The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: What you're seeing now is either the coming of the Lord or a great preview.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says world events take on new meaning when viewed through the lens of prophecy.

Dr. Tony Evans: While there's always been wars, the difference at the coming of the Lord is it will affect the whole world.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

When the world feels unstable, it's easy to focus on what's happening around us instead of what God has already told us. Today, Dr. Evans explains how prophecy is meant to do more than satisfy our curiosity. It's designed to draw us closer to Christ, to help us live with an eternal perspective. Let's join him in the New Testament book of Second Peter.

Dr. Tony Evans: He begins in chapter 3, mentioning a number of times "beloved" in verse 1, beloved in verse 8, beloved in verse 14, beloved in verse 17. He wants them to know that he has affection for them in what he's about to say. And in ministry, even though he's talking about prophecy, he wants them to know that this prophecy that he is talking about comes out of a heart of concern for them.

So when we're speaking prophecy, what we're trying to do is impact people for their well-being. We're not just trying to teach data, we're trying to show them love. Beloved is a term of affection. And so, he wants them to know that there's this heart that is coming with this teaching. You will also see there is a heavy emphasis on Scripture.

He says in verse 2, "the words spoken." He says in verse 5, "the word of God." He says in verse 7, "by his word." He says in verse 16, "the rest of Scripture." So he begins and he says, "I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of remember." He says, "I want you to remember." So he says, "I'm going to stir up your mind. I want you to be reminded." The end of verse 1, beginning of verse 2, he says "remember." So three times in two verses, he says "I need you to remember this."

In verse 2, the word spoken beforehand by the holy prophets, the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Don't go too fast. He says what I'm telling you, what I'm going to remind you of, has a history to it. That history starts with the prophets, so that's Old Testament history. It continues with what he calls the commandment of Christ.

And then it closes with the apostles. So we've gone from Old Testament, the commandment of Christ is in the Gospels, the epistles are after that. What he is saying is, "I'm reminding you of something that has biblical continuity." That's why when you're studying prophecy, you want to look at continuity, how things connect from one to another to another from the Old Testament to what Christ said to what the apostles say, because a lot of prophetic confusion is because we do not connect the three.

And once you disconnect them, you lose the continuity, which is confusing the prophetic kingdom program. So there's continuity, he says, from the Old Testament prophets through Christ to apostles because we're all in sync with one another. And so, he is arguing for the unity of Scripture. Now, in this prophetic concern, it is revolving around the coming of the Lord.

He says there are going to be false teachers, verse 4, and they're going to say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" So it is about the coming of the Lord. Verse 9 again, "The Lord is slow not concerning his promise." So the prophetic issue is the coming of the Lord. It is at this point that it is critical to establish the connection between the coming of the Lord and the word of God from the prophets, from the commandment of Christ, through the apostles, because he introduces this whole prophetic section about the coming of the Lord, about the continuity of Scripture through those three groups.

Now, this takes us to the importance of understanding a link. Let's go back to biblical theology. If you go to chapter 1 of Second Peter, same book, he goes into this discussion of the word of God tied to an event that took place in his life. This is an apostle Peter talking about an event that happened to him. Verse 16, "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."

So chapter 3 is not the first time we're talking about the coming of the Lord. He says before he gets to chapter 3, chapter 1, biblical theology, you see the connection. He says, "The coming of the Lord, I'm not making this stuff up," is what he says in verse 16. "But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, God, 'This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased,' and we ourselves heed this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain."

We know what that event was. That event was the Transfiguration. Jesus is saying, "None of you will die until you have seen the coming of the Lord in his kingdom." Okay, so we're going back now. He's going back to something that happened to him and he's saying, "Let me tell you what I saw. What I saw was the coming of the Lord into his kingdom."

See, this is why you can never lose sight of the kingdom, because the coming of the Lord is for the purpose of the kingdom. And he told them they would not die until they saw it, which means the coming of the kingdom existed with them when they were here, which means the coming of the kingdom is not just future. It was present with them.

And the reason he's making the connection is because the kingdom is present with us. And all of a sudden, Moses and Elijah show up. Okay, wait a minute. We've got Christ, we've got Old Testament prophets, we've got New Testament apostles, and we've got God talking. So we've got the person of Christ, the word of God because God was talking, we've got Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah, we've got New Testament apostles Peter, James, and John.

So he goes back to a history that's part of his introduction to chapter 3, the Old Testament Christ and the New Testament, all connected with God's word. So there is correlation here. Verse 19 of still chapter 1, but it's connected to chapter 3. "So we have the prophetic word." He doesn't say "the word," he says "the prophetic word," which means he's specifically talking about the word as it relates to prophecy.

He says, "So we have the prophetic word made more sure." The Greek word for "sure" means to confirm something. "We have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as a lamp shining in a dark place." In other words, the darker things get, the more the prophetic word is needed. Not just general teaching, the word that is prophetic is needed in the darkness.

He says, "Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart." He says, "I want you, in the darkness and confusion of the world, to grab hold of this prophetic word. And here is my goal. This is very important. My goal is until verse 19, the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart." What do you mean, Peter? What are you telling us? Why do you want this emphasis on prophecy?

I want the prophetic word to be so deep, so impactful, that the morning star rises in your heart. Because what Peter is saying is, when the prophetic word takes root and you pay attention to it, you get your own visit to the mountain. You get your own experience of the Transfiguration. It's just in your heart, it's not on the mountain. The morning star, Jesus is called the morning star. So the reason you have to emphasize prophecy is not just so that people know the future, but that people visit their own personal Transfiguration experience.

So that means that you've got to go back to the Old Testament to appreciate what Peter's saying in the New Testament because Peter told you to go there. He gave you permission to use the Old Testament. Don't be afraid to use the Old Testament for New Testament truth.

Guest (Male): When Dr. Evans returns, he'll show how the story of Noah points directly to the coming judgment and the return of Christ. Don't go away.

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Before we get back to today's lesson, I want to let you know that what we're hearing is part of a special three-message series from Dr. Evans called The Sure Word: Living in Light of Prophecy, recorded at the recent Kingdom Leaders Summit. These messages take a practical look at what the Bible says about the future and explain why prophecy should strengthen our faith instead of simply satisfying our curiosity.

This series is available to you on CD, USB flash drive, or as a digital download, and it's our gift when you make a donation to support the Alternative. And right now, we'll also include Tony's book, Thy Kingdom Come. In it, he walks you through fulfilled prophecy as well as events still to come, helping you gain a clearer understanding of God's unfolding plan and the confidence that comes from knowing God is fully in control. Visit tonyevans.org to get all the details, or call us at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our resource team members help you. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. I'll repeat that contact information for you after the second part of today's message. Here's Dr. Evans.

Dr. Tony Evans: Let's talk about the flood and it relates to the coming of the Lord. He says back in the day of the flood, Noah and his family were taking 120 years to do two things: build a boat on dry land while preaching. So he's a preacher of righteousness and he's building a boat on dry land.

So he's standing in the pulpit, so to speak, preaching about prophecy because he's talking about an event that has not yet occurred. He has a three-word sermon: it's going to rain. God told me to tell you it's going to rain. The problem is it had never rained. Up until this time, it had never rained. The vegetation was from the fountains underneath the earth.

Everything else was held in a canopy above the earth. So nobody had seen rain. They didn't know what rain was. But here he is preaching prophetically about an event that was going to affect them. But he gave them a visual because he's building a boat on dry land. When he's building the boat on dry land, he's preaching.

So they're seeing the arc of ministry you're building while hearing the word about prophecy. The reason why the ark was critical was to save the believer at the same time that there would be the judgment of the sinner. Let's put it another way. The coming of the Lord inaugurates the beginning of the tribulation. They happen simultaneously.

Therefore, the coming of the Lord is not an event, a one-time event. The coming of the Lord is the start of a series of events. He is leaving heaven, he is coming to get the church into the ark that is the rapture, which will lead to the judgments and his return physically to Jerusalem. All of that is part of the coming of the Lord.

So the coming of the Lord he ties to Noah's flood, and he ties it that they happen at the same time. When the flood came, Noah went into the ark. Those happened together. So you don't need a gap between the rapture and the tribulation, all you need is the rapture because that inaugurates the tribulation. And wouldn't that be true if you've got all these people disappearing, that there would be chaos and confusion on the earth?

And so he connects the two through this concept of divine interruption. And so, he does this in Matthew 24 as Jesus's statement about the coming judgment. In the day of man, Luke calls it the times of the Gentiles, in the day of man, God frees men up to do it their way because it's the day of man. But in the day of the Lord, he takes over.

It's not what you want to do. I am going to unleash what I want to do, and I'm going to do it my way. In the day of man, you have certain choices. In the day of the Lord, it's his choice. So the day of the Lord is tied to the coming of the Lord, when the Lord returns.

So Noah is removed prior to the judgment. Peter is using Old Testament truth. People want to know, how is all this going to affect the whole world? Well, you've got oil, you've got fertilizer that can't move. It's affecting the whole world. So you can see a little bit, the Bible says in Matthew 24 there will be wars and rumors of wars.

Well, there's always been wars. The difference at the coming of the Lord is it will affect the whole world. So it's not general wars, it's wars that has rumors with it. It's wars and rumors of wars. In other words, it spreads out in its effect. That's why so many people thought Jesus was coming after World War I and then World War II because those were big wars, but they didn't affect the whole human race.

These wars and the rumors about them is worldwide. That has not happened like you're seeing it now. So what you're seeing now is either the coming of the Lord or a great preview. Or a great preview that this is how something like that could happen when it's time for it to happen.

But here's the thing. When the coming of the Lord was going to happen in the flood, they didn't get notice. Noah didn't know when it was going to rain. He was told at the time it was going to rain. All he had to do was preach for 120 years. 120 years preaching the same sermon. Same sermon for 120 years.

So what's the point? The point is prioritize the prophetic word, that is link preaching to prophecy as much as is appropriate and as much as you can, so that people develop an eternal perspective while living in time. And he says you must pay, he says in chapter 1, you must pay close attention.

You know the story about the mouse? Farmer Brown bought a mouse trap. And so the mouse went to the chicken and said, "I just want you to know, Mr. Chicken, Farmer Brown bought a mouse trap." Chicken said to the mouse, "That's your problem, not mine." Mouse went to the pig. Said, "Pig, I just want you to know, Farmer Brown bought a mouse trap." Pig said, "Well, you better go somewhere and hide because that ain't got nothing to do with me. It's irrelevant."

Mouse went to the cow and said, "Cow, just want you to know Farmer Brown bought a mouse trap. That can't hurt me. I'm a cow." One day, a snake had gotten in where the mouse trap was and got caught. And the mouse trap closed on the snake. Snake is struggling. Farmer Brown's wife didn't know that the snake was in the mouse trap and she walked by there and the snake bit her. And it was poisonous.

So Farmer Brown's wife gets sick. Farmer Brown is concerned for his wife and she's laying in bed, she has a fever. He says, "I know what I'll do, I'll get her some chicken soup." So Farmer Brown goes and finds the chicken and plucks the chicken and makes her some chicken soup. But Farmer Brown's got to tend the farm. He's got to take care of business.

So he gets some people to come over and watch his wife while he's doing business. "Well, I got to feed these people because they're here all day. I want them to have some bacon, some eggs, I want them to be able to eat." So he goes and gets the pig and he slaughters the pig so that the people watching his wife can have something to eat while he's taking care of the farm.

But unfortunately, Farmer Brown's wife dies. They have a funeral and people come from everywhere. Farmer Brown says, "I got to feed these people after the funeral." He goes to the cow, kills the cow so he can feed all the people from the funeral. The mouse said, "I tried to tell them, Farmer Brown bought a mouse trap."

What I'm trying to say is, it may not seem like much, but when the prophetic implications are emphasized, the results of it can be huge. So don't lose sight of the coming of the Lord in light of the prophetic days in which we're living.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans with an important message on how our understanding of God's plan strengthens us today. Now, if you'd like to get a copy of today's message to review on your own or to pass along to a friend, just contact us for details on the title "Seeing Tomorrow through the Word".

Better yet, get it along with the other lessons that are included in Tony's powerful series called The Sure Word: Living in Light of Prophecy. This three-message collection is available on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download, and will give you a better perspective on the future, helping you live with greater peace and purpose in the present. As I mentioned earlier, for a limited time, you can receive this audio series along with a copy of Tony's book, Thy Kingdom Come, exploring end-times prophecy. They're both yours as our way of saying thank you when you make a donation to help us keep this program coming your way.

Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. And a quick reminder that you can hear Dr. Evans in a completely different setting when he hosts in-depth conversations with special guests on his Unbound podcast, available anytime wherever you get your podcast.

It's easy to get so caught up in the pressures of everyday life that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans challenges us to look beyond the temporary to catch a glimpse of God's promises for the future. Be sure to join us.