Ephesians 5:15-20: Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be Filled With the Spirit-Part IV
This week again I want to focus on the statement, Instead, be filled with the Spirit and continue to examine the advantages of the Holy Spirit listed below.
1. The Holy Spirit will be with you forever.
2. The Holy Spirit will be in you.
3. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.
4. The Holy Spirit will remind you of what Jesus said.
5. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.
6. The Holy Spirit will tell you what is yet to come.
7. The Holy Spirit will convict the world.
8. The Holy Spirit will give you power and boldness to witness.
9. The Holy Spirit will give you victory over your enemies.
This week I want to discuss the fifth and sixth advantages. The Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth, and the Holy Spirit will show you what is yet to come. These two advantages are found in John 16:12-14 where Jesus said, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you."
In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life." Jesus did more than teach the truth; he is the truth. All truth flows from Jesus Christ. In the passage in John 16 Jesus is saying that he has much more to say to the disciples, but they cannot bear it and Jesus had to return to heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit to bring the disciples and the church into all truth.
As believers we must understand that the Holy Spirit daily wants to teach us his truth. If you will commit yourself to walking in the truth, there is no limit to the truth that the Holy Spirit will reveal to you in this life.
The writer of Hebrews makes a similar statement to the one that Jesus spoke. We find it in Hebrews 5:11-13: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
The writer of Hebrews speaks a strong word to believers, who have not submitted fully to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. The writer says that these believers should be teachers by now. However, it was necessary for them to again be taught the elementary truths of the Word of God. They are fed spiritual milk instead of spiritual meat.
Now is the time for the church to submit to God, and to allow the Holy Spirit to move us beyond the milk of the Word of God, so that the Holy Spirit may reveal to us the truth of the meat of the Word of God. It is time to move beyond infancy into maturity in Jesus Christ. It is time to become acquainted with teaching about righteousness.
So, fully understand that the Holy Spirit daily wants to guide you into truth. Your job is twofold:
1. Obey the truth already revealed to you.
2. Make time available to the Holy Spirit for him to reveal more truth to you.Also, fully understand that there is a spiritual battle raging. Satan wants to pervert the truth. He wants you to believe something other than the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul said in Colossian 1:9, As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned.
How can you guard against error?
1. Always maintain a steady diet of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit never speaks contrary to the Word of God.
2. Stay planted in a good local church, and be open to correction from the pastor and other brothers and sisters in Christ.
3. Maintain a humble spirit before God. He exalts the humble, but he resists the proud.
4. Quickly repent of sin.The Holy Spirit will also show us things to come. In our faith walk with God there are times, when we don't see what is ahead, and God requires that we trust him. But as we learn to trust God, there are times that we need to see some of the things that are ahead, so that we will be prepared to deal with them effectively.
In one church that I pastored the Holy Spirit spoke to me about three men who were my enemies. There was something in them that did not want to follow my leadership. They had not outwardly acted toward me as enemies, but in their hearts, they stood against me in some areas. Because of that revelation I prayed for them and always made sure that I acted toward them in a Christ like manner. In the end none of these three men caused me any great trouble. The Holy Spirit knew what was in their hearts, and he showed me, so that I could deal with them in an effective manner in the love of Christ.
Another time the Holy Spirit showed me that a shaking was coming to that church. You never get excited when the Holy Spirit speaks words of that nature. But, shortly after I heard that word, some people began to leave. I didn't know that they were unhappy, but God did, and he was ready to move out the people whose hearts were not really joined together with us. It was better for them, and better for us. Possessing the knowledge that the shaking was about to occur helped to prepare me for those difficult days. It is never easy for a pastor when people leave a church because they are not happy with the state of the church.
The Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. He will show us things to come. Allow the ministry of the Holy Spirit to work in you. He is to your advantage.
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org