Walking in Grace
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
In our previous messages we introduced the topic of the grace of God; then we spoke of the God of all grace, followed by a message of great grace ... We continue that topic as we share with you about walking in grace. What does it mean to walk in grace? And what can we do to walk in grace?
First of all, grace is not a package, like a birthday present, that the Lord gives to us. There is no grace outside of Christ. We cannot accept His grace and remain independent from Him.
Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, but they could no longer walk with Him because of their fall from grace by disobeying God. The voice of the LORD God is still walking in His garden today! He is looking for those who will walk with Him! No matter where we are in our walk with Him, there is always much more. We must cry out to the Lord and say, "Help, Lord! Increase my hunger and thirst after You!"
So a hundred shall put ten thousand to flight. This is a ratio of 1 to 100. Therefore, it should be NO surprise if Abraham and his 318 men chased an army of 31,900 (319 times 100). So after his amazing victory and rescue of Lot, two kings came out to meet Abram. The first was the king of Sodom ... the second was the king of Salem ... Melchizedek. This is an example of the false emerging before the true, a topic which we will expand upon in a later message. Some people might have their heads turned by worldly recognition from a worldly king but not Abram. When John Knox was asked if he were frightened by the prospect of meeting the Queen of Scotland, he replied that he had just spent four hours with God. Such a man cannot be much impressed by a mere worldly king or queen. Spiritual insight made Abram aware of the difference between these two kings. Before the king of Salem, Abram was humble and deferential; before the king of Sodom, he was firm and uncompromising.
No serious believer would ever question that Jesus, as a Man on earth, walked in the fullness of the grace of God. Why? because He always did the will of the Father. I strongly believe that the Lord wants us to identify with Him to such a degree that we lose all consciousness of self and desire that each member of His body might mature and walk with Him daily.
How can we walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing unless we are filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding? There is a prerequisite to walking with the Lord. And why would Paul pray that prayer for the saints at Colosse (and for us) if they were already filled with that knowledge?
The early church walked in the fear of the Lord. "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied" (Acts 9:31). Note that 'walking in the fear of the Lord' comes before 'in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.'
The church in our day has traded materialism, position, prestige, traditions of men, natural reasoning, etc., at the expense of the power of God in operation. BUT ... God is not asleep. He has reserved to Himself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And one day very soon, the Lord will unveil the overcomers He has been preparing ... those who will speak the word of God with His authority and power! They are even now in the earth, waiting for the timing of the Lord ... waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when He said, in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." What work could be greater than raising someone from the dead? Could it be that Jesus was saying that in these end-times, when the sons of God are manifested on this earth (and that will surely come to pass) that 'greater' refers to more in number or quantity rather than quality? When Jesus came to the earth some 2000 years ago, He limited Himself in at least two major ways. He set aside much of His glory and He could be in only one place at a time. I believe scripture teaches that at His second advent there will be 7,000 more (not a literal number) who will walk the face of the earth in the same manner that Jesus did when He walked the face of the earth.
Our responsibility likewise is to rest (Hebrews 3 and 4) from our works of the flesh while walking in the works that God has ordained for us to walk in. That, of course, requires hearing the voice of the Lord and discerning that which is of Him.
Receiving God's grace comes before a walk in peace with Him.
1 John 2:3-6, "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
In our next message we want to share with you the example of Jacob who also walked in the grace of God.
Until then may we all desire to walk with the Lord every day, for He alone is worthy. Amen.
First of all, grace is not a package, like a birthday present, that the Lord gives to us. There is no grace outside of Christ. We cannot accept His grace and remain independent from Him.
2 Timothy 2:1, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
Secondly, there are Scriptural verses which refer to our walking before God and walking after Him.
Deuteronomy 13:4, "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him."
Deuteronomy 13:4, "Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him."
Walking after the LORD seems to imply that we are looking for signs to point the way.
1 Corinthians 1:21-25, "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
1 Corinthians 1:21-25, "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
Now let us look at a few verses that speak of walking before the Lord.
Genesis 17:1, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect."Psalm 116:9, "I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living."
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."
Walking before the Lord seems to imply walking by faith. That describes a difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant ... under the Old Covenant we walk by sight (just like the Jews); under the New Covenant we walk by faith.
When we are first apprehended by the Lord and are born again, it is similar to when a baby is born in the natural realm. We enter a world, a realm, that we never knew existed. Unfortunately some new believers are the result of a breech birth, where the head does not come first. That can cause a lot of problems. Likewise when we are born again, if our Head, who is Jesus, does not then come first in our life, then we will experience problems also.
But the highest level or degree of attainment is to walk with God day by day. We have no greater function or purpose in life than to walk with God as He ever moves on. To do that we must agree with Him in all things. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). That verse speaks of the believer walking with God. Walking with God means that we are living and walking in His Kingdom. As we have said in several different messages, that is much more than being "saved" or being born again. Although there is no specific verse in the Bible that speaks of walking in grace, that phrase is the same as walking with God. That brings glory to His heart, but that can be effected only by the power of the Holy Ghost as we cooperate with and yield to Him. The first reference in the Bible to walking with God is found in
When we are first apprehended by the Lord and are born again, it is similar to when a baby is born in the natural realm. We enter a world, a realm, that we never knew existed. Unfortunately some new believers are the result of a breech birth, where the head does not come first. That can cause a lot of problems. Likewise when we are born again, if our Head, who is Jesus, does not then come first in our life, then we will experience problems also.
But the highest level or degree of attainment is to walk with God day by day. We have no greater function or purpose in life than to walk with God as He ever moves on. To do that we must agree with Him in all things. "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" (Amos 3:3). That verse speaks of the believer walking with God. Walking with God means that we are living and walking in His Kingdom. As we have said in several different messages, that is much more than being "saved" or being born again. Although there is no specific verse in the Bible that speaks of walking in grace, that phrase is the same as walking with God. That brings glory to His heart, but that can be effected only by the power of the Holy Ghost as we cooperate with and yield to Him. The first reference in the Bible to walking with God is found in
Genesis 5:24, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Enoch walked with God and God translated him out of this earthly kingdom. If we as believers walk with God we too are translated into another kingdom.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: Colossians 1:13For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Psalm 15:1-2, "A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart."Genesis 6:9, "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."Genesis 3:8, "And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden."
Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, but they could no longer walk with Him because of their fall from grace by disobeying God. The voice of the LORD God is still walking in His garden today! He is looking for those who will walk with Him! No matter where we are in our walk with Him, there is always much more. We must cry out to the Lord and say, "Help, Lord! Increase my hunger and thirst after You!"
Now let us look at the example of Abraham. When Abram first entered the Promised Land, he pitched his tent at Bethel, which means "house of God" (12:8). He left that place for Egypt, which became a "house of slaves." Now he was back in Bethel (13:3), a wiser man than before. He retraced his steps to recover the lost ground of going to Egypt. He had fully obeyed the Lord by separating from his kindred. Then the Lord told him to "walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it" (13:17). Instead, Abram pitched his tent and settled in comfortably in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord (13:18). Mamre means "vision" and Hebron means "joined together" or "communion." At Bethel, Abram had worshipped; at Hebron he knows true fellowship with God. Thus faith moves on to greater faith.
Now who can argue with vision and communion with God? Yet Abram slipped once more, and very subtly that time. Why? because that was NOT what the Lord told Abram to do. "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). But God is sovereign. He will still have His will fulfilled. So in Genesis 14, the Lord sovereignly arranged for a war between four 'good' kings and 5 'bad' kings, undoubtedly involving hundreds of thousands of men. For what purpose? to get Abraham to do what He had told him to do in Genesis 13:17 ... to walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it. Abraham would never have got involved with that war except that the four good kings had taken his nephew Lot prisoner.
Genesis 14:1-12 tells of a war between four kings (14:1) and five kings (14:2). That was the first recorded war in the Bible. The four kings represent the "good guys." They were descendants of Shem. Amraphel, the first "good" king mentioned has been identified historically to be Hammurabi. The code of laws which Hammurabi set forth were indeed "good." Many bible students have compared Hammurabi's code with the Mosaic law, and indeed there are many similarities. Just as with democracy, that code was the best that man had to offer.
The five kings in verse 2 represent the "bad guys" and included the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. They were descendants of Ham. The five kings had served Chedorlaomer for 12 years (14:4), and they should have, for God had pronounced the curse of servitude upon them through Noah. In the 13th year they rebelled.
The important point here is that Abram was part of NEITHER. He was not associated with the good guys or the bad guys. There are three parties in view ... the world, the flesh, and the man of faith. Abram remains set apart from both the good AND the evil, even as God told Adam and Eve that they were not to partake of the tree of knowledge of GOOD and evil. The good and the evil will always war against each other, but we must be careful not to get pulled into their war, which is at a carnal level. The world (the good guys) wants to enlist the man of faith as an ally, but the true man of faith will not join the world in its efforts to subdue Sodom, nor will he join Sodom in its efforts to throw off the yoke of the world. The man of faith has no place even in moral controversies that occupy much of the thought of the world. The world cannot understand why the true pilgrim will not join in the fight against evil. The moral victory of the religious world must not be confused with the spiritual victory of the man of faith. The spiritual man must remain aloof, misunderstood by all but God.
In that first big war, the good guys won (14:10) and took captive not only all of the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah but Lot as well. Note that the man of faith did not move until his fellow believer was in danger. Now Abram COULD have said, "It served him right"; or "He had it coming to him." After all, Abram had allowed Lot to come with him all the way from Ur; Abram was undoubtedly the reason why Lot had prospered and accumulated much riches; and then Lot, stirred on by his desire for earthly riches, had been the cause of great strife between the herdmen of Lot and the herdmen of Abram. But the man of God is a man of compassion. And so when Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive by the good guys, he armed his 318 trained servants and pursued the good guys unto Dan (14:14) and then eastward to Hobah. Abram was a spiritual man and set out to restore Lot in a spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1). The yielded believer cannot have within him a root of bitterness. Even though Lot had been the source of great anguish and strife to Abram, Abram returned good for evil. There is nothing that marks a man as being like Christ more than his genuine love for someone who has been the cause of a deep wrong.
There are at least two significant points about Abram's pursuit of the good kings in order to rescue Lot. The first is that Abram had only 318 trained servants, and they pursued at least tens of thousands. The second is that Abram had made no attempt to rescue Lot from the bad kings in Sodom prior to this war. Does that indicate that the good guys are more of a threat to us as believers than are the bad guys? I believe so. Why? because the ways of the world (the good guys) are so subtle and so hard to distinguish from the ways of the Lord. That is why we must exercise our spiritual senses to be able to discern BOTH (NOT between) GOOD and evil from the path of the just (Hebrews 5:14). It is not too difficult to discern evil. Discerning between good and the ways of the Lord is the hard part. It takes vision and a communion with the Lord.
So Abram in his compassionate rescue mission, "pursued them unto Dan, in the extreme north of Israel and to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus" (14:15). And "Abram brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods" (14:16). How does the meek and lowly Abram, who had yielded his rights to Lot, suddenly display such courage, initiative, and tenacity? And how did Abram, with only 318 men, slaughter armies probably hundreds or even thousands of times larger than his own (Genesis 14:17)? The answer, of course, is that all of his resources were in God.
Now who can argue with vision and communion with God? Yet Abram slipped once more, and very subtly that time. Why? because that was NOT what the Lord told Abram to do. "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 15:22). But God is sovereign. He will still have His will fulfilled. So in Genesis 14, the Lord sovereignly arranged for a war between four 'good' kings and 5 'bad' kings, undoubtedly involving hundreds of thousands of men. For what purpose? to get Abraham to do what He had told him to do in Genesis 13:17 ... to walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it. Abraham would never have got involved with that war except that the four good kings had taken his nephew Lot prisoner.
Genesis 14:1-12 tells of a war between four kings (14:1) and five kings (14:2). That was the first recorded war in the Bible. The four kings represent the "good guys." They were descendants of Shem. Amraphel, the first "good" king mentioned has been identified historically to be Hammurabi. The code of laws which Hammurabi set forth were indeed "good." Many bible students have compared Hammurabi's code with the Mosaic law, and indeed there are many similarities. Just as with democracy, that code was the best that man had to offer.
The five kings in verse 2 represent the "bad guys" and included the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. They were descendants of Ham. The five kings had served Chedorlaomer for 12 years (14:4), and they should have, for God had pronounced the curse of servitude upon them through Noah. In the 13th year they rebelled.
The important point here is that Abram was part of NEITHER. He was not associated with the good guys or the bad guys. There are three parties in view ... the world, the flesh, and the man of faith. Abram remains set apart from both the good AND the evil, even as God told Adam and Eve that they were not to partake of the tree of knowledge of GOOD and evil. The good and the evil will always war against each other, but we must be careful not to get pulled into their war, which is at a carnal level. The world (the good guys) wants to enlist the man of faith as an ally, but the true man of faith will not join the world in its efforts to subdue Sodom, nor will he join Sodom in its efforts to throw off the yoke of the world. The man of faith has no place even in moral controversies that occupy much of the thought of the world. The world cannot understand why the true pilgrim will not join in the fight against evil. The moral victory of the religious world must not be confused with the spiritual victory of the man of faith. The spiritual man must remain aloof, misunderstood by all but God.
In that first big war, the good guys won (14:10) and took captive not only all of the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah but Lot as well. Note that the man of faith did not move until his fellow believer was in danger. Now Abram COULD have said, "It served him right"; or "He had it coming to him." After all, Abram had allowed Lot to come with him all the way from Ur; Abram was undoubtedly the reason why Lot had prospered and accumulated much riches; and then Lot, stirred on by his desire for earthly riches, had been the cause of great strife between the herdmen of Lot and the herdmen of Abram. But the man of God is a man of compassion. And so when Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive by the good guys, he armed his 318 trained servants and pursued the good guys unto Dan (14:14) and then eastward to Hobah. Abram was a spiritual man and set out to restore Lot in a spirit of meekness (Galatians 6:1). The yielded believer cannot have within him a root of bitterness. Even though Lot had been the source of great anguish and strife to Abram, Abram returned good for evil. There is nothing that marks a man as being like Christ more than his genuine love for someone who has been the cause of a deep wrong.
There are at least two significant points about Abram's pursuit of the good kings in order to rescue Lot. The first is that Abram had only 318 trained servants, and they pursued at least tens of thousands. The second is that Abram had made no attempt to rescue Lot from the bad kings in Sodom prior to this war. Does that indicate that the good guys are more of a threat to us as believers than are the bad guys? I believe so. Why? because the ways of the world (the good guys) are so subtle and so hard to distinguish from the ways of the Lord. That is why we must exercise our spiritual senses to be able to discern BOTH (NOT between) GOOD and evil from the path of the just (Hebrews 5:14). It is not too difficult to discern evil. Discerning between good and the ways of the Lord is the hard part. It takes vision and a communion with the Lord.
So Abram in his compassionate rescue mission, "pursued them unto Dan, in the extreme north of Israel and to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus" (14:15). And "Abram brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods" (14:16). How does the meek and lowly Abram, who had yielded his rights to Lot, suddenly display such courage, initiative, and tenacity? And how did Abram, with only 318 men, slaughter armies probably hundreds or even thousands of times larger than his own (Genesis 14:17)? The answer, of course, is that all of his resources were in God.
3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
...
7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. Leviticus 26:3, 7-8
So a hundred shall put ten thousand to flight. This is a ratio of 1 to 100. Therefore, it should be NO surprise if Abraham and his 318 men chased an army of 31,900 (319 times 100). So after his amazing victory and rescue of Lot, two kings came out to meet Abram. The first was the king of Sodom ... the second was the king of Salem ... Melchizedek. This is an example of the false emerging before the true, a topic which we will expand upon in a later message. Some people might have their heads turned by worldly recognition from a worldly king but not Abram. When John Knox was asked if he were frightened by the prospect of meeting the Queen of Scotland, he replied that he had just spent four hours with God. Such a man cannot be much impressed by a mere worldly king or queen. Spiritual insight made Abram aware of the difference between these two kings. Before the king of Salem, Abram was humble and deferential; before the king of Sodom, he was firm and uncompromising.
1 John 2:12-14, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one."
Note the three levels of maturity in those verses ... little children, young men, and fathers. We see those same three levels in, Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Notice the order, because it seems strange. First we mount up with wings like eagles. Then we run. Finally we walk. Does it seem out of order? not at all. First, we recognize that we soar up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). That is typically our attitude after we are born again. It is like we have just entered a world that we never knew existed. And of course, that is exactly what has happened. In that initial state, we are very enthusiastic and want to soar like eagles and do great things for God.
Then we set ourselves on the course to run the race (Hebrews 12:1). Those who run in races have to spend many hours in training to get their bodies prepared. Before any believer can function as a spiritual father they must spend many hours walking with the Lord, reading His word, praying and interceding before the throne of God that His will might be done.
Then we finally are in the good place simply to walk with God.
Notice the order, because it seems strange. First we mount up with wings like eagles. Then we run. Finally we walk. Does it seem out of order? not at all. First, we recognize that we soar up into heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). That is typically our attitude after we are born again. It is like we have just entered a world that we never knew existed. And of course, that is exactly what has happened. In that initial state, we are very enthusiastic and want to soar like eagles and do great things for God.
Then we set ourselves on the course to run the race (Hebrews 12:1). Those who run in races have to spend many hours in training to get their bodies prepared. Before any believer can function as a spiritual father they must spend many hours walking with the Lord, reading His word, praying and interceding before the throne of God that His will might be done.
Then we finally are in the good place simply to walk with God.
Colossians 2:6-7, "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 4:15, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel."
In these end times, the Lord is raising up spiritual fathers.
Malachi 4:5-6, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
Although those verses were partially fulfilled through John the Baptist, there will be a final fulfillment just before the Lord returns to earth in the second advent.
Now consider the example of Jesus.
Now consider the example of Jesus.
And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:4051 And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them [was obedient or submitted self]: but His mother kept all these sayings in her heart.52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.Luke 2:51-52
No serious believer would ever question that Jesus, as a Man on earth, walked in the fullness of the grace of God. Why? because He always did the will of the Father. I strongly believe that the Lord wants us to identify with Him to such a degree that we lose all consciousness of self and desire that each member of His body might mature and walk with Him daily.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?Micah 6:8
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Colossians 1:9-10
How can we walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing unless we are filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding? There is a prerequisite to walking with the Lord. And why would Paul pray that prayer for the saints at Colosse (and for us) if they were already filled with that knowledge?
The early church walked in the fear of the Lord. "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied" (Acts 9:31). Note that 'walking in the fear of the Lord' comes before 'in the comfort of the Holy Ghost.'
12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,13 To keep the commandiments of the LORD, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13
The church in our day has traded materialism, position, prestige, traditions of men, natural reasoning, etc., at the expense of the power of God in operation. BUT ... God is not asleep. He has reserved to Himself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And one day very soon, the Lord will unveil the overcomers He has been preparing ... those who will speak the word of God with His authority and power! They are even now in the earth, waiting for the timing of the Lord ... waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when He said, in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." What work could be greater than raising someone from the dead? Could it be that Jesus was saying that in these end-times, when the sons of God are manifested on this earth (and that will surely come to pass) that 'greater' refers to more in number or quantity rather than quality? When Jesus came to the earth some 2000 years ago, He limited Himself in at least two major ways. He set aside much of His glory and He could be in only one place at a time. I believe scripture teaches that at His second advent there will be 7,000 more (not a literal number) who will walk the face of the earth in the same manner that Jesus did when He walked the face of the earth.
A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Psalm 110:1
And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. Luke 13:29
Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
Luke 22:69
At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day. Deuteronomy 10:8
Our responsibility likewise is to rest (Hebrews 3 and 4) from our works of the flesh while walking in the works that God has ordained for us to walk in. That, of course, requires hearing the voice of the Lord and discerning that which is of Him.
Receiving God's grace comes before a walk in peace with Him.
1 John 2:3-6, "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked."
In our next message we want to share with you the example of Jacob who also walked in the grace of God.
Until then may we all desire to walk with the Lord every day, for He alone is worthy. Amen.
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