Lesson #81 The Holy Spirit and Divine Communication John 16:12-15 Presented Live on August 26, 2018

Transcription

1 Lesson #81 The Holy Spirit and Divine Communication John 16:12-15 Presented Live on August 26, 2018 I. Introduction and review A. The Holy Spirit, we have learned, will come to the earth in force, once Jesus leaves and returns to the heavenly abode of He and His Father B. When He comes, He will have two major goals 1. To serve as the divine Helper of all believers 2. And to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment C. Jesus, in the passage today, will tell us about His plan for communication of God s word to man 1. The communication of God s word to mankind plays a key role in the divine syllogism: a. If God exists, He would be the Creator of all we know, for the very reason that He is God b. If He is Creator God, then as Creator, He is responsible for His creation Page 1 of 11

2 c. Any such creation should be thankful, responsive and owe a debt to the One who created them d. The Creator fulfils His responsibility to His creation by informing mankind of the rules by which they must live in order to please their God e. And if there are to be any consequences for the failure to follow those rules, He must also inform mankind of those consequences f. The one way to fairly perform that responsibility is to provide the creatures that God has created, with a written set of rules and instructions as to how to please Him g. And finally, that writing should be so distinctive and different from any other writing, that the creatures would be able to tell that it had to come for God, their Creator 2. What would those distinctives be? a. Telling the creature of things that the creature could not know on his own b. Telling the creature what is true even when the creature believed the opposite to be true c. Telling the creature what will happen in the future D. The Holy Spirit communicates with God s creation in three distinct ways 1. Revelation, 2. Inspiration and 3. Illumination E. Revelation 1. God communicating directly to one or more human beings 2. For example Page 2 of 11

3 a. Gen. 22:1-2 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 2 He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. b. Jdg. 2:1-4 Now the angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, I will never break My covenant with you, 2 and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars. But you have not obeyed Me; what is this you have done? 3 Therefore I also said, I will not drive them out before you; but they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you. 4 When the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. (1) Who the author of the book of Judges is uncertain (2) But many scholars believe it to be Samuel F. Inspiration 1. What is inspiration? a. The recording of Holy Scripture b. For example when: (1) Moses wrote Genesis 22:1-2 (2) Or Samuel wrote Judges 2: The two key verses in the Bible on this topic are: a. 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 16 All Scripture is inspired by Page 3 of 11

4 God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (1) Inspired qeo,pneustoj theopneustos {thehop'-nyoo-stos} (a) Meaning: 1) inspired by God 1a) the (b) contents of the scriptures Origin: i) qeo,j theos {theh'-os} Meaning: 1) a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities 2) the Godhead, trinity ii) pne,w pneo {pneh'-o} Meaning: 1) to breathe, to blow 1a) of the wind (2) We should understand this word to mean breathed by God or God breathed b. 2 Peter 1:21 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. c. Moved fe,rw phero {fer'-o} Meaning: 1) to carry 1a) to carry some burden 1a1) to bear with one's self 1b) to move by bearing; move or, to be conveyed or borne, with the suggestion of force or speed 1b1) of persons borne in a ship over the sea 1b2) of a gust of wind, to rush 1b3) of the mind, to be moved inwardly, prompted 1c) to bear up i.e. uphold (keep from falling) 1c1) of Christ, the preserver of the universe 2) to bear, i.e. endure, to endure the rigor of a thing, to bear patiently one's conduct, or spare one (abstain Page 4 of 11

5 II. from punishing or destroying) 3) to bring, bring to, bring forward 3a) to move to, apply 3b) to bring in by announcing, to announce 3c) to bear i.e. bring forth, produce; to bring forward in a speech 3d) to lead, conduct G. Illumination 1. Opening up God s Word to a believer 2. Giving him or her understanding and insight a. Understanding the mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension b. Insight an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, especially through intuitive understanding c. Intuitive perceiving directly by intuition without rational thought 3. Illumination enables a person to teach or to share with others the intricacies, deeper meanings and key applications of the Scriptures The limitation of Jesus teaching A. John 16:12 12 I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 1. Bear basta,zw bastazo {bas-tad'-zo} Meaning: 1) to take up with the hands 2) to take up in order to carry or bear, to put upon one's self (something) to be carried 2a) to bear what is burdensome 3) to bear, to carry 3a) to carry on one's person 3b) to sustain, i.e. uphold, support 4) to bear away, carry off 2. They are unable at this point to hold and carry with them anymore of Jesus truth B. Jesus informs His disciples that they cannot bear anymore of His teaching and the information that He wants to impart to them Page 5 of 11

6 III. C. Why? 1. Emotional turmoil 2. Anxiety over the future 3. Lack of capacity 4. Lack of empowerment The guidance and provision of the Holy Spirit A. John 16: But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. B. The Spirit is a guide into all truth C. Consider 1 Corinthians 2:8-13 The wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual Page 6 of 11

7 words. D. What He discloses to these men and the believers to follow them, comes from the Father, through Jesus, by means of the Spirit for He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you.... [16:13b] 2. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine (Jesus ) 3. and will disclose it to you. [16:14] All things (knowledge, understanding and the like) that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. [16:15] E. The Authority of the Holy Scriptures 1. In Jesus day they only had access to the Old Testament a. The Pharisees believed all of it to be God s word and of equal value b. The Sadducees believed that the first five books, the Pentateuch, they referred to it as the Law, was superior to all of the rest 2. The same thing is true in our day 3. There are some that believe all of the New Testament, together with all of the Old Testament, to be equally inspired by God, to be God s word to us, composed one book and all of equal value 4. There are others who claim that the New Testament is superior to the Old Testament 5. And there are still others who would assert that the teachings of Jesus and the doctrines He imparts, as recorded in the Gospels, are superior to and carry more weight than the rest of the New Testament a. Do little things really make a difference? Page 7 of 11

8 b. One of the reasons that they do that is that they don t believe in the rapture of the saints c. They want to believe that the Church is the new Israel d. And that they have been tasked by God to bring in the kingdom of God and not to be looking for some mythical event like the rapture e. That is why they fight so hard to convince us that Jesus was not speaking of the rapture in John 14:1-4 f. They want to be able to proclaim that Jesus never spoke of the rapture, therefore it is a bogus dream of those who are near death g. They go on to say that nothing has happened in 2000 years and we need to be about the building of the kingdom F. Does this passage speak to that question? 1. The entire Bible is God breath, the writer s hearts being filled with the breath of God and stirred in the exact direction the Holy Spirit had charted 2. We must learn not to view some portion of the Scriptures as more inspired then others G. The Holy Spirit not only guides us into the truth, but will tell us of the future and He will disclose to you what is to come. [16:13c] 2. Some suggest that Jesus is speaking about things like the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension, but that is not the case 3. How can we know that? 4. Because these men will not have the Holy Spirit imparted to them until about ten days after the Page 8 of 11

9 ascension of our Lord back to His heavenly home 5. So He can t be telling them about these things, especially since Jesus is doing that 6. What the Holy Spirit has done is to inspire the New Testament writers to tell us of: a. The rapture of the church b. The tribulation week c. The Bema seat judgment of Christ d. The wedding supper of the Lamb e. The second coming of the Messiah f. The 1000 year millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ g. And the New Jerusalem h. And of course many more things like that 7. He also provides individuals from time to time with special revelation a. For example, He told our Pastor when he was in college, that one day he would be the pastor of our church b. He has told a multitude of other believers information that He wants them to know, to use as direction or preparation in their lives H. The final portion of this passage speaks of the Holy Spirit as the teacher 1. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. [16:15] a. Disclose avnagge,llw anaggello {an-ang-el'-lo} Meaning: 1) to announce, make known 2) to report, bring back tidings, rehearse b. Origin: (1) avna, ana {an-ah'} Meaning: 1) into the Page 9 of 11

10 midst, in the midst, amidst, among, between (2) a;ggeloj aggelos {ang'-el-os} Meaning: 1) a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God 2. The Holy Spirit not only guides us to the truth but imparts that truth into the midst of our hearts 3. When you hear a godly Bible teacher expounding on the Word of God and you sense it in your heart 4. That is not that man, that is the Spirit of the Living God teaching you 5. Does He even need that human teacher to do that 6. That is what I pray for when I study, that the Spirit of God implant on my heart the understanding and the insights He wants me to share with you IV. Final considerations A. Jesus makes it clear and emphatic by His repetition that the message that His disciples will receive is accurate and trustworthy 1. Remember what Jesus said:... when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth He is providing His Church with a permanent source of truth, recall and power B. The Holy Spirit has two ministries 1. To the world it is one of conviction that leads to a desire for forgiveness of sin resulting in salvation 2. To the believer it is one of producing obedience through transformation a. He accomplishes this transformation by means of divine truth b. He imparts this truth to believers in a way to not just bring about intellectual comprehension Page 10 of 11

11 c. But to have God s word burned into their souls with a transforming fire d. As that transformation grows, we begin to institute spiritual disciplines in our lives, such as: (1) prayer (2) Bible study and memorization (3) service (4) worship (5) evangelism & Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 11 of 11