Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

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Cut it off

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

How is it that anyone would fall for this deception? This is how the devil operates, a person gets saved, they love the Lord, but they are not taught to purify themselves. They continue to hang out with the friends that are unbelievers, they continue to do all the things in the world they used to do. The TV, the radio, the record albums, the movies, go to the bars, etc. So of course they are dragged back into sin repeatedly. They are miserable, they don't want to sin, but no one ever taught them about sanctification. You need to separate yourself. If you change your location from the bar to the temple, that change of location will sanctify you. If you remove all the things that open you up to the devil, that will also separate you and sanctify you. So they know something is wrong, but don't know what it is. So then the devil teaches them "don't worry, when you prayed six months ago the Lord forgave you of your sins, you are righteous, no one is perfect, everyone sins". They learn that they are righteous because of the Lord's blood, this is true, and that if they fall into sin every day the Lord is faithful to forgive them, also true, and so it is OK that you are falling into sin every day, you are still righteous, which is not true. it is not OK, and he that sins is a sinner and he that doeth righteousness is righteous. I like to think of this as a garden with two different plants growing. When I got saved a small seed was planted, but the garden was primarily all the plants of the flesh, the self, and the natural man. What you need to do is focus on that seed that was planted. It needs to be watered everyday, it needs lots of sunlight and it needs to be fed. In addition you can weed your garden removing all the competing plants that would hinder the growth of that seed. You will also discover stones in your heart of unforgiveness and bitterness, root those out. The better the soil the better you will grow in the Lord. Also make sure no one is walking through your garden and trampling the plants. The seeds planted by the wayside where everyone is walking. Maybe that is where you were when you got saved, well now it is time to move.

8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

When you see the Son of God, when He is manifested to you then the works of the devil are destroyed. Pray for revelation of the Son of God. Pray to see His exceeding great power, pray to see what is the wonderful deposit He has made in the saints, and pray to see what is our inheritance.

9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

This doesn't mean that if you sin you are not a child of God. What it means is you have a garden with both plants in it, and any one that brings forth sin is not born of God. Let's say you go to the bar and sin. OK, that plant is not of God, remove it. But what am I now going to do on Friday night? When you remove one plant you must plant another. There are plenty of opportunities to find Christians gathering for fellowship on Friday night. When I burned my albums I replaced them with songs of the Bible (these were not from any of the big publishers but were done by Christians out of their homes).

10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

Take this attitude, I am looking to remove anything that is of the devil. If it does not do the righteousness of God, then it is gone from my life. Also if it does not love my brother it is gone from my life. Here we are on Christianchat.com and it is stunning how many comments on here are not an expression of love for the believers. Just because someone claims to be a Christian, it doesn't mean they also don't have the plants that are of the devil growing in their garden and you will hear them expressed.

11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

We should, not that we do. John understands this is not the situation when you first get saved. It takes years and years of sanctification and a revelation of Jesus Christ before this is true. However, know that every time you have a thought or express this in word or deed that you don't love your brother, well that is of the devil, you need to root that out.

12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

So be warned, this is ultimately what happens to many in religion. This is what happened to the Jews who slew Jesus. You cannot ride the fence, you must be absolute for the Lord, if not, those evil plants will grow up and who knows, this could be you.

When I think of being absolute I like to think of Ronnie Lott. He was the safety for the San Francisco 49ers. He mangled his pinky at the end of one season as the playoffs were beginning. The doctors told him he would be out for the playoffs because they needed to put the pinky into a cast. He asked "what if we cut it off?" They were shocked but agreed that if they cut off his pinky he could play in the playoffs and so he had his pinky amputated. I see myself with this big cleaver in my hand and any time I see something that is not of God in my life, wham, I cut it off.

 

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Let us love in deed and truth

1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

I remember the first time I was shocked. When I was in the world sinning they loved me, but now that I was giving myself to be one with the Lord they hated me. It confused me at first, but the story of Cain and Abel is a great way to understand this. If you are not right with the Lord, then deep down there is this nagging concern that you are going to be judged for this. You want to ignore that and hope it goes away. It is like a wound that won't heal. But then you see someone who is right with the lord and that pain flares up. So you hate that person. In the movie about "Harry Potter" he has this scar from where Satan (voledemort) tried to kill him. Every time he is in the presence of Satan that scar flares up and is painful, but he equates that with another person named Severus Snape. So he assumes Severus is one with Satan (Voldemort). But the reality is that someone who is right with the Lord will be standing against the gates of hell. Harry Potter learns this in the end, that the person he thought was one with Satan was actually the person who was standing against the gates of hell.

14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

Wow! It is one thing to be blind, to walk in darkness, and even to abide in darkness. But to abide in death! If you love someone you tell them the truth. If you see someone sinning and say nothing, well that is the same thing as "loveth not his brother".

15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

To "loveth not" is to do nothing when you see your brother needs help. To hate means you are assisting your brother to fall into sin. In the Old Testament if you saw your neighbors ox stuck in a ditch you were to help return the ox to your neighbor, if you simply walked on and ignored the situation you were "loving not". But, if you go up to your neighbors pasture and open the gate and let the ox out, well that is hating your brother. To abide in death is bad, what are you doing there, get up and get out of that place. But, to be a murderer, that is far worse. Many who preach "Once Saved Always Saved" have actually twisted the word of God to justify living in sin, that is hate. Now it doesn't say they never had life abiding in them, we don't know that. But what we do know is that life is not abiding in anyone who is a murderer right now. Did they lose their salvation or were they ever saved? That is a question that Jesus can answer, but the question I can answer is that eternal life is not abiding in them at this moment.

16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

So we see three different levels, there is the "hate" for your brother, which is what Cain had and what all those who don't like to have a light shined on their sinful nature do. Then we have "loveth not" which is to do nothing when your brother is drowning. You could help, but you close your eyes and ears. Then we have the "love of God" which is to lay down our lives for the brethren. This is the expression of God. When someone lays down their life to help you, it is amazing. I remember I was in England and I had been camping out in Wales when a hurricane hit. I was soaked to the bone, everything I had was soaked, and I was cold. I started hitchhiking and was picked up by a man who took me to Birmingham. He took me home, his wife made me a hot meal, they put all my stuff in the dryer, and then when it was all done he drove me out to a good place to continue hitchhiking. I asked him why he was doing all this for me and he said someone had once treated him like this and he wanted to pay it forward.

17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

 

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Hereby we know that are of the truth

1 John 3:19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Look at all these debates on social media about the truth. Everyone thinks they are right and no one wants to actually listen to others. But that is not how you know you are of the truth. The way you know you are is if you are loving your brother in deed and in truth.

20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

It doesn't matter what you say and how strong your argument is if God condemns you. God is omniscient, not you.

21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Think of this as our very own geiger counter. If your heart condemns you then you know you are in the realm of death, you don't want to abide there, you will be contaminated and who knows, you might even become a murderer. At the very least you may become a scoffer, a mocker and someone who is ridiculing his brother. But if the geiger counter is not going off then we have confidence, we are not in the realm of death.

22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

This is my desire, to be someone who when they pray God responds. It is conditional, you must keep the Lord's commandments and you must do the things that are pleasing in His sight. I love how vague this is. The Lord's commandments could refer to anything written in the word of God or it could refer to the Lord's speaking to you personally. Maybe the Lord is telling you to move and you don't want to. Maybe He is telling you to speak a word and you don't want to. When you do the things He tells you to do, that is pleasing in His sight.

23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

This is how you know. It isn't by winning a debate, it is by believing in the name of Jesus Christ when it seems all hope is lost and death is certain. It is by doing what He says to pull that brother out of the fire when everyone else is running away. When you have experiences like this you know He dwells in you and you in Him. Your faith is strengthened. As a result you appreciate the Spirit which He has given us. Think of that Spirit as a smart phone, the more you appreciate it the more you carry it wherever you go and as a result you pay attention every time that Spirit speaks to you.

 

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The Purge

Zechariah 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.

Look at what just happened in the US. The Democrats refused to continue to fund the US government forcing a shutdown. Once the shutdown was in place in opened the door for Trump to devour all their programs. He can fire people and he can declare that certain programs are non essential and eliminate them.

2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

Listen to the leftist media howl. They did this to themselves.

3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.

The democrats who are elected officials are "shepherds". What Trump is doing is spoiling their glory, cutting off their funding, their programs, their weaponized deep state.

4 Thus saith the Lord my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the Lord; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not.

This is what our government has become, instead of shepherds that feed the flock they are possessors who slay the flock and then give us these speeches making it appear they are not guilty. They sell themselves to do this. Why are they releasing felons? Why are they crying about the rights of these illegals and felons while ignoring the crime and harm they are doing to citizens? They have been compromised by the illegals, by the Cartels. They pay off the officials to not prosecute them for the drug trafficking and human trafficking. They are in the pockets of those who slay the American citizens.

6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.

This will happen during the tribulation. Everyone who is left behind will discover they have been betrayed, they have been played, they have been robbed and they in turn will take vengeance. It is going to become exceedingly ugly. The wheels of justice move slowly, but when this happens there will be a major purge as criminals kill criminals. FreeMasons say it is OK to commit adultery as long as you don't commit adultery with a FreeMasons wife. So the FreeMasons are filled with adulterers, liars, cheats, thieves and robbers. The "agreement" was you don't treat me the way you treat everyone else. The lights will get turned on and they will discover no one kept that bargain, they have been betrayed and they will respond with vengeance and those wheels don't move slowly, it is like a dam bursting releasing a flood. It will be sudden destruction, what the unbelievers refer to as "the Purge".

 

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Oktoberfest 3 & Exploding Pumpkins Dreams 10-3-25

 

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BREAKING: Hamas ACCEPT Trump's Gaza Deal - Islamists To Surrender Power - LIVE Coverage

Biblical Peace treaty with the hope of Peace and Security in the Middle East agreed to by Hamas on the Day of Atonement.

 

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My Supermoon Rapture Dream from 2020 pointing to Now

 

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Apocalypse Hits China: Black Clouds of Bugs, Frogs and Crows Everywhere, and Flowers from the Abyss

 

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Identifying the spirit of Antichrist

1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

If many had gone out at the time of John you can be sure the world and the church are filled with the doctrines and teachings of the false prophets.

2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

The Spirit of God is revealing Jesus Christ as He is in the church, in brothers and sisters, working on the earth today.

3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

The Spirit of Antichrist is trying to conceal Jesus Christ, without a vision the people perish. So this spirit does not want you to see that Jesus is Lord, it does not want you to see that the prophecies are being fulfilled, it does not want you to see the power of prayer. This spirit is trying to keep you in the dark. Jesus Christ is the light so it is trying to block the light from Jesus Christ.

4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

The spirit of Antichrist doesn't want you to see this. He doesn't want you to know that greater is He that is you than he that is in the world. The spirit of Antichrist is like Goliath telling the army of Saul how he is going to kill them and destroy them. He is mocking and scoffing at David.

5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

The spirit of Antichrist is speaking through all those who are of the world. For example if a person is being paid a million dollars a year to read the news to you then it is a very good bet that they are of the world. On the other hand if you have someone working out of their basement, not getting paid, but burdened by the Lord to speak there is a reasonable chance that it is the Lord that is burdening them. The whole world lies in the evil one, so it could be the music industry, the news media, the politicians, entertainment, sports or whatever, if the whole world is listening to this one then that is a very good indication that they are of the world and that is the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is simply "we don't need Jesus Christ". Now they can say "Jesus is good, but what we need here is something practical". Or they can say "Jesus Christ should be kept out of our schools". Now Jesus is the incarnated word of God so they will also try to ban the Bible. This is why they don't want to admit that the events that are taking place were prophesied in the Bible, that is a truth they are trying to hide.

6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Think of the word of God as a "black light" and when you shine it on people you can see if they are of God or not. Those who are not of God will refuse to hear the word of God. Those that are of God will hear the word of God. This will also manifest as "the spirit of truth" and "the spirit of error". For example during the Pandemic someone might ask to see the evidence that the vaccine was safe and effective, reasonable question indicating they are operating in the spirit of truth. But then others would get hysterical saying they are "anti science" for asking that question, that we are all supposed to just do what Fauci says, and if you don't you are trying to kill them and so you should not be able to go to the hospital. As ridiculous as that sounds that is a fair sampling of the kind of things that were said indicating the "spirit of error".

 

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Identifying those who are born of God

If Satan is a liar and many false prophets have gone out into the world how are we to know who is truly born of God and who is simply lying?

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

Everyone that loveth is born of God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

So this is a very simple and easy way to see.

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

So how do we identify someone who loves? Well it will follow the pattern of God sending His son into the world that we might live through Him. We can go back to the Pandemic, some realized that Fauci was lying and so they refused to be vaccinated and also took a stand against the vaccine mandate. Now they did that for others. They were called Anti science and anti vax, they were mocked and ridiculed on TV, the late night comedians made fun of them, they lost their jobs, lost their homes, and were even shunned from the hospitals. To take a stand for the truth when you can clearly see the spirit of error, despite the price you must pay, that is love.

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This word propitiation is unique to the book of 1 John. There are words in each book of the New Testament that are unique to that book and these words reveal the unique burden of that book. This word "propitiation" means to appease, it refers to a merciful covering of sin. This is not the word for redeemed, or for forgiven or for saved. It is a reference to the believers praying, appeasing, and behaving mercifully to sinners. We understand that they are not saved, and we understand that they are committing sins like lying and stealing, but we are praying for them. When they sin against us we are merciful to them. Think of Jesus, when He died His blood redeemed us, but prior to that He was merciful, He was helping the sinners, teaching them, healing them, praying for them. When John the Baptist was killed Jesus didn't say that this changes things and now we must fight. On the contrary He understood that when Adam and Eve partook of the tree that changed things.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

"What would Jesus do" is what we ought to do.

12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Imagine God's love being perfected in you! That is a very different doctrine than Calvinism or the OSAS crowd who say we are sinners and it is ok to be a sinner because you have been forgiven. Yes, Jesus blood washes away sins when we confess and repent. But that isn't the goal, having God's love perfected in us, the believers, that is the goal. That is the expression of God on earth.

 

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How we know that we dwell in Him

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

In Christianity they don't emphasize knowing that you dwell in Jesus, rather they emphasize that you have prayed and received Jesus. These are two different things. When you first received the Lord Jesus and got saved, redeemed from your sins, that is a very important event. But twenty years later you shouldn't be reliving that event, you should be going on. A man recently asked me to pray for him because he wants to walk the "straight and narrow" but says he is "zig zagging". Another man asked that I pray for him that the Lord would make his way straight. The real concern we have on a day to day life is to know whether or not we are dwelling in the Lord and He in us. The way to know that is that He has given us of His Spirit. That Spirit will talk to you, if you are on the straight and narrow you will have life and peace, if not that Spirit will be bothering you. That Spirit is the one that will shine on your path and make it straight.

14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Yes, we have seen that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and yes we do testify to others to pray, confess your sins, receive the blood of Jesus and be saved. But at most that should be fifty percent of what we emphasize, the other 50% is knowing that we are right with the Lord and walking as He is leading.

15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

There are many that confess Jesus was a good man, a prophet, even a prophet of God. But that doesn't mean much, you have to have the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God. Before I got saved I thought well the Jews clearly worship the true God, just read about all those things God did in the Old Testament. On the other hand the Christians claim some guy walking around Israel in sandals in the dust, they say that guy was the God of the whole universe. That is pretty tough to believe. The claim that Jesus is the Son of God is extremely tough to believe, you need a revelation. When Peter got that revelation Jesus told him he was blessed, that this revelation came from God the Father. So you should pray to God the father for that revelation.

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

God did not create the universe out of hate. He loves everything He created. He loves man, He enjoys man. He loves every creature, they are all fantastic.

17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

This is the goal, that as He is, so are we in the world. This involves transformation. This transformation is what takes place from the first day we are saved until the last day on earth for us. This is why I can't stand the OSAS doctrine. I have been saved for over 50 years. That is more than 18,000 days of potential transformation. They ignore the 18,000 days and instead make the entire Christian life about the first five minutes. They trivialize the Christian life.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Again, if you are wondering if you are in Christ, and He is in you, well then, do you have anything you fear? If so that is an indication that something is not right. Fear is like that little light that pops up saying "Check Engine". Something is wrong. As a son of God who is right with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit there should not be any fear.

19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Do you see the connection? Jesus loved us first, and we in turn reciprocate. We didn't love Him first, we might have even been insulting towards Him. In the same way then we should love our brother, he may not love us, might even be insulting toward us, but that is simply an opportunity for us to walk in the same path as the Lord Jesus Christ.

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

 

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I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem

Zechariah 12:1 The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

None of us knows how God stretched forth the heavens, nor about how He laid the foundation of the earth, nor about how He formed the spirit of man within Him. What God is doing with Israel is far beyond our understanding, but if we would watch, we could learn what it is. What God is doing with Israel is the best illustration for us on how He forms the spirit of man within him and how He lays the foundation of a man, and how he stretches forth the heavens.

2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

The word cup of trembling I feel is a very bad interpretation, at least for me it is confusing. The word means a cup of inebriating liquor. We might say "a stiff drink". Anyone who tries to drink from this cup will become a falling down drunk.

3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

Again, "burdensome stone" is also confusing, I think the meaning is Immovable stone. They will try to move it and there is no way they will be able to do that even if the entire earth is gathered against Jerusalem.

4 In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

I plan on seeing that day and it should be a very good lesson to all people to fear God. No one knows how to deal with man better than God. How foolish to set yourself against Him.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

 

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Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

 

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The mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof

Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

 

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Defending your ministry from the accuser of the brethren

1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

This is the key principle, if you truly love God then you also love His children.

2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Therefore, how do know if we truly love God's children? The act of loving God is an act of loving God's children as is the act of keeping his commandments. Let me give you an example because at first this was very hard for me to understand. I went to Charlie Kirk's memorial because I felt his death was Biblical and because I felt this event was directly tied to my blog concerning the rapture. I felt this event was tied into the end times, for example Stephan's martyrdom kicked off a great persecution against the church and I thought the same might be true for Charlie Kirk's assassination. It pulled back the curtain on a great hatred for Christians, one can easily see that after the rapture that hatred will be unrestrained. To me going to the memorial (I drove over 20+ hours) was an act of keeping the commandments of God and so was also an act of loving the children of God.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

My wife complained, why can't you simply watch it on youtube? I thought that being there would be a testimony. A memorial service is not for the dead but for the living. With all the hatred towards Charlie expressed in the week prior to the memorial I thought it was important to make a testimony that the hatred did not speak for the vast majority of people.

4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

It was also a testimony that we were not intimidated by the assassins. Watching the memorial on youtube would not make either of those testimonies, in fact if people chose to stay home it would indicate they were afraid of the assassins.

5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

What is it that we believe? Well, Jesus is the incarnated Son of God who conquered death and is now sitting on the throne as the Lord of All. Nothing can happen to us unless the Lord allows it. Satan knows he cannot touch us unless the Lord allows, so it is he that fears to touch us. That faith overcomes the world.

6 This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

Think of how Jesus' ministry came. First He was baptized by John the Baptist to fulfill all righteousness. His ministry began with a testimony from both John the Baptist and the heavens that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then it concluded with the cross of Christ, where He poured out His blood. Of course we want to immediately jump in and say no, it didn't end there because he rose from the dead. But that is not the point that John is making here, he is pointing us to the price that was paid by Jesus for this ministry. You want to have a ministry that is testified of by both God and man to be of God. OK, there is a price to pay for that. You must be fully consecrated and willing to pour out your blood for that. Now this is the apostle John sharing this, not Peter, or James or Paul. John was not martyred, but he had the mindset of a martyr. He was fully consecrated and it was the Lord's will that he wound up living this long and being the last living link to the apostolic age.

7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

Now it turns out that this testimony from God can become the testimony of three. God can do miracles in your life that testify that your ministry is of Him. Also the word of God will also testify that you are of God. Finally the Holy Spirit can move and testify that you are of Him. The accuser of the brethren will attack you and witness against you and if you are truly fully consecrated to the Lord walking according to His leading then He can call up these three witnesses from heaven to debunk the attacks from the evil one.

8 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

The Spirit is the Spirit that is in every believer. The water is your salvation experience, not only of praying and being forgiven, but also of you being baptized and separated from the world. Finally the blood is the price that the Lord paid as well as the price that you have paid. Paul talked about his being stoned, imprisoned, and beaten. Anyone who has truly consecrated themselves fully to the Lord should have a personal testimony of paying the price.

9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

These witnesses that John has pointed to, all six of them are the witness of God.

10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

Now we have all of these witnesses for Jesus Christ being the Son of God. If you receive and believe that witness from God then you also have a witness from God in yourself. There is a witness from God that you are a child of God. Those who reject this witness, like the Jewish rulers that crucified Jesus, they have made God out to be a liar. They are not simply rejecting Jesus, they are also rejecting the witness of God that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

We don't need to defend our ministry, God will do that. We need to be faithful to God and then He will be faithful to witness that we are in fact faithful to Him. If "your" ministry is in fact the Lord's ministry then it is His responsibility to defend it from the attacks of the enemy because He is defending His ministry.

 

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A complete paradigm shift

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Think of how many different ministries there have been during the church age. We have ministries that evangelized foreign lands, we have ministries that translated the Bible, we have ministries that took care of the poor and orphans. We have healing ministries, prophetic ministries, evangelistic ministries, teaching ministries, etc. However, the record of every single one is that God has given us eternal life and that this life is in His Son. John is hard to understand because he is amazing how he can summarize everything so succinctly.

12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

This is a wonderful principle that Paul also shared. If you are right with the Lord you will have life and peace, if you are not right you will not have life and peace. A while back I got sick and I knew that the only reason I got sick was because I was not right with the Lord. I examined myself and realized I had been avoiding discussing Calvinism and the "Once Saved Always Saved" doctrine. The Lord wanted me to address it head on and I had simply been sniping at it whenever the verses I was covering gave an opportunity. I realized the Lord was saying "I am out of time, you must cover this now, you have consecrated this ministry to Me, it is My ministry, and I am saying this is what I want you to discuss". So I focused on that doctrine and immediately began to get better and recover. If you are not right with the Lord you do not have life, and if you are you do.

13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

Isn't this amazing, John is now connecting what Paul said in Romans 8 with what James said in James 5. To me the pinnacle of the Christian life is to be someone who knows that when you ask anything the Lord hears you and will give you the petitions you have asked.

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

John is truly amazing. What should we ask for? What should our petitions be for if we are truly one who the Lord does listen to our prayers and answers our petitions?

Think of how much discussion of scandals and corruption is on the internet. Do you respond praying for the Lord to give those ones life? You and I both know when we are at our lowest that is the time when we will turn to the Lord, be broken and pour out to Him. Imagine if your sins were front page news, that would be your lowest point. So everyone who is on the front page of the scandal rag, those are prime candidates to pray for their salvation.

So then what is the sin that is unto death that you are not being asked to pray for? Bribery? Nope. Drugs? Nope. Murder? Nope. Adultery? Nope. No, the sin is "the unforgivable sin" that Jesus mentioned. The unforgivable sin was clearly explained but almost all Christians missed the explanation because the very mention of "an unforgivable sin" caused panic. As a result of Jesus' ministry people went to the Jewish leaders and asked them if this were the Christ, the Messiah they were looking for. The Jewish leaders did their research and came out with an official report saying that "no, Jesus is not the Christ, the Messiah, He is in fact healing people, but that is not from the Holy Spirit but from Beelzebub, a leader of the demons". They used their trusted position as experts on the Bible to accuse Jesus of being in league with demons and Satan. That was the unforgivable sin and it was committed in 30AD prior to the Day of Atonement. From that point on the atoning sacrifice was not accepted of the Jews. Jesus telling them they had committed the unforgivable sin was after the pattern of Jonah, that is what Jesus said. Jonah warned for 40 days that after 40 days Nineveh would be destroyed. They repented and so the judgment was put on hold. Jesus was saying that the official declaration that Jesus was not the Messiah was unforgivable because without the blood of Jesus you could not be forgiven. He didn't say you couldn't repent of this sin. Simply this sin meant that they were voiding any forgiveness. The forty year warning was an opportunity to repent and many Jews did. But in 70 AD Jerusalem and the temple was destroyed, again after the pattern of Jonah.

17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

Paul said the wages of sin is death. Hence all sin results in you receiving death. But Paul sinned, he repented and it did not result in death (he consented to the murder of Stephan). Peter sinned, he repented and it did not result in death (he denied the Lord Jesus Christ in public). James sinned, he was the leader of a cult group known as the Judaizers. He repented and it did not lead unto death. I sinned, I ignored the Lord's word to address Calvinism, I repented, addressed it and that sin did not lead unto death.

18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

This does not mean that if you sin that is proof you are not born of God. What it means is the root of any sin is not of God. Paul was blind and thought he was serving God by killing Stephan, Peter was afraid of death, James didn't understand the New covenant, and I thought it was too much trouble to get into the debate on Calvinism. The root of all those sins is not from God.

19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

We are walking in a field full of briers. They stick to our clothes. Blindness, fear, misunderstanding, and laziness. We have to pull them off.

20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Because Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shed His blood we can pull off those briers. Before we didn't really have the ability to. The blood of bulls and goats offered temporary solution, but they are not nearly as effective as the blood of Jesus and now if you were to use the blood of bulls and goats, that would be a direct insult to the Lord Jesus who gave us His blood. This is the mistake James made, he assumed that what was good yesterday is still good today. Instead the Old Testament was a picture book pointing us to Jesus so that when Jesus came we would recognize Him and know that He is our Savior. Once James was corrected by Paul He wrote the book of James and Paul wrote the book of Galatians and we all could see that the transition from Old Testament to New Testament was a complete paradigm shift and not simply an appendix to the Old Covenant.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

 

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21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Keep yourselves from idols

So then, let's address this incredible conclusion, perhaps one of the most amazing conclusions of any New Testament book.

Why was Saul of Tarsus blind and consenting to the death of Stephan? Could be jealousy, could be loyalty to the Jewish leaders, but either way the blindness was a result of idolatry. Not only is idolatry a sin, but it is a sin that would cause you to be jealous, envious and even blind. Why was James a leader of the Judaizers? Yes, he did not understand the transition from Old Testament to New Testament. But why, he was a devout man, knew the Bible, knew Jesus? Again, he was kept blind by the idolatry of the Jewish religion. Are we men of God? Are we men of the Book? Or are we men of a religion? James and all the Judaizers though that to be men of God meant to be men of the Jewish religion. That was idolatry. They thought the way you knew you were in God was you were in good standing with the Jewish leaders. What John and all the other apostles came to realize was that the Jewish leaders were not one with God, they were one with the spirit of Antichrist. They were a counterfeit to Jesus Christ and so the Messiah was a threat to their reign. Why did James and Paul repent? Because their conscience condemned them. There was no debate where they said "Oh I have been wrong". No they got a revelation of Jesus Christ enthroned in the heavens and that is what caused them to repent.

The whole world lies in idolatry. Look at anything and everything. All of these ads everywhere, no different than Babel being built with bricks with the names of idols on every brick. Super bowl half time show, award ceremonies for the Music industry or Movie industry, opening ceremony to the Olympics, all these are displaying the idolatry of the entire world.

John warning us to keep ourselves from idols is based on his experience. He saw what happened to the Jewish leaders and what even happened to the apostles. They all were effected and the impact of those idols was woven into the New Testament as a warning to us.

 

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If This Doesn't Prove to You That Bible Prophecy is Real, I Doubt Nothing Will Work

 

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The Gift of Grace

While going through the epistle of 1 John I pointed out that the word "propitiation" was unique to this epistle and it indicated a unique burden that John's epistle deals with. I also pointed out that it did not refer to the redeeming blood of Jesus which forgives us of our sins and frees us from bondage. It seems many who teach on this book will confuse propitiation with the blood. I said that it referred to our prayers and pleading for mercy. It can be for ourselves, but hopefully it refers to your prayers for others.

I realized this morning that this word needs a lot more explanation because it is truly a tremendous revelation about prayer.

So let's begin by imagining a gift, like a birthday gift that is wrapped up in beautiful wrapping paper that is gold and crimson. This is a big box, imagine a box big enough to put a warm comforter that goes on a king size bed all folded up into a box. That is the approximate size of this gift. Now imagine this is the whole three wishes you get from a genie, what would you want to be in this box. You get three things?

1. You get the pot of hidden manna. A lot of people will wish for a million dollars, or a lot money or gold. They want to be rich. But that is not as good as a pot of hidden manna that never runs out. No one really cares about how much money is in the bank, it is simply a number on a piece of paper. If you have all that money there then you worry if the bank is going to get robbed, or if the economy is going to crash or if inflation will steal all your money's value. This doesn't really give you peace. What you really want is security to know that your needs will be met for your whole life. That is the hidden pot of manna. You can't eat gold or money, so if there is a famine your supply is there. In a famine this is worth much more than "being rich" is worth. Also, being rich makes you a target for thieves. This is the "hidden manna", not the "ostentatious manna".

Now some people don't care about money but they do want inspiration. Look at this blog, almost 15,000 posts. In some cases I have posted links to others demonstrating that there are multiple witnesses to what I am sharing. But every single day since this blog started I have posted my own posts. They are original, I don't go to anyone else's messages. Who could have imagined when I started a blog on the rapture in 2020 there would be so much to speak about? Not me. This is the hidden manna that we are being given in this gift.

2. You also get the rod that budded. This rod was a dead branch and it got the resurrection life that conquers death. Suppose your wish is to be a conqueror, a victorious warrior, who can defeat the toughest opponents. There is no tougher opponent than death, that is the life you are being given. This was my first prayer when I was 12. I wanted to be on a team with a great coach that would lead us to victory. I didn't want to be in football because I figured by the time you are 35 you have to retire. Who wants to retire at 35? I wanted to be able to continue competing in my sixties. The Lord answered my prayer.

I like to use Tom Brady as an example and I think he is a great example here because if I were going to pray for a great career of being a victorious warrior who could think of a better career than him. Even deflategate was great because it demonstrated that the whole league was jealous of him and he didn't crumple, he made his enemies the footstool for his feet. But think about this. Suppose we took twelve quarterbacks and put them into this box overnight to see which would bud. You have Dan Marino, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. People would wonder, why are you putting Tom Brady in with them, no one could possibly have imagined how successful he would be. That is what the resurrection power does, it takes someone who is nothing and makes them a champion. Why do we now consider Tom Brady the greatest of all quarterbacks? It is because he defeated every enemy. Some people pray to not be attacked, I don't want to pray for that, I want to pray for victory over every enemy.

and

3. And you get the two tablets with the Ten Commandments. This is the best gift of the three. This indicates that you are expressing God. You were made in the image and likeness of God and this indicates that His laws have been written on your heart. This is what John meant when he said we keep God's commandments, they are in our heart, they are become part of us and we express them.

So this is our gift inside the box, all three of these things. That is the gift of grace. But the propitiation refers to the lid on this box which is also called the mercy seat. Our prayers should be not just for ourselves but for others that they receive these three gifts, and it is our prayers that wrap up these gifts into one box. The propitiation lid or the mercy seat (same thing) is made of pure gold. God considers our prayers to be pure gold. But this wrapping paper is gold and crimson because the blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat. Suppose you are praying for some lying scoundrel to be saved and to be given the hidden pot of manna, and the budding rod of Aaron and the two tables of the Law. God hears your prayer, He answers it, and there is a price to pay, that price is His son had to die for that despicable sinner to be saved. After He was killed His blood was brought into the holy place and sprinkled on your prayers. That was the answer to your prayer, God and Jesus answered your prayer by shedding their own blood to pay for the person you are praying for.

 

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I am looking at multiple hour llong videos from several different sites citing different reasons why they believe this is the year for the rapture. I don't think it is necessary to post them, but of course if the rapture is not very soon I'll probably reconsider. I mention this because there are many watchmen who have been carefully following all these things and they are coming at this from different angles and yet we all are arriving at the same point and same conclusion.

One brother is talking about the interesting debate as to whether the first day of the month is the new moon or the fulll moon. This centers on an interesting word in Hebrew Keseh which means hidden day. It can refer to the new moon when the light is hidden but apparently it can also refer to the fulll moon and it more accurately indicates the journey from darkness to light.

I don't know where he went from there as his video was very long, but I thought that was very interesting because according to the Julian Calendar October 6 and 7 is the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the month of Tishrei and that is a full moon. But on the Gregorian calendar that is the day before the Feast of Tabernacles begins. Think of the journey, those who are raptured began the Christian life on the New Moon when darkness was turned to light. But during the church age there has been a journey from darkness to light and when they get raptured it is the full moon. For them they go the wedding feast the day before the wedding, feast of tabernacles.

But for those left behind this is the first day of the tribulation for them. They will watch it go from light to darkness. Jesus was crucified on a full moon, and for those left behind this will be their experience of being crucified with Christ.