The Sword of the LORD

"If God be for us, who can be against us?   He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"   (Romans 8:31b, 32). During our fellowship meeting recently, a young lady requested that we sing the old hymn "Victory In Jesus" by E. M. Bartlett.   I was blessed and moved by this classic Christian hymn as I considered just how complete is this salvation that God has secured for us in Christ Jesus.   His love is so great for us that He did not withhold even His beloved Son to guarantee our victory. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Ephesian church, urges the believers to "stand against the wiles of the devil."   He expands this concept of "standing" in the sixth chapter when he says, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand .   Stand therefore , having your loins girt

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."   (2 Corinthians 4:6) Jesus Christ is the A to Z, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.   He said that no man can come to the heavenly Father, but by Him.   He is the light of the world, and God has commanded that His light should shine into the darkness of this world, and into the darkness of our hearts.   With this light comes the knowledge of the glory of God.   That is, we can see and know the glory of God simply by believing and receiving His Son Jesus Christ.    There are many who think that God likes to hide Himself from man, and that it is difficult to know what it is that He requires of us humans.   This could not be further from the truth.   The fact is, God delights in His fellowship with man, and it is His