Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

Matthew 9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

Jesus did not charge the Centurion not to tell people that his servant had been healed. But then you could assume it was a coincidence. He didn't tell the man with the palsy not to tell anyone, but again, people do get better and maybe the diagnosis wasn't really that bad. He didn't tell the woman with the issue of blood to keep quiet, but then probably very few people even knew about this or how serious it might have been. He didn't tell the parents of the child raised from the dead to keep quiet but then people would think maybe she hadn't really died, perhaps they made a mistake in declaring her dead.

My dad was deathly sick, the doctors said they expected him to die in the next few hours. When he saw me he told me he hadn't had a chance to fix his will. I prayed, and in the morning he was looking great, brought in a lawyer and wrote up his will. Over the next day or so they notarized it, witnessed it and got everything good. Two weeks later he died. My family credited his miraculous recovery to him getting a blood transfusion.

My mom had a stroke and was unable to speak and was paralyzed on one side of her body. I prayed and the next morning she was fine. Again, everyone simply said "these things happen".

But with people who have been blind and everyone knows they are blind and they come and in front of others get healed, that is different. That is a certifiable and undeniable miracle. Now you take that and go running so that everyone in the whole country knows about it. The temptation to become a huckster is very great, too great for a new believer. The minute you are speaking and witnessing for the Lord is the minute you are stepping into the ring to fight the enemy. Within a few verses the Jewish rulers are there saying that these miracles are being done by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. One minute you are up on the stage telling thousands that you were healed to the cheers and applause, the next minute you are cast as some evil henchman of Beelzebub. Jesus is telling them you are not ready to step into the ring, you will be destroyed, don't do it.

Now let's consider the Lord's word carefully. You have been blind your whole life, now you can see clearly. Don't you think people are going to ask you what happened? Don't you think some people will find out that you are no longer blind? Jesus is not saying that no one can know you are no longer blind. He is not telling them to pretend to still be blind. No, He is saying, "when they ask you what happened" simply say "I don't know, I prayed to Jesus and now I can see, don't know anything more than that". If they want to say it was a coincidence fine, don't argue.

Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

compare this with

Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

When Jesus told the disciples to say that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand that was probably 3 years away from His crucifixion, and 3 1/2 years away from Pentecost.

In Joel the event that causes everyone to say the day of the Lord is at hand is the Pandemic and the vaccine mandate. Perhaps Fall of 2021.

In Joel the word translated "at hand" means near, next door neighbor.

In Matthew the word means to come near so that you can lay your hand on it.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

When a believer is hated by all men they think something is wrong with them. But the reality is if a believer is not hated of all men then it is very possible something is wrong with them. We do not intentionally offend others. We speak the truth in love. Be careful, if your words are arrogant, or proud, you will be judged. Many times we speak Bible doctrines we think are correct and can be arrogant about it. On the other hand it is very difficult to speak the truth that people do not want to hear without offending them. For example, Jesus is the only way to the Father, no man comes unto God but by Him. That is highly offensive to about six billion people on this planet. Yes, the truth can be offensive, we should be aware of that, we should have love for those we are speaking to, but at the same time we don't shy away from sharing all the counsel of God with them.

For example, there are many Christians who teach that the account of Jesus opening the seven seals on the scroll takes place at the end of the age. I pointed out that if you teach that then you are teaching for the last two thousand years no one, including Jesus, was found worthy to open the scroll. I also pointed out this is what the Muslims teach, Jesus was a prophet but He failed and so we are still waiting for the Mahdi to come. Everyone would agree that this doctrine of Islam is blasphemy against Jesus. Well telling people that they were teaching blasphemy was offensive and they hated me for it.

Matthew 10:24 The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. 25 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? 26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

This is a crucial lesson that the blind men who were healed and can now see must learn first. initially when they called Jesus Beelzebub, then they will call you that too. Initially it sounds like the absolute worst thing they can say about anyone, and then you realize, so what? Are they going to arrest you based on that charge? Are they going to put you in prison for that? The truth is it sounds terrible but is like a toothless dog. When you realize that the people making the worst slander are powerless and toothless, they are irrelevant, then you realize that is the ultimate disrespect to them.

This happened to me, I was a little brother in a little church in Texas. There were at least 8-10 churches in the area and the senior elder over all those churches with thousands of members comes out and made similar accusations against me. I ignored him. Many came to me to know if the accusations were true. Since he hadn't used my name and only inferred that it was me I said I didn't know who he was talking about, ask him. You see, if he did use my name he could be sued for slander. So he didn't. He was exposed within a month of being a liar and I continued on as though nothing had changed while for him his reputation as the leading pastor was destroyed. His house of faith he had built up over his entire life time came crashing down and great was the fall of it. He never recovered.

So learn the lesson, don't fear them. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and nothing hid that shall not be known. Pray for faith in this word.

Matthew 11:16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

I understand people being concerned about having a security clearance before you can come into contact with classified information. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the people who tell us to stop being concerned about that when we talk about staffers at the Whitehouse, or Hunter Biden being a drug addict and having access to his father, or Joe Biden having dementia while being president are now telling us to be concerned about DOGE because they are discovering hundreds of billions of dollars of waste and fraud? Does that make any sense?

DOGE has a fatal flaw

Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

They are trying to clean up the corruption without repenting to God.

42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

They are trying to clean up corruption based on their own wisdom without listening to the words of the Lord

43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

Why do people pay money to the Mob for protection? Why not just stop paying it?

45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Because if they stop the Mob comes back and beats them to a pulp. When I listen to people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer I hear fear in their voices, I read between the lines and they are clearly saying if you don't pay these people they will come back and beat us to a pulp.

These are the things which defile a man

Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Those that teach Once Saved Always saved are the hypocrites that Isaiah prophesied about. They draw near to the Lord with their mouth, they honor the Lord with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. In vain they worship the Lord teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Instead of asking if a prayer 20 years ago caused you to be saved ask "what defiles a man?". Can a Christian be defiled by his thoughts? Yes. What does that mean, it means there will be a separation between you and the Lord, you must cleanse the defilement away before the fellowship can resume. The Holy Spirit will bother you about this defilement and they are teaching you to ignore the speaking of the Holy Spirit.

12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

A master class in Prayer

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

The son of David is a reference to the Messiah and there are many prophesies concerning the Messiah including that He would be able to cast out devils.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

She was praying based on her knowledge, but missed the fact that the Son of David is sent to the house of Israel, not to the Canaanites.

25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

Now this is brilliant. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. A Lord is a ruler of the people, all people, not just Jews. So by calling Him Lord she is saying that He is her Lord and therefore she has the standing to ask for help.

26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Most people would be offended by this word, but this word is actually the medicine she needs. Pride and arrogance bring most people down.

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

We need to humble ourselves. One devil that vexes many children is this pride and arrogance and her attitude here has completely neutralized that. Jacob was a worm, so is it such a big insult to call her a dog? She is fine with being a pet dog, even a pet dog has the right to be fed and cared for.

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

This is a big problem in the public schools. I have seen almost all teachers when they begin expect the students to simply obey their commands. You learn very quickly that you cannot fight with the students. I would have 150 students in five classes. 1 student can battle you for about 5-10 minutes before you can have enough to write them up and have them removed from the class. It only takes three students to cause an entire class period to be lost, 15 for an entire day to be lost. Also the school will not put up with a teacher who is going through this day after day. So it is easy to see that as teacher you are not the master. The children at the table are the masters.

So I realized that I could only teach if they allowed it and that they would only allow it. That is very humbling, but you discover all successful teachers have learned this lesson. Now wouldn't you want a teacher who could give you a master class in prayer? These kids were being disrespected every day, they wanted to know how do you respond. This woman's response is the answer.

Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Consider the context of this warning. The Pharisees also with the Sadducees come to the Lord asking for a sign, He says an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign and then gives this warning. I have been a Christian for more than 50 years. During that time I have seen a good number of signs and miracles. Probably twenty if not more. But not once when I was "seeking a sign". These things happened because the Lord was speaking to me, building up my faith, letting me see the spiritual world or simply answering my prayer.

So what does the Lord tell them? First he says the sky is red, if this is in the evening you know the next day will be good weather, if it is in the morning you know that that means today will be bad weather. The sign for everyone is that the sky is red, we have a lot of innocent blood being shed. We have 60 million abortions, we have over a million deaths in Ukraine, we have Gaza that has been obliterated, Lahaina, the Palisades. Just a whole lot of unrighteousness. The question is not what color is the sky, the question is what time is it for you? Does this red sky mean the sun is rising on your kingdom? If so you can expect a whole lot of tribulation. Or does this red sky mean the sun is setting on you? The disciples lost everything when Jesus was killed. If that is the case then this means tomorrow in the kingdom age you will have peace.

He then concludes and tells them the only sign that will be given this wicked and adulterous age is the sign of Jonah. He was crucified, died and buried and spent three days in the grave and then rose from the dead. That is your sign. Because of this the message was then preached for forty days that you need to repent because at the end of that time the city will be overthrown and all you have will be lost. This is the message of the church age. Repent of your sins, receive Jesus Christ as your savior, and do it quickly because everything is about to be destroyed like in the Ukraine, or Gaza or Lahaina or the Palisades.

This is the context. We don't need anymore signs that Jesus' resurrection from the dead and the unrighteousness of this age. Anyone asking for more signs is part of a wicked and adulterous age and does not want to repent and is looking for any excuse not to repent. The leaven of religion is to try and keep supplying more and more signs to this wicked and adulterous age. Beware of that leaven. Stick it to them, the age is filled with unrighteousness. If you are going to continue with this unrighteous age then you too will suffer tribulation like they did in Lahaina, the Ukraine, Gaza and the Palisades. Some of these people were poor, some were rural farmers, some were middle class and some were very wealthy. Everyone will suffer tribulation in this world. You need to repent and repent now. Jesus rose from the dead, what you need more than anything is the resurrection life.

A den of thieves

Matthew 21:13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

DOGE is revealing that the US government has become a den of thieves

Why does God do this?

Matthew 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

God is the creator of all. He has made heaven and earth and according to Colossians all things were created through the Lord Jesus and for the Lord Jesus. So how does having a whole bunch of people who make light of His wedding and refuse to come to the wedding for the Lord?

This is like going to the Super bowl and everyone is predicting you will lose and they are all insulting you and ridiculing you and then you go and win in a very big way. I remember when the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super bowl. They squeaked into the playoffs that year while the Patriots were undefeated. Everyone was picking the Patriots, no one thought the Giants had a chance. That was the same year they were mocking Eli as not being an elite quarterback. No way they win if David Tyree doesn't catch a touchdown pass and the helmet catch. David Tyree would have been cut by most coaches when he was arrested for drugs, but Tom Coughlin didn't and because of that mercy he was repaid with this victory in the Super bowl. There have been over 50 Super bowls but this one was very special because of this reason. Besides all that they never would have won had it not been for their defense.

The same will be true of the Lord's wedding. People who never expected to make it will be jumping for joy and those who were too arrogant to come will be left outside weeping and gnashing their teeth.

Proverbs 26:2 and its place in the Christian’s spiritual warfare 2-13-25

2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

Interesting question about when to apply the word about turning the other cheek vs the other words where Jesus declared judgments and woes, and where He turned the tables on the money changers, and where Paul and Peter and James and Jude said to resist the enemy and contend for the faith.

A curse is an ill spoken word with intent to harm. Any witchcraft attack is in the form of a curse. They have random attacks where they curse food or music and then whoever buys that item will get it, and they have direct attacks like a swallow flying straight to its intended target. How do they do it? It is a spell with an enchanted charm. All witchcraft attacks are sent out like fiery darts. The goal of all these attacks by the enemy is to get you into agreement knowingly or unknowingly. That is the only legal way they can attack you. So they will do all kinds of outrageous and provocative things to get you to respond inappropriately because that is the only legal way they can attack you.

Unless of course God suggests to Satan that he attack you as He did in the story of Job. So let's discuss this so there is no confusion. For years and years I thought that God saying 8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Was a good thing. But let's take a step back. Suppose this was actually Job's thoughts. God is omniscient and so He simply asks Satan if he has considered Job and then repeats this. If this were Job speaking we would think he is arrogant and that pride goes before a fall.

Now we read about Job making sacrifices and offerings on behalf of his children lest they sin. So which of these two people does that remind you of?

Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 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 am guessing that Job was like the Pharisee, not like the publican. So then what are some causes that would allow the curse to come? I would think pride, arrogance, self righteousness, and holier than thou attitudes would be at the top of the list.

A subset of that would be getting angry with your brother, especially if you call him a fool.

Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

These are causes that would allow the curse to land on you.

Job was self righteous

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

This sounds great, but compare this verse with the description of the self righteous Pharisee.

Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

The Pharisee eschewed evil, he feared God and you could even say he was perfect and upright. By perfect I mean he was correctly worshipping the Lord.

Job 1:5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.

now compare this verse with the following

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This is what is missing from Job. He is not praying that God would forgive his debts but his sons debts. He is not praying that he would not be led into temptation but that they would not be led into temptation. He is not praying to be delivered from evil but that they would be delivered from evil. He is not confessing his sins or even his thoughts in his heart, he is suggesting that they may have sinned and had evil thoughts in their heart. I think it is undeniable that this is a self righteous prayer. Granted this is not the typical person, most are like Job's wife who operates on a tit for tat principle. Bad things happened to Job so in return she tells him to curse God and die. Job does not yet understand why they happened, but he does understand that tit for tat is a foolish principle in life and always ends up with you being cursed and bitter.

Now consider this verse

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Do not take this hedge of protection for granted. When you pray forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. You are not taking it for granted and God is answering that prayer.

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

This is an example of witchcraft. Satan will do outrageous things to you to provoke you to curse God. The minute you come into agreement with this you allow the curses of witchcraft to land upon you. When proverbs says the curse causeless shall not land this is the ultimate cause for a curse to land on you. This is what James said, you can't bless God and curse man made in the image of God. Cursing man is another cause that will allow the curses of witchcraft to land on you.

12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Now let's jump to chapter 32

32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

This is crystal clear. Yes, Job eschewed evil and was upright and he feared God. That all was good and God said it was good. But he was righteous in his own eyes. That is what we call being self righteous.

Job 32:2 Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

This is a very important principle. Everything that happens we have to dig down until we can justify God. If we are justifying ourself that is foolish, how does that solve anything. All this evil has befallen you but not your fault, nothing you could do about it? So then you are a powerless pawn in some cruel game of God and Satan? That is a terrible way to look at life. But we know that is what Job did and we know he "cursed the day he was born". That is a foolish view of life, only one notch better than his wife with her tit for tat approach.

3 Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

This is also a very good principle. Do not condemn anyone. We condemn sin, not sinners. They had not discovered any sin and yet condemned Job. We see this all the time, something bad happens to a person, we don't know why, but we assume that person deserved it for some reason or other. So much for "innocent until proven guilty".

Yes, there is a law of sin and death. If you sin, then you have done a job and the wages for that job is death. That was not Job's problem. His problem was he thought he was righteous and did not need to worry about sin, or Satan or temptation. But when this book is over it concludes with Job forgiving those that trespassed against him and as a result God forgave Job who had trespassed against God. We then see that God does lead Job and does deliver him from evil. Job is twice as blessed as he was before because now he has the second half of the prayer that Jesus taught us. Before he only had the first half.

The curse causeless -- 7 causes that will bring a curse on you

Matthew 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

This chapter is full of woes on the religious people. It should be seen as a very extensive warning to us about all the things that one can do that would cause a curse to come upon them. First on the list is to "say and do not" (1). According to the New Testament the world worships dumb idols, we are not to do that, rather we are to be witnesses of God. All the gifts of the Holy Spirit are speaking gifts. But we have a warning, do not become one who speaks but does not. There is a warning in James about those who are hearers only and not doers of the word. Here there is a warning about those who are speakers only and not doers of the word. The warning is not to not speak, we are charged to speak and woe is us if we do not share the gospel. No, the warning is that we must be the first ones who are convicted by the word we speak to do it.

4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

When I was first saved I saw this. I was mentored by a brother who preached the gospel all the time. You couldn't spend an hour with him without him sharing the gospel with someone. Sunday morning I would get in the car with him before church to go pick up someone he had preached to earlier that week who had gotten saved. Because he would visit us on campus and eat lunch with us during the week we (a few brothers on campus) would preach the gospel everyday at lunch in one of the college cafeterias. Meanwhile in church I would hear messages from elders telling us we needed to preach the gospel and evangelize. So I saw a contrast, a brother who lived this word and those who did not live the word but charged others to do it. We received a great blessing from all the preaching we did. Soon we were just like Paul "as unknown and yet well known". We handed out thousands of tracts on a campus with only two thousand undergraduate students. We published a gospel message in the school paper each month that every student on campus read. Also over a three year period we preached to gospel to hundreds of students at lunch. This was a great blessing to us in our spiritual walk with the Lord.

5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

But here is what was weird. This brother in my opinion was the authority in that church on evangelism. Yet when they were pushing evangelism they never asked him to speak. A phylactery is a word of God that you wear on your forehead. Be careful, do you want to appear to be filled with the word of God or do you actually want to be filled with the word of God? There is a temptation to exchange the reality for the appearance and that can bring a curse on you (2).

6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Because we were known by all as those who preached the gospel, we were outcasts. Even among other Christians like campus crusade and other Christian organizations we were outcasts. They had a mission to preach the gospel on the campus but no one wants to do that because the minute you do that you are branded and made an outcast. But we made a problem to them. They had around 20 members and they would gather and talk, they all knew we were out there preaching the gospel and that they weren't. They also knew this was their mission, so why aren't they? They had to find fault with us to justify themselves. This is another warning, realize if you are going to be a faithful servant of the Lord who He commends saying "well done thou good and faithful servant" then you can forget the chief seats in the synagogues, not going to happen. Forget about being invited to feasts much less the uppermost rooms at the feasts, that also is not going to happen. You will be the offscouring of all things. Embrace that because Jesus embraced that and the apostles embraced that. Wanting to be someone important is a temptation that can bring a curse on you (3).

7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

You can forget this also. I remember my last year on that campus I was shunned. I would see someone in the distance walking my way, they would see me and immediately look down and away. It was weird but the Lord would remind me that a year ago I had preached the gospel to that person and every time they see me they are convicted. We all want friends and we all want to be respected, but that is also a temptation that can lead to a curse (4).

8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

It is much better to simply be a brother and not be lifted up. Pride is another cause for the curse to come (5), so thank the Lord that you are not lifted up. When you are in the spiritual battle on the front lines you soon realize the last thing you want is to be lifted up. When that happens you are a target that the enemy will be shooting at.

9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

This is another cause for the curse to come (6). It is a hard lesson to learn. We all want someone we can put our trust in to lead us and guide us in the path that is right. That is what God the father wants to do and He will not tolerate anyone trying to usurp that position. That brother that mentored me, he was very simple. He knew he was very simple. My university was an elite university ranked in the top ten in the United States at that time. This was God's sovereignty, we all appreciated that brother, but not as a father, as a brother.

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

This is another temptation (7), this is cultic. When they refer to the pastor as "rabbi" that is off a little. When they call him "Father" as the Catholics do, they are off by even more. But when they call their spiritual leader "master" then they are a cult.

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

No the proper attitude of any pastor is that he is a servant. Same with all of us in the Body of Christ.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

This is the summary. If you look at all seven of these things people are exalting themselves. It is a mercy of God to be abased because you still have a chance to repent, confess and move on.

Examples of self exaltation that will bring the curse

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Do you get it? They sit in Moses seat, they put heavy burdens on you that are grievous to bear, they don't lift them with one finger. They don't expect that you can lift them either, rather this is their way of shutting up the kingdom of heaven against men. I had been preaching and evangelizing for over three years when I began hearing some absurd messages about the gospel. They were obviously from people who didn't preach the gospel, had no idea what they were talking about and were simply putting burdens on men that they could not bear. According to them if we followed their instructions the entire earth would become Christian in about ten years. This is seriously out of touch with the Bible. But this fantasy created a false scale that allowed them to not suffer those who were entering to go in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

This is what the Lord warned about, they want to appear as those who are men of the word and men of prayer while at the same time they are devouring widow's houses like wolves in sheep's clothing.

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

They want to be someone important and how do they do that. First, they must have at least one proselyte. Second if they can make their disciple someone important in the organization they build up their network. I saw this when I was a teacher. The principle was trying to get disciples who she would then promote building up her network. How do you get the chief seat? Well you come to the feast and half the people there are your proselytes, that is how.

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

We all want friends, we all want to be respected. So how do these ones make friends? Suppose you are a pastor and you come to a conference of Pastors. Your church used to have 200 members but now it has 20,000 members. You used to take in $1200 in offerings each week, now you take in $120,000 each week. Everyone wants to know what you did. Simple, you preached the prosperity gospel. The way to get blessed is by giving gold. Paul preached the cross of Christ, that is foolishness to these pastors. You are not going to get the increase that way.

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

They want to be called "rabbi" or teacher. How do you do that? If you simply teach the same thing everyone else is teaching no one will do that. But if you teach Hebrew and Greek, and touch on some really obscure matters like how to tithe cummin, then you will be a "teacher". But there is a key lesson here, why do people care about these obscure matters? It is not because they want to know everything in the Bible, no, it is because they want you to spin the word of God, guide them how to strain at a gnat while everyone else swallows the camel. Why do people give a million dollars to a politician? Because they expect to get a contract for ten million in exchange. This is what Blackmun did when he made the ruling that legalized abortion. He strained at the gnat of personal privacy while everyone swallowed the camel of murdering 60 million innocent babies.

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

They want to be respected like a father. They want the other pastors to come to them for fatherly advise. So what is the advise they give -- clean the outside of the cup and platter while ignoring the extortion and excess on the inside. We saw this in the Godfather movies. The mafia uses the Catholic church to clean up their image while they continue their business of extortion and excess. In return the mob gives a lot of money to the Catholic church.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

We have seen this in other portrayals of The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, as well as stories about the Vatican bank and other stories about the Jesuits.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

This is self exaltation. This is even worse than simply saying and not doing. This is like Walter White cooking meth amphetamine and then pretending like he isn't a drug dealer causing death and mayhem on a massive scale.

31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

He knows he is working for Gus, he knows he is involved in the biggest drug dealer in the US, and he knows that this industry is filled with murder and destruction.

Wherefore...

34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

All these ones are very arrogant, they think they are so smart they have figured out how to get off if they are caught. They have figured out the lies they will tell to avoid conviction. So Jesus has put together the ultimate sting operation so that there will be no escape. When he brings a charge against them the evidence will be overwhelming.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

This is a reference to religion, religious leaders, the self righteous and the apostasy.

37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

You have to get into the real spiritual warfare before you realize there are lines of battle and their is a very massive army that will not bow the knee to Jesus. They will not repent, they will not confess. It was a hard lesson for me to learn that my job in preaching the gospel is not to save people. That is up to them, they have a free will whether or not to receive Jesus' work of salvation. My job was simply to be a witness and present the gospel. What people do with it is up to them.

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

When they make it clear to me that they have rejected me, that is fine, I shake off the dust as a testimony against them, and move on. I have been to all 50 states in the US (it is possible I have not yet been to Michigan, not 100% sure about that). I have been to Europe, I have been to Asia and I have been to Mexico. It is a very big world, plenty of people to preach to. When Jesus left the Jews He didn't become desolate, they did.

39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

At some point people will reflect on their life, like the prodigal son, and realize they have been a fool. Then they will come around and say "blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord".

Weeping and gnashing of teeth

The church in Philadelphia is kept from the hour of trial. I think we see this prefigured in Jesus' trial. Those who are left behind for this are cast into outer darkness where there is the weeping and gnashing of teeth. I think we see that in Peter's denial of the Lord

Matthew 26:69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Ahithophel and the False prophet

I was reminded of Ahithophel when I read this verse in Matthew:

27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

So I went to read about Ahithophel again.

20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. 21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong. 22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

These concubines are like Christianity. If you liken Trump fleeing from Washington DC as being similar to David fleeing from Jerusalem and Joe Biden as being similar to Absalom, then all these woke policies were designed to demonstrate to everyone that Joe Biden abhors Christianity and Jesus Christ.

Then this portion:

17:1 Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: 2 And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only: 3 And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

To smite the king only would have been to use lawfare against Trump only, like the attempt they made to impeach him the second time.

4 And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel. 5 Then said Absalom, Call now Hushai the Archite also, and let us hear likewise what he saith. 6 And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou. 7 And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. 8 For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. 9 Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom.

But they balked at using lawfare on Trump, instead they did it to the January 6th people and left Trump alone for two years.

10 And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. 11 Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.

Instead they tried to rally the people using the Media and Social media. This backfired.

12 So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one. 13 Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.

This is the kind of plan of idiots who have never fought in a real war.

14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. 15 Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled. 16 Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

This sounds like "Q", a group of white hats in the government that may appear to support the globalists but are really working with Trump and the nationalists.

23 And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

This is why Judas reminded me of Ahithophel. But we saw this, the wise counsel to Joe Biden fell apart and in the end Biden and then Harris looked like complete fools. But then on this timeline we are watching the war between King David's army led by Joab and Absalom's army of wokistas.