The Master Key

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 Master Key

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

Let us turn our Attention to "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." We have affirmed that preparation is our responsibility, and after we prepare the Lord brings about restoration. The preparation that we are called to "do" is primarily to prepare our heart. Our heart scripturally is our spirit or our inner self. The attitude or motivation of our hearts is critical, for man looks on the outer appearance but God looks on the heart. Further, no amount of "work" on our part will prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord. Everything is all His work. All we can do is to cry out, "Help, Lord."

At times some Christians appear to be looking for a "magic" formula, or the "five steps toward ...", or some silver bullet which will grant them instant maturity or at least will take away all of their problems. Of course, there is no such thing. But there is a Master Key, which when apprehended, will please the heart of the Father.

As an introduction, let us consider a phrase: Right focus plus right truth produces right results. By right truth we mean rightly dividing the word of truth or the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15). That is an area that most individuals and church groups believe they do but the outworking says something quite different. Just look at the wide differences of opinion about many Scriptural principles. By right focus we mean that our heart, our spirit, our perspective, our focus must be on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and not on ourselves. By right results, we mean the fruit of the Spirit or "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Both right truth and right focus are important, but we will never attain to right truth unless we have right focus. 

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  

John 4:23-24

Note the order: spirit comes before truth. So we want to concentrate on the right focus, the right spirit, the right heart, our perspective of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. For if our focus is right, then the grace of God has greater opportunity to operate in our life.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.

15 All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you. John 16:12-15

Let us consider a key. A key is a means of gaining entrance, possession, or control of some location or device, such as a house, a safe, or an automobile. A key also may be something that gives an explanation or provides a solution. The word "key" or "keys" occurs only eight times in Scripture. Only four of those occurrences are relative to this word: The first occurrence is:

Woe unto you, lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. Luke 11:52

A lawyer does not refer to "attorneys at law" or those who practice natural law. A lawyer in Biblical terminology was one who was a teacher of the law as given through Moses; he interpreted and taught the Mosaic Law. The lawyers took away the key of knowledge by using their own natural, logical, reasoning, carnal minds to interpret the Mosaic Law and thus came up with the Talmud ... man's interpretation of God's law. Three times in the gospel of John, Jesus told the Pharisees, "It is written in your law ..." i.e., not the law given by God.

The "key of knowledge" refers to spiritual understanding; it refers to revelation knowledge; or to the "spirit of prophecy." By "spirit of prophecy" we do NOT mean the utterance of prophecy or the gift of prophecy. We know that,

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 19:10

The word, testimony, means a bearing witness, not simply a witness. It means evidence given. The life of a true servant of the Lord bears witness to the Lord Himself. When that Verse says, "that have the testimony of Jesus," it does not refer to speaking or doing ... it refers to a word that has been made flesh.

Without the key of knowledge (which is the testimony of Jesus or the spirit of prophecy), none of us can understand Scripture except at a natural, superficial level. The Lord Jesus has that key of knowledge and He will give that key to whomsoever He will.

The second occurrence of "key" is the following: 

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:17-19

Note that "keys" is plural, indicating more than one. So there are many keys of the kingdom of heaven. We can read about these keys in what men call the Beatitudes, e.g. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:2). If we think of an analogy of a motel, a motel has many rooms with many different keys. But the owner has the Master Key and there is only ONE Master Key!

The apostle Paul sought after one thing.

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.

15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Philippians 3:13-15

What is that one thing? Certainly it is NOT something where the focus is on me. Let us look for the Master Key, the one thing and the only thing that will satisfy our longing soul! What is the Master Key? The Master Key is the Master Himself! But let us try to be more spcific than that. Unless you believe in absolute predestination wherein we have no choice, our response to God must enter the picture. Certainly unless God moves, man cannot move. But we must react to God's actions. We must respond in some manner. We could choose to ignore God. We could choose to try to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. Or we could respond to God's love, grace, mercy, and kindness with a fervent longing for Him and a desire to please Him in all things.

We can read Scripture every day; we can go to church every Sunday, we can never "do" anything significantly "wrong"; we can never "say" anything significantly wrong; we can tithe; we can do many "good" works; we can pray, we can fast ... and still miss out, like Cornelius, on the richness of the Master Key.

The third and fourth occurrences of the word "key" are the following.

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon His shoulder; so He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut, and none shall open. Isaiah 22:22

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth. Revelation 3:7

In both of the above two verses, it is clear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the One who has the key of the house of David and the key of David.

Now exactly what is the key of the house of David and the key of David? May we suggest that it is the heart. But it is a qualified heart. David made at least five or six serious mistakes, or sins, but he was quick to repent. Moreover, the reason that David never lost a battle is because he always asked the Lord whether he should go up to battle. He knew that he was always dependent upon the Lord. Further,

And when He had removed him, He raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after Mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will. Acts 13:22

David expressed this qualified heart attitude very well. That is why God called David "a man after My own heart, who shall fulfill all My will." David expressed this good heart in Psalm 132. 

1 Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions:

2 How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;

3 Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed;

4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,

5 Until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

Psalm 132:1-5

The key is also given in Luke 15, which sometimes is called the parable of the prodigal son, but perhaps more accurately should be called the parable of the loving Father. We all know the parable of the prodigal son. We all know that the younger son first asked his father, "give me." The father gave him what he asked for. After things became unbearable in his life, he came to his senses, repented, and went back to his father. Then the younger son said "make me." So in order to find the Master Key we must get out of the "give me" stage and instead ask the Father to break me and then to make me. In other words, we must want the Holy Spirit to break us of all traces of self and then to make us into the image of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now we certainly are not opposed to the things that God freely gives us to richly enjoy. We greatly appreciate every good gift that God gives to us and we praise Him and thank Him for all of those things. But sooner or later, we need to move beyond that stage. We need to identify with Christ and to ask, Lord, what do YOU want? How can I please You? Jesus said,

If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Matthew 16:24

No man has ever lost anything of lasting value by walking in the spirit of that verse. The Lord comes to those who put their trust in Him and provides for all their need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philppians 4:19). When we look above the blessing to the One who blesses, we have learned God's arithmetic that the Whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Do you have an intense longing for the Lord Jesus? If so, then you are well on the way toward apprehending the Master Key. We know that the Lord will spew the lukewarm out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16), but what about those who are intense for Jesus?

Do you groan and weep that the plans and purposes of God might be fulfilled, not only in your own life, but in the life of all believers? Paul said, 

1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. 2 Corinthians 5:13

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:22-23

David, the sweet psalmist, said,

25 With the merciful Thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man Thou wilt shew thyself upright;

26 With the pure Thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt shew thyself froward. Psalm 18:25-26

Verse 26b may also be translated as: "With the contender (or perverse) Thou wilt wrestle." That is exactly what God did with Jacob, as recorded in Genesis 32. In other words, God will show Himself to you in the same manner that you show yourself to Him. Many years ago, as I was reading those verses, the Lord brought to my mind an addition to those verses, as follows: "With the intense Thou will show thyself intensely." Saul (in the book of Acts) was a very intense man. He went about with intensity to kill or throw into prison the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. After the Lord apprehended him, the new Paul showed himself intensely for the Lord Jesus. That is why Paul received so many revelations. The Lord will do the same for YOU if you are intense for Him! What if you sense that you are not as intense for Him as you should be? How do we obtain that intensity? Very simple! Just ask Him to fan the flame of desire within you. Let us recall the time that the resurrected Jesus showed Himself to the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. At first, the two disciples could not recognize Jesus. Then,

15 And it came to pass, that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them.

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.

30 And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight.

32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures? 

Luke 24:15, 27, 30-32

In Verse 15, they "communed together and reasoned." The downfall of Cain, in Genesis 4, began when he rejected Divine revelation and walked in human reasoning. One of the greatest examples of the grace of God is found in Genesis 4 in God's dealing with Cain. The same is true in Verse 15. Even though the two disciples were communing together and reasoning, Jesus nevertheless drew near and went with them! What grace!

Jesus opened their eyes that they might know Him. That should be our heart cry, just as Paul said, "That I might know Him" (Philippians 3:10). When we know Him, then our hearts will burn within us. We will be baptized with fire ... the fire of God. The complete cycle begins with an intense longing for Him! Does your heart burn to know Him? If our heart does not burn to know Him better, He will give us that burning desire, if we will only ask Him.

After Abram had defeated the four "good" kings, in Genesis 14, and rescued his nephew, Lot,

1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.

2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? Genesis 15:1-2

At that point in time, Abram did not understand the ways of the Lord. The Lord had just told Abram that the Lord, Himself, was his great reward; but Abram proceeded to ask the Lord, "What will You give me?"

In the final analysis, God does not exist for our pleasure ... just the opposite. We exist for His pleasure.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11

What a marvelous God we serve! His ways are past finding out! His love, grace, and mercy exceed abundantly all that we could ever ask or think! He has built into His people a longing that can only be satisfied by Himself. We will be satisfied only when the Lord is satisfied with us. David expressed that longing when he said,

As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. Psalm 17:15

Now some may say, "But I am not in the same category with David, Paul and Abraham. They were spiritual giants! Why me?" Let us turn that question around. Why NOT you? We know that God is no respecter of persons, so why not you? Every single one of us has been given the precious and priceless opportunity by the Lord to lay hold of the Master Key.

We understand and possess the Master Key when we realize and know in our innermost being that the ONLY thing that matters is that God might be glorified within and through our lives. At that point, we no longer are looking for any reward for our self because we have the ultimate reward, Christ in you, the hope of glory! Glory be to His wonderful name!