Craig T. Owens

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Last week we talked about the Voice of the Holy Spirit. I love the phrase from 1 Samuel 9:15 where God “told Samuel in his ear” about Saul’s arrival and what he should say to Saul. Then the Holy Spirit’s Voice for all of us is foretold in Isaiah 30:21. 

It’s great hearing the Spirit’s Voice, but He also empowers us to know the Mind of God. 

This is not something that automatically comes to every Christian at the moment they invite Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, as we see mention of immature Christians throughout the New Testament. 

Even after Jesus is resurrected from the dead, we see His followers as unsure, troubled men. We meet their…

• lack of faith—Luke 24:11; Mark 16:14 
• wonderment—Luke 24:12 
• troubled minds—Luke 24:37; John 20:19 
• lack of understanding of Scripture—Luke 24:44 

(Check out all of the Scriptures in this post by clicking here.)

This is all post-resurrection but pre-conversion, but look at what happens next. After Jesus breathes on them (John 20:22), they are peaceful (vv. 19, 21, 26) and they can now understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45-48). 

As we’ve said, we shouldn’t stop at salvation. Certainly, Jesus wanted more for His followers than merely salvation. He wants His disciples empowered for witnessing and disciple-making (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:4-5, 8). 

Check out these examples of the Holy Spirit sharing with us the mind of God:

• Joseph—Genesis 41:16, 38-40 
• Daniel—Daniel 2:19-23, 27-28, 47 
• Peter—Acts 2:14f; 3:17-26; 4:8-12 
• Stephen—Acts 7 
• Philip—Acts 8:30-35 

And just in case you think this is just for “super spiritual” people, look how the Holy Spirit helps the whole Church share the Gospel—

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly. … Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. (Acts 4:31, 8:4).

This was always God’s plan! Paul harkens back to prophecies like Isaiah 55:8-9, Isaiah 40:13, and Jeremiah 31:33 when he writes about Christians having “the mind of God” in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. 

He says, “These are the things revealed to us by His Spirit” (v. 10). 

What things? “Things God has prepared for those who love Him”—things which human eyes haven’t seen, human ears haven’t heard, human minds haven’t conceived (v. 9). These are the the very thoughts of God Himself! 

Just as my spirit is the only one that knows what’s really in my mind, the Holy Spirit is the only One Who knows the mind of the Father and Son (v. 11). We have been given the Holy Spirit “so that we may understand what God has freely given us” (v. 12). Contrast this with the dull, unfruitful minds of both unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4) and carnal Christians (Philippians 3:18-19). 

This mind of God is given to us for our edification so that we can be empowered witnesses and disciple-makers. So don’t stop at salvation, but be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and then keep on being filled with the Spirit. 

If you’ve missed any of the messages in this series, you can check them all out here. 

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