Out of Many, Few; Out of Few, One

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

September 10, 2020 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

The Many

According to some estimates, there are 1 billion adherents to Protestant churches. When I use the term "Church," I refer to all those who profess to be "saved" or born-again. Only the Lord knows the actual number of the true Church, but they are certainly "many." I also use the term "Christian" to refer to members of the Church, which is the body of Christ.

At this point in time, almost every Spirit-filled Christian has heard of the crisis that exists both in the world and in the Church today. The conditions that exist in the Church include materialism, idolatry, mixture, compromise, immorality, lethargy, adherence to traditions of men, and doctrinal error of every sort.

If you are a professing Christian who has been a part of one or two different churches, then it is much more difficult to see and understand what has been happening in the Church in America in the past 100 years. Several generations of Israelites grew up in captivity and bondage in Egypt and never knew there was a better life. It took them 400 years before they finally cried out to God for deliverance. How many years will it take for us Christians today to cry out to God for deliverance? If you have not yet been born again, you cannot comprehend the difference in your life as compared to a life of routinely attending a church. Many years ago, one of the elders in our New Testament house church told me that he never knew that he could hear the voice of the Lord for himself. How can you describe the color red to a person who has been blind from birth? I have been very blessed to have visited 100 or more churches of many types. What the Lord has allowed me to see in my lifetime is not a pretty picture. It is truly rare to find what would be termed spiritual development, although many churches have been established for many long years.

We need to understand more fully the hindrances which have limited the church from developing to its full potential according to the purposes of God. More importantly, we need to know how to overcome those hindrances.

Fifty-some years ago the Lord led us to be part of a New Testament house church in Northern Virginia. One of the teachings that we received at the very beginning was that the Church at Antioch, with plurality of ministries, is the pattern for church government and is better than the pattern of the Church at Jerusalem, where the pastor is the prime leader, subject more or less to the elders. The teaching was that "the Holy Ghost said," in Acts 13:2 at Antioch, is better than "James said" in Acts 15:13 at Jerusalem. Therefore, our church, from the outset, tried to function like the Church at Antioch. In the beginning everything seemed fine. We were all caught up in the emotional euphoria of a "new" thing ... new to us because everyone had come out of some denominational church. Every practice of denominational churches was swept away. No one-man leader; no passing of money containers; no written programs; chairs had to be arranged in circles, not rows; no scheduled speaker; no podiums; no church building and no building fund (we met in schools or free community halls); no time limits for various services; no pre-planned songs to sing (all of us represented the choir), no robes; and no raised platforms.

A community spirit was pervasive ... we all helped one another in natural matters. We also had 5 or 6 "elders" who had been "set in" by a visiting "apostle." For a number of reasons, that never "worked." Hindsight, we all were not mature enough to function like the Church at Antioch. We also had a mixture within our church. One Saturday afternoon, as all of the men in our fellowship met together, a young man spoke forth a word of prophecy. Apparently, I was the only other man who understood what he was saying. When another elder asked him what he meant by the prophecy, he stated, in essence, that it was not possible for all of the men in that room to live in harmony together because of the difference in understanding of the holiness of God. About five years later that church totally disintegrated.

The visible Church is like Samson, who was beguiled and deceived by Delilah, who excelled in natural beauty. Delilah finally succeeded in obtaining Samson's key to his God-given strength, so for money she betrayed him to the Philistines and cut off his hair. "And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him." (Judges 16:20)

The Church in America has much knowledge about the things of the Lord, but is like the Church at Ephesus, which was one of the most advanced, most mature churches of the day. Paul spent three years at Ephesus (Acts 20:31), teaching and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. How blessed those people were! They were taught for three years, undoubtedly daily, for five hours a day, by a man who received so much revelation that he had to receive a thorn in his flesh to help to keep him humble. However, in less than one generation later, we read,

1 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
2 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Revelation 2:4-5

BUT ... the question no longer is, what is the state of the Church? The question is, what do you and I do about it? Some preach a political activism and encourage believers to get more involved in the political arena so that we can "clean up" democracy. We believe that God is not interested in cleaning up democracy because democracy never has been and never will be God's choice of government. Some say "just love everybody." Others say we need more good teaching. Others preach a renewed evangelistic activism. However, what is priority one today for us Christians?

One major hindrance to the maturity of the Church is what I call a democratic spirit. I saw that up close many years ago... one man, one vote, majority wins. The very first word I ever shared publicly, which was in 1968, was "Appropriating the Christ in Others." I have witnessed almost a literal statement from a believer of "I hear from the Lord just as much as you do." My unspoken, but inner response to that is, "I certainly hope so!" We all have a responsibility to hear from the Lord in matters that pertain to us personally. However, there is a difference between hearing from the Lord in our personal life and hearing from the Lord for the Church.

For example, we would do well to remember that the function of a watchman is to stand upon the walls and declare what he sees. Although many can consistently deal in generalities, God's watchmen have a solemn responsibility to speak the specifics as viewed from Zion's holy walls. In these last days, I am sure that many of Zion's faithful watchmen are seeing and proclaiming God's coming judgments, both toward His Church and toward the nation. Our solemn motive should be simple obedience to the divine commission through the watchmen ... "let him declare what he seeth" (Isaiah 21:6b). The king (pastor) and all the people are going about their daily business, safely inside the walls. The watchman (or prophet), who stands upon the wall, looks out and sees someone or something coming. The watchman then tells the king what he sees. But the king says to the watchman, "Well I don't see any problem so you must be wrong." Of COURSE the king does not see any problem coming; he is not standing on top of the wall! There is a great tendency to look for things OUTSIDE the walls. But a watchman also can see INSIDE the walls. We look at other Christians, point our finger, and talk about how off-center the other believer is. The greatest threat to Christians does NOT come from external threats but from internal threats. Several months ago, I researched on the internet the topic of plagues on the earth. No one would doubt that the current coronavirus pandemic is a plague. I found a good blog, written by a Christian, which detailed most of the historical plagues and how many people died from them. Then he said that the greatest plague upon the Church today is ... gossip. I would encourage you to read Romans 1:21-32 and 2 Corinthians 12:20-21, which detail many things that we should be very careful to avoid.

1 Corinthians 12:27-30, "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?" 

Note that it is God who sets those ministries in the Church as it pleases Him.

Further, in Romans 9:20, "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" 

Jesus said, in Mark 3:24-25, "And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

Do we see a worldly house in the United States which is divided politically, racially, and economically? Then that house cannot stand. Do we see a Church which is divided into hundreds or even thousands of denominations, non-denominations, and house churches? Do we see a Church which is divided on so many doctrinal issues? Then that house which man has built cannot stand. BUT ... the Lord Jesus is building His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). The question then becomes, "Are you and I part of the church that man is building or part of the church that the Lord is building?" There is absolutely NO division in the church that the Lord is building.

The prophet Isaiah declared to God's chosen people, "For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes:"

Our common, everyday life causes our spiritual sight to be dimmed; as a result, we fall into a deep sleep or into a state of lethargy. Our spiritual sight is also dimmed by our service to God and to the Church if that service has become merely a routine, a monotony, even a tradition. We have been called to awake and arise with Him from our routine ... even from our usual Sunday routine. Nothing will make any church ineffective quicker than to follow the same format, the same routine, week after week, whether through a written or an unwritten program.

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. 1 Corinthians 14:8,10

Likewise, there are many kinds of voices in the Church today. We live in an age when each Spirit-filled Christian does that which is right in his own eyes. Never in the history of mankind has there been so much "light" shed through teachings, preaching, books, tapes, videos, etc. Unfortunately, it is also true that never in the history of mankind has there been so much fragmentation among genuine believers as we see today. Therefore, the Lord says, 

Isaiah 52:1-2, "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion."

Isaiah 60:1-2, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee."

We believe that we are living in a time of great acceleration, both in the natural realm and in the spiritual realm. People are running to and fro and knowledge has increased (Daniel 12:4). This is also a season when the Holy Spirit is shedding much light on the Word of God.

The Few

For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14

That verse, which is repeated in a different context in Matthew 20:16, does not mean that God chooses arbitrarily. The invitation must be accepted, followed by appropriate conduct. Proper behavior is evidence of being chosen. The reason that few are chosen is because few choose. Many choose the church that man is building, partly because they do not know there is a better way ... their understanding is limited because their leaders do not discern the church within the church. Few choose the church that the Lord is building. They are called the overcomers ... the remnant.

Habakkuk 2:2-3, "And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

Please note that the above verse says THE vision, not A vision. The problem is that each man has his own vision, so there are a multitude of various visions, each vying for the attention of other believers. Far too many Christian leaders have become sidetracked with a lower-level vision. They have majored in minors! They have "a" vision but have missed "the" vision! They have all settled for a lower level vision and apparently are not even aware that there is a higher realm in the Spirit.

Many good Christian books have been written; many wonderful truths have been expounded; and many good sermons have been preached. Then, many professing Christians have taken the things they heard and read and tried to implement them. In too many cases there have been many disappointments as the implementations did not bring forth the desired fruit. Many times we have committed ourselves and even involved others in the truths we have heard or read, only to find ourselves shortly at a dead-end, with frustration and confusion as the result. Why? Are we a people in whom is being born "a" vision or "the" vision?

Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

And where does that vision come from? From good men or from the Spirit of God? Are we merely hearing and reading words? or is the Holy Spirit working within us to bring about His fruit? the fruit of the Spirit. May the Lord Himself enlighten His people and fill us with the knowledge of His will.

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 1 Peter 3:20

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13-14

How do we move from the "many" to the "few" as a Christian? The same way that the "prodigal son" did it! That is recorded in Luke 15:11-24. He repented and returned to his father! Everyone is familiar with that parable. We are inclined to believe that the son who stayed at home, but never repented in his heart, was the real prodigal son! Some would prefer to call this the parable of the Loving Father. In reality, it is a parable which exhibits the grace, mercy, love, and sovereignty of God.

It was strange enough for the younger son to ask for his inheritance, but even more startling for the father to grant this request. This says that we need to be careful what we ask the Lord for because He may grant us our selfish desire. The son's motive became apparent when he departed, taking with him all his possessions and leaving nothing behind to come back to. He wanted to be free of parental restraint and to spend his share of the family wealth as he pleased. This attitude is that of a carnal Christian who wants to do his own thing. The younger son said, give me. A carnal Christian is looking for what he can get from the Lord... salvation for ME, the baptism in the Holy Ghost for ME, healing for ME, deliverance for ME, prophecy for ME, gifts of the Spirit for ME, prosperity for ME, position for ME, power for ME. The focus is all wrong! The younger son wasted his substance with riotous living. The word "riotous" means "to tend to, protect, or preserve self." Everything he had received became wood, hay, and stubble because of his attitude. His heart was not right before God. The Lord sovereignly brought about a famine in that land to help to bring the younger son to his senses. The grace of God will go to great lengths in order to give us a chance to repent! When he obtained a worldly job in a far country of feeding swine, he suffered the ultimate indignity for a Jew; not only was the work distasteful, but pigs were "unclean" animals (Leviticus 11:7). Even though the younger son wasted all of his inheritance by doing his own thing, he was still a son!

As a result, the younger son repented, returned to his father, and said, father, make me as one of thy hired servants. Not my will but Thy will be done. Even the ordinary slave was in a sense a member of the family. A hired servant was the lowest class of a slave. The hired servant could be dismissed at a day's notice. Please note that when the son came back, his father was so overjoyed to see him that he never gave his son a chance to ask to be a servant.

Our attitude toward the Lord should always be, "Break me, then make me." 

David said, in Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple."

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

Luke 10:38-42,

38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that He entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word.

40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to Him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

Jesus did not explicitly tell Martha what that ONE thing is, but He did say that Mary had chosen that good part. Note that it was a PART, not the whole. Note also from Verse 38 that it was Martha's home. Apparently, she was the older sister. The Martha spirit speaks of religious activity. Religious people always want to DO something for the Lord. Religious people have the "preacher's itch" and want to go out and save the world. The Martha spirit also wants to do God's work in our way, rather than in His way. Martha was puttering around her kitchen. She was overly concerned with preparing a good meal for the Lord and His disciples. As a result, she was not at rest, always concerned about the meal, making sure that her house was clean, and whether everything would be on time. She wanted everything to be perfect in her house to serve the Lord. We think that Jesus wants our work and our money, but God can save people all by Himself and He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All of our activity, our work for the Lord, tends to puff us up. Look at me! I have written all these good Christian books; I have preached and taught the Word of God for 40 years. I have seen many souls saved through my ministry. I have given to the poor, visited the sick, served in soup kitchens. But we need Him far more than He needs us.

The Mary spirit asks, "How can I please the Lord?" She represents spiritual people... those led by the Holy Spirit. Many long years ago I knew two, good Christian men. The philosophy of one man was, "Do until the Lord says don't." That approach does not require hearing from the Lord and sometimes results in wood, hay, and stubble. The philosophy of the other man was, "Don't until the Lord says do." That approach requires hearing from the Lord. It requires sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to what He says. It requires a humble and obedient heart. It requires offering our fervent love to Him. It requires acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He knows exactly what is best for us at all times. It requires waiting on the Lord.

Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD."

Isaiah 30:18, "And therefore will the LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him."

We are a people who do not like to wait. Why did Jesus wait 4000 years after Adam sinned before He came to earth to die on the cross for mankind? After the incarnation of Jesus, why did He wait 30 more years, obeying His earthly mother and making stools and benches? Then His earthly ministry lasted only three and one-half years. Why? Because God has His own timetable and no man can change it.

Galatians 4:4, "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,"

After His resurrection and ascension, why has Jesus waited another 2,000 years?

2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Another way to explain the phrase, "one thing is needful" is Proverbs 3:5-6.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

In 1 Kings 17, in a time of famine, the Lord told Elijah to go and hide by the brook Cherith and the ravens would feed him THERE. After the brook dried up, the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath to a house of a widow woman and THERE she would sustain him. In both cases, there was only one place where the Lord would preserve Elijah's life. If he decided to go some other place, he would have reaped the reward of his disobedience. There is always a lasting result when we go where the Lord wants us to go. For many long years, some traveling ministers have gone to many churches, preaching and teaching and receiving their large offerings. Only the Lord knows how much of man's efforts have been for naught. But no man should ever go anywhere unless the Lord says so.

The Lord instructed Joshua (in Joshua 1:7) not to depart to the right or to the left. 

Isaiah 30:21,

"And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left."

Jesus exhorted His disciples to remember Lot's wife, who looked back. The walk that the Lord has set forth for His chosen people is not to the right, not to the left, and not back; rather it is a walk forward. On the right and on the left are distractions. Behind us is stagnation. What lies ahead? opposition! Yes, opposition lies ahead, but there is an absolute victory already granted by the Lord to those who will deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him ... to those who press on to know the Lord... to those who press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. David said, in Psalm 27:3, "Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."

We must develop a hearing ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to us. We must listen to the little promptings of the Holy Spirit. It is our obedience in the little things that pleases the Lord. If we are faithful in a few little things, then the Lord will give us greater things to do and become for His glory. David said, in Psalm 27:7-8, "Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye My face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek."

The ONE

Up to this point in this message we have given a short overview or summary of the path or journey of a Christian that the Lord desires. However, we must never forget the purpose or end or goal of our journey. Why were we created? The simple answer is that we were created to glorify God in all things.

In Ephesians 4:4-6, we read, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all." 

Note the seven "ones" in those three verses. Three of the seven "ones" are the Father (Verse 6), the Son (Verse 5), and the Holy Ghost (Verse 4). The one body is His body. The one hope is His hope. The one faith is His faith! The one baptism is His baptism! We believers have tried to change those verses to read MY body, MY hope, MY faith, and MY baptism.

We might add to those verses that there is one vision, although we believers have been deceived into believing that there are many visions. That one vision is HIS vision! We are called to identify with Jesus in every respect. Just as we must identify with His suffering, His death, His resurrection, His intercession, and His weeping over Jerusalem, we must likewise identify with His body, His hope, His faith, and His baptism. We must also identify with His vision, His will, His purposes, and His ways.

In Ephesians 1:17-23, Paul prayed for the Church at Ephesus and for us,

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:

18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,

20 Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

Then, in 1 Corinthians 15:21-28, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."

A new sound is being heard in the earth by those who have ears to hear! That sound is a certain sound. It is the sound of a trumpet. There is also a sound of the abundance of rain! We see a little cloud, like a hand, coming on the horizon. It is a cloud of witnesses. The time of the latter rain is approaching. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!