For several weeks now we have been talking about the Person of the Holy Spirit. We have looked at Him as the Helper, “The Help That You Need.” We’ve looked at “Who Is The Holy Spirit?” and we’ve looked at “The Promise of the Holy Spirit.” Today I want to climax our study by looking at “The Teaching Work of the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus says here: ". . . He will teach you all things.” The word for teach that John uses is didasko which means to know or to teach. It carries the idea to influence the understanding of the one who is taught. It’s the Holy Spirit’s work and ministry to enable you to understand what Jesus wants you to understand, to know what God wants you to know when He wants you to know it. He will bring to your rememberance, all things that Jesus has said. Not only will He teach you, but He will apply that spiritual truth to your life when you need it. He is the Divine applicator. Only the Holy Spirit can apply spiritual truth when and where you need it.
I will never forget how the Holy Spirit worked in my life to teach me to depend upon Him for the revelation and illumination of truth to my life. It was in March of 2003 - I had spent a week in special study at Luther Rice Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. I had been studying about how to live the life, the Exchanged Life of Jesus Christ in a course entitled "A Review of the Literature of Christ-Centered Counseling. At the end of the week, I asked a couple classmates about where I could learn more about this truth I had been introduced to during the week. One person said, “At our ministry, we’re having a seminar this weekend and we’ll put you up for the night and feed you for only $35 for the 9 hour “Grow in Grace” seminar.
Well, I called my wife from Atlanta and told her I was going to Eatonton, GA for the night and I would be home Saturday afternoon. I drove the hour plus trip and arrived for the seminar. We had food awaiting and after the meal sat down in seminar style at tables with a notebook, Bible and teacher. We went through one session with notes being taken – good information. The next teacher started the session and all of a sudden this thought came to the forefront of my mind, “Am I going to sit here all this weekend and just receive more information?” Then, another thought came to the forefront of my mind, “Bruce, If you don’t ask for my help to teach you, you’ll never get this truth.” I knew it was the Holy Spirit and right there in the middle of the lecture I prayed asking the Holy Spirit to help me understand what I was hearing. Immediately, as I prayed it was like my eyes were opened and I could receive the truth that was being taught.
The truth that the work of the Holy Spirit is to be our teacher goes back to the New Covenant prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah in 31:31-34 and quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12. In Jeremiah 31:34 the word teach in Hebrew is lamad which means to learn, to study, to be accustomed to; to teach, to instruct, to practice to train. It comes from the word picture of an ox being put in a yoke. It carries the idea of training and educating. God is saying here that you need no one to teach you – I will teach each person. I will give each person a personal teacher, the Holy Spirit. God actually desires to give us the guided tour through life, teaching us all along the way through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Look at what John the Baptist had to say concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in John 3:34. The context in which the Baptist makes this comment is his last testimony v.22ff. At v.27 John says, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.” Then speaking of Jesus, John says in v.34, “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure (limit).” That’s those rivers of living water flowing from within again.
Let me share with you one man’s testimony of his conversation with God as the Holy Spirit worked in his life one evening when reading John 14:26. Lewis Gregory writes, “I locked in on that one verse. I said, “Now wait a minute. All this time I have believed the Bible was true. I have gotten information from it. I have tried to follow it. I have attempted to apply its principles.” Yes, I failed in some areas, but I made progress in others. The bottom line—it wasn’t working. “Dear Lord, what’s the problem?”
God said, “It’s because the Bible is a Spiritual Book and only My Spirit can make it real in your life.” My problem was I had been reading the Bible like a textbook. Since I had been a good student, I thought I could figure this out. I was able to learn Bible facts and even analyze them, but it never connected with my life. I could see it, but not fully experience it.
I got some further insight from 2 Peter 1:21. It says, The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. What I realized was that this Book is truly God-breathed, inspired by God’s Spirit. The Author of the Book is God Himself. The Holy Spirit worked through human instrumentality. It was God speaking through the uniqueness of distinct personalities with different backgrounds and occupations, but it was always God bringing forth His Word to mankind! The Bible originated with God who is Spirit. Therefore, as a Spiritual Book, it can only be understood by the Holy Spirit.
Another glimmer of light began to dawn on me from 1 Corinthians 2:9. It says, As it is written eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love Him. It is not possible to grasp what God has prepared for us.
There is only one way to know God. Verse 14 says, The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. It is humanly impossible to grasp the things of God. The natural mind, which encompasses the physical human realm, cannot possibly comprehend the things of God. They are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. They cannot be known on the human plane. Why? Because they are spiritually discerned.
There it is again! The things of God are known only by the Spirit of God. They are Spiritually interpreted. The Spirit gives us understanding. He alone can make God’s Word real to us. That’s the secret!
So I prayed again. “Now God, I realize that You are saying this is a Spiritual Book, and the Holy Spirit, who indwells me, is going to teach me. Therefore, Holy Spirit, I trust you to cause me to understand the Bible.”
I concluded that since the Bible is a Spiritual Book, only the Holy Spirit can teach me. Furthermore, only by God’s Spirit can I know and understand the things of God. Therefore, every time I open this Book, my prayer is, “Holy Spirit, show me what to read, and speak to me through Your Word. Make this Book real and alive in me.” (This interaction with God can be found on Lewis Gregory’s web site at www.sourceministries.net under ’Teachings’ "The Wonder of It All.")
The apostle John wrote in 1John 2:27, "And 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 abide in Him."(NASB) The bottom line is – we must rely on the Holy Spirit to enable us to live life how God intends. Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord (Zechariah 4:7). The Lord is telling us that we as humans, don’t have the ability to live life. It requires God’s Spirit to teach us and enable us. It’s God’s Spirit that brings forth the life of Christ through us in our daily walk.
