The Love of the Truth*

When I attended the U.S Air Force Academy, we had an honor code that meant so much to me that it became a part of my life to this day. The honor code was the following: "We do not lie, steal, or cheat, and we do not tolerate those that do." The Air Force was looking for officers of character, and placed an emphasis on character by incorporating "a whole man" approach with their cadets. Today, we are seeing the relativism of truth, depending upon whom we are listening to. Truth is now being defined according to politics, ethnicity, culture, personal agendas and other passing influences. This relativism of truth is even rampant in the Church, as they compromise God's Word in order to reflect trends and demands of society. However, God's Word stands forever as the truth. God's prophet wrote: "And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying, 'Thus saith the LORD of hosts; the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace." (Zech. 8:18-19). The LORD's feasts, even with fasting, were meant to be observed with joy, rather than what might have been traditionally taught as being a heavy religious obligation. The truth of God's Word, and the peace that resulted from it, proved to be much different than traditional understanding. The Word of the LORD of hosts was to love the truth. Psalm 119 is all about the Word of God, so much so that it is broken down into sections based upon each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verses 25-32 are written under the letter Daleth, meaning "door, way of life". This section begins: "My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word." The power of the truth of God's Word will raise a soul up from the dust. Because of this, the Psalmist continues to express the importance of God's Word to his life. He writes: "teach me thy statutes"; "Make me understand the way of thy precepts". As the writer felt his soul melting from heaviness, he asked the LORD: "...strengthen thou me according unto thy word". He asked the LORD: "Remove from me the way of lying...I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. I have stuck unto thy testimonies...I will run the way of thy commandments...thou shalt enlarge my heart." Truth is a facet of real character. Who is speaking "truth" to you? This country is on the verge of destruction, because the truth of God's Word has been rejected. Isaiah 61 will be forever associated with Jesus, as He read it in the synagogue, and declared the first verse and a half fulfilled, which proclaimed "...the acceptable year of the LORD." In this same chapter, Isaiah again wrote the Word of the LORD: "For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them." (v. 8). The everlasting covenant that the LORD promises to make with men does not end, and it is based upon truth, the truth of God. It is a truth that does not change. Paul wrote prophesying that men would fall away from the truth of God: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (referring to the day of Christ's return) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped...And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working 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 lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thess. 2:1-12, excerpt). They choose to believe a lie instead of the truth, and that wicked figure, the antichrist will establish himself based upon that lie, until the return of Christ destroys him. It is not "a" lie that is chosen, according to the Greek used in this verse. It is THE lie in Greek. THE lie, is the lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, which was: "Hath God said...?" Paul wrote that God had chosen us for salvation from the beginning, "through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" for the purpose of our obtaining the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ (v. 13-14). Not loving the truth leads to destruction and damnation. The truth, however, led us to salvation, sanctification and the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote that we were to "stand fast" to this Word of truth, as the Father and the Son, Jesus, establishes us in every good word and work. (v. 15-17). Jesus told His disciples to "believe" in God and in Himself. Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father's house. Not only would He prepare that assured place, but He would "come again" to receive them and bring them to where He was, so they would be with Him: "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." (Jn. 14:1-4). His disciple Thomas did not understand where Jesus was going, or how they could know the way there. Jesus answered him: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (v. 5-6). The life that Jesus promised to His disciples and to us is, in Greek, zoe, which means "the God-kind of life", or as Jesus said in another place, "abundant life". We must acknowledge, accept and love the truth, which is Jesus. Jesus prayed to His Father, not only on behalf of His disciples then, but for those who would come to Him later, which includes us. He prayed: "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." (Jn. 17:14). Romans 12:1-3 tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed (by the Word of God), by the renewing of our minds. We are not to be held by the cares and lusts of this world, which choke out the truth, but be separated from them. Jesus prayed that the Father not take His disciples out of the world, but to keep them from the evil: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (v. 15-17). The truth, which is the Word of God, sanctifies or separates us from the world. John wrote in his epistles to the believers in Christ about how important it was to him for the believers to keep the truth in their lives: "...unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever." (2 Jn. 1-2). The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of truth, dwells in us. John wrote a blessing as a greeting "in truth and love" from the Father and the Son to these believers . He wrote, "I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father." He wrote of a commandment that they had from the beginning from God - to love one another. Walking in the commandment of God IS love, John said (v. 3-6). Jesus also taught that this was the basis of all the law and the prophets - to love God, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It is the same love by which God so loved the world that He gave His Son to save it. We teach in truth, His Word is truth, and we correct in love, showing Christ on the cross, that all may come to repentance and find the salvation of God, and everlasting life. We are not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Peter wrote to the believers about truth and love also: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." (1 Pet. 1:22). In another epistle from John, he wrote to a believer named Gaius, whom John said that he loved in the truth: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." (3 Jn. 1-4). The Church has become caught up in the teachings of prosperity, but as John wrote, the prosperity of the believer must begin with the truth in us. Then John continued in his epistle to Gaius commending another believer named Demetrius, saying: "Demetrius hath good report of all men, and of the truth itself: yea, and we also bear record; and ye know that our record is true." (v. 12). Truth testifies of truth. Is your record true? A delusion is coming, even deceiving the elect if it is possible. It will not be a relativism of truth as told by the world, and men with agendas and biases, that will keep us from this coming powerful delusion. It is the Word of Truth, God's Word, that will continue to testify to the eternal saving truth that does not change. "Father I pray that we would know the truth of Your Word, and that we might walk according to it, and being sanctified in it, that we might show forth the salvation of the new birth. In Jesus' name. AMEN." *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 6/11/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Memorial Day and Pentecost*

There is a connection between Memorial Day and the Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot), which we are celebrating now. Memorial Day remembers those who have paid the ultimate price, their lives, not for themselves but for others. Many of our servicemen and women have done this. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the believers in Christ in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (see Acts 2). As Jesus spoke to His disciples shortly before His suffering and death, He told them of their connection to Him, and to His Father, as well as His promise to send the Holy Spirit to them. The basis of that connection is love: "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love...This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." (Jn. 15:9-12, 17). This is the kind of love which Jesus was describing: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." (v. 13-15). The sacrifice of His life was not being made for Himself, but for others whom Jesus calls His friends. This is the kind of sacrifice that we honor and remember on Memorial Day. It is the same kind of love that Jesus commands us to have for each other. This is what will make us one with Him and His Father, and, at the same time, will make us enemies to the world, in their eyes: "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you....because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hateth you...But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me...He that hateth me hateth my Father also." (v. 18-23). However, because of this love sealed by Jesus' sacrifice, we can bear miraculous spiritual fruit, unlike any that the world offers: "...I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." (v. 16). However, for those who have seen the works of Jesus that are unlike the works of any other man, yet hate Him and His Father, they remain in their sins because they hated Him "without cause". Jesus pointed out that there was a prophecy in the law that said this would happen (Jn. 15:24-25, see Ps. 35:19 and 69:4). Directly connected to the words Jesus spoke above regarding His own death for others, He then said: "But when the Comfortor is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me." (v. 26). From this sacrifice of His life, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit from His Father. We have the connection between the sacrifice that we recognize on Memorial Day, and the coming of the Comforter sent by the Father on Pentecost. The apostle Paul wrote about the law of the Spirit: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death...That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. 8:1-4). This is why the Father sent His own Son in the flesh, thereby condemning sin in the flesh, because The Father knew of our weakness in the flesh...They that are in the flesh cannot please God (v. 3, 8). But Christ came so that we may have the Spirit, and walk in the Spirit: "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." (v. 10-11). If you have never received the Holy Spirit, you need Him in your life. Paul also wrote of the believers in Christ as epistles written by the Spirit of God (2 Cor. 3:3). We bring forgiveness in the person of Christ to those who are forgiven. We also, Paul wrote, have a savor (fragrance) in the earth (2 Cor. 2:9-17). One savor is the savor of the triumph and knowledge of Christ, which we make manifest in every place that we go. Another kind of savor that we carry is the sweet smelling savor of Christ, which according to its meaning, is the sweet odor of His sacrifice. This savor is to both those who are living (in salvation), and to those who are dying in sin. We bring the fragrance of "life unto life", and to the other, we are the fragrance of "death unto death". What we speak, we speak the Word of God in Christ, and not of ourselves. In Mt. 10:19-20, Jesus instructed His disciples not to give thought to what they were to say, especially in the presence of their persecutors, but the Spirit of God that is in them would speak what they were to say. The Holy Spirit makes a difference in the life of a believer in every way and circumstance. Paul wrote in Ephesians: "That he (the Father) would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and the know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God...according to the power (of His Spirit) that worketh in us." (Eph. 3:16-20). Memorial Day is celebrated with BBQ's and fun, but it is the day appointed for remembering those who gave their lives for us, the greatest of these being Jesus Christ. This year, since Memorial Day and Pentecost or Shavuot, are occurring at the same time, we see the connection between the sacrifice made by Christ, and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus from heaven. We can pray together: "Lord Jesus, I thank You for dying on my behalf, for my salvation from sin and death. On this day, I remember Your sacrifice for me, as well as those others who gave their lives on my behalf. As You sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, fill me also with the Spirit of God, my Comforter, the Spirit of truth, to change me, guide me, and speak through me. I ask this, with thanks, in Your name. AMEN." *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/28/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Show the House to the House*

Considering the signs of the times, and what I am seeing in the church, I want to revisit a message I did some time ago titled "Show the House to the House". However, I wanted to revisit the subject again to update it by hearing what the Lord was saying at this time to His House. The LORD spoke to His prophet, Ezekiel, saying: "Thou son of man, shew the (aleph-tav) house to the (aleph-tav) house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the (aleph-tav) pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, nd the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house." (Ezek. 43:10-12). Scripture says that we are the living stones that are being built up into the spiritual house of God. There is a form we are to follow to be that House of God. The presence of the written aleph-tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, noted before some of the words above, causes us to think of the Alpha and Omega, the corresponding first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, by which Jesus identified Himself in Revelation. As with Ezekiel, Isaiah also prophesied of the LORD's mountain and His house: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills.; and all the nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations...neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD." (Isa. 2:1-5). Jesus said that we are to be salt and light, walking in His light, to draw the lost. Peter wrote that we are a holy, royal priesthood offering righteous sacrifices before the LORD. Jesus spoke of the faithful servant: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching...Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh when ye think not." (Lk. 12:35-40). Being dressed properly, with lights burning, is part of "watching" in expectation and preparation for the Master's return. The master of the parable would not be pleased to find his home dark, and his servants asleep, and unable to open the door for him upon his return from "the wedding". Many, as Peter wrote, mock the idea of the Lord's return with His judgment, but the servants of the house of the Lord are to be expectantly waiting and prepared. Jesus gave us a parable regarding those who were not prepared, who did not have their lamps lit. The parable was about the kingdom of God being like ten virgins who took their lamps, and went to meet the bridegroom (Mt. 25:1-13). In Greek, the word for "lamps" is lampas/lampo, meaning "a lamp whose flame is fed with oil/to shine, give light". Oil is a representation of the Holy Spirit in scripture. Of the ten virgins, five were foolish. They took their lamps, but took no oil with them. Five were wise, having their lamps with the oil needed to light them. The bridegroom was later than expected, so all ten of the virgins fell asleep. Suddenly, at midnight, the cry they had been waiting for is heard: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." (v. 6). All rose and trimmed (kosmeo - to put in order) their lamps (Are you in order?), but the lamps of the five foolish virgins went out for lack of oil. Frantically, they asked the five wise virgins to give them some of their oil, which the wise refused to do. The foolish virgins were told to go buy their own oil from where it could be obtained. While the foolish were doing that, the bridegroom came, and those wise virgins who were ready went into the marriage, and the door was shut (v. 10). Afterwards the foolish virgins arrived and asked the Lord to open the door for them, but the Lord said, "Verily I say unto you, I know you not." Jesus concluded this parable about the kingdom of God saying, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (v. 13). Again we are told to be prepared, to have our lamps lit. Jesus told His disciples that they were the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13). But, He said, salt that has lost its savor is good for nothing, except to be thrown into the street. At the same time, Jesus told His disciples: "Ye are the light of the world." He spoke of a lighted city that is set on a hill and cannot be hidden from sight. A candle lit is not put under a bushel, but is lifted high and placed upon a lampstand to light the house. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (v. 16). God's house is bursting with the light of the believers within it. It is a light fueled by the oil of the Holy Spirit, and the shining works inspired by the Holy Spirit. Those works reflect the foundation of the whole law: Thou shalt love the LORD, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. As the evil of this world grows darker, God's living house is to grow brighter: "...be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life..." (Phil. 2:15-16). Things done in the flesh just cause men to respond in the flesh, but things done by the oil of the Spirit, and the light of the Word of God, brings forth light and life in return. We saw, in the beginning of this message, how the LORD wanted Ezekiel to show the house to the house of Israel, that they might be ashamed of their iniquities. Isaiah received a similar Word from the LORD: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isa. 58:1). The LORD spoke to the prophet about a people who are covered in sin, yet seek the LORD for His justice as if they were righteous, and not as a nation that had cast off God's ordinances. They would come before Him wanting to know why He hasn't answered them, even though they fasted for an answer (v. 2-3). They had, in reality, moved so far from God that they could not see just how far from God they had gone. The fast in which they had such great religious pride and confidence, by which they thought to make God answer, had nothing to do with the true Spirit of God. They used the fast to feel more righteous than others, the LORD said, to create strife and debate, to point the finger at others, to put on a religious display before men, as well as God (v. 4-5, 9). They even observed the Sabbath in a vain way - outwardly complying, but doing as they pleased on a day set aside in the holiness of God (v. 13). The LORD described the Spirit of His fast, which accomplishes powerful results: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him (see also Mt. 25:35-40); and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward...then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday..." (v. 6-8, 10). The results of this kind of fast did not end there. The LORD said that He would answer when they called. He would guide them and satisfy their soul: "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." (v. 11-12). Also, keeping the Sabbath in its true meaning, rather than in the vanity of their own pleasure, would result in the genuine pleasure found in the LORD: "Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it." (v. 14). Along the same lines, in speaking about those who trusted in their own self-righteousness, Jesus told the parable of two men who came to the house of God to pray. The first man was a Pharisee, someone who would be considered a devout and learned man by others. The second man was a publican, or tax collector, one of those condemned by the people: "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are...even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I possess. And the publican, standing a far off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Lk. 18:9-14). Before telling this parable, Jesus spoke of how God would speedily avenge His elect that cry to Him day and night. However, Jesus added this question: "Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (v. 7-8). Many view themselves as the elect of God, but true faith in God, that shines like a light in the darkness, is found in the humble and contrite heart as Jesus said (see also 2 Chron. 7:14). The light of faith, which watches and prepares for the Master's return, looks like this: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints...Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb...These are the true sayings of God." (Rev. 19:7-9). The Shroud of Turin, which carries the image of the death, burial, and even the resurrection of Jesus, was also of clean, white linen. There is a free book, "The Shroud of Turin: The Perfect Summary", that is available to all who ask. See how to receive your free book in the details below. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/21/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Mother's Day 2023*

We at Everlasting Covenant have always experienced wonders and miracles on Mother's Day. Couples having trouble conceiving children found that God opened the womb, and they were able to have children. The connection between mothers and miracles is written of in Scripture. Even after the fall of man, this special purpose of women was clearly spoken: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." (Gen. 3:20). The Hebrew word for "Eve", which is hava, means "life, living, life-giver", and the individual pictographic Hebrew letters of hava have the meaning, "Behold the bond, the protector, the inner room". Women are bonded to the life they bring forth in a strong way. They are protective of that life, and "the inner room" associated with the letters of this word can relate to the womb, the inner chamber of life. This is a powerful purpose, to be the life-giver, and protector of all living. Now, however, this God-created purpose of women has been devalued by our society. There is an account in Scripture where the king of Israel, Solomon, having been gifted by God with wisdom, discernment and understanding in order to rule God's people rightly (1 Kings 3:9-14), must decide a dispute between two women, each claiming to be the rightful mother of a baby. Both mothers lived in the same household and had given birth within 3 days of each other. The baby of the second woman to give birth died, and she took the baby of the first woman while she was sleeping, and replaced that living child with her dead child. The first mother said to the king: "And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear." (v. 16-21). A true mother knows her own child. When confronted, the second woman claimed that the living child was hers. The king considered the matter, and said: "...Bring me a sword...Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels (womb) yearned (heated) upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it." (v. 22-26). The real mother of the living child would do anything to protect and save its life, while the lying mother agreed to have the child cut in half (v. 26). By this, the king was able to determine who the true mother of the living child was, and all Israel marvelled at the wisdom of God that had been given to the king. (v. 27-28). Not only did all of Israel acknowledge the wisdom of Solomon in his decision, but the whole world knows this account of the wisdom of Solomon. The king identified the true mother of the living child from her protective nature. True mothers are life-givers, not life-takers. In Proverbs 31, a mother is prophesying to her son, the king. What is fit behavior for a king, and what kind of wife should the king seek? What kind of mother should she be? The wife of this king should be virtuous, making her more valuable than rubies, the rarest and most costly of the precious gems. He can trust her, as she always seeks to do him good and not evil. This wife's vision is not limited to her own household and to the present, but is expanded to include rich fields, and fruitful vineyards that will yield into the future. She is diligent, not only for her own household, but for the poor and needy as well. She and her family are clothed in the fabric of royalty and salvation (crimson). Her clothing is not just outer garments, but they reflect her inner character of wisdom and the kindness of the law. Because of her excellence, and the excellence of her household, her husband is given equal honor and position of authority as men older than himself would normally receive. Both her husband and children know and acknowledge that she is a woman of excellence in every way. This woman is of such an excellent spirit, impacting her whole household and community, because: "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." (v. 30-31). The life-giving, protective, and impactful spirit of motherhood is based upon a kind of spiritual motherhood in heaven. It is the mother that gave birth to all who believe: "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath a husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was , are the children of promise." (Gal. 4:26-28). This is the prophetic promise given to us from our mother, Jerusalem that is above. Although anti-Semitism, and other forms of ethnic and racial hatred are proliferating today, Scripture tells us that all the people of the earth came forth from one blood, and from the eight souls that survived the flood in the ark. Our mother is the Jewish city of heaven, even as our Messiah, Jesus, is a Jewish Messiah. Ladies, God has empowered you to be life-givers, life protectors, and an inner room of life. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/14/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Hath God Said?*

Over and over in scripture, we see the people of God fall because they ignored the Word of God. This was so from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. The serpent began to question Eve regarding the commandments of the LORD to them, saying to her, "Hath God said...?" (Gen. 3:1). The Word of God seems to be so easily questioned, but it is that very Word that formed the substance of all creation. In Gen. 1:1-3, in the beginning God, Elohim aleph-tav in Hebrew, spoke light into being, and light then existed in obedience to His Word. God then spoke all other things into existence. The aleph-tav written after the name of God indicates the Person of Jesus Christ, who said "I am the Alpha and the Omega, which is the same expression translated into Greek. It is confirmed in scripture that Jesus was not only present in the Genesis creation, as the name of God indicates, but was the Word of creative power spoken by God: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men." (Jn. 1:1-4). Not only was the Word the power behind creation, but the Word is a person, which is Jesus (Jn. 1:14). The Word is light and life for all who live. Not only does the Word create, but it sets apart and sanctifies because it is truth. Jesus prayed to the Father regarding His disciples: "...they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but...keep them from the evil...Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (Jn. 17:14-17). Regardless of what men choose to think, the Word of God is not changed: "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). God's Word is backed up by His faith, and His faith in Himself is without any doubt. This guarantees us that, unlike the case with men, what God says, He will do! God said from the beginning of His creation of man, that He created them in His image: "...male and female created he them." (Gen. 1:27). Regardless of what man believes, or what changes they make to their bodies, their DNA will clearly identify them without exception as either male or female. This is the challenge to all of us. What makes us disregard what we know is the truth? Why do we choose to believe what men say more than what God says? Jeremiah wrote: "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is...The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately (anas - incurable, desperate, sick) wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." (Jer. 17:7-10). We all have a date with God. There is only One who can cure these incurably wicked hearts - the One who voluntarily died in order to do it, Jesus, the Word, light and life of creation. There is another factor that causes men to ignore truth and choose the lie - financial gain. The LORD anticipated the effect of gain upon truth and justice: "And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous." (Ex. 23:8). We have seen in current headlines how the reputation of a Supreme Court judge has been placed into question because he, as one of the highest judges in the land, accepted many expensive gifts over the years from the wealthy, claiming that he didn't see it as wrong. Scripture, however, will not let us deny the truth: "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates...and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Deut. 16:18-20). A great deal of harm and wickedness has been committed for the sake of a gift, or financial gain of some kind. Even God's people in scripture were condemned for their greed. God condemned the watchmen of Israel, calling them "greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter." (Isa. 56:10-11). Of Jerusalem, the LORD said, "In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the LORD God." (Ezek. 22:12). The LORD says again of His people: "The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, is not the LORD among us? No evil can come upon us." (Micah 3:9). There was total corruption, yet they thought the LORD was still with them! Paul wrote to Timothy to be content with what we have: "But godliness with contentment is great gain...And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." (1 Tim. 6:6-8). We see very little of this kind of contentment. Paul warned that those who desire to be rich, "...fall into temptation and a snare, and into foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (v. 9-10). Paul wrote for us to flee these things, and "...follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." (v. 11). Another way that men have twisted God's Word to please and satisfy themselves is in regard to a sign of God's everlasting covenant, which He made with all flesh. The LORD promised Noah, that He would set His (rain)bow in the sky, to assure all living, and to remind Himself of His promise never to flood the earth with water again: And God said unto Noah, This (rainbow) is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth (Gen. 9:12-17). What have we done though to the rainbow, this powerful token of an everlasting promise from God? Isaiah wrote that the earth was defiled because its inhabitants broke the everlasting covenant of God (Isa. 24:5-6). They transgress the laws, and change the ordinances of God, as well as breaking the everlasting covenant: "Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." This sounds like the kind of devastation that would occur from nuclear warfare. We also ignore the law of God clearly recorded in Deut. 22:5 and Lev. 18:22 regarding sexual unrighteousness that we see among us today. When we do so, we are saying loudly and clearly, "Hath God said?". The LORD has forbidden us to sacrifice our children to idols, a form of which we see in our society today (Lev. 18:21). From this has come a money-driven industry, which was founded in eugenics and racism as history records. Paul wrote that "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." (see Rom. 1:18-32). The prophet Isaiah wrote of "the woes" which would fall upon men "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!" (see Isa. 5:8-23). Of His own people, the LORD declared: "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves." (see Isa. 3:4-12). This is not God's intentions for man. He wants to restore the relationship He had with man in the Garden, but not by compromising with the world. This country is being destroyed from within, and we must each decide which side of the fence we're on. It's time to choose whom we will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 5/7/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Purpose in These Last Days*

As we see the signs of the end times and the return of Christ becoming more numerous, what is our purpose? King Solomon wrote: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." (Eccl. 3:1). The word "purpose" used here is the Hebrw word kayfets meaning "purpose", but also "delight, pleasure, longing". There is a connection between the fulfilling of God's purpose, and His delight. Jesus spoke, for instance, of how He longed to keep the Passover with His disciples, as it spoke of His purpose. Paul wrote of the beginning of our purpose in the will of God: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved..." (Eph. 1:4-6). God's purpose in us was established before the world was created that we should be made a part of Christ. We know from scripture that Jesus was the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. We know that "In the beginning", or B'reshiet in Hebrew, each of the letters of the word combined together to mean, "The Son of God crushed, His hand on a cross". We know that the Creator in Genesis was Elohim aleph-tav in Hebrew. The written but untranslated "aleph-tav" letters refer to Christ, "the Alpha and the Omega" as translated into the Greek language. Our purpose, with the eternal purpose of the Lamb of God, Jesus, was established before the physical creation. Paul continued to write in Ephesians that this was established through redemption (by His blood), forgiveness, and grace, which cannot be earned, but is given by God as a gift to all who will receive it. Jesus accomplished all of these for us to the glory of God, and for His praise. Paul wrote: "Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him." (v. 9-10). This is the purpose of God in which He delights and longs - bringing all creation back into Himself through the redemption work of Christ. God walked with Adam and Eve daily in the Garden of Eden before man accepted the lie of the devil and became separated from God. Now, man and God are reconciled together again through Christ, His Son. Not only have we been reconciled, but included in our purpose is the gain of an inheritance "being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will...." (v. 11). We entered into this purpose when we trusted and believed the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation, and were sealed, or guaranteed, in this salvation leading to eternal life by the Holy Spirit (v. 13). We were purposed before the foundtion of the world, but the hearing and believing of the Gospel, brought us into this purpose at the proper time. How did the Gospel accomplish this? Paul wrote regarding the power of the Gospel, which he risked his life to preach: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also the Greek." (Rom. 1:15-16). The Gospel is the (dynamite-like) power of God that leads to salvation by which His righteousness is revealed to man from faith to faith, deeper and deeper. It is by this faith that a man is viewed as "just" before God (v. 17). What is more righteous than an Almighty God who so loves, that He has delighted in His will to give up His only Son so that we can live and not die? People are dying today to bring this Gospel of salvation to others in certain parts of the world. It is still a death sentence in some nations to preach or believe the Gospel. There are those, however, to whom God has revealed Himself, but they have denied Him because they love unrighteousness more. Because God has clearly shown Himself to them, they are without excuse (Rom. 1:1-20). We see more and more of this in the world. The physical world is proof of God's existence and the truth of His Word, yet some men would deny Him: "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things...Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." (Rom. 1:18-25). What happens to men who know God but refuse to glorify Him as God? God gives their minds and nature over to the unclean things that they prefer. Even their sexual natures, which God had given them, begins to twist towards the unnatural, even the perverse: "And even as they did not retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." (v. 26-28). The turning of a person continually to unrighteousness, though he has knowledge of God, is described in scripture as being like a dog returning to its vomit. One of the truths of God's Word is that "male and female God He created them", period. When we refuse and hate the truth, we are given over by God to the lie that we have chosen instead. The twisting and corruption manifest in other ways as well. Men become filled with: "...all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (v. 26-32). As we read last week in Ezek. 33:11, God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but pleads with them to turn away from unrighteousness, and to turn back to Him. We see this in other parts of scripture as well (2 Chron. 7:14, 1 John 1:9). This is the power and the hope of the Gospel, and this is the purpose of God that gives Him pleasure and delight: rescuing someone from death and destruction, and bringing them into the freedom, light, and righteousness of His Son. The Lord desires that the invitation be issued far and wide: Become one with God and live in everlasting life. This is the purpose in which Jesus delights and longs: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (age).' Amen." (Mt. 28:18-20). When the eleven disciples met with Jesus at the appointed place after His resurrection to receive His directions, some doubted, the Word says (v. 16-17). Believers are not free from struggles: "But (Jesus said) he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Mt. 24:13-14). Because of this purpose that the Lord has commissioned to His disciples, we have created a free ebook, totally without cost, and available to all. The details for obtaining this book are found at the end of this post. Scriptures speak of a time of great tribulation that is coming upon the world, of which, I believe, we are seeing the beginning even now. If those days of extreme tribulation were not shortened by God, no one would survive them (v. 21-22). Men will be running into the rocks and caves seeking safety, but there will be no safety to be found as the wrath of the Lamb of God, Jesus, falls upon the wicked (Rev. 6:15-17, Isa. 2:9-12). Those in Christ are not meant for the wrath of God, and, in His purpose and will, there is a different future for those inhabitants of the earth. It will be an earth filled with the knowledge of the LORD. No violence nor war will be seen among men, nor among the beasts of the earth. The nations will come to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of God, to be taught by Him: "...and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Isa. 2:1-4, Isa. 11:4-9). AMEN. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/30/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Delusional

Lately I have seen on social media people's discussions debating heaven and hell, and other Biblical truths. While the Bible is still the most read Book in the world, we are seeing more and more that people are walking away from its truths, and choosing instead to believe what scripture calls dangerous "delusions". As used in the New Testament, the Greek word for delusion is plane/planos meaning "a wandering, a straying about, one led astray from the right way, that which leads into error, deceit or fraud/corrupter, deceiver, imposter, seducing". However, accepting the deception is a choice: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (mavet - death, dead, place of death (hades)." (Prov. 14:12, 16:25). Death, as we see above, is not just a condition, but includes the place of death, which is hades or hell. Hell exists. God never intended Hell for people, but for the devil and his angels. God does not send anyone to Hell, but it is a choice made by the individual to reject the gift of salvation in Christ and His everlasting life, and instead choose to remain separated from God. Death and the place of death are the results of separation from God, Who is life. Jesus also taught that this place of death is a place of torment as well. The LORD revealed this to His prophet Ezekiel: "Say unto them, As I live, saith the LORD God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezek. 33:11), This prophetic Word is being delivered to God's people, telling them to turn away from their ways that lead to death. Second Chronicles 7:14 states the same thing: "If My people...turn from their wicked ways...I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Sin is defined as "missing the mark", as if an archer were aiming at a target, but misses that target. God swore on His own life (above) in concern for His people and their sins, yet the church accepts wickedness! Paul wrote that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). He also wrote: "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." (Rom. 6:22-23). The church is not meant to be the house of sin and death, but of the holiness of God and life. Paul wrote also in Romans when discussing the evil doers of the world, "And such were some of you..." (1 Cor. 6:11). We who are in Christ are no longer to be of that wickedness. Delusions and deceptions will appear as the return of Christ draws nearer. We have already seen cults, false teachers and false messiahs. Paul wrote in order to correct misconceptions, and to lay out the true order of events before the coming of Jesus Christ: "...be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." (2 Thess. 2:1-4). We see now the "falling away" from faith that Paul spoke of above: falling away from truth, changing scripture instead of changing ourselves. Paul wrote above of the son of perdition (as Christ said of Judas the betrayer also), whom we call "the antichrist". The son of perdition's coming "is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish (apollymi - destroy, put to death, to give over to eternal misery in hell); 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: That they all might be damned that believed not in the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (v. 9-12). "Deceivableness" accompanies unrighteousness, and they will believe THE lie (in Greek), which is the lie first told to man in the garden by Satan: "Hath God said...?" Deception which leads to death starts with questioning, doubting and twisting the Word of God, as it did with Adam and Eve. This delusion comes upon them from the Lord because they chose to hate the truth and prefer the lie. The Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming both the son of perdition, who is the antichrist, and those who are deceived into following him (v. 8). Calling out sin and unrighteousness is not being judgmental. It is what God says in His Word. There is pleasure in sin for a season, scripture says, but you will pay with eternity. The world doesn't just want us to be silent about sin, but to celebrate sin. Don't be deceived. As Paul wrote in Colossians: "...lest any man should beguile you with enticing words...As ye have therfore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith." (Col. 2:4-7). Paul warned further: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (v. 8). There are many philosophies and traditional knowledge of men, but as they are without Christ, none of them can save anyone from death. Only the understanding, knowledge and wisdom hidden in Christ can do that and with full assurance ( v. 2-3). It is too easy for men to be deceived - wake up! Jesus revealed to religious people the source of their rejection of truth: "You 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, ye believe me not...He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (Jn. 8:44-46). The Book of Hebrews tells us to heed what we have heard: "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Heb. 2:1-3). Not only did Jesus Himself bring the news of salvation for men, but He was heard by those who gave witness to His words. God confirmed the truth of those words of the witnesses with miracles, signs and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the manifestation of His spiritual gifts. Knowing the truth, do we remain silent to the lies and their delusion? When we speak the truth of the Word of God, and His salvation delivered to man by Jesus, is it judgmentalism or love? I say it is love. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/23/23 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, theshroudofturin.org, and END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook. You can also get a free ebook titled "The Shroud of Turin- A Perfect Summary" at www.TheShroudofTurin.org/freebook.