Preface To The Second Printing
1. Must God Plead With God?
   
2. How The Spirit Leads
   
3. Physical Reinforcements of Faith
   
4. Jesus' Physical and Spiritual Death
   
5. Is There Merit in Pain?
   
6. The Six Days of Creation
   
7. Adding Guilt to Anxiety
   
8. Wine and The Disciple
   
9. Revolution or Evolution
   
10. I Am That Disciple
    
11. When People Disagree
    
12. Is Unity Based Upon Seven Doctrines?
    
13. Our Seven Sacraments
    
14. Instrumental Music
    
15. The Mood of Worship
    
16. Justified Then Sanctified
    
17. Is Christian Our Name?
    
18. The Lord's Table
    
19. Righteousness That Exceeds
    
20. Neither Destroyed Nor Nailed To The Cross
    
21. The Right of Self-Protection
    
22. A Tree of Error
    
23. God is Limited
    
24. You Are Here
    
25. God is In Charge
    
26. Hook's Points
    
27. Lamentations of A Mediocre Preacher
    

HOW THE SPIRIT LEADS

Because Paul assures us that the Spirit of God is in us and "all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God," most of us accept the fact that we are led by the Spirit. But how does He lead us?

We have wished for signs or concrete evidences of the Spirit's leading. Perhaps you, as 1, have prayed in times of stress and decision that the right choice would be made clear by some indisputable evidence. God has given such evidence to some, but I have heard no voice from heaven, felt no touch of an unseen hand, seen no sign in the sky, or even felt an assuring bodily sensation at the right moment.

How, then, may I know the Spirit's leading? I shall not pretend to give all the answers, but here is a conviction that has come to be an assurance to me in recent times as I now see some things that I overlooked previously. Instead of plucking prooftexts to prove my case, let me review some examples of how the Spirit led certain other persons.

1. After his baptism and reception of the Spirit, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. How was he led? By the hand? By a rope? We would conclude that Jesus' mind and will were the instruments by which he was led. As Jesus was about to enter his ministry, he could see that it would lead ultimately to the hell of separation from God in behalf of mankind. He was tempted to avoid this by serving man in other ways. The Spirit led him in and through this by means of his thinking and volition. Jesus chose the most loving, unselfish course, interpreting the will of God from Scriptures, and made his decision in agonizing fasting. When the decision was made, the devil left him, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee.

Let us not reject this example on the ground that Jesus was divine while we are not. Divinity cannot be tempted and has no need of the leading of the Spirit. He was led and tempted in his humanness.

2. After Jesus' ascension and while the disciples waited in Jerusalem, Peter addressed the disciples on the need of choosing a witness to replace Judas. He initiated a search which produced two men of their own selection. He acted on his own understanding of the will of God relating to this matter, as he interpreted it from the Scriptures. They prayed about it and asked God to make the final decision through lottery. Why put forward two men, one of whom would be rejected and embarrassed? By nominating two and casting lots, they would be depending upon the Spirit directly to make the final choice. Would the Spirit lead through lottery, the flipping of a coin? That is not our usual concept! We generally think of specific inspiration or direct revelation. But neither Peter nor the eleven got up and announced that God had revealed his choice of Matthias to them. Such a revelation would have saved Justus from his embarrassment because then his name. would not have been put up. They interpreted the coin flip as God's answer, and there was never any repudiation of Matthias' apostleship. It was a Spirit­led choice.

The Spirit led through men who unselfishly and prayerfully sought to do what they understood the will of God to be from their reading of the Scriptures.

3. When Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch after preaching to the Gentiles, men came from Judea insisting that all be circumcised to be saved. "Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them." This was a very big issue that could not be ignored. But why should they debate the matter? Why did not Paul get up and say, "Hey, listen; there is no place for debate; I am an apostle fully empowered by Jesus; I will give you the answer by revelation?" That is our common concept as to how spiritual guidance would come.

Paul and Barnabas were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about the question; then they were sent on their way by the church. They were appointed and sent by the church, but later, in Galatians 2:2, Paul wrote, "I went up by revelation." Thus the Spirit led through the decisions of men.

At Jerusalem, there was much debate among the apostles and elders -Spirit­guided men debating to ascertain the truth! Peter made a speech setting forth his views, which was followed by expressions from Paul and Barnabas. Then James replied, "Brethren, listen to me." He gave his reasoning based on his interpretation of the scriptures, and concluded with, "My judgment is…," and detailed his solution to the problem. His suggestions "seemed good to the apostles and elders, with the whole church," and they agreed to send a letter to Antioch stating their conclusions.

Here we see sincere disciples debating, investigating the will of God, and reaching conclusions based on their judgment. Yet, in their letter, they could claim that "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" to reach those conclusions. They recognized the leading of the Spirit!

4. In his farewell to the Ephesian elders, Paul warned, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." How and when did the Spirit appoint elders? In the only record of appointment, two evangelists, Paul and Barnabas, appointed them. And the evangelist, Titus, was instructed to appoint elders in Crete. No doubt, they consulted with the people of the congregations in making their selections. They prayed and fasted in their sincere effort to do the will of God. In this manner, they were being led by the Spirit so that Paul could affirm that the Spirit did the ordaining!

5. Now let's look at Paul's writing about marriage in 1 Corinthians 7. This has been puzzling to most of us because it does not fit our ideas of inspiration and revelation.

In verse 8, Paul bases his instruction simply on "I say." In verse 10, he says, "To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord ..." Jesus had spoken on that subject. But in verse 12, he says, "To the rest I say, not the Lord ..." In similar manner, in verse 25, he says, "Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion… I think…" Verse 40 states, "In my judgment…"

In these references we have "I say," "I say, not the Lord," "I think," "I give my opinion," and "in my judgment." Are these instructions by Paul merely human guidance? No. In the concluding sentence, Paul assures us, "And I think that I have the Spirit of God." This unselfish, loving, spiritual man gave advice based on his deep understanding of the will of God, and he trusted that the Spirit of God was leading him in it.

6. Paul explains that "by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." Have you seen the Spirit in one of our baptistries immersing anyone? All of our baptisms have been performed by men who were acting on their understanding of the will of God, and Paul interprets that as the leading of the Spirit so much as to say the Spirit actually does

the baptizing. Thus, "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."

Now, can we not apply the things we have observed from these examples of the Spirit's leading to our own life situations? Our lives are made up of constant decisions. Some are casual while some involve weighty, complex problems. Shall I buy a new car, quit this job, help this man, use my time for this or for that, use my money in this way or in that way, marry, divorce, read, scream, sleep, pray, visit, or whatever? Does the Spirit lead me in these decisions? What confidence may I have that he does?

I may have the same confidence in the Spirit's leading as the persons in our examples did, if l seek earnestly in the Scriptures to know what God wants, make the most loving and unselfish choices, and pray for God's help in choosing the right course. Prayer helps me to see things from God's viewpoint and it helps me to see through my own selfish interests and my rationalizations to please myself. Thus, when I make or implement a decision, I may rightly declare, "The Spirit led me in this!"

Such a view makes no claim of perfection. The Spirit­filled apostles were not inerrant in their lives and judgments. But God will save his Spirit­led children in spite of their lack of perfection.

The views expressed here do not deny that God has ever spoken to anyone audibly, given physical assurances, or revealed truth through specific inspiration or direct revelation. But the present­day disciple who looks for those demonstrations may never be confident that the Spirit is leading him in any personal way.

(The basic thought of this lesson was gained from a taped lesson by Wes Reagan.)