The Victorious Christian

God causes everything to work together for good to those who love God.

So the question on the floor is, do I love God? Dr. Tony Evans says we need to answer that question with actions, not just words. The test of your love is your following through with God in spite of your suffering. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr.

Tony Evans. When we have pain, we want it to stop. When we're in trouble, we want it to end. We call that victory.

Well, God calls it victory too, but today Dr. Evans points out it can mean even more than that. Let's join him as he explains. In one of the most pregnant passages in the Bible, regarding our victory. We call this today the victorious Christian.

beginning with verse 31. Of Romans 8, here's how it reads: What then shall we say to these things? If God before us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect?

God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns Christ Jesus as he who died? Yes, Rabbit. Who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will tribulation or distress? or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. Just as it is written, for your sake, we are being put to death all day long. We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

For I am convinced. That neither death nor life Angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth. No any other Creative things. Will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now I don't know about you, but I can feel the victory if all passengers. I haven't even said anything about it and I can feel it. 'Cause what Paul has said here Is that If it is something created, it ought not be winning.

So, whatever you're facing, if it's created. Then that means it ought not have, should not have the last word in your life. He introduces us to, if I were to sum up all this. In one phrase, it would be in verse 37, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. The reason I want to point out that verse, and the reason why we call this the victorious Christian, is because he uses a Greek word here that's never used in the Bible except in verse 37.

This is the only place this Greek word is used that is translated in your Bible overwhelmingly conquer. Overwhelmingly conquer. In other words, You're not just supposed to make it. Through the situation You're not just supposed to get by the situation. You're supposed to slam dunk the situation.

You're not just supposed to confront up. You're supposed to. overwhelmingly conquer. Slaughter it. You're supposed to reduce it to its It's minimum standard.

In other words, you're supposed to kill it. You're supposed to whip it. You're supposed to slap it. You're supposed to reduce it. It, whatever it is, if it's a created thing.

And everything is a created thing. You're not just supposed to be winning. You're supposed to be winning big. The Greek word there means Super Conqueror.

Okay. He said early in the chapter, way up here. In verse 17, and if children heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, So that we also may be glorified with him.

Now he raises a two-fold relationship. For Christians in their relationship with God through Christ. He says: if you're children, if you're saved, then you're an heir.

Okay? He says if you suffer through it, You're a co-heir. That's two different things. Simply being saved, you have an inheritance of heir. But if in the midst of going through something Suffering.

If you make it through that you become a co-heir.

Now a co-air is more than an egg. You can be your father's son and daughter, and therefore be an heir. But every heir doesn't necessarily get the same thing in the will. He brings up a co-heir and the co-heir The one who is sitting beside Jesus experientially at a whole nother level is the one who. He says who is suffering.

going through something. They are facing some difficulties in life. and are invited to become a co-heir. With him. This leads him to A great verse from the Bible, and I can only give you.

Some highlights as we work toward our major passage, verse 28. And we know. That God causes all things to work together for good. To those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. He's been talking about believers going through stuff.

That's the context. If you go all the way up to 17 and read all the way down to 28. He is talking about groaning. Him? You love God.

He is taking your problem. Your pain And your difficulty. And even though you don't understand it, even though it may not be fair, He is doing something with it. When you bake a cake, you Take various ingredients that In and of themselves, may not taste good. You don't eat a stick of butter, you don't eat sugar by itself, you don't eat nutmeg by itself, you don't eat flour by itself.

Anyone by itself would not be pleasant to deal with. But put them in a blender. Mix them together properly. and then set them on fire in an oven. And you wind up with something that will levitate you from the bedroom to the kitchen.

You wind up with a cake. That smells good and tastes good because there's something about blending independent things that have no relationship of their own, mixing them together, and allowing them to be set on fire in an oven that can produce something that no independent thing can ever be on its own. What he says is that God has a way, and we know. He says, This is not a question. This is not a guess.

This is not a hope. This is not a wish. He says, Let me tell you what I know. And folk who are billing this, we know, he says, we know that he can take all things. I love the fact that he causes all things.

He not only takes all things. She makes all things. Causes. He causes them to blend together. For our good and his glory.

Okay? in order to fulfill his purpose.

Now. Just as verse 17 makes the distinction between an heir and a co-air. Simply being a Christian, you're an heir. But to work with God through your pain makes you a co-heir. That gives you another level of experience with God.

Verse 28 does the same thing. He says, and we know. That God causes everything to work together for good to those who love God.

So the question on the floor. It's not can God cause it For good the question on the floor is do I love God? See, that's the question. Because see, you could be a Christian and not love God. You can be a Christian and not love God.

So, that ran question: How do I know since? Me seeing God work things out through the pain in my life. If God is doing this, how do I know that I love God?

Well, God answers that. Jesus answers that in a number of passages. For example, in John 15, he says, You love me if you keep my commandments. He says, this love isn't just some feeling you get on Sunday morning. He says, the way you love me is you do what I want you to do in spite of what you're going through.

Okay? If you're not doing what I want you to do in the midst of going through it, you're not loving me. Loving me is a tangible, measurable concept, not merely an ethereal emotional feeling at the moment. You love me. When you do what I want you to do, in spite of what you're going through, and it can be tough.

Doing what God wants you to do when you're going through something. It's easy to do. What he wants you to do when you like what he wants you to do, or when you're not going through anything, so it doesn't matter that you're doing what he wants you to do. But when you're going through something. And you're loving him.

Okay? Jesus loved the Father and therefore endured the cross.

Okay? He endured the cross because of his love for the Father.

So his love for the Father created an obedient and responsiveness to the father in spite of a cross that he had me go through The test of your love. Is you're following through with God in spite of your suffering.

Okay, verse 32. He who did not spare his own son, Jesus suffered, of course, on the cross. But delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him? Co-airs. Freely give us all things.

I love the word freely. Because that means there's no charge. Freely means it comes with the co-air relationship of the love relationship that we have with God. The Bible says that from Jesus. We receive grace on top of grace.

We receive grace on top of grace. That is, from him, from our relationship with him, our love affair with him, flows this free provision of his supply that is particularly visible in the midst of painful scenarios. Christ will become, here it is, most real to you. In the midst of your difficulties. Yeah.

That's where he will show himself most real to you. You will not see him most you will see Everybody comes for a blessing. And what they mean by that is I am not going through anything. The way Jesus becomes most real to you. is when you are going through something.

The co-airship. It's being established. Through this love relationship. And he who did not spare his own son freely gives you. Supplies you what you need for what you're going through.

I have the last word. Not to have the last say-so in your life. And what God has in mind is more than just a narrow victory. Dr. Evans will tell us more about that when he returns in just a moment.

First, though, don't miss out on your chance to get a copy of Tony's current teaching series, The Spiritual Toolkit. This 10-message collection explores vital principles that make up the equipment we need to build a healthy spiritual life. It includes additional material we won't be able to present on the air, and it's available as our gift when you support the Ministry of the Alternative with a financial contribution. For a limited time, along with the audio package, we'll also include an add-on bonus of Dr. Evans' book Free at Last, a powerful guide to experiencing spiritual liberation and walking in the freedom Christ provides.

Get both of these valuable resources today at tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222. That's tonyevans.org or again, 1-800-800-3222. All right now, let's return to Dr. Evans talking today about the victorious Christian. In heaven, there'll be nothing to overcome.

All right, so we're not talking about heaven here. There's no overcoming in heaven, you've already overcame. The fact you're there, you've overcome for eternity. You need overcoming when you're facing life and death, principalities and powers, things present, things got meaning. You need victory in the midst of the things that cause pain, discouragement, and life ebbing out from you.

That's his context here.

So he does not only want you to be victorious, he wants you to be a super victor. All right? Because then you know you really want this to slaughter. Because the thing that looked like it was going to destroy you, rip you, beat you. It is when God overrules.

See, that's the key. You become a super conqueror when this thing, whatever it is you're going through, or the things you are going through, appear to be wiping you out, destroying you, canceling you, killing you, and then God steps in and overrules it. See, the lower court may have made one decision, but if the Supreme Court decides to heal it. It has the right of overruling. And the reason why the Supreme Court's ruling is so important is that's the final ruling.

All the other decisions made. along the way become moot. when the Supreme Court flips it. Triposin! Tweaks it, changes it, and gives the final decision.

Jesus Christ is seated on the right hand of the Father.

So any created decisions are interim decisions because Jesus Christ, our intercessor, makes the final decision. And usually you need the Supreme Court when the lower courts have not ruled in your favor. Jesus Christ has the final decision, making you a super overcomer because there's no other court to go to. That's his whole point in this passage. When the woman was caught in adultery in chapter 8 of John, she had her accusers there.

But when Jesus spoke her forgiveness. spoke her deliverance and spoke her restoration. He said to her, Where are your accusers? We're the folk who brought you out here and wanted to condemn you. What he was saying was, when I spoke, All the other folks who had already spoken have been now wiped out and have been removed because I have given the final word.

See, that's the super victory.

So you know it's a God moment. And see a lot of us are lacking God buggies. We talk about having blessed ain't put food on my table. Clothes on my back. I got simmers that got food on their table.

Their clothes are in their back. And a roof over their head. I got atheists that got food on their table, clothes on their back, and a roof over their head. And yeah, because God is good, He causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. He's talking about becoming the super conqueror.

And a super conqueror is when he puts food on your table and there is no money. A super conqueror is when you reinforce clothes on and God comes out of nowhere so you can keep your house. A super conqueror is when God shows up in a way that man can't explain and you know it's nobody but the living and true God. See, that's a super conqueror. God ruling and overruling.

So he fires these questions like a machine gun. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? He means separate us from the, not just the fact of God's love, but the experience of God's love. See, that's why you can praise him in the midst of a proverb. You can pray in the midst of a problem.

because he's gonna make you an overwhelming conqueror. If you love it. If you love him, he causes all things to work together for good. If God did the greatest thing for you, spare not his own son. Anything else is easy.

I mean, the hard thing for God to do was to sacrifice his son. Everything else is chump change.

So he can freely give us all things. I believe in the sun, the SUN. I believe in the sun. Because I can see it. I can see the sun.

I can see the sun on a sunny day, but some days are not sunny days, but I still see. Because the sun exists, even when the sun is not visible, it's because I can now see everything else because the invisible sun is still there. You see, the reason why you need to believe in the SON. The sun. Is not only because on the day of your conversion, you saw through the light of the Holy Spirit the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but because in living this daily life, it's because of him you get to see everything else.

You get to see God in the midst of everything else, and his reality shows even on the cloudy days of life. on the cloudy experiences of life. You can measure your victory by what you overcome.

Now, I want you to look at one word. One word, this is an important word in verse 37. It's an important word. But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. Let me read verse 37 again.

But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. I need to read that one more time. He says, And in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. See, when most of us are going free. We don't want the word in, we want the word from.

Yeah. See, we want the rose to read. From all these things. We are overwhelmingly conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us. See, our prayer is to deliver me from this.

Lift me out of this. Cancel this! But according to this verse. You see Super victory! Yeah.

Not from Ew. It is when the situation has not changed yet. You're stuck right there in the middle of it. Nothing has been reversed yet. And in the middle of this thing you are facing and you have not changed.

God dips down in the middle of that thing and shows himself up. It was when Israel was going through the wilderness. They were in the wilderness. They were without food in the wilderness. God opened up heaven and rained down torn flakes from above called mana.

They were still in the wilderness. They hadn't been delivered from the wilderness. But in the middle of the mess, where they were hungry and without some meat, heaven opened up and dropped down torn flakes from above. They were still in the wilderness, but they saw God's superprovision or they were still in their situation. I don't know when God's going to take you from the situation.

I don't know when God's gonna lift you. Of the situation, but while you still in the situation, he says, I'm going to show you super conquering, super victory, super deliverance, and you still in it. I'm gonna make you an overwhelming conqueror. You're still in it, and I'm gonna show you victory. You're still in it, and I'm in.

I'm gonna show you what I can do. You're still in it and I'm gonna let you know that God, the greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. It's when your circumstance is not going well and you got a peace that passes understandable. Nothing has changed about your outside circumstance and you're still sleeping at night. You still calm in the midst of a storm.

Your situation hadn't changed. You're still in it. But he has met you later and demonstrated you are more than a conqueror through him who loved you and gave him somebody ought to bless the name of the Lord. Dr. Tony Evans, talking about what real victory looks like.

Now before we go, don't forget to check in to getting the extended copy of today's message, The Victorious Christian. It's included in the Spiritual Toolkit audio collection. As I mentioned earlier, this entire 10-message set on digital download and either CDs or USB flash drive is available as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And remember, for a limited time, we are also including a copy of his powerful book, Free at Last, designed to help you break free from spiritual strongholds that keep you from living life as God planned for you. You can find out more when you visit us online at tonyevans.org or by phone on our 24-hour resource request line, 1-800-800-3222.

Again, that's tonyevans.org or with the help of one of our friendly team members at 1-800-800-3222. One quick heads up: the seasoned finale of Stories from the Storyteller is just days away. In Walking on Chaos, the Evans kids are thrown off when summer plans fall apart and fear threatens to take over. But a lesson from the stormy seas reminds them that Jesus is greater than our greatest problems. Learn more about this inspiring animated series for kids at tonyevanstv.com.

That's tonyevanstv.com. Unity among believers was one of Jesus' final prayer requests before he was crucified. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will explain how we can see that prayer answered in our lifetime. as he takes a look at what it means to really embrace oneness.

I hope you'll be with us.