In order for us, the kingdom people of the heavenly kingdom, to do the will of the Father, we need to enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way; doing the will of the Father makes us a relative of the Lord Jesus.
We are on earth to do the will of our heavenly Father.
For us to enter into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age, we must do the will of our Father in this age.
It is quite striking when the Lord said in Matt. 7:21-23 that many will come to Him in that day and will say that they did many works of power and great things in His name…yet the Lord will tell them to depart from Him, for they are workers of lawlessness, He never knew them. Oh Lord!
Many believers, many of those who serve God in Christianity, will stand before God and He will tell them to depart from Him, even though they did so many works of power and great things in His name; yet they did not do the will of their Father. Oh Lord!
We want to know the will of God, do the will of God, and even choose the perfect will of God, not insisting on His permissive will.
We may know what the will of God is and we may also know what He will allow us to do; may we choose to do the perfect will of God and not what He allows us to do.
The kingdom is absolutely a matter of God’s will and completely fulfills God’s will; the kingdom is the will of God, so we need to pray that His kingdom come and His will be done!
The ultimate issue and conclusion of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens in Matt. 5-7 is that we need to do the will of our heavenly Father.
On the negative side we need to deal with the inward issues that are the root of the outward negative manifestations, and we need to have proper relationships in the kingdom of God.
On the positive side, dealing with all the negative things has to issue in our doing the will of the Father. We are here for this: we are here as kingdom people to do the Father’s will on the earth.
The Lord Jesus came to do the will of the Father, and He in us wants to do the same thing: He wants to do the will of the Father in us and through us.
May we learn to cooperate with the Lord and allow Him to subdue our will so that our will and His would be in harmony, and may we be saved from living a meaningless life – a life without doing the will of God.
If we don’t carry out God’s will as it involves us, our human life and Christian life is meaningless; we need to know God’s will, pay attention to God’s will, be one with God’s will, and do the will of the Father on earth.
And this we do not merely individually but as the church, the Body of Christ.
To do the Will of the Father, we need to Enter in through the Narrow Gate and Walk on the Constricted Way
In Matt. 7:13-14 we are told that, for us to do the will of the Father, we need to enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way.
For us to enter the narrow gater, we must be poor in spirit, mourning over the evil situation, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, making peace with all men, willing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and willing to be reproached for Christ.
If we have such a nature, we will enter through the narrow gate.
And our way is constricted, limited, on every side; the gate is narrow and the way is constricted because the law of the kingdom of the heavens is stricter and the demand of the kingdom is higher than that of the old covenant.
For us to walk on the constricted way, the old man, the self, the flesh, the human concept, and the world with its glory are all excluded – and only what corresponds to God’s will can enter in.
We need to not only enter through the narrow gate but also walk on the constricted way all our life.
The question is, Since we are in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, do we walk on the constricted way or do we take the broad way? Are we free and with no restriction and constriction in what we do and what we say?
May we learn to take the constricted way in all things.
Even as we practice to pray-read the word of God, we need to be restricted. We cannot be wild or without restrictions in what we do and say, as wild as the worldly people at a ball game.
As we love others, rejoice in the Lord, and are happy, we need to take the constricted way.
We shouldn’t be excited without limit; we should not throw off restraint in our excitement but allow the divine life and nature to restrict us.
In releasing our spirit, in speaking in the meetings, in talking to others, in having fellowship with the saints, and in rejoicing concerning a success, we need to enter through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way.
We may have fellowship with some saints, and we may be ready to Gen-Rev them, that is, to speak the whole economy of God from Genesis to Revelation; however, we need to walk on the constricted way by allowing the divine nature to restrict us in what we speak and when we speak.
When we call someone to pray, we should learn to walk on the constricted way.
On one hand we are fully free, for the Son has set us free; on the other hand, as kingdom people doing the will of the Father, we have limitations, restrictions, and constrictions.
In John 7:6 the Lord’s brothers asked Him to go present Himself to the public, but He told them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready”; then later He did go to the feast.
This doesn’t mean that He didn’t want to listen to them or do what they said; rather, it means that He was limited by the Father in what He did, when He did it, where He went, and what He said.
Such a One lives in us; as kingdom people, we must walk on a constricted way, realizing that our way is full of limitations, restrictions, and constrictions.
We shouldn’t consider these limitations and constrictions as a frustration; rather, we need to realize that, in doing the will of the Father, we need to take the constricted way, and all these limitations rather speed us up on our way.
If we refuse to be constricted, our progress may seem quick but we’re slowed down; but if we are willing to be limited and constricted, our speed will increase.
As we walk on the constricted way, we are restricted by a mysterious, invisible, inward control of the divine life and nature of the kingdom, and we live under this control.
This is what our experience confirms to differing degrees, and such a walk causes us to fulfill the will of the Father as we enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way.
Lord Jesus, we want to do the will of the Father, so we choose to enter in through the narrow gate and walk on the constricted way. Amen, Lord, we enter in through the narrow gate and allow it to exclude the old man, the self, the flesh, the human concept, and the world with all its glory. May only that which correspond with God’s will enter in and be manifested! We choose to walk not on the broad way but on the constricted way, allowing this mysterious, invisible, inward control to limit us, constrict us, and restrict us to doing the will of the Father. Amen, Lord Jesus!
Doing the Will of the Father makes us a Brother, a Sister, or a Mother to the Lord Jesus
Matt. 12:50 is a striking verse that needs to be properly interpreted; it shows that those who do the will of the Father are the Lord’s mother, sister, and brother.
As the Lord was ministering to a crowd, someone came to Him with a message saying that His family – His mother, His brothers and His sisters – were outside and wanted to see Him.
In the context of that situation, it may seem that they were a bit worried that He was too much, so they even interrupted Him from His speaking to tell Him to go outside and talk to them.
But the Lord didn’t seem to be bothered; rather, He answered and said, Who are My brother and sister and mother? He who does the will of My Father is My brother or sister or mother. Wow!
In the heavenly kingdom we can be the Lord’s brother, His sister, and His mother (in the spiritual sense) whenever we do the will of the Father.
How sweet it would be for the Lord to approach us and tell us, Good morning, My brother…
Christ, the heavenly King, always submitted to the Father’s will, taking God’s will as His portion and not resisting anything (Matt. 11:28-30; 26:30).
He is meek and lowly in heart, He took the Father’s will as His yoke and bore it happily.
Even when the situations were not in His favor, even when He was persecuted, arrested, slapped around, and kicked, the Lord didn’t resist anything; rather, He always submitted to God’s will.
It was settled in His being that He as the first God-man is on earth to do the will of the Father, and He will carry it out at any cost. What a wonderful person!
So if we do the will of the Father at any cost by being one with the One who did the Father’s will and who now lives in us, we are the Lord’s relatives – we are His brothers and sisters and mother.
In a positive sense, a brother is one who helps you, a sister is one who sympathises with you, and a mother is one who tenderly loves you.
Whoever does the will of the Father is a brother who helps the Lord Jesus, a sister who sympathises with Him, and a mother who tenderly loves Him. Amen!
May we be such ones: may we be those who do the will of the Father to help the Lord Jesus in His commission and divine enterprise, may we sympathise with the Lord in His carrying out the Father’s will, and may we tenderly love Him in all we do and say! Amen!
And the Father’s eternal will is to build up the church upon Christ as the rock (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:21-22; 4:16).
We want to carry out the Father’s will which is the building up of the church as the Body of Christ; as we do all things for the building up, we are the Lord’s brothers, sisters, and mother, His relatives in the kingdom of God!
Lord Jesus, we love You and we appreciate You as the One who did the will of the Father. You always submitted to the Father’s will, taking God’s will as Your portion and not resisting anything. We choose the will of the Father and we want to carry out the Father’s will on earth so that we may be Your relatives, those who cooperate with You, help You, sympathise with You, and tenderly love You as the One who does the will of the Father. Amen, Lord, we are here on earth to for the eternal will of the Father which is to build up the church upon Christ the Son as the rock!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, pp. 297-299 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Will of God (2020 spring ITERO), week 6, Doing the Will of God in the Kingdom of God under the Government of God for the Church as the Israel of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– When He came, though many followed in the way, / Few remained who knew Him and His ways. / Lamb of God—He took the narrow gate; / The constricted way to life He traced; / Sacrificed, though men denied Him; / Gave His life, though men forsook Him. / How can we t’ward Him still hardened be / When to us He gave all selflessly? (Song on, I Want to Follow Him)
– We have not one regret for taking this way, / Not a single regret, journeying this day; / Rough and winding terrain, rocks and thorns can’t dissuade, / Narrow gate, narrow way, the cross’s wounds pervade. (Song on, Highways to Zion)
– Go to Him “without the camp,” / Willing e’en to bear the cross; / He has trod the narrow way, / I will follow, suff’ring loss. (Hymns #583)
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