Paul, in his ministry and teaching, filled out the whole of God’s thoughts as to Christ, and he would have us do the same. Now let us connect that expression in Acts 22:1414And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. (Acts 22:14), “That thou shouldest know His will,” with what we find in Ephesians 5:1717Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:17), “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Does not that connect beautifully with Paul’s commission at the start, “That thou shouldest know His will”? How important it is, young Christian, to be instructed in the will of God. God does not want us to be unwise. Sometimes you hear Christians say, shrugging their shoulders, “You know some of us do not have time to study these things out. We do not know much about the Bible. There is brother so-and-so: We will let him handle that.” We shrug our shoulders and eliminate ourselves from the richest possible discoveries we can make in God’s Word. It is not just for the old brothers to enjoy: It is for every child of God. God does not want us to be unwise. He wants us to stand complete in Him. The Word of God is written for you: “Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:1717Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:17)).
Now compare that with Colossians 1:9-109For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (Colossians 1:9‑10). We find ourselves on familiar ground. “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire 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.” I take from those two verses that you cannot walk correctly as a Christian unless you understand the calling of a Christian as given to us in the ministry of Paul. I see this demonstrated all around me as I look on the Christian world that has given up the ministry of Paul. Everywhere I go I see contradiction to the heavenly calling of the Christian. I find them with apparently good conscience mixed up in all sorts of worldly connections that deny their heavenly calling. Seemingly they would ignore the coming of the Lord as though there was no possibility that it could interfere with the orderly run of affairs down here. And so men plan and scheme in a religious way for years to come; they establish great and permanent institutions; they throw themselves wholeheartedly into political and social reforms, and so the doctrine of Paul, which leaves the church expecting the return of the Lord Jesus any moment, is so completely lost sight of that it is seldom mentioned.
One remembers visiting a family in Louisiana. The father was a dear child of God, a Methodist, and we had some good talks together. But when I tried to interest him in the blessed fact that the Lord Jesus is coming back again, I found my friend utterly indifferent. I could not see that there was the slightest response. His attitude was this: “If He is coming, He will come, and when He comes, why, I am ready. But I do not think that should form any part of our thinking or planning. We will go on in our gospel efforts as though He is not coming, and when He comes, He will come. That is all there is to it.” The pulsating hope in his heart’s affections was totally missing. Why? Not a Christian? No, he was saved, but he had had bad teaching — not wicked teaching, but poor teaching. He was not instructed in the will of God. How much had he heard of Paul’s ministry? How much did he know of the epistles, those precious parts intended for the saints of God — bread upon their table — how much? Very little! He knew the gospel; he traced the life of our Lord; he preached John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). He knew about Christ and His death, but what did he know about the marvelous epistles that have to do with the glorified One up there, our vital union with Him, and that any day the church may be called to meet Him in the glory? It made no part of his thinking.
So, we cannot expect to walk rightly — we cannot expect to be right in anything in our Christian activity —if we are not instructed in the will of God as we have it in the Word of God, including the fourteen epistles of Paul.