June 24, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you want to have victory in the visible physical realm,
you must learn how to have victory in the invisible
spiritual realm.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the strength you need for what
you face begins in a place you can't see.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Unless you are strong in the Lord, you will not
have spiritual victory.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Life may look
ordinary on the outside, but there's a spiritual battle raging
behind the scenes. Today, doctor Evans unpacks what it means
to stand strong in the face of invisible opposition. Let's
(00:38):
join him as he explains how to suit up in
God's power, enabling us to face spiritual warfare with confidence.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
There are many Christians who are POW's in the spiritual battle.
They are prisoners of war. They have been captured by
Satan and they cannot escape. They find themselves trapped in circumstances, situations, addictions, fears,
(01:06):
frustrations that they cannot release themselves out of.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
No matter how.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Many people they talk to, how many programs they enter into,
how many efforts they make, they still wind up finding
themselves spiritually incarcerated by the evil one. That is Paul's
concern in Ephesian six. First of all, let me summarize
the problem of spiritual warfare. A long time ago, an
(01:36):
angel named Lucifer rebelled against God. He took one third
of all the angels with him in his rebellion. His
rebellion was uncovered by the obmissions of God, and he
was taken to court and tried. He was found guilty
of a coupd'etar against the all sovereign One. He was sentenced,
(01:57):
according to Matthew twenty five forty one, he and all
of his angels to an eternal fire.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He opposed the sentence.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
He was removed from heaven according to Luke, chapter ten,
verse eighteen, where Jesus says I saw Satan remove from
Heaven like lightning. He was kicked out of Heaven to
planet Earth, and planet Earth became a garbage dump, a wasteland,
which is why when you open the Bible, the Earth
is without form and void and darkness is upon the
(02:28):
face of the deep because anywhere Satan winds up becomes
a garbage dump, including your life. And God decided that
he would work through a lower creature to defeat a
greater creature.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He would create man a little.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Lower than the angels, to demonstrate that he can do
more with less when less is committed to him, that
he can do with more when mores when rebellion against him.
You and I have been created to whip angels. That
is the angelic conflict. Your greatest battle in life is
not people. And so the thesis of the book is
(03:02):
simply this. If you want to have victory in the
visible physical realm, you must learn how to have victory
in the invisible spiritual realm. So let's look at first
of all, the power for spiritual warfare verse in. Finally, brethren,
be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might.
(03:25):
The phrase be strong is a passive imperative that means
be made strong in the Lord. Your spiritual strength determines
your spiritual victory. If you are weak in the Lord,
then you're gonna be weak in the battle. If you
are strong in the Lord, then you're gonna be strong
(03:47):
in the battle. So the issue is not how strong
your adversary is. The issue is how strong are you
in the Lord as you face your adversary.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
So he says, be strong in the Lord. Or he
makes a.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Distinction between God's might, your might, God's.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Strength, and your strength.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
If you're gonna be victorious in battle against Satan, then
you're gonna have to be strong in the Lord. And
so he calls on us to have spiritual strength. But
the strength must be derived from a greater source. Now,
in order to be strong in the Lord, now watch this. Now,
you must be weak in your view of yourself. Most
(04:33):
of our problem is we've got a big view of
our power a small view of God's power. So in
battle we're left with our power, and we're left with
the result of our power, and that is defeat. Hold
your finger here and look at with me, very briefly.
At Second Grithians, chapter twelve, where Satan has given Paul
(04:54):
a thorn in the flesh, he's prayed three times. God
doesn't answer a messenger Satan, he says in verse seven,
is sent to buffet him. And then he says in
verse eight concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times
that it might depart from me, and he said to me,
my grace is sufficient for you to watch this, for
(05:15):
power is perfected in weakness.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Most gladly.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness than that
the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I
am well content with weaknesses, with insults, distresses, persecutions, with difficulties,
for Christ's sake.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Now watch this, for.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
When I am weak, then I am strong. You know
the problem with many of us here tonight. We're too strong.
We are so self sufficient, we are so confident of
our own human resources that our dependence on God's power
(06:02):
is replaced by our dependency on our power. When faced
in the spiritual realm, is no power, and we wind
up being a casualty of spiritual warfare.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Do you remember Gideon's army.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
He had amassed thirty two thousand men to fight the enemy.
And God says, too much human strength, too much self sufficiency.
You are looking to your numbers and your armaments and
your horses, and you are nullifying God's strength by accumulating
(06:38):
human strength. He says, cut it down. He cut it down,
and God says, cut it down some more. He cut
it down, but God said, cut it down some more.
Gideon said, you got to be kidding. He said, no,
cut it down some more, And they cut it down.
And guess what, three hundred men from thirty two thousand
men to three hundred men, because God says, you give
(07:02):
me three hundred who are dependent upon me, I can
do more with thirty two thousand, who are dependent upon themselves.
The reason why many of us are still prisoners of
spiritual war in various areas in our lives is because
we're using human strength to do what divine strength was
designed to do. When a guard in an army sees
(07:25):
an oncoming army attacking, he doesn't run out and starts shooting.
He goes back and delivers the message to the commanding officer,
who then sets up the strategy. When Satan starts coming.
God doesn't want us to go out and start shooting.
He wants us to come back to God so that
he can give us the power and the strategy to
(07:46):
win the spiritual battle. Now, in verse eleven, he gives
us the provision.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
For spiritual warfare. Verse ten is the power.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Verse eleven is the provision put on the full armor
of God, that you may be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. Please notice the word
put on. It is a action word. That is, God
will give you the dress, but it won't dress you
you must put it on. When he says, put on
(08:17):
the full armor. And he's gonna list six things that
we're supposed to put on that will look at in
detail next week. All six of those things only refer
to one thing when he says, put on the full
arm of Christ. If you don't remember the belt of truth,
you don't remember the breastplate of righteousness. You don't remember
the feet shod or the preparations of the gospel. You
(08:37):
don't remember the shield of faith. You don't remember the
helmet of salvation. You don't remember the sword of the Spirit.
Don't worry about it, because all you have to do
is remember one thing. All of those things are another
way of saying, put on Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
All right, All of those are the sign. Guess why?
Because Jesus is the Truth.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Jesus is our righteousness, he is our peace, he is
our faith, he is our salvation, and he is the
Word of God.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Look at Roman chapter thirteen, verse eleven.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And do this knowing the time that is already the
hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation
is nearer to us than when we first believe. The
night is almost gone, the day is in hand. Let
us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put
on same concept, the homor of light. Let us behave
(09:35):
properly in the day, not in carousing, drunkenness, sexual promisecurity, sensuality,
not in strife and jealousy.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Well, how am I supposed to do that? Verse fourteen.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision
for the flesh in regards to its lust. He says,
put on the homor of light. And then he says,
what the armor of life is put on Jesus Christ.
To put on Christ is to dress for success. Now,
(10:08):
why aren't more Christians putting on spiritual arma? Simple? More
Christians on putting on spiritual lma, because more Christians aren't
engaged in spiritual warfare. You're only gonna put on the
arm if you recognize you're in a war. But you
know what, for too many Christians, the Christian life is
a playground, not a battleground. All they want to talk
about is, you know what new things gadgets? God is
(10:30):
gonna give me what new cause he's gonna buy me
what new houses He's gonna let me live in? Well, Well,
there's a place for that. But in a war, there's
only a place for that. That's not the place. In
a war, You've got to go to battle, and you've
got to be in there to fight. So he is
telling us to identify. Here's what he means by put
on Christ. He means identify with Jesus Christ and our
(10:54):
position in him. Chapter two, verse six of the Ephesians
says that we were raised with him. It means to
relate to your new identity in Christ.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
But understanding who you are in Christ isn't just about identity.
It's about authority. Doctor Evans will explain when he returns
in just a moment. Stay with us.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible that.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Covers very important ground what they are and what they're not.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century,
the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove
of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 5 (11:48):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever had before.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating Biblical studies at
tonyevanstraining dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Well, what you're hearing today is the final installment we'll
be presenting on the air from a powerful series from
Tony called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. This
two volume, sixteen message collection reveals how God does some
of his most life changing work through the most ordinary
moments of life. The truths presented in Ephesians of the
(12:36):
power to reshape our perspective and renew our spiritual strength,
whether we're at work, at home, or simply going about
our day. If you missed any part of this powerful
series or want to go deeper and explore the bonus
lessons we didn't have time to bring you on the broadcast.
You can get all sixteen full length messages as our
(12:56):
gift when you make a contribution to help keep Tony
Ministry going strong. And if you'd like to take advantage
of this offer, today will also include his encouraging book
Kingdom Living, full of practical biblical insights to help you
grow deeper in your walk with God and discover your
identity in Christ. Just visit us today at Tonyevans dot
(13:19):
org or call us at one eight hundred eight hundred
thirty two twenty two, make your donation and request this
special resource package again, don't wait. Today is the final
day we'll be bundling these two powerful resources together. That's
Tonyevans dot org or by phone at one eight hundred
(13:39):
eight hundred three two two two. Right now, let's get
back to doctor Evans for the final part of today's message.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Your position in Christ, You knowing it, identifying with it
gives you legal authority over the enemy.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Let me set it again.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Your position in Christ, when under stood and used.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Gives you legal authority over the devil.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You do not have constitutional power over the devil, but
you do have legal authority over the devil, which is
why you must put on Christ. Galatians too, says that
Jesus Christ verse fifteen openly triumphed over the devil in public.
He was totally, completely, eternally defeated. Look at what Romans
(14:31):
chapter sixteen has to say verse twenty. Romans sixteen, verse
nineteen and twenty. For the report of your obedience has
reached to us. All therefore, I am rejoicing over you.
But I want you to be wise in what is
good and innocent in what is evil. And the God
of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Satan
(14:54):
is not supposed to be riding your back. He's supposed
to be under your feet. But in order for you
to have verse twenty, you gotta be living verse nineteen.
All right, God has made provisions for Satan to be defeated.
But you must put on the armor, which means putting
on Christ. In Ephesians chapter six verse twelve, here's what
(15:18):
he says. Our struggle, the reason why you need the
spiritual armor, and the reason why you need your identity
in Christ is because our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against rulers powers, world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of weakness and heavenly places. Number one,
The struggle is spiritual, not natural. It's not flesh and blood.
(15:40):
So stop thinking people are your ultimate problem. People are
merely conduits for angels. All people do is carry out
with either good angels or demonic angels dictate for Your
problem is not flesh and blood or natural mechanisms.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So if your.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Problem is not natural, neither can your solution be. Okay,
said you have a supernatural problem, you must have a
supernatural solution. Secondly, your struggle is personal. The Greek word
for struggle was a word that was used of hand
to hand combat or people engaged in a up close
wrestling match. In other words, Satan wants you, all right,
(16:21):
He's coming after you. You say, how does he know
to come after me? Well, he's like a good football coach.
You know what the football coach does. He looks at
the film of the team coming up next week. He
analyzes their tendencies. He analyzes which way they move, which
way they twitch, What are the normal plays that they
run in this situation. He knows them so well that
(16:43):
when the game comes up, he can address them because
he studied them.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Satan has film.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
On your life and he watches your tendencies. He notices
what you like to do, where you like to go,
what you like to think, so he can pull out
the stuff that is tailor made for you. He's got
a tailor made a solution to lead you from God.
So your problem is not only supernatural, it's tailor made
(17:11):
for you. That's why his attack on me is gonna
be different than his attack on you, because he knows
me and he knows you. He knows what makes us like,
he knows what makes us different. Set Thirdly, the struggle
is futile. That is, you can't win.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In your own strength. If you use your own strength,
you lost before the battle is begun.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
He's got this big organization with all of these demons
that have studied you very well, and he's waiting to
say gotcha. And the bad thing about Satan is he
has no conscience. But greater is he that's in you
than he is in the world. Do you know in
the Bible there is no exorcism of demons out of Christians,
because Christians cannot be be demon possessed, but they can
(17:54):
become demon oppressed, that is.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Be so under attack.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
And listen, and all the counsel in the world can't
get a demon off of you. Okay, God is the
only one, and good angels are the only ones who
can get a demon off of you. And that's why
all the counseling in the world can never replace you
being strong in the Lord. Okay, as long as the
counseling is making you strong in the Lord, fine, But
if it's just a new technique that won't help you,
(18:21):
you have to go deeper in the Lord. For you,
we have the principality this force against us, which leads
to the final point verse thirteen. Therefore, since we've got
this formidable spiritual foe, therefore take up the full armor
of God that you may be able to resist in
the evil day.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
And having done everything.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
To stand now, what is the purpose of taking care
with the purpose of spiritual warfare? And for you taking
up the armor is so that you will be able
to watch this Now stand firm. He's already used the
word stand firm in verse eleven. He uses the word
again in here in verse thirteen, stand firm, he did
(19:04):
at the beginning of verse fourteen, stand firm. If there
are two words that I would summarize this scripture with,
it would be stand firm. What does he mean by
standing firm? Normally in a battle you say, go fight,
go fight, go fight. He says, stand firm, Stand firm,
stand firm. Why would you stand firm when you're in
(19:25):
a battle rather than go fight? Because Jesus has already
won the battle, So you're not fighting to win the battle.
You're standing firm in the victory of Jesus Christ. You
don't have to run anymore. You can hold on Satan.
You're not gonna push me around anymore. You're not gonna
boss me around. You're not gonna tell me what to
(19:46):
do with the life, where to go with the watch.
You have no more any your thought. See, some of
us are running when we ought to be standing. He says,
stand firm. What stand firm? Right where you are, the
victory has already been won. The story is told of
a little boy and his father that were running from
a fire that was out there and coming at him,
And the fire was moving faster than they could run,
(20:08):
and the fire was.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Getting closer and closer and closer.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So what they did was the Father stopped and he
made a little clearing right, a little circle right around here,
and the boy and they stood inside the circle. When
they stood inside the circle, the fire came to them
and went all around them without touching them. Why because
they already destroyed the grass in the area, and there
(20:32):
was nothing there to burn. So when the fire got
to them, it could go no further. There was nothing
there to burn.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So they stood firm.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
In the circle. Jesus has already died. There's nothing left
to burn here. So you stand in the victory of
Jesus Christ, and Satan has to go around you. He
can't go through you. The blood has already made this
clearing for you. So he says, stand firm, hold on
to the territory. God has already So instead of saying,
(21:01):
say God, I can't, well, well that's a correct statement.
Actually I can't but go one step further. But thank
God in Christ, I can, so God deal. I can't
get rid of this habit. I can't get rid of
this problem. I can't get a deal with this situation.
But thank you that I can, because now I got
a rest on you, and you can I can do
all things through Christ and strengthens me. My granddaughter ran
(21:25):
up to me because the dog was chasing her, barking
at her, and she was terrified, and she was running
for a life. I don't think the dog was gonna
do anything, but she didn't know that, and the dog
was just chasing her. And when she got to me,
screaming and hollering, in tears running down her face, she
jumped up in my arms and just screamed and began
hugging onto me.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
The dog came up close to me and began.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Barking and barking and barking and barking. But the dog
stopped when it came up to me. She wasn't running anymore.
The dog wasn't running anymore. She looked up at me,
looked down at the dog, looked up at me, looked
down at the dog, looked up at me. Last time
she looked down at the dog. She said, Now, where
did she get all that confidence from? Where she get
(22:06):
all that power from? I'll tell you where she got
it from. It was she was standing firm in my arms.
As long as she was in my arm, the dog
didn't matter as long as she was on her own.
The dog matters. Satan only matters when you leave Jesus's arms.
That is the only time Satan matters. And I know
everybody in here is facing some sort of spiritual battle.
(22:27):
If you're not, you just came out of one or
you headed toward one, So you're in.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
One of those three categories.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
But I'm here to give you some good news in
a bad situation, and that is when the heavenly warfare
hits you on earth. Don't use earthly methods to whip
a heavenly foe.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Use divine methods, use God's power.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Be strong in the Lord, understanding God's provision, the army
of God because of your enemy, the principalities of Heaven,
which should lead to your purpose, and that is to
have victory in spite of attack. When those things happen
in your life, then you will discover that Satan has
no claim on you, because.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Greater is Heathen's in you than Heathen's in the world.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Doctor Tony Evans, I'm finding victory in the invisible battle
surrounding us. Now, don't forget our lesson. Today is the
final installment will be presenting from Tony's series called Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane, a sixteen part journey
through the Book of Ephesians. It's a powerful look at
(23:32):
how God's presence and purpose can shape even the most
routine moments of our lives. And Today, when you make
a contribution to help support the Alternative Broadcast Ministry, we'll
send you this complete two volume audio collection as our gift,
along with a special bonus, Tony's practical and insightful book
Kingdom Living, designed to help you grow spiritually and live
(23:56):
with greater purpose every day. Today's the final day we'll
be offering this exclusive resource bundle, so visit Tonyevans dot
org or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two
twenty two right away to make the arrangements. Again. That's
Tonyevans dot Org or by phone at one eight hundred
eight hundred three two two two. A plant that's been
(24:20):
starved of water will begin to wilt, but pour water
on its roots and life slowly returns. Tomorrow, Doctor Evans
will explore how the Word of God works the same
way in our hearts. Be sure to join us for
this important look at how God's Word gives life
If you want to have victory in the visible physical realm,
you must learn how to have victory in the invisible
spiritual realm.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the strength you need for what
you face begins in a place you can't see.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Unless you are strong in the Lord, you will not
have spiritual victory.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. Life may look
ordinary on the outside, but there's a spiritual battle raging
behind the scenes. Today, doctor Evans unpacks what it means
to stand strong in the face of invisible opposition. Let's
(00:38):
join him as he explains how to suit up in
God's power, enabling us to face spiritual warfare with confidence.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
There are many Christians who are POW's in the spiritual battle.
They are prisoners of war. They have been captured by
Satan and they cannot escape. They find themselves trapped in circumstances, situations, addictions, fears,
(01:06):
frustrations that they cannot release themselves out of.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
No matter how.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Many people they talk to, how many programs they enter into,
how many efforts they make, they still wind up finding
themselves spiritually incarcerated by the evil one. That is Paul's
concern in Ephesian six. First of all, let me summarize
the problem of spiritual warfare. A long time ago, an
(01:36):
angel named Lucifer rebelled against God. He took one third
of all the angels with him in his rebellion. His
rebellion was uncovered by the obmissions of God, and he
was taken to court and tried. He was found guilty
of a coupd'etar against the all sovereign One. He was sentenced,
(01:57):
according to Matthew twenty five forty one, he and all
of his angels to an eternal fire.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
He opposed the sentence.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
He was removed from heaven according to Luke, chapter ten,
verse eighteen, where Jesus says I saw Satan remove from
Heaven like lightning. He was kicked out of Heaven to
planet Earth, and planet Earth became a garbage dump, a wasteland,
which is why when you open the Bible, the Earth
is without form and void and darkness is upon the
(02:28):
face of the deep because anywhere Satan winds up becomes
a garbage dump, including your life. And God decided that
he would work through a lower creature to defeat a
greater creature.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
He would create man a little.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Lower than the angels, to demonstrate that he can do
more with less when less is committed to him, that
he can do with more when mores when rebellion against him.
You and I have been created to whip angels. That
is the angelic conflict. Your greatest battle in life is
not people. And so the thesis of the book is
(03:02):
simply this. If you want to have victory in the
visible physical realm, you must learn how to have victory
in the invisible spiritual realm. So let's look at first
of all, the power for spiritual warfare verse in. Finally, brethren,
be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might.
(03:25):
The phrase be strong is a passive imperative that means
be made strong in the Lord. Your spiritual strength determines
your spiritual victory. If you are weak in the Lord,
then you're gonna be weak in the battle. If you
are strong in the Lord, then you're gonna be strong
(03:47):
in the battle. So the issue is not how strong
your adversary is. The issue is how strong are you
in the Lord as you face your adversary.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
So he says, be strong in the Lord. Or he
makes a.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Distinction between God's might, your might, God's.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Strength, and your strength.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
If you're gonna be victorious in battle against Satan, then
you're gonna have to be strong in the Lord. And
so he calls on us to have spiritual strength. But
the strength must be derived from a greater source. Now,
in order to be strong in the Lord, now watch this. Now,
you must be weak in your view of yourself. Most
(04:33):
of our problem is we've got a big view of
our power a small view of God's power. So in
battle we're left with our power, and we're left with
the result of our power, and that is defeat. Hold
your finger here and look at with me, very briefly.
At Second Grithians, chapter twelve, where Satan has given Paul
(04:54):
a thorn in the flesh, he's prayed three times. God
doesn't answer a messenger Satan, he says in verse seven,
is sent to buffet him. And then he says in
verse eight concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times
that it might depart from me, and he said to me,
my grace is sufficient for you to watch this, for
(05:15):
power is perfected in weakness.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Most gladly.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness than that
the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I
am well content with weaknesses, with insults, distresses, persecutions, with difficulties,
for Christ's sake.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Now watch this, for.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
When I am weak, then I am strong. You know
the problem with many of us here tonight. We're too strong.
We are so self sufficient, we are so confident of
our own human resources that our dependence on God's power
(06:02):
is replaced by our dependency on our power. When faced
in the spiritual realm, is no power, and we wind
up being a casualty of spiritual warfare.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Do you remember Gideon's army.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
He had amassed thirty two thousand men to fight the enemy.
And God says, too much human strength, too much self sufficiency.
You are looking to your numbers and your armaments and
your horses, and you are nullifying God's strength by accumulating
(06:38):
human strength. He says, cut it down. He cut it down,
and God says, cut it down some more. He cut
it down, but God said, cut it down some more.
Gideon said, you got to be kidding. He said, no,
cut it down some more, And they cut it down.
And guess what, three hundred men from thirty two thousand
men to three hundred men, because God says, you give
(07:02):
me three hundred who are dependent upon me, I can
do more with thirty two thousand, who are dependent upon themselves.
The reason why many of us are still prisoners of
spiritual war in various areas in our lives is because
we're using human strength to do what divine strength was
designed to do. When a guard in an army sees
(07:25):
an oncoming army attacking, he doesn't run out and starts shooting.
He goes back and delivers the message to the commanding officer,
who then sets up the strategy. When Satan starts coming.
God doesn't want us to go out and start shooting.
He wants us to come back to God so that
he can give us the power and the strategy to
(07:46):
win the spiritual battle. Now, in verse eleven, he gives
us the provision.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
For spiritual warfare. Verse ten is the power.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Verse eleven is the provision put on the full armor
of God, that you may be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. Please notice the word
put on. It is a action word. That is, God
will give you the dress, but it won't dress you
you must put it on. When he says, put on
(08:17):
the full armor. And he's gonna list six things that
we're supposed to put on that will look at in
detail next week. All six of those things only refer
to one thing when he says, put on the full
arm of Christ. If you don't remember the belt of truth,
you don't remember the breastplate of righteousness. You don't remember
the feet shod or the preparations of the gospel. You
(08:37):
don't remember the shield of faith. You don't remember the
helmet of salvation. You don't remember the sword of the Spirit.
Don't worry about it, because all you have to do
is remember one thing. All of those things are another
way of saying, put on Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
All right, All of those are the sign. Guess why?
Because Jesus is the Truth.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Jesus is our righteousness, he is our peace, he is
our faith, he is our salvation, and he is the
Word of God.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Look at Roman chapter thirteen, verse eleven.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
And do this knowing the time that is already the
hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation
is nearer to us than when we first believe. The
night is almost gone, the day is in hand. Let
us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put
on same concept, the homor of light. Let us behave
(09:35):
properly in the day, not in carousing, drunkenness, sexual promisecurity, sensuality,
not in strife and jealousy.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Well, how am I supposed to do that? Verse fourteen.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision
for the flesh in regards to its lust. He says,
put on the homor of light. And then he says,
what the armor of life is put on Jesus Christ.
To put on Christ is to dress for success. Now,
(10:08):
why aren't more Christians putting on spiritual arma? Simple? More
Christians on putting on spiritual lma, because more Christians aren't
engaged in spiritual warfare. You're only gonna put on the
arm if you recognize you're in a war. But you
know what, for too many Christians, the Christian life is
a playground, not a battleground. All they want to talk
about is, you know what new things gadgets? God is
(10:30):
gonna give me what new cause he's gonna buy me
what new houses He's gonna let me live in? Well, Well,
there's a place for that. But in a war, there's
only a place for that. That's not the place. In
a war, You've got to go to battle, and you've
got to be in there to fight. So he is
telling us to identify. Here's what he means by put
on Christ. He means identify with Jesus Christ and our
(10:54):
position in him. Chapter two, verse six of the Ephesians
says that we were raised with him. It means to
relate to your new identity in Christ.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
But understanding who you are in Christ isn't just about identity.
It's about authority. Doctor Evans will explain when he returns
in just a moment. Stay with us.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
I urge you to take this course.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Doctor Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves
as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training
Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Bible that.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Covers very important ground what they are and what they're not.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
One of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century,
the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy
of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove
of historical and spiritual significance.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light
on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to
the New Testament.
Speaker 5 (11:48):
The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and
beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins
better than you ever had before.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive
into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer doctor
Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating Biblical studies at
tonyevanstraining dot org. Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Well, what you're hearing today is the final installment we'll
be presenting on the air from a powerful series from
Tony called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. This
two volume, sixteen message collection reveals how God does some
of his most life changing work through the most ordinary
moments of life. The truths presented in Ephesians of the
(12:36):
power to reshape our perspective and renew our spiritual strength,
whether we're at work, at home, or simply going about
our day. If you missed any part of this powerful
series or want to go deeper and explore the bonus
lessons we didn't have time to bring you on the broadcast.
You can get all sixteen full length messages as our
(12:56):
gift when you make a contribution to help keep Tony
Ministry going strong. And if you'd like to take advantage
of this offer, today will also include his encouraging book
Kingdom Living, full of practical biblical insights to help you
grow deeper in your walk with God and discover your
identity in Christ. Just visit us today at Tonyevans dot
(13:19):
org or call us at one eight hundred eight hundred
thirty two twenty two, make your donation and request this
special resource package again, don't wait. Today is the final
day we'll be bundling these two powerful resources together. That's
Tonyevans dot org or by phone at one eight hundred
(13:39):
eight hundred three two two two. Right now, let's get
back to doctor Evans for the final part of today's message.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Your position in Christ, You knowing it, identifying with it
gives you legal authority over the enemy.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Let me set it again.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Your position in Christ, when under stood and used.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Gives you legal authority over the devil.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
You do not have constitutional power over the devil, but
you do have legal authority over the devil, which is
why you must put on Christ. Galatians too, says that
Jesus Christ verse fifteen openly triumphed over the devil in public.
He was totally, completely, eternally defeated. Look at what Romans
(14:31):
chapter sixteen has to say verse twenty. Romans sixteen, verse
nineteen and twenty. For the report of your obedience has
reached to us. All therefore, I am rejoicing over you.
But I want you to be wise in what is
good and innocent in what is evil. And the God
of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Satan
(14:54):
is not supposed to be riding your back. He's supposed
to be under your feet. But in order for you
to have verse twenty, you gotta be living verse nineteen.
All right, God has made provisions for Satan to be defeated.
But you must put on the armor, which means putting
on Christ. In Ephesians chapter six verse twelve, here's what
(15:18):
he says. Our struggle, the reason why you need the
spiritual armor, and the reason why you need your identity
in Christ is because our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against rulers powers, world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of weakness and heavenly places. Number one,
The struggle is spiritual, not natural. It's not flesh and blood.
(15:40):
So stop thinking people are your ultimate problem. People are
merely conduits for angels. All people do is carry out
with either good angels or demonic angels dictate for Your
problem is not flesh and blood or natural mechanisms.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
So if your.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Problem is not natural, neither can your solution be. Okay,
said you have a supernatural problem, you must have a
supernatural solution. Secondly, your struggle is personal. The Greek word
for struggle was a word that was used of hand
to hand combat or people engaged in a up close
wrestling match. In other words, Satan wants you, all right,
(16:21):
He's coming after you. You say, how does he know
to come after me? Well, he's like a good football coach.
You know what the football coach does. He looks at
the film of the team coming up next week. He
analyzes their tendencies. He analyzes which way they move, which
way they twitch, What are the normal plays that they
run in this situation. He knows them so well that
(16:43):
when the game comes up, he can address them because
he studied them.
Speaker 3 (16:48):
Satan has film.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
On your life and he watches your tendencies. He notices
what you like to do, where you like to go,
what you like to think, so he can pull out
the stuff that is tailor made for you. He's got
a tailor made a solution to lead you from God.
So your problem is not only supernatural, it's tailor made
(17:11):
for you. That's why his attack on me is gonna
be different than his attack on you, because he knows
me and he knows you. He knows what makes us like,
he knows what makes us different. Set Thirdly, the struggle
is futile. That is, you can't win.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
In your own strength. If you use your own strength,
you lost before the battle is begun.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
He's got this big organization with all of these demons
that have studied you very well, and he's waiting to
say gotcha. And the bad thing about Satan is he
has no conscience. But greater is he that's in you
than he is in the world. Do you know in
the Bible there is no exorcism of demons out of Christians,
because Christians cannot be be demon possessed, but they can
(17:54):
become demon oppressed, that is.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Be so under attack.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
And listen, and all the counsel in the world can't
get a demon off of you. Okay, God is the
only one, and good angels are the only ones who
can get a demon off of you. And that's why
all the counseling in the world can never replace you
being strong in the Lord. Okay, as long as the
counseling is making you strong in the Lord, fine, But
if it's just a new technique that won't help you,
(18:21):
you have to go deeper in the Lord. For you,
we have the principality this force against us, which leads
to the final point verse thirteen. Therefore, since we've got
this formidable spiritual foe, therefore take up the full armor
of God that you may be able to resist in
the evil day.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
And having done everything.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
To stand now, what is the purpose of taking care
with the purpose of spiritual warfare? And for you taking
up the armor is so that you will be able
to watch this Now stand firm. He's already used the
word stand firm in verse eleven. He uses the word
again in here in verse thirteen, stand firm, he did
(19:04):
at the beginning of verse fourteen, stand firm. If there
are two words that I would summarize this scripture with,
it would be stand firm. What does he mean by
standing firm? Normally in a battle you say, go fight,
go fight, go fight. He says, stand firm, Stand firm,
stand firm. Why would you stand firm when you're in
(19:25):
a battle rather than go fight? Because Jesus has already
won the battle, So you're not fighting to win the battle.
You're standing firm in the victory of Jesus Christ. You
don't have to run anymore. You can hold on Satan.
You're not gonna push me around anymore. You're not gonna
boss me around. You're not gonna tell me what to
(19:46):
do with the life, where to go with the watch.
You have no more any your thought. See, some of
us are running when we ought to be standing. He says,
stand firm. What stand firm? Right where you are, the
victory has already been won. The story is told of
a little boy and his father that were running from
a fire that was out there and coming at him,
And the fire was moving faster than they could run,
(20:08):
and the fire was.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Getting closer and closer and closer.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So what they did was the Father stopped and he
made a little clearing right, a little circle right around here,
and the boy and they stood inside the circle. When
they stood inside the circle, the fire came to them
and went all around them without touching them. Why because
they already destroyed the grass in the area, and there
(20:32):
was nothing there to burn. So when the fire got
to them, it could go no further. There was nothing
there to burn.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
So they stood firm.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
In the circle. Jesus has already died. There's nothing left
to burn here. So you stand in the victory of
Jesus Christ, and Satan has to go around you. He
can't go through you. The blood has already made this
clearing for you. So he says, stand firm, hold on
to the territory. God has already So instead of saying,
(21:01):
say God, I can't, well, well that's a correct statement.
Actually I can't but go one step further. But thank
God in Christ, I can, so God deal. I can't
get rid of this habit. I can't get rid of
this problem. I can't get a deal with this situation.
But thank you that I can, because now I got
a rest on you, and you can I can do
all things through Christ and strengthens me. My granddaughter ran
(21:25):
up to me because the dog was chasing her, barking
at her, and she was terrified, and she was running
for a life. I don't think the dog was gonna
do anything, but she didn't know that, and the dog
was just chasing her. And when she got to me,
screaming and hollering, in tears running down her face, she
jumped up in my arms and just screamed and began
hugging onto me.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
The dog came up close to me and began.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Barking and barking and barking and barking. But the dog
stopped when it came up to me. She wasn't running anymore.
The dog wasn't running anymore. She looked up at me,
looked down at the dog, looked up at me, looked
down at the dog, looked up at me. Last time
she looked down at the dog. She said, Now, where
did she get all that confidence from? Where she get
(22:06):
all that power from? I'll tell you where she got
it from. It was she was standing firm in my arms.
As long as she was in my arm, the dog
didn't matter as long as she was on her own.
The dog matters. Satan only matters when you leave Jesus's arms.
That is the only time Satan matters. And I know
everybody in here is facing some sort of spiritual battle.
(22:27):
If you're not, you just came out of one or
you headed toward one, So you're in.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
One of those three categories.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
But I'm here to give you some good news in
a bad situation, and that is when the heavenly warfare
hits you on earth. Don't use earthly methods to whip
a heavenly foe.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Use divine methods, use God's power.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Be strong in the Lord, understanding God's provision, the army
of God because of your enemy, the principalities of Heaven,
which should lead to your purpose, and that is to
have victory in spite of attack. When those things happen
in your life, then you will discover that Satan has
no claim on you, because.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Greater is Heathen's in you than Heathen's in the world.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Doctor Tony Evans, I'm finding victory in the invisible battle
surrounding us. Now, don't forget our lesson. Today is the
final installment will be presenting from Tony's series called Ordinary
Holy Finding God in the Mundane, a sixteen part journey
through the Book of Ephesians. It's a powerful look at
(23:32):
how God's presence and purpose can shape even the most
routine moments of our lives. And Today, when you make
a contribution to help support the Alternative Broadcast Ministry, we'll
send you this complete two volume audio collection as our gift,
along with a special bonus, Tony's practical and insightful book
Kingdom Living, designed to help you grow spiritually and live
(23:56):
with greater purpose every day. Today's the final day we'll
be offering this exclusive resource bundle, so visit Tonyevans dot
org or call one eight hundred eight hundred thirty two
twenty two right away to make the arrangements. Again. That's
Tonyevans dot Org or by phone at one eight hundred
eight hundred three two two two. A plant that's been
(24:20):
starved of water will begin to wilt, but pour water
on its roots and life slowly returns. Tomorrow, Doctor Evans
will explore how the Word of God works the same
way in our hearts. Be sure to join us for
this important look at how God's Word gives life
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