Will the Church Fiddle While America Burns?*

 

 

This nation is in a crisis, and at a crossroads. Fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, riots, pandemic cross the country. Second Chronicles 7:14, calling for His own people to repent, tells us that God judges a land by the saints that inhabit it. God's call for repentance is to His people, called by His name.

It is said that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. While people suffered, he played music. He was ineffectual and uncaring in the crisis. The persecuted Christians were blamed for the catastrophe at the time, becoming the scapegoats. The word "fiddled" is appropriately used to describe Nero because it not only refers to the playing of an instrument, but it also has the meaning "to defraud, to cheat, to falsify".

Are God's people also "fiddling" like Nero as America is about to burn?

Through His prophet Hosea, God described not only a catastrophic judgment to come upon Israel, but the attitude of God's people just before it would fall:

"Hear the word of the LORD ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore, shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish....Therefore thou shalt fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, and thou shalt be no priest to me: 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. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity." 

                                                                                                        Hos. 4:1-8

America has begun to turn away from God. Even the Church has been sucked into seeking political solutions, and spiritual compromise and political correctness. God judges by His people, but the Church is too involved in the opinions of men. Our goal should be to get people saved. This is what Jesus came and died to do, and this is what He instructed us to do in His name.

Even His disciples did not understand the salvation purpose of Jesus. They thought only those in their group could be saved. That is often the feeling of various divisions and denominations within the Church as well. The disciples forbade someone they were not familiar with who was casting out devils in the name of Jesus. Jesus scolded His disciples saying, "...he that is not against us is on our part." (Mk. 9:38-41)

When the Samaritans rejected Jesus because He planned to continue His journey to Jerusalem (there was long standing racial hatred, and contention regarding worship between the Jews and the Samaritans), His disciples asked if they should call down the fire of heaven against the Samaritans as Elijah had done (2 Kings 1:12). This situation had nothing in common with the demonstration of Elijah. Jesus rebuked His disciples saying, "You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."  (Lk. 9:51-56).

We did not die to save men; Jesus died to save men. He spoke about the different people for whom He had also been sent, people of which His disciples knew nothing. Those other seemingly "unsaveable" souls included all of us as well: "I am the good shepherd...and I lay my life down for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd."   Jn. 10:14-18

The Church must keep in mind that this is our directive from Christ- to preach the gospel to all nations and people. He rejects no one out of hand because of their outward appearances or circumstances. God looks upon the inward man, upon the heart. The flock of Jesus comes out of every nation, tribe, and tongue, and they are all to be given the opportunity to hear the gospel.

In His parable of the wheat and the tares (Mt. 13:24-30), Jesus teaches of a man who sowed good seed in his field, wheat seed, but then found that an enemy had furtively sown worthless tares in his field also. In order not to harm or uproot the valuable wheat, the owner of the field told his workers to let the tares continue to grow together with the wheat until harvest time. Then the tares would be separated out to be thrown into the fire, and the wheat would be gathered into the barn unharmed. There are tares that have been sown into the field of the Lord, but they will be dealt with at harvest time, which is soon coming. The tares are those who are within His Church, but do not teach truth, which is fruitful, but teach and tolerate untruth, which never will bear Godly fruit.

In Matthew 23, Jesus prophesied to the religious leaders who have not taught the people correctly. He called them hypocrites and serpents, fools and blind: "you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in...ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."  v. 13-38

These same religious leaders, while approving themselves and others based upon outward appearances only (v. 27), end up leading not only themselves, but all whom they teach into hell. Ultimately those who have rejected His sheltering salvation will be left desolate (v. 37-38).

Meanwhile, the Church fiddles while America is on its way to hell. What will it take for the people of God to wake up, pray, repent, and to teach the uncompromised Word of God, in order to save a soul, a nation?

James wrote for us to confess our sins one to another, so that we may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. As we cause even one soul to be turned, converted back to the truth, a great miracle occurs:

"...he which coverteth  the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."  James 5:16-20

 

*The above is based upon the 8/23/20 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, or Memorial Fund 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/ 

 

 Remembering:



  Sean Stevenson



America, Seek His Face*

 

We have been talking about the necessity of seeking God's face. We have spoken about how the scriptures reveal a miraculous image of the Lord that kings may look upon and understand without anyone telling them. We have found such an image of the Lord's face and body on the Shroud of Turin. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Galatia about an "engraving" they had seen with their own eyes (Gal. 3:1).

We will see how seeking the Lord's face, not only powerfully impacts individuals, but whole nations as well. Considering the conditions in this nation, it is urgent that America seeks His face.

The LORD would appear at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation to meet with Moses. The LORD would speak from within a cloudy pillar: "And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend."  Ex. 33:11

As Moses spoke to the LORD, he began to petition the LORD for the people, the children of Israel:

"Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he (the LORD) said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." 
                                                                                             Ex. 33:13-14

However, the children of Israel became rebellious, forgetting the miracle deliverance power of God. As they experienced challenges in the wilderness, they blamed Moses and Aaron, and they wished they had died instead in Egypt, or in the wilderness (Num. 14:1-2). That generation, by the way, eventually got their faithless wish.
Most of the spies sent to scout out the new land of promise, had brought back a frightening report regarding the fierce inhabiting hostile tribes of that land. However, two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, encouraged the people in their trust of the LORD to enter into the land which the LORD had given them saying of those tribes, "...the LORD is with us, fear them not." The people desired to stone them, rather than to listen to their words of faith and truth. This s the same Joshua, by the way, who would remain behind in the tabernacle of meeting as Moses would go in and out. He is the same Joshua who would lead the people after Moses' death, and who would tell the people, "...choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

As a result of their unbelief and rebellion, the LORD became angry with the people. He said to Moses, "How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them? I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they." v. 11-12

Hasn't America shown the same rebellion and unbelief towards God? How long can we provoke God, and mock Him, and reject His ways?

Moses then began to intercede for the children of Israel, telling the LORD that Egypt was watching God's relationship with Israel, and would send word to the tribal inhabitants of the land in Canaan, "...that thou LORD art among this people, that thou  LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them...And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."  v. 13-19

The LORD heard Moses and answered him, "I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD"  v. 20-21

Not only did the prayer of Moses, a man who had known God's grace, and had seen Him face to face, turn the deserved anger of the LORD away from the children of Israel, but also generated the promise of God to fill the whole earth with His glory. The grace found within a face to face relationship with the LORD impacted a man, a nation, and the whole earth. God creates miracles in our face to face relationship with Him. God does not seek a religion, but a face to face relationship with man, and always has, even from the beginning in the Garden.

Moses told Israel that as they had met with the LORD face-to-face, God created a covenant relationship with them, giving them His statutes and judgments: a relationship unlike any that had existed with their forefathers. At that time, Moses had to position himself between the people and God, and deliver His Word to them, because of their fear (Deut. 5:1-6). Moses had stood in the gap on behalf of the nation again, face to face with God.

We also have the assurance as we seek the face of God, that by His Grace, in the form of His Son, Jesus, we need not fear death, but have been passed from death unto life.
America, we were born and formed as a nation by the Word and Spirit of God. We were bold, brave, and abundantly blessed because of our trust in God, and our reverence for Him. Like Israel, we were a people to whom God spoke face to face. However, the world's once shining example and champion has become a weak and sick captive to its own sin, iniquity, wickedness, and rebellion against God. Our great riches have dried up, and blown away like dust in a matter of months. Pandemic sickness and death has taken more of our people than in any other nation on earth. Racial hatred has been exposed in us. Political strife and financial confusion rule our days, and chaos and violence have become the rulers of our nights. People are exiting our cities in droves seeking places of safety and security, but none can be found.
America, it is time to seek God's face. It is not yet too late. Grace, forgiveness and redemption are found in His face, as we saw when Moses interceded on behalf of a rebellious people. In 2 Chron. 7:14, the LORD promises, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
 

*The above is based upon the 8/16/20 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, or Memorial Fund 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/ 

 

 Remembering:



                                                                   Sean Stevenson

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

 

 

 

 



Will 2020 Be Ichabod For America?*

 

The series "United Shades of America" recently aired an episode concerning the racial injustices in the city of Pittsburgh. This is the home town of Dr. Stevenson, and the location of a satellite ministry of ECCE. The episode was personally disturbing and heartbreaking for these reasons. As the nation confronts racism, we need to understand the truth of the scriptures, rather than the prejudices and fears of man. Acts 17 states: "God that made the world and all things therein...and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth...". Revelation 5, 7, and 14 says that those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, Christ, is "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is time to take a look at this issue and others that are troubling our nation, and what they mean to our future if they are not corrected.
In Luke 21:7-28, Mt. 24, and Mark 13, Jesus prophesies to His disciples about the conditions that will be on earth before, and at the time of His return. He warns of violence that will occur as nation rises against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The word used for "nation" is the Greek word ethnos, which refers to racial and ethnic identities. This passage also warns of great earthquakes, famines and pestilences, fearful sights and great signs in the heavens. There will be hatred and great persecution against believers leading to imprisonment and death. There will be betrayal at the hands of friends and family. Jerusalem will be at the center of contention in the hands of the Gentiles, until the age of the Gentiles is fulfilled. With the re-establishment of Israel, and with the control of both Jerusalem and the Temple Mount now in the hands of the Israelis, we see the fulfillment of this prophecy. Jesus went on to say that there will be distress and signs in the heavens, on earth and among nations, and in the seas. When we see these signs begin to come to pass, Jesus instructs us, "...look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (v. 28). We see the escalation of all of these conditions taking place now, including the ethnic hatred and violence of which Jesus spoke.
The prophet Hosea wrote of issues among God's people, including His priests and prophets, that would draw the judgment of God. In Chapter 4, the LORD tells Hosea the sinful conditions He sees among "the inhabitants of the land", which we also see today in America. The LORD said there was no mercy, no truth, nor knowledge of God in the land. Instead there is swearing, killing, stealing, adultery and bloodletting. His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge of Him. In America, our pulpits are refusing to teach the knowledge of God, and instead have "scratched the ears" of a people who are no longer interested in hearing the truth, or repenting of sin. In America, our trust is no longer in God, but in men. Hosea prophesies about a priesthood who has rejected knowledge of God, and fed themselves on the sins of the people instead. Therefore, God will reject them, and forget their children. The LORD said, "As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame." (v. 7).
The Book of 1 Samuel tells us of a similar condition in Israel. In Chapter 2, though the head priest is Eli, a man who knows God, even having witnessed the miraculous birth of the child Samuel, he does nothing to control his two sons, also serving as priests, in their predatory behavior against the people of God. God tells Eli that by not correcting his sons, Eli honors his corrupt sons more than he honors God. The sons even enrich themselves on the offerings of the people. God sends a prophet to tell Eli that his house will come to an end. His corrupt sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will not live. The sign to Eli from the LORD would be that both his sons would die on the same day. No one in Eli's family would live into old age. In Chapter 4, we are told that the two corrupt sons of Eli take the Ark of God into the battle against the Philistines. The Philistines win the battle and capture the Ark. Many are slaughtered, including the two sons of Eli, as God had prophesied. A messenger came to Eli to tell him that his sons were dead, and the Ark had been captured. Eli fell over dead at the news.  Eli had judged Israel for forty years (note 20 20, our present year). The wife of Phinehas, with the shock and sorrow of hearing of her husband's death, and the loss of the Ark to the Philistines, went into labor (travail) and gave birth to the child she was carrying. She named the male child Ichabod ("no glory") saying, "The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken." (v. 22).
According to both Hosea and Samuel 1, the sinful, violent, and corrupt behavior of God's people, including prophet and priest, caused the glory of the LORD to be removed from the nation, and exchanged for shame. America is in danger of Ichabod.
A man, Alexis de Toqueville, came from France to examine America to see what it was that made America great. This is what he said:
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
America is in danger of Ichabod.  We can no longer teach righteousness from the pulpits. We cannot teach sin because it causes offence. We cannot teach or speak the truth of the Word in our land. Have many of our "priests" become like Hophni and Phinehas, seeking only to enrich and indulge themselves? A compromise of righteousness and truth now rule the land, which is causing America to stand in judgment before God.

*The above is based upon the 7/26/20 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/

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

Your Talk is Cheap: If You Don't Do HIS WILL*

 

 

So much has come against the Bible and Biblical Christianity (as opposed to "Churchianity"). There is a rise in anti-God sentiment, and a compromise of the truth in pulpits in the name of tolerance.

There is more to following Christ than attending church on Sunday, and singing hymns. The Word of God has greater expectations than that regarding those who name the name of Christ. Jesus said,

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."   Mt. 7:21-23

Those referred to in the above verses did miraculous works in the name of Jesus, but the Lord disregarded those works and called them workers of iniquity. This is a remarkable statement, and Jesus said that it would apply to "many". Evidently, instead of doing the Father's will, these workers were doing their will in the Father's name. Although they tapped into the power of the Word of God, they lacked the relationship that Jesus has with His Father, and is looking for in us. Many of us in church desire to do these same miraculous works, but Jesus only knows those who press in to seek to do His Father's will in their lives.
Jesus described those who seek to do His Father's will as having the intimate relationship with Him as His true brother, sister, or mother, even more than those who could claim this familial relationship with Him in the natural (Mt. 12:49-50). What relates us intimately to Jesus is to have a desire likes His: to do the Father's will above all else.

As Jesus gave His instructions to His disciples, which we call the Great Commission, He made clear His expectations:

"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 (Grk. meaning is "age").  Mt. 28:18-20

First of all, the Gospel is to all nations. There is not a preferred ethnicity or race. The Church should not be one of the most segregated places in America, as it often is now. Secondly, the directive is to teach that we are to observe (do) all things which Christ has commanded. One of those things which Christ has commanded is that we do His father's will. Jesus assigns us this work to be done until the end of the age- the age which shall see the return of Christ to the earth. All signs indicate that His return is imminent.

In Mark 16, Jesus told His disciples that miraculous signs in His name will follow those who believe the Gospel of salvation, including casting out devils, speaking with new tongues, protection against those things that may come against them to harm them during this commission, and the recovery of the sick upon whom hands are laid (Mk. 16:16-18). These signs were to confirm the truth of the Gospel which they were commanded to preach to every creature in the whole world (v. 15, 20). The Gospel of salvation is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith...For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness..." (Rom. 1:16-20 excerpt).
As we believe the Word, we are expected to DO it, producing the works that follow it:
"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves....whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."  James 1:21-25 (excerpt)
James wrote of being doers of the Word, rather than hearers only, actively incorporating it into our lives. The Word is to make a difference in our lives. The Gospel of salvation is to be followed by signs confirming it.
Jesus told the parable of the Sower of the Seed (Mt. 13:1-23). He explained the parable to His disciples because He told them that it was given to them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is the sower of the seed of the Word of God, He explained. However, not all soil will receive the seed. The various soils of the parable represent those who hear the Word, and their processing of it, or failure to do so. Some soil is stony, and the seed of the Word cannot grow deep roots, nor endure for long in the face of hardship. Some hearers of the Word are compared to thorny soil. The seed of the Word of God ends up being choked out by the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches.  For this kind of hearer, the seed will never bear fruit among those thorns. However, those who hear the Word and understand it, are like good ground that receives the seed, which grows and produces abundant fruit, multiplied many times, even a hundred fold.
As Jesus related in His parable about the Sower of the Seed, Isaiah also wrote about those who do not hear or receive the Word effectively, and consequently fail to understand it and be saved by it (Isa. 6:9). Our understanding and incorporating of the Word of God, must also be combined with the will of God. Those who seek the Father's will are the good soil indeed.
This is God's will for all of us who have received and understood the seed of the word sown by Jesus into the soil of our lives. That seed of the Word, and understanding the the will of the Father, bears much fruit.

*The above is based upon the 7/19/20 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson. 

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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.
 

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                                                                   Sean Stevenson