Many Christians have a mistaken, natural concept regarding the leading of the Spirit. People invariably think that the leading of the Spirit comes suddenly from the third heaven or elsewhere. Some ask the Lord for a sign saying, “O Lord, give me a sign, an indicator, whether or not I should buy this thing. Lord, if there’s transportation available, it will be a sign that You want me to buy it, but if there’s no transportation, it means that You don’t want me to buy it. Lord, keep the stores open, for if they are closed it will indicate that You do not want me to buy anything.” This is an example of a mistaken concept regarding the Lord’s leading.
Have you noticed the first word in verse 14 regarding the Lord’s leading? The first word is, “For,” a word which refers us back to what Paul has mentioned previously and which indicates that verse 14 is a continuation of that matter. Thus, the leading in verse 14 is related to the items which have been covered in the foregoing verses. Now the main point of the previous verses is to walk according to the spirit that we might fulfill the righteous requirement of the law of God. How can we have the leading of the Spirit? It is neither by praying nor by looking to signs or indicators. We may have the leading of the Spirit by walking according to the spirit.
The leading of the Spirit does not derive from nor depend upon outward things. The leading of the Spirit is an issue of the inner life. I would say that it comes from the sense of life, from the consciousness of the divine life within us. The word life is mentioned at least five times in Romans 8. Hence, the leading of the Spirit is a matter of life, a matter of the sense and consciousness of life. The mind set upon the spirit is life (v. 6). How can we know this life? Not by outward things, but by the inward sense and consciousness of life. There is an inward sense which comes from setting the mind upon the spirit. If our mind is set upon our spirit, we are immediately strengthened and satisfied inwardly. We also are watered and refreshed. By that sense and consciousness we can know the life within us, and by this sense of life we can know that we are walking rightly. In other words, we know that we are under the leading of the Spirit. Therefore, the leading of the Spirit in verse 14 does not depend on outward things; it absolutely depends upon the sense of life within our spirit.
Sisters, when you are about to go shopping you need not pray, “Lord, should I go shopping or not? If I should not go, give me a sign.” There is no need for you to pray in this way. You should not say, “O Lord, if You do not want me to go to the department store, prevent me.” Never pray or think in this way. Do not think that if the Lord does not stop you from going shopping that you have the leading of the Lord. Everything might be smooth outwardly, but how about inwardly? Perhaps after you have parked your automobile and while you are walking toward the door of the department store you have no peace within. Instead of being inwardly strengthened you feel frustrated. However, since everything is smooth outwardly you proceed. Inwardly, however, the closer you get to the store, the emptier you feel. You may be able to justify yourself by outward things: by the fact that you have the money; that your husband, who is afraid of you, is agreeable; that the weather is excellent; and that there is little traffic. You say to yourself, “Don’t you believe that God is sovereign? All things are working together for good.” I do not inquire about the outward things. I ask about your inward sensations. Although everything is positive outwardly, inwardly you are empty and weak. You do not have the anointing, the watering, or the inward peace.
What does this mean? It means that the leading of the Spirit is within you, in your inner life. Unbelievers do not have the divine life that is within us. The divine life within us leads us constantly, not by signs or indicators, but by giving us an inward sense, feeling, or consciousness. Thus, Paul says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” If you are led by outward things, it does not prove that you are a son of God. However, if you are led by the inward sense of the divine life, it indicates that you are a son of God. We are the sons of God because we have the life of God. Why are worldly people not the sons of God? Because they lack the life of God.
Consider the case of the donkey used by Balaam, the heathen prophet. Undoubtedly, the donkey was led to speak a human language. Nevertheless, that leading was not derived from life, but from a miraculous gift. The leading that comes from such a gift does not indicate that we are sons of God. Yes, the donkey was led to speak in a human tongue, but this did not indicate that it had a human life, much less that it was a son of God.
When you sisters are about to go to a department store, although everything may be clear outwardly, you need to obey the inner sense of life. As you approach the entrance of the store, something within may tell you, “Go back.” You do not hear an audible word, but you have the sense of darkness, weakness, and dryness as you are about to enter the store. Since you are a son of God, you have such an indicator from the inward life. You have something that people in the world do not have. Because you have the life of God, you have the leading which issues from that life. This leading indicates that you are a son of God. This is the reason that in verse 14 Paul says that as many as are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
Where is the leading that Paul mentions in verse 14? It is in verses 4 and 6. The leading of the Spirit comes as you walk according to the spirit and set your mind on the spirit. If you walk according to the spirit and set your mind on the spirit, you will find that you have the leading of the Spirit. You will have the consciousness that you are walking, behaving, and living according to the spirit. You should not violate this inner sense or disobey this inward consciousness, for it is truly the leading of the Spirit. When you have this sense within, it means that you are being led by the Spirit. Therefore, to set your mind upon the spirit is to be placed under the leading of the Spirit. The inward life gives you the sense, even in small things, of whether or not you are under the Lord’s leading. Thus, we are led of the Spirit by walking according to spirit and by setting our mind upon the spirit. Therefore, the leading of the Spirit mentioned in verse 14 is not derived from the outward environment, but from the inward sense and consciousness of the divine life. This leading proves that we are sons of God, for “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
I would like to say a word especially to the teen-agers who might be reading this message. While your classmates are talking in a worldly way, you may find yourself, at a certain point, unable to join in the conversation. Although nothing outward frustrates you, you do sense an inner forbidding. This inward regulation comes from the life of God within you, the life which makes you a child of God. Your classmates may be discussing sinful things in a happy, excited way, but the divine life within you does not allow you to say a word. Instead, it turns you away from them. That is the leading of the Spirit. This leading of the Spirit marks you out as a son of God. Because of this mark from the leading of the Spirit your classmates will wonder what has happened to you. They will wonder why you do not talk and what is different about you. They will wonder because they are sons of the devil and you are a son of God. You have the leading of the Spirit within you.
I would also like to say a word about fashions and styles of clothing. Today, the children of the devil have their styles and fashions. Surely all the modern fashions are the leading of the devil. Modern fashion is a mark of the children of the evil one. No Christian should dress himself in such a way. Although the churches in the Lord’s recovery do not post a list of outward regulations regarding dress, within you you have the divine life which makes you a son of God. When your friends, relatives, and classmates dress themselves in a devilish way, within you is a sense that does not allow you to dress yourself in that manner. This is the leading of the Spirit, the mark that designates you as a son of God.
How do we know that we are the sons of God? We know by the leading of the Spirit, for the leading of the Spirit puts a mark upon us. The inward life constantly gives us a sensation or consciousness that we should not behave ourselves like worldly people do. We must be different from our relatives, friends, classmates, and neighbors. As we obey the inward sense of life, we spontaneously display a mark which tells people that we are different from the devil’s children, that we have the life of God within us which makes us sons of God. This is the leading of the Spirit. Do not consider the leading of the Spirit mentioned in verse 14 as an outward matter. It is absolutely an inward sense which comes from the divine life in our spirit.
This leading of the Spirit by the inward sense of the divine life does not happen as an accident. It is a continual matter in our daily life, just like breathing. Normal breathing is continuous breathing. When breathing becomes an accident, it is an indicator that something is wrong with our health. Since the leading of the Spirit is a matter of life, it should continue normally in every aspect of our daily walk. This is the leading of the Spirit. This leading of the Spirit in our daily life is the proof that we are sons of God.
If we do not live and walk according to this leading of the Spirit, we may be the children of God concerning which the Spirit witnesses with our spirit in crying, “Abba, Father,” but we do not have the mark that designates us as the sons of God. We may be God’s children, but we do not have the growth which comes by living and walking according to the leading of the Spirit in life. The leading of the Spirit marks us out as being the sons of God in the growth of life.
We need to realize the difference between the children of God in verse 16 and the sons of God in verse 14. The children of God are in the initial stage of the divine life, the stage which mainly concerns the birth, while the sons of God are in a more advanced stage, the stage which concerns the growth in life. In order to be children of God we need the witnessing of the Spirit with our spirit, but in order to be the sons of God we need the leading of the Spirit by the sense of the divine life. As long as we have the witness of the Spirit with our spirit, we have the assurance that we are the children of God. However, in order to have the proof, the mark, that we are the sons of God we need to have the leading of the Spirit and to live and walk according to the inner sense of the divine life. All real Christians are children of God, having the witness of the Spirit with their spirit, but not all have the mark that they are the sons of God who are growing in the divine life and living and walking according to the leading of the Spirit. Therefore, we all must move forward in the growth in life from the initial stage of being the children of God to the more advanced stage, showing that we are the sons of God by bearing the distinct mark of the leading of the Spirit in life.