Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 10

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation*, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God."

*our whole process of thinking and believing it, taking it by faith. I have to ask, why did Paul use the helmet for the figure of Salvation, why not another part of armor? I think it is because of what we have been saying, our mind from our birth is the field where Satan works through our will, emotions, feelings, thoughts, imaginations, opinions and a host of other physical things. It is here that we are the weakest and most vulnerable, just look at the kids to day, they have social diseases of all kinds and descriptions, which they try to control with mind controlling drugs. Now we come to the only part of all that’s listed which is a weapon. and what is it?

I know we are all aware that when they came to arrest the Lord in the garden, what did Peter draw and strike out with? A sword. We don’t know if it’s still there or not, but when I was reading something a gentlemen who wrote back in the 1800’s, he stated that at that time in Rome there was a statue, supposedly of Paul, and it had on it's side this little Roman sword. It was not the big long battle sword, but rather what we would call a dagger. Then we happened to think of Peter the night of the arrest, so it must not have been unusual for these men to carry a defensive weapon or something they used in meal preparation on their person wherever they went.

Hebrews 4:12

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

We also know that from the book of Revelation, that we have the same analogy of God’s Word as the sword with which He fights. This is a true sword, a double edged, three foot long weapon that when used by the skilled hands of its owner, kills. Revelation is the realm of all spiritual war fare for the souls of mankind and is a picture of this war fare being conducted for us, in our behalf. It is with this understanding that we with Paul can profess his prayer at the closing of this Epistle. But the world under the deceit of Religion knows nothing of these truths or mysteries and therefore walks about in constant confusion of darkness, eating up all the sweet things of the prince of darkness, Satan and the prince of death, Molech.

Ephesians 6:18-20
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of this Gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

This is our prayer also because those who have become disciples of Christ, are stewards and ambassadors of these mysteries, the hidden things of the kingdom of heaven and of God. These are the mysteries which Jesus told His disciples they were to understand and have knowledge of, once they learned of Him. The same mysteries Moses spoke of in Deuteronomy 29:29 and are revealed through Paul's teaching and writing. The very things that Peter said were at times hard to understand and comprehend. So those who are in the same situation as Peter, James, John and even Jude may not have had Paul's comprehension and understanding of the LORD Jesus Christ, as we are attempting to bring out. I know that this is true because of those who have been friends and are now opposing us, or at least not agreeing with us. But this is okay because we still pray for their salvation's entry where in He makes us all one IN Christ, that is having Christ's nature of character restored.

From here Paul closes this Epistle with:

Ephesians 6:21-24

“But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: Whom I have sent to you for the same purpose, that you might know our affairs, and he might comfort your hearts. Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.”          

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 9

This says it all doesn’t it? Even the Apostle Paul, had the Lord not opened Lydia’s heart, how far would he have gotten? As we say today, not even to first base. But you see as Paul was laying out this Gospel of the Grace of God and how that Christ died (we are counted as in Him by God the Father, the Father of spirits and by His doing made righteous, as Abraham was righteous) for the sins of the world, and how He rose from the dead in power, and glory by the Spirit of Holiness. And as Paul laid that out to her, the Lord opened her  for understanding.

Have you ever stopped to think when Apostle Paul began his ministry among these pagan Gentiles and the Hebrews, they had no knowledge of any of this. The pagans, had no knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures or the God of Israel. They had no knowledge of a promised Messiah and King to the nation. Oh they knew those Hebrews were different, but they knew nothing of Judaism or nothing of the Old Testament. And yet this Apostle can come into those pagan cities and proclaim the crucified Jewish Messiah who rose from the dead and they believed it by the thousands. It was to such an extent that it literally penetrated and turned the Roman empire upside down, now this is unbelievable. What about the heathens (as those addicted to idolatry, such as in Religion with the many rites or systems in the rule of self), those called wicked in the scriptures. These are none other than those who profess to be what they are not, not merely hypocrites but are the actual heathens. Because they by way of common core and usage abuse and profane God's name and Christ's Body. They by habit mock Christ's Gospel and the kingdom of heaven which is the true House of God's rule. Because Paul's Gospel is not what is proclaimed by the masses today nor is it known in Truth. Instead the worlds religion and its many fingers of deception are what are being brought out and received as truth. But many will ask what about the Jews, the Israelites and Islamist's or Muslim's they worship God. To this I would ask, do they? I ask this question, because of what Jesus implied to the Samaritan woman about true worshipers of God, who will worship Him in spirit and truth, because God is Spirit. Which is to imply that these kinds of people worship another spirit, and other god, they do not who or what he is. But those who become His disciples will know the true God of spirits, in His kingdom. This all takes us back to 2Corinthians 6 and the comment of Paul there stated dealing with the disciples of Belial, the infidel, the ones who disbelieves the inspiration of the Scriptures, and the divine origin of true Christianity.

At least we, when we share this Gospel with people, hopefully they have a certain amount of knowledge but what about the understanding of these things? They at least know the story of His birth and death with its accompanying resurrection and ascension if nothing else, but those people had none of that. So the Lord opens their understandings, and immediately they could embrace it, they could believe it, and of course Lydia’s house, became the very first congregation on the European Continent. But it took the Lord supernaturally opening the hearts mind and the thinking processes of this lady so that she could comprehend what Paul was talking about. So always remember, whether it’s us, or anybody else, we are just beating the air unless the Lord opens the heart and the mind to receive the illumination in those we are witnessing to.

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"   

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 8

Philippians 2:5-8

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." 

We emphasized this before our death on the cross, yes our death through trusting His word and our receptivity of His activities (this is our following Him and our doing as He has done) by faiths receptiveness. What made the death of the cross so unique so far as we are concerned? Is this, it was not just another crucifixion, because the Romans crucified people by the thousands back in Jesus’ day. But His is unique because it was on His terms, and on Him that all the sins of the world were placed. It was while He hung upon that stake that the sun turned blood red, the moon and the stars did not give off their reflective light. So the stars it could be said, fell heaven, and the day became dark as night, the world was in judgment (Ezekiel 32:7-8). That is our death and judgment of the cross. That is our flesh which houses sin and sins voice. It was there that our sin was laid on Him (Isaiah 53 and 1Peter 2 tell us that by His stripes we are healed or restored to right standing, to free from error and made the righteousness of God), and that is why Isaiah could write that He was more disfigured than any man that had ever lived. Because of the judgment of the curse of man’s sin along with the curse which the Law carried, were laid upon Him as He died that vicarious death of the cross. Not for Himself but for all humanity from Adam until the last baby born of woman. In what Paul Harvey calls, the rest of the story, the revelation of the Lord's Last Supper (the first part of His marriage feast a betrothal of promise) coupled with the cross's death, burial, resurrection and His ascension. The full sequence of events laid out and hidden within the framework of the Old Covenant came to it's desired end with Christ's ascension. All of this serves as the bases of this Gospel of God's Grace and the New and Better Covenant of which we are to believe and by the action of Faith receive within us. Jesus emptied Himself of His Glory to take on our shame, our humility and our humanity to became of no reputation. This is that which Israel never did because of the heart of stone within mankind during that 3000 year period in mans history.

The point I want you to see here is that it all comes to us through the mind of the heart. When the Spirit gives us understanding (illumination, revelation, just as Peter revealed when asked who Jesus was in Matthew 16:13-15) and we with our mental capacity except these things by trusting His faith. These revelations do not have to make sense or be some great illumination but they do have to be Light and Truth which heals from within. Now for a moment let’s follow the mind by looking at Romans chapter 12, because we cannot take the mind out of this equation. It is part and parcel of our makeup, and it is through the mind that we function, spiritually as well as physically.

Romans 12:1

"I beseech (beg) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your (physical) bodies a living sacrifice (not as a burnt offering), holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service*. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed** by the renewing of your mind,..."

*There is nothing unreasonable or bizarre about this request at all is there? Because burnt flesh is good for nothing, of no value to God. He requires our life be His, through love and trust. **our love and trust make us totally different from the world around us. By taking on, in receptiveness of the mind of Christ. Because as He emptied Himself, to take on our humanity, He now fills us with Himself. Because He did the first He is able to do the second and we must also do the first to be able to receive the second thing. This is being a doer of the word and is required by our having done the other first, the denying of all self and resisting the voice of our own flesh-self.

I just revealed another mystery of Genesis 1 through 3 and the law of the first therein concealed. 

 

Now we can couple this with the ordinance of Deuteronomy 6:4-7 which states: “ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And you will love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, will be in your heart: And you will teach them diligently to your children, and will talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

And now the rest of the story in Romans 12, picking up at verse 2-5; “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that we may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God is. For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man that is among you, not to think more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, many, are One Body in Christ, and every one members one of another*.”

*The mystery of marriage to Him as One. Our being bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh through our surrendering of self and self-centeredness to Him.

This is how we have to start. We have to analyze it, and have to think of all these things that God has done on our behalf, and it has to be done through the thought processes, we cannot do it any other way. So again turn with me to Acts chapter 16. This is when Paul and Silas went to Philippi. Keeping in mind that this is the first time this Gospel had been on the European side of the Aegean Sea.

  

Acts 16:13-14

"And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us: whose heart* the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."

*now here’s the part I always pray for. “Oh Lord give me Lydia’s today” people with open and receptive hearts.

 

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 7

In the book of Ephesians chapter 6. We have so many with questions because of what they have heard, many from their Sunday school teachers, who teach from their denominations printed literature. Like the stuff my wife and I used back in the day we assisted the adult Sunday school teachers. We would spend the week going over the printed materials and our Bibles trying to put them together and make sense of the printed materials. They just did not agree with each other and that was the problem, the Bible said and pointed to one thing and the school materials another which caused confusion and disharmony which they should NOT have. When people ask, most of these questions, we usually asked them a question in reply. "Can you find it in your Bible?" And most of the time the answer is no, this is why we are saying."Well if you cannot find it in your Bible in the Age of Grace teachings, and especially with Paul teachings, then run from it, because it is a deception. It is part and parcel of the end time scenario where people are believing men, and what they read in books instead of coming to the Bible! 

We are not going to condemn good authors or good books, but we are living in a day now where good Christian books are hard to find. Even the Bible based Commentaries often mislead because the author allowed his particular denominations standard of ordinances to get in the way. It is like one lady e-mailed, from one of our major cities where they have the largest Christian book stores in the country. And she said, "until about 5 or 6 years ago the whole front of that store was Bibles, but today, they are all gone, they are at the back of the store, and nothing but New Age materials are up in front, and people are buying it by the case load." Well what is that? It is that wave of deception, and they can make it sound so good. The problem is they are putting the Bibles at the back of the store, and they are putting these other books up front, and that is exactly what we have told everyone to be aware of. 

Back to Ephesians and the shield of faith, we know that all these false statements can come at us and how are we going to deflect them? What does the Bible say? What does this book say? If it does not, agree then deflect it as a false teaching, and that is the only thing we can tell people. The next step is in verse 16.

 

Ephesians 6:16b

"...wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

Here again it is in defense. We do not attack him or those that he uses, but rather we defend against the onslaught of verbal slanders brought against God and us, and we do it with the Word of God and His faith and faithfulness. We trust not yourselves because the flesh man of sin is still active within us, until we lay it aside and leave this place of hostility toward God. We are to know and use the things revealed in 2Timothy 4:2 and as Jesus did in the wilderness and throughout His ministry to Israel. Where His greatest opposition was from the religious leaders, not the nationalist's of His day though they wanted Him to lead a national up rising, He would not and indeed could not side with them either. He resisted evil just as John the Baptist did when he saw the establishment approach him. (Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:33, Luke 3:7)

Ephesians 6:17

"And take the helmet of salvation,..."

What does the helmet protect? The head and ears, and what is in the head? The brain, and what is in the brain? The house of our intellect and reasoning powers, powers of perception and to look at the mind, turn ahead to Philippians chapter 2, and then we will go back to Romans chapter 12.

Philippians 2:5-8

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross."   

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 6

What Is the New Covenant and Are We Living In it?
by Michael Clark

Things became very clear to me that my salvation was not a result of my works, or even my best efforts but God’s, when I read chapter eight of Hebrews and understand what it reveals. There I read the difference between the Old Covenant of works under the Law of Moses and the New Covenant which Jeremiah prophesied of God’s wonderful Grace. The writer of Hebrews wrote:

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, He says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt*; because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws in their minds, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb 8:7-12 KJ2000)

The first covenant (the covenant given through Moses, note also this word covenant was added as it is in italics) was doomed to failure because it hinged on the obedience of seemingly endless list of commandments, that the Hebrews had to keep. (Just as Moses lost the glory that was upon his face and he covered to hide until it had faded away. The fading away was what this covenant of laws was to do also because it could not administer life, God's Life to an already dead people.) By their own strength and as we read here they failed and broke this covenant that they made with God, thusly releasing God from doing His part. If life could have been enacted by this covenant of laws then it stands to reason it would not have been broken. So God knowing this had a further plan that WOULD work and in this plan, it is not dependent on the righteousness of the first Adam (fallen man), but the righteousness of the Last Adam, Jesus Christ. The first covenant enacted by Israel as a nation was filled with “thou shalt’s and thou shalt not’s” but the second and more perfect covenant is pronounced with a short list of “I WILL’s” and it is all fulfilled by the working of the will of God in each of us:

I will make a new covenant
I will put my laws into their minds
I will write my laws in their hearts
I will be to them a God and they shall be my people
They shall not teach every man his neighbor…for all shall know me
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness
I will remember their sins no more

In Ezekiel we read a bit more about this covenant saying,
“And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned by the Hebrews among the nations, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that 'I AM' the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations (Psalm2:6-8), and gather you out of all countries (Psalm2:9), and will bring you into your own land (spiritual Zion, Beulah land Isaiah's message of 62:4-5 in similitude). Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:23-27 KJ2000)

I will sanctify my great name
I will be sanctified in you
I will take you from among the nations
I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean
I will cleanse you
I will give you a new heart
I will put a new spirit within you
I will take away your stoney hearts
I will cause you to walk in my statues and do them

Nope, not a single “thou shalt” or “thou shalt not,” but fifteen “I will…” statements by God. The New Covenant is “good news” because Jesus and the Spirit of God gives those who surrender to Christ, receive the power to obey Him and live upright lives IN Him. We live by God’s power and heart and not our own inability to please Him by our own works. So what are all these statutes and commandments He puts on our hearts? In Hebrews again we read,

In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and grows old is ready to vanish away. (Heb 8:13 KJ2000)

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest who should be raised after the order of Melchizedek's *, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood has been changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. (Heb 7:11-12 KJ2000)
*as it were from death, death here being the flood of Noah, the baptism by water of Shem and his future sons, still in his loins, the seed of promise, of which Abram was one.
I just revealed the mystery and power of the blood through which life is propagated and which can be known by nature itself.

Jesus Christ is our great High Priest and with Him and His covenant came in a New and changed law. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35 KJ2000)

To this Paul wrote, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, self-control: against such there is no law.” (Gal 5:22-23 KJ2000)

And in Romans we read, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law. For this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Rom 13:8-9 KJ2000)

So, as we abide IN Christ we now find that we have a new heart, a new mind (the mind of Christ), a new Spirit, the Spirit of God, and are able to walk in His New Commandment, the law of love that sums up the whole old covenant law and it is all by the power of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sending of His Holy Spirit to abide in us and with us. THIS is the Good News of this Gospel, not a new list of rules and regulations we have to keep by our own strength… a list that we can not keep any more that the Hebrew people could keep the laws of the first covenant given through Moses. This covenant is not the same as that cut by God and Abraham, this Covenant is based on Abraham's being counted by God as Righteous. Which Israel as a nation never attained. The New Covenant is not about us, but it is all about Him and we who abide IN Him as members of HIS Body. Our being counted with Abraham as righteous. Amen, Lord. So be it!” 
Taken from a post by Michael Clark with limited editing by me.  

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 5

Looking at what the Lord Himself says in this great chapter 24 of Matthew. As we look at this keep in mind, this is in the Lord’s earthly ministry to Israel, first the carnal man then the spiritual man (of 1Corinthians 15:47-49). The twelve have approached him with a question. But sadly few very very truly get to be the spiritual man, as like myself for years I remain deceived and in deceptions grip. It is NOT until the ontological essence of Christ within us truly takes hold of us do we become spiritual, until then all things remain as if in a fog and distant to us. The reality and Truth of scripture remains hidden from view, perception and our understanding. We do not see John the Baptist's and then Jesus being at odds with the establishment of Judaism and the culture which Israel had which sprung from the spirit of Religion. Nor do we understand the power of that deception until, until we are set free in Christ's victory, over Religion and our own flesh voice, the other man of sin within us all.

Matthew 24:3-4

"And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (this age)? And Jesus (the God of glory Himself) answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

So what is it? Deception and heresies is a sign of the end times, and we are seeing it like never before in all of Church history. For those trapped in the worlds deception of Religion are bound by the enemy within and do not see nor hear correctly. Their perception being veiled by the literal things of Religions great deceptions. The various ideals and contraptions that are coming at people from every direction are deceiving many, many people today. You can hear and see everything but this Gospel proclaimed today. When is the last time you heard the plan of salvation as outlined by the Apostle Paul for the Body of Christ believers proclaimed anywhere? We are seeing this wave of deception and the only way we can confront it is to have, know, and understand the Truth, and our faith in this Word of God. That is our only defense, because the masses are going to fall for these deceptions, and we are seeing it on every front. Alright, so it is through our faith that we rest on what God has said, and what He has promised, and with it we deflect all these deceptive statements, teachings and doctrines that are being spewed out from every direction.

Transparency and Freedom by Michael Clark

“However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with Christ is this veil removed. Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are being transformed into the same image with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit.” 2Corinthians 3:14-18 ISV

There is the spiritual man and then there is the carnal or worldly man. The world has been all about hiding and intrigue ever since Adam and Even sinned and covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God. Men prefer darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

It is interesting to read in the synoptic gospels and Jesus’ encounter with the people of Israel in light of transparency or the lack thereof. Most did not have a clue where He was coming from or what He was saying, just as the many to this very day still have NO clue. His greatest appeal to most of them was the fact that He could heal or give them a free meal when hungry. But there were a small handful that He could speak to who had an unveiled face and nothing to hide. Take the Samaritan woman at the well, for instance. What a contrast this “sinner” was with the learned (Religious leaders of the) Jews who constantly sough to trap Him from behind their veiled faces…..the very meaning of the word hypocrite! To her He revealed great spiritual truths, that the learned Pharisee, Nicodemus, could not begin to understand and she was a “sinner” and a “dog” in their eyes. Her unveiled face and honesty made all the difference.

The root of the word hypocrite according to Merrium-Webster:

Middle English ypocrite, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin hypocrita, from Greek hypokritēs actor, hypocrite, from hypokrinesthai

These Greek actors wore masks to deceive and play the part of the person they portrayed. Their faces were “veiled.” So we see Jesus calling these sanctimonious, learned Jews who sought to trap him, hypocrites. John the Baptist called them serpents and vipers with the poison of asps under their tongues. He never once called a sinner, harlot, or a publican or even a hated Roman by that name. They all knew that they needed help and came to Jesus, the Great Physician, for that help and He turned none of them away. When criticized by the religious Jews for having contact with the sinners Jesus said, “Those who are whole need not a physician, but those who are sick.” They knew they were sick but the Religious never will acknowledge their need.

Have you, as one of His saints, every had a religious person come up to you and fain that they really liked you and wanted to be taken into their confidence, only to find that once you revealed to them what you really felt or believed, they then turn on you and tried to capture or attack you in their vein philosophies and self-righteousness? Have you ever been wounded by such people simply because you laid open your heart to them and then were trampled into the ground? I have.

Jesus warned us to “be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves.” He warned us not to spill our pearls before swine because first they will stomp your pearls in the mud and then turn and tare you apart! Transparency is something that makes us vulnerable, but you will see in the synoptic Gospels that Jesus was cautious with the Pharisees, Sadducee's and Scribes, but open with those who the Father gave Him. In fact He prayed regarding this contrast saying,

“’O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank You for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased You to do it this way.’ My Father has given Me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Luke 10:21-22 NLT)

Dear saints, we should be able to be “open faced” with one another, because the love of God compels us to reach out to one another in the bond of Christ as members of His Body. If we find that we are being betrayed by a person we confided in or that they never reveal what is in their heart to us in heart to heart communication, as a one way street, chances are that we are dealing with either a wounded person that has not been healed or a hypocrite. Remember, our enemy has sown tares in among the wheat in the Father’s field.

Oh, what a joy it is when we can communicate in loving safety with anothers in the Spirit and go away knowing we have found a true member of our Spiritual family and just been edified by the experience. This experience keeps us searching and hoping for a broader manifestation of the kingdom of God and heaven, where unveiled faces abound. Remember, “Only in union with Christ is that veil removed.”         

Ephesians Lesson 39 of 39 part 4

Ephesians 6:16a

"Above all, taking the shield of faith,..."

The next is probably the most important weapon we have against Satan. This is what we are to use in our Spiritual warfare. We are sure you have all heard it at one time or another before but we are going to repeat it again. All the things that Paul is mentioning here are on the front of the soldier, and what does that tell us? We are to never run, because the back side is left virtually undefended though it be covered by the robe of righteousness. All the average Roman soldiers armor was to the front, as he was never to retreat. He fought to the death no matter what.

Ephesians 6:16

"Above all, taking the shield of faith*, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked **."

*the Roman soldier used the shield to deflect arrows, they would interlock the shields to make a wall several layers deep and so forth. **the wicked one, the unbelievers and the infidels, the religiously wicked.

So the shield is what? Our trusting faith! And how do we emphasize faith, and what is our definition of faith? "Taking God at His Word!" Trusting Him as Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Eber and Abram who became Abraham did. They expressed their trust of Him by their love for Him and how did they show their love? By doing as He told them, therefore faith works through our deep love of God. We have all these great and precious promises that God has given us, and so how do we appropriate them? By loves trusting Him, Who is faithfulness, we believe with them and are therefore counted with them. And who's faith are we to trust in? Why, Christ's, as He trusted His Heavenly Father's faithfulness, just as we are too. Jesus said that He and  the Father of Life were one by love and deep respect for each other. And everything that comes from the opposition, we deflect with something that the Word has promised. We think that even the staunchest believer have to admit that Satan will come and hit us with doubt and vain imaginations. The weak and beggarly things of our own flesh, the enemy within. We do not think that there is anybody that is not hit at times with doubt or wrong images, thinkings and perceptions of things to come or of the unknown. (Speaking of the unknown, many are not true believer because they are afraid of change, because change has a degree of risk in the unknown. Faith often works best in total darkness of the unknown and is therefore requires of us.) Where and how or through whom does he accomplish this, by our own friends and neighbors, he may at times use our own words against us as well. Well, how are we going to deflect it? With our faith. How are we going to resist all these attacks of the evil one from within? With our faith. It is just simply "God has said it and I believe it," and if God has said it what more do you want. So our shield is faith, and oh what a word that Paul uses over and over. In fact just back up a page or two to Ephesians chapter 2.

Ephesians 2:8a

"For by grace are ye saved through faith;..."

Remember faith is not something that you can lay out on the table, faith is not something that you feel. But rather faith is something that you just simply take at Word value, the value of God, and say, "I BELIEVE IT" because this is what God has said. In every aspect of our Christian experience, how do we know that the Holy Spirit dwells within? The Holy Spirit did not make some big announcement saying, "I’m coming in to live with you." There is not a diploma that someone signs, that the Holy Spirit dwells within. So how do we know that He does? The Bible says so, and we take it, receive Him by faith and we continue to posses Him by faith. We cannot feel Him, but we know He is here, because this is what the Word teaches and declares to us.

I have to take us back to the verse that I gave in the book of Matthew chapter 24. The question is asked, "What about all these different things that we are hearing and reading about in Christendom today?" They are as different as daylight and darkness, and they are as false as false can be, and what does all of this tell us? Well, according to Matthew chapter 24, it tells us that we are nearing the end of the age, and one of the basic signs of the end times is a tremendous wave of deception, even John in First John reveals that there are many anti-Christ's gone out from among them, and we are seeing and hearing it. Before we turn to Matthew we will look at 1John 2 beginning with verse 19 to the end of this chapter, for a moment;

 

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denies the Father and the Son. Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father: Let that therefore abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning. If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. This is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life. These have I written to you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as He has taught you, you shall abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that every one that does righteousness is born of Him.”
John here reveals the many who came out from among the believers as anti-Christ's, the ones who deny that Christ has come again, returned as the Holy Spirit to indwell man. Which was promised and happened on the day of Pentecost, not many days after His ascension. In total fulfillment of scripture. Jesus said that He would never leave them, the disciples and therefore would never leave the world empty of Himself again. Which happened after man rebelled, through Adams disobedience, as the seed within him. Which put all mankind in this rebellion and disobedience. The family of Satan's likeness.

 

Look at what the Lord Himself says in this great chapter. As we look at this keep in mind, this is in the Lord’s earthly ministry and the twelve have approached him with a question.