TONY EVANS HOUSE
Tony Evans - Overcoming In Christ
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King Super's a world of care is in store. Services and availability vary by location, age and other restrictions may apply. For coverage, consult your health insurance company. Visit the pharmacy or our site for details. Would you turn your Bibles to 1 John 5? And I want to read those verses to start us off today. If you'll stand for the reading of the Word, the Word is also in your bulletins. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world? But He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Shall we pray? And now Lord, we pray that you will manifest your presence here today. Starting with me, but collecting us all, would you now begin to sow in this house overcomers everywhere as you define it? And Lord, made by the time this is over, we walk with a different walk, talk with a different talk, because we've become different people, regardless of what we're going through. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. In 1959, the clarion call for what would become the civil rights movement in song was "We Shall Overcome." It was a song of protest because of segregation and Jim Crow. Marchors marched, people protested against injustice, and as arms were locked and the movement expanded, you would always hear the song being sung "We Shall Overcome." In that case, it was overcoming unrighteous racial injustice. Of course, that song was picked up by many different groups who were protesting different things. And it became a stable of overcoming something that was wrong, that needed to be made right. It was a song of protest. There is a need today to protest. But the protest that I am speaking of as we move along is the protest where the evil one is holding us hostage, where we're living with spiritual handcuffs on our chains around our lives. Some of it is due to our sins, others of it is due to our circumstances. All we know is we have been overcome by the oppressive nature of what we are dealing with. But I would like to shift the song a little bit from "We Shall Overcome" to "We Have Overcome." Because in the scripture that I read to you, it says, "Anyone who is believed in Christ has overcome." That's what it says. But that ought to create a curiosity as we begin our series, because if you will look at me at Revelation, just a few pages over, also written by the Apostle John. In chapter 2, verse 7 we read, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes." In verse 11, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, he who overcomes." In verse 17, he says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes." In chapter 2, rather, verse 26, "He who overcomes." In chapter 3, verse 5, "He who overcomes." In chapter 3, verse 12, "He who overcomes," so wait a minute. First John 5 says, "You have overcome." But the same author John, when he writes the book of Revelation, says, "He who overcomes." So on one hand, "I have overcome," on the other hand, "I need to overcome." So how do I put this together, and what does it mean? John is writing to the seven churches of Asia Minor, as you'll see in a moment. Seven is the number of completion, so this is the message to all churches for all time. And he's talking to the whole congregation. He says, "I want you to tell this to the whole congregation, but in each one of those scriptures I read you," he said, "He who overcomes." Meaning, it's possible to be in the church, and in the congregation, and not be one of the overcomers. So you could be here this morning, and not overcome. Because he says, "He who," so he talks to everybody, and then he comes down to the individual and says, "Let me talk to you." "He who?" So forget the folk around you, as we walk through this, because it's whether you decide to overcome. Because your neighbor can't overcome for you. But he tells the whole church everybody who has come to Christ has overcome. The Greek word overcome, the KO, is a word that means to prevail, to win one's cause, or to be victorious in different and difficult circumstances. So it has to do with being victorious in the midst of, or over, or in, or through, whatever the circumstances are that are illegitimately holding you hostage. So right now, if you have something that should not be holding you hostage, but that is holding you hostage, then you need to be an overcomer. Because that's what the word means. But why do you tell me, John, that I have overcome? And then, John, you come back in Revelation and tell me, "Well, you need to overcome." We all know it's possible to be married and not happy. In other words, you can have a legal status that's not equal to your present experience. The paper may declare you to be something, but your experience says something else. When John says you have overcome, he's dealing with your legal status. Christ has made every believer an overcome a legally, but what you have legally does not mean that's what you're experiencing personally. If you're unhappy and married, that doesn't make you unmarried, it makes you miserably married. If you are defeated and Christian, that doesn't make you un-Christian, that makes you a defeated Christian. So what he's trying to tell you and us is that the goal is to make our legal status our experiential reality. So that's why the word is you have overcome spiritually, legally, because you come to Christ, but you may not yet have overcome in terms of it working out in your life, in terms of you experiencing it. In fact, the only reason you need to overcome is there's something to overcome. To overcome means to overrule a sin or a set of circumstances that are illegitimate. It is to overrule them like the Supreme Court overruling a lower court or the referees overruling a call on the court or on the field. It is an overruling. It is to say to that other thing, your decision is not final. So I want to say to you as we move forward, whatever is illegitimate in your life, sin and/or circumstances, God wants you to overrule and not have it overruling you, particularly on an ongoing basis. And therefore, God wants you to experience overcoming. In fact, I'm going to go a little bit deeper. One of the reasons why God allows some things that he does not approve is to give you the experience of being an overcomer. I may throw you a little bit, God does not sin, God does not endorse sin, but God allows things to ask Scripture that he does not approve of. 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. This summer, saddle up with the only sports book 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+ in present in Colorado. Offer valid on first real money wager of $5 or more. Verify 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. Save big this summer with great deals. All in the King Supers app. Get select varieties of power aid or body armor super drinks for $0.79 each. Then get 16-ounce packs of organic strawberries for $2.49 each. All with your card and a digital coupon. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today. Or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers. Fresh for everyone. Prices and product availability subject to change. Restrictions apply. See site for details. In order to demonstrate his greater glory. Now if we intentionally do things, that will bring consequences. And those consequences can be daunting. But at the very same time, God wants us to experience, as we'll see in some of these scenarios, we go through in chapter 2 and 3 in the weeks to come, this principle. If it's pouring down raining outside, I mean it's raining cats and dogs. And you own an umbrella. You are an overcomeer because you have in your hand what you need to keep it from raining on you. But if you walk around using your umbrella as a cane, strolling, you are an overcomeer, but you're getting wet. Because you're not experiencing overcoming without the umbrella open. So it's not that you're not an overcomeer, it's that you're not experiencing overcoming because what you have to overcome it you're not using as it was meant to be used. So you are being defeated even though you have it. So many believers, or all believers, have salvation making you technically and legally an overcomeer, but your spiritual umbrella may be closed so you're not overcoming. Okay? So the goal is to get us to open up our umbrellas so the devil stops raining on us. So the Bible makes it clear, if you are going to be an overcomeer, a prevailer, that the link has to be made between your state and your standing, between your position and your practice, between what's legal and what you experience literal. It's the difference between the Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth. There was a year and a half gap before the folks in Texas found out they were free from the Emancipation Proclamation. So even though they were legally free, they weren't literally free. Because the information was not gathered and gained. So Juneteenth is celebrated as a reminder of what was legal that became literal. The tragedy of Juneteenth is that many folks still stayed slaves after they found out they were free because they had been there so long they weren't going to take a chance on exercising their freedom. Because you know, you can get used to being a slave to sin, circumstances, to people, to the victims. Even though you're in church talking about free at last, he whom the son says free is free indeed, you got the right quote is just not your experience. To understand, stay with me here, to understand the key to being an overcomeer and whatever needs to be overcome in our lives. You have to, watch this, begin to look at Jesus differently. Okay, let me say that again. If you really, really, really want to be an overcomer, prevail, you must begin to look at Jesus differently. Before he ever gets to talking about being an overcomer, in chapters two and three, he gives us chapter one. He begins in chapter one of the book of Revelation, verse one, saying the revelation of Jesus Christ. He says, "I'm a disclosed Jesus to you." He says in verse four, "I'm writing to the churches." He takes this, look at Jesus in verse seven, "Behold, he is coming with clouds. Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him, so it shall be amen." Now watch this. Jesus is talking in verse eight. I am Alpha and Omega, who was, who is, and who was, and who is to come the Almighty. He tells John in verse 11, write a book. John then says in verse 12, "I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, Jesus speaking to him. And having turned, I saw seven golden lamb stands. In the middle of the lamb stands, I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe, reaching to his feet, girded across his chest with a golden sash. His head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like branish bronze, when it had been made to glow in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he had seven stars. Verse 17, "When I saw him, I fell with his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me and said, 'Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the living one.' If you and I are going to be overcomers and practice not in principle, you're going to have to see the Jesus that John saw. This is not Jesus, meek and mild. This is not Jesus in a manger. No, no, no. This is Jesus on fire. He says like the burning of a furnace. He says when he spoke, it was like the rushing of many waters, like oceans and seas, just thundering. And he says when I saw this Jesus, it knocked the brother off his feet. I fell down like a dead man walking. See, we got this man-be-pambe Jesus. And that is not not to overcome in Jesus. Because we really do not understand who Jesus is since his resurrection and ascension. See, when John is writing, Jesus has already died, already rose and already gone back to heaven. And when he sees this Jesus who's now up in heaven, this Jesus is in charge. This Jesus is controlling the agenda. This is not a feel-good Jesus. This is not a Jesus, this is patting you on the back playing paddy cake with you. This is not a Jesus who's just, just, just, just kind of just going along to get along. This is the Jesus that knocks you off your feet. And if you're not relating to that Jesus, you're not relating to the overcoming Jesus. You're just relating to the Jesus that you read about and you feel good about. He did all the miracles and he was such a nice guy and he died for my sins and all that. Oh, no, no, it's a little bit more than that. Let me show you what I mean. In Colossians 2, verse 15, it says that when Jesus died, he disarmed the rulers of this image, okay? Let me put it this way. If you pull out a gun on me, you get to control me. You get to control me because you have all the power and you have all the fire. So you tell me, sit down. I'm going to sit down. You tell me, get up. I'm going to get up. You tell me, go over there. I'm going to go over there. Whenever you say, because you got the power, you got the power, you got a gun on me. However, if I ever discover that there are no bullets in that gun, I'm taking off my preacher jacket and we're going to get it on. Because if I ever discover, you are controlling me with an empty weapon. They're going to be more than one hood pastor in this church because if I ever discover, Colossians 2, 15 says, I disarmed them. So the reason why the devil can defeat us is because he can deceive us into thinking that bullet 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 A37, you are more than conquerors. And him who loved us and gave himself for us. That's why John 1633 says, in me, you're going to have peace because I have already overcome the world. He speaks in these superlatives because it is your connecting with this risen Christ. Romans 5, 10, after he says, God demonstrated his love toward us that while we sin as Christ died for us in verse 8, he comes to verse 10 and he says, and we are saved or delivered by his life. So the overcoming comes with this life. If you have, I mean, if you have AAA, you have AAA, okay? AAA. AAA is there when you are stalled, flat tire, out of gas, motor doesn't run. Something is wrong and you're stuck. You call AAA and AAA sends out a vehicle bigger than your problem. One day I was stuck on the side of the road from my engine going out, they set this truck. 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. Save big this summer with great deals, all in the King Supers app. Get select varieties of power aid or body armor super drinks for 79 cents each, then get 16 ounce packs of organic strawberries for $2.49 each, all with your card and a digital coupon. Shop these deals at your local Kroger today or tap the screen now to download the King Supers app to save big today. King Supers, fresh for everyone, prices and product availability subject to change, restrictions apply. This thing lifted my car, put it on its bed, I said in the front seat why it drove me back to Dallas because what they sent out was big enough to handle what was stalling me. If you have the wrong kind of Jesus, if you're looking at Jesus the wrong way, you're not looking at the one big enough to dispense what is needed to move you out of your stalled situation. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you don't have AAA. You got Triple G, God, God and God. That's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. You've got Triple G and what he wants you to know is when you begin to look at him differently and relate to him as the risen Christ who is ascended, who's now functioning with fire in his eyes. Not soft skin but hair like wool and a voice like thunder. That's who you're dealing with and that's who you must relate to. You say but my problem is so big and it's been there so long. My problem is so big. You don't know how long I've been dealing with this addiction. You don't know how long I've been dealing with this circumstance. You don't know how long. My problem is so big. Let me explain something. Anybody who can lift 700 pounds can lift 200 pounds. You show me a weight lifter who can lift 700 pounds. If you bring them a 200 pound weight, that's not going to be a problem because they can lift 700. On the cross Jesus Christ lifted the sins of the whole world for all men, for all time on Calvary. So what did you tell me the size of your problem was? You're dealing with somebody who handled the world and it's sin and it's accompanying circumstances. So it may be bad but it ain't that bad. But if you're connecting it to the wrong Jesus, that is a misconception of the biblical risen Jesus, then you're applying it to somebody that's too weak to handle it. And so your view, my view of Jesus has got to be adjusted if we're going to experience the victory of this exalted Christ that John is talking about before he ever gets there. He wants you to know that Jesus has veto power over that which has to be overcome that's illegitimate. Okay, so that raised the question. Where can I find this power? Okay, come on, because if it's all out in a bag of chips, I won't sum it out. I don't want to be overcome anymore. Look at chapter 12 of Revelation verse 11. And they overcame him, as I 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. At one verse, we'll 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 folks come to church worshiping Jesus as they want him to be, not as he declares himself to be. And isn't it terrible when somebody talking for you, trying to describe you to you when you know you? So Jesus says, let me explain this to you. 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. Let me say this as I get into this. 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 folks come to church, and they want God to drop victory in their hand. Uh-uh. He puts it within your reach because he needs to see you exercise faith to get it in your hand. Okay? 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 begin 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. 2,000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross, and I believe he died from 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 folks 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 220, 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 will benefit from eternity and it will 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, 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 am coming to take sides, I 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. This goes beyond praise to Lord Hallelujah and God good 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. 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, okay? If you an undecided voter, you're not going to be an overcomer, okay? If you are a spiritual CIA representative, if you are a covert operative, forget overcoming. 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. 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 where you don't want to be associated with me. The word of that testimony, let me say it another way. Trying to camouflage it by talking about I believe in God won't cut it. 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. And you're going to tell me he was wounded for your transgressions, bruised for your immiquities, 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 death of their love, you have men who would give their lives for their mates because of the death 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 and 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 design and 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've probably got some serious stuff to overcome. So this is not casual Christianity here. I've got for one and round, 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 this part time Christians want the full time deliverer. He says no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you got to deal with the risen Christ now. And the risen Christ is in charge. This is why I love what Paul says, Paul says, Paul says, for me to live is Christ and to die is game. Now you don't go looking for death, you don't go wishing death, but he says, but he says for me to live is Christ and to die is game. Paul says, I don't know whether to stay here or to go home to be with Christ, he said, I'm betwixt in 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, live in 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, I've got to be not like because of Christ, not because of not foolishness, not because of Christ, then that's the way it is. 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 over rule in the circumstances of life. So, there must now be a shift in perspective. You must change your look. You must look at Jesus now differently as the sovereign on file Lord who now rules. And you must look at everything else. We all believe in the sun, S-U-N, we believe in the sun, but I don't know too many people go around to this all day looking at the sun, this walker, yeah, I believe in the sun because I'm looking at the sun all day. Let me tell you the main reason you believe in the sun, I believe in the sun, 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 sun all day but we look at everything else all day. But because of the sun, 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. I have said before, in '67 I still don't wear glasses, I don't wear glasses in '67. Heaven had surgery, don't wear contacts. Let me explain how that happens, okay? My left eye is off, my left eye is off, it's like 2050 or something. So if I cover my right eye and just look at you with my left eye, things are fuzzy, things are fancy, because my left eye is a little off. But my right eye is 2020, see my right eye is, but they were putting the category perfect vision. So my right eye can see clearly, but my left eye is fuzzy. But because my right eye is 2020, it compensates for the weakness in my left eye. But 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 am overriding it with the strength. You know, I've lost about 45 pounds and, okay, now the main thing I do is the treadmill. The main exercise is the treadmill. I will admit to you, 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. I am unmotivated, that's not something like I look forward to do it, okay. Me, myself, and I have to have a meeting in the morning 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? So yeah, I know what you're talking about, so I'm not really going to do this today. We have to have a 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 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 to sweat, I don't sweat, let's go, 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 walking through this thing, you need to overcome this sin or circumstance, but you're looking at me and you're saying, okay, Jesus, I thank you, are you already overcome this, you've already overcome my emotions, you've already overcome my circumstance, you've already overcome my pain, you've already come to 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. Now, let me close, let me close, look, look. Any of you who like pro wrestling, let me, let me explain something. It's fake. Okay, 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 pre-decided, 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 and all that scripted. How's a man going to be against the rope, being beat to a pope, all of a sudden he gets energy out of nowhere, turns it around, flips it over. 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." Let's stand to our feet. [Applause] [Music] [MUSIC PLAYING]