“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:” (Isaiah 11:1-3).
The most dangerous statement that a Christian can make is “I fell led”! This is for Robert Tilton Baptists! It is the Baptist “word of knowledge.” Sixty-four years ago, as of this writing, something wonderful happened to me! I was saved from going to a devil’s Hell. With that salvation many things happened that I was unaware of happening on God’s side of the equation.
One thing that happened to me was that the Holy Spirit came to live in my body. On my side all I did was place my faith in Jesus for payment of my sins. It was like flipping on the light switch. The architect and the electrician handled the complicated part while I simply flipped the switch in faith. So many different things happened to me when I was saved. All of which 99% of us who are saved were unaware.
The average preacher does not have the foggiest idea why the Holy Spirit came into the bodies of the saved to live. The Holy Spirit’s work is not what we usually think it is. He did not come in so when you need to make a decision you will come to Him and ask Him to give you the right decision. He did not come in to comfort you as YOU think he should comfort you!
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:16).
The Bible correctors always say that “itself” should have been rendered “himself.” However, the reason the word is in the neuter sense is because it refers to the Scriptures, something that is in black and white and cannot be changed or altered.
This Scripture does not mean that an unseen spirit starts talking to you and tells you that you are saved. It is saying that the Words of God tell you if you are saved or not.
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life…” (I John 5:13). “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).
I would rather have a verse in black and white like John 5:24 or Romans 10:13 than some unseen spirit telling us that we can be sure that we are saved from going to Hell.
The Holy Spirit authored the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit is speaking to us through those Scriptures. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:21).
So, I receive my assurance from the Scriptures that I am going to Heaven when I die! I do not know I am saved because of dreams, a tingling sensation, or hearing voices but by what is in print, which is called Scriptures. That my friend is not of God!
The Holy Spirit wrote a Book! That Book tells me how to be saved and miss Hell. I did what the Book said to do in order to go to Heaven. Thus, I know I am saved from Hell because THE BOOK, the King James Bible for the English-speaking people, told me what to do and I did it and thus I am going to Heaven.
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (I John 5:7).
May I ask a question? Would you rather have a written note from your spouse that says, “I love you” or would you rather be in a distant state and say, “I bet my wife is thinking about me right now! I think she’s saying she loves me right now because our spirits’ are bearing witness right now!”
Phooey, she’s probably watching Oprah or Dr. Phil! I would rather have it written down and I would rather have the Scriptures than a spooky feeling or dream! Somebody say AMEN!
Many Baptists are silly and spooky as the Charismatic with this “I feel led” philosophy of life. The truth is God says that His Words are to be the thing that leads us through this life.
Buckle your seat belt! The Holy Spirit did not come primarily into you to lead you! He came into you to shed light on that which is supposed to lead you 99 % of the time and that is none other than the Scriptures.
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” (I Corinthians 2:9-10).
The instructions are found in the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit searches out all things even the deep things of God to help us in this life. Rarely in a lifetime does the Holy Spirit lead any saved person outside of his Scriptures. 99 times out of a 100 the Holy Spirit leads you by the Bible.
The only way you have to know He is leading you is your own thought process and your own thought processes are not always right. Thus, the Holy Spirit did not come to tell you apart from the Scriptures what to do in life. He came to shed light on THE ONLY BOOK that He wrote and that BOOK is your leadership.
He came into you to live so He could direct you and explain to you the very Scriptures that He wrote so you could find out in that Bible what to do.
That is one of the big reasons a saved person should stay away from other perversions of the Scriptures. Modern translations are so dangerous because they are Satan’s attempt to produce a counterfeit that would lead the unsaved to Hell with a focus on “works” for salvation instead of “faith.”
For example if I were a young man looking for a potential wife I would rather look for the one the Bible describes. If you just ask the Spirit to lead you the flesh will overturn His choice. I would rather find out what a lady is supposed to be according to the Scriptures and not a voice or impression. The chances of picking out the right wife because you “feel led” are almost zero.
Hey girls! Any guy who tells you that the Holy Spirit told him to date you is NUTS! I would rather trust what the Holy Spirit put into print than what I think the Holy Spirit is saying!
Most inclinations in life are yours and not the Holy Spirit’s. You choose her because she’s cute, but they don’t stay cute my friend! Excuse me, I know one that did, but she’s taken!
First check the Scriptures and second beg God to control your mind as you go through the selection process! I would rather choose a sermon from the Scriptures than to ask the Holy Spirit what I ought to preach!
The Holy Spirit did not come in to lead you, but to teach you and give you light on what the Scriptures already says you are to do. He came into you to explain to you what He penned down in Heaven because it is the Bible that leads you, not a spooky kind of a leadership where you tingle and are led by dreams.
What in the world is the difference between a Charismatic who stands up and says, “I have a word of knowledge” and a Baptist who says, “I feel led.”
Isn’t it interesting that the one who always feels led always are led to do what they want to do and not led to do what they do not want to do?
The truth is I feel led to go to Hawaii! AMEN! Ok! Then it only makes sense that the Holy Spirit was given to you to allow you to get to know the Scriptures so you could have the mind of Christ!
Someone says, “Aren’t we supposed to seek His will?” Read this carefully! There is nothing in the Scriptures about you seeking the Holy Spirit’s leadership apart from the Bible.
Show me anybody in the Scriptures apart from the Words of God who sought the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Show me anyone in the Bible where in response to seeking the Holy Spirit that the Holy Spirit led. Case after case in the Bible when the Holy Spirit apart from the Bible led someone it was not in response to their seeking, but that they were surprised that He led them.
THE EHIOPIAN EUNUCH
Acts 8:29, “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.”
The Holy Spirit led Philip to go talk to the Eunuch. Philip was not in a prayer meeting praying and seeking the leadership of the Holy Spirit as to where he should go. What was Philip doing he was obeying the Great Commission of going into the entire world and preaching the Gospel to every creature and someone crossed his path and he gave him the Gospel.
Philip was merely obeying the written word and his path crossed the path of a man who was Secretary Treasurer for Queen Candace. Guess what, the Eunuch was reading the Scriptures and he was saved. He goes back to Ethiopia and obeyed the same written Word and led others to Christ.
THE APOSTLE PAUL
The Apostle Paul on his second missionary journey came to a place called Bithynia. He did not ask God where he should go he was simply obeying God who wrote, “Go into all the world…” and the Scriptures say, “The Spirit suffered him not to go to Bithynia…” but it was the obedience to the written Word that lead him to the point where the Holy Spirit could use it to get him to Macedonia.
Get busy leading people to Christ for salvation and it will shock you how you end up being led by the Holy Spirit through obedience to the Scriptures. You do not find the Holy Spirit’s leadership outside of the Bible by seeking it but by obeying it.
PETER
Peter was led to the House of Cornelius in Acts chapters 10 and 11. Peter was not looking for the Spirit’s leadership. He was simply obeying the Word of God! Peter was looking for sinners!
The Word of God said in Acts 1:8 for them to start in Jerusalem and the Bible says they filled Jerusalem with their doctrine. Daily in the Temple and in every house and then they went to Judea and to Samaria and up till chapter 13.
Then they went to the uttermost parts of the earth. They were busy obeying what the Holy Spirit wrote. The Scriptures are how the Holy Spirit leads you.
In Acts chapter 10, Peter was not seeking a master plan for his life. Peter was not seeking where to go because it did not matter where he was he was just looking for sinners. Just do it where you are and you will never have to worry about if you are in the center of the will of God?
If a soldier is fighting in a war and he loses his company. I suspect it would be ok to fight wherever he was at that moment. If you are ever in the wrong place and win the whole town to Christ God is not going to be upset with you!
When God led Peter to the House of Cornelius he was not seeking apart from the Bible where he was supposed to go. He was busy looking for sinners! He was busy obeying the Scriptures and as a result the leadership of the Holy Spirit occurred.
When all you do is look for open doors you will never find one. “I’m praying for God to open a door!” Shut up and go keep someone out of Hell. Then without you seeking it: surprise, surprise, some door will open an opportunity to do more of what you are already doing! This is called “greater works.” Please understand that there has to be a “work” before there can be “greater works!”
The Holy Spirit will not lead you while you are attempting to get Him to lead you! It is time to quit blaming the Holy Spirit for our own spookiness.
Evangelist Lester Roloff told be about his early training for getting his pilot’s license. He said that one of the things they taught was to be careful about “vertigo.” I asked what they meant by that word. He said that while you are flying sometimes you are overwhelmed with the sensation that you are flying upside down and many pilots follow that emotion and crash their planes. He said they taught him when that feeling started to take over their mind to immediately look at the gages and obey what you see and not what you feel.
You can trust your eyes when you cannot trust your feelings. The Holy Spirit came into you to shed light on what He has already written down in the Scriptures. Trust what you read and not what you feel!
If God wants to change where you are He knows how to get into contact with you. He knows where you are! Paul in Acts 21:4 was forbidden to preach in Jerusalem. Paul was busy winning the world not seeking Holy Spirit leadership and in obeying the Scriptures in seeking sinners the Holy Spirit Surprised him and said, “Don’t go!”
Logic with me please! If I ask the Holy Spirit to lead me I could make a mistake, but when I read the Bible I know He wrote this. So, the Holy Spirit came into my body to lead me as He shed light upon THE BOOK He wrote to help me end up in His will.
He comforts me as He sheds light on His BOOK of comfort. He counsels me as He sheds light on His BOOK of counsel. He gives me wisdom as He sheds light on His BOOK of wisdom.
Suppose the Bible does not speak as I seek? Suppose the Holy Spirit does not speak, as I don’t seek? Then I go to Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
I lose my own will and I give counselors veto power that have spent more time in the BOOK the Holy Spirit wrote and obeyed God. With the information the Holy Spirit has given me, in conjunction with the experience of older Christians, I then set a time to make a decision.
I work extra hard while I approach that date of decision. I make the decision to make a dead line and I do not reconsider. If I have a doubt I stay where I am. The secret though is to spend time in the Scriptures and allow the Holy Spirit to shed light on those Scriptures while staying busy doing the commanded things.