Sunday Message – New Year Message 01

13/01/08
<Acts 1:1-14, 2:1-4>
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES UPON YOU
• The theme for this year is “The Year of Inflaming the Spirit’s Fire”. This year, we must pray
revolving this theme. Do not be shaken and do not be deceived by any relative things this year
• “Inflaming the Spirit’s fire” doesn’t mean to say that we are too “cold” last year, as such we will
need to set our hearts and minds ablaze. This understanding is incorrect
• In fact, it is the opposite. In order to inflame the spirit in us, we will need to calm down. We can
only know God’s truth clearer and see God’s practical work upon us, when we calm down
• We will be disheartened if we don’t calm down
• It is only when our hearts and minds are calmed down, will our hearts to love the Lord and people
be set ablaze
• God will continue His work even if we can’t see Him
• How would we be able to come into 2008 if we haven’t gone through the period from 2001-2007?
• We will not be having so much grace today if not for the people around us
• The blessings they have given us surpass the hurts they have brought upon us
• If not for our past hurts, we will not be able to see God’s answers today as we come before Him
• In the year of inflaming the Spirit’s fire, we will have to hold on to the Truth
• The Truth is like the GPS (Global Positioning System). As long as we key our destination into the
GPS, it will plot out the route for us. It will also tell us if we have taken the wrong route
• Do not keep thinking whether we will fall in 2008 or not. Do not be like the disciples of Jesus, who
asked the Lord, “Oh Lord, will I deny you?” “Oh Lord, will I betray you?”
• Even if we have denied the Lord, He will still come back to seek us. We only need to fix our eyes
upon the truth
• When Jesus Christ has fulfilled everything, He dwells in us as the Holy Spirit. It means to say, He
is the Truth that will never change
• The unchanged Truth dwells in us to lead, teach, guide and to discipline us
• This is God’s complete protection. Therefore, He is called the “Holy Spirit, the Counselor”
• God has given us “the Only Way” in <Acts 1 and 2>. This is the original principal that will never
change and the Saints are able to have the answers for everything on this principal
• If we do not live by this principal, we will lose everything regardless of what we have
• Therefore, regardless of the situation a Saint is in, as long as he holds on to this original principle,
he will surely discover the treasure in font of him. There is no exception

Read <Acts 1:1-14, 2:1-4>

• <Acts 1:1-11> is the summary for the whole Old Testament and the Epistles
• v1 “former book” refers to the book of <Luke>
• v3 Our belief is built upon the foundation of the Apostles
• v4 Although we had already known the Lord, it is not enough. We must know the Holy Spirit
(His work and seal)
• v6 The questions they asked were the things that they were most concern about. We also
always ask the Lord, things that we are most concern about. And the Lord’s answer is v7-8
• v8 This is God’s only answer for all our concerns. Regardless of the situation we are in, we
will receive all the answers with the Holy Spirit’s conviction
• v11 The Lord will surely come again. Therefore, do not stare into the sky. In other words, do
not look at the problem. The answer will definitely come
• When a person is Holy Spirit filled, his spiritual eyes will be opened, and he will be born again.
Therefore, even if he is weak and fearful, he is able to stand up and share the Lord’s message
• The most important thing when a person is being filled by the Holy Spirit is that he will see the
practical evidences that God is with him. Others cannot see it. How can a person who has seen it
keep quiet? When he speaks, the people around him will also become alive
• The purpose of God filling this group of weak disciples with the Holy Spirit was to make them able
to share His message to the 15 tribes that gathered there then
• Even if we are still fearful, sad, weak or remain in our problems, we are able to testify, bless and
comfort others when the Holy Spirit fills us
• Even though Peter was able to preach the Gospel when he was being filled by the Holy Spirit, he
still had a bad nature and many weaknesses. However, God greatly used Peter at that time in
accordance to His timetable
• Therefore, do not be deceived and stopped sharing God’s word because of our “incapability”
• The work of the Holy Spirit far exceeds our conditions, weaknesses and fears. This is the reason
why God wants us to be filled by the Holy Spirit
• When we are filled by the Holy Spirit, we do not receive special ability to speak in tangible or
intangible tongues
• God wants us to speak a “new tongue”. This means that a person is able to share the message of
Jesus Christ to another person in accordance to the latter’s situation and needs
• “Other tongues” doesn’t mean to say, for example, a Japanese was able to speak in French all of
a sudden. God’s emphasis wasn’t on this
• More importantly was that the Apostles were able to share the message of Jesus Christ in the
presence of the 15 tribes, and everyone was able to receive the message in accordance to their
own needs. Thus, the different languages were just a media for them to understand the message
• Our words should move a person’s heart. Our testimonies should enable a person to see God
• The testimony we need to share is only “Jesus is the Christ”. He is the Great Prophet, the Great
Priest and the Great King. He knows all our problems. He came to resolve all our (God’s people)
problems
• When Peter stood among them to share the message of Jesus Christ, all the problems of the
people were resolved immediately (i.e. people saw the answers for their problems). They had
received the eternal joy. Thus, they wanted to be with the Apostles everyday, to share with them
and to pray with them

1. The “Only method” that the Lord gives us is “rely on the Holy Spirit”
The Holy Spirit is always with us, convicting, protecting and leading us! My desire to “hunger and
thirst, seek to discover the Lord’s perfect will, ask the Lord for help, compassions on others, see
visions, get inflamed” etc - all these are the work of the Holy Spirit in us. God emphasis is this; we
must understand how the Holy Spirit (Father God and Christ) dwells in us, His work and power.
So that we can “live in Him” in all things!
1) Lord Jesus Christ has already revealed all of God’s mystery <1:1-11 = the complete message
of the Old Testament and the four Gospel>
* Lord Jesus died and resurrected. After He had completed His work on earth, He breathed
on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” <John 20:22>
(1) Word became flesh
(2) Death and Resurrection
(3) Ascend to Heaven; has the authority on the throne
(4) Find God’s people; come again; judge; rule over all things forever
• The Lord has already given us the spiritual GPS. The GPS enables us to see where we
are now, not tomorrow or next year. Our current time and conditions are the most suitable
for us
 • The Holy Spirit leads a married person in a manner of a married person and leads a
single person differently
• A student would be used by God as a student
• God will not use “extrovert ways” on an introvert. God will use an introvert to bless other
people who are also introvert
• When we are tired, the Holy Spirit will want us to have a good rest. We shouldn’t force
ourselves to see visions, dreams or intercede for others when we are already very tired
• The path we need to travel leads to the heavenly kingdom. Thus, the spiritual GPS leads
me in my current situation
• God has told us everything. Jesus Christ is the Great Prophet, the Great Priest and the
Great King. The Holy Spirit is also the Counselor, the Mediator. God loves us
unconditionally. God has given us the authority to triumph over all things. God will judge
this world in the future
• This world is filled with knowledge of sciences and all sorts of teachings. Although
science is important, a person need not have a lot of education or knowledge before he
can enjoy a joyful and blissful life on earth
• The most important thing for us to do while living on earth is to play. Not everyone is able
to really enjoy his sleep, food and drink. There’s a great mystery in this

2) Disciples who understood the mystery of Christ gathered and prayed in unity, then the Holy
Spirit came upon them <1:13-14 → 2:1-4>
• The 120 disciples had seen the work and heard the teachings of Jesus Christ in person
• This group of people gathered on the upper room of Mark and pray in order to understand
the great mystery that Jesus Christ has told them
• They pondered how the word of God could be applied to their lives
• And when the time was right, God sent His spirit to fill all of them. That was the first time
the Holy Spirits come upon men
• The church has a history of about 2000 years from that time till now. And during this
period, a lot of people were arguing if a person will be able to speak in special tongues
when the Holy Spirit comes upon him/her. Such arguments aren’t important at all
• God’s perfect will is this: that when a person is filled by the Holy Spirit, he/she will be able
to remember everything the Lord Jesus Christ has told him/her
• The important thing is when a person prays is whether he will remember the teachings of
Jesus Christ. The greatest work of the Holy Spirit when He dwells in a person is to enable
that person to remember Jesus Christ’s teachings and the word of God

3) As they received God’s grace, doors of evangelism were opened. They testified for the Lord
and changed the whole world and history
<2:5-47→ the work of the whole book of Acts >
• If a person cannot remember the word and covenant of God but speaks in strange
language or spin on the floor everyday, he would have become a weird person
• The moment the Holy Spirit works, we will remember God’s word and able to confirm
God’s covenant in our lives
• When the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles like wind or fire, the most important thing to
note was that they all remembered Jesus Christ’s teaching and were able to testify, teach
and made people repent
• The foundation of our belief doesn’t lie on any people. People are only instruments
• The foundation of our belief must be built upon the word of God
• The Apostles had witnessed the work of Jesus Christ and had heard His teachings in
person. The records they’d written after remembering had become the “Bible” (the true
 word). Those personalized experiences written down by others are the “secondary word”.
Those “secondary words” will cause harm to others because they were based on a
person’s own subjective interpretation of God
• The Bible is the absolute truth and it was recorded by the Apostles

4) When I have heard and believed in Christ’s Gospel, the same thing will take place in me
<Eph 1:13-14; John 1:12-13; 1Cor 3:16, 12:3>
• When Peter stood up and preached, the destinies of 3000 people were changed
completely. How great was this miracle!
• How would our lives be like now if we didn’t know what the fundamental problems are and
if we didn’t know the word of Jesus Christ?
• When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our destiny, perspective will be changed completely.
This is a great miracle! This is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Our perspective for finance,
values, lives will be totally changed
• The Holy Spirit will give us another conviction when we are worried, fearful or greedy. The
Holy Spirit will make us realize that it is incorrect to be worried, fearful or greedy
• Which is more important when a person prays - A change in a person’s direction and
hope or to acquire money and love? One is infinite and will not changed, while the other
is ever changing
• Truths cannot be changed. The fire of the Holy Spirit that came upon the Apostles is now
come upon us

5) Therefore, the Lord wants us to think, speak and live by “relying on the Holy Spirit” <1Th 5:19,
Eph 4:30, 5:17-19 >
• We will receive a lot of answers when we calm down and ponder. Did God call us to be
his children only to make us fail?
• God doesn’t need us to have great faith before He can use us. The Lord already knows
the level of our faith
• The Lord doesn’t look at our faith. God sanctifies us and differentiates us so that He can
use us now
• When God removes some thing from us, He will prepare and give us something better
and more suitable. He didn’t remove things from us to test us
• Very often, we cannot calm down. Therefore, we get excited when we see something and
get disheartened when we don’t. The Lord Jesus Christ is very firm and steady. He would
pray first regardless of the situation He was in
• When we calm down to look at the truth, we will receive answers for all things
• We must be inflamed and “heated up” with a foundation. We have the spirit’s fire
inflaming in us when we have the same mindset, belief and perspective as the Apostles

2. What it means by “rely on the Holy Spirit”?

The verses that are related to “rely on the Holy Spirit, do not extinguish the conviction of the Holy
Spirit, be filled by the Holy Spirit, etc” are all ‘commands’. Of course, it is by the Holy Spirit’s
initiative that He convicts my heart. But when we seek Him and rely on Him as we love those born
again lives, the Holy Spirit will reveal His work to us immediately. As a Saint really knows how to
“rely on the Holy Spirit”, he is able to enjoy (every good and perfect thing that comes from above)
<Eph 1:3; James 1:17-18>. As we want to “rely on the Holy Spirit”, we must hold on to the
following “five mysteries”!
• God gave us the command, “you must rely on the Holy Spirit to live all the time”, “do not
extinguish the conviction of the Holy Spirit”, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”, “you must be filled
by the Holy Spirit”. All these are commands
• We can be filled by the Holy Spirit if we want to. Of course, it’s God’s initiative that a person
could be filled by the Holy Spirit
• We had fallen in the first place and one day we are able to understand God’s word. This come
from God
• It is the Holy Spirit’s initiative that we will have the urge to pray for someone one morning
when we wake up. The Holy Spirit will also give us the message that can comfort that person
• When God wants us to rely on the Holy Spirit, it means, when we take the initiative to be
willing (when we open the door), the Holy Spirit will guild us, lead us and comfort us with the
words that we’d listened and understood before
• God is almighty. He can get a rock to be filled with the Holy Spirit if He wants to. However,
God doesn’t do that. The seal of the Holy Spirit has already entered us. The things that we’d
already understood will never depart from us
• Therefore, if we take the initiative to be willing, we will remember the words that we’d
understood before, as well as be convicted by the Lord’s love once again. When that
happens, we will be strengthened. This is the “freewill” of people.
• There are some behaviors that cannot be changed overnight. In other words, we cannot use
our freewill to change ourselves
• “Freewill” = even though I have no strength completely now, I am still able to get close to the
God who is ever with me
• E.g. Adam and Eve would definitely fall when they faced the serpent. However, after they had
fallen, they could still come out and face the God who loved them when God came and
looked for them. They could wear the garment of skin that God had made for them. This is
freewill
• Freewill means God has saved us completely. God has given Himself to us. Today, He
commands us to live in His love, grace and victory
• When a couple is in the midst of quarreling, it is not impossible for them to tell each other “I
love you” out of a sudden. Even though they might want to say so, they just won’t be able to.
However, in such a situation, we are able to think how God has loved me and how God has
also loved my partner. This is what it means by relying on the Holy Spirit
• If someone doesn’t treat us well in the company, there is little we can do to change him/her.
However, we must hear God telling us that He loves us. When we have such thoughts, it
means we are relying on the Holy Spirit
• We can always go close to God who is always with us. When we get close to God, He will
handle the rest for us
• There are five contents for reliance on the Holy Spirit:

1) <Eph 1:13-14, 1Cor 2:1-5> use the “essence of Christ’s Gospel” to judge all things and the
Holy Spirit will work
• We just first know the Gospel if we want to rely on the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we are only
using our own effort
• No one is able to triumph over Satan by using his/her own effort
• If we are weighing the differences, thinking who is right and who is wrong, after an
argument with our spouse, we are only relying on ourselves and not on the Holy Spirit
• However, if our thought is to rediscover how God has brought us together and how He
has united us, we are relying on the Holy Spirit’
• We need to master the five elements of the Gospel:
(1) The principle and purpose of men’s creation (this is our GPS. The way is already
been routed out for us)
(2) Fundamental problem (we are often being deceived. No way we can be victorious)
(3) Jesus Christ (therefore, we need Jesus Christ)
(4) The assurance of God’s children (we have already become God’s children. It is not by
our behaviors or sincerity that makes God bless us)
 (5) The blessings prepared for the children (God doesn’t work base on our conditions.
Therefore, we will receive His blessings on all things)
• The message that Paul preached was the Cross Message. He wanted to share the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The changes that Paul wanted us to have must have a foundation

2) <Romans 8:15-17> Judge all things as “God’s children” and the Holy Spirit will work in us
• What is Holy Spirit? The most absolute work of the Holy Spirit is to confirm with us that
we are God’s children
• A lot of people like to say that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive special
gifts or power to change something
• All these are the blessings from the Holy Spirit. However, what is more important than
acquiring these blessings is that we must have the assurance that we are God’s children
• The blessings from the Holy Spirit will only go to God’s children
• When we judge something, we must judge with the children’s heart and not by fear
• The judgment of an illegitimate child differs from that of a legitimate one. We need not
struggle when we want to make any decision. Regardless of what the son has done, just
give God the glory. We just have to stop doing, or let go of it when we realize the things
we have done are not good

3) <Romans 8:26, John 14:26, James 1:5> The Holy Spirit will definitely work when the children
seek “God’s perfect will”
• The Holy Spirit will work immediately when we are willing to ask God for His perfect will
for us
• God will surely answer us when we ask as His children
• There are times when we do not know what to ask for. In other words, we do not know
what God’s perfect will is. However, we will receive wisdom and know God’s perfect will
when we ask as God’s children
• We can ask for anything. The only requirement is that we must ask as God’s children

4) <John 15:26> As I use the “absolute truth” to judge all the “relative conditions, signs,
situations and people”, the Holy Spirit will work to allow me to know God’s perfect will
• The Holy Spirit is a spirit of truth. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the truth that never changes
and He works in accordance to situation
• We must use the absolute truth to examine the relative things that happened
• What God has given us is the Word. We must use the never changing Word to examine
the every changing situation
• When we stay claim and when we know the truth, we will realize that 99% of our worries
and agonies are unnecessary at all

5) <Gal 5:16-25> Every time when I “submit to the Holy Spirit and act”, the Holy Spirit will make
me bear the “fruits of the Holy Spirit” and makes me receive authority and power
• The most important thing when relying on the Holy Spirit is to “submit and act”
• We will only reach our destination if we following the route mapped out by the GPS.
Otherwise, the GPS will keep bothering us
• Some submission can be done immediately, but some need to be done step by step
• E.g. After taking every submissive step, the Holy Spirit will give me strength to take the
next step
• Those who are willing to submit have already received grace. They will receive the
assurance of being loved
 • Some people are “ready to disobey”. However, we aren’t those types of people. In other
words, even if we cannot do it, we are still willing to be submissive. We are “ready to
submit”. God delights in us for this
• We must sustain the Lord’s grace. The important secret here is to repeat”

3. Rely on the Holy Spirit; Cast out demons; Kingdom will come
As we “rely on the Holy Spirit”, we will also see “the power and fruits of the Holy Spirit”!
Regardless of the situation and conditions, when a blessed saint willing to “rely on the Holy
Spirit”, he will see an “amazing transformation in his heart” and receive an amazing power. Those
negative emotions like unrest, fears and complaints, will disappear and he will restore positive
emotions like peace, joy, love, thanksgiving and hope. And he will see how God has fulfilled
everything in the past. He will also see how he can fulfill the amazing in great vision. Thus, he will
be filed with assurance and testify naturally everything that he has seen. All these things that will
take place is the result of the work in the spiritual world that is invisible and cannot be heard; as
one relies on the Holy Spirit, the heavenly hosts will be mobilized and drive out the demons and
coming of the Heavenly Kingdom!
• We must drive out the demons repeatedly. Then, the kingdom will come

1) Some related verses <Mat 12:28; Rom 14:17; 2Cor 3:16; Jn 14:27; Gal 5:22-23, Ac 2:16-21>
• The kingdom will come when we cast out the demons by the Holy Spirit. We can see
God’s kingdom. <Rom 14> the Kingdom let me receive love, peace and joy. It is not the
Holy Spirit if it doesn’t let me receive love, peace and joy. We must see everything with
this perspective
• <2Cor 3:16> The Holy Spirit gives me freedom because we are the children
• <Gal 5:22-23> Nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
• <Luke 2:16-21> We must see vision, prophesize and dream dreams. Our perspective will
be changed
• We can see God’s work when we cast out the demons in us

2) Receive the Kingdom and expand the vision <Ac 1:8; Mat 8:18-20, the whole history of Acts>
(1) Acquire the secret to have a Holy Spirit filled life
(2) See the vision of my blessed family and descendents
(3) See the vision that a blessed church would be built, disciples would be raised, God’s
people would gather and disciples would be raised in the region I stay
(4) See the vision that God’s disciples, family and churches would be raised
• God will give 2008 to those who “can see”. God will also give one generation to those
who “can see”
• We must see the truth and the vision that God gives me. The situation we are in right now
is the most blessed situation
• We aren’t boastful when we realized that we are the main characters of this 21st century
because we are born by God
• Those people whom God has placed beside us are the noblest ones because God has
given us the most suitable people. Therefore, we must love them because of this
• The spouses whom God has prepared for us are the most suitable ones. We can see
visions together. When we teach our children, we must also see visions and confirm
God’s love together with them.
• Our church is the Antioch church that can change the world. Therefore, all the good or
bad things that happened in our church could be used as testimonies to support the other
churches in this era
• We gathered because of God’s word and vision. Therefore, we are the main characters of
this era
 3) In our daily life, gather with the Christ’s disciples, break bread together (i.e. to learn the
Gospel of Christ), pray and testify the Lord
(1) Enjoy the greatness of the Gospel more and more
(2) The doors of witnesses will continue to open and expand
(3) Able to see “his vision, dreams and prophecies” get fulfilled gradually
(4) Always be able to see the Spirit’s fire continually inflaming in his heart
• Our joy comes from our ability to see God listening to our prayers
• Saints cannot be joyful because they have never seen how their prayers are answered
• God has already fulfilled everything that we’ve prayed for. We will be joyful if we are able
to see this
• The answers we received during SSG were all God’s answers to our prayers. Those who
see this will be inflamed
• The inflammation and joy in a Saint’s heart come from him seeing his prayers being
answered
• Those who see answers now will have hope and continue to proceed. This should be the
way for our beliefs
• The spirit in us will be inflamed when we see this
• Therefore, we should all calm down to listen to the voice of God
Sharing and Prayer Topics
1. The Holy Spirit filled the 120 disciples of Jesus when they truly believed in Christ’s
teachings, fulfillment, prophesy and prayed earnestly. Is the Holy Spirit that we receive the
same spirit as that received by the Apostles? Does my filling by the Holy Spirit come from
me remembering the word (through the Apostles and church’s altar) of the Lord that
continually speaks to me and the revelation of His work?
2. How to “rely on the Holy Spirit”? Try this: Am I able to experience the 5 mysteries of
“relying on the Holy Spirit” listed in ‘main point 2’ in my heart and spirit? Hold on to the
mysteries of “relying on the Holy Spirit” to deal with all my situations now and receive the
prefect will and strength from the Lord
3. Rely on the Holy Spirit, cast out demons, coming of the heavenly kingdom: What are the
prophecies, visions and dreams that God has given me through the Holy Spirit? How do
they come true in my life, family, church and the network in this world? The vision from
heaven, is it becoming clearer and more realistic? Through this vision and evidences, will
my heart continue to get inflamed?