The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: On the day you need it, God's going to check your record to see whether you gave it.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talks about the spiritual link between giving and receiving.

Dr. Tony Evans: There's a blessing for those who show mercy cuz you can bet your bottom dollar there is coming a day in your life when you're going to need mercy.

Guest (Male): This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. When we think about the blessings of the Christian life, brokenness and pain probably aren't the first things that come to mind, but today Dr. Evans explains why God can use both to position us for the blessings he has in store. Let's join him as he takes us to the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 to discover the connection between submission and blessing.

Dr. Tony Evans: Jesus preaches this sermon to expound kingdom living. He gives the Beatitudes to tell you the blessings of those who adopt this kingdom mentality, mindset, orientation, focus, and priority. Let me suggest that the Beatitudes are antibiotics from God's pharmacy to transform your life. Antibiotics from God's pharmacy to transform your life for attached to each one of the Beatitudes is a blessing. Remember, a blessing is the favor of God to you and through you. It is experiencing God's flow in you for the benefit of you to flow through you so that it also benefits others. Jesus calls his disciples the the Beatitudes are given, the whole sermon is given primarily to his disciples, to people who are already engaged with him to take them to the next level.

Verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. He now wants to discuss the blessing of having the right spiritual appetite. The right spiritual appetite because far too many of God's children are malnourished. Not because they're not eating, they're just not eating the right stuff. You know, you can get full off of enough donuts. You eat enough donuts, you will get full. It's just of no value to you. In other words, there is no nutrition tied to it. He says, blessed are those You know, one of the ways the doctor tries to to find out if you're sick or not, he will ask you how's your appetite.

Cuz if you're healthy, you get hungry. When you get sick enough, you'll you're liable to lose your appetite. So he says, blessed, that is the favor of God being dispensed to those who are hungry for what pleases God. Righteousness is the standard of God being applied to your life. You're hungry to please God. You mourn when you don't, but you are hungry to please God. But you know, we live in a day when more and more people are going after organic food as opposed to processed food because processed food with all the chemicals in it can bring damage to you.

So people are wanting more natural, they're wanting more organic food. You can have a donut worship service. You can make it all, you know, shouting and flipping pews and dancing and jumping and jerking and twicking and twisting and turning and and you can have some good donut worship and think you're full. But there's something about donuts. They taste good, and I know. They don't last, and they're non-beneficial. So people go from one donut shop to another donut shop wanting a donut experience and wonder why nothing's changing. Why I'm not getting muscle, I'm just getting fat.

But he says the blessing comes to those who hunger and thirst at the righteousness. And let me explain something. Most of us will have a fairly good-sized Sunday meal either because you cooked it or you're going to go out to a restaurant and you're going to get a Sunday meal. Sunday is typically, historically the big meal day after church. But let me tell you something about your big Sunday meal. It ain't going to last you all week. It's not going to last you all week if the only time you eat spiritually is Sunday morning. If that's your big meal for the week and then you wait till next Sunday to get another big meal, what you just told me is you're not hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

That's really not your priority. That's not what you're after. Give you a big Sunday meal and you'll make it till next week. You're not hungry. He says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let me tell you about hungry folk. You go to a restaurant and they give you a menu, right? They give you a menu. The menu is a written documentation of what they have to offer. Sometimes you can salivate just by reading the menu. You read the menu you go I mean, it just looks good. Ooh, that looks good. That looks good.

So you can read it and feel good about it just by reading it. Well, not only do they give you a written menu, they have somebody there to proclaim the menu to to teach you the menu. It's a waiter or waitress. And they are menu expositors. They do an exposition of the menu. They say, well, this is this, this is this, this is this. And and they offer you a Q&A session. Do you have any questions? So they will proclaim the menu to you. Now after you have read the menu and after they proclaim the menu, you do not then ask for your coat to leave because you didn't come there to read about it or to hear somebody else tell you how good it is.

You came there for your personal experience with it. And until you've experienced the meal, you're not satisfied that you read about it or that somebody talked about it until it has entered into your tummy. See, the reason why Sunday meal isn't enough is cuz you come with a menu. It's a thick menu. It's called the Bible. It's got all kind of recipes in it. Then you got somebody who will teach you about the menu. But it's not over yet cuz God wants you to taste and see that the Lord is good. He He wants you to taste this thing.

He wants you to meditate on this thing so that it just doesn't become something you heard in your ears, it becomes something that you start to digest in your soul so it can take root and flow all week long. He says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And then he gives the blessing for they shall be satisfied. Guess what God offers you when you passionately pursue him and his kingdom through that which pleases him. He says, I will remove your discontent. See, to be satisfied is to be content with what you have.

To be satisfied When we When you've eaten a meal and you say, that's enough. I'm satisfied. You know what that means? I don't need anymore. I'm I I'm good. I 'm good. Hey, would you like some more chicken? Well, not yeah yeah on that one, but would you like some more? I'm satisfied. He removes your discontent. But if But you got to be hungry and thirsty after what he's cooking. Hunger and thirst after the righteousness. And he removes the discontent. The more we hunger for righteousness, the more satisfied we become. He says, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.

Mercy is not giving you what you do deserve. Not giving you what you do deserve. To express mercy is to seek to remove the misery that someone is going through even if they deserve it. Mercy is not just feeling sorry. Mercy is a tangible act of removing the misery. How many of us have said to a policeman who pulled us over, show me some mercy. Yeah, I was speeding, I was wrong, but How many criminals have said I throw myself on the mercy of the court. Don't don't give me what the full sentence calls for.

Do you know one of the things they take consideration in the court when you call for mercy? One of the considerations is did you show any remorse. He says there's a blessing for those who show mercy cuz you can bet your bottom dollar there is coming a day in your life when you're going to need mercy. When you're going to want God not to give you all that you deserve. Yeah, that there's coming a time I don't know whether it's already been, it is or will be, but there will become a time when you're going to want God to hold back.

Don't give me what I deserve. You may be good now, but there's coming a day when you're going to want mercy dispensed to you. He says, blessed are those who show mercy for they will receive mercy on the day you need it. God's going to check your record to see whether you gave it. Well, this is one of the great blessings that you can call on God for the mercy that you showed somebody else in their day of misery when you have your day of misery when you are needing it. It goes on and he says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

The word pure means unmixed, undivided, no defect, authentic on the inside, being for real on the inside. Now you know you. You know you better than anyone knows you, but you don't even know you perfectly. But but all of us knows what it is from time to time to be plastic. Pure in heart means to be authentic. And in order to be authentic, you have to first of all be honest with God. See, to be pure of heart it means you have to be honest with God. When you are expressing the real deal, the real deal, not spiritual platitudes, you are being raw.

You're respectful, but you are clearly honest. Raw with God, no double-mindedness. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23 he said, clean the inside of the cup before you clean the outside. See, here's the problem. Many of us want to change what we're doing outside when we have been dealt honestly with what goes on inside. And if you haven't dealt honestly from the heart, then what does the heart do? Pump ba bum ba bum ba bum ba bum ba bum ba bum. It pumps life. That's pumps life. So if you have a defective heart, you're going to have a defective life because your heart is pumping life.

So if it's pumping poison, then you're not going to have life. The experience of life. In order to have a pure heart, you have to be authentic with God. You have to come clear with God. You have to be honest with God about the good and the bad and the ugly.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return with an illustration of that kind of honesty in just a moment. First though, today's lesson is part of Tony's six-part teaching collection called The Kingdom Life, focusing on the power God's given us to live in victory along with the impact we can make and the blessings we experience when we put it to use. It'll give you the encouragement and perspective you need to stand strong in the face of a culture that seems committed to tearing us down. We'd like to send you all six full-length lessons on CD, USB flash drive, or instantly downloadable MP3s as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to support Tony's ministry.

And when you do, we'll also send you a copy of his One Life Under God paperback written to complement this series to help strengthen your kingdom mindset and outlook. We depend completely on your support to keep this program on the air. So visit tonyevans.org to let us know we can count on your continued faithfulness. And when you do, don't forget to request your copy of The Kingdom Life and the One Life Under God paperback before this limited time double offer is over. That's tonyevans.org or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. Right now Dr.

Evans is back with more of today's message.

Dr. Tony Evans: There was two rich brothers, very filthy rich. One of the brothers died. And both brothers were wicked. The brother who was still alive went to the pastor and said, pastor, now I want you to do my brother's funeral. And somewhere in the funeral, in the eulogy, I want you to say the phrase that my brother was a saint. Both were wicked, but in this funeral I want you to say my brother was a saint. And I'm going to give the church a million dollars. That's all you got to do. Well, you know, pastor was struggling cuz church needed a million dollars.

But he knew the brother was wicked. Like you know, both brothers were wicked. So it came time for the funeral. He standing up to do the eulogy. He said, John, the day God was a wicked, evil, conniving, godless man. But compared to his brother, he was a saint. He says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Are you tired of just talking about God and never seeing him? They shall see God. In other words, you'll see him operating, moving. He won't just be a concept to you anymore, a thought, an idea, a perspective, a a philosophy, a religious ornament.

You're going to see his reality moving, rolling, twicking, twisting, turning in your life. God will become real. You'll see him. You'll see him. The unseen God you will see and you will see him for yourself. You won't need somebody else's testimony. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God, peacemakers, not peacekeepers. Peacemakers. Peace is harmony. It is the resolving of conflicts with the truth by which sin is exposed and addressed and right relationships established. The peacemakers. Sometime we want to keep peace. Jesus says you got to make peace. And you make peace by identifying the truth, exposing the sin, addressing the sin, and then constructing a bridge between the parties that were at odds.

That's what you do. Whether it's a marriage or whether it's two Christians or two groups of Christians, he says you got to make peace. You don't just keep peace. We We keep peace by ignoring it. He says you make peace by addressing it. Blessed are the peacemakers. You've heard me say this before, but I'm not a mustard guy, I'm a mayonnaise guy. Okay? When I eat a sandwich, unless it's a hot dog, I don't want to deal with mustard. I like mayonnaise on both pieces of bread. You know, you go to you go to McDonald's, you go to Burger King, and they put mayonnaise on one piece of bread.

Send that baby back. I want my full allotment of mayonnaise. I want to inherit the earth. I want all of my stuff. Now mayonnaise is fundamentally made up of oil and water. Okay? But oil and water won't mix. So they need an emulsifier. An emulsifier is something that takes two things that can't mix and hook them up. So mayonnaise is made with egg. The process of emulsification is that egg can grab water, grab oil, and pull the two together and come up with something nice for my sandwich. Mayonnaise exists because emulsification exists because eggs exist.

And egg stands in between two things that can't get along. Oil and water. No matter how much you try, they cannot make it. They're too different. And as soon as you put them together, they go back to their quarters cuz they won't mix. But egg grabs oil, egg grabs water, allows them to hook up, mix it up, and now you got something that you can use. If you're a peacemaker, you're reaching out to two things that don't look like they can hook up at all. And you're creating something tasty out of it. And he says, peacemakers shall be called the sons of God.

Why will you be called the son of God? Cuz you look like your daddy. Now you got the same DNA. Cuz the Bible says, God sent Jesus to make peace and to bring sinful men to a holy God. Jesus is the emulsifier. Cuz a perfect God and sinful men can't mix. So what Jesus did was he reached up and grabbed God. He reached down and grabbed man so that the two could get connected again. That's what He is our mediator. He is our emulsifier. Let me tell you else about a son of God. A son gains access.

You're dealing with daddy. Let me close. He says, blessed are those who persecuted, treated in an evil manner. That's what it means. Why are you being treated in an evil manner? Because you're showing these qualities. You're not talking about treated in an evil manner cuz you evil. He talking about treated in an evil manner because you're showing these characteristics, these kingdom characteristics, and some folk won't like you. A lot of folk are not going to like you cuz you're too close to God. And if you look like God, then you not going to be everybody's friend, everybody's not going to be your home buddy, everybody's not going to be your running buddy cuz you going to be like a salt in their wound.

When you show up, they won't be free to tell their jokes anymore. They won't like you showing up. When you show up, they not free to do that thing anymore. They don't want you to show up. They going to call you holy roller. They going to say that you think you're somebody. They going to say that you think you're something special. No, all you are is kingdom. That's all you are. And he says and you're in the company of a great class of people, those who've gone before you and he pronounces a double blessing on those who are willing to be rejected by men in order to be accepted by God.

So don't take my word for it, try it. Try becoming a kingdom Christian and watch the blessings come your way. Don't take my word for it. Don't don't buy it because I said it. Go read it for yourself and begin to implement it and you tell me whether you're experiencing God at a whole another level.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return with a memorable closing illustration in just a moment. First though, today's lesson on the blessings of the kingdom is part of Tony's series The Kingdom Life. Now's the time to get in touch with us and request the full-length version of all six messages in this collection including material we won't have time to present on the air. We're offering the complete series on CD, USB flash drive, or digital download as our thank you gift when you make a contribution to support this ministry. And for a limited time, we'll also include Dr. Evans One Life Under God paperback, a companion to the series that explores the importance of putting God first, developing a kingdom mindset, and discovering the purpose he has for your life.

Be sure to take advantage of this special offer before time runs out. All the details are waiting for you at tonyevans.org where you can make your donation and request. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call our 24-hour resource center at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. Once again, that's 1-800-800-3222. As Christians, our lives are meant to make a difference for God's kingdom. But how do we do that without becoming obnoxious or annoying? On Monday Dr. Evans shows how we can satisfy God's expectation as we make a positive impact on the world around us.

Right now let's listen as he wraps up today's lesson with this final illustration.

Dr. Tony Evans: A man one day was dying of thirst. And he was in this desert place with no water. He couldn't make it much further when he saw a little shack. He walked into the little shack and there was a well with a little jar of water and a sign. The sign said, use this water not to drink, but to prime the pump because then you'll have ongoing water. He says, I don't know whether I can take this risk. I'm dying here. If I pour this water in and this pump doesn't prime, I'm going to die. At least if I drink the water, I can live for a while and hope tomorrow will be a better day.

So he had to make the decision whether to take the risk on the well or just be satisfied with the jar. He took the risk, poured the water in the well and the pump, primed the pump, ush gup gushed enough water to last him for as long as he needed it. A lot of you are going to take this sermon and use it like a jar. You're going to drink it up and by tomorrow or Tuesday it'll be gone. But if you let it prime the pump of the well of the kingdom of God, you'll find it flowing for life ongoingly.