"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God." {Luke 8:11} Where seeds are concerned, two things are true:

• Seeds contain the power to germinate.
• Seeds must be planted, or they produce no fruit. "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor." {1 Corinthians 3:6-8}

One of the most important parts of the Holy Spirit's work deals with the revelation of God's word and how man came to know God's mind. "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." {2 Peter 1:20,21} God's book did not come through man's wisdom--but by revelation. "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." {Galatians 1:11,12}

The Bible makes some very special claims about itself. It claims to be:

• Inspired. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." {2 Timothy 2:16,17}
• Our sword of offense and defense. "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." {Ephesians 6:17} "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." {Hebrews 4:12}
• Sufficient for all of man's needs. "As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." {2 Peter 1:11}
• Able to save men's souls. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." {Romans 1:16}

By way of Inspiration and Revelation, God's word passed from His mind to man. Inspiration is the broader term. All scripture is inspired, but not all is composed of revelation. To inspire means "to breath into." It is as though God "breathed into" men the things that they wrote. He provided (breathed) miraculous guidance in the writing of the sacred text. It implies an influence from without that produces effects beyond man's ability to perform. This takes man out of the equation. To reveal is "to uncover, to unveil, to make known" miraculously what cannot be learned through any other means.

The nature of Deity necessarily implies the nature of scripture--it is immutable; it cannot be changed or broken. "That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." {Hebrews 6:18}

God's word is inerrant--incapable of error. "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." {1 Corinthians 14:33} It is also infallible--a perfect guide that is certain and sure. "That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed." {Luke 1:4}

The word is the Holy Spirit's vehicle for leading, directing, and instructing. He brought us:

• Prophecy that is more sure--"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." {2 Peter 1:16-19}
• Prophecy that did not originate with man--"Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." {2 Peter 1:20,21}
• Prophecy (both Old and New Testaments) that came from God--"That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior." {2 Peter 3:2}

Many passages refer to inspiration and revelation as special works of the Holy Spirit.

• "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue." {2 Samuel 23:2} God's word was placed on the prophet's tongue.
• "You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct me...Yet for many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets..." {Nehemiah 9:20,30}
• "As for Me," says the LORD, this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants," says the LORD, from this time and forevermore." {Isaiah 59:21}

As we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we also see the Holy Spirit's work in bringing God's word to those who needed it.

• "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." {John 14:16,17}
• "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." {John 14:26}
• "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me." {John 15:26}
• "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." {John 16:8-11}
• "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." {Acts 2:1-4}

The instrument of the Holy Spirit is the Word of God. By it, we are:

1. Born - "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23)
2. Cleansed -- "that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word," (Ephesians 5:26)
3. Justified -- "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." (Galatians 2:16)
4. Purified -- "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart," (1 Peter 1:22)
5. Sanctified -- "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth," (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
6. Strengthened -- "that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;" (Colossians 1:10,11)
7. Established -- "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith." (Romans 16:25,26)
8. Edified -- "And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." (Acts 20:32)

The Spirit and the Word are Inseparable. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)

The Word was confirmed. "how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" (Hebrews 2:3,4)

The Spirit revealed God's mind. "But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

Please refer to the following chart.

THE HOLY SPIRIT and THE WORD

The Bible writers did not conceive these thoughts in their own minds, then write them down as they remembered them. God does not take chances; neither did He wish for men to insert their own theories and opinions into His divine word. The Holy Spirit once spoke through inspired men. Now He speaks through the inspired book--The Bible. God's Divine Word is the only medium through which the Holy Spirit works today--period! He gives no latter-day revelations, has no personal conversations, issues no textual changes or amendments. Every thing the Scriptures say the Spirit does, the word also does. Why would there be a need for any other work of the Spirit? If the divine word, already delivered, leads men to every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17), gives all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), is the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25), was once delivered to the saints (Jude 3), what, pray tell, is missing? We must conclude that the only way to hear, and be led by, the Spirit today is to OPEN GOD'S BOOK!!!