What do you think Satan saw when he looked at Jesus? Did he see a weak and frail man wearing a very plain robe? (That’s what we are generally shone.) Or did he see a warrior fully clothed in armor? A powerful vessel of Light he was unable to defeat or contain?
What does a Priest of Christ actually look like in the world of the invisible? When the principalities and powers of darkness look on a Disciple of Christ, what do they actually see? What did they see when they looked at the Apostle John, Peter, or Paul? Is the picture of a Priest in my mind accurate to the reality of scripture? Just what is a Priest of Christ, anyway?
“I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.” Ezekiel 22:30
A profound sense of sadness strikes me when I read those words: “but I found no one.”
“So now I will pour out my fury (judgement of sin) on them…”
As God’s Kingdom of Priest, we are supposed to be “Gap Standers of Righteousness”. As Priest we are standing in that gap between lost man and God. Through Christ, we have been given the power, and the mission, to reach out with one hand to God, (Love God with all your being), and reach out to mankind with the other hand, (love your neighbor as yourself), and be a bridge others can walk upon to bring God and man together. This is a Priest of Christ. Gap Standers of Righteousness. And sometimes you will feel walked upon. Shake it off and go on. That’s what LOVE does.
In the day of Ezekiel, God sought for a man to stand in the gap and rebuild the wall of righteousness, but he found none. What DID he find? A bunch of people living like kings as they sought to fulfill their worldly desires. This is what I see in too many of today’s churches.
And notice! If you ever wondered what makes up that “hedge of protection” we’re always praying to God for? Ezekiel reveals here in these scriptures that it is a wall of “Righteousness” that “GUARDS” the land. How “righteous” of a life would you say the average person in your church is actually living? Or would you discover today’s church abundantly fits the detailed description God gives of Samaria and Jerusalem in the following chapters? The very cities he is about to pour judgement out on. The very cities he is about to bring a “Refining Fire” upon.
If godly living and righteousness makes up the hedge of protection, I fear we are all in serious trouble! God is searching for those who might stand in the gap, but who will he find? You? Me? Some Moses willing to leave the pleasures of Egypt for a time, to suffer and lead a true people of God? Most of those claiming to be a Moses today, seem to live in palaces, not desert tents.
I believe the church is at that last fork in the road. If we don’t stop taking the left fork and lusting after the things of Egypt, and take the right path into the high places of righteousness, VERY BAD THINGS ARE ABOUT TO COME ON THE WANNABE PEOPLE OF GOD! You can ignore this preacher if you like, but look around, what do you see?
The church is full of people who want to be a child of God, but are not willing to pay the price of the path. So are they saved or not? Let’s put it this way, when the Refining Fires finally come, there will likely be a great falling away. So if we take this personally, which side of the fork have we been living? That is the question every one of us should be asking ourself. Are we in love with Jerusalem, or Egypt? Is our temple full of idols of Egypt, or sacred worship for the Father of our Lord?
And what does all this have to do with our subject of the Armor of Light? Two things: As asked before, what does Satan see? Does he see a frail human running around half naked because he has neglected his armor in Christ? If so, then secondly, Ephesians tells us to put on the whole Armor of Christ so that we will be able to “STAND” in the evil day. The Armor is part of God’s answer for strength to STAND, and not be a part of the great falling. But will we be a “Gap Stander of Righteousness”? Will we come out from among them and be the Priesthood? Will we wear this armor?
And having done all to stand… STAND!
This is a true challenge, I know. In today’s modern world we are surrounded and overwhelmed with the “7 Deadly Sins”. As I type the words for this message, upon this very laptop I’m using to send forth a message of faith and righteousness, at the touch of a button on this very same device, in an instant, I could defile my Temple with more pornography than any man could ever exhaust. I could stir up every worldly desire for material things to a fevered pitch! This very same device so useful to preach God’s Word and gather his people, could spiritually kill me, strip me of my Armor, and possibly even send me to hell. Such a spiritually dangerous world we live in today. Choose you “this day”, every day, whom you will serve!
Which fork of the road are we living? Judgement is coming to the church. I feel it in my bones. Too much of the church is in bed with Egypt! I don’t know how much more time we have, but TODAY is always the day of salvation with our God. Do not put off what you know you need to do. Take up your cross, stand in that gap of righteousness, leave the palace even as Moses did, and be the Priest in Christ we are called to be!
We will be mixing these chapters in Ezekiel with the Book of Ephesians. I will end this lesson with the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesians 1:16-20.
“I have not stopped thanking God for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called — his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.”
According to Ephesians, the very same mighty power that raised the dead body of Christ back to life on that day, dwells in us. This same power can raise us out of the dead things of our life, to become the Priest of Christ we desire to be, a Gap Stander of Righteousness. A bridge between God and lost mankind. This is Priesthood in Christ. Because of LOVE, we step in that gap.
The power for all this lies in the fact we have been called to be a Kingdom of Priest. As we are faithful to function in the things of our Priesthood, then our Armor stays fully charged, (God’s Holy Spirit in us!), and we STAND! This is how we are STRONG in the Lord. Anything less than this is a life of spiritual weakness and becoming the prey of every deadly mouse trap the devil carefully places this world’s cheese within. Don’t kid yourself. The 7 Deadly Sins are a trap of the highest order. No human can resist that cheese if they are not calling on the Lord. In our Priesthood, that same power that raised Christ from the dead, can raise us too, if we be the Warrior Priest we are called to be.
Before David faced the giant, Goliath, he was offered the armor of a worldly king, King Saul. David said he had not tested this armor, and the armor of this worldly king did not fit him, so he rejected it! I pray the armor of a worldly king fit not thee also. But if you are truly in Christ, not only has this armor been thoroughly tested, but it will also fit like a fine leather glove. Praise the name of our Lord forever! We must not neglect so great a gift! Amen! Do not be fooled to think David was not wearing armor that day, just because it couldn’t be seen by the human eye.
This message has been brought to you by “Fellowship of the White Path”.
Grandpa White Feather.
Path Without End 