Who's Your Daddy? The Rest of the Story*

Paul wrote that even if God's people have unbelief regarding the truth of God's Word, that unbelief does not make the faith of God without effect: "God forbid: yea, let God be true and every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." (Rom. 3:1-4). God has made Himself to be an unassailable Truth for our benefit. Man lies, but God does not. Jesus taught that His sheep hear His voice, and follow Him. They won't follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know the stranger's voice (Jn. 10:1-5). This is proven in life as we can find videos of sheep only answering their shepherd's call, and not others. Today though, there are wolves in sheep's clothing who are not the true Shepherd, but are trying to deceive and call the sheep. The truth spoken in love that is found only in God, and in His Son, Jesus, is necessary for the church to "...grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase in the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Eph. 4:15-16). The church only grows and becomes effective through the truth that it receives. Paul therefore cautioned that we put off the conversation of the old man which is corrupted by deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Put on the new man created by God after His own righteousness and true holiness: "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." (v. 20-25). As Jesus taught about the truth that He brings, a truth that if we know it, will make us free. It is a truth that is testified by the fact that God has sent Him, Jesus. The testimony of Himself, and that of His Father, bear witness, according to the law, to Jesus, and that He speaks the truth. This makes Jesus the Light of the world, the Light of life. If we do not know Jesus in this manner, then we do not know the Father in heaven who sent Him (Jn. 8:12-19, 31-32). As He showed us through Jesus, the Father confirms His Word of truth with signs and wonders following. Jesus added to those who refused His Words: "...Whosoever committeth sin is a slave to sin...If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed...but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father...ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God...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." (v. 34-47). Who's your father -the Father of Truth, or the father of lies? Whose word do you believe? If something does not line up with The Book, it's a lie. Paul prophesied that the Wicked one who is coming shall come with "the working of Satan with all power, 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. 2:7-12). In the end, the love of the truth, and the Father of it, or the preference for the lie, and the father of it, will determine who is saved, and who is destroyed. On this Father's Day, we must decide who our Father is. Isaiah prophesied the Word of the LORD concerning His rebellious, lying children who don't take counsel from Him, but from others, that seek a covering, but not the covering of the Spirit of God. They do this so "that they may add sin to sin" (Isa. 30:1). God's Word of truth tells His children what sin is, and the suffering and death that it brings, but we live in a time when people do not want to hear it. Isaiah wrote: "...this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things (helqa - flattering, smooth, slippery places), prophesy deceits." (v. 9-10). The LORD warns His people that the path they are on is not one that He travels. Their iniquity will be like a wall that is ready to fall (v. 11-13). God warns His people of the danger of their sin, but when will His people listen? The prophet Ezekiel heard the Word of the LORD concerning false and lying prophets, and the damage they cause. Instead of fulfilling the calling that they have been ordained by God to perform, they are not prophesying the word that they hear from God, but a word that comes out of their own hearts. They are not standing in the spiritual gaps and making up the hedge for the house of Israel to do battle in that day of the LORD. They see vanity and speak a lying divination. They seduce the people, and give false assurances to them of peace, when there is no peace, and the LORD is against them as a result. (Ezek. 13:1-8). The LORD will destroy in His fury the weak and ineffective wall that they have built out of vanity and lies (v. 11-15). The LORD asks the lying prophets: "...Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? Will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?" (v. 18-19). We can easily see the destruction and death caused by lies, and the LORD will act against it. God says that He hates a lying tongue (Prov. 6:16-19). Recently, history has revealed lies that have been told, and truths that have been withheld from the American people concerning racial and economic injustices and violence committed against black citizens including "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa. Oklahoma, the Rosewood Massacre in Florida, and Red Summer. during which white mobs rioted against and sometimes murdered black people in more than three dozen cities across the United States. It is not a black and white thing, it is a sin thing. The Book of Revelation gives yet another warning: "...the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8). Of the city of God, the New Jerusalem, the Lord said: "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." (Rev. 21:27). The Lord does not wish that any should perish. He died for our sins, so that we could live. Do you know His voice? *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 6/19/2022 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 endtimeschool.com.

Back to Simplicity in Christ

 

There are many people who do not accept the miraculous. It was so in the days of Christ, and it is so today. Even for some of those who consider themselves Christians, the miraculous events in scripture are met with disbelief. However, miracles of every kind filled the life and ministry of Christ, and cannot be separated from Him. It is very important that we do not lose this very foundational aspect of Christ's life, and our faith:

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."  2 Cor. 11:3

One of the simplest truths of Christ is His connection to miracles. The Devil, through his nature as an eternal liar (Jn. 8:44) has always tried to challenge God's truths, even from the very beginning:

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"   Gen. 3:1

Paul was concerned that Satan was using the same tactics on the Church in order to undermine its most elemental truths- challenging the believer saying "Did God really say that?" That danger still exists, and even more so because we live in the End Times. One of the signs of these perilous times and the rise of the antichrist, is the strong delusion, and the lies that will be accepted by men because they refuse to receive God's truth (2 Thess. 2:7-12). It gives unrighteous men pleasure to believe lies rather than to believe what God has said. The Church should not accept those same lies and delusions.

A basic, foundational, simplicity in Jesus Christ is that He associated Himself with truth (Jn. 14:6), and the miraculous works of His Father:

"Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake."   Jn. 14:10-11

Not only were the miraculous works part of Christ's very identity, but they illustrated His oneness with Father God, because these were His Father's works. For this reason, it is even more important to Jesus that we believe these miraculous works because they are His Father's. The story doesn't end there. Jesus gave this same power and authority to His twelve disciples:

"And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease..."And as ye go, preach, saying The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

These miracles works went hand in hand with the teaching, preaching and repentance of the kingdom of God.

Jesus went further still. The power and authority of the miraculous works that attended the kingdom of heaven were not limited to the twelve disciples only. Jesus also gave this command to the seventy disciples:

"After these things, the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place, whither He Himself would come..."...heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you...Behold, I give you the power to tread (trample, crush) on serpents (snake, serpent, malicious person, especially Satan) and scorpions (hidden, pierce, skeptic), and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."   Lk. 10:1, 9, 19

However, the power and authority of the miraculous works that accompanied the preaching of the kingdom of God were not just ordained for the twelve and the seventy. Jesus commanded it to all who believe:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything, in My name, I will do it....And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."   Jn. 14:12-14, and Mk. 16:17-18
Some have suggested that these wonderful works of God, given by command of Christ to all who believe, were only for the purpose of the establishment of the Church, and have since passed away, or that the works were limited to the ministry of early believers in Israel. However, the promise and command from Jesus to His believers is a universal and eternal one:
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations....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, 19a, 20b
The ultimate calling of all believers is to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13), and that fullness includes His miraculous works, the works of the Father.

This is simplicity in Christ.

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To hear Dr. Stevenson's full message:
https://www.facebook.com/kenneth.e.stevenson/posts/10210381093945502

Podcast interview regarding the soon to be available book "Nazah-White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling":
https://cpnshows.com/shows/loveleads/ac23f7060ad1451d0aa4bb3fc9b879a1



 



Learning From Imperfect Fathers

 

 

"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters."

                                 George Herbert, Clergyman, 1593-1633

 

All human fathers are imperfect; there is only one perfect Father. That perfect Father has something to say in scripture about fathers.

The Hebrew word for father, "ab", is, alphabetically speaking, the first word found in scripture. The LORD created that word "father" at the beginning of all words. The Father/son relationship is the first relationship spoken of in scripture, as Adam is called the son of God (Lk. 3:38). God is described as "our Father" in both the Old and New Testaments (Isa. 63:16, 64:8, Mt. 6:9). Though some religions say that God cannot be a Father, and there can therefore be no Son, nor sons, the Word of Truth says differently in every way.

The LORD wrote the following in a heart-felt manner to His people from His position as Father:



 "A son honors his father,

and a servant his master.

If then I am the Father,

where is My honor?

And if I am a master,

where is My reverence?"

says the LORD of hosts

to you priests who despise My name.

Yet you say, "In what way have

we despised Your name?"

You offer defiled food on My altar...

saying, "The table of the LORD is contemptible."

  Mal. 1:6-7 (excerpt)

Whether man views God as Father, or Master, he has failed to honor the relationship. Even the priests of God did not reverence Him properly according to Malachi, above. We New Testament believers, also have been called to a priesthood. Is God also asking us, "Where is My honor?", and "Where is My reverence?"

Father God gives us many examples in His Word of loyal reverence and honor given to earthly fathers. One example that He brings forth is of the children of Jonadab. Jonadab's name means "The LORD who is willing to freely offer Himself".

The LORD had commanded the Prophet Jeremiah to offer wine to the sons of Jonadab, and this was their response"

..."We will drink no wine, for Jonadab, the son of Rechab ("Carried by the Father"), our father, commanded us, saying, "You shall drink no wine, you, nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.."

"Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters...But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us."                                                    Jer. 35:1-10 (excerpt)
 

This lesson from God is not about drinking wine. The LORD is castigating the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah for their disobedience to Him, and to His prophets, contrasting their disobedience to their heavenly Father, with the obedience and honor Jonadab's children offered to their earthly father:

"Surely the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them, but this people has not obeyed Me."     v. 16
 

Because of the example of obedience of the Rechabites, God makes them a prophetic promise:

..."Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab, your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever."                                                                     v. 18-19 (excerpt)

Sadly, in both cases, in Malachi and Jeremiah, the LORD is talking to His own people, and trying to teach His own people, to respect and obey Him as Father.

Though earthly fathers are not, and can never be, perfect, our heavenly Father blesses us as we honor and learn from those fathers. By doing so, we learn and live out the related principle of honoring our perfect heavenly Father with love, obedience and reverence, as He deserves.

From Abraham, to Enoch, to Noah, and others, the LORD has brought us examples of faithful, though imperfect men, who taught their children, and us, the importance of learning valuable spiritual lessons from a father.