
# Published By:

John Foll2

White Raiment Evangelism

Revelation 3:18

P. O. Box 518

Russellville, AL

35653-0518

Email: WhiteRaimentEvangelism@gmail.com

**If the Lord impresses you, you can help support this ministry to spread the truth of His Gospel message of love, which is righteousness by faith, by going to our site:**www.WhiteRaimentEvangelism.com and reading blog articles, following White Raiment Evangelism on Google+, recommending books or articles, liking or following our Pinterest or YouTube channels, buying books, donating, signing up your email address for newsletters, etc. There are many ways to support us, if you can't afford or don't want to buy one of our books or donate. Any help you can give us will be much appreciated! Thanks! I am not currently a non-profit organization, so your donations will not be tax deductible.

May God richly bless you as you read this book, and learn of His wonderful love for you!

© Copyright 2017 John Foll. Updated 02/26/2017.

**You may freely copy this book or print it, providing you don't charge money for it. In fact, we encourage you to do this!** We want to spread the news of God's love with this book. **Thanks!**

Watchword:

"Jesus answered and said to him, ' **If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him**.'" John 14:23 NASB.

White Raiment Evangelism Revelation 3:18:

**In Revelation 3:18 Jesus said, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and white raiment, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and that thou mayest see."** (Paraphrase of the KJV.)

# Table of Contents

Published By:

Introduction

And He Also Told this Parable to Some People Who Trusted in Themselves that They Were Righteous, and Viewed Others with Contempt

Behold What Manner of Love the Father Has Bestowed on Us! Disqus

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all men!

How to Get Answers to Prayer?

We are a sweet fragrance or aroma among those who are perishing who are now being saved, if we are allowing God to lead us in the triumph of Christ!

Interview with John Foll (By me)

The Sorrow That is According to the Will of God Produces Repentance Without Regret!

How to Keep the Faith – A Poem

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more...

A student is not above his teacher; but everyone, after they have been fully trained, will be like their teacher

The Tongue 1

Why are the Spiritual Gifts in the book of Acts not still with us today?

And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it on the last day

White Raiment Evangelism Purpose:

White Raiment Evangelism Sites:

# Introduction

It is our desire to help as many people as possible learn how to be happy, and have the assurance of their salvation. There is no reason for people to not be happy, have guilt, or not have the assurance of their salvation, if they want it, and are willing to learn what God wants from them and desire to please Him. It is our desire that everyone who wants it, would find 'the Pearl of Great price', and that they would have a well of water springing up in them, unto eternal life!

On this blog you will read many inspiring articles that will help you to know where you stand with God, so you can have life and peace, if you want it, and not be oblivious to your true need. It is our desire that you would see how easy it is to get these wonderful gifts from God and much more! We will show you the secrets of how to get all the peace, love, joy, faith and happiness you were meant to have, and have the power to live a righteous life.

**In this book you will see all of the articles that have been written so far in this blog from January 2017 to December 2017.** As the year progresses, at several points, we hope to offer updates to this volume, to add the newer articles.

May God bless you as you read these articles and let His Spirit touch your heart!

By John Foll.

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com

# And He Also Told this Parable to Some People Who Trusted in Themselves that They Were Righteous, and Viewed Others with Contempt

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/01/and-he-also-told-this-parable-to-some.html

Friday, January 6, 2017

By John Foll

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

" **And He** [Jesus] **also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:"** Luke 18:9 NASB. **Have you met individuals who think that they are good and view others with contempt?** Have you heard individuals who are quick to talk about others behind their back and hurt their reputation? Then you know those whom Jesus is addressing. **Do you think that you are good?** Do you have trouble protecting the feelings and reputations of others? Do people who break God's Law or do not believe "the Truth" get you all fired up? _We hope that you will keep reading this message, if any of these points hit home._ Jesus' message wasn't just to rebuke the self-righteous, He loved these people and wanted to help them before it was too late! **Can you see the love in His message here?** The problem that Jesus is addressing is a very common problem in humanity. Many people have had this problem in their life at one time or another. Jesus was telling some people here that they needed to make a change if they wanted to be saved.

**We took a pause from finishing this passage in Luke to contemplate Jesus' message here.** People read that Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, then think that this message doesn't apply to them, and say 'I am glad I am not a sinner like that Pharisee'. Many people are OK with hearing a message, if they think that it applies to someone else. So think about this message, and not just jump to the conclusion that it doesn't apply to you. Often people just read a passage, and run with what they think it means, and skip over some of what has been said. So it is beneficial to read the whole passage, and read every word of it, not skipping over parts of it, to get the whole truth, especially for parts that are often ignored. It is good to hear a startling message to help you wake up, or to hear a message stated from a different perspective, so you can be at peace.

Jesus continues:

**"** " **Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.** The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' **But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'** I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."" Luke 18:10-14 NASB.

**Why was the tax collector justified before God, and not the Pharisee in this account?** Because he humbled himself before God and begged for His mercy! **The Pharisee didn't.** 'There is no one who does good, not even one.' Psalm 14:3 NASB. **So why wasn't this Pharisee justified before God?** Because he humbled not his heart before God, and confessed not his sin of pride and of praying unkind words towards this poor tax collector - sinner. " **If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways** ; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV. God declares through His prophet Jeremiah, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. **And ye shall seek me, and find** me **, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.** And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; **and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.** " Jeremiah 29:11-14 KJV. Dear reader, are you held captive by sins or bad habits? Do you want to be free? _God says that if you will seek after Him with all of your heart, then you will find Him, and He will take away your captivity, and place you where you were always meant to be, with Him in Heaven as one of His sons or daughters._ Jesus says, " **If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.** " John 8:36 KJV. He has provided the way, Oh sinner, if you will accept it, He will make you free indeed! **What a promise!**

**This text shows the connection between God's people and the humble who will inherit the earth:** "For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be _there._ **But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.** " Psalm 37:9-11 NASB. _We have all been evildoers at one point in our life, but if we will humble ourselves before God and wait on Him, He will help us to become one of the righteous._ **And remember what Jesus our Savior said, "Blessed** are **the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."** Matthew 5:5 KJV. God told Moses to tell the people before the Day of Atonement: " **If there is any person who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut off from his people.** " Leviticus 23:29 NASB. **Why was that?** Because the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur, represents the Day of Judgment, when the judgement takes place. All who wish to be clean before God, will humble themselves before Him, and will confess all of their sins. **Those who will not humble themselves before Him, will be cut off from among His people, and will not go to Heaven to live throughout the endless ages with the peace, love, happiness and the delight of the saved.** Those who refuse to humble themselves before God will be cut off from His people, and will then realize that they have made a terrible mistake! _Many people have no idea what they will be missing if they fail to humble themselves before God and stay that way!_ Peter admonishes us: "Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, _like newborn babies,_ long for the pure milk of the word _, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation_ , if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." 1 Peter 2:1-3 NASB. The Psalmist, David says, " **O taste and see that the** LORD **is good** ; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!" Psalm 34:8 NASB. **Only those who have humbled themselves before God, and have tasted of the goodness to come, have a clue to the priceless treasures of peace, love, joy and delight that God wants to give His people in Heaven forever!**

**Consider those who have tasted of the heavenly gift:** 'those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come' Hebrews 6:4-5 NASB: it is very hard for these to fall away and become lost. **How could you walk away from the best thing that you have ever known or could know?** Dear reader, have you tasted of this heavenly gift of the age to come? Do not stop humbling your heart, and seeking after God until you get it! You will never regret it, we promise you! **So humble yourself before your God, whom you love, confess all of your sins, asking Him to be merciful to you a sinner, and you will go home justified before Him, and He will fill your heart with His love.** And you will indeed taste and see that the Lord is good, and will get the taste of the Heavenly gift and of the good things in the age to come. **This is our prayer for you! Amen.**

# Behold What Manner of Love the Father Has Bestowed on Us! Disqus

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/01/behold-what-manner-of-love-father-has.html

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

By John Foll

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

**Posted first on Disqus:**<https://disqus.com/home/discussion/channel-loveofgod/behold_what_manner_of_love_the_father_has_bestowed_on_us/> on 12/28/2016 (saved at 3:23 pm).

" **Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us [or given unto us], that we should be called the sons of God:** therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." 1 John 3:1 KJV.

**Yes, it is a great love that the Father has bestowed on us!** He has given us His only Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins, and if we will confess our sins, He will forgive us (1st John 1:9), and He will fill us with His precious Holy Spirit (if we desire), so that we can have the power to become His son or daughter! **This is the true meaning of this text!** _If we desire, God will forgive us and change us into His likeness, so that as we draw closer and closer to His love, we will more and more reflect His love to the world._ **This is what it means to be a son or daughter of God!** Oh wonderful love of God! **Not only does He grant us mercy and help in time of need** (Hebrews 4:16) **, but He also wants to grant us the joy of serving Him, and sharing His love to the world**! Luke 12:32.

**It is the most natural thing in the world for all who truly learned to love Him to reflect this love to all who are around them.** (How can you not love Him?) If you will just fall on your knees, confess all of your sins, and yield your heart to His great love for you, all this love, joy and peace can be yours! **This is God's promise to you, if you would have it!**

" **Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.** " 1 John 3:2 KJV. If you have confessed all of your sins and have given your heart completely to God, then now you are the son or daughter of God. Every day give your heart back to God, and recommit your life to Him. This brings you much happiness and joy, for God never forces Himself on anybody, and He loves it when His children give themselves unreservedly to Him! **The fact that you gave your heart to God 5, 10, 20 or 30 years ago has nothing to do with today**. So do not deny yourself the truest joy of giving your heart back to God each day and each hour! It will make you happy! **Why deny yourself this pure holy pleasure?** It will make God happy and He will fill you with His precious Holy Spirit! And let not the stain of guilt darken your heart, when you can receive the forgiveness of your sins right away! **There is no reason to wait for a convenient season to confess all of your sins.** Acts 24:25. As soon as you sin make your confession known to God, that you may come boldly to the throne of Grace and obtain help and mercy in time of need. Hebrews 4:16. When you confess all of your sins, and yield your heart completely to God, then when Jesus comes back in the clouds with great glory, you will be able to see Him as He is, and will not shrink back in fear. " **But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have** faith to the preserving of the soul." Hebrews 10:39 NASB.

**You can never come before God boldly for anything, if you have any sin or stubborn willfulness in your heart.** So constantly make your heart pure and clean before God, by confessing all of your sins of thought, sins of words and sins of deed. **And then you will be able to come boldly before His throne of grace for your other prayers and receive the requests that you make, when your heart is pure!** You can never have happiness or joy while you still have any guilt in your heart. You can never be all that you can be or be the son or daughter of God, if you have unconfessed or unforsaken sins. But there is absolutely no reason why you must have guilt in your heart or have unforsaken sins in your life, when God would be delighted to forgive you and give you the power to become His son or daughter! **When you let God forgive you, and when you let God change you to help you to forsake all of your sins, you truly become His son or daughter!** This is a most wonderful promise that God has given us, that He would want to call us poor sinners His son or daughter! **What did we ever do to deserve this honor or love?** Nothing! God does this out of His heart of pure and unselfish love!

**No one but God knows the end from the beginning.** Sometimes you have uncertainty in your life about the outcome of your life, or whether you will get the help you need to survive or get by. Before you have given your heart completely to God, you will have a lot of uncertainty in life, and probably some guilt, or unfulfilled duties and dreams and desires of being a better person. You may have prayed to God and made your petitions known, and struggled through your life trying to be a better person. **But you probably failed too, right?** Sometimes life can be very discouraging. Some people give up thinking that they could ever break out of the rut they are in, and break their bad habits and stop sinning, and they know that they are falling short of God's plan for their life. **You just want to be happy, right?**

**But even though things may look dark to you, you can receive the help that you so desperately need in God!** Just throw yourself on His great mercy to save you: it's what He's been waiting for! If you will humble yourself before God, confess all of your sins, and just get to know Him, you will learn to love Him. If you desire this joy, spend time with God, studying your Bible, especially the many precious promises of His love for you, and faith and love building stories in the Bible, and then praying as much as you can. **As you get to really know Him, you may find yourself falling in love with Him. It's OK! Just let it happen.** When you are ready (you will know when you are ready), tell God that you love Him and just give your heart to Him, and give Him permission to do whatever He wants in your life! (You can do this before you have fallen completely in love with Him!) Then give your heart to Him each day. **When you belong to Him you will know it, your heart will be filled with such love and unspeakable joy!** (If you have continued to yield your heart to Him each day and each hour, and always confessed all of your sins, and always obeyed His voice to your heart, and what you have learned from the Bible, then this will happen and keep happening.)

**When you have given your heart completely to God, you have become His son or daughter, and your whole life will change forever for the better when this happens.** _Then you will wonder why you never gave your heart to God completely before._ You will find that you have given up nothing of value when you agree to let God be the Lord of your life, but sin, misery and death. God's precious light from the Bible will explode with clarity that you never saw before, and your heart will just yearn to help others and tell them how much you love Jesus and the Father. **Then when Jesus comes back in the clouds with great glory** (Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26) **you will say, "This is my God in whom I have waited for!"** Isaiah 25:9 NASB. He has come back to save me and take me to Heaven, just like He promised! John 14:1-3. **I will go with Him and be happy forever!"** All this joy and peace and eternity with your God, whom you love, can be yours, if you get to know Him and give your heart completely to Him! **Everyone that has this hope in Him** (1 John 1:1-2) **, allows Him to make themselves pure and holy for Him.** " **And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.** " 1 John 3:3 KJV. This is the most glorious promise to us, that God is willing to make us holy and pure for Him!

**May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God be with you!** Amen.

**For more information on this, and the love of God, and of Faith, please see our site:**White Raiment Evangelism for more of our articles and books, etc. www.WhiteRaimentEvangelism.com **  
 **

# For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/01/for-we-cannot-but-speak-things-which-we.html

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

By John Foll, 12-9-2016

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

" **But Peter and John answered and said unto them** , ' **Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.** For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.'" Acts 4:19-20 KJV. Their answer to the rulers at Jerusalem indicates that they were determined to keep the command of Jesus to tell of God's love to the world (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 5:19-21), regardless of what their religious leaders told them. They didn't mind the obstacles that were placed in their way to hinder them, or the mistreatment they received, but counted it all joy to suffer for Jesus' sake. "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. **And they departed from the presence of the council,** rejoicing **that they were** counted worthy **to** suffer shame **** for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Acts 5:40-42 KJV. **They didn't stop preaching Jesus, even after they were beaten and warned to stop.** The prophet Jeremiah states the desire to speak of what he had seen and heard of God like this: " **But if I say, 'I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name,' then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding** it **in, and I cannot endure** it. _"_ Jeremiah 20:9 NASB. Thus when you love Jesus, you cannot help but speak of what He did for others and for you, like the Apostles and the prophets of old did!

**If you have heard and seen that Jesus and His Father love you, and that Jesus died to save you, and believe, you cannot help but tell it to others what God has done for you!** If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8), and 'have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come' Hebrews 6:4-5 NASB, you cannot help but speak of these things that you have seen and heard to as many who will listen, or you will greatly long to show them His love or help them in whatever way God has given you the ability to do. Failure to do this will cause your wells of water and springs to run dry.

**If you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, it will be just as natural for you as it was for Peter, James, John and the other Apostles to speak of God's love and the gospel to the world, as they did in the book of Acts.** Or to do your part to help in whatever way the Spirit has given you the ability and the gifts to do. It will be your greatest desire! If you have not really seen, heard, or believed, then you will be unable to tell this truth effectively to others, unless you pray for God's special blessing until you get it. **God can still bless you before you have completely consecrated yourself to Him, but it is much better to taste the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit that God wants to give you!** Once you have tasted of this wonderful gift of God, you cannot help but testify of Jesus and the Father's love. And you will never thirst again, for Jesus said, "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:14 KJV. "Now on the last day, the great _day_ of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, " **If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.** He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" **But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet** given, **because Jesus was not yet glorified.** " John 7:37-39 NASB. So we see here that the gift to satisfy our thirst that Jesus promised, is the promise of the Holy Spirit, and it was to be given to all willing Christians, starting at Pentecost (Acts 1:4-5, 8) to the end of time, to all who are thirsty and believe in Jesus. These are the conditions. " **Blessed** are **they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.** " Matthew 5:6 KJV. These words are still true for us today, if we will hunger and thirst after God's righteousness, we will be filled! Thus this promise of the Holy Spirit is for all who are thirsty for Jesus' love, and hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled, if they believe in Him.

Now let's recap and finish our passage in Hebrews 6: " **For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come** , and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. **For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God** ; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned." Hebrews 6:4-8 NASB. Jesus says something similar to this when He said, "If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." John 15:6 KJV. Again this reiterates that those who have tasted of the Heavenly gift of the Holy Spirit, and have not continued to abide in Christ, will become withered and they will eventually be gathered and cast into the fire at the judgement, unless they repent.

**It is beyond our belief how someone could experience the wonder of the gift of being born again, receiving the Holy Spirit, and ever want to go back to their life without the Holy Spirit again, but Hebrews 6:4-8 says that it can happen**. And in fact there were a few examples in the Bible where it did happen. Read about Balaam the prophet (Numbers 22, 24; 31:8, 16; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11), and the prophet who was slain by the lion. 1 Kings 13:11-30.

**We also note that Samson, who had the Holy Spirit, lost Him through disobedience, but at the end of his life he prayed to God, and God heard His prayer and avenged His enemies, by allowing Samson to slay more in his death, of God's enemies, than in his life.** *We believe by faith that God forgave Samson, because he is mentioned in Hebrews 11:32, and because God heard is prayer at the end of his life and gave him his miraculous strength back, **because we know that God heareth not sinners.** John 9:31. See Judges 14:5-6; 19, 15:14; 16:20-21 for information proving that Samson had the Holy Spirit. **Samson probably didn't really appreciate the wonderful gift of strength that was given to him before he lost it and his eyes were put out.** But we believe that he wanted the Lord's help again just before he died, to serve God's command for his life one last time. Judges 16:22-31. **And God worked a miracle, so Samson's life was not in vain** , and **used him to help His people out of their desperate situation with their enemies.** Samson's enemies had mocked his God by thinking that their gods were more powerful, because they had given him into their hands. But this wasn't so, and God avenged his name among the heathen by Samson's sacrifice of his life, when he enabled Samson to bring down the house on the lords of the Philistines and the people gathered there with them. **So Samson hadn't fully appreciated the gift of God he had been given, but later regretted it and God forgave him, when he turned back to Him in prayer.**

*We want to thank our stepdad, David Jenkins, for reminding us of this wonderful fact about Samson in Hebrews 11.

So there is hope for you, if you used to have a born again experience with God, and you have let it slip away, if you will repent now. **Maybe you didn't fully know what you had?** Maybe you have been in a lukewarm state for a long time, without the love of God fully in your life, or the joy that knowing Him brings? **Do you long for the experience that you once had with God?** **How long has it been?** God will take you back, if you will return to Him with all your heart! "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. **You will seek Me and find** Me **when you search for Me with all your heart.** " Jeremiah 29:12-13 NASB. But we believe that if you have lost it, that you probably hadn't experienced it in its fullness, because Hebrews 6:4-8 says that it is hard to walk away, if you have ever fully tasted the fruits of God's precious Holy Spirit in your heart in full force. **It is the most precious thing you can ever experience in this life!**

It is hard to walk away from this experience of knowing Jesus and His Father. **Why would you want to?** But it is also a most dangerous thing to live in a lukewarm Christian state, neither for God nor against Him, but in the middle. Revelation 3:14-17. That is why this passage in Hebrews 6:4-8 is given, for our instruction.

**Jesus says to His Church today:** "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. **He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne** , as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Revelation 3:20-21 NASB. Amen! Let it be so. When you hear Jesus knocking on the door of your heart, open it up and let Him come in. **You will never regret it, we promise you!** "Jesus answered and said to him, **'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word** ; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.'" John 14:23 NASB. **Jesus promise to you is: if you will open the door of your heart, let Him come in and dine with you and you with Him, and if you will keep His Word, He and His Father will love you and come and make their abode with you!** Oh precious promise! Amen! **  
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# Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/01/whoever-believes-that-jesus-is-christ.html ********

Saturday, January 28, 2017

By John Foll

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

" **Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God** , and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him." 1 John 5:1 NASB. The child born of Him represents primarily Jesus, the Son of God, but could also mean any child of God who is truly born again. If we are born of God, we will also love all others who are born of God too.

**Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.** I.e. whoever believes that Jesus is the Savior of the world is born of God. He who is not truly born again or born of God does not truly believe that Jesus is the Christ. This is the test to whether we are born again or not or please God or not: whether we truly believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world! **Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the World?** Then you are born of God. **Are you born of God?** Then you are born again and are overcoming the world, have faith, and are keeping the commandments of God, and have life from God and this wonderful change in your heart. " **By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.** For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. _For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith._ " 1 John 5:2-4 NASB. **Are you overcoming the world? Are you keeping His commandments? Do you have Faith? Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world? Do you find God's commandments to be burdensome? Or do you find that keeping them is a delight?** If you are not fully born again and not fully born of God, you will be unable to do these positive things and consider the commandments to be a burden, because humanly none of us can fully keep God's commandments without His help. **Are you breaking God's commandments?** (By habit or by desire.) Then you are not yet fully born of God. **Or do you confess your sins when you break His commandments?** _If you do not have that born again experience that Jesus said that all are required to have before they can enter the kingdom of Heaven_ (John 3:3, 5), then you don't fully believe yet that Jesus is the Savior of the world, it's that simple _._ But don't give up, there is still hope. **The door of mercy is still open for you, open it, receive God's forgiveness and be cleansed from all unrighteousness.** 1 John 1:9. So confess your sins, contemplate the love of God, and of Jesus His Son, and then you will believe and know that Jesus is the Savior of the world and you will become born again!

Again John the beloved breaks it down for us in such profound and easy to understand terms:

"The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; _the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar_ , because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.  **And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.** He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." 1 John 5:10-12 NASB. **With John there is no middle ground, either we are for God or against Him.** Either we believe in the Son of God and give this testimony of Him of His love for the world, and are born again, or we are not and find God's commandments to be a burden, because we cannot keep them or consider them to be a delight, until we have a change of heart by letting the Holy Spirit change us. Either we have the Son and have life or we have no life in us and do not have eternal life. **Either we are born again and believe in Jesus or we make God out to be a liar and believe not the Son.** There is no middle ground.

**It is the Spirit that testifies, because this Spirit is the truth, or 'the Spirit of Truth'.** John 16:13. When someone wants to tell others 'the truth' they should testify of Jesus, and give a message in harmony with the Spirit of Truth. _If anyone doesn't testify the truth of Jesus and His Father's love for the world, or are not telling the truth in love to others, they are not really giving a true testimony of Jesus, but a false one._ It matters not how many of 'the truths' in the Bible that they believe or are correct on, **if they don't get this one truth, then they are not giving a true testimony of Jesus or the Father and are not born again and have not the Son and have not life.** No one can give a true testimony of Jesus all the time, if they have not yielded their heart completely to God. If you are yielding your heart to God at the time you give a testimony of Jesus, then you can give a true testimony of Him, but it is much better to be consistent and yield yourself to God at all times, so that your life can be fully in harmony with Him. **Unbelievers often look at the 'so called' children of God and mock them and think that there is nothing to this Christian faith.** This is because often the "children of God" have not yielded themselves fully to God yet. Let's pray for the power to consistently be a son or daughter of God, so that He will always be honored by our lives and the way we live, not just when we are trying to 'tell' others about God or 'the truth'. And it is our faith that helps us to gain the victory over the world, and to appropriate God's many and precious promises to help us in our time of need. To the true believer, what John says here is really true: "We know that no one who is born of God sins; **but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.** " 1 John 5:18 NASB. If we are fully born of God, as long as we stay connected to the vine, Jesus, the evil one cannot make us go against God; **God's power is too great to allow the soul who trusts in Him to be snatched out of His hand.** Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. **My Father, who has given** them **to Me,** is greater than all **; and** no one **** is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." John 10:27-29 NASB.

"Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. **It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.** " 1 John 5:5-6 NASB.

**So let us believe the words of John and believe in Jesus, that we may be born again, born of God, and be an overcomer, and then we can have life from God and from above, and give a true testimony of Jesus!** God's promises are true, not some speaker or writer's rambling or quailing over what the word of God says. Let God's word tell you the truth, and do not let anyone confuse you. **Study it much, and with much prayer, and the Holy Spirit will explain it to you.** _If you obey everything the Holy Spirit has revealed to you and made plain from the Bible, more of this truth will be revealed to you._ God's word, the Bible, says what it means and means what it says. It's easy to understand, if you will just take it as it reads and in context (don't just pick out part of a text, but read it in a larger section first), although there may be some parables and prophecies that you need to study more in depth to know what they mean. **But the essentials of salvation are easy for all to understand who want to believe, and want the promised blessing of a new life with God and eternal happiness, peace, love and joy!**

May the grace of God be with you!

# All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all men!

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/01/all-authority-has-been-given-to-me-in.html ********

Saturday, January 28, 2017

By John Foll

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ' **All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.** Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and **lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.** '" Matthew 28:18-20 NASB.

**Jesus has paid the price for our sins, and has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.** He commands all who are His to go and make disciples of all men. And He is with us until the end of the world. This is a wonderful promise! If we wish to go out and tell others about God's love and the salvation that Jesus bought for us, Jesus will be with us until the end of the world! It is because of the price that He paid for our sins, that we can go out and help win others for the kingdom. Let us rejoice and be glad for the great salvation He bought for us!

**This command that Jesus gave us is a promise, that He would give us the power to make disciples of all men.** When Jesus said this it was very near Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would be poured out without measure upon His people who were gathered there in that upper room, and would be given to all Christians who would repent and be baptized. This same power is also available to us now, if we wish to be Jesus' disciple! Acts 1 also talks about this same event where Jesus gave His last message to His disciples before He ascended back into heaven. He said to His disciples, "He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; **but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you** ; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.'" Acts 1:7-8 NASB. _Here is the secret to how they could preach the gospel to the whole world: they would receive power from God, the Holy Spirit to do so!_

**Many people do not fully realize what Christ has been given since He died on the cross, and provided the victory for us.** They don't live their lives like they fully, really believe that He won the victory on the cross for them, and has now been given all power in Heaven and on Earth. They want to say that Christ only forgives us when we confess our sins, or that we are just saved, with not much of a change or difference in their life needed after their conversion. Many don't realize the power from Him that they can claim. If anyone desires to do Christ's bidding and go tell the good news of the gospel to the world, Jesus will be with them, even until the end of the world! He will provide them with the power to preach this message with power, and will help the hearers of the message want to be saved. **The power to bring honor and glory to Jesus and His Father has been promised to all Christians, not just grace to forgive us after we sin.** The power to not live a hypocritical life, the power to live a righteous life for Him and the power to give His testimony to the world. These were all promised to us by Jesus, since He was victorious over sin and death, and paid for our sins, now all power has been given to Him both in Heaven and on earth! **Let's live our life, like we believe what He said!** Let's not live our lives, barely eking out a spiritual existence, and feeling guilty that we are not doing enough for Him or the Father. **Why should we starve or thirst, when the fountain flowing from the river of life is within our reach, and when we have been provided with the bread of life?** Just take the bread of life and a deep drink from the river of life that He has provided for you, and have a new life with Him! But take this every day, and every time you hunger and thirst, and you will be filled and satisfied with the goodness of God! Don't starve or thirst yourself, but be filled with God's love, you need it!

**Let us also believe that He will give us the power to be His witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth as He said in Acts 1:8.** We don't have to be worried, or worry if we are good enough to be saved, or whether we are a good enough preacher to preach the word to others, or good enough at whatever gift God has given to us that He wants us to use for Him. No reason for guilt or fear. Just trust and believe Jesus when He said that all power has been given to Him in Heaven and on earth, and go out with joy, and help others see how much He and His Father love them! This is the gospel message! This is the good news! **It's not about how good we are, or what we can do for Him, it's about what He and His Father and the Holy Spirit can do for us!** Just cooperate with God, yield your heart to Him, and be filled with the Holy Spirit! Pray for this, breathe this, and live for this! Then go forth with great joy and great power, after you have received power from on high, and bring honor and glory to God! **He deserves it doesn't He?** **What brings honor and glory to God?** When someone is saved by the blood of Jesus and transformed from a son or daughter of perdition or a son or daughter of sin, into a son or daughter of God! But what even brings more glory to God, is when His own children reproduce is character of love and want to go out and show this to the world! **Then He is delighted to grant them the full power, love and joy that the Holy Spirit brings to the soul who is devoted to Him; this is the power to make others the son or daughter of God too!**

**May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!** Amen.

# How to Get Answers to Prayer?

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/how-to-get-answers-to-prayer.html ********

Saturday, February 4, 2017

By John Foll, 2/4/2017

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

**Some may not be aware that in order to get answers to prayer, that there are conditions for many prayers that must be met.** We want to give some texts and ideas that everyone might not know or may have forgotten. This is not intended to list everything that could be a problem as to why you are not getting an answer to your prayers, but to give the most common problems that may prevent you from getting answers to your prayers, and to give you the prayers that God will always answer. We are giving the general conditions whereby you can know the will of God, when you can expect to get your answer or not from Him. **We want everyone to be able to get what they need from God: life, peace, joy, love and happiness, now and forever!** So we are sharing with you the principles that will lead to your salvation and happiness! We want to share with you how you can get the blessings from God that your heart craves. **You want this, don't you?**

Let us start with 'The Lord's Prayer' that Jesus told the people in the beatitudes:

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.']" Matthew 6:9-13 NASB.

**Notice that this is not a prayer of selfishness or a prayer of want, but a prayer for your greatest needs and for God's kingdom to come.** This prayer starts out with praise for our Heavenly Father which is in Heaven. **He deserves our praise doesn't He?** Let's thank Him for everything that He's done for us and for Jesus His Son, and for the blessed Holy Spirit! You can never praise them enough for what they have done for you and have given to you. **You should be grateful for all that they have done and are doing for you now.** Pray for God's kingdom to come, which is to pray that as many people as possible on this earth would know His peace, and would give their heart to Him. Pray that God's will on earth and in your life will be done, as it is in Heaven. **If you want your prayers to be heard, you should always want God's will to be done on this earth and in your life.** This prayer is giving God permission to work in your life to help you! **And it is also a prayer where you agree to cooperate with Him to help others and love Him with all your heart.** And then Jesus said that you should pray for your food and needs.

**Note that in 'The Lord's Prayer', Jesus lays out a very important condition: if you want to be forgiven you must forgive others their sins against you, even if they don't ask for it or want it.** And you are to pray to God to forgive you your sins. And you should pray that God would keep you from temptation, i.e. help you to overcome sin. **And then you close the prayer by acknowledging that God is the ruler of the Kingdom (the Universe), and has all the power and the glory forever; everything you need for your temporal needs, and eternal life.** _You can depend on Him forever, if you make Him your trust!_ When you pray like this and mean it, you know that you are praying according to His will and He will hear you. We are not saying that you must use these exact words every time you pray to God, but that you should have this attitude and you should pray for these kinds of things. You can also give specific needs for yourself or others to be prayed for.

Jesus also said, " **When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites** ; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full." Matthew 6:5 NASB. If you have any pride in your heart, full of yourself, and are saying that you love God, and are not living according to your beliefs in what God has revealed to you, the Lord will not hear your prayers, until you first humble yourself before Him, and want Him to remove the hypocrisy from your life, and then you can make your other requests known to Him.

You should be persistent if you believe your prayer to be God's will, and keep praying for it:

" **Now He** [Jesus] **was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying** , "In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. "There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal protection from my opponent.' "For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.'" And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, **will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?** I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:1-8 NASB.

**Now for a very serious problem:** David said, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:" Psalm 66:18 KJV. **Many times when prayers are not answered, it's because of sin that is regarded in the heart of the individual, or of sins that have been known and have not been confessed or have not been repented of.** If we want God to hear our prayers, we must confess all of our known sins, and ask Him for help to overcome them. **Or maybe we have agreed to do what God has asked us to do, but have been putting off doing it?** God's grace cannot cover rebellion against His desire for our life or rebellion against His Law of Love or any of His words in the Bible. **And we should not keep putting off what God has asked us to do!** If we want God to hear our prayers, we cannot regard sin or iniquity in our life! This is so important!

Now Solomon says, " **He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination.** " Proverbs 28:9 NASB. If we want God to hear our prayers, we must want to study His Law of Love, and listen to and follow all of His counsel for us in the Bible. We know that there are some who love to put down God's Law of Love, the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, and other of His requirements in the Bible, but God will have the final say in this. If we don't want to study God's word to find out what He wants from us, or if we don't want to love Him with all of our heart, and mind and soul or do not want to love any of our neighbors as our self, and refuse to hear His word in the Bible, God will not hear our prayers! Read Matthew 22:25-40.

**What prayer will God always hear?** "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 NASB. He will always hear our prayer when we confess our sins, or pray for help to be saved! Note what Jesus said here: " **And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as** his **eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.** I tell you, this man went down to his house justified _rather_ than the other [the proud Pharisee]: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted _._ " Luke 18:13-14 KJV. **So if you will humble your heart before God, and ask for mercy and help, He will always here this prayer!**

**What is another reason why some prayers are not heard?** "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." James 4:3 NASB. You need to have good motives, and not pray to spend God's blessings on sinful pleasure. God wants you to have a good life, and there are some simple pleasures that God approves of, if they are good for you at the time that He may allow. But there are many pleasures which God doesn't approve of: you should not pray for anything that is wrong. There may be some things that you want that you do not need that God may want you to wait for, and other things that He may let you have right away.

**Be careful, sometimes God will give you what you ask for, so that you may learn that it is not for your best.** An example of this was when the children of Israel wanted to eat meat again, instead of the manna from Heaven that God had provided for them, and were complaining to Moses about it (Numbers 11:13), then God said, "Say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, "Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt." **Therefore the** LORD **will give you meat and you shall eat. 'You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month** , until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, " **Why did we ever leave Egypt?** "'"" Numbers 11:18-20 NASB. In Numbers 11:31-35 it outlines what happened to these people: "The people spent all day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail (he who gathered least gathered ten homers) and they spread _them_ out for themselves all around the camp. While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague." Numbers 11:32-33 NASB. So they had cried out to Moses because they were tired of the manna that God had rained down from Heaven for them, thinking that they were better off when they were in Egypt and slaves and could eat what they wanted. And so God gave them their wish, and some of them were struck with a plague from God. **Don't be persistent in asking for something that is not for your best or right.** So be careful of what you ask for!

**Now David concludes our passage from Psalms 66:18 with:** "But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. **Blessed** be **God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.** " Psalm 66:19-20 KJV. So there you have it, David's prayer was heard by God, because he didn't regard iniquity in his heart, because God's mercy found him and forgave him.

**Is there no room for grace you may ask?** Yes, if you are a sinner take courage, if you don't say everything exactly right or do not pray for the right things but mean well, the Holy Spirit will translate it to God for you, He knows what you really need! " **In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness;** for we do not know how to pray as we should **, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for** us **with groanings too deep for words** ; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to _the will of_ God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:26-28 NASB. **If you have accepted God in your life, and are cooperating with Him, and are called according to His purpose, He will cause all things to work for your good, even if you make a mistake and pray for something that may not be the best for you, as long as you are not regarding iniquity in your heart!** The Holy Spirit will translate your prayer into the language of love, "clean it up", and make it presentable before the Father. _This is God's grace for you!_ Oh wonderful love of God! He has provided for all of your needs! He is mindful that you are but dust and are prone to wander from Him! If you will just throw yourself on His great mercy, He will forgive your sins, mistakes and will answer your true prayer, even if you don't know what that is: your greatest need, not just what you asked for! When you pray to God, even if you didn't ask for it, the Holy Spirit will intercede for you with something like this to the Father: 'Father, even though they didn't pray for all of your help that they need, please give them more time, please grant them more mercy! Please give them their true needs.' Amen! **Yes, God provides us poor sinners with His rich grace! We are not rewarded according to what we deserve, but according to His mercy and grace!** But do not take His grace for granted, confess your sins and allow Him to work in your life, while His mercy may still be found!

**To conclude: Before you make any of your other requests known to God, always confess your sins to Him first, and allow Him to change you, to help you repent.** If you pray like this and do not regard iniquity and do not turn away your ear from hearing God's Law, and are not praying for things out of selfish motives or for sinful pleasure, then you will have confidence before God that He has heard your prayers! **Let God bring your life in harmony with Him, and let Him guide and protect you all the way, and then you will not have to worry if your prayers are heard!** Amen.

# We are a sweet fragrance or aroma among those who are perishing who are now being saved, if we are allowing God to lead us in the triumph of Christ!

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/we-are-sweet-fragrance-or-aroma-among.html

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Written by John Foll on 2/11/2017, concept developed earlier.

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and **manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.** For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. **And who is adequate for these things?** For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God." 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 NASB.

**If we have given our heart completely to God and have been born from above, we are following Jesus every step of the way, and God is leading us in triumph!** This will manifest itself by others seeing our love for God in the way we treat them and others, and the way we speak of our God whom we love! Our face will glow like an angel, when we are animated with God's love! He gives us the sweetness in life that attracts others to Him. We cannot help but do this, if we love God all the way and are born from above! " **By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and** so **prove to be My disciples.** Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. **These things I have spoken to you,** that My joy may be in you **, and** that your joy may be made full." John 15:8-11 NASB.

**To those who are drowning in this world of sin, and are wanting the way out, they will grasp the hope that we offer them, and our life will be a sweet aroma to them and to God.** God is more than willing that all who name themselves His people should have this sweetness in their life, and He will grant this petition, if they would only pray for this and desire to be a sweet aroma to Him! "Who is adequate for these things?" No one but God. **God will grant this to all who want it and are willing to obey Him!** Those who do this, are not 'peddling the word of God' like many do, but are preaching the love of God from sincerity. This is what the world needs, sincere followers of Jesus and His Father, who have the sweetness from God that only those who have tasted and seen that God is good can know! Psalms 34:8.

**Yes, the love of God and His salvation that He has offered to mankind because of what His Son Jesus did for us, when He died on the cross for our sins, is a sweet aroma to those who are perishing and among those who are being saved!** And when God's children reproduce His character of love and help others to know and love Him, this is a sweet aroma to Him too! Yes, God is glorified by this, when all of His children bear much fruit for Him! **Why?** _Because He loves everyone, and is not willing that any should perish!_ 2 Peter 3:9. Amen! **  
 **

# Interview with John Foll (By me)

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/an-interview-with-john-foll-by-me.html

Thursday, February 16, 2017

**Please read this interview I wrote for our ministry, if you would like more on why and how our book and blog ministry got started, etc.?**

**Originally published on:** <https://www.smashwords.com/interview/WhiteRaimentEvangelism>

By John Foll, Written 2/18/2017

© Copyright 2017 John Foll for all the answers to the questions.

Most Questions were from SmashWords.com.

When did you first start writing?

I started writing my Love of God series book probably in either February or March 2014 in a precursor book that I discarded and used some of it in "The Love of God: God's Plan To Save You!"

What is your e-reading device of choice?

My Android Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone, using the @Voice Aloud Reader to play the text of the book to me while I am driving or doing work around our place, etc.

What is your main goal in your writing and what you are trying to accomplish?

Our main goal is to help as many people as possible get the assurance of their own salvation, and learn how wonderful God is and have the desire grow in them to give themselves to God all the way. Then they will have the peace, love, joy and happiness that they have been searching for their entire life, and now they have it! And it will last for all eternity, if they keep allowing God to take care of them.

What is your writing process?

God is the most important part of my life and writing process! I could do nothing of any value without Him. **I owe my life and my love to Him for all that He has done for me, and the new life He freely gave me.** _I had a most wonderful experience with God, where I learned how much He loved me, and gave my heart to Him all the way._ I thought that I had done this many years ago before, when I was baptized as a boy, but now I know we need to give our heart to God all the way every day! **And why would I not want to do so?** I love Him! **Within a few days after this, I was so happy I said to myself, 'This is too good to keep to myself, I must tell it to others'** (or something like that), _so I asked God to help me write a book or books to tell of His love to the world_ , and that He would make me an evangelist for Him to proclaim His love to as many people as I could, and then later to the world (I think I asked Him)! I believe that He heard my prayer, for He richly blessed me with these beautiful thoughts and wonderful promises in these books, particularly Parts 1 and  of The Love of God: God's Plan to Save You! But He also greatly blessed me on all of these books! I had also asked Him to do this for me, because I was moving to the country and needed a source of income, but I greatly desired and needed a ministry to serve Him with. Jesus said, 'the labourer is worthy of his hire.' Luke 10:7.

**I had a good idea of the topics that should be in the first book, which eventually got split into multiple books, and so these became the chapters.** The initial writing process of a lot of these books were almost automatic. Once an idea was impressed on my mind, it was just a matter of finding the texts that went with it, and rearranging, proofing, etc. Sometimes the initial idea would immediately suggest texts or like passages, and these passages, when commented on led to others. The editing process took a lot of the thought and time. I had to learn to take out things with wrong sentiments or passages that were too strong, that in my eagerness I had put into my writing, I had much to learn about writing. I had to make sure I could back up what I was saying from the Bible or take it out, and fix any incorrect ideas that I had place there. (I was learning in this process too!) Then I had some places that were somewhat duplicated that needed to be combined and reworded. The Bible really does explain itself!

**There were some books though that were harder to write, because they were dealing with some of the things that we don't often want to talk about or hear, the harder truths in the Bible.** I had to learn how to write things in such a way as to not overburden the reader with negative messages, and avoid using harsh tones or cutting words. It could have been my old ways trying to come back or it was my inexperience at being an evangelist, or writing the truths of the Bible in Love. But God helped me through these more difficult books to find the proper balance between the negative truths that the soul sometimes needs to hear, that are not pleasant for it, and love! If the soul feels no hope, it will despair or reject the truth! We should always preach love, whenever dealing with these harder topics in the Bible! Give people hope, not just tell them what they are doing wrong! In this process, I developed the main concept that I want in all of my future books as well, regardless of the topic. In their introduction, descriptions, brochures, and product information they should always say, "Discover the beautiful truth that God loves you and has a plan to save you!" If I can say that each book is about God's love and plan to save you, and the book really contains this, then some of the harder truths of the Bible can be presented, and will fit with God's love for the world! He doesn't want anyone to perish! Therefore repent and live!

**I have to use the aid of text-to-speech readers on my PC or Android phone to proof read to fix mistakes, because I don't see all of the errors.** Dyslexia? Sometimes I don't always hear them either, so I listen and sometimes re-read things until I am satisfied. The editing and proof-reading processes are very important in order to get rid of mistakes, and to flesh out more fully the concepts that were expressed, in order to not miss anything important.

**But I believe that God has been guiding me in this process, because I would be unable to write inspiring books like these without Him** , _that would be of any value spiritually, that would uplift people from the problems on this earth, to help them catch His Spirit and see a glimpse of Heaven_. Praise His wonderful name! **He gives gifts to those who love Him, to help them serve Him, and gives them the power and the strength to do it.** What a privilege! What a joy!

What are you working on next?

We are working on the marketing of our Ministry for the Books, Website, and Blogs to help people get closer to God.

**We have two books that are almost done except for the final editing.** Some editing of these books has been done already, but more is needed: 1) "The Gifts of the Spirit in the Last Days: For Those Who Want To Know About their Need For the Gifts of The Spirit in the Last Days, Which We are Now Living in." 2) "The First Commandment: Give Your Heart Completely To God Because You Love Him! What Lack I Yet?" And some more excerpt books. I also want to make 2 other smaller books of "The First Commandment", one with just the first (main chapter), and another with chapters 1 and 2. These two smaller books are intended for someone who may not be ready for the first book, but need to know the essentials of the First Commandment, etc. The "What Lack I Yet" version gives the harder calls to give your heart to God, and shows how the Holy Spirit outpouring for the latter days... Well you need to read it to find out. But it should help equip the reader so that they can be ready for the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world, and help them to see their need of the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that they can have a ministry to serve God with and be ready for Jesus to come.

**We want to make a book to be tentatively called:** "The Meaning of Baptism", discussing the origin of Baptism, and its meaning in the Early Christian Church. This is book points out the necessity of every Christian to be baptized by the water and the Spirit as described by Jesus in John 3:3, 5, and in Jesus' own baptism, who is the example for all Christians to follow. This will be taken from my currently released book "The Ceremonial Law and Sacrificial System: What does it mean to the Gospel Message?" and will be a small book for those wanting a book just on Christian baptism.

**And some more planned books:** "The Love of God: God's Plan to Save You Part 3: How To Please God" This may end up being two books? We are not sure yet. This one is built on top of Part 1 and  and God's Law of Love and the First Commandment. It is desirable that these books be read first before Part 3 or 4.

Who are your favorite authors?

Our favorite Bible authors currently are John, Paul and Matthew, and Luke for the book of Acts. **Where would we be without the book of Acts?**

**When we were younger our favorites were Jeremiah and Isaiah we believe, we still love Jeremiah and Isaiah.** John the Apostle's books are the easiest to understand and should be completely mastered by all Christians first I believe. **The books of John and 1st John are very good at leading someone to Jesus; to give their heart to Him and become His.** We recommend that everyone keep reading and re-reading these two books with much prayer! _John, Matthew, Acts should be read and mastered before reading Paul_. The Bible should not be studied in such a way as to interpret passages to contradict other places in the Bible. **It is especially important to never accept an interpretation for passages in the newer books of the Bible that contradicts the testimony of the earlier books.** If you would first study the Gospels, then the book of Acts, and then the Book of 1st John (in this order), this will greatly help you understand the Old Testament and the rest of the New Testament properly. This is because Christ is the center of the Bible, and I believe that the apostle John was especially close to Jesus, which you can easily see in the book of 1 John, which is why I recommend this book to be read after the Gospels and Acts.

**The Gospels are perhaps the easiest books in the Bible to understand, and most important and the most powerful I believe.** If people would just read the Bible with much prayer and devotion to God, instead of letting other people tell them what it means, there would be much less confusion and contradiction out there, and **people would have the love, joy and peace we were all meant to have!** And then we would have the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit and our whole life would change! We would have new life from above! And have the ability of obeying God and serving Him with great joy! The entire Bible revolves around Jesus Christ, so the Gospels should be studied first by everyone wanting to be a Christian, or for Christians who haven't read much of the Bible if any. **But those who are not where they need to be spiritually – these especially need to read the Gospels again and again until they get it!** These should be the most studied books of the Bible I believe, especially the Books of John and Matthew.

What do you do for fun?

Serving God, studying His word, writing these books, and telling others of God's wonderful love bring me great joy! Nothing in my life has ever brought me joy like this!

How do you approach cover design?

My mom gave me a most beautiful gift of two different versions of my cover paintings, that I had asked her if she would do for me. **I really appreciate her for these wonderful gifts!** I use the CorelDraw Photo Paint application to fix or alter the original painting(s), and the manipulate colors, fixing the scanning glitches, etc. But I have used parts of these paintings in different ways and in different places for my ministry. The second painting she made is the one I am currently using. I have used it to create much of my cover art on my books, and social media, and it helped me to choose my "corporate colors" and color schemes. I had told my Mom that originally that I wanted a picture of a young woman, who represents the Bride of Christ, who is waiting for the Second Coming of Christ or something like that, but it could also represent the Bride of Christ receiving the Holy Spirit to help her prepare for the Second Coming of Christ; to give her the ability of preparing and serving Him - to bring others to Him too! (I had known about what I wanted based on my first book, which eventually got split into several books – this works better in the eBook world.)

What is your favorite book?

Without a doubt the Bible! I was raised, when younger, reading the King James Version, but later studied in other versions of the Bible like the Revised Standard Version, the New English Bible, the Amplified Bible (I don't remember how much of this I read), and then the New American Standard Bible. But when I was and adult, and more seasoned, I started using just the KJV again for a few years, because I missed reading it, and because I thought it to be the better version probably based on some people I was associating with (I still love this version), but I found that I preferred the NASB most of the time, except for times where the KJV says things better. So when doing my Bible studies, when researching for my books, I prefer to have WordSearch open in the parallel version mode with multiple versions, including mainly KJV and NASB77 and NASB95 versions. Lately I have also added the RSV and NRSV and occasionally NIV. (I don't generally like the way the NIV reads, but sometimes I use it.) I believe that the KJV and the NASB are all that I really need most of the time. But sometimes I use the advanced capabilities in WordSearch for word meanings, etc.

What book marketing techniques have been most effective for you?

My Blogs, and the SlideShare.net PDF's made from my blogs. I have my blogs duplicated on multiple social media sites: BlogSpot.com (Blogger), Tumblr, Google+ Collections, SlideShare.net and some other places. I made PDF's of my brochures for the books and my ministry that are also widely available. All of these PDF's have links to my Web Sites and some of My Social Media sites. I also share my blog articles and other things on FaceBook and Twitter.

Our Google+: <https://plus.Google.com/116200975539006512525>

Our Love of God Blog: WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/

Our Faith Blog: WhiteRaimentEvangelismFaith.blogspot.com/

Our Slide Share: http://www.SlideShare.net/WhiteRaimentEvangelism

Our Tumblr: <https://whiteraimentevangelism.tumblr.com>

Published 2017-02-20 on SmashWords.com.

# The Sorrow That is According to the Will of God Produces Repentance Without Regret!

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-sorrow-that-is-according-to-will-of.html

Saturday, February 18, 2017

By John Foll, Written 2/18/2017

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

" **For the sorrow that is according to** the will of **God produces a repentance without regret,** leading **to salvation** ; but the sorrow of the world produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:10 NASB. **What Paul says here is so true!**

**When a soul is convicted that there is something in their life that they should confess and repent of, there is often a struggle within** (before they are born again) **.** When there is a cherished sin it may seem sorrowful to give up because it seems so sweet. Or it may seem sorrowful when they worry what family or friends think about doing what God has asked them to do. They may feel greatly embarrassed if there is something to confess to others or to make right, or if someone else finds out about their guilt or sins. There are any number of sorrows that a soul can experience. **But is there a sorrow for sin?** Jesus said, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4 KJV. **Which sorrow do you have?** If you are sorry that your life is not what it should be, and desire to have wonderful peace and a new life with God, you will be comforted, because God will give it to you! **If you have just the sorrow of trouble that sins or mistakes bring, this is not true sorrow.** When you are tired of sinning, hurting yourself, God and others, and want things to be better, humble your heart before God and throw yourself on His mercy! **Give into God's sweet Spirit!** It matters not how small the sin may appear to yourself or others. Listen now to David's perplexity and his desire to confess here: "For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me. **For I confess my iniquity** ; I am full of anxiety because of my sin." Psalm 38:17-18 NASB. Here David shows his sorrow for his sins, so he confessed his iniquity, and in several places in this Psalm he was begging for God's help and mercy. **David knew that he needed help from God to get peace and security.** This is the way all contrite people will be! "Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me!" Psalm 38:21 NASB.

You may say that you have given yourself to God years before and confessed all of your sins to Him. But you probably know what God is asking you to do right now that you put off... put it off no more, so you can have wonderful peace with God! He loves you! **You may have put off long ago what God had asked you to do and forgotten about it.** If you lack true, sweet wonderful peace from God, and lack His sweet Spirit in your heart now, please pray to Him to reveal to you again whatever it was that you failed to do that you should have done.

If you have sweet, wonderful peace with God now and are walking in the light of His love, we are happy for you! **This is the way you should always be!** That means you have a sweetness in your life and example that is a fragrant odor to God! _That means that you are loving and kind to others and are seeking to show them how much God loves them, or you are helping them in whatever way that God has blessed you with gifts to do, because God's goodness is flowing through your life to them._ And you are bearing much fruit for God. **Does this portray your life?** No, then there is a work to do yet in your heart to yield fully to God or to make things right with Him or others, let God do this for you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. **You will never regret it!** He will turn that sorrow of sin into joy and wonderful peace! **But how can this be, you may say?** 'I love the Truth and am following it.' **Really?** If you really love the Truth, you should have this wonderful change in your heart, and you should dearly love your God and others. And serving God will be a constant delight to you! **How do we know this? "** Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ' **If you abide in My word,** then **you are truly disciples of Mine** ; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'" John 8:31-32 NASB. Thus you see that if you are really abiding in Christ, and are truly His disciple, that you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free! **What truth?** The truth of God's love for you and the world! It will transform your life if you let it! _If your life is not transformed like this, you are not yet fully Jesus' disciple, and are not yet fully abiding in Christ, and are not yet fully free._ Do not say that you are a child of Abraham, i.e. a child of God, and have no need of this. God is able from these stones to raise up Children for Abraham, i.e. children of God. Matthew 3:9. [We are not saying here that you are lost or that you don't love God somewhat, or that you are not yet learning to walk with Him, if you do not have this wonderful change yet fully, that is between you and God, but that there is still a work to do in your heart and life, if you will let God do it for you and obey His sweet voice.]

**Be honest, if these good things of having that sweet, wonderful peace, and being a New Creation filled with the Holy Spirit does not describe your life, there is still a work to do in your life to give yourself completely to God, because you love Him!** If God is not first in your life, because you love Him, and you do not have this wonderful change that only a life yielded fully to God can have, that is filled with the Holy Spirit, God is not yet first in your life, and you are at least partly or fully breaking the First Commandment, Exodus 20:3. If God is not first in your life, because you love Him more than anything else in this life, you need to confess this to Him; tell Him you are sorry that you have not put Him first or continued to put Him first, and ask Him to help you keep His commandments, which are to love Him with all of your heart, mind and soul, and to help you love your neighbor as yourself! Matthew 22:26-40. **You will never regret it! We promise you!** Your life then will be so sweet and your love for Him will be so deep! **You will wonder why you never did it before!** And the things of this world will lose their hold on you, as your love for Him grows. When this happens, you will be ready or nearly ready for Heaven! (Only God knows when this process is complete.)

**Solomon summed it all up when he declared:** " **Sorrow** is **better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.** The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." Ecclesiastes 7:3-4 KJV. Some do not want to think about their course, and what they need to do to be right with God. Their heart is full of sorrow and guilt, but they try to drown it out or ignore it. They want to keep themselves in a constant state of entertainment, mirth and comedy, anything but dealing with the sorrow that needs to be repented of. **But Solomon says that the wise are in the house of mourning!** This is when someone considers their life to see what God wants them to do, even if it isn't pleasant. 'The sorrow of the world produces death', as Paul says above, **but 'the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret', i.e. salvation!** The wise have the sorrow that is according to the will of God that produces repentance without regret, because they think about their life and are sorry for their sins, and confess them to Him, and repent.

**Why does the true sorrow produce repentance without regret?** Because you can never know true peace, until you confess all of your sins and make a complete repentance. (Especially the sin of not putting God first in your life!) **But once you give in, confess, give up and decide to do what God has asked you to do, He will help you and you will finally know true peace with no regrets!** No regrets, because you will be so happy once you give in and decide to do whatever God has told you to do! Why would you regret all the joy, peace and relief you get when you know true repentance? You wouldn't! **God will help those who truly turn to Him, forgive them, and cleanse them from all unrighteousness.** 1 John 1:9. **Amen!**

**In closing, let us examine the Apostle James' wisdom for us:** " **But He [God] gives a greater grace.** Therefore _it_ says, 'GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.' Submit therefore to God. _Resist the devil and he will flee from you._ **Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.** Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. **Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.** Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." James 4:6-10 NASB. Now note what Jesus said here: " **Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,** him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 10:32 KJV. What Jesus says here also includes confession to God for sins, for no one can truly confess Jesus to men, unless they are first His disciple. _And no one can truly be Jesus' disciple until they have confessed their sins and yielded fully to Him!_ **We should all want Jesus to confess to His Father that He knows us shouldn't we?** "Many will say to me in that day [the day of the kingdom of Heaven, i.e. the judgement], 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?' **And then will I profess unto them, 'I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.** '" Matthew 7:22-23 KJV. So we should all want Jesus to confess that He knows us to the Father! **May God have mercy on all those who haven't yielded fully to Him, and confessed all their sins to Him, including not putting Him first in their life!** _May He grant them more time and mercy to learn to love Him with all of their heart, and all of their soul and all of their mind!_ Matthew 22:37.

"Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. **Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit**! Why will you die, O house of Israel? **For I have no pleasure in the death of any one, says the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.** " Ezekiel 18:30-32 RSV.

# How to Keep the Faith – A Poem

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/how-to-keep-faith-poem.html

Saturday, February 25, 2017

By John Foll, written sometime in February to April 2014? Edited 2/24/2017 & 02/25/2017.

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

[How to keep the faith?

The promises of God

Are very important,

Now I see!]

It's one thing to give your soul to God,

And to yield everything to Him,

But another thing to keep it.

Satan, our relentless foe,

Has a vast array of devices

To try to force his way back in.

[But now as I type this in,

I know that God is very strong to save,

And nothing that our foe can do,

Can prevent us from the victory,

If to God we cling!]

But we have to be more

Vigilant in the Lord,

To protect our soul.

[Actually God is vigilant for us,

But if we are vigilant,

It is because His love

Is helping us to

Want to be vigilant,

And so it is all by Him!]

We must build a wall of faith around our soul,

[We must let Him build a wall of faith around our soul.]

Then another wall around that wall,

Then another wall around that wall,

Never ending, and keep your trust in Him!

It's your choice and only your choice,

To keep God in your heart

The minute you let your guard down,

[The minute you let go of God's hand],

Your enemy will try to tear down those walls,

And try to destroy you!

But being afraid of failure

Will cause failure too!

[Trust your soul to God,

He loves you, Oh naïve soul!

Why not? He loves you and is strong to save!

Yes, we must trust in God to protect us from our foe,

And allow His love to guide us

Every moment, every hour.

Pray, keep praying, until you get the victory,

Pray, keep praying, until you feel His mighty power to save.

Pray, keep praying, until you know

That He cannot lose,

And let Him win the battles for you!

And then keep praying because you love Him,

And praise His wonderful name!

Amen!]

**P. S. Not all of this "poem" was as I originally wrote it on a piece of paper that I typed in today, because I revised it with what I have learned since.** But even though I did not know all of what I know now then, it didn't matter, because God's love has carried me through and guided me. But I didn't want to let Him down. I learned during this time, that not everything that was happening to me was from Him, because my lower nature and our ancient foe were fighting to gain me back from God. **I thought that you should know some of my great struggles, in my desire to win over my lower nature and to become completely God's, that is why I think I wrote this poem?** _It should be shared._ When I started to write down this, if I remember correctly, I was trying to write what I should put in my book that I was trying to write, but it quickly turned from a chapter idea, into a pseudo-poem – this was what was happening to me at that time. I was so happy, and emotional about what was happening, that I was thinking in poetic or musical rhythmic sense. So instead of being just a chapter idea, it is now a poem! I had to rein this in, because I was trying to write a book on God's love, not a book on just poetry. If you want to read the chapter this poem is talking about, read my book "The Love of God: God's Plan to Save You! Part 2 How to Become the Bride of Christ" in the chapter #2 " _Build a Wall of Faith Around Your Heart, Until it Becomes a Fortress!_ " But I recommend that you read Part 1 first: "The Love of God: God's Plan To Save You! Part 1: How to Have Righteousness By Faith!"

www.WhiteRaimentEvangelism.com/love-of-god-part-1

www.WhiteRaimentEvangelism.com/love-of-god-part-2

# And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more...

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/and-this-i-pray-that-your-love-may.html

Saturday, February 25, 2017

By John Foll, edited 02/25/2017

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

" **And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment** , so that you may approve the things that are excellent, _in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ_ ; **having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.** " Philippians 1:9-11 NASB.

**My prayer is that your love would abound more and more and that your love for God would grow stronger and stronger.** God's love for you is the key on how you can have a happy life, full of love, joy and peace and hope for the future and have the faith to please Him. His love for you is the key on how you can give up destructive sinful habits, and treat others with love and kindness, and to love and forgive yourself. **God will help you to gain the knowledge of the important matters in this life and to gain wisdom and discernment, in order to make the right decisions and choices in this life of perplexity and trouble.**

**This knowledge and wisdom that God will give you, if you love Him and seek after Him with all your heart** , will help you to approve the things that are excellent, so that you will be sincere and blameless before Him, as Paul declares above, His peculiar treasure. _God wants to fill you with the fruit of righteousness through the blood of Jesus Christ._

**How can you be filled with the fruit of righteousness?** It's when you have confessed your sins, given your heart to God, and invited or allowed Him to fill you with His precious Holy Spirit! **When this happens, your greatest desire will be to give the praise and glory to God in everything, not only from your lips, but by the way you live and by proclaiming His love to others - to as many as possible.** _God's great love for you will enable you to have the fruit of righteousness in your life, and helps you to please Him!_ \- _He will thus preserve and help you so that when Jesus Christ comes back in the clouds with great glory and power, to take His people home, that you will say,_ 'This is my God, whom I have waited for! He has come back to save me, just like He said He would.' Then you will not shrink back in fear, because you have been forgiven and washed white as snow, and you have devoted your life to Him, because you love Him!

**God's love for you is the key to how you can have these blessings of love, joy, peace, faith, hope, and eternal life forever with Him, in the endless joy and delight that God has promised to all who love Him and all those who would desire His sweet salvation!** So humble yourself before God, confess all of your sins, give your heart completely to Him, and receive the joy of your salvation, by receiving His love into your heart, which He has always longed to give you! **Then He will put heaven into your heart!** _This will give you great joy and keep you safe in His love; to help prepare you to receive eternal life, when Jesus returns to take His own to Heaven!_

So I pray that your love may abound still more and more, that God would be your all-in-all, and that your joy would be made full! Oh so full! Amen, let it be so!

#  A student is not above his teacher; but everyone, after they have been fully trained, will be like their teacher

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-student-is-not-above-his-teacher-but.html

Saturday, February 25, 2017

By John Foll, finished writing 02/25/2017.

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

Jesus said, " **A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.** " Luke 6:40 NASB.

**Are you Jesus' student? Have you been trained by Him?** Are you still in training by Him? _Be patient, if He is your teacher, and if you are a diligent student, you will be fully trained and will become like Him._ He will take care of that for you, if you continue to let Him be your Master!

**What does it mean to be like Jesus? How was Jesus?** He was always loving, patient and kind. But because of His love this also meant that He had to warn those who were in grave danger of being lost, of their peril! This was the reason for His stern rebukes to some. He always knew the right approach for each person. **Study His methods, be filled with His Spirit, and then you will be able to know which approach you should use with those you come in contact with.**

**God will also use trials and circumstances to train you, if you will let Him.** "Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. **All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.** Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed." Hebrews 12:9-13 NASB.

**A lot of the problems that Christians have are brought on by themselves, until they yield fully to Him because they love Him.** There are two ways to be saved, the easy way and the hard way. _The hard way is to try to be your own master, and give in to God now-and-then, and then have to go through excruciating trials until you agree to let Him lead and you follow Him or give up totally being a Christian_ , and the easy way, which is to learn how much He loves you, throw yourself on His great mercy, and let Him help you, then yield to Him fully! **It is much easier for God to work with a contrite, totally yielded heart, because those that do this invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in their heart, and He will make it very easy for them to be like Jesus!** This only happens when someone stops struggling against God, and invites Him to rule their heart. **Why struggle? Why not make it easy on yourself and yield fully to His loving power now?** _You have nothing to lose but your sins, lack of peace, lack of faith, lack of hope, lack of joy, lack of self-control, lack of assurance of your salvation, and the deeds of the flesh._ 'Those that practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.' Galatians 5:19-21. Why would you want to hold on to any of these things? If you will just yield to Him now, all-the-way, He will make it easy for you! Galatians 5:22-23.

"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." Romans 8:6-8 NASB. **Do you want to please God?** **Why would you want to be hostile toward Him?** If you are living in the flesh, you are hostile against God and cannot please Him, **but if you want life and peace, set your mind on the Spirit** like Paul says. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. **Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.** " Romans 8:9 KJV. **Do you want to belong to Christ?** Then you must have His Spirit, and walk in His Spirit, or you are 'none of His', as the King James Version of the Bible puts it, or you do not belong to Him, as the New American Standard Bible puts it.

**What they did to Jesus, they will do to His true followers who continue to be trained by Him and want to serve Him.** Jesus says, " **The disciple is not above** his **master, nor the servant above his lord.** It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. **If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more** shall they call **them of his household?** " Matthew 10:24-25 KJV.

**If they called Jesus the 'prince of Demons', what will they call His servants?** Matthew 9:34; 12:24 KJV. **** Do not be afraid, Jesus and His Father love you and will take care of you! If you love Jesus, do not worry about those that can destroy the body but not the soul, but fear God in Heaven only! Matthew 10:28. **Do not let what others might say or have said keep you from the joy of following in your Master's footsteps and being His servant!**

**Now listen to this account of Peter and the apostles after they had been imprisoned (Acts 5:18), because they were following Jesus' command** (Matthew 28:18-20), and after they were released by the angel and ordered to preach again by God, as revealed to them by this angel (Acts 5:19-20): "And when they had brought them, they set _them_ before the council: and the high priest asked them, **Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.** " Acts 5:27-28 KJV. * * * "And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. **And they departed from the presence of the council,** rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. _And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ._ " Acts 5:40-42 KJV. Before the rulers let them go, they were beaten and told not to preach anymore in His name again! _So we see here that despite being imprisoned, beaten and being warned by the leaders of Jerusalem from preaching of Jesus, Jesus' disciples rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name!_ **How and why were they able to rejoice because they had suffered for Jesus? Is this a normal human behavior?** Certainly not! _No one likes to be abused, but they were so happy, because they loved Jesus so much, that they were able to rejoice because of this suffering!_ **Because they knew it made Jesus and His Father happy, since they were willing to save the lost at all costs to themselves, just like Jesus was willing to give up all and Heaven forever for us!** _This is the Great Power of the Love of Jesus and of God!_

It was the Holy Spirit that enabled the disciples to rejoice when they were persecuted, imprisoned and beaten! **But why was it necessary that they should rejoice?** Because it helped them to deal with the pain and shame of persecution. **The joy that God gives all of Jesus' disciples is part of the reward that He gives to those who love Him and belong to Him!** Nothing brings greater joy to Jesus' disciples than to bring others to the kingdom! **This is because they have the Spirit of God, who is not willing that any should perish** (2 Peter 3:9 KJV). Even though the devil doesn't take it kindly when souls are won to God, and tries to destroy those who are helping God to free his prisoners, God enables them to press on and to do His work of love and mercy for the world! **There is nothing that any human being or devil can do to take the joy of those who are serving God away!** _Yes, they might suffer cruel torture and death, and sometimes their suffering may not always appear to be joyful, but they will have joy many times on this earth, and they will have endless joy in Heaven throughout eternity, in helping others become as happy as they are and becoming saved_! **It makes all their suffering worthwhile!** And like Jesus, they will see the travail of their soul and be satisfied, Isaiah 53:11, and count it all joy! (Of course not to the same degree as the infinite love of Jesus! But within their own human, finite limitations.)

**We have cited Jesus' declaration in this message that the servant is not above His master, therefore consider this: As the soldiers crucified Jesus, He said: 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.'** Luke 23:34 KJV. And listen to what Isaiah proclaimed about our Lord: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." Isaiah 53:7 KJV. **Jesus did not say anything to save Himself, or say anything against His accusers, or to those crucifying Him or causing Him pain, but prayed to His Father to forgive them!** Jesus never did anything to deserve the treatment He received from sinful men, but He did this to pay the price for our sins and was willing to forgive those who did this to Him! **Therefore all of His servants must be willing to forgive those who are abusing them and spitefully treating them too!** This is proof that Jesus is their Master and that they have the Holy Spirit.

" Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. **Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?** Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. _Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods._ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; **the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for** him **, and in an hour that he is not aware of** , and shall cut him asunder, and appoint _him_ his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:44-51 KJV.

And we will repeat this same text in the New American Standard, in case you have difficulty understanding the old King's English:

"For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. **Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?** Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,' and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; **the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect** him **and at an hour which he does not know** , and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:44-51 NASB.

**The faithful servants of Jesus will spend their time doing the work that God has given them to do, giving the lost their 'meat in due season' or 'their food at the proper time'** (i.e. they will help the lost receive the bread of life) **, and will not say that their Master delays His coming and will not tear into God's other servants and people and will not live their life in drunkenness.** This tells us that Jesus will not come as a thief in the night to those who are His faithful servants! **We pray that you will so prove faithful to Jesus and keep doing His work until He returns!** We pray that you will not eat and drink with the drunken, and not continually find fault with others, or repeat their sins to others behind their back, and will protect their reputations, so that Jesus will not come as a thief in the night for you.

So if Jesus is your Master, and you are His servant, **then you will willingly follow in His footsteps** , and **forgive those who have wronged and hurt you, and maligned you in His name, even calling you evil** , and do as He did - seek and save the lost.

**Thus when a student of Jesus is fully trained, they will be like Him and will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, and count it all joy when they suffer for His name.** _They will be like their teacher, have love and give forgiveness to their accusers and the ones who cause them pain, and count it all joy to suffer for His sake._ And they will not stop, even when commanded by those in authority, from preaching in His name! Amen!

#  The Tongue 1

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-tongue-1.htm

Saturday, March 4, 2017

By D. T. Bourdeau

"The tongue," says James, "is a little member, and boasteth great things. **Behold, how great a little fire kindleth!** And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell." James iii, 5, 6.

**This is said of an unsanctified tongue, and shows that though the tongue is a small member yet it exerts a mighty influence.** It sustains a relation to and exerts an influence over the whole body. It is compared to bits that we put in the horses' mouths and by which we turn about the whole body; and to a helm by which the mighty ships are turned whithersoever the governor listeth. Verses 3, 4. Such is the importance that James attaches to governing the tongue that he declares, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole body." "If any among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain." Verse 2: Chap. i, 26. **And Solomon must have been forcibly struck with the necessity of governing the tongue when he wrote,** "Life and death are in the power of the tongue." Prov. xviii, 21.

**The tongue, as an instrument of speech, is one of**

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**those prerogatives which exalt man above the beast, and was designed by the Creator to express holy and virtuous thoughts.** It is an index to the heart; "for out of the abundance of the heart," says our Saviour, "the mouth speaketh." Matt. xii, 35. _The use that is made of the tongue indicates the moral condition of the heart, and consequently the character of the whole man_ ; and there are as many ways in which men sin with their tongues as there are in which they sin with their thoughts, tempers and actions.

**It is readily seen that the sanctification of the tongue is a vast subject.** But we will confine ourselves to some leading principles and thoughts, and to some of the many Bible instructions on the subject.

**And first, the tongue is rightly used in speaking of and addressing the Creator with reverence, according to his holy and exalted perfections and our dependence upon him.** If we do this from the heart we shall not be guilty of taking God's holy name in vain. _We shall realize his goodness and love, and will not be inclined to murmur against him, but will be grateful to him for his dealings with us, and for the least blessing we receive at his hand._

**But while the tongue is properly used in speaking of, and addressing, God in a manner compatible with his holy perfections and our dependence upon him, it should speak of, and address, others with respect** , according to the relations they sustain to us and the Creator. In speaking of the wrong use of the tongue, James says, "Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God. **Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing My brethren, these things ought not so to be.** " James iii, 9, 10.

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**It is not a small matter to curse others with the tongue.** If we curse our fellow creatures who are made in the image of God and have God for their Father, we offend God, and are not in a condition to bless or exalt him, and he cannot accept a blessing from us, **Indeed, he cannot look on any thing that we can say to exalt him as a blessing.** _**What we say of him proceeds from the same heart that leads us to curse those whom he has created, and over whom his care, love and mercy are extended**_. This is clearly illustrated in the following verses: "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." Verses 11, 12.

**Cursing is the opposite of blessing, and we can curse others in various ways.** And the ungodly are not the only ones that are guilty here. James is here admonishing and correcting his "brethren."

**We curse others with the tongue in slandering and backbiting.** The unsanctified tongue is said to be full of deadly poison, and its deadly and poisonous influence is felt by others. _It would be considered a heinous crime to put a portion of strychnine or arsenic into food prepared for others_ ; but many consider it a light thing to poison the character of others, and injure their feelings by slandering, backbiting or talebearing. **By these, thousands of innocent characters have been shamefully and maliciously martyred.**

**Many professed Christians are not guarded enough, and fail on this point.** If they are tried with a brother or sister, and see or hear any thing unfavorable about them, they are sure to tell it to others, and perhaps in their tried condition they will put a wrong construction

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on what they have learned; and if their remarks take and they are not checked, they will tell it to others, and then to others, and so on; and some are not satisfied till they have spread their slanderous reports among the enemies of truth. And then the poor, blinded, deceived souls may think they have done a noble work. **But what have they done?** They have got the sympathy of some, who will perish with them unless they repent. _They have blown on and fed the fire of hatred which they in weakness suffered Satan to kindle in their breasts, till it has grown and kindled a great matter, and others have been set on fire of hell._ They perhaps have discouraged weak and well-meaning brethren, who have not sufficient experience to meet their influence, and some of whom may never recover from the shock they have received. They have caused the good way to be evil spoken of, and some may have been shut out of the kingdom. **The Spirit and lovers of peace have been grieved, and Satan and his contentious host rejoice.**

**It is not strange that those who know not God, and the power of his truth, should indulge in slandering and backbiting** ; but for those who profess to know God and his truth, for professed followers of Jesus Christ, to backbite and slander, is shameful and criminal in the extreme.

**But thank God, those sins need not exist in the church of God, if gospel order and discipline are carried out.** Says Christ, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone," etc. Matt. xviii, 15-17. Here is the proper course marked out by the Saviour. First go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. **He does not say, go and tell his fault to everybody**

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**in the church and to everybody in the world.** Those who do this err, and need to be immediately labored with themselves. If those who are tried with their brethren, would go directly to them with their grievances, they would not have so much to say, and much trouble might be saved.

**But some will here say, if ever wisdom is needed it is in doing this duty.** This is true. But James says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him;" chap. i, 5; and he describes heavenly wisdom as follows: " **The wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.** " Chap. iii, 17. If every trait of this wisdom were fully examined, and strictly followed, this would be an easy duty to perform.

**The following scriptures show how God looks upon slandering, backbiting and talebearing: "He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is fool."** "Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off." " **For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults.** " "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer

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among thy people. . . I am the Lord thy God." "He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth (or enticeth, margin) with his lips." " **Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out; so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.**" Prov. x, 18; Ps. 1, 20; ci, 5; 2 Cor. xii, 20; Lev. xix, 16; Prov. xx, 19; xxvi, 20.

**One of those sins of backslidden Israel over which Jeremiah was grieved, and which ripened Israel to receive the lingering wrath of Jehovah, was slandering.** Jer. ix, 1-4. And when David undertakes to describe the man who will abide in the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell in his holy hill, among other things he says, "He that backbiteth not with his tongue." Ps. xv, 1-3.

**We should never use the tongue in speaking of others in any way to injure them. We should guard against bearing false witness.** This is often done unintentionally by exaggerating. _**It is better to say nothing about the faults of others, than to speak of them in a manner to defame the character.**_ When it becomes necessary to speak of the sins of our fellow creatures, we should show that while we hate sin, we love and pity the sinner. **When we are about to speak concerning the faults of others, we should ask ourselves questions like these** : Will what I am about to say benefit any one? **Will it be rightly handled?** Will it benefit the cause? **Am I going to speak as I would like to have others speak of me if I were in the same condition?**

**Evil-speaking is strictly and repeatedly prohibited by the Scriptures; and under the head of evil-speaking, is speaking evil of dignities.** Jude 8. The

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evil of this sin is not realized by all. **Some are liable to overlook the sacred position of those whom God calls to help in leading out his people toward the rest that remains for the children of God.** Like ancient Israel, they look upon these agents as though the work with which they are connected was merely a human work, and speak accordingly. **Some, like Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and a host of others, not realizing the weight and responsibilities of this work, will envy the position of those who are called to it.** Num. xvi. They think they are of consequence and that the servants of God take too much upon themselves. **They despise dominion, attribute the cause of their trials to dignities, and murmur when they are corrected for their sins.** By pursuing this course they despise God, and murmur against him. "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Luke x, 16.

**The fate of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the punishment of others spoken of in the Scriptures, are sufficient to teach us how God regards this sin.** But besides this, we have in the backsliding and fall of many within our own recollection, a clear demonstration of God's disapprobation for this sin, and of the necessity of guarding against it.

**We curse others with the tongue in speaking angry words, in freting and scolding.** No good has ever resulted from so doing. **Angry words, fretting and scolding, have never benefited any one.** They have often proved a curse and a source of much evil. **They may overpower and intimidate the fearful for the time being; but they will never reform them.** They are destructive of peace, affection, and

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happiness. **Peace and angry words do not exist together, and who can love habitual fretters and scolders with a love of approbation?** Such are more dreaded than loved. _Even the meek will feel an uneasiness while in the society of such._ Though they may bear with, and pity them, they will feel as if among nettles and thistles.

> [Editor removed: 'On the' preceding 'they have often']

**Thousands of families are made miserable and unhappy by irritating words.** In many instances, parents fail here. Instead of speaking kind and cheerful words; they complain and fret and scold. As they do this, they are shut up to each others' faults. The husband sees no virtue in his wife, and the wife sees no virtue in her husband. Separation often follows. **Many a husband has been driven to the tavern by a fretful and peevish wife, and many a wife has been discouraged / and made miserable by a fretful and complaining husband.**

**But the evil is not confined to the heads of families: the children generally imitate their parents.** They do not obey them through love, but through fear and dread, and perhaps to not be annoyed by their fretting and scolding. **Some children will conceal from their parents important matters, and tell falsehoods to avoid a scolding.** Home has no attractions to such children; and many in discouragement will leave their parents.

Prov. xii, 18: " **There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.** " While the unsanctified tongue causes discord, sorrow, gloom, discouragement and death, **the sanctified tongue brings peace, joy, light, courage, health and life to those who use it, and to those who eat of its fruit.**

**It is quite an easy matter to speak pleasant and**

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**cheerful words to the meek, to those who always bless us; but it is more difficult to speak words of pleasantness to those who address us with angry words, to such as curse and revile us.** But we are expressly commanded to bless them that curse us, to bless and curse not, to not render railing for railing. Luke vi, 28; Rom. xii, 14; 1 Pet. iii, 9. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. . . . Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." 1 Pet. ii, 21-23.

" **A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.** " Prov. xv, 1. In our intercourse with our fellow-creatures, a spoonful of oil is better than a quart of vinegar. **By taking revenge of an injury we are only even to our enemy; but by passing it over we are superior.** And a more glorious victory cannot be obtained over another than to return injury with kindness. _Those who give away to anger and speak angry words, manifest real weakness of soul._ **They may at times think they gain victories over their enemies; but they are overcome by Satan and their own corrupt propensity.** They are apt to say things that they would be ashamed of if they were in their right mind. For instance how liable some are to call others fools, devils, etc., when they are angry with them. But Christ shows in what light he views these rash and irritating expressions when he says, "Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca (or vain fellow, margin), shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall

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say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. v, 22.

**Christ pronounces a blessing upon peace-makers.** He says, "They shall be called the children of God." Matt. v, 9. _In striving to make peace they imitate their Creator, who has done so much to bring peace into this revolted province, and to reconcile us unto himself._ **God sacrificed his dearly beloved Son for this object, and can we not deny ourselves a little, by not indulging in angry expressions?** Can we not encourage and enforce the principles of peace by a meek and godly conversation?

**The tongue is wrongly used in lying, and should be employed in telling the truth.** The Lord has spoken clearly and repeatedly on this point, both in the Old and New Testaments, showing the evil that is caused by lying, and setting forth the awful consequences that await liars, and the advantages and blessings that result from telling the truth.

**Lying originated with the Devil, who is the father of lies, and a liar from the beginning.** He lied to Eve and beguiled her, and since then, lying has been practiced in many ways, and for various purposes.

**But the lying tongue cannot be relied upon.** It is ever looked upon with suspicion by the prudent. But it is considered safe to confide in those who are always known to tell the truth. He that sets out to tell a lie is not sensible of the task he undertakes; for he may be forced to invent many more to support it.

**Lying is often practiced to get gain.** This is seen in buying and selling. _It has almost become a universal custom for those who sell to speak too highly of the articles they hold out for sale, and to say little or nothing about their defects, thus making an impression_

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_that these articles are worth more than they really are; and for those who buy to undervalue the articles they wish to buy, and to say little or nothing about their qualities, thus conveying the idea that they are worth less than they are in reality._

**And just here we would notice the case of Ananias and Sapphira.** They sold their possession, and kept back part of the price, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet. They lied in trying to convey the idea that they had brought the whole price. **But what language was used to convey this false idea?** Peter said to Sapphira, "Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea for so much." Acts. v. **And the fate of Ananias and Sapphira is known to all Bible students.**

**Doubtless if many at the present time were in the condition of Ananias and Sapphira, and were permitted to live and speak for themselves, they would justify themselves somewhat as follows:** Why, I did not lie: I said I sold it for so much. I did sell it for that and something else. **But would such be more justified than were Ananias and Sapphira?** And will not the punishment of such be as certain as was theirs?

**One common way of lying is to attempt to uphold error by the word of the Lord.** Those who do this knowingly, or ignorantly when they might have known but refused to know, may be classed among liars. In order to give force to what they say, and make their remarks appear truthful, they must intimate or affirm that the Lord has spoken when he has not spoken; that the Bible says thus and so when it does not.

**Cases of lying spoken of in the Bible are sometimes referred to, to prove that guile may be used on certain**

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**occasions to bring about a good end; and falsehoods are often told to cover sin**. But the Bible nowhere justifies lying. _It teaches that we should not do evil, that good may come._ **None of those who used guile in Bible times were blessed of God for lying** ; but such as were blessed of God, were blessed for good traits that they possessed; and their lives would shine brighter in the heavenly records if they had not spoken guile.

**No consideration should lead us to practice deceit.** It is better to frankly confess our sins than to tell falsehoods to cover them, and to lose by telling the truth, than to gain by using guile. Of the holy Pattern we read, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." 1 Pet. ii, 22. **And of the last church it is written, "The remnant of Israel shall do no iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth."** Zeph. iii, 13. "And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." Rev. xiv, 5.

**The tongue is wrongly used in speaking vain and idle words.** "But I say unto you, That for every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. **For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.** " Matt. xii, 36, 37. If all were duly impressed with the truthfulness of this solemn declaration of the Saviour, vain and idle words would be fewer than they now are. But men will have to give account for their idle words in the day of judgment, whether they realize it or not. **By our words we will either be justified or condemned in that day.**

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"How careful then ought we to live,

With what religious fear,

Who such a strict account must give

Of our behavior here."

By D. T. Bourdeau, from his book: "Sanctification - SANCTIFICATION OR, LIVING HOLINESS", 1864, p. 55 - 67.

> "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. v, 23.

Blog Article edited by John Foll.

# Why are the Spiritual Gifts in the book of Acts not still with us today?

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/03/why-are-spiritual-gifts-in-book-of-acts.html

****

**Saturday, March 4, 2017**

By **John Foll**, written 3/4/2017

© Copyright 2017 John Foll

This was written as a response to a question in Disqus.com: **Did the Spiritual Gifts Die with the Apostles?**

<https://disqus.com/home/discussion/channel-callingallchristians/did_the_spiritual_gifts_die_with_the_apostles/>

**The Gifts of the Spirit are not gone from among those who have given themselves completely to God.**

**For over 100 years, God's church as a whole, not as individuals, has been in a lukewarm state as Jesus predicted it would be in Revelation 3:14-22, before the Judgement.** Revelation chapter 2 and 3 reveal to us that there are seven church "periods", beginning with the Church in the book of Acts to the Seventh Church, just before the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world. There have been more than one scholar and more than one denomination that taught this. _We believe that God has given a measure of the Spirit to each of the Seven Churches in each of the seven ages, but not everyone has accepted the Spirit or met the conditions to receive the Spirit. **See Joel 2 for the conditions: complete repentance.**_

> * Proof that God's church has been for over 100 years in a lukewarm state is outside the scope of this article.
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> * We believe that in each of the periods of God's church there have been people who have had not only the Fruits of the Spirit, but the Gifts of the Spirit as well.

**But to answer the question proposed on Disqus.com: 'Did the gifts die with the Apostles?' No!** But it should be clear to all that there is something wrong with a lot of God's church today, since they are not bearing the Christian fruits of the Spirit of peace, love, joy, faith, hope, self-control, etc. **How do we know this?** _By their fruits shall you know them._ Matthew 7:16-20. **There is unkindness, lack of love, lack of peace, addictions, falsehoods, worldliness, strife, and wickedness, yes, even among those professing to know God and His Son Jesus.** But many seek to excuse themselves and there are many false teachers that teach people to excuse their lack of love and godliness in their life, _but the Bible is clear that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life – but only given to the humble and the penitent._ Romans 6:23; Luke 18:13-14. Jesus clearly promised the Gift of the Holy Spirit to all of His disciples, which should be all Christians, since all Christians should want to be Jesus' disciple, and they should all be filled with the Holy Spirit. **If they really loved Jesus, they would be His disciple!** Acts 1:4-5; John 14:16-17; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16, Acts 2:3-4, Luke 13:26-33.

**Jesus' answer to the First Church of Ephesus gives us the reason why the Gifts of the Spirit are not apparently seen here in our day, to the same extent as in the book of Acts:** Because God's people have lost their first love for Him! Revelation 2:4-5. This passage also tells us how God's church can get the Holy Spirit back... if they repent and do their first works. **What works?** By becoming truly converted and loving Jesus all the way, and He will give us the power to do His works. **We cannot do this ourselves, we must submit fully to God, and receive this power from Him if we want it.** Then we will preach the gospel to the world with great love, joy and power, and love our neighbor as ourselves! This was the church that started out strong in the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, but by the time Paul died and for sure after John the beloved died, the church had lost their first love for Jesus and His Father! And they also lost the full power of the Holy Spirit as well. The Church has yet to recover this full strength yet in our day. **The book of Hebrews also gives us a clue too as to why many don't have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in their life, because of unbelief!** (It doesn't mention this specifically, but this is an application of what it says.) See Hebrews 3:19; 4:6, 22.

**Those who have no desire to live by the gospel or to preach it to the world, or who have lost their first love for Jesus or never had it, cannot have the wonderful sweet promise of the Holy Spirit, nor the Fruits nor the Gifts of the Spirit either, unless they have a great change made in them willingly!** But if they have a change in their mind and give themselves to Jesus all the way, they should receive the Holy Spirit in full. Note what Peter here says, "And we are witnesses of these things; and _so is_ the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." Acts 5:32 NASB. **So we see here that the Holy Spirit is given by God only to those who obey Him** (or want to obey Him), **this implies that they have submitted themselves completely to Him.** There is no middle ground here.

**The Gifts of the Spirit cannot be the gifts of the Spirit, without the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit.** I. e. if someone wants to have the Gifts of the Spirit, they MUST first have the Fruits of the Spirit. _Their heart must be converted and completely devoted to God, if this is not the case, they do not have the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit._ Or they do not want to obey God, Acts 5:32, or do not want to be Jesus' friend and do all that He commanded, especially that we would love one another, and everyone in the world. John 15:14, 12-13. **The full outpouring of the Holy Spirit is given on the condition of complete repentance and yielding to God.** See Joel 2 and Jeremiah 31:31-34. There are popular teachings nowadays that say we don't need to be concerned too much, if at all, about obeying God or wanting to live a righteous life, or even to make a full confession, and some imply that it is a sin to do so. " **Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!** Woe unto _them that are_ wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:20-21 KJV.

**Unless a person has a desire to come clean with God, and make a complete repentance, they will never get the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, nor the Fruits of the Spirit, nor the Gifts of the Spirit.** _God's best gifts are only for those who love Him all the way, and more than anything and everything else._ But there is a false Holy Spirit out there, from 'the father of lies', and you can get this one quite easily without doing anything that Jesus or the Bible says that we should do, because it requires no cross to bear, and no confession to make, and no obedience to render. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11. **But we would rather have the true outpouring of the Holy Spirit and keep it, because as the song says, ''Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word.'** By Louisa M. R. Stead. If any will repent, and get their first love for Jesus, and give their heart completely to Him, and want to obey Him and love to obey Him, they too can get this 'promise of the Father' that Jesus promised to all Christians! **Jesus' sheep will all hear His voice, and follow Him wherever He goes, want to obey Him, and they will have His Spirit and belong to Him and have life abundantly.** John 10:27-29; Romans 8:9,14; Revelation 14:4. Jesus says, "'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.'" Revelation 3:20-21 NASB. **Amen.**

# And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it on the last day

WhiteRaimentEvangelism.blogspot.com/2017/03/and-this-is-will-of-him-who-sent-me.html

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**Saturday, March 4, 2017**

By **John Foll**, written 3/4/2017 and earlier.

**© Copyright 2017 John Foll**

" **And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of** **all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.** For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." John 6:39-40 NASB. "And He was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.'" John 6:65 NASB.

**Wow! It's the Father's will, if you will give your heart to Him, that He will give you to Jesus, and Jesus will raise you up on the last day!** _Whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life!_ **How do you know that the Father has given or will give you to Jesus?** If you behold Jesus and believe in Him, you will be given to Jesus as the text says, and He will raise you up on the last day. You cannot lose if you do this. **How do we know this?** Because Jesus said here that He will lose none of those who have been given to Him. **The condition again?** To behold Jesus, God's Son, and believe in Him.

**Stop thinking about your past failures and problems.** Just believe that the Father and Jesus the Son love you. Just believe that the Father will give you to His precious Son Jesus, who will raise you up to eternal life. He will give you a wonderful spiritual life now and when you die, He will raise you up on the last day! No one can come to Jesus, unless the Father draws him (by the power of the Holy Spirit). This is what is meant by 'all that the Father gave me'.

**In the New Testament of the Bible there are many comparisons between baptism, death, the resurrection of Jesus and the resurrection of our heart to walk in the newness of life** – but these are often an allusion to the literal resurrection of the dead, that is promised to all who believe. Jesus also said this in our passage above in John 6:39-40 that He will raise up all who are given to Him by the Father on the last day! **Is that what you want? To be raised up by Jesus on the last day?** Then behold Jesus and believe in Him, and let Him create a clean heart in you (Psalms 51:10), and ask God to help you to become born again, so that you can enter the kingdom of God. John 3:3, 5.

**God promised through the prophet Jeremiah that He would make a New Covenant with His people** (the house of Israel and Judah, which also includes all Christians who give themselves to God, see Galatians 3:29), which was to be fulfilled starting at Pentecost in Acts 2 and continue to our day: " **"Behold, days are coming** , " declares the LORD, " **when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah**, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. " **But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days** ," declares the LORD, " **I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.** They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, " **for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.** "" Jeremiah 31:31-34 NASB. In this promise, not only does God want to write His Law in our heart, He wants all to know Him from the least to the greatest – **this is also a prophecy of Heaven, which is when this prophecy will have its sweetest, complete fulfillment!** But we can all have the first part fulfilled now, where God will write His Law in our heart.

**So there is a link between being baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection and the New Birth of John 3:3, 5 and God promising to create a new heart in His people of Jeremiah 31:31-34, and when Jesus finally takes His people to Heaven, at the Second Coming.** Baptism/death, raised from the water/raised into the Newness of Jesus' resurrection through baptism, and to the resurrection of the dead on the last day. If we love Jesus and want to be saved we will want to die with Him, through baptism (and each day die to sin), and be raised to newness of life, and to be resurrected on the last day. " **It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him** ; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." 2 Timothy 2:11-13 NASB. Paul indicates that if we want eternal life, we should die with Jesus in baptism, and not deny Jesus. And in 1 Corinthians 15:31, he also adds 'die to self'. " _That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved._ " Romans 10:9 KJV. We should ask God for His Holy Spirit to help us to be faithful to Him, and not deny Him or His Son Jesus by our words, deeds, thoughts, or by the way we live, so that He will not deny us. "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, **Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.** " 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 KJV. God does not want to appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus, as Paul says above, and that waking or sleeping we should live together with Him. It is the will of the Father, as Jesus said above in John 6:40, that all believe in Jesus and obtain eternal life. **Therefore believe.**

" **Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?** Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. **For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also _in the likeness_ of _his_ resurrection**: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with _him_ , that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. _For he that is dead is freed from sin._ **Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him** : Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:3-11 KJV. _If you are not walking in newness of life with God's love in your heart, or do not love God more than anything and everything else, or do not love your neighbor as yourself, then you have not  fully, truly been baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, or you have not truly beheld the Son Jesus or believed in Him,_ _  or you have not continued like this_ _._ But if you are walking in newness of life, life is good and sweet, even if you are going through great difficulties and trials, and your heart will long to serve God and tell others how much He loves them, and help them in whatever way you have in your power to do. " **Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do _it._** _"_ Proverbs 3:27 NASB. **And to whom is good do?** To every child of God; every human being on this earth, good or bad, because God loves them all! **If you are born from above, this will be your sweetest desire, to help all when it is in your power to do so.**

**If you know you are not yet where you should be, or are not walking in newness of life, and you have not truly beheld the Son nor believed in Him, or are not born again, there is still hope!** The door of mercy is still open! **Get on your knees and plead with God to have mercy on you a sinner, and ask Him to help you to become born again.** _Ask God to help you to be more willing, and yield yourself completely to Him._ God will always hear your prayer when you beg Him for mercy and cling to Him for help like this! Deuteronomy 10:20, 13:4; Joshua 23:8; Psalms 63:8. **And you can yet be born from above! Amen!**

**This is what we want and continue to want, to be raised in newness of life, and to be raised on the last day to be with Jesus and His Father in Heaven forever.** _There is a great joy and a great reward in loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself, because love is the fulfillment of the Law!_ Romans 13:10, and Psalms 19:7-11. This is God's promise to all who behold Jesus and believe in Him.

**Finally, to end this article, we want to bring this final statement from Paul regarding our blessed hope:**

> " **But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.** For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of _the_ archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. **Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.** Therefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NASB.

**Amen.**

# White Raiment Evangelism Purpose:

It is our desire to help as many people as possible learn how to be happy, and have the assurance of their salvation. There is no reason for people to not be happy, have guilt, or not have the assurance of their salvation, if they want it, and are willing to learn what God wants from them and desire to please Him. It is our desire that everyone who wants it, would find 'the Pearl of Great price', and that they would have a well of water springing up in them, unto eternal life!

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Labels: sons of God, How To Be Happy, How To Get The Holy Spirit, How to have happiness, How to Have It All, How To Have Love, How To Have Peace, How To Have the Victory

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