The Alternative

Guest (Male): Spiritual growth is guaranteed, but spiritual growth is not automatic. Dr. Tony Evans says growth happens when believers anchor themselves in God's truth.

Dr. Tony Evans: You've got to look to the coming, you've got to be tethered to scripture, and you've got to decide to grow.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. When you know company is on the way, you start looking at things around your house differently, cleaning up and preparation for their arrival.

Well, today Dr. Evans says the expectation of Christ's return should have that same kind of effect on us. Let's listen as he explains how taking God at his word transforms our priorities, perspective, and purpose.

Dr. Tony Evans: When you're on a journey, a long journey to a particular location, you'll notice something. The closer you get to where you're going, the bigger the signs are. When you're far away, they'll give you a small sign on the side of the road about how many miles there are to go. But as you get closer, the signs get bigger because they're getting more specific.

In this 2,000 year or so time from Christ to his return, the signs are getting bigger. And because the signs are getting bigger, we're getting closer. Now the whole world can be held hostage by the Middle East on two critical things: fertilizer for food and oil for function because you can't do anything without both of those.

But the issue was, how would that control the whole world? They didn't know it in the first century and this delay that they were not aware of because they were told to expect Christ at any time. Technology is a sign that they didn't see that you and I see.

So understanding what the Book of Revelation talks about where statues start talking and now we have AI. And so you got all of these dynamics that give you signs that we're getting closer to the destination of the return of the Lord without violating the principle of he can come at any time.

Peter comes to the end of his book and this chapter. "Beloved, affectionately, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found in him in peace, spotless and blameless." He invites us to look for these things. He's telling them in the first century to look for these things.

We're getting bigger signs, so we should really be looking for these things. We're not looking for the city, we're looking for the exit. We're trying to get more specificity because of the bigger the signs are getting. He says, "I want you to look for these things. I want you to be aware of what's happening around you related to what I'm talking about, the coming of the Lord."

He says be diligent to be found in him. So he's talking about prophecy but tied to practicality. He says what prophecy ought to do is make you diligent to please him, make you diligent to follow him, make you diligent to serve him. Some years ago when we were building the building across the street, which is our education center, President George Bush, who had been a friend when he was governor and now he's president, said, "I'm coming."

He said, "I'm coming for the dedication of the building." When the word got out that the president was coming, systems shifted. Extra work was being done to make sure things were in order. How we looked even got more attention because the president was coming. Safety systems were put in place because the president was coming.

See, when you know somebody high and lifted up is coming, then you are more conscious of the particulars of adjusting to them coming. He says, "I want you to look and expect the coming and make whatever adjustments in life, in priorities, in repentance that needs to be made because he's coming. I am coming back."

And so he says, "Now adjust in light of the look. Let the look create an adjustment." So prophecy is not, as we've said, just so you can fill out a prophetic calendar or preach prophecy sermons. It is because of the look, that is because of the expectation, make the adjustments that are appropriate to the return.

And then he says, "And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you." So one apostle validates another apostle about the return of the Lord, tying it to scripture. When he talked about the word of God earlier in the chapter, that Greek word is *logos*.

This scripture word is *graphe*. The word *graphe* means the writings. It is the text of scripture, but what you have in your hand is *graphe*. It's the word of God if you don't open it. It's the word of God if you don't read it because it is the record of the word. That's *graphe*.

*Logos*, which he calls the word of God, that refers to the content and active meaning of the *graphe*. So the *graphe* is the book, the *logos* is what it says, what it means, and what it does. There is another word and that's *rhema*. We talk about having a *rhema* word. The word *rhema* means divine utterance.

So the *graphe* is just the book as the word of God whether you engage it or not. The *logos* is the engaging, the life principle engagement of the *graphe*. The *rhema*, the utterance, is the *logos* from the *graphe* that is speaking to your personal situation.

See, when people say, "I heard a *rhema* word," what that basically means is I heard something that spoke to me. They were talking about a *rhema* experience from your *logos* teaching as you opened up your *graphe* book. So you opened up the *graphe*, you gave the *logos*, and they got the *rhema*. And all of those are speaking about the word of God.

Paul speaks to this issue and he calls it salvation. Of all the uses of salvation in the Bible, only one-third of them refer to being converted. The word for saved can mean a lot of different things depending upon the context of the word being used. If you look at a word without the context, you might wind up being conned because context informs meaning.

The word for salvation means to be rescued or delivered. But he's talking to Christians. He says, "Therefore, my beloved." So he's talking to believers. So he's not telling them to get saved again. He's talking about another kind of salvation. And that is the salvation of prophecy or the deliverance that he says Paul talked about.

So since Peter has given us permission to invoke Paul, let's invoke Paul. In First Thessalonians, chapter one, Paul is speaking. In chapter one, verse ten: "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come."

So here Paul says that we're waiting for Jesus to be rescued from the wrath. Not through the wrath, not after the wrath, but from the wrath. And guess what? The day of the Lord is the day of judgment, we're told. It's the day of God's wrath. We're waiting to be delivered from the wrath.

Paul talks about it even further in chapter five. After talking about the rapture in chapter four, verses 13 to 18, he comes in chapter five and he wants them to be informed. Verse three: "While they are saying peace and safety, then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief." So what's happening to them is not happening to you. He says in verse nine: "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

So he says that God is delivering us from the time where his wrath is occurring, therefore the rapture. And the goal is that, verse ten, we will live together with him. So the point is Paul says we have not been appointed unto wrath, and the day of the Lord is a time of wrath, which is one of the arguments for the pre-tribulational rapture that happens simultaneously with the beginning of wrath, which is the day of the Lord.

Guest (Male): When Dr. Evans returns in a moment, he'll clarify an often misunderstood phrase in one of the Bible's most familiar salvation passages. Today's lesson is part of a special three-message series called "The Sure Word: Living in Light of Prophecy," recorded live at this year's Kingdom Leaders Summit.

These messages reveal how biblical prophecy isn't just about knowing what's coming someday. It's about allowing God's truth to shape our priorities, our decisions, and our spiritual growth today. We'd like to send you this complete audio series as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to help support the Alternative.

And along with it, we'll include *Thy Kingdom Come*, a powerful book from Dr. Evans where he explains major prophetic themes in scripture and shows how understanding God's plan can help us live with greater hope and spiritual confidence. Just visit tonyevans.org for details or call us at 1-800-800-3222 where one of our resource team members will be happy to help. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222.

Sunlit beaches, calm blue waters, and a week set aside just to breathe again. That's what's waiting for you on an unforgettable Caribbean cruise with Dr. Tony Evans. From February 28th through March 7th, you'll set sail on a seven-day Caribbean journey visiting Nassau, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and relax away Half Moon Cay, a private island known for its peaceful beauty and white sandy shores.

This time of year, the Caribbean offers the perfect escape: warm weather, gentle breezes, and a setting that invites you to slow down and truly rest. And while the destinations are incredible, what makes this cruise truly special is what happens on board. You'll experience powerful Bible teaching, meaningful worship, and authentic connection with friends and family of the Urban Alternative. It's a chance to step out of the routine and step into renewal. Come be refreshed, encouraged, and renewed. Find out more today at tonyevans.org.

Dr. Tony Evans: We all love Romans 10:9, right? He says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Okay? For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, results in salvation.

Now when we hear salvation, you're naturally thinking conversion. But he makes the distinction in verse ten. He says if you believe, you are righteous, you're made righteous. Well, once you're made righteous, you're converted. But he says when you confess, you're saved. So he gives two things in there: you got to believe to be righteous, but you have to confess to be saved.

Back to Peter. He is concerned that we don't listen to false teachers. He says that in verse 16, that the unstable distort, the untaught distort. He is making a point that people get under the right kind of biblical guidance because there are so many voices. I'll tell you a little story of a trip I took.

I had to go to Fort Worth to preach. Fort Worth is 30 miles west of Dallas. Back then, it was a fax that told me the location of the church. It was written. This is the church, this is the location, these are the directions. I got in my car, began to drive down Highway 20. I looked at my notes and it said, "This is the exit."

Got off on the exit, turned left, and began driving. But I didn't see the church. And I'm driving until now I'm in the country. So if the church was out here, Dr. Dolittle was the pastor because all we saw were animals, sheep and goats. And so I'm out there in the country. I said, "This can't be right. This can't be right."

So I turn around to come back and I stop at a store. And I say, "I'm looking for this church." I said, "I'm looking for this name of this church." And he gave me directions that sent me further out of the way. I pull up to a light. Another guy pulls up beside me. I wind down my window—this is before GPS and all that—the guy winds down his window.

I said, "I'm looking for this church." "Oh," he says, "Oh, I know where that is. You go down to the next light, you turn left, and you'll run right into it." I went down to the next light, turned left, I'm now in a neighborhood. Nothing here but houses and houses, and I wind up in a cul-de-sac. I decided to pick up my sheet. I pulled over to the side and I said, "Let me look at this sheet more carefully."

And then it said in small print, "Turn right." When I got off, I turned left. That's called leaning to your own understanding. I turned left because I didn't pay close attention to what had been written. If I would have pay close attention to what had been written, I would have turned right. When I went back where I should have turned right, the church was one block up the street.

In other words, I was closer than I knew, but I was one leaning on me and then leaning on folk rather than leaning on the word. But when I returned to the word, I got to my destination and I didn't lose any more time. So he is appealing to the *graphe*, which gives you the guidance for the *logos*, so you can apply it to your own trip, your own ministry, your own outreach.

And so he wants you personally and ministerially to cause people to value the return. How many of you paid for your kids' college? Okay, a bunch of you. You paid in one way or another. What that means is you expected them to study. You didn't pay for parties, you didn't pay for drugs, you paid for them to study.

So if they were partying all the time, getting failing grades all the time, they were not appreciating the price that you paid. They were not valuing the sacrifice you were making to get them their college degree. What he is saying is, "I want you to value the return of Christ so much that it affects you, and that it changes you, and that it reprioritizes you because you value it that highly. You embrace it."

And when you do that, you're giving the return of Christ its freedom to impact you, your life, your thoughts, and your priorities. He says in verse 17, "You therefore, beloved." So he's got another therefore. In light of all what I've said about false teachers, about the need for truth from scripture, and about the coming of the Lord, "You therefore, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness."

I don't want you to regress. Why would he tell Christians this? Because they're his beloved, because Christians can regress. Okay, Christians can go backwards. Christians can lose their impact. I pray that you don't regress because you've lost sight of the return and you've lost sight of the truth of scripture.

And that leads him to a famous verse that you've all preached on, I am certain, or referenced. Instead of falling back, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. He says, "I want you to grow. I want you to progress in the faith."

You've got to look to the coming, you've got to be tethered to scripture, and you've got to decide to grow. Spiritual growth is guaranteed, but spiritual growth is not automatic. You don't automatically grow. You have to decide to grow. Until that decision is made, not only won't you stay where you are, you will regress because static equals regression unless there is the decision to grow or to develop in your Christian experience.

So his call is to grow. But the question now is, how do we grow? Now this is related to every church, every pastor, every ministry because that's what we do. We encourage spiritual growth, we encourage spiritual development. But he gives a summary of spiritual development in an interesting way.

He says, "I want you to grow with respect to two things: grace and knowledge." These are the two towers that facilitate spiritual growth. Now, how does one know when one is growing? The way you know that someone is growing is that they're changing. The proof of growth is change. If there is no change, there is no growth.

The change happens in decision-making, priorities—not doing this, start doing that. You are changing. To facilitate the growth or the changes that we want to happen in our lives, in our ministry, there must be an understanding of grace as it relates to the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans explaining how an understanding of biblical prophecy and God's grace helps us live a life with renewed purpose. If you've missed any of the messages the last few days, I'd encourage you to take advantage of this special package of resources we've put together based on Tony's current series on prophecy.

You can get all three full-length audio messages in this collection called "The Sure Word: Living in Light of Prophecy," along with Tony's companion book *Thy Kingdom Come*, a look at key prophetic themes revealed in scripture. Together, these resources will help you understand God's future plan, an understanding that will give you greater hope, confidence, and spiritual readiness.

They're yours with our thanks when you make a contribution to help support the ministry of the Alternative. But this is a limited-time offer, so be sure to request it today at tonyevans.org. Details are right on the homepage. Or call us at 1-800-800-3222 where our resource team is standing by ready to help 24 hours a day. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222.

And one final reminder. In addition to these daily lessons from Dr. Evans on the Alternative broadcast, he also leads meaningful and timely discussions with special guests on his Unbound podcast. You can listen to these conversations whenever and wherever you hear your favorite podcast. It's possible to know the Bible but still miss the one the Bible points to. Coming up on Monday, Dr. Evans explains the difference between simply studying scripture and truly experiencing the living Christ through it. Be sure to join us for that.