To Understand the Bible You Need the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit
Sunday October 29, 2000
Job 32:8-9
8 Surely it is God’s Spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent.
9 But sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice.
1 Kings 4:29
29 God gave Solomon great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge too vast to be measured.
1 Kings 3:9-14
9 Give me an understanding mind so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great nation of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased with Solomon’s reply and was glad that he had asked for wisdom.
11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people and have not asked for a long life or riches for yourself or the death of your enemies
12 I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding mind such as no one else has ever had or ever will have!
13 And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and honor! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!
14 And if you follow me and obey my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”
James 1:5-8
5 If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.
6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
8 They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.
Matthew 11:25
25 Then Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike.
Our subject this morning is: To Understand The Bible You Need The Inspiration of The Holy Spirit.
Understanding the Bible requires us to be in a place where the Spirit of God can teach us.
And by being in the right place we are talking about having that new heart that I talked about last Sunday.
It is through the Word and the Spirit that a right relationship between God and man can be established.
The Bible is a Spiritual book and is to be spiritually discerned.
In order to understand the Bible you must posses the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is a gift, which God gives to those that obey Him.
When you are born again, you are ’God’s child and a vessel fit for the Spirit of God.
There is no other way to understand the Bible.
Study alone is not enough; knowledge alone is not enough; inspiration is needed.
The Holy Spirit is the teacher and the inspiration that opens the words and brings them to life for us.
As Job says the inspiration of the Almighty giveth us understanding.
Great men are not always wise.
Aged men do not always understand judgment.
You need the inspiration of the Almighty to understand.
2 Timothy 3:15-17
15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
17 It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.
Since all scripture is given by inspiration of God, it stands to reason that understanding of that scripture will also come with the same inspiration of God.
Too many people in our time are trying to understand the Word of God without becoming converted.
It does not work that way.
That would be like trying to learn how to drive a car without getting into the car or like trying to learn how to swim without getting into the water.
You have to be in a place in your life, where God knows you and not just you knowing about God.
You may be able to learn a lot about it without getting into it, but you will never understand it until you get into it.
The only way to get into the Word of God is to believe it and to obey it.
You need to ask for the Holy Spirit to come into your heart, your new heart!
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message.
2 For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross.
3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling.
4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you.
Here the writer is explaining to us that his preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom.
Now it seems to me that much of our preaching today is in the human and not nearly enough of it is in demonstration of the Spirit and power.
We have got to allow God to be our inspiration, our thoughts must come from Him.
Without the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the message it is only man’s wisdom and though it may be a very good lesson it will lack the power of God in bringing conviction upon sin.
All of the Praise and the Power comes from God and then it all go’s back to Him
The Apostle Paul, the writer of this passage, has nothing against study, education, knowledge, and wisdom.
In fact he encourages the seeking of knowledge and wisdom very strongly.
What he is trying to get across to us is, that we cannot begin to understand God’s Word without His inspiration!
5 I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom.
6 Yet when I am among mature Christians, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world, and not the kind that appeals to the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing.
7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God, which was hidden in former times, though he made it for our benefit before the world began.
8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord.
9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”
10 But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets.
11 No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
12 And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13 When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
14 But people who aren’t Christians can’t understand these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means.
What Paul is telling us here is that it takes more that the human to understand the things of God.
The human sees only through human eyes, hears only with human ears, and understands only with a human heart.
The Spiritual man hears, sees and understands with a spiritual heart.
The natural man thinks lots of things are impossible, but the spiritual man knows that with God all things are possible.
The very process of salvation is miraculous and the spiritual knows that where the natural man cannot believe that it is even possible let alone believe that it could happen to him.
15 We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can’t understand us at all.
16 How could they? For,
“Who can know what the Lord is thinking?
Who can give him counsel?”
But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
When you believe the Word of God and obey it, you become a new creature!
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!
The only way you can really understand what this scripture means is for you to have the experience of becoming a new creature.
Once you have that experience you will understand it.
Old things in your life will pass away, old thoughts, old ideas, old habits, old words, sinful words and thoughts.
All things become new.
You are a new creature.
You that have never become new creatures do not understand this.
Maybe you believe that you cannot become a new creature.
Maybe you believe that your case is too hard for God.
You must remember that with God ALL things are possible!
Maybe you believe that you are different and therefore God cannot make a new creature out of you.
The truth of the matter is that God is not making a new creature out of you because you don’t believe Him!
Everyone that has experienced salvation knows and understands what the Bible means by being a new creature.
Our old life of sinning has passed away.
We are now enjoying a new life of righteousness.
The desires of our hearts have changed.
Things we used to love, we now hate and things we used to hate we now love.
We understand that we are indeed new creatures.
If you are not in Christ today, you can be by believing God’s Word and obeying it, putting it into practice by Confessing, Repenting, and Forsaking all sin.
Jesus invites you
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”
Jesus invites all to take His yoke and burden and to learn of Him.
His yoke is easy compared to the yoke of sin.
His burden is light compared to the burden of sin.
But, remember He does have a yoke and He does have a burden.
To think that Jesus forgives without requiring anything in return
is to misunderstand the Bible.
Jesus does require that you bear His yoke and that you bear His burden.
Too often people fail to understand what it means to be a Christian.
They get the idea that they can live any way that they wish and do any thing they wish and that its’ all forgiven because Jesus is so loving and forgiving.
Wrong!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, Jesus is loving and forgiving and He is also a God of judgment and justice.
His yoke is the yoke of holiness and His burden is the burden of witnessing to the world of the power and glory of God.
To claim to be a Christian and continue to practice sin is a disgrace and a dishonor to our Lord.
As Christians we are called to honor and glorify our Lord, not to dishonor and disgrace Him.
When you accept Christ’s invitation and forsake all sin, the power of God is turned loose in your life.
God makes a new creature out of you through the working of the Holy Spirit.
As we go on let’s read in,
Luke 11:9-13
9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened.
10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And the door is opened to everyone who knocks.
11 “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead?
12 Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not!
13 If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
If you really want to be free from sin, then ask God for the Holy Spirit!
It’s just that simple!
By asking for the Holy Spirit, you are asking for a spirit that wants to be holy.
Amen!
When you repent of your sin and ask God to forgive you, He does and you become a new, clean, righteous person.
You become a new creature with a new heart!
Since God has forgiven you of your sin and cleansed you of it, don’t you want to keep your heart clean?
That is where the Holy Spirit is provided for you to take into your life and let Him posses you.
Too many people in our world are possessed by unholy spirits and too few are possessed by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a gift.
He is yours for the asking.
Do you want to live holy?
Then ask for the Holy Spirit to fill you and control you.
With Him in control only holiness will be allowed.
Thank God for the Holy Spirit.
In the second chapter of Acts the Bible records the grand event known as the day of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit has been poured out on those that had gathered in the upper room waiting for direction from the Lord.
They were filled with the Holy Spirit and went down into the street.
There Peter preached a powerful message to them and they responded by asking him, what shall we do?
Acts 2:37-42
37 Peter’s words convicted them deeply, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 This promise is to you and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this generation that has gone astray!”
41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all.
42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.
Notice Peter’s instructions to those that were convicted of their sins.
Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We can see that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is the natural event following the act of repentance.
I know that there are a lot of theories around about what you have to do to receive the Holy Spirit.
I also know that what some people are calling the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit at all but an unholy spirit.
The teachings of our Lord, and by the Apostle Peter clearly show us that the Holy Spirit is a gift that is freely given to those that repent.
Once you have truly repented and received the Holy Spirit into your life, you now have the teacher and revealer of all truth within you.
He will teach you.
He will guide you.
He will instruct you.
His power will make of you what you ought to be.
His power will transform your life into the life of a holy person no matter what kind of a person you used to be.
John 14:26
26 But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.
With the Holy Spirit as your guide, you cannot go wrong.
He will guide you into all truth.
He will reveal the truth of every matter to you.
Your job will be to be sensitive to Him and obey His instructions.
Obeying The Holy Sprit begins with repenting of your sin.
It is the Holy Spirit of God sent through His mercy that brings conviction on you for your sins.
If you will obey Him and invite Him to dwell within you, He will do it and you will be a new creature.
John reminds us of how the Holy Spirit operates when He abides within us:
1 John 2:24-29
24 So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will continue to live in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.
25 And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
26 I have written these things to you because you need to be aware of those who want to lead you astray.
27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and continue to live in Christ.
28 And now, dear children, continue to live in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
29 Since we know that God is always right, we also know that all who do what is right are his children.
Ye shall abide in him.
Ye shall listen to him.
Ye shall obey his directions for your life and as a result you will be the holy creature that God wants you to be.
God’s power working within you to transform you into a creature of light.
Paul in writing to the Romans said:
Romans 12:1-2
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Give yourself over to God.
This is your reasonable service.
This is the yoke of your Lord - your body a living sacrifice.
You now belong to the Lord and you are committed to Him to live for Him, to bear His reproach, to bring glory and honor to God by the way that you live.
By what you say, your thoughts, your jokes, your thought pattern.
It is reasonable for you to not conform to this world.
You won’t want to conform to this world of sin!
This world is a spirit of sin and selfishness where the inhabitants are striving to please their fleshly appetites with little or no restraints upon them.
As a Christian you are instructed to not conform.
You are instructed to be transformed and the word tells you how to be transformed.
Renew your mind by believing God.
Get that new heart!
When you believe God, you become a new creature that proves what is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
It is the will of God that you be saved and come to a full and complete knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:3-4
3 This is good and pleases God our Savior,
4 for he wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
Let’s look at another example of how the Holy Spirit opens our understanding of the truth:
Matthew 16:13-20
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
15 Then he asked them, “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
18 Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you lock on earth will be locked in heaven, and whatever you open on earth will be opened in heaven.”
20 Then he sternly warned them not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
There were a lot of different ideas about who this Jesus of Galilee was and what His preaching meant.
As Jesus discussed it with his disciples that day, Peter spoke up with understanding. Jesus commended Peter for his ability to understand the things of God.
Jesus reminded him that such understanding did not come from the human’s mind or ability but came with a revelation from God through the Holy Spirit.
So it is today.
There are yet many theories about just who this Jesus of Galilee was, is, and what His preaching meant to us.
And, there is yet one sure way to understand and that is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
What a great blessing it is to have an understanding of the truth revealed to you by the Holy Spirit.
Job 32:8-9
8 Surely it is God’s Spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent.
9 But sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice.
To Understand The Bible You Need The Inspiration of The Holy Spirit.
Understanding the Bible requires us to be in a place where the Spirit of God can teach us.
The place is in our new heart!
It is through the Word and the Spirit that a right relationship between God and man can be established.
And how do we do this?
Thru constant praying and talking to God!
The Bible is a Spiritual book and is to be spiritually discerned.
In order to understand the Bible you must posses the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is a gift which God gives to those that obey Him.
When you are born again, you are God’s child and a vessel fit for the Spirit of God.
There is no other way to understand the Bible.
Study alone is not enough; knowledge alone is not enough; inspiration is needed.
The Holy Spirit is the teacher and the inspiration that opens the words and brings them to life for us.
As Job says the inspiration of the Almighty giveth us understanding.
Great men are not always wise.
Aged men do not always understand judgment.
You need the inspiration of the Almighty to understand.
Jesus invites you to repent and learn of Him.
What will you do with His invitation?
You need to know that the day will come when it will be too late!
God will no longer be knocking at your heart’s door!
Don’t let that day sneak up on you and find you wanting!
God will give each and every one you that new heart, just ask Him while there is still time.
Let us stand while the song is playing, we know that God’s presence is here this morning.
Will you listen to Him knocking this morning?
