Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Over twenty years ago, I built a small little cabin back in the woods, but because we live in a very low area, when summer starts to draw nigh, we have a lot of mosquitoes that will begin showing up all over our property. Many times in order to reduce their numbers outside, we will light a few smudge pots to keep them away from the entrance of the house. This has always seemed to help out a lot, but they still get inside the house occasionally. But whenever I go to bed, if there is just one mosquito flying around my head, I can hardly get a wink of sleep, so because of this, one of the normal routines that we engage in every spring is to bring out our mosquito netting to hang up over our beds. These have always been one of the best defenses that I have found against all of our hungry night visitors.
This reminds me the Christian Life.
A mosquito net will shield us from getting bit by all of these little critters, but likewise, the Lord Jesus gives us a Spiritual shield, one that we can use to defend ourselves against all of the fiery darts of the wicked
Ephesians 6:10-17 (KJB) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. 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. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Perhaps some of you might remember a military tactic that was used by the Roman army called the testudo or tortoise formation. What the soldiers would do is lock all of their shields together, even lifting them over heads, which provided them with a nearly impregnable turtle shell appearance. In many ways they looked just like a human tank as they marched into battle, completely protected from all of the flying javelin’s and arrows. But as soldiers of God, we too must keep in formation, by locking together all of our shields of faith, and marching into battle in perfect unity, protected by the doctrines and teachings of Christ.
Psalms 115:9-11 (KJB) O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
In order to be protected with a shield, you obviously have to trust that it’s going to help you, and then pick it up and use it. The Lord is our help and our shield, but you must first trust Him in order to obtain His Divine protection. If you genuinely possess trust in Jesus, you will wholeheartedly submit to His teachings, rather than doing things your own way instead. For example, if you trust somebody that they know how to catch walleye, you are going to listen to what they have to say, and then do exactly the things that they tell you to do, and this is the same attitude that one must have towards the teachings of scripture. This is why the Apostle James warned the church to become doers of the Word, because if you don’t apply the teachings of Christ to your daily life, then you are only deceiving yourselves.
James 1:21-25 (KJB) Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
Trust in Christ is something that you must possess in order to receive His Divine protection. People can get together for church everyday of the week, but if you are not going to trust the Lord enough to follow and submit to the teachings of our faith, then what is the point? It only becomes a social gathering that without repentance, leads people to damnation. If people are going to live their lives as a hell bent impenitent heathen, they are not trusting Christ AT ALL. That is called insubordination and is a complete lack of love for a precious Lord who laid down His own life so we could have Grace to become one of His Saints. This is one of the reasons why the Apostle Paul warned the church not to receive God’s grace in vain.
2 Corinthians 6:1 (KJB) We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
If you don’t trust in the armor that has been provided to you by the military, and then you choose to go into battle without it, you are going in without any type of protection at all. That’s the same thing as when you don’t trust in the Word of God, and then choose to do things your own way instead.
Psalms 33:20 (KJB) Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
Proverbs 30:5 (KJB) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
When you sincerely trust Jesus, you will do things God’s way rather than your own way. If you are not going to trust God enough to pick up the shield and use it, then you are heading for disaster. God wants to help us get to heaven, but you must trust both Him and the truth of the New Testament faith.
Psalms 91:4 (KJB) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Trusting God will cause us to do the things that He says, knowing that when we pick up the shield of faith He is going to protect us from harm. I have that same type of trust every spring, knowing that when I reach into my closet I can find protection, by opening up my camping box, and start hanging up,….
……..The Mosquito Net
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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