The Holy Spirit (Part 2)
The Voice of the Master
How do we become servants to a God we cannot see? We cannot listen to and serve our own voice without falling into sin. Neither will following the voices of great men or women lead us out of our self-centric prisons. Even the voices, great and small, that lead us to Jesus Himself cannot free us. Only Jesus can lead us out of our self-centric universe. As He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” It is interesting then that Jesus also said, “ I come not to do my will, but the will of the one who sent me.” It is clear that Jesus followed the will of another. So completely is He identified with the will of God the Father that He says to His disciple Phillip, “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” We too must become completely identified with the will of the Father if we are to know the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus. As we go forward to follow Christ, I would like us to keep in mind what the Apostle Paul exhorts in Philippians 2:5-7, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not regard equality with God as a position to be grasped, but emptied himself (of self will), taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in the appearance of men, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” With this in mind, let us hear Jesus’ invitation to “Come, follow Me. ”
In the book of John (12:49-50) Jesus says these words, “I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command of what I should say and what I should speak. “And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak.” The voice Jesus speaks of is the voice of the Holy Spirit. This is the same voice that sent Jesus into the desert forty days, where Jesus was tested by the will of His flesh (food), the will of the world (Satan) and lastly the will of His soul (self). These tests were answered not by Jesus’ own words, but by words from scripture given to Him through the Holy Spirit. A brief note here about the words that come from God, there is authority and power that is bound together with the voice of God; God spoke the universe into being. Jesus staked His life upon the will of the Holy Spirit as He walked in the desert for forty days without food. Though His body was starving to death, He chose the Holy Spirit’s will over His own body’s needs. In the second test, Jesus was asked to exchange the will of the Holy Spirit for the will of the Devil. If Jesus would comply, Satan offered Jesus authority over the world’s kingdoms. Jesus chose unto which kingdom (authority) He would bend and that was to worship (serve) God alone. In the third test, Jesus’ authority (self-will) as an empowered servant of God was tried. Jesus answered that He would not put His relationship (to the Holy Spirit) to a test. Performing this test would be as if Jesus were saying, “If you love me God then you will do these things for me.” Jesus would not “take” what was not “given” to Him. Jesus would choose only to do what He was commanded and thus empowered to do by the Holy Spirit. In Father God’s kingdom, His life was to be that of a servant not the Master. This choice, to be a servant, is the “life” of Jesus.
The voice that spoke and empowered Jesus is the same voice that spoke to Peter and sent him to Joppa; this is the voice that spoke and sent Ananias to Paul, and the voice that kept Paul out of Asia and led him to Macedonia. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit to guide the hearts and feet of God’s servants as spoken by the prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 36:25-27, God promises us, His followers, that he will cleanse us, give us a new heart, and a new spirit. God also said that He would place His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in the ways of God. This promise is also mirrored in what Jesus said in John 14:16-17; “I will pray to the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth…” This is the promise of the Holy Spirit “that He will guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit is “The Voice of Truth” and to this voice we are to become servants.
The voice of the Holy Spirit is not necessarily audible to the human ear, but will communicate with and be comprehensible to the willing spiritual heart. Responding by following this voice is foundational to faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6) and this faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17, John 15:26). Our daily walk is to follow what we hear from the Holy Spirit and to follow His leadings. By doing so we walk by faith (hearing) and not by the flesh (natural sight). We follow Him by listening to what He speaks to our hearts. He guides our actions not only by what He says (written and spoken), but also by the breath of His words that blows His holy wind into our spiritual sails. This “wind” brings with it the power and authority to go and do His will. He is “The Helper” that causes us to walk in the ways of God. The Holy Spirit uses many tools to teach and guide us, but it is His voice that we follow. This is not to say that the bible cannot help guide me, but the key to understanding and following the bible is the Holy Spirit. Bible study, prayer, and meditation are wonderful and necessary disciplines to align, still, and quiet the heart. However, the goal of these disciplines is to help us recognize His voice, hear Him speak, and lead (empower) us into being His servants. The bible may teach me how a great sailing ship (life) works, but to what shores I am blown is the domain of the Holy Spirit. It is my relationship to Him that rescues me from sin and moves me toward union with God. It is the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that commands my attention, my service. As Jesus says in John 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
It is the transformation of our hearts, our spirits (from self to servant centric) that the Holy Spirit empowers us to accomplish. Remember, it is the heart that God looks upon, tests, and judges. So it is to the heart that God went to in order to initiate (birth) our transformation. Our hearts were stony hard and now they are hearts of flesh. They were deaf and now they are shaped by His quiet voice. We were blind, but now His truth gives us vision. Our hearts were unmoved and now they are moved by the wind of the Holy Spirit. Now transformed, we are ready servants birthed into His family of servants.
Peace to All,
David C.
