The Holy Spirit of God
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I have found the study of the Holy Spirit is complicated for many reasons. One of these reasons is the Bible is not divided into sections where it explains topics from beginning to end, then moves onto the next topic. Instead the Bible is written by men who have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. They simply wrote the words that were chosen by the Holy Spirit. In actuality, God is the author of every word in the Bible. God dictated through the Holy Spirit to mortal men, who wrote words that they did not understand. Until the reader understands this fact, they cannot have the attitude and appreciation that is necessary to understand any spiritual subject, let alone understand the nature of Deity. As we study the subject of the Holy Spirit, we want to notice what the Word of God says about the type of person that we need to be to understand and gain the wisdom that God has given through the Bible.
Isaiah 28:9-13 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Whom will God teach knowledge? If one desires to learn the truth of any spiritual subject, they must first be weaned from the milk of the word. They must not be a spiritual baby. They must realize that it will take time and effort to come to a correct understanding of any Biblical subject, especially one that is as complicated as the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is given by God through the Holy Spirit unto the different writers of the Bible in the way that it is for a reason. God has given the Bible, a little here and a little there, line upon line, precept upon precept in order to weed out those who are too lazy to open their minds to the simple truths that are being revealed in a verse. When we read the Bible, we need to concentrate and be open to what is being taught. We need to realize that we cannot form an opinion until we have studied all of the relevant verses. This means that we need to study a group of verses and list the points made within those verses to come to the realization and understanding that God intends. After we have studied every verse in the Bible that deals with the subject, and studied each verse in context and listed all the information on the subject contained in each group of verses, we must allow the information contained within the verses to tie these verses together. Only then can we even hope to come to the proper understanding of a subject.
The failure to properly study the Bible in the correct fashion and with the correct attitude is the basis of all of different doctrines and churches that exist in the world. God has allowed these different doctrines and churches to exist because God wants His people to question their teachings and put forth the effort to find the truth. Every time I hear someone complain about how confusing the Bible is or question why didn’t God just put everything about a subject together in one place, I am reminded of the fact that if one thinks the Bible is confusing today, since it has been broken down into chapters and verses to “simplify” things and since we have Bible concordances and other books that help us in finding every verse in the Bible dealing with a subject, how confused would they had been before the different “convenient” books were written.
I believe that it is impossible for mankind to improve upon what God has given. I believe this applies to the changes man has made to the Bible, from breaking it down into chapters and verses to putting the words of Jesus in red letters. I am thankful for the convenience, but I remind myself constantly that I must not allow the conveniences mankind has designed to interfere with the message God has intended. Imagine the eff
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About the Book
This book is written in the format that Donald W. French uses of letting the Bible speak for itself. This style of writing is much more unique than it should be in a country where a majority of the population claims to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It is the author's hope that this book will encourage others to study the Bible, not only to better understand the Holy Spirit of God, but to help encourage a manner of humbly reading the Bible in order to come to the understanding that God intended when He inspired the writing of the verses of the Bible. The author firmly believes that this is the only way that there can ever be unity in the religious world, unity, not in diversity, but in actuality.
About the Author
Donald W. French was a teacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 40 years before Parkinson's took away his voice. After being encouraged by several of his brother's in Christ, he continued to study and teach for the Lord through writing instead of speaking. He has been told that he has a unique perspective that comes from his style of preaching which has carried over to his writing. Instead of using the Bible to prove his points, he lets the Bible develop the points that he brings out. He truly believes that the Bible is its best and only interpreter.