David Jeremiah - The Illumination of the Spirit
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It was the fall of 1940 in a small village in southern France. Four teenage friends and their dog, whose name was Robot, were trotting along a countryside road. As they wandered near a hillside, Robot scampered toward a hole in the ground near a fallen tree. The boys, bold and adventuresome, followed after him. The opening was barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through. Curious, they tossed stones into the hole to test its depth, and then one by one, they wiggled through and slid nearly 50 ft down into the earth. It was dark, damp, and silent, like a basement no one had entered in a long time.
For a moment, they couldn’t see anything. Then they lit their oil lamp, and in that instant, the walls around them sprang to life. On the stone walls were massive bulls, powerful horses, and deer with branching antlers. The animals seemed alive, frozen, and their shapes leaped and galloped across the rock. Vibrant colors of red, brown, and black glowed in the flickering light, and the boys just stood there in awe, without meaning to. They had stumbled upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. They had found the prehistoric cave paintings of Lascaux. That’s what light does. It shows us what has been hidden before they turned on the lamp. They didn’t know where they were; they just saw darkness.
And that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit wants to do for us: to shine a light on God’s word so that we can understand it. The Holy Spirit has always been connected to the word of God, there in the inspiration of the scripture, guiding the writers as they wrote it. We call that inspiration. But today, I want to talk to you not about inspiration, but about illumination. What is the difference? Well, inspiration is how the Bible was written. Illumination is how we understand what was written today. Inspiration happened in the past when the Spirit of God guided people like Moses, David, and Paul to record God’s truth without error. Illumination is what happens in us when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and hearts to see what God is saying to us through His precious word.
Let’s take a closer look at this. First of all, why this is so important: the mandate for spiritual illumination. The Bible tells us that without the Spirit of God shining in our hearts, we can never understand what the Bible says. There are a number of reasons for that. If you’re an unbeliever here, if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ, if you don’t consider yourself to be a Christian because you’re not one, you can read the Bible, you can memorize it, you can diagram it, you can take apart its Hebrew and Greek meanings, and it will still never mean anything to you. It will be just like a book full of words.
Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:3: «But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.» Paul says that before we become Christians, our eyes are blinded to the word of God. We don’t have any intellectual equipment to understand it. Before you invite Christ into your life, you have spiritual scales on your eyes. You can read it for all your worth, and it’s just a bunch of words. It’s like trying to read a book in a language you don’t know.
In 1 Corinthians 2:14, we’re told that the natural man-that’s the person who doesn’t know the Lord — does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. Why doesn’t he? Well, here’s what it says in 1 Corinthians 2:14: «For they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.» If I asked for testimonies here today, many of you could say, «You know, before I knew Christ, Pastor, I tried to read the Bible some, maybe in a hotel room when I pulled a Gideon Bible out. I tried to read it, but it felt like foolishness. I couldn’t understand why people loved this book so much because to me it was just a bunch of words on a page.»
But when the Spirit of God comes to live within you, when you become a Christian and the Holy Spirit enters your life, He begins to open the word of God so that you begin to understand it. He directs His light on its pages. He highlights verses that apply to your situation. He brings clarity and conviction to your mind. That’s what we call the illuminating of the Spirit. It’s the Spirit of God casting light on the word of God and shining in our hearts so that the word begins to come off the page and make sense in our lives. You can’t have spiritual illumination unless you’re a Christian. The Bible says that very clearly.
I know people who have become Christians, and they have told me that they tried to read the Bible before they became Christians, that it made no sense. When they got saved, it was like somebody had rewritten the Bible because all of a sudden it now made sense. The Bible says there’s a mandate for spiritual illumination, but it’s also a mystery. 1 Corinthians 2 says, «We speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of God. We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages, which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known this wisdom, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.» He says if the people of Jesus' age had known the wisdom of God, they never would have put Him to death. They would have understood that God had a plan for His Son.
Paul is writing about the wisdom of God that is concealed from the people of this age-the princes of this world, the rulers of this age, the aristocrats, the political leaders, the intellectuals-many of them don’t know the wisdom of God. And when you listen to them talk and hear them speak, you realize they do not have a clue about who God is, what His word is, or what His purpose is. Their money can’t buy this wisdom. Their power can’t demand it. Their influence can’t obtain it. They can’t download it from the internet. They can’t acquire it from the world’s finest universities. To that, I say amen. They can’t discover it from some guru sitting in a hut in the Himalayas.
They can’t get it anywhere because the only place you get the wisdom of God is from the Spirit of God. And you get the Spirit of God when you get the Son of God in your life through salvation. I’ve often said that someone with no formal education, someone who knows Jesus and reads their Bible, has more lasting wisdom than a brilliant scholar with a PhD. You know, there are some people who have so many degrees they have no temperature. Did you know that? They don’t have the Spirit. The wisdom of the believer will carry them further than the knowledge of the unbeliever. I know some little old ladies like that — people who have lived in the word of God their whole life. I would trust them with my questions about the spiritual things of this world far more than I would trust someone with a PhD from a secular university because one is from God and the other is from the world.
So if you want the wisdom of the world, you don’t need the Holy Spirit. You can get that wisdom anywhere you want-from any of the state institutions, universities and colleges, correspondence schools-they’ll be more than happy to relieve you of your time and your money. But if you want the wisdom of God, you have to have the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:7 says, «But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory.»
The wisdom of God is a mystery. That doesn’t mean it’s a riddle. It means it’s something that has been in existence but has not been understood. Now it’s being understood because the Bible tells us what this mystery is. That same word is used to describe the church. The church, according to the Bible, is a mystery. What does that mean? It didn’t exist in the minds of the Old Testament people. But in the New Testament, it was revealed, and now that mystery is no longer a mystery. Now it’s revealed.
The Bible tells us that when we’re trying to get into spiritual truth, we’re dealing with God’s mysteries, His hidden wisdom. We can’t comprehend it if we don’t know the Lord, and that will never be able to be comprehended apart from God’s Holy Spirit. You know, there are times when God, in His common grace, allows us to benefit from the wisdom and skill of people who don’t know Him. Doctors, teachers, and counselors who aren’t Christians can still be a blessing. They have good things to say. But when it comes to the issues of the heart, when it comes to the issues of God, we need the wisdom of God. And that’s why we look to people who know the Lord and are filled with His Spirit.
Let me pause here and get myself in a little trouble. I have a lot of friends who are Christians who go to unbelieving counselors. They’re counselors who don’t know God, and they’ll be able to help you to a certain extent, but when it comes to the spiritual part of your life, they don’t have a clue. They don’t have anything, and they might even give you bad information. I’m not saying they don’t have any value. In fact, there’s a story about my having cancer and going to see my doctor for the first time. I didn’t walk into his office and say, «The first thing I want to know about you is, are you a Christian?» No. The first thing I wanted to know from him was, does he know anything about cancer? Because I don’t want to have this the rest of my life. I think that’s important. But when it comes to the issues of the heart, you can’t get the counsel you need from somebody who doesn’t know God. How are they going to help you know God better if they don’t know God themselves?
So for whatever it’s worth-and don’t send me any emails. I’m okay. I’m not trying to offend anybody. And if you happen to be a counselor who’s not a Christian, I’m sure God’s given you a great clientele. But I’m just talking to the people of God. If you want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, you have to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord from people who also know the Lord.
Now, let’s talk about how this works: what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit’s illumination? First of all, He brings us spiritual discernment. One of the last promises of the Savior made to His disciples before His crucifixion concerned the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Here’s what Jesus said in John 16: «I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak of His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.»
Well, Jesus told His disciples this: He said, «I’m going back to heaven. I’m going to go back to heaven, but don’t worry. I’m going to send you another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And when He comes, He will live within you, and He will guide you into all truth.» He won’t speak of His own words or pursue His own agenda. He will speak of My words. Because remember, we learned one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus Christ and to lift Him up.
Have you ever heard someone say this to you? This is not a week for my personal gripes, but this is another thing that gets under my skin. Have you ever had anybody come up to you and say, «You know, Pastor Jeremiah, I know what you’re thinking?» No, you don’t. You don’t know what I’m thinking. How could you know what I’m thinking? You’re not inside me. You don’t know what I’m thinking. But the truth is, when they say that, they’re just saying something meaningless. What Jesus is saying is this: when the Spirit of God comes, He will take what He knows from God, and as God Himself, He will reveal these things to you. Then you will really be thinking the right things. You’ll be thinking God things. You really can’t know God; you can’t know His word unless the Spirit of God is in the process.
You say, «Well, Pastor, I don’t know very much about the Holy Spirit.» You don’t have to know very much about Him, except He is the third person of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Bible says that when Jesus Christ becomes your Savior, the third person of the Godhead comes to live within you. You literally become the temple of the Holy Spirit. He lives within your heart, and He is there not just to occupy space or, as He sometimes does, make you uncomfortable when you’re doing the wrong thing. He’s there to help you. And most of all, He’s there to help you understand the scripture so that the word of God makes sense to you. So you understand what it says, you understand what it means, and you understand what it means to you.
So if you want to know the things of God, the Spirit of God has to be a part of that transaction. And guess what, you guys? He wants to be. He wants to be your helper. He wants to give you discernment. He wants to give you the ability to understand the word of God. And James says that if we don’t know that wisdom, all we have to do is ask for it. «If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,» says James, «and He will give it to you.» And the Bible says He will do it liberally and without reproach. That means He’ll give you all that you need. He won’t scold you for coming for it. 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 about your heavenly Father and your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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? It’s hard to see our way through it. Sometimes we get up and say, «What in the world is going to happen today?» But through the Holy Spirit helping you understand the word of God, He will take individual scriptures and help you get through.
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 Spirit’s ministry is all the truth. That’s what it says in John 13. The truth is the Bible, the written word of God.
You know, sometimes people say to me, «Pastor Jeremiah, I know the Spirit of God has impressed this on my heart.» I probably am living in dangerous territory a lot today, but let me just say this: sometimes people come to me, and maybe they’re living together outside of marriage. I’ve had that happen several times, and they want to talk to me about this, and I say, «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.»
Well, 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. The parameters of spiritual discernment are found between the covers of this book. 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. 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 — a special gift from God-so that we do not need, it says here, that anyone teach us. 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. And 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 even if you weren’t-and you were getting ready for a big test, you may have prayed, «Oh Lord, help me remember the things I’ve studied.» My prayer was always, «Help me to remember the things I haven’t studied.» I wanted not inspiration; I wanted revelation.
But 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.» 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.» I’m a pastor, and I get asked questions all the time. Just a few days ago, I sat here and took questions from 600 high school and college kids about what happened with the Charlie Kirk thing. I didn’t have a chance to get my notebook out and say, «Well, here’s what this…» What I’m saying, folks, is this: How are you going to remember something you don’t have? You all have to give the Spirit of God something to work with. You have to put some word in your heart.
You say, «How do I do that?» Well, there are 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 are 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 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. I know that you discuss these sermons in your small groups. I’m so grateful for that. 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 us on 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 said-and she started to weep-"Pastor, we had this major fight this week, and he said, 'I’m not going.'» And she said, «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.» And 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 and 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. And 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 me to see the whole picture. The Spirit of God wants to give us perspective. Did you know that? He’s not just interested in the 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 just in 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 opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'»
How did he see that? With death rushing toward 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, strength, and the ability to see beyond that tragedy and the loss of his life.
He was 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 in 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. In fact, I was riding around in a car this week with Brian. He has a car now that doesn’t need a driver. You just get in and punch an address, and it takes you where you’re going. I’m thinking, «That’s what I need!» 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; I’d be lost all the time.
But here’s the truth: Even with the best compass and the best GPS, life can still leave us wondering where to turn. And in those moments, the question is: what do we do? 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, and 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, that 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 is 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, I 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’ve 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 circumstances, and through godly counsel. Through all these means, He helps us and guides us.
Three thousand years ago, when David was hiding from his enemies in the depths of a limestone cave, he wrote these words. He said, «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 sit in 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 through 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 on what you can see around you-and that will always be inadequate. We focus our eyes on the storm, and we get worried about the clouds and the rain and the darkness. And what we have to do is 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 are saying to me.» I don’t know what the practical application of that 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. We live in this day when we don’t just get the bad news from here; we get the bad news from all over the country. I walked into the green room after the first service to learn that a Mormon church has been shot up and another church. And you know, if I let that get in my spirit, I can be afraid.
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. We need to see through the fog and through the storm. The way we do that is through the eternal word of God, which 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 on 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 worldly 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 force is 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’ll help you understand what it means to you.
August Hermann Frank was a brilliant young scholar in Germany more than three centuries ago. By the time he reached his mid-20s, 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, treating the Bible like another piece of old literature, 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 giving 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. 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: «Lord, is there something 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 help you do it, 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. And maybe, like the CARES ministry, you’ll look back and say, «That started on a Friday during COVID, and look what God has done through His Spirit directing our people.» He can do that for anyone, and He will do it for you. Let’s pray together.
Father God, we thank You for Your precious word and for the encouragement of it to us at this particular time. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who lives within us and wants to bring to our minds and hearts the truth of the scripture so we understand it. Help us to have that willing heart that says, «Lord, if You tell me to do this, I will do it.» Show me Your will, and I’m already saying yes to it.
Help us to know that we are not alone in the things that we must deal with, that God Himself cares about us, that He has put within us His Holy Spirit so that we will never be without counsel, encouragement, or help. But Lord, we have to acknowledge His presence. We have to be willing to hear His voice. We have to be willing to fill our hearts and minds with the truth of His word so that we have direction.
Help us to make a new covenant with You today to do that very thing, and we shall be always happy and glad that we did. Father, if there are those here today who do not know You, they don’t have the Holy Spirit, so they don’t have this opportunity, because, as we’ve learned, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives when we accept Jesus Christ. If there’s someone here today who’s never accepted Him, help them to pray this prayer with me. Simply pray in your heart, «Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know I need the Holy Spirit in my life, but most of all, I need You in my life. So Jesus Christ, I believe You are the Son of God, and I want You to be my Savior, my personal Savior. Please come into my heart today and save me from my sin. Forgive me, and give me wisdom to trust Your direction as I go forward.»
Father, thank You for all who have prayed with us, wherever they may be-if they’re here in this room or across the network that watches these services. We give You praise, honor, and glory in Jesus' name. Amen.