A Challenge Toward Authenticity – Sermon from The Best of Tony Evans 2021
Christianity in America today faces a serious problem that the Apostle John writes about in Revelation 3. Our affluence causes many of us to treat our faith as a cultural ritual rather than a genuine calling to submit. Jesus doesn’t want our ritual; He wants a submitted heart.
do you know your answer could be sitting
right next to you but you’ll never know
it
until god is ready to reveal it
god says if you come back home you’ll
see
i haven’t gone anywhere
so you draw near to him and he will draw
near to you because he’s the one who’s
never left if you walk in the spirit or
walk by means of the spirit he will open
up the hole for you to get through it
the snake is going to try to stir stuff
up the snake is gonna try to get you
away from god there is a serpent in the
garden and your job keep him out
sometimes he brings a little something
that’s a little cute to let you know
keep on going keep on trusting because i
hear you
[Music]
leo decia was a wealthy city
known
for three things
some 45 miles southeast of philadelphia
laodicea was known for its finance
industry
its banking industry
it would be akin to our common day wall
street
it was a very wealthy place to live work
and raise a family
it was also known for its fashion
industry
in new york you would call it the
fashion district
where they made fancy clothes
that would go out to the retailers to
sell to the general public
not only was it a financial district
and a fashion district
but
the city of laodicea was a
pharmaceutical district
it was known for its medical industry
particularly when it came to
eye diseases
it was specializing
in this sad for the eyes to improve
the sight of those struggling with
seeing
that is why you will see these three
areas finance fashion
and pharmaceuticals
referred to
in revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to the
end of the chapter
jesus
as he does in each one of these churches
introduces himself
as he wants you to see him now
i know we’re talking about christmas but
he
he’s not dealing with no baby in a
manger
he’s dealing with the ruling king
and head of the church
and he says in verse 14 to the angel of
the church at laodicea write
the amen
the faithful and the true witness
the beginning of crea of the creation of
god says this
so before he gets into what he wants to
say he wants you to know who’s doing the
talking
he says to the church at laodicea and
our church today
i am the amen
amen means
so be it
it is so
that’s
the way it is
can’t you hear
amen means
the final word on the subject
so when jesus says listen because the
amen is talking
he’s basically saying i don’t care what
anybody else said to you
i don’t care what other folk told you
i don’t even care what you’re telling
yourself
i am the amen
i’m the final word on the subject
i am the faithful and true witness
so i’m going to give you
the testimony a witness is a testimony
and whatever i tell you is going to be
the truth
the whole truth and nothing but the
truth so help you god
and you’ll see in a moment why he
defines himself this way
he says i am the beginning of the
creation of god
now if you’re the beginning of the
creation that means you existed before
the creation that you began
so jesus christ declares himself to be
the pre-create pre-creation
existing prior to creation that is
because he has always existed as the
second member of the triune godhead
and the one who’s responsible for how
history operates
so what he’s saying before he ever gets
into what he is saying is
pay close attention
because i know what i’m talking about
i am the amen i am the final testimony
and witness
and i am the one who existed prior to
you even being here
having established himself
to the church at laodicea
he now makes his
complaint
his condemnation
he says in verse 15 i know your deeds
that you are neither hot nor cold
i wish you were hot or cold
so because you are lukewarm and neither
hot nor cold
i will spit you out of my mouth
he addresses the problem at laodicea
bible fellowship
of lukewarmness
you are lukewarm
now to understand
why he is saying this
you have to understand laodicea’s unique
location
on one side of laodicea the city
was
aeropolis
which was akin to hot springs arkansas
if you’ve ever been to hot springs
arkansas you know the heated water that
comes up from the earth the steam that
shows up because of the heat
and that water is used for healing and
refreshing
aeropolis was the hot springs arkansas
of the day and that hot water flowed
down to laodicea
but on the other side of laodicea was
the city of colossae where we get the
book colossians
and cold water came down from the
mountains
into laodicea
when the hot water
came down from aeropolis
and the cold water
came down from colossae
they met at laodicea
and when the hot and cold water met
the water now became lukewarm when it
reached laodicea
so jesus christ uses this geographic
reality
to express a spiritual reality operating
at laodicea bible fellowship
he says you are neither hot
no cold
jesus writes this church through its
pastor
and he says you tell them
i know about them
they are neither hot
you know hot coffee here
they’re not cold has no ice in that
glass here
they are
lukewarm
in other words
they are unacceptable
their mixture
that has made them
unusable
unspiritual
is unacceptable
how unacceptable is it jesus
i want to spew them out of my mouth
the phrase to spew out of the mouth
means to vomit
jesus says of love laodicea bible
fellowship y’all make me sick
i want to oh oh oh oh
i want to throw up
when y’all come to church it makes me
want to vomit
when y’all are singing your praise songs
my stomach gets all upset and i want to
regurgitate
when i hear you
preaching the sermons and responding to
the sermons i got to cover my mouth and
get something to catch
my
spit
cause you make me sick
and jesus says this is the amen talking
this is the one who’s not going to tell
you what you want to hear i’ma tell you
like it really is
this is the one with the final witness
making the declaration
because you’re neither hot nor cold
i can’t do anything with you your
spiritual condition reflects your
geographical location
it is lukewarmness
it is stagnant
and i can’t do anything with you
so it’s possible to be a church
that makes jesus sick
what it wasn’t exactly about the
lady seal bible fellowship
that made jesus
sick
here’s what jesus says was the problem
verse 17 because you say i am rich
and have become wealthy
and have
need
of nothing
he says i have a problem with how you
view yourself
you say i am rich
i am self-sufficient
what he’s saying is you’ve allowed the
world to tell you whether you’re
successful
but i’m the amen
and i’m gonna tell you like it is
and like it is
you’ll make me
wanna throw up
now don’t get mad at the preacher i’m
just quoting the verse jesus says you
make me want to
spit
you out of my mouth
they were measuring
the spiritual by the physical and jesus
says to the church you are an abysmal
failure
he says
let me tell you what you really are
second ever verse 17
you do not know
you are wretched
and
miserable
and
poor and blind and naked
don’t get mad at the preacher i’m just
quoting the verse
jesus says
let me tell you about yourself
let me tell you about yourself
you’re wretched
everybody else may think you’re nice but
i know you
you’re wretched
not only are you wretched
but i don’t care what your bank account
looks like you’re poor
he says i don’t care
where you buy your couture clothes
you’re naked
so you see he’s he’s quoting the
district finance fashion pharmaceuticals
because i don’t think what you can think
you can see
what your expensive glasses on you’re
blind
he says
none of what you think about you is real
you’re living in a dream world
because i see what’s really going on
and what’s really going on is
you don’t know how messed up you are
you see
and what’s got you messed up
is that you’ve allowed the physical
to
erase the spiritual
and so because you don’t see things from
my perspective you don’t see things
correctly
what do you want me to do lord what do
you want me to do
i’ll tell you what i want you to do
verse 18
i advise you
so he’s going to give you some advice me
some advice
i advise you
to buy from me gold
because it’s a financial district
refined by fire so that you may become
rich
because you’re not rich you think you’re
rich but you’re not
and white garments because it’s a
fashion district
so that you may clothe yourself
and that the shame of your nakedness
will not be revealed
and i sav because it’s a pharmaceutical
district
to anoint your eyes so that you may see
so guess what i want to do i want to
make you truly rich i want to give you
real clothes
and i want to open your eyes so that you
can see
but the only way you get any of that is
from me
buy from me
in other words
i’m the only one who can give you what
you really need to be what you’re
supposed to be
all that other stuff
is
fake
and our world is duping us and jesus
says no i ain’t gonna dupe you
no i want you to become truly rich which
means you’re spiritually rich i want you
to become truly clothed which means
you’re spiritually attired i want you to
become truly sightful so i’m going to
remove the blindness so you see things
as they really are but i’m the only one
who can do that because i’m not gonna
lie to you
i’m not gonna trick you nor am i gonna
be impressed by you
so jesus says i got some advice
for folk who put the physical in front
of the spiritual
buy from me you got to get on my page
you got to start with me
not with what they saying out there not
what the television is saying not what
the media is saying not what the pundits
are saying you start with me
because i want to be the standard by
which you operate therefore
i advise you to deal with me
verse 19 those whom i love
if you’re a child of god he loves you
those who i love i reprove and
discipline
therefore be zealous and repent
okay stay with me here
you got your seatbelt on
tie your seatbelt
those who i love
i reprove and discipline
because i love you
but you don’t really know you because
you think
you all add in a bag of chips so so you
you you got you you blind to you
but i’m not blind to you but i love you
and i want to get you right
i’m going to create some situations in
your life
it’s called discipline
i’m going to bring some corrective
measures into your world
i’m going to put you in the situations
money can’t buy you out of
gonna put you in situations you can’t
dress up for
i’ma put you in situations to deal with
your blindness
i’m gonna i’m gonna i’m going
i’m gone
i’m gonna bring some discipline
into your life
to let you know
that all that stuff that the world
applauds and makes you feel
wrong about yourself with can’t solve
your problem until i can get your
undivided attention now i’m not trying
to be mean because i love you but i am
trying to correct some things that need
to be corrected so i don’t have to spew
you out of my mouth
him who i love
i’m going i’m gonna have to deal with
you
verse 20.
behold
i stand
at the door
and knock
behold i stand at the door and not see
somebody didn’t hear that
behold i stand at the door and not
he’s at the door
of laodicea bible fellowship
he’s knocking
what does that mean
they have in church and he’s not even
there
so just because you have in church don’t
mean jesus is in the sanctuary
and what keeps him out of the sanctuary
is lukewarmness
he goes on in verse 20.
he says
if anyone hears my voice
and opens the door
so the question is how do you know if
you heard
how do you know if you are hearing the
knocking on the door here’s how you know
you’re hearing the knocking on the door
god is convicting you of your blindness
you feel convicted
that yes that’s me
standing in the need of prayer that you
feel this tug of god on your heart you
know you playing games with me
you know you’re just going through the
religious motions you know that there is
not a full commitment to me and he
starts tugging you and you start to feel
uncomfortable you squeal you’re
squirming in your seat although you’re
not moving it’s just all on the inside
and you know god is talking to you that
means you’re hearing a knock
and he’s calling your name
he says if anyone hears my voice
because i’ve disturbed your world i’ve
messed up your situation
i’ve let you had money and i keep things
breaking down that you can’t pay for i
let you buy nice clothes and you lost
your job i you know you i i didn’t
create a disciplinary situations and now
you never made the connection between
what’s going on and the stuff you have
from the world but now you see there’s a
possible link you just heard a knock
he said if anyone hears a knock
and opens up the door okay wait a minute
listen to that
opens up the door
well that means
he’s not going to open the door
if anyone hears my voice and opens the
door
the knob
is on the inside
he will let you know he’s at the door
but he will not force himself into the
door
he operates by invitation only
anyone who hears my voice and opens the
door you must welcome him in jesus will
not go where he’s not wanted
either in a corporate church or in an
individual life if you don’t want him
you can have life without him
he creates the discipline he says
and then he wants to be invited in
the reason he wants to be invited in
is because he wants to help you with the
cleanup
he don’t want more faking
he already knows the stuff that’s not
right inside
and he says if you will invite me and i
will come in
and dine with him or her
in other words he’s inviting you into a
deeper
experiential reality of him in your life
so that you don’t have to
fake
spirituality
fake commitment
fake loving the lord
fake loving his word you won’t have to
fake that anymore because you and jesus
just had dinner together it’s the real
deal it’s the real intimacy
and then he goes on and he closes
he says to him who overcomes
as thy word
to him overcomes i will grant him to sit
down with me on my throne
as i also overcame and sat down with my
father
on his throne
what did jesus have to overcome that we
had to overcome because he said he had
overcome some stuff too
you remember
when the devil came to jesus
the temptations in the wilderness
and what he tried to get jesus to do
was to operate independently from god
and he used good stuff to do it
jesus was hungry
jesus was hungry
the devil said
turn these stones in the bread
is it legitimate for jesus to eat to be
hungry absolutely but it’s not
legitimate for jesus to eat if he’s
hungry if the devil is providing the
food
that’s called devil food’s cake so
the devil if the devil’s providing the
food you
you
he says it’s okay it’s okay to eat but
not at your instruction devil
he said jump go up to the pinnacle of
the temple and jump off
because then they’ll see you do your
superman thing they’ll see you float
down
and and come down the earth and then
everybody will know your messiah and you
can skip the cross
he was trying to get jesus to skip the
cross in order to get the crown but god
the father had already told god the son
you’re going to get the crown after the
cross so he tried to reverse the plan of
god in his life
in order that he might not be
inconvenienced
and then in the third temptation satan
came right down to it he said well let
me tell you let me take you up to this
mountain
and uh offer you the kingdoms of this
world
and not only the kingdoms but their
glory
jesus said be gone satan for you shall
worship the lord thy god and serve him
only satan tried to get jesus
to be divided from the will of the
father
he’s after us trying to be divided
from the will of the father
and we must overcome him
as jesus had to overcome him
and it’s hard because jesus was hungry
and jesus was tired and emotionally he
didn’t want to deal with the cross he
prayed let this cup pass from me so he
had to struggle like we have to struggle
[Music]
but jesus said he overcame him
the lukewarm christian is the one who
won’t make a decision
he says be hot or cold
but don’t be stuck
don’t just be churchified
don’t just be religious
don’t just don’t just don’t don’t just
act the part
don’t just play christianity
just make a decision
be all in
be hot be cold that doesn’t mean we’re
perfect but it means we repent when god
reveals our imperfection so that we can
get back on the road
and when you do when jesus shows up
he enables us to become overcomers of
the things we have to overcome
because he’s dining at the table with us
when the devil shows up
and when you do he says you will sit
with me
he says when i see you’re an overcomer
i get to interview you to be a close
associate
you you you close you’re not just in the
vicinity you close
so i challenge each one of us including
me but us collectively as a church to be
all in
all in and putting the spiritual ahead
of the physical
so that we are not a wretched church a
poor church a blind church and a naked
church but a church who eats with jesus
christ
individually
did you hear that
women
listen listen shh
oh yeah
that’s jesus knocking
you are the pastor of your family and if
you’re not shepherding your family then
you’re not being the man of god that god
has called you to be
how
is god
using you today
as a man as a david in this generation
until
you have purposed to find your purpose
in god
you will never have a heart for god
to put it another way men you must take
god off of the loop of your life and let
him come downtown gentlemen it’s time to
come home
it’s time to come home to jesus christ
come on home to a savior who loves you
come on home to a savior died for you so
if you want a better world compose the
better countries made up of better
states inhabited by better counties
compose the better cities made up of
better neighborhoods illumined the
better churches made up a better family
it starts with you becoming better men
it starts with us
starts with that
[Applause]
[Music]
you
amen