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#5.
pp. 145 - 147
A--I am rather afraid this will be the last opportunity we shall have together for some
while, and therefore I should like, before we close this subject, to have a word or two
from the N.T.
B--As a connecting link let us turn to John 10: where the great figure of Psa. 23: is
carried over. The Shepherd speaks: "He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth
them out, and when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep
follow Him: for they know His voice" (John 10: 3, 4). The sheep are "His own", they are
redeemed by His blood as the Lamb, before they are led by Himself as the Shepherd.
Psa. 22: comes before Psa. 23:
"When He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them". This statement
receives illumination from the preceding chapter. There, one of His sheep, the man born
blind, had been "cast out". Now this is the same word that is used in 10: 4, translated
"putteth forth". It is blessed to know that while the hatred of men was casting this
follower of Christ out of their fellowship, the Lord was using that very action to put forth
one of His sheep, that he might follow Him. For if the sheep are thus treated, it is a
comfort to remember that the Shepherd Himself was cast out, too. In all things "He goeth
before". This is the most intimate form of guidance, the personal. "They know His
voice", and His voice still speak in the Word. This is the simplest reference to leading in
the N.T.
A--I suppose we must expect to find the N.T. references more definitely linked with
doctrine than those of the O.T. and we must use the one to help in the understanding of
the other.
B--The most important passages on the subject in the N.T. are found in Paul's epistles,
the very nature of which makes their presentation of truth more complex than that which
enters the Gospels or the O.T. Scriptures. Let us look at Rom. 8: 14: "For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The context of this passage is
profound. From the first verse there is established a contrast between "flesh" and
"Spirit". We have "the law of the spirit of life", and "the law of sin and death". The
Spirit is called "the Spirit of God", "the Spirit of Christ", "the Spirit of Him that raised
up Jesus from the dead", and "the indwelling Spirit". It would take a volume to attempt
an exposition of these differences, and yet they are all in view in the verse we have
quoted. To be led by the Spirit means, at least, that we are led by the risen Christ away
from the things of the flesh, and a glance at verse 13 will show that the leading here is a
direct outcome of the work of the Spirit in mortifying the deeds of the body--"for as
many as are led by the Spirit", etc.
A--As one faces the depths of teaching that precede this mention of being led by the
Spirit, it is easier to understand your attitude towards those who speak rather glibly of