All our service must be initiated by God

by Witness Lee

Scripture Reading: Num. 18:1; Rom. 11:36; 2 Sam. 7:1-3, 5, 11-14a; Job 38:2; 42:6; Acts 22:8, 10

All our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire; otherwise, it simply religion (Rom. 11:36). Anything that is initiated or started by man, regardless of how much it is for God, is a religious activity.

After Adam’s fall, God showed man redemption through the shedding of the blood of a sacrifice; because Abel heard, saw, and understood this, he offered a sacrifice according to God’s instruction and ordination (Gen. 3:21; Heb. 9:22).

Cain served God from himself according to his own will and opinion; he offered the fruit of the ground to God, and this offering was entirely a religious activity (Gen. 4:3).

A religious activity is any service or worship that does not originate from God’s revelation, command, and leading; the activities of one who serves God must originate absolutely from God, not from man.

Noah served God according to God’s command; even the measurements and methods of building the ark were not according to Noah’s imagination but to God’s determination (6:14—7:5; Heb. 11:7).

Abraham served God according to God’s appearing (Acts 7:2-4; Gen. 12:1-4, 7-8; 13:14-18; 15:1; Heb. 11:8-10).

Moses served God according to God’s instruction for the deliverance of the children of Israel and for the building of the tabernacle according to God’s pattern (Exo. 3:10, 14-15; 25:9, 40; 40:16-17, 34-35; Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:5).

David feared God, cooperated with God, and let God work (Acts 13:36a).

David was zealous to build a temple for God (2 Sam. 7:1-3), but God rejected David’s good intention; God sent Nathan the prophet to David to ask, “Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in?” (v. 5).

Our heart to serve God is acceptable, but our decision to do something for Him is not acceptable.

We should love God and wait for His command; we should seek His will and wait for His revelation; just as the slave in the Old Testament loved his master and allowed his ear to be bored through with an awl to hear the word of his master, we must focus on waiting for our Master’s command (Exo. 21:6; 2 Tim. 2:21b)