Pastor Tolan Morgan - I've Got My War Clothes On!

uh can i push the envelope another further can i tell you why paul said this again he said you need the strength of the lord and the power of his might because the lord is the only one who is undefeated against hell i want to summon your senses and invite your intellect to the book of ephesians if you were with us on last sunday we were in ephesians again and i want to return to the book of ephesians chapter number 6. ephesians chapter number 6. and it is there that the holy spirit has highlighted for us this context of scripture beginning with verse number 10. ephesians chapter 6 verse number 10 and i want to lift up this familiar passage of scripture your bible should be finally my brethren be strong in the lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we do not wrestle 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 you 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 you 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 i want to tag this text i've got my war clothes on i've got my war clothes on it is a common strategy in most sports particularly football basketball and even boxing that contenders will sit and study film on their upcoming opponent a significant amount of time is put into preparing for combat by studying the orientations the proclivities the habits the weaknesses and strengths the likes and dislikes of their opponent the goal ladies and gentlemen in doing so is to prepare not only to compete but to also resolve some strategy to defeat their opponent if you are studying your opponent you're not just watching them for entertainment you're watching them to see how you might have victory over them ladies and gentlemen i want to inform you very definitively today that satan has gained film on you and i he studies us he's aware of our orientations he's aware of our fortes and our weaknesses he's aware of our likes and dislikes he is aware of our habits our proclivities and our tendencies and he does so so that he might appropriate himself in the best means of attempting to defeat us in attempting to conquer us and one of the things that the devil is fully resolved about is that his most common method is most effective against all of us and that is the tool of trickery he is what jesus said in john chapter 8 verse 44 that he is the father of lies every time he spoke he lied he understands that trickery accomplishes deception but he also understands that for the most part many of us are intrigued by trickery i recall an occasion a few years ago a few friends of mine we went on a vacation in las vegas and before we got to vegas we had resolved all of the shows that we wanted to go see one of the shows on our list was the david copperfield show internationally known magician who has had success around the world we had paid a significant fee to get into this show that had limited seating we sat there in awe and watched this man make cars appear and disappear we watched him make spaceships appear and disappear and while i was sitting there all by what i was seeing it dawned on me that sir you have paid a high price to be tricked this ticket costs a lot of money just to impress you with something that's really not there i don't know who i'm talking to today but i just want to ask you a question how much have you spent on being tricked what's been your price for being fooled this was a master illusionist who who understood that we by nature are intrigued and interested and impressed with trickery to the point that we pay a high price to even be tricked when you reflect on your life and your journey how much have you lost just to be impressed by something that is really not there satan masters in trickery he understands that we are so intrigued and so awed by trickery that we would pay a high price just to be tricked his strategy worked in the garden of eden and it continues to work today and paul grabs this known adversary and shares with us some insight that even though you have been tricked at a high price you can still recover and have victory in the war even if you've lost a battle that's paul's message as he concludes this letter to the church at ephesus written in a.d 61 there was no particular conflict or issue by which paul wrote this letter to the church at ephesus he writes this letter as an affirmation and a salute and an ode to the glory of the church he talks about the calling of the church in chapters one through three he talks about the conduct of the church in chapters four through six he talks about the unity of the church in chapter four specifically this is a salute to the glory of the church the privilege and honor that you and i have to have christ as our head and the church as the body of christ not this building but believers not this place but people and he begins to encourage them in their spousal conduct in chapter five their spiritual conduct in chapter four and then in a wonderful crescendo he gets here to the close of this letter and says while i've been talking good to you i need to tell you a reality the reality is that living for god is a battleground and not a playground when you decide to live for god it is not going to come without contest it is not going to happen free of challenge but the christian walk is a battleground and in order for us to battle with the intent to win we've got to be clear on several strategies the first one is tucked away there in verse number 10 which he says finally my brethren be strong in the lord and in the power of his might be strong in the lord and in the power of the lord's might first thing we have to understand ladies and gentlemen is that when a soldier prepares for battle he him or her have to undergo some type of physical evaluation or training because the battle ladies and gentlemen is not a battle that has room and space for somebody who is physically compromised but this is a battle for those who are fit strong and sound for the fight but paul says something very clear to us he says the strength you need is not yours the strength you need is in the lord and in the power of his might so so the training the training ladies and gentlemen begins with the trainer and the quality of the training is contingent upon the acumen of the trainer and paul says to us in verse 10 that if you're going to fight in this fight you cannot train in and of yourself you've got to submit to the training of the lord be strong in the lord and in the power of his might the goal of the trainer ladies and gentlemen is to transfer their spirit and strength and strategy into the being of the soldier your training is contingent upon the kind of trainer you submit to and here are a couple of presuppositions about the type of training you need to submit to first and foremost ladies and gentlemen if paul told us in verse 10 that we need to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might then there is something significant about that phrase in the lord be strong in the lord it does not say be strong by the lord it says be strong in the lord by the lord would suggest that god is some kind of occasional resource that is only used in emergencies or on an as-needed basis but in the lord suggests that he is not an occasional resource but you have a constant relationship with him and there is some strength that you will have that is a result of just being in a relationship with god i i won't tell somebody you very well know that somebody you are not in a relationship with does not have the type of resources available to them compared to somebody you are in relationship with as a matter of fact somebody you are in relationship with doesn't necessarily even have to ask for certain resources you love them so much you find ways just to give them resources without them even asking because you find ways to make yourself available to them by virtue of just being in a relationship with them since you not feeling me that's really what god does ladies and gentlemen there are certain things you've gotten from god that you did not have to pray for you didn't have to ask for you didn't have to fast for there are certain things god has made available to you as a result of just being in relationship with him he loves you so much he's trying to find ways to bless you he's trying to find ways to make yourself available to you even when you don't ask this is strength that is our privilege and portion because we are in relationship with the lord we are in the lord but ladies and gentlemen that shares with us a couple things number one if he says you got to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might he is also introducing to us a reality that many of us don't want to accept and that is if i've got to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might then that suggests that i am no match for the enemy on my own uh i don't care how wonderful you think you are and you probably think we're well of yourself you many of you are not struggling uh with a lack of self-esteem but i don't care how wonderful you are and i don't care how you think about yourself when you look in the mirror you are no match for the enemy in your own strength you are no match for the enemy in and of yourself you need the lord's strength and the lord's power to stand against the wiles of the devil let me give it to you another way ladies and gentlemen humanity cannot fight hell alone humanity has to come into alignment and covenant with heaven so that when humanity and heaven team up hell ain't got a chance i thought i had somebody who would testify in the technological realm that when you and god team up hell got to back up when you and god get in covenant together humanity and heaven can defeat hell all in the same partnership might i tell you that that's paul's message he says i don't care how wonderful you think you are don't try to go up against hell by yourself because you will not defeat hell on your own in your own strength and strategy you need the strength of the lord and the power of his might can i push the envelope another further can i tell you why paul said this again he said you need the strength of the lord and the power of his might because the lord is the only one who is undefeated against hell ladies and gentlemen no trainer is worth submitting to if they themselves have not conquered the thing you still got to contend with i gotta rewind in my mind let me try it again no trainer is worth submitting to if they still have not conquered the thing you still got to contend with ladies and gentlemen it only makes sense to submit to god's strength because god is the only one who has a no loss record against hell that you still got to fight so therefore my confidence in my trainer is not just his or her discipline but it's already their known victory over the very thing they trying to get me to take victory over in other words i got to link up with somebody who has already won so i could have confidence in my own victory i've got to link up with somebody who's already got the victory so that i can have confidence in my own victory ladies and gentlemen you need the power of god because god is undefeated against the wiles of the devil he is undefeated against the trickery of the enemy and therefore his strategies his strength and his spirit are ideal for you because he's already defeated who you still got to fight lord have mercy today might i tell you verse 10 teaches us about the soldiers empowerment we don't draw our power from ourselves we don't draw our power from our own consciousness our own intelligence our own resources we draw it from an undefeated god who repeatedly has defeated the enemy time and time again verse 10 teaches us about the soldiers empowerment uh but verse 11 through 12 teaches us about the soldier's enemy he says once you have drawn power from the lord he says put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil verse 11 gives us our first indication of who our enemy is you know one of the one of the one of the key strategies and critical moments of preparing for any battle is being crystal clear on who you're fighting you got to be crystal clear on who your opponent really is and sometimes ladies and gentlemen you know who your opponent is once you resolve who your opponent is not and verse 12 peaks us in paul says let me help you about this whole devil issue the wiles of the devil that word is it really means trickery or deception the trickery of the devil but paul says time out time out i need to switch gears because i need to shift this metaphor of encouragement from that of a soldier to that of a wrestler preaching here told morgan this whole thing looks like he's talking about a soldier but he turns the corner in verse 12 and says i need to pause parenthetically and help you identify the enemy but i can't do it through just a soldier i've got to do it through a wrestler he says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood now ladies and gentlemen you already know that soldiers do not wrestle because being a soldier ladies and gentlemen implies that you are participating in a corporate fight you are a part of a group participating in a corporate battle but when you are a wrestler you are not participating in a corporate battle you are in a one-on-one contest hand-to-hand mono imano touching one to the next you're in a battle that is personal and direct and he says when you wrestle ladies and gentlemen you gotta understand that you're not wrestling lord jesus hold your boy here against people no flesh and blood you are wrestling against principalities powers rulers of the darkness of this world and wickedness in high places now can i tell you verse 12 has has some implications for his church because he is saying first of all that you cannot participate effectively in the corporate war if you don't get control over your personal battles lord have mercy today there are some things you are wrestling with personally that you got to take authority over personally so that you can participate in the larger battle there's some things you got to overcome that's the rest of us don't know about there's some things you got to take authority over that the bigger partners don't know about so that when you get into the partnership that you do not become a liability to the big fight because you can't take control over the personal battles there's some things you are wrestling with but it's not people i know you ready to cut somebody but that's not your real fight i know you're ready to to get into it with somebody but that's not your real fight your real fight is against principalities powers rulers in the darkness of this world so here's what he says he says all of these nouns principalities and powers they're not people oh my god today they're not flesh and blood when paul wrote verse 12 i need y'all to make a note of this i need you to see this when paul wrote verse 12 he was not referring to people at all in that verse we have historically associated this verse with bad politicians or bad pastors or bad congressmen or bad people in leadership this is not that verse for that this verse specifically is not referring to people at all it is referring to evil spirits who run rapid in the unseen reality of this world who influence what we do who influence our decisions who influence our actions all right let me see if i can pitch my tent here because i got to get theologically with you for a second ladies and gentlemen when satan was evicted out of heaven he took some angels with him every demon is a fallen angel and they run rapid in the atmosphere influencing what we think and what we say and what we do you don't believe me come here ephesians chapter 2 paul told the church at ephesus that satan is the prince of the power of the air okay you still don't believe it john says in revelations chapter 12 verse 9 he says that old dragon the devil and satan was kicked out of heaven and cast into the earth he and his angels that's right ladies and gentlemen i know this sounds spooky but you need the truth all around you at any given time there may be demonic spirits who are trying to influence what you say what you think and what you do which means church oh my god you don't have to be demonically possessed in order to be demonically persuaded preached holy morgan you may not be demonically possessed but every now and then the enemy talks to your mind and persuades you to do stuff that you already know is not in god's will and ladies and gentlemen paul says your fight is against demonic persuasion that leads you to believe that you are not god's child that leads you to believe that your faith is somehow faulty that leads you to believe that you are that you are a fraud in the body of christ no no no ladies and gentlemen might i tell you he says you've got to put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the trickery of the enemy who seeks to persuade you who seeks to speak to your choices who seeks to speak to your actions though you may not be possessed by the devil you can be persuaded by the devil i know you feel with the holy ghost and you speak in five different terms all at one time and you roll on the floor in jesus name and you got spiritual authority and you lay hands and you wear a collar and you wear a cross and you wear a robe but every now and then satan speaks and influences us to do things that we ought not be able to do and he says in order to stand against that you and i got to be able to put on the whole armor of god pastor you got bible for that of course i got bible for that come here come here you you remember in first corinthians chapter 21 david decides that he wants to conduct a census of the people and the lord didn't tell him to do that first one of first chronicles 21 says and satan influenced david to conduct a census of the people and david was a man after god's own heart okay acts chapter 5 in the new testament uh there was a couple there named ananias and sapphira and while they were their giving offering they held back a piece of the offering the man-husband he fell dead the wife comes in and peter asked her why have you allowed satan lord have mercy to feel your heart to do wrong unto god ladies and gentlemen peter says in first peter 5 and 8 the adversary walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour ladies and gentlemen you may not be demonically possessed but you can be demonically persuaded and paul says you got to be able to stand against these persuasions that seek to divert us from the will of god he says that's the enemy the enemy is seeking to persuade you and your goal in the fight lord somebody write this down i don't care where you put it i don't care how you post it you've got to write this down your goal in the fight is to stand okay he says it three times in the context verse 11 he says i'mma give you the armor that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil look at verse 13 he says take on the whole armor of god that you may be able to withstand and having done all stand verse 14 says stand therefore having on the breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of the peace of god ladies and gentlemen the goal of the fight ain't always to fight back the goal of the fight is to stand you understand i'm in a military town you understand that stan means do not abandon your position do not give up on god do not do something that god didn't tell you to do if the general don't say move stand there if the general don't say go out stand there do not abandon your post stand until you get the next directive that's god's word for somebody today in this season where we're fighting pandemic and pandemonium we've got to learn how to take a stand and stand on the word of god and not allow the enemy to cause us to sway or move in a direction that god didn't ordain for us to be tell somebody i gotta take a stand listen the victory is in your stand the victory is in your stand you already know if this is a wrestling match if this is a wrestling match the goal of the wrestling match is for whoever's going to be the last man standing is going to be the one that's going to have the victory and having done all to stand stand therefore because your enemy is only trying to persuade you to do stuff that is out of the will of god that's your enemy that's your empowerment verse 13 through 17 gives us the soldiers equipment all right you still ain't feeling me verse 10 is the soldier's empowerment verse 11 and 12 is the soldier's enemy verse 13 through 17 is the soldier's equipment there are six pieces of armor there's six pieces of armor that paul outlines uh ladies and gentlemen i'm not gonna go through all of them because there's a bigger point than each individual one there are six pieces of armor uh we've got that breastplate of righteousness and uh we got the we got the shoes of peace and the belt of truth those first three the belt of truth the breastplate of righteousness the shoes of peace ladies and gentlemen the goal of paul's message is not the belt the breastplate and the shoes his real goal is the truth the peace and the righteousness here's what he's saying y'all here's what he's saying he said if you are dressed in peace and truth and righteousness then the first piece of armor that you need to have on to win this fight has got to be in your character preach total and morgan truth and righteousness and peace are not external they have to be a part of your character do you walk in peace or are you a troublemaker do you walk in the truth or are you a deceiver who can't manage to be truthful do you walk in righteousness or are you always doing things and taking pleasure in those things that don't please god he says the first battle is you got to walk in truth and peace and righteousness because the enemy will come to give you some persuasion that you can't battle if you don't walk in peace and truth and righteousness the second set y'all is the shield of faith the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god did y'all see that it's not about the helmet and the shield and the sword it's about faith salvation and the word of god he says if you've got those three they make up your conviction my faith says in light of everything that's going on in the world god don't have the last word there has been an ongoing perpetual battle between god and science and god has never lost to science so while science gives us the facts god is going to overwhelm the facts when he wants to how he wants to through who he wants to because he never loses to anything or anybody my salvation is wrapped around my head to suggest that my soul has eternal security no matter what happens in this world and the word of god is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path so so ladies and gentlemen here's what paul is saying between these six pieces of armor you will be victorious somewhere between your character and your convictions i'm gonna give you a minute to think about that somewhere between your character and your convictions you will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil all right i'm glad y'all got there because here's the whole point uh wesley if you hear me i need you to put this scripture on the screen as fast as you can let's go to isaiah 59 verse number 17. if you got a bible at the house i gotta show you this cause here's the whole point of this whole lesson isaiah chapter 59 verse number 17. if you got a bible go there if you don't have a bible here it is here's what the word of the lord says the word says for he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon his head and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and he was clad with zeal as a cloak i'm gonna leave this up here because y'all got to see this he put on righteousness as a breastplate and the helmet of salvation upon his head ladies and gentlemen do y'all see isaiah 59-17 i'm glad you see it you see it but you don't understand it so let me help you ladies and gentlemen paul reached back to isaiah 59 verse 17 and told the church at ephesus if you all are going to win in spiritual warfare you got to wear the equipment that jesus wears lord have mercy today this is not paul's original idea paul says you gonna have victory once you wear what god wore because in isaiah 59 and 17 he was talking about jesus who had on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation and therefore he was able to have victory because he went through the battle with the proper dress on and paul is saying the same god that had that on has made it available to you and all you got to do is wear what god wore and if you wear what god wore you will always have victory in god good ladies and gentlemen that he would make available to us the same victory clothes that he had to have victory over the enemy and when i wear what god wears i'm always going to have victory over the enemy ephesians chapter 6 y'all is paul's way of telling us put on god's war clothes put on god's victory attire and when you wear what he wears you're gonna have the victory you're gonna be able to stand satan tried to knock jesus off his square when he got tempted by by satan but he gave him the word of god the sword of the spirit he gets on calvary and he tries to take him out again and say man if you be the son of god come down off this cross no no no jesus still took his stand and did what the lord told him to do because he understood in three days i'm getting ready to have victory because i had my war clothes on and my victory comes not because i necessarily fought you back but my fight was my stand i need somebody in here to make a decision today that you're gonna make a stand for god and when you make a stand for god that's where your victory is gonna come in ladies and gentlemen somebody in here tell somebody i'm going to stand for god no matter what happens in the world i'm going to stand for god no matter how people begin to defect and begin to have discussion about where is god i'm gonna stand for god and having done all to stand stand therefore and stand in righteousness when we review this attire it's all jesus he said put on the uh belt of truth jesus said i am the way the truth and the life no man comes unto the father but by me he said put on the breastplate of righteousness jeremiah 23 and 6 says god has a name and we shall call him the lord our righteousness which the hebrews called jehovah to sit canoe the lord our righteousness he put on the shoes of peace well isaiah said in isaiah 9 6 for unto us a child is born and a son is given and the government shall be on his shoulders and you shall call him wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace ladies and gentlemen he is our peace he is our faith hebrews 12 and 2 says looking unto jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith he's not only our faith he's our salvation because he's our savior but he's also the word of god john 1 2 says in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god verse 14 says and the word became flesh and dwelt among us having gotten myself awareness in this place this means that when you put on the whole armor of god you are actually wearing [Music] jesus you tell somebody neighbor and tell them on your toast tell them neighbor i got victory cause i got jealous on my mind i got victory cause i got jesus in my heart i got victory cause i got jesus when i walk i walk in peace have i got to win this here anybody glad that when you go to battle you're going with jesus have i got a witness it was him that stood on calvary and won our victory the good news is you are not fighting for victory you are fighting in the victory y'all slip on that i said you are not fighting for victory you are fighting in victory you already got the victory have i got a witness here you already got your war clothes on and if you got your war clothes on you ought not to have your head down if you got your work clothes on you ought to have your head up and your shoulders and joy unspeakable and full of glory y'all looking at me but if you look around your house you've got victory if you look around your life you got victory and you ought to understand that christ all always causes us to have victory therefore my beloved be steadfast and unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord but you know that your labor is not in vain anybody that's got victory don't know how to be quiet but if you got victory you know how to open your mouth right where you are defeated people don't know how to be quiet i said defeated people don't know how to be quiet but victorious people know how to open your mouth and lift your hands and give him glory have i got a witness here i got at least one person in the building that knows how to open your mouth and lift your hands now if you're at the house if you're a real praiser you don't need nobody watching you to give him the glory but you got victory have i got to win this here so here's the good news the enemy i'm fighting is already defeated because one friday my jesus went out on calvary and got the victory so that i would be restored back unto the father and the enemy is defeated and i gotta win this huh would you post and tell somebody i got the victory today i'm winning the devil is defeated and god is exhausted because i got my war clothes on and because i got my war clothes on i walk in victory i preach in victory i praise in victory i shout in victory in victory i work in victory i serve in victory my house is victorious ground up my body is victorious my mind is victorious ground and since i got victory let me encourage somebody the weapons of our warfare are not but mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds and casting out every imagination that exalts itself against the power of god would you make the enemy made and tell the enemy today i get my mind back today i get my joy back and if you got it back right there in your house make the devil mad because he believes that you only got a sanctuary praise but if you're a real child of god you got a house praise not let everything i said let everything i said let everything that's god prep right there in the house if you got victory right there in the house praise him [Music] tell somebody we can't let pastor holler by himself he ain't the only one god pictured open your mouth and give him glory cause you got victory yes [Music] if you got something to thank him for if you've got something to give him praise for if you've got victory shout it out where you are get in glory where you are really [Applause] [Music] hallelujah nature over challenge victory over depression tell us about i got the victory today and i'm going to announce my victory i got my war clothes home between my character and my convictions i got victory oh lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus lord jesus watching i tell you what if you got victory it's no need to have a victory and don't celebrate i'm gonna give you about 30 seconds to give god a victory dance right there in your house if you've got the victory shout like you got the picture praise him like you got the victory [Music] in here oh [Music] yourself in where you are victory is overtaking you victory is overtaking you in the name of the lord jesus now spirit [Music] [Music] [Music] listen while the glory of the lord is here

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Keywords: Pastor Tolan Morgan, Tolan Morgan, Tolan Morgan 2020, I've Got My War Clothes On, Pastor Tolan Morgan I've Got My War Clothes On, Full Length Sermons, Full Length Sermons 2020, Fellowship Bible Baptist Church, FBBC, Warner Robins GA, Dr. Tolan Morgan, Black Preachers, Black Pastors

Id: JGFAhI318_o

Length: 57min 51sec (3471 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 12 2020