The Blessings of the Kingdom

On the day you need it, God's going to check your record to see whether you gave it. Dr. Tony Evans talks about the spiritual link between giving and receiving. There's a blessing for those who show mercy because you can bet your bottom dollar there is coming a day in your life when you're going to need mercy.

Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans. Author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of the Urban Alternative. People think of a blessing as a little extra something we get from God, but today Dr. Evans will explain it's really intended to be more of a lifestyle than an event. So let's join him as he takes us to the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 for a look at pursuing a blessed life. Jesus preaches this sermon to expose Kingdom living. He gives the Beatitudes to tell you the blessings of those who adopt this Kingdom mentality, mindset, orientation, focus, and priority.

The Beatitudes are given, the whole sermon is given primarily to his disciples, to people who are already engaged with him to take them to the next level. Verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. He now wants to discuss the blessing of having the right spiritual appetite, the right spiritual appetite because far too many of God's children are malnourished. Not because they're not eating, they're just not eating the right stuff. You know, you can get full off of enough donuts. You eat enough donuts, you will get full.

It's just of no value to you. In other words, there's no nutrition tied to it. He says, blessed are those, you know, one of the ways the doctor tries to find out if you're sick or not, he will ask you, how's your appetite? Because if you're healthy, you get hungry. When you get sick enough, you're liable to lose your appetite. So he says, blessed, that is the favor of God being dispensed to those who are hungry for what pleases God.

Righteousness is the standard of God being applied to your life. You are hungry to please God. You mourn when you don't, but you are hungry to please God. Well, you know, we live in a day when more and more people are going after organic food as opposed to processed food, because processed food with all the chemicals in it can bring damage to you. So people are wanting more natural.

They're wanting more organic food. You can have a donut worship service. You can make it all, you know, shouting and flipping pews and dancing and jumping and jerking and tweaking and twisting and turning, and you can have some good donut worship and think you're full. But there's something about donuts. They taste good, and I know.

They don't last, and they're non-beneficial. So people go from one donut shop to another donut shop wanting a donut experience and wonder why nothing's changing, why I'm not getting muffled, I'm just getting fat. But he says the blessing comes to those who hunger and thirst at the righteousness.

Let me explain something. Most of us will have a fairly good sized Sunday meal, either because you cooked it or you're going to go out to a restaurant and you're going to get a Sunday meal. Sunday is typically, historically, the big meal day after church. But let me tell you something about your big Sunday meal. It ain't going to last you all week. It's not going to last you all week. If the only time you eat spiritually is Sunday morning, if that's your big meal for the week, and then you wait till next Sunday to get another big meal, what you just told me is you're not hungering and thirsting after righteousness. That's really not your priority.

That's not what you're after. Give you a big Sunday meal and you'll make it till next week. You're not hungry. He says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let me tell you about hungry folk. You go to a restaurant and they give you a menu, right? They give you a menu. The menu is a written documentation of what they have to offer. Sometimes you can salivate just by reading the menu. You're reading the menu going, I mean, it just looks good. Ooh, that looks good.

That looks good. So you can read it and feel good about it just by reading it. Well, not only do they give you a written menu, they have somebody there to proclaim the menu, to teach you the menu. It's a waiter or waitress. And they are menu expositors. They do an exposition of the menu. They say, well, this is this, this is this, this is this. And they offer you a Q&A session.

Do you have any questions? So they will proclaim the menu to you. Now, after you have read the menu and after they proclaim the menu, you do not then ask for your coat to leave because you didn't come there to read about it or to hear somebody else tell you how good it is.

You came there for your personal experience with it. And until you've experienced the meal, you're not satisfied that you read about it or that somebody talked about it until it has entered into your tummy. See, the reason why Sunday meal isn't enough is because you come with a menu. It's a thick menu. It's called the Bible. It's got all kind of recipes in it. Then you've got somebody who will teach you about the menu.

But it's not over yet. Because God wants you to taste and see that the Lord is good. He wants you to taste this thing. He wants you to meditate on this thing so that it doesn't become something you heard in your ears.

It becomes something that you start to digest in your soul so it can take root and flow all week long. He says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And then he gives the blessing for they shall be satisfied.

Guess what God offers you when you passionately pursue Him and His Kingdom through that which pleases Him? He says, I will remove your discontent. See, to be satisfied is to be content with what you have. To be satisfied, when you've eaten a meal and you say, oh, that's enough, I'm satisfied.

You know what that means? I don't need any more. I'm good. I'm good. Hey, would you like some more chicken?

Well, yeah, on that one, but would you like some more? I'm satisfied. He removes your discontent. But you've got to be hungry and thirsty after what He's cooking. Hunger and thirst after righteousness, and He removes the discontent.

The more we hunger for righteousness, the more satisfied we become. He says, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Mercy is not giving you what you do deserve.

Not giving you what you do deserve. To express mercy is to seek to remove the misery that someone is going through, even if they deserve it. Mercy is not just feeling sorry.

Mercy is a tangible act of removing the misery. How many of us have said to a policeman who pulled us over, show me some mercy. I was speeding, I was wrong, but how many criminals have said I throw myself on the mercy of the court? No, don't give me what the full sentence calls for. Do you know one of the things they take consideration in the court when you call for mercy?

One of the considerations is, did you show any remorse? He says there's a blessing for those who show mercy, because you can bet your bottom dollar there is coming a day in your life when you're going to need mercy, when you're going to want God not to give you all that you deserve. There's coming a time, I don't know whether it's already been, it is or will be, but there will become a time when you're going to want God to hold back.

Don't give me what I deserve. You may be good now, but there's coming a day when you're going to want mercy dispensed to you. He says blessed are those who show mercy, for they will receive mercy. On the day you need it, God's going to check your record to see whether you gave it.

This is one of the great blessings that you can call on God for the mercy that you showed somebody else in their day of misery, when you have your day of misery, when you are needing it. He goes on and he says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The word pure means unmixed, undivided, no defect, authentic on the inside, being for real on the inside. Now, you know you. You know you better than anyone knows you, but you don't even know you perfectly.

But all of us knows what it is from time to time to be plastic. Pure in heart means to be authentic. And in order to be authentic, you have to first of all be honest with God. See, to be pure of heart, it means you have to be honest with God. When you are expressing the real deal, the real deal, not spiritual platitudes, you are being raw.

You're respectful, but you are clearly honest. Raw with God, no double-mindedness. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23, He said, clean the inside of the cup before you clean the outside.

See, here's the problem. Many of us want to change what we're doing outside when we haven't dealt honestly with what goes on inside. And if you haven't dealt honestly from the heart, now what does the heart do? It pumps life. That's pumps life. So if you have a defective heart, you're going to have a defective life because your heart is pumping life.

So if it's pumping poison, then you're not going to have life, the experience of life. In order to have a pure heart, you have to be authentic with God. You have to come clear with God. You have to be honest with God about the good and the bad and the ugly. Dr. Evans will come back with a great illustration about that kind of honesty in just a moment. First, though, today's lesson is part of a message collection called The Kingdom Life, focusing on the power God's given us to live in victory, along with the impact we can make and the blessings we experience when we put it to use.

It'll give you the encouragement and perspective you need to stand strong in the face of a culture that seems committed to tearing us down. We want you to have this collection of six full-length CDs or digital downloads as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution toward Tony's ministry. And when you do, we'll also send you a copy of his booklet called The Grace of God.

I'll tell you how to get it right after this thought from Dr. Evans. As we come into the celebration of our 40th year since the beginning of the Urban Alternative, words cannot express my gratitude to God for His faithfulness to the development of this ministry. Little did I know when we began with cassette tapes and we were bagging them up because people were requesting the sermons, that He would take humble beginnings and turn it into an international ministry. Now, on over 1,400 stations daily in 130 countries around the world, reaching hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people with the truth of God, I am humbled by His faithfulness to me and to us and to the Urban Alternative. And I'm certainly grateful for all the friends He's given us who have been faithful, too.

I praise God for 40 years of His favor on us. We depend completely on your support to keep this program on the air. So visit tonyevans.org and let Dr. Evans know he can count on your continued faithfulness. And when you do, don't forget to request your copy of the Kingdom Life CDs and the Grace of God booklet before this limited time double offer runs out next week. That's tonyevans.org. Or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222.

That's 1-800-800-3222. Right now, Dr. Evans is back with more of today's message. There's two rich brothers, very filthy rich. One of the brothers died, and both brothers were wicked. The brother who was still alive went to the pastor and said, Pastor, now I want you to do my brother's funeral. And somewhere in the funeral, in the eulogy, I want you to say the phrase that my brother was a saint. Both were wicked, but in this funeral, I want you to say my brother was a saint. And I'm going to give the church a million dollars.

That's all you got to do. Well, you know, the pastor was struggling because the church needed a million dollars, but he knew the brother was wicked, like both brothers were wicked. So it came time for the funeral.

He's standing up to do the eulogy. He said, John, the day God was a wicked, evil, conniving, godless man. But compared to his brother, he was a saint. He says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Are you tired of just talking about God and never seeing Him? They shall see God.

In other words, you'll see Him operating, moving. He won't just be a concept to you anymore, a thought, an idea, a perspective, a philosophy, a religious ornament. The unseen God, you will see, and you will see Him for yourself.

You won't need somebody else's testimony. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Peacemakers.

The peacemakers. Sometime we want to keep peace. Jesus says you've got to make peace. And you make peace by identifying the truth, exposing the sin, addressing the sin, and then constructing a bridge between the parties that were at odds.

That's what you do. Whether it's a marriage or whether it's two Christians or two groups of Christians, He says you've got to make peace. You don't just keep peace. We keep peace by ignoring it. He says you make peace by addressing it.

Blessed are the peacemakers. You've heard me say this before, but I'm not a mustard guy. I'm a mayonnaise guy.

Okay? When I eat a sandwich, unless it's a hot dog, I don't want to deal with mustard. I like mayonnaise on both pieces of bread. You know, you go to McDonald's, you go to Burger King, and they put mayonnaise on one piece of bread.

Send that baby back. I want my full allotment of mayonnaise. I want to inherit the earth.

I want all of my stuff. Now, mayonnaise is fundamentally made up of oil and water. Okay? But oil and water won't mix. So they need an emulsifier. An emulsifier is something that takes two things they can't mix and hook them up. So mayonnaise is made with egg. The process of emulsification is that egg can grab water, grab oil, and pull the two together and come up with something nice for my sandwich. Mayonnaise exists because emulsification exists, because eggs exist. An egg stands in between two things that can't get along. Oil and water, no matter how much you try, they cannot make it. They're too different. As soon as you put them together, they go back to their quarters, because they won't mix. But egg grabs oil, egg grabs water, allows them to hook up, mix it up, and now you got something that you can use. If you're a peacemaker, you're reaching out to two things that don't look like they can hook up at all.

And you're creating something tasty out of it. And he says peacemakers shall be called the sons of God. Why will you be called the son of God?

Because you look like your daddy. Now, you got the same DNA, because the Bible says God sent Jesus to make peace and to bring sinful men to a holy God. Jesus is the emulsifier, because a perfect God and sinful men can't mix. So what Jesus did was he reached up and grabbed God.

He reached down and grabbed man so that the two could get connected again. That's what—He is our mediator. He is our emulsifier. Let me tell you also about the son of God.

A son gains access. You're dealing with daddy. Let me close. He says, blessed are those who are persecuted, treated in an evil manner. That's what it means. Why are you being treated in an evil manner? Because you're showing these qualities. You're not talking about treated in an evil manner because you're evil. You're talking about treated in an evil manner because you're showing these characteristics, these kingdom characteristics, and some folk won't like you. A lot of folk are not going to like you because you're too close to God.

And if you look like God, then you're not going to be everybody's friend, everybody's not going to be your homebody, everybody's not going to be your running body, because you're going to be like a salt in their wound. When you show up, they won't be free to tell their jokes anymore. They won't like you showing up. When you show up, they're not free to do their thing anymore.

They don't want you to show up. They're going to call you Holy Roller. They're going to say that you think you're somebody. They're going to say that you think you're something special. No, all you are is kingdom. That's all you are.

And he says, and you're in the company of a great class of people, those who've gone before you, and he pronounces a double blessing on those who are willing to be rejected by men in order to be accepted by God. So don't take my word for it. Try it.

Try becoming a kingdom Christian and watch the blessings come your way. Don't take my word for it. Don't buy it because I said it. Go read it for yourself and begin to implement it, and you tell me whether you're experiencing God at a whole other level. Dr. Evans will come back with a really great closing illustration in just a moment, so don't go away. Today's lesson on the blessings of the kingdom is part of Tony's series, The Kingdom Life. Now's the time to get in touch with us and request the full-length version of all six messages in this collection, including material we won't have time to present on the air. They're available for a limited time as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station. Along with it, we'll include a copy of The Grace of God. In a world that talks a lot about different ways to reach God, this booklet explains why life is really about what God did to reach us.

If you're tired of feeling like you just don't measure up, you're in for some good news that can change your life. So be sure to take advantage of this special double offer before time runs out. All the details are waiting for you at TonyEvans.org, where you can make contributions online and sign up for Tony's free e-mail devotional. Again, that's TonyEvans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our resource team members help you. Again, 1-800-800-3222.

As Christians, our lives are intended to count for God's kingdom. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will tell us how to do that without being obnoxious and annoying. Right now, though, he's back to finish off today's lesson with this illustration. A man one day was dying of thirst, and he was in this desert place with no water. He couldn't make it much further when he saw a little shack. He walked into the little shack, and there was a well with a little jar of water and a sign. The sign said, use this water not to drink, but to prime the pump, because then you'll have ongoing water. He said, I don't know whether I can take this risk.

I'm dying here. If I pour this water in and this pump doesn't prime, I'm going to die. At least if I drink the water, I can live for a while and hope tomorrow will be a better day. So he had to make the decision whether to take the risk on the well or just be satisfied with the jar. He took the risk, poured the water in the well in the pump, primed the pump, gushed enough water to last him for as long as he needed it. A lot of you are going to take this sermon and use it like a jar. You're going to drink it up, and by tomorrow or Tuesday, it'll be gone. But if you let it prime the pump of the well of the kingdom of God, you'll find it flowing for life, ongoingly. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative, and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.