[The Promise of the Holy Spirit]
Pastor: Kim Yangjae
Acts 26:1-7
Last week, I said we need the dignity of the Holy Spirit because we are so intimidated when we appealed with the Holy Spirit. The important thing here is the confidence which we are the people of heaven, and now, even if it seems faint, it is necessary to enjoy ourselves well the promise of the Holy Spirit to help us effectively so that we can live the life of a traveler in this land well.
First, we can raise our hands and pray in any situation.
Paul the Apostle raises his hand in advance of his excuse in front of King Agrippa, who has all the dignity of the world. The word used here is ἐampkappaamptauampepsilonίampnuampomega(ektheino), which is almost exclusively used by Jesus in the Bible. Therefore, it is not my strength, but a sign of prayer that I will seek the grace of the Lord and rely on his ability. So Paul was able to raise his hand toward God in that short moment without panic, shrinkage, or fear in the state of the worlds majesty. When we are faced with something, we should not react with emotion, but raise our hands to God and get out of there. We should not be bound by our feelings, but raise our hands and cry out to the Lord. We should meditate on the Bible text set every day with the Word community and interpret the situation in light of the Words of the day. The Word meditation itself means raising our hands high to the Lord, and praying as the Lord says that day, is the beginning of all applications so the Lord listens and responds.
Second, we can fortunately consider anything as a blessing by the Lord.
The word Macarius, which is translated fortunately has a meaning of being blessed. Literally, Paul now considers himself a blessed man. Paul, who stood at the place of tedious repeated interrogation and investigation, remembered the phrase, 'Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10). If you know that the promised life by God itself is a blessed life, you can regard it as 'fortunately' no matter what you encounter. It is unfortunate in the eyes of the world, but from the perspective of the saints who received the promise of the Holy Spirit, it is also a blessing. So you can confess that hardship is a blessing. Why is it a blessing? Because Paul used it as an opportunity to preach the gospel in any situation and environment. Paul had five defense arguments since his arrest at the Temple of Jerusalem until just before he was transferred to Rome. Paul the Apostle didnt take King Agrippa lightly, even though he knew well that the king Agrippa was not ethical or fair enough to judge others in court. Paul also said to King Agrippa, 'I hope you will listen.' and this humbly asked him in front of the highest leadership, 'Even if I have something to say, but it is too long to hear, please listen to me patiently until the end.' He is never rude or exclusive and kindly excuses his past deeds and beliefs. Paul knows that he is a blessed person under the dignity of the Holy Spirit, so he does not shrink but boldly preach the gospel. After all, our final destination is the mission of evangelism. Remember that the well-being of the family and the process and conclusion of my life are all to meet the mission of evangelism.
Third, it is not a promise of praying for blessing, but a promise of beatitudes.
Paul believes that the promise of the Holy Spirit was made by Jesus of Nazareth, but the Jewish leaders who sued Paul did not believe in Jesus of Nazareth. The reason is that the people of Israel wish for a political messiah, just as God had sent them to exile when they were slaves to Egypt. He waited for the promise of praying for blessing in eating well and living well to come true. They did not believe in Jesus, who died and came back to life, who fulfilled the promise of the Holy Spirit because they were hoping for another promise of being blessed in the world. The promise of the Holy Spirit is not a promise of physically being blessed, but a promise of Jesus Christs beatitudes. When the Holy Spirit comes, he is able to become a witness who receives power and delivers Jesus to Samaria and the end of the earth. The witness is a martyr, a word that is also so famous for martys. We have to be a martyr to deliver Jesus. It doesnt mean going through a wide and comfortable road, but a narrow and rough one. A life that pursues beatitudes, not praying for blessing, is a life that goes against the nature, but we should not consider it is strange and resent because it must be accomplished as the Word say.
Community confession is a sharing that she get tired and depressed because of her daughter who is really unlikely to change, but she can get energy from the Words, to hold on to the promise of the Holy Spirit, and now she is able to know that she is free. What she suspect a lot these days is, Will my daughters really change? My husband confessed that our two daughters have fist fights every day, and they hate each other so much that he doesnt want to look at them, and hed like to neglect them and give up. And the eldest daughter asked her father to give her Botox injection because she had a square jaw, and asked her mother to get a tattoo of her forehead line. The children are teenagers, but they cried because they cut their hair a little short and asked their parents to pay 400,000 won for the hair extension for a month, so they managed to persuade them to dry it, and this time they asked them to do a bimaxillary plastic surgery. Their mother says they have to endure it for salvation, but father wonder how much he has to endure it, and he feels like his children working hard instead of him because he doesnt change even though his children have ADHD and bipolar disorder and so he doubts and despairs about whether these children will really change or not. Her husband says that raising children is a hundred times more difficult than working at a company. There is nothing they can do for their children who cant even talk about the gospel anymore, and their daughters are the ones who have to pray to meet God.
In this situation, who could pray and cry for blessings, especially beatitudes? Since the father and mother are in such a miserable environment, they confess in a word community that it is a blessed life, holding promises like this at a place where they love worships and serve others. We have to go to heaven. We can shout that we are blessed today because the family and the humble environment are the best contributors that make us go to heaven .Every house has this absurd difficulty, but we hope you can raise your hand and pray in any situation, thinking about Paul who repeats the same thing countless times. No matter what happens to you, I sincerely pray that you regard yourselves as a being blessed person and keep the promise of beatitudes, not the promise of blessing.
