Pastor John,

Your pics of the grand Parthenon replica in Nashville, TN, go right along with what I am reading in the “God Had a Son Before Mary”* book today.  I love what I am feeling in reading this book!  I try to underline sentences with my pen and my lines are wiggly because the spirit is so stirred up inside me that it’s causing my hand to shake!

This is part of what I read this morning, “Professional religionists have always known, far better than God’s children know, how to make an impressive show…Israel failed because God’s law was so simple they did not want it….It was because God’s way in the Old Testament was an embarrassment to some in Israel that they strove to be like all the nations”. 

It’s still that way today!  The simplicity of Christ is just too plain.  And there’s no place to hide in that simple way of worship.  “Only those who choose life over form are satisfied with the unpretentious “strait and narrow way of Jesus”.  Amen!  I love the simplicity of Christ!!

Preacher Clark said, “Whatever God requires, requires God”. That’s so true!  What is about any of the worship we see in Christian denominations that required Jesus to come and sacrifice his life for us?  What is it in there that requires God?  We needed to become new creatures so we could live and worship in a new and living way!  A way that was impossible for the old man.  A way that requires God!  It’s so simple, but oh so wonderful!! 

Lee Ann

* Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did

Hi Pastor John, 

I hope you’re doing well.  I wanted to share something that has been on my heart over the past several days and ask for your thoughts on it.  Amy’s 1981 sermon audio and transcript really stirred me—especially when you said, “the Promise comes through the Seed.”  That statement stayed with me, and as I continued reading, several scriptures began connecting in a way I had never seen before.

A day or two before listening to the sermon, I had been reading Ephesians 1:13:

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.”

I’ve read this verse many times, but this time the Lord allowed me to see a deeper connection between the Promise, the holy Ghost, and the Seed.  Whether I am understanding it correctly or not, it caused me to start looking more closely at several other scriptures, and I wanted to share them with you to see if I am on the right track.

Before returning to Ephesians, many scriptures came to mind concerning the Promise itself.  In Luke 24:47–49, Jesus speaks of the Promise of the Father, which was fulfilled in Acts 2 when the holy Ghost was poured out with a sound.  Peter explains this in Acts 2:33, saying that Jesus, exalted at the right hand of God, “received of the Father the promise of the holy Ghost” and poured it out.  Then in Acts 2:38–39, Peter declares that this Promise is not only for the Jews but also “for all that are afar off,” which we know includes the Gentiles.  As I read these passages, it seemed to me that the Promise and the holy Ghost are inseparably connected.

Jesus also describes the Promise in Acts 1:4–5, telling the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Promise of the Father, which He identifies as the baptism of the holy Ghost.  As I looked at these passages together, it began forming what seemed to me to be a clear picture: that the Promise is the Spirit, and that the Spirit is the fulfillment of what God swore to Abraham.  If I am understanding this incorrectly, I would certainly appreciate your correction.

That connection became even clearer when I read Galatians 3.  In verse 8, Paul explains that the blessing promised to Abraham—that all nations would be blessed—was really the gospel preached before the Law was given.  Then in Genesis 22:16–18, God swears that through Abraham’s seed all nations would be blessed.

As I read that passage, I was struck again by God’s words concerning Abraham’s seed: “in multiplying thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore.”  It seemed to me that this promise was looking ahead to believing Gentiles as well.  The thought that we might be included in what God was showing Abraham touched my heart.   We are one of those stars!

Paul interprets this directly in Galatians 3:14:

“That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

What stood out to me was that Paul seems to connect the blessing of Abraham with receiving the Promise of the Spirit through faith. That connection was something I had never seen quite so clearly before, but as I began to study these passages together it became evident. Just as Abraham obeyed God, the Promise (holy Spirit) comes to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32).  And faith comes by hearing the Word, Jesus, the Seed.

Galatians 3:16 brought the final piece together: the Seed through whom the Promise comes is Christ Himself.  You’ve often taught that the heart must be prepared to receive the Seed (Truth when it comes), and that we always get (reap) what we prepare our hearts for.  I remember you saying in the Old Testament course that seeking God is different from preparing our hearts—preparing is how we live.  You’ve said often that our meetings reveal how well we each have prepared our hearts before we assemble together.  When the Seed (the Word, Jesus) enters a prepared heart, it grows, takes root, and brings forth new birth.

Returning to Ephesians 1:13, it seemed that many of these things began fitting together for me in a way they never had before.  The Ephesians heard the Word of truth, believed, and were sealed with the holy Spirit of Promise.  And what struck me even more is that these are the same Ephesians in Acts 19.  Those twelve men were believers, but they had not yet received the holy Ghost because they had not heard the full gospel.  Once they heard, believed, and obeyed, they received the Spirit with a sound and were sealed.  It helped me see that no matter how much someone believes, the sound and the sealing must still be evident.  Belief alone is not the seal—God Himself seals His people with the Spirit of Promise.

I know you have taught many times that God seals His New Testament people with the holy Ghost just as He gave His people a seal under the Old Covenant.  As these scriptures came together, I began seeing more clearly the connection between the Promise, the Spirit, and the Seed. 

This also brought to mind Romans 2:29 and Colossians 2:11–12, where circumcision is no longer outward but inward, performed by the Spirit.  It seemed to me that the Seed enters(sowing) the heart (soil), the Spirit circumcises the old nature, and a new man is raised up (reaping).  One detail especially stayed with me: in the Old Covenant, circumcision was performed in the flesh at the very place where the physical seed came through.  In the New Covenant, circumcision is in the heart—where the spiritual Seed, the Word of God, enters.  The location of circumcision remains where the seed comes through—first in the flesh, now in the heart.  That parallel was very interesting to me and seemed to fit perfectly with the pattern I was seeing in the Scriptures.

As I considered these things, Romans 8:9 also stood out to me: “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” That verse made me appreciate even more the necessity and preciousness of receiving the Spirit.  The seal of the covenant is not merely a doctrine to understand but a reality and an experience that God gives to His people.

Again, Pastor John, I am sharing this because these scriptures have been on my mind, and I wanted your thoughts on whether I am understanding them rightly.  A lot of this comes from things you’ve taught over the years that are finally connecting for me.  I’m not trying to say I’ve found something new, and if I’m understanding any of it incorrectly, I’m happy to be corrected.  But if there is truth in what I am seeing, then I am grateful to God for helping me appreciate more deeply how the Promise, the Seed, and the Spirit fit together.

Thank you for your teaching over the years and feeding me this really good food!  It helped prepare my heart to finally see how the Promise, the Seed, and the Spirit are connected.  I really do appreciate all of your hard work to get this truth out to us and have the best chance to grow in the Lord right here because Truth is being taught.  I pray that I can take it into my heart and walk worthy of it.

David

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Hi David!

That was very well done!  It is exciting for me to see a child of God learning from Jesus and growing in the knowledge of God.  I loved it!  Keep up the good work.  This has been very good to read, and it will bless whoever else reads it.

Pastor John

Pastor John

You know what your message on Sunday does, PJ? — It knocks the dust of Christianity right off my heart.  So many times my flesh has wanted you to be my hero, to be like those Christian ministers who say what the flesh wants to hear.  But this… this makes my soul shout.  This feeds my soul.  I love this so much I can hardly stand it.  I can’t tell you how many times Jesus has given it to me straight.  He has stopped me in my tracks many times by saying it exactly like it is.  Jesus does not sugarcoat things with me.  This sounds and feels just like Jesus to me.  And I love it.  I need it this straight and this real.

Talk about “straight is the way”!  You said, 

“There is something about the truth Jesus gives that so satisfies the soul that you cannot want 

something else.  You can desire more of that heavenly manna and more of that refreshing 

spiritual water, but no other bread or water can appeal to you.  “I am the bread of life,” Jesus 

said, “and he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst” 

(Jn. 6:35).  There have been people who attended our meetings for decades, even born to parents 

who were already here, who never found the way of holiness.  They knew when to clap their 

hands and when to smile, but they never got to know the Spirit.  In time, they were offended, not because I did anything, but because they were thirsty for something else, and God made sure that they found something better to their liking. 

I didn’t take credit for them being here, and I didn’t take credit for them leaving.  That is God’s business.  I am not that powerful.  No man is.  It is not part of my job description to decide who or how many come or go; my job is to be faithful to the one who called me out of darkness and gave me hope of eternal life.   My goal is not to try to persuade anybody to stay here and not go away; that is not by job.   My job is to please my Master and teach you the way of righteousness, to feed you the living word of God, to offer you the bread of life that comes down from heaven, to give you a taste of 

the Son of God, and hopefully, to cause you to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”  It is actually none of my business whether or not that heavenly bread tastes good to you.  The result of my feeding the body is entirely up to God.”

Amen! Amen! Amen! 

Love,

Beth

Pastor John,

     Years ago, when we started loving God and obeying the truth, we received some of the same persecution from our families and friends that you talked about in your message on Sunday.  Living in Ridgeway among our family members and former friends, we felt isolated and alone.  We were no longer invited to family dinners or other functions and pretty much ignored.  They tried to persuade us at one point to go to any Pentecostal church, anything but John Clark’s meetings.  We continued loving the truth that you were teaching, and what God was showing us.  The persecution from our families was irrelevant.  We feel privileged to be a part of this work that God has given you and to be a part of this family of God.

     Thank you for this message reminding us again that this is how it has always been and will continue to be. 

Randell

Hey Pastor John, 

     I have had a little something on my mind and Jesus has been very plain and straight with me recently!  During the meeting on Wednesday, I was talking to Jesus and I was asking him to give me opportunities to prove myself.  I don’t want anyone to be wondering about me.  This really goes for everyone, if someone goes out and dances in the Spirit or testifies, I don’t want to be surprised; I want to think “oh there they go again!  Amen!”  Tonight, I was thinking about that again, and I heard Jesus tell me something like this, “Every time you feel me move, you can prove yourself!”  And then I went on to think, every time we don’t go with the spirit, we are losing our chance; someone is going to take our blessing!  The more and more we drift away, the more people start to wonder about us!  I don’t want people to wonder about me, and I want to prove myself and live in the Spirit!! 

     Recently, I feel like many people have been telling us teenagers that we need to go with our feelings and that we aren’t too young!  I feel as though those thoughts of being too young can really deter us sometimes.  But I’m starting to realize we are not too young to feel anything, and we are not too young to prove ourselves.  I am expecting lots and lots of more trials to come but we might as well practice early!  Everything has just been feeling so good lately!  I’m excited 🙂

Grace C.

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I am happy and excited for you, Grace.  Thank you for writing!

Pastor John

Pastor John,

This evening when you were telling us about God putting us here together and being put here for a reason, it made me think of something you wrote in “God Had a Son Before Mary Did” book: (Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did)

“God‘s children are happiest when they occupy their appointed place in the order of God and acknowledge the places occupied by others.  When you are in the place that you were created to be, you feel contentment, for your place is not an it.  Your place is a who – you!  The “place” God has for you is your life as the person God intended you to be from the foundation of the world.  Only in that place, only in being yourself in Christ, will you ever experience perfect peace and joy.”

I remember when I read this I had the same feelings as when I learned our names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world – very loved.

He knows us, and what we need, and what we don’t need.  He knows how to make us happy!  He’s got each of our lives perfectly planned for us.  Mistakes and all.  That is perfect love. 

Michelle 

Pastor John,

I loved the sermon from 1981 Amy sent out yesterday.  There’s so many good things I had to listen a couple of times and this evening I read the transcript Amy sent out.

After I listened the first time, I prayed, “Oh Lord, search my heart.  I want to get rid of rocks, thorns and any cares of this life that’s still there”.  Fill my heart with the love of God!”  I had the thought, Jesus when you filled me with the holy Ghost I became yours, heart, soul, mind and body.  You’re in there!  Then I read this in the transcript:  “And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad, for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you– a guarantee that the day will come when God will set you free.  Get rid of all bitterness, passion and anger.  No more shouting or insults.  No more hateful feelings of any kind.  Instead, be kind and tenderhearted one to another and forgive one another as God has forgiven you through Christ. Amen.  No more harmful words.”  Whew… that’s the love of God in action!

You said, “Let the good thing that God has placed in you bear good fruit! This was so encouraging to me.  There is so much more, but I loved the feelings, serious but so encouraging.

“If we’re going to understand the truth that’s on the way, we’ve got to prepare for it before it comes – you said, “I’m sure God has more for us to see.  Now’s the time to get ready to hear it.  Now’s the time. We can’t wait.”

I want my heart to stay prepared, ready and free.

I love the truth you have taught us.  Every bit all along the way.  It stirs my heart and makes me feel encouraged and excited.  

And… I loved hearing you at 29 yrs old!  The anointing, zeal and love of God is still there!  This should encourage every young person who hears it! It sure did encourage me!  You’ve held onto the truth a long time… that is no small thing.  I’m so thankful Jesus put me here with you!

Michelle 

Pastor John,

I just had one of those mind-blowing moments, similar to when I first started coming around and learned how much I misunderstood what it meant to take God’s name in vain. After reading today’s Thought for the Evening, Reconciled By His Death,* the Spirit finally let me understand what it means to be dead with Christ, or reconciled by his death. I didn’t realize how much of Christianity I still had in me until I recognized that I still put too much emphasis on His physical death at Calvary. 

I know now that the death Jesus experienced before he died on the cross –  the “death to sin, death to self and death to the ways of this world” is the one that we can be partakers in and has the power to reconcile us to God.  It’s the only type of death where we can still live after we’re dead! Now that I understand this, all the verses in the New Testament that talk about how we’re saved by Jesus’s death, particularly those said by Paul, are crystal clear!  I feel this will have a life changing effect on me. Learning things like this and letting it have its affect on me feels like what is meant to worship in “Spirit and in Truth”.  

I’m sure this is one of those things where you’re like, “Well yeah, you didn’t know that? I have been saying that for years!” Well, now I know and it feels wonderful to know the Truth. 

For those of us who grew up in Christianity, we’re so blessed to have you as a teacher to help us unravel from so much confusion. 

Michael D

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Thank you, Michael.

It is wonderful feeling for us to finally get what the Lord has been saying for a while.  I know how that feels!  And that is how we “grow in Christ”.

Pastor John

* Going to Jesus.com – Reconciled By His Death

Read this tonight. It is from the Thought for the Morning 8/10, “Hating God.”* The only way is to worship in spirit and in truth!  Any form of worship that man comes up with is hating God!  

“There is no man who does not hate God unless the holy Spirit of God has come into him, no matter what that man says or thinks.  By nature, every man hates God.  This is the truth behind the fact that every way of worship man has devised is sinful. How can any way of worship that man invents honor a God that he by nature hates?  We need the holy Ghost to lead us in everything; it alone knows “the deep things of God.”  The holy Ghost is an absolute necessity for salvation.  Without the holy Ghost, man is led by his own flesh, and when the flesh leads a man, his actions, even his religious ones, reflect hatred of God instead of submission to Him.”

Carrie

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Hi Carrie.

That is what I believe. Without the Spirit, we have no choice but to be led by the flesh, and Paul said that the flesh is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is contrary to the flesh (Gal. 5:17).

Pastor John

*https://www.goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tfm08-10

Hey, Pastor John,

I just wanted to share some sweet thoughts I’ve been having!  I’ve been loving reading the things you have written over the years!  Last night, I was reading the “Keep Yourself Pure” tract (Going to Jesus.com Tracts – Keep Yourself Pure), and I was just thinking about how good God is that He gives us a kind of life to where we want to be pure and have peace!  It feels so sweet!  I know He is the only One that can do that because just going through daily life in the world you can feel all the junk that is out there, but to feel the difference among God’s people and in the wonderful feelings He gives us in the Spirit!  Wow!  After reading the tract, I starting listening to some of our music on Uncle Vince’s Youtube channel, and it felt so good! 

I love this life Jesus has given me, and I pray that Jesus keeps me in that place!  It is worth everything, and I hope He never let’s me forget that!  Thank you for all you do to nurture us in the truth PJ!

Love you! 

Hope M.

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Hi Hope,

Thank you, Hope.  I am very happy for you, that Jesus has put it into your heart to love him and his people. Hope to see you soon!

Pastor John