Judges 6. Gideon, part 18: God uses

Title: Judges 6. Gideon, part 18: God uses "clothed" with the Spirit to reveal the invincibility of the faithful to do His will.      

 

Announcements:

 

Gideon is empowered by the Holy Spirit to do His will. The Holy Spirit clothes him like a suit of armor in order to accomplish his mission and Gideon knows and feels himself to be invincible.

 

The Spirit clothes us or fills us so that we are invincible in doing God's will.

 

Christ uses similar imagery to describe the Spirit's power upon us when He told the disciples to remain in Jerusalem until they were clothed with the Spirit as He had promised.

 

By the power of the Spirit we are invincible and invulnerable. Clothed with armor.

 

LUK 24:49

"And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

 

The promise was that the Spirit would teach us all things about God's will, bear witness of the person of Christ, guide us in all truth, glorify Christ in our hearts, and disclose the truth and value of our inheritance in Christ. The promise was also that He would be with us forever.

 

The Christian must choose to learn and apply God's will and when he does, thanks to the power of God the Holy Spirit, he is invincible in doing so.  

 

What is a gift to one man among millions is a gift to every church age believer. We are clothed with Him so that we may do His will and perform His works.

 

GAL 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

 

GAL 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

 

COL 3:5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

 

COL 3:6 For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come,

 

COL 3:7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

 

COL 3:8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

 

COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

 

COL 3:10 And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

 

These passages state that we have been made new creatures and have been clothed with Christ at the moment of salvation.

 

ROM 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

 

ROM 13:9 For this, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

 

ROM 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

 

ROM 13:11 And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.

 

This mention of salvation has been variously interpreted, but it is certainly a reference to the day of the Lord which will begin with the Rapture and continue on to His second coming and final judgment. The Lord was sure to inform us that we cannot know the time of it. It may be a hour from now or a millennium. We live as though it will come in an hour and we plan as though we will not see it in our lifetime.

 

Knowing this it is time to awaken if a believer is asleep. Unbelievers are not asleep. They are dead. This is a reference to the believer who has been made sleepy to the plan of God by inhaling far too much of the world. They are so lazy when it comes to God that they yawn in His face. They are so self-absorbed that any knowledge of God is suppressed. God commands us to be awake and alert. The message is that the Lord could be here in an hour. Wake up!

 

"It is nearer to us than when we believed." Each day is a day closer. Each ache, each pain, each white hair, each wrinkle is a reminder of the miles already traveled. Each change of the calendar, each returning season points us to what lies ahead. It won't be long.

 

2PE 3:11-12

What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God

 

Paul says the same.

 

ROM 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

 

ROM 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.

 

ROM 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

 

EPH 4:22 in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

 

EPH 4:23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

 

EPH 4:24 put on [aorist infinitive] the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 

These passages state that we are to put on the Lord and the new creature. It's not a contradiction but a call to be who God has made you to be and to utilize the power that God has given you.

 

In a weak analogy, it's sort of like being an adult and acting like an adult.

 

EPH 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.

 

EPH 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

 

And what does the armor of God consist of? Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit, and the word of God. The reality of these in our hearts makes us invincible in the will of God.

 

We are new creatures, clothed with Christ, clothed with the Holy Spirit, and we possess the full armor of God.

 

In God's will, in whatever He has called us to do, being new creatures in Christ, clothed with the Spirit, clothed with Christ, and clothed with the full armor of God we can accomplish it.