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.

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[Music]

you only have one source you’ve got a

lot of resources

a lot of mechanisms that god can use to

bring

his provision to you but you only have

one source don’t ever let a resource

become a source

because it can’t be

when god is your only source

he is the one you look to for your

provision

always look to him

and then give thanks

because you know somebody

who’s able to meet you at every

level of need

and that is your great god

who cares about you remember

when you seek first his kingdom

and his righteousness

because he already knows what you need

he can cover you

at every point of your life

[Music]

lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil

this line in the lord’s prayer

is a request for

protection

it is a request for god

to protect you

to understand that you must understand

that when

the devil brought sin into the world

he not only affected people

he infected

and affected the systems of this world

so you and i need to be protected

from every kind of influence that the

devil has in every system

to which he is associated

and he is associated with every system

that exists

so the prayer request is that we will be

protected

from the evil one and not led into

anything

that would

keep us from experiencing

what we have prayed thus far

if he leads us into temptation

so that we adopt evil

we do not qualify to hallow his name

we will be unable to service his kingdom

we will refuse to submit to his will

which will interrupt our provision

dumb down the opportunity for

forgiveness

and so he is asking that we be protected

from the evil one let me put it another

way

satan’s goal is to

break us up from fellowship with god

because if he can accomplish that he can

mess up everything else

he says lead us not into

temptation

now the concept of temptation in

scripture

can be positive

or negative

when we try to make the distinction we

use the word trials to describe positive

and we use the word temptation and

generally we mean something negative

but it can be used either way and the

context will tell you which way it’s

being used

we know it’s being used negatively here

because he’s asking for deliverance from

the evil one

but why would you have to ask god to

lead you not into temptation

james 1 13 says god does not tempt any

man

but here you’re making a request for god

to not lead you into a temptation

so let’s go a little deeper

what god leads you into are trials

trials are adverse circumstances

negative things that happen

that are designed to develop you

spiritually

a trial is a negative event

that god causes

or god allows but every trial is only

for one purpose

and that is to grow you spiritually to

mature you spiritually to drive you to

god at another level

and to take you to the next spiritual

place god has for you

when god

brings an issue in your life not a sin

you’re committing but a

circumstance that is not in your favor

you are to view it as a trial

you are to not mistake the hand of god

for the hand of man

in other words

don’t just think it’s the people it’s

the situation it’s the circumstance if

god let it go from his heart

through his fingers into your life

you view it as a trial

satan doesn’t want you to look it as a

trial because then you’ll miss the

developmental purpose of god allowing it

to happen the bible is clear

in isaiah 38 verse 17

your afflictions are for your good

first peter 1 verses 6 and 7

in a trial god is calling your faith to

the witness stand

so a trial is designed to develop you

now a temptation

by the devil

is designed to defeat you

god is designed the negative experience

to develop you

satan brings temptation

in order to defeat you spiritually

and separate you you’ll see what i mean

in a moment further from god

now here is the problem

trials and temptations

often happen around the same event

in other words

most of the things we deal with is not a

trial over here and a temptation over

there now we know certain things you

know it is so obvious that they’re

temptations but what satan does is he

piggybacks on a trial to try to turn it

into a temptation

so he will take something that god makes

legitimate

mix with it messes with it to turn a

trial that god wanted to develop us into

a temptation in order to defeat us

so

you say well i don’t know whether this

is a trial or temptation assume it’s

both

because god will often

use the devil for a trial

and when god uses the devil for a trial

the devil takes god use of him for a

trial to try to use it for himself for a

temptation matthew chapter 4 verse 1

the spirit of the lord led jesus into

the wilderness to be tempted by the

devil

the spirit of the lord led the son of

god

into the dry place of testing in order

for the devil to tempt him so god put

jesus in satan’s territory for satan to

mess with jesus

god’s goal was to show jesus passing the

test satan’s goal was to make jesus fail

the test but it was the same test at the

same time in the same place okay

job chapter one

satan said the only reason

job serves you is because you give him

stuff

you take away his stuff

and i bet you he will curse you

god says i’ma let you

test him but satan

tempted him

he tempted him to curse god

job was being tested by god

are you going to praise me when things

aren’t going well

are you going to praise me when things

are going left

or are you going to let my test that i

allowed satan to tempt cause you to

curse me

so when life hits you

and you’re being tested and tempted the

question is

which way are you going to go

are you going to go with god as a test

or with satan as a tempt because they

often both happen at the same time so

then

what god is after

is seeing in a test

how serious your commitment is

and to when you pass the test take you

to the next spiritual level

satan simultaneously will use that or

something else in order to drive a web

uh

a wedge between us and the lord so that

we do not have the full presence and

power of him with us so

yes

i hate to tell you this but god does use

the devil to grow you

god does use the devil to grow you you

remember peter

the bible says in luke 22

jesus said to peter satan has asked ask

us

satan came to us and asked us to allow

him to sip you like wheat

peter said well that’s not gonna happen

to me because i’m your main man

he says everybody else will walk away

from you but not me

jesus said before the crows you

will deny me three times you are not all

that in a bag of chips

so i am going to allow satan to break

you down

so that i can raise you up

because until i break you i can’t make

you

so i’m going to let the devil do my

dirty work

so sometimes you will say why is the

devil doing this to me it may be because

god has invited him to

or at least allowed him to

because he will test even using the

devil

who will at simultaneously tempt

and the question you stand on is which

way are you going to go are you going to

follow god

when it doesn’t make sense when you

don’t like it

that’s what’s job’s choice

and job had to make the decision

he says shall i receive good from the

lord

and praise him only during the good

times

and not

negative from the lord and not praise

him during the negative times

and so he says

lead us not

into any situation we can’t handle

that’s what lead us not in the

temptation me don’t put me don’t give me

a trial

where i will be overrun by a temptation

or if i’ve already been beat up by the

devil

if i’m already defeated by him deliver

us from evil

so the first part is keep me from

getting into a situation i can’t handle

and the second part is if i’ve already

gotten into a situation i can’t handle

get me out of this situation that i

can’t handle deliver me from evil that

is from the evil one

well now that means we need to learn how

temptation works how does it work

james chapter 1

verses 14 to 15. lays it out

he says but each one is tempted

when he is carried away

and enticed by his own lust

then when lust has conceived it gives

birth to sin

and when sin is accomplished it brings

forth death

in those two verses

he gives you the pattern of temptation

the pattern of temptation

always starts

with desire

enticed

by his lust the word lust means desire

what satan does is he creates

a craving for something

outside of the will of god

he wants you to want it

in adam and eve in the garden he told

them god told them don’t eat of the

fruit in the midst of the god

but when satan talked to eve it says

when she saw

it was delightful and desirable and was

able to make one wise she ate it because

he created

desire

you have been assigned a demon

they know how you move what you like

what you are are geared to what you are

desirous of they they know what you’re

thinking and how you operate so they

know the precise time to bring that

thing

that situation that person that problem

into you to create a desire

now what we do

is what we do is we dumb down how bad it

is

and so he starts off with

desire designed

to entice

satan always has a hook

tied to the delicious thing he happens

to be offering you

but satan is not going to show you the

hook

he’s just going to show you how well it

tastes

until he gets you hooked and when he

gets you hooked he reels you in in order

to slice you up

but he has to make it look good on the

front end

please notice something

in verse 15 when lust has conceived

it gives birth to sin so he talks about

a pregnancy conceiving

notice

he didn’t call the desire sin

he called when it conceives it becomes

sin okay so let me let me help make you

feel this a little better

the fact

that your flesh

wants to sin

is not the problem

because that’s what the flesh does

you you can

you cannot stop the flesh

from wanting to be fleshy

he calls the decision to act on it the

problem

so

in one sense

you can you can feel a little better

about the fact that your flesh can never

become unfleshy

it can never become unfleshy because

it’s been trained that way

and into varying degrees as you grow it

loses its dominance but it never stops

being the flesh

but when you act on it one chocolate

cake is not the problem

you don’t gain weight from wanting

chocolate cake

you gain weight from eating chocolate

cake

when the flesh wants to sin it’s because

that’s what the flesh wants to do but

when you make the decision

to act on it he says that is when it’s

conceived

no woman

gets pregnant with an egg

alone there’s got to be a conceiving

that takes place for it to birth into

something

and then he says

when satan has accomplished his goal in

temptation

you’re gonna have a baby

and he gives the baby its name

death

sin

brings forth

death

let me explain this all the time there

are no exceptions to this

but when he says death he’s not talking

about being in a coffin

when adam and eve sinned they didn’t

drop deer they lived they lived for for

many many years after that what happened

when they sin was they were put out of

god’s presence

they were removed from the garden

so the word death in the bible does not

mean non-existence it means separation

so when

satan can tempt us to sin

he then separates us from god

and when we get separated even as

christians from god

there is no power in our life there is

no victory in our life there is no uh

deliverance in our life there are no

answered prayers in our life because god

is off in the distance because he can’t

fellowship with us in our sin

that raises a question here it is

okay

what do i do

the prayer is you pray

lead me not into anything i can’t handle

you don’t give sin

the attention that it asks for

okay chapter 1 of james

he says in verse 16

do not be deceived my beloved brethren

so he’s talking to christians my beloved

brethren this is for christians

every good thing given

and every perfect gift is from above

coming down from the father of lights

with whom there is no variation or

shifting shadow

in the exercise of his will

he brought us forth by the word of truth

so that we would be a kind of first

fruits

among

his creatures

he’s going to say four things

and they all revolve around one word

focus

you must change your

focus

what you are focusing on will determine

what will control

you focus

he says focus on four things number one

focus on the goodness of god

every good and perfect gift cometh from

above

when you

see sin

or the devil

trying to tempt you to sin or you’re

caught in sin

he says recognize it but that’s not

where you put your focus

we want you to put your focus

on

how good god has been to you

how do you focus on the goodness of god

you enter into a time of thanksgiving

lord i want to thank you that you did

this

thank you that when i was almost killed

you saved my life back there thank you

for this thank you for that i want to

thank you for you yeah i got this sin

problem i got this same problem but i’m

going to look at god i just want to

enter into a season of thanksgiving on

the goodness of god

number two

focus on the

faithfulness of god

he said because in god there is no

shifting shadow or as he puts it in the

verse

he says

the father of lights

with whom there is no variation or

shifting shadow

okay let’s talk about lights

there has never been a time

where the sun

has not and does not shine

so the sun is consistent it’s the

turning of the earth that produces the

shadow he says if you’re going to have

victory you must focus on the god who

does not move

not the circumstances that are always

moving

you can’t skip what you’re dealing with

but focus on the sunlight so you’re not

controlled by nighttime first

corinthians chapter 10

verse 13 it says and god is faithful

who will not allow you to be tempted

beyond what you are able

but will with the temptation provide you

a way of escape he says here’s how the

faithfulness of god works when you’re

being drawn by satan into sin or even

when god is allowing you to deal with

the trial number one

he will control how long it lasts and

how deep it goes because he will not

allow you to be tempted above what

you’re able so if you’re in a trial or

in this case you’re under an attack you

can assume something that the devil is

not the devil he’s god’s devil and god

got a leash on him and he’s only going

to let him go so far and

whatever he’s allowing you can handle

because he promised he’s so faithful he

won’t give you what you can’t handle

he says and when he gives it to you he

says god is faithful and in his

faithfulness he will not give you but

will with the temptation

give you the way of escape i don’t know

if you just heard that

god has got a solution but he’s not

going to let you see it until you pass

the test

until god sees you tell the devil no

until god sees that you focus on him but

he will already have the exit sign at

the very same time as the temptation and

when he does it he says

he will give it at the very same time

watch this

so that you’re able to endure it now

watch this

the only way

to finish a test or to get victory in

the temptation he says is you must go

through it

you can’t get from where you are to

where god wants you without going

through the development the third thing

you focus on this goodness you focus on

his faithfulness then he says you focus

on his word

verse 18.

in the exercise of his will he brought

us forth by the word of truth

you focus on what god says not how you

feel

you focus on what god says not how you

think you focus on what god says not

what everybody else has to say you go

back yeah this is what i feel but god

this is what you say this is what i want

but this is what you say and if you

praise his goodness trust his

faithfulness and quote his word like

jesus did jesus didn’t go back well you

know devil i was here before you no he

said it is written man shall not live by

bread alone but by every word that

proceeds out of the mouth of god it is

written he will call his angels it is

written you shall serve the lord thy god

and worship him only it’s written is

written as written why must you keep

quoting the word of god when you’re

being tempted because the devil is

allergic to scripture when he in

scripture he goes

[Applause]

he can’t handle scripture

loves to hear what you think

he loves to hear how you feel but when

you start quoting the word to him

three strikes you out of here

and finally the fourth thing

you focus on his perspective look at the

end of that verse

i don’t want you to miss this

his perspective he says

so that verse 18

we would be a kind of first fruits

among his creatures

oh

first fruits we normally talk about

first fruits for giving giving your

tithe your first fruits

but he’s not talking about money here he

says

you are the first fruits

the first fruit was the cream of the

crop

it’s what you offered god first because

it was viewed as the most precious

it was being it was honoring god to give

god first it gives him

honor so he says he says that you are

first fruits in other words

don’t let the devil dial back your

dignity

you’re not just one of god you’re not

you’re not just another man or another

woman or another boy or girl you first

fruits

so i’m here to tell you today that god

is a delivering god

psalm chapter 50 verse 15 says he

delivers psalm 107 verses 1-32 says he’s

a god who delivers psalm 91 verses 14

and 15 says he’s a god who can deliver

you second timothy chapter 4 verses 17

and 18 paul says i’m looking for god to

deliver me he can deliver you from

circumstances situations people and the

devil

[Music]

in a world of chaos and confusion

uncertainty and

discombobulation

prayer just can’t be an addendum

it can’t just be a go-to

when um

i’ve tried everything else

it’s got to be put on the front end why

because we need god on the front end

we don’t just want him there as a

emergency stop gap

we need him

to guide us

to lead us

to direct us

to clarify for us

because if god doesn’t

work in our circumstances personally and

collectively

then we won’t be able to fix them

and yes god does allow things to get out

of hand

so that we discover

that without him

we truly can do nothing

so let’s not just pray because we’re

supposed to

let’s pray first because we absolutely

have to

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

you