The Sword of the LORD

OVERVIEW The author of the letter to the Corinthians is the Apostle Paul.  Paul visited Corinth during his 2 nd missionary trip and planted a Christian church there around 52 A.D.  In Paul’s day Corinth was the capitol of the Roman province of Achaia.  The Apostle remained with the newly formed church for nearly two years teaching and ministering to their spiritual needs in order to provide them with a firm foundation upon which they could build.    Corinth was a city of about 500,000 people and was situated on the narrow Isthmus of Corinth in what is today modern Greece.  It was situated on major land and sea travel routes and commanded two harbors, one leading to Asia and the other to Italy.  With its extended trade, it was a very prosperous city and was known both for its luxury and its immorality.  To be called a Corinthian woman at the time was synonymous with being called a whore or a strumpet.  The city had at least 26 sacred pl...

There are many promises in the Bible that are addressed specifically to "him that overcometh."  They include:   ·   To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.  (Revelation 2:7). ·   He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death [lake of fire and brimstone] .  (Revelation 2:11). ·   To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.  (Revelation 2:17). ·   And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations [to rule and reign with Christ in the Kingdom of God] .  (Revelation 2:26). ·   He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His ang...

The scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were very strict keepers of the Law.  They prided themselves in their adherence to the commandments and precepts that God delivered to Moses.  Even their name implied that they were the “chosen ones.”  Josephus, a Jewish historian, describes them as “a body of Jews who profess to be more religious than the rest, and to explain the laws more precisely.”     On a certain Sabbath day, Jesus entered into a synagogue and taught from the Word of God.   There were Scribes and Pharisees present who were watching Him very closely to see if He would heal anyone on the Sabbath, for they interpreted this as “work” which was prohibited by the Law of the Sabbath.   They were seeking to find some accusation against Jesus so that they might defame Him and His teachings.   In this crowd was a man with a paralyzed (or withered) hand.   This man was unable to work, or do many normal tasks because of his condi...

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." (Psalm 62:5).   We all have expectations.  We expect to be reasonably healthy in our lifetimes and to grow old before we die.  We expect to be financially stable and be able to care for ourselves and for our loved ones.  We expect to be valued and respected as individuals and to be treated justly by those who rule over us.  Those are just a few of the big things that we expect, but it goes much further than that.  We expect that our favorite sports team will always win.  We expect that every light will turn green for us when we are in a rush, and that we won't get behind any slow or elderly drivers.  We expect that our private time be respected and not interrupted by unplanned phone calls, visits, or requests for assistance or time. Needless to say, our expectations are all too often dashed.  We are told to "hope for the best," but by doing this very thing aren't we sett...

As Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to suffer His final Passion, He passed through the town of Jericho where there lived a man by the name of Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was the chief of the publicans in that area and very rich.  The people in general despised Publicans at the time because they gathered the taxes that were exacted upon them by their Roman oppressors.  Often they were unscrupulous in their methods, and weren’t above collecting extra to pad their own purses.   Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus “…sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.”   It was in his heart to see Jesus.   This was not just a casual curiosity to see a famous figure and be able to boast about it later.   No, this was a deep desire to know “…who He was...”     There were some obstacles to seeing Jesus that stood in Zacchaeus’ way.   For one, he was rich.   Riches have a way of robbing a man of th...

The letter of Paul the Apostle to Philemon is one of the two shortest books in the New Testament.   At just 25 verses, it ties with Jude as the least lengthy.   What it lacks in length, however, it more than makes up for in content.   The letter reveals the story of Onesimus, a runaway servant who had served Philemon, but had grown unhappy with his servitude and had left his master without being released by him.  Many of the particulars of the story are unknown to us, such as, exactly why Onesimus left, did he steal any of his master’s goods to help him on his journey when he left, and was he the only servant in Philemon's household?  The things that we do know and can reasonably deduce from the information that we have, however, is enough to give us an inspiring story of repentance, faith, obedience, and restitution.   At the time that this letter was written, likely between 60-63 A.D, Paul had been imprisoned for the first time in Rome.  Paul...

My wife and I recently attended a surprise 80th birthday party for my wife's aunt.   There were lots of cousins, great-cousins, and even 3rd generation cousins present at the party, some of whom had come a good distance to attend; so it was great to see everybody and catch up on news of their families.   My wife later commented about how one little baby who was just a few months old was able to pick out her mother's voice even above 40 or more other voices all talking at the same time.   Her little ears would prick up and her head would turn toward the direction of her momma's voice.     As my wife described what she observed that day, I had to think of our relationship with our heavenly Father and how similar it is to that little one and her momma.  There are many voices around us always, some are good, and some are not so good, but in the midst of so many voices our Father's rings out true and distinct from all others.  We know that we can trust ...