The Gift 5

John 16: 7;13 "But I tell you the truth: it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

The Holy Spirit does many things in and around us:

He leads, speaks, fills, reveals, teaches, and helps.

He sends, forbids, grieves, constrains, convicts, and warns.

He also gives life (new birth), intercedes, empowers, sanctifies, and loves.

He dwells within, seals us (or better, is the seal), and gives spiritual gifts to God's children.

________________

And today I want to focus on His ministry as the Guide...

Jesus said, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will GUIDE you into all truth."

In Psalm 32:8 God promises those who are looking to Him,

"I will instruct you and guide you along the best pathway for your life. I'll counsel you and watch your progress."

Notice all these words about guidance -- "I will instruct you. I'll guide you, I'll counsel you, I'll advise you."

And He does this primarily through His Word and the Holy Spirit!

_________________

And we are to FOLLOW the Spirit's guidance:

"Live," writes Paul, "by following the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16).

Now....Jesus promised that the "Spirit of truth" would "guide you into ALL TRUTH..."

So...what "truth" does the Holy Spirit GUIDE us into?

First, He leads us to...

I. THE truth Himself, Jesus Christ...

The Spirit's ministry is to guide us first and foremost to Jesus Christ, the sum total of all truth!

John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them..."

And how does the Father draw someone to Jesus?

"And when he (the Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment" (John 16:8).

The Holy Spirit convicts us that we are guilty of sin, and that a judgment day is coming when we will pay for our sin, and then points and guides us to Christ for forgiveness!

___________________

Jesus said, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life...no man comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6).

Listen: The Holy Spirit will never lead you to Buddha, or to Allah, or to Muhammad, or to New Age, or to any other philosophy or person other than Jesus Christ!

Jesus is the sum and substance of the Spirit's message to our lost world.

So if you think God has somehow led you to a person, or a belief system where Christ Jesus is not the center and core, you have not been led by the Holy Spirit!

__________________

Second...

II. The Holy Spirit guides us onto the right path...

Jesus said there are only two paths, two roads a person can walk down in life--a BROAD road, and a NARROW road...

"The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. 14 But the doorway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it" (Matt 7:13-14).

So first, Jesus presents a WIDE GATE and BROAD ROAD.

Without even thinking, we all initially enter the wide gate because it takes no thought, it's what comes naturally to us in our fallen state...

It seems attractive and is simply “the thing to do.”

It’s where “everyone” is going--it’s where the action is.

______________

ILLUS: The midway at the State Fair where all the rides and games are has always reminded me of the broad road that leads to destruction.

As you walk down the Midway it is filled with vast crowds--Jesus said "the masses travel the BROAD road."

Everything about the Midway is designed to appeal to your senses--Lights, Sounds, Excitement, Laughter, Adventure, Distractions...

As you walk along, endless voices of temptation call out to you:

"Come over here and try your hand at this!"

"No!" Cries another. Come over and try this!"

The various carnival barkers come right out to you, seeking to lure you to their particular game where you will spend your money and almost always lose.

And The BROAD ROAD Jesus talked about is just like that carnival midway...

As you travel through life, the devil has a thousand and one temptations, and allurements to keep you "turning in here"

and "going over there"

and "trying this,"

and "experimenting with that"....

spending your soul's capital on things that never satisfy.

The devil's strategy is to keep you always preoccupied and endlessly distracted from the one thing that can save your soul and give you true life!--And that's the NARROW ROAD...

_________________

Notice: Jesus said we enter the NARROW ROAD through a NARROW DOOR...

And again, Jesus Himself is that door!

Jesus said, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).

Jesus is a "narrow door" because there are no other options that lead to eternal life...He's it!

And when--under the Spirit's helpful guidance--we walk through the door called "Jesus," He sends the same Holy Spirit into our hearts, Who IMMEDIATELY guides us onto the NARROW ROAD.

______________________

The Prophet Isaiah wrote, "But He, your Teacher (speaking of God), will not hide Himself any more. Your eyes will see your Teacher. 21 Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left" (Isaiah 30:20-21).

This is the voice of the great Guide, the Holy Spirit--"This is the way, walk in it!"

___________________

Now....The reason Jesus called it a "Narrow Road" is because it's a road of self-discipline, self-denial, and self surrender--it is the road of discipleship.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me" (Matt. 16:24).

The NARROW ROAD is the road of utter surrender to God and His will.

And It's a road of warfare with the world, flesh and devil...

Paul wrote, "Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 2:3).

And walking the narrow road often brings persecution and rejection from the world.

Jesus said, "If they persecuted Me they will also persecute you" (John 15:20).

____________________

So far I probably haven't made the narrow road sound like a very attractive road to travel on, right?

But Listen: It's the NARROW ROAD of following Jesus that leads to ETERNAL LIFE and genuine joy and happiness!

And this is the road the Holy Spirit GUIDES every one of God's children onto---"This is the way, walk in it!" Is His endless refrain.

________________

A THIRD way the Holy Spirit guides us into ALL TRUTH is...

II. He leads us into God's will for our lives...

And let me say here that...Until you turn to Jesus and get on that narrow road of discipleship, you will likely never discover God's will for your life...

TESTIMONY: I never knew God's will for me as an individual until I totally surrendered to Jesus and began traveling down the narrow road.

_________________

We can read the Gospels and the book of Acts and easily see the active role the Holy Spirit played in leading God's children into God's will.

In the book of Acts we find the Spirit of God guiding Deacon Philip exactly where he was to go in his outreach ministry...

Acts 8:29 "And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

How the Spirit told Philip—audibly or quietly in his spirit—we aren’t told.

But it was clear....Philip obeyed and shared the Good News about Jesus to a eunuch from Ethiopia, who then believed and was baptized.

Then in an incredible, supernatural act, right after he baptized the man, Philip was transported by the Spirit to another place...

Acts 8:39-40 "And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus…"

Philip's experience was--one minute he's in the ocean baptizing this man, and the next moment he's in another city!

Azotus was about 20 miles from Gaza where he had been.

Philip "found himself" literally having been transported twenty miles away without traveling to get there!

__________________

One day a group of prophets and teachers gathered in Antioch to fast and pray--they were seeking the Lord's guidance about the direction of the church.

The book of Acts records:

Acts 13:2 “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”

Somehow, the Holy Spirit communicated God's will to these prophets and teachers--which included Saul--whose name was later changed to Paul.

"The Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them."

So here the Holy Spirit is clearly leading them into God's will for their lives.

He not only guides us into the "big picture" will of God for our lives, He also guides us in all the small decisions we make each and every day, helping us choose according to God's will.

_________________

And you know, the testimony of Scripture and my own experience is that When the Holy Spirit leads you into God's will, it will always entail four things---

a "WHAT" you're to do,

"WHERE" you're to do it,

"WHEN" it's to be done, and

"WHO" you're to do it with.

Saul and Barnabas's "WHAT" was a missionary journey.

Their "WHERE" to do it became clear as they obeyed the Spirit's leading.

Their "WHEN" was THEN! They were led to go out right then.

And their "WHO" they were to do it with was directly led by the Spirit--"Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul."

_______________

The WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHO all connect and flow and are interdependent on each other...

For instance, in order to do the right WHAT you need to be hooked up with the right WHO.

The Holy Spirit guided Paul into the right WHAT--his first missionary journey--at the right WHEN (right then), and He made sure he went with the right WHO--Barnabas.

___________________

Listen young people: If you're in the wrong "WHERE" doing the wrong "WHAT" there's a strong likelihood you're going to meet the wrong "WHO."

And if you get unequally yoked with the wrong WHO it may sabotage God's WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN for you!

Moses had Aaron

Paul had Barnabas and Silas

Elijah had Elisha

David had Joab

Jesus had his inner three--Peter, James, and John

God teams us up with people of like mind and like vision for all of the What's, Where's and When's of our life!

The Spirit of God is given so that we might become plugged into the right "WHAT" at the right "WHEN" in the right "WHERE" and with the right "WHO!"

___________________

Let's stand....The Holy Spirit 1.) guides us to Jesus, 2.) guides us onto the right path, and 3.) guides us into God's will.

Related Media

Related Sermons