The Bible is in turn with me
to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Our text will
be found in verse 14. Romans chapter 8 verse 14. The apostle says here, For as many
as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God. They are the
sons of God. Now the apostle had been talking
to believers concerning the struggle and affliction of the flesh and
the new man. Everyone who is born of God is
given a new nature Yet the old nature is not eradicated, therefore
there is a struggle within. And Paul confesses his struggle,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? Then he gives this glorious conclusion. There
is therefore now, through Jesus Christ our Lord, I thank God
for this, he said, through Jesus Christ our Lord, there is no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And we dealt with this, who are
in Christ Jesus, Those who have a new man, those who walk by
the spirit and not after the flesh. Again, the theme of what
he had been talking about is that we are dead to sin and dead
to the law. Through the body of Christ, through
the suffering of Christ, we are dead to the guilt of sin, dead
to the penalty of sin, and dead to the law, married now to Jesus
Christ, a husband. Who are they? They that walk
after the Spirit and not after the flesh. And he's talking about
the law. He's talking about the spirit
of bondage. We are free from the law of sin
and death. Notice the language he uses concerning
the law. All the law can do is expose
my sin, condemn me, and yet what? I'm free from that. The law cannot
condemn me anymore. Why? Because the purpose of God
was that the law of God be fulfilled, not by us, but in us. That's great. The law is fulfilled
in me. In that new man, in that inner
man, it is totally fulfilled. And those who believe, listen,
we do not walk after the flesh. He's not talking about lust. Definitely we don't desire to
walk after the things of the old nature. But he's talking
about that flesh going to try to please God. And what does
it say? They that are in the flesh cannot please God. You
walk after the flesh. You mind the things of the flesh.
That's what you're minding. Well, I got to stop this. I got
to start this. What are you minding? You're minding the flesh. You
say, if I keep my hands and my feet and my eyes, then I'm going
to have acceptance with God or more acceptance with God, whatever
you say. What are you minding? You're
minding the flesh. But we who walk after the spirit, what do
we mind? We mind the things of the spirit, which is what? Life
and peace. made by Christ. We mine the things
of Christ. We set our affections on things
above. Now, there are many people who claim to be led by the Spirit.
And Paul said this, those who have the new Spirit, have a Spirit,
are led by the Spirit. Many claim to be led by the Spirit.
And you ask people, well, how do you know you're led by the
Spirit? Well, some will say, well, I'm led by the Spirit because,
you know, I'm zealous. I'm zealous for this gospel.
I'm zealous to keep my body in check. That's how I know I'm
led by the Spirit. They say, well, look at the numbers
we have. Look at the big church buildings
we have. Look at the entertainment we have. Look at all the, surely
God's with us. Surely we're led by the Spirit. Some think that even, you know,
killing other people for their God, that they're led by the
Spirit. Man, the Roman Catholic Church for centuries had killed
people and they thought because of their zeal, they were led
by the Spirit to do that. How does one know if we're led
by the Spirit? Because only those led by the Spirit, Paul says,
are sons of God. You're not led by the Spirit, listen to me very
carefully, if you are not led by the Spirit of God, you are
not a son of God. You have no claim, none whatsoever. So whatever this means, As many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Well,
in order to know if we are led by the Spirit, isn't it important
to know what the Spirit does? How do I know if I'm led by the
Spirit? Well, what is the purpose of
the Spirit? What is His work? Go to John 16. Our Lord makes
it very clear what the purpose of the Holy Spirit is. Our Lord's fixing to leave. And
He says, if I don't go and die, the Comforter will not come.
The Spirit. Look at verse 13. He says, how
be it when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, listen to what
He's going to do, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall
not speak of Himself. Now that's a telltale sign. If
the Spirit of God is speaking about Himself, it's not the Spirit
of God. The Spirit of God, but whatsoever
He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things
to come. Listen to what He's going to
do. He shall glorify Me. That is the work of the Spirit.
If Christ is being glorified, if Christ is being magnified,
if Christ is being preached, that is the work of the Spirit
of God, to glorify Christ. You remember what Paul said to
the church of Galatia? He said, you're following after
another Christ. which is not another. They were
following after Christ that saved them, but sent them back to the
law. And you know what Paul said?
That's not Christ. That's not Christ. That is not
the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God will not send
you to Christ and then send you to the law. That's not the Spirit
of Christ. You know what Paul said? He said,
if they preach another Christ to you, let them go to hell.
Any Christ that will send you back to the law, He said, let
that man who preaches that Christ go to hell, because that's not
Christ. And if it's not Christ, it's not what? It's not the Spirit
of God. And so we can know if a man is
speaking the truth in this, what is he preaching? What is he preaching? Is he preaching
man? Is his message how to win friends
and influence people? Is his message concerning the
law? Paul said, we are able ministers
not of the law, the letter, but of the new covenant. We're not
preachers of the law. Any man preaching the law, let
that man be accursed. You hear me? Let that man be
accursed. I didn't say it. The apostle
said it. It's simple. Are we preaching self-sacrifice? If a spirit testifies of these
things, it is not the Spirit of Christ, it is the Spirit of
Antichrist. Why? Because the Spirit of God will
testify of me. That's what Christ said. He will give glory to Christ. Over in 2 Corinthians chapter
4, Chapter 11 and verse 4, Paul said this, For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you
receive another spirit which you have not received, or another
gospel which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him. He's condemning them. He said
that's what happened. You reject me, but you might
bear well with them. Another spirit, another Christ.
So who are led by the Spirit of God? That's the question,
because only those are the sons of God. This morning, it's a
great question to ask ourselves, isn't it? Am I led by the Spirit
of God? Well, look at this phrase, verse
14. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God. Who are led by the Spirit of
God? I don't know, as many as. I say, I don't know if you're
led by the... You can't ask me if you're led
by the Spirit of God. How would I know? As many as. This phrase is used many times
in the scripture to determine this. There's only a certain
number of people led by the Spirit of God. Not everyone's led by
the Spirit of God. Not everyone is. So I've got four things by
which we know we are led by the Spirit of God. First of all,
as many as were ordained are led by the Spirit of God. Go
to Acts chapter 13. We'll flip to a couple of passages
using this phrase. Acts chapter 13 and verse 48.
The apostle preached the gospel there. The Jews hated it. Look what happened. And when
the Gentiles heard this, they heard of grace and mercy. They
were glad and glorified the Word of God. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. Who's led by the Spirit? As many
as God has ordained to eternal life. They're the ones led by
the Spirit of God. There is a determinate number
that God has ordained to eternal life. Now, do we know who or how many? Not a clue. Not a clue. We can only see the effect of
the Spirit of God in the regenerating power of the Spirit that gives
them faith. Faith is the evidence of their
being ordained. Faith is not the cause of their
being ordained. Faith is the result. It's the
result. This doctrine of election, or
rather the doctrine of limited atonement, is very much hated
by religion. They would rather say, and they
would rather say as many as, they'd probably say the whole
world. But that's not what the scripture
says. Listen, as many as were ordained, believed. This doctrine is praised by the
Spirit of God. Why? Because this doctrine gives
glory to God. This is the doctrine of the Spirit
because it glorifies God as sovereign, that in mercy God took some. Now, He didn't do this with the
fallen angels. Consider that. When the angels fell, how many
of them were saved or redeemed? None. And yet here's man lower than
the angels and yet what does God do? In mercy, God chooses
to save some. You know what religion says?
Well, that's just unmerciful. Really? You have no idea what
mercy means if you think that's unmerciful. Mercy means you don't
deserve it and you get it anyway. You think you deserve it and
when you don't get it, You're upset. That's not mercy. This
ordination, this salvation was determined by God out of absolute
free mercy. He was under no obligation to
do this other than the obligation he put himself under. He determined. And so he preached the gospel
then indiscriminately. I don't care who you are. or where you've been. I preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ and I declare without apology, whosoever
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not
shall be damned. That's simple, plain simple.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I indiscriminately
say that to every sinner. Why? Because I have no idea who's
ordained, I have no idea if that message is ever going to resonate
or anything. I can pour water on a stone all day. What am I
going to get? What are you going to get? Are you going to expect
fruit? No. It's not going to work. What do you
need? You need life. I can't give that. I can't put
the seed in your heart. I can throw it out. I can't put
it in there. I can't make it grow. I can't give you life.
That's not my job. I preach indiscriminately to
everyone and without compromise. We cast the seed at a venture,
not knowing where it will go. But I am confident that it will
do exactly what God purposed it to do, whatever it is. Why? Because that's what God said
it would do. He said, As the rain cometh down
from heaven, and watereth the earth, and returneth not thither.
He said it comes down, it waters, and it give seed to the sower
and bread to the eater." He said, "...so shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth. It will accomplish the thing
whereunto I send it." Isn't that something? God has a purpose
for this word for you today. He has a purpose. I don't know
what that is. It could be to harden your heart. You may hear it and say, I hate
this. God's purpose is accomplished. This word may break your heart, and you may turn to Christ. God's
done what He promised to do, His purpose. I don't know what
His purpose is for you. I know this, when this message
goes out, He said this about us, about me. He said this about
me. I am a saver of life and a life
to some. and a savor of death unto death to others." Now, Paul
said, who's sufficient for such a thing? I know I'm not. I'm
not sufficient. Yet that's so. This message,
when I preach it to you that live, it is a savor of life.
It's refreshing, it's joyful, it's glorious. To you that hate
it, it is a savor of death. It tastes like death. I despise it. I'm not sufficient
for that. That's exactly what happens.
Because God's doing what He will with this Word. God does what
He will. He sends preachers to preach the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's what the Spirit does.
He preaches Christ through His ministers. He preaches one message,
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and we are successful
no matter what. I kept telling Terrence, one
thing about preaching is that you really don't see any result. You know, you don't know if you're
doing a good job or not. I mean, it's just impossible
to put a measure and stick to it and see if you're doing a
good job. This place could be filled with thousands and millions
of people and I could be the most worth preacher in the world.
That doesn't measure anything. When he's done with the job,
he can look at that job and say, that's good. I can't do that. I can't do that. How do I know
then I'm successful? God said I am. I don't know what to say. I don't
feel successful, but it is. Why? Because it's His Word, and
He takes it, He applies it to whomsoever He will. And so all who are ordained to
eternal life, these are the ones, as many as were ordained to eternal
life, believe. Second of all, as many as were
ordained to eternal life and are led by the Spirit are also
called of God. Everyone ordained to eternal
life is going to be called. Look at Acts chapter 2. Acts
chapter 2, Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost. And look what it says in verse
38. Peter said unto them, and be
baptized every one of you by the authority of Jesus Christ."
That's what it means in the name of Jesus. It's not an incantation,
it's not a spell. I baptize you in the name of
Jesus. That's not a spell. It's the authority. You're baptized
under the authority of Christ. "...for the remission of sins,
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." For the promise
is unto you, and unto your children, and all to that are far off,
listen, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Who's this
promise to? Look, it's to the Jew and to the Gentiles, what
he's trying to tell them. He's saying, you, you Jews, that's
what he's preaching to, and your children, and the Gentiles, and as many
as are far off. Well, how many Jews and how many
Gentiles? Listen, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. This is our message. Repent.
Listen, not just turn from your sin, turn from your good works. Turn from your righteousness.
Repent of your righteousness. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what He's telling them.
He's talking about baptism. He's not just baptized with water.
We're talking about spiritual baptism. Baptism into Christ. When He lived, I lived. When
He died, I died. When He rose again, I rose in
Him. That's what it is to believe
in Christ. This promise then of life is unto who? As many
as the Lord shall call to faith. The promise of remission of sin. is upon all that who are called."
Now, all who are ordained to eternal life, elected from the
foundation of the world, listen, every one of them are going to
be called. Not one is not going to be called. This is what Peter says about
the elect. Now, 1 Peter chapter 2, and remember, his message
is to the elect. You read that at the very beginning
of it, to the elect. No question as to who he's writing
to. Look what he says in chapter 2, verse 9, he said, You are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of Him
who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Darkness. This is what it is to live under
works religion. It's darkness. Darkness. It's a bondage. It's an enslavement. Remember what he said about those
Jews? He said, I bear them record they
have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Isn't
that what light does, give us knowledge? Now if this room was
pitch black and you couldn't see it, no light at all, you'd
stumble over every chair in this place. Now you may have a visual,
you may try to remember in your mind exactly where everything's
at. You're going to hit something. Why? You don't have any knowledge.
You don't know where the chairs are. Until when? Until you cut
on lights. Then you have what? Knowledge.
You know what I learned? I learned this. First thing I
learned this. I'm a sinner. I didn't know that before. I
knew I was a, I knew I was not a great person. I knew I wasn't
that good. But I didn't know I was a sinner. I learned something else. I knew
this, my obedience could never earn God's favor. I learned that. And what did I do? I ran to Christ. I ran to Christ in faith. Why? Because I was called. This call is not a... I make a general call when I
say that. Come to Christ. I tell everybody,
come to Christ. Come to Christ. Come to Christ.
Believe on Christ. That's a general call, isn't
it? It goes out to your ears of everyone who can hear my voice. But unless that call is affected
by the Holy Spirit of God, it will do nothing but move your
body. That's it. You can become religious,
you can become moral, you can become self-sufficient, you can
do all of these things. You could be a drug addict, alcoholic,
whoremonger, whatever, and all of a sudden you can stop all
that. What does that get you? Nothing but hell. If that's all
you got, that'll get you nothing but hell. You can take all your
morality to hell with you. Why? Because there's sin mixed
in all your morality. When God calls you, He empties
you of yourself. And you lay hold of Christ with
all your soul, because you know if you don't have Him, you'll
die. You know, I'm going to have him,
he'll die. This is what it is to be called out of darkness into his
marvelous light by the glorious gospel of Christ. So all God
chose will in time be called. I like that what he said to Timothy,
he said, who hath saved us and what called us, which is first. I didn't know I was saved. And
I didn't have any experience I was saved. Until when? Until
He called me. And when He called me, His call
was not just any call, it was a holy call. It was effectual,
it was powerful. Got the job done. I know this, when we were born
into sin, we were no different than any other. Some men express outward commissions
of sin and you could tell they're sinners. You just see by, they
live in hell or boy, they're just despising God and everything. You can see those kind of sinners.
But then you got people in the church trying to be moral, trying
to be good, trying to do right all their life. What's the difference? Ain't no difference. They're
both dead. What do they both need? They
both need life. Jesus said, The hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice, listen, of the
Son of God, and they that hear shall live. This is the call. It is called from death to life. And what is the evidence of this
calling? Well, as many as were ordained to eternal life, they
shall be called. And as many as are called, listen,
here's the effect, they shall believe. Go to 1 John. I mean, go to John. John chapter
1. We run this phrase again. John
chapter 1, in verse 11, He said, He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him. To them gave he the right to
be called the sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name." So as many as were ordained are called, and as many
as are called, what do they do? They believe. They believe. Now this receiving of Christ
is a matter of will, just not yours. You are willing. You're the received
Christ. Aren't you willing? Is that something? That's a silly
question, isn't it? It's kind of strange you even have to ask
that. Well, of course I am. Of course I am. Why am I willing? Why is it that my will suddenly
has changed so that I should receive him." Now, that word
received, I've illustrated it before because I've used it before. I'm thirsty. You receive the water. That's it. That's
what it means. You receive him. I did that out of need. I'm thirsty. If I wasn't thirsty, I wouldn't
have need. But now the Spirit has come and I have need. And
this need moves me to receive Him. My willingness to receive Him
receives absolutely no glory whatsoever because it was not
my will that gave me life. Look at that next verse. Which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God. New birth comes out. Does it
come by will? Yes, just not yours. This is the work of the Spirit
of God. As many as were ordained, to
eternal life? They are called of God? And as
many as are called of God, what do they do? They believe. That's what our Lord told us
in John 6, wasn't it? He said, I came not to do mine
own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the
will of the Father which has sent me, that every one He had
given me should come to me. All that the Father gave me shall
come to me. Now is that a question or is
He making a statement? Was He hopeful? Was He wishing
that to be true? No. He knew it to be true. All
the Father gave me shall come to me. And this is the will of
Him that sent me, that of all He hath given me, I should lose
nothing. How many will He lose? How many
will Christ lose? Nothing. He will lose nothing. And any Christ who will lose
some is not Christ. He's anti-Christ. Christ said, I will lose nothing. Later on, Paul is going to say
this in Romans 8, verse 30. He said, moreover whom he did
predestinate, ordain, predestinate. Then he also, what? Called. And
whom He called, He also justified. And whom He justified, He also
glorified. That's something. I have not been yet glorified,
but yet God says I am. It's as done. It's as good as
done. So, we who are led by the Spirit,
what do we know? We know this. The only reason
I have any hope to be a son of God is that God chose me to be
a son. by His blood and righteousness
made me an acceptable son. The Spirit by His power called
me and gave me life. And we give glory to God. And fourth thing about those
who are led by the Spirit, as many as were ordained, as many
as are called, as many as received Him, They also, those who walk
by the Spirit, walk by one rule. One rule. Go to Galatians chapter
6, verse 15. Galatians chapter 6, look at
verse 15. He says, for in Christ, remember
that's our first verse in chapter 8, there's no condemnation to
those who are what? In Christ. In Christ. For in
Christ, if you're in Christ, listen to this, circumcision,
neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
What is he saying? Whether you are under the law,
as the Jews were, or you are Gentiles who never even heard
of it, what does that avail? Nothing. What does the law avail? Nothing. Nothing. What does lack of the law avail?
Nothing. Did that hinder God more because
they weren't under the law? Did God have to try harder to
get the Gentiles? No. Were the Jews easier to save
because they were under the law? No. What avails? What really matters? For in Christ Jesus nothing matters
but this, a new creation. A new creature. And as many as walk according
to this rule. What? Grace, not law. That's what it's been saying
through the whole book. He tells us very plainly in Romans
3 that this, the law is not a faith. You see that? I don't think you
can make it any clearer. The law is not a faith. And so if you're under the law,
you're not under what? Faith. But if you're under faith, you're
not under what? Not under the law. These two are not, they
can't be combined. You're either under one or under
the other. And so what is it that the believers
live by? Do we live by law or do we live
by faith? Which one? Which rule? What's
your rule? We live by this rule that only
in Christ have I been made a new creation. Not by law. Not by works. Peace beyond them and mercy upon
the God of Israel. As many as are led by the Spirit,
we see Jesus Christ alone as all our salvation. That law and
works and religion doesn't avail anything but only Christ. Only
Christ. Paul said that if you add circumcision,
what does he say in chapter 5 of Galatians? If you add circumcision,
listen to what he said, Christ avails you nothing. Now, they added circumcision,
but you can add anything you want to the law. What if you
just add the Ten Commandments? Well, I say it's Christ, but
the Ten Commandments has got to be added in there somewhere.
Listen to me, Christ shall profit you nothing. I'm justified by Christ, but
I'm sanctified by my obedience. Christ shall profit you nothing. And I like this, he said, whosoever
you are. It just amazes, it covers it, doesn't it? Well, I've been
a deacon in this church for 50 years. I don't care. The moment you turn from grace
to law, Christ will profit you nothing. That's hard for a religious man
to swallow. Why? Because he has to get rid
of his self-righteousness. And he don't want to. I've watched people walk into
this church building with all the good intentions. And I mean
strong intentions of actually sticking it out. They've had
to endure some doctrines that they'd never heard before in
their life. And they come to you and they say,
well, I can't deny what you said. I can't deny what you said. You know what hangs them up every
time is the law. When I tell them they're free
from the law, And all reason goes out the window.
They just, they get mad. Which is, isn't that clear evident? That they aren't obeying the
law if they're mad at me. And they are, they're mad at me.
They're upset at me. Why? Because they love that anchor. A drowning man grabbing a hold
of an anchor, that's what I see. I see a drowning man, he's grabbing
a hold of an anchor on the way down. Won't let go. Make no mistake about it, friends,
if a man claims to add anything to the offering and sacrifice
of Christ, Christ shall profit him nothing. Regardless if that
person is moral, religious, loving, caring, faithful, it doesn't
matter. If he adds something to Christ,
God will kill him. Remember Uzzah? David sinned. He had that ark
brought in on that cart, and that was not according to God's
ordinance. And that ark was about to fall. Now, I know David was upset at this.
You know why David was upset? Because that man sincerely thought
that he was going to help God by steadying that ark. He did
not want that ark to fall into the dirt. And the moment he touched it,
died. Now why was that? That is to
show us we put our hand to Christ. In any measure, God will kill
us. You've robbed Him of His glory.
You've robbed Him of His glory. Alright, now then, we've seen
who are walking in the Spirit. Now let's see what is it to walk
in the Spirit. I'm going to give you these things.
I've already passed the time. Go back to your text. As many
as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. First
of all, to walk in the Spirit, you must be indwelt by the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit, you must
be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. When our Lord took upon Him the
form of a man, God gave Him the Spirit without measure. He did
always those things that pleased the Father as a man. I can't say I have any experience
in that, do you? But I know this, everyone who
is born of God, you have in some measure the Spirit of God in
you. Now pay no mind to the heretics
who say, well, you know, I know you're saved, And if you're good
enough and you follow the right regimen, God will give you the
Spirit. Don't listen to those idiots. Look at verse 9, chapter 8, Romans,
verse 9. He says, For you are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be the Spirit of God dwell
in you. But if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. You got that? Is that plain?
Anybody walk in the Spirit, guess what? You have the Spirit. The
Spirit dwells in you. And if a man doesn't have the
Spirit, listen, he's none of his. So if you're waiting on
the Spirit, you're none of his. You're not being led by the Spirit
because you don't have Him. Only those that have the Spirit
of God are led by the Spirit of God. And where does the Spirit
of God lead us? That's important, isn't it? Where
are we being led to? Listen, you are being led into
battle. When God gave you a new nature,
He did not eradicate the old, did He? That which is born of flesh is
flesh. It doesn't get better. And that which is born of Spirit
can never sin. Therefore, within this body of
death we wage war, constant struggle, O wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And so what do we do with this?
How does the Spirit lead us into this battle? First of all, I
want you to know this is not a physical battle. What if you do exactly what the
Lord says? Pluck out your eyes and cut off your hands. Does
that keep you from sin? What if you beat yourself up?
They used to do this. I mean, people really were sincere.
They'd feel a lustful thought and they'd take a whip and they'd
start whipping themselves. How'd that work out? It didn't. They still had the thought. Now,
whether they did the act or not didn't matter. They still had
the thought. Beating the body is not going to mortify the deeds
of the flesh. That's not the way this works.
It is a spiritual battle, a spiritual struggle that every believer
faces daily, constantly. And what does this, what does
the Spirit do in this instance? He causes us to take God's side
against ourselves. If you are led by the Spirit
of God, you will constantly take God's side against yourself. Believers, our enemy does not
rest. And I know Satan doesn't rest
and the world don't rest, but I'm talking about that enemy
within. He does not sleep. He is at constant war with my
very soul, trying to drag me away from Christ. hourly, a rotting corpse about
my neck that I cannot do what I want to." Are you engaged in such a struggle? Good. Because that's where the
Spirit leads us. He leads us into struggle, into
these battles. Remember the children of Israel?
God delivered them from Egypt and then where did He put them?
He put them in that place where they couldn't go to the right,
they couldn't go to the left, they couldn't go back and they
couldn't go forward. Now where God put you? Enemies pursuing them. Can't
go back there. Mountains to the left, can't
go up there. Deserts to the right, can't go
there. Seas in front of me, I can't go there. Who led them there? Spirit of God did. And what'd
they find? They found deliverance, didn't
they? God parted the sea, caused them to walk through on dry ground,
what a picture of Christ that is. But then, right after that, what'd they do? They went into
the wilderness. No water! Two million people,
no water. What'd they do? Complained. Murmured. Oh, remember back in Egypt, how
we had it so good? I don't know. Do you have any identifying?
Can you identify with that? Murmur, complain, murmur, complain. You know what God did? Mara. The waters of Mara. Those waters
were bitter. He threw the tree in the middle
of the water and what? What's that a picture of? What
is the deliverance? The Red Sea, the waters of Mark,
both picture Christ, don't they? So in trouble, where does God
always point His people? To Christ. So when you're in
trouble, where is the Spirit of God leading you? Leading you
to Christ. So where is He leading you? He gave them Elam, those twelve
palms with all the water, and they sat down there on those
palms, Fruit falling from the trees,
big old fat bellies full. Where'd God lead them from there?
The wilderness of sin where they went and got bit by the serpents.
Then what'd God do? God gave them a brazen serpent.
Picture of Christ again, isn't it? See the pattern? You're led
by the Spirit of God, what do you expect? You're led from victory
to wilderness to victory to wilderness, victory, to wilderness. That's
the way He leads you, all the way through. Didn't this even happen to the
Lord Jesus Christ? After that great victory over the enemy. After His baptism, that's right.
After the glorious victory of His baptism, the Spirit of God
descended, He's got witnesses. You know what the Scripture says?
And the Spirit of God driveth Him into the wilderness. You
expect anything different? After you feel the presence of
God, what are you going to expect afterwards? You want it, right? You want to feel His presence,
you want to know, and you want your faith to increase. And the
moment that faith increases, guess what's going to happen?
Wilderness. See, we're led by the Spirit.
Look what Paul says in our text again, real quickly. Go back
to Romans chapter 8. He said, You have not received
again the bondage of fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. If children,
then heirs, join heirs of God with Christ, if so be that we
suffer with him. You got that? Where is he going
to lead you? You're a son of God, an heir
of heaven. And what does he say? If so be
we suffer. Where is the Spirit going to
lead you? He's going to lead you through a life of suffering. And why does He do this? To prove your faith. Not to Himself, but to you. As a believer, would there be
anything worse that you could possibly imagine than to wake
up before the judgment of God and find your faith to be a lie. Could there be anything worse? Often we wake up doubting and
fearing that our faith is empty. My failures far outweigh anything
I could ever call successful. How do I know I am led by the
Spirit of God? Because only those are the sons
of God. We told you faith is the evidence
of your ordination and your calling. Do you believe on the Son of
God? Do you believe on the Son of God? Often times I doubt even if I
do. Well, you know what He's going
to do? He's going to prove it to me that my faith is real. He's going to take me and put
me in the fires of affliction, trials. You know what true faith
always does? True faith always will cling
to Christ with every ounce of our soul. When everything else
is burned away, when everything else is gone, Christ is all. Christ is all. You know what
He's given us? He's given us as children of
God. We are heirs of glory. We are
heirs of glory. Heirs of God. Join heirs with
Christ. If you're led by the Spirit of God, if you believe
on Christ, if your faith is being tried, that's where the Spirit
leads us. What is He always going to do? He gives us prayer. That's
what Paul's going to say in the next part of this. He says, the
Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the
sons of God. And then he talks about the creature groaning.
Do you groan? Within yourself, do you groan?
When you pray, how do you know your prayer is accepted? Listen,
because the Spirit of God intercedes for you. All that crap you throw
up there, it gets burned off. All that junk that you don't
need, Spirit of God don't even mention that. You know what He
mentions? He mentions exactly what you
need. And a lot of times I don't even say what I need and the
Spirit of God says it for me. Intercedes for me in my prayers. Are you led by the Spirit of
God? If so, you were ordained. Christ Himself redeemed you. The Spirit Himself called you. The Spirit Himself gave you both
life and faith, a new creation. And we live by that one rule.
What is that? Faith. The just shall live by faith. That's our rule. Is that your
rule? Know this, if you're led by the Spirit, you are a son
of God. Nothing changes that. You got that? No circumstance
changes that. Is there any circumstance that
could change Andrew from being my son? Name a circumstance that
would change it. My death, his death, our life,
what? Nothing. Nothing changes that.
You're my son. What changes my sonship? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Spirit of God says I'm an
heir of God, joint heir with Christ. Even though we suffer,
we are still being led by the Spirit of God. For what? Glory. Paul said that the suffering
of this life is not worthy to be compared to the glory which
shall be revealed. Are you led by the Spirit? Or are you just pretending? Do you believe? Are you still trying to live
by the law? I pray God will bless this to
you. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Our most gracious Father in heaven,
thank you for your blessings and mercies. Oh, I beg you to
pour out your spirit on us. I beg you. That you would even quicken the
dead today, give life. and comfort the living. Thank
you, Father, for all the things that you've done and that you
continue to do. We pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.