The Sword of the LORD

"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." (1 Corinthians 15:13, 14).   The resurrection of the dead is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith.  Upon this one truth lies the hope of every man and woman who names the name of Christ.  Jesus' entire life and ministry was driven toward this one outcome: that He would give His life freely as an offering for our sin, and that God would raise Him from the dead to gain the ultimate victory over death, sin, and the devil.   The mystery of eternal life begins in Genesis, in the very beginning when God created man and woman.  He planted a garden in Eden, and among all the trees planted there, God placed two unique trees.  The one tree was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The other tree was the Tree of Life.  God told Adam and Eve that they could freely eat of any tree in...

“AND AS THEY led Him [Jesus] away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.” (Luke 23:26).   Three of the Gospels in the New Testament mention a man by the name of Simon in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  He is only mentioned once in each of the accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as told by St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke.  There is much that we can learn, however, from the scant details of his story.   Scripture tells us that Simon was from the city of Cyrene which is in present-day Libya.  Cyrene was at least 850 miles from Jerusalem – a very long trip for folks in Jesus’ time.  During this period, there was a strong Jewish community in Cyrene of about 100,000 or more.  Simon may have been a member of this community and made the long trip to Jerusalem for the Jews’ yearly Feast of Passover.  If so, this woul...

  SECTION VIII ENTERING AT THE STRAIT GATE   JUDGING OTHERS   “Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” (Matthew 7:1, 2).   The question of whether or not Christians can or should judge others has been debated for centuries.  There are those who strictly believe that judging others is forbidden.  Besides the one command from the Savior that is quoted above, they direct us to many other places in scripture which speak plainly about not judging.  For instance, James wrote, “Speak not evil one of another, brethren.  He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge .” (James 4:11).  Paul tells us, “ Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein tho...

  SECTION VII OUR SECRET LIFE WITH GOD   Starting in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus turns to the subject of our personal devotion to God.   He addresses three main areas: our charitable giving, our prayer life, and fasting.   Jesus then speaks at length about laying up treasures in heaven rather than upon earth, and trusting our heavenly Father for all of our daily needs.   The Lord puts an emphasis on the idea that all of these things should be done secretly, not openly for others to see.   When we boast of our dedication and service to God, or openly display our devotion and liberality so that others will see and admire us, we have received all the reward that we will ever get for those things.   Someone might say, “I don’t do those things for any rewards,” but I’m sure there is some satisfaction to the fleshly man when people praise us and notice the good that we do.   This is a twisty branch of pride that we all should avoid. ...