Holy Spirit: Reminder and Teacher (2)

 

John 14:23-27

 

- When we are joyful, the Holy Spirit will remind us to give thanks.

Psalm 105:1-7

      1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
       make known among the nations what he has done.

    2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
       tell of all his wonderful acts.

    3 Glory in his holy name;
       let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

    4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
       seek his face always.

    5 Remember the wonders he has done,
       his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

    6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
       O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

    7 He is the LORD our God;
       his judgments are in all the earth.

We need to be reminded of God’s work when we are rejoicing. I am sorry to say that many of us reach out to God and ask for His Spirit when they are in pain. That is OK. But we do not communicate with God just for our needs. Our God loves to see His children in relationship with Him. Jesus knew that we would forget. The Holy Spirit can remind us to give thanks when we are in joyful mood. David’s psalm is wonderful. He is singing and shouting with joy. He gives the credit to God. “Remember the wonders that God has done.” Don’t ever forget Him in your joy also.

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).

 

- The Holy Spirit will remind us who we are.                                                             Do you think we have an identity problem? I think we do. Many do not know why they live this life. Many don’t have a purpose in life.

Isaiah 44:21-22     

"Remember these things, O Jacob,
       for you are my servant, O Israel.
       I have made you, you are my servant;
       O Israel, I will not forget you.

    22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
       your sins like the morning mist.
       Return to me,
       for I have redeemed you."

We often forget that we are creatures and God is the Creator. We often act like “god”. The Holy Spirit will remind us of eternal truths. The Holy Spirit will remind us of the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. Holy Spirit will remind us to seek Jesus and obey his commandments. Holy Spirit will remind me that I am sinner and if I don’t take care of the “sin’ problem, I could end up in eternal damnation.

Today we are going to focus on two functions of the Holy Spirit: REMINDING and TEACHING. 

The second function of the Holy Spirit is teaching.                                      “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

I enjoy finding people who are teachable. The day you say you know everything is the day you bury yourself in a grave. Besides being a reminder, the Holy Spirit a teacher. On the day of Pentecost, 3000 came to Christ. “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (Acts 2:41)

Who taught Peter how to preach that day?  A simple fisherman became a preacher and theologian. No one should say that we are not ready to learn. My mother did not go to High School; she only finished the 6th grade. Her family situation did not allow her to go to school. Yet, she was a woman of learning and teaching. Whatever she read, she shared with us, and tried to teach us and later her grand children. She was a good student of the Holy Spirit.

Luke , the author of Acts and the Gospel writes about the Holy Spirit:  “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." (Luke 12:12)

Three young men came to me one night telling me they accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior. There were people around them who did not accept their testimony assuming they became Jehovah’s Witnesses. They told me they have a hearing the next day by the town council. “How can we prepared?” they asked.

We prayed, we read the Bible and we agreed that the Holy Spirit would lead them to speak in front of the authorities. The Spirit did. They spoke wisely. They were calm and gave their testimony. The authorities were astonished.

Many times, I did not think I was prepared enough for my sermon. I felt my preparation was not good enough. You know the best sermons were delivered when I allowed the Spirit to teach me, and not rely on my wisdom.

When I was in Ainjar serving the Lord as School principal and pastor, the community went through a tragic event. One of my 3-year-old Preschool students was killed in a  car accident. The same family lost their newborn baby a few months before this accident. I had to visit this family. I did not know what to say. On my way, I was praying. I was going over the Bible verses I knew about comfort and hope. I was praying eagerly to the Lord, “God, give me through your Spirit the right words.” My wife and I were in the house. Many people were crying with them. We wept with them as well. For a while, we were silent. I read from the Bible. Then Holy Spirit gave me the prophetic words. I told them “The evil enjoys destroying your family. Christ is stronger than death. With Jesus, we have new life. God will give you a new beginning and a new life.” Soon we heard that day the mother was pregnant and she did not know.  They had two new babies and named them the same names as the lost ones.

The book of Psalm is full of verses where king David asks God to teach him. Twenty two times David says, “Teach me, O Lord.” Here are some examples:

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. ( 25:4,5)

Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. (27:11)

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you  ( 23:8)

Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands. (119:66)

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. (143:10)

Rev. Kenneth Emerson once said, “Have you ever had of those …ah-hah… experiences when all of the sudden---something you had not understood ---some great truth --- suddenly, miraculously makes sense?”

Holy Spirit does this. It reminds us of His truth. He teaches us. It has the miracle of ah-hah… the miracle of understanding.

If the tower of Babel is the tower of confusion and separation between languages, the tower of the “upper Room’ was the tower of unity- not unity in languages, but unity in message and purpose. The Holy Spirit made the Good News message universal, feasible to all languages and all cultures. The message is inclusive and not exclusive to certain people.

Sometimes we compare ourselves with Peter, Paul or famous preachers and Christian workers. We think the Holy Spirit gave them special gifts. Since we do not have those gifts, where is our place in the Pentecost event?

John Wesley writes about the Holy Spirit;

“Were all even then prophets? Were all workers of miracles? Had all the gifts of healing? Did all speak in tongues? No, in no wise.
Perhaps not one in a thousand...
It was therefore, for a more excellent purpose than this, that ‘they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.’
It was to give them the mind which was in Christ, those holy fruits of the Spirit.....
to fill them with ‘love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,goodness’....
to ‘walk as Christ also walked,’ in ‘the work of faith, in the patience of hope, the labour of love.”

Holy Spirit helps us to have the “mind of Christ”.

Jesus put it best, the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us.

The question is this. Are you ready to receive the Spirit?

Amen