The Holy Spirit Speaks
January 22
Once more, Jesus tells His disciples that He will leave soon, but in His absence His Father will send the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will expand on what Jesus has already told them. (John 16:7–15) There were many things Jesus taught His disciples, who often had no clue what He was telling them.
In fact, hundreds of years before, Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would speak in parables in order to reveal secrets of the Kingdom of God to His disciples, conceal things from others, and fulfill his prophecy. (Isaiah 13:13) In subsequent months and years, the Holy Spirit would remind the apostles of what Jesus had taught them.
Everything the Spirit said would be from the Father, so the people would know of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 16:8–11) Jesus said the Spirit would guide them into all truth, speaking not from Himself, but whatever He heard from the Father. Once again, we have a clear reference to the Trinity from Jesus Himself.
One key takeaway from these verses is the functional distinction within the Trinity, which John’s Gospel continually reveals. From Old to New Testament, the Scripture clearly teaches that…
• All three members are coequal.
• All three members are coexistent.
• All three members are eternal.
However, there is a functional distinction in the Trinity where the Son and the Spirit voluntarily submit to the Father, and the Spirit submits to the Son. (John 16:13-15) This should never be confused with a hierarchy:
• A hierarchy is composed of successive ranks where each one is subordinate to the rank directly above.
• A heterachy is composed of equals—members who are unranked—and function in different ways.
John and the rest of the Bible reveal to us a heterarchy within the Trinity. All members are God. All members are equal in every way. All have a distinct function, though, and to fulfill that function we see the Son and the Spirit working in voluntary submission to the Father.
Application
Jesus said that the Spirit would speak to His disciples. He did, and He still does.
Every believer, as one of Jesus’ sheep, is capable of hearing the voice of Jesus speaking to them. (John 10:27) Becoming accustomed to hearing—and following—the voice of God through the Son and the Spirit is a lifelong process. The more we listen and follow what you hear, the more easily we will hear His voice. The converse is also true: The more we listen and don’t follow, the more difficult it will be for us to hear His voice.
Everything we hear must be tested according to the revealed Word of God, the Bible, and the character of God it reveals. If we hear something that in any way disagrees with God’s revealed Word, we heard wrong. God calls His people to test what we hear. (1 John 4:1)
So, how do we know what God is saying? God speaks in several ways. Henry Blackaby, in his Bible Study, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, suggests that God speaks by the Holy Spirit, through the Bible, through prayer, through circumstances, through spiritual markers, and through the church. God speaks in all of these ways, and we need to test what we hear in one of these ways by all of these ways, especially by the Bible.
The Bible reveals the Living Word, Jesus, because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. God is not a liar, and He will never contradict Himself.
Here’s an example I have seen many times. A young man prays about going deeper in his relationship with his girlfriend. She has been asking about becoming more physically intimate, and he isn’t sure what to do. Friends have encouraged him that sex is no big deal, and they should sleep together to see if they are a good match. He prays and doesn’t feel there’s anything wrong. He doesn’t have any warning dreams. He doesn’t hear Jesus say, “No,” as he prays, so they begin sleeping together.
However, he doesn’t take into account the many verses in the Bible that warn against having sex outside the context of a monogamous, one-man-one-woman covenant marriage. In fact, the term “sexual immorality” comes from the Greek word from which we get “pornography”—porné. This Greek word encompasses every sexual experience outside the context of a monogamous, one-man-one-woman relationship. (Eph 5:3; Heb 13:4; 1 Thess 4:3; 1 Cor 5:1; 1 Cor 6:18, to list just a few.)
When in doubt, use tools like an online Bible word search, a Bible concordance, wise and reputable Bible-based websites such as gotquestions.org. See what the Bible itself says. Ask wise Christian friends who will point you to the Bible, talk with a pastor who will point you to the Bible, etc. Do you notice a pattern here?
Ask God to speak to you. Then, listen for His voice. Then, do what He tells you. (Rinse and repeat)
© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman