TD Jakes - Dressed for the Fight
Are you ready to get into the Word of God? I am! I think that we’re going to start in Ephesians, so go to Ephesians chapter six. We’re going to begin reading at verse 11. Tonight, we’re reading Ephesians 6:11–18. I will read it from the King James Version because I learned it in that version, so indulge me in my old-timey language as I share with you what the Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus.
Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Can you say amen? May the Lord add a blessing to the reading of His Word and may it sink deep into our hearts tonight as we teach out of the Word of God.
If you want a subject, I’m going to use for a subject tonight, «Dressed for the Fight.» The language here that the Apostle uses in the book of Ephesians is a bit unusual for the New Testament: «Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.» Now, putting on the whole armor of God is not strange language if it were in the Old Testament, because the Old Testament is a bloody testament that is full of blood and gore, and fighting the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Garroshites—all of those had to be fought. There were many battles that went on in the Old Testament: the Philistines, the giants—we’re constantly seeing wars and troops going out to battle, troops going out to fight the Amalekites, and so forth and so on.
We see constant fighting in the Old Testament; in the New Testament, we don’t see so many wars, we don’t see giants, we don’t see Gideon gathering up troops getting ready to go to battle, we don’t see Joshua fighting down in the valley while Moses is up on the mountaintop, we don’t see David coming against the Philistines. We don’t see that kind of language in the New Testament. Has the devil gone to sleep? Has the enemy moved away? No, he’s just changed his tactics. Instead of doing so many things in the natural, he now fights in the spiritual, and the battle has moved into the spiritual realm. Whether you know it or not, his troops are marching against your finances, against your family, against your friends, against your life, against the promises of God, and the prophecies that have been spoken over your life. Satan is marching. Just because you don’t see people in your front yard, just because you don’t see people climbing in your windows, does not mean that you are not under siege. You are under attack. I’m under attack. We’re under attack. The faith is under attack. All that we believe is under attack.
There’s a resurgence of witchcraft that is permeating our country in a way that I have not seen in my lifetime. It’s becoming quite popular; it’s quiet, it’s stealthy. You won’t hear a lot about it over the pulpit, but it’s growing like wildfire outside of the church. While we’re shouting and dancing and beating tambourines and rejoicing, young people are becoming saturated with sorcery, witchcraft, and debauchery. All of these things are happening. Suicide rates are going up, and mental health issues are rising. The enemy is attacking our minds, over and over again.
Let me bring it down where you can see it: Never have we seen a time where you go to bed tired, and you wake up tired, yet you can’t figure out why you’re tired in the morning when you just got up. It’s because you’ve been wrestling in your sleep. You’ve been fighting in your sleep. You’ve been warring with the enemy in your sleep. We are in a battle, and the problem is, I’m not sure that we’re dressed for the battle. I’m not sure we’re dressed for the battle. We’re dressed for church; we’re dressed for Easter; we’re dressed for the holy days; we’re dressed for Pentecost; we’re dressed for Women’s Day; we’re dressed for Men’s Day. We’re all dressed up, but are we dressed for the battle?
Paul here tells the church at Ephesus, «Put on the whole armor of God.» He’s getting them ready for a fight, a fight! He describes it almost like a physical fight, but the fight never comes in the natural. The fight that he’s talking about is not the kind of fight where there are tanks and guns and soldiers marching. This is a spiritual battle. He says, «Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles"—that word wiles means the devices, the plans, the tactics, the strategies of the enemy. It lets you know that the enemy has a strategy that he’s working against you right now: working against your finances, working against your health, working against your emotions, working against your mind, working against your peace—a strategy that has been dispatched with your name on it. An enemy that has been assigned to your area, to your family, to your geographical location, all of that is part of the things that Paul is getting us ready for.
He tells us in order for us to withstand wherever we live in the world, we have to put on the kind of armor that makes the enemy know that we understand that he has various tactics. I want to list some of these as we talk. He says 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. He says this is not flesh and blood; this is not where you punch somebody out, this is not where you do a judo chop or a karate move to knock them out. No, no, no, no. This is another kind of battle. It is a stealthy battle; it is an invisible battle; it is a spiritual battle.
He breaks it down into categories: principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places—a strategic, regimented rank of foul regimentation of evil that comes against us to attack us, to dissuade us, to destroy us, to discourage us, to wear us out, to bog us down, to beat us up. Many of us are oblivious to it because if we don’t see it coming in the physical, if we saw someone coming in the physical, we’d be ready for that. We know how to respond because we are so carnal. But when we see things coming in the spirit, we don’t always know how to respond. Paul is teaching us how to respond to spiritual attacks, and we all have them.
You’re either in a battle, coming out of a battle, or headed toward a battle. We all have these battles, and when they come, it seems like one thing right after another, right after another, right after another, right after another. Out of nowhere, sometimes the very thing you never thought would happen is the thing that happens. The thing that you thought the enemy might do, he doesn’t bother at all, but he blindsides you, and all of a sudden you find yourself under siege and under attack.
When we are not properly prepared for the battle, we react in carnal ways to spiritual attacks. We get angry, or we get depressed, or we get emotional, or we get sad—those are carnal responses to a spiritual attack. Paul says to put on the whole armor of God so that you might be able to stand against the tactics, the wiles of the devil, the strategies of the enemy. That you have to stand against it, that you have to take a posture against it, that you have to be ready for it, not to move you off of your territory.
I have never seen anybody ask someone to put on so much equipment and then not ask them to march, not ask them to climb, not ask them to go ahead and fight. He says, «I want you to put on all of this just so that you might be able to stand.» Glory to God! One thing that encourages me is it lets me know I’m on the right turf. I’m in the right spot, or the enemy wouldn’t be attacking me like he’s attacking me. If I weren’t in the right spot, he wouldn’t be attacking me.
He says you’re going to need power to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil—not to run, not to go out and chase him, but to just hold your ground, steady yourself, anchor yourself, and be prepared for the onslaught that’s going to come from spiritual wickedness in high places, from principalities. Those are magistrates over regions or territories. There are certain spirits in certain geographical locations. There is a different spirit that hovers over Dallas than the spirit that hovers over West Virginia, or hovers over Chicago, or hovers over Mozambique, or hovers over Lagos. There are different types of spirits that are over those areas, and if you go into the area, you can begin to see how that spirit is working in certain ways in certain regions.
There are certain things that are hard for you to do just because you have entered into a region where that principality hovers over it to stop you from going forward. Do you remember when Jesus cast the demons out of Legion? They said to Him, «Send us somewhere, but don’t send us out of the region. Don’t send us out of the territory; we want to stay in this region.» They had a stronghold in that region.
I don’t know why God has me teaching on this tonight, but there are certain strongholds that operate in certain regions, certain territories, certain geographical locations, certain families, where the enemy sends an attack against certain families. We see the prevalence of specific spirits attacking certain families, and we have to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. His tactics might be illnesses; his tactics might be weaknesses; his tactics might be anger and hostility; his tactics might be pregnancies; his tactics may be divorces. But they hover over certain families, and your grandmother couldn’t hold her marriage together; your grandfather couldn’t hold his marriage together; your uncles and aunts couldn’t, and your mother couldn’t. Now you’re getting ready to go through a divorce. That spirit is hovering over a region.
But he says, «If you put on the whole armor of God, you can stand against the wiles of the devil and break the curse holding back that region, break it over your daughter, break it over your son, break it over your house, break it over your business.» So that you can stand against the enemy, to stand undaunted in a battle when others are being pushed back. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come nigh thy dwelling place. God says, «I want you to be standing even when others are falling.»
I want you to stand, and when you can, I want you to intercede and fight for them as well. I don’t think I’m here completely off of my own prayers and my own strength; I think the prayers of our partners, the prayers of our members, the prayers of my family, and the prayers of my parents all play a part in stabilizing me. But I also have to intercede for myself. I can’t just live off of everybody else’s prayers; I have to be prepared to go into battle for myself. Are you with me tonight? I think this is important that you get this and that you understand this and that you open up your spirit and prepare yourself so that you can put on the whole armor of God.
This is good! He says, «Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God—leave out nothing—that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore, having your loins girded about with truth.» Once you’ve done all to stand, even when it feels like you can’t stand anymore, he said, «Just stand anyway.» Stand therefore, having your loins gird about with truth, producing through truth—not through feelings, not through emotions, not through anger, but through truth—and having on the breastplate of righteousness around your heart. This is not your righteousness; this is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
This is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Your righteousness is not stable; His righteousness is stable. It’s finished—Tetelestai! He said on the cross, «It is finished.» You want the breastplate of righteousness; you want to plead the blood of His righteousness over you. That does not exempt you from living right, or right living, or right standing, or doing what you know is right before God, but it does mean that in addition to your efforts to be more like Jesus, you want to be in the finished work of Jesus Christ, while you are developing the personality, nature, disposition, and response of Jesus Christ, that is being cultivated through a metamorphosis, you are being transformed.
Romans 12:1 and 2 say you are being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Transformation is a process. While you are going through this process, you want to be covered with what has already been processed, which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. All right, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I mentioned something on Sunday that this is one of the most biblically illiterate generations I have ever seen in my life.
This is because we don’t study our Bibles; we don’t read our Bibles. We depend on the preachers to preach the Word to us, and we do not study our Bible. If I had a show of hands of everybody in this room who studied their Bible, you would be shocked by who doesn’t. They may come to Bible class; they may come and listen to the teaching, but to independently develop a relationship with the Word of God, they don’t do it. «It’s hard for me, preacher; I don’t understand.» You don’t try. You’ve got to start. You’ve got to start somewhere. The easiest place to begin is with what is already being taught; go back and study that, take notes, grow, and then tell somebody what you learned, what you got out of it, because there’s something about when your heart hears your mouth saying it—it becomes yours, it becomes your truth, it becomes more powerful.
So, you want your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take the shield of faith. Above all—above everything else—that’s something; above all, take the shield of faith, so that when the enemy shoots at you, you can respond with faith. And faith, the Bible said, will quench the fiery darts of the devil. To have that stubborn, tenacious faith that says, «I still believe God» quenches the fiery darts of the devil when he’s bombarding you with all kinds of evidence that you’re not going to make it, you’re not going to get through this, you don’t have what it takes, you waited too late, you should have started sooner, it’s the wrong season in your life, you’re not smart enough, you’re not tall enough, you’re not cute enough, you’re not bright enough, you’re not powerful enough.
You’ve got to quench that—quench that with the shield of faith. With the shield of faith, you don’t even let it hit you; you don’t let it get in your mind. You throw your faith back; you talk back against the enemy, even as Jesus did when he was tempted in the wilderness. Every time the enemy said something, He replied, «It is written.» You know why? Because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You have no more of God than you do of His Word, and you’ll never be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil if the only truth you have is the truth of what he’s whispering in your ear; then you have no truth at all. You have to be able to counteract that truth with a deeper truth coming out of the Word of God, which is your shield of faith. And He says if you do that, you’ll be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation. You have to—let’s settle this—you have to know that you’re saved, not feel saved; it’s not just about looking saved. It’s not just about being dressed and saved; it’s about knowing you have the helmet of salvation protecting your mind. «I’m saved.» I don’t just go to church; I don’t just like TD Jakes; I don’t just like whoever it is you like. No, no, no, no. I’m saved. I have the helmet of salvation protecting my mind. And let’s settle this: I’m not just someone who is «spiritual.» You know, «I’m not a Christian; I’m just spiritual.» No, no. To fight this kind of fight, you’re going to have to go beyond just being spiritual. You can be a Wiccan and be spiritual; you can be demonic and be spiritual. You want to be an outright, blood-washed, born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, a believer—a believer—a believer. And you want to use that to guard your mind—the helmet of salvation.
And the sword of the Spirit—the sword of the Spirit—and you know what He told us: the sword of the Spirit. The sword is what they used in battle to do damage to the enemy. He said the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. So, the more words you get, the more you sharpen the sword of the Spirit; it’s just getting sharper and sharper and sharper. It is written: the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Some of you, it’s not that you don’t have the Spirit; it’s that the Spirit doesn’t have a sword because you have not studied to show yourself approved, a workman unto God that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. And when you don’t do that, you’ve got lots of anointing. Oh, glory, the glory falls all over you, the power comes all over you; it gets all in your teeth and everywhere else. But it doesn’t have anything to fight with because the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. That’s what the Spirit uses to do damage to the enemy. Are you getting this?
Now, I understand this is all for a spiritual fight. This is all for a spiritual fight. Okay, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, going before God in an intercessory manner. Praying in the Holy Ghost, praying in the language of the Spirit, Paul said, «I will pray with understanding, and I will pray with the Spirit also.»
So, there’s a difference between praying with understanding—where you know what you’re saying—and praying with the Spirit also, praying in a heavenly language. Because sometimes it is not important for your mind to process everything you’re praying about, because your mind doesn’t know the will of God like the Holy Spirit knows the will of God. So, you want that; you want to pray in the Spirit also, with all supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Gosh, that’s good! It’s good because the battles we’re fighting now are not obvious. They’re not obvious—no, no, they’re not opulent; they’re not the kinds of battles you can see with your naked eye.
Have you ever had something wrong, and you couldn’t even explain fully what it is? It’s just you feel like you’re under attack; you’re under a cloud; you’re dealing with anxiety, or whatever you feel—a spirit of heaviness, a spirit of oppression, a spirit of darkness. There was a woman in the Bible who had a spirit of infirmity—a spirit of disease. As soon as she got through with this, you would take it on. Have you ever seen people sick all the time?
The Bible says she had a spirit of infirmity, not that she was sick; she had the spirit of sickness, so that for 18 years, she was bowed over and could in no wise lift herself up because she was wrestling with a spirit, not a disease. And she had to break it in the Spirit—had to break it in the Spirit. And so, Jesus came there; He didn’t put oil on her; He didn’t pour wine on her womb; He didn’t say anything medicinal to her at all. He just said, «Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.» And the knowledge of God, the Word of God, gave the Spirit something to fight with, and it cut her loose from her disease. And immediately, the Bible said she straightened herself up. I wonder what would straighten up if you had the Word to use as a weapon against the enemy.
Give that anointing! You’ve got a sword, and that sword is the Word of God. That’s why you’re here on Wednesday night; it’s not just, «I want to come to church.» No, no, you want to learn the Word of God. If you don’t do anything but learn this tonight, we’re going to go through this again; we’re going to go through this again: Ephesians 6:11 and 18—put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; 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. That’s a lot to be fighting against, and you think you’re fighting your aunt? You’re not fighting your auntie; you’re not fighting your nephew; you’re fighting a spirit.
Now, don’t go calling them on the phone and saying, «I rebuke you, Satan, in the name of Jesus,» and it’s all about the flesh. You want to go down on your knees and start praying in the Spirit; you want to start praying under your breath in the language of the Spirit. You want to start praying because you know you’re wrestling against the Spirit. But there’s no need to call the demon a demon; you need to just go ahead and start praying in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit and rebuking that spirit. We’re not here to insult the person; we want to rebuke the spirit. Oh, this is good. This is good.
Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. I think we’re in the evil day right now. Oh gosh, if this is not the evil day, I hate to see the evil day come. And having done all, to stand, stand therefore with your loins girded about with truth. It’s going to take everything you’ve got to be able to stand, to stand your ground over what God has given you—over who God has given you, over your children, over your house, over your properties, over your promises, over yourself, over your mind, over your well-being. Having done all this, you’re going to need all of this to stand—to stand and keep yourself together. And it’s not just you; I need it too. We need it; we all need it. We all have moments that we feel like we’re about to break under the pressure coming against us. We’re being assaulted in ways that people don’t even understand, and sometimes we don’t understand. But we’ve got to stand against it.
And you know what happens when you stand? When you stand, he flees. Oh, that’s a shouting moment right there! When you stand, he flees! When you refuse to accept what he suggests about how you’re going to end up, he flees. I never will forget being in Charleston, thinking I was going to be homeless. I had good reason; they’d repossessed my car. I had caught the bus uptown to beg them to turn the lights on. I walked out of there so depressed, and then the enemy said, «You’re going to end up pushing a go-kart down the street like a homeless person, and you’re not going to have anything.» I started crying. I didn’t start praying in the Holy Spirit; I started crying. I was beat down; I was tired. I lost my job; I had no money; I had no income. I was embarrassed; I was ashamed—I was all of those feelings—okay?
And then the Lord spoke to me, and He said, «Can I do what He said? I will not suffer thy foot to be moved.» The way He said it was like, how could you think that I brought you this far to let your foot be moved? And I love to tell you that next week it got better, but it didn’t. I’d love to tell you that next month I had a great job, but I didn’t. The next month, I got a lawnmower and started cutting grass, trying to earn enough money to buy groceries for my kids or diapers to cover my boys, and it went on for months and months and months. But He kept my feet from falling. «I will not suffer thy foot to be moved.»
And when I had learned everything He wanted me to learn and when I’d seen everything that He wanted me to see, He began to move on my behalf and started to raise me up and develop me. He first had to prove to the world that I wasn’t preaching for money, that I wasn’t preaching for things. I did this with my lights off. I did this with my car repossessed. I did this with absolutely nothing. My daughters were born on WIC, so, hey, we’re talking about doing this for money! I had to prove all of that because He was going to bless me. I had to prove that I could serve Him with nothing so that when He started to give me something, there would be no doubt—at least in my mind.
While there might be doubt in your mind, that’s okay. You can think whatever you want to think; whatever you think about me is none of my business. I’m talking about my mind being covered with the knowledge that I know I went through a long season of preaching faith and living with little or nothing. But after I had suffered a while, He established me and made me perfect. Do I regret it? Not at all. Did I enjoy it? Not at all. Do I want to go through it again? Not at all. But was it necessary? Absolutely, so that He could strengthen me, so that He could prepare me, so that He could prove me, so that He could test me, so that He could use me. God is getting ready to use you like you’ve never been used before.
All I’m telling you is to be dressed for the fight. I’m not even saying that you have to fight as much as you need to be dressed for the fight. Your protection is in the dressing room; it’s not in your karate chop. No, none of that. It’s just about being covered, thinking right, walking right, believing right, and keeping your head protected—not allowing the enemy to run a hammock in your mind and stand your ground. A great saying to remember when it comes to moving forward in the things of God is «Perseverance.» Having done all, stand! Perseverance will always get you there. I want you to write this down: perseverance will always get you there; consistency will keep you there.
If you persevere and reach your goal but then are not consistent once you get there, you will always go up and down, up and down. That’s what happens with my weight—it goes up and down, up and down. I can persevere; I beat the world in losing weight. I can persevere and get there, but it takes consistency to keep you there, and that’s what I am still working on. Is anyone with me on this? Consistency will keep you there. It’s not just true about weight; it’s true about everything: life, marriage, money—anything. Perseverance will get you there; consistency will keep you there. And guess what? Gratitude will give you more of what you have. If you have enough perseverance to get there and enough consistency to stay there, but then you’re not grateful, you won’t get everything out of being there. An attitude of gratitude unlocks all the riches of being in the place you need to be.
Can we go deeper into the Word of God? Because we are in a spiritual battle! Oh my God, we are in a spiritual battle. We have been in a spiritual battle like something I have never seen for quite a while now. This has been a long battle with many casualties. We’ve lost a lot of people, a lot of good voices have gone home to be with the Lord. We thought we would always have them, and then we looked around, and they were gone. We should have been drawing everything we could from them while they were here because they were only on loan to us. And now they’re gone, and we have to stand where they stood and hold on to what we’re holding. It’s been a tough 400 days or so of troubles, storms, trials, and tribulations—businesses closing, marriages imploding, relationships crumbling, friends betraying, and anger and hostility, and racial tension.
Don’t you know behind it all—behind all of it—I’m not talking about what’s up front, what you’re hearing in the news—I’m talking about behind it all is a spiritual warfare meant to oppress you. Maybe he can’t possess you because you’re filled with the Holy Spirit—he can’t possess you—but he can oppress you. I can’t possess my laptop, but I can press it. Some of you are not possessed, but you’ve been oppressed for a long time, and this Bible class is meant to liberate you. It’s meant to set you free; it’s meant to get you ready for what God is going to do in your life, so you can do some great things with your life. You just have to be dressed for it. You’ve got to put on the whole armor of God for it. You’ve got to grow up and understand you are in a spiritual warfare. You have to take off your baby clothes, your Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, your cute little jeans, and all that kind of stuff, and put on the whole armor of God.
What does that look like, Bishop? Where do you get that? You can’t go to the mall and get the whole armor of God; you can’t order it on Amazon. You get the whole armor of God on your knees. You get the whole armor of God by resisting the enemy when he comes along, because you know what this Word says. You get the whole armor of God by putting on the helmet of salvation and starting to thank God for things the enemy cannot take away from you—not your car, not your house, not your dress, not your coat. I’m saved! I’m washed in the blood of the Lamb! You don’t hear people talking like that anymore; you don’t hear people praying about being saved anymore. Oh, I’m just grateful I’m saved; I’m glad I made it in time! I’m a child of the King! To live is Christ; to die is gain!
That kind of helmet of salvation keeps your mind. Your grandmothers, your grandfathers kept your mind. Oh, I hope you’re getting something out of this. I want to go deeper! Let’s go to Acts for a minute. You want to go? That’s in Acts chapter one. Here Luke is writing; this is a continuation of the Gospel of Saint Luke. It is the second part of Luke’s writings, and he says, «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus.» I understand that the Gospel of Saint John is in between, but if it were in chronological order, it would go from Luke to Acts because Acts is the second part of Luke’s writings. «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.»
Now this Theophilus is an interesting character. There’s a lot of dispute about who he is; there’s a lot of conjecture about who he is. There are about three or four different ideas about who he is. The truth of the matter is, nobody knows absolutely who he is, but he is important enough to be mentioned in this way. «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.» We should note the revelation in that word «began.» We said, «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, in the Gospel of Saint Luke, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.» The inference is he’s not finished; he’s not finished. We’re in the book of Acts, and he’s already ascended. The Bible is saying he’s not finished; he just began to teach.
You know why he’s not finished? He is going to finish it through the Holy Spirit in you! You are going to be the finale—Christ in you, the hope of glory! He began it, but it’s going to continue through you, for you are the body of Christ. We’ve moved from the physical body of Christ to the mystical body of Christ. «The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach until the day he was taken up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments.» After he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, after the crucifixion, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
Notice it said forty days. Just last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, which would be the 50th day—the seventh Sunday. It would be the seventh Sabbath plus one day, which would be fifty. Seven times seven is forty-nine, plus one is fifty. On Pentecost, there we see him filling them with the Holy Spirit, but he showed himself alive for forty days, and then they had a ten-day wait. Being assembled together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, «Ye have heard of me; for John truly baptized you with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.» Keep reading.
When they therefore were come together, they asked him, saying, «Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?» That’s all they wanted: «Give us the kingdom! Restore the kingdom to Israel! Get us out from under the Roman powers and put us back!» When the Holy Ghost comes, will you restore the kingdom to Israel? That’s what they wanted; that’s what they wanted to know. Verse 7: «And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power; but ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.»
Oh my God, you’re going to go from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria! The Jews didn’t have any dealings with Samaria, but Jesus did. Jesus said this gospel has to spread. You can’t hold it in a corner; you can’t lock it in a city. You can’t hold it hostage in your church and say, «I can’t have it because I don’t belong to your church!» The Holy Ghost is too powerful to be locked up in any one denomination, any one movement, any one group, any one city, any one family, or any one preacher. No! It’s going to go from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth. God is too big for you to own him! That’s why you ought not to argue with people who say you’re not saved, say you’re not going to heaven, and say you’re going to hell. They don’t own hell; they don’t own you; they don’t own heaven. They can’t say who gets in and who gets out. That’s an illusion in their own mind.
The Holy Ghost cannot be constrained, locked up, or tied down. He goes wherever he wants to go, and wherever he goes, he releases power. This past Sunday we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. That is the Sunday that commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the church, the birth of the church. It’s where the church gets dressed in the upper room and puts on the whole armor of God. It gets dressed in the Holy Spirit. You need to get dressed in the Holy Spirit! They were in the upper room like Christ was in the womb of Mary, and it was their dressing room just as Mary’s womb was Christ’s dressing room. The Holy Ghost came upon them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. It made so much difference to be dressed.
If you don’t believe it, look at Peter in Acts chapter 2. Peter stood up—the same Peter who denied Jesus before he got his clothes on. Once he put on the whole armor of God, he stood up and let the house of Israel know assuredly that the same Jesus whom he had crucified has been made both Lord and Christ—with boldness! Where did he get the boldness from? He’s more bold after Jesus is gone than he was while Jesus was here. How did he get that boldness? He put on the whole armor of God. That’s where your boldness is going to come from, that’s where your strength is going to come from, that’s where your wisdom and knowledge is going to come from, and that’s where your resourcefulness and creativity are going to come from as you allow the Holy Spirit to indwell you—when you stop looking around in service and texting people in service, and you focus on what God is trying to give you.
When you really start worshiping instead of just standing there waiting for them to finish—when you truly become saturated and allow the Holy Spirit to come in, dress you, clothe you, cover you, and put on the whole armor of God; when you get your shoes on and let your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel; when you get the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; and the shield of faith; the helmet of salvation; the breastplate of righteousness—can’t you see the church is getting dressed in the upper room? They have a fight to fight, but it’s not against an army; it’s not the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Garrison. We’re fighting against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places, principalities and powers, wickedness in spiritual darkness. We’re fighting it, and we’ve got to fight it by being covered, by putting on the whole armor of God.
Oh, right now I can feel someone getting dressed! Someone who has been weakened, someone who has been broken down, someone who has been discouraged—someone who may have denied Christ, may have felt defeated, may have run away like Peter did—but now you’re receiving the Word of God, and the Word of God is coming to you saying there’s nothing wrong with you; it’s something wrong with what you’ve got on. You need to put on the whole armor of God—the whole armor of God! That’s what he wants you to have; that’s what he died and left you. That’s what he willed and bequeathed to you; that’s what he left you in his will: the whole armor of God—not part of it, not a piece of it, not one day a week of it—the whole armor of God! This thing’s got to become more real to you! Oh, it’s good! I’m going to read one more scripture to you, and then I’m going to let you have a good night.
Let’s go just for a minute to the Gospel of Saint John, chapter number 16, verses 12-15. Here Jesus has not yet departed okay, and he’s talking to his disciples. He says, «I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, has 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 show you things to come.» Wait a minute! Park the bus, hold the taxi cab, stop the Uber driver—this is something good! We’ve got to have it; we’ve got to get it right now! The Holy Spirit, first of all, is he not an it? Secondly, he speaks. He’s not just goose pimples and chill bumps; he actually speaks audibly. He shall not speak of himself, meaning that the Holy Spirit doesn’t just make things up. But whatsoever he hears in the boardroom of heaven, that’s what he speaks to you.
So when the Holy Spirit says, «It’s yours,» he’s not just trying to encourage you; he’s not just trying to motivate you. He’s not just trying to use positive thinking. He can only repeat what he heard. If he said, «It’s yours,» it’s because he heard, «It’s yours.» If he said, «You can do it,» it’s because he heard, «You can do it.» If he said, «You’re healed,» it’s because he heard, «You’re healed.» «Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.» «Thy Kingdom come.» That’s what the Holy Spirit brings to us—the Kingdom of God that sets upon us. He’s not talking of himself; he’s not talking of his own accord—that’s what that means. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.
My God, he will show you things to come! He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. He shall glorify me because he shall receive of mine and show it unto you. He’s going to get it from Christ, and he’s going to show it unto you. What is the Holy Spirit showing you? You say, «Well, he’s not showing me anything.» When’s the last time you got close enough within your range? «He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.» But you can’t hear what the Spirit is saying to the church when you’re listening to what everybody else is saying, what the news is saying, what the world is saying, and what your flesh has said. No, no, no, no, no! Be still and let him talk to you. He’s got something to tell you of things to come. I’m talking to somebody tonight. «All things that the Father hath are mine.»
Therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you. Great God Almighty, he shall take of mine and he shall show it unto you! That’s why you’ve got to be dressed for the fight. Because what it is, in essence, is that God has a CIA—a Central Intelligence Agency—that releases classified information to you. You’re coming out of this; you are not going to die; you will win this battle! Or sometimes he will say to you, «This is not your fight.» You need to know when it is your fight and when it is not your fight—when God has given you something or when you are fighting for something that is not yours. In order to do that, you’ve got to be dressed for the battle because the enemy will try to get you to take something that is not yours. That’s his first trick—in the book of Genesis, he was trying to get Eve to eat something that was not hers to eat.
I feel like I’m talking to somebody who sincerely wants to walk with God, but you have not been getting the kind of teaching you need to walk with God. In this Bible class, I’m trying to give you the information that you need—not just so you can act saved, but so you can be saved. Not just so you can act like you’ve got peace, but so you can have peace. Not just so that you can act like you have joy and go home and cry yourself to sleep, but that your joy might be full. Do you know God wants your joy to be full? God wants your joy to be full, and all you’ve got to do is be dressed for the battle. It’s like when I go to Chicago, and in the winter, Chicago is cool—it’s cold; it’s really, really cold! Because I’m not from Chicago, but for people who live in Chicago, they pay no attention; they get right out there in the snow and they go everywhere, but they’re dressed for it. They’ve got on the mittens, the gloves, the little furry cap over their face—everything. They have all of this, the toboggan, and they go right out in the snow and go about their business.
They throw snowballs and have a good time, while I’m walking around like this because I’ve got on a coat or something, but I didn’t get the right hat—or I’ve got a hat, but I didn’t cover my ears—trying to look nice when I should be covered up for the Lord. What made it so cold for me was that I wasn’t dressed for it. For this season you’re in right now, God wants to dress you completely with the whole armor of God, and the battle won’t even feel like a battle! The winter won’t even feel cold, and you can walk through temperatures that are zero and not be cold because of how you’re dressed. Now, without the dressing, you would freeze to death. But if you’re dressed for it, you can do it. You put a baby in the pool, and the baby can’t even swim, but if you put the right things on them, they can float right on the water, and after a while, they’ll be learning how to swim because they’re dressed for it.
I think there’s somebody listening to me right now: you’ve got a life that you’re not dressed for, and the principalities and the powers are beating you lower and lower into the ground. And tonight, stop it! Take a moment and put on the whole armor of God, and nobody can do this for you. There are certain things nobody else can do for you. Nobody can put on your armor but you. Nobody can sow into the kingdom but you. Nobody can offer up your sacrifice but you. If I go and I give my money, that’s my sacrifice—your sacrifice has to come from you. There are certain things nobody can do for you but you. You have to do it, you have to offer it up; you have to put it on; you have to speak to yourself in spiritual songs and hymns. I watch on Sunday—people standing in the service, and they’re just standing there while we’re doing worship. They’re standing there polite; they’ve got lights—standing there looking around; they’re not worshiping.
I know their feet hurt; their back has got to be hurt because if you don’t get into it, just standing there after a while you get tired of standing. They’re not putting it on! God said, «I’ll give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.» They’re not putting it on! God says, «If you give, it shall be given unto you.» If you give tomatoes to me, it shall be given unto you; if you give Oprah’s oak, it shall be given unto you! Give, and it shall be given unto you again—a good measure! He said, «I’ll give it back to you—good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall I cause men to give unto thy bosom.» I’ll make people bless you, but you have to provoke me! You have to give; you have to put it on; you have to do the worshiping.
I can worship beside you, but I can’t worship for you because worship has to come from here. Giving has to come from here. The armor has to come from here, and you can watch me until both of us fade away into dust and blow away in the wind, and nothing will happen until it comes out of you. It is not enough for my faith to be activated if your faith isn’t activated, and that’s just simply the truth! I can’t force the armor on you; I can’t force you to worship in a service; I can’t force you to offer up a sacrifice in our moments of giving—that has to come from you. And without you doing it, you’re not dressed for the battle! I was dressed in Chicago; I’m not picking on Chicago, y’all—I love Chicago! I like to freeze; I like to die!
I had on a little hat; my ears were out; they were turning red—you could see, but they were almost frozen! I bet you the next time I came, I had a scarf wrapped around my head; I looked like a mummy, because once you have been through that, you’d learn to dress for it! I was packing everything—everything under clothes, out clothes, over clothes, top of coat, hoodies, wraps, everything—scarf tied up! I could barely breathe, but I wasn’t cold! You’re so busy trying to be cute, but go put on the whole armor of God right now! Let’s start today putting on the whole armor of God! Let’s start today with our devotionals. It doesn’t have to be 30 minutes—it could be 15 in the morning and 15 in the evening!
Let’s start somewhere—Bible study, a 30-minute Bible study on your own, where you take notes. Come up with questions—what does this mean? What does that mean? Go back and read the scriptures. I gave you three scriptures—just three scriptures. You want me to give them to you again? I’m going to give them to you again! Here are my three scriptures: the first one is Ephesians 6:11–18. The second one is Acts 1:1-8, and the third one is the Gospel of St. John 16:12–15. Just study that; that’s the start. That’ll get you started. And the next time there’s worship going on, don’t stand there—worship! I don’t care if you know the tune; you can be out of tune; nobody’s going to put you out of church because you’re out of tune! Just make a joyful noise unto the Lord! When the Holy Spirit challenges you to give, I don’t care if you can’t give like other people.
Give at your level—do what you can do because nobody can offer up a sacrifice for you but you! I can give more money, but it won’t be for you because it didn’t come from you; it’s not your sacrifice. I’ll gladly give more, but it won’t change you because it has to come from you. I’ll worship more, but it won’t stop you from the spirit of heaviness. My garment of praise won’t protect you from the spirit of heaviness. This word comes to you on a very personal level: put on the whole armor of God and then you’ll be dressed for the battle. I hope something that I’ve said or done tonight has blessed you—has spoken to you in a real way—that has challenged you to grow deeper in the things of God. I hope you recognize that we are in the evil day. Oh my God, we are right smack-dab in the middle of the evil day! And you’re running around out there in swimming trunks! You need to put on the whole armor of God. In this country alone, over half a million people died of one disease; that’s not counting all the other things they died from—car wrecks and different things—heart attacks, cancers following this.
Well, a half a million people died! We are in the evil day! People are just taking off, shooting people—going in the grocery store, shooting people dead, down in the street, in the theater, shooting them down in the school, little kids! This is the evil day! People are shooting police officers; police officers are shooting people! People have lost their minds! This is the evil day! It’s the evil day! Principalities and powers, spiritual wickedness in high places, backroom deals, and dark alley deals—this is the evil day! If you’re ever going to put on the whole armor of God, it’s got to be right now! How about it? You’re tired of walking around out in the cold in Alaska and swimming trunks? In the North Pole, in a bathing suit? Put on the whole armor of God and may he protect you!
I want to pray with you tonight, and when I pray with you, I want you to purpose in your heart that you are going to do better. You’re going to worship for yourself, sow into the kingdom for yourself, and put on the whole armor of God for yourself because my choir can’t do it, my bishop can’t do it, my pastor can’t do it, my wife can’t do it, and my mother can’t do it. I have to do this for myself, or it’s not my sacrifice; it’s not my worship; it’s not my armor.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I hope the Holy Spirit has penetrated even the most stony heart, that it has touched someone in a significant way and wrestled down all the principalities and powers that would distract them from receiving this word. May the heavens open up, and just as we celebrated Pentecost Sunday last week, I pray that someone would have a Pentecost Wednesday. Let the glory of God fill someone right now with the Holy Ghost, fill them until they speak, fill them until they change, fill them until they love everybody, fill them until they give, fill them until they get a new attitude, fill them until they gain strength that surpasses all understanding, fill them until they have holy boldness to speak to those they were running from. Fill them right now with the Holy Ghost. God, please give me at least 100 people filled with the Holy Ghost tonight in this Bible class. By the power of the living God, I command you in the name of Jesus to receive the Holy Ghost. Lift your hands and open your mouth, and let the Holy Spirit take over right now. Lift your hands and open your mouth, and let Him speak right now in the name of Jesus, letting the Spirit of God come into your life. I pray, Lord God, that they would never be the same again. Let them be dressed for the battle; I pray that we would be dressed for the battle. I know not what tomorrow holds, but I do know who holds tomorrow. Show us things to come and let us be ready. In Jesus' name, Amen.
If you feel you have given your life to Christ, tell somebody. We want to hear from you! I want to get your story; type it in the comments. Some of you can’t type because you’re speaking right now, and you can’t stop it. Tears are running down your face, and all of a sudden, you finally feel filled with the Holy Spirit, right in this moment, right now. If you can bring yourself to type, «I just got it! I just got filled! I just got filled! Never felt like this before.» God, give me at least 100 people filled with the Holy Ghost. Give me 100 people who are going to worship sacrificially right now in the name of Jesus. It’s not their norm; it’s not their usual routine, but the Holy Spirit just made them understand: you can’t hold your way through this; you have to give out of what God has given you. God, give me at least 100 people tonight who don’t normally worship but get lost in worship until the spirit of heaviness breaks off of them and they are set free. He says for 300 I have several thousand.
Thank you, Lord, tonight that someone somewhere is filled with your Spirit in a way they have never experienced before. Thank you, Lord, tonight that someone is sowing like they never have before. Thank you, Lord, tonight that someone is worshiping you—while no praise team is singing, no songs are going up—they’re worshiping you until they hear the angels singing, until the heavens open up, until they feel the very glory of God. Thank you tonight that someone has opened up their ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church and they are dressed for this invisible battle, with its chemical warfare, with its spiritual attacks, and with the invisible affronts coming against us, trying to beat us down. But we will not drop; we will stand, says the Word of God.
That’s it! So says the Word of God! That’s all I have. Dress for the fight! I’ve given you the materials; I gave you what He gave me. I can’t put it on you, but I’m offering it to you. I pray that you would go to bed tonight dressed for the fight, that you would wear pajamas you’ve never worn before, and that you lay down in bed covered in the Spirit of God. I pray that somebody goes to bed tonight speaking in tongues. I hope you live by yourself because someone’s going to think you’re crazy; you’ll be lying in bed worshiping in the Spirit. Spouse, don’t get mad at them; this is important—it’s going to change your whole house! What counselors couldn’t do, what therapy couldn’t do, what pills couldn’t do, the Holy Spirit is doing it now in the name of Jesus. I thank you for allowing me to share the Word with you tonight.