Think Not*

Jesus said: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill..." (Mt. 5:17-18). The word "Think" used in this verse is the Greek word nomizo, meaning "to hold by custom or usage". How many customary practices within the Church are not based on the truth of scripture, but are based upon errant teachings handed down over generations? Various teachers and writers in church history basically introduced the idea that the God of the Old Testament was different than the God of the New Testament, wrongly setting a division between the Old Testament as Law, and the New Testament as grace.. Other heresies like this, in addition to anti-Semitic doctrines, were part of Church history, and have been carried down to today. The prophet Hosea brought a correction from the LORD for His people. The LORD said that there was "no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." (Hos. 4:1). Because of this lack of knowledge, and rejection of knowledge, His people are destroyed. Since the priests had rejected knowledge, He would reject them, adding: "...seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame." (v. 6-7). The law of God was never meant to be forgotten, but incorporated into the hearts of His people. In fact, the apostles taught about Jesus Christ, His death, and resurrection, through the law and the prophets in the early foundational years of the Church. The apostle Paul, who eventually wrote much of the New Testament, is recorded as doing this many times. As Paul traveled to Corinth, he reasoned with both the Jews and the Greeks in the synagogue every sabbath, and being pressed in spirit, testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ (Acts 18:4-5). When his teaching was rejected in the synagogue, he told the Jews there that their blood was on their own heads, and he brought the Gospel to the Gentiles on the other side of the city. The house in which he was staying was right next to another synagogue: "And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." (v. 6-8). A vision from the Lord one night assured Paul: "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city." (v. 9-10). For 1 1/2 years, Paul taught the word of God, which at that time did not include the New Testament, which was not yet written, but the "Old" Testament only. He was falsely accused by some Jews of teaching "contrary to the law", but the deputy of Achaia, Gallio, rejected their complaints, saying that he was no judge over such matters (v. 12-17). Another teacher of the Gospel at that time, Apollos, who was preaching Jesus based upon the baptism of John, was taken aside and shown by those who had been with Paul the more perfect way to present the Gospel. He then began teaching from the Torah scriptures: "...he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ." (v. 25-28). On another occasion, Paul appeared before the apostle James and the elders of the church in Jerusalem, where he declared before them "the things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry" (Acts 21:17-19). They glorified God, and testified that there were many thousands of Jews who were believers in Christ, and continued to also be zealous for the law. The elders informed Paul that there were rumors that Paul was teaching the Jews who were living among the Gentiles to forsake the commandments of the law of Moses. Because of this, the apostles in Jerusalem advised him to practice a cleansing in the temple with four other men, so that "all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law." (v. 20-24). James and the elders had no doubt that Paul did indeed observe and teach by the law of Moses, and his act of purification in the temple would assure the other Jews of the same (v. 26). However, the accusations from the Jews came against him again, not based upon fact, but upon a lie, and a false assumption: "Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place." (Acts 21:27-29). Paul began to speak to his accusers in their language, Hebrew, because he was accused of being an Egyptian (v. 38, 40). To this crowd, Paul identified himself as he spoke still in the Hebrew language: "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus...yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous towards God, as ye all are this day." Acts 22:1-3). Paul told the crowd how he had been one who persecuted, even to death, those who believed in Christ (v. 4). However, Paul saqid, he then had an encounter with a glorious Jesus while on his way to arrest believers in another city. Jesus spoke to Paul from heaven, and that moment changed his life, as well as having been temporarily blinded by the light of Christ's glory. A devout Jewish believer who walked according to the law, healed Paul of the blindness and told him: "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men...be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (v. 6-16). Later, Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin council, the same religious council that had condemned Jesus a few years before, and began speaking to them quoting the law of Moses (Acts 23:1-5). He was then brought before Festus and King Agrippa to be questioned, based on accusations made by the Jews regarding their law. Paul again had an opportunity before these political leaders to open the law and the prophets, and the revelation from them of Jesus as the Messiah. He explained how he lived as a Pharisee, in the strictest sect of the Jewish religion: "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come...Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? "(Acts 26:1-8). As Paul said, the promise of resurrection from the dead had always been part of the promise made to the fathers, and it was always part of the service of the twelves tribes of Israel before God. Paul said that Jesus Christ and His resurrection was what the prophets and Moses did say would come (v. 22). He wasn't preaching against the law and the prophets, but from the law and the prophets. Festus told Paul that he must be mad from all of his study and learning. Paul assured Festus that he was not, and that he knew that Festus was already aware of these things that had been going on before his face. It was not hidden from him (v. 24-25). To King Agrippa, Paul said: "King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." Paul said that he wished that all who heard him that day would be as he was in faith in Christ, except for the chains with which he was bound (v. 27-29). Even as Paul continued to be held under house arrest for two years in Rome, "...he expounded and testified to the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning to evening." (Acts 28:23). Some who came to hear him believed, and some didn't, which, Paul said, also fulfilled the prophets (v. 25-27). Paul explained the rejection by some of the Gospel taught through the law and prophets this way: "...their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away." (2 Cor. 3:14-16). Paul said that it is the Holy Spirit that frees man to see: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (v. 17-18). When we see the connection, by the Holy Spirit, of Christ, the law and the prophets, a blindness is lifted from us, and we not only see His glory, but we are changed in degrees of glory as well. Those who are lost are blinded by the spirit of this world, in order to prevent them from being able to see the light of the Gospel of glory, which is the image of Christ, and by that light be changed. "For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Ccor. 4:3-6). As Paul spoke to the Corinthians about seeing the face of Jesus Christ, he must have been speaking to a people who had seen that face. There is historical evidence that the Shroud of Turin, with the image of the crucified Christ supernaturally imposed upon it, was seen throughout the large area throughout which Paul preached. As we understand what Paul preached from the law and the prophets, we know that he was not preaching legalism, but the fulfillment of both by Christ, as Jesus also taught. If we have asked Jesus into our hearts, then the law and the prophets must also reside in our hearts, as God always intended for His people. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 1/15/23 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.The ShroudofTurin.org/freebook.

Seek His Face in the Word*

 

As we continue the series "Seek His Face", this week, we will be seeking His face in the Word.

Isaiah urged his readers, by the prophetic Word of God, to turn and seek the LORD, to search Him out. In the following verses, the LORD prophesies of sending His Messiah, and of the unfettered character of His Word:

"Behold, I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people...Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him...For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD....So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."   Isa. 55:4-11 (excerpt)

Many people reject out of hand a work of God, like the Shroud of Turin, because they do not believe the LORD would use a piece of cloth with His image upon it to confirm His Word, and testify of His salvation. Some reject an item of physical evidence like this as an idol that God would never use. However, the LORD states clearly above, that His ways and thoughts are very different from man's, yet He assures us that those ways and thoughts, as revealed in His Word, accomplish exactly what He sets them out to do. Moreover, the LORD has used images to bring His truth to man. He instructed Moses to lift a brass image of a serpent on a pole for the people to look upon in order to be healed and delivered from a plague that had broken out against them. In the same way, Jesus spoke of being lifted up (on a cross), and men looking upon Him. So, is the Shroud of Turin, engraved with the body and face of Christ, one of these images purposed by God, to be looked upon by men, and is it revealed in the Word of God? Jesus said that the scriptures testify of Him. He also said, as the prophets have written, all will be taught by the LORD, and those who have learned from the Father, come to Jesus (Jn. 6:45).

Paul and Silas traveled to Berea (meaning "well-watered"), where the Jews listened to the Gospel from him with an open mind. The Bereans were those who studied and searched the scriptures, and when they found the confirmation of the Gospel of Salvation brought to them by Paul and Silas in the scriptures, they believed the news of Christ (Acts 17:10-12). The Word of God, including the Old Testament, which is what the Bereans had to study, brings repeated witness of all things pertaining to Christ, the Messiah and Savior, as Jesus said.

The prophet of God wrote of an image of a severely wounded Messiah that kings would look upon about which they had not been told in any other way. It would sprinkle them (as the blood of expiation):

"Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied (desolate, appalled, causing horror) at thee; his visage (appearance, to look upon. Root meaning: to inspect, to look upon and consider; discern) was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: so shall he sprinkle (nazah; spurt, spatter, sprinkle, especially in expiation) many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."  Isa. 52:13-15

Isaiah is prophesying about an image that many could look upon, consider and examine: an image that testifies of something so profoundly that man can understand its meaning without being told from another source. The image speaks for itself powerfully.

We see one fulfillment of this prophecy above in the New Testament, as Paul appears before Festus and King Agrippa. Paul reminds the King that the things he was preaching about Christ were nothing more than what Moses and the Prophets before him had already written and testified, including Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection from the dead (Acts 26:22-23). Festus accused Paul of being mad. Then Paul said to Festus and the King:

"...I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner . King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuades me to be a Christian."   Acts 26:25-28

Paul again confirmed that the scriptures reveal Christ, including Moses and the prophets. He also concluded that the king had the knowledge that the prophet (see verses from Isaiah above), said would be revealed for kings to look upon.

The Word of God also speaks of a reflected, or mirror (reversed) image, which testifies of His face:

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."  2 Cor. 3:18

It is written in Proverbs of a mirrored, or reflected, image that affects a man's heart profoundly:

"As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man."  Prov. 27:19

The image on the Shroud is also a negative, or reversed, image.

The disciple John, when he ran to the empty tomb with Peter, was convinced to believe in Christ's resurrection by what he saw in the tomb -  the shroud with which Jesus' body had been covered, and the scriptures say that he was then convinced of the resurrection. Rather than just an empty cloth, was there something upon the  linen grave clothes so powerful as to convince John without doubt? (Jn. 20:6-8)

Jacob named a place "Peniel" (meaning "facing, turning toward God"), saying, "...for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."  Gen. Gen. 32:30

We are told to seek God's face, as in 2 Chron. 7:14, in order to bring repentance and healing to our hearts and land. The face of God can be found in His Word. The face of God is also found in physical evidence, like the Shroud of Turin, that confirm His Word, and are themselves confirmed by His Word, and are not apart from His Word. Search the scriptures for yourself, and find out if these things are true.

*The above is based upon the 8/9/20 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson. 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", and to help us get out the message, to contribute to the Book of Remembrance for Sean Stevenson:

Dr. Kenneth Stevenson
P.O. Box 154221
Waco, TX  76705

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

everlastingcovenant@ymail.com

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

Sermon.net/EverlastingCovenant
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.
 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:

  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/ 

 

 



                                                                   Sean Stevenson

 

 

 

 



To Save Much People*

 

We have suffered a terrible loss in the murder of our son, Sean. In dealing with this loss, we have an understanding that is given to us from the Word of God:

"But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to being to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."   Gen. 50:20

The apostle Paul assured us and confirmed this truth by writing:

"And we know that all things work together for good  to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose...What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"   Rom. 8:28-32 (excerpt)

The Lord will take what happened to our son, Sean, and turn it for souls to come into the kingdom.

The Judeo-Christian faiths, but especially the Christian faith, are the only faiths in the world to stand on the truth presented by God in His Word of the resurrection of the dead. All men will face an eternity: the resurrection of the just, the first resurrection, to an eternity with God in heaven, and the resurrection of the unjust, the second resurrection, to an eternity without the light, love, and presence of God in hell. For all men, there is a heaven to gain, and a hell to shun. It is written:

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."  Rev. 20:6

In Job, one of the oldest books of the Torah, Job cries out in Job 19:23-26 that he wishes his words could be printed in a book, engraved in a rock forever. The words he wanted all generations to know were these:

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."

Paul witnessed before king and governor that his life was on the line because he was being judged for the promise of God that He raises the dead. Yet, even though this imperiled him, he wished that all men would be the same as himself, except for the suffering of being chained as he was (Acts 26:6-11). Paul went on to say that this resurrection is the very thing promised by God through Moses and the prophets. Christ was the first to fulfill this prophetic promise, but He would not be the last. His light of resurrection would be shined upon many people, including the Gentiles (v. 22-23). Even facing imprisonment and death, Paul would not deny the truth that he knew: Through Jesus, God raises the dead.

We do not believe the resurrection promise and Christ's fulfillment of it for ourselves only, but we believe it for many people, for all who believe on His name.

Paul guarantees as the word of the Lord, that at the sound of the trumpet, the dead in Christ are raised first, and then we who are still alive, will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, ever being with Him. Because of this assurance, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope, but we comfort one another continually with the truth of the resurrection of the dead (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

In another place Paul wrote of the resurrection for our assurance:

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality...then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"   1 Cor. 15:51-55

The way in which we want to turn for good what the enemy meant for evil in the death of our son, Sean, is with a book of remembrance of the miracles and goodness we have seen through God during these many years of ministry. Sean was so proud of his parents and the ministry, and spoke of them. Malachi provided a model for us in argument with people who might be tempted to believe that those who serve God are wasting their time:

"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."   Mal. 3:14-17 (excerpt)

As with the champion Samson in scripture, who even in the moment of his death, took more lives of the enemy than he had taken throughout his life up until that moment (Judges 16:28-30), we want Sean's death to be miraculously productive for the Kingdom of God. What the enemy meant for evil, God will turn it for good. We want you to be a part of this book of remembrance we are creating. We plan to hold a memorial for Sean on his birthday in July 2020, and we would like to have this book finished and available by then. We request that you send to us your testimonies of miracles that you have witnessed through this ministry. We will incorporate those testimonies into the book of remembrance. All who contribute in any way, including financial gifts towards the project, will be mentioned by name in the book.

You can send your testimonies to:

everlastingcovenant@ymail.com or PO Box 154221, Waco, TX  76705.

 



Sean Stevenson

 

*The above is based upon the 1/26/20 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson. 

To Contact/Submit prayer requests/Support the ministry/Order the book, "NAZAH-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling", and to help us get out the message, to contribute to the Book of Remembrance for Sean Stevenson:

Dr. Kenneth Stevenson
P.O. Box 154221
Waco, TX  76705

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

http://endtimeschool.com/

To watch/hear Dr. Stevenson's complete message:

https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8

Sermon.net/EverlastingCovenant
 

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

Dr. Stevenson's newest book is now available:
  

To order "NAZAH": https://twitter.com/everlastingcov8     http://endtimeschool.com/