Joan Boney
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God HIMSELF Teaches HIS People
John 6:45 ... Jesus says ... It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of (by) God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of (from) the Father, cometh unto ME.
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Peter was taught by God. Peter learned from God that Jesus was the promised Christ.
Mt. 16:13-18 ... When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, HE asked HIS disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that THOU art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, THOU art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but MY Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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God revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ. No man taught Peter this. God taught this to Peter.
And for this reason, Jesus calls Peter "blessed" ... Peter was blessed because he heard from God.
This is the revealed word of God.
We will be reading Bible and all of a sudden we will see something we've never before seen though we have read that same verse many times. This is God, by HIS Spirit, revealing HIS truth to us. The light goes on. And we see.
Jesus said HE would build HIS church upon this word revealed by God.
THE WORD revealed by God is THE ROCK upon which the church would be built.
This is the promise of the New Covenant.
Hebrews 8:10-12 ... For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord;
I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to ME a people: 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. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
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And each person who belongs to God is given the Holy Spirit to live inside the believer.
Why is that so important?
Because the Holy Spirit was not given to each believer in the Old Testament. But in the New Covenant the Holy Spirit was given to each believer. In the OT the people had to go to a prophet to find out what God wanted. In the NT God speaks directly to each believer "by HIS Son" by the Holy Spirit of Jesus.
Heb. 1:1-3 ... God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, WHOM HE hath appointed heir of all things, BY WHOM also HE made the worlds; WHO being the brightness of HIS glory, and the express image of HIS person, and upholding all things by the word of HIS power, when HE had by HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
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The NT church still has prophets. We know that because of the following scripture:
Eph. 4:8 ... When He (Jesus) ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, HE gave the following gifts to the church to help the church)
Eph. 4:11-16 And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
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Prophets in the NT church often carry messages of correction to the church or to the individuals in the church that they may be freed from various traps and sins.
God speaks directly to every person that belongs to HIM but sometimes an individual will fail to understand what God is saying to him. God often sends a NT prophet to speak the message again to that individual.
In speaking with one woman in our little church group, I delivered the message and she replied, "I thought of that ..." but she didn't heed that instruction, not realizing the instruction "she thought of" was a thought from the Holy Spirit of God.
Prophets in NT church often awaken the church, sounding a trumpet of God by the message.
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What does the Holy Spirit do?
Jesus said ... Jn. 14:26 ... But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in MY name, HE shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jn. 16:13 ... Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of HIMSELF; but whatsoever HE shall hear (from God the Father), that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come.
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Usually the Holy Spirit does this work by bringing thoughts to our mind. Often God will give us a dream to show us truth and the Holy Spirit reminds us of that dream as we deal with an issue of this present life.
David, a prophet, was given the Holy Spirit, and David once prayed: Cast me not away from THY presence; and take not THY holy spirit from me. Psalm 51:11
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The apostle Paul explained the Holy Spirit as follows:
I Cor. 2:6-13 ... Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love HIM. But God hath revealed them unto us by HIS Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
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So in the NT church, the NEW COVENANT, God has equipped HIS people with HIS Spirit and God has directly put HIS laws into our hearts and minds.
We are taught by God HIMSELF through HIS Spirit.
I Jn. 2:20-21 ... But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
... 27 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.
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Abide in HIM ... live in that Word given you by God. Focus on that Word. Do that Word. Continue to do that Word.
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