Why God’s Spirit Will Teach and Transform Your Life

Today, we dive into the subject of the teaching work of the Holy Spirit in a Jesus-followers life. God communicates with His kids. He leads and guides them into all truth and reality. But, how does He do that? One writer offered these thoughts along this line. He said, “The Spirit-to-spirit conversation that characterizes hearing from God are described in many ways. Listen to how the Bible describes God speaking.
To Samson: “The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he was in Mahaneh Dan” (Judges 13:25). To David: “He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple” (1 Chronicles 28:12). To Simeon: “Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts” (Luke 2:27). To Jesus: “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted” (Matthew 4:1). To the apostles: “The Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:12). To Paul: “Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem” (Acts 20:22). To us: “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16). We often use similar language as the Bible: “The Spirit led me to…” At other times, we may describe God’s inner messages as a nudge an inner voice, a prompting, an impression, a check in my spirit, a deep knowing, a weight. Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, ‘I was suddenly prodded to notice or I was reminded of or I sensed.’ Maybe it was, ‘This thought popped into my head or this verse came to mind or I’ve had this nagging, persisting thought, or I couldn’t shake the impression that.’ The point is, God does speak to us personally, specifically, today. We may have many ways of expressing that—some of them shaped by our spiritual pilgrimage, church environment, and so on—but the wondrous truth is the same: We have heard from God!¹ The Holy Spirit of God will communicate and teach you. That’s our focus today: Why God’s Spirit Will Teach and Transform Your Life. All on this week’s Light On Life.

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Accept the Challenge

Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

Receive the Holy Spirit as your teacher. Look to Him as your guide into all truth.

Join the Conversation

Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony on how the Holy Spirit opened a Bible truth to you. Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 40 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Well again, welcome.

Let’s talk to the Lord.

Podcast Notes

Well again, welcome.
Let’s have a little talk with Jesus.

Father God, in Jesus most holy Name, we thank you for your goodness and your mercies. They are new and fresh every morning. Great is your faithfulness. We approach your Word today, humbly and reverently looking to your Holy Spirit to lead us guide us into all the truth in Jesus Name, we pray, Amen.

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

For the last couple of podcasts, we been on a Holy Spirit journey to know the working of the Holy Spirit in us.
One of these podcasts was entitled, “How The Holy Spirit Works In Your Life.”
The other was named, “Why You Need To Know What Jesus Said about The Holy Spirit Within.”
One thing is evident: Jesus made the Holy Spirit available for us and we need Him.
That fact is evident because if you could know everything you should know on your own, and if you could be everything you need to be without the Holy Spirit, why would Jesus say you need Him?
The truth is, you can’t know everything you need to know on your own and you can’t be everything you need to be by yourself.
You need a Helper — you need THE Helper, the Holy Spirit of God working in your life.
What we need to know is how He works so that we can cooperate with Him in God’s great plan of salvation for mankind.

The Holy Spirit Within: Bringing Things to Your Remembrance

We are in John’s gospel, chapter fourteen.
We’re going to re-read our texts on the Holy Spirit in John 14–16.

John 14:15–17 (ESV) — 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:26 (ESV) — 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 that I have said to you.

Move over one chapter now to John fifteen.

John 15:26 (ESV) — 26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

Now, lastly in John sixteen, Jesus said the following.
We are starting at verse seven.

John 16:7–15 (ESV) — 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit Within: How the Gospels Were Recorded

Now, right there in John 14:26, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things and brings to your remembrance all that I [Jesus] said to you.
Now, the fact that the Holy Spirit brought back to the remembrance of the disicples what Jesus said is evident because we have these conversations in the gospels.
The gospels record the life and ministry of Jesus.
But, how were they recorded?
You don’t see anywhere in the gospels the disciples walking around with cell-phones or some time of digital recorder — they didn’t have Jesus mic-ed up like we do today.
So how did all that Jesus said get written down?
Answer: The Holy Spirit.
The reason we have these four gospels in the first place is because the Holy Spirit did His job of bringing to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John’s remembrance all that Jesus said during the previous 3 1/2 years.
So, just knowing that should inspire confidence within you that the Holy Spirit is really good at this ‘bringing things to your remembrance’ piece.

John 2:22 (ESV) — 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

John 12:16 (ESV) — 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

So, here’s the application.
Look to the Holy Spirit in these areas.
Ask Him to remind you of something you may have forgotten.
“Lord, where are my car keys? — What is that guy’s name? — What was I supposed to pickup at the grocery store?”
You will see more action from the Spirit of God when you begin to lean on Him in your everyday life.
Now, of course, these are minor areas, right.
The big thing the Holy Spirit does is bring to your remembrance what the Father said what Jesus said.
The question now becomes, “Where is that verse of scripture? What did my Pastor say about this passage? What was that illustration that he used?
You understand? — Things in connection with the Word of God.
But, also He will supply truths that you have learned in the past and help you to apply those truths to the current situations you are dealing with.
It’s a marvelous thing that He does.

The Holy Spirit Within: His Teaching Ministry

…he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

So the Holy Spirit will bring things to your remembrance.
He will also, teach you all things.
These things are that which is new specifically to you.
You understand, what may be new to you may be well known to someone else.
The Holy Spirit also brings things to your remembrance as we said — that’s the stuff you already know and may have let slip away.
Hebrews warns us along these lines of letting things get away.

Hebrews 2:1 (ESV) — 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

So, all throughout your life, you will be contact with truths that are ‘new’ and truth’s that are ‘old.’
If you recall, Jesus said about spoke things ‘new’ and ‘old’ in Matthew thirteen.

Matthew 13:51–52 (ESV) — 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.”52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Let’s talk about scribes for a moment.
Typically, they were always seen in a negative light in the gospels.

Matthew 23:13–16 (ESV) — 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

Now you know when Jesus says, ‘woe to you,’ you should translate woe as ‘Wow – this is not good.’
So if scribes were seen negatively in the gospels, why did Jesus use them in his comments in Matthew 13? *Why did Jesus say ‘every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old?’
The answer is in the word trained and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘trained’ in the phrase, ‘every scribe who has been trained in the kingdom of heaven’ means to be a pupil or a disciple.
So here is what Jesus is saying: ‘every scribe who has been transformed out of his hypocritical old life and has come to the light having been born again into new life in Christ, that person is like a master of house who brings out of his treasure things new and old.’
That’s how you translate and interpret what Jesus said here.
So, we’re talking conversion here — we’re talking change of direction — we’re talking if any man be in Christ, He is a new creation.
This scribe Jesus refers to here is a changed man.
He is not that old hypocrite that Jesus said ‘woe’ to.
This scribe is a Holy Spirit led scribe and Jesus says this about this man.

Every scribe [every born-again scribe] brings out of his treasure, things ‘new and old.’

These things, the bringing out of things new and old is one of the Holy Spirit’s job description.
This is part of how the Holy Spirit will teach and train your life.
One day God the Father put out a help wanted sign [if you will allow me to say it this way].
The sign read like this: ‘Wanted — someone that will work closely with man to bring about God’s plan.’
The Holy Spirit stepped up and took the job.

The Holy Spirit Within: Guides You Into Truth

Now, look at these two passages closer.

John 14:26 (ESV) — 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 that I have said to you.

John 16:13–14 (ESV) — 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Both passages are saying the same thing just using different words.
The Holy Spirit inside of you will teach you all things. — that’s John 14.
The Holy Spirit inside of you will guide you into all truth. — that’s John 16.
And with that thought, here is the Question of the Day.

Here’s the question: What are you learning about God, right now?

If you’re not learning, you are not connecting to the Greater One, the Holy Spirit in you.
Maybe your expectation is too low.
Are you looking to learn?
You see this is the fundamental definition of what a disciple is.
Let’s take a look at the word disciple in Matthew 5:1.

Matthew 5:1 (ESV) — 1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Holy Spirit Within: What Is A Disciple?

The word disciple means a learner, or a pupil.
It means one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice.²
Being a Jesus follower, that’s how I like to say this — being a disciple is a lifelong journey of growth and learning.

Matthew 11:29 (ESV) — 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

So, in the learning you find rest.
The Greek word for ‘rest’ here means cessation from wearisome activity for the sake of rest, or relief³
Take my yoke upon you is Rabbinacle language.
A Rabbi was a man skilled in the Law of Moses and the Prophets who began teaching and training others in the Scriptures.
Each Rabbi usually studied under another Rabbi or group of Rabbis and so had certain credentials within society.
The apostle Paul studied under the highly respected Rabbi, Gamaliel, in Jerusalem — that’s Acts 5:34 and Acts 22:3.
The primary function of a Rabbi was to impart a lifestyle through a set of teachings under which a student placed himself.
Those teachings were called a “yoke.”
Jesus said, ‘Take my yoke upon you.’
Not a yoke for animals, but a yoke of doctrine.
You could say a yoke of teachings.
This yoke is a yoke for life.
Learning is a lifelong task.
Jesus himself was a lifelong learner.
The scripture says…

Luke 2:52 (ESV) — 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

The Greek word ‘increase’ means to advance or to develop further.
That can be positive or negative advancement.
We already read Hebrews two where we were encouraged not to let things slip.
So, we should desire to keep our growth track positive in God — always learning, always applying what we have learned — always growing and maturing into a full-grown child of God.
Jesus said…

John 10:10 (ESV) — 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

If you’re not growing, you’re dying.
If you’re not learning, you’re not really living.
Spiritual growth and development are among the most fun things you can do on Planet Earth.
Learning is a calling.
You may say I don’t know what my calling is.
Well, I can tell you one thing that;’s definitely part of it, growing through learning.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV) — 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

We are called to be life long disciples, life learners.
The Great commission we just read in Matthew twenty-eight tells us to expand our horizons and go and make life-long learners of the Most High God out of others — even to other nations.”
And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.
One father shared how his son was learning through the medium of experience.

When my son Doug was in the third grade, he had a teacher who revolutionized his attitudes toward learning. This teacher believed every day should be a new learning experience. Doug would go to school one day and find pillows arranged in a circle with a pile of books in the middle. The teacher would tell the children, “Okay, go sit on a pillow and pick your book.” The next day there might be a film show. The following day perhaps all the chairs would be back in rows and the teacher would teach from the blackboard. Every day was a new learning experience, and it made my son excited about learning. He never knew from day to day what would happen next, except that the teacher was really working to give him a good deal. ⁴

What does this have to do with Christian discipleship?
Disciples are learners, and the Holy Spirit is the Master teacher.
The Great Helper will lead you and guide you into all truth.
That means He will direct your life into situations that are filled with learning moments so that you can know how to work the Word in those situations.
A good question to ask when you are confronted with potential learning opportunities is to ask yourself this: ‘What does the Word of God say about this situation?’
We could say it yet another way: Find a verse of scripture that fits your case.
This is one way to learn God.
To understand who He is.
God and His Word are one.
We know about God based on what the Bible says about Him.
We understand His character and His essential personality by reading what is written.
We can know God and learn of Him by looking to the Holy Spirit as teacher because Jesus said, He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

John 14:9–10 (ESV)— 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.
If you want to see God at work, look at Jesus.
If want to know the will of God, look at Jesus.
Jesus is the will of God in action.
That’s what John six says.

John 6:38 (ESV) — 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

So, this life by which the Holy Spirit lives and abides within us is a marvelous learning growth path.
And, it will never stop — for no one will ever know all there is to know about God.
For, all throughout eternity, God by the Holy Spirit will be teaching you the great things of God.
We will close with this passage in Epehsians.

Ephesians 2:4–7 (ESV) — 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

In the coming ages, God will show you how kind and rich His grace was towards you.
Why will He show you this in heaven?
Because you don’t know it yet on earth — you will always be learning.
You will always need a Helper, a teacher, a guide.

Wow, Father God, these truths are so cool. Thank you. My heart thrilled with the expectation of how you will share with each one us things we don’t know — things that will help us marvel at your grace. This is so magnificent. Thank you so much. We give you the praise in Jesus Name.

Why God’s Spirit Will Teach and Transform Your Life.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

You Are Appreciated by God

__________
References:

Discipleship Journal, Issue 150 (November/December 2005) ↩
William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 609. ↩
Ibid, pg 69 ↩
Discipleship Journal, Issue 11 (September/October 1982) (NavPress, 1982). ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

Why God’s Spirit Will Teach and Transform Your Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Forty-Two

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

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Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

The Holy Spirit Within: Bringing Things to Your Remembrance

The Holy Spirit Within: How the Gospels Were Recorded

The Holy Spirit Within: His Teaching Ministry

The Holy Spirit Within: Guides You Into Truth

The Holy Spirit Within: What Is A Disciple?

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe in PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

For more teaching on the book of John, please click on the links below to listen to some of those podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

The Holy Spirit Within: A Challenge

The Holy Spirit Within: Bringing Things to Your Remembrance

The Holy Spirit Within: How the Gospels Were Recorded

The Holy Spirit Within: His Teaching Ministry

The Holy Spirit Within: Guides You Into Truth

The Holy Spirit Within: What Is A Disciple?

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