When you read the Bible, do you treat it like any other work of literature? Just words on a page? Or do you pray for the Holy Spirit to bring it to life? Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers the Spirit's role in helping believers see and understand the truths of Scripture in vivid detail.
Here's David to introduce the conclusion of his message, the illumination of the Spirit. I remember when I first began to learn about inspiration, the inspiration of the Bible. And I heard a statement that went something like this: these men of God Filled with the Spirit. through their own personality, shared God's absolute truth.
so that what we have in the scriptures written in the Bible is the absolute word of God, right from God, poured through the personality of these individual writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, illuminated by the Holy Spirit. We're talking about all of this today. As we continue our discussion of 1 Corinthians 2, 6 through 14 and the illumination of the Spirit. You know, your prayerful support of Turning Point means a great deal to me. And uh If this program has been a blessing to you, this is really a perfect time to make an extra special gift of support.
Your donation today will be matched dollar for dollar, thanks to generous friends of the ministry, so when you give, your gift will be worth twice what you give. Thank you for standing with us during this critical time of year. Together, we continue to deliver the unchanging word of God to an ever-changing world, and we couldn't do it without you, so thank you for your partnership. When you send your gift this month, please be sure to ask for your copy of the book, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know, and we'll send it to you right away so that you can begin to read it and follow up on these lessons as we teach them each day on the radio. We are blessed to have the privilege of teaching God's Word to many, many people every day.
This huge family of Bible-believing Bible students is everywhere in the world and we're so grateful for the opportunity To make God's Bible, God's Word. The subject for every day We don't teach anything else. We teach the Bible. And because of that, we know God is going to bless it because He's promised to do so. Here is part two of the illumination of the Spirit.
The great desire of the Spirit's heart is to flood the light of Scripture into your mind and help you to know more and more and more about your Heavenly Father and your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit is like a lighthouse keeper who just loves to send that powerful beam out. And help you get through the fog and the darkness of where you live. How many of you know we're living in some fog and darkness right now? Hard to see our way through it.
Sometimes we get up and say, What in the world is going to happen today? How many of you know sometimes you just get a verse and you hang on to that verse and you live off of that verse for two or three days because God has given you a verse of Scripture to give you direction and hone in on what's happening in your life. In general, the content of the spiritual ministry is all the truth. The truth is the Bible, the written word of God.
Sometimes people come to me and maybe they're living with each other out of marriage. I've had that happen several times. And they want to talk to me about this and And I said, you know, you guys. What you're doing is not right. You shouldn't be doing that.
The Bible doesn't allow that. The Word of God doesn't allow that. And I've had them say to me, you know what, Pastor, I know that's what the Bible says, but we prayed about it and we've got real peace from God that this is okay. I'm not going to tell you all the things I say when that happens, but... What I want to tell them is whatever you got is not peace from God.
And I know that to be true because listen to me, kids. This is what you need to understand. The Holy Spirit will never contradict what the Word of God says. Not ever, ever, ever. You can count on it.
You won't read something in the Bible, and the next day get some vision from God that contradicts what the Bible says. It's not going to happen. Your standard for what is truth and what is right and wrong is the scripture. And you don't have to doubt about it because God wrote it down for you. It's called the Bible.
So When somebody tells me the Spirit of God told them to do something that is not from the Word of God, it may be a spirit, all right, but it's not the Spirit of God.
So, when we talk about spiritual illumination, we're not talking about dreams or private messages. We're talking about God's word coming alive as he Uses His Spirit to open the understanding and apply the Word of God to our hearts.
So, the parameters of spiritual discernment are found between the covers of this book. Do you want to know where the wisdom of God is? It's right here. You don't have to go to grad school to get it. You just get a Bible and start reading it, and little by little, God's Word will start to penetrate your life.
So how does the process work?
Well, there's a wonderful passage of scripture in the little book of 1 John. Here's what it says. But you have an anointing from the Holy One. And you know all things. The anointing which you have received from him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you.
Sometimes after a service here at Shadow Mountain, Someone will come up to me and say, Pastor, that was really an anointed message. And I take that as a compliment. But what I want to say to you is that John says we all have an anointing, an anointing from God. You have this anointing from the Holy One, says John. I take that to mean that each of us has a special Gift from God.
It says here: you do not need that anyone teach you. I know some students have made that their life verse, but that's not where it goes. It doesn't mean we don't need teachers because John himself was a teacher. It means we don't need Worldly teachers To teach us the things we need to know about God. What he means is this, you don't need teachers who speak from a non-Christian perspective.
You don't need horoscopes. You don't need psychic hotlines. You don't need advice columns to figure out life. You have the Spirit of the Living God within you. He is your anointing.
When you allow that to happen, you can ask him to help you and he will, and often he will do it. Through the Word of God. This isn't about feelings or whims. It's about the Spirit taking the Word of God and applying it to your mind and heart. guiding you in truth.
and keeping you alert.
So the parameters and the process, now the power. The Bible says in John 14, 26, 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. If you were a Christian in high school or college. Maybe if even if you weren't, and you were getting ready for a big test.
You may have prayed, O Lord, help me remember the things I've studied. My prayer was always helped me to remember the things I haven't studied. I wanted not Inspiration, I wanted revelation.
Sometimes you'll hear the word of God preached. And you walk away saying, that didn't touch me. I'm not sure what he was talking about. And you may not think about it again for weeks. But if you keep coming back, nurturing your spiritual life, little by little, you'll store truth in your spirit.
And then at the right moment, the Bible says, God's Spirit will bring it to your remembrance. He will bring it to your mind. Most crises may come to us But all of them have one thing in common. You don't get time. to do homework on them.
If there's a crisis and you're facing this crisis, You don't get to say, I'll come back in two weeks after I have a chance to study this a little bit more. What I'm saying, folks, is this. How are you going to remember something you don't have? You all got to give the Spirit of God something to work with. You got to put some word in your heart.
You say, How do I do that?
Well, there's a lot of ways. You can memorize the scripture. I know that's a foreign term to some of you. You can read the scripture. You can listen to the scripture.
There's so many ways to listen to the scripture today.
So many good readers of the scripture. I believe that many worship songs are built around scripture. You can play them in your heart. What I'm saying is, if you don't fill your mind and your spirit with godly things, then when the Spirit of God wants to bring something to your remembrance, He goes to your hard drive and there's nothing there. You have to give him something to work with.
That's the part we play in the disciplines of our life. We study, and we listen, and we. Take notes. I'm so honored when I see some of you taking notes. Every piece of spiritual information that you make as an input into your life becomes fodder.
for the Holy Spirit to use when the time comes. I'll give you an illustration. I was speaking at a conference some years ago and I had an assignment to speak on marriage. In fact, the whole thing was about marriage, and I just had one message. A woman who had listened to some of the radio told me at the end of my message that day in tears.
that she and her husband were having terrible problems. On the verge of divorce, and he had told her several weeks before that he would come to this session and hear what I had to say. But that was it. If it didn't work, he was done. He was finished.
And she started to weep. She said, Pastor, we had this major fight this week. And he said, I'm not going. And she said, And I tried to take my own life because I was so discouraged. And I don't know where this came from, but I looked at her and I said, young lady, don't you ever do that again.
God did not die for your marriage. He died for you. And he cares about you as a person.
So don't ever do that again. I thought, where did that come from? It came from what was in me. The Holy Spirit will use what is in you and bring it out at the right time, at the right moment, when you need the answer. But if you don't put anything in your spirit, for the Holy Spirit to work with, he won't have anything for you to say.
So the point is You don't have to go around begging the Holy Spirit to help you. Just keep filling up. The tank. With godly things, and when the moment comes, the Holy Spirit will be there to give you the wisdom that you need. And then there's spiritual dependence.
Did you know that the ministry of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for you to face life? in a different way than the average person. we can face crises and testing and not get blown off course. We face these crises with the knowledge of God. You say, well, Pastor Jeremiah, how can I explain that sort of discernment?
I think it comes as the Spirit of God helps you and made to see the whole picture. The Spirit of God wants to give us perspective. Did you know that? He's not just interested in a moment. He's interested in that moment in the big picture.
Let me give you an illustration of this from the New Testament. It's kind of raw because it sounds very familiar. Here's this young man who loved the Lord. and he died an unjust and violent death He was stoned to death for boldly proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He told people what they didn't want to hear, and because they had no answer for his arguments.
They killed him.
Now I know that you know I'm talking about Stephen. I want to ask you a question. If you knew you were going to be martyred for your faith, if you knew you were going to be stoned or shot. because of what you believe and what you say. What would you be thinking?
I'm sure you'd be afraid. Normally, If you weren't, there's something wrong with you. You'd probably be wondering about your friends, your family, and I'm sure all those thoughts went through Stephen's mind as well. But Stephen had a perspective on that moment that came because he was filled. with the Holy Spirit.
He saw that moment not in just time. He saw it in light of eternity. Listen to his words. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, Look, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
How did he see that? With death rushing on him, with murderous hatred all around him, with sharp, heavy stones crashing into his body. How in the world did Stephen see that? He saw it through spiritual illumination. He saw it through his spirit.
He saw the power of the Holy Spirit. He saw through spiritual eyes what was happening. The spiritual illumination of the moment gave him confidence and strength. and ability to see beyond that tragedy. And the loss of his life He wasn't able to see into that place where he would spend eternity.
He saw God, he saw Christ, he saw heaven. And he died with a blessing on his lips rather than a curse for those who were taking his life. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He takes those moments which could easily be interpreted like the world interprets them. and helps us to see them through the eyes of God himself.
And he gives us spiritual direction. Gives us discernment. gives us dependence and he gives us direction. When the Spirit of God comes to live within you, He is your guide and leader. Paul wrote it this way, Romans 8:14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, These are the sons of God.
The Bible says if you're a son and child of God, The Holy Spirit is your leader. One of the marks you have as a Christian is that you are led by God's Spirit.
Now, many of you who know me know that I am directionally challenged. I don't have a very good sense of direction.
Sometimes it's so bad that when I think I should turn right, I always turn left because I know I'm going to be wrong. And half the time I'm right. Good thing my wife has a good sense of direction, or I'd be lost all the time. But here's the truth. Even with the best compass, the best GPS, life can still leave us not knowing where to turn.
And in those moments, the question is: what do we do? And I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit is to be trusted. He is the one who helps us know where to go, where to turn, what to do. He knows everything that's involved in where you're headed, and he gives you guidance to make the right decision. If you will trust him.
Romans 9:1 says, I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit. I believe there is an inward witness within us who are Christians. It helps us to know what to do.
Sometimes I've been in a crisis where I've had to make a decision. And the logical decision to make It's so logical, but I knew that God was telling me to do the other thing. And I do the other thing. As I listen to the Lord and later find out. Oh my goodness.
Good thing I didn't do what was logical. I did what was spiritual. When you do what's spiritual, you got a much better chance of the outcome being what you hoped it would be. You see, life is so complicated, I don't even want to try to live it on my own, in my own wisdom. I don't want to be my own travel agent through life.
Writing my own itinerary, arranging my own accommodations, I only mess everything up. There are too many options and too many paths and too many opportunities and too many choices and too many serious consequences if I make the wrong decision. What did the old bumper sticker say? Life is fragile. Handle with prayer.
I need the guiding hand. of God's Spirit.
So how does he guide? He leads us through God's word, through prayer, through circumstance, through godly counsel. Through all these means, he helps us and he guides us. 3,000 years ago, when David was hiding from his enemies in the depths of a limestone cave, he wrote these words: When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then you knew my path. Speaking of God.
And it's the same for you and for me. Not long ago, I was flying in a private jet, and I got the opportunity to go up and sit. and the jump seat, which is right behind the pilots. I had never done that before and I kind of wanted to see how everything worked. Before long we ran into stormy weather.
Huge clouds surrounded us, and for what felt like forever, you couldn't see a thing out of the front window. I remember thinking, wait, don't we need to see where we're going? The pilot didn't seem all that worried about it. He didn't even try to look outside. No, he kept his eyes glued to the gauges and the instruments in front of him.
That's what guided them. And sure enough, those instruments carried us safely home.
Sometimes, as Christians, you find yourself wanting to watch your circumstances, don't you? You want to live your life based upon what you can see around you, and that will always be inadequate. We focus our eyes on the storm. We get worried about the clouds and the rain and the darkness. And when that happens, what we have to do is to hone in on the ministry of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to help us see through the fog and the storm to the reality of His presence.
Sometimes you just have to put blinders on and pray, Lord. Help me not to look at the circumstances. Help me to hear and listen to what you were saying to me. I don't know what the practical application of that all is. I do think this.
I think sometimes we listen to too much news. I think sometimes we look at so much of what's going on. And you know, we live in this day when we don't just get the bad news that's here, we get the bad news from all over the country. The bottom line is, men and women, we don't just live in the present with all of the world's information around us. We are Christians and we live in a spiritual realm as well.
And we need to see through the fog and through the storm. And the way we do that is through the eternal word of God that gives us the encouragement we need to keep. Stepping forward and stand strong for the things of God. I know you know this verse, but it has greater meaning to me having studied for this message. Here's what it says.
Trust in the Lord. With all your heart. And lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
And don't keep looking out the window. In all your ways. Keep your eyes. Where they belong. and he will direct your path.
When you open the scripture The Spirit illumines your mind with truth. and your path with direction. And if you don't have the Bible to help you, You're kind of out there lost. All you have is the stuff coming in. If you don't have any other voice in your life, Then, guess what?
You're going to be impacted greatly by everything that happens out here. You need a stabilizing force. That forces the Spirit of God who lives within you. And He's promised you that if you'll faithfully read this book, He will help you understand it. He will help you understand what it means.
Most of all, he will help you understand what it means to you. August Herman Frank. was a brilliant young scholar in Germany more than three centuries ago. By the time he reached his mid-twenties, he was already lecturing on theology at the University of Leipzig. explaining the Bible to his students.
But there was a problem. He didn't believe the Bible. He didn't believe the Bible was God's word. He was just teaching the Bible as a book of literature. to college students.
Which happens a lot if you don't know. One night he was in his study with an oil lamp looking at the books all around him and he was preparing for another lecture. And his eyes landed on a verse in John chapter 20, and this is what the verse said. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. These things he'd been preparing to teach, these lessons he was given as if they were literature, now he reads in that very book that these things were given to him so that he might have life in the Son of God.
That verse hit him like a lightning bolt, and suddenly they weren't just words on a page. They felt alive as if God was speaking straight to him, and he was. In that moment, he realized he wasn't in charge of the Bible. The Bible was in charge of him. And he believed and he described himself as being born again.
The same Spirit who opened his eyes can open our eyes. As Christians When you open the Bible, do not just expect words on a page. Expect God to speak to you, to guide you. and to change you. Ask yourself this question as you begin to read.
Is there something that you need to show me? that I need to do. Is there something that you need to show me that I need to quit doing? I open my heart to you, and here's the deal, guys. Here's the thing that's so hard for all of us when it comes to direction.
You have to sign at the bottom of the page and let God fill in the top. You don't get to say, okay, Lord, that's a good idea. Let me think about that for a week and we'll discuss it next time we're together. No, when He tells you what to do, you have to be willing to do it. That's the way He works.
He's God and there's no second opinion.
So, if God says this is it, you already have to sign at the bottom, Lord. The answer to your question, no matter what it is, is yes. Yes, I will do that. Yes, I will go there. Yes, I will follow your direction.
You come with that heart of obedience. And God will meet you at that place, I promise you. He will show you what to do. He will help you do it. The thing that I listen to so often is this truth: that whatever God tells you to do, He's obligated to do.
To help you do what? And he will. But you have to listen. Don't shut God out. Don't push Him to the side.
Don't fill your mind and heart up with all of the fog and mist of the world. Get some truth going in your life. And God will honor you for it. You'll be on an adventure that you won't believe. He'll take you places you never believed you'd ever go and help you do things you never thought you could ever do.
You know, I've often thought that the illumination of the Bible. Through the writers of the scripture, is a practice that happens also in our lives. When we read the scripture and we understand it, sometimes the understanding is overwhelming to us and we realize Something's been going on here beside just our mental acuity. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, making God's Word come alive to us, turn the light on to the Scripture. It's a wonderful experience.
The illumination of the Spirit is at work today in your life if you're a Christian.
Well, to morrow we're going to talk about walking in the Spirit. What does that mean? We hear that discussed a lot. People say you just need to walk in the Spirit.
Well, what does it mean? How does one walk in the Spirit? Tomorrow here on Turning Point. Don't forget to get your copy of the book, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know. It's our resource for the month of June, and you can have your copy for a gift of any size during these days.
Just all you have to do is send your gift and ask for the book. It'll be on its way. And we'll see you here tomorrow. Thanks for listening. Have a good day.
Today's message originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Dr. David Jeremiah. Drop us a note to let us know how God is using this ministry in your life. Write to Turning Point, PO Box 3838, San Diego, California 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call 800-947-1993.
Ask for your copy of David's new book, The Holy Spirit You May Not Know. a valuable resource that's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also stream more than 1,200 of Dr. Jeremiah's messages on demand on any screen on our streaming service, Turning Point Plus, for a monthly gift of any amount. Visit turningpointplus.org for details.
This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the Holy Spirit You May Not Know on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
