The Alternative

Tony Evans: Let me tell you why you don't have to be afraid of death. Death for the believer does not exist. When your eyes close, they open up again in glory. You never have to be afraid to die.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talks about the victory Christ has won for you and me. This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Today, Tony wraps up his series on angels by focusing on God's victory over Satan, a triumph won in several significant ways. Let's listen as he lays out what Christ accomplished and what that victory means for our lives today.

Tony Evans: First of all, when Satan rebelled, he was defeated strategically. He was defeated the moment he sinned because he, as a creature, was rebelling against a Creator on whom he depended for his creatureliness.

And that is why, when we discuss the devil, you are to never discuss the devil without a proper view of the Lord. Because if you ever look at the devil without a picture of God, you will be looking at an optical illusion. If you focus too much on the devil, he can block you from seeing God. And if he blocks you from seeing God, then you get a bigger view of him than you ought to have. And that is why we stay defeated so long. We've got this big devil creating this optical illusion and this little God who can do nothing about it.

Satan was defeated strategically because the creature rebelled against the Creator, upon whom he was dependent to continue being a creature. So what God decided was that he would let him rebel, but then use his rebellion as a way of accomplishing God's plan. If God allows Satan in your life to test you, it is an opportunity to say like Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." It's an opportunity to say like Job, "Shall the Lord bring only good in my life and I not have bad in my life?" It's an opportunity like Job to say, "The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord."

If you haven't said that because of the size of the trial, then the trial is having more power over you than God wants it to have. God allows it that he might get more glory from your life. Paul has a thorn in the flesh. It's never specifically stated what it is, but it was a doozy because it was causing him great pain, great anguish, and great consternation.

Verse 7 of 2nd Corinthians 12 says, "And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan sent to buffet me, to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this, I prayed to the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'"

Most gladly, therefore, would I rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. It's sweet. Paul evidently struggled with pride. He was a proud man before he got saved, and that pride came over in his Christian experience. And now he had even more to be proud of because God had raised him up to the highest level in Christianity. He had gotten more revelation than any of the other apostles. He was going to write more books of the Bible than any of the other apostles. He would be the only apostle who would get to go to heaven and come back to talk about it. He was going to be uniquely blessed. He was going to have an opportunity of a lifetime, and pride was something he had to battle with.

God said, "Now watch this, I'm going to help you with your struggle. Because what I'm going to do is I'm going to let Satan come in and bring a problem into your life that's going to be too big for you. I'm going to let Satan come in and bring a struggle in your life, a trial that you can't handle." Paul said, because the trial was so great, "Have mercy," one time. "Have mercy," two times. "Deliver me," three times. He got an answer, but it wasn't the answer he was asking for. He said, "Lord, take me out of the trial."

God said, "No, not going to take you out of the trial, but I'll join you in the trial. I'm going to leave the trial in your life so whenever you're tempted to become proud because of what I'm going to use you for and do with you, this thorn, this prick, this stick, this trial will keep your feet on level ground."

God sent a messenger of Satan to buffet him. God wanted Satan operating in Paul's life. God wanted to use Satan to keep him humble. So while Satan was there messing with Paul, thinking he was making life miserable, God was messing with Satan, using Satan to make Paul's life miserable so he could stay humble because of the great blessing that God was bringing in his life.

If Paul would have looked at the devil, he would have said, "The devil is messing with me." But since Paul heard from God, "My grace is sufficient," he could now look at the devil and say, "Mess with me, cause God's going to use your messing with me to make me humble so he can use me more." God didn't want him delivered. He wanted Satan to mess with him so that God could get glory out of his humility because of the way God was going to use him. So keep your eye on God if you want to beat the devil. Don't put your eye on the devil. He's not going to help you beat him. You need somebody who can control him. So he was strategically defeated.

Secondly, he was prophetically defeated. Turn back to Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." The serpent would be crushed. That is Satan would be crushed by a human being. So there would be a struggle of suffering involved in this process. Eve had a baby boy. His name was Cain. She had another baby boy. His name was Abel. Abel followed God.

Now follow this. God told Satan the woman will have a baby and the baby that the woman has will crush you. So when Satan sees Abel bringing God an offering that God accepts, he's got to do something to get rid of this seed. Because the devil thinks that Abel is the seed that's been promised, because God didn't say the seed was going to come generations from now. He said the woman is going to have a baby.

So what does Satan do? He gets Cain to kill Abel. The first murder in history. Why? Why does he want Cain to kill Abel? Because he wants to destroy the seed. He wants to kill the seed because he heard God say that a seed was going to crush you. So he gets the bad seed, Cain, to kill the good seed, Abel, in order to get rid of this seed.

But what he didn't count on is chapter 4, verse 25: "And Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to another son, whose name was Seth, for she said, 'God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.'" Then you say, well what's that got to do with the whole battle of the angelic conflict? Verse 26: "And to Seth, to him also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh; then men began to call upon the name of the Lord." God always has somebody else, something else, or some other plan to make sure that what he plans will always come true.

It came about when men began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. And the Lord said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man forever because he is flesh." And the Nephilim were on the earth in those days. Verse 5: "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great and that every intent and thoughts of his heart were only evil continually."

But God knew something. Verse 8: "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." There's a lesson there. Even when the devil looks like he's got the whole thing, there's always a Seth, there's always a Noah. So let no temptation that you think has overtaken you be in control of you, because there's always a way of escape. God keeps him a Noah.

Guest (Male): When Dr. Evans returns in a moment, he'll talk about the devil's final defeat. Before he does, though, I want to let you know that what you're hearing today is the final installment in Tony's two-volume series, Angels: Good, Bad, and Ugly. It digs into what the Bible tells us about both angels and demons, what they can and can't do, and the ways they can impact our lives. We'd like to send you this complete 12-message collection, along with Tony's companion book, Warfare: Winning the Spiritual Battle. In it, he explains how many of the problems we face are actually symptoms of a deeper spiritual conflict and shows how believers can experience victory by relying on God's power instead of their own strength. This resource package is our thank-you gift to those who make a financial donation to help support the ministry of the Alternative. This special offer ends today, so to take advantage of it, just visit tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our resource team members help you. I'll repeat that contact information after the second part of today's lesson, and this.

Sunlit beaches, calm blue waters, and a week set aside just to breathe again. That's what's waiting for you on an unforgettable Caribbean cruise with Dr. Tony Evans. From February 28th through March 7th, you'll set sail on a seven-day Caribbean journey visiting Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay, a private island known for its peaceful beauty and white sandy shores. This time of year, the Caribbean offers the perfect escape. Warm weather, gentle breezes, and a setting that invites you to slow down and truly rest. And while the destinations are incredible, what makes this cruise truly special is what happens on board. You'll experience powerful Bible teaching, meaningful worship, and authentic connection with friends and family of the Urban Alternative. 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.

So Satan was strategically defeated, he was prophetically defeated, and then came the whopper: he was defeated spiritually. Saint John 12:31: "Now judgment is upon the world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." Here it is folks, the Cross. The Cross. That was the ultimate curveball. Let me tell you in summary fashion what the Cross did. When Jesus Christ came on earth, he played with the devil. He let him know, "I am your worst nightmare." Because he'd walk in the demons and say, "Come out of him." And the demons would ask permission to go into pigs and stuff, or say, "Our time has not yet come." He was messing with him. He was letting him know by rolling up his sleeves when he was walking on earth that here's one man you can't mess with. And then he died.

Listen to me. What the death of Christ did, number one, according to John 12:31 and John 16:11, was judge Satan. Satan was judged by the Cross. Now why? Because what God did on the Cross was remove the curse of sin. See, Satan counts on a fact that he knows about God because he had experienced it in himself: when you sin, you are under God's curse. Nowhere to run from that. You don't have to like it. The reason men will spend eternity in hell is because when you sin, you're under a curse. You're under a curse. But what Jesus did on the Cross was remove the curse.

Now get this. He not only removed the curse, Galatians 3:13, the curse of the law. That's why the Ten Commandments are so important, because the Ten Commandments are your curse. You ought to praise him today because he lifted the curse. You're no longer under a curse. One of the ways that Satan holds people hostage is through the fear of death. You say, but isn't it normal to fear death? Isn't it natural to fear death? Well it is, if you don't understand the Cross.

Let me as simply as I can tell you why you don't, if you know Jesus, have to be afraid to die anymore. The reason why you don't have to be afraid of death is that once you know Jesus, you're never going to experience the thing you are afraid of. It's as simple as that. You're never going to die. Listen. Less than a millisecond after you close your eyes in death, you are ushered into the presence of the Lord. You don't even get to feel dead. Death for the believer does not exist. When your eyes close, they open up again in glory. You never have to be afraid to die. That's what the Cross did. Now tell me why you can't serve Jesus. Tell me why you can't witness for Jesus. Not when you understand the Cross. Satan was rendered powerless. And so if he's got you afraid now, it's because he's got the optical illusion. You see him, not God. You need somebody who can control him.

Finally, Satan was defeated eternally. Revelation 12. The moment he sinned, remember, he was booted out of heaven. Ezekiel 28, Isaiah 14. So he no longer lived in God's presence. But when he was booted out of heaven when he sinned, he still had access to God's presence. He could pay a visit, but he could no longer live there.

All right. Now, on the Cross, he was defeated judicially because he was now rendered powerless, his weapons were taken away from him. Now turn to chapter 20: "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."

When Satan in the future is cast out, he will be bound for 1,000 years. Why? Because that will be the 1,000 years when Jesus Christ sets up his kingdom on earth. It's called the Millennium. It is where Jesus will rule for 1,000 years without any satanic interference. Then at the end of the 1,000 years, verse 7: "And when the 1,000 years are completed, Satan will be released from prison and will come out to deceive the nations." This is the final battle, Gog and Magog, where the world, all of those who didn't want Jesus to rule over them, will get a final opportunity to rebel. And Satan will bring out the rebellion that they harbored in their heart during this 1,000 years.

And then, verse 10: "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." When you die, if you don't know Jesus Christ, you go to hell. That's just a holding cell to keep you until the time for final judgment. You say, but it says Satan is going to hell, not people. Keep reading.

Verse 11 says, "And I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things that were in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up its dead." I don't care if you went if you drowned, you're coming back.

And it says, "And death and Hades gave up their dead, and those who were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Verse 14: And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. Now get this. And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."

That is your problem. When you stand before God, if your name is not in the book, you're on your way to judgment. Your problem isn't the devil. Your problem is God, that you have offended a holy God, have spurned his son Jesus Christ, have sided with the devil. And he says since that is who you want as your God, since that is who you want to follow, I'm going to give you what I give him. Since that's who you want, you can have him forever and ever and ever and ever because it is the act of a holy God against him.

And if you today don't know Jesus Christ, I'd jump out of that seat, run down to this altar and say, "I repent, I want Jesus Christ in my life, I want to be forgiven for my sins, I want Jesus Christ to come in today because I don't want to be in this defeated person's life." If you don't know that you know Jesus, run down to the altar and say, "I want to be saved by Jesus Christ, I need the Cross." Is there anybody here today who needs the Cross?

Guest (Male): Now there may not be an altar anywhere near where you're sitting right now. But if you feel you need the Cross, here's Dr. Evans again to explain what to do.

Tony Evans: If you've been listening to our broadcast and you have not personally trusted Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins so that he can give you the gift of eternal life right now, I want you to go to God and transfer your trust from any and everything else except the Son of God who died on the cross for your sins and arose from the dead. In fact, I'm going to say a little prayer, and you can repeat it after me. You just have to mean it for yourself.

Heavenly Father, I know I'm a sinner and that I can't save myself. I believe Jesus Christ your Son died on the cross in my place for my sin, and I now am trusting him alone to forgive me and to give me the gift of eternal life that he promised to give to anyone who came to him for it. Thank you for saving me and help me from this day forward to live a life pleasing to you.

Congratulations, welcome to the family, God bless you.

Guest (Male): If you prayed that prayer with Dr. Evans, we encourage you to get involved in a good Bible-teaching church so you can grow. We also invite you to visit tonyevans.org and click the link that simply says "Jesus." You'll find some great resources there along with some personal comments from Tony.

Tonyevans.org is also the place to go for details on getting a full-length copy of today's lesson, The Defeat of Satan. It's the final installment in Dr. Evans' two-volume teaching series, Angels: Good, Bad, and Ugly. This 12-message collection explores what scripture really says about angels, demons, spiritual warfare, and the unseen activity taking place around us every day.

And remember, if you make a donation today to help support the ministry, we'll send you the complete audio collection along with the powerful companion book I told you about earlier, Warfare: Winning the Spiritual Battle. But this is the last day we'll be offering this exclusive double offer, so visit tonyevans.org right away. Or if it's more convenient, you can give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org.

And one quick note, you can hear Dr. Evans host insightful conversations about the issues of life with special guests. Listen to the Unbound podcast anytime on his YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform. When God calls his people to be givers, he's talking about much more than money. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans begins a practical series called Return on Investment, explaining what it really means to invest in the things that matter most to God. You won't want to miss it.