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.

let me tell you something God doesn’t do

miracles just to show off he does the

supernatural so that his name will be

known and they say see because too many

of us still got him in a manger

somewhere seventy-two minute of us don’t

don’t know who we dealing with here

who then is this that even the wind and

the sea obey Him it doesn’t work this

religious thing this Christian thing it

doesn’t work that’s what the disciples

are saying it’s not working I’m not

getting victory I’m not being delivered

I’m not I’m not I’m not it’s not working

and they want to know why he doesn’t

just bless you for you he blesses you

for his name his glory your impact your

testimony your ministry God does not

want to do miracles that excludes you he

wants to do miracles that include you

you are part of the miracle

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many of God’s children are spiritual

POWs prisoners of war trapped in a sin

that they have been unable to break

trapped in a situation that is contrary

to the will and word of God from which

they have not been able to escape

whether it is alcoholism or drugs or

pornography or gluttony or profanity

whether it is lashing out in anger and

wrath and inability to control one’s

temper they find themselves caught and

unable to get out there is a whole

addiction industry today to help people

get out of the vice grip that is holding

them illegitimately hostage and what

many are discovering is that going to

church hadn’t solved their problem

praying hasn’t released them from it I

want to talk about the consequence of

addiction that shreds minds ruin Souls

kills relationships because you find

yourself caught and even if that’s not

you there is somebody in your circle of

influence who finds themselves addicted

the biblical word for what the world

calls addiction is stronghold because

the biblical word strong

hold is referring to the spiritual

nature of the addiction a stronghold is

a spiritually based addiction which

means if you try to fix an addiction

which is really a stronghold without the

right spiritual connection you can’t be

released from it because you haven’t

dealt with the core issue that’s behind

it so you just deal with the thing

itself regardless of your addictions it

would take us forever to talk about this

addiction in that addiction in this

addiction in that addiction in this

other addiction because they are they

come in by the dozens but I would like

to submit to you that they all emanate

from a common source so if we can get to

the common source we can apply that

source to the uniqueness of the

particular spiritual addiction /

stronghold that needs to be addressed

we’re living in a time when people find

themselves stuck now my concern this

morning is not for the person who’s

stuck and wants to be because I can help

you

if you’re in an addiction and you want

to stay addicted all the facts and

figures and truths and Bible can’t

change something you are pursuing but I

am speaking to those who are or who know

someone who is caught in a sin no

they’re caught doesn’t want to be caught

but doesn’t know how to get out they are

trapped in some scenario for which they

cannot find release I want to try to

give a biblical mechanism for

deliverance predicated on an

understanding that Christians can find

themselves in strongholds like

non-christians you don’t have to be

saved for long to know that when you got

saved your flesh didn’t disappear some

of our flesh was so well trained when we

weren’t saved that when we got saved the

flesh looked at that as a new

opportunity to show how strong it really

is even the most spiritual person in the

New Testament the Apostle Paul struggled

with something he couldn’t shake in

Romans chapter 7 verses 14 to 24 Paul

says he was doing things he did not want

to do he said he told himself you

shouldn’t do it he said the Willie was

there I was really serious but the

ability to pull it off what I kept

promising God I’m not gonna do it again

I kept promising God I

ruggle between my flesh and my salvation

and the two were not getting along so it

is possible to have come to Christ have

eternal life and still not yet be free

from whatever the stronghold or

spiritual addiction happens to be and so

this thing called stronghold spiritual

addictions is spiritual slavery in some

category of life which is why he calls

it in verse 14 a slave to sin if you a

slave that means you could have a master

he calls the master sin he doesn’t call

it a bad habit he doesn’t call it a

mistake he doesn’t call it something

that you know you need to just get over

he calls it something that is in

antithesis to the will and word of God

so let’s call the addiction whatever

category it is what it is no you don’t

just have a struggle you got a sin

master no you know you didn’t just make

a mistake over and over and over again

you had a master called sin because if

you don’t know who your master is

then you won’t address it for what it is

he calls it slavery being under the whip

of an entity that he calls sin

how does this stronghold or spiritual

addiction whatever category it is occur

because understanding the cause will

lead us to the cure I want you to follow

me to second Corinthians chapter 10 and

we all need this either for ourselves or

for someone else and so it is critical

that you understand their second

Corinthians chapter 10 verse 2 says I

asked that when I am present I need not

to be bold with the confidence with

which I propose to be courageous against

some who regard us as if we walk

according to the flesh for though we

walk in the flesh we do not war

according to the flesh for the weapons

of our warfare are not the flesh but

divinely powerful for the destruction of

fortresses we are destroying

speculations and every lofty thing

raised up against the knowledge of God

and we are taking every thought captive

to the obedience of Christ the problem

of addiction a sin that has mastered you

or us or me the problem of addiction has

to do with a lofty thing okay you see

that phrase he says this lofty thing in

verse 5 has been raised up against the

knowledge of God so let me define the

lofty thing the Greek word lofty

a synonym for T’s partition

I studied the Bible in college for four

years

I studied the Bible before you as

different as master’s degree another

four years we’re gonna let dr. Drake

then I’ve been preaching all of these

years and I’m still learning new things

from this awesome

inexhaustibility a little game that’s

why I’m so excited about the twenty

heaven Study Bible and its accompanying

works with Tony Evans Bible commentary

it will take all of this training and

this teaching and make it available to

you to understand utilize and apply

God’s most powerful

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you go to a room we have classrooms that

have a partition down the middle you can

open it or you can close it if we want

to have two classrooms in the same space

we close the petition this petition is

lofty it goes from the floor to the

ceiling and we close it to divide the

room so that we can have two separate

classes as opposed to having one bigger

class so we divide it through a lofty

thing now the reason we divide the room

is so the information in this half of

the room doesn’t cross over to the

meeting in that half of the room we want

the content to be separated so that one

room is not interfering with another

room what Paul is saying is the reason

why we stay defeated is because of our

partition in the mind there is a

blockage in the mind

he says speculations and thoughts raised

up petitioned out against the knowledge

of God so what the enemy does is he sets

up a partition in the mind so that the

truth of God can’t get through and

because he partials off your thinking

your speculation and your thoughts no

matter how many sermons you hear it

can’t cross over to the other room

because the other room is filled with

contradictory information that the enemy

doesn’t want the knowledge of God to

cross over into he calls this other

information in the other half of the

room you

personal mind because that information

knowledge and speculation against the

knowledge of God so the lofty thing is

contradicting what God says what gods

thinks so that it doesn’t go all the way

through so what happens is that the

enemy is able to keep the truth of God

from fully infiltrating your thought

patterns so that you have victory one

moment and defeat another moment this

blocking through a lofty thing keeps

what he calls in verse four the fortress

prison or tomb operating so the moment

you think you getting out you find out

you still in because it didn’t cross

over it did the partition made sure it

didn’t cross over now the biblical word

for this lofty thing is double

mindedness double mindedness double –

mind thought thinking in two different

directions at the same time partition it

is the job of Satan to keep you thinking

in two ways at the same time he doesn’t

mind you getting god’s thoughts on

sunday as long as in the other room you

have his thoughts on Monday because if

he can get you to have God’s thoughts on

Sunday but get his thoughts on Monday he

can keep god’s thoughts from penetrating

the whole of you therefore god’s

thoughts don’t last long because they’re

in competition what a lot of folks think

is having diet church

on Sunday after having incorporated the

other worldview all week long

somehow that diet worship will override

and give you victory he says no you’re

operating with a partition and that

partition cancels out the knowledge of

God making it in capable of your mind

being able to take every thought captive

to the obedience to Christ so in order

for the penetration of God’s truth to

bring victory in the area of the

stronghold due to the vise grip of sin

that has been amplified by Satan and

demons in order for that to be overcome

that wall must be taken down in order

that the fortress the prison might be

destroyed not remodeled and the tricky

part of this the tricky part is that the

other part of the room the part that’s

not from God feels right a lot of the

time see the reason why Satan can keep

us trapped is when we don’t like what

God wants and come to some logical

conclusion about it that we can toss a

little Jesus name on top of it we think

that then it must be ok when it’s the

devil controlling the other side of the

room of our minds when we understand

this and grasp this it becomes a

transforming truth that wait a minute I

have a divided mind and that’s why it

doesn’t stay

it stays there for a day or a week but

it doesn’t stick and even when it comes

back I don’t have victory over it it has

victory over me how do we begin now to

remove the petition so there is no

longer a division in the mind so that

now God’s knowledge flows through and

the fortress is destroyed and all the

speculation that’s holding me hostage he

says in John chapter 8 verse 31 and 32

if you continue in my word then you will

know that you are truly my disciples and

you will know the truth and the truth

will make you free you only are going to

be freed by the truth and one of the

reasons people stay in strongholds is

because they’re living on a truth or

their truth or some TV programs truth or

some cultural truth and not the truth

the absolute standard by which reality

is revealed here is one of the biggest

falsehoods that keep us in custody and

locked up spiritually and a stronghold a

spiritual addiction and that is trying

to get the flesh to fix the flesh Paul

said in the scripture we just read in

2nd Corinthians 10 we do not war

according to the flesh the flesh can’t

fix the flesh verse 31 he says I want

you to continue in my truth and you will

know the truth the word continue means

to hang out a bide stay there to loiter

that’s what to continue or abide is

you must abide in the truth stay that

stay with me we don’t abide in the truth

we visited to have victory over the

master of sin you must abide in the

truth so if you are battling something

in your life and you’re a Christian if

you’re not a Christian that’s a whole

nother ballgame because you don’t have

the spirit to help you but if you are a

Christian you have the spirit but the

spirit is the spirit of truth so you’ve

got to abide in the truth so here’s what

I want you to do this week every day I

want you to read Romans six seven and

eight that those three chapters Romans

six seven and eight why cuz Romans six

seven and eight is gonna tell you the

truth about the master called sin

whatever that sin is verse 32 says and

you will know the truth and the truth

will make you free right that’s what it

says but in verse 36 it says so if the

son makes you free you will be free

indeed in the first one the truth will

make me free but in the second one the

son sets me free in the first one I’m

free but in the second one I’m free

indeed so what’s the difference between

being made free and being set free and

what’s the difference between being free

and free indeed what was the difference

here it is not merely the knowledge of

the Bible it is the relationship with

the author that produces the experience

of the freedom that you have see Paul

was struggling with how

not want to do this and do it I’m

confused I had a I can’t make sense of

that

he says the Word of God soon cuts

between the two so the two are segmented

but then after he says that he comes to

verse 13 and he says and all things are

laid bare before his eyes so in verse 12

he talkin about the Word of God but in

verse 13 he talked about his eyes so he

takes the word written and God the

person and when the Living Word connects

with the written word in your heart soul

and mind not only is bail posted but

Jesus comes with a key and when the Sun

sets you free you are free indeed in

1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the

Emancipation Proclamation but folk in

Texas and Louisiana and Arkansas didn’t

find out about it till June 19 1865 so

there was a gap between the legal

freedom and there was a gap between the

experience of freedom not because the

proclamation hadn’t been signed it was

cuz folk didn’t know about it so one

reason you can stay a slave is because

nobody told you how to be free oh but

there’s another way you can stay a slave

somebody can tell you that you are free

but you’ve gotten so used to living on

the plantation that you don’t exercise

the freedom that you had so a lot of

folks stayed in slavery who had been set

free because they had gotten so used to

being there they didn’t want to take the

risk of freedom on the cross Jesus

signed your emancipation proclamation

and everybody who trusts Christ is

redeemed but Satan wants you to know

that he wants a petition up in your mind

so that you don’t believe you can walk

in freedom but I’m

to tell you today that he who the Sun

sets free is free indeed

but only if you continue in his word you

continue in his word you call on the Sun

and then you can declare like a great

man a few years ago in 1963 in

Washington DC free at last free last I

thank God Almighty with my stronghold

I’m free at last

let me tell you something God doesn’t do

miracles just to show off he doesn’t do

the supernatural to flex his muscles he

does the supernatural so that his name

will be though some issues are too big

for you to handle by yourself

that’s why you need community that’s why

you need people around you to help you

move stones you can use that’s what

church is supposed to be

he doesn’t just bless you for you he

blesses you for his name his glory your

impact your testimony your ministry not

the redeemed of the Lord say so when you

get your supernatural you better open up

your mouth then you better declare the

greatness of your God because only your

God can go into your grave and raise you

up and give you life you better give him

the glory to his name

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you