The world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth.
Is your brow furrowing in confusion right about now? Are you thinking I'm making up lies? Well, those aren't my words, they belong to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The world cannot receive the Spirit of truth because it can't see him, or know him. When our Savior speaks of the world being unable to receive - see or know- the Spirit of truth, the Comforter He promised to give, is He talking about the majority of people in the world? He has to be, right? What else could He mean. Only people have the ability to see and know intelligently to the point of knowing the Spirit of truth.
We are also told this-
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The natural man- as opposed to the spiritual man- cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because they are foolishness to the natural man. The natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God.
Knowing the things of the Spirit of God comes through faith.
Heb_11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith.
Heb_11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This is where I think the majority of people stumble. Faith- believing without evidence.
Abraham did not have history to look back upon, he did not have any scriptures whatsoever to read. What did he have? A voice speaking to Him.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
You say if you heard the voice of the LORD you'd believe too? Perhaps, who am I to say. All those following Abraham did so trusting in Abraham who was trusting in God. When Moses came along many years later He heard the voice of the Lord and in his conversation with God He said this…
Exo 4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
And this…
Exo 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
Moses was very reluctant to listen to God because of his own insecurities, his own fears and doubts.
So here we have Moses conversing with God, and outright telling God Himself that he sort of chose the wrong person for the task at hand. God became a little angry with Moses and added Aaron, Moses' brother to help him with things. What God didn't do, was let Moses' off the hook and move on to someone else.
After Moses' took the people out of Egypt they eventually came to Mount Sinai where they camped and UNLIKE most popular Ten Commandment movies, Moses did not go directly up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments. Moses was told to get the people ready to hear the voice of God. Moses got them ready and the people, ALL OF THEM, heard God speaking. Then they told Moses they didn't want to hear anymore because they'd die if they did, and they wanted Him to be God's spokesman- of course I'm paraphrasing here but you can read the entire thing yourselves in the Book of Exodus - start at chapter 19. We go to the Book of Deuteronomy and read this…
Deu 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deu 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
Deu 5:5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Deu 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
Deu 5:23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
Deu 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
Deu 5:25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
Deu 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
Deu 5:28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Deu 5:30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
Deu 5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
Deu 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Deu 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
The people heard God as an entire group. This wasn't a Moses delusion, this wasn't Moses using naturally occurring disasters as a series of plagues to get the people out of Egypt. This was God using Moses, working through Moses. No naturally occurring cloud by day and pillar of fire by night followed people around, it just didn't and wouldn't. That cloud by day and pillar by night were God given.
Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
These people, all these things God did were for our benefit. The knowledge of them passed down miraculously to us.
And still… the world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth.
People rebelled, even the very people that heard the voice of God directly in their own ears, rebelled.
The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man does not WANT to receive the things of the Spirit, they are truly FOOLISHNESS to them.
Everyone is given an opportunity to have faith, everyone. Not a single human being will be able to say in truth they were never given an opportunity to believe in God. Those of a right mind, and a right age of individual accountability will have a chance to believe. The Spirit touches all with the opportunity.
Stepping out in faith… believing when you can't see but only hope… what harm does it do to ANYONE?
If they are wrong in believing, if I am wrong in believing, what has the belief done to hurt me? Has it guided me to be unkind? The truth never would. The radical people who believe in false, perverted Christ following ways, yes, their warped truth can and has hurt lots of people. For example- the inquisitions of the Catholic church against all others who didn't believe in them and their ways. Christ would NEVER want a single person harmed for not believing in Him. He never advocated for torture because someone didn't believe in him. Not a single apostle instructed people to force belief, or destroy those not believing. Yet, supposed Christ followers then and even now in various false religions, did, can and will twist God's word to suit their own evil ways. So, yes, false Christianity has hurt a lot of people unjustly in such a way that many could point to it and say- if that's what religion does, I don't want it, I don’t want the Spirit of Truth. You can't fault someone for not wanting anything to do with perverted truth. But truth that isn't perverted is life eternal.
Believing in the Spirit of Truth, embracing the Spirit and not living for the natural man, brings hope.
The world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth…. Jesus' words.
But you can.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
God help us all! Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever!
Is your brow furrowing in confusion right about now? Are you thinking I'm making up lies? Well, those aren't my words, they belong to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The world cannot receive the Spirit of truth because it can't see him, or know him. When our Savior speaks of the world being unable to receive - see or know- the Spirit of truth, the Comforter He promised to give, is He talking about the majority of people in the world? He has to be, right? What else could He mean. Only people have the ability to see and know intelligently to the point of knowing the Spirit of truth.
We are also told this-
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The natural man- as opposed to the spiritual man- cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because they are foolishness to the natural man. The natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God.
Knowing the things of the Spirit of God comes through faith.
Heb_11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Faith.
Heb_11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
This is where I think the majority of people stumble. Faith- believing without evidence.
Abraham did not have history to look back upon, he did not have any scriptures whatsoever to read. What did he have? A voice speaking to Him.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
You say if you heard the voice of the LORD you'd believe too? Perhaps, who am I to say. All those following Abraham did so trusting in Abraham who was trusting in God. When Moses came along many years later He heard the voice of the Lord and in his conversation with God He said this…
Exo 4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
And this…
Exo 4:10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
Moses was very reluctant to listen to God because of his own insecurities, his own fears and doubts.
So here we have Moses conversing with God, and outright telling God Himself that he sort of chose the wrong person for the task at hand. God became a little angry with Moses and added Aaron, Moses' brother to help him with things. What God didn't do, was let Moses' off the hook and move on to someone else.
After Moses' took the people out of Egypt they eventually came to Mount Sinai where they camped and UNLIKE most popular Ten Commandment movies, Moses did not go directly up the mountain to get the Ten Commandments. Moses was told to get the people ready to hear the voice of God. Moses got them ready and the people, ALL OF THEM, heard God speaking. Then they told Moses they didn't want to hear anymore because they'd die if they did, and they wanted Him to be God's spokesman- of course I'm paraphrasing here but you can read the entire thing yourselves in the Book of Exodus - start at chapter 19. We go to the Book of Deuteronomy and read this…
Deu 5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.
Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deu 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,
Deu 5:5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,
Deu 5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
Deu 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.
Deu 5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
Deu 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deu 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
Deu 5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Deu 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.
Deu 5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
Deu 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou.
Deu 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.
Deu 5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deu 5:17 Thou shalt not kill.
Deu 5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
Deu 5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.
Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Deu 5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's.
Deu 5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.
Deu 5:23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
Deu 5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.
Deu 5:25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die.
Deu 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
Deu 5:28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Deu 5:30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.
Deu 5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
Deu 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Deu 5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
The people heard God as an entire group. This wasn't a Moses delusion, this wasn't Moses using naturally occurring disasters as a series of plagues to get the people out of Egypt. This was God using Moses, working through Moses. No naturally occurring cloud by day and pillar of fire by night followed people around, it just didn't and wouldn't. That cloud by day and pillar by night were God given.
Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
These people, all these things God did were for our benefit. The knowledge of them passed down miraculously to us.
And still… the world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth.
People rebelled, even the very people that heard the voice of God directly in their own ears, rebelled.
The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man does not WANT to receive the things of the Spirit, they are truly FOOLISHNESS to them.
Everyone is given an opportunity to have faith, everyone. Not a single human being will be able to say in truth they were never given an opportunity to believe in God. Those of a right mind, and a right age of individual accountability will have a chance to believe. The Spirit touches all with the opportunity.
Stepping out in faith… believing when you can't see but only hope… what harm does it do to ANYONE?
If they are wrong in believing, if I am wrong in believing, what has the belief done to hurt me? Has it guided me to be unkind? The truth never would. The radical people who believe in false, perverted Christ following ways, yes, their warped truth can and has hurt lots of people. For example- the inquisitions of the Catholic church against all others who didn't believe in them and their ways. Christ would NEVER want a single person harmed for not believing in Him. He never advocated for torture because someone didn't believe in him. Not a single apostle instructed people to force belief, or destroy those not believing. Yet, supposed Christ followers then and even now in various false religions, did, can and will twist God's word to suit their own evil ways. So, yes, false Christianity has hurt a lot of people unjustly in such a way that many could point to it and say- if that's what religion does, I don't want it, I don’t want the Spirit of Truth. You can't fault someone for not wanting anything to do with perverted truth. But truth that isn't perverted is life eternal.
Believing in the Spirit of Truth, embracing the Spirit and not living for the natural man, brings hope.
The world cannot receive the Spirit of Truth…. Jesus' words.
But you can.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
God help us all! Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever!