THE HOLY SPIRIT
Chapter 4: The Holy Spirit Leads You
Meditation
To the Galatians, Paul writes, "If
you have been filled with the Spirit, then walk in the
Spirit.:" The Corinthian believers had been filled
with the Spirit but had failed to recognize the responsibility
of walking in the Spirit. And so the apostle made a
sad announcement, "Ye are yet carnal ... and walk
as men."
No matter how much a man may receive from God in spiritual
gifts, nothing is accomplished unless that man walks
in the Spirit. For example, the Holy Spirit comes to
guide the believer into all truth, but how can He accomplish
this ministry in the life of the believer who will not
study the Word of Truth?
The Holy Spirit comes (Acts 1:8) to give us power to
witness, but how can He empower the testimony of the
man who neglects to witness? Again, the Holy Spirit
offers His great ministry of assisting the believer
in his prayer life, but how can He accomplish His work
in this respect if the baptized believer neglects his
prayer life, or ignores the Holy Spirit in his prayer
life?
All of the gifts of God given in response to man's
consecration are bestowed suddenly. ... But the fruit
of the Spirit is produced only as man walks in the Spirit,
daily keeping the body in subjection and appropriating
the divine gifts which God has given. "Walk in
the Spirit." (Condensed from The Baptism in the
Holy Spirit, by Willard Cantelon, Assemblies of God
evangelist. © 1951 by Willard Cantelon. Gospel
Publishing House. Springfield, Missouri 65802)
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You Have
a Friend to Lead You
The Holy Spirit and Guidance
How many times have you asked your friends,
"What do you think I should do?" Some people
even depend on horoscopes and fortune-tellers. But you
have Someone much better than that. You have a Friend
who knows the future. He knows what is best for you.
He loves you and wants to guide you in all your decisions.
He is the Holy Spirit, your helpful Friend.
Let the Spirit direct your lives. The Spirit
has given us life; He must also control our lives (Galatians
5:16, 25).
For You to Do
1. Memorize Galatians 5:16, 25.
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He Leads
You by God's Word
The Bible is the road map that the Holy Spirit uses
to lead you to heaven. Day by day He helps you apply
to your circum-stances the teachings of God's Word.
So it is very important for you to read your Bible every
day.
The Holy Spirit will sometimes speak to you through
certain verses as you read. Time after time Christians
have testified: "I had a problem and didn't know
what to do. Then as I was reading the Bible one verse
seemed to stand out from the page. It was exactly what
I needed. My problem was solved."
The Bible verses that you memorize make it easier
for the Holy Spirit to lead you. He will bring them
to your mind when you need them. When you are tempted
to do something you shouldn't do, a verse may flash
through your mind like a stop signal. "Thou, God,
seest me!" The Holy Spirit has brought these words
from the Bible to many a Christian just in time to turn
him away from temptation.
How can a young man cleanse his way? By living in
agreement with Thy word (Psalm 119:9 BV).
The Holy Spirit will also speak to you through Bible
teaching. This may be in preaching or teaching in the
church, on the radio, in Bible clubs, in gospel literature
and in study courses such as this one.
These are ways that He has chosen to lead you into
all truth. Remember John 16:13.
For You to Do
2. Repeat from memory John 16:13.
3. Memorize Psalm 119:9.
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He
Leads You by the Church
How does a child learn how to walk, talk, run, play,
and work? From his family! Father, mother, brothers
and sisters all teach the child what to do and how to
do it.
When you were born again, the Holy Spirit made you
a part of God's family -- the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He expects you to accept from your brothers
and sisters in Christ the help that they can give you.
You will find much guidance, teaching and help as you
take your place in a local church. Be sure that it is
one that believes the Bible, obeys it and teaches and
accepts the work of the Holy Spirit.
Christ has put in the Church pastors, teachers and
other leaders. The Holy Spirit provides for them special
gifts and power so they can do their work well.
He did this to prepare all God's people for
the work of Christian service, to build up the body
of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).
Every member of the Church needs to be full of the
Holy Spirit. As leaders and members are led by the Spirit
the whole church can work together in harmony. Each
one will do his part effectively in God's plan.
For You to Do
4. Pray for your pastor and other leaders that they
may be continually full of the Holy Spirit.
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He
Leads You by Spiritual Gifts
The Holy Spirit has spiritual gifts for every Christian.
He wants us to accept these gifts so we can help one
another.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts,
but the same Spirit gives them. Each one is given some
proof of the Spirit's presence for the good of all (I
Corinthians 12:4, 7).
You have read about the gifts of faith, miracles and
healing. Here are some other supernatural gifts of the
Spirit.
The Spirit gives one man a message of wisdom,
while to another man the same Spirit gives a message
of knowledge. ... to another, the gift of speaking God's
message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the
difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and
those that do not. To one man he gives the ability to
speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the
ability to explain what is said (1 Corinthians 12:8,
10).
The Holy Spirit may give your pastor or another Spirit-filled
Christian the message of wisdom or of knowledge that
you need. Or this message may come directly to you in
a deep impression or flash of insight. You suddenly
understand what God's will is for a certain situation.
From outside of your own mind comes the revelation of
what a Bible passage means and how it applies to your
problem. God gives you the very words that you need
to help someone else.
When you talk to people about the Lord or teach a Bible
lesson you need this leading of the Holy Spirit. Parents
need the word of wisdom from God to give their children
the right kind of advice. The work of the Spirit is
for practical everyday living, not just for crises.
The Spirit, who will make you wise (Ephesians 1:17).
And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in
wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in
all manner of workmanship (Exodus 35:31).
Prophecy, messages in tongues and the interpretation
of tongues are ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks
to a group. Prophecy is God's message in the language
of the speaker. It may be telling something that will
take place in the future. Or it may be just a message
of exhortation and comfort to help the hearers. Sometimes
the message comes first in tongues and then is interpreted.
These two gifts together are like the gift of prophecy.
Some people are afraid of these gifts of the Spirit
because of false messages that they have heard about.
This is like refusing to accept money because you might
get a counterfeit bill. Satan has always tried to confuse
people by imitations of God's work. There were false
prophets in Bible times and still are today. But your
Friend the Holy Spirit does not want you to refuse His
gifts for fear of receiving a counterfeit or imitation
of His work.
Neither does God want you to be deceived by imitations
of His work. That is why one of the gifts of the Spirit
is discernment of spirits; it protects the church from
the work of evil spirits and mistaken ideas of people.
People sometimes mistake their own ideas for revelations
from God. Some bring terrible confusion by giving "messages"
to tell others whom to marry, where to go and what to
do. So God tells us to test all messages.
Do not restrain the Holy Spirit; do not despise inspired
messages. Put all things to the test: keep what is
good, and avoid every kind of evil (1 Thessalonians
5:19-22).
Messages from the Holy Spirit meet these five standards:
1. The message must agree completely with God's Word.
For example, a message that tells a man to take someone
else's wife could not possibly be from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit has come to help us obey God, not to
tell us to do something God has forbidden. Agreement
with God's Word is the most important test; everything
has to be measured by it.
2. The message must be true.
If what is said in a message is not true, it is not
from the Holy Spirit for He is the Spirit of truth.
Prophecies that are from the Lord are fulfilled.
When the word of that prophet is fulfilled, then
it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the
prophet (Jeremiah 28:9 BV).
"And if you say in your heart, 'How are we to
know which word the Lord has not spoken?' What a prophet
proclaims in the name of the Lord which is not fulfilled
and does not happen, that is a message to which the
Lord did not give utterance; the prophet has spoken
it presumptuously: have no fear of him" (Deuteronomy
18:21, 22 BV).
But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you
into all the truth (John 16:13).
3. The message will honor Christ.
The Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ honors both
the Father and the Son.
He will give me glory (John 16:14).
No one who is led by God's Spirit can say, "A curse
on Jesus!" (I Corinthians 12:3).
4. The message will bring blessing, not confusion.
But the one who speaks God's message speaks
to men, and gives them help, encouragement, and comfort.
... The one who speaks God's message helps the whole
church ... Everything must be of help to the church
(1 Corinthians 14:3-4, 26).
5. The one who gives the message is conscious and responsible
to do everything in an orderly way.
Satan imitates the work of the Holy Spirit. In spiritism
the mediums may go into a trance and not be conscious
of what they say when another spirit takes control of
them. But when the Holy Spirit gives a message through
a person, He does it with the conscious cooperation
of that person. The person can choose when to speak
and when to keep quiet so that he won't interrupt the
message God has given the pastor or others. Paul clearly
teaches this in 1 Corinthians 14. The pastor should
encourage the use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But
at the same time he is responsible to see that all is
done in order and not confusion. So those who have the
gifts of the Spirit must recognize the leadership of
the pastor and not resent his instructions or advice.
The gift of speaking God's message should
be under the speaker's control; for God has not called
us to be disorderly, but peaceful. Everything must be
done in a proper and orderly way (1 Corinthians 14:32-33,
40).
For You to Do
5. Memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22.
6. Memorize the five standards that you will use in
judging any message that is supposed to be from God.
He
Leads You by Visions and Dreams
The Holy Spirit, Visions and Dreams
You have read in the Bible about how God spoke to people
in visions and dreams. The Holy Spirit still speaks
to people in this way today. What Joel prophesied is
happening.
Your young men will see visions, and your
old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17).
In 1940 B.T. Bard wrote about a wonderful outpouring
of the Spirit in Peking:
There are confessions of sins and shortcomings, messages
in tongues and interpretation, prophetic utterances,
spiritual dreams, heavenly visions of Christ and the
glory land, divine healings, and, above all, a spirit
of prayer and worship.
Kao Chu Ju truly desired the presence of God but
she was afraid to have any show made of herself, or
for anyone to lay hands upon her. Suddenly she saw
Jesus in a vision, and He graciously laid His own
nail-pierced hands upon her. She fell to the floor
under the power of the Spirit and soon was speaking
rapturously in other tongues as the Spirit gave her
utterance.
Dreams that come from God are very vivid and impress
the person deeply. Many people have been warned in dreams
to give up sin and accept Jesus as their Savior. You
may receive blessing, help, and encouragement in your
dreams. Or the Holy Spirit may lead you to pray for
someone or warn you of a danger.
Most dreams are not revelations from God. Your subconscious
mind keeps on working while you sleep and weaves your
thoughts into dreams. However, you can make even these
dreams work for you. Use them as a reminder to pray
for everyone that you see in your dreams.
For You to Do
7. If you dream, try this: Before you go to sleep,
tell the Lord you would like to be closer to Him even
in your dreams. As soon as you wake up, pray for the
persons you dreamed about.
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He
Leads You by Circumstances and Impressions
A Christian missed the bus she had planned to take.
Four hours later she caught the next bus, sat down by
a woman who needed God, and was able to lead her to
Christ. The Holy Spirit had led through circumstances.
Do the doors of opportunity seem closed before you?
Look around. The Holy Spirit may be opening a door to
better opportunities. Think of the early Christians
who fled from Jerusalem to save their lives. But wherever
they went they spread the gospel and souls were saved.
Paul in prison was unable to continue his missionary
journeys, but while there he wrote some of his most
helpful epistles.
Are conditions around you terrible? Maybe God has put
you there so you can do something about them. Ask the
Holy Spirit to help you see what you can do. Then keep
your eyes open and go to work to improve conditions.
You are one of God's lamps. Don't complain about the
darkness. Just 'shine where you art'.
The Holy Spirit will often lead you by impressions
as you trust Him to help you in the choices you must
make. When you think about doing one thing, you feel
a deep peace about it. But when you think about the
other possibility, you feel uneasy.
A Christian businessman had a reservation on a certain
plane, but he felt uneasy about it. The more he thought
about it the worse he felt. Finally he changed his reservations
for a later flight. The plane he had planned to take
crashed and all the passengers were killed. The Holy
Spirit saved his life.
A man's mind plans his road, but the Lord
directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9 BV).
A pastor, hurrying to an appointment, felt an impression.
"Stop and knock on the door of that house."
He tried to ignore the idea but it grew stronger. Finally
he turned around and went up to the house. There he
found a Christian in desperate need of his help.
A Christian felt an urgent impulse to go visit a friend.
When he arrived, he found his friend getting ready to
commit suicide. The Christian was able to lead him to
Christ and save his life.
"The Lord told me to bring you this," a man
said as he gave a basket of food to a pastor. The pastor
and his wife had been praying for God to supply their
needs because they had no money and no food.
Life can become a series of thrilling adventures for
you as you are filled with the Holy Spirit and learn
to follow His leading. He will lead you into a life
of great usefulness and blessing.
For You to Do
8. Do you want the Holy Spirit to tell you what to
do? Ask Him every morning this week to lead you to someone
that He wants you to help during the day. Expect Him
to do it and obey Him when He does.
Go to Chapter 5: The Holy Spirit Helps You
Do Something Else Good
Go back to Chapter 3: The Holy
Spirit Helps You Pray
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