The Truth vs The Lie*

With the proliferation of lies all around us, how can we know who's telling the truth when each side accuses the other of lies? We need to know the Word of God, which not only warns us of the danger of lies, but also gives us the knowledge of the truth. As we will see in scripture, it is important to God to assure us that His Word is truth: "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." (Rom. 3:3-4). Because God judges based upon His Word, His Word must be indisputable in truth. From the beginning, Satan has wanted man to believe that God's Word is untrue. Satan's lie has continued from that time to be based on the question, "Hath God said...?" Titus wrote that acknowledging of the truth is next to the quality of godliness (Titus 1:1). He goes on to write: "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." (v. 2). From the opening of Genesis, which begins with the Hebrew phrase, Barasheit Elohim (Aleph Tav/Alpha and Omega), the promise of eternal life was given to man. The pictographic meaning of Barasheit is "The Son of God crushed, His hand on a cross". Not only is the counsel of God immutable, or unchangeable, but He also swore to the truth by an oath to doubly assure us of the truth of His promise. Because God has given us this double assurance of the truth of His promise to us, we can have hope in eternal life like a sure and fast anchor. It is that hope, based upon a true and proven promise, that allows us to enter into the holiest place of God, behind the separating veil (see Heb. 6:16-19). It was so important to God that our hope rests upon our assurance of His truthfulness, that He sent truth in the form of His Son: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (Jn. 6:14). You cannot come to God based on a lie of man or devil. You cannot believe a lie and say that it is Jesus. Jesus is the truth that oversomes the law of sin and death. There were those who would not believe the truth that Jesus brought. They could not hear it, nor receive it. They chose instead to submit themselves to lies, and the father of lies because it encouraged their lusts: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not...He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (Jn. 8:43-47). The fact that many did not believe Jesus in that day, and continue to refuse the truth, is so the prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled: "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." (Jn. 12:37-40, Isa. 6:9-10). Many religious leaders in Jesus time who did believe Him were afraid of what others, particularly the Pharisees, would say about them, and that they might be put out of the synagogue for their belief: "For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." (Jn. 12:42-43). We should not be ashamed or afraid regarding the truth of which we have been assured by God. Others across the world are being martyred and persecuted for this faith in the truth. Not even Jesus, Himself, but the Word that Jesus has spoken will judge us in the last day, because Jesus only spoke the Words of truth that were given to Him by the Father to speak (v. 47-49). The commands that Jesus spoke which were from His Father were and are life everlasting (v. 50). Isaiah, as he prophetically brought the revelation of the Messiah forth, wrote: "Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I." (Isa. 52:6). The one who speaks the Father's words is Jesus, as He told us above. Isaiah continues to write about the beautiful feet of him who brings the gospel, the good tidings of good that publishes salvation..."that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!...for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." (Isa. 52:7-10). Isaiah makes it very clear that the salvation of God will come as a Servant who is marred and wounded, not because of His own sin, but for the sins and transgressions of others (see Isaiah 52 and 53). This truth could not be subject to challenge because all flesh and all of the nations would "see" this salvation. It would not be hidden, nor proclaimed secretly, but the good tidings of good would be proclaimed and published across the earth. Many nations would be sprinkled (NAZAH), and Kings would see the evidence of this Person who brings salvation, even when no one has told them (Isa. 52:15). The prophetic words of Isaiah speak the powerful truth of the Messiah, fulfilled exactly by Jesus. There has never been anyone else who has so accurately fulfilled ths prophetic Word of God. We have additional evidence of the truth, that agrees with the scriptures in Isaiah, and other scriptures, in every way, and that allows all to see, which is the Shroud of Turin. Others have tried to hide this evidence with lies, but the evidence, as the LORD proclaimed in Isaiah, speaks for itself. We can see the importance of truth as the sure foundation of God's Word. It is, and always has been, everlasting life to those who hear it and believe it. The truth we accept or reject, and the lies we believe, will make the difference between our going to heaven or hell. As the creation of the new heavens and the new earth are manifested, the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven is lighted, not by the sun or the moon, but by the glory of God and the light of His Son, the Lamb (Rev. 21:23). "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (v. 27). As Jesus declared, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am the Alpha (Aleph) and Omega (Tav), the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." (Rev. 22:12-15). How we receive the truth or not will judge us. We will either live because of the hope we receive in the truth, which is everlsting life, or we will believe the lie, and perish. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 7/25, 21 message to the church. To contact: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Faebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.

Learn From the Sheep*

We have the impression that sheep are dumb animals, but there is at least one area in which sheep show how smart they are. They can recognize their owner's voice, and answer his call. They cry out like babies when they get into trouble, trusting that their shepherd will come to their rescue. We see new end time signs every day that the media mis-labels as climate change, or happenstance. However, we need to ask ourselves as the sheep of the Lord, "What is my role, and what is my response to all of these things?" The Word of the LORD to the prophet Ezekiel makes our role clear, as those who can read the signs: "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked of his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezek. 3:17-19). The watchman is required to give a warning at the word of the LORD's mouth, or he will be held accountable for the death of the unwarned, whether he is wicked or a righteous man found in sin (see v. 20-21). The LORD also prophesied to Ezekiel regarding spiritual shepherds who do not properly care for the flock of God, which are His people: "...thus saith the LORD God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattereed, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered...my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them." (Ezek. 34:1-6). Churches aren't healing the sick, or looking for the lost sheep, but they are involved in activities and programs they were not called to do. There are sheep that need rescue. The LORD promised Ezekiel that He will search out the sheep Himself that had been scattered because of the negligent shepherds. "...so I will seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day...and will bring them to their own land, and feed them..." (Ezek. 34:11-13). The phrase used "in the cloudy and dark day" calls us to mind of the end time day of the LORD, which is described as being darkened, and cloudy. There are scattered sheep in these last days that need shepherds to bring them in. In the Psalms, God's people are described as "the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand". (Ps. 95:7). As God's sheep, we are to bow down and kneel before our Maker, who is God, in worship. We are warned not to harden our hearts against our Shepherd. "Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." (Ps. 100:3). The prevailing lie of our age is that we were not made by God, but evolved by accident. His sheep must know that God made us, that we are dependent upon Him, and that He leads us as a Shepherd. His sheep must, as a result, acknowledge Him, bringing Him their worship and praise (Ps. 100). It is important to understand our relationship with Jesus as sheep to their Shepherd, especially in these end times when false shepherds and even false sheep are numerous. This relationship of sheep to Shepherd is the basis of our salvation. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep...I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." (Jn. 10:7-14). What makes our Good Shepherd different in every way from someone who is just hired to do the job? Jesus said that the hireling will flee before danger, such as the approach of a wolf, leaving the sheep unprotected and scattered before the predator (v. 12). The hireling will protect his own life first, because he doesn't care for the sheep as his own. This is proven not to be the case of our Good Shepherd, Jesus, who laid His life down for the sheep. The Good Shepherd not only guards the life of the sheep, but provides the sheep with abundant (perissos- meaning over and above, super-added, superior, extraordinary) life. Jesus goes on to tell His Jewish listeners what He, as Good Shepherd, will also accomplish: "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (v. 16). In our Good Shepherd, there only exists one flock, both Jew and Gentile, disregarding denominational divisions, united in their common Shepherd. What unites this flock is not found in religious practices and men's doctrines, or in the worship of the idols that man creates, which proliferate in our age (Amos 5:18-27), but the unity of the flock is found in the voice of the Good Shepherd, and the promise found in that voice of rejoicing in the abundance of life now, and in the new heavens and new earth to come: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain." (Isa. 66:22, see also 2 Peter 3:9-18, Isa. 65:17-19). The apostle Peter wrote that considering this prophetic promise, our manner of life should reflect the eternal purpose to which we have been called: the anticipation of the new creation. Our lives as the sheep of the Good Shepherd should be of holy conversation and godliness, looking for the new heavens and the new earth where righteousness dwells, found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Peter concluded: "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Pet. 3:18-18). *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 7/18/21 message to the church. To contact: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and at endtimeschool.com. Also, contact us with your prayer requests, and to obtain Dr. Stevenson's newest book, "NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling".

Marcion and the Lie*

Professing Christians continuously fall prey to animosity towards the Jewish people. We at Everlasting Covenant have always taught the Jewish roots of our Christian faith. Therefore, it is always surprising to see how far the Church has ended up from those roots, and how easily believers get caught up in false doctrines concerning those Jewish roots. The separation from our Jewish roots started early in Church history. Although the apostles labeled him a heretic, the teachings of Marcion of Sinope encouraged antisemitism and the removal of Jewish roots from the Church. Some of the false teachings included the doctrine that the God of the Old Testament was not the Father of Jesus, and Jesus did not come in a human body, but was a spirit. Like the contagious variants of the COVID virus, these false doctrines spread through the Church even today like a spiritual virus. As always, we look to the scriptures for truth. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn. 8:31-32). We are to abide in HIS Word. In the Word, we are warned repeatedly that various false prophets and false teachers will teach lies, with iniquity abounding, and the love of God growing cold. Jesus said to "take heed that no man deceive you" (see Mt. 24:4-5, 11-12, 24). In the same passage, Jesus prophesies of ethnic groups rising against each other (v. 7). Though the world has become violently divided by race and creed, as Jesus prophesied, the Church should not be drawn into antisemitism, racism, or prejudice. These deceptions will be so powerful that even the elect would be deceived. The apostle Paul wrote that a great falling away from the faith will occur before the Lord's return (2 Thess. 2:3). We are certainly seeing that today. Paul also said that the antichrist, the son of perdition, will be able to exalt himself to be God, sitting in the temple of God (v. 4). It will not be difficult for people to be deceived if the same lie invades the Church that the God of the Old Testament is not the same Father of Jesus spoken of in the New Testament. Paul continued regarding the antichrist: "Even him, whose coming is after the work of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a (the) lie...who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. 2:9-12). The original lie of Satan is still operating in the earth among those who walk in unrighteousness. It is the lie that asks, "Hath God said...?" In another place, Paul wrote regarding lies and the latter times: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron." (1 Tim. 4:1-2). We see the condition today among many, that they do evil and they have no conscience about it. However, believers, are called to the love of the truth: "...you, brethren beloved of the Lord, ...God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ....Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work." (2 Thess. 2:13-17, excerpt). Paul makes clear in the above verses that we were chosen for salvation by God from the beginning. This is the God of the Old Testament, the One from the beginning. As for the denial of the Father and the Son, John wrote: "...no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." (1 Jn. 2:21-22). It is the prophetic plan of God to join the Jewish people and the Gentile people into one inseparable unit, rather than separate them. He gave the vision to His prophet Ezekiel, in which two separate sticks, one with the name of Judah and his people Israel written on it, and the second stick with the name of Ephraim and his people Israel written on it. Ephraim was the son of Joseph with his Egyptian, or Gentile, wife. The two sticks are held together in the hand of the prophet, and in the hand of the LORD, becoming one (see Ezek. 37:15-20). The LORD also promised to bring the people represented by these two sticks, that are made one, into their own land from among the heathen. The LORD said of this unification: "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." (Ezek. 37:22). We are here to bring the good news to the Jew and also to the Gentile. For this reason, I believe I have been called to write several books on the Shroud of Turin, including "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", which testifies to the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, of Messiah. Jesus is returning for a Bride without spot or wrinkle, a Bride who has made herself ready. Receive forgiveness of your sins, and turn away from sin in all its forms. It is those who have pleasure in unrighteousness who are given a delusion to believe the lie. However, we have been chosen by God from the beginning to know, believe, and speak the truth. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 7/11/21 message to the church. To contact: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.

Real Freedom*

In today's message, which is on July 4th, Independence Day, I would like you to consider the meaning of independence and freedom. America has always represented freedom to other nations, and oppressed people around the world. Many desire to come here to America to obtain that represented freedom. America is described in our national anthem as "the land of the free, and the home of the brave". What is the real truth about freedom? Jesus began to reveal to those who believed in Him the truth about freedom: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn. 8:31-32). The root of freedom is not political, but spiritual, and not just any spiritual source, but freedom is created and obtained in the truth of the Word of God, and more specifically, the Word that Jesus came to deliver to us. However, his listeners rejected the idea that the Words of Jesus exclusively provided this freedom, as He had said. They argued that as the descendants of Abraham, they had already entered into the freedom of which Jesus spoke. On the same occasion, Jesus revealed the root of the opposite of freedom, which is slavery and oppression: "Jesus answered them, 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (meaning "slave; to be in bonds")of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (v.34-36). Jesus told them that sin in a person's life made that person a slave to that sin. It is sin that creates slavery. He also said that His unique position as the Son of His Father's house, rather than being a servant, such as Abraham had been to God, gave Him the authority to set the enslaved sinner free. The Apostle Paul wrote that not only is freedom found in Christ's power to deliver us from that slavery to sin, but in order to remain free, we must abide in Christ, and not again submit to the bondage of sin. Sin still has the power to enslave us, if we give it a place in our lives: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that sre dead to sin, live any longer therein? ...that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life....Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve (meaning "to be a slave") sin." (Rom. 6:1-6, excerpt). Our body of sin was killed, crucified on the cross with Jesus. Why would we want to reintroduce sin to our new lives to be enslaved once again? "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace...Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you...But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (v. 12-14, 16-17, 22-23). America is not representing freedom when it does all that it can to celebrate and condone sin. Instead, it is guiding people into slavery. Again Paul wrote, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage...For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another." (Gal. 5:1, 13). In that liberty from the enslavement to sin given to us through Christ, we have become a special people: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy...for so it is the will of God, with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God." (1 Pet. 2:9-10, 15-16). How we carry ourselves, our lifestyle of service to God through Christ, puts to silence those who would lead others into the slavery of sin. Are we serving God here in America, or are we serving flesh? Concerning those who, having known the freedom of Christ, turn back to the slavery of sin, and encourage others to do the same, Paul wrote: "For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption...For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and The sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." (2 Pet. 2:18-22). America, along with Israel, are the only two nations that have ever dedicated themselves from their beginnings to service to God. However, America is turning away from the true liberty found in Christ, and turning back to the ways of bondage to sin and the flesh. The verses above warn that the end of such are worse than their beginnings. We have a responnsibility, as those who are commanded to love God and to love our neighbor, to live in the ways of freedom from the bondage of sin bought by Jesus Christ for us, so as not to lead our neighbors into the slavery of sin. As we celebrate Independence Day here in America, let us thank the two people who have been willing to lay their lives on the line for our freedom: those who have served in the military to fight on our behalf, and Jesus, Who died and rose again to make men free. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 7/4/21 message to the church. To contact: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.