Ezekiel 21:8-11

Our battle since the coming of Jesus is with the principals of darkness not with man. The sword of the Holy Spirit is a double edged sword. It will cut apart our beliefs establishing those like Jesus and removing those that are not of Him. 

 Sanctification is hastened by the measure of the faith and trust that we place in God alone.

The sword is made ready for Yahweh’s use in judgment. Faithlife Bible.

The Babylonian army led by Nebuchadnezzar—the sword—is pictured as ready and moving swiftly. While vv. 9–17 are written as Hebrew poetry, the lines actually meant to be sung may have been limited to these in vv. 9–11. If the people reacted with mirth, it would show that they mistakenly believed that such judgment would never come on God’s people and must therefore be meant for an enemy nation. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 21:8–11 (NKJV)

⁸ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say:

‘A sword, a sword is sharpened

And also polished!

¹⁰ Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,

Polished to flash like lightning!

Should we then make mirth?

It despises the scepter of My son,

As it does all wood.

¹¹ And He has given it to be polished,

That it may be handled;

This sword is sharpened, and it is polished

To be given into the hand of the slayer.’

Ezekiel 21:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,

That the heart may melt and many may stumble.

Ah! It is made bright;

It is grasped for slaughter:

Acts 13:38-39

The only sin with eternal consequences is not accepting the gift of the Cross. Without faith in the birth, death and resurrection of JESUS we condemn ourselves. Since faith is the most treasured thing we are given we must hold to it and tell others of the power that it has to save to the utmost those who place their trust in him.

 For God so loved the world that He gave His only    begotten Son to die for them so that they could live with Him for eternity. To Him be all the glory!

Justified is a legal declaration that someone is innocent and in good standing—right before God. Paul is arguing that justification is based on the work of Christ. Human effort—even when directed at keeping the Law of Moses (as primarily seen in the laws of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy)—could never attain God’s standard. Faithlife Bible.

Justification is a legal term meaning “declared innocent” It is a legal declaration that a person is acquitted and absolved. It is by justification that a person is righteous and acceptable to God. The death of Christ was the payment of our sin debt, so that we might be forgiven. NKJ Bible.

Acts 13:38–39 (NKJV)

³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Isaiah 53:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities.

John 3:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Mark 3:13-15

Jesus himself chooses apostles. 

A long time ago, 20 years at least, the Holy Spirit came to me in a dream showing me the Apostle Paul and telling me I was one in the same manner. I assumed He was showing me that I, from birth and throughout 40 years a Catholic, would go to the Protestant community. 

He told me not to marry my first husband and that someday I would do something great for Him…I never questioned His voice in my life but often I misunderstood the meaning. I thought for certain that He was telling me that I did not love the man enough but I was certain that I could love anyone who loved me and treated me with respect little did I know the heartbreak of living with someone who had as many emotional issues as I did. As for doing something great for Him…I was an 18 year old Catholic girl and there are not a lot of options other than becoming a nun that would allow me to honor Him in any great way.

He has shown me so many things in visions like the shield of protection that He placed over me. 3 times He let me hear the pings as they hit the shield that Satan’s arrows shot at me. He allowed me to smell the essence of the prayers of the faithful 3 times in succession and it was the smell of the  Holy Oil passed over the people at Palm Sunday in the Catholic Church. 

He foretold me of the NY city twin towers destruction and the death of my only son…only in the passing of these did I fully realize what He was showing me. I remember writing a letter to my Pastor that 2004 would be the end of the world as I knew it or the end of me…only His constant faithfulness got me through the death of my son. 

I really do not understand His faithfulness to me. I am so very undeserving and so very humbled by His abiding presence in my life. I was molested at the age of 9 and I ask Him for His help and have always loved Him with that child-like faith. From that time I was terrified of men but I inherently knew that no matter what happened to me on earth I was always safe in my loving God. My hiding place was behind His ear! In all that has happened in my life He has never left me not forsaken me even when I deserved it the most… I love my Abba beyond measure! 

Satan has deceived me many times but Jesus prayed for me that when I returned to Him I would love Him fully without pride or arrogance but truly humbled by His love for ALL of His creation.

These twelve were Jesus’ apostles—a chosen group sent out to fulfill a particular mission.These twelve were Jesus’ apostles—a chosen group sent out to fulfill a particular mission. NKJ Bible.

The authority to expel demons was a key sign of the presence of God’s kingdom and Jesus’ deliverance of humanity. Faithlife Bible.

Mark 3:13–15 (NKJV)

¹³ And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ¹⁴ Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

Luke 9:23-26

All things, all talents, all security, all the people placed into our life, all things come from and belong to God. When we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior it is our duty and privilege to hold Him up for all the world to see. We are to hold Him up and others will be drawn to the love He shows in giving up His life in exchange for ours. No greater love than this that God came down from His heavenly throne to save mankind from eternal separation from his maker.

 We must guard our hearts so that we do not become people pleasers… our life is to reflect His commands. 

And what does Jesus command us to do? We are to love God above everyone and everything and to love others with the same love that He has shown us.

Micah 6:8 (NKJV)

⁸ He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Jesus’ disciples must be willing to follow Him every day, no matter what the cost. Those who embrace Jesus’ call to discipleship—including the difficulties it brings—will be saved. Faithlife Bible.

Although Jesus offered salvation as a free gift, He also warned that following Him would entail suffering and hardship.The wise course is to invest our earthly resources—our time, talents, and wealth—in what is eternal. Even if we lose our lives for Jesus’ sake, that investment will produce returns for all eternity. Recognition of Jesus will be rewarded in the coming judgment. Failure to recognize Him will lead to significant loss. NKJ Bible.

Luke 9:23–26 (NKJV)

²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

Matthew 16:26 (NKJV)

²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The Book of Romans

The Book of Romans by the Apostle Paul

 It is possible to see at least three purposes Paul had in writing the book.

His first purpose was to prepare the Romans for his planned journey to Rome and later to Spain. But if that had been his only purpose, a brief note would have been enough. Obviously Paul had more in mind.

A second purpose involved Paul’s understanding that the believers needed to “be established”. Paul wanted to give them a well-instructed faith. His letter is a kind of syllabus of Paul’s apostolic teaching. Romans is a masterful presentation of God’s plan of salvation for Jews and Gentiles.

The third purpose for the letter was pastoral. Paul wanted to exhort Jewish and Gentile believers to live in harmony. As in most of the early churches, the gospel brought different groups of people together who otherwise would have stayed apart, whether for reasons of nationality, status, or culture. Once they came together under one roof, the challenge was to preserve their oneness in Christ. Thus throughout the letter, Paul deals with problems arising from Jewish and Gentile differences. He emphasizes what everyone shared. Since there is only one God, He is the God of both Jew and Gentile. Both groups are under sin (3:9), and both are saved through faith (3:30). This theme of Jew and Gentile living together surfaces most clearly in chapters 14 and 15, where Paul deals with the practical aspects of being together in one body. Paul hammers home his central theme: The righteous God justifies and ultimately glorifies both Jew and Gentile by grace through faith.

Romans includes the most systematic presentation of theology found anywhere in Scripture. It explains the meaning of the Cross for the believer’s life.

Paul explains that Jesus Christ is the Second Adam whose righteousness and substitutionary death have provided justification for all who place their faith in Him.

Romans presents a Jesus who offers His righteousness as a gracious gift to sinful people like us because He bore God’s condemnation and wrath for our depraved nature. Paul makes it quite clear that the Savior’s life, death, and resurrection are the basis for our redemption, justification, reconciliation, salvation, and glorification. What is more, Paul contends that the Spirit of Jesus can motivate us to live responsible, Christlike lives. NKJ Bible.

John 15:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Luke 7:33-35

We like to put God in a box. He is not like man and cannot be contained within the parameters of our culture, our societal priorities. He is Spirit and He is truth and He goes where He wills. 

 We need to open our minds and hearts to His presence in everything…every. thing!

wisdom | ˈwizdəm |

noun

the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.

• the soundness of an action or decision with regard to the application of experience, knowledge, and good judgment
• • the body of knowledge and principles that develops within a specified society or period

Jesus did not fast like the disciples of John, and He was not under a Nazirite vow like John was. Furthermore, He was known for dining with tax collectors and sinners—those whom He clearly says He came to save. The Jewish religious leaders rejected the ministries of both John and Jesus.

A teaching is shown to be wise based on what it produces. Faithlife Bible.

The leaders were like the children in that they complained no matter what tune was played. John the Baptist refused to eat bread or drink wine, and the religious leaders dismissed him as demon-possessed. In contrast, Jesus, the Son of Man, was accused of living loosely and associating with sinners. No matter what the style of God’s messenger was, the religious leaders complained and rejected him.

God’s wisdom is vindicated by those who respond to it and receive blessing. NKJ Bible.

Luke 7:33–35 (NKJV)

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Matthew 3:4 (NKJV)

⁴ Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Luke 15:2 (NKJV)

² And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”

1 Corinthians 2:9-12

God loves us with an everlasting love. He loves not like man, conditionally, but with an agape love that is impossible for man to totally grasped. It causes me to cry out my Abba and my Lord. if we seek him we will find him and In the measure that we believe in Him we can receive Him. if we love him we will keep his commandments.

 The Spirit will take the things of God and give us the gift of understanding.

Paul asserts that people cannot understand the things of God through human faculties they must rely on the Spirit graciously given to believers by God. It emphasizes that God grants insight regarding His work to those who follow Him and do His will. Faithllife Bible.

Only the Holy Spirit could reveal the truths of God 

We could never have discovered the mysteries of God or the benefits of Christ’s death by ourselves. But we can know them by experience because they have been freely given to us by God. NKJ Bible.

1 Corinthians 2:9–12 (NKJV)

⁹ But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Isaiah 64:4 (NKJV)

⁴ For since the beginning of the world

Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,

Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,

Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

Matthew the Apostle of Jesus Christ

 Matthew…the Jew, the man, the Apostle of 

Jesus Christ.

The text of Matthew doesn’t identify its author, but ever since the second century ad, Christian tradition has ascribed this Gospel to Matthew the tax collector.

When you see the Bible in its ancient context, it comes to life as a body of literature that shaped God’s people. These are the people who were known first as the sons of Jacob, the people of Israel, and later as the Jewish people, and from them came Jesus and the Christian tradition. This is the true story of the whole world, of every person, and of our deep need for relationship with the God who made the universe. This is the story of how God sought to know us and love us—by sending His Son to die and rise for us, so that we may truly live.

One of Matthew’s primary goals is to show that Jesus is the Messiah—the fulfillment of Jewish hopes for salvation. Matthew emphasizes that the kingdom of heaven has arrived with Jesus—but at the same time, the kingdom has not yet come in its fullness. That will happen with Jesus’ return.

Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ identity as the divine Son of God, who has authority to control nature, heal disease, and forgive sin. In everything He does, Jesus is acting in the name and power of God Himself.

Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah and King, who fulfills God’s promises in the Old Testament. Jesus is not just a wise teacher; He is the one God has chosen to usher in the kingdom of heaven. He has come to save and to restore humanity into right relationship with God—starting first with Israel and then moving to the wider world.

One way to organize the Gospel of Matthew is by the five major blocks of Jesus’ teaching.

These five blocks are: the Sermon on the Mount; the missionary discourse; Jesus’ parables; Jesus’ teaching on discipleship; and Jesus’ teaching about His return and the day of judgment. 

This five-part division could serve as an echo of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). Matthew is presenting Jesus as a new Moses. Like Moses, Jesus is leading God’s people in an exodus—this new exodus involves breaking the bonds of sin. And just as Moses delivered God’s law, Jesus fulfills it.

Another way to organize Matthew’s Gospel is to structure it around significant turning points in Jesus’ ministry. These turning points are marked by a transition in the aspect or location of Jesus’ ministry. 

The first section describes the time before Jesus’ public ministry, including His family history and early childhood, His baptism, and His temptation by the devil. The second section, which details Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee, particularly focuses on His miracles, teachings, and conflicts with religious leaders.The last section tells of the rejection and suffering of Jesus in Jerusalem and concludes with His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension.

By the end of Matthew’s Gospel, some of Jesus’ disciples are worshiping Him—and it is here that it becomes apparent that the people realize what we have also found to be true: Jesus is God Himself. Today, we proclaim Jesus as our Jewish Messiah, who is also our King and God! He is all we ever hoped for and far more. And this savior, Jesus, inspires us to both praise Him and take action—He motivates us to make disciples of all nations, a work that is far from done. Faithlife Bible.

Acts 13:46-48

It was too small a thing, His life too precious and rare, that JESUS would come to save the Jews only…He came so that all could have life, in abundance, here and for eternity with Him.

FAITH IS THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT YOU WILL EVER RECEIVE.

Paul acknowledges that because the Jews were chosen by Yahweh and had unique promises from Him, they had to be presented the gospel first. Faithlife Bible.

A person who convinces himself that he does not need forgiveness from the Holy One has already condemned himself. NKJ Bible.

Acts 13:46–48 (NKJV)

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,

That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Isaiah 42:6 (NKJV)

⁶ “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,

And will hold Your hand;

I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,

As a light to the Gentiles,

Isaiah 49:6 (NKJV)

⁶ Indeed He says,

‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant

To raise up the tribes of Jacob,

And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;

I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,

That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

1 Corinthians 3:1-4

The Ecumenical Council promotes a united front for the Body of Christ. a community bound together in the love of Christ will draw others into it. 

There are more similarities than differences and the differences can be overcome in the Blood of the Lamb.

Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life.

The Corinthian believers demonstrated their immaturity through divisiveness and failure to grasp the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross. Paul asserts that such behavior is inappropriate for those in Christ.Paul does not fault them for being human, but he does fault them for their unethical conduct. As people who assume they are wise, they should have known to behave better.  

Jealousy and strife are two actions that harm the unity of the Church both are characteristic of sophists. Faithlife Bible.

sophist | ˈsäfəst |

a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought with moral skepticism and specious reasoning.

• a person who reasons with clever but fallacious arguments.

Paul did not expect the Corinthians to be mature in Christ at the time of their conversion. By placing their faith in Christ, they had been justified. They had been united with Him and his death on the Cross, and the Spirit of God had come to live in them. They were considered righteous before God because of Jesus’ righteousness. Thus when Paul first established the church at Corinth he taught them as new converts, as those justified. Yet he expected them to grow in their faith—that is, become sanctified. The behavior of the Christians in Corinth should have begun to line up with their righteous position in Christ. NKJ Bible.

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 (NKJv)

3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? ⁴ For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

 Peter 2:2 (NKJV)

² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,