WILL of
GOD / by Gerald L. Stover
the
were praying. They were not busy on their feet; they were bowed before God. This is not ministry for the Lord; it is ministry to the Lord and accompanied by fasting. They were occupied with Christ. This is holy occupation of the soul with the Lord Himself, our blessed and won derful Lord! They had withdrawn from the busy streets of service and were alone, blessedly alone with the Lord. Their souls were engaged in fellowship with Christ, and it was in this exercise of the heart that they heard the voice of the Spirit. The child of God must be occupied with Christ if he is to leara the sacred secrets of the will of God for his life and labor. One cannot neglect prayer and succeed with God. One cannot neglect His Person and discern His will. David wrote (Psa. 32:8), “I w ill instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: l will guide thee with mine eye.” As one examines this promise carefully he will discover that the guidance of God is associated with beholding the eye of God. This predicates a walk with God, a nearness to God in fellow ship, near enough to behold the face of the Father. Does a parent ever guide the child with his eye? No spoken words, just a directipn of the eye! And as we thus fellow ship with our wonderful Lord we behold His eye, and through the Word of God we are directed to do His will. Walking afar off from our Lord, out of fellowship with Him, neglecting the Word, shunning the place of prayer, how can we know the will of God? Yet, as the believer enters into the holy of holies with God, and there with bowed soul, occupies himself with the beauties and per fections of his lovely Saviour, the lights and graces of his Lord, the Holy Spirit speaks and gives direction to the life. Occupation with Christ issues in revelation of the will of God. God’s will does not consist merely in an opportunity for service. Paul’s experience with the Holy Spirit points up this fact (viz. Acts 16:6-10). Having gone throughout Phrygia and Galatia, the Apostle was forbidden to preach the Gospel in Asia. He desired to enter into Bithynia with the Gospel, but the Holy Spirit suffered him not to do so. Did not Asia an Bithynia need the Gospel? Was this not an opportunity for service? Most assuredly, but —an opportunity for service does not always constitute the will of God. God was to ultimately lead Paul to Europe with the gospel. It behooves the child of God to wait patiently in matters of service until the Holy Spirit points out that one, precious and God-ordained place of ministry for His servant. Beware of construing opportunity as necessarily revealing the will of God. It may, but it does not always constitute His perfect plan. Through an intimacy of walk with God may our ears become ultra-sensitive to the voice of our Lord! Happy is that Christian who devotes himself to a life of surrender, separation and submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ! Happy is that child of God who knows the Word and bows before it as the supreme authority in His life! How blessed for the believer to be occupied with the Lord in an intimacy of fellowship made possible to all! May it please God that His children shall be wise in the will and ways of the Lord. May the Holy Spirit sweep aside the hypocritical use of pious expressions with regard to the leading of God, and may it please Him to guide us with His eye.
“ Therefore be y e not unwise, but understanding what the w ill of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). G od has ordained that his will for the individual Chris tian’s life shall be revealed by the Holy Spirit. It is equally true that God’s will cannot be clearly discerned apart from vital spiritual preparation. Few scriptures make this clearer than the classic of the Christian life as found in Romans 12:1, 2, “ / beseech you, therefore, breth ren by the mercies of God that y e present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be y e transformed by the renewing of your mind, that y e may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, w ill of God.” Three vital factors contribute to the knowledge of the will of God, the first being a total, unqualified surrender of the human w ill to the w ill of God. The conflict of the Christian life is in the area of the will. Self-will stands in opposition to the will of God. By an act of total committment to the will of God, by an unconditional resignation of the human will to the Lord, the soul of the Christian is prepared for the full revela tion of the marvelous plan and purposes of God as they relate to life and service. Secondly, the Christian must know an unqualified separation from the world. Conformation to this age grieves God. This age stands in opposition to the things of the spiritual realm. For the Christian to assume an expression of life which is not in keeping with the new nature within, is to grieve the Holy Spirit. To refuse conformity to the spirit of the age is to place oneself in a position of spiritual advantage, and wherein he can discern the will of God. Thirdly, an unqualified submission to the Word of God is spiritual pre-requisite to the understanding of God’s will. Partial obedience cannot please God. The Christian does not determine the terms of blessing. He does not decide the ground upon which God will pour out His best by way of gifts and power. This is God’s holy prerogative, and it must never be forgotten that God has decreed bless ing in response to obedience to the Word. These three preparatory steps are undeniably necessary if the Christian is to be led of the Holy Spirit. There are no synthetics, no substitutes for God’s requirements. When the way is dark and the will of God is veiled from our understanding, it becomes us to diligently inquire of our soul and to ask God to search our hearts on the steps above. It must be understood that God’s guidance is never con trary to His Word. God has declared the great principles of the Christian life in the Word. Belief and behavior are to be governed by the scriptures. He has no other message for the Christian. A double set of standards is unthinkable. Nevertheless, there are believers who persuade themselves to believe that the-Lord is leading them to action, though that action be diametrically opposed to God’s pronounce ments in His Word. The knowledge of the will of God is associated with occupation with Jesus Christ. Having named the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch, Luke said (Acts 13:2), “ As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the H oly Ghost said . . .” They were not preaching; they
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AUGUST, I960
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