Jonathan Evans' Sunday Morning Sermon "Losing is Winning" Part 1

good morning everyone and it's good to be with you uh this sunday morning and uh i know this looks a little bit different because it's the month of august and in august my dad takes the month off and is much needed we ask for your prayers right now he's going through a new normal without his wife my mom and so things are much different for him and things have sped up as it relates to the coronavirus and and all of the the workload that has been on him uh technology moves fast so it gives an opportunity for him to actually have to do more uh with the with the amount of calls and the amount of zoom calls and the amount of interviews that he's had to do especially during this time of pandemic and unrest so i'd ask that you please keep my dad uh in your prayers as he gets much needed r r this season uh in this month in particular before he gets revved up ready to go in september but in the meantime you've got me and so we're going to take the the next month starting today and we're going to dive into god's word i want to start with the book of joshua the book of joshua is what we're going to be talking about all month actually and i want to go ahead and jump into that and today my message to you is to put it down to put it down and we're looking at joshua chapter 7 verse 1. joshua chapter 7 verse 1 this is what it says it says but the sons of israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban for achan the son of karmi the son of zabdi the son of zerah from the tribe of judah took some of the things under the ban therefore the anger of the lord burned against the sons of israel so today we're going to talk about how important it is to put it down this first verse of chapter 7 comes on the heels of a big victory against jericho they just beat jericho by a plan of god and and it says that joshua's name was famous in all of the land but then when you get to joshua chapter 7 verse 1 there's a contrast that shows up the first word is but but as a contrast that means what i'm about to say is totally different than what's really been going on what's really been going on is that god has been with the people and they have been successful for a long time what's really been going on is that they just beat jericho and they were circumcised in chapter five coming under god's rule in chapter one they got a new leader in chapter 2 they got saved by their enemy when rahab hid the spies you know things are going well for you when your enemy has your back in chapter 3 they cross the jordan river when you get to chapter 4 they're thanking god they have the stones of remembrance like i said in chapter 5 they were circumcised which means they're having the the physical evidence or the symbol that they are coming under the covenant of god and in chapter 6 they have a great victory by a plan given to them by god in order to overcome one of the battles the first battle of joshua first fruits victory that they had so chapter after chapter after chapter they're experiencing the favor of god in their life and then you get to joshua chapter 7 verse 1 and it starts with a big but however conversely things are about to change there's a contrast that's about to take place in their circumstances and the reason why there's a contrast that's about to take place in their circumstances is because aiken took something that was banned he took something that was underneath the ban and he took it after having victory or inside of a victory that god had given him i want to make sure that we understand and that we have this clear because this is a big deal in scripture that embedded in every victory that we are given are things that are banned to us but belong to god i want to make sure you heard me embedded in every victory that god gives us in our life are things that belong to god and are banned to us and if we start taking things that belong to god rest assure that the anger of the lord will burn against his people because there are things like god's glory that belong to him even if he's giving us victory in joshua chapter 6 verse 16 he says go take the city the city is yours but in joshua chapter 6 verse 19 he says but the articles under the ban are mine the gold the silver uh the iron the bronze those things belong to me and those were the things that aiken took aiken was greedy he wasn't okay with just receiving the favor of god he wasn't okay with just receiving the victory that god had already given him he wanted to take things that belonged to god inside of the victory that he had just received that's called being greedy and a lot of times you find this in scripture where people go over and beyond what god has given and then a contrast shows up you can look at adam and eve if you go back to genesis chapter 2 and 3 and you look that god said you from every tree of the garden you may freely eat but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil don't eat that that that that one doesn't belong to you so i'm giving you victory adam and eve i'm giving you uh a freedom with limited regulation i'm giving you all of the trees that you can eat i'm giving you the garden that you can sustain and guard i'm giving you that to cultivate i'm giving you everything that you need i'm giving you perfection all of these victories i'm giving you but adam and eve overstepped the boundary they went and took the fruit and they ate of it and a contrast showed up all the sudden there's dissension in the marriage all of a sudden there's pain in childbirth all of a sudden there's toil in the land all of the sudden things change cain kills abel and chaos ensues by the time you get to genesis chapter 6 god is telling a man he needs to build because we're about to start this thing all over again why because they weren't satisfied with receiving the victory that god had already given them they wanted to take something that was banned inside of the victory to go farther than god said that they should go it doesn't stop there you can look at david david in 2nd samuel chapter 11 verse 4 says he saw bathsheba and he took and at the moment that he took he lost everything i wish someone would have told david and told adam and eve i wish someone would have let them know that there are things that belong to god there are things that don't belong to you god had already given david victory after victory he had already made him first in line when he was last in line when when when samuel came to choose him he already gave him victory over goliath he already gave him victory when it was time for him to get away from saul and all the time he was chased by that battle that was coming after him like many of us are chased by things and we continue to overcome he already gave him victory over the philistines and now david couldn't control himself and stay in stewardship mode of receiving what god is giving david saw something and took for himself if someone would have just told him that right after that he would become a murderer if someone would have just told him that right after that he would lose a child if someone would have told him that right after that he would have one son kill another son and another son come after his throne and all of that came at the moment that he took and wasn't satisfied with what god had already given i wish somebody would have told adam and eve i wish somebody would have told david what about lucifer lucifer was the anointed cherub in scripture lucifer was was was second in command lucifer was the the highest ranking angel he already was given victory but based on ezekiel 28 isaiah 14 he wanted to take god's position and that was a banned position it belongs to god be satisfied content with the victory that god has already given you because if you take beyond that scripture says in luke i saw satan lucifer fall to the earth like lightning he fell because he took a great contrast showed up for him you can go to ananias and sapphira they were given victory they sold the land but then they kept some they took some for themselves and they didn't give it all to god they didn't give it all to him and because they didn't give it all to him i wish somebody would have told them they even lost their lives all of these contrasts are showing up and all of these people in the bible because they didn't sit in the victory that god had given them as a steward they started taking for themselves to become an owner and once we move from stewardship to ownership we've overstepped our boundaries aiken put it down it says there is a great contrast that is coming chapter after chapter after chapter after chapter they have received victory in the book of joshua they came under the authority of god in the book of joshua chapter after chapter and then chapter 7 shows up before they head into a battle which will get in in future weeks and the first word is but because aiken took the things inside of the victory that belonged to god my question to you is what are those things that we might be taking that we might be taking ownership of when we're supposed to be a steward we're supposed to be receiving victory not taking things inside of the victory or taking things to try to give ourselves victory this happens a lot in our lives jeremiah 29 11 says i know the plans i have for you says the lord there are good plans plans to prosper you to give you a future and a hope not bad plans but i hope you understand that he knows the plans that he has for you so the worst thing that we can do is go take up our own plans because when you go take your own plans when you're supposed to be receiving the plan from god i can promise you this a great contrast is going to show up in the plans that you just tried to take for yourself many of us have had victory in our businesses we've had victory and things that we've been able to start by the grace of god and the talent that he's given us being able to go to work even during a pandemic and and some of us being able to uh provide and he's allowing you to have the check he's allowing you to earn the money but the tithe belongs to god that's why malachi 3 8 says shall a man rob god you can only rob god of something that's not yours to begin with but christians have been taking plans and taking tithe i mean we have each other but we're also taking marriage when it's a covenant of god i'm taking what i think it means to be a man and to be a leader not allowing myself to receive what it is to be a man and a leader in from god's word i'm taking what it means to be a woman in marriage from my history and using my will my way my perspective i'm taking those things and then we wonder what happens when a great contrast shows up in our marriage it's because we're supposed to be receiving how to have continual victory in our marriage from god as a steward not taking our own ideas and implanting them in our marriage as an owner and we wonder why great contrasts show up even our children i'm learning in my own life that my children have been given to me by god but they belong to him god said let us make man in our image god didn't have me and kanika have children so that we can have look-alikes he had me and kanika have children so that he could have look-alikes this is about him and the more we take instead of receive what god has given us the more things go downhill and contrast begin to show up i hope you're hearing me because i know adam and eve would say man i wish somebody gave us the reminder david would say i wish somebody told us don't take ananias and sapphira i shouldn't have took any for myself but given it to all to god well you're getting the reminder today aiken for all of us who are the aikens and that's all of us from time to time put it down our nation has been taken and you know just as well as i know and it says the anger of the lord burned against the sons of israel because our nation has been taking even the definition of life jeremiah 1 5 forget about that i guess it says that i knew you before i formed you in your mother's womb but we've been taking the definition and deciding when life begins on our own and wondering why chaos is ensuing and contrast is showing up we've taken the definition of justice forget psalm 89 14 that says righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne they are twin towers that is not a big brother little brother system and if christians would just receive the word of god instead of taking it and realigning it and adjusting it for the way we feel and the way we operate something that took 400 years can take four seconds because we're not taking we're receiving we're taking the definition of sin to be whatever you think is right with within your own eyes but god is saying listen guys i have already given you victory in the construct of my word i need you to receive that and not take your own ideas and you wonder why there's a great contrast that has shown up and since we're talking about the people of god here the church has been taking we've been building our church and not building his church even though matthew 16 says you will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it i will build my church matthew 16 says but we've been building our church by using his name whenever it's convenient and we wonder why a great contrast showed up in march we can't even come to the building god said get out you think that the chaos in the world much like i spent a whole lot of time thinking is because the world is because of all of the things that are happening in the world all of the things that people are taking out there this is aiken in the sons of israel these are god's people these are god's people that we're dealing with that's why ii chronicles 7 14 is so critical if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves if they will pray turn from their wicked ways then i can heal the land then i can forgive their sins i'm watching my people and my people are so busy looking at the world that they're forgetting that i'm looking at them aiken put it down as the chaplain of the dallas cowboys i'm a cowboy fan uh if you're not a cowboy fan out there i can't really help you with that you might not be saved anyways um cowboy fans listen this is dallas it's cowboy nation cowboy country everywhere i go as the chaplain of the dallas cowboys there's a red carpet laid out anywhere we go we have fans all over the place because it's really cowboys nation and obviously we don't know what's going to happen with the season this year or even if there's going to be a season this year but the cowboys are my boys like most of you out there i would assume but what i what i'm saying is these boys these boys were the boys in the 90s now i know it's been a long time but i gotta gloat on the 90s for a second 1993 94 96 super bowl super bowl super bowl i mean the boys were in town you hear me the boys are in town they had victory troy aikman emmitt smith nate newton darren woodson i mean i remember it like it was yesterday sitting there watching them get these victories and they got victory came back the next year got victory skipped a year and got victory again now if emmitt smith were to call me right now and he said that he needed me to come tie his shoes i'd be right there bro i you listen you don't have to say another word i got you because these dudes are titans in dallas if emmett if if troy aikman sneezed and needed someone to wipe his nose i'd be right over because they are titans in dallas they are legends in dallas but guess what as legendary as they are as big time as they are and the victories that they have received and the championships and the rings that they have on their fingers as big time as it is they cannot go into jerry jones facility and touch that trophy because even though they're a part of the winning super bowl team the trophy belongs to jerry jones in the dallas cowboys organization if michael irvin were to go in there and decide hey i'm a champion i've been given victory i have victory i executed the playbook and went and got victory so that means i can go into jerry jones facility and take the trophy immediately they would go from champions to convicted felons it would be a huge drop off that would come immediately at the time that they took something that did not belong to them if they call me after that i'd be like nah bruh i ain't gonna be able to help you i ain't gonna be able to show up for you you're gonna have to tie your own shoes wipe your own nose because i cannot help you all of a sudden your status will fall not because you didn't win but because you took something that belonged to the owner that does not belong to you i hope we understand that aiken took something and the question is what are we taking in your own personal life what are you taking because contrasts are showing up everywhere and it's time for us to get back on track it says the sons of israel operated unfaithfully even though they had victory the sons of israel operated unfaithfully aiken in that moment chose his feelings over his faith aiken in that moment chose covetousness over god's word aiken in that moment chose himself over god and he didn't show faith the sons of israel operated unfaithfully they weren't faithful to the lord man i wish we can get god's people to come back to being faithful to the lord my dad always says faith is acting like it is so even when it's not so so that it might be so simply because god said so if aiken would have just waited on the lord joshua 8 verse 2. we're in joshua 7 but joshua chapter 8 verse 2 says hey joshua i need you to go fight ai a second time because in joshua 7 he's fighting him the first time and joshua 8 they're going to go fight him a second time and in joshua 8 verse 2 the lord says oh and by the way the spoil is yours you've got to be kidding me by the way all the spoil you can have it if aiken would have waited on the lord instead of using his own ideas if aiken and his family would have waited on the lord and maintained faith in the lord and pushed through and was a receiver of victory instead of a taker of self god had the spoil for him but he wasn't there to receive it because the contrast showed up for him and his family for taking something that wasn't his to begin with and notice it says that the anger of the lord burned against the sons of israel if i was joshua i would have said wait a minute why are you mad at me what did we do that was aiken i need you to go talk to aiken and do something about aiken because that didn't have nothing to do with all of us that's how god works that's why first corinthians 5 6 says a little bit 11 leavens the whole lump this is the great team sport that when some of us are off track the whole body is affected that's why in first corinthians 12 you see the body of christ all fitted together and every member is important to the functionality of that body y'all we need everybody to put it down and have faith in god come on aiken drop it we need your marriage we need your family we need your faithfulness we need your church we need you to be faithful we need you to give your plans to god we need you to go forward in the truth of god's word and not the feeling of yourself we need everybody to help us win everybody is a part of this my coach when i was in high school i'll close with this he said gave us a speech one day in high school duncanville panthers state champions in 98 by the way just wanted to throw that in but as we were going to win that championship our coach gave a chilling speech and he just let us know i don't care if you're the kicker i don't care if you're a starter i don't care if you're a backup i don't care if you're helping people get water on the sideline i don't care if it's i have to give you a towel so that i can use you to wave it to get the crowd going we need everybody to submit to the process we need everybody in order to win we need everybody to be a part and to buy in we need everybody to play their part we don't need you to covet somebody else's job i need you to do your job do it full speed and i need you to do it at the best of your ability i need you to be a part of this because guys as you know i'm dying with leukemia and i know firsthand that it only takes a little bit of cancer to infect the whole body we don't need any cancers on this team people complaining because they wish they had something other than what they've been given we need papal people to receive what they've been given and go full speed with contentment and thanksgiving and gratitude and faithfulness to what you have been given because if we can all do that together we can all be champions together that year in 1998 we went and won the state championship because everybody bought in the anger of the lord burned against all israel not just aitkin so for me is aiken and for all of the aikens that are out there because joshua is about to go to battle while the anger of the lord burns aiken please for the church of jesus christ for all of us put it down [Music] amen

Channel: Tony Evans

Views: 21,650

Rating: 4.9652553 out of 5

Keywords: tony evans, jonathan evans, sermons on winning, sermons on battles, losing is winning

Id: 1EV-8mUC0yY

Length: 24min 59sec (1499 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020