​Revelation 2:12-17 The Letter to the Church in Pergamum
When Jesus described Himself to the believers in Pergamum in verse 12, He revealed Himself this way,
“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.”
Jesus has the sharp two-edged sword, He is the sharp two-edged sword, and He wields it better than any other, He wields it perfectly. What is the sword He has and uses? Scriptures refer to it several times. Hebrews 4:12-13 read,
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
It is the living word of God and it is powerful. It cuts deep, perfectly dividing soul and spirit and getting straight the core of the matter. Have you ever worked with bones, soup bones, left over chicken bones, ox tails or whatever? Have you seen the substance, the marrow on the inside of the bone? It is not easily removed. The marrow which makes the blood cells for the body and flavors the broth it is cooked in is within the bone, protected by it. When the bone is cut, the marrow may be exposed but it is still difficult to pull out. This is the picture I want you to envision in order to understand how exact and sharp the double edged sword is.
When used in conjunction with the Holy Spirit, the Word of God gets right to the matter. It does not miss. When we use it without the Holy Spirit, we may misquote, misinterpret, or miss the mark. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and The Spirit tells you, tell them this verse, tell them that phrase. And you think but what does that have to do with their situation? But you obey, and the person immediately has let her walls down, or she breaks down crying, or smiles with relief and joy. That is the living and active word of God dividing heart and soul, joint and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Go back and read Hebrews 4:12-13. Verse 13 describes the word, not as it but him. “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” The Word of God, the sharp and two-edged sword is not only the scriptures and spoken words of God, it is God, it is His manifested will, Jesus Christ. John 1:1-5 reads,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
And 1 John 1:1-4 says,
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”
Jesus is the Word of God, which is God’s will revealed and made tangible. Jesus not only is the two edged sword but He exerts it so perfectly that it is a part of Him. Revelation 1:16 describes Jesus this way,
“In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”
The sword, God’s Word comes from Jesus’ mouth. Jesus words are the word of God. Jesus spoken words are the manifested will of God, because remember Jesus is God. (see John 1:1-5). Revelation 19:11-16 describe Jesus as He uses the sword to lead the vast Heavenly Army.
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Jesus didn’t use the Word of God as a cookie cutter, taking cute, nice little sayings out of the scriptures and saying, “There there there, God won’t give you more than you can handle…” He used the scriptures truthfully with God’s purpose. He fought the enemy and wouldn’t give into temptation. (Matthew 4:4). He showed the world, who He was. (Luke 4:17-19). He taught and exhorted. (Matthew 5). He confronted and convicted. (Matthew 15:7-9). He comforted and encouraged. (Mark 12:35-37).
And you and I, Believer have the two edged word as well, and we can use it Psalm 149 describes what we can do with that sword. It reads,
“Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the godly!
2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
    let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
    making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the godly exult in glory;
    let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
    and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
    and punishments on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
    and their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment written!
    This is honor for all his godly ones.
Praise the Lord!”
What did Jesus, the Word of God have to say to the church in Pergamum and for us? Let’s read. Verse 13 says,
“‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”
Jesus called the city, the throne of Satan. It was a center of worship of many gods throughout its history, including Greek gods like Asclepium, and many Egyptian gods such as Serapeum, and Trajan. Yet, despite the many gods worshipped there, despite being the seat of Satanic power the church thrived there. They were faithful. They held fast to Jesus’ name even under persecution, torture and death. They took so seriously the words written to them in Revelation that they erected a monument inscribed with Jesus words to remember them.










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But not everyone in the church was so diligent to the Word of God. Verses 14-15 read,
“But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”
Balaam was a prophet of God who used the word for selfish purposes, He used the Word of God for King Balak to weaken Israel for his own profit. (Numbers 22, 23, & 24). Ask yourself, examine your heart, ask the Lord to reveal to you if you have ever done this. Have you like some in the Pergamum taken God’s Word and used it to lift yourself up, push your own agenda, or gain what you wanted?  God can give anyone His Word, He gave it to a donkey. (Numbers 22:22-35). He chose to give to you and me. It is for His glory and His will that we are given this extraordinary gift.
Remember from our previous study the Nicolaitans allowed the teaching of multiple religions and occult beliefs into the church. They like many today believed in a “coexisting and intermingling of religions. This is something we have to be assiduous about. We have to keep our motives and the Truth we proclaim pure. We have to guard the Gospel of Christ. Jude 1:3-4 reads,
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Verse 16 reads,
“Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.”
Notice Jesus tells the whole church to repent. He tells the faithful church, who allowed some to use God’s Word for their own causes and to intermingle beliefs to repent. And the consequences He promises are for those who held Balaam’s and the Nicolaitian teachings. As the body of Christ, we understand the importance of each and every one of us. We contend for the faith as a whole, not just mine or even ours, but the Faith.
Verse 17 reads,
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”
If we pay attention to this warning, if we conquer the enemy and hold fast to the Word of God and keep it pure in our hearts, minds, and lives Jesus will give us the hidden manna. His deeper word, the mytery of the Gospel, not obvious to the world. Manna was the bread of God given to Israel in the desert. God gives us bread today as well. John 6:28-34 describes it.
“Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Later in John 6:47-51 Jesus said,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Jesus is the bread of Life, He is the hidden manna. He is Salvation. We honor Jesus, the Author of Salvation, the Giver of Life, and our Redeemer when we take the Lord’s Supper. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 says,
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”
He will also give us a new name on a white stone, one only we will know. His Word just for us. Names signify identity. God gave many people new names as He gave them new identities. Abram and Sarai became Abraham and Sarah, Jacob was renamed Israel, Simon was called Peter, and Saul became Paul. But the new name we will receive in Heaven is more significant it declares our innocence and will represent our completion, our perfection, and our absolute unity with God, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Believer, remember Jesus is the Word of God, the two-edged sword. The sword comes from His mouth, it does us no good if we do not speak it or use it and only keep it sheathed within our hearts. It does us no good and in fact harm if we use it wrongly with wrong intentions, twisted for our own desires, or sullied by words from Satan disguised as other religions.

Psalm 119:9-16

Verse 9 asks the question and gives an answer.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.”

As followers of Christ, we want to remain pure, undefiled, and blameless. That is easier to want than live out. But there is a way, His name is Jesus. We have to be conscientious and persistent about protecting purity. We have to be deliberate about glorifying Jesus, about walking as He walked, living as He lives, and loving as He loves. What is God’s Word? It is God’s will expressed. It is the scriptures which record and teach His will. It is Jesus Christ the propitiation for our sin and the revelation of God, who lived His life by the perfect will of The Father and is the plan of salvation for the world. (John 1:1-5).

 John 6:37-40 says it this way,

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

We have to be purposefully internalizing God’s Word. To do that, we have to read the Bible. We have to know what it says. We have to be hearers and doers of the word. (James 1:19-25). Verses 10-12 read,

“With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
11 I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O Lord;
    teach me your statutes!”

Seeking God with our whole heart means seeking His will and His Word. We can’t obey Him, if we don’t know what He has told us to do. We cannot store His word in our hearts if we don’t know what his word says. The Holy Spirit will teach us. He makes God’s Word plain to us, He unlocks it and allows us to hear it and understand it. 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 explains it this way,

“these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts 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 understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

Reading, learning, and discerning God’s Word helps us not to sin. As we listen to the Spirit and follow His guidance it does become easier not to sin. He replaces the desires of the flesh with God’s desires. He showers us with the blessings and joys of God will. Psalm 37:3-6 says,

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.”

But how can we delight in The Lord if we haven’t bothered to get to know Him? When we seek to know God by reading the Bible, following and communing with Christ, obeying His Word, praying to The Father and listening to The Holy Spirt, our character changes. We become more like Jesus exhibiting His traits, speaking in love, truth, psalms and praise, and walking in faith. Verses 13-16 read,

“With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
14 In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.”

The joy, the thrill, and enjoyment that comes from knowing the Word of God and living the Word of God is beyond explanation. It must be seen by others to be wanted by them. It must be experienced to understand it. I do not know anyone who is sincerely following Jesus and living a Spirit-filled life of friendship with God who would give it up for all the money they could imagine. The glory of the riches of God is way beyond the glory of earthly riches. Ephesians 3:14-21 reads,

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Believer, I pray that you will delight in the Word of God and experience the joy and fullness of God. I ask the Lord to rain His glory, blessings, and riches on you and keep you steadfast and blameless until the Day of Jesus Christ.

Psalm 63

Imagine you are in a land where all the crops have died, where there is no flowing water and you are starving and thirsty. Maybe that is too much for us in countries like America, Canada, and Great Britain. Most of us have never been as hungry or thirst as an orphan in a third world country. But try to imagine yourself at your hungriest and thirstiest, you empty stomach growling and your tongue and throat so dry you can’t speak. How badly would you want a glass of clean pure water to relieve your parched throat? How intensely would you want a piece of fresh warm bread to satisfy your growling stomach?

It that the way you yearn for God? Is that the way you long for The Lord? Do you pursue Him the same way you would search for water to alleviate your thirst? We have it so easy today. God is easy to find. I don’t know how accurate the research was but the statistic I found seems likely, the average American household has 4.7 Bibles. We have access to know God. Maybe because it is so easy for us, we don’t seek Him with the intense desperation of people in other countries. In some countries people must sneak in a Bible and worship God secretly in basements because if they are caught they will be tortured, imprisoned, or killed. But who is better off? Should we develop the desperation for God that Christians in China or India have? I think so.

David, the King of Israel who could enter the tabernacle and worship God anytime he liked had the deep desire to know God more. Verses 1-4 read,

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
    beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
    in your name I will lift up my hands.”

Even though David knew God well, he understood there was so much more of the Lord to know and experience. He didn’t take his access to the throne of God for granted. Perhaps because he was a king who understood what it meant to be royalty in a land of commoners, he understood the privilege.

When we desire God so profoundly, we act on it. We do not lay on our beds wishing we could know God more. A thirsty man doesn’t just sit feet from a spring wishing he could drink. He goes to the spring and drinks. We pray, we listen we consider all He has done, and all He has promised. We read His Word. We contemplate His love. And we praise and worship Him.

When we seek God, His kingdom, and His nature. He satisfies us. Though we yearn desperately, He gratifies completely, more than completely. David compare it to the man desperate for a crust of bread receiving a banquet fit for a king, rich flavorful fatty and nourishing foods. God does that for us. Verses 5-8 read,

“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.”

It is easy for the privileged, like those of us in nations where our poorest are richer than the rich of third world countries to forget to be grateful. We consider privileges to be our rights. We forget how actually blessed we are. David showed his thankfulness and appreciation to God by meditating on Him, by considering and contemplating the awesomeness of The Lord, his Provider, his Sovereign, his Redeemer, and his Almighty and Sufficient God.

David praised God for His unwavering love and His consistent ever-present help. He sang for joy in the shadow of God’s wings. The shadow of His wings refers to the wings of the cherubim on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The shadow of his wings is God’s mercy and grace to us, our salvation. We rest in the shadow of His wings since we cannot earn His love which is freely given. We cannot warrant His favor since He is just. We cannot merit Salvation since Jesus died and rose for us before we took our first breath and while we were still lost. (Romans 5:6-9). The word for mercy seat means propitiation, the satisfaction of our debt to God. Propitiation is the gaining of favor, to appease and wipe away wrath. Jesus is our propitiation, He is our mercy seat. 1 John 2:1-6 reads,

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

David clung to The Lord. To cling is to latch on, hold tightly like a baby latches on to the mother’s breast for life sustaining milk. But it was not only David who held tightly to God, God held David upright. God David’s Savior made it possible for him to be upright. The right hand of God, Jesus Christ our savior upholds us. Acts 5:29-32 reads,

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Jesus saves those who call on His name for salvation. But to the enemy, his minions, and his prisoners of war, Jesus will defeat them and send them to the eternal fires of the pit of Hell. Verses 9-11 read,

“But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

The Lord promised this in His Word that Jesus, the Word of God would Judge and anyone not covered by His righteousness would go to the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20). It is by the Word, the Sword of God, the living will of God that people will be judged. John 1:1-5 tells us Jesus is the Word, the living manifestation of God’s will. We will all be judged by the Word of God. Either we are covered by His righteousness or we are not. Those who reject Christ choose to be judge by the Law. And no one but Jesus was able to live up to the Law.

Hebrews 4:11-13 tells us that Scripture, the Word of God is a discerning judge.

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

And Revelation 19:11-16 describes Jesus,

“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

Is your soul desperate for the Lord? Do you desire Him the way a man trekking through the desert longs for water? Is Jesus your oasis, your Living Water satisfying your thirst forever? (John 4:7-14). Jesus promises to satisfy our souls’ longing for Him. John 7:37-39 reads,

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Ezekiel Chapter 21

This chapter prophesies the King of Babylon and the Ammonites making wars on Jerusalem. This was something Israel didn’t think would happen because they had made deals with Babylon and were already captives. They thought Babylon would stick by their word and leave Jerusalem alone and even protect the city. But the Lord would allow Babylon’s false divinations to lead them to destroy Jerusalem and He would remind the King of Jerusalem’s sins against him. (Verses 18-32).

Israel and Jerusalem were so stubborn they refused to give up their false religions, idols, and acceptance of worldly philosophies. The Lord steadfastly told them He wouldn’t put up with it, and unfalteringly disciplined them for this grievous sin. Yet they just as persistently ignored the chastisement. Verse 5 reads,

 “And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.”

Israel had reached the point, even though they were living in the midst of prophecies coming about they were treating God’s word like a fairy tale. They were barely reacting. The Lord wanted a response. Israel acted like hostile smug teenagers and kept up what they were doing. The Lord would keep doing what He was doing until they responded. And He knew that meant His stubborn children would be brought to their breaking point and beyond. He knows that for many of us, our pride makes it so we must break before we will acknowledge Him. Verse 7 reads,

“And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.”

The Lord described the sword He would unsheathe and He told them why He was doing it. Verses 9-13 read,

 “Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:

“A sword, a sword is sharpened
    and also polished,
10 sharpened for slaughter,
    polished to flash like lightning!

(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) 11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. 13 For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?” declares the Lord God.”

Israel despised the rod. They discounted God’s discipline. They refused to allow His corrective measures to correct them, instead they cried and whined and turned to wooden statues for help, when the Lord was right there waiting for them to respond to Him. Even though they hated the punishment they chose it over God.

Don’t we do the same thing? God allows circumstances to teach us, guide us, shape us, or otherwise discipline us and we hate them. We cry, but we don’t cry out to the Lord. We whine. We turn everywhere but to Jesus for answers. We look for money to solve the problem instead of depending on God. We read a hundred self-help books instead of the Word of God. We lean on crutches of worldly philosophy instead of God.

God loves us. He allows difficulties, pain, sorrow, and trials for reasons. Rather than hate the pain, loathe the suffering, and spurn the trials we can cling to Jesus and take joy in His deep and perfect love for us. We can be glad that He cares enough to want to transform us. We can allow the Comforter to comfort us as He uses the sword to deftly conform us to the image of Christ. That means not ignoring the trial but experiencing it. Romans 5:3-5 reads,

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Are you in the midst of terrible conditions? Are you suffering? How are you coping? Are you leaning on the Lord? Are you being upheld by the Brethren? Are you rejoicing, praying, thanking and praising? Or are you wallowing in self-pity? Are you looking for answers from self-help books and other idols? Are you seeking help from money? Are you trying to deaden the experience with alcohol, drugs, TV, or work?

I encourage you to rejoice in your suffering, embrace the pain. Cling to Jesus. Let the Holy Spirit have His way with you. Pay attention to and extract all the benefits of the sword you can. Be transformed.

Jesus doesn’t make your life idealistic. He doesn’t take away the pain and brutality of life. In fact, following Jesus can add pain to one’s life. But He does bring us through the suffering to a better end in which we, not our lives are made more ideal, like our Perfect Savior.




Matthew 10:34-39 reads,

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We can turn to the world to solve our problems. We can love the world more than the Word. If we choose the world over Jesus, we will not be transformed, we will die to the sword along with the world. But if we truly belong to God, we will choose Him. We will choose the sword over the wooden statues and the sword will give us life.

Examine your life and your heart. Have you despised the rod with wood? Have you hated the sword and loved the world? Respond to the Father’s discipline.

You have an enemy. Whether you are a follow of Christ or not you have an enemy, but if you are a follower you are in the war against him and his minions. Paul wraps up his letter with some powerful and meaty teaching about it. Verses 10-12 read,

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Paul tells us to be strong, not in our own strength, talent, or wisdom, but in the Lord. We re exhorted to be strong in the Lord. But what does that mean? Remember this, who you are in Christ is different than who you were outside of Him. He gave you gifts. He has trained you, grown you, and moved you through trials. Exercise the faith, wisdom and discernment He gave you and use the gifts He endowed to you. Walk with God, remembering He is alongside you, within you, and you are in Him.

The next verse tells us further how to be strong in the Lord, we are to put on the whole armor of God. It is a choice to use all the gifts and tools we have been equipped with or to let them rust with inactivity. We are all in the battle, but we have a choice in regards to fighting or cowering, and to fight well or poorly.

This isn’t just any fight. We’re not fighting the lost people. They have the same enemy we do, they just don’t know he’s their enemy. It is important to remember that our enemies are not men and women. The lost the prisoners of war. Our enemy is Satan and his underlings the demons who infiltrate, do his bidding, and put the chains on those prisoners. They fight to keep you weak. They fight to keep you ineffective. They do whatever they can to stop you from breaking the POWs out of their prisons and to ensure the captives have no idea they are bound.

But know that you have nothing to fear from Satan much less his demons. You are not called to cower or recoil. You are called to be strong in the Lord and put on His protection. Paul says in verse 13,

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

If we put on all of God’s protection we will withstand and if we use His strength to be active in the war, we will stand firm. We will remain effective fighting warriors allowing Jesus to set the captives free. Let’s take a brief look at the armor we are to wear. And don’t worry it isn’t cumbersome, every piece helps us to stand and fight.

Verse 14,

“Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,”

The belt of truth is the first piece of armor. The belt held up the soldiers’ tunic allowing him to run and move freely. The truth does that for us. John 8:44 describes Satan as a liar and murderer,

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan can only lie. And he lies well. He can make lies sound truthful, good, and beautiful. His lies can trip us up, keep us from believing we can fight, leave us tangled in the web of deceit unable to join in the battle. When we know the truth, we don’t have to second guess and trip over the lies that scoundrel tells. We don’t even have to listen to them!

One lie he likes to tell you is that we are not worthy to fight with Jesus, that you are too sinful to dare fight in the Lord’s army. But he’s wrong. The next piece of armor is the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate protected the soldier’s vital organs and kept him alive and able to use his weapons for fighting instead of trying to constantly protect his life. You do not have your own righteousness. But you do have Jesus’ righteousness. Romans 4:22-24 read,

“That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

We were credited with Jesus’ righteousness, not because of any work, not because we fight in the war, not because we pleased God but because we had faith, believed and live with Jesus as our Lord. Jesus’ righteousness gives us eternal life. Our heart is new, it is the temple of God and it is protected. The enemy can’t have our heart. It belongs to God.

Does it bring you joy and excitement to think about your salvation? It does me. Being saved, I want the POWs to be saved as well. And freeing the captives is one of our most important missions. So our next piece of armor is used for that assignment. Verse 15 reads,

“and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”

You need shoes to walk well and far. Walking barefoot eventually your feet become bruised and painful, causing you to limp. Your feet need shoes to allow you to keep walking with God rather than limping along. Knowing the truth of the gospel, what you believe and why you believe it keeps you walking rather than limping.

Your feet are fitted with the readiness. What does that mean? 1 Peter 3:15 says,

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

You have to know what you believe and why you believe it. You have to keep Christ honored as your Lord. Your life should show that you belong to Jesus and cause people to ask about the hope, the difference they see in you. You should be able to answer them. You should be able to point them to Jesus, to the Gospel.

The lost have no idea they can have peace with God. They don’t know that God wants to reconcile with them, heal their wounds, and give them freedom and rest. It is our mission as operatives to tell them. We can’t tell them by standing still, we have to go and on order to go, we have to move our feet and travel to them.  Romans 10:13-15 read,

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Verse 16 reads,

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;”

The shield allowed the soldier to stop weapons from hitting him. He kept it on him always and used it to stop the blows that might have injured him, weakened him and stopped him from being useful in the battle. Our shield is our faith. Faith means you know who God is. We trust completely in His power and strength. We believe He is our Savior, Creator, and the whole world and everything in it is His.

The enemy shoots a fiery arrow your way, but faith in God keeps it from touching you. 1 John 5:4-5 reads,

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

We know how the war ends. God wins, we win! We are already victorious and we keep fighting to complete our mission to free the captives with the gospel of peace. So as hard as the enemy wants to try and hurt us, he can’t. Keep the faith in all circumstances. All the arrows the devil throws our way bounce off the shield of faith and don’t even singe us. Satan can’t even get close to us, he has to fling arrows and hope we are not holding up our faith in order to hurt us. He only has the power to hurt us, if we let him.

Verse 17 reads,

“and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,”

The helmet is the most important part of our protection. The breastplate covers the heart and lungs, but the helmet protects the brain. The brain is the control center for our entire body. It coordinates everything in order for us to live.

We can’t be in the Lord’s army unless we have Jesus’ Salvation. That salvation is what directs the faith, gospel, righteousness and truth to work together for our victory. Without salvation we can’t have faith. We can’t reconcile people to god, if we are not reconciled to Him. We have no righteousness without salvation. We do not know the truth.

The next part of our armor is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. The sword is the weapon of our armor. It takes training to use a sword well. It requires up close combat to use a sword. Unlike the enemy who fling mendacious arrows at us from a safe distance, we are fully involved with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.

The Spirit is powerful and He is Truth. When we read the word, He reveals it to us and helps us to understand it. He brings it back to us when we need to hear it. He speaks to us and guides us through every circumstance. But to use the sword well, we must be trained in it. He can’t remind us what He has said, if we never read it or listened to Him. We won’t even recognize His voice if we don’t spend time with Him.

The Word of God is powerful if we use it properly. Remember our mission is to free the captives and reconcile them to God. We have to get in there and use the sword as it was meant to be used. Remember just how powerful the Spirit is. He raised Christ from the dead. He brings people to their knees. He can and does do more than we imagine. He speaks to God for us when we don’t know how.

The word of God is a weapon more powerful than we realize Hebrews 4:12 describes it like this,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

In Jeremiah 23:29 God describes His word.

“Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

That is an amazing weapon. What good is it laying by your side? Pick it up, handle it, and use it. The truth of the Gospel is in the Word. The Love of God in the Word. Read it, hear it, speak it and do it.

One of the ways we use the sword of the Spirit is through prayer. Yes! Prayer is wielding the sword of the Spirit. Speaking to the Lord and hearing His Word and doing His Word through obedience makes a difference. Verses 18-20 read,

“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”

When we pray we are actively exercising the powerful weapon we’ve been given. Asking the Lord to help us and help others, strengthens us, encourages us, equips us, and unites us. Paul ends this letter with verses 23-24.

“Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.”

Love incorruptible. Nothing can sully God’s love, nothing can damage or rust it. The armor of God, like God is incorruptible. Have faith in Everlasting Awesome God. Be strong.