Today I want to share Rick Renner's "Sparkling Gems From The Greek Volume 2" from Thursday, because it was SO good!
The Reminding Ministry of the Holy Spirit
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. — John 14:26
Have you ever wondered how the four gospel writers separately
recorded four gospels with no contradictions? With all the countless words the
disciples heard Jesus speak, how did they ever remember them all accurately? It
is absolutely remarkable to me when I think about each apostle’s fantastic
ability to remember what Jesus said and did. This leads us to the next
responsibility God gave to the Holy Spirit — to bring to our remembrance
all the things Jesus said or taught.
When Jesus taught about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He
said that bringing what Jesus said to remembrance would be a part of
the Holy Spirit’s ministry. In John 14:26, Jesus said, “But the Comforter,
which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things and will bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you.”
The word “remembrance” is a translation of the Greek
word hupomimnesko, which is a compound of the words hupo and mimnesko.
The word hupo in this particular case means by — as to
place something alongside of something else. The word mimnesko means to
remember, to recollect, to remind, to regather, or to
recall. When these two words are compounded, the combined nuances depict someone
whose memory is awakened or one who is enabled to call something to
mind.
This is truly amazing to me. When I read the gospels and I
see how the Holy Spirit brought explicit, vivid details to the remembrance of
four gospel writers, I know that it would have been naturally impossible for
all four of these men to so precisely recall everything they remembered on
their own. However, the fact is that they were all listening to the same Holy
Spirit who was bringing to their remembrance everything they had experienced
with Jesus.
The Bible gives us a very clear example in John 12 of this
“reminding work” of the Holy Spirit. In this account, Jesus was entering into
Jerusalem triumphantly as people joyfully proclaimed, “Hosanna, Blessed is the
King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). At the time
this was happening, the disciples didn’t realize Old Testament Scripture was
being fulfilled before their eyes. But John 12:16 goes on to say, “These things
understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified,
then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that
they had done these things unto him.” This very clearly refers to the reminding
ministry of the Holy Spirit.
After the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those who prayed
in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, one of the ways the Holy Spirit
taught the apostles about Jesus was by tying Old Testament Scripture into
events they had experienced with Him. Many things that hadn’t been clear or
hadn’t made sense to them while Jesus was on earth were now being explained and
defined as the Holy Spirit led them in Old Testament verses. As He inspired the
apostles to write the New Testament, He clarified and revealed to them the
significance of the Old Testament as it related to Jesus’ ministry and calling,
the newly emerging Church, and the future.
Furthermore, the gospels contain no errors. What we have in
them is exactly what Jesus said and did. They were written as the Holy Spirit
put Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in remembrance of what Jesus said and did.
How marvelous and fantastic it truly is to see how the Holy Spirit illuminated
their minds to recall vivid details from Jesus’ life and ministry. It is due to
this wonderful reminding work of the Holy Spirit that we have the
books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in our Bibles today.
This makes me know that we can never claim ignorance for not
knowing Scripture. Part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to bring to our memory
exactly what verses we need — when we need them. If our partnership
with the Holy Spirit is strong, we can lean upon Him the moment our memory
fails us, because it is His responsibility to remind us of the Word of God.
When we are in the midst of a difficult situation and don’t know what to do,
the Holy Spirit will reach into the Word of God that is stored in our hearts and
minds, and He will withdraw the exact verse or truth we need and put us in
remembrance of it at just the right moment.
Perhaps this particular reminding work of the Holy Spirit is
best illustrated in parts of the world where the Bible is illegal. My family
lives in the former Soviet Union, where the Bible was forbidden for more than
70 years. I am constantly in awe as I meet leaders and entire churches that had
only one Bible over a span of many years. Sometimes it was a hand-copied
version with torn and tattered pages from decades of use. Those yellow,
tattered pages of the Word of God meant everything to them.
It is the most amazing thing to see people who have had
limited access to the Bible and yet know it so well. They can quote it and
remember it better than people in free countries who have several Bibles in
their homes and the opportunity to read them every morning and every night.
There is only one explanation: the Holy Spirit. He is doing exactly
what Jesus said He would do — putting them in remembrance of the Word of God.
This is especially true where the Word of God, although it may be scarce, is
embraced and esteemed. When a person has given precious care to reading and
meditating on the Word day and night, the Holy Spirit has the wherewithal to
call to remembrance what that person has read and assimilated in the deepest
parts of his being. That is one of the Holy Spirit’s responsibilities as our
Partner in this world.
Today I want to encourage you to open your heart to this
reminding ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you say you have a difficult time
memorizing Scripture, open your heart to the ministry of the Holy Spirit
because He wants to put you in remembrance of everything that Jesus said. And
He will help you recall everything you need to remember that Jesus said to you
— exactly on time and exactly at the right place. That’s part of His reminding
ministry to you and to me.
Today I want to encourage you to get Sparkling Gems volumes 1 & 2! Rick Renner is an excellent student of the Greek and and excellent teacher of the Word! You will be blessed beyond measure and encouraged every day! Here is Hillsong with "Remembrance":
Shalom in Him!
