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, early in 1969.
Paul wrote to the saints at Galatia, "I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Paul's gospel was not from Paul; he was not a theologian; he was a servant.
The same can be said about every true servant of God that has ever lived. The "Law of Moses" was not from Moses, not one word of it. Not one "word of the Lord" found in the book of Isaiah was of Isaiah's own mind or will, nor did the words of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the other prophets of God come from their own hearts. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man," wrote the apostle Peter, "but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost."
Peter was an authority on this subject because he himself was one of those "holy men of God" who were moved by the holy Ghost to speak and act on behalf of Christ. The prophetic words of God's servants are no more of the man who utters them than are the healings that anointed men of God perform. Whether the apostles were raising the dead or speaking of things to come, they were merely conduits through which God's wisdom and power were delivered to suffering people.
Jesus, too, was a servant of God. He was no more a theologian than was Paul; he formulated no doctrine, either. He spoke only what he heard from God. He said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know whether this doctrine is from me or from Him that sent me." It was this knowledge that he had been sent by God that Jesus pleaded with the leaders of his beloved Israel, "If you do not believe that I am he, you shall die in your sins."
The revelation of God to His servants sets apart the true gospel from the multitudes of conflicting gospels proclaimed by Christian ministers around the world. God has not sent those men to teach what they teach; therefore, it is safe to ignore them. One can reject any of the gospels that God has not revealed and still have a bright hope of eternal life. But if a man is sent by God with the true gospel of Jesus Christ, then those who hear that man will not meet God in peace unless they submit their souls to what he has said to them. That man's words are from God, and there is no escaping the requirement to believe God's words.
In his sermon that day, Preacher Clark said, "You're not going to [meet God in peace] without what I am telling you." Thirty-five years later, when I listened to the recording of him saying that, it impressed me that he should have had the courage to say it. His faith must have been in God rather than in himself. His was a tiny congregation; it met in such an out-of-the-way location. The poor and unrecognized circumstances of his incredible claim that day seem to be a mockery of its reality. But then, Jesus was out in the country, and there were just a few present when he said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build up my congregation." As far as authority is concerned, it does not matter where a man is standing, or how many people are paying attention, when God speaks. It is settled in heaven.
To some, Preacher Clark's astonishing claim that day may sound like the claim of a proud and deluded man, and such a claim is always just that-unless that man has truly heard from God. In that case, it is no mere claim; it is a warning. And it is a claim that any man of God should make in public, and that many men of God have made throughout history as a warning to the disobedient. In fact, if a man can't honestly tell people that they will lose their souls if they refuse his words, then his message has not been revealed to him by God, and your time would be better spent doing anything other than listening to him talk about Jesus.