The Sword of the LORD

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God " (Romans 12:1, 2).   The word "conformed" is translated from the Greek word "suschematizo" which means to fashion oneself according to another's pattern.  Notice the root "schemat" or "schema" is contained in this word and is the same root that we find in our English words “scheme” and "schematic."  So, literally, Paul is saying that we must not mold or fashion ourselves after another's worldly scheme or pattern.  And just whose worldly pattern is it that the Apostle Paul is warning us against?  It's none other than Satan, the god of this world, as he is referred to in 2 Corint...

Toward the end of the prophet Samuel's life, the Israelites grew weary of being under judges and desired to have a king to rule over them so that they could be like the other nations of the world.  Though God was displeased with their desire, He permitted them to have their king, saying to Samuel, "Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me , that I should not reign over them" (1 Samuel 8:7).  Consequently, Saul, the son of Kish, became the first king of Israel.   After Saul had reigned for some years, God said to him, "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1 Samuel 15:3).  Rather than utterly destroying everything of Amalek as God had directed, Saul chose to keep Agag the Amalekite king alive, along with the very best of their cattle and other bel...