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  • The Shewbread

    Hey,

    I have a question.  Do we know what the table of shewbread represents in heaven?

    Thanks,

    Lyn

    ==========

    Hi Lyn,

    The Scriptures do not speak directly about that part of the tabernacle, but it seems to me that the  shewbread represents the fellowship of the saints with one another before God.  Remember, Paul said that “The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the body of Christ?  For we, being many, are one bread, one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1Cor. 10:16b–17).

    I would also point out that the table was very short; so, there was no way to partake of the bread except on one’s knees.

    Hope that helps.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1827406141116031460

  • Tonight’s Reading: The Father and Son, “The Last Supper and Jesus’ Arrest”

    Pastor John,

    It was an honor to hear these things tonight. I feel like we were let into a secret place. It almost feels like everything before these Father and Son readings were parables, and now we are getting the understanding.

    This is holy ground. Makes me think of that song Natalie used to sing, “Holy Ground” by Charity Gayle.  

    Thank you.

    Jerry

    Father and Son Reading, 18 PDF

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1827384114212958536

  • Question on: Isaiah 14:12, “How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer….?”

    RE:

    Hey Pastor John,

    What a good read this is!

    I have been chewing on this for a couple of days now, especially this verse: “How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning…” “… who opened not the house of his prisoners?” (Isa. 14:12, 17b).  For Satan to be called “son of the morning” kind of struck me.  Is that a term of endearment for Satan?  I wonder…new thought for me…if Satan being thrown out of heaven was anything like how Adam was thrown out of the garden.  I wonder if God still loves Satan, even after having to throw Satan out of heaven? 

    Elizabeth D.

    In verse 17b, “who opened not the house of his prisoners?” 

    Still chewing on this. 

    ==========

    Hi Beth.

    No, God does not love Satan as He loved Adam.  He may have loved him when He first created him, but that didn’t last long.  “Whom the Lord loves, He chastens”, but He refused to chasten Satan when he became proud of his great beauty (Ezek 28:17).

    The phrase “son of the morning” means something like Paul’s description as a “messenger of light”.  Satan puffs people up with information they do not have, but he and his ministers cannot teach people the way Jesus and his ministers can.  The knowledge Jesus gives keeps God’s children humble; it does not puff them up.

    I am glad you are thinking on these things.  We are not prisoners to fear any longer.  We are free to think the next thought and ask the next question.  So, keep it up!

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1825653937086640185

     

  • Question: 1 Corinthians 4:5

    Good morning, Pastor John.

    In 1Corinthians 4:5 it reads, ”So, judge nothing before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and expose the intentions of hearts, and then from God will praise be given to each one.”

    Is this referring to when Jesus comes back in the end, or could “wait until the Lord comes” be referring to a present time when the Lord makes His judgement known to us on a particular matter?

    Thank you,

    Anna

    ==========

    Hi Anna.

    Paul’s words could be taken to mean the same thing Jesus taught about judging if you put two of Jesus’ commandments together.  First, Jesus commanded his disciples to “stop judging, so that you won’t be judged” (Mt. 7:1).  Then, he clarified what he meant in John 7:24, when he told them, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge righteous judgment!”

    Put together, those two commandments tell us that we, in our own wisdom, are not to judge anything, but are to receive from the Spirit whatever judgments we make.  So, yes, what Paul said could be taken that way, and that would be true.  We are to be led by the Spirit in our judgments.

    But I think that in the scripture above, Paul was speaking of the return of Jesus at the end of this age to declare God’s judgment concerning who will be saved from His wrath and who will not be saved.  For anyone at the present time, then, to claim to be saved is jumping the gun, to say the least.  Jesus will have the final word on that.

    Hope that clears things up for you.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think: 

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1825653236281520232

     

  • The Unity of the Father and the Son

    Pastor John,

    That is such a good email from Tom (see post 8/16/2024, Reading: The Crucifixion).  The last sentence of verse 21 that he copied stunned me:

    1. “…that they all might be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be one in us, so that the world might believe that you sent me.”

    All that Jesus was doing and all that he is doing now is “so that the world might believe that you sent me.”  And by him doing so, men would repent and be reconciled to God, and be saved.  Jesus truly is the Savior of the world.

    Wow.

    Jesus’ unity with the Father convicts hearts, and it made the disciples believe, so that they too would find unity with the Father and Son, thereby convicting others.  And so forth, through the centuries. 

    I’m repeating myself, but the disciples’ newfound unity with the Father and Son was convicting the hearts of those looking on (just as Jesus’ unity had done) so that some, the ones God had chosen from the beginning, would come forward and find their own unity with the Father and Son…and so on.

    So the disciples being made one with the Father and Son through Spirit, made them fishers of men, the first of their kind (after Jesus), fishing for the hearts that God had ordained in the beginning to be His. And here we are today with the same holy charge, to live and be in Christ so that the world might believe that the Father sent the Son.

    Wow, brother John.

    When I think of bearing fruit, I see that it truly is so that men can eat and “taste and see that the Lord is good!”  If we aren’t bearing fruit – we really are being useless to God, being a reproach in front of men as to who and what he is.  That is frightening.  But God is wonderful.  We just need to soak up the rain, food, and sun(Son) that the Father sends, and we’ll bear much fruit!

    Whew!

    What a story. What an opportunity for life!

    Jerry

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1825652386016202998

     

  • Reading: The Crucifixion

    John,

    I loved last night’s reading, The Crucifixion: God Had a Son, 18 PDF . 

    There are so many nuggets it’s difficult to absorb them all in just one sitting.

    You mentioned that we really don’t know exactly what the conversation was between God and Satan regarding the sifting of the disciples and Peter.  Using the conversation between God and Satan in the book of Job was a good example of how it could have been.

    What I kept thinking about during the reading was Jesus telling Peter, “Satan has earnestly asked for you men, that he might sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith will not give out.”

    I tried to imagine the conversation between Jesus and his Father.  There was Satan earnestly asking God to sift the disciples like wheat, and there was Jesus asking his Father not to let their faith fail. What love Jesus had for those men, and us.

    As I was thinking about what words Jesus may have spoken to his Father, John 17 came to mind. According to John, Jesus prayed this prayer before his arrest. I won’t copy the entire chapter, even though each verse could apply:

    1. Jesus spoke these things, and then he lifted his eyes toward heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son might also glorify you,

    6. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.

    9. I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world, but for those you’ve given me, for they are yours,

    11b. Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given to me, that they may be one, just as we are.

    12b. Those you gave me, I watched over, and not one of them has been lost except the son of damnation, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

    21 …that they all might be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be one in us, so that the world might believe that you sent me.

    What comfort there is in knowing that when we are being sifted, Jesus is asking his father to not let our faith give out. I love what you wrote about how Peter’s self-confidence was sifted out of him.  “But Jesus prayed for Peter, and Jesus’ prayer saved him. Peter would never have recovered after vilely denying the Lord, but for the intercession of the Lord whom he had denied.”    

    I hope I am thankful enough for the many times Jesus prayed and interceded for me. 

    Thank you John, for sharing these wonderful messages from Jesus with us.

    Tom 

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1825650715492278331

     

  • The Father and the Son reading: Jesus’ Crimes According to Men

    As I was reading over our papers from Wednesday night, could again feel the Spirit carry my heart and begin teaching my heart not just my brain!  What a unusually wonderful feeling as I just pushed my papers back, just listening to the Spirit take me though different thoughts and experiences!  It is just a wonderful heart-felt experience!  I can’t even begin to express how it’s making me feel, what Jesus is giving you!!  I feel lost for words to experiences HOW MUCH I LOVE IT!!

    Jimmy T.

    God Had a Son, 17 PDF

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1823384890466766953

  • Spiritual Light Book

    Pastor John,

    I am so moved by this Spiritual Light book (https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books.html?tname=light) I’m reading.   Your testimony about God revealing the truth about the sacrifice of Christ is truly beyond this world.   And it touches me the way you dug in and studied the tabernacle, and would stop at the top of every hour to pray and ask for help to understand the reason for God’s specific instructions to Moses about how the tabernacle should be built and how it all relates to believers today.   And then when God met you on Hwy 39 with your answer in the form of a question, “Where was Christ when he was sacrificed??”  Oh my!  

    But I keep thinking as I’m reading this that I would love to have this book preserved with the sound of your own voice reading it as an audiobook.  It would be so good for future generations to hear this book read aloud by you.  I know you have a lot on your plate already, but just wanted to let my humble request be known:)  I would be the first in line to download this as an audiobook!

    Lee Ann

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1823379232380076361

     

  • Genesis 1 and 2

    Good Morning Pastor John,

    Alex and I were having a discussion and reading in Genesis this morning.  I have a question related to Genesis 1 and 2. 

    Genesis 1:27. “And so, God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him. He created them male and female.”

    Genesis 2:7. “And Jehovah God formed the man from dirt of the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul.”

    Genesis 2:18. “Then Jehovah God said, ‘It is not good for the man to live by himself. I will make a helper fit for him.’”

    Is chapter 2 just further explanation of what God had already done in chapter 1?  I am assuming those scriptures in chapter 2 are just the explanation of events on the day man was made, but wanted to clarify. 

    I know there is some mythology that Adam had a wife prior to Eve.  Is this maybe where that came from?  Just a misinterpretation that these were two completely separate events? 

    Thank you,

    Margo

    ==========

    Hi Margo.

    Yes, chapter 2 is just more detail concerning God’s creation of man in chapter 1.  Adam and Eve are the parents of the entire human race, not just part of it.

    I have never heard the myth that Adam had a wife before Eve, but you can just ignore that.  Adam didn’t have a wife before God created one for him, and that was Eve.

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1820617923733467285

     

  • When He Walks among Us

    Pastor John,

    Last night I was reading the Sandy’s book.  I read: 

    5/5/02- In a meeting

    “ I come and walk among you because you are My people”

    “ I come and walk among you because I love you”

    “ I come and walk among you because I want you to know me”

    This made me think of what Barbara said yesterday.  To come to the meeting so full and so happy to be here and to see everyone but when Jesus comes that’s everything!

    We’re his people, he loves us and he wants us to know him!  Amen!

    Michelle 

    ========

    I was reading the same part of her book last night.  Amen!

    Pastor John

    Tell us what you think:

    https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1817913679905542646

     

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