus became God’s Lamb who carried with Him all our sins!’ Now everything made sense. ‘Jesus was judged for my sins on the Cross. That’s why I am sinless in my heart.’ The moment I knew of the gospel of the water (Jesus’ baptism), blood (the Cross), and the Holy Spirit (Jesus is God), the sins I’d felt in my heart vanished.

Now I am truly a sinless and righteous man and the Holy Spirit finally dwells in my heart. The belief I had in the Cross was not enough to cleanse me of the sins I’d had in my heart. If you don’t know exactly how your sins were passed on to Jesus, your sins cannot be forgiven and the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in you. I thank the Lord. I was able to receive the Holy Spirit through the beautiful gospel.

Without any effort, I was forgiven through the gospel of the water and the Spirit and the Holy Spirit dwells in me now and forever. Now, I can proudly call myself a sinless man and can be proud that the Kingdom of Heaven is mine. I take this opportunity to thank the Lord for giving me such blessing without expense. Hallelujah!”

Those who receive the Holy Spirit can say that they are sinless in the presence of God. No matter how long you have believed in Jesus, if you do not believe in the beautiful gospel that God gave us, you surely have sin in your heart. People like that are deceiving themselves as well as God. These people have never met the Lord. If a sinner wishes to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, he must first stop deceiving himself and confess that he has sinned. Only then will he be qualified to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe in this beautiful gospel deserve to receive the Holy Spirit.

What does the Holy Spirit say to sinners? He advises them to obtain forgiveness for their sins by believing in the beautiful gospel that was accomplished by Jesus’ baptism and His blood. If you say that you’re not a sinner when you have sinned, then you will never receive the Holy Spirit. Those who do not believe in the beautiful gospel and say that they have not sinned deceive both God and themselves. Sinners must know of the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit and receive the Holy Spirit. Only then can they be delivered from God’s severe judgment.

I speak to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and thus, have received the Holy Spirit. Let us look at what God has told the righteous. In John 1:9, it is said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This verse means that we can cleanse our actual sins from our defiled hearts by reminding ourselves of and believing in the beautiful gospel that declares Jesus took all our sins when He was baptized and He atoned for them by being crucified. The righteous need to confess their actual sins to God. Only then can they have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The righteous should confess their actual sins and continue to believe in the beautiful gospel.

Long ago, the beautiful gospel of Jesus’ baptism and His blood cleansed all our sins and therefore, the righteous should believe in this gospel and be free from all their sins. The Lord has already forgiven all their sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The righteous must believe in the beautiful gospel to be free from their sins. The righteous can purify their hearts by believing in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit when they are polluted with their actual sins.

Our Lord cleansed all the sins of the righteous long ago with His baptism and His blood. Therefore, those who believe are truly free from all their sins. However, the righteous should confess and admit their sins in the presence of God. And then the righteous must return to faith in Jesus’ baptism and His blood, which composed the beautiful gospel, in order to be free from all their sins. Therefore, they can always lead a fresh new life accompanying the Holy Spirit. Those who can look to the Lord without concern for their weakness can have true fellowship with God thanks to the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.

There are many people who wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. But they do not know how to make this wish come true, even though they believe in Jesus. All people come to receive the Holy Spirit by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and start having fellowship with the Holy Spirit from that time on.

Likewise, the only way a righteous person can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit is to know and believe the truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The fellowship between the righteous and the Holy Spirit cannot be achieved without the true gospel. What about fellowship with the Holy Spirit? It is only possible by believing in the truth of the beautiful gospel.

In 1 John 1:10, it says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” There would be no one who has not sinned in front of God. Even the Bible says, “There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). All men sin in front of God. If anyone says that he has not sinned, then he is a liar. People sin throughout their lives until their dying hours and that is why Jesus was baptized by John to bear all their sins. If we did not sin, then we would not need to believe in God as our Savior.

The Lord says, “My word is not in you” to those who think as if they have not sinned. If a person doesn’t have faith in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit, then he deserves destruction. If a righteous man or a sinner says that he has not sinned in the presence of God, then he does not deserve to believe in the beautiful gospel.

The Lord gave everyone the wonderful gift of the beautiful gospel. We confessed all our sins and repented in order to receive forgiveness of sins with the beautiful gospel. We could come back to the beautiful gospel that God bestowed on us as forgiveness for our sins and believed in it in order to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. A true sense of fellowship with the Holy Spirit is in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and only those who have the gospel of the water and the Spirit may have fellowship with God.

Mankind was far from God because of the sins inherited from Adam and Eve. But now we, who have inherited the seed of sin, can look forward to having fellowship with God again. In order to do that, we must return to the faith in Jesus Christ’s gospel of the water and the Spirit and be forgiven for the sins that have put us so far from God.

Those who believe in the beautiful gospel will be saved from all their sins and God will fill them up with the Holy Spirit. The righteous can have fellowship with God, for they have received the Holy Spirit. Therefore, those who have been cut off from God for their sins must return to the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit and believe in it. Only then can they begin to have true fellowship with Him.

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The indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes with faith in the beautiful gospel. We must know that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes only through believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Believing in the beautiful gospel created a new pathway to God. The Lord broke down the middle wall that separated us from Him because of both original sin and actual sins, and allowed us to have fellowship with God through our faith in the beautiful gospel of the water and the Spirit.

We must establish fellowship with the Holy Spirit once again. True fellowship with the Holy Spirit is achieved through understanding the gospel of the water and the Spirit for obedience to the faith. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit occurs when we have faith in the fact that forgiveness of our sins comes from the beautiful gospel. Those who have not received forgiveness for their sins cannot have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. In other words, no one can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.

If it is hard for you to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, then you should first admit that you do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and that your sins have not been forgiven. Do you wish to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Then believe in the gospel that was accomplished through Jesus’ baptism and His blood. Only then will you be forgiven for all your sins and as a reward will receive the Holy Spirit in your heart. This beautiful gospel can surely grant you fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

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