Reviving the Great Commission*

We are living in the Laodicean Age of the Church. We will see exactly what that involves later. Because of the compromising condition of the Church today, we need a revival of the Great Commission that Christ gave to His disciples: "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, 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)." (Mt. 28:18-20). He also added: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 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...And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." (Mk. 16:15-20). Not only does the Great Commission speak about teaching the Gospel to all, and baptizing believers, but the Great Commission also specifically refers to miracles, signs, and wonders that follow the believers, and confirm the Gospel which they preach. Many in the Church do not believe in miracles today. Many seminaries do not teach the complete truth of the Great Commission to the future pastors who will lead the churches, so why would the churches believe? Even as Jesus was appearing to His disciples and delivered this Commission, "some doubted". (Mt. 28:17). We need a revival of the Great Commission today. What kind of disciples are we making? Without practicing the complete truth of the Great Commission, are we making the same kind of disciples of unbelief as Jesus accused the Pharisees of making? (Mt. 23:15). Let's now look at the Church of Laodicea, the notoriously lukewarm church mentioned in the beginning of this message. I think you will see a similarity to the Church of today: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." (Rev. 3:14-19). However, the Lord will graciously receive His repentant Church: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (v. 20-22). People in the Church believe that the solution is politics, even revolution, as we have seen. Even racism is being preached falsely in the name of Christ. This is not the zealous Church that the Lord is looking for. Jesus is not looking for a part-time, lukewarm, apathetic commitment to the Great Commission. The Lord doesn't want to date you - He wants to be married to you. When the Lord says above that He will "come in" to you, it is the same word used for when a devil enters a man. We foolishly welcome in devils in many different ways, but will we welcome Christ in? David wrote that the godly man has ceased. Instead, he wrote, men were using their lips in an ungodly manner, oppressing and dismissing those who are in need. Men, David said, claimed to own their own lips to use as they chose, saying, "Who is Lord over us?". They speak vanity. However, the Word of the LORD is different. It is a pure Word: "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, while the vilest men are exalted." (Ps. 12). Isn't this what we are seeing today? The most vile are being exalted, even sometimes by the Church. Are we speaking the pure Words of the LORD, rather than our own words of vanity? The Church has taught "Name it and claim it", but this is false. The lips we speak with must speak out of a delight in the LORD, who then gives us the desires of our hearts - because our hearts desire Him, and His desires. This is an understanding that comes with maturity. Is the Church walking in this maturity? The revival of the Great Commission requires sound doctrine, rather than these doctrines of men, as Paul wrote to Titus: "...speak thou the things which become sound doctrine...For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. " (Titus 2:1, 11-15). Paul reminded Titus that the godly works we are called to do are not our own works but the work of grace and the Holy Spirit in us: "For we ourselves were sometimes foolish...hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:3-7). The revival of the Great Commission does not come out of our own works, but out of the root of grace, which also justified us, and gave us abundantly of the Holy Spirit. The fulfillment of the Great Commission will not come through riots in Washington DC, where police officers are assaulted with flags, or with anti-Semitic words of hate being poured out upon Jews, and those of others races, or of differing political beliefs. Paul wrote that the teaching of the Great Commission of grace in the Gospel must be committed to "faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (2 Tim. 2:1-2). Paul wrote that those who labor bringing the Great Commission of the Gospel will suffer and endure hardship so others "may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ with eternal glory." Men may try to put these workers in bonds to try to stop the Gospel, but the Word of God will not be bound (v. 9-10). "It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us..." (v. 11-12). The revival of the Great Commission, even in the face of possible hardships, is more important now than ever before. We can see why as Paul wrote: "This know also, that in the ;ast days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." (2 Tim. 3:1-5). We can see these problems in our current time. A lukewarm Laodicean Church will not have any impact. Paul also wrote that these evil men will grow worse, and the godly will suffer persecution. However, he instructs Timothy: "...continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of...the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works...Preach the word..." (2 Tim. 3:12-17, 4:2). At the recent Commonwealth Games in Britain, there was a ceremony among the 56 member nations that included the open worship of the false god, Ba'al. We need a Church that understands the power and importance of reviving the Great Commission, and who will obey the command of Jesus Christ to preach it to every creature, with signs, wonders and miracles following. *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 10/30/2022 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 END TIME SCHOOL, also on Facebook.

Purim in the Laodicean Era*

The Bible describes Jesus' instructions to seven churches in the Book of Revelation. While these churches refer to actual physical churches of the day, the Bible is not one dimentional. I believe that these churches also can represent problems in the church today, and they can represent ages of the church. If we consider them as ages of church history for our purposes, then I believe we are in the Laaodicean Age or Era. These are Jesus' words to Laodicea: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and incresed with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Rev. 4:14-18) The Laodicean church was very prosperous and very worldly, according to this description, as the church is today. They had become complacent, comfortable and apathetic regarding the faith, as are many believers today. Though they were wealthy in worldly things, the only wealth that matters is the gold that we become as we go through fiery trials that come for His Name's sake. Peter also wrote the about the fiery trials to come that are an advantage to us spiritully (1 Pet. 4:12-16). Laodicea was famous for the producing of eye salve, and the Lord tells them and us that we need to anoint our blind eyes to see the truth of the faith of Christ. Though this church had beautiful garments that money could buy, the only garments that will matter, the only ones that can cover nakedness and shame, are the pure, clean, white linen garments of righteousness, like those mentioned for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19). Jesus continued His message to the Laodicean church: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (v. 19-22). Jesus urged this church to repent. Peter wrote that judgment begins in the house of God, beginning with us (1 Pet. 4:17). In fact, Jesus promises the Laodicean church that their state after repentance, will be greater than their state before repentance, which is a truth for the church today also. The Laodicean church will be considered "overcomers" if they will repent, and they will sup with Jesus, and they will sit with Him in His throne, which is also His Father's throne. Christ's chastenings are to bring us to repentance, and repentance brings us to the place of communion and enthronement with Him, and with the Father. The Word, the scriptures, that we read is Jesus. He is the written Word, and He is the spoken Word of God. His testimony is the Spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), so He is the prophetic Word that we read in the scriptures, and the true prophetic Word that still rings out today. The events of the Book of Revelation are a fulfilment of past prophecies given to the prophets: "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets." (Rev. 10:7). The prophet Amos wrote of the same thing: "Surely the LORD God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the LORD God hath spoken, who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:7-8). The mystery of God written of in the verse from Revelation is the same as God's secret revealed to His prophets written of by Amos. The prophets have also written that there will be attempts by the nations, even by the figure that we call the antichrist, to destroy the Jewish people, the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, and God's people of praise (Judah), which includes the true Church, the Ekklesia (Zech. 12, Dan. 11). A Laodicean church in today's era cannot, and will not, survive the prophesied days of trials, challenges, persecution and tribulation ahead. Jesus is calling today's Laodicean church era to repent, as He called the Laodicean church of long ago to repentance. This Laodicean church era of today also has another prophetic picture with which to be guided into the repentance that Jesus urges. The Book of Esther, and the Feast of Purim, are a prophetic message to the Bride of Christ. Esther, who was secretly a Jew, was chosen from among the most beautiful women of Persia to become the new bride of the king. There was a prince of the land, Haman, who served the king, who planned to destroy all of the Jews in the land, because he hated and envied the Jew, Mordecai, who had great favor with the king. Mordecai was also Esther's uncle, and had raised her since childhood. Mordecai met with Esther and urged her to go before the king on behalf of the Jewish people to foil the wicked plot of Haman. Esther hesitated to do so, because she could not approach the king without being summoned, and the king had not summoned her for the past thirty days. If she approahced the king without his invitation, the punishment was death. Mordecai told Esther, "Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall...delivernce arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14). Esther agreed to go before the king if all of the Jews would fast three days and nights, and she would do the same. Then she would enter into the king's presence "which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish." (v. 16). The people and Esther fasted for three days. Afterward, when she entered into the king's presence, she obtained favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden sceptor which was in his hand (Est. 5:2). Esther was able to expose the wicked plot of Haman, and her own identity as a Jew, and the king ordered Haman's destruction. Is today's Laodicean church prepared at this time to enter into the King's presence to prevent the destruction of God's people? Is the church today consecrated and sanctified, or caught up in worldly riches and possessions? Esther risked all as queen to save herself and God's people after they all had consecrated themselves with a fast. This is the message to the Laodicean church era of today. Put aside luke-warmness. Buy the gold which is tried by fire. Acquire the clean, white linen garments of righteousness from the King of Righteousness. Anoint your eyes with the healing balm that will open your blind eyes. As the Bride of Christ, be prepared at any moment to enter into the King's presence for the purpose for which we have been brought into the Kingdom "for such a time as this". The challenge for the church in this week of Purim: fast and pray for the people of praise (Judah) and for Jerusalem (the Jews), In this time of pandemic, strange weather, and a struggling economy, seek the LORD while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 2/28/21 message to the church. Contact: Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com or PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. Look for us on Facebook, Twitter, and at endtimesschool.com where you can order the new book, "NAZAH: White Linen and the Blood of Sprinkling".