"This Is How We Know"

We have very little insight into the challenges the old warrior Apostle John felt in his spirit as he endured his time of isolation on the small island of Patmos. Having no way to know how long he remained in that exile, we try to fill in some of the blanks from what he wrote during this period and possibly even later after he probably made it to Ephesus where he did much of his writing during his last days and is thought to have died in his 90's.

This much I do know, his faith was made stronger during those difficult years because of the visions he received from Jesus and because of the enduring presence of the Holy Spirit. He wrote these monumental words:
"You dear children are from God and have overcome them (the evil spirits) because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 NIV

He had just told them to trust their hearts, their instincts, because that too comes from God.
"And this is how we know that he (Jesus) lives in us; We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 3:24

Virtually all of John's first letter is to help the disciples of Jesus understand the crucial role of the Holy Spirit in their faith and obedience of the truth Jesus had taught and modeled.
"This is the One who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man's testimony but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son." 5:6-9

One final word from John's pen is, to me, one of the great truths God wants all of us to understand -
"We know that we live in him and he in us because he has given us his Spirit." 4:13

Recently in a Bible class with a group of college students, all of whom are Christians, most of them reared in Christian homes, I asked them to share with the class how they appreciate the Holy Spirit. Predictably, there was a long silence. Finally one young man spoke up first and told us that he knows nothing about the Holy Spirit because in his family's church or in his home, the Spirit was never discussed, which turned out to be the common experience. Me too! What a shame on the church that we have allowed generation after generation to go into the world with little or no knowledge of the one God has commissioned to live in us for a very specific purpose.

The Apostle Paul wrote that, "No one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:3

I KNOW what I KNOW because the Holy Spirit has revealed the words of God in written form and I can now hold that in my hands and read it for myself. But, there is another element that is crucial to the confirmation of that written word and that is the Spirit living in me to give me guidance, encouragement and direction in my personal quest to know God as my Father and Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. This too was John's source of spiritual vitality in his old age. He offered the same divine gift  to all people -

"The Spirit and the bride say , "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the water of life." Revelation 22:17

 CAN SOMEBODY SAY "HALLELUJAH!"