Eddie Whitten
The subject of the Holy Spirit is always a hot topic. There are many who say the Holy Spirit operates on the heart of individuals directly. What He does for them varies with each person. Some claim He leads them away from danger or distress. One man, a so-called preacher, said the Holy Spirit provided a parking space for him. The same man said the Holy Spirit told him that a person to whom he was talking with was lying. Others say this and say that. It is almost like the computer commercial in which a customer says, “It makes your head spin!”
The Holy Spirit works, alright, but the question is: “How does He work?” Does He do something for one that He does not for another? If so, by what criteria does He choose? This kind of question could become embarrassing in some cases. Let us suggest some ways in which the Holy Spirit works today:
1. He gives us God’s revealed Word. John 16:13 should squelch every argument as to the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” Paul said, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12). Peter wrote, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3).
2. He protects the Word of God. Many attempts have been made to destroy the Bible, both by external means and by internal contamination. Jesus promised: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Mat. 24:35). He also said that His Word is what would judge man in the final day (John 12:48).
3. He gives us assurance of our inheritance. Ephesians 1:13-14 says that we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession.” The purchased possession is the church of our Lord (Acts 20:28). Jesus is going to present the church to Himself “a glorious church,… holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). The Holy Spirit has revealed that fact to us and Satan cannot change it.
4. He promises us eternal salvation. The Holy Spirit is part of the oneness of God, of Divinity. What God has promised, the Holy Spirit has revealed unto us. The Holy Spirit does not work separate and apart from the revelation of God. He is the revelator of God’s Word. All who would have Him going about doing for one what he will not do for another have a great misunderstanding of the work of the Holy Spirit.
We must be careful that we do not fall into the Pentecostal trap of assigning to the Holy Spirit miraculous works today. He works today, surely, but only through God’s Word.
