Tony Evans Sermons - Meditate On God'S Word August 5 2021

[Music] you only have one source you've got a lot of resources a lot of mechanisms that god can use to bring his provision to you but you only have one source don't ever let a resource become a source because it can't be when god is your only source he is the one you look to for your provision always look to him and then give thanks because you know somebody who's able to meet you at every level of need and that is your great god who cares about you remember when you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness because he already knows what you need he can cover you at every point of your life [Music] lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil this line in the lord's prayer is a request for protection it is a request for god to protect you to understand that you must understand that when the devil brought sin into the world he not only affected people he infected and affected the systems of this world so you and i need to be protected from every kind of influence that the devil has in every system to which he is associated and he is associated with every system that exists so the prayer request is that we will be protected from the evil one and not led into anything that would keep us from experiencing what we have prayed thus far if he leads us into temptation so that we adopt evil we do not qualify to hallow his name we will be unable to service his kingdom we will refuse to submit to his will which will interrupt our provision and dumb down the opportunity for forgiveness and so he is asking that we be protected from the evil one let me put it another way satan's goal is to break us up from fellowship with god because if he can accomplish that he can mess up everything else he says lead us not into temptation now the concept of temptation in scripture can be positive or negative when we try to make the distinction we use the word trials to describe positive and we use the word temptation and generally we mean something negative but it can be used either way and the context will tell you which way it's being used we know it's being used negatively here because he's asking for deliverance from the evil one but why would you have to ask god to lead you not into temptation james 1 13 says god does not tempt any man but here you're making a request for god to not lead you into a temptation so let's go a little deeper what god leads you into are trials trials are adverse circumstances negative things that happen that are designed to develop you spiritually a trial is a negative event that god causes or god allows but every trial is only for one purpose and that is to grow you spiritually to mature you spiritually to drive you to god at another level and to take you to the next spiritual place god has for you when god brings an issue in your life not a sin you're committing but a circumstance that is not in your favor you are to view it as a trial you are to not mistake the hand of god for the hand of man in other words don't just think it's the people it's the situation it's the circumstance if god let it go from his heart through his fingers into your life you view it as a trial satan doesn't want you to look it as a trial because then you'll miss the developmental purpose of god allowing it to happen the bible is clear in isaiah 38 verse 17 your afflictions are for your good first peter 1 verses 6 and 7. in a trial god is calling your faith to the witness stand so a trial is designed to develop you now a temptation by the devil is designed to defeat you god is designed the negative experience to develop you satan brings temptation in order to defeat you spiritually and separate you you'll see what i mean in a moment further from god now here is the problem trials and temptations often happen around the same event in other words most of the things we deal with is not a trial over here and a temptation over there now we know certain things you you know it's just so obvious that they're temptations but what satan does is he piggybacks on a trial to try to turn it into a temptation so he will take something that god makes legitimate mix with it messes with it to turn a trial that god wanted to develop us into a temptation in order to defeat us so you say well i don't know whether this is a trial or a temptation assume it's both because god will often use the devil for a trial and when god uses the devil for a trial the devil takes god use of him for a trial to try to use it for himself for a temptation matthew chapter 4 verse 1 the spirit of the lord led jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil the spirit of the lord led the son of god into the dry place of testing in order for the devil to tempt him so god put jesus in satan's territory for satan to mess with jesus god's goal was to show jesus passing the test satan's goal was to make jesus fail the test but it was the same test at the same time in the same place okay job chapter one satan said the only reason job serves you is because you give him stuff you take away his stuff and i bet you he will curse you god says i'ma let you test him but satan tempted him he tempted him to curse god job was being tested by god are you going to praise me when things aren't going well are you gonna praise me when things are going left or are you going to let my test that i allowed satan to tempt cause you to curse me so when life hits you and you're being tested and tempted the question is which way are you going to go are you going to go with god as a test or with satan as a tempt because they often both happen at the same time so then what god is after is seeing in a test how serious your commitment is and to when you pass the test take you to the next spiritual level satan simultaneously will use that or something else in order to drive a web uh a wedge between us and the lord so that we do not have the full presence and power of him with us so yes i hate to tell you this but god does use the devil to grow you god does use the devil to grow you you remember peter the bible says in luke 22 jesus said to peter satan has asked ask us satan came to us and asked us to allow him to sip you like wheat peter said well that's not gonna happen to me because i'm your main man he says everybody else will walk away from you but not me jesus said before the crows you will deny me three times you are not all that in a bag of chips so i am going to allow satan to break you down so that i can raise you up because until i break you i can't make you so i'm going to let the devil do my dirty work so sometimes you will say why is the devil doing this to me it may be because god has invited him to or at least allowed him to because he will test even using the devil who will at simultaneously tempt and the question you stand on is which way are you going to go are you going to follow god when it doesn't make sense when you don't like it that's was job's choice and job had to make the decision he said shall i receive good from the lord and praise him only during the good times and not negative from the lord and not praise him during the negative times and so he says lead us not into any situation we can't handle that's what lead us not in the temptation me don't put me don't give me a trial where i will be overrun by a temptation or if i've already been beat up by the devil if i'm already defeated by him deliver us from evil so the first part is keep me from getting into a situation i can't handle and the second part is if i've already gotten into a situation i can't handle get me out of this situation that i can't handle deliver me from evil that is from the evil one well now that means we need to learn how temptation works how does it work james chapter 1 verses 14 to 15. lays it out he says but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust then when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death in those two verses he gives you the pattern of temptation the pattern of temptation always starts with desire enticed by his lust the word lust means desire what satan does is he creates a craving for something outside of the will of god he wants you to want it and adam and eve in the garden he told them god told them don't eat of the fruit in the midst of the god but when satan talked to eve it says when she saw it was delightful and desirable and was able to make one wise she ate it because he created desire you have been assigned a demon they know how you move what you like what you are are geared to what you are desirous of they they know what you're thinking and how you operate so they know the precise time to bring that thing that situation that person that problem into you to create a desire now what we do is what we do is we dumb down how bad it is and so he starts off with desire designed to entice satan always has a hook tied to the delicious thing he happens to be offering you but satan is not going to show you the hook he's just going to show you how well it tastes until he gets you hooked and when he gets you hooked he reels you in in order to slice you up but he has to make it look good on the front end please notice something in verse 15 when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin so he talks about a pregnancy conceiving notice he didn't call the desire sin he called when it conceives it becomes sin okay so let me let me help make you feel just a little better the fact that your flesh wants to sin is not the problem because that's what the flesh does you you can you cannot stop the flesh from wanting to be fleshy he calls the decision to act on it the problem so in one sense you can you can feel a little better about the fact that your flesh can never become unfleshy it can never become unfleshy because it's been trained that way and into varying degrees as you grow it loses its dominance but it never stops being the flesh but when you act on it one chocolate cake is not the problem you don't gain weight from wanting chocolate cake you gain weight from eating chocolate cake when the flesh wants to sin it's because that's what the flesh wants to do but when you make the decision to act on it he says that is when it's conceived no woman gets pregnant with an egg alone there's got to be a conceiving that takes place for it to birth into something and then he says when satan has accomplished his goal in temptation you're gonna have a baby and he gives the baby its name death sin brings forth death let me explain this all the time there are no exceptions to this but when he says death he's not talking about being in a coffin when adam and eve sinned they didn't drop deer they lived they lived for for many many years after that what happened when they sin was they were put out of god's presence they were removed from the garden so the word death in the bible does not mean non-existence it means separation so when satan can tempt us to sin he then separates us from god and when we get separated even as christians from god there is no power in our life there is no victory in our life there is no uh deliverance in our life there are no answered prayers in our life because god is off in the distance because he can't fellowship with us in our sin that raises a question here it is okay what do i do the prayer is you pray lead me not into anything i can't handle you don't give sin the attention that it asks for okay chapter 1 of james he says in verse 16 do not be deceived my beloved brethren so he's talking to christians my beloved brethren this is for christians every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among his creatures he's going to say four things and they all revolve around one word focus you must change your focus what you are focusing on will determine what will control you focus he says focus on four things number one focus on the goodness of god every good and perfect gift cometh from above when you see sin or the devil trying to tempt you to sin or you're caught in sin he says recognize it but that's not where you put your focus we want you to put your focus on how good god has been to you how do you focus on the goodness of god you enter into a time of thanksgiving lord i want to thank you that you did this thank you that when i was almost killed you saved my life back there thank you for this thank you for that i want to thank you for you yeah i got this sin problem i got this same problem but i'm going to look at god i just want to enter into a season of thanksgiving on the goodness of god number two focus on the faithfulness of god he said because in god there is no shifting shadow or as he puts it in the verse he says the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow okay let's talk about lights there's never been a time where the sun has not and does not shine so the sun is consistent it's the turning of the earth that produces the shadow he says if you're going to have victory you must focus on the god who does not move not the circumstances that are always moving you can't skip what you're dealing with but focus on the sunlight so you're not controlled by nighttime first corinthians chapter 10 verse 13 it says and god is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but will with the temptation provide you a way of escape he says here's how the faithfulness of god works when you're being drawn by satan into sin or even when god is allowing you to deal with the trial number one he will control how long it lasts and how deep it goes because he will not allow you to be tempted above what you're able so if you're in a trial or in this case you're under an attack you can assume something that the devil is not the devil he's god's devil and god got a leash on him and he's only going to let him go so far and whatever he's allowing you can handle because he promised he's so faithful he won't give you what you can't handle he says and when he gives it to you he says god is faithful and in his faithfulness he will not give you but will with the temptation give you the way of escape i don't know if you just heard that god has got a solution but he's not going to let you see it until you pass the test until god sees you tell the devil no until god sees that you focus on him but he will already have the exit sign at the very same time as the temptation and when he does it he says he will give it at the very same time watch this so that you're able to endure it now watch this the only way to finish a test or to get victory in the temptation he says is you must go through it you can't get from where you are to where god wants you without going through the development the third thing you focus on his goodness you focus on his faithfulness then he says you focus on his word verse 18. in the exercise of his will he brought us forth by the word of truth you focus on what god says not how you feel you focus on what god says not how you think you focus on what god says not what everybody else has to say you go back yeah this is what i feel but god this is what you say this is what i want but this is what you say and if you praise his goodness trust his faithfulness and quote his word like jesus did jesus didn't go back well you know devil i was here before you no he said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god it is written he will call his angels it is written you shall serve the lord thy god and worship him only it's written as written is written why must you keep quoting the word of god when you're being tempted because the devil is allergic to scripture when he in scripture he goes [Applause] he can't handle scripture he loves to hear what you think he loves to hear how you feel but when you start quoting the word to him three strikes you out of here and finally the fourth thing you focus on his perspective look at the end of that verse i don't want you to miss this his perspective he says so that verse 18 we would be a kind of first fruits among his creatures oh first fruits we normally talk about first fruits for giving giving your tithe your first fruits but he's not telling my money here he says you are the first fruits the first fruit was the cream of the crop it's what you offered god first because it was viewed as the most precious it was being it was honoring god to give god first it gives him honor so he says he says that you are first fruits in other words don't let the devil dial back your dignity you're not just one of god you're not you're not just another man or another woman or another boy or you first fruits so i'm here to tell you today that god is a delivering god psalm chapter 50 verse 15 says he delivers psalm 107 verses 1 to 32 says he's a god who delivers psalm 91 verses 14 and 15 says he's a god who can deliver you second timothy chapter 4 verses 17 and 18 paul says i'm looking for god to deliver me he can deliver you from circumstances situations people and [Music] so we're being held hostage in our emotions in our circumstances in our relationships dr tony evans says forgiving others releases us from one source of pain and prevents a brand new one if you have a refusal to forgive you have blocked god's operation in your life celebrating 40 years of faithfulness this is the alternative with dr tony evans author speaker senior pastor of oak cliff bible fellowship in dallas texas and president of the urban alternative it's easy to talk about forgiveness when someone cuts you off on the highway or does something else to annoy you but when you're the victim of a hateful tragedy like the ones we hear about so often in the news it's a different story dr evans can you help us understand forgiveness in that context well dave one of the reasons that forgiveness is critical is not just for the person you're forgiving it's also for the forgive earth because unforgiveness holds you hostage but first of all we've got to understand what forgiveness is all about so we're going to seek to clarify that but also for the forgiven for that person to know that they can get right with god and they can have the opportunity to seek reconciliation because forgiveness has been offered well let's get started with this look at how to follow god's ultimate example of forgiveness we have all seen a dog being held hostage by a leash by links in a chain that has it collared and it can go a little distance but once it goes too far it's unable to go any further and many times are yanked back unable to be freed because they have been collared by something that limits their movement there are some here today who are being held hostage by unforgiveness the length in the chain on the leash involve anger bitterness resentment wrath revenge and all of these links hook into a collar called unforgiveness this collar hooked onto this chain owns you perhaps has been owning you for days or months maybe years or decades one thing is for certain you're not able to get free it's like the button in a tourist shop that read the error is human to forgive that ain't gonna happen a man was told to tell his enemy happy new year wish your enemy happy new year he went over and he says i wish you happy new year but only one in colossians chapter 3 paul the apostle says to forgive one another in verse 13 forgiving each other so let's clarify our definition stick with me today because whether you need help in this area or whether you know someone who does and we probably all do this is no small issue as you will see forgiveness means to release a person from a debt or an obligation that has been incurred it is the choice to release a person from a wrong committed against you forgiveness does not mean approving or excusing or justifying or pretending not to be hurt it's not repressing it and pushing it in the basement of your mind so that you don't have to think about it but it is releasing by choice someone from an obligation incurred to you because of wrong done against you everybody here has been on both sides of the equation we have needed to be forgiven and we have needed to forgive everybody here whether small or large has been on the forgiveness continuum and it is the quintessential issue of human relationships forgiveness is that decision to push a delete button because of a wrong done against you now let me clarify forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation it's a very important distinction you can forgive people with whom you are not yet reconciled forgiveness whether reconciliation occurs or not is the decision of the offended party to release the party that has done them wrong whether or not we have a hook up again whether or not we ever become friends again whether or not we ever do business together again whether or not we hang out with each other again that is a goal that is a a need that may be something you strive to that may or may not happen but that does not determine whether forgiveness has occurred so please do not make the two equal one can lead to the other but one is not the other you can forgive for that which has yet to be reconciled a sunday school teacher asked the class what does it take for you to obtain forgiveness for sin what do you have to do to gain forgiveness for sin one of the students raised his head i know what you must do to obtain forgiveness for sin the teacher said what he said sin because forgiveness assumes a wrong done and that is an illegitimate evil that is detrimental to the person who is the offended party and who needs to be the forgiver to the person who has hurt them now let's clarify forgiveness can be either unilateral or forgiveness can also be transactional now let me explain what i mean unilateral is to go one way forgiving people who have not asked you to forgive them you see a lot of people are held hostage waiting for somebody to say i'm sorry but if they never say i'm sorry and you don't forgive you're held hostage by what they do or do not do or unilateral forgiveness is forgiving someone who is unable to ask you for it like someone who abused you but who is now dead then you're held hostage for the rest of your life because if you're waiting for a request that's a request that can never come or maybe it's a person who hurt you but you don't know where they are they've relocated they've they've started a new life somewhere you don't you can't locate them so there is no way for there to be a transaction that's unilateral forgiveness that's what jesus did on the cross father forgive them for they know not what they do without you ever saying anything forgiveness was granted but then there is transactional forgiveness transactional forgiveness is forgiveness that comes because a person has re confessed and repented of the wrong done against you there's a transaction occur in other words it's two ways they have come and requested forgiveness and demonstrated repentance that they are indeed sorry they've said the words followed up by the action which now opens up the door for reconciliation reconciliation can occur when there has been transactional forgiveness that takes place when there is no transactional forgiveness it's merely unilateral forgiveness then reconciliation is difficult or impossible that's why to restore a relationship the bible says that jesus paid the sins of the whole world that was unilateral but he's offering transactional because if you come to christ in faith you will be reconciled with the father the father's already reconciled with you through the forgiveness of sins but when the transaction occurs because you come to jesus christ then reconciliation with the father can occur so let's get this straight forgiveness is releasing a debt whether unilaterally or whether transactionally but the transactional forgiveness gives a higher potential for reconciliation depending on what the infraction was and the time needed to get over the hurt or the pain that was caused by the infraction i remember a man who ran into my car he hit my car come to find out he was uninsured so he had no insurance to fix my car i have a dent in my car caused by somebody else who was unable to fix the problem i got my car fixed now what i could have done was drive around with a dent in my car caused by somebody else being mad every day that they didn't fix it every time i go out and see that dent that no good driver that uninsured driver has messed up my car unfortunately a lot of folks are living with dents on their soul a dent on the soul or so somebody has run into your life and put a debt there and you're spending so much time being mad that they were uninsured that they couldn't fix what they dented that you're running around and living life with a dent that if forgiveness took place would have been repaired by you but you can become so angry vengeful and bitter that you get used to a dead and don't know how to live without it because every time you see that dent it justifies your anger at the person who caused it forgiveness is releasing someone for an obligation because of an offense against you please notice he says stay with me here in verse 13 he says forgiving each other who whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the lord forgave you so also should you he says what makes it possible to forgive is recognizing you have been forgiven if you lose sight of the fact that you are forgiven it will be much more difficult for you to forgive and there will is nobody here who has not needed to be forgiven now different strokes for different folks but if you're here and you're saved it's because god has forgiven you of your infraction against him dr evans will have more for us in a moment on that link between being forgiving and being forgiven well if you want to start experiencing and exercising the kind of forgiveness that can heal relationships in your home your community your church and even our nation tony's put together a step-by-step program to help you it's all laid out in his booklet 30 days to victory through forgiveness it'll help you discover how light and free you can feel when you let go of resentment and the desire for revenge against people who've hurt you as well as the remorse and regret that results from hurting others we'd love to have tony lead you through this month-long journey of healing so we'll send you a copy as our gift when you make a donation to help keep this program coming your way each day along with it we'll include all six messages in the current teaching series we'll be wrapping up in just a few days freedom through forgiveness be sure to contact us right away to make the arrangements before time runs out the easiest way to do that is to visit us online at tonyevins.org or call us day or night at 1 800 800 32 2222 i'll repeat that information later on after part two of today's lesson and this we invest in our marriages our children our callings with great expectation when you get to the harvest don't give up then don't stop praying don't stop working don't start asking the lord and seeking the lord what he would have you to do and don't stop believing god for the blessing of bountiful harvest in your life in the new lois evans legacy bible study seasons of a woman's life daughters crystalhurst and priscilla shire help you navigate all the seasons of your life in a way that honors and pleases god request your copy of lois evans book and the dvd series and workbook with your gift to the urban alternative there is an inseparable link between forgiving and recognize you have been forgiven forgiveness is a beautiful word until you're the one that has to give it now we love the word when we need it but the word becomes much more difficult when we are the ones that have to disperse the forgiveness because we are the wounded party on the cross god took the initiative to provide forgiveness before we ever requested it for god demonstrated his love toward us that even while we were yet sinners christ died for us he unilaterally forgave on the cross and he wants us to be forgive earth stay with me here because i can feel the consternation to refuse to forgive is to burn a bridge over which you yourself must cross if not now one day there are some here today who are being held hostage by unforgiveness and because of what happened to you how it happened who did it the collar is around your neck and every time you try to go boom the devil drags you back and he yanks the chain you're not going anywhere because this collar of unforgiveness controls you we're being held hostage in our emotions in our circumstances in our relationships because the enemy knows that if he can keep bringing this thing up if he can keep it rolling around like a record recorder in your mind he can own you control you break down relationships even that have nothing to do with the person but you can't move forward in other legitimate relationships because of the hurt the abuse the pain the stress the struggle that was caused you he says i want you to forgive as you have been forgiven when jesus prays the lord's prayer forgive us our debts as we forgive those who have trespassed against us you remember that that's the lord's prayer he says after he says amen verse 14 of matthew 6 for if you forgive others for their transgressions your heavenly father will also forgive you but if you do not forgive others then your father will not forgive your transgressions so watch this many of us are walking around out of fellowship with the father because of an unwillingness to forgive if you have a refusal to forgive you and god are not on the same page you have blocked god's operation in your life no matter how many prayers you pray no matter how many bibles you read know how many church services you go to refusal to forgive horizontally breaks down fellowship with god vertically because the vertical is tethered to the horizontal forgive just as your heavenly father has forgiven you jesus tells another story in matthew 18. he's talking about forgiveness peter wants to know how many times beginning in the first round verse 21 how many times do you have to forgive somebody because i know some of you asking jesus says there was a man who owed a man millions of dollars and he could not pay he said have mercy on me i can't pay because he was getting ready to be thrown and sold he and his family in the slavery it says that the king had mercy on the man and did not require him to pay in fact he canceled the debt so the man is now free from millions of dollars of debt he now is walking in freedom and comes across a guy who owes him a couple thousand bucks he grabs the guy who owes him a couple thousand bucks and says where's my money you owe me some money and you're not paying me the man said have mercy on me i can't pay i want to pay i will pay i can't do it now i have mercy he had him thrown in jail till you pay me your life's going to be miserable it says one of the king's servants saw him do this and went back to the king and told the king what he did says the king was furious and said go get him they went and they got him and he required payment he says i forgave you millions you were not willing to release somebody who owed you thousands so here's what we're going to do we're going to hold you hostage until you pay up and then the story ends with this statement and so shall your father do to you or as james 2 13 says he that hath mercy will receive mercy the one that doesn't show mercy will not receive mercy i love the way ephesians puts it ephesians talks about the same thing and here's what ephesians 4 verses 30 to 32 says it says do not grieve the holy spirit of god by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving each other just as god and christ forgave you here it is here it is it is when you forgive you have just crossed over into the supernatural let me say it again when you forgive as difficult as it may be you have just crossed over from the natural to the supernatural why because the holy spirit is no longer sad inside of you see a lot of us the word grieve means to make sad a lot of us are walking around with a sad holy ghost and that's why we are sad people a sad holy spirit so we're sad in our souls a sad holy spirit that's why we are discouraged and depressed because the holy spirit is sad he says do not grieve the holy spirit how do you know the holy spirit is sad inside of you because you're walking around bitter because you're walking around thinking about i'm going to get you what goes around comes around if you are walking around thinking that way feeling that way acting that way here's another way you know the holy spirit is grieving inside of you because you are slandering the person that hurt you in other words you're taking that person's name and you are seeking any kind of damage you can do that means that you're still hostage to a noose around your neck and he says it's a holy spirit issue but forgiveness he says not excusing the wrong that's not what i mean but forgiveness is to cross over into the supernatural freeing the holy spirit up guess what to free you up [Music] dr tony evans on that link between being forgiving and being forgiven let me encourage you to get the full length version of today's lesson forgive one another so you can share this important teaching with your small group or bible study but you can also get it as a part of tony's current series freedom through forgiveness remember this complete six lesson series includes material we didn't have time to bring you on the air and it's yours as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to help us keep tony's teaching on this station as a special bonus it'll come to you bundled with a booklet i told you about earlier 30 days to victory through forgiveness time is running out on this special offer so don't wait visit us today at tonyevins.org to get the details and make the arrangements or give us a phone call day or night at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our resource team members help you that's 1-800-800-3222 until someone invents a time machine we can't live anywhere but the present but that doesn't stop a lot of christians from being trapped in the past next time dr evans will take a biblical look at how to break free i hope you'll be with us the alternative with dr tony evans is brought to you by the urban alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you [Music] many of us are trying to get rid of something god gave you dr tony evans says those painful problems we think of as burdens may really be blessings one of the reasons god gives you a thorn is because he wants to show you some new things celebrating 40 years of faithfulness this is the alternative with dr tony evans author speaker senior pastor of oak cliff bible fellowship in dallas texas and president of the urban alternative when life gets thorny many times our only instinct is to do whatever it takes to get things back to normal but dr evans explains today god just might have something bigger in mind let's join him in the book of exodus as he explains a dense fog covering seven blocks to a depth of 100 feet is composed of less than one glass of actual water a fall covering seven blocks so you can't see even 100 feet in front of you because it's that thick only has a glass or less of water that composes that much fog you see there's 60 billion droplets that are spread out of particles settling over that seven block area but it can blot out your ability to see things clearly many today are living in a spiritual fog they allow a cup full of trouble irritation or as our text tells us today thorns to cloud out their vision and dampen their spirits how do you live in the sunshine when all you see is fog now make no mistake about it on a foggy day the sun is shining but the question is how can such a little bit of water cause all of this confusion in second corinthians chapter 12 verses 7 through 10 where paul discusses the thorn in verse 7 he introduces us to it the reality of a thorn he says because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations for this reason to keep me from exalting myself there was given to me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of satan to buffet me that's not buffet me to trouble me to torment me to irritate me to exacerbate me or to put it in everyday contemporary colloquial language to get on my last nerve the greek word for thorn referred to a splinter or a needle of some kind that pricked you we've all had a needle or a thorn or or a splinter from wood to get in our finger or toe and irritate us it could be used of a hook that catches a fish piercing its its skin of which it can't shake itself from without tearing and making things worse a thorn is anything that nags or irritates your life on a continuous basis a thorn is anything that nags irritates exacerbates or frustrates your life ongoingly you can't shake it it hangs around paul says that was given to me a thorn in the flesh something to irritate me now you can read commentaries galore and you'll have a lot of guesswork as to what paul's thorn was for example paul talks about how when he was trying to write the churches he had trouble seeing in fact he had an emanuensis a recorder who would write for him and so some will say well it was his eye problem but still others will say well he was always being followed by this group called the judaizers who were undermining his ministry and so they were an irritation to him maybe it was that paul speaks of being lonely he says everyone has forsaken me some say it was loneliness but the bible never says what his thorn is and that's good it's good that he doesn't tell us what his thorn is so you can put your thorn here anything that irritates nags frustrates exacerbates on a continuous level in fact he lays it open in verse 10 he says it can be insults distresses persecutions or difficulties some of you are having to deal with emotional thorns things that have to do with your feelings you are you are lonely you perhaps have been single for an inordinate amount of time and you are simply tired of being alone and it pricks you nags you irritates you or perhaps it's depression that keeps popping up and you can't shake it maybe it's memories or regrets when you look back over your life you wish you could have done things differently but you can't because that's history now but you've not been able to shake it it's an emotional thorn others have relational thorns people who get on your nerves they always popping up at the wrong time which is anytime they show up this could be the person living in an unhappy marriage they have no biblical grounds for divorce they feel stuck spiritually but they are unhappy and it becomes an irritation it's a relational kind of thorn others have financial thorns a long time trying to find a job or the right job and it's not coming through or perhaps you're stuck in an unhappy work situation or it looks like every time you try to get out of debt just when you think you made it something else breaks down something else shows up and you can't shake this financial situation i guess one of the worst thorns there is of physical thorns disabilities chronic illnesses headaches that won't go away [Music] things that are wrong with your body that are not healed it's a thorn please notice this phrase in verse 7 there was given me a thorn now we can spend an hour on that he says my thorn was a gift well take your gift back he says it was given me and if you think that's bad that god is giving away thorns see i know you don't hear about this too much today you hear about how he giving blessings money cars houses well let me tell you something else you're giving thorns that was given me a thorn in the flesh in my humanity and look at the theology here a messenger of satan to buffered me god gave me a thorn and let the devil deliver it come on work with that now the fourth was handed to me given to me and you'll discover when you read your passage by god but the delivery service was a messenger of the you ever looked at maybe you have a relational thorn somebody in your life keeps getting on your nerves you say you ain't nothing but the devil well you are partially right but the gift came from god why is that god is sovereign meaning he's in charge nothing happens and i mean nothing no matter how tiny or big that either is not caused by god he made it happen or allowed by god he okayed it happening there is no third category like luck or chance or fate words that ought not be part of any serious christian's vocabulary because to have luck chance or faith is to deny sovereignty you can't have an omniscient god who knows everything and something get by him you say but the devil is messing with me if the devil is messing with you god had to okay it there's a great example of that in scripture and dr evans will tell us about it when he comes back in a moment with more of this lesson from his current series freedom through forgiveness it's a look at the connection between release and relief when we experience the mercy of god and pass it along to others and we'd like to pass along a copy of this six lesson collection to you as our thank you gift when you support tony's ministry with a contribution along with it we'll include his companion booklet 30 days to victory through forgiveness it explains how in a single month you can learn to let go of the pain that others have caused you or that you've caused yourself two resources both designed to help you break the cycle of old hurts that keep causing new hurts both yours with our thanks for your contribution this offer is only available for a short time so visit us right away at tonyevins.org or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800 for details before time runs out i'll have our contact information again for you a little later on after part two of today's lesson and this the thing about serving an infinite god is that no matter how much you know about him there's always more to learn so whether you're brand new to scripture or an experienced ministry professional there's something for you at the tony evans training center you'll find online courses covering core concepts of the faith working at your own pace and schedule you'll dig deep into the historical context of the book uncover the key teachings and learn how to apply them in real world situations there's lots of exclusive content from dr evans to keep you interested and motivated and an online forum where you can ask questions get answers and collaborate with other students the more you learn the more you'll want to learn give it a try the tony evans training center a world of discovery anytime anywhere we all know job his life is falling apart but when you read job chapter 1 god starts it off god says to the devil in job one have you considered my servant job the devil says well the only reason he's serving you is because you blessing him take away his blessings he won't serve you and then god tells the devil go right ahead i'm going to give job the thorn and you can deliver it if the devil is messing with you god okayed it first the great question of theology is why would an all-powerful god allow a lesser creature that he created the devil to do what he has done good question especially when you use the word allow see the answer is in the question the devil is not the devil the devil is god's devil he operates by permission how do you know what you're facing is a thorn verse eight concerning this i entreated the lord three times that it might depart from me if it's nagging you irritating you and getting on your nerves you prayed about it and god hadn't done anything about it that's a thorn anybody got thorn sticking you many of us are trying to get rid of something god gave you you say well if god gave it how can it be so bad cause the devil delivered it it was given to me i prayed about it i said god get rid of this thorn is sticking me he says i prayed three times so i wasn't being carnal i wasn't being sinful i was talking to god you you told me preacher to pray i prayed and i still got this thorn if you pray about something and you're a serious christian and a serious prayer and it's a thorn because it's irritating you and god doesn't take it that's because he's not finished with the gift because it's a gift a thorn is a gift it was given to me why would god give me a gift like that something that nags me in perpetuity something that won't go away day after day week after week month after month year after year why would a good god and god is good all the time and all the time god is good why would a good god give me something to prick me like this i don't deserve this i deserve better back to verse 7. there are two reasons god gives you a thorn number one and because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation the first thing the first reason this is very important now that god gives you a thorn is he wants to show you some new things let's look at paul's revelation here in this chapter verse two i know a man in christ paul's talking about himself in the third person who 14 years ago whether in the body i do not know out of the body i do not know god knows such a man was caught up to the third heaven and i know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body i do not know god knows was caught up in the paradise and heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak now watch this paul is the only man in all of history who was taken to heaven got to see heaven and allowed to come back to earth to discuss it he says he went to the third heaven there are three heavens there is the atmospheric heaven where the clouds are the oxygen is there is the stellar heaven the stars the planets the solar system and then there is the throne room of god paradise the place where every believer goes when they die that's the third heaven he says i was taken to paradise i like what he says he says whether in the body or out of the body i don't know in other words it was a dimension i'm not familiar with it it was an experience that is unlike any experience i ever had see see i can't fully explain heaven to you because it operates in another dimension it it operates outside of space outside of time he says i cannot fully explain my state i'm not sure how to articulate it but this one thing i do know what i saw up there i cannot put words together to formulate he calls it inexpressible one of the reasons god gives you a thorn is because he wants to show you some new things things that go beyond what's normal for you things that go beyond what's average for you so many christians are satisfied with the normal so they spend all their time trying to get rid of their thorns complaining about their thorns fussing and cussing about their thorns asking why all day long when god is trying to show you something you've never seen before and the thorn is a necessary part of the revelation when god gives you a thorn he has something new something unique god is going to expand your anointing when he increases your thorn did you just hear me god's got something in store for you when he gives you a thorn so the good news is if you've got a thorn it's a gift from god but because it hurts you delivered by the devil because the god who gave the gift that was delivered by the devil has got something in store for you [Music] dr tony evans explaining why things that make us uncomfortable also make us grow in a message he calls how to understand a thorn it's just one part of our current series a six lesson collection called freedom through forgiveness which includes some bonus material we won't have time to present on the air this time around as i mentioned earlier you can get this six-lesson collection as our gift when you make a contribution to help keep tony's teaching on this station along with the companion booklet 30 days to victory through forgiveness as you've heard the urban alternative is celebrating 40 years of ministry this year so your support is an investment in an organization with some deep roots but those roots sink even deeper back into dr evans early life and ministry here's what he told me recently about an important person and event from his undergrad days at carver bible college that shaped who he would become john mcneal was a great influencer in my life in college and i would spend a lot of time talking with him his house was on campus so i would go over and i would do work for him in his house just little odds and ends kind of things but that gave me a lot of time to spin his wife would always feed me ice cream for doing work and uh there was a lot of affirmation that came from him as we were trying to deal with because i'm now in atlanta and the civil rights thing is you know hot and heavy coming out of atlanta and so there was a lot of tension in the air so we were always wrestling theologically and practically with the whole uh issue of race and the bible it was while i was in atlanta that i was um denied to go to a white church there simply because they did not want to have a black person in the church and the church split over it so there were dual tracks i was always operating on even when i went to college there was a dual track because there was conservative theology even though it was in a context of social change so that was another crisis in my life that uh also helped prepare me for an emphasis on racial reconciliation even to today spreading the message of biblical reconciliation is just one of the outreaches you make possible when you support the urban alternative so again contact us today at freedom through 1-800-800-332-2222 and 30 days to victory through forgiveness again that's 1-800-800-3222 or make the arrangements online at tonyevins.org when you do take a moment to click on the link that says jesus there you'll get a clear picture of who god is how much he loves you and how the light of his love can drive all the darkness out of your life tony will talk about how the lord's death on the cross paid the price for everything you and i have ever done wrong and made it possible for us to have a real personal relationship with god starting now and continuing through eternity the bible says there's no other way to make this happen so visit tonyevins.org today to find out more again that's tonyevins.org well tomorrow more from dr evans on what our god-given thorns can teach us and how to deal with the discomfort they cause along the way i hope you'll be with us the alternative with dr tony evans is brought to you by the urban alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] today [Music] come [Music] i

Channel: ENJOYING EVERYDAY LIFE - 2021

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Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: tony evans sermon, tony evans sermons, tony evans, sermons, sermon, tony evans radio, motivational sermons, inspirational sermons, tony evans message, tony evans wife, pastor tony evans, sermons on prayer, prayer sermons, sermons on satan, jesus sermons, jesus sermon, prayer sermon, sermons on demons, sermons on belief, sermons on demonic, trust sermon, belief sermon

Id: hn-CTr8dEaw

Length: 77min 51sec (4671 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 05 2021