As believers in Christ who love the Lord and pursue Him, we need to run the Christian race according to the Father’s nature to do the Father’s will, being constricted in our running to only do the will of our heavenly Father and not focus on doing a great work for Him.
This week we have been enjoying the matter of God calling us according to His own purpose.
God did not only redeem us to save us from eternal perdition; even more, He called us according to His own purpose. His calling is not according to our works but according to His own purpose. Praise the Lord!
We have been saved from living a meaningless life to living a life for God’s purpose. God’s eternal purpose is for Him to dispense Himself into us, His chosen and redeemed people, so that we may become the same as Christ in life, nature, expression, and function, but not in the Godhead, to be part of His enlarged and expanded expression. Amen!
God created all things for this purpose of His, that He would mingle Himself with man to produce the church as the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem for His glorious purpose.
The church is the unique means used by God to fulfill His purpose, on the positive side, and to settle all His problems.
The church both expresses God in His glory with the divine sonship, and represents God to exercise His dominion over the enemy.
Through the church God will head up all things in Christ.
We as believers in Christ need to live a life for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose; for this, we need to know and do the will of God.
What is the will of God? He created all things and all things exist because of His will; we need to know the will of God and do all things according to God’s perfect will.
We need to be filled with the full knowledge of God’s will so that we may have the revelation of God’s plan and cooperate with Him for the fulfilment of His plan.
The will of God is related to Christ; God’s will is to make Christ everything to us so that we may enjoy Christ, experience Christ, live Christ, and apply Christ in everything.
When we know God’s will, we will walk worthily of the Lord, for we will live Christ.
Also, when we know the will of God, we will realize that He also allows certain things – He has a permissive will.
But on the day of the judgment, God will reject those who did many works of power in God’s name yet without His approval.
Many do great works for God but without doing the Father’s will. Wow.
We need to not only give ourselves to work for the Lord but even more, take Him as our source, do all things in Him and with Him, and allow the will of our heavenly Father to restrict us in our daily living and work for the Lord. Amen!
We need to Walk and Work according to the Father’s Nature to Do the Father’s Will
Matt. 7:21-23 is a strong word of warning for all believers in Christ, especially those who love the Lord, work for the Lord, and desire to please Him by joining Him in His work.
This portion shows us that many do great works of power in the Lord’s name but they do not do the will of the heavenly Father, so the Lord does not acknowledge them nor does He approve them.
Certain works may be done in the Lord’s name yet not be done according to the will of God.
When we do any work for the Lord, we need to check with Him if we’re doing the Father’s will or just doing a work for Him.
![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. 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. 7:21-23](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Not-everyone-who-says-to-Me-Lord-Lord-will-enter-into-the-kingdom-of-the-heavens-1-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=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. 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. 7:21-23")
We need to have the assurance that, in whatever we do for the Lord and in the church life, we are doing the Father’s will.
Otherwise, we may be called by the Lord, “workers of lawlessness” on the day of judgment. Oh, Lord!
Even casting out demons in the Lord’s name and doing works of power in His name may not be according to the will of God but something that He does not agree with. Oh, Lord Jesus!
How narrow is the gate and how constricted is the way for us to follow the Lord and work with and for Him!
May we be those who enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way that leads to life (Matt. 7:13-14) both in our living and work for the Lord.
Just as the runners in a race each have their own lane in which they run, and they don’t cross into others’ lanes but stay in their lane until they reach their goal, so we need to walk on the constricted way as we live for the Lord and serve Him.
The constricted way is the will of our heavenly Father. Doing the Father’s will should constrain us and restrict us.
This means that we need to do everything according to the divine nature in our spirit.
If we do not do things according to the divine nature, our work is lawlessness. Oh, Lord!
We should not care primarily for doing a work for the Lord or even prophesying for Him but for doing the will of our heavenly Father by walking and working according to the Father’s nature in our spirit.
May we take care of the heavenly lines for our running of the race.
In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we have the constricting lines of the divine nature; if we run between the lines and not outside of them, we will be approved by the Lord.
As kingdom people, we are in the kingdom of God and we walk on the constricted way to do the Father’s will.
Thank the Lord, we have the divine nature in our spirit; the Father’s nature is in us, and this nature always tells us yes or no when we check with the Lord before doing something.
If we check with the Lord in our spirit, we will get His “go ahead” or “stop” in our living and work for the Lord.
The runners in a race all see the lines that limit their running, and it is only when they run in their lane that they can receive the reward.
Similarly we today have constricting lines within us; the Father’s nature is in us, limiting us, constricting us, and supplying us to do the will of our heavenly Father.
For example, if we check with the Father’s nature within us we will realize that we cannot use rock music or any other worldly entertainments in our meetings.
As kingdom people, we have been regenerated by our heavenly Father, and we have His life and nature within us.
May we live according to the divine nature in our spirit so that we may be constricted in our living and work for the Lord, doing the will of our heavenly Father and not being workers of lawlessness.
May we run the race according to the Father’s nature, and may we allow the divine nature to limit and restrict us in our work with and for the Lord so that we may do the will of our heavenly Father today.
The narrow gate excludes the old man, the self, the flesh, the human concept, and the world with all its glory; only that which corresponds with God’s will can enter in.
When we exercise our spirit and live according to the Father’s nature, our old man is excluded, the self is denied, our human concept is set aside, and the world with all its glory fades away.
As we walk on the constricted way, we are restricted by a mysterious, invisible, inward control, and we live under this control. Amen!
Lord Jesus, we want to enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way of doing the will of our heavenly Father. Hallelujah, we have been regenerated by God with His life and nature, and now we have our Father’s nature in our spirit! Amen, Lord, we exercise our spirit to contact You, live one spirit with You, and work with and for the Lord. We want to run the heavenly race on the constricted way of the will of the Father. May our work for the Lord be restricted by the heavenly lines. Amen, Lord, may we live and work by the divine nature in our spirit and not be workers of lawlessness who do a work for God but not do God’s will! May we care more about doing the Father’s will than for doing work for the Lord. We aspire to be those who are approved by the Lord at the judgment seat! We give You our daily living. May we run according to the divine nature and within the constricted lines of our heavenly Father’s will!
Learn from the Lord Jesus to do the Father’s Will and Pray for His will to be Done on Earth
![For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38 And going forward a little, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You [will.] Matt. 26:39](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/For-I-have-come-down-from-heaven-not-to-do-My-own-will-but-the-will-of-Him-who-sent-Me-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me. John 6:38 And going forward a little, He fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You [will.] Matt. 26:39")
The perfect example of doing the Father’s will is the Lord Jesus, the first God-man and our pattern in living the Christian life.
When the Lord Jesus came, He did not do His own will; rather, He did the will of His Father. He came to do the Father’s will.
The Lord Jesus did not speak His own word neither did He do His own work; rather, He spoke what He heard from the Father, and He did the work that the Father gave Him to do.
He sought the Father’s glory and did the will of the Father even when all those around Him thought He should do something else.
Others around Him could go and do things as they pleased, but the Lord was restricted by the Father’s will, and He lived according to the divine nature in His spirit.
Others could say this or that, even pressuring Him to do this or that or go to this or that place, but the Lord was in a constant conversation with the Father and sought to do the will of the Father.
One time His mother and his brothers came to see Him, most likely to try to ask Him to tone down a bit and take it easy, but the Lord said, Who is My mother and who are My brothers?
Then He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, Behold, My mother and My brothers!
For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother (Matt. 12:47-50).
If we do the will of our heavenly Father as the Lord Jesus did, we are a relative of the Lord Jesus.
Christ, our heavenly King, always submitted to the Father’s will, taking the Father’s will as His portion and not resisting anything (Matt. 11:28-30; 26:39; John 5:30; 6:38).
The Lord Jesus did the Father’s will and chose the Father’s will even unto death, even by taking the cup of suffering and dying on the cross, thus fulfilling the will of our heavenly Father.
If we today are those who do the will of our heavenly Father, we are a brother who helps the Lord Jesus, a sister who sympathizes with Him, and a mother who tenderly loves Him.
May we learn from the Lord Jesus to do the Father’s will and therefore be His relatives in reality, and may we also pray for the will of the Father to be done on the earth.
On the one hand, we need to exercise our spirit and live according to the Father’s nature so that we may be approved and accepted by the Lord.
![For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother. Matt. 12:50 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, [so] also on earth. Matt. 6:10](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/For-whoever-does-the-will-of-My-Father-who-is-in-the-heavens-he-is-My-brother-and-sister-and-mother-683x1024.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "For whoever does the will of My Father who is in the heavens, he is My brother and sister and mother. Matt. 12:50 Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, [so] also on earth. Matt. 6:10")
On the other hand, we as kingdom people need to pray for the Father’s will to be done on the earth as in the heavens (Matt. 6:10).
In our prayer to the Father, we need to not only present our needs before Him and ask for Him to provide for us as we live a life for the fulfilment of His purpose, but even more pray for His will do be done.
We are instructed by our King to pray that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is in the heaven.
The will of God is done in heavens, but since Satan usurps the earth and is under his control, the will of God is not done on earth nor is His kingdom here on earth yet.
We human beings are created by God with the intention of recovering the earth for Himself (Gen. 1:26-28), and we as believers in Christ are brought into a position where we can stand one with the Lord in prayer, asking the Father to bring in His kingdom and carry out His will on the earth.
We’re praying for God’s interest so that the will of God can be done on earth as in heaven.
May we be those who pray in this way, standing with the Lord on the earth to pray for the Father’s will to be done on earth as it is in the heavens.
In this way, we bring in the kingdom of the heavens to the earth.
Lord Jesus, we love You and we stand one with You on the earth today. We choose to do not our will nor just the things we think we should do for God or to please God but do the will of God. Amen, Lord, we choose to do the Father’s will today. We want to learn from You, dear Lord Jesus, and be those who submit to the Father’s will. We want to take the Father’s will as our portion and not resist anything. May Your will be done in our life. May Your perfect will be done in us. We do not choose Your permissive will; we want Your perfect will. Amen, Lord, may Your will be done and may Your kingdom come! We stand with You on earth to pray for Your kingdom to come on the earth and for Your will to be done on earth, even as it is being done in the heavens! Amen, Lord, may the earth be fully recovered for God’s will so that God’s will may be done on the earth and His kingdom would come on the earth!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 287-288 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by being Empowered in the Grace which is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy (2024 April ITERO), week 2, God Calling Us according to His Own Purpose.
- Similar articles on this topic:
– The principles of the children of the kingdom in dealing with others, a portion from, The Kingdom, Chapter 43, by Witness Lee.
– 3 Blessings God Has Prepared for You, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
– Live the Father’s Life for New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– The God-ordained Way to Gain the Increase for the Church vs. the Worldly Ways of Degraded Christianity, via, A Faithful Word.
– Two aspects of the price, a portion from, How to Be Useful to the Lord, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– Taking the Lead to Be Patterns, via, Living to Him.
– God desires that the church be the kingdom of God, a portion from, Authority and Submission, Chapter 6, by Watchman Nee.
– The kingdom of the heavens, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
– We Partake of the Father’s Holiness, via, New Jerusalem blog.
– Our Basic Choice, via, Shepherding words.
– Three great principles, a portion from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 2) Vol. 22: The Assembly Life & The Prayer Ministry of the Church, Chapter 9, by Watchman Nee.
– God’s Heart’s Desire, via, Church in Anaheim. - Hymns on this topic:
– He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! / He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. / He lives, He lives, salvation to impart! / You ask me how I know He lives? / He lives within my heart. (Hymns #503 chorus)
– Let all that look for hasten / The coming joyful day, / By earnest consecration, / To walk the narrow way; / By gathering in the lost ones, / For whom our Lord did die, / For the crowning day that’s coming / By-and-by. (Hymns #953 stanza 4)
– This life self-glory doth renounce / And ever for God’s kingdom prays; / It trusts in God for every need / And seeks His kingdom first always. / ’Tis strict with self, with others kind, / And always dealing with the Lord; / It ever does the Father’s will / And acts according to His word. (Hymns #944https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/944 stanzas 5-6)
About aGodMan
Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., pp. 287-288, by Witness Lee
May the Lord keep us on the constricted way today in our daily living, walking by the divine nature of the Father and doing the Father’s will.
May our walk and our work be within the lines of the will of the Father, so that we may receive a reward and not be workers of lawlessness.
Amen Lord, keep us on the constricted way!
Christ is not only our Saviour, He is our King.
To run our heavenly race in a way that will be approved by the Lord our living & work must be solidly founded on the wise words of Christ, who has revealed to us the will of our Father.
We also have our Father’s life & nature which tells us if something is according to the Father’s will.
May we be those who live & work according to Christ’s wise words and according to our Father’s life & nature.
Amen brother, thank you for sharing on the messages!
Yes, to enter into the kingdom we need to both call on the Lord and do His will.
We are not for doing anything other than his will which is to build up the church.
The consummation of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is to usher us in through the narrow gate and onto the constricted way.
This must be the ground of our living, service, and work! Wow!!!
Certain works may be done in the Lord’s name and yet not be done according to the will of God. We must have the assurance in whatever we do that we are doing the will of the heavenly Father.
There are at least 2 main ways by which we can know the Father’s will. One way is
by the Father’s life and nature within us. The Father’s nature will always tells us yes or no. If you are running according to the divine nature and within the constricted lines, the divine nature will indicate these. His life and nature will give us an inward sense, feeling and the anointing. Hence we need to grow in the Father’s life and nature.
The second main way is by the word in the Scriptures. The Word reveals to us the will of our Father. The living and work of the kingdom people must be founded on the word of God for accomplishing of the will of the heavenly Father.
Hence we need to know, learn, study, and be constituted and indwelt by the living and operating word of God.
Therefore we need to bring everything before God in prayer and through ourfellowship with Him. We need to spend adequate time with Him to get know Him and grow by the full knowkedge of Him.
Likewise we need to bring everything before His word. We must bring our opinions, thoughts, and views before the Bible and let them be judged by the Word of God. Ameeen!!!
Praise the Lord! 🙌😃🙋🏼
Amen brother!
Dear brother, in the Lord’s recovery we must take the narrow and constricted way, in which there is no room for the old man, the self, the human concept or the world with its glory.
This is to live according to the Father’s will, according to His divine life and nature through a life of inward restriction and regulation.
Our focus is not on prophesying, casting out demons or doing works of power but on doing the Father’s will.
For this we must stay within the constricted lanes so that whatever we are doing is out from Him. Lord, may we take this way that leads to life today!
08/03/24 God Calling Us according to His Own Purpose (Week 2, Day 6)
The gospel of Matthew presents Christ as the King-Savior. In His first coming, He accomplished redemption for us, His chosen believers, and imparted His divine life and nature into our innermost part in order for Him to reign within us, His believers. He is not only our Savior, but also our King Who wants to reign within us for His kingdom. God desires that, as believers in Christ, we should be the kingdom people who are subject and submit to Christ as our King reigning within us, in our mingled spirit.
Matthew 7:13-14 say, “Enter in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it. Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”
As the kingdom people, we must not be like the unbelievers who live and walk in an unrestricted way. The living and walking of the unbleievers, who do not believe in God and do not want to receive the life and nature of God, are independent from God and do not want to be constricted by God.
Matthew 7:13-14 indicate that passing through the gate does not mean that everything is complete and finished. Passing through the gate is only an entrance, a beginning for our constricted Christian walk. After we pass through the gate, we still need to walk on the way. In spiritual matters, we do not walk on the way and then enter through the gate; instead, we enter through the gate and then walk on the way. Matthew 7:13-14 speaks of this principle ~ we enter the narrow gate, and then we walk on the constricted way.
To enter into the narrow gate is to be willing to be restricted by the Lord. The constricted way is our Christian walk, as the kingdom people, who are willing to be constricted by the Lord within us in order for us to reach the goal of God. Our Christian walk, which is our Christian race, has our respective line of the racecourse or raceway to follow, which is determined, not by ourselves, but by the Lord, Who is the King reigning within us.
We, as the kingdom people, who entered the narrow gate, are constricted on every side. Those in Christianity can use rock music or other worldly methods in their services, but we cannot, because our way is constricted. All young people desire to be free, that is, to put off all restriction. When the young people graduate from high school, they are like caged birds wanting to be free. However, many are so free that they have no constriction, no restriction.
We in the Lord’s recovery, on the contrary, are taking a constricted way. We should not trust on our own understanding, but in all our ways, we need to acknowledge the Lord, our King, to lead us in our path (Prov 3:5-6). Without fellowshipping and confiding in Him, many believers may prophesy, cast out demons, and do many works of power, outwardly and seemingly, in the Lord’s name (a showing off as hypocrites ~ Mat 6:2,5; 23:13). In their eyes, they have done a great deal in the Lord’s name and for the Lord. But, in the Lord’s eyes, their work is a kind of transgression, a violation of the heavenly lines. Thus, their work is considered by the Lord as lawlessness (Mat 7:21-23).
Having the Father’s life and through His Word, we are able to know the will of the Father, which is to build the church upon the Son as the rock. Here “rock” does not refer to Christ but to His wise word, the word that reveals the will of His Father. Our living and work must be founded on the word of Christ for the accomplishment of the will of the heavenly Father. To take the words of Christ as the ground for our living and work is actually to enter the narrow gate and walk the constricted way which leads to life.
Those believers who live in the reality of the Kingdom of the Heavens, corporately experiencing the dispensing of the divine Trinity, will take the way which leads to life and will take the words of Christ as the ground for their living and work to do the will of the Father to build up the church for the corporate expression of the Triune God.
Let us all run the race according to the Father’s nature. HWMR – W2D6
We must take care of the heavenly lines. There are constricting lines in the Lord’s recovery, and we must be constricted in our running. If we run between the lines, not outside of them, we will be approved by the Lord. The consummation of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is to usher us in through the narrow gate and onto the constricted way. We should not care for prophesying, for casting out demons, or for works of power. Instead, we should care only for doing the will of our heavenly Father…(WL)📖🙏🏼💖
SCRIPTURE READING: Matt. 7:13-14
(Life-study of Matthew, 2nd ed., pp. 286-287)
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