Hoekstra's Day by Day by Grace (July 14th)

The Lord Promising His Spirit to Teach Us

"The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things…When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all the truth." (John 14:26; 16:13)

We have been meditating upon the Lord's promise to build His church. "I will build My church" (Matthew 16:18). One aspect of this promise is the qualitative development of the spiritual life of God's people. To properly develop spiritually, the Lord's people need to learn the truths of His word. The Holy Spirit is promised to us to fulfill that need.

The coming of the Spirit (in His ministry as Helper to the church) was a matter of promise: "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name." When the Father would fulfill this promise (on the day of Pentecost), one of the primary purposes would be the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. "He will teach you all things." This teaching work of the Spirit leads us into all the truths of the word of God. "He will guide you into all the truth." This role harmonizes with one of the titles of the Spirit: "When He, the Spirit of truth, has come."

We must have the teaching ministry of the Spirit in our lives. We cannot learn the truths of God on our own intellectual capabilities. "'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8). The thoughts and ways of God are as far above our thoughts and ways as the heavens are above the earth. Jesus gave similar insight concerning the heavenly kingdom that He invited people to enter. "My kingdom is not of this world…My kingdom is not from here" (John 18:36). Consequently, we need the Holy Spirit to be our teacher concerning this kingdom.

God loves us beyond measure. The death of His Son demonstrates that without question. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). For all who will come by faith and, thereby, love Him in return, He offers blessings far beyond what human minds can grasp. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). Yet, these wonders can be known. "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:10). These spiritual treasures in the word of God are to be unfolded to us by the Spirit of God.