John 14:17
the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,
because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with
you and will be in you.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit
lives in you?
True spiritual knowledge is very important in
the Christian life. A man whose inheritance comes to him is no richer if he
does not know how to take possession of it. In the same way, the gifts of God’s
grace cannot bring their full blessing until we truly understand and possess
them.
In Christ “are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3, emphasis added).
It is the “knowledge of Christ Jesus” for which the
believer is willing to “count all things but loss” (Philippians
3:8, emphasis added). It is because of the lack of true knowledge of what God
in Christ has prepared for us that the lives of believers are so weak.
How do we know when it is the Spirit who is
teaching us? If our knowledge of spiritual things is to be to us a certainty
and a comfort, we must know the Teacher Himself. Knowing Him will be to us the
evidence that our spiritual knowledge is no deception. Our blessed Lord assures
us that we will know the Spirit. Messengers and witnesses do
not speak of themselves.
The Holy Spirit, when He testifies of Christ
and glorifies Him, must be known and acknowledged. In this way we can have the
assurance that the knowledge we receive is indeed of God and not what our human
reason has gathered from the Word of God. To know the King’s seal is the only
safeguard against a counterfeit image. To know the Spirit is the divine
foundation of certainty.
How can the Spirit be known? Jesus said, “Ye
know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” The indwelling
of the Spirit is the condition of knowing Him. As we allow Him to dwell in us,
and allow Him to testify of Jesus as Lord, He will prove Himself to be the
Spirit of God. “It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the
Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6).
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