If you want to have victory in the visible physical realm, you must learn how to have victory in the invisible spiritual realm. Dr. Tony Evans says the strength you need for what you face begins in a place you can't see. Unless you are strong in the Lord, you will not have spiritual victory. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Life may look ordinary on the outside, but there's a spiritual battle raging behind the scenes. Today, Dr. Evans unpacks what it means to stand strong in the face of invisible opposition.
Let's join him as he explains how to suit up in God's power, enabling us to face spiritual warfare with confidence. There are many Christians who are POWs in the spiritual battle. They are prisoners of war. They have been captured by Satan and they cannot escape. They find themselves trapped in circumstances, situations, addictions, fears, frustrations that they cannot release themselves out of. No matter how many people they talk to, how many programs they enter into, how many efforts they make, they still wind up finding themselves spiritually incarcerated by the evil one. That is Paul's concern in Ephesians 6.
First of all, let me summarize the problem of spiritual warfare. A long time ago, an angel named Lucifer rebelled against God. He took one-third of all the angels with him in his rebellion. His rebellion was uncovered by the omniscience of God and he was taken to court and tried. He was found guilty of a coup d'etat against the all-sovereign one. He was sentenced, according to Matthew 25, 41, he and all of his angels to an eternal fire.
He opposed the sentence. He was removed from heaven, according to Luke chapter 10, verse 18, where Jesus says, I saw Satan removed from heaven like lightning. He was kicked out of heaven to planet earth and planet earth became a garbage dump, a wasteland, which is why when you open the Bible, the earth is without form and void and darkness is upon the face of the deep because anywhere Satan winds up becomes a garbage dump, including your life. And God decided that he would work through a lower creature to defeat a greater creature. He would create man a little lower than the angels to demonstrate that he can do more with less when less is committed to him than he can do with more when more is when rebellion against him, you and I have been created to whip angels. That is the angelic conflict. Your greatest battle in life is not people, it's angels.
And so the thesis of the book is simply this. If you want to have victory in the visible physical realm, you must learn how to have victory in the invisible spiritual realm. So let's look at, first of all, the power for spiritual warfare, verse 10. Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might.
The phrase be strong is a passive imperative. That means be made strong in the Lord. Your spiritual strength determines your spiritual victory. If you are weak in the Lord, then you're going to be weak in the battle. If you are strong in the Lord, then you're going to be strong in the battle. So the issue is not how strong your adversary is, the issue is how strong are you in the Lord as you face your adversary. So he says be strong in the Lord, or he makes a distinction between God's might, your might, God's strength and your strength. If you're going to be victorious in battle against Satan, then you're going to have to be strong in the Lord. And so he calls on us to have spiritual strength, but the strength must be derived from a greater source. Now, in order to be strong in the Lord, now watch this now, you must be weak in your view of yourself. Most of our problem is we've got a big view of our power, a small view of God's power, so in battle we're left with our power and we're left with the result of our power, and that is defeat. Hold your finger here and look at with me very briefly at 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Satan has given Paul a thorn in the flesh.
He's prayed three times, God doesn't answer. A messenger of Satan, he says in verse 7, is sent to buffet him. And then he says in verse 8, concerning this, I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, now watch this, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I would rather boast about my weakness than that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, distresses, persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake. Now watch this, for when I am weak, then I am strong.
You know the problem with many of us here tonight? We're too strong. We are so self-sufficient, we are so confident of our own human resources, that our dependency on God's power is replaced by our dependency on our power, when faced in the spiritual realm is no power, and we wind up being a casualty of spiritual warfare. Do you remember Gideon's army? He had amassed 32,000 men to fight the enemy, and God says, too much human strength, too much self-sufficiency. You are looking to your numbers and your armaments and your horses, and you are nullifying God's strength by accumulating human strength. He says, cut it down. He cut it down, and God says, cut it down some more. He cut it down, but God said, cut it down some more.
Gideon said, you got to be kidding. He said, no, cut it down some more, and they cut it down, and guess what? Three hundred men, from 32,000 men to 300 men, because God says, you give me 300 who are dependent upon me, I can do more with 32,000 who are dependent upon themselves. The reason why many of us are still prisoners of spiritual war in various areas in our lives is because we're using human strength to do what divine strength was designed to do. When a guard in an army sees an oncoming army attacking, he doesn't run out and start shooting.
He goes back and delivers the message to the commanding officer who then sets up the strategy. When Satan starts coming, God doesn't want us to go out and start shooting. He wants us to come back to God so that he can give us the power and the strategy to win the spiritual battle. Now, in verse 11, he gives us the provision for spiritual warfare.
Verse 10 is the power, verse 11 is the provision. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Please notice the word put on. It is a action word, that is, God will give you the dress, but he won't dress you.
You must put it on. When he says put on the full armor, and he's going to list six things that we're supposed to put on that we'll look at in detail next week, all six of those things only refer to one thing. When he says put on the full armor of Christ, if you don't remember the belt of truth, you don't remember the breastplate of righteousness, you don't remember the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, you don't remember the shield of faith, you don't remember the helmet of salvation, you don't remember the sword of the Spirit, don't worry about it, because all you have to do is remember one thing. All of those things are another way of saying put on Jesus Christ. All right? All those are the signs.
Guess why? Because Jesus is the truth. Jesus is our righteousness. He is our peace. He is our faith.
He is our salvation, and he is the word of God. Look at Romans chapter 13, verse 11. And do this knowing the time that is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep, for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is almost gone, the day is at hand, let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on, same concept, the armor of light. Let us behave properly in the day, not in carousing, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
Well, how am I supposed to do that? Verse 14. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lust. He says put on the armor of light, and then he says what the armor of light is, put on Jesus Christ. To put on Christ is to dress for success. Now, why aren't more Christians putting on spiritual armor?
Simple. More Christians aren't putting on spiritual armor because more Christians aren't engaged in spiritual warfare. You're only going to put on the armor if you recognize you're in war.
But you know what? For too many Christians, the Christian life is a playground, not a battleground. All they want to talk about is, you know, what new things, gadgets God is going to give me, what new cars he's going to buy me, what new houses he's going to let me live in.
Well, there's a place for that, but in a war, there's only a place for that, that's not the place. In a war, you've got to go to battle, and you've got to be in there to fight. So he is telling us to identify, here's what he means by put on Christ, he means identify with Jesus Christ and our position in him. Chapter 2, verse 6 of Ephesians says that we were raised with him. It means to relate to your new identity in Christ. But understanding who you are in Christ isn't just about identity, it's about authority.
Dr. Evans will explain when he returns in just a moment. Stay with us. They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to the New Testament. The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins better than you ever have before.
Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer, Dr. Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating biblical studies at TonyEvansTraining.org.
Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. Well, what you're hearing today is the final installment we'll be presenting on the air from a powerful series from Tony called Ordinary Holy, Finding God in the Mundane. This two-volume, 16-message collection reveals how God does some of his most life-changing work through the most ordinary moments of life.
The truths presented in Ephesians have the power to reshape our perspective and renew our spiritual strength, whether we're at work, at home, or simply going about our day. If you missed any part of this powerful series or want to go deeper and explore the bonus lessons we didn't have time to bring you on the broadcast, you can get all 16 full-length messages as our gift when you make a contribution to help keep Tony's ministry going strong. And if you'd like to take advantage of this offer today, we'll also include his encouraging book, Kingdom Living, full of practical biblical insights to help you grow deeper in your walk with God and discover your identity in Christ. Just visit us today at TonyEvans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222, make your donation, and request this special resource package. Again, don't wait. Today is the final day we'll be bundling these two powerful resources together. That's TonyEvans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.
Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans for the final part of today's message. Your position in Christ, you knowing it, identifying with it, gives you legal authority over the enemy. Let me say that again. Your position in Christ, when understood and used, gives you legal authority over the devil. You do not have constitutional power over the devil, but you do have legal authority over the devil, which is why you must put on Christ. Galatians 2 says that Jesus Christ, verse 15, openly triumphed over the devil in public.
He was totally, completely, eternally defeated. Look at what Romans chapter 16 has to say, verse 20. Romans 16, verse 19 and 20.
For the report of your obedience has reached to us all. Therefore, I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent and what is evil, and the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Satan is not supposed to be riding your back.
He's supposed to be under your feet. But in order for you to have verse 20, you've got to be living, verse 19. God has made provisions for Satan to be defeated, but you must put on the armor, which means putting on Christ.
In Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, here's what he says. Our struggle, the reason why you need the spiritual armor and the reason why you need your identity in Christ is because our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, powers, world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Number one, the struggle is spiritual, not natural. It's not flesh and blood, so stop thinking people are your ultimate problem. People are merely conduits for angels.
All people do is carry out what either good angels or demonic angels dictate. Well, your problem is not flesh and blood or natural mechanisms. So if your problem is not natural, neither can your solution be, okay? Since you have a supernatural problem, you must have a supernatural solution. Secondly, your struggle is personal.
The Greek word for struggle was a word that was used of hand-to-hand combat or people engaged in an up-close wrestling match. In other words, Satan was you, all right? He's coming after you. You say, how does he know to come after me? Well, he's like a good football coach. You know what a football coach does? He looks at the film of the team coming up next week. He analyzes their tendencies. He analyzes which way they move, which way they twitch, what are the normal plays that they run in this situation.
He knows them so well that when the game comes up, he can address them because he studied them. Satan has film on your life, and he watches your tendencies. He notices what you like to do, where you like to go, what you like to think, so he can pull out the stuff that is tailor-made for you. He's got a tailor-made solution to lead you from God.
So your problem is not only supernatural, it's tailor-made for you. That's why his attack on me is going to be different than his attack on you because he knows me and he knows you. He knows what makes us alike.
He knows what makes us different. Thirdly, the struggle is futile. That is, you can't win in your own strength.
If you use your own strength, you lost before the battle has begun. He's got this big organization with all of these demons that have studied you very well, and he's waiting to say, gotcha. And the bad thing about Satan is he has no conscience.
But greater is he that's in you than he is in the world. Do you know, in the Bible, there is no exorcism of demons out of Christians, because Christians cannot be demon-possessed, but they can become demon-oppressed. That is, be so under attack, and listen, all the counsel in the world can't get a demon off of you, okay?
God is the only one, and good angels are the only ones who can get a demon off of you. And that's why all the counseling in the world can never replace you being strong in the Lord, okay? As long as the counseling is making you strong in the Lord, fine.
But if it's just a new technique, that won't help you. You have to go deeper in the Lord for you. We have the principality, this force against us, which leads to the final point, verse 13. Therefore, since we've got this formidable spiritual foe, therefore, take up the full armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand.
Now, what is the purpose of taking care, the purpose of spiritual warfare, and for you taking up the armor is so that you will be able to, watch this now, stand firm. He's already used the word stand firm in verse 11. He uses the word again here in verse 13, stand firm.
He uses it at the beginning of verse 14, stand firm. If there are two words that I would summarize this scripture with, it would be stand firm. What does he mean by standing firm? If you're actually in a battle, you say, go fight, go fight, go fight. He says, stand firm, stand firm, stand firm. Why would you stand firm when you're in a battle rather than go fight? Because Jesus has already won the battle. So you're not fighting to win the battle, you're standing firm in the victory of Jesus Christ. You don't have to run anymore.
You can hold on, Satan, you're not going to push me around anymore, you're not going to boss me around, you're not going to tell me what to do, what to like, where to go, what to watch. You have no more any authority. See, some of us are running when we ought to be standing. He says, stand firm what? Stand firm right where you are.
The victory has already been won. So he's told of a little boy and his father, they were running from a fire that was out there and coming at them. And the fire was moving faster than they could run.
And the fire was getting closer and closer and closer. So what they did was the father stopped and he made a little clearing, right, a little circle right around him and the boy. And they stood inside the circle. When they stood inside the circle, the fire came to them and went all around them without touching them.
Why? Because they already destroyed the grass in the area and there was nothing there to burn. So when the fire got to them, it could go no further, there was nothing there to burn.
So they stood firm in the circle. Jesus has already died. There's nothing left to burn here. So you stand in the victory of Jesus Christ and Satan has to go around you. He can't go through you. The blood has already made this clearing for you. So he says, stand firm.
Hold on to the territory. God has already won. So instead of saying, say, God, I can't.
Well, that's a correct statement actually. I can't, but go one step further. But thank God in Christ, I can. So God, no, I can't get rid of this habit. I can't get rid of this problem. I can't get a deal with this situation. But thank you that I can, because now I've got to rest on you and you can.
I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. My granddaughter ran up to me because the dog was chasing her, barking at her, and she was terrified and she was running for her life. I don't think the dog was going to do anything, but she didn't know that. The dog was just chasing her.
And when she got to me screaming and hollering and tears running down her face, she jumped up in my arms and just screamed and began hugging onto me. The dog came up close to me and began barking and barking and barking and barking. But the dog stopped when it came up to me. She wasn't running anymore. The dog wasn't running anymore. She looked up at me, looked down at the dog, looked up at me, looked down at the dog, looked up at me. Last time she looked down at the dog, she said, nah, nah, nah, nah. Where did she get all that confidence from? Where did she get all that power from?
I'll tell you where she got it from. She was standing firm in my arms. As long as she was in my arms, the dog didn't matter.
As long as she was on her own, the dog mattered. Satan only matters when you leave Jesus' arms. That is the only time Satan matters. And I know everybody in here is facing some sort of spiritual battle. If you're not, you just came out of one or you headed toward one.
So you're in one of those three categories. But I'm here to give you some good news and a bad situation. And that is when the heavenly warfare hits you on earth, don't use earthly methods to whip a heavenly foe. Use divine methods. Use God's power. Be strong in the Lord. Understanding God's provision, the army of God, because of your enemy, the principalities of heaven, which should lead to your purpose, and that is to have victory in spite of attack.
When those things happen in your life, then you will discover that Satan has no claim on you because greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. Dr. Tony Evans, I'm finding victory in the invisible battle surrounding us. Now don't forget, our lesson today is the final installment we'll be presenting from Tony's series called Ordinary Holy, Finding God in the Mundane, a 16-part journey through the book of Ephesians. It's a powerful look at how God's presence and purpose can shape even the most routine moments of our lives. And today, when you make a contribution to help support the alternative broadcast ministry, we'll send you this complete two-volume audio collection as our gift, along with a special bonus, Tony's practical and insightful book, Kingdom Living, designed to help you grow spiritually and live with greater purpose every day. Today's the final day we'll be offering this exclusive resource bundle, so visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 right away to make the arrangements. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. A plant that's been starved of water will begin to wilt, but pour water on its roots and life slowly returns. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will explore how the Word of God works the same way in our hearts. Be sure to join us for this important look at how God's Word gives life.
