I JOHN 2:17

There is something radically wrong with the person who does not want to abide forever; that is, abide forever, as everlasting life is described in the Bible. Of course, some are in such wretched physical health and others in such miserable sinful condition, that to abide forever unchanged would be more of a curse than a blessing. However the majority of these so dread death and the hereafter that they would prefer to live indefinitely, even in their suffering, rather than take a chance on the after-death experience.

But just think what it will mean to live forever and ever in bliss and joy, in the midst of eternal glory with the holy God and Saviour, where sin, sickness, suffering, unhappiness of any kind and death will be unknown. It is such eternal bliss and heavenly glory that God has promised to the person who does His will. “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” But the word “doeth” may fill our souls with discouragement and despair, instead of hope, unless we go to God’s Book and learn that God has made it possible for every man to do His will and reach heaven.

True, God expressed to man His will on Mount Sinai where He gave His perfect law, the true Divine standard of right and wrong. True, it is stated that God requires man to love mercy, to do justly and walk humbly with God. Micah 6:8. The whole duty of man is to fear God and to keep His commandments. Ecclesiastes 12:13. This we learn is the conclusion of the whole matter, But we thank God it is not the conclusion of the way of salvation. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to do.” Romans 8:2 and 3.

All that God’s perfect law could do for a sinner was to condemn him; leave him where it found him, helpless and hopeless. “By the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified in Gods sight.” “The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, was sent into the world to be the Saviour of the world; to save sinners from the curse of the law and from religion as well as from sin and the consequences of sin.

Before Christ came it was, written of Him in the volume of the Book “Lo I come to do thy will, O God”. Hebrews 10:7 and 9. Being perfect, sinless in birth and life, that holy Son was able to perfectly do the perfect will of the perfect God. He tabernacled on earth in the flesh for more than thirty-three years without making a single mistake, in unfailing obedience to all of the perfect will of His Father. Christ was able to truthfully say, “I do always the things that please my Father”; “I have overcome the world”. “Which one of you convinceth Me of sin?”

Hear the words of this faithful, holy, obedient Son, Jesus Christ the Righteous:

“MY MEAT IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, AND TO FINISH THE WORK.” John 4:34.

“I CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, NOT TO DO MINE OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME.” John 6:38.

“FATHER, IF THOU BE WILLING, REMOVE THIS CUP FROM ME; NEVERTHELESS NOT MY WILL, BUT THINE BE DONE.

“AND THERE APPEARED AN ANGEL UNTO HIM FROM HEAVEN, STRENGTHENING HIM.

AND BEING IN AN AGONY HE PRAYED MORE EARNESTLY, AND HIS SWEAT WAS AS IT WERE GREAT DROPS OF BLOOD FALLING DOWN TO THE GROUND.” Luke 22:42 to 44.

His meat was to do the Father’s will and finish the work. After several years, suffering as the man of sorrows, Christ said “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” To finish the Father’s work meant misunderstanding, false accusations, insults, disgrace, the bloody sweat, cruel mocking, the crown of thorns, the disfigured face, the pierced hands and feet from the hissing hellish mob, a death of shame. But He was obedient unto the death of the cross. “It is finished” or “finished”, He cried on the cross as He yielded up the ghost. John 19:30. Just what did the Son of God finish? “He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself”. Hebrews 9:26. “He took the law out of the way.” Colossians 2:11 to 14. He became a curse to do away with the curse of the law. Galatians, 3:13. “He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:4 and 5. On the cross He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. II Corinthians 5:21.

Then by His resurrection, and because He went back to the Father, He abolished death and destroyed Satan’s power of death, and sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to indwell believers, witness to them of their acceptance by God, and cause them to be sealed until the day of redemption.

Now let us read John 6:39 and 40: “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Having perfectly done the will of His Father, and ready to do the Father’s will in death, the obedient Son uttered this prayer. He could have truly said, “Father I have done thy will, and now I desire to express my will”.

“FATHER, I WILL THAT THEY ALSO, WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN ME, BE WITH ME WHERE I AM; THAT THEY MAY BEHOLD MY GLORY, WHICH THOU HAST GIVEN ME; FOR THOU LOVEDST ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”

John 17:24.

Now let us study John 6:40 in connection with Hebrews 10:10 and 14.

“BY THE WHICH WILL WE ARE SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE OFFERING OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL.” Hebrews 10:10.

“FOR BY ONE OFFERING HE HATH PERFECTED FOREVER THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED.” Hebrews 10:14.

“AND THIS IS THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, THAT EVERY ONE WHICH SEETH THE SON, AND BELIEVETH ON HIM, MAY HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.” John 6:40.

By nature we are altogether unholy. How are we made holy (sanctified)? By the will of God done by Christ, offering Himself without spot unto God, by the offering of the body of Christ. Hebrews 9:14 and Hebrews 10:10.

This once-for-all sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God has provided redemption for us. I Peter 1:18 to 20. This shed blood and resurrection of Christ have been accepted by the holy God as payment in full for the sinner’s debt. “By Him all that believe are justified from all things,.” Acts 13:39. Believing sinners are forever made perfect by this one offering. Hebrews 10:14. Surely to such a message of love, mercy and grace, the sinner’s worthiness or religious, social, moral or financial standing never contributes one iota. The sinner, spiritually speaking, has neither earning capacity nor special influence to help him in any way with God. God demands that the sinner take the bankruptcy law, under the law of sin and death, from which there is only one way of escape; and that is, that the (bankrupt sinner must become the recipient of God’s grace, and the beneficiary of the testament which Christ sealed and validated with His precious blood.

Christ came down from heaven to do the will of the Father who sent Him. And then Jesus knew His hour was come that He should depart out of this world, He loved them unto the end. John 13:1. He knew that He was come from God, and went to God. 13:3.

Let us read again the words of Christ in John 6:39: “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

God worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Ephesians 1:11. The Father’s will is that Christ should lose none of those given to Him by the Father. The Father will hear the Son’s prayer and will bring all sinners, redeemed by the blood of that Son, to glory. “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6.

It was the Lord Jesus who said “if any man willeth to do My will he shall know of the doctrine.” John 7:17. And as He gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present age, according to the will of God our Father (Galatians 1:4), surely the Lord Jesus Christ knew the will of God, for those who are His, and all who have been saved by Christ should earnestly desire to do His will and have no desire to do anything else. As members of the Body of Christ, God predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:5.

Thus we see that we are going to abide forever, because it is God’s will concerning us and because we are the beneficiaries of God’s infinite grace, by which we are saved through faith; all because the Lord Jesus Christ did the will of God in our behalf on the cross of Calvary. But we have been saved to do the will of God while we are here in the flesh. Hear these plain words

“WHEREFORE BE YE NOT UNWISE, BUT UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE WILL OF THE LORD IS,” Ephesians 5:17.

“AS THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST, DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART.” Ephesians 6:6.

Before we can do the will of God from the heart we must be saved. And then before we can do the will of God we must understand what the will of God is. Doing the will of God is the most important matter in the life of any individual. Therefore, it is most important to understand what God’s will is. God’s desire is, “that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:9 and 10.

As we go on in the will of the Lord the standard becomes even higher. As expressed in Colossians 4:12: “that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.”

As God works in us both to will and to do of His own good, pleasure (Philippians 2:13), He wants us to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, recorded in John 6:40: “And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Sinners are to see Christ and believe on Him and receive eternal life. It is the will of God concerning believers that so do His will in the midst of unbelievers that the unbelievers will see Christ and believe unto life everlasting.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but HE THAT DOETH THE WILL. OF GOD ABIDETH FOREVER.” I John 2:15 to 17.

It is a great privilege and honour to be a child of God, but likewise a great responsibility. We are to be in the world, but not of the world, but witnessing to the world concerning the grace of God and the saving and keeping power of Christ.

“JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM, MY MEAT IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, AND TO FINISH HIS WORK.

“Say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

“And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth.

“I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour; other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” John 4:34 to 38.

As we witness far Christ, as labourers together with God we may rest assured that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.

“Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:4.

Chicago, Ill., May 1, 1936

Dear Christian Friends:

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose we are and Whom we serve. Another month, by the grace of God, we are permitted to send forth “Bible Study for Bereans”. Since mailing the April number, we have received many letters telling of the spiritual blessings derived from the messages in the magazine and expressing gratitude for the help in understanding the Word of Truth, rightly divided, “orthotomeo” (correctly dissected). II Timothy 2:15. We can say with Paul, “for a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. I Corinthians 16:9. I hear your “Amen”, especially to the many adversaries. If these would oppose the “Message of Grace” with Divine Truth instead of with human falsehoods, we would welcome their sincere opposition and answer their arguments with the Word of God. I do not know of one Bible teacher who has confined himself to truthful statements in his attempt to answer the Pauline Truth. It is unanswerable because it is God’s own infallible message and the “golden key” to the Scriptures for members of the Body of Christ.

Our strongest opposition comes from brethren who are Fundamentalists and say “we agree with you as to the plenary inspiration of the Bible, its infallibility and authority; the eternal Deity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; His virgin birth; salvation wholly and solely by the grace of God on the basis of the once-for-all, all sufficient sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and His bodily resurrection; the personality and Deity of the Holy Spirit; the premillennial coming of the same Jesus who died and rose again. And we know as well as you do, there is one and only one Church, the Body of Christ and we agree with you that a believer should live consistently, spiritually, soberly, righteously and godly, and that the grace of God is altogether sufficient for every task, test and trial. Moreover, we are dispensationalists, and, understand we agreed with you that we are living in a parenthesis, that the kingdom of heaven proclaimed by Christ and the Twelve is in abeyance until after this dispensation of grace, this ‘Body’ age, has come to an end. But if you do not agree with us as to when the ‘parenthesis’ began you can’t join our Fundamentalist association and we will call you ‘Bullingerites’ and ‘Ultra Dispensationalists’ and if necessary we will exaggerate and misrepresent you, in order to keep our people ignorant concerning your message.”

Well, praise the Lord every week Ephesians 1:18 is being answered in: behalf of some saints. “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” and then these enlightened saints begin to obey Ephesians 3:9, “to make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.

This opening of the eyes comes more slowly and gradually with some of the brethren. A number of them have had the start toward this blessed truth by reading “Wrongly Dividing the Word of God” (Dr.. H. A. Ironside). They have seen the utter folly of several of his statements.

1. That the nation Israel was set aside at Calvary with Christ’s judgment in Matthew 23:38.

2. That in God’s mind and purpose there was not even a transition during the Book of Acts period.

3. That Peter received the revelation of the Body and dispensation of the mystery when he had the vision of the sheet of unclean creatures. (Acts 10:1 to 28).

4. That the dispensation of the mystery and the (“sussomos”) joint-Body of Ephesians 3:6 began on the day of Pentecost.

5. That Christian water baptism began on the day of Pentecost when believers in the Body of Christ were baptized because of their gratitude for having received the Holy Ghost and thereby identified with Christ in death, burial and resurrection and having become members of the Church, (the Sussomos of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other ages).

6. That Paul received the revelation of the Body and mystery on the road to Damascus when Jesus asked, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”

These are such inexcusable blunders, but made in a desperate effort to defend a particular theory concerning immersion.

Think of the dispensation of the mystery beginning before Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles. Think of the dispensation of the mystery, given by special revelation to the Apostle to the Gentiles, beginning on Israel’s feast of Pentecost. Read the foot-note in the Scofield Reference Bible (Acts 2:16 and 17). “Israel’s prophets foretold the “last days” of the kingdom age. Then Joel (Joel 2:28 to 32) was speaking of the kingdom age. The kingdom age is not the dispensation of the mystery. Did our brother receive the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy? If so, we must be in the tribulation or the millennium. Joel had nothing to say about this parenthetical period in which we live. Therefore, the parenthesis did not begin on the day of Pentecost. The twelve apostles were baptized with water more than three years before Pentecost, at the time they were wholly ignorant of the Body of Christ, the Gospel of Grace, or identification with Christ in death, burial and resurrection. Luke 18:31 to 34. John 20:9. Acts 1:6. Matthew 16:21 to 25. How stupid we must be to retain the fellowship of some of our fundamentalist brethren. Read Acts 2:38 and see if believers in the Body of Christ were “water baptized” to express their gratitude to God for having received the Holy Spirit. Read Acts 8:5 to 15, Acts 19:1 to 7 and be sure to be a Berean. Acts 17:11. Thank God so many Christians are getting their eyes off of so-called big Bible teachers. Think of Peter getting the revelation of the dispensation of the mystery in Acts 10. Read II Peter 3:15 and 16. Read also Matthew 25:40, the blessing in the coming kingdom age, “ye have done it unto me”, and not try to prove the Body of Christ by the “why persecutest thou me?”

Faithfully yours in Christ,

J. C. O’HAIR, Pastor and Editor