Not accusing you of anything, simply attempting to nip an erroneous notion at the bud.
There is an idea, present within a number of modern Christian circles, and which I've seen promoted many times here on CF, that we shouldn't rely on the historic teaching of the Church, or on biblical exegesis and scholarship, but instead that the Holy Spirit personally enlightens, reveals, and illuminates our understanding. So that if we pray really hard God will personally teach us the truth.
This usually results in people claiming God personally told them something, and that the problem with everyone else is that they aren't listening to God.
But it is important to understand that when Christ said "The Spirit will lead you to all truth" He wasn't speaking to me or you, He was speaking to His Apostles as a group. Thus it is the apostolic teaching, as preserved in Scripture and received in the Church that is trustworthy. The truth, therefore, is not the special possession of any single human being, but is the common possession of the Christian Church, it is what has been heard and believed since the beginning--the Gospel.
-CryptoLutheran
It's not an either/or situation. You're starting with an assumption that I disagree with. Are you really trying to say that the Holy Spirit can't "speak" to individuals? Apparently the Spirit hasn't spoken to you directly or, through lack of faith, you didn't hear Him.
Matthew 1:8, "I baptize you with water, but
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 10:19, " Whenever they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, for what you should say will be given to you at that time.
For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Matthew 12:31, "For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy,
but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Mark 3:29, "But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin"
Mark 12:36, "David himself
, by the Holy Spirit, said, ‘
The Lord said to my lord, “
Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.”
Luke 1:15, "for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink,
and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth."
Luke 1:35, "The angel replied,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God."
Luke 1:41, "When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:67
, "Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
Luke 2:25-27, "Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and
the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So Simeon,
directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law."
Luke 11:13, "If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 12:10, "And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
John 1:33, "And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining—
this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
John 3:5-6, "Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth,
unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.What is born of the flesh is flesh, and
what is born of the Spirit is spirit. The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 14:15-17, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments.
Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.
John 16:7-9, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go,
I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment— concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;
John 16:12-16, "“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. He will glorify me, because
he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you.
Acts 2:1-4
, "Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them."
Acts 2:17-18, "'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
Acts 2:38, "Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 4:31
, "When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken
, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously."
Acts 5:32, "And we are witnesses of these events, and so is
the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Acts 6:3, "But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested,
full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task.
Acts 7:51, “
You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did!"
Acts 8:15-17, "These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. (For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans(!), and they received the Holy Spirit."
Acts 9:17, "So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 10:44-45, "While Peter was still speaking these words,
the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were greatly astonished that
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles..."
I'm getting tired of this, and I haven't even gotten to the Epistles!
If you believe only in corporate Christianity and that the Holy Spirit can't speak to individuals, may God have mercy on you.