Lesson #263
In our last lesson we started John 16:13 and covered the
first part of the verse: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you
into all the truth”. It was pointed out the importance of context in
understanding phrases like “all the truth”. Verse 13 continues with: “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.” The Holy Spirit does not
speak as if prompted by himself, but he shall declare what is communicated to
him. This has practical meaning to me; for example, when I write these lessons
I pray that I will know the Lord’s mind and heart concerning the verses I am
writing about. Jesus communicates this to the Holy Spirit who communicates it
to me. Because of my sinful nature, the reception is not always really good, so
I tend to miss part of the message. I long for that day when in heaven the
reception will be 100%. In the context of this verse the Holy Spirit will
inform us of things to come. This could relate to changes that were to take
place in the Jewish nation. It could also be that the disciples were inspired
to predict future events which would take place in the church and the world.
Some examples are as follows: “And one of them named Agabus
stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all
the world (this took place in the days of Claudius)” (Acts 11:28 ESV); “And coming
to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus
says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who
owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”” (Acts 21:11
ESV); “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from
the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through
the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and
require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1 – 3 ESV). The whole
book of Revelation was delivered to John by the Holy Spirit.
We will end this lesson here and cover verses 14 and 15 in
the next lesson.
Prayer
Father, thank you for the presence of the Holy Spirit in my
life; for making known to me that I am saved; convicting me of sin; guiding,
directing and giving me understanding; encouraging, strengthening and
comforting me when needed. He is the presence of God in my life and for that I
thank you.
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