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CHAPTER 9
WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE?
Introduction
We must work the works of Him who sent me, as long
as it is day: night is coming, when no man can
work. (John 9:4, New American Standard Bible).
Only one life,
'twill soon be past.
Only what's done for
Christ will last.
(Source unknown).
Every Christian wants his life to count for Christ.
When he comes to the end of his life and looks back, he
wants to know that he glorified God and helped build God's
Kingdom. For this to happen, one must first recognize that
God's plan is best. The famed songwriter Phil Kerr penned
these words:
If the dreams that I dream would come true,
and the schemes that I scheme I could do,
then I know there would be
contentment for me.
[This is as far as some go,
but Phil Kerr had deeper insight:]
But I know that He knows
what is best for me.
So I'm His to command. . . .
[Phil Kerr, "I'm His to Command"
(Hollywood: Fiesta Music, 1974)].
Human-Motivated Activity
Evil works are easily recognized as being out of the
will of God. Murder, lying, adultery, the practice of homo-
sexuality, slander, libel and such are clearly morally
wrong.
Not so easily recognized, however, are "good works"
that are out of the will of God. For instance, if God calls
someone to be a missionary and that person disobeys, it is
sin. Even if that person works hard, attends church, treats
his fellow man right and does good deeds, his disobedience
is sin. One must seek God's will for his life and fulfill
it. King Saul is an example of disobedience.
Both kinds of works are dissipation, vain and a waste
of effort. Solomon cuts to the heart of the matter:
Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them
[the Word of God].
Of making many books there is no end, and
much study wearies the body.
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:12-14, NIV).
Divine-Led Activity
How does one find the will of God for his life? First
of all, one cannot find God's will by self-effort:
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to
observe man's labor on earth--his eyes not seeing
sleep day or night--then I saw all that God has
done. No one can comprehend what goes on under
the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out,
man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise
man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend
it. (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17, NIV).
Oh, the depth of the riches
of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
(Romans 11:33-34, NIV).
The Holy Spirit reveals the will of God:
. . .those who are led by the Spirit of God are
sons of God. (Romans 8:14, NIV).
Of course, the Holy Spirit leads one within the framework of
the scriptures, which he inspired.
Once one discovers the will of God for his life, it is
important that he fulfill God's plan for his life. Time is a
precious irreplaceable commodity, and very short:
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all
your might, for in the grave, where you are going,
there is neither working nor planning nor knowl-
edge nor wisdom. (Ecclesiastes 9:10, NIV).
There is no neutrality in the spiritual warfare in
which we are engaged. Jesus said,
"He who is not with me is against me, and he
who does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew
12:30, NIV).
Solomon teaches,
One who is slack in his work, is brother to one
who destroys. (Proverb 18:9, NIV).
Therefore, one who attempts to remain noncommittal, or one
who does not actively do the will of God for his life is
fighting Christ!
There are several ways that people fail to cooperate
with the Holy Spirit. When sinners RESIST the Holy Spirit,
they align themselves with Satan. Stephen, the first Christian
martyr speaks to "religious leaders" who were not true follow-
ers of God:
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised
hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers:
You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever
a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They
even killed those who predicted the coming of the
Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and
murdered him--you who have received the law that
was put into effect through angels but have not
obeyed it." (Acts 7:51-53, NIV).
Believers may QUENCH the Holy Spirit:
Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the Holy Spirit.
(1 Thessalonians 5:19, The Amplified Bible).
Quenching the Holy Spirit is failing to yield to the Holy
Spirit--the sin of omission.
Also, believers may GRIEVE the Holy Spirit by personal
impurity:
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, (do not
offend, or vex, or sadden Him) by Whom you were
sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for
the day of redemption--of final deliverance
through Christ from evil and the consequences of
sin. (Ephesians 4:30, The Amplified Bible).
Let us now move to the more positive action of fulfill-
ing the will of God. Believers must actively yield to the
Holy Spirit and resist the Devil:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the
devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7,
NIV).
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking
for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm
in the faith, because you know that your brothers
throughout the world are undergoing the same kind
of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV).
Notice that believers must (1) submit themselves to God and
(2) then resist the Devil. When believers submit themselves
to God and resist the Devil, victory is assured in their own
personal lives. Jesus defeated Satan two thousand years ago:
this is the guarantee of the believer's victory today!
Another hindrance to serving God is the flesh or the
Adamic nature. God gave believers a new "inner man" and the
ability to overcome the "old man" through the new birth.
God's part has been accomplished. The responsibility now
rests with believers to resist the old man and follow the
new man:
You were taught, with regard to your former way of
life, to put off your old self, which is being
corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new
in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the
self, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24, NIV).
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2
Corinthians 5:17).
Once believers discover the will of God for their lives
and overcome Satan and the flesh, they must begin to work.
Jesus charges believers,
We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long
as it is day; night is coming, when no man can
work. (John 9:4, New American Standard Bible).
Usually proper belief induces proper action. However,
this may also work in reverse. Myers advises:
If we want to change ourselves in some important
way, we had best not depend exclusively on intro-
spection and intellectual insight. Sometimes we
need to get up and act, despite the fact that we,
like Moses and Jonah and other biblical heroes,
do not feel like acting. [David G. Myers, THE
HUMAN PUZZLE: PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND CHRISTIAN
BELIEF (New York: Harper and Row, 1978), p. 109].
A positive change of attitude towards oneself will result
when one's actions improve: that is a fact. It may come
from cognitive dissonance with the resulting rationalization
in a positive sense. Or it may come from simply inferring
the internal state of oneself from self-observation. Either
way, a positive internal change of attitude occurs. (Myers,
THE HUMAN PUZZLE, pp. 110-112).
ASSIGNMENT: DETERMINE TO FULFILL GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR
LIFE. MAKE IT A HABIT TO CONTINUALLY SEEK GOD'S WILL. BEGIN
BY DOING WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT.
END