News you won't see in controlled mainstream media.

-Signs Of The Everlasting Covenants
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth” (Genesis 9:16).

The first mention of the key word, “covenant,” is in Genesis 6:18 where God promised to establish a covenant with Noah after the flood. This everlasting covenant was made with all the earth’s future populations and is still in effect, symbolized continually by the beautiful rainbow after a rain.

God also made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and Isaac. “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:7,8). This time, the symbol of God’s everlasting covenant was that of circumcision, “a token of the covenant betwixt me and you” (Genesis 17:11).

There is still another everlasting covenant—this one with all the redeemed of all the ages. “I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me” (Jeremiah 32:40).

God has made this “new covenant” applicable to all the saved, and this time, the sign of the covenant is nothing less than the blood of Christ. “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will” (Hebrews 13:20,21).
--ICR/HMM

-The Everlasting Covenant
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13:20).

This is the only verse in the book of Hebrews that refers specifically to Christ's resurrection from the dead. It occurs at the climactic conclusion of the book (which had previously referred at least 17 times to the atoning death of Christ) and is associated with God's everlasting covenant with His people.

The covenant theme is strong in the book of Hebrews. The Greek word (diatheke) which is also frequently
translated "testament," occurs more in Hebrews than in all the rest of the New Testament (or "New Covenant") put together. The word basically means a contract, especially one for disposition of an inheritance.

A number of God's divine covenants are mentioned in Scripture, but the writer of Hebrews is especially concerned with God's new covenant (or "new testament"). It is surely the most significant of all covenants.

This new covenant is also called "a better covenant" (Hebrews 7:22; 8:6). It is best defined in Hebrews 8:10,12, quoting Jeremiah 31:33-34: "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: . . . and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Christ is "the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15).

The inheritance is eternal because the covenant is everlasting. The blood of the covenant is the infinitely precious blood of Christ, whom God has raised from the dead, and now "He ever liveth to make intercession" for all those who "come unto God by Him" (Hebrews 7:25).
-ICR/HMM

-The Lasting Noahic Covenant
-By" Henry Morris, Ph.D.

"And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." (Genesis 9:11)

When God gave Noah this promise, the world had just been through the devastating cataclysm that flooded the entire globe and destroyed all except those on Noah's Ark. The world was fearful and barren and there seemed nothing to prevent another such flood from coming on the earth.

Nevertheless, God's promise--not only to Noah but also to the animals (Genesis 9:9-10)--has been kept for over 4,000 years. God later reminded Job of this promise when He told him that He had "shut up the sea with doors. . . . And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed" (Job 38:8, 11).

The psalmist also referred to this covenant. When the whole earth had been covered "with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled. . . . Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth" (Psalm 104:6-7, 9).

God has kept His Word, and there has never been another worldwide flood. Sadly, however, many modern compromising Christian theologians and scientists have said that the Flood must have been only a local or regional flood, in order (they hope) to please the evolutionists, practically all of whom insist that the earth is 4.6 billion years old and never had any global flood.

If that were true, however, then God has broken His promise. There have been numerous local and regional floods in the world since Noah's day. But God has kept His promise. The Flood indeed was a unique cataclysm in which "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Peter 3:6), and such a flood has never occurred again.

-ICR/HMM

-Two Unbreakable Covenants
-By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

“For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee” (Isaiah 54:9).

The words of our text were written at least 1600 years after the great flood went over the whole Earth, yet it was still remembered as a unique event in history. Furthermore, another 2700 years have passed since Isaiah’s time, yet God is still keeping His covenant with Noah; waters have never again gone over all the earth.

The Noahic Covenant was unconditional—God’s promise to Noah in reward for his own unique obedience to God before the flood. Another judgment is coming, however, as the next verse warns. “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee” (v.10). A great Earth-shaking judgment is coming, but there is also another covenant, no less sure and unconditional than that of Noah.

In context, the covenant of which God spoke was with the children of Israel. “In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer” (v.8). This “Redeemer” is “the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called” (v.5).

The Redeemer of Israel is thus also the God of the whole Earth, and there is also a wonderful covenant He has made with all who appropriate His great work of redemption.

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:16,17).

--ICR/HMM

--God's Everlasting Covenants

"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee." (Genesis 17:7)

The phrase "everlasting covenant" (or "perpetual covenant") is used no less than 16 times in the Old Testament, plus once in the New Testament. It always refers to a covenant promise of God to man, made in grace, for only He can make an everlasting promise.

The first everlasting covenant was made with Noah (Genesis 9:16), a promise never to send a worldwide flood again, sealed with the sign of the rainbow.

The second is recorded in today's verse and was God's promise to Abraham and his descendants. The promise was to give them "the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8), and the seal was to be the rite of circumcision.

Many of the "everlasting covenant" promises have to do with Israel. Some were stated unconditionally, but others were "broken" because of man's rebellion against God's covenant terms. One of the latter was the covenant of the Sabbath.

"Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath . . . for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed" (Exodus 31:16-17).

The last reference is the most important of all: "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20-21).
--ICR/ HMM

--We Have Been Warned!

--The Dreadful Day of the Lord
--By: Henry Morris, Ph.D.

-“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.” (Malachi 4:5)
---------- --
-This is the next-to-last verse of the Old Testament and so marks the final mention in the Old Testament of the fearsome theme of the Day of the Lord. As the text says, it will be a “great and dreadful day.”

This phrase occurs frequently in the Bible, reminding us over and over again that although God is merciful and longsuffering, He will not remain silent forever. Man’s “day” will end someday, and the day of the Lord will come.

Note some of the other prophecies: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! . . . the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light” (Amos 5:18). “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:31). “The great day of the LORD . . . is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Zephaniah 1:14-15). “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger” (Isaiah 13:9).

The phrase also is repeated in the New Testament, most awesomely of all in 2 Peter 3:10: “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (see also 1 Thessalonians 5:2, etc.).

Without trying to sort out the precise sequences and events associated with all such prophecies, it is obvious that the Day of the Lord is a coming time of terrible judgment on all who have rejected or ignored the God who created them. But God’s faithful believers can take great comfort, for then “the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD” (Zechariah 14:9).
--ICR/ HMM
<http://youtu.be/Ra4HWj1jrJA>

---The New Covenant
---By: John D. Morris, Ph.D.

-“Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20).

-The Greek word 'diatheke', translated as both testament and covenant, occurs thirty-three times in the New Testament, seventeen of which are in the book of Hebrews. It comes from a word meaning to “cut, or divide,” referring to the fact that blood had to be shed to bind the parties involved to abide by the terms of the covenant. (See Genesis 15:10; Jeremiah 34:18,19.) God had made covenants with Abraham and Moses on the part of the people of Israel. He had kept His part of the agreement; but in each case the others involved “continued not in my covenant” (Hebrews 8:9). But God, in His grace, has issued a new covenant.

This covenant or testament is not unlike a human “last will and testament,” but there are some differences. He did not merely die, thereby enabling His children to inherit His fortune, but He is now “the mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). He is the sacrifice whose death was necessary to make the covenant binding, and yet He is the “surety of a better testament” (Hebrews 7:22).

He cannot fail, and hence the new covenant cannot be done away with. Through His death, He not only has removed the penalty for our previous failures, but qualified us to receive the inheritance.
“For this cause He is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator” (Hebrews 9:15,16). “wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
--ICR/ JDM =/ "AT THE CROSS" / Chris Tomlin (approx 7:30min) /[Live @ Passion 2014]
<http://youtu.be/pRZSRi5yyoQ>

--WAGES OR A GIFT

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

--This wonderful verse has been used by the Holy Spirit countless times to bring a person to the point of salvation, and rightly so. Seldom did the Author of Scripture pack so much into so few words, and seldom is the gospel of salvation more clearly and succinctly presented.

Perhaps the key to this verse and its teaching is the little word but, for marvelous contrasts hinge on it. In fact, pointing out the parallel but contrasting statements has proven to be an effective witnessing tool. Let us consider these individual contrasts.

First, wages versus gift: Wages are something that must be earned, while a gift cannot be earned; it is free. The wages of employment follow directly from having done the work, just as the wages of sin follow directly from having done the sin. Similarly, the gift of God follows directly from God’s own character. He is a loving, gracious God, who freely showers His gifts on those who will accept them.

-Second, sin versus God, or sin versus the sinless one: We might even define sin as the opposite of godliness. Sin is the deed which merits the wages, while God is the being who gives the gift. Sin is a wrong action, attitude, or thought, while God is a Person, active and loving. Sin takes; God gives.

-Third, death eternal versus life eternal: Conscious existence in separation from God versus conscious existence in communion with God. Sin brings death, surely and permanently; God gives eternal life.

This gift of eternal life is not given capriciously, however; it is based on the work of Jesus Christ, the one who Himself collected the wages of our sin. The sinner who accepts God’s gift, through Jesus Christ, can hardly fail to recognize Him as Lord.
--ICR/ JDM
[Jehovah Yahweh-YHWH~~ Our loving, covenant keeping God. Jehovah Elohim can not lie. He offers the 'free gift' of salvation through His Son, Jesus, who died a brutal death on the Cross to keep us out of Hell, and offers us this gift, of Heaven. He leaves that choice up to each one of us. We must make the decision. Who will you follow? Jesus Christ is knocking on each person's heart, to ask that you invite Him in to have fellowship with Him. He will then lead you to eternal life in Heaven.]
<http://youtu.be/LxqHo2Pvfm0>

--WHAT MATTERS MOST--GOD'S LOVE!

-'He sent his one
and only Son into
the world that we
might live through
him." (1 John 4:9)
~~~~~~~~~
-AS JESUS'S beloved disciple John grew older, his teaching became increasingly narrowed, focusing entirely on the love of God in his three letters. In the book 'Knowing the Truth of God's Love', Peter Kreeft cites an old legend which says that one of John's young disciples once came to him complaining, "Why don't you talk about anything else?" John replied, "Because there isn't anything else."

God's love is certainly at the heart of the mission and message of Jesus. In his earlier gospel account, John recorded the words, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (JOHN 3:16).

The apostle Paul tells us that God's love is at the core of how we live, and he reminds us that "Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (ROM. 8:38-39).

God's love is so strong, available, and stabilizing that we can confidently step into each day knowing that the good things are gifts from His hand and the challenges can be faced in His strength. For all of life, His love is what matters most. Let's all celebrate the goodness of our Sovereign One, the Lord Jesus Christ!~~

--GOD'S LOVE STANDS WHEN ALL ELSE HAS FALLEN. GOD IS LOVE!-- // 'I Will celebrate' --/ Marantha~
--ODB/BC
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wg9p260IXI>
----------

--THE EARTH MADE NEW AGAIN~~

“And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.”
----(Psalm 78:69)--

There are a number of passages in the Bible that state unequivocally that the earth, in some form, is going to continue eternally. “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

However, this present earth and its atmospheric heavens must first be purged of all the age-long effects of sin and the curse, which now affect the very elements (or “dust of the earth”). Therefore, “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

Evidently, this fiery cataclysm is not an annihilation of the earth and its atmosphere but rather a great exchange of energies. The earth’s very elements will probably be converted into sound and heat energies by mass-energy nuclear-conversion processes, in order to burn out the great fossil beds and all other relics of sin and the curse. Then, however, God will reverse the process, converting these and other energies back into matter, thus “renewing” the primeval earth, which originally had been “very good” (Genesis 1:31). “We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

It is this new earth (that is, the earth made new) that will then continue forever. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isaiah 66:22).. “Because the [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). Then we shall forever “be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). ---ICR/HMM
--"HERE IN YOUR PRESENCE" / New Life Worship ~~<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2bLUYz-Zvo>
--------