Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets, and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
let me tell you something God doesn’t do
miracles just to show off he does the
supernatural so that his name will be
known and they say see because too many
of us still got him in a manger
somewhere seventy-two minute of us don’t
don’t know who we dealing with here
who then is this that even the wind and
the sea obey Him it doesn’t work this
religious thing this Christian thing it
doesn’t work that’s what the disciples
are saying it’s not working I’m not
getting victory I’m not being delivered
I’m not I’m not I’m not it’s not working
and they want to know why he doesn’t
just bless you for you he blesses you
for his name his glory your impact your
testimony your ministry God does not
want to do miracles that excludes you he
wants to do miracles that include you
you are part of the miracle
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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 strong
hold is referring to the spiritual
nature of the addiction a stronghold is
a spiritually based addiction which
means if you try to 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 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 this
morning 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 truths 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 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 how 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
ruggle between my flesh and my salvation
and the two were not getting along 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 know 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 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 walk
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 5 has been raised up against the
knowledge of God so let me define the
lofty thing the Greek word lofty
a synonym for T’s partition
I studied the Bible in college for four
years
I studied the Bible before you as
different as master’s degree another
four years we’re gonna let dr. Drake
then I’ve been preaching all of these
years and I’m still learning new things
from this awesome
inexhaustibility a little game that’s
why I’m so excited about the twenty
heaven Study Bible and its accompanying
works with Tony Evans Bible commentary
it will take all of this training and
this teaching and make it available to
you to understand utilize and apply
God’s most powerful
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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 close 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 in that half of the room 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 you
personal mind because that information
knowledge and speculation against the
knowledge of God so the lofty thing is
contradicting what God says what gods
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 whole of you therefore god’s
thoughts don’t last long because they’re
in competition what a lot of folks think
is having diet church
on Sunday after having incorporated the
other worldview 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 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 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
that then it must be ok 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 stay
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 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 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 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
2nd Corinthians 10 we do not war
according to the flesh the flesh can’t
fix the flesh 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 a bide stay there to loiter
that’s what to continue or abide is
you must abide in the truth stay that
stay with me we don’t abide in the truth
we visited 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 that those three chapters Romans
six seven and eight why cuz Romans six
seven and eight is gonna tell you the
truth about the master called sin
whatever that sin is verse 32 says and
you will know the truth and the truth
will make you free right that’s what it
says 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 was the difference
here 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 see Paul
was struggling with how
not want to do this and do it I’m
confused I had a I can’t make sense of
that
he says the Word of God soon 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 talkin 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 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
cuz 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 wants 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
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
let me tell you something God doesn’t do
miracles just to show off he doesn’t do
the supernatural to flex his muscles he
does the supernatural so that his name
will be though some issues are too big
for you to handle by yourself
that’s why you need community that’s why
you need people around you to help you
move stones you can use that’s what
church is supposed to be
he doesn’t just bless you for you he
blesses you for his name his glory your
impact your testimony your ministry not
the redeemed of the Lord say so when you
get your supernatural you better open up
your mouth then you better declare the
greatness of your God because only your
God can go into your grave and raise you
up and give you life you better give him
the glory to his name
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you