Spiritual Warfare - Part 1

0:34 And so they decided not to bring it out here for the 10 o'clock service. I'm so glad to have Senator-elect Angela also broke out. I'm so proud of you. So proud of you, and we're praying for you, and I want you to know your church family is here with you throughout the journey of whatever God has for your future for you to do. So I've been preaching about family, so I'm sort of going to pick up on something I hit on a little bit last week that applies to all circumstances in your personal life, in your family life, your married life, your professional life. I want to talk about spiritual warfare.

1:30 Yeah, spiritual warfare. Thank both of y'all for that clap, wherever you are. Ephesians chapter 6. Let me invite you to turn to Ephesians chapter 6. And I want to talk about the Apostle Paul writes to the church in Ephesus. And he gives them tools. tools. He gives them information to help them succeed in life. The church in Ephesus is one of the most powerful churches. When you read about the church in Ephesus in scripture, we see God's affirmation for that church that he only had one thing against them, but he had several good things to say about them, how they worked and served and what they stood for. And this was a successful church and they were able to accomplish so many great things because they got instructions from Paul.

2:31 He wrote them letters to give them instructions. And a part of what he wrote to them was in Ephesians 6. It's loaded with information that he gave them. but I want to zoom in on chapter 6 verses 10 through 13 four verses I just want to spend some time talking about these four verses it says finally my brethren verse 10 start at verse 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole arm of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil The word wiles means tricks. How many of y'all know that the devil is full of tricks? Let me ask this. Has the devil ever tricked in there, y'all? His tricks. Verse 12.

3:25 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole arm of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Y'all see that right there. Verses 10 through 13. and what I want to do is start off by telling you first of all who our enemies are. Here's my first point. I got seven points. I really only got three points but there's several sub points but the first thing I want to talk about is our enemies because y'all some of y'all think that the people that your fight is against people so that's why you cuss people out give them a piece of your mind, try to do harm to them, try to hurt them. That's why you tear people's stuff up because you think you're hurting people. And you're not smart enough to recognize that you're not hurting nobody but yourself. Amen, Pastor. It's okay. I see right now I have to encourage myself while I'm preaching on this sermon today. Amen. Paul is telling us in verse 12. Let me start verse 12. He's trying to give us some insights by telling us that our real fight is not against flesh and blood. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Look at your neighbor and say, it ain't you.

4:56 you're not fighting against flesh and blood, but against, and then he gives us four entities that we are battling with, four. And what I want to do is walk through these four and tell you what each one of them mean and what they stand for. He starts off by saying, first of all, you're fighting against principalities. Those are prince over palities. Go ahead, pastor, you're so deep today. it is notice it's not a king over paladies it's a prince so when you see prince that means there's somebody higher so the devil has power but he doesn't have all power y'all can't hear what I'm saying to you today he has some power I'm going to talk about that in a minute but here's what these principalities are here's what principalities are ranked demons the devil took a page out of God's program and instituted it in his program.

5:54 And the page he took out was the fact that angels are ranked and so are demons. You spend your time wrestling with demons that are at the low end of the stick. Instead of dealing with the top rascal. Praying and rebuking the top joker. Yeah, you down there fighting and arguing with the low level demons. when God has given us power to defeat the boss demons. Go ahead and preach, Pastor. Y'all don't understand how powerful that is right there. If you could just stop fighting with the low-level demons that are irritating you and frustrating you and messing with you and rebuke the top-level demons and cast them out and bind them, you'd be in so much of a better place.

6:49 And that's what these principalities are. They are demons who are ranked and in charge of places and times and stuff and territory. By the way, devils are really territorial. They want to take territory. They want to have control over, if they could, they want control over nations. If they can't get nations, they'll take states. If they can't get states, they'll take cities. If they can't get cities, they'll take towns. If they can't take towns, they'll take homes. And if they can't take homes, they'll take your house. Some of y'all are in trouble because the demons have control over your house.

7:34 Keeping frustration, keeping defeat, keeping arguments going on, keeping your finances jacked up and struggling. You can never get out. As soon as I make a few money, something else break down. And you keep on not understanding that we're fighting against demons, demons that are seeking to destroy you, rank demons. So my job is to try to tell you, stop dealing with the low-level territorial, low devils, and rebuke the high devils, rebuke the chief devils. So let me see if I can illustrate this for you. I've been trying to figure out all day how to give you an illustration of this.

8:18 You don't like somebody, so you get jealousy toward them, and you're upset with what God's doing for them, so you have something in your heart against them, and so you have a certain feeling against that person. Rather than dealing with the chief demon of hate, that you have hatred toward the person. You mad because they got a new car. That car ain't done nothing to you. Let me encourage myself while I'm preaching, Pastor. Somebody say, we got to recognize that these rank demons, these jokers, want to control us, manipulate us, and we have to stop. We have to recognize it's not flesh and blood. Somebody say, it's not flesh and blood. I saw your daughter today and I said to her, where's your husband?

9:15 She said, I'm only 19. She said, you must be talking about my mother. I said, you look just like your mother. I sure did. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, she looked just like you. Excuse me, I had to get that off my chest. Where was I? I was saying something important. This is our enemy, principalities. Hold up, let me go into the next one. It says right here in verse, again, in verse number 12, not only principalities, but what's number two? Powers. Somebody say powers. Powers. Say that again, powers. Powers. Some of y'all get impressed because somebody can tell you something and demonstrate some kind of supernatural power. Tell you what color drawers you have on, and tell you something you did that nobody else know where you went and you get all impressed.

10:11 Don't get impressed by supernatural powers. The devil has power. He just don't have all the power. Y'all ain't hear what I'm saying. He's not all powerful. So some of y'all get impressed because they can tell you something or do something and some of y'all are into palm reading and Ouija boards and voodoo and witchcraft and psyches and y'all looking at all these, getting influenced by all of these things. Y'all so persuaded by all this stuff. Y'all got to learn to leave this crap alone.

10:50 Somebody say, leave it alone. Don't mess with it. Don't mess with crystal glass readers. And by the way, and another thing. Go ahead, Pastor Taylor. Stop being influenced by and listening and being persuaded by these. Slow down. Just let me just slow down.

11:14 I want to kill that devil so bad. I just want to punch him in his face because I'm tired of people coming. Somebody put a voodoo on me. Somebody put a spell on me. Shut up. You belong to Jesus. He's your child. He's your God. Y'all walking around scared about people putting stuff on you. Can't nobody put nothing on you. You a child of the most high God. You belong to Jesus.

11:43 Believing in superstitious stuff about, I can't do nothing on Thursday, on Friday the 13th. It's superstitious. Sit down, please. Shut up, please. We're not under the influence of any of that. Oh, and another thing, astrological signs. Come here telling me, oh, Pastor, I'm a Libra. You must be a Libra. We Libras. I ain't no Libra. You can be a Libra. I don't follow no astrological signs. I don't follow the stars. I'm under the authority of the bright and morning star. I can't get no help right here. Can't nobody. Y'all listening to this stuff that makes no sense that's put in the newspaper. Stop listening to it. Stop making decisions on who you're going to be in relationships with based on their astrological sign.

12:40 Stop reading the horoscope. Somebody say horror stone. Don't put God, the God we serve under any kind of auspices like that. We don't put our confidence in that, our trust in that. Some of you got confidence and trust in, yeah, you got stars, your television stars and the movie stars and the music stars. Y'all listening to all of the things they have to say. You know, you put so much focus on, How they do their hair? You want your hair just like Beyonce hair. You better thank God for the hair that you have and be grateful for how he made you. Somebody say, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Stop trying to act like somebody else and try to look like I saw it on Beyonce.

13:36 Because it looked good on Beyonce. Beyonce don't mean it's going to be looking good on you. Y'all should not have got me started here today. Learn to be thankful for how God created you. I'm not trying to be Denzel. Why would I want to step down in the range of what God did for me? That was good, wasn't it? That was good.

14:17 I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm thankful for how God made me. He made me for my purpose, for my destiny, for my assignment. If I look like Danzel, y'all couldn't hear me preach. Y'all be up here. Okay, let me roll on here.

14:44 Somebody look at your neighbor and say, don't be deceived by the enemy's power. here's number three rulers of darkness here's the third enemy we have is the rulers of darkness what is that pastor that's where the spirits rule darkness go ahead pastor you deep today you you're on a deep level here today you're on another i'm in another level elder by him What does that mean, rulers of darkness? It means, darkness means the absence of light. And the enemy rules, the demonic spirits rule where there is the absence of light. What does that mean? It means the devil likes to work in shadowy, dark places.

15:40 what does that translate to you it translates into secrets hidden stuff undisclosed information the devil's territory is where he wants wants to function in where you have stuff hidden and here's what i learned i learned that god rules where he puts light he puts light when you get light on the situation you can get delivered where there's light you can get freedom so some of y'all got secrets and as long as you keep it secret you'll never get the victory in your life that's the thing that the devil uses to keep you in bondage is that you got secrets you got stuff that you're not willing to talk to anybody about God gives us victory when first of all we know he sees in your darkness and he wants you to be in relationship with people that you can confess your darkness and get freedom Amen Once you expose the devil he has no more authority over you to keep you in bondage he reigns in darkness he controls darkness if he can keep you keeping secrets you can never get victorious so you got to learn to you you got to learn you and i have to learn to walk in the light tell your neighbor we got to walk in the light tell them on the other side walk in the light jesus is the light of the world he made us light he gave us light we get victory when we're in the light. We get victorious in the light. We win in the light. But as long as you keep stuff secret, undiscussed, not talked about, hidden, you can never get to victory. As long as you keep it squished down. But the moment you're willing to confess it and deal with it, God will make you a victorious person.

17:37 Amen. One of my friends called me a few, about two or three weeks ago, and he said, I need to tell you something. He said, I have a problem that nobody knows about, but now my wife found out and I need help. He says, I'm an alcoholic. and he had been hiding it from his wife until she found out and he said I need help and I told him the first step you did that's going to help you get help is you acknowledged it and you put it out in the open I'm not telling y'all to put it on Facebook.

18:30 I'm talking about telling it to somebody who can help you get the victory. And help you win. The devil wants you not to tell anybody. He wants you to keep it secret. He wants you to keep it hidden. You can never get the victory hiding and putting it in the hole. but you can get the victory by getting in relationships with people who can help you be victorious. Amen. Here's number four. Y'all with me? Have I confused you yet? All right. What was the first thing I told y'all? What was the first enemy? Principalities. Number two. Number three. Here's number four. Spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places. This is number four. Spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places. Now, what is spiritual host? The word host means an army. And here's what this means.

19:23 The devil has a side, an army of demons against you. Spiritual host of wickedness of, and the word wickedness means to try to persuade you to do something the opposite of what God wants you to do. Satan has got an army of demons that want to cause you harm, that wants to defeat you. Wickedness. They want to turn your heart. Here's what wickedness means. To turn your heart and your thoughts away from God. Somebody say, my heart and my thoughts away from God.

19:59 Okay, thank both of y'all. Now can I get the rest of y'all to say, wickedness seeks to turn your heart and your thoughts away from God. Yeah, that's what the devil wants. If he can get you to turn your heart away from God, your thoughts away from God, your posture away from God, if he can get you to make that kind of choice or decisions, he will win. Now, the devil knows something about you that you don't know about yourself. He knows that if you ever reach your destiny, if you ever get to the place where you walk in God's purposes for your life, you will reap major havoc on his kingdom. And that's why he's trying everything he can to get you to not know that about yourself. He doesn't want you to know that you represent a threat to his kingdom. He doesn't want you to know that you're the head and not the tail.

20:56 He does not want you to know that you're up and not down. He does not want you to know that you are anointed and gifted and that you have an assignment on your life. He don't want you to know that. He wants you to think and think the opposite, that you're nothing. You'll never become anything. You'll never do anything. You'll never be anything. He wants to keep lying to you because he knows if he keeps you in the dark and if he keeps you in that posture, you'll never become what God wants you to become. But that's why I'm so glad that God opened my eyes, that he had an assignment for my life. and when I came to the understanding that God had a purpose for me and I walked in that and I knew he loved me and accepted me and forgave me and delivered me, when I learned that, baby, there ain't no stopping me now. That devil should have kept me when I, when he had me down, he should have kept me down, but he made the mistake of letting me get up. Somebody say he made the mistake of letting you get up.

21:50 You got a call. You got an assignment. You've got a destiny. You've got an anointing. God has called you to do something spectacular for his kingdom. Amen. Wish I had an amen right here from somebody to say amen. Yes, somebody say. No, he said spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. What does heavenly places mean? Heavenly places, listen carefully, is the place in your heart where you worship God. And here's what the devil wants you to do. He wants you to worship in your heart Satan. he wants to make you doubt God question God rebuke God don't trust God and when you do that you are worshiping the devil when you call God in the question when you call what God's doing in your life in the question when you don't trust God and see that God's got it all under control you know what I've discovered here's what I know there are some things that have happened in my life that if I had the choice I would not have done it I would not have accepted it I would have ask God to do something else. But now that I look back over my life and I see all that I've gone through in my life, wait, don't clap just yet. Let me finish because y'all going to shout when I say this right here for just a second. Hear what I'm saying. When I look back over my life and see the things that God has brought me through and brought me from and what he's done, I can conclude Romans 8, 28. Here's what I can say. And we know, and I know that all things work to, y'all not hear what I'm saying for my good.

23:24 All things. Everything. Every trial that I've ever gone through. Every burden that I've ever had. Every frustration I ever faced. Everything that tried to kill me or take me down. God used it to make me who I am today. Had it not been for the Lord who brought me through this, I would not be who I am today. I thank God he's got it all in control. Thank you. I don't know who I'm preaching to, but let me preach to somebody for just a second. Please know that I don't care what weapon comes in your life. It cannot harm you. If God permitted it, he's going to bring some good out of it for you. Can I get an amen right there? He's going to bring some good out of it. I might not see it right now.

24:18 It might not be evident in the moment, but here's what I know. when I get to the end of my journey, I'll be able to look back at what I've been through and see that that helped me back then to be who I am today. Do I have anybody in here that's willing to give God praise and thanks? Wait, hold up. Anybody here willing to thank God for something that you once cried about that you can now say, God, I thank you that you let this happen in my life. Somebody give God a shout right there. The devil brought it in your life because he wanted you to question God. He wants you to doubt God.

25:11 But we are people of faith. We believe God. I believe God. So nothing can come in my life that will make me question or doubt the sovereignty of the God that I serve. I'm persuaded. I'm convinced that all things work together for my God. But to do anything less than that, the spiritual host, these armies want us to question and doubt God. And that's what I'm trying to say to you today. Somebody I'm preaching to today that's got something going on in your life that you don't know why it's there. But it's okay. You might not find out today. But later it's going to make sense.

25:58 You might be crying today, but you're going to be shouting later. Somebody's going to be shouting later. Those are the four entities that we're battling against. Your family's fighting, your marriage, your personal, your professional life. These are the four entities. These are the demons that we are wrestling with. Our job is how do we fight? Now, let me tell you. Paul tells them right here. Look at this. Paul in this section of Hebrews I'm sorry Ephesians 6 he tells us how to fight and I'm going to tell you how to fight look at verse 10 finally he says he's telling us even before he tells us what we're going to fight against he tells us how to fight he says in verse 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might now listen to this I'm almost finished be strong there's the first point somebody say be strong Be strong in the Lord.

26:56 Got to put that part in there too, in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. What does that mean? Don't be strong in your own might. Don't be strong by your own abilities, but be strong in the Lord. Now, what does that mean? That means in your relationship with God, in your walk with God, in your encounter with God, be strong. Now, how does that translate? So I wish I could tell y'all that I was so super spiritual. I'm such a spiritual person that I wake up speaking in tongues. I roll out of the bed, get on my knees and worship God. I wish I could tell you that on my own, I'm able to do all of that without help. But that would not be true.

27:43 I am the president of the Jacked Up Ministry. The Jacked Up People Ministry. No, the jacked up jokers ministry. I am the chief sinner. I'm the chief jacked up person. Amen.

28:05 I wish I could tell you that I'm strong in the Lord on my own, but I'm not. I need help. And if the truth be told, you need some help too. Y'all sitting here looking at me like y'all don't know what I'm talking about. You need help. without people in my life who hold me accountable,

28:27 without people in my life to ask me the right questions, without people in my life to wake me up every morning and pray with me, if I don't have that, I can't be everything that God called me to be. I'm my strongest when I have a prayer partner calling me every morning to pray with me and go through the scriptures with me. That's when I'm strong. Some of y'all will never be strong. You don't have that in your life. You don't have nobody to pray with every day. You don't have anybody to read the scripture with every day. You don't have anybody to ask you the right questions. You don't have that in your life. So you can't be strong in the Lord. You need that in your life. Oh, y'all got quiet on me right there. I can tell when I'm talking to y'all, y'all get really quiet when I'm talking about somebody else. Y'all be up jumping. Preach pastor. Tell them. You tell them. When I'm talking about y'all, y'all don't say not a thing. I'm telling you, you need a prayer partner in your life.

29:22 You need somebody to hold you accountable and ask you the right questions. That's how you stay strong in the Lord. Somebody stay strong in the Lord. And in the power of his might, it says in the text, it's not by your strengths and abilities. It's not by what you think is best. It's by the power of God's presence in your life. Y'all see that right there? All right. So be strong in the Lord. That's the first thing he said, how we do battle. Then he says in verse 11, here's the second thing he says. he says not only to be strong in the Lord he says put on the whole arm of God do y'all see that put it on put it on you got to put it on somebody say put it on you got to put it on it ain't gonna jump on you just like you put your clothes on those clothes you got on right now they didn't jump on you you didn't wake up with them on you didn't wake up on you didn't wake up this morning with your clothes on at least I hope you didn't come to church today What do you say?

30:25 You had to put those clothes on. You got to put the whole armor on. You got to put it on. Now, I don't have time today. Maybe I'll pick it up later. I don't have time today to talk about the seven pieces of armor that I mentioned in this chapter. But maybe later on, maybe I might do it next week. I'm not sure. But you got to put on these seven pieces of armor. Let me tell you about these seven pieces of armor. Let me just tell you something about them. They all deal with either your heart or your thinking. Most of them. Most of them deal with the way you think and what's happening in your heart. I think I told you all this last week, that God is interested about where your heart is and where your thinking is. Those two things are the elements that God examines in us every day. And you can only win when you think right and when your heart is right.

31:22 When you think wrong, your heart gets wrong. It all starts with your thinking process. And the whole arm of God, all seven pieces deal with either your heart or your thinking. You got to think right. Lean over to your neighbor. You got to learn how to think right. So in verse, matter of fact, it's so important he tells us to put the arm on twice. Verse 11, he says, put on the whole arm of God. And then he says in verse 13, somebody read verse, where's verse 13? What does verse 13 say? Verse 13 says, put on the whole arm of God. They both say that. Verse 11, put on the whole arm. Verse 13, it also says, get the whole arm. Somebody say, I need the whole arm on. Take up the whole arm of God. He tells us twice in two verses, between three verses, put the arm on. And that's what I'm trying to get y'all to do right now.

32:16 Put the arm on. Lean over to your neighbor. He's preaching better than you're saying amen. Somebody say put the whole arm on. Take the whole arm on. Take it. Put it on. Think about it. Control your thought life. Control what's happening in your heart because that's the thing that matters to God. And then he says this. I'm almost finished. I gave you time to tell me to take my time.

32:48 He not only tells us to put on the whole armor, he gives us the posture we should be in. Here's my third and final point. What posture you should be in. And what that posture is, he says in verse 11, stand. Y'all see that in verse 11? that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Y'all see that stand? Do y'all see that stand? Somebody say stand. I'm glad you asked the question about stand because stand is telling us what we need to do. It means to take a position and hold it. Wait a minute, that's the wrong position. somebody say take a position and stand hold it get in that position get in that posture get in a place of what's right get in a position of believing what's right and standing on it don't let nothing change you a matter of fact here's what the scripture let me can I read verse 13 put verse 13 up there let me read verse 13 because it says this he said verse 11 says stand verse 13 He says, take up the whole arm of God that you may be able to withstand.

34:22 Somebody say withstand. That means to, the word withstand means to oppose or resist. That means take the stand that you're going to take. And when the devil starts coming against your stand, oppose or resist what he's saying to you. The devil will start telling you God don't care about you. God don't have no purpose for you. God don't have no assignment for you. He'll start telling you lies and he'll make you think that that's the truth. And withstand means resist and oppose what he's telling you.

34:54 So you got to start thinking in the right way. Take a stand and withstand. And then I like this. I'm almost finished. I'm coming to a close. He said, stand, withstand, and having done all, stand. He said, stand, withstand, knock off whatever he's telling you. Then he go back to the point and say, stand again. y'all ain't got it every now and then you got to take a stand every now and then you got to take a position some of you are being asked to do some things to compromise some of you being asked to do some things to to go in the opposite direction of what God's trying to tell you and all I'm trying to get you to see is for God to fight the battles for you and for you to win you got to take a position of what you know to be right and don't let anything or anybody change your mind. A few years ago, I was on a trip, and I went to a mall, and inside the mall was a crowd of people standing around something that I was trying to figure out.

36:09 Why were all these people standing around what they were standing around? So I went down to investigate. so I went down and when I got there I saw that it was a statue and the people were all got hundreds of people gathered around this statue looking at the statue I said why are they looking at that statue so I made my way up to the close to the statue and I looked at it and the reason they was looking at it because the statue looked real and they were trying to figure out what's the statue real. And sure enough, while I was staring at it, I said, that is a real person. That's a person standing there. And so, they were trying to get the real person. In fact, it was a real person. They trying to get the person to move.