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  • Satan: Jerry’s response to post 9/19/2024

    Wow. 

    Being like Satan (or becoming like him after one is born again) seems akin to having the knowledge of God, without the love of God.

    If that is correct, I don’t think the world could even qualify to be like Satan.  The knowledge of God comes through the Spirit of God.  So the error of being like Satan would belong to the body of Christ alone.

    But for God’s children, if we gain the knowledge of God after we are born again, and then allow the life, the love, the Spirit of God in us to dry up, we are left with a dead shell…a memory of life. I guess we could call that a knowledge of God, but without love (or life – God’s life) to wield it.

    As God’s (ex) prosecutor, it seems that Satan was/is just that way. He knows the rules, so to speak, but he doesn’t know God’s heart to apply them.  He would hurt everything he touches even when meaning to do well.

    Whew.  Makes me want to abandon hard and fast rules for life in the Spirit, where both the knowledge AND THE LOVE exist!

    Jerry

     

  • Satan

    Good morning, Pastor John,

    I had never considered the idea that Satan might not be “anti-God” until we started reading the Father and Son book.  I had always assumed he was.  Even though, in the scriptures, he obeyed better than I ever could have.

    ==========

    The Satan that Christians have invented is against anything that is God, but the real Satan is not like that.  After all, he wanted to reign with God, not instead of Him.  He admired the order and majesty of God’s heavenly kingdom, and he wanted to share in the glory of it.

    ==========

    Growing up, we mostly heard about the anti-Christ, and that it was a person who was Satan’s mockery or version of Jesus.  It makes me wonder how Trinitarian or Oneness doctrines would respond to the idea that Satan isn’t anti-God but only anti-Christ.  To really wrap your head around that—wow!

    Satan is really anti-God, but doesn’t realize it, right?  In the same way the Pharisees unknowingly rejected the Father by rejecting the Son.

    ==========

    Yes, that is correct.  His heart is contrary to everything that is truly holy and pure, but he does not think so because although he thinks he knows God, he does not know God as God really is.  The same is true of people on earth who are like Satan.  They think they know God, but they do not know Him as He really is.

    ==========

    Regarding Satan being “instead of” Christ, do you think any of it is personal for Satan? Does he have a personal vendetta against the Messiah?

    ==========

    Oh, yes.  Satan hates Jesus with a passion because, as Satan sees it, Jesus took the place that Satan was supposed to have at God’s right hand.  And he hates Jesus so much that he hates anyone who honors Jesus as they honor God.

    ==========
    Is Satan aware of what the Son did for us, and does he hate it?

    Thank you,

    Johnny

    ==========

    Satan is certainly aware of what believers say that Jesus did for us, but he does not believe it.

    He hates everyone who has God’s Spirit because he thinks their testimony is a lie and that they are deluded.  His ministers, by the way, say the same sort of things about those whom Jesus baptizes with the holy Ghost, condemning their joy and their speaking in tongues.  Stay away from such men, and refuse their churches.  They are whitewashed walls that offer men a false hope.  They can save no one.

    Good questions!

    Pastor John

    *Also see “Jerry’s Response” 9/19/2024

    Father and Son, 20 PDF

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1837594536018588004

     

  • Last night’s reading: The Father and the Son, chapter 6, “The Revelation of the Father”


    Pastor John,

    I have been up this morning thinking and feeling how blessed we are to be fed from Jesus like we are.  It really does make me want to get lower.

    I can see you and Jesus getting everything ready for us to feast on and then Jesus pulls out his special seasoning and adds wonderful testimonies from brothers and sisters that are right in front of us still happening today just like it happened in the Bible.  That just takes the food to a whole new level. 

    I heard so many things that stirred my heart last night.  One thing was when brother Paul talked about getting free-er every time he told what Jesus did for him.

    I have been feasting on how much I love God’s mercy for weeks now and remembering how much He has shown me.  In my heart it goes perfectly with what I am feeling from last night.

    As I was listening to the song My Sins Are Gone, the line “in the sea of God’s forgetfulness” hit my heart.  So the other morning, I looked up verses on forgetfulness.  One of the things that stood out to me is that God has a forgetfulness that is wonderful and merciful and it is mentioned as early as Genesis. Gen. 41:51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn, Manasseh (for he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”)

    However God warns us over and over not to forget him.  Starting in Deuteronomy . 

    9.Only, take heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, and make them known to your children and to your children’s children,

    I thought about brother Paul’s children sitting in that meeting hearing what a wonderful and holy thing God did for him and how that establishes how good and real God is in their hearts.  And maybe one day, if they tell their children of how real and amazing God is, they will tell how they heard their daddy tell about how real and amazing God is and the mercy He showed on him.  I love that.  Our testimonies of God’s mercy does so much more than save us.  It establishes (only word I can come up with) how real and wonderful our God is! 

    And it’s all done through His son!  That’s a whole new level of WOW!  

    I love it! I love it! I love it! 

    Watching the meeting again and wow to Ronnie’s testimony too. What a holy honor from Jesus to be able to hear and witness God working in front of  us, creating new hearts and new depths. We are witnessing Creation!  Wow!

    Thank you for loving Jesus and feeding us. 

    Elizabeth D.

    Father and Son, 20 PDF

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1834611257321677179

     

  • Four Kinds of Soil

    Pastor John,

    I am right now translating Preacher Clark’s  gospel tract on the four kinds of soil (https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_tracts.html?tname=tract-063-fourkinds), and I’m loving it.  I have a question, though, because I want to make sure I am conveying the right thought to Hungarian readers. 

    One of the last paragraphs says this:
    “So, now, can you answer my question, friend?  In which of these four groups are you?  It helps us to answer that question honestly once we acknowledge that not only the Lord sees where we really are, but every true saint of God does, too.”

    Does the highlighted part mean that every true saint of God knows it about themselves which group they belong to?  I feel like that’s what Preacher Clark is saying here, but the way it is put, it could mean something else.

    Thank you!
    Zoli

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

    Hi Zoli,

    I have always understood that to mean that true saints of God discern where others are, as the Lord does.  But I can see how you would read it a different way.  Maybe it is best just to leave it as it is and let each Reader see it as the Lord gives it to him.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1834606940091003288

     

  • Jesus Was First

    Pastor John,

    I had a new thought yesterday; it felt new.

    I’ve always understood that many early saints were required to forsake their lives as a result of staying true to their faith (and their declaration of faith) in the Father, and the Son, and their spiritual new birth that marked their new covenant with God.

    I understood that future saints will likely one day be pressed the same way – to forsake their creator (their experience with him) and the real faith once delivered to the saints, or die. But I have never considered that, in this thing, Jesus was also first among many brethren. 

    It occurred to me that Jesus’ whole earthly existence, to the point of his crucifixion, was a life of pressure to forsake his faith in God, and he knew death was imminent for refusing to do so.

    (Even Satan trying to promote him to earthly king was pressure to deny God.)

    Similar to the choice no doubt offered to those saints who were slain, Jesus could have denied his faith, his experience with God when threatened, and he may have lived, if men were allowed to have their way.

    Men likely would have happily absorbed Jesus and his miracle-working reputation into their polluted faith, if he would just deny his own faith.

    I never considered that Jesus went through that difficult trial before the first spirit-filled saint ever faced it.

    Jerry

    ==========

    Yes, brother Jerry.  Jesus Christ is the first of the creation of God, “the first firstborn among many brethren”, the firstfruits from the dead, and the first of everything else “that he might have pre-eminence in all things”.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1834604606103470451

     

  • It Means Something to Jesus

    Dear Pastor John,

    Today I remembered something that the Spirit had spoken to me some months ago, and I thought I would share it with you all.

    So, some months back there was something in my life I was dealing with. It was something I desired, but deep in my spirit I felt that Jesus was not in it. So, over and over again, when I got into a situation where I had a decision to make, I decided to go with Jesus, instead of pursuing this desire. One time, while I was working, and in my heart I was pondering over these things, I thought how I was actually giving something up, because I wanted to please Jesus. I was thinking how I was paying a price, in order to have a deeper knowledge of God.

    Now, as I was having these thoughts, I heard a voice (not audibly, but in my heart) saying to me: “You’re just doing what you’re supposed to do, so stop patting yourself on the back. What you’ve done should be normal, it shouldn’t even feel like a sacrifice.”

    At first, this thought seemed right. I had had thoughts like this (with the same religious feeling) many times before, and even now, I could quote scriptures that would support that this is something Jesus would tell me (or someone else). 
    But this time, right when I was about to accept these words as coming from the Lord, I heard another voice, and when I heard it, I knew immediately that this (and not the other one) was the REAL Jesus speaking. As if replying to the previous thought, this is what the voice said:

    “No. It means something to me when you give up something for my sake.”

    Even now, as I am recalling this, I can feel the love and the gentleness that came with these words, and the comfort and encouragement it meant to me that moment. 

    Right after this, I was reminded of Peter telling Jesus: “See, we have left all and followed you!”, and how Jesus’ reply was not “As you should”, or something along those lines. Instead he was encouraging Peter, telling him: “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

    I know that when we obey God, we should think of ourselves as unprofitable servants who only did what’s required of them. And even recently, I’ve been asking Jesus that he would keep transforming my heart, so that when I’m tempted to forsake the way of the Spirit and go with some desire of my flesh, it would feel less and less of a temptation, because the love, the grace, the joy of the Lord and the glory of His kingdom is so precious to my soul, that the things of this world don’t even feel attractive anymore. And I do believe (in fact, I know) that that is the place where Jesus is leading me, and all of us. 

    And yet… “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses”!

    Jesus knows what it feels like to live in a body of flesh, and so, he is genuinely happy and pleased, when in certain situations (whether it’s something minor or some important decision in life) we make the right judgment, and decide to go with his spirit instead of with our old desires. It means something to him when we hold on to our faith (even if it’s just the size of a mustard seed) and, from our hearts, we do the right thing. 

    I hope it encourages some of you as much as it has been encouraging me in weeks and months past. 

    Love you all!
    Zoli

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1834601104354541949

  • Question concerning False Teachers, Mockers, and Mt. 18:11

    Hey Pastor John,

    I’ve been doing a Bible study on several words, where I look up the word in the concordance and then I read it in the English Standard Version (ESV), the Pastor John’s Version (PJV), and the King James Version (KJV) bibles.  One I read I had a question about was John 10:1. It says 

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.” John 10:1 ESV

    Who is the thief?  I assume it was anyone who does it the wrong way.  And further, what is the person thieving or robbing?  Their own salvation?  I don’t think it says anything about tithes anywhere near this, which is what I typically associate with thieving from God.  So I assume it is saying if someone tries to enter the fold anyway but how Jesus wants, they’re stealing their own hope of salvation.  Is that right?

    =========

    The thief is a man who comes to the sheep claiming to be from God, but is not.  He may have been officially ordained by a religious institution, but that has nothing to do with the ordination that comes only from God.  And what such a man steals with his doctrine is the allegiance of God’s people that belongs to no one but Jesus.  The Bible says much about these “false prophets”, false apostles”, and “false teachers” who come as ministers of Christ to believers.  Here are a few examples:

    Jeremiah 23

    1. “I did not send these prophets, but they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
    2. But if they had stood in my council and caused my people to hear my words, they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.”

    Matthew 7

    1. “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

    2Corinthians 11

    1. For such men are false-apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
    2. And no wonder, for Satan transforms himself into a messenger of light.
    3. So, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves to belike ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.

    2Peter 2

    1. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will introduce opinions that lead to damnation, even denying the Lord who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
    2. And many will follow them in licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be spoken evil of.

    =========

    Other question:

    Why does Matthew 18:11 not exist in my ESV but it is in KJV? It goes from Matthew 18:10 to 18:12 in my ESV? 

    ==========

    Leftist-leaning scholars use Greek texts that differ from the Byzantine text, which we use.  The Greek text is 95% the same in either case, but in a few places such as this one, they differ.  Still, it is true, even that verse was not in the original manuscript, that Jesus came “to save that which was lost.”

    ==========

    Also, what is the relevance of the crowd who mocked Jesus saying let’s see if Elijah will save him when he was on the cross?  Why did they say that?  Was there a scripture where it says Elijah will save the messiah in the Old Testament that they’re referring to?  Matthew 27:49.

    Much obliged,

    Jonathan S.

    ==========

    Those mockers were referencing the prophecy that Elijah would come before the Messiah appeared (Mal. 4:5–6).  But even then, there is nothing said about Elijah rescuing the Messiah.  Those fools were just making fun of Jesus.

    Thank you for the questions.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1834597692032385134

     

     

  • A Question about the the Samaritans found in 2 Kings 17

    Pastor John,

    Just a quick question…

    Did I understand this correctly?  The Samaritans weren’t ever Jews, but people who were sent from other countries by a foreign king into the land of Israel.

    Wendell

    ==========

    That is correct, Wendell.

    2Kings 17 tells the sad story of how the Assyrian king deported the Israelites from northern and central Israel, and replaced them with foreigners.  That chapter also tells why God did it.

    Pastor John

    ==========

    So, they were never half Jews?? I thought they were half, or in some way descendent of Jews??

    Jenny

    ==========

    They are half-Jews only in a religious sense.  They adopted some of the Jews’ ways.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1833165533459460353

  • The Origins of Yahweh

    Hey Pastor John,

    This was an interesting video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3viHpQBZwM ). I took some time to watch it tonight. I also found the link below on Going to Jesus. I decided to try and see if you had written anything on the name Yahweh. Down the rabbit hole I went. 🙂 I am not sure when you wrote this, but I don’t remember ever reading it. It makes so much sense to me now. The Spirit has always cringed in me when I heard it being said. I never knew why, but Jesus always gave me a feeling about it that something wasn’t right. 

    Thanks for sending it out. I know you said it would not be for everyone, but I wanted to do my best to understand and allow Jesus to teach me. 

    Margo

    1028 Yahweh

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1832519040574824784

     

  • Father and Son reading

    Pastor John,

    I loved the reading tonight (Section 6: The Glorification of the Son).*  I love when the truth fine tunes my heart.  There are so many highlights, but this was a new thought for me:

    “Jesus’ parable of the Wheat and the Tares helps us understand that Satan was not cast out of heaven merely because he was wicked.  Satan had been wicked in heaven for thousands of years before he was cast out.  God cast Satan out of heaven because a new covenant of “grace and truth” had replaced the law, as John said, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”.  

    Wow!  With every “fine tuning” I see more of who Jesus is and more of the love between the Father and the Son. 

    Another highlight is when you were saying that when a man teaches you something about God, it is his testimony because it comes through revelation.  Jesus made choice, and chose you to anoint with truth and understanding.  It is who you are!  My heart was saying a big amen!  Then I started thinking, “Jesus made choice with us too!  He put it in our heart so that when you feed us, we love it!  We devour it and want more!”  What a perfect, wonderful blessing!

    Feeling loved and satisfied tonight!  Thank you!

    Michelle 

    * Father & Son, 19

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1831716242337493406

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