Being Led
The ministry and leading of the Holy Spirit is one of the most misunderstood areas of Christian life. Yet the leading of the Holy Spirit is not a mystery. The Bible is clear about how the Spirit will lead us and there are many examples in the New Testament of how the leading of the Holy Spirit applies in the New Covenant.
In John, chapters 14 to 16, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and explaining some essential truths that they will need to know to be successful in life and ministry. In these three chapters Jesus teaches about the ministry of the Holy Spirit five times. Apparently Jesus felt that upon his departure, it was very important that we would know about the leading of the Holy Spirit.
‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.’ John 14:16-17 ESV
The first thing to note is that Jesus said, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper … you know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is not purely a binary relationship, it’s not just us and the Holy Spirit. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is part of a communal relationship with our Heavenly Father and with his son Jesus Christ. This has implications because it defines the context of how the Holy Spirit will lead us.
The Holy Spirit is ‘another helper’ (John 14:16). This means he will help us in the same way, with the same agenda as Jesus helped the disciples. The Holy Spirit will always lead us within the revealed will of God, in line with his Word and supporting his agenda.
‘And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.’ (1 John 5:6-8 ESV)
The Holy Spirit will always agree and lead us in agreement with the revealed will of God in the life Jesus and through his Word- the Bible. (John 14:25-26) This is very important. It gives us a template of how the Holy Spirit will lead us.
The way in which the Holy Spirit led Jesus, is in harmony with how the Holy Spirit leads us. The purposes, strategies and outcomes with which the Holy Spirit led Jesus, are the purposes, strategies and outcomes in which the Holy Spirit will lead us.
I once heard of a man who felt the Holy Spirit was leading him to leave his wife and marry another woman. It may have been a ‘Spirit’ that was leading him, but it sure wasn’t the Holy Spirit. The Bible doesn't teach us to leave our spouses and marry someone else- the Devil does!
I know of people who thought the Holy Spirit was leading them by tarot cards and other diviners. A ‘Spirit’ may have been leading them, but it was not the Holy Spirit.
People sometimes think that God leads them by ‘signs’ or circumstances. But no-where in the New Testament does it say the the Holy Spirit will lead us by ‘signs’ or circumstances. The Holy Spirit didn't lead Jesus by circumstance or signs, so he won’t lead us that way. (He may tell you to look for something, but this is a Word of Knowledge or Wisdom which he speaks to your spirit).
Also, the Holy Spirit is also not going to take us on our own personal tangent or give us our own unique interpretation of Scripture (2 Peter 1:20).
The Holy Spirit doesn't led us in non-scriptural ways just because we heard someone preach it and we felt tingles -and in case you were wondering, the Holy Spirit doesn't lead by ‘tingles!
The exciting thing is- we can learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit if we’re humble enough to let him show us through his Word.
