Page 13 - The Christian Life and the Church Life_Government of God

The Universal Government of God 12

to God’s government; grace is for government. The more grace we have, the
more we will be able to recognize and respect God’s government.

The System of Grace Bringing Us to Salvation and Restoration So That
We Will Obey God’s System of Government

The system of grace brings us to salvation and restoration so that we will
obey God’s system of government. Here is an indicator. You are overseers, are
you not? As part of your responsibility, you are watching over the souls of the
saints according to Hebrews 13. You care for them; you want to understand
them so you can minister to them. And you realize that some have no regard
for God’s government. It indicates how shallow their experience of organic
salvation is. They just revel or rejoice, saying, “If I fail, God is merciful.
He forgives. He forgives.” But the more we are truly experiencing organic
salvation, the more we will obey God’s government.
Grace Always Going Along with Government
Grace always goes along with government. You read about this toward
the end of 1 Peter chapter 5. This epistle is about the Christian life under
God’s government, and Peter learned a lot of God’s governmental dealings.
He said, “Be humbled under the mighty hand of God” (v. 6). Brother Lee
would use the expression active-passive. We need to be willing and desirous
to be humbled. And a verse nearby says, “God resists the proud, but gives
grace to the humble” (v. 5). Be humbled under the mighty hand of God-this
is our part. Do not worry about others. Do not compare yourself with others.
Do not talk to God about others. Do not dream about your future. Right now,
right here, the word is “be humbled”. In due time, God will exalt you. He will
raise you up but that is up to Him. I do not feel this is the time for me to share
much from my personal history with the Lord, but I can assure you, and I
say this before the Lord’s face, I know what I am talking about. I know what
it is to be humbled under the mighty governmental hand of God, and to be
under that hand for quite a period of time. Then I learned the grace that comes
and flows. I do not want to be one who is proud and is resisted by God. Be
humbled, and grace will always go along with government. But if someone
disregards God’s government then turns around and starts praying for this
and that, he may talk all night long, but the heavens will be silent because
there is an unresolved issue here.