A Challenge to Overcome

You will not overcome whatever you're needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian. Dr. Tony Evans says God's power in your life can only be evident once you choose to reveal Him. Once you have now identified with Christ, you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. It may seem like if you focus on a problem, you're more likely to find a solution, but today Dr. Evans explains that sometimes your focus is the problem.

Let's join him as he talks about how the right perspective empowers us to overcome challenges. To understand the key to being an overcomer in whatever needs to be overcome in our lives, you have to—watch this—begin to look at Jesus differently. In Colossians chapter 2 verse 15 it says that when Jesus died, He disarmed the rulers of this present age. I disarmed them. So the reason why the devil can defeat us is because he can deceive us into thinking their bullet's still in the gun. But what Jesus did on the cross, the Scripture says, is He disarmed them.

He took away the authority. So now you're beaten by deception that feels like reality, looks like reality, seems like reality. That's why the Scripture says in Romans 8 37, you are more than conquerors. Look at chapter 12 of Revelation verse 11.

And they overcame Him, here's our word, because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. And one verse will shift how you relate to Jesus. When you shift how you relate to Jesus, He shifts how He relates to you.

Because now you're relating to Him as He is, not as you want Him to be. Because a lot of folk come to church worshiping of Jesus as they want Him to be, not as He declares Himself to be. It says they overcame Him, referring to Satan in that context, they overruled Him, they prevailed against Him when three things were in place. These three things can be summed up in one word, their identification with Christ.

Now follow me closely here. When they properly identified with Christ, they prevailed. God places victory in your reach, not in your hand.

Big difference. Overcoming is in your reach. You can get it, but it's not in your hand. See what a lot of folk come to church and they want God to drop victory in their hand. He puts it within your reach because He needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand.

So you can talk about it all day. You can pray about it all day. You can come to church all day, but if you do not grab what has been provided, you don't get what you could have. He says they prevailed, overcame, because of their identification with the cross, with the confession, and with the commitment.

What does that mean? It means that they began by the blood, He says, to understand that the cross 2,000 years ago was relevant right now. See, for many people, the cross is a historical event. Two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross, and I believe He died for my sins. I accept Him as my Savior, and because of that, I'm saved.

I'm going to heaven. And all that's true. But these folk are overcoming Him by the blood in the present, in the present of this text. They're not just overcoming Him because the blood worked 2,000 years ago. That's why when Paul described his identity in Galatians 2.20, he said, I am right now crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, it's Christ who lives in me. And the life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. He says, if you want to look at my life now, I am controlled by the cross. That is, I am controlled by the work that Jesus Christ did 2,000 years ago that affects my decision-making in the present. It is my current point of reference.

If what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, which is why He left us with communion, you don't make it relevant today, it becomes a 2,000-year-old event that you'll benefit from eternity and it'll be useless in time. In other words, the reality of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, which was why He said when He got up from the dead, Matthew 28 and 19, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, translation, I'm in charge now. I'm in charge now. I haven't come to take sides, I've come to take over. I'm in charge now. I call the shots, so if He's not calling the shots, you don't get to overcome. If He's not calling the shots, you don't get to overcome. So this goes beyond, praise the Lord, hallelujah, ain't God good all the time, all the time God is good. That sounds good, but He says the cross is my point of reference. Who died, why He died, and the victory that He accomplished, I'm going to transfer to today. He says secondly, they overcame Him by the word of their testimony.

Ooh, watch this now, stay with me. You will not overcome whatever you're needing to overcome if you are a secret agent Christian. So let's get that straight. If you're an undecided voter, you're not going to be an overcomer, okay? If you're a spiritual CIA representative, if you're a covert operative, forget overcoming, because Jesus Christ, with fire in His eyes, is not trying to help folk to overcome who are embarrassed to be associated with Him. He says, you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father, Matthew 10. You confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father. If you don't want to be associated with me in public, you just want this private meeting with the saints on Sunday, but you don't want other folk to know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ, which was the point of your baptism when you went public to say, I am publicly proclaiming my identification with Jesus Christ. Don't be calling on me for overcoming in your life when you don't want to be associated with me. The word of their testimony.

Let me say it another way. Trying to camouflage it by talking about I believe in God won't cut it, okay? Using God's name won't cut it. God has placed everything in the hand of His Son. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.

So the Father is glorified when Jesus is the superstar. Folk running around here, talking about who they're voting for. I'm voting for them. I'm voting for them. I don't like them.

I don't like them. Everybody, everybody, they got stuff on their car, stuff in their lawn, you know? And we voting. Oh, but people will talk about it at work. They'll talk about it at play. They'll talk about it at sports. We got folk going public protesting.

We got players getting on their knees, letting them know where they stand. We got everybody declaring what they believe in, who they believe in, even if they're not worth believing in it, because they're making their declaration. And you gonna tell me he was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your iniquities, the chastisement of your peace was on his shoulders, by his strife, you are healed, and you can't identify with the risen Christ. He said it's by the word of your testimony.

Oh, and then he hits us with a zinger. He hits us with a zinger, number three, because he says, number three, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. Oh, they overcame him because of a love relationship that they possessed with him that transcended dying. Now that's some serious love when it transcends dying, but it's not unusual. Most parents, if they had to, would give their life for their children. Most parents, because of the depth of their love. You have men who would give their lives for their mates because of the depth of their love.

It was a choice between the two. So in the human level, we know what it is to sacrifice the life for love, right? He says to be an overcomer, because he got fire in his eyes, to see an overcomer. That's why Paul says in Luke 9, he says, I die daily. Every day when I get up in the morning, I say, I am dead to me and I'm alive to you. You are my life. You're not just a place I go on Sunday. You're my defining definition.

You are my life. If any man would be my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. That there is this understanding that I am pursuing a relationship with somebody that I want to fall in love with more than life itself.

In other words, this is serious commitment, but you probably got some serious stuff to overcome. So this is not casual Christianity here. Got folks running around, oh bless me, oh bless me, oh bless me.

So God gets a visit once a week, and they think something miracle is supposed to drop from heaven when it's part-time Christians wanting a full-time deliverer. He says, no, you got to deal with the risen Christ now. And the risen Christ is in charge. That's why I love what Paul says. Paul says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Now you don't go looking for death, you don't go wishing death, but he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Paul says, I don't know whether to stay here or to go home to be with Christ.

He said, I'm betwixt and between. If I stay here, it's to serve Christ. If I die, it's to go be with Christ. And if I suffer, he says, I reckon that the suffering of this present time is not be worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me.

So he's saying basically, I'm in a no-lose deal. Living, dying, it's all Christ. So if I've got to be rejected because of Christ, if I've got to be misunderstood because of Christ, if I've got to be not liked because of Christ, not because of my foolishness, but because of Christ, then that's the way it is. Dr. Evans will be back in a moment to describe the benefits of a committed relationship with Christ. Don't go away. 2020 is a year unlike any. Disease, destruction, unrest.

It's easy to feel apprehensive and wonder what in the world is happening. But in his The Best of Tony Evans 2020 series, Dr. Evans offers messages of hope and certainty in the craziness of 2020. These 10 CD messages and 10 MP3 downloads are Dr. Evans' most listened to sermons from this past year. And with your gift today, we'll send you this special series, plus Dr. Evans' devotional book, Called for a Purpose. Log on today to TonyEvans.org. In fact, the lesson you're hearing today is one of those 20 most listened to messages of 2020. So be sure to visit us today at TonyEvans.org to make your year in donation and request The Best of Tony Evans 2020, along with his popular devotional book, Called for a Purpose. This collection makes a perfect Christmas gift for someone you care about, and we'd like to send it your way to say thank you for your financial support of Tony's ministry.

Make your contribution online at TonyEvans.org today, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that information after part two of today's lesson. Once you have now identified with Christ, you have positioned yourself to be an overcomer. You have positioned yourself to see the move of God overrule in the circumstances of life.

There must now be a shift in perspective. You must look at Jesus now differently as the sovereign on fire Lord who now rules. We all believe in the Son, S-U-N. We believe in the Son, right? Everybody believes in the Son. But I don't know if too many people go around to this all day looking at the Son.

Is this Walker? Yeah, I believe in the Son because I'm looking at the Son all day. Let me tell you the main reason you believe in the Son. I believe in the Son. We believe in the Son.

We believe in the S-U-N. The main reason we believe in the S-U-N is because, because of it, we see everything else. We don't go looking at the Son all day, but we look at everything else all day. But because of the Son, you see everything else. Well, what's true in the physical world, because of the S-O-N, you're supposed to look at everything else.

Everything else is supposed to be because of Him shining, whether you see Him or not, and therefore brought in line with Him. As I've said before, I still don't wear glasses. Haven't had surgery, don't wear contacts.

And let me explain how that happens. My left eye is off. My left eye is off.

It's like 20, 50 or something. So if I cover my right eye and just look at you with my left eye, things are fuzzy, things are fuzzy, because my left eye is a little off. But my right eye is 20, 20. See, my right eye is what they would put in the category of perfect vision. So my right eye can see clearly, but my left eye is fuzzy. But because my right eye is 20, 20, it compensates for the weakness in my left eye. So the only reason I'm not wearing glasses is not because I'm perfect, but because I'm covered.

My right eye overcomes my left eye so that my left eye becomes subject to my right eye so that I don't wear glasses, so that I am not submitting to the weakness. I'm overriding it with the strength. You know, I've lost about 45 pounds. Thank you. Okay. Now, the main thing I do is the treadmill.

The main exercise is the treadmill. I will admit to you, I am unmotivated. That's not something like I look forward to doing at 5.30 or 6 o'clock or me, myself, and I, we've got to have a congregational gathering. I am laying there in bed and I am saying, do I want to do this today?

Say, yeah, I know what you're talking about. I'm not really going to do this today. We're at the meeting because it's not something I want to do. But I do want to get healthier and I do want to lose some weight. So the goal of overcoming the weight affects the getting up to get on the treadmill. But it's still a problem because walking and going nowhere is just a struggle. So I drag myself out of bed, put on the workout stuff, walk into the room where the treadmill is. Right in front of the treadmill is a chair. I sit in that chair and try to talk myself to getting up out of that chair to get on that treadmill. The problem is on that treadmill, I sweat. On that treadmill, I'm huffing and puffing. On that treadmill, I'm struggling because I've got this goal in mind, but I'm struggling on this treadmill.

It's a struggle. So what I always do to mitigate the struggle of overcoming the treadmill and the fact that I don't want to do it is I turn on the news. So right in front of me, I stare at the news for 45 minutes.

It has my undivided attention. That news does not take away the sweat. I don't sweat less because I'm looking at the news.

It doesn't take away the breathing. It distracts me. It gives me something else to focus on and I discover I can go longer when I'm focusing on that than when I'm focusing on this. I got to do this, but I try not to make this my focus. I try to make that my focus because when I make that my focus, it affects how well I do this. If you really want to overcome bad enough, then Jesus says you got to do this.

But the way you do this is by focusing on that. And if you understand that I have already overcome and you're walking through this thing you need to overcome, it's sin or circumstance, but you're looking at me and you say, okay, Jesus, I thank you or you've already overcome this. You've already overcome my emotions. You've already overcome my circumstance. You've already overcome my pain. You've already overcome my addiction. I just want to thank you that you've already overcome it.

I'm sweating and I'm tired, but I'm more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me and I just want to give you glory because I'm going to focus on the news of heaven during my struggle on earth. Dr. Evans will come back in a moment with encouragement for those who doubt that their life story could have an overcomer's ending. First though, if you'd like to hear the full-length version of today's message, including material we didn't have time to bring you on the air, you can get it as a part of our current series, The Best of Tony Evans 2020. As I mentioned earlier, all 20 messages in this collection are our gift to you when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. And for a limited time, we'll also include a copy of his devotional book, Called for a Purpose. Just drop by tonyevans.org, where you can get all the details and make your donation online. Again, that's tonyevans.org.

Or you can call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you with your resource request. A lot of people think God's offer to be close to us is too good to be true. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will explain how Satan perpetuates that attitude and what you can do about it.

Right now though, he's back to wrap up today's lesson with this final story. Any of you who like pro wrestling, let me explain something. It's fake.

Let me explain something. If you like pro wrestling, it's fake. It's been prescripted. They have already decided who the winner is going to be. That has been predecided, predestined, predetermined, elected.

That's all has decided before the match even starts. You're looking at the match and you see other wrestlers coming out right in the nick of time to jump in the match. All that's scripted. They even pay if you bleed.

If you bleed, they pay you more because you made it look more real. So they have scripted this thing. But even if you're being defeated, even if you're being thrown down, even if you're being abused, if it has already been predestined that when this thing is over, you're going to be more than a conqueror, that thing is going to turn around in some way, somehow. I know the devil's been slamming you. I know circumstances have been beating you. I know sins have been owning you.

I know it looks like the evil one is controlling you. But Jesus Christ on the cross has already prescripted that you are a winner. He's already prescripted that by relationship to Him, you're overcomer. He's already prescripted that Satan has no longer any control over you. He's already prescripted that greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world. He's already prescripted that those folk don't control you anymore. He's already prescripted that that circumstance doesn't control you anymore. I know you're being thrown down. I know you're being beaten up. But you can now look at it and declare, I am an overcomer and I'm coming back at you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.