ByThe Holy Spirit is the guide, comforter, and teacher of the Word unto all believers. When God chose to love the world, He sent Jesus. When Jesus was leaving the earth, He promised His disciples that the Father would send the Holy Spirit in His name, which He did (John 14:26). Today, the Holy Spirit is here, and tabernacles in each child of God.
Before Jesus came into the world, He knew His divine mandate to fulfil on earth. In the same way, Jesus gave out specific duties the Holy Spirit will do (and is now doing) when He comes unto the world. John 16:7-14 lays out all the primary responsibilities of the Holy Spirit as far as His divine assignment on this earth is concerned. Verse 7-11 states the Holy Spirit’s ministry unto unbelievers (the unsaved), whereas verse 13-14 speaks of His ministry unto believers.
In today’s article, I’ll be speaking about the ministry of the Holy Spirit unto believers as written in John 16:13-14.
1. The Holy Spirit guides us into all the 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 NIV
We understand in John 14:6 that Jesus is the Truth. So if the Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth, then it means He’s our ultimate guide in Christ Jesus.
John 16:13 presents Jesus the Truth as a way believers need guidance to walk through. First of all, this means, in Christ, the truth is already existent and established. Secondly, believers need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to walk in the Truth in their lives. In other words, it’s the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to guide believers in finding out God’s path concerning everything their lives. However, it’s our choice to listen to Him or not.
If you feel misguided in your life, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Surrender your life unto His leading. You’ll see that in all your ways, He’ll make Jesus glorified.
2. The Holy Spirit tells us what is yet to come
“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 NIV
Another ministry of the Holy Spirit unto believers is His that He tells us what is yet to come. That means, He makes futuristic things known to us.
Now, this can be interpreted in three ways: in terms of purpose, in terms of planning, and lastly, in terms of prophetic utterances.
A. Purpose
In terms of purpose, the Holy Spirit constantly gives ideas of how a person living a purposeful life would be. Because He says what He hears, He has the connection to the mind of God, making Him have access to the plan of God for each person’s life. However, He doesn’t show us God’s entire plan for us. He only gives us glimpses of it as ideas. And because of this, we must keep an archive of all the ideas He provides in a place that’ll be constantly seen, remembered, and prayed with.
B. Planning
In terms of planning, the Holy Spirit can make us aware of how things will be in the future as planning goes on. Planning is paramount to do if you want to be successful in everything you’re doing, even as a Christian. But without the help of the Holy Spirit, it’ll be full of errors and usually unfruitful. As a Christian, don’t solely depend on your intellect to plan. Receive counsel from the Holy Spirit.
C. The prophetic
Lastly, in terms of the prophetic, the Holy Spirit can reveal future occurrences to prophets. We see this mainly in the Old Testament of the Bible. It’s still applicable in the New Testament. Its purpose isn’t to judge people but to edify the church (1 Corinthians 14:4).
For example, when a prophet prophesies about an impending danger as a warning, it’s not the responsibility of Christians to despise what He’s saying (1 Thessalonians 5:20). Instead, we should judge it from the lens of the Bible and what the Holy Spirit says. If the prophecy is true, then necessary actions ought to be taken to comply with it per the directions of God.
The spoken Word of God will never contradict the written Word of God.
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3. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus
“He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” – John 16:14 NIV
The last ministry Jesus said the Holy Spirit would perform unto believers is that He (the Spirit) will glorify Him (Jesus). How? By receiving word from Jesus and making them known unto us.
That explains why the spoken Word of God will never contradict the written Word of God because Jesus is the Word, and it’s the Word the Holy Spirit reiterates to us. The Holy Spirit doesn’t lie about Jesus. He makes Him known.
Having known the ministry of the Holy Spirit unto believers in totality, I’ll recommend you to analyze your life as a child of God. Check which of the above responsibilities of the Holy Spirit that you’re not receiving ministry from Him. Pray about it, and then develop the faith to receive His ministry. Shalom!
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