A Challenge to Overcome | Tony Evans Sermon

and jesus says this is the amen talking this is the one who's not going to tell you what you want to hear i'ma tell you like it really is god wants you to fear him more than you feel what's wrong he wants your fear of him to be greater than your fear of your problem truth is god's view on any subject matter if there is no truth there can be no legitimate unity i'm here to tell you jesus saw satan had your cage but on the cross he has now opened the cage door so that he who the son sets free is free indeed there is a need today to protest but the protest that i am speaking of as we move along is the protests where the evil one is holding us hostage where we're living with spiritual handcuffs on or chains around our lives some of it is due to our sins others of it is due to our circumstances all we know is we have been overcome by the oppressive nature of what we are dealing with but i would like to shift the song a little bit from we shall overcome to we have overcome anyone who's believed in christ has overcome that's what it says but that ought to create a curiosity because if you will look at me at revelation written by the apostle john in chapter 2 verse 7 we read he who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes in verse 11 he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches he who overcomes in verse 17 he says he who at the near let him hear what the spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes in chapter 2 rather verse 26 he who overcomes in chapter 3 verse 5 he who overcomes in chapter 3 verse 12 he who overcomes so wait a minute first john 5 says you have overcome but the same author john when he writes the book of revelation says he who overcomes so on one hand i have overcome on the other hand i need to overcome so how do i put this together and what does it mean john is writing to the seven churches of asia minor as you'll see in a moment and he's talking to the whole congregation he says i want you to tell this to the whole congregation but in each one of those scriptures i read you he said he who overcomes meaning it's possible to be in the church and in the congregation and not be one of the overcomers because he says he who so he talks to everybody and then he comes down to the individual and says let me talk to you he who but he tells the whole church everybody who has come to christ has overcome so right now if you have something that should not be holding you hostage but that is holding you hostage then you need to be an overcomer because that's what the word means but why do you tell me john that i have overcome and then john you come back in revelation and tell me well you need to overcome when john says you have overcome he's dealing with your legal status christ has made every believer and overcomer legally but what you have legally does not mean that's what you're experiencing personally if you are defeated and christian that doesn't make you unchristian that makes you a defeated christian so what he's trying to tell you and us is that the goal is to make our legal status our experiential reality so that's why the word is you have overcome spiritually legally because you come to christ but you may not yet have overcome in terms of it working out in your life in terms of you experiencing it in fact the only reason you need to overcome is there something to overcome to overcome means to overrule a sin or a set of circumstances that are illegitimate it is to overrule them the bible makes it clear if you are going to be an overcomer a prevailer that the link has to be made between your state and your standing between your position and your practice between what's legal and what you experience literal before he ever gets to talking about being an overcomer in chapters two and three he gives us chapter one he begins in chapter one of the book of revelation verse one saying the revelation of jesus christ he says i'm gonna disclose jesus to you he says in verse four i'm writing to the churches he takes this look at jesus in verse seven behold he is coming with clouds every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him so it shall be amen now watch this jesus is talking in verse 8 i am alpha and omega who was who is and who was and who is to come the almighty he tells john in verse 11 write a book john then says in verse 12 i turned to see the voice that was speaking to me jesus speaking to him and having turned i saw seven golden lamb stands in the middle of the lamb stands i saw one like a son of man clothed in a robe reaching to his feet girded across his chest with a golden sash his head and his hair were white like white wool like snow his eyes were like a flame of fire his feet were like brandished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace his voice was like the sound of many waters in his right hand he had seven stars uh verse 17 when i saw him i fell at his feet like a dead man and he placed his right hand on me and said do not be afraid i am the first and the last the living one if you and i are going to be overcomers in practice not in principle you're going to have to see the jesus that john saw this is not jesus meek and mild this is not jesus in a manger no no no this is jesus on fire he says like the burning of a furnace he says when he spoke it was like the rushing of many waters like oceans and seas just thundering and he says when i saw this jesus it knocked the brother off his feet i i fell down like a dead man walking in colossians chapter 2 verse 15 it says that when jesus died he he disarmed the rulers of this present age i disarmed them so the reason why the devil can defeat us is because he can deceive us into thinking their bullets still in the gun but what jesus did on the cross the scripture says is he disarmed them he took away the authority so now you're beaten by deception that feels like reality looks like reality seems like reality that's why the scripture says in romans 8 37 you are more than conquerors in him who loved us and gave himself for us that's why john 16 33 says in me you're gonna have peace because i have already overcome the world [Music] i'm sure for many of us maybe even most of us this has been one of the most trying years in our lives people have suffered loss people have found themselves claustrophobic and closed in light of the virus we've seen all kind of division and yet in the midst of this we're called to trust god it is our hope that throughout this year god has used the urban alternative and our ministry of god's word to help encourage and strengthen you during this time as we close out this year i want to thank you for your prayers for us for your prayers for the word of god that's been going forth and for your support your generosity which has kept us bringing god's truth throughout the nation and actually around the world so may god richly strengthen you help you to recover from anything that has that has hurt you this year but also empower you for a brand new hope in the year to come again thank you for being a friend of tua we couldn't do what we do without you he speaks in these superlatives because it is your connecting with this risen christ romans 5 10 after he says god demonstrated his love toward us that while sinners christ died for us in verse 8 he comes to verse 10 and he says and we are saved or delivered by his life so the overcoming comes with this life if you're a believer in jesus christ you don't have triple a you got triple g god god and god that's god the father god the son god the holy spirit you've got triple g and what he wants you to know is when you begin to look at him differently and relate to him as the risen christ who is ascended who's now functioning with fire in his eyes not soft uh skin but but hand like wool and and a voice like thunder that's who you're dealing with and that's who you must relate to on the cross jesus christ lifted the sins of the whole world for all men for all time on calvary so what did you tell me the size of your problem was [Applause] you're dealing with somebody who handled the world and it's sin and it's accompanying circumstances so it may be bad but it ain't that bad okay so that raises a question where can i find this power look at chapter 12 of revelation verse 11 and they overcame him here's our word because of the blood of the lamb because of the word of their testimony and they did not love their life even when faced with death and one verse will shift how you relate to jesus when you shift how you relate to jesus he shifts how he relates to you because now you're relating to him as he is not as you want him to be because a lot of folks come to church worshiping a jesus as they want him to be not as he declares himself to be and isn't it terrible when somebody talking for you trying to describe you to you when you know you so jesus said let me explain this to you it says they overcame him referring to satan in that context they overruled him they prevailed against him when three things were in place these three things can be summed up in one word their identification with christ now follow me closely here when they properly identified with christ they prevailed let me say this as i get into this god places victory in your reach not in your hand big difference overcoming is in your reach you can get it but it's not in your hand see for many people the cross is a historical event two thousand years ago jesus died on the cross and i believe he died for my sins i accept him as my savior and because of that i'm saved i'm going to heaven and all that's true but these folk are overcoming him by the blood in the present in the presence of this of this text they're not they're not just overcoming them because the blood work 2 000 years ago that's why when paul described his identity in galatians 2 20 he said i am right now crucified with christ nevertheless i live yet not i it's christ who lives in me and the life which i now live i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me he says if you want to look at my life now i am controlled by the cross that is i am controlled by the work that jesus christ did 2 000 years ago that affects my decision-making in the present he said secondly they overcame him by the word of their testimony you will not overcome whatever you're needing to overcome if you are a secret agent christian forget overcoming because jesus christ with fire in his eyes is not trying to help folk to overcome who are embarrassed to be associated with him he says you deny me before men i will deny you before my father matthew 10. you confess me before men i will confess you before my father god has placed everything in the hand of his son at the name of jesus every knee will bow every tongue will confess that jesus is lord to the glory of the father so the father is glorified when jesus is the superstar he was wounded for your transgressions bruised for your iniquities the chastisement of your peace was on his shoulders by his stripes you are healed and you can't identify with the risen christ he said it's by the word of your testimony oh and then he hits us with a zinger he is with a zinger number three because he says number three and they did not love their life even when faced with death oh they overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying that's why that's why paul says in luke 9 he says i die daily every day when i get up in the morning and i say i am dead to me and i'm alive to you paul says for me to live is christ and to die is gain paul says i don't know whether to stay here or to go home to be with christ he said i'm betwixt in between if if i if i stay here it's to serve christ if i die is to go be with christ and if i suffer he says i reckon that the suffering of this present time is not be worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me so he's saying basically i'm in a no-lose deal living dying it's all christ so if i've got to be rejected because of christ if i've got to be misunderstood because of christ i've got to be not liked because of christ not because of my foolishness but because of christ then that's the way it is once you have now identified with christ you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer you have positioned yourself to see the move of god overruled you know i i get up i've lost about 45 pounds and uh thank you okay now the main thing i i do is the treadmill the main exercise is a treadmill i i will admit to you i am unmotivated that's not something like i look forward to do it okay i do want to get healthier and i do want to lose some weight so the problem is on that treadmill i sweat on that treadmill i'm huffing and puffing on that treadmill i'm struggling because i got this goal in mind but i'm i'm struggling on this treadmill it's a struggle so what i always do to mitigate the struggle of overcoming the treadmill and the fact that i don't want to do it is i turn on the news so right in front of me i stare at the news for 45 minutes it has my undivided attention that news does not take away the sweat i don't sweat let's because i'm looking at the news it doesn't take away the breathing it distracts me it gives me something else to focus on and i discover i can go longer when i'm focusing on that than when i'm focusing on this i got to do this but i try not to make this my focus i try to make that my focus because when i make that my focus it affects how well i do this if you really want to overcome bad enough then jesus says you got to do this but the way you do this is by focusing on that and if you understand that i have already overcome and you walking through this thing you need to overcome this sin or circumstance but you're looking at me and you're saying okay jesus i thank you or you've already overcome this you've already overcome my emotions you've already overcome my circumstance you've already overcome my pain you've already come to overcome my addiction i just want to thank you that you've already overcome it i'm sweating and i'm tired but i'm more than a conqueror in jesus christ who loved me and gave himself for me and i just want to give you glory because i'm a focus on the news of heaven during my struggle on earth look let me close let me close look look any of you who like pro wrestling let me let me explain something it's fake okay let me explain something if you like pro wrestling it's fake it's been pre-scripted they have already decided who the winner is going to be that that has been pre-decided predestined predetermined elected that's all has decided before the match even starts if you believe they pay you more because you made it look more real so they have scripted this thing but even if you're being defeated even if you've been thrown down even if you're being abused if it has already been predestined that when this thing is over you're going to be more than a conqueror that thing is going to turn around in some way somehow i know the devil's been slamming you i know circumstances have been beating you i know sins have been owning you i know it looks like the evil one is controlling you but jesus christ on the cross has already prescripted that you are a winner he's already prescripted that by relationship to him you're overcomer he's already prescripted that satan has no longer any control over you he's already prescripted that greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world he's already prescripted that those folk don't control you anymore he's already prescripted that that circumstance doesn't control you anymore i know you're being thrown down i know you're being beaten up but you can now look at it and declare i am an overcomer and i'm coming back at you in the name of the lord jesus christ life is full of obstacles things that get in the way of our joy our stability our steadfastness our peace our productivity it would be great if we could go through life and the challenges did not interfere with our well-being but the beautiful thing about following christ is that he gives us the enablement to overcome those things that would seek to overcome us to be an overcomer doesn't mean that there's nothing to overcome or the word would be meaningless we've seen a football team overcome a deficit we've seen a tennis player overcome what looks like an inevitable defeat and we've seen broken lives overcome that which looks like circumstances that would destroy them one of the key ways you know that god is real and that jesus is alive is when he enables you to override something that looks like feels like and seems like it has overridden you yes i wish i could promise you that uh follow jesus and there won't be any hurdles to jump over but then i wouldn't be telling you the truth jesus made it plain in this world you're going to have trouble but be of good chia there's some good news even in the midst of great negative circumstances and painful situations and that is in some unique supernatural way he puts springs in the heels of your spiritual feet so that you can leap over those things that will seek to hold you hostage and finish your race victoriously [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Tony Evans

Views: 74,008

Rating: 4.9118457 out of 5

Keywords: sermon

Id: _pG65A6RPHY

Length: 27min 40sec (1660 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2020