The Spirit of Truth

Matthew 23 : 1 - 4, Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. -NKJV

John 16 : 13, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. -NKJV

Jesus tells us in John 6 : 63 that His Words are spirit and life. Since the Bible is a spiritual book, it’s not always easy to understand. Even though we may not understand certain scriptures when we read them, we shouldn’t allow this to dissuade us from studying God’s Word.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit had not been given to mankind because Jesus had not come to offer Himself for our sins. Consequently, when God wanted to speak instruction or correction to the Jews, He would speak through the prophets.

God was silent for 400 years between the time that the Prophet Malachi wrote his book and Matthew’s Gospel was written. The Lord didn’t raise up any prophets, nor did He speak to His people during this time. It was after this time of silence that Jesus was sent to Israel as the Word of God veiled as a Man.

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, there were religious leaders in Israel who interpreted the Law of God to Israel. These scholarly men were known as Pharisees. As we read in today’s scripture, Jesus instructed the Jews to observe and do what the Pharisees and scribes taught according to the law. Jesus went on to warn the Jewish worshippers not to be like the leaders because they didn’t practice what they proclaimed.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brought correction to the way Israel had been taught by their religious leaders. (Ref. Matthew 5) Now we come to the purpose for today’s message. Whenever the Law was given to Israel, God wrote them on tablets of stone. Since the Jews didn’t have the Holy Spirit, they had to rely on the prophets to lead them in the interpretation of the laws and ordinances of God.

During God’s silence, the Pharisees appear in scripture in a leadership role to Israel. They seemed to have taken on the role of interpreting the Law. Since these men taught on the Law of God, but did not practice what they preached, they offered Israel the wrong examples of who God is.

Peter tells us that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. Prophecy came by holy men of God who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Spirit. What do all these things mean to Christians today? Since we don’t always know what certain scriptures mean, it’s not for us to assume and to interpret according to our personal belief. Scripture is God’s inspired Word to man, and it must be revealed to us by the Spirit of Truth.

If we don’t know the meaning of scripture, we must ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of scripture to us. Strong faith comes from divine revelation, not personal interpretation.

Pastor Asa Dockery

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