Naked or Clothed?

Naked or Clothed?

Luke 24:49, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”

What does the word endued in that verse mean? In English it means provide or endow but that is not what is the consistent translation through the scriptures. The Koine Greek word is ἐνδύω to sink into (clothing), put on, clothe one’s self, which implies that the disciples were naked!

How could the disciples be naked?  They weren’t physically but what occurred on Pentecost (from tarring in Jerusalem) shows that what they were clothed with was spirit and that before that day they must have been without it, naked.

There is a component that is added to a man that without it he is “naked”, that component is spirit. Lets examine the account of King Saul of Israel in 1 Samuel 10:6, “And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” So his whole life up to that point was without spirit, he was naked! So what happened? 1 Samuel 10:10, “And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them.” So at that time he was clothed! How about David? Lets go to 1 Samuel 16:13, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.” So, was David clothed with the spirit before? No, but now, in this verse he is body, soul and spirit. Now the next verse. 1 Samuel 16:14a, “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul,” Here Saul becomes naked again, he is  without the spirit.

Without the spirit a man only has his intellect and emotions to make decisions.

Proverbs 3:5-7, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.”

Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Proverbs 28:26, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

God’s design of man is to have spirit because without it he is no different from an animal.

Ecclesiastes 3:19, “For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.” without spirit man is no different from an animal. They both have temporal, limited life. But if a man is “clothed” with the spirit he has everlasting life!   Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

The spirit is our connection with God. Why?, because God is spirit. John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

This is why in Genesis God could not perceive Adam because he had lost the spirit and consequently all Adam’s progeny would not have it either. So Adam’s connection with  God was gone he became “naked“. Genesis 3:9-10, “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

What if someone wanted to be clothed now, what do they have to do? Well if they are Jewish they need to accept Roman’s 10:9,10 but what if they are not Jewish? Then the word given for the non-Jewish is given in Acts 10:38-44, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.  And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:  Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;  Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.  And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”  The translation of Holy Ghost is from the same words that are translated holy spirit in other scriptures. Now God perceives them, now what God is, is now within them, now they are no longer naked!

Naked is not what God designed us to be; it’s time to put our clothes on!

R. Frank Tulak, S.R.E.

Chairman of the Board