There was a special gathering for Christians in Kyushu last week in Fukuoka. This was a gathering that has been taking place for over 80 years now. It was cancelled during the Second World War, but all together it has been going on for more than 80 years. This gathering emphasizes Christian purity. Especially at this time, two main pastors spoke strongly about the Holy Spirit, and their thoughts have very much impressed me.

Though He is invisible to our eyes, we really do have God inside us, and this is God, the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in Christ have His Holy Spirit. Now as a creature, or creation, of God - though many do not believe - yet something resides inside of us. This is "reason". When we do an evil thing, for some reason we feel bitterness. The bitterness we feel means that we have a need for God's presence inside of us.

Looking around us, we Japanese find evilness all over Japan, and this very much discourages us. But, we must remember the vision that Ezekiel had concerning the valley of dry bones. In his vision, God's living wind blew upon those bones, and they became living people once again. This is exactly what we are dreaming for Japan!

I was planning to give all my attention to that gathering in Fukuoka last week, but as it turned out, I could only attend part of it. A friend of mine, who is also a pastor, called on me to lead a funeral service for his dead father. He lived in a very remote village that is located in the southern part of Oita prefecture, a long way from Fukuoka. You might know that in many small villages in Japan there are strong influences of evil. In these places funeral services are also big events. All of the people there know the method of leading Buddhist funerals in detail.

I prayed earnestly with my wife to prepare a way for this funeral. I had several concerns: most of the relatives of this man were against having a christian funeral service, including my friend's brothers and sisters! However, when the funeral service was over, everyone had a feeling of peace - they were really very pleased with it! My friend's brothers and sisters were happy with the way their father's funeral was conducted. This, I felt, was the influence of God's Spirit at that time and place.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is wonderful! Just reading today's scripture shows us how nice it is to be filled with the Spirit. The moment Jesus' disciples were filled with the Spirit, they began to talk in languages that were new to them. They could be sent out into the world as missionaries, for they were completely fluent in them! Missionaries always have a difficulty in mastering the languages they need to use in the place they are being sent to. But, with the fulfillment of the Spirit, how easy it is.

In John 20:19, we read that Jesus, Himself, put His hands over them and prayed for them to be filled with His Spirit. We Japanese have been praying for "Revival" - the salvation of dead people, solutions to problems, and healing of the sick. Personally, I believe that the revival in Japan will begin with the Christians in Japan. To "revive" is the word! First, we Christians must be revived for the Revival of Japan to occur.

In James 3:1-14, we read that controlling our tongues is the most difficult thing of all. Nothing seems to be more difficult than this. I also tend to make mistakes in this area. There are conflicts between people when one hurts another with words. Taming the tongue is something! What you say can kill people! Lots of people have committed suicide after being hurt by other people's words. Though we become aged physically, our tongues never do, and worse, the older we become, the more our tongues work! Think of elderly people: they are weak physically, but they talk a lot!

Again, to control the tongue is a difficult thing to master. Once in the Bible, Jesus said "By what you say and speak, I will judge you!" We Christians are to be committed to the Holy Spirit in controlling our tongues.

Read Isaiah 6:1-8. This is the famous scene where Isaiah was made a prophet. In his commission, Isaiah was purified with a live coal. Did you know that this "live coal" represents the Holy Spirit? We need to be purified by God's Spirit for the work of God's Spirit to work strongly and freely through us. We are to be made holy, that is, to shun all evilness, and be purified with the work of God's Holy Spirit.

Translated by Junko Okamoto - Edited for the Net by Shido
For another sermon see: Oita Evangelical Christ Church
For all sermon indicies see: cHaPeL nOaH sErMoN iNdEx