How The Spirit Leads Us | Pastor Shane Idleman

Today though, hopefully, is the last part of the small series I've been in entitled, When the Spirit Falls, Part 3. We're in the book of Acts, and today's title is How the Spirit Leads Us. How the Spirit Leads Us. Anybody need any help in this area? Okay, a few people. Now, I do want to say to make sure to listen to, and I think we have the titles up there just so you can take a picture or remember these, on the next slide, listen to Seized and Overwhelmed by the Spirit on January 4th, and then Understanding the Gifts of the Spirit that I just gave on Wednesday. And then this is the final message. They all tie together in this important topic of the power of the Holy Spirit, but it's a good reminder that pursuit of God must be our passion. Pursuit of God must become your passion. If I could sum up the successful Christian faith, Victoria's Christian living, is passion for God. And we find ourselves now in Acts 11, 11-1. Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. So remember last week they're surprised that the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles because they thought, hey, this is our gift. This is just for Jews. But no, God says this is for the entire world. So the apostles and brethren, they heard that the Gentiles received the word of God. And how did they know? Because there was evidence of their salvation. There was evidence of the Holy Spirit in their life. And it's a good reminder for us that there should be some fruit. Maybe not a lot of strawberries on the strawberry bush. Is it a bush or a plant? I don't know. It's cute though. It's got little red. If you can get to it before the worms do. And there might not be a lot. There might be a little strawberry, but there's some fruit. You know it's a strawberry fruit. So with the Christian, although we are not to judge, we don't know somebody's eternal state, we are actually called to be fruit inspectors. And so if somebody has no fruit in their life, there's just no love for God's word. There's no sincere humility, no remorse. If there's no fruit, you really want to look, examine. That's why Paul said, examine yourself. Do you not know if Jesus Christ is in you? And so as with any believer, there is fruit. Again, not perfect fruit, not a full fruit tree full of fruit. That takes time. But there usually is some fruit. And I love this Greek word, receive. I believe it's decamoi. They receive the word of God. And that means to accept and to welcome the word of God. So they were hearing the word of God and they received the word of God. Okay. Romans talks about, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen so that they are without excuse. Okay. Now what's the point of

that? Well, they receive the word of God and people say, well, if God wants me to be saved, he'll save me. Or if God wants to get my attention, he'll get my attention. You actually have to receive the word like, like a gift. And you have to receive that word from God. So these Gentiles receive the word of God. And then it goes on to say in verse two, and when Peter came up from Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contender with him saying, you went to uncircumcised men and you ate with them. And the Bible has an explanation point because Jews are not supposed to associate with Gentiles. And they're like, why did you do this? You broke, you know, and I, and I looked, I could be wrong here. I'd spent some time a couple of weeks, I think a week ago. And there are our script, our scriptures where, you know, God wants to be able to come out from among them, be separate, don't learn from the pagan nations and things like that. But I couldn't find any commandment from God that they weren't even to fellowship with an unbelievers or, or at least have dinner with them because they were, they were trying to actually convert them from time to time. But they, in this case, by now tradition, the, the, the laws from some of the Pharisees made it to where you couldn't even go to unbelievers, not even, not even Samaritans, half breeds, but Jesus went to Samaritans. He went to Gentiles. And so it's a good reminder before they chided Peter and went off on him, they should have been slow. to speak and quick to listen. They should have heard His side because they eventually change their opinion. What a great reminder for us. Anybody need to work on that this morning? Only a couple people? Well, you're doing pretty good. That's why it says be slow to speak because our flesh wants us to be quick to speak. And that's why it says quick to listen because we don't want to listen. I've already made up my mind. Don't confuse me with the facts. And isn't that why we don't want to listen a lot of times?

We already are going a certain way. I don't want to hear. I want to speak. That's actually not very biblical. Yeah, and you want to turn into a mature believer really quick, be slow to speak. And also, though, be careful not to develop a hard heart. Be careful not to develop a hard heart. I'm not saying these guys had a hard heart because they shifted gears, but it's that typical, how could you eat with these people? Jews aren't supposed to associate with the Gentiles. And so be careful not to develop a hard heart. What is that? A hard heart happens when there's truth without grace. As a fellow struggler in the hard heart area, like many of you, and I've talked to countless people over the years, it's always that truth without grace. And when you have a hard heart, you actually don't see it. So when people are telling you this, you don't see it. And pride blinds you, and pride elevates you, and pride doesn't make you teachable. So the deadly thing about pride is you don't see it. Many other sins you see, like I see that. I need to work on that, thank you. But this sin, nope, I'm right, and everybody else is wrong. You know my favorite poem,

the pride in others I can clearly see, but praise God, there's none in me. Haven't you done that before? And they don't want it, they don't see it. And it's as clear as day. I've talked to people, it was so obvious that pride was dripping off of them, and they just do not see it. Because what it is, it's a form of self-exaltation. It's pride, and we can all struggle with it if we don't stay humble and teachable and be slow to speak, quick to listen, everything we talk about here. And also, these type of people, they do not want to be challenged. A prideful person hates to be challenged. And you can see pride come up, right, in all of us. I don't want to be challenged sometimes, right? And Morgan says, you didn't take the trash out. Well, I don't feel like it right now. I don't want to be challenged about the trash or the dishes, I still do those things at home. How about you, men? Any vacuumers around here? House cleaners, okay? But just in other areas, right, but once we recognize it and repent of it and work on it, we actually can grow from it. And so Peter, instead of arguing, all he did was, let me tell you about what happened.

And this is where you can tell their hearts were actually teachable. Because they didn't say, I don't care what happened. You know, you shouldn't be fellowship with them. They heard the good things that God was doing and the fruit, and they're like, oh, okay. Let me be more open-minded what's going on. And guys, what happens is I try to be transparent and help you and help me understand. But I also don't want to cross the line sometimes and say things that maybe don't need to be said and things that happen here. You know, I tell my kids, hey, beware, because anything you say in this house can be used as a sermon illustration, okay? Anything you say or do can be used as a sermon illustration. We should get shirts like that that say that. But I've talked to people and they don't go here anymore because, you know, just maybe it's too much worship, too much revival. You know, not everybody's, they like just the standard church service. And I'll even, they'll maybe say something about, you know, what happened or this, and I'll say, but the fruit is amazing. Look at what happened in their life. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter the fruit. If they think it's weird or emotionalism,

it doesn't matter, there's tons of fruit. Oh, people are at the altar. That's kind of emotional. Yeah, but they were delivered of crystal mint. They were delivered of alcohol. They got their kid back. Their marriage is restored. Or don't you think, oh, no, no, but still, but still they don't want to hear that. It doesn't matter. You could show them you could bring in a truckload of fruit. And still it doesn't matter because they are arrogant, opinionated people who have never experienced the power of God. Again, that's just the truth. And it's such a sad thing, the hardness of the human heart. So Peter, what he did, he said, okay guys, here's what happened. And he goes through the whole story. I won't read it. It's basically, I will be rereading everything I did. About a week ago, I believe. But he talks about, he was commanded by God to eat unclean food. So a vision kept coming, no, Peter, eat this unclean food. And he's like, no God, no, no, no, I've never eaten unclean food. And so he had to give the vision a few times.

And what he was showing him was basically, it's okay to go with the unclean Gentiles. It was a way of God showing him, hey, when the Gentiles come, as normal, he'd be like, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. So God was working in his heart through this vision, through this, I think it was called a vision in this case. It wasn't necessarily a dream. He just, he saw this vision. But it's also a good reminder that I said before, and I want to say it again, God will not go against his word. Because I'm sure people are thinking, well, God said don't eat unclean. Now why is he saying eat unclean animals? And basically, unclean is, there are a certain amount of certain animals that were clean in order they could be sacrificed. You know, with the oxen and the goat. And you can even see in Abraham, when he cut up the she-goat, the heifer, the ram, the turtle dove, and the pigeon, right down the middle of that covenant with God, you can see there's certain animals that are okay for sacrifice, but then there's others that are unclean, that aren't good for sacrifice. And it's funny too, God even gave clean animals to eat. He allows that after the flood.

I know you plant leavers and you hate, you know, meat's bad for you. But biblically speaking, we were designed to eat plants. And then after the fall, 1500 years, God says in the same way I gave you the greens, I now give you the beast of the field. And you know, that's a whole nother topic. My point is, there were still some animals they weren't to eat because they were unclean. And still today, it's really not healthy to eat. Isn't that interesting? That those same animals are not really good for human conception. And so He's telling him, now you can eat the unclean animals. So it's a good reminder for us, God's not going back on His word. What's happened throughout the Old Testament is you see they had dietary laws, they had ceremonial laws, Levitical priesthood, how they're going through the ceremonial laws, the dishes, the utensils, the showbread, and the way they would sacrifice. But now after Jesus, all those things are fulfilled in Him. So there's no ceremonial laws, there's no dietary laws, but there are still moral laws. So you'll never hear in Scripture,

hey, I know I told you this in the Old Testament about, I mean, you name it, a moral law, and sexual sin or any kind of sin or coveting or stealing. And you'll never say, oh, that's okay now. But you'll never see that in the Bible. That's okay now. Because the moral laws don't change. And that's why you'll hear people sometimes say, well, yeah, that was the Old Testament time. That was Paul's time. But today, be careful, run for cover. Run for cover from those teachers because the moral laws don't change. Why? Because they are universal. They're moral. The dietary and ceremonial laws had a purpose at a particular time in history. But the moral laws are forever. So we're gonna get controversial. You guys ready? Buckle up, put on that roller coaster ride seatbelt. Let me see you guys buckling up. Joe, you buckled? Okay, here we go. Then the Spirit told me. Isn't that controversial? As soon as I put stuff like this on social media, I get the negative Nelly's. God doesn't do that anymore.

We have the Bible. We have the Bible. And I know what they're saying because you see so much damage in the church from crazy Karens. No Karens here today, right? Is there any Karens here? Okay, sorry about that. I'm trying to think of names. I'm gonna try to think of something that rhymes with Olga. So I know there's no Ogas here, I don't think. But the Spirit of the Lord told me to go with them. How do you know if God is leading you? How do you know? Does God still do that today? The Spirit told me. to go with them, and so I doubted nothing. Moreover, there were six friends accompanying me, and we entered the man's house. And so once he explains what happens, and I was already there, but then I thought of all these points I want to share with you because it's important on the Spirit leading us. That's the title this morning, When the Spirit Leads Us. And once they hear everything that happened, they're like, oh, wow, that's incredible. God has definitely visited the Gentiles as well. So there are obviously more ways

that you can list that I'm gonna go over, but John 16, 13 says, when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. Isn't that interesting? Now, how many of you know who said those words? How many do not know who said that? John wrote it, but John didn't say it. Jesus said it. And what He's talking about is very interesting. And He said, I'm here with you, but when I go, the Father's going to send the Helper, and when He comes, after I'm gone, when He comes, He will guide you into all truth. And that's why I truly believe a solid believer grounded in God's Word, following these principles, I've never seen them really led astray. Now, of course, we make wrong decisions now and then. Anybody else? Okay, a few of you are honest. But I mean, led astray, by the wrong, it's impossible when you follow God's principles. So the Holy Spirit, just a quick overview on pneumatology, which is the systematic study of the Holy Spirit. Gonna give you the one-minute version, so the five-hour course on it. It's when you repent and believe, you're an unbeliever, you repent and believe the Spirit of God comes and resides in you,

and now you have this internal witness that you are children of God, you have this internal umpire blowing the whistle when you're not going in a good direction, you have this conviction, you have this leading, this guiding, you have the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, contentment, long-suffering. The key is not to quench and grieve Him. That's, I mean, would you, that's probably, that's our life's journey. My life's journey is to not quench and grieve the Holy Spirit. Yours is too, so don't look at me that way. So there are seven ways He leads us, according to God's Word, not Shane's opinion. Praise God for that. And I will tell you, this is an interesting topic on the Holy Spirit, is it not? For those of you who don't know, I use the MacArthur Study Bible, so I love sound doctrine, I love sound teaching, but these have been very vocal, this is one area I would disagree with that Study Bible, on the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. I also read Sam Storms, an incredible theologian, Norm Geisler, there's incredible people out there who have really unpacked this topic. Like, there's volumes written on pneumatology, the study of the Holy Spirit. The Puritans have incredible works on the Holy Spirit.

John Owen's book, thick book, on the Holy Spirit. And they just, we're all kind of saying the same thing, but there are different camps that believe, some believe that now that we have the Bible, and again, I wanna reiterate, I did last week, now that we have the Bible, we don't need to be led of the Holy Spirit like the early church was. And if you read their writings, and okay, I can see where they're coming from, but here's a few things we're definitely missing. Because the big thing really is, if God is still speaking to people and leading people, then He's still speaking, and we have the Bible, we don't need that anymore, like, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's not speaking absolute truth, we have that. But sometimes individually, we need a little help. The helper needs to help me. And so He might lead me. But how many of you have met the person that is just, I don't have a better word, but it's gone wacko, and the Holy Spirit's leading them, and they're just, no, no, no, no, no. Spend time in the Word, let that lead you. Because it can be a great excuse. Well, the Holy Spirit told me to do that. Well, it actually goes against the Scriptures. Wow, that's, I don't know what to say to that. Why do? That's the wrong spirit. That might be your flesh.

And so that's why there's a big, and then you go to different churches, where some are more conservative, and there's some I know in this valley that actually believe kind of what we do, but they're more conservative, so you wouldn't know that they. do, because you know, let's keep it on the down low. And then there's other churches that are just, no, I wouldn't say far, I'd say hyper charismatic. So it's like, there's two ends of this spectrum. Getting like, it's almost okay, people come every Sunday for a word from the Lord. It's like, you know, you can go a while without a word from the Lord, go do what he told you to do a couple years ago, and just stay in his word, you don't need you don't need a word, because then you can become actually very unhealthy. Because then you're looking for people each week to give me work, give me work, Jesus has spoken to you, the word's clear. Now, if you need a little help along the way, he will do that in his time. And we don't need to know every everything, every week, this, it's the Christian walk isn't like that faith is a journey. Sometimes he doesn't say anything for a while. Does that bother anybody else? Just me. Abraham had to go 10 years on one word from the Lord. It's not like the book of Acts is written over 30 years. So it's not like they're, they knew what to do, they're, they're, they're following the Lord. Now, I will say they didn't have the word back then. So, you know, the leading of the Holy Spirit, it would, you know, would definitely take on some different nuances. But they can look at the Old Testament, the character of the Bible, of God's character, they actually had the

the some of the writings were starting to come out. And that's how they canonize the Bible. How we got our Bible is it's not some council met in 300 AD and said, Oh, I think these books are good. They just said, here are the books the early church has been using from date since day one. Since Paul began writing these letters and sent these are the they call mechanical, they call them authoritative. And that's where our Bible came from. And then Roman Catholicism added the Apocrypha later and all these other Bibles that are non-authoritative. And they actually go against some of the scripture. So that's why we do not even include those because we include the Old Testament that Jesus use. And then you can get into the Septuagint, the Greek, Greek translation of it. So we have the Old Testament, and then we just we just have the letters that those who followed Christ saw Christ walk with Christ, the letters they wrote, that's authoritative, that's the scriptures. It's actually pretty simple. It's beautiful. And so be careful that there's a lot of lies going around on how we got our Bible men wanted power and authority. So they put the Bible together to control people, give me a break. So number one, seatbelt is on, tightened, fastened. Obedience must be a priority. That's the best way to know God's will bar none. That's the best way to be led of the Spirit, is it not? When you're obeying His Word, you can walk in confidence knowing that that's His will. The Bible actually says a couple different times, this is God's will for your life. Did you know it says to worship Him? To make disciples? To be saved? This is the will of God for you that you're not be deceived. And there's a few things and you can walk in that. So obedience must be a priority. Making

choices that align with His Word is the best way to know you are being led of the Spirit. That has to be the foundation. Because if we don't have a foundation, let's say in this church, if we don't have a gauge of truth and a foundation we're building on, what's to stop all of us from saying, well, I think this. I feel this way. You ever hear that one? Well, I think God's leading this way. Well, I think He's leading this way. Now there's gray area, of course. But we have, let's like, you don't just show up to any contractors here, right? Do you ever just have your guy who digs your footings show up and then the concrete guy in the cement truck and just, I don't know, just put it wherever you want. Just start digging over there, pour over there, electrician, have at it. Plumber, just I don't care where you put the toilets. No, that's never happened. There's always a plan. I've seen this so many times. You go to the little trailer on the construction site, they roll out the plans. Let's see. Oh, yeah, it's three foot off the property line. That's exactly. Okay. And you have that. We all have that standard to work off of. Without that, it's not going to work. Same thing with God's Word. That is always the standard. Now within that, though, there are what we would call non-essentials. Things that the Bible doesn't say. The Bible He doesn't say exactly how to conduct a church service. And you'd be amazed at how many people, there's arguments over the years that we're not doing things right. Our church does it this way. Like communion should be at the front. The whole service should be about communion and the Eucharist.

Anybody see that? Now that's a good point, because the communion, the fellowship with Jesus, that's awesome if the communion is at the front. Okay, but the Bible doesn't say to do this when you come together, do this in remembrance of Me. It also says the teaching of the Word of God, singing psalms or hymns. And so it gives you like four things, and then you kind of have to put those pieces together based on how God leads certain individuals to do things differently. And so there's a lot of freedom in that. I love that Christian churches are different. That's normal. If we all look the same exact way, that's actually the marks of a cult. They do that to control you. You go here, you go to one in Utah, you go to one in New York, they're all gonna look the same. That's not free-flowing from the Spirit. That's man's attempt to control, and it can become a cult. Now sometimes churches should look similar, right? On the essentials, we all should be doing the same thing on the essentials. For understanding in spiritual matters, the golden rule is not intellect, but obedience. Let the consequences of your obedience be left up to God.

Spiritual maturity is not reached by passing of the years, but by obedience to the will of God. Oswald Chambers. So that's the first step on the ladder. This is so important because, maybe some of you this morning, you're trying to figure out God's will, but you're in disobedience to the known will of God. You want to know, ah, should I work here? But you're in disobedience to the known will of God. For example, this is why we tell couples praying about marriage, first move out, stop fornicating, get on the right path, then you can see clearly. You see, you're wanting to know God's will while you stay in disobedience in this area. God's not gonna go, oh, shucks. Is it, do we still say shucks? I haven't heard that in a while. No, they're not gonna, they're not gonna change. I might as well just lead them. You know, you have to start with what we know to be right. What we know to be right. Then number two, wisdom is the way. Wisdom is the way. Proverbs says, wisdom is the, look at this verse. Wisdom is the main thing. It's the main thing. Therefore, make sure to get wisdom. And in everything you get, get understanding.

And she will exalt you, she will promote you, she will bring you honor when you embrace wisdom. And we've seen this over the years. I'm sure you have too, the experience where God just says, you know what, make a wise choice. You can't afford that house. You don't have to be praying about it. Just make the wise choice. You can't afford that, just make the wise choice. What should I do, what should I do about my health? Hello? Make the wise choice. Choose almond butter instead of Captain Crunch. It's not difficult. You guys want me to stay there a while, don't you? But I'm not going to, I'm not going to today. But I can't tell you how many times, you know what, even making decisions in the church when we meet with the elders, sometimes we don't know. It's like, what is wise? What's the best choice knowing our staffing needs, time off, just our location. I mean, and every time we make wise choices, you know, there's a lot of security there. I mean, I could give you many examples. You guys know in your own personal life, what school should we put our kids in? What college should my kids go to? Well, nowadays, be careful, right? What is wisdom?

It's, God has actually given us wisdom. We're not called to just float around like we're floating around on clouds and being led of the spirit the way he blows the cloud. He gives us wisdom to make wise choices. So here's the thing, though. Knowledge knows to make the right choice. Wisdom actually does it. So a lot of people think they're wise, but they're not. They're knowledgeable, but they're not making the wise choices. And then the next way to make sure you're being led of the spirit, I've seen this, I'm sure many of you have. It's biblical for sure. Peace acts like a compass. You guys know, don't you? When you're not going the right direction, you're like, I don't have a lot of peace, but... You know, there's no peace there. And you can actually be doing something hard and still have peace when God directs you. Most times God directs you to a hard thing, but there's still peace. Okay, God's in this, I have peace about it, I feel good about it. Nobody can knock you off track because that peace... Why is there peace? Because it's like a compass keeping you in the right direction. One of the things is the Holy Spirit, as a helper, is also that internal alarm clock.

Like, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, you're going the wrong way. Be careful. Be careful. You're going the wrong way. And so peace does that. Although difficult, the Spirit's leading is often backed by peace and assurance. It's that verse, deep calling unto deep. And God's leading is usually subtle. You know, we think there's these big, you know, well, I mean, if God, man, He'll just, like, He'll just take me physically and turn me the other way. No, the leading's, you guys know, I'm not, I'm preaching to the choir, I feel like, today, but sometimes the choir needs a little preaching, too. Right, you feel that peace. It doesn't mean it's easy. But there's that peace, there's assurance, and God's leading is kind of subtle. I mean, sometimes He'll put on the brakes in this, but it's a subtle leading. There's peace there. And how many times do you guys realize that you never quite know for certain. I mean, there's certain things, but most of the time, you're not 100% certain if this is the right direction. But I think that pleases God, because without faith, it's impossible to please God. So when you say, Lord, I'm trusting you, it's according to your word, I know you'll stop me if I'm going too far. I'm going to walk in faith because I trust you. That pleases God.

Because if we're not doing anything because we're in fear, fear prevents us from trusting God. And so there is, there will be some peace there. It is hard, though, because sometimes you feel anxiety in the will of God. I have peace, but I don't want to do this. Anybody been there? There are some hard things that happen. And I do need to tell you this. Walking in the will of God often doesn't make sense to others. Is everybody on your side when you're walking in the will of God? I've got notes here to pray about this before talking about it, so let me think here. How can I be gracious but have a good teaching experience? Let's see here. Well, okay, I can say this. It doesn't usually happen from anybody at our church, so that's good. But any time, or not any time, most times, like if I try to, you know, when I'm fasting, people get worried. Like, Pastor, you've got to eat. But if you eat 10 McFlurries a week, nobody's worried? You know what McFlurry is? But if you're fasting, they get worried. Like, oh, Pastor, I don't know. You need to eat. People's opinions. People's opinions. Now, just for fun, this morning, I had a lot of time on my hands, getting up at 2. How much sugar is in a McFlurry? You've got to be.

I triple-checked this. You're worried about my fasting? One McFlurry. Oh, I can keep going to different, I can go into an In-N-Out Burger Shake if you want. What? What? Are you kidding me? So I wrote, choose McFasting, not McFlurry. And you guys, you guys can pass this around. I want everybody to, isn't that amazing? Like that in one drink. You were not designed to consume that at once. Another research this morning, a 13-foot tall sugar cane has half that amount of sugar. God designed it, right? You're chewing on it, you're getting the fiber, the phytochemicals, the nutrients, just like He designed it. When you pervert things, that's the problem in our nation. We're addicted like a drug addict to these things. And so when you try to live better, people aren't going to agree with you. I get this, oh, Shane's just a health freak. Oh, my goodness. Not really. I can take you to people I know who are health freaks. They're measuring their four-ounce chicken breast. They've got a half cup of brown rice.

They stay within 22 hours. 200 calories of macronutrients, micronutrients, they're making sure to not get about 60% protein, 30% fat, they're getting 20% fat, and then they gotta do this amount of exercise, they gotta burn about 700 calories today because of their deficit tomorrow, and that's a health freak. That's way extreme, I got it. But to just wanna be healthy? The world now pokes fun at that. So as we are passing around the McFasting versus the McFlurry, think about that. Most people will not agree with you when you follow God's lead. So don't let their unsettling affect your peace. And I've found that out. Normally I don't say what I'm doing a lot to others because they often, they don't agree, they don't understand, they're being led of God to do something different. Just be careful, I've seen the opinions of others throw so many people off course. Number four, you already know this, but it's good to repeat it, prayer is alignment. Prayer is alignment. I'd rather teach one man to pray than 10 men to preach. Charles Spurgeon said that. So if we're talking about being led by the Spirit, your prayer life needs to be powerful

because that's how you're aligned. Did you know prayer isn't really about asking, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this, it's about alignment with the will of God. And as you're praying, I've noticed this many times, as you're praying, you're led of the Spirit. The thoughts you begin to think, the way you begin to think, you open up and you begin to read about worship, you begin to read about the Psalms, and you begin to read about Jesus' words, and now your thoughts are changing and cognitive dissidence or whatever they call that, and all these things where your mind, the way you're thinking really matters. That's how you're led. Because your feet go where your mind's thinking. And so prayer, if you look at prayer as alignment, it will make a lot more sense. I've been so busy this week, some of you might say, I haven't had time to pray, I need to spend tomorrow morning or whenever, I need to get realigned. You go put your car up on a jack and they spend $150 to get your wheels aligned. Because what happens is it starts to go off course. So prayer is alignment, again, with the will of God. It's been said that prayerlessness is our declaration of independence from God.

Hoo hoo hoo. That preaches right there, I wish I would've thought of that one. Prayer does not change God, but it changes you. We want spiritual power without prayer, we want to know His will without pursuit, and we want God to open the doors without knocking. Prayer is a very important part of being led of the right spirit. If you seek His hand, you will miss His face. Leonard Ravenhill said, a man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, but he prays because his soul is hungry for God. To truly be led of the Spirit, you have to make prayer a priority. Because think about it, you're not as strong as you think, nor am I. Many people think they can put their brain in neutral. They can kind of watch certain things, do certain things, and I'm just gonna stay in neutral. But you're either being conformed to this world, or you're being transformed by the renewing of the Word of God. And actually, the more you're conformed to this world, the more you start to drift from the Word of God. It's like you're a piece of clay, and I am as well on the potter's wheel. There's no neutral. It's making, it's either shaping you into the man or woman of God,

based on where your head and heart is at, or you're being conformed to think like the world. Do you ever see all the stuff, especially going on now in our nation? You're like, what are they thinking? Well, we know exactly what they're thinking because the prince of darkness is shaping. Their thought life. What they're protesting in Iran to get out of, we're protesting to get into in America. Totalitarianism, dictator. It's amazing that we are just the Christian, a true Christian believer, filled with the Spirit of God, and looking at the way the world thinks you, you think you're in the twilight zone. Old folks like me, you remember the twilight zone? You're in like a different reality. Because you are, you're in a different kingdom. Kingdoms are colliding. You're not designed out of this world. You're not of this world, and so your whole, like I do. do not even think like they think. For example, I know I mention this a lot, but it's really sad. Do these people really believe that a man can have a baby? And do they really believe a man can become a woman? Like it's so clear.

What is going on? They reject the God of this world and God gives them over to a debased and corrupted mind. And they begin to think all of these perverted, weird things. Number five, courage. Courage, trust, and faith are inseparable keys to being led by the Spirit. Why do I say this? Because often when God leads you, it takes a little bit of courage. Amen? How many people don't do what God wants to do? That might be you this morning. Because you're too worried about the ramifications. Don't feel bad. I've done that many times. Especially as a pastor. I'll tell Morgan, I'm not talking to them. I'm not addressing it. It will fix itself. Nope, nope, nope, nope. And does it fix itself? No. A couple months later, we've got a bigger cancer to deal with. Not this church. Other places outside. Other relationships outside of the church. This church is actually wonderful. It's very awesome to lead because it is so Spirit-filled, many people. But there are many things that God wants us to do. And it takes courage and trust and faith to be led of the Spirit. I mean, I used to make decisions on speaking engagements.

Like if I could drive, yes. If I could get on a plane, no. Anybody else can relate? Oh, everybody likes flying? I'm getting better, but I don't know how a million pound piece of metal can stay up in the sky over the Atlantic Ocean when there's lots of sharks. Did you guys ever hear when we were coming back from Florida a year ago? God just taught me so much. I think we were on the tarmac two and a half hours. And then people start getting antsy and frustrated. And so, you know, people are... But anyway, they said, we're going to have to burn some fuel because we weigh too much. How many people are on this plane? And so they're just sitting there burning fuel. And then they had to ask some people to leave. I'm like, that's going to make the difference? We're like, we're over by like, really? And then they come on. Instead of planning to drop you off at LAX, we might have to land in Pomona because we use fuel. We might not have enough fuel now to get to LAX. And then I love when a pilot says this. We actually have a third thing now. This has never happened to me in all my years of flying. The headwind is too great out of Florida.

So we're gonna have to wait until the wind dies down. So low fuel, high winds, and we weigh too much. And that eight hours, that was an eight hour flight from sitting in that airplane. And I prayed. Oh boy, did I pray. So unless it's clearly written in His Word, we often don't know with 100% certainty that a choice is right. Here's the thing, that's by design. That's called faith. I don't know, should I marry this person? Well, are you following the biblical course? I don't know, should I work there? What should I do for my career? Well, a lot of times we don't know. It's by design, it's called faith. The Christian lives by faith. We walk by faith. We know the godly principles, we trust God, but at the end of the day, we have to live by faith. We don't know a lot of times. How many Easter services should we have? God's not gonna tell me. It's not coming in the mail. I'm not gonna open, oh, okay, do this. We have to sit down and make wise decisions. How many of you are praying about something and you just, I just don't know what to do?

Sometimes it's good to wait, but sometimes it's good to step out in faith. God can't direct what's not moving. You need a job? Go out and pound the pavement. It's not gonna come to you in the mailbox. Well, you might be lucky, I don't know. I've never seen that before. Usually it's moving, pursuing, doing things, and then God begins to open the doors. But He can't direct what's not moving. moving. I just told my son this morning as we were driving here, when I left 24-Hour Fitness, I just had to go take construction work. They called me labor. Anybody know what that is? They give you a shovel and a digging bar and you're just really tired at night. But then eventually my brother moved to Idaho and then I was able to take over the heavy equipment aspect of it and got my own backhoe and heavy equipment, got my Class A license, truck driver license, Kenworth truck driver, and begin to drive the equipment and make ten times more the amount of money just by staying in that and just staying there and God began to open these doors. But you have to step out and say, I don't know, God are you in this? It looks good. I have to pay the bills. Hello, wisdom. Wisdom comes into play. So many times we think, and I've been there, don't feel, we just sit at home like, okay God show me, show me, show me, show me, show me. Step out in faith. No, no, no, I have to make sure it's you. Well you won't know it's me until you step out in faith. But I don't want to step out in faith because I'm living in fear. But again, not if you're in disobedience, right? That's kind of a no-brainer. But unless it's clearly written, it will challenge your courage. Second Chronicles, behave courageously and the Lord will be with you. I remember, it hasn't happened in a while, but I used to pray with parents like I'm having a real problem at my school, public schools. Anybody relate to that? I'm really praying about,

I don't know if I should go to a board meeting and say anything. Why not? I don't want to stir the pot. Oh yeah, it's time to stir the pot. It's time to throw the pot over and stir the pot. But I don't want life to be hard for my kid, the teacher. You know, so I understand that, but a lot of things what God wants you to do is going to go against easy, an easy life. It's going to go against that. That's why God loves courageous believers. I find it interesting that one of the things in Revelation that says about the lake of fire, it says the cowardly will be thrown there. The unbeliever. Not a Christian who's cowardly. They just struggle with cowardliness. They need to put on their big boy pants and step on the gas and be bold. The cowardly is a reflection of unbelievers, of course. But that's what's even happening in our nation. A lot of the cowardly people are not doing anything. And God calls a Christian to be to be bold, not arrogant. Careful, careful you people. Right now I know I'm gonna go to school board meetings. I'm gonna tell my mind. No, no, careful. It has to be guided by love and grace and humility. How many of us, oh, I want to say something, but I just don't want to to my neighbor or whoever. I just, I don't want to. I don't know if it's God. Well, if, if it's according to his word and it's going to help them, it's probably God. Listen, it's not going to feel great. It's not going to feel great. It's challenging sometimes. We are led by the wrong spirit when worry replaces worship and fear overrides faith. God's will often doesn't make sense based on our goals and our agendas. I don't want to do this. I had this plan. Anybody ever have a plan and God's not on your calendar? Man, he's good at readjusting, isn't he? He is like, he's just awesome at readjusting calendars. Why? Because we put stuff on, okay, this, I get a rest on this day. I like this person, so I'll go to lunch with them. And then I want to go here and I want to go here and this. I'm gonna build my career. Okay, here's my calendar. And God said, here's what, here's, here's what I want you to do. That's why when you say surrender, take, take me Lord, my life is yours. Take my life. It's yours. And God will begin to use you in powerful. And when you say it's not, Lord, what do you want to do with me? What do you want to

do with me? So we do have to talk about this one. Open doors, open doors. When God opens a door, there's a sense that it's the right door. I mean, I would love to give a whole sermon on this point because I've heard many times over the years, so have you, you've probably done this, you make a wrong decision because of an open door. And you have to remember the enemy can open doors too. People with wrong motives can open doors. Life can open a door. Just because it's an open door doesn't mean you're supposed to walk through. If you use that gauge and that gauge only. Life has open doors. So we have to be really careful in this area. Do not manipulate a door to open or read too much into open doors. Push a door open. You go get the locksmith. Push it open. Doesn't work well, does it? And don't rely just on an open door. It can be very dangerous. I just read this in Streams in the Desert. Two devotionals I recommend. You can actually get them to email you every day. The daily devotional Streams in the Desert and Utmost for My Highest by Oswald Chambers. I open those every morning. As I was preparing this sermon, this came up. Continue along the path which you have already been treading. In other words, keep going the direction you're already going. Abide in the calling which you are called unless you are clearly told to do something else. After prayer, obedience, and seeking God,

if there are no apparent hindrances, then go forward with a heart of faith. But thank God this last sentence is in here. But do not be surprised if the answer comes as a closed door. Sometimes the answer is in an open door. God also guides us by slamming shut in our face. I can't tell you how many times I pray with people and they come back later and they say, man, this door closed, I know we prayed about it. And then you see them a month later and like, thank God the door closed. Because we never know what's behind the door. We just think the grass is always greener. Is there some door closed by the Father's hand which widely opened you had hoped to see? Trust God and wait for when He shuts the door, He's the one that keeps the key. Isn't that true? Man, so encouraging. So this whole point of open doors is, I mean, I've learned over the years too, when God wants to open a door, no man can shut it. Let God open the doors. For example, if you're at work or you're in ministry or you're wherever, and you're like just getting so frustrated, right? Why am I not being promoted? Why is this happening?

They're holding me back. They're holding me, you know, I mean, you know that sense I'm talking about? The victim mentality and man can't hold you back. When God says go, you go. When God can open a door that otherwise looks impossible. Man is not stopping you. Maybe God is waiting on you. Man can't stop you at all. God will open those doors. And number seven, be cautious, but not completely closed off. Again, I wish I could do a whole message on this one. Be cautious, but not completely closed off. The audible voice of God, promptings and the interleadings of the spirit. Ooh, doesn't that just sound controversial? The audible voice of God. When God speaks to you audibly. And of course there are people say, God doesn't do that anymore. For me, I'd say, why wouldn't he? I mean, he's not limited. Why would you, why would you say he doesn't do those things anymore? I would say he does everything he used to do and what he says he's gonna do, but you gotta be really careful. You gotta be really careful. The audible voice.

Most people say they've never heard the audible voice. I will say there are some times where it's such a strong impression, like clearly, you know, you'd think somebody said something because it's that very clear, God's really trying to speak to you and get your attention. That's only happened three times in my life that I can remember. I don't wait for that. I don't plan for that. I don't look for that. But when God says, hello, hello. I've shared this before, but one time was right on the way here to church. When the radio station, when it was up for sale, it actually wasn't up for sale. I got an email that said, we're canceling your radio program on 91.9 because we're selling it to a Hispanic station. I'm like, okay, all right. I'm driving to church and then just like, like you think somebody's in the car. It's like, why don't you buy it? I'm like, what in the world was, like, I'm not thinking of that. I know the devil's not telling me that, right?

It's like this, just this total, like you would not think that on your own. God had to do that to get the conviction. And if you read about it on wcfradio.org, I tell the story there. There's so many confirmations because I don't know about you. I don't, I trust God. I don't trust me. I don't trust, you know, and there's another time, remember I won't go into details right before me. My wife, we're getting married. Up on the aqueduct, I was walking. And it was difficult, because we were all bringing a lot of baggage into the marriage. Anybody relate? You weren't pure as the driven snow and got married at 18 and everything, right? There was some junk coming in, and trust, and fear, and all this. And I just remember, I was just walking. And then just, it's like, what was that? It's like, and I won't say it. I think I said it before, but I'm not going to say it. It was just like, maybe someday I'll get permission. I can say it. I don't remember. It was about that. Oh, yeah, OK.

Well, we all have issues. But one of the Morgans thing, early on, not anymore. But no, it's like not being famous. Like jealousy, right? Because that's how she can relate to me. She was really jealous. And I was really a jerk. And so, right, you get those two together. And so I was like almost done. I can't keep living like this. You know what that is. And I was sure as day, it's like, you need to help her with this. Like just as, whoa. And I just had tremendous peace. I think I told her. And just, and jealousy is gone. And we just work, and boom, great. It's like, it's night and day. But see, those are the times you have to hear from God. Like you have, and there's times she can probably tell you. Times two were just, it's so clear. One time that, I don't know if I've ever shared with anybody before. I think we even have the picture. If they're able to put it up there in time to cover. It should be my Bible for Ezra. Okay, this is Ezra. So at the very top, awakened abruptly. It was January 2nd, 2010.

This whole time I'm praying for, God's calling us to plant a church and pastor. I'm like, no way, that's crazy. That's not God, right? This is like, I can't. Lord, what are you doing? And you just struggle through things. So I was awakened at like, I think it was two in the morning or something. You won't be able to see all this stuff. It was January 2nd, 2010. I literally just, I'm deep sleep, shaking my arm and like, I thought it was Morgan. Like, hey, I need to show you something. Like, I just get up like, who's talking? Like what, Jesus? I'm like, what is going on here? So I go and I just turn to the Bible. Right, okay, the only way I know to hear from God is to open His word. And this just leaped out. And I was actually in the introduction of Ezra. I'm like, well, I'm not gonna get any direction with this. And it says, Ezra was used as an instrument of God at a critical time in Israel's history. Ezra's early years were spent in disciple and disciplined study of God's word and worship devotion to the Lord. And so he was ready for God to use him in changing a nation. And I said, it's time.

He's calling, it's time and just tremendous peace to finally move out. So those are times where I can't discount that. You think that's the devil? You think that's me? No, I'm not even thinking that. And so God will, see, that's the things with the gifts and God speaking, it's to help His people. Everything I just told you, I can't get out of just the word alone. I can say, oh, the radio station's a good idea, but is that a God idea? I mean, principles are there, but also the principle of not trusting my heart is there. Like, is this me? Is that you? So those are times when God can lead us these ways. What about promptings? Promptings, the inner leading of the Holy Spirit. These are our biblical things because the Spirit prompts us to do things. It's like a prompt, but you have to be very careful and not just gullible and not like every little, you know, you're like, Lord, is this you? And you wait on it. Every principle I just said. And for example, who I respect immensely and passed away, John MacArthur. And I was at a Shepherd's Conference there probably 10 years ago.

Now I want to stand up and shout because they were interviewing a Chinese, I think he was a professor at their college who fled persecution in China. And as you know, most people down at the seminary, different things are against the leadings of the Spirit and the promptings of the Spirit because they see the Kenneth Copelands and the Benny Hens and the just weird Jesse Duplantis's. Yes, I name names sometimes. It's just bizarre. It's weird. It's like, I'm not on that camp. I'm on the, right? And so, but they're against all of those things because of just weirdness, but they don't understand. Don't let people define your relationship with the Lord or what the Bible says. There's going to be weird people no matter what you do. And I know there's actually people that support those ministries and they get mad at me when I say that, but those people are just downright weird, not biblical guys, I'm telling you. They're just not biblical to be fleecing people for this money and acting like shepherds. false prophets in these clothes, anyway I'm getting out of that one, but I agree I just don't think it's good and so anyway I'm down there at this this event and this this persecuted pastor I think teaches at their seminary was talking about how he was in China and he had a Bible and the Spirit led him on his bike to take a different direction and he actually avoided the police at his home

and was able to flee China and I want to say exactly that's that's all I'm saying why is it okay for him to say he was prompted by the Spirit but if we say it we're weird and of the devil you can't have it both ways guys of course the Spirit leads and prompts to to do certain things the key is though when you're with when you're when you're when you're spending time with the Father you're not misled as easy by the enemy you know the voice of the my sheep hear my voice a stranger they will not follow they know what's of me they know the they're seeking the Lord they want to follow his principle and they want to use wisdom but sometimes the Spirit helps to lead but we have to be careful but because even unbelievers have experienced promptings and leadings haven't they how many have just been prompted by the Holy Spirit to do something you know it wasn't God I mean you know it was God I'm sorry I've been prompted out the other way too but you know that God is like you know you're you're doing something it's just a strong sense of this this conviction that God is leading you to do something different I mean I could give a lot of examples but we don't have time when there's intimacy with the Father and you're pursuing him these things are much easier to gauge honestly I'm not worried about leadings or promptings or forgot because it's if you're if you're walking in the Spirit you're keeping you know sin on short on a short leash and repentant and praying and worshiping it's it just makes sense like this is not of you can tell you're you're in tune with the Father but I believe he does use those things how many of us you've been going it's like you know what I need to turn around I need to go back in there I need to say something you thank God you did or people I've talked to people who weren't even planning on coming to church but they said you know I had to get up and I had to be here and look at what happened in the parking lot or the prayer I mean it's it's it's it's just it's so frequent you're not gonna get those types of things just from the Bible alone because everything I just said it's principles but sometimes you need I need some help Lord is this your will and the further away you are from the heart of God the less you'll be able to hear his voice and discern his

will or find peace as you step out in faith it's not always about knowing exactly what God wants you to do amen it's about living based on biblical principles exercising faith trusting God's sovereignty taking thoughts captive and dealing with sin the humble he teaches his ways but he resists the proud and then finally I'm ramping up here get ready finally after 30 minutes of being led of the Spirit so then it says an axe and he told us how he had seen an angel standing in the house and said to him go to Joppa and call for Simon whose sure name is Peter so now he's talking about Cornelius Cornelius sent for Peter and Peter says as I began to speak the gospel to these people the Holy Spirit fell upon them just like he did it at us in the beginning so Peter's amazed the Gentiles received the fullness of the Spirit just like we did then I remember the Word of the Lord how he said John did baptize you with water but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit see that's where that term comes from it's in the Bible some people have you baptized with the Holy Spirit is there an overwhelming sense of God's Spirit working in your heart if therefore God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we believed who am I to withstand God Oswald Chambers said receiving the Holy Spirit is an invasion that cannot happen until we come to the end of ourselves now of course this could refer to salvation when you receive the Holy Spirit as a believer it's because you repented and believed but also that can apply to a believer when they to receive the fullness of the Spirit it has to come at full surrender because the Spirit is limited and quenched and grieved when we hold on to all these things and we don't we don't let him have full full rule and reign in our lives again be encouraged you'll never do that perfectly I've never submitted my life without flaw because there's always things working in our hearts to draw us away from him and when they heard these things Peter's friends became silent and they glorified God saying well then God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance to life repentance to life so here's a closing point hearing requires a response when you hear the Word of God it requires a response those who have an

ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches so if you're if you don't know God you've got to respond to the call of salvation it's not just to hear it and do nothing with it there is a response required if you're a believer and you're living lukewarm and carnal and stifling and quenching the spirit you have to respond in brokenness and humility and full surrender there's a question I asked on Wednesday night I'll ask you as well have you received the Holy Spirit have you received the Holy Spirit of course for unbelievers have you received the Holy Spirit if not you need to repent and believe have you have you have you believed in Jesus and have you received the Spirit if not you need to do that today the Bible does not give us promise us tomorrow but for believers have you surrendered to be set free have you emptied yourself to be full have you yielded to God to be guided have you humble yourself to be lifted up are you thirsty to be satisfied because the outflow of the holy invasion is in is a is the Spirit of God coming upon you and then going out just like psalm that we quote often as the deer pants for the water brook so my soul pants for you Oh God I want to ask you this morning does that scripture resonate in your heart do you say yes and amen do you get chill bumps you do you love that you say I love that verse or is that boring to you is that one just one of many scriptures get me out of here so I can eat look at think how powerful that it is as that deer is looking for the water it has to find the water or it will die my soul pants for you oh my god my soul cries out for the living God there's a desire there's a weeping inside my heart there's a yearning that I can't I can't stop until I find him and if there's no thirst for God that means there's no activity toward him and then finally I want you to see this verse since I say it often Jesus stood up on that last day that great day the feast and the Bible says he cried out he cried out I think there's one more slide maybe not if I didn't send that final one if not you can just let me read it John 737 on that last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirsts if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink and out of his heart will flow rivers of

living water we sing that song song sometimes with Richard Andrew that we should be singing there's an urgency building up inside of me there's an urgency building up inside of me everything else can wait everything else can wait guys if there's no desire after more of God check your heart there should be a desire for more of God yes we we live in a fallen world yes we get discouraged yes we get off course but we should want that desire back to have that relationship with the one true and living God and you say yes I need that fresh filling of the Spirit I need more of God I don't I don't I don't I don't have that desire for more of God but I want that if there's no desire for more of God there's the the disconnection could be faith and there's no unbeliever does not have a desire for what I'm talking about they're ready to get out of here they just came because somebody invited them but also believers can quench and grieve the Spirit in our heart and in our life wanting us wanting us to dig in deeper with God and let's pray guys we got it we got to get our hearts right before God that's the only thing that's going to secure secure us in the in the difficult times ahead is that that relationship with the Lord amen