The Sword of the LORD

There is a principle set forth in scripture that teaches us that there must first be the natural or carnal state in the order of things before the spiritual can be manifested .  "Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual." (1 Corinthians 15:46).   One example of this principle is the House of God, His Holy Temple.     Scripture tells us of four earthly tabernacles or temples that were built by Israel during their history.  The first was the wilderness tabernacle that God instructed Moses to build.  The next was Solomon's glorious temple in Jerusalem.  After that temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, Ezra later built a new temple after the captive Jews returned to their homeland.  The last temple was commissioned by King Herod and was the temple that stood in Jerusalem during Jesus' time.  This was destroyed by the Romans under Titus in 70 A.D.  Currently, the te...

Jesus was preparing His disciples for their most difficult test yet: His own crucifixion.  He knew that He would be leaving them and that they would then have to carry the torch of truth and be lights in the world themselves.  Therefore, He told them, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” (John 14:1).   Thomas spoke for everyone when he said, “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way?”   (John 14:5)    Jesus’ answer is one of the most profound statements that He uttered.  He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” (v. 6).     Today, we may struggle at times with knowing the right thing to do, or the right way to go with our lives; but it always comes back to the same simple principle: Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  We cannot discover God by any other means but Christ.  His is the example that we must follo...

"And when it was evening, His [Jesus'] disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat .  And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.  He said, Bring them hither to Me.  And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake , and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.  And they did all eat, and were filled : and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children."   (Matthew 14:15-21).   "And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves , and ga...