The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Truth is more than information and more than facts.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says a lot of what passes for truth doesn't hold up when you compare it to the heavenly standard.

Dr. Tony Evans: Unless what you're calling true is what God says is true, it's not the truth.

Guest (Male): This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Jesus said the truth would set us free, but only one kind of truth can have that effect. And Dr. Evans talks about that today as he takes us to Ephesians chapter 6. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: Paul the Apostle speaks to the church at Ephesus and Christians everywhere that there is an attire necessary for us to wear if we're going to be successful in this thing called the Christian life. The reason he wants you to know about this attire, to dress for spiritual success is because we are in a battle, a war that's not fundamentally flesh and blood. People are not your ultimate problem. People, flesh and blood, are merely conduits for something else that's operating in the invisible realm that causes us to have challenges in the visible realm. So if you want to address something that's visible and physical, you must address its spiritual and invisible antecedent.

You must investigate that which has preceded it. He says our battle, the things that cause you woes, conflicts, consternation, and conflict don't start with people. People may have been the vehicle for it to be made manifest in the physical visible, but they're not the root, they're the fruit. And while you can't ignore the fruit, our problem is that we skip the root. He says your basic problem is that we wrestle against principalities and powers and world forces, verse 12, of this darkness against spiritual forces of wickedness in the spiritual realm, heavenly places. He says until you learn to address the spiritual, you will forever be tinkering with the physical.

Many of the things that we deal with in our lives because they come to us in flesh and blood kinds of scenarios, that is things that the five senses can interact with. We spend most of our time and energy using the physical to fix the physical because we haven't gone back to remember that there was a spiritual cause. So the spiritual doesn't get the attention that the physical gets when the spiritual is the reason for the physical. He says over and over again, stand firm. That means don't go anywhere. He says stand firm, and what he's meaning by that is Jesus has already accomplished the victory.

So don't leave him to fix what's wrong. Stay with him because he's already been raised higher than all authorities and principalities and powers. He's already seated on the right hand of the Father. In fact, you are seated with him. Ephesians 2:6. He says don't don't wander away. Stand firm. Don't depart from Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished because therein is the victory. He says and I'm going to give you attire, some clothes to wear that will fit the occasion for waging victorious spiritual warfare. Since your battle emanates from and it is initiated in the spiritual realm.

He introduces us to the first piece of attire that gives you victory in the spiritual realm, which affects how things work in the physical realm. And he calls it gird up your loins with truth. Verse 14 says gird up your loins with truth. The first thing that you must keep with you at all times is a truth belt. What a belt does is bring order to the attire. With a belt, you you aren't sagging and you shouldn't be. When the belt's there, then now I'm ready to move because now I won't disturb the order of things if I keep my belt buckled.

He says if you're going to win in the spiritual realm, you need a belt. And the name of this belt is called truth. Now this raises a fundamental question for us and our culture today. And Pilot asked it many years ago, what is truth? What is truth? An accountant, a psychologist, and a lawyer were together one day discussing truth. The psychologist said truth is what you feel it to be. When you go to many psychologists and psychiatrists, the first question is how do you feel? Truth is for some is what you feel it to be.

The accountant says working with numbers, truth is what you need it to be. Of course, the lawyer said truth is what you want it to be. What is this thing called truth? Because it is your understanding of truth because truth is all over the place today. You hear people regularly talking about my truth. I know my truth. My truth. It is because we do not understand this belt and why it is so critical, and I'll tell you why it's critical in a moment, that we start off dressing wrong. And when you start off dressing wrong, everything else going to look out of place.

He says the first thing you must never leave home without is truth. Our world today is full of opinions, prognostications, perceptions. It's so you're not sure what is true. What is true? Here's here's the definition of true. Truth is an objective standard by which reality is measured. It is an objective standard. That is a standard outside of you. It is outside of you. It is an objective standard by which you measure the reality of something. It is not predicated first and foremost on how you feel or what you think about it. Feelings change. You happy, you sad, you glad, you mad.

Feelings change. You cannot use your feelings as a measurement of truth. Now don't misunderstand me. I am not suggesting you disregard feelings. Feelings are real. Feelings are there. I'm not saying you skip feelings. I am saying you don't allow feelings to be the final arbitrator of what the truth is. That's a big difference. Acknowledge them, have them. God gave us feelings, but never allow them to be the final determiner of truth. You say well, I'm smart. My mind, I I can figure this out. I don't care how smart you are, you are finite in your brilliance.

You are smartly limited. You have limitations. That's why with new information we go oh. How many times have you went oh or oops. New information was added to your brilliance that you were previously unaware of which made you change your view. New information That's why they do all these studies, come up with new information and tell you different things because they get new data. God is the only one that has all the information. Everybody else is ever learning it.

Guest (Male): When Dr. Evans returns, he'll explain why it's so important to have a clear definitive standard for truth. In the meantime, check into getting a copy of his popular book, Victory in Spiritual Warfare. It'll show you how to bring God's power to bear on the spiritual battles taking place behind the scenes of your life. Even if you're facing serious oppression in the form of substance abuse, sexual or emotional problems, relational issues, and more, make a fresh start today by requesting your copy of Victory in Spiritual Warfare. It's yours as our thank you gift when you make a donation to the ministry.

We depend on the faithful support of friends like you to help cover the cost of bringing you this program each day. Visit us at tonyevans.org and let Tony know he can count on your help. And if you do that right away, we'll include a special bonus, his current series, The Armor of God. This eight-part collection on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download includes plenty of material we won't have time to present on the broadcast. Don't wait. Make your contribution and request online at tonyevans.org. I'll repeat all that information and Dr. Evans will continue today's teaching right after this.

Guest (Female): Life moves fast and sometimes the most important thing you can do is slow down. You're invited to join Dr. Tony Evans and special guests Priscilla Shirer and Anthony Evans on a seven-day Caribbean cruise of rest and renewal beginning February 28th. Set sail from Fort Lauderdale to visit stunning destinations like Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and even a private island in the Bahamas. But this journey is more than scenic beauty. It's a time to reconnect with God and with others. You'll experience life-changing teaching, uplifting worship, and moments of peace that are hard to come by in the middle of everyday life.

Whether it's a quiet morning on deck or a shared moment of praise with fellow believers, every part of this cruise is designed to refresh your body and your soul. Make plans now to step away so you can step back renewed. Visit tonyevans.org for details and reservations. That's tonyevans.org.

Guest (Male): And now let's return to our message on The Belt of Truth. Here's Dr. Evans.

Dr. Tony Evans: So we're finite in our minds. What will we use? Our moral instincts? Well, they vary. Everybody has different opinions about right and wrong and good and bad and up and down. So you must, I must, we must make a definitive statement about truth. Watch this even when we don't like it. My father one day went to the doctor. I said Dad, what did the doctor say? He told me what the doctor said. And then he said I ain't fooling with him. I said but wait a minute. He did the test, he did the examination, he said this was wrong.

He said I ain't fooling with him. I said well, what you going to do? And his answer was change doctors. Isn't that what we do? When we hear somebody who says the truth, but we don't like the truth, we switch. Folks switch churches because they don't want the truth. Folks switch counselors because they don't like it. Folks switch friends because they don't like it. That's not The question is is it the truth? Why? Why is this a critical issue? Because demons piggyback on lies. Demons ride horseback on lies. So if you have believed a lie, you have invited a demon.

He says put on your belt. Don't leave home without it. You function with a mindset of truth with a fixed standard because your soul and my soul has been distorted. I hate to tell you that, but it's distorted. It's messed up. You can't trust you. We don't know enough to have independent truth. And so we live lives upside down because of distorted souls. And that's when they get their entrance, the demonic realm. And when they do, they establish a hard drive in the head because the way they rule you, the spiritual realm we're talking about is in your mind.

Your problem, my problem, our problem is between our ears. That where the problem is. 2 Corinthians 10:3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. The way you win is not with your human capacities, but divinely inspired for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying Look at what we're destroying, speculations and every lofty thing raised up against guess what? The knowledge of God. And we are taking every thought captive to obedience of Christ. He says what the evil world wants to do is set up a fort in your mind and create speculations.

Every time a demon hears you say I think, they say hey, pay attention. We got him cuz she didn't go into her thinking. He didn't go into his thinking. So what they do is set up a fort, says fortresses, a fort, okay? And they set up a fort that must be dismantled. We must destroy it, says speculations, your your ideas. He says we are to destroy speculations and we are to destroy um not only speculations, but every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. Here it is. You ought to get rid of, I ought to get rid of, we ought to get rid of anything that blocks God's point of view from getting through.

Because if they can get a fort, block our God's point of view, leave you with your point of view, your mama's point of view, your friends' point of view, your neighbors' point of view, and your own personal point of view, got you. That realm owns you. And you find yourself in a stronghold. What Satan wants to do is pull a partition in your mind. He wants you to have the God side and he wants you to have the man side. He wants you to have the Bible side and he wants you to have what other people think side.

He does not mind you saying hallelujah, praise the Lord, preach it, let me read my Bible. He wants you, he likes you going to church. As long as on Monday you going to flip and go to the other side, he owns you because he's created a partition of the mind that keeps truth or the knowledge of God from flowing through. It blocks out the knowledge of God. And without the knowledge of God, you do not have the work of God, the power of God, the spirit of God bringing you victory. And so he says that there's got to be truth with a belt that you you wear all the time.

Let me tell you something else about truth. Truth is more than information and more than facts. It includes information and includes fact, but you can have fact and information and not have truth. Truth is more than facts. It is also the intent of the facts. It's The Bible calls it truth in the inner part. Listen, that's why the Bible says when you come before God, lift your veil. Don't come with a hidden face, but you using all this spiritual language. You know, you you sounding right. I bless you, heavenly Father, you're a great God, blah blah blah.

But you veiled. You are hidden. He says I am not listening. When you come before me, you lift the veil and you are raw, exposed. Sometimes truth can be tough. I'm reminded of the humorous story of the uh the two very wicked businessmen. These were some two evil businessmen. And they started attending this church and the church was in a building fund campaign. One of the businessmen, one of the brothers, died. The other wicked brother came to him and said now Pastor, I know you in this building fund and I have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars that I want to write a check out for the building fund for you under one condition.

When you finalize my brother next week, you got to call him a saint. You you got to say as part of the funeral he's a saint. And then I'll give you hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well, the pastor is caught on the horns of a dilemma. So the question was how can I be authentic and tell the truth and not lose this money? Or can I? They came to the funeral. It was time for the eulogy. He began speaking about this brother and he said this man was wicked, evil. He was almost Satan incarnate in his business practices.

But compared to his brother, he's a saint. There's a way to deal with the truth. So what am I saying? Jesus made a statement. You know there's a turn there, but you all know it, John 8. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Now everybody likes to quote that without having to find the truth. See, so that's a nice thing to throw out there to make it sound like you using the Bible. But unless what you're calling true is what God says is true, it's not the truth. I don't care how many people voted for it, I don't care how many people agree with it, I don't care how popular it is, if it disagrees with a divine point of view, it's not the truth so you won't be free.

You will not be delivered, you will not be victorious, and you sure enough won't be free indeed. For he who the Son sets free is sure enough free, indeed free, for real free because the truth sets people free, but it's God's truth, not your truth. It's God's truth, not man's truth. It's God's truth because the demonic spiritual realm Here it is. Jack Nicholson said it best, can't handle the truth. See, they can't handle the truth. When Jesus was being attacked by the devil and he hit him three times with the truth, the Bible says and the devil left him cuz he couldn't He couldn't take it.

He couldn't handle it because his nature is a lie. His nature is deception. So you keep hammering with the truth even though you don't feel it. You keep hammering with the truth even though you don't like the truth. You keep hammering with the truth even though the truth is not what you want, but you keep hammering with the truth. Yeah, I know what you're saying, but God said, but God said, but God said, boom boom boom. You you keep hammering him. You keep hammering him. Now you may have homosexual feelings, but that's not who you are cuz God says once you've accepted Christ, you are a saint.

You are a son or daughter of the living God. That's who you are. Satan's got you thinking you something you were never meant to be, but you've been thinking it so long that now you believe it. But now you got to say no devil, you just lied to me. You told me I'm a homosexual. God tells me I'm righteous in him. So you lying, God telling the truth in spite of how I'm feeling. Devil, you said I'm an alcoholic. God says I'm not alcoholic. Now I may have a propensity toward alcohol, but now that I'm repeating what God has said, I'm going to move this partition so the spirit of God can go through.

Man says I'm nobody. My mother said I'm nobody. Mama was lying cuz God says I am somebody. I'm a son or daughter of the living God. That's the truth and I'm going to keep saying the truth and I'm going to tear down this partition and I'm not going to let you lie to me. You a liar and the devil's not going to have his way in this and you keep bombarding with the truth and I don't care how long or how high that wall has been, how long that wall has been up. You keep hammering bam with the truth, bam with the truth, bam with the truth, bam with the truth, bam with the truth.

And then one of these minutes you going to see a little crack. There going to be a little crack in there. There going to be a little crack. And you know what that crack means? This wall is on its way down. That crack means this wall is on its way down. And once you see that crack, you ain't going to let it go. Bam bam and you will see the truth set you free.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talking today about the only kind of truth that can have that effect. But real freedom begins when God takes away the load of sin that each and every one of us carries, no matter how far gone we feel. Here's what Dr. Evans says about that.

Dr. Tony Evans: Do you feel like you're too sinful, too flawed, too rebellious, that you failed too much for God to ever forgive you? Guess what? You are a perfect candidate for salvation. Jesus said that he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance and salvation. So if you go to Jesus Christ now, carry the boatload of sins with you to the cross, acknowledge him to be your savior, acknowledge your sins needing to be forgiven, and trust him to do the forgiving that you desperately desire. He promises he will forgive you, give you eternal life, and offer you the free gift of salvation.

I don't care how big your basket of sins are, carry them to Jesus. He's ready to empty them for you.

Guest (Male): Find out more about what it means to be a real Christian. Visit tonyevans.org and click on the link at the top of the homepage that simply says Jesus. There Tony will explain everything you need to know to get your new life in Christ started right. Today's lesson was called The Belt of Truth, part of Dr. Evans' current series on The Armor of God. A comprehensive look at how to avoid becoming a casualty of the spiritual war going on behind the scenes of your life. This eight-part set is yours as our thank you gift when you help us keep Tony's teaching on this station by making a contribution in support of his ministry.

Along with it, we'll send you the informative book I told you about earlier, Victory in Spiritual Warfare. Be sure to take advantage of this limited time double offer while it's still available. Drop by tonyevans.org today or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Team members are ready day and night to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. God has only one standard of behavior, absolute perfection. So how can a mere human do anything but totally and completely fail? Well, Dr. Evans will have the answer for us tomorrow as he talks about how God changes us from the inside out.

I hope you'll be with us.