You do not know the truth because you have read
Hodge's Outlines, Fuller's Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation, Owen on the Spirit, or any other classic of our faith. You do not know the truth merely because you accept the Westminster Assembly's Confession and have studied it perfectly. No, we know nothing until we are taught by the Holy Spirit, who speaks to the heart rather than to the ear.
It is an amazing fact that we do not even hear the voice of Jesus until the Spirit rests upon us. John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice" (
Rev. 1:10). He did not hear that voice until he was in the Spirit. How many heavenly words we miss because we do not abide in the Spirit!
We cannot succeed in supplication unless the Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, for true prayer is "praying in the Holy Ghost" (
Jude 1:20). The Spirit makes an atmosphere around every living prayer; within that circle, prayer lives and prevails; outside of it, prayer is a dead formality. As to ourselves, then, in our study, in prayer, in thought, in word, and in deed, we must depend on the Holy Spirit. ...
What does the Holy Spirit do? Beloved, what is there of good work that He does not do? It is His to quicken, to convince, to illuminate, to cleanse, to guide, to preserve, to console, to confirm, to perfect, and to use. How much might be said under each one of these headings! It is He that works in us "to will and to do" (
Phil. 2:13). He that has done all things is God. Glory be unto the Holy Spirit for all that He has accomplished in such poor, imperfect natures as ours!
We can do nothing apart from the life-sap that flows to us from Jesus the Vine. That which is our own is fit only to cause us shame and embarrassment. We never go a step towards heaven without the Holy Spirit. We never lead another on the heavenward road without the Holy Spirit. We have no acceptable thought, word, or deed apart from the Holy Spirit. Even the uplifting of the eye of hope or the intense prayer of the heart's desire must be His work. All good things are of Him and through Him, from beginning to end. (Taken from Your Available Power by C.H. Spurgeon.)
Suffering will always be with us. How we should handle suffering, even in the best of times for the most devoted follower of Christ, may not always be clear to us. In Be Still, My Soul: Embracing God's Purpose and Provision in Suffering we have a memorable collection of essays from theologians, past and present, sharing their experience and pastoral advice.
