Many of you are at this crossroad of past or promise.
You've got to choose one. Jonathan Evans challenges us to let go of what's behind and reach for what's ahead. You cannot have a strong grasp of your past and also have a fingerprint on the promise. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.
The past can shape us, teach us, and even strengthen us. But if we're not careful, it can also hold us back from God's promises. Today, Pastor Jonathan Evans challenges us to make a crucial decision. Will we stay stuck in our past, or will we step into God's promise for our future?
Let's join him as he begins. In Genesis 19, verse 17, it says this, When they had brought them outside, one said, Escape for your life. Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.
This is going to be a word for somebody in here because the angels that were sent said, Escape for your life. Do not look back. Don't stay anywhere in that valley. But get to the mountaintop, or you will be swept away. Now I'm going to read another verse so that y'all know where we're at, what story we're in, in Genesis 19, 26.
But his wife from behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Now you know where we are. Today, we have a crossroad, and the crossroad is going to be between your past and your promise. It's going to be a decision you're going to have to make because many people are pressing on the break of their past while driving to the promise, and you won't get there. You can't have the promises of God stuck in the past of Gomorrah.
And we all have to understand that there were some angels that were sent to Lot because his present needed to become his past immediately. And when they came in, you see the verse 17 says, Escape for your life, exclamation point. They said, Escape for your life. You got to get out of there.
You got to move around and you got to do it now. Don't stay anywhere in that valley, but get to the mountain or you will be swept away. Time is running out before something out of your control happens and you get caught up in what God is going to do. Because God moves on his time, not your time.
You're fortunate enough that he sends warning. In Genesis 18, 17, the Bible says, The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? In other words, God was going to judge the place, but he put a righteous person on notice before he does it. And when he put the righteous person on notice, Abraham began to pray for Sodom and Gomorrah. In Genesis 18, 23, he says, Abraham came near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Come on, God. Don't sweep away the righteous with the wicked. Abraham said, What if I can find 50 righteous? Will you spare Sodom and Gomorrah?
God said, Yeah, I'll do it. Go ahead. Try.
I already know why I'm going to judge him, but if you want to take a shot, take a shot. Abraham came back and said, I can't find 50. What if I can find 40? God said, Go ahead, Abe.
Take your shot. Abraham came back and said, Okay, I can find 40. What about 30? Messed up on 30. Couldn't find 30. He said, What about 20? He said, What about 10? Nobody saved in Sodom and Gomorrah.
He couldn't find 10. So God came and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the absence of righteous people. But even though he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the absence of righteous people, he still sent a message to Lot. Second Peter 4 7 says Lot was a righteous man.
So God came through for the righteous prior to the judgment. Now I need you to understand that there is a connection between God putting Abraham on notice and Abraham praying and the message that Lot and his family received. Remember, Genesis 18 23 says Abraham came near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
When the angels came and gave the message, if you look in 1915, Genesis 1915, it says, When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take your wife and your two daughters who were there, or you will be swept away. Verse 17, When they had brought them outside and said, Escape for your life, do not look behind you and do not stay anywhere in the valley, escape to the mountain, or you will be swept away. In Abraham's prayer, he said, Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? The angels came in and said, Escape for your life, or you're going to be swept away. In other words, the author's letting you know that there was a connection between Abraham's prayer and the message that was received from Abraham's prayer. In other words, there was an utterance in the word, connectivity in the word, a spoken word that came to them to let them know that not only is somebody praying for you, but God is trying to get your attention. And you need to use that utterance to move around because any time the Bible's repeating itself, it's trying to get the receiver's attention.
And today, you're going to hear, Escape for your life. The Bible's trying to get your attention. There is an utterance that you already have been hearing since you came in here, and now you're hearing it again. It's because God is trying to get you to move around. And notice, for those of you who are worried about somebody else, it's because God was gracious enough to put you on notice.
He was gracious enough to say, I'm about to do something over here, so I need you to get on your knees. This is why you cannot stop praying for the way we're a child. This is why you cannot stop praying for that person who got in a relationship you know is not good. This is why you cannot stop praying for that struggling marriage, because God uses the prayers of the righteous to accomplish much. And He will take your message and put it right into their heart and give them an utterance over and over again to try to get them to move prior to that judgment in that situation. So I need both parties to understand, the prayer warriors who feel it, don't you stop praying.
And those who are receiving it, take it seriously, because time is nigh. We have to understand God is making a connection for them and making a connection for you to pray or move. Move and pray. Either way, we're on the same team to make sure that we don't get caught up and swept away. We've got to understand what He's saying here, and I'll say it again, because today is a repeat day. Escape for your life.
And when you do, don't look back. Don't you stay anywhere in that valley. Escape to the mountain, or you will be swept away. This is God trying to rapture you. If you understand the rapture in the macro sense, 1 Thessalonians 4.17 says we will be caught up. We out of here.
We're getting out of here. 1 Thessalonians 5.9 says that the saints have not been designated for the judgment. In other words, by the time Jesus opens them scrolls up on the world, the saints would have been out of here.
Revelation 3.10 reiterates that sentiment and says the people of God will not withstand the time of testing. So in the macro sense with the rapture, prior to Jesus moving into Revelation and opening up the scrolls on the world, He's going to take His saints out before judgment comes in. Now you see this in the Bible in the natural sense, because right here He's trying to rapture Lot and his family prior to judgment coming in. If you look at Noah's story, he put the righteous family on the ark, got them out, and then the flood came in.
If you look at Rahab's story, she believed in the true God, put that red scarlet out there in Joshua chapter 2, and the wall came tumbling down because judgment had to happen, but her piece of wall was still standing because he raptured her prior to the judgment. So these are illustrations of the future rapture that we will inherit as the saints of God, that He will pull us out prior to the judgment. What He does in a macro sense, He does in your individual life in a micro sense, that He's trying to rapture you prior to taking that situation out because it is not a part of His kingdom plan.
He's trying to get you out of there. The difference is the rapture in the future is unconditional, meaning if you save, He's taking you up out of here. The rapture in the micro here and now is a partnership where He gives you the Word and then watches to see what you're going to do. So what happens when we hesitate in the face of God's command?
Jonathan will continue to explore that thought when he returns in just a moment. First though, I wanted to let you know about a valuable package of resources that will show you how to face hardship with strength and hope, confident that God will use your trials for His glory. It's a sermon series from Pastor Jonathan Evans called Survivor. If you're facing struggles in life that seem unbeatable, this series will help you see those struggles from God's point of view, empowering you to overcome and endure as you grow in your faith and draw closer to the Lord. Because this is such an important teaching, we want to give you all ten messages from the audio series as our gift when you make a financial contribution to keep the ministry of the alternative coming your way.
And for a limited time, we have an added bonus. It's a popular, concise devotional book meant to be read daily that explores the core themes of Dr. Tony Evans' legacy work on the kingdom agenda. This 365-day devotional book is called Life Under God, and we're including it right now with every request for Jonathan's Survivor audio collection. You can get both of these resources when you visit tonyevans.org or give one of our friendly resource team members a call at 1-800-800-3222.
They're happy to help you. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. We'll get back to today's message from Jonathan right after this. What if you could unlock the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything in between? Genesis 1 to 11 is the foundation for everything. The Tony Evans Training Center presents a transformative course from special guest lecturer Ken Ham, founder CEO of Answers in Genesis. If you want to understand anything about the universe and anything about life and this earth, we have to jump into God's Word. This course dives deep into the origins of life, the harmony of science and Scripture, and how to build a solid biblical worldview. Does science conflict with the Bible?
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Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. In verse 15, when morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. Verse 16, but he hesitated. So the men seized his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his two daughters, and for the compassion of the Lord was upon them, and they brought them out and put them outside. Here's a picture of those who were sent from God doing the work. It wasn't Lot and them who were doing the work. It was the ones who were sent from God that did the work.
Jesus is sent from God. It's by his work you're delivered, not by your work. He snatched you out of there. You can't claim that you didn't hesitate. You were hesitant. You can't claim that you weren't in sin. You were in sin. It's the work of Jesus Christ that brought you out in your hesitation. But once you come out and you're saved, there's something called sanctification. That's why the Bible says, work out your salvation in fear and trembling. So you can be saved out of Sodom and Gomorrah and still not experience the promise you were saved for. Just look at the first generation of the people of Israel.
You have a promised land. They were sitting there their whole life talking about getting back to Egypt. Exodus 14, 25, it said it'd be better for us to just go back. So they're walking forward looking backwards. Did they get into the promise?
No. He gave it to the next generation because they were so busy looking backwards walking forward that they weren't worthy of the promise. So you can be saved from Egypt, saved from Gomorrah, saved from heaven, and still not experience the promises of God in your life right now.
You've got to choose one. And many of you are at this crossroad of past or promise. You cannot have a strong grasp of your past and also have a fingerprint on the promise.
You can use it, but you don't let it use you. The hard part is not getting someone out of Sodom and Gomorrah. That's not the hard part. Angels brought them out. The hard part, the reason why there's a hesitation, is getting Sodom and Gomorrah out of them. It's getting that trauma out of you. Some people find their home in hurt. And they can't get it out.
Even though they've been brought out. It is for freedom that you have been set free. Therefore, never again return to the yoke of slavery. Which means there's a yoke of slavery you can return to even though you've been set free.
That's what it means. You cannot look back. Because Lot's wife looking back was not her just curious about the judgment. She wouldn't look back like, I wonder how bad it's going to be. That's not why she looked back. She looked back because she was still coveting what she left.
Her looking back is a picture of an about face on the promise. I wish I was still there. I'd be better off there. Let me go back and claim some of those things that I built there.
I'd rather be there. The truth of the matter is that some people are so salty about their past that they'll never become seasoned in their promise. Because salt in this way, not preserving anything, is good for nothing but to be trodden underfoot. It's not usable for what God is trying to accomplish. Then I thought to myself, dog, Jesus is kind of rough. Salt?
Man. Why'd you choose salt? So I sat on that question for several hours. Then I thought about the location of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's right next to the Dead Sea. And the Dead Sea is the Dead Sea because it's so salty. It's so salty, fish can't live in it.
And it's so salty, plants can't grow in it. There's no growth, no life. So if you're going to look back, then that's what you'll become. No growth, no life. No growth, no life in your marriage. No growth, no life in your situation. No growth, no life in your destiny. No growth, no life in your promise. Where I'm growing, there's a land flowing with milk and honey. It's growth and life where I'm going. Entering the valley is the second hard part, escaping first.
Because when you get into the valley, that is the stripping process to make sure you're light enough for the climb ahead. So if you don't walk through being consistent in God's Word and your accountability and your counseling and your therapy and what God is leading you to need to go forward and what God is calling you, trust me. Your flesh, like Paul, Romans 7, what I do, I don't want to do and I can't do what I want to do. You say, but Jonathan, I need something to focus on. Fix your eyes on Jesus. The author and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, seated at the right hand of the Father. Once again, he's not asking you to do anything that he himself has not already done.
You want to talk about trauma. From the day he was born, they were trying to kill him. He got betrayed by somebody close to him. In his own hometown, they tried to throw him off a cliff. The Pharisee tried to stone him. People that he created crucify him. And then he hit the valley.
Luke 22 42 says he was in the Garden of Gethsemane determining whether he was going to turn back or not. Like, I'm Jesus. I ain't got to do this. If there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. But not in my will.
Your will be done. And for this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him a name above every name so that at that name, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to the glory of the Father. It was his choice in the hardest moment to go forward and what God was calling him to do. In Genesis 19 28, it says, And he, talking about Abraham, looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley.
And he saw and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. So why was Abraham able to look, but Lot's wife wasn't? I looked at that.
I said, that's not fair. He's fine. And he's looking at the judgment. She's not fine. She's looking at the judgment.
Simple. Abraham was looking from the mountain. She looked in the valley. You see, when you get to the mountain, that's a different type of look. When you get to the mountain, you're just saying, if it had not been for the Lord on my side, where would I be? I'm so glad I'm not over there. I'm so glad I'm not in that mess.
I'm so glad God brought me out. I'm so glad I didn't go with them. I'm so glad I'm no longer their friends. I'm so glad I didn't walk with them.
I'm so glad I didn't take that route. When you're able to look from the mountain, you have a spiritual clarity that you don't have in the valley. So you're able to say, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet. But one thing I do, leaving what's behind, I press on towards the mark and the goal of the upward call in Christ Jesus. That's what God is calling us to do.
You can have your past or your promise, but you cannot have them both. Pastor Jonathan Evans will come back in just a moment with a closing word of encouragement for anyone struggling to let go of their past. Before he does, though, I want to remind you about that special double offer I mentioned earlier. It's for Tony Evans' daily devotional book called Life Under God, plus the 10 Lessons Survivor Sermon Series from Jonathan Evans, available for download as well as on either CD or USB stick. The book and audio collection are both yours, along with our thanks for your donation to the Alternative Ministry. Make the arrangements today at 1-800-800-3222 before time runs out on this exclusive deal. Or visit our website at TonyEvans.org and look for the details on this special offer right on the home page. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at TonyEvans.org. Many of us search for validation in places where it simply can't be found, which leads to a critical question.
Are we laboring for the approval of others, or are we living out of the love and acceptance God has already given us? Join us tomorrow as Jonathan addresses this powerful issue. Right now, though, he's back with these closing words. I know many of you are in the hesitant place. You've spent so much time. You've experienced that trauma for 18, 19, 20 years of your life. But the God who saves you for heaven also saves you for earth. Walk with him. It's a daily grind and a daily journey to not let yesterday determine your decisions today.
