For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of
John chapters fourteen to seventeen. Some of it will be what I have already
written and some will be new. Therefore it may sometimes appear that I leave
off in the middle of a topic to be continued, since I have reached my daily
word count limit.
To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two
postings preceding this one.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot
bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the
truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he
will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will
glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All
that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine
and declare it to you,” (John 16:12-15).
There is no end to Father God’s resources. In three
years Jesus had done and taught so many things that John reckoned that had he
to write it all down, there would not be enough place in the world for all the
books (John 21:25). Yet here Jesus said that He
was not finished yet, and the Holy Spirit will take over from Him. Note that
once again it is stated that the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own accord,
but only what He heard from Jesus who got it from Father God.
How does this apply to us? We should not be content
with only the basic information about the Lord and the Kingdom of God. The Word
of God is living and active and sharper than a double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and contains much more than
meets the eye initially. I have written for years, other preachers have
preached for years and still the Lord keeps on giving fresh revelation every
time. One preacher once said he is sure he could preach seventy different sermons
on one verse and I quite agree – the Lord’s resources are endless. “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye
has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared
for those who love him’-- these things God has revealed to us through the
Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who
knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So
also no one comprehends the thoughts 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 understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by
human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those
who are spiritual,” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13).
Are you prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal new
things to you from the Word of God? Obviously we need to be careful that we
hear from the Holy Spirit and that what we hear is tested against the context
of God’s Word, since Satan will gladly make use of every opportunity to bring
about deception as it has happened with the many false religions around today.
I we are however scared that we may reveal false information that is not Word
founded, and therefore not reveal it, the Kingdom of God may suffer because of
our fear. Getting trained in the many part time Bible Schools that churches
offer give us a foundation against which we can test the revelation. We can
otherwise have the revelation tested by discussing it with trained men and
women of God. The fact is if our hearts are right and our motives pure, we can
trust the Holy Spirit to keep His revelation sound in our hearts. He will put
out checks so we would know and not have peace when we deviate from the truth.
Bible school has its advantages, but it does also have
its drawbacks, since much of the learning is human interpretation of the Scriptures.
If we know our Bibles well the Holy Spirit is able and faithful to teach us
Himself. This has been proven several times during our ‘circle sermons’ with
the young people which worked like this: We told our group to each come
prepared with one short passage of scripture on which they had to bring a brief
message, but we did not give them a topic. We then sat in a circle and started
at a particular point, going around the circle sharing. I never failed to be
amazed at how these twenty to thirty short messages ended up in one sermon all
tied together as one message on one topic by the Holy Spirit. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not
lean on your own understanding,” (Proverbs 3:5).
Lord, help my faith to receive revelation from you.
Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth,
via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will
accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.
Please pass this on if you
think others may benefit by it.
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