My Apostolic Journey as a Shepherd Pt. 2*

      This message is a continuation of the message from last week. As we read at that time, scripture says, "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter." The prophet Zechariah wrote: "Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle." (Zech. 10:1-3).

     As we look at the verses above, the LORD, speaking of "the latter rain", is speaking of the last days, and He finds that His flock, His people, are without a shepherd. The LORD had a purpose for a house - the house of Judah - and that purpose was for warfare of the last days. The house of God must prepare for (spiritual) battle.

     God's people were desperate for a shepherd as Jesus noted. As He and His disciples departed to a desert place by ship, people came out of all cities and ran until they came together with Him there. "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things." (Mk. 6:32-34).

     Drs. Ken and Mary Stevenson also experienced much spiritual warfare in the Hudson Valley as they established ministry there. This region had become known as a "Pastors' (shepherds') graveyard" because of the spiritual battle against ministries, especially those which were teaching the Word of God.

     The Apostle Paul wrote of the challenges he faced trying to bring the Corinthian church into maturity in the Word of God. He said that they were babes in Christ, who wanted milk only, and could not yet handle the spiritual meat that he could teach them. He found that they were still very much attached to the lusts of this world. Their carnality was the cause of "envying, and strife, and divisions". (1 Cor. 3:1-8). The church today is also very divided into denominations as well as by doctrines because of the same immaturity and carnality. God's house, His spiritual building is not divided, but unified.

     Paul wrote of his role in the building of this spiritual house of God: "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (v. 9-11). Whatever another builds upon this foundation of Christ, whether worthy or not, will be tried by fire: "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." (v. 12-17, excerpt).

     The works of the building on the foundation of the temple of God will be judged by fire this time, rather than the waters of a flood as was recorded in Noah's day. Things done by the flesh, or by the world, will be burned up. We are to be wise master builders. We are living stones in God's temple. Sin defiles those stones, but if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness as the Word of God promises.

     The building of the house of God impacts all of the nations and changes the world. Isaiah wrote: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isa. 2:1-4).

     The LORD will teach from His house. We also teach the Word of God to cause the sheep to grow into the stature of Jesus Christ, but are they still on milk instead? The LORD establishes Zion in this prophetic Word, and we can see an example of the spiritual warfare that has broken out to oppose Zion and Zionism in these last days. Antisemitism has risen and all of the world has come against Zion and Jerusalem, as Zechariah also prophesied.

     The Prophet Ezekiel also brought forth the vision of the house of God, which was filled with His glory. Ezekiel wrote as God instructed: "Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house...and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house; Upon the top of the mountain the whole limit thereof round about shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house." (Ezek. 43:4-12, excerpt).

     God's desire has always been to dwell with His people, even from Genesis. However, He and His house and the mountain upon which it sits is HOLY. Are the sheep ready to give up carnality and walk in the meat of the Word with maturity? The purpose of the master builder is to bring the sheep into the fulness of the stature of Christ and to bring the believers into unity. Jesus prayed, "Make them one", even as He and His Father are one. This is the be accomplished in the last days. Peter wrote that there would be scoffers who would deny that the return of Christ and His judgment are near. How can we be ready without knowing the signs of these times or without shepherds to show the pattern of the House?

     There are those who think they are ready, but they are just playing church. Where is the shepherd to bring them out of the play of Christian babyhood and into the maturity of Christ? These sheep carry out the form of God, but without His Spirit. Isaiah described, as the LORD commanded him to "shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins", how determined the Israelites were to observe the fast of the LORD, but they "fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice heard on high." (Isa. 58:1-4). Again here we see the strife and division of carnality. The LORD then described what the true purpose of His fast was: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?" (v. 6). There is much oppression and wickedness in these last days. The LORD waits for His people to break those bonds in His name, and by His Spirit.

     If His sheep gain true and mature understanding of their purpose towards those who are hungry, cast out and naked, the LORD assures them: "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer...If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity...then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually...(they) shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in...Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it." (v. 8-14, excerpt).

     Inhabiting the high places and the mountain tops! How can we stir the saints to live up to these principles? No wonder the enemy of our souls seeks to strike the shepherd and scatter the sheep!

     The Apostle Peter wrote to the churches: "...laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." (1 Pet. 2:1-2). Peter instructs us to lay aside sin (see also 2 Chron. 7:14). Growth into the stature of Jesus Christ starts with the milk of the Word of God.

     Peter also points to Jesus Christ as the living stone that men rejected, but as chosen of God. We also: "as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices (see Isa. 58, above), acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. There are those who stumble at the Word of God, which is Christ, our chief cornerstone of God's spiritual house, and as they stumble, they fall into disobedience. (v.7-8). We cannot pick and choose what we like out of God's Word. However, of those who are being built into the spiritual house of God, Peter wrote: "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." (v. 9-10).

     We have been called into light, leaving works of darkness behind. We are to light our lamps because Jesus called us to be as He is: the light of the world. We are to be the living stones of the house of God, just as Jesus is a living stone - the cornerstone of the house of God. We have been called to obtain the mercy of God through Christ. Don't turn down this gift of mercy because the wages of sin is death. This is the message that we are called to preach. This is the truth that unifies the Body of Christ, and builds the spiritual house of God, of which we are to be living stones and royal priests.

     Have you ever confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, as the fountain of the mercy of God waiting for you? Believe Him in your heart and confess Him with your mouth, and you will then begin your walk in the light, eternal life and righteousness of God.

*Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson, Jr.'s 3/16/25 message to the church. If you would like to hear the complete message, you can find it on Dr. Stevenson's Facebook page. Dr. Stevenson's video messages are also found on You Tube at Kenneth Stevenson. To contact or support this ministry, or to request prayer, you can write to PO Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705. To find out more about the Shroud of Turin, and to receive a free e-book now available in several languages, go to http://www.theshroudofturin.org/freebook.