What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only carries out missionary work for the Lord?

What is following God’s will? Is it following God’s will if one only carries out missionary work for the Lord?

Bible Verses for Reference:

“Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Mat 7 :21-23).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat 22:37-39).

“If a man love me, he will keep my words…. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings” (Jhn 14:23-24).

“If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed …” (Jhn 8:31).

Relevant Words of God:

Right now, the path the Holy Spirit walks is God’s current words. So, for one to walk it, he must obey, and eat and drink of the current words of God incarnate. He is doing the work of words, and everything is spoken from His words, and everything is established on His words, His current words. Whether it’s being fully without doubts about God become flesh or knowing Him, one must put much effort into His words. Otherwise, he cannot accomplish anything at all, and he will be left with nothing. Only by coming to know God and satisfy Him on the foundation of eating and drinking His words can one gradually establish a proper relationship with Him. Eating and drinking His words and putting them into practice is the best cooperation with God, and it is the practice that best bears witness as one of His people. When one understands and is able to obey the essence of God’s current words, he is living on the path that is led by the Holy Spirit and he has entered the right track of God perfecting man.

…………

If you are able to accept what God entrusts to you, accept His promise, and follow the path of the Holy Spirit, this is carrying out God’s will.

from “Those Whose Disposition Has Changed Are Those Who Have Entered Into the Reality of God’s Words” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

In every age, God bestows some words upon man when He works in the world, telling man of some truths. These truths serve as the way to be adhered to by man, the way that is to be walked in by man, the way that enables man to fear God and shun evil, and the way that people should put into practice and adhere to in their lives and over the course of their life journeys. It’s for these reasons that God bestows these words on man. These words that come from God should be adhered to by man, and to adhere to them is to receive life. If a person does not adhere to them, does not put them into practice, and does not live out God’s words in their lives, then this person is not putting truth into practice. And if they’re not putting truth into practice, then they’re not fearing God and shunning evil, nor can they satisfy God. If someone can’t satisfy God, then they cannot receive God’s praise; this kind of person has no outcome.

from “How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

Walking in God’s way is not about observing rules on the surface. Rather, it means that when you’re faced with a matter, first of all, you view it as a circumstance that has been arranged by God, a responsibility bestowed on you by Him, or something that He has entrusted to you, and that when you’re facing this matter, you should even view it as a trial from God. When facing this matter, you must have a standard, you must think that it has come from God. You must think about how to deal with this matter such that you can fulfill your responsibility, and be faithful to God; how to do it and not infuriate God, or offend His disposition.

from “How to Know God’s Disposition and the Result of His Work” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh

If you can consciously satisfy God, consciously put the truth into practice, consciously forsake yourself, abandon your own ideas, and be obedient and considerate toward God’s will; if you are able to do all these things consciously then this is to accurately put the truth into practice, to truly put the truth into practice….

from “Only by Seeking the Truth Can You Obtain Changes in Your Disposition” in Records of Christ’s Talks

Understand the word of God and put it into action. Be principled in your actions and deeds; this is not abiding by rules or to do so grudgingly just for show. Rather, this is the practice of truth and living by the word of God. Only practice such as this satisfies God. Any custom that pleases God is not a rule but the practice of truth.

from “Believing in God Should Focus on Reality, Not Religious Rituals” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

When work is spoken of, man believes that work is to run to and fro for God, preach in all places, and spend for God. Though this belief is correct, it is too one-sided; what God asks of man is not solely to journey to and fro for God; it is more the ministry and supply within the spirit. … Work refers not to running to and fro for God; it refers to whether the life of man and what man lives out are for God to enjoy. Work refers to man using faithfulness they have to God and the knowledge they have of God to testify to God and minister to man. This is the responsibility of man and what all man should realize. In other words, your entry is your work; you are seeking to enter during the course of your work for God. Experiencing God is not only being able to eat and drink of His word; more importantly, you must be able to testify to God, to serve God, and to minister to and supply man. This is work, and also your entry; this is what every man should accomplish. There are many who only focus on journeying to and fro for God, and preaching in all places, yet overlook their personal experience and neglect their entry into the spiritual life. This is what causes those who serve God to become those who resist God.

from “Work and Entry (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Imagine that you are able to work for God, yet you do not obey God, and are incapable of truly loving God. In this way, not only will you not have fulfilled the duty of a creature of God, but will also be condemned by God, for you are someone who does not possess the truth, who is incapable of obeying God, and who is disobedient to God. You only care about working for God, and do not care about putting the truth into practice, or knowing yourself. You do not understand or know the Creator, and do not obey or love the Creator. You are someone who is innately disobedient to God, and so such people are not beloved by the Creator.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

At a superficial glance, human beings seemed to be constantly bustling about as they expended themselves and worked for God, whereas they were in fact calculating, in the secret recesses of their inmost hearts, the next step they should take to win blessings or reign as kings. One could say that, as the human heart was enjoying God, it was at the same time scheming against God. Humanity in this condition meets with God’s deepest abhorrence and detestation; God’s disposition does not tolerate any human being deceiving or using Him.

from Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning

Many of those who follow God are only concerned with how to gain blessings or avoid disaster. At the mention of the work and management of God, they fall silent and lose all interest. They believe that knowing such tedious questions will not grow their lives or be of any benefit, and so although they have heard messages about the management of God, they treat them casually. And they do not see them as something precious to be accepted, much less do they receive them as part of their lives. Such people have one very simple aim in following God: to gain blessing, and they are too lazy to attend to anything that doesn’t involve this aim. For them, believing in God to gain blessings is the most legitimate of goals and the very value of their faith. They are unaffected by anything that cannot achieve this objective. Such is the case with most of those who believe in God today. Their aim and motivation seem legitimate, because at the same time as believing in God, they also expend for God, dedicate themselves to God, and perform their duty. They give up their youth, forsake family and career, and even spend years busying about away from home. For the sake of their ultimate goal, they change their interests, alter their outlook on life, and even change the direction they seek, yet they cannot change the aim of their belief in God. They run about for the management of their own ideals; no matter how far the road is, and no matter how many hardships and obstacles there are along the way, they stick to their guns and remain fearless of death. What power makes them continue to dedicate themselves in this way? Is it their conscience? Is it their great and noble character? Is it their determination to do battle with the forces of evil to the very end? Is it their faith in which they bear witness to God without seeking recompense? Is it their loyalty for which they are willing to give up everything to achieve the will of God? Or is it their spirit of devotion in which they’ve always forgone personal extravagant demands? For people who have never known the work of God’s management to give so much is, quite simply, a wondrous miracle! For the moment, let us not discuss how much these people have given. Their behavior, however, is highly worthy of our analysis. Apart from the benefits that are so closely associated with them, could there be any other reason for these people who never understand God to give so much to Him? In this, we discover a previously unidentified problem: Man’s relationship with God is merely one of naked self-interest. It is the relationship between the receiver and giver of blessings. To put it plainly, it is like the relationship between employee and employer. The employee works only to receive the rewards bestowed by the employer. In a relationship like this, there is no affection, only a deal; there is no loving and being loved, only charity and mercy; there is no understanding, only resignation and deception; there is no intimacy, only a gulf that cannot be bridged. When things get to this point, who is able to reverse such a trend? And how many people are capable of truly understanding how desperate this relationship has become? I believe that when people immerse themselves in the joyousness of being blessed, none are able to imagine how embarrassing and unsightly such a relationship with God is.

from “Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst the Management of God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Some people say, “Paul did a tremendous amount of work, and he shouldered great burdens for the churches and contributed so much to them. The thirteen epistles of Paul upheld 2,000 years of the Age of Grace, and are second only to the Four Gospels. Who can compare with him? No one can decipher the Revelation of John, whereas Paul’s epistles provide life, and the work that he did was of benefit to the churches. Who else could have achieved such things? And what work did Peter do?” When man measures others, it is according to their contribution. When God measures man, it is according to his nature. Among those who seek life, Paul was someone who did not know his own essence. He was by no means humble or obedient, nor did he know his substance, which was in opposition to God. And so, he was someone who had not undergone detailed experiences, and was someone who did not put the truth into practice. Peter was different. He knew his imperfections, weaknesses, and his corrupt disposition as a creature of God, and so he had a path of practice through which to change his disposition; he was not one of those who only had doctrine but possessed no reality. Those who change are new people who have been saved, they are those who are qualified in pursuing the truth. People who do not change belong to those who are naturally obsolete; they are those who have not been saved, that is, those who have been detested and rejected by God. They will not be commemorated by God no matter how great their work. When you compare this with your own pursuit, whether you are ultimately the same kind of person as Peter or Paul should be self-evident. If there is still no truth in what you seek, and if even today you are still as arrogant and insolent as Paul, and are still as glibly self-aggrandizing as him, then you are without doubt a degenerate who fails. If you seek the same as Peter, if you seek practices and true changes, and are not arrogant or willful, but seek to perform your duty, then you will be a creature of God who can achieve victory.

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

If you always live according to your selfish desires, always satisfying your own selfish desires, then this type of person does not have a testimony in the eyes of God and does not have a testimony in the eyes of Satan. This is the mark of causing God to be ashamed, causing God to be ashamed in everything. You say, “But I haven’t done anything; how have I made God ashamed?” In your thoughts, in the intents, goals, and motives behind your actions, and in the consequences of what you’ve done—in every way you are satisfying Satan, being its laughingstock, and exposing yourself to its accusation, and you do not have the least of the testimony that you should bear as a Christian. In all things you dishonor God’s name, and you do not have a genuine testimony. So, will God remember the things you have done? In the end, what conclusion will God draw about your acts and the duty you performed? Should there not be a result? An opinion? In the Bible, the Lord Jesus says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works?” (Matt 7:22). What does the Lord Jesus say? (“I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matt 7:23).) Why does the Lord Jesus say this? Why have those who heal the sick and cast out devils in the Lord’s name, who travel to preach in the Lord’s name, become evildoers? Who are these evildoers? Are they those who do not believe in God? (No.) Who are they? (They are those who believe in God but do not practice truth.) Correct! They believe in God and follow God. They also expend themselves for God, give things up for God, and perform their duty. However, in performing their duty they are not loyal and do not have testimonies, and their performance of duty has become wickedness. So, the Lord Jesus says, “Depart from me, you that work iniquity.”

from “You Can Obtain Truth After Turning Your True Heart Over to God” in Records of Christ’s Talks

I will have no sense of pity for those of you who suffer for many years and work hard with nothing to show for it. On the contrary, I treat those who have not met My demands with punishment, not rewards, still less any sympathy. Perhaps you imagine that for being a follower for many years you put in hard work no matter what, so in any case you can get a bowl of rice in God’s house for being a service-doer. I would say the majority of you think this way because you have always up to now pursued the principle of how to take advantage of something and not be taken advantage of. So I am telling you now in all seriousness: I do not care how meritorious your hard work is, how impressive your qualifications, how closely you follow Me, how renowned you are, or how improved your attitude; so long as you have not done what I have demanded, you will never be able to win My praise. Write off all those ideas and calculations of yours as early as possible, and start treating My demands seriously. Otherwise, I will turn all people into ashes in order to bring an end to My work, and at best turn My years of work and suffering into nothing, for I cannot bring My enemies and people reeking of evil on the model of Satan into My kingdom, into the next age.

from “Transgressions Will Take Man to Hell” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

You say you have always suffered whilst following God, that you have followed Him through thick and thin, and have shared with Him the good times and the bad, but you have not lived out the words spoken by God; you wish only to run about after God each day, and have never thought to live out a life of meaning. You say that, in any case, you believe God is righteous: You have suffered for Him, run around for Him, and devoted yourself for Him, and you have worked hard despite not receiving any recognition; He is sure to remember you. It is true that God is righteous, yet this righteousness is untainted by any impurities: It contains no human will, and it is not tainted by the flesh, or human transactions. All who are rebellious and in opposition, and not in compliance with His way, will be punished; none is forgiven, and no one is spared! … Toward such a person as you My righteous disposition is one of chastisement and judgment, it is one of righteous retribution, and it is the righteous punishment of all evildoers; all those who do not walk in My way will surely be punished, even if they follow to the very end. This is the righteousness of God. … Righteousness is holiness, and is a disposition that is intolerant of offense by man, and all that is filthy and has not changed is the target of God’s disgust. God’s righteous disposition is not law, but administrative decree: It is administrative decree within the kingdom, and this administrative decree is the righteous punishment of anyone who does not possess the truth and has not changed, and there is no margin for salvation. For when each man is classified according to kind, the good will be rewarded and the evil will be punished. It is when the destination of man will be made clear, it is the time that the work of salvation will come to an end, the work of saving man will no longer be done, and retribution will be brought upon every one of those who commit evil.

from “The Experiences of Peter: His Knowledge of Chastisement and Judgment” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Some people will end up saying, “I’ve done so much work for You, and though there may not have been celebrated achievements, still I have been diligent in my efforts. Can’t You just let me into heaven to eat the fruit of life?” You must know what kind of people I desire; those who are impure are not permitted to enter into the kingdom, those who are impure are not permitted to besmirch the holy ground. Though you may have done much work, and have worked for many years, in the end if you are still deplorably filthy—it is intolerable to the law of Heaven that you wish to enter My kingdom! From the foundation of the world until today, never have I offered easy access to My kingdom to those who curry favor with Me. This is a heavenly rule, and no one can break it! You must seek life. Today, those who will be made perfect are the same kind as Peter: They are those who seek changes in their own disposition, and are willing to bear testimony to God and perform their duty as a creature of God. Only people such as this will be made perfect. If you only look to rewards, and do not seek to change your own life disposition, then all your efforts will be in vain—and this is an unalterable truth!

from “Success or Failure Depends on the Path That Man Walks” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

I decide the destination of each person not on the basis of age, seniority, amount of suffering, and least of all, the degree to which they invite pity, but according to whether they possess the truth. There is no other choice but this. You must realize that all those who do not follow the will of God will be punished. This is an immutable fact. Therefore, all those who are punished are so punished for the righteousness of God and as retribution for their numerous evil acts.

from “You Ought to Prepare a Sufficiency of Good Deeds for Your Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh