Restore

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.

Restore 

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

In our previous message we shared some thoughts about the difference, as we see it, between revival and restoration. 

Let us hear what the Word of God says about "restore."

And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give Thee for a light to the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth.
Isaiah 49:6

In that verse, the Father is speaking to the Son. Who can raise up the tribes of Jacob or restore the preserved of Israel except for the Son? "Raise up the tribes of Jacob" refers to bringing the yet unsaved into the flock. "Restore the preserved of Israel" refers to those believers who have strayed.

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. Daniel 9:25

Some may say that the above verse is the historic prophecy relating from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, when natural Jerusalem was rebuilt, until the first coming of Christ to earth. Others may say that it refers to the first coming of Jesus, some 2000 years ago. We would not argue with that. HOWEVER, if that be true then there is a second and far greater fulfillment. The verse is ALSO prophetic of the end times and speaks of the time before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Has the commandment gone forth once more to restore? We believe so! Without any question we live in troublous times.

Another verse in the Bible which contains the word "restore" is found in the Book of Joel. The following verse is familiar to almost everyone.

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you. 

Joel 2:25

Please note that the four increasing stages of destruction were sent by the Lord Himself! He calls them "MY great army!" Also note that the Lord restores ONLY after we repent! The book of Joel is very clear about that fact. The key word in the Book of Joel is the little word "then" in Joel 2:18. The primary actions on our part are repentance and intercession. Much more on that later. The primary action on God's part, after we repent, is restoration. We will have more to say about that fact later.

We are aware of a few believers who for many long years have been praying that the Lord would send forth a revival on earth. Of course many Evangelical churches have man's version of a revival several times a year. But let us always remember ... no preparation, no restoration. Many of those in positional leadership in the church today speak of prosperity, blessings, and love. In other words they omit the word "then" in Joel 2:18.


10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?

11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.

12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

13 Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Matthew 17:10-13

The Elijah spoken of in Verse 12, above, was John the Baptist. But he was rejected and his head cut off. Now I ask you, Have all things already been restored? I think not! Therefore there awaits a further fulfillment of those verses.

Let us consider what has always been, and still is, in the heart of God with respect to His chosen people. The Lord said to His chosen people during the Exodus from Egypt,


5 Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine.

6 And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. Exodus 19:5-6

Note that the people of God were (are) to be a kingdom of priests, with the Lord Jesus Christ as our great High Priest. This kingdom of priests will NOT consist of Levitical priests or the Aaronic priesthood, but priests after the order of Melchisedec. In the kingdom of God there is no such thing as a Catholic priest, or an Episcopal priest, or a Baptist priest or ...
Please note what Peter said to the Church many long years later:

4 To Whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious.

5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His glorious light. 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9

We are lively stones who derive our life from Christ, who is the first living Stone to whom we have come ... the life-giving Spirit. We are lively and we are alive in Christ, both now and forevermore!

Note also in 1 Peter 2:5, that we are built up a spiritual house, not a natural house. That house is formed and indwelt by the Spirit of God. Every stone in the house has been made alive by the Holy Spirit, sent by the exalted living Stone, Jesus Christ. Believers are living stones that make up a spiritual temple in which, as a holy priesthood, we offer up spiritual sacrifices. The New Testament speaks of a variety of such sacrifices: (1) our bodies are to be presented as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1); (2) offerings of money and material goods (Philippians 4:18); (3) sacrifices of doing good and communicating (Hebrews 13:16); and (4) sacrifices of praise unto God (Hebrews 13:15).

The word "peculiar" in verse 9 is a peculiar word. The word actually means that we are an acquired or purchased possession. It carries the same significance as the word "ye are bought with a price" in 1 Corinthians 6:20.

So the mind of God always was and still is to have a kingdom of priests ... a holy priesthood ... a royal priesthood. This high calling was originally offered to the Jewish nation, but they rejected (and continue to reject) that call and crucified the Lord of glory. Therefore the chosen generation is no longer the natural Jewish nation but spiritual Israel ... the Church which is His body. Many Christians, primarily fundamentalists, somewhat mockingly describe that as "replacement theology" and try to debunk that last statement. Actually, "replacement theology" is a very good choice of words. But it is God who replaces, not man. Every time that man tries to "improve" on what God does, the Lord replaces man's version with His own version. That principle is all throughout the Book of Hebrews, Jeremiah 18 and 19, and other places in Scripture. Jeremiah 18 speaks of the northern 10 tribes of Israel.

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, He wrought a work on the wheels.

4 And the vessel that He made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 

Jeremiah 18:1-4

The "another" vessel is the Church. All of the original 12 apostles, except for Judas, came from the north. It was also from those 10 northern tribes that the gospel of the kingdom of God went forth to all the world. Then we read from Jeremiah 19 about the two southern tribes, particularly Judah, which included Jerusalem.

10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.

12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:

13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all the people,

15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words. 

Jeremiah 19:10-15

Tophet was a location in Jerusalem where worshipers influenced by the ancient Canaanite religion engaged in the human sacrifice of children to the gods Moloch and Baal by burning them alive. Tophet became a synonym for Hell within Christendom. Baal was considered the fertility god ... fertility not simply with agricultural crops, but we believe also in the sense of procreation of children. Therefore Tophet is definitely a characteristic which dominates in the United States today in the sense of all kinds of immoral sexual activity and the production of babies but also the abortion or killing of millions of babies. But God will not be mocked.

Does spiritual Israel include some Jews? Of course! perhaps too many to count. But we respectfully disagree that ALL Jews will be saved.

The chosen generation is not a natural generation but consists of ALL believers over all of time who accept and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. "For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel" (Romans 9:6). This is the "missing" generation in Matthew, Chapter 1.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Matthew 1:17

If we go back and count the number of generations listed in Matthew 1:12-16 from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ, we count only thirteen. The fourteenth generation consists of all born-again believers over all time.

Let us look at the function of priests, as first recorded in Scripture.

At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before Him to minister unto Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day. Deuteronomy 10:8

The above verse is the prophetical prototype of the Melchisedec priesthood that we have been called to in the spiritual realm. "Unto this day" still holds true for us today! The whole body of believers, as priests, are to (1) reflect the holiness of God and that of our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ (bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord); (2) offer spiritual sacrifices (stand before Him to minister unto Him); (3) intercede for man before God; and (4) represent God before men. (Functions (3) and (4) constitute "bless in His name.")

It may be worthwhile to reflect upon the contrast between the old covenant and the new covenant. Under the old covenant there were natural priests, a natural temple, and natural sacrifices. But under the new covenant, all of these things are spiritual! The author of the Book of Hebrews has much to say about this truth. In addition,

1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. 

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God. Isaiah 61:1-2, 6

Jesus quoted those first two verses in a synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19). He also said that "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21). So those verses in Isaiah 61 were (are) prophetic of the Lord Jesus Christ. But since we are IN Christ, they also apply to us! Those were the same verses that the Holy Spirit quickened to me personally, shortly after He baptized me with the Holy Ghost. It was also a fulfillment of my grandmother's petition when I was born. She wrote in her Bible, the day I was born, "Lord make him your minister." She never got to see the fulfillment of her prayer with her natural eyes, but she received her answer by faith.

Returning to the original proclamation of God concerning His chosen people,


7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.

Exodus 19:7-8

But the people did not keep their vow as stated in Verse 8.

18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed and stood afar off.

19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Exodus 20:18-19

Just as before, after the covenants were given the second time to Moses:

And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. Exodus 24:3

Neither did the people keep their vow that time. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for He hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay."

The people of God refused to hear the voice of the Lord for themselves and demanded to hear the Lord through a man. It was the same throughout the Old Testament. It is the same today. It is clear, however, that God's original purpose was for each man to hear the voice of the Lord for himself. It was never God's plan to have to use an intermediary, such as Moses. This is confirmed in the New Testament.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5

But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.

1 John 2:27

God used Martin Luther to restore the truth of justification by faith. He used the Anabaptists to restore the truth about water baptism. John Wesley taught about sanctification and holiness. A.B. Simpson reintroduced the true healing ministry. The early Pentecostals, such as Charles Parham, brought back the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Then in 1906 the Holy Ghost began to move in many new ways in Azusa Street in Los Angeles. Next, in 1948, came the outpouring of the Spirit (called "latter rain" by some) in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. That move of God saw a restoration of the gifts of the Spirit, the fivefold ministries, deliverance ministry, singing praise and spiritual songs, and the truth of the body of Christ.

However, that event was not the "latter rain" that the Bible speaks about in seven different verses, six of which are in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament in James 5:7,

"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain."

The early rain and the latter rain have nothing to do with natural rain. From that verse in James, the early rain consisted of the saints in the early church shortly after the Day of Pentecost. The real "latter rain" will consist of the final group of overcomers, the manifestation of the sons of God, who will be revealed soon, just prior to the second coming of the Lord. Those overcomers are being prepared in the wilderness even now.