Portraits of the Word

By Elijah Parker

This book is an attempt to help satisfy the hunger and thirst for righteousness in the search for truth. This speaks much to the time of the return of Jesus for the church, and of the events surrounding that time.
Jesus decrees for those responsible for preaching the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to also share along with it the anonymous woman who anointed Him for His burial shortly before His death on the cross. This book stresses for us to memorialize this woman, giving her a tombstone with a verbal inscription of her deed of generosity, kindness, worship, faith, and prophecy.
The truths recorded in these pages took many years of study. May this work bless your heart and life with the charge to plant this material as the Holy Spirit directs you- as the seed of the restoration, the Great Awakening of repentance to righteousness, the latter rain- calling for the soon return of Jesus.

(Scripture references are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663237354

Elijah Parker

The author was born in Wabash in 1956, but spent much of his life growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At an early age, he began an interest in acting and film making. In high school, he found that he had an interest in writing. Now he makes productions for television and writes much material which he distributes for free. Having began public speaking at an early age, he has spoken in churches, nursing homes and colleges and universities. He spent time helping to develop in a public speaking team. He has a website at: (soundoftruthchristianministries.pbworks.com) for his Ministry: Sound of Truth Christian Ministries.

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Copyright © 2022 Elijah Parker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case

of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

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may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-3734-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-3735-4 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 04/08/2022

Thanks to Armittie Partlow who

encouraged me to write this book.

Dedicated to my wife Cynthia, and my

daughters Amie and Angela

In honor of my wife Cynthia

Written by: Ronald Pearman

2022

BOOK SUMMARY

T his book is an attempt to help satisfy the hunger and thirst for righteousness in the search for truth. This speaks much to the time of the return of Jesus for the church, and of the events surrounding that time.

Jesus decrees for those responsible for preaching the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to also share along with it the anonymous woman who anointed Him for His burial shortly before His death on the cross. This book stresses for us to memorialize this woman, giving her a tombstone with a verbal inscription of her deed of generosity, kindness, worship, faith, and prophecy.

The truths recorded in these pages took many years of study. May this work bless your heart and life with the charge to plant this material as the Holy Spirit directs you- as the seed of the restoration, the Great Awakening of repentance to righteousness, the latter rain- calling for the soon return of Jesus.

CONTENTS

Introduction

To Those Of Us Who Have Ears To Hear

The Anonymous Woman At Bethany

Desire Rewards

Things to Come

Signs of the End

Reasons for Hope

The Raptures Begin

God is Waiting Patiently

What Is God Waiting On to Send Jesus?

Idle Words

Graven Image, Likeness

Sexual Weakness

Living to Please God

Troubled Marriages

Jesus Will Come Again

E-li’-jah, that Prophet

The Mystery of the Third Elijah (a Harbinger)

What in the World is Going On?

The End of Times

The Children of Light

The Pleasures of Heaven

Abortion And Cannibalism

Heavenly Alien Spirit Bodies

Bodies Celestial and Bodies Terrestrial

Creation Research

Earth’s Destruction, and the New Earth

The Pandemic and the Bible

The Great Com?

INTRODUCTION

(Why study eschatology?)

I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:12-15

Revelation 1:3 Blessed he that reads, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. Revelation 22:6-7 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:10 And he said unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. Let us put the obedience of love, the love of obedience, into action; obeying God, and loving our neighbor by showing love- because we have love. Then the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Let us study how to love.

As we learn by study, and by sharing, by making mistakes and learning from others, we can come ever closer to the truth, until we know the truth because the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, and will show us things to come, including what will be the situations surrounding the return of Jesus.

As we read, hear and obey, we are blessed- as He promised. If many disagree on the facts, it only shows that the Holy Spirit is not guiding our learning, or at least is not finished guiding our learning. As well, it could mean that we have not studied enough to get all the facts straight. It is possible to know the truth. It could also mean that we merely are not obeying what we learn, and so the truth is alluding us. As we continue in the word, obeying Jesus as Christ’s disciples indeed, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free from sin. (John 8:31-36) If the Son therefore shall make you free from sin, you shall be free from sin indeed. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

Mark 14:3-9 "...being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on [Jesus’] head.

And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And Jesus said,

Let the woman alone; why trouble ye her? For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint My body to the burying. Verily I say unto you,

Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." (This is the second time this story was told.)

We cannot be obedient to Jesus unless we share what this woman has done. If we do not take Jesus seriously and obey, sharing the story of what she did in the past, why would the Spirit show us things to come? How then can we know the truth, and be correct in what we know and teach?

If we do not know the truth, it could be that we are not asking the right questions.

Did Jesus teach that the Rapture is imminent, or merely that we don’t know when it will be?

If Jesus could come at any moment, and there is nothing left, no prophecy left that has to happen before He returns, why does He not come right now? Why has He not already come for us?

Are there instructions, commands that Jesus left us that are not being carried out?

Does Jesus desire to return for an obedient bride, or is God coming with a curse?

What does the Word mean which says that the bride has made herself ready? (Revelation 19:7)

If we will be dressed in white garments, will we ever take them off to wash them? pure light?

TO THOSE OF US WHO

HAVE EARS TO HEAR

A braham was known as the friend of God for he feared and obeyed God in faith. Genesis 22:12/ Exodus 33:11/ Isaiah 41:8 Asa was a man of a perfect heart with the Lord all his days. I Kings 15:14

James considered himself to be a servant of God. James 1:1

David was a man after God’s own heart. I Samuel 13:14

Do you desire to be known as a man after the desire of Jesus, since we were made for God’s own pleasure? Revelation 4:11 How can you fulfill the desire of Jesus; what is His desire; that we love one another and live in unity? John 17:20-23/ John 13:34-35 We are to give honor to whom honor is due.

There is one Jesus honored and desires for us to honor as well. He honored this woman above all women, even above His own mother; though blessed be the virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. When faced with a decision, Jesus said, [Who are my sisters, brothers, and mother? These disciples. Matthew 12:47-50.] One of His disciples He honored above all the rest in a way that He honored no one else. Would you have guessed it to be John, that disciple whom Jesus loved? John 13:23 or Peter, the rock on whom the church was to be built? Matthew 16:18

Actually, there was a woman who has since all but slipped into obscurity whom Jesus honored above all His family and above all His disciples. She loved Jesus, and honored Him with her generosity and her faith. She was a fearless woman, who was persecuted by her fellow disciples. She was aware of a reality that they had not even caught on to up to that time- His soon coming death as our Savior.

Both Matthew and Mark recorded the account of the example Jesus shared of the woman at the meal in Bethany He was invited to two days before the Passover, shortly before His crucifixion and resurrection. His experience with this woman was an example to us of how to handle this experience. It is the desire of Jesus’ heart for us to share this woman’s story- just as He said. What could it hurt?!

There was another woman, recorded in Luke 7:36-50, who anointed Jesus in the city of Nain, in Capernaum. As a result of her active faith, Jesus saved her. Mary, sister of Lazarus, also anointed Jesus for His burial, six days before the Passover. It is recorded in John 12:1-8 that Mary anointed Jesus, that Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who betrayed Jesus, rebuked her for it, and that Jesus defended her.

Both Matthew and Mark give the account of Jesus dealing with the woman who anointed Him two days before the feast of the Passover. It was the disciples who rebuked her, and Jesus defended her. However, He added something for the benefit of both the disciples and us that He did not add for the other two women. Together, the account is as follows in Matthew 26:6-13, and in Mark 14:1, 3-9:

After two days was the Passover.... "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at supper in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment of spikenard, and poured it on His head as He sat at meat. But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and been given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, He said unto them,

‘Let the woman alone; why trouble ye her? For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint My body to the burying, to prepare it for burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done shall be told, and spoken of, for a memorial of her.’" Pay attention to detail !!!

Jesus did not say whosoever preaches. He said wheresoever the gospel is preached.

My request, on behalf of Jesus, is that, whenever and wheresoever you preach the gospel, that you also have and appoint someone who is faithful with your time, to stand and give the account of this woman, and briefly share a word for her memorial.

Have you ever taken a casual stroll through a cemetery on a Sunday? Have you ever read the memorials on the tombstones? Please have someone give a brief memorial for this woman merely because it is the desire of Jesus that we do so. Your response will result in either reward- or ashes.

THE ANONYMOUS

WOMAN AT BETHANY

W hat was Jesus teaching here ? (Mathew 26:6- 13 / Mark 14:3- 9 ) Why did He say this at all ?

Tonight, I was watching a famous religious speaker at a famous church on a famous television program sharing what the congregation has to do to get their needs provided. They had to be cajoled into giving their tithes, and rebuked for not cheering louder at the message. His message was basically that all their needs were paid for on the cross, and that, if they paid their tithes and claimed the cross, then all their needs would be provided; that all they had to do was to believe. Is this the truth? is that all there is? Obviously, that congregation did not think so. But they are like a flock without a shepherd; they do not know who to turn to for the truth. They were obviously disillusioned with his rhetoric, but still thirsty for a drop of rain from the latter rain. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Look at Matthew 6:31-34, which reads: "...take no thought,