THE TEACHING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE TEACHING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
In the Bible the Holy Spirit is symbolized by many different things, such as wind, living water, fire, and so forth. All these show forth the various aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit. But what is presented in 1 John 2.27 is especially precious. Here it speaks of the anointing of the Holy Spirit which is the teaching of the Holy Spirit.
How does the Spirit teach? He teaches by the anointing. How do we come to know the will of God? Not by research, nor by balancing pro and con, but by the teaching of the anointing.
It is the Holy Spirit who communicates the mind of Christ to us. We have no need to ask all the time, “Is this the will of God?” For “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2.16b).
Psa 32:8 KJV I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
The Hebrew word for “guide” is counsel. How do we receive counsel in order to know which way to go?
The New Testament man is at advantage because he has a counsellor living on the inside of him.
Joh 14:16 KJV And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
The Greek word for “comforter” is “parakletos” It means much more than a comforter but has other synonyms. a helper, succourer, aider, assistant, summoned, called to one’s side, especially called to one’s aid, one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate, one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor and a consoler.
This is how the Amplified Bible renders it:
John 14:26 AMP. But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.
The Holy Spirit came in Act 2. Praise God. John was writing in his epistle to let us know what we already have.
1Jn 2:27 KJV But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
The teaching ability of the Holy Spirit had been prophesied by Jeremiah
Jer 31:34 KJV And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The writer of Hebrew reiterates this too:
Heb 8:11 KJV And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Why is it that many believers do not know the Lord’s guidance? It is because they are not in subjection to the Head. For the anointing does not come up from the Body; rather, it comes down from the Head. Only when believers are directly under the Head can.they receive the anointing that runs from the Head to the whole Body.
Psa 133:2 KJV It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
When the Head wants a certain member of the Body to move, He makes him know this by the Holy Spirit. As we obey the anointing, life will freely flow in us. But if we resist the anointing our relationship with the Head is disrupted and the flow of life also ceases.
The anointing may also be referred to as “the anointing of the Lord.” We know that oil is a substance which is soft and soothing in its application. The Holy Spirit does not teach us in any rough or wild way. For here He is not likened, as elsewhere in the Bible, to the blowing of strong wind or to the burning of fire. On the contrary, here He is likened to a soothing ointment that is applied within us.
Such is the way the Holy Spirit instructs us. Where the anointing is, there is God’s work. For God’s work depends not on words, Bible interpretation, reasons or judgments. God works within us.
“And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; but as the anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, abide ye in him” (1 John 2.27 mgn.).
The word here is very comprehensive. The anointing shall teach us in all things. Divine teaching is vastly differ-ent from human teaching. Man’s teaching is very complicated, for it involves many reasons and many words. But the teaching of the anointing is not so. It does not tell you many, many things, nor does it use many, many words. It teaches you quite simply by its presence or absence. This is its characteristic.
Suppose, for example, you today are going to do a certain thing. If this is of the Lord, then when you make a move, you have the anointing; and thus you know that this is right. If, on the other hand, this is something you should not do, you will immediately feel like a tire blown out. Then you likewise know that this is wrong.
The teaching of the anointing does not employ or involve reasoning. To the contrary, were reasoning involved, our human mind would have to be replaced since our mind, being so inferior to God’s mind, has no way to understand His reason.
In view of all this, our sense of right and wrong must be judged according to the presence or absence of the anointing and not according to reason. All the children of God should learn a lesson here: in things pertaining to God we do not reason but look for a quickening sense from the Holy Spirit.
Oftentimes as we attempt to do something, we can think of its reasonableness. But as we begin to do it, we feel as though we are accomplishing it alone since the Lord is not present with us. This indicates that there is no anointing. It also tells us we are wrong.
His inner guidance comes as a kind of inner life-consciousness. This kind of life-consciousness is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Lord does not employ external forces to control the body. Rather, we are told that “the life was the light of men” (John 1.4).
The way to know God’s will is not by inquiring if this or that matter is right or wrong, but by sensing whether you have life or not. If you sense death in yourself in a matter, it discloses the fact that there is no positive anointing. And if you proceed to do it without such anointing, then you are not moving under the authority of the Lord.
Sometimes as you go visiting those in need, for example, you sense a freezing within you. Yet according to the Biblical principle as well as human concern and compassion, you should go. But the further you go, the colder your heart becomes. This indicates that the Holy Spirit is instructing you not to proceed.
On the other hand, at other times when you go visiting, you are as one anointed with precious ointment, you feel quite natural and comfortable in proceeding. This too is the anointing of the Holy Spirit in you, which in this case produces the teaching for you to go. If at that time you follow this anointing, your strength increases and amens will be multiplied in you.
The essence of the teaching of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not a matter of right or wrong, good or evil, yea or nay. It is essentially an inner consciousness of life.
The works of many people are done according to the way of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, its fruit having originally been eaten by the very first man. This is the so-called principle of right and wrong that had its beginning in Adam.
But in Christ, God’s working is an issue of life, a matter of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Where the anointing is, there is life. The presence of the anointing and life justifies the matter and confirms it as being of God. The teaching of the anointing of the Holy Spirit is in you. If you follow the Spirit’s anointing within you, you will know God’s will and do His work.
Let us always remember that we can never sense God more than the anointing upon us.