The powers of darkness are all around.  The enemy of your soul lurks in the increasingly dark regions of his borrowed kingdom where, for now, you must live and breathe.  His evil cohorts are never far away and their imaginations are always filled with masterfully devised plans to lure you into the quagmires of sin and death.  Sound like the beginning of a fictitious novel?  It’s Not!  These are biblical facts; a spiritual battle rages for your soul, and the enemy is never far away.  Your only hope is to accept the deliverance offered through Jesus Christ.  As a follower of Christ, you are guaranteed eternal life and power to stand against the enemy today!  

  The sixth chapter of Ephesians describes our supernatural enemy: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12).”   In that same context you’ll find a description of our divinely issued armor and weaponry.   Verse 17 refers to the “Sword of the Spirit,” our only offensive weapon.  The text itself reveals that this sword is in fact, the Word of God.  “…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6:17b).” 

  This Sword was carried by Christ Himself, our Great Commander, while He paced the dusty paths of earth almost 2000 years ago.  He taught us how to wield it when He was tempted in the wilderness by the devil in Matthew 4.  His experience there teaches us that our Sword’s full potential cannot be realized as long as it is bound in leather and carried in our hands.  The Sword of the Spirit must be sheathed in our hearts.  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11).”

  My Christian friend, when the enemy of your soul draws near to thrust his fiery darts, you are not left without resources with which to fight back—unless of course you have failed to sheath your Sword.   Fill your heart and mind with the powerful Word of God—quickly now, the enemy is at hand!

Buddhism — Founder: Siddhartha Gautama, (563-483 BC).   He was cremated and his remains (relics) were placed in monuments in various places.

Christian Science — Founder: Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910).   She is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Islam — Founder: Muhammad (570-632).   He is buried in Medina, Saudi Arabia

Jehovah’s Witnesses — Founder: Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916).   He is buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Mormonism — Founder: Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844).   He is buried in the Smith Family Cemetery, Nauvoo, Illinois, USA.

Transcendental Meditation — Founder: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1917-2008).   He was cremated, and his ashes scattered.

Biblical Christianity — Founder:  Jesus Christ (~ 4 BC-AD 30).   He is not buried, HE IS ALIVE.  Because He is God, He rose from the dead on the third day in Jerusalem, Israel (AD 30), where He was seen of over 500 people at once.

  Biblical Christianity is the only “religion” or “faith” in which salvation is not obtained by the works of man.  Christ alone is abundantly able to save!

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)”

 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:25-26).”

  Edmund Burke (1729-1797) first said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” (i.e. history as recorded by true historians rather than contemporary revisionists) We follow in the footsteps of countries that are no more. The list of our infractions is long: Moral values are all but forgotten; Ignorance of biblical economic principles has placed us on a path that leads to chaos, etc. The solution is well stated in Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation of March 30, 1863.

  “Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord:

  And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity…, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

  Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”

  The Bible stands like a rock undaunted ’Mid the raging storms of time;

Its pages burn with the truth eternal,And they glow with a light sublime.

  The Bible stands like a mountain tow’ring Far above the works of men;

Its truth by none ever was refuted, And destroy it they never can.

  The Bible stands and it will forever, When the world has passed away;

By inspiration it has been given, All its precepts I will obey.

  The Bible stands every test we give it, For its Author is divine;

By grace alone I expect to live it, And to prove it and make it mine.

Refrain:

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble,

It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;

I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,

For the Bible stands.

  Would you like to know more about the Word of God?  We are pleased to offer a FREE Bible Study For All Ages.  We call it our CBC Mailbox Club.  If you would provide basic information (see below) we will send you Lesson #1.  When you return the completed lesson it will be graded and sent back to you with Lesson #2, etc.  When you complete a course you will receive a certificate and the opportunity to begin another course.  It’s that simple!

 How to get started:

Send us a letter and include your name, mailing address and age (If you are over 18, the word “Adult” will suffice.) You might also include your email address (optional) just in case we have a question.  Your information will never be shared.

Mail to: CBC Mailbox Club • 331 Main St. • Corinth ME 04427

After we receive your request, your first lesson will arrive in a few days.  If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call.

 The Bible tells us that nothing is preventing the next event on God’s prophetic calendar, the Rapture of the Church.  It will be preceded just momentarily by the sound of a trumpet and the voice of the Archangel of God heralding the event.  Nothing conjures up more excitement among Christians than our anticipation of the sound of the Trumpet of God.  At the Rapture, Christians who are dead will be raised and those still living will be “caught up” together with them into the presence of the Lord.  Seven destructive years of tribulation will follow for those left behind, and then Jesus will return to reign for a thousand years as King.  After every prophesied event has been fulfilled, our Lord has promised to lead His saints into a land beyond time, to live in His presence forever.

  As I said, the sound of the trumpet is imminent.  Nothing is preventing the beginning of the end.  God has revealed the conditions that will unfold in the seven year tribulation period after the Rapture:  Churches that once stood for the fundamental doctrines of the Bible will fall away from the truth.  They will be self-centered rather than God-centered.  They will erase the lines of distinction that have been drawn with blood down through the centuries, and join themselves together into one idolatrous church.  Israel will be despised by the world and a hostile attitude toward her will prevail.  The economy will become global and small world powers will melt together into colossal empires led by ambitious powermongers.   Already we can see these and many other signs of the times on the horizon.  Time is running out!

  Friend, if the trumpet should sound today, are you ready?  Those who have accepted Christ’s gospel by faith (i.e. His death, burial and resurrection) as God’s satisfactory payment for their sins, have nothing to fear.  Those who spurn the grace of God thinking that they will seek God’s forgiveness later, will wish tomorrow that they had believed today.  God help you to consider the gospel while there is yet time!