Lesson 6 (part 2): THE HOLY SPIRIT AS OUR TEACHER

1. The Anointing

When John described the Holy Spirit as The Anointing (1 John 2:27), he was referring to the Holy Spirit's direct teaching ministry. Most Bible teachers believe John wrote this epistle to warn the early believers about false teachers. In doing so, he reminded them that the Holy Spirit always teaches TRUTH, not lies, and therefore can be relied upon more consistently than any human teacher they might encounter.

As a bible teacher, one of my greatest concerns is always to "rightly divide the word of truth." I never want to teach something that is not 100% true to God's intention. It's an awesome privilege to teach God's Word and to realize that people may be influenced by something you say. I pray constantly for the Holy Spirit's anointing on my understanding as I study and prepare to teach. And I never cease to ask for His anointing WHILE I am teaching. Teaching God's Word is an awesome privilege for which I am most humbly grateful ... but it is also a monumental responsibility which I approach with great "fear and trembling." I am eternally grateful that it does not depend upon me - but, rather, is under the complete control of the always faithful Holy Spirit and His anointing.

As The Anointing, the Holy Spirit removes spiritual blindness from those "whose minds the god of this age has blinded" (2 Cor. 4:4). When we are blinded by the world's influences we cannot understand the principles of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher who shows us the meaning of the Cross.

The Holy Spirit magnifies Jesus so we can see Him. Jesus said "He will not speak on His own authority, ... He will glorify Me" (John 16:13-14). The main topic in the Holy Spirit's curriculum is JESUS!

Oh, my sweet sisters, the Holy Spirit is The Anointing who comes to enlighten the scriptures so that you see Jesus. But He does not work in a vacuum. You must read and memorize scripture. You must study the Bible, comparing scripture to scripture. There might even be times when you will need to consult a commentary or bible dictionary. You must spend time meditating on the Word. As you do these things, the Anointing will come and shine His light upon your darkened understanding. When you don't understand a scripture, ask Him to anoint your spiritual eyes to see what the scripture says. He is faithful!!

2. The Spirit of Revelation

When Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would have a "spirit of revelation" (Eph. 1:17), he was emphasizing the aspect of the Holy Spirit's teaching ministry in which He reveals (or shows) us things we could not otherwise know apart from His ministry.

A good teacher communicates not only the facts of a lesson, but also insights that help the student understand and appreciate the relationships that tie those facts together. The Spirit of Revelation takes the Word of God and teaches believers insights about life. As the master teacher, He helps believers understand the spiritual forces at work in their lives.

Have you ever had a time in your life when a circumstance entered and you realized the Holy Spirit had already been preparing you to deal with it before it occurred? That was the Spirit of Revelation at work in your life.

My oldest daughter married in 1986. The next year, for her 21st birthday, I made and mailed her a photo album of her life from birth through the time she spread her wings and flew to her new life as a married woman. These were pre-scrapbooking days, girlfriends, but I had so much fun putting the album together that I decided I would do the same for my other two children on their 21st birthdays. In the Fall of 1989 I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to make my youngest daughter's album for her 18th birthday - not to wait until her 21st. I did what I felt the Spirit was leading me to do and had great delight in assembling her special album. Within just a few short months after her 18th birthday events transpired that meant this precious daughter would be leaving my "nest" before I expected her to and LONG before I ever wanted her to. I realized that the Spirit of Revelation had prepared me for her leaving when He guided me through making her life album.

The Spirit of Revelation delights to show us God's will as we study God's Word. When I served on the pastor search committee God had already settled in my spirit and confirmed through His word that David Ball was to become our next pastor but there were still many things to be settled before a call would be issued. One day, as I was reading in the Psalms - I came upon Psalm 78:70-72 and the Spirit of Revelation began to quicken it within my heart. I read "He chose David His servant..." and kind of laughed because of the name, David. I knew the passage was talking about the biblical David - not David Ball - but immediately, the Spirit stilled my laughter and had me understand that He was using the biblical David to speak to me about my future pastor, David. I said, "Yes, Lord, David (Ball) is indeed your servant."

Then I read "and took him from the sheepfolds and brought him to shepherd Jacob, His people." The Spirit of Revelation began to show me the public school system where David was teaching at the time. I saw God moving him out of that area of service where he had such a strong ministry to young people and saw Him moving David to shepherd God's people at Hope Church. It seemed to me that God was simply enlarging David's ministry ... that David would still have tremendous influence on young people but his ministry was being expanded to include children, adults and senior citizens as well. God said to me, "I know that you believe David to be a man of integrity, and he is, but read verse 72. He is going to shepherd my people according to the integrity of his heart - he's going to guide them with skillfulness of his hands - for both his heart and his hands are MINE."

Oh, girls - when the Spirit of Revelation speaks to you - LISTEN!! You'll never regret it. He knows what the future holds - we don't. He knows the coming joys - and He knows the coming pains. When we study God's Word for His instruction, the Holy Spirit will prepare us for future eventualities.

3. The Spirit of Counsel

As you study God's Word, the Spirit of Counsel helps you understand the principles of scripture and how to base your decisions upon those principles. He will help you know God's will and make the appropriate decisions to follow it.

The Spirit of Counsel is often linked with God's power in scripture. In Isaiah 11:2 he is referred to as "the Spirit of Counsel and Might." "You are great in counsel and mighty in work ..." Jer. 32:19

The Holy Spirit is one with God in the combination of counsel and might, for what He counsels, He is able to enforce. He not only gives us the needed counsel for direction, but He carries us through to the place He has directed. " ...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:13

Many are good at telling us what to do when we need guidance, but they are utterly unable to give us the strength to carry out their advice. From the Spirit of Counsel, we have not only precepts, but the power to live them out. "...He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

4. The Spirit of Truth

As the Spirit of Truth, everything the Holy Spirit teaches is characterized by truth. This means that the lessons the Holy Spirit teaches us are accurate and we can have complete confidence in His teaching. In His character, He is the essence of truth - and therefore, its Author and its Communicator.

In His teaching ministry, the Spirit of Truth comes as we read and study God's Word and reveals truth to us. The question we really need to ask ourselves is: What do we do with the truth He teaches?

Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is of very little benefit. The Spirit of Truth does not reveal God's truth to us just to make us smarter. He reveals truth to us so that we can adjust our life to the His truth and walk in obedience to Him. It is only as we yield to Him and His truth that God is able to work in and through us.

I think I have shared this before, but a few weeks ago I was struggling before the Lord about my eating issues and feeling like I lacked the strength or power to resist an overwhelming desire for sweets. The Spirit of Truth spoke 1 Corinthians 6:12 to me: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." What I understood was that God doesn't condemn sweets - they are "lawful" (permissible) for me; but He wants me to see that they are not beneficial to me. They put excess weight on a body that is supposed to be the holy habitation of His Spirit. Too much of them endangers my health. AND - when I eat too many sweets, I definitely become enslaved to an increasing desire for sugar and more sugar.

What would it benefit me to hear what the Spirit of Truth said but do nothing about it? It would not benefit me at all. I would still be struggling with slavery to sweets. Instead, I made an adjustment. Any time the Spirit of Truth speaks to us, we must adjust ourselves to what He has said. In this case, I made a commitment to God to only eat the things that are beneficial to my body even though all things are permissible. Now, when my sugar cravings roar, I can simply say "no" to something that is not beneficial to me and choose a nutritious piece of fruit instead. I am not on a diet. I am not trying to lose weight - though that would be nice. What I am trying to do is yield to the Spirit of Truth for the purpose of holiness.

What has the Spirit of Truth spoken to you lately? I guarantee it has required an adjustment on your part. Have you made the adjustment? Have you aligned your life with His truth? Listen to me, sisters .... I'm sure not saying it will be easy to make the adjustments the Spirit of Truth wants you to make. But I AM saying, without a single reservation, it will be worth it!