Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
One of the common traits that all mankind has ‘in common’ is to ‘dress for the occasion’ accordingly, the man prepares for, and protects himself from things like the effects of the weather, or things like a job uniform that he is required to ‘put on’ as a representative of that particular line of work. Our Father has provided for us His “Armor of Light” to adorn, and “put on” as sons and daughters who desire to “walk honestly, as in the day.” And in Romans 13:12, we see ‘two powers’ mentioned in the verse, and this is when, and where we come to understand and appreciate that those two ‘powers’ are either going to ‘work for’ our godly edifying, or ‘work against’ our godly edifying. And the “works of darkness” will ‘work for’ this world and Satan, but the “armor of light” is designed to ‘work against’ this world and Satan.
Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
But before we can benefit from the Fruit of the Spirit, we have to “cast off the works of darkness” from our minds, our hearts, and flesh. The works of darkness will always be in the world, and around us, but we don’t have to “obey it,” and allow it to have dominion over us, and where we give it the ‘power’ to reign over us, we will also cooperate with the works of darkness as we become it’s servant, and we do it’s will, and our flesh’s will as we fulfil them “in the lusts thereof.” But it is the doctrine of our Father’s Word that stabilizes us, and keeps us, and protects our inward man as its Armor.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Col 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
It is at this point that we come to understand that the works of darkness goes to ‘work’ at the “heart” of the saint, and at the body of Christ itself as One Church, and it tries to separate you from being conformed to the Image of His Son, because part of being conformed to the image of His Son, is understanding the Oneness that the Son has, and had with the Father when He was on the earth, and that He currently has with the Father being One, and Their design is that we walk in godliness by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. But we must trust, and “reckon” that His Word will do exactly what He designed that it will do for us. But whether we know it or not, we already operate upon this same system of thinking, but sometimes we are too “carnal” to see that this is the case!
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Moreover, it seems as if we look upon what God tells us as ‘non-attainable’ without God’s physical intervention, or God doing things for us;’ as if His word is just a book of ‘Devotion,’ to make us feel better until we get to heavenly places. We are to truly trust that when we suffer, His word is our salvation from the pain within our inward man. And we have to ‘really trust’ that when we are “tempted,” as 1st Corinthians 10 teaches us, that it is His word that gives us the “escape” from this world’s temptations and is our “escape” from our lusts that we have learned to form an “affection” for.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We TRUST, and believe this world’s remedy for our tribulations, and sufferings, and pain all the time:
- We buy self-help books to help us to ‘understand ourselves,’ and how to ‘deal with’ our sufferings, or our problems.
- We trust, and ‘believe in’ the Doctor who will medicate us, to ‘sedate’ us, and to ‘suppress’ our pain, and sufferings.
- We TRUST and BELIEVE, and “reckon” that when we go to the Psychiatrist that THEIR WORDS WILL WORK for us! But some will say, ‘it’s not about what the doctor tells me, it’s just about me venting, and getting things off my chest;’ but that’s what Prayer is for!
We are to “reckon,” trust, and believe that GOD’S WORD WILL be the ‘antidote,’ the ‘Recipe,’ and all the ‘Remedy,’ that we will need when we suffer, or are “tempted” by this world. And it is our maturing through our edification as we learn His Word and are instructed in sound doctrine unto all godliness. But this is part of the “armor” we are to use when we find ourselves ‘lusting’ (and we will), God gives us the doctrine of how we are to use the Armor, but He gives us ‘the why’ we are to use it, and as you can see, He gives us ensamples, and examples to show the consequences, and danger that we face when left ‘unprotected’ by His Armor. And we must get this “excellency of the power” in our inward man. And we will begin to ‘feel unprotected’ when we are not relying on His Word and being ‘renewed’ in our minds by His Word we will know that we are unprotected by His Armor when trying to utilize this world’s wisdom in our sufferings, and our lusts.
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Furthermore, when we “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ, we ‘cover up’ our “old man,” and the lusts of our flesh. And it is this world’s temptations that we fall in love with, and that we desire to live unto, and this “temptation” is the “lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, the pride of life,” as we see in the verses above; “ALL that is in the world,” are those things that we learned to crave, and “lust” for, but God has made “provision” for us with His Word which ‘shows us the light’ to escape this world’s works of darkness by putting on the armor of light.
Eph 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 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.
Eph 6:13 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.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Finally, when the son and daughter in Christ ‘puts on’ the Lord Jesus Christ, they are ‘adorning’ Him, they are wearing the doctrine, they ‘become’ a “living epistle,” every step, or “path” becomes a bible verse, our judgment, our decisions will be based upon His Word alone. Also, things like patriotism, civil issues, Politics, and other hot button topics, has the man wrapped up in a covetous relationship with this world; which also is a very big part of today’s ‘goodly man.’ We see the worshiping of the flag, and real estate, and men trusts in it as their all-in-all, and many will live and die for land (country), and the endless pursuit of money, like the stock market, and any other way that man covets wealth. But we are to set our “affection” on things above, and be “led by,” and “walk in,” and “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Rod Jones
Supply of Grace 