{"id":5329,"date":"2015-01-12T20:30:26","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T20:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pjhmail.wordpress.com\/?p=5329"},"modified":"2015-01-12T20:30:26","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T20:30:26","slug":"church-history-and-testimonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/5329\/church-history-and-testimonies\/","title":{"rendered":"Church History and testimonies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pastor John,<\/span><\/p>\n

I always have questions that need to be asked. The biggest & most difficult question that has bugged me over the years concerning this message (that I believe is the Truth) is, what to do with all the so-called “great men of God” that we esteem so much within Christianity, such as John Wesley etc… We are literally standing on the shoulders of these guys, saying they are in Hell, basically?? \u00a0I can’t see the New Birth any other way, but Church History plus everything, including testimonies of changed lives, bug me!! But Church History is pointing it’s finger at us saying “cult” & a lot of other choice words!!<\/span><\/p>\n

I just wanna always be REASONABLE as Pastor John taught in the New Birth series!! I just have a lot of questions. \u00a0Can u please help me with this?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

John<\/span><\/p>\n

==========<\/span><\/p>\n

Hi John,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Those are thoughtful questions. \u00a0I am glad you asked them.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

We honor all who served Jesus before our time, regardless of how well they understood the doctrine – as long as they had the Spirit and really did belong to Christ. \u00a0From what I have read, John Wesley (whom you mentioned) is in that number of truly born again men, but only God, of course, is the final Judge of that.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Peter exhorted the saints to honor all men (1Pet.\u00a02:17<\/span>). \u00a0At the same time, we are warned throughout the Bible not to be “respecters of persons”. \u00a0That is, we are not to honor anyone so highly that they can influence us to deny the truth of Christ.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

So, whatever good anyone in history has done, he has done nothing comparable to the good that Christ accomplished for us when he offered himself without blemish to God for our sins. \u00a0We are to honor the sweet Lamb of God above all men, whoever they are and however great may be their earthly reputation. \u00a0All men altogether are less than nothing compared to Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

After the young man Saul of Tarsus met Christ on the road to Damascus and the truth was revealed to him, he lost his previous high regard for the reputations of men. He reverenced Jesus and the truth that Jesus revealed to him so completely that, to Saul (Paul), even Jesus’ own disciples were nothing in comparison.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Galatians 2:1-2,6 KJV<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem . . . . [2] And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. [6] But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me; God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me.”<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paul was respectful of others, and he loved people, but his devotion to Christ and the true gospel was supreme, and Paul never compromised the truth to appease people, even the best of them.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As for the testimonies of changed lives from people who have not yet received the holy Ghost baptism (= have not yet been born again), we can rejoice at the grace of God given to them. \u00a0At the same time, we know that one’s life must change in order to receive the new birth. \u00a0Christian ministers pervert the gospel of Christ when they tell those whose lives have been touched and changed by Jesus that they are born again. \u00a0Jesus touched and changed Paul’s life on the road to Damascus, but he was not born again and his sins were not washed away until later, when a servant of Jesus laid hands on him and he was baptized with the holy Ghost!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Acts 22:12-16 KJV<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

[12] And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, [13] Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. [14] And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. [15] For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. [16] And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope that helps you with your dilemma, John. \u00a0We can respect others for whatever good they may have done, without becoming “respecter of persons” and denying the truth of Christ.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Your servant in Christ,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Pastor John<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pastor John, I always have questions that need to be asked. The biggest & most difficult question that has bugged me over the years concerning this message (that I believe is the Truth) is, what to do with all the so-called “great men of God” that we esteem so much within Christianity, such as John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-qa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}