The Divine Imperative

God wants us to share life with Dr. Tony Evans talked about finding the kind of balance makes our faith come to life.

God doesn't want to have a relationship because this is celebrating. This is the alternative Dr. Tony author, speaker, senior pastor of Oakland Bible Fellowship Dallas, Texas, president of the Trinity. The Bible gives us a three-part formula describing exactly what God expects from us as his people today. Dr. Evans will explore that divine imperative and reveal what God can accomplish through us when we carried out, let's join the circus and one you regularly see in the circus is the high wire act. This is where a person is walking on a wire from one place to another. They have a pool in their hand because they know in order to walk straight things that gotta be balanced. The wire is so that if they lean too far to one side or the other. Disaster awaits because if they fall cataclysmic when living in a world out of balance. People are tilting to one side or another that tilting the cultural sides that tilting to racial side, attempting to political science that tilting the gender side they are tilting and watching the disaster of lack of balance. The people are not able to live their lives in a straight line because they being pulled to one side or the other, and the equilibrium becomes challenged Christians face this challenge of balance as well. On one side there Christians were so heavenly minded that they had no earthly good. They will talk about the glories of the life to come, while experiencing disaster in the life that is on the other hand there are those Christians who also earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. They become so secularized they become so cultural rise. They become so worldly that heaven has no use for them. When the balanced perspective is to be so heavenly minded that you bring good to earth because you're operating from eternity translating it back into time.

The question that I would like to speak to you today is this issue of balance because we all being pulled all kinds of levels with all kind of forces God capitalizes. This concept of balance in one verse, a very well-known verse in Scripture in light of what's happening in our lives, and was happening in our society today.

I thought it would be helpful for you and me to understand how we are to have this life of biblically-based balance and I call it the divine imperative in Micah chapter 6 verse eight he has told you old man what is good and what the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.

This is what I want from you. First of all, he says I want you to do justice.

Please notice justice is something you do not really something you discuss this more than having a commission is more than having a workshop or seminar something you do. Question is, what is it and how does it work we give you the biblical definition of the Greek word for justice means that which is right. It means the prescribed right way biblical justice is the impartial application of the rule of God's moral law and society biblical justice is the equitable and impartial application of God's moral law in society. Justice always starts with what God declares a matter to be. Please don't lose sight of James chapter 4 verse 12, which says there is only one law giver and that one law giver I which right and wrong is to be determined is God only one logical sense. So anybody makes order for it to be just be consistent with the one lawgiver gives all the roles once make their roles and become their own lawgiver on the one lawgiver will exist. You will have a bunch of people said because they're not starting with a central base for the law. Everybody makes the chaos a because they going to make a long better always in their best interest. When you make rules for you. You looking out for you because people make laws based on their interests. That's why justice has to be impartial. My own interest would have to be tied to something that is bigger than just me. God wants to be the one lawgiver for the life you want to be one lawgiver for your family. If you want to be the one lawgiver for your church you want to be the one lawgiver even for government, which is why Romans 13 says that government officials are to be ministers of God based on what God says is good or evil, right and wrong. So even government officials.

God is on the one lawgiver, so the moment they start making laws. That is not consistent with my laws, you will have chaos in society can Vogel make up their own that's inconsistent with the king's kingdom and how he's made history to work his people by what you do justice.

I want you to be impartial application of my laws in history.

That's why justice is no couple in the Bible with righteousness. You will find the two twins side by side. They are twins. Psalm 8914. From his throne comes justice and righteousness. Jeremiah chapter 18 verse 19 to follow the Lord in righteousness and justice.

Deuteronomy 32 verses three and four righteousness and justice together. Why, because you can't be just if you don't know what's right you can be just if there is not a right standard by which a measuring the decision so the two must always go together. And God is always right perfectly right about any subject matter.

You cannot have legitimate freedom as it was meant to be without just boundaries. We want fairness in economics or people that she does what is in relation to offenders what fans want fairness with fairness and God says do you want my standard. If you want fairness and within that standard. I give you flexibility, but you can't just make up your own rules and expect order. We are the influencers with supposed to bring God's point of view, the conscience of the culture. Our job is not to the society where that piece well tell us what to say.

We now our job is to deliver to the society. What the one lawgiver has to say about any subject. There is no subject that sits out of divine jurisdiction, not no subject.

No category because there's only one lawgiver, because you do justice. But secondly, I want you to love kindness because as you walk in. She is walking this tightrope if you only concerned about justice you can develop a hot hot. Developer: the subsumption city only concerned about justice you easy to talk about law and order on order on order order you want. Make sure to keep the law keep the law. Keep the marks keep the law you broke the law. You broke the law because you want to make sure that the was being kept off balance the car you got us justice feeling the one cycle fall over to get balance to pull in the tightrope of your walk. He says I what you love, kindness for kindness tested has to do with the compassion of God says his lovingkindness into his dog got two cents to get one cent ago you glean the justice he balances it with mercy apparently was justice oriented to do when got taken to by not obeying me because I said so I gave you justice.

You obey legitimate and longest is not off balance. He says I want you to balance justice with lovingkindness. I want to focus you are applying the rule to also know you care about how I want to follow that you are applying the standard to just apply the standard, but I also want to know that you have compassion, justice has to be balanced.

Dr. Evans will tell us more about how to maintain that balance. When he comes back in just a moment. Stay with us.

Now that's the motivation behind Tony Evans wonders in the community transformation place pave the way toward reconciliation with kingdom centered solutions.

God is waiting the kind of change to see available now.

Tony Evans.org driven his current teaching series race, culture in Christ is a collection of messages reminding us that class and background are unimportant to those who belong to God's kingdom that only through approaching life God's way. Can we truly move past bigotry and racism once and for all. All six full-length messages from this series can be yours, including portions we won't have time to present on the air when you make a contribution and request them from Tony Evans.org and is a special gift now through Monday only where including the CDs and digital downloads along with Tony's powerful book oneness embraced. Call us right away at 1-800-800-3222 or visit Tony Evans.org to make the arrangements before this special offer runs out again that's Tony Evans.org.

I have her contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson. This has to do with compassion shown in one of two ways.

First of all God's kindness is to be shown to those whom life has not been good to Zachariah just a few pages over chapter 7 Zachariah says in verse eight, the word of the Lord came to Zachariah, saying, thus has the Lord of hosts, said dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion, each to his brother do not oppress the widow.

Often the stranger or the poor do not devise evil in your heart against one another says removing justice against those who are oppressed, some 82 one before he says is those who are down before the oppressed, says children mercy. I got a letter from a police officer this weekend and the letter said look I don't know who he was.

But what are your members came and I know it's 20 members, they gave me the car. This is an act of kindness from a member of up above a game in a cottage is a police officer and he said they bought me lunch.

They prayed for me and all I can tell you is that that was one of the most transforming thing was just prayer book that changed my I got a picture of one of our members hugging the police officers. I have someone else telling me about the need for homeless persons that they reached out to help the pray for them and reaching out just always to demonstrate compassion for people and situations. That's not responsibility.

That's a six I'm talking about when life just done because of the evil in the world and the society that's child whose father abandoned him and the mother has to work two jobs and talk about something that they have absolutely no control over who says don't just say that person you want to get up and tie up your own bootstraps because right to do what they don't have moments says reach out with compassion in the name of God without compromising a standard that if you helping you get a job. Mercy is given. On one hand to those people who life has hurt not rebelling. They just that's just the reality of atmospheric evil that has affected there's another need for compassion and not justice when you're guilty when you send when you disobeyed when you've rebelled and you don't want the full weight of justice. You don't want what the law requires criminals in court is found guilty regular year him throw himself on the mercy of always asking.

She's asking for. Don't give me what the law demands I have, I'm asking you that's why you'll often hear the judge refer to whether the person children were sick. Whether he seemed repentant for the crime of repentance for wrongdoing that requires a just response opens up the possibility for mercy. Limiting how to open up yourself. Mercy God looks at your records and sees that you show mercy 636 says God will be merciful to the one who shoulders, so if you are justice person everything about justice. And it gets the filter and you cry out and God looks at the record clearly sees adjustment along on a person's judgment of justice person you have shown no mercy. You close the door on your own request. Don't get me wrong, don't give up justice they resist and are but don't give up mercy because God has a heart he said the good news of the gospel is that people's lives become improved when they embrace the glorious mess of the content of Jesus Christ and see God work through his people become better people become free us, they become more responsible because the good news affect more than is designed to change history.

Then finally he says I want you to walk humbly with your God. Okay to remember that we have is where you got justice and mercy working but why are you working justice and mercy also walk.

I want you to walk humbly with your God to work with is a term of intimacy and relationship God doesn't want a religion that doesn't have a relationship because then it's an event. Okay, solicitous work with. What does it mean to walk humbly with your God. First of all, notice the order of the sentence.

It's walk with your God not ask God to walk with you you all walking with him. Which means you gotta know where he's going. Some of you walking walking partners walking partner. You need somebody with you, yourself. The reason you have a walking partner is your fellow shipping and movement about all this stuff to the politics of the kids, because what you're doing is sharing life in motion. God wants us to share life with.

He wants us to do life with it. The reason why a lot of our prayers are boring even to God because it never changes in the reason why never changes because we not doing life with God.

Because if we were doing. Like the God to be hearing about the good, bad and ugly to be here in about the struggles the stresses the sins the circumstances problem with the care of the problem with the make the problems on the job to be here for details. One minute the same conversation is not bringing all of our lives and impaling them if not expose walking with God.

As a matter of faith by faith walk with God is believing and trusting that God hears me expose myself to him. Good, bad and ugly and we if you're ready to accept the Lord's wisdom and give up on the world's failed remedies God made that possible through Jesus death on the cross for you stop looking in the wrong places for answers to humankind's issues and discover the reconciliation and peace that comes through a relationship with Christ. Just visit Tony Evans.org and click on the link that says Jesus you'll find some helpful videos and free follow-up resources to answer your questions and get you started again. That's Tony Evans.org Tony will come back in just a moment with a final word about walking with God and friendship rather than fear, but first I wanted to let you know that the full-length version of today's lesson is available for you to review on your own or to pass along to someone who needs to hear it.

Just check with visit Tony Evans.org for details on the title. The divine imperative and don't forget, if you contact us right away, you can receive it as one of the six messages in Tony's current series race, culture, and Christ on both CD and digital download along with his powerful book called oneness embraced only ask is that you make a donation to help keep this program coming to listeners on this station and throughout the world. You can make all the arrangements by calling our resource Center at 1-800-800-3222 where team members are ready to help you day and night. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222, or just go online and visit Tony Evans.org in modern culture, the truth has been replaced by my truth or your truth.

But on Monday Dr. Evans explains why the past to unity begins when we recognize the authority of God's truth.

Right now he's back with a final thought to consider dogs not on a leash. The dogs will have a great relationship need a leash to worship and pray drug problems. That's why I think a long time.

Why don't you write because there is no relationship when it is no relationship to relationship to please the God walking with the alternative is brought to you by the celebrating 40 years of faithfulness, thanks to the generous contribution. Listeners like you