↓Audio link to the sermon:(Sunday worship recording)
(If you can’t listen on your iPhone, please update your iOS)
And what I was most curious about after being born again was… It was ‘How a child of God should live on this earth.’ In fact, ‘How to live as a Christian’ became my biggest concern. Because until I was born again by the Holy Spirit, I lived as I pleased. For the most part, I lived by my desires and greed. Simply put, I lived by my instincts.
However, at the same time, back then, conscience and morality were still working within me. So, oftentimes I was thinking that I should live up to my parents’ expectations and I should become the person that society demanded.
Then, I was born again by the Holy Spirit and began to serve Jesus as my Lord, I realized that I was not supposed to live by my natural desires. I got to know that I should live by the Spirit. Living a life that meets the expectations of my parents and the demands of society is good, but I have come to a conclusion that God has expectations and demands for me. We might call it “vocation.”
The Bible says,
“Live for God.”
“Live by the grace of God.”
“Live by faith.”
“Live according to God’s will.”
“Live a life worthy of your calling.”
And the Bible also says, “Live by the Holy Spirit.”
I was curious about how Jesus, who is the perfect example in all areas of our lives, lived on this earth. I was especially curious about Jesus, who lived by the Holy Spirit. So today, we are going to take time to find out how Jesus lived by the Holy Spirit.
The life of Jesus was connected with the Holy Spirit from birth. Mary, the physical mother of Jesus, became pregnant with Jesus even though she was not married to her husband Joseph, that is, without even having sexual intercourse. How? Mary became pregnant with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Actually, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
And Jesus was full of wisdom given by the Holy Spirit from a young age. Let us take a look at Luke 2:52. It says, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
The growth of Jesus is also related to the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived by the Holy Spirit from his childhood. Jesus grew from a child to an adult with the wisdom and help of the Holy Spirit.
Then, when Jesus turned 30, he began to live a public life. The beginning of public ministry is also related to the Holy Spirit. In Chapter 3 of the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus receiving water baptism from John the Baptist in the Jordan River. When Jesus came out of the water after being baptized, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit came down from heaven like a dove. Jesus received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As a result, Jesus was clothed with power from on high. In other words, Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus also did his ministry through the Holy Spirit. Let me give you an example.
Let us take a look at Mark 1:12 and 13. “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.”
And again let us take a look at Luke 4:1 and 2. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”
The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. The wilderness is a place we don’t like… It is a place we really don’t want to go to. The Book of Deuteronomy 1:19 describes the wilderness as “vast and dreadful.”
Brothers and sisters, who led Jesus into the vast and dreadful place? Yes, the Holy Spirit. In addition to that, the Holy Spirit might have told Jesus to fast. The Holy Spirit allowed Jesus to be tempted by the devil. Very interesting.
Even when Jesus did His ministry, He did it with the power of the Holy Spirit, When Jesus cast out unclean spirits, he did so with the power of the Holy Spirit. Even when Jesus healed the sick, he did so with the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us take a look at Matthew 12:2. It says, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
We can see here that Jesus drove out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Luke 9:1 says, “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,”
When Jesus called and trained the twelve disciples, he gave them the power and authority to control all demons and heal diseases. In other words, Jesus imparted the power of the Holy Spirit to them.
And Luke 10:1 says, “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.”
And also Luke 10:17 says, “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Jesus also trained 70 disciples, and gave them the power and authority to control unclean spirits and heal diseases. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit.
We can see here that Jesus not only did the ministry of the Word, but also the ministry of the Holy Spirit as part of discipleship training.
And the night before Jesus was crucified, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. There, Jesus prayed until his sweat turned to blood. I believe that the Holy Spirit helped Jesus to pray at that time. Jesus carried that heavy cross up to Calvary. I believe that the Holy Spirit helped Jesus to carry the cross at that time. Jesus was nailed to the terrible, horrifying, and painful cross, and suffered all kinds of pain for 6 hours on that cross before dying. And I believe that the Holy Spirit helped Jesus to endure the suffering of the cross at that time as well.
And the climax of the relationship between Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the resurrection of Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus was resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit. Really? Yes, really.
Let us take a look at Romans 8:11… It says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[a] his Spirit who lives in you.”
It is the Holy Spirit who resurrected Jesus. Jesus came back to life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we take a look at John 20:21, we can notice that the resurrected Jesus appeared before his disciples. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on His disciples and commanded them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit!”
And on the day of his ascension, Jesus said to his disciples,
“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.”
Jesus knew that we need the power of the Holy Spirit to live a righteous life on this earth. The Holy Spirit is essential for us to gain eternal life, but we also need the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life of vitality on this earth. Jesus wants us to breathe in the Holy Spirit. Especially when we pray in tongues, we can breathe in the Holy Spirit. And Jesus wants us to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and live a life of spreading the gospel in Tokyo, Chiba, all around Japan, and to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to be witnesses of Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, what does it mean to be a Christian? A Christian is a person who belongs to Christ. Being a Christian refers to trusting in Christ and living according to His teachings.
It is impossible to live a life exactly like Jesus. It is because Jesus is perfect. It is because we humans are not perfect and can’t be perfect. However, we can try to imitate Jesus, who is our perfect model.
The truth we can know through today’s sermon is… Jesus began his life with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was with him throughout the middle stages of his life. Even at the end of his life, the Holy Spirit was with him.
Jesus always walked with the Holy Spirit. We too must live a life that always walks with the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray.
(If you can’t hear from the bar above, click the blue button)
iPhone
日本語