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The Light
Dr David Wood
THE LIGHT
ARE YOU NAKED? – PART FOUR
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ! Can you believe it, April is upon us already. However, in view
of the fact that we are already walking in eternity what does that have to do
with us? (Another sermon) We in the Christian community will be celebrating
Good Friday and Easter. Our Jewish friends will be celebrating the first three
of seven feasts of the Lord appointed in Leviticus the twenty-third chapter. At
6PM the 8th of April on our Gregorian Affiliates are the start of
Passover and the feast of unleavened bread. Passover corresponds to our Good
Friday. Starting at 6PM the 9th of April is the start of the feast
of firstfruits. These wonderful Jewish feasts were prophetic of Jesus, the Lamb
of God who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is the One
who withstood the test and sinned not. Jesus is the One without leaven (sin)
(Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is the firstfruits (1Corinthians 15:20-23) of the Seed
that was sown at Calvary then you and I in our own order.
Now let us return to our study of the wonderful
clothing, coverings that God has provided. We have discussed the garments of
salvation and the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). These are the coverings
provided automatically at salvation. However, the remainder of our clothing
comes by our choice, our efforts, and our diligence. We left off last month
talking about being clothed with the armour of light. Since God is light (1
John 1:5) then we can say the armour of God. So now we will move into this very
familiar passage of Scripture from the sixth chapter of Ephesians.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (KJV)
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and
having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
The first thing we notice in verse thirteen is
that we are responsible to take this armour unto ourselves. God does not slip
it on us, coerce us to take it or even make us take it. We as free will beings
must purpose to take this armour. We must purpose to take each and every
piece. If you think the job was done by saying something like, “I take unto
myself the whole armour of God” you are in deep trouble not to mention
deception. That is, you are deceived and can not figure out why the devil is
knocking your brains out.
The second thing we notice from verse thirteen is
that this armour is essential to our ability to withstand the temptations of
Satan. The phrase “having done all” will depend on the attack, the temptation.
If it is an attack on your body than we are talking about defining the problem,
getting whatever you need in the natural but above all proclaim the Word of God
over the problem. Remember every knee must bow at the name of Jesus and Jesus
Himself is watching over His Word to perform it. Then you continue to do what
you have been called to do in the body of Christ without compromise. Continuing
to do the will of God, walk in our calling, is what that last phrase, “to stand”
is all about. That phrase is not about a passive posture of inactivity but an
aggressive active posture.
Verse fourteen tells us that when we have on the
whole armour of God we will be gird about with truth. The first question coming
to mind is; what is truth? Thank you for asking. The word truth means nothing
concealed. The first aspect of truth we will explore is the word of God. The
Scripture is clear that it, the Word of God, is Truth.
1 Kings 17:24 (KJV)
24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art
a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
John 17:17 (KJV)
17 Sanctify them through thy truth:
thy word is truth.
Remember now that truth means nothing concealed
so the Bible is not a book of concealment for us who believe but of revelation.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (KJV)
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
So the Word of God is opened to us by the Holy
Spirit and we can know what He knows! We can have the mind of Christ (1
Corinthians 2:16). We cover ourselves with the Word. With this in mind let us
look at the ninety first Psalm.
Psalm 91:4 (KJV)
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt
thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Notice the phrase “his truth shall be thy
shield and buckler.” The word shield here means something prickly, a thorn,
like a cactus hedge. The word buckler means something surrounding so we have
the picture of a cactus hedge completely encircling us. At least that is how
the devil sees the Word of God that we apply to our lives. If we will not let
any of this hedge down he can not pierce it and bring destruction into your
life. It may look like he has or is going to bring destruction into your life
but he can not do it without your permission. We live by faith not by sight (2
Corinthians 5:7).
The second thing or in the case person that truth
represents is the Holy Spirit. Of course, the Word, is also a person, that is
Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, He is our Teacher.
John 14:17 (KJV)
17 Even
the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in
you.
John 15:26 (KJV)
26 But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
John 16:13 (KJV)
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of
himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will
shew you things to come.
The anointing (Holy Spirit) on the logos of God
(written word) brings the rhema (revelation) of eternal life into our lives our
very beings.
Now there is a third aspect of truth which is
foundational to all things related to our Christian walk and that is love.
Psalm 119:142 (KJV)
142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy
law is the truth.
Notice the phrase “thy law is the truth.”
Well what is “thy law”? Let Jesus explain.
Matthew 22:34-40 (KJV)
34 But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to
silence, they were gathered together.
35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a
question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind.
38 This is the first and great
commandment.
39 And the second is like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Love is the foundational Truth. Without love
your life and mine will be a shambles. The opposite of love is fear. Fear is
an open door for the enemy. The Scripture tells us that fear has torment
therefore we know that it is not of God.
1 John 4:18 (KJV)
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The following is a definition of love, which is
the Greek word agape, God gave me some years ago.
Agape – a deep and constant interest in a person,
it is a function of the will, it is right (righteous), it reflects covenant
(blood), and it is not dependent on the recipient in any way. It is solely
dependent on the giver.
I am sure you are familiar with the love
Scriptures in 1 Corinthians thirteen but do you practice them on purpose? Are
you diligent every moment of every day to walk in love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (AMP)
4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is
envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or
vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not
rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us)
does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not
self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes
no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but
rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is
ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all
circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to
an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose),
it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be
destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose
its value and be superseded by truth].
In summary, to be gird about with truth means we
walk in the harmony of the Word of God, directed of the Holy Spirit and with all
diligence walk in the foundational Spiritual Law, the fruit of the spirit,
love. We must do these things on purpose.
Next month we will pick up right here with the
breastplate of righteousness. Until then meditate the Word and speak the Word,
rely upon the Spirit of Almighty God to reveal all things to you and walk in
love.
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