Is the Holy Spirit Teaching You?

The title of the day is in the form of a question, Is the Holy Spirit Teaching You? In the opening prayer, it was said something like, that the Spirit will lead you into truth. There are four ways to attain knowledge. Exponential knowledge, knowledge based on experience.

That's a hard way to learn. It gives the test first and the lesson afterward. Empirical knowledge, or sense knowledge, knowledge that is attained through the five senses. Learn not to touch the hot stove, you get burned. Rational knowledge, or human reasoning, putting two and two together. And the fourth, that the world now denies, is Revelation. There have been four basic systems that have attempted to answer the great questions of life through the ages. First system, of course, is the truth. True the truth, as revealed in the Bible.

God taught Adam and Eve, simply don't partake of the truth of knowledge of good and evil. False religion, headed by Satan the devil, which says, go ahead and disobey God. You decide for yourself what's good and what's evil. And the mantra of the day, to a large degree, has been the damnable philosophy called existentialism, which means that you are your own essence designer, do anything you want to do, as long as you don't hurt anyone else.

Of course, the great fallacy of that position is that you decide what hurts somebody else. Secondhand smoke hurts somebody else. And so, thankfully, we have pretty much gotten to the point where, in public places, you cannot blow smoke in somebody else's face. Even Texas traditions, the restaurant in Glade Water, has now put up a partition where the smokers have been banned to the back room, whereas it used to be the non-smokers. They have good chicken fried steak, so I can recommend it. So, false religion. The other great system that is tempted to answer the great questions of life is philosophy.

The basic methodology there is human reasoning. And the great witness is they pose more questions than they can answer. And now, basically, the god of this world is science and coupled out with technology. One of the great things that they're trying to do, probably the word great is not really the word to use, is to couple human beings with, I guess you would call it machines or technology, so that somehow you have a merging of the human psyche and conscience and being with a machine and in an attempt to attain into immortality.

Now, you may say that's science fiction. No, they're doing it to a large degree. Robots are already being used in many places in this merging of the human mind and conscience into a non-human, what do you want to call it, machine or structure, is underway. When it comes to being taught by the Holy Spirit, we have to really understand to the depth of our being, let's turn to 1 Corinthians 2. In 1 Corinthians 2, and we'll start in verse 9, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9, But as it is written, so this is a quote from the Old Testament, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

I mean, it's revealed to some degree. We can't even really comprehend what is going to be revealed, what is going to be like as a spirit being in the kingdom of God. But God has revealed them unto us by his spirit. For the spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. Of course, God is spirit, and one of the things that when you read from the world's commentaries and listen to the preachers of the day, they try to separate, and of course this is a part of the Trinitarianism, they try to separate the Holy Spirit from God.

The Holy Spirit is an entity, a personage, an entity to itself, and it's like the Holy Spirit is sort of out here freelancing on its own, apart from God. But that is not the case. The Holy Spirit is under the direction of God and Christ, like in Genesis 1, where it says, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep, and so on. So it is the Spirit of God. God is spirit. For what knows the things of a man save the spirit of man, which is in him?

And man has the faculties, to some degree, that are akin to God, and that he can think and reason. He can think in the abstract terms. He can think about tomorrow. He can think about eternity. And the human mind is one of the greatest things that God has ever given to a being outside of himself. We're made in God's image. You know, when God had to come down and confound the languages at the Tower of Babel, he said, unless we do this, they will pool this knowledge, and nothing shall be restrained from them, of which they imagined to do.

Now, all of the barriers that were put out after the Tower of Babel, that is, the geographical barriers, landmarks, and all of that, that's totally overcome today. You have instant communication around the world. You have the computers to destroy... computers to preserve the knowledge, to store the knowledge. You can have, like, a little thumb drive. I have a little thumb drive that has most of the sermons that I've ever given on it, just that little thumb drive, hundreds of sermons. And you could just go on and on. That's nothing by comparison to what is out there.

So the knowledge of the world can be pooled and used in a way that you can't even imagine in this thing they call Cloud, where they are trying to really explore the genome and the various structures, the DNA of man, so that I heard one of them say that we can now, with the use of this, make computations 2,000 times faster than we could just a year or so ago. So it seems no end to what man can do with his mind, but yet this. Even so, the things of God knows no man but the Spirit of God. So the title is, The Holy Spirit Teaching You.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. Now we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. That knowledge is reveal knowledge. It is a part of the truth, what we might call, maybe for lack of a better term, true religion.

The truth as opposed to false religion, philosophy, science, and technology. Man is trying to discover through science and technology the mysteries of the ages. It seems like there was a book one time titled that. The mystery of the ages is only revealed through the pages of the Bible. So is the Holy Spirit teaching you? Now, which things also we speak, not in the words which man wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

In the Republican presidential nominee debate on Thursday evening, they all flub the God question. Five or six of them try to respond to Megan Kelly's question about the God question. Political and religious leaders comment about God as if God and His word are separate. Oh yeah, I believe in God. I believe we should love everybody. John Kasich of Ohio, the governor of Ohio, has served in the Clinton administration and has one time was one of the commentators filled in for Bill O'Reilly on Bill O'Reilly's show.

Now governor of Ohio and has been quite successful in turning a lot of things around. But once again, Megan Kelly's question to him was, if you had lesbian daughters, how would you treat them? Which is not an exact quote, but he said, oh, I would love them unconditionally, which I think we should.

However, politicians are not able to separate, it seems, loving the person and hating the sin. Obviously, we're going to love our children, and I don't think that anything will destroy the bond in the normal sense between a father and mother and their love for their children. I'm talking about in the normal sense. But at the same time, we are to separate the person. We love the person, but we hate what they do if they are engaged in sin.

They speak of God's love and that he's not a respecter of persons. Of course, that's true, but they almost never speak of sin and the things that God hates. God loves and God hates, believe it or not.

Right and wrong are spiritual matters, and if there is not revelation from God, humans are left with nothing more than human reasoning in deciding how they would conduct their lives. The same God that says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, also says, Sin is the transgression of the law.

And the love of God is defined in 1 John 5.3, yes, and you can quote it, For this is the love of God that we should keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.

But sadly today, people are swept along with their peers and the spirit of the times. Most don't even think. They don't even stop to think about is this right or wrong. It's just that's the way everybody is going, and that's the way I'm going to go, too. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. You know, Matthew 24 says, Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. They're caught up in the spirit of the times. Our leaders refuse to reconcile the fact that God loves all humans regardless of race, color, ethnic origin, or lifestyle, but he hates sin.

God loves the sinner, but he hates their sin. If he didn't hate their sin, and if he didn't want them redeemed, we wouldn't have John 3.16, which we can all quote, for this is that, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

John Kasich also said, It was like smugly proud, I attended the wedding of a homosexual same-sex marriage of a friend just this week. I am so with it, you know. But I am a conservative, and he said at one point that the economy is everything. We turn the economy around in Ohio, and if you get the economy right, then everything else falls into place. I don't think so.

He further stated, We must come to the point in this country that we respect the rights of all people. I agree with that. But that doesn't mean that you tolerate sin. So who is going to distinguish between a right, as defined by civil law, and what is sin, and thus should be condemned? Who's going to cry aloud and spare not in this nation? Who's going to be taught by God and the Holy Spirit? Well, the answer is no one on the national scene, basically. You can't be elected president or hold any great office. In fact, so-called hate laws are being passed and enforced that make it a crime to cry aloud and spare not. Yet the same God that they may talk about of loving everybody, turn to Deuteronomy 12, verse 31, please. Deuteronomy 12, verse 31, as I said earlier, that God loves the sinner and he hates sin. He wants us to be taught of God. He wants us to love the truth. He wants us to look to Him, reveal knowledge for what is right and what is wrong.

Deuteronomy 12, verse 31, Deuteronomy 12, verse 31, God says that He hates these abominations. Look also at Deuteronomy chapter 16, verse 22.

Neither shall you set you up any image which the Lord your God hates. Of course, one of the commandments is, you shall not have any other gods before you. In Psalm 7, verse 11, look at that, Psalm 7, verse 11, God has a full range of emotions. He loves, He hates, He gets angry, but not in the same way that we might do in seeking revenge, like you heard about in the sermonette, of hating your enemy to kill. Psalm 7, verse 11, God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. God is angry with the wicked every day. Our leaders try to convince us that the good life can be achieved apart from God's moral code. Oh, we don't have to be taught by God. We don't have to be taught by the Spirit of God. We don't have to depend on reveal knowledge for that which is right and which is wrong. Just promise everybody a free lunch, and they'll flock to Me. They'll vote for Me.

And at the same time, the nation continues to plummet and suffer. Things are so bad in Baltimore, Maryland at this time that they have now called in federal troops to help the police try to curb the violence that's going on there and the murderers that are being committed on a daily basis in which they've set records in recent times. Look at Hosea 6. Hosea 6, Hosea 6, verse 1, Come and let us return unto the Lord. This is not what I want for. Hosea 4, Hear the word of the Eternal, you children of Israel. Hosea 4, 1, Hear the word of the Eternal, you children of Israel. For the Eternal hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish, and the beast of the field, and with the fowls of the heaven. Yes, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no man strive or reprove another, for your people are as they strive with the priest. There's no one to correct anything. Anything goes.

Therefore shall you fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, reveal knowledge. God is their teacher. The Holy Spirit reveals things because you have rejected knowledge, reveal knowledge. I will also reject you that you shall be no priest to me, seeing that you have forgotten the law of your God. I will also forget your children. The words of God are true. I mean, you just look at the world.

Our leaders do not think in spiritual terms. They're not led by the Spirit of God. So here this afternoon we could ask ourselves, do I think in spiritual terms? Do I think in spiritual terms? Or do I think first in physical terms?

About the closest our leaders have come to providing spiritual leadership in recent times in the early 1990s, there arose among the evangelicals. In fact, I read one source that said that this movement in the 1990s, of course, this slogan goes way back in history. In fact, there's even books that have been written by this title. By a teenager in Michigan, and the evangelicals really picked it up and it became sort of a mantra in the 1990s, and it is, what would Jesus do? What would Jesus do before acting? Would you think in spiritual terms first, or would you think in physical terms? As we've already noted, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. What could I possibly mean when I ask the question, is the Holy Spirit teaching you? Let's go to John 14. John chapter 14.

As you recall, basically from chapter 13 to the end of the Gospel of John 13-21, those nine chapters were taken up with events that happened from Passover, washing of feet, in chapter 13, to Christ being crucified and then resurrected and appearing to the disciples and commissioning them. What you read about in the conversation with the apostles, and asking Peter, if you love me, if you do, feed my sheep.

In John 14, one of the great promises that we'll read into the main verse here, we'll start in John 14-15. If you love me, keep my commandments. This is Jesus speaking. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Periclitos, comforter, one alongside. We'll see for sure the identity of the comforter as we read through this, that He may abide with you forever.

Abide means to live in even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him. In this case, the referent pronoun should be it, because Spirit of Truth is tal-numa, which is neuter in the Greek. So, let me read this again. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees it not, neither knows it, but you know it, for He that dwells with you, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. He dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. And, of course, how does He come to us? Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more. But you see me, because I live, you shall live also. At that day, you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He that has my commandments and keeps them, He it is that loves me, and He that loves me shall be loved to my Father, and I will love Him and will manifest myself to Him. Manifest means to show myself. Judas said unto Him, not as carriot, Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto Him, If a man love me, he will keep my words. And my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. Notice that we will make our abode with him, Father and Son, Jesus Christ. He that loves me keeps not my sayings, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the comforter, the patocletos, the one alongside, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. In some places it says that Christ sends the Holy Spirit. John, and this needs to be made clear, this little side in a sense, John 15.26 says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and it is sent in the name of Christ. So Christ plays a role in the sending of the Holy Spirit. But the comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, it shall teach you, in this case he is correct, because comforter is masculine. It is the Holy Spirit. I'll just say, it shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance. Notice that. It shall bring all things to your remembrance. Is it going to bring anything to your remembrance, which you've not stored in your mind?

No. So is the Holy Spirit teaching you through the Word? Bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. The Greek word, dadesco, that is translated teach, means to teach. See, once again, it shall teach you all things. It shall teach you all things. This word, teach, dadesco, means to teach, to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, deliver didactic discourses. Didactic means die to, to go back in to, go back in to, discuss the matter, go back in to. Paul reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. We'll probably read that later.

Didactic discourses means to have a discussion back in to.

To be a teacher, to discharge the office of a teacher, conduct oneself as a teacher. It will teach you all things.

Jesus explains more about the teaching work of the Holy Spirit in John 16. So let's go forward a page or two to John 16 and verse 12. See, all of this, beginning in chapter 13, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, we read, for the most part, all of those chapters at the Passover service. So in John 16 and verse 12, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Are you able to bear? Are you able to dig? Are you willing to dig?

You won't get much unless you dig.

I have had, and I'm saying this in a boastful way, as Paul in a few cases would say, I've had a lot of schooling. That is, I've attended a lot of classes. But most of what I've learned, not in those classes, it was at times the class would motivate you, would bring up something that you really wanted to explore, and you dig for the gold. And so you will have to dig for the gold. If you want gold, you have to work. How be it when it, the Spirit of Truth, Talnuma, Nuter, how be it when it, the Spirit of Truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth. When the Spirit of Truth has come, it will guide you into all truth. This word, guide, in the Greek, is ha-d-e-g-a-o, ha-d-e-g-a-o. It means to be a guide, to lead one's way, to be a guide or a teacher. It will guide you into all truth.

For it shall not speak of itself. So the Holy Spirit does not go around audibly, whispering in the ear of any televangelist or anybody else.

And Jesus Christ, as we read from John 14, said, that I have not spoken of my own. I've spoken what the Father told me to speak. So it shall not speak of itself.

But whatever it shall hear, that shall it speak. Now, this hearing is not in the sense of just to hear something audibly, but to hear, to respond, to listen to the truth.

Whatsoever it shall hear, that shall it speak, and it will show you things to come. How are you going to know things to come? Is it going to be by visiting that palm reader there on Luke 2.81 in Longview?

Almost every time I pass by there, there's a car or two parked there, I guess getting their, quote, fortune toll, what their future is going to be, by one at best who would be in tune with the devil. You know, there are a lot of, I guess you would call them soothsayers out there today, who openly say that they are channeling spirits from the past. That's what some of the New Agers claim that they're doing. It shall speak that what shall it shall hear, and show you things to come.

So the Holy Spirit does not speak of itself, it speaks what it hears. So what is the Holy Spirit here? So, well, let's look back once again. I'm sure we've all memorized this now, but let's look at it. John 6, 63.

The Holy Spirit speaks what it hears. In John 6, 63, Jesus speaking, It is the spirit that quickens or makes a lie.

It is the spirit that makes a lie. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak unto you. They are spirit, and they are life. The words I speak unto you, two things. The words I speak, they are spirit, and they are life. Of course, the spirit bridges this great gulf between our physiochemical existence and spiritual existence. Life. Spiritual life. Now, let's go to John 17, 17. So we see here that the spirit of God and the word of God are equated. What is the Holy Spirit going to hear? The Holy Spirit is going to hear the truth.

In John 17, 17, sanctify them, set them apart. Through your truth, your word is truth.

To come to know the truth. See, four systems have tried to answer the great questions of life. True religion, false religion, philosophy, science, technology. But only one system. The system that we read from 1 Corinthians 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, that is reveal knowledge through the spirit of God. So we can conclude that the Holy Spirit hears the word of God, and it will teach you the truth of God. I would venture to say that most people are not consciously aware that the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truths. So how does the guidance of the Holy Spirit work?

So, once again, just reviewing briefly, not turning there, John 14, 26, and John 16, 13, the Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us and call things to remembrance.

Now we're beginning to get into process of how the Holy Spirit can teach us. So how does this work? Let's go to Psalm 119, verse 97.

The longest chapter in the Bible, and probably the one that gives so much instruction that you could spend your life studying Psalm 119. In Psalm 119, verse 97, so how does this work? The Holy Spirit teaching, guiding, calling to remembrance. First of all, you must read, study, and meditate on the Word of God.

Surely not going... The Holy Spirit does not speak of itself. It speaks what it hears, and hears the truth. So in Psalm 119, verse 97, Oh, how love I your law, it is my meditation all the day. See, this is to think spiritually.

You through your commandments have made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever with me. They are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers. See, the goal of any teacher should be is to equip beings, humans, men, and women to be better teachers than they are.

See, when I'm off the scene, you should be a better teacher than I ever thought about being. But you'll have to dig. It won't come to you easily.

I have more understanding than all my teachers. For your testimonies, how did you get that way? For your testimonies are my meditation. That's what I think on. It's not like the New Ages or Larry Hackman, who used to play the, I guess you would call it the bad guy role on the soap Dallas, where he would go into a room for days on end and meditate.

And so one of those things of Eastern mysticism is meditation. But their meditation is to empty your mind of everything so that then the spirits can come in and you can channel them. Well, that's not the kind of meditation that the Bible talks about.

This meditation is on the Word of God. I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts. So you have to meditate and then you have to obey it. You have to keep the precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep your word. I have departed from your, I have not departed from your judgments. For you, you have taught me. How? Through the Word and Spirit of God.

How sweet are your words unto my taste? Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp into my feet, a light into my path. I've sworn I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments. See, those are some of the prerequisites of how God and the Holy Spirit can teach you, can lead you, can guide you into all truth. If God is calling you and you have been convicted by the Word of God and the Spirit of God, you have the opportunity to be taught by God and His Spirit. The Holy Spirit, once again, is not separate and distinct from the Father, as we have noted several times. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God. God is Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that does the work. Look at the often misquoted Zechariah 4 and verse 6. We have, for years, and dating back, I started teaching minor prophets in the mid-80s. The Holy Spirit, I mean, the ministry and even instructors at the college and the brethren would sort of go around parroting the Holy Spirit as the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. We recently had, I think it was a Bible study out of Cincinnati, something about the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, there is great power in the Holy Spirit. Wait here in Jerusalem and you shall receive power from on high.

The Holy Spirit is powerful. But the Holy Spirit is the essence of God, and it is through His Spirit that He does works of power. How do I do any work of power? Well, I probably can't press 50 pounds now, but I mean, how do you do works of power? It is through your flesh. How does God do works of power? Through His Spirit. Zechariah 4, verse 6. Then He answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the Eternal and Israel, saying, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Eternal of Host. So God does works of power through His Spirit. The Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters and in many other places. The Spirit of God does works of power.

So God and Christ are the teachers, first and foremost, through their word and the Spirit. Look at Isaiah 54, 13, back a few pages. Isaiah 54, verse 13.

We're going through the process whereby the Word and Spirit of God can teach you. In Isaiah 54, verse 13, Of course, this is to a large degree a millennial setting, but we have been called into the terms of the New Covenant now. And all your children shall be taught of the Eternal, and great shall be the peace of your children, as opposed to what it is today. Now look at John 6, 45. John 6, verse 45. Now this is in this long discourse that Jesus gives about the bread of life. John 6 is oftentimes referred to as the bread of life chapter, John 6, verse 45. John 6, verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and we just read one of those places in Isaiah. It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God, Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, comes unto me. It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Are you being taught by God? God teaches us through His word and His Spirit. Now let's look at 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. We'll see here that God has committed, and this word commit in the Greek literally means He's placed in sacred trust. He's given like you might put your valuables in a safe, or safe keeping. God has placed His truth in our minds and hearts. He has placed it in sacred trust with us. 2 Timothy 2. 1 You therefore, my Son, be strong in the grace, divine favor, that is in Christ Jesus, and the things which you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit placed in sacred trust. 2 Timothy 2. 1 You to faithful men, this precious truth, this pearl of great price, you also place it in sacred trust to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

And God uses men to teach us. Now we have two aspects we're going to look at here. God using men to teach us, and how the Holy Spirit can teach you as you study, where a person is not standing over you, per se, but you're reading, studying, meditating on the Word of God yourself. But in 1 Corinthians 12.28, let's look at that. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 28.

1 Corinthians 12 verse 28.

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles and gifts of healings, helps governments and different languages, people that can speak different languages. And that's not to say that some of the speaking or hearing was supernatural. In Ephesians chapter 4, forward a few pages there, Ephesians chapter 4, somewhat of a follow-up on that verse and an expansion of it. In Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11. And He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for what purpose? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ. Till we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and to a perfect man mature, under the measure of the stature and the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. You have sure anchors. You are a tree planted by the rivers. By the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive, but speaking the truth and love may grow up into Him and all things, which is ahead even Christ. And the whole body is fitly framed together. So we see that God has set various offices in the church among those offices. Teachers. But there is much more to being taught and led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit can teach, guide, and lead you into truth as you study and meditate on the Word of God and the privacy of your own home study or wherever you do it. The more you store the Word of God in your heart, in your mind, the greater the probability that the Holy Spirit will teach you.

We've read it will teach you all truth. It will guide you into all truth. Look at Psalm 119. Psalm 119 again, verse 9. Psalm 119, verse 9.

In Psalm 119, verse 9, We're with all, shall a young man cleanse his way? You want your life cleaned up? You want to stop compulsive, obsessive, addictive behavior? That's one of the great things that's gripping the minds, hearts, and bodies of our youth.

Compulsive, obsessive, addictive behavior.

We're with all, shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to your word. With my whole heart have I sought you? Will let me not wander from your commandments? Your word have a head and mine heart that I might not sin against you.

So you have to hide the Word of God in your heart. If you're going to meditate on the Word of God, you have to have the Word of God there. We tend to think in a linear progression. That is, the way, more the way the school system is designed, and the way to think is linearly sort of in a syllogistic form. Probably the most common syllogism of all times is this one. All men are mortal. John is a man. Therefore, John is mortal. But the Bible is not written in a linear fashion. It's not written in a syllogistic form. It's not written in chronological order. There may be, at times, a lapse of hundreds of years between verses. Hundreds of years from one verse to another. Various topics and ideas are presented in various literary forms.

The prophet Isaiah tells us the frame of mind that we must be in in order to be taught. So we go to Isaiah again, Isaiah 28 and verse 9.

And what are we talking about? The Holy Spirit teaching us. The Word of God teaching us. Where we come to be able to have greater understanding, insight, depth in the Scriptures.

In Isaiah 28 and 9, Whom shall they teach knowledge, and whom shall they make to understand doctrine or the teaching? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast.

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here little, there little. So that's what I said. The Bible is not written in a linear fashion. It's not written in syllogistic form. It's not written in chronological order. There are time gaps, and there are one idea is presented here, a little bit is said about it, and it's completed in another book in the Bible. It's called Progressive Revelation, one of the things we talk about in the introduction of the Bible, the unity of the Bible.

In James 2, verse 21, another prerequisite with regard to being taught of God and the Holy Spirit, of course, these principles also apply to being taught by a teacher in the church or a preacher in the church. In James 1, verse 21, whereby lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, in other words, clean up your life, live by the commandments, and receive with meekness, the Greek word is prautes, P-R-A-U-T-E-S, it means a perfectly teachable heart. You're not resisting. You're not saying, oh, well, that's not what I've always heard, or, oh, I don't know about that. What does the Bible say? With a perfectly teachable heart, the engrafted word which is able to save your life essence. Be like the Bereans. They search the Scriptures daily. Whether these things be true. So if we meet these requirements, and of course, this is not an exhaustive list, God can teach us, guide us. He can impart understanding, insight. When we have hidden the word of God in our hearts through His Spirit and through His word, He can call things to remembrance, and we can more accurately divide the word of God. There's a commandment in 2 Timothy 2.15, study to show yourselves approved. A workman under God, rightly dividing the word of truth. So as you study, God will begin to call to your remembrance, precepts, understandings, that provide greater insight into the Scripture. So let's explore this in a practical way. One of the things that I have consistently urged you to do is to read every Scripture in the Bible on any particular topic. Now there are some topics that are so broad you may have hundreds of references, and you wouldn't be able to, in all cases, read every Scripture. For example, like God. You can, of course, read some at a setting and then come back. But what can this do? This can serve to form a framework for your study on that topic. So as you read these verses, various associations with other concepts will come to mind, what you've stored there. You have a database to draw from. Now a database does not come easily. Once again, you have to dig. I hear all the time, well, I can't memorize Scripture, I can't do this, and so on. That's not my strength. But at the same time, you can work on it, and even though you may not be able to call the book chapter verse, you know that it's there. And when that comes into your mind, if you need to, you can go to a search engine or concordance and look it up. So as you read these verses, various associations with other concepts will come to mind, and then you verify your thoughts through the Word of God. Verification is easier if you read every Scripture in the Bible on a particular topic. Some people tend to try to develop a whole doctrine on one Scripture. However, this does not mean that if a certain truth occurs only once in the Bible, it doesn't mean that it can be dismissed. But at the same time, if there are several Scriptures on something, you need to put them all together. Paul writes, and here this is 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17, All Scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, unto all good works. So based on those two verses, no line, no single verse can be dismissed. You have to put the whole picture together with line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. In studying like this, you'll be amazed at what the Holy Spirit will bring to mind, but you have to begin the process.

In studying like that, you will be amazed. Isaiah writes in Isaiah 1.18, turn there, these last few minutes here, this last part of the sermon that we're doing here today, vital, hopefully, that you get it, you apply it, because we all want to be taught of God, and by the Spirit of God, and the Word of God. Isaiah 1.18, come now and let us reason together, says the Eternal. So reasoning does play a role, but it's not human reasoning apart from Scripture. It is putting line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, together, synthesizing that to present a whole picture as much as you can, to make it as simple and as clear as possible. Come now and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. They shall be forgiven. They shall be removed as far as the east is from the west. Now look at Acts 17. Acts 17. Basically, from the calling out of Paul on the road to Damascus, most of the rest of the book of Acts is taken up with his journeys to the various churches and countries in the Mediterranean world. In Acts 17, verse 1, Now when they had passed through Amphibilis and Apollonia, they came at Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews, and Paul, as a manor was, went in unto them three Sabbath days, and he had to reason with them out of the Scripture. Now this word reason is tend to didactic. Go back into to discuss reason and to come to a conclusion that agrees with the Word of God. Look at chapter 18, verse 4, over a page probably, maybe two or three. In Acts 18.4, And he reasoned in the synagogues every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. It is the Word of God and the Spirit of God that convicts. In one of these days we're going to get that through our heads. Preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine and teaching. It is the Spirit of God and the Word of God.

So let me share with you basically the way that I develop sermons and Bible studies, using sort of this process and just outline here where you, whatever topic it is, you try to read every verse you can. You sort out the verses that apply most directly to the topic. Because you can't, of course, one of my weaknesses is I try to cover the whole Bible and every sermon.

We try to narrow it down to supporting that topic. So in the Bible study, you're going to, usually in the Bible study, you're going verse by verse, but you find yourself turning to several places in the Bible to support and complete the concept. Once again, the line upon line, precept upon precept, here in Little Nerley. So I don't sit down and write out a rigid outline. I have in my mind what I'm going to try to convey. The subject and the understanding that I'm trying to get across. Then I do a search for all the scriptures that I can find on the topic.

Now, I can't use every one of the scriptures by any means, but you try to sort out to the best of your ability those that directly support and apply to the topic. Now, along the way, as you do that, various thoughts, ideas, concepts come to your mind that when you started this, you never even thought of. And so, as these things come to mind and you pursue them, and you look at that scripture, look at this scripture, you come to see things that probably you've never seen before. You might say, oh, I've read that verse a dozen times. I've never seen that before. So I make notes along the way and sort out the scriptures that directly relate to the topic at hand. In the process, several thoughts and concepts come to mind that I've not thought of in the beginning of the process. This process allows opportunity to be led and taught by the Spirit. So I began to put things together, to synthesize it, and try to complete a whole, what we call a sermon or a Bible study, a presentation, a class. And my goal is ever to encourage all of us to develop a closer relationship with God, with Christ, and with the Word of God, so that people come to the point that they do what they do because it is of God and not of men. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2.13. 1 Thessalonians 2.13. In counseling for people for baptism, I say, you're not making a commitment to the church, per se. You're not making a commitment to any person, any human being. You're making a covenant with God and Christ and the Word of God. This is what you're going to do. And regardless of what men do or what may come and go, it doesn't change the Word of God. If it does, we don't have any hope anyhow. God who is promised, who cannot lie. 1 Thessalonians 2.13.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when we receive the Word of God, which you heard of us, you received it not as a word of men.

These are not my words today, per se.

You go search the Scriptures and see if they be true. You do not receive it as a word of men, but as it is written in truth, the Word of God, which effectually works also in you that believe. So if you can come to the point that you have a close relationship with God, Christ, the Word of God, you'll be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and any other child that might come your way. Time is fleeting. Time is a substance of life. Seven months have already passed in this year. It seems like a flash. Thus your life is fleeting. It truly is a vapor. It is here today and gone tomorrow. Don't let the words of the Old Dutch proverb become a truism in your life. What are the words of the Old Dutch proverb? Too soon old and too late smart.

Be smart today. Heed the words of God. Redeem the times because the days are evil. Heed the words of God. Hide the words of God in your heart so you can be led and taught by the Spirit of God. So I ask you, who is your teacher?