“Everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and
brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all
its service, and for the sacred garments.” (Exodus 35:21 [NIV])
We each know of or are a person who grudgingly did what
someone asked. A parent would have asked you to clean your room and you delayed
in obeying. With a threat of disciplining (the compulsion), you did the task.
This unfortunate part of our nature shows itself because we chose to exercise
the freewill God gave us by rebelling. In this instance, you rebelled against
your parent because you chose to follow the desires of your natural heart. Any
rebellion we do is against God since He created the moral laws from His own
holiness. The opposite of a negative compulsion (disciplining by grounding,
loss of privileges, etc.) is a positive compulsion. A positive compulsion comes
from an inner calling to your spirit to obey because of love and/or respect for
the person, the law, and God. A person often obeys this calling because of who
compels him or her, his or her care for the one calling him or her, and the
result or reward for obeying.
The Bible tells of compulsions, desires, impulses,
heart-stirrings, and urgings within our hearts, minds, and spirits. We can note
these from as early as Adam and Eve’s time in the Garden of Eden. First, they
wanted to be with God and grow in their relationship with Him. Next, they
learned of something more enticing to them than their relationship with God.
The compelling and urging by the serpent led to their desire and choice to go
against God’s commands. Adam and Eve’s freewill led them to choose self over
God. This instance is not exclusive to this one passage. People rebel and sin against
God like the Bible writers recorded throughout the Bible. They choose to follow
the desires of their own heart intent on themselves. Other instances in the
Bible show people respond to God’s urgings, compulsions, and impellings by
following Him. Let’s consider a few of these instances and understand what they
meant at the time and what they mean for us, identifying the of what God urged, what action occurred, and
what reward or result occurred for the person and/or people following God.
After the Israelites left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea,
they lingered at Mount Sinai. At this mountain, God instructed them through
Moses. Moses spent much time with God on the mountain and received His plans on
how to build His tabernacle. He told Moses of the fine wood, gold, silver, and
linens He required for building His tabernacle. The Egyptians gave these things
to the Israelites before they left Egypt (Exodus 3:22 & 12:35-36). What
happened after Moses told the Israelites of God’s requirements is what we must
notice. Moses recorded their actions in Exodus 35:20-35. He said in verses
twenty through twenty-one,
Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’
presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and
brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all
its service, and for the sacred garments. [NIV]
Three things happened in these verses. The Israelites
recognized God. They responded to Him. Something happened. These three things
we will call the impetus, action, and result. Through each of the Scripture
passages we consider, we will look for these three things.
Exodus 35
In Exodus 35:20-21, the impetus for the Israelites’ action came
from their hearts’ moving. In other translations, the passage says, “their
hearts were stirred.” Notice the verb is passive. The Hebrew word from which
this “stirring” comes means to be carried away by an external force to oneself.
The Israelites did nothing to cause their hearts to stir. It occurred by God’s
calling to them. As Moses relayed to the Israelites what God said He needed for
the tabernacle to be built to His specifications, God’s desires moved the
people’s hearts and as He called them. God moved their hearts. The people
recognized God as divine and almighty. They knew He rescued them from slavery.
Their recollection of what He did for them and who He is
caused a reaction to the impetus. The Israelites heard with their ears, their
hearts, and their spirits. They responded to God’s love with their own love for
Him shown through obedience. They responded by giving back to Him that which He
gave to them-love and tangible items. Remember in Exodus 3:22 and 12:35-36, God
told the Israelites through Moses to ask the Egyptians for gold, silver, and
fine cloths. Back before these people understood why God gave them these fine
things from the Egyptians, He had a plan for them. The Israelites did not yet
understand God’s plan for them when they received the gifts from the Egyptians.
He provided what the Israelites needed for
themselves and what they needed to give back to Him to build His tabernacle. God
gave the impetus by stirring the hearts of the Israelites. The Israelites action
occurred because they chose to bend their hearts toward God in love and
obedience. They gave to Him what He requested to build the tabernacle.
Whenever calling by God and an action toward that calling
occurs, a result in obedience to God takes place. The result for the Israelites
was four-fold. Physically, God would continue to give what they needed for life;
He would continue to bless them. Mentally, the Israelites acknowledged God as
the One who provides and realized they could trust Him. Emotionally, they
received God’s love and returned it to Him. They deepened their connection with
Him. Spiritually, they recognized God as almighty and eternal, the God of their
forefathers, the One who never left them. With this recognition, they responded
with faith and trust in Him by loving Him in return and trusting Him to provide
all things. Notice, each of these four parts of a life is intertwined with the
others. One does not exist without the other on this plain.
To sum this passage up, the people recognized God and His
call on their lives. They responded out of love because of His love and care by
acting on His stirring their hearts by obeying His plans for building the
tabernacle. The Israelites grew in their faith in God, in their relationship
with Him, and proved their covenant with Him. The stirring of the Israelites’
hearts did not occur at their bidding, but at God’s Spirit. God was the force
outside of them that stirred up their hearts to seek, recognize, acknowledge,
and heed Him. People from neighboring nations watched the lives of the
Israelites to see how their God worked among them. They sought, too. The
Israelites answered God’s stirring of the hearts and brought Him glory.
As we continue to consider God’s stirring of people’s hearts,
we must recognize He did this throughout the Bible. From Adam and Eve in Eden,
to Moses at the burning bush, to Mary when God spoke to her, to the apostles,
Paul, and other Christians, God stirred hearts, compelled, urged, entreated,
and impelled them for His service.
1 Corinthians 9
In 1 Corinthians 9:16-27, we read part of Paul’s letter to
the church at Corinth. In verses sixteen through eighteen, Paul said,
16For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast,
since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17If
I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply
discharging the trust committed to me. 18What then is my reward?
Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so
not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. [NIV]
In considering this passage, what or who compelled Paul?
Notice, Paul said, “I am compelled.” He did not compel himself. God did. This
word “compel” comes from a Greek word meaning necessitated from external
conditions. God compelled Paul when He saved and called Him on the road to
Damascus. God gave the impetus for Paul’s resulting actions. He placed it in
Paul’s heart. Paul desired to seek, recognize, acknowledge, and obey Him out of
love for Him.
What action did Paul say occurred because of God compelling
Him? He said in verse sixteen God compelled him to preach. That preaching is
not of what the people in the Greek world heard before, but of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Like with the Israelites, God’s compulsion was specific. Out of
love for Him and for people who did not trust in Jesus, God called Paul to
preach the gospel. He recognized in this calling, this compulsion, a negative
occurred if he did not preach the gospel. How do we learn this? Paul said at
the end of verse sixteen, “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” Not only
did Paul recognize God and accede to His authority over his heart, spirit, and
life, he realized consequences came from living contrary to God’s compulsion. When
a person walks life contrary to God’s best plans and desires, he or she is
rebelling against God. Many stories tell about rebellion against God and its
consequences. Noah and his family remained the face of the earth after the
great flood. Two of Aaron’s sons died for performing their daily services in
the tabernacle in the wrong way. The Israelites wandered in the desert for
forty years. Judas Iscariot died a sinner’s death for betraying Jesus. The
stories of rebellion and their resultant consequences can be found throughout
the Bible. Paul recognized God’s calling Him came with a warning for not complying.
He did not want to experience that discipline.
We have knowledge of Paul’s life story. He accepted God’s
compulsion to preach the gospel. What result came from his loving obedience to
God? Paul’s preaching free of charge in obedience to God’s compulsion made him
a voluntary slave submitted to God’s will. By submitting to God’s desire for
his life, he aimed to tell as many people as possible about Jesus so they could
become children of God – Jews and Gentiles, slave and free. He summarized this
life of service to God and humanity with verses twenty-two and twenty-three, “I
have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save
some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its
blessings.” [NIV]
Paul ran to get the prize, he said (vs 24-27). For him, the goal
of his life revolved around completing the race as an obedient child and
servant of God. Paul’s reward of receiving the prize of being perfected in
Christ’s image, being with Him in heaven, came only from God. This prize
represents three motivations for Paul’s life. He obeyed out of love for God,
out of love for others that Jesus put in him, and for God’s glory. He said in 1
Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for
the glory of God.” Paul’s goal and the result of His life’s obedience to God’s
compelling and love for him was to give God glory. He recognized and
acknowledged God’s call on his life as the impetus, the desire of God for him
and accepted that desire as his own. Paul responded to this impetus from God
with action by telling every person he met about the gospel. His action led to
people receiving salvation through Jesus and God getting glory.
2 Corinthians 5
14For Christ’s love compels us, because we are
convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. 15And He
died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for
Him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15 [NIV])
In these verses, just like in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul spoke of
God compelling Him. This word “compelling” means urging, impelling, and
compelling of the soul/spirit, heart, and mind. This compelling is an urging of
one’s being to respond with action according to what is asked. What came with
this urging that would make a person more favorable towards doing what the
Spirit compelled? See at the beginning of verse fourteen-Christ’s love. Paul
left no doubt in a person’s mind as to Who compelled him. He recognized the
call of Christ on his heart because Jesus saved the Pharisee, the one who
persecuted and killed Jesus-followers. Paul understood he did not deserve
Jesus’ love.
Because of Jesus’ merciful love for a sinner like him, his
response to Him could only be to love Him. Paul’s acknowledgement of Jesus’ right
to his life and his own love for Him led him to answer God’s calling to preach.
Out of love obedience came. Paul would do what Jesus called him to do because
of this love. Jesus’ love for sinful Saul/Paul compelled him to do what He
asked of him. That impetus, Christ’s compelling, led Paul to preach the gospel.
Paul recognized Who called him to preach. He acknowledged that call and the
reason, His grace though he himself sinned, and obeyed Jesus’ calling. Paul’s
action, internally, was loving Jesus and, externally, was preaching to every
person to whom he could.
The result of Paul’s recognizing, acknowledging, and being
obedient to Jesus’ compelling him to preach affects the four spheres of a
person-mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual. Paul yearned to be “fully
clothed” by being perfected by Christ on the day he entered heaven. He no
longer wanted to groan and be burdened because of not being clothed in His
heavenly dwelling (vs 3-4). Paul received courage from Christ while at home in
his body (on earth) and away from the Lord (vs 6). He was called Christ’s
ambassador (vs. 14). Paul worked for Christ (vs 21). He carried within himself
the hope of becoming the righteousness of God through Jesus (vs 21). These are
the result of Paul acknowledging and acting on Jesus’ call on his life. Each of
these brings glory to God. God would be seen in Paul’s life in each of the
actions and the results. People would seek God and glorify Him because of who
He is and what He has done as they saw in Paul’s life and their own.
Impetus leads to action then to result. What one allows to
cause their actions shows what his or her desires (impetus) are-self or God.
From those actions come results, either praise of self and what one did or
acquired or praise of God for what He did and Who He is. Paul chose to act on
God’s compelling of him. He gave all the glory to God.
Luke 24
Luke wrote about two disciples of Jesus walking on the road
to Emmaus after Jesus’ death and resurrection in Luke 24:13-53. As these two disciples walked from Jerusalem
to Emmaus (about 23 miles distance), a man met them on the way and walked with
them. As they walked, the third man explained the Scriptures to them from Moses
and all the prophets that told about the Messiah. When the three men arrived in
Emmaus, the two disciples invited the third man to stay with them for the
night. Roads were unsafe at night and people were often robbed. This third man
stayed with them and when they sat to eat, He broke the bread and prayed to
God. At that moment, the two disciples realized Jesus had risen from the dead
alive and walked with and talked with them throughout the journey. Jesus then disappeared.
At this point, Luke recorded what the two disciples said and did in verses
thirty-two to thirty-five. He said,
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us
while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got
up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven (Jesus’ first
disciples) and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The
Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened
on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread. [NIV]
What or Who caused the impetus, the action, and the result
of the actions of these two Emmaus-traveling disciples? What compelled these
two men to action? Upon looking at the statement they made to each other after
Jesus disappeared from their sight (vs 31), we read, “Were not our hearts
burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures
to us?” The idiom of “hearts burning within us” is what compelled the men to
action. Their “hearts burning” within them means they experienced movement in
their hearts to recognize, acknowledge, and respond to someone with action. The
word “burning” lets us realize the urgency of this compelling, desire of their
hearts. The fire within the men required quenching with action immediately.
Upon reading verse thirty-three, we realize these two disciples left Emmaus
immediately to return to Jerusalem. The two men disregarded their safety by
walking at night on a road with boulders that provided hiding spots for robbers.
The care for their safety came second to declaring Jesus rose from the dead.
They had seen, heard, and eaten with Him. The impetus for these two disciples began
with the burning in their hearts. It came from Jesus.
These two disciples did not manufacture the desire, but
obeyed God’s compelling. They desired to tell the disciples in Jerusalem about
what they saw. Because of the burning in their hearts caused by Jesus, they
felt compelled to tell the disciples about Him being alive. The two men acted
immediately, walked urgently to Jerusalem, and gave testimony of Jesus’
resurrection. They understood the importance of Jesus’ resurrection because of
what the women told the disciples that morning, what Simeon Peter verified for
himself, and what Jesus explained from the Scriptures as they walked to Emmaus.
The testimony of these two men became a stabilizer for Jesus’ followers’ faith
in Him and an impetus for sending them out to testify about Him. Jesus
revealing Himself to the two disciples impelled the men to return quickly to
Jerusalem.
Their actions and words testified to Jesus being alive. Their
actions resulted in the other eleven disciples and the other Jesus-followers to
believe for themselves when Jesus met them (vs 36-49). It resulted in belief by
His disciples and worship of Him and praise to God (vs 52-53). Jesus speaking
to them opened their spiritual eyes. The two men recognized Him and responded
with an urgency. They acted upon the compelling. The actions of the two men
resulted in others trusting Jesus fully. It also led to worship and praise of
God.
Philippians 2
Paul often wrote letters encouraging Christians to be like
him and/or to be like-minded. For him, Paul sought to live his life so like
Christ that he could teach people to be like Christ by being a living example
for them to imitate. In Philippians 2, he urged (compelled) the believers to be
of the same mind as Christ. Here again, the one doing the urging is someone
outside oneself. The people would have known Paul from his visits and would realize
he preached the gospel. This means they might heed the urging of Paul. The
Philippians would do this because they looked up to him as a man being close to
the Father and Jesus, and one who learned the gospel very well. Paul became
their spiritual father. When urged, out of consideration of Paul’s life and the
gospel he preached and out of the truths God taught them and Who they
recognized as the One who loved them salvifically, the Philippians would
consider the urging/compelling of Paul. They would recognize its validity and
author. The believers in Philippi would acknowledge the intent came from God.
They would seek to heed the urging/compelling to be like Christ because of love
for and out of obedience to Him. The impetus, in this instance, was Paul’s
urging of the Philippians as their spiritual father, which he wanted them to
consider as Christ’s urging. Paul wanted them to respond to his urging so they would
respond to Jesus. Paul explained what being like Christ meant in verses five
through eleven.
If the Philippian Christians followed through on Paul’s
urging, they would be humble, servants of others, and obedient to God. Their
actions would resemble how Jesus acted. The result of their being like-minded
with Christ would show they live humble and obedient to God. Their lives would
show a striving to grow in relationship with Him and people. God would continue
to sanctify them. He would be pleased and would receive the glory.
Paul continued teaching, in Philippians 2:12-18, about
obedience to God. In these seven verses, each parent can relate to what he
wrote because of raising his or her own child. Paul taught against grumbling
while serving the Lord and each other. It appears some Philippian believers did
what they felt the Lord required, but they made it known they did not like doing
it (vs. 14-16). If a person seeks to “work out their salvation with fear and
trembling” (vs 12), he or she strives to grow in likeness to Christ-grow in
sanctification. Grumbling is not growing. Grumbling while doing what an
authority said is grudging obedience. Paul told the Philippians if they obey
God’s will and grow in Christlikeness, then they will become “blameless and
pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation” (vs
15a). That would result from obeying the compulsion without grumbling. The life
of the Philippian believers who obeyed the urging of Paul to be like Christ
without grumbling would grow the believers in their walk with Christ (in their
sanctification). It would also make their lives a testimony to God’s praise and
glory.
More
Many other passages in Scripture tell of God compelling/urging,
moving a person or a group of people to action in love and obedience to Him,
that resulted in a testimony of Him and praise and worship lifted to Him. Paul urged
Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of
season.” Paul told him to keep his sense of urgency from God to proclaim the
gospel. That urgency, the impetus, came from God. The action of obedience caused
him to preach. The result would be people hearing about Jesus, professing faith
in Him for salvation, and praising God. Timothy would bring glory to God.
In 1 Peter 5, Peter wrote to the elders of the church. He
urged them to keep the compelling God placed on their lives, even if they must
share the sufferings of Christ. By doing that, they will also “share in the
glory to be revealed.” Peter urged the elders to shepherd God’s flock, just as
He called them to do. He told each Christian to humble themselves. Be alert and
of a sober mind. Resist the devil. Stand firm in the faith. Each of these
commands Peter wrote to the dispersed Christians in the Roman empire, reminding
them of God’s compelling them. Peter concluded the body of his letter to the
Christians in 1 Peter 5:10-11 by writing, “The God of all grace, who called you
to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself
restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To Him be the power for
ever and ever. Amen.” Peter reminded the Christians they answered the calling
God put on their hearts to trust him. They acted on it by trusting in Jesus as
their Savior and living as a Christian, though persecuted. The result of their
obedience would give God glory. They would recognize God’s power and praise Him
just as Peter did in this closing.
Conclusion
God speaks to each person. He created humanity with a desire
(a compelling) for relationship with Him and other people. The freewill He gave
each person allows him or her to choose what he or she will do with their desires.
God calls to each person to come to Him. He urges him or her to seek,
recognize, acknowledge, and come to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Belief
in Jesus as the Son of God causes that close communion with God, for which He
created each person. It involves the heart, mind, spirit (led by God’s Spirit),
and body. A person’s seeking, recognizing, acknowledging, believing, and
obeying this call from Him and the call to tell others about Jesus is obedient
action, the physical part of the covenant with God a person makes when he or
she trusts in Jesus. The result of a person’s obedient action to God’s calling,
compulsion, urging, impelling, and movement of one’s heart, mind, and spirit,
results in praise to God by other Christians and heavenly beings. It may result
in people coming to faith in Jesus because of that person’s obedience. What we
must remember, God does not call a person once, just at the time of trusting in
Jesus Christ. God calls to a person compelling and urging him or her to follow
Him daily. Jesus calls His disciples to pick up his or her cross daily and
follow Him (Luke 9:23). Alternately, a
person can choose to fill his or her own desires and experience fulfillment only
on a mental and, maybe, physical level. Contrarily, the desires of one’s heart,
when fulfilled, do not give complete satisfaction and peace because every facet
of a person does not receive fulfillment. Most often, the spiritual side of a
person remains unquenched.
God wants a close relationship with each person. He does not
coerce anyone. He lets each person choose to seek Him or seek to fulfill
personal desires. Each person gets to choose what will guide his or her way. To
have a close relationship with God requires communication and communing with
Him. Because of this, God will talk to you each day if you will listen for Him.
He will move your heart, stir your spirit, urge, and compel you to do and be
for Him in this world. Your obedience to what He says will bring Him glory. If the
glory does not spotlight God, then the urging and compulsion you followed did
not originate from Him, but from yourself.
Each person will feel compelled by things. Wisdom and
communion with God will illuminate if that compulsion or desire is from God. If
from God, it will lead to Hi, receiving the glory. If it originates from a
person, the result will cause the glory to shine on one who is not God.
The
urgings you obey determines who you love most and who will get the glory,
you
or God.
Who leads you? Who do you follow?
Who receives the glory at the end of your day?
Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come
after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My
sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24 [NIV])
