Claiming Your Legal Rights – Sermon by Tony Evans

When life’s problems begin to multiply and you start to buckle beneath the weight of trials and tribulations, the Bible says to “pray and not to lose heart.” In order to help us better understand perseverance through prayer, Jesus tells us the parable of the persistent widow. In this message, Tony Evans will walk you through this parable along with its unique concepts that will give you a whole new perspective on prayer. Claiming Your Legal Rights – Sermon by Tony Evans #prayer #sermon #TonyEvans

faith must always precede sight

once you put sight in front of faith

you’ve negated faith

faith is based on what you do not see

if you’ve got to see it first you won’t

see it

the euphemism of walking in the bible

means to live according to because

you’re moving with the mind of christ

you’re not just doing that on sunday

morning when it’s church time because he

wants to know that you want him so if

you’re in distress don’t let that drive

you away draw you near

closer

so that you’re like jacob and say i’m

not gonna let you go

until you answer me so welcome to the

file

[Music]

when you get close and want to live for

him want to please him want to honor him

want to exalt him want to draw near to

him then heaven opens up and he lets you

find him

he lets you find it

welcome to the fire

[Music]

jesus tells a story in luke 18.

and it’s a powerful powerful story

he begins by saying in verse 1

to his followers

men should always pray and not faint

so to understand why he told them

men

are not uh to faint

but to bash themselves in prayer

you have to understand the verse that

precedes it at the end of the last

chapter chapter 17.

in chapter 17 the last verse he answered

and said to him where lord and he said

where the body is there is also the

vultures will be gathered where the body

is

the vultures will be gathered now men

ought to always pray and not faint what

does praying and not failing have to do

with

dead bodies and vultures

when you’ve watched television and

you’ve seen somebody die in a

tepid place you’ve seen somebody lose

their lives

the vultures gather around death

they can smell death

and when they smell death they descend

upon the deceased carcass of a person or

of an animal because that is their realm

they are in the realm of death

so watch this now

where there is death jesus says

you will attract

vultures

so let me put it in everyday language

where there is

the absence of god demons take up the

space

where there is the absence of god

vultures come in the demonic realm

descends because that’s their world

their world is the world of death

and so if there’s death if you’re living

in the realm of death in your personal

life

you don’t have to go find demons they

can sniff it out

in our culture what you’re seeing

happening in our culture today

are vultures descending

on a dying society

because they can smell it they can

detect it

and so where death is

vultures accumulate

so this is becoming very important he

says

because you and i live in the realm of

death

and therefore in the realm of the

demonic the vultures

men are to always pray and not faint

the reason you need prayer is that your

environment in which you live is full of

vultures

the environment in which you live is

filled with that

which is been attracted by the evil in

the life or in the society so the

demonic realm the spiritual realm the

vultures descend on that environment so

in order to counteract that

rather than quit throwing the towel

he says what i want you to do is pray

and not faint

okay don’t throw in the towel just

because the vultures are all around

don’t quit just because the stench is in

the air what you do to nullify

and to counteract that do not faint

instead

pray

now

he now tells a story

to define what he means by pray

and he throws a concept in this story

that’s different than most of our

prayers

so follow the story

there is a widow in the bible

the widow and the orphan were the lowest

on the social

ladder they were

typically poor

defenseless

and alone

we have a widow

she comes to a

judge and tells the judge to help her

out

because

there is somebody who is a gangster

verse 33 my opponent

from whom i need legal protection

now we’re told this judge had no regard

for god

and no regard for man

he cared about money

but he had the office of a judge

so this desperate widow

comes in the name of the law

to a person who’s supposed to uphold the

law

and say please give me legal protection

keep me

from the attack

that is coming against me

by my opponent

so

the judge now

says

even though i do not fear god at the end

of verse

4

and i don’t respect man

yet because this widow bothers me

because this woman

is getting on my nerves

well this woman was nagging him meaning

she’s tracking him

but she’s doing more than that

because at the end of verse 5 we read

otherwise by continually coming

she will wear me out

if i don’t do something about this woman

that’s driving me crazy

she’s going to ruin my reputation

and since i care about me and my

reputation

for that sake

he says

i am going to give her verse 5

legal protection

now that’s the story that’s the

situation

jesus then

enters into the story and says in verse

6

hear what the unrighteous judge said

not what the woman said

hear what the unrighteous judge said in

other words

he’s talking to his followers y’all

better pay attention to that judge

you better listen carefully to that

judge

what what you want us to learn from that

judge he tells you

in uh verse seven and eight

now will not god

bring about justice for his elect who

cry to him day and night

and and will he delay long over them i

tell you

that he will bring about justice for

them quickly

however when the son of man comes will

he find faith

on

the earth

here’s the word you want to catch

the word legal

and the word justice

legal and the word justice

the woman didn’t go to the judge and

just say help me out

she went to the judge and said help me

out according to the law

she wanted legal protection

she wasn’t just coming as like somebody

to a friend

she’s saying the law is on my side

you represent the law

and even though you are an unjust judge

i want just this

even though you don’t like god you don’t

like people you do like the law

so

however you feel about me

look at your law book

because however you feel about me you

are obligated to what the law book says

and based on

the judge being nagged the judge

reputation

and based on the law

the judge gave her legal protection

jesus takes the story

and then spends it if an unrighteous

judge

who doesn’t care about

god or people

is that concerned about his rep

how much do you think god is concerned

about his reputation

if you can nag an evil man

into doing the right thing

because he’s concerned about his

reputation

what do you think about god who has an

impeccable reputation and who doesn’t

want anybody to mess it up

so when you pray

pray with god’s reputation in mind

when you pray

and you ask god for something you want

him to do for you

after you make that

request tell him what he will get out of

it

because god exists for his own glory

and when god sees what you want from

for you

will also rebound to greater glory for

him

he’s much more interested in your

request because he’s concerned about his

reputation

so the bigger

he benefits

the more involved he is in your prayer

because he’s concerned about his

reputation

now let me tell you something else he’s

concerned about justice

he says

he says

will not

god bring about

justice for his elect

justice is the right thing

will he not do the right thing

now

justice has to have a standard you you

can’t have justice unless you have a

standard of right and wrong okay without

a standard

it’s just whatever you want it to be

a standard gives you a a measure by

which to measure justice now

justice is tied to a law because it’s

tied to a standard

so if you don’t know the law then you

can’t appeal for justice

or if you rebel against the law then

you’re on the wrong side of justice when

you come under the law then you’re on

the right side of justice

the lady the widow wanted legal

protection

she wanted

justice

the judge was not just but the law was

god is just

and so is his word

because his word is his standard

when you’re on the right side of his

word

you’re on the right side of answered

prayer

god is obligated to his word so i’m

going to give you another secret

first secret was pray for his glory

what’s god going to get out of it if he

answers your prayer

but the second thing is throw god’s word

up in his face

you can literally go to god and say but

you said it

but you said

and i’m holding you to your word because

he is faithful that promise the

scripture says

so when you are praying regularly

for god’s glory

based on the justice of his word he

gives a staggering promise

his promise is

that he will not delay

long over them

and he will bring about justice

quickly

but he says if you pray with my

reputation in mind

according to my word

for me to deal with an illegitimate

because it was an opponent it was an

illegitimate thing something

illegitimate coming at you

then i will move quickly

now

when god answers prayer a couple of

things have to happen

your preparation with his purpose

him preparing you

and then his his purpose

when those two cross

and his reputation was prioritized based

on his word

you can expect and should expect

him to come out of nowhere to address

that which is illegitimately opponent

coming against you

but the key is

it’s legal

it’s a legal thing

it’s it’s the law it’s the law of the

spiritual realm the law of the spiritual

realm is that god must move in some way

against something or someone that is

illegitimately coming against you when

his glory has been prioritized and his

word has been utilized then all of a

sudden keep your eyes open for

quickly

that is unexpected out of nowhere where

did that come from last minute i don’t

particularly like this

but god loves to do things at the last

minute and the reason he often leaves

answered prayer blank until the last

second is so there’s no question mark

about where this came from

about where this came from

now that leads to a second lady

turn back a few pages to chapter 13

verse 10.

and he was teaching in one of the

synagogues on the sabbath

and there was a woman

who for 18 years had a sickness caused

by a spirit and she was bent double and

could not straighten up at all

oh wait a minute she bent over in church

because it said she was in the synagogue

so that’s church

so girlfriend is going every saturday to

church and church ain’t straightened up

when jesus saw her

he called her over and said to her woman

you are freed from your sickness

he laid his hands on her

and all his work quickly immediately

she was made erect again and began

glorifying god

amen now

you mean to tell me 18 years was fixed

in a minute

that’s what it means by being addressed

quickly

okay but what addressed it it wasn’t a

preacher wasn’t sermon it was the quiet

it was a touch from jesus

jesus called her so what did she do she

came to jesus she didn’t just go to

church

second thing when she came to jesus she

got a touch from jesus

and when she got a touch from jesus

she stood up straight

all of a sudden

18 years was overridden

in a day

because when god moves it don’t take

that long

okay when god moves immediately

supernaturally it doesn’t take that long

so i put this in this parenthesis when

you come to church

look for jesus not the pastor

when you come to church look for jesus

not the choir

you want you hunting for jesus

because only he can straighten folk up

they’ve been shook up toe up from the

flow up for 18 years

oh but it gets deeper

it’s getting ready to get deep on you he

says

the synagogue official that’s a senior

pastor

indignant

because jesus had healed her on the

sabbath

began saying to the crowd in response

there are six days in which work should

be done

so come during them and get healed not

on the sabbath

we don’t heal folk on saturday

but the lord said to him here it is

you hypocrites

does not each of you on the sabbath

untie his donkey and his ox and his

donkey from the stall and lead him away

to water him

and this woman are

a daughter of abraham

as she is

whom satan has bound for 18 years should

she not have been released

from this bond on the sabbath day so

here it is

for 18 years she’s bent over

but it’s not a medical condition

it says satan has her bent over for 18

years

it showed up medically

but it wasn’t caused medically it was

caused spiritually but it affected her

posture her medical condition see one of

the reasons that we can’t shake things

that are wrong in our lives is we

haven’t figured out what the real cause

is and so the doctor can’t fix it the

budget people can’t fix it the

counselors can’t fix it and we bent over

with this problem that we can’t shake

even though we go to church not

realizing it was caused by the devil and

kept by the devil and can only be cured

spiritually

so we look for everything but the

supernatural and the spiritual to fix

what the devil has caused and trust me

if the devil caused it only jesus can

fix it

now he goes deeper he says now the

reason we could free this lady up

is because she a daughter of abraham

jesus just went legal

and relational

the head of the officials

went legal

she shouldn’t be healed on the sabbath

the sabbath is in the law

it’s the law of moses

lord moses keep the sabbath holy

jesus says all but

she’s a daughter of abraham

he one-upped him

because abraham trumps moses

the mosaic law

had legislation

but the abrahamic covenant had a promise

and the bible says

when the promise arose

moses was no longer necessary

galatians 3 29 talking to christians

says you are all heirs of abraham

and the promises of christ jesus

so every believer male and female here

you are not under the law of moses

you’re under the covenant of abraham

and under the covenant of abraham come

certain rights and privileges

the covenant of abraham was continued by

jesus christ not the law of moses so

christ is the end of the law to those

who place faith in him for salvation so

now you skip moses and now you can link

back to abraham because now you are a

son or daughter of what the bible calls

the new covenant which is connected to

the abrahamic promise not the mosaic law

see if you live by the mosaic law you’re

going to live negatively and miserably

not because the law is bad the law is

good but what the good law does is it

incites romans 7 evil in us but what the

promise does is it lifts you up over the

law so that you keep the law by promise

and not because of a set of rules that

are being written out for you so what he

is saying is i could heal this woman

overnight because of her spiritual

connection to abraham well wait a minute

she had been in church for 18 years and

had never made the connection

so what’s the bottom line you got a

right to be victorious

you got a right to be delivered you got

a right to overcome

it’s your right to tell the devil go to

hell it’s your right to tell the devil

he’s not going to control you anymore

it’s your right to tell satan who’ve

been messing with you for five years 10

years 15 years 20 years you can’t rule

me no more why because i’m in christ

christ is connected to abraham that’s

the abrahamic covenant i am a son or

daughter of that regime so you have no

right to me you are a son or daughter of

abraham and that means you got a right

to be free you got a right to be

victorious you’ve got a right to be

delivered you don’t have to limit

yourself to what people say

circumstances say what’s what situations

say cause you tied to abraham because

he’s tied to jesus and you’re in christ

jesus you got a right to victory

so you need to start talking

i got a problem but jesus

i got an addiction but jesus

i got a circumstance but jesus i got a

fear but jesus when you bring the

covenant of abraham in

god can wipe out 18 years

in a day

because that’s how good he is

when you come to him

[Music]

[Music]

did you know it’s time to take the devil

to court

you see what he does is he he brings up

a case against us

that’s why he’s called the accuser

because he’s accusing us

and his goal of accusing us

is to cause us to lose fellowship with

god

so that god’s purposes cannot be

fulfilled in our lives

he wants to detour us from what god has

planned

for our lives

but guess what you’ve been taking the

court

because you have an advocate jesus

christ

who stands in as your defense attorney

and who credits his own righteousness

to your account and mine

which gives us victory in the court of

heaven

there’s so much in the bible about a

legal aspect covenants and laws and

judges and rulings

and judgments and all of those illegal

languages

and if you understand that we defeat the

devil legally

so when you pray and take it to court

that is when you appeal

to

the legal

transaction that took place on calvary

when jesus says it is finished that

means the bill has been paid in full

and that now jesus christ stands in

to give testimony on your behalf in

defense of you

even when the devil’s accusations are

correct

because god can take the righteousness

of christ and use it to defend you

against the evil one who wants to thwart

and destroy

and limit

what god has planned for your life

so you no longer have to live under

satanic threat

and satanic deception

that’s why we need to stay in god’s

presence confessing and repenting our

sins which actually activates the blood

of christ on our behalf

so that now we can show up in court and

even though his accusations may be

accurate

by mercy at the bench

where

the judge sits so

i want to challenge you to take the

devil to court

to go to god’s presence in prayer

with your advocate jesus christ

and a repentant heart

and watch god flip the script

turn things around and dismiss the devil

case dismissed why

because

you had an advocate and you had a

relationship

and you communicated with god and got

the defense that you need

to release you

from judgment

god bless you in court it’s going to be

exciting to hear

case dismissed

[Music]

when you’re in the spirit

but the bible calls the spirit a wind

a wind it blows

my opinion nobody’s opinion when it

conflicts with god

is to be considered as truth the bible

says let god be true and every man a

liar

mother nature doesn’t work without daddy

god

that’s because truth

they’re the just

because if it comes from god it’s truth

because god has absolute standard by

which reality is measured

you