What happens to those who have received the Holy Spirit? First, they have fellowship with God. As stated in 2 Corinthians 13:34, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” Those who have received the Holy Spirit definitely have a sincere communion with God. Also, they have an automatic and natural fellowship of love with brothers and sisters in the church.

Second, they have the seal of approval and ownership by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13 declares, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,” and Ephesians 4:30 further says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Additionally, 2 Corinthians 1:22 states, “Who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

Third, the Holy Spirit testifies from within that we are children of God. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

Fourth, they bear the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Without the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians cannot possess these fruit. These characteristics do not come through much discipline and hard work. They might sound similar but the world does not and cannot have these fruit. Only those who are filled with the Holy Spirit can have this internal transformation.

Fruit do not appear until the branches grow out. Likewise, no one can truly love without the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” No one can accomplish this command without the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” The joy that Jesus hoped to be in us is possible only by the Holy Spirit.

A person who was with me passed away in Sadang-dong, Korea in the earlier days of my church. When I sent information to the bereaved family that their member passed away, they did not want to make any funeral arrangements. In those days, transportation, communication and even funeral arrangements were costly and difficult. I wanted to win the surviving family members to the Lord. So I carried the body from out of town and walked over 30 miles to Shingil-dong. I wanted to use transportation, but no driver wanted to load a dead body into his car, so I just walked. Along the way, brown liquid kept dripping from the corpse’s mouth onto me. Also, the body was very heavy, so I had to take some breaks along the way.

In the middle of the journey, I passed a ditch. Because the road was very slippery, I fell to the ground together with the body and then corpse’s head hit the back of my head. The pain was so unbearable that I was dizzy for a while and the pain later lasted for two days. When I arrived at Shingil-dong, I went to the daughter of the deceased. Her husband blocked the door and accused me of using their home as a mortuary. I had no other option, so I brought the body to the son. He came out and said, “You know my wife and her temper.” In the end, I had to carry the body back to the church office and take care of the funeral arrangements. I did all this with joy because at the end, I wanted to perhaps gain one more soul to Christ. Yet, this joy was not my own but of the Holy Spirit.

There was another occasion when a relative of a believer died of lung cancer and I was asked to prepare the body for burial. At the time, no one in his family was yet a believer. (This was during the 1960s when Korea did not have proper funeral arrangements. The poor families would just prepare their own burials.) When I was preparing the body, blood squirted out of the mouth and hit my face. Without causing a scene, I just wiped off the blood and continued to prepare the body. I could have reacted in disgust and anger but I wanted to show respect to the family of the deceased. I was hoping to gain them to the Lord. The family members saw this and later became Christians. One participant from another church was also there. He was greatly touched and decided to help us. He later joined our church and brought 153 new souls to the Lord in one year! No matter how much we want new believers to come to our church, we cannot do this by our strength. This was possible because of the Holy Spirit. With my normal mind and strength, I could not have done any of these things. The Holy Spirit operates true love in us.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of peace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Without the Holy Spirit’s help, people cannot make peace. Some people saw the sick being healed in our church and said, “Healing is not everything. You must also bear fruit of the Spirit. It is nothing if there is no love, joy, and peace.” If they actually said these words to sincerely edify the church, then we would have definitely received them in our hearts. However, they act so divisively in the church that it is difficult for anyone to be edified. Love, joy, and peace operate only when the Holy Spirit indwells believers.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of patience. Jesus said, “By your patience possess your souls!” and said, “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Who can enable us to stand firm to the end? Only the Holy Spirit can help us to be patient to the very end.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of kindness. God said that He desires mercy and not sacrifice. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to possess the kindness and mercy that God desires.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of goodness. Romans 2:7 says, “Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immorality,” John 5:29 says, “Those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation,” and Matthew 12:35 says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of faithfulness. There are many duties in the church. Some people quietly do their duties, whether or not others pay attention to them. On the other hand, there are others who stop working because no one notices them. They will still grumble even though the pastor recognizes their work. Those who have received the Holy Spirit will faithfully carry out their duties, even if no one acknowledges them.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of gentleness. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Also, Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” Only the Holy Spirit can perfect gentleness in us.

Christians who have the indwelling Holy Spirit will bear the fruit of self-control. Whether it is the duty of an overseer or a deacon, a man must have self-control if he wants to serve in the church. 1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”