Hey Bro John,
Well I finished the tapes of that Kentucky meeting back in August 1992 and there were some good testimonies, so sad though that some are not still here with us.
In Michelle’s testimony, she said, “I told Chuck last night while we were lying in bed that John Clark is down in our basement! It was a good feeling having him down in our basement.” You spoke up and said, “I told him I wasn’t going to steal anything.” Of course, that got a good laugh from everyone.
Natalie E was talking about what God gave and did for her was “much more better.” To me that was sweet how she said it. She talked about dusting her house, God opens a part of your heart and cleans it.
Tammy testified that she was thinking more about what was wrong with her than about what God had fixed. She asked her heart, “what’s the matter with you? You got to straightened up! You stop being sad! “She was really happy and being blessed. She said she wasn’t going to hide out in her house any more, she was going to get next to somebody and not let those spirits work.
Bro John, you really encouraged those people with their sweet testimonies. Oh, and Kathy Tuck sang “I’ll take Jesus”.
In your message, you said: “Some groups of people are going to find themselves, like Brerrabbit – right in the middle of the briar patch.” (I remembered you telling us that, and I’ve always liked that little picture in my mind).
You said: “God is waiting for those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and that hunger is the call of the spirit of God. It’s always helped me in the past to try to see and understand, not so much what people think they are after , but what their spirits are after. What’s the real goal?
About 11 1/2 years ago, early 1982, I conducted Bro Frank’s funeral, an 87 year old man in the Lord. There was a man at his funeral that invited me to go to Durham to preach. I didn’t know the spirit he and his congregation were under. I didn’t know that they had all been turned over by God to a delusive spirit, teaching that a person has already been raised from the dead when he received the holy ghost. Paul wrestled against the same spirit with a few foolish saints in Corinth, and Timothy dealt with some in Ephesus.”
Then you told about your experience in the middle of a prayer meeting, when God let you experience what it was like to be turned over to a “strong delusion”, when He “revealed” to you that it was true that those who receive the Spirit ARE already raised from the dead, and how knowing the truth kept you. You said Sister Atkinson saw a vision of that congregation in Durham trying to spin a web around you, the way a spider does a victim in its web, and how it vexed your spirit while you were going through it with them. Your father, though, insisted that you continue to go back and preach there, as they wanted, even though you didn’t want to, even telling you, “I think that’s John 1:1” (here you said you didn’t think you should go back meaning that was just your – John’s – opinion). And you never got over being vexed until you got alone with God and he showed you the purpose of that false doctrine: that evil spirit was after your crown, and their crown!
The spirit of Satan was robbing them of their hope, for with that doctrine they ceased” looking for Jesus to appear” and save them. Then, when God showed you that, you wanted to go back to preach because you had their answer. It’s one thing to know you ought to resist spirits but it’s another thing for God to put on your shield, your helmet, your war boots, and give you a sword. Then, a man is able to say, ‘This is the word of the Lord.’”
You went on to say: “This past Monday night in Lexington at our prayer meeting, some are sick, some wanting the holy ghost, and while down praying, the spirit of God was so sweet. I heard myself praying in English for myself and for us, so wonderful I can’t even communicate the beauty of it. God put it in my heart to pray! That’s praying “according to the will of God”, and you can expect that to be done. God opened up my heart to me and showed me how desirable fellowship is. That may not sound like a whole lot, but God has more to show us. It’s like my soul smelled the fragrance of fellowship. My soul just picked up on how sweet it is to God, how good and pleasant it is to God when “brethren dwell together in unity.”
Bro John, I thought that was such a precious way you explained it, your soul smelled the fragrance of fellowship.
I am so glad I cleaned out a closet recently and found these old tapes, among many years worth (which John David wants to look through), because I have been so blessed by hearing your message. The only cassette player I had was an old, small one that works on batteries. There is no rewind, only a fast forward button that doesn’t work. But I was so hungry to hear this, it didn’t matter. If I wanted to hear something again, I just took the tape out, turned it over, played it a little bit and flipped it back over. I felt a real hunger for it; partly, because back in August 1992 I had put a note to myself on the tape case that said,” For Sheila, when she gets out of whack, ” but mainly because that message on Fellowship has been very sweet to my soul and so very good to hear again.
Thank you very much,
Sheila