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.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
"The day you receive the holy Ghost is your first day in God's school." So Preacher Clark often taught those who would listen to him. This was another of the simple statements that I often heard as I was growing up in the Lord; it was a regular part of the saints' spiritual diet. The message was simple. This morning I heard Preacher Clark preaching in another old meeting tape (this one undated but probably also from the late 70's) that "no one can attain to the mind of Christ until after he receives the Spirit of Christ." I wish that all God's children would be taught that.
Paul taught the saints of his time this same truth. In one place he wrote, "We have access by one Spirit unto the Father." Obviously, when Paul says, "access to the Father", he means access to the Father's storehouse of wisdom, goodness, and power. There is no access to God or to the things of God but by the holy Ghost. The things of God are delivered to man by His Spirit that He sent to earth as the Vicar of Christ. In another place, Paul explains, "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." And he followed this by adding, "The natural man receiveth not the things of God . . . because they are spiritually discerned."
Jesus revealed to his disciples some wonderful things, and he even opened their minds to some of the ancient Scriptures concerning him before they received the holy Ghost (e.g., Lk. 24:45), and he does the same thing now for those who hunger for righteousness. But before the holy Ghost comes in, no man has eternal life dwelling within him. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his", wrote Paul to the saints at Rome. No man can possibly know the living God before God starts living in him.
Your own personal access to God will only come through the holy Ghost. Each person can have, and must have, his own connection with the Lord. And when that connection is made, when you receive God's Spirit, your first day in God's school has begun. There, we may sit at the feet of the Master who said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."