Week 4 – At Work in the Life of the Believer: Causing Us to Grow

Review and Introduction John 14 A. Setting the stage 1. Jesus’ last discourse (Jn.13-17) 2. The disciples needed great reliance on Jesus and His promises to them. 3. There are difficulties involved in His departing from them. Though they had seen Him for a long time, that would soon change (2Co.5:16). It would now be a . Yet, they wouldn’t be left as orphans, the Helper would be sent. From being carried like lambs (Isa.40:11) to walking by faith like sheep (Jn.10:27). 4. The 3-fold work of the Holy Spirit is (Jn.14:25-26; 16:12-15): to teach and guide us into all truth, to remind, and then reveal. 5. There is danger of relying on man to do the work of the Holy Spirit. 6. There is value of commitment to a local body, which is the workplace of God the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Helps Us Grow A. (Jn.14:26) Brings all things to our remembrance 1. God promises the Holy Spirit to a group who had always relied on Jesus to have the answers, to do all the talking, and have the power to meet the needs of men. 2. What a blessed promise for those with terrible memories, like us and the apostles. 3. There is importance in learning to hear God’s voice (Heb.5:13-14) as He reminds us of His Word. 4. The apostles had received similar promises before (Mt.10:17-20). So we see Paul before King Agrippa and King Festus giving his defense by the Holy Spirit (Acts 25-26). 5. The only prerequisite of being reminded is the fact that it must once have been known. If never known, the proper word would be “learn” and not “remind.” B. (Jn.14:26; 16:13a) Teaches us and guides us into all truth 1. The most important element in our lives is our concept of God and our understanding of who He is biblically. The disciples had been with Jesus for a long time, yet had much to learn as we are told by Luke (Acts 1:1-2). 2. Yet for many, the work of the Holy Spirit is frustrated by a lack of diligence in studying the Word of God, even as we read (Hos.4:6) of famine in the land for the Word of God. 3. Jesus said we should come and learn of Him (Mt.11:28-29). We must stay teachable and reachable if we are to grow in the ways of the Lord (2Pe.3:18). Knowing Him is vital in serving Him (2Ti.3:16-17). 4. Paul prays for the new saints in Colosse (Col.1:9-12). 5. (1Cor.2:7-14) Paul has awesome insight into the work of the Holy Spirit. a) (1Co.2:7-10) Paul compares the believer, who has been born again and has the Holy Spirit living within them, with those who have no relationship with God. b) (1Co.2:11-12) This is a reference to the glorious relationship believers have with God as the Holy Spirit reveals these things to us. c) (1Co.2:13-14) When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within you, He brings the ability to understand spiritual things (Lk.24:44-45). Though God may use men to bring forth His Word, it is the Holy Spirit alone who can instruct us in our walks (1Jn.2:27). 6. So the Holy Spirit has come to feed us our spiritual food that brings us life (Job 23:12) (Deu.8:3). 7. What distinguishes us as believers is our trust and confidence in God and His Word (Jn.17:17). C. (Jn.16:12-13) Tells us of things to come 1. As we grow daily, we go from milk to meat as the layers are pulled back. 2. We see the future becoming clearer as we study, hear, and listen (Deu.29:29).

Conclusion and Review A. Next week: The Holy Spirit at work in the believer will work to conform us to Jesus’ image by helping us put on the new man.

Transcription of 15TS303 June 17, 2015

Var. Scriptures “At Work in the Life of the Believer: Causing Us to Grow”

All right. Let’s open our Bibles tonight to John 14; and also if you can find 1 Corinthians 2. Those will be the two sections of Scripture we’re going to be turning with you to tonight.

Review and Introduction

We’ve committed ourselves, for fifteen weeks, to study the Person and the Work of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know if there isn’t a more important topic for the church, and I hope that, by the time we are done, we will have not only addressed every issue or question you might have had in regards to who He is and why He does what He does, and how can He use me, to the questions that always come up about speaking in tongues and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And we will spend a whole week on each one of those topics, for sure.

So far, we’ve gotten three weeks in. We began looking at who the Holy Spirit is – that He isn’t just a force, He’s a Person; and He’s not just a Person, He’s God. He’s the third Person of the Godhead.

We spent the second week looking at (in the order that we should) His work in the world – about convicting of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment; of restraining evil and how the Holy Spirit’s function today is that of holding back that which the enemy would like to see happen.

Last time, we stopped to consider what happens in your life the moment you get saved. And we talked about nine specific things that happen in your heart the moment you give your life to Christ – from getting a new heart, to being given a new Spirit, to being made the temple of God who now comes to live in you, sealed by the Lord, a new creation. He is the pledge or the down payment that God will finish the work that He has started. He is in you to begin to bear witness that you belong to Christ. He begins to do that work of teaching you that you’re adopted into His family. You’re given eternal life. All of that by the Spirit of God – the moment that you believe.

In the weeks to come, like I said, we’ll hopefully cover all of the other topics. But tonight, we want to take the next progressive step in the work of God’s Spirit, and that is once you get saved, and all those good things happen to you, one of God’s greatest interests is to teach you His Word. And the Holy Spirit is really that Person by whom God seeks to bring you to know Him better – through His Word and to grow up your faith. God has shown you your sin, He has shown you His Son, He’s convicted you, you’ve turned to Him. And now, as the Holy Spirit moves in and sets up shop, you become a project of God. You become a vessel through whom God will work. But in order to do so, He first prepares the vessel. And one of the works of the Holy Spirit, and a large part of that process, is re-educating you in terms of the light that God gives. Spiritually, all you used to see was what you saw from the darkness of your flesh. What you understood was what the world understood. You made up things as you went. Everybody agreed that must be right. And now you come to the Lord and, in the light of His presence with you and the Holy Spirit in you, you begin to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

So tonight we want to specifically talk about how the Holy Spirit causes us to grow by teaching us the Bible. And we’re going to start here in John 14. It should be fairly familiar ground to you because it’s a place we spent two years together on Sunday mornings, recently. All of the notes that you have tonight have all of the Scripture references, have all of the headline points. So you don’t have to worry about taking too many notes unless God just really puts something on your heart.

John 14 – Setting the Stage

1. But we’re here in John 14. You might remember – if you don’t, I’ll remind you just quickly – these chapters (13-17) took place all in one evening, all on the night that Jesus was to be betrayed and then taken and, in the morning, killed. They take place in the Upper Room; they take place on a walk through the Kidron Valley up to the Garden of Gethsemane. It is John’s recording of the last conversation Jesus had with His disciples prior to the cross. It is His basically saying to them, “I’m leaving, and here’s the plan.” For 3½ years they had relied upon Him. If they had problems, He fixed them. If there were storms, He calmed them. If there were demons, He delivered them. If they were sick, He healed them. If they were dead, He raised them. He could fend off literally every threatening opponent. And now He said He’s leaving. And the news that He was leaving was very disconcerting, disheartening to these disciples. They had lost their jobs, many of them, or left them, anyway; lost their status. They were forsaken by most of their friends due to their association with Jesus. They were on a list of people that could very well die because the opposition so hated this work of God. And now He was leaving. But these are His last dying words, precious words, comforting words to His own.

2. So, in verse 12 of John 14, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” So, Jesus here promises and assures these men that their best days are ahead. Put yourself in their shoes. It didn’t sound that way. It sounded like they were just about to be hung out to dry. Certainly, and we talked about it in great detail on that Sunday morning we looked at this passage, the opportunity to bring someone to Jesus is the greatest work of all – much greater than what Jesus did in healing the sick or opening the eyes of the blind. Those are temporary things. But now Jesus is leaving, and the first thing Jesus says is, “Look, you’re not going to lose out on the ministry. It’s going to continue,” and as He’s going to tell them, “I’m going to do that through your life by this work of the Holy Spirit.” Verse 15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” So, how is He going to come to them? By the Person of the Holy Spirit. Now, Jesus had been their Helper. But now another Helper was on the way, and this Helper was not going to be temporary as Jesus’ presence was in that regard; but He was going to be permanent.

3. The time for them to begin to live by faith had arrived. Soon Jesus would be out of their sight. They wouldn’t be able to go, “Hey, Jesus. What’s going on over here? Explain this to me. Tell me that parable again.” But the work of the Holy Spirit with them, who would be moving in them, would continue. Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians, talked about not knowing the Lord after the flesh anymore though he said, “We used to know Him like that” (2 Corinthians 5:16). And it’s easy for us to read. It may be easy to miss the hardship of this adjustment as well. Your life as a Christian – that’s all you’ve ever known. I live by faith. I believe God’s Word. I rely on His Spirit. But these guys looked at Jesus in the face for 3½ years, and then He kind of disappeared. “Now I live by faith. Wait a minute! I’d rather He was here!” And the Lord will say, “No, no, no. It’s better that I leave.” But it explains why Mary and the other ladies so grabbed ahold of Him on Easter. They were not going to let Him go. And so it also helps when Jesus says here, with compassion, “Nothing’s going to go wrong. The Holy Spirit’s coming. It’s going to be a permanent relationship. You’re not going to be weakened in this thing.” In fact in John 16:7 the Lord says, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” Yet this was a huge transition - 3½ years of spoon feeding would now become, “You’ll see Me by faith.” Verse 19, “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.” How? By faith. “Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” It is Jesus with us and in us through the Person of the Spirit, but it is a huge step.

I remember when I was first saved (and maybe you had the same experience – maybe you didn’t, maybe it’s just unique to me), I felt like God just carried me around. If I prayed, it was kind of like a dry cleaner’s promise – in by 10:00, out by 4:00. I would just ask, and the Lord would answer. It just seemed like everything went my way, and it did that for a good six months, it seemed like. “Want me to pray for you, man? The Lord, He’ll answer prayer.” And then at some point, right along at six months or so, I remember it felt like God put me down. It’s like when you have kids, you know, and you carry them around, then you want them to start walking, and they just do like this, “Ah ha. Make me…….this stinks.” And you’re going, “You’re 80 pounds. I can’t do this anymore.” (Laughing) It kind of felt like that. It was kind of like the Lord put me down. And He said this, “Walk by faith.” Right? “Now begin to walk by faith.” And it was that Scripture out of Isaiah 40:11, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom,” and then it says, “and gently lead those who are with young.” It’s kind of like for a while God just kind of covers you. Right? But then there’s this time where He puts you down, and the feelings go away, and the answers don’t come as quickly, and it isn’t so easy any more, and sometimes the answer seems to be “No” or “Wait,” and I hate both of those. And now I’m having to walk by faith, and it seemed like my prayers would echo, you know? It was time for me to start following Him now. “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus said in John 10:27, “and I know them, and they follow Me.” But there wasn’t that Isaiah “gather the lambs in His arms.” I like that part. I didn’t like the “walk yourself” part.

And that’s kind of the experience for these guys. They’re going to get another Helper, but it’s not going to be Jesus. The “parakletos.” That’s what the word is. The One who pulls alongside to help. And this Holy Spirit, who comes alongside to help, is going to, first and foremost in your life, be there to lead you and guide you and direct you and teach you and show you God’s Word. The disciples wanted Jesus there. Jesus said, “I’ll be here. I’m not leaving you like orphans. But I’m not going to be there in the same relationship that you’re used to. I will be there by the presence of the Spirit, whom you haven’t seen. But yet He’s convicted your heart. He’s brought you to Me. He’s going to come to live within you, and He’s going to be the Helper that you need to live in this world.”

4. So, jump down to verse 25. “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper,” (same word – ‘parakletos’) "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” And then if you’ll flip just ahead to chapter 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” So here’s the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the saint who’s saved now. He will remind you and bring all things that Jesus taught back to your remembrance. He will teach you all things that you need to learn that are spiritually understood. And He will show you what’s coming.

5. Now, look, unless God teaches you His Word, you’re not going to learn a thing because this is not a book that you approach just with a mental kind of substance or fortitude; like, “I’m going to really dedicate myself to learn it.” That’s good, and you can learn a lot about the Bible. But you can’t learn to know God through His Word except for the work of God’s Spirit in you. And there’s the distinction. There’s the distinction. And we don’t want to lose sight of that – that unless the Lord comes to teach you, no amount of note taking or tape listening will profit you. God’s Word is spiritually discerned. Right? Spiritually understood. And if you learn something tonight, you don’t have to leave here going, “That pastor really got to me tonight.” What you can say is, “The Lord, by His Spirit, spoke to my heart” because He’s the One who can teach us. Now God’s plan is to teach you through pastors and teachers and evangelists. But the Person through whom that teaching takes place is God’s Spirit, and the setting in which the teaching takes place, more than anything else, in the Bible, is in a local church structure. In other words, if you needed to know the heart of God about how He was going to teach the young saints, you would find from the Bible that it’s in a local church body with those who’ve been ordained and anointed to teach and others to be encouraging.

6. But that’s really the structure upon and in which God works, which is why it is so valuable and important that you find a place to go to church where God’s Word is being taught. We’re not the only place in town. We’re the best place in town. (Laughing) We’re not the only place in town. Without the teaching of the Bible, by the Spirit of God, there’s no root, and there soon will be no fruit. If you attend (and there’re several really large congregations in LA and Orange County that have tens of thousands of people) and nobody brings their Bible to church, that’s not a good place to grow. That is not a good place to be because the Holy Spirit’s concern is He wants to teach you God’s Word. “Yeah, but no one’s bringing it up. How am I supposed to learn?” You can’t put it under your pillow – like osmosis. He wants to teach you. You have to apply yourself. “Study to show yourself approved” (2 Timothy 2:15). But yet that’s His work. So you want to find a local body somewhere, where the Bible is the thing that matters to the church, where the Word of God is not just talked about, it’s taught – the hard chapters, the easy ones; and not only that but the truths of God’s Word are sought to put into practice. So, it is the same reason I, personally, if I’m talking with folks, encourage people not to run from place to place once they find a church they like. Because so often, and especially where we live in southern California, there is this whole, “Who’s playing where? Speaking whom? Where is it going?” and folks almost get the calendar out and go, “Oh, Friday night we’re over there. Saturday night we’re over there. Sunday….oh, oh, oh. Look at that dude, man. I don’t want to miss that on the Sunday. And then Tuesday…………..” and it’s like the entertainment guide. There’s no commitment to learning, necessarily, but there’s a tremendous commitment to being entertained. The whole issue of God teaching is in the context of a church life where you learn the Word of God. You have to apply it - you have to apply it in relationships, you have to apply it in conflicts, you have to apply it in your walk with God. You have to live it out. And the best place to live it out is in a church body where people love each other, and they’re dependent upon one another, and they’re accountable to one another. I know there are many people who never discover the benefit of an allegiance to a local body because they bounce for blessings, almost. But the learning takes place in the context of the local church. I am not a big one for competition. If you say to me, “I don’t like it here. Can you tell me somewhere else to go?” I’ll give you a whole list of places you can go that I think would teach you the Bible. I don’t at all feel like we’re in a competition. On the other hand, you should never allow problems or difficulties to be the reason you change a church because the minute you do that, not only do you take yourself away from the teaching environment, you’re going to have the same problems the next place you go. There’s going to be some idiot there, too, or some deal you’re just not happy with there. How do you grow in the Word? You just apply the Scriptures. Now, if it’s a moral issue, if it’s practices that are unbiblical, if it’s doctrinal issues, if it’s just God is moving you to a different place, that’s fine. But most people tend to run because of people issues or pastoral issues or fleshly preferences. Look, there’s no quick fix for spiritual growth. You’ve got to dedicate yourself and stay put and grow and work it out and apply what you learn to your relationship with others. So, that’s the context in which the Holy Spirit comes to teach, to remind and to reveal. But He does so in the context of the local body. It requires diligence on your part. It requires that I understand that the Holy Spirit is going to teach me; that imperfect people are involved, but yet He’s going to teach me. He’s going to bring all things to my remembrance. He’s going to fill my heart.

The Holy Spirit Helps Us Grow

A. Brings all things to our remembrance (John 14:26)

1. So here, chapter 14:26 at the end, and I’m going to reverse the order a little bit; at the end it says He’ll bring everything to your remembrance. Now I must tell you that the older I get, the more I appreciate that promise. In time, I know this was great news to the disciples who were used to letting Jesus do all the talking. Read through the gospels. The boys just basically, when there was trouble – they’d do this – (whistling sound) – they’d take one step back, and Jesus would take one step forward. And that was pretty much the way everything was handled. Now He’s leaving, and they go, “All right. It’s on you now,” and they go, “Yeah. I don’t know.” When they were accused, Jesus spoke. When they were threatened, He took over. When they were questioned, He always had such wisdom. As much as you see the disciples stepping out to be smart alecks, you never see them stepping out to help Jesus in this area. No one’s saying to the Lord, “Lord, let me deal with these guys.” Not one time. It just doesn’t happen. But how would they ever recall His wisdom? And Jesus promises them that the Holy Spirit would come and remind them – show them His Word, bring back to their thoughts what they had learned. In other words, this supernatural work of God was going to continue where He was going to remind you of what you already knew once but had forgotten. I thought about this years ago when I was in college. I sure could have used that kind of help on my Chemistry exams. But I don’t think the Lord necessarily promises that to me.

2. The disciples had terrible memories, by the way. They forgot Jesus’ ongoing promise, “On the third day, I will rise again.” But how precious is it to you to recall God’s Word when you need it? There’s no way you’re going to remember sixty-six books. But when you find yourself in a situation, and the Lord takes a Scripture out of the middle of nowhere, He applies it to your heart, and He reminds you what you learned, you go, “Oh, I’m okay now.” You know that 90% of our counseling here in the church is not giving out new information. It’s reminding people of what they once knew. “Here’s what the Lord said.” “Oh, yeah. I remember.” “Here’s what God promises.” And the Holy Spirit is given to us so He might remind us of God’s Word. I’m terrible with names. Fortunately, the Lord gives us a way out in the church. You can call everyone, “Hey, bro.” (Laughing) This is a supernatural promise from God. He’s going to remind you of His Word. Isn’t that great? It’s like having a spiritual assistant who knows the book – the handbook, the workbook – inside out. It’s going to be a glorious help if you’ll just say, “Lord, show me. Lord, teach me.” Rely on the work of God’s Spirit to do just that.

3. When Paul wrote to the Hebrews in chapter 5, he said in verse 13, “Everyone that is unskilled in the Word is like those who only drink milk. They’re babies.” And then he said, “Solid food belongs to those who are of full age or who have grown up who, by reason of use, have had their senses exercised to be able to discern between good and evil.” Translation – as you begin to walk with God and seek Him and know that this is a work of the Spirit, you begin to be able to hear His voice. You’ll be able to hear what He has to say to your heart. It becomes a constant, amazing thing. I’m always amazed, in sharing with others, how often the Lord will bring a verse to mind out of nowhere. I’m sharing with somebody, and I think, “Oh, that’d be a great verse,” I have no idea where that is. And within thirty seconds, I know exactly where it is. And I could say to you I’m a pretty smart guy, but two minutes later, I have no idea where it is. And the Lord has, time and again, just counseling the people, just sharing, or somebody comes up to pray, put a Scripture on my heart. “Here, let’s look at this verse.” It’s perfect. It’s perfect. It’s just the way God works by His Spirit. He reminds us.

4. Remember there, when Jesus was talking to His own about the work of the Spirit in Matthew, and He said, “They will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (verses 17-20). It’s a great promise, isn’t it, to realize that we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us and that we can rely upon Him to remind us of the things that we need to learn and to know. I think about Paul before Agrippa and Festus, or Peter on Pentecost; and you watch the interaction, and at the appropriate time, in a mighty way, the right Spirit, here comes this word out of nowhere – a psalm, a proverb, something out of Isaiah; and you go, “Where did that come from?” And you go, “All right. I guess the Lord was speaking through me, man, because I have no idea. I haven’t thought about that or haven’t been studying that.”

5. The only prerequisite for this promise is the word, itself – remembrance – because remembrance suggests, implies, that you knew it once; else the word isn’t remember, it’s learn. Which is the second part – He will teach you all things. We have to have it in our remembrance. So it is important that we read the Bible.

I was reading today a Moody article that he had written years ago about how do we approach the Scriptures, and he said we have to be able to read the Bible and not stuff about the Bible. Because he said you can read for years about what all the ingredients are in a good rye bread, but if you don’t eat any of it, you’re going to die. He said you should just get in there, and eat the food. So, the disciples would have to learn to walk in the Spirit, but they were going to have to start to listen to what God had to say.

And the Holy Spirit will never speak contrary to the Bible. You know that, right? We had a guy one time, no joke, twenty years ago – left his wife. And I said, “What are you doing?” And he said, “The Lord told me to leave her.” I said, “That’s not Jesus, the Lord, who told you to do that. Maybe the lord of hell told you to do that, but no way was it the Lord.” And he said, “Well, no, I prayed about it, and I was impressed, and the spirit impressed this upon me,” and I felt like impressing his face. (Laughing) The Holy Spirit teaches the Bible. Right? Get that right. The Holy Spirit teaches the Bible. And I hear people say, “I just want a word from the Lord,” and I want to just hand them the Bible. “Here’re 66 books you can start with. Let Him speak to you through this.”

So, to be reminded suggests we knew something once, and the Lord promises that, as you get saved and the Holy Spirit moves in, one of the things as you begin to learn to know Him, is He’s going to bring back to your remembrance all of those things that you’re learning – time and time again. B. Teaches us and guides us into all truth (John 14:26, John 16:13a)

1. In chapter 14 here, verse 26, it says as well, “He will teach you all things.” There is no single more important element in the life of a believer than your concept of God. There’s nothing more important that you get right than that you understand who God is biblically, and that understanding is formed primarily through the Scriptures. Everything we need to know about the heart of God and the will of God and the Person of God is found in this book. And if you will determine that you want to seek Him as His child, the Holy Spirit promises to teach you everything. If you are sure that you want to know Him, He’ll make it happen. If you want to please Him and be obedient and overcome sin, He’ll enable you. If you’re unsure, He can make you sure. He will teach you all things. He will guide you into all truth. What more could you want?! But that’s not the promise of a man; that’s the promise of God, and that’s the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.

After 3½ years of walking with Jesus, you would think that the disciples might have come out the other end going, “Well, we’ve got something to say now.” But you get to Acts 1:1, and as Luke continues to write, he says, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” So even years afterwards, the disciples were still learning. Their position was unique, their calling was unique. The Holy Spirit was with them, but they had lots to learn.

Notice in chapter 16 here, verse 12, Jesus said, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.” So even after 3½ years, there’re still a lot of things that the Lord wanted to teach these boys, but they weren’t ready to learn them yet. But they would learn them eventually. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed that as you have been walking with God that you’ll read through the Bible, and you’ll learn some things; and the next time you read through something and go, “I never saw that!” Like another layer gets pulled back, right? And God has some more for you to learn. Isaiah 28, there’s that Scripture that says, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” (verse 13). But, look, know this – that everything you know about God comes from the Bible. And I was thinking about that. When I got saved, I was 18 years old – I knew precious little about God. I thought I knew a lot. Over the next three years, the greatest frustration was finding out I was wrong so much. “Well I thought……” “That’s not the Bible.” “What?! I was sure! Well how come no one told me?!” But the Holy Spirit began to teach me slowly and surely, and I began to learn that I needed to be saved. You know where I learned that from? From the Bible. And I knew that I could be saved and have a new creation, and I learned that from the Bible; and I learned about God’s mercy for sinners, and I learned that from the Bible; and God would forgive me and wash away my sins and put them as far away as the east is from the west, and I learned that from the Bible. God said that. I was taught to pray by the Bible. I was assured I could rest in the Lord, and He would take care of my problems. I was encouraged not to worry in the Bible. I was encouraged that God loved me more than I would ever understand. I learned that from the Bible. I learned about heaven and hell and angels and the future - all from the Bible. And that’s really what God wants to do – He wants to teach you all things. If you’re a student of God’s Word, you’ll be great in His kingdom because you’ll know His Word, you’ll know His ways.

2. When Hosea, in chapter 4:6, in prophesying to the people, said of the Lord, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” I think that we face that same kind of problem in our culture today – even amongst the church. I don’t know how many Christians you run into that they hold such concepts of God that are so weird. And you’ll say, “What about that?” “No. This is the dude. Seriously.” And there’s almost like no dedication to rightly dividing the Scriptures. Maybe it’s because there’s not much priority placed on teaching the Bible, and so the famine continues; it continues to spread. I know that, for most Christians, after a few years, they think they’ve arrived. They get crazy for a while – they get big Bibles and bumper stickers and witness shirts, and they make every Bible study, and they actually show up early. But then something happens. I don’t know. A couple years in, they’re coming in late, and, “Where’s your Bible?” “It’s in the trunk. I don’t know, dude. I’ve probably heard this before.” We get cocky and like we can’t be taught anything else. And for the next twenty years, we just kind of sit on the same bench, finding little to learn. Or they’ll come to church – they don’t come to learn anymore, they come to analyze. They come to have “pastor” for lunch. “Yeah, did you see, he wasn’t very good today, was he?” “No, he wasn’t good. Could have done a little better, a little shorter, too, I’m thinking.” Look, I don’t know how long you’ve been saved. I just know God wants to teach you stuff about Him. And you don’t know it all, and eventually, much of what you hear will be reminders rather than new information. But that’s okay, isn’t it? We need the reminder. I’ve been teaching the Bible two to five times a week for over thirty years, and I must tell you every time I get ready to teach or sit down to study, I love what I get to do. “Lord, I just want to hear from You.” I have tens of thousands of pages of notes on every verse in the entire Bible, and you know what I do when I go to teach? I put them aside and start over. “Lord, I just want to hear from You.” Now I may pull them out at the end when everything’s done to go, “All right. Did I get this right? Are my Scriptures okay?” But I don’t rely on them because that’s not what God wants. God has something to say to me today, and I have something to learn from Him today. And I’ll tell you what – you can discover a person’s relationship towards God oftentimes by the very attitude they take towards His Word. If you’ve got to beg them to go to church, that, to me, is a big danger sign. That’s a warning sign. That’s a problem. If somehow Bible study is right up there with dentists, (Laughing) and then everything else is way up here – Dodger games (“Oooh, we’ve got to go to the Dodger game”), park, beach, church, dentist. Problem. They’re hanging around the parking lot rather than being in here worshipping. How much do we value God’s Word? Solomon said, “God’s Word and the knowledge of Him is worth more than gold and silver,” (Proverbs 16:16), that we should dig for it like “hidden treasure” (Proverbs 2:4). And I hope that’s the way you come to church; that you come here saying, “God, speak to me.” I love looking at people’s Bibles. You can look at mine. They’re new every year because I throw them around and beat the tar out of them, and then they break or something. But you can see people’s Bibles. Some people, they just carry them. They’re not worn out. “How long have you had the Bible?” “Forty-eight years.” (Laughing) And if they have that gold leaf, some of it’s not even been opened; there’re eighteen books of the Bible that are still absolutely stuck together. (Laughing) And yet understand this – the Holy Spirit’s desire is He wants to teach you God’s Word. That’s His goal. That’s His desire. That’s what He wants to do for you. That’s what Jesus said. “He’ll come to teach you all things.” So, I listen to hear if people quote from it or do they share it or do they communicate? Are they learning out of it? “Hey, what’s been going on in your life?” They bring it out, or they don’t.

3. The work of the Holy Spirit is He wants to feed you. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). So often when we meet with people in counseling, at least for my practice over the years, and they tell you what’s going on, my first question is always, “What Scriptures has God showed you that would apply to your situation, and what are you doing with them?” And then, if they’re really upset, they’ll say, “Hey, don’t quote the Bible to me. I need some real help.” Which tells you there’s a problem. We need to know God by His Word, and the Holy Spirit has come to help us do that. I remember, and maybe you young guys when you were first married – we had two little kids – and I remember buying bikes for both of them for Christmas that you had to put together, and I don’t need no stinkin’ manual. And by the time I was done, I had all these useless, worthless pieces left over. And then I got a lecture from the wife. But look, here’s the Manufacturer’s handbook, and the Author lives in you to tell you what it means. Isn’t that amazing? That’s what He wants to do. The first work of God’s Spirit, in your life, once you’re saved – He wants to begin to teach you God’s Word so that you’ll know where to go and what to do and what to say and how to believe in things and what to pursue. “All Scripture,” Paul said to Timothy, “is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God” (and the woman of God) “may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

4. When Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter 1, this is his prayer for them – it’s a beautiful prayer, he said (verses 9-12), “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” What a great prayer. “I just pray, man, you get closer to God.” And certainly that’s our prayer for you. Learning can be difficult. It requires a commitment. And maybe I’m singing to the choir – you’re here on a Wednesday night. And I always consider the Wednesday night the real church – only because a lot of people go to church on Sundays. The Christians go to church on Wednesdays or Thursdays or Tuesdays or whatever night that is, other than the routine. Now don’t tell the rest of the church that, but I’m just telling you. (Laughing) You guys rat me out, that’ll be it. Look, you can’t make it on one meal a weak, physically. I suspect that you shouldn’t be trying it spiritually. Right? And not just come and hear, and I think there’s something to be said for group dynamics of sitting down and going through the Bible. We need that. But you need to be getting up and reading the Bible on your own. I hope that you’re reading through. You should be reading the Bible through every year. It’s not so hard, you know. Takes fifteen minutes a day, ten minutes a day. It’s shorter than anything else you’re involved with that matters to you. So, get to doing it. Get to learning. And I’ll tell you what. There’re no Cliffs notes for the Word of God, but there’s a Teacher who lives within you who will teach you if you want to hear from Him.

5. All right, let’s go in our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 2. We’re trying to kind of pick way stations so we don’t have to move around too much. Let’s start with verse 6, “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written:” (he quotes out of Isaiah 64:4) “ ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” So, here’s Paul’s argument to the Corinthians. a) Look, if you’re saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you, then you have a relationship with God; and, as a result, He’s going to make known to you the very glorious things that He has waiting for you. Now, if you’re not saved, you can’t begin to scratch the surface on that. You have no clue. You’re absolutely in the dark. b) So, I get saved, and I begin to read the Bible, and I start to worry, and the Holy Spirit comes and says, “Hey, here’s a verse. ‘Be anxious for nothing…..’ ” And I say, “Come on. Leave me alone.” When I’m down, He comes to encourage me. When I’m weak, He makes me strong. Even as we read here in verse 12, we didn’t receive the spirit of the world. The Holy Spirit came to teach me – and notice what these words are – those things “that have been freely given to us by God.” That’s what He wants to do. c) Verse 13, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” Look, when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within you, the ability He gives you to understand becomes clear, and now you can read the Bible because He’s teaching it to you. Luke 24, Easter evening, the Lord breathes on the disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And Luke writes, “He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (verse 45). And then beginning at the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms, He laid out everything concerning Him. So, you have the Holy Spirit to teach you. The world doesn’t. You say, “Well, I’m not very smart,” or, “I didn’t get a lot of schooling in,” or, “I didn’t go to college,” or, “I have a hard time reading,” or, “I can’t pay attention,” or, “I’ve got M-O-U- S-E,” whatever those things are…………….”I got something going on.” Look, God teaches the Bible to you, to a child, to the wisest of men. So God will impart His truth so that you might know Him, and it comforts me when I lead someone to the Lord even to know that I don’t need to follow them around and go, “Here’s what you’ve got to do next.” I just know God will care for them, He’ll lead them, He’ll take them and watch over them.

In the same chapter (1 Corinthians 2), notice in verse 1, Paul said, “When I came to you, I did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom” (he wasn’t a great debater), “but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” How awesome is that! So, we need the Holy Spirit to teach us. And then, as He does, God will use you as a vessel to teach others, and He will begin to work through your life. I think John was in his nineties when he wrote in 1 John 2:27, “The anointing which you have received from Him” (speaking of the Spirit) “abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” So, true God uses teachers, but He’s the source. He’s the reason. You don’t rely upon men. And the problem with relying upon men is men fail, but He does not. So, the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

6. The Word of God is our spiritual food. What did Job say? “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). How many of you could say that? “I want Your Word more than sandwiches or breakfast burritos or baby back ribs or mashed potatoes. I just want Your Word, Lord!” “All right, Lord. I want to want Your Word like that.” God help us.

7. Jesus prayed, there in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The strength of your spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place that God’s Word holds in your thoughts and in your actions. So understand that the Holy Spirit’s first priority with you as a Christian, once you are saved, is to teach you the Bible. He wants you to know Him and His heart, and it’s a lifelong process. It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s no quick course to take. But you begin to learn the Lord, don’t you? You begin to rightly divide the Scriptures, to be able to say what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s true and what’s not; and to listen, “That doesn’t sound biblical.” And so, with God’s help, you begin to discern. If you don’t eat from God’s Word, you’re going to turn out to be anemic. You’re not going to be strong.

C. Tells us of things to come (John 16:12-13)

1. Well, the last one, and we’re not going to spend much time with it because we are going to be covering it in a series later on, is in John 16:12-13 where the Lord said He “will tell you of things to come.” The Holy Spirit will not only teach you God’s Word, He will not only remind you of what He’s taught you, but He’s also going to let you look ahead with a clarity and with an understanding that no one on this side of glory has, except for the believer. There are pundits all the time – you see them especially at the end of the year, guys that predict what’s coming; this guy was 58% right, which means he was 42% wrong. But we have some things to look forward to, don’t we, and we understand them better than other folks.

2. There’s a great verse in Deuteronomy 29:29 where Moses says to the people, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever….” In other words, God holds some things back, but what He wants you to know, you can know and hang on to. So the Lord wants to teach us about things to come. We know there’s a rapture coming, don’t we, where one day, we’re just going to bail. There’s going to be a trumpet, and then we’re going to move away. All of us……………and we’d like that, as opposed to each dying individually and doing a lot of funerals. Lord, just take us all at once. Send the big bus, right? So we pray for that. We know the Lord is coming back to rule and reign. We know there’s a great tribulation coming. We’ve got prophesies that we hang on to. We see Israel in the land as a fulfillment of so many amazing things. So God the Holy Spirit is also going to teach us about the things that are coming. So, not only will we have purpose and understanding in our life now, but we’ll have an outlook that is dominated by God’s direction. Pretty important, don’t you think?

Conclusion and Review

So let me ask you something. How are you and your Bible doing? How are you as a student of God’s Word? What has the Holy Spirit taught you that you could tell someone else right now in the last thirty days? Something that God has just brought to mind and laid out before you. And what can you look back to? This is what the Lord’s been teaching me, and here’s what I’ve been learning. Because that’s got to be a part of the process. If you have to say, “Back in ’88, I heard this great study……by Walter Martin…..” And the kids are going, “Who?” I actually talked to one of the kids who is going on the trip about the Dakota Hotel where John Lennon got shot, and he goes, “Who’s John Lennon?” (Laughing) And I thought oh, I am so close to heaven, now, apparently. (Laughing) Really?! Even the Beatles have come, and they have gone. But God’s Word is still good, yeah?

Submitted by Maureen Dickson June 23, 2015