Lesson 6 (part 1): THE TEACHING MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

I don't know about you, my sweet sisters, but without the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life, I would be totally, completely and irrevocably LOST! Oh how I praise God for the ministry of His precious Holy Spirit and the illumination He brings to the Word of God!

How aware are you of the many ways He employs His teaching ministry in your life? Have you ever been reading your Bible when suddenly a verse of scripture seems to "leap off the page" and you begin to see a truth you have never seen before ... or you see a familiar truth in a new way? That was the Holy Spirit causing you to see that truth.

Have you ever been listening to a sermon or Bible lesson and suddenly it seems like a light turns on in your brain ... you see Christ clearly ... you understand how the passage applies to what is going on in your life? That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

The psalmist petitioned: "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law." Psalm 119:18 and God answers that prayer continuously for us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the Illuminator, the Teacher, the One who removes our spiritual blindness and reveals Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher throughout our lives.

• Like a Kindergarten teacher helps students recognize the letters of the alphabet, the Holy Spirit helps new believers recognize basic Christian truth.



• Like a Middle School teacher helps students practice their skills and develop their reasoning and logic, so the Holy Spirit helps believers learn throughout the process of maturing spiritually.



• Like a College Professor continues to set challenges before more accomplished students to encourage an even higher level of achievement, the Holy Spirit continually helps mature believers understand deeper truths about Christian living.

Where are you in your spiritual journey? Are you in kindergarten, having just begun? Are you in middle school, still mastering the necessary skills to press on? Are you in college - maybe even, graduate school - grasping those deeper truths and moving into passionate intimacy with your Savior? The Holy Spirit is your master Teacher at EVERY level of your learning!

When Jesus first promised the Holy Spirit to His disciples He said, "He will teach you all things..." (John 14:26) Jesus' promise is as much for us today as it was for the first century disciples. The Holy Spirit will teach us all things and He will "guide you into all truth." John 16:13

Paul talked about the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit when he wrote to the church at Corinth. "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 1 Cor. 2:13

The title "Teacher" was used to address Jesus during His earthly ministry more than any other name. It's not as often used as a title describing the Holy Spirit; but the Holy Spirit certainly performs all the duties a teacher does: He guides, reveals, teaches, tells, shows, leads and; even as a human teacher will do, reproves, corrects and convicts.

In the next post we will look at how the Holy Spirit reveals Himself in His teaching ministry through four names/titles:

• The Anointing (1 John 2:27)



• The Spirit of Revelation (Isaiah 11:2)



• The Spirit of Counsel (Isaiah 11:2)



• The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17)