July 6, 2025 • 25 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Until the Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
In general, the big soul can become the shopnegga.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You won't see it's power.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the more precisely you handle God's word,
the more powerfully it works in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
As long as the book is the Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But you can't pull out specific tolerances and cut with precision,
then you'll be a general Christian and you'll get general results.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. It's easy to
feel strong when there's no pressure on you, but doctor
Evans says, real spiritual strength only shows up when life
pushes back. Today, he takes us to the wilderness with
Jesus to show how the written word of God can
(00:48):
anchor us when temptation hits hardest. Let's join him.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
We have any fans of pro wrestling, now, I hope
you understand that the winner is before the match. Okay,
it has been predetermined who's gonna win what they have
decided that, So no matter how bad a guy is
being beat in the ring, he knows when this is over,
(01:20):
I win because the victory has been predetermined.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
In advance. So even though they are in a battle,
the one who.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Has been predetermined to win is fighting from victory, not
for victory, because there's already been determined how this thing
is going in. If you are in a battle, Jesus
wants you to know he's already declared you winner because
you are in a battle that has been predetermined that
(01:50):
you would win, but you are still.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
In the battle.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He wants you to have this stand for a mindset,
because you understand that you're fighting from victory and not
for victory.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He then goes through the.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Various Almah of God that we have been told to
put on truth and righteousness, and your feet ship of
the Gospel and faith. Then he comes to verse seventeen
with the helmet of salvation and then crosses over to
our focus today the sword of the Spirit, and he says,
(02:29):
and what I'm talking about is the Word of God.
He calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit.
There are a number of words for sword in the
New Testament that referred to what a Roman soldier would
use in battle, because that's his mindset. The Roman soldier
uses the armor of God. These swords were used. Sometimes
(02:50):
they were so heavy you had to swing them.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
With both hands, flailing about.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
To hit the object that you are fighting a or
the person who you're fighting against. But that's not the
word used Kia for sword. There's another word for sword
in the New Testament, and it's from a Greek word
that referred to a dagger, a dagger six to eighteen
(03:19):
inches that would be drawn not out of this long sheath,
but sometime just stuck down on the belt and lifted out.
The sword was used for flailing abouts. The dagger was
used for precision. It was this word that was used
(03:42):
of Peter when they came to arrest Jesus, and it
says and Peter took out his sword and cut off
the servant's ear. It wasn't because he missed and just
happened to hit the ear.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
When you pulled that out. It was for a precision cut.
When he speaks about put on truth.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
He's talking about the general use of the Bible, the
whole of the text. But when it calls the sword
of the Spirit, it was used for close hand to
hand combat. In other words, he's saying, you need the
sword of the Spirit when the devil's up in your grill.
(04:27):
It's just a hand in hand combat. When you're face
to face with the enemy, the enemy is is all
up in your stuff. He's all up in your business.
He close, he's all up on you. Have you ever
had the devil all up on you? Not on you,
but on you, You mean, just all up on you.
You can't shake him, you can't get.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Rid of him.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
He's just all up on you. He's everywhere around you.
You at that point you need this sword. He calls
it the sword of the Spirit because it's the sword
that the spirit uses for this kind of close up
conflict and close.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Up battle.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Where you are facing a specific thing at a specific time,
about a specific problem that's too big for you to handle.
You need the dagger of the spirit. It is the
spirit's dagger because it is what the Spirit uses to
(05:30):
wage face to face battle when you are in a
close up conflict in the war zone. When you get
a believer who is under the control of the spirit,
who knows how to handle the sword, there's no battle
or around that they can't win, which is the word
(05:50):
of God. We need to talk about the word word.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Again.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
There are a number of words in the New Testament
for the word word when referring to the Bible, what
main word is The Bible is called the logos, that
is the embodiment of the expression of God. But that's
not the word here. The word here is the word
of rama. The word rama is a reference to specific
(06:18):
statements in the Bible, not the Bible in general, but
specific statements from the Bible used as needed in a
particular time regarding a particular battle where you need to
make a particular stab.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Until the Bible in general the big sword can become
the sharp dagger. You won't see its power as long
as the book is the Bible.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
But you can't pull out specific utterances, statements and cut
with precision. Then you'll be a general Christian with a
general Bible, knowing general truth, and you'll get general results.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
He says.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
The Bible is the sword that the spirit uses, which
is the rama of God. The specific use of scriptures
to know the Bible is important generally for the purpose
of using it specifically.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You follow that the.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Reason why you want to learn the Bible generally is
so that you can use it specifically. Unfortunately, we do
not have people who are reading it learning it, hearing
it also using it and therefore they do not see
its ability to cut sharply. Matthew Chapter four. Jesus is
(07:56):
perfectly in God's will, and God leads Jesus to meet
the devil. So you got to think about that. For
mem he's perfectly in God's will. He's the eternal son
of God. He just comes off of a celebration. This
is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased. God says,
I'm pleased with you. And then we're told the Spirit
(08:17):
led Jesus into the wilderness, so you got the trinity
working together. The spirit is Jesus into the wilderness for
the purpose of battle with the devil.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
He fasts forty days and forty nine. He's hungry.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
The devil comes to him, and the devil prays.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
On his weakness.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
If you are the son of God, command these stones
become bred. Jesus has a legitimate need.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He's hungry.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He's been fasting forty days and forty nights. He has
a legitimate need, and he has a legitimate desire because
you need to eat. If you haven't eaten forty days,
definitely need to eat. And Satan is aware of the
legitimate need that Jesus has. It is a legitimate need.
It has a legitimate desire. So Satan offers to meet
(09:13):
the need. Since you are, if you are the son
of God, turn these stones in the bread. Jesus says,
it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Mouth of God. In other words, here's this point to review.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Man does not only live by what he gets to
meet his need. Man also lives by where it came from.
In other words, is the sauce as appropriate.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
As the substance. Now, Jesus could turn stone into bread.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean, he could make bagels, croissants, English muffins. He
could create a bread basket that would be otherworldly. The
problem was he would have created the bread basket at
the request of the enemy of God. Now word, he
would have met his need illegitimately. And Jesus says, even
(10:15):
though the need is real, I'm hungry. Man does not
only live by getting his needs met. Man lives by
getting his needs met in a divinely authored way. That verse,
of course, was taken from Deuteronomy chapter eight. Israel's going
through the wilderness, and they're hungry. They're hungry, so Jesus
(10:38):
goes to an Old Testament parallel, and that's why you
read the Old Testament.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You read the Old Testament to.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Look for a situation close to what you're going through.
You say, why do I read my Bible? You don't
just read your Bible because you're supposed to. You read
your Bible to find out from the logos the rima
that you need. You read your Bible to find out
from the general truth of the Bible what the specific principle,
(11:04):
precept or verse is that God wants you to use
for the situation you are currently facing.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
But even armed with that specific Biblical truth, the fight
isn't always easy, and doctor Evans will show us why
when he returns in just a moment.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Stay with us, Ladies, don't miss your chance to join
our virtual audience for the Desperate for Jesus Conference July
twenty fifth through twenty six. Gather your friends, the small group,
or all the women of your church for an empowering
experience made just for you. Through dynamic speakers and powerful worship,
we will equip you to leave a lasting legacy telling
the next generation of the Lord's praiseworthy deeds. Visit Dfjconference
(11:44):
dot com to register for the live simulcast that's Dfjconference
dot Com.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
A quick note that today's message is the final installment
in Tony's inspirational series The Benefits of Scripture. In these
six powerful lessons, doctor Evans on packs what the Bible
does for us, from giving direction and victory to producing
spiritual freedom, blessing and life itself. It's a compelling reminder
(12:10):
that scripture isn't just information, it's transformation. If you missed
any part of the series or would like to get
the complete set of six full length messages, we'd love
to send them all to you. Is our thank you
gift when you support the Ministry of the Alternative, and
as a special bonus, will also include the Tony Evans
Bible Commentary, a comprehensive resource where Tony walks through every
(12:33):
passage from Genesis to Revelation, exploring the context, explaining the background,
digging into the deeper meaning, and showing how to apply
what you learn. This is the final day we'll be
offering this exclusive package to our listeners, so visit us
right away at Tonyevans dot org to make your donation
and request, or call our resource team anytime at one
(12:56):
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. I'll repeat
that contact information after part two of today's message. Here's
doctor Evans once again.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Verse five says, then the devil took it. That's interesting,
not the devil ask him, will you join me? It's
the devil took him. You ever been in a situation
where it looked like the devil taking you, jerking you
all around and you seem like powerless. Well, guess what
he took Jesus. So you know if he took Jesus,
(13:29):
he's not gonna be easy on you. Took him to
a holy city and made him stand on the pinnacle
of the temple and said to him, if you are
the son of God, throw yourself down. And then remember
it is written now the devil quote the Bible. The
devil say, well, well, I read the Bible, and my
Bible said he will give his angels charge over you,
and on their hands he will bear you up. Lets
(13:49):
you strike you foot against the stone, my Bible tells.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Me if you jump, he'll catch him. Come on, that's
in the Bible.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So the devil he uses the Bible to carry forth
his agenda. Remember the Devil's first conversation with the human
being was about af God said, so he does not
mind using the Bible. The second attempt was to have
success without God. What if you tell him jump off
the pinnacle of the temple as a four hundred foot jump?
Four hundred foot jump? Why was he telling him the jump?
(14:19):
Jesus came to be king of the Jews. Where is
he at the temple? Who's in the temple the Jews?
So if all the Jews see you jump off the temple,
they're gonna know you the son of God. When all
these angels grab your feet and ease you on down
to Earth, they gonna know you're the supernatural son of God.
And if you jump off the temple and the angels intercede,
then you don't have to go.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
To the cross.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
You can have success without the cross. You can avoid
all that if you just do.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
The jump thing. And I got Bible to back me up.
Jesus's answer.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It is written on the other hand, in other words,
I'm not gonna let you take one verse, skip the
rest of the verses and pick the verse that you like.
You don't back God up in the corner so that
he has no other options but to perform a miracle
to get you out the mess you create. Finally, the
(15:13):
devil took him to a very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,
and said to him, all these things I will give
you if you fall down and worship me. I'm gonna
give you significance without God. Why because I'm gonna give
you the kingdom of the world and their glory. Why
don't I sound appealing. I'm gonna be somebody. I'm gonna
(15:36):
have all this stuff, the kingdoms. But more than the stuff,
I'm gonna have their glory. It's called in the Bible
the pride of life. I'm gonna have recognition. Folk gonna
know my name. I'm gonna be somebody. Now, there's nothing
wrong with men recognizing you, as long as you don't
have to go to hell to get the recognition. See,
(16:00):
he says, everybody's gonna know you if you fall down
and worship me. See, that's all of the temptation when
you are being successful, because the more successful you are,
the greater propensity to want to.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Receive the accolades of men.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Then you start taking that glory for yourself, you begin
believing your own press clippings, because if you don't force
yourself to take the mindset of a servant, then you
will get the big head. And Jesus says, the greatest
of you will be your servant, so that you must
intentionally look. It's okay to be blessed, it's okay to
(16:41):
enjoy your blessings. But the moment that you lose a
servant's heart because you brought into the glory, you've adopted
the mindset of hell. And he says, be gone, Satan,
for it is written you should worship the Lord, your God,
and serve only. Jesus says, get out of here one,
(17:03):
because Jesus already knew that the kingdoms were gonna be
his anyway. They weren't gonna be his now, but there
was gonna come a time when at the name of
Jesus everything.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Shall bow every time. We'll come fast. So the kingdoms
are gonna be his. So here's what you have to know.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
What you have to know is in the will of God.
What's yours is yours, and nobody else can have it.
So you got to know that. So Satan can't offer
you anything. God is not gonna intend to give you anyway.
And if God's not gonna give it to you, please
know you don't want it, because after you've had it
(17:37):
and enjoyed it and played with it long enough, it's
gonna turn on you. He says, be God, Satan, it
was the principle. If the son of God needed to
use the written word to deal with the devil, and
he wrote it, then how much more do you and I,
(17:58):
who have never written any word, need to use the
same word when we're faced with hand to hand combat.
He reaches in and pulls out the appropriate verse, because
it's the dagger of truth.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Satan says, do this, Jesus says, Sat. He said, how
about this? Jesus says, you know us.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
You know, when the spirit of God takes the word
of God in the hands of a committee Christian, he
gonna leave his mab, the text says, and Satan left
Why because Satan can handle the word of man. He
can't handle the word of God. He loved to know
what you think. Every time you say, well, I think,
(18:43):
he say, got you because he can.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Handle the word of man. All Jesus did was quote
the Bible. He reached back of the Old.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Testament and quote the Bible. Now, if Jesus had to
do that because he knew that the only thing the
devil was allergic to is the word of God, how.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Much more do you have to.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
There is a closing point I need to make here,
one that's not often mentioned. Verse eleven. Then the devil
left him, restrikes you out, and behold, angels came and
began to minister to him.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Now, I got a question.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Where the angel's been all day?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
The angels show up after the battle. Well, why can't
I have an angel when I'm being attacked by another angel?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I got a demon. I need an angel to help me,
It says the angel showed up after the battle and
minister to him, because sometimes God leaves you alone with
his word, and he wants to know. Do you trust
my word? Do you believe my word? And will you
use my word and just believe me. I know you're hungry.
Trust my word. I know it's taken a long Trust
(19:52):
my word. I know Satan is offering you something that
looks good out there. Trust my word, and you quote
the word of God in the midst of your battle,
and it.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Will come to a point.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Where Satan can't handle it anymore. He'll be cut up
too bad because every time you use the word, it
cuts him. And when you come forth as periods gold,
I will send my angels and minister to you. Now,
what do the angels do to him? Well, he's hungry,
(20:30):
so that mean he got to eat. He's under attack,
so that means he gets peace and rest. In other words,
the angels met his need. God held the angels off.
Could have been the God that's holding the angels off
till you get around to his word.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
And when you get around.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
To his word, then he can say, okay, angels, now
you can go take care of business. But I can't
set you free to take care of business because they
won't use my word.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
They don't believe my word. They go to church, but
they don't use the word.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
They take the Bible of Church and it's sit up
over the top of the table for the rest of
the week.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Doctor Tony Evans challenging us to use the word of
God if we want to realize spiritual victory in our lives.
And he'll return to wrap up today's message in just
a moment. First, so I want to encourage you to
get a copy of Tony's full six part series, The
Benefits of Scripture.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
It takes you deep.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Into what the Bible does for us, from giving direction
and freedom to producing victory and spiritual life. And as
a special bonus, along with this powerful teaching series, will
also include the Tony Evans Bible Commentary and easy to
use resource that walks you through every book of the
Bible with clear, practical teaching and helpful insights. Both resources
(21:47):
are yours with our thanks. When you support this ministry
with your donation, visit Tonyevans dot org to make your
request right away. This is the final day we'll be
offering this special package on the broadcast, or call us
at one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two
to connect with our resource team again. That's Tony Evans
(22:08):
dot org or my phone at one eight hundred eight
hundred thirty two twenty two. God promises believers rest, and
some people think that means taking a break from responsibility,
but in the Bible, rest means entering into something the
Lord has already prepared for us tomorrow. Doctor Evans explains
(22:29):
how God's rest can let you experience the kind of
peace and power that rises above life's challenges right now though,
He's back to wrap up today's message with this closing illustration.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Non one one is an emergency number. No one one
connection to a whole system of support. Even if you
don't get the talk, they got this thing still worked
out where it will come up on the computer the
address of the emergency, and if they can't get a response,
(23:05):
then there will be a dispatch to your house. The
dispatch will have in a policeman or police men or
women who will come equipped to address your situation. But
not only that, if they discover the problem is too
big for them, they have communication devices and all they
(23:31):
gonna say is back up you.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I will have a whole slew of cards out.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
In front of your house, all because you remembered nine
one one.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
That's all you had to remember.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Because when you remember nine one one, the system took
over and brought to you everything you needed to deal
with this intruder into your life and into your world.
What God wants you to know is you got a
telephone number. When you are being in face to face
combat with this being that's too big for you to handle,
(24:05):
you are to pick up nine one one better. Yet
it's it is written and when you pick up it
is written that will connect you to a whole system
of support, that God will bring me your aid.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
And they got back up so.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
That everything you need to face, whatever you face, is
already in the system. If you use the ram a
word which the spirit of God will take to make
a mark on your enemy. The scripture is powerful when
used
Until the Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
In general, the big soul can become the shopnegga.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You won't see it's power.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Doctor Tony Evans says, the more precisely you handle God's word,
the more powerfully it works in your life.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
As long as the book is the Bible.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
But you can't pull out specific tolerances and cut with precision,
then you'll be a general Christian and you'll get general results.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. It's easy to
feel strong when there's no pressure on you, but doctor
Evans says, real spiritual strength only shows up when life
pushes back. Today, he takes us to the wilderness with
Jesus to show how the written word of God can
(00:48):
anchor us when temptation hits hardest. Let's join him.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
We have any fans of pro wrestling, now, I hope
you understand that the winner is before the match. Okay,
it has been predetermined who's gonna win what they have
decided that, So no matter how bad a guy is
being beat in the ring, he knows when this is over,
(01:20):
I win because the victory has been predetermined.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
In advance. So even though they are in a battle,
the one who.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Has been predetermined to win is fighting from victory, not
for victory, because there's already been determined how this thing
is going in. If you are in a battle, Jesus
wants you to know he's already declared you winner because
you are in a battle that has been predetermined that
(01:50):
you would win, but you are still.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
In the battle.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
He wants you to have this stand for a mindset,
because you understand that you're fighting from victory and not
for victory.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
He then goes through the.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Various Almah of God that we have been told to
put on truth and righteousness, and your feet ship of
the Gospel and faith. Then he comes to verse seventeen
with the helmet of salvation and then crosses over to
our focus today the sword of the Spirit, and he says,
(02:29):
and what I'm talking about is the Word of God.
He calls the Word of God the sword of the Spirit.
There are a number of words for sword in the
New Testament that referred to what a Roman soldier would
use in battle, because that's his mindset. The Roman soldier
uses the armor of God. These swords were used. Sometimes
(02:50):
they were so heavy you had to swing them.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
With both hands, flailing about.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
To hit the object that you are fighting a or
the person who you're fighting against. But that's not the
word used Kia for sword. There's another word for sword
in the New Testament, and it's from a Greek word
that referred to a dagger, a dagger six to eighteen
(03:19):
inches that would be drawn not out of this long sheath,
but sometime just stuck down on the belt and lifted out.
The sword was used for flailing abouts. The dagger was
used for precision. It was this word that was used
(03:42):
of Peter when they came to arrest Jesus, and it
says and Peter took out his sword and cut off
the servant's ear. It wasn't because he missed and just
happened to hit the ear.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
When you pulled that out. It was for a precision cut.
When he speaks about put on truth.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
He's talking about the general use of the Bible, the
whole of the text. But when it calls the sword
of the Spirit, it was used for close hand to
hand combat. In other words, he's saying, you need the
sword of the Spirit when the devil's up in your grill.
(04:27):
It's just a hand in hand combat. When you're face
to face with the enemy, the enemy is is all
up in your stuff. He's all up in your business.
He close, he's all up on you. Have you ever
had the devil all up on you? Not on you,
but on you, You mean, just all up on you.
You can't shake him, you can't get.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Rid of him.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
He's just all up on you. He's everywhere around you.
You at that point you need this sword. He calls
it the sword of the Spirit because it's the sword
that the spirit uses for this kind of close up
conflict and close.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Up battle.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Where you are facing a specific thing at a specific time,
about a specific problem that's too big for you to handle.
You need the dagger of the spirit. It is the
spirit's dagger because it is what the Spirit uses to
(05:30):
wage face to face battle when you are in a
close up conflict in the war zone. When you get
a believer who is under the control of the spirit,
who knows how to handle the sword, there's no battle
or around that they can't win, which is the word
(05:50):
of God. We need to talk about the word word.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Again.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
There are a number of words in the New Testament
for the word word when referring to the Bible, what
main word is The Bible is called the logos, that
is the embodiment of the expression of God. But that's
not the word here. The word here is the word
of rama. The word rama is a reference to specific
(06:18):
statements in the Bible, not the Bible in general, but
specific statements from the Bible used as needed in a
particular time regarding a particular battle where you need to
make a particular stab.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Until the Bible in general the big sword can become
the sharp dagger. You won't see its power as long
as the book is the Bible.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
But you can't pull out specific utterances, statements and cut
with precision. Then you'll be a general Christian with a
general Bible, knowing general truth, and you'll get general results.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
He says.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
The Bible is the sword that the spirit uses, which
is the rama of God. The specific use of scriptures
to know the Bible is important generally for the purpose
of using it specifically.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
You follow that the.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Reason why you want to learn the Bible generally is
so that you can use it specifically. Unfortunately, we do
not have people who are reading it learning it, hearing
it also using it and therefore they do not see
its ability to cut sharply. Matthew Chapter four. Jesus is
(07:56):
perfectly in God's will, and God leads Jesus to meet
the devil. So you got to think about that. For
mem he's perfectly in God's will. He's the eternal son
of God. He just comes off of a celebration. This
is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased. God says,
I'm pleased with you. And then we're told the Spirit
(08:17):
led Jesus into the wilderness, so you got the trinity
working together. The spirit is Jesus into the wilderness for
the purpose of battle with the devil.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
He fasts forty days and forty nine. He's hungry.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
The devil comes to him, and the devil prays.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
On his weakness.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
If you are the son of God, command these stones
become bred. Jesus has a legitimate need.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
He's hungry.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He's been fasting forty days and forty nights. He has
a legitimate need, and he has a legitimate desire because
you need to eat. If you haven't eaten forty days,
definitely need to eat. And Satan is aware of the
legitimate need that Jesus has. It is a legitimate need.
It has a legitimate desire. So Satan offers to meet
(09:13):
the need. Since you are, if you are the son
of God, turn these stones in the bread. Jesus says,
it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds out of the.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Mouth of God. In other words, here's this point to review.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Man does not only live by what he gets to
meet his need. Man also lives by where it came from.
In other words, is the sauce as appropriate.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
As the substance. Now, Jesus could turn stone into bread.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
I mean, he could make bagels, croissants, English muffins. He
could create a bread basket that would be otherworldly. The
problem was he would have created the bread basket at
the request of the enemy of God. Now word, he
would have met his need illegitimately. And Jesus says, even
(10:15):
though the need is real, I'm hungry. Man does not
only live by getting his needs met. Man lives by
getting his needs met in a divinely authored way. That verse,
of course, was taken from Deuteronomy chapter eight. Israel's going
through the wilderness, and they're hungry. They're hungry, so Jesus
(10:38):
goes to an Old Testament parallel, and that's why you
read the Old Testament.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
You read the Old Testament to.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Look for a situation close to what you're going through.
You say, why do I read my Bible? You don't
just read your Bible because you're supposed to. You read
your Bible to find out from the logos the rima
that you need. You read your Bible to find out
from the general truth of the Bible what the specific principle,
(11:04):
precept or verse is that God wants you to use
for the situation you are currently facing.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
But even armed with that specific Biblical truth, the fight
isn't always easy, and doctor Evans will show us why
when he returns in just a moment.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
Stay with us, Ladies, don't miss your chance to join
our virtual audience for the Desperate for Jesus Conference July
twenty fifth through twenty six. Gather your friends, the small group,
or all the women of your church for an empowering
experience made just for you. Through dynamic speakers and powerful worship,
we will equip you to leave a lasting legacy telling
the next generation of the Lord's praiseworthy deeds. Visit Dfjconference
(11:44):
dot com to register for the live simulcast that's Dfjconference
dot Com.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
A quick note that today's message is the final installment
in Tony's inspirational series The Benefits of Scripture. In these
six powerful lessons, doctor Evans on packs what the Bible
does for us, from giving direction and victory to producing
spiritual freedom, blessing and life itself. It's a compelling reminder
(12:10):
that scripture isn't just information, it's transformation. If you missed
any part of the series or would like to get
the complete set of six full length messages, we'd love
to send them all to you. Is our thank you
gift when you support the Ministry of the Alternative, and
as a special bonus, will also include the Tony Evans
Bible Commentary, a comprehensive resource where Tony walks through every
(12:33):
passage from Genesis to Revelation, exploring the context, explaining the background,
digging into the deeper meaning, and showing how to apply
what you learn. This is the final day we'll be
offering this exclusive package to our listeners, so visit us
right away at Tonyevans dot org to make your donation
and request, or call our resource team anytime at one
(12:56):
eight hundred eight hundred thirty two twenty two. I'll repeat
that contact information after part two of today's message. Here's
doctor Evans once again.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Verse five says, then the devil took it. That's interesting,
not the devil ask him, will you join me? It's
the devil took him. You ever been in a situation
where it looked like the devil taking you, jerking you
all around and you seem like powerless. Well, guess what
he took Jesus. So you know if he took Jesus,
(13:29):
he's not gonna be easy on you. Took him to
a holy city and made him stand on the pinnacle
of the temple and said to him, if you are
the son of God, throw yourself down. And then remember
it is written now the devil quote the Bible. The
devil say, well, well, I read the Bible, and my
Bible said he will give his angels charge over you,
and on their hands he will bear you up. Lets
(13:49):
you strike you foot against the stone, my Bible tells.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Me if you jump, he'll catch him. Come on, that's
in the Bible.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So the devil he uses the Bible to carry forth
his agenda. Remember the Devil's first conversation with the human
being was about af God said, so he does not
mind using the Bible. The second attempt was to have
success without God. What if you tell him jump off
the pinnacle of the temple as a four hundred foot jump?
Four hundred foot jump? Why was he telling him the jump?
(14:19):
Jesus came to be king of the Jews. Where is
he at the temple? Who's in the temple the Jews?
So if all the Jews see you jump off the temple,
they're gonna know you the son of God. When all
these angels grab your feet and ease you on down
to Earth, they gonna know you're the supernatural son of God.
And if you jump off the temple and the angels intercede,
then you don't have to go.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
To the cross.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
You can have success without the cross. You can avoid
all that if you just do.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
The jump thing. And I got Bible to back me up.
Jesus's answer.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
It is written on the other hand, in other words,
I'm not gonna let you take one verse, skip the
rest of the verses and pick the verse that you like.
You don't back God up in the corner so that
he has no other options but to perform a miracle
to get you out the mess you create. Finally, the
(15:13):
devil took him to a very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,
and said to him, all these things I will give
you if you fall down and worship me. I'm gonna
give you significance without God. Why because I'm gonna give
you the kingdom of the world and their glory. Why
don't I sound appealing. I'm gonna be somebody. I'm gonna
(15:36):
have all this stuff, the kingdoms. But more than the stuff,
I'm gonna have their glory. It's called in the Bible
the pride of life. I'm gonna have recognition. Folk gonna
know my name. I'm gonna be somebody. Now, there's nothing
wrong with men recognizing you, as long as you don't
have to go to hell to get the recognition. See,
(16:00):
he says, everybody's gonna know you if you fall down
and worship me. See, that's all of the temptation when
you are being successful, because the more successful you are,
the greater propensity to want to.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Receive the accolades of men.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Then you start taking that glory for yourself, you begin
believing your own press clippings, because if you don't force
yourself to take the mindset of a servant, then you
will get the big head. And Jesus says, the greatest
of you will be your servant, so that you must
intentionally look. It's okay to be blessed, it's okay to
(16:41):
enjoy your blessings. But the moment that you lose a
servant's heart because you brought into the glory, you've adopted
the mindset of hell. And he says, be gone, Satan,
for it is written you should worship the Lord, your God,
and serve only. Jesus says, get out of here one,
(17:03):
because Jesus already knew that the kingdoms were gonna be
his anyway. They weren't gonna be his now, but there
was gonna come a time when at the name of
Jesus everything.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
Shall bow every time. We'll come fast. So the kingdoms
are gonna be his. So here's what you have to know.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
What you have to know is in the will of God.
What's yours is yours, and nobody else can have it.
So you got to know that. So Satan can't offer
you anything. God is not gonna intend to give you anyway.
And if God's not gonna give it to you, please
know you don't want it, because after you've had it
(17:37):
and enjoyed it and played with it long enough, it's
gonna turn on you. He says, be God, Satan, it
was the principle. If the son of God needed to
use the written word to deal with the devil, and
he wrote it, then how much more do you and I,
(17:58):
who have never written any word, need to use the
same word when we're faced with hand to hand combat.
He reaches in and pulls out the appropriate verse, because
it's the dagger of truth.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Satan says, do this, Jesus says, Sat. He said, how
about this? Jesus says, you know us.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
You know, when the spirit of God takes the word
of God in the hands of a committee Christian, he
gonna leave his mab, the text says, and Satan left
Why because Satan can handle the word of man. He
can't handle the word of God. He loved to know
what you think. Every time you say, well, I think,
(18:43):
he say, got you because he can.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Handle the word of man. All Jesus did was quote
the Bible. He reached back of the Old.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Testament and quote the Bible. Now, if Jesus had to
do that because he knew that the only thing the
devil was allergic to is the word of God, how.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Much more do you have to.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
There is a closing point I need to make here,
one that's not often mentioned. Verse eleven. Then the devil
left him, restrikes you out, and behold, angels came and
began to minister to him.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Now, I got a question.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Where the angel's been all day?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
The angels show up after the battle. Well, why can't
I have an angel when I'm being attacked by another angel?
Speaker 2 (19:30):
I got a demon. I need an angel to help me,
It says the angel showed up after the battle and
minister to him, because sometimes God leaves you alone with
his word, and he wants to know. Do you trust
my word? Do you believe my word? And will you
use my word and just believe me. I know you're hungry.
Trust my word. I know it's taken a long Trust
(19:52):
my word. I know Satan is offering you something that
looks good out there. Trust my word, and you quote
the word of God in the midst of your battle,
and it.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Will come to a point.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Where Satan can't handle it anymore. He'll be cut up
too bad because every time you use the word, it
cuts him. And when you come forth as periods gold,
I will send my angels and minister to you. Now,
what do the angels do to him? Well, he's hungry,
(20:30):
so that mean he got to eat. He's under attack,
so that means he gets peace and rest. In other words,
the angels met his need. God held the angels off.
Could have been the God that's holding the angels off
till you get around to his word.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
And when you get around.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
To his word, then he can say, okay, angels, now
you can go take care of business. But I can't
set you free to take care of business because they
won't use my word.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
They don't believe my word. They go to church, but
they don't use the word.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
They take the Bible of Church and it's sit up
over the top of the table for the rest of
the week.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Doctor Tony Evans challenging us to use the word of
God if we want to realize spiritual victory in our lives.
And he'll return to wrap up today's message in just
a moment. First, so I want to encourage you to
get a copy of Tony's full six part series, The
Benefits of Scripture.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
It takes you deep.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Into what the Bible does for us, from giving direction
and freedom to producing victory and spiritual life. And as
a special bonus, along with this powerful teaching series, will
also include the Tony Evans Bible Commentary and easy to
use resource that walks you through every book of the
Bible with clear, practical teaching and helpful insights. Both resources
(21:47):
are yours with our thanks. When you support this ministry
with your donation, visit Tonyevans dot org to make your
request right away. This is the final day we'll be
offering this special package on the broadcast, or call us
at one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two
to connect with our resource team again. That's Tony Evans
(22:08):
dot org or my phone at one eight hundred eight
hundred thirty two twenty two. God promises believers rest, and
some people think that means taking a break from responsibility,
but in the Bible, rest means entering into something the
Lord has already prepared for us tomorrow. Doctor Evans explains
(22:29):
how God's rest can let you experience the kind of
peace and power that rises above life's challenges right now though,
He's back to wrap up today's message with this closing illustration.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Non one one is an emergency number. No one one
connection to a whole system of support. Even if you
don't get the talk, they got this thing still worked
out where it will come up on the computer the
address of the emergency, and if they can't get a response,
(23:05):
then there will be a dispatch to your house. The
dispatch will have in a policeman or police men or
women who will come equipped to address your situation. But
not only that, if they discover the problem is too
big for them, they have communication devices and all they
(23:31):
gonna say is back up you.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I will have a whole slew of cards out.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
In front of your house, all because you remembered nine
one one.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
That's all you had to remember.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Because when you remember nine one one, the system took
over and brought to you everything you needed to deal
with this intruder into your life and into your world.
What God wants you to know is you got a
telephone number. When you are being in face to face
combat with this being that's too big for you to handle,
(24:05):
you are to pick up nine one one better. Yet
it's it is written and when you pick up it
is written that will connect you to a whole system
of support, that God will bring me your aid.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
And they got back up so.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
That everything you need to face, whatever you face, is
already in the system. If you use the ram a
word which the spirit of God will take to make
a mark on your enemy. The scripture is powerful when
used
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