Michael Youssef - The Full Armor of God
I will be fulfilling a 12-year promise which most of you will not remember, but I do, that one day I’m going to take my time and preach a detailed sermon series on the armors of God from Ephesians 6, beginning at verse 10. Because these are very vital few verses, I have been thinking and praying about coming and doing at least four messages just in those few verses, because far from telling us sink or swim, far from telling us you’re on your own, far from telling us muddle your way through the Christian life, far from it, far from it, he gives us all of the equipment that we need to ensure that we have success and victory in our Christian life. He gives us all of the protective gear to ensure our victory in living worthy of that call of God. He gives us all that armament that we need and he knew we need to ensure our ability to live worthy of his calling. Can I get a witness?
«Finally, be strong in the LORD and in the strength of his might,» amen, why? Because this is the one thing, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, is the one thing you cannot, you cannot, I cannot do on our own, why? Because our battle is not with human beings who may or may not be equal to us physically in our strength or in our intellectual ability or could be equal with us in the brain power or they can be equal with us in our strategic thinking. No, no, no, no, no, no. This is not a battle between two equals, for we are now matched to that old, cunning, supernatural, evil forces of Satan and his demons. If we are to walk worthy of our calling, and as Jonathan reminded us, worthy of the calling means that we walk in humility, not in pride; to walk in unity, not in squabbling over silly things; we walk in love, not in lust; to walk in light, not in darkness; to walk in the Spirit, not in drunkenness; to walk in mutual submission and not in self-serving independence.
See, that’s walking worthy of the calling. These are not the things that you can do on your own. In fact, you can take what I’m going to tell you to the bank. I don’t know which bank, but you can take it to any bank you like. The more you want to be effective for the Lord, the more Satan intensifies the attack. Satan will heat up his war machine for those who want to grow stronger in their faith. Can I get a witness? Here’s another thing that you can take to that same bank. If you are a Christian who is no longer struggling with the world, the flesh, and the devil, you are either mired in sin and you can’t see it, or you have become complacent in your Christian walk. As believers, we are one with him. His life is our life, his power is our power, his truth is our truth, his way is our way. And here it comes, his strength is our strength.
Listen, our own strength is never enough. Our own strength is totally, totally insufficient. Our own strength is totally inadequate. I know most of you have heard teaching on the armor of God. The one thing that you must never miss, never miss about the armor of God, the full armor of God, it is not something that you put on and you take off. It is something that you put on and you keep it on. Now, remind yourself that you’ve got it on. It is not like in a, you know, sport uniform, you put on the sport uniform, you play the game, and then when the game is over, you take it off. No, no, no, no, it’s not like that at all. The armor of God is a permanent fixture. The armor of God is a lifelong companion. The armor of God is God’s continuous provision of his power for us and to us.
Now, most historians would say or speculate that Paul, when he was writing these words in the prison, he was looking at the guard, the Roman guard, who was standing guarding him and looking at his uniform and is writing about being inspired by that. Well, be it as it may, I don’t like to argue with people, especially about things I don’t understand. But I believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to write about God’s full provision for his faithful children. Verse 11 again, «Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the devil’s scheme,» his scheme, which tells us that he’s crafty, he’s cunning, he’s deceptive. No wonder many of the false teachers and preachers today have bought into the biggest deception of all, and that is that Satan does not exist. They bought into it. I mean, think about this. That is his biggest deception. It’s working for him too.
See, when according to statistics, you know, and I think from 50% to 60% or more percentage of churchgoers believe that Satan doesn’t exist, it’s working for him. You see, that way he can roam freely, that way he can pounce on unsuspecting believers. Don’t ever forget, don’t ever forget that Satan was once the chief angel, the anointed cherub, the morning star who sparkled with beauty and power, reflecting the beauty of God until he tried to usurp the power of God and the throne of God and got kicked out of heaven and out of the presence of God, with him, third of the angelic being who followed him into that deception. But here’s the sad part, here’s the sad part about this deception that he doesn’t exist. Jesus did not only speak about Satan, he spoke to Satan. You see, it’s in the wilderness, when Satan tried to tempt him.
The Bible also has so many names to describe Satan. Listen carefully. In Ezekiel 28 he was the anointed cherub. In Luke 11:15 he’s the ruler of demons. In John 16:11 he is the ruler of this world system. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 he is the God of this world. In Ephesians 2:2 he is the prince of the power of the air. Just to mention a few, I did not give you more references. He’s also identified as the great dragon, the roaring lion, the accuser of the brethren, the spirit that is working in the sons of disobedience. Fifty-two times in the Scripture he’s called Satan, which means an adversary. Nonetheless, on our own we are no match for him. I know I got clobbered a few times when I thought that I was clever enough to do it. I got clobbered, and that is why we’re going to spend the next three messages looking in details at this equipment, why? Each of these equipments that God has given us is very vital.
It’s important to not just protect us, but give us victory. Listen, these schemes or devices, methodia or methods, are not only directed at the faithful believers. All of these schemes are designed not only to keep the blind blind, but they’re also designed, young people, listen to me, listen to me, they are designed to mislead and to bring doubt to the minds of the young believers. Verse 12, «For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, powers,» sometimes called authority, either way, «against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places».
Now, this verse alone needs several sermons, but please listen to me. Paul calls it for what it is. And I know some Christian people don’t like that word. I remember debating with a dear brother, and he said, «Oh, don’t use that word, don’t use that word». But Paul calls it for what it is, he calls it struggle. I didn’t call it that. He said, «No, no, we’re going to get, we just claim the victory and the victory will be ours. You know, this, and it’s the power is in your tongue. Whatever your tongue says, you’re going to have the power». I said, «Imagine God in heaven, that every time I say something foolish with my tongue, God says, 'Okay, you got it.'»
I don’t understand that, I really don’t, I’m confessing to you. He calls it for what it is, it is a struggle. And the word struggle here conveys, particularly in the Greek, is that hand-to-hand combat, especially in wrestling. But the difference is this. You are dealing with a deceptive opponent, does not play according to the rules. These enemies will lie and cheat and deceive and destroy their foes, especially the church of Jesus Christ. And that is why Jesus specifically said that the gates of hell will not overcome it. Paul makes sure that we understand that our struggle is not only against Satan, but it’s also against his subordinates, demons, rulers, powers, forces of darkness.
These are different ranks in the army of Satan, different ranks. Each of these ranks represents a particular category of demons and their activities and their authorities. Don’t ever forget that while we as Christians fight among each other, Satan’s army is united. They don’t squabble among themselves. These enemy’s forces are highly disciplined, they are highly motivated, they are highly organized, and they are extremely obedient to the chain of command. Look at these ranks very quickly. Rulers, they’re linked to powers and authorities. They’re the high-ranking order of demons. These are the colonels, the lieutenant colonels, and maybe 1 or 2 star generals. They are the ones who infiltrate various political systems and not just operating in these dark authoritarian systems like the ones I escaped from, but now they are operating in so-called Western democracies.
Then there are spiritual forces of wickedness, those who are involved in the most vile immoralities and sexual perversions, the occult, satanic worship, et cetera. The apostle Paul warns us as to how sophisticated, how sophisticated and powerful our enemy is, and that is why we should never trivialize him, never trivialize him or trifle with him. But rather what we need to do is run to our commanding officer. We run to the only one who could clobber Satan. We run to the only one who can shut him up and shut him down for us. We run to the only one who has given us the complete armor for us to defeat them and to have victory, run to the only one who is trustworthy source of protection and victory, even Jesus. The great news is this.
Listen carefully. These armors, as we’re going to be looking at them in details, these equipments for victory, they’re not given to pastors or church hierarchy or to well-known preachers. No, no, no, no, no, no, they’re given to every single believer, young or old. Whether you’re six or sixty, you have the same equipment, you have the same armor in order to defeat your enemy every time. Please hear me right, I’m getting ready to come to the end. No Christian, no Christian believer who could say I am hopelessly under the attack and subjected to demonic forces. It is impossible, you cannot say that. You cannot say that. But if you are continuously confessing, continuously repenting, continuously ungrieving the Holy Spirit, because we grieve him when we deliberately sin, but when we ungrieve him, you can always avail yourself again and again to the power of God.
So, you cannot say, «Well, I am under», no, no, no, no, no, no. Your commanding general will not allow this to happen if you come to him. Oh, beloved, let me emphasize. When Satan attacks you, do not engage in the battle by yourself. Did I make that clear? Well, the four of you. Run to your commanding officer. Report your commanding officer. Let your commanding officer take over. Verse 13, «Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand».
Having traveled the world over, seen the church in a variety of conditions, I see particularly in the West that there are so many members of the churches who are defecting, who are defecting. Or at least they’re draft dodgers. You know what I mean? I remember the days of Vietnam, the draft dodgers. And there’s a certain peace comes out from draft dodging. I remember reading about those who went to Canada, you know, to get away from the draft dodging, draft during the Vietnam War. These defectors who refused to fight, they’re not interested in the armor. They’re really not, why? Because they’re not engaged in the battle, they’re not engaged in the war. But for the true soldier of Christ’s army, they know the thrill of victory that comes from putting on the full armor of God.
Oh, beloved, you have only one responsibility, one responsibility. See, that’s why while I tell you all the truth about the enemy, we only have one responsibility, and that is to put on the uniform, to put on the whole armor of God. What a deal! I know a good deal when I see one. This is a great deal. This is to say nothing of the rewards that are prepared for us in heaven when we see Jesus face to face. I can testify to you, to the glory of God, that the greatest joy comes in the greatest victory, and the greatest victory comes from the greatest battle. And I’ve been through several of them, but they cannot be won without the full armor of God. Can I get a witness? So, I’m going to leave you with this. The greater the battle, the greater the victory. The greater the victory, the greater the joy, amen.