The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Many of us are trying to clear out the path in our own lives. Dr. Tony Evans says life becomes very different when we finally let Christ take the lead. Jesus Christ is behind us saying, "If you'll only let me lead, I've been this way before." This is The Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

Guest (Male): When life gets complicated, we often turn to experts, people who know how to fix what we can't. But today, Dr. Evans reminds us that our greatest needs in life can't be solved by human expertise alone. Let's join him in John chapter 15 as he explains.

Dr. Tony Evans: In one of the great literary masterpieces of the Scripture, even those who do not believe the Bible feel that this section is one of the most wonderfully written pieces of literature that we have ever seen. Jesus states a profound truth: "I am the true vine, my Father is the vinedresser. And every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away. And every branch in me that bears fruit he prunes it that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. And as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit." And then he gives this Mount Everest line: "For apart from me, you can do nothing."

A man and a woman one day were eating their dessert in a restaurant. A gentleman across the table noticed that every time the woman took a bite, she took it with much joy and pleasure. A great deal of satisfaction came over her face every time she bit the dessert. The man, when he ate his dessert, however, frowned and he was in a great deal of disgust with every bite that he took.

The gentleman watching this wanted to know what dessert the woman was eating so he could order it. He also wanted to know what dessert the man was eating so he wouldn't order it. And so he called the waiter over and he said, "Please excuse me, sir, but would you tell me what dessert the woman has and what dessert the man has so I can order my dessert?" And the waiter said, "Why sir, they're both eating the same thing."

It's possible for all of us to chew on this service today, all eat the same thing, but it not have the same effect. It's possible for all of us to be here and listen to the choir and the orchestra and the sermon and be in this holy place, and we all leave differently. Some of us will leave here today with a good taste in our mouths. We'll be satisfied, fulfilled, and be ready to go on. Others, it'll just be a service, and there will be no lasting nutritional value.

If you are ill, you're going to seek a doctor. If your tooth hurts, you're going to seek a dentist. If you're in legal trouble, you're going to seek a lawyer. If you are in a financial mess, you're probably going to track down an accountant. In other words, when you have a big enough problem in life, you're going to look for an expert.

I'd like to talk to you today about an expert, somebody whose abilities far superior to your greatest need. With all of the trauma that we face today in life, men and women are reaching after something that gives them the ability to cope. For some people, it's picking up the booze, drinking their problems away. Others hunt for it in relationships, many of which are illegitimate and illicit. Some are struggling to find meaning and hope in drugs or what have you.

But I read at the end of verse 5 a startling word. Jesus says, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." That statement comes off of a picturesque analogy. He says, "I am the vine and you are the branches." Just as a branch has no life in itself unless it is attached to the vine, you can have no life unless you are attached to me.

When the Bible talks about our walk with God, it talks about the simplicity of it. And it's occurred to me that far too many of us have made life far too complicated. Life doesn't have to be as difficult as we make it. Jesus says, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Did you know that the things in nature that grow are dependent upon the invisible things you cannot see?

That the tree becomes a tall, sturdy, thick tree because invisibly underneath the ground, its root system has gone deep. You cannot see that, but without it, the tree is of no value. Our rivers are full because of the snow-capped mountains that melt in the springtime, bringing the snow down, filling these basins of waterways so that the rivers stay full. You do not see where the water is coming from, but without it, the rivers would dry up. Similarly, your greatest need in life is not what you see. It is what you do not see.

Unless there is abiding in the vine, unless your invisible relationship with Jesus Christ is solid and growing, your visible life will be a mess. Jesus says to his disciples, whom he is about to leave shortly, "Without me, you can do nothing." And that's why he uses this vine and branch illustration because he is concerned about them bearing fruit, having a productive life.

Far too many people, Christians even, are looking in all the wrong places to find productivity in life. In fact, I would dare say if I asked many of you the definition of success, it would be tied to money or power or fame because that's how the world defines wealth and success. But in the Bible, to be successful means to finish your life having accomplished the will of God. That's success in the Bible.

God is more interested in your relationship than your performance, that what God wants from us is an abiding relationship where we enter into fellowship with him. I saw this in Africa in a number of unique ways. I went over and I ministered in a church of 10,000 people. It's a huge facility. On another occasion, I went to a church that had about 5,000 or 6,000 people in it and the pastor's trying to decide whether to build a 30,000 or 60,000 seat facility. They purchased the land to do that. There are no bank loans there, so no church can borrow to build a church.

And yet I saw some things that were awesome. I remember on one particular day, there was no gas in Lagos. The cars were lined up for miles. You couldn't get gas because of some political issues. And then it was thundering and lightning terribly. So I just assumed, no gas, bad weather, empty church. I guess I was thinking about America.

I went to the church, 10,000 people strong. The pastor said these people have walked two and three hours to get here. Sunday school started at 7:30. Worship began at 8:30. At 1:00, we were still going strong. They would celebrate and praise God for a while and enter into prayer and enter into celebration again and dance before the Lord. And by the way, ushers, the ushers, I forget what they called them, but they don't use the word usher, but they have this other name for them and have banners. And they walked up and down the aisles. No sleeping allowed.

They had a stick. Oh, Lord have mercy, they had a stick and if you were to nod, they didn't just hand out bulletins and take offerings, they poked you because we're in the presence of God, you can't sleep here. And after five hours of worship, two sermons, you had to pull the people to get them to go. Analyzing this phenomenon with the pastor, I talked about it a little bit. He says, "You see here, we're not different than you over in the States." I said, "What difference are you referring to?" He says, "We need God here."

That's what he said. He said, "We need God here. See, if God does not show up here, we are a devastated people. See, these people are banking on God for their daily bread. They live one day at a time. And there is such a desperate need for God over here that every time there is an opportunity to come face to face in his presence, they take advantage of it. They don't have excuses and don't compete with television shows and don't have to compete with all of the things that you compete with. And we need God here. And so we see one miracle after another, one supernatural intervention after another because we need him here."

And as I reflected on this word for abiding, it dawned on me what the problem is. We don't need him here. We have gotten so used to doing without him, other than a nod to God every now and then. We've gotten so used to being independent Christians. We've gotten used to a prayer a day to keep the devil away. We've gotten used to professional Christianity, that coming before his presence simply because I want to know you, simply because I want to be with you, we have lost. And that explains verse 5. Without me, you can do nothing.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return with more of today's message on Needing Christ in just a moment. First, though, I want to tell you how you can take the journey of a lifetime without ever leaving home. I'm talking about the unique book Tony has published called Experiencing Israel. It's packed with full-color photos that will take you on a virtual guided tour of the Holy Land, with insights from Dr. Evans about the geography, history, and people of the land. This beautiful hardcover book is something you'll want to keep on display, but it's also a tool that will bring a whole new dimension to your study of God's Word.

If you contact us and request it right away, we'll send Experiencing Israel to you as our way of saying thanks for your contribution toward Tony's ministry. Along with it, we'll also include all eight full-length lessons in Tony's current teaching series, Pursuing Christ. Visit us today at tonyevans.org to get the details on this special double offer. Or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, let's get back to Dr. Evans now with more on needing Christ.

Dr. Tony Evans: We have problems in our wealth, problems in our sufficiency that people who do not have what we have don't know anything about. I saw people who were so full of God, so full of the joy of the Lord, that Paul's statement, "The joy of the Lord is my strength," leaped off of the Bible page and I saw it in people's faces.

Some of us with two cars in a two-car garage with a three or four-bedroom house have not the slightest idea what the joy of the Lord is. And here were people who all they could bank on was today's bread, who had the joy of the Lord. We have people with cars who can't make it to church. They had to walk three hours and not only made it but was on time because they understood the joy of the Lord was their strength.

And such a powerful celebration, such a powerful rejuvenation of spirit that I was lifted in a way that was unique because these people understood abiding. And all they wanted to do was be in the presence of God and to have that presence, that Shekinah glory, to rub off on them. You cannot be in the rain and not get wet. You cannot be in front of the sun where there's a hundred degrees outside and not sweat. And you and I can't be in the presence of God and not be changed. Or as Second Corinthians puts it, transformed in the presence of his glory.

Are you here because it's Sunday or are you here because you had to be in God's presence? Are you here today because it's the good Christian thing to do on Sunday to give a nod to God, or are you here today because you desperately need him for the next seven days of this week? And if there is not that sense of need, if there is not that sense without you I can do nothing, there it is. If you think for one moment that without him you can produce in life what life is meant to produce, then you're missing it. I'm missing it. He says, "Without me, you can do nothing." Absolutely nothing.

A lady from the street came that Sunday and left her baby on the doorstep of the church. We don't know who the mother was, but she says, "I cannot care for this child." And the baby was left there, I guess, with a note. And immediately, immediately, that child had a father and mother in the family of God that took over immediately because there was such a passion for God that that life was held precious.

I saw a real Christianity, authentic Christianity. And I asked this other pastor building this 30,000-seat auditorium, "How are you going to pay for this? No church loans. You can't go to a bank and get a loan for a church in Nigeria. How are you going to pay for this?" He says, "You've got to understand, our people need God. So he's first. We don't have to beg and we don't have to pull. We need God so much that building him a house is no problem. We need him. I mean, you don't have to pull and beg and jerk and turn and twist and threaten and all of that. No, no, all we got to do is ask because our folk need God."

And there it is. They are an abiding people. Jesus says in verse 7, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." The power of answered prayer for the abider. Why aren't we seeing more prayers answered? Because we don't see more people abiding. We see people who want to just give God a hello, good to see you, put in my two hours, bye. He says answered prayer comes as a result of the relationship.

Or to put it another way, too many of us are me-and-Jesus people rather than the Jesus-and-me people. Let me say that again. Too many of us are me-and-Jesus people rather than Jesus-and-me. Suppose you were in a heavily foraged jungle. You had a machete in your hand and you wanted to work your way through this road and so you cleared as you went along. A man behind you says, "Sir, I have traveled this road before and if you will simply let me go in front, I will lead us. I know the way."

But you insist, "No, no, I can do this myself." And so you go cutting your way through, every now and then calling on him to help you when you were a little off, but as soon as you got back on track, you took over again and kept clearing the way. But along the way, you got to know him. You got to know this person who was following you and he convinced you that he really did know the way. He convinced you that he really was able to lead and guide the path.

And finally, you turn it over to him and you say, "I think really this would be a much smoother trip if you took over." And so he moved from behind you into in front of you and he cleared the way, never making a mistake because he knows the path. And even though it's been grown over with foliage and even though it's been grown over with branches, because he's been this way before, he can lead you with less frustration, less irritation because he knows the path.

Many of us are trying to clear out the path in our own lives. We're trying to make a road for ourselves because we've never been this way before. Jesus Christ is behind us saying, "If you'll only let me lead, I've been this way before. In fact, I've led a bunch of folk up this path." But you insist, "But no, no, this is my life. You just stay close enough. When I need you, I'll call you. If I don't call you, just stay nearby until I need you. But I'll clear the path for my own life."

Jesus stands beside and says, "Well, you're using a lot of energy that you don't have to use because I know the path." "Yeah, but I want to do this my way. I want to do this my way." And so we continue chopping ourselves up along the way. Oh, but Jesus says, "If you only would abide in me, if you just get to know me, you'd understand that if I take over leading the path, you don't lose, you get to where you're trying to go."

Some of us need to back off, need to stop trying to do it our way and need to start doing it God's way. You see, some of you are saying, "One day me and Christ are going to get close." Today is that day. You see, today is all you have. Today is all you need. In fact, today is all you can handle.

My prayer for you, for all of us, is that we might abide in him. You say, "Okay, make that practical. What do I do?" As simply as I know how to put it, you must make time to be in his presence. And you must evaluate everything by whether it displeases or pleases him. As simply as I know how to put it, you must make time to be in his presence and then everything else you do, you evaluate by whether it pleases or displeases him.

And when it becomes a habit that you are in his presence and that you are evaluating whether what you do pleases or displeases him, you will be abiding. And when you are abiding, he will rub off on you. Like being in the rain, you will get wet. Like being in the sun, you will sweat. Like being in his presence, you will be transformed. Some of you have issues in your life only God can fix. No counselor can fix them, no doctor can heal them, but being in his presence is a transforming experience.

Guest (Male): Learning to follow God's way instead of our own begins with knowing Jesus Christ personally. The Bible tells us that the forgiveness and new life we need are made possible through what Christ did for us on the cross. If you've never taken that step of faith, Tony would love to help you understand how that relationship can begin. Just visit tonyevans.org and follow the link that says "Jesus." You'll find answers to your questions, a simple prayer of faith, and some free follow-up resources.

And tonyevans.org is where you can also take advantage of the Alternative's current special offer. It begins with all eight of the full-length audio messages from the Pursuing Christ sermon series, a comprehensive look at what it means to develop personal intimacy with Jesus Christ. As I mentioned earlier, we'll send you the entire Pursuing Christ series, along with Tony's stunning book Experiencing Israel. They're our thank-you gift when you make a generous contribution to support Tony's work here on the radio and around the world. Visit tonyevans.org for details on this special double offer before time runs out. Or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. Team members are standing by 24/7 to help you. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org.

We'll return in just a moment, don't go away.

Guest (Female): When everything feels louder, faster, and more divided by the day, where do you find real peace?

Dr. Tony Evans: We live in a very frayed world.

Guest (Female): On the Unbound podcast, Dr. Tony Evans explores timeless truths for today's toughest realities. Faith that doesn't escape the world but speaks directly into it.

Dr. Tony Evans: Prayer changes the chemistry of the brain.

Guest (Female): The Unbound podcast with Dr. Tony Evans. Biblical truths in real life. Listen to the Unbound podcast anytime of the day or night on your favorite podcast streaming platform.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans says what we do with Christ is even more important than what we do for him. Tomorrow, he looks at the importance of keeping our love for Christ at the top of our priority list. Be sure to join us.

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