Reimar A.C. Schultze

Past Issues of the Call To Obedience

"The Holy Spirit Works With Precision"

by Pastor Reimar A. C. Schultze

 “The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So is everyone born of the Spirit”—John 3:8.

In this passage Jesus explains to Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, how the new man in Christ would be directed in the affairs of his life. Here Jesus introduces a new principle of operation hitherto only experienced by few in the history of Israel . The man of the new   kingdom would no longer be governed by reason or by what he finds in himself, but by a heavenly source. Of course, when we think about the wind we naturally get an impression of unpredictably, unreliability, confusion and sometimes chaos. So we must look at the Spirit/wind relationship through God’s eyes.

The first fact to consider is that it is not the Holy Spirit (the wind) that does not know what He's doing, we are the ones who do not know what we are doing. The Bible says that His ways are higher than our ways. His ways are unsearchable. It is beyond the human mind to comprehend the things of the spirit of God (1 Co. 2:14 ). It is not the Holy Spirit who is confused or unreliable; we are the ones who don't know what's going on.  Jesus affirmed this while he hung on the cross by saying:  “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they're doing" (Lk. 23:34 ).  Not only do we not know what we're doing in our own lives, we also fail to know what's going on around us. For example, nobody in the world knew why the sun stood still for a day except for Joshua (Jos 10:13 ). Nobody in China or South America knew why that one day was so long. Nobody knew that a man of God had asked for this miracle. Nobody in the eastern Mediterranean Sea , except for Jonah’s shipmates, knew where such a great storm came from or its purpose. Not a single Israeli knew what was going on when God led Israel in the direction of the Red Sea to escape from the Egyptians. Especially because they knew that they had not brought a single boat.

 No, the Holy Spirit is not an "it", He is a person possessing all the three major characteristics of human personality: intelligence, will and sensibilities (i.e. the capacity to think, to make decisions and to feel). On top of this the Holy Spirit has the three major attributes of divinity: omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence. He has unlimited knowledge, unlimited power, and He is wherever you are. Think about this! Because of this the Holy Spirit is incapable of forgetting. He never forgets where you are, what you need, and what you're about to do and what needs to be done. He never needs a reminder. The Holy Spirit never makes a mistake. He never miscalculates, He never under or over estimates. He never lacks all the facts. He is never ignorant of what is around the corner. He is never early, nor is He ever late. By virtue of His attributes He is capable of feeling and He sympathizes with us in our feelings.

 Are you starting to get happy? Listen, you have something going for you here. So why don't you want to be led by the Holy Spirit? It will give you a life of no mistakes, of constant fellowship and joy unspeakable. No, my friend, you don't have to understand the ways of the Holy Spirit anymore than you have to understand the wind to put your faith in it. He will keep you with pinpoint accuracy on the narrow way of His perfect will. Someone wrote a hymn entitled: Holy Spirit, faithful guide ever at the Christian side. Does that fit in here? If you choose His way, that is the way it's going to be, ever at the Christian side. If you choose your way, you will blunder around your whole life making one wrong decision after another. The choice is yours. Now, let us look at some of the biblical history on the pinpoint accuracy of the Holy Spirit.

Going back to the first chapter of the Bible we see that the Holy Spirit had a part in the creation process. It says. "The Spirit of God was brooding upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2b).    What can you say about the precision of the Holy Spirit in creation? Is there precision in the way He created the DNA, or the atom, or the way He placed the planets in their orbits? As He worked in precision in creation, so He works with precision in His saints. Many of you have experienced the pinpoint accuracy of the Holy Spirit some time in your lives.

Now let me give you some examples on how the Holy Spirit was leading Jesus with pinpoint accuracy. Remember, Luke 4:1 confirms that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. It says: And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan , and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness." Not only did the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness, but everywhere else! Now here are three examples of the pinpoint accuracy of the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus during the Passion Week.

1. To fulfill prophecy Jesus had to ride into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass (Ze. 9:9). How do you find a colt of an ass? You can ask around or you can look at the ads in the newspaper. Jesus did neither. Jesus said to his disciples by the Holy Spirit: "Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as you be entered into it, ye shall will find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him" (Mk 11:2). Notice the exact place, the entrance of the village; notice the exact time. as soon as; notice the exact item: the colt whereon never man sat. Do you see the triple pinpoint accuracy of the Holy Spirit here? Absolutely neither time nor energy was wasted in getting what Jesus needed. Is this the way you found your house, your car, your vacation spot or your spouse? Do you realize that we can have this? This is what the apostle Paul said: "For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Ro 8:12 ). Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice …and they follow me” (Jo 10:27 ). Yes, we can have that. How do we get it? By following! How much does it cost? Everything! Does it take a while for us to learn to hear His voice? It does.

2. Jesus, now in Jerusalem , needed a place for the Passover with his disciples. How do you find a place on short notice, in a city that's overflowing with people from all around the world? This was the main Jewish holy day of the year. There were no signs out there anymore, saying: Room for Rent. What did Jesus do? It was a matter of hours before the Passover. Did he contact a realtor or a rental agency or did he just ask around? He said: "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth" (Lk 22:10 ). How do you know which man carrying water to follow? That is easy. In those days, women carried the water.   It was extremely rare for a man to carry water. How did Jesus know that there would be a man carrying water on that day? How did He know when he would be carrying the water? How did He know which direction he was going to go? Again we have pinpoint accuracy in reference to time, place and item. The Holy Spirit works with pinpoint accuracy. When Peter and John followed the man carrying the water, they came to a guest chamber furnished and ready. This was the place of the Passover. Is it any wonder that not long after that the Holy Spirit filled this room? It is here where the church was born. Hallelujah! Everything Jesus did was of the Holy Spirit. Everything! Dear friend, Jesus wants us to have this. Engage your heart and mind to get it so that you stop missing time, place and item.

3. For hundreds of years the Jews had offered up the sacrificial lamb to the Lord at the Passover.  It was to be slain at three o'clock on the afternoon on what we call Good Friday. With all the madness, confusion and the last-minute trials of Jesus’ lasting way into the early morning, how could Jesus be nailed to the cross and expire as the new Passover Lamb exactly at three o'clock ? It is only through the pinpoint accuracy of the Holy Spirit that this was possible. Two lambs expired, at three o'clock that Friday:  the Lamb of God outside the city on the cross, and a lamb in the Temple . For the first time the lamb in the Temple was rejected. It was no longer acceptable.   The Lamb on the cross was accepted. Then with pinpoint accuracy as Jesus gave up his spirit, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom. Now through Jesus’ blood sacrifice we all can enter into God's holy presence. We can all have His Spirit and walk as He walked.

And now my friend, if you like, here is your homework. Go to the Book of Acts to discover how the apostles were led with the similar pinpoint accuracy as Jesus was.

Oh, my friend, if you are born again, that is only the beginning. Again you are born of God to walk with Him and this is only possible by the leadership of the Holy Spirit. No, the Holy Spirit is not sloppy, not unreliable, not irresponsible. He is our faithful guide and a mystery to the unbeliever (1 Co. 2:14 ). It is not He who does not know what He is doing, it is us. Empty yourself of yourself and He will fill you with Himself as you take each step of obedience after Jesus. “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13 ).