We can set aside all things to spread the gospel and shepherd the church.
… and toil to do good works.
That’s doing the will of our heavenly Father!
Our Lord will surely bring us into the kingdom of heaven! (Amen!)
… then why did the Pharisees travel over land and sea spreading the gospel,
toiling and laboring
only to receive the condemnation and curse of the Lord Jesus?
People can sacrifice for the Lord, spread the gospel,
build churches, and support believers.
These are all their good behaviors.
Following the heavenly Father’s will is following God’s words,
His commandments, and His instructions.
If men don’t act according to the Lord’s word,
their labor has nothing to do
with “doing the will of the Father which is in heaven.”
Brothers and sisters,
concerning who can enter the kingdom of heaven,
The Lord Jesus’ word tells us clearly that
only those who do the will of the heavenly Father
can enter the kingdom of heaven.
What exactly does it mean
to do the will of the heavenly Father?
We can set aside all things
to spread the gospel and shepherd the church.
Such toil and labor is doing the will of our heavenly Father.
Amen!
Is there any wrong in the way we carry this out?
Not at all!
We spread the gospel and watch over the Lord’s church.
That’s doing the will of our heavenly Father!
Amen!
Brothers and sisters,
we can spread the Lord’s gospel and toil and labor,
but this does not mean
we’re doing the will of our heavenly Father.
Truly doing the heavenly Father’s will
is following His words and commandments,
and doing our duty according to His requirements.
Just like what the Lord Jesus said,
Doing the heavenly Father’s will means
following and practicing what the Lord Jesus currently says.
This is the most basic principle.
If we do not focus on obeying the Lord Jesus’ words,
but on obeying man’s words in the Bible,
that is not doing the heavenly Father’s will.
Doing the will of God is following the word of God.
If people always exalt the apostles’ word in the Bible
and not the word of the Lord Jesus,
then they are not doing God’s will but are opposing God.
People who do the will of God will submit to
and practice whatever He says or does.
They can accept God’s commission and testify Him,
and no longer rebel against or resist Him.
Such people are the holy ones.
For example, Abraham. He was able to listen to God,
sincerely willing to give his only beloved son back to God.
Because of his absolute obedience,
God blessed his descendants to be a great nation.
Another example, Job feared God and kept away from evil.
Even when tested with the loss of his possessions and children,
he would rather curse himself than murmur against God.
He still praised Jehovah’s holy name.
So in the eyes of God, he was perfect.
There’s also Peter.
He followed the Lord Jesus all his life,
thirsting and seeking after the truth.
After he received the Lord’s commission,
he abided by the Lord’s will and requirements to shepherd the church,
finally submitting even to death,
and loving God to the utmost.
They were all people who obeyed and feared God.
Such people are those who truly do the will of the heavenly Father.
If toil and labor is all there is to doing the heavenly Father’s will,
then why did the Pharisees travel over land and sea
spreading the gospel, toiling and laboring
only to receive the condemnation and curse of the Lord Jesus?
That’s because they believed in God
but were not walking in His way.
When the Lord Jesus came for His new work,
not only did they not embrace Him,
but they instigated the common believers
to wildly condemn and oppose Him,
even setting up false witnesses to frame Him.
All that they did was to depart from the Lord’s way
and make an enemy with Jesus.
Even if they outwardly suffered a lot or did much work,
how can they be said
to be doing the will of the heavenly Father?
Based on that, people who only toil and labor outwardly
but do not carry out the words of the Lord,
are not followers of the heavenly Father’s will.
Exactly, like Abraham and Job,
people who submit to God,
listen to His word and witness for the Lord,
are those who do the Father’s will
and can enter the kingdom of heaven.
If we measure by these standards,
then there aren’t many people
who are truly doing the will of the heavenly Father.
The Pharisees did not do God’s will but opposed Lord Jesus.
What does that have to do with us?
Now we believe in the Lord Jesus.
We suffer a lot and sacrifice all to preach His name.
That means we’re already holy.
I ask you, isn’t this doing God’s will?
Absolutely. We fervently work for the Lord.
And we’ll spend anything.
We are doing the heavenly Father’s will.
Our Lord will surely bring us into the kingdom of heaven! (Amen!)
Brothers and sisters,
although people can suffer and sacrifice
for spreading the name of the Lord,
it’s undeniable that they still often sin.
That people sin shows that they still belong to Satan,
that they are filthy and corrupt,
and that they can still resist and betray God.
This proves no man is truly pure.
If they take power,
they can still oppose God and build separate kingdoms.
This is proof that no one has been truly purified to become holy.
How could those who resist God
be qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven?
People can sacrifice for the Lord, spread the gospel,
build churches, and support believers.
These are all their good behaviors.
If their good behaviors are done for loving God,
for truly working for God,
and for obeying and satisfying God,
without any thought of personal gain,
these are truly good deeds
that will be remembered and be blessed by God.
But if their good behaviors are done for an exchange,
for satisfying fleshly needs,
or entering the kingdom of heaven and getting rewards,
then these good behaviors are merely deceptive in nature,
and are against God!
Can these deceptive behaviors
claim to be following the heavenly Father’s will?
Can they claim to be holy?
Absolutely not!
Because these good behaviors are driven by their sinful nature,
and are tokens of exchange for privilege.
It shows that there is too much mingled in their hearts.
How could such people
have a heart that truly loves God and obeys God?
People are driven and controlled by their sinful nature.
When God’s work and words clash with their views,
they casually judge God, deny God, and condemn God.
When God puts them through trials,
they misunderstand God, complain against God, and betray God.
While people believe in God, they worship and follow man,
and listen to man before God.
When serving God, they do it arbitrarily,
raise and testify themselves, making an enemy of God.
They are bound and controlled by their sinful nature,
and given power,
they’ll surely oppose God and build separate kingdoms.
Just like the chief priests, scribes,
and Pharisees in the religious world,
when the Lord Jesus came to do His work,
they scrambled to condemn and resist Him
to protect their own positions,
and kept His salvation from ever being accepted into the religious world.
Is that not building a separate kingdom in opposition to God?
So for all those who labor and display good behaviors outwardly,
if they haven’t dealt with their sinful nature,
if their satanic disposition within is not purified,
no matter how much they suffer or how great the work they do,
how can such people become followers of God’s will?
Those who follow God’s will are surely those
who obey God absolutely,
whose hearts are in accordance with God’s heart,
and who would never rebel or go against God.
It is they who are qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven,
and inherit God’s promises.
What you say here makes sense,
but the apostle Paul said:
Amen!
And so, if we act according to Paul’s words,
we are following the will of God,
and will enter the kingdom of heaven and be rewarded.
Amen!
Those were the words of Brother Paul.
How could it be that Brother Paul was mistaken?
Do as Brother Paul did and toil to do good works.
That is the key by which we enter the kingdom of heaven.
Amen!
Brothers and sisters,
as to who may enter the kingdom of heaven,
the Lord Jesus has already said,
This fully shows the essence of God’s righteousness and holiness.
The filthy, corrupt man of Satan
can’t enter the kingdom of heaven.
But Paul said he fought a good fight,
and finished his course, and kept the faith,
so he could enter the kingdom of heaven and be rewarded.
According to Paul, if people simply work hard for the Lord,
they can enter the kingdom of heaven,
even if they don’t follow God’s word and are not holy.
Then how should God’s righteousness and holiness be known?
In saying that, Paul is totally hostile to God.
He’s denying the words of Lord Jesus,
and is disrupting and disturbing God’s work.
So, is simply fighting a good fight and finishing the course
following the heavenly Father’s will?
Is simply holding on to the name of Lord Jesus
without betraying the Lord
following the heavenly Father’s will?
Following the heavenly Father’s will is following God’s words,
His commandments, and His instructions.
If men don’t act according to the Lord’s word,
their labor has nothing to do
with “doing the will of the Father which is in heaven.”
Paul’s words were born purely of his own notions and imagination,
and were mixed with his own intents and ideas.
This is enough to show
that Paul was not really doing the heavenly Father’s will.
If he were a man who did God’s will,
why did he not teach the believers
to follow the words of Lord Jesus?
Why did he preach notions that betrayed the words of Lord Jesus
and went directly against His teachings?
He used his own absurd views to mislead and deceive others,
obstructing others from walking the way of Lord Jesus,
and making His word hollow.
He asked men to follow him, and betray the Lord.
This shows us that Paul was not a seeker of truth or a follower of God’s will.
Brothers and sisters, the words of Lord Jesus are our guide
to entering the kingdom of heaven,
because He is the King of the kingdom of heaven,
and only His words are the truth, and the authority.
Only the Lord Jesus can decide who can enter the kingdom of heaven.
Paul was only an apostle who spread the gospel.
He was not Christ, and his words are not the truth,
so what he said doesn’t count.
Only the Lord Jesus could decide
if he himself would enter the kingdom of heaven.
How could Paul judge whether others would be qualified to enter?
If we compare Paul’s words with those of the Lord Jesus,
the words of the Lord Jesus have authority.
His words are the truth.
Paul’s words have no authority and are not the truth.
Paul’s words came from his human imagination,
not from the Holy Spirit.
If they had been truly inspired by the Holy Spirit,
how could they clash with the Lord’s words?
Hmm. Using Paul’s words as a guide
to enter the kingdom of heaven
is straying from the Lord’s way!