Saturday, June 21, 2014

5 Things to do to Prepare for the End of Days

1.  Make Jesus your Lord and believe God has him from the dead.
2.  Make sure you are born again and have a spirit filled believer lead you into speaking in tongues.
3.  Devote yourself to the Ministry of Reconciliation, winning souls back to God through Jesus Christ.
4.  Continue working heartily as unto the Lord Jesus to enable yourself to provide for your own needs and those of the needful saints.
5.  Don't worry about the coming Tribulation because you will be departed from the earth before it begins.
 

Scriptures to support the above:
1.  Romans 10:9-10
 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

2.  1 Cor 12:3
 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and no man can say Jesus Lord, but by holy spirit.
     1 Cor 14:2
 For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth; howbeit in the spirit he speaks secrets to God.

3.  2 Cor 5:18-19
 And all things of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
   To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

4.  All of 2 Cor 8 & 9
  2 Cor 8:4
  Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift ($$$), and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

2 Cor 9:12
 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

5.  2 Thess 2:1-3
 Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to him (2 different subjects), we ask you not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter as from us, saying that the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, WEB




Monday, June 16, 2014

Pentecost Myth #2 What really happened on Pentecost?

Myth #2

      As we all know, punctuation, capitalization, chapter and verse separations are entirely up to the translators of the Bible. Translators did what they felt best. Sometimes they even added words and sometimes left words out. Without a PC Bible program or a Teacher of the Word such as myself, it is nearly impossible to know what the original God-breathed Word said.

     Here are a couple of different translations of Acts 2:4:

 And they were all filled with the Holy (hagion) Ghost (pneuma), and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit (Pneuma )gave them utterance. KJV

 And they were all filled with [the] Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave to them to speak forth. Darby

     In the Greek there is no article "the" before Holy Ghost (Spirit), but there is one before Spirit. The presence or absence of this article determines whether or not capitalization should be used. Darby's translation indicates that there is no article "the," because it is put in [brackets], yet failed to make the following words lower case, as they should be.

      What the believers were filled with that day was the gift of holy spirit from the giver the Holy Spirit, who is God. It should read, "And they were all filled with holy spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." KJV God, Yahweh, is both holy and spirit. He gave that which he is. He didn't give Himself and he didn't give an entity separate from Himself.

Look at Acts 1:5. There is no article the before Holy Ghost, and should read, "... but ye shall be baptized with holy spirit." Acts 11:16 confirms this as well as many other places. The gift that day as well as today is holy spirit; the manifestation, the proof, that they had received the gift was speaking in tongues. Tongues was not the gift and never will be.

Take a look here for further study: http://www.amazon.com/The-Giver-Gifts-E-W-Bullinger-ebook/dp/B00365F5FQ

Sunday, June 15, 2014

JUDAS MYTH #2

WHEN DID JUDAS DIE?

MYTH: Shortly after the 30 pieces of silver were returned.

TRUTH: 40 days after God raised Jesus from the dead.

Now that you know how Judas died, it is equally important to understand when he died. It is believed by many that he did so immediately after this event:

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

The major key to understanding when this occurred is knowing where he was from. He was from Kerioth, a city in the land of Judea. See Matthew 10:4

[Judas Iscariot] Probably from the Hebrew °iysh Q­riyowt , a man of Kerioth, which was a city in the tribe of Judah, Josh 15:25, where it is likely this man was born. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

In the following record it is approximately 40 days after Jesus' being raised from the dead.

 John 21:20-22  And Peter having turned about saw the disciple whom loved Jesus, following, (who also reclined in the supper on his breast, and said, 'Sir, who is he who is delivering thee up?')  Accordingly, Peter having seen (past tense) that one (that one who? That one who delivered him up), saith to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about that one?'  Jesus saith to him, 'If  I will him to remain till I come, what — to thee? be thou following me.' AT

Here we have at least 4 people walking along with Jesus. The question Peter asked of Jesus would not have been about the one whom loved Jesus but about the one who delivered him up to the authorities. What we see next is how rumors get started: 

John 21:23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: KJV
Why were they thinking that someone should die? Because of what Judas had done. Jesus had already forgiven Judas for what he had done. We know that Judas was still alive here.

As we had to go to the Book of Acts to see how Judas died we have to go again to see when he died.

Acts 1:2-3  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the holy spirit had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: KJV

We know that Judas was one of the 12 that Jesus chose, so it stands to reason that Judas was still alive on the day Jesus ascended to heaven.  Acts 1:10-11
 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. KJV

Sometime between Acts 1:2 and 2:1(ten days passed) Judas left the group. We know this because the 2 angels in verse 11 addressed the group as "ye men of Galilee." Judas was not from Galilee, but Judea. Sometime during the next 10 days a replacement was picked for Judas.

Jesus was okay with Judas sticking around until the day of Pentecost had fully come and even until he returned, which he believed would be within 7 years. (John 21:22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. KJV)

We know assuredly that Judas stuck it out for 40 days after Jesus' being raised from the dead. Sometime before the 2 angels spoke to the men of Galilee, he departed with so much guilt and remorse that he could not keep on living. The Father and the Son had forgiven him but he could not forgive himself.  

Ps 103:12
 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. KJV











Saturday, June 14, 2014

Judas Myth #1

HOW DID JUDAS DIE?

Myth: He hung himself from a tree.

Truth: He fell onto a sword.

Matt 27:5 says:
   And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. KJV

It seems pretty clear from this verse that the myth is correct. Even upon looking up the word "hanged" in the Greek, apagchomai, to choke, strangle or throttle, it seems clear cut. Unfortunately this is the only gospel that says anything about it.

The answer lies in Acts 1:16-18:

Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. KJV

This does not happen from being hung by the neck! Let's see how some other versions handle this verse.
Acts 1:18-19 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. NASU

Acts 1:18  "As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Acts 1:18-19  (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

In all these different translations/versions it doesn't specifically say how this came about, but this is exactly how King Saul killed himself.

1 Sam 31:4-5  Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it (headlong). And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
KJV

Sometimes the answers we are looking for are not always right in front of us. Sometimes they have to be searched for. Sometimes we have to spend "some time" finding them.


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Pentecost Myths--the Upper Room

Myth #1

What occurred on Pentecost did not occur in an upper room of someone's home. The upper room of Acts 1:13 is where 11 of Jesus' male disciples were living at least 11 days before Pentecost. They slept there, changed clothes there, cleaned up there, etc. Women did not live there with them.

In verse 14 we are told: "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." One accord here, homothumadon, is in regards to mind or mentality, whereas the one accord in Acts 2:1, homou, is in regards to place or time. Here is how the NASU reads:
Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

In verse 15 there are not just 11 people present, there are about 120 disciples! So, where was this? It was in the Temple, the "house" of God. Luke 24:53 says "and were continually in the temple praising God."

If this is not enough to convince you, let's read further in  Acts 2:5-6
 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
Are we to believe that this multitude of Jews from every nation under heaven heard these 11 guys in someone's upper room speaking their languages? (Anyone's upper room would have been a long way away from the Temple). Or is it much more likely that this multitude who were gathered in the Temple for the Feast of Weeks, heard these 120 disciples who were near them in the Temple and could see that they were Galileans?