Biblical Text: Romans 8:14-17 (KJV)
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
Have you ever taken a trip with a tour guide? If you’re on a fishing trip, he’s the one who knows where the fish cluster. If you’re on vacation in a foreign land, he’s the one who knows where all the tourist attractions are. If you’re on a safari in the jungles of Africa, he’s the one who knows how to get you back home!
The tour guide keeps you from getting lost in unfamiliar territory. He plans your trip and plots your course. In our text today, taken from the book of Romans, we’re launching an expedition…venturing out into unknown territory…we’re going on a journey ….and we’re taking our tour guide….the Holy Spirit!
Your Christian walk is a journey, is it not? And it often takes you into unfamiliar areas. Before you became a Christian, you knew how to operate in the world, but now that you’re saved, there is so much that you have to re-learn. The old ways and habits have been dissolved…washed away…and you now face the arduous task of CHANGE. Yes, it’s all so foreign to you, and it would be frightening too, if God had not made provision for a tour guide…the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit leads the believer…so says Romans 8:14. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” There are several ideas in the Greek word lead or led.
1 There’s the idea of carrying and bearing along. The Spirit leads the believer and carries him through the trials of this life. He bears the believer up, carrying him over the corruptions of this world.
2 There is the idea of leading and guiding along. The Spirit leads and guides the believer along the way of righteousness and truth. He guides the believer by moving in advance and going ahead of him. He blazes the path, making sure the believer knows where to walk. John 16:13 says that “He will guide you into all truth.”
3 There is the idea of directing on a course and of bringing along to an end. The Spirit directs the believer where to go and how to get there. The Holy Spirit actually becomes involved in the life of the believer, directing him to live righteously and conforming him to the image of Christ. He actually brings the believer to his destined end, that is, to heaven, to live eternally in the presence of God Himself.
This is but ONE of the great powers of the Holy Spirit, the power to lead the believer and to become involved in his life.
Now, when you’re on a journey, the fact that you’re with the tour guide is a sure sign that you’re one of the group. The evidence or proof that a person is a Son of God and a member of the body of Christ is that the Spirit of God leads him or her! There should be evidence that the tour guide is somewhere near. You may not be able to see Him with the naked eye, but you can see evidence that He is present. You know the signs:
1 The person being led by the Spirit is carried through the trials of life victoriously, acknowledging God and rejoicing in His strength and eternal security.
2 The person being led by the Spirit follows a path of righteousness and truth.
3 The person being directed and brought through life’s journey by the aid of the Holy Spirit will have only one destination…..heaven, where he will spend eternity with God.
Very simply, the believer who is guided by the Holy Spirit is living for God and talking about the things of God. The person who is truly led by the Spirit is wrapped up in the things of God, for he is a son of God. He rejoices in his Father and seeks to please His Father in all that he does. The Psalmist put it this way…“For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even
unto death” (Psalm 48:14).
But the Holy Spirit is no ordinary tour guide, for he doesn’t just lead the believer…. he actually adopts the believer! And in the adoption process, the Spirit does two things….He delivers us FROM and He delivers us TO.
As the tour guide is responsible for your well being, so the Holy Spirit is responsible for your spiritual health. While you’re on this Christian journey, the Spirit delivers man from a terrible spirit—“the spirit of bondage.” Bondage is fear. All mankind is familiar with the spirit of fear. When it grips us, it causes apprehension, anxiety, tension, dread, alarm, danger, and terror. Fear enslaves man. What causes fear to arise on our journey?
Suffering
Death
Disapproval
Condemnation
Unemployment
Sickness
Punishment
Rejection
The point is this: the Holy Spirit delivers the believer from the bondage of fear. And how does He accomplish this? …Through the process of adoption. Once you are a member of the family of the MOST HIGH GOD…the OMNISCIENT and SOVEREIGN LORD…you will fear no evil…for HE is with you. David testified of the Holy Spirit’s power saying, “thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies.” David knew this, because he would regularly FEAST in the face of FEAR.
Our text affirms this adoption process saying, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father”. John defines the adoption process this way: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
Now, the Holy Spirit delivers us FROM our fears, but He doesn’t leave us there. He also gives us access to God. Through the Holy Spirit, the believer has access to God because he has been adopted as a Son of God. Our text refers to the Spirit as “the Spirit of adoption.” Adoption is such a significant work of the Holy Spirit that it is called “the Spirit of adoption.” The believer actually receives the “Spirit of adoption” and the sense—the consciousness, the awareness, and the knowledge—that he is a Son of God. The believer is a Son of God with all the privileges of son-ship, especially the privilege of access—of entering God’s presence anytime and anyplace. It is this wonderful privilege that enables the believer to break the bondage of fear and to conquer the spirit of fear.
No matter what faces the believer, the believer is able...:
1 To enter the presence of God.
2 To lay his fear before God.
3 To cry out, “Father, Father—help me!”
4 To know that God will help him, for God loves him as His adopted son.
In those trying moments, when it feels like you’re going it alone, that’s when it’s time to call up your ‘tour guide’ who will remind you that you are an adopted son of the Living God who has access to the FATHER through Jesus, His resurrected Son. Romans 5:1 and 2 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”.
Every genuine believer knows what it feels like to fear in this life, but he also knows what it is to experience God delivering him through that fear. He knows what it is to have the “Spirit of adoption” surge through his being, giving assurance and confidence that God is in control and looking after him. He knows what it is to be a true Son of God, a son whom God loves so much that He will move the world in order to meet the need of His dear child. God’s love for His adopted child is as great as God’s sovereign power. God will do anything for the believer who is His adopted son.
When your battle gets hot and heavy, turn to your ‘tour guide’.
When your going gets rough and tough, let the Spirit lead you.
When your days are long and lonely, let the Spirit lead you.
When your situation is dismal and dreary, let the Spirit lead you.
When your valleys get dark and difficult, let the Spirit lead you.
When your way gets wretched and weary, let the Spirit lead you.
When you’re down in “Egypt Land”, let the Spirit lead you.
When you’re lost in darkness, let the Spirit lead you.
When you’re deep in trouble, let the Spirit lead you.
When you’re tempted by sin, let the Spirit lead you.
When your friends have forsaken and fled, let the Spirit lead you.
When your heart skips a beat and you’re feeling the heat, let the Spirit lead you.
(Invitation to discipleship)
