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The Light
Dr David Wood
THE LIGHT
ARE YOU NAKED? - PART TWO
Praise the Lord, it is good to be back with you. January is gone and February
is upon us. The Lord is so good! I trust that your January was filled with
triumph. Every attack of the enemy is an opportunity to show our God great.
Not just to ourselves which of course is wonderful but to a broke, sick and
twisted world which desperately needs a real God. We will return to our topic;
Are you Naked? First a little review of the January article with some
additional material then into new territory.
Let me remind you that we are already kings and priests in the earth unto our
God.
Revelation 1:5-6 (KJV)
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him
be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus Christ the prince of the kings of the earth (you and I) has washed us from
our sins with His blood because He loved as even as the Father loved and loves
us. (John 3:16) This washing with His sinless blood is what has restored us to
a position of authority and power. Authority was originally given to man in
Genesis 1:26 (authority/dominion) and the power in Genesis 1:28 (power/subdue).
In the absence of sin all authority and power is available to the mature
believer.
Due to sin being removed by the blood of Jesus we again have entrance into the
Most Holy Place. Remember Adam was clothed by God Himself.
Hebrews 10:19-20 (KJV)
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through
the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
The priests of old never entered the Most Holy Place without blood.
Hebrews 9:7 (KJV)
7
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not
without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the
people:
Neither can we have communion with God without the presence of the blood. The
unsaved can experience the presence of God but they can not have communion,
intimacy but all is open to us, the redeemed. Praise the Lord!
Hebrews 12:22-24 (KJV)
22
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in
heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made
perfect,
24
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
In Hebrews Twelve we find God speaking to the saved. Notice the phrase “ye are
come.” That is past tense. You were positioned at the right hand of the Father
in Christ Jesus immediately on receiving Christ Jesus and believing on His
name. Father God is our judge and He judges us righteous with every right to be
at mount Sion, the very throne of grace. Jesus is our mediator, that is He
stands between us and God concerning our covenant. Jesus is the only man to
write a will then rise from the dead to probate that will. What a deal! Then
this passage tells that we are come (already) “to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaketh better things than that of Abel.” The blood of Able cried for
vengeance. The blood of Jesus cries redemption, salvation!!!
Remember that when we are saved we receive certain clothing. It is important
that we know that and that we know what that clothing is and what it represents
and what does that mean to me and the kingdom of God.
Exodus 28:4 (KJV)
4
And these are the garments which they shall make; a breastplate, and an
ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle: and they shall
make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister
unto me in the priest's office.
Exodus 28:42 (KJV)
42
And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins
even unto the thighs they shall reach:
This robe of righteousness is received at salvation and is one of the four
garments. Never forget, it is the blood of Jesus that made us righteous. We
are righteous; we do not just have righteousness. Righteousness is as much a
part of your spiritual clothing as your arm is a part of your physical body.
This righteousness is a hedge or a barrier to the enemy. Notice the effect of
the blood at the time of the institution of Passover as an annual feast of the
Lord.
Exodus 12:23 (KJV)
23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he
seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass
over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to
smite you.
Notice when they applied the blood to their door as instructed that the LORD
would not allow death (the destroyer) to come into their house. It is no
different today. Apply the blood to your doors (gates) of the senses, your
body, your home, your land, your business and so on and the destroyer can not
come to your house either. Now if you are willfully breaching the barrier of
the blood with sin your hedge is down and the destroyer has a legal right to
enter. That is exactly what happened with Job. He got into fear (sin) and the
hedge the devil had seen last time he was by Job’s place was down and he had a
legal right to Job. The extent of that right was determined by a merciful and
loving God.
We were made righteous at salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
We must maintain this righteousness. God will not maintain it for you, it is
your responsibility. We are made righteous at salvation but the maintenance is
our responsibility. Meditate on the following verses.
Romans 6:16 (KJV)
16
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness?
Galatians 5:9 (KJV)
9 A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
You and I make choices minute to minute about what we do, how we act, what we
say, where we go, what we listen to and what we look at. We make choices about
whether or not to obey the Word of God. Leaven refers to sin. A little sin
will eventually corrupt your whole being if you do not confess the sin and
repent of the sin.
I mentioned above about maintaining the righteousness given at salvation and
that obedience was a key. The obedience I am speaking of is to the Word of God,
not our own way (Proverbs 14:12) or the way of the world (1 Corinthians 1:20).
Remember in the garden they were responsible for their relationship with God and
when they sinned death came to their spirit man immediately. We have a better
covenant. That is we are in Christ Jesus and when we sin we do not die
spiritually, at least not immediately. That is the mercy of God extended for
some period of time due to the sacrifice, the blood of Jesus. With this in mind
let us consider the following verse.
1 Thessalonians 5:8 (KJV)
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
I realize we have not yet talked about the breastplate of judgment
(righteousness) but here we see it referred to as the breastplate of faith and
love. These are the crucial ingredients of obedience concerning the maintenance
of righteousness. Faith is simply believing the Word of God and doing it. Love
is to do the right thing at all times. Both faith and love are extensive topics
in and of themselves and perhaps we will deal with them in an extensive fashion
in a future letter. Now let us deal with the breastplate of judgment.
Exodus 28:30 (KJV)
30
And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and
they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron
shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD
continually.
Leviticus 8:8 (KJV)
8
And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and
the Thummim.
In the presence of the blood, the judgment is righteous! Let us look briefly at
a little Biblical Numerology. Exodus is the second book of the Old Testament
and two is the number of Jesus or union. The number twenty-eight represents
eternal life and the number thirty the blood of Christ. When we look only at
the numerology for reference Exodus 28:30 we see eternal life through the blood
of Jesus. Likewise with Leviticus which is the third book of the Old Testament
giving us spiritual completeness and the eighth chapter and eighth verse being a
new beginning but we have two the number for union or Jesus so we have a new
beginning with spiritual completion through Jesus. Alternatively you could say
the two eights add to sixteen the number of love. Spiritual completion through
love! Is not that wonderful!
Now, what are Urim and Thummim? Urim is light and fire. Thummim represents
completion, prosperity and innocence. The light is representative of the light
of the world, Jesus of Nazareth (John 8:12). The fire is representative of the
Holy Spirit, specifically the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 6:5-7).
With regard to the Thummim we find completion that is to be made whole again.
We are given prosperity at salvation. This is beyond the scope of this teaching
but our prosperity is a primary will of God. We were made innocent or put
another way, righteous. Righteousness is the absence of sin. The Urim and
Thummim were hidden in the breastplate of judgment because it was prophetic of
the time to come. Well praise the Lord now is that time by the shed blood of
Jesus. So let us put this all together concerning the Urim and the Thummim.
The light of the world, Jesus Christ, made us complete in Him restoring our
prosperity and giving us His righteousness (innocence). This all done made
possible by the fire, the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14).
Up to this point we have dealt with clothing we were issued at salvation which
we have the responsibility to maintain thereafter. Next month we will deal with
what is available to us from God. We must take a very active role in order to
be effective in spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is not an option. Whether
you win or lose is your choice. You make that choice by whether or not you take
an active role in identifying your spiritual tools and use them as intended.
When you do engage the enemy with the provisions of God in Wisdom the outcome is
assured, you win every time!
Until next month, the Lord bless and keep you in all His ways.
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