The Fear of God

Pastor John, 

This morning I was listening to a CD from 2006.  You were talking about serving God acceptably, and how we serve Him acceptably in response to the Spirit moving, that no matter what we do, unless it is in response to the Spirit, it is not acceptable.  You started talking about the priests who wear the white collar and how that was just acting.  You said, “That stinks to my spirit, and their response is go sit in the peeew!”  Then Sandy started laughing, and she said God always gets the last laugh.  Then her laughter turned frightening, and she began to speak, “I hate that, I always get the last laugh.”

Pastor John, I’ve never felt anything like that before.  The fear of God fell in my car and made every inch of my being tremble.  I was almost afraid to move, to think the next thought.  

Hebrews 10:31  
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” 

Amen 

Michelle

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Sheila’s Blessing

Pastor John,
 
Tonight, I feel like we all were rewarded by sister Sheila doing her part with God, and testifying to the results.  She became the results!

Her testimony about her recent experience with the Lord is one of those rare and awe-inspiring gems that I am thankful I was here to be able to see, and hear, and feel.  And the preaching from you that followed felt like the result of Sheila’s digging so deep with God and then testifying about it.  It was like her godly testimony pulled that wonderful message out of you! 
 
I love what I saw, and heard, and felt tonight!  
 
We have the ability to get somewhere with God if we want it.  I saw Sheila do it!
 
I feel like I got a peek tonight at “old time holiness.”  That solid, deep-rooted “Friend that sticks closer than a brother” feeling that is often talked about when folks refer to the old Preacher Clark recordings.

Sheila’s testimony tonight also taught me that we, as God’s children, can stir up those kinds of feelings among us. What we felt tonight was because of Sheila’s efforts toward reaching God. She provoked God – in a good way!  She dug for God’s gold; that is why she struck gold!  When she dug deep enough, God poured it out, so much so that it poured out over all of us!  Sheila became a walking blessing for anyone who would hear, and she achieved that blessing by getting down to business with God.  That precious testimony she gave, those feelings that we all partook of tonight, were there waiting for Sheila on the other side of her desperation for the Lord.  She had to act on it.  What else is God waiting to give us if we dig deeper? 
 
Sheila told us tonight that God made it clear to her, “We will all pay our debts before leaving this world.”  God is going to require of us what we owe, if we become debtors to people’s hearts, including His, in this lifetime.  I felt in my soul that I was glad that God is that way – just, faithful, and dependable, as faithful to punish our disobedience as he is faithful to reward our obedience.  In my spirit, even though it makes me tremble, I know that it is right, and I want it to be that way.  It makes me fearful of “the goodness and severity of the Lord”, while making me feel very safe.
 
“God’s Majesty, God’s Glory, God’s Power, God’s Righteousness… and I am a little worm.” 

That was so Beautiful!

Thank you God for letting me witness her testimony! What a glorious night.

Jerry

Longing for Jesus

Pastor John, 

This morning, driving in to work, I was listening to Gary sing “When those feelings come”.  The spirit fell, and I began to thank Jesus for letting me feeling him.  I felt that sweet quivering up and down my arms, and my heart was overwhelmed.  Then Jesus put a prayer in my heart for J—, E—, S—, T—, M— and others who have gone astray.  Then I heard the spirit say, “Remember.”

Memories of when I fell away from the Lord, and how I longed to feel him again, flooded my mind and heart.  I remembered how I would lie in bed at night crying because I missed feeling his touch; my heart would just ache.  I asked Jesus to please let their hearts ache for him, to long for his touch again.  I started praying for all God’s children, thinking of how glorious it would be if we could all be together.  It was very sweet to have those sobering feelings this morning. 

When I got off the shuttle, there was an older gentleman standing by the curb, and when I walked by, he smiled and said, “Have a glorious day!”  I thought, yes, Jesus makes it glorious!  

Michelle

The 1975 Prayer Meeting

(The following comments refer to the post titled: Notes from a 1975 Prayer Meeting, posted 10/3/2018.)

Pastor John.

I was writing down my feelings while listening to the CD of your Father, Uncle Joe, Brother Earl and others last night, from a prayer meeting in 1975. It  brought to my mind feelings of honesty (with themselves), sincerity, humility, faith in God, and desperation, and their need for God.  If we are honest with ourselves, that can be our “judgment”.  We can hear and listen to the saints in those old meetings, and it will expose not only our weaknesses, but also any strengths that we may have, such as faith, sincerity, etc..  I feel that sincerity for the truth is one of the biggest weapons that one can desire to have.  You could feel the love of God and for God when each soul on that CD testified.

Their testimonies were real, and you could feel their infirmities and their hurts. Their desperation, their sincerity, and their love for God and others saved them in their daily lives.  Thank God that God entrusted Brother Earl to record those meetings!  Gold is gold, no matter what decade it is found in.

I have to travel today, but I sit here with tears rolling down my face for the love that I am feeling for each and every one of those old saints, and the love that I’m feeling for us.  It is a precious gift to each of us, what God had done to bring us together.  I pray that I take advantage of His presents as well as His presence.

One of the most beautiful things is that we are in the meetings now and in the presence of saints who were there: Earl, Betty, Barbara, and you. What an honor!  I’m beside myself to think that I’m in their mist.  I pray that our children can feel the  good things of God from us, and that they will say the same things about us when they grow up and listen to us on some type of recordings.  

All I can say is, Thank you, Brother Earl!

Billy

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The notes from that old meeting that you sent to us are wonderful reading! 

God was speaking to my heart Wednesday night as we listened to this CD of that meeting.  I heard several things, but one thing has really stood out to me again today, after reading this part again from brother Murray:

“Uncle Joe (‘Hilliard’) told about a man who had cancer, and 

some folk came and prayed for him, saying, “If it is your will, O God, heal him.” 

Uncle Joe was glad no one prayed for him like that when he had cancer. He knew it was God’s will to heal him.  He just had to make things right in his spirit and then contact God for the healing God wants His children to have.” 

I felt God talking to my soul Wednesday night, telling me that not only is he “willing” to heal us, but that he also PAID for the opportunity to heal us.  He paid for the opportunity to wash our sins away, and to heal our infirmities. 

After hearing that, I said in my heart,  “LORD, why would you have to pay to do anything?”  And my thoughts then went back to a meeting in Louisville, KY, a decade or so ago, when you asked all of us out there, “Why do men have to die?”  The answer was, “because God is Holy.”  Because of who God is, men have to die – once. God’s holiness demands it.

I then understood that the holiness of God also required that a price be paid for us to receive His Spirit, and His healing, and His salvation, even if God was the One who had to provide the payment for it.  A sacrifice had to be made to bridge the gap between God and man.  God’s holiness demanded that as well.

That was so sweet to my soul. 

I thought, “God, what kind of being are you, that You would pay to heal me? That you would pay to wash my sins away – not yours God, but MINE.”

It took my breath.

I then considered what it means when we “pay”  for something here on Earth.  It means we surrender something that we have of value, to get something else that we value in return.  I then realized, God reached into his own pocket and paid what was dearest to his soul, His Son, for  me.

He paid because I couldn’t, so that he could do good for me.  There is no love like that in a human being, or on Earth. It is not of this world.

Jerry

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Pastor John, 

I loved listening to the Old Meeting CD on Wednesday night.  The humility, sincerity and love of God saturated my soul.  

A few parts that stood out to me:

I loved Aunt Leatha’s testimony about Clyde.  When she was praying for him, it touched me deeply, then when you said afterward that that was her former husband that left her and took the kids, I just had to let that sink in.  It was so good, so honest, it made me hunger for a heart like that.

I loved when your father said, “We’ve got to come out and be separated, and obey God, and be obedient to Him, and stay in touch with him, and every time there’s a failure or anything not satisfaction [with God], let Jesus make intercession – continuously.  If he was to give up that job [of interceding for us], we’d all perish. The first time you did a thing or said a word, and you did anything displeasing to God,  it would all be over. He’s right there. He’s got one hand down here reaching for you, and got a hold of the Father with the other one.” 

I love this!  Having our comforter to make intercession for us!  Imagining Jesus holding on to his Father’s hand while reaching down for us, what sweet, tender love that is.  It makes me want to hold on tighter!

And when Uncle Joe was telling about the man who had cancer and the man was praying “if it’s your will”.  But Uncle Joe said he knew it was God’s will to heal him. He “just had to make things right in his spirit and then contact God for the healing God wants His children to have.”  That just stirs up faith deep inside!  What sweet confidence in Jesus and his promises!  How encouraging!

I just love it!  These testimonies never get old, they are as filling now as I’m sure they were in 1975.  What a treasure!  

I’m very thankful for Uncle Earl taping these meetings way back then so we can hear them and love them!  I love hearing Uncle Earl testify; he has the same heart today as he did then.  

Thank you Pastor John and Amy for typing these notes!

Michelle

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Thank you and Amy for the time you spent organizing and writing the notes for the 1975 prayer meeting we listened to, and to Brother Earl for recording their meetings all those years ago.  They are such a treasure to my soul!  I love how real everyone was when they spoke.  The testimonies are as relevant now as they were then, and they really touched me.  I loved the preaching from Preacher Clark so much.  I was thinking this morning that I really wish I could have spent some time with your daddy (I already know I would’ve loved him)!  I am so thankful for the connection I feel with all of those old saints!  I love them all!
 
I hope future generations will listen to our meeting CDs and be refreshed and encouraged from our testimonies and songs and your wonderful sermons the same we have been encouraged listening to theirs.  I believe anyone who is hungry for the truth will love what they hear and feel when listening to our CDs!  (Just like they are now). 
 
Thank you for sending out these notes!  They really blessed me this morning!
 
 Lee Ann 

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Amen!  The truth is eternal, Lee Ann.  I bet if we could hear the apostle Paul preach, we would feel right at home.  How blessed we are!  I hope we are thankful enough.

Pastor John

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Dear John, 

Thank you typing out the notes for the cd, one wonderful pearl after another! Thank you for feeding us the good things that you have been taught and have loved from a young man! 

The feelings of unity that came from your father, Uncle Joe, Br Earl, and Aunt Letha were so honest and from the heart that it made my heart love them more. 

I love the effect that the truth produces in our hearts as we receive what is said. It makes us know there is no age or time in the Spirit. It is always a fit and timely message. It makes my heart long for home!

Good night and look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow! 

Bess

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We have cleaned up the note that I gave you last Wednesday night, and have added  a lot.  I thought some of you would like to see the final version of the notes. (see post: Notes from A 1975 Prayer Meeting, posted 10/3/2018)

Pastor John

 

Your Anointing

Hi, John. 

We know you have an anointing to be a Pastor and Teacher for us.  Some, if not all of us have been healed in some way by you praying for us. I lot of us are here today because God put us on your heart.

Was there a time that you knew this, or was it a gradual thing that happened after Preacher Clark grew older?  I heard you say that God took over your education.  Did that happen during that time?

So glad that I was rescued in order to be here.

Thanks!

Billy

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Hi Billy.

As you have probably heard me say a few times, I have never claimed to be anointed and sent to heal the sick.  I have had no such experience, and have never asked even for it.  All I have ever asked Jesus for is enough power and wisdom to take care of the flock he has given to me. That’s all I have ever wanted, as far as miracle-working power is concerned, and with that, I am content.

I am very thankful that “the prayer of faith heals the sick”, and that the sick and hurting have at times been miraculously healed when I, or we as a group, have prayed for them.  I pray for that grace to continue with us.

Thank you for your question.  It was one worth asking, and I hope my answer is sufficient.  If not, let me know, and I’ll try again.

Love you, Brother Billy!

Pastor John

Notes from a 1975 Prayer Meeting

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Date: December 7, 1975

(Gary’s CD-179, Reel 71)

R71CD179AA

Total Time: 63:30

Track 1

00:00 Everybody singing “None of These Things Move Me”

01:25 GCC starts speaking

Track 2

GCC continues.

00:35 GCC Pearl: “There is a deep settled peace today that you can have in your heart if you’ll just let God take over, and quit acting so much within self.”

02:36 GCC Pearl: “The best thing about being in the valley is that there is only one way to go, and that is up.”

02:47 GCC Pearl: “You’re just as much God’s child when you’re down as you are when you are up.”

02:56 GCC Pearl: “We need to be occupied and let God occupy us.”

03:28 GCC Pearl: “Not everything that comes by and whispers in your ear is God, but if you’ll be honest, you’ll find out if it’s God or not.”

Track 3

GCC continues.

00:21 GCC Pearl: “You can’t buy your way into glory, but I’ll tell you one thing; you’re not going to get there unless you pay the premium on salvation.”

00:35 GCC Pearl: “You don’t have to love everybody, as people say. It’s not a matter of having to. You can’t keep from loving people when God works you over and deals with you.”

00:57 GCC Pearl: Jesus told his disciples to love one another with the same love he had. They couldn’t do that before Pentecost, and neither can you.

01:41 GCC Pearl: “Nobody would do anything wrong if they knew what they were doing. People don’t know what they’re doing. Even those who killed Jesus didn’t know what they were doing. God help us to know what we are doing.”

02:33 GCC Pearl: “If you’ll get down on your knees and get in touch with God, you can make anybody have peace with you.”

03:26 GCC Pearl: “I want you to hate me the way I hate you, and love me the way I love you. If you do that, we won’t have any trouble at all.”

03:38 GCC reads from 1John, chapter 4.

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Track 4

GCC continues reading from 1John 4.

01:37  GCC Pearl: “You are going to be made perfect in love, or you’re going to be left here when Jesus comes.”

04:10  GCC Pearl: “We can’t see glorification until we are glorified.”

Track 5

GCC continues.

00:30 GCC Pearl: “There is poison in most every faith in the world….  I don’t want the poison; I want the truth.”

00:55 “The truth is that Jesus being born into this world is not what’s going to save you. And if you don’t believe in the virgin birth, you won’t be saved, though. And then, if you don’t believe that he was crucified for you, you won’t be saved. You’ve got to believe that, and yet, that won’t save you, ‘cause the Devil doesn’t believe that; he knows all that happened. Then, if you believe that he was resurrected, that won’t do it, either. The Devil knows he came forth. Even the Romans [the soldiers guarding the tomb] knew all that. Then, if you don’t believe he went back to the Father, you can’t be saved then, but even that, itself, won’t save you.

“Then the next thing is, and the important thing is, is to believe that he came back! Somebody might say, “But we’re still looking for Jesus.” I didn’t say Jesus came back; I said Christ came back. Amen! ‘Christ in us is the hope of glory.’ He said, ‘I’ll come and take my abode. A little while, and I am with you, and then a little while I’ll be gone, and then a little while and I’ll come and be with you, and I’ll be with you forever.’ He came back! And if you don’t have him in you today, you’re not going to be saved. Because why? ‘He ever liveth to make intercession for us.’ And ‘we are justified by his death,’ and ‘we are saved by his life,’ ‘seeing that he ever liveth’ to make these intercessions.

“So it’s the life of Christ in us that’s the hope of glory, and if we don’t have that life in us, we can believe all we want to [but we will not be saved]. And you can even believe that, and be lost. We can believe that he comes back, and we can believe that he comes and speaks in tongues, and we can receive the experience of him coming and speaking in tongues, and still be lost.

“What’s going to save you anyway? [Peter] said, ‘Save yourself from this untoward generation!’ ‘Save yourselves from it!’ We’ve got to come out and be separated, and obey God, and be obedient to Him, and stay in touch with him, and every time there’s a failure or anything not satisfaction [with God], let him make intercession – continuously. If he was to give up that job, we’d all perish. The first time you did a thing or said a word, and you did anything displeasing to God,

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it would all be over. He’s right there. He’s got one hand down here reaching for you, and got a-hold of the Father with the other one.”

04:04  GCC Pearl: “God’s children are all the same. We can divide them up [with denominations]; we can put a bunch of sheep over here in this pasture, and a bunch over here, but when the chief shepherd comes, he’s going to holler for all of them.”

Track 6

GCC continues.

00:20 STORY about Uncle Joe (“Hilliard”) telling about a man who had cancer, and some folk came and prayed for him, saying, “If it is your will, O God, heal him.” Uncle Joe was glad no one prayed for him like that. He knew it was God’s will to heal him. He just had to make things right in his spirit and then contact God for the healing God wants His children to have.

02:00 Uncle Joe testifieds.

UJ Pearl: “God is real at all times. It’s just easier to realize it when you’re on the bottom. There’s no foolishness down in the valley.”

04:00 UJ Pearl: “We never know what we’re doing when we obey God’s will, or how many people we are helping.”

04:50 Earl P testifies.

Track 7

Earl continues.

00:37  Earl Pearl: Jesus is not trying to press or knock your door down, but he’s there, and willing, and wanting to come in.”

02:00 Earl Pearl: “The only way that I feel like I can bless another individual is to get yourself out of the way and right in the sight of God in everything.”

Track 8

Earl continues.

02:20  Aunt Leatha testifies.

03:20  “Brenda called me yesterday. . . . Clyde is about to die.”

03:48  “Raymond [her brother from Texas] came by [to see me.] . . .   It’s like he wanted something.” With tears, she asked for prayer and wept deeply during prayer time.

03:58  Leatha Pearl: “It’s too late after they die. It’s too late to help your family members.”

Track 9

Prayer time continues.

02:00 Angleen begins to sing “Touching Jesus” in the background.

02:50 Coy talks about meeting a hungry lady and feeding her.

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Track 10

Prayer time continues.

01:40 GCC refers to his joy at having his and Martha’s children being in the meeting.

03:06 GCC Pearl: “Is there anything you want to be other than what God wants you to be?”

04:00 GCC Pearl: “Do everything you know is right, and leave off anything you have a doubt about.”

04:10 UJ Pearl: “We come down here [to these meetings] to be judged. Judgment begins at the house of God.” GCC adds: “And if we judge ourselves, we will not be judged.”

Track 11

GCC continues.

00:50 Coy testifies again about giving food to a hungry woman.

01:35 GCC talks about being thankful to God for supplying food for people around the world and praying for those who are hungry.

02:00 Uncle Joe asks for prayer because he is going to see his brother Raymond. “He had the same training as I did. He knows.” (Raymond is in North Carolina; Uncle Joe never traveled to Texas to see him.)

03:10 Martha Clark Pearl: “It’s too late when [the ones you love] are in the grave. Now’s the time to do what you’re going to do.”

03:15 Uncle Joe mentions visiting his brother Fenner before he died.

03:40 Earl Pearl: “It doesn’t take much to hinder you and your freedom in the Lord.”

Track 12

Earl continues.

00:13  Earl Pearl: “It’s so wonderful to be able to feel the humility of God.”

00:32 Earl Pearl: “They may say you’re simple-minded and an old fogey, but it is so wonderful to be free in your soul.”

00:50 Earl Pearl: “It’s so wonderful to be in the presence of God and be able to feast off that big table the Lord has prepared. There’s plenty of foods.”

01:03 Earl Pearl: “Hard-hearted, we’re not going to go anywhere like that; we’re not going to please God like that.”

01:22 Earl Pearl: “There’s nothing hard about [the life of holiness] when things are right with God.”

02:01 Earl Pearl: “You can only offer [to others] what you have.”

03:00 UJ Pearl: “It’s better to feel nothing between you and the Lord than it is to sing about it.”

03:30 Aunt Leatha speaks.

04:00 Earl tells a recent dream about being in a prayer meeting praying earnestly and

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GCC laid hands on him in the dream. Earl woke up speaking in tongues. “It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Earl Pearl: “It means something to cry out and be persistent with God from the depth of your heart.”

Track 13

Earl continues.

00:30 Aunt Leatha finishes her testimony by telling of her dream, when God spoke to her and said, “I’m not running any funny farm here.” She understood Him to mean that He was serious about His work. She also woke up speaking in tongues.

00:45 Aunt Leatha Pearl: “God means business in this place.”

01:15 GCC tells about a girl who called him the previous day saying she was battling

with thoughts of committing suicide. GCC rebuked the demon that was tormenting her and she was relieved.

02:18 Earl speaks.

02:40 GCC speaks.

03:20 GCC Pearl: “The greatest responsibility you have is to be free in God, and He’ll give you understanding if you need it.”

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= End =

The Weight of Revelation

Pastor John, 

After spending time, some ten years ago, telling a physician at a Louisville hospital about Jesus and the truth, that doctor proceeded to asked me, “What is truth?” 

After spending some time this morning, considering the torment that men like Tesla and Einstein suffered under the weight of the revelation of seeing a glimpse of what God sees about this creation, I think I understand that, seeing the truth, means to see things the way God sees them.

It drove Tesla and Einstein to a kind of madness, seeing something that God sees.  They knew what they knew before there was a reason to know it, then spent their entire lives trying to explain it. 

Jerry

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Hi Jerry.

It can be maddening in this world to hear from God and see the truth, especially the truth of the gospel, because in this world, there is no place for it.

Only God can keep us balanced in our spirits after He has spoken to our hearts.  His word is simply not of this world, and it never will be. 

Pastor John