Do you want to have fellowship
with the Holy Spirit?
<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.”
What is an essential prerequisite
to having a sense of fellowship
with the Holy Spirit? |
We first should know and believe
in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
and cleanse ourselves of all our
sins through faith. |
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 Bible repeatedly mentions 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 does not have fellowship with those who deceive
themselves
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.
The righteous can have fellowship with the Holy Spirit by confessing
their sins
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.
How can we attain a true sense of fellowship with the Holy 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.
God says that man sins throughout his life
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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