In this sermon, I am going to reveal to you through God’s Spirit how you can be led by the Spirit of God.
The first pair of mistakes we make in Christendom is:
- Trying to please God by putting in our efforts, energy, and power into doing His work.
- Idling away with the thought that God’s grace is sufficient unto us.
In order to correct this mistakes, we all need to allow ourselves be led by the Spirit of God.
And in order to do this, the best way is for us there are few steps we need to take and they are:
- Looking at how religious people in the bible were be led by the Spirit of God.
- Answering the question; is is selfish for God to lead human beings?
- Knowing how to allow God come into your life and take control.
- Why you should allow God an instructor.
- And finally, understanding the 2 things involved in being led by the Spirit of God.
How religious people in the bible were led by the Spirit of God.
1. Abraham.
Let’s look into the call of our father Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:1-4.
From the call of Abraham, we realize that when God instructed Abram to move from his father’s house, He did not give him any directions; talkless of the place he was to reside.
He just told him to move; and as Paul would later reveal to us in Hebrews 11:8 Abram made the movement without even asking God neither the roadmap nor the name of the country He wants him to go.
And because Abraham made that bold step God took him to Canaan from where he showed him all the land He will give to him (Genesis 13:14-15)
In Exodus 13:21, we see how God single handedly led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 whole years, by pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
In Joshua 7, we see how Gideon wanted to go to war with 32,000 men, and God told him that if he wins the war with such number of men they will think they won it by their strength of multitude.
So He told Gideon what to do in order for Him to select the men that will go with him and win the war; and after Gideon carried out the assignment God gave him he was finally left with 300 men which he took to and won the war.
In Zechariah 4:6, God sent a message to Zerrubabel telling him that he will succeed; not by power, not by might but by the Spirit of God.
And all this was meant to show Gods control and leadership over the lives of His people.
2. Moses.
Now let us use the lives of these two Men: Moses and the apostle Paul, to illustrate our points:
Moses, after seeing the constant burden of his people in the hands of the Egyptians, thought that taking the laws into his hands was the best way to defend them, so when he happened on an Egyptian beating a Hebrew he killed the Egyptian.
Then at another time he met two Hebrews fighting, and when he tried to make peace between them, one of them uncovered his previous murder of the Egyptian, and this made Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh who had now desired to kill him. (Exodus 2:11-15).
And when God called him from the midst of the burning bush and told him to go and deliver his people, (something he earlier tried to do the wrong way, thinking it was right), he obeyed God, (Exodus 3). Thus making way for God to use him and do the mighty works we have read about.
3. The apostle Paul.
While persecuting the church of Christ Paul thought he was defending the Law of Moses; which in essence was doing the work of God in the wrong way, (Acts 8:1-3).
But after Jesus called him on his way to Damascus, on a mission to persecute the Christians more, (Acts 9: 1-9).
Paul obeyed Jesus and thus opened the way for him to be used to defend the right religion in the right way.
So the lesson we can learn from this two men is that, they started out thinking they were doing the right thing.
But God proved them wrong when He called them; and worked through them to accomplish the tasks He designed for them.
Beloved, God does not want us human beings to be misguided in any way. Since He knows that the plan of the fallen angel – Lucifer, is to control and destroy mankind.
That is why He wants to save us from his hands by taking absolute control over us-to lead; guide, direct, possess, take charge; name them.
Is it selfish for God to lead human beings?
The rebellious Lucifer.
And some persons might ask: was that not what God wanted to do with Lucifer before he rebelled? Meaning that, God’s intention to lead men makes Him selfish.
But such a person must answer this question; does a child feed, clothe, and guard himself on earth without parental figures?
Thus if the parents duty is to control or guard the child who does not know his left from right. How then can we function if we do not submit to God as a parental figure; to control, guard and lead us in all the way we should go, and things we should do.
Not forgetting that we do not and cannot tell how we happened upon this earth, in other words, we were not the ones that created ourselves, that is why it is written in (Jeremiah 10:23) that the way of man is not in himself and it is not in man to direct his own steps.
Why God knows how to control us.
God knows how to control us because He was the One Who created us.
Thus it was God who created Lucifer, and afterwards created us all.
Therefore He alone knows how to control all that He created to function in the right according as He promised in (Ezekiel 36:27); that he will put His Spirit in us and cause us to walk in his statues and do His judgements.
If Lucifer had therefore submitted to God to control him, he wouldn’t have found himself in the position that he is today.
And worst still is faced with eternal damnation since he is not even ready to repent and turn to God.
But the most important thing we must understand is that, God will never force Himself on us.
So the only thing He wants is for us to surrender ourselves, and accept Him to be the Lord and master of our lives.
Take for instance; one cannot become a servant unless he first of all decides to submit himself and be under a master.
Thus, after the necessary negotiations have been made; the servant’s duty henceforth is to walk according to how the master wants him; of which failure will result in his being relieved of his job.
That is the same way it happens between us and God.
No wonder Jesus told His disciples when they asked Him to increase their faith in (Luke 17: 7-10); to do what they are supposed to do as servants and look on themselves as unprofitable.
How to allow God come into your life and take control.
1. Be willing to open your door to Him.
So for you to have true salvation, you must first of all accept Jesus into your life, by opening up the door of your heart for Him as He stands and knock. (Revelation 3: 20).
Of course you know; if you knock on somebody’s door, you can never have entrance into their house unless they open up the door for you.
So for God to come into your life and take that absolute control, you must first of all be willing to open your door for Him to come in.
2. Making sure our plans align with God’s plan.
Imagine a vehicle which cannot move itself to anywhere unless someone drives it, or any other machinery which needs an operator before it can perform its duty; that also is the same way God expects us all to be.
He wants us to submit totally to Him, so He can operate on us.
But yet, most of us map out strategies, and stick by them through rain and shine.
Not caring if that is what God wants us to do or where He wants us to go, and afterwards think they have pleased God because “it not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends. (2 Corinthians 10:18)
Remember when David wanted to build a temple for God; which was not a bad thing, and Nathan, the prophet, gave him go ahead without even consulting God to know if He needed a temple.
Finally God disproved of it, and David could not build the temple. (2 Samuel 7: 5-17)
Even our Lord Jesus Himself always made it clear to us in (John 14: 10, 8:28) that, He did nothing on His own, but by the Father’s directive.
Likening this fact to a sheep that will always hear and follow the shepherd (John 10: 3-5).
And from this book of prophets, you can clearly see how your righteousness would flourish, if only you heed to God’s command and allow Him teach and lead you by way you should go (Isaiah 48:17-18).
Therefore, if you really want God to lead you, you must always surrender yourself to His Spirit (Romans 8:14).
Important point to note.
Now there is a very serious point I want to make about being led by the Spirit of God, since most people who misunderstand this scripture always end up relaxing, thinking that God will come down and perform the duties they are supposed to do as human beings.
First and foremost we must never forget that God created us in His own image and likeness. (Genesis 1:27)
And this shows us that we are an extension of God, which means that, we also have a part to play in creation; as He blessed and said to us after our creation that we should go and be fruitful and multiply. (Genesis 1:28)
God as an instructor.
So in this light we can understand God’s lead to mean that He is an instructor.
That is, someone who is always standing by, telling and reminding us what we ought to do. And our duty is to carry out the duty He assigns to and keeps on reminding us.
Example 1.
For example, if you have exams in school tomorrow, what God will lead you to do is to read your books and afterwards help you to remember what you read when you get to the exams hall.
Of course there is no way God can read for you and also pick up a pen to write the exams for you.
This is why the scripture says: But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without work is dead? (James 2:20)
Example 2.
Another example is, you have been praying for God to give you a nice paying job, and going out the next morning you see an advertisement of a vacancy in a company that offers just the kind of work you were praying for.
God has done His work of seeking out the job for you, and your duty now is to immediately tender you application letters and credentials; and afterwards go for the interview which will finally enable you to secure the job.
I want to sum up this point in this simple illustration: a mechanic that needs to loose or tighten a nut and bolt must use a spanner; and without both the mechanic and spanner, the nut or bolt can never be loosed nor tightened.
That too is the same way God must use man to accomplish whatever task He has on earth, and without both God and man, no task can ever be accomplished.
The 2 things involved in being led by the Spirit of God.
So whenever it comes to the point of being led by the Spirit of God, we must understand that two things are involved:
- Being led by the Spirit of God, and
- Being able to follow or heed to the Spirit’s lead.
