The Spiritual Warfare Of The Church As The New Man Message One
Message Two
The New Man as the Corporate Warrior of God with Christ
as the Constituents of the Whole Armor of God
Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.- Eph. 6:10-11.
And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.-17~18.
Word of Appetizer
Not only Church is the body expressing the Christ, God’s dwelling place and the new man who fulfill God’s economy; but also what should we see the two aspects of the church in Eph.5,6?
Ephesians 5 reveals that the church is the bride to satisfy the desire of Christ for His expression with His image, and Ephesians 6 reveals that the church as the new man is a corporate warrior fighting the battle for God’s interests on earth for His dominion (thus fulfilling God’s eternal purpose in Genesis 1:26).
Spiritual Burden
Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil.
The fact that we need to be empowered in the Lord, we can fight only in the Lord and in the might of His strength; the whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ as the corporate warrior, not for any individual member of the Body.
Christ is the constituents of God’s armor for the church, the one new man, as the corporate warrior of God.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
Ephesians 5 reveals that the church is the bride to satisfy the desire of Christ for His expression with His image, and Ephesians 6 reveals that the church as the new man is a corporate warrior fighting the battle for God’s interests on earth for His dominion.
Ephesians 6:10-20 reveals that Christ is the constituents of God’s armor for the church, the one new man, as the corporate warrior of God.
The Experience of Life
Receive “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God”; Christ as the Spirit and the word furnishes us with a sword as an offensive weapon to defeat and slay the negative elements in our being; The more we take in the word with its killing power, the more our pride and all the negative elements within us are put to death; by pray-reading, the inward adversary is slain.
Practice and Application
We must have faith in God, faith in God’s heart, faith in God’s faithfulness ,faith in God’s ability，faith in God’s word, faith in God’s will, faith in God’s sovereignty.
If we have such a faith, flaming darts of Satan shall by no means hurt us.
.Prayer is the unique way to apply Christ as the armor of God; In order to fight on God’s side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer.
Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline
Key Verses (1)
His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints- Rev 19:7-8.
And the armies which are in heaven followed Him on white horses, dressed in fine linen, white and clean- 14.
Finally, be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil- Eph.6:10-11.
Church as the bride and as the warrior;
as the warrior, the church needs might and the whole armor of God.
.Ephesians 5 reveals that the church is the bride to satisfy the desire of Christ for His expression with His image, and Ephesians 6 reveals that the church as the new manis a corporate warrior fighting the battle for God’s interests on earth for His dominion (thus fulfilling God’s eternal purpose in Genesis 1:26):
.As the bride, the church needs love and light; as the warrior, the church needs might and the whole armor of God.
.The fact that we need to be empowered in the Lord indicates that we cannot fight the spiritual warfare in ourselves; the whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ as the corporate warrior, not for any individual member of the Body.
Key Verses (2)
Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness. And having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace; Besides all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. -Eph.6:14-16.
Having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness;
Having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace; having taken up the shield of faith
.Truth refers to God in Christ as the reality in our living, that is, God realized and experienced by us in our living; The truth with which we are girded is actually the Christ whom we experience.
.Christ as the breastplate of righteousness covers our conscience, signified by the breast; in fighting against Satan, our accuser, we need a blood-purified conscience, a conscience void of offense.
.Christ has made peace for us on the cross, both with God and with man, and this peace has become our gospel; the gospel of peace has been established as a firm foundation, as a readiness with which our feet may be shod.
.We need to exercise our spirit of faith with our subdued and resurrected will to believe that the Lord’s manifestation is to destroy the works of the devil.
Key Verses (3)
And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God, By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints.- Eph.6:17-18.
Receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God;
praying at every time in spirit
.The helmet of salvation is for covering our mind, our mentality, against the negative thoughts shot in by the evil one; such a helmet, such a covering, is God’s salvation. this salvation is the saving Christ whom we experience in our daily life.
.Christ as the Spirit and the word furnishes us with a sword as an offensive weapon to defeat and slay the negative elements in our being; as we pray read the Word, eventually the self, the worst foe of all, will be put to death.
.Prayer is the unique way to apply Christ as the armor of God; it is prayer that makes the armor available to us in a practical way.
.We need to persevere in prayer because prayer involves a battle, a fight; In order to fight on God’s side against Satan, we need to persevere in prayer.
Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week
D1
T1 church as the bride and as the warrior（Eph5:25，6:11）
Illustrate what we see these two aspects of the church with the verses in Ephesians 5 and 6.
T2 the bride’s wedding garment will also be the uniform that she wears as God’s army to fight against His enemy（Rev.7~8、14）
(Illustrate that church is the bride and warrior with the verses in Rev.19.)
D2
T1“be empowered in the Lord and in the might of His strength”（Eph6:10）
(Illustrate what does it mean ‘empowered in the Lord’.)
T2The whole armor of God is for the entire Body of Christ（Eph6:11、13）
（Illustrate we must fight the spiritual warfare in the Body, not as individuals with the experience.）
D3
T1 Our whole being need to be strengthened with truth.（Eph.6:14）
（Illustrate what does the truth in Eph.6:14 refer.）
T2 “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb”（ Rev. 12:11）
（Illustrate we overcome Satan, the accuser, not by my perfection but by the blood of the Lamb.）
We overcome Satan, the accuser, not by my perfection but by the blood of the Lamb
D4
T1“Having shod your feet with the firm foundation of the gospel of peace”（ Eph. 6:15）
（Illustrate what does the firm foundation of the gospel of peace mean.）
T2 Fight by standing in peace(Eph.6:15)
（Illustrate what does we fight by peace and standing in peace means.）
D5
T1“Besides all these, having taken up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming darts of the evil one”（Eph6:16）
(We need to exercise our spirit of faith and what is the items to believe?)
T2 “Receive the helmet of salvation”(Eph. 6:17a)
（Illustrate the helmet of salvation is for covering our mind, our mentality, against the negative thoughts shot in by the evil one with experience.）
D6
T1Receive “the sword of the Spirit, which Spirit is the word of God”(Eph. 6:17b)
（Illustrate Christ as the Spirit and the word furnishes us with a sword as an offensive weapon to defeat and slay the negative elements in our being.）
T2 praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance (Eph6:18)
（Illustrate what kind of benefits we have to pray steadfastly.）
