“Wherefore take unto you the whole armor 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…” Ephesians 6:13,14
In our former consideration of the Stand of Faith, we basically dealt with a “port of entry,” or the gate by which we not only enter into life, but which remains open to the believer to remember and live by. We see this expressed very clearly in Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection,” (and maturity), “…apprehending that for which we have been apprehended.” (Phil. 3:12). The writer continues, “…not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God…” (6:1) We see here that, for the believer, he has passed by the “gate,” or the door. Now the issue becomes that of going forward, pressing onward and upward. Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this reality is found in the book of Exodus, where we see God intervening after four hundred years, when Israel lived under the oppressive hand of a Pharaoh of Egypt. He raises up Moses to lead the multitude of Israel out of Egypt, and into Canaan, the promised land. In Egypt the people of Israel were enslaved to a harsh task master. They were also held prisoner to their circumstances, faced with a godless world system, (we speak of “godless” to mean where there is no faith in the true and living God, the God of Israel). When Israel came to the Red Sea, then passed through its waters miraculously, the waters of the Red Sea came again and covered, not only the enemy Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, but also the path back to Egypt. There was no going back. God accomplished for Israel that day, not only a perfect deliverance from the tyranny of Egypt, but also a separation between the people and the world system of Egypt. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul puts it like this: “(the Father) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:13,14)
Once Israel leaves the shore of the Red Sea, she is necessarily brought into a wilderness, where there is not the cushion or security of Egypt. She has been brought into a new realm, one where the abiding principle by which all is known and experienced is faith, a whole-hearted faith in God, to follow Him according to His revealed word. This will only become possible, not only by remembering the wondrous works of God in their deliverance in Egypt, but by seeking Him, to worship Him, hear His word, and to follow. The “wilderness” becomes both a place of testing, and revelation that a new beginning has come, one that is only based upon Christ, the works, will, and word of God. In the wilderness, the remnants of Egypt in the minds and hearts of the people, are to be left behind, renounced, and buried. At the end of forty years in the wilderness, the hearts and minds of the people are now ready to cross another point of entry. Where the Red Sea was a dividing point, a point of no return, with regard to Satan and the world, so the Jordan River, also crossed miraculously, will be a dividing point between that which is of man and of God. Before crossing Jordan, the people told Joshua: “All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go. According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee.” (Joshua 1:16,17) Israel’s commitment to God was entire. They were now free to cross into a land of great promise.
It is essential to daily take one’s stand upon the absolute truth of God’s perfect work of salvation with regard to Christ’s victory over Satan, the world, and the flesh, “self.”
Dear Father, Fill us with Christ’s life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.