AWAKE, ARISE, AND TRIUMPH
Friday – February 26, 2021, Adar 14, 5781
GIFTS – PART SIXTY-NINE
ARMOR OF GOD – PART ELEVEN
Greetings precious friends and partners of this Ministry and The Three Minute Word blog. God is so good dear ones. Thank you for supporting this Ministry with your friendship and encouragement. A special thank you with daily prayers for our partners who support this Ministry financially. We invite all whom the Lord leads to be partners with us in this powerful Ministry for the Kingdom of God. The Grace upon us will be upon you, you will receive the Prophets Reward. Please take a moment to share this Bible teaching as widely as possible to extend our reach with the Truth. Currently I am teaching on the Armor of God.
Ephesians 6:11-13 (NLT)
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
I initially planned to just start with the Armor of God as outlined in Ephesians chapter six which follows the passage above, however, the Lord arrested me and instructed me to lay a solid foundation or context for a discussion of the armor. Like equipment or a skill in the natural the best use of that equipment or skill is achieved by having a good understanding of what is required for optimal performance.
Therefore, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I have gone back into chapter five of Ephesians to build that contextual foundation. Thus far we have discovered that obedience, honor, love (agape), thanksgiving, proving the Word, and avoiding sin are critical to the effective use of the armor. If this is your first time joining this study, I strongly advise that you go into the archives and study from the beginning. In Ephesians chapter five (below) we find a list of sins which I was going to cover in a cursory manner but the Holy Spirit insisted I take them on one by one. Remember, this Book of Ephesians is written to Christians so one or more of these sins is present in each of our lives. That is in evidence by the really poor use of the armor in many Christians lives. Now, let’s read aloud, yes, out loud our current Bible text.
Ephesians 5:2-6 (KJV)
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Love coupled with the leadership of the inner witness (still small voice of the Holy Spirit within) and the Truth (Word of God) is foundational to all that we do. Love is the power of faith (Galatians 5:6) and Scripture tells us it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). If any of this is out of order, we will not have victory in our lives, period. Of this list of sins, which most Christians would reject as being present in their lives, we have covered; fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, and foolish talking. Let me point out something that we must have in our thinking at all times, not just when reading Scripture. We need to ask ourselves what is the physical aspect and what is the spiritual aspect of this, for everything has both? Nothing in the natural is an orphan or without a spiritual origin. For example, if we mention fornication our mind may immediately go to sex outside of marriage. What about spiritual fornication or adultery? Any person, activity, thing, idea, or words that we elevate above God, above the Word of God put us in fornication or adultery. Anything we elevate above God is also idolatry.
Looking back at our text, next on our list we are told not to be a whoremonger. Are any of the people around us or we ourselves whoremongers? The New Living Translation translates the KJV word ‘whoremonger’ as an immoral person. Let’s take a look at the definition of whoremonger and compare it with fornication. The transliterated Greek word to English is pórnos, one can easily see how we can get the word pornography from it, pornography is generally done for gain (profit). The Greeks considered one who prostituted himself for gain as a pórnos. The distinction between them (whoremongers) and pórnoi, fornicators, seems to consist in that the pórnoi prostitute themselves for gain according to The Complete Word Study Dictionary – New Testament. I hope we can all see how this could apply to all sorts of things other than physical sexual behaviors. It is using someone else for our own enjoyment or gain without love (agape) or covenant. In short it could be any immoral act for gain.
Lord willing, I will pick up right here next week.
2 Chronicles 20:20 b (KJV)
20 … Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it, believe it, and speak over yourself and your family by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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