The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: What's the point of having the moral excellence and the knowledge and the self-control and perseverance and godliness and no one knows about it? If people know you as being mean, you can't love your brother or hate your brother who you have seen and say that you love God who you've never seen. It defines itself in your connection to your brother.

Guest (Male): You're listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today's message. But first, I want to briefly let you know that this week we have two gifts for you to thank you for your support of this ministry.

The first is the audio series called Discipleship for Everyday, equipping you to live out your faith with authenticity and impact every day. And the second gift is the book Your Time Is Now. In this book, you'll understand that God has a purpose for you even if you think you're not ready to make a difference.

Later in today's program, I'll give you more details about these special gifts. Or you can visit TonyEvans.org or call 1-800-800-3222. Right now, let's get started with Jonathan's message.

Jonathan Evans: Too many Christians are taking the check of the promise and being satisfied with the bench. They don't want to play. I've heard them say, "Well, at least I can get in." Satisfied being an useless player for the kingdom. And that's the reason why they call them a bust. It's almost like stealing. You took that check and you can't play?

So then in verse 5, Peter goes, "Now that we understand that, let's talk about the game." And God is looking for a complete player. We can't be disciples unleashed on the world if we're just like the world we're unleashed on. So in verse 5, he says now. Now that we talked about that and now that it's time to don the uniform, not just take pretty pictures with it, he says there's something that we have to be responsible for now for this very reason.

That you have received all of the things from verse 1 to verse 4. Also applying. Let me stop right there. You do know that you have to apply the word? In order to play the game, sitting in church isn't good enough. In order to play the game, just being able to quote the scripture isn't good enough. In order to play the game, just being satisfied that you memorized, just being satisfied that you clapped and you raised your hands during worship, just being satisfied that you intellectually understood the sermon, that's not good enough for game day.

On game day, you have to apply all the things that have been attributed to you on draft day. It's time to move beyond listening, learning, all of those things and get to doing. We cannot just be hearers of the word. We have to be doers of the word, lest you delude yourself. Too many Christians have been shaken up by their circumstance like a soda. If you shake it up long enough, the next time you take it, it isn't going to have any fizz. We live in a generation of Christians with no fizz because they're so easily shaken. And he says now it's time to apply.

My daughter Kelsey is 15. That means it's time to drive. Y'all pray for me. We was in the car the other day and you know, it was yellow lines. That means stay on this side. She said, "Well, it's time to turn left" and got over across the yellow lines to make a left turn. I said, "Oh yeah, we gotta practice. This is for the birds. Somebody else do this."

Now, this generation is different than ours. We couldn't wait to drive. They want to be chauffeured. I said, "Kelsey, it's time for you to drive." She said, "I'm tired." Did you just say you were tired? I feel like a parent now. "Tired?" She says, "I've had a long day." Long day? If you don't get... I had to help her understand. She likes the fun part, but the responsible part... I said, "You gotta get behind the wheel because when you turn 16, if you want to go somewhere and you ain't driving, you're going to be at home."

You gotta start taking responsibility and I will be in the car with you to lead you and guide you, but you gotta get behind the wheel because behind the wheel is where you learn you can't cross over yellow lines. Behind the wheel is where you learn just because there's a yellow blinking arrow, that doesn't mean you have the right of way. Behind the wheel is when you learn you can't get on the freeway at 30 miles an hour.

Like, all of that happens when you get behind the wheel. And Peter is saying at some point, we gotta stop telling God we tired. We gotta stop trying to be chauffeured in the faith. He's saying get behind the wheel and let the spirit lead you and guide you because only behind the wheel do you realize you can't get on the freeway of faith slow because the enemy is going too fast. Only behind the wheel do you realize these things. So he said it's time to apply and he says it's time to apply all diligence.

In other words, this game takes diligence. It's not a fly-by-night. You gotta be able to continue with diligence and people can do diligence if they feel like the payoff is worth it. Me and Kanika years and years ago, we painted a 4,000 square foot house by ourselves with a friend of mine named Dave. Kanika was eight months pregnant. I know. Kanika was like, "4,000 square foot? We going to paint this?" I said, "Yeah, we going to paint this." She said, "Why?" I said, "Because the goal is to flip the house and I think we can make a substantial amount of money in this market if we do this." She said, "Give me that brush." She were rolling. And we were in there diligently. Why? Because we saw the payoff. We knew it was worth it.

So if Christians are unwilling to be diligent in the faith, they must not think it's worth it. They have devalued the promises of God. He says with all diligence, apply with all diligence, stay in there. Take out your phone and go to your note section because I need you to write these seven things down. Take out a pencil and a pad, a pen, whatever you use, because he's going to tell you the seven attributes of a complete player or disciple of Jesus Christ that he is looking for for the field of play.

He says now for this reason, verse 5, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. God is calling you to be morally excellent. Why? Because you have received in salvation on draft day the righteousness of Christ. How can we receive the righteousness of Christ and then go live raggedy? What would you say to me if I had on the Dallas Cowboys uniform but I went out on the field and ran the Pittsburgh Steelers plays?

You'd be like, "That's dumb. That's a little schizophrenic." So how do we have on the uniform of the blood of Jesus Christ and then run the enemy's plays? That's dumb. That doesn't make any sense. That hasn't got anything to do with your uniform. He's saying if you're called as a disciple, then the way you live your life is with moral excellence and the only way you can do that is to receive the word implanted which is able to save your soul.

And the only way you can receive the word implanted is in all humility. Most of us sit in church with pride. "Well, that was a great message. I wish so-and-so was here to hear it." No, you're here because we all have a long way to go. We're all learning and growing and moving. You say, "But Jonathan, I can't be perfect." God knows you can't be perfect but he doesn't change his word based on your ability.

He still says be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. That's how the coach's coach. He coaches based on his standard, not your ability. And the great Vince Lombardi said, "If you chase after perfection, you will at least catch excellence." God is calling his disciples to be thoughtful in their moral excellence. We cannot be like the world. We live different because we are different. We're not in the old league anymore. You've been drafted to a new league to play a new game from a new playbook.

Number two. It says not only are you called to be morally excellent, but he says in your moral excellence, knowledge. This is not knowledge, ladies and gentlemen, so that you can feel smart. This is knowledge so that you don't live spiritually dumb. These are links that are connected. Moral excellence, knowledge, because knowledge contributes to the moral excellence as you live out your life practically.

That's why Hosea 4:6 says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." They don't know how to maneuver in life. Fools despise wisdom and instruction, the Bible says. So he's calling you to moral excellence and he's calling you to moral excellence through the conduit of knowledge. Knowledge like me and Kanika. I will do things sometimes or be in place sometimes or talk a way or go a way because I already know that's what she wants. She'll be like, "Babe, you know what I'm thinking?" I said, "I got you, boo."

Yeah, I know what you thinking. How does that happen? It didn't happen by me just reading a book even though I did read the five love language and I read some books. It happened by relationship and time that you're riding the same wavelength as Jesus Christ because you've gained your knowledge in the context of relationship, not just learning even though that is important. He says moral excellence is linked to knowledge.

Number three. Then he says moral excellence linked to knowledge builds self-control. We're talking about stewarding our draft day. I want to be morally excellent and don the new uniform, the fine linen of the saints as the righteous acts of the saints. I do it in the context of knowledge because I know what God is expecting of me in these scenarios and situations that I face in life.

And when I get hit in the mouth and when I have circumstances that come to me, I'm not knocked off balance. I have self-control. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. It's actually the fruit of the one you received on draft day, the spirit. To be able to have control and everybody thinks they have self-control until they hit a situation that makes them have to control themselves.

That's when your self-control is tested and the Bible says, write this verse down, the Bible says in Proverbs 25:28, "Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit." We're supposed to be invaded by the spirit, not living a life like we've been invaded by the serpent. And that is demonstrated in self-control.

This is the third attribute when Jesus is looking at his players and how they execute on the field is that they don the uniform of righteousness and morally excellent. They have the knowledge and understanding and when scenarios come, they do not lose control. They're steady in the game. And then, keep writing these things down. It's morally excellent with knowledge, self-control, and then this is not a short game. He needs players who will persevere.

It's perseverance that he's calling us to. He's calling us to persevere and the word persevere means to carry on under the weight of something. When he talks about carrying your cross, this is not a short journey. He wants you to persevere and stay under the weight of it as you walk through life. He's calling you to continue. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is everyone who perseveres for theirs is the crown of life."

So he's calling us to persevere. I know it's hard. I know it's a struggle. I know it's tough. God is calling you to stay in there and persevere in self-control in the knowledge of God and in moral excellence. He doesn't want sometime players. He wants people he can depend on. And after perseverance, he says godliness. Godliness is interesting because godliness has to do with not just moral excellence.

Godliness has to do with, "I'm morally excellent and I have the knowledge, I self-control, I stay in there for the glory of God." Non-believers can do morally excellent things. I know non-believers who understand how to forgo consequence and live a life that's morally good because they want to make sure they're doing the right things based on being created in the image of God. That's how you know there's good and evil is because God exists.

And so God creates the standard by which the world turns. So we understand how to be in a good place and in the right place at the right time saying the right thing to the right people. We know how to do it because being created in the image of God puts that in perspective. But what non-Christians can't do is glorify God through their moral excellence. Let men see your good work and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Christians have a connection that non-Christians don't.

Their morally excellent so I can avoid consequences and so I can be a good person. We're morally excellent for the glory of God. So he's calling us to be godly. And then number six, write this down, brotherly kindness. What's the point of having the moral excellence and the knowledge and the self-control and perseverance and godliness and no one knows about it? So if people know you as being mean, if the parking lot ministry is like, "Oh Lord, here they come. Let them go," then you're breaking the chain.

You can't be, you can't love your brother or hate your brother who you have seen and say that you love God who you've never seen. It defines itself in your connection to your brother. If your brother, if your family is saying you ain't right, then it doesn't matter how you perpetrate to the world. The reality is what your family says. And we think we're godly. We think we have the perseverance and the self-control. We got the knowledge. I believe I'm morally excellent and your brother thinks you're mean.

That breaks the chain of the full complete player of a disciple. By this we will know that you are my disciples because you love one another. And then finally, as the bedrock and the foundation of all of these things is love. The word love here is agape love which has to do with Jesus love, which has to do with sacrificial love. That I'm willing to sacrifice. That's why I have brotherly kindness. That shows godliness because it's just like Christ.

I persevere because Jesus did. I have self-control like Jesus had. I picked up the knowledge and I'm able to live in moral excellence. You say, "This is hard." Welcome to the game. This is our calling as disciples to play the game and to play it this way and these are the seven attributes of the complete disciple who takes the field and this is what God is calling you to. Why? Verse 8 says, "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful to the true knowledge of God."

What's the point of living this life and being useless? A grain of sand on the beach is free, but if you put that sand in a sandbag at Home Depot, you got to pay for it. You add some glue to some paper and throw that free sand on some paper and they call it sandpaper. Now you got to pay for it. You put that sand in a computer chip, Silicon Valley. Now you got to pay a whole lot for it.

How did the free sand all of a sudden start costing different levels of money? Its usefulness changed. The question is, what's your usefulness to the kingdom of God? Because your usefulness determines your value. And he says, "If I can get players who are complete, that's where the value is."

Let me close with this because I want you to hear this. Verse 11 tells you where you should keep your eyes. The reason why we struggle in continuing and persevering in the attributes of the disciple is because we're short-sighted. Our eyes are not fixed on where they should be fixed. Verse 11 says, "For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."

The Bible says watch yourself so that you receive your full reward. If it can be abundantly supplied, that means it can also not be abundantly supplied. Everyone does not enter the kingdom the same way. It depends on how they played the game. Which is why there is a judgment seat of Christ for Christians. Because everyone doesn't get the same thing. He judges all of us and he says, "If you're the complete player, your entrance into the kingdom will be abundantly supplied to you."

There's something in the Bible called the great cloud of witnesses. These are people who they were here, they would tell you it's worth it. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He's the author and finisher of your faith and for the joy set before him, he even despised the shame. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. They would come back and say, all of the Hall of Faithers would say, "It's worth it. Live it."

And that leads me with Paul. Paul in Romans 8:18, he says, "I do not consider the sufferings of this present time to be in any comparison to the glory which I will receive." You know what that means? It is worth it. It's time for us to go beyond the hype, taking what he has given us and moving to the field of play because all of us want to play in such a way that we hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You played hard. Well done." Somebody ought to give him praise. It's worth it. It's hard. It's not easy. It's our calling. It's time to go beyond the hype and play the game that God has called us to play because who wants to enter the kingdom as a spiritual bust?

Guest (Male): That was Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of gifts for you. Jonathan's book called Your Time Is Now and his six-part audio series, Discipleship for Everyday. You may think you're not ready to make a difference in God's kingdom or that you're too young for others to take seriously, but that's not what God thinks.

The book Your Time Is Now by Jonathan is our gift to you as a thanks for your donation to help support the ministry of The Alternative. And along with the book is Jonathan's six-part audio series, Discipleship for Everyday. This six-part collection goes beyond routine religion, equipping you to live out your faith with authenticity and impact every day.

It's designed to help you grow as a disciple and inspire others to do the same, leading to stronger families, more vibrant churches, and communities transformed by the gospel. Both are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of The Alternative. It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible.

Get all the details online at TonyEvans.org. Again, that's TonyEvans.org. Or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Thank you for listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. The Faith Walk is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.