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Hi Pastor John,
This morning as we were reading the Iron Kingdom, I kept thinking, “Wow! What pride those men had!” Then, the image of Jesus washing his disciples feet took over my thoughts, and the sweetest feeling came over me. It was like Jesus was saying, “People try to find me that way [Christianity], but this is the way.” I’m so thankful we’ve found the way!
Michelle
Hey Pastor John,
What does verse 2 mean in the following passage:
Ezekiel 18
Thank you!
Michelle G
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Hi Michelle.
In Ezekiel 18:2, God’s people were saying that their fathers disobeyed God (the “sour grapes”) and that they were suffering the consequences. That was the truth. Their fathers had sinned, and they were suffering for it. But God added the more important promise that in the Final Judgment, no one would reap another’s sin. He said in verse 4, “Behold, all souls are mine, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son; they are mine. The soul that sins, it shall die!”
In Jeremiah 31, God also said it:
Thank you for the question, Michelle. It is a good thing to read the Bible and pay enough attention to it to have questions. Keep it up!
Pastor John
Pastor John,
I was reading Proverbs this morning, and through a cross-reference I got to Proverbs 25:13: “As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: For he refresheth the soul of his masters.”
You are a faithful messenger, Pastor John, which means that you refresh your master Jesus’ soul.
May God help us, so we would all be faithful witnesses of Him and Him Son.
Zoli
Pastor John,
I have a question for you. Paul said in Romans 8:14, “for as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” I was just thinking that there are probably many of God’s children that are trapped in Christianity. Of course, if they do come out of Christianity they are heeding the call from God to come out. Thus, they are being led by the spirit of God. But, if they don’t come out of Christianity that would imply that they are not being led by the spirit that’s in them. So, I guess my question is, are those that don’t eventually come out of Christianity in their lifetime not going to be saved in the end? Now, I know that God has the ultimate judgment on this, and He only knows their hearts, but it would only seem that they, more than likely, won’t be saved. I suppose if they were ignorant of the truth, then I can see that they would make it as long as they lived a moral life. On the other hand, if they were aware of the truth of God and rejected it, then more than likely they would not be saved in the end.
I also know that a lot of God’s children that are in Christianity believe more in the get saved spirit than the Holy Ghost. They are confused as to when a person is truly born again. Peter even said that they deny the Lord that bought them (that is, deny that you have to have the holy ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues). They believe in the speechless spirit of anti-christ. My question is, if they hold that belief until the end of their lives are they not going to be saved in the end, even though they are ignorant of the truth? There are countless numbers of God’s children that believe that very thing, and it just seems so unimaginable. I personally was liberated when I heard the truth. It did something inside of me. It brought me relief, as I know my search has ended for good! I guess the biggest obstacle to believing the truth of the new birth, which I have experienced with my mother and brother, is pride. I remember in Proverbs, it says that a fool will not receive instruction or be corrected no matter what!
I appreciate all that you do for all of us as we are constantly learning more things. Praise Jesus!
Love in Christ,
David
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Hi David.
Whether or not a believer will be saved if he does not come out of Christianity is beyond me, and beyond us all. That is entirely God’s business. You are seeing it rightly, that everyone’s judgment will depend upon how much truth he knows and how clearly he has heard from God to come out. Only God knows the heart, and He knows it perfectly. As for me, when I heard and understood the wonderful voice of our Shepherd calling me out, my heart rejoiced and I immediately followed him “outside the gate, bearing his reproach.”
David, please note that God’s call to come out of Christianity is followed by God’s reason for us to do so: “so that you will not participate in her sins, and receive of her plagues!” If I had stayed in that abomination after hearing plainly from the Lord, I would have been guilty of partaking of her sins and would have been worthy to receive her awful judgment from God. To what degree that holds true for other believers, I cannot say. Only God can. I can only obey what He lets me know, and I pray that others will do the same.
I am thankful that you heard the call of our heavenly Father and obeyed it. In a mad, wicked world like this one, where so many of God’s dear children are entangled with and devoted to the “Great Whore” of John’s vision, it is no small blessing to hear the tender voice of Jesus saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Praise God for His mercy and goodness to us! May we now walk worthy of it.
Thank you for the question. God bless you and yours.
Pastor John
Dear Pastor John,
I was looking for something online when I bumped into this video, and first I didn’t even want to spend time watching it, but I just had a feeling that I should. So I listened to the whole material, and it’s a very thorough, Bible-based study about why there is only one God, the Father; why Jesus is the Son of God, and why that’s important; and why the holy Spirit is not a separate individual, but the spirit of the Father and the Son, in fact, the Spirit is Christ himself.
There are a couple of points where the speaker contradicts the truth, i.e. he thinks the OT prophets knew that God had a Son, he also believes that Jesus was already the Christ, when he was born in Bethlehem. But there was one point he made that really blessed me, and I’m not sure whatsoever, that he’s aware that he made a wonderful case for why speaking in tongues must happen every time a person is born again.
This is what he said (it starts at 19:21 in the video, and ends at 22:38): In the gospels there are three times when the Father audibly speaks from heaven. Two of these three times He declares that Jesus is His Son (first at Jesus’ baptism and the second time on the “mount of transfiguration”). The speaker makes the point that Jesus being His Son was so important to the Father, that He didn’t send an angel or a prophet to declare it, even though He could have, but did it himself, both times. Then he says this: Jesus being the Son is “so important, that God says, ‘This must not be entrusted with anyone, I will say it myself’”. As I was hearing these words, I felt like the Spirit was telling me: “So is the case every time someone becomes a son.” It must be the Spirit giving the witness! As Paul said: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God”.
Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TpRpKi5N_o
| Truth About the Holy Spirit – MUST WATCH – Part 1Who or what is the Holy Spirit? Is the Trinity doctrine Biblical? Find out the Bible truth in this great sermon. PART 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSUonLc046Qwww.youtube.com |
Zoli
Hey Pastor John,
About a week ago I felt like the Lord put it on my heart to read Ezekiel. I’m not finished yet, but whew it is very sobering. These verses stood out to me:
“Then said he unto me, ‘Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth’” (Ezek. 8:12)
(This reminded me of what you have been saying, “Serving the Lord Jesus means that you are suppose to live right, that you are supposed to be faithful, honest, and conduct yourself with integrity and not do evil in secret.”)
“And the Lord said unto him, ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.’
And to the others he said in mine hearing, ‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women, but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.’ Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, ‘Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth!’ And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, ‘Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?’
Then said he unto me, ‘The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, “The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.” And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, ‘I have done as thou hast commanded me’” (Ezek. 9:4–11).
After I read this, the fear of God covered me. This is real! Nothing, absolutely nothing, is hidden from God. I just sat here and prayed, “Please Lord, help me, help us, to get out into the open whatever may be hidden so we can make it home together!” I asked him that if there is anything in me that I don’t know about that does not please him, to bring it to the open, so I can get it right, to give me/us a chance to repent so that we can all be together forever.
I don’t want to be lost and I don’t want to lose anyone else.
Thank you for loving and guiding us, Pastor John. What an honor and blessing to have an anointed man of God to rest in while in this weary land.
Michelle
John,
Would it be true if we said that Cornelius was neither a Christian nor a Jew? and that since God gave him the holy Ghost, neither Judaism nor Christianity is required?
Wendell
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Yes, Wendell. That is exactly the case. Of course, the religious system known as Christianity did not exist when God gave Cornelius the Spirit. So, that part of your question is irrelevant to the time. But it is relevant now, and I thank God for the souls to whom He has given the Spirit outside the white-washed walls of Christianity. Those saints are a living testimony of what God requires and what He does not.
Pastor John
John,
Thank you so much for bringing out this treasure (your work on the Iron Kingdom book) and having us read it together the last two days. I’ve always loved it, but this time was even sweeter to me. As we read through together, I really was amazed that I, we, believe this! In the reading this morning, for the first time, I heard with my heart when you wrote (and I’m paraphrasing), ‘God has to help us believe what is right in front of us, not what the Christian myth says it is.’ Christianity really is a big old lie. And that lie is against the Father and His wonderful Son.
The other point that really struck me this morning was your paragraph just before “The Tunnel”.
You wrote: Our only real hope of arriving at the truth about the history of believers (the history which the surviving documents purport to tell) is to receive help from God. Though disregarded by many scholars, God’s help is available to all who ask for it: “If anyone among you lacks wisdom,” wrote James, “let him ask of God, who gives generously to all and does not belittle, and it shall be given to him” (Jas. 1:5). It is because He has helped me that I am able to write this book.
I loved how these words touched my heart. They are so encouraging! Thank you, thank you for all your love and work for us – for all of God’s children.
Donna N.
I really like this email from Zoli. Jesus was telling the truth when he said, “it’s better for you that I go away”. As wonderful as it was for Jesus to be walking the earth and doing his Father’s good will, I’m so thankful he went away, so he could send his sweet spirit back to dwell inside of us: teaching us, guiding us, comforting us, and loving us so completely.
I will never forget one time as I was riding down the highway talking to Jesus in my van. It felt so sweet talking to my friend, and I said to him as I looked at my empty passenger seat, “Oh Jesus, I wish you were sitting right there in that seat, so I could see you and touch you”. He said, “I’m here”. Then, I said to him, “Jesus, is that really you, or is that me wanting it to be you so badly that I am just imagining you said that to me?
No longer had I gotten those words out of my mouth, than I felt his spirit starting down in my feet and rolling all through me! It felt so wonderful and I got the point. Having the spirit on the inside, feeling what I’d just felt, trumped having Jesus sitting way over there in that passenger seat.
I love carrying my comforter around with me everywhere I go. Actually, he is carrying me. Either way, I love my holy Ghost!
Lee Ann
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Dear Pastor John,
A few days ago I published a new post on my blog, it is the Hungarian translation of the ‘Communion’ gospel tract*. As I was reading some of the responses, and prayed about them, my mind went to different places, and I ended up at John 16:7, and I noticed something.
In that verse Jesus says to the disciples: “I tell you the truth; it’s better for you that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Comforter won’t come to you. But if I go, I’ll send him to you.” So, Jesus basically said, it’s better for the disciples to have the holy Ghost, than to have him.
Then it occurred to me, that Christianity teaches the exact opposite. They say, it’s better for believers to have “Jesus”, than to have the holy Ghost. Because, as they put it, when you receive the holy Ghost, it’s just a bonus gift; but when you “receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior”, you get saved.
Now, the question all reasonable people should ask is: Who is this “Jesus” that Christianity talks about, that is better to receive than the holy Ghost? Because based on Jesus’ own words, it’s definitely not the one Christ Jesus we read about in the Bible.
Zoli
* https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_tracts.html?tname=tract-064-communion
I was listening to the morning recordings and enjoying Damien enjoying the shadows of the Son, and it made me think of something you said on the Old Testament* cds lately.
You were talking about the refuge cities and saying not to call God a murderer if you step outside of the refuge city and He avenges His Son’s death.
Whew, all bets are off for us to be safe from the wrath of God outside of the refuge He has sent.
That was so good to me. I love that the refuge cities are a shadow of His Son. I love Damien’s zeal for the things of God. It stirs that love of the truth in me, when I hear it.
Beth D.
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Amen, Beth!
We are supposed to “provoke one another to love and good works,” and that is what happens when we feed one another the manna that Jesus has given us.
Keith’s testimony yesterday stirred up a wonderful memory in me of being helped by Jesus years ago. That is the way fellowship works, and when it works in us, we grow together in joy and peace.
Pastor John
* Old Testament Course (Pt. 1) – Going to Jesus.com
