I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. (John 14:16)

    The Spirit’s work is this — nothing less than this and nothing other than this — to lead people to confess Jesus as Lord. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Any spirit that leads anyone to curse Jesus Christ is not the Holy Spirit. Any spirit that would call us to merely admire and praise Jesus Christ while refusing him lordship over our lives-that spirit is not the Holy Spirit.

    The Spirit is pleased to be called “the Spirit of Jesus” or “the Spirit of Christ” or “the Spirit of his Son,” because it is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God with whom he is in eternal, holy fellowship and with whom he cooperates to bring salvation to a lost and demented race.

    It’s true that the Spirit brings other lives to our attention so we can have examples and models to help shape our lives, but above and beyond all, it is the life of Jesus the Christ that the Spirit ceaselessly parades. Abraham or Ruth or Jeremiah or Dorcas — and ten thousand others — will give us insights and inspiration, but no life is presented as even approaching that life which is the final model of living.

    As the Spirit moved down the ages to enrich lives and invest them with moral glory, he was moving toward one life above all other lives — a life so unlike every other one that it alone is chosen as the universal model. No other image is acceptable to the Spirit of God — no image is to be stamped on the hearts and lives of humans other than the image of Jesus the Christ. When the Spirit gets his way in a life, that person finally confesses that Jesus is Lord, (1 Corinthians 12:3) the one and only Lord. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

    In bringing glory to Christ while refusing center stage, the Spirit teaches us that meekness isn’t a quality or virtue confined to the Savior. It is characteristic of himself.

He listens, takes instruction, and does what he has been asked to do.

    Since he is a divine Colleague to the Son, isn’t it extraordinary to read, “He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears”? (John 16:13) Surely, if anyone had a right to speak without consulting anyone, it would be the Spirit of God who is known peculiarly throughout Scripture as the revealer and the voice within the prophetic voice. But no, he doesn’t speak from himself. He listens, takes instruction, and does what he has been asked to do.

    In those moments when we feel our “rights” are being ignored and our personhood despised, maybe the Spirit’s glad response to the divine arrangement will strengthen our hearts and show things in a better, softer, and holier light.

    Being “led by the Spirit” and “having the mind of the Spirit,” I suspect, means learning from the way he graciously assents to whatever role befalls him. I suspect it means to be led by his example as well as his teaching.

    And then we hear Christ say, “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.” (John 16:14) Christ is not reluctant to speak this way, not only because there is no arrogance or wicked pride in himself, but also because there is no envy in the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit’s joy to know that the Savior’s glory is everywhere recognized.

    And the Lord lavishes praise and glory on the Spirit when he commits to the Spirit’s keeping those who are so dear to him.

 

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Excerpted from Where the Spirit of the Lord Is..., ©1999, Howard Publishing Company. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Title: "Led by the Spirit"
Author: Jim McGuiggan
Publication Date: March 21, 2003