In the Old Testament God gave the Holy Spirit to the prophets. But the people had to come to a prophet to hear the will of God.
In the New Testament all who belong to God are given the Holy Spirit of God to teach them all things, to remind them of that which Jesus has said, to guide them into all truth, and to show them things to come. (John 14:26 & John 16:13)
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom HE hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also HE made the worlds;
So now, in the New Testament church, we no longer have to go to a prophet to inquire of God. We have the Holy Spirit living in us. Jesus tells us this in the following scripture:
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto ME (The Word), and drink.
38 He that believeth on me (The Word), as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
After Jesus died and was taken into heaven, the Holy Spirit of Jesus was given to each believer to live inside that believer to guide that believer into all truth!
Bible shows Holy Spirit lives in the believer:
I Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Bible shows Holy Spirit lives in the believer:
I Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
II Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Romans 8
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, HE that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by HIS Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Romans 8
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, HE that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by HIS Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Jesus lives in each believer today by that Spirit which God gives us after we believe the Word.
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And God gave to individuals "spiritual gifts" whereby they and the church of the New Testament received many benefits to help them in going forward as they lived on this present world. (I Corinthians 12)
One of the greatest of all gifts to the individuals in the church who belong to God was the gift of the Holy Spirit who would show them things of God and the will of God in the matters pertaining to this present life.
I Corinthians 2 Paul says:
Paul kept himself under the control of God by the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
Jesus said:
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto ME (The Word) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We who belong to God have been given "this power", the Holy Spirit of God to live in us and therefore we are witnesses to the Word given directly to us by God as we live on this earth.
But many in churches do not believe and they are antichrist in the churches.
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Most church groups today are structured to keep the Holy Spirit from speaking to the church.
Paul told us what we are to do when we come together as the church.
I Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
God was free to speak through whom HE willed. The Holy Spirit in the individuals spoke to the church as they presented a psalm (prayer), a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, and a interpretation.
Man changed this and set up the gathering of the church where only those individuals who were approved by themselves could speak to the church at that gathering. If Jesus came into the meeting in the flesh of man, HE would not be permitted to speak to the gathering of the church in most groups today.
Sometimes the Sunday School class is set up more like Paul instructed, for there is more freedom for individuals to share spiritual gifts.
I Corinthians 12
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5A nd there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as HE (God) will.
But in the church services today there is no provision made for the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for everything in the meeting is structured by men.
I have seen the gifts of the Holy Spirit operate in the Sunday School class and in prayer groups, but I've never seen an opening for the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the 11 o'clock service.
So if we know we have specific gifts of the Holy Spirit, we have to go to places where they are free to function, such as Bible classes or prayer groups.
Most churches today do not even have a way for the Holy Spirit in their classes or prayer groups. They have reasoned away the gifts of the Holy Spirit and have only those things planned by humans at their meetings.
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