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Why Are Blood Moons Quoted In The Bible?

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My Prayer: Dear God, Adonai, Jehovah, El Chaddai, You are the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. As You were with us to begin this week, so stay with us as it ends. Give us faithfulness this day and all the days of our lives, that we might one day inherit Your crown of life. We know that many do not know You or acknowledge You. Send Your Holy Spirit to those who have forgotten or rejected You, that they might know the comfort and joy of Your Son’s life and death for the whole world. Bring the lost children back into Your fold , that we might all rejoice together in Your goodness and grace. We pray in the name of Your precious Son, Jesus Christ , Amen

Since we have 2 blood moons in 2022, I thought I’d share what the prophet Joel shared about Israel in relationship to what is happening today and what’s to come written about by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to believers in Thessalonica. There won’t be another blood moon until March 2025. Following are the two predicted for 2022.

  1. May 16, 2022: total lunar eclipse (best seen in eastern North America and South America).
  2. November 7/8. 2022: total lunar eclipse (best seen in western North America and the Pacific).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2022/03/10/countdown-to-2022s-first-eclipse-season-and-an-84-minute-blood-moon-eclipse-for-north-america/?sh=7b955cf15fdd

What do the blood moons have to do with certain bible prophecies? They are mentioned in the book of Joel (OT) and in the book of Acts and Revelation (NT).

Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. “

Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:”

Revelation 6:12 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;”

Even though when Jesus was asked about signs, he said that won’t be any signs except the story of Jonah. Obviously the prophet Joel and apostle John had more insights to share.

As you have probably noticed we believe in the pre-tribulation rapture since the bible teaches that believers are not appointed to the wrath of God which is to befall the world during the tribulation.

The blood moon is to happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord. We know that the ‘Day of the Lord’ includes the tribulation and the thousand year millennium, because the bible teaches a day equals 1000 years. Since it is described as a great and terrible day it has to include the tribulation.

God is calling His people home to Israel. I had three sources who shared that the Jews are on their way to Israel from the Ukraine, Russia, Australia and elsewhere.

Prophet Joel to the Israel

Joel 2:21-32 “Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.

“And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”

Joel 3:1-21 “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.

“Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

“Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

“Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

“So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.”

The Apostle Paul to the Gentiles

The Apostle Paul to the Gentiles in his first letter to Thessalomians 1:9 “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

1 Th 2:12-15 “That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:” 3:3 “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”

1 Th 3:8,11-13 “For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. “

1 Th 4:1-18 “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”

No better time to get ready to meet the Lord in the air than now.

Quotes from KJV Bible. Bold letters added by editor: Rita Williams

GOD’S DNA

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Hello everyone. I am Giannis Apostolos from the Kingdom of Heaven’s Adoption Agency. I would like to correct a misunderstanding about the adoption process. The truth is that all of us who believe in Jesus are children of God. The new birth is a real event, whose creator and fulfiler is God Himself: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) Even for such a supernatural process, a seed was required and is still needed. Unlike among creatures, the seed that comes from God has no hereditary factors, or genes. It is, however, powerful to bring forth a new kind of life, even eternal ones: “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;” (1 Peter 1:22-23) Such a divine seed is received by faith through hearing. It is not received by religious act, such as baptism, or by tradition.

Then we go to the interpretation that has caused misunderstandings in some circles: “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,” (Heb. 2:11) The conclusion drawn from this verse is as follows. The sanctifier and the sanctified are all originally from one, so that humans also have a divine gene pool within themselves. I repeat what I said earlier. Only creatures have DNA, not the Creator, for He is Spirit. Humans are not descended from some, mystical, heavenly god incubator. The natural process of birth takes place in the order ordained at the beginning of creation. Let each creature reproduce according to his kind. God has no need to multiply himself. Also Jesus, the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, was born from a woman’s womb. We have come into this world out of nothingness. The carpenter’s son existed eternally before Mary’s womb. He is the only one of his kind and was born into this world for a unique purpose: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Heb. 2:14-18)

Heavenly Father has had a plan to adopt children for Himself since before there was heaven and earth. Prophets like Isaiah have prophesied of this divine plan, as did Paul, a true Apostle. He continues to set apart for himself those people who feel they are orphans. They have no place in this present world. They are strangers and aliens. He has promised to take good care of the adopted children who belong to him: “What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6:16-18) Even in natural adoption, children don’t have the DNA of their new parents. In such families, children learn the customs and behavior of their new family. It’ s the same in God’s family: “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)

Dear members of the Holy Family. Be content to be adopted children. The Heavenly Father will always be as far above His creatures as heaven is above the earth. I guarantee you that in his family, even the status of an adopted child is downright heavenly, beyond comprehension many times over. He already has a Son, the only one with divine DNA, if you can put it that way. We will become His likeness at His appearing. Invite everyone to join this heavenly family while there is still time left for adoption.

WIth adoption greetings

J. P.

The King Project

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Hello all you dear citizens of The Kingdom of Heaven, where ever you may be. I’m Michael Angel, the Chief Information Officer of Kingdom of Heaven’s Ministry of Training and Education. At the request of the king, I’m sending you now this news release to encourage and strengthen you all, even the weakest ones. You understand how society’s spiritual climate is becoming colder around citizens towards our cause. Public officers and politicians want to dictate what we’re allowed to say, and what not. They also want to determine the limits of appropriation, what is love, what isn’t, etc. We’re flexible in various things but, in this, we can’t give in. We obey and carry out the will and order of the king of kings to proclaim the good message: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mat. 28:18-20) He’s the ruler of the eternal kingdom, not the rulers and public officers of the present world, who come and go all the time. He remains forever, and we with him.
Already before the foundation of the world, the collective trio of rulers, being in perfect unity, had made the decision to gather dispersed people. For people had no chance at all to enter the kingdom of the great king by their own efforts because of their sinfulness. A payment was needed, which would guarantee the release of sins, and that was paid on a place named Calvary. Accepting, believing and carrying it out in one’s life is the sign of the new birth: “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) In these things, people don’t have their own merits but everything comes from above. A person, who believes and fulfills the criteria, mensioned above, gets involved in divine care. In the Ministry, we’re calling this process ‘The King Project’. You can be assured, that the king always brings all his projects to completion. You can have complete peace of mind and rest in his grace, on his promises: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:37-39) 
Citizens must be realists in regard to their walk. There surely will be troubles and predicaments on the way. Another promise made by the king must be remembered in such situations. He is committed to safeguarding the spiritual well-being of his citizens according to his own resources. We understand that they are considerable and he always does a perfect job: “but he holds his priest hood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” (Heb. 7:24-26) Unlike in human life, for the great king nothing is transient or fleeting because he remains forever. Trust in the promises of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven, its rights and duties, and their implementation is what we call building on the rock. This kind of action is particularly pleasing to the king. It takes a little effort, of course, but it’s worth it. But one doesn’t have to make it in own strength though. Citizens have a resource what native English speakers call ‘The Spirit Factor’ at their disposal: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13)
The Spirit Factor has other features and functions, too. All the features and functions are vital for raising a citizen into the value system of The Kingdom of Heaven. The king works, within the framework of his project, with his full strength and authority for the benefit of its citizens. Citizens can put their full trust in the project launched by the king and grow, amidst hardship and even persecution, towards his likeness and his inheritance: “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom. 8:12-17) I wish citizens moments of graceful growth. If someone falls into sin, he can, confessing his sin, rise again and joyfully continue his journey. I hope to see you all one day in the Kingdom of Heaven, in a new state of being.
With project greetings
J. P.

Why I Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Rapture

My goal is to show you the heresy that is going on today on the web. This video following got 1,867,467 views which doesn’t make it correct.  The Tribulation Video Everyone Must See (70th Week of Daniel Revealed)  1,867,467 views – May 11, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nx4E-CSmh4

The producer made a discovery to prove the authenticity of the Bible’s prophetic quality which is authentic. It is believed 30% of the Bible KJV revolves around prophecy and most of it was fulfilled already exactly the way it was written. That is why most believers believe the Bible is truth.

Going back to the video, most likely this believer believes in a Post Tribulation Rapture. To make it all fit his discovery, he placed the ‘Wrath of God’ just before Jesus comes back to take over the reign of the world’s ‘Thousand Year Millennium’. Jesus returns with all the Saints which doesn’t fit a post tribulation concept. That’s not how the Tribulation is explained in the Bible. Following is what Scripture reveals. According to it there are a First and a Last Resurrection. How can that be?  The First

Resurrection (Part 1)
What is confusing to people is the fact that the First Resurrection takes place over a period of time. Jesus is the First Resurrection (Part 1) after He was crucified at age 33 over two thousand years ago. The exact year is unknown. Matthew 28:5-6 “And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

The First Resurrection (Part 2)
The Pre-Tribulation Rapture happens just prior to the Tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

According to the ‘Parable of the Ten Virgins’, half of them have no oil in their lamps which refers to the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Those virgins will be left behind. The Holy Spirit will be removed before the Antichrist can be revealed. The Holy Spirit is in born again Christians which is the reason for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Jesus is the only one qualified to open the seals which start and describe the ‘Seven Year Tribulation’. Revelation 6:1-8 “And I saw when the Lamb (Jesus) opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him (Antichrist) had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.”

Revelation 6:3-6 “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see.
And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

“And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. ”

The Antichrist comes out of the European Union (Old Roman Empire) as an ordinary person and people will believe he is Jesus Christ Himself because he will tell them that he has all the answers and will fix the world. That happens at the fifth seal. The Third Temple will have been built and he will sit on his throne and tell people to take the Mark if they wish to participate in his kingdom. Those who know the truth will not take the Mark and will be decapitated. They are called the Tribulation Saints because they were clothed with white robes. Notice they are in heaven in the middle of the Tribulation resurrected.

Revelation 13:3-8 “And I saw one of his heads (Antichrist) as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (second part of the Tribulation). And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb (Jesus) slain from the foundation of the world.”

The dragon represents Satan who takes over the Antichrist’s body due to the wound he received and begins his Satanic rule. God releases Satan, who still takes orders from God up to this point. According to the Gospel, Satan is now in full control to do whatever he wants. That’s what the 3.5 years remaining will be about. Satan hates God’s creation and he knows his time is short.

The First Resurrection (Part 3)
Revelation 6:9-11 “And when he (Jesus) had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.” (Notice there are more to be resurrected)

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb (Jesus), clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

The First Resurrection (Part 4)
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (The twelve Tribes 12,000 each make up the 144,000)

Continued  http://prophecy.go-cephas.com/why-i-believe-in-a-pre-tribulation-rapture-xx.html 

 

 

Darby originated the “Secret Rapture” 1830, did he really??

Rapture

The authorized KJV is the only Bible not copyrighted which means it can be copied. What does the Bible have to say about the “Secret Rapture”? zero

The King James Version (KJV), also known as the King James Bible (KJB), sometimes as the English version of 1611, or simply the Authorized Version (AV), is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, commissioned by King James in 1604 and completed as well as published in 1611 under the sponsorship of James VI and 1. The books of the King James Version include the 39 books of the Old Testament, an intertestamental section containing 14 books of the Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament. Noted for its “majesty of style”, the King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version

1611 KJV

1 Th 4:16, 17
“For the Lord himselfe shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voyce of the Archangel, and with the trumpe of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
“Then we which are aliue, and remaine, shalbe caught vp together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the aire: and so shall wee euer bee with the Lord.”

Martin Luther 1483 – 1546

Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben. (He died 18 February 1546). His father was a copper miner. Luther studied at the University of Erfurt and in 1505 decided to join a monastic order, becoming an Augustinian friar. … Luther had come to believe that Christians are saved through faith and not through their own efforts.
Martin Luther was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, Augustinian monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507.

D. Martin Luthers German authorized Bible reprint in 1938 Wuertenberg, Bible Institute, Stuttgart Germany

1. Thessalonicher 4: 16,17
“Denn er selbst, der Herr, wird mit einem Feld geschrei ubd der Stimme des Erzengels und mit der Posanne Gottes herniederkommen vom Himmel und die Toten in Christo werden auferstehen zuerst.
” Danach wir,ldie wir leben und uebrig bleiben, werden zugleich mit ihnen hingeruekt werden in den Wolken dem Herrn entgegen in der Luft, und werden also bei dem Herrn sein allezeit.”

Translated from German to English at Google

1 Th 4:16, 17
“For he himself, the Lord, is cried with a field and the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God coming down from heaven and the dead in Christ will be resurrected first.
“After that we, as we live and remain, will at the same time be brought up with them in the clouds towards the Lord in the air, and will therefore always be with the Lord.”

The Geneva Bible

Is the Geneva Bible accurate? Yes! Geneva Bible, also called Breeches Bible, new translation of the Bible published in Geneva (New Testament, 1557; Old Testament, 1560 Google Q&A

1Th 4:16,17
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Dake’s Bible

Finis Jennings Dake (October 18, 1902 – July 7, 1987) was an American Pentecostal minister and evangelist born in Miller County, Missouri, known primarily for his writings on the subjects of Pentecostal (or Charismatic) Evangelical Christian spirituality and Premillennial Dispensationalism. His most well known work was the Dake Annotated Reference Bible.
Confused Charismatic Theology by Joseph Chambers http://www.ovrlnd.com/FalseDoctrine/drakesbible.html
Dake’s family apologized for his Bible after Finis’ death. The problem was his notes were confusing as indicated by Joseph Cambers, himself a preacher.

Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible uses the authorized KJV . Copyright 1963

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882)

Before examining Scofield’s life, we should note a little about John Nelson Darby, the principle figure from whom Scofield borrowed his Biblical analysis. Darby was a Satanist, Freemason and agent of the Rothschild-owned British East India Company,1 the latter being the most powerful multinational corporation of its day and the supplier that turned millions of Chinese into opium addicts. Darby’s family owned Leap Castle, renowned as the most sinister and occult castle in Ireland’s history.
Darby became a leader of a Christian sect called the Plymouth Brethren (named for Plymouth, England, where its most popular gatherings were held). He is generally credited with originating the “Secret Rapture” doctrine and made several trips to America to spread his ideas.
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one … Pre-tribulation rapture theology was popularized extensively in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren, and further …
Nationality: British
Born: 18 November 1800; Westminster, London
Occupation: Writer, translator, educator, clergyman

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Scofield’s correspondence Bible

Scofield’s correspondence Bible study course was the basis for his Reference Bible, an annotated, and widely circulated, study Bible first published in 1909 (KJV) by Oxford University Press Scofield’s notes teach futurism and dispensatiionalism, a theology advanced in the early nineteenth century by the Anglo-Irish clergyman John Nelson Darby, who like Scofield had also been trained as a lawyer. Dispensationalism emphasizes the distinctions between the New Testament Church and ancient Israel of the Old Testament. Scofield believed that between creation and the final judgment there are seven distinct eras of God’s dealing with humanity and that these eras are a framework around which the message of the Bible could be explained. It was largely through the influence of Scofield’s notes that dispensational premillenialism became influential among fundamentalist Christian in the United States, and these notes became a significant source for popular religious writers such as Hal Lindsey. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._I._Scofield

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The War on Christianity, Part II: The Abomination and Blasphemy of Christian Zionism
https://jamesperloff.com/2016/08/31/the-war-on-christianity-part-ii-the-abomination-and-blasphemy-of-christian-zionism

 (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

 Tell your friends about us and thank you for visiting Cephas Ministries (http://www.go-cephas.com)

There Shall No Sign Be Given It, But The Sign Of ‘Jonah’ The Prophet

To the 10 Virgins

 

Luke 11:29-36 “And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
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“The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas (s/b Jonah) ; and, behold, a greater than Jonas (s/b Jonah) is here. No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.”
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Comment from TFG ‘The Four Fold Gospel’
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There shall no sign be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. They did not accept miracles of healing as a sign, and only one other kind of sign was given; namely, that of Jonah. Jonah was shown to be a true prophet of God, and Nineveh received him as such because he was rescued from the fish’s belly, and Jesus was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead (Ro 1:4). Also Cmt. on Mt 16:4.
And there shall no sign be given unto it. Cmt. on Mr 8:12.
But the sign of Jonah. The resurrection or Jonah sign was a sign from heaven in the sense in which they used the words; that is, it was wrought directly by God, and not through man. Cmt. on Mt 12:39.
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Mt 12:39
An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. While the Jews of that generation could well be accused literally of adultery, Jesus here evidently uses it in its symbolic sense as used by the prophets. They represented Israel as being married to God and as being untrue to him (Ex 34:15; Jer 3:14,20).
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Matthew 12:38-42 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet ‘Jonas'(s/b Jonah): For as ‘Jonas’ (s/b Jonah) was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of ‘Jonas’ (s/b Jonah); and, behold, a greater than ‘Jonas’ (s/b Jonah) is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
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11 Resurrection of Jesus
Rightly Dividing the Word, by Clarence Larkin, 1920
Chapter 11: Resurrection of Jesus
The Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation fact on which Christianity is built. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” 1Co 15:17. The proof of Jesus’ “Deity” depended on His Resurrection from the dead. Five different times He declared that He would be crucified and buried and on the third day would rise from the dead. Mt 12:39-40; 20:17-19; 26:30-32; Lu 18:31-33; Joh 2:19-22. If He had not risen we would not have known whether He was what He claimed to be or not, but the Apostle Paul says He was “declared (demonstrated) to be the SON OF GOD . . . by the RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.” Ro 1:4.
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Jesus came to take the sinner’s place and satisfy the Law.
If Jesus had not risen from the dead we should not have known whether this had been done. When the criminal has served out his full time he cannot be held in confinement a moment longer. According to the Scriptures Jesus’
sentence was that He should remain in the grave three days, when the time was up no power in heaven, earth, or hell could hold Him there a minute longer. This is clearly brought out in Ac 2:24– “Whom God raised up from the dead, having loosed the pains
(power) of death because it was not possible that He should be HOLDEN OF IT.”
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The Psalmist said of Jesus — “Thou wilt not suffer Thine `Holy One’ to see CORRUPTION.” Ps 16:10; Ac 2:29-32.
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Therefore Jesus had to rise before the fourth day when corruption is supposed to set in. The Resurrection of Jesus is proof that “DEATH” has been conquered. When Jesus appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos He declared– “I am He that liveth, and was
dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen: and have the KEYS of `Hell’ (Hades, the Underworld) and of `Death’ (the Grave).”
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Re 1:18. We can picture “Death” saying to Captain Sepulchre, “Hold on to that man in Joseph’s Tomb until `corruption’ shall have seized upon Him, for if He come out He will make a breach in the walls of `Hades’ (the Underworld) through which all the prisoners of `Hades’ will escape.” But it was not “Death” that had taken Christ
captive. Christ simply pursued “Death” into his own dominions, and then conquering him came forth leading captivity captive, and crying “I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE.” Joh 11:25.
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When Jesus rose from the dead He– “ABOLISHED DEATH, and brought `Life’
and `Immortality’ to light.” 2Ti 1:10. That is, He took from Death its terrors, and made provision by which we shall be freed from the bonds of Death by the resurrection of our bodies, so that ultimately there will be no more Death. Re 21:4.
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Therefore because the Tomb could not hold Jesus it shall not be able to hold us, for– “If the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in us, He that
raised up Christ from the dead shall quicken our mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in us.” Ro 8:11. That is raise us from the dead.
TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT:
1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
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[Source: SwordSearch 4) Editor: Rita Williams KJV
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author. If you have a problem with the correctness of the information, please contact the author.

 (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

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Scriptures To Verify The End Is Here

To the 10 Virgins
· Matthew 24:6 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
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· Luke 21:11 “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”
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· 1 Timothy 1:9 “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers..”
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· Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
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· Zephaniah 1:14-17 “The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of waste and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.”
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Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”
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· Ezekiel 7:19 “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.”
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· Matthew 10:26 “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. “
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Luke 17:30 “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. “
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1 Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness … “
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· 2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”
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· Matthew 24:8-12 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
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· Amos 8:12 “And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.”
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· Matthew 24:9 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
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· Matthew 24:10 “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”
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· Matthew 24:11 “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
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· Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
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· James 5:3 “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.”
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· 2 Peter 3:3 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,”
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· Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
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· Revelation 3:14-22 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest,
I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
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1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”
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1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
Source: KJV Bible  editor Rita Williams
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author. If you have a problem with the correctness of the information, please contact the author.

 (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)
Tell your friends about us and thank you for visiting Cephas Ministries (www.cephasministry.com)

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

To the 10 Virgins
 Matthew 25:1-13 “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
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Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
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What is the Oil?
OT – Exodus 30:31 “And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.”
Family Bible Notes: John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Scofield Bible Notes
Anointing oil, type of the Holy Spirit for service Ac 1:8.
Acts 1:8 “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
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Through the Bible Day by Day (F. B. Meyer)
Exodus 30:22 THE ANOINTING OIL AND THE INCENSE
Ex 30:22-38 The anointing oil was extremely rich and costly. Pure myrrh; sweet cinnamon, imported probably from Sumatra or China; sweet calamus, the product of India or Mesopotamia; cassia, from Java, were the principal ingredients. Such a combination must have produced a delightful fragrance! The use of this oil was restricted to the holy service of the Tabernacle, and reminds us of “the unction of the Holy One“-i.e., the anointing by the Holy Spirit. See Le 8:10-12 and 1Jo 2:20.
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Christ is the Anointed, and He sheds the oil of joy on our heads, as one by one we yield ourselves to His service. See Ac 2:33. The oil was not to be poured on “the flesh of man.” We must deny the flesh, with its affections and lusts, that we may be filled with the Spirit. Calvary before Pentecost!
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The incense also was carefully prepared, and thus we are taught that prayers should not be uttered rashly or lightly; but with reverence, deliberation and forethought.
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NT – Matthew 25:4 “But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
1 John 2:20 “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
Biblical Illustrator
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Matthew 25:1
Vers. 1-13. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins. –

THE TEN VIRGINS: –
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I. WE HAVE HERE TWO CHARACTERS CONTRASTED. “Five were wise and five were foolish.” That we may define the difference between them, it is needful that we have a clear conception of the things in which they were alike.
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1. They all had some knowledge of, and regard for, the bridegroom, and desired to honour him by going forth to meet him as he led home his bride.
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2. They all had lamps which at the moment were burning.
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3. That while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. Not until his coming was announced did the difference between them develop itself. In all outward things the wise and foolish virgins were alike; the difference between them was internal. The going out of the lamp is commonly understood to mean the making of a profession, while the absence of the reserve store of oil is supposed to signify the want of sincerity in that profession.
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This seems to unduly narrow the scope of the parable. For the foolish virgins had a real regard for the bridegroom; they had gone far to meet him, and were disappointed at their exclusion. There was genuineness about them as far as they went; only they did not go far enough. Hence I cannot restrict this part of the story to deliberate hypocrites. I regard the foolish virgins as those who have had some feelings of attachment to Christ, and certain impulses Christward to which they yielded at the time; but they were not constant.
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Their emotion was a real thing, and when they were acting upon it you could not call them hypocrites; but it was not the right thing. They were animated by impulse, not principle. Their religion did not go down to the lowest depths of their nature; it was a thing on the surface. Their seed fell “upon rocky ground where it had not much earth,” etc. They commenced to build a tower, but without counting the cost (Lu 14:28,32).
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II. THAT CHARACTER IS REVEALED BY CRISIS.
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A man has only as much religion as he can command in the hour of trial. The minor surprises of life are to prepare us for the last emergency.
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III. THAT CHARACTER IS A PERSONAL THING, and cannot be given by one man to another, but MUST BE ACQUIRED AND MANIFESTED BY EACH ONE FOR HIMSELF. Character is not transferable. I cannot give you my courage to fortify you for duty. How perilous to leave preparation for these testing times till they have come upon us. Every time we perform duty the soul is made stronger. Here the store of oil is obtained. “Add to your faith virtue” (1Pe 1:5,7).
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IV. THAT LOST OPPORTUNITIES CANNOT BE RECALLED. (W.M. Taylor, D. D.) .
Character revealed by crisis: – The great truth here taught, therefore, is that character is revealed by emergency. It is in moments of surprise that a man’s true self comes out to view. He is the ablest general who can in an instant find some resource when an ambushed foe starts up before him.
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He is the most skilful mariner, who, in sudden extremity, can rise to the occasion, and bring his vessel and his crew safely into port. Nothing will more correctly reveal what is in a man, than the coming upon him of some crushing and unlooked-for crisis. Let it be temporal ruin by the failure of all his calculations, or the disappointment of all his hopes; let it be the entrance of the death-angel into his home, and the removal from it of his nearest and dearest earthly friend; let it be his own prostration by some serious illness which puts him face to face with his dissolution: and forthwith the extent of his resources is unfolded, and it is at once discovered both by others and by himself, whether he is animated by unfailing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and sustained by the grace of the Holy Spirit, or whether he has been deceiving himself, and all the while relying on some other support. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
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Reserve power the outcome of daily discipline: – We all know how true that is in common life. When, in times of danger, some great leader comes suddenly to the front, and shows that he has the very qualities which the occasion needs, it will always be found that he has been preparing himself – unconsciously, perhaps, but really – for years, by the careful discipline of daily labour, for the work which is now so successfully performed by him.
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While others were asleep, he was at his toil: and by the study of many earnest months, perhaps also by the labour of many midnight hours, he has been laying up that reserve supply, on which at the moment of necessity he has been able to draw. Thus, though the revelation of his ability may have been sudden, the growth of it has been gradual; and because in times of quiet and safety he kept up the discipline of work, the crisis which swept others into oblivion only floated him into fame. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
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Lost opportunities – You know the story of the ancient sibyl who came to King Tarquin offering for sale nine books which she declared would be of great value to him in the government of Rome. She asked what seemed an exorbitant price, and he would not buy them. On that she retired, and burned three of the books: then she came back, and asked the same sum for the remaining six. He again refused; and she retired, and burned three more, only to come back and ask the same price for the remaining three.
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Then, by the advice of his councillors, he secured them on her own terms. Now, beneath that old fable there is an important truth; for, the longer we refuse God’s overtures, the less these overtures contain, while the demand upon us is still the same for the remainder. How many more of these books of privilege are you going to suffer to be destroyed? And what a motive there is in all this for immediate acceptance of God’s offer of mercy! (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
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THE TEN VIRGINS: –

I. THE CHARACTERS DELINEATED.
1. That the visible Church is composed of persons of opposite states and conditions.
2. That it is not always easy to distinguish the truly pious from those who are destitute of the root of the matter. All had lamps. Form one thing, inward life another.
3. That one special feature by which all who possess the wisdom which cometh from above are distinguished, is the provision they make, not only for their more immediate wants, but also for future contingencies.
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II. THE IMPORTANT EVENT ANNOUNCED
“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”
1. A mournful statement – “My Lord delayeth his coming.”
2. An arousing cry – “Behold, the bridegroom cometh.”
3. A solemn summons – “Go ye out to meet him.”
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III. THE RESULTS WHICH SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSPIRED.
1. A hurried preparation – “Then all those virgins arose,” etc.
2. A sad discovery – “Our lamps are gone out.”
3. A happy entrance – “Went in with him,” etc.
4. An unavailing appeal. (Expository Outlines.)

TORCHES LIGHTED: –
I. The soul NEEDS LIGHT. The fact that Christ died to save sinners is the only torch that can scatter the soul’s gloom.
II. The soul needs a MOVEABLE light. These torches are in motion. The gospel can be taken anywhere.
III. No MAN HAS ANY LIGHT TO SPARE.
IV. Some people apply for the light WHEN IT IS TOO LATE. (Dr. Talmage.)
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The gospel the only true soul torch: – Now there are some people who get one thing out of this parable, and there are others who get another thing; but I get this: the soul needs light. If you see the bridegroom’s party coming down the hill, what do you find? Torches.
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If you see the bridal party coming out of the door, what do you see? Torches. What does the soul in its midnight of sin and suffering need? Torches. Confucius tried to strike a light for China, and he did kindle it; but it went out and left her uncounted millions to make the centuries dismal with their wailing.
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Zeno, Cleanthes, Aristotle, each struck a light and passed it along from hand to hand, but it went out; and I have to tell you that the universities of the earth, while they have in their chemical laboratories made the blue light, and the green light, and the yellow light, they have never yet been able to make the white light of pardon and peace and hope for a lost world.
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Peace! where is it? Diving bells have gone two hundred feet down, and not found it in the depths of the sea. Astronomers’ telescopes have swept across the heavens and not found it in the air. From a consuming brand of Calvary I pick up the only light for a lost world.
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The fact that Christ died to save sinners is the flambeau which, flung on the darkness of your soul, will scatter its gloom as by a daybreak. A good many years ago in Washington there were two Congressioners who met once every week to talk about the immortality of the soul; but they despised the Bible. They found no comfort. Their time expired, and they went home. Years passed along. They both visited Washington, and at the same time, and happened to meet at the President’s levee.
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They saw each other at the great distance across the room. They pressed their way through the crowd until they came to each other, and, after years of absence, the first thing that one said to the other was: “John, any light?” “No light.” Then this one accosted the other, and said: “Henry, any light? …. No light.” They said nothing more; they parted to meet at the judgment: Oh, are there any who have swung off from this grand old gospel, thinking to find rest for their soul? Have you found comfort, peace, joy, heaven? From a score of souls there comes up to me the cry to-night: “No light! no light!” (Dr. Talmage.)
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The gospel a moveable light: – But I learn, also, from this subject, that the soul needs a moveable light. These torches coming out of the door are in motion. These torches of the bridegroom’s party on the hill are in motion, hoisted, lowered, glancing in and out among the leaves, all moveable. The soul needs a moveable light, and in the gospel of Christ we have it.
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That gospel is not a lamp-post standing on one street. It is not a chandelier hung in one room. It is not a lighthouse set at one harbour. It is a flambeau – a moveable light – something to be carried. And we need to take it into our homes, and we need to take it into our stores and shops, and into our schools, and into our churches, and in the cellars where the poor freeze, and in the garret where the fevered languish, and into the hospital where the wounded die, and far out in the wilderness where the emigrant struggles. Do you know that the lights of this world are stationery, and that soon you and I will have to start on a road where all these lights will fail us? (Dr. Talmage.)
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NO GRACE TO SPARE:-
“Oh,” says some one in this house: “I had a very good father and very good mother; if there ever was a good woman, she was; and somehow I hope through their piety to get into heaven.” Had they any surplus of piety? None. Had they any goodness to spare? None.
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You cannot borrow oil out of their lamps. There never was a better man than Jonathan Edwards, but he had no grace to spare for his son Pierrepont, who made an awful shipwreck. President Burr was a holy and consecrated man, but he had no grace to spare for Aaron Burr, whose life was a horrid debauch. And, I suppose, if at the last, all the redeemed of heaven were gathered in a circle, and some poor soul should go round and say: “Have you olive oil to spare? give me some for my lamp?” I suppose they would all answer: “Not so, lest there be not enough for us and for you.” “If thou be wise, thou shall be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it.” Every man for himself, every woman for herself. (Dr. Talmage.)
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Too late: – I suppose every hour of the day and night there are souls going into eternity unprepared. Oh, what excitement it must be about the death-bed, crying out for a lamp, and for the oil, and for the light; throwing; hands out, throwing them up, throwing them around, until the nurse asks, “What do you want, water?” He says, shaking his head: “No.” “Bathing of the temples?” He shakes his head: “No.” What does he want? Oh, he cannot get his light burning. He must start; he is started; he comes up to the gate of heaven; he knocks; he cries: “Let me in!”
He is not admitted. He says: “I want to see the bridegroom.” The voices within say: “You can’t see the bridegroom; he is busy with the guests now.” Says the man: “I must come in; my children are in there. I must come in.” A voice within says: “You refused the grace that would have brought you where they are.” “But,” says the man, “I must come in; all my friends and kindred are in. Hark! now! hear the sound of their voices, and the bounding of their feet. Let me in.” And a voice from within says: “You are too late!”
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It says to one man: “You are twenty years too late;” to another, “you are over five years too late;” to another, “you are a month too late;” to another, “you are a minute too late; ” and the mob of destroyed ones outside the door take up the chorus, and cry: “Too late!” And the hot wind of the desert sighs: “Too late!” and the bell in the tower of eternal midnight tolls and tolls: “Too late! too late!”
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And the torches of the silly virgins begin to flicker and hiss in the storm, and one by one they go out, until in the suffocating darkness they cry: “Our lamps have gone out!” And they go wandering through eternity, ages after ages, feeling out for the light, for comfort, for peace, for hope, but finding none, and crying: “Our lamps have gone out!” and then, turning in another direction, and wandering on, age after age, age after age, feeling for hope, and comfort, and light, and Heaven, but finding none, and crying: “Our lamps have gone out!” (Dr. Talmage.)

The gifts of grace are chiefly to be exercised in order to an actual preparation for the coming of Christ by death and judgment: – Very miserable is the state of such as these who have grace to get when Christ cometh.
1. All the profession of these virgins is lost.
2. All opportunities and means of grace are now lost, never to be enjoyed more.
3. The door of hope is shut against them.
4. The door of grace is shut.
5. They have now lost their communion with the wise virgins, who are safe within the door.
6. These virgins have now lost their veils. They are discovered to themselves, the king, to the world.
7. These who were in the midnight’s sleep, are now in their midnight’s darkness.
8. All who profess to be the bridesmen must take heed of resting in aught that is common to them with the foolish virgins. What gifts of grace are chiefly to be in exercise in order to an actual preparation for the coming of Christ by death and judgment?
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(1) There is always a general and habitual preparedness to meet Christ in hearts that are truly godly, but not always a particular, actual fitness.
(2) That though a state of grace is here supposed, seeing grace cannot be exercised where it is not; yet there may be need to have it cleared.
(3) Maintain your faith in frequent exercise, and make no less conscience of acting daily faith than you do of daily prayer.
(4) This faith doth necessarily work by love.
(5) Keep even accounts with God, and still be perfecting that repentance which is the work of every day; and let there be no old reckonings between God and you.
(6) Be much in the exercise of goodness, mercy, and works of liberality towards Christ in His needy members, according to your opportunity and power.
(7) Exercise diligence and faithfulness in your particular calling. (W. Hook.)
The folly and danger of resting satisfied with the outward form of godliness: –
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I. That true religion consists of a lively principle of grace in the heart. Principle and practice are to work together in religion.
II. That many professed Christians content themselves with the mere outward forms of religion. This danger arises from the natural blindness of the understanding; the natural pride of the heart exposes us to it.
III. That many become conscious of this error and seek to remedy it when it is too late

II. THE PREPARATION.
1. One part of this preparation consists in previous intimacy with the heavenly Bridegroom.
2. Some congeniality of spirit between your souls and the mind of Jesus Christ.
3. A longing desire for His approach.
4. A diligent discharge of all Christ’s commands.

III. THE DESIRABLENESS OF THIS PREPARATION.
1. Out of regard to tranquillity at the time of His coming.
2. Out of respect of gratitude; how much has He done for us.
3. On account of the felicity of being received by Him into the feast.
4. Out of respect to the misery of those not found ready. (E. Hull.)
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[Source: SwordSearcher 8]
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[Ednote: If you find yourself in the wrong category there is still time to fix it.
1. The Rapture comes like a thief in the night and may not happen when expected. If the peace agreement is not accepted by the Palestinian leader Abbas, they will have to keep working on it and the prophecies that are to occur before the agreement could be delayed.
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2. Jesus warned us in Matthew 7:14 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” The Apostle Paul said that we are running a race in 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”
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3. There will be three and a half years between the peace agreement and the mandatory Mark of the Beast. If we take the implant we are condemned forever. The alternative will be death. God promised ‘Tribulation Saints’, another category of believers who will be resurrected to be guests at the wedding in heaven.]
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Shalom editor: Rita Williams – KJV Bible
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author. If you have a problem with the correctness of the information, please contact the author.

 

 (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

 

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This Matter Is By Decree Of The Watchers

To the 10 Virgins
Daniel 4:17 “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”

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Matthew 13:11 “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”
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Matthew 24:33 “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”
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Matthew 24:42 “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
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Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
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Mark 4:11 “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:”
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Mark 13:35 “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:”
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Luke 21:20 “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.”
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Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
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Romans 6:3 “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”

1 Corinthians 2:12″ Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
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1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
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1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
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1 Corinthians 13:9 “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.”
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1 Thessalonians 3:3 “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”
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1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”
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2 Thessalonians 2:6 “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.”
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2 Timothy 3:1 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”
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1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”
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1 John 2:20 “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
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1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
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1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
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1 John 4:6 “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.”
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1 John 4:13 “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”
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1 John 5:18 “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.”
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Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
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Revelation 3:8 “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”

Shalom: editor Rita Williams – KJV Bible

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author. If you have a problem with the correctness of the information, please contact the author.

 (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.)

Tell your friends about us and thank you for visiting Cephas Ministries (www.cephasministry.com)