Psalm 12 ~ O Lord, you will keep us safe

Psalm 12

1 Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbor;

their flattering lips speak with deception.
3 May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue
4 that says, "We will triumph with our tongues;

we own our lips —who is our master?"
5 "Because of the oppression of the weak

and the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise," says the LORD.

"I will protect them from those who malign them."

6 And the words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace of clay,

purified seven times.

7 O LORD, you will keep us safe

and protect us from such people forever.
8 The wicked freely strut about

when what is vile is honored among men.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18

13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Here are some of the encouraging words:

Matthew 27: 50
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Flavius Josephus (37 - 100 AD) Jewish general and member of the Jewish priestly aristocracy, turned to the Roman Empire during the destruction of Jerusalem 70 AD. Josephus moved to Rome as historian to three caesars. 1 Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3 (translated from 4th century Arabic manuscript). An even more phenomenal Greek version of this text exists 325 AD, which some scholars declare was doctored. It is the sole portion of Josephus' work to be questioned and the critics also claim Jesus is a myth. "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. "

The text in 93 AD is undisputed, the book Jewish Antiquities by Josephus. It contains at least one reference to "James, the brother of Jesus called the Christ." Josephus records the death of James in this description ~ it is significant that the most reliable and famous historian of world history in this time period writes as an independent historian & is a man raised as aristocracy in the second temple in Jerusalem.

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