This is so good, from Psalm 42!

5. O my soul, why are you cast down and in turmoil within me?  Hope in God!  I will surely praise Him again in the full salvation of His countenance.
6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me.  Therefore, I will remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon’s heights, from the mountain of Mizar.
7. Deep is calling to deep in the sound of your waterspouts.  All your waves and billows have swept over me.
8. By day, the Lord commands His loving-kindness, and by night, His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
9. I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?  Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10. As with a deadly blow in my bones, my adversaries reproach me every day, saying to me, “Where is your God?”
11. O my soul, why are you cast down, and why are you in turmoil within me?  Hope in God!  I will surely praise Him again, the salvation of my whole being, and my God.

Whenever I start to feel pain, loneliness, hurt, discouraged I remember David stirring his soul!  I’ll call out to Jesus for help and he reminds me of all he’s done for me.  All his blessings come flooding in!  He sends me help in whatever way I need it!  It’s always perfect and it’s always on time!  He gives me a praise in my heart and stirs my soul!  What I love most is each time he does this for me, I feel like it’s going deeper in with an assurance Jesus will always be there for me.  I love that!  Feels good, safe and secure!

Michelle

I really enjoyed the reading this morning.  Firstly, that Jesus gave you such an important message for understanding who and what Jesus was saying – “to the messenger of the Assembly in….”  Jesus was talking specifically to the pastors over the Assemblies and not directly to the congregation.  That is so good, and most importantly, to know who Jesus is talking to.  And then the love from Jesus for his pastors and their congregation that he explained what he was going to do and what would happen to them if they overcame. And then he gives the message about his coming (which is yet to come in our reading)!  There is much love from Jesus for his pastors in these admonishments, but also stern and sober lessons to be learned.

As we were reading, I started noticing how Jesus told every time who he was and his authority! I went back and underlined them all and put them together.  Here is who Jesus said he was taken from Revelation 2:1-3:22:

“I am the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands, who was dead and is alive, who holds the sharp-double edged sword, who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are as fine brass (I am the one who examines the minds and hearts and I will give to each of you according to your deeds.), who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one closes, and closes and no one opens, the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I say these things.”

Whew! That is so good!  Jesus lets them know upfront who is talking.  And then he says that “he who overcomes” will have this:

“To those who overcome, I will give you to eat of the tree of life that is in the paradise of my God.  I will give you the crown of life.  You will not be harmed by the Second Death. I will give you to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written which no one knows except the one who receives it. I will give you authority over nations  and you will rule with an iron rod (like potters’ vessels, they will be shattered), as I also received from my Father, and I will give you the morning star.  You shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot your name out of the Book of Life, but will confess your name before my Father and before His angels. I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem that is coming down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. And I will grant you to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat with my Father on His throne.

He who has an ear, let him hear.”

I love that!  Jesus is so encouraging!  He said to them as he is now saying to us: “Be watchful; Be faithful unto death; Hold fast; Hold on to what you have; Remember; Repent!”  He wants us to make it.  If we can “hold on to what we know”, as you have told us, we can make it home to be with him, his Father, and each other. 

Amy B.

Note: Pastor John’s third edition of his book, Revelation should be available soon at: Going to Jesus.com – Revelation

The teachings the Lord has given you are amazing.  It’s like the bible in that every sentence has a special meaning for us.  Some are for right now, others as we learn more.

The “seven ones” keep coming up, so I looked up Ephesians 4:4-6 and tried to memorize it.  I kept having to go back and reread as I couldn’t keep it in my head.  Again this morning I looked it up.  As I was studying them the thought was given to me, “What does this mean?”. With that thought came the answer!  One body means no thousands of different sects.   One Spirit is the holy Ghost, no following the spirits of this world.   One hope is the hope of salvation when our Savior, Jesus, returns and takes us to our Father in heaven.   One Lord is our Savior, Jesus, not the many lords of the different sects by the same name.  One faith is the teachings of Jesus, not the rewritten words made to achieve some person’s goals.  One baptism is of the holy Ghost, not water, no reciting some bible verse or any other man-made idea.  One God is our Father in heaven, Creator of all things through Jesus, our one Lord.

With this given to me I don’t think I will have trouble remembering the “seven ones” anymore.

I have been watching, from the beginning, the Matthew teachings*.  I thank God I found them online, as I had missed the first half of the series.  They are so good for me, and anyone who truly wants to know God.

Thank you,
Mark

* pastor john clark matthew you tube – Bing video

Good morning, John.

I’m going over some of my notes from the recent Matthew reading, and never can read this just one time!  It is so encouraging in every way.  I also got a “speech to text” app where I can get my notes better, and I get your notes now too!  Here is one of my favorite parts:

The Scriptures say that “Jesus answered them, the hour is come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  Men didn’t decide any of Jesus times, and men don’t decide any of your times.  Your times are in God’s hands. Your heavenly Father has all your times in his hands. When you weep, when you laugh, when you win, when you lose, when you gain, when something gets gone, when you’re burdened, when you dance, when you were born, and when you will die–All your times.  We’re in God’s hands.

You can also say, just like Jesus, “You are my God, my times are in your hand.”  God has given us this time to learn of him and rejoice in his mercy.  This is what this time is for.  Don’t miss it.  Be in time with God!”

Thank you for this two years of reading Matthew!

Debbie T

Good Morning, Bro. John!

I read these scriptures in Luke 10 after the meeting last night and thought of what Jesus has revealed and is still teaching this little Body through you.*  So thankful! 

[22] All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

[23] And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:

[24] For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Have a wonderful day! 

Sandy 🙂

* Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did

Pastor John,

I felt so encouraged, sheltered, & safe in the meeting last night.  I took off a little early from work to get ready and pray before I went, preparing to receive anything from the Lord.  My, did He ever deliver! Songs, seeing Darren back among us and operating his gift, Gary, Donna, and you singing happy but sober songs.  It really touched me.  I love doing my job and playing bass, but it is also nice to put it down and soak in what is being said in the songs, as with Donna and you at the piano last night. 

John, we are not going to get around the order that God has set up here.  When God brought each and everyone of us here, he sat us under the authority that God gave to Jesus to give to you for us.  That is just the way it is, and I love it.  That is where peace is, real love, fellowship — everything!  We are not going to bypass God’s order and have fellowship . . . it cannot work.  Sometimes, I shake my head and wonder, “God, how much you must truly love us to give us a gift as your servant, John.”  I pray that God is sanctified in my heart to take these things in, and I pray I am found worthy of taking them in.  This is not a game!  Eternal life or eternal death is at stake, and Jesus paid it all so that we can have life, starting now — today.  God doesn’t need a one of us, but He is going to share his Son’s life with someone, and his Son is going to be honored.

I am so very grateful that God sent you to Judy and me.  We needed someone to truly love us with the love of God, telling and teaching truth which if we receive and love, will save us. 

The meeting was so joyful and exciting, but very frightening and real at the same time.  “But God.”  I felt so encouraged in my soul, to travel on.

Thank you, Pastor John for telling & teaching us Truth and loving us all.

Billy

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Hey Pastor John,

I feel like Ashley, I’m in awe of last night.  There are no words to express how thankful I am Jesus brought me here and put me under you.  The authority I felt last night was clean, pure and humbling.  I just wanted to fall on my face and thank the Lord the best I could.  When you walked out of the room, everything in me just wanted to run to you and say, “Please don’t leave.”  It brings tears to my eyes to think of everything Jesus has done for me.  I remember years ago going to church and not understanding the feelings I was having, after hearing the preacher preach something that didn’t feel right to my heart.  I would go to an old saint that I loved very much and ask her to help me understand.  Her reply was always, “Honey, you have to learn to take the good and leave the bad.”  That crushed my heart every time I heard it.  My heart rejoices in that everything you feed us is good, holy and pure food.  I always leave, full, fat, and satisfied!

Thank you, Pastor John. I feel like Jesus gave me to you to give me a new life, a life so good, so happy, so full I never dreamed it was possible.  Now, here we are, living!  Through good times and bad times, God has never failed us!  He has given us the best!  He has given us you!  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Love you!

Michelle

John,

Your message last night was wonderful.  I can’t wait to watch it again because I know I can’t take in that much good food in one sitting.

Before each meeting, I typically take a few minutes to pray, asking Jesus to bless our gathering. Last evening was no different.  I knelt down in my office and asked Jesus to open my heart, mind, and soul to be able to hear what Jesus had to say through you, and to bless any song that I might have the opportunity to sing.  I prayed for all of us to be able to take in the testimonies or the songs that others may have.  I prayed that our minds would be free from the affairs of our day and open to whatever the Spirit has prepared for us. 

Soon afterwards, Suzi and I were ready to walk out the door, get in our car, and drive to the meeting.  That’s when we found out that we had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID.  So after some thought, we decided that we better stay home.

At first, I felt disappointed.  I was really looking forward to going to the meeting.  But suddenly, I heard a voice inside me say, “Do you remember what you just prayed?  Has anything changed?  Do you still want your heart, mind, and soul to be open to what the Spirit has prepared for this evening?”  I thought, “Yes, I do.” 

When the meeting first started, I put my chair near the TV because it felt good sitting up close.  The songs were wonderful.  It was the next best thing to being there in person.

Then you began your message.  I tried to hang on to each word, which is literally impossible, because if my mind stops to think about something you just said, then you have moved on to something else that I will most likely miss.

I loved everything that you said last night.  They were not just words from a carefully crafted sermon.  What you said, is you!  You are God’s representative.  And we have been chosen to be under you, and to take in whatever Jesus gives you.   I hope I can take that in fully and value the gift that Jesus has given us.  

One last thing, I just finished reading a section in the Father and Son* book titled, Form vs Life.  I stood under ministers for years that did a good job of maintaining the rites and rules of the institution.  I was taught to believe that one could not get to God without proper participation in the ceremonies led by men of the institution.  The institution needs men to uphold these things.

But God!

It is no small thing that Jesus has brought us out from the institution called Christianity.  Jesus used you to lead us out.  For that, I am eternally grateful.

Thank you, John.

Tom 

* Also titled God Had a Son before Mary Did

https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books.html?tname=fands

Bro. John:

Oh, my!  I just finished watching tonight’s meeting again and still am not sure I grasped all the things that you passed out for us to eat tonight!  My heart is so full that I am not sure I will sleep because of all the wonderful things that were there for us to hear.  I will just share a few points that touched me because I don’t believe I have ever heard such a clear explanation concerning Judas and Satan.

• That Satan left his “perfect in beauty” body and entered into the body of Judas because his purpose was:  “You have said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the Mountain of Assembly, on the far north side. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.”

That explanation makes so much sense.  When that happened it just helped me understand why Satan now was left, as mentioned in 1Peter 5:8, “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  He had left his “perfect in beauty” body, that God had created for him, to enter into Judas.  His goal to “be like the Most High” was a failure so there was nowhere for him to go but “. . . as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18 

I hope I am seeing this correctly, but please help me if not.  It was so good when you said it tonight!  And clearer than I’ve heard it before.

• The other thing was when you spoke of your credentials and all the revelations Jesus has given you over the years for US!  It flooded my heart just thinking how much God must love you and us to give such knowledge of Himself.  It brings tears to my eyes to think that he has chosen us to be the recipients of his love and wisdom.  There were several times tonight I could hardly breathe just hearing so much of what He has done for us.

Well, sorry for the length, but tonight was glorious.  And I will be forever thankful for you, Bro. John.  That God would send to us an anointed Pastor after His own heart to feed and guide us along this way to eternity.  We need you, and we need each other.  Thank you for every time you have helped me, corrected me, loved me, and saved me from myself. 

There were more riches in tonight’s message than I can express here.  But thank you for all you gave us tonight.  I’m going to try to go to sleep now, but it’s hard to sleep when you’re still chewing on the things of God!

Love you, Bro. John. We are a blessed people.

Sandy  🙂

Good morning,

I was reading the chapter about Job from “The Suffering and the Saints”* book recently.  So wonderful!  As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think about Michelle’s testimony and how closely it parallels Job’s testimony.  Granted, Michelle has not been through the kind of extreme suffering that Job went through.  She did not suffer with boils all over her body or the death of her children, loss of all her material possessions, terrible nightmares, everyone forsaking her, etc.  But she has suffered, nonetheless.  She went through loss of husband, loss of home, sickness of her daddy, sickness for herself, and her children’s troubles.  It seemed like it was one thing right after another, pushing Michelle to the point of not knowing how much more she could take.  At her lowest point, Jesus had to help her just to breathe.

Through all of the sufferings, however, Michelle knew, just like Job did, that the Lord had done it!  

Job said in 1:21, “the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the LORD!”  

Michelle testified the other morning at your house, “The thought that thrills my soul.  That makes me feel so safe and taken care of is being able to say  ‘Lord!  You have put on, and You have taken off!  And I praise you for every bit of it!  Thank you so much!’”

They both glorified God for having given them blessings and for having taken them away.  And they both understood that the road leading out of their sufferings was the way of holiness. You wrote, “A man who does not know that God loves him cannot do that.  A man who does not trust God’s wisdom cannot do that.  And a man who believes in other gods, including Satan, as having power to determine destruction for the saints cannot do that”.  Both Job and Michelle knew God too well to believe that anyone other than their Creator could take away their blessings, unless He determined it could be done.  When Job’s wife told him just to go ahead and “curse God and die,” Job told her she was foolish for saying that. He told her, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”  

Both Job and Michelle received their suffering “without cause”, but they both knew it was not without purpose.  As for Job’s sufferings, you wrote, “But that there was at least one purpose in Job’s sufferings, multiplied thousands of saints can bear witness who have been strengthened in the face of sorrow by Job’s example”.  Michelle testified to how reading Job had strengthened her.  And now Michelle’s testimony can encourage us!  

You wrote, “Job knew that God was responsible (for his sufferings), and that God loved him and would be glorified in his complete deliverance if he would patiently wait for that salvation in the way of righteousness.  That is perfected faith. That is faith that is rooted in the unshakable foundation of God’s goodness and power and wisdom”.   Similarly, Michelle testified about keeping her feet firmly planted until that last wave hits, just as she had read in your father’s gospel Tract, “Standing Still in Jordan”.   You responded to Michelle, “Unmovable.  Unshakeable.  Established.  That’s Jesus!”  I love that!

I finished reading the Job chapter and then had this thought, “What if Michelle hadn’t known that her sufferings were from the hand of her Creator?  What if she had blamed the Devil for her sufferings?” Instead of testifying of God’s goodness the other morning at your house, what if Michelle had spoken up and said, “Boy, that Devil almost got me this week!”  What kind of testimony would that have been?!  Instead of rejoicing with Michelle, we would all have been wondering what she had done to deserve such treatment by the Devil.  Instead of Michelle feeling there was “not a ripple on the water”, she would have been condemning herself for what was happening to her.  Instead of getting God’s purpose for her sufferings, she would have been asking God why He let that Devil do that to her.  Instead of feeling “safe and taken care of”, she would be fearing when that Devil might strike again!  Instead of glorifying God as the All-Knowing and Almighty Creator that he is, she would have elevated the Devil into a position of authority, as one who had somehow managed to slip past God.  Where is God’s glory in that?!  How can her faith be perfected in that?!  How could any of us be encouraged by that?  

It has been forty years now since Jesus spoke to you, “It tickles the Devil for God’s children to blame their troubles on him.” What a liberating message!  Many of us in this body were taught to blame the Devil for our troubles.  Or, we were taught that “God is good” means that God won’t cause us to suffer.  I love knowing that there is one God, and ALL of my times are in His hands.  There is so much peace and comfort in knowing that.

The conclusion of this chapter was so good!  You wrote, “The life of every one of God’s people is the sole responsibility of the Owner.  He may use it or leave it upon the shelf.  He may brand it, break it, twist it, or melt it.  But whatever happens to the Master’s instruments is determined by no one but the Master.  Faith, when it is matured, rejoices in that.  Who better than our God to be in control of our fate?  This is the faith which guided Joseph and Job to victory over suffering, and it is the faith that guided our Lord Jesus through his sufferings to eternal glory”.   

That kind of mature faith will guide every one of us to victory over our suffering!  I am thankful for Michelle’s testimony, as well as the many, many others I’ve heard through the years that glorified God as the Designer of their sufferings.  I am thankful for the “All Things” message that was given to you forty years ago.  It has saved us!   And because of that message, we have been able to rejoice with Michelle and so many other Saints for what God, and God alone, has done!  

God is good!

Lee Ann

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Pastor John,

* Going to Jesus.com – Suffering and the Saints