“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)
“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.” (John 16:13)
The mystery of the Holy Spirit has many Christians confused. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “He,” which means the Holy Spirit is a living deity, the third person of the Trinity [God, the Father, Jesus, God the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit]. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit and we have evidence in Acts chapter 2.
Why are we confused about the Holy Spirit? In the Garden of Eden, Eve was deceived by Satan because she desired to possess God’s knowledge. The creation [humanity] has the innate desire to possess omniscience [all-knowing], which only belongs to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Have you secretly desired to know your future? Just enough to understand how your current situation will turn out. You are not alone. Yet, the desire to be god-like disrupts the peaceful life that Jesus promises us.
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord.
‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.'” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
Worldview: What is truth? The age-old question is now answered, “The truth is what I believe it to be.”
In John chapters 14 and 16, Jesus explained why we need the Holy Spirit. There is only one way to be assured that we know the truth. Always “Pray for the Anointing of the Holy Spirit Before You Study!”
Christian view: We listen to speakers, pastors, ministers, and others based on credible reputations. But frequently, in their sermons, a bait and switch technique is used. They read the Scripture, but then they interject their interpretation. Most speakers realize that many believers do not study the Bible. Tip: Does the speaker pray and ask for the anointing of the Holy Spirit before delivering their sermon?
Fact Check: “A survey from 2021 found that 11 percent of Americans read the Bible daily. Trends in reading habits over four years showed that the majority of Americans never read the Bible, however in 2021 this number dropped to 29 percent of respondents.” https://www.statista.com/statistics/299433/bible-readership-in-the-usa
The Function of the Holy Spirit When We Study:
- “He will teach you all things”
- “And bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you”
- “He will guide you into all the truth”
- “He will declare to you the things that are to come.”
Pentecost: Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:3-4).
Verse 4: “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues.”
Fact Check: “And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?'” (Acts 2:5-8).
Suppose you never prayed for the Holy Spirit because, from popular belief, the anointing of the Holy Spirit causes one to speak in an unknown tongue [a heavenly language]. In that case, you can be assured that the word tongue means a known language.
Clarification: “‘9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’ 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?'” (Acts 2:9-12).
The Main Issue with the Human Mind
“Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.'” (Acts 2:13). We attempt to create an explanation or strategy when faced with God’s infinite wisdom in our finite minds. And because we fail to pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we accept false teachings and a mixture of Biblical truth with the error of human interpretation of the Scriptures. Or we are part of the statistics that do not study the Bible.
Jesus promised us a Helper. Yes, the Holy Spirit has other functions, but our focus is on knowing that the biblical concepts we believe are the truth from God. We are blessed that our Heavenly Father has provided spiritual guidance so none will fall astray.
“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1).
Prayer: God, we thank you for protecting us by sending the Holy Spirit to teach, lead, and provide discernment of Your truth. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
Steps 2 Success with Spiritual Solutions 