Override Addictions – Tony Evans Sermon

Dr. Evans explains why our efforts at self-improvement usually fail, and he reveals how we can break the cycle that keeps us trapped. Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.

many of God’s children are spiritual

POWs prisoners of war trapped in a sin

that they have been unable to break

trapped in a situation that is contrary

to the will and word of God from which

they have not been able to escape

whether it is alcoholism or drugs or

pornography or gluttony or profanity

whether it is lashing out in anger and

wrath and inability to control one’s

temper they find themselves caught and

unable to get out there is a whole

addiction industry today to help people

get out of the vice grip that is holding

them illegitimately hostage and what

many are discovering is that going to

church hadn’t solved their problem

praying hasn’t released them from it I

want to talk about the consequence of

addiction that shreds minds ruin Souls

kills relationships because you find

yourself caught and even if that’s not

you there is somebody in your circle of

influence who finds themselves addicted

the biblical word for what the world

calls addiction is stronghold because

the biblical word stronghold is

referring to the spiritual nature of the

addiction a stronghold is a spiritually

based addiction which means if you try

to feel fix an addiction which is really

a stronghold without the right spiritual

connection you can’t be released from it

because you haven’t dealt with the core

issue that’s behind it so you just deal

with the thing itself in your kitchen

whether you have a refrigerator or stove

or an electric can-opener or a toaster

or whatever appliance you have all of

them are different but they all find

their power from the same source

electricity regardless of your

addictions it would take us forever to

talk about this addiction in that

addiction in this addiction in that

addiction in this other addiction

because they are they come in by the

dozens but I would like to submit to you

that they all emanate from a common

source so if we can get to the common

source we can apply that source to the

uniqueness of the particular spiritual

addiction / stronghold that needs to be

addressed we’re living in a time when

people find themselves stuck now my

concern is not for the person who’s

stuck and wants to be because I can help

you

if you’re in an addiction and you want

to stay addicted all the facts and

figures and truth and Bible can’t change

something you are pursuing but I am

speaking to those who are or who know

someone who is caught in a sin no

they’re caught doesn’t want to be caught

but doesn’t know how to get out they are

trapped in some scenario for which they

cannot find release and so this issue of

illegitimate bondage must have a

spiritual understanding underpinning it

for full release to occur so let’s

review again what we’re referring to as

we move forward we’re referring to a

spiritually based trap in some category

of life that has been inculcated with

negative patterns of thought that like a

snake has wrapped itself around the mind

making something seem impossible to

break or to fix because you feel

handcuffed to it or it feels handcuffed

to you it is seeing something as

unchangeable that is outside of the will

and the word of God

most people have run into something in

their lives sometimes they’re big

sometimes they are small that is of less

consequence but yet addictions have a

way of growing

they have built into them gateway

potential the capacity to expand

themselves in our lives and in our

circumstances when you are in an

addiction or better yet a spiritual

addiction or stronghold you feel like

you’re in a tomb a prison and somebody

has thrown away the key what many people

seek to do with this stronghold that

they’re battling is to accepted as an

inevitable reality and the best they

hope to do with it is to decorate their

cell since it’s never going to change at

least let me make my addiction as

pleasant as possible other people settle

for what we might call sin management

since I’m never gonna get rid of it let

me do like a trash masher let me just

press it down and pretend it’s not there

which only creates room for more trash

and so they just try to manage it the

best way they can but today I want to

try to give a biblical mechanism for

deliverance predicated on an

understanding that Christians can find

themselves in strongholds like

non-christians

you don’t have to be saved for long to

know that when you got saved your flesh

didn’t disappear some of our flesh was

so well trained when we weren’t saved

that when we got saved the flesh looked

at that as a new opportunity to show

house

strong it really is even the most

spiritual person in the New Testament

the Apostle Paul struggled with

something he couldn’t shake in Romans

chapter 7 verses 14 to 24 Paul says he

was doing things he did not want to do

he said he told himself you shouldn’t do

it

he said the Willie was there I was

really serious but the ability to pull

it off what I kept promising God I’m not

gonna do it again I kept promising God I

struggled between my flesh and my

salvation and the two were not getting

along when Jesus raised Lazarus from the

dead and gave him life the Bible says he

came up from his tomb

tied up in his hands and his feet

just because he had life didn’t mean he

was free Jesus had to say y’all gotta

lose him and let him go I gave him life

but he means freedom so it is possible

to have come to Christ have eternal life

and still not yet be free from whatever

the stronghold or spiritual addiction

happens to be and so this thing called

stronghold spiritual addictions is

spiritual slavery in some category of

life which is why he calls it in verse

14 a slave to sin if you a slave that

means you could have a master he calls

the master sin he doesn’t call it a bad

habit he doesn’t call it a mistake he

doesn’t call it something that you know

you need to just get over he calls it

something that is in antithesis to the

will and

word of god so let’s call the addiction

whatever category it is what it is no

you don’t just have a struggle

you got a sin master no you didn’t just

make a mistake over and over and over

again you had a master called sin

because if you don’t know who your

master is

then you won’t address it for what it is

he calls it slavery being under the whip

of an entity that he calls sin how does

this stronghold or spiritual addiction

whatever category it is occur because

understanding the cause will lead us to

the cure when you’re sick and you go to

the doctor he’s going to try to find the

cause so he can give you the right cure

many of us are trying to cure the wrong

cause so we’re medicating something

that’s not the problem and wonder why

we’re not getting healthier spiritually

to understand this stay with me here I

want you to follow me to second

Corinthians chapter 10 and we all need

this either for ourselves or for someone

else and so it is critical that you

understand their second corinthians

chapter 10 verse 2 says i asked that

when i am present i need not to be bold

with the confidence with which i propose

to be courageous against some who regard

us

as if we walked according to the flesh

for though we walk in the flesh we do

not war according to the flesh for the

weapons of our warfare are not the flesh

but divinely powerful for the

destruction of fortresses we are

destroying speculations and every lofty

thing raised up against the knowledge of

God and we are taking every thought

captive to the obedience of Christ the

problem of addiction a sin that has

mastered you or us or me the problem of

addiction has to do with a lofty thing

okay you see that phrase he says this

lofty thing in verse five has been

raised up against the knowledge of God

so let me define the lofty thing the

Greek word lofty a synonym for it is

partition you go to a room we have

classrooms that have a partition down

the middle you can open it or you can

close it if we want to have two

classrooms in the same space we closed

the petition this petition is lofty it

goes from the floor to the ceiling and

we close it to divide the room so that

we can have two separate classes as

opposed to having one bigger class so we

divide it through a lofty thing now the

reason we divide the room is so the

information in this half of the room

doesn’t cross over to the meeting if

that happened

we want the content to be separated so

that one room is not interfering with

another room what Paul is saying is the

reason why we stay defeated is because

of our partition in the mind there is a

blockage in the mind

he says speculations and thoughts raised

up petitioned out against the knowledge

of God so what the enemy does is he sets

up a partition in the mind so that the

truth of God can’t get through and

because he partials off your thinking

your speculation and your thoughts no

matter how many sermons you hear it

can’t cross over to the other room

because the other room is filled with

contradictory information that the enemy

doesn’t want the knowledge of God to

cross over into he calls this other

information in the other half of the

room your personal mind because that

information knowledge and speculation

against the knowledge of God so the

lofty thing is contradicting what God

says what God’s thinks so that it

doesn’t go all the way through so what

happens is that the enemy is able to

keep the truth of God from fully

infiltrating your thought patterns so

that you have victory one moment and

defeat another moment this blocking

through a lofty thing keeps what he

calls in verse four the fortress prison

or tomb operating so the moment you

think you getting out you find out you

still in

because it didn’t cross over it did the

partition made sure it didn’t cross over

now the biblical word for this lofty

thing is double mindedness double

mindedness double – mind thought

thinking in two different directions at

the same time partition it is the job of

Satan to keep you thinking in two ways

at the same time he doesn’t mind you

getting God’s thoughts on Sunday as long

as in the other room

you have his thoughts on Monday because

if he can get you to have God’s thoughts

on Sunday but get his thoughts on Monday

he can keep God’s thoughts from

penetrating the hole of you therefore

God’s thoughts don’t last long because

they’re in competition it’s like if you

if you go to Sweet Georgia Brown

because you want some soul food you go

to Sweet Georgia Brown you come to the

end of the line and order a diet coke

hoping that somehow that will cancel out

all the sugar and grease at Sweet

Georgia Brown you just feel better

because you ordered a diet coke

after greens and fried chicken and fried

ribs and mac and cheese and potato salad

then sweet potato pie but give me a diet

coke what a lot of folks think is having

diet church on Sunday after having

incorporated the other world view all

week long somehow that diet worship will

override and give you victory he says no

you’re operating with a partition and

that partition cancels out the knowledge

of God making it in capable of your mind

being able to take every thought captive

to the obedience to Christ so the prison

the fortress doesn’t get dismantled and

after a while we get too tired of trying

to dismantle it we get too tired of

trying to get I’m too tired of fighting

this thing so the best I can do is put

pictures on the wall of myself I’m in

this I’m gonna die like this it’s go

always be like this so I’m just gonna I

do the best I can or manage it the best

I can

so in order for the penetration of God’s

truth to bring victory in the area of

the stronghold due to the vise grip of

sin that has been amplified by Satan and

demons in order for that to be overcome

that wall must be taken down in order

that the fortress the prison might be

destroyed not remodeled and the tricky

part of this the tricky part is that the

other part of the room the part that’s

not from God feels right a lot of the

time it reminds me of Matthew 16

beginning in verse 21 Jesus Jesus is

telling the disciples look he says look

I got to go dive rise from the dead

Peter says come in come in Jesus you and

I got to have a conversation Peter takes

Jesus to the side and says God forbid it

Lord what you just said Jesus you are

wrong you off and you’re off watch this

in the name of God he says I’m gonna use

God on you Jesus you really got to be

good to use God on Jesus I’m gonna use

God on you god forbid what you just said

what you just said it’s not gonna happen

and just to keep it spiritual Lord what

you just said it’s not gonna happen Lord

Jesus said get me behind me Satan wait a

minute how can you just call Peter Satan

when he used God’s name

so just cuz you use God’s name says God

bless you

say hallelujah praise the Lord does not

make it legit does not make it legit he

says get me behind me devil now what was

devilish about his statement he met well

he was trying to keep Jesus from the

cross he was trying to keep Jesus from

being killed he met well he even used

God’s name in it he called Jesus Lord he

meant well but Jesus says no your mind

is on man’s view not on God’s view cuz

you didn’t like the view see the reason

why Satan can keep us trapped is when we

don’t like what God wants and come to

some logical conclusion about it that we

can toss a little Jesus name on top of

it we think then it must be okay when

it’s the devil controlling the other

side of the room of our minds when we

understand this and grasp this it

becomes a transforming truth that wait a

minute I have a divided mind and that’s

why it doesn’t stick it stays there for

a day or a week but it doesn’t stick and

even when it comes back I don’t have

victory over it it has victory over me

so if that’s the problem how do we do

this how do we how do we do this how do

we begin now to remove the petition so

there is no longer a division in the

mind so that now God’s knowledge flows

through and the fortress is destroyed

and all the speculation that’s holding

me hostage

back to our original passage Johnny

he says in John chapter 8 verse 31 and

32 if you continue in my word then you

will know that you are truly my

disciples and you will know the truth

and the truth will make you free you

only are going to be freed by the truth

okay nobody will disagree with that so

let me say it another way you will only

be freed by the truth not what you

believe to be true

we got folk running around here Tom I I

know my truth yeah and where has your

truth gotten you no no no it’s not what

you believe to be true

he’s not talking about our truth some

truth your truth he’s talking about that

truth that truth refers to an absolute

standard by which reality is measured it

is an absolute standard by which reality

is measured and the truth always sits

outside of you the one on one is to one

on one has always been – and one in one

will always be – because it is a

mathematical truth now you can feel 3ish

all you want you can be in the one in

one being three all day long but because

it is a fact that sits outside of you

you have to adjust yourself to one in

one being – no matter how many people

tell you is three no matter how deeply

you feel it’s three no matter how much

you wanted to be three you must conform

to that truth not turn it into your

truth and one of the reasons people stay

in strongholds is because they’re living

on a truth or their truth or some TV

programs truth

or some cultural truth and not the truth

the absolute standard by which reality

is revealed here is one of the biggest

falsehoods that keep us in custody and

locked up spiritually and a stronghold a

spiritual addiction and that is trying

to get the flesh to fix the flesh Paul

said in the scripture we just read in

second radians 10 we do not war

according to the flesh the flesh can’t

fix the flesh you can try to manage it

you can try to force it down you can try

to make a new year’s resolution you can

promise you’re never gonna do it again

you can talk to yourself you can go to

the counselor you can take medication

but if it’s a spiritual sin issue what

we do is go to the thing that’s the

problem to fix the problem he says no

what you must do first and foremost is

continuing my truth look look you

remember you remember your grandmother

great-grandmother when she was washing

clothes used to washing boy you know she

pushed a washing boy and she putting out

a lot of energy to clean them clothes I

mean arms get tired have to take a break

for a while come back and do it again

and then you got a lot of clothes you

know it takes days to do it a lot of

hard work to clean those clothes

with the washing but lo and behold

technology of washing machine a washing

machine what would you say if you

purchased a washing machine for your

grandmother and she was using a washing

board you would say mama grandma you

don’t get it you don’t need

when you have this all you’re doing is

the best you can

breaking your neck getting tired when

there has been another provision that’s

much better than you at getting stuff

clean what many people want to do is get

out of their addiction by their own

scrubbing effort and for a while it

looks like it’s clean but when they look

it up it ain’t that clean and and they

try again they try again when God says

no no no what you must do what’s this

verse 31 he says I want you to continue

in my truth and you will know the truth

the word continue means to hang out

abide stay there to loiter

that’s what to continue or abide is you

must abide in the truth stay this day

with me

we don’t abide in the truth we visited

we’ve come we’re listening to the Word

of God most of us won’t know next Sunday

what we heard this Sunday okay because

we don’t abide in it we visited no he

says no no no no to have victory over

the master of sin you must abide in the

truth so if you are battling something

in your life and you’re a Christian if

you’re not a Christian that’s a whole

nother ballgame because you don’t have

the spirit to help you but if you are a

Christian you have the spirit but the

Spirit is the Spirit of Truth so you’ve

got to abide in the truth so here’s what

I want you to do this week every day I

want you to read Romans six seven and

eight those three chapters Romans six

seven and eight

why cuz Romans six seven and eight is

going to tell you the truth

about the master called sin whatever

that sin is in chapter 6 Paul is going

to tell you about your new identity in

Christ he’s going to tell you you’ve

been baptized with Christ and you are

not who you used to be because you were

buried with him in Baptism raised with

him into a new life so that sin is lying

to you when you go to a 12-step program

guess what they gonna tell you they

gonna tell you to stand up and give you

a name hello my name is Bill and I am my

alcoholic that’s what they gonna tell

you the same

the Bible is gonna disagree with that

Paul’s gonna say in Romans 6 that’s not

who you are

that may be what you’re doing but that’s

not who you are you are a blood-bought

completely converted son or daughter of

the Living God that has a problem with

alcohol Paul’s gonna tell you to ship

your identification in your newness and

Christ and therefore verse 11 of chapter

6 consider your old person dead that’s

not who you are my name is Bob and I am

gay no that’s how you feel he’s gonna

tell you you must now identify yourself

as Jesus Christ identifies you because

the more you tell yourself your that

you’re telling the flesh to be at home

with the sin then he’s gonna come to

chapter 7 and his compose gonna tell you

I struggled like you struggle I had some

things in my life he doesn’t tell us

what it is which is good cuz then you

can put your stuff in that chapter

he says that I struggled in the things I

didn’t want to do the things I did I

didn’t want it and it kept coming back

and and I resisted it but it showed up

again until I got to chapter eight and

understood the power of the Holy Spirit

and that the law of the Spirit is

greater than the law of sin and death so

that in verse 13 he says therefore I

have no longer any obligation to the

flesh when I understood that I got this

supernatural piece when it’s tied to the

truth and you will know the truth now I

know what some of you are saying you’re

saying well I may know it but but a lot

of that Bible stuff I’m reading it but I

understand this I understand it okay do

you take medicine you don’t understand

you go to the doctor you say I’m hurting

he writes a prescription you don’t know

what he wrote in fact if you can read

what he wrote he ain’t a real doctor

they got scribble stuff going on what

that says you go to the pharmacist you

get the medicine you you don’t know all

the stuff that’s in that medicine but

what you do is you ingest it you take it

you swallow it and it does its work even

when you don’t understand it now sure we

are to seek to understand the Word of

God but while you are taking the time to

seek it if you just keep taking it in

and continue it it has the ability to do

its work if you continue in it so if you

are struggling with something if you are

believer every day for this week reach

out the six seven and eight of the book

of Romans over and over again and let

the medicine seep down and abide in you

because when you can

continue in my word you will then know

the truth and the truth will set you

free it becomes part of your soul that’s

it’s been ingested and we don’t do that

we listen to a sermon on Sunday

that’s diet church today we live in a

world of information but little truth we

appeal to our feelings which are

changing all the time our reason which

is uncertain and our moral instincts

which are different from person to

person but there’s something else

there’s something else that if you miss

it you miss the real deal he just said

if you will continue in my word

if you hang out there if you bring

you’re the master of sin that’s you’re

dealing with and you lay it before the

word and you lay it before the world

Lord this is what I’m dealing with but

I’m reading your word I’m taking this

word I’m taking this word I’m taking

that 15 minutes that 30 minutes every

day and I’m gonna get this thing till

you get it down in me and my soul begins

to grab hold of it and wraps itself

around it

he says the truth will make you free but

look at another verse because when you

look at verse 36 so if the son makes you

free you will be free indeed okay wait a

minute wait a minute we got a little

issue here cuz verse 32 says and you

will know the truth and the truth will

make you free right that’s what’s it

but in verse 36 it says so if the son

makes you free you will be free indeed

in the first one the truth will make me

free but in the second one the son sets

me free in the first one I’m free but in

the second one I’m free indeed

so what’s the difference between being

made free and being set free and what’s

the difference between being free and

free indeed what’s the difference here

if somebody comes and you’re in jail and

comes up to you and says someone has

just posted bail for you you’re going to

show you’re going to applaud somebody

has paid what you need to get out you go

to separate yeah yeah yeah yeah I’m free

but you’re still in jail

you’re free because bail has been posted

but you’re not out but you are free

because once you post bail that has been

accepted you’re free but then they got

to do paperwork they got to do the

paperwork so so there is often a gap

between legally being free and being out

the Word of God post bail but the son

has the key to the lock

the bail makes you free the Sun sets you

free in other words it is not merely the

knowledge of the Bible it is the

relationship with the author that

produces the experience of the freedom

that you have when you spend time in the

work Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 says the

Word of God is sharper than any

two-edged sword it says it’s alive the

book is alive it’s a book but it’s alive

okay now let me tell you what the book

does according Hebrews 4:12

he says Hebrews 4:12 the Word of God

when taken in will divide soul and

spirit the reason why we stay trapped in

certain things is cuz the soul and

spirit are not divided they all mixed up

they all they all intertwine because

things have not been separated so that

which is God is God that which is not

it’s not so we didn’t got it all mixed

together but he says when the Word of

God does its cutting it separates the

soul in the spirit so that they become

two distinct realities and you know

what’s what see Paul was struggling with

how can I not want to do this and do it

I’m confused I I can’t make sense of

that

he says the Word of God sure cuts

between the two so the two are segmented

but then after he says that he comes to

verse 13 and he says and all things are

laid bare before his eyes so in verse 12

he talking about the Word of God but in

verse 13 he talked about his eyes so he

takes the word written and God the

person and when the Living Word connects

with the written word in your heart soul

and mind not only is bail posted but

Jesus comes with a key

and when the Sun sets you free you are

free indeed

guess what indeed is Luke 24 34 says

when Jesus rose from the dead they said

he has risen indeed why did they have to

say

indeed because Jesus Christ never

stopped living after he died on the

cross after Jesus died on the cross he

was very much as alive on Saturday as he

was on Friday

in fact the scripture says that on

Saturday he went to Sheol to preach

victory to the souls that had died so

Jesus Christ was as a live on sanity as

he was on Friday but his body on

Saturday was still laying in the tomb he

was spiritually alive but he was not

physically alive yet but as the preacher

would say early on Sunday morning just a

little while before day Jesus got up so

that what was already true became

visible what was already real you could

see it’s one thing to be in jail and

here’s somebody’s posted them it’s a

whole bunch of other stuff when folks

see you walk out of the jailhouse and

see that you are free Jesus made his

freedom visible on Sunday morning in

1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the

Emancipation Proclamation but folk in

Texas and Louisiana and Arkansas didn’t

find out about it till June 19 1865 so

there was a gap between the legal

freedom and there was a gap between the

experience of freedom not because the

proclamation hadn’t been signed it was

cause folk didn’t know about it so one

reason you can stay a slave is because

nobody told you

how to be free oh but there’s another

way you can stay a slave somebody can

tell you that you are free but you’ve

gotten so used to living on the

plantation that you don’t exercise the

freedom that you had so a lot of folks

stayed in slavery who had been set free

because they had gotten so used to being

there they didn’t want to take the risk

of freedom on the cross Jesus signed

your emancipation proclamation and

everybody who trusts Christ is redeemed

but Satan doesn’t want you to know that

he wants a petition up in your mind so

that you don’t believe you can walk in

freedom but I’m here to tell you today

that he who the Sun sets free is free

indeed but only if you continue in his

word you continue in his word you call

on the Sun and then you can declare like

a great man a few years ago in 1963 in

Washington DC free at last free last I

thank God Almighty with my stronghold

I’m free at last