The unifying central theme of the Bible is the glory of God through the advancement of His kingdom. Dr. Tony Evans talks about God's master plan for His people. Getting into God's kingdom is conversion. Getting God's kingdom into you is commitment.
This is the Alternative Broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Everybody lives life according to some plan. The question is, whose plan is it? Doctor Evans weighs in on that issue today as he begins a series called "The Kingdom Agenda." Let's turn to John chapter 18 as he begins.
We all grew up in school saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. We will put our hands over our hearts and remind ourselves of our commitment to our country. The unifying thread from Genesis to Revelation, from beginning to end, is concerned with one thing: the glory of God through the advancement of His kingdom. When you understand that the reason the Bible exists is to share, from the beginning to the end, God's movement in history toward the establishment and expansion of His kingdom, things that did not make sense begin to make sense because they're connected now.
And the connectivity point is the kingdom. Jesus makes a statement in a political environment. Pilate raises the question, "Are you a king?" Jesus now responds, and I only tell them I'm a king, but I have a kingdom. In verse thirty-six, he says. My kingdom is not of this world.
If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting, so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm. The Bible talks about the kingdom of God. That is the rule. Or authority of God.
It talks about the kingdom of heaven, the rule or the authority of heaven. Jesus calls it here, "My kingdom." That's the rule or authority of Christ, because that's what the word means.
So, to be part of God's kingdom is to be part of God's rule. Operating underneath God's authority, it is to manifest on earth the operations of heaven. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God's kingdom goal is to manifest in history the operations of heaven.
So when history is not reflecting heaven, God's kingdom is not visible. His kingdom is only visible when history is emulating heaven. Curveball number one: God did not save you merely for heaven. Most would say I am going to heaven when I die. The correct phrase is I am going to paradise when I die to get ready to come back to earth before I go to heaven.
Before you ever get to eternity, you've got a job description in history. There will be a new heaven and new earth. That's how the book of Revelation ends. That's eternity. There's a whole bunch of stuff gonna happen before you get there.
You're being prepared now for a thousand year work assignment before you ever get to long term heaven. Jesus makes a statement in verse 36 that you do not want to miss. He says, "My kingdom is not of this world." So, if you are a worldly person or a worldly Christian, you're not an active participant in His kingdom, because His kingdom is not of this world.
So, one of the reasons we're not experiencing more from the King is we are tied to a system He's not a part of, even though we may be Christians. Getting into God's kingdom is conversion. Getting God's kingdom into you is commitment. Getting into God's kingdom is salvation. Getting God's kingdom into you is dedication.
If there is no commitment to the King and His kingdom, thus worldliness, you will not see. The manifestation of the king, because Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this world." The major problem that we face as Christians is worldliness. What does worldliness mean? Worldliness is simple—that system headed by Satan that leaves God out. Worldliness is not a place; it's a state.
It's like if I say the world of sports, I don't mean a location called sports, I mean an activity of sports where all the data surrounds athletic activity. If I say the world of finance, I don't mean a place called finance, I mean a system that deals with money. If I say the world of politics, I'm not just talking about the White House or the Congress. I'm talking about The political realm, Jesus says, "My kingdom is not of this realm. It is not sourced from this world's perspective." I love how Romans eleven thirty six says it.
It says, "For from Him, God is the first cause; through Him, God is the effective cause; to Him, God is the final cause." He start in the middle and finish. Even the most mundane things of life. The last verse of First Corinthians ten: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. He wants you to be obsessed. With His glory through the expansion of His kingdom, when His kingdom is prioritized, then you get to see.
Watch this: having both rule and overrule, and Lord knows we need having to overrule a bunch of stuff in our lives. We need heaven to overrule a bunch of circumstances. See, your experience with God will go to a whole other level when you see Him overrule what the world has brought on you, or what you may have brought on yourself. When you see God take it and veto it and overrule it, then you will know God is King. We say God is king, but we haven't experienced God being king because we don't position ourselves for Him to be the overruler or the ruler because we're still attached to this world.
A boat is supposed to be in the water, but not of the water. The boat's made to be in it, but it's not made for the water to be in the boat. We're supposed to be in the world, but not of it. In other words, it no longer defines our decisions. It no longer defines our relationships.
It no longer defines our priorities. It no longer defines how we flow, how we go. It is no longer we're in it. We're not some folks who are just monastics and are just sidelined and are separated from the reality of day-to-day life. But it no longer.
Girl sets the definition for who we are and how we function. He says, "My kingdom is not of this world." Some time ago, I was I was in the shower and and you know how sometimes you get soap in your eye, so so I got soap in my eye and and and my eye started to burn, so so I started rubbing my eye. With my hand, forgetting that I had soap in my hand, so so I got soap in my eye. My eyes burning. I take my hand.
I'm rubbing my eye, but I got I got soap on my hand.
So now two eyes are burning. I started with one eye burning. I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm trying to make it better. I'm rubbing it.
I'm doing the best I can. But now, instead of making it better, I have two eyes that are burning.
Okay.
So now I can't see at all. I started out seeing out of one eye.
Now I can't see out of any eye, because when I tried to help myself, I made myself worse.
So now it dawns on me, I've got to fix now my problem, but I can't see.
So I'm now reaching for a towel. As I reach for the towel, I hit my head on the soap dish.
So, so I've gone from one bad eye to two bad eyes to a headache. But all the time, I'm trying to make stuff better. I'm rubbing my eyes and I'm reaching for a towel. When my head hit the soap dish, I knocked the soap out the dish. I started out with one bad eye.
I wind up with two bad eyes.
Now I have a headache. The soap is now on the shower floor, but I can't see where the soap is because I started with one bad eye. I now have two bad eyes. I now have a headache. I step on the soap.
So you know what happens. I go flying around the shower. All the time trying to make myself better. I started out with one bad eye. I wind up with two bad eyes.
Now I have a headache. Now I got a backache. Cause I fell down in the shower. I'm all jacked up. Cause I was trying to help myself be better.
Our sight line has been greatly distorted. Because we flip kingdoms, we want the kingdom of God. But we want the kingdoms of men, and Jesus said, "And my kingdom, while in this world, is not of this world." That's why you can't start first with you or your world. He says, "Seek ye first my kingdom." In Matthew six. And then all these things will be added to you.
Then you will get to see heaven rule and heaven overrule. Doctor Evans will tell us more about what that looks like when he continues our message in just a moment. Don't go away. What if your next week felt restored—a chance to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect through worship and community? Join Dr.
Tony Evans with special guest Priscilla Shire for a powerful journey of faith at sea. Experience the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Dominican Republic aboard the new Stadendam, February 28 through March 7, 2027. Reserve your spot at TonyEvans.org. Before we return to today's message, I wanted to let you know that what you're hearing is the first installment in Tony's powerful six-part series, The Kingdom Agenda. As we're discovering, there's nothing more important than recognizing that God has a plan for His kingdom, and that He created each of us to play a part in it.
These six messages will help you understand what it means to make God's kingdom a priority, the impact you can have on the world around you. The power God gives you to make that impact, and much more. We'd like to send you all six full life lessons in the Kingdom Agenda on CD, USB flash drive, or instantly downloadable MP3s as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to support this ministry. And as an added bonus, we'll also include Dr. Evans' One Kingdom Under God paperback, a powerful resource that embodies the central theme of these.
Messages, and can help you see the world and your place in it from God's perspective. Get all the details and make your request at TonyEvans.org, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222, and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Right now, here's Dr. Evans in Matthew chapter six.
Notice what he says in verse thirty-six. He says, "If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight." In other words, your kingdom controls your methodology. He says, "If I was of this world, I would handle this like the world handles it." But since I'm not of this world, my methodology changes. You see, you can know which kingdom you are a part by which method you use. If you use the world's methods while praising God, you're praising God, but you're using the world's method.
Jesus says that's because you're not operating out of my kingdom. Because you know you're operating out of my kingdom, not because you say it, or think it, or feel it. You know you're operating out of my kingdom because it controls how you do what you do. He says, "My methods are different because my kingdom is different," and he tells you why. He tells you why.
He closes out with the statement, "Verse thirty-seven." Therefore, Paul said to him, "You are a king." Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world." He says, "To testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth." Here's my voice," he says. "My kingdom operates by truth. My kingdom operates by truth.
Now let me do the opposite to that. Satan's kingdom operates by lies, but they're good-sounding lies, they're good-looking lies, they're appealing lies." His kingdom can only operate by deception. God's kingdom operates by truth.
Now, let's define truth again. Truth is an absolute standard by which reality is measured. Truth is an absolute standard by which reality is measured. Truth is God's point of view on any subject. No, you pick the subject.
Whatever God says about it, that's the truth. Truth transcends feelings. Don't get me wrong. Feelings are real. You don't ignore feelings.
If you feel bad, you feel bad. Feelings are real, but that doesn't mean they're the truth. You go to a monster movie. You go to an alien movie. You go to a scary movie.
You might be screaming, closing your eyes. You might be hiding. You might be screeching. You might be making all kind of noise because you feel scared.
Okay, you are feeling it, even though you know it's not real. You know that's not real. You should be laughing. That ain't real. But they have so formulated the movie.
That non-reality feels real. You know it's not true, but it feels real, so you get scared. But the reason why you don't you don't live all week panicked about the movie is because when you leave the theater and are no longer faced with the press of the feelings, you return to the truth.
So truth transcends feelings, although feelings are real. Not only does truth transcend feeling, but truth transcends facts. You can have facts, but not have the truth. See, if you get caught up in facts, that's the problem with education, because classrooms will give you facts, but they may not be telling you the truth. He says, "My kingdom is a kingdom of truth." Truth is God's view of a matter.
That's how His kingdom operates. When you miss truth, you miss His kingdom. When you miss His kingdom, then you miss His rule. And when you miss His rule, you miss Him, because. Hallowed be Thy name.
How do I hallow Your name? By Your kingdom coming. How is Your kingdom coming? By Your will being done. In other words, there is a realignment that must occur by me, by you, by God's people, tied to His truth, so that we can experience His reality.
He does not want to be your spare tire. He does not want to be your jack in the box, popping up every time it's convenient for you to have it. He wants you to operate under his kingdom. You ever have grown kids come back home? That was bad enough while they living there, but then they come back, but because they're grown.
They think they can do what they want to do in your house. You ever ever ever have grown kids? I know your kids are perfect, but but ever have grown kids come back? They want they want to do what they do. And every now and then you have to remind them.
This this ain't your house. It's my house. You got to remind them of whose kingdom it is, because. When they go out there doing their own thing, they think their own thing works for you. Doesn't work for you, because it's your kingdom.
It's your house. We bring the world to God and say, "Bless me, bless me. Accept this, God. This is the way." And God is saying, "That's not my house. That's not my kingdom." Here it is, brothers and sisters.
You were saved for the kingdom.
Okay, your reason for being is the kingdom. It's not. It's not just to go to heaven. That's going to be a long way away when you for you to live in heaven. You're going to have a temporary reside in heaven.
When you die, you will go to paradise. You'll go to paradise for whatever it takes. For Jesus Christ to return, however long that is, you will be in peril. Everybody who's died who's a believer is now with the Lord, temp, temporarily, because the Bible says when Jesus Christ returns, the saints will return with Him. And the purpose of the sage returning with him is for his millennial, one thousand year rule on earth, where how you lived preparing for the kingdom will determine the job assignment you'll have in the kingdom.
So right here today, we have we have lawyers, we have presidents, we have judges, we have embassy workers, and we have street sweepers. For one thousand years, you'll sweep streets because in your prep time, in your preparation time for the kingdom, you had little to offer the king, and it will affect your thousand-year job description. See, I know you thought. When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! Howdy, how!
See, because you skip one thousand years of prep time. You say, but I thought I was going to be happy in heaven. You're going to be happiest street sweeper. You know. Our challenge today is to align ourselves under the King.
For the kingdom, through the implementation of His will, based on the truth, so His name is great, so that you see heaven rule and overrule, overrule my situation, overrule my emotions, overrule my pain, overrule. He just overrule, cause I left the world and became operative in His kingdom. Doctor Evans will return with an illustration of what it means to be a kingdom operative. When he wraps up our message, in just a moment. First, though, I wanted to tell you that today's message, the concept of the Kingdom Agenda, is the first part of Tony's powerful series called the Kingdom Agenda.
Don't forget, we're offering all six full-length lessons in this collection on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download as our gift when you make a contribution to support the ministry. And for a limited time, we'll also include Tony's One Kingdom Under God paperback. Together, these resources can help you understand God's kingdom, recognize your part in His plan, and begin to see your life, your relationships, and your world from a kingdom perspective. Request this special package today at TonyEvans.org, or let one of our team members help you by calling 1-800-832-222. That's 1-800-832-222.
Or online at TonyEvans.org. There's more to life than just living from day to day. There's a divine plan behind it, and a spiritual battle trying to defeat it. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans reveals what's going on behind the scenes and what we're designed to do about it.
Right now, he's back with his final look at what it means to be a kingdom operative. When you see the Olympics. There's the gold, the silver, the bronze winners. The gold winner stands in the center. They don't say, "What's your favorite song?" They play the national anthem of the nation of which the gold winner is a part.
Because while they participated individually in the Olympics, they represented something bigger. You're an individual Christian, but it's not just about you. You stand as a representative of a bigger kingdom. I know you want your blessing, you want your crown, you want your reward, you want your okay. Nothing wrong with that, but you have to know God is playing His anthem.
He's playing His name. Hallowed be Thy name. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
