LESSON
41
The Armor of God
Eph. 6:10-14 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power
of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil.
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. 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. Stand
therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness.
Each piece of the Armor
is a revelation and is only put on by you entering into that revelation.
As we now approach the
study of each of the individual pieces of the armor you need to keep this in
mind. Putting on the armor is not about ritualistically quoting
each piece and saying that I put it on.
It is about living in the revelation of each piece and thereby being
empowered and protected by it.
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GIRDING YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH
Look at the underlined
part of the scripture at the beginning of this lesson. The word gird here
means “to be firm footed, to support, or to tighten.” It speaks of an unwavering, unshakable
position or stance.
Where it speaks of loins
it reveals to us what
the truth is suppose to gird up. The
loins are the reproductive parts of your body. It speaks of that part which can
create. Now this is of course
symbolic. It is speaking not of your
reproductive organs, but of your creative ability. So the belt of truth is more than just a
belt, it supports and protects your creative parts.
God is a creative
god. God creates something out of
nothing. God has given us the ability to
create. We are to gird up the creative
parts of our lives. Remember, God has
given us the armor for our minds.
1 Pet. 1:13 Wherefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought
unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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God words things in a
specific way for a specific purpose.
Nothing He does is by accident.
When He refers to girding up the loins of your mind, He speaks of
protecting the creative parts of your mind with truth. You must be actively engaged in strengthening
your mind.
Whoever controls the
mind of a man controls that man. The
devil wants to defeat you in your mind.
You will never walk into sin unless the devil takes a root in your mind. There's a protection for your mind when the
assaults come. Reinforce your mind with
truth. If you can stand strong in your
mind, you will not fail.
Truth will give your
mind the ability to be unwavering and unshakable.
THE WORD IS TRUTH
John
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The word
sanctify means to set apart unto God.
Jesus is praying for us that we would be set apart
from the world, sin, sickness, and death by the power of His truth. The Word of God is truth.
The Word of God is the
most powerful force in the universe.
Heb.
1:3 (amp.) He
is the sole expression of the glory of God --the Light-being, the out-raying of
the divine--and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding
and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of
power. When He had by offering
Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down
at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high.
Jesus is upholding
everything in the universe by the power His Word. It was through the Word that all things were
created. The Word of God is with power.
Isa. 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing]
whereto I sent it.
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The Word of God is so
powerful that it can create and destroy.
Nothing can stand in the way of the Word of God.
5 MAIN THINGS THAT THE WORD OF GOD DOES
Heb. 4:12-13 (amp.) For
the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power--making it active,
operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the
immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [that is, of the deepest parts of
our nature] exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very
thoughts and purposes of the heart.
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1.) It Penetrates.
The Word of God has the
ability to go through anything, any barrier, any wall or any hardened
heart. When you speak the Word to a
hardened heart they may resist it, but the Word still penetrates. The more you behold the Word, the more it
will penetrate every barrier that has been established in your heart.
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2.) It exposes.
The Word will expose
lies. You can't fight a lie that you
don't know is a lie. The reason God has
commanded us to meditate upon the Word day and night is because it will expose
every lie of the devil in your mind.
Nothing is hidden from the Lord. All things become bare.
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3.) It judges.
When the Word of God
comes and judges error in your life, it is not the most comfortable feeling
that you've ever had. Many times it will
cause your flesh to rise up. We don't like
to hear truth because truth will penetrate our comfortable place,
it will expose our error and will bring judgment upon it. Discipline is never fun. When conviction comes, we can either repent
of our sin and release it, or retain it and walk under the judgment of
God.
When the Word of God
comes and penetrates, something is going to move. The Word judges that which is wrong and
brings you to a place of decision; either to repent of the sin or try to run
from the conviction.
The Word is going to
come forth with a greater power in these endtimes, more than anything
we have ever seen before. We will also
see greater manifestations of the conviction of God in a service.
It is much better to
have the judgment of God now than the judgment of God later. The Bible says that the Spirit of God will
not strive with men forever. God gives
us a time to repent, but that time will not last forever.
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4.) It brings to light.
Jesus is the light of
the world. That light, the light of
truth, will reveal all the dark and hidden things in our hearts. God does not do this to shame us, but to
deliver us. It will also expose the lies
and deceit of the enemy so you can live free and victorious.
John
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As you allow the light
of the Word to reveal what’s in the darkness, you will no longer fall into the
snares or traps of the enemy.
In Review:
1.
Explain what is meant by girding your loins with truth.
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2. Who
controls a man?
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3. List
the first four things the Word of God does.
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4. What
ability does truth give you for your mind?
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