The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: They'll be picking up Ouija boards. Don't pick up the crystal balls. Your loved one has died. Leave them alone.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says when you look for answers apart from God, you're asking for trouble.

Dr. Tony Evans: What you do is you dabble in that which compromises, distracts you from the centrality of God.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative Broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): Victims who fall for a scam often say it seemed right. But Dr. Evans says it's more important to be right. Today, he explains how our trusting nature can be a target for demons who distort the truth. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: And understanding how demons work, you will get a better understanding of how to wage spiritual warfare. And so, I want to look at the program of demons.

First of all, the demonic program is to promote Satan. The first thing that they promote of Satan is that demons promote Satan's doctrine. For example, in 1st Timothy, chapter 4, it says, "But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons."

Now, what I want you to notice about this passage is that the particular doctrine that demons propagate is that God is not good. You remember way back in the Garden of Eden, that was the argument of the devil. He was saying if God was good, he wouldn't keep you away from that tree. When the point is, God only says no to things that will hurt you. And so they want to undermine the goodness of God.

Secondly, the satanic or demonic doctrine wants to undermine not only the goodness of God, it wants to undermine the Son of God. Second Corinthians, chapter 11, he wants to undermine Jesus Christ. Verse three says, "But I am afraid lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your mind should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

He goes on in verse 13 and says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ." And no wonder, for even Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. And so as an angel of light, he disguises himself.

Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds. According to verse three, they want to detract you from the simplicity and devotion of Christ. They also promote Satan's domination. Revelation chapter 16, verse 14.

Satan wants to dominate. He wants to run the whole thing. Remember, he wanted to be like God. So, Revelation chapter 16, we see how demons assist him in that. Let's start with verse 13. "And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, that's the devil, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs."

"And they are spirits of demons performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the great war of that great day, the Almighty." Satan wants to dominate the whole world. They seek to dominate nations through their leaders. We saw that in Daniel chapter 10, verses 13 and verse 20.

You do not have to turn there, but it says that as Daniel was praying, trying to make contact with heaven, and as God was sending an answer by an angel, that the demons blocked the angel Gabriel from bringing God's answer to Daniel. And he did it in order to control the political realm of Persia.

And so political leaders and nations are controlled by demonic influence. So, demons promote Satan by doctrine, by destruction, by domination, also by distraction. Now what do I mean? We have far too many Christians still picking up their paper, looking at their horoscope. Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 30. "You shall keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary. I am the Lord."

Verse 31, "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists. Do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." Don't go by palm readers. Don't be picking up Ouija boards. All right? Don't look to astrology, don't measure the stars, don't play the cards, don't pick up the crystal balls. All of that is a denial that Jehovah is the Lord your God.

Whenever you appeal, listen to me, to the created to do what is the prerogative of the Creator, you change gods. You are distracted from the true God. Look at chapter 20 of Leviticus. Verse six. "As for the person who turns to mediums and the spiritist, to play the harlot after them, I will also set my face against that person and will cut him off from among the people."

In other words, when you dabble in the spirit world, when you dabble in that, what you do is you dabble in that which compromises, distracts you from, plays games with the centrality of God. Not only that, but look at Deuteronomy. I believe it is Deuteronomy 18. Verse nine, "And when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations."

Don't try to be like everybody else. "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead."

Your loved one has died, leave them alone. God goes through the whole ball of wax. And then he ends and says, "Verse 12, for whosoever does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these things, the Lord your God will drive them out before you." To put it another way, when you add anything next to God and do not allow God to be only God, you lose the blessing of God.

So demons promote Satan, but on the flip side of the coin, demons oppose God. They want to oppose God's position. Now, how do they do that? Through idolatry. Deuteronomy 32. Here's what he says, verse 17. "They sacrificed to demons who were not God, to gods whom they have not known, new gods who came lately, whom your fathers did not dread."

By the way, watch out for new gods. Okay? Anything new in God. In the beginning, God. So if it's new, it's not God. He says, though, that when they sacrificed to these idols, listen to this, they were in actuality sacrificing to demons. Now, they didn't see demons. They didn't think they were sacrificing to demons.

But let me tell you this, behind every idol is a demon. You see, that's what you got to catch. You say, "Well, that's Old Testament." Well, let's turn to First Corinthians 10:20. "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice," same as in the Old Testament, "they sacrifice to demons and not to God."

"But I do not want you to become a partaker, a sharer in demons." "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." "You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." "Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we?"

Whenever you join your unsaved friends, your unsaved family members, your unsaved neighbors, whoever they are, in making their idols your idol, then you sit at the table of demons. And once you sit at the demon table, you lose the fellowship of the Lord. A person could become an idol. So that you are dining at the table of a demon.

It could be any number, it could be a house, it could be a car, it could be any number of things that is a demon. If you're single and you have a relationship with an unsaved person, okay? And I'm not just talking about a friendship, but you have an intimate relationship with an unsaved person, you are dining at the table of demons.

Because you have chosen that person over God's specific instruction, and once you do that, you have now created a new god. You say, "But I don't think, I don't believe that person is God." You don't have to believe they're God. You just have to treat them as God. And you treat them as God when you choose them over God.

And many of us would see a magnificent transformation in our life, in our experiences, if we would simply let God be God. And what he said in the Old Testament, he repeats in the New Testament. So the question is, which table are you dining at, or are you trying to dine at two tables? Okay? Because to do so makes God jealous.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment to tell us about another item on the demonic agenda, as he continues this lesson from his two-volume series, Angels, Good, Bad, and Ugly. This complete 12-message collection is packed with biblical insight into angels, demons, spiritual warfare, and the unseen forces influencing our world and our everyday lives.

It's a powerful resource for personal study, family discussion, small groups, or church classes. And right now, when you support Tony's ministry, we'd like to send you the entire two-volume series along with a powerful companion book, Warfare, Winning the Spiritual Battle. In it, Dr. Evans explains why many of the struggles we face on the surface are actually spiritual battles underneath, and how believers can learn to stand firm in God's authority and power.

This special double offer is available for a limited time, so visit Tonyevans.org today to make the arrangements. Or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222, where team members are always available to help with your resource requests. That's 1-800-800-3222. We'll return to the second part of today's lesson right after this.

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It's a chance to step out of the routine and step into renewal. Come be refreshed, encouraged, and renewed. Find out more today at Tonyevans.org. That's Tonyevans.org.

Guest (Male): Let's return for more now from Dr. Evans on The Program of Demons.

Dr. Tony Evans: Turn to the next to the last book of the New Testament, the book of Jude. "And angels who did not keep their first or old domain, but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of that great day."

"Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality, and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire." "Yet in the same manner, these men, just like the demons, also dreaming defile the flesh and reject authority and revile angelic majesties."

And then he goes on to, for a second time, read verse 14. "And about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'"

"These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage." Smooth talking dudes. What he is saying here is that what demons want to promote is ungodliness, or they want to remove purity of life. Why do they want to remove purity of life? Because God's central characteristic is his holiness.

All the way back to the book of Genesis, they are into impurity. And so every time man comes up with one impurity, they make it worse. Next, they oppose God's people. Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities and powers and world forces. We wrestle against what? Angels.

So, what do they do? How do they oppose us? They slander us to God. Heaven is a perpetual courtroom where we're being slandered to God. Now, why would Satan and the demons slander us to God? To get a technical victory. They know God is holy. They know when we sin that God must judge sin.

So they slander us. Did you see what so and so just thought, or said? That was evil. Technical point in the courtroom. And when you trace this thing, as I have been all through the Bible, it's just one courtroom case. Just one long courtroom case involving the whole world. Satan went up to heaven about Job.

And there is a constant coming to the bench because Satan knows God's character. And so he tries to accuse us. He is called in scripture what? The accuser of the brethren. But the Bible says in First John that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Let me show you another way Satan opposes us, through division. James chapter three. I want you to look at that. Verse 13. "Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior, his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom." "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth."

"This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural," Look at the next word. What does it say? Demonic. "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing." The demons know that God is an orderly God, he will not operate in disharmony, disunity.

So he brings division through jealousy and selfish ambition. If you trace all of these marriage breakups we're experiencing, selfishness is at the root of it. It's not about who makes the most money. You can solve that problem. All you have to do is come up with a budget that both of you agree on, no matter who makes the most money.

If you have a budget and both of you agree to operate by the budget and that anything outside of the budget, you have to agree on before you spend, you solve that financial argument right there. You know, it's not about the budget. It's not about personality difference. Anybody you marry is going to be different. "Well, we're not compatible."

Well, you didn't think that when you were dating, right? Why? Because that's not the issue. The issue is that person is not the problem. You wrestle against spirits in high places. And until somebody is willing to be, not be selfish, until somebody is willing to fight for unity, until we're willing to make the relationship bigger than my feelings, until I'm willing to give up my preferences, until I get to the place where it doesn't have to go my way all the time, there'll be constant divisions, then there'll be disorder, and God won't show up. God won't help.

Now, my whole point here is that demons know what they're doing. They are not a house divided. Their strength is in their unity. They operate as one. And if you ever operate as one on any level, if you ever operate on oneness with God, and then you and God operate on oneness in your family, and then we and God operate on oneness in this church, there's no room for demons.

Because demons have to divide in order to be successful. Well, let's look at one other passage. Great passage. You all know it. Let's look at it one more time. Romans chapter eight. He raises a question in verse 33. "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" "God is the one who justifies."

He raised a very important question. It not only relates to our eternal security, it relates to our temporal blessing. Who will bring a charge that will interrupt the flow of God's goodness in my life? Who will bring a charge that will keep me from experiencing God's love in my day-to-day living? Who will bring a charge to keep Jesus Christ segregated from me in my spiritual experience? What can ruin me? Is the question. The answer.

Look at what he says. Verse 37. "But in all these things, because of him who loved us, we are not just conquerors, we are more than conquerors." Now, how can you be more than a winner? Okay? Well, there's a possibility of being more than a winner. If you win a football game in overtime because you kick a field goal, you're a winner, you're a three-point winner.

But now at the end of the game, the score is 72 to nothing, you call that big time, that's a slaughter. That's the concept here. But again, you say, "But that's good for men, but how am I going to be an overcoming winner?" No, that's not what it says. Look. "I am convinced," verse 38, "that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor," get this, "principalities."

Not the demon force, the demon world, not even that. Let me get the rest of it. "Nor things happening in my life right now," present. "Nor things that I don't know are going to happen tomorrow, next year, next decade, next century," things to come. "Nor powers, nor height, or depth, or any other created thing shall be able to estrange me, separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If you are a winner, start thinking like a winner, start living like a winner, so you'll be a winner. You'll lose every time if you don't know who you are in Christ and that you are already a winner. Not only in heaven, he says things present. Over demons. Can't be talking about in heaven, because there won't be any demons there.

Over the demonic world has no authority over you. It's going to try to influence you, it's going to try to tempt you, it's going to try to defeat you, but it has no ultimate authority over you. You are super conquerors.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans, reminding us that our victory lies in the hands of the Lord. But how about your life? Have you put it completely in God's hands? If not, stay with us. Dr. Evans will tell you how that's done in just a moment.

Today's lesson was titled The Program of Demons, and it's available as a part of Tony's current two-volume collection, Angels, Good, Bad, and Ugly. These full-length messages include plenty of material we won't have time to bring you on the air, and they offer practical biblical insight into the unseen spiritual realm and the role it plays in everyday life.

Remember, when you make a donation to help support this ministry, we'll send you the complete 12-message collection along with the insightful companion book I told you about earlier, Warfare, Winning the Spiritual Battle. This special double offer is only available for a limited time, so don't wait. Make your request today at Tonyevans.org.

Or call 1-800-800-3222, where resource team members are available around the clock to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. And a quick reminder that you can hear Dr. Evans in a completely different setting when he hosts in-depth conversations with special guests on his Unbound podcast, available anytime wherever you get your podcasts.

Jesus won't come into your life unless you invite him, but the enemy will barge right in if you leave the door unlocked. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans explains how God's power can help you dislodge the devil and his demons. Right now, he's here to help you extend that invitation to Christ.

Dr. Tony Evans: If you've been listening to the broadcast and you have yet to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, we can resolve that right now. I'm going to say a little prayer. I want you to pray it after me, but you've got to mean it for yourself. Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner and I know I need a Savior, because I can't save myself.

So right now, I trust you alone, because you died for me and arose for me to be my sin-bearer. You are now my substitute. And I'm believing you to forgive my sin and to give me eternal life. Thank you for the free gift of salvation that you have given to me. Help me to live a life to please you, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Welcome to the family, and we'll keep ministering to you for your spiritual growth through our broadcast. God bless you.