Daily Devotionals

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

Devotional: October 23rd

“He (the Holy Spirit) shall not speak of himself; hut whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” (HYPERLINK "javascript:" b, 14)

When the Lord Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would not speak of Himself, He did not mean that the Spirit would never make any reference to Himself. Rather, the thought is that the Spirit would not speak on His own authority or independently of God the Father. This is borne out by the words that follow: “…whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak.” The New American Standard Bible reads, “He will not speak on His own initiative.”

But having said that, we should add that the Holy Spirit does not ordinarily talk about Himself. One of His characteristic ministries is to glorify Christ. Jesus said, “He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.”

This means that when we hear ministry that exalts the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be sure that it is Spirit-inspired. On the other hand, when we hear messages that glorify the speaker rather than the Lord, we can be sure that the Spirit is grieved. He cannot witness to the greatness of Jesus and the greatness of the speaker at the same time.

“The most spiritual teaching will ever be characterized by a full and constant presentation of Christ. He will ever form the burden of such teaching. The Spirit cannot dwell on aught but Jesus. Of Him He delights to speak. He delights in setting forth His attractions and excellencies. Hence, when a man is ministering by the power of the Spirit of God, there will always be more of Christ than anything else in his ministry. There will be little room in such ministry for human logic and reasoning… The Spirit’s sole object…will ever be to set forth Christ” (C. H. Mackintosh).

In that connection, the evangelical world should reconsider the practice of introducing speakers by extravagant recitals of academic achievements and theological honors. It is unrealistic to praise a man to the skies and then expect him to preach in the power of the Holy Spirit.

One great test of written ministry is whether it glorifies the Lord Jesus. I remember reading a book on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. At first I thought it strange that the author seemed to spend more time on the moral excellencies of Christ than on the Holy Spirit. Then I realized that this presented a true view of the Person and work of the Spirit.

Jim Elliot wrote in his journal, “If men were filled with the Spirit, they would not write books on that subject, but on the Person whom the Spirit has come to reveal. Occupation with Christ is God’s object, not fulness of the Spirit.”