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. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

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we’re fighting a major virus aren’t we

this virus has threatened our well-being

our ability to fight this virus

personally it’s tied to our immune

system the stronger the immune system

the better the fight the weaker the

immune system the week of the fight

well there is an immune system that God

has placed in society it’s called the

church the church is God’s immune system

to fight the impact of the virus of sin

and evil that affects our life and our

world and even opens up the door for the

circumstances that we’re facing today

medically because the spiritual

influences and impacts the physical I’ve

said it many times let me repeat it

everything visible and physical is

preceded by something invisible and

spiritual so if you want to rectify the

visible and physical you must identify

and correctly utilize the invisible and

spiritual and so if all you see is what

you see you do not see all there is to

be seen we do not see the virus but we

certainly see its effect we don’t see

God but his effects are very real if the

immune system of society Christians and

the church if that immune system is weak

the door is open for all manner of evil

and yes even disease to infiltrate the

society if you don’t see that then all

you’ll deal with is what you see and

you’ll do the best you can God gave two

analogies in Matthew chapter 5 verses 13

to 16 to talk about the special role of

God’s people and his church

in the society he says in verse 13 you

are the salt of the earth he then goes

on to say in verse 14 15 and 16 you are

the light of the world salt and light

don’t miss read this he doesn’t say

you’re the salt of the Chaika says

you’re the salt of the earth you have

salt and a shaker and it doesn’t do much

for the decay in the meat because it’s

hanging out without the salt one of the

things this virus has done is move the

salt out of the shaker God does this in

the Bible in Acts chapter 8

God created disturbance or allow

disturbance to move his people out of

their comfort zone in Jerusalem so that

they would get out into the broader

society he used inconvenience God is not

just shaking society he’s shaking

Christians he’s shaking the church and

said you’ve been too comfortable in the

shaker hanging out with all the salt

it’s time for you to be salt on some

meat that’s decaying called the earth

you are the salt of the earth you see

back in biblical days salt was used as a

preservative some of your great

grandparents or grandparents in the

country may still do that salting down

the meat because salt acts as an

antibacterial agent and it fights the

gangs decay when you see decay in the

world in the culture moral social racial

decay something is going wrong with the

presence of salt being in the decaying

meat allowing the decay to happen much

more rapidly no we are to stymie the

decay by our presence in the meat not

just in the shaker that is in the church

we are to be in the society making a

difference for God and he says you and

the Greek text literally means you and

nobody else because I work through my

church to affect what happens in society

and in the culture so when you complain

our bad the culture is you got to ask

how salty is the salt and

can we even find the salt or is it

hidden in the shaker inside inside the

cabinet you are the salt of the earth

now only was salt the preservative but

salt creates thirst you know when people

drink salt water they get more thirsty

because salt creates thirst I remember

one day when I was at an airport and I

was in the Admirals Club and they asked

if I wanted something to drink what I

wanted some ginger ale I got some ginger

ale when they brought me the ginger ale

they brought me a cup of snacks peanuts

and pretzels all full of salt I didn’t

ask for that I didn’t order that I just

ordered a ginger ale but they brought

those snacks unrequested and that was on

purpose they did that because it’s full

of salt and they knew that if I drank my

ginger ale and ate the snacks I would

order and pay for another ginger ale

anyone just being kind to me they were

invoking me to another drink that I

would pay for Jesus says you are the

salt of the earth you know what our job

is to preserve to endure the decay in

society and to create thirst for our God

and for his Savior you see it folk

around you are getting thirsty because

your faith is so vibrant so real then

that means that you aren’t creating

thirst I’m not creating thirst the

church is not creating thirst how can we

have all these churches on all these

corners with all these programs and all

these buildings and all these Christians

and all this activity and still have all

this chaos and society the virus of

racism and culturalism and classism the

virus have divorced the virus of of

moral decay how can we have all these

viruses and even pandemics how can all

this stuff be maybe it’s because the

salt can’t be located it’s a great

biblical illustration of the importance

of God’s presence in society with sodom

and gomorrah these were two cities

located side by side where God

pronounced in Genesis 18

judgment because they had decayed so

badly but then Abraham came to God and

said will you destroy the righteous with

the wicked he cut a deal with God he

said if I can find 50 righteous will you

save the city for the sake of the fifty

and God agreed with the deal he says if

you can find 50 folk who do things my

way not their way then I’ll spare the

five hundred thousand or however many

were living there for the sake of the

fifty Abraham couldn’t find fifty he

said what about forty couldn’t locate

forty he said what about thirty couldn’t

locate thirty he said what about twenty

he even went down to ten and God said

I’d still do the deal so why was Sodom

and Gomorrha destroyed it wasn’t just

for its moral decay or its oppression of

the poor both of which were present in

that society no it was destroyed because

the righteous couldn’t be located they

had a good man in town named lot but lot

suffered from our disease of personal

peace and affluence he was so into his

life his world his economics that he

missed the purpose of why God had him

there in fact he lost his own family

when he was about to leave town his wife

remembered Neiman Marcus and Saks and

the mall and she looked back and became

a pillar of guess what song his two

daughters left with him because his two

sons and laws refused to go they had an

incestuous relationship with their

father

I mean if light would have won his own

family that would have been six people

if they would have won one each that

would have been twelve Abraham would

have found ten and Sodom and Gomorrah

would still be on the map why is our

nation decayed

our nation is decaying not just because

of the evil and the viruses that are

plaguing it it’s decaying because the

righteous can’t be located he says you

are the salt of the earth and if the

salt loses its saltiness he says it

becomes tasteless and when it becomes

tasteless he says who can make it salty

again it is no longer good for anything

except to be thrown out and trampled

under the foot of men what does he mean

well in Israel most of the homes of flat

in biblical days people would do things

like we do on

porch’s they would have receptions on

the roof weddings on the roof they would

do things on the rooftop so there would

be a lot of trotting walking on the roof

after a while that would create holes in

the roof so it would rain in the house

so they had to patch up the roof the way

they would do that with gypsum they

would mix gypsum with water turn it into

a paste coagulated with salt so it

became like a clay put it over the holes

on the roof that had been tried known

for so long the Sun would bake the

gypsum that’s now mixed with water tied

tightened by salt and hardened it to be

a sealant like tar on top of the roof so

water wouldn’t get into the house the

problem was now the salt was good for

nothing because gypsum is bitter and so

you couldn’t get the salt in this little

salt because they’d gotten mixed and

watered down by being mixed with gypsum

so it was good for nothing except to be

walked on do you know the world is

walking on Christians and walking on the

church do you know it’s ignoring us not

paying attention to us and not taking us

seriously because we’ve gotten too

worldly we’ve gotten too mixed up with

secularism the secular way of thinking

the non-christian approach to human

definition human sexuality to the

definition of marriage to the meaning of

parenting to the role of children to

what it looks like to be God’s

representative in the workplace see we

we have we have adopted the media’s

definitions the secular definitions and

we wonder why the viruses are getting

worse in our society that’s because

we’ve gotten too mixed up with gypsum

and so we’re finding decay instead of

development spiritually in our lives in

our families in our churches and of

course in the broader society you are

the salt of the earth so if you want to

save the culture Jesus is saying it’s up

to you not just being a Christian but

being a disciple because he’s talking to

his disciples that that means you’re a

full time follower not a part-time saint

you’re a seven-day-a-week er not a to

our Sunday visitor no you are the salt

of the earth he goes on to say and you

are the light of the world he says and

you’re not

be hidden your city on the hill you’re

not a lamp that’s under a bed or under a

basket he says what good is that you are

the light last time I checked light only

has one job one roll one responsibility

and that is to shine light goes public

light that’s off is not a value light

always overrides darkness what does he

mean you are the light of the world it

means you’re the influencer you’d

suppose be the influencer Christians are

supposed to be influencing every segment

of society not just influencing church

services would it be God’s

representatives if you’re doctor you’re

not just a doctor you’re God’s

representative in the medical field so

the medical field sees what God looks

like when God helps hurting patients if

you’re a lawyer you’re not just a lawyer

you know you’re God’s representative in

the Bar Association

so the Bar Association sees what God

looks like when God tries the case if

you’re a business person and not just a

business person you’re God’s

representative in business so the

business world sees what God looks like

when God cuts a deal if you’re a teacher

you’re not just a teacher you’re God’s

representative in education so education

sees with God what God looks like when

he teaches truth if you’re a housewife

you’re not just a housewife you’re a

demonstrating what God looks like when

God is managing a well-ordered home if

you’re a trash collector you’re not just

a trash collector you’re God’s

representative and cleanliness and

stopping disease by the way you empty

the trash and everything you do wherever

you go you’re to be the light that is

the divine influence representing God we

call that being a kingdom representative

you are a kingdom representative who has

built a relationship with God who is

drawing near to him and close this

relationship and then publicly

representing him you are the light of

the world what good is a light that

stays off if you’re in a dark room and

it’s pitch black and you’re bumping into

things and your family’s bumping into

things and you’re any visitors or

bumping anything why because they can’t

see clearly but if you turn on a

flashlight you’ve changed the equation

haven’t you because the darkness now

must submit to you and the people

following you know where to

our world is dark the problem is we’ve

got Christians as dark as the world so

they don’t know where to go cuz we don’t

know where to go

we bumping into stuff they bombing in

the stuff we complain in the day bubble

in the stuff they complain that we bump

in as much as they’re bumping so

everybody’s living in darkness when God

says you’re supposed to be the light

folks are supposed to know which way to

go because they see you know where to go

why because you are following the light

of the world he says what good is the

light that’s hidden what good is the

light private no this is not a time for

secret agent Christian spiritual ci8

representatives and covert operatives

know this is the time when Christians go

public and they demonstrate they don’t

mind being known as followers of Jesus

Christ I was invited in Dallas some

years ago to open up in prayer for the

City Council meeting and they sent me a

note they said just don’t mention Jesus

because we have people here who are not

into religion and so just stay general

God well I went down there and my prayer

was basically in their Lord the City

Council has asked me to come to you

today to contact you about their

decision making you told me if I wanted

to get to you that the best way to do

that is through the name of Jesus so

since they want me to get to you I come

to you in Jesus’s name first of all I

thank you for creating the City Council

because if you didn’t create them then

they couldn’t be here to make decisions

and according to your word everything

that was created was created by Christ

Jesus so I have to thank Jesus that they

here then I want to thank you for

government because you created

government it’s supposed to be a

Ministry of God and that was written by

Paul the Apostle that apostle that met

Jesus on the Damascus Road so lord I

pray that you bless their

decision-making that you give them

wisdom and I ask all of this in Jesus

name Amen you say if you don’t want to

hear about Jesus don’t invite me because

when you invite me Jesus comes with me

and he should come with you and

everybody who claims to be a Christian

why we close our prayers in the name of

Jesus because that is the mechanism God

has given for us to access him and so

the Father in Heaven says how you treat

in the son because how you treat in the

Sun affects how the

the views your discussion with him so

the question is are you an influencer or

do you stay generic God because that’s

safe you don’t want to be too Christian

now we’re not talking about being

bombastic but we are talking about being

clear not being like an undecided voter

you know we’re in this political season

and people deciding who they’re voting

on well you know we got to under to many

undecided Christians when person decides

who they vote on they put it on their

bumper they put it in their yard

they got placards going on why they

declaring who they’re voting for I’m

asking who you’re voting for

you’re the salt a there you’re the light

of the world

can we see your vote and put it another

way on your job when you can get back to

it on your job if they accused you of

being a visible verbal follower of

Christ would you be convicted of all

charges or would you be found innocent

of any charge because you’re not clear

you’re a vague follower of Christ no I’m

gonna tell my whether you go to church

I meant to my whether you believe in God

I’m telling my whether you are a visible

verbal follower of Christ because that

will affect how much of Christ you

experience and how much of impact you

make when you decide I want to get close

to you Lord Jesus and then I want to

publicly represent you now you’ve gotten

God the Father and Jesus the sons

undivided attention he says in verse 16

to now let men see your good works not

just hearing your good words because

anybody can talk a good game let them

see your good works let them see the

things you do that are consistent with

my will that’s a good work that’s not a

good thing

atheist can do a good thing and atheists

can be a philanthropist and atheists can

build orphanages and atheists can build

hospital you don’t have to believe in

God to do a good thing but we’re not

discussing doing good things we’re

talking about doing good work a good

work is a god-ordained activity that he

can authorize for which he gets the

credit in other words if God can’t be

connected to it it’s not a good work

it’s a good thing he wants to be

connected to it he wants it to be clear

that he is standing with you in it and

standing behind you for it therefore you

can’t exclude him you can’t push him off

to the sidelines

you can’t ignore him no he says let men

see your good works you know when you

turn on your television you don’t just

want the sound you want the site you

want sight and sound you want what is

being said to be supported by what is

being seen so if you’ve not been a

quality representative of God it’s time

to repent God accepts repentance that’s

where you just you make it known I am

turning from my secret agent status I’m

turning from just being salt in the

shaker

I’m turning from just being a SMO Sunday

morning only

I’m turning from being a bedside Baptist

or mattress Methodist I’m turning from

just being a casual Saint to being a

committed Christian and yes I’m going to

return to your word I’m going to return

on my knees and I’m gonna return to

getting to know you intimately and then

representing you publicly as your

kingdom representative yes I’m gonna I’m

gonna turn because one of the reasons

for this pandemic is to wake up the

church now yes he wants to wake up the

world but he wants to do it through a

awakened Church he wants us to stop

sleeping he wants us to return to our

first love and he wants to be that first

love which means passionately pursuing

him and then publicly representing him

let men see you good works and then he

says and glorify your father who is in

heaven and glorify your father who is in

heaven that word glory is found

throughout the Bible the theme of the

Bible is the glory of God through the

advancement of his kingdom that is the

whole theme of all 66 books of the Bible

the glory of God through the advancement

of his kingdom so the question is what

does

the word glory mean let’s talk about

glory the word glory comes from a

concept that means waiting remember

growing up in the day back in the day

old school you you would say boy that

dude sure is heavy now you weren’t

talking about his weight

you were talking about how deep they

were in a particular area maybe they

were real smart you say I do to show he

show his heavy you were talking about

the greatness of somebody when you

talked about their heaviness their way

teenis

well when the Bible talks about the

glory of God is talking about his waning

that’s how heavy he is it’s talking

about giving him the weight that his

name is due treating him like he is and

for what he’s worth to glorify God means

to put him on advertisement to put him

on display to create a banner where he

is clearly seen you and I are God’s

advertisement agency Christians

individually and the church corporately

we’re the ad campaign for the God of the

Bible through his son the Lord Jesus

Christ where is that agency so the

question is what kind of advertisement

are we giving about our great God how

are we advertising him through the

influence that we are making in a

corrupt in a secular and in a godless

society as salt and light and through

the good works we’re demonstrating those

good works come in a lot of different

ways it comes in ministering to the

homeless ministering to the poor helping

the widow and the orphan it comes

through supporting the up and out and

the down-and-out with the good news of

sharing our faith when’s the last time

you witness to somebody and ask them

about their eternal destiny what is the

last time you’ve inconvenience yourself

to make life better for somebody else

and our Church in Dallas we’ve handed

our cards these cards people can pick up

for free at the bookstore that’s simply

our acts of kindness card we say

whenever you run across somebody that

has a need

you see and God prompts you to meet that

need in some way whether it’s helping an

old lady across the street picking up

groceries or somebody helping a homeless

person get a meal it can come in two

million different ways after you do that

act of kindness you hand them a card a

card says this is an act of kindness

from a member of Oakland Bible

fellowship here in Dallas and if you

need anything else here’s how you can

contact us then we say you pray with

that person then after you pray with

that person if there is an opportunity

you share the gospel with that person so

we have hundreds and hundreds of people

from our congregation all over handing

out these cards doing good work in fact

one lady who I ran into who one of our

members had helped and given a car to

because she was in a wheelchair and they

had served her when she when the member

gave him a card she said oh you must be

from from that church Oakland Bible

fellowship because y’all everywhere oh

that’s what we want to hear God’s people

are everywhere cuz we’re supposed to be

everywhere doing good stuff good works

not just good things because we bring

God into it and we bring the gospel into

it but we don’t just tell people how to

get to heaven we tell them how we can

help make their life better on earth on

our way to heaven that’s what good works

do you know you can look good as a

bowler you can look sophisticated as a

bowler

you know they got bowling pants bowling

shirts polish shoes bowling socks fancy

bowling bags fancier bowling balls you

put your three-ball fingers in there you

can spin that thing but if that ball is

rolling down the gutter you’re a

good-lookin failure because how good you

look is it relevant to the impact you’re

making the goal of Ebola is to knock

down pins that look good now if you can

look good while you’re knock down pins

good but make sure you’re knocking down

pins how many pins are you knocking down

how many pins will you knock down when

this pandemic is over the virus has

ceased and the world goes back to normal

are you gonna knock down some pins or

you just gonna look good in a bowling

alley of church oh no this is the time

for impact this is the time for Kingdom

people to make Kingdom impact because

you’re influencers salt light because

you represent the king you know in

television and movies they show you

previews

attractions those are the hot clips of

the upcoming show night scene chase

scene now the movie may be terrible but

you never know about Eclipse because the

clips are always hot clips well that’s a

big show coming to town

God is the producer of the holy spirit

of the director Jesus is the superstar

and it will be a worldwide production

it’s called the kingdom of God in the

meantime he’s left you and me here as

previews of coming attractions we’re

supposed to be the hot clips of the

upcoming show so that when people see

the clips of our impact they raise the

question how much does it cost to watch

the show that’s what we can tell them it

doesn’t cost anything the price is

already paid

one of the great offers of our Savior

Jesus Christ is life plus abundant life

that means a fulfilled life so many

people are existing because they don’t

possess the life of God if you don’t

know that you possess the life of God

let’s get that fixed right now Jesus

Christ is offering you his life the

Bible says he that hath the son had life

so if you want life not existence the

forgiveness of sins the the guarantee of

heaven and having Jesus Christ involved

with your life on earth all of that is

in this package called life and he’s

offering it to you for free well not a

lot is for free today but this is life

for free how do you get it you simply go

to Jesus Christ and trust him alone for

it you don’t work for it you don’t earn

it you don’t go to church for the Canada

none of that can give you life only the

person of Christ can give you life so

I’m gonna pray a prayer you pray it

after me you just have to meet it for

yourself well Jesus I know I’m a sinner

I know I can’t save myself but you’ve

offered me the free gift of eternal life

in exchange for myself so I place my sin

next to your house believing you died as

my substitute and I received now the

eternal life that you say you would give

me for free if I came to you for it so I

received that now and thank you for my

new salvation in Jesus name Amen

today you can go deeper find answers and

grow your personal impact with the Tony

Evans Study Bible and commentary being

the first African American to write a

Study Bible in commentary this historic

addition to dr. Evans’s library is part

of the pinnacle of his life and ministry

are you ready to go to another level in

God’s Word request your Study Bible and

commentary today at Tony Evans dot org

or pick up a copy where Christian books

are sold

you