The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: There must be time in your life where you're not rushing, but you're remembering. Dr. Tony Evans offers advice to believers who aren't as passionate about the Lord as they once were. If you can ever remember how it used to be, you can now also remember how it can be.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative Broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Dr. Evans says what we do with Christ is even more important than what we do for him. Today, he discusses the importance of keeping that love at the top of our priority list. Let's join him now as he takes us to Revelation Chapter 2.

Dr. Tony Evans: This is a letter written to the Ephesian church. He is analyzing the church. And what he is doing is determining whether what you talk about is what you really are. He is here validating or invalidating, if you will, our authenticity. How authentic are we as the people of God?

He starts off with a commendation. He says in verses two and three, "I know your deeds, toil, perseverance; you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not, and you found them to be false, and you have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary."

Now, isn't this the kind of church you'd want to belong to? I know your deeds. And you are a serious church when it comes to service, and I commend you for that. He says, "I know your toil." That word "toil" means to serve to the point of exhaustion. You people are tired over there. You're working so hard. Verse three, "You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have not grown weary." You have gone through great inconvenience for me.

This sounds like a church you ought to join. This is the kind of church that you want to be a part of. And it would be fine if he just didn't get to verse four. Because after giving a glowing commendation, he now announces a horrendous condemnation. "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."

It is possible to be doing all the right things without the right motivation. It is possible to have all your ducks in line and still be a hollow Christian or a hollow church. It is possible to do your duty without having your devotion. Jesus Christ, the Lord of the church, does a diagnosis of the church and finds that while all things look like they're working, there is a coronary problem.

The coronary report says there is a heart problem. There is not the proper flow of love for Jesus Christ. To lose your first love is to relegate Christ to a secondary status to your religious activity, no matter how good they are. And if we as Christians or we collectively as a church allow our duty for Christ to replace our love for Christ, he has something against us.

Jesus saved us first for a relationship. Labor is no substitute for Christ. Christ wants our hearts and not just our hands and our heads. We are to never let what we do for Christ be more important than our relationship with Christ. And if we're not cultivating the relationship, if what comes out of our ministry isn't closeness to Christ, if all we get is the proliferation of activity, then we have failed.

For God is not first after programs; he is first after a relationship. And when you leave your first love, things get boring, predictable, unexciting, dead. And you look up and simply say, "I don't want to be married anymore." And so you fish for a category that'll get you out. And if you don't find one, you'll jump to the most convenient irreconcilable differences.

That's because something has happened with the relationship. The motivation must come from a desire to love Christ. Did you know the scripture says God wants you to love him more than you love your mother and your father, your sisters and your brothers, even your wife, and if necessary, your own life? That's what he's after.

To the degree that we love Christ is to the degree that there will be meaning in the things we do for Christ. If the motivation is "I love Christ," it doesn't detract from your duty; it puts meaning in your duty. The condemnation is that they had left their first love. We have a few seminarians, Dallas Theologs, here this morning.

And they will always warn you in the seminary: don't hang around the fourth-year students too long because seminary has an unusual ability to increase your knowledge and decrease your love. Because you're studying for a grade. They pack you up with all this work and you got to learn parsing of verbs and declining of nouns, and you got to learn all of this data and material, and you're up all night.

I remember we used to always go over to each other's houses when I was in seminary, and the men would always peel off to the side. And what we would always peel off to discuss was the newest doctrinal controversy. How many angels could sit on the head of a needle? And other irrelevant subjects. But that gave us our thrill. We'd rather talk about the latest doctrinal heresy than to come before the face of God.

That's a danger. But when you first come to seminary, you got all this fire in your bones and you're all excited, not just to be at seminary but, "More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show." I wanted to just learn more about Jesus, and then you watch it degenerate into not necessarily wanting to know him, but wanting to pass the next test.

Jesus says, "I'm aware of that. I'm moving up and down the aisles." Some of you know what it is to have spent time with God and found joy doing that, but now the schedule won't allow it. And you wonder where your peace went and where your joy went and where your answered prayer went, your fulfillment went, your power went. I tell you where it went; it's wherever your love went. Wherever my love went.

And so we've got to be careful, church, that bigger buildings and more programs and more people don't mean more duty without devotion. What do you do about it? Well, he gives them an exhortation. Verse five, the three R's. He says, first of all, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen." Remember from where you've fallen. We don't have time to remember much as a people. We're too busy.

I'm too busy. It's a part of the American way of life. Look at how much time you spend, for example, building relationships. You don't have time. Between the job and the kids, you don't have time to build relationships. He says, "Remember." That means there must be put in your schedule times for reflection and meditation. To remember means to look back.

Can you look back and see a time in your life, can we look back and see a time in our church, when being with Christ was more important than doing for Christ? I can. Because I remember when I was a teenager, my room in Baltimore was a little teeny box of a room where you can only basically fit in a bed and a couple of drawers. That was my room.

I remember being up at two and three and four o'clock in the morning with my hymnbook and my Bible, singing, praising, and praying for hours. Even though I had to go to school or to work the next day. You say, "Well, that's not practical." Well, let's think about it. Remember when you were first in love? Were you ever on the phone at one and two in the morning, even though you had to go to work or go to class in college the next day?

Did you ever do that? You know why you did it? Because love is powerful. Love'll make you stay up when you don't want to stay up. Love will make you talk when you don't have anything to talk about. Love will make you stay on the phone and have nothing to say. You ever been on the phone and nobody's saying anything? They say, "Well, I got to go now." "Don't go. Never mind we're not talking, don't go. Just knowing you're there."

Love'll make you look crazy. And that's how it was when you were first dating and you were first married. You were doing that. Now, one minute is too long. "You got something to say? Say it. I'm busy." That's because we lose our first love. He says there must be time in your life and in the life of the church where you're not rushing, but you're remembering.

You are reflecting how it used to be, because if you can ever remember how it used to be, you can now also remember how it can be. That's the fundamental thing. If I can get a husband and wife to remember how it used to be, all I need is to get them to go back far enough that they can remember, because some don't remember. They say, "Were there any good times?" "No!" How you marry him if there was never a good time? They can't remember.

But if we can ever remember, if we can ever get our minds back, what that says is it has been this way and therefore it can be this way. In our cultivating our ministry as a church corporate as well as a people, we've got to make time to remember. You've got to make time to pull away as a congregation. Change the order of service every now and then and just remember. You and your mate should go back and remember. You should pull out the old wedding albums. If she hasn't thrown them away, pull them out and remember.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return with more guidance on getting back to our first love in just a moment. First, though, I want to make sure you don't miss your final chance to take advantage of our special offer that includes Tony's valuable book, Experiencing Israel. This hardcover keepsake book chronicles one of his recent tours to the Holy Land and lets you relive the whole experience through stunning pictures, insightful commentary, and real-life application. It's like taking the trip of a lifetime without ever leaving home.

You'll learn about the history, geography, culture, and people of Israel as you see the sites Jesus saw when he walked on earth. You'll not only feel closer to the Lord, you'll gain a whole new perspective on what you read in His word. Request a copy of Experiencing Israel today, and we'll send it to you as our gift in appreciation for your contribution toward Tony's ministry.

As a bonus, we'll also include all eight messages in Pursuing Christ, the teaching series he's wrapping up today. This is the perfect package to help you deepen your devotion to the Lord. And this is the final day we're making both of these powerful resources available together as our thank-you gift when you make a donation in support of Tony's ministry.

The Alternative is a completely listener-supported broadcast, so your faithfulness is the only way we can keep bringing it to you each day. Make the arrangements right now at tonyevans.org, or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222. That's 1-800-800-3222. Let's get back to Dr. Evans now in Revelation Chapter 2.

Dr. Tony Evans: Secondly, he says repent. Repent has as its goal a changing of direction. God says there is a malignancy in here, we've got to cut out. There must be a change of direction. It means get off at the next exit and turn around. Turn around to where? To the point of remembrance. We spend too much time working our way forward and not enough time working our way back.

He says remember and then repent. Work your way back. He doesn't mean stop living and stop doing what you must do. In fact, he's commending their duty. So he's not saying stop being dutiful. He's saying in the midst of your duty, repent and work your way back. But to do that there must be a recognition that the track you're on is sin. It's not just that you're busy, it's sin.

And this is what grabbed me. He's saying that this is sin. Loss of love for Christ regardless of the amount of duty for Christ is sin. Better to have less income and a family intact than a bigger house and more cars and nobody loves anybody anymore. And then repent and call it what it is. It's not just the job is harder, it's not just that life is busier. If it causes you to lose your first love, it's sin. Repent.

Then he says repeat. Do your first works again. Repeat. Do what you did when what you did worked. Because obviously what you're doing doesn't. With Christ, that means to me making sure on my calendar is an appointment with God and not just appointments with everybody else. It means unrushed periods of time when I'm not crammed in by the schedule. Do the first works over again.

Go back and retrace the steps. For a couple, that means, see, it's amazing. Couples say, "Well, we don't love each other anymore." And I ask, "Do you date anymore?" "Well, no." But isn't that what you used to do? Did you share things with her? Do you share them now? "No." But isn't that what you used to do? He says do your first works over. You don't need something new for the future, you just need something old from the past.

Go back there to where it was, that old landmark. Do those works over again. And in this case for the church it meant being with Christ, worshipping Christ, loving Christ, focusing in on Christ where Christ became the measurement for everything that was done. You get these green things at the fair, you ever bought them for your kids? The green things that shine?

You get them home the next morning they don't shine. What made them shine in the first place was when you bought them, they were under a light. And they're made out of material that reflects the light that it has received. If you've lost your shine, it's because you left the light. If you don't repent, you won't have to worry about shining.

Because you'll be a dead church with a lot of programs. And you'll be a dead Christian with a lot of activity. And you'll be a dead marriage with no love if you don't remember, repent, and repeat. Finally, he says there is the motivation. What's the motivation? "He who has an ear let him hear." So the person next to you doesn't want to do anything, that's got nothing to do with you.

"He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God." He says to those who overcome, he's talking about those believers who live their life out of a love for Christ rather than just out of a duty for Christ. That is the overcomer.

Because if everybody's an overcomer, then it's no way to not be one. He wouldn't have to encourage you to overcome. Everybody's an overcomer in the sense everybody is saved, but not every overcomer overcomes. Your intimacy with God now will determine your intimacy with God in heaven. That's the basic premise. If you're far away from God now, you'll be far away from God in eternity.

And he says you'll eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. What is the tree of life? Well, that's where Adam and Eve were knocked out from eating the tree of life. What was in the middle of the garden? Fellowship with God. They were removed from intimate fellowship with God. They couldn't go back into the garden. Now there was a distance between them and God.

And if we are distant from God, we're distant from all the things he brings. His power, his goodness, his grace, his joy, his peace, his presence. And if you're distant from that, let me explain it this way. Every year I go to the Texas State Fair. We have members who work in the fair so they give me tickets for us to get into the fair and we go and we get in the fair amidst all the festivities.

We get in the fair at no cost. We enjoy the fair at great cost. You come to Jesus Christ at no cost. Jesus paid it all. But you stay close to Christ at great cost. And if you're not willing to pay the cost now, you not only don't get to enjoy the closeness now, you don't get to enjoy the closeness later. Because you don't get to eat of the tree of life.

The tree of life is in a certain place in heaven called the paradise of God. That is, it is in God's parlor room. It's available to everybody, but only those who've earned the right to go in by permission get to go in. Isn't this what happened with Martha and Mary? Mary was busy at Jesus' feet, Martha was busy serving. Martha was frustrated, Mary was at peace.

Martha said to Jesus, "Why don't you tell Mary to come help me?" Jesus says, "Because I don't want Mary to be like you, serving me but frustrated. Right now she's sitting at my feet and happy." Don't let other Christians keep you from your joy in Christ.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans reminding us of the importance of pursuing intimacy with God, and he'll return in just a minute to tell us exactly how to begin that process. Before he does, though, I want to remind you that today's the last day you can receive a copy of Tony’s eight-part series on Pursuing Christ, along with that bonus I mentioned earlier, his large-format picture book, Experiencing Israel.

This beautiful, high-quality hardback is filled with stunning photos and insightful commentary that will become a cherished keepsake for your personal library. It also makes a wonderful gift for a friend or family member. This special double offer ends today, so visit tonyevans.org right away to get all the details on how you can make these helpful resources yours before time runs out.

Again, that's tonyevans.org, or call us at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7 today to assist with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222. Our version of reality is made up of the things we know and the things we only think we know. On Monday, Dr. Evans will help us learn to recognize the difference as he explores what it really means to be free. Right now, though, he's back with a final thought to wrap up our time together.

Dr. Tony Evans: Salvation, redemption, and eternal life. The Bible says by grace are you saved through faith. That is, God gives it away, but he won't let you buy it, earn it, or go to church or any other religious activity to try to make yourself worthy for it. And as a result, the Bible says God gets the credit and the glory and we don't get to share in it, which is why he demands that it's free.

Not only does this grace save us, but this grace sustains us. So even if you are already a Christian but you've backslidden, grace is ready to kick in, if you will, and get you steered in the right direction once more. So would you go to God and ask him for the free gift of grace which he gives away when faith is exercised?

You say, "Well, what do you mean exercising faith?" I mean believing that what Jesus did, he did for you personally. This is not just generic; it has to be personal salvation and personal restoration. So you say to the Lord, "I personally receive you as my savior," or "I personally return to you as my deliverer and I'm looking for your gracious supply to deal with my sin and to give me your salvation."

Guest (Male): The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.