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Preparing For That Evil Day! (Pt. 2) by Charlie Rogers We are beginning Part 2 of this teaching based on what the Word says in Eph 6:13, Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. NKJV that we may be prepared and able to stop Satan before he starts. That we all may become more and more victorious in our lives by keeping him from tearing apart our armor piece by piece. As I have said in the previous teaching we all will have an evil day to be prepared for. Let us now pick up with the breastplate of righteousness. Verse 14, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, When we were born again by God’s grace we were made the righteousness of God by the finished work of Jesus Christ. The new nature that we received when we were born again was created in true righteousness and holiness. That means we now have a moral compass on the inside of us. This compass will direct us toward His character becoming our character, His integrity becoming our integrity, His will becoming our will. But this does not happened by accident. We have to put off the old man and put on the new man. God placed His own nature on the inside of us through this new man, the born again nature, so we can walk righteously in this earth. And the righteousness which is of God by faith believes that as He is, so are we in this world. ( Phil 3:9). This is putting on the breastplate of righteousness, the second piece of armor. Eph 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; NKJV One of the toughest pieces of equipment the Roman soldier had was his sandals; it would stand up to all kinds of terrain for days and months on end protecting his feet during long marches. As is the peace of God in our own lives protecting us, stopping the enemy from destroying us with fear and vain imaginations all contrary to the way God thinks. 1 Peter 5:7-9 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, NKJV The opposite of the peace of God is torment and fear. This is when we take on worries and care of this world that causes us to be devourable. So if these worries and care make us devourable by our enemy, then the peace of God that we learn to walk in makes us undevourable. To be able to resist cares is to resist the devil. It is the peace of God we walk in that makes us able to stand solid in faith in every situation we are faced with in our life. That’s why we preach and teach about the effects of praying in the spirit that takes you to a place of peace that makes you unmanageable by the devil. (Jude 20) I can’t count the amount of times I would find myself laying awake at night taking on cares causing pressure on my emotions listening to the devil’s lies. I can tell you my friends I have not arrived to perfection in the area of peace, but I have become more unmanageable by the devil than I use to be, and am doing the things necessary to advance even more. Eph 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. NKJV The best way to stop the devil from getting the pieces of our armor is to stop him to begin with, by using the shield of faith to stop all of his attacks. In the spiritual realm Satan bombards us with wrong thoughts and imaginations, with high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of Christ and thoughts of disobedience. We take up the shield of faith by meditating and meditating the Word of God until we are renewed in the spirit of our mind, Romans 10:17 faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. So when the enemy bombards us with evil thoughts, thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God the shield of faith stops them because we have God’s word down inside of us and our mind has been transformed by God’s word. Satan wants to erode our faith to the point he can have his way with us and before we know it we are walking in doubt and unbelief. Eph 6:17-18 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, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints NKJV The last three pieces of the armor, the helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit and prayer all go together. The helmet of salvation is where we stand in Christ. This is not a legalistic stand, it’s by His grace. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you have been saved by grace through faith. You are God’s workmanship now , created for good works.( Eph 2:8-9 ). Get that down inside you my brother and sister, don’t let the enemy steal this piece of armor, the helmet of salvation. Don’t let the enemy entangle you into bondage such as legalism. One of the most ferocious armies ever assembled was the Roman army, they were said to be relentless, all with a sword. In the spiritual realm we have a mighty weapon; it’s the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. We are to be relentless against Satan with our sword, the Word of God and don’t stop. Don’t be surprised if it takes more than one slash of the sword. Josh 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. NKJV How well can you use your sword? How experienced are you? How familiar are you with your sword? The Word of God must stay on our lips continually. Whatever battle we are going through, find a scripture or two concerning the situation ( peace, wisdom, healing, finances, whatever you need ) and confess it over and over and over. Meditate them. Worship God with them. Put them in first person context. Make them personal for you until faith comes and brings victory. Do it as long as it takes. I can tell you right now that Satan thinks he has plenty of time and will be after you constantly, just as that water is dripping on that rock to wear it down; Satan wants to wear us down in our mind and emotions with his lies and deception. 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints NKJV When one of these Roman soldiers was beaten down to his knees, on the verge of being killed, one of his fellow soldier’s would come to his rescue and use his sword to stop the onslaught of that enemy soldier. So are we to do in this war we are in. We are to be praying always with all supplication with perseverance no matter how long the battle or war is for all our brothers and sisters. You stand in the gap for me and I will stand in the gap for you so that Satan will find no cracks in our armor, and will not be able to defeat either one of us, and we will all be victorious! Remember the wiles of Satan are to strategically remove each piece of armor one at a time. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against invisible powers and principalities, rulers and spiritual wickedness. The wrestling match comes over our armor when Satan comes to steal it one piece at a time until we are standing there with nothing left including our testimony. My brothers and sisters don’t let him do it! As you can now see it is not enough to get up in the morning and just see each piece of armor go on us, but more so it is a way of life a walk with God, a 24 hour 7 day a week walk with our Father. You say, but what if I fail what if I stumble. My friends thank God for His Grace that I can get up and go again. I pray and believe this teaching has been a blessing for those that read it and do it. Feel free to make copies and pass it on to others. |