When the Holy Spirit Comes on You Acts 1:8, NIV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “When the Holy Spirit Comes on You,” which is based on Acts 1:8. Please repeat after me: When the Holy Spirit Comes on You, When the Holy Spirit Comes on You. Acts 1:8 is the key word of the entire book of Acts. It was given to the Early Church but was meant for all Christians, even those who are living today. Let us read Acts 1:8 again together. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Amen. I pray that you will inscribe this Scripture on your heart and desire that grace of God which is freely given to all of us. The greatest miracle we can experience in our life is to believe in Jesus. Then we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You will have constant problems if you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. You will be attacked and fail to overcome the temptations of sin. We must therefore strive to be filled with the Holy Spirit after we believe in Jesus. We need to be seized by the power of the Holy Spirit to live powerfully and victoriously in the Lord. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit, from the day we believe in Jesus, until the day we go up to heaven. Jesus preached to His disciples in the Upper Room at the Last Supper. He preached about the Holy Spirit. John 14:16 says: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” Another Counselor, who is exactly like Jesus, was to come and be with the believers forever. The Holy Spirit, as Jesus had promised descended on His disciples on the tenth day after His Ascension. Acts 2:1 and 4 says: “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The early Christian church was born when the Holy Spirit descended on the people. It was by the work of the Holy Spirit that the church prospered and the gospel spread out from Jerusalem, to all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We can find three blessings that God gives to us in Acts 1:8. First, the Holy Spirit must come on us. All of us need the Holy Spirit. We must always pray that the Holy Spirit will come on us. Acts 1:8 says, “…when the Holy Spirit comes on you;” We cannot understand the Holy Spirit through our knowledge. The Holy Spirit has to come on us. We must experience the Spirit. I was born in a Christian family who for many generations did not know the Holy Spirit until we moved to the Full Gospel Church 47 years ago. I had not heard about the Holy Spirit before. People said that we needed to receive the Holy Spirit when I came to the Full Gospel Church. We needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I was curious, “Who is the Holy Spirit?” I was too young then to understand who the Holy Spirit was. At every worship service, Pastor Cho urged people to receive the Holy Spirit so I felt obliged to receive the Holy Spirit to survive at the Full Gospel Church. I prayed, “Heavenly Father, I do not know what it is like to be filled with the Holy Spirit but give me the Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues.” Over and over again, I desired to be filled with the Holy Spirit; but it was not until two years later, one year and ten months to be exact, that I received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the gift that God promised. Acts 1:4, 5 says, “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ” Jesus said this right before He was taken up to heaven. He told His disciples to wait for the gift the Father had promised. He promised that in a few days they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The fact was that Jerusalem was a dangerous place for the disciples to stay in. Jesus was accused and arrested in Jerusalem. He was then taken to Pilate, tried, and sentenced in Jerusalem. Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem. For these reasons, Jerusalem was a place of death to Jesus’ disciples. But Jerusalem was also the place of blessings. Although it was a place of suffering, it was equally the place of the blessing, grace, and miracles of God. It was the place where they gathered and worshipped God because God’s temple was in Jerusalem. Do not leave your place of worship no matter what kind of problems and trouble may come to you. Do not leave your place of prayer. Do not leave your place of God’s grace. What is the first symptom of falling into temptation? You do not want to go to church to worship the Lord. If you do not want to go to church this means that you have fallen into temptation. You must resist temptations and go to church to worship the Lord and pray harder than you did before. God will bless you if you persevere and not leave the place of God’s grace. God will bless you. The disciples saw Jesus taken up to heaven. They then returned to Jerusalem in obedience to Jesus’ command. Acts 1:12 says, “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city.” Holding on to the Word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and joined together constantly in prayer. Acts 1:14 says, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” There were about 120 people who gathered in Mark’s Upper Room, including the disciples of the Lord Jesus, Mother Mary, and the brothers of Jesus. They joined together constantly in prayer in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Miracles will also take place when we join together constantly in prayer. God will bless us. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came like a strong and mighty wind; and what seemed to be tongues of fire separated and rested on each of the people. All of them began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:3, 4 says, “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” On the Day of Pentecost, ten days after they began to pray together; the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They received the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues. They used to be powerless before receiving the Holy Spirit. They used to be weak. Peter even denied Jesus three times before a little maid servant. The other disciples as well fled away when Jesus was arrested. The apostle John was the only one, out of the twelve disciples, who went to the place of Crucifixion. The disciples even went back to Galilee to fish after they met the Resurrected Lord. However they all changed when the Holy Spirit came on them. They were renewed. They received power. What we desperately need today is the fullness of the Holy Spirit. “Lord, fill us with the Holy Spirit. Fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we will fight this sinful world and gain victory. Help us overcome all the problems, pain, and hopelessness, and live in the abundant blessings of God.” There were only twelve people when the apostle Paul visited the church at Ephesus. What did Paul say to them? Acts 19:2 says, “…and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?’ They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ ” You are in trouble if you have not heard of the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It would be a pity if you had never heard about the Holy Spirit while attending church. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. We know that the Holy Spirit exists and we must recognize the power of the Holy Spirit. However we will not see any change in our lives if we do not receive the Holy Spirit. Why do we stumble and fall even though we want to live in accordance with the will of the Lord? It is because we are not filled with the Holy Spirit. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. What caused Yoido Full Gospel Church to become the largest church in the world in such a short period of time? The secret behind its splendid prosperity is that from the beginning to the end our church has had the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We cannot expect fundamental changes in our lives before being filled with the Holy Spirit. No other pastors emphasized the fullness of the Holy Spirit more than Pastor Cho. These days most Korean churches are filled with the Holy Spirit and are wonderfully growing. God blessed all the churches which emphasize the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4:6 says, “So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD Almighty.’ ” Let us say it together, “…but by my Spirit.” Hallelujah! Please repeat after me, “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” God’s miracles will be done not by might nor by power but by the Holy Spirit. Dr. Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, said the following in his book “The Holy Spirit: The Key to Supernatural Living.” “Since the man of the Holy Spirit has committed his life to the Spirit, he has peace of mind in dealing with problems. He does not fret over problems. When problems occur, man of the Spirit can handle them with tranquility and confidence because he has the holy resources of God that God allows to him for that purpose. The Lord Jesus tells us to leave all our cares to Him because He takes care of us. Jesus is the problem solver. When Jesus carries all the sufferings and heavy load, they should not be a problem to us anymore.” When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we can leave all our worries and cares to the Lord. We can live victoriously, conquering all the problems more than sufficiently. I want you to pray fervently in order to receive the Holy Spirit. Some say, “I go to the Full Gospel Church. I want to receive the Holy Spirit but the Spirit has not come to me yet. What should I do?” If you have the same problem, pray and desire the Spirit. The disciples of the Lord did not receive the Holy Spirit without doing anything. They joined together in constant prayer for ten days. The received the Holy Spirit after crying out to the Lord over and over again. On the last Friday of each month, we have an all night joint prayer meeting with our youth and college students. Many young people then receive the Holy Spirit. They desire to receive the Holy Spirit. They receive the fire of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and are filled with the grace of God when we pray together with all our hearts. It is true. I pray that you will be filled with the Holy Spirit in all the worship services. I pray that you will receive the Holy Spirit when you pray. I pray that you will go to Prayer Mountain and receive the Holy Spirit by crying out to the Lord. You will receive power when you receive the Holy Spirit. Second, we must receive the power of the Holy Spirit. The Scripture says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.” You will receive power. When the Holy Spirit comes on us, He bestows His power to us. The Spirit and its power cannot be separated because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of power. Why does He bestow power to us? It is because he wants to make us the witnesses of the gospel. In Acts 1:8, we must pay attention to three words: Holy Spirit, power, and witness. The Greek word for power is ‘Dunamis’. Dynamite was derived from ‘Dunamis’. It means explosive power. When we receive the Holy Spirit we will have enormous power which can explode problems like dynamite explodes a mountain. The disciples of Jesus were not well educated. They were not rich. They had a lot of weak points. However, they became great apostles with explosive power to change the whole world after they received the Holy Spirit. Peter had denied Jesus three times but after he received the Holy Spirit; he preached the gospel and three thousand people came to the Lord on a single day, and five thousand on another day. Acts 2:41 says: “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” Hallelujah! The life of Jesus was a life filled with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:38 says: “…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” “Lord, bestow the power of the Holy Spirit on us, too.” Jesus raised the dead with the power of the Holy Spirit. He opened the eyes of the blind. He raised the man who had been crippled from birth. He fed five thousand male adults with five loaves of bread and two small fish. More than 20,000 people were fed at that time with 12 baskets of left-over food gathered. He calmed the storm. He performed marvelous miracles. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. “Lord, pour the power of the Holy Spirit on us so that the signs of power will accompany us”. Mark 16:17-18 says: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Please, repeat after me. “They will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Hallelujah! Such signs will accompany those who receive power by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Third, we must live a life of a witness. Why does God give us the Holy Spirit and power? He gives us the Holy Spirit and power because He wants us to be witnesses of the gospel. Acts 1:8 says; “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The Lord promised that we will be His witnesses. A witness is someone who has seen, heard, or experienced something particular. The Greek word for witness is Martus, which is the root of martyrdom. Martyr was derived from this Greek word. This means that when we receive the Holy Spirit with power; we will be witnesses of the gospel, and be willing to sacrifice our lives for the Lord. We will not stop professing the Gospel even unto death when we receive this power. Stephen did this. He was stoned to death while he was professing his faith in the Lord. He did not step backward even when he was dying. Instead, he forgave those who were killing him. He beheld the Lord Jesus in heaven and was martyred in His glory. We must do our best when we preach the gospel. We must be witnesses of the gospel, willing to lay our life down for the Lord. We should not be afraid. God will work with us when we preach the gospel with boldness and confidence. His miracles will follow. We all talk very boldly during our daily conversations. However our mouth seems to shut when it is time to witness the gospel of Jesus. We sometimes call our friend with the intent of inviting him or her to church but hang up without extending that invitation. Boldness is required in preaching the gospel. I myself often need boldness to talk to the driver of a taxi I may be riding in. So I pray before saying: “Mister, do you go to church?” Some drivers say, “No, I am too busy to go to church.” Then I say, “Go to church. Believe in Jesus.” Some drivers say, “I go to church. I am a deacon of my church.” Then I say, “God bless you.” It is not easy. We need boldness by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Our church members are filled with the Holy Spirit and preach the gospel to many people whenever they have time. They are leading many souls to the Lord. “Lord, make us witnesses of the gospel. Bless us to go into the world and preach the gospel of the Lord.” We cannot help preaching the gospel to people when we have the power of the Holy Spirit. We will be precious servants of the Lord. Dr. Sherwood Hall wrote a book “With Stethoscope in Asia: Korea.” It contains many touching stories. Dr. Hall’s missionary parents spent their lives serving Korea and are buried here. Sherwood Hall later came to Korea, worked and is now buried with his parents. When Dr. Hall Sr. was coming to Korea in the late nineteenth century, his friends asked him, “Why are you going to that country? They hate and persecute foreigners. They have killed many western missionaries. Why do you want to go there?” Dr. Hall replied, “If God plans to open the door by sacrificing one person, I will not avoid being the one.” How touching his confession of faith is! Dr. Hall would have been willing to be the one person martyred for Korea to open up to the gospel. He was from Canada. He was working in a hospital in New York, where he met and married a female doctor Rosetta Sherwood. They came to Korea with a burning desire for mission work. Dr. Hall died very shortly after coming to Korea while treating a patient with an epidemic disease. Their daughter died shortly thereafter as a young child. However Mrs. Hall did not leave Korea. She continued to serve the Koreans until she died. On her death bed, she said, “Bury me at Yanghwajin, where my husband and daughter are buried.” Yanghwajin is a cemetery for foreign missionaries. The entire Hall missionary family - husband, wife, and daughter were buried there. Their son went to the United States and studied medicine. He came back to Korea and served the Korean people. He once said, “Whenever I put a stethoscope on the heart of a Korean; my heart also beats with his heart. I love Korea.” He loved Korea so much that he wanted to be buried with his family. His parents loved and died for Koreans so Dr. Sherwood Hall wanted to be buried in Korea. When Dr. Hall was invited to Korea at the age of 91, he said, “When I die, do not bury me in Canada, my homeland, nor in the United States, where I am now living. Bury me at Yanghwajin with my father, mother, and sister.” And so after he died in 1991 he was buried there. Their martyrdom, dedication, and self-sacrifice for the Lord made it possible for many people to believe in Jesus, giving glory to God. Much blood of martyrdom has been shed in North Korea. I believe North Korea will open its door soon so that the gospel can be preached there. I believe the bombing of our warship by a torpedo will speed up this process. That will be their final resistance before opening up. “Heavenly Father, turn this tragedy into a blessing. Awaken Koreans spiritually and arm us with prayers. Help us pray for the reunification of the country. Destroy the demilitarized zone and reunite our country so that we will all, hand-in-hand praise the Lord with joy and thanksgiving.” Hallelujah! John 12:24 says; “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” We must live as witnesses of the gospel. Luke 24:48 says; “You are witnesses of these things.” Why did the Holy Spirit descend on us? God gave us the power of the Holy Spirit so that we could fulfill the mission to witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who speaks the gospel to other people? Only those who are seized and empowered by the Holy Spirit can share the gospel and lead people to the Lord. No other endeavor or effort can bring about fundamental changes in our life. Your life will change even if you come to church for the first time when you receive the Holy Spirit and its power. Miracles will be performed. The gospel has been witnessed from Jerusalem, to all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth because the Holy Spirit filled His servants to do so. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we cannot help preaching the gospel. Paul confessed to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 9:16 says; “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” What will you say if Jesus comes today and asks, “Who is the last person that you preached the gospel to?” Christians must concentrate on winning souls. I urge you to take the gospel and go into the world. The Full Gospel missionaries came to Korea for the World Mission Conference. They will get recharged while staying here and go back to their mission fields. I pray that we will take the gospel and go into the world to change the world with the gospel of Jesus. The following story is introduced in a book, “Do not hit them - not even with flowers.” A newspaper reporter witnessed a noble sacrifice while he was covering a tragic situation in Somalia. His crew was staying in Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia. The famine was so severe that many people died of hunger. The newspaper reporter and his crew went to a village and saw most villagers were either dead or dying. They were dying of hunger. The reporter saw a small boy. His body was covered with insect bites. His belly was swollen with dystrophy. His hair had turned red. His skin was so damaged and wrinkled that it looked like it belonged to a man over one hundred years old. One of his fellow reporters took pity on him and gave some fruit to the boy. The boy took the fruit, barely managed to stand up, and went back to the village. He nodded thank you to the reporters, then headed back to the village. The reporters followed him with cameras. Without knowing that the reporters were following him, this boy walked into the village and soon walked into a humble hut. Another boy was lying inside the hut. It was his younger brother and he was almost dead. He did not have enough strength to even flick an eyelid. The older boy knelt by his younger brother, bit into the fruit, chewed it, opened his mouth and put the chewed fruit into it. The younger boy did not have the strength to chew the fruit himself so his older brother moved his chin to help him swallow it. Then he bit into the fruit again, chewed up a piece, and put it inside his brother’s mouth. He repeated this process until the fruit was gone. The reporters found that the boy had done this for 15 days. When he had something to eat, he gave it all to his brother. The older boy died of hunger but the little boy survived. The big brother sacrificed his life for his brother. His self-sacrifice is priceless. We, on the other hand, have been sinful, unrighteous, and debauched. Jesus and we are not even related by blood. Jesus did not have to sacrifice Himself but He unconditionally loved us, and saved us by being crucified for us and shedding His blood. This is the great love of God and the sacrificing love of Jesus Christ. We are saved and have become the children of God through the sacrificial love of Christ. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit for the Lord Jesus. Let us receive power to witness the gospel to the ends of the earth. Let us do our part as witnesses of the gospel. (Hymn No. 276) Brightly beams our Father’s mercy From His lighthouse evermore But to us He gives the keeping Of the lights along the shore Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave! Some poor fainting, struggling seaman You may rescue, you may save Prayer: Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, You loved us and sent Your one and only Son Jesus. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins. We are saved thanks to Your grace. Forgive us since we have not thanked You enough for Your love and grace. Forgive us since we have not lived in accordance with Your will. We repent of our sins. Fill us with the Holy Spirit so that we will give our lives for You, preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth until You come again. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 11