The Kingdom of God (Part 4: Requirements to Enter - Character Refinement)

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.

The Kingdom of God 

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

(Part 4: Requirements to Enter - Character Refinement)

In our previous two messages we shared with you the need for repentance if we want to enter the kingdom of God. In this message we want to see what else the Bible teaches as the requirements for us to enter the kingdom of God. As we stated before, being born again is free; that costs us nothing. But to enter the kingdom of God we must qualify. We must meet some rather stringent conditions. It will cost us our self-life.

We could perhaps sum up the additional conditions required on our part to enter the kingdom of God, after we are born from above, with two words ... "character refinement." But perhaps an ever better terminology would be character replacement. Our human nature, our character, must be replaced with the Lord's nature and character. John the Baptist said that He must increase but I must decrease. That is true of every Christian. In the past 50 years I have heard quite a number of good men quote that backwards and say I must decrease but He must increase. A more commonly heard word for character refinement is sanctification, which is an on-going process.

My wife has always enjoyed working out in the yard, getting her hands dirty with trees and shrubs and a few flowers ... making our yard more beautiful. Many years ago the Lord gave her a simple analogy ... namely that the best way to have healthy, green grass is to feed the roots of the grass with the proper nutrients. If we make the roots strong, then the good grass will choke out the weeds.

Matthew 19:16-26,

"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto Him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."

The price of character refinement seems unreasonable to the natural mind. We cannot comprehend the need for such a stringent heart condition and life style. Indeed, those requirements are NOT laid on folks who aspire ONLY to the salvation of their souls. Like leaven, this character refinement will not stop until it has touched and changed every aspect of our lives, provided we are willing to cooperate.

It is worth saying that when man (human nature) defiles that which God has ordained, God never makes that thing "better." Instead, He replaces it with something else. The last Adam replaces the first Adam, the Melchisedec priesthood replaces the Levitical priesthood, the New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant, Grace and truth replaces the Mosaic Law. The shed blood of Jesus at Calvary has replaced animal sacrifice. It never was God's ultimate intention to make man, then after the fall of the first Adam to "save" man and make him better. So our old man must be replaced with the life of Christ ... Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Mark 9:1, "And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." 

What did they see? Jesus had taken three of them to the top of a mountain, where He was transfigured before them. They experienced His Glory. They were "scared to death" so to speak.

The humanity of Peter expressed a desire to always be in the presence of the Glory, but he had too much baggage in his soul at that time for that to be realized. Most of us, still have far too much of our "baggage" with us while we crave the Glory of God in our souls. "Baggage" blocks our vision of the Glory of God. We have failed to understand the need for character refinement, and hence have either failed or refused to submit ourselves to the searing heat required to separate ourselves from "ourselves."

We are NOT dealing with rules and regulations. The Lord is no longer saying "thou shalt do this and thou shalt not do that." We are no longer under law but under grace. We are dealing with the Holy Spirit of God.

Malachi 3:2-3, "But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness."

Malachi speaks about the sons of Levi being purified. The Levitical priesthood is no more, so that speaks of the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek ... those who have qualified for kingdom stature. What happens to the other 11 sons? They represent Christians also. I believe scripture teaches that they will be saved but they must go through much tribulation. In a later message we will see that same truth through the prophetic significance of the tabernacle of Moses. Indeed, every truth is repeated many times in many different ways in the Bible.

Isaiah 48:9-10, "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."

In the Old Testament, silver was the most common means of barter or trade. The law said, in Leviticus 27:3-4, 

"And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels."

We also know, from Matthew 26 and 27 that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Why? that was all that the chief priests were willing to pay for Jesus. Even though Jesus was a male, and even though they knew what the law said about the valuation of males being 50 shekels of silver, they thought that Jesus was not worth 50 shekels. Little did they know that the sovereignty of God was at work through the chief priests even though they did not know it! That was prophetic! Jesus did not die on the cross of Calvary for Himself; He did not come to redeem Himself; He had no need for personal redemption. He died on the cross to redeem the elect family of God, His bride, which is considered female; hence the 30 pieces of silver.

Earthly possessions are of no value to help us enter into kingdom stature. In fact they CAN be a hindrance. We saw that earlier when Jesus spoke about the great difficulty for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. That is not to say that material possessions are evil; if the Lord makes you rich materially (as He did with Solomon) then he wants you to use that material gain to glorify Him as He directs. Also,

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Galatians 5:19-21, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witcheraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of GOD."

The disciples had forsaken (made secondary) their earthly ways to follow Jesus in His Ministry. If our mind is cluttered up with the affairs of life, we are not apt to hear the secrets of the Lord.

Luke 18:29-30, "And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." 

Luke 18:16-17, "But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." 

A little child totally depends upon his father. Likewise, we must totally depend upon the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 13:24-28, "Strive [agonize] to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity [those who do whatever feels good to the flesh or seems right to the carnal mind]. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of GOD, and you yourselves thrust out."

The Sermon on the Mount could be called "The Constitution of the Kingdom," or "The Magna Carta of the Kingdom," because it primarily contains instructions about how to conduct our lives AFTER we are saved. We plan to have at least one message on the Sermon on the Mount.

The successful life of a Christian is NOT a set of rules and regulations ... "do's and don'ts" but a life of following the teaching of the Holy Ghost in His work of defining the will of God to each individual, as the Lord pleases. It is the WORD OF GOD (the seed) that produces the increase in our lives. It performs the miracle of turning dust into fruit.

Much, if not most of the attention of professing Christians today has been turned to things that are seen and our ways have become much like the ways of the world. About the only difference between many Christians and a worldly person is that the Christian goes to "church" almost every Sunday and puts a few shekels in the offering plate. And of course we put on our very best behavior when we assemble with other believers.

We are so steeped in our traditions, so caught up in our religious box that only a small minority responds to God's challenge to walk in the truth of His Word. Unbelief is the one thing, the stumbling block that keeps the truth of who we are, and what we have become in Christ, from being demonstrated in our lives. Also, the enemy feeds us subtle lies in an attempt to hide kingdom truths from us. Many will not understand and will oppose and ridicule and persecute you.

The Adamic nature of man is iniquity, which will inevitably result in sins and failure. There is absolutely nothing about man that is acceptable to God. God made everything exactly the way He desired it to be in Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2, before the fall of Adam (and Eve). But whenever man corrupts that which God has created or started, God never makes that thing "better." Neither does He revive or restore it. Rather, God always replaces that which man has corrupted by something better. The Book of Hebrews contains many examples of that fact.

Luke 14:25-33, "And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. ["hate" can be translated as love less. But that is just to be a disciple.] And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."

Jesus also said, "If any man would be His disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him."

This change from reliance on knowledge gained from a humanistic and a mechanistic understanding of the world is critical if we are to wholeheartedly assent to the Bible as our reference and the basis of truth. Now this transformation in our "belief system" will be a "work in progress," only realized as we grow in faith, and most importantly, as we grow in humility. As we shared in our previous message, the mind can be a good servant but is a bad master.

Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Proverbs 23:7, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he"

Philippians 4:4-9 "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you."

Many long years ago a young Christian woman, perhaps in her early forties, came into our home. She was physically hungry, so my wife brought out a number of things and told her to make herself a sandwich. She looked up at the ceiling and said, "Lord should I put the mayonnaise or the mustard on the bread first? Well, we doubted whether the Lord really cared which of the two she put on the bread first. So it is OK to use a little common sense about matters of no real significance.

This I say ... and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind. Ephesians 4:17.

Sadly, current preaching focuses on far less important topics rather than on the keys to living in the Kingdom. So much preaching currently is on showing the "flock" how to fulfil your "dream" or "destiny", how to attain "success" in this world, how to "love ourselves or gain self-esteem", "be happy," "achieve your breakthrough" or some other unhealthy "chaff". A wrong focus on "feel good" topics and "lifestyle issues" can produce only what the world clamors for. God's children deserve better than "junk food" which pushes "self-improvement" and "self-realization". It is high time we "major on the majors".

Now what does our refined character look like? It looks exactly like the nature and character of Jesus. One way to express that refined character is by the fruit of the Spirit.

The truth that we need both repentance and character refinement is seen from Matthew 3:7-8, when John the Baptist said, 

"But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:"

In other words godly fruit in our lives is evidence or proof that our repentance is genuine. If the Word of God does not change us, then we have never genuinely repented.

John 15:16-17, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another." 

Galatians 5:22-26, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

Ephesians 5:9-11, "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

Some of the results of character refinement are that we no longer try to defend ourselves, we esteem others better than ourselves, we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us true humility and meekness, and we patiently wait for the coming of the Lord. In essence, our goal is to walk on earth in the same manner that Jesus walked on earth. Again, this is a work in process (called sanctification). None of us has arrived but we can and must "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

The Lord is infinitely long-suffering and patient in our character transformation. He is at work through chastisements, afflictions, persecutions, tribulations, and indeed through all of our circumstances. There are no accidents or coincidences in the household of God. We also know from Romans 8:28 that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose. He is sovereignly arranging and allowing circumstances to help to mold us into that which He desires; i.e., Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Acts 14:22, "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation [pressure] enter into the kingdom of God."

2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 

In our next message we plan to share about our responsibility to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

May we all, by His grace and by His faith and by His power, continue to press into the kingdom of God.