Skip to content America: Turning a Nation to God Feb 2 · 25 min ...more
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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
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0:00 The reason why some issues in your life have yet to be resolved is because of God, not the devil.0:07 Doctor Tony Evans says whether it's gurus, groups, or governments, if our answers come from any source but the Lord, he might let us get what we deserve.0:16 If God is your problem, only God is your solution.0:21 Celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, this is the alternative with doctor Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president0:33 of the Urban Alternative. The world believes religion ought to be so private that it doesn't show up in public or even have any influence there. But doctor Evans says at the root of our0:44 cultural pandemic is a spiritual pandemic that once God has dismissed from society, the spiritual vacuum created is filled by all kinds of trouble. Let's join him as he explains.0:57 Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, and Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Now all the king's horses and all the king's men1:09 could not put Humpty Dumpty back together again. We've all grown up learning that nursery rhyme. But I wonder how many of us1:21 have actually studied it. Evidently, mister Dumpty was whole at 1 point, strong and1:33 vibrant because he was able to lift himself up to the top of this wall. He is perusing the world around him when something cataclysmic goes wrong.1:45 We don't know what it was that happened, but whatever it was was very serious because it knocked him off of his pinnacle. It knocked him from his1:57 place of stability, and he came crashing down. Now mister Dumpty, once vibrant, once whole, is now2:09 shattered. He's now collapsed on the ground and he's broken into many, many pieces. What grabs my attention is where mister Dumpy went2:21 for help. He knew he needed to be put back together, but he didn't go to his friends, he didn't go to his family. The king called a meeting of congress.2:34 And we know congress got involved because all the king's horses and all the king's men. So there was this congressional meeting to try to figure out what we're gonna do2:46 about the collapse of mister Dumpty's world. They passed a fix mister Dumpty law2:58 designed to fix up, patch up, and repair his broken life and his broken world. The tragedy of the nursery rhyme3:11 is that the best that the land had to offer, the most powerful people in the land, the programs and the funding were not3:23 able to fix mister Dumpty's dilemma. The most casual observer is not unaware3:35 that our world is shattered. It has become inextricably clear that all the king's horses and all the king's men don't know how to fix it.3:47 And you can almost name the issue today, and it is unresolved. Not due to lack of money, not due to lack of power, due to lack of3:59 desire even. And the question is why, and what needs to be done to fix it? Is it fixable or is it4:11 hopeless? In second chronicles 15, we have a summary statement of what's wrong with the world and4:23 how the world works. It is important for you and I to know how the world works so that we can offer answers to4:35 people who do not know where to find them, even answers to ourselves. We are introduced to a crisis in verse4:47 5. In those times, there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in. For many disturbances afflicted all4:59 the inhabitants of the lands. It says that there was no peace to him who came out or to him5:10 who went in, and it affected everybody, all the inhabitants of the lands. There was a crisis5:23 of gargantuan proportion because everybody was impacted by it. It says at the beginning of verse 6, nation5:34 rose up against nation and city rose up against city. Nation against nation, city against city, all the inhabitants. That's5:47 what we might call cultural chaos. There was a crisis. Why? Why is the world unraveling5:59 at warp speed? Or maybe the question is why are you and I unraveling at warp speed? Verse 6 says, nation6:10 was crushed by nation, city by city, and then we get the zinger. For God troubled them with every kind of distress.6:22 I would have thought it would have said, the devil troubled them with every kind of distress. I would have expected when I got all this mess and all6:34 this madness that it ain't nothing but the devil. I would have thought we've got this many problems, this much chaos all over the place affecting6:46 everybody that the devil's behind this. But that's not what verse 6 says. Verse 6 says, God troubled them with every kind of6:58 distress. Now, brothers and sisters, if God is your problem, it doesn't matter who you elect.7:12 If God is your problem, doesn't matter what program you come up with. If God is your problem, it doesn't matter what counselor you go to.7:24 If God is your problem, only God is your solution. If he's your problem. For God troubled them with every kind of distress. Now I7:36 know that may mess up your view of God. That may cause your view of God to be reconsidered. What what wait a minute. Are you still talking about the good God that I7:48 praise? Are you still have you ever considered the reason why some issues in your life have been yet to be resolved is because of God, not the7:59 devil? Theologically, what we are experiencing on every level, personal and national, is what we would8:11 call the passive wrath of God. The passive wrath of God. Now let me explain that. There is the8:23 active wrath of God. This is when God directly and intentionally brings judgment. You8:35 find the active wrath of God throughout the old testament. Like when he brings down fire and brimstone from heaven and destroys Sodom and8:47 Gomorrah, when he opens up the earth and people are swallowed up. That's the active wrath of God. That's him decreeing it to be so and bringing it about8:59 directly and personally and cataclysmically. That's his active wrath. The death of Jesus Christ changed how9:11 God relates to the world. Some theologians, liberal theologians struggle with whether the God of the Old9:22 Testament is the same God of the New Testament. Because they say he seems so mean in the Old Testament and so nice in the New Testament.9:35 The Bible says in second Corinthians 5 that the death of Jesus Christ reconciled the world to God. So9:47 with the death of Jesus Christ, God could relate to the world differently because his wrath was satisfied by the substitutionary9:59 sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So it's the same God. It's a different relationship. So now we do not face the10:11 active wrath of God. We face the passive wrath of God. It's still wrath because it10:22 is part of the nature of God. He cannot ignore sin. He cannot, bypass sin, but it shifts how he relates to it.10:35 Doctor Evans will tell us more about the difference between active and passive wrath when he comes back in a moment to continue his message from this important series, race, Culture, and Christ.10:47 This collection will help you see how the things that unite us as believers can overcome any divisions, and how putting that understanding to work can change our entire country. The material covered in these 6 lessons10:59 is really close to Tony's heart, and we're offering them to you on CD and digital download along with Tony's powerful book, Oneness Embraced. This bestseller explores his personal hurts11:11 and hopes over the cultural and racial divides that separate God's people. And there are practical kingdom minded steps that churches and individuals can take to overcome prejudice,11:23 heal divisions, and build unity. We've packaged these restorative messages and book together as our gift to you when you make a donation to help keep Tony's vital teaching on this station.11:35 Call us today at 1 8 0 0 8 0 0 3 2 2 2 or visit tony evans dot org to make the arrangements to get your copy of these important resources. Again, that's tony evans11:47 dot o r g. I'll repeat that contact information for you later in the program. Stay with us.11:53 The thing about serving an infinite God is that no matter how much you know about him, there's always more to learn. So whether you're brand new to scripture or an experienced ministry professional, there's something for12:05 you at the Tony Evans Training Center. You'll find online courses covering core concepts of the faith. Working at your own pace and schedule, you'll dig deep into the historical context of the book, uncover12:17 the key teachings, and learn how to apply them in real world situations. There are lots of exclusive content from Doctor. Evans to keep you interested and motivated. And an online forum where you can ask questions,12:29 get answers, and collaborate with other students. The more you learn, the more you'll want to learn. Give it a try. The Tony Evans Training Center, a world of discovery anytime, anywhere.12:41 The passive wrath of God, which I can only summarize now, we'll look at it in more detail at another time, is described in detail in Romans chapter 1 verses12:53 18 to the end of the chapter. Verse 18 of Romans 1 says, the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness. So he says13:05 there is wrath in the New Testament because it's nature. God's God must react, must respond. He says the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness.13:17 For when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Then 3 times in that chapter, you will read the phrase, and God13:29 turned them over. And God turned them over. And God turned them over. The passive wrath of God is when13:41 he releases you to life without him. He lets you go. It says, because they no longer wanted to retain the knowledge of God,13:53 he released them to life without him, and then it shows the consequence that came as men departed from him. He14:05 says, as God released them, you don't want me? I don't wanna be where I'm not wanted. And so God releases you. But when he releases you to life14:17 without him, that creates a chasm, and nature abhors a vacuum, empty space. So it's gotta be filled with14:28 something. And what it is filled with are the consequences of you ignoring God. It's not because God zaps you, It's because14:40 you have now created space to be zapped. He says that consequence shows up in Romans 1, in the14:52 decline in society, in the morals of society, and then he comes to the third 1. And in the third 1,15:04 says, and God turned them over. And then it says, and you knew you were at the bottom. Here's where you know you're15:16 at the bottom of the passive wrath of God. Here's where you know it doesn't get any worse than this. He says, not only do they do the same, but they okay those who do15:28 it. So when you legislate and legalize and okay and endorse unrighteousness, you're at the15:39 bottom of God's wrath. God troubled them with every kind of trouble. So I would like to suggest what you're reading in your newspaper today, what you're15:51 seeing on television, what you're seeing in the news is the passive wrath of God at work. In fact, you may not need to see it in the news. You may need to only look at16:03 your own life. The passive wrath of God. God is loving. God is kind. God is just. God is all of that. But but in16:15 addition, God cannot, will not skip sin, so he will leave you. It's like it's like you telling a child who continues to16:27 rebel in your home, you can't stay here anymore because you no longer want to respect me so you can make it on your own.16:40 There was a crisis. You and I are watching the devolution of a nation, not the evolution, the devolution. You're watching a nation16:52 in decline and it will continue to decline. Now, why did God trouble them? What what17:04 were the causes? What were the reasons that God that led to this or that leads to it in your own life? Because the principle is17:16 not only a collective principle for society, it's a personal principle for your life and my life. Verse 3 gives us 3 reasons for the17:28 devolution of life. For many days, Israel was without the true God. Reason number 1,17:41 they were without the true God. Now please don't misread that. He didn't say they were without religion.17:54 He didn't say they were without using the name God. He defines what he says when he says without the true God.18:07 Whenever you see in the Bible decline occur, it's because idolatry has increased. Idolatry is the worship of a false god.18:19 Because they left the true God and went to idols now let's remember the definition of an idol. An idol is any18:30 noun, person, place, thing, or thought that you look to as your source. In the Bible, when they worshiped an idol, they were looking for that idol to do something. That idol was to make the18:42 property pregnant for food and for fertility. That idol was to do something, protect them from their their enemies. They were that idol was their source.18:55 They looked to it for something. It wasn't just a thing, it was a thing to do something. 1 of the reasons we've not been able to solve the racial problem in America is because race has become an idol.19:09 So your race can be an idol when when black trumps God and white trumps God, black and white just became God. Class can become an idol.19:21 Money can become an idol. Power can become an idol. Freedom can become an idol because it's misdefined. Because now folk wanna be free19:33 to be whatever they wanna be and do whatever they wanna do, and they call that freedom. There is no such thing as freedom without19:44 legitimate boundaries. You're not you're not free in football to run up into the stands with the ball because you don't wanna get tackled. Without a boundary,19:57 that's madness. That's chaos. But folks don't want boundaries. They wanna be free. So what they've done is deified freedom and made it20:09 a God. Anything you look to as your source is your God. The true God had been marginalized. The20:21 closer the true God is to the life, the family, the church, and the government, the more ordered things are. The further an individual family, church, or government is from God, the more chaotic things20:33 become. When the kids were small, 1 of the things we would do was play hide and go seek. Oftentimes, they could not20:45 find me. They couldn't locate where I was. And after a while, they would get tired of looking. You could hear the20:57 exasperation in their voice. It was all fun and games for a while. Then it became, okay, daddy.21:10 It shifted. At the point of their desperation, I would make some kind of noise or some kind of movement to make21:21 myself findable. Because the goal was not to hurt them. But when they became desperate enough, I made it clear where21:33 I was located. People are saying, but I'm praying to God and nothing has happened. I'm going to church and nothing has happened.21:46 God, I can't find you. You're not desperate enough. You haven't gotten to the place. I haven't gotten to the place. We haven't gotten to the place where we,21:58 like the deer that pants after the water brook. Psalm 42, my heart pants after you, oh God.22:09 Doctor Evans will come back in a moment with some final thoughts to wrap up today's lesson on turning a nation to God. As I mentioned earlier, if you contact us right away, you can receive this message on22:20 CD and digital download as a part of Tony's current 6 message series called race, culture, and Christ. And for the next few days, we're adding a special bonus by including a copy of22:32 Doctor. Evans' powerful bestselling book, Oneness Embraced. To get this package of resources, all we ask is that you make a donation to help keep this important program coming your way. You can make the22:44 arrangements by going to tony evans dot org or by calling our resource request line at 1 808 hundred 32 22, where members of our resource team are manning the phones day and night.22:56 Again, that's 1 808 hundred 3 2 2 2, or just go online to tony evans dot org. It sounds reasonable to say that we'll take a good idea wherever we23:08 can find it, But tomorrow, doctor Evans will talk about the disaster that results when we don't take time to consider the source. Right now though, he's back with a closing comment for today.23:19 We are in trouble. Unless you begin to look at, unless I begin, unless we begin to look at things spiritually and theologically, and not just racially or23:31 culturally or economically or politically, those have their place. But until you look behind the veil and see what God is doing,23:43 you're just looking at news reports. That's all you're looking at. And you think it's just politics. No. It's it's deeper than that. Everything23:55 visible and physical is preceded by something invisible and spiritual. So if you want to address the visible physical, you must address the invisible spiritual. And if you don't know to see24:06 that and to look for that, you'll be stuck. You'll be stuck, but you don't have to be. God is real.24:18 The God of the Bible is real because that's the only God there is. And to take him seriously24:30 is to experience him deeply.24:35 The alternative with doctor Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is celebrating 40 years of faithfulness thanks to the generous contributions of listeners like you.
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