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I. The meaning of doing God’s will:
А. Accomplishing the will of God.
B. Taking the Lord’s yoke.
C. Keeping the Lord’s commandments.
II. How to understand the will of God:
А. Having the desire to understand.
B. Being consecrated.
C. Not being fashioned according to the age.
D. Being renewed in our mind.
E. Proving the will of God.
F. Having a heart to do the will of God.
G. Walking with God.
H. Listening to the Lord’s word.
I. Rejecting the views and words of the self.
J. Using spiritual wisdom and understanding.
III. The rewards for doing the will of God:
А. Obtaining the top blessing.
B. Becoming the Lord’s relatives.
C. Gaining the Lord’s manifestation.
D. Pleasing God.
E. Entering the kingdom of the heavens.
F. Abiding forever.
IV. The punishment for not doing the will of God:
А. Losing the kingship.
B. Receiving many lashes.
C. Being refused entrance to the kingdom of the heavens by the Lord.
The points that we have examined in this volume can be combined into several sets. Chapters 17 through 20 cover four outward things that we should practice after being saved: baptism, the laying on of hands, head covering, and the breaking of bread. Chapters 21 and 22 cover two inward matters that we should pay attention to after being saved: obeying the sense of life and living in the fellowship of life. Chapters 23 through this chapter cover four things that we must practice if we want to live for the Lord: consecration, dealing with sin, being led by the Lord, and doing the will of God. If we want to live for God, we must do the will of God. If we want to do the will of God, we must be led. If we want to be led, we must consecrate and deal with sin. In application, consecration and dealing with sin are interchangeable in order. Some consecrate first and then deal with sin; some deal with sin and then consecrate. In either case one matter initiates and brings in the other. Consecration causes us to deal with sin, and dealing with sin causes us to consecrate. The more we consecrate, the more we will deal with sin, and the more we deal with sin, the more we will consecrate. A person who is consecrated to God sees his sins and deals with them one by one, and a person who deals with sins is certainly a consecrated one. These two matters have a mutual cause-and-effect relationship. We must practice these two items and practice them adequately in order to be led by the Lord. We must consecrate ourselves to God, turn our whole heart to God, and completely deal with every aspect of sin, lawlessness, and unrighteousness, clearing away the covering barriers, before we can be enlightened in the light of God’s face and be led. If we can be led by God, we can do the will of God. Therefore, consecration, dealing with sin, being led, and doing the will of God are all connected.
1. “I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30).
Doing the will of God means to not seek, follow, or accomplish our own will but to only seek, follow, and accomplish God’s will. People often say that they have prayed and that they are clear that the will of God is for them to go to a certain place or for them to do a certain thing. Some say that it is God’s will for them to run a business. Some say that it is God’s will for them to get married. But is this reliable? Is the one who thinks that he is acting according to God’s will consecrated to God, and is he living for God? Is he truly not seeking, following, or accomplishing his own will but seeking, following, and accomplishing God’s will? This is not a small matter. Many who claim to be acting according to the will of God are not truly practicing the will of God, because they have not consecrated themselves to Him to live for His will. They still hold on to themselves, keep things in their own hands, and live according to their own will.
A person who truly does the will of God does not seek his own will. He only seeks the will of God. This was the Lord Jesus’ pattern when He was on earth as a man. In all of human history, only Jesus the Nazarene sought only the will of God and not His own will. Although He was one with God and equal to God, He willingly came to earth and stood in the position of one who was sent to do the will of God. In all things He only sought the will of Him who sent Him; He did not seek His own will. This is the meaning of doing the will of God.
2. “‘Behold, I have come (in the roll of the book it is written concerning Me) to do Your will, O God’” (Heb. 10:7).
When He came to earth, the Lord spoke the words in this verse to God. This shows that the Lord did the will of God according to what was written in the Scriptures. Consequently, we should realize that any practice of the will of God must be according to the Word of God, the Bible. The Bible reveals the entire will of God in all its aspects. Whatever He wants to complete in us, whatever He wants us to do, and how He wants us to do it are revealed, in principle, in the Bible. If we truly want to do the will of God, if we truly want to seek His will, we must know the Bible and consider what the Word of God says concerning every matter. We must find God’s will, in principle, concerning every matter from the Bible. Those who want to do the will of God and act according to God’s will cannot be sloppy with the Bible but must spend a considerable amount of time to read it carefully.
If we want to do the will of God, we cannot simply do what we think is the will of God. We cannot simply pray a few times and say with certainty that this or that is the will of God. Such a way is not reliable and is quite dangerous. We often are easily deceived by our own opinions and captured by our own thoughts and views. We must bring our opinions, thoughts, and views before the Bible and let them be judged by the Word of God. Whoever is not willing to let his “in my opinion,” “I think,” and “to my point of view” be conquered by the Word of God cannot do the will of God. We must put our own things aside in everything and see what the Word of God says and commands. In some things God tells us His will in detail; in others He reveals it only in principle. For example, the Word of God contains a great principle that believers should not be dissimilarly yoked with unbelievers. Consequently, we can know the will of God in many things related to this principle. In marriage, we know that a believing brother should not marry an unbelieving woman, and a believing sister should not be given in marriage to an unbelieving man. If we practice according to God’s Word, we will be able to practice the will of God.
3. “Not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
In the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord prayed these words as He was about to be betrayed and killed. He prayed that He would accomplish God’s will, not His own will. The Lord’s prayer tells us what it means to do the will of God. To do the will of God is to do God’s will, not our own will. After the Lord prayed this three times, He clearly knew that God’s will was for Him to die on the cross. Therefore, He willingly obeyed. Whether or not we suffer, die for the Lord, or are even martyred, it should be according to the will of God, not our own preference or enthusiasm. Enthusiastically volunteering to suffer and to be martyred for the Lord cannot replace the will of God, nor is it necessarily God’s will. Anything that is according to the predisposition and pleasure of the self cannot be regarded as the will of God. When the Lord clearly knew that God’s will included His death, He was willing to drink the cup which the Father gave Him.
4. “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11).
The cup of the Father in this verse refers to the Lord’s death on the cross, including all of its suffering. Since God had given a cup to Him, the Lord said that He could not refuse to drink it. This tells us that the Lord’s death was not according to His preference, although He willingly accepted it. The cup given to Him by God was the portion God measured to Him. By accepting the cup, He accomplished the will of God and did the will of God. The Lord’s death is the highest example of doing the will of God. It shows that the criterion for doing the will of God is not doing good things but accepting what God has measured to us. God has not necessarily measured many good things for us to do; consequently, good things should not be considered as the will of God. Even preaching the gospel, casting out demons, and works of power should not be counted as the will of God if God has not measured them to us. We should not think that good or even spiritual things are automatically the will of God. These things cannot replace the will of God. While the will of God is good and spiritual, good or spiritual things are not necessarily the will of God. The will of God can only be what God has particularly measured to us. Anything that is good and spiritual must be measured to us to do; it must be assigned to us by God in order for it to be God’s will for us. Even our love for the brothers should be according to God’s assignment and God’s measure; otherwise, it may be excessive. Only God’s measure and appointment for us are the will of God. When we do what He has measured and appointed, we are doing the will of God.
One who follows the Lord certainly must deal with sin and do away with all lawlessness and unrighteousness. However, doing lawful, righteous acts is not necessarily doing the will of God. We must do what God wants us to do and what He measures for us to do in order for it to be considered as doing the will of God. When we first begin to follow the Lord and desire to please Him, our standard is typically what we consider to be good, but slowly the Lord shows us that we need to take God as our standard. The Lord wants us to be His slaves, receiving His direction and not deciding anything according to our opinion or others’ perceptions. As long as something is according to the Lord’s desire, we should do it even if we as well as others may think that it is wrong. This is doing the will of God. On Mount Sinai, God ordered the Levites to kill their brothers. From the human viewpoint, this seems wrong, but God wanted them to do it. When they did as God directed, they were doing the will of God, and they pleased God. In doing God’s will, God is the only standard, and His intention is the only rule. Neither goodness nor morality is the criterion. Neither our own preference nor human view is the deciding factor. We should not live under man’s evaluation or be influenced by man but live under God’s enlightenment and governance.
5. “Setting your mind on the things of God...Let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. 16:23-24).
To follow the Lord is to set our mind on the things of God. According to what the Lord said in these verses, the requirements for setting our mind on the things of God are to deny our self and take up our cross. Verse 25 shows that denying our self and losing our soul-life are absolutely related to one another. The self is the soul or soul-life. The important components of our soul are the mind, the will, and the emotion. The soul has the functions of thinking, willing, and feeling. Therefore, to deny the self is to deny the things of the soul. This is to deny our own thoughts, that is, our own views; to deny our own will, that is, our own decisions; and to deny our own emotion, that is, our own likes and dislikes. We must deny and reject whatever is of our own thought, view, will, decision, predisposition, and likes in order to set our mind on the things of God and to follow the Lord and do the will of God.
The Lord spoke this word after He told the disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to die. After hearing the Lord’s word, Peter exhorted Him, saying, “God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You!” (v. 22). Then the Lord said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men” (v. 23). Peter’s human concern and love for the Lord had an element of Satan in them. Satan can cause people to love the Lord from their self, which keeps them from setting their mind on the things of God. Instead, he causes them to set their mind on the things of man. Satan does not cause people to do the will of God; he causes them to do their own will. Satan uses good things to influence and enter into people’s opinions, and then he stirs up the self to cause the self to be active to hinder the will of God. This is the reason that the Lord spoke of denying our self, giving up our self, and denying our own will, especially in good matters. Good things are opposed to the will of God. They serve only as a means for a display of our self and our will. Satan uses good things to ruin God’s will. Therefore, if we want to do the will of God, we must guard against our self, that is, our views and our intention to do good.
Many think that taking up the cross means to suffer or to suffer for the Lord. However, to suffer — even to suffer for the Lord — is not necessarily to set our mind on the things of God or to do the will of God. Suffering — especially suffering for the Lord — can sometimes be according to our own will, preference, or choice and thus is not the will of God. If it is not what God has ordained for us or what God has measured to us, it comes from our self. To truly take up the cross is to set our mind on the things of God and to do the will of God. The will of God always kills our self-life. Therefore, taking up the cross is not about suffering but about denying the self. It is not about causing the self to suffer but about putting the self in the position of death, because the goal of the cross is death, not suffering. When the Lord was crucified, we were crucified with Him on the cross. Now we need to not only confess this death but to remain in the death of the cross. Through the death of the cross, we can stand in the position of death to deny everything of the self, including our will, view, preference, and choice. This is the taking up of our cross. When we take up the cross, we follow the Lord, set our mind on the things of God, and do the will of God.
1. “Take My yoke” (Matt. 11:29).
When an ox plows the earth, a wooden harness is placed on its neck to make it submit to its master’s hand and to bear a burden. This wooden harness is called a yoke. A person consecrated to God who does the will of God under the Lord’s hand is bearing the Lord’s yoke. According to the Lord’s regulation, the Lord’s commission requires submission and the bearing of burden. Although it requires submission and the bearing of burden, the Lord promises that His yoke is easy and light.
1. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me” (John 14:21, see also v. 23).
The Lord’s commandments — the Bible — are the revelation of God’s will. It is the embodiment of the will of God and cannot be separated from the will of God. If we keep the Lord’s commandments, we will practice the will of God. Those who practice the will of God keep the Lord’s commandments, and those who keep the Lord’s commandments practice the will of God. These two things are one.
1. “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17).
In order to understand the will of God, we must have a desire to understand. The will of God can be understood only by those who have a heart to understand. Those who do not have such a heart will never understand. Understanding begins with a desire in our heart.
One of God’s commandments is to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” If we do not want to understand the will of the Lord, we are disobeying the commandment of God. “Do not be foolish” is also a commandment. A saved person should be clear, but today few are clear and most are foolish. This is because most do not want to understand. God is waiting, longing for us to understand His will. If we have the desire to understand, He will enable us to understand.
1. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1).
The Bible speaks most clearly about how to understand the will of God in Romans 12. The first matter in verse 1 is consecration, which is a basic requirement for understanding the will of God. Consecration is a gate that we must pass through before we can understand God’s will. An unconsecrated person can never understand the will of God. How can a person who has never passed though the gate understand the will of God on the other side of the gate? If we want to understand the will of God, we must consecrate. The level of earnestness and the thoroughness of our consecration has a great impact on the depth and ease of our understanding.
1. “Do not be fashioned according to this age” (Rom. 12:2).
If we want to understand the will of God, we must not be fashioned according to this age. Age is translated as “world” in the Chinese Bible. The Greek word for world is kosmos, but the Greek word in verse 2 is aion, which is translated “age.” This age is equivalent to people’s understanding of the word modern; hence, it can also be translated as “fashionable.” The world is Satan’s entire organization, including its systems and institutions, which systematize the lives of everyone so that they cannot love God but instead will become enemies of God (1 John 2:15; James 4:4). An age is a part of the world; it is one section of the world that appears before us. The world is big and wide, but we are always in touch with a part of it. A section of the world appears before us, and this part or section of the world is the age, which is composed of modern and fashionable things, which oppose the will of God and cause people to be unable to understand, receive, or keep God’s will. Thus, if we want to understand the will of God, we must not be fashioned according to this age, which is the part of the world that is manifested before us.
Be fashioned in Greek means “to be conformed,” or “to be assimilated.” Therefore, not being fashioned according to this age means not being conformed to this age, not being assimilated by this age. This is the same as not following the fashion of this age. If we want to understand the will of God, we must fulfill this requirement.
1. “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind” (Rom. 12:2).
The renewing of the mind is another requirement for understanding God’s will. The mind is our thinking faculty. Our mind is fallen and deeply contaminated by sin, the world, human emotions, and customs. It is filled with worldly thoughts and human concepts, and it cannot understand God or the will of God. Therefore, it must be renewed. All of its old thoughts, concepts, perceptions, and views must be eliminated, and it must be taught anew by God. This is what the Holy Spirit wants to do through the Bible, but we must desire to have the Holy Spirit renew our mind in this way. If we are willing, the Holy Spirit will lead us to read God’s Word — the Bible — and use its teachings to kill our old thoughts and wipe out our fallen concepts by renewing our mind so that we can understand the will of God.
Although God reveals His will in our spirit through His Spirit by giving us a sense in our spirit, we must use our mind to understand the sense in our spirit. The spirit is our innermost part. Our mind surrounds our spirit. If our mind is not renewed, it cannot understand or perceive the sense of the Holy Spirit in our spirit. An unrenewed mind can be compared to a lampshade that is painted a dark color that prevents the light of the bulb from shining out. Even when a little light shines out, the light is not according to its original color. The light is so deeply covered and influenced by the dark shade that it loses its original color. The sense in our spirit is similarly influenced if our mind is not renewed. Although we have the capacity to understand, we will understand incorrectly. This is similar to wearing colored eyeglasses, which change the true color of an object. If our mind is not renewed and if we cannot shake off our old thoughts and concepts, we will not be able to understand the will of God. Even if we have some understanding, our understanding will not be correct. Thus, we will be unable to perceive the original appearance of the will of God.
1. “That you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
Understanding the will of God involves proving. To prove is to search for the good, well pleasing, and perfect will of God in everything. In order to prove the will of God, we need to stand in a position of consecration, to not follow the age of the world, to be renewed in our mind according to the Word of God, the Bible, and to understand the sense in our spirit and the condition of our environment. Searching out God’s will in everything involves discerning the motive, goal, and nature of things. Therefore, we must stand on God’s side in the reality of our consecration, be absolutely outside this age, and see God’s view according to a mind that has been renewed and taught by God. We must always use the clear teachings, principles, and examples of the Bible to measure and prove the will of God and to see whether or not our ways are one with the will of God. We must use the sense in our spirit to test and judge what is according to the will of God. We also should consider whether or not the environment confirms what we have realized. If we are willing to prove the will of God in this manner, it will not be difficult for us to understand the will of God.
1. “If anyone resolves to do His will, he will know” (John 7:17).
If anyone resolves — has a heart — to do God’s will, he will know God’s will. If we want to understand the will of God, we must not only have a heart to understand but also a heart to do His will. God is not willing to reveal His will to those who do not have the heart to understand, nor does He want to reveal His will to those who have the heart to understand but not a heart to do it. Only those who have the heart to both understand and do the will of God can gain a revelation of God’s will from Him. Therefore, we must resolve to do God’s will if we want to understand the will of God.
1. “Abraham walked with them to send them away. And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Gen. 18:16-17).
A heart to understand and prove the will of God and even the resolve to do the will of God are not enough; we must spend time before God. We must walk with God. God once visited Abraham with two angels. God told him about many things, but He did not tell him about His decision to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and to save Lot. It was only when Abraham went with God and the angels to bring them on their way that God finally told Abraham of His will. He said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (v. 17). If Abraham had not gone with God to bring Him on His way, God’s will would have remained hidden from him. Abraham’s going with God to bring Him on His way caused God to open to Abraham to let him know what was hidden in His heart. This is similar to when a person goes to a friend’s house and converses with him for quite a while but is unwilling to tell him the true reason until it is time to say goodbye. The friend accompanies him to the gate and, not wanting to leave him, goes with him for a while to bring him on his way. Then the visitor usually tells his friend what is really on his heart. We usually tell what is on our heart only to friends with whom we have a close, affectionate friendship. This is the situation of Genesis 18; Abraham was a friend of God, and they had a close, affectionate friendship. Consequently, God opened to Abraham and spoke what was on His heart to him. This shows that we must walk with God and have a close, affectionate friendship with God to know and understand His will.
1. “Sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His word” (Luke 10:39).
If we want to understand the Lord’s word, there must be a close, affectionate friendship between us and God. We must also learn to listen to the Lord’s word. Mary not only sat at the Lord’s feet but also listened to His word. The Lord’s will is often expressed through His word. Thus, if we want to know how to understand the Lord’s will, we must let Him speak, and we must listen to His speaking. When Abraham was fellowshipping with God, he let God finish speaking (Gen. 18:33). He listened to God until God finished speaking, so he clearly and thoroughly understood the will of God. Often we do not allow the Lord to speak, and we do not listen to Him in our fellowship with Him. Even when we let the Lord speak and we listen to Him, we often do not allow Him to finish speaking, and we do not listen until He has finished. Therefore, it is difficult to clearly know the will of God. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet, but she was not like us. She allowed the Lord to speak, and she listened to Him. She also allowed the Lord to finish speaking, and she listened until He was finished. Therefore, she understood the Lord’s prophetic revelation of His death and poured pure ointment on Him ahead of time, which He praised. The other disciples could not understand the Lord’s will concerning His death, because they did not listen to the Lord in this way. Listening to the Lord’s word is absolutely necessary to understanding the will of God.
1. “Who is this who darkens counsel / By words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2).
If we want to understand the will of God, we must reject our own views and words. These darken the will of God and are often used by Satan to hinder the will of God. When we seek the will of God by listening to His word, we must reject the views and words of the self. Job’s own view and words only darkened God’s will to him. When he finally rejected his own views and stopped speaking his own words, he knew and understood the will of God.
1. “That you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9).
Finally, if we want to understand God’s will, we must have and use spiritual wisdom and understanding. Wisdom refers to the knowledge in our spirit that causes us to have an extraordinary seeing of the will of God. Understanding refers to the understanding in our mind that allows us to ordinarily understand God’s will. Wisdom is in our spirit, so it is spiritual. Although understanding is in our mind, it should also be spiritual. This requires that our mind be renewed by the Holy Spirit and be full of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment and inspiration. We must have and use such wisdom and understanding to understand the will of God. We must ask God for this wisdom (James 1:5). We must beg God to give us the power to understand and to open the eyes of our heart. We also need to earnestly deal with our spirit and heart so that everything unclean and unrighteous in our spirit and heart is removed, making our spirit upright and bright and our mind fresh and clean. Furthermore, we need to exercise, that is, to practice using our spirit and our renewed mind. Then our spirit will have wisdom from God, and our mind will have spiritual understanding so that we can know and understand the will of God.
The rewards for doing the will of God are many and great. Therefore, it is important to do the will of God.
1. “There is need of one thing, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42).
Mary acted according to the Lord’s heart’s desire, so there was need of only one thing. She gained the good part, which could not be taken away from her.
2. “He said, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
When someone spoke of the person who bore the Lord Jesus as being blessed, He answered, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it,” that is, those who do the will of God. This shows that the blessing for doing the will of God is even greater than the blessing that Mary received in bearing the Lord Jesus.
1. “Whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:50).
Some people think that being a relative of the Lord in the flesh would be a great blessing, but the Lord said that whoever does the will of God is His relative. By practicing the will of God, we can receive such a sweet, blessed reward.
1. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him...and make an abode with him” (John 14:21, 23).
Keeping the Lord’s commandments because we love the Lord is doing the will of God. According to the Lord’s promise here, we can gain the love and the manifestation, the presence, of the Lord and the Father. What can be sweeter than the love of the Lord and the Father? What can be more precious than the manifestation of the Lord and the Father? These blessings, which are promised by the Lord to those who love Him and keep His commandments, cannot be surpassed. If we want to practically enjoy the love of the Lord and the Father and if we want to personally experience the manifestation, the presence, of the Lord and the Father, we must love the Lord and keep His commandments.
1. “Samuel said, Does Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices / As much as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? / Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, / And to heed, than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22).
Pleasing God is a great blessing. Many think that they can please God by offering something to Him. But this verse says that God has more delight in our obedience to the voice of the Lord than in any sacrifice we could offer. To obey His voice is to practice the will of God. In the Lord’s eyes, obeying and hearkening are better than offering sacrifices. Therefore, the Lord is more pleased by those who listen to His commandments and do His will.
1. “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens” (Matt. 7:21).
Entering into the kingdom of the heavens is different from being saved. Being saved is a matter of grace, which we obtain by believing. Entering into the kingdom of the heavens is a matter of reward, which is gained by doing the will of God. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, but not everyone can enter into the kingdom of the heavens. We do not enter the kingdom of the heavens merely by calling on the Lord’s name. If we want to enter the kingdom of the heavens, we must do the will of God. The kingdom of the heavens is the reward that God has prepared for those who do His will.
1. “The world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
The world is the enemy of God, and its lust opposes the will of God; therefore, the world and its lust will pass away. God and His will are eternal; therefore, those who do His will also abide forever. Whatever we have of the world and its lust will pass away. Whatever we have of God and His will abides forever. Just as passing away is the punishment for loving the world and following its lust, abiding forever is the reward for loving God and doing His will.
There is a reward for doing the will of God and a punishment for not doing the will of God. Many believers think that there are only rewards as an encouragement for doing His will but that there are no consequences as a punishment for not doing His will, because God always deals with us in grace and love. This thought is wrong. In God’s Word, the Bible, we are told that those who do the will of God receive a reward, and we are also told that those who do not do the will of God receive a punishment. Furthermore, the punishment for not doing the will of God is as heavy as the reward for doing the will of God is great.
1. “Rebellion is like the sin of divination, / And insubordination is like idolatry and teraphim. / Because you have rejected the word of Jehovah, / He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:23).
God commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all their animals. But Saul did not listen to God’s commandment; he destroyed only what was bad and kept what was good. Because Saul rejected the word of the Lord (which is the same as not doing the will of God), God rejected him from being king, causing him to lose the kingship. In God’s eyes the sin of rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as idolatry and teraphim. This should be such a warning to us. If we do not do the will of God today, we will lose the blessing of being kings with the Lord in the future.
1. “That slave who knew his master’s will and did not prepare or do according to his will, will receive many lashes” (Luke 12:47).
If we know the Lord’s will but do not do it, we will receive many lashes when the Lord returns.
1. “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power? And then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:22-23).
In these verses the Lord said that in the future many — not just a few — who call Him Lord will be refused entrance into the kingdom of the heavens because they did not do the will of God. These are saved ones, since they call on the Lord’s name. Although they preach, cast out demons, and do many works of power in the Lord’s name, they do not do them in accordance with God’s will and are workers of lawlessness in the Lord’s eyes. Workers of lawlessness are those who are disobedient. What they do may be good and spiritual, but they do not do it according to God’s rule; therefore, it is lawlessness. This is like a student who studies after ten o’clock in the evening, even though the school has a rule that all lights must be out after that time. Although his studying is good, he is breaking school rules. Because of this type of lawlessness, the Lord will disapprove of many, and He will not allow them to enter the kingdom of the heavens. If we do not do the will of God today and gain the Lord’s approval, the Lord will refuse us entrance into His kingdom as a punishment in the future.
