Everyone in the world is created by God and governed by Him. Now God has given the kingdom, authority, and glory to His Son, has made Him King, has anointed Him to be the Christ, and has given all authority to Him that He may receive the kingdom and rule and reign. This is what God did and declared to the universe in the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus. But how did the world react? What kind of response has the world given?
Human history in the last two thousand years is fully depicted by one sentence in Luke 19. The Lord Jesus revealed in a parable that when He would be raised from the dead and would be about to receive the kingdom, the people on earth would declare, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (v. 14). In the past two thousand years, in all of world history with all the experiences of mankind, men have been continually declaring, “We do not want Jesus to be our King; we want to be kings. We do not want to hand over the government to Him; we want to keep it in our hands. We want to act according to our own will; we do not want to be ruled or restricted by Him. We absolutely do not acknowledge His right over us; we belong to ourselves. We have our kingdoms, and we are the kings. We have the final say in everything. We act in whatever way we want to. We have our own sovereign rule. We do not want this Jesus to be our King.” Those in the world still have this attitude today. It is difficult to find one out of tens of thousands who is being ruled by the Lord Jesus. This is the case not only with the unbelievers; even among the believers it is still difficult to find one who is ruled by the Lord.
Many Christians like to ask, “Am I not allowed to do this? Am I forbidden to do that? Why should I not watch movies? Why should I not smoke? I am simply eating, drinking, making merry, and having some entertainment with my friends. What is so bad about that? These things are not immoral, so why should Christians not do them?” It seems that wherever we go, we hear these kinds of questions. Actually, after one is saved and regenerated and thus becomes a Christian, the question is not whether things are moral or immoral or whether it is all right to do certain things, but whether one is being ruled by the Lord.
As the Lord’s disciples, we should not ask, “Why should we not do this thing?” Rather, we should ask, “Is it the Lord’s desire that I do this thing? Am I ruled by the Lord in doing this? Am I under God’s authority in this matter?” Being a Christian is not a matter of being moral but a matter of being ruled; it is not a matter of doing good but a matter of allowing the Lord to reign. Sometimes we should not do even the good things. If we do a good thing without the Lord’s permission, we are still not in subjection to His authority.
Those in the world today rebel against God not only by sinning and doing evil but also by doing good, because their doing good is initiated by themselves. They think that because they have the ability to do good and have a free will, a desire, and a good and compassionate heart, they should simply do it. This is completely under their control; there is no need for Jesus to interfere. They have the final word. They desire to do good, give alms, help others, and be virtuous people. This is entirely their right and determination and has nothing to do with Jesus. With this kind of attitude, while they are doing good, they are actually rebelling against God, because in all their good deeds God does not have a part, nor are they under God’s ruling.
As the Lord’s disciples, we should not have this attitude. Rather, we must be clear that the Lord’s primary focus is not that we would do good but that by being saved we would be brought under His authority and ruling. In the past our doing evil was rebellion toward Him, but our doing good also was rebellion toward Him, because we did not acknowledge His authority. Now because we repent and submit to Him, we should not take good or evil or morality as our standard. Instead, we should live under His ruling and government. If He forbids us, we should refrain from doing not only evil things but even good things. We must be restricted by Him and accept His ruling.
Because we are ruled by the Lord, in our daily living we should not do things such as losing our temper or scolding others; furthermore, when we desire to speak good things about others, praise them, show our good feeling toward them, or even love them, we should not be careless but should check with the Lord. If He does not want us to love someone, we should not dare to do so. If we love someone when the Lord does not want us to, we are rebellious. We should not think that since loving others is a good thing and there is nothing wrong with it, we can love freely according to what we see fit, regardless of the Lord’s feeling and His authority as the King. We need to remember that this is disobedience. It is rebellion, and it is to be without restraint.
If a brother or a sister has this attitude and intention, sooner or later a day will come when this person will be bolder and more unruly before the Lord, and as a result, many problems will be brought in. Such unruliness begins with doing good and loving others. Unruliness that begins with love will bring in an unruliness of hatred. If a person’s love is not restricted, ruled, placed under the Lord’s authority, and reigned over by the Lord, this person will be increasingly unruly in the matter of love. Eventually, in the matter of hatred also, he will be unruly, not being restricted by the Lord.
The Lord said in Matthew 7, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power?” (v. 22). To prophesy is good, to cast out demons is good, and to do works of power also is good. However, in response to those who did good in His name, the Lord said, “I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness” (v. 23). The Lord called these persons “workers of lawlessness.” Those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did works of power were workers of lawlessness. The word lawlessness indicates that they did things without the Lord commanding them to do so. Their prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power were not what the Lord commanded them to do, but they did them anyway. Although they did them well, what they did was lawlessness. Although they did good things, they did these things outside the Lord’s restriction. Although they did good things, they were not subject to the Lord’s authority. Hence, even though they did something good, they were rebellious against the Lord. This is lawlessness.
Parents all know this kind of situation. Sometimes a child does something good, but he does it disobediently. Although he does a good thing, he is not subject to his parents’ restriction. He has an attitude, a spirit, and an expression that rebel against his parents. He may say to his parents, “Do you not want me to do this thing? I think this is very good, and I have decided to do it.” Perhaps it is truly a good thing, but the parents do not want the child to do it. Nevertheless, he does not submit to their authority, their restriction, and insists on doing it. To his parents he is a rebellious son, not in evil things but in good things.
We often are in this kind of situation before the Lord. Some claim that they are serving the Lord, but they are not restricted by the Lord, not subject to His authority, and not ruled by Him. Apparently they are serving the Lord, but actually they are not in the Lord’s kingdom or under His ruling, and the Lord’s authority has no ground in them. One day such persons will say, “Lord, we cast out demons, prophesied, and did works of power in Your name.” The Lord will say to them, “I have never acknowledged you or approved you. To me, your prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power are all lawlessness. You are workers of lawlessness.”
Perhaps some may ask why doing good things is lawlessness. We may use an illustration to answer this question. In a boarding school the students live in a dormitory. According to school regulations, everyone must turn off the lights and go to bed at a certain time. Suppose there is a student who is very diligent; he stays up to study with the lights on even after the time allowed. This is lawlessness. This is a refusal to keep the regulation, to be restricted, and to submit to the authority of the school. This student may cover up the door and windows with black curtains and study secretly with the light on in his room. He is not playing cards, gambling, gossiping, or doing foolish things; instead, he is studying diligently. Diligence in studying is a good thing. However, it is in this good thing that he is not restricted. To the school he is a lawless person because he violates school regulations and disregards the school’s authority. Though this example is not perfect, it more or less illustrates how doing good things can be lawless.
Sometimes when the brothers and sisters are stirred up, they zealously preach the gospel and work for the Lord. Sometimes they are so zealous that they do not care about the Lord’s will and authority; they simply set their heart to preach the gospel. This kind of zeal is unruly because the Lord is set aside. These brothers and sisters regard neither the Lord’s will nor the Lord’s authority and ruling. They may defend themselves by saying, “Is it wrong for us to preach the gospel?” Someone may exhort them, saying, “Brothers, based on certain reasons, perhaps for the time being you should not preach the gospel.” But they will say, “What is wrong with our preaching the gospel? It is obviously a good thing to preach the gospel.” It is true that preaching the gospel is a good thing, but we still must preach the gospel under the Lord’s ruling and training. In the matter of preaching the gospel, we must consider, Am I allowing myself to do what I please, or am I allowing the Lord to restrict me? Am I doing this under the Lord’s authority or based on my zeal? Living and serving the Lord in a proper way is not a matter merely of good or evil, right or wrong; it is a matter of whether we are under authority.