What Shall This Man Do? (Part 10)

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.

What Shall This Man Do? (Part 10) 

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

 

Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 

Acts 2:37

And he [Paul] trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Acts 9:6

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Acts 16:30

And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. Acts 22:10

Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? John 21:21

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Luke 18:18

The human nature of man is to "do." Men are always looking for the answer to, "What shall I do?" When Saul of Tarsus was first apprehended by the Lord, he asked that same question (Acts 22:10). God's people have usually been concerned with what we must "do" primarily when circumstances seem difficult, critical, or urgent. Generally speaking, because the Church in America today sees nothing critical or urgent, we are very lukewarm concerning what we must do. For the most part, the Church still enjoys apparent prosperity and blessings, so why rock the boat? Some say that we need to move on in the Spirit and that this is no time for business as usual; nevertheless, the actions of the Church, particularly by the leaders of the Church, make it clear that business as usual is just fine. "All is well" is a heart-warming, popular phrase. However, consider the news that Ahimaaz brought to King David after his son Absalom was killed. When Ahimaaz ran with news to David, the first words out of his mouth were, "All is well" (2 Samuel 18:28). But Ahimaaz had not seen anything. He simply told David what he thought David wanted to hear. Does that have any application to us today?

Contemporary Christians tend to be predictable traditionalists merely tweaking the methods and means that they have been taught and trained to use. Typically speaking, the contemporary Christian is too busy to spend time with God in order to bask in His glorious presence, too busy to study the word of God in order to know the mind of God, too busy to have altar time with God to be consumed by holy fire, and too busy running from the demands of God to be running with God, knowing the miraculous will of God. Many contemporary Christians lack the vision and passion to build the Kingdom of God. Rather, they build the "Chapel of Self." (Author unknown)

What specifically is the Lord waiting on us, the Church (or at least a remnant), to do in this hour? There are many "good" things that we can "do," but we must first of all preach the gospel with our life. Words mean little to the unsaved today, and very little to charismatics. However we are concerned with what must be the number one priority for the body of Christ today.

We respectfully disagree with the growing number of would-be and pseudo "prophets" who warn us to prepare in the natural realm for the coming disasters in the United States. An increasing number of "big names" and "wanna-be big names" tell us to store up several month's worth of food and water and plan where to go when nuclear attacks come. They also tell us to keep our gas tanks in our cars full because we may have to travel some distance to escape the coming disasters. In other words, those "big names" tell us to carefully design our disaster recovery plan. A disaster recovery plan in the natural realm cuts across the spirit of my Bible. Do we live by the faith of the Son of God or do we live by our natural, logical reasoning? Jesus said,

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Matthew 6:19-20

What about the poor widow woman who cast into the treasury two mites, which was all that she had, even all of her living (Mark 12:42-44)? Do you think that the Lord did not provide for her after that sacrifice? Did she have to beg for food to stay alive after that?

What about the widow woman in the time of Elijah (1 Kings 17:10-24) who only had a handful of meal and a little oil in a cruise? Because she was willing to give it to Elijah to eat, the barrel of meal did not waste, neither did the cruise of oil fail until the Lord sent rain upon the earth.

What about the woman in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 4:1-7) who had lost her husband and was about to lose her two sons to the creditors to be bondmen, because she could not pay her debts? As long as we pour out our oil into empty vessels, the oil will keep flowing just like Elisha and the widow. As long as they sought empty vessels there was oil. When they stopped seeking empty vessels, the oil stopped.

Furthermore, consider the following.

16 A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
18 The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Psalm 37:16-19

Instead of planning on how to preserve our life in the coming days of famine, we do much better to concentrate on maintaining the righteousness of God within us. For if we do that, then the Lord promises that we will be satisfied in the days of famine.

In summary, do we want to trust ourselves to provide for us, or do we want to trust the Lord to provide for us? Jesus said,

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek): for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matthew 6:31-34

Yes, we are aware that the Lord used Joseph to store up food for seven years in Egypt in order to preserve life for His people. But that was a "rhema" word to Joseph, not a "logos" word to every one of God's people. In the final analysis, "Whatsoever He says to you, do it." But we need to be very careful with trying to implement what man says to us.

Christian men frequently look for a "cause" to which they can give themselves. The different types of causes are virtually unlimited. We would never even think about being judgmental about any of the various causes. Each person must answer to the Lord when it comes to, "what then must we do?" At the most fundamental level, we are all unique and God created us for a unique purpose. Ultimately we are called to glorify God. But what does that mean? Jesus answered that question in John 17 when He said,

I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. John 17:4

In Scripture, we need to pay close attention to the use of a colon. What follows a colon always explains or amplifies what has just preceded. Jesus glorified the Father on the earth by completing the work which the Father had given to Him. As long as we, as believers, fulfill the purpose for which we were created, then we all receive the same reward. John the Baptist likewise fulfilled the work given to him to do.

And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not He. But, behold, there cometh One after me, Whose shoes of His feet I am not worthy to loose. Acts 13:25

Paul said the same thing

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24

Now let us consider what Jesus said to a multitude of people (including His disciples).

And why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46

Was Jesus saying that we need to do some things? If so, what things?

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Matthew 22:35-40

The words in the above verse that Jesus spoke are taken from three different sets of verses in Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.

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 commandments of the LORD, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? Deuteronomy 10:12-13

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: Deuteronomy 6:5-6

5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. Deuteronomy 30:5-6

Let us note two things. First, the verses in Deuteronomy were given as commandments, under the law. They speak of, "Thou shall do this and thou shall not do that." No man, except Jesus, was ever or is ever to keep the law. Also note the progression from the verses in Deuteronomy 10 to those in Deuteronomy 6 to those in Deuteronomy 30. The progression is from "thou shall do this" to "these words shall be in your heart" to "the LORD thy God will circumcise your heart so that you will be able to love Him with all of your heart and soul." Thus there is a progression from what "we" do to what the Lord desires, to what the Lord does. The verses in Deuteronomy are forward looking to the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, the verses are a commandment; under the New Covenant, the verses are a promise ... you really will love the Lord with all of your heart and soul and mind (provided you simply allow the Lord to work that love within you).

Second, none of the verses in Deuteronomy speak of "loving thy neighbor as thyself." Further, we cannot find one verse in the Old Testament which says that we are to love our neighbor as our self. Why did Jesus add that "second" commandment? Catholics, as well as many Protestant Evangelicals, are very strong on feeding the poor, on helping our neighbor in natural ways. We believe that a higher interpretation of "our neighbor" refers to the body of Christ, which concept was not a part of the law.

In 1967, shortly before the Lord apprehended me, I became somewhat "desperate" because of some downturns in my life and talked with the pastor of the Methodist Church where we were attending. I said, "I feel like my life is wasting away. Can you help me?" In essence, that pastor said, "No, I cannot help you. Why don't you go and talk with Sam Jones (not his real name)?" Sam was another "lay member" of that Methodist Church. The pastor also told me that if I "get right with men then I will be right with God." How tragic! Hindsight, it is obvious that he did not know the Lord. Further, no amount of "loving our neighbor" will ever get us to the place where we love the Lord our God with all of heart, and soul, and mind. It only works the other way. Whenever we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us the nature of God, Who is love, then by default we will also love our neighbor as our self. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son ..." (John 3:16). Not long after that, the Lord sovereignly apprehended me.

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath not seen? 

1 John 4:20

For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: Ephesians 5:29

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 

John 15:13

Instead of us "doing" something for the Lord, the higher priority is that the Lord wants to do something within us. That does not mean that we sit back and do nothing.

What then shall this man do?