Perry Stone Jr - Putting On Your God Gear: A Detailed Instruction Manual for Spiritual Warfare Based on Pauls Revelation of the Armor of God

PUTTING ON YOUR GOD GEAR

Voice of Evangelism Outreach Ministries

PO. Box 3595

Cleveland, Tennessee, 37320

(423) 478-3456

Fax: (423) 478-1392

www.perrystone.org

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, scanning,recording or otherwise, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without thepermission in writing from the author.

All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version of the Bible, unless otherwiseindicated.

Design and Layout by Michael Duttonwww.atomicpress.com

Cover Illustration by Glen Angus www.gangus.net

Copyright 2007 by Voice of Evangelism, Inc.

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-9785920-3-5

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

ILLUSTRATION BY FRANCIS VALLEJO

Introduction

As a child, when I heard people talking about a war between God and Satan, I imagined a tug-of-war with God at one end of a big rope and Satan at the other end. Sometimes God was winning, sometimes Satan was winning. I figured that this battle had been going on for a long, long time.

There was no tug-of-war, of course, because God has already won the war. When Jesus went back to heaven, He sat down as a priest at the right hand of the Father. In the Old Testament, a priest could never sit down until the work on the Day of Atonement was finished. Only then could he sit down and say, "It is finished."

Although the war has been won, there are continuous battles between good angels and bad angels, or between angels of God and what we call principalities and demonic spirits.

Daniel 10 contains an excellent example of an evil spirit wrestling with an angel of God. Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days. During that time God sent an angel to answer Daniel's prayer, but the angel was hindered as he wrestled an evil angel, called the prince of the kingdom of Persia. The archangel Michael was sent to fight the prince. With Michael's help, the angel was able to get to Daniel and answer his prayer.

In the heavens, Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). However, Revelation 12 tells us that one day Michael and his angels will cast Satan and his angels out of the second heaven and into the heavens of the earth. Yes, there are battles; but we know who has won the war.

When I first began to study spiritual warfare, I soon realized that the New Testament speaks a lot about warring and warfare. For example, Scripture reveals where our warfare is and refers to our weapons:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weaponsofour warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. 2 CORINTHIANS 10:3, 4

Scripture also reveals that we can have a war within ourselves:

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? JAMES 4:1

The Book of Peter speaks of fleshly lusts that war against the soul. Expositors interpret the soul as the intellect or the mind:

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. 1 PETER 2:11

And in the Book of 1st Timothy, the Apostle Paul says:

This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. 1 TIMOTHY 1:18

In the previous four scripture references, the words war, warring andwarfare do not specify that you are fighting a demon or a principalityThese scriptures are speaking to Christians. Before you accepted Christ,the enemy of your soul blinded you from the truth. There is no doubtthat spirits attacked you to keep you from hearing and believing thegospel. But now that you are saved, where is the battle?

The war is with the flesh. Your flesh can contain attitudes of theold nature and old ways of thinking, known as mental strongholds.Controlling the flesh is a serious aspect of spiritual warfare.

With this in mind, Ephesians 6:14-17 tells us that we have armor forour warfare:

• the loin girdle of truth
• the breastplate of righteousness
• shoes of the gospel of peace
• the shield-of faith
• the helmet of salvation
• the sword of the Spirit

When I was a young minister, I believed that warfare involved onlyprincipalities and powers a demon here and an evil spirit there. In fact,I preached on demons so much that they started showing up. Then anexperienced minister told me, "If you preach more on Jesus than ondemons, Jesus will show up and the demons will leave." Sure enough,once I started preaching more on the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, thosedemonic attacks stopped.

There are people who give their flesh full reign. In many cases, it isnot the devil that is causing our problems; it's our own flesh. People will come to church, and instead of enjoying the presence of God, they find something to complain about. Their minds are on what somebody is doing wrong or on things they do not like. Whether it be the air conditioner, the color of the carpet, or the pastor's sermon, people do not appreciate the blessings that God has given them.

I have seen pictures of, and read articles about, Christians in other countries who are being tortured. They are beaten, burned, hung upside- down on poles, and suffer other indignities that are unimaginable to most of us.

Some Christians in America, however, quit serving God over foolish issues. If they lose their job, they get mad at God. If their salary is cut, they do not tithe. When they get sick and pray for healing, they get angry if their miracle does not come immediately.

We are not producing soldiers -we are producing wimps in the body of Christ. A soldier, the Bible says, must learn to endure hardness. A soldier must be able to stand when everything is going the wrong way.

Several verses before Paul describes the armor of God, he affirms the soldier's duty:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. -EPHESIANS 6:10

The Greek word for "strong" is endunamoo, meaning to be endued with strength. The Greek word for "power" is kratos, meaning a force, a strength that is mighty with great power. Our strength and power is the Lord's strength and power.

In the next verse, Paul tells us how to be strong and with whom we are fighting:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. EPHESIANS 6:11

The word "wiles" in the Greek is methodeia, which means a method of schemes using deceit and trickery. The wiles of the devil can be planned months or years before the attack actually hits you. He is a master at setting traps.

Often people do not understand the scheming aspect of Satan's nature. Many think that the sudden breakup of their marriage, the unexpected news of an affair, or the discovery that a brother was in a bar all night drinking is something that even caught God off-guard. But He knows what the enemy is plotting against each of us now for some future attack.

Just after communism fell in the early 1990s, I was preaching in Romania, and a woman told me, "The Lord has showed me that you will soon come under a severe attack." She told me how the preaching of the Word had shaken the principalities and powers in America, and that I needed to be on guard.