The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: It's hard to rise if you haven't died first.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says before God delivers freedom from discouragement, He wants us to learn from our trials.

Dr. Tony Evans: We want to skip those passages that talk about the struggle and the trial and the pain and the pressure and the brokenness that God often requires before He brings about the glory.

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

Christ died to give us freedom, but some things can keep us from feeling or acting like we're really free. Let's join Dr. Evans as he talks about a major one: discouragement.

Dr. Tony Evans: Freedom is release from illegitimate bondage so that you can experience, enjoy, and become what you were created and redeemed to be. Two things have to connect for you to be free: truth, which is more than facts, and relationship. He who the Son sets free. Information is not enough to free you. It'll post bail for you, but it won't unlock the door.

I want to talk to you about discouragement. I’m not talking about momentary discouragement. We all have moments of discouragement, but I’m talking about where that has become more of the norm rather than the exception.

In Luke 24, we have two disciples who are on the Emmaus Road. The crucifixion has taken place and they’re on their seven-mile walk back home to Emmaus from Jerusalem, verse 13 tells us. They were discussing the weekend. They were discussing what had taken place on this crucifixion weekend.

While they were trying to figure stuff out, while they were trying to make sense of the illegal trials that had led up to the death of Christ, the crucifixion, the nature of the crucifixion, while they were trying to figure this thing out, it says Jesus Himself, verse 15, approached and began traveling with them.

Jesus kind of shows up and starts walking beside them. Of course, this is after His resurrection from the dead. He shows up and walks with them, but according to verse 16, their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Jesus asked them in verse 17 the question, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they stood still, looking sad. "What's wrong?" Verse 21, "We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." Our hopes have been dashed. Our dreams have been destroyed. We thought Jesus was going to turn this thing around.

They go on to describe the fact that we went to the tomb and it's the third day, and verse 22, women went, they did not find His body. Some of those, verse 24, with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women had said, but Him they did not see. Now they're talking to Jesus, but they say we can't find Him. They are telling Jesus, "We can't find you."

Why were they prevented from recognizing Him? Verse 25 tells us. He says, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things in order to enter into His glory?" He says, you're not believing what you're reading, or you are reading the Bible selectively.

Verse 26, "Was it not necessary for Christ to suffer these things to enter into His glory?" He says, if you were paying attention to all that the prophets had spoken, you would have known that before Jesus could enter His glory, He had to go through His pain. Now we want to skip those passages that talk about the struggle and the trial and the pain and the pressure and the brokenness that God often requires before He brings about the glory.

We will show up for a glory message, but not for a suffering message. We'll show up for "I’ve been blessed." We don't want to show up for "my responsibility prior to the blessing." He says you got to take this whole package. I know you wanted Jesus to deliver you, I know you wanted Jesus to redeem you, I know you wanted Jesus to do some spectacular things, to pay your bills, to set you free, to turn things around.

I know you want Jesus for that, and that's some of what the prophets talk about. But He says you got to take all, and "all" includes the negative things Jesus had to go through prior to the glory. Paul says in Second Corinthians Chapter 1, he says that God let us get nigh unto death. He got us afflicted unto death.

Why did God let you get so low? He says so that He might show us what it is like when He raises the dead. He let me get low so that when I got resurrected, nobody could get credit for that but God. It's hard to rise if you haven't died first.

The Bible includes the suffering, it includes the negative. We don't like to talk about it, nobody prefers to experience that, I understand, but it's not the whole counsel of God if you skip it. He says you have a selective use of the Bible, that's why you're sad, that's why you can't see me. You can't see me because you don't understand the whole story.

What does Jesus do? Verse 27, then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. You are discouraged because your hope has been blown, but your hope has been blown because you don't have all the information.

This is the key to Bible study. The key to Bible reading and Bible study is look for Jesus, even when you're not reading about Jesus. You're reading about Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, He says, but you look for Jesus. So He has a Bible study with them, three and a half hours, verse 28. And they approached the village where they were going, the village called Emmaus.

He acted as though He were going further. So they get to the village, but what happened next was dependent upon them. Verse 29, but they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us." Stay with us means hang out here for a while. Abide. "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, the day is now nearly over."

He went in to stay with them. Why? Because that's where He wanted to be, but He only wanted to be there if invited. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man opens, I will come in and fellowship with him. They started with the knowledge of the Bible, but they continued with a personal interview with Him.

The presence or absence of Jesus determines whether your knowledge of the truth becomes an information session or an experience. It's one thing to look at a still photograph, it's another thing to watch a movie. Both of them involve pictures, but one is still, the other one is in motion. It's a motion picture.

Many of us have a still relationship with Jesus. We sit still and we read, and that gives us very critical information. But a motion picture brings you an experience. You enter into the event. It’s one thing to read about the crucifixion, it's another thing to watch the movie, *The Passion of the Christ*. Both are dealing with the same thing.

One gives you the information of the crucifixion, but when you're sitting there watching them tear the skin off of Jesus's back and you're going "Ah" and you're going "Whoo" and you're covering your eyes, that's because now what you read about you're now experiencing. Our problem is we're satisfied with the information, so we never get set free by the truth because the Son never unlocks the cell.

They are discouraged, they want to quit, but Jesus's presence has changed that. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it. And breaking it, He began giving it to them. The guest has become the host, and the guest prays, and the guest distributes the bread.

Then, verse 31, "Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him." Watch this now. They didn't recognize Him at Bible study. When they got to the house, they knew the Bible but they hadn't seen Him. It says He broke the bread. You got to break bread with your hands.

If you take your hands and break the bread and you got nail prints in your hand because you were just crucified two days before, it becomes evident. In other words, it was the time spent in personal interaction, not simply formalized Bible study, that took away the scales from their eyes so they could see the one they were looking for was already there.

The solution to their discouragement was walking with them. You say, "I’m going to church, I come in church on Sunday, I come in church on Wednesday, I have my devotions, and I can't find Jesus." Maybe He's not as far as you think. It was the fellowship, it was this personal time, it was this being in His presence based on the truth that removed the scales from their eyes.

When their scales were removed, it says He vanished from their sight. Whoa, their eyes were open, He vanished from their sight. Why? Because they didn't physically need to see Him anymore. God knows when we need to see something and when we don't.

What's this got to do with me? It's got everything to do with you because this is the risen Christ operating. Jesus has died and He's risen, and the risen Christ is now operating in His new glorified body, which means He still knows how to show up at the right time.

Jesus is alive, and they know it because they saw Him. And there's nothing like removing your discouragement than when Jesus shows up in the middle of it. First of all, they felt differently. Their hearts were burning.

Guest (Male): So what happens when that deliverance begins to take hold? Dr. Evans will have the answer when he returns in a moment with more from this message in his series, *Free at Last*. If you've ever felt stuck in patterns that just won’t let go, this collection is designed to help you find a way forward.

In these 12 messages, you'll discover how to overcome anxiety and fear, move past discouragement, and stop letting yesterday define today. You'll also gain practical insight into living with greater clarity, discipline, and spiritual confidence. We'd love to send you the complete *Free at Last* series as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support the Alternative broadcast ministry.

Along with it, you'll receive Tony's companion book, *Free at Last*, a powerful resource that expands on these teachings and helps you fully embrace who you are in Christ. This is a limited-time offer, so visit TonyEvans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 to get the details. I'll repeat that information later. Stay with us.

Guest (Female): My mind is like an internet browser; 19 tabs are open.

Guest (Male): On *Unbound* with Dr. Tony Evans, guests share practical wisdom for navigating anxiety, distraction, and the pressure to always be on.

Guest (Female): Consider how the wildflowers grow. They grow in freedom.

Guest (Male): Through their real stories, they offer perspective on growth and resilience.

Guest (Female): You don't have to be blooming to be growing.

Guest (Male): *Unbound* with Dr. Tony Evans. Listen now. You can hear the *Unbound* podcast on your favorite podcast platform. Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans for more of today's lesson from Luke Chapter 24.

Dr. Tony Evans: Let's conclude this by looking at their discouragement. Then they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road to Emmaus?" The Greek word "Emmaus" means warm springs. Warm springs, that's what the Greek word means.

The little town of Emmaus was like you and I going to Hot Springs, Arkansas. People go to Hot Springs, Arkansas because of the mineral water, the warm mineral water that flows, they go for its medicinal characteristics, its relaxing mode. People vacation at Hot Springs, Arkansas because of its hot springs. That's Emmaus. It means warm springs.

It was the place where people went to be refreshed. When they say, "Did not our hearts burn?" what was true of the place that they lived became true of the feelings that they had. Our hearts were refreshed as He opened the Scriptures to us. Because the Scriptures became the foundation for His presence.

You can't have His presence without the Scripture, but you can have the Scripture without His presence. You can't have His presence without the Scripture, but you can have the Scripture and not necessarily have His presence. But when they had His Scripture—the truth shall set you free—then they had the presence—He who the Son sets free.

Their heart is now burning. Their heart is on fire. The dimmer switch has been turned up. Sad has now become glad because the resurrection, watch this now, that had been promised, the resurrection that had been talked about, now was their experience.

For a lot of us, Jesus is still dead. Now we know He's not dead, but as far as our experience is concerned, He's dead because we don't see Him alive in our situation. Now Jesus is alive, and they know it because they saw Him. And there's nothing like removing your discouragement than when Jesus shows up in the middle of it.

They felt differently. Their hearts were burning. They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. Did I not just say that was three and a half hours? Wait a minute now, you're supposed to be tired. You've been in church walking, not sitting, for three and a half hours.

When they experienced what they experienced, it says they got up that very hour and went back to Jerusalem. That's three and a half more hours. Where you get the strength to do that? Because when you meet God and He turns your darkness into daylight, your night into morning, when the tears at night become joy in the morning, then you get what Isaiah promised: new strength.

You can now mount up with wings as eagles. You can now run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. You can keep on going. You can go further than you thought you could go. You can do more than you thought you could do. You can hang longer than you thought you could hang because you've seen the resurrection for yourself.

They got up, they made their way, and it says and found gathered together the 11 and those who were with them, and said, "The Lord has really risen." When folks have experienced Jesus, you don't have to beg them to witness. One of the reasons we don't talk about Jesus is we haven't experienced Him.

We'll talk about church, we'll talk about the choir, we'll talk about the sermon, but when you have been delivered by Jesus from your discouragement, you'll talk when you're tired. You ever been in love with somebody and you're tired, but they call? Somehow you able to wake up, shake it off, and keep going.

There is a relationship there. Your heart is burning and pumping and is on fire. And so now you can talk. You don't have to beg people who have seen the risen Savior because they'll talk about Jesus even if it takes three and a half hours to get there.

On October 24th, 1929, our parents and grandparents experienced it: the stock market crash, which opened up the gateway to the Great Depression. It was a great depression. 37,000 businesses went belly up immediately. Almost 15,000 people lost their jobs, one in every four workers.

A cloud of discouragement rained not only in America but throughout the world as America was hit with the Great Depression, as the banks failed. People were losing their homes. People are standing in long lines for cheese and powdered milk, trying to make it because they were in a great depression.

In 1932, as people were in discouragement and despair, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was nominated for the presidency of the United States. And in his inauguration speech, he came up to the platform and he said to the delegates, "I’m going to offer America a new deal. I know we're in a bad situation, I know things look bleak, but I got a new deal for you."

I know things don't look like they're ever going to get better, but I believe there's a new deal coming. Then on inauguration day, he came back after winning the presidency and stood up in January of 1933. And he stood up and he said, "And we have nothing to fear but fear itself."

What he did was set in motion a new confidence. When he rose to prominence as the candidate and then as the new president of the United States, he offered a new deal. He brought new confidence. The banks got solidified, the markets got stable, businesses began to rebound, people began to get jobs because something new was offered when he rose to prominence.

I know somebody who's risen to prominence in the midst of your great depression, whatever that is, in the midst of your great despair, wherever it is. There is somebody who was dead, who is now alive, and He's offering you a new deal.

Yesterday doesn't have to define your tomorrow, your past doesn't have to determine your present, what's back there doesn't have to determine what's up there. He says, "I got a new deal for you." So all I want to know is is there anybody in the house that needs a new deal? That that old deal's not working, you're in a great depression.

Everything is falling apart. Your hope is gone, your dreams are gone, you think there is no tomorrow. I’m here to tell you Jesus is offering you a new deal because if you're a believer, you're in the new covenant. So He's got something for you that will make your tomorrow better than your yesterday. He's got a new deal in the midst of your great depression.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans talking today about the antidote for depression. As always, if you'd like to review this lesson or share it with someone you care about, just ask about the message titled "Freedom from Discouragement." You'll get the full length version that included content we didn't have time to bring you on the air.

Better yet, request it as a part of Tony's complete *Free at Last* series, a 12-message collection designed to help you break free from the patterns that hold you back. When you support the ministry with a donation, we'll send you the entire series along with Tony's companion book, *Free at Last*, which takes these principles even deeper and helps you put them into practice.

Visit TonyEvans.org today to get all the details before time runs out. Again, that's TonyEvans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7. That number again: 1-800-800-3222.

Worry means more than having doubts about the future. Dr. Evans says it's a sign of doubts about God. Tomorrow, he'll talk about how we can put our needs in God's hands and learn to live free from anxiety. I hope you'll join us.