Who's Your Daddy?????

This Sunday is Father's Day, but what do you do if your father is deceased? If you are a Christian the answer is simple... look to your Heavenly Father. God is the Father of all who accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.

For those who have an earthly father the Bible has a few things to say to you. Both in the Old Testament in the book of Deuteronomy and in the New Testament in the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Bible promises that if we honor our father and mother that it will go well with us and that we may live long.

Deuteronomy 5:16 "Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

Ephesians 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[

I believe this is even more true if we honor our Heavenly Father. Honoring God will make things go well with us as we invite and authorize God's protective hedge to be put around us. Isaiah chapter 5:1-6 talks about what can happen if we dishonor God as it relates to the hedge of protection.

The Song of the Vineyard
1 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.

3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.

4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?

5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;
I will break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.

6 I will make it a wasteland,
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain on it."

The Bible is very clear from cover to cover. When we honor and obey God, it will go well with us, God will be pleased and we will receive a blessing. When we dishonor God, we invite God's anger upon us whereby removing the hedge of protection from around us.

I urge you to use the Father's Day to reflect on how well you honor God The Father. We all fall short in this area and need to repent and ask God to forgive us of our dishonor towards Him. This will help restore a close fellowship and "it will go well with us".

What Notion Is Our Nation

The more things change, the more they stay the same. 2000 years ago, the "government" realized that if they did not control Jesus, His teachings, and His followers that they would lose their power over the people. This is seen in scripture, John 11:48 "If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” True, this verse references the Romans, but you could just as easily apply it today and substitute the word Romans with "The People".

 The Federal Government thrives on 2 conditions that they count on from its citizens: ignorance and apathy. As Born Again Believers in Christ, we should not be either of those. Yet, it is far too prevalent. Over time we have allowed our government to make legal, and acceptable, removal of God from the classroom, the teaching of Evolution over Creationism, abortion, and gay marriage just to name a few.

 I list removal of God from the classroom first because this is how the degeneration gets started. Removing God and the Bible from the classroom opened the door to teach the idea of Darwin and the Theory of Evolution. Without Biblical truth to stand on, many children will be persuaded and believe this idea of evolution . If they believe there is a God, they obtain a skewed vision of God as being some vicious dictator who just wants to tell everyone else what to do in order to make everyone miserable and ruin their lives (wait, I digress... for a second I thought I was describing our government).

The Government is smart.. they realize what Proverbs 22:6 said long ago "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."   The Government knows that if a child is endoctrinated with their ideas that the child will retain those ideas into adulthood. Each idea builds to another. Teaching of evolution over creation, devalues life which opens up the door for acceptance of abortion because after all it's not a created baby in there, it is just a mess of tissue.

The Government is also smart in knowing that if it can keep the people away from God and His teachings that the people will become desensitized to what was going on around them, which creates a state of apathy. They know that if the people look to God for their strength and answers to their problems (not Government) , that it will take the power that they thrive on away from them and turn it back to God (and God's people).

 So two question remains  .. are we still a Christian Nation and does anyone still care?

Jew Interrupted, The 70 weeks of Daniel

There is still some confusion as to dispensations, the rapture, the Tribulation Period, etc. If we look at the prophecy from the book of Daniel it should be crystal clear that the rapture will take place BEFORE the Tribulation period and it should also be crystal clear that God is not finished with the Jews as a nation. The scripture reference is Daniel 9:24-27

24 Seventy weeks (or 490 Years) are determined upon your people (the Jews) and upon your holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression (the rejection of Christ), and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and sixty two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after sixty two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end war and desolations are determined.
27 And he (antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Let's breakdown this incredible passage of scripture so it will make sense. I'll let each topic start with the letter "P" for easier remembrance. The first P is the Period. Verse 24 says the Period is 490 years. God is going to deal with the Jewish nation for a period of 490 years. How do we get 490 years from 70 weeks? It literally means 70 7's or 70 times 7. Look at Genesis 29 verses 20 & 27 "And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which you shall serve with me yet seven other years." You see how the Bible uses the term "week" to mean 7 years. We say a week is 7 days but in Bible times it can also mean 7 years.

When did the 490 years start? Verse 25 says it began at the command to restore and re-build the Jerusalem. When did that take place? Nehemiah 2:1 "In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes.." skipping down to verses 17 & 18:

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.

Now what does this mean in simple terms? When was the decree to rebuild given in terms we can understand?

Artaxerxes Longimanus ascended to the throne of the Medo-Persian empire in July 465 B.C. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1990 ed.). The twentieth year of his reign would have begun in July 446 B.C. The decree occurred approximately nine months later in the month of Nisan (March/April on our calendar). By Hebrew tradition when the day of the month is not specifically stated (as in Artaxerxes decree), it is given to be the first day of that month. Consequently, the very day of Artaxerxes' decree was the first day of the Hebrew month Nisan in 445 B.C. The first day of Nisan in 445 B.C. corresponds to the 14th day of March. These dates were confirmed through astronomical calculations at the British Royal Observatory and reported by Sir Robert Anderson (Robert Anderson, "The Coming Prince", Kregel. Reprinted in 1984.).

So, the Period began on March 14th, 445 B.C.

Not only the Period, but look at the People. Verse 24 says "Your People". Who were Daniel's people? The Jews. This prophecy and everything in it, is Jew only, us Gentiles are not involved.

Now, the Place... again verse 24 says "Your Holy city"... Jerusalem.

Next, the Purpose. What are the purposes? verse 24 says "to finish THE transgression". Not A transgression, but THE transgression. What is the Jews biggest transgression? Rejection of her Messiah. Not only the transgression, but to make and end of sin and to make reconciliation of iniquity. There can be no reconciliation until the sins are dealt with and the sins can't be dealt as long as Messiah is rejected.

The next purpose is to bring everlasting righteousness. Look at Romans 10:3 "For they (The Jews) being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." In contrast, Jeremiah 23:5-6 states "Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

The next purpose is to seal up the vision and prophecy. The Old Testament prophets had no clue about a church age that was to come, no mention of grace, etc. In several of his epistles, Paul uses the word "mystery" in reference to the Gospel and that is exactly what it was. It was hidden and unknown to the Jews. Romans 11:25
"For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."


The final purpose is to Anoint the Most Holy. Some say the most Holy is the temple and some say it is Jesus Himself. When either is Anointed, what a glorious day that will be.

Ok, now lets move to the Program... back to our timeline and count. God's clock starts to count from March 14th 445 B.C. so let's see how the count goes.

The Commencement of the Count
Verse 25 says that the finished restoration of the city would take 7 weeks (49 years).

The Coming of The Christ
verse 26 says after 62 weeks (434 years) Christ will be cut off. If we take the 49 years for the city to be re-built and add in the 434 years for Christ to be cut off we get 483 years (or 173,880 days). Remember, in Bible prophecy a prophetic year is 360 days, not 365 like we have. That is why in the book of Revelation it talks about 1,260 days of great tribulation as being 3 1/2 years. When did Jesus start his public ministry. Luke 3:1 tells us it started in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar. We have records of the reign of Tiberius Caesar and we know the 15th year of his reign was 29 A.D. Three Passovers later Jesus would make His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. It took place on April 6, 32 A.D. If we count 173,880 days from March 14th 445 B.C. we come to April 6, 32 A.D. Jesus came on the exact day that the prophet Daniel foretold in Daniel 9.

The Crucifixion of The Christ
Not only did Daniel foretell the coming of Jesus Christ but he foretold the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Look again at Daniel 9:26 "And after sixty two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself." To be cut off is to be crucified. However, He is not going to die for what He did. Isaiah 53:8 "He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken."

The Collapse of the City
Verse 26
"and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end war and desolations are determined." Daniel prophesied the destruction of the city. It happened in 70 A.D. when the Roman general, Titus, and his armies layed siege to Jerusalem. He gave an order that the Temple was not to be destroyed but it inadvertently caught on fire and was destroyed. In fact, not 1 stone was left on top of another just as Jesus has said in Luke 21:6 "As for these things which you behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

The Calling of The Church
Verse 26 "war and desolations". We are living in this time of war and desolations right now that Daniel spoke about. With the crucifixion of Christ, God has called "time out" on the Jews as a nation. Individual Jews can still be saved if they come to Christ, but God has changed from dealing with the Jews as a nation to now dealing with the Gentiles. It is the dispensation of Grace known as the Church Age. Now, when will the Church Age end? I don't know and you don't know. Only God knows the day and time. But one day, the last person will be saved in this Dispensation, the trumpet will sound, and Jesus will come for His bride, the church. We will be raptured out before the tribulation period is to begin. There are several examples in the Bible that show this. Enoch, was caught up or raptured as he was walking along just before the flood came. Lot, as backslidden as he was, was called out of Sodom. In fact, the angel told Lot that he could not take action against Sodom until Lot was out of there. (Genesis 19:21-22) "And [the angel] said to him, See, I have yielded to your entreaty concerning this thing also; I will not destroy this city of which you have spoken. Make haste and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar [little]."

1 Thessalonians 1:10 "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come." The wrath to come is the Great Tribulation. We are told to wait for Jesus, not to brace ourselves for the Great Tribulation. Also, in the book of Revelation, after addressing the churches in chapter 3, John is "caught up" and the church is mentioned no more.

Also, the Great Tribulation is part of the 490 years determined upon the Jewish nation. We (as Gentiles) are not a part of this. Now the unsaved Gentiles will unfortunately have to go through it, but not those who have trusted Christ.

These examples (and others I could mention) are proof positive that the Rapture will take place "before" the Great Tribulation period.

Completion of the Count
Ok, the Church has been taken out and now God starts the clock ticking again on the Jewish people. Only 483 of the 490 years has been completed. The final 7 years or final "week" must now take place. This is when the anti christ will come on the scene. He will make a covenant with Israel for one week. The temple will be re-built so that the ceremonial sacrifices may start again.

Look at verse 27: And he (antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (7 years): and in the middle of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Then, in the middle of that week, he (the anti christ) will break the covenant with Israel and cause the sacrifices to cease. He will then sit in the temple declaring himself to be God and the Jewish people will fall all over themselves to worship him. Jesus told of this in John 5:43 "I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him."

Also look in Matthew 24:4-5
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."

Now look at verses 15-21
"When you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoever reads, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that nurse in those days! But pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

The most important thing though is that if you, as a Gentile, have not trusted Christ as your personal Savior, then you will not be in the Rapture when it occurs and if you are not already in the grave, you will go through this horrible tribulation period.

Good Friday?

As we approach what most call Easter Sunday (I call it Resurrection Day myself) it is helpful to look into the tradition of "Good Friday" and why it is a scriptual error. Below is a great article on the subject.

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GOOD FRIDAY?

Have you ever wondered how Jesus Christ could be crucified on Friday and be resurrected on Sunday after being buried for three days? Well, that's impossible! You cannot squeeze three days between Friday and Sunday. By no stretch of the imagination is it possible to stretch the period from Friday evening to Sunday morning into "three days and three nights".

We believe that Jesus Christ died on a Wednesday. We do not believe that Jesus died on Friday. Let's turn to Matthew 12:40, and notice Christ's own prophecy pertaining to His death, burial, and resurrection. "For as 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 (Matthew 12:40)." "Three days and three nights" means seventy-two hours. Jesus defined the length of a day in John 11:9. Our Lord said, "Are there not twelve hours in a day?" Well, if there are twelve hours in a day, then there are twelve hours in a night. And therefore, three days and three nights would be 72 hours. Anything less than 72 hours would not fulfill the prophecy of Jonah or the words of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps you're wondering why the vast majority of Christians accept the Friday-to-Sunday burial of Christ if it is wrong? The only answer that can be given is tradition. "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8)." This is a tradition not taught in the Bible. Ash Wednesday and Lent also are not in the Bible. Even the word Easter is pagan, and it is not found in the Bible. In the King James Version the word "Easter" does occur in Acts 12:4, but is a mistranslation. The word Easter comes from the word Ish-tar and is the same as Astaroth, a pagan deity. We celebrate the resurrection of Christ again from the dead.

In order to explain the Good Friday tradition, the proponents say that Christ was buried during parts of three days and nights. That is Christ was buried for part of Friday, part of Saturday, and a part of Sunday.

Sometimes people ask, "Didn't the Jews count part of a day a whole day or part of a night as a whole night?" Whenever you have the expression "day and night" mentioned together in the Hebrew Scriptures, it always means a full day and a full night. For example, "And the evening and the morning were the first day (Genesis 1:8)"; "And the evening and morning were the second day (Genesis 1:13)"; "And the evening and morning were the third day (Genesis 1:13)"; and so on. Other examples are Esther 4:16; 5:1; II Samuel 30:12-13 and Jonah 1:17, where you will find the expression "three days and three nights," and in every instance it means full days and full nights--not part of a day and part of a night.

Let's see what the scriptures teach us as we look at an example in the life of Christ. The Scripture says, "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered (Matthew 4:2)." Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights. If we say, as some do, that "three days and three nights" does not mean "three days and three nights", then we must also say that "forty days and forty nights" does not mean "forty days and forty nights". Where do we stop? Do we say that we really can't be sure about anything? Of course not! We believe the Bible to be literal.

Part of the confusion has come from verses like John 19:31. This verse says, "The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." The Sabbath in John 19:31 is not the regular Saturday Sabbath. It was the Passover Sabbath, which occurred on Thursday of the crucifixion week. Note that John 19:31 says, "For that Sabbath day was an high day." If it were talking of the Saturday Sabbath, then Christ would have been crucified on Friday. All the feast days God gave to Israel were considered Sabbaths though they did not fall on Saturday. Jesus was crucified on the preparation (Wednesday) of the Sabbath (Passover Sabbath) which was Thursday.

Now at what time of the day did Jesus die? It was around three in the afternoon on Wednesday. "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: And having said thus, he gave up the ghost (Luke 23:44-46)." When it says the ninth hour, it means the ninth hour since the break of day. In other words, it was three o'clock in the afternoon. Jesus was taken away from the cross and hurriedly buried the same afternoon before sundown or 6:00 P.M.

Now remember that the Jewish day always begins at sundown or at about 6:00 P.M. Our day begins at midnight, but the Jewish day began at sunset. In Leviticus 23:32, the Lord said, "From even unto even shall you celebrate your sabbath.

If you count 72 hours from late Wednesday afternoon at around 6:00 P.M., then Jesus would have been in the tomb until late Saturday afternoon at around 6:00 P.M.

So, a Sunday morning resurrection is not what the Bible teaches. We believe that Jesus was resurrected on Saturday evening at about 6:00 P.M. Jesus was placed in the tomb at around 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday. Seventy-two hours later would be at around 6:00 P.M. on Saturday, exactly when the first day began (Sunday).

When the women arrived at the tomb early Sunday morning, Jesus was already gone. The Gospel is summed up in I Corinthians 15:3-4, "...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." Those who arrived early Sunday morning simply discovered an empty tomb. The angel said, "He is not here, for He is risen (Luke 24:6)."

One objection to a Wednesday crucifixion is found in Luke 24:21, which says, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done." This conversation takes place on Sunday, the day of resurrection. The answer is found in the word "since." Counting from this verse, Sunday is the third day, Saturday the second day, Friday is the first day SINCE the Passover. The Thursday Passover (Jewish reckoning) had its night on what we would call Wednesday night and twilight of that night, meaning between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M., is when Christ was crucified. The twilight of Thursday afternoon would have counted as the twilight of Friday night which began at 6:00 P.M. by Jewish reckoning. So we see there is no conflict.

The real issue is not really what day was Christ crucified on, but the need to be careful Bible students, lest we miss what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. We know that nothing could wash away our sins but the blood of Jesus Christ.

Don't Be A Fool On April Fool's Day

What A Fool Believes

In 1979 the Doobie Brothers had a #1 hit with a song titled “What A Fool Believes”. What made this come to my mind? The message this past Sunday talked about the parable of the 10 Virgins where 5 were wise and 5 were foolish. It is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 1:13

1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 "At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7 "Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
9 " 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10 "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 "Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
12 "But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
13 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

Upon first appearances, I thought the 5 virgins who did not have their oil ready were called foolish because they did not have their oil ready. However, God revealed to me that the reason they did not have their oil ready was because they were foolish. So I decided to search the scriptures for references to foolish people and this is what I discovered.

The idea of foolish in Biblical terms can be found at its core in Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.

So Point #1 foolish people do not believe there is a God.

The next scriptural reference comes from Proverbs 1:7
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Fear of the Lord is not being afraid of God. It is giving honor, respect, and worship to God. When people do this, they qualify themselves to receive wisdom and understanding from God speaking to them. Conversely, a foolish person thinks they are wise in their own eyes and they despise it when someone tries to correct and instruct them in the wisdom of God. They are like the alcoholic that does not think they have a drinking problem.

So Point #2 foolish people do not even know they are foolish. This is why I believe that in order to get someone saved, we must first clearly show them that they are lost.


The next reference I found was in Luke 11:39-41

39 Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”

Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the strict, religious people who thought their own self righteousness was sufficient to get them to Heaven. They knew there was a God, but they were too foolish to recognize Jesus (as God) when they saw Him in the flesh.

So, Point #3 foolish people do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate.


The next scriptural reference comes from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

“18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

To the unsaved world (in Biblical times they were called Greeks or Gentiles) the preaching of salvation only coming from belief (total trust) in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is foolish. This reinforces point #3. If they do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate, it follows that they will think that the preaching of such a message is foolish. But God takes pleasure in turning man’s so called wisdom into something foolish.

So Point #4 is that foolish people who think they are wise in their own eyes will not hear the preaching of the Gospel that will be able to save them.


There are two scriptures that are closely tied together that speak of reproof and stubbornness of the fool. The first is Proverbs29:1
“He, that being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

The other is Romans 1:21-25

“21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was fitting. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not proper.”

These two verses speak of people who are acutely aware that there is a God, they are even spoke to about it many times by others who want them to come to Christ, but after all of that they ignore the warnings. Once that happens, God turns them over to their own devices and let’s them destroy themselves.

So Point #5 only a fool ignores steady, Godly reproof and in doing so seals their own fate to eternal damnation.

I decided to make 5 points since there were 5 foolish virgins. Remember, they were not foolish just because they did not have their oil ready. They did not have their oil ready because they were foolish to begin with.

Let's look back at the initial scripture in Matthew. Near the end Jesus says "I never knew you." He did not say that He knew them at one time but now He no longer did. This is important. Remember, the first point? A fool doesn't believe there is a God. Since these virgins were foolish, it meant that they did not truly believe that the bridegroom (Jesus) was God. If they had, they certainly would have had the oil of the Holy Spirit in them and in their lamps.

So to recap the 5 points:

1) Foolish people do not believe there is a God
2) Foolish people do not even realize they are foolish
3) Foolish people do not believe that Jesus was God incarnate
4) Foolish people who think they are wise, will not hear the numerous calls for them to come to Jesus
5) Foolish people who willingly, constantly ignore the reproof from Godly people become so hard-hearted that they seal their own fate of destruction and eternal damnation.

We need to pray for the fools we know in our lives that they will have a repentant spirit, open their ears, open their hearts and receive the message that they are given over and over again before it is too late and they cross God's deadline where they will be turned over to their reprobate minds.

Helpful Hints To Better Understand The Bible

I talk to many people in church and out of church who say they either don't read the bible at all or they read it very little. The primary reason I hear is not lack of time, it is lack of understanding. Many have said they try to read the Bible and give up shortly after they start because they don't get anything out of it and they don't understand what they read. I know, because I used to be one of those people. My Bible had more dust on it than a TV screen in the same room with a fireplace that hasn't seen Windex in a month.

I'd like to share some things I have learned about getting more out of reading the Bible and hopefully these will be helpful. I found from personal experience that once I understood the Bible more, I wanted to read it more. By reading it more, I understood it more, etc.

The scripture reference I'd like to use is in James 1:21-25

"21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
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 mirror:
24 For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
25 But whosover looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

When looking at scripture it is important to know who is writing, who is being written to and why. James (a Jew) is writing to his fellow Jewish believers telling them how to be saved, but we can certainly still learn from it. Now you may say, hold it. What do you mean James is writing to fellow believers telling them how to be saved? If they are believers they are already saved. Well, yes they are. However, salvation comes in 3 tenses... past, present and future. You may ask what's the difference. I'll see if I can explain it and let the answer begin with the letter "P" for easier recall.

Past Tense Salvation - This happened the instant you trusted Jesus Christ as you Savior. You will never have to die and go to Hell because Jesus paid the price for you. Past tense salvation means you no longer are under the Penalty of sin.


Present Tense Salvation speaks of being saved from the Power of Sin. Look at the end of verse 21 "... which is able to save your soul." The greek word for soul is 'Psuche'.. which roughly speaking is your mind, emotion and will. James is telling us how to keep our mind, emotion and will in check and in line with God.


Future Tense Salvation comes when Jesus returns and we are changed into a new sinless creation. This is being saved from the Possibility of Sin. Once Jesus comes back and we are changed in a twinkling of an eye, we will be perfect and there will be no sin in us or even the possibility of sin in us because there is no sin in a Holy Heaven. What a time to look forward to.


Ok you say, that's nice and all but how does that help me better understand the Bible? Well this passage in James gives 4 ways to better receive God's Word when you read it. Instead of the letter "P", I am going to let each of these begin with the letter "R".

1) We should welcome the Word with a Repentant Spirit

Look again at verse 21 "Lay apart all filthiness and superfluidity of naughtiness." The word translated here as filthy is "rhuparia" and it is closely related to the term used for ear wax. James is telling us to get the spiritual wax out of our ears. How do our ears get this spiritual ear wax and how do we get rid of it? This wax comes from unconfessed sin in our lives. That's why it is important to repent of the sins you recognize or "come clean" before you attempt to hear from God through His word. Another analogy could be having spiritual weeds. Remember the parable about the sower. God's word is seed and any farmer knows before you plant the seed, you have to weed the garden. If we expect to hear from God, we have to do a self examination and come clean with or repent of those sins which hurt our fellowship with God. That is why the first step to better understanding the Bible is to approach the Bible with a Repentant Spirit.

2) We Should Welcome the Word with a Receptive Spirit. Look again at verse 21 "... receive with Meekness.." What is meekness? Meekness is not weakness. It is power under control. We can not dig into the Bible and treat it like a math or science book and try to draw truth out. Notice the word "receive". There are two words in the Greek for receive. One is "Lombano" which means to grasp, to reach out and take for youself. James does not use that meaning here because we can non just snatch truth out of the Word of God. James uses the other word for receive and it is "Decomai" which means to welcome, to openly receive as you would receive a guest in your home. We must come to the Word of God with a receptive, meek spirit and ask God to show us the truths He would have us to see. God is under no obligation to show anyone His truths if they don't first come to the Word with a repentant spirit.

So the next time we sit down to study the Bible we need to ask ourselves, are we meek? First question is are we clean, second question is are we meek and the two go hand in hand. If we are not meek we are not even going to admit when we are not clean.

3) We must welcome the Word with a Responsive Spirit. Look now at verses 22-23... "be doers of the Word and not hearers only." We can be clean and meek but if we are not obedient to what we read, God is not going to reveal any new truths to us. There a couple of scriptures that address this.

Matthew 7:26-27 "And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

Luke 11:28 " blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."

If we want a blessing, if we want to build our faith on a strong foundation, we need to be obedient to what we read. Once we do that, God will then trust us and reveal more truths to us.

Here is a practical example of what I mean. Suppose you had a young child and you assigned them certain household duties to perform in order to earn an allowance. The more difficult the job, the more allowance they would earn. You assign them to clean their room. They don't do it. Then later, when there is a new video game out that they want to get and need extra money, they come to you and ask if they can mow the lawn with the new fancy riding mower that even you have to read the manual to figure out how to operate. What would your reaction be? Would you say sure? Not hardly. What you would probably say is "why should I teach you how to operate this complicated mower when you didn't even do the simple task of cleaning your room?"

The Best way to understand the parts of the Bible that we don't understand is to obey the parts we do understand.

4) We must Welcome the Word with a Reflective Spirit. Look at verses 23-24: "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 mirror: For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was."

So many of us are guilty of reading the Bible with a cavalier, casual glance. We are much like the person who looks at themselves briefly in the mirror and soon forgets what they see. Many times we read the Bible and may come across an interesting new truth but later on forget what it was. It is a good idea to have a pen and notebook with us when we read. Much like in a classroom, doing this shows God we are expecting to hear from Him and are ready to write down and meditate on what is revealed to us.

The Bible is not like any other book. We read other books, the Bible reads us. We see ourselves when we read the Bible that is why James uses the metaphor of a mirror. The Bible will reveal things in us that we need to address. Shortcomings that many times we don't want to face up to. You know the expression that says "mirrors don't lie." Well, just like the mirror, the Word of God doesn't lie and we may even discover things about ourselves that make us uncomfortable but we need to hear. This is also where the meek spirit comes into play. We must be willing to accept what we see about ourselves and not turn away from it.

We all like to receive a blessing don't we? Look at verse 25 again "But whosoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."

This verse tells us that if we look into God's Word, continue in it, meditate and remember what we read, and are then obedient to what we read that we shall be "blessed indeed."

The Next time we sit down to read the Bible we need to think about the 4 "R's".... Repentant Spirit, Receptive Spirit, Responsive Spirit, and Reflective Spirit. I believe if we follow this pattern that the Bible will begin to come alive to us and not only will we understand more of what we do read, we will actually want to read more of it more often. Let's keep those dust bunnies off our Bibles and truly experience what God would have us to from His Word.

Right On The Money or Worry Free Living

We are wrapping up the series on "Managing God's Money" and I have some take aways from it and the subject in general.

First, and nothing else will work if this is not your belief, we must realize that it is not our money, but God's money. As such, we are not "owners" we are "stewards". Given this fact, every decision we make concerning money is no longer a financial decision but a Spiritual decision.

The scripture reference is a well known one from the Gospel of Matthew 6:33 but it is normally not a good idea to just pull 1 verse alone without prior verses to set the context (especially since verse 33 starts with the word "but").

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Let's take a detailed look at these verses. The word "worry" is mentioned 6 times in this passage of scripture. This chapter is more about worry than money, but God knew that the largest source of our worry would be about money and material things. God knows that we in our human nature are natural "worry warts" or else He would have not been so emphatic in telling us not to worry. If you want to be technical, worry is actually mentioned 7 times, not 6, if you count the phrase "you of little faith" as another way of saying "worrier". We should be warriors for Christ, not worriers for ourselves. God can not use a worrier to do His will and work that He wants done on the earth; He will only use warriors. How does one become a warrior and not a worrier? Stay tuned for the answer.

Let's tighten the focus on verse 33 since that is the popular verse. Look at the first few words... "seek", "first" and "kingdom". Seek doesn't mean looking around hoping to find something (like those old seek and find puzzle books where we used to look for hidden words). The word seek here is talking about a deliberate pursuit. The way a thirsty man seeks out something cold to drink or the way a hungry man seeks out food. This is why in the beatitudes, Jesus says "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness". This is not something we are going to be able to obtain through osmosis, hearing a sermon, or having someone else bring it to us. We have to make the conscious effort to pursue it on our own with all we have. (kind of reminds you of the 1st commandment doesn't it?)

So we see what seek is and how important it is. Now go to the other word.. first. This speaks of priority. As followers of Christ, God doesn't just want a place in our lives or even to be a priority... He wants and demands preeminence. Jesus said in Luke 9:62 "“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” And why does He demand this? To be mean? Of course not. He demands this so that we do not become self sufficient, but God sufficient.

OK, on to Kingdom. What is the Kingdom? In this context it is not a literal geographical place. It is referring to a rule or reign. The Kingdom then is allowing God to be the dictator of your life.. the sole ruler. Who heads a kingdom? The King. What is the requirement of those living in the kingdom? To do what the king says. What is the obligation of the king? To take care of the needs of those in the kingdom. When we "seek first the kingdom" what we are doing is putting every area of our life (not just financial, but everything) in the King's hands and trusting Him to meet all our needs. Notice I said needs, not wants. God is smart enough not to always give us what we want, but He will always give us what we need.

Again, this goes back trust. You can not trust and worry at the same time. If you are worrying, then you really haven't fully trusted. It amazes me sometimes how people will trust God for their eternity but they don't trust Him to provide to pay a certain bill, keep them in good health or for basic transportation. As an aside, the word trust in the Greek is "pisteuo". Unfortunately, in most bibles the Greek word pisteuo is inaccurately translated "believe" instead of trust. Many people believe in God (make a mental ascent that there is a God), but for salvation we have to believe,trust, pisteuo that Christ's death, burial and resurrection is sufficient to pay our sin debt. This is known as the Gospel.

This then leads me back to my earlier statement that every decision we make concerning money is a Spiritual decision, not a financial one. If we parade every decision through the lens of two things then the decisions become quite clear and easy to make. The two tests are: 1) is this spending decision beneficial to the kingdom? and 2) is it adding to my righteousness.

So how do we know what is righteous for the kingdom? We have to know the King? We have to not just know about the King, but KNOW the King. How do we know that we know the King? Two tell tale signs will let you know if you really know the King and can act as your Spiritual thermometer to take your Spiritual temperature. They are the calendar and check book. We can look at each of these and know if we are or are not connecting and really knowing the God we claim to love and trust in.

The calendar. How do we spend our time? How much of our time is set aside to spend time with God, fellowship with others, and serve God? Sadly, most of us come up short in this area. God gives each and every one of us the same 24 hours to do with what we please. There is no saying "I wish I had as much time as this other person does". The fact is, we make time for the things that are most important in our lives. I believe that if we want to really connect with God and know Him, we must spend time DAILY in His word and His presence. This is not optional. We must also spend time with other believers in fellowship.. not just on Sunday mornings but in bible study groups, home groups, prayer groups, etc. Finally, we must take time to serve. It can be helping someone with a need, teaching someone God's word so they can understand it, or visiting someone in a hospital or prison. (see Matthew 25) If we were to keep a balance sheet of how we spend each day, we would probably be shocked to see how little time we give to God.

The checkbook. There is an old expression that goes "put your money where your mouth is" but I prefer (and so does Jesus) to express it this way "put your money where your heart is". (see Matthew 6:21) If we are to connect and know God we must give back a portion of what He has so richly given us. This can be tithing at your local church, giving to missions, etc. If we decide to keep all that God has given us to ourselves and not give (the tithe for example), we are saying that we do not trust God to take care of us using the remaining 90%. This makes no sense if you think about it. We are telling God, "God, I trust you to raise me from the dead, but I don't trust you to pay the light bill so I need to hoard all I have just in case".

OK, so how does one become a "warrior" for God instead of a "worrier" for self? The key is not in the word warrior or worrier but in the words that follow... God and self. If we truly seek the Kingdom, we put the perfect "God" on the throne of our lives, trust Him with everything we have, which frees us up to be a mighty warrior to serve Him and provides joy unspeakable in our lives. If we put "self" on the throne, then we are trusting in our imperfect selves which can only lead to worry, mental breakdown, misery and, at best, lack of joy.

Will you be a warrior or a worrier? The choice is yours.

Book'em or The Blotter Report

I have talked to a few people who were confused or in error as relates to the “Lamb’s Book of Life”. All realize that this book contains the names of all the redeemed (those who have trusted Jesus as their Savior). The confusion seems to be centered around the order in which this happens. I believe that some churches teach this incorrectly (if it is even taught at all which is rare these days in the modern church). If it is taught, it is taught that once you accept Christ your name is written in the book. This is an incorrect teaching. The name of everyone who has ever been born and who will be born was written in the book from the beginning of time. If someone dies without having received Christ as their Savior, then their name is stricken from the book. The Bible calls this having the name “blotted out”.

Let's look at scripture that backs this up. After all, if scripture can not back up a belief, it is just an opinion. The primary text is from Psalm 69:22-28 although verse 28 is the primary text.

" 22 May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.

23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.

24 Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.

25 May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

27 Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.

28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous."

From the context, this Psalm is talking about asking God to punish the evil people. In verse 28 the ultimate request was made to have their name "blotted out" of the book of life. It stands to reason that if a request is made to blot out their name that their name has to be in the book of life already. Since the people being referred to are evil it is obvious the text is not talking about people who were saved.

Here are two more scriptures that mention the names in the book of life from creation. The first is Revelation 13:8

"All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."

The second is Revelation 17:8

"The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come."

Want another reason for eternal salvation assurance? Check out Revelation 3:5

"He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels."

Ok, so you say "but that is only if you overcome". True. But what does the Bible say about who the overcomers are. Scripture always interprets scripture. Look in 1 John 5:4-5

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

5 Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

So as we can see, the true believers in Christ are the overcomers which means that all true believers in Christ will never have their names blotted out (which is another way of saying they will never lose their salvation).

On The 6th Day of Christmas the Lord Revealed To Me ......

...... modern bible translations are grossly falling short of the truth. If the translation says "New" it's probably best to avoid it. In fact, there is nothing "new under the sun" when it comes to these faulty translations. In fact, there was a movie a few years ago called "Lost In Translation" and boy are these "New" versions ever lost.

A great example of this is the birth of Jesus Christ as told in Luke 2, specifically verses 10-12.

Let's see what the New International Version or NIV has to say about this:
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

This is how the New American Standard tells it:
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

This is how something called the New Century Version tells it:
10 The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. 11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. 12 This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."

Now, in contrast, let's look at this scripture in the King James Version.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

Did you notice the words in bold in each translation and the distinctive difference in the King James version of this account? The King James version is the only one that uses the term "swaddling clothes". You may say, "so what". Well, I am here to tell you what. This is tremendously significant and symbolic and is just another example of losing so much meaning in translation.

The "New" versions just say the baby Jesus was wrapped in a "cloth".

But the question arises, why would a baby in cloth be a "sign" to the shepherds that this was the Christ-child? The angel didn't mention the manger first, he mentioned the swaddling clothes. What is it about swaddling clothes that would be a sign?

The term swaddling clothes is still used today by nurses who wrap the baby after birth. Unfortunately, that term is a 2000 year old misnomer. The origin comes as a result of the harsh countryside in the Middle East. As people took off on trips that often lasted days into months, it was not uncommon for sickness or accident to take place. There we deaths in these journeys.

The Middle Eastern culture developed a way to deal with in-journey deaths. Each person would take a long, thin, gauze-like cloth and wrap it around their waist many times. This would be one of the bottom layers of clothing. This cloth would be reserved for death. If someone died during the journey, their friends or family would remove the "swaddling cloth" and wrap them from head to toe so they could compete the journey.

The baby Jesus was wrapped in Joseph's death cloth. The sign for the shepherds wasn't that they'd find a baby wrapped in a blanket in a manger. The sign was that they'd find a baby prepared for death. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. That was his purpose. This was shown even from the instance of his birth.

By the way... this makes the wise man's gift of myrrh even more appropriate. Myrrh was the spice used for death. It was basically deodorant for the dead. Even though the wise men didn't actually show up until he was toddler, the theme continues.

Another neat fact is the baby Jesus was wrapped in the death clothes of a man named Joseph, and thirty three years later was buried in the tomb of a man named Joseph?

It's sad to think of how many people are going to miss the significance of this scripture because they only read the "New" versions of the Bible and never are exposed to such great truths.

Or what about Colossians 1:14, where it says "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Why has "through his blood" been removed from all of the "New" translations? Do you really believe that you can be saved without the shed blood of Jesus Christ?

On The 8th Day of Christmas, the Lord Revealed To Me ......

........ that Angels do not look like the above pictures as they are not children nor female and they do not sing.

Are angels male or female?

Angels are referred to in the Hebrew language as bene elohim, or "sons of God." Bible scholar Dr. Henry Morris says about the angels:

"The only obvious and natural meaning [of the designation, “sons of God”]... is that these beings were sons of God, rather than of men, because they had been created, not born. Such a description, of course, would apply only to Adam (Lk. 3:38) and to the angels, whom God had directly created (Psa. 148:2, 5; 104:4; Col. 1:16)." Dr. Morris explains further:

"Whenever angels have appeared visibly to men, as recorded in the Bible, they have appeared in the physical bodies of men. Those who met with Abraham, for example, actually ate with him (Gen. 18:8) and, later, appeared to the inhabitants of Sodom in such perfectly manlike shape that the Sodomites were attempting to take these ‘men’ for homosexual purposes. The writer of Hebrews suggests that, on various occasions, some ‘have entertained angels unawares’ (Heb. 13:2).

‘It is true that the Lord Jesus said that...in the resurrection they ‘neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven’ (Mat. 22:30). However, this is not equivalent to saying that angels are "sexless," since people who share in the resurrection will surely retain their own personal identity, whether male or female.

Furthermore, angels are always described, when they appear, as ‘men,’ and the pronoun ‘he’ is always used in reference to them. Somehow they have been given by God the capacity of materializing themselves in masculine human form when occasion warrants, even though their bodies are not under the control of the gravitational and electromagnetic forces which limit our own bodies in this present life."

Yet how many times do we see figurines of Angels as female and often as babies. Yet another "tradition of man" that we have bought into as a society.

As far as angels singing, there is a famous christmas carol called "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" yet not once in scripture does it record angels singing. See Luke 2:8-14
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, (not singing) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

I am not saying don't sing the song Hark The Herald Angels Sing if it gives you the warm fuzzies, but realize you are singing incorrectly.

Incidently, one of the arguments some have that claim angles sing is in Revelation verse 5:11-12 "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

There is one problem. This is from the NIV which has more errors in it than I care to go into.

Compare this same scripture in the King James

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

In Job 38:7, even the NIV doesn't mention that the angels sing
"while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" Obviously, there is a great difference between shouting and singing.

This time of year is a great time to dig into the Bible and see what it really says and not rely on the church or the "traditions of men" for your doctrine.

On the 9th Day Of Christmas the Lord Revealed To Me ..........

.......... Santa Clause or "St. Nick" is no saint at all.



While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots.

Let's look at 4 characteristics of Santa Claus and see how they falsely parallel those of Jesus Christ's. In a sense, Santa Claus is a type of anti-christ. In fact, the very name is close, just take the "n" and move it to the end and you have "satan".

1) Santa is portayed as "all knowing".
You've heard the song... "he knows when you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good ..."

Here, Santa is said to be able to know all about you and to be able to see you at all times. Not only you, but everyone in the world. This ability is only something God can do.

2) To piggy back off of # 1, Santa judges based on works. According to the rules, the only way kids will get toys is if they are good. The bad kids will go without. In contrast, Jesus imputes his righteousness to us when we trust Him for our salvation. True, He knows when we are obedient and not obedient but it does not affect our salvation, only our fellowship.

3) Santa is portrayed as being able to be everywhere at one time.
It is physically impossible to cover the entire globe in one night yet that is what Santa is supposed to be able to do with the special power of his magical reindeer. Even Jesus could not be everywhere when He was walking the earth. This is the reason when He left He sent the Holy Spirit to endwell us. Because it indwells us, He (the Holy Spirit) can be anywhere we are.

4) Santa dresses in all red. Red is the color of sin. Scripture says our sins are scarlett (red) yet Jesus washes us white as snow. In contrast, white is the color of purety. Jesus is always seen in a white robe. When the lost are to be judged before being condemned to Hell, they will stand before the Great White Throne.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Revelation 17:3 "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."

Daniel 12:10 "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Matthew 17:1-3
1 And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

I know many people are well intentioned with this whole Santa Claus thing, but thanks to "tradition", young children are deceived and when they become adults they pass on the tradition of deception to their children. I don't believe the deception is intentional but founded in ignorance of the truth. As Jack Nicholson said in the movie "A Few Good Men" some ... "can't handle the truth."

On The 11th Day of Christmas, the Lord Revealed To Me .....

.... The Wise men were no where near the Manger that night. Also, there is no mention in the Bible of the exact number of wise men. Since the Bible lists 3 gifts they are carrying, human tradition chooses to say there were 3 wise men, but there is no biblical proof of this.

We have all seen it and probably even have it in our homes. I am talking about a nativity scene, usually a decorative add on to the christmas tree. What does every nativity or manger scene have? Everyone I have ever seen has the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepards, farm animals and yes, Wise Men. Most do not even question it because including the Wise Men is a "tradition". I believe that if we are going to display a nativity scene that we should at least be accurate.

If we go to the scriptures (always a wise idea don't you think?) we will find the account of the Wise Men in Matthew 2:1-16

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
The Flight into Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”[b]
Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

As we can see in verse 11, the Wise Men did not arrive at the manger the night Jesus was born. Because their journey was so long, they arrived at the "house" of Mary and Joseph some 2 years after the birth of Christ. This is shown in that King Herod ordered to have all male children up to 2 years old killed. This was Satan's attempt to kill Jesus before He could fulfill the will of God to be the Messiah for us.

There are also some interesting observations that can be made about the gifts that were brought by these Wise Men. In our modern christmas celebration, the Wise Men would have exchanged gifts with each other. How silly would that have looked? Let's look at the 3 gifts closely.

1) Gold
Gold symbolizes kingship on earth. The Wise Men knew Jesus was King of The Jews and this is why they brought gold as one of the gifts. It is also believed that the gold gift symbolized virtue.

2) Frankincense

Frankincense is an incense that symbolizes priesthood.
Hebrews 7:23 "Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Frankincense is also said to be symbolic of prayer. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and is constantly making intercessory prayer on our behalf.
Hebrews 7:25 "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them."

3) Myrrh
Myrrh is an embalming oil and is used to symbolize death. The baby Jesus had but one main function and that was to die.. to die for the sins of the world so we could be made right with God the Father. Myrrh is also said to symbolize suffering. We all know how Jesus suffered (both physically and emotionally) shortly before His death. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He suffered in the thought of what He had to do so much that he perspired drops of blood.

So we can learn something from the entire account. This christmas season when we see a nativity scene with Wise Men we know it's historically incorrect but we can use it as a teaching lesson. We can see how the gifts given were not just random gifts but they all had meaning and were very symbolic of the nature of Jesus.

Thanks-Living

As the famous 4th Thursday in November approaches, I thought it was only reasonable to take a look at the things we can be thankful to God for. After all, make no mistake about it Thanksgiving is a spiritual holiday or rememberance. It was established by the early settlers to thank God for bringing them to the new world and giving them the freedom to worship as they chose to do. While I am sure they were thankful to the Indians for giving them food and showing them how to survive, the thanks in Thanksgiving was reserved for God alone.

I believe God wants to hear us thank Him for what He has given us. It's not enough to say that God knows we are thankful.. HE WANTS TO HEAR IT FROM US. Much like a woman likes to hear a man say he loves her (even though she knows he does) God wants to hear from us that we love Him and that we are thankful for what He has done for us. Our ultimate thanks to God is for sending Jesus Christ to pay our sin debt on the cross through the shedding of His precious blood.

So on Thursday, besides just thanking God for the food you are about to eat, thank Him for all the blessings He has given you and for the ones He will be giving you in the future. As a means of gratitude to God, go find someone else who needs a kind word or prayer or anything and be a blessing to someone else. Let's not be "spiritual turkeys" and think this day is only about stuffing ourselves and watching football.

Phillipians 4:6-7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Psalm 26:
1 Vindicate me, O LORD,
For I have walked in my integrity.
I have also trusted in the LORD;
I shall not slip.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
3 For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.

6 I will wash my hands in innocence;
So I will go about Your altar, O LORD,
7 That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving,
And tell of all Your wondrous works.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house,
And the place where Your glory dwells.

9 Do not gather my soul with sinners,
Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 In whose hands is a sinister scheme,
And whose right hand is full of bribes.

11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity;
Redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My foot stands in an even place;
In the congregations I will bless the LORD.

The ABC's of the Rapture of the Church

Between many well meaning Christians there has been a disagreement about whether we will have a Pre-Tribulation or Post-Tribulation Rapture. While not knowing this doctrine will not keep a Christian from going to Heaven, every Christian ought to know this doctrine correctly. The problem today is a general ignorance in the modern church. For the most part churches just don't want to talk about this subject.

I firmly believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture and after reading this you will know why (and hopefully you will believe the same). The doctrine of the Rapture is not confusing. No Bible doctrine is really all that confusing when you know how to interpret and understand the Bible. The Bible always interprets itself. We are not to interpret the Bible against our own intellect or another writing. A Pre-Tribulation Rapture just makes sense and I will present an "A B C" approach to it.

First the "A" standing for "Apostolic Sense". What do I mean by that? I am going at this from an Apostle standpoint. The greatest of the Apostles was the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul in his writing to the church in Thessalonica gives a clear picture of the events that will happen beginning with the Rapture and then leading into the Great Tribulation. The people in Thessalonica were concerned because they thought they had missed the Rapture. Someone had sent a forged letter (pretending to be Paul) to them saying the Rapture had already taken place. Paul's 2nd Epistle of Thessalonians was written primarily to correct the error.

Let's look at the outline as Paul presents it. First, the Great Tribulation can not begin until the Holy Spirit is removed. 2 Thess 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." The falling away spoken of is speaking of apostasy. The English word "apostasy" is a transliteration of the Greek word apostasia. By definition an apostasy is a departure, an abandoning of a position formerly
held. Let's continue to verse 7 "For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now hinders will hinder, until He be taken out of the way."

The He being referred to is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells the earth by living inside of each and every believer in Christ. The church body as a whole is currently restraining the evil in this world. However, one day when the Church is suddenly no longer here (through being caught up in the air to meet Christ), Hell will have a holiday. There will be no restraint on the evil that will be unleashed in the Great Tribulation. Since the Anti-Christ can not be revealed until the Holy Spirit has departed and since the Great Tribulation can not begin until the Anti-Christ is revealed, it follows as night follows day that the Rapture of the Church must occur BEFORE the Great Tribulation begins.

In his writing to the Thessalonians Paul mentions several times to "comfort others with his words". If all the believers had to look forward to was going through The Great Tribulation, how could they comfort anyone else?



Ok, now the "B" which I call "Biblical Sense". Not only did The Apostle Paul talk about this but the Bible talks about the Rapture also. Jesus Himself said He did not know when He would return. This has to refer to the Rapture because we know that the 2nd coming will be exactly 7 years after the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Also, in the book of Revelation the church is mentioned in the first 3 chapters but beginning with the start of chapter 4 when John is told to "come up here" (which is a representation of the rapture) the church is never mentioned again until the final chapter of the book. The reason is the church has been taken up.

Two examples come to mind of people who were rescued from impending doom, albeit on a smaller scale. When Sodom and Gomorrah was about to be destroyed, the angel told Lot to hurry because the city could not be destroyed until Lot left. This is found in Genesis 19:16-22

"16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" 18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."

21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it."

The second example is of course Noah. Before God flooded the world He took Noah away by preserving him in the ark. The rain did not come until Noah and his family (along with a lot of animals) were safely tucked away in the ark.

It would seem logical that if the church was going to be made to go through the Great Tribulation that the scriptures would be full of things like "warning all you who follow Christ, brace yourself to be tortured!!!" or Could you imagine adding another few verses to the end of 2 Thessalonians chapter 4 that go something like this:

"Brethren, we have all fought the good fight, we have been obedient to our Lord and Savior and one day soon we will be with the Lord. However we must first suffer at the hands of the Anti-Christ for a short while and then we will be rescued." Not exactly words you could share with others to comfort them now are they.

Finally, "C" and that stands for "Common Sense". The Church is Christ's bride and the individual believers are God's children. Common sense says that Jesus will not let His bride and God will not let His children have to suffer through the Great Tribulation. Matthew 7:9-11 "9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

If we had the power, we would not willingly let our children or spouse go through the Great Tribulation. What makes anyone think the God would allow His children and Christ's bride to have to go through it.

I found a great blog article by Kent Crockett on 16 proofs that the Rapture will take place prior to the Great Tribulation. It is so good I felt compelled to share it. Enjoy.

16 Proofs of a Pre-Tribulation Rapture
by Kent Crockett

Proof #1: Revelation 19:11-21 doesn't mention a resurrection.

The rapture is a resurrection of those "in Christ" (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Isn't it a little bit odd that in Rev. 19:11-21, which is the clearest picture of the second coming of Christ, there is no mention of a resurrection? The rapture will be the biggest event since the resurrection of Jesus where hundreds of millions of Christians will be resurrected and translated, yet there isn't any mention here. Don't you think it deserves at least one verse? The rapture isn't mentioned because it doesn't happen at the second coming.

Proof #2: Zechariah 14:1-15 doesn't mention a resurrection.

This is an Old Testament picture of Jesus returning to earth at the second coming. Again, no mention of a resurrection.

Proof #3: Two different pictures are painted.

In the Old Testament, there were two different pictures painted of the Messiah—one suffering (Isa. 53:2-10, Ps. 22:6-8, 11-18) and one reigning as King (Ps. 2:6-12, Zech. 14:9,16). As we look back on these scriptures, we see they predicted two separate comings of the Messiah—the 1st coming as a suffering Messiah and the 2nd coming (still future) as a reigning King.

In the New Testament, we have another picture added. Again, we have two pictures painted which don’t look the same. These two different descriptions of Jesus’ coming point to two separate events we call "the rapture" and "the second coming."

Proof #4: The Known Day and the Unknown Day

Concerning the return of Jesus, the Bible presents a day we can't know and a day we can know. Matthew 25:13 says Jesus will return at an unknown time, while Revelation 12:6 says the Jews will have to wait 1,260 days for the Lord to return. The 1,260 days begins when the Antichrist stands in the Temple and declares himself to be God (Matt. 24:15-21, 2 Thess. 2:4) This event will take place at the mid-point of the seven year Tribulation (Dan 9:27). The Antichrist has authority to rule for 42 months, which is 1,260 days (Rev. 13:4) and will be destroyed by Jesus at His second coming (Rev. 19:20, 2 Thess. 2:8). The known and unknown days must happen at different times, meaning they are two separate events.

Proof #5: A door open in heaven (Revelation 4:1)

The door in heaven is opened to let John into heaven. We believe John's call into heaven is prophetic of the church being caught up at the rapture (see proof #6). In Revelation 19:11, heaven is opened again, this time to let the armies which are already in heaven out. This is the Church, which has been raptured at a previous time, following Jesus out of heaven at the second coming.

Proof #6: "Come up here." (Revelation 4:1)

A voice called for the apostle John to "Come up here," and immediately he was in heaven. This could be a prophetic reference to the rapture of the Church. The words "Come up here" are spoken to the two witnesses who are killed in the middle of the Tribulation, who are resurrected and ascend into heaven (Rev. 11:12). Therefore, the phrase "Come up here" could mean the church is raptured in Rev. 4:1. The word "church" is mentioned 22 times in Rev. 1-3, but is not mentioned again until Rev. 22:17.

Proof #7: The 24 elders have their crowns.

After John is called up into heaven, he sees the 24 elders with their crowns (Rev. 4:4-10). We know that Christians will receive their rewards (crowns) at the rapture (2 Tim. 4:8, 1 Pet. 5:4). We will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14). The elders couldn't receive their crowns unless the resurrection (rapture) has taken place.

Proof #8 Holy ones are already with Jesus in heaven (Zech. 14:5, Rev. 19:14)

The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, follow Jesus out of heaven at His second coming (Rev. 19:14, Zech. 14:5, Col. 3:4). These are not angels because Rev. 19:8 tells us the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. In order to come out of heaven we first have to go in, indicating a previous rapture.

Proof #9: Kept from the hour of testing (Rev. 3:10)

Revelation 3:10 says we will be kept out of the hour of testing which will come upon the whole earth (the Tribulation). Some have wrongly believed "keep" means to keep through, or protect through the Tribulation. Suppose you approach a high voltage area with a sign that says, "Keep Out." Does that mean you can enter and be protected? No, it means you are forbidden from entering the area. But this verse also says He will keep us from the hour of testing. It is not just the testing, but the time period. If a student is excused from a test, he still may have to sit in the class while others take the test. But if he is excused from the hour of testing, he can go home. The Church will be called home before the hour of testing.

Proof #10: Angels don't resurrect people when they gather them for judgment.

When the angels are sent forth to gather the elect at the second coming (Matt. 24:29-31), some have wrongly interpreted this as the rapture. There is one huge problem with this interpretation. If we are resurrected at this time, why would we need angels to gather us? In the resurrection, we will be like the angels (Matt. 22:30), able to travel in the air at will. Obviously, these people who are gathered are not resurrected, therefore it can't be the rapture. No one would claim the wicked are raptured at this time, yet Matthew 13:39-41, 49 says the angels will not only gather the elect, but also the wicked. This gathering is not a resurrection.

Proof #11: Both the wicked and the righteous can't be taken first.

First Thessalonians 4:13-17 says the righteous are taken and the wicked are left behind. Matthew 13:30, 49 says the wicked are taken first and righteous are left behind. This points to two separate events, the rapture and the second coming.

Proof #12: Jesus returns from the wedding.

When Jesus returns to earth at the second coming, He will return from a wedding (Luke 12:36). At the rapture, Jesus is married to His bride, the Church. After the wedding, He will return to earth.

Proof #13: Jesus will receive us to Himself, not us to receive Him (John 14:2-3).

Jesus said He would prepare a place for the Church in heaven, then He would come again to receive us to Himself. Why would Jesus prepare a place for us in heaven and then not take us there? At the rapture, He will come to receive us to Himself, "that where I am (heaven), there you may be also." If the rapture occurred at the same time as the second coming, we would go up to the clouds and then immediately come back to earth. That would contradict John 14:2-3.

Proof #14: The one who restrains is taken out of the way.

In 2 Thess. 2:6-7, Paul says "the one who restrains will be taken out of the way" before the Antichrist can be revealed. We believe this refers to the rapture because the Church is clearly the biggest obstacle to the Antichrist becoming a world ruler.

Proof #15: The separation of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46)

If the rapture occurred at the second coming, why would the sheep and the goats need to be separated immediately after the second coming? A rapture at the second coming would have already separated the sheep and the goats. With a Pre-Tribulation rapture, the people saved after the rapture will need to be separated after the second coming.

Proof #16: Who will populate the Millennium?

If the rapture occurs at the second coming and the wicked are cast into hell at that time, who will be left to populate the millennium? Only people in their natural (non-resurrected) bodies will be able to have children (Matt. 22:30). With a Pre-Tribulation rapture, the people saved after the rapture who are alive at the second coming will populate the earth during the Millennium.


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CONTRASTS
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RAPTURE

1. Rapture of all believers
I Corinthians 15:51

2. Believers Only
I Thessalonians 4:14

3. Raptured Saints go to heaven
I Thessalonians 4:16-17

4. Believers Raptured to heaven
I Thessalonians 4:13-18

5. Unbelievers left to enter tribulation
I Thessalonians 5:2-5

6. Earth not judged

7. Imminent
I Thessalonians 4:17

8. Invisible
I Thessalonians 4:17

9. Not in the Old Testament

10. Before the day of wrath
I Thessalonians 5:3-4,9

11. No reference to Satan

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SECOND COMING

1. No Rapture at all
Matthew 25:31

2. Affects All men
Matthew 24:30

3. Raptured Saints return to earth
Jude 14

4. Unbelievers killed
II Thessalonians 1:8-9

5. Believers left to enter millennium
Matthew 24

6. Earth judged and righteousness established
Revelation 19:11-15

7. Follows definite predicted signs including the tribulation
Matthew 24:3

8. Visible
Revelation 1:7; Matthew 24:30

9. Predicted often in the Old Testament
Zechariah 14:1-5; Daniel 7:13; Malachi 4:1-4

10. Concluding the day of wrath
Matthew 24:29-30; Isaiah 13:9

11. Satan bound at second coming
Revelation 20:3