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.
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| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
In our two previous messages we shared some thoughts about the need for restoration within the church, which consists of all born-again believers. Before continuing let us consider three of the major hindrances to maturity or to the unity of the faith within the body of Christ. This is NOT to say that there are ONLY three hindrances to maturity in Christ. Far from it! But the following are three of the largest. They have both an individual and a corporate application, particularly in the charismatic/Spirit-filled community today. These three hindrances are very much inter-related.
First, man, even Christian man, is FOREVER trying to pull down that which is spiritual and holy to the natural level. Why? So that man can try to understand the ways of the Lord and the mystery of God with his own natural, carnal mind. Let us repeat and emphasize that. Man, even Christian man, is FOREVER trying to pull down that which is spiritual and holy to the natural level. Why? So that man can try to understand the ways of the Lord and the mystery of God with his own natural, carnal mind. The book of 1 Corinthians is a letter of correction to the Church at Corinth. Paul tells them that they are carnal, babes in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1). Paul also says,
We might interject here that what happened in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost was definitely an isolated event.
We quote from their book ...
We perhaps should note that the authors of that book are no doubt Evangelicals. Perhaps in a later message we will share with you about the major beliefs and actions of Evangelicals.
What we are about to share in the next few minutes was sparked a number of months ago from a message by Leonard Ravenhill, a well-known 20th century evangelist.
Revival is an act of grace and mercy by the sovereignty of God. There is a big difference between revival and evangelism. When we speak of revival in America we think of a church advertising, "Our revival will begin next Sunday night at a certain time and it is going to finish the next Sunday night at a certain time." Obviously this is something purely mechanical; it is something which men have engineered.
Revival cannot be organized, subsidized, computerized, rationalized, or advertised -evangelism can be all of those and usually it must be. Neither can a revival be predicted. You can't put your finger on the spot as to how or why or where it began. It is above all else an act of God.
It may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to have one of our huge, modern, so-called revivals. You have to pay large sums of money for time on TV or to rent a huge auditorium. That's incredible and unthinkable in the context of Biblical revival, or even historical revival. That is why most folks who advertise "conferences" or "revivals" charge $100 or more to attend. Why doesn't revival need to be advertised? because fire is the most self-advertising thing that exists, whether it is a physical fire or a revival fire. Fire draws people like a magnet. There are periods in which one specific thing predominates. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by sorrow. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by joy or ecstasy until you don't know whether you are in the flesh or whether you've gone out of the earth. Sometimes revival is taken over by stillness. In one of the very few times that I have witnessed the presence of the Lord in an unusual and mighty way, it came through a spirit of weeping which permeated the entire room.
A man may go with a series of messages to one community and before long that community is vibrant and alive. He goes to another town and the same type of prayer is poured out, the same sweat and soul travail, and there is no response. Why? because you can't organize where the wind is coming from. Jesus said, in John 3:8,
First, man, even Christian man, is FOREVER trying to pull down that which is spiritual and holy to the natural level. Why? So that man can try to understand the ways of the Lord and the mystery of God with his own natural, carnal mind. Let us repeat and emphasize that. Man, even Christian man, is FOREVER trying to pull down that which is spiritual and holy to the natural level. Why? So that man can try to understand the ways of the Lord and the mystery of God with his own natural, carnal mind. The book of 1 Corinthians is a letter of correction to the Church at Corinth. Paul tells them that they are carnal, babes in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1). Paul also says,
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
Evangelicals, as a generality, emphasize a literal interpretation of the Bible. But there are hundreds and hundreds of verses in the Bible that cannot (or at least should not) be interpreted in the natural realm. For example here are a few. There are many more.
Many years ago a good brother with a lot of maturity wrote a book titled, "The Pattern." In that book he described the pattern for church government, which includes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, elders, deacons and their function and operation within the Church. That is well and good except there is no such thing as a static pattern for Church government. It must be dynamic where the government of God forever moves away from man to the Lord's shoulder (Isaiah 9:6). The only pattern is the Lord Himself.
The third hindrance among the members of body of Christ lies in the area of human communication. The most difficult aspect in charismatic/Spirit-filled circles today is communication. Communication requires both a transmitter and a receiver. Even if the transmitter is perfect (the Holy Spirit), without a receiver tuned to the same frequency, no communication is possible. Lord, give us ears to hear! The church cannot thrive or survive on yesterday's manna. This area is much more difficult than communication between those who do not know the Lord. Why? because those who do not know the Lord have no access to things of the Spirit. Therefore they have far fewer areas to argue about. This is a day when every (Christian) man does that which is right in his own sight. The same written and/or spoken word is interpreted in many different ways by different believers, because of the first two hindrances. We like to hear only that which agrees with our own understanding of this walk. Now we need to make absolutely clear what the Word of God says about restoration. Let us first consider the word revival, which means to recover or repair.
Most believers want revival, but don't know what it is or how to get it. We know of some good brothers who have been praying for revival for many years. The most recent known revivals are fifty years old. Does that mean the age of revivals has come to an end? We will try to answer that question later.
In their book, "The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever," by Elmer Towns and Douglas Porter, January 2000, the authors list, in order, what they consider to be the ten greatest revivals in the history of mankind. Their book is primarily an historical account of what happened during those ten revivals. Their order of importance is:
1. The 1904 Revival, Beginning in Wales with Evan Roberts, along with Azusa Street
10. Pentecost 30 A.D. Peter, Paul
Here I must disagree. Although every revival brought forth by the LORD is important, I would put the day of Pentecost as the first and most important of all revivals. That was the birth of the Church.
- A cup that is not a cup.
- A crown that is not a crown.
- A sea which is not a sea.
- A woman who is not a woman.
- A smoking furnace that is not a smoking furnace.
- A burning lamp that is not a burning lamp.
- Seven stars which are not stars.
- Babylon that is not a geographical area called Babylon.
- Armageddon that is not a geographical area in the Middle East.
- The Morning Star which is not a star.
- A Lamb who is not a lamb.
- A lion that is not a lion.
- A woman clothed with the sun, the moon under her feet, on her head a garland of 12 stars, which is neither woman, garland, sun, moon, nor stars.
- Jerusalem which is not the city of Jerusalem in the Middle East.
- Zion which is not Mt. Zion.
- A wilderness of barrenness which is a place of sustenance.
- A loaf of bread that is not a loaf of bread.
Many years ago a good brother with a lot of maturity wrote a book titled, "The Pattern." In that book he described the pattern for church government, which includes apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, elders, deacons and their function and operation within the Church. That is well and good except there is no such thing as a static pattern for Church government. It must be dynamic where the government of God forever moves away from man to the Lord's shoulder (Isaiah 9:6). The only pattern is the Lord Himself.
The third hindrance among the members of body of Christ lies in the area of human communication. The most difficult aspect in charismatic/Spirit-filled circles today is communication. Communication requires both a transmitter and a receiver. Even if the transmitter is perfect (the Holy Spirit), without a receiver tuned to the same frequency, no communication is possible. Lord, give us ears to hear! The church cannot thrive or survive on yesterday's manna. This area is much more difficult than communication between those who do not know the Lord. Why? because those who do not know the Lord have no access to things of the Spirit. Therefore they have far fewer areas to argue about. This is a day when every (Christian) man does that which is right in his own sight. The same written and/or spoken word is interpreted in many different ways by different believers, because of the first two hindrances. We like to hear only that which agrees with our own understanding of this walk. Now we need to make absolutely clear what the Word of God says about restoration. Let us first consider the word revival, which means to recover or repair.
Most believers want revival, but don't know what it is or how to get it. We know of some good brothers who have been praying for revival for many years. The most recent known revivals are fifty years old. Does that mean the age of revivals has come to an end? We will try to answer that question later.
In their book, "The Ten Greatest Revivals Ever," by Elmer Towns and Douglas Porter, January 2000, the authors list, in order, what they consider to be the ten greatest revivals in the history of mankind. Their book is primarily an historical account of what happened during those ten revivals. Their order of importance is:
1. The 1904 Revival, Beginning in Wales with Evan Roberts, along with Azusa Street
10. Pentecost 30 A.D. Peter, Paul
Here I must disagree. Although every revival brought forth by the LORD is important, I would put the day of Pentecost as the first and most important of all revivals. That was the birth of the Church.
The authors define revival as "God pouring Himself out on His people". They say that usually revival breaks out at the same time in many places around the world, not just in one place; so each of the "greatest revivals" are not just isolated events.
We might interject here that what happened in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost was definitely an isolated event.
We quote from their book ...
"When you pray for revival, you're asking God for life-shaking experiences that will cost you plenty. It's agonizing because in revival you become terrorized over your sin and you repent deeply. It's consuming because in revival you have no time for hobbies ... for chores around the house ... for work ... for sleep.
Revivals are not simply displays of emotions. These unusual expressions are not what revival is about. The whole purpose of a revival is for God to revive our hearts. Some see revival as an end in itself, rather than an opportunity to know God Himself. The most important thing about a revival is knowing God, not experiencing its manifestations. When that happens, revivals become inclusive and sectarian, sometimes even falling into the ranks of cultism. Don't seek the hand of God in miracles [and by that I assume they mean external manifestations], Seek the heart of God in intimacy.The eternal quest of mankind is to know and experience God. Some want God to split open the heavens and descend to earth so they can see Him. Others want God to write His message in the sky or on a mountain so they can see it and know for sure what to do. Still others want to hear the actual voice of God yelling like thunder. Still others want God to "zap "em" so they'll quiver on the floor or jump like a kangaroo. Essentially, an evangelical revival is an extraordinary work of God in which Christians repent of their sins as they become intensely aware of His presence and His extraordinary works, and they manifest a positive response to God in renewed obedience to the known will of God, resulting in both a deepening of their individual and corporate experience with God and an increased concern to win others to Christ." (end quotes)
We perhaps should note that the authors of that book are no doubt Evangelicals. Perhaps in a later message we will share with you about the major beliefs and actions of Evangelicals.
What we are about to share in the next few minutes was sparked a number of months ago from a message by Leonard Ravenhill, a well-known 20th century evangelist.
Hosea 10:12 says: "Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you."
What is fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that has been fruitful, and then it has been plowed over, and no seed has been sown in it, and therefore it has become unproductive.
Note our responsibility here - we are to break up - you break up your fallow ground.
The word "revive" presupposes life. You can only revive what has once had vitality - life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. It means to revitalize. It means to restore lost power or to recover lost energy. Has the Church ever had that power and energy? Yes! It is recorded in the Book of Acts.
Note our responsibility here - we are to break up - you break up your fallow ground.
The word "revive" presupposes life. You can only revive what has once had vitality - life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. It means to revitalize. It means to restore lost power or to recover lost energy. Has the Church ever had that power and energy? Yes! It is recorded in the Book of Acts.
In Acts 3:19 we read, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."
Revival is an act of grace and mercy by the sovereignty of God. There is a big difference between revival and evangelism. When we speak of revival in America we think of a church advertising, "Our revival will begin next Sunday night at a certain time and it is going to finish the next Sunday night at a certain time." Obviously this is something purely mechanical; it is something which men have engineered.
Revival cannot be organized, subsidized, computerized, rationalized, or advertised -evangelism can be all of those and usually it must be. Neither can a revival be predicted. You can't put your finger on the spot as to how or why or where it began. It is above all else an act of God.
It may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to have one of our huge, modern, so-called revivals. You have to pay large sums of money for time on TV or to rent a huge auditorium. That's incredible and unthinkable in the context of Biblical revival, or even historical revival. That is why most folks who advertise "conferences" or "revivals" charge $100 or more to attend. Why doesn't revival need to be advertised? because fire is the most self-advertising thing that exists, whether it is a physical fire or a revival fire. Fire draws people like a magnet. There are periods in which one specific thing predominates. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by sorrow. Sometimes revival is totally taken over by joy or ecstasy until you don't know whether you are in the flesh or whether you've gone out of the earth. Sometimes revival is taken over by stillness. In one of the very few times that I have witnessed the presence of the Lord in an unusual and mighty way, it came through a spirit of weeping which permeated the entire room.
A man may go with a series of messages to one community and before long that community is vibrant and alive. He goes to another town and the same type of prayer is poured out, the same sweat and soul travail, and there is no response. Why? because you can't organize where the wind is coming from. Jesus said, in John 3:8,
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
Also, revival usually comes through unknown people.
This nation, as well as the world, has never been in a greater sense of turmoil than it is today. There has never been revival that has not been preceded by agonizing prayer. You might say, "I am not yet to that stage of agonizing prayer. How does is come?" It comes through VISION. If we are really going to get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God's sorrow over sin and the lack of maturity. We have to get a concept of how, day by day, we grieve the Lord.
Then we should ask, "How do we receive that vision?" Well the major function of a true prophet is not to prophesy but to enlarge the vision of the Church. Therefore we would do well in every local church to pray that the Lord will raise up a true prophet in our midst.
Now to somewhat sum up this brief overview of revivals, we should note that none of the scriptural and historical revivals have ever lasted for a lengthy period of time. I do not know for a certainty but I suspect that the longest lasting revival was what happened after the Day of Pentecost as recorded in the Book of Acts. We will mention two specific revivals in a later message and how and why they both quickly went downhill. But even the fading out glory of God is a wonder to behold. Although it is true that all genuine revivals have made profound changes in the lives of a few (which we call the remnant), no such impact has been made on the Church as a whole.
That is why these messages are not about revival, which has always been temporary and short-lived - but on restoration. Restoration, to me, seems to carry more of a sense of finality. Perhaps we could speak of numerous revivals but only one restoration. In any event, the Lord never allows a revival or restoration just so we can continue to do our own thing. That brings up a good question ... Who is in control?
This is a key question which must be answered by every believer, particularly those who have been placed into a leadership position in a local church. The answer to this question will determine our place in the kingdom of God. It is one thing to be led astray as an individual. It is quite another thing to lead many other believers astray. May the Lord be gracious and merciful as we seek His face.
In our next seven or eight messages we will continue sharing about restoration from the Lord's perspective ... a restoration back to what was in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world. Amen.
This nation, as well as the world, has never been in a greater sense of turmoil than it is today. There has never been revival that has not been preceded by agonizing prayer. You might say, "I am not yet to that stage of agonizing prayer. How does is come?" It comes through VISION. If we are really going to get a concept of revival we have to get a vision of God's sorrow over sin and the lack of maturity. We have to get a concept of how, day by day, we grieve the Lord.
Then we should ask, "How do we receive that vision?" Well the major function of a true prophet is not to prophesy but to enlarge the vision of the Church. Therefore we would do well in every local church to pray that the Lord will raise up a true prophet in our midst.
Now to somewhat sum up this brief overview of revivals, we should note that none of the scriptural and historical revivals have ever lasted for a lengthy period of time. I do not know for a certainty but I suspect that the longest lasting revival was what happened after the Day of Pentecost as recorded in the Book of Acts. We will mention two specific revivals in a later message and how and why they both quickly went downhill. But even the fading out glory of God is a wonder to behold. Although it is true that all genuine revivals have made profound changes in the lives of a few (which we call the remnant), no such impact has been made on the Church as a whole.
That is why these messages are not about revival, which has always been temporary and short-lived - but on restoration. Restoration, to me, seems to carry more of a sense of finality. Perhaps we could speak of numerous revivals but only one restoration. In any event, the Lord never allows a revival or restoration just so we can continue to do our own thing. That brings up a good question ... Who is in control?
This is a key question which must be answered by every believer, particularly those who have been placed into a leadership position in a local church. The answer to this question will determine our place in the kingdom of God. It is one thing to be led astray as an individual. It is quite another thing to lead many other believers astray. May the Lord be gracious and merciful as we seek His face.
In our next seven or eight messages we will continue sharing about restoration from the Lord's perspective ... a restoration back to what was in the heart and mind of God before the foundation of the world. Amen.
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