My very dear wife and sisters,
I want you to know that I feel so HONORED to be married into this family. You sisters grew up in a household in which family was a priority. Your parents, I’m sure, were adamant that you were to support one another and be loyal to one another. If ever you were upset with one another or were arguing about something, I could imagine your mother saying, “You’d better remember that all you have in life is each other.”
“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect (that’s you)? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” (Rom. 8:33-34) The key expression is “God’s elect.” The word elect means “chosen one.” You did not choose God and place yourselves in His family. No, God chose you and placed you in His family. He did it by purchasing you with the blood of His dear Son.
This just came to me as I was praying for our family about being ready for the coming of the Lord, this morning because of a few scriptures I want to share with you. “It shall come to pass in that day (the last days). That the Lord shall set His hand again THE SECOND TIME To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:10-11) There has never been a nation that was driven out of it’s own land and came back TWICE. The first time was The Babylonian Captivity, in 598BC 70 years later, the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great let them go back to their land.
Then in 70 AD the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem and tore down every stone from the Temple killed thousands of Jews and scattered the rest all over the known world at that time. “Then as Jesus went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:1-2) “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, THIS GENERATION (that sees Israel return as a nation) WILL CERTAINLY NOT PASS AWAY UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.” (Matt. 24:32-34) “All these things” in Matthew 24, include the 7 year tribulation which the unsaved Jews are going through. So, when did this happen? April 12,1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in Warm Spring, Georgia; Harry S. Truman becomes the thirty-third President of the United States. Roosevelt was anti Jew he would have been against Israel becoming a nation. On May 14, 1948, on the day in which the British Mandate over a Palestine expired, the Jewish People’s Council gathered at the Tel Aviv Museum, and approved the following proclamation, declaring the establishment of the State of Israel. The new state was recognized that night by the United States and three days later by the USSR. A leading Rabbi came to the White House and told President Truman that he was born for this purpose, that statement was so touching that those close by said Truman wiped tears from his eyes.
We are now in the 73rd year from Israel becoming a nation so we do not have long to wait for the, “Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:16-18)
Let’s pray together that our families will be ready!
Your loving husband and brother, -Bill Stockham