The job of the Holy Spirit is to bring the reality of kingdom truth into the experience today. Dr. Tony Evans lays out the reason God does that. His purpose is to empower the kingdom's work in the life of His people. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Meekness is a godly quality.
Weakness isn't. Today, Dr. Evans reveals ways we can unleash the strength God wants to give us. Let's listen in as he explains. When the Queen of England, now the King of England, would go to one of the many castles that are throughout Great Britain, the Union Jack, the flag of the British Empire, would be raised to indicate that the monarch has arrived, that they are staying here. And so as they would travel to different parts of the country and in one of the identified castles, the Union Jack flag is lifted to let it be clearly known that the king has arrived.
He's situated here. The question that I ask is, what flag is over your life, over our lives and over this ministry? Is there a clear indication that the king has arrived, that the king has made his presence here the place where he rules? When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He began with an opening phrase, the kingdom of God is at hand. All throughout His ministry, He kept talking about this kingdom, this place of divine jurisdiction.
The word kingdom, as we have stated many times, means rule or authority. It is the sphere of divine jurisdiction from which God rules. Sometimes it's called the kingdom of God when it's referring to the person. Sometimes it's called the kingdom of heaven when it's referring to the location.
But in both cases, it's referring to the sphere of God's jurisdiction or rule. When we open the book of Acts, Luke, the author of the book of Acts, writing to Theophilus, the man who helped fund his research. Luke was a physician and he was used to research. And that's why in his writings, you'll see a lot of research activity evidently funded by Theophilus. It says from the time of Jesus's resurrection to the time of His ascension to heaven was 40 days. And during these 40 days, He taught them about the kingdom of God. So the very same message when He came on the scene at 30 years old was the very same message after His death and resurrection that He wanted to communicate to those who would be taking the message after He left.
And for 40 days, He taught them about the kingdom of God. We know they caught the message because biblical theology confirms it. Systematic theology is concerned with the organization of biblical truths and biblical principles in a structure. Because you can't go to one place in the Bible and find all that the Bible says about that one subject in that one place.
It's spread throughout the Bible. So in systematic theology, we organize it, we structure it. So if you want to find out about the attributes of God or the doctrine of Christ —bibliology, ecclesiology, eschatology, angelology, hermartiology— if you want to find out about that, because it's spread out throughout the Bible, it has to be organized, and we call that systematic theology. Biblical theology is different. Biblical theology is not concerned with pulling everything together that the Bible says on any one subject. Biblical theology is concerned with what this author said to this group of people at this time about said subject. So biblical theology is narrow from which we get systematic theology. The reason why biblical theology is important is it lets you see what specifically is being emphasized at a certain time in a certain book by a certain author on a certain subject. Jesus has been speaking about the kingdom of God. The question is, did that catch? Because it says he was teaching his disciples.
Did they grab it? So let's do a brief bibliocentric theological analysis of the book of Acts related to the subject of the kingdom of God. For example, Acts chapter 8 verse 12 says this. It says, But when they believed, became Christians, fill up preaching the good news about the kingdom of God, the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized men and women alike. Chapter 19 verse 8. And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. Chapter 20 verse 25.
And now behold, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face. Chapter 28 verse 23. When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets from morning until evening.
And finally, chapter 28 verses 30 and 31. And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and were welcoming all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness and unhindered. So from a biblical theological framework, it is absolutely clear that the teaching on the kingdom of God that Jesus had done for the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension, the apostles caught because they kept the theme going in the book of Acts when the church is being established. So don't get ticked off if I keep talking to you about the kingdom of God.
It is the abiding theme of Scripture, the abiding message of Jesus Christ, and the abiding message of the apostles in the New Testament because it is the theme of God's purpose in history, and that is his kingdom. The kingdom is his sphere of jurisdiction, the place of his rule. In your home, you have the sphere of your jurisdiction. You have your kingdom, your house, where you live, where you sleep, where you eat, where you raise your family. It is your kingdom. It is the sphere of your jurisdiction.
In that jurisdiction, you have certain governance, guidelines, regulations, rules as to how your home, I hope you do, how your home operates. But if you have teenagers, you have kingdoms in conflict. Because as they've gotten a little bit independent and gone out into the world, they have picked up things that don't agree with your kingdom, that don't agree with your sphere of jurisdiction. And what they do is when they grab it from school or grab it from their friends, they bring that kingdom's worldview into your house.
And you have to bring about corrective measures to say, well, that's not how we do it here because things from outside can seep into inside the kingdom, that is the kingdom of your home. The reason why Jesus taught them about the kingdom of God so that they would teach us about the kingdom of God is so that we would understand the governance of God's jurisdiction, God's rule, so that when errant thinking, errant ideas, errant philosophies, errant social orientation, when errant things come in, we understand what the rules of the house are, the rules, the jurisdiction of the kingdom, because there is a competing kingdom. The Bible says we have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. He says there is a dark kingdom, an evil kingdom, a secular kingdom, and it wants to impose itself and change house rules, change the sphere of the rule of God. So he says, I'm going to teach you apostles about the kingdom. I want you, now that we've established the church, to teach the people about the rule of God. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans on unleashing kingdom power in just a moment. First, though, if you want to gain a deeper understanding of today's subject, we invite you to explore Tony's insightful paperback, One Kingdom Under God. It's a work written specifically to help you see the world through God's eyes and recognize the part you play in his eternal kingdom. Along with the book, all 12 of the full-length messages from the Unleashing the Kingdom series will help you find meaningful ways to apply God's truth to your life and relationships.
And you can receive them all on CD or digital download. In fact, we'll send you this entire package, the book and two-volume audio collection, along with our gratitude when you make a donation to help us continue presenting these life-changing biblical messages each day. Just visit tonyevans.org for details on this special offer or call us at 1-800-800-3222, where our resource team members will be happy to assist with your request. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone any time of the day or night at 1-800-800-3222.
We'll hear more from Dr. Evans right after this. How do you share the gospel with confidence? What's God's plan for our communities?
Why does the Old Testament matter to your faith today? Those are just a few of the questions you'll get answered when you enroll in the Tony Evans Training Center, an interactive online study experience with Dr. Tony Evans where you can grow in your knowledge of God's Word and learn to advance his kingdom agenda in your life. Visit tonyevanstraining.org to get started today.
That's tonyevanstraining.org. Many of us have been to Disneyland. It's called the Magic Kingdom. It's full of fun and frivolity. It's full of rides and games and food and festivities and clowns and shows. It is the Magic Kingdom. It is where you visit.
It is not where you live. It's not home. But it can become so intoxicating for the time that you are there that you lose sight of the fact that this is not reality. What the world wants to do is to create an impression on us that that's real, this isn't. That the kingdom of God is not where reality is.
Reality is in a world that leaves God out or adopts worldviews that are antithetical to the jurisdiction of the rule of God. It's said in the first verse I read in chapter 8 that when Philip taught them about the kingdom, he baptized them. Baptism means two things. It means, first of all, I've accepted Jesus Christ as my substitute. I go down in the water.
When I come back up, it is supposed to signify I am now operating under divine rule. I'm now under jurisdiction. I've been put into a new family, into a new realm, into a new sphere of dominance. Baptism means that I now belong to a new order.
That I live in this world, but I am informed by the world of another. And he taught them about the kingdom of God. And the disciples taught them about the kingdom of God.
And we are to teach about the kingdom of God so that when people are baptized, they understand they're under new rule. Now, when you shift your company, when you are transferred from one company to another company, you leave this company and you leave another company, you come under the jurisdiction of that corporation, the jurisdiction of that employment, the jurisdiction of that employer. Now, regardless of what was true in the old company, that no longer carries authority in the new company unless the new company endorses it. But now that you have shifted to another company and are under the authority of new management, you have a new obligation to a new jurisdiction.
What the society wants to say is, I know you've gone to a new company, but I want you to operate over there by our rules, the company that you have been released from. And so it is very concerning to God that his people become aware, become knowledgeable of the kingdom, the jurisdiction, the rule, the authority of God, and have their flags planted there, where it is clear the king resides here. That's what Joshua said in Joshua 24, 15, as for me and my house. He said, y'all can do whatever you want in your house, but as for me and my crib, we will serve the Lord. That's how we operate up in here, up in here. So he wants us to give out the information about the kingdom.
Why? Because he wants us to experience the power of the kingdom. He doesn't just want the information of the kingdom. He wants the power of the kingdom to be made manifest based on the information of the kingdom. He says, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. The job of the Spirit is to bring the reality of the new jurisdiction into our experience. The job of the Holy Spirit is to bring the reality of kingdom truth into the experience today.
Okay. Jesus said, it is good if I leave so that the Spirit could come. He told his disciples when he was in the upper room, I got to go to my father, but I need to leave so the Spirit can come. When Jesus was on earth, the expression of his deity always operated in the location of his humanity. In other words, you could see his deity where his humanity was located. So people got healed where he was. People got raised from the dead where he was. People heard the sermons where he was. In other words, where his body was, you saw the supernatural activity that he did because he limited the activity of his deity to the location of his humanity.
He was fully God, but he was also fully man, and as fully man, he had limitations. He said, but I've got to go because if the Spirit doesn't come, you're going to be worse off. You mean I would be worse off if Jesus was here today?
Absolutely. Let's say Jesus physically walked through these doors this morning. Jesus Christ, church would be over, okay? Jesus walks in the room, I leave the pulpit and take my seat because call me Mr.
Irrelevant at that time. So Jesus walks in. He greets us.
He talks to us. I mean, everybody going to want his autograph, and this is Jesus. I mean, this is the King of Kings.
Everybody going to want his autograph. So Jesus walks in. Jesus hasn't eaten, and he's man, so he gets hungry.
He got thirsty. He's human, although divine, so he would like a meal. I am sure everybody going to want to take him out, but he going with me.
By virtue of clout and position, he going with me. If Jesus Christ was here, we would all be clamoring for his attention because the superstar, the King of Kings, has entered the building. But the problem is because of the limitations of humanity, he could not go to everybody's house at the same time. It would be impossible not because he's not divine, but because he limited his eternal spiritual activities to the limitations of his humanity. Jesus never went more than 300 miles from the place of his birth, okay?
He was localized in his humanity. So he says, I'm going to send you another of the same kind. I got to leave because when y'all disperse, I want to go home with everybody. And because I want to go home with everybody, I'm going to send an invisible power source to be available to you as though it were me. The Holy Spirit is the continuation of the work of Jesus on earth on his behalf so that he could be everywhere at one time, and his purpose is to empower the kingdom's work in the life of his people.
That's his purpose. You shall receive power. All of us have electricity, which means you have power.
Your appliances only work because of the power of electricity, assuming your refrigerator is plugged in, assuming your toast is plugged in, assuming your lamp is plugged in. That doesn't determine whether you have it. That does determine whether you experience it. And if you're a Christian, you have the new nature, but there is no power, it's because there's a plug in missing, because you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, when the Holy Spirit is doing his work in and through you.
But as Dr. Evans has said many times before, receiving power involves being plugged into the power source. And that all starts when you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If what you just heard has impacted your heart, if what you just heard has quickened something within you to want to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then I want to invite you to respond right now to the invitation to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. So right now, why don't you go to God and let him know that you now receive Jesus Christ into your life for the forgiveness of your sins, for the gift of eternal life, because you believe He died on the cross for you. If you will do that right now, God is ready and waiting to receive you and to give you the greatest gift that anyone could ever be given.
Dr. Evans would love to tell you more about that gift. Just visit tonyevans.org today and follow the link that says Jesus. We have a helpful video there that will answer your questions, along with some great downloadable resources to get your new life started off right. Well, as I mentioned earlier, today's lesson is part of Tony's Unleashing the Kingdom sermon series, and I don't want you to miss your chance to receive the two-volume collection on CD or digital download, including all 12 full-length messages. As a special thank you for your contribution to support the alternative ministry, we'll also include Tony's impactful book, One Kingdom Under God. This exclusive offer will only be available for a limited time, though, so be sure to visit tonyevans.org to make your donation and request your resource package today. You can also reach our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222 for assistance. And that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. No matter how much we desire to be a Kingdom Christian, none of us has the power to actually do it unless we get it from God. Be sure to join us tomorrow as we hear more on the topic of unleashing kingdom power.
