Jan-Feb 2005

  1. Motto Text for 2005 - John 5: 30
  2. Calamities - Who is Responsible?
  3. Bible Question Box: How can we determine God’s will?
  4. Features: Publications * Announcements

Motto Text

 DEAR READERS of The Bible Standard, please accept our greetings and good wishes as we embark upon another year. We trust that the sentiment of our hearts and the expression of our tongues may be in harmony with the words of the poet: Looking back, we praise the way, God has led us day by day. May we remember that the Lord does not change, and this gives us confidence in the promises that are found in His Word. If we have by faith accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, consecrated our lives to the performing of God’s will, and are seeking day by day to carry out His will, we may rest assured that, come what may, the year 2005 will be a happy one. We believe that we may even guarantee this, for God has never failed, nor ever will fail, to keep His promises to His people. Have we not witnessed this in our own lives and in the lives of others?

But how many of us know this to be true intellectually, yet allow our hearts to be fearful, doubtful, and unbelieving? Jesus, understanding that an anxious and fearful heart was the natural tendency for many of His disciples, on one occasion said: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14: 27); and again: “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14: 1).

The School of Christ

Let us consider the illustration of the School of Christ. We may think of God as the Principal and Master Teacher and our Lord Jesus as the Instructor in the classroom. We are in this School, but we must occasionally ask ourselves: Why am I in this School, and why has God appointed me my Teacher? Surely, the answer is: We have lessons to learn. Had we no lessons to learn, God would simply certify that we do not need any instructions — but we know this is not true.

Our Teacher instructs us primarily by two means:
  (1) God’s Word; and
  (2) God’s providences (our daily experiences in life). These methods are used so that we may develop a Christlike character and grow in a knowledge of God’s Word.

Self-will Versus God’s Will

If we are new in this School, or if we have not made much progress yet, we sometimes get confused and mistake self-will for God’s will. Our faithful Teacher, as gently as possible, will point this mistake out to us by permitting a certain degree of failure to come to our plans. It is here that the test comes. Will we be: (1) rebellious and resentful of the lesson?; or (2) discouraged and disheartened? If our attitude is right, we will desire to profit by every experience and seek to put the lessons of today into practice so that they may help us on following days.

The most important lesson of this school-term is faith. The faith that we exercised when we accepted our Savior, and the faith that enabled us to enter His School must grow. But in order to grow, we need knowledge — not worldly knowledge and learning, but knowledge of the Lord — of His methods, plan, and character. We need to study our Teacher’s words, His example, and His providences (private instructions) to us. As time goes on, much of what we accepted by faith gradually becomes knowledge, and this knowledge becomes the basis for greater faith, as well as greater love and appreciation of our Redeemer. As in other schools, so in the School of Christ, the students all learn at a different pace, and all are at different levels of learning: Some are in the primary stage of development, others in the intermediate stage, and some have reached the graduating stage, the one that we should all be striving for.

Perhaps in previous years some of us have not applied ourselves in this School as we would have desired, but it is not too late. Let us resolve for the year to be more dedicated students, and if we do so, the results will be blessed indeed. We will find as we progress, that the peace of God which passes all human understanding will rule in our hearts. The trials of faith and patience will become transformed into blessings, the sorrows and disappointments of earthly hopes will become channels of God’s grace, and the perplexities of life will give way to full assurance of faith. This happy condition, however, can only be attained by a full submission of our wills to the Lord’s will in all things.

The Difference Between Wanting and Doing

Some may say: This is what I have wanted to do ever since the day that I gave my all to the Lord, but I have still not attained it. What more can I do? Yes, all of God’s fully consecrated children have wanted to fully submit their wills to God’s will, but there is a difference between wanting to do some thing and actually doing it. There is nothing wrong with a good wish; in fact, it is very important, but unless it eventually leads to performance, it is of no value. Some people never get beyond the wishing point in any of life’s affairs. They wish to have a more healthy diet, to begin and maintain an exercise program, to devote a certain amount of time each day to Bible study, to render some service, or to speak some word of kindness or encouragement in the name of the Lord — but their good wishes are not translated into deeds.

What is the solution? Without dropping a single good wish, let us throw the entire strength of our wills into doing. But again, caution is in order, for a strong will that is misdirected is a strong force that could lead one far astray. Conscientious people are especially in danger along this line, for when their wills get hold of a matter which their consciences approve, they could possibly make a serious blunder. Perhaps the prime example along this line is Saul of Tarsus. Thankfully he had a good heart, so when the Lord intervened and adjusted his thinking, he became a powerful servant for good.

There is only one safe course to pursue and that is that the wills that we are to exercise in good words and good deeds are not our own wills, except as we by adoption have taken on the Lord’s will to be ours. Let us think back to the time when we became the Lord’s pupils. Was it not by first surrendering our own wills, and were not our first lessons along the lines of keeping our own wills dead? We see how our great Teacher helped us win some victories over self-will. Hopefully we are growing into complete harmony with the words of the poet: Lord, Thy love at last has conquered — None of self and all of Thee.

Caution Always Necessary

Even after adopting the Lord’s will as our own, and after resolving to do His will, we still need to walk carefully. There is always the danger of misunderstanding His will and of adopting the will and plans of our fallen and imperfect minds or that of one of our fellows, instead of the Lord’s will. We should not forget that the Lord raises up human agencies to instruct His people, but Satan also uses the human mind and human assistants to mislead and to deceive. God permits this in order to teach us that He is our great Master Teacher. He puts His Word as the test by which His people are to distinguish between true and false teachers, saying, “If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8: 20).

When we come to the Scriptures to learn what God’s will is, we discover that the great work which He asks us to do is not work for others, but work in ourselves: subduing, conquering, ruling self. The Apostle Paul sums it all up in 1 Thes. 4: 3: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” Let us fix in our minds, and let nothing — neither other truths nor errors — obscure the great truth contained in this verse. Our service toward the household of faith and our service of doing good unto all men is subservient to this most important work within. The Apostle declares by inspiration: Though we should preach the Gospel eloquently to others, and though we should give all our goods to feed the poor, or become martyrs for a good cause, without love, the spirit of the Father and of Christ, developed in us as the ruling principle of life, we would be nothing from the Divine standpoint (1 Cor. 13: 1-3). On the contrary, if our own wills are dead, and the Lord’s will has become fully accepted as our will, in thought, word, and act — even if we were denied all opportunities of service toward others — we may rest assured that if we maintain that position, we shall be counted among the “overcomers.”

But without doubt, God will open up opportunities to let our light shine to His glory and to the blessing of mankind. If we are seeking opportunities of service and finding none, perhaps we may be seeking to perform some special service of our own preference — the old will asserting itself again. Or, the great Teacher may see some pride remaining which needs to be crushed first. He may be saying by His Word and providence, “Do with thy might what thy hand findeth to do.” Possibly He sees that we would be spoiled by receiving a more important service than others before learning the lesson of humility — “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God [to do whatever service His providence has made possible for you], that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5: 6).

“Think it not Strange”

This year will perhaps bring its share of unexpected experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant. Some of the Lord’s people may even be called upon to endure various, and unusual “fiery trials,” some of which even tempt us to question whether our relationship with the Lord is all right. The Apostle Peter by inspiration forewarned us of these times through the comforting words of 1 Pet. 4: 12: “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”

Some of these experiences may come in the form of persecution. The Apostle Paul declared in 2 Tim. 3: 12: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Have we ever suffered any persecution? If not, could it be that we have not been living godly? Maybe it is another case of merely wishing instead of doing. If that is the case, let us resign our own will entirely, and begin to do the Lord’s will, receiving our instruction from God’s Word and whatever human help the Lord is pleased to provide. It should not be long before persecution will come — and often from unexpected quarters.

And when the persecutions come, the temptations will come, for the Adversary will work on our fallen and imperfect flesh and seek to make us bitter, and to stimulate us to unrighteous anger, malice, hatred, envy, and strife. If that fails, he will appeal to our good qualities, such as our sense of justice or our love of family and friends. His purpose behind this is to get us either to fight the persecution or to give up trying to live godly. When that happens, let us recognize that persecutions are tests of our loyalty and devotion to the Lord and His Word. Let us recall Scriptures such as Matt. 5: 44: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Another Sign of Self-will

Again, let us ask ourselves: Are we tempted to repine, or feel disappointed at our lot in life? If so, that is another sign that the self-will within us is not as dead as we had hoped. If our wills are buried within the will of the Lord, we can know no disappointment, for in every affair of life we will recognize Divine appointment, supervision, and overruling. That is the time to remember scriptures such as Rom. 8: 28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

There is good news in all this, for just as physical resistance makes physical bodies stronger, as is the case with weightlifters, the same principle applies to our spiritual lives. The first battle is the hardest and each subsequent victory becomes easier, for with each victory the new will (the Lord’s will in us) grows stronger. And each victory brings its blessings — more and more peace, joy, and full assurance of faith. It is only from this standpoint that it will be possible to accept with courage and resignation whatever tests of faith, hope, love, or patience the Lord may see fit to place on you this year.

Let us briefly consider the verses in John chapter 5 leading up to our motto text. Jesus had just been performing healings on the Sabbath day and many Jews persecuted and even sought to kill Him, claiming that these healings on the Sabbath were in violation of the Law (vs. 1-16). When Jesus answered: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working,” the Jews became more outraged, for they accused Him of claiming equality with God (vs. 17, 18). This, however, provided our Lord with a wonderful opportunity to proclaim great truths. He explained that the works He performed were not of His own invention, but that they had been taught and commissioned by His Father.

He then said that He would learn and perform even greater works in the future (vs. 19-23). He indicated that those greater works would be toward two general classes — the Church and the world — and that the opportunity to attain to eternal life would be granted to every individual of both classes, the gaining of which would be conditional upon faith and obedience (vs. 24-29). Incidentally, Jesus here alluded to the fact that the miracles He performed were a foretaste of the future greater works that He, along with His Church, would perform toward the world — particularly the great restitution work of the earthly phase of His coming Kingdom (Acts 3: 19-21).

Our Motto Text

We now come to our motto text, the last part of verse 30: “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” Jesus here reveals the oneness that exists between the Father and Himself — a oneness of heart, mind, and purpose. This is the same oneness that our Lord on another occasion encouraged His followers to strive for (John 17: 11). Jesus never claimed to be the Father, nor that He was equal to the Father. The greatest claim He ever made was that of being the Father’s honored Agent and Messenger.

Hebrews 4: 15 shows that Jesus was tested as to His full submission to the Father’s will, even as the full loyalty of His followers is tested. This is particularly shown in the three temptations He faced in the wilderness (Matt. 4: 1-11). The key to His success lay in His refusal to entertain anything contrary to God’s Plan.

May we all look to Jesus as being the best example to us of self and world denial, and of always seeking and doing the Father’s will. Secondly, let us look to other faithful examples — in the Bible, in history, and even those whom we have known in our own lives.

Let us, dear friends, unite our hearts, our prayers, and above all our new wills, and resolve to become as fully sanctified, as fully set apart for the Lord’s use as we are able, always relying upon the Lord’s assisting grace. Generally speaking, in proportion to the degree that we keep self-will suppressed and allow God’s will to have full reign in our lives, to that same degree will He be able to safely use us to glorify Him, to honor our Savior, to help further His Plan, and to be a blessing to others. And to that same degree will we also receive a blessing in return.

Let our prayers to God every morning be: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer” (Psa. 19: 14). And every evening let us review the day, judging our conduct as to whether the Lord’s will dominated, or whether self-will exerted itself. And may we follow that with prayer for His forgiveness of shortcomings, and then thank the Lord for the strength and grace which brought us our victories. As the year’s motto hymn we suggest No. 244, “Thy Will be Done”.

Bible Questions

DETERMINING GOD’S WILL

Question: How can we determine what the Lord’s will is regarding the decisions we face in life?

Answer: We all face many decisions in life. Some of them will be directly related to our spiritual lives; others will be more along the lines of temporal matters. Some of them will be large decisions; others will be relatively small.

As the Lord’s people we desire to be in harmony with His will for our lives, and when faced with decisions, we therefore need to determine what His will is. Let us go to the Lord in prayer, ask for His guidance, and assure Him that we are willing to accept whatever He indicates His will to be for us, even if it is not our natural preference. We should then:

(1) Go to His Word and search for any direct Scriptures or any Biblical examples (in the lives of our Lord, the Apostles, the prophets, and others) that would apply to our case;

(2) If His Word does not give us an answer, we should look to the Lord’s spirit, in the sense of the principles of the Lord’s Word — specifically the principles of wisdom, power (will power), justice, and love. (If we have given our lives to the Lord in full consecration, He has given us a measure of His spirit — 2 Tim. 1: 7);

(3) If neither of the above provides us with an answer, we would look to the Lord’s providences. Do our circumstances appear to be leading in one direction or another?

Additional Ways to Determine God’s Will

If God’s Word, spirit, or providences point out His will in our case, let us immediately go to Him in prayer, thank Him for revealing His will to us, and proceed to carry it out. But if none of the above appears to point out His will, it may mean:

(1) We are not watching closely enough, or are refusing to accept His revealed answer. If we believe the former to be the case, let us go back to the Lord in prayer, ask Him to help us be more watchful, and then re-examine His Word, spirit, and providences. If the latter is the case and we are refusing to accept His revealed will, let us seek His aid and determine to put aside our own preference and accept His will instead;

(2) He has not shown us His will yet and more time is needed. If this could be the case, may we ask the Lord to grant us the grace we need under the circumstances so that we may be able to wait until He is ready to reveal His will to us. (Of course, there are times when waiting to make a decision is not an option, as is the case in certain emergencies);

(3) Possibly, He has no preference in the matter and is allowing us to choose for ourselves. But how can we know if He has no preference? Would He not reveal that to us also? We could, so to speak, “put out the fleece.”

The Case of Gideon

Many of us are familiar with the story of Gideon and his seeking assurance from the Lord that He was going to give victory to the Israelites over the Midianites in battle. He tested the Lord by explaining that he would set a fleece of wool on the ground and that when morning arrived, he would expect to see certain results. When the Lord gave the desired results, Gideon repeated a similar request the next day, but this time asked for opposite results. The Lord answered his second request and Gideon had absolute assurance of victory for the Israelites (Judges 6: 37-40).

Although our circumstances are probably much different than Gideon’s, the principle is similar. We could go to the Lord and say something like the following: “Lord, you know what I would prefer. If that is in accord with your will, let my course run smoothly. But if I am making a wrong decision, put hindrances in the way and don’t let me make a big mistake.” Probably there is no positive formula that will fit every case, and in the end, knowing the Lord’s will for us in any matter we present to Him must depend on the closeness of our relationship with Him and the power of the holy spirit in our life. May He bless all of us to this end.