I forgot to tell an interesting story I heard at the end of announcements. So I'll just tell it now. A funny story and then we'll get into the sermon.
There was little girl at school talking to her teacher at show and tell. And she was talking to her teacher about whales because she had learned from her parents the episode of Jonah and the whale. And so she was talking about whales and that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. And the teacher was an atheist. And so the teacher, after she made her little statement, the teacher said, "Well, that's just impossible. Whales don't swallow human beings. Their throat is too small. A human couldn't pass through the throat of a whale." And the little girl listened and she after the teacher finished, after she said it was physically impossible to swallow a human being, the little girl, "Well, when I get to heaven. I'm going to talk to Jonah and see how it was done!" And the teacher smart-aleckly said, "Well, what if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl says, "Then you can ask him." (Laughter!) I thought that was so funny. Out of the mouths of babes the Psalms say!
One of the first Scriptures when I came into the Church in the mid-sixties, one of the first Scriptures I memorized was Romans 8 and verse 9. Let's turn there. I know it's a familiar Scripture to most everybody—a memory Scripture those years ago. And the reason we memorize that Scripture is because it tells us who is a Christian. And that was something I have never seen the definition of. Romans 8 and verse 9, it says:
Romans 8:9. But [you] are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God [dwells or lives] in you. [He says,] Now if any man [or woman] have not the Spirit of Christ, he [that man, or she, that woman] is none of his [meaning Christ's. It should be a capital H]. (KJV)
The reason that we memorize that so diligently is because it focuses in on a definition of a Christian. And I can remember pulling that out of context and burning it in my brain as the definition of a Christian. But quite often sometimes there is additional information, or even more important information, a few verses surrounding the verses we tend to memorize. Now notice what follows a few verses later. Look at verse 14. It says:
Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (KJV)
This is something now far different than what we just read. If you are led by the spirit of God, then you become the sons of God.
Now the Greek word for led is Strong's 71. And it's the Greek word ago and it means to guide, to be guided or to be directed, or to lead through to a conclusion, or to conduct through to an end or to some goal.
And so, with that definition in mind, if we are guided by the spirit of God, directed by the God, led to a goal by the spirit of God and if that's the case, then we are the sons of God. Now this doesn't say just having the holy spirit, but it takes it to a much higher level of being led by the holy spirit. And there is a world of difference between just having God's spirit versus being led by God's spirit. And so that's what we want to explore today in the sermon.
If you want to put a title: What Does It Mean To Be Led By The Spirit?
Because we make a huge error, as we're going to see, if we just think just having God's spirit is enough. We make a huge error because we're going to find out that if we want to be in the Kingdom of God, if we want to avoid the tribulation, if we want to be in the Family of God, we've got to be led by God's spirit. Not be content with just having God's spirit.
So the First Point we want to make is a form of background and a reminder. I know that many of you know this. The First Point is that:
The holy spirit gives us the ability and the power to become like Christ.
We want to be the Bride of Christ. Well, the way we get there is through the power of the holy spirit because the holy spirit allows us to be transformed from who we are. Jack was talking about the carnal human nature that we have and this warfare that we fight. Well, the war is to get rid of our human nature, our carnal nature, and to become like Jesus Christ in the very nature of our being. And the spirit of power that enables us to do that is the holy spirit because it is a spirit of power.
Let's go to John 14 and verse 23. Christ was trying to get across to the disciples, soon to be apostles, He wanted to get across to them what was going to happen and what was going to be required of them once He left. John 14 verse 23, we read this on the night of the Passover.
John 14:23. Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man [loves] me, he will keep my words: [He says,] and my Father will love him [those who love Christ], and we [referring to the Father and the Son] will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (KJV)
Live inside a human being!
As an aside: If there was a trinity, this would be the perfect time to mention this! There would be three living there. But this only says two.
So let's understand that it is possible to have God—the Father and the Son—come and make their dwelling in us through the power of the holy spirit.
Let's now jump to Romans 8 and verse 10. This is all by way of a reminder of the nature of the holy spirit. Romans 8 and verse 10, Paul is telling the Brethren in Rome, and us today, the following fundamental important concept about the holy spirit. Romans 8 and verse 10, it says:
Romans 8:10. And if Christ be in you, (KJV)
Inside us, living in us, as we just read in John 14!
Romans 8:10b. the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (KJV)
The spirit allows us to have life because it gives us the power to do what Christ would do if he was in our shoes, if Christ was walking in our steps. It gives us the power to live like Christ in this human life, as Christ lived in His human life.
Now let's go to Colossians 1 and verse 27. We have to just fundamentally understand that if Christ isn't living in us, we're not being led by God's spirit. Christ has to live in us. Colossians 1 and verse 27, it says:
Colossians 1:27. To whom God would make known what is the riches of [His] glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; (KJV)
And this was of concern because in the Jewish mind, there was no thought of Gentiles ever being converted. It was just beyond the realm of possibility, but it says, "Now there is a mystery here." And this mystery he defines in this last phrase.
Colossians 1:27b. which is Christ in you [Jews and Gentiles], the hope of glory: (KJV)
And so what Christ in us does, be we Jew or Gentile or Israelite, it gives us the power to change what the Bible calls, what the New Testament calls from the old person to the new person, from the old way to the new way, from the carnal man or woman to a spiritual man or woman. It gives us that power.
Look at chapter 3 and verse 10. See this is what Paul is building up to the point here that we through chapter 1 and 2, but notice what he says in Colossians 3 and verse 10. And he says:
Colossians 3:10. And have put on the new (KJV)
Now the word man in the King James is in italics. It can be men or women.
Colossians 3:10. And have put on the new which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him [It should be a capital H referring to Jesus Christ.] that created him [meaning the new person]: (KJV)
The new person is only created through the power of God and that power of God allows us to transform ourselves into the image of Jesus Christ and how He lived on this earth.
Now we all know by personal experience, we all know that God can change the hearts and minds of human beings, because if we look inside ourselves, God has changed every one of us. We can go back in our lives and see the evil, horrible thoughts we've had. The deeds we've had. We have people in the Church who've been in jail. We've had people in the Church who've killed people. People in the Church who've done all kinds of horrible sins, committed all kind—broke every one of the Ten Commandments—and many more and yet, they are now changed. They are different people through the power of the holy spirit—the ability of the power to become like Jesus Christ. We need no further than to look in our own lives and see that.
So the First Background Point is:
God's holy spirit gives us the ability and the power to become like Christ.
The Second Point we need to make talking about being led by the holy spirit is that:
The holy spirit guides and leads us.
Now contrary to the rantings of TV evangelists where you see these guys come up and whap somebody on the forehead and they fall over backward and start shaking and jumping up and down then and start singing in some gibberish and dancing around and all of that, they're claiming that "Look at the power of the holy spirit in action!" Well, you look at the Bible and you don't see any of that. You look at the Bible and you see that God's spirit guides and leads. God's spirit doesn't have a whip and a chair after somebody like a lion tamer would have with a lion just forcing. God's spirit doesn't force. God's spirit guides and leads.
Let's go to John 16 and look at verse 13. Christ was trying to describe to the disciples what was going to happen to them after He left. And He's saying, "You're going to have help that you can't imagine. You're going to have help that very few people have ever had before." And he wanted to prepare them for that. John 16 and verse 13:
John 16:13. Howbeit when [it], the Spirit of truth, is come, (KJV)
Notice what it says!
John 16:13b. [it] will guide you into all truth: (KJV)
Now the Greek word for guide is Strong's 3594. And it simply means to show the way or to teach.
And so what Christ is saying, "There is a spirit that is going to come upon you that will guide you into the truth, that will teach you the truth, or will show you the way to the truth, or will lead you to the truth," all the meanings of that very word.
Notice going on!
John 16:13 continued. for [it] shall not speak of [itself]; but whatsoever [it] shall hear, that shall [it] speak: and [it] will show you things to come. (KJV)
Again indicating that this is not a person; this is not a being; it's a force; it's a power that opens the mind and teaches the truth.
Now the holy spirit guides us into all truth. Now we appropriately apply that to understanding the Scriptures. And the holy spirit guides us even before we're baptized, opens our mind to understanding the truth because Christ told the disciples, "This spirit is with you and shall be in you." And that's what happened to us before baptism. It was with us, opened our mind to understand the Bible, understand the truth. And then when it came inside us, it led us to a new understanding of God's Word and God's truth. And that's a common role that we correctly ascribe to God's holy spirit.
But another way it guides us into the truth is that it opens our mind to see the truth about ourselves. That is very, very important. The holy spirit opens our mind to see the truth about ourselves. We would call that a gift of self-awareness. Self-awareness and somebody who has God's spirit and is being led by God's spirit and is operating with God's spirit, we then start to see how we come across to other people. Because I've known people that have gone through their lives and they just leave a trail of misery and a trail of hurt feelings behind them and they are not even aware of it. They don't have a clue!
But once somebody is imbued with God's holy spirit they begin to change and they begin to see how they come across to others. And if they offend somebody, or say something that shouldn't be said, or they can now see by the tone of voice of somebody or the look on their face that you've said something you shouldn't say or you've offended or hurt somebody's feelings, be it your mate, be it a friend, be it somebody in the Church, it's a new awareness that people never had before—self-awareness. We begin to see what kind of mates we are, what kind of parents we are, what kind of friends we are that we never saw before because we never analyzed how we came across to other people because we never had to power to do that—through God's holy spirit.
And we can see—we began to see over the years, how we stack up to Jesus Christ, how we compare to Jesus Christ. We shouldn't do that just at the Passover. But we have this image, the more we study the Bible, the more we understand the deep meaning of the Scriptures, we understand what Christ was really like and what God's nature is really like. Then the power of the holy spirit begins to give us this self-awareness where we see ourselves here. We see God and Christ up here. And now we see the difference. And we've got to change from here to here. We have to change and transform ourselves through the spirit of God, the holy spirit to become like Jesus Christ. That's only possible when we have a self-awareness and we see where we don't measure up in what we need to change.
And, as I said, the holy spirit leads us, gently guides us—not with a whip and a chair! We won't turn there, but in Luke 4 and verse 1, it says, "Christ was led by the holy spirit into the wilderness to be tested by Satan." He was led. He wasn't driven into the wilderness. But He was led and responded by that urge to go into the wilderness. It is a gentle urge.
And for that—I've said this before—because it's a gentle urge, it can be a thought; it can be an emotion; it can be an idea. We should never say, "No," to that lead, that guidance of God's spirit in us. If you have a thought, or if you have an urge to do something godly—maybe you have an urge, "I just need to get down and pray," do it; act on it! That's God's holy spirit speaking to us in that sense—God speaking to us through the power of the holy spirit that we kneel down and pray. Maybe we have an urge to study. Maybe we have an urge to write a letter. Maybe we have an urge to call somebody that needs help. Don't say, "No" to that. We need to immediately act on that.
A good analogy is like exercise. That if you're laying on the couch and all of a sudden you feel the urge to exercise, if you lay there long enough the urge will go away. And if we ignore that voice, that inner voice through God's spirit to do something godly or do something good, I'm telling you, "It'll go away." And then the next time, it won't be as strong because we have spurned it. We have turned our back on the desire say to pray or to contact somebody who might feel down or whatever.
So let's understand that the holy spirit guides and leads. It doesn't drive and whip. It just guides and leads. Sometimes it's a very gentle thing, a very subtle thought, a very small idea, but we must act on that.
Now let's go to the Third Point now. The rubber is starting to meet the road here. With that background, let's understand that:
We can have God's spirit in us but not be led by God's spirit.
Now I want you to think about that. It is one of the most important concepts that we have to get across. If we can have God's spirit, think, "Hey, I'm okay. As long as I have God's spirit, I'm okay," but I have seen and maybe you have seen people who have God's spirit, but they don't allow God's spirit to lead them or guide them. They're in Church, but what they do, what they say, the way they act is maybe anything but what we read in the Bible.
Now let's look at an Old Testament example and see what can happen if you have God's holy spirit, but you do not allow God to lead you, you do not allow that holy spirit to function in you, you do not listen to the holy spirit as God communicates through that spirit. Let's go to 1 Samuel chapter 10 and look at the example of Saul.
Here's Saul just out with the sheep. He's just a regular old guy. And all of a sudden he gets tapped on the shoulder and he has an anointing from Samuel to be the first king of Israel. And he was anointed and he became the first king. And now shortly after he was anointed king, there wasn't a palace built, there wasn't a government infrastructure. I mean Samuel just walked up to this kid after going through the process that we're familiar with and ordained him, anointed him as king. And then, Saul just went back and did what he did before. And there wasn't, like the United States, an office to step into with an infrastructure and a bureaucracy and all of that. Israel was a land of agriculture. So he just went back to the land.
Notice 1 Samuel chapter 10. We're going to read verse 6 and then 9 through 11. Notice what goes on here. Samuel is promising, talking to Saul and he says:
1 Samuel 10:6. And the Spirit of the [Eternal] will come upon [you], and [you shall] prophesy with them, and [shall] be turned into another man. (KJV)
Not the old man! But a new man!
Verse 9:
1 Samuel 10:9. And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
10) And when they came [there] to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.
11) And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said [to] one another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? (KJV)
And then, as you read further, there was an idiom that said the very thing. The reason he could prophesy, the reason that he changed and became as one of the prophets was because he had a new spirit. He had a different heart. He had a different mind. And that was a gift from God that was given to this new king.
Now let's ask the question: What did he do with that gift? Did he allow that gift, that spirit, to lead and guide him? Or did he do something else? Well, initially he allowed God's spirit to lead him because in the next chapter—I'll summarize the beginning of it—the Ammonites came up to conquer Jabesh-gilead. They were a superior force. They came to conquer this town, this area. And the men of Jabesh wanted to surrender because they were outgunned and outnumbered. (Jack was talking about counting the cost—Luke 14.)
So the king of the Ammonites said, "Okay, you can surrender, but I'm going to bore out your right eye." As a mark and it was a sign because they held the shield in their left hand and their right eye peeked around the shield to fight. And if your right eye was gone, you had to either become ambidextrous or you had to expose your whole face. And so that would be a disadvantage in war. And that's why he decided he wanted to do that.
And so, in 1 Samuel 11 beginning in verse 6, with that background, Saul heard this and notice what happened!
1 Samuel 11:6. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings [about boring the eyes out and surrendering], and his anger was kindled greatly. (KJV)
Verse 7:
1 Samuel 11:7. And he took a yoke of oxen, [cut] them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever [comes] not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And [as a result of that] the fear of the [Eternal] fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. (KJV)
Verse 8:
1 Samuel 11:8. And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.
9) And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall [you] say unto the men of Jabesh-gilead, To morrow, by [the] time the sun [is] hot, [you] shall have help. And the messengers came and showed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad [very happy]. (KJV)
Going on in verse 10:
1 Samuel 11:10. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you [This is unto the Ammonites.], and [you] shall do with us all that [seems] good unto you. (KJV)
So they said, "Okay, we're going to surrender. We're going to come out. You can bore our eyes out if you want to."
Verse 11:
1 Samuel 11:11. And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that [no] two of them were not left together. (KJV)
Verse 12:
1 Samuel 11:12. And the people said unto Samuel, (KJV)
Now, after the victory, you will read if you go back—we won't take the time—in chapter 10 and verse 27, there were some people that were against Saul when Samuel anointed him king. They wouldn't—they said, "We're not going to follow this guy. We're not going to accept this ordination as a king." And so now in verse 12 after the victory and Saul was the leader of that victory, the people said to Samuel:
1 Samuel 11:12b. Who is he [or who are those] that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. (KJV)
They wanted to take vengeance because God had now shown that He was with Saul and they had a great victory. Now notice Saul's use of God's spirit!
1 Samuel 11:13. And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the [Eternal has] wrought salvation in Israel. (KJV)
So he took the path of forgiveness, kindness, gentleness, which is a fruit of God's holy spirit. Now what he could have done is listen to the mob. The mob wanted to string them up! The mob wanted to kill them, but he made a godly decision inspired by God's spirit. And let's understand that leaders have to do that sometimes. The mob may be against them or want the leader to do something that's not godly. And that's the time to use God's spirit to stand up for what's right! And Saul did that.
But that was going to change. Later, by not allowing God's spirit to lead him, he became disobedient to the very God that had him ordained as king. Let's go to 1 Samuel 15. We've read this many, many times. You know the story. We'll just read a couple of verses to get the context. 1 Samuel 15, this is the account with the Amalekites. Verse 3, Saul was told:
1 Samuel 15:3. Now go and smite Amalek [We understand why.], and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and [donkey]. (KJV)
Kill everything! Do that.
Verse 9:
1 Samuel 15:9. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they [utterly] destroyed. (KJV)
And as in the Sermon on Esther and Mordecai, the result of their disobedience created problems down the road. Saul refused to obey God, as we're going to see, because he listened to the people. He wouldn't listen to God. He listened to the people!
Verse 10 and 11, I'm going to read out the New King James and then we'll go on to verses 12 through 15. Verse 10:
1 Samuel 15:10. Now the word of the [Eternal] came to Samuel, saying,
11) "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all [that] night. (NKJ)
Verse 12, back to the King James:
1 Samuel 15:12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13) And Samuel came to Saul [chased him down]: and Saul said unto him, (KJV)
You know happy, bopping in, everything's cool; everything's fine. And he says:
1 Samuel 15:13b. I have performed the commandment of the [Eternal]. (KJV)
And then, as I've said before, Samuel, undoubtedly very sarcastically, said:
"Okay, if you've done everything God's required, then how come I hear the sheep? What's going on here? And I hear the lowing of oxen. What's going on here?
(1 Samuel 15:14 paraphrased)
And Saul, notice what he said:
1 Samuel 15:15. They have brought them from the Amalekites [Not me, but they!]: [and] the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, [Oh, but they did it] to sacrifice unto God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. (KJV)
He became part of the good stuff and would not take/accept blame for the bad stuff, which again is not acting on God's spirit. (You know somebody who has God's spirit you can confront them when they've done something wrong and they say, "I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I see that. It just kills me that I said that or did that.") But you see he is acting not because of God's spirit and he's refusing to accept responsibility for his own actions.
Now look at verse 17:
1 Samuel 15:17. And Samuel said, (KJV)
He's confronting Saul on this.
1 Samuel 15:17b. When [you were] little in [your] own sight, (KJV)
When you were humble! "There was a time," he's saying, "When you were humble." He says:
1 Samuel 15:17 continued. [weren't you] made head of the tribes of Israel, and the [God] anointed [you to be] king over Israel? (KJV)
You know humility is a fruit of God's holy spirit. Even though God's spirit hadn't come upon him as a young man, he was a humble man.
Verse 18:
1 Samuel 15:18. And the [Eternal] sent [you] on a journey, and [He] said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they [are] consumed. (KJV)
"That was your mission. That's the journey God called upon you to fulfill."
And we have our journey. Jack was pointing that out in the sermonette. We have a journey. We're on the journey. We've got to count the cost of that journey. It's a warfare. It involves battles and so on.
And so Saul was given a journey too. He's being reminded of this.
Verse 19:
1 Samuel 15:19. [Why on earth didn't you] obey the voice of the [Eternal], (KJV)
The King James says:
1 Samuel 15:19b. [but you flew] upon the spoil, (KJV)
The New International says it better.
1 Samuel 15:19b. [you pounced] on the plunder (NIV)
"You wanted the plunder. You wanted all the good things for yourself and for the people." And he said:
1 Samuel 15:19 continued. [You did] evil in the sight of the [Eternal] 20) And Saul said unto Samuel, [Yes], I have obeyed the voice of the [Eternal], and have gone the way which the [Eternal] sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. (KJV)
He was in absolute denial that he'd done anything wrong. His human nature is blinding him at this point. God's spirit is not operating in this man right now. He has God's spirit, but he isn't being led by God's spirit. It isn't working for him right now.
Verse 21:
1 Samuel 15:21. But the people took the spoil, [and the] sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord [your] God in Gilgal. (KJV)
Blaming it on the people! He knew right from wrong. It's obvious here by his own words, but he just wasn't accepting the blame.
1 Samuel 15:22. And Samuel said, [Has the Lord] as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the [Eternal]? Behold, to obey is better than [any] sacrifice, (KJV)
He's saying, "Well, the people saved all the oxen because we want to sacrifice to this great God of yours, Samuel." And Samuel is saying, "Obedience is better than any sacrifice—thousands of sacrifices! Just to humbly obey and to listen, to listen is better than all the fat thrown on the altar."
Now verse 23, now, we're getting down to the crux of it. He says:
1 Samuel 15:23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, (KJV)
Now let's understand rebellion is an active word. To rebel you have to do something. Somebody comes up against you or somebody gives you a task. To rebel against that that means you have to do something. It's an active word. You have to actively go against somebody or go a different way as Saul did. And he says, "Rebellion is just like worshiping a witch, is just like worshiping the stars, worshiping Satan!" Rebellion—if we rebel against God, we might as well be out there bowing down to the sun or kneeling flat in front of some obelisk or totem or whatever.
And he goes on to say:
1 Samuel 15:23b. and stubbornness (KJV)
Now stubbornness is not an active word. It's a passive word. And I've had people in business and even people in the Church that are very, very stubborn. They don't confront you. They don't say, "I'm not going to do it." They just nod and then they go do what they're going to do. That's stubbornness. And, as I've said, "Yes" me to death to my face and then they go do what they're going to do, which is not what you asked them to do. That is stubbornness. And he says:
1 Samuel 15:23b. stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. (KJV)
And what he's saying is, "Saul, you have been both rebellious and stubborn. You have been active and you have been passive. You were active in the sense that you took Agag. You did that. That was outright rebellion. But you were passive in that you didn't stop the people from doing what they wanted to do. You just turned a blind eye." That's stubborn.
And he says:
1 Samuel 15:23 continued. Because [you have] rejected the word of the [Eternal], he [has] also rejected [you] from being king. (KJV)
1 Samuel 15:24. And Saul said unto Samuel, (KJV)
Now the two-by-four between the eyes!
1 Samuel 15:24b. I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the [Eternal], and [your] words: because (KJV)
Notice this! This is the key!
1 Samuel 15:24 continued. I feared the people, and [I] obeyed their voice. (KJV)
Now as I said earlier, he had God's spirit when he went against the people who wanted to slay those that opposed Saul. So he went against the mob. But here, he did not! You see, the people pressed on him to do something that was disobedient that God did not want and he feared the people. He feared any repercussions and he did not stand up to them and say, "This is not right! We can't do this!"
Just like today, we can't be swayed by a mob. We have to stand up and say, "Look, what you're telling me to do, what you want me to do, this direction you want me to go is not right! And I don't care if ninety-nine out of a hundred say that! If it's not right, it's not right. And you can't do that!" We must be led by the holy spirit and we must answer to God.
We cannot let humans sway us to follow some different way as Saul did. And the point is God wasn't using God's holy spirit at that time. He was not being led by God's holy spirit. What does Acts 5 and verse 32 say? Very familiar Scripture: "God gives His spirit to those who obey Him."
And conversely if we disobey, if we don't allow God's spirit to lead us, then God's spirit begins to wane. It begins to diminish. If we don't listen to that voice, if we don't listen to that feeling, if we don't act on the power of God's holy spirit, it's going to just disappear into the woodwork over time. The voice will not be as strong. The urge will not be as great. And if you say, "No" to God's spirit, then that spirit is going to diminish and that's exactly what happened to Saul. He used it in the beginning, but then, he began to be afraid of the people. He didn't want to disappoint the people. He wanted to do what he wanted to do and he was in trouble. We will be in trouble, if we do that.
So we have to understand that we can have God's spirit and not allow it to lead us. The fruit of that is awful—is bad.
Now that leads us to the Fourth Point.
If we do not allow God's spirit to lead us, ultimately we will lose it!
It will go away. Now God is merciful. God is patient. He is longsuffering. He is forbearing and He gives us a long period of time. But if we go for a long period of time and say, "No" to God's spirit, we're going to lose it. It's going to go away as we're going to see with Saul. Now allowing God's spirit to lead him resulted in God's spirit going away.
Let's look at chapter 16, very next chapter. Look at verse 14. Because of what he did, because of the corruption of his mind, 1 Samuel 16 verse 14 says:
1 Samuel 16:14. But the Spirit of the [Eternal] departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the [Eternal] troubled him. (KJV)
Now when God's spirit begins to diminish in somebody or leaves entirely, guess what? A vacuum is created. God's spirit was there. And then when it goes or when it diminishes, a vacuum is formed. That vacuum's going to be filled by something—human nature, a demon, Satan, the world. And that's exactly what happened with Saul. A vacuum was created when the holy spirit departed. That vacuum was filled by another spirit which was the spirit of evil—not God's holy spirit.
Look at what resulted when God's spirit left Saul. Now we could say, "Well, that's never going to happen to me! I’m not going to let that happen to me. And God's spirit will never leave me. I just treasure God's spirit." Well, I'm sure at some point, Saul said the same thing. But notice what happened. Look what happened.
The first thing that happened is by not allowing God's spirit to lead him, it resulted in having a jealous spirit. Let's go to 1 Samuel now chapter 18. We were in 16 earlier. Look at verses 5 through 9. We've read this before. We know the story. But let's understand it from the perspective of God's spirit going away and the spirit that replaced God's spirit.
1 Samuel 18:5. Whatever Saul sent him to do, David did it so successfully that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the people, and Saul's officers as well.
6) When the men [returned] home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. (NIV)
It was a victory parade.
Verse 7:
1 Samuel 18:7. As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." (NIV)
Now a king or a leader should be thankful he's got a guy that is so good and so successful that he doesn't have to go out and kill the thousands. He can just turn this guy loose and have his tens of thousands of enemies killed. That would be God's spirit in action. When one member suffers, we all suffer, but when one member is aggrandized or has some good come to him, we all rejoice. But that's not what happened.
Verse 8:
1 Samuel 18:8. Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. (NIV)
Now what kind of spirit is that? It tells us.
I'm reading out of the NIV. I should have told you, but going on in verse 8.
1 Samuel 18:8b. What more can he get but the kingdom?"
9) And from that [day] on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (NIV)
Now jealousy is most definitely not a fruit of God's holy spirit. God's spirit went away. A spirit of jealousy arrived and now all of a sudden David is, instead of being his right hand man, his most trusted ally, now David is under suspicion. And he is jealous of David. So not allowing the holy spirit resulted in a jealous spirit to come upon Saul.
Notice another thing that happened in chapter 19. Not allowing the holy spirit to lead him resulted in him attempting murder! Now if you had asked him when he was just anointed king that down the road he is going to attempt murder, he would probably say, "No, that can't happen!" But it did happen. 1 Samuel 19 and we won't turn there but in verses 8 through 12—you can read the account—Saul threw a javelin to kill David. Pin him to the wall because this spirit of jealousy came upon him to the point that he wanted to kill David.
Then, if that wasn't enough, in chapter 20—we won't read it—verses 31 through 33, not only did he attempt murder a second time, but he attempted to kill his own son because his son was a friend of his alleged enemy.
Now you think of the transformation of a man who had said earlier, "Nobody's going to die this day. I forgive them all," to the point now he's trying to kill David and trying to kill his own son! Look at what happens when God's spirit leaves. Look at what happens when people don't act on God's spirit and do not allow God's spirit to lead them.
Then in 1 Samuel 22—we won't turn there—covered that whole account in a sermon a few weeks ago about They Wanted a King is that Saul killed eighty-five priests and their wives and their children and their infants and he destroyed the whole city of Nob with all the animals, all the possessions because in his mind they had helped David. Now look at the acceleration of evil when God's spirit departs! And as I said, if you had asked Saul before that would he ever get to this point—wipe out a whole city because they allegedly helped a man—he would have just thought you were nuts!
And then finally, if that wasn't enough, in chapter 28 not allowing God's spirit to lead him resulted in Saul seeking a witch. Let's look at verses 6 and 7 of 1 Samuel 28. I mean turning his back entirely on God. Now notice:
1 Samuel 28:6. And when Saul inquired of the [Eternal], (KJV)
Guess what happened?
1 Samuel 28:6b. the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by [the] Urim, nor by [the] prophets. (KJV)
God was silent! Now why was He silent? We won't turn there either, but Isaiah 59 and verse 2. What does it say? "Your iniquities separate between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear." That's exactly what happened! And so Saul inquired of God and God was silent. Not because God's evil and a meany but because Saul had separated him so far—attempted murder twice, killing eighty-five priests and all their kids and burning the town up—he was so far from God that God wasn't going to answer him. God wasn't going to allow that to happen.
Verse 7:
1 Samuel 28:7. Then Saul [said] unto his servants, Seek me a woman that [has] a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his [servant told] him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor [the witch of Endor]. (KJV)
Look at how far he came!
Now in this modern day, today, those who have not allowed God's spirit to lead them I'm telling you have committed equal or worse sins! Leaders, evangelists, pastors, brethren—you know in the last fifty years in the Church, it's happened. People have done things if you had asked them years before that they would ever do, that they would deny it. "I'll never do that." But then over time, God's spirit began to diminish and then over time, God's spirit left. And look what they did! I won't go into any details of my knowledge, but I'm sure all of us at one time or another have seen situations like that.
We have to ask the question: Do we want that to happen to us? We're here. All of us would say, "No! I don't want that to happen to me." That's why David said—let's go to Psalm 51 and verse 11—after he had gone off the path horribly and committed atrocities, notice what he said. This is what he just begged God. Psalm 51 verse 11, he says:
Psalm 51:11. Cast me not away from thy presence; (KJV)
But notice this!
Psalm 51:11b. and take not [Your] holy spirit from me. (KJV)
And he was afraid. He was afraid that, as the psalmist says, "My feet well nigh slipped"—fall into the abyss! He was afraid of that and he was pleading with God. "I have sinned. I have done wrong. I have done horrible things. I can't believe I did it, but I did." He took responsibility for his actions in front of Nathan. He says, "I have sinned." Unlike Saul, David said, "I have sinned." And he took responsibility and then he pleaded with God to not take God's spirit. He knew the consequences. He had seen what Saul had done and he didn't want to wind up like Saul.
So let's understand that if we don't allow God's spirit to lead us—not just be inside us, but to lead us—we can lose it!
So the Fifth and Last Point—we have to ask the question:
What about us? Each one of us—me especially!
Will we allow God's holy spirit to lead us?
Now Saul's example is there for our instruction and there for our learning. It's there. That example is there to show us what happens if we don't allow God's spirit to lead us. Not be content with it just to be in us, but we've got to allow God's spirit to lead us.
Now I know people in the Church, back through the years but today too. They know the Scriptures very well, quote verses, study the Bible, read the Scriptures. I know people who attend services, go to the Feast and pay tithes. And I know people who spend hours studying prophecy. I know people who spend hours studying conspiracy theories with God's spirit!
But I'm asking the question:
Do we allow—even though we might do all that—do we allow God's spirit to lead us?
Or do we have God's spirit and we're going a different direction just like Saul did?
We're going the way we want to go. We selectively pick out Scriptures and follow those and ignore whole bunches of other Scriptures. Are we allowing God's spirit to lead us or not? All too often the answer is, "We don't allow God's spirit to lead us as much as we should. We don't listen to that voice as much as we should. We don't follow every Scripture in the Bible. We'll pick out one that maybe goes with our point of view at the time, but there are others that are contradictory and we just ignore those. Those don't apply to us! We're not allowing God's spirit to lead us.
Now how do we know whether God's spirit is leading us or not? How do we know? Very simple! It is very simple. We won't turn there, but Matthew chapter 7. It's mentioned twice—verse 16 and verse 20! We know it by heart! "By their fruits you shall know them." Simply ask: What are the fruits? If we have God's spirit but are not led by God's spirit, we will not have the fruits. I'm going to say it again!
If we have God's spirit but are not led by God's spirit, we will not have the fruits!
If we are have God's spirit and are led by God's spirit, the fruits will be there!
I jut can't emphasize that enough! And remember I said, "One of the blessings of having God's spirit is self-awareness"? Looking at yourself and see how you measure to Jesus Christ. We have to evaluate the fruits.
Now we can "play Church." We can come with a smiling face in the Church. We can tithe. We can go to the Feasts, you know. We can do this or do that, but if the fruits aren't there, we are not being led by God's holy spirit. And we are, therefore, kidding ourselves. We are playing Church! This is a political game or this is a social game or this is a way to get a nice meal at the end of the Sabbath or whatever it might be! But we're playing Church. We're not allowing God's spirit to transform our minds and our lives because we don't allow God's spirit to lead us.
That is why we are admonished—and we're going to read two Scriptures now, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 19. This is something we have to—this is as serious as stomach cancer is they say. This is very serious stuff! 1 Thessalonians 5:19, we are told:
1 Thessalonians 5:19. Quench not the Spirit. (KJV)
Now the word quench, Strong's 4570, means to extinguish or go out.
Now you can throw water on a campfire and it doesn't go out right away. You might not even get all the flames on the first bucket. Maybe after the second or third bucket you get all the flames. But then it's smoldering there. And if you're really going to get it out, you've got to stir it and pour some water, stir it, and some pour some more water until finally it's cool and everything goes out.
And what I'm saying is it takes time to quench a fire. It takes time to quench God's holy spirit. It isn't done in a day. It isn't done with one act. It's what happens over a period of time. Quenching takes time. It takes time for God's spirit to depart because God is a merciful God. He doesn't just remove His spirit after one action on our part. He gives us time. He is patient and longsuffering with us. And we're told here, "Do not quench God's spirit."
Now we can start to extinguish the holy spirit by not letting it lead us. When we refuse to let it lead us, it's like throwing a bit of water on God's holy spirit. The heat goes down. The flames are not there as high. And then the next time God's spirit speaks to us or we have an urge to do something godly and we refuse, we throw another bit of water on it. And if we do that time after time after time, it will go out!
And that's why we're admonished "Don't allow this to happen!" If we allow wrong thoughts, if we allow wrong deeds, over time God's spirit will eventually leave us! And I've seen people for decades have problems and bad behavior, bad deeds, bad thoughts. It goes on for decades and there's no improvement. The person had the same problems twenty years ago as they have today. They are extinguishing or already have extinguished God's holy spirit—if they ever had it to begin with. And that's between them and God. We don't have a clue.
But I'm saying is, is that we can extinguish God's spirit. We can have it. We can be joyous at the time of baptism, but if we start saying "No", if we allow wrong thoughts, wrong motives, wrong attitudes to dominate us over time, we're pouring a little bit of water, a little more water, a little more water, a little more water on God's spirit and it eventually will extinguish. So take to heart "Quench not the spirit"!
Now a second Scripture is Ephesians 4 and verse 30. This talks not about quenching the spirit, but it talks about grieving God's spirit. Ephesians 4 and verse 30, notice what it says:
Ephesians 4:30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby [you] are sealed unto the day of redemption. (KJV)
Now the word grieve means to cause grief or to make sorry.
Now do you think when we sin, do you think when we just are absolutely carnal to the core and for a particular time or during a particular event, that God and Christ aren't made sorry? They wish we wouldn't do that. They wish we might behave a little differently. They wish we might exercise Their spirit, Their common spirit, instead of doing what we're doing or on some rant or something like that.
Well, we want God to be pleased with us. As little children, we want to make our parents happy. We should want to make God happy with us. More than anything else we want God to be pleased with us! And so we don't want to grieve God and Christ.
So how do we not grieve God and Christ? It's in the very next verses! Verse 31:
Ephesians 4:31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (KJV)
All of those things grieve God and grieve Jesus Christ. So the solution, we're being told in context, is put all that away. Don't do it anymore!
And then verse 32, just like if God's spirit leaves, there a vacuum. Well, if we're going to put away evil deeds, there's a vacuum. So what do we replace that vacuum with? Verse 32 tells us.
Ephesians 4:32. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake [has] forgiven you. (KJV)
This is what brings joy to God and Jesus Christ. And this is how we become like God and Jesus Christ because Christ did exactly everything in verse 32! He was tenderhearted. He forgave those that pounded the nails into his hands and feet on the cross. He's forgiven all of us of all of our sins. Why can't we do that to other people? Why can't we cut slack to other people?
That leads us to Hebrews 6 and verses 4 through 6. This is what we don't want to happen. This is what happened to Saul. We can't allow this to happen. Hebrews 6 verse 4, 5, and 6—notice what is said:
Hebrews 6:4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, (KJV)
Having your eyes opened through God's spirit dwelling in us;
Hebrews 6:4b. and have tasted of the heavenly gift [the promise of salvation], and were made partakers of the Holy [spirit] [through baptism, repentance, having it inside of us],
5) And have tasted the good word of God, (KJV)
Having God's spirit open up our mind to the truth of the Bible;
Hebrews 6:5b. and the powers of the world to come, (KJV)
Understanding the World Tomorrow and the joys of being eternal in God's Family;
Verse 6:
Hebrews 6:6. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (KJV)
Just what Saul did!
But notice the beginning of verse 6: "If they shall fall away". Fall away from what? Now we've always been told and I was told when I came in the Church in the mid-sixties, "If you fall away, you're falling away from the Worldwide Church of God. Or you're falling away from this group or that group."
That is not what it's talking about! It's talking about falling away from God's spirit! Look at the context—"Partakers of the holy spirit" in the previous verse. "If they shall fall away from God and Christ and Their spirit," and we say, "No" to God's spirit, "No" to the power of the holy spirit, "No" to the thoughts and motives and emotions God's spirit puts into us, then we crucify Christ again and there is no repentance for that. Christ is not going to die a second time. We only get one shot at this!
So when it says, "fall away", it's not from a church corporation. That was blasphemy. That's elevating a church corporation up to the level of God's holy spirit. It's not a church corporation.
But it's falling away, not allowing God's spirit to lead us. And eventually is that happens, we say, "No" to God's spirit. We turn our back on God's spirit and say to God, "I don't want Your way. I don't want Your Word. I don't want to do what you want me to do! I'm going to do what I'm going to do." And there are going to be people at the end of the day who say that. They would rather go into the Lake of Fire than follow God and live this lifestyle! There are people who would rather commit all the sins rather than live a clean life and a good life in God's Kingdom. And they walk away from God's spirit. There are people today who are walking away from God's spirit. Even though they have it, they are not allowing God's spirit to lead them and guide them.
And we have to understand—a pastor told me years ago, forty years ago—he said, "Remember, Rick, there is nothing permanent about the holy spirit in a physical body. It can go away." And boy! If we are not careful, it will go away. And it will diminish in us.
So let's wrap this up. Let's go to Galatians 5 and verse 18. We read this when we first came in the Church. And sometimes it just kind of blows over our head and goes past us. Galatians 5 and verse 18, Paul says something very fundamental. He says:
Galatians 5:18. But if [you are] led [by] the Spirit, (KJV)
It doesn't just say, "Have God's spirit."
Galatians 5:18. But if [you are] led [by] the Spirit, [you] are not under the law. (KJV)
Meaning: the Law, the death penalty doesn't apply if you are led by God's spirit.
Now we have to understand the difference between being led and having. And this is telling us that the Law has no effect on us if we are led by His spirit.
Look at Romans 8 and verse 14, a final Scripture. We go back to the beginning. We must remember this! We must remember this from now on. Romans 8 and verse 14:
Romans 8:14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (KJV)
We want to be sons and daughters of God. We want to be the children of God. We want to be in God's Kingdom. We want God to grab us by the hand as a little kid and lead us through life and take us through all the trials and troubles. And the only way we can do that is by being led by the spirit of God. Having it is not enough!
Now the converse of this is we cannot be the sons of God if we do not allow God's spirit to lead us because ultimately the sons of God means the Kingdom of God, daughters of God—the Kingdom of God. And God is saying, "You will not be in My Kingdom if you do not allow My spirit to lead you every day of your life. It's not going to happen!
So therefore, to be the Bride of Christ—and as we talked about in the very beginning—the definition of a Christian is a combination of those two verses. Yes, we must have God's spirit. But verse 14 makes it very plain. We must be led by God's spirit.
Now I want to leave you with this thought. Just think about it. It's purely my speculation.
But could it be that the difference between being protected in the Place of Safety or suffering the Tribulation, could that difference be as to whether or not we are being led by God's spirit versus just having God's spirit? Because those who just have it, but aren't being led by it, have to go through the Tribulation to prove themselves, to prove whether they're going to follow God or not follow God. And that's the only way of God waking them up! That's the only way of God saying, "Look, are you going to follow Me or not? You going to just let My spirit just lay dormant in you and you're not going to do anything with it? And so, well, therefore, you're going to have through the worst time in the history of the world to prove yourselves one way or another."
But on the other hand, those who let God's spirit lead them every day of their lives to become more like Jesus Christ, more like God the Father, God is saying, "Look, you've already proved through the ten or twenty or thirty or forty years that My spirit has been in you, you've already proved to Me that you're allowing My spirit to lead you every day. So, you don't have to prove anything anymore. I'm going to protect you during this horrible time!" That's my speculation.
And, as Jack said, "We're not in here to go to the Place of Safety. We're in here to be the children of God for all eternity!"
So, let's not be lulled into a false sense of security by those who say, "Well, as long as I have God's holy spirit, I'm okay." Well, maybe okay after the Tribulation if you come through that alright. But there could be a big question mark there.
So in order to be in the Kingdom of God—let's understand this one thing—in order to be in the Kingdom of God, we must be led by the spirit of God!
Transcribed by kb August 6, 2010