Tearing Down Personal Strongholds

I don't care what your mess is in your life. I don't care how bad you were raised.

I don't care what abuse you've gone through. Dr. Tony Evans says God has what it takes to keep your past in your past. There is more grace than your mess.

There is more grace than your problem. 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. Keeping up our national defenses has always been a priority, but Dr. Evans says we don't always pay enough attention to our personal, spiritual security. Today he explains how grace can reinforce your resistance to the enemy.

Let's join him. Many of you today are at war. You have a fortress. You have been captured.

You are a POW. Satan has got you, and everything you have tried has not been able to get him to let you go. Some of us are obviously incarcerated by the evil one. Drug addiction is a stronghold.

It's where your flesh has been captured by a chemical agent so that it craves it, and no matter how much you try, you can't let it go. Some are codependent. There are people or a person in your life who has captured you and who holds you hostage. For some of you, it could be parents who have long since died but whose influence in the way they have raised you has not allowed you to go free.

Some of you entered into the Christian faith abused, and Satan has been able to capture you and hold you hostage because no matter how hard you run, you've not been able to break away from that vice grip that holds you hostage. That's a stronghold. Some of us don't have obvious strongholds. They're private strongholds. We have them.

We've just been able to cover them. They're strongholds of the mind. Sexual addiction, pornography, for example, is a stronghold of the mind. Illicit activity captures our minds, and we're unable to unlock ourselves from it.

No matter how many times we say we're not going to buy the magazine, we keep buying and keep thumbing through it. No matter how many times we say we're not going to watch the show, we keep turning it on because we have been captured by a stronghold of the mind. A stronghold is a mindset that accepts a situation as unchangeable even though we know it's against the will of God. Something that captures you and you see no way out.

You're caught, but you want to escape. It is unfortunate that Christians have been duped into believing that if you have a stronghold, you're supposed to have it, that there's no way out. We want to blame people for our strongholds. People cannot make something a stronghold. They can set you up for you to make it a stronghold, because what makes a stronghold a stronghold is that it's got your mind. And while people can make it accessible to you, while people can encourage you in it, they cannot force you.

A stronghold is where you are captured in your mind. People say, well, if they didn't have all that junk on TV and all that junk in the movies, I wouldn't have my problem. No, you don't understand. Your problem is your problem.

The TV just sets you up so it can reveal how messed up you are. And we want to spend time blaming others rather than getting rid of the stronghold that we have. It's spiritual. And one of the reasons that you haven't been able to get rid of it is because you have not addressed it spiritually. You cannot fight a spiritual battle using weapons of the flesh.

You can't do it. That which is born of flesh is flesh, John 3 says, and that which is born of spirit is spirit, and never the twain shall meet. And so my task is to try, as simply as I know how, for my benefit and for yours, for us, to address the question, how do I overcome, in light of all that I've learned about spiritual warfare, the personal stronghold in my life, or if you don't have one, how you can help another brother or sister or family member who knows Jesus Christ to overcome a personal stronghold in their life, a mindset that sees as unchangeable that which is against the will of God. Number one, the first thing you must do if you're going to get out of the vice grip of the mind that is holding you hostage no matter what it is, is to remember your position in Christ. That little statement can set you on a road of deliverance that you can't imagine.

That little statement can set you free from things that have been dogging you for 25 years. No matter what other help you get, if you do not remember your position in Christ, then you are barking up the wrong tree. Ephesians 2 says this, he has raised us up with Christ, seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ. You have been elevated to a position with Christ who is now enthroned over the heavenly realm.

And that's where you are. He says in light of that in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1, If then you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things which are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things on earth. We have too many earthly Christians, and that's why we don't have more supernatural deliverance. If your mind is set on an earthly solution, then you won't be able to get a heavenly response. He says Jesus Christ is not down here. He has been raised and enthroned in heaven, and therefore heaven must be the place where you access your solution.

Why? Same book of Colossians says in verse 9 of chapter 2, For in Christ all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. Jesus is God.

And in him you have been made complete. He is the head over all rule and authority. He oversees the angels, good and bad. Verse 15 says, And he has disarmed the rulers and authorities.

He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. Jesus has already beaten the devil. The devil and his angels are the source of your problem.

If you are going to beat the evil environment that is the source of your problem, you have to hook up with somebody who can whip them. And you can't. So then what does it mean to remember your position in Christ?

Here it is. Your position as a child of God, if you're truly saved, in Jesus Christ, get this now, gives you legal authority over Satan. See, you're not praying with me. Your position in Christ, having been raised with him and seated with him in the heavenly places, gives you legal authority over the angelic realm. Legal authority. Jesus Christ has granted you, listen to me, legal authority so that you can simply tell the angelic realm that attacks you, you no longer have any rights over my life.

And I bet you a lot of us have never tried that. We have never tried stating when under attack that that is an illegitimate attempt to place on me that which you have no right because I have been legally set free by Christ. That simple remembrance of your position. Satan does not want you to remember that you've been elevated higher than him in Christ. He doesn't want you to remember that because if he can get you to forget who you are, then he knows you will never call on your legal rights. You have legal rights in heavenly places and it's terrible to have a law passed on your behalf that you never benefit from.

You have legal rights in heaven. And realizing that is an important factor in combating the enemy's influence in your life. Dr. Evans will have more when he returns in a moment. Now, if you're wanting to dig deeper into the important subject being covered today, I encourage you to check out Tony's complete two-volume 12-message series. It's called Spiritual Warfare. And in it, you'll learn the toughest problems you face are often created by spiritual issues that demand spiritual solutions. Dr. Evans offers an effective plan of attack and shines a revealing light on the devil's tricks and tactics, allowing you to become equipped for winning victories on spiritual battlefields that can affect your marriage, finances, and even emotions and addictions.

You can get your own copy of Spiritual Warfare on CD or digital download. And if you contact us right away to make a contribution to the ministry, we'll say thanks by sending you the complete Spiritual Warfare series and your choice of one of two follow-up books, Victory in Spiritual Warfare or Prayers for Victory in Spiritual Warfare. Just visit tonyevans.org and get the details before time runs out. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222, and your team members are standing by around the clock to help with your resource request. I'll have that information for you again after part two of today's lesson and this.

Find out more at tonyevanstraining.org. I was watching a football game and one of the players got upset at a referee for a call that he made. The player was twice as big as the referee, probably ten times as strong as the referee. And he was angry and he went at the referee and he did the unthinkable and the unacceptable. He bumped him.

And they have gotten very strict. You don't put your hands or any part of your body on the referee or the umpire, depending on what sport it is. Touch him, he has legal rights. Even though he's smaller than you, even though you're bigger than him, even though you've got all this equipment and all he has on is a t-shirt and a pair of pants. The referee reached in his back pocket, pulled out a yellow flag and flung it up in the air, waving his hands up and down like this.

And sent the player boogieing, told him, you are out of here. But wait a minute, how can a little puny guy who can't lift half the weight of the football player, who has no equipment to protect himself, how dare he throw a flag up in the face of a 300-pounder? Where did he get the power? Where did he get the strength? Where did he get the confidence? It was all legal. It had nothing to do that he was stronger than the player, more built than the player, more protected than the player, had more weight than the player. He just had more legal authority than the player. Brothers and sisters, Satan is bigger than you. He's been lifting weights longer than you.

He's got on more equipment than you. But you got a flag in your back pocket based on Jesus Christ. You have legal rights.

When the ref threw the flag, you heard nothing more from the player because the power of the ref legally was more potent than the strength of the player physically. And the power of the believer, who uses his legal right in heavenly places, is more potent than the power of Satan. You have legal rights.

We not only don't use our rights, we forget we even have the flag in the back pocket. And so we have the right to say to the evil one, when he brings up our past, when he tells us we can't help it, you liar. You a liar. You are a liar because I have legal, I got papers. Colossians 2 says Jesus has triumphed over you and I'm with him. I have legal rights. While you remember your position in Christ, you have rights now in heaven. Satan don't want you to remember that because he knows he must respond to that authority because it comes from Christ. Secondly, while you remember your position, you must rely on God's provision. Turn with me to James 4. Let me read verse 6. But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

Do you remember me telling you this whole battle is about grace? Listen to that phrase. Please listen to that phrase.

Please hear the phrase. He gives greater grace. Greater than what? Greater than the mess you in. I don't care what your mess is in your life. I don't care how bad you were raised.

I don't care what abuse you've gone through. I'm not undermining it. I'm not saying it didn't affect you.

I'm not saying it wasn't serious. I'm not saying you don't have to deal with it. All I'm saying is he gives greater grace. There is more grace than your mess. There is more grace than your problem. The way God has decided to fix the mess that we bring to him is by giving greater grace.

You say, but I was abused. He's got greater grace. You say, but I was misused, but he gives greater grace. But you don't understand.

I've been addicted for years. Yeah, but take up all the years of your addiction, add them together, and the verse still says he gives greater grace. God has an inexhaustible supply of goodness to overcome whatever accumulation of mess you've made.

And a lot of us have more mess than we can even remember. He can take the mess you remember, the mess you forgot, put it all together, and he still gives greater grace. That is his inexhaustible supply. You must remember your position, but you must use his provision. Now, the natural question is, well, now, how do I get this grace? If he's given this goodness that is greater than my mess, how do I get it?

He lines it out for us. He says in verse seven, submit to God. Submit to God. Submit to God. What does it mean to submit to God? I am submitted to God.

No, you're not. Stop lying. Because if you were submitted to God, you wouldn't do what they were doing in chapter four, verses one through three. What are the sources of your quarrels and conflicts among you and the source of your pleasures that wage war on your members you lust and do not have?

You commit murder, and you are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight in quarrel. You're not submitting to God if you're still fighting for yourself. If you're still trying to make it happen for yourself, you are not submitted to God. If you're still trying to make it, if you still get up in the morning and say, I am not going to do this anymore, you're not submitted to God, you're submitted to you. Because you're telling you how strong you are not to do it anymore.

If you were that strong, we wouldn't have had a problem in the first place. We got the problem because we're not submitted to God. If you're going to be submitted to God because you want greater grace, well then, the word submit has two components, and you have to understand both in order to submit. The first component of submit is the word surrender. Normally, when people say submit, they use another synonym, commit. But we commit without surrender. I may give an invitation, and when I do, I say, anybody who wants to commit themselves to Christ, come down. And you may come down and say, well, I'm going to not do this anymore, and I'm going to not do that anymore, and I'm going to make a commitment, and you really mean it, but then you go out and fall flat on your face.

Why? Because commitment can't work unless it's preceded by surrender. You say, well, what is the definition of surrender? Surrender says to God, I can't. Surrender says to God, I am unable. Surrender says, I am too weak. Surrender says, I am not able to live up to your expectation. When a man surrenders in a war, he says, I quit.

When a team surrenders, they throw out the white flag, and they say, I lost. The Bible teaches, if you're going to get greater grace from God, you must surrender yourself. You must throw up the white flag and say, I can't. What a lot of us do when we commit is say, I can. We say, I will. I have the power to.

If you had the power, you would need greater grace. It begins with surrender, which says, I am unable to fulfill that which is necessary to get me out of the mess I've gotten myself or somebody else has gotten me. I am so weak. I am so anemic.

I am so unable. I fall flat on my face before you because I need help. Surrender. Because once you surrender, then God can take over. Most people don't surrender. They commit.

And what they do is try to gear up their minds to say what they're going to do in the flesh. And they treat the flesh like a lion tamer trying to whip it into conformity, not understanding that it means that you surrender. Having surrendered, now you can commit. Having told God, I can't. And therefore say to God, you can.

I am going to go out and not do what I used to do, not because I have the ability because I surrender, but because I commit myself to you to supply in me that which I need to fulfill your expectations of me. You have now invited God to do for you what you can't do for yourself. Philippians 2 puts it this way. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. But don't forget the next verse. It says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.

We want to do it ourselves and ask God to bless it when what God wants us to say is, I can't. I messed up. I've tried. I failed. Give me some grace and I will.

My ability to pull it off is tied to God's ability. Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us that victory involves less trying and more trusting. Now, as I mentioned earlier, we'll send you all 12 full-length lessons from his current series on spiritual warfare with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep his teaching on the station. And as a special bonus, if you contact us right away, we'll even include a copy of one of his two popular companion books, either Victory in Spiritual Warfare or Prayers for Victory in Spiritual Warfare.

Take your pick. Just visit tonyevans.org to get the details and make the arrangements. Or if it's more convenient for you, give us a phone call at 1-800-800-3222, where one of our friendly team members will be happy to assist with your resource request. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Well, tomorrow, Dr. Evans will outline three specific steps we need to take to break free from the habits in history that can turn us into spiritual prisoners of war. I hope you'll join us. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.