Led By the Spirit

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 15th of September, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

You’ve heard me say before that I was led by the Spirit to do something, or that I felt the Spirit prod me or nudge me.  I’ve never “heard” Him speak, either physically through my ears or even just in my head.  But I’ve certainly felt His active presence.

Well, according to the Apostle Luke, in his narrative to Theophilus, God’s Holy Spirit spoke to the early church leaders and told them exactly what they should do.  Please listen and follow along to what Luke recorded for us in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 13, verses 1 through 5, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.

--Acts 13:1-5 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Spirit acts on Your behalf, delivering Your messages and carrying out the tasks You assign Him.  Because of Your blessing and adoption of us into Your family, Your Spirit lives within us and can speak to us all the time.  Father, please help us recognize when He is trying to tell us something.  Help us to not only hear but to follow what He tells us to do, just as did the early church leaders.  Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Separate us from the world and send us where You would have us go.  This we pray in the glorious name of Your Son Jesus, our Lord.   Amen.


American academic, professor Myron Rush, once identified tough issues facing every Christian leader:

• You must be willing to stand alone.
• You must be willing to go against public opinion in order to promote what you believe.
• You must be willing to risk failure.
• You must become master of your emotions.
• You must strive to remain above reproach.
• You must be willing to make decisions others don't want to make.
• You must be willing to say no at times, even when you'd like to say yes.
• You must sometimes be willing to sacrifice personal interests for the good of the group.
• You must never be content with the average; you must always strive for the best.
• People must be more important to you than possessions.
• You will have to work harder to keep your life in balance than people do who are not leaders.

Can you relate to those?  Many of them apply not only to the Christian leader, but to any Christian in general, anyone who is truly trying to follow Christ Jesus in how they live.  And really, all Christians are leaders, in a way.  We’re trying to lead the lost back to Jesus.

I'd like to add one more item to that list:  You must be willing to be led by a higher authority - you must accept the leadership of God's Holy Spirit.  I think all of those attributes can clearly be applied to the Apostle Paul.  And especially the part I added, about accepting the leadership of God’s Spirit.

Throughout the Book of Acts and from references in his letters, we see Paul being led by the Holy Spirit.  He is shown where to go, and directed in what to do.  In Acts chapter 18, verses 5 and 6, we see an instance where the Spirit nudged Paul…

5 When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

--Acts 18:5-6 (NKJV)

Family, this represents a crucial turning point for us.  Now this was God’s plan all along, that salvation not only be available to His chosen people, the children of Israel, but to all people, the Gentiles as well.  We see this evident even back in the Old Testament of our Bible, when the great prophet Isaiah spoke for God as He promised salvation to all, in the first 8 verses of chapter 56.

But here we see quite clearly that Jesus and the Good News He brings were rejected by the very people He came to save.  So the man who was separated by the Spirit in the first place was then given the task to carry out God’s fuller plan by carrying the Gospel to the Gentiles.


Sometimes the Holy Spirit would not only tell Paul where to go, but He would also block the Apostle from going into places or from doing things when it was not yet time for them, according to God’s plan.  One such example can be found a little earlier, in Acts chapter 16, verses 6 through 8, when Luke tells us…

6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

--Acts 16:6-8 (NKJV)

At this point, Paul is being accompanied by Silas on his missions, after he and had Barnabas parted ways.  These two were joined in Lystra by Timothy, and the three continued going from town to town preaching the Gospel and making disciples.  Their path took them east, into Asia, but the Spirit stopped them from preaching in any town there.  Reaching Mysia, they tried to enter the region of Bithynia and Pontus, but were blocked by the Spirit from doing so.  The time just wasn’t right yet.


We Americans are an independent lot.  We don’t like being told what to do, by anyone.  We elect people to represent us, but then bicker with them if they don’t do exactly what we want them to do.

Society as a whole is very “self” conscious today.  The self is supremely important, the individual is all that matters.  No one wants to be held accountable for anything.  There is no absolute right or wrong, so what feels best for the individual at any time must be right.  To think otherwise would be harmful to that individual, and would not be a very loving, Christian way to act.

Well, the thing is, if we are indeed a Christian, a true follower of Christ, then we know we are accountable to a higher authority: God.  We also have the active, living, life-giving emissary of that authority living within us: God’s Holy Spirit.  God has a plan, and the Spirit works to see that plan carried out.  Just as He did for Paul, the Spirit will guide us and show us where we should go and what we should do in our service to God.  He will also try to block us from going somewhere we should not go and from doing things we should not do.

But the kicker is, we have to be willing to listen!  Just as did Paul and his companions, we have to do what the Spirit says, go where He leads us, speak and act as He directs us.  And just as importantly, we also have to listen and heed Him when He tries to block us!

I’m sure we’ve all said things we wish we could unsay.  If we had given the Spirit a moment to guide us, we might not have said them.  And haven’t we all been somewhere we shouldn’t have gone, done something we shouldn’t have done, and regretted it later?

The Spirit will keep us from straying if we let Him!  We must accept the authority and leadership of God’s Holy Spirit and allow Him to guide us as we walk through this life.

If we are to help lead others to Christ, we must allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit.  Submit to His leadership.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, since the dawn of existence, You have sent Your Holy Spirit to accomplish Your will among men.  And then, at Your Son’s request, You sent Your Spirit to live within us as our constant, ever-present Guide.  Help us, please Father, to accept the leadership Your Spirit offers.  Help us to accept His authority and to recognize His voice.  And Father, most of all, help us to serve You by doing what He says, by going where He tells us, by following His lead in all areas of our life.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, because of You, we have God’s own Holy Spirit living within us.  Thank You, Lord, for caring so much about us that You made sure we would never be alone.  Please help us to truly be Yours, Lord.  Help us to obey Your commands and to remain faithful no matter what we face.  Help us to heed the directions the Spirit gives us.  And in this way, we can serve You and accomplish God’s will.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.