The Spirit of Truth

29 May 2013

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer

Theme: The Spirit-filled Life

Topic: The Spirit of Truth

Reading: John 16:12-15

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.¹⁵All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Introduction

According to Scripture, our Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.  Following the ascension of Christ, God sent His Holy Spirit to all believers as promised, to guide us into all truth; truth regarding Christ as well as God’s purpose for our lives.  Once in a while, we are confronted with decision-making regarding which direction to follow.  Since as Christians our lives belong to God, and because we live to serve His purpose, the choices we make should be guided by the Holy Spirit.  When we trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we get connected with the triune God, because the Spirit will declare to us what belongs to Christ.  As the psalmist said, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for the Lord is with us.  Regardless of any perils around us, or fear of the unknown, presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives will grant us peace and guide us safely through.

Questions/Discussion

1.  Explain how the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. 

John 8:31-47, 14:15-18, 23-27.

8:31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ ³³They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’ ³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.’ ³⁹ They answered him, ‘Abraham is our father.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did,⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does.’ They said to him, ‘We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.’ ⁴²Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word.⁴⁴You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.’

14:15 ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ¹⁸ ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ²³Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. ²⁵ ‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

2.  How do we receive guidance from the Holy Spirit? 

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,
   and does not understanding raise her voice? 
² On the heights, beside the way,
   at the crossroads she takes her stand; 
³ beside the gates in front of the town,
   at the entrance of the portals she cries out: 
⁴ ‘To you, O people, I call,
   and my cry is to all that live.

²² The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
   the first of his acts of long ago. 
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
   at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
   when there were no springs abounding with water. 
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
   before the hills, I was brought forth— 
²⁶ when he had not yet made earth and fields,
   or the world’s first bits of soil. 
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there,
   when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
   when he established the fountains of the deep, 
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
   so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 
³⁰   then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
   and delighting in the human race. 

Romans 8:18-30

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; ²³and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

3.  What is our role in fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives? 

Psalm 8

¹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth! 

You have set your glory above the heavens.
²   Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
   to silence the enemy and the avenger. 

³ When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars that you have established;
⁴ what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
   mortals that you care for them? 

⁵ Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
   and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under their feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 

⁹ O Lord, our Sovereign,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Galatians 6:1-10

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. ²Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. ³For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. ⁴All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. ⁵For all must carry their own loads. ⁶ Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. ⁷ Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. ⁸If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. 

Ephesians 5:1-21

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ²and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ³ But fornication and impurity of any kind, or greed, must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving.⁵Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be associated with them. ⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ ¹⁵ Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹ Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit lives in us to guide us into all truth.  May we yield to His guidance at all times that we may fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

Closing Prayer

We are grateful to you Lord for the presence of your Holy Spirit in our lives.  Grant us the grace to be receptive to His leading, that we may do your will at all times.  We ask this through the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Amen.