How many of
you have gone to your closet that was full of clothes and have declared, “I
don’t have a thing to wear”! Now I am sure that the men in the audience don’t
understand this at all because they just put on the same thing every day, a
pair of jeans or khakis, and one of the five shirts that are ironed and ready
to go. Not a big deal for you guys, but it is a different thing for women
because everything has to match and there are so many different colors of
green or yellow or blue and they just don’t match that new skirt or slacks
that you just bought.
Some days the
same thing applies to our spiritual closet. We just can’t decide what to put on!
Should we put on our garment of praise or our robe of righteousness or maybe we
need the whole armor of God for the day. God has blessed us and given us all of
the above so that we never need to go out into the world uncovered or naked.
Adam had on a
robe of righteousness when God first created him, but after he sinned by
disobeying God, he realized he was naked. Although God did not restore him to
the original state, He did provide for him by creating a covering of animal
skin, and promised him that someday humankind would be restored and again be
able to wear a robe of righteousness. In our first scripture for today, 1st
Peter 2:24, we read in vs 24 "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness."
What does the
word righteousness mean? It is Right Standing with God
based on God’s covenant. God created man. We are His creation. Adam
broke the covenant, God restored it.
Abraham was
counted as righteous because of his obedience and faith.
Moses led the
people out of slavery and gave them the Ten Commandments that God had given him,
but because of unbelief they were not able to keep the commandments and could
not be counted as righteous.
Jesus came to
earth to die on a cruel cross to pay the price for our sins so that we might be
counted as righteous and only by faith -- confessing and accepting that
sacrifice -- can we wear the robe of right standing with God.
Job was a man
of righteousness. In Job 29:14, he states that he put on righteousness as his
clothing and justice as his turban and set out to be a blessing to others. He
was tested severely but he continued to trust God and was restored.
Many times we forget
where our righteousness comes from and try to do things in our own strength and
fall flat on our face, but Isaiah 64:6 tell us that our righteous acts
are as filthy rags, when we continue to sin. God gladly comes to the help of
those who do right and molds us into what he can use. Perhaps we set our
standards too low or have false humility!
Paul wrote in
Philippians 1: 9-11, vs 9 "And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more
and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern
what is best and (you) may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ -- to the glory
and praise of God."
So if we have
been given this robe of righteousness, why then do we keep on sinning? Do we
have to sin every day in thought, word or deed?
Unfortunately
we live in a world where satan is the prince of the air and he takes great pride
in seeing us stumble and fall and even encourages us to do so, but the good news
is “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world”
We can overcome. How can we do this?
Quit giving
yourself permission to fail! Think positive!!! When you do mess up, ‘fess up
and get on with life.
Don’t try
to legislate how you or others should be living. Spend time in the
Word and in prayer. The Spirit will guide you in the way you should
go.
If others
mess up, don’t judge them; help them up by praying for and encouraging
them.
Practice what you preach; proclaim the truth and live it daily.
Our last
scripture, from Ephesians 6:10-18, is one we have studied over and over, but
when we apply it we are ready for anything that comes along. We won’t have to
be concerned about what we should wear for the day.
Dr. Jesse Duplantis
has written a book entitled God is Not Enough, He’s Too Much! Jesse is
very candid and uses a lot of comedy to get his point across but adds a powerful
punch to make the scripture come alive. Here is a quote from page 179.
|
Are you Naked? Get Dressed!
Put on the full Armor of God!
There are
people walking around naked! Buck-naked! Don't look around; look down! Is it
you? Are you naked?
You know God
has given us a full suit of clothes, a full armor to wear as we daily fight the
good fight of faith. Did you notice that I said good fight? Faith is a good
fight! (1stTimothy 6:12)
You aren't one
of those people who are just walking around with a helmet, are you? You aren't
one of those who don't like to be burdened down with a full suit of armor, are
you?
They're out
there, you know. Naked Christians with their helmets on cock-eyed and struggling
to see what's going on out there. Some of them just have a helmet and one shoe.
Others have a helmet and a breastplate, but their loin ...well, uh, just say
they aren't girded. Then there are those who have that helmet latched on tight
and they're swinging their Sword of the Spirit at anything that moves. They're
looking to cut something good! They just can't seem to understand why or how
they got so many fiery darts struck in their rear end!
You don't have
to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if you've got a dart stuck in your
behind, there's a battle going on. If you're looking down and all you see is
the color of your bare flesh, then I've got something to tell you. You're naked.
Don't you think it's time you put some clothes on?
https://www.jdmstore.org/pc-90-14-gods-not-enough-hes-too-much.aspx
|
The Armor of God is always appropriate for any occasion and when
we wear it, we can wear it with confidence and know that we will be the
best-dressed person at the party!
