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Does The Bible Teach That The Charismatic Gifts Like Speaking In Tongues Have Ceased For Our Dispensation?

Can cessationism, the view that the Charismatic gifts have ended, be proved? Some say that the cessationism cannot be conclusively proved from Scripture. We believe, however, that the ceasing of revelatory and sign-gifts in the time of the apostles is very plainly taught in God’s Word, so plainly, in fact, that the opposite view has only seriously appeared in the last 100 years or so.

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Is speaking in tongues for Christians in the Church Age?
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Not only has revelation been completed and ceased, but so have the signs that revelation is in progress.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article will prove from Scripture, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that the apostolic gifts of healings and tongues ceased with the end of the apostles. We dearly hope you will read this article and compare it to the Bible, but watching any one of these videos included here will also clearly demonstrate the fraudulent nature of the modern-day Charismatic and Pentecostal movements.

“Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” John 4:48 (KJV)

Can cessationism the view that they have ended, be proved? Some say that the cessationism cannot be conclusively proved from Scripture. We believe, however, that the ceasing of revelatory and sign-gifts in the time of the apostles is very plainly taught in God’s Word, so plainly, in fact, that the opposite view has only seriously appeared in the last 100 years or so.

The term cessationism comes from the great 17th-century confessions of faith, such as the Westminster and Baptist confessions. These both use the same word. Speaking about how God has revealed his will and committed it to the Scriptures, the confessions say, ‘Former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased’. This word does not actually come from the Bible, but the doctrine does.

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Not only has revelation been completed and ceased, but so have the signs that revelation is in progress. Here is a brief summary of six biblical proofs that the revelatory gifts have ceased (visions, words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and prophecies), and also the sign-gifts (healings and speaking in tongues). God still heals, of course, but in answer to prayer, and not through the hands of a gifted healer.

The controversial passage of 1 Corinthians 13.8-10 will not be used in this article to prove the ending of the gifts. We will refer only to passages which we believe to be conclusive.

1. Not since the apostles

The first proof for cessationism (the ending of revelatory and sign-gifts) is that healings and wonders could only be done by apostles, and were their special authenticating signs. In 2 Corinthians 12.12 Paul says: ‘Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.’

There were some people in the church at Corinth who challenged Paul’s apostleship. To defend himself he draws attention to his gift of healing and of working other miraculous signs, stating that only the apostles could do such things.

“Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.” 2 Corinthians 12:12 (KJV)

An apostle was someone who had accompanied the Lord, seen him after his resurrection, and been personally commissioned by him. As a special witness of the resurrection he was given power to heal. He was also a person who would be shown ‘all truth’ by the Holy Spirit (John 14.26 and 16.13), and would either write or endorse inspired Scripture.

Believers would need to know who the true apostles were in order to respect their unique authority. They would know them by their healings and other signs. People who did not belong to the band of apostles (which included two named assistants) could not do these things. If they had been able to do them, then no one would have been certain who were true apostles.

Kenneth Hagin Performing “Holy Laughter” While “Drunk” In The Spirit:

Scary, scary stuff here. This Charismatic Movement has led millions away from the truth of Bible doctrine and replaced it with frauds like this.

In Acts 2.43 and 5.12 it is again made clear that all the miracles were performed ‘by the hands of the apostles’. This was exclusively their sign. Also, in Hebrews 2.3-4 the healing gifts are firmly linked to the apostles. Paul was an apostle by virtue of having seen the risen Lord, and having been directly commissioned by him. His lack of training by Christ was made good by his receiving special and unique revelations. He states that he was ‘one born out of due time’ (1 Corinthians 15.8), indicating that he was the only apostle outside the original band and therefore the last apostle. (Modern claims to apostleship do not match the biblical qualifications and are improper and wrong.)

When people say that cessationism (the ceasing of sign-gifts) cannot be proved from Scripture, they forget that the book of Acts says specifically that healings and other wonders were exclusive to the apostles, who have now passed away. When the churches had grown and multiplied Peter went to Lydda, and then Joppa, famously healing Æneas and raising Dorcas from the dead. Entire communities were astonished, because none of the other believers in such places could do these things.

When a lad fell out of a window in Troas, there was only one person present who could raise him up, and that was Paul. The charismatic idea that healings were performed by numerous Christians is simply not to be found in the New Testament. Only the apostles are recorded as having healed, together with two apostolic assistants or delegates, Stephen and Philip, and possibly Barnabas.

The only time someone outside this group performed a healing was when the Lord told Ananias to heal Paul. There is no other healing apart from these in the early church. The Pentecostal/charismatic idea that healings took place constantly by Christians at large is not taught in the Bible. Thus the infallible record of Scripture shows the entire charismatic approach to healing to be a mistake based on a myth. The record proves that the healings and mighty deeds were restricted to a class of people who have passed away.

2. The temporary purpose of tongues

The second proof that cessationism can be proved from the Scriptures (sign-gifts have ceased) is about tongues-speaking. It is the biblical statement that tongues-speaking was given by God specifically as a sign for Jews, signalling to them that the new era of Messiah had arrived.

In 1 Corinthians 14.21-22 Paul says this:

‘In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.’

In other words, the gift of tongues was a miraculous proof to Jews who were resistant to believing in Christ, that the new age and a new church order had arrived. It was not for the benefit of Jews who had come to believe, but a sign of promise and warning to those who did not believe. It was not intended for Gentiles, but Jews.

Benny Hinn Performing His Phony “Healing”:

If you can watch this video and see anything biblical happening here, there is something seriously wrong. At the very least, this type of junk is a tragic, misleading joke, and at it’s worst it is demonic activity.

Paul quoted from Isaiah 28.11, a chapter in which Isaiah prophesies Christ’s coming. As a sign to Jews, Isaiah says Jewish people will be addressed by those with ‘stammering lips and another tongue’. Gentile languages will challenge them, a most belittling experience for Jewish people. At the same time it was a sign that the Messianic age would bring Gentiles into the church, and the Gospel would be preached in other languages.

This would be a mark of the new age when God would pull down the flag of the Jewish church, and run up the flag of the Jewish-Gentile church of Jesus Christ. Unbelieving Jews, who resisted Christ and clung to the skirts of Moses, would find the Word of God being preached to them in barbarian, Gentile languages.

All this came to pass, beginning on the day of Pentecost. The Jews were duly called and warned, but tongues are not mentioned outside the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians 12-14, showing that they had accomplished their purpose of warning the Jews that the new era had arrived. This announcing of the church age was accomplished while the apostles lived, and the sign has been withdrawn. What passes for tongues-speaking today is not done in the presence of doubting Jews, and has nothing to do with the sign of the New Testament. The sign that the church age has come has served its purpose, and been surpassed by the reality. The Gospel is now preached in virtually every language in the world, and the sign that this would happen is long extinct. The purpose of tongues (according to Paul’s teaching) has been fulfilled, proving their discontinuation.

3. Tongues were real languages

The third proof of cessationism adds to the second, and it is this – that a gift of real languages was given on the day of Pentecost (and for a while afterwards), which has never been seen since that time. It should be obvious to us that the miraculous languages of the books of Acts and 1 Corinthians have never occurred since those days.

Tongues-speaking of modern times is never any known human language, but only meaningless, disjointed speech. Nothing miraculous happens. In New Testament times the tongues-speaker was given by the Spirit the ability to speak in a real language which he had never learned, and people who had grown up with him were astonished. Jewish people would be present (as it was specifically a sign for them). On the day of Pentecost many Jews who lived in foreign regions heard their own languages spoken, and attested the genuineness of the speakers. After Pentecost the Spirit would give the miraculous gift of understanding to interpreters so that the authenticity of the language would be proved. Nothing like this has been seen since Bible times.

Today those who advocate tongues-speaking point to 1 Corinthians 13.1 where Paul, speaking hypothetically, says that even if he spoke an angelic tongue, without love, it would amount to nothing. Desperately looking for a text, charismatic teachers take Paul’s words as a justification for ecstatic, non-linguistic tongues, but it is plain to any thinking person that this is a serious misuse of the verse.

By describing literal languages, the Bible effectively warns us that these gifts have been withdrawn. They simply have not happened at any time in history, anywhere in the world, since the very early days of the church. What happens today is that people (who may be sincere Christians), in their desire to do what their leaders insist is right, seek to give utterance outside the rules of speech. However, they do not speak real languages, or even understand what they are saying. Cessationism is clearly taught in Scripture, by virtue of the fact that the very precise description of real languages given in Scripture cannot be applied to anything that has taken place since.

Since Bible times we have had glorious events of reformation and mighty revivals, when the Spirit of God has been pleased to work in exceptional power. Yet we have not one reported or recorded claim of anyone speaking a real language they had never learned. This is certain proof that the gift of biblical tongues has ceased.

4. No instructions to appoint prophets

The fourth proof for cessationism is this: there are no New Testament instructions about appointing apostles, prophets, healers, or anything of the kind. This is a matter of tremendous significance, because God has given a detailed pattern for the church in the New Testament. It is true that some Christians do not believe that the Bible provides a blueprint for the church, but most people who are of baptistic, Bible-believing persuasion do.

Modern Chaos: The Charismatic and Pentecostal Movements:

PLEASE NOTE: NTEB does not endorse the complete teachings of Calvinists like John MacArthur, Paul Washer and others. They have some good points which is why we have decided to present this video.

The apostle Paul commands us repeatedly to be the most careful imitators of him in our church polity and conduct, and the pastoral epistles set out how we should behave and function in the church of God. We are given the precise pattern for the church for all time. We have instructions that most carefully set out how to select preaching and ruling elders and deacons, but no instructions about the appointment of apostles (because they were not to be perpetuated), or on how to recognise or accredit a prophet (because revelatory gifts ended with the completion of the Bible). Nor are there instructions about appointing healers.

This is not merely an argument from silence, but a proof that these offices and functions were not to continue. The instructions for all matters of church organisation are complete and  detailed and all-sufficient for the church until Christ comes again. We disobey God’s perfect pattern if we make appointments in the church that he has not prescribed and commanded. We disobey Scripture.

How can it be said that there is no certain scriptural proof that the gifts have ceased, when the pattern for the church gives no instructions for the continuation of inspired spokesmen and sign-workers? This is conclusive proof of cessationism – unless we do not hold to the sufficiency of Scripture, and do not believe that God has given a pattern for his church.

5. Revelation is now complete

The fifth proof for cessationism is that the Bible plainly teaches that revelation is now complete. There can be no new revelation after the time of the apostles. We have already noted that in John 14.26 and in John 16.13 the Lord Jesus Christ says twice to the disciples that the Holy Spirit, when he comes, will lead them into all Truth.

They would be the authors of New Testament books, and the authenticators of inspired New Testament books not from their own pens. Soon all the Truth would be revealed, and after the apostolic era there would be no more revelation of Scripture. The Word would be complete.

How glad we are of that! What a state we would be in if people could pop up here, there and everywhere (as they do in the charismatic world) giving us new revelations. Who would know what was right, and what was true? But the Scripture is the final yardstick for everything, being complete and perfect, sufficient and trustworthy.

Jude was able to speak about the faith which was ‘once delivered unto the saints’. His epistle was written possibly 25 years before the final book of the Bible, but late enough for all the main doctrines and church instructions to have been revealed. At this late stage of revelation he speaks of the faith once delivered, or better, once for all delivered. It is virtually complete; soon (from Jude’s standpoint) there will be no more revelation.

The closing verses of the Bible warn that nothing must be added or taken from the words of the book of Revelation, but this clearly applies to the whole Bible, not just the last book. We know this because the warning closely echoes the one given by Moses in the first book of the ­Bible (the first five were originally one book), namely Deuteronomy 4.2, ‘Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it’ (words repeated by Moses in Deuteronomy 12.32).

The completion of revelation is also proved by the fact that apostles and prophets are described as the foundation stage of the church.

In Ephesians 2.20 the church is described as being – ‘built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [that is – New Testament prophets], Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone’. A foundation is something completed and stable, while the building continues to be constructed.

What about Joel’s prophecy, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, saying that when the Spirit is poured out, all believers, male, female, old and young will prophesy? Is it not implied that this will go on literally until the Lord’s return? No, because our understanding of this prophecy must agree with the unassailable teaching of the Bible that revelation was soon completed, and then ceased.

It is this completed revelation (especially the Gospel) that will be the witness of believers of all ages, male and female, through all the world, until the end. Believers will continue to see visions and dream dreams in the sense that they embrace, reflect upon, and proclaim the infallible ‘­visions and dreams’ given to them in the Bible. They will not ‘prophesy’ in the sense of receiving new revelation. They will also dream dreams of Gospel plans and conquests. In this sense the prophecy of Joel is still being fulfilled.

The extraordinary manifestations such as tongues had clearly vanished by the time Peter wrote his two epistles, for he gives no hint whatsoever that these features of the early scene were still operating.

As revelation was completed in the time of the apostles, we see that the task of apostles and prophets is over. And if the gifts of revelation are ended, then so are the authenticating signs of inspired penmen. We remember how Paul said, ‘Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in…signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds’ (2 Corinthians 12.12).

How can it be said that there is no biblical proof for cessationism when Scripture emphatically says that all revelation has been completed, like a foundation, at the beginning of the church age?

6. Scripture witnesses the end of gifts

The sixth proof for cessationism is that Scripture shows that they were in the process of being withdrawn at that very time. Paul, for example, who possessed apostolic power to do signs and wonders and mighty deeds, could not, in the course of time, heal Timothy or Trophimus or Epaphroditus.

We also see the withdrawing of the healing gifts in James 5, where James gives instructions about praying for the sick, and how the elders may lay hands upon the bedridden. It is obvious in this passage that there is no gifted healer in sight, only elders, who pray.

Anointing is mentioned, but the Greek term for religious anointing is not used. The Greek uses a very practical word that means ‘rub down’ with oil, more like a remedy for bedsores. James effectively says, ‘Don’t be so heavenly-minded that you are of no earthly use, but take some physical relief for the suffering person.’

What matters most is prayer. It is certain in the instructions of James that no gifted healer is brought in to command healing, or to give a healing touch. The laying on of hands of ordinary elders is a symbolic act, communicating the church’s love, care and responsibility.

The passage of James contains four exhortations to pray, and it follows his teaching that we ought to say, ‘If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.’ We can and must pray for healing, but it may be God’s will that a sufferer should witness to God’s grace in the illness. The main point for us in this article is that there is no one possessing personal power to heal in James 5. Healing is by God in answer to prayer. The ongoing stance of the church is seen as praying for healing, remembering that some are called to live as ‘an example of suffering affliction, and of patience’ (James 5.10).

The fact that James does not mention healing gifts shows unmistakably that the possession of healing power was withdrawn quite early in the course of the apostolic era.

Would a neutral reader assume Bible gifts were for every age?

It has been suggested that if a new convert with no experience of church life were shut in a room with a Bible, it would never occur to that person that the charismatic gifts had ceased. The opposite is true. There are many people (we know some) who come from other faiths who have been converted to Christ by private Bible reading, and subsequently found their way into a church. From the Bible alone they received no expectation of a charismatic scene. Much more frequently – increasingly so as time passes – believers leave charismatic churches having realised that what takes place there is not what they find in the Bible.

On reading Acts carefully, they discover that only the apostolic band healed, and feel they have been misled by the Pentecostal-charismatic notion that numerous people did so. Some wonder what the original significance or purpose of tongues was, and when they learn from Paul that they were specifically for Jews, they again feel misled by their teachers.

They also feel mis-taught when it becomes obvious that tongues were real languages, a vastly more miraculous matter than incomprehensible sounds. Then, as soon as these believers appreciate the importance of the scriptural pattern for the church, the question sometimes arises in their minds – ‘Where are the Bible’s instructions for appointing apostles, prophets and healers today?’ They find there are none, and become even more critical of the teaching they have received.

Then the question of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture intrudes, and they think, ‘Is not revelation complete? How, then, can modern prophecies be valid and inspired?’ It becomes obvious that all the ‘authoritative’ prophecies they have heard are a great mistake, and a delusion. Many thinking believers see for themselves that to charismatic people, Scripture is second in importance to human imagination and mysterious experiences.

Finally, the more these friends study the Word, the more they see the evidence that the signs disappeared soon after their spectacular initial outpouring. None of this means that the Lord does not move his people to remember duties or truths, or urge them to do certain things, or warn them of imminent dangers. These are divine intimations, not revelations or gifts.

In the history of the church, there are recorded instances of people having an intimation from God about some threatening event or person, but these are never revelations of doctrine. We find such things in times of severe persecution. For instance, up until Perestroika in Russia, we heard of very credible instances when God’s key servants were wonderfully delivered from arrest because the Lord impressed on someone not to go to some particular place. It was later discovered that a KGB-police ambush lay in wait for them. However, no recipient of such an intimation was given a regular gift, and certainly not an authoritative revelation of doctrinal truth. God can do all kinds of things to deliver and bless his people, but this is not in any way the reappearance of apostolic or prophetic gifts bestowed on individuals.

The damage of charismatic teaching

Many charismatics are coming to see the enormous gap between the ­Bible and what they have been taught. Such doubters are often troubled by the fact that huge numbers of Catholics, who depend on Mary, the Mass, and works for salvation, are also able to speak in tongues and prophesy. Many also worship in exactly the same way as charismatic Protestants.

Charismatic doubters may also hear that non-Christian cults also speak in tongues. You do not need to be a saved Christian to speak in charismatic-style tongues, because it is not a true gift of the Spirit.

There are many sincere Christians in the charismatic movement, but we believe that the attempt to revive revelatory and sign-gifts is a very harmful mistake. We can see the harm in the emergence of huge sections of the movement in which the Gospel has virtually disappeared, buried under unbiblical extravagances. There are large charismatic groups that now deny the penal substitution of Christ, and some even deny the Trinity. (One of the world’s most famous charismatic preachers and authors denies the doctrine of the Trinity.)

Worldly entertainment-style ­music dominates charismatic churches, even music of the most extreme and godless kind. The theatrical antics of money-grabbing charismatic leaders may be seen at any time on religious TV, and the prosperity-gospel heresy is seemingly everywhere.
Numerous charlatans and rogues have built large followings, carrying out their supposed ‘healings’ at venues throughout the world. Even music-hall fortune-telling techniques are being presented as spiritual wonders, in once respected churches.

The powerful current that constantly propels the charismatic constituency further and further from the Bible is evidence of a serious fundamental error, namely, the idea that the ­revelatory and sign-gifts are for all time. To experience them involves a twofold mistake: firstly, the downscaling of the gifts to something non-miraculous (eg: turning real languages into non-linguistic utterances); and secondly, the downgrading of Scripture, which must bow to imagined experiences of dreams, visions, ‘words from the Lord’, and similar revelations. There is harm done also to individual Christians whose faith is greatly diverted from the Lord and his Word, to phenomena and sensations.

We sincerely pray that God will deliver those who are his true children from the accumulating harm of this wildly mistaken departure from Scripture.It is perfectly possible to prove that cessationism is a Biblical truth. source

TAKE THE NTEB CHARISMATIC GIFTS CHALLENGE:

If you have gotten this far, congratulations, you actually read the entire article, and not just responded emotionally after reading the headline. If you believe that the charismatic and apostolic gifts are for today, then we offer you a challenge. Come to Florida, and accompany us to the local hospital. We will go from room to room, and you can lay hands on and pray over some truly sick and injured people, and we will video the results and post it to the front page of this website. If you can immediately heal the sick folk there, to the point where they get out of their bed miraculously and fully healed, and be verified through a physician’s diagnostic examination, NTEB will issue a full retraction of this article. The following Scripture illustrates the type of healing I am talking about:

“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.” Acts 3:6,7 (KJV)

So how about it, Charismatic and Pentecostal people, any takers?

 


 

Bible Doctrine

New Children’s Book ‘The Baptism Of Jesus’ Painting The Spotless Lord As A Sinner Who Needs Baptism ‘To Wash My Sins Away’ Is Pure Heresy

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Jesus got baptized by John the Baptist to fulfill God’s righteousness, not to wash away any sin because He was sinless

The children’s book ‘The Baptism of Jesus’ teaches that “John the Baptist lived a simple life. He went around sharing his important message and persuading people to let him wash their sins away. He told people to live better lives and prepare for someone who could baptize not with water but with God’s love. This someone was Jesus and he did come and he asked John to baptize him.” The photo graphic has Jesus saying “I have come to the river to wash away my sins”. Umm. No. Full stop. Jesus was and is sinless, on every level, teaching that He had sin is a Laodicean heresy that we are nipping in the bud right now. But as long as we are on the subject, let’s take a look and see why Jesus was baptized.

“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.” Matthew 3:13-15 (KJB)

First of all, Jesus is submitting Himself to the baptism of John because He is fulfilling a type as He presents Himself to Israel as the ‘suffering servant’ of Isaiah 53. Second, John the Baptist is shocked, and doesn’t want to to it because he knows Jesus is the sinless and spotless lamb of God. But Jesus gently rebukes him, and says it needs to be done to ‘fulfill all righteousness’. Jesus is showing the people that He is the Lamb, without spot or blemish. But Jesus is only doing this ceremonially because He has no sin to either wash away or repent of. So we can safely conclude that the writer of this book did this out of ignorance of scripture, or did it intentionally to try and make the Lord look bad. All this is ‘par for the course’ here in the lukewarm Laodicean end of the Church Age.

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:12-14 (KJB)

Throughout the Old Testament, we see the types set up by God to show you the coming final sacrifice that would take place. That is why the lambs sacrificed were without spot, without blemish, they were a perfect type of the only ever perfect Person, the only ever born sinless human being, that was qualified to “take away the sin of the world”. Now do you see why Jesus was baptized? He’s showing the Jews the Lamb has arrived, and on their behalf, and ours, He submits to what God has established, fulfilling all righteousness in the process.

“And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.” Acts 8:36-38 (KJB)

Lastly, in the Church Age, baptism is no longer connected to your salvation, it is part of your sanctification, your testimony to a lost world that you have become born again. The first man saved in the Church Age, the Ethiopian eunuch, asks Phillip what is stopping him from getting baptized. Phillip tells him he has to believe first, get saved first, and then you can be baptized. If you’re trusting in your baptism to ‘wash away your sins’, I have bad news as they are still intact and on you. But if you have trusted the sinless Saviour Jesus of Nazareth who made a payment for you in God’s blood on the cross, then you are every whit clean and whole. Jesus saves. Not Mary, not the saints, not baptism, not the sacraments, not the eucharist, and not anything other than the sinless and spotless Lamb of God. Are you saved? Find out before you go, you’ll be glad you did.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

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Bible Doctrine

There Are 7 Raptures In Your King James Bible, And The Pretribulation Rapture Of The Church Before The Start Of Jacob’s Trouble Is Only One Of Them

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There Are 7 In Your King James Bible starting In Genesis and going all the way clear through to Revelation, we’re looking for the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church

I was just on X a moment ago, and saw that the word ‘rapture’ was trending with lots of people putting their ‘2 cents’ in. Unfortunately, due to the dearth of bible doctrine ‘rightly divided’ being taught today, most Christians are vastly underinformed as to the meaning of that phrase. When people ask me about the Rapture, my usual response is ‘which one’? Your King James Bible shows a minimum of 7 raptures that I can see, with 7 being a perfectly appropriate number for that topic.

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

A quick peek into Webster’s 1828 dictionary shows us that the word ‘rapture’ means ‘a seizing by violence’ and a ‘transport; ecstasy; violence of a pleasing passion; extreme joy or pleasure.’ In other words, when the Lord raptures someone up, He is not asking permission first but it’s going to be great. Better than you could ever imagine. The greatest example of this is the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church at the end of the Church Age, but as you’ll soon see, it is far from the only rapture in the Bible.

With that, I present for your scholarly consideration the 7 Raptures In Your King James Bible:

1.       Enoch – This rapture is a wonderful type of the Church being removed before the start of the time of Jacob’s trouble and the great Tribulation. You will notice it takes place immediately prior to the original Days of Noah. Slam dunk.

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24 (KJB)

2.       Elijah – Another one of the one-man raptures that shows the ‘catching up’ without the Lord asking first, a hallmark of the rapture process. Conclusion? Be ready!

“And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11 (KJB)

3.       Jesus – Even the Lord Himself was happy to demonstrate the rapture process by doing it Himself. In this case, He was caught up into the clouds, which is exactly how Paul says you and I will be caught up when it’s time for the Church to go.

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9 (KJB)

4.       The Church – Here it is, ‘that blessed hope’ with all the trimmings. Come get us, Lord Jesus! One of the main differences between the Rapture Paul talks about and the one Jesus describes in Matthew 24, is that Jesus comes for the Church personally, He doesn’t send angels. Also, it is His Voice that acts ‘as a trumpet’, but no trumpet is present. Matthew 24 shows angels doing the rapturing whilst blowing actual trumpets. Things that are different are not the same. Doctrine matters!

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” Revelation 4:1,2 (KJB)

5.       144,000 – The 144,000 we see sealed on Earth in Revelation 7 are now up in Heaven with Jesus in chapter 14. How did they get there? You know.

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” Revelation 14:1 (KJB)

6.       The Two Witnesses Moses and Elijah go up for a ‘second time’ each.

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Revelation 11:11,12 (KJB)

7.       Tribulation Saints – The Jewish remnant being caught up from Selah Petra.

“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:31 (KJB)

The one that concerns you if you’re saved is the fourth one, the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church, the body and bride of Jesus Christ. This Bible doctrine, taught by both Paul and John, as well as shown in type by King Solomon in the Song Of Solomon, is perhaps the most highly-debated and contested doctrine in the Church today. Amazingly, a majority of low information church goers are in a row against it. When you stop preaching Bible doctrine, as Paul warned would happen in 2 Timothy 4, and this is what you get. Detractors will say that this did not exist until John Darby and CI Scofield taught it in the 1800’s, but that is just Laodicean nonsense. The doctrine of the Pretribulation Rapture of the Church is clearly present in your King James Bible. You would have to work pretty hard to miss it, and many absolutely do. Don’t be one of them, learn how to rightly divide your Bible.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

Please continue to pray for us, and for wisdom for me especially, as we continue taking steps to print the NTEB branded King James Bible for our free Bible and Bibles Behind Bars program. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. If the Lord has prospered your financially, we ask you to donate to help us continue to send out free Bibles at this level, and even higher than we are at the moment. It takes a lot of prayer, and a lot of resources to do all this. Praise the Lord we are doing it, all of us together, labouring in the Lord’s harvest field. TO THE FIGHT!!!

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Bible Doctrine

The Amazing Way That The Letter ‘X’ Is Used In Your King James Bible As It Relates To The Antichrist And His Soon-Coming, Short-Lived 7-Year Kingdom

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Let’s do a quick King James Bible study on the many appearances and inferences of the letter ‘x’ in relation to the Antichrist and his coming kingdom

On our Podcast this afternoon, we had a wonderful time going through our King James Bibles to discover some peculiar anomalies with the letter ‘x’ and verses related to the coming Antichrist and his short-lived, 7-year kingdom. It was so well received that I thought a quick follow-up on the topic was in order. Enjoy!

“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” Luke 4:5-7 (KJB)

The main theme of your Bible is the coming King, Jesus Christ, and the kingdom that will soon be given to Him at the Second Advent. Jesus is the ‘volume of the Book’ from Genesis 1 to the end of Revelation 22. But before that can take place, the Devil is going to get a throne for 7 short years, and will try his best to hold onto it. When we look closely at the following passages, some pretty weird things present themselves to us regarding words that either end or begin with the letter ‘x’. Please note the following:

  • Rex – King, this is Antichrist the counterfeit king, a Xerox copy. “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.Revelation 6:2 (KJB). The Latin word for king is ‘rex’, and that’s exactly what the Antichrist is, a king, but with a catch. He’s not the actual Messiah, he’s a counterfeit, kind of like when you make a copy of something with a copying machine like, say, the industry-standard and iconic Xerox.
  • Hex – a curse or magic spell. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:” Revelation 13:16 (KJB). Now this counterfeit king, let’s call him Mr. Xerox, brings something when he arrives, and we call that a ‘hex’. It is something that curses the one who receives it, please see Revelation 14:9-11 (KJB). The Bible calls this ‘hex’ the Mark of the Beast.
  • Pox – pus-filled, a pustule, blister, ulcer or vesicle. “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” Revelation 16:2 (KJB). So King Xerox gives out his hex and what does that produce? It produces a pox in the bodies of the people who received. Is it just me or is there a preponderance of the letter ‘x’? There is, and it gets better (worse?).
  • χάραγμα cháragma – the Mark. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16,17 (KJB). I rarely go to the Greek, but today I did and what did I see? The Greek word for ‘mark’, as in the Mark of the Beast, and it’s χάραγμα, or cháragma in English. Do you notice how the Greek word begins with the letter ‘x’? Odd.
  • χξϛ chx stigma – 666. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:18 (KJB). Here we have the words 600, 60 and 6 written out in Greek as χξϛ, or chx stigma in English. Did you notice what the first letter of that was? Yep, it’s an ‘x’. Amazing.

In math and science, ‘X’ stands for an unknown quantity, perhaps you recall ‘solving for x’ in your high school algebra classes. I cannot tell you the  name of the coming Antichrist, no one can, he is truly Mr. X, but maybe his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. From an end times perspective, seeing a large amounts of x’s should be setting off your prophetical ‘red flags’, and in 2023 we have buckets of them. Elon Musk just rebranded Twitter as X, and his opening goal is to take over a minimum of 50% of the global financial system. That’s a lot of ‘buying and selling’, don’t you think? Why don’t you mark that down for later? In the meantime, go listen to today’s Podcast on this very subject.

ORDER RUCKMAN’S BOOK ‘THE MARK OF THE BEAST’

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

Please continue to pray for us, and for wisdom for me especially, as we continue taking steps to print the NTEB branded King James Bible for our free Bible and Bibles Behind Bars program. It is exciting and intimidating at the same time. If the Lord has prospered your financially, we ask you to donate to help us continue to send out free Bibles at this level, and even higher than we are at the moment. It takes a lot of prayer, and a lot of resources to do all this. Praise the Lord we are doing it, all of us together, labouring in the Lord’s harvest field. TO THE FIGHT!!!

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

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