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THE KING’S BUSINESS
is one who can do it, if we only look to Him, and that one is thè Holy Spirit. But while He does it, He does it through us. Jesus Says, “I will send Him unto you." And then He says further on, “When He is come” (Le., come “unto you " believers) “He will convict the world in respect of sin.” As far as the Scriptures reveal the Holy Spirit has no channel through.which He can get at the world except through those who are already saved. How solemn .this is, what a tremendous responsibility it throws upon us. How it ought to lead each 'one o f us to ask himself, Am I an unobstructed channel? How many there are in our homes and our classes whom the Holy Spirit is seeking to reach, and He is seeking to reach them through our lips, but we will not place them at His disposal, òr, if we do place them at His disposal, our own lives are not surrendered fully to' Him and so He cannot work through us. The Holy Spirit not only shows the world its error regarding sin, but also its error regarding righteousness. He shows to the world by the resurrection and ascen sion of JesUs that Jesus is the righteous One and that the only righteousness that is possible to us is in Him (cf. Phil. 3 :9, R .V .). There are two things that a man needs to see in order to be saved; first, himself, that he is a sinner, second, Jesus, His righteousness, and the righteousness o f God provided for us in Him. It is the work o f the Holy Spirit to show these two things to a man. He also shows the world its error about judgment, i.e., He shows the world that there is to be a judg ment for it, a judgment for it guaranteed by the fact that the prince o f this world has The Holy Spirit has another work to do beside convicting the world in respect of sin, and righteousness, and o f judgment, viz., the work o f guiding the disciples o f the Lord Jesus into all the truth. At the time o f Jesus leaying His disciples the dis ciples were not yet ripe for all the truth, been judged already. Tuesday, August 8 . John 16 : 12 - 14 .
and He, as an Infinitely wise teacher, gave them only, so much o f the truth as they were prepared to receive. It would be well if modern teachers would learn from Jesus to adapt their teaching to the digestion o f their hearers. But the time would come, and come shortly, when they could bear the full truth, and then the Holy Spirit, who was to come upon Jesus’ departure, would lead them Into all the fullness of God’s truth - (v. 13). This promise was made primarily to the Apostles, and it is Jesus’ own guarantee o f the inspiration and truth and fullness o f their teaching. But while this promise was made to the Apos tles, and its primary application is to them, it cannot be limited to the Apostles, for John himself applies it to all .believers (1 John 2:20-27). It is the privilege o f each believer to be directly taught o f the Holy Spirit, and we shall never understand the truth until We are. thus taught. No amount of reading o f good books, or o f the mere letter o f the W ord will give us to know the truth; the Spirit Himself must teach us. This does not mean that He will'teach us anything contrary to the Bible, for He Himself is the author o f the Bible and He cannot contradict HimSelf, but He will be the interpreter o f the book. No matter how excellent the human teachers o f the Word to whom we listen may be, we shall never come to a true understanding o f the book o f God until the Spirit o f God is Himself our Teacher. The opinion o f the Holy-Spirit-taught man about the teach ing o f the Bible, even though he is utterly ignorant o f Greek or Hebrew or cognate languages, is o f more value than that of the ripest Greek or ,Hebrew scholar whose will is not absolutely surrendered to God and who therefore is not taught' o f the Spirit. Two special lines o f the Holy Spirit’s teaching . are mentioned. “ The things that are to come,” and Jesus Him self. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. All His teaching centers in Him. If one is really Spirit-taught and Spirit-filled he will be very much occupied with the Lord Jesus. How glorious, we see Jesus to be
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