The American Wisdom Series 
 http://www.americanwisdomseries.com

Presents 
the book of

Revelation 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

John 15:26
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13-14
[13] Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. [14] He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

This Bible Study was originally written by Roger Christopherson,
 published at http://www.theseason.org/ 

Without the leading by the Holy Spirit, there is no understanding of the truths, for all the truth of the Scriptures are revealed to us by God's Spirit.

 Now here is our revised study of:

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

Natural instinct is the using of common sense. We must allow our own natural instincts and common sense to override that which is false. When we arm ourselves in the word of God, we should grow up to have the strength and power to set the direction or our own lives. We should be able to know truth from false teaching, false doctrine, and false information.

To "be strong in the Lord", means to be sure in your mind of the Lord. Our strength in the Lord comes from the things we can do in the authority of Jesus Christ's name. God's might is where all our power comes from. God cares, and gives those who call on His name the strength needed to see us through any difficulty.

Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Luke 11:22; "But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." Jesus is telling us that before we put on our armor to go into battle against the enemy [Satan], we are to scout out the enemy to see the strength of his [Satan's] forces. How many troupes he has, what he is armed with, and what he intends to use against us.

Then we can come back and take an inventory of our strength, to see how well we will be able to stand against him. When there are overwhelming odds against us, we are to send an ambassador to talk peace; for this pulling of a delay will buy time for us.

We are in the end times and in a fierce spiritual battle. Have you scouted the enemy? Do you know who the enemy is, and who his forces are made up from? It is Satan, his evil spirits, and his offspring on the earth, the "Kenites". God is giving these evil forces authority to exercise, and bring about the fulfillment of His plan for these latter days.

Shortly, Michael will cast Satan out of heaven [Revelation 12:7], and he will be on the earth in person ruling as the spurious messiah. As the spirit of Satan rules right here on earth, God also give His elect the Spirit and power of the Holy Spirit; we have power to subdue all evil spirits. In Luke 10:18, Jesus said; "We have the power over all our enemies", and Satan is our enemy.

Now is the time that we had better be preparing ourselves; to know what is going to transpire, and what we must have to use against Satan, and all his forces. We must know him and all his names; the serpent, the king of Tyre, the devil, and all of his other names, which will alert us to his actions.

The "wiles of the devil" refers to the lies, tricks, and deceitfulness he and his offspring [the Kenites] may use to bring down Christians. The "whole armour" is all the protection necessary to stand against those lies and deception. Your entire body has to be protected against Satan, or he will out wit you, and you will not stand.

The point is, that you put on the "whole armour", all of it, to stand against Satan, the false-christ.

Ephesians 6:12 "For we wrestle not against flesh ad blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Are you prepared mentally to do battle with Them? This battle is not with guns and swords, but with words and doctrines; with concepts and ideas, and these are the "fiery darts" that Satan will conduct his warfare against you with.

Daniel 8:23 will give us a view of what this ruler of darkness is like. "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up."

This king in the "latter time" is Satan, coming to earth, in person, as the false-christ; he is the "king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences". In the Hebrew text it means that Satan is "skilled in dissimulation" of the truth of God's word. Satan knows all of God's word, and as such, he is the father of lies and deception. He will twist and turn the truth a little here and a little there, to make it an outright lie. Satan even now, in spirit, is the deciever on earth, and we must never forget it. But, at the sixth trump he's coming in person. [Five months before Christ returns!]

Daniel 8:24 "And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy People."

He will take away so much of Christianity, and cause so much deception through false doctrines [such as the rapture doctrine] that all those without their full [whole] armor on, will be deceived. He will come "in" [to this earth] with the promise of peace and prosperity; with false hopes and a promise to fulfill your every wish, if you will but follow him.

How does he do this? It will be easy, because, do to our lack of correct instruction from our so called Christian churches, most proclaiming Christians will believe he is really Christ come to fly them out of here! 

Daniel 8:25 "And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."

Satan's "policy" is the way he fights, which is his method of operation. The "craft to prosper in his hand", refers to his ability that God will give him to do many miracles and wonders. Revelation 13 tells us how he will use this deceit to trick the whole world, except for God's elect, those with the seal of God {knowledge} in their minds.

"He shall magnify himself in his heart", is covered in II Thessalonians 2:4; "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing [calling] himself that he is God." This is the "Abomination of desolation [by the desolator]" spoken of in Daniel 9:27, and by Jesus in Matthew 24:15.

"By peace" is Satan's secret weapon, for peace is the most powerful weapon used against God's people in this final generation. It is dismantling the mind of the Christian church and disarming our nation today. 

In the end Satan will be "broken without hand", because it will be by the two edged sword which comes from the mouth of Jesus Christ. The same sword that spoke and worlds were formed, and the stars were put in their places. However, we must not underestimate Satan's power to deceive, and his miracles, and cries for peace, peace, peace.

Europe has moved to unity, and by treaty, and the Americas are also brought together. But the binding force for the world politically is the United Nations, with it's many dominating agencies, i.e."the New World Order". World peace is at the door step, the "fifth trump of Revelation" is sounding, and following it comes the sounding of the "sixth trumpet of Revelation".

At the fall of this world political system, the first beast of Revelation, i.e. "The New World Order", as some like to call it; comes the rise of a world religious order, i.e. the second beast of Revelation, which will cause the world nations to bow to the coming ruler, Satan, as the false-christ.

Most of the "claiming to be" Christian world will bow to this religious leader, the false-christ, as their Messiah, except he will be the spurious messiah, Satan. One worldism is so close, that it could become fact at any time.

Ephesians 6:13 "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to with stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

We will stand against Satan, and all his forces. The "evil day" is just before the Lord's return, and on that day we had better be prepared to stand and face Satan, with our full armor on. This is not a day as we measure time, but a five month period when Satan is here on earth in person. 

Ephesians 6:14 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;"

Your "girt" is your belt. That is what holds up your pants, and our spiritual "belt" is the truth of God's word; all of it. Like the belt, it also holds you together, and keeps you from going flying off in all directions. If you know what to expect you will not stray off into Satan's camp in ignorance. Read our studies of the 7 seals, the 7 vails, and the 7 trumps of Revelation in order to learn what you should expect, so you are not deceived by Satan and his coming locust army.

Live Link to- Basic facts you need to know to understand Scripture
To understand scripture without perceived conflicts you must have eyes to see these truths.
Then read:
under #13 That  The first beast has risen,
under #14 That  Endure until the end.
under #15 That  The seventh Trump.
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Our "breastplate of righteousness" is our justification, or authority for everything we say or do. That is the Word of God. It will protect you, but only if you are able to think for yourself, and the wisdom to direct our thinking can only come from God. Without that truth in your mind, you are spiritually naked, and defenseless against any spiritual battle. The world today is Biblically illiterate.

Ephesians 6:15 "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;"

This is the kind of shoes that we all must have on. There is only one true peace, and that comes from Jesus Christ. The "gospel of peace" is the "good news of God's full plan". Your feet are used to walk with and get you around, while the shoes are for the protection of your feet. So we had better have the "gospel armor" on so when we move in these final days, we know exactly where to walk, and what to expect. There are no secrets for these days, as to how Satan's forces will move; for it is all written in God's Word [our Bible].

When we see the signs of the end times that are upon us, we had better understand what Satan will do; and then know what we had better do about it. Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 13 all tell us in detail what we are to do in that day. These are all part of our spiritual shoes, that will guide our feet to where they ought to take us.

Ephesians 6:16 "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

Paul is telling us that this is the most important armor; "above all". When we put on our "shield of faith" we can quench [or snuff out] all of Satan's fiery darts. There is absolutely nothing Satan can send against you mentally, if you are filled with the seal of the living God. God even went far beyond that when He gave to Satan the keys of authority for his tribulation rule.

God said in Revelation 9:4 "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thin, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." That seal of God is the Scriptures; all of it, and it had better be stored in your mind [that's your "forehead"].

The "shield" is our faith, or the certain knowledge that we know that when Satan comes against us, we will automatically be given the moves we are to take to shield ourselves form him. Whatever comes our way will be snuffed out today, tomorrow, and right into Christ's Millennium age. Your faith is not only your belief, but your acting on that belief; which is sustained by your confidence that God will perform that what He said He will do. All things will come to pass exactly as He said it would in His Word.

Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:"

The "sword of the spirit" is the "Word of God". Revelation 1:16 tells us that the sword is a two edged sword that destroys all of Satan's lies and deceptions. It is the Word of God, from the mouth of God, and written for us in the Bible.

Our head is the most vulnerable part of our body; Therefore our salvation had better be secure and sure in our mind. Our "salvation" is the most sure thing we can have, for it is Christ that does the saving, and it comes through our belief in Jesus Christ, and His work on the cross: His death and resurrection. All this was done by Him to pay the price for each and every sin that we have done. However, those sins are only forgiven by Him through our repentance to God, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then our sins are all blotted out from the view of the Father, and we are accepted into His family. We become the sons [daughters] of God, and joint heirs with Christ in God's kingdom.

Ephesians 6:18 "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints,"

Make sure that it is your spirit that is guiding your prayer, and not your flesh. Look out for each other, and keep other Christians warm in the Spirit. Make intercessory prayers for each other, and give support and backing to your Christian Brethren. Ask God for all the tools to fight your spiritual battles, and He will even lay on your heart and mind the burden for your Christian brethren.

Ephesians 6:19 "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,"

The sword is very powerful, and can even divide the soul from the spirit. The spirit is the intellect in which the souls thinks. The word of God in our minds allows us to speak boldly of God's word, for then we need not run from anyone.

Not only will the word keep your soul body in line, but it will also straighten out your flesh body. It will show you how you are to control you flesh.

Ephesians 6:20 "For which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."

Paul is speaking, and commanding that you and I should speak the truths of God's Word, that we be direct and forthright. That we be bold in what we say and speak with authority. We can do that when we have the whole armor on. Your faith will allow you to speak boldly, and with confidence.

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