Melchizedek

Hello Pastor John.

I don’t recall ever hearing it discussed but did Melchizedek only have man’s kind of righteousness? Considering he was the “king of righteousness” and the fact that Abraham paid tithes to him and not much else is known about him. I assume he didn’t have God’s righteousness but I’ve never heard it said, or at least I don’t remember hearing about him specifically.

Robert A. Payne, L. G.

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Hi, Bob.

Thanks for the question.

It was impossible for anyone to possess God’s kind of righteousness before God’s extraordinary Son came and paid the price for it. “King of Righteousness” is the meaning of the name “Melchizedek”; the true King of Righteousness is the Son of God, of whom righteous Melchizedek was only a figure, like Abraham, David, and many others.

Pastor John

Paul and Water Baptism

Pastor John, 

I was talking to a friend today about why we don’t believe in water baptism, and I mentioned that John the Baptist said that someone was coming after him that was greater and was going to baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire.  “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” Matthew 3:11. They then asked about why Paul water baptized people after Pentecost after they already received the Holy Ghost. I know that it has to do something with the two gospels, but I was confused could you explain it to me? 

Thank you! 

Samantha 

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Hi Samantha!

The people that Paul baptized with water were Jews, and that was because John’s baptism was required of them.  He never baptized a Gentile with water.  Having said that, here are the facts:

(1) in Acts 19, the Bible never says whether the 12 men Paul baptized with water were Jews or Gentiles, so people will argue over that depending on what they already believe.  There is nothing we can do about that.  But even then,

(2) those 12 men received the holy Ghost AFTER Paul baptized them with water, not before, which is consistent with the way God dealt with the Jews.

(3) The only other people that Paul ever baptized with water were a few Jews in Corinth (1Cor. 1), and he regretted doing that because the Corinthians started making clubs based on who baptized them.  Paul told them,

(4) “I thank God I baptized none of you except…”. Then he listed the names of the few Jews there that he baptized.  Then, he told them

(5) “Christ did not send me to baptize [in water]” because water baptism was not for the Gentiles, to whom Paul was sent.

(6) There is no indication that the Jews whom Paul baptized in Corinth had the Spirit before Paul baptized them. The Bible doesn’t say, but I can tell you for sure that they did not.  God would not have given Jews the holy Ghost before they were baptized with John’s baptism.

(7) The Bible doesn’t specifically say that each person Paul said he baptized was a Jew, but it does tell us that at least one or two of them were. You can look up their names and see that.

There is no one else that Paul baptized with water.  I don’t know who else your friends could have been thinking about.  But I do know that Christians assume that whenever “baptism” is mentioned in the Bible, it is talking about water baptism, but with Paul, especially, that is not the case (example: the Philippian jailor in Acts 16, who was a Gentile and would not have needed John’s baptism).

I think it is great that you are discussing these issues with your friends and thinking about them.  Keep it up!  And thanks for the question; it is a good one!  I love questions!!

Pastor John

PS John’s baptism for the Jews was not merely a water baptism.  It ALWAYS included John’s message, which was to expect Jesus’ baptism to follow.  That is why Paul re-baptized those 12 Jews in Ephesus (Acts 19).  They had been baptized in water, but without John’s message.  Therefore, they had not really received the baptism that God required of Jews.  After they received that baptism, they received the holy Ghost.  God has never sent anyone just to baptize in water, the way Apollos had baptized those 12 men before Paul arrived.  But Paul straightened it all out when he came there and met them.

Dream of Pastor John and Natalie

Pastor John,

I just had this dream about Natalie and woke up at 3:36 AM and started typing this. 

You asked me in my dream if I could find the tract, “Suffering and the Cross”.  I couldn’t find it on my computer or online, but I found a video recording of you preaching how much Jesus suffered on the cross.  I remember you teaching us in the dream, “Jesus was made perfect by the things he suffered in this world so that he could become a faithful High Priest.  His final suffering was being crucified.  Once Jesus finished His final suffering, He will never ever have to suffer again; He will be with His Father forevermore.” 

Afterwards, Natalie started testifying, “Jesus and I have suffered together.  After He died on His cross, He crossed over from this life to be with his Father, and so will we all, sooner or later, if we can see and be thankful for what He has given us in this life that has caused us to suffer.”  These were the only words that I heard, but you could feel the love of God in your message for us and see the joy on Natalie’s face as she was testifying.

In the next scene, I heard a gospel group start playing a gospel song.  I was sitting on a high, grass-covered hill that had beautiful, colored flowers around me peeking up to the sky overlooking a grass-covered valley, as the female lead vocalist and back-up singers started singing a chorus together.  It was a sunny day with a blue sky above me and puffy white, soft clouds being pushed around by a soft gentle breeze.  In the bottom of the valley, I saw a pure flowing River.  Still hearing the group singing the song (the vocals and harmony were perfect), I saw Natalie getting on a boat and riding up and down the river.  As the boat and Natalie were going to the other side, I heard the last line of the song, “As I cross the river, I’ll have another you.”

Billy

 

 

Tom’s Response Leika’s Testimony

I love Leika’s testimony. It is very sweet. It reminded me of these verses I read the other day from John 10:

3. ”…and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4. And once he has driven out his sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 
5. They will never follow a stranger, but they will flee from him because they don’t know the voice of strangers.”

I am looking forward to meeting her. 

Tom

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Hi Pastor John, 

I would love to share my life testimony and how I received the Holy Ghost baptism.

I was raised by “born-again christian” parents (they believe in the Trinity and water baptism).  They were originally from the Catholic religion and then converted to become born-again christians.  We are six children, and I am in the fifth.  My papa was such a zealous man of his faith that he shared with his catholic friends the good news of Jesus and that God was angry when we worship a stone god (we have a lot of stone saints in Philippines).  When I was eight years old, my papa changed and backslid from his faith because he got into gambling and drugs.  My parents got separated.  From that time, I was raised by a single parent – my mama.

When I was a child, there was a Vacation Bible School for children (VBS) every summer in our place where we lived (not in the city I live now).  One of my favorite stories was the story of Enoch.  I was really amazed by the story of the first man God took, and their intimate fellowship.  I was very excited every time there was a VBS and heard the stories in the Bible.  I remember that we had a Bible verse on the wall in our house that said, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”  As I grew up, I used to think that there were only two religions: catholic (false) and born-again (true).  Inside my heart, I believed that my religion was true. 

My siblings were not interested in the Bible and church, but they believed that Jesus saves and that He will come to judge the earth.  Also, my mama got very busy in supporting and raising her six children.  So, she had no time for teaching us about the Bible.  She always said for us go to church because it is required and Jesus was happy if His children go to church.  My mama was a cook in the church, and still is.  At that time, I used to think that every Sunday was the church day, so I needed to go to church so that Jesus would be happy for me.  Or felt guilt if I didn’t.  Many times, I didn’t go to church but still believe that I am a christian.

When I was in college, the church we used to attend had a conflict between pastors.  The pastor who was dear to my mama left and started up a house church. Five families gathered together and had fellowship.  I went with them.  Then I started to serve children and a praise and worship ministry.  I decided to repent and “accept Jesus Christ with my whole heart as my personal Lord and Savior”, and I got baptized in water.  Before I got baptized, the pastor taught me about sixteen fundamentals of truth, and I became a true member in church after my “acceptance” of Jesus and I was “saved”.  But I did not fully understand all that because I was young.  I was just happy that Jesus saved me and I was officially a member of His family.  At that time, I used to think that I just needed to believe and serve faithfully and that was enough to be saved.  As time went by, I had questions in my mind about who God really was, and am I really saved? Because every time I read the Bible of my mama, I didn’t understand it, and every time I prayed was not long like the others in churches I used to attend.  So, I read books in the bookstore, every break time in my college days, about testimonies from people about their experience with God. 

A friend of mine in the church said that she was reading a book, “Purpose-driven Life”, by Rick Warren, and she wanted me to read the book because it was a good book for the young people who had questions about their purpose.  The book said “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning.  Without meaning, life has no significance or hope,” and “You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.”  And I ended up questioning myself.  What is my purpose?  Why am I here? and Is Jesus still working on us today?  I didn’t know God, and I didn’t understand it when I read the Bible.  Though I grew up in Christian family, I was not living in a godly way and didn’t know who God was, and I had a doubt about my relationship with Jesus, if I was truly saved.  In that book, it made my heart seek God more to know my purpose and my identity, and I couldn’t know myself if I didn’t know God personally. 

I sought God with all my heart, and I woke up often at three or four AM to pray and devotional.  And I didn’t know what to say to Him, and I just always said,  “Lord, I want to know you and I want to experience that you’re real of what the Bible said about you.”  And I poured out my heart to God.  Many days went by.  I looked up in the sky and said, “I believe that you’re there.”  Sometimes, I knelt down and cried and said nothing, and let my heart speak to Him, and I read verses in Psalms.

Then I had an experienced in the Lord that I’ve never forgotten in my whole life.  Before morning, I sat in the corner and let my heart speak to Him, and I began to feel cold in the room, and I heard a wind so cold and a voice said, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.”  After that voice, it entered into my heart, and I felt there was something in my stomach bubbling up that made my mouth move.  My eyes were crying, and I had a thought of “What is happening to me?”  It took a long time for me to feel that.  The question was what was happening to me?  Did that come from God? 

So I shared it with the pastor, that there was something in my belly that was bubbling up, and I didn’t know what was happening to me.  And he said, “Maybe you reject the Holy Spirit.”  After that conversation, I cried again to the Lord that I didn’t reject His Spirit and to search my heart to make it pure.  Many days went by, and I set aside that experience, but I was still hoping for the answer.

I graduated college when I met a Seventh Day Adventist.  He was zealous about his faith, and he believed also their religion was true.  It was my first time hearing about another religion.  So I began to search online the faith of Seventh Day Adventist, and I found out that we just had the same faith (believed in the Trinity and water baptism).  I questioned why there were so many religions, and not united in serving the Lord?

These experiences urged me that I need to read my Bible, and did fasting.  I started reading the New Testament from Matthew to Acts, and took down notes of the important verses, the disciples and Jesus, who they were.  I spent time for this and it came to the point that I was more at peace when I was alone studying the Bible than going to church.  Gradually, I understood the Bible, but not all.  I desired to become a missionary because I wanted God to work in my life, and I served God with my whole heart in the church and to share the gospel of Jesus to the people that were lost. 

The pastor gave me a book about baptism with the Holy Spirit.  I began to search on the internet about the Holy Spirit, and there was something in me that I needed to know, that maybe we had the same experience in the Lord.  And I became interested in the experience of the people who were baptized by the Holy Spirit.  There was an event where we were invited, and the people spoke in tongues when they worship God.  I had thought that I wanted to speak in tongues also because the pastor said that it was a language of heaven but not a new birth.  In the church where I used to go, they didn’t preach about speaking in tongues.  They just believed it was a gift given by God, but not all can speak in tongues. 

Fast forward.  I came to the website of Pastor John when our pastor in church assigned me to search a gospel tract for evangelism.  My first gospel tract that I came across was “The Father and the Son”.  And I searched more gospel tracts and the God had a Son before Mary Did book, and I read them.  The book convicted me that God was not three-in-one, and “Come out of her my people!”  After that, I didn’t go to church for three Sundays so that I could study the book, and my church mates and pastor messaged me of what’s happening to me.  And I said that I was studying the Bible.  I messaged back to the pastor in church and his wife that I needed to talk to them about the doctrines of Christianity and water baptism, that they were not right and not from God.  We need the Holy Ghost baptism to be born again.  I explained to them the true doctrine.  And he said “I don’t believe what you said, Leika, that the blood of Christ is the Spirit, and be careful what you believe now because I had a dream that you were possessed by a bad spirit.”  And his wife said, “Leika, I know that you’re searching God and have questions, but we cannot fathom God.”  And I cried in front of them that I believed the gospel tracts and I couldn’t be in church anymore.  And they hugged me.  I received a lot of messages from church members that they were disappointed and sad because they expected me to become a missionary, but now was believing in a different doctrine. 

God was the one who called me out from the confusion of Christianity.  After that, I no longer attended church.  New experiences happened to me, and every time I prayed to God, my stomach was bubbling up and felt joy and peace that I couldn’t explain.  I remember that it was God who baptized me with the Holy Ghost when I sought Him with my whole heart.  I didn’t know about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; I just sought God.  He answered me, and I praise God that He is still working today, and in the generations to come.  Along the way, the Holy Spirit guides me and teaches me the truth.  And as I look back on my experiences, I know that God is true and that He sent His Son so that we can partake in His divine nature and live in righteousness and holiness in the Spirit. And those who seek Him wholeheartedly surely shall find Him.  I am thankful that He lead me to Pastor John and the peaceful music I heard from Sister Donna, Brother Gary, Brother Darren and the others.  Thankful for you all. 

Thank you.

Leika

 

 

Leika’s Testimony

Hi Pastor John, 

I would love to share my life testimony and how I received the Holy Ghost baptism.

I was raised by “born-again christian” parents (they believe in the Trinity and water baptism).  They were originally from the Catholic religion and then converted to become born-again christians.  We are six children, and I am in the fifth.  My papa was such a zealous man of his faith that he shared with his catholic friends the good news of Jesus and that God was angry when we worship a stone god (we have a lot of stone saints in Philippines).  When I was eight years old, my papa changed and backslid from his faith because he got into gambling and drugs.  My parents got separated.  From that time, I was raised by a single parent – my mama.

When I was a child, there was a Vacation Bible School for children (VBS) every summer in our place where we lived (not in the city I live now).  One of my favorite stories was the story of Enoch.  I was really amazed by the story of the first man God took, and their intimate fellowship.  I was very excited every time there was a VBS and heard the stories in the Bible.  I remember that we had a Bible verse on the wall in our house that said, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.”  As I grew up, I used to think that there were only two religions: catholic (false) and born-again (true).  Inside my heart, I believed that my religion was true. 

My siblings were not interested in the Bible and church, but they believed that Jesus saves and that He will come to judge the earth.  Also, my mama got very busy in supporting and raising her six children.  So, she had no time for teaching us about the Bible.  She always said for us go to church because it is required and Jesus was happy if His children go to church.  My mama was a cook in the church, and still is.  At that time, I used to think that every Sunday was the church day, so I needed to go to church so that Jesus would be happy for me.  Or felt guilt if I didn’t.  Many times, I didn’t go to church but still believe that I am a christian.

When I was in college, the church we used to attend had a conflict between pastors.  The pastor who was dear to my mama left and started up a house church. Five families gathered together and had fellowship.  I went with them.  Then I started to serve children and a praise and worship ministry.  I decided to repent and “accept Jesus Christ with my whole heart as my personal Lord and Savior”, and I got baptized in water.  Before I got baptized, the pastor taught me about sixteen fundamentals of truth, and I became a true member in church after my “acceptance” of Jesus and I was “saved”.  But I did not fully understand all that because I was young.  I was just happy that Jesus saved me and I was officially a member of His family.  At that time, I used to think that I just needed to believe and serve faithfully and that was enough to be saved.  As time went by, I had questions in my mind about who God really was, and am I really saved? Because every time I read the Bible of my mama, I didn’t understand it, and every time I prayed was not long like the others in churches I used to attend.  So, I read books in the bookstore, every break time in my college days, about testimonies from people about their experience with God. 

A friend of mine in the church said that she was reading a book, “Purpose-driven Life”, by Rick Warren, and she wanted me to read the book because it was a good book for the young people who had questions about their purpose.  The book said “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning.  Without meaning, life has no significance or hope,” and “You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus Christ.”  And I ended up questioning myself.  What is my purpose?  Why am I here? and Is Jesus still working on us today?  I didn’t know God, and I didn’t understand it when I read the Bible.  Though I grew up in Christian family, I was not living in a godly way and didn’t know who God was, and I had a doubt about my relationship with Jesus, if I was truly saved.  In that book, it made my heart seek God more to know my purpose and my identity, and I couldn’t know myself if I didn’t know God personally. 

I sought God with all my heart, and I woke up often at three or four AM to pray and devotional.  And I didn’t know what to say to Him, and I just always said,  “Lord, I want to know you and I want to experience that you’re real of what the Bible said about you.”  And I poured out my heart to God.  Many days went by.  I looked up in the sky and said, “I believe that you’re there.”  Sometimes, I knelt down and cried and said nothing, and let my heart speak to Him, and I read verses in Psalms.

Then I had an experienced in the Lord that I’ve never forgotten in my whole life.  Before morning, I sat in the corner and let my heart speak to Him, and I began to feel cold in the room, and I heard a wind so cold and a voice said, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.”  After that voice, it entered into my heart, and I felt there was something in my stomach bubbling up that made my mouth move.  My eyes were crying, and I had a thought of “What is happening to me?”  It took a long time for me to feel that.  The question was what was happening to me?  Did that come from God? 

So I shared it with the pastor, that there was something in my belly that was bubbling up, and I didn’t know what was happening to me.  And he said, “Maybe you reject the Holy Spirit.”  After that conversation, I cried again to the Lord that I didn’t reject His Spirit and to search my heart to make it pure.  Many days went by, and I set aside that experience, but I was still hoping for the answer.

I graduated college when I met a Seventh Day Adventist.  He was zealous about his faith, and he believed also their religion was true.  It was my first time hearing about another religion.  So I began to search online the faith of Seventh Day Adventist, and I found out that we just had the same faith (believed in the Trinity and water baptism).  I questioned why there were so many religions, and not united in serving the Lord?

These experiences urged me that I need to read my Bible, and did fasting.  I started reading the New Testament from Matthew to Acts, and took down notes of the important verses, the disciples and Jesus, who they were.  I spent time for this and it came to the point that I was more at peace when I was alone studying the Bible than going to church.  Gradually, I understood the Bible, but not all.  I desired to become a missionary because I wanted God to work in my life, and I served God with my whole heart in the church and to share the gospel of Jesus to the people that were lost. 

The pastor gave me a book about baptism with the Holy Spirit.  I began to search on the internet about the Holy Spirit, and there was something in me that I needed to know, that maybe we had the same experience in the Lord.  And I became interested in the experience of the people who were baptized by the Holy Spirit.  There was an event where we were invited, and the people spoke in tongues when they worship God.  I had thought that I wanted to speak in tongues also because the pastor said that it was a language of heaven but not a new birth.  In the church where I used to go, they didn’t preach about speaking in tongues.  They just believed it was a gift given by God, but not all can speak in tongues. 

Fast forward.  I came to the website of Pastor John when our pastor in church assigned me to search a gospel tract for evangelism.  My first gospel tract that I came across was “The Father and the Son”.  And I searched more gospel tracts and the God had a Son before Mary Did book, and I read them.  The book convicted me that God was not three-in-one, and “Come out of her my people!”  After that, I didn’t go to church for three Sundays so that I could study the book, and my church mates and pastor messaged me of what’s happening to me.  And I said that I was studying the Bible.  I messaged back to the pastor in church and his wife that I needed to talk to them about the doctrines of Christianity and water baptism, that they were not right and not from God.  We need the Holy Ghost baptism to be born again.  I explained to them the true doctrine.  And he said “I don’t believe what you said, Leika, that the blood of Christ is the Spirit, and be careful what you believe now because I had a dream that you were possessed by a bad spirit.”  And his wife said, “Leika, I know that you’re searching God and have questions, but we cannot fathom God.”  And I cried in front of them that I believed the gospel tracts and I couldn’t be in church anymore.  And they hugged me.  I received a lot of messages from church members that they were disappointed and sad because they expected me to become a missionary, but now was believing in a different doctrine. 

God was the one who called me out from the confusion of Christianity.  After that, I no longer attended church.  New experiences happened to me, and every time I prayed to God, my stomach was bubbling up and felt joy and peace that I couldn’t explain.  I remember that it was God who baptized me with the Holy Ghost when I sought Him with my whole heart.  I didn’t know about the Baptism of the Holy Ghost; I just sought God.  He answered me, and I praise God that He is still working today, and in the generations to come.  Along the way, the Holy Spirit guides me and teaches me the truth.  And as I look back on my experiences, I know that God is true and that He sent His Son so that we can partake in His divine nature and live in righteousness and holiness in the Spirit. And those who seek Him wholeheartedly surely shall find Him.  I am thankful that He lead me to Pastor John and the peaceful music I heard from Sister Donna, Brother Gary, Brother Darren and the others.  Thankful for you all. 

Thank you,

Leika

 

My Daddy’s Voice

I had the sweetest thing happen today.

Not long ago I had a moment where it hit me, out of the blue, that I could not remember the sound of my daddy’s voice. I tried and tried but I could not remember how he sounded. I talked to Jesus about it because it really hurt.  I don’t feel a lot of those moments.

Well, today my sister posted 3 little video clips of my daddy on FB. One of him dancing with her at her wedding, one of him talking before he got his voice box removed, and one after. I just cried and thanked Jesus when I heard my daddy again.

I didn’t know we had any video of my daddy, but Jesus did.

Makes me thankful for the videos and pictures we have of us!

This made me miss y’all tonight, so thought I would share!

An Unexpected Bout of Thankfulness

Pastor John,

God is right, so my opinions and observations add nothing really to what He requires, but it’s my observation that God’s people today, by and large, have very little, to no discernment as to “value.”

What is our soul worth?  What is the value of eternal life?  What is it worth to have the Word of God come?  What price is salvation in the end worth to us?  How much money have we saved by living this upright life we live in the Spirit, versus what we would have thrown away on lives of foolishness and sin?  What price do you put on righteousness and peace and joy?  What is it worth to have a real pastor to help us put and keep our lives in order?  What do you owe the man who rescues you from ignorance and death?

Tithes and offerings is such a small amount, I think God gave us the best deal ever and has asked for very little, financially speaking.  I think all these benefits are worth at least 50%, so God is far more generous than I would have been.  (Ha.)

Besides that, it feels good to know the money God has put in my hands is being used for something good and eternal, and by someone that He has sent to benefit himself and others.  And I think if we tallied it up, you have spent more on us than we have given you.  I have always seen those who refuse to render tithes and offerings as the greedy or at the very least, people ignorant of real value of their souls.

Thank you for receiving my tithes and offerings, John.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  Jesus could have left me in Daly City, alone and frustrated until the day of my death.  But He saw fit to do otherwise.  So, I think I got the best of things and I love rendering mine. 

Sorry so lengthy, but I had an unexpected bout of thankfulness. 

Gary

God’s Law

Brother John,

I woke in the night and heard this, over and over, and so I wrote it down: “The law is to no one but to who the spirit is speaking.”

What do you think?
Natalie

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Hi Natalie!

I hope you are having a good day.
What you heard last night is from the Lord. It is sound doctrine.

In this covenant, God’s law is in the Spirit, and whenever the Spirit speaks to a person, that is God, giving that person His law.

Thanks for sending that!

Pastor John

All I Can Say Is Thank You

I have a tendency to over-write, so I’m trying to resist that tendency.  And I certainly don’t want to write something that would seem to you like mere flattery.  Yet, I simply can’t resist thanking you and praising you for your superb, eloquent, spirit filled sermon.

It blessed my heart so deeply, not merely because of the content of what you said, but because of the investment of your loving heart that you put in it.

Allison and I watched it twice Sunday morning just to be sure we didn’t miss anything because there was a lot to take in. But that’s what’s good about a banquet: you can always go back and have seconds…or thirds.

I’m sure we can all look forward to being criticized and persecuted for loving the truth, but as you and your father have said: it’s better to seem a fool than to be one.

God bless you John, for never wavering from the gift and the responsibility you’ve been given.

Brad

=============

Thank you, Brad, for loving it.  That is a cup of refreshment to me.

“Whoso gives a disciple a cup of water in my name shall receive a disciple’s reward.”

jdc

“The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice!”

“The Acceptable Year of the Lord”

John,

Jesus quoted Isaiah’s prophecy that he would come “to preach the acceptable year of the LORD”

This is probably simple, but what does it mean?

The whole quote: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach liberty to those held captive, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send the oppressed away free, to preach the acceptable year of the LORD!” (Lk. 4:18).

Wendell S

==========

Hi Wendell.

That was the Son of God speaking through Isaiah, and quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18.  In another place in Isaiah (49:8) the Son of God also said, “This is what Jehovah said [to me]: “In the acceptable time, I will answer you, and in the day of salvation, I will help you.  And I will watch over you and give you for a covenant of the people….”

When Jesus came preaching, he was saying was, in essence, “This is it, the acceptable year of the Lord!  This is the day of salvation.”  And he also was saying, “I am the one spoken of, who will be given for a [new] covenant!”

So, “the acceptable year of the Lord” was when God sent His Son from heaven to pay the price for man’s sin and become the author of a new covenant.

Pastor John

Sunday’s Meeting

Hi Pastor John,

I loved the feelings Sunday.  The message was wonderful! I’m like Gary, you said the message was for the young but I took in every word!  It was so good!

It went right along with some things I’ve been experiencing lately.  It is a part of life, things are going to happen that will hurt you, disappoint you or things just don’t go your way. For a couple of weeks I have felt like it’s been a one – two boxing match with things coming up.  I would pray and cry to Jesus.  I kept asking him, “Jesus, what do you want from me?”

Saturday morning I woke up early with a heavy heart.  I got my coffee and just had some quiet time with Jesus.  I was talking with him and telling him how heavy and burden I felt, then the sweetest thing happened!  My heart started flooding with all that Jesus has blessed me with. I started thanking him for each one.  I started walking around my house thanking him for the truth and the understanding he has given to us, for our Pastor who feeds us food we never have to pick through, for giving my husband the holy Ghost, for our home, our food, our clothes, our health, our family,   There was so much, Pastor John. Jesus really does care, even down to the smallest detail, he cares. My heart was so heavy when I started but so light when I finished.  The whole day, and since, my soul has felt rest. 

That is what Jesus wanted from me, a thankful heart and to remember Him, in everything and every situation.  Remember He is it! He loves and cares for us very much, through all our times, good and bad. 

Michelle Gunter