How The Spirit Helped the Apostles
& Close Disciples of Jesus in New Testament Times
Guidance, Remembrance & Wisdom
Jesus told His apostles and certain close disciples that the Holy Spirit would
1) guide
them when they spoke, 2) help them recall what Jesus had
taught them, and 3) give them wisdom. Many of these early apostles and
disciples became the inspired writers of the New Testament. Nearly all of
them faced persecution and/or death for their proclamation of Jesus as the
Christ:
Jesus, speaking to
Peter, James, John and Andrew:
"And
when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not be
anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but
say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is
not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit." Mark
13:11 (NAS)
Jesus speaking to His
disciples:
"And
when they bring you before the synagogues and the
rulers and the authorities, do not become anxious
about how or what you should speak in your defense,
or what you should say; for the Holy Spirit will
teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Luke 12:11-12 (NAS)
Jesus speaking to the
twelve Apostles and others at the Last Supper
(John chapter 13 through chapter 17):
"And
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another
Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,
because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you
know Him because He abides with you, and will be in
you. John 14:16-17 (NAS)
"He who does not love Me does
not keep My words; and the word which you hear is
not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. These things
I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. But
the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
send in My name, He will teach you all things, and
bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
John 14:24-26 (NAS)
"When the Helper comes, whom I
will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit
of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear
witness of Me, and you will bear witness also,
because you have been with Me from the beginning."
John 15:26-27 (NAS)
"But when He, the Spirit of
truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth;
for He will not speak on His own initiative, but
whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will
disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify
Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it
to you. All things that the Father has are Mine;
therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will
disclose it to you." John 16:13-15 (NAS)
Paul talks about the
power of the word of God he received through the
Holy Spirit:
"And
my message and my preaching were not in persuasive
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power, that your faith should not rest on the
wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do
speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom,
however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this
age, who are passing away; but we speak God's wisdom
in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God
predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom
which none of the rulers of this age has understood;
for if they had understood it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is
written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has
not heard, and which have not entered the heart of
man, all that God has prepared for those who love
Him." For to us God revealed them through the
Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the
depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts
of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in
him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except
the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,
that we might know the things freely given to us by
God, which things we also speak, not in words taught
by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit,
combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the
Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and
he cannot understand them, because they are
spiritually appraised." 1 Corinthians 2:4-14 (NAS)
John
received words from the Spirit to
teach what must soon take place to Christians,
including those in the seven churches in Asia:
"He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of
God.'" Revelation 2:7 (NAS)
In addition to teaching the apostles and early
disciples what to speak, the Holy Spirit empowered
the apostles to do certain miracles.
2. The Spirit Was
Given to the Apostles & Certain Disciples in
those days:
|
a. To guide them in what
they said. |
What to Speak |
b.
To cast out demons. |
Cast Out Demons |
Click on "Cast Out Demons" below to
continue... |