“When No One Can Work”

For I know your many transgressions and your countless sins,

you who vex the righteous man by taking a bribe

and push aside needy people at the gate.

That is why the prudent man stays quiet in such a time, for the time is evil.

Amos 5:13

When righteous men rejoice, there is great glory,

but when wicked men arise, a man is hidden.

Proverbs 28:12

Jesus said that the time would come when God will no longer lead His servants to reach out to the world with His Son’s gospel.  He said, “I must work the works of the One who sent me while it is day.  The night is coming when no one can work” (Jn. 9:4).  I have told you many times before that children of God do not HAVE to do anything other than what God wants them to do.  God’s will is the Bible for the wise.

Many believers feel obligated to “spread the word” because this is in the Bible:

Mark 16

15. Jesus told them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Some believers call that “the great commission”, and they say that it applies to every one of God’s children.  That is nonsense, of course, for what Jesus says applies only to the ones he says it to.  Besides, “The night is coming when no one can work” is also in the Bible.  Who does that apply to?  God’s will is the Word for the wise.

If God’s people feel obligated to proclaim the gospel perpetually because of Mark 16:15, they can never stop working, even when the time for it is past because Mark 16:15 will still be there.  But they who are led by the Spirit are the true children of God (Rom. 8:14), for they will know it when the time for evangelizing the world is over.

Moreover, if God’s people feel obligated to proclaim the gospel forever because of Mark 16:15, they will certainly fall into a spirit of strife and will quarrel with the world instead of helping them if they keep on after the night comes that Jesus spoke of.  And it will not be the world’s fault.  It will be the fault of those who continue to proclaim the gospel after it is no longer God’s will for them to do so.

We have sent out many millions of gospel tracts and many thousands of recordings and books in an effort to shine the light that has been given to us.  And we now have a significant presence on the internet, too.  But as this world devolves farther into sin, the time is drawing nearer when God will say, “No more,” and then we will stop.  God’s will is the guide for the wise.