Church is not standing because it has not pursued kingdom unity. Dr. Tony Evans says God has given us all we need to overcome discord and dissension.
The Bible declares when Jesus died on the cross that he took care of Satan's ability to roll unless we give him permission. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Division and disagreement can be found almost anywhere we look nowadays. It's becoming easier than ever to get drawn into conflict, to lose sight of those things that bring us together. But Dr. Evans says the church is called to be different, and in today's message he talks about how through Christ we can find the unity and harmony God intended for humanity.
Let's listen in. Our culture is devolving and erupting into chaos, and you will find and discover division and divisiveness in every dimension of society. But we must understand, first of all, the theology of how this works, because the spiritual is supposed to inform the physical, social, political, and economic.
It is supposed to be the root place you go to understand the fruit that you bear. Jesus said a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. He says a city divided itself cannot stand. He said a home divided against itself cannot stand. He says none of those things can stand. In other words, they won't make it.
They won't be able to hold on. What was in the context of this passage is Jesus was casting out demons, and they were saying the way he's casting out demons is by Beelzebub. In other words, Satan is the power behind Jesus casting out demons. Jesus said that makes no sense at all. He says Satan is not going to be casting out Satan. Satan is not going to work against his own programs, because a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and Satan wants his kingdom to stand. That's why he unifies his anti-God sentiment. So he tries to or seeks to maintain Kingdom. That's how, by the way, marriage got redefined.
It got redefined by a unified effort in the culture to redefine the institution, the divine institution of marriage. So he unifies against God. He divides the people of God in order to keep God from manifesting his influence in the world as he prefers.
You say, now how would Satan get such power to do that? Well, again, we must start with theology, not anthropology. We must start with a God's point of view, not a man-centered point of view.
When God created the earth, the Bible says in Psalm 115 verse 16, the heavens belong to God, but the earth he's given to men. So what God did was he actually leased the earth to humanity and says, I will give you the freedom to choose for me or against me, and I will let you make a choice. I'm not going to force you to choose me, but you need to know if you don't choose me, you don't have me. You don't have to choose me, but the repercussions is that I stay back and you bear the ramifications of the abandonment of God. He gave that choice to Adam and Eve in the garden. He gives that choice to individuals, families, churches, and governments today. You can choose with me.
You can choose without me, but don't count on me if you leave me. Satan's job is to bring about a division in God's kingdom, and a kingdom divided against itself, Jesus says, will not stand. The church is not standing because it has not pursued kingdom unity. Psalm 133 verses 1 to 3, the Lord says, how blessed it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And then he comes at the end of it, he says, and from that space of unity God will command a blessing.
That is the only place in the Bible that I am aware of where blessings are commanded, but God will only command a blessing if he sees you functioning in unity. That's why we need today Christians who are willing to take a bibliocentric kingdom stand for biblical unity without losing personal uniqueness. And so Jesus says, but I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God, verse 28, has come upon you. How do you know when the kingdom is clicking, when the kingdom is working, when the jurisdiction of heaven is entering history, he says, because then you will see the Spirit work addressing the illegitimate spiritual attacks. He calls the illegitimate spiritual attacks demons. Demons are Satan's posse. Demons are errant angels.
They are the ones who follow Satan's command, and they follow it to the key. And whether you like it or not, he has assigned one to you. You are on assignment to bring division in your life, division in your sphere of influence, and he is going to use whatever he knows based on his game film, Study of Your Life, that will work to bring about a division to thwart the kingdom of God. He says, but you, when you do not allow God's kingdom to divide you, you then are qualified to see the Spirit of God drive demons out. Because a lot of this stuff we dealing with that we call personality are personalities under demonmonic control. A lot of this racial, social, political divide are demons influencing it. Your major problem with the devil and his divisiveness is between your ears. That's where it is. Oh, the devil made me do it.
No, no, no, no. When Satan came against Eve and Adam, he didn't come as a lion, a bear, a tiger. He didn't overpower them, he got them to think differently. And once he got them to think differently, once he got to their minds, they function differently. So there was now a division in the relationship, a division between siblings because Cain kills Abel, so you got all this division taking place because he got into their heads. So your spiritual battle is between your two ears. My spiritual battle is between my two ears. Our collective spiritual battle is between our two ears. That's why the Bible calls for the transformation of the mind. Now I know everybody uses that, we need to transform our minds, and they be talking a while. So when the Bible says transform your mind, it's talking about learning to think biblically, learning to think kingdom wise, learning to think Christocentrically. It's talking about a spiritually informed way of thinking, a biblically centered way of thought. In Genesis 11, God had told them to spread out over the whole world.
They said we're not doing that. We want to become one civilization. They built a city that was gonna be the capital of the world. They put up a ziggurat.
A ziggurat is a worship like on the roof of a church where you have a steeple. It says we're gonna build it all the way up to heaven. We're gonna go up to God. We ain't gonna let God come down to us. So we're gonna develop a man-centered religion that's called humanism. We're gonna develop a man-centered religion and we're gonna go up to the heaven. We're gonna dictate to them up there.
They're not dictating us down here. So they did exactly the opposite of what God says, and then they said, and we will be one people with one confession. We're gonna unify, but we're gonna unify without God. We'll need God.
We're gonna do our own thing, okay? So they unify without God. Then it says in Genesis 11, when they began to do this, God came down. So by the way, I don't care how high you get, God got to come down, okay?
You ain't all that and a bag of chips and neither am I. God got to come down because you can only get so high before he says that's enough. That's enough of you trying to do this without me and just think because you got the whole world joining you, it's gonna do something to me. So God comes down and when God came down to investigate what men were doing, he made one of the most awesome statements you could ever imagine. He said, if we don't stop this, there will be nothing impossible for man to do. Why would a sovereign, omnipotent God say man is so powerful that if they ever get unified, they'll be unstoppable? He's talking about the fact that he had turned over to man, and if I let them keep doing this, they're gonna destroy the planet.
So what we're gonna have to do is we're gonna have to disrupt their attempt at unity. So he creates confusion. That's why it's called the Tower of Babel. Everybody talking, but nobody communicating. I believe we in America, Babylon. Everybody talking, ain't nobody communicating, okay?
Guess why? Because God will disrupt our attempt to be unified independent of him because he will then want to disrupt what Satan is trying to do to disrupt him. So we're involved in something much bigger than you could ever imagine, and that is why it's absolutely critical that those who know Jesus Christ take their stand with biblical unity under the jurisdiction of the king. And then he says in verse 29, or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. He says if there's a strong man in the house and you want the property, then you better do something about that strong man first. You got to limit his ability to stop you if in fact you're going to plunder him, okay? The Bible makes us known that Satan is a thief, he's a robber, and he wants to take what God has for you and keep it for him. In other words, he wants to rob you of God's purpose, rob you of God's peace, rob you of God's will, rob you of God's victory. He wants to steal that from you, me, us, we. So in order for him not to keep what he is stolen or plans to steal, you have to bind him. The strong man has to be bound to get back what he has taken. The question is, who can bind him that's strong enough so that there we can get back what the enemy has stolen?
Our peace, our family, our children, our marriages, our well-being, our environment, what can we do? We'll get the answer to that right from the pages of Scripture when we return to our message in just a moment. First though, today's lesson is part of Tony's life-changing sermon series Unleashing the Kingdom, and I want to let you know that all 12 full-length messages in this collection are available to study in depth.
You can download them instantly or get them on CDs that we'll send straight to your home. Along with the audio collection, for a limited time we're also including the One Kingdom Under God paperback from Dr. Evans that perfectly complements the teaching found in this series. Through these resources you begin to develop a whole new way of seeing the world and your place in it, leading to greater purpose, peace, and fulfillment. We'll send you this package with our thanks for the donation God leads you to make to help us keep presenting Dr. Evans' teaching here.
Don't wait. Visit tonyevans.org today to receive Unleashing the Kingdom and One Kingdom Under God. That's tonyevans.org or give our resource team members a call at 1-800-800-3222. They'll be happy to help with your request.
That's 1-800-800-3222. We'll return to the second part of today's lesson right after this. It was my first time meeting Jesus in the Bible. That's what one student is saying after studying bibliology through the Tony Evans Training Center, taught by renowned theologian Dr. Tony Evans. These online courses feature compelling and exclusive video and audio teaching, plus an interactive scripture-based curriculum you can access online or through the mobile app. Sign up now at tonyevanstraining.org. Take a course with Dr. Evans and explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere.
tonyevanstraining.org. Colossians 2 15. I love this verse. Colossians 2 15 talks about the cross. In Paul, he says, verse 14, having canceled out the certificate of debt concerning the decrees against us which was hostile to us, he has taken it out of the way and having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him. The strong man was disarmed by Jesus at the cross, okay? He says he disarmed them. So the strong man had the weapon, and Jesus went and took the weapon away from him, okay? Triumphed over them, okay? And put on, watch this, a public display.
There's a whole lot there. The strong man gets his weapon taken from him that's holding you hostage, me hostage, us hostage. The weapon is taken away, and then he says there's a public display. You and I call it a parade, public display. When Kansas City won, take it easy, won the Super Bowl, there was a parade. Whenever a team wins a national championship, there is a parade.
People line up to celebrate victory. It says Jesus disarmed him and put on a parade. He put on a parade in the physical, and he put on a parade in the spiritual.
There's a verse that many Christians have never read. When Jesus arose from the dead, the scripture says many other people rose from the dead and walked the earth with him in his resurrection. Jesus brought a parade of the dead, not only him when he got up, he got a whole bunch of folks up and walked the earth with him to demonstrate I'm victory over the killer.
And it's not just me because I'm the Son of God. I got my posse to demonstrate that I am victorious over him. He had a parade in the spiritual realm because in the spiritual realm Satan is declared to be defeated.
So he has been defeated to no longer legitimately hold you, us, we, hostage. Now let me explain how a Roman parade worked because you need to understand how because he's taking it from a Roman triumph. When Rome defeated a nation, they would capture the ruler.
If they killed the ruler, they would behead the ruler and in the parade hold the previous ruler's head to show he has been permanently defeated. If they captured the ruler, they would cut off the ruler's thumbs and cut off the ruler's big toes. The purpose of parading the ruler down the Roman road with no thumbs and no toes is to say he has been defeated and he'll never hold a sword again. He doesn't have thumbs. He has been defeated and he'll never stand in battle again.
He doesn't have big toes. So he was a ruler but we didn't handle this boy because he can't fight and he can barely walk. We are demonstrating to you that we have taken over the ruler and his town. The Bible declares when Jesus died on the cross that he took care of Satan's ability to rule.
Watch this unless we give him permission. So one other passage, Ephesians chapter 2, because this is where we come in. He spends the first 10 verses talking about grace. In verse 11 he wants to talk about race.
He moves from grace to race. He spends verse 11, 12 talking about how you were as Gentiles. You are separated from Jews and you were no longer included. You were excluded. But then he comes in verse 13 and he says, but now. Ooh, I know how it used to be, but now.
I don't mind you looking in the rear view mirror of history but don't you live there, but now. You should be doing something different now that you belong to Christ than you were doing back then when you were alienated from Christ. He says, but now Christ Jesus who when you were formerly afar off have brought you near by the blood of Christ. He says the cross is your emulsifier and emulsifier is something that brings two things together that could not naturally connect. All in water can't get along.
You can mix them, stir them, and try to force them, but they're gonna separate because their components just can't get along. You can't get along with your wife. Your wife can't get along with you. You can't get along with your children.
Children can't get along with you. We need an emulsifier. We need somebody to grab this and grab that and pull it together. You've heard me say when I eat a sandwich I don't use mustard. I use mayonnaise. I'm a mayonnaise kind of guy. So you fix me a ham sandwich, don't put on mustard, put on mayonnaise. Now the reason that mayonnaise is mayonnaise is because it's made up of a lot of oil and water, but oil and water don't get along till you drop in an egg Once you drop in an egg, the egg grabs the oil, grabs the water, say y'all come over here cuz Tony Evans needs to get a ham sandwich.
So they, the two, are brought together by means of an egg that emulsifies the oil and water so that you now have mayonnaise. You can't get along with this. They can't get along with that. But he says by the blood of Jesus Christ both were grabbed and you are to be brought together.
And so he spends the whole rest of the chapter saying you and I as Christians should be reconcilers. We can't join the illegitimate divisions of the culture, of the race, of the genders, of the confusion that's in the culture now. We can't join that because now we have a whole different position. Now we operate by a whole different value system. Now we have a brand new identity. Now we have a new absolute commitment. Now we have a new authority. Now we're part of a new kingdom.
Now we belong to a new race because we belong to the kingdom of God because we want to stand and have his power manifested in us and to us and through us and for us and by us. Now in closing, if you ever go see an orchestra play, before they start they're warming up the instruments and there's discord sound in the room because everybody doing their own thing with their own instruments and instruments are just being warmed up. That is until a conductor comes out because then the conductor comes out and he brings out the wand. He taps the wand.
He lets them know it's time to stop doing your own thing. We're gonna sing one, we're gonna do one song, but you're gonna play your unique instrument. But your unique instrument has to fit the one song that we're singing. Now before the conductor comes out, you're doing your own thing. But the moment he comes out and taps that wand, you're doing his thing now. I don't care what your background is, your history is, your color, your culture, your politics are, Jesus is saying it's time to listen to my wand. I'm calling this shot and you are to play my song for my glory.
His name. We belong to another kingdom because you're now playing his song. Dr. Evans will return with a final word to wrap up this message in just a moment. But first, if all you've been doing up to this point is playing your own tune and are now ready to join in with the perfect score God's written for us, I'd like to encourage you to take a few minutes to visit tonyevans.org. Click the link at the top of the page that says Jesus. We have some helpful resources there and a personal message from Dr. Evans that lays out the good news God has for you. Again, that's at tonyevans.org. Now a quick reminder about that special resource package I mentioned earlier, the complete Unleashing the Kingdom audio series along with the One Kingdom Under God paperback from Dr. Evans. We'll send the entire collection to you as our gift and appreciation for your contribution to the alternative broadcast. Just visit tonyevans.org to make your donation and request today. That's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 where members of our resource team are always ready to help.
Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. It's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of worldly possessions, but Dr. Evans says there's a greater treasure we need to be hunting, one that offers lasting rewards. He'll talk about that tomorrow, but right now let's listen in as he wraps up today's message. I just want you to look at your life and say, am I contributing to unity or division on whatever level that is? Am I contributing to harmony or chaos? And if not, if you need to apologize to somebody, the Bible says you can't even worship if you're promoting division. If you need to say, you know what, I was wrong if you were wrong or I want to get this healed because I want to see the Spirit of God get rid of the demons that are plaguing me.
