Enjoying God and Other Rare Events - Steve Sampson

Only By the Spirit
the Holy One, and you know all things” 1 John 2:20.
5. We Know By the Spirit—Following the Spirit means
knowing things that are not obvious to the natural senses.
Jesus knew by the Spirit when He said to Nathaniel,
“Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” And
again, “Before Philip called you, when you were under
the fig tree, I saw you” John 1:47-48. Peter knew by the
Spirit that Ananias and Sapphira had lied to the Holy Spirit
and kept back part of the selling price of the land for
themselves (Acts 5:1-11).
6. We Understand By the Spirit—Only God can give
spiritual understanding. Paul prayed for the church at
Ephesus, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, may give you the spirit (in your spirit) of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened (flooded with
light)” Ephesians 1:17-18. To pray for spiritual
understanding is of utmost importance for every Christian.
7. We See By the Spirit—We develop spiritual sight as we
grow spiritually. Seeing by the Spirit is seeing that which
our natural senses cannot tell us. When Paul was preaching
at Lystra, a man crippled from his mother’s womb was
listening to him. “Paul, observing him intently and seeing
that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice,
‘Stand up straight on your feet!’ And he leaped and
walked” Acts 14:9-10. Jesus frequently saw and perceived
the evil intents of the hearts of the Pharisees.
8. We Hear By the Spirit—There is nothing more wonderful
than hearing the voice of the Spirit. Philip, when
commanded by an angel of the Lord to go to the desert,
heard the voice of the Spirit. “Then the Spirit said to
Philip, ‘Go near and overtake this chariot’” Acts 8:29.
Ananias heard the Lord speak to him in a vision telling him
to go lay hands on a man named Saul of Tarsus who was
praying (Acts 9:11). Jesus said, “I can of Myself do
nothing. As I hear, I judge...” John 5:30. Countless times
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