Thought for Today

2002. 10-30

From a sermon by George C. Clark,

Sunday afternoon prayer meeting at Aunt Leatha’s house, June 1, 1980.

". . . and they shall be wanderers among the nations." Hos. 9:17

Divided into a thousand contradictory sects, with a plethora of divisions within each sect, Christianity provides rebellious souls with many hiding places. John called Christianity the holding pen of every filthy spirit (Rev. 18:2). If a Christian minister dares to reprove the conduct of a congregation or teach a doctrine they do not believe, then all that congregation has to do is fire him and hire another talker more to their liking. With so many doctrines available in Christianity, no sinner should be unable to find a minister who will allow for his particular sin.

Multitudes roam from place to place in Christianity until they find a church with opinions that match their own. And in Christianity, there are so many different doctrines offered that even the most ungodly man, if he searches long enough, will surely find a place that will accommodate his unclean spirit and satisfy his wants. Even sodomites, whose unspeakable abominations God abhors, can find Christian sects now that see no wrong in their lifestyle, and even will ordain them as their ministers! Virtually any sinner, if he searches earnestly enough, can find a church somewhere in Christianity that will accommodate whatever sin he loves. All he has to do is keep looking. But as my father said in his sermon long ago, "If you’re no good [as a member] where you are, you’ll be no good [as a member] where you go." The acceptance of Christians is no substitute for the forgiveness of God.

As a corollary to my father’s saying, we may say that if you are good where you are, you will be good where you go. But what is unknown in Christianity is that the good, just like the unstable wicked, will also be restless within Christianity. God’s hungriest children also wander from place to place, but not to find a hiding place for sin. They sometimes travel from sect to sect seeking a church in Christianity that will satisfy the longing in their souls for truth and undefiled love of God.

God’s hungry children are typically the best members of whatever Christian church they have joined, as long as they are there, even if a hunger for God nags at their spirits. They work; they study; they love; they pray. They may be confused and badly taught, but they are honest, faithful, and pure in heart. And sooner or later, driven by the call of Jesus, they will move on. They believe that if they seek, they will find. And they will seek–if they are not discouraged in their search by Christian ministers who don’t want the number of names on their membership rolls to decrease.

Such efforts by ministers and others notwithstanding, God’s hungry sheep humbly continue to search for that food "that endures to everlasting life". They cannot stop hungering because the hunger comes from God, and they cannot stop wandering because they hunger for what Christianity cannot provide. Consequently, they are sometimes criticized as unstable, or labeled as "church-hoppers" because of their restlessness. But their hearts are seeking something good, something they cannot explain to anyone, but something that they can sense that Jesus offers them, if they could only find the place where it is.

Not knowing that the fellowship they seek can be found nowhere in Christianity, these lost sheep of God search in one church, and then another, and then another, always hungry, always questioning, and never feeling complete. They are not malcontents; they are simply not content with something less than what Jesus suffered and died for them to possess. They are not overly demanding; they just want a pastor who has really heard from Jesus. They do not like polluted water; they thirst for the true knowledge of God. They are not rebels; on the contrary, they merely long for the safety of God’s government. They are not skeptical at heart; they simply believe that something is missing, and their faith in Jesus will not allow them to give up the search. They are not trouble-makers; they are lost sheep seeking their shepherd. They do not walk out on people; they outgrow them as they move on, coming ever closer to the Lord they seek.

Joining a new church will not make a new man. "If you’re no good where you are, you’ll be no good where you go." But if you are good, then keep going! The search will not harm you, and what you seek does exist! You will find it if you continue to believe.

God cursed His own Old Testament people to be wanderers among the nations, and He has cursed the body of Christ to wander among the denominations of Christianity for many centuries now. But the urge to find our home is rising now among sincere believers, just as the urge to re-establish a homeland in Palestine began to burn in the hearts of Jews about a hundred years ago, until the nation of Israel was established in 1948. That urge is the call of Jesus. He is opening the doors to his people to come out from under the curse!

Merely wandering from denomination to denomination will, in itself, accomplish no more for a child of God in this covenant than wandering from nation to nation for thousands of years did for God’s first covenant people. But God sees the searching heart and rewards them that seek Him diligently (Heb. 11:6). Israel’s rest was realized when they ceased their wanderings among the nations and re-established their own territory. The body of Christ’s rest will be realized when they cease wandering from denomination to denomination and come together in the Spirit of truth. And this will happen only when the family of God is told that Christianity is an evil institution and that it is the will of God that they come out of it.

Answer the call of Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters, and cease your useless, frustrating efforts of looking to dead men to guide you to the God of life. The call of God is being heard again! You are being given a golden opportunity to be no longer "wanderers among the denominations". Don’t miss it!

Thought for Today

2002. 10-29

"Nations and Denominations"

Billions of people accept Christianity’s claim to be God’s family, in spite of the fact that it is splintered into thousands of conflicting sects and doctrines. Can any Protestant church really be God’s family if Roman Catholicism is also God’s family? Or can any Protestant church really be God’s family if another Protestant church with different doctrines and different ministers is also God’s family? Can any one of the many Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches really be God’s family if one of the non-Pentecostal Churches is also God’s family? Can joining one of Christianity’s Churches make you a member of them all? Some of the churches in Christianity hold that all other churches in Christianity are false. What are we to do with that?

The tower of Babel, with its mass confusion after God cursed its builders, is the perfect prophetic picture of Christianity and its thousands of sects. Those ancient builders, having been cursed with different languages, could no longer work together to construct that access to heaven to which they were committed. They all still felt in their hearts that getting to heaven was the goal, but they now spoke different languages, and the work was frustrated. In the end, they had to resign themselves to go their own ways, divided into groups that were defined by the languages they spoke. Those groups then developed into the nations of earth into which God later scattered His disobedient chosen people, Israel.

Similarly, Christians all believe that getting to heaven is a desirable goal. But they cannot agree as to how to do the work to get there, they cannot understand each other, and they do not follow the same leaders. Christians are divided into groups defined by their own doctrinal languages, just as the ancient builders were divided by different languages. And the family of God is now scattered among those many Christian divisions.

So, in the Old Testament, God’s chosen, but rebellious people were cursed to wander among the divided "nations" (Hos. 9:17), while in this New Testament, God’s chosen, but rebellious people have been cursed to wander among Christianity’s denomi-nations. Christianity is itself the curse with which God cursed the body of Christ long ago, when the body forsook the truth and power of the gospel of Christ and began to work with the world to build another way into heaven. Thankfully, there came a time when God mercifully called His beleaguered people to their homeland again. So now, it appears, God is calling His saints to "come out of her, My people!" He is calling us out of the mass confusion of Christianity! He is calling us home again! Do you hear the call?

One of Israel’s courageous and wise prophets asked, "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" They cannot. That is why God is calling His children out of Christianity, so that they might at long last be united in Christ and "serve Him with one consent" (Zeph. 3:9).

As long as the saints of God remain inside Christianity, unity among the sanctified will never be realized. The saints of God must come out of Christianity if they are ever to be made one in Christ. May God give us the faith to obey His loving call: "Come out of her, My people!"

Thought for Today

2002. 10-28

From a sermon by John Clark on July 1, 1979.

"Some of the Bible’s prophecies could not have been given with a right spirit if men had made them up." In the Law of Moses, Israelites were forbidden to speak evil of their rulers. Even when Jesus came, he commanded his disciples to do whatever the Pharisees demanded that they do because, he said, "they sit in Moses’ seat" (Mt. 23:2). God demands that great respect be shown to those whom He anoints, and the wise among His people have always felt that. Young David, for one example, refused to harm the evil King Saul when he could easily have killed him.

The scene was in a cave where David and his men were hiding. King Saul, not knowing David was in there, stopped into the cave to rest. David’s men encouraged him to kill Saul quickly, telling him that the Lord had sent Saul to that cave so that David could kill him. But David replied, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord" (1Sam. 24:1-6). David’s great fear of God carried over into respect for King Saul, even though by that time, King Saul had been turned over to an evil spirit from God.

Paul warned the saints to "know them who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake" (1Thess. 5:13). And he said, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account . . . ." (Heb. 13:17).

At the same time, Paul himself reproved Peter to his face in Antioch, because Peter was endangering that Gentile congregation’s faith. On certain occasions, God anointed men to put kings of Israel to death for their sins. No ruler, including David when he became Israel’s king, was above the Law and judgment of God. And no Israelite was ever required to obey a king who would have led them to do evil in God’s sight.

"The Higher Power"

Paul’s counsel to the congregation to honor "the higher power" (Rom. 13) applies to no situation more than in regards to the congregation’s attitude toward men whom God anoints to serve them. The body of Christ is to submit to anointed men of God only as long as those men are submissive to God. The body’s allegiance is to God, not to man. Then again, the body’s allegiance is to men who "speak the things of God". The body of Christ is not required to respect any man so much that it follows him to do evil, even if that man has power to raise the dead. No man has authority from God to lead His saints into sin.

The common standard for all of God’s people is to honor God by honoring those whom He sends to minister to them. On those occasions when someone is called upon by the Lord to rebuke one of God’s anointed servants, it should be done with both courage and humility. The faithful prophets of Israel knew that God had commanded His people not to speak evil of their rulers. But what else could they do but speak evil of those rulers when God sent them to do so?

It was God’s sarcasm, not Amos’, when Amos accused the rulers of Israel of being so greedy for land that they panted like dogs after the dust on the heads of the poor (Amos 2:7). Hosea condemned Israelites for being the kind of people who quarreled with God’s priests (4:4); then he proceeded to bitterly accused those same priests of deceiving Israel with lies, refusing to listen to God, and of slaughtering innocent people (5:1-2). Hundreds of times, maybe thousands, God sent messengers to the rulers of His people with harsh condemnations of their conduct, even though the commandment of God was still in effect: "Thou shalt not revile . . . the ruler of thy people!"

This is why I mentioned in that Sunday afternoon sermon in 1979 that if the Old Testament prophets had devised those harsh prophecies on their own, then it would have been sin for them to speak them. Only God knows when to do what. Everything else is sin. In fact, when God sent a prophet to accuse or to curse one of Israel’s rulers, it would have been sin for that prophet not to accuse or curse him, no matter what was written in the Law.

But, as is almost always the case, there is another commandment in God’s Law that permits, indeed enjoins, the breaking of the first one. In Leviticus 19:17, the Israelites were commanded by God to reprove any other Israelite whom they saw commit sin. To refuse to do so, according to the Lord, amounted to hating your fellow Israelite. Therefore in Israel, any Israelite who saw a ruler of God’s people commit sin was already empowered by God both to reprove that sinner.

Still, the wise man waited long before uttering any accusation against one of God’s anointed men. What if God had told that man to do what he was doing, and it merely appeared that he was transgressing God’s Law? Shemei uttered vile curses at David as the pitiful king fled from Absalom. He reviled David bitterly for sins that he erroneously thought David had committed. There was no fear of God in him as he attacked the weeping king, and for his folly, he suffered the terrible judgment of God. On the other hand, when Nathan was sent by God to condemn David for sin, Nathan was blessed for fearlessly rebuking the king.

Our Only Option

Consider this puzzling event: God commanded Israel very clearly and sternly, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm!" Seemingly in accordance with this, when a prophet told an Israelite man to punch him in the face, the Israelite refused to hit the prophet. As a result, God sent a lion to slay the Israelite who refused to punch the prophet (1Kgs. 20:35-36). Then the prophet found another man who, when the prophet said, "Smite me!" did so, and was blessed by God. What would you have done?

The human mind cannot determine when to obey which commandment, when two seemingly conflicting commandments are given. When should you reprove a ruler, and when should you be silent? When should you obey a prophet who is telling you to do something God sternly said not to do? Your only hope of always making the right choice lies not in your knowing the Bible, nor knowing any religious traditions, but in your knowing the mind of God. And the only access that you have to the mind of God is the holy Ghost.

Walking after the Spirit of God, you will never make the wrong choice. If you are filled with the Spirit, it will be easy to know what to do even, in difficult times, because "the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1Cor 2:11). To be led by the Spirit is the congregation’s only hope of escaping Satan’s lovely snares and doing what is truly right in the sight of God because "the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."

Thought for Today

2002. 10-25

From a sermon by Preacher Clark in a Sunday afternoon prayer meeting at Grandma’s farmhouse, July 1, 1979.

Worrying about the results of obeying God is one of the biggest reasons why people do not obey Him. "You can’t be real [in God] without hurting somebody’s feelings", my father said in his sermon. "Worrying about that hinders many from obeying God."

If Abram had worried about what foreigners would think about him entering their territory alone, he would have remained under the sheltering walls of Ur with his idolatrous family–and the book of Genesis would have told no tale of Abraham, the friend of God. If Stephen had worried about whether or not the Jewish judges would approve of his testimony, he would never have been stoned to death–and millions would have missed out on the soul-stirring sermon the young man preached to Israel’s High Court (Acts 7). If Paul had worried about what the philosophers on Mar’s Hill might think about Jesus’s resurrection, he would never have told them about it and would never have been laughed off the stage–nor would he have won the souls of Dionysius, Damaris, and others who were there that day listening to the stranger speak. If Jesus had worried about whether or not men liked him, he would have escaped that awful, degrading torture at the hands of cruel Roman soldiers, as well as the horrible death of the cross–but the repentant cries of billions of souls for help and mercy from God would have been ignored. Earth, hell, Paradise and everyone in them would have been consigned to the Law of Fire by the Father, struggling in agony and hopelessness forever. Everything depended on Jesus.

There is an honor that comes from only God, and we are dishonoring God so long as we do not receive it. But we cannot receive it so long as we are worried about maintaining the approval of others around us. Sure, everybody who has normal feelings wants the approval of those whom he knows. Everybody with normal feelings wants friends. But Jesus told some of Israel’s leaders that they could never receive the honor that comes from God only, so long as they were seeking each other's approval (Jn. 5:41-44). God will supply all the friends and family we need, all the money, food, and clothes, and everything else that we need, if we will just do as Jesus said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Mt. 6:33).

The temptation of the flesh is to find a way to obey God and retain the honors and praise of men at the same time. The simple call of the Spirit is to obey God, no matter what happens next. The results of obedience to God are none of man’s business. Whether the results of our obedience are pleasant or unpleasant is God’s choice, and the man who concerns himself with that issue will always come a little short of what God requires him to do. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen men and women stumble at this one stumblingblock. Worrying about the results of obeying God’s Word, most often fear of a husband’s or a wife’s reaction, has cost more people their souls than any other error that I can think of. Faith knows that obedience to God always eventually leads to eternal peace and joy. And if on this earth we must suffer a while because we have done the will of God, those sufferings, Paul said, "are not to be compared to the glory" that Jesus will give to those who love him.

What many people do not appreciate is that for God merely to think on us and to speak to us is a very great honor. To have our Creator condescend to speak to our hearts is an unspeakable blessing, and to have the opportunity to obey that Voice and to do the will of God is a sacred privilege. We have been greatly blessed if we can but have God’s thoughts injected into our hearts. And then, beyond mere thinking right thoughts, to be given the love of God and strength in spirit to actually do what is right is a precious gift.

Wise men take advantage of the opportunity to obey God while they live on earth; righteous men become so excited about their fleeting opportunity to obey God that they do not consider the consequences. They do not meddle with God’s business. To be able to hear and obey God is so wonderful a gift that godly men jump at the opportunity to do so, and they prudently leave all the results to God.

Mind your own business, my dear friend. It is God’s part to guide; it is our part only to follow. It is God’s business to determine the results of all actions. It is our business, our precious privilege, only to act under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.

All we need to know is what God’s will is. When we want to know what the results will be before we decide whether or not we will do His will, we are "in the flesh" not "in the Spirit". And "if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body [such as worrying about results], ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:13-14).

Thought for Today

2002. 10-24

"Who is right?"

I was taught by my father that if you see two people quarreling, you can know who is right without even asking for any details. How? By believing Solomon, of course. That wise man said that "every man in his own eyes is right." So, there you have it. The answer to every quarrel. They are both right . . . in their own eyes.

The need to be "right" can be a burdensome snare for the soul. Those to whom God reveals His secret pathway to happiness are never those who are obsessed with being right but those who are willing to be wrong. Only those who are willing to be wrong are able to humble themselves to repent and take a new direction when God shows them His way. Only those who are willing to be wrong will ever be made right by Jesus. Only those willing to appear foolish before men will ever know what it is like to feel the confidence of God’s wisdom in their hearts.

Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Try sincerely to prove that what you believe about God is wrong. Search the Scriptures diligently to see whether or not you are truly in the faith of Christ. Dare to doubt your own wisdom and anybody else’s, and pray for God to show you His ways. Search for the verses that seem to make you and your teacher wrong, and ask God to show you what they really mean. Consider every thought of your heart as no more than dung, and be willing to trash it. Read the Bible with the attitude of a slave who feels ignorant and helpless to understand. Honest doubt is a wonderful thing.

Jesus said that the man who tries to save his life will lose it. Then he said that if we want eternal life, then we must lose our lives for his sake. This is not the way of worldly men; they cannot resist their fleshly desire to win and be right at the expense of others. Their stubborn refusal to be wrong is what chains ungodly men in the prison of wrong, and their carnal fear of losing is what assures them that they will lose everything in the end.

Jesus said that there is only one who is good, and that is God. What we must learn as well is that there is only one who is right, and after all is said and done, there is only one who will win: God. His truth is the only truth there is. His congregation is the only right congregation. His Spirit is the only right Spirit. One day, all the pride of man will be brought low, with all their wrong ways, and the Lord alone will be praised (Isa. 2:17). Wise men and women around the world know that day is coming, and they forsake their own ways while they can. They take advantage of this golden, God-given opportunity we all have now to confess that they are wrong and to be willing to lose, so that Jesus will lead them into the everlasting way for which David so earnestly pleaded with God: "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, O God, and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23-24).

David is in Paradise now because he was willing to suffer the shame and pain of confession and repentance while he lived. He was willing to lose his old way of living to gain eternal life with Christ. May we all be as wise.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-23

"As long as I am in the world . . . ."

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Jesus is the light of the world"? As with so many of the catch-phrases that Christians use, it immediately sounds reverential and wise, but when examined by the heart infused with the knowledge of God, it fails to measure up to the standard of truth that Jesus himself set.

According to Jesus, he was the light of the world only as long as he was here among us in the flesh. He said to his disciples, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (Jn. 9:5). When Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father (Acts 1), he departed from earth; therefore, since he is no longer living on earth, by his own testimony, he is no longer the light of the world. Do you dare to believe what your Lord said about himself, or do you fear the reaction of Christians if you trust him?

To say that Jesus is no longer the light of the world is not to say that the world has no light. On the contrary, Jesus told his followers that they were to be the light of the world, and he exhorted them not to be ashamed to shine. So, according to Jesus, whoever follows him and is still living on this earth is the light of the world. Are you doing your job? Does your light shine? Jesus did not hide his light under a bushel basket while he was here, and he told his disciples not to do so, either. He told them,. "Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Mt. 5:16).

But this brings us the question, "How do we become the light of the world?" We are not born into this world as lights for God. We are all born in sin; we all start out in darkness. As Paul told the saints at Rome, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God". How then do we become the light of the world, as Jesus was?

The key to the correct answer is found in John 1:4. Speaking of Jesus, John wrote, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." The life that the Father gave to the Son (Jn. 5:26) shined through Jesus and made him the light of the world while he was here. Believe this! God’s life in Jesus was the light of the world! Without life from God, Jesus could not have been the light of the world! And it is that same holy life that Jesus gives to others so that they, too, can be the light of the world in his stead.

Jesus told his disciples that just as he stayed alive only by the will of God, so they would depend upon him for their very lives (Jn. 6:57). The power of life and death over Jesus is in the Father’s hands; the power of life and death over everyone else is in the hands of the Son. "All power" declared Jesus, "is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Mt. 28:18).

Paul taught the saints that "the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom. 8), and Jesus explained to his puzzled disciples, "the Spirit makes alive" (Jn. 6). So, if the Spirit is life, as Paul said, and if the Spirit makes us alive, as Jesus said, then we can read John 1:4 to read thus: "In him was God’s Spirit, and the Spirit was the light of men." I have told you many times before that without the holy Ghost, no man belongs to God’s family. This helps us see why that is true. Without the Spirit, we are walking dead men; we have no real life. And without life, we cannot be the light of the world because it is God’s life that makes men shine. John said it: "The life was the light of men."

No, my friend, Jesus is no longer the light of the world. He shined while he was here, but now he has delegated the responsibility of being the light of the world to the saints. If the saints fail to walk in the Spirit, the world will have no light. Jesus did the will of God while in "human form"; now we are here, as he once was, commanded to shine as guiding lights for men "in Christ’s stead". The body of Christ has work to do, and none of it can be done without the life of God, the holy Ghost, leading the way.

Oh, it may impress men to see those who claim to be servants of Jesus point toward heaven and to hear them proclaim solemnly that "Jesus is the light of the world." But if we look up when those fingers are pointed into heaven, we may see Jesus looking down and pointing his finger back at us. "I did my part", he may say. "Now, it is your turn. Not me. You." Jesus is not so easily impressed, as men are, with Christianity’s polished catch-phrases; they sound holy to unskilled ears, but the heart of Jesus rejects them when they deny the most basic truths of his gospel.

Now, go on your way today. Be filled with God’s life and shine for Jesus in the midst of this dark and lost generation. It’s your turn.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-22

"the least of these, my brethren"

From a Sunday afternoon sermon by Preacher Clark. Late 1970's, at Grandma’s house.

Jesus said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Mt. 25:40). From that arresting statement of our Lord, we know that Jesus loves even his most wayward children dearly and takes personally the treatment they receive at the hands of others. We should fear God and know that we are to treat the very least in God’s kingdom with respect and charity.

But who are "the least of these my brethren"? We know God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. Then, whom does God consider to be the least in His kingdom? We need to know so that we can avoid at all costs mistreating one of them. Fortunately, Jesus did not leave it to us to decide who was the least in God’s kingdom; he told us who it is that God considers to be the least among His children.

In the famous "Sermon on the Mount", Jesus made reference to the smallest of God’s commandments in Moses’ Law. He said that every dot and comma of the Law bore weight in heaven and that all would be fulfilled (Mt. 5:18). Then, he added this revealing observation: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men to do so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven."

This, then, is the answer to our question. The least among Jesus’ brethren are those children of God who break God’s commandments and also teach others to do so. And it is in how we treat them that we demonstrate to Jesus how much we love him. Anybody can love those who say and do what you want them to say and do. Jesus told his disciples, "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good for them that hate you; and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven. . . . If ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? . . . And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?" (Mt. 6:44-47)

Do you know of any man in the family of God who is disobeying God’s commandments and teaching others to do the same? He is one of the least of Jesus’ brethren. Still, it matters to Jesus how that foolish man is treated by others. That is the love of God. Jesus even cares for those in his own family who show him great disrespect.

If you know of any saint of God who is lying to God’s people, and who is disobedient to the Spirit of God, then you have found one of the least among Jesus’ brethren. You may reprove him; you may remind him of and warn him of the Judgment to come; you may even refuse any longer to keep company with that man. All those ways of treating the disobedient are permitted, and even encouraged, by the Bible. But in every circumstance, be careful to treat him with the respect due to a child of the King, for inasmuch as you do it to the least of Jesus’ brethren, you have done it unto him.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-21

From a Sunday afternoon sermon by Preacher Clark. Late 1970's, at Grandma’s house.

There are two kinds of unity that Jesus has created for the body of Christ: unity of the spirit and unity of the faith. To have the first kind of unity is heavenly; but to have both kinds is better.

If we have the love of God for our brothers and sisters in the Lord, then we can feel a unity of spirit with them all, regardless of the doctrine they have embraced, because they are our family. Their Father is our Father, and we share the same Spirit. (Sometimes, even before people actually receive the holy Ghost, we can feel a kinship with them, if they are hungering and thirsting for righteousness.) Anyone who has God’s Spirit can sense a kinship with others who have the Spirit. This kind of unity is supernatural and can be experienced only by those who truly belong to God. This is the "unity of the Spirit" to which Paul referred, and it is holy and good.

The other unity, however, is far superior to the unity of spirit. It is the unity of the faith. This is a unity, or fellowship, that only some among God’s children ever know while they live on this earth. It is a unity created by God among His children when He reveals His truth to them. This unity of the faith is a unity of understanding. It makes us truly one with Him and each other, one in mind and heart. Only those who understand the one true doctrine of Christ can experience this wonderful unity. The unity of the faith is far stronger, cleaner, and holier than is unity in spirit, as good as that is.

In Ephesians 4, Paul exhorted the saints to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace . . . till we all come in the unity of the faith" (vv. 1-13). There is growth in the Spirit, and we must be patient with and merciful toward each other until we all come to that holy place of harmony, a place where Paul’s hope for the saints in Corinth is fulfilled: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." That is unity in the faith, and its glory and benefits surpass simple unity of spirit as far as heaven is above earth.

Jesus did not say that those who followed him were free. Most were not. In fact, most of the people in the crowds that followed him never experienced the kind of freedom he wanted them to have. What he said was that if those who followed him would continue to follow him, then they would come to a knowledge of the truth, and that knowledge of the truth would make them free (Jn. 8:31-32). Nothing but the truth, the one doctrine of Christ, will bring God’s children into the unity of the faith, where true freedom is.

You can know the unity of the Spirit and still be in bondage. There are more of God’s children today who are in bondage than can be numbered. They are born again, and they feel a unity with others who have also received the holy Ghost, but they are not free because they do not know the truth. They have a fellowship in spirit with all other children of God, but they do not have fellowship in the faith either with Jesus or with those who have attained to the knowledge of God.

Let us strive together to be one in Christ Jesus as he so earnestly prayed that we would be (Jn. 17). The benefits of obtaining that prize cannot be enumerated.

The psalmist wrote (Ps. 133) that unity among the children of God carries the same weight in heaven as did the anointing that covered Aaron, Israel’s high priest. Didn’t Jesus say that where two or three are gathered together in his name, he was there? There are many millions who gather regularly for religious services, but oh how few truly gather in his name! "In his name" signifies a holy unity, a fellowship of heart and mind with God and each other that can be experienced neither by those without the Spirit nor by those with the Spirit if they do not follow it. This unity in the faith is reserved for the pure in heart. It can be known only by wise and obedient children of God. The foolish never come to know it.

I have never seen a congregation in whom there was unity of the faith be wrong in its collective judgment about anything or anybody. Unity in the faith of Christ, which is another word for fellowship, protects the congregation, comforts the congregation, teaches the congregation, and heals the congregation. The greater the fellowship, the greater the protection, the comfort, the knowledge of God, and the spiritual strength of the congregation. Satan trembles at the thought that God’s children will someday seek and obtain fellowship with each other in the light. He knows that when they do, his little kingdom will crumble, for there will be an exodus of the saints out of his pseudo-family, Christianity, that will make Moses blush with jealousy.

Let us do our part to hasten the day, my friends, when our brothers and sisters will be elevated by the truth of Christ above the simple fellowship in spirit they have known. Fellowship of the faith among His children is the desire of our heavenly Father. Pray for love and courage. There are many adversaries who, in ignorance, oppose the good thing Jesus has given us to do. But we will continue publishing the good news of Jesus, in hope of obtaining perfect unity with our brothers and sisters everywhere. The prize of unity of faith with God’s people everywhere will never be attained to, if the few who do know the truth sin through silence.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-18

The Wise and the Foolish, 2

The difference between the wise and the foolish is not that the wise know a lot and the foolish don’t. That is how the world defines wisdom and foolishness. The difference is that the fool will no longer learn and the wise will.

Listen to Solomon, the wisest of all men before Christ, as he describes a wise man in these sayings from Proverbs:

"A wise man will hear, and will increase learning" (1:5).

"Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee" (9:8).

"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser" (9:9).

"The wise in heart will receive commandments" (10:8).

"He that hearkeneth to counsel is wise" (12:15).

No one who is proud can learn because pride makes it so difficult to confess need, or to admit error, and to change. Pride, in other words, makes a man a fool.

When Solomon refers to learning or instruction, he is referring to instruction from God. Many a fool has the human intelligence to learn a multitude of earthly things. Many a fool holds a prestigious educational degree. Many a fool is a college professor, a scientist, a doctor, an engineer. Many a fool measures on the genius level when taking one of the test by which man measure wisdom. But when God speaks, how do they measure up? How do they response when the sweet story of Jesus is told. That is the true measure of wisdom.

Many a wise man, who heard and knew God’s gentle voice, never saw the inside of a school building. Many a wise woman died in poverty and obscurity here among men but were rich and well known in heaven. Many a wise man has been the janitor in buildings owned by fools. They were the servants here, but they will reign as kings with Christ in the kingdom of God. What did Paul say?

"Consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many of noble birth. But God has chosen what is foolish in the world to humiliate the wise [of the world]; God has chosen what is weak in the world to humiliate the strong. God has chosen insignificant, despised people of the earth! He has chosen things that don’t even exist to put an end to things that are now."

Wisdom is the ability to recognize God’s voice and to believe it. It is the ability to recognize and believe the truth. If you have the humility to change when God’s Word comes your way, then you are wise. If your confidence is in your own understanding, or in those of earth who appear to be wise, you are a fool.

Jesus said, "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And every one who hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it."

If you are willing to listen to God’s voice, you are already wise. Stay that way. Fools in the kingdom of God are they who listened to God’s voice in the past but became proud because they heard His voice and believed. Now, that pride prevents them from listening again.

God has more to tell the body of Christ than the body already knows. Stay humble and stay wise.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-17

The Wise and the Foolish, 1

The foolish in God’s kingdom are among those who have chosen God over all the bad and unpleasant things of this world. Choosing God is how they were able to enter His kingdom. They are, as Jesus calls them in Matthew 25, "virgins", but they are "foolish virgins". The wise, however, are among those who have chosen God over both the bad and the good things of this world. Jesus calls them "wise virgins" in that same chapter.

There is a parable that is so essential to the truth of God’s kingdom that Jesus said those who failed to understand it could not rightly understand any parable that he spoke (Mark 4:13). The parable is called the Parable of the Good and Bad Seed. It is found in three places:

Matthew 13:3-9, explained in verses 18-23.

Mark 4:2-9, explained in verses 14-20.

Luke 8:4-8, explained in verses 11-25.

In those places, we learn that a significant number of the foolish in the congregation overcome this world’s antagonism toward godliness and overcome cruel persecution, choosing God over the ugly and unpleasant things this world offers. But then, we learn that they are deceived and taken away from God by a desire for the good things this world offers. These good things that lure the foolish away from God are referred to in different ways by Jesus. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus calls them simply, "riches"; in Luke, Jesus uses the phrase, "cares and riches and pleasures of this life".

Some of the good, or pleasant things of this world are the praise of people, honors from people, physical beauty or strength, high intelligence, social status, political power, houses, property, artistic or engineering talents, and the list could go on. They are the desirable things of earth, and life is easier and more pleasant when they are a part of our lives. But the hearts of the foolish admire such things in others and trust such things in themselves instead of learning to be led by the Spirit in all things. A friend of Solomon’s warned us that "favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised [by both God and godly men]" (Prov. 31:30).

Those whose hearts are taken away from godliness, because "lusts for things" other than God and His ways enters and pollutes their sanctified hearts, may have experienced some wonderful things in their life with Christ. According to Jesus’ parable, they have suffered to stay with God. They have testimonies concerning their faith, their love for the family of God, and God’s help for them in hard times. "Foolish virgins" are not among those who never trusted in God. They have had faith, but it has been shipwrecked on the rocks of the pleasant things in this life.

It is extremely important to know that the best of the "foolish virgins" cannot quit serving God with the family of God. They have too much of the fear of God to walk away from the family of God, as some other foolish virgins do. And they have too much of the love of the world to submit themselves fully to God’s Spirit. They love both the world and God, but only in a measure. Their hearts are divided, and they have become blind. They do not know they have become foolish in God’s sight. Often, in fact, they feel wiser than those who are indeed wise.

John said "Love not the world, neither the things in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." God does not love His people in measure, and He will not be loved in measure. Those among His children whose hearts are divided between Him and the world will be cast out of His kingdom and their inheritance will be divided among the wise. Pray that God will save you from becoming a foolish virgin.

The foolish choose God over only the bad things of this world. They do God’s will perfectly, until it conflicts with a desire in their heart for one of the world’s good things. The wise choose God over all things of this world, both the bad and the good. They do His will, whatever the results may be.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-16

"the holy land"

From a sermon at Grandma’s house, July 1, 1979.

Jesus prophesied that "heaven and earth shall pass away." Peter went into a little more detail. He said this (2Pet. 3:10). "The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

God has determined to create new heavens and a new earth "wherein dwelleth righteousness"(2Pet. 3:13). That means, of course, that this creation, this heaven and this earth, must be destroyed. Near the end of John’s revelation, he saw the final Judgment, and he witnessed the moment when this creation "fled away" from the angry face of Christ:

"And I saw a Great White Throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them." And then later, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." For God’s new people, the body of Jesus Christ, a new creation is promised.

In the Old Testament, God sanctified certain places and things, as well as His own people. Now, however, places and things are excluded. In this covenant, people alone are sanctified by God. In my sermon on that Sunday afternoon in 1979, I made the statement, "There is no holy land on this earth." The ramifications of that simple statement are many, but at the heart of it is an acknowledgment of the fundamental difference between the Old and the New Testaments. The first was in the flesh; the second is in the Spirit. With physical rituals, God sanctified physical things under the Law. Now, with the holy Ghost, He sanctifies the invisible spirit of men.

This heaven and this earth are cursed. There is nothing holy about them. They will be destroyed by God. They have been defiled by sin and are unfit for sanctified people; they are not good enough for those who belong to Jesus. But covetous men think differently. And the chief reason they think differently is the love of money.

Every day, pilgrims run to and fro across the continents to "holy sites", as if there were places on earth that still are holy. Travel to "the holy land" ranks high among man’s greatest ambitions. But "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Lk. 16:15). Billions of dollars and countless desperate hopes are spent annually on religious journeys that accomplish nothing but to fatten the wallets of travel agents, fund slick tourist traps, and enrich false prophets and teachers. Pilgrimages to Mecca, chief of all holy places for Muslims, and to other "holy places" are strongly encouraged by Islamic teachers. With promises of blessing, Hindu teachers persuade millions of gullible souls to bathe in the "holy" Ganges River in India. The sight of those poor, trusting people washing themselves in that dirty river is heart-breaking.

Christians spend untold millions yearly to travel to the very spot, so they are told, of the birthplace of Jesus, or to the very spot, so they are told, of his crucifixion. Or they are baptized by their ministers in the Jordan River or in the Sea of Galilee. None of these places is holy. Many hundreds of millions of Christians pray to long-deceased "saints" who cannot hear them, and Christians have saved decaying body parts of many departed "saints" to touch for their healing and for other needs. Not only are all those places and all these relics void of power to effect any spiritual good, they are an affront to God because they deny the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Were it not for the deep love that He holds constantly in His heart for him, God would have rid the earth of foolish man long ago.

Try as he may, man cannot with his ignorance and vain imaginations make any place or any thing on this cursed planet holy; he can only delude himself and others like him. This world is damned to destruction, and man can do nothing about it. The best that any of us can do is to prepare to meet God in peace so that we can be given a place on the new earth "wherein dwelleth righteousness." That will be a holy world to live on. That is the holy land to which all wise men desire to go.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-15

"playing both ends of the line"

Friendship with the world is enmity against God. Whoever becomes friendly with the world makes himself the enemy of God (James 4:4). The man who desires God’s best must refuse the best of the world, and one of the best things that the world has to offer is its friendship. "Every man at his best state", David said, "is altogether vanity." Then, to make themselves friends with worldly men, God’s children must become worldly because worldly men cannot make themselves righteous. The world cannot commune with the upright in holy things; therefore, if there is to be friendship, the righteous must demean themselves to commune with the world concerning vanity. When children of God and sinners mingle, it is always the righteous who must compromise if there is to be friendship.

This is why friendship with the world is enmity against God. We have to temporarily, at least, forsake holiness to make friends with those whose spirits are at enmity against God.

This does not meant at all that we cannot be good neighbors or that we can never speak of mundane matters to those around us. Many a saint has made a fool of himself pretending that he is too holy to discuss public events, or even the weather, with others. But there is a line in our efforts to show ourselves friendly that the Spirit of God will forbid us to cross, and we must take heed to that gentle, loving voice. It is our safety.

Days before his death, my bedridden father was miraculously used by God to reprove me for being too friendly with the world. I had just finished having a too-friendly conversation with a sinner, a conversation held far from the hospital where my father lay dying. He knew nothing about that conversation, but the anointing of God that was upon him for my good knew. It wasn’t a foul-mouthed conversation or anything like that; I was just trying too hard to make someone like me who didn’t much like God. I encouraged that sinner’s vain conversation instead of keeping my mind and my mouth where it should have been.

In retrospect, it is easy to see that, in that conversation, my mind was more on making that particular sinner happy with me than on making sure that Jesus was happy with me. He is too jealous to put up with that from any of his children. Paul learned this lesson well. He wrote that "if I yet pleased men [the way he had formerly done], I should not be the servant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10).

The Bible speaks of those whose hearts prefer to be praised by men than to be praised by God (Jn. 12:43). Jesus rebuked sharply those whose hearts foolishly preferred honors conferred upon them by men to the honor that comes from God alone (Jn 5:41-44). He also warned his disciples that they could not serve both God and earthly riches (Lk. 16:13). We must choose! There is no middle ground in our hearts. God will not share His glory with anyone or anything. But, back to my story.

Taking my leave of the sinner with whom I had been talking, I took the elevator up to the hospital room where my father lay, just days away from falling asleep in Jesus. Entering the room, I stood by his bed, and we spoke a few minutes about nothing in particular. Then, suddenly, he looked up and weakly said to me in words close to these: "The way you come to know the truth is that you don’t play both ends of the line." Then he went back to being weak and half awake, as usual. I knew he knew nothing of that overly friendly conversation I had just had. Jesus was displeased with my efforts to win the favor and friendship of a person who was unclean through disobedience and self-will, and he used his dying servant to rebuke me for trying.

The Bible is consistent in its demand that we cannot have it both ways. We either love God or we love death. We either do good or we do evil. When we try to mix the Spirit God gives us with the spirit carnal men have, we ourselves become evil. God’s kingdom is never part one thing and part another. Our faith is unadulterated or it is vain. Either our eye is single or we are full of darkness. Either the world is pleased with us or God is. Nobody can have it both ways, and if you think you do, you’re just fooling yourself.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-14

From a Sunday afternoon sermon at Grandma’s house, July 1, 1979.

Jesus asked the question, "Who is my mother, my brothers, and my sisters?" In other words, "Who is my family?" Then, he answered his own question so that his listeners would know: "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my mother, and sister, and brother" (Mt. 12:50).

Jesus was teaching in a crowded house when he spoke these words. It was so crowded that Mary, his mother, and some of Mary’s other children with her could not squeeze in to see him. So, Mary sent a messenger in to let Jesus know that she and his brothers were outside. She wanted Jesus to come out to see them. When the messenger squeezed through the tightly packed crowd and told Jesus that his mother and brothers were outside, Jesus disagreed. His mother and brothers, he replied, were not outside. His mother and brothers were there inside the house with him, loving the Word of God and obeying it.

Try to imagine the response of Mary and her children when the messenger returned to them with Jesus’ reply. How do you think it made Mary feel, after walking all that distance to see Jesus, only to have him deny in public that she was even his mother? It must have humiliated her in the presence of those standing round. Can you see her with her sons awkwardly turning around and walking away, unable to reach Jesus and unable to convince him to come outside to speak with them?

Mark suggests that Mary and her other sons were part of a family plot to "rescue" Jesus from himself. In Mark’s words, when Jesus’ earthly relatives heard of the multitudes following him, "they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, ‘He is beside himself’" (Mk. 3:21). Instead of Jesus’ family rescuing him, however, by refusing to go out to Mary and her other children, Jesus probably rescued them all from doing something very foolish that day.

The words of Jesus concerning who his family is are some of the very most enlightening statements the Lord ever made. It ranks near the top of his most challenging declarations, right up there with his demand that the man who desires eternal life from God must eat his flesh and drink his blood (Jn. 6). If God’s children would put just this one soul-testing statement of the Lord Jesus into effect; if in their hearts they really would believe and behave as if their family is ONLY those who do the will of God, the body of Christ would be purified from a thousand unclean things, and the world would misunderstand and persecute the body as it has never done before.

You will never be filled with the holy Ghost and fire without some people thinking that you are "beside yourself". If your purpose is to please God and to let God re-create you in the image of Christ, then prepare yourself to be misunderstood. There are no options. He was misunderstood, and all who are fashioned in his image will be. Are you willing to face the hot fire of being wrongfully hated? If you are willing, if you can believe that your family is God’s family, and if you are then abused, verbally or otherwise for it, then you have a great reward laid up for you in heaven. Jesus said so (Mt. 5:10-12).

Once, someone asked Preacher Clark how many of his relatives had received the baptism of the holy Ghost. Sincerely and shrewdly, he replied, "All of them."

If someone had asked Jesus how many of his relatives were doing the will of God, he would also have replied, "All of them." In fact, that is what he did say when he told the people in that crowded house, "They who do the will of my Father are my mother, my sister, and my brother." And that was what Preacher Clark was saying, too, because all people–but only they–who obey God receive the baptism of the holy Ghost (Acts 5:32).

Who are your relatives? We know who Jesus considered to be his family. And though he suffered much abuse for it while he was on earth, he never wavered in that holy conviction. Now, it is our turn to be the light. And if we are to be that light for this lost and dying world, then we must answer from our hearts as Jesus answered this singular, defining question: Who is our family?

Thought for Today

2002. 10-13

"Getting Into Christ"

Paul taught the saints at Colossae that they were "complete" in Christ. In other words, being converted to Christ Jesus and belonging to his family made them completely acceptable to God the Father. They did not need to undergo any secret ritual; they did not need to perform the works of the Law that God required of the Jews; they did not need to join anything. "In Christ" was all they needed. In him, they were complete before God.

Since being in Christ is all we need in order to stand in a right relationship with God, we ought to be very interested in knowing how to get into him. Teaching people the way into Christ ought to play the most important role in all that servants of Jesus do on earth. Do you know what the Bible says about "getting into Christ"?

Paul mentions the phrase "in Christ" often, but he wrote only three verses that tell us how it is done. These are the only three verses in the entire Bible that state in simple, easily understood terms, what it is that places us "into Christ". Here they are:

No. 1: "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (Romans 6:3)

No. 2: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Jesus Christ have put on Christ." (Gal. 3:27).

And in case there is any confusion as to whether the baptism of the holy Ghost or some form of water baptism is the baptism that accomplishes this, Paul wrote,

No. 3: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. . . ."

There is absolutely no question as to what Paul taught about when a person is born again; that is, when he gets "into Christ". The way, and the only way, for anyone to get "into Christ" is by receiving from Jesus the baptism of the Spirit (also called the baptism of the holy Ghost). Repeating Scriptures won’t do it. Joining a Christian church certainly won’t do it. Believing that it has happened and claiming that it has happened isn’t it. Even repenting isn’t it, though that must come first.

When Jesus baptizes you into his family, which is called the body of Christ, you are in Christ, and you stand complete before God. You will never be more "born again" than on that day. Every person on earth with the holy Ghost baptism is as much a member of the kingdom of God as Paul and Peter ever were. In other words, a holy Ghost baptized person is 100% in Christ.

If you have received the holy Ghost, rejoice that your name is written in heaven. But be mindful to walk worthy of your calling, for our God is a "consuming fire" and He is "no respecter of persons." If you have not yet received the holy Ghost baptism but desire it, you can also rejoice because that desire to be in Christ is not from you. We love God only when He first loves us. When anyone desires from his heart to be in Christ, it is really that Christ from his heart is desiring and calling that man.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-11

"In The Flesh"

From a Sunday prayer meeting at Aunt Leatha's house, July 1, 1979.

"We're not supposed to be doing what Jesus did; we're supposed to be doing what he does." This is what I preached after the Lord showed me what Paul's phrase "in the flesh" in Philippians 3 means.

To worship God "in the flesh" means to worship Him with physical ceremonies instead of "in spirit and in truth". Jesus submitted to Moses' Law and observed the ceremonies of that Law which God gave to Israel, and he did so in order to make us free from it, not as an example for us to follow. He was born under the Law for us; he was circumcised the eighth day for us; he kept the Law's feast days for us; he worshiped at the temple for us; he was baptized in water by John for us; he was crucified for us; he was raised from the dead for us; and he ascended into heaven and sits now at the Father's right hand for us. If we are in him, then we are counted as having done all those things because he did them–for us! Then, the most important thing to know is how to get "into Christ", for "in him ye are complete.".

The old man, the flesh, got everything in the Old Testament, as far as worship goes. The flesh was circumcised; the flesh fasted; the flesh consumed food and drink at God's feasts; the flesh fought God's wars against earthly enemies; the flesh made sacrifices; the flesh was adorned with special robes for worship; and the flesh was baptized in the River Jordan. Now, however, the flesh gets nothing.

Circumcision is now in the heart (Rom. 2:28-29); baptism is now in the Spirit (Mt. 3:11); our sacrifices are praises that rise up to God from our lips (Heb. 13:15) as well as the riches and mercy we share with others (Heb. 13:16). Under the Law, the flesh had to kill an animal before it could be sacrificed to God; now, according to Paul, we may offer our entire being "a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship" (Rom. 12:1, NRSV). The holy garment we now must wear for worship is the "fine linen" of "the righteousness of the saints". The Old Testament prophets foretold of these changes, speaking of "the garment of praise", and the lifting up of our hands as being "the evening sacrifice". We feast now on food the world knows nothing about (cp. Jn 4:32), for "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us". He is the manna that comes from heaven (Jn. 6. 33-35, 47-58), and when our spirits eat him, we live forever. The communion of God is for our spirits now, not the flesh.

Our incense is prayer from a pure heart (Rev. 5:8). Our shield is our faith; our sword is God's Spirit; our breastplate is God's righteousness (Eph. 6:13-17); and our helmet is the hope of salvation (1Thess. 5:8). God's Old Testament people fought against many earthly nations with swords and spears, but "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds" (2Cor. 10:4). The truth about how to worship God exposes every Christian ceremony to be a vain exercise in ignorance. Stay away from every ritual Christianity offers. None of them is from God.

In one of Jesus' most famous conversations, he told a Samaritan woman as they sat by a well that God was searching for people who would worship Him in spirit and truth. "God is a spirit", Jesus explained to her, "and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:24). We are given no options here. In this New Covenant, the only acceptable way to worship God is in spirit and in truth, for as Jesus said, "it is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless" (Jn. 6:63, NRSV). If you are willing to worship God the way He demands, He is looking for you. Concerning those words of Jesus, I believe what my earthly father taught me long ago about my heavenly Father. In an interview taped at Brother Earl Pittman's house, I heard him make the comment that God is searching harder among His own people for somebody with enough faith to worship Him in spirit and in truth than he is searching for sinners to repent and come to Him. I believe that.

Let's do things God's way and make Him happy. Let's forsake all forms of fleshly worship and avoid God's wrath. Let's serve God gladly in spirit and in truth, refusing all offers of religious rites for the flesh, and then we may enjoy the many benefits of serving God only as He demands.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-10

"Afraid of Love"

From a Sunday prayer meeting at Sister Manning’s house, late 1981.

Solomon said that "the kisses of an enemy are deceitful", and when we don’t think so, we usually find ourselves in trouble. The most dangerous enemy is the one who does not appear to be what he is. This world is at war with God, whether it thinks so or not, and so is every person with a carnal mind. Nobody with a carnal mind can either understand nor submit to the Law of God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:7). Neither can a carnally minded person love you with the kind of love that will do you any good whatsoever. The love this world has for you is nothing more than bait to draw you into a relationship that is contrary to the will of God. Every favor or gift given by a carnally minded person has a sharp hook hidden within it.

This is why "friendship with the world is enmity against God." When a child of God lowers his shield of faith and becomes friendly with an ungodly spirit, he has forgotten that he is in a battle for his life. Not only has he made himself vulnerable to the enemy of truth, but by communing with sin he makes himself an enemy of righteousness. You must never forget that this world is a wicked place filled with wicked people, and that wicked people do evil without even trying.

Every human being on earth with a carnal mind would literally love you to death, eternal death, without even knowing what they were doing. In order to commit sin, sinners do not have to either want it or plan it. It is simply their nature to sin. They do not have to be tempted to sin, and some have argued that sinners cannot be tempted. They sin when they do nothing; they sin when they do anything. They sin standing still; they sin running. They sin in their sleep. They sin when they fight, and they sin when they love. They influence others to sin merely by being alive. They are infected with sin, and they will infect you unless you stay filled with the holy Ghost and fire.

Preacher Clark said in his sermon, "I’m more afraid of this stuff called ‘love’ than anything I know of." The thing that the world calls "love" is in reality a deadly hatred of what is truly good, and wise men will not forget that. In Daniel, we are told that the future world ruler whom John in Revelation calls the "Beast" will destroy many people with "peace" (8:25). But that peace will not be the sweet peace of God; it will be what this foolish world calls peace, and it is deadly.

John said, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." But do not confuse that holy love with what this wicked world calls love. Jesus commanded his disciples to love one another "as I have loved you." This is an impossible commandment to keep without the receiving the holy Ghost for "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given to us" (Rom 5:5). But with God, all things are possible. The power of the holy Ghost makes it possible for us to love one another as Christ Jesus loved us, and it makes it possible for us to recognize the world’s love as being what it really is: hatred of the most devious kind.

One viewer's comments concerning the thought above...

Good morning!

The Thought for today was wonderful! You wrote this at one point:

The body of Christ is comprised of both wise and foolish children of God. The "Bride of Christ", however, is comprised only of the wise. God's family is made up of "as many as the Lord our God shall call". But the Bride is made up of those who are "called, chosen, and faithful."

I liked this: "There is a difference between God's family and the Bride." What a wonderful thing to know! How encouraging for us to know just because you have the holy Ghost and are in God's family doesn't mean you've made it! There is more to obtain too! I love that...there is always more where Jesus is concerned.

Just this morning I was listening to a tape on the "Perfect Law of Liberty". You talked about the wise and foolish virgins. A foolish virgin, who has not been preparing herself, when the truth comes begins to ask questions and is not so sure about the truth they are hearing, having difficulty believing it, but a wise virgin, who has been preparing herself keeping her mind on the things of God is saying "Amen! Come on. Come on." She has prepared herself for the time and is ready! Oh how important it is to prepare now and not wait until it is too late. To be wise and not foolish. On that day, when the saints begin to praise him and he comes to carry his bride away, if you are not prepared it will be too late! Now is the time to prepare.

We are blessed! We know we have been called. We know we have been chosen to hear God's wonderful truth. Now we must be faithful and prepare ourselves for the wedding! 8-)

Amy

Thought for Today

2002. 10-09

Thought from a sermon by Preacher Clark in a Sunday afternoon prayer meeting at Sister Manning’s house, late in 1981.

Jesus is referred to as the "Bridegroom" several times in the Bible. When he comes again, we are told, Jesus the Bridegroom will be returning for his "Bride".

The body of Christ is comprised of both wise and foolish children of God. The "Bride of Christ", however, is comprised only of the wise. God’s family is made up of "as many as the Lord our God shall call". But the Bride is made up of those who are "called, chosen, and faithful." Everyone in God’s family is born again and everyone who is born again has the hope of salvation; still, not everyone in the family will be saved. Some will "draw back into perdition [destruction]" (Heb. 10:39). Some will "return to the vomit" of their former sins (2Pet. 2:22). Some will be lured away from holiness when a desire for other things enters into their unstable hearts (Mk. 4:19). All members of God’s family are in the race, but some will not receive the crown of life (1Cor. 9:24-27), either because they failed to walk in the law of the Spirit of life (2Tim. 2:5) or because one of Satan’s ministers stole their hope (cp. 2Cor. 11:13-15 and Rev. 3:11).

The body of Christ is not the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ is the faithful of the body of Christ. "Be thou faithful unto death," Jesus said, "and I will give thee a crown of life." Only those in the body who are faithful to Jesus will be saved in the end.

When the day arrives for the Bridegroom’s marriage, a mighty commandment will echo through the corridors of heaven. John was there, in the future, in a vision when the servants of God in heaven were commanded to rejoice: "And a voice came out of the throne, saying ‘Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.’ And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready!’ And to her [the Bride] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints."

Jesus told his disciples, "It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom." If you want to give God pleasure, then prepare yourself to be in the Bride of Christ. Prepare yourself to receive the blessings of God, and He will rejoice to give them to you.

John continues: "And he saith to me, ‘Write! Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.’" Amen! The faithful will be blessed. And God will be, too! We often speak of how happy we shall be on the day when Jesus leads us to his marriage supper, but have you ever contemplated on how happy God the Father will be on that day? On the day that His Son Jesus rejoices with his Bride, there will be a joy filling all of creation such as eternity has never seen, both in God and in us.

Being in the body of Christ is God’s greatest blessing to man on earth, but to be numbered among "the Bride" at the marriage supper of the Lamb will be a blessing far greater than that.

One viewer's comments concerning the thought above...

I am short of words pastor John. This particular TFT left me "shocked" and speechless. After reading it the first time, I just dropped it not knowing what to say or do. It shooked me in the very foundation of my faith. I needed that classification between the foolish children of God and the wise and their destination. These words "But the Bride is made up of those who are "called, chosen and faithful". Those three quoted words sent millions of messages to my soul.

Thank you pastor John for sending this to me and others. We had better have it to enable us prepare and be ready in this life to face the life to come.

J O E,
Lagos, Nigeria

Thought for Today

2002. 10-08

". . . as we forgive others."

Did you know that praying can be a very dangerous act? Yes, prayer can be a very dangerous activity indeed. Solomon said that "the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to God." So, we know that for the ungodly man who refuses to submit to the will of God, praying can be one of the most hazardous of enterprises. Isn’t it a strange thought that the mere act of praying could possibly provoke God’s wrath against the person doing it? But prayer, just in itself, is no more holy than cleaning windows, if the person praying is simply going through a religious ritual. In fact, in that case, cleaning windows would be a better thing to do.

But that is not the whole story, for Solomon continues by saying, "but the prayer of the upright is His delight." Amen! As the old song goes, "Jesus listens all the day long, just to hear his children pray." It thrills God for His children to pray! Every word they utter in prayer is precious to Him. Still, we should be aware of the reality that praying is not a holy thing unless the people are holy who are praying.

When I was young in the Lord, I was taught that the most dangerous of all petitions to make to God was the one contained in the prayer that Jesus told his disciples to pray. It is often called "The Lord’s Prayer", but it is not. It was the disciples’ prayer. Here is what it said:

"Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts [transgressions] as we forgive those our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen."

In this prayer, you will notice, the Lord told his disciples to ask God to forgive them as they forgave others. For the person unwilling to forgive another who has wronged them, praying this prayer alone could destroy him. If we are unwilling to forgive others when they repent for evil deeds they have done, we cannot expect God to forgive us. He forgives us just as we forgive others (Mt. 6:14-15). If we are from our hearts willing to forgive anyone who truly repents for wrongs done to us (Mt. 18:21-35), then we can come with faith "unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

"Blessed are the merciful", said Jesus, "for they shall obtain mercy." To drive the point home, he could have said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they are the only ones who shall obtain mercy from God."

Thought for Today

2002. 10-07

"Our Father . . . Thy kingdom come."

There is a prayer in the Bible that is often called the "Lord’s Prayer", even though the Lord himself never prayed it. In reality, it is not the Lord’s prayer but the disciples’. Jesus told his disciples to use it as a pattern for their own prayers. It is still repeated today by many as a ceremonial prayer, but when we read it carefully, we see that it was a prayer given to a specific group of people, at a specific time in history, for a specific purpose. There is no one today whom Jesus would tell to pray this prayer in the exact form in which he gave it to his disciples because some of the words are no longer appropriate for men to pray. This is why:

"Our Father"

First, the prayer was given to people who could rightly call God their Father even though they did not have His Spirit within them. In other words, it was given to people whom God considered to be His children before they were born again. This means that the people to whom Jesus gave this prayer were God’s people, Israelites, living under the Old Testament while it was still in effect. These people alone, of all the people on earth, could call God their Father before receiving the holy Ghost baptism. God considered no other people on earth to be His children but Israelites. The Lord said to Israel through Amos (3:2), "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." And Moses asked the Israelites, "What nation is there . . . that hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?" (Dt. 4:7).

The people, then, to whom Jesus gave this prayer were children of God who did not have the holy Ghost baptism. While Jesus lived on earth, the holy Ghost was not yet given (Jn. 7:37-39), but the Old Testament was still in effect and the disciples lived under it; so, they were God’s "children". Now, however, there are no such people in existence, for in this New Testament, "If ANY man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). There are no longer any people anywhere who can call God "Father" who do not have the holy Ghost baptism. In this covenant, only born again people can call God "Father".

Additionally, the ones who were given this prayer were disciples of Jesus. When Jesus came, only those Israelites who loved Jesus, as the disciples did, were any longer considered to be the children of God. God disowned the Jews who rejected Jesus; they were considered to be children of the devil, not of God (Jn. 8:44).

"Thy Kingdom Come"

Secondly, in that prayer, Jesus told his disciples to pray that God’s kingdom would come. Therefore, it is obvious that the prayer was given before the kingdom of God came.

"The kingdom of God", wrote Paul, "is . . . righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17), and the holy Ghost was given to man only after Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 2. Men were first taken into the kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when they were baptized with the holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues. It is clear then, that since Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come, this prayer could only apply to the time before the holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost. Any one who is in God’s kingdom does not need to pray that it will come.

Ceremonial Form

The prayer that is often called the Lord’s prayer was a prayer that only the Jewish disciples of Jesus could pray before the holy Ghost came. In the form it was originally given, it was not intended for any other people at any other time in history. We know it was not given to any Gentiles because they could not call God their Father. And we know that it was not meant to be prayed after Acts 2 because the coming of the holy Ghost was the answer to the prayer!

The flesh would make a ceremonial form out of everything Jesus ever did and said if it could. This prayer is no exception. Even to this day, multitudes without the holy Ghost repeat this prayer, calling on God as their Father when He is not, and praying for a kingdom to come that has been here almost two thousand years.

"The kingdom of God", wrote Paul, "is not in word but in power." And Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1, "Ye shall receive power after the holy Ghost has come upon you." Then, we do not need to pray that God will send His power to earth; He has already done that. The power has come; if we repent and believe the gospel, and it will fall on us. We do not need to pray that God will send the holy Ghost from heaven. It is here right now; if we repent and believe, we will receive it. We need not pray, "Thy kingdom come." God opened His kingdom to men long ago; if we repent and believe the truth, we will be taken into it. And when that happens, then, for the first time, we are able to truly call God "Father", for we will then be children of His kingdom.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-04

"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

There is a prayer in the Bible that is called the "Lord's Prayer", even though the Lord never prayed it. Jesus’s disciples came to him one day asking him to teach them to pray, as John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. He obliged them by telling them to pray simple prayers. In one place, he warned them of men who thought that God heard their prayers because they prayed long, liturgical prayers. "Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do", he said. "For they think they will be heard [by God] for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like them, for your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him."

Jesus gave to his disciples an unpretentious pattern for them to use when they prayed. It was a simple prayer, and it suggested to them that they were altogether dependent upon the mercy of God for their sustenance and their salvation. It was a prayer about God; it was not at all about man’s ability to think of wondrous things to say. He told them to pray like this:

"Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by Thy name.

Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts [transgressions] as we forgive those our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

Amen."

What an incredibly simple prayer for the Master of the entire universe to give for an example of prayer that means something to God.

This is not the Lord’s Prayer; rather, this is the disciples’ prayer, the one which Jesus’ disciples were to use as a pattern when they prayed. This sample prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples was not to be taken as a prayer that becomes effectual just because someone memorizes it and repeats it word-for-word, over and over again. There are no such gimmicks in God’s kingdom. That sort of thing is exactly what Jesus told them not to think would happen. This prayer was intended only to be a general guide to the kind of praying that means something to God; to wit, a confession of His power and our need. That is all. When a sincere, humble heart calls on God, He hears. "A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Men are still superstitious about praying, just as Jesus said many were in his days on earth. One need only behold the multiplied millions today who think that by repeating a prayer over and over, God will hear and answer. While many cultures and religions have perform such superstitious deeds, the most famous of this repeat-a-prayer mentality is associated with the Christian cult of Mary. While moving beads along a string, millions to this day repeat, sometimes hundreds of times, the famous "Hail Mary, full of grace" prayer, in the vain hope of obtaining some answer from heaven.

I will remind you of what Jesus told his disciples: "Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do", he said. "For they think they will be heard [by God] for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like them, for your heavenly Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him."

Thought for Today

2002. 10-03

"He will save his people from their sins."

Do you know the difference between being saved and being forgiven? To be saved from sin means to be kept from committing sin. No one who is sinning is being saved. To be forgiven for sin means to obtain mercy for sins that have already been committed. That may seem to be a simple concept, but Christianity’s confused teaching concerning "getting saved" has clouded the issue for some.

Long ago, Preacher Clark was trying to explain the difference to a sister in the Lord who, though listening patiently, just could not understand it. So, with equal patience, he walked over to the fireplace where her husband kept his shotgun and took it down from the wall.

As the stunned woman looked on, the Preacher calmly pointed the gun at her husband and asked, "Now, do you want to save me from shooting your husband, or do you want to forgive me for shooting him?"

"I get your point, Brother Clark", she replied.

Jesus, too, would rather save us from sin than to forgive us for sinning, and he suffered and died so that once he cleanses us from sin by the power of the holy Ghost, there is no need ever to sin again. Every sin you do not commit is a sin Jesus has saved you from. Have you been saved from sin today? Thank Jesus if you have. If, however, you did sin today, then Jesus must forgive you if you are ever to meet God in peace. Jesus is saving multitudes of his saints right now from sin. In fact, if he does not save them from sin now in this life, they will not be saved later from the wrath of God.

Christian ministers who teach that those who trust in Jesus must still sin every day are servants of sin, not of God, for "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (Jn. 8:34). They are also, just as they freely admit, sinners. Stay away from them. They are condemned prisoners of sin. Without realizing it, they are teaching men that there is no hope of being saved from the coming wrath of God.

Whenever the apostles mentioned the subject of salvation in relation to time, it is true that the overwhelming majority (almost 70%) of those references are toward the future ("shall be saved"). But a significant number of those references (about 30%) are to the present ("are being saved"). The power of God saves us from committing sin now, and because of that, we have great hope that God will spare us (save us) later from damnation in the Final Judgment.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-02

From a story told by Preacher Clark in a Sunday afternoon prayer meeting at Grandma’s farmhouse in mid-1978.

In a conversation with Preacher Clark, one man made the typical Christian claim of being "a sinner saved by grace." To which the wise old preacher responded, "I’m neither one; I’m not a sinner and I’m not saved."

The apostle John made the following statements, and many more, concerning sin in the third chapter of his first epistle:

Verse 6: "Whosoever abideth in [Christ] sinneth not."

Verse 8: "Whosoever committeth sin is of the devil."

Verse 10: "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of then devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God."

There is no such thing as "a sinner saved by grace." If you are sinning, you are of the devil and are not being saved by anything, least of all the grace of God. Every person being saved by the grace of God is no longer a sinner. Paul said it this way (Tit. 2:11-12): "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." The grace of God that saves is the grace that both teaches men how to live in this present world and empowers them to do it now. Every person being "saved by grace" has been delivered from sin’s power and is no longer sinning. No person living in sin is being saved by grace. Sin and saving grace do not dwell together in the same body. Are you being saved by grace?

Jesus said that those who do good will be given eternal life, and that those who do evil will receive damnation (Jn 5:29). Then, it is eternally important, isn’t it, that we do not sin? Being "saved by grace" means that we are kept from sinning by the power of God so that when the fearful Day comes when we must stand before Christ, we will be spared (saved from) God’s wrath. This being the case, there cannot be such a thing as a "sinner saved by grace." That is an impossible combination. Sinners are sinners because they are not being saved by grace. Sinners are sinning because the grace of God is not saving them. Sinners are those who are being lost without grace, not saved by it.

Every time the Final Judgment is described in the Bible–every single time–the Bible states clearly that men will judged by God on the basis of how they live their lives. No man will be judged on the basis of his faith; rather, his deeds will determine his eternal destiny (cp. Mt. 7:21-23). Paul warned the saints, "We must all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2Cor 5:10). This is a frightening thought. Paul himself continued in the next verse to acknowledge that knowing God’s power and His wrath against sin both terrified him and motivated him to warn others.

Jesus made it possible for every person on earth to live above sin, and all who fail to take advantage of the power over sin that the holy Ghost provides are guilty of rebellion against God’s grace and are worthy of the coming damnation. People need to know this! If there is anything that God hates, it must be Christian ministers who teach that the bondage of sin is so great that even Jesus cannot set man free from it. That is a graceless doctrine if there ever was one.

Thought for Today

2002. 10-01

"Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

After Jesus opened his eyes to the truth, Preacher Clark began to spread the good news everywhere possible. What he began to realize after a few such journeys was that in every congregation to which he preached, only those who were already living a holy life before God understood or rejoiced in what he was saying. Sluggards in the congregations and those who were secretly sinning could not endure the doctrine he now preached. In every place, his persecutors proved to be those who had in their hearts secret shame. Sometimes, the sin that prevented certain ones from receiving the truth was obvious; other times it was not. But almost always, sooner or later, the reason for a person’s rejection of the truth was exposed by the light of the truth.

Even Preacher Clark’s overseers, as well as his fellow ministers in the Church of God, could not hide. Those who fought hardest against the truth of Christ proved to be hiding the most shame. On the other hand, those who believed and rejoiced in it proved to be pure in heart.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, "I do not judge any man. The words that I speak, they judge you." Words that really come from God are so pure and holy that only the pure in heart can receive them. God’s words are so clean that sinful hearts cannot rejoice to hear them. It is exactly as the Spirit of Christ prophesied through David: the humble among God’s people are made glad whenever God’s truth is revealed (Ps. 34:2). When Jesus came, those who loved God’s righteousness (and some of them seemed to be rough characters) loved Jesus and his words, even if they did not altogether understand him. But those who hated God’s righteousness in their hearts (and many of these were exalted religious leaders in Israel) hated Jesus and his words. Furthermore, those who were "on the fence" in their hearts concerning righteousness (where the majority of people usually are) were uncertain as to whether Jesus was sent from God or not. The spiritual condition of every heart was perfectly revealed by Jesus’ words, just as the prophet said they would be (Lk. 2:34-35). No one can hide when God speaks. His Word exposes everything and everybody.

I experienced this after Jesus began to teach me the truth. It was not expected or planned, but I saw the spiritual condition of individuals exposed by the words I spoke. I saw people whom I knew to be clean rejoice greatly at the truth, and I saw those whom I knew to be proud or self-willed dismiss God’s word as if it was evil. And I saw those who were spiritually on the fence struggle with confused thoughts and feelings about what Jesus had revealed. That is how I learned what Jesus meant by saying that his words, not he himself, would judge the people who heard him. He could say that because his words and his doctrine were not his own (Jn. 7:16).

I have seen people hold back from receiving and confessing the truth as if they were analyzing it to see if it was worthy of their acceptance. That, however, is only what appears to be happening in such cases. What is really happening is that the word of God is judging them. The Spirit of truth searches the hearts of men to see if they are worthy of Jesus! Men do not judge God. If people are altogether clean and sincere before the Word of God comes to them, they will rejoice when they hear it. If they are altogether filthy and deceitful, they will despise it. If they are living half-hearted lives of holiness, they will be confused by the Word and will have to struggle for a while to purify their hearts so that they can receive it. I have seen some of God’s children struggle with God’s word and finally submit to it, and I have seen some struggle with God’s word and finally reject it. But it is always and only a matter of the heart. "Guard your heart with all diligence," said Solomon, "for out of it are the issues of life."

God still has truth to tell us. There are revelations still to be given to the body of Christ. Today is the time to prepare to receive those words from God, before He sends them. Do not wait until the day that the Word of God comes to you to start preparing your heart to receive it. "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

If you desire to be able to endure the sound doctrine that Jesus has revealed and will reveal to his congregation, then live your life sincerely and in the fear of God. Hide no secret uncleanness, but confess and forsake all sin. Each time God speaks, we stand in a miniature Judgment Day because the Word of God judges men. When Amos warned ancient Israel, "Prepare to meet thy God!", he was not referring to the final Day of Judgment. He was warning Israel that God’s visitation on that generation was at hand.

When we see Jesus in the air coming for his Bride, it will be too late to prepare our souls to meet him. Thus it is with the truth. When we hear the Word of God, it is too late to prepare our souls to believe it. Now is the time to live our lives in such a manner that nothing condemns our hearts and, so, would prevent us from understanding and rejoicing at the truth that God may yet reveal to His people.

The reason that Christianity is "the haunt of demons, and the den of all foul spirits, and a cage for every foul and loathsome bird" (Rev. 18:2) is that Christianity’s doctrines are not from God. No doctrine of men will expose and deliver men from ungodly spirits. On the contrary, instead of exposing and condemning evil spirits, false doctrines provide cover for them. Unclean people flock to unclean doctrines. Unclean people love unclean shepherds, and they hire unclean ministers to feed them unclean things about God. Those whose deeds are evil cannot come to the light "for every one that doeth evil hateth the light. . . . but he that doeth truth cometh to the light" (Jn. 3:19-21).

Live in the light of Christ, and the light that comes from God will be sweet to your soul.

Thought for Today

2002. 9-30

"Whatever it is that keeps the holy Ghost out of your life will keep you out of the glory world."

Many people, both pentecostal and otherwise, argue vehemently against those of us who teach that the baptism of the holy Ghost, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, is the new birth. But even if they are right, and a person does "get saved" (in their language) before receiving the holy Ghost baptism, then there arises a puzzling question that demands an answer; to wit, "Why does God baptize some of His children with His holy Spirit and not baptize others?" If people can be born again, as almost all Christians teach, without being baptized by the holy Ghost into the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13), then why are so many of God’s children denied "the promise of the Father"? The only answer consistent with the Scriptures is that sin and unbelief keep the holy Ghost out of a person’s life. If Peter’s sermon was true that the holy Ghost baptism, the "promise of God", is for everyone who is called by God (Acts 2:39), then nothing but unbelief and sin can keep it out!

Now, no one can question that unbelief and sin will cause men to be condemned at the Last Judgment. Even the body of Christ is warned that we will not enter into the eternal rest of God with unbelief in our lives (Heb. 4:11). We are also warned that sinful people will never enter into the kingdom of God (Rev. 22:14-15), for without a peaceful disposition and holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

So, even if we pretend for a moment that a person can be born again without having the holy Ghost baptism, it remains true, as Preacher Clark said in a Sunday afternoon prayer meeting on June 1, 1980, "Whatever it is that keeps the holy Ghost out of your life will keep you out of the glory world."

Think about it. Through Jesus’ suffering and death, God has provided a gift for all whom He calls. Only sin and unbelief keep it out. But if sin and unbelief are in your life, you will be cast into the Lake of Fire by Jesus. And if the evil that keeps the gift of the holy Ghost out of your life will destroy you, then you had best rid yourself of that ungodliness so that God’s gift can come in. Right?

Regardless of how we approach the issue, and even if we try to make those right who teach that men can be born again without the baptism of the holy Ghost, it is impossible to avoid the reality of our absolute need of God’s Spirit in order to be saved in the end. We will not be saved in the end unless we have been baptized with the holy Ghost. There is no Scriptural way around that simple and wonderful revelation.

Christianity offers men a deadly alternative to that truth. Jesus does not.

Thought for Today

2002. 9-27

From a comment by Preacher Clark during a sermon in late 1976.

"There may be some foolish things about a ‘wise virgin’ and there may be some wise things about a ‘foolish virgin’", said Preacher Clark. "You must be careful not to judge people in the Lord too quickly."

According to one of Jesus’ most memorable parables, the body of Christ is comprised of wise children of God ("wise virgins") and foolish children of God ("foolish virgins"). All of them have been born again, but the "foolish virgins" are not faithful to Jesus and will be cast out of his kingdom on the Day of Judgment. The wise will live forever in peace with God.

A wise virgin may be someone dirt poor who never even learned to read or write. And a foolish virgin may be a wealthy college professor. The difference between the two is the quality of their commitment to Christ, not their education or social position or money. The wise love God with all their heart, even if they do not know or have much of anything. The foolish love the world and God; they judge themselves and others on the basis of their social position and their possessions, or perhaps their good looks, or their God-given intellect.

Be careful when making any judgments concerning any one of God’s children. God does not judge as men do. He does not look at what men see. One of the Old Testament prophecies of Christ was that he would not judge anything by what he saw or what he heard; rather, he would be led in all his judgments by the holy Ghost within him. To learn to judge all things the way Christ did is a most important lesson of true holiness. The man who learns to do this can overlook some apparently foolish things about wise virgins and see who they really are. He can also see through the appearance of wisdom that some foolish virgins may project and see them for what they really are.

Contemplating the things of God one day long ago while I was a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, I realized that I had heard more truth told in Brother Frank’s sermon the previous weekend than I had heard in any entire semester of lectures from any of my seminary professors. Now, Brother Frank was an old holiness preacher, a holy Ghost filled man with a third grade education, while my professors held prestigious degrees from famous universities. Some of them could speak several different languages, and some of them traveled around the world, studying and teaching at Oxford or some other world-renowned university. But knowing God is possible only by experiences with the power the holy Ghost (1Cor. 2:11), and as the wise man in Job said, "Who is it by study can find out God?"

I loved the simple wisdom of the truth that I heard from humble servants of Jesus in those lowly country prayer meetings, and I hated the contorted foolishness of the error that I was being taught daily by the proud and erudite professors at that highly regarded seminary. Were I, or anyone else, to judge by appearances, I would have thought that my professors, not ignorant old Brother Frank, held the secrets to the knowledge of God. But Jesus rescued me from judging according to the flesh and taught me to judge righteous judgment.

Jesus is never fooled by appearances because he never considers them, and if we will listen to the holy Ghost that Jesus purchased for us with his own blood, it will also be impossible for us to be fooled.

To be filled with the holy Spirit is life and wisdom, and to trust in what the Spirit is saying is never to be deceived. Everybody who knows what the Spirit is saying knows the voice of God. Everybody whose thoughts are being given to them by the Spirit possesses the mind of Christ. And everybody whose heart feels what the Spirit is feeling is enjoying holy communion with the Father and the Son. Let this be the standard by which you judge all men.

Thought for Today

2002. 9-26

From a comment by Preacher Clark during a sermon in late 1976.

"A sheep is always a sheep, even before he comes to the Lord. A goat is never changed into a sheep."

According to a popular old Christian hymn, a newly-born again person can sing with joy, "There’s a new name written down in glory, and it’s mine! Oh yes, it’s mine!"

Thrilling as this thought may be for some to contemplate, the event sung about never happens. There has not been one new name written in God’s Book of Life since before the foundation of the world. The names of all people who have ever been converted to God were written in heaven’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world. God foreknew all His children and wrote their names in His book.

This is what Preacher Clark meant when he said that no goats ever come to God and become sheep in the Shepherd’s pasture. If you have received the holy Ghost, or if you are among the many who will receive it in the future, your name is there in God’s Book, and it has been there since before this earth was created.

Although it is impossible to have your name added to the Book of Life, it is possible for one of God’s sheep to have his name "blotted out" of the Book. In Revelation, Jesus warns the family of God of that possibility several times. Even Moses mentioned the fact that names could be blotted out of God’s Book, and was willing to have his name blotted out, for the sake of God’s children (Ex. 32:31-33). What an awful thought! Try to imagine being cast into the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever, knowing that your name had been in God’s Book of Life, but that your ungodly conduct forced God to erase it.

It is of God’s goodness that names of all His sheep are in the Book of Life, and it is a demonstration of the severity of His righteous judgment that some names of His sheep are blotted out. "Behold, therefore, both the goodness and the severity of God. On them that fell, severity. But toward you, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness; otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off" (Rom. 11:22).

Thought for Today

2002. 9-25

From a prayer meeting late 1976.

Some Christian sects under the general title "pentecostal", notably the Church of God and Pentecostal Holiness churches, teach God’s children that "the second work of grace" is sanctification. The "first work of grace", according to them, is what they call "getting saved". The third and final work, they say, is the baptism of the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. This teaching has resulted in the oft-heard testimony of many of our dear pentecostal brothers who say "I am saved, sanctified, and filled with the holy Ghost."

We may all safely ignore such unscriptural teachings on several grounds, but first and foremost is the simple fact that grace does not "work". There is no "second work of grace" because there is no "work of grace" at all, either first, second, third, or any other number.

Grace is God’s favor extended to us. Grace is a God-given golden opportunity to respond to Him. It is a merciful extension of time; it is a delaying of judgment until we can make things right with God. Paul is referring to grace in this way when he said that "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto every man." Yes, every living person on earth is being shown this grace from God because they are still living on earth, still being given the opportunity to repent and to sow good seed for a happy resurrection. Those who take advantage of that precious opportunity to do good are wise; those who do not are foolish.

Continuing in this same vein, it can truthfully be said that every person on earth is being saved now from the day of God’s wrath because the day of God’s wrath has not yet come. And if no one is being cast into the Lake of Fire, then everyone is being saved from it, for the time being. That is grace from God toward all men.

God has more than one form of His "grace", of course. If God calls a man to follow Jesus, that is grace being shown to a man. If that man responds to that calling, that is faith returning to God. If God sends a word to His children, that is His grace toward them. If His children believe and obey God’s word, that is their faith going back toward God. If God offers healing to the sick, that is God’s grace. If someone believes God and is healed, that is his faith going back to God. When Paul said that "We are saved by grace through faith", this is the sort of grace to which he was referring. God reveals His will to fallen man (grace), and man responds by believing and doing the will of God (faith).

No, my friend, God’s grace does not work; it waits for us to work. And the work of God for us to do, said Jesus, is to believe on him whom God had sent. By God’s grace toward us, His Son came, dwelt among us, and made an atonement for our sins. If we respond to God’s grace and do "the work of God"; that is, believe in Jesus, then God will baptize us with His holy Ghost. That baptism is not a "third work of grace"; it is the result of faith in the Son of God who was sent to us by grace of God.

Thought for Today

2002. 9-24

Thought inspired by a comment made in a prayer meeting late in 1976.

In his sermon, Preacher Clark said, "Sanctification is not a condition; it is an experience." The word "sanctify" means to make someone holy. Sanctification, then, refers to the event of God making somebody holy and acceptable to Him.

All the peoples of earth worshiped God, and always have, but they have done so ignorantly (Acts 17:23). Almost all of man’s worship has been unclean and unacceptable to the Creator because it was, and still is, infected with superstition and, at times, severely cruel. The Incas, for example worshiped God by cutting out the beating hearts of living people. Many other ancient cultures worshiped God by sacrificing their little, innocent children on flaming altars.

Paul said that his work in Christ was to make the worship of Gentiles acceptable to God, "being sanctified by the holy Ghost" (Rom. 15:16). So, he traveled near and far, proclaiming to the Gentiles that Jesus would make their worship acceptable to God if they would but trust and obey him.

After studying the subject for a while, I learned that the only way anyone can be sanctified is for God’s holiness to be transferred from God to that person. In this New Testament, the holy Ghost transfers God’s holiness to people and sanctifies them. The Spirt then guides them in God’s ways, so that their worship is acceptable to the One they are worshiping.

Throughout the ages, men have labored very earnestly to make their worship acceptable to God without understanding that only He can make us and our worship acceptable to Him. Men have constructed beautiful, expensive buildings, woven beautiful, expensive garments, developed elaborate, expensive ceremonies, written beautiful songs and invented intricate theologies, in their attempt to serve God. But without the unction of the holy Ghost, no man or his deeds, even deeply religious ones, are acceptable to God.

Regardless of his reputation or title, the most revered man on earth is unclean in the sight of God. Can you see that? It is the holy Ghost baptism (Acts 2:4) that is the experience of sanctification. And all the worship man offers apart from that experience is offered in vain. Holy Ghost filled people have never been among the most attractive people on earth, and their worship has never been as extravagant or professional sounding that of other men. But if you could look within them, where God dwells with man, you would see a golden temple, adorned with the beauty of God’s holiness, and you would feel with awe the acceptability of the prayers and praise that rise up from that sanctified heart.

Sanctification is an experience. It is the experience of being born again. It is to receive the Spirit of God. It is the experience of being baptized with the holy Ghost. It is the experience of having sins washed away by the blood of Christ Jesus. It is described in many such phrases, but all of them mean the same thing. The most important thing to remember, however, is that without the experience of sanctification, however it is described, man is not fit to be in the presence of God, and his even best words and deed are still unclean. Isaiah said it best: "We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

And Paul described the eternal cure for our uncleanness: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (1Cor. 6:11).

Thought for Today

2002 9-23

Thought from a Sunday sermon by GCC in mid-1978.

The Lord promised that He would keep us in "perfect peace", if our minds are anchored in Him (Isa. 26:3). Those in the body of Christ who are not at perfect peace are those who have been listening to some spirit other than God’s. Some people in the body of Christ have just enough religion to be miserable. They have too much of God in them to enjoy the world and too much of the world in them to enjoy God. "If you start getting miserable", Preacher Clark taught us, "you’d better start praying. Sin and sickness are right next door." Feeling miserable is a sign that our mind has been allured by the world away from the love of God.

The little assembly gathered at Aunt Leatha’s house received this additional exhortation that Sunday afternoon: Do you worry? You had better leave God’s business alone! He’s obligated to take care of you, and if taking care of you is His business, then you should be paying attention to something else. Jesus commanded his followers not even to give thought to the basic necessities, such as clothing, food, and shelter (Mt. 6:25). Of course, we all are going to think about how best to arrange our finances, etc. Paul said that the parents ought to provide for the children’s future (1Cor. 12:14). But no one living by faith frets about what is going to happen to them tomorrow, whether or not God is going to do His part to provide for His children.

You have noticed that there are people in the congregation who go through times of feeling miserable for apparently no reason. Many times, they will not, or cannot, listen to anyone else who tries to help them recover from the gloomy fog that surrounds them. The world, of course, has its own explanations for such a state, which is almost never acknowledged by the world’s medical professionals to be what it really is: a spiritual condition. Most often, men diagnose a miserable person to be suffering from a mental illness, frequently treating that miserable person with drugs for "depression". This is the best men can do. Chances are, you know a miserable person now who has been diagnosed by one of the world’s professionals as having a "chemical imbalance" and is being treated by doctors with powerful drugs. But over the years, it has struck me as strange that whenever I ask these "depressed" people which of their chemicals is out of balance, none of them has ever been told by their doctor which chemical it is.

My question has been, if medical professionals are bold enough to tell you that you are "depressed" because you have a chemical imbalance, then shouldn’t those professionals be able also to tell you which of your chemicals is out of balance? And if they know which of your chemicals is out of balance, then why don’t they just administer to you doses of that specific chemical, fix the imbalance, and avoid the addiction to heavy drugs that so often results from psychiatric treatments?

I am not saying that mental misery (what men often call "depression") is not real. I know first hand that it is. I am only saying that the root of mental misery is spiritual, not chemical. Insanity is one of the many maladies with which God curses a disobedient people (Dt. 28:28). But He has promised to bless those who trust in Him. "Depression" is a result of the spiritual condition called "unbelief". And unbelief, my friend, is a spiritual condition that can be fixed, not by powerful drugs and psychiatric counseling, but by child-like faith toward God. Perfect joy can be just a prayer away.

"Gird up the loins of your mind", wrote Peter, "be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Make up your mind that God is true and commit everything to Christ for safekeeping. God has promised to keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. The only question now is, "Do you believe that?"

In the main, mental health professionals who deal with "depression" are merely guessing at what the problem is. That is all that is left to do, though, if men are ignorant of the healing power of God and refuse to believe what God has promised: "Keep your mind on Me, and I will keep you in perfect peace." The correct diagnosis of miserable people in the body of Christ is "oppression" not "depression", and Jesus came to set at liberty all who were oppressed of the devil.

The driving force behind much of the world’s wrong diagnoses of mental problems is simply the love of money. How much money, do you think, miserable people would pay psychiatrists or other mental health professionals to help them if those people believed that their mental misery could be fixed if they would just repent and cry out to God? The holy Ghost would put every psychiatrist on earth out of business if men would just believe the Word of God and obey it.

In the process of spiritually growing up, we all have suffered times of misery, but in every case, when we recovered from whatever it was that had moved our spirits away from faith in God, the misery disappeared. God’s sweet escape from misery is always there for whoever wants it.

Some people actually enjoy misery and really do not have it in their hearts to desire deliverance. They love the attention and sympathy that their condition brings them. Sometimes, they use their "illness" as an escape from responsibilities. These people love the foolish diagnoses offered them by the world and gladly pay mental health professionals to declare officially how pitiful they are. But whoever seeks God’s deliverance from demons of "depression" or demons of any other "mental illness" can find it. Jesus said so.

Thought for Today

2002 9-20

You remember that guy. You know, the one in the class that everyone laughed at behind his back. The one you could safely be rude to and retain your popularity with the rest of the class. Well, in my third year Greek class at the left-wing seminary I attended, I was that guy. I was the joke of the class because I believed that if the Bible said that Jesus or someone else performed a miracle, then he really performed that miracle. I believed that if, according to the Bible, Jesus said something, then he really said it.

One of the major assignments our Greek class was given by Dr. Cook was to present to the class what might be called a lecture or a sermon based upon certain texts. My text was from 2Peter 1:21, in which Peter says that the ancient prophecies of Israel’s prophets were inspired by God and were not the result of the will of man. Of a class of twenty or so, I was the only student whose lecture was interrupted. What I was saying just became too much for several of my fellow seminarians to bear. And what was I saying that was so preposterous? I was saying that the ancient prophecies of Israel’s prophets were inspired by God and were not the result of the will of man.

Sounds fairly safe, doesn’t it, just to say that what Peter wrote was really true? I mean, Peter himself said that in proclaiming his message, he was not "following cunningly devised fables" (2Pet. 1:16). But in the arrogant world of scholarship, confession of faith in God’s healing power, or faith in such things as a prophet of God "foretelling" events, is absolutely forbidden. Even so, as I stood before the class, I was somewhat surprised when one man in the class interrupted me in mid-sentence with a loud, sarcastic demand: "Are you saying that you think some men foretold the future?" You would have thought that I had just announced that I sincerely believed the world is flat and that the moon is made out of cheese.

Having been laughed at in class once too often, I was feeling very frustrated and bitter one particular afternoon as I drove home. I remember telling my brother, who also was attending the seminary at that time, that our father could not help us in the situation we were in because we could not get him to understand what the situation was. This was in the spring of 1977, and he was about 76 years old. In the mid-1920's, when he studied at the Free Will Baptist seminary in Ayden, NC, his professors were so sincere in their faith and so humble before the Lord that they would sometimes break down and weep as they read the Bible in class. To them, it was a holy book, and they were privileged to read it.

So, my father could not comprehend that I was attending a seminary where one professor cursed at one student for holding a conservative view of the Scriptures, or where one of my NT professors, Raymond Brown, ridiculed before the entire class those who looked for Jesus to come again, where another NT professor, Archie Nations, proclaimed emphatically that "we KNOW that Jesus did not walk on water! Science excludes that!" My father just couldn’t seem to understand, even though I tried to tell him, that my professors were not like his professors, that Mr. Nations, for one example, demanded that to believe that people would ever be resurrected from the dead was next to idiocy, that my OT professor, John Durham, dismissed pentecostal religion as "adolescent" and insisted that God spoke to man through Mozart, Beethoven, and artists of the renaissance and other times. How could I explain to my father, an aging holiness preacher, that anyone on my seminary campus who simply trusted what the Bible said was ostracized and often ridiculed for a lack of intelligence and sophistication. No, I thought aloud as we rode along the highway, our father, wise in the Lord and experienced as he was, could not help us. He just didn’t understand.

Actually, though, I was the one who did not understand either God’s power or His wisdom. I was driving that day away from the seminary of men toward my father’s house, where I would be taught a lesson in the seminary of God.

As I parked my car in front of my father’s apartment, Mr. Nethery’s little black poodle darted across the sidewalk, into the road, and jumped around barking at me, as it had harmlessly done many times before. Today, however, I was filled with frustration, and I did one of the stupidest things ever. I barked back at the dog. Try to imagine a 25-year-old seminarian standing in the middle of a neighborhood street barking back at a little black dog! I was so full of bitterness that I was becoming irrational. I didn’t know what to do with the feelings I had.

The visit with my father went as usual. No matter what I said, he simply could not be riled up by my complaints, nor did he even seem to comprehend my predicament. Finally, I gave up and walked to the door, my head hung down. As I opened the door, I muttered aloud, "They make you feel like a fool." To which, my father very quietly and meekly responded, "I’d rather feel like a fool than be one."

Solomon taught us that "words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in pictures of silver." The immediate effect of those few simple words from my father can hardly be described. It was as if I had been carrying an expanding balloon of bitterness in my breast, and when he made that simple comment, all the pressure was released from it, and I felt nothing at all except a deep thankfulness that I was not a fool. I could feel sincere compassion, not anger, toward those professors who did not know God and yet had the impossible (for them) task of teaching others about His righteousness. I could feel gentleness and patience toward my fellow students who did not have the spiritual help I had, but could only look to those ignorant professors to guide them toward eternal life (even though some of them did not even believe in life after death!) Oh, how blessed I suddenly felt to be the one laughed at instead of the ones laughing! I had every reason to rejoice and no reason whatsoever to feel insulted or angry. Why, it almost made want to walk across the street and apologize to Mr. Nethery’s little loud-mouthed dog. But I figured a confession to Jesus would suffice.

My father never did really comprehend how godless were the spirits that controlled the course of things at my seminary. But what God taught me that day was that His anointed servants do not have to know the details. It is the anointing of Almighty God that "destroys the yoke", and when God anoints a man, as He had anointed my father long ago, what that man knows or doesn’t know is irrelevant. He can still destroy any yoke that shackles one of God’s little ones with "the wisdom that the holy Ghost teacheth". I am so glad that my father listened to God’s Spirit that afternoon instead of listening to my whining about being persecuted. If he had listened to me, I might have worked up his spirit to anger as well as myself! What good then could he have done for me?

Many years later, the Lord showed me something else about that life-changing event in my father’s living room that made the deliverance from my bitterness possible. What he showed me was that no matter how wise the counsel was that my father gave me, if in my heart, I respected the seminary professors more than I respected him and his judgment, then his words, regardless of the godly wisdom they contained, would have meant little to me. But in my heart, my father’s judgment, as well as the judgment of the saints in the assembly with him, was more valuable than the judgment of the professors at the seminary. And that saved me.

It is like the saving grace of God. Paul said that "we are saved by grace through faith." Grace is what God does; faith is our part. "Grace" is God freely offering us liberty and life; "faith" is us reaching out to Him for it. Grace alone saves nobody. Faith alone is equally worthless (Jas. 2:24). But when we place our faith in God’s grace, salvation will be the result–every time.

God’s grace to me that day was His offer of my father’s anointed, comforting wisdom, and my faith in the words of God’s servant opened the door for that healing grace of God to enter into my life and set me free. By grace I was delivered through faith, and that not of myself; it was the gift of God.

Thought for Today

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