Remain on the Constricted Way to do the Will of our Father to Enter into the Kingdom

Not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but only those who do the will of God the Father who is in the heavens; we enter the kingdom of God through regeneration, but unless we obey God’s will and do the will of God, we cannot enter the kingdom of the heavens.

Lord Jesus, we love You and we want to know Your will, do Your will, and be in Your will. Save us from doing what we think we should do. Save us from being workers of lawlessness who will be rejected by You on that day. Oh Lord, may we fellowship with You, commune with You, and remain in the fellowship of the Body so that we may do all things through the cross and by the Spirit for the building up of the church as the Body of Christ! Amen!

The consummation of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is doing the will of the Father. After the Lord Jesus spoke concerning the being of the kingdom people, their work, and what they should do and deal with, He concluded by saying that we need to do the will of the Father.

The Lord Jesus Himself did the Father’s will; He did not do His own will, and He did not speak His own words, nor did He do His own work. He was limited, constrained, and constricted by the will of God the Father, and He took the cup the Father gave Him to drink.

This One is in us today. He is meek and lowly in heart, He took the Father’s will as His yoke, and He willingly bore the yoke. His yoke, the Father’s will, is easy, and His burden is light.

He did everything one with the Father, and He sought the glory that comes from the Father.

Today we as believers in Christ need to follow in the Lord’s steps. We are not here to do our own work or speak our own words.

We are not here to do a great work for God but do the Father’s will. It is a great temptation for a Christian who loves the Lord and wants to please Him and serve Him to seek to do something for God.

Even working for God can be something done in and of ourselves; it may be somewhat blessed by God, and we may have a certain result and following, but we may actually not do the Father’s will.

We need to really be before the Lord regarding this matter, for not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, we do this and that great work in Your name! will be approved and acknowledged by the Lord Jesus on the day of judgment.

May we not be presumptuous but rather, be humbled by the Lord’s word and learn to do the will of the Father.

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

Matthew 7:21 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. This is such a warning to us believers in Christ.

We are today in the church life, enjoying the Lord with the saints, and we want to live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today so that we may be ushered into its manifestation in the coming age.

But whether or not we will enter into the kingdom of the heavens in its manifestation depends on doing the will of the Father.

For us to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we need to call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father (Rom. 10:13; 12:2; Matt. 12:50; Eph. 5:17; Col. 1:9).

On the one hand, we need to call on the name of the Lord, and we need to keep calling on His name in order to be saved in His life.

But merely calling on the Lord will not usher us into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age. To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved; however, for us to enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father.

There is a distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the heavens. The kingdom of God is the realm of the divine life; we enter into this kingdom by repentance and faith in Christ.

When we believe into Christ, when we repent and believe, we enter into the kingdom of God. Regeneration is our entrance into the kingdom of God, for that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:3, 5). We cannot see the kingdom of God unless we are born again.

Praise the Lord, all genuine believers in Christ are born of God to have His life and nature, and they are part of the kingdom of God!

Now that we are in the kingdom of God, we need to do the will of our heavenly Father so that we may enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

Since entering into the kingdom of the heavens requires doing the will of the heavenly Father, it is clearly different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration.

Most Christians today are in the kingdom of God, for they repented and believed into the Lord Jesus; however, the entrance into the kingdom of the heavens is granted only to those who do the will of the Father.

Regarding the kingdom of the heavens, there are three words that describe it, and we need to pay attention to these.

First, there is the reality of the kingdom of the heavens, as seen in Matthew five through seven. Then, there is the appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, as seen in Matthew chapter 13. And finally, there is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, as seen in Matthew 24-25.

Through regeneration, we enter into the kingdom of God; when we’re born of water and the Spirit, we become part of the kingdom of God.

Once we are regenerated by calling on the Lord, repenting, and believing in our heart, the Lord comes in, and we come into the kingdom of God.

However, we need to enter into the reality of the kingdom of the heavens by living by the divine life we receive by regeneration.

If we today live by the divine life and therefore do the will of the heavenly Father, we will enter into the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens in the coming age.

Unless we live in the reality of the kingdom in this age, we will not enter into its manifestation in the coming age.

We may do great works in the Lord’s name, but if we do not do the will of the Father, we will not inherit the kingdom.

We may give much, we may pray much, and we may do many things, but all are for a show, not doing the will of the Father.

Even our giving of offerings, our praying, and our doing works for the Lord may be only the appearance of the kingdom, with no reality behind it.

The entrance into the kingdom of the heavens is gained through living by the divine life (John 1:12-13; 3:5-6; Matt. 7:21; 12:50).

We need to be poor in spirit, pure in heart, mournful, meek, overcome the love of riches and material possessions, and walk on the constricted way that leads to life.

We have entered through the narrow gate; now we walk on the constricted way that leads to life, doing the will of our heavenly Father, for the building up of the church as God’s house.

May we offer much prayer to the Lord regarding this, being before Him concerning our daily living so that we may live by the divine life to do the will of the Father for us to enter into His kingdom.

Lord Jesus, thank You for regenerating us with Your life to make us part of the kingdom of God. Hallelujah, we believers in Christ are in the kingdom of God, even part of the kingdom of God today! Amen, Lord, we thank You for begetting us of Spirit to be one with You, even to be God-men in the divine kingdom! May we live in the relaity of the kingdom of the heavens today. May we not just do things for You and perform acts before others without any reality. Save us from just praying, giving, and doing works for You so that others may see them, yet without living in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens. May we take the constricted way that leads to life by doing the will of the Father. Oh Lord, we choose to be those who live by the divine life in our spirit. We choose to turn. We want to live in the mingled spirit so that Christ may live in us. May we remain on the constricted path that leads to life. May we live in the reality of the kingdom today so that we may be rewarded with the entrance into its manifestation at the Lord’s judgment seat!

Remain on the Constricted Way to do the Will of our Heavenly Father in All Things

Matthew 7:21-23 is a very sobering portion of the word of God, for we may be able to do many things in God’s name, even great works of power, but at the judgment seat

He may say, Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness. Wow. We have entered in through the narrow gate; now we need to walk on the constricted way by doing the will of our heavenly Father in all things.

We need to do all things with restriction, with the Lord’s limitation. We love to pray-read the Word of God, but even our pray-reading needs to be with constriction.

We cannot pray-read in a wild, worldly, joking way, in the way of having fun.

We love calling on the name of the Lord, but even this needs to be on the constricted way. We do not play with the word of God nor do we joke with it.

If we fellowship with others, we need to fellowship in the constricted way, the way that leads to life. Sometimes we like to fellowship with others, and we talk about everything, from Martin Luther to the world situation and to the battle of Armageddon.

We may feel that it was such a good fellowship, but we were not on the constricted way; rather, we were free to talk about everything we wanted.

We think we fellowship; we actually only talk. It is easy to do things on the wide way, which leads to destruction and invites death. It is not easy to take the way of limitation.

The workers of lawlessness in Matthew 7 did great works in the Lord’s name, such as prophesying, casting out demons, and healing the sick, but the Lord did not acknowledge them.

He did not approve of those works, for they did not do the will of the heavenly Father.

They did all those things in a lawless way, for the Lord never allowed them. Oh Lord. We all will be on that day, on the day of the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:13; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10) before the Lord.

May we take the way of restriction; may we live by the divine life to be restricted and constricted on the constricted way that leads to life.

May we take the way of fellowshipping with the Lord and with the saints. Fellowship restricts us. Fellowship causes us to stop. Fellowship constrains us. We may want to do this and that, we may have a burden to go here and there, but before all things, we need to stop and fellowship.

Fellowshipping with the Lord and with the saints restricts us very much and keeps us on the way that leads to life. May we say amen to the way of restriction.

May we take the way of limitation and not despise the constraints of the divine life and of the fellowship in the Body. May we do the will of our heavenly Father in whatever work we are doing.

Those who do not do the will of the heavenly Father will depart from the Lord, being excluded from the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age. Oh Lord!

The Lord even rebuked those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did many works of power in His name, calling them, workers of lawlessness.

This really should expose and change our concept regarding serving the Lord and living the Christian life. What God is after is not more works, more great works of power, and more prophesying in His name.

He wants us to obey God’s will and do the will of our heavenly Father. We must have the assurance that in whatever we do, we are doing the will of our heavenly Father. Even prophesying in the Lord’s name but not according to the will of the Father is a type of lawlessness.

May the Lord shine on us. Even casting out demons in the Lord’s name and doing works of power in His name, but not according to the will of the Father, all these are considered in the Lord’s eyes as lawlessness (Matt. 7:13-14).

For example, when some run in the race, they may run very fast, even faster than all others, but they may not run in their lane; this disqualifies them. We need to walk on the constricted way that leads to life by doing the will of the heavenly Father, and we will be rewarded with the kingdom.

Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You today. We want to walk on the constricted way that leads to life. Save us from being wild and doing many things in your name, yet without doing the will of the Father. Save us from prophesying in Your name but not according to the will of the Father. May we learn to stop and fellowship with the Lord and with the saints. May we allow the fellowship of the divine life in our spirit and in the Body limit us, restrain us, and constrain us. Oh Lord, may we live according to the divine life and by the divine life in our spirit. May we do all things one with the Lord, having the assurance that we are doing the will of the heavenly Father. Amen, Lord, may our work be approved by You on that day. Save us from doing a great work for You yet without Your approval or acknowledgement! We join ourselves to You in Your word and Your desire. We do not want to be workers of lawlessness. May we do all things in the will of the Father so that we may be rewarded with the entrance into the heavenly kingdom!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Matthew, msg. 24 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crucial Aspects of Matthew 5 through 7 (2025 September ITERO), week 9, Doing the Will of the Father So That We May Enter into His Kingdom on “That Day,” the Day of the Judgment Seat of Christ – day 5.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Submitted to God’s ruling, / All virtue thus will win; / Rebellion to His Headship / Is but the root of sin. / The evil aim of Satan— / God’s throne to overthrow; / Our aim and goal is ever / His rule to fully know. (Hymns #941 stanza 4)
  – 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. / That we the Kingdom enter in, / A simple child we must become— / Adjustable, obedient, meek— / And everything of self o’ercome. (Hymns #943 stanzas 4-5)
  – Thy way, not mine, O Lord, / However dark it be; / Lead me by Thine own hand, / Choose out the Path for me. / Smooth let it be, or rough, / It will be still the best; / Winding or straight it leads / Right onward to Thy rest. (Hymns #393 stanzas 1-2)