Are you known on your job as a follower of Christ and a kingdom rep? Dr. Tony Evans says every believer possesses a life-giving message the world needs to hear.
We need kingdom representatives who will take the King into every sphere of life without delay. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Salvation is a free gift from God with no strings attached. But today Dr. Evans explains that following Christ here on earth comes at a price that not everybody is willing to pay.
Let's listen in as he begins. Today I want to talk about unleashing kingdom commitment from Luke 9 beginning with verse 57 to 62. Because Jesus has a conversation with three people.
They're all gathered there together and they're listening to one another. And in this conversation with three people, Jesus wants them to really understand what commitment is really all about. In each one of these three, the word follow will show up. The issue is following Christ. And he will connect following Christ to the kingdom, to the jurisdiction of God's rule. And so the issue is following him. Let's clarify as we get started the issue is not him following you. The issue is you, me, us following him. Now the reason why that's very important is if following him is not the goal, then discipleship cannot occur. Because it's about following him and we live in a day when people want the Lord to follow them as opposed to following him. We're told in verse 57 of Luke 9, as they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go.
Now that sounds right. That sounds like somebody who knows where they want to go. Jesus, I want to follow you and it doesn't matter where. Wherever you go, I'm your boy.
I'm going to be there. Lead me, Jesus, and I'll follow. Jesus responds, foxes have holes, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. In each one of these three cases, you will know what the person is thinking by the answer Jesus gives. Because Jesus is listening to their words while simultaneously reading their hearts.
Man number one says, I will follow you wherever you go. Now, the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they're called the synoptic gospels because they share many of the same stories, but from their own unique perspective. When Matthew tells this story, same story, same person, I will follow you, but Matthew chapter 8 verse 19, he tells us who this person is. Luke does not.
He just says someone said. But Matthew says, the scribe said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. So Matthew telling the same story gives us a little information.
Tells us, first of all, that the someone of Luke is the scribe of Matthew. Scribe was a scholar in biblical days. They loved learning. They loved Bible study. They loved getting into the nooks and the crannies of bibliocentric, exegetical, expositional, nuanced, divinely ordained truth.
They wanted to pick the law apart in all of its idiosyncratic nuances. So they were the scholars. So we shouldn't be surprised that this scribe, this scholar, calls Jesus teacher in Matthew. He says, teacher, teach me, teach me.
I like learning from you. When you read the verses leading up to the scribe, they're describing Jesus's popularity and his miracles. So this scribe is watching Jesus build a ministry. He's watching the crowd grow.
He's seeing the miracles done and he's hearing the teacher teach. And he says, I'm going to hang out with you. And the way this train is rolling, I'm going with you wherever you go. Wherever you go, you can count on me because I see hanging with you is going to give me a crowd. Hanging with you is going to let me see some power.
Hanging with you, I'm going to really learn some stuff because I like studying and you the teacher. And then Jesus says, foxes have holes, birds have nests, and the Son of Man has no way to lay his head. Jesus is the only preacher I have ever heard of who tried to make his church smaller. Everybody else trying to get people. He'd be given reasons not to follow him because he wasn't just looking for folks in a pew.
He was looking for followers on a mission. Foxes have holes. They know where they're going to sleep. Birds have nests. They know where they're going to be. The Son of Man is not sure where he's sleeping tonight.
Son of Man doesn't know where he is going to rest his head. Scribe, you still want to roll with me? Or are you just hanging with me for the goodies? You see all the stuff about me you like.
You see all the stuff about me that impresses you. So you want to hang with me. But I want to know, are you going to hang with me if I got a homeless night or not? I want to know if you're going to hang with me when the going gets tough. The suffering comes in. The difficulties arrive.
I know it looks good now because you see the crowd, you see the miracles, and you hear the teaching. So you say, I'm going to follow you. But I need you to know there is another side to this coin. That if you follow me, there's going to be some tough times. If you follow me, there's going to be some difficult days. If you follow me, there's going to be some rejection. If you follow me, you won't have all the goodies that you may see right now operating in your life.
So is it about me or is it about the stuff you can get from me? We have a theology that abounds today, prosperity theology. Don't get me wrong. God is not against prospering. He's not against improving your lot in life through your work, through your diligence, through your investments. God is not against that. But that's not the whole story. Because the problem with prosperity theology is that it lacks a doctrine of suffering.
And because it lacks a doctrine of suffering, when things go left, people think God left. When things are not where you want them to be, when you do get fired, when the money gets funny, when you do get sick, all of a sudden, where is Jesus? But I thought you were following him. What Jesus wants you to know is, I want to know, are you going to follow me in the bad times and the good times? I want to know if you're going to hang with me when the going gets tough. I want to know you're not going to bail out on me just because you have a bad day, bad week, bad month, bad year. I want to know you following me because where I'm going, there are going to be some rough days. Where I'm going, they're going to reject me. Where I'm going, they're even going to put me on the cross.
You sure you want to hang out with me or are you just seeing the good things right now? So the question to the man is the question to this house. Are you following Jesus because of who Jesus is or are you just coming here for your blessing? Are you just coming here because of the kingdom goodies that are offered?
Don't get me wrong. There are great blessings and benefits to following Jesus, but Jesus is challenging this scribe. There is another side to this coin and there will be days I won't know where I'm sleeping and I want to know, are you still hanging with me? Are you still going to follow me? Are you still going to go where I am going? God is not looking for gold diggers.
A gold digger is somebody who wants to hang out with somebody else, not because they like them, but because they can give them stuff. And a lot of people will hang out with God for their blessing. They'll give praise to God for their blessing.
But they'll bail out when things go south because they were never following Him. They were following goodies in His name. In just a moment, we'll hear more from Dr. Evans on committing to follow Christ without reservation. First though, if today's topic has struck a personal note with you, we invite you to check out Tony's thought-provoking paperback, One Kingdom Under God. Through the pages of this book, you'll begin to see the world as God sees it, helping you discover your unique role and purpose within His kingdom.
You'll also want to explore the 12 full-length messages from our current Unleashing the Kingdom series. We're excited to offer the book and entire two-volume audio collection in a special resource bundle that we'll send you along with our thanks when you make a donation to help support the mission of the alternative. For more information on this exclusive offer, visit tonyevans.org or contact our resource team at 1-800-800-3222.
They're ready to assist with your request anytime, day or night. That's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. We'll return to Dr. Evans right after this. In a world shrouded by fear, prophecy seeks to make sense of it all. Dr. Tony Evans' latest book, Thy Kingdom Come, reveals the secrets to deliver us through dark times. Now is the time to gain clarity in the midst of confusion. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at tonyevans.org. It comes with a bonus sermon series, Staying Right with God.
Arm yourself against the impending storm. Verse 59, And he said to another, So now Jesus says, Follow me. So here's our word follow again.
Follow me. The first guy says, I will follow you. Jesus says, you sure? The second guy, Jesus says, Follow me. But he said, Lord permit me first to go and bury my father.
Now that seems reasonable. But he said to them, allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.
Wait a minute, Jesus. I'mma follow you, but I gotta bury my daddy first. Cause when my daddy dies, I'm in his will. When I get the inheritance, you may not know where you're gonna sleep, but I'mma know where I'mma sleep. In other words, I have to get my security straight first. I'll follow you after my 401 is straight. I'll follow you after I've gotten my retirement. I'll follow you after somebody dies and leave me an inheritance. I will follow you when I'm secure in following you. Because I heard what you said to that scribe, and I'm not about to take the risk of following you until I've been made secure that if you have a hard time, I don't have to have a hard time with you.
I want the security before I make the commitment. Jesus says, allow the dead to bury the dead. What Jesus is saying is, let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.
Don't let your physical desires keep you from your spiritual decisions. The third gentleman, he jumps out there with a commitment. He says, I'm in, I'm all in. You can bet your bottom dollar on me.
I am all in. I will, I have decided to follow you, Lord. However, permit first me to say goodbye to those at home. Neither tell mama and daddy goodbye. Jesus says to him in verse 62, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.
It's not that he had not made a decision, but his decision was in the context of a double mind. Once God sees a double mind, even if you're serious about the kingdom part, he says, I can't work with you because I don't know if you're going to bail out on me tomorrow. You good today. You holy today. You in church today, but come Monday, you might go left on me.
You might look at the plow today and then look back and then everything go crooked. Turn over a few pages to Luke 14. Jesus says in verse 25, Now large crowds were going along with him, and he turned and said to them.
So he got a big congregation. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his mother, his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me, he cannot be my disciple.
Say what? Wait a minute, I'm supposed to love my mother and father, wife and children. I'm supposed to love them, right? He says, anybody who comes after me, you want to follow me, okay, and does not hate his mother and father, what does he mean? Because he tells us to love, you know, so when it comes to your choosing, when it comes to your choices, and you have to choose between me and your mama, you got to choose between me and your daddy, you got to choose between me and your mate, you got to choose between me and your children, they lose, I win, and it's going to feel like hate to them, because you chose me over them, and if you're not willing to do that, you can't be my disciple, because I don't know when you're going to choose somebody else over me. He told Adam, because you listen to your wife, all hell's going to break loose, because I know you love the only woman in the world, you going to get the love as things are right now, but I said something else, she loses, I win. God is calling for a level of commitment, that when you say goodbye, because you have to choose to follow me, that's the decision.
We can be in church all day and have nice sermons, nice songs, and high five each other and all that, but being kingdom minded and being fit for the king, that's another thing. So he ends with this in chapter 14, he says, Therefore, verse 34, salt is good, but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is useless, not fit, either for the soil or the manure pile.
It is thrown down. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. He talks about useless salt. We all have salt. When we sprinkle salt, we want it to be salty. We don't want to sprinkle salt and there's no taste, because the whole point of salt is for the taste of salt to integrate whatever we put salt on. So if you have salt that is not salty, it is useless salt. And if you have Christians who God can't do nothing with, they are useless saints. They're there, but God can't do anything with them, to them, or through them, because all they're doing is taking up space. If you've accepted Christ, that guarantees you heaven.
But for God to do something with you on earth, he needs to know that you are plowing a straight pharaoh, that you are not looking back to what used to be, but where God is taking you in the future. What good is an offensive lineman that can't block? What good is a wide receiver that can't catch? What good is a quarterback that can't throw? What good is a basketball player that can't dribble or a basketball player that can't shoot? What good is a baseball pitcher who can't throw a strike or a baseball batter who can't hit the ball?
They may have the uniform on and they may be on the team, but they're no good for what it's designed to do. And if you've accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, he wants to do something with you, to you, through you, in you, and for you, but he wants to know you're not just wearing a Christian uniform, but that you are following him. When you get up in the morning, you say, Lord, today is your day. I want to glorify you today, honor you today, praise you today, live for you today.
All you got to do is show me where you want me to go, and I'm following you today. When you make that decision and Jesus hears that that's your daily way of how you roll, then you won't be a useless saint. You'll be a useful saint, bringing glory to God, blessings to you, and good to others. And even though you're going through trials, you will experience John 16, 33. In this world, you will have tribulation, but hey, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Back there won't control you, hold you, dictate to you, or dominate you, because you are following me. Encouraging words from Dr. Evans for those who commit to follow Christ. If you haven't yet done that, Tony has this offer. Do you feel like you're too sinful, too flawed, too rebellious, that you failed too much for God to ever forgive you?
Guess what? You are a perfect candidate for salvation. Jesus said that He didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and salvation. So if you're a big sinner, you've got a bigger Savior. If you go to Jesus Christ now, carry the boatload of sins with you to the cross, acknowledge Him to be your Savior, acknowledge your sins needing to be forgiven, and trust Him to do the forgiving that you desperately desire. He promises He will forgive you, give you eternal life, and offer you the free gift of salvation. I don't care how big your basket of sins are. Carry them to Jesus. He's ready to empty them for you.
Learn more about how that process works. Visit TonyEvans.org today and follow the link at the top of the home page that simply says Jesus. Tony has a video message and some free resources waiting for you there. Well, as mentioned earlier, today's lesson is part of Dr. Evans' 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, 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. Again, that's TonyEvans.org, or by phone at 1-800-800-3222. Unity is critical for believers at every level in our relationships, church, and culture. On Monday we'll take a look at what happens when believers lose sight of the central focus of God's kingdom and decide to just do their own thing. I hope you'll join us for that.
