Jerry,
   Abraham and Hosea were a part of God's revelation to His people and 
what God told them to do had a particular point (did Abraham really 
trust God and Hosea and Gomer were a picture of God's relationship with 
Israel) for that particular time and was recorded so that we could glean 
it's truths.  It was not meant to be an example to follow - that was not 
the design.  God's Revelation reached its pinnacle in Jesus Christ (John 
1 and Heb. 1:1,2) and since the time of the close of the NT canon there 
is no need for any further revelations from God.  He has given us all 
that we need (though perhaps not all that we want our would like) for 
faith and life.  That is why we always are to test every teaching and 
test every 'spirit' or 'prompting of the spirit' with God's revealed 
word, the Scriptures (Acts 17:11 and 1 John 4:1).  An inkling of the 
'spirit' could be true or false (i.e. from God's Spirit or an evil 
spirit) but the Word of God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).  The 
Scriptures do not move - they are to always be our final authority and 
guide in all things.  I believe that is why God has given us His Word in 
our own tongue.  A brief look at Church History shows that at times when 
the Word of God was not in the peoples language there were many abuses 
and there were many 'spirits' leading people this way or that depending 
on the wims of those who were in authority.
   I do not believe in extra-biblical revelation - i.e. revelations from 
God that are outside of His Word and are above and beyond what God's 
written Word reveals.  If we lose the written word of God as the 
standard and give the final authority to a moving of a 'spirit' or an 
'experiene' then we end up with Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, 
Christian Science and a host of other false teaching.
   I once met a man at a homeless shelter.  He told me that he had 
become a Christian after having a revelatory dream (something to do with 
an old watch he had).  In this dream he claimed that God told him to go 
and preach His Word to others. (Sounds kosher so far, huh).  But then he 
proceeded to say that God told him that he should continue to get drunk 
with alcohol so that he could minister and share the Gospel to others 
who who were drunks.  I told him that God would never have us do 
something that contradicts what He has revealed in His Word, the Bible.
   One final thought - I know many folks claim to have 'experiences' and 
  'special words' 'rhema' or whatever.  It is difficult to argue with 
someone's experience but even those experiences need to be 'tested' by 
the revealed written Word of God to see if they are truly from God. 
They are not to be held in equal authority with the Scriptures and most 
certainly not above the Scriptures.  If you claim an experience it 
should always be subservient to the Scriptures.  I think this is where a 
lot of the false prophets on TV and Radio go off the deep end - they 
claim a revelation from God and hold it as authoritative either with or 
even above the Bible, and in doing so they lead many astray.
   Hope this helps.

Peace,
Steve

Jerry wrote:
> David W.,
>  
> Excellent point.  I, too, believe that the Holy Spirit will never lead 
> one to do anything contrary to what He has already said in the Book of 
> Books.  The problem here is that so many Christians are ignorant of what 
> God has already said in His Word.  The Bible is a "closed book" in too 
> many homes.
>  
> I do, however, have difficulty in understanding how and why God would 
> direct Abraham to sacrifice his son.
>  
> How would we react if God told us to take a knife and slay our child or 
> marry a prostitute like a prophet in the OT?   If God led someone to do 
> these things in the OT can we be confident that He would not do so 
> again?  How do we explain this to people?
>  
> Jerry L
> Southside Baptist Church
> 
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: Pastor David Warner <mailto:dwarner@...>
>     To: pastorsforum@... <mailto:pastorsforum@...>
>     Sent: Monday, December 27, 2004 2:54 PM
>     Subject: RE: [PastorsForum] How to be "led by the Spirit"
> 
>     Let's start with this foundation:
>     The Spirit of God will NEVER lead you to do anything contrary to the
>     written Word of God.
>      
>     I agree with you--much of what is spoken and done claiming to be
>     "lead by the spirit" is not Biblical and surely could be called "flaky."
>     I do not disagree that they were lead by a spirit but we better
>     discern the spirits to see whether they be of God.
>     All that parades under the "leading" is not the leading of God.
>      
>     This discussion ought to be good.
>      
>     David Warner
>      
>     PS  I was lead to respond to this post.  :-)
>      
> 
>         -----Original Message-----
>