Serving God by doing the Will of the Father and not being Workers of Lawlessness

Matt. 7:21-23 is a warning to all believers, for here we see that not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, and not everyone who does great works of power in the Lord’s name will enter into the kingdom of the heavens; only those who do the will of the Father will enter.

This means that many Christians may do a great work for God, they may prophesy in God’s name, cast out demons in the Lord’s name, and do a great work of power for God; others may be amazed and they themselves may have the assurance that they did it for God, yet they are workers of lawlessness in God’s eyes. Wow!

This is related to what we see in the book of Judges, where we are told repeatedly that there was no king in Israel (that is, God was not their King) and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Doing what is right in our own eyes, even doing what is scriptural and according to the divine principles, but according to the self and in the self, this is lawlessness.

Doing anything for God or in God’s name yet apart from our organic union with God is not doing the will of the Father but doing things according to self-will; this is lawlessness.

This changes everything. Such a view should cause us to reconsider our work for the Lord and in the church life.

Do we do what we think is right or do we fellowship with the Lord and remain in fellowship with the Body concerning our work?

Do we do what we think is good to be done, or do we seek the Lord’s face and do the will of the Father, even the perfect will of God – not the permissive will of God?

We need to reconsider our ways. We need to be before the Lord and realize that each one of us has rebellion in our being; rebellion is in our flesh, and even when we serve God or do things for God, rebellion can be expressed and manifested.

We may live a life that is outside of the principle of God’s ruling over man, and we may not be under His rule, yet we may do many things for God. Oh, Lord.

If we look at the situation in Christianity today, there are many works done in God’s name, and many of these are works of power, even supernatural things; many such works attract crowds of people, and so many flock to see them.

But do the people involved know who God is, what is His will, what the kingdom of God is, and do they do the will of the Father?

Christ died for us not only to rescue us from sin and bring us to heaven; He gave Himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness.

Before we were saved, we lived in lawlessness by default; after we are saved, we can still live in lawlessness by not doing the will of the Father but doing what is right in our own eyes.

We Enter the Kingdom of the Heavens by Calling on the Lord and doing the Will of the Father

Matt. 7:21 is a verse that shocks most Christians when they read it, for the Lord says, “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”.

What the kingdom of the heavens refers to is not the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today but the coming manifestation of the kingdom in the future.

For us to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we need to do two things: we need to call on the Lord and we need to do the will of the heavenly Father.

Such a word was spoken not to unbelievers but to believers; the Lord issued such a warning not to sinners but to His followers.

We need to know what is the will of the Father and do the will of our heavenly Father.

The Father has His permissive will, in which He allows things to happen, and if we insist on certain things, He may allow them.

However, what He desires to carry out is His perfect will, and those who do not do the perfect will of the Father are workers of lawlessness in His eyes.

So the Lord is praying, interceding, fighting, shepherding, and caring for us all so that we may not do our self-will but do the will of the heavenly Father.

In order for us to be saved and enter into the kingdom of God as a realm of life, we simply need to call on the Lord, believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. It is so simple.

But for us to enter into the coming kingdom, the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, calling on the name of the Lord is not enough; we must do the will of the heavenly Father.

What does this mean? How can we do things that seem to be so good, so scriptural, and yet not do the will of the father?

How come we can do works of power, prophesy in God’s name, and do many things that are so good, yet not do the will of the Father?

God may allow certain things – He may even bless certain works that His people do, some teachings, some works of power, and some prophecies, but He may not acknowledge them, for those who do these things don’t do the will of the heavenly Father.

To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved, but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father (Rom. 10:13; 12:2; Matt. 12:50; Eph. 5:17; Col. 1:9).

The Lord Jesus didn’t just express God and do good works; He did the will of the Father, and He drank the cup that the Father gave Him to drink.

Therefore, he died at thirty-three and a half years old because this was His Father’s will. We need to know the will of our heavenly Father and do it.

We need to seek to know His perfect will, not just His permissive will, and carry it out.

The kingdom of the heavens is absolutely a matter of God’s will; the kingdom of God is a unique realm in which the will of God is done.

We as kingdom people can pray, Your will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven.

As we are growing in life and becoming God-men in reality, we become the reproduction of Christ to be the will-of-God persons, those who do the will of the Father.

Entering into the kingdom of the heavens requires doing the will of the heavenly Father; therefore, it is clearly different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration (John 3:3, 5).

We enter into the kingdom of God through being born of the divine life (John 1:12-13; 3:5-6), and we enter into the kingdom of the heavens by living the divine life and doing the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21; 12:50).

Lord Jesus, we seek You in prayer to know the will of our heavenly Father and do it today. Save us from doing what is right in our own eyes and according to our own understanding. Save us from being workers of lawlessness who are not acknowledged by our heavenly Father. Oh Lord, we want to have a rich entrance into the manifestation kingdom of the heavens by doing the will of the Father in this age. Unveil us to see what is the perfect will of God and not just choose His permissive will. Father, reveal Your will to us. Make us one with Christ to do the will of the Father so that we may enter into the kingdom of the heavens!

The Lord does not Approve the Workers of Lawlessness, those who do things for God out of Themselves

Many will say to the Lord in that day, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, did great works of power, and cast out demons? But the Lord will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness (Matt. 7:22-23).

Such a word is spoken not to unbelievers but to believers, even to those who work for God. Our heavenly Father has a will, which He wants to accomplish; we can accomplish the will of the Father by the life of the Father.

When we live by the divine life, we carry out the will of the Father; when we live in the life of the heavenly Father, such a living is for doing the Father’s will.

But there are some, even many, whom the Lord never approves, even though they prophesy, cast out demons, and do many works of power in His name – yet not according to the will of the heavenly Father.

The Lord doesn’t deny that these ones did those things; rather, He considers those things as lawlessness because they were not done according to the will of the heavenly Father, in line with the divine will. Wow!

This means that many Christians can do great works of power for God, and seemingly God blesses them and allows them to thrive, yet God may never approve them, for they are workers of lawlessness. This is truly sobering.

Even in the church life, we may have meetings, coordination times, and works that we do for the Lord, and we may have success, but on that day, the Lord may never approve it.

We should not be self-confident in any way concerning the work we are doing and how we do it; the only standard is not the success or blessing we get but doing the will of the Father in the heavens.

We need to know the Father’s heart, His will, His inward being, and do the will of the Father.

For us to do the will of the Father we need to walk on the constricted way; we enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way.

It is not that difficult to do a work for God but it is difficult to do the will of the Father; doing a work for God can be done out of ourselves and even in ourselves, but doing the will of the Father requires denying the self.

It is like running the race: you may be able to run, you may even run quite fast, but if you don’t stay in your lane, running between the lines that point out the way, you are disqualified.

You may run quite fast and even finish first, but if you’re not in your lane, according to the path that was assigned to you, you are disqualified.

We need to run the race of the Christian life between the lines of the will of the heavenly Father.

Many Christian workers run but not in a restricted way; they do a work for God but are not restricted in the least by the will of the Father.

In their own eyes and according to those around them, they do a great work for God, and much has been accomplished through the work they do in themselves.

But in God’s eyes, many such workers are workers of lawlessness, for they don’t do the Father’s will but rather, they violate the heavenly lines. Oh, Lord!

If we run between the lines and not outside of them, if we do the will of the heavenly Father and not work for God in ourselves by doing what is right in our own eyes, we will be approved by the Lord.

May the Lord preserve our service to Him in the principle of submission to God’s authority and the Father’s will; may we not do things for God and measure our success by the result of the work, but rather, may we seek the will of the Father and do the Father’s will.

We may not run that fast, we may not advance that much, and we may be quite constricted in our work for the Lord because we do the will of the heavenly Father, but we will be approved by the Lord in that day.

May we have a holy fear of God in this respect and tell Him honestly,

Lord, save us from being workers of lawlessness who do things for God out of themselves and not out of obedience to God’s will. Save us from doing things for God according to what is right in our own eyes, yet neglecting the will of the Father. Oh Lord, we want to run the heavenly race and labor for the Lord by being one with Christ to do the will of the Father. Save us from rebelling against God in the work of God by not doing the Father’s will. May we allow the Father’s will to limit us in our work for God and in our daily living. Have mercy on us, Lord, so that our life and living be approved by God on that day!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew (msg. 24) by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 9, The Children of Israel not Having a King and Everyone doing what was Right in His Own Eyes.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – That we the Kingdom enter in, / Surpassing righteousness we need, / Exceeding that which is of law; / From life alone it must proceed. / That we the Kingdom enter in, / We need to do the Father’s will, / Not by our choice to work or act / But His one purpose to fulfill. (Hymns #943)
  – ’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 #944)
  – Yet there’s a word for God’s own sons, / Which is a warning from the Lord: / For those not ready when He comes, / “Worse punishment” and not “reward.” / Reward is not eternal life, / It’s based on how we run the race; / It all depends on what we build, / It’s not a matter, here, of grace. (Hymns #1298)