WITHSTAND IN THE EVIL DAY
Monday – April 24, 2017
Greetings and blessing from Patti and me in the name of Jesus and The Three Minute Word publications. A fresh new week lies before us. Our Lord is encouraging us to focus on His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light while our spiritual enemies are incessantly looking for ways to deceive making the road hard. Now let’s return to our Bible Study in the Book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 6:11-14 (KJV)
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;
Last Friday we left off our Bible Study with a discussion that our battles are not with flesh and blood (people) but with principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness, and spiritual wickedness. Those spiritual enemies are defeated with the Word of God just as Jesus defeated them during the temptation in the wilderness. Remember as a child of God we have the same power (authority) over the evil ones as Jesus then and now.
Back to Ephesians 6:11 the Apostle Paul by the unction of the Holy Spirit tells us to “Put on the whole armour of God” and now as we approach Ephesians 6:13 he puts it a different way saying: “take unto you the whole armour of God”. I am sure that you can see this is only two different ways to convey the same information. We are being told that this is a very important command that God is issuing to us by virtue of it being repeated in such a short space. In fact I suspect that you can already see leading up to this point knowing nothing about the armour that this is critical to our success in the Kingdom of God. Without the armour we are lunch for the devil. Every time we fall for the tricks (wiles) of the devil I can hear him laughing in God’s face and pointing in mockery our direction. I can feel the Father’s sadness, frustration, compassion and pity towards us and anger toward the devil. Can you imagine this from our Heavenly Father’s vantage point? He has given us through Christ Jesus overwhelming superiority concerning the curse and the evil ones and we just stand naked before the devils and take a beating time after time.
I want to take just a moment to review the numerology of the two verses referenced in the prior paragraph as well as the intervening verse, Ephesians 6:12. Recall that Ephesians is the tenth Book of the New Testament and ten is the number of responsibility. We are dealing with the sixth chapter and six is the number of man. So we know so far that we are talking about things where the primary responsibility is with us. The number eleven has to do with Heavenly things and coming into alignment with God. This armour is right out of Heaven and God is literally giving us the shirt (armour) right off His back. When we do not put on the whole armour of God as instructed (commanded) we are in sin and not aligned with God. Thirteen is the number of rebellion and depravity. Without the whole armour of God we are lunch meat for our enemies and will descend into rebellion and depravity. Now, what about the twelve for Ephesians 6:12? Twelve is the number of governmental perfection. So when we take to ourselves the whole armour of God we can and will rule over the demonic powers with the same ease as God Himself. Before I move on let’s zero in a little further on verse thirteen.
Ephesians 6:13 (AMP)
13 Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
Paul tells us that with God’s complete armor we will not only be able to resist the evil ones but lose no ground. Keep in mind that if we personally lose ground in our finances, our health, our ministry, or family, the Kingdom of God has lost ground, the Kingdom of God in the earth is just a little smaller. Our primary responsibility in the earth is to expand the Kingdom of God in every way. Those orders were first given in the first and second chapters of the Bible and the best I can tell God has not changed His mind. With God’s complete armour the tricks of the enemy, the circumstances that he puts in front of us are but paper tigers and do not deter our mission forward for the Kingdom of God. On the other hand if the enemy has gotten his foot in the door due to our sin then we must deal with the symptom of the sin but most importantly we must deal with the sin. Repentance is always the solution slamming the door on the devil. During these times we are of very little use to the Kingdom of God, are a weight or a drag on the Kingdom and those around us. We need restoration gently but firmly. I will pick up right here tomorrow.
Please receive the Blessing.
Numbers 6:24-26 (KJV)
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
