healing1

By David W. Foster

" Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. "

" Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. "

                                                                                        -Isaiah 53:4-5 & I Peter 2:24

The first real step to receiving and understanding healing is knowing and believing that IT IS GOD'S WILL TO HEAL YOU! YES, LITTLE OLE YOU!!! Ask many do they believe in healing, and the general answer would be: I believe He heals sometimes, but not all. But the Lord spoke to my heart one day and said, "ask them why they believe that." He said, "the majority of them will tell you because they knew so and so, who was a really good person. A very fine Christian who believed, lived, and served God with all their heart. If God were going to heal anyone, surely it would have been her. But she died! Then on the other hand, there was so and so: diagnosed as having a malignant tumor. They didn't seem to live or care for God that much, but they got a miracle. It was even documented by the doctors. They have x-rays showing where the tumor was, and x-rays of where it disappeared. So I know God heals, but not always."

The Lord said to me, "these people have interpreted scripture in light of human experience. They believe I do, or don't based upon someone's ability to get or not get healed." He went on to say, "you can show them scriptures where it says I healed all, and that I was no respecter of persons, and they will tell you that can't be what that means, because of their (or someone they knew) inability to obtain healing." Listen beloveth, there could be any number of reasons why a person doesn't get healed; some of which we would never know until we get to heaven. But it doesn't discard the fact that God's Will is healing and health for all His children. What kind of father would He be if He played favorites? Choosing to heal some, and not others makes Him a respecter of person. What I don't understand is why it is so hard for people to just own up to the fact that they missed it somewhere as opposed to changing the word of God to fit their experience or lack of it. Even if you doubted the interpretation of certain scriptures concerning this subject, how do you get around the many scriptures that say plainly that GOD IS OF NO RESPECT OF PERSONS! Simply meaning, if He did anything for "Jimbo" and "Jumbo" He is bound and obligated by His word to do it for me! If He healed "Sceeta" from da hood, He's got to heal "John" from the corporate office. It's not a matter of who you are, what you are, or what you know (natural human knowledge wise), but where you are when it comes to lining up with God's will.

You see, to say it is God's will to heal some, but not others. Or to say that God will heal you sometime, but not all the time, is a direct contradiction of great faith scriptures that we use all the time when it comes to prayer. Mk 11:23&24, " For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith [if it be His will? NO!!!]. Therefore I say unto you, what things [healing is a thing] soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, [and if it is God's will ye shall have them? NO!!!] AND ye shall have them." Now if these scriptures were only for a select few, I believe they would have been stated like that. If it is not God's will to heal all, or answer the prayers of all (no matter they petition for), He should have never said WHOSOEVER!!! That rules out some He do, and some He don't!!!

                                                Paul's Thorn

Now here's the million-dollar question: Is it God's will to heal all? Be careful how you answer, a lot rides on whether it is, or isn't. You see, many don't even seek to be healed, because they are not sure of the answer to this question. Now of course you'll have those that automatically will rise up and say it is absurd to think so. Now someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't find one place in the Bible where someone sought after the Lord for healing, and He said "NO". Of course some want-to-be Bible scholar will exhibit their ignorance and say, "What about Paul? He prayed three times that God will heal him, and all the Lord said was "my grace is sufficient. God didn't heal him." First of all it is presupposed that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" was sickness because he said, he would gladly glory in his "infirmities". There is absolutely no biblical proof that Paul's thorn was sickness. The word "infirmities" in this passage is translated "weakness" not "sickness" as most suppose. There is another reference to thorns in the book of Numbers 33:55, " But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be PRICKS IN YOUR EYES, AND THORNS IN YOUR SIDES, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell." Notice that in this reference the "thorn in the flesh" is in reference to persecution and oppression from people. Could this be the case with Paul's thorn?

22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; In labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 28 Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. (II Cor.11:22-29)

Judging from this passage, it sounds pretty much like Paul's thorn best fits the description of the "Numbers 33" thorn (oppression from people). Not only that, but I think a lot of people miss all together what God meant when He told Paul "my grace is sufficient." Paul's account was, " I besought the Lord thrice (three times), and the only answer I got back was, "my grace is sufficient." Notice what he did not say! He did not say the answer I got back was NO! Each time Paul prayed, God simply said to him, my grace is enough. Why do you think the Lord repeated that answer to Paul? Evidently he was trying to get the apostle to recognize a redemptive fact: YOU'RE ALREADY DELIVERED, MY GRACE IS MORE THEN ENOUGH!!! The only record that we have in the Bible where people didn't receive healing was in Jesus' own hometown, and scripture plainly tells you why they didn't. "But if God's will is to heal all, why isn't 'all' healed." Good question, glad you asked!

Before we give you the scriptures to back our supposition of God's willingness to heal all, let me ask another question. Is it God's will to save all men? I believe it is safe to assume that 98% of you would say yes. Scriptural backing would be, Jhn.3:16, II Cor.5:14&15, and II Pet.3:9. I could have given more, but in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. The scriptures speak very plain and concise about God's willingness to save every man. But we all know that every man will not be saved. Some people seem to think that just because God wills a thing, it will be so. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Now I always get feed back from people when I say that, but I quickly tell them; it's His will that you pay your tithes, are you paying them? It's His will that you obey them that have rule over you, are you obeying them? It's His will that you don't argue and get into strife with your husband or wife, is it being done? God wills a whole bunch of things for mankind that they are doing or not doing, receiving or not receiving. You must remember we all are free moral agents. God has given us a will that He will not infringe upon and the devil can't. That's why His word to us is always conditioned... I will IF you will... and it shall come to pass IF... that IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth.

I could preach a whole sermon on this subject alone (the will of God). So since we see the word of God is always conditioned, maybe that can help you to see that the responsibility of receiving anything from God (healing included), rest upon the shoulders of the individual, and not God. If God has provided salvation for every man, but yet a man dies and goes to hell, what shall we say, it was God's will for him to go? God forbid! What kind of God do you think we serve?! You think He condemns men to hell from their mother's womb? GET REAL!!! Men have choices! They make choices everyday concerning God and His will for their lives by choosing to seek Him, or live life on their own. What if you were talking to someone about getting saved, and he or she told you that they believed it is God's will to save some, but not all? You asked them why they believe that, and they said because I know old so and so got saved and I thought he never would. But then I know so and so who I was sure would be saved, and they didn't get it. So therefore it's not God's will to save all, because all don't get saved.

The first thing you must do in order to get this person saved is change their thinking. Because if you don't, they will tell you that they don't know if it is God's will to save them or not! Listen beloveth that is what God has us down here for, to PROCLAIM OR PREACH HIS WORD OF SALVATION!!! How shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they believe in whom they have not heard!!! I say the reason why ALL are not healed is because they don't know that God is willing to heal ALL (not just some). But the reason ALL don't get healed is because they don't ALL know it! So there must be a preacher or proclaimer, who will bring this knowledge to the masses, or else they will doubt God's willingness to heal them. And as long as they don't know God's willingness to heal them, they won't exercise faith for it. What God did for mankind through the redemptive work of Jesus was not just for a select few, it was for ALL! And the responsibility for ALL receiving rest solely upon their shoulders, not God's!

                                      Fighting For Rights

" And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your WHOLE spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thess.5:23)
" Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. " (I Pet.2:24)
" That if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be SAVED. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. " (Rom.10:9&10)

Forgive me for being repetitious, but in order for a person to have, get, and maintain healing from God, this one fact must be established in their hearts, IT IS GOD'S WILL TO HEAL THEM, BECAUSE IT'S HIS WILL TO HEAL ALL. Side note: Do you know why people fight or get into fights? When two people are fighting, what are they fighting for? Well you may say, "people fight for stupid things all the time, who knows why any two people are fighting?" Well there is one thing that most every fight originates from (I'll say about 99% of them). RIGHTS BEING VIOLATED! Every fight has it's origin in someone feeling or believing their rights have been infringed upon. As a child I got into fights because I felt no one had a right to hit me without cause. I fought because I had a right to something I rightfully own that someone else wanted to take from me. We here in the good old USA would fight other countries because we feel all man are created equal, and that no man has the right to dominate another without his consent. Wars happen and take place, all because someone rights has been violated. Do you know what right two fighters in a boxing match are fighting for? The right to be called "champion of the world." PEOPLE WILL FIGHT, WHEN THEY FEEL LIKE THEIR RIGHTS ARE BEING VIOLATED!!!

This is why I want you to see that it is God's will to heal all. If you are saved and born again, you have a RIGHT to healing and health! It's rightfully yours, it belongs to you! Well brother Pastor if that is true, why don't I have it? Good question, I got a good answer! "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE." (Matt.11:12) Anything you get from heaven comes under violent attacks, but you have to get violent (or radical) and take or demand it with FORCE! We all know that Israel is a type and shadow of spiritual Israel (the church). Follow them from their exodus of Egypt through the wilderness, to Mt. Sinai, to the promise land. Egypt being a type and shadow of the world, with Pharaoh in his taskmasters being the devil and demons that had people in hard and bitter bondage. The wilderness of temptation no doubt the temptation every believer goes through after committing his or her life to Christ. Mt. Sinai and Midian, the church where we receive the Law (or God's word). The Jordan River that they had to cross to the promise land, a type and shadow of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The promise land itself, our RIGHTS AND PRIVILAGES afforded to us in Christ.

Again I say, people think that just because God wills a thing it will be so. Read my lips: NOT SO!!! Too many assume, "if it's God's will, I will have it, if not, I won't." Wrong thinking; keep in mind that we are admonished to "trust in the Lord with all our heart's, and lean not unto our own understanding" (Prv.3:5), which is very limited. Stop trying to make the word of God make sense, (get this) IT'S NOT SUPPOSE TOO!!! When the word of God starts making sense, then we have reduced it down to our understanding. In order to understand the word of God, scripture says we must compare spiritual things, with spiritual. (I Cor.2:13) Thinking that "if God wants me to have it, I will have it, if not I won't" Opens the door to doubt in unbelief. How can you believe God for healing, when you doubt His willingness to heal you? You've got to come to the place of knowing, and we can do that through prayer and meditation of God's word.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, fighting for rights! I was endeavoring to show you that just because we have been promised and made something by God, doesn't mean we will automatically get it, without engaging in a battle. You will notice with the children of Israel, God told them that everyplace that the soles of their feet tread upon (in the promise land), He HAD (pass tense) given it to them for an inheritance. It was a land flowing with milk and honey! The promise land wasn't a type and shadow of heaven as many would think. There will be no giants in heaven, and we won't have to fight to possess anything. The promise land for spiritual Israel is the body of Christ, and all of the RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES that are ours IN HIM! And just like literal Israel had to fight to do the possessing of their (already given and promised) promise land, so it is with spiritual Israel. All of the commandments and promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, but we must FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH in order to do the possessing of these blessings. And yes, even though we are in the promise land, there are giants of sickness and disease, giants of poverty and lack, giants of heartache and emotional pain that stands to defy us, and keep us from possessing our land.

Yes healing belongs to us all, but we must do the possessing of it! Financial well being belongs to us (redemption from poverty) but we must do the possessing of it! There are giants that stand in your way to deny you of your RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES in Christ. And you will not fight or put up an effort if you don't believe that healing and health is for you. Notice that God had told Israel that He had ALREADY given them the promise land, but they had to do the possessing of it. Can you explain that? Why God says He had already delivered that into their hands, but yet they had to fight to get it? Surely if God says He gave it to them already, they would just have it wouldn't they? I mean if it really were His will for them to have it, they would have it, right? Not according to my Bible. They had to fight for every square inch of the promise land that flowed with milk and honey. And if they didn't fight, they didn't get! (Even though it was already promise to them) I can hear you thinking: But why would He make them fight for something that was already theirs? Why didn't He just clear them out for the children of Israel? Good questions. Number one, as an example to spiritual Israel. To show us that even though He has already given us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness, we will have to fight the good fight of faith for it. Now don't misunderstand God, this is not just to test us, or put us though some hard trial to see if we can make it. There are outlaw spirits still on the earth, and they are the accusers of the brethren. Who will not allow God to bless us beyond our belief or faith?

                   Knowing Your Rights & Privileges

As I have fore stated, every fight originates because someone feel their rights have been violated or infringed upon. But if you do not know your rights, people can steal, kill, and destroy you or from you without getting any resistance. I said people but I could have just as easily have said the devil. " The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that more abundantly." (Jhn.10:10) Listen to this carefully (because some people confuses the works of the devil with God's): Anything that is "stealing, killing, or destroying" is satanic in origin! Listening to a lot of religious leaders today, you'd think God and the devil has traded places or jobs. "God put these diabetes on me to make me more humble!" Really? Tell him to give you a tumor, that will really humble you! " Well I just believe that God is getting glory our of my suffering with paralyses. When people see how I'm holding up and going on with my life with Jesus in my condition, it give others hope." Hope for what, that they would be paralyzed too? Listen, if your paralyses is giving God glory, why not go for the jugular, tell Him to give you cancer or aids, He'd really get some glory then wouldn't He?

No beloveth, God is not putting it on you! Jesus said I came that you might have life more abundantly. Notice Acts 10:38, " How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with Power: Who went about doing good, and HEALING ALL THAT WERE OPPRESSED of the devil; for God was with Him. " Notice that this verse infers that sickness or abnormalities are satanic oppression. And that it is the devil, not God that puts it on a person. Jesus takes it off through the anointing and power of the Holy Ghost! You see, if you continue to let the devil make you think God is trying to teach you something, by allowing you to go through that experience, you will never fight for your RIGHT to walk in total health. Scripture says, "Submit yourselves therefore unto God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (Jms.4:7) Well I've already showed you where the sickness was coming from (the thief). So according to James here, if you don't submit to God, and RESIST the devil, it is safe to assume that he (or his diseases) will not flee from you.

So if you have swallowed that lie, that God put that on you to teach you something or try and make you humble, wake up! IT'S NOT GOD!!! You see, if you don't know you have a RIGHT to healing, you will not resist the devil or whatever he brings because you think it's God. And according to James 4:7, as long as you do not resist, he (or it) will not flee from you. KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO HEALING, BECAUSE HEALING WAS PURCHASED FOR YOU THE SAME TIME YOUR SALVATION WAS! You don't doubt God's willingness to save you! You don't doubt your RIGHT to salvation! One of the things I find so amazing about healing and health, is that some folk (and a whole bunch of Christians) will fight you hand and foot to stay sick. You would think they would want to hear the good news of healing. But I find it quite the opposite. Believers that do not know their RIGHTS will argue you down, and fight for (listen to this) their RIGHT to stay sick or diseased. The first real step of obtaining your healing is KNOWING THAT YOU KNOW that it is God's well to heal you!

If you knew beyond a shadow of doubt that it is God's will to heal you NOW! Would you put up some resistance to whatever ails you? Listen [here's a memory quote] "POSISTIVE RESISTANCE REPELS DISEASE!" It works just like an antihistamine when your resistance is based upon the word of God. In many cases you may not see results right off, but the more you resist, the more it repells. Just like any medicine you take, it immediately starts working once into your system, even though you don't see or feel any better at the time. So on our road to recovery, the first step is getting to the place where you know it in your "knower" that HEALING BELONGS TO YOU! After you know that, then it's time to fight, the good fight of faith. Note: I'm not saying that we don't need modern medicine or doctors (they have their place). Thank God for them, many believers would be at home with the Lord right now, if it weren't for them. We don't preach against modern medicine or doctors, it would be foolish for anyone to do so. Where do you think man got that technology and ability?

                                       God And Medicine

LISTEN CAREFULLY!!!! IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH A LIFE THREATENING ILLNESS, AND ARE JUST LEARNING ABOUT HEALING, YOU DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES STOP TAKING YOUR MEDICINE OR SEEING YOUR DOCTOR! UNLESS YOU KNOW BEYOND ALL DOUBT THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN UNTO YOU!!! You must understand that medicine doesn't heal you anyway, it only treats or make the symptoms more tolerable. Some seem to think it's a lack of faith to be taking medicine. Not so! You can believe God and be taking medicine at the same time. Again the key to this is understanding that no medicine heals! Ask any doctor. Now some just like to go cut and dry, and believe God without taking medicine. That is fine, if that is your faith, but I hope you are dealing with a non-life-threatening disease! Otherwise it would be foolish. I have a saying, [memory quote] " HE WHO FAITHS AND RUNS AWAY, LIVE TO FAITH ANOTHER DAY! " There is no shame in taking your medicine. I know you may be tired of taking 59 pills in one day (exaggerating of course), but if the ailment is life threatening, continue to take them and put up your positive resistance until you can start reducing the amount that you have to take. Often times, people are not in a position to believe God for an instant healing. As a matter of fact, if you were to study the healings in the New Testament, you will find that most of them were gradual, not instant. Notice Mk.16:18, " They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, [notice this] and THEY SHALL RECOVER."

Strange, it didn't say they would be immediately made whole! It said, they shall RECOVER! Do you know what it means to recover? It means to "amen or get better gradually." In all the people I have laid hands on for healing, I would say out of the majority that received healing, it happened gradually, it wasn't instant. Not trying to do away with the "Suddenly" or the "instant" but I think too many are looking for the spectacular and are missing the supernatural right in front of them! "Fight the good fight of faith..." If it is instant, IT IS NOT A FIGHT!!! Have you ever heard of those two licks-passed fights? " I hit you, and you hit the floor? " Well that's not really considered a fight. Most fights are drawn out, and they could easily go into a battle or war. So understand that in fighting for your RIGHT to be healed, you are not in unbelief by taking medicine. Often times that medicine will keep the symptoms down, long enough for you to concentrate on what the word has to say about your healing. And the more your confidence rises in the word, the less you will have to depend on your medicine. Sorry for the discourse, I felt it necessary to deal with this aspect of healing and medicine now, lease someone accurse me of saying I'm against doctors, modern medicine, and technology.

Now the reason why we talked about fights, and why people fight, is because if you are going to get healing and health you will have to fight for it. Again keeping in mind that all fights have their origin in rights being violated or infringed upon. If you don't know that you have a God given right to healing and health, you will not put up enough fight or positive resistance to get your healing. Oh, you better believe it will be a fight! The devil will use your own five physical senses against you, along with your mental faculties to throw you off balance. If you haven't found out yet, you will sooner or later; that everything you get from God will take effort. You'd better put your "best foot forward" at all times. Many people give up the fight of faith because they don't have a solid foundation when it comes to standing on God's word. And because of that, their battle is long and drawn out, with no apparent end in sight. But the key to any real victory is your foundation: If you don't mind, let me give you another discourse, and let us talk about "Putting On The Whole Amour of God."

                                      The Armour of God

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;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 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, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints;
-EPHESIANS 6:12-18

Since I first started teaching these lessons my claim has always been that our true battle is with IGNORANCE and not sickness or disease. I blame every ailment, sickness, and disease to IGNORANCE OF GOD'S WORD. Ignorance of God's word can and most certainly is a detriment to your health (Hos.4:6). You may say, " but I know what the word of God says about healing, but for some reason I haven't gotten mines." Well in your defense let me say this: It is possible to know what God's word says about healing, and still don't get healed (I know it sounds contradictory but hold on). When I say ignorance of God's word, it covers more then just KNOWING His will for your health. Maybe you do know all of the healing scriptures, and that it is God's will to heal. But you could be (and their is a real good chance) lacking valuable knowledge in another area that keeps you from obtaining healing. You could be doing all you KNOW to do concerning acting on the word for healing, but what if your ignorance is in another area in-the-which if you don't get it right, healing won't come, no matter how many healing scriptures you can quote. One area I know for sure is this area of putting on the whole Armour of God. Many know the word on health and healing, they're just not rooted and grounded in them. Let's get into it shall we?

A while back I was teaching in my own home church, and we were discussing some things from Ephesians chapter six when I hit a vain of revelation concerning "Putting on the whole Armour of God" that I never saw before. I had really always wondered exactly what the apostle Paul meant when He said, "put on the whole Armour of God." I'd heard many sermons preached on it, none really to my satisfaction as to the true meaning of what God was trying to say in this passage of scripture. Well that night at my church, I saw that passage in a total different light. I could easily see why people didn't really receive from God, even though they knew what scripture had said. I could see why many were not successful and fighting the good fight of faith. Why prayers are not answered and so on.

You'll notice in the scripture text that Paul starts off by saying that this is not a flesh and blood battle. In other words our struggle is not with the flesh or anyone in the flesh. It is not a natural or carnal battle at all, it's spiritual. This goes perfectly in line with II Cor.10:3,4&5, "For though we walk [or live] in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, [that is, they are not knives, guns, fighter jets, bombs, or tanks] but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" This struggle, fight, wrestle, and war that we are called upon to fight has nothing to do with the natural, although it greatly affects the natural. If we get our eyes on the natural or the realm of reason, we will lose this battle. Regardless of how much you suffer physically, you must remember that the battle is not against flesh and blood, IT IS NOT A PHYSCIAL BATTLE!!!

In Eph.6 scripture said that if we put on the WHOLE ARMOUR of God that we would be ABLE TO STAND. Now if for some reason we are not successful in our stand, that is a pretty good indication that we do NOT have on the WHOLE Armour of God. Oh, we may have some of it on, but scripture infer that in order to stand successfully we must put on all of it. Now I don't know about you, but if this is really true (that we can make a successful stand with the WHOLE ARMOUR of God on), the first thing I want to do is find out what the "ARMOUR OF GOD" truly is, so that I can know whether or not I have it on completely. If you don't know what it is, how can you really say you have it on?

Just exactly what was scripture talking about when it said, "put on the whole Armour of God?" Well actual Paul was saying that we as believers should be BUILT UP IN EVERY AREA OF THE WORD OF GOD! The Armour of God is simply the word of God (I'll show you that in a moment)! But notice also that putting on the Armour of God is something YOU do. We as believers are told to PUT IT ON, meaning the responsibility as to whether we have it on or not is up to us. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: ROOTED AND BUILT UP in him, and STABLISHED in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." (Col.2: 6&7)

Again I say, putting on the Armour of God is something each and every believer must do. And it is not something you can do over night. Just saying you have the Armour on, doesn't mean you have it on. Bluntly put, if you're standing (in all areas), you have it on, if not, you don't. You say, "well I can stand in some areas." Well you have part or a piece of it on, but in order to stand successfully, you must put on the WHOLE Armour of God. The fact that he said "put on the whole" infers that you can put it on in part..

Now we talked already about fighting for your rights, this teaching and this passage of scripture in Ephesians backs that up. What is the purpose of Armour? Isn't it for protection? Protection from what? There must be some kind of opposing force that we are dealing with that is capable of doing spiritual and bodily harm, though we wouldn't have to put Armour on. It is time out for being a doormat for the devil and his demons to trounce on. Notice also that this is not just any Armour, but this is the ARMOUR OF GOD!!! Do you suppose if we had it on, it will protect us? Certainly! That's the purpose; God doesn't want us being beat upon by nothing the devil has. "Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Lk.10:19)

                                   What Is The Armour?

Now if we can just find out what the Armour of God truly is, and how to get it on, we would be well on our way. No problem, let's go over it piece by piece and see if we can come up with an answer. First he said, " Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth...". Jesus said in John 17:17, " Sanctify them through they truth: THY WORD IS TRUTH." So we see the belt of truth is THE WORD. "...and having on the breastplate of righteousness..." Ps. 119:123 & Heb.5:13 says, " Mine eyes fail for they salvation, and for THE WORD OF THY RIGHTEOUSNESS. For everyone that useth milk is unskilful in THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: for he is a babe." So we see the breastplate of righteousness is THE WORD. "and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace..." Notice Acts 10:36, "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, PREACHING PEACE by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all)" So we see even the shoes is THE WORD, (for how beautiful are the feet, of them with carry the gospel of peace). "Above all, talking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD." No doubt the shield of faith is THE WORD OF GOD. " And Take the helmet of salvation..." Acts 13:26 says, "...and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is THE WORD OF THIS SALVATION sent. So we see once again that the helmet of salvation is, THE WORD OF GOD. "...and the sword of the spirit, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD." The last one explains itself. So what am I saying, THE ARMOUR OF GOD, IS THE WORD OF GOD. Paul was actually saying be built up in every area of the word, so that you may be able to stand. And it will protect you from all harm!

Now that we have found out what it is, how do we "put it on?" It's not as simple as a lot of people think. Putting on the Armour of God takes time, and of course you know, that is something most people are not willing to give up. But in order to put on the full Armour of God, you will have to devote a considerable amount of time to the word. Now I am quite sure all of you reading this will probably say, "I already do that, and I know I have on the full Armour of God." Oh really? I wouldn't be too quick to make that assessment. Again take a look at your life, and see if you are standing successfully on the word in every area. If not, I don't care how much of the word you know, you don't have it all on. To be truthful with you, most Christians only have on the helmet of salvation. Yes I know you KNOW a lot of the word, and probably can preach to anyone and get them saved or delivered; but it is possible to preach to others and get them healed, saved, delivered, and set free, yet you yourself can still be bound and in bondage because you KNOW THE WORD, but don't have on THE WORD! How many times have you took the word and shared with someone else and they were set free, but you yourself were still in bondage to something very similar if not the same thing? Why isn't it working for you? YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR ARMOUR ON!!!

End of Part I

All scripture quotations were taken from the King James version of the Bible. Reproduction of part or all of this teaching is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of Pastor David Foster and Son of God Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 46514, Little Rock, AR 72214.