Pastor John,

I very much enjoyed listening to you and others talk this morning in your basement about the things of the Lord.

You all spoke about the ever-growing resistance of man to the biblical fact that “salvation” is a future event, and not something that happens now, while you are living on this earth. As Jesus pointed out: “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13).  And that salvation is also attributed to your actions on this earth, as James clearly stated: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:4).

In the overwhelming resistance that is offered up against these two truths, there appears to be revealed a mentality of man toward God that is very akin to the the nature of man regarding other things.

It is, in a spiritual sense, a welfare mentality; men want it now, and they do not want to have to work for it.

When we, in this natural world, work hard everyday, do our best, and are proud of our work, there is a feeling that accompanies that which lets us enjoy our rest when it is time to rest, and to feel that we have earned it – and the freedom to enjoy our pay when payday comes, feeling that we have earned that as well.

It is truly the same in the spiritual realm.   Anyone who gives their all to Jesus, everyday, will feel justified to receive the rest when it finally comes on “payday”; that is, whenssalvation is given to all of those who have obeyed. Those feelings are built into the spiritual, just as well as the natural.  Only those dishonest in either, or both, try to skate around it.

Jerry

Looking for something else in my computer files today, I happened upon a  conversation from some time ago with an internet friend whom I have not personally met.  Her fellowship was a blessing to me, and so, I saved some of our conversation.  I thought you might enjoy seeing this.

Pastor John

 

Me to Sister Jewel:

You know what lies at the root of the confusion among God’s people?  It’s not understanding that the baptism of the holy ghost is the new birth.

Jewel W:

Those that have not the Spirit of Christ are none of His.

Me:

Amen.  Thanks for the reply. It was a godly one.

Jewel W:

Those that are born of The Spirit are like the wind.  Wind moves.  Air just sits.  The devil is the Prince of the air.  “Church folks” just sit.

Me:

Very good thought!  We are praying for the power of the Lord to be with us all, and fill us. Without that, it is all just one big quarrel.

Jewel W:

Amen.  If we have the same spirit we get along.

Me:

Always.  God in me loves God in you.  And He can get along with Himself just fine, if we don’t interfere.

Jewel W:

That is Right, bro.

 

Pastor John,

Beth and I were in separate rooms of the house the other day, and though I could not hear her clearly, I knew she had begun to speak. I did not know if she was talking to Jesus, or to me 🙂 As I walked toward the kitchen where she was, to see if she was speaking to me, I heard the last sentence that she spoke, which was………”they say you don’t have to obey God.”

When I heard her say that, the Spirit then spoke to me. It was a very pleasant surprise, and unexpected. This is what I heard:

“You don’t have to obey God.

If you are “having” to obey God, then you are not obeying God.
The Spirit that you have IS God, and it is never “having” to obey.

If you are “having” to obey, that is just the flesh, holding its true desires in restraint, that is not obedience to God. That is a different Spirit.

You don’t make the choice to obey God, you can’t obey God. You make the choice to walk in the Spirit, the Spirit obeys God.

 Jerry

 

Pastor John, 

Beth and I watched a Benny Hinn Video tonight that just brought us to tears. We both wept while watching these deaf people receive their hearing, and some, while still unlearned in speech, were “signing” frantically, “Loud, Loud, it’s loud, I can hear!”  I loved feeling that brother John!

A few hours later, I was standing in the bathroom shaving and I heard God’s Spirit speak: “Even people that want to continue in sin, want to be healed.  But you have got to love Jesus to come to this truth. You can’t stand it if you don’t.  It keeps this work free, from what brother Benny Hinn can’t keep out of his work.”

Praise God Pastor John!  That is wonderful, for us!

I can understand why your father said that for all of the healings and for all of the miracles, “This is better than that.”

Amen!

Jerry

Pastor John,

I was listening to brother Murray and to brother Frank on a CD from a prayer meeting in the early 70’s. Those are special recordings.  After the CD was over, I could still hear them preaching and testifying, as if the CD was still playing.  I went on with my day yesterday, enjoying those two all the while. 

I then felt the Spirit in me educating me as to who those men, or better yet, “what” those men are.  “The law”, is what I heard in my heart. “There is the Law.” (Referring to brother Murray and brother Frank) “They are the Law.”

And it continued…

“In the old covenant, men used to receive the Law from God, write it down, and then men would then live it out.  In this new covenant, men receive the Law from God, they live it out, and then if they wish, in hindsight, they can look back and write down what they have done.  That is the law!  You are doing it!  But once you write it down, you can’t follow it again because this thing is alive, and it may never be the same thing for any two days of your life.  So you have to stay hooked up with God to get this!  Do you want to know the Law?  Give yourself completely over to Christ and then see what you did that day.  That is the Law in this covenant!

But it’s going to cost you.  “How much?”  Everything!  You are going to forsake everything that is not God to get this.  You are going to stop giving yourself over to anything that is not the will of God in Christ Jesus for your life, or you are not going to be saved!  And once you do, everything that you do will be the Law; you become the Law!  You are Christ’s epistle, proving that He was telling the truth!

Men used to read the Law, but that was when the Law and man were two different creations, but now man and the Law are one creation!  The man and the Law became one when God entered into the man!  And the man became the perfect law of liberty.

Every government requires you to obey its law.  The policeman isn’t going to let you drive up and down these streets too fast, or go down a one-way street against traffic.  Well, how much more is God going to require us to obey the law!”

I wrote down what I remembered, brother John.

I was sure blessed by it.

Jerry

 

Pastor John,

This morning, I remembered a conversation that I once had with a man that I used to work part-time for, many years ago.

He started telling me that day about a fellow that (I assume) he used to look to as a friend. A person that he said, used to make use of his business regularly, (it was a gym, for athletic training).

He told me that this fellow, “used to come in here everyday, and was a pretty decent guy, but then, next thing you know, the fellow disappears and is out handling snakes”. I said, “really?” with excitement. He said, “No. It’s just a figure of speech”.

I thought he was saying his friend had found the power of God!  I had never in my short lifetime heard someone say, that as a derogatory “figure of speech”.  I have only heard it in the sense of: they were full of the holy Ghost and were able to handle snakes under the power that Jesus talked about in Mark, chapter 16.

His answer disappointed me, I thought he knew a man who had forsook sin and found the way of holiness. I wanted to locate him 🙂

I have not considered that conversation in maybe a decade, not until this morning. And the reality of what that man was saying to me that day, when he said “It is just a figure of speech”,  hit me.  In saying what he said to me, he was showing that the Pentecostal movement used to be so prevalent in this country and that holiness had made such an impression on people then, that when people went from living their sinful life, and made a sudden and abrupt life change, folk would equate that as to what happened during the Pentecostal movement!

What an impact the outpouring of God’s Spirit must have had on this Country then! To become a “slur” in everyday speech, at least for that generation.

I imagine the Azusa street blessings contributed to that.  And the work of your father, Preacher Clark,  traveling this country with the power of the Gospel. And brother Frank, and sister Mae, and brother Oral Roberts, and others that we read about.

My how times and people change! 

But God does not.

I appreciate experiencing that this morning. It excited me to consider that the power of God had that kind of impact on the world.

Jerry

==========

Yes, Jerry. The term “holy roller” is the another example of Pentecostal influence on our culture.  I wish we (God’s people everywhere) were so full of the Spirit now that men would come up with some similar names for us.  God, let it be!

jdc

Pastor John,

I was thinking this morning that, God’s children ought to not have “habits”.

We have the Spirit of life, habits are of the flesh.  Everything God does has purpose; there are no habits in Heaven.

Jerry

Pastor John,

I was thinking about Billy’s dream last night.  In it, there was just no place that he belonged here on Earth.  I then thought about Jesus, and how He had no home, no place to lay His head, no place that He belonged, or a place where He was wanted.

It made me think, if we find any place here on the Earth, anywhere we fit or belong, other than with those who are strangers just like us, we are not yet like Jesus.  Jesus and those who are like Him, just don’t fit anywhere here on this planet. It is a glorious thing, if we are all-in with Jesus.  Hard and hurtful if not.

I am thankful today.

Jerry

Pastor John,

I have been thinking about life in the Spirit, this evening.  And I remembered something, something that I heard you say, at least once.  It is very good.  And it is surely true.

There was a person, several years ago, who directly, or indirectly through one of us, made a sincere comment to you, regarding the condition of their congregation.  They said to you (regarding the portion of the body of Christ that meets in your home), “I wish I could get my people to where your people are!”

And you replied, to the effect of, “It’s not someplace that you ‘get to’, it’s the place that you start. When you are born again, you are born perfect.  Staying there is the work”. Staying free of the things that want to attach themselves to us, things that God didn’t give us when we were born again, is the warfare. Otherwise, we are perfect.

If we would just remain the thing that God created when we were born of the Spirit, we would grow perfectly and effortlessly.  We would speak perfectly. We would learn and later teach others perfectly, and so on.  Everything that is not just that, perfect, is caused by something else other than what God gave us when we were born of the Spirit.  There is no sin in what God created.  And no spiritual failure ever came from what God gave us. It is the things that we pick up after God recreates us, that causes that.

Knowing that is true, takes all of the struggle and strain out of growing and out of producing fruit. Growing and yielding healthy fruit is just what Spirit does, it’s just natural, if it isn’t inhibited by something else, something that has attached itself to a perfect child of God.

That truth allows me to understand that when we read in the Bible where Jesus, or Paul, or John, or others commanded the spirit-filled body of Christ to “be perfect”, or to “sin not” or to “be sinless”, all they were confessing is their own experience, that they loved God, and that love of God kept them spiritually stirring, alive, constantly burning off the dross and not letting anything else attach itself to them that wasn’t perfect.

They stayed free of everything (by loving God) that wasn’t what God gave them in the beginning. And as a glorious result, what God gave them grew, effortlessly … mature and wise, bearing mighty fruit, pleasing God!  All the way back to Glory – and took those faithful Saints with it.

What a story of Love!

Jerry