Summer 1990

Obedience to the Inner Voice of the Holy Spirit
(Bethel -- Written in the 1930’s)

"Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" Phil 2:12-13.

This passage of Scripture begins with an exhortation, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" Phil 2:5. The quality of this "mind-set" that is to be the pattern for our lives is clearly set before us by the example of Jesus. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant" Phil 2: 6-7a. There is a further expression of the outworking of this "mind-set" that was within Jesus. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" Phil 2:8.

Though He had eternally lived in the very presence of God, He considered that His being equal with God was not a thing to be grasped. Therefore, in submission to the will of His Father, He took upon Himself the form of a servant. He did not just act like a servant, He became a servant. Knowing who He was, He could have chosen pre-eminence, but this possibility was "emptied" from Him and He became utterly subservient to God. Jesus humbled Himself unto obedience, which led to His death upon the cross.

We are now exhorted unto this same quality of obedience. An obedience that is not a thing of "eye-service," but an obedience that is deeply rooted by faith in a solemn, all-controlling relationship with Him who indwells us, and in whose Presence we walk, whether consciously or unconsciously. We may be tempted to walk as men-pleasers, relaxing our spirituality when not under their eye. Our life of obedience must be upon a far higher plane than "eye-service." Like Christ's obedience, it must be an obedience to the Inner Voice of the Holy Spirit. It must stem from a holy determination, by His grace, to do God's will at any cost.

In showing to us the mind of Christ, there is the utter absence of the lightness and shallowness in much of modern Christianity. We are presented with a challenge to come into a deeply spiritual relationship between us and the Lord, in which God is continuously working within us the knowledge of His will, the desire to will with God, and the power to do that will.

All this is to be obeyed with a holy, reverential fear, with that same trembling at God's Word that marked the man described by Isaiah as pleasing the Lord. "For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" Isa 66:2.

This "Trembling at His Word" through faith and obedience, what God "desires of us" requires a dedicated walk before Him, an attentive ear to His Voice, and an attitude toward the Lord of a broken spirit. A "trembling" in recognition that it is Almighty God, the Holy One, with whom we are dealing. There are many voices in these days; unless our ear is attuned to the Inner Voice of the Holy Spirit, we will miss the path and find ourselves in confusion.

If, due to any lack of discernment, our ear is open to the voices of those who are seeking for self-glory in the building of religious empires, we will find ourselves on the way to sad distress and disillusionment. There is only one way to safely go through the labyrinth of human inconsistencies and self-seeking of our day: To walk in holy fear and trembling before God, with the ear of our soul attuned consistently to hear the Inner Voice of the Holy Spirit, with our heart set to obey that Voice. Glory to the Lord who rules and reigns over the whole of the earth and over the affairs of men!

This fear of God can be defined as "a holy affection, or gracious habit, wrought in the soul by God whereby it is inclined and enabled to obey all God's commands, even the most difficult, and to hate and avoid evil." The Holy Spirit admonishes us to daily walk in this fear of Him, even as this spirit of the "Fear of the Lord" rested upon Jesus in His holy walk among men. The early Church, in its pristine purity and glory, walked in this holy fear of the Lord, and had the resultant Presence of the Lord marvelously manifested among them. The Church of today stands in great need of this fear and reverence of the glory of the Lord. We are in danger of letting the holy things become common to us, and of being lightly moved when God speaks.

The word "obedience" causes the neck of the un-submissive one to stiffen; but it is a beautiful word to the one who desires to "eat the good of the land"(Isa 1:19). The obedient spirit is submissive to the control of God and to His guidance, ready to yield to His restraints, and to commit all to His decisions, harkening submissively to His Voice. An obedient spirit always accompanies the fear of the Lord: the lack of obedience, regardless of protestations to the contrary, is a proof of the lack of this abiding "Fear of the Lord."

May we be fully convinced in our hearts that God's way is always a way of spiritual profit! Man's way is always a way of spiritual loss: the flesh profits nothing. Only as we truly believe this, shall we yield ourselves unto obedience to the Inner Voice, the Inner Working of the Spirit of God.