Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 3483
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.
WE shall do well to notice how much in this Chapter is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It is a Chapter full of all good things, most instructive and consolatory. But perhaps one of its most notable points is this—that it so greatly magnifies the Holy Spirit. You observe in the second verse how it describes His gifts—that holy liberty which we now have from our former bondage—“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Then further on, in the sixth verse, it virtually ascribes all our true life to the same power, for it is the Spirit who works in us a spiritual mind—and the Apostle tells us that “to be spiritually-minded is life and peace.” The quickening of the body is, in the 11th verse, ascribed to the same agency, “He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.” Meanwhile the true living that we have even here is traced to that same Spirit, “If you, through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.” No holy life is there, except as through the Spirit—sin is mortified. In the 16th verse the Spirit is described as being “a Witness with our spirit” that we are born of God. How many gracious offices does He undertake for us? And as if that were not enough, in the 26th verse He is spoken of as “helping our infirmities” in prayer, teaching us what we should pray for as we ought and “making intercession for us, or in us, according to the will of God.” I am afraid we don’t render that honor to the blessed Spirit which He deserves. Our ministry is not deficient, I trust, in magnifying the Christ of God, but too often the Holy Spirit is not sufficiently honored and, perhaps, this may be a reason why He does not do so many mighty works in the Christian Church as He did at first. This is the dispensation of the Spirit. He dwells in us! He dwells in the Church! Let us honor Him! Let us grieve Him no more, but put ourselves beneath His guidance and wait for His blessing! Our text ascribes leading to the Holy Spirit! Those who have been quickened and made to live, and introduced, therefore, into the family of God, have one mark—one never-failing mark. They all have it, and none others ever have it. As many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God, and all who are the sons of God are ledby the Spirit of God!
Now it is to this leading of the Spirit rather than to the Sonship, and all the blessed things that come out of that, that I shall direct your attention at this time. And we shall notice first—
I. What Is Intended by a Man’s Being Led by the Spirit
Every man is led by some spirit. There is an evil spirit in the world, and it leads the mass of mankind. He who says, “I am free and led by none,” is led by the spirit of pride and self-conceit. Under some form or another, the human mind subjects itself to some spiritual sway—and here we are told that those who are the sons of God are distinguished by this— that the leadership under which they move is that of the Holy Spirit! I take this to mean, first, that the Holy Spirit becomes the governing principle of our life. Years ago we were led by the Spirit from the wilderness of our natural state. We had been called under the preaching of the Word, but vain were those calls. The Holy Spirit came and then the call of the preacher became an effectual call to our own souls. The first active Grace we ever exercised was by the leading of the Holy Spirit! We were then, for the first time, recognized as the children of God, because then, also, for the first time, we yielded ourselves up to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And mark, from that day to this, every act of ours that has been heavenward, every thought of ours that has been towards God and His Christ, has been under the leadership of that same Spirit! He who gave us at first to live, has kept us alive! He who guided our tottering footsteps to the foot of the Cross
and there sealed our pardon, has led us along every step of the way, up every hill of difficulty and down every valley of humiliation, even until this moment! And so it must be until we reach our journey’s end.
There may be steps in that journey, alas, that it should be so, in which we are not led by the Spirit, but depart from under His power for a while, and the flesh becomes dominant. Oh, that those steps might never be thought of except with bitter regret and humiliation of spirit! But in every true step onward and heavenward between here and the gate of pearl— we shall be led by the Spirit of God. We run when He draws. We are active when He makes us active. He makes us willing in the day of His Power and then we work with Him because He works in us here to will and to do of His own good pleasure. Now, Beloved, you may judge whether you are the sons of God, then, by asking yourselves this question, “Am I under the influence of the blessed Spirit? Has He led me from darkness into light—from self to the Savior? And has He continued to lead me onward and upward in the Divine Life? And am I leaning upon Him for all future power with which I shall fulfill my pilgrimage till I come to the Celestial City?”