God says, my kingdom is my jurisdiction. Dr. Tony Evans explains why believers can possess a peace that surpasses all understanding. If you let me be daddy, I know how to make sure. Things are addressed.
This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. 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. Today, he addresses the value of pursuing God's kingdom and the fulfillment and purpose it can give us.
Let's join him in a lesson called Unleashing Kingdom Pursuit. One of the major issues we're wrestling with in our nation and in our country today. is the border crisis. The issue of people wanting to come into this kingdom called America. Because they feel their lives would be so much more improved.
if they were able to get in the country even. if they do it illegitimately and Not documented. And so they press hard. at great risk for many. to make it to the United States.
to get what they believe will be a better life. But then there are also people who are born here. Are citizens of this kingdom called America? But who illegitimately want to take advantage of what it has to offer.
So some Don't belong here. But want the benefits. Others belong here. But don't try to access the benefits appropriately. Both have flaws.
when it comes to This kingdom called America. God has a kingdom. Many who are outside of the kingdom, they're not in the kingdom, they don't belong to the kingdom, but they want the benefits of the kingdom. But God has many kids who are in the kingdom. Who don't get all the benefits of the kingdom?
because they don't know how to access the kingdom. Amen.
So some are outside, want the benefits, but they don't belong.
Some belong, but don't get all the benefits because they don't know how to function. Jesus in Luke chapter Speaks about again this thing called the kingdom. The kingdom is the Jurisdiction of heaven. It is the governmental realm of God. When we speak about kingdom, the Greek word basilia means rule or authority, it is the realm of divine jurisdiction or God's rule.
It's his sphere of rule. It is the central theme of the Bible. The Bible's theme is the glory of God through the advancement of his kingdom. Non-Christians are not in the kingdom. Christians are in the kingdom.
But you can be a Christian in the kingdom. but not properly operating under the jurisdiction of the king.
So in Luke chapter 12, Jesus wants to speak. To those who are in the kingdom. about maximizing the benefits of the kingdom. Since you're in it and these benefits are offered you. By the king.
He says In verse 31, but seek his kingdom. And all these things will be added to you. The word seek, as we've said in our sermon title, means to aggressively pursue. It means to Go after In a very Passionate way. It means to prioritize the jurisdiction of God.
the kingdom As your driving force. in life. Don't just be born in it. Go after it. Grab all that it has to offer, seek or pursue.
In Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, it reads this way: seek ye first the kingdom of God. It adds the word first. You must seek it passionately as a priority. What you have to understand is there are certain things God can't do. I know we like to say God can do everything, but that's not quite true.
There are some things God can't do. For example, the Bible says, by two immutable things it is impossible for God to lie.
So God can't lie. God can't. contradict his essential nature. God can't ungod himself. He cannot make himself not exist.
because of his eternal nature.
So, there's some things God cannot do. Let me tell you something else, God can't do. He can't be second. He can't be separate. He will never accept.
Second. Once you make him second, then somebody else has become God because they're first.
So, whenever God is put in a secondary Moment when you play baseball, if you miss first base, it doesn't matter that you touch second, third, and home plate. All that goes out the window because you miss what's first. When you miss first. The jurisdiction of God. The fact that you got second third and home plate and all that other stuff you didn't touch Is canceled by the fact that God has been knocked out of his first place status.
So God says, I want you to pursue my reign, my rule, my jurisdiction, which is called the kingdom of which believers are citizens. And I want you to do it first. I want you. To get my thinking first, look at my viewpoint first, approach it my way first, define it as I define it. First.
Oh, most people will bring God in, but rarely first. It's after they've tried everything else. After they talk to everybody else. After they've gotten everybody else's viewpoint. And then when none of that works.
We go to the spare tithe. You know what a spare tire is. A spare tire. is just in case. It's in the trunk of your car.
in case something goes flat. And if something goes flat, you go to the spare, you put it on, you fix the tire, you put it back in the trunk. Until your next flat. But most people do is they have God when life goes flat. When something is not working out and We go get him.
to keep us rolling. Until the flat is fixed. And then he goes back into Trump until the next flag. Yeah, yeah. No, we must pursue.
His kingdom first.
Now, that's not some pie in the sky concept because the idea of the kingdom is to bring God's perspective in history. It's not just some Theoretical concept. It is the view of heaven. being made a template for earth. and being prioritized.
Amen.
Amen.
I've shared some time in the past when I lived in Atlanta, my favorite restaurant to go. Two was pascals. Because of their fried chicken. I'm a connoisseur of fried chicken. And uh Pascals was the sole food place in Atlanta.
during that era when I lived there that was the go-to place. For soul food. And for Fried chicken. Of course, I relocated from Atlanta here to Dallas and One time going through the airport. I noticed that they had pascals.
at the airport. And I had good memories. From my Atlanta days.
So I'm at the Atlanta airport. I come across Pascals. And it dawns on me, this is a An awesome time to get my chicken on.
So I went and I ordered me. Two thighs and a leg. Because I was reminded about Pascal's fried chicken. While they were cooking the chicken over the loudspeaker, it said, last call flight 74 to Dallas. I found myself on the horns of a dilemma.
Because my mouth was watering for this chicken. Was thinking, salivating. For this chicken. But they were also calling me for my flame. Do I stay and eat my chicken?
And risk missing by flight? Or do I catch my flight and say goodbye to my chicken? Trust me, I was in a catch-22. Just in the nick of time. They handed me some chicken, but it was.
Right out of the fryer, it was piping hot. I could barely hold it, it was piping hot. Do I risk? Do I just try to let it cool and eat my chicken or? Do I catch the flight?
What does a man do? In a time like this. What I did was I took my chicken on the flight. God is not asking you to give up your chicken. He's just saying, don't miss the plane.
We'll return with more from Dr. Evans on pursuing God's kingdom in just a moment. But first, I want to tell you about an exciting opportunity to go deeper with today's message. Tony's Unleashing the Kingdom series is now available, along with the new Unleashed Book and Bible Study Guide. including access to special companion streaming video lessons from Dr.
Evans. These resources are designed to help you genuinely understand how to live under God's rule.
so you can fully experience His kingdom blessings right where you are. You'll be among the first to receive these new releases when you make a donation to support the alternative. Visit TonyEvans.org today to request your copy of this exclusive Unleashing the Kingdom offer. or call 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. Our team is available 24-7 to assist you.
That's 1-800-800-3222.
Well, Dr. Evans will come back with more of today's message right after this. The Bible makes it clear that you know when God has cursed a land, when its fathers are nowhere to be found. Dr. Tony Evans says that what becomes of the next generation of men depends on what happens with this one.
Our kids need to see men in their midst who love God and who love them. But what does it take to be that kind of man? You can find out with the help of the Tony Evans Training Center's free course called Kingdom Man. It'll teach you to see past the phony images of manhood that society surrounds us with and become the loving leader that a wife and family would want to follow. As with all of our courses, there's in-depth study material you can work through at your own pace, lots of exclusive content from Tony, tightly focused QA videos, and an online forum where you can collaborate with other students.
It's almost like having a seminary on your smartphone. Check out the free course called Kingdom Man and the growing list of other subjects waiting for you. Visit tonyevans.org today and follow the link to the Tony Evans Training Center. And so he says, I want you to seek, that is, to pursue. to make it a big deal.
To go after the rule of God. to go after the prioritization of God.
Now why? Does this matter?
Well, he spent from verse 21 all the way down to verse 31, saying over and over again: do not worry. He says in verse 25. You shouldn't be worried. He says in verse 22: do not worry. The context leading up to the kingdom is a context about worry.
Worry is concerned gone haywire. Concern you control, worry controls you. There are many things in life that can and will concern us. Worry is where that concern has become a monster in your mind. Coding your thinking.
So that it tells you you're not going to sleep tonight.
So they did. tells you you're not going to function today. He says Do not worry. Do not worry. Do not worry.
But worry consumes us. And it gets sophisticated, obsessive, compulsive, panic attacks. Post-traumatic. Stress and a myriad of other definitions. For where we yet, Jesus.
commands us not to wear it. Stop letting the concerns control you. Worry is like a rocking chair. It gets you started. It just doesn't take you anywhere.
He didn't. Says First of all, When you worry, you worry. About the wrong priority. He says that in verse 21: For this reason, I say to you: do not worry about your life as to what you will eat, nor your body as to what you will put on. He says Don't worry.
About your life. Because life about your food, because life is more than food, verse 23. In other words, if you're worried about what you're going to eat. He says that's a secondary worry. You ought to worry about whether you're going to wake up to eat.
Because if God doesn't give you life, eating is not your big problem. He says. Don't worry about your clothes. You need to worry about whether you have a body strong enough to get in them. He says, you worry about the second thing when there's a bigger thing that you really need to be concerned about.
He says, Let me help you with worry. He says, I want you to study nature. Because one of the things you find out about Mother Nature, who Was established by Father God. is that he built in to the operation of nature. its ability to care for itself.
Yeah. Plants. Fruit. Vegetables. Have built in seeds to continue their life.
Mean it's it's built in. The acorn becomes an oak. It's all built in. He says If you study nature more than television. You'll understand how God works.
He then gets specific. He says, consider the ravens. Verse 24. For they neither So Nor reap. They don't farm.
They don't have plows. They don't have C D's, mutual funds, or American. Bank of America Bank accounts. He says, consider. The ravens, which by the way are unclean birds.
For they neither sow nor reap. Nor do they have storehouses or barns, yet God feeds them. Ravens be eaten every day. and don't have a storehouse of worms. Because they assume God's going to feed them.
That's an assumption.
So they operate that way. He says, and are you not more valuable than them? He says, consider verse 27, the lilies. How they grow. They neither toil nor spin.
But I tell you, not even Solomon in all of his glory was not clothed. like one of these He says, have you seen the beautiful flowers? He says they don't have a singer sewing machine. They don't have a personal tailor. But every spring they be popping up, looking good, talking about how pretty they are.
He says, Don't you understand how God has this thing working? It's built in. Yeah. It's built in. The provision.
For nature is built in. And God has built it in. He says, based on what God has done in nature. Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry, don't worry. Based on what God has done in nature.
And then he says. All these things, the things that we worry about, the nations eagerly seek. But your father knows you need these things. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Ooh.
He says, when it comes to the ravens, when it comes to the flowers, God does it. When it comes to you, your daddy does it. He switches from God to Father. What the problem is, is many of us have not yet learned to relate to God as Father. We relate to God as God.
And as God, he's got the power, he's got omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence. He's got all of these attributes because he's God. But he says, no, when it comes to you who are in the kingdom, he's daddy. And he says, and daddy knows you need these things. But you won't experience what daddy knows you need if you're not pursuing dad's jurisdictional environment called his kingdom.
He says, seek daddy's kingdom. And the needs will be met.
So if you're not seeking the kingdom where daddy lives, then you don't have access to what he has built in already in advance to supply. Why? Because you are, watch this. You are doing the opposite. Because he says in verse 30, for all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek.
In other words, you've been gone secular on him. And once he sees you call the culture your daddy. Once you call the unbelieving realm your daddy, once you make the society that is separate from God your daddy, then your daddy says, well, let them take care of you. If you're going to abandon my kingdom to have this world's kingdom, then don't come to your daddy because you decided to live in another house.
So let that house, let that culture, let that unbelieving, secular, godless world cover you, because you'd have made me second. Because that's what the Gentiles do. That's what the ungodly do. That's what the unrighteous do. They pursue their own agenda.
I have a kingdom agenda. I have a kingdom realm. I have a divine jurisdiction. And in this house, Daddy rules. And he says, and daddy knows what you need.
We'll return with a closing thought from Dr. Tony Evans in just a moment. Before we do, I want to remind you about that special resource package I mentioned earlier. It includes the complete Unleashing the Kingdom audio series, along with Tony's brand new Unleashed Book and Bible Study Guide, featuring streaming video lessons. It's one of the most comprehensive teaching bundles we've ever offered.
and you can be among the first to receive it when you make a donation to help support the Alternative Broadcast Ministry. Visit TonyEvans.org today to make your request or call our Resource Center at 1-800-800-3222. where team members are available around the clock to assist you. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. We've all heard the catchy little song Don't Worry, Be Happy.
But tomorrow Dr. Evans will explore the biblical truth behind that simple title. Right now, he's here with an important thought to close our program for today. A lot of people exist. but don't feel like they're living.
The good news of the gospel is Jesus came to give you life. That is The experience of God's reality operating within you. That's what the Bible calls eternal life.
So he gives you heaven as a location, but eternal life as an experience. And he gives it to you for free. That's what grace is about: it's a gift. You can't earn it, you can't buy it, you can't be religious enough to get it, but you can receive it. And so, God offers the opportunity for you right now to receive the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life, which will set in motion.
A whole life long experience of growing in the knowledge of God.
So let's get this thing started right now by you going to Jesus Christ and saying to him, Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross. In my place. For my sin. I now accept you as my personal Substitute. come into my life.
I receive you now. as my only Saviour, I receive the gift of eternal life. that you promised to give me. If I came to you for it. Thank you for your salvation.
In Jesus' name. I'm not sure.
