TONY EVANS HOUSE
Tony Evans - Returning to God in the Spirit Part 2
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Or call 303-974-9444 to speak to a rent-to-state advisor today. This summer, saddle up with the only sportsbook where you can bet on horse racing, FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $500. Just download the app or go to fanduel.com/horses to score your no-sweat bet up to $500. 21+ and present in Colorado. Never valid on first real money wager of $5 or more, verified FD Racing account required. Bonus issued in non-withdrawable racing site credit that expires seven days after issuance. Max Refund $500. Restrictions apply. See terms at racing.fanduel.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gambler. You have to walk in concert with the spirit. That is a spiritual way of thinking, which is God's way of thinking. Dr. Tony Evans says being led by God's spirit is an ongoing, daily decision. It is a mindset, a lifestyle, not anything. This is the alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oakland Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the urban alternative. Any pilot will tell you that successfully landing a plane requires choosing and following the correct approach to the desired runway. Well, likewise, Dr. Evans says we need to take a spiritual approach to our lives if we're going to safely arrive at the destination God's prepared for us. Let's join him as he talks about how the Holy Spirit can successfully guide us to the Lord. In Galatians chapter 5, we read these words, verse 16, but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another. This battle between the spirit and the flesh is a battle for control. Both want to win and both want to rule. They want to control the agenda of your existence. The spirit's job is to take a believer to the place of pleasing God. The flesh's goal is to take the believer to the place of satisfying self-independently of God. The flesh can be defined as satisfying yourself independently of the will of God. Put it in one way. The flesh wants to do one thing. You want to do something else and they don't agree. So the flesh wants you to skip, ignore, bypass what the spirit wants to satisfy what you want in order to break fellowship with God. I say, Galatians 5, 16, walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. You and I will never have victory if we just visit the spirit. We must walk in the spirit, okay? So let's talk about walking. First of all, if you are walking, you are going somewhere. Now you may not know where you are going, but you are going somewhere because you are moving in some direction. Walking assumes a destination. To walk in the spirit means you are moving toward the will of God. So the very first thing that walking in the spirit demands is you knowing what God's will is and you are making a decision to move to that direction because you have to walk in concert with the spirit. That is a spiritual way of thinking, which is God's way of thinking, which is the will of God. So if your concern is not what is God's will in this matter, you are not walking in the spirit and you have given the flesh permission to win. First thing is the decision about a direction. Secondly, walking is a continuous movement because I am dedicated to get to where I said I wanted to go. I just said I want to go to the will of God, okay? Many people say they want to go to the will of God and step but don't walk. Walking is a repetitive motion toward a destination. It's not a one step and say, well, I meant to go there. Walking is continuous but when you walk, a third thing happens. There is a declaration of dependence. Every time you walk, you put in all your weight on one leg for that step. You go to the next step. You put in all your weight on one leg for that next step and so on and so forth. That means there is dependency on that leg to hold you up. If you've got questions about the strength of your leg, it's going to make you tentative about your walk. But if you're confident in the strength of your leg, you're going to be confident in your walk. The reason why we don't depend on Holy Spirit is because we're not that confident that he can do what God promises that he can do if we walk in a way he wants us to walk through the will, he wants us to pursue. So when you decide on the will of God, make motions toward the will of God and then invite the Holy Spirit's enablement to empower your movement to arrive at that will, then he with the strength of your walk in concert with him begins the process of letting you experience overriding the flesh rather than the flesh overriding you or me or us. So that is the process of walking in the spirit. Romans chapter eight, Paul is struggling with his flesh. This is one of the most honest passages of scripture by a spiritual leader. He's struggling with his flesh. I'll just read a portion of it. The second from verse four. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. It's chevron.com slash tankless. You've heard of pizza hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more, but something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, big pastas, cinnabon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local pizza hut product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply, wings included or eight count boneless. What's next at Moss Adams? That question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry focus insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity and move upward at Moss Adams.com. Tina 25 discusses his struggle as a Christian, the struggle that many of us have. He says the verse 21, I find then that the principle that evil is present in me and the one who wants to do good. I want to do right, but evil keeps showing up. He says, for I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, I praise God on Sunday. I love to read my Bible. I love the sing pray songs. He says, I rejoice at the truth of God. I praise God, but I see verse 23, a different law in the members of my body, on the highways of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members. So he says, some is holding me hostage, even though I love the word of God, I love the people of God, I love the church of God, some is holding me down. And all they can do is cry out verse 24, wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? He says, I can't get rid of the skin, I can't get rid of the stuff. I can't, he just keeps on nagging me, who's going to release me? He's a man struggling, God let him struggle so he can write Romans chapter 8. And Romans chapter 8, he says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Talk about that in a moment, for the law of the spirit, here we go, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. So what the law could not do being weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Okay. He says, there are two laws working in me. He says, there's this law that wants to please God, the spirit, and there's this other law he calls the flesh, and he says, these laws, he says, but then I discovered something. He says, I discovered there's no condemnation to those who in Christ Jesus, and that the law of the spirit has delivered me from the law of sin and death. Okay. There is a law that you and I all live by, whether you like it or not, you and I all live by the law of gravity. The law of gravity is a non-negotiable law. The law of gravity, you can't change it. You can't deny it, and if you rebel against it, it will crush you. You can get on top of this building and say, I'm not into the law of gravity. I don't like the law of gravity. Law of gravity, not my thing. You can talk about, so I'm going to tell you gravity how I feel about you. And then you jump off and do your Superman thing or Superwoman thing off the law because you ain't into the law of gravity as we sweep you off the pavement. It will be clear that the law of gravity won and that you can't beat it no matter how much you don't like it. However, virtually everybody in this room have thrown on an airplane. We have gotten on an airplane and we have climbed high in a metal tube full of people full of luggage, full of heavy equipment, and this thing is flying high. It's not flying because gravity doesn't exist. Gravity still exists, and gravity only has one philosophical worldview. What goes up must come down. That is the law of gravity, but airtime. You get on an airplane and start flying. You have insulted gravity. You have told gravity, you may be there, but you won't call the shots because there's another law called the law of aerodynamics. And the law of aerodynamics says when you move at a certain speed with a certain amount of thrust, you can rise higher and higher and higher and the law of gravity must submit to the law of aerodynamics. So no matter what your flesh is doing to pull you down, no matter what your flesh is doing to make you defeat it, Paul says there is another law. And if you ever learn to walk in the spirit… We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's Energy in Progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut's $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more, but something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar, cheese, sticks, oven, big pastas, cinnabon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local Pizza Hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are 8 count bonus. That's next. At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. At a certain speed and at a certain thrust, you're going to find you rising above the law that's trying to pull you down. It is the law of the spirit. Dr. Evans will have more on that when he continues our message in just a moment. Don't go away. It's beyond a Sunday sermon, a chance to really dig into the Bible and the kingdom in a new way. There's no time and anywhere because it's all online. The Tony Evans Training Center, in-depth courses on all kinds of topics, cultural transformation, intro to expository preaching, Jude, John, Hebrews, Old Testament, New Testament and so much more. These aren't sermons. They're teaching courses to help you engage, understand Scripture, and not just to hear about but to explore the kingdom of God on your own. Find out more at Tonyevanstraining.org. Dr. Evans is committed to the calling of growing the knowledge of God's Word and the lives of people everywhere, but it's the ongoing faithfulness and generosity of listeners like you that make this mission possible. So as our way of saying thanks for your contribution right now, we'd like to send you all 13 full-length messages in his current teaching series called "The Return." It'll help you discover how to establish a stronger connection with God and the blessings you'll receive when you do. Along with the two-volume audio collection, we'll also include a copy of Tony's booklet, "The Grace of God." It explains how the Lord reached out to us long before we thought of reaching back to Him, and how this unbelievable gift is the ultimate answer for those who feel like they just never quite measure up. This special double resource offer will only be available for a limited time, so don't wait to request your copy. You can do that online at TonyEvans.org, or by calling our resource request line at 1-800-832-22. Team members are standing by day and night to help you. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that information after part two of today's lesson. Let's get back to Dr. Evans now. He goes on to say, "So the requirement, verse 4, of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit, for those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit." He says, "You've got a mind problem. I have a mind problem." He says, "Because we're not thinking spiritually, we're not walking spiritually, because we're not walking spiritually, the flesh rules." Now, he says, "How do you know if you've begun walking in the spirit?" You know, when a baby first starts walking, it's going to fall down and then get up and then fall down and get up. And what you're going to do, you're going to carry, come on, come on, come on, come on. Then it gets wobbly after a while, but it doesn't fall down and then it stands up. In other words, you've got to learn to walk. Amen. You've got to learn to walk. See, what we don't want to do is learn to walk. We don't want to make this a lifestyle. We don't want to make it a Sunday visit. That's called taking a step that ain't walking. Walking is where it's a daily orientation. It's a daily way of thinking. It's a daily way of operating so that the flesh is trained. You don't rule up in here anymore. You're training the flesh because you ain't crawling on your knees anymore, submitting to its demands. You're now standing on your own two feet because you've learned to walk by means of the spirit. What does the spirit do when you're walking in the spirit? Verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit is. The deeds of the flesh are but the fruit of the spirit is. Deeds are tied to what you do outside of the will of God. Fruit is tied to a tree. You've never seen an apple grunting to be appleish. You've never seen an orange grunting, oh, I need to be orangey. I need to get the juice going. You've never seen a banana come on yellow, come on yellow. No, it is growing because of its attachment to a tree. Its attachment to a tree is making it fruity, okay? And remember what fruit does. Fruit always reflects the character of the tree of which it is a part. You will only find apples on apple trees. Two, fruit is always visible. You've never seen invisible fruit. Three, fruit is always for the benefit of somebody else. Any fruit eating itself is rotten. So if nobody else wants to take a bite out of your life, it's because you not juicy enough. Nobody wants to follow you. Everybody wants to be like you because there's not enough Christ in you showing up. That means you're not being fruit. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. You've heard of Pizza Hut $7 deal lovers menu, right? All these delicious items for only $7 each when you buy two or more, but something's off. I mean, pizzas, melts, boneless wings, bacon, cheddar cheese, sticks, oven, baked pastas, cinnabon mini rolls. And that's not even the whole menu. I'll keep eating or digging. You should too. Check out the $7 deal lovers menu at your local pizza hut. Product availability prices and participation may vary. Additional charges and exclusions may apply. Wings included are eight count boneless. Hey there. It is Ryan Seacrest with you. You want to make this summer unforgettable? Join me at Chumba Casino. It's the summer's hottest online destination. They are rolling out the red carpet with an amazing welcome offer just for you. So don't wait. Dive in now and play hundreds of social casino games for free. Your chance to redeem real prizes is just a spin away. Can you join me sponsored by Chumba Casino, No Purchase Necessary, VGW Group, Ford Web Rehibited by Law, 18-plus Terms and Conditions apply. Which means you're not connected to the tree. You're not intimate with the tree. And so you wind up with the deeds of the flesh. Your lack of spirituality, do you know that person that you live in with, that you don't want to live with anymore, maybe God's test to show you how fleshly you are? How unrighteous you are. There may be God's provision to wake you up to being more spiritual. Or that person at work or that person, what God is trying to do, if God would just get rid of this thing, God is trying to grow us, not get us to manage. That's transformation. He says, if we live verse 25 by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. Since you have the spirit live, that's the life. Let's start operating that way. Not on Sunday morning, Sunday morning, 2-3 on the 35th Saturday, and there we get some new juice. You know, Ephesians 5-18 says, be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the spirit. Okay. If you see somebody drunk, think back of your days, whichever one works, it affects their footwork. Their footwork, their walking is affected because their mind is being controlled by another substance. Something else has influenced their wine. He says, be not drunk with wine. Do you get drunk? He says, be filled with the spirit. So he's talking about being drunk, but not with wine, because you're now coming under the influence. See, when you're in with wine, drunk with wine, you're coming under the influence. He says, when you're drunk with wine, you're coming under the influence so you won't act like you would normally act in the flesh. You won't talk like you normally talk in the flesh. You won't react like you normally react in the flesh because you're now under the influence. You're under the influence. How does he tell you the present tense? Keep on being filled with the spirit. That's how it reads. Keep on being filled with the spirit. Well, when you pull up to a gas station, when you pull up to a gas station, you fill them up. That is when you used to be able to afford to fill it up. You fill it up, okay? You fill up your tank, okay? But as soon as you leave the gas station, you begin to lose the filling. Why? Because you're burning up gas. So soon as you leave, you're losing what you just got and drive long enough and you will wind up on empty because you're burning things. I don't care how full you may feel right now. The moment you leave here, it's going to start to burn. The kids in the car are going to tick you off. Persons in the next, you're going to tick you off. You're going to be burning filling. That's why he says, keep on being filled. It's a mindset, a lifestyle, not anything. Now, we got hundreds and hundreds of people here today and everybody has a different issue. Well, you know, this sermon is national news. National news is like for everybody, okay? But you need local news, so you need something specific to your situation. I have one sermon for everybody. I didn't give a sermon for every individual. I gave a general sermon. That's national news. But you need something that's going to deal with your flesh and your situation. So you need a local Holy Spirit who's going to deal with you in the situations you face and the challenges that you have and he wants to be your local news. He doesn't want you to pen on weekly national news here at church. But because you're walking in the spirit, you can get local things that are tuned in to your situation. Look, in 1958, many of you remember, the first time it came out, the movie called The Blob. And then you remember The Blob when it first came out. Okay, here's his jelly from out of space. This is jelly from out of space. I remember it well. This man sees this thing fall from out of space. He takes a stick over there and he puts the stick to try to figure out what it was. This thing jumps up and gets in his arm. He runs to the doctor. The doctor is trying to figure out why this jelly looking thing has been come up on this man's arm, but they can't figure out what it is. He goes out the call for some other help to figure it out. When he comes back, the jelly has taken over the whole man. And then this thing that started with his arm is just all over him. And now it gets loose up in the hospital. And whenever it gets on somebody, it slowly begins to take them over and now consumes them. And then it all comes down to the movie theater. When the Blob entered the movie theater, because it started out as this. That's huge because it's an eating up everything it's touch. It's in the movie theater. It comes out from behind the screen and people are screaming because the Blob has now made itself manifest it. It's just taking over everything. People are scared that terrorized because nothing can stop it. They shoot it. They shoot bombs at it. They do everything they can. But nothing that they do is able to stop the Blob from Blobbing. It's just taking everything over until it was discovered it couldn't handle cold. When a cold thing was shot at it. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy and progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. Hello. It is Ryan and we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere with daily bonuses. So sign up now at Chumba Casino dot com. That's Chumba Casino dot com sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. 18 plus terms and conditions apply. It recoiled. It couldn't handle cold. When they discovered that the problem was the methods they were using were insufficient for the flesh they were trying to control, they said, we got to change our method. So they got it caught in the net and they took it to Antarctica where it's cold all the time. The plan lives in a frozen environment. The reason that the blob was overcome was not because they had a plan, a program, it because they had a change of environment. And when they changed the environment, they could hold the flesh hostage. I know you've been trying. I know you've been doing a little of this. I know you've been doing 12 steps that. I know you've been going counseling here. I know you're buying self-help books over there. But if you will change the environment and move to the realm of the spirit as a lifestyle, you'll see the plane of your victory rise over the gravity of the flesh that seeks to defeat you and then you'll be able to say, free and last, free and last, thank God Almighty, I'm free and last. Dr. Tony Evans, a key role walking in the spirit plays in a victorious Christian life. Now before I tell you about what's coming up next time, don't forget to take advantage of that special offer I mentioned earlier. It includes a full-length CD or downloadable versions of all 13 messages in Tony's current two-volume series, The Return, along with his popular booklet, The Grace of God. They're both available as our gift when you make a contribution in support of the ministry of the alternative. It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible each day. Get all the details and make the arrangements at tonyevons.org before time runs out. Again that's tonyevons.org or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-832-22 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. A profound trust exists between a trapeze flyer and a trapeze catcher. The flyer must let go and trust completely that the catcher will do his job. Well Dr. Evans likens our lives to those of the trapeze flyer. If we're to safely make it into God's hands, we must first let go of our illusion of control and surrender to God's ability to catch us and to hold on firmly. Be sure to join Dr. Evans on Monday when he takes a look at how our total surrender can be the key to a purposeful life with God. 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. When it comes to renting out your property, the uncertainty of finding reliable tenants can feel like a real guessing game, responsible renter or perpetual party animal. 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