The Sword of the LORD

  It is important that every child of God know and understand that they have been given complete victory over sin, the flesh, and the devil.  This victory is ours in Jesus Christ our Lord.  It is part of the gift of grace that God has given us through the offering of His dearly beloved Son, and we find that God’s great and abundant grace is sufficient to meet any and every need that we may encounter in our lives.  Although there are times when we may feel that we are very weak and that the victory is out of our reach, yet the power of God’s mighty strength is perfected in us despite our infirmities and weaknesses! (2 Corinthians 12:9).  Jesus has overcome all things, and now His triumph has become ours through our faith in Him and in His finished work of redemption.  Now we can say with the Apostle Paul, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ .” (1 Corinthians 15:57).  Consider the following promises that...

A Bible Study: Ephesians Chapter 4 OVERVIEW The author of the letter to the Ephesians is St. Paul the Apostle.  Paul dictated the letter to a disciple by the name of Tychicus between 60-62 A.D. during Paul’s imprisonment at Rome.  Tychicus was also the one who Paul entrusted to deliver the letter to the Church at Ephesus.  Paul wrote four letters while in prison.  They were written in the following order: Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Philemon. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,…” (verse 1).    In the first three chapters of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul extols the beauty and power of God’s great gift of grace to man which is found in Christ Jesus.  With forceful and majestic phrases like: “He [God] hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world,” ·   “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himse...

  The Prophet Ezekiel was among those Jews who had been relocated to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar defeated them and destroyed Jerusalem along with the Temple of Solomon that stood there.   The Jews had been very disobedient to God and had turned to worshipping the idols of the nations around them.   The Lord was very displeased with His people and had pleaded with them repeatedly through the words of His prophets, but they would not respond to Him and repent.   Finally, God warned them one last time that a stronger nation would come, defeat them, and carry them away from their homes in Israel.   In the book of Ezekiel, there is a very unflattering picture of the Body of Christ.   In chapter 37 God showed His prophet a valley full of dry bones that were scattered all over the ground and bleaching in the sun.   The Lord told Ezekiel, “... these bones are the whole house of Israel .”   So, the Lord was likening the scattering of His people to the sca...