Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

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Jesus Christ is Lord

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

We need to get this through our head, Jesus Christ is Lord. Not you, not me, but Jesus Christ, the son of God, the firstborn from the dead, He is Lord. He is the judge. He is the master and we all are His servants. When you have a supreme commander He will give many different ones different orders. Some may be sent to infiltrate the enemy, others may sit and listen to the radio to intercept transmissions, still others may fly the bombers, or refuel the bombers, and still others man the guard posts. Everyone is essential, including the cook who prepares the food.

10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Why? It isn't a rhetorical question. Don't you think the enemy would love to divide the army by having everyone judge each other? Don't you think the enemy would love for us to set an nought each other, shake each others faith, cause some to stumble and backslide? When you judge and set an nought each other you are falling for Satan's temptation. This is a team sport, it takes all of us to do our part.

11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

This isn't a non sequitor. Why are you judging your brother? Because you are not bowing your knee and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Why are you setting at nought your brother? Because you are not bowing your knee and confessing that Jesus Christ is the son of God and through Him all things have been created.

12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Imagine you appear before that throne and you are asked to give account of why you were setting at nought some brother or judging some brother and at that moment you learn that brother or sister was serving the Lord, they were being faithful, and they had a special assignment from Him. I think I would be filled with shame if that were me trying to defend myself.

13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

It is one thing for me to look at some Youtube channel and dismiss it, decide I'm not going to "waste my time with that". I may discover at the judgment seat that was a mistake. My error was in not lifting it up to the Lord, asking Him what He wants me to look at. I will need to repent for that. But, what would be much worse is if I decide I need to go on a crusade against this brother or sister's channel without taking that to the Lord. Imagine I build a whole ministry on trying to debunk this brother or sister without taking that to the Lord. This will be much more serious.

 

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For meat destroy not the work of God

Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Paul is willing to eat all things, which I interpret to mean he will look at current events, he will look at dreams and visions, he will look at prophecies, he will look at predictive programming and he will look at bible codes.

15 But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

However, that doesn't mean he will share about all these things with everyone. Most Christians would be offended at using Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings in a sermon. Most Christians are uncomfortable talking about Bible codes.

16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of: 17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

None of those things is the kingdom of God. If Paul saw you talking to a new believer and causing them to lose their peace and joy in the Holy Spirit he would intervene and put a stop to it, even if what you were sharing was valid. Think of the topics that are being circulated today about the vaccine, about bunkers, about Nephilim, etc. There are topics that will cause many new believers to become confused.

18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

These things refer to peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Do not use this as a justification to then condemn others for what they are sharing. If people are disturbed by the current events they may go to the church looking for answers. You are not making peace for them by saying that topic is off limits, on the contrary you are forcing them to go elsewhere for their answers. Why do you think 634,000 have come to this blog? I don't advertise. They are coming because they want to know what the Bible says about this topic which the church has told them "is off limits". Also, this topic does edify. God said He alone can tell the end from the beginning. The fact that the Bible told us what will take place thousands of years ago and today it is taking place, that proves that the Bible is the word of God and that God, He alone is God and there is no other. It also leads to peace because everyone can see that the Lord is in charge, you can put your trust in Him.

20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.

If someone doesn't want to hear about predictive programming or Bible codes, fine, don't destroy the work of God to push some pet doctrine.

21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

I meet at church, it has come up that I have a blog and I have said where the blog can be found to those who are interested. But I don't push what I share here on others at church because I realize the people at church can be anywhere along their path to the Lord, some may be unsaved, some may be new believers, for some the only suitable food is milk.

22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.

This is why I purposefully don't advertise. If someone is seeking for "a summary of Bible references on the rapture" then they can find this blog. Most likely it is word of mouth that people have found it. But I have not forced this on anyone.

23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

 

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Isaiah 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Israel is returning from exile a second time. But, it is a second time from Shinar (Babylon), it is a second time from Assyria, it is a second time from Egypt, a second time from Persia, etc. According to Jewish tradition and understanding they returned once from each of those places. The second time from all those places must refer to the return from the diaspora, this prophecy refers to 1948.

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Again, this must refer to 1948. Yes, Israel was exiled a few times and returned a few times, but it was only once from each of those places. The second time, in 1948, was a second time from all those places.

13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

The Philistines to the west refers to Gaza in 2023 and 2024. They shall spoil them of the east refers to Jordan and Syria and the Assad regime being defeated in December of 2024.

15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.

The crossing of the red sea is compared to the rapture of the seven streams (the church).

16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

The remnant here refers to tribulation saints fleeing to Israel like a traffic jam on a highway fleeing a city on fire to a refuge. From the context they would be fleeing Ephraim, referring to the USA.

 

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Daniel 11: 1-5 A DEEP Study... Mirroring the Past with events of the Present

 

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There is a misunderstanding about the tribulation

Let's walk through this logically, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was a massive victory, in the same way the rapture of the saints is a massive victory. This will crown the gospel. When the sixth seal is opened it says the rulers and great men of the earth hide themselves under the mountains because the great day of the wrath of the lamb has come. Everyone on earth knows that Jesus Christ is the lamb. Prior to the rapture they say "there are many religions, who knows who is right" but no one is saying that after the rapture. There is a lot of similarity among religions, but the one thing that stands out for Christians is the rapture. That is how you know that it is the wrath of the lamb, because of the rapture.

We are also told that when the manchild is caught up the fallen angels are cast down to the earth and that Satan is really angry because he knows his time is short. The tribulation is the end game when Satan knows he has lost and he is going to behave as a very bad loser.

So think of the rapture as the Lord pulling the first string off the field. When I played football we had 40 kids on the team but only 11 were on the field at any one time. Everyone else was a spectator. Just because you were on the bench doesn't mean you wanted to be, the problem was that you weren't on the first string. So the Lord pulls them off so you can get a turn on the field. You pull the first string off when the game is won, after the rapture the game is won.

But you might say, what about all these demons and angels and plagues and famines and horrible stuff that takes place? All of those things were part of Satan's toolkit for the entire church age, the difference is he was able to operate in the shadows, secretly, in the dark. Think about a poisonous snake, it likes to hide in the shadows and when you walk by then it strikes. But now this snake is out in the open, everyone can see it. That is not how snakes and scorpions like to operate. When you can't see these things then Satan can tell you that he is not real, that is his greatest deception. But during the tribulation he can't say that anymore. Imagine being able to preach the gospel when everyone knows that Satan is real and that Jesus Christ is Lord and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the true gospel and that Jesus has the power of life and death. That would be a cakewalk.

But what about the mark of the beast and getting your head chopped off if you refuse it? That is like the very best testimony ready made for you. Many people don't like to preach the gospel because they don't know what to say.

But here it is simple,

Antichrist's henchman: "will you take the mark of the beast?"

Believer: "No."

AH: "OK then we will chop your head off."

B: "No problem I put my trust in the name of Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead."

 

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to Summarize --

1. I believe the Temple records show that that sign of Jonah which Jesus pronounced on the Jewish leaders for officially rejecting Jesus as the Messiah began in 30 AD and that 2,000 years later in 2030 AD we will see Jesus enliven the Jews as a nation, receiving that Jesus was the Messiah and saying Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.

2. I also believe that Jesus was crucified in 32 AD and that in that year He ascended to the heavens and poured out the Spirit on Pentecost to the apostles and disciples. This was the good report from Joshua and Caleb and was 38 years before 70 AD. That 2,000 years later in 2032 AD the Lord will lift up the Jews, this will be the year He steps down on Mount of Olives and destroys the armies at Armageddon, the conclusion of the seven year tribulation.

3. Based on that calculation the seven year tribulation would begin seven years earlier in 2025. However, for the Jews Jacob's trouble begins ten years prior to 2032. There were a lot of events that began on Feast of Trumpets in 2022 for the Jews but it all culminated with Hamas invasion on October 7 of 2023 indicating we were now officially in Jacob's trouble.

4. The events that began ten years before 2030, the Pandemic in 2020, global shutdown and vaccine mandate, these all fulfilled the prophecy in Joel saying that the Day of the Lord was at hand (ie next door).

I thought the sign of the prophet Jonah was this. Jonah was in the belly of the beast 3 day. Just as Jesus was gonna be in the belly of death 3 days. That is my interpretation

 

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I thought the sign of the prophet Jonah was this. Jonah was in the belly of the beast 3 day. Just as Jesus was gonna be in the belly of death 3 days. That is my interpretation

Yes, and Jesus being crucified and raised from the dead was the sign of Jonah. But Jonah also went into the city and preached that in 40 days the city would be destroyed and he walked to and fro thru the city. From the time that Jesus said they would get the sign of Jonah Jesus and His disciples walked to and fro throughout Israel and Jerusalem proclaiming they needed to repent or they would be destroyed (that is the unforgivable sin) and the temple records also confirm that beginning in 30 AD the atoning sacrifice was never accepted by God for the forty years up to 70 AD.

Nineveh repented and God relented telling Jonah they don't know their right hand from their left. But in the gospels Jesus tells the Pharisees that because they say they can see their sin remains. They did not repent and receive Jesus as the Messiah and so the judgment was carried out.

 

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What should Christians be doing during the Church Age?

Isaiah 12:1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

This is the church age. Isaiah begins with a vision of the end, and then takes us to the beginning. We were sinners, we were enemies of God and then we were saved, Jesus became our strength and song, He became our salvation.

3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

This is what believers should be doing today. Praise the Lord, call on His name, declare His doings among the nations, let everyone know that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is our mission during the church age, to spread this gospel of the kingdom to the four corners of the earth.

5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

By all means, sing hymns of praise, and songs of praise and worship to the Lord. You know what is interesting, I was in a Buddhist country, you hear some chanting and strange sounding music, but no hymns of praise, no joy, all you ever hear is weird chanting. Likewise with FreeMasons and Muslims. You will hear that strange wailing calling people to prayer, you will see this vision of all the Muslims on the ground kneeling and you will hear these angry speeches from Muslims, but they are never depicted as singing songs of joy and praise. However, if you think about a Christian service it always includes hymns and songs of praise and worship.

6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

We are to be sharing our testimony, and preaching the gospel. I have seen people who do street ministry and I have done some of that, but it doesn’t have to be that. Youtube and the internet have made it very easy for anyone to cry out and shout that great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of the church.

 

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What should Christians be doing during the church age, part 2

13:1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.

But you know what some have been taught? They teach them that Isaiah 12 is what Christians should be talking about, but not Isaiah 13. Does that make any sense? If we are crying out that great is the Holy one in the midst of thee, and that Jesus Christ is Lord then everyone has the right to ask “what is Jesus going to do about the corruption we see in the superpowers like the US, Europe, Russia, China, etc.?

2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.

In chapter 12 we were told to share our testimony, preach the gospel, and sing hymns of praise. We all understand that this is what we are supposed to be doing during the church age. Well in this chapter we are told to lift up a banner against Satan’s kingdom and let them know the gates of hades will not prevail against the built up church. So if you tell Christians not to do this you are rebelling against the Lord’s command.

3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.

However, there is a key criteria. You must be sanctified. That means you are separated unto the Lord. Let’s say you were a pimp and then you confessed, and got saved. The Lord’s blood washed you from your sins. But you are still working as a pimp! You have not repented, you are not separated unto the Lord and so you are in no position to take a stand for the Lord against sin. First clean up your own house. Do not be foolish, if you are a social justice warrior while you are profiting off of slave labor, then you are nothing but a hypocrite. Think about the NBA, that is why they were mocked and ridiculed.

4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.

This “woke mob” has been mustered together by the Lord of Hosts. He intends to bring the whole corrupt mob down, but to do that you need to be in the Lord’s army and to that you must first be separated unto the Lord.

5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.

This chapter is about Babylon, I have shared extensively that what happened in the past between the Bablyonian empire and the Medo Persian empire will happen again, that which has been is that which will be. We aren’t talking about Iraq, they are not a superpower. We are talking about the USA. The Lord is mustering an army from all over the earth to come and destroy the whole land of the US. Not just Washington DC or NYC.

6 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. I have wondered repeatedly if this will start with suitcase nukes, Poseidon torpedos or will it start with meteorites, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and great earthquake? I think this answers the question. Think about the shock and awe of the first Gulf war. All the armies were mustered together in Saudi Arabia and then the night of the attack it was “shock and awe”. In the same way the answer to the question will it be man or God, the answer is yes. The men will be mustered by God and the shock and awe will include everything at God’s disposal.

7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

God is righteous. When I was preaching the gospel on college campus I was told repeatedly that “religion is fine for those who need a crutch but not for the person I was talking to because he was strong and fearless”. We will see how strong and fearless they are.

9 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

This is the goal, to destroy the sinners out of the land. Think about this election with Trump, wasn’t that the promise? Wasn’t that the reason many voted for him? Is this happening? Does anyone really believe that all the sinners will be destroyed out of it, or just the ones that get in the way of Trump?


10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

The only example of this happening in human history is when we have a huge volcanic eruption like Krakatoa.

The year the Earth experienced a significant "year without a summer" was 1816. This unusual climatic event was caused by the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. The eruption sent ash and volcanic gases into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and causing a noticeable drop in global temperatures.

11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Is there any country more arrogant than the US? The answer is no. There are people who are arrogant, and haughty, but if you want to think of a country it is the US.

 

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What should Christians be doing during the church age, part 3?

12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.

This is a reference to the rapture. In the Bible the word of God is likened to fine gold. All those who speak the word of God will be removed. People will be desperate to find out what the word of God says and there won’t be any (almost) to tell them. Of course there will be the two witnesses and the 144,000. During the church age we should be preaching the word of God.

13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

This could be a reference to a meteorite hitting the earth, could be a reference to a great earthquake and could be a reference to a super volcano. I suspect that the darkening of the earth refers to a super volcano erupting.

14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

This is another reference to the US. In most countries their own land is where they are living. Only in the US do we have a large number of people who view their own land as different from the US. People come to the US to “make a better life for themselves” by which they mean make more money. If the economy is completely destroyed they will all flee this place.

15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.

If you think about the US this makes no sense, everyone has guns, how can an invading army do this? Well first of all millions will flee, not the young children and not the elderly. Then second the roving gangs will become very scary killing the elderly and children and women.

16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

The looters will come through kill everyone in the way, rape and pillage.

17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

Then with the country in chaos, economy in shambles, roving gangs, everyone shooting and killing each other, then the army of the Medes shall come against us. Without electricity everything grinds to a halt in the US and within two weeks the situation will be absolutely critical. No clean water, dystentary, no gasoline, no cars or trucks working, no food, no refrigeration. Yes, there will be preppers and the Amish that will manage just fine, but in the cities it will be a horror show. After two months we could have a hundred million dead. Yes there will be the millionaires and billionaires who have gone down into their bunkers for two months, but when they come out the Medes (for our sakes let’s say Russians, N. Koreans, Iranians, Venezuelans, Chinese, etc.) will not care for their money.

18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.

It is not hard to smoke people out of a bunker.

19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

There is a picture of what it will look like. Totally obliterated and turned to ash. That sounds like great fires (without the fire department to put them out they will be horrific). Suitcase nukes and rioters set off fires that burn the land.

20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

Think about the deserts in Arabia or the Sahara. If this was simply a fire or a great volcanic eruption covering half the country in ash it would grow back relatively soon, after a few decades. But if this is due to suitcase nukes no one is going to live there.

21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

When you look at what happened to the Egyptian empire or the Babylonian empire in the past that is a warning to us about what God will do in the future.

22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

These two chapters give a wide range to what our preaching and teaching can cover. Praise and worship, grace, forgiveness, and mercy, as well as God's coming judgment, nuclear war, sanctification, and spiritual warfare. You can use the news, you can use current events, you can use natural disasters.

 

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Let's talk about the Great Deception

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

This is the first warning Jesus gave when they asked him about His second coming. Warfare involves deception. Expect this to be first and foremost among Satan's tools.

At this point everyone is familiar with deep fakes. Now imagine the AI has access to your phone, it knows the people you talk to, and so you get phone calls from them but actually it is from AI. It can also mimic not only their voice but their style of speaking and will know about things said on previous conversations. Think of the movie the terminator where the terminator could imitate any person it had come into contact with.

AI will also know your viewing history on Youtube, Facebook, Rumble, etc. As a result it can make deep fakes of people you watch and listen to. The deception can be tailored to each individual person.

Also the AI can categorize each person, suppose it decides you are a conservative evangelical Christian, that you will not be deceived into worshipping the Beast, but it can deceive you into walking into a trap so they can quickly and easily snatch you and put you into a concentration camp.

Now you might argue that if you don’t have a phone, and you don’t use the internet then it will be much harder for AI to do this to you. That is true. How many of those people that fit that criteria actually exist? But even if some do, what about their friends and family? Do they have wives, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles? The only ones AI won’t be able to round up using these deep fakes are the proverbial monk sitting on top of a mountain in the midst of a vow of silence.

This is why the Bible has a Bible code, it is like a watermark on the Bible that will be erased if anyone attempts to change the word of God. People should set up code words and ask questions about things only the two of you would know but have not been mentioned on the internet or in phone calls.

 

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More key discoveries about the 9th of Av

I can summarize these two videos. Aaron the high priest died on the 1st of AV. His son Eleazar became High Priest in his stead and had to be consecrated for 7 days taking us to the 8th of Av. Eleazar is a type of the Holy Spirit which was poured out on the 8th of Av which is Pentecost (contrary to traditional teaching in Christianity). Eleazar is also the helper that Jesus promised to send in the gospel of John and which was sent on Pentecost.

 

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Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

There are those who tell you the prophecies have been fulfilled. But if that were so the things written aforetime would not be for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Prophecies being fulfilled today and the promise of them being fulfilled in the near future gives us hope. Also we must with patience continue the race as they have not yet been fulfilled.

 

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Look at these saints, do any of these descriptions describe you and your service?

Romans 16:1 I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:

2 That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.

7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8 Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.

9 Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved.

10 Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household.

11 Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.

12 Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord.

13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14 Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.

15 Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them.

16 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.

 

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Satan's strategy

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

To cause divisions among the Body of Christ is Satan's strategy. That includes causing offences. Have you noticed how social media is always looking for something to be offended at which would then divide people. Be careful of anyone manipulating you by making you offended.

 

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Romans 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

This is my attitude toward much of the news. There is news about how the white hats are playing 4D chess against the Black hats. But my attitude towards evil is to be simple. Are they prosecuting them? Are they convicting them? Good. Otherwise I don't know anything about these deep and secret plans that are so complicated a simple person like me can't understand them.

Instead become wise about that which is good. I watched a documentary about the Black Panthers and they were fools about what was good. Jesus is wise about what is good, the New Testament is wise about what is good, and all these "social justice warriors" come across as fools.

25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

27 To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

 

[ZNP]

I thought this was interesting:

Peter — 156. Peter is named more than any other apostle. He is famous for denying the Lord and for putting his foot in his mouth repeatedly. I would say that Peter is the apostle that we all should identify with. His name means a stone and we are told that we are all precious stones. We all must be transformed just as he was transformed. I think if you look at this Peter is mentioned more than the other 11 apostles combined. So he really should be an all inclusive type for disciples of the Lord.

John the Baptist — 90. John the Baptist is referred to the second most in the New Testament. He was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, He was the one who paved the way for Jesus. Some preached the gospel knowing only John the Baptist and that was an incomplete gospel.

Apostle John — 36. He is mentioned the second most among apostles. Peter represents the left behind saints while John represents those that love the Lord and are raptured. Peter denied the Lord at the crucifixion, John was one with Jesus during the crucifixion. John is the one that took in Jesus' mother after the crucifixion.

Apostle James — 30. He is mentioned the third most among the apostles. He was martyred. His martyrdom is mentioned in Acts where as Peter's is not and neither is John's. In Revelation we learn that John went through tribulation prior to being caught up into the heavens at the coronation of Jesus. Peter, James and John were the three that were up on the mount of transfiguration. Peter is the tribulation saints, John is the raptured saints and James is the martyred saints.

Judas — 23. Judas is the fourth most mentioned among the original 12 apostles. Think about that, the role he played was very important. It was essential for Jesus to be betrayed by someone who was close to Him. Jesus can sympathize with us because like us He has gone through all these same trials. Being betrayed is a common trial. Also, Judas reveals a lot about false prophets. They will appear as disciples of the Lord, and they will be the ones holding the money bag.

Matthew — 5. Matthew is mentioned every time we get a list of the 12 apostles.

Paul -- 164. Paul is another all inclusive picture of a sinner saved by grace and transformed into the image and likeness of God, expressing Jesus Christ. Two is a testimony, so we need both Peter and Paul to get a full picture of the New Testament ministry of reconciliation and redemption.