The Two Components of Perfect Obedience Revisited

The Life and Faith of the Glorious Church

THE "TWO" COMPONENTS OF PERFECT OBEDIENCE REVISITED

Glenn H. Jackson

...."Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness".... Matthew 7:21-23 NASB

From verse 21 we see clearly that the people Jesus is speaking of here are born-again believers, and the "kingdom of Heaven" mentioned here is referring to the Kingdom of God within us [as opposed to our "eternal" destiny]. Jesus said, that "He who does the will of My Father, who is in Heaven" and, from these words, we again see the clear call for perfect obedience. In verse 22 we see an example of the sin of presumption. All of these people were doing [and had done] the prophesying, the casting out of demons and, "in His name," performing many miracles that were commanded in the Great Commission - so then, where is the problem? "Outwardly," these believers "appear" to have been in the center of God's will, but there is obviously something lacking for the Lord to rebuke them. "Then I will declare to them I never knew you," speaks of the fact that they did not have that "close and intimate fellowship" with Him that is required - and which can only be experienced from the position of a heart that is "wholly given" to the Father and His Word - and, thus, is entirely [and continually] submitted to His authority. Once again we see the need for the children of God to have a revelation of the two components of "perfect" obedience:

1. To have the revealed knowledge of God's Word [Will] - which these people did as the Church is called to do these things in His name,

BUT

2. There is a second part, and this is where these people missed God! They did not hear the "voice" NOR discern the "unction" of the Holy Spirit.

It was not because they could not hear His voice, but because they did not "truly desire" to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in the pursuit of their "own" path and agenda! Every believer must learn this truth: that for every ounce of revealed knowledge God blesses them with they must wait on Him to - through the power and unction of His Spirit - apply His wisdom and, thus, show them "how" and "when" to apply the knowledge [revelation of His Will] that they have been blessed with.

THE PATH OF PERFECT OBEDIENCE IS THE "NARROW WAY"

One may think that this is a very "fine line" [and indeed it is] but the path of perfect obedience IS the "narrow way" that is spoken of in Matthew 7:13 - and, in this last hour, it shall be a "stumbling block" that many trip over because of their failure to give their hearts "wholly" to the One who purchased them that they might no longer live for themselves, but entirely for God. It is only the "desire" to walk on the narrow path that will allow [empower] one to - for any "carnal" desire, no matter how small, will cause one to take their eyes off Jesus, and veer to the right or to the left of the "highway of holiness".

IF WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO HEAR THE VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THEN WE ARE IN A POSITION TO HEAR THE VOICE OF SATAN AND THE "WORLD"

Jesus then goes on to say, "depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." To "practice" lawlessness [rebelliousness] means that in the deepest fibre of their being one has "kept part back" from God - and, thus, "self-exaltation" and "self-agenda" will always be the motivating force behind their words and actions - regardless of how good their works may appear. Therefore, we must take heed to guard our hearts with ALL diligence, and we must allow the Holy Spirit to continually do the deepest work of the Cross in us on a daily basis - so that our "works" might not be consumed by "holy fire" in the day of judgement. As we continue on we will study the sin of presumption in more detail, and we shall see clearly that it is something that must be avoided - AT ALL COST TO OURSELVES. The whole key for the children of God in this last hour is for them to remain continually in a "position" wherein they are able to hear clearly the voice of the Holy Spirit. We must always remember that if we are not in a position to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit clearly THEN we are in a position to hear the voice of Satan and the "world" clearly.

Related Scriptures: Matthew 7:13-14; Isaiah 35:8-10; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Proverbs 4:23; Hebrews 12:29; 1 John 4:4;

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