The Spirit of Truth
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:13
It is important that we minister to others with the truth of God’s Word, especially those who teach classes and preach sermons. Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1) From this verse, we can see how important it is to know the truth.
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:14) When ministering to others, we are essentially teaching and it is important to be in the Spirit so all our words are confirmed by the Word.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:5) When teaching, we are sometimes asked questions that we cannot answer from scripture. So, we should say we don’t know and then find the answer later, if possible. We cannot answer every question and some divine questions cannot be answered on this side of eternity, and it can be misleading to give our own opinion or something I believe that is not in scripture.
There are many Christian books that provide valuable information, but it’s always good to verify everything with scripture. I have found very creditable authors where their books are very helpful in ministering to others and everything in the book is scriptural based. It’s always good to be careful what we read and what hear, to be sure it agrees with scripture. The more knowledgeable we are of the Word, the more we can catch false doctrine.
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24) In the last days, there will many false prophets spreading Satan’s lies, attempting to have us deviate from the truth of God’s Word. It is critical that we rely on the Spirit to guide us in studying the scripture and ministering to others.
Today be conscious of bringing the truth to everyone, and let every word be aligned with scripture. The more we strive to live by the truth, the more we will depend on the Spirit, and the more Christ-like we will be.
Prayer: Lord, guide me in your divine truth and don’t let Satan place in lies in my heart. Keep me from being self-deceived, but let the Spirit trigger my conscious to the truth. In Jesus name, Amen