The Faith Walk

Jonathan Evans: Today on The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. If you're trying to figure out what God is telling you to do, if you're praying about your purpose in this life, He's already given it. He gave marching orders to the disciples. And the reason why this is so important is because there were a group of people at the same time that had opposing marching orders.

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: Matthew 28:18, 19, 20. And it says, and Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Today I want to talk to you from the title Marching Orders. I don't know if you know it or not, but Jesus has given the church marching orders. So if you're confused on what your calling is, if you're trying to figure out what God is telling you to do, if you're praying about your purpose in this life, He's already given it. He gave marching orders to the disciples. And the reason why this is so important is because there were a group of people at the same time that had opposing marching orders.

See, if you understand the context of Matthew 28, you understand that here Jesus has risen and there were some guards that were there at the tomb. After what had happened at the tomb, the guards went and told the chief priest. The chief priest and the elders came together and said, "Let me give you a payoff. And I want you to tell everybody that while you were sleeping, the disciples came and stole the body." Translation: the resurrection is not real. I need you to go proliferate a lie in the culture that He has not risen from the dead even though I know you saw that angel that scared you to death.

Don't tell nobody about that. I need you to go out there and tell them that the body was stolen and we'll give you a payoff for that lie. If you look at Matthew 28:15, it says, "And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story is widely spread among the Jews and is to this day." So they went to a meeting, the guards. They said what happened, they got a payoff, they got instruction on what they should do and they took their marching orders. Which is why there are people today who do not believe in the resurrection. They believe that His body was stolen, they believe the lie from the payoff.

What Jesus did is say, "We're going to have another meeting." If you look at Matthew 28:16, the first word there is "But." But the 11 disciples proceeded to Galilee to meet Jesus at a certain mount. And He had another meeting with them because He said, "We need to penetrate the culture with the truth because there's another group that's trying to penetrate it with a lie." And so if in our community more people believe a lie than the truth, there must not be disciples that are at the meeting. Or maybe we're at the meeting, but we ain't marching.

Because there are people in the culture that are marching to a different drum beat and God has called us as disciples to come to the meeting and take our marching order and send the truth out into the culture. Now, this was a kind of a crazy lie. It's actually easier to believe that He is risen than the disciples stole His body. You mean the most important, greatest figure of all time? All these archaeologists done found everything else, but you can't find Jesus? You mean to tell me, understand the reason why we believe is not just because we have some random without knowledge faith.

See, people think faith means you don't know. I don't believe in yellow elephants because I know they don't exist. Our faith is based on a knowledge. We have 11 disciples that are saying they went to a meeting after the resurrection. That means they are eyewitnesses to these things, were willing to die horrible deaths for what they have seen and what they have lived with. Matter of fact, if you go to 1 Corinthians 15:6, it says 500 people saw Jesus after His death. There are 500 people that saw Jesus after His death and could proclaim to you, oh He has risen.

The lie that many people believe, even the Jews to this day that are not Messianic Jews, they'll tell you He was a common criminal back in His day that got crucified for all of His troubles just like all the other crucifixions. His body was stolen, you know that kind of thing. They're believing the lie. Now, this lie ain't even that good. Tell everybody you was sleeping so hard that 11 disciples tiptoed past you and moved the stone. And ain't none of y'all, this your job, ain't none of y'all guards even did this? You was on that lavender and that melatonin that tough?

And then they got the body and snuck past you and can never find the most important figure in the history of the world? I'm here to let you know this is not a game. He has risen. He's never going to be found. He's not here. And so when they get to this meeting, you got to act like you were there. When they get to the meeting they're like, "Tell us what to do." Notice when the words start turning red at verse 18, 19, and 20, there's no black in there anywhere. They ain't saying nothing. If you look at the resurrected Savior in the face, and you just watched Him die, when He speaks, don't say nothing. It has become evident to them, He is King.

They're not saying, "Oh Jesus, this command you giving us going to be hard, the streets going to be tough, I'm fearful, I'm not sure if I can speak well, I don't know what people going to say." They're standing at attention. The church got too many excuses. We like to talk. Jesus has risen. He doesn't need our "well I'm not sure and the streets going to and people ain't going to." He's alive. We need to stop living like He's dead. We stand at attention and we're trying to hear what our Savior is saying.

If you believe that He's risen, then He is giving you marching orders and telling you what to do no matter who you are, no matter what happens to you, no matter what your past is, no matter who hurt you, no matter the struggle that you face, no matter the excuses that you have. If He is risen and giving you marching orders, it's the church's job to say, "Yes, sir." And He starts out by telling you why. He says, "All authority has been given to Me." Y'all know my definitions. All means all. My wife's skin crawls stop using the word in the definition. But I be like, "Whomp whomp." They know what it means.

All means all. What He's saying is, this is not some generic religion with a generic God. He has all the authority. Okay, let me tell you what He's saying. He has no rival. There is no other. He has no equal. There is no person, place, thing, angel, priest, prophet, king, president, it don't matter who you are, He got all the authority. This authority is not split, spliced, shared, social, segmented. It ain't none of that. He is supreme. So He's bringing you to the meeting this morning and He's saying, "I want you to understand that I possess all the authority."

What is He saying? If you want any of it, you can't have any of it unless you're under My authority. If y'all had marbles and I said, "Now, I got all the marbles." You know what that mean? You ain't got none. That means they all came from over there and now they're over here. Okay, you're still not there. Okay, if He has all the authority, you know what that means, church? You have none. See, you can't get confused at this meeting. This is not a shared thing. He has all of it.

Guest (Male): More of The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans in a moment. Did you know that God has a purpose for you right now? 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. We want to give you a book by Jonathan called Your Time Is Now. This book 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 the book and six-part series are 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. Find your way out of distractions and into God's purpose for your life. Now, let's get back to Jonathan with the rest of today's message.

Jonathan Evans: You can't get confused at this meeting. This is not a shared thing. He has all of it. Okay, this means you have no authority over your time. No authority over your family. No authority over what it means to be a wife, no authority over what it means to be a husband, no authority over your parenting, no authority over your money. You have no authority over your plan, no authority over your dreams, no authority over your health, no authority over defining yourself or self-identity. You have zero authority.

It all belongs to Him. And the problem is, we have Christians who are at the meeting that think they possess an authority they don't have, and then wonder why evil, drama, and negative consequences possess their lives. The reason why they possess your life is because you're trying to have an authority that belongs to Jesus. You have no authority. When I was in college, I pledged Alpha. Okay, I pledged Alpha. Y'all didn't know I was in there, y'all don't know me. I was in there.

But then my junior and senior year I started growing spiritually. And I started thinking about some of the stuff we was saying. I was like, that ain't true. I memorized this poem called Invictus when I was online. I see some of y'all Greek like, yes, I remember that. And I started thinking about processing what it said. It said, out of the night that covers me, black as a pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. And I'm online just saying it. And then as I grew, I said, what was I talking about?

See, if you don't know what your kids are into, they will be pledging false truth and pledging it like memorizing it. What do you mean whatever gods may be? I know who God is. And I'm not a polytheist, there's only one. And then at the end of it, it says, I'm the master of my fate and I'm the captain of my soul. No, I'm not. What was I talking about? The same thing many Christians live. I'm the master of my fate and the captain of my soul. You ain't the master of nothing.

The Bible says be careful in Jeremiah 4:13 through 15, it says watch out when you say we're going to go to such and such a city and buy land and do this and do that. You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. It says your life is but a vapor and vanishes away quickly. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will do this or do that." In other words, when He's talking about His authority, He's talking about Christians understanding we live our lives in humility under the authority of God, saying, tell me what to do, if the Lord wills.

We're entitled like we have the authority and it's His responsibility to obey. He's sitting at the head of the table. He has all authority and you're sitting at the table and you're at the meeting. You have responsibility to the one who has authority. But don't confuse responsibility for authority. Because Jesus can veto you anytime He decides. And we're supposed to change direction and go based on His word. He says, "I have all of it." Now, this authority that He's talking about is defined as exousia, not dunamis.

Dunamis means dynamite, that means power. Exousia is official bestowed authority. It's a whole another ball game. He's saying, I got exousia. I have official bestowed authority. I'm going to give you a Tony Evans moment. On the football field, you have players that are fast, strong, can lift a lot of weights. They have dunamis. But then there's another group on the same field that's slower, fatter, and has no power in the weight room. But the team of officials has an official bestowed authority that can make all the dunamis stop.

The reason why they can make it all stop is because sitting behind the desk at 345 Park Avenue is the commissioner of the league. The commissioner of the league has commissioned them to control the game. So it doesn't matter how powerful the players are, once the referees throw the yellow flag, all that power comes to a halt because the power dunamis is under the authority exousia. He's telling you it's not just dunamis power, I proven that too. It's exousia power, which means your kings, your president, your boss, it don't matter who they are, if I throw My yellow flag, I can shut this whole thing down.

I have an exousia that cannot be messed with. I have an official authority. That's why in Philippians 2 it says that's why He gave Him a name that is above every name, and at that name every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father, both in heaven and on earth and under the earth. Ain't nobody getting left out of this. This is the level of authority that He has. In Ephesians 1:20, it talks about Him being raised and seated at the right hand of the Father far above all rule, all power, all authority.

He's far above it all. That is the position that He has. And He's letting you know at this meeting, "I got all of it." The first Adam lost it. God gave him rule in the garden to rule and have dominion. And then the enemy came and took it once Adam and Eve stepped out of under authority. Then they lost the authority they had been granted. That's why in Matthew 4, the devil's able to offer Jesus the kingdoms of this world if you bow down and worship me. How he get that?

It wasn't given to him, he stole it from Adam and Eve. But when Jesus disarmed the powers and authority through the cross, He took that mess back. And not only did He take it back, He took it back at a whole another level. Because it says that I have all the authority in heaven and on earth. Which means even the heavenly host are bowing down. So if the heavenly host are bowing down to Jesus Christ, then why we standing up and looking at Him in His face like we on His level?

Christians have to be at this meeting like this. Then you'll be able to live out your purpose and give access to His authority. Most seasons I'm proud to say it, this season's a little different. I am the chaplain of the Cowboys. I've been doing the chapel services, but they haven't been listening. But as the chaplain of the Cowboys, I get a badge that many people don't get. I got access y'all ain't got, I'm just saying. If you go to the game by yourself, you going to be in lines, you going to be in traffic, you going to go through the door with everybody else standing in line frustrated because they scanning tickets slow.

You going to sit far off depending on how much, you may be in the standing room, I don't know where y'all at. But if you go with me, you get another layer of access you couldn't have by yourself. Now all of a sudden you at lot seven. Now all of a sudden you going through the player door down the elevator, you can come in the locker room if you with me because you're sharing in my access, you're sharing in my authority. So if you want to be able to have the authority that Jesus has, you can't try to do that by yourself.

You got to roll with Him in order to piggyback on who He is and what He has. That's why Luke 10:19 says, "I give you the authority to trample on scorpions and snakes and every evil scheme of the enemy." That's why Matthew 16:19 says, "I give you the keys to the kingdom and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." He's trying to give the disciples authority. But if you at the meeting like you got the authority, you won't get what He's got.

But be praying for a purpose. And He's like, "I can get heaven to bow down and I can't get y'all to bow down."

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 partnership of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.