Tony Evans - Authority of the Cross

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I loved all of the Indiana Jones films because they
were full of adventure and they were full of energy,
and Harrison Ford really captured that particular character. All of
the films were fundamentally the same. There was some prize
artifacts that Indiana Jones, from his archaeological orientation, was desperate

(00:27):
to get his hands on something of high value. What
made the movies particularly gratifying and interesting and challenging was
the fact that he had to overcome a lot of
obstacles to get to the artifacts. There were spears and guns,
and there was arrows and swords and bad people, and

(00:51):
these bad people were all trying to block him getting
to this precious possession. And when I thought of that
series of movies, it reminded me of the fact that
you and I have a precious possession that your enemy
doesn't want you to find. That you have some things

(01:12):
available to you. He doesn't want you to get at
and he will use no limits to stop you from
picking up the prize possession God has for you. In
our series on the Cross, it's called Returning to the Cross.
We are talking about what the role of the Cross
of Christ is for you today. Paul in Ephesians Chapter

(01:36):
one has a run on sentence. From verses three to
verse twelve, he goes on and on and on. In
English you call that a run on sentence. He just
can't stop talking. And it's all about what the prize
possession that believers have because of the Cross, because of
what Jesus has done. He goes in chapter one, blessed

(01:58):
be the God and Father of our Lord, as Christ
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
And he goes on and on and on, bam bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,
bam bam, one thing right after another, and he just
can't he just can't quit. He just can't stop. So
the sentence goes on and on and on and on.
He is just beside himself. But then he stops in

(02:19):
verse eighteen and he says these words, I pray that
the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. It dawns
on him. I'm all excited about something, and these people
may not know what.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
In the world I'm talking about. They I don't want
them to miss this. This is too big.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
So in the middle of his excitement, he stops to
pray and says, Lord, for the Christians at the church
at Ephesus, would you please help them to understand what
I'm talking about, because I don't want them to miss this.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
It is excitement.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
He knew God was gonna have to open up their
eyes lest they hear it and miss it. He spent
the first section of the chapter talking about the Cross
and all the privileges and rights and benefits that come.
And he even says in fourteen about the Holy Spirit
who delivers these benefits, who has given us a pledge
of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of

(03:17):
God's own possession to the praise.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Of His glory.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
In other words, God doesn't want you to have to
go to heaven before you taste it. He says, a
pledge of your inheritance. The word pledge, the Greek word
pledge means down payment. God wants you to have a
down payment now of the heaven you're going to. If
you are a Christian. Now that means you're on your
way to heaven. God doesn't want you to get there

(03:41):
to have to wait to feel what it feels like.
So He's given you a down payment or a pledge
or a piece of heaven that's been allocated to you.
Now back up the verse three, Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, who has
blessed us, who has blessed us, who has blessed us.

(04:02):
Everything God is ever going to do for you, he's
already done. Notice the word ed is on the word blessed.
It has already occurred. It has already been banked. It's
already on deposit. It is already in the vault with
your name on it. Everything God is ever going to
do for you in time has already been placed in
the deposit box called your inheritance. As a believer in

(04:26):
Jesus Christ, you are an inheritor of a portion of
His will that has been bequeathed to you as the
risen son of God. He says that God has made
a provision for you that is not only for heaven,
but that is also a pledge that you are to
participate in in history. It's already been made available. So

(04:51):
Paul says, let me pray that these folk understand what
I'm talking about. I pray that are the eyes of
their heart. Really on the inside, they'll be a illuminated.
That means the light comes on, the switch is turned on,
that they see clearly. So that you will know what
is the hope of his calling, riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the Saints. He wants you to

(05:12):
know what God has provided for you. So does anybody
in here want to know about your down payment? Anybody
in here want to know about your will? Anybody in
here wants to know what's been allocated to your account.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Well, that's what he wants.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
He wants the Saints to know what God has provided.
Notice this the surpassing greatness of his power toward us
who believe he wants us to know the surpassing greatness
of his power. Let me say that again. He wants
you and I to know the surpassing greatness of His power.

(05:46):
Notice what he didn't say. He didn't say he wants
you to know his power. He says he wants you
to know his surpassing greatness of his power. In other words,
he wants you to know superpower. He wants you not
average power, not academic power. He wants you to know
how God can flip things, flap things, turn things, twist things.

(06:09):
He wants you to know what it is when God
comes out of nowhere to bring something to somewhere in
your life.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
One of the things.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
Paul says should be a testimony of every Christian, and.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
It shouldn't be a rare thing. It should be something
you can be able to talk.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
About on a regular basis, is his surpassing greatness of
his power when he did something abnormal, when he did
something out of the ordinary, when he did something that's
downright ridiculous, when he did something that you couldn't bank on,
think about, plan for, or contemplate. He wants you to
understand what he says in chapter three, the height, the depth,

(06:49):
the breath. He wants you to see his surpassing power.
All right, So you're not supposed to be an average
human being. You're not supposed to be just a normal
run of the mill guy.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Girl.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
You're not supposed to be just like everybody else. You're
supposed to be able to talk about the surpassing power
of our great God. And guess what he says. That
surpassing power is in the will. It's part of your inheritance,
it's part of your bequeath. It's part of what he's
making available to all the saints.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
So if you're here, you're a saint, you belong to
Jesus Christ.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Today you are a candidate for surpassing power.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
You are a.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Candidate for not to be an average individual.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
Well, what does that look like? He goes even further.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
He says, the surpassing greatness of his power to those
who believe these are in accordance with the working of
the strain of his might, what he can do, which
he brought about in Christ. So now he wants to
illustrate what he means by surpassing power.

Speaker 2 (07:49):
Follow this which he brought about in.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated
him at the right hand in the heavenly places. He says,
you want to know what a passing Papa looks like.
He says, look at Jesus. Jesus was crucified, Jesus was
nailed to the cross. But Friday didn't determine where things

(08:14):
wound up circumstances. Look, Friday was a bad day for Jesus,
all right. It was a bad day physically. He was
beaten to a pope. It was a bad day Emotionally,
he cried tears and like blood, sweats of blood in
the garden of gas Simone. It was a really bad day. Spiritually,

(08:34):
he was separating from his father. My God, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? It was a bad day. Emotionally,
his posse, his homeboys, they left him, they ran away.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
They were nowhere to be found.

Speaker 1 (08:48):
He lost his friends, he lost his life, body beaten
to a pope, separated from his father. I called Friday
a bad day, But Friday wasn't the last day. It
was a bad day because, according to the verse, it
says the surpassing greatness of his power when he raised
Jesus up from the dead. In other words, God reversed

(09:12):
the day. It started off bad Friday, it wound up
awesome Sunday because God did a miracle in between Friday
and Sunday that raised up something that had totally died.
Now I know some of you came to church he
had beaten and broken. Some of it came this morning
emotionally beaten, physically beaten, attitude only beaten, spiritually beaten, relationally beaten.

Speaker 2 (09:37):
You've come broke down, beat.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Up, toe up from the flow up circumstances have not
been in your favor.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
But Paul says.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
I want you to know the surpassing greatness of his power.

Speaker 2 (09:50):
And it's the same power that.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
Was working when he raised Jesus Christ up from the dead,
or turned death in the life bad into good, worse
in the better. He flipped the script and turned things around,
and he ties it to the person of Jesus Christ.
Watch this now, because it gets gooder. He ties itto

(10:15):
Jesus Christ. He says he raised him from the dead,
seated him at the right hand in heavenly places. Oh,
it was enough to say he rose. I'd be happy
with that, But he said, that's not the end of
the story. We have a doctrine of the death, we
have a doctrine of the resurrection. What we're often lacking

(10:37):
is is a doctrine.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Of the ascension.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
After he rose from the dead, he stepped on a cloud,
as you recall, and was lifted up to the third
heaven and was seated at the right hand of the Father.
Now that may not sound like a lot, but that's
a whole lot. See in the Old Testament, when the
priest went into the presence of God, you'll find a
lot of furniture he won't find is a chair. In

(11:02):
other words, the priest couldn't sit down because his work
was never finished.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
So there was no provision for the.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Priest to sit when the priest was in the presence
of God because he wasn't finished. But on the cross,
Jesus said to tell us diy. That's the Greek word
that means it is finished or paid in full. In
other words, the work was so complete, Jesus, God told Jesus,
take a seat, you're finished. The work was completely finished.

(11:32):
Now that may sound good and all that, but that's
question is what does that got to do with me? Well,
remember he started this discussion with a statement, I want
you to know his surpassing power. I don't want you
to miss out on what the death and resurrection means
for you. That he came and met him in a
bad situation, he died, He raised him from the dead

(11:56):
and put him in a relaxed state.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
Way. He's not worry and he's not anxious.

Speaker 1 (12:01):
He's sitting at the right hand of the Father. You know,
I got mailed to me some time ago an American
airline advantage book. Now this tells me all the advantages
that come to me as a platinum flyer with American Airlines.

(12:21):
It is a book of benefits that accrue to me
because I am a platinum flyer with American Airlines.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
I threw the book on the side because I.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
Just wanted to fly when I needed to fly and
find and that's good and all that I never picked
up to look at the benefits. I just accepted what
I knew in my own head. I decided a few
days ago because I ran across it to thumb through
the book only to discover there are benefits that have
accrued to me that I was not aware of. There

(12:54):
were opportunities for me to take advantage of that I
was not using. They were upgrades that I had I
was unaware of, all because I failed to investigate what
my relationship offered. And because I failed to investigate what
my relationship offered, my inheritance from American Airlines was not

(13:16):
fully being experienced, realized, or utilized. I discovered the same
problem with my car. I have a basic belief. You
get in the car to drive it. There is a book,
an Owner's Manual, inside the glove compartment of my car.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
Have I ever read that owns man.

Speaker 1 (13:32):
You're absolutely not, because my only concern was getting in
starting it up, driving the where I need to go.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
But I've just stumbling through the book. I haven't even
ready yet.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
I just thumbed through it to discover that with pots
on my car, I didn't even know on there there
were things that my car can do. I didn't know
it could do, and I suddenly didn't know how to
do it all because I never picked up to investigate
all the privileges of the relationship that I have with
my automobile. It is unfortunate that Christians come to church

(14:03):
every Sunday and every Wednesday still functioning basic, not knowing
all the rights and privileges that is inheritance that God
has ordained and bequeathed in his will for all the
saints that involved God's surpassing power. See what the Cross

(14:24):
provides you and me is the opportunity to see what
God can do out of the normal, out of the regular,
out of the everyday ish of life, and how He
can invade the circumstances of life, just like He invaded
the tomb of Jesus when he died on the cross

(14:44):
and flip things around, turned them twist them, tweaked them
so that his mighty power.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
See a lot of us sing about his power, talk
about his power.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
A man is power, but we can't testify to his
power because we've never seen him flip, turn, twist, tweak
something so that he did something that was beyond human comprehension.
But he says, that's in your will. It's in your
will his super imposing power. Now, the Bible is basically

(15:18):
divided into two parts Old Testament, New Testament, Old Covenant,
New Covenant. In the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, they
were looking forward, they were looking futuristic. There was anticipation
of God's final provision. All the sacrifices, all the ceremonies

(15:39):
were in anticipation of God's entrance in the history. But
those of us who live today, in the New Covenant,
the New Testament, we look back. We look back to
the Cross as the basis for everything else God is
going to do too through and for you. It is

(16:00):
all tied to our relationship to the Cross. When you
lose sight of what happened there, you can't fully experience
it here. When you lose sight of what Jesus accomplished
on the Cross.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
You're gonna lose sight of.

Speaker 1 (16:17):
Your inheritance right now, and you're gonna be I'm gonna
be like every other human being, trying to make it,
trying to deal with it, doing the best I can. Okay,
he says, he wants you to know, thus surpassing power
of his greatness. So I just want to know. Is
anybody here who wants to know their inheritance? What has
been equeathed to them?

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Okay? Watch this? Now? Watch this?

Speaker 1 (16:40):
What did Jesus accomplish, he tells you in verse twenty,
which he brought about in Christ when he raised him
from the dead. See him at the right hand in
heavenly places. Watch this now, watch this far above all rule, authority,
power and dominion and every name that is named, not
only in this.

Speaker 2 (17:00):
Age but in the age to come.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Please notice he's talking about two time zones, this age
living right now, and the eternal age, the age that
is to come.

Speaker 2 (17:11):
So we're not just talking about heaven.

Speaker 1 (17:13):
We're talking about what Jesus is accomplishing today on our behalf,
in this age, living right here, in the nasty here
and now. Now, why I says, He says, Jesus Christ
was seated after the assension, far above all rule, authority,
dominion and power. Okay, I said that too fast. Jesus

(17:37):
Christ is now sitting far above all rule, authority, dominion,
and power.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
In other words, no matter.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
How high anybody in your world is, they are not
the final authority because there is somebody sitting far above
all ruler, authority, dominion, and power, Which means whatever you're
dealing with, whoever you're dealing with, does not have the

(18:13):
last say. Why Because however big they are, however mighty
they are, there is somebody sitting not above, far above,
way higher than all rule, authority, dominion, and power. Well,
if one man in one city can affect the nation

(18:34):
and the world politically, what do you think the king
of kings and the lord of lords can do sitting high,
far above all rule and all authority. Now that changes
my perspective because that means what you say is our word,
it's not the last word. What you think is our thought,

(18:55):
it's not the last thought. What I say is a word,
but it's not the final word. Because I know somebody,
and you know somebody who is now seated in the
executive chair, far above all rule, authority, and no millionaire power,
which is why you can't afford deliver a depressed life,
because you know somebody who can overrule somebody who look

(19:20):
like they're ruling you. You know somebody who can overrule
a circumstance that right now looks like it's ruling you
because you know somebody who's far above all rule, authority, dominion,
and power. Okay, you know somebody listen to this, who
has final authority. You know somebody who has veto power.

(19:46):
All right, Okay, let me clarify something. Let me clarify
the difference between power and authority. You need to know
the difference because there's a difference. Authority has to do
with the right to use power. Okay, authority is the
right to use power.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
You've heard me say it. Let me say again.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
Refrees are not the strongest men on the football field.
They're not the strongest men on the football field. They're
not the fastest. They're older, slower, and fatter. Okay, I
mean that's the way it is. But when they throw
out the yellow flag, the bigger people have to stop.

(20:31):
The faster people have to slow down. They shut the
whole thing down, because why they don't have their power.
They have greater authority. In other words, the authority overrules
the power the fact that the men are bigger and faster. Look,
you may be driving a faster car and you may
be a bigger man, but if you see those lights

(20:51):
behind you, you better pull over because the fact that
you have a newer, faster car becomes irrelevant when the
authority is by behind you. See, authority overrules power. You
can't overrule the devil by power. He's a spirit being
and by sheer strength, you're gonna lose every time. But

(21:12):
when it comes to authority, that's a different story. See
a lot of people are looking for the wrong thing.
They're looking for power. When you need to exercise authority,
that's different. And the reason why we're losing more than
winning is that we're looking for power and not the
rightful use of authority.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
And it's authority.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
To come on, turn your Bibles of Colossians chapter two.
I don't want you to miss this Colossians chapter two.
Let me show you about the cross and how it
relates to all this.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
Verse thirteen.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, he made you alive together with him
having forgiven us of our transgressions, having canceled out the
certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which were
hostile to us. And he has taken it out of

(22:04):
the way, having nailed it to the cross. When disarmed
the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them,
having triumphed over them through him. Therefore, let no one
is to act as your judge in regard to food
and drink, or in respect to a festival or new
moon or Sabbath day, things that are mishadow of what
is to come, but the substance belonging to Christ. Now

(22:26):
watch this, he says he forgave your transgressions. Watch this now,
and the certificate of ordinances were canceled that had been
written against you.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
When he nailed it to the cross. Now watch this now.
That's taken from a Roman tradition.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
In Rome, if you were incarcerated for a crime, they
would put you in lock up. Then they would write
a certificate of decrees. These were the crimes you were
guilty of. This man is in prison because he killed, raped, murdered, stole,

(23:08):
whatever it was. There would be this registered certification of
your actions that caused you to be incarcerated. That was
the certificate your of sins that you had committed that
was causing you to be on lockdown. But the text
says on the Cross, Jesus Christ ripped up the certificate

(23:35):
that was against you. Now, why do you need to
know Jesus Christ ripped them up at the cross, because
that's the certificate that the devil uses to keep God
from acting on your behalf. God, you can't do anything
for Tony Evans because he did.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
This, this, this, this, this, to which Jesus can say, yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
But this, this, this, this, and this was a rest
at the cross. So you can't use this, this, this,
this and this to stop me from doing this, this, this,
this and this because I've already canceled this, this, this, this,
and this on the cross. You can't use that to
hol himn hostage. But if you don't know what the

(24:17):
cross is canceled, okay, let me help you, Let me
help you, let me help you.

Speaker 2 (24:22):
Great.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
On the Cross, it says, Jesus Christ tore down the
rulers and the authorities in heavenly places, so Satan now
has to come at you with and unloaded God. But
he's not gonna tell you that. He wants you to
think you you never gonna make it. He wants you
to think you're never gonna overcome. He wants you to

(24:44):
think you're always gonna be defeated. He wants you to
think you're never gonna have victory. He wants you to
think depressions came down in your family and it's there,
come down to you, and you're never gonna improve. He's
gonna want you to think that, like your daddy, like
your granddaddy, like your mama, like your grandmama, you're just
destined for failure. And you're looking at that gun and saying, yeah, yeah,

(25:05):
stick them up, Stick them up, Stick them up. Jesus
wants you to know that no bullets and that God
that he was disarmed. It says he was disarmed at
the cross. Satan, his demons and his human followers are

(25:29):
not the last word. Your boss is not the last word.
The economy is not the last word. Your circumstances are
not the last word. High above all rule and authority,
Jesus Christ sits his roller. Am I saying that you
should have no problems? I'm saying no, I'm just saying,

(25:51):
like Jesus, even though you have problems, God wants you
to teach you.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
You to walk on water, not drown in water.

Speaker 1 (25:57):
He wants you to be on top of it, not
it on top of you. And see that gives you
something to praise Him for. See, in the middle of
a bad situation, your first motivation shouldn't be the complaint.
It should be the praise. Praise what that This is
not the last word. Now it's our word. It's a

(26:19):
bad word, but it ain't the final word because I
know somebody high and above all rule and authority who
gets to make the last call on this matter. You See,
this changes your whole approach to life. See when you
relate back to the cross that Jesus. That's why it

(26:41):
says in Revelation twelve, verse eleven, they overcame him by
the blood. That's a cross. They overcame him because they
never lost sight that that cross means devil and demons
and even your human followers who bring in hell in
my life. All y'all are not the last word? Are

(27:02):
y'all not the last word? You are not You know
you are not to live in defeat. Yeah, you're gonna
have moments you're gonna have second. You may have some days,
but I'm not supposed to define your life. Not when
there's somebody high above or rule, authority, dominion, and power
who has the last say soul, And until he said so,

(27:24):
it ain't so until he gives the final word on
the subject. See it that. That's why you don't have
to live an intimidated life, especially with people.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Listen, man with me. If you're not supposed to let the.

Speaker 1 (27:41):
Devil intimidate you, and you can't even see him eat
and stick up on you, if you can't not even
let the death, how you gonna let any of the
devil's folk intimidate you? Respect All people be intimidated by
no man. Because you know a man who says hi
above a rule, authority, power, and dominion. Because the cross

(28:05):
canceled out the certificate that was written against you, it's been.

Speaker 2 (28:10):
Canceled, paid in full.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
That's why the Bible says, when you know the truth,
the truth will set you're free. And that's why the
Bible said, the devil is a liar because he wants
you to bleed. The liar is the truth. Because if
you bleed, the liar is the truth. You'll function on
the lie and you won't get the benefits of the truth.
And the truth, of course, is always based on God's word,
That's authority.

Speaker 2 (28:34):
Are you hearing me today? What God wants you to.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Know is that what that cross has provided is victory
over your enemies. And Jesus Christ is seeing you say,
but that's good for Jesus, But what about me? Turn
back to Ephesians, Turn back to Ephesians. Just want to
give you last word? Can I give you last word? Ephesians,
Chapter two, verse six, just to remind you.

Speaker 2 (28:55):
I know you know it. Verse five.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Even when we were dead in our transgressions, he made
us live together with Christ.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
By grace.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
You have been saved and raised us up with him
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has some chance beside him, and.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
One of them is your us.

Speaker 1 (29:17):
It says, we have been spiritually relocated.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
Here it is. Here's the problem. Here's the problem.

Speaker 1 (29:24):
You say, why am I not having any victory? Because
you don't know where you're seated, So you're still sitting
on earth, so you're functioning like an earth ling. Okay,
he says, spiritually. Not physically physically you all on earth,
but spiritually you have been seated with Christ in heavenly
place us. And where is Christ seated far above all rule, authority, dominion,

(29:49):
and power.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
He's seated up there.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
You are seated with Him, which means you must approach
life spiritually in order to.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Get spiritual authority.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
If you want spiritual authority, you've got to do it
from that seat up there. You can't do it from
this seat down here. But people will come into this
seat in here and go out there and live by
that seat that is on earth. Earth's seat doesn't give
you authority. It makes you like any other human being.
But when you operate on Christ's view of a matter,

(30:21):
when you operate by divide authority, which is taken away
the devil and its emissary authority over your life, then
you can speak with authority until God gives.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
The last word.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
That's why, when God shows me something that I'm convinced
that God has shown me, the fact that people have
said no becomes an irrelevant discussion. The fact that people
say it can't happen, that becomes an irrelevant conclusion until
I get final word from the one who says far
above all rule and authority and no millionay power.

Speaker 2 (30:56):
This discussion is still open.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
This has not cut. It may be closed for you
for now. It changes your whole approach to life. You walk,
you don't walk in defeat, you walk in victory because it's.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
Far above all ruling authority. Now, how's this different from.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Name and claimant? Because you know you got name a
claimant out here, I name it and claim. You can't
claim what you name. You can only claim what he's approved. Okay,
you just can't be making up stuff along the way.
That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about spiritual
authority over anything the devil wants to keep you from
experiencing as part of your legitimate heritage as a Christian.

(31:40):
And we're gonna talk about some of those blessings as
we go along. You know how, I'm in a football
and it came home the other day. You know, my
first station is always Direct TV two twelve, NFL network, Okay,
the station that all real men look at. And so

(32:03):
I turned it on and they were showing a game
between the Saint Louis Rams and the New England Patriots
be Shore this game, So I'm sitting there and I'm
watching the football game, and the game is getting ready
to come on. The announcer comes on and says, we're

(32:25):
getting ready to show the replay of this game between
the Saint Louis Rams the New England Patriots and how
the New England Patriots came back to win and overrule
the onslaught of the Saint Louis Rams, which means, before
the game has begun, I know where it's ending. See,

(32:48):
I know where this thing is going because I've been
told on the front end what the back end is
going to look like. So now I'm sitting there watching
the game unfold, but I know where it's going.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
So even though.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
There was some fumbles, I know where this is going.
Even though there were some interceptions by the h Brady
through some interceptions that was bad, I still know where
this is going. Even though there was some mess up
and some sacks. I'm not all. I ain't getting off
shook up, and I ain't getting off because I've already
been told by the announcer where this thing is going.

(33:26):
So while it's going there, there are some bumps. While
it's going there, there are some failures. Why it's going there,
there are some defeats, but those failures and defeat don't
define where things are gonna wind up, because I've already
been told in advance by the announcer where this thing
is going. What God has done is he's told you

(33:47):
in advance where this thing is going. I have already
defeated him. I've already decapitated him.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
I've already overruled him.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, he beat you yesterday, but that's not where this
thing is going, because I have superimposing power to raise
you up. Yeah, it looks like the recession is in control.
But I said, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or
their seed begging bread. My God shall supply all your
needs according to reason. I told you where this thing

(34:18):
is going. When you pray, Oh Lord, the devil's beating me.
That's not that's half a prayer. You gotta finish that prayer.
The devil's beating me. But you told me back at
Calvary where this thing is going, and you promised me,
greater is he that's in me, that he that's in
the world. Stop half praying to God giving him half
of the story. They beat me up at the child,

(34:41):
They beat me up at home, my kids beat me up,
my maids beat me up. The e comis beat me up.
Hey help me in Jesus name. Amen, what kind of
praying is that. That's a prayer from somebody who think
Jesus is still hanging on the cross. He's been raised
from the dead. He's seated on the right hand side
of the Father. You can now come in with athority,

(35:02):
even though the rulers seem powerful, because authority over rules power.
Somebody ought to bless him because you came in here defeated,
but you're gonna leave here in victory. You came in
here lost, but you're gonna leave foul because now you
know who you are because of a cross which has
defeated the evil one. Bless his name in here the day,

(35:25):
even if you have a bad reek. Bless his name,
even if you had a bad day. Bless his name,
even though your money is funny. Bless his name, even
though you're struggling in some area. Bless his name, because
he's already told you where this thing is going. In fact,
I just want to pray for you and celebrate with you,

(35:46):
because you heard today that Jesus Christ has already defeated
the enemy he's taking the bullets out of the gun.
And now he can only rule by intimidation, because greater
is he that's in you. You're no longer a victim.
You're going to be a vig dog. And what he
is postured for you won't happen. It will not have
the final word. It has to go through his hands

(36:09):
first