From J. C. Philpot's Daily Portions
July 28 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide
you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13 There are two grand lessons to be learned in the school
of Christ, and all divine teaching is comprehended and summed up in them.
One is, to learn, by the Spirit's teaching, what we are by nature; so
as to see and feel the utter ruin and thorough wreck of self, and the
complete beggary, weakness, and helplessness of the creature in the things
of God. This is the first grand branch of divine teaching. And we have to
learn this lesson day by day, "line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little." Through this branch of divine teaching we have
almost daily to wade, and sometimes to sink into very painful depths under a
sense of our depraved nature. And the other grand branch of divine teaching is, "To
know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent." To know
who Jesus is, and to know what he is; to know the efficacy of his atoning
blood to purge the guilty conscience, the power of his justifying
righteousness to acquit and absolve from all sin; the mystery of his dying
love to break down the hardness of heart, and raise up a measure of love
towards him; and to see, by the eye of faith, his holy walk and suffering
image, so as to be in some measure conformed to him, and have his likeness
in some measure stamped upon our souls.