Paul was an intelligent, able, wise, and sensible person. He was capable and confident in his work, and served God with his own zeal. When he was on his way to Damascus with a company of men to lay hold of Christians, he suddenly met a great light, which struck him to the ground. In that moment all of his opinions and methods were gone. All his capabilities were shattered. He did not go back to Tarsus, nor did he go back to Jerusalem. Not only was his trip to Damascus thrown away; all of his reasons were thrown away as well. When many encounter difficulties, they turn another direction. If one way is blocked, they try another way. All the while they still journey according to their own methods and opinions. Many are so foolish that they do not fall even when they are struck by God. They are only struck by God in the event. They are not struck by God in their reason; their thoughts are still present. Many have been cut off from their way to Damascus, but they still find a way to Tarsus or to Jerusalem. But once Paul was struck, everything was over. Nothing more needed to be said. Nothing more needed to be considered. He did not know anything anymore. He asked the Lord, “What shall I do, Lord?” Here was a man who was submissive from the heart. His thoughts were captured by the Lord. Saul had been an outstanding and distinguished person everywhere he went, but when he met the authority of God, all of his opinions were gone. The biggest mark of a person who has met God is the absence of prejudice and cleverness. We have to ask for God’s mercy that we would be simple in the light. He who meets God’s authority will fall before God’s face and spontaneously have no more opinions. Paul said that he had been captured by God to be His prisoner. Now is not the time for us to express opinions. Our place is just to listen and submit.
Saul was rejected by God, not for theft but for offering a sacrifice to God of sheep and oxen that he assumed were the best. This was his opinion. He was trying to please God by his own thoughts. His thoughts were not captured, and he was thus rejected by God. One cannot say that Saul was not zealous in his service to God. He did not lie. They were the best of the sheep and the oxen. The problem, however, was that he made a decision based on his own opinion (1 Sam. 15). A servant of God cannot express his own opinion; he can only carry out God’s will. We should have only one desire: “What shall I do, Lord?” If this is not our attitude, we are completely wrong. To obey is better than sacrifice. There is no place for man to express his opinion before God. When King Saul saw so many fat sheep and oxen, he wanted to keep some for offerings. His heart was for God, but his obedience was short. Having a heart for God cannot replace the words, “I dare not say anything.” And the offerings of the fat cannot replace an attitude of “having no voice” before the Lord. God commanded that all the Amalekites with their sheep and oxen be completely destroyed, but Saul was unwilling to do it. Later, the Amalekites killed him, and his reign was stopped. Whoever comes up with a proposal to save the Amalekites will be killed by the Amalekites in the end.
Nadab and Abihu were also rebellious in the matter of sacrifice. They did not submit to the authority of their father, but instead made a proposal out of their own initiative. They committed the sin of offending God. It was a sin of offering strange fire, a matter of overstepping God’s minister. Although they did not say anything or murmur any reasonings, they burned incense by their own will and according to their own feeling. They thought that this kind of service was a good thing. If they were wrong, they thought that it was but a mistake in service. To them it was not a great sin. But it turned out that they were immediately rejected by God and immediately died.
God does not check on our zeal for the gospel or our willingness to suffer; He checks to see whether or not we are obedient. Refraining from opinion, stopping all reasonings, ceasing all evil speaking, and submitting to God completely are the beginning of the kingdom. This will be a day of glory, the day that God has been waiting for since the foundation of the earth. God has a Firstborn who has already submitted, who is the firstfruit. Yet God is waiting for all the sons to be conformed identically to the Son. If there is a church on earth that truly submits to God’s authority, there will be the testimony of the kingdom, and Satan will be defeated. Satan is not afraid of our work. As long as we stand on the principle of rebellion and act independently by our own will, Satan will laugh in secret.
According to the law of Moses, the ark should have been borne by the Levites. But when the Philistines sent the ark back to the Israelites, they did so with an oxcart. When David desired to receive the ark into the city of David, he did not seek the will of God. Rather, he made his own proposal and pulled the ark by the oxen. When the oxen stumbled, the ark fell, and Uzzah stretched forth his hand to uphold it. Immediately, he was smitten by God and died. Even if the ark did not fall, it was at most on an oxcart; it was not on the shoulders of the Levites. When the Levites lifted the ark across the Jordan, the waves were high. Yet the ark was in peace. This tells us one thing: God does not like man’s proposals. Man must forever be submissive to God. Only when God empties us completely can His will be done unhindered. If we come with our human opinions, service to God will never have a way. Everything is done through God’s ruling, not man’s scheming. Man’s opinion must be thoroughly dismantled. His thoughts must be shut up; they must be forbidden from making suggestions. In the past there was freedom in living by the self. But when the thoughts are captured, there is no more freedom. As a result we can be obedient to Christ and have the true freedom, a freedom that is in the Lord.
Second Corinthians 10:6 says, “We are ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” Only when the thoughts are captured can obedience be fulfilled. Everyone who can still maneuver and express opinions before God does not have his obedience fulfilled. The Lord is ready. When our obedience is fulfilled, He will rise up to avenge the disobedient ones. If we would thoroughly turn around and be fearful of our own opinions and proposals, our obedience will be fulfilled, and God will manifest His authority on earth today. If the church cannot be submissive, much less can the world be submissive. If the church is not submissive, it is vain to hope for others to submit to the gospel. Only with a submissive church can there be a submissive response to the gospel. All of us have to learn to be restricted. Our mouths have to be disciplined to stop speaking. Our minds have to be disciplined to stop reasoning. Our hearts have to be disciplined to stop proposing. If we do this, a way of glory will be before us, and God will manifest His authority on earth.
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