Divine Guidance and the Human Mind 1988

From John, chapter 16, starting at verse 12, Jesus is speaking. I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will declare to you things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Our natural tendency is always to pull God down to our own sides, to make God over in our own image. We have one-track minds, so God must have a one-track mind. We can only carry on one conversation at a time, so how can God listen to a million prayers at once, to say nothing of watching over each sparrow and each blade of grass? And yet, when we move out of the dimension of this world and pass into the kingdom of God, the first thing we discover is that the unseen God, who is Spirit, is absolutely personal.

He sees us, knows us, cares about us, speaks to us, and holds us accountable for our actions. Moreover, the minute we take the slightest trouble to get to know Jesus, doors begin to open in our circumstances that bring us again into the presence of one who knows us by name and who speaks to us. Now, most of us had very little trouble coming into a personal relationship with God when we first came to faith, during the honeymoon.

For us, it was like the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea. God's presence was obvious, the signs of His power were right there and clear, and even when Moses spoke for God, you could understand what he was saying. He made sense.

But when the honeymoon is over and we pass from the Red Sea into the journey through the wilderness and the signs of God's presence are not as obvious and answers to prayer don't come as fast, and even Moses doesn't make much sense half the time, then we're not so sure that God is really there and that He really does speak to us and really does guide us. And then we have to learn how to receive guidance, how to be directed by God when the winds are blowing sand in our faces and water is scarce and it gets beastly hot. How do we do it then? How do we receive guidance from God when we're going through this wilderness? And it's at this time that these words that I read from Jesus, from Luke 16, apply directly to us.

I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak, and He will declare to you things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.

Here's a promise of direct guidance from the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is going to come to you, and He's going to guide you, He's going to speak to you, and He's going to glorify Jesus. He's going to reveal Jesus.

Now this promise is fulfilled in our corporate life here as a body, and it's also fulfilled in our individual lives. The Spirit guides us, speaks to us, and reveals Jesus to us. That's how we come to life as sons and daughters of God, and that's how we function.

As the Spirit guides, speaks, reveals. But the problem is this. Many of us often misunderstand how this is to happen.

We misunderstand how this guidance is to come to us. What do I do? Blank my mind and wait for the Spirit to write words on it? Do I play Bible roulette? I shut my eyes and wait for my forefinger to come down. Boom.

Peace to all of you. That's not so bad. But some of them can be scary.

I don't know. Do we blindfold ourselves and just start walking until we hit something? Do we wait for a telegram from heaven? When we try to get guidance from the Spirit of God by blanking our minds, Satan invariably sends a man or woman along to play with our blank minds, and the result is all kinds of confusion, nonsense, mischief, and sin. When people blank their minds in order to be guided by the Spirit, and allow themselves to be directed by whoever should be there to fill the vacuum, all too often they find themselves financially drained and morally defiled by the very false prophets that Jesus warns us to watch out for.

He's constantly saying, Beware of false prophets. Be wise as serpents. Think.

Guidance from the Holy Spirit is never given to a blank mind. Guidance from the Holy Spirit is always given to an active mind. A humble mind, yes.

A submissive mind, yes. But a mind that thinks. And so we read in Psalm 32, verses 8 and 9. Most people just read verse 8 and they forget verse 9, but these two verses belong together.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

I will guide you. I will guide you, however, as you bring your mind to me and use it. Don't be like a horse or a mule.

A horse is fine as a horse, and a mule is fine as a mule, but they do not have the mind that you have. You have a mind, and I will guide you as you use that mind. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go as you think, as you use your mind.

I will guide you with my eye as you think. Reading from Romans, chapter 8, verse 5, Paul says, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, and those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

The mind, the mind, the mind. Where is the mind aimed? What's it directed toward? What's it concentrating on? What's it thinking about? If the mind is set on the Spirit, open to the Spirit, attentive to the Spirit, then the mind receives life and peace. It gets guidance, and it can see the road it has to take.

Or reading in 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 13, Therefore he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with a spirit, and I will pray with a mind also.

I will sing with a spirit, and I will sing with a mind also. Otherwise, if you bless with a spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say amen to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you're saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all.

Nevertheless, in the Church, I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in your thinking. Be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature.

Paul is saying that there is a place for tongues. There is a place for ecstasy. But if it's guidance we're looking for, if it's direction that we need, the mind must be in gear.

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with my eye. Bring me your mind.

If you bring to me, you see, a mind that is attentive, alert, and thinking, has nothing to do with our IQ, how smart we are. It has to do with paying attention. Be not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle.

See, and when our mind is not with it, our mouth is usually running loose and should be held in with bit and bridle. Hence, this threefold promise of our Lord in John chapter 16, that the Spirit will guide us, speak to us, and reveal Jesus to us, is fulfilled as we bring, as we draw near, with a mind that is alert and thinking and attentive. I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will guide you as you think. How can he guide you if you're sitting around, wallowing in self-pity, brooding, drifting all over the place in a fantasy world, or whining and complaining? Lord, what do you want me to do, said Paul, when Jesus reached him, spoke to him, broke through to him on the Damascus road? Or Mary said, behold, the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to thee according to your word, said the angel.

Lord, speak, for your servant heareth, said little Samuel. See, and they weren't asking, what socks should I put on, Lord? Should I shop at Farmer Jack's or A&P? What kind of car should I drive? And you think I'm being ridiculous, but there are those who tell us that we're not supposed to even get out of bed until God says so. That's nonsense.

You know, put on your socks, pick your own socks, shop wherever you want to go, and buy whatever car is going to do the job, and if you can afford it. But in the process, don't let your mind become distracted from the real issue, which is, what is the Lord calling me to do with my life now? Mary, Saul of Tarsus, and little Samuel, all of them had minds that were already intent on doing the will of God. Moreover, they were in the process of doing it.

Each one was going about what they were convinced was God's will for them. Even Paul, he was misdirected, but he was absolutely doing what he was convinced was God's will. So they were ready.

When God broke through and gave them some new life and showed them what to do now, we need to do the same thing, to be able to say, Lord, as far as I can see, this is the road you want me to take. And so I'm going to take it in good faith, because I know that you will correct me. If I'm in error, you will guide me.

And you move. And he does correct me. And you will guide me.

He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak. And he will declare to you things that are to come. The Holy Spirit will speak as you think.

How can he speak when you're in a trance? One of the most encouraging things, I believe one of the most encouraging signs going on in this congregation over the last couple of years has been the increase in the amount of thinking. Of course, only God can measure that, but it seems obvious to me, and I'm sure to many of you, that there's more thinking going on on Sunday mornings. Sermon time is thinking time, not joke time, not entertainment time, not tickle-the-ego time, but thinking time.

And sermons are coming from many different mouths now, and most of these sermons that are coming require concentration. As we think, as we concentrate, the Spirit of God is speaking through these mouths, and we are being edified. Or take the sermon in the mouth.

Or any of Jesus' parables. Simple, clear language. Not one wasted word.

But if your mind isn't with it, you don't hear a thing. On the other hand, if the mind is applied, as we listen to Jesus read these words of the sermon in the mouth, or any of His parables, pretty soon we begin to hear a word from the Spirit of God coming directly into our own hearts. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.

He will take what is Mine and reveal it to you, is another translation. And pretty soon you will begin to see what the Lord is doing on the earth now. And you will begin to see also the direction He's moving this congregation, the things that He's driving at among us here.

You will also see His hand powerfully at work in your own life. One day, Peter looked into Jesus' face and answered Him by saying, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said back to Peter, Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

In other words, Peter didn't figure it out. The Father revealed it to Peter. But notice when God revealed it to Peter, when Jesus got Peter to think.

Who do men say the Son of Man is? John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets? Who do you say that I am? Think, think, and the Spirit will reveal. Never have we been in greater need of divine guidance in our own lives than now. That guidance is closer to us than our bodies.

Daily and hourly, the Holy Spirit is in us and with us to guide us into all truth, to speak to us, to show us things to come, to glorify Jesus, to reveal the ways of God. God help us to have minds, bring minds to Him that are alert, that are awake, so that He can guide us. I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go.

I will guide you with my eye. Be not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held and with bit and bridle lest they come near to you. Bring an alert mind.

Set the mind on things above and I will surely guide you. Let's wait upon the Spirit now, just in silence.