John 16:7-13 - Jesus says,
"Nevertheless I tell you the
truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when
He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because
I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of
this world is judged “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; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He
hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
Understanding the context in which scripture is presented to us in Gods word is of paramount importance so we are not led into erroneous man made teachings. We touched on this in a previous post regarding Jesus being difficult to understand the reason for which He spoke to people yesterday and today in parables.
The Holy Spirit is highly misunderstood in His nature, reality and work among mankind. There are many false teachings regarding this person of the Godhead. That without paying close attention in context what God's word is revealing to us, it becomes very easy to form ones "personal interpretation" without considering the facts of one of His natures, His invisibility. Its fairly easy to envision God Himself among the Israelites and its much more a tangible to see Jesus, the Son of God by his human and divine natures being intertwined when He walked the earth (see this post). But the invisible Holy Spirit of God, that's another story that gets a lot of attention in these times.
Does God's word teach the Holy Spirit as one who fills up one with fervor and a warm feeling sensation, does He speak audible words of instruction and guidance outside of the written word? Does He miraculously bestow blessings and direction to make one feel his or her walk with Christ is total bliss? Many questions with scriptural basis of study on the Holy Spirit need to be explored such as:
What does He do verse 8 - He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
When He comes He will verse 13 - He will guide you (Apostles) into all truth.
The tool used by the Holy Spirit to control and direct us in the way of God is the Word. The Spirit works through the Word. "Really? I don't want to hear that!"
People want an exciting and spectacular walk in the Spirit, not a walk that requires one to read and study and pray for Him to help out understanding God's way with me.
This podcast lesson by brother Mark Roberts will help one to understand just who is the Holy Spirit and how He interacts in the disciples life.
