Friday – February 26, 2016
It is Friday and time to pray for the Churches of America. As usual I am not talking about the buildings but the people who come and meet in these buildings and those who do not. There are two large groups of people who do not gather in a Church building on a regular basis, first are the heathen, the unsaved, and the others are the sheep the shepherds have scattered.
Jeremiah 23:1 (KJV)
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Good news, the Father is going to regather the scatted flock but for the most part not into the current organized Churches, just as God did not gather Christians into Synagogues.
Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV)
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
The scattered flock may be larger than the gathering flock. For the most part the organized, gathering Church has been duped by the devil and walk in darkness with their traditions making the Word of God of no effect. Just as in the time of Jesus, the true Church, the ones who knew God were not in the organized Church (Synagogues). The true Church, the Christians were persecuted by the established Church, it is happening now and will increase as the time of the catching away approaches. The picture above is of the Lake City United Methodist Church located in you guessed it Lake City, Kansas. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
I have been teaching on Spiritual Warfare and today I will return to a familiar topic which is The Armor of God and how it is vital to this warfare.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 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. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
As I pointed out before I believe there are seven pieces of this armor and not the six which are traditionally taught. As we start with verse ten we find that we must be empowered in the Lord and His resurrection power. In the Lord is to be immersed in Him, fully committed to Him and the Kingdom of God, not one foot in and one foot out.
We must then choose to put this armor on and if we do we will be able to stand against the wiles (tricks, ruses, deceits, cons) of the devil. To stand means that in the midst of whatever dustup the devil has concocted we continue our mission for the Kingdom of God.
Paul reminds us that our battle is not with people but with evil spirits and the spiritual wickedness (thoughts) they try to get us to place above the Word of God (wickedness in high places). Then as Paul moves into the thirteenth verse he tells us once again to take or put on the whole armor of God so we can stand (continue the good fight of faith without interruption).
The Apostle Paul then names the pieces of this armor starting with our loins being girded with the Truth. The Truth is Jesus, the Word, the Holy Spirit, and love. As we are immersed in these we are a representation of Him, a representative of Him, and an expression of Him undeterred from our mission. The second piece of armor named is the breastplate of righteousness. Understand these are all an allegory representing the real thing in the spirit realm. Righteousness is right standing with the Father which puts us in a place of full citizenship in the Kingdom of God and it means that we do things Gods way, the right way, not our way or the devils way.
The third piece of armor is having our feet shod with the good news (gospel) of peace. Recall that righteousness, peace, and joy are the three legs of the Kingdom of God and two are mentioned here in the armor and likely all three if you interpret the initial verses of this passage as pleasing God and therefore bringing us into the Joy of the Lord which causes Him to manifest Himself in and through our lives. Peace is not just a tranquil feeling that we have. Peace is the reality of wholeness spirit, soul, and body. The peace of God is the tranquility that comes with faith in the knowledge of the reality of our wholeness and protection, spirit, soul, and body in Christ Jesus.
The fourth piece of armor is the shield of faith. Faith is our unwavering commitment to and belief of the ideas of God such that our thoughts and words mirror His. His ideas are expressed in the Word of God. The fifth piece of the armor is the helmet of salvation. Salvation means we are delivered from whatever is part of the curse, we are safe in Him, and we have a defender. Our confidence (faith) in this knowledge means we do not have to divert energy to the distractions of the devil but continue straight ahead in the mission given us of God for the Kingdom of God. In the Bible, five is a number of the Holy Spirit. In our obedience all that we are discussing is led of Him and facilitated by Him. The second half of verse seventeen tells us our sixth piece of armor is the Word of God. Six is the number of man and when man walks in the Word of God he is like God, and no different than God in the eyes of the enemy.
Verse eighteen brings us to what I believe is the seventh piece of the armor. Seven is the number of spiritual perfection or completion. In this verse the Apostle Paul tells us to pray and intercede for other Christians. This ongoing dialogue with God will keep us in the know. That is what praying without ceasing is all about, it is this ongoing dialogue with our Heavenly Father throughout the day, our thanksgiving, our praise, our worship, our questions, and His answers.
This current study is ending on part fifteen. Fifteen is the number of rest which is Gods perfect or complete provision in our lives.
By Pastor David R. Wood
