Pastor John,

I was reading, in the Mailbag, Beth quoting from the Remembers of the first two chapters of the Synthesis book*, and this particular one stood out to me:

The body of Christ was created by the power of God in the second chapter of Acts.

Just a few days earlier I was reading the statement of faith (more precisely, the Faculty Teaching Position) of an American Christian seminary, and the document actually states that the body of Christ (which they call “the Church”) was “initiated at Pentecost”. I had already heard this said by Christian ministers a number of times before, and I have kept thinking: How can one come to this conclusion, and yet fail to recognize that the disciples were born again on the day of Pentecost? I think, if these ministers were forced to consider the logical conclusions of such a statement (that God’s New Testament people has come into being on the day of Pentecost), they would only have two choices:
1. Admit that the truth is the truth.
2. Do as one charismatic Christian minister in Dunaújváros did, when I showed him 1Corinthians 12:13; which is, claim that a person can be born again without becoming a member of the body of Christ. (When I asked this minister if this was what he had meant, and he said yes, it seemed like he felt the absurdity of that statement, but in that moment he felt he had no choice, but to embrace the absurdity). 

Now, I actually do know how it’s possible to claim that the body of Christ was born on the day of Pentecost, and still deny that the baptism of the holy Ghost is the new birth. It’s because unless God, by His grace, opens someone’s eyes and heart to the truth, it is impossible to see it, and believe it, much less to love it. Thank God for His mercy that He decided not to leave us in our ignorance, but to bless us in a way that has been given to so few, even among God’s own children! 

So, even though it’s by God’s choice that we get to believe what we believe, and know what we know, still, the fact that Christians must resort to such mental gymnastics in their attempt to stay true to the Bible, and to defend their Christian faith at the same time, shows the utter “nonsense” (as you put it in the book’s introduction) this religion really is. 

God, give us grace to walk worthy of our calling!

Zoli

*  IK Remembers The Synthesis Book 4

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In case you ever wonder what God has in mind for you….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVr9p05Ed1I

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Loved the video on Psalm 23.  What wonderful experiences David had!  Reminds me of what you have told us many times that Jesus told you years ago: “Try to make a mess that I can’t fix!”   David had really made a mess of things, but God’s response  proved to him that goodness and mercy WILL follow him all the days of his life!   God knows how to prove Himself to us!  Amen.  He’s gooder than good.

Gary

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Pastor John,

I have always loved the sermon on Psalm 23!  In fact, it was life changing for me!  If I start to feel anxious about the future or if someone else is feeling anxious, I remember Psalm 23:6.  Based on everything Jesus has already done for us, SURELY he’s not going to let go of us now, or ever!  
Lee Ann

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Pastor John,

Thank you for sending out the video clip of your sermon on Psalm 23.  It brings tears to my eyes hearing about how much God loves us in the words spoken by David in this Psalm.  My cup runneth over this morning!

What stood out to me this time was how David took off running toward the giant because he was after the prize!  You said that the giant was a “minor consideration” because there was a great reward to be had for anyone that defeated the giant.  That person would be given the King’s daughter, wealth, and their family would be free from taxation.  That was huge motivation for David because that was a huge prize.  David took off running with faith in God and a sling and a few stones!  Shew!

When I listened I could picture us running toward our prize – life with the Father and Son forever!  What a wonderful prize that is! Life here on earth and the things we go through are just a “minor consideration”, like that giant was to David, in comparison to spending eternity with Jesus!  How much greater is that prize!?!  We just need to run towards it with the faith to believe that he will “surely” take care of us all the days of our lives.  Jesus has an excellent track record so far! 

These two scriptures come to mind thinking about running this race of life toward our most precious prize:

Hebrews 12

1. Therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses about us, and laying aside every weight, and the sin that so easily besets us, let us also run with patience the race that is laid out before us, 
2. 2. fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured a cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

And

1Corinthians 9

24. Do you not know that all of those who race in a stadium are running, but one takes the prize? Run like that, so that you might win the prize. 

Oh, this makes me feel like traveling on….

Love,

Amy F.

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Pastor John,

Amen!  When I read the “Remembers”* from chapters 1&2 of the Iron Kingdom book you are working on, I wanted every heart God has out there to know this.  It does something inside of me for them when I read it!  Here are some of them:

• When the new birth is redefined, everything is redefined.
  • Believing is where the journey with Jesus begins.
  • It is possible to believe in Jesus and not yet have the Spirit.
  • Everyone who believes in Jesus should be told that believing is not the experience of new birth; it is the path we must take to receive it!
• One of the craftiest ways the wicked have found to destroy the foundations of the Faith is to redefine them. 
• Truth redefined becomes a lie in disguise. 
• Even if we speak the same language, if we have different definitions for the same word, we might as well be speaking different languages.

That is so good, Pastor John!  That is exactly what has happened, and we now are divided by that different language.

• The body of Christ was created by the power of God in the second chapter of Acts.

AMEN!

• In turning to elements of the world, believers had to “mind earthly things” in order to please the men who led them to do it
• By the time of the Synthesis, the believers who “minded earthly things” were so dull of heart that they rejoiced in it as the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises.

And it will do the same thing to us if we take our minds off of Christ and get it on the things of this world.  I know that is true because I have felt it.

• Christians absorbed Rome as much as Rome absorbed Christians; the Synthesis was both a conquest and a victory.
• The world cannot receive the Spirit; therefore, the world requires a religion it can practice without it.
• With every new doctrine or ceremony, however, early Christians were introducing another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel.

Whew! That is what my heart says when I read this.  I just wanted to tell you what reading this as a child of God feels like.  I feel the words that God has given you.  And it puts a pull in my heart for other hearts out there to hear them and feel them. This is so good, Pastor John! 

Beth

*  IK Remembers The Synthesis Book 4

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Pastor John,

I printed out the first two chapters from the Iron Kingdom book to read tonight.  The sincerity I felt from you in the Foreword really touched me.  It lets the reader have a glimpse of who you are — someone we already know and love, but they don’t you the way we know you.  It will be a shock to anyone who has always believed that Christianity began with Jesus, and then reads your brief introduction about what the Spirit has taught you to the contrary.   Hopefully, they will feel your sincere desire for believers to come out of that abomination and have the pure unity that Jesus so wants us to have.  It’s going to take Jesus opening their hearts to continue past that Foreward.  But the non-threatening way that you’ve laid out what you believe is an open door for them to continue, if they will.  Oh, I pray that they will.  

Honestly, reading this has changed something in me.  I think it has cleaned up something in me and opened up a fellowship with Paul, and anyone else who is teaching the true gospel of Christ, that I’ve never had before.   I just love it.

Lee Ann

4th Book – The Synthesis (1)

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John,

I was watching the past meeting because I loved the part about John 3:16, where you explained about God loving us “in this way”, instead of “so much” (like is taught most everywhere else).   

God gave us the best thing He had; that’s Jesus, His Son, of course.  But I feel that He has given us the best in so many OTHER things, too; it’s hard to count them all.  He gave us you, and he gave us each other, and a love and fellowship that is second to none, as far as we know.  He gave us music with truth, and testimonies, and gifts to share, and health and strength, and so many other blessings!  As I said, we couldn’t even count or list them all.  Look at the WAY God has loved us.

Here’s what you said that night, transcribed:

“You are very, very loved.  Every one of you are loved by God, the creator of the universe.  You are loved!  Paul said in the book of Romans, trying to convince those people how loved they were: “if God spared not his own son how will he not give us whatever else we need”.  The King James Version says in John 3:16, ‘God so loved the world.’  That word ‘so’ does not mean ‘so much’.  Our translation got the emphasis right: we translated John 3:16, “This is the way God loved the world; He gave his only begotten Son.”  John wasn’t saying how much God loves you; he was telling you the way God loves you. And the way God loved you was to give you the best thing he had.  He’s not asking us to do anything He hasn’t done.  And here we are – because you are very, very loved.  God loves you.”

I felt so very loved by Jesus hearing this.

Gary

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Hey Uncle John,

     I was talking with a young person a few weeks ago, and he asked me, “Why should I learn this?  What’s the point?  I know I won’t use this later in life.”

     The subject I’m teaching him has some benefits, but as I started to try to explain those benefits, I felt I was going the wrong direction with the conversation.  I remembered a section of your Solomon’s Wisdom book that I had read with the young people about a year and a half ago that has always stood out to me (attached PDF).

     I explained to him, “God has a secret for you and you don’t know where it’s hidden.  You, like everyone, are going to have things to learn that feel hard or that you don’t enjoy.  But if you don’t put your whole heart into those things, you’ll miss God’s secret for you somewhere along the way.  You can’t only work hard at learning subjects you love from the beginning.”  

      Then I told him about how when I started learning Biblical Hebrew, I didn’t love it.  It was difficult!  But as I worked at it, over time (weeks or months), it’s like a light switch flipped and I loved it.  If I hadn’t put in the work, I would never have found God’s secret for me.  I certainly didn’t think I would ever use Biblical Hebrew.  But look at what God’s done!

     It wasn’t a long conversation, but I pray it had an impact on that young man, and maybe it will be a good reminder for other young people in similar positions.  You don’t know where God’s secret for you is, if you did, it wouldn’t be a secret.  Do your work with your whole heart and see what Jesus will do!

Aaron

God’s Secret Concerning Each Young Person

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Fulfilled

“Do not think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets.

I DID NOT COME TO DESTROY, BUT TO FULFILL.

Matthew 5:17

     There is at the present a rise in anti-Paul sentiment on the internet, specifically, against his teaching that the New Testament does not include keeping the law of Moses. It is good that some people can see that Paul taught his Gentile converts not to submit to Moses’ law, but it is not good that they oppose that teaching. To understand Paul, we must understand what it means to fulfill a thing, for Jesus fulfilled the law, as he said. But what does it mean to fulfill something? Considering how the Bible uses the word

“fulfill” will help us understand what it means.

      Let’s begin by looking at the one of the first times the Hebrew word for “fulfill” is used. This has to do with Isaac’s wife, Rebekah:

      Genesis 25

24. And when her days to deliver were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

      Rebekah’s time of pregnancy ended when she gave birth to her twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Their birth fulfilled the purpose of her pregnancy. It did not mean that her pregnancy had been worthless; rather, that fulfillment meant that the purpose for her pregnancy was complete, that its usefulness was ended and the pregnancy was over.

     Another example of what it means to fulfill something is from Solomon’s prayer of thanksgiving to God concerning His promise to give David a son who would build a temple in Jerusalem:

     “1Kings 8:

14. The King turned his face about, and blessed all the Assembly of Israel, and the  whole Assembly of Israel stood up.
15. And he said, “Blessed be Jehovah, God of Israel, who spoke by His mouth to David my father, and by His hand has fulfilled it.”

      By “fulfilled it”, Solomon meant that since God’s promise to David had come to pass, there was no longer any need for God to keep promising David that it would happen. What would be the point of God continuing to promise that He would give David a son who would build His temple, when it was already done? As Solomon said (v. 20): “Jehovah caused His word to stand which He spoke, for I have risen up in the place of my father David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Jehovah said, and I have built the house for the name of Jehovah, God of Israel.”

      Jesus’ revelation to Paul was that his fulfilling the law meant there was no longer a reason to continue in it. Jesus did not destroy the law or condemn it as worthless. On the contrary, his fulfilling the law proved beyond all question that it was from God. Paul honored the law of Moses by honoring Jesus and receiving his baptism of life, which was the law’s entire purpose. “The love of God”, wrote Paul, “is poured out within our hearts by the holy Spirit which is given to us,” and “love is the fulfillment of the law, [for] love does not do wrong to a neighbor” (Rom. 5:5b; 13:10).

      It is as impossible now for people to continue in the law as it would have been for Rebekah to continue to be pregnant after she gave birth to Jacob and Esau. And what use would there have been for God to continue promising David a son who would build His temple after David was long dead and Solomon had done it? Just so, it is useless for anyone now to try to keep Moses’ law after the law’s purpose has been fulfilled.

      Dear friends, do not believe those who are saying Paul was wrong. It is my sincere prayer that God will open the eyes of your understanding, as He opened Paul’s, to see the surpassing glory of what Jesus accomplished for us all! The law of God is now written on our hearts by the Spirit, and because that is done, Paul rejoiced that

      Romans 8:

2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!
3. For what the law could not do, in that it was powerless because it was of the flesh, God did, after He had sent His Son in the form of sinful flesh to deal with sin. He condemned sin in the flesh
4. so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.

      Let us rejoice with Paul that because of Jesus, “we are released from the law so that we now serve God in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of a document” (Rom. 7:6).

Pastor John D. Clark

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What a wonderful way to explain the law, Pastor John. I feel like people can understand this! Its purpose was fulfilled.( and now their is life!)  I really like this blog!

“Genesis 25
24. And when her days to deliver were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
Rebekah’s time of pregnancy ended when she gave birth to her twin sons, Jacob and Esau. Their
birth fulfilled the purpose of her pregnancy. It did not mean that her pregnancy had been worthless;
rather, that fulfillment meant that the purpose for her pregnancy was complete, that its usefulness was
ended and the pregnancy was over.”

Sincerely,

Elizabeth

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Whew! I feel such liberty and love while reading this blog. It makes me feel just like Barbara says, “What a good God!”

Donna

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John,

These Blogs are a wonderful gift to wake up to.   Thank you….I literally lifted my hands to God and thanked Him for allowing me to understand (and to love) what you have passed on to us.)  Like you said Sunday morning.  We are so loved. 

Gary

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Morning!  I really like this blog on Fulfilled.  To understand and have examples of the meaning of things and certain words or phrases in the Bible really helps put things in perspective.   I also like that you are explaining Paul’s stance.  I watched a video yesterday on what you were saying here about the anti-Paul sentiment.  I sat there with my mouth open for most of it.  It’s amazing how the flesh will come up with anything to get around the truth and the men God sends to tell it.  They were basically saying Paul was just a renegade who made himself an apostle, and it went downhill from there.  The excuse not to believe Paul was “Jesus didn’t say that,” and “Paul didn’t walk with Jesus”; therefore, he could not have been sent from God.

One thing I noticed when watching that video on Paul’s agenda was that Christian teaching would have us to go backwards in time to where Jesus was.  But with Jesus’ teachings, even in following the law and then fulfilling it, he was always pointing forward.  He was always pointing toward the goal.  Paul was also doing that.  And true men of God now do that, encouraging one another in Christ that we should still be looking to fulfill our life in the Spirit to obtain a crown of life in the end. 

There is no telling what the future holds with new doctrines and phrases and word-meaning changes, but the one thing that will hold true is the Spirit that Jesus died for us all to have.  You can trust that.  And if you have a kinship through the Spirit with Jesus, you and Paul are in perfect agreement.

Amy B.

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So clear!  Pure scripture and word definition!  No opinions!  Thank you Jesus for John’s anointing as a teacher.  May children of God all over the world benefit from this wisdom.

Allison

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Pastor John,

I love this!  You’ve made it so clear and easy to understand.  I wish God’s children everywhere could take this in!

We are so blessed!

Michelle

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I like the way you defined fulfilled in this blog.  The examples you used really make it clear.  I particularly like this one, “It did not mean that her (Rebekah) pregnancy had been worthless; rather, that fulfillment meant that the purpose for her pregnancy was complete, that its usefulness was ended and the pregnancy was over.”

The law was not worthless, and its purpose was completed (fulfilled) by Jesus. 

“Paul honored the law of Moses by honoring Jesus and receiving his baptism of life, which was the law’s entire purpose.”

I love that.

Thank you for writing this blog and sharing it with us.

Tom  

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John,

 I really love this and how you explain it.  I love the gift Jesus has given you.  Just the other day a man in my class, he was finally alone with me in the classroom and Jesus came up!  He mentioned how he isn’t feeling going to church and how God wants his children to follow him.  He’s looking for the “how”, and I spoke to him of the very same thing of the fulfillment of the law!  I hope this gives him some understanding.  He may or may not come to a meeting, but if he does, I hope he feels his “how”, and the fulfillment comes to life in understanding.  

I hope all of God’s children get the understanding.

Naomi

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