THE HOLY SPIRIT -- #2
Good morning to each one. Thank you for tuning us in this
morning. It is my prayer that each one listening has a sincere
longing for the truth of God's Word; that we may be honest and fair
in our study of the book we call the Bible.
Last week I introduced the study of the Holy Spirit, with the
promise that we would pursue the study this week. Last week I
discussed, "Who is the Holy Spirit?" Our answer: The Holy Spirit is
Deity, has divine nature. We saw that the Holy Spirit is a Person,
identified with the personal pronoun "He." We also noted "How the
Spirit communicates His message to man?" We saw in that study that
the Holy Spirit reveals truth through WORDS. Thus, the Holy Spirit
speaks truth and man hears truth. He does not communicate with man
through dreams, feelings, or emotions. He deals with man through
intelligent words, understandable words.
With these thoughts from last week we continue with the subject
of the Holy Spirit. Our first question today is, "What has the Holy
Spirit communicated? Last week we saw how the Holy Spirit
communicates; now we ask, what does He communicate? When the
disciples were sorrowful about the Lord's announcement that he must
soon leave them, he said unto them, "It is expedient for you that I
go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I go, I will send him unto you." (John 16:7). He then
continues in verse 12, "I have yet many thing to say unto you, but ye
cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth, is come,
he shall guide you into all the truth." The Holy Spirit would
provide the apostles with the information they needed after the Lord
had returned to heaven. This would include that which he had taught
them while He was with them and it would include also all additional
information that they would need to carry out their work of preaching
the gospel of salvation. In John 14:26, our Lord speaks to His
apostles again, "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring
to your remembrance all that I said unto you."
The apostle Peter states, "His divine power hath granted unto us
all things that pertain unto life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). From
this we conclude that the revelation which the Spirit gave was and is
sufficient for our needs. We need not look for something else,
something new. In 1 Timothy 3:17, we read, "That the man of God may
be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." In view of
these two passages, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit himself
has warned us against changing or altering the message that was
given. Listen to other passages that give us the same warnings. In
Deuteronomy 4:2, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments
of Jehovah your God which I command you." In Proverbs 30:6, "Add not
unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."
Revelation 22:18, 19, "I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them,
God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:
and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out
of the holy city, which are written in this book." It is indeed
foolish, yea fatal, to preach another doctrine; to add anything to
what has been revealed; or to remove anything therefrom. The book we
call the Bible, God's revealed truths, cannot be improved upon. There
is just no place for latter revelations, for additions or
subtractions. God's Book cannot be improved upon. Question. Did those
who lived during the first century, during the days of the apostles,
have enough information to be saved? Who would deny that they did? If
they had sufficient information to become the child of God in A.D.33,
or A.D. 50, why would it take anything different today to make one a
child of God??? There is just simply no place for other books in our
service of our King, Jesus Christ.
We have observed thus far in our study on the Holy Spirit, that
(1) God has revealed himself to man; (2) this revelation was made by
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead; (3) it was
accomplished through inspired men during the apostolic age of the
first century, and (4) it was done by means of intelligible
communication -- through the use of words. We have also seen that it
is final, complete, and all sufficient to man's needs for salvation.
Our next question is: "Where is this remarkable revelation of
God to men to be found?" I am now reading from 2 Timothy 3:16, 17,
"Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness:
that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every
good work." The words, "inspired of God," in this passage translate
one Greek word (theopnuestos) literally saying "God breathed." That
is, the Bible claims to be from God as surely as one's breath comes
from one's body. God breathes through His word, and as we receive His
word, this breath of life enlivens and motivates us. The words,
"every scripture inspired of God," DO NOT MEAN, "only such scriptures
as are inspired of God," implying that some scriptures are not
inspired. The word "scripture," is never used in the New Testament,
other than as inspired matter. In the light of this fact the meaning
is, "Every part of scripture," that is, the whole of scripture, all
of it, comes from God. There is no part of the scriptures that is not
inspired, "breathed of God."
A second point just here, and how important it is: God's word is
within the mental reach of every person who is obligated to hear and
to obey it. Obviously, small children, children who can not
understand and as yet learn, are not expected to know and obey these
words. But, each person who has reached the age of accountability,
the age of knowing right from wrong, is capable of hearing and
understanding this message. Jesus said, "If any man willeth to do his
will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God..." (John
7:17). The "will of God" has been revealed; it was taught, by the
Holy Spirit, through the medium of intelligible communication, and it
may be known only in this manner. It is not by "word only," because
the Spirit works by means of the word. It is not by "Spirit only"
since the word is the Spirit's instrument.
Note another point just here: The word of God is fully able to
accomplish the very purposes intended for it to accomplish. Paul
speaks, "...Ye received the word of God which ye heard of us; ye
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word
of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1
Thessalonians 2:13). Here Paul claims that the message which he
preached was indeed the word of God, and that it was able to do all
that needed to be done in their lives to produce the faith that
saves.
Let us suppose for a moment, that in spite of the teachings of
the word of God and the facts which we have just covered, someone
comes along and claims divine guidance by the Holy Spirit, apart
from, and independent of the word, what harm is there in holding such
a view? What is wrong with a person thinking that his hunches, his
intuition, his so-called inner feelings, are promptings of the Holy
Spirit? To answer what is wrong with that, I offer four answers:
First, It just simply is not so. That view is exactly opposite
to what the scriptures teach. Please note: If you receive a message
from the Holy Spirit, and your neighbor receives a message from the
Holy Spirit, would they not agree with each other. And yet, those who
claim direct revelations from the Holy Spirit differ with other who
make the same claim. I would like for someone who makes this claim to
explain this. I think it safe to say that I will not be hearing from
anyone with an attempt to answer this perplexing problem that those
who make such claims obviously have.
Secondly, the contention that the Holy Spirit, encourages,
strengthens and motivates apart from the word, strikes at the claim
of the word of God to be all-sufficient. If there are influences
brought upon man, apart from and in addition to the revealed word of
God, then this word is not sufficient; it is not complete; it does
not throughly furnish us unto every good work. Yet, the book of God
very clearly and unmistakably claims to provide for us all that God
intends that we have or need unto our salvation. There is not an area
in our life that God's Word does not provide us with everything which
we need. If you know of something else needed, please, please would
you not share it with us? And again, I will not hear from those who
make such a claim. Why? Because they know that they cannot
substantiate their claims. And they know that I know they cannot. If
the Bible provides us with all that we need, and it does, there is
simply nothing else needed. If it does not provide us with all that
we need, then it becomes a false book; totally undependable. If we
cannot trust the Bible to be true in this matter, then how can we
trust it to be true in any other matter?
Thirdly, I have never know anyone who claimed such additional
guidance who did not teach some doctrines contrary to the plain
teaching of the Holy Spirit in other matters. It must be very clear
that the Holy Spirit does not oppose, through individuals, what He
affirms through the New Testament writers. Suppose your friend told
you something today. Then tomorrow, he told you something exactly
opposite or different. What would you think? And yet, that is exactly
what those in the religious world accuse the Holy Spirit of doing. My
friend, if he tells you one thing, and then tells your neighbor
something different, even contrary to what he told you, how much
confidence would you put in the Holy Spirit? And if you claim you
have more knowledge than he, by what right do you have to pass such
judgment upon him. Peter states that God is "no respecter of
persons," (Acts 10:34). Therefore, if the Holy Spirit tells you one
thing and your neighbor something entirely different, would He not be
a respecter of persons. Whom are we to believe? Those who claim to
have direct revelation from Heaven, or the inspired Book of God? I
rest my case upon the clear, understandable, revealed truth of the
Father, as it was given by the Holy Spirit almost 2000 years ago.
Fourthly, Those who hold such views often go on into more error
until the Bible no longer serves as the standard of their beliefs.
How often has one been heard to say, "I know what I feel in my heart
and I don't care what a stack of Bible say." Here we see one relying
upon their inner feelings. Their feelings take precedence over what
the scriptures teach, thus the scriptures no longer influence them.
In matters where people's "hunches," "inner feelings," are in
conflict with the New Testament, they do not hesitate to repudiate
the New Testament, in order to follow the "inner feeling" they
profess to have. And that is a dangerous, yea, fatal mistake.
Thus far in our study of the Holy Spirit, I have covered: (1)
Who is the Holy Spirit? (2) How does the Holy Spirit communicate with
man? (3) What has the Holy Spirit Communicated? and (4) Where is the
Holy Spirit's communication? In our next study we will be discussing
the subject, "When are we led by the Spirit?" Be sure to tune in
again Sunday morning. Get you recorders and copy the lesson. Check me
out with the word of God. We would be glad to hear from you. The
address is: Route 1, Box 502, Anahuac, TX 77514. Until next week, I
bid you a most pleasant day and may you have a good week. Study God's
Word, the revelation given by the Holy Spirit.
(Much taken from tract by Guy N. Woods,
"How The Holy Spirit Dwells in the Christian")
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