Reading the Bible – The Holy Spirit
Servant
School
October
28, 2021
Introduction
Welcome to our “Reading the Bible” class
We are on a journey that I hope will lead you into a lifelong habit of
reading your Bible every day.
Today I’d like to talk to you about the role the Holy Spirit needs to play
in our daily Bible reading.
I don’t know if you’ve picked this up yet in your own study and Bible
reading, but while Jesus was with His disciples on earth, they didn’t always
grasp everything He said to them.
I think that sometimes, listening to Jesus was like listening to this
fellow describe his famous “Turbo Encabulator”
https://youtu.be/rLDgQg6bq7o
The disciples were often clueless to what Jesus was saying.
It was not until His death on the cross, resurrection, and then the coming
of the Holy Spirit before the lights would come on and they would realize what
Jesus had been teaching them.
I think this was because of what Jesus had promised them back at the Last
Supper before He was crucified…
(John 14:26 NKJV) 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 things that I said to you.
Let me point out three things from this verse…
:26 the Helper, the Holy Spirit
Lesson
The Spirit is necessary
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 2:14
NKJV) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of
God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned.
The natural man is the man who has not been born again.
It’s the man who has not asked Jesus to forgive his sins.
Jesus is standing at the door of his heart, knocking, and
asking to be let in.
The natural man does not have the necessary equipment to
fully comprehend what God is saying and wanting to do in his life.
When it comes to understanding the Bible, the natural man
is at a definite disadvantage.
He’s like a person who is born blind trying to comprehend
what color is all about.
Here’s a blind man named Tommy Edison trying to explain color…
Video:
Describing Color to a Blind Person
https://youtu.be/59YN8_lg6-U
The natural man is like the person sitting in a 3D movie,
but who doesn’t have the special glasses.
Everything looks strange.
He’s the person who wants to listen to the World Series on
the radio, but who doesn’t have a radio.
When you are born again, its as
if God has given you those “3D” glasses.
He’s given you the radio.
The real issue becomes, will you
use these things?
:26 He will teach you all things
Lesson
Learn
Ultimately, it’s the Holy Spirit who does the significant teaching in your
life.
(1 John 2:27 NLT) But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so
you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you
everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So
just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
This doesn’t mean that God won’t use people in your life. It doesn’t mean
that God won’t use friends, pastors, or teachers. God is the one who set up the church to have
pastors and teachers.
But it means that you have a responsibility to listen to what the Holy
Spirit is saying, and when you begin to wonder if some guy on TV is a little
off – do your homework and check it out.
The Holy Spirit can lead you. He can
teach you.
Illustration:
About a decade after his Expedition, Christopher Columbus wrote: “It was
the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) to sail to the
Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me.
There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He
comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures. Our
Lord Jesus Christ desired to perform a very obvious
miracle in the voyage to the Indies.”
Christopher
Columbus, The Book of Prophecies (New Leaf Press, 1992).
I think the most important point here is that we need to ask the Holy
Spirit to teach us.
After you ask, expect that God will answer that prayer.
:26 bring to your remembrance
Lesson
Remember
The Holy Spirit not only teaches us, but for some of us the bigger issue is
remembering what we’ve already learned.
Illustration
Elderly Proposal
There were these two elderly people living in a Florida mobile home park.
He was a widower and she a widow. They had known one another for a number of years. Now,
one evening there was a community supper in the big activity center. These two
were at the same table, across from one another. As the meal went on, he made a
few admiring glances at her and finally gathered up his courage to ask her,
“Will you marry me?” After about six seconds of ‘careful consideration,’ she
answered. “Yes. Yes, I will.” The meal ended and with a few more pleasant
exchanges, they went to their respective places. Next morning, he was troubled.
“Did she say ‘yes’ or did she say ‘no’?” He couldn’t
remember. Try as he would, he just could not recall. Not even a faint memory.
With trepidation, he went to the telephone and called her. First, he explained
to her that he didn’t remember as well as he used to. Then he reviewed the
lovely evening past. As he gained a little more courage, he then inquired of
her, “When I asked if you would marry me, did you say ‘Yes’ or did you say
‘No’?” He was delighted to hear her say, “Why, I said, ‘Yes, yes
I will’ and I meant it with all my heart.” Then she continued, “And I am so
glad that you called, because I couldn’t remember who had asked me.”
For some of us, the problem with our memory isn’t that we’re getting
older. For some of us, the problem is
that we can’t remember something that we’ve never learned before.
From time to time I get the feeling that some
Christians don’t think it’s all that important to read or study their Bibles.
They just figure that when they get into trouble, the Holy Spirit will just
magically tell them what to do.
I appreciate the confidence in the Holy Spirit, but it’s hard for the Holy
Spirit to “bring to your remembrance” what you’ve never taken time to learn.
It’s better if we are taking advantage of the Holy Spirit WHILE we read the
Scriptures.
Read the Scriptures. Study the Scriptures.
Memorize the Scriptures.
(Psalm
119:11 NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might
not sin against You.
It works in different ways.
Sometimes it’s during a crisis that a scripture verse or even just the
principle comes to mind and it gives you guidance and
comfort as the Spirit is speaking to your heart.
Sometimes you’re talking with a person who is pouring out their heart to
you. As you start to share, Scripture
verses begin to come to mind. Maybe you
don’t remember the actual verse number, but the principle is what you think of.
The key to remembering is having something to remember.
I hope that whets your appetite to be reading God’s Word every day.