The Grace of God

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 Grace of God 

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

In the next seven or eight messages I want to share with you about the grace and glory of God. We will start with His grace. 

The word "grace" appears more than 150 times in Scripture, twelve times in the Book of Ephesians. The first occurrence of the word, "grace," is in 

Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

With the exception of the epistle to the Hebrews, every letter written by Paul begins and ends with "grace," thus constantly emphasizing that the Christian life begins with grace, is lived by grace, and ends with grace, not by reliance on self or works. The Greek word is charis, which describes the undeserved, unmerited favor of God which He rains down upon us. Perhaps a more practical definition of grace is that it represents God's enabling power to overcome the world, my flesh, and the devil. Without dependence upon His grace, we saints cannot live the supernatural (victorious) Christian life. The Lord told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Grace is like the "bookends" of Ephesians; Paul begins and ends with a prayer for grace for the saints. 

"Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 1:2). 

"Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" 

(Ephesians 6:24).

Grace and peace are always found in that order because grace is the foundation and peace is the result. Paul knew the essential place of grace and peace from God in the life of the believer, and He knew that receiving or accepting God's grace comes before a walk in peace with Him.

Grace is God at work in our life and peace is a sense of security and trust, knowing that we are in the palm of His hand. Unless God moves upon us and within us, we can never enjoy His peace. But after that comes the practice, the application, the working out of these in terms of the normal situations of life. We must work out that which God works in.


12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:12-13

Paul said, in 1 Timothy 1:12-14, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."

Without the grace of God, we can do nothing. We cannot even take our next breath except for His grace. Grace is a Divine outworking of the sovereignty of God. Obviously grace is for us mortals. God needs no grace for Himself. So the God of all grace is even greater than the grace of God! The Giver is always greater than the gift.

From John 1:14-17, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bear witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for [in addition to] grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." 

Now we know that grace and truth were both available under the Old Covenant.

Psalm 119:142, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth."

Romans 7:12, "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." 

Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

Exodus 33:17, "And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name."

So what did John the Baptist mean when he said that "the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ"? I believe he meant that Jesus was and is the personification of truth and grace. Jesus IS the Truth and He IS the manifestation of the grace of God.

2 Timothy 2:1, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." 

Every believer knows Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

However, we need to be careful. 

From Romans 5:20-21 and Romans 6:1-2, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" 

Most churches today major in minors and are content to preach a feel-good, happy message of "let's get saved and go to heaven one day." Even the grace of God frequently gets pushed beyond its scriptural boundary. Grace, as wonderful as it is, is simply a means toward an end. The true end is that the purposes of God might be fulfilled. It is the difference between a God-centered theology and a man-centered theology. We were created for His pleasure, not for our pleasure.

2 Timothy 1:9, "Who [God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"

Note that His purpose comes before His grace.

Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." 

The grace of God is, initially at least, available to all men. It is our reaction or reception to the grace of God that makes the difference. There are several possible reactions man can have to the grace of God. The first and best reaction is to accept, receive, and appropriate His grace with thanksgiving.

Another possibility is to despise the Truth and thereby do despite to the Spirit of grace.

Hebrews 10:29, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" 

A third possibility is to frustrate the grace of God by trying to establish our own righteousness through good works. This is an area that we believers need to be very careful to avoid. We can also frustrate the grace of God (make it of none effect in our life) by seeking our own will and being friends with the world. This latter desire is VERY prevalent within the charismatic churches of today. It is the same attitude that ALL of the elders of Israel stated when they told Samuel, "Make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Samuel 8:5). James puts it this way:

3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

6 But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. James 4:3-6

Paul said, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Galatians 2:21

The pathway to receiving more grace from God is humility, walking in His righteousness, and doing the will of God from the heart. It is exemplified by the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25:14-30. In that parable, a man called his servants. He gave five talents to one, two talents to another, and one talent to the third servant, to every man according to his several ability. The first two servants doubled their talents; both were faithful over a few things and both were made rulers over many things. The servant who had received only one talent went and hid his talent in the earth and returned it later to his lord. That servant was soundly rebuked.

The fact that we can receive more and more grace is clearly indicated by, 

Luke 2:52, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

The word, "favor," means grace. That amazing grace is marvelous in our eyes! The grace of God abounds, ever fresh, according to our need. 

Now let us return to Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14 Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

The purpose of salvation is not just so we can go to heaven. That is almost an "escape" mentality. Further, it focuses too much on "me" and what "I" get. But God created man and is in the process of making man into the likeness of His image for His purposes. We have been designed to worship God in the beauty of His holiness and to enjoy fellowship or communion with Him even on earth as well as when time is no more.

No man will ever be able to say, "Lord, You never gave me a chance." For the grace of God has appeared to all men. After the fall of the first Adam, the LORD asked Adam and Eve four questions. Of course the LORD knew the answers to all the questions. Why then did He ask those questions? simply to give Adam and Eve a chance to repent, which they did not. The LORD asked Cain 5 questions, giving Cain a chance to repent, which he did not. The LORD even asked the great prophet Elijah, after he had fled from Jezebel, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" The Bible does not state whether the great prophet, Elijah, admitted his mistake. But that is the grace of God that gives us a chance to repent.

the goodness [graciousness] of God leadeth thee to repentance. Romans 2:4

Back to Titus 2:12 ...

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

The grace of God teaches us many things. The word translated as "teaching" can better be translated as "chastening" or "disciplining." The grace of God leads us into discipline. Grace perfects us; grace enables us to stand up. Grace can also be very stern at times. The costliness of grace requires great demands on our part. Grace teaches us to deny our self, take up our cross, and follow Him.


5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him:

6 For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.

7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Hebrews 12:5-11

So the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. That speaks of repentance and justification. Ungodliness says, "I will, me, my." We are born self-centered. But we must restrict our self; my self must be nailed to my cross. Worldly lusts are lusts of the eyes, lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life. Solomon had more silver and gold, more wisdom and knowledge, more power, and more pleasure (delicious food, 700 wives, and 300 concubines) than any other man in history. But in Ecclesiastes Solomon said at least 25 times, "All is vanity." In Ecclesiastes 12, Solomon finally said, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth."

"We should live soberly, righteously, and godly" speaks of sanctification ... an on-going process. It speaks of being filled with the Spirit and remaining filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (wherein is NO excess). The Greek word for "be filled" means "keep on being filled" or "stay filled" with the Spirit. The goal of the Christian life is to remain Spirit-filled. 

Back to Titus 2:13 ...

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

That blessed hope is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The word "appearing" means the manifestation or advent of Christ. It is the same word as in 

2 Timothy 4:8, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 

And, Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." 

So the important question is ... Are you looking for Him? Are you ready to welcome Him if He returns today to judge the world in righteousness? 

Back to Titus 2:14 ...

14 Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

"A peculiar people" means "a purchased people." We have been bought with a price. That price was the blood of Jesus. We cannot fully comprehend how costly and precious the blood of Jesus was.

A few months ago I heard a minister describe an event which occurred in the life of an Englishman around 1850. Apparently this was a true story, which I want to briefly paraphrase. I will call his name Sam (not his real name). When Sam heard about the gold rush in California in 1848, he quickly came to the U.S., went to California, and bought a gold mine which turned out to be a very profitable venture financially. He made a lot of money very quickly and then sold the mine after a few years for even more profit. He was also very careful to save his money. He then decided to travel back to the east coast via the southern route and stopped for a few days in New Orleans. His plan was to then travel to New York and get a ship back to England. Of course that was a time period when slavery was very common in the south. One day, out of curiosity, he decided to attend the slave market in New Orleans, where human beings were being auctioned and sold like animals.

At one point a very beautiful slave woman was put up for auction. He heard a few other people around him say that one greedy man always bought all of the beautiful women for his pleasure and that he threatened any man to bid against him. He also heard many vulgar and indecent remarks about what that man would do with that beautiful slave woman after he bought her. That incensed Sam, the Englishman, so he decided to bid against the greedy man. The bids went back and forth for a while. Then Sam decided to end the bidding war. Sam doubled the last bid of the greedy man to a point unheard of at those auctions. The auctioneer asked Sam if he really had that much money to back up his bid and Sam guaranteed he had the money. When Sam went to collect his purchase, the woman through clenched teeth told Sam, "I hate you!" She also spit in Sam's face, but Sam calmly wiped his face off. Sam then led the beautiful slave woman, who still had a strap around her neck, to the office where he paid the purchased price. The woman still had much hatred in her eyes for Sam. Then Sam led the woman to another government office, where he completed the paperwork for the manumission of the woman. Manumission means official papers setting the slave free. Sam gave the document to the woman and said "you are now a free woman." He also gave her some money and told her to travel north and live as a free woman. The woman could not believe it. She said, "You mean you paid all of that money just to set me free?" Sam quietly said, "Yes." She said, "Do you know you paid much more money to set me free than anyone has ever paid for a slave?" Sam said, "That's what they told me." Still unbelieving, she repeated, "You mean you paid all of that money just to set me free?" Sam said, "Yes, I know." At that point the woman fell on her knees, cried profusely, and told Sam she had never been treated with such kindness. She then asked Sam if she could be his servant forever. Sam said, "No, I have to go back to England." The woman, still crying profusely, thanked Sam over and over again. Then Sam left.

The moral of that true story is self-evident. Whenever we are allowed to see the extreme costliness of the blood of Jesus ... whenever we are allowed to see even a small measure of the amazing grace of God at work in our lives, our response must be the same as that slave woman.

We are all beautiful in the Lord's eyes. He has bought us with a price that exceeds our imagination. And all we can do is to weep at His feet because of His great grace and mercy and kindness to us; and then to say, "Lord, I will not go out free; bore my ear through with an aul, that I may be your faithful servant forever."

In our next message we will continue with the topic of the God of all grace.

The Grace of God

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 Grace of God 

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

Up to this point, in our previous 18 or 20 messages we have primarily emphasized the centrality, preeminence, and supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus far we have shared very little on the more 'practical' aspects of our walk as Christians. That has been deliberate on my part because unless we have a sure, firm foundation, we can very easily fall into a 'me-centered theology.' I have always planned to get into the type of questions that many Christians have today. In our last message we introduced the subject of the grace of God. Today, we hope to share with you from Romans 12 some additional thoughts about the grace of God, but with a greater emphasis on some of the 'practical' questions that many believers are interested in. But before we get into Romans 12, we need to look at the four verses that precede that chapter.

Romans 11:33-36,

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?
35 Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again?
36 For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 

Again, unless the essence of those four verses are made flesh within us, we need not even try to get into Romans 12. We note that in those four verses the words Him, God, and whom appear eleven times.

Romans, of course, is the first book of doctrine in the Bible. In Chapter 12, Paul shifts from doctrine or right teaching to duty or practice ... what we might call a practical outworking of the first 11 chapters of Romans. I will read the first three verses of Romans 12 and then come back to share about each of those verses.

Romans 12:1-3,
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Back to Verse 1. Paul says,

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren ...". The word 'beseech' means to exhort. It means to urgently encourage or admonish. There is a sense of urgency in Paul's pleading ... a pleading to whom? to the true believers in Christ not only in Rome in his day but certainly to all professing believers in Christ over all of time. Paul also includes the word 'therefore.' Now as I heard one good brother say some 48 years ago, whenever we see the word 'therefore' we should always ask, why is the word 'therefore' there for? Clearly it relates to what has preceded in the Book of Romans, which is the first word of doctrine. Specifically, it refers to the four verses that immediately precede Romans 12, which we just read. We must remember that there are no 'chapters' in the original Greek manuscripts.

Paul then adds 'by the mercies of God.' As we stated in our last message, all of Paul's epistles, except for the Book of Hebrews, start with a salutation of 'grace and peace' to the believers. However, in his epistles to individuals, such as Timothy and Titus, Paul adds the word 'mercy;' grace, mercy, and peace. We as individuals also need the mercy of God, where 'mercy' speaks of compassion.

Now what does Paul beseech or exhort us first to 'do' as a practical outworking of all of the sound doctrine he has previously presented? He says for us to 'present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service,' where the word 'service' means our ministry to God, that is, our spiritual worship to Him. Later we hope to share in more depth about the true meaning of worship. For now, what we see in most churches at what we call our 'worship services' is not worship at all; rather it is, at best, praise and thanksgiving. Now by no means would I ever downgrade praise and thanksgiving. We must enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). But what Paul speaks of in Romans 12:1 is our spiritual worship.

The Book of Leviticus is the first book of worship. Leviticus speaks of five major offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. Later we hope to go into great detail on those 5 offerings. But we note that the burnt offering comes first and therefore is the most important of the five offerings. The burnt offering was completely voluntary and the only offering of the five where the animal offered was completely consumed by fire; i.e., no part of the burnt offering went to the priests. We also read in Leviticus 1:6-9, 

6 And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:

9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

In like manner, every believer is exhorted to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Now our physical bodies consist of many parts. So we must submit each part of our body to the Lord. We must present our ears to the Lord; we must hear what the Lord is saying to us and downgrade or discard what men say to us if it is not consistent with the Word of God. We must present our eyes to the Lord; we must have a vision, not simply any vision, but The Vision, which is the Lord Himself. We must present our feet to the Lord; we must go only to those places that the Lord tells us to go. We must submit our tongue to the Lord for His purposes.

James 3:5-9,

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

Every part of our body must be presented to the Lord for His purposes, not for our purposes. Moreover, like the burnt offering, the offering of each part of our body to the Lord must be voluntary and offered without any reservation. As it says in Leviticus 1:6, "And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces." The word 'flay' can be translated as 'strip off self.' Every part or piece of our body must be submitted unto the Lord. Like Isaiah, we must be able to say, "Here am I, Lord. Send me."

1 Corinthians 6:17-20,

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We also know, from 1 Thessalonians 5:23, that we humans consist of spirit, soul, and body. We are tri-partite beings.

23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now let us return to Romans 12:2. Just as Romans 12:1 speaks of our body, Verse 2 speaks of our mind.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Worldliness is in our mind, in our thoughts. Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." That speaks of what we value. Jesus said,

Matthew 5:27-28,

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

I tend to believe quite a large number of good men have had to repent of that sin (or at least should have).

Romans 8:7, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Ezekiel 36:25-28,

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

We also see, in Leviticus 1:8, that the first part of our body, our offering, our living sacrifice, must be our head and the second part, in order, is our fat. The Hebrew word, "fat" is also occasionally used metaphorically to mean "best" or "first." Leviticus 3:16 says, "all the fat is the LORD'S." This truth is seen for the first time in Genesis 4:3-5 

3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

There is an old hymn that I have not heard since I was a young boy. The title of the hymn is "Give of Your Best to the Master." The second stanza says, 

Give of your best to the Master; Give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service; Consecrate every part.
Give, and to you will be given; God His beloved Son gave;
Gratefully seeking to serve Him, Give Him the best that you have.

Back to Romans 12:2 ... "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," where "renewing" could be translated as "restoration." That means the adjustment of our moral and spiritual vision and thinking to the mind of God, which is designed to have a transforming effect upon our life. Here again, this is a continual or on-going process. Our mind must think the same way that God thinks. We must see things as God sees them. That process will manifest itself in our character.

Philippians 4:8, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Back to Romans 12:2 ... "that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." The word "that" means "in order that" or "so that." The word "prove" here means to discern. In other words, this is the end produce of why we must daily renew our mind ... that we may discern what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. There are not three different levels of the will of God, only one will. In the process of renewing our mind we must learn through our mistakes.

Now we come to the questions, "Why do we need to renew our mind?" and how do we renew our mind?

Isaiah 55:8-9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Moreover, what God calls good and what man calls good are frequently two different things.

Hebrews 5:14, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

Any man can discern what we call "evil." But to discern between "good" and the perfect will of God takes practice. The Lord told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and evil.

Now how do we renew our mind? The same way that we grow in grace ... the same way that we continue to mature as a believer in Christ. First, we must see the need; then we must recognize that we, by our own power or works, cannot attain to such a goal; then we must sincerely ask the Lord to work it out within us by the power of the Holy Spirit; then we must be obedient in all things; and finally we thank the Lord for renewing our mind and giving to us a greater measure of discernment.

Philippians 2:12-13, 

12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 

13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

1 Thessalonians 5:24, Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.

Now let us return to Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly [or to be of sound mind], according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."

From my experience, as well as scripturally and historically, Paul's exhortation in Verse 3 (not to think of our self more highly than we ought to think) is one of the least accepted exhortations in all of the Bible. Every Christian would agree doctrinally with Romans 12:3. But there is a great and wide difference between agreeing with that truth and actually walking in it.

Luke 18:9-14,

9 And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Inherent within us is spiritual pride. We are born with that characteristic. It comes naturally and it does not automatically disappear after we are born from above. Almost all of us, at times, tend to think that we are more spiritual than another brother. We have read more scripture; we understand more. At times we are like that Pharisee in Luke 18.

1 Corinthians 4:7, For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

What is the antidote to spiritual pride? Paul speaks of the answer in Romans 12:3. It is called humility, which comes only by brokenness, through the grace of God. Humility is the first key to walking in the kingdom of God.

1 Peter 5:5-7,

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.

From Verse 5 we see the relationship of grace and humility. What an amazing and wonderful God we serve!

In our next message we will continue sharing about the amazing grace of God. Until then, may His grace ever abound to you and yours as you labor and rest in His Vineyard.

Walking in Grace

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.

Walking in Grace 

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.

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." 

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." 

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 

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 1:13

For 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.

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. 

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.

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40

51 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.

The God of All Grace

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 God of All Grace 

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

In our previous message we shared with you some basic truths about the grace of God. In this message we want to share a few thoughts about the God of all grace.


10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by [in] Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11

In a previous message we shared with you the verse in 

2 Timothy 1:9, "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began," 

In that verse we stated that His purpose, or fulfilling His purpose, is greater than His grace. Now we declare that God Himself is more important than His purpose. That clearly states the difference between a "me-centered" theology and a "God centered" theology.

Therefore the very first thing that we must understand is that the God of all grace is infinitely greater than the grace of God. Who He is is more important than what He does for us. The major theme of this word is about the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ ... Who He is ... His innate nature and character. Many years ago I read a good illustration or analogy of the difference in importance of who someone IS as compared to what they DO. The man who has a wife in the home greatly appreciates her cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing. But she, herself, is far more important to him than what she does! Actually, if the wife senses that her husband appreciates her primarily for her household chores, some rocky times are ahead for that couple (which in the natural realm frequently leads to divorce). It is the importance of the person that gives meaning to the work. Lord, give us a deeper revelation of Who You are!

I have never been impressed by what a person "knows" or "does." Even natural man can achieve great results in those areas. But I am always impressed by who a person has become ... that is when I see the nature of Christ formed within.

We must not only understand the reality of the God of all grace, we must also acknowledge and appropriate the fact that God is greater than His grace. All grace emanates from God. The next thing we must understand, acknowledge, and appropriate is that the grace of God is in Christ Jesus. There is no grace outside of Christ.

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:1

In most churches the emphasis is placed on the works of God (or perhaps our works) rather than on His person. That was the major battle when Jesus walked the face of the earth. Although many could accept His works, the religious elite of the day refused to accept who He was! Jesus said, in John 6, that some people followed Him because of His miracles and others followed Him simply to eat of the loaves and be filled. In John 6, we see the turning point of the ministry of Jesus on earth. The Jews could not accept who He was and even accused Him of speaking heresy. Human nature has never changed so that is still the major battle today.

From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him. 

John 6:66

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him. John 7:1

In order to appropriate our Sure Foundation, we need to start with God and who He IS. Genesis 1:1 starts with, "In the beginning God ...". John 1:1 starts with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. " Hebrews 1:1 starts with "God ...". The Old Testament and New Testament both agree that the true foundation of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself ... nothing else and no one else. The foundation is not a creed, not a doctrine, not a denomination, not a ritual or ceremony. Christ is THE foundation on which the church is built. Christ is the foundation of the covenant of grace made with the church and of all of the promises contained therein. He is a SURE foundation, on whom His people can safely and securely rest. He also has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is the corner stone that unites all parts of the building together. He is the tried stone that has never and will never crack nor shift underneath the structure built upon Him.

Even the great apostle Paul said, after 30 years of ministry,

That 1 may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; Philippians 3:10

15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

19 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,

20 Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

22 And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

23 Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

Ephesians 1:15-23

14 occurrences of Him, His, He

We must remember that Paul had spent three years at Ephesus, teaching and preaching daily. He wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians some seven years after he left there. Why would Paul pray that prayer, starting in Verse 16, if the Ephesians had already received the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him? That is another Verse which points out that there is much more that God has in mind for us after we are born again, baptized in water, and baptized with the Holy Ghost. And there is much more that God has in mind for us after we receive the very best teaching that man can offer. It is one thing to sit under anointed teachers and marvel at the revelation of the written word of God that may flow through them. It is yet another thing to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

It is not a matter of knowing what the Bible says about the Lord; rather, it is about knowing Him! One way we can learn who Jesus Christ is is by coming up against situations in which He is the only One who can help us. When we come to the end of our rope, the Lord is there to throw us His lifeline. If even Paul could say, "that I may know Him," where does that leave us? Christianity is a walk ... an experience. Let us re-read 1 Peter 5:10. Peter says that the God of all grace, who has called US unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that YE have suffered a while, make YOU perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle YOU. In other words Peter is ministering from his experience, not from head knowledge. He is saying that he has already been through that process of suffering. In 1 Peter 5:1 Peter says that he is a witness (martyr) of the sufferings of Christ. Any man can put together a series of scripture verses and talk about them. But there will be NO anointing on that kind of ministry. Every minister must minister out of his experience. As the Apostle John put it, in 

1 John 1:1-4, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."

The man with an experience with the Lord is never at the mercy of the man with only a doctrine or an opinion.

Back to 1 Peter 5:10 ..."Who hath called us unto His eternal glory in Christ Jesus." We have been called. But that does not mean that what follows is automatic for every born again believer. Being called is not the same as entering in. We must qualify for His kingdom. In almost every scripture, suffering is closely followed by glory, provided we accept and walk in that suffering. His glory speaks of His nature, His character, His innate being. We will share much more on the glory of God in a later message.

"After we have suffered a while." That means for a brief period of time. What is the purpose of our suffering? Suffering is meant by God to add the melody and harmony of grace to life. First of all we must identify with Jesus in His suffering, just as we must identify with His baptism, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His intercession, and His weeping over (spiritual) Jerusalem.


17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:17-18

From 1 Peter 5:10, note the four things that the God of all grace will do within us after we have suffered a little while: make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle us.

Each one of those makings tells us something about that which suffering is designed by God to do for us. We must always remember that "It is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). It is also important to know that the suffering which God brings to us is for our own good and must be accepted in humility, trust, and love. It is hard for us to kick against the pricks. Luke 20:18 says,

"Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."

"Make you perfect" means to supply that which is missing, to mend that which is broken, to restore that part which is lacking, or to complete thoroughly. It is the same Greek word used in Mark 1:19 for mending nets. When we mend nets we make them useful or usable again. For the true saint, the path of brokenness leads straight to the throne of grace. The one and only way to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is daily communion with the Father and the Son. Many believers have become blinded by the temporal till we can no longer see the eternal reality of the holiness of heaven and the horrors of hell. Lord, have mercy and bring us to brokenness!

Through suffering God will establish a man. The word means to make as solid as granite. Suffering may come in different ways. It may be a physical, emotional, or spiritual suffering. When they crucified Jesus, I am sure that the nails that pierced His body hurt. When all of His disciples fled (Matthew 26:56) I am sure that was a deep emotional suffering. But the greatest suffering that Jesus endured was when He who knew no sin became sin on the cross and sin was crucified. At that point, Jesus had to be separated from His Father ... an experience that He had never known. Such suffering will either break or make us into that which the Lord desires. We have an opportunity to overcome. We have an opportunity to emerge like toughened steel that has been tempered in the fire. Years ago I heard a man say that he who is in the fiery furnace the longest comes out the purest.

Through suffering God will strengthen a man. No one really knows what his faith means until that faith has been tried in the furnace of affliction. The wind will extinguish a weak flame; but the wind will also fan a strong flame to a still greater blaze.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 1:7

Jesus was put on trial by the Sanhedrin; so was Paul; so were Peter and John; so was Martin Luther and many others. Such a trial is a great honor. I have personally known four different men, solid ministers of the Lord, who were put on trial by a charismatic Sanhedrin. But Jesus counted it all joy; so did the apostles.

Through suffering God will settle a man. That word means to lay a foundation. The Lord is going to shake everything that can be shaken. It is then that we discover the things within us that cannot be shaken. It is in the trials of life that we discover the great Truth on which life is founded and which we cannot do without. But through all of our suffering, the grace of God is sufficient, provided we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.

God made everything for His pleasure, for Himself, for His rest and enjoyment. This world is not our home ... it is not our resting place ... it is not our center of gravity. The heavenly realm is unknown to us by nature. We can read about that heavenly realm in the Bible and we can hear about it through anointed preachers and teachers (if we are so blessed), but we can never know that heavenly realm until we experience it. There is nothing second-hand about the spiritual life in Christ. In the Book of Exodus, each man was to gather the manna daily (except for the Sabbath day) for himself and for his family. That is why Jesus told Andrew and Peter, "Come and see."

May our heart cry be, "Help, Lord! Break me of all traces of self and then make me into what You desire." By His grace may that be our heart's cry ... our heart's desire.