Dr. Tony Evans

Tony Evans - Unleashing Kingdom Pursuit

December 14, 2025 | 27:29

Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.

#WordofGod #KingdomofGod #Government #Heaven #Passion #Eternity #Accountability #Divination #Control #TonyEvans

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Dr. Tony Evans | Tony Evans - Unleashing Kingdom Pursuit | December 14, 2025

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Tony evans: there are many things in life
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That can and will concern us.
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Worry is where that concern
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Has become a monster in your mind,
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He says, "do not worry."
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He is looking for opportunities
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To show you he's in control and got this thing worked out.
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He's looking for opportunities
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To let you know that you are covered.
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Because the key is, he is your father.
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♪♪♪
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Tony: god has a kingdom.
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Many who are outside of the kingdom,
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They're not in the kingdom,
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They don't belong to the kingdom,
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But they want the benefits of the kingdom.
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But god has many kids who are in the kingdom
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Who don't get all the benefits of the kingdom
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Because they don't know how to access the kingdom.
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So some are outside,
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Want the benefits, but they don't belong.
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Some belong but don't get all the benefits
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'cause they don't know how to function.
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Jesus in luke chapter 12 speaks about, again,
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This thing called the kingdom.
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The kingdom is the jurisdiction of heaven.
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It is the governmental realm of god.
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When we speak about kingdom--
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The greek word "vasilia" means rule or authority--
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It is the realm of divine jurisdiction, or god's rule.
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It's his sphere of rule.
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It is the central theme of the bible.
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The bible's theme is the glory of god
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Through the advancement of his kingdom.
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Non-christians are not in the kingdom.
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Christians are in the kingdom.
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But you can be a christian in the kingdom,
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But not properly operating
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Under the jurisdiction of the king.
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So in luke chapter 12, jesus wants to speak
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To those who are in the kingdom
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About maximizing the benefits of the kingdom
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Since you're in it
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And these benefits are offered you by the king.
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He says in verse 31: "but seek his kingdom,
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And all these things will be added to you."
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The word "seek," as we've said in our sermon title,
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Means to aggressively pursue.
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It means to go after in a very passionate way.
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It means to prioritize the jurisdiction of god,
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The kingdom, as your driving force in life.
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Don't just be born in it. go after it.
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Grab all that it has to offer. seek or pursue.
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In matthew chapter 6, verse 33, it reads this way:
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"seek ye first the kingdom of god."
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It adds the word "first."
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You must seek it passionately, as a priority.
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What you have to understand is there are certain things
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God can't do.
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I know we like to say god can do everything,
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But that's not quite true.
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But there are some things god can't do.
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For example, the bible says: "by two immutable things
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It is impossible for god to lie."
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So god can't lie.
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God can't contradict his essential nature.
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God can't ungod himself,
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He cannot make himself not exist,
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Because of his eternal nature.
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So there's some things god cannot do.
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Let me tell you something else god can't do.
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He can't be second. he can't be second.
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He will never accept second.
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Once you make him second,
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Then somebody else has become god
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'cause they're first.
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So whenever god is put in a secondary moment--
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When you play baseball, if you miss first base,
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It doesn't matter that you touched second, third,
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And home plate.
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All that goes out the window 'cause you missed what's first.
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When you miss first the jurisdiction of god,
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The fact that you got second, third, and home plate
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And all that other stuff you didn't touch
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Is canceled by the fact that god has been knocked out
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Of his first-place status.
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So god says, "i want you to pursue my reign,
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My rule, my jurisdiction, which is called the kingdom,
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Of which believers are citizens.
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And i want you to do it first.
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I want you to get my thinking first,
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Look at my viewpoint first, approach it my way first,
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Define it as i define it first."
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Oh, most people will bring god in, but rarely first.
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It's after they've tried everything else,
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After they've talked to everybody else,
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After they've gotten everybody else's viewpoint.
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And then when none of that works,
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We go to the spare tire.
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You know what a spare tire is. a spare tire is "just in case."
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It's in the trunk of your car in case something goes flat.
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And if something goes flat, you go to the spare,
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You put it on, you fix the tire,
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You put it back in the trunk until your next flat.
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What most people do is they have god
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When life goes flat,
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When something is not working out
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And we go get him to keep us rolling
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Until the flat is fixed.
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Then he goes back into the trunk until the next flat.
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No, we must pursue his kingdom first.
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Now, that's not some pie-in-the-sky concept,
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Because the idea of the kingdom is to bring god's perspective
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Into history.
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It's not just some theoretical concept.
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It is the view of heaven being made a template for earth
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And being prioritized.
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I've shared sometime in the past--
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When i lived in atlanta,
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My favorite restaurant to go to was paschal's
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Because of their fried chicken.
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I'm a connoisseur of fried chicken.
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And paschal's was the soul food place in atlanta
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During that era when i lived there
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That was the go-to place for soul food
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And for fried chicken.
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Of course, i relocated from atlanta here to dallas
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And one time going through the airport,
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I noticed that they had paschal's at the airport.
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And i had good memories from my atlanta days.
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So i'm at the atlanta airport,
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I come across paschal's, and it dawns on me
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This is an awesome time to get my chicken on.
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So i went and i ordered me two thighs and a leg
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Because i was reminded about paschal's fried chicken.
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While they were cooking the chicken,
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Over the loudspeaker it said,
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"last call, flight 74 to dallas."
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I found myself on the horns of a dilemma,
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Because my mouth was watering for this chicken.
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I was thinking, salivating, for this chicken.
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But they were also calling me for my flight.
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Do i stay and eat my chicken and risk missing my flight,
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Or do i catch my flight and say goodbye to my chicken?
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Trust me, i was in a catch-22.
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Just in the nick of time, they handed me some chicken,
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But it was right out of the fryer.
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It was piping hot.
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I could barely hold it. it was piping hot.
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Do i risk--do i just try to let it cool
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And eat my chicken, or do i catch the flight?
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What does a man do in a time like this?
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What i did was i took my chicken on the flight.
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God is not asking you to give up your chicken.
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He's just saying, "don't miss the plane."
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[congregation applauding]
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He's saying, "don't let this kingdom of the culture
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Keep you from missing the kingdom of god,
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The jurisdiction of divine rule."
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And so he says, "i want you to seek"--
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That is, to pursue, to make it a big deal,
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To go after the rule of god,
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To go after the prioritization of god.
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Now, why does this matter?
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Well, he's spent from verse 21 all the way down to verse 31
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Saying over and over again, "do not worry."
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He says, in verse 25, you shouldn't be worried.
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He says, in verse 22, do not worry.
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The context leading up to the kingdom
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Is a context about worry.
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Worry is concern gone haywire.
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Concern, you control; worry controls you.
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There are many things in life that can and will concern us.
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Worry is where that concern
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Has become a monster in your mind,
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Coating your thinking so that it tells you
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You're not going to sleep tonight.
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So that it tells you
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You're not gonna function today.
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So that it dictates to you
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You're gonna have to take those drugs
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Or to drink that alcohol in order to survive your worry
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'cause it's controlling you.
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You're no longer able to control it,
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Which is concern.
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He says, "do not worry, do not worry, do not worry."
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One man said, "i'm worried about so many things.
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If anything else goes wrong,
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It's going to take me two weeks to get around
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To worry about it."
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Another man said, "i'll pay somebody $1000
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To do my worrying for me.
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If i can find somebody who will do my worrying for me,
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I will pay 'em $1000."
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A man volunteered.
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He said, "okay, pay me $1000. i'll do your worrying for you."
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He says, "where's my thousand dollars?"
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The man said, "that's the first thing
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You need to worry about."
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[congregation laughing]
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But worry consumes us.
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And it gets sophisticated, obsessive compulsive,
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Panic attacks, post-traumatic stress,
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And a myriad of other definitions for worry.
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Yet jesus commands us not to worry.
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He doesn't say, "don't worry."
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You ever heard somebody tell you, "don't worry"?
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Okay, it seems so...so "you must not have nothing going on
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In your life."
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Yet that's what jesus says.
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He says, "stop it. stop worrying.
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Stop letting the concerns control you."
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Worry is like a rocking chair.
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It gets you started,
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It just doesn't take you anywhere.
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He then says, "first of all, when you worry,
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You worry about the wrong priority."
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He says that in verse 21:
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"for this reason i say to you, do not worry about your life,
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As to what you will eat
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Or your body as to what you will put on."
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He says, "don't worry about your life, because life--
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About your food-- because life is more than food,"
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Verse 23.
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In other words, if you're worried about
00:14:05.096 --> 00:14:06.664
What you're gonna eat,
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He says that's a secondary worry.
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You ought to worry about
00:14:09.834 --> 00:14:11.168
Whether you're gonna wake up to eat.
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'cause if god doesn't give you life,
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Eating is not your big problem.
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He says, "don't worry about your clothes.
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You need to worry about whether you have a body strong enough
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To get in 'em."
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He says you worry about the second thing
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When there's a bigger thing
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That you really need to be concerned about.
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He said, "let me help you with worry."
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He says, "i want you to study nature."
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Because one of the things you find out
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About mother nature,
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Who was established by father god,
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Is that he built in to the operation of nature
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Its ability to care for itself.
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I mean, plants, fruit, vegetables have built-in seeds
00:14:59.417 --> 00:15:08.259
To continue their life.
00:15:08.259 --> 00:15:12.129
I mean, it's built in. the acorn becomes an oak.
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It's all built in.
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He says if you study nature more than television,
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You'll understand how god works.
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He then gets specific.
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He says, "consider the ravens,"
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Verse 24, "for they neither sow nor reap."
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They don't farm, they don't have plows,
00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:43.728
They don't have cds, mutual funds,
00:15:43.728 --> 00:15:46.063
Or bank of america bank accounts.
00:15:46.063 --> 00:15:49.300
He says, "consider the ravens,"
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Which by the way, are unclean birds,
00:15:52.103 --> 00:15:55.239
"for they neither sow nor reap nor do they have storehouses
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Or barns, yet god feeds them."
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Ravens be eating every day
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And don't have a storehouse of worms
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'cause they assume god's gonna feed 'em.
00:16:13.724 --> 00:16:17.661
That's an assumption. so they operate that way.
00:16:17.661 --> 00:16:22.099
He says, "and are you not more valuable than them?"
00:16:22.099 --> 00:16:27.938
He says, "consider," verse 27, "the lilies, how they grow.
00:16:27.938 --> 00:16:33.544
They neither toil nor spin.
00:16:33.544 --> 00:16:37.348
But i tell you: not even solomon,
00:16:37.348 --> 00:16:38.983
In all of his glory,
00:16:38.983 --> 00:16:40.317
Was not clothed like one of these."
00:16:40.317 --> 00:16:44.055
He says, "have you seen the beautiful flowers?"
00:16:44.055 --> 00:16:47.191
He says, "they don't have a singer sewing machine.
00:16:47.191 --> 00:16:50.394
They don't have a personal tailor,
00:16:50.394 --> 00:16:53.197
But every spring, they be popping up looking good,
00:16:53.197 --> 00:16:55.766
Talking about how pretty they are."
00:16:55.766 --> 00:16:59.503
He says don't you understand how god has this thing working?
00:16:59.503 --> 00:17:02.873
It's built in. it's built in.
00:17:02.873 --> 00:17:06.610
The provision for nature is built in.
00:17:06.610 --> 00:17:11.615
And god has built it in.
00:17:11.615 --> 00:17:16.187
He says, "based on what god has done in nature, don't worry,
00:17:16.187 --> 00:17:21.258
Don't worry, don't worry, don't worry.
00:17:21.258 --> 00:17:25.496
Based on what god has done in nature."
00:17:25.496 --> 00:17:30.734
And then he says, "all these things,"
00:17:30.734 --> 00:17:34.572
The things that we worry about,
00:17:34.572 --> 00:17:36.240
"the nations eagerly seek,
00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:39.343
But your father knows you need these things.
00:17:39.343 --> 00:17:43.114
But seek his kingdom
00:17:43.114 --> 00:17:44.648
And these things will be added to you," ooh.
00:17:44.648 --> 00:17:47.718
He says when it comes to the ravens,
00:17:47.718 --> 00:17:50.121
When it comes to the flowers, god does it.
00:17:50.121 --> 00:17:53.224
When it comes to you, your daddy does it.
00:17:53.224 --> 00:17:56.127
He switches from god to father.
00:17:56.127 --> 00:18:01.265
What the problem is,
00:18:01.265 --> 00:18:02.600
Is many of us have not yet learned
00:18:02.600 --> 00:18:04.568
To relate to god as father.
00:18:04.568 --> 00:18:07.037
We relate to god as god.
00:18:07.037 --> 00:18:09.974
And as god, he's got the power,
00:18:09.974 --> 00:18:11.408
He's got omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence.
00:18:11.408 --> 00:18:14.111
He's got all of these attributes 'cause he's god.
00:18:14.111 --> 00:18:19.049
But he says, "no, when it comes to you,
00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:22.820
Who are in the kingdom, he's daddy."
00:18:22.820 --> 00:18:26.790
And he says, "and daddy knows you need these things.
00:18:26.790 --> 00:18:32.997
But you won't experience what daddy knows you need
00:18:32.997 --> 00:18:37.635
If you're not pursuing dad's jurisdictional environment
00:18:37.635 --> 00:18:42.840
Called his kingdom."
00:18:42.840 --> 00:18:44.308
He says, "seek daddy's kingdom, and the needs will be met."
00:18:44.308 --> 00:18:51.415
So if you're not seeking the kingdom where daddy lives,
00:18:51.415 --> 00:18:56.420
Then you don't have access to what he has built in
00:18:56.420 --> 00:19:00.024
Already in advance to supply.
00:19:00.024 --> 00:19:04.628
Why?
00:19:04.628 --> 00:19:05.963
Because you are--watch this-- you are doing the opposite
00:19:05.963 --> 00:19:10.901
Because he says, in verse 30,
00:19:10.901 --> 00:19:13.070
"for all these things the nations of the world
00:19:13.070 --> 00:19:16.340
Eagerly seek."
00:19:16.340 --> 00:19:17.741
In other words, you'd done gone secular on him.
00:19:17.741 --> 00:19:21.245
And once he sees you call the culture your daddy,
00:19:21.245 --> 00:19:25.449
See, once you go around talking about
00:19:25.449 --> 00:19:26.784
"who's your daddy?"
00:19:26.784 --> 00:19:29.220
Once you call the unbelieving realm
00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:31.789
Your daddy,
00:19:31.789 --> 00:19:33.123
Once you make the society that is separate from god
00:19:33.123 --> 00:19:37.127
Your daddy,
00:19:37.127 --> 00:19:38.462
Then your daddy says, "well, let them take care of you.
00:19:38.462 --> 00:19:43.267
If you're going to abandon my kingdom
00:19:43.267 --> 00:19:45.402
To have this world's kingdom, then don't come to your daddy
00:19:45.402 --> 00:19:48.839
'cause you decided to live in another house.
00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:52.309
So let that house, let that culture,
00:19:52.309 --> 00:19:54.645
Let that unbelieving, secular, godless world cover you
00:19:54.645 --> 00:19:58.782
'cause you'd done made me second."
00:19:58.782 --> 00:20:01.485
'cause that's what the gentiles do,
00:20:01.485 --> 00:20:03.854
That's what the ungodly do, that's what the unrighteous do.
00:20:03.854 --> 00:20:07.324
They pursue their own agenda.
00:20:07.324 --> 00:20:09.793
"i have a kingdom agenda. i have a kingdom realm.
00:20:09.793 --> 00:20:13.264
I have a divine jurisdiction. and in this house, daddy rules."
00:20:13.264 --> 00:20:20.671
And he says, "and daddy knows what you need,
00:20:20.671 --> 00:20:24.341
And it will be added to you,"
00:20:24.341 --> 00:20:26.910
Hm.
00:20:26.910 --> 00:20:29.847
Okay, many of you know i don't eat fish, okay?
00:20:29.847 --> 00:20:33.917
I don't eat fish. i hate fish.
00:20:33.917 --> 00:20:37.187
I despise fish. i know fish is healthy for you.
00:20:37.187 --> 00:20:42.893
[congregation laughing]
00:20:42.893 --> 00:20:46.463
I don't like fish. i don't like the taste.
00:20:46.463 --> 00:20:49.733
I don't like the smell. i don't like fish.
00:20:49.733 --> 00:20:53.937
But there's a reason i don't like fish.
00:20:53.937 --> 00:20:57.741
When i was a boy growing up in baltimore,
00:20:57.741 --> 00:21:02.813
Many times my father did not get work as a longshoreman,
00:21:02.813 --> 00:21:06.417
A stevedore, on the docks in baltimore
00:21:06.417 --> 00:21:08.986
Where he unloaded and loaded boats.
00:21:08.986 --> 00:21:11.789
You were part of what they called gangs,
00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:13.524
And you were called in based on the ships coming in.
00:21:13.524 --> 00:21:15.559
So if no ship was coming in that was part of his gang,
00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:18.128
Part of his group, that was to unload the boat,
00:21:18.128 --> 00:21:20.798
He wouldn't be called.
00:21:20.798 --> 00:21:22.132
And sometimes his group wouldn't be called in
00:21:22.132 --> 00:21:23.967
For weeks or months.
00:21:23.967 --> 00:21:27.404
And so he had a family to feed.
00:21:27.404 --> 00:21:31.275
And i had the privilege of being raised
00:21:31.275 --> 00:21:32.910
By a dad who was there and committed to his family
00:21:32.910 --> 00:21:35.946
And he had a family to feed.
00:21:35.946 --> 00:21:38.816
So to make sure that his family ate,
00:21:38.816 --> 00:21:42.152
Particularly during times when there was no money coming in
00:21:42.152 --> 00:21:47.791
Because his group wasn't called, he would go fishing--
00:21:47.791 --> 00:21:52.696
But not with a fishing rod, but with a net.
00:21:52.696 --> 00:21:58.869
'cause he didn't know how long this was gonna last,
00:21:58.869 --> 00:22:00.471
So he would take a net and go fishing,
00:22:00.471 --> 00:22:03.374
And he would catch herring.
00:22:03.374 --> 00:22:06.777
Now, if you don't know about herring,
00:22:06.777 --> 00:22:08.245
Let me tell you about herring.
00:22:08.245 --> 00:22:10.981
Herring are little fish with a billion bones,
00:22:10.981 --> 00:22:14.718
Tiny bones.
00:22:14.718 --> 00:22:17.321
He would catch all of these herrings.
00:22:17.321 --> 00:22:20.090
We had herring for breakfast, herring for lunch,
00:22:20.090 --> 00:22:26.096
Herring for dinner, herring for dessert.
00:22:26.096 --> 00:22:29.867
[congregation laughing]
00:22:29.867 --> 00:22:31.735
We ate herring, herring, herring during those times,
00:22:31.735 --> 00:22:36.573
And that is why i learned to despise fish, okay?
00:22:36.573 --> 00:22:44.047
Because i had to eat herring during those times.
00:22:44.047 --> 00:22:49.853
But my daddy was gonna make sure
00:22:49.853 --> 00:22:54.591
Whate'er he had to do to make sure his family ate,
00:22:54.591 --> 00:23:00.697
He was going to do that
00:23:00.697 --> 00:23:02.666
Because we were under his jurisdiction.
00:23:02.666 --> 00:23:06.670
So daddy was going to do what daddy had to do.
00:23:06.670 --> 00:23:09.706
God says, "my kingdom is my jurisdiction,
00:23:09.706 --> 00:23:12.910
And if you let me be daddy,
00:23:12.910 --> 00:23:15.112
I know how to make sure things are addressed."
00:23:15.112 --> 00:23:22.786
He said, "don't worry. don't worry.
00:23:22.786 --> 00:23:27.191
Concern is legit, worry is not."
00:23:27.191 --> 00:23:31.662
Because the key is he is your father.
00:23:31.662 --> 00:23:37.868
Jeremiah 17 says that "god will keep you from worrying
00:23:37.868 --> 00:23:41.472
In a drought."
00:23:41.472 --> 00:23:45.142
He says, "but seek, pursue, go after first the kingdom,"
00:23:45.142 --> 00:23:54.685
His jurisdiction, his governance, his guidance,
00:23:54.685 --> 00:23:58.722
"and these things that the gentiles seek
00:23:58.722 --> 00:24:03.160
Will be added to you."
00:24:03.160 --> 00:24:07.431
He says in verse 32, he says, "i know you're sc'red,"
00:24:07.431 --> 00:24:14.037
'cause he says, "be not afraid, little flock."
00:24:14.037 --> 00:24:17.875
He says, "i know what i'm saying to you
00:24:17.875 --> 00:24:19.543
Is scaring you right now."
00:24:19.543 --> 00:24:21.545
Can i put this whole thing on god like that?
00:24:21.545 --> 00:24:26.717
Can i prioritize this kingdom like that
00:24:26.717 --> 00:24:28.585
And it's gonna work out?
00:24:28.585 --> 00:24:29.920
I need to keep a little something-something on the side
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:31.655
Over here in case god don't work out.
00:24:31.655 --> 00:24:36.260
He says, "fear not, little flock."
00:24:36.260 --> 00:24:39.997
And then he says, "for it's your father's good pleasure
00:24:39.997 --> 00:24:43.367
To give you the kingdom," ooh.
00:24:43.367 --> 00:24:47.204
He says the reason you don't have to be afraid
00:24:47.204 --> 00:24:50.274
Is he's looking for opportunities
00:24:50.274 --> 00:24:52.075
To show you he's daddy.
00:24:52.075 --> 00:24:53.877
He is looking for opportunities
00:24:53.877 --> 00:24:55.579
To show you he's in control and got this thing worked out.
00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:58.982
He's looking for opportunities
00:24:58.982 --> 00:25:00.317
To let you know that you are covered.
00:25:00.317 --> 00:25:03.287
Doesn't mean you don't meet your normal responsibilities.
00:25:03.287 --> 00:25:07.024
It means you don't worry as you meet them
00:25:07.024 --> 00:25:09.593
And you don't go outside of god to meet them.
00:25:09.593 --> 00:25:12.296
He says, "you just do what you naturally are supposed to do
00:25:12.296 --> 00:25:17.067
And where you have legitimate concern that's fine,
00:25:17.067 --> 00:25:20.771
But you don't let that control you 'cause it--
00:25:20.771 --> 00:25:23.106
I gladly give you the kingdom if you're seeking the kingdom."
00:25:23.106 --> 00:25:28.612
But if the king and his kingdom--
00:25:28.612 --> 00:25:30.681
His governance, guidance, and jurisdiction--
00:25:30.681 --> 00:25:33.250
Is secondary to you,
00:25:33.250 --> 00:25:37.988
Then what you're saying is you don't want him
00:25:37.988 --> 00:25:39.456
To be your daddy, your father.
00:25:39.456 --> 00:25:44.561
If you've never seen god come through,
00:25:44.561 --> 00:25:49.399
If you've never seen god hand something over
00:25:49.399 --> 00:25:52.736
That you couldn't make work yourself,
00:25:52.736 --> 00:25:55.872
Then you haven't seen your daddy at work.
00:25:55.872 --> 00:25:59.843
If you've never seen god show up at the last second,
00:25:59.843 --> 00:26:03.747
Where you didn't know how it was gonna work out,
00:26:03.747 --> 00:26:06.650
You don't know how your daddy works.
00:26:06.650 --> 00:26:09.653
If you've never seen him, just in the nick of time.
00:26:09.653 --> 00:26:15.092
It's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
00:26:15.092 --> 00:26:20.297
He gives the kingdom, but you'll never know it
00:26:20.297 --> 00:26:26.403
If you don't pursue the kingdom.
00:26:26.403 --> 00:26:29.573
You must seek the kingdom first because your father knows
00:26:29.573 --> 00:26:35.245
That you have need of these things.
00:26:35.245 --> 00:26:36.680
He knows.
00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:38.048
♪♪♪
00:26:38.115 --> 00:26:38.115

Tony Evans - Unleashing Kingdom Pursuit

December 14, 2025 | 27:29

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