Dr. Tony Evans reminds us of the evil one’s plan to block God’s preordained design for our lives and prevent us from experiencing God’s will. However, we can overcome Satan’s accusations in the courtroom of heaven through three things: the blood of the Lamb, publicly identifying with Christ, and our commitment to surrendering to God’s will and purpose by taking our their cross daily. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/drtonyev… If you would like to download two encouraging, FREE full-length MP3s of Tony’s popular sermons: “The Sovereignty of God” and “How to Handle a Crisis,” you can do so by clicking on this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1atT9MJvXQN…

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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.

you and I were on our way to certain

death but I know somebody with scars in

his hands and scars in his feet and a

skull on his side and the only reason

he’s got those scars is cause he was

delivering you and delivering me so you

better not be ashamed to let people know

that you belong to Jesus Christ that he

is your savior I am a follower of Jesus

Christ

all right

the evil one has stood at the door of

your life

and my life

and he has one overriding purpose and

that is to block God’s purpose for you

he wants to stop

God’s

pre-ordained design for your life

from you ever experiencing it

or

if you do experience it it will be

through much trial and turmoil and

difficulty

he stands at the door of your existence

to make sure that what has been written

in your book is not experienced

as part of his design he wants you to

have sicknesses that were outside of

God’s will

he wants you to have discouragement that

is outside of God’s will

he wants you to have pain and relational

breakdown that is outside of God’s will

and if he gets his full way he wants to

take you to an early grave

because his goal

is to deny you what’s written in your

book

now in previous sermons we’ve looked at

the fact that every Christian has a book

a book that has outlined God’s Kingdom

Purpose for your life

it has been recorded

he wants to block entrance

to that experience now do not

misunderstand me

every sickness every disappointment

every difficulty and every death

is not outside of God’s will

but some sicknesses some disappointments

some struggles and some deaths are

outside of his will that is outside of

his desired will

because they’ve been interfered with

by Satan’s ability

to block God’s purposes

but the good news today is that you can

silence the Accuser

to whatever degree he is bringing Havoc

into your life God has come up with a

legislative mechanism

a legal right

that you have in order to keep him from

robbing you of God’s will

God’s purpose God’s plan

we find in the Book of Revelation this

statement about a war in heaven this

goes back to our original concept of the

Angelic conflicts that the Battle of

angels up there affect us down here

we see that Satan is removed in the

tribulation let me perhaps give an

explanation

Satan when

Adam fell was kicked out of Heaven to

Earth but he still had access to heaven

in the Book of Revelation he loses

access to heaven

but now he still has access in fact next

week we’re actually going to go into a

courtroom and see how a trial plays out

and you going to be on the witness stand

because there is a There’s an actual

trial taking place in Scripture that

will take us deeper than Tom will allow

us to go today

so it’s time for you to go to court

but let’s look at the principle there is

this spiritual battle and we’re told who

is the dragon verse 9 who’s called the

devil who’s called

Satan he’s the adversary

and his job is to keep you

from experiencing what God has done and

he tells you his methodology

who deceives verse 9 the whole world

if you hear you in the world

if you’re here that means you’re subject

to deception

you and I are living in a day of mass

deception

God has written a book he’s laid it out

this is my kingdom purpose for you that

you are to work out

Philippians 2 12 and 13 that we might

work out

it says his will or his purpose

till you were created for God’s purpose

you were redeemed for God’s purpose and

everything is to be designed because

Psalm 40 verse 7 and 8.

there is a book

and that book is to fulfill his will so

Satan’s job is to block that will from

entering into the University of your

life

becoming your experience

when he tricks you me US individually in

our families

with our mates with our children with

our co-workers with fellow Saints when

he can manipulate and twist you

then he accuses you of what he tricked

you into

he is the accuser of the brethren

and he accuses them before our God day

and night

this is a legal term

the accusing is a legal term it has to

do with a complaintant in a lawsuit

because Satan seeks to defeat us

legally

to accuse is to be a complaintant in a

lawsuit

and he does it for the whole world

for non-christians he wants them to keep

them from becoming Christians for

Christians he wants them to keep them

from fulfilling God’s plan for their

lives during that time on Earth

but we hear in verse verse 11

and they overcame him

now in order to be an overcomer you got

to have something to overcome

and in this case

you’re overcoming a suit

by Satan against you

he goes to the court of Heaven

and he says you can’t do this for this

person or that person or for their

family or for their even Community or

four veg you can’t do that because look

at the crimes they have committed even

though I’m the one who tricked them to

commit it look at the crimes that they

have committed which is against your

righteous standard so your purpose

cannot be filled Without You

compromising your righteousness

because Satan knows more about God than

many of his children do

that God’s standards of the governance

by which he makes decisions

it’s his laws his rules

so the Accuser

comes in order to block God’s plan God’s

progress

through legal accusation in the presence

of God

but they overcame him

to overcome is to prevail

against one’s adversary opposition or

circumstances it is to Prevail against

or over or through

so what I want to tell you is how you

overcome

how you silence the accuser in the

courtroom of Heaven

he lists three things

and they overcame him

number one because of the blood of the

Lamb

so let me talk about the blood

[Applause]

since that’s the first thing that

silences Satan when he’s accusing you by

name in court

[Music]

the first thing you need to know is the

blood talks

we talk about speaking blood

if you don’t believe me look at chapter

12 of Hebrews verse 24 where we ended

last time of the book of Hebrews because

you need to understand what this blood

is doing that is what the sacrifice of

Christ is currently accomplishing he

says and to Jesus the mediator of a New

Covenant and to the sprinkled blood

which speaks better than the blood of

Abel

did you hear that

the blood that speaks

better than the blood of Abel

well wait a minute now

when you look at chapter 11

we find out about Abel’s blood speaking

because that’s the comparison

he says in verse 4 of Hebrews 11 by

faith Abel offered a battle of sacrifice

in Cain through which he obtained the

testimony that he was righteous God

testifying of his gifts and that through

faith though he is dead he still speaks

he says the blood of Jesus in verse 24

chapter 12

of the New Covenant speaks and it’s

better than the blood of Abel

so if it’s better than the blood of Abel

what did Abel’s blood say that Jesus’s

blood is better than

Dr Evans will be right back after this

important announcement

[Applause]

foreign

[Music]

spoke judgment on his brother Cain yes

yes God listened to what Abel was saying

in heaven and brought judgment on Earth

to Cain so the blood is so powerful

because Jesus’s blood is better than

Abel’s blood it’s so powerful

don’t you know he can stop folk who

messing with you

don’t you know he can overrule folks for

trying to overrule you

in fact

it’s so much better than Cain’s that God

can even say in the courtroom to the

devil uh you are overruled right now sit

down and shut up

because it is a blood that speaks it

forgives it protects it delivers it

empowers that is what the blood does

the blood is not some chemical formula

in the body of Jesus it is the power of

the sacrifice of Jesus operating today

for believers who are operating in sync

with the blood because the blood talks

okay let me give you another

illustration

in Exodus chapter 12 it was the Passover

God was going to take the life of every

firstborn Egyptian

but he told the Jews

I want you to slay an animal and shed

their blood

put the blood on the doorpost of your

house

when the death angel flies over and he

sees the blood

he will pass over you

in other words what’s happening to them

is not going to happen to you but I got

to see the blood in other words I’ve got

to see the identification of the

sacrifice

if I don’t see Jesus on you I don’t see

the blood and if I don’t see the blood

you won’t have power in the court

you see for a lot of us God don’t see no

Jesus

therefore he can’t respect no blood

because the blood refers to the

sacrificial life and work of Jesus

Christ it refers to the work of the

cross

to help you theologically with this a

little bit deeper in the book of

Colossians chapter 1 and chapter two I

just want to read a couple of verses

chapter one he says in verse

13 for he rescued us

from the domain of darkness and

transferred us into the kingdom that’s

why I love the word kingdom kingdom of

his beloved Son as Jesus Christ now go

to chapter two

says in chapter 2

of the book of Colossians when you verse

13 were dead in your transgressions and

uncircumcised in your flesh he made you

alive together with him having forgiven

us all our transgressions having here it

is canceled out the certificate of debt

consisting of decrees all legal language

against us which was hostile to us and

he has taken it out of the way having

nailed it to the cross

and when he nailed the decrees of things

against you that is all the infractions

against the law of God that Satan can

write up he did this he did that they

did this they did that he says he

canceled all the decrees the legal

accusations against you watch this when

did he do this verse 15 when he disarmed

the rulers authorities and made public

display of them having triumphed over

them through him

watch this now

the cross the blood

has canceled out

the decrees against you

and the reason he can do this is he says

he disarmed the rulers and powers that

are going to come up against you

number two

in Revelation 12.

he says first of all that the blood

was what they used to overcome him then

they said because of the word of their

testimony we got another legal term

what do you do in court you testify

when Jesus was tempted by the devil

guess what he did he quoted scriptures

to the devil

he said it is written it is written it

is written

because God likes baseball three strikes

you out he quoted three times and it

says and the devil left him because he’s

a true allergic to scripture

he’s allergic to spiritual truth you

must give testimony to What God Says

in order for you to have authority in

the courtroom you won’t have authority

giving human testimony human perspective

man’s point of view what Paul calls

human wisdom

in a numbers 13 verses 25-32 that whole

section and then whenever we get ready

going to the promised land okay they

said 12 Spies in right

12 Spies in

and the purpose for going in one

determine whether we’re going to take

the promised land God has already told

him you’re gonna have the promised land

the purpose of them going in was to spy

out the plan for taking the promised

land not the fact of taking the promised

land so now these 12 grown men

grown man

came back you know

and Moses said okay what’s the plan

Ten Men said

we can’t do this we can’t do this

now that’s not what God said yeah God

said no you’re gonna do this

but they went in the human opinion

and they went into human opinion by

looking at the circumstances

they said

they’re Giants in the land and we’re

like grasshoppers yes now

they called themselves grasshoppers

they gave their own self-analysis we

can’t do this the Giants in the land

Joshua and Caleb said what y’all talking

about

God has given us this land let’s go do

what God says do yes

yes that’s why you don’t always vote on

majority opinion

you are biblical opinion biblical truth

so two stood with God

10 dealt with what they could see with

their own physical eyes and guess what

they cost people 40 Years of their life

40 years wandering in the wilderness

never having gotten to what was written

in their book what was written in their

book was that they were going to enjoy

the promised land God had already set it

up they were going to enjoy it but they

didn’t get to their book and they died

in the wilderness outside of God’s plan

did you know you can die outside of

God’s plan God’s plan may be for you to

live to be 80 and you can die at 50. if

you’re living outside of God’s plan

because you’ve been duped by human

wisdom

God’s plan may be for you’ve been

delivered from this situation by now but

you’re still in it because you’re

operating outside of God’s plan you’re

operating in human wisdom and the devil

is holding you up in court

the word of your testimony you must

speak in agreement with God

do you have a public statement word of

your testimony that I no I don’t know

God no belief in God won’t work that

that’s that’s a catch-all because we

don’t know who you talking about Jesus

Christ clarifies the issue

there must be a willingness to be

publicly identified with Jesus Christ

if you want to activate the blood

because God the Father didn’t die on the

cross the Holy Spirit didn’t die on the

cross and Jesus said all authority has

been given to me in heaven and on Earth

so if you want victory over the devil

you better not be ashamed to be

associated with me yes

yes I will on our way to certain death

we were on our way to the fire and the

flames

but I know somebody with scars in his

hands and scars in his feet and a skull

on his side

and the only reason he’s got those scars

is cause he was delivering you and

delivering me so you better not be

ashamed

to let people know that you belong to

Jesus Christ that he is your savior that

is the word of your testimony

I am a follower of Jesus Christ

then the third thing

he says

you’ll overcome him in court by the

blood the appeal to what was

accomplished on Calvary he’s lost his

authority to the word of your testimony

you identify with Christ and agree to

his truth

and finally

he says

and they did not love their life

even when faced with death yes

he saw Tom with a cross

he goes to the confession the testimony

and now he concludes with the commitment

he says

they lay down their lives

not to understand this they did not love

their life even to the point of death

is the principle of surrender

it is surrendered to his will and his

purpose over your will and your purpose

even Jesus had to face this in the

Garden of Gethsemane

when he said not my will but thy will be

done

and sweat as blood dripped down from him

as he had to approach something he

didn’t want to approach

he had to say thy will be done

he had to surrender to the will of God

here is the problem

many of us and maybe most

particularly in America

and let me tell you something about

America as we have left our Biblical

Moorings and we have left a judeo

framework as we have left a Christian

perspective that has opened the door for

all hell to break loose and that is what

you and I are on the verge of now he

says if you’re going to be my disciple

if you’re gonna be serious about me

then you’re gonna have to deny yourself

and take up your cross here it is daily

this is the day by day decision you must

take up your cross daily and follow me

so so let me talk about take off the

cross because that takes us back to the

blood because the blood is not just a

2000 year old Revenge he says You must

take up your cross okay

when Jesus bore his cross

and was walking down the the road of

suffering

he was being accused of being guilty of

being a subversive to the Roman

government

that he has been subverses to the Roman

government he is saying he is the king

not Caesar and we are killing him for a

crime

they placed on his cross

King of the Jews

because they put on the cross what you

were accused of

he was accused of being a competing

deity

to Caesar so that accusation was against

him and they made him carry his cross to

identify with the accusation against him

and he was going to have to pay the

price for the identification which was

Calvary

Luke 9 23 and many other verses like

that particularly in the Book of Luke

talks about you carrying your cross not

his cross you can’t carry his cross his

cross was once and for all for all the

sins of all mankind for all time you

can’t do that but you have a cross

what puts this cross on your back

your identity with Jesus Christ that’s

when you give that’s what you will be

found guilty of you’re going to be found

guilty of being a Christian okay

when you carry this cross he says when

you get up in the morning daily you are

to say I am willing to be identified

with Christ no matter the price tag for

the identification

that’s what that’s saying lay down your

life daily well you can’t physically Die

daily so he’s talking about a

willingness to be identified with him no

matter the price tag for the

identification that that is what it is

to to to not love your life even in the

place of death it has to do with A

discipleship surrender

what a lot of people want is they want

Jesus Association

without Jesus identification

God doesn’t need no more fans he needs

some serious followers

he doesn’t need convenient Christians

cultural Christians political Christians

racial Christians he needs biblical

Christians who are associated with Jesus

Christ and I’m gonna tell you now that

nothing like Jesus standing in your

court and objecting to what Satan has

got on you

because I know if we tell the truth and

shame the devil he got a lot of stuff on

a lot of us that that if the judge ever

here we are in trouble you better get

your defense attorney up out of that

chair and object over here

because if he stays seated because you

don’t want to identify with him you’re

in trouble

[Applause]

he says the cross

your identification with Christ and your

discipleship

the fact that you’re all in

you’re not just a church member a church

goer you’re not just somebody who just

references Bible verses but day by day

you get up and you say I die to me I

live for you and that’s how I roll

that’s how I roll

[Applause]

when you do that

the text says and they overcame him

they overcame him

they

they came out of Victor

and stop being a victim

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

thank you