10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Peculiar
Misunderstandings
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1989
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Message #9
MISUNDERSTANDING
THE CURRENT ROLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
(Part #5)
"The Holy Spirit Leading"
Text * Romans 8:14
6. Remember that He is the controller of providence. He can certainly bring it to bear in the interest of His saints. This seems to be the main point of Romans 8:28 which says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." When we speak of the Lord bringing us through a crisis or taking care of us in some particular way, in essence we are saying His Holy Spirit did it. When we pray that God will lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; we are placing ourselves at the mercy of the Holy Spirit of God who will be the person of the Godhead who actually carries out such deliverance for us. For the deliverance of the saints, He may prevent factors which could take their lives, remove or minimize temptations which could wreck them spiritually, open doors of opportunity as He did for Paul in I Corinthians 16:9, or open the windows of heaven with blessings as you can see from Malachi 3:10.
7. Now, how can we, who believe, properly interpret these providential workings or deliverances on our behalf? We can only do so through the light of the revealed Word of God. In fact, many of these deliverances are not only designed to sustain us and make us fruitful; but also to turn us to the Word for further instruction and proper analysis. The providential workings of the Spirit are, within themselves, not sufficient to teach us what God is doing.Their design is to get our attention and show us the handiwork of God. Then, we can go to His written Word for a clear and proper interpretation of the specific work. This is seen in Romans 1:19 and 20. The natural universe is an everpresent testimonial of the greatness of God. Yet, the things that "are clearly seen" in "the creation of the world" are not sufficient for one to adequately know and serve God. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." So, the things which are clearly seen in the creation should get one's attention and turn him to God's Word where he can be instructed in the ways of God.
8. Do not misunderstand and think I am saying the Holy Spirit reveals truth to us apart from the Word of God. I am not. What I am saying is that in delivering us, He arranges circumstances both for us and to us; and our only way to properly analyze these activities is in light of the written Word. An understanding of this truth sheds great light upon Holy Spirit leadership. Romans 8:14 says, "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Galatians 5:18 also says, "If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Through the opening and closing of doors in our life, the Holy Spirit seeks to establish the direction of our lives; but not through these providential events alone. It is only when the daily providential activities of God turn us to His Word for proper interpretations, and we, in turn, submit ourselves to the authority of His Word in these specific occurrences that we can claim to be led by the Spirit of God. Holy Spirit leadership is not following any or every whelm, feeling, or inclination of the heart which might be thought to be of God. To the contrary, it is applying the principles of scripture to the real-life situations that the Spirit brings to you through providence and circumstances. This is precisely what Proverbs 3:5-6 is saying, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."
9. A glorious thought is the fact that once your heart is filled with the truths of God's Word as recommended in Psalms 119:11, the Spirit of God can bring them to your rememberance on the spot. This enables you to make a wise interpretation and decision and move on forward on the spot. Of course, the Spirit can only bring to your memory what has been previously placed there. So, those who do not delight themselves in the Word of God (Psalms 1:2-3), and get it into their hearts are handicapped as they face the circumstances of life. In the first place they have no way to "try the spirits" to see if the thing be of the Holy Spirit or of some false, devilish spirit, I John 4:1. Even if a matter be of the Holy Spirit, they cannot put it in proper perspective and gain its maximum benefit until they go to the Word and search, which may take a long time. So, you can see how the Holy Spirit is hampered in the leading of such ones. Obviously the more one ingests the truths of the written Word, the more fully the Holy Spirit can lead him, for only then is he in a position to respond properly and speedily to the providential circumstances the Spirit arranges for his deliverance. You see, daily deliverance by the Holy Spirit of God is not always a matter of His unilaterally, and without our will, doing something to miraculously deliver us. No doubt He can and often does unilaterally, and without our will or knowledge, deliver us. Although, a good many times, He allows us into circumstances in which our response and application of the principles of His Word will be our deliverance or lack thereof. If we fail to know and apply Biblical principles to the real life situation, we can fall into the snare of the devil as seen in I Timothy 3:7. In spite of the great current delivering power of God through the Holy Spirit for every saint, many aren't delivered in certain situations, but they fail, and fall into hurt and ruin. Why? Whose fault is it? Is it the fault of the Holy Spirit? Did He let them down by failing to deliver? The answer is "no". The fault is one's own. The delivering power of the Spirit was there, but somehow by his blindness to the situation and ignorance of the principles of written truth which should have been applied to the situation, he failed to avail himself of the deliverance the Holy Spirit available to him. This happens everywhere from our efforts on visitation to reach men for Christ to business ventures to marriage encounters to you name it.
10. I do not mean to imply that the Holy Spirit of God will provide no measure of current deliverance for a saint unless that saint is perfect. To the contrary, He delivers us from a great deal of trouble in spite of our ignorance and weaknesses. Romans 8:26 says, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." In spite of our ignorance and weaknesses, He Daily loadeth us with benefits," Psalms 68:19. Although, think how much more He could give us deliverance and victory in life, if we'd only see His handiworks in our lives, and deliberately apply His Word to them. His intercession for us is another form of His current deliverance for us who are His.
11. Deliverance today! Our deliverance daily is the primary work of the Holy Spirit. Praise God for Him. Without His delivering and sustaining power, we could not survive in the work of the Lord. May God help us not to be so blind to what He is doing to deliver and sustain us daily! When the good blessings of life come to us, let us at least recognize that it is the Holy Spirit of God who is the author. Too often we are like those mentioned in Isaiah 1:3, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." We tend to either blame the Holy Spirit for every wild experience of life or deny He does anything. Neither is correct. He is at work every day delivering God's people in total harmony with what He is taught in the light of His Word that our hearts may be filled with thanksgiving and our feet may walk in victory!
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"