Peace
THE GOOD SHEPHERD LEADS THE FLOCK BY STILL WATERS... (Psalm 23:2).
And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away...(1 Peter 5:4; John 10:1-15).
__________
But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a Thief in the night.
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a Woman with child (see Revelation 12:1,2; Isaiah 66:6-9); and they shall not escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
Ye are the children of Light, and the children of the Day: we are not of the Night, nor of Darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us who are of the Day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ...(1Thessalonians 5:1-9).
__________
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with a fervant heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, BE DILIGENT THAT YE MAY BE FOUND OF HIM IN PEACE, without spot, and blameless...(2 Peter 3:11-14).
__________
And make Straight Paths for your Feet (see it in the oracles), lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
FOLLOW PEACE WITH ALL MEN, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
LOOKING DILIGENTLY lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any Root of Bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby MANY be defiled... (Hebrews 12:13-15).
Malachi, chapter 4.
Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away (from it).
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
But the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto a perfect day...(Proverbs 4:14-18)
__________
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
Therefore my people have gone into captivity (into the hands of the great men of war), because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth with out measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it...
Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Therefore as the Fire devoureth the stubble, and the Flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel...(Isaiah 5:11-24).
__________
Do not drink wine, not strong drink Thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the Congregation, lest ye die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations...(Leviticus 10:9).
__________
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them...(Psalm 75)
__________
Take this cup...(Jeremiah 25:12-17; 27,28).
(The 25th chapter of Jeremiah is a prophetic description of the entire 20th century)
__________
But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom...(Matthew 26:29).
Jesus would not drink...(Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:34).
__________
MARK THE PERFECT SOUL, HIS END IS PEACE...(Psalm 37:37).
__________
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath uttered perverseness.
NONE CALLETH FOR JUSTICE (in reality), NOR ANY PLEADETH FOR TRUTH (in reality): they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs shall die, and that which is crushed breaketh out in a viper.
Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.
Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction is in their paths.
THE WAY OF PEACE THEY KNOW NOT; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness...(Isaiah 59:1-9).
GLOBAL ARMS SALES SWELL TO $30 BILLION
U.S. IS LARGEST WEAPONS SUPPLIER; RUSSIA DOUBLES ITS BUSINESS
By Steven Lee Myers
WASHINGTON, Aug.20, 2000__International arms sales surged last year to nearly $30.3 billion, the highest level since 1966, and the United States solidified its position as the world's biggest arms dealer, according to an authoritive government report...
"Obviously the United States' position has been consolidated as the leading weapons supplier--both for the world as a whole and for the developing countries," said an analyst who wrote the report, which is delivered every year to Congress...
As in the past, roughly two-thirds of all arms were sold to developing nations--and again the United States with $8.1 billion in sales, led the way, followed by Russia, with $4.1 billion. The New York Times.
__________
For which of you, intending to build a tower (a whole new order of things), sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-15), and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace...(Luke 14:28-32; Psalm 68:16, 17; Isaiah 66:15-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Matthew 13:41-43; Luke 7:8,9; John 1:51).
__________
Lest there be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood (see Revelation 8:11);
And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven...(Deuteronomy 29:18-20).
__________
There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked...(Isaiah 48:22).
They shall seek peace and there shall be none...(Ezekiel 7:25).
__________
Be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near to thee...(Psalm 32:9).
Whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issues is as the issue of horses...(Ezekiel 22:20; Leviticus 15:1-5).
__________
Deliver me O Lord from the evil man, preserve me from the violent man, which imagine mischief in their hearts. Continually they are gathered together for war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders poison is under their lips...(Psalm 140).
__________
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked...who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend the bow to shoot, even bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the perfect...(Psalm 64:2-4).
__________
BLESSED ARE THE (TRUE) PEACEMAKERS: FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
BLESSED ARE THEY WHICH ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS' (PEACE') SAKE: FOR THEIR'S IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN MEN SHALL REVILE YOU (FOR PEACE'S SAKE), AND PERSECUTE YOU, AND SHALL SAY ALL MANNER OF EVIL AGAINST YOU FALSELY, FOR MY SAKE.
REJOICE AND BE EXCEEDINGLY GLAD: FOR GREAT IS YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN FOR SO PERSECUTED THEY THE PROPHETS WHICH WERE BEFORE YOU...(Matthew 5:9-12; Luke 6:22,23).
