Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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From a sermon by Preacher Clark at Grandma’s house, January 21, 1970
The call of God is never to an organization; it is only to Himself. Remember that! When God calls, He calls us to Himself. And since the only access we have to God is through the Spirit (Eph. 2:18), whenever He calls, He is calling us to be filled with that. Jesus said that the holy Spirit would come to us in his name (Jn. 14:26); therefore, Jesus is the door (Jn. 10:1-7) through which the Spirit of life comes to take us to God. It is only by that Spirit that we will ever be able to answer God’s call to come to Him.
This is the understanding behind the unusual statement in Preacher Clark’s sermon that day in 1970. In his preaching, he said bluntly, “God has never called a person except to receive the holy Ghost.” That may seem startling to an undiscerning ear, but Peter proclaimed the same truth in Acts 2, on the famed day of Pentecost. Paul wrote that we “receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”, and Peter, on that Pentecost morning told the listening Jews, “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are far off, as many as the Lord our God may call.”