Introduction: Have you ever received a gift that you wanted for a long that had great sentimental value to it? What did you do with this gift once you had it? You probably utilized it for whatever uses it was for, until it was unusable of course. God gives every believer the gift of the Holy Spirit the moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. This is a gift that is to be utilized to its fullest extent. This gift will never be unusable! When Christians get to the point where they think they are either too old, too intelligent, or already have all the experience they need to learn more, this is a dangerous stand. We are telling God that the gift of the Holy Spirit cannot be used by us. We are saying that His gift is unusable. Here are ten ways that the gift of the Holy Spirit reminds, teaches, speaks, reveals, instructs, exposes, convicts, rebukes, corrects, and works to help us grow in more wisdom and live pleasing to God.
1. The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are always in need of His teaching regardless of our age, education, or years of experience. John gives us a twofold lesson on this subject. (a) We all have an anointing from the Holy one to know the truth. John wrote, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth”... (b) John tells us that the anointing we have is from God and by the Holy Spirit. He goes on to say that He (the Holy Spirit) abides in us and we need to “remain” in Him. The key word there is for us to “remain” in Him. He writes, “As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him" (1 John 2:20,27). Ask the Lord to keep you humble and teachable so that you never grow too old, too educated or too experienced to learn from God. We must point out that this implies that you must read God’s Word daily for the Holy Spirit to reveal the Truth to you.
2. The Holy Spirit reminds us that no human is able to be right all of the time. Some leaders need to be right all the time, which is their biggest hindrance to learning and maturing in Christ. Howard Hendricks writes in his book, Teaching To Change Lives, “If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow” (17). Paul wrote, "This is what we speak, not in words, taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words" (1 Cor. 2:13). Ask the Lord to remind you to remain humble whenever you think you have to be right with every decision, situation or with every interpersonal disagreement. Wouldn’t you rather your students to drink from a running stream than a stagnant pool?
3. The Holy Spirit teaches us that we can continue to learn as we exercise the gifts, callings, and abilities that God has given us. The writer of Hebrews wrote, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). Ask the Lord to help you be more willing to learn by using “all” of your gifts, callings, and abilities. We must be good stewards of the gifts that we have already been given.
4. The Holy Spirit speaks to believers when they are searching the Scriptures for answers to real problems. Dr. Luke wrote about such fine people of Berea, "Now these were more noble minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11). Ask the Lord to specifically speak to you about your emotional, mental, physical, interpersonal, spiritual, and ministry needs from your study of the Scriptures. Sometimes we expect a phone call from Heaven with God on the other line to affirm us. We must read the Scriptures daily to discern for ourselves through the leading of the Holy Spirit to learn God’s character and ways, which in turn give us His answers to our concerns.
5. The Holy Spirit is unwilling to reveal more of God’s will unless we are obeying the truth we already possess. Jesus said, "He who has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love him and show myself to Him" (John 14:21). Ask the Lord to help you obey His commands so that God can reveal greater insights for your future ministries. Too many times, we as believers wonder why we are not getting certain opportunities that we’ve been praying and asking for. God will not entrust you with more responsibilities if you are not being a good steward of what you have. Just the same, He will not give you any more understanding of the Truth, until you are obeying the Truth that has already been revealed to you. So we must not simply have knowledge of God’s Word, but be living it if we want more Truth and understanding revealed.
6. The Holy Spirit exposes those who are unwilling to remain learners throughout their lives and ministries. Jesus said, "Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Mark 4:16-19). Ask the Lord to help you learn from periods of fruitlessness in your ministries or interpersonal relationships.
7. The Holy Spirit convicts people who are superficial, shallow, or inattentive listeners to God’s voice. Paul wrote, "The Spirit works against the desires of the sinful nature. These are in conflict with one another so that you do not do what you should do" (Gal. 5:17). Ask the Lord to help you avoid superficial, shallow, or any type of inattentive listening when God is speaking to you from His word. We must be still and quiet to listen to God’s voice. Many say they never hear from God. My question to you is, do you listen for Him? Do you ever sit in silence and just wait?
8. The Holy Spirit brings rebuke, correction, and chastisement to those who fail to listen to God because they fail to fear God and keep His commands. Paul spoke boldly in Antioch saying, "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship and fear God, listen to me" (Acts 13:16). Ask the Lord to help you to fear and worship God more wholeheartedly so that you can listen to everything He wants to say to you.
9. The Holy Spirit instructs us in how to be a more discerning, wise, and retentive learners of the essentials of God’s will for our own good. Solomon wrote, "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man" (Prov. 3:1-2,4). Ask the Lord to help you continue to learn from everyone, every ministry situation, and every interpersonal relationship throughout your life.
Conclusion: We are never too old, to smart, or to experienced to learn more from God and His Word. The Bible teaches us that we should be as a child. The aspect of a child I would like to pull into this lesson is that we must be open and trusting. Children believe everything their father tells them and trusts in their word. We must be open to God’s Word for Him to use us for His Kingdom. It doesn’t matter what you circumstance is, He can use YOU!
