THE WORK OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT
IN PROPHETS
AND APOSTLES
The Distinctive Character of the Work of the Holy
Spirit in Prophets and Apostles.
The work of the
Holy Spirit in Apostles and Prophets differs from His work in other believers.
He imparts to Apostles and Prophets a special gift for a special
purpose.
1 Corinthians 12:4, 8-11, 28-29
[4] There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. [8] To
one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the
message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, [9] to another faith
by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, [10] to
another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing
between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to
still another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are the
work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he
determines. [28] And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles,
second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having
gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administra-
tion, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. [29] Are all
apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
The doctrine which is becoming so common and so popular in our day, that
the work of the holy Spirit in preachers and teachers and in ordinary believers,
illuminating them and guiding them into the truth and into the understanding
of the Word of God, is the same in kind and differs only in degree from the
work of the HOly Spirit in Prophets and Apostles, is thoroughly unscriptural
and untrue. It overlooks the clearly stated and carefully elucidated fact
that while there is "the same Spirit", "there are diversities of gifts",
"diversities of ministrations", "diversities of workings" and that not all
are prophets or apostles.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 [4] There
are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. [5] There are different
kinds of service, but the same Lord. [6] There are different kinds of
working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
1 Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles?
Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
NOTE -- Those who desire to minimize the difference between the work of the
Holy Spirit in Apostles and Prophets, and his work in other men, often refer
to the fact that the Bible says that Bezaleel was to be "filled with the
Spirit of God" to devise the work of the Tabernacle, as a proof that the
inspiration of the prophet does not differ from the inspiration of the artist
or architect; but they are ignorant of the fact, or forget it, that the
Tabernacle was to be built in accordance with the pattern shown to Moses
in the Mount and that, therefore, it was itself a prophecy, and an exposition
of the truth of God. It was the word of God done into wood, gold, silver,
brass, cloth, skin, etc. There is much reasoning about inspiration today
that appears at first sight very learned, but that will not bear much rigid
scrutiny or candid comparison with the word of God. There is nothing in the
Bible more inspired than the Tabernacle, and if the higher critics would
study it more they would give up their ingenious but untenable theories.
Results of the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prophets
and Apostles.
Truth hidden
from men for ages, and which they had not discovered, and could not discover
by the unaided processes of human reasoning, has been revealed to Apostles
and to Prophets in the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:5 [4] In reading this,
then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
[5] which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now
been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets.
The Bible contains truth that men never had discovered, and never would have
discovered it left to themselves, but which the Father in great grace has
revealed to his children through His servants, the Prophets and the Apostles.
We see here the folly of testing the statements of Scripture by the conclusions
of human reasoning or "the Christian Consciousness." The revelation of God
transcends human reasoning, and a consciousness that is truly and fully Christian
is the product of the study and absorption of Bible truth. If our consciousness
differs from the statements of this book, it is not yet fully Christian,
and the thing to do is not to try to pull God's revelation down to the level
of our conscious- ness, but to tone our consciousness up to the level of
God's Word.
The Revelation
made to the Prophets was independent of their own thinking; it was made to
them by the Spirit of Christ which was in them -- and was a subject of inquiry
to their own mind as to its meaning. It was not their thought, but
His.
1 Peter 1:10-12 [10] Concerning
this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to
you, searched intently and with the greatest care, [11] trying to find
out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was
pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that
would follow. [12] It was revealed to them that they were not serving
themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told
you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent
from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
No prophetic utterance
was of the Prophets' own will, but they spoke from God, and the Prophet was
carried along in it by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had
its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
It was the Holy Spirit
who spoke in prophetic utterance; it was His word that was upon the Prophets'
tongue.
Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
Hebrews 10:15-16 [15] The Holy
Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: [16] "This is
the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will
put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
Acts 28:25 They disagreed among themselves
and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: "The Holy Spirit
spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the
prophet:
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD
spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.
The prophet was simply the mouth by which the Holy Spirit spoke. As a man,
except as the Spirit taught him and used him, the prophet was fallible as
other men are, but when the Spirit was upon him, and he was taken up and
borne along by the Holy Spirit, he was infallible in his teachings. The teaching,
indeed was not his, but the Holy Spirit's. God was speaking, not the prophet.
For example, Paul doubtless had many mistaken notions, but when he taught
as an apostle, under the Spirit's power, he was infallible -- or rather,
the Spirit who taught through him, and the consequent teaching, were infallible
-- as infallible as God. We do well to carefully distinguish what Paul may
have thought as a man, and what he actually did as an apostle. In the Bible
we have the record of what he taught as an apostle, with the possible exception
of the following:
1 Corinthians 7:6, 25 [6] I say
this as a concession, not as a command. [25] Now about virgins: I have
no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's
mercy is trustworthy.
Here he does not seem to have been sure that he had the word of the Lord
and is careful to note the fact, thus giving additional certainty to all
other passages.
It is sometimes said that Paul taught in his early epistles that the Lord
would return during his lifetime, and in this was of course mistaken. But
Paul never taught anywhere that the Lord would return during his lifetime.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we
who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever.
In this, as he was still alive, he naturallyu did not include himself with
those who were fallen asleep in speaking of the Lord's return. Quite probably
he did believe that he might be alive, and the attitude of expectancy is
the true attitude in all ages for every believer. Paul probably rather believed
he would live to the coming of the Lord, but he did not so teach. The Holy
Spirit kept him from this as all other errors in his teachings.
The Holy Spirit in
the Apostle taught not only the thought (or "concept") but the words in which
the thought was to be expressed.
1 Corinthians 2:13 This is what we speak,
not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
This is not only a necessary inference from the fact that thought is conveyed
from mind to mind by words, and if the words were imprefect the thought expressed
in those words would necessarily be inperfect, but it is distinctly so stated.
Nothing could be plainer than Paul's statement "in words, which the Spirit
teaches." The Holy Spirit has Himself anticipated all these modern ingenious
but unbiblical and false theories regarding His own work in the apostles.
The more carefully and minutely one studies the wording of
the statements of this wonderful book, the more he will become convinced
of the marvelous accuracy of the words used to express the thought. To a
superficial student the doctrine of verbal inspiration may appear questionable
or even absurd, but any regenerated and Spirit-tauht man who ponders
the words of the Scripture day after day and year after year will
become convinced that the wisdom of God is in the very words, as well as
in the thoughnt which is expressed in the words. It is an impressive fact
that our difficulties with the Bible rapidly disappear as we note the precise
language used. The change of a word or letter, of a tense, case, or number
would land us in contradiction or untruth, but taking the
words just as written, difficulties disappear and truth shines
forth.
The Divine origin of nature shines forth clearly under the use of the microsocpe
as we see the perfection of form and adaptation of the minutest particles
of matter. So likewise the Divine origin of the Bible shines forth clearly
under the microscope as we note the perfection with which the turn of a word
reveals the absolute thought of God.
QUESTION: If the Holy Spirit is the author of the words of Scripture, how
do we account for variations in style and diction? - - that, for example,
Paul always uses Pauline language, and John, Johannean, etc.
ANSWER: If we could not account at all for this fact it would have little
weight against the explicit statement of God's Word, with anyone who is humble
and wise enought to recognize that ther are a great many things which he
can not account for at all, which could be easily accounted for if he knew
more. But these vriations are easily accounted for. The Holy Spirit is quite
wise enough and has quite enough facility in the use of language in revealing
truth to and through any individual, to use words, phrases and forms of
expression in that person's vocabulary and forms of trhough, and to make
use of that person's pecular individuality. It is a mark of the Divine wisdom
of this book that the same Divine truth is expressed with absolute accuracy
in such widely variant forms of expression.
The utterances of the
Apostles and the Prophets were the Word of God. When we read these words
we are not listening to the voice of man, but to the voice of God.
Mark 7:13 Thus you nullify the word
of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things
like that.
2 Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD
spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 And we also thank
God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard
from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the
word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
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