What is your heart’s desire?
Jim went to the medicine cabinet to take some cough medicine. Unfortunately, the moisture in the bathroom had caused the labels of two similarly shaped bottles to peel off. One contained the desired medication, the other some stomach medicine. Jim thought he knew which was which and stuck the labels back on accordingly. He was wrong. The result was not fatal, but it kept him from getting the benefit he really needed.
There is a great deal of confusion as to the various ministries of the Holy Spirit, and what each is designed to do for those who believe in Christ. Some have to be “taken” to be enjoyed. (This is true of the fullness of the Holy Spirit which cannot be known by those who neglect the Word of God. A comparison of the results of letting the “word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16-17) with that of being continually “filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:19-20) shows this to be the case.) Other benefits of the Spirit’s indwelling, however, come immediately into effect when we are born again. Being led by the Spirit is a blessing given to all of God’s sons. At least that is what Romans 8:14 states. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” And it is not guidance to be sought when a Christian arrives at some particular crossroads in his life, but is the natural outflow of the Spirit’s indwelling all the time in the life of a normal Christian. For example, we ought to love our fellow Christians but are “taught” to do this the moment we are born again, and, in fact, it is the most natural thing for us to do because we are now led of the Spirit instead of the flesh
(1 Jn. 4:11; compare with 3:14 and 1 Thes. 4:9).
Led or guided?
In this article we are focusing on being led of the Spirit, but to understand what this undeserved grace to us involves, it may help to contrast it with the divine guidance with which it is often confused. We seek guidance for our movements but being led has more to do with our motivation. Guidance has to do with what we do or where we go, while the Holy Spirit’s leading speaks of why we want to do these things. The first refers to the direction we may need from time to time, while the latter speaks of the heart’s desire for spiritual things that all true Christians experience, even when conflicting desires may result in our going astray. (Read carefully Gal. 5:17-18.)
An Old Testament illustration may help us to understand the difference between being guided and being led. Balaam, the false prophet, was not in sympathy with what he was constrained to preach. God guided him to say the right words as he described Israel’s glorious future, but the false prophet had no desire to see it come to pass. He was not led of the Spirit but was motivated by greed for money. See Numbers 22-24 and 2 Peter 2:15. Now let us apply to our experience what we have learned from these scriptures.
A wrong application
One of the commonly accepted ideas among many of us who receive this magazine has to do with the breaking of bread. This is a meeting in which any brother may take part audibly and the emphasis is worship. But some brethren remain silent week after week. Such a brother, asked why he voices praise so rarely, may reply, “I have learned to wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit.” That sounds pious enough but it is a serious misunderstanding of the way the Comforter acts in the experience of God’s children when they are gathered together. If this brother is asked how he decides when the Holy Spirit is leading him, he will seldom be able to give a clear answer. He may say that it happens “when a thought is on my mind, and some other brother gives out a hymn or reads a passage which fits in with it.” But however desirable harmony in worship may be, the truth is that this brother is waiting for guidance from a source external to himself. One might wonder how the breaking of bread meeting could even get started, because the first one to take part has no such crutch to lean on!
We should note that in the one passage in which we are permitted to listen in on a gathering of Christians (1 Cor. 14:1-40) there is no mention of the necessity for them to “wait for the leading of the Spirit.” The absence of such instruction is all the more striking when we remember that the Corinthians’ conduct generally left a lot to be desired. Instead, the meeting was to be improved by each man weighing carefully whether his contribution would edify the others. Indistinct or unknown language was to be avoided; the mind of the speaker was to be engaged in deciding whether to participate or not. They were even told to consider how what they had to offer would affect someone who was uninstructed in the things of God. In short, they were not to act like children but to think maturely. Not a word here about the need to “wait on the leading of the Spirit”! “For God has not given us the spirit of fear [that we will miss His guidance], but of power and love and sound judgment” (2 Tim. 1:7).
The leading of the Spirit is intended to affect not so much what we do but the way we do it. Whether we are with the church, in the home, at the farm, or driving to the office, we may be led of (motivated by) the Spirit in every situation that is God’s will. We will not simply be responding to rules but will be allowing the nature He has given us to express itself. This is possible because the Holy Spirit dwells within. We have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). What a glorious privilege! What holy liberty!