In Romans 8:14, Paul writes, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” But what does it mean to be led by the Spirit? It means that God persuades you to seek what is good because He’s given you a new heart. He doesn’t force you; he gives you the desire. You’ve been born again, and now He leads you by His word. Philippians 4:8-9 gives an illustration of this: whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, “if there’s any virtue, if there’s anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.” That’s what you do to be led by the Spirit. So make sure that you don’t fill your mind with worldly movies and songs, or senseless debates on the Internet, but be led by the Spirit in all your meditations.

Continuing in our studies in Romans, we're focusing on Romans 8 verse 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And I really want to talk about how to be led by the Spirit, because the scripture here says that the believer is led by the Spirit. What does that mean? It means that God puts good things in front of you and you want to follow them. He gives you the desire.

Lloyd-Jones says that God persuades your heart to seek what is good. He doesn't force you. He's softened your heart. He's given you a new heart. You've been born again.

And now He leads you by His word. And what's so remarkable, God doesn't make you do what you don't want to do. He leads you to do what you really want to do because you have a transformed heart. So what does this look like? It really has to do with the focus of your mind, of setting your mind on the things that are above.

And I wanna take us to Philippians 4, 8 and 9 as really an illustration of how to be led by the Spirit. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things, the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do and the God of peace will be with you. So here's the reality. When no one is looking, the devil is lurking to get into your head through cyberspace. And I really think that today cyberspace is a great domain of spiritual warfare.

And with all the social media opportunities, someone is chasing you down. It's spiritual warfare. And the algorithms are actually progressively set to corrupt your mind. And here's what's remarkable. This media tyranny has greater power than any government, any church.

It controls your eyes and your hands and your homes. It's bigger than Big Brother and it's more influential than your family and maybe even more influential than public schools, worse than public schools. The greener grass you're looking for is not found in your movies, it's not found in your fantasy novels, it's not found on your websites, it's not found in your songs. That's not where the greener grass is. And God wants to revolutionize your mind.

He wants to radicalize your life toward what is good, to stabilize it and to focus you. And here's what I would just urge you to do. Be honest. Does it pass the test? This is a litmus test of what you should set your mind on.

And it's so critical. You know, do these commands govern what music you listen to, what concerts you go to, what movies you watch? You will not be sanctified by filling your mind with these things and having a five-minute Bible study every day. He's talking about the saturation of the mind. That's why God told fathers to teach their children when they sit in the house, when they walk by the way, when they lie down, and when they rise up, because God wants to saturate your family with the truth of God and you only have so much time in this life.

Make sure that you don't spend it scrolling through meaningless pages looking for some stimulant. Make sure that you don't spend your time filling your mind with silly songs and ungodly entertainers and and make sure you don't spend your life on the internet arguing with strangers about politics because God gave you a mind and he desires that you would be led by the Spirit through the meditations of your mind. Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, if there's anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture applied as a production of Church and Family Life.

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