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  • John 20:22

    Pastor John,

    You state in your book “Spiritual Light” that the disciples did not receive the holy spirit until Pentecost as you state they were not converted or born again while they walked with Jesus prior to the cross. You state that the holy spirit could not come to earth until Jesus was glorified. My question is how is that John 20:22 says that Jesus breathed on his disciples and they received the holy spirit after Jesus’ resurrection before Pentecost and before his glorification as he had not yet ascended to the Father?

    Joe H

    ============

    Hi Joe.

    Thank you for the question.  I am impressed that you understand what I was saying in my Spiritual Light book.  By that, I know that you have been sincere in your search for the truth.  No one can understand me unless Jesus grants them understanding, and if he grants you understanding, he is inviting you into his counsel.  

    As for John 20:22, you have made a mistake that all of us have made at some point in our Bible reading, the mistake of assuming the Bible says what we are thinking instead of seeing what is actually there.  If you will notice, John 20:22 does not say that the disciples received the Spirit; it only says that Jesus told them to receive it.  Here is what is really there:

    Also notice, please, that in this scene, Jesus said three things to them.  He breathed on the disciples and told them to receive the Spirit.  He also told them he was sending them to preach just as the Father had sent him, and that if they forgave a sin, then those sins were forgiven.  None of those things happened at that moment.  They could not happen, because the Spirit was not yet given.  The disciples received the Spirit, and so started preaching and forgiving sins on the day of Pentecost.  In God’s kingdom, Joe, there is no such thing as a non-pentecostal preacher because the true gospel can only be preached through the power of the holy Ghost (1Pet. 1:12).

    1. Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you.  As the Father has sent me, so am I sending you.”
    2. And after he said this, he breathed out and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.
    3. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; whose you retain are retained.”

    There is no questioning the fact that in John 20, Jesus was not yet glorified, for he still had his old, fleshly body.  The glorified body of Jesus, which he received from the Father after his ascension, is described by John in Revelation 1.  Understanding that, one can agree with me (and John) that the disciples could not possibly have received the Spirit in John 20, for John wrote (Jn. 7:37-39) “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

    I love this kind of correspondence Joe.  Please stay in touch.  Thank you again for the question.  I hope this helps bring us closer together in the light of Christ.  Believers’ fellowship in his light glorifies the Father and the Son more than anything else on earth.

    Pastor John

     

     

     

  • “Live Up a Shout!”

    Pastor John,

    I copied this (below) from an old sermon I was listening to today.  The latter part of the sentence in quotations is just gold.  On the CD, you said there was a fellow, years ago, who labored under the idea that “faster” and “louder” equaled Holier.  And on one occasion, he disturbed the sweet Spirit of God being enjoyed by the saints at the beginning of the meeting by trying to “crank it up” with a loud and fast song that was not led by the Spirit which everyone was already enjoying.

    You then told all of us, “We don’t need to ‘crank it up’.  It is either there or it isn’t!   You don’t need to work up a shout, you need to LIVE UP ONE!”

    🙂

    Jerry D.

  • Exodus 15

    Pastor John,

    Last night I was reading Exodus 15 and when I read this verse it stopped me:

     

    26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”

    I closed my eyes just to let that verse sink in and began to hear Gary sing, “You are my God, who healeth me”.  Then this morning when I was on my way to work I turned on a CD and we were praying for several people and Gary started singing this same song.

    It felt sobering.  I felt relief.

     

  • Hebrews

    Hi John,

    Wow! I am so loving the Hebrews readings. I had always found that book to be so difficult to understand, and my former understanding of certain verses
    really tripped me up.  Remember when this distraught girl from California
    called you back in 2013 talking about Hebrews?!  And how you laughed
    and reassured me that indeed I didn’t understand Hebrew 6:4.  What a
    relief that was to hear!  I so cherish what God did for me, bringing me
    to the light.  I love how He has opened me eyes, and how you continue
    to stretch my understanding of our awesome God!  Can’t wait for the rest
    of Hebrews!

    Patty

  • Thankful

    Hey Pastor John,

    Wednesday night (9/14/2016) when Darren sang and you prayed, that touched me so deep.  My head was down on the side of our love seat, and I just cried from deep down from the love that I felt in having a pastor who loves us all like that.  The next morning, I played parts of the meeting again and felt the same way.  Every time I picture you down on your face praying, it touches me and makes me cry.

    Haskell and I had a class in Chapel Hill Friday. A few times while I was sitting there, I got that “excited” feeling inside about the meetings this weekend.  Last night was so encouraging. The tabernacle, testimonies, songs and your dream were all so good.  The spirit felt so strong.  I love that and I’m thankful for the encouragement from Jesus. And I’m thankful for you.

    Love,

    Cris

  • Teaching the Law to the Gentiles

    Pastor John, 

    After last night’s meeting, I was thinking about God revealing the purpose for Moses’ tabernacle to you.  Jerry and I were talking about if Paul would have taught the Gentiles about its heavenly shadows, or would he have stayed away from the law because the Gentiles didn’t need to be taught about the law.  This has my head spinning because if the Spirit leads you into all truth, then it would lead you into understanding the law and why it was there…right?

    Well, here is my thought (new to me) from my conversation with Jerry: 

    There was no Christianity then; it had not yet been formed.  Paul had to be removed from Judaism.  God revealed the truth to him to remove wrong ideas and thoughts he had taken in from his earlier religion.  You had to be removed from Christianity’s wrong thoughts and ideas, and so, God revealed the truth to you about the tabernacle and the law. 

    Do you feel like God taught you this to remove all those wrong ideas or to know God better?

    Paul did not have to remove Jewish traditions and understandings of the law from the Gentiles.  They didn’t have those wrong ideas and thoughts.  They didn’t follow or know the law.  So would they have needed to learn about the law to learn of Gods heart?  Would Paul have taught them the law to show them the heavenly shadows?  Jerry said they had so much more power from the Spirit than we do that they may not have needed to learn of the law.  I love seeing the heavenly shadows.  I love the story.  I love learning of my Father through all of this.  Yet I had to come out of Christianity and God has to remove wrong thoughts and ideas.  So, back to the question.  Do you think God showed you the purpose for the tabernacle and the law to remove wrong ideas,  or to teach you of God’s thoughts and heart?

    Beth

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    Hi Beth.

    You two questions are one and the same, for whenever God shows us His heart, he removes from our heart the wrong ideas we all have stored up in there.

    Whether or not Gentile believers knew the law before they heard the gospel, Paul would certainly have taught them about the law (and Israel’s history and prophets), from the perspective of the law being fulfilled in Christ, of course.  And if those Gentiles really took in and understood Paul’s teaching, they were then inoculated from the poisonous doctrine of those who wanted them to add the law and its ceremonies to their faith.

    Good questions!  Thanks.

    Pastor John

     

  • Rest

    Hi Pastor John.

    Recently I applied for another job. When I was updating my resume I was having a hard time listing my skills. I am not really happy with where they are. This really bothered me for a few weeks. 

    When we recently read Job I had the best feelings. Here on earth it is about how much you know, how well you know it, how fast you can do this or how long you have done it. But with Jesus We do not have to know ANYTHING. No skills required. In fact Jesus just has to get rid of everything you think you know anyway. I was thinking about when our friends came to the meeting recently.  I wanted to tell them “just come in, get on your face, and let Jesus give you everything you need.”

    How absolutely wonderful and easy this life with Jesus is. I love the rest in Jesus. I love that there is no burden. His yoke really is easy.

    This world has always seemed so hard to me before Jesus. Everyday it was a struggle to get up and do the daily task required just to make it. I am so thankful for the rest Jesus gives because I would not make it here without it.

    Beth

  • God’s Plants by Pastor John

    Hi John, 

    I have a question about this verse from the BLOG (below): “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted” (Mt. 15:13).  Is this people with the holy ghost?  Or is it that God’s people are in such bad shape they don’t know who God has planted?

    Thanks

    Stuart

    ============

    Hi Stuart.

    When God baptizes someone with the holy ghost, He has planted them in His kingdom. That is why we warn every man that, even though God’s people do not know who God has and has not planted (because they do not know the holy ghost baptism is the new birth), God does know. As Paul said, “The Lord knows who are His.”  And when God cleans house, He will cast out every soul He has not really cleansed with His Spirit, no matter how religious that souls is and no matter what men think of him.

    May God grant us the grace to truly live in His Spirit, and not content ourselves with merely being praised by men who think that we are righteous.

    Pastor John

    God’s Plants

    “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

    In old age, they shall still bring forth fruit; they shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the LORD is upright.

    He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

    Psalm 92:13–15

    The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek . . . to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified – Isaiah 61:1a, 3.

    Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted – Matthew15:13.

  • Gentiles and Learning the Law

    Hi Pastor John!

    I had a pretty amazing experience this morning. I feel like I need to add a disclaimer to the beginning of this email stating “content may include wrong thoughts.”

    I got up at 5:30 am this morning.  I couldn’t sleep so I put on a Netflix show called “Full of Grace”.  It is about Mary, Jesus’ mother.  About halfway through the movie, there is a scene where Peter and James (some other disciples were there but not named) were discussing Saul and Barnabas teaching Gentiles that they did not have to follow the law. James was concerned that by the Gentiles not following the law, they would not walk in the spirit every day, but would fall away to false teachings and sin. James said that the Gentiles did not even know the law.  I was amazed to even see this on TV.  There were some good parts to the conversation.

    Well I started thinking about what TV James said.  I thought about what learning about the law in the Old Testament taught me.  I feel like it helped have a better understanding of God’s heart.  I know the spirit is all we need, for the spirit will lead us into all truth, but I am so thankful to have learned about the law. The Gentiles would have been blessed to have learned about the law from the Jews if they could only have learned it just to learn more of God.

    It makes me so thankful to have the spirit and learn of the law and to understand what God used the law for. I also thought, “Well, maybe the Gentiles would have been hungry for the knowledge and would have sought every scripture or law just to know more of God.”  God had me, a Gentile, read the Bible.  That was one of the first things God put on my heart.

    Would the Gentiles have learned any of the law?  Would Jewish believers and Gentiles have spent a lot of time together or would they have been separated because of the law?  Would Paul have taught them the law to show them the heavenly shadows of Christ?

    These are unfinished thoughts, but I wanted to share them.  I feel like there is this big obvious point that I already know but can’t put it all together.

    Know what I mean?

    Beth

    ===========

    Hi Beth.

    I love it.   Please keep having those unfinished thoughts.  They are beautiful, and who knows? Jesus might just answer those questions and finish your thoughts for you.

    Pastor John

  • Knowledge of Good and Evil

    Good morning!

    I found myself singing this old song in my heart this morning, “Some day, some happy day, from sin set free.  I’ll be with Christ forever, some day, some day”.  I got to thinking about being in heaven and I remembered a scripture that stated something like “the former things would not be remembered or come to mind”.  And then a question came to mind.  When we get to the new earth, will knowledge of good and evil be taken away?  Or, will we be so much like Jesus that knowledge of such will simply become irrelevant?

    Billy H.

    ===========

    Hi Billy.

    Isaiah said, “The former things will not come to mind.”  And in Revelation, we are told that God will wipe away all tears, which means, I assume, that He will take away from us the memory of loved ones who refused to obey the gospel of Christ and were cast into the Lake of Fire.  Otherwise, how could we ever be happy?

    Other than that, we are told little about what we will be allowed to remember. It makes me want to cry now, while I can, for those who are not living in the will of God.

    Pastor John

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