Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

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Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

The great earthquake when the sixth seal is opened refers to the rapture at the end of this age. Whenever the dead in Christ are raised there is an earthquake.

27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

You see, all these things that happen in your life, that shake you, that seem unfair. They are designed to turn you to the Lord so that ultimately you will be unshakeable. Consider Rocky Marciano, from all accounts he was an average fighter. But he learned how exhausting and painful it is to go through a 12 round heavy weight match and so he trained so that fighting him would be equivalent to going through hell. You will have to go through 12 exhausting rounds where you get totally beaten. He trained so that he could put his opponent through the most intense shaking. That is why he was undefeated. No other fighter was "unshakeable".

28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.

 

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Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

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50 is the number of the completion of grace

The 50-Day Rhythms: From Curse to Covenant

The fifty-day increments create a thematic progression mirroring the agricultural and
spiritual harvest cycles of Scripture:

• Day 0 to Day 50 — Crucifixion to Ascension: Christ overcomes death. By
spending forty days on earth post-resurrection, He directly counters the forty
days of Noah's destroying rain and Moses's forty days of fasting before he broke
the tablets of the law.

• Day 50 to Day 100 — Ascension to Pentecost: The reversal of the Tower of Babel. Instead of
confusing languages to scatter mankind in judgment, the Holy Spirit uses unified
tongues to bring mankind back to God.

• Day 100 to Day 150 — The Road to Tabernacles: Sukkot, the Feast of
Tabernacles, is universally recognized in eschatology as the Feast of the
Wedding — representing God finally tabernacling eternally with His bride. The wedding is the covenant.

 

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So then day 150 would be when the Great Babylon is judged in one hour and it is very likely that this is what kicks off the seven year tribulation.

 

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Water Will Be Your Gold, Food Your Silver 5 21 26@2 37 PM Shared 5 22 26​

 

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My one and only job

James 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James is quite clearly ministering to Jews, the twelve tribes, who have been dispersed to the nations. But that doesn't mean he is not a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Galatians we learn there is a ministry to the circumcision and there is a ministry to the uncircumcision. Paul had the ministry to the uncircumcision, but both ministries were joined to Jesus Christ who was the cornerstone.

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

No one wants patience. They want people to be patient with them, but in their own lives they want to solve problems instantly. But there is no such thing as a perfect work without patience. Think of Thomas Edison with the light bulb, he said he hadn't failed 99 times, instead he had found 99 approaches that didn't work. If you solve a problem the first time without ever failing you have no idea about what doesn't work or why.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

It isn't good enough to know what works, you have to also know what doesn't work. You have to know why one way works and also know why all the other ways don't work. For example, if it were possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, then we would have done that, but it isn't possible. That is why Jesus had to go to the cross and it is also why His disciples need to take up the cross and follow Him.

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

For example, when I first got saved I hated the fact that 90% of the people we preached to rejected the gospel. I thought that was a failure. Then the Lord showed me that I could be 100% successful in preaching the gospel. First you have to change your attitude, whether or not someone receives the gospel message is not the measure of success. Some people will accept, some people will reject, my job is not to "save them". My job is to present the gospel so that they have the opportunity to receive it or reject it. God is not going to judge someone for rejecting the gospel unless they actually rejected it. The second thing is that we have a promise that God's word will not return void. It is a seed. The real goal of the gospel preaching is to plant a seed or to water seeds already sown. So then my goal in preaching is not based on the response, my goal is fully under my control, my goal is to plant the word of God as a seed. If I do that then God can do the rest, just like Jesus said, His burden is light, His yoke is easy.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Take a look at this blog, I am never worried about whether or not it is received, or whether or not the word sown is growing or bearing fruit. Instead, every day I want to sow the word of God like sowing seeds, and then relax, that word will do the heavy lifting.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

We see this, for some people speaking the word of God is not enough, they need advertising, they need big crowds, they need entertainment, etc.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

This is what happens in the church, we have a very simple way, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season. But because they are focused on "soul winning" they have killed the function of most of the believers. If you define gospel preaching as soul winning then everyone is a "failure" because you will always have more than 50% rejection. But you don't know what that word has done, that person who rejects you can repent later. My focus is not on soul winning, I am not the savior, Jesus Christ is. I am not the one working on people, the Holy Spirit is. I am simply an instrument in His hands, and my one and only job is to plant a seed, it can be a tiny seed, the word of God.

 

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James 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

This is the major revelation, God has distributed His wisdom in every single part of His creation. For four thousand years the wisdom flowed through a few men, Noah, Melchisedek, Abraham, Moses, David, etc. But now, in the church age, we need the wisdom of every member, some have one talent, a few have five talents, but either way it is like precious faith and we need the deposit the Lord has placed in each one of us.

11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

This is a fact. The church is not out there saying "down with the rich" we are simply preaching the gospel and the truth is all will die and when you die you can't take it with you. You may want to leave it to your heirs, but the Rockefellers slowly fade away, just as all the other wealthy families have in history.

12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

The rich have a temptation to hold onto that wealth for their families by means of unrighteousness. All you do is heap up to yourself judgement from God. If you take a stand for righteousness you might lose out in terms of the temporary wealth that vanishes away like smoke, but instead you will receive a crown of life which is eternal.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

This is what the Priesthood of Melchisedek is all about, we must pay a price as a propitiation sacrifice. Jesus gave up His life that we might be saved, we just give up the world, things which are all going to pass away anyway.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

We reject the lust, as a result there is no sin that is conceived and no death that comes forth as a result.

16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

There are many Christians who have erred. They teach that to reject lust and cut off sin before it can be conceived is a "works based salvation". No, it is simply people focused on life and rejecting death. When we were dead in sins we were powerless to reject sin, but now that we have been born again we have the life that can overcome sin and death.

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Do not be deceived by this. A preacher can teach you many good things, and based on that you feel this man is a man of God. A counterfeit bill is not 100% different from real money, instead it may be 99% the same. The people who teach that being saved by grace means you can continue to live in sin, they may teach everything else according to the Bible. Satan understands that if you have already received Jesus he can't do anything about that, but he can cause you to stumble and not to be sanctified in the truth. Just because you have received Jesus Christ as savior doesn't mean the spiritual warfare against you stops, on the contrary it simply changes gears. So the point is that no one should be given credit for the good gifts, they are all coming from God, not some pastor or preacher.

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

This includes the man who brought you to the Lord. This is a good work, but it wasn't that brother that begat you, rather you were begotten with the word of truth. We must endure temptation and so must the preachers, pastors and brothers who have ministered to you. We have to discern everything from the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It is very possible and it has happened many times that brothers who have been genuine servants of the Lord Jesus will fall to temptation.

19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

A good example of this, though not perfect, is the support some have for President Trump. We are to pray for the leaders. We may appreciate many of the things he has done and give thanks to God for that. But if someone highlights something he said or a post he made which is not according to the Lord we should be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. The idea that "he can do no wrong" is in violation of the truth of God. If he could do no wrong why are we commanded to pray for him? Our job is to work the righteousness of God and getting into the wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.

21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

When we look at some of the things posted, some of the things said online it is the superfluity of naughtiness. Sometimes the speech is even filthy. Think of these posts like a tray with food on it. Just lay it all down, don't touch it, don't eat it, and don't give it to others to eat. Instead look for the engrafted word, a word of God that can become part of your life, your expression and that can save your soul. Yes, when you prayed and received Jesus' blood as your redemption that caused you to enter into a covenant with God that is "salvation". But your soul was not instantly transformed. You were instantly forgiven, but now is the long slow process of the salvation of the soul. As each word gets grafted in you become more and more like Jesus Christ, the incarnated word of God.

 

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James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

This is the single best book on delivering someone from a cult. I used to be in a group that could be considered a cult. They taught the Bible more than any other church I have ever been in and 99% of their doctrine was spot on. But this book helped me to see the error. I thought that since 99% was spot on they couldn't be in error, but this book helped me see that was not true. This verse here is really a key to anyone in a cult, and to be fair, everyone who is dead in sin is in a cult. Satan uses a thousand lies to keep us from the truth. I used to think "I could be a Christian if I wanted to, I just don't want to". But later when I did get saved and baptized and took a stand I discovered that no, I could not be a Christian, even if I wanted to. The only way you can truly be a Christian is if the life of Jesus Christ empowers you. We were commanded to be witnesses. We might think "I could do that if I wanted to, I just don't want to". Sorry, you are deceiving yourself. In John 15 Jesus said that we must bear fruit and only then will we be His disciples indeed.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

When I was a teacher you would hear other teachers complaining about how lazy their students were and that was the reason for the bad results. Which one of us was not lazy when we were in school? I came up with a plan in high school on how to do the least work possible and get the most credit for it. I did all my school work at school and never took a book home. This way the teachers would see how hard I was working. Sometimes I had to get to the school when they opened the doors in the morning, and I always worked through homeroom and my free period and lunch period and even between class periods. But everyday at 3 pm I put the books in my locker and was free. They told my mom I was the hardest working student they had ever seen and this is a school with 2,000 students. Meanwhile my mom had never seen me with a book and had never seen me study. So instead of blaming my students for being lazy I instead went to God in prayer asking for wisdom in how to teach them.

25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

The law of liberty is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. As a student I hated anyone wasting my time with busy work. Get to the point, tell me what I need to know. So that was my approach with my students.

26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

The only way you can bridle your tongue is if the Holy Spirit indwells you and every day you are abiding in Christ. Anyone can act like they are religious, but that is the true test.

27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

This will expose every single cult. For example, go to a church where people are living in sin, and pursuing the pleasures of the world and they are very likely to have a charitable outreach to help widows and orphans. On the other hand go to a cult like the Moonies where they are completely cut off from all worldly pursuits and you will discover they also do not have any charitable outreach for the poor, instead all the money they gather goes to themselves. Cults do not do both. Think about people in the world, they are all encouraged to give money to charity, but at the same time they are encouraged to be spotted from the world.

 

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The Hidden 𐤀 Sign of the Exodus Revealed (America BEWARE)​

This is huge, there was an Aleph and Tav written over the good land prior to the Exodus and the same sign was written over the US from 2017 to 2024.

 

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Not JUST Wars & Rumors - SHOCKING STATISTICS In the Last Days.​

 

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James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

This is what I have learned, all true Christians, all true ministries, they will be slandered, they will be ridiculed, they will be put down. I view it as God's seal of approval that a group is being slandered and ridiculed. So then how do you discern those who truly have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ from a cult? Every single cult has a "respect of a person" that far exceeds common sense, while true believers of the Lord Jesus Christ respect Jesus Christ over all. For example, during the Pandemic people gave Fauci respect of person that far exceeded common sense. I remember Fauci saying "to question me is to question science". That is the kind of thing you hear in a cult. Public school education, TV, Movies, Facebook, Tik Tok, these are all tools for indoctrination and mind control. Watchman Nee described this as a stream flowing downhill to the see. A dead leaf will float on down the stream and has no power to fight the current. A living fish can swim upstream. The entire world is this stream flowing downhill and only those who are born again have the power to swim upstream. But if you are born again stop going with the current, that is what James is saying here.

2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

What evil thoughts? Perhaps the poor man is a drunk or has mental issues? Meanwhile we think the rich guy has a job, makes money and won't be a financial burden on the rest of us. Now let's examine the truth of those things. I worked on Wall street and saw men who made as much as 250k a month. This may not be true of all, but the ones I saw were sleazy fraudsters. They knew it would be a matter of months before lawsuits would shut them down and they were hiding the money as fast as they made it. Again, that is not true of everyone and it would be an evil thought to look on a person who is wealthy and assume they made that money in a fraudulent way. However the world has indoctrinated people to use wealth as a measure of success. The New Testament has several "crowns" like the "crown of life" and none of these are based on the balance in your bank account. Think about cults, any group that uses money as a measure of success is a cult, and that works both ways. Some cults assume that anyone who has money is evil, while everyone else has made amassing wealth in this lifetime as a worthy goal. Jesus warned us to amass your treasure in heaven where thieves don't break in and steal and where rust and moths can't corrupt it. Any other attitude towards money indicates you have been brain washed.

5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Yes. Jesus did not have a place to lay His head, the same could be said of the apostles, and there are many biographies of men of faith you can read as well. I would not make this assumption, but at the same time I would keep my eyes and ears open around someone who is rich, do they love money? Do they love the things of the world? That is the real question. Likewise when you see someone poor of this world, is it because they love the Lord?

6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

We don't despise someone who is an alcoholic, we understand that is a disease. We don't despise someone with mental illness or PTSD, we understand those are things we should treat. I remember talking to my Dad when I was in my mid thirties and he was stunned at how poor I was. Now in my defense I pointed out that I didn't have any debts, no mortgage, no credit card, no car payment. So I was not borrowing money from anyone, on a number line I was at 0, not in the negative numbers or the positive numbers. This was because I had been a full time Christian missionary for a number of years. So think about that, rich people oppress you, they have lawyers on retainer, to many of them life is where whoever has the most monopoly dollars wins and it doesn't matter who you trample to get there. Then you have those who are trying to look rich, they have a mortgage they can't afford, they have a car payment they can't afford, they have huge balance on their credit cards, student loans, etc. So if you were thinking clearly you wouldn't despise the person with 0, you would despise the guy who oppresses people or the guy who is living beyond his means.

7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

They despise you and yet you let them walk all over you.

8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

This is stunning, loving your neighbor as yourself is the key to demolishing every cult. Why did people blindly follow Fauci? It is because they had no respect for their own common sense. In every cult they raise people up over themselves. This guy is an expert, or this guy is "the apostle", same thing. Jesus is telling us to love others "as thyself" meaning everyone is on the same level, the billionaire is no better than you and that poor guy on the street is no worse than you. Until you have that mindset you are in a cult and are brainwashed.

 

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James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The law is a tool we can use to discern. It is like a ruler. It has no power to help you measure up, but it is useful in measuring you and determining if you fall short. The key principle here is what the Lord said, first take the log out of your own eye and then you can see clearly to take the splinter out of someone else's eye.

11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Do not make excuses for adulterers or murderers.

12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

As a born again believer we are no longer in the dark, we should be fully aware that we will be judged for our actions and our words. Notice he didn't say thoughts. We have no control over birds flying over our heads, however, we can make sure they don't make a nest in our hair. If an evil thought comes through your mind, shoe it away, and set your mind on the Spirit.

13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Once again, this is derived from the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you are merciless with others then God will be merciless with you. If on the other hand you are full of mercy, then God will treat you the same way. This is especially true of those who have been "saved". Read Matthew 18, the Lord tells that man that he should have forgiven others the way Jesus had forgiven him, and then throws this man, forgiven by the Lord, into prison to pay the very last penny of what he owed.

14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

And there you go, James equates "works" with showing mercy to others. We have been given a ministry of reconciliation, this is what Paul told us in 2nd Corinthians, and then in Hebrews we were told that we have a priesthood after the order of Melchisedek, a ministry of reconciliation. Now James is telling us that our works, our ministries are all about showing mercy to others.

15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Feeding the poor is one way to show mercy. Giving the homeless a place to stay is another way in which we can show mercy.

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

So James just equates having faith in the word of God being accompanied with works. If you quote "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" as the golden rule but haven't shown mercy to anyone, then it is simply empty words. That word has to be accompanied with some work that shows this word has become part of your life. If you have faith that showing mercy to others will result in God showing you mercy, then you would be out there actively working in ministry to show mercy to others. This is proof that faith without works is dead. This exposes one of the errors of many who teach "once saved always saved" as meaning you can live in sin and it doesn't impact your salvation.

18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

Yes, your works can testify of your faith. I taught in public school at a high school. We are not permitted to preach about Jesus, doing so would get you fired immediately. However I had faith that all the wisdom is hidden in Jesus and I could pray to Him and ask Him for wisdom to solve my problems and I applied this to teaching these kids, leading poor inner city kids from the bottom performers in NYC to the very top performers. People thought this was impossible, but that work testified of my faith.

 

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19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Believing in God is good, atheists are called fools in the Bible. But fallen angels believe in God, that is not proof of salvation.

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

Works of faith are evidence of that faith.

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Don't get this twisted. Many people justify doing things that are illegal or unethical by saying "it is for the greater good". Meaning, God demands my son be crucified but you know He has called me to be the father of faith, and this son being born was a miracle, so for the greater good, I'll just ignore God's righteous demand. For example, suppose you have this ministry and then something gets exposed that if brought to light might cause the whole ministry to be lost. Do you cover that up? The answer is no, instead you have to have faith in the God of resurrection.

 

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22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

Abraham was justified by faith, but it was when he offered up his son that God said "now I know", it was the proof of that faith, it made the faith perfect.

23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Abraham was willing, given the choice, to be faithful to God even if it meant sacrificing his only son. In the analogy I used before, any one of us given the choice must be willing to sacrifice our ministry to be faithful to God.

24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

This is only one example, we need to have at least two witnesses.

25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

This is the second witness. The entire city of Jericho was destined to be sacrificed, but she risked her life for the lives of the two witnesses because she believed God. So one example is you may have to sacrifice your ministry to be faithful to God, the other is you may have to hazard your own life to be faithful to God. Either way that is a "work of faith" and it proves you have faith, and it perfects your faith.

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Otherwise your proclamation of faith is simply empty words. When your life is on the line or when the things you really care about are on the line you balk, that is proof that your "faith" is dead. This refers to the rapture because those taken prior to the tribulation will be like Abraham, who willingly saddled up and went to sacrifice his son because God told him to. Then the tribulation saints will be like Rahab. They were left behind in Jericho because they were harlots, but they did have faith, they did fear God and when the rubber met the road, they will take a stand for the Lord even if it means being killed.

 

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James 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

This word translated master is used 40 times to refer to Jesus. Ten times it is used to refer to teacher. It seems the word is what we would use to refer to the leader in a church, the man who takes the lead and also gives the teachings. I think this verse is personal for James. He was the leader in the church in Jerusalem and there is good reason to condemn him for the first cult mentioned in the New Testament, the Judaizers who "were come from James" according to Paul in the book of Galatians. Some argue that this has not been proven, but Peter believed they were from James and was intimidated by them. The New Testament never uses the word "cult" because it is misleading and confusing. This verse here is a far better description, if you are leading a church and you lead everyone in the wrong direction or on the wrong path then that is the issue. It doesn't matter that it wasn't intentional, the result is the same. Also, it doesn't matter if for the last 500 miles you led them on the right path, you get condemned for taking the wrong path at this time. I used to do a lot of hiking with the Boyscouts, we'd have about twenty kids on a hike an one person would take "point", the guy taking the lead. His job was to follow the trail. It was common for us to go down the wrong path, but he should figure that out in a minute or at the most two. Once it was the end of a long day, we knew how far our camp was and everyone was figuring we were about to walk into camp. That was when the guy at point admitted he had lost the trail. You have to turn around and walk back until you find a trail marker. He had been walking on this trail for an hour without seeing a trail marker. We had to walk back an hour to find our trail and then walk another hour to camp. He added about six miles to our hike that day. Needless to say he received greater condemnation, but just because you aren't point doesn't mean you can't be watching for trail markers. Yes it is his job, but everyone else can also watch as well.

2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.

I think James is speaking from experience, he was the first elder in the church, he was the pioneer. He thought being exceeding zealous for the law was a good thing. Even today we have "christians" pushing the levitical dietary restrictions and sabbath day restrictions. Everyone of us has our opinions over what we should and shouldn't do and we are prone to let those inform our approach to leading the church.

3 Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

The Song of Songs describes the woman as a horse, the church can also be described this way. Some churches are turned to social justice, others are turned to charitable works, still others are turned to supporting evangelism and missionaries.

4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

The church is also compared to a ship that sails through storms. We need the skipper or captain of the ship to steer it through these.

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

Think about how small a match is compared to a great big forest. And yet, that one little match could burn down that forest.

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

And this is what we also see. Think of the protestors burning down their own cities. That is cult behavior. A cult leader doesn't have to be Jim Jones urging people to kill themselves, he doesn't have to be David Koresh, fighting a last stand against the authorities. He can be like the Klu Klux Klan acting as judge and jury. He can be someone that riles up an angry mob. The TV is full of fear porn, keep people scared, fighting against one another. I like to use Mr. Roger's Neighborhood as a ruler, that show was about loving your neighbor and doing unto others as you would have them do to you. Compare anything you see today with that, how does it measure up. Much of the "programming" today is the complete opposite of that show.

7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

Tamed does not mean domesticated. Some animals cannot be domesticated, but they can all be tamed. We have lion tamers, we don't have domesticated lions.

8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

That is what every leader needs to realize. I think this is also something James learned. The New Testament doesn't actually say that he sent out the Judaizers but rather that people supposed he had. In other words, if this is how it is done in Jerusalem someone takes it upon themselves to go and correct others saying "James does it this way and he is the brother of the Lord". He didn't make an excuse, he is simply explaining why teachers get the greater condemnation. You aren't simply judged for what you do, you are also judged for what the people you taught do.

9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

James is filled with these beautiful ways in which to identify cult like behavior. If the leader is blessing God and then cursing man, that is crystal clear. Think about all these world leaders in human history that lead their nations to war. They will bless God, this is a divine calling to go and kill these people over here. That is exactly what James is referring to, those people over there are made after the similitude of God. Every book in the New Testament has unique words that only it uses. This is the only verse in the New Testament that uses this word translated similitude. It reveals the unique burden of this book. James is measuring every leader and every group against the similitude of God. If you are blessing God with your mouth but destroying the men He created in His similitude, then that shows you are behaving deceitfully, like an enemy trying to hide under a cloak of deception.

 

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10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

Every single one of us, when we get saved are filled with salt water, we need to wash all that out with the pure water of the word. So when James uses this example he is saying to apply this word to ourselves, he isn't teaching us to point fingers. Sure, if you are hiking along and you don't see a trail marker, speak up. Often we would ask the guy on point "when was the last time you saw a marker" and if he said about two minutes back, OK, no problem. What James is speaking concerning leading others astray and starting forest fires, that applies to all of us. Our tongues, regardless of who we are, can be like a little match.

11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?

If cursings come out of your mouth, if bitter words come out of your mouth, then you need to see that as an indication you need more power washing in your life. On the other hand, if you hear that coming out of the Pastor's mouth it should be seen as a red flag. Like James says, "these things shouldn't be".

12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

This is what the Lord said, "you shall know them by their fruit". If you come to an apple tree and it is bearing figs, what do you know? Something is not right, something is very deceitful about this tree. Think of how a false prophet operates, he has books, messages, and sermons from genuine teachers. He will use those to teach the word, inserting whatever key point he is really concerned about. That is how 99% can be correct teaching. But what will alert you is the olive tree will have figs on it. The fig tree is associated with Adam and Eve sinning, the leaves were used to cover up. The olive tree is associated with the Holy Spirit depicted as the olive oil. What was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It was a tree designed to make one wise so that they could pretend to be like God. We have people pretending to be experts, think of Fauci, they will receive greater condemnation. But even though many may follow the advice of these "experts" to their own detriment, they still should use their own common sense. Not only so but think of how many became useful idiots forcing others to follow the idiotic rules set forth because they treated that person as "the expert". But if you looked carefully you would have seen figs.

13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

In the US we pay a lot of money for our school system. In the 1970s we had the best school system in the world and since that time we have paid more money for our schools than any other nation on earth. Yet today 50% of kids nationwide fail reading tests and our schools are ranked 28th. Don't listen to people telling you how they need money to fix the schools, rather let them show you by their own success how they have fixed schools. The reason people pay so much money to the schools is because the kids can't read, if they fixed that then they would be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

Suppose I am taken in by a "cult leader" or a "false prophet" or a "deceitful worker". One common reaction is to pretend that isn't so. The reason is simple, suppose I gave this guy everything and followed him for 20 years. The loss is tremendous, it is like everything I have done goes up in smoke and I must admit I was a fool. That is not easy, I know.

15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Think about the school system. How do you take a school system which at one point was the envy of the entire world and in fifty years destroy it? That is a devilish wisdom. It was sensual, they knew one thing they wanted to promote was promiscuity so they would have broken marriages, people in poverty, and thus easier to manipulate. It was also earthly, pushing welfare programs to make people dependent on the state. If they are dependent on the state from the earliest age then they are easier to indoctrinate.

16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

It is stunning to me how easy it is to fix the problem of illiteracy. This problem has been fully solved already. So why the confusion over this? Why all these evil works trying to indoctrinate kids and manipulate them? The US makes other countries look bad, if you can ruin American education then they will not look bad.

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Point out the hypocrisy, point out the partiality, shine a light on the evil fruits, shine a light on the ruthlessness of this school system, shine a light on how polluted it is, how those who push their indoctrination agenda are not peaceable, they are not gentle and they are not easy to intreat.

18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

And don't forget, we are to be peace makers. When Satan begins to lose his next step is to burn everything down. You need to be the one with the water bucket putting the fires out.

 

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James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

In many ways the book of James is all about prayer. On the surface layer James is dealing with cults, but dig a little deeper and the cults are all a result of our doing what is right in our own eyes. We need divine revelation to be freed from that and so James is teaching us all of the ways to identify and detect if we are off the mark. Often it is not until there are wars and fightings among us that we will be humbled enough to turn to the Lord. Many people get saved after a divorce. These failures of ours are like being beat up in a prize fight. You may go into the fight thinking you are great but after losing that is when you will be humbled to seek the Lord. That seeking will cause us to deal with the lusts that war in our members. But here is the ugly truth, much of our prayer life is praying for our lusts. For example, instead of praying that God would give you a spouse that will help you with your walk with the Lord, many will pray that they can get married to this or that person. God not answering those prayers could be His mercy knowing the damage that will be done to both of you if you were to get married to them.

4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

You might be praying for this house, or this car, or this job, or to see this concert, or go to this show or whatever. These prayers are like asking your spouse to introduce you to that other person you are lusting after. Instead we should be praying for eyes to see that being a friend of the world is being an enemy of God. When I decided to give myself fully to follow the Lord I discovered that many people who I considered my friends or close confidants were not. It was clear, either I was going to be their friend, or I was going to be fully for the Lord, can't be both. I am not referring to unbelievers, in my experience they never tried to stop me from pursuing the Lord. It was always people I had assumed were Christian.

5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

There is a spiritual warfare. Watchman Nee shared something very helpful to me. He said that when you get saved Satan will try everything he can to keep you from being absolute for the Lord, but at first he will be cloaked. He'll pretend to be your friend, giving you good advice. However, if you continue to be absolute for the Lord, and his deceitful approach fails, then he will fight you openly. That is a prayer that the Lord will answer. He promises to declare the things done in secret from the housetop. I have seen people who seem cursed, they believe in the Lord, but it seems like a curse follows them everywhere they go. The best thing that ever happened for me was to cut off all the evil influence and to be separate. Get rid of anything that has been cursed, anything of witchcraft, anything charmed, and give yourself to follow the Lord wholly. One of the absolute best ways to discern who is truly of the Lord is to preach the gospel. All those friends that you think you have, if they recoil when they see you preaching the gospel then that is like pulling the cloak off of the evil one. Also realize this, only the Lord Jesus is the source of divine love. If you have a friend that you think exemplifies divine love find out the source, if it isn't the Lord Jesus then it is not the real thing.

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

This is the most stunning thing to me. The people who assume they are there to advise you on the path you should go. We need good examples, we need brothers and sisters and elders who are godly to help us in our spiritual life. As a new believer you should be going to the Lord for help in finding these ones. I found brothers who could, and in every case they were humble, they were often despised by others. But at the same time there would be people who would come to me and presume to be in a position to advise me on my spiritual journey. Everytime there would be this inner voice saying "who are you?" Do you remember when the seven sons of Sceva wanted to cast a demon out? They assumed that since their father was a priest and they knew the name of Paul that they were "somebody". The demon said I know Paul but who are you? Well, that works both ways. Whenever Satan sends someone to "help you" the Holy Spirit is going to be inside saying "who are you?" Think of what the Lord Jesus said "my sheep hear my voice" and they won't follow another. These people will come in "uniforms", maybe they have a degree, or their daddy is someone, etc. They will have some reason why people should listen to them, but what Christians need to do is to tune their ears to hear the Lord's speaking.

 

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James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This can be very difficult at first because to submit yourself to God means you must embrace the cross. But, if God is speaking to you and you are sincere in wanting to know for sure if that is God, simply pray, He'll make it very clear that it is Him and not the devil. Likewise, if you suspect it is the devil speaking to you, again pray, God will intervene on your behalf and the devil will flee from you. In warfare it is extremely dangerous to be a spy, a spy will be executed while a soldier has legal rights even in a time of war. This is true in the spiritual warfare as well. You pray that the influence of the devil in your life will be exposed, you pray that every person who comes into your life and every thing, every object, must go through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus and Satan will be exposed and you can bet he will flee because the penalty for being a spy in the spiritual warfare is very severe.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Take a look at every single person that you truly respect. Doesn't matter if it is Michael Jordan, or Tom Brady or Mike Tyson. The one thing they all had in common was they were not double minded. They had a singular focus that they pursued. Granted, when Mike Tyson lost that focus he also lost his fights and went to prison. But you can repent and be restored. Rocky Marciano, Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson had nothing in common with their fighting styles, but the one thing they all had in common was they were not double minded. The process is simple. When you hear the gospel you are in the world, fully in the world. You need to draw nigh to God, doing that will cause you to leave the things of the world. When I first got saved I moved out of a college dorm and into a brothers house. We had morning watch every morning in the word of God. We had people over to the house to fellowship and we were invited to other peoples homes for dinner to fellowship. I went to six meetings a week, we had a prayer meeting on Wednesday night, a meeting studying the Bible Friday night, Saturday morning was a service meeting, Saturday night was a meeting for college kids, the Lord's day we had the normal service and in the evening we had the Lord's table where everyone could share their personal testimonies of the Lord from that week. Now because of that I didn't have time for TV and didn't have a TV. If you get rid of the TV it is amazing how much time you have to follow the Lord.

9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

The things that people in the world find funny are like drinking poison. The things that come out of their mouth reveal what is in their heart.

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

There is nothing greater than having a word that saves someone who was headed for destruction. Over fifty years I have seen people pursue paths that they thought were lifting them up only to discover in the end that it was all a lie. I heard something that a Billionaire said that I thought was very funny. He said if I were to give advice to my younger self I would tell him that when you get to the top of the mountain you will discover that there is nothing there. I thought that was hilarious because I had climbed a lot of mountains in the Adirondacks during my life. When you climb a mountain it is healthy for both mind and body. It is beautiful and restorative. Beautiful mountain streams and lakes. But eventually you get to the top of that mountain and there is nothing there. It is a terrible place to be. It seems the rain, wind and storms are always on the top of the mountain even if the rest of the hike had been a pleasant day. No one wants to live on top of a mountain, just look at what it is like on top of Mount Washington. You get to the top, you take some pictures, and then you get off of that mountain and come back down to where it is nice again.

11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

The Law is like a ruler or an instrument used to measure. It is given to us so that we could examine ourselves to see whether or not we are in Christ. The only way you can actually "do the law" is if you are in Christ. Now you can try to do the law on your own, but it is like hiking up that mountain in socks, rather than in boots. It won't last long. But many don't use the law to measure their own spiritual health but rather to condemn others. This is a defense mechanism they have learned in the world. If you are dead in sin but also hearing the word of God condemn you at the same time, the defense mechanism is that everyone else is dead too. There are two possible responses, you can be convicted of sin and repent, or you can claim everyone else is a sinner too as though that means it doesn't matter. But what you are actually doing is judging others for the sins that you commit. The Lord said "with what judgement you judge you shall be judged". You are actually judging yourself.

12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

This question is the cure to being in a cult. A cult is simply "group think". When you are judging another you are not a sinner saved by grace, nor are you the judge who has been appointed to judge others. So who are you? You are a sinner, you are guilty, the word convicts you so your only defense is "everyone else is guilty too". That is not a defense, but that is why people are in cults or in group think. A person joins the Moonies because they have seen the world is evil, they know the answer is spiritual, but that is all they know and so they will just put their faith in the others in the group and just follow them. They are right to see that world is evil and that pursuing the things in the world is vanity. They are right to realize they need a spiritual answer. But you haven't found it because now you think you are "holier than thou", you have come to a spot of being self righteous while at the same time being convicted of your sins.

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

The other side of the coin is the guy who has worked hard in college, gotten a good job, working hard, he is married, has a house, a car, and is on the hamster wheel the world has given him. You are so busy running on that hamster wheel you haven't stopped to consider that in one instant everything will vanish away. Maybe during the funeral of a coworker or friend you will realize it.

15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

In the grand scheme of things where is your life when it is all said and done? When I read history none of the lives impress me, you have generals who won battles, kings who went to war, but in the end what did Caesar accomplish? What did Napoleon accomplish? Perhaps you can argue that George Washington was walking according to God's will. Benjamin Franklin said that "George Whittington was the revolution". The lives that stick out to me are those who were aligned with God's will. Everyone else thought they were really big, but in the end they were just a really big failure.

16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

This chapter began talking about why we have wars. But it concludes with why do we have evil. We have evil because those who know the Lord do not take a stand for the Lord.

 

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Water Will Be Your Gold, Food Your Silver 5 21 26@2 37 PM Shared 5 22 26​

I like what she is saying, but her quotes lack the traditional markers showing it is from the Savior. Especially the metaphorical language that overlaps the literal.

 

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James 5:1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Every time we have a war or economic reset the miseries come upon the rich. For example, consider the Amish. Do any of these things impact them? Do they care about the computer age, or the technological revolution, or the industrial revolution, or AI? If you don't have money in the stock market you don't care about the market going up or down.

2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.

Every time some new development has come along it has made the previous things seem old, rusted and moth eaten.

3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

To be cankered is to be rusted. These three words: corrupted, motheaten and cankered are unique to the book of James. This represents the unique burden of James, gold doesn't rust. So when he says "Your gold" he is not referring to the true gold, but their deceit. For example, currency that is printed based on the faith in the US government, the inflation is what he is referring to as "cankered". This word translated "rust" is used twice in the New Testament, the first time is here: Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips. But it is translated as poison. The government always portrays itself as "fighting to hold down inflation" when in reality inflation is their modus operandi. Think of inflation as a hidden tax the government gives to everyone because everyone pays it. But the reality is worse, the reality is they made a contract with people to pay a certain % to them when they buy their bonds, and inflation is the government welching on that contract by reducing the real amount of % they pay.

These verses are fundamental to the burden of this book. James is a book that reveals the false prophets, what we would call "cults". If "your gold" is "cankered" then that reveals it is not real gold. You have "fool's gold". If your garments are moth eaten that is a very clear distinction between the Israelites going through the wilderness for forty years without their clothes wearing out and what you get in the world.

4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

The world makes promises, but never pays. They make contracts with you but welch on those contracts. Adultery and divorce are simply people behaving fraudulently with the marriage contract and welching on that contract. It is an example of "your gold being cankered" and your clothes being moth eaten.

5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.

There is a principle that Jesus Christ is the body of all the shadows. The principle is the basis for all of his parables, that is that everything we see in nature applies to us spiritually. A seed growing applies to our faith, weeds apply to the things of the world. So then who lives in wanton pleasure awaiting the day of slaughter? That would be pigs. Your life in the world is like a herd of swine. What about sheep, well every year they get sheared. So for Christians, the humiliation we go through of being sheared is evidence that we are sheep, not pigs. The world targets the charitable works of Christians the same way that moths target wool.

6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

The Bay of Tonkin is a false flag event that was used to justify killing Vietnamese. Why? So that we could use the Vietnam war to sell our products from our industrial war machine. The Reichstag fire was a false flag event so that Hitler could target the communists and since Marx was Jewish they could use Jews as scapegoats despite Jews being fully involved in capitalism. So the analogy here is killing Jesus as the lamb of God is the way in which the world operates.

This is why the Lord returns, not as a lamb but as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is why the day of judgment comes upon them, and why the miseries will come upon them. When you preach the gospel it is important that people see this, they need to see that they are on the broad way that leads to destruction and that there is a narrow way that leads to life and now is the time to get off of that broad way and take the narrow way.