Spirit-Led
ESV Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Since this is the first time I have written a blog specifically about the Holy Spirit, I would like to begin this particular writing with an overview of the Spirit’s ministry.
- THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – The Holy Spirit is God. He is the third person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: one God who manifests Himself in three distinct persons).
- THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT – That is the act of God by which He places the believer into the Body of Christ, which is the church. When we become Christians, we are baptized by means of the Holy Spirit. It is a once in a lifetime act.
- THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT – That happens – or should happen – repeatedly. Being filled by the Spirit means being controlled by the Spirit, surrendering to the will of God in your life and allowing Him to direct your path. You should be both baptized and filled at this very moment if you are a Christian.
- THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT – When we are saved we are given a spiritual gift from God to be used, not for our immediate personal benefit, but the good of the church. When we exercise our spiritual gifts the church is strengthened and Christ is glorified. Each one of you – if you are a Christian – has a spiritual gift. We are to use our spiritual gifts to serve one another, to build up the church, and to glorify God.
- THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – Spiritual Fruit is the outward indicator of one’s salvation. The Fruit of the Spirit is the character of Jesus Christ produced in the life of the obedient believer by God’s own Spirit and only is manifested in the lives of those who belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ.
- WALKING BY THE SPIRIT – When we are surrendered to the Holy Spirit we are walking by the power and presence of the Spirit.
- THE SPIRIT-LED LIFE – This week’s blog is really the other side of the coin of Walking by the Spirit. If you are walking – that is to say, living – by the Spirit, you are living a Spirit-Led Life. The principle of surrendering to the Holy Spirit is so significant, so essential to our relationship to God, so practical in that it is the “how to” of the Christian life. However, the believer can live – and should be expected others to live – a life of consistent, Christ-honoring obedience.
NAS Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
If we are living a Spirit-led life we do not need an external code to keep us in line. The Christian who is surrendered to the Holy Spirit, walking by His power, led by His indwelling presence, will be in obedience to God. Certainly, I am not suggesting 100% of the time. Only the Lord Jesus could claim perfect obedience.
As the term implies, the Spirit-led life is a life led by the Holy Spirit. Allow me to make some more introductory statements that may at first sound repetitious and exceedingly obvious. We do well, however, not to dismiss them as simplistic.
In order for the Spirit to lead us we must follow His leadership:
KJV Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
NLT Luke 6:46 “So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me?
The Christian life is a life of obedience. The Christian life is to be a life lived in submission to the Holy Spirit. We are able to live a life that is obedient to the Holy Spirit. A life that is pleasing to God is a life surrendered to the power of the Holy Spirit.
“LEAD”… What does it mean to lead? Remember, this is the obvious part.J But we want to ponder the obvious so that we don’t miss anything fundamental. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary lists no fewer than 33 different connotations for the meaning of lead as a verb. Let’s just look a couple of the primary meanings. The first meaning of lead is “to go before” or “to go with to show the way.” Although our English dictionaries are not always the way we define words in the Bible (because the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek and not English), in this case it is perfect. Let’s ponder the obvious and think about this dictionary meaning: “to go before” or “go with to show the way.” When we lead a Spirit-led life the Holy Spirit is going before us to show us the way:
NAS John 16:13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
“GUIDE”… To guide someone is to lead someone. Webster’s says, to direct the course of, to steer.” The Holy Spirit guides us; He steers us through the difficulties of life.
Chuck Swindoll tells this story about a guide: “When I was in the Marine Corps our ship one time was at the northeastern corner of Formosa (now called Taiwan) near Taipei. We stopped there at the mouth of the harbor and awaited the arrival of the harbor pilot, who came out and took the wheel of the ship to guide us through the pathless waters that lead to the dock itself. At first glance that seemed like an unnecessary thing to do. We could see the dock less than a mile ahead. But the closer we looked and the longer we looked over the side of the ship into the crystal clear waters, we could tell why. There were mines located randomly beneath the surface of the water. If the hull of our ship had nudged a mine just enough, disaster would have occurred. But the pilot of the harbor, our guide, knew where every mine was located.”
If Chuck Swindoll had tried to weave the ship through the harbor, he surely would have hit a mine. There are many mines in the waters of life. The Holy Spirit is our guide. But we have to let Him take control.
“He will guide you into all truth.” What a comforting thought! The Holy Spirit is leading us into truth. And does He do this? By dreams and visions? By experience and emotions? That is what a lot of people say today. No. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit does this primarily by the Word.
I don’t want to limit the Spirit here. I said “primarily.” God’s ways are higher than or ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Charles Ryrie explains it this way:
It is the Holy Spirit who leads us… and He does so basically through fellowship with Himself. (That fellowship is mostly made manifest through Bible study and prayer, but also through circumstance. – TAR) Substitutes should not be sought for fellowship with God. A knowledge of the Word of God is essential. God never leads contrary to the Word; indeed, He leads on the basis of the Word. The Word tells one both how God will not lead and how He will lead.
Refusal to follow this supernatural leading is one the major ways we can quench the Spirit.
ESV 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.
Another “Hall of Fame” theologian, John Walvoord, has these relevant words:
Quenching the Holy Spirit is suppressing what God wants to do our lives. You can easily see how this is closely related to His guidance. You are either surrendering to the Spirit or you are rebelling. Rebelling is quenching. “There are many spiritual decisions for which the Word of God does not give specific instruction. The general truths of Scripture must be applied to a given life and circumstances. In this aspect of the truth, the Word of God gives the principles, but the Spirit of God gives the instructions.
Walvoord adds this on the Spirit’s leading:
Guidance may take various forms and does not follow a regular pattern. The Spirit may lead one into a field of service and exclude another. Guidance usually relates to service and essential to it. Man was not created with a self-guiding faculty, but is dependent upon God for direction.
God has always sought to be with man. Before God passed judgment on Adam and Eve in the Garden after Adam sinned, before God expelled them from the Garden, He used to walk with them; God enjoyed being with man; His presence was personal:
KJV Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Even after man sinned, God was with him. God was with Moses and the people of Israel…
KJV Exodus 33:9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar (God’s presence) descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses.
KJV Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
KJV Exodus 33:14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. In the Old Testament God’s presence on earth was primarily first in the Tabernacle:
KJV Exodus 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation (tabernacle), and the glory (God’s presence) of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
And later in the Temple:
KJV 1 Kings 8:10-11 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.
That’s bring-you-to-your-knees beautiful, don’t you agree?
Then God withdrew His presence. Because of the persistence and outrageousness of man’s sins, the Bible tells us that God’s presence departed from the temple…
KJV Ezekiel 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house,
God still interacted with man but His presence no longer filled the Temple. Hundreds of years passed… and then…
KJV Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Now God, the Holy Spirit, amazingly lives within the Christian. The same God who walked with Adam in the Garden, and filled the tabernacle and then the temple, that same God is now living in the temples that are our bodies:
KJV 1 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.
The night before Jesus went to the cross to die for your sins and mine He promised His disciples – and by extension us – that after He ascended to heaven (Acts 1) the Holy Spirit would come and take up residency in the church. You and I are the church. The Holy Spirit lives inside you! Amazing. Beautiful. Comforting…
NAS John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
O, soul, dost thou not know thou carriest GOD around with thee.” – Augustine
God the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of believers. Everyone who is a genuine (as opposed to someone who is only a professing “believer”) is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Consequently we share one characteristic quality. That quality is that in our thoughts, behavioral patterns, and life styles we are consistently and habitually led by the Spirit of God.
KJV Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
KJV John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Remember in Pastor Matt’s recent sermon from 1 John, “Family Resemblance,” he made the fundamental point that on a human level we reflect the characteristics of our parents. Some more than others, of course, but it is a natural fact others can tell sooner or later by observing us some reflection of “Family Resemblance.” The same is true on the spiritual level: generally: by our actions others will know us; if we are living Spirit-led lives, we should have little trouble loving one another.
“A day to day surrendered, obedient response to the leading of the Holy Spirit indicates to everyone to whom we belong. We follow the one we belong to.” – MacGorman
KJV Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
“You gotta serve somebody: It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.” – Bob Dylan song
Jesus promised believers that they would receive supernatural power:
NAS Acts 1:8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
The Christian leading a Spirit-led life possesses supernatural power. The blessing of the Holy Spirit guarantees we will have the strength to meet all the challenges of life. Look thoughtfully again at our key verse:
KJV Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The absolute, inclusive tone of this verse and the positive, reassuring context in which is in seems to plainly suggest that this is the normal experience of the believer according to the plan and purpose of God. Christians are to live lives that are led by the Holy Spirit…
NAS 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
We are property of God. We are His blood-bought slaves. Therefore, we should let Him have His way and follow Him.
However, sadly the leading of the Holy Spirit is not experienced by all in whom the Spirit dwells. For such leading depends on a willingness on our parts to go where He, in His infinite wisdom, would have us to go…
KJV Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(Following) confirms our sonship. Sons are led. The leading ministry of the Holy Spirit is one of the most assuring ones for the Christian. The sons and daughters of God need never walk in the dark; they are always free to ask and receive directions from the Spirit Himself through (Bible study and prayer).” –Ryrie
God the Holy Spirit at this very moment is indwelling us. He is ready to lead us through the difficulties of life. He is ready to teach us, strengthen us, comfort us, and bless us, but He is all but dormant within us, an immense power lying unused within us, until us surrender to His control and choose to follow Him…
NAS Psalm 25:5 Lead me in Thy truth and teach me, For Thou art the God of my salvation; For Thee I wait all the day.
– Professor Thomas A. Rohm
