Hi, Pastor John,

Beautiful!  I feel this is my favorite section, yet.  The short paragraphs about Phileas touched me greatly.  Here is a man that was killed for the true gospel!  It’s amazing that his story survived throughout the centuries.  This section left me with an overwhelming feeling of thankfulness and gratitude.  I walked around my house this morning and felt a gratitude for turning on lights, seeing the cleanliness of a house from a loving wife that takes such good care of me, clothes, food, and even the pleasures and blessings that God has bestowed upon all of us to enjoy with each other.  And more than anything, feeling peace all around us at this time in history is one the more treasured blessings that we can have, knowing that the gospel which we can serve in sincerity and truth is acceptable to God (if our hearts are clean).

We can serve and praise God with our whole hearts, with gladness and joy knowing the truths that God has given you over the years (not only for us, but for all who will heed God’s call) will set us free so that we can do so without any hindrance.  In fact, we are encouraged to do so and “behave ourselves” in the Spirit.

I thank God that you have the time and heart to labor to do the research and archive this history.  After reading these things, I feel my eyes are clearer to see the value in serving God with sincerity and truth in the truth of Paul’s gospel. What we have together is precious.  It’s a miracle that any truth of Paul’s gospel survived throughout the centuries.  The only reason it did (I feel) is that God wanted it so for someone, somewhere, to honor his Son Jesus without all of the filters of ceremonies in all the brands of Christianity.

It is fearful and sobering that Jesus called us to this truth.  Like you said, “What does God want from us?”  I don’t truly know.  I just know I feel so thankful this morning for everything that Jesus has given to me (us).  Fellowship is an honor!  The least I can do is live a holy life in the Spirit that Jesus died for us to have.

Love always,

Billy

John,

This new section from the Iron Kingdom book concerning “addicts” and ceremonies is fabulous.  It was so exciting to read!  I just wish all God’s people could understand the importance of it, and even care!  But all the way through the reading of it, I kept thinking, “Jesus, I am so blessed to understand this, and why it matters!!”

Thank you for your work on it.  Somehow, God will one day get it out there – I feel certain of it.  We just have to wait for God to get His people’s hearts ready, I suppose.  It seems that indifference to truth is so locked in right now that only very bad times for God’s people will jar their hearts to open up.

Anyway, I did not find typos, and it was great – your best work ever in my opinion.  Completely clear and exciting to read.

Gary

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John,

I enjoyed reading this section.  You have made it very clear how ceremonial worship became a “substitute for being led by the spirit.” 
As I read through this section, I could remember growing up in Catholicism, learning about and participating in various ceremonies, at times even with sincerity.  It is only by the mercy of Jesus that he brought me out.

Thanks for all your work.

Tom

Pastor John,

How does one know if they have heard the voice of Jesus versus the Spirit talking?  Does it actually sound differently?  I have heard audible words before, but how do I know if it was Jesus or the Spirit?

Thanks,
Anna

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Hi Anna,

Most of the time, the litmus test is related to one’s heart.  How did Abraham know that it was God who told him to leave his homeland, or to kill his son Isaac, except by having a perfectly clear conscience?  And the same may be said about others who obeyed God’s commandment to do something they would rather not do.  We can trust Jesus to help us always to know him as long as we are doing our part.  In all such cases, this applies:  “My sheep know my voice, and another they will not follow.”

Concentrate on being righteous, and you will feel where a thought comes from, for, as Solomon said, “The thoughts of the righteous are right.”  Even at that, however, it will take some experiences to become confident in how you feel about the thoughts that will certainly come, whether they are from God or not.  So, be patient with yourself!  God loves you.  If you err, He will use that error to make you more like Him.  He did that with Abraham when fear made that great man think it was a good idea to lie — twice —  about who Sarah really was.

On the other hand, on those rare occasions when God chooses to speak audibly, there is no mistaking that voice.  He is His own witness.  No second opinion, or even biblical confirmation, is needed.  When the Israelites heard it at Mount Sinai, they ran from the mountain.  Even Moses trembled.

That’s as close to an answer I can come to, based on my own experience and understanding.  In sum, as that old hymn says (almost), “Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way to be sure it is Jesus, but to Trust and Obey.”

Thank you for the question, Anna.  And as with anything, I — or anyone else — may ever say about anything, God will do whatever He chooses to do — including (if He chooses) keeping us in the dark about a voice that speaks to us or an event that happens to us, to try our heart.  Just ask Job.

Pastor John

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Hi Pastor John,

Thank you for your response.  It was so good, and I’ll be referring back to it.  I have question, though, just to clarify.  You referred to God talking to the Israelites, and how this caused them, as well as Moses, to tremble.  If we have truly heard from the Lord, and have no doubt about it, but it was not thunderous or terrifying, should it be assumed that it was not actually the voice of Jesus or God, but rather the Spirit?  The reason I’m asking is because I think I recall you saying recently in a meeting that few of us have actually heard Jesus’ voice, but rather heard the Spirit.  I know, as the song goes, “His voice makes the difference,” so I’m seeking more clarification if possible.

Thank you,

Anna

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Hi Anna.

Aaron pointed out to me that I had misunderstood your question, and I had not had the time yet to get back with you.  Thank you for writing back.

Just because the Spirit has spoken to us in our heart does not mean that we have heard the actual voice of Jesus.  It is true that when the Spirit speaks within us, it is the Lord talking to us, but he sometimes speaks in an audible voice.  That is what I meant by just a few of us having heard the Lord’s voice.  But however Jesus speaks, his voice makes all the difference.  We need his guiding hand!

Thank you again for helping clear things up for me.

Pastor John

Good morning! 

Lee Ann, our kids, and my parents got together yesterday to listen to your Old Testament message on Proverbs.*  There was so much wonderful instruction for all of us!  Proverbs 8:21 reads, “that I might cause those that love me to inherit substance that I might fill their treasures.”  This meant so much to me –– I want my children to inherit substance!  I want to keep living in a way that makes my children rich.  I’m praying for more faith and testimonies to fill them up, so they can believe that Jesus will do the same for them!

Lee Ann’s took notes on the same verse.  On the recording you said, “Make your children rich by giving them some substance!  Parents have left their kids millions, but they were bankrupt in their souls!!  When you inherit something from God, you’ve got something that will last!”

Amen!  He will do it for us! 

Carrie

*  Old Testament Course (Pt. 2) – Going to Jesus.com

To listen to the audio of Proverbs teaching, click the above link and then click:

2100 CD#01

Good morning.

I am reading in 1Kings this morning about Jeroboam making those two golden calves for Israel to worship. Barbara mentioned at a meeting recently how it stood out to her, how the end result of all that is Christianity.

It is standing out to me this morning too.  “Any way but God’s way.”

It is something to read this and put it together with the fact that every bit of Christianity is a lie. It was never of Jesus at all.  What a mess!

God had sent Rehoboam the right answer through the old, established men that had been with his father, but his heart followed the advice it wanted.  And so, God gave him and Israel what they wanted.  That is terrifying.  Leaves me praying for Jesus to give me a pure heart, pure and pliable in His hands.  If going through things burns out anything that would keep me from God, then it is worth it to go through trials.

I don’t want anything in my heart like that!

And golden calves, figuratively, are here AGAIN!  Surely, those people, and modern believers, remember what happened the last time someone made a golden calf.  The taste has left their tongues.

Beth D.

Good Morning John,

In reading my Old Testament* assignment in Kings 15:14, I had a thought–not sure if it’s right but just going to ask: Asa’s heart was perfect with God all his days yet there were still high places, which God had forbidden.   I thought of you, John. You are doing the work Jesus gave you to do with a perfect heart, yet there are still high places (churches), because as was recently said, Jesus has not yet anointed you or anyone to take down those high places.

Asa did what God told him to do with a perfect heart, but maybe he wasn’t anointed to take down those high places mentioned?

Thank you,

Bess

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That is right, Bess.  That verse struck me, too, when I was young in the Lord.  I even preached a sermon about it in the old farmhouse.  And it gave me a different, more godly attitude toward some mighty men of God, such as Oral Roberts.  The Lord was showing me that men can have perfect hearts, yet God’s people can be so addicted to a wrong thing that God leads those men to leave them alone in that area.

God said that Asa’s heart was perfect with Him.  And God said that the hated high places of worship were not destroyed by Asa.  Put the two together, and what other conclusion can we reach but that God’s people can develop traditions that God hates, and become so attached to them that God will not force them to abandon them?

That’s how it looks to me.  I know that God hates church-based religion, and I know that God’s people are devoted to it.  And I think that He expects us to love His people as He does, that is, to have nothing to do with their addiction, but also hold nothing against them.

Thank you for asking.  It is an important lesson for us to learn who have been taught the truth by Jesus.

Pastor John

*  Old Testament Course (Pt. 1) – Going to Jesus.com

Pastor John,

I enjoyed the section from Chapter 3 of the Iron Kingdom book that you sent us.

It seems that one of the ways wicked men go about changing or “rewriting” history to their advantage is to rewrite or redefine the language that is currently in use. 

Apostate believers redefined the language of the original gospel to support doctrines and theologies that could never stand on their own, and they do it to maintain power.  However, innocent believers participate in and lend them the power that stems from having a sincere heart in Jesus, out of complete ignorance.  The wicked go on to treat these sincere hearts in Christ as merchandise, or as fuel — the fuel needed to run the unholy machine called Christianity.  In an effort to keep those honest-hearted believers and their God-given zeal and sincerity within the walls of the Christian religious system, Christian leaders will bestow upon these babes in Christ lofty titles or positions that new converts will struggle to abandon.

It is abuse!  The spirit reigning over Christianity does whatever it takes to entice (and keep) the power that God gives to obedient believers inside the walls of the institution that disobedience to God built!  And just as the spirits of this age are targeting the world’s youth, the spirit of Christianity is hunting the young in Christ, those who are full of zeal and sincerity but lack knowledge and discernment.

Thanks be to Jesus for truth, and for God’s call to the hearts of believers who CANNOT be satisfied inside that imposter—and who ultimately find their way out!

What an opportunity it is from God to be a light representing Christ on the outside of Christianity!  It is a calling on the life of spirit-filled believers to live a holy life “in spirit and in truth” while having no affiliation with the heresy that is the religious system of Christianity.  It is an opportunity to demonstrate that Christ in us is sufficient for all things!  And there is no earthly material or procedure that can add to that.

It may seem scary to some to leave the thing that should be above suspicion- the Christian religious system.  But life in spirit and truth, without sin,  IN JESUS awaits outside, and it is full of LIFE that you can FEEL, without any of the form that you cannot!

Pastor John, it is as you have said so many times when responding to the oft-repeated question, “Where do you go once you leave Christianity?”

Your response: “If you have obeyed the Spirit of God speaking to your heart and come out, you are there!”

Amen!!

And I LOVE reading and understanding that Rome never fell.  Christianity toppled (absorbed) Rome.  She is alive and well today all over the world – but wearing a new hat.  All roads STILL lead to Rome.  Whew!

Thank you for your work.

Jerry

Good morning, John.

I read what you sent out this morning on the Iron Kingdom book, chapter 3, I love it.  I don’t know how anyone could read this section and not understand the difference between carnal worship and worshipping in the spirit.  God’s people don’t know what Christianity really is: a carnal pagan religion enforced by carnal, pagan men!

No one even asks!  I love how you state that there is not one carnal ritual preformed in the New Testament. Anyone worshipping the Father and the Son today is only done in the spirit! Thank you for all your work on putting these things together, God’s people need to know these things. The spell of Christianity needs to be broken off of spirit-filled believers in Christ.

Christianity is a lie, “fake”, and worthless.  It is division itself that keeps God’s children apart.

Thanks

Stuart

After reading the section last night of the Iron Kingdom, chapter 3, I had these feelings about the ceremonies that are Christianity.  If you’ve never felt the power of God, if you’ve never heard from God, then the ceremonies become like some kind of gimmick, a substitution for the real thing, a distraction from the reality that there is nothing there.  “Instead of seeking the real thing, let’s perform this ceremony that looks holy and makes you feel like you’ve done something.”  But it’s all nothing.

Ceremonies provide a smoke screen to hide the nothing that is really there.  As we were reading all of the quotes with the big words last night, I realized that even the words those scholars use to justify those ceremonies are confusing and are used to cover up the nothing.  It’s just a lot of big words about nothing!  They leave you scratching your head and wondering what you just read, and feeling like “Surely I’m just not smart enough to understand what this brilliant scholar is writing.”  But is all nothing.

But every time you interjected an explanation or any words of reason, it’s such a relief from those blathering scholars who go on and on pontificating in such a lofty way about nothing.  It’s a reminder of how good and simple the Truth is!

This book is pulling back the curtain and exposing the nothingness of Christianity.  I don’t know how you have managed to wade through those thousands of pages of yuck, but it feels like it has to be done.  It’s an opportunity to pass on the truth Jesus has shown you.  But what a tremendous job it has been!  Whew!

Lee Ann

John,

I just finished reading your notes on Job. Let me just say how much I enjoyed reading them. Obviously, one may get things from the notes that are not as easily processed when read in a group. Several times, I found myself stopping and thinking about what I had just read. I really enjoy reading your commentary after the Scriptures.

These notes would make a great book.  I am not suggesting that you spend your time writing another book, so I will just keep copies of your notes to refer back to.

Thanks for all that you do.

Tom

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I thought the same thing as Tom. 1) I love the notes you send after the meeting so I can stop and center in on your points. 2). I think they would make a good book just by putting them together, kind of like you did on Malachi.

Gary

I have all the notes on Matthew, too, but who has the time to format it all?

“Not I, said the duck.”

🙂

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Even Michelangelo had helpers. Quack quack.

Gary