Dmitriy Leo, senior pastor of Father’s Blessing Church, shared Lesson 4: “Leading of the Holy Spirit.” “Knowing the Holy Spirit” School
“Lord, we thank You that we are moving forward. And this will help us.” Say, “This will help us!” Amen.
Every time I say that this is a very important lesson. Every time, as if the others were not important, but this is a very important lesson. All the lessons are important when we are talking about the Holy Spirit, who is with us until the end of this age. As soon as our mission, the mission of the Church, is completed, He will be taken, and we will be taken. That’s all.
Our being here will already be meaningless. Because we are here only for the salvation of people, not to plant a tree. We are here only for this. Because everything awaiting us there is much better. Therefore, we will be with Him until the end. And that is why we must know Him better than we know our husband or wife, or our children.
The foundational passage we will begin with is Romans 8:14:
“For all,”—let’s say “ALL”; this means that we are talking about something general and global, not local. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Being led by the Spirit is the true testimony, proof, and confirmation that someone is a son of God. It is not how a person speaks, how they minister, or how they wave their hands, as I am doing now, but being led by the Spirit. This is the true testimony concerning the sons of God.
You will not find 50 passages in the Bible describing the signs of the sons of God. But this is a clear description of who the sons of God are.
Not everyone is a son of God. It is written correctly here. The apostle Paul wrote not simply about people, God’s creations, but about the sons of God. This is something more. I will tell you that there is a difference between God’s creation and a son of God. Because God created dogs, too. There is a difference.
God’s creations can go over to the devil’s side. And Jesus called them sons of the devil. But there are specifically sons of God. And they can be recognized by whether they are led by the Spirit, according to this passage. This is one of the main signs. Look: “led by the Spirit of God.” Very interesting. Led by whom?—by the Spirit of God. In other words, these people are led specifically by the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God is the Guide of the sons of God along God's path. There is God's path and there is the human path before each of us. And the Holy Spirit will DEFINITELY lead you along God's path, because He knows God's path. How many of you have set your heart on walking God's path and knowing clearly that you are in God's will, that you are not crossing these boundaries—being led by the Spirit of God? These people follow a Guide who will surely bring them to the right place.
Moving without a Guide means difficulties. Try going without a guide somewhere in the Himalayan mountains or in the jungle—it is dangerous, takes a long time, and may even be fatal! Therefore, the topic we are discussing is very important: living with the Guide. Not merely living while knowing that the Guide exists, but being led by the Guide. Not rejoicing that some pastor is led by the Guide, but being led by the Guide yourself.
And my goal today is to challenge each of us to leave this meeting dissatisfied—not with the meeting, but with our position and our relationship with the Guide. Is the Guide leading me? Ask yourself that question. Is the Guide, the Holy Spirit, leading me?
How does the leading of the Holy Spirit take place?
These are all familiar things that we read about—all these ways. But this is for someone who does not yet know.
The Holy Spirit directs and leads through gifts
1 Cor. 12:8. We will read it, and now listen to it a little differently. Usually, we read about the gifts as though they are for someone else, as though they are something for them: so that I can minister to you. Not only that! Everything I am about to mention is also for your guidance. It is from you to someone else and for you! And most likely for you first, if you want it, of course. If you understand this and are attentive, then through the gifts you can be led. Our task today is to examine all the ways He leads, so that we can understand the Guide's language. How does He speak? How does He do things? How does He act?
“To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healings by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
And to this we can also add the works of the Holy Spirit described in Joel 2:28:
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”
So, the Holy Spirit uses all of this both to minister to others and to guide us. I know that you know this. But here is what many need to learn: if you expect the gifts to manifest for others, you will miss what is for you. If you understand that this is for you first—and it should be for you first—why?! Choose: either you will be without guidance and simply tell someone else how to walk, or you will have a tandem, a connection with the Holy Spirit, and He will lead you. And in either case, you will minister to others.
Therefore, I strongly recommend expecting, listening for, and watching attentively for dreams, visions, prophecies, interpretations of tongues, the gift of wisdom, and the word of knowledge first of all, so that you can apply them as guidance for yourself. Use them as tools for your own guidance, and then for others. This is right.
And especially those who are engaged in public ministry—all ministers—keep in mind that God will very often manifest various gifts through you. And always be wise enough to understand that something is meant for you. All right?
And, by the way, these are very distinctive people. It is very difficult to understand logically those who live under the leading of the Holy Spirit. Systematic people consider this a shortcoming in such individuals. But never despise people who are led by the Spirit of God. Yes, they break all the rules. They break all sorts of conventions. But this is not bad. It may not fit in, but it is not bad, because they are led by the Spirit of God. May God grant that they be led by the Spirit of God—that is the correction I would make.
The Holy Spirit directs and leads through fellowship
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Cor. 13:13:
“...with you all”—pay attention to that. This means that such fellowship can be available to every person, if they want it and are willing to pay the price. We have already talked about this. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit comes at a cost. No one can tell me that they have paid no price and yet have a constant, dynamic, growing relationship with the Holy Spirit.
I will not believe it. Consider me Thomas the unbeliever—I do not believe it. There is a price. Each of us lives in the physical world and has obligations to family and loved ones.
We have obligations in the physical world. And there is always a price: limiting ourselves in the physical world and devoting ourselves to the spiritual world. And since the physical world is closer to us, it is like air to us right now.
In other words, it is like water to a fish. We live in the physical world; this is our natural state right now. Therefore, it takes effort to put all our affairs, business, and money-making on hold, go into the secret place, and pray. For us, this is a sacrifice—we lose money because of it, and God takes this into account. He rewards you with even more, and many people do not understand this.
Therefore, the second thing is being led through fellowship with the Holy Spirit. I want to say something interesting. Many people understand this to mean that He will now tell you something. Yes and no. This leading may indeed come through Him telling you something, through revelation, but not only that. It is the development of a relationship with the Guide. Therefore, after a time of solitude, He will not necessarily give you guidance in the form of a written word or a thought. It may happen quite differently. I simply want you to know this.
People want to take something tangible away from every time of solitude. But I will tell you this: if you have the right relationship, then when you leave fellowship, you still have guidance outside of that fellowship. Let me put it another way: people stop fellowshipping because they do not hear. And that is a mistake—a fatal mistake! Build the relationship and think of nothing else. There will be a relationship, and there will be guidance. He will lead you in ways you do not expect. I will read a couple of passages from Scripture.
Acts 16:7: “After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.”
Acts 20:22: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.”
You see, guidance may manifest itself as an inclination, a desire, or, conversely, as a feeling that you should not go there. So, when we speak of being led through fellowship, we mean both receiving revelation and a word during fellowship, and receiving guidance. Because of the relationship, you have guidance afterward.
Because you were in fellowship with Him, you became friends with Him. He is your Friend, He is your Guide, and He does not let you go somewhere, closing doors, while giving you an inner prompting to go somewhere else. But first: RELATIONSHIP.
The Holy Spirit directs and leads during prayer
Acts 10:9: “The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour.” … 19 “While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Behold, three men are looking for you. Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.’”
Most often, when people pray, they convey and give information. But today I want to tell you that if we are tuned in to guidance, the Holy Spirit will use prayer for someone or about something to give us guidance. What does this mean? How do we apply it? This is how I apply it: I do not pray simply line by line, list by list. It is a mistake to pray that way.
If I want to pray through everything, please, rattle off as much to the Lord as you want. But if you want to receive guidance, bring one need before the Lord, and no more. Do not move on to another need or problem; stop, pause, and say: “Lord, I have brought this need to You. Now give me guidance.”
If you list the entire list, then sit down on your stool and say, “God, now reveal everything I was talking about to me,” it becomes a mess. There is little chance you will receive anything. In any case, I have tried different approaches. And I can say that this works best: bring one need, pause, and say, “I need instructions regarding what I have said.”
And this is the mistake many people make: you simply prayed through everything, said “amen,” and left the secret place. And you did not take the instructions! You pray for years, while your instructions are hanging there, nailed to a peg. Because there were instructions on how to receive a quick answer. Who told you to just go “blah-blah,” “blah-blah,” prayer after prayer?
We want to take an answer away from there. Forgive me, I am not addressing anyone personally right now; I am simply saying that I made these mistakes too. But I received more and was enriched more when I began to sit and listen after each need. Sit down and listen.
I discovered that God gives me instructions on what to do after I present my request. I realize that many things in my life could have been resolved much sooner if I had always acted this way. So during prayer, seek instructions. Here is the third way the Holy Spirit gives guidance during prayer. Learn to pray differently.
Yes, there are prayer meetings, I understand. But this is different. There, we come for a short time, one person and then another. But I am talking about your personal time with God, if you want to have guidance, of course. So may the Lord bless you.
The Holy Spirit directs and leads during ministry
“Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then, after fasting and praying and laying their hands on them, they sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus …” Acts 13:2–4
So, this is how they received leading from the Holy Spirit—during ministry. If you are a minister, you should expect this. All you ministers can confidently say, “Amen.” You should expect the leading of the Spirit during a home group, during a prayer meeting.
I know you didn’t hear me. You say, “We’re not against it. Let Him speak. Whatever He says, we’ll hear.” No! You need to expect it! You need to tune in! That’s the difference. It doesn’t work if you’re simply passive. If you’re leading a group and don’t expect it, then it’s very difficult—believe me—to hear. But when you pause to listen, rather than simply passing on, passing on, passing on.
You’re the hero, you have a plan, God revealed the topic to you, you spent half the week preparing the message, and you must fulfill this mission. You must complete this task, no matter what it costs. That’s a huge mistake! He may give you plan B, plan C, and plan D during a single service.
And you don’t need to say, “But He gave this to me, so I have to carry plan A through to the end.” Nothing of the sort. What matters is not whether He told you the day before the service what to do. And it’s not how well you prepared. What matters is that A, B, C, and D all come from the same source. He is the Commander-in-Chief; let Him change the plans. Our task is to quickly cancel plan A and start moving toward plan B. Do you understand?
You are a happy minister if you are capable of plans B, C, and D, if you are not stubborn. Because this is a temptation. During the week, you received a revelation and a Word, and you prepared well: used dictionaries, selected everything, read it all, stood in front of the mirror, and rehearsed how you would preach. Then you came to church, and you have this feeling: “Maybe I shouldn’t do it today?!” And you think, “How can that be?! I’ll be unprepared. What am I supposed to do—go out, spread my hands, and say, ‘Friends, something isn’t working today’? Embarrass myself like that?!”
I’m telling you, many are afraid to move to plan B because people will think they are not qualified to preach today, as though they were not anointed. This is a profound mistake. Because we read about people who were ministering, and the Holy Spirit spoke to them. The local prophets and teachers gathered together, along with Paul and Barnabas, to pray. They had other plans: a prayer meeting, to receive something for opening something or other.
And the Holy Spirit said:
– “Take these two out of here right now, and that’s it. Let them leave you and go on a mission.
– But they’re our best ministers! They’re on fire; they inspired us…
– That’s it. I’m sending them. Release them.
– Let’s send someone worse?! Let’s send that brother—he’s always sleeping during prayer meetings. These two would be better sent into ministry.”
Do you understand?!
Those who minister must be ready, absolutely. Pause, and be ready to say, “No, it’s not working today. This isn’t the right topic today. It doesn’t matter that I spent half the week preparing.” This is how leading develops. More precisely, this is how we grow in leading. And He tests us. Are we really so hardened, just clinging to our plans, making sure everything looks good? And I like one particular testimony.
One minister—a prophet known worldwide; everyone knows him. He was invited to a conference, and his tickets were paid for. He flew in, sat down, and the announcement was made; everyone was waiting. While the worship team was ministering, he sat there, and God told him, “Don’t even think about going up.” He said, “God, they paid, they fed me at a restaurant, they paid for the tickets. I should at least go up and say something,”—“Don’t even think about it! Don’t even think about it.”
The pastor urged him:
– It’s time for you to go up.
– I’m not going up.
– What do you mean, you’re not going up?!
– God told me not to go up.
– How could God have told you not to go up? The conference was scheduled six months ago. Don’t you have a Word? You always have a Word. Go up. You didn’t come for nothing. God gave you a Word.
– God told me not to speak.
And that was the end of it. He did not come out. The pastor came out, apologized, and said, “God said there would be no Word today.” And people blamed this prophet and turned a finger at their temples. He thought that his ministry would be destroyed because of this, since rumors had started spreading. But then it turned out that the pastors of that church (it was a large, influential church)…
The pastors invited him, and they were also told that he would not come, that he had a different vision and different goals. “We’ll pay him well, and he’ll come. We’ll win him over with money.” They treated it like a challenge: “We’ll buy this prophet.” But when he arrived, God exposed this scheme and told him, “Don’t you dare come out.”
Friends, I’ll tell you that both Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C all come from the One—the one Commander-in-Chief. So this is normal. And you are fortunate if you are a minister who can cancel something and say, “Friends, I don’t feel it today.” Don’t think people will conclude that you do not hear God. Or, on the contrary, “Ah, so you did not receive this sermon from God. Since He does not want you to preach today.” It is from God! But He can say, “Not today. For the sake of this brother or sister, you will not preach today.” Good.
And you are fortunate if you are in a Church without a system, where people can say, “You know, somehow God is leading us differently right now.” Do not judge such ministers! If your home group has gone in a different direction, do not judge the ministers. Do not say that they do not hear God. On the contrary, say, “Oh, they are led by the Spirit of God.” Hallelujah. Glory to the Lord.
I’ll read one brief story about how it really may seem that our authority is undermined because of the leading of the Holy Spirit. But in fact, it is not. It only seems that way to us because we fear that people will accuse us of being incompetent. But that is human fear.
2 Kings 20 is the story of when God spoke to the prophet Isaiah: “Go to King Hezekiah and tell him that he will not recover from his illness and will die.” Did God say that?! God did say it! Do you remember what happened? Hezekiah turned away, wept, and prayed to the Lord. And it says that Isaiah had not yet left the city—he had not gone far—when God told him, “Go back and say that he will live and recover.”
Thank God there were no social media platforms back then. Isaiah did not post his prophecy: “I’ve just received a word from God: Hezekiah will die—he will not recover. Like this!” Then, oops, he had not yet left the city: “Guys, plans have changed.”
God was mistaken. But Isaiah was not mistaken—God told him both the first and the second time. So God was mistaken. Friends, this is very interesting. He has the right to do so. No one was mistaken. He has the right. This is what being led by the Spirit means, and this is what the Lord calls us to.
And I’ll finish with this. How can you assess the level of your being led by the Spirit? Or, more precisely, to what extent are you led by the Spirit of God?
For me, here is the criterion: the more often you receive different instructions, the more you are led by the Spirit of God. The less often you receive them, the less you are led by the Spirit of God. Some people do not need this at all. They are like this, you know: “I read it here. This is mine. Mine forever.” And they act on it unwaveringly. And that is fine—that is their level. But our topic today is the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Anyone who wants to be led must understand that being led means the Guide leads you, and you are no longer walking on your own. Someone is leading you. And that means that you will constantly encounter adjustments. People are mistaken when they think you will simply receive one instruction for 15 years and that this is the TOP. “I have everything figured out. I could engrave it in stone. I know.” Do not strive for that. Strive to receive frequent, small instructions. Because, believe me, such people are ahead of others. Such people are sensitive. God will use such people more often and to a greater extent.
Many admire the story of Philip. But I tell you, there are very few people here who would have acted as Philip did. In the midst of the revival in Samaria (there was revival there, do you hear me?), the entire city of Samaria was stirred: demons were coming out, people were being healed, and the whole city of Samaria turned away from worshiping the sorcerer. And the Holy Spirit led him away from that city, and he never returned there. These are the kinds of people God uses—those who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit and His leading. This is a good example of being led.
The Guide came and said:
– Do you like the prompting?
– I do. Very much—very much indeed.
– Let’s go into the desert; there is one man there, and you will minister to him.
– And then back?
– Don’t worry about it. You’ll see where to go next.
And he did not return there; afterward, he was transported to Azotus.
I want to suggest that we pray now about developing the ability to be sensitive to the movement of this gentle breeze—that is, to the instructions the Holy Spirit gives.
I want to pray now that a desire to be led by the Holy Spirit will arise. And some of you are thinking right now, “Of course I desire that. What are you talking about? Of course I do,” but your desire must be confirmed by your actions. You must give Him the right of way! You must consult Him. You must ask before doing anything.
You must ask again. When a service is taking place, when you are leading a group, when you are doing something (even something He instructed you to do), you still need to pause, tune in, and say, “Holy Spirit, I am ready to change everything. I am ready to do something differently. I make room for You. I want to know what You want to do now. I heard yesterday what You wanted to do, but I want to hear now what You are going to do.” Preachers, I am telling you this. Teachers, I am telling you this—not as a teacher, but simply as a brother.
Even if you heard God clearly yesterday, still ask today what you need to do. And you will discover that there will be many occasions when God will give you instructions. And you will look foolish, like Isaiah. But in Heaven, you will be considered a great person.
People will speak of you as a great person because you are obedient and led by the Spirit of God. And Heaven will testify about you that you are sons of God. For it is the sons of God who are led by the Spirit of God. If people testify about you, that is nothing. Let Heaven testify that you are sons of God. I bless you in the Name of Jesus.
“Lord, I pray for the brothers and sisters who are now entering a new reality, into fellowship with the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of the Holy Spirit, who are now learning new things—learning to pray, withdraw, and fellowship in new ways. O God, give everyone this hunger and desire.”
I am praying specifically for you, brother and sister—not just in general. May God give you an immense desire to stop and ask, to stop and receive further instructions, to stop and consult Him. And you will be ahead of others. You will be more precise than others. You will not make mistakes, or you will make them very rarely, because you are led by the Spirit of God.
Receive this grace; receive this message. May it be imprinted on you, so that whenever you encounter messages from God, you will be flexible and open to change. Hallelujah.
May your eyes, your ears, and your heart be open to hear, receive, and accept from the Holy Spirit. May God give you the courage to trust the Guide, to trust the Holy Spirit, to trust completely. May God give you the courage not to worry about your reputation, but to be led by the Spirit of God.
Welcome to the team of God's people who move with the Spirit of God. Glory to the Lord. Hallelujah. Not following structure, ideas, or principles, but the Spirit of God.
