Looking for something specific? Try a search below!
Good Morning!
I woke up so thankful (and still feeling it) that we have God’s commandments to live by. They are so precious! Just the thoughts and history of how they got into our hearts is overwhelming. I’m wiping the tears now because of His goodness, I feel from His love for me.
Billy
Pastor John,
While reading in acts chapter 4 I had a question.
When the people sold their possessions and brought it to the disciples, where they still required by the law of Moses to bring their tithes to the priest from selling what they had?
I was thinking yes but wanted to make sure.
Steven
===============
Hi Steven,
The answer depends on the price the sellers received for the property they sold. If they made a profit, then yes, they were required to bring the tithe to the priest.
The law required tithes to be paid on all “increase”, and in the matter of selling property, the “increase” would be profit, if any, that was made.
Thanks for the question.
Pastor John
===============
Pastor John,
Let me ask this question, sort of along the same lines.
After the new testament started in acts 2, were the people still required to take that 10% to the Levitical priest s or the apostles ( taking tithes to a man of God) . It reads like they were taking it all to the disciples. Was there a certain point or place that it changed over?
Steven
===============
Good question, Steven.
Yes, there was certainly a point at which it was unacceptable for Jewish believers to take their tithes and offerings to the Levitical priests. That time was probably after the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, in 70 AD. There was no more temple worship after that point.
It was never right for Gentile\ believers to take their tithes to the Levitical priests. On the contrary, Paul commended Gentile believers for giving him their financial support.
At the same time, Paul would not have allowed Jewish believers to support him. Their tithes and offerings were for the priests under the law, or, over time, transferred to Peter and the other apostles of Christ. Paul encouraged Gentile believers to send offerings to the persecuted Jewish community living in Palestine before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem , and I am sure that it was acceptable to God for them to do that.
The story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed can help us understand this situation. Jesus told the ten lepers to go offer the sacrifice for their cleansing that Moses commanded in the law. They all left, and were healed as they were on their way to the priest. One of the ten, when he saw that he was healed, disobeyed Jesus and the law, and did not continue on to the priest. Instead, he turned around to, as Jesus said it, give glory to God. That is an amazing story because it shows that God was pleased with that cleansed leper putting Jesus ahead of the law! That being the case, it also has to be true that after Pentecost, God was pleased with His people honoring ministers of Christ ahead of the law, which includes honoring them with their tithes and offerings ahead of the Levitical priests. That transfer of honor probably took place gradually, as more and more Jews, especially the priests, rejected the gospel, and more and more Gentiles received him. But when the Romans destroyed the temple and the city in 70 AD, there really was nothing left for them to support with their tithes and offering but ministers of Christ.
Hope that helps.
Pastor John
Here is the story of the ten lepers, from Luke 17:
12. As he entered into a certain village, ten leprous men, who stood at a distance, met him,
13. and they raised a cry, saying, ‘Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!’
14. And when he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And it came to pass, as they were going away, that they were cleansed.
15. Now, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
16. and he fell on his face at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan.
17. Then Jesus answered and said, ‘Weren’t there ten who were cleansed? So, where are the nine?
18. Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?’
19. Then, he said to him, ‘Get up, and go. Your faith has made you whole.’”
Being the Head
The thoughts of the righteous are right.
Proverbs 12:5
The correspondence between children of God who know and love the truth can be very instructive. Here is some correspondence between Brother Jerry and Sister Lee Ann.
Dear Jerry,
Jerry, on Sunday night as we were sitting around talking, you were speaking to a woman you knew who had an ungodly husband, and such, and you said some things concerning those who are walking in the Spirit being the head. As you were speaking, I knew I needed to pay attention to what you were saying. It was very good, and I needed to hear it. I was hoping you might remember what you said and send it to me. You were talking about not being afraid of the “bumps” that might come up if an ungodly husband tries to cause problems, if and when his wife goes on with God.
Anyway, I would appreciate if you could send your thoughts if you get a chance. I appreciate your zeal, Jerry! You were a great encouragement to me. Hope to see you again soon!
Love,
Lee Ann
==========
Dear Lee Ann,
One thing that Jesus taught me was that “meekness” is meekness to God and not to just anything that comes my way. Not so long ago, I walked under the spirit of “meekness” to this world and the spirits that it is full of, thinking myself to be obeying God. I would let feelings/spirits around me, that were not God, back me into a corner where I would hold on to my little light for dear life, not wanting to “make any waves”. Many times, I would find myself spiritually drained while ungodliness was full steam ahead, even proud, right beside me.
Now, there was no way for ME to fix this. I tried at times and at best, after mustering all my courage, and trying to “stand for what is right”. I just looked (and felt) weak and half-hearted to myself, and to others I am sure. But, after time, Jesus has helped me to shine a little brighter, and that light started to drive out darkness from my presence which, otherwise, I could really do nothing about. It’s the “light” that drives out the darkness, Jesus’ light. My victory is to stay full of it.
That Spirit of light has already won every battle and IS the head of all things. Only when I am walking full of that light am I, too, the head and not the tail. That is one thing that makes being lukewarm or “on the fence” so bad. When you’re in the middle like that, you have just enough God to make you different and a misfit in a sinful world, but not enough of the light and power of God to make darkness flee and to withstand the reproach of holiness. It really is a dangerous place because the whole world, including our own carnal nature, is against God. It is more pressure than we can bear unless we are full to the rim with the WINNER OF THE BATTLE.
When I am walking in the Spirit, my first response is the right one, the holy one. I don’t have to be afraid of what I say or what I do, because of Him. I don’t have to be afraid to say, “This is good, or this is evil.” The Spirit always knows what to do, all the time.
Many times, I have tried to “water down” God’s thoughts or judgments inside of me because they did not seem “nice” enough. I have learned that “nice” will get us all killed. God is holy and that is VERY nice 🙂 I learned that I could not be full of the Spirit and at the same time be having unholy actions/reactions to life. So, I am learning to just “LET HIM LIVE.” YAY! And trust him!! The very best thing I could do for me, or for anyone else, is to stay full of the Spirit, to be overflowing, and then just do and say what the Spirit is leading me to do or say in every situation. And it is at times not “nice”, but it is holy and right. It is not against people, at all, it is just FOR God. And the gap is so huge, that it tends to look otherwise. It is hard to explain to folks. The saints that love God the most are the most misunderstood by this world, I imagine. But, they are the greatest refuge for a soul hungering and thirsting for Jesus.
One more thought. I was walking the other day, thinking about things/people, and the holy Ghost said through me, “I don’t want to be any closer to you than you are to God.” It was instruction from God, to me. It was the way that I was supposed to live this life, with all people on this earth. And I understood this also: In the household of faith, there are to be no “inside deals” no relationships outside of fellowship. They must be built on the foundation of holiness; that is the starting place, and then we increase from there. If we build any other bond with one another other than fellowship, then when the truth, in love, comes to us for one another (and it will), we will feel pressure not to violate that “other friendship”. And that makes it wicked. I have heard it said that those relationships are like “You don’t kick my cat, and I won’t kick your dog.” We have to start all relationships with “ I am going to kick your cat, (if God says it’s evil), and will you please kick my dog, too?” I know I have just written on and on, Lee Ann, but it felt good. I appreciate you and pray for us.
Love,
Jerry
==========
Hi Jerry,
That was a wonderful reply to lee Ann and all of us. I heard my father preaching on a CD recently (from 1968) that “social fellowship is of the devil.” What you wrote here helps explain why. What you said about building up relationships outside of fellowship is so true. If we build up a relationship that is not based on fellowship in the light of Christ, then we will fear to rock the boat when the word of God comes to us for one another! In a parable in Matthew 13, Jesus mentioned that the word of God could be “choked out”. I know of nothing that will choke it out more dramatically than earthly relationships not build up on the word of God. This is why James said that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God; whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (4:4b).
God, help us to take that in! There are some precious people here who have lost their connection with God because of that very thing. They traded every good thing they had to prevent the word of God from coming to a relative of theirs with whom they had a relationship that was not fellowship in Christ. Oh, how grievous this is to me! It was so senseless and sad to see them throw away eternal riches in order to maintain an evil, fleshly relationship!
Pastor John
God’s Answer for a Hopeless World
“God so loved the world that He gave you His only begotten Son so that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
On a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, I met and talked with a young man, an employee of the park. During our conversation, he made a comment that impressed me. I asked him if he’d be leaving at the summer’s end to return home, as many park employees do each year, and he told me that he lives in the area year-round. Then he added, “I don’t know about anything that goes on outside the park anymore.” His meaning was perfectly clear. He didn’t care to know about what goes on in this world beyond the park’s borders. He had abandoned interest in this world, its politics, its sports, its entire society and culture, and he was content with life as it is in Yellowstone Park, and nothing else.
There are some reasonable arguments against living a completely closed-in lifestyle, of course, but the Lord had a lesson for me in that young man’s words. After my conversation with the park employee, I had to ask myself, “Am I as dedicated to my calling in Christ, and free from interest in this world’s vanities, as that young man was?” He was not in the least attracted to or interested in the latest political scandal, or “important” sporting event, or rumors of war, no matter what countries it involved.
This young man’s attitude reminded me of a replica I once saw of Jerusalem as it was in Jesus’ time. In that model, I saw that there was a three-storied theater located near the temple, and in another part of town, I saw a large hippodrome for chariot and horse races. When I saw those things, I suddenly realized that, although these two places must have been popular attractions in Jesus’ time, there is no mention of these places in any of the four Gospels or in the book of Acts. Those worldly intrusions into the holy city were completely irrelevant to the story of salvation, and in truth, they still are. As with the social issues of the world to the young man I met at Yellowstone, whatever happened in Jerusalem’s places of entertainment appear to have been utterly meaningless to Jesus and to those who followed him.
God sent His dear Son to suffer and die because there was no human fix for this world. It was only because there was no hope in this world for this world that God sent His Son here to die for us and make a way for us to live forever. That is the difference between God and the young man in the park. When God saw that there was no human answer for man’s sin, He still had the power to do something about it. The best that my park friend could do was to withdraw from humans and try to live in peace with God’s non-human creation.
Pastor John,
Concerning a recent comment you made: “Midnight does not just turn into noon. It never has. It brightens into dawn, and in turn lightens into noon.”
Oh, how safe this makes me feel ! It is so true.
My life was so dark, so black. There were times I begged Jesus for death. How sweet God is to me. He granted that prayer. He put that dark life to death. Each day has gotten brighter. It has gotten sweeter. As my midnight turned to dawn, I began to see. A little at first , and more and more as Jesus gently brightens my life, holding my hand, and leading me to him. Every day Jesus shows me a little more. That dark life is so far away from me, it feels dead.
I am so thankful.
I have listened to the ” book of Acts” teaching CD, over and over today. Drinking in every word. What you said about ” midnight not just turning to noon” is so true. I often worry about being on track….being where Jesus wants me to be. That quote brings me peace. I feel the truth in it. I can just see Jesus coming to rescue me. Walking hand -and-hand into the light.
Whew! I wish I could attach these feelings, and email them to you. What you said went straight into my heart.
Beth
Dear Bro. John:
Reading “Jesus’ Fellows” was so sweet to me. (See post 8/31/14 “Jesus’ Fellows”.) With every revelation God has given to us for the Father and Son book, He has opened up our hearts to understand the truth more fully. As I was reading this, my heart kept saying, “This is where fellowship comes from! There is no fellowship except that created by the Spirit through God’s Son.” Fellowship was no longer just a word to me. I was understanding more fully the word “fellowship”. And then, there was your paragraph on biblical fellowship: 🙂
This is what biblical “fellowship” is, and it was a matter of the greatest joy to John to be able to say, “our fellowship truly is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ!” (1Jn. 1:3).
Ahhh, this is one sweet journey the Lord is taking us through! Teaching us, loving us, sharing His heart with us. We have been made “fellows” with the Father and Son. Such an overwhelming thought, as Paul joyfully understood: “that in every way, you are enriched in him, in all speech and in all knowledge.”
I pray the hearts of God’s people will be touched by His love that is in this book. Even with all He has done for us, I still am in awe of His tenderness and willingness to keep blessing us with His love that goes beyond any human understanding.
I am so grateful to be a “fellow” and to have a Family of Fellows with which to share this wonderful life!
Sandy 🙂
Hey John,
This (below) is so good! One of my favorite thoughts from this section is when you write, “Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His son another fellow”.
First of all, that we share the same kind of life as the Creator of this whole universe is hard for me to take in! Secondly, I love the thought of being one of Jesus’ fellows. That is so special! And I love the other fellows he’s put in my life!
We really do “share a certain kind of life and experience with one another” that cannot be explained with words, because it’s in the spirit and it’s beyond words. I understand why the apostles “marveled at this grace”. To have God’s kind of life and be one of Jesus’ fellows really is a marvelous thing!
Sweet thoughts to think about tonight! I appreciate the tremendous work you’ve put into this book! I’m looking forward to seeing it in print and out there for Jesus’ other fellows to read and be encouraged by.
Lee Ann
=============
God’s “Fellow”
A “fellow” is one who shares a certain kind of life or experience with another. Before the Spirit was given to men on the day of Pentecost, only the Son shared God’s kind of life. But since the Son had not yet been revealed, no one knew that God had a fellow. For God to be unique, it would seem that such a thing was impossible. How could the Almighty have a fellow, a companion who thought His thoughts and shared His feelings? Nobody in heaven or earth could have answered that question before the Son was revealed. Or, more probably, everyone would have confidently given the wrong answer, namely that there was no fellow with God, that there could never be anyone enough like Him to be considered His fellow – even though God Himself, through one of the prophets, said there wasone!
Jesus was quoting the prophet Zechariah (13:7b) when he told his disciples that they were about to desert him. He made it clear to them that Zechariah’s words were a prophecy of what would take place that very night:
Matthew 26
The disciples did not believe what Jesus said, and they all insisted that they would never desert him (Mt. 26:33–35), even though within hours, they all did just that. But there is more to Zechariah’s prophecy than Jesus quoted, and it was good that he did not quote all of it. Doing so would have given his disciples more problems than the first part did, for in that other half of Zechariah’s prophecy, God referred to the smitten Shepherd as His fellow:
Zechariah 13
7a. “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is my fellow,” says the Lord of hosts.
If God said He had a fellow, then what are we to believe but that He had one?
The Son’s Fellows
A scripture quoted previously for a different purpose contains an astonishing, little-recognized element. For in that verse, the Father promises His hidden Son that he, too, would have fellows.
Psalm 45
[6] Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
[7] Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
This is an incredible prophecy, considering the greatness of the Son. Had anyone in the Psalmist’s time known about the Son, it would have seemed to that person as impossible for the Son to have fellows as it seemed for the Father to have one. But since no one knew that the Father had created a Son as His fellow, no one could have understood this mysterious promise of the Father to the Son. Nevertheless, that promise of the Father was kept on the day of Pentecost when God shared His life with about 120 of Jesus’ followers, creating fellows for His Son. Since that wonderful day, God has continued to keep His promise, again and again. Every time God fills another repentant soul with His kind of life, the Father creates for His Son another fellow. The apostles marveled at this grace.
1John 3
Romans 8
Hebrews 12
[9] Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
[10] For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
This is what biblical “fellowship” is, and it was a matter of the greatest joy to John to be able to say, “our fellowship truly is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ!” (1Jn. 1:3). Paul’s joy for the new experience of divine fellowship with others was expressed this way to the Corinthians:
1Corinthians 1
. . .
9b. by whom you were called out, into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Pastor John,
I like the new section on “Because He Wanted a Child”. I had a thought, God is not a loner–He wants to share his thoughts and feelings and life.
Billy M
============
Right, Billy. In other words, God is a God of relationships.
jdc
============
John,
This new section of the Father and Son book (below) is really good.
I like the way you have explained that the Father creates only what he wants to create therefore He created a son because He wanted to.
I’ve been thinking lately on how precious each person is who accepts the invitation of the Father to come to Jesus and remain in the truth. The Father creates the invitation in us simply because He wants to.
I can hardly take that thought in, but I am very grateful that He wanted each of us.
Whew!
Tom
============
Because He Wanted a Child
Many ancient prophecies had a dual meaning, one for that time and another for the future. For example, in Isaiah 28:11-12, God was telling the righteous among His people that foreign invaders would bring them rest from their oppressive Jewish rulers. But Paul also quoted those verses in 1Corinthians 14:21–22, claiming that God was speaking through Isaiah of the New Testament experience of “speaking in tongues”.
Malachi 2:15 may provide us with another word from God with a dual meaning. It is a mysterious verse, difficult to translate, as a survey of various translations will show, but its meaning for Malachi’s time was obviously to provide God’s reason for insisting on Israelite men being faithful to their Israelite wives:
Malachi 2
15a. But did He not make one? And the rest of the spirit was His. And why one? He was seeking a godly seed.
But this portion of scripture also appears to have been a not-so-obvious revelation concerning God’s reason for creating His Son, and it may also be translated thus:
Malachi 2
15a. Did He not create one in whom is the fullness of the Spirit? And why him? Because He wanted a divine child.
If God created whatever He created only because He wanted to create it (Ps. 135:6), then it is only reasonable to believe that God created a Son simply because He wanted one, as Malachi said here.
Pastor John,
Last night Jenny and I went to Cathy’s and watched the move “God’s Not Dead”. I left with the thought, what about repentance? What about being filled with the holy Ghost? In the movie, there is a professor who is teaching his students that God is dead, that He doesn’t exist. Throughout the whole movie, this is his stand. Then we find out he was mad at God because when he was a little boy, his mother died of cancer. He had begged God not to take her, but she died anyway. After his girlfriend left him and his student made his point that God is indeed alive, it looked liked he was having a change of heart when he was hit by a car. This preacher man ran over to him and asked him to accept Jesus so that he could die in peace, and the man said he did accept Jesus and he died.
It was terrible, this horrible lie that people are being fed. Christians are skipping the very thing that Jesus did die for – true repentance to receive the holy Ghost! They are skipping the peace, the joy and the comfort that Jesus suffered to give us. They are being satisfied with a momentary feeling of the Spirit without going on to the main course, the goodness, the meat of life!
It is heartbreaking! I was thinking about how sad all this made me feel, and then I thought how Jesus must feel.
We are so incredibly blessed! The food that you feed us, the wonderful lives that Jesus has given us! To be full, satisfied, content, happy, joyful and to know the comfort of life in Jesus, in the precious truth that He has allowed us to love!
Whew…… It just makes your heart feel like bursting!
Michelle H
===========
Yes, Michelle, it is heartbreaking to see Christians try to combat the spirits of this world with something else that is of this world. Nothing but the power of God will save anybody. Claiming to believe in Jesus won’t do it. Only Him claiming us, by baptizing us into His family, counts in heaven.
May God help them, and all of us who love Jesus, to humble ourselves completely at his feet, where true peace is.
Pastor John
Hi Pastor John!
I left OT class Sunday feeling really thankful. We were talking after class about different things, and I just felt thankful to be in this family. I woke up Monday feeling the same sweet thankfulness. I sent a few texts and wrote how thankful I felt to a couple of sisters in the Lord. Their texts back were really sweet. We were writing about being created and grafted into Gods family together. It took my breath away to think Jesus loved us enough to make us His family. On my way to work, I put the new CD of the book of Acts into the player. Almost right away, a thought came (the kind of thought that feels inserted or injected in). I thought about the song ” Amazing Grace”. I instantly said out loud “Jesus, that’s my story … that really is my story!”
When I was about 8 years old, I would come home from church and go to a quiet spot. I would get a little hymn book my mama kept, and sing my heart out to Jesus. My favorite song was Amazing Grace. (Really, it’s amazing how I could always find that little hymn book, even in 4000 sq ft of clutter). When I got to track 8 on the 2nd Acts CD, I just felt the holy spirit settle into the car. I could see me as that little girl, standing in garbage, singing with my whole heart to Jesus (my mother was a hoarder). The feelings on that disc were so good!
Well on track 9, you were talking about being chosen by God. It gets very spirit-filled. Then on track 10, everyone sings…Amazing Grace! I just cried. How overwhelming to feel all these feelings of thankfulness for being in God’s family. (That was said on this CD!). Then to hear Amazing Grace sung by my new family!
Whew! I felt full, like I would burst. I started singing with my WHOLE heart. I started singing in English but finished singing in tongues. I have never felt anything like it. It was as if the Spirit and I were pouring our hearts out together. It was like Jesus was letting me know He saw me as a little girl. He put that song on my heart. He put it there, long before I knew it would be ” my story”. Jesus knew.
Whew! I wanted to share it with you.
Love Beth
===========
Oh, Beth. Thank you for that testimony to the love if God. We are very blessed to be in His family!
Pastor John
