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.
philippians chapter 2
verses 9 through 11
at the name of jesus
every knee should bow
and every tongue should confess
that jesus is lord to the glory of the
father so excuse me
if i stick with jesus
excuse me if i stick with the truth
excuse me if i speak it to the church
because he is
the mystery of godliness and he deserves
our undivided and undiminished praise
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a repository is a container it’s a
storehouse
the repository for our
our medicine is the pharmacy it is the
place we go
that houses
that which we need for health and
healing
you go to the records building downtown
which is a repository of
information about people and locations
and
history you
you have a repository
god has a repository
a storehouse if you will
a community location
for your
spiritual well-being
a place
where you’re supposed to be able to go
to get good food
a place where you’re supposed to go be
able to go and eat
well
he has a place
scattered throughout every community
for health healing and well-being not
only of the people who attend but
because of its location
for the people who live
in surrounding vicinity
it is the repository of truth
and god’s repository of truth
is called the church
the church is that place he has singled
out
that does not find its first obligation
in the culture that does not find its
first obligation to a person’s racial
identity cultural identity gender
identity
where the commitment is not first to who
you are how you were raised or how you
live
where you live
it is a repository
that is supposed to give you good food
not rotten fruit
because it is committed to one
overarching
and that is the declaration of the truth
the church is god’s spiritual grocery
store
amen
this is what paul says to timothy his
son in ministry in first timothy chapter
3
verse 14 i am writing these things to
you hoping to come to you soon but in
case i am delayed
i write
so that you will know how one ought to
conduct himself
in the household of god which is the
church of the living god the pillar and
support of the truth
timothy is located in a very secular
city the creme de la creme site
of asia minor called ephesus
a church has been established there
we’ll give it a name ephesus bible
fellowship
and timothy is the pastor there and paul
his spiritual head writes him
and he says young man i want to make
sure
that when people come to your grocery
store they’re coming to the truth
ephesus is of secular culture
it is full of idolatry you can read it
all in acts chapter 19 it is full of
materialism it is full of witchcraft uh
it is full of
errant theology errant teaching and
social decay even though it is an
influential marketplace of ideas
and he says and all the stuff
that the folks are hearing timothy and
all the
the ideas ideologies idiosyncratic
perspectives that they are
imbuing into their minds in spite of
what the kids are being taught in school
or the young adults are being taught in
college in spite of what they’re hearing
in corporate america in spite of what
they’re hearing in the governmental
regimes in spite of all of that you make
sure when they shop at this store
they’re getting the truth
now we’ve defined the word truth
each week and let’s define it again
truth is god’s absolute absolute
standard by which reality is measured
truth sits outside of you it is not
dependent on you
you don’t have to feel it like it or
agree with it
for it to be true
it just has to be what god says then
it’s true
and you and i we have to adjust
we live in a world that doesn’t want
god’s viewpoint therefore it doesn’t
want the truth because it doesn’t want
the truth what we wind up with is
cultural consequences in our personal
lives family lives church lives and in
our civic
engagement
and yet god wants to speak truth into
all of those issues personally
economically socially racially
morally
he wants to speak the truth and so
he tells timothy in a number of places
you make sure this grocery store is well
stocked
with truth
he tells him in
chapter one verse three i urge you
because some folks are gonna come with
strange doctrines
he tells them in chapter
3 verse 9 verse 9
holding the mystery of the faith
with a clear
conscience
why because chapter 4 verse 1 they are
deceitful spirits and demons
verse 3
who don’t know the truth
we’re living in a duped society
we have been
duped
and because we are living
duped lives in a duped world with deep
thought
we’re living in a chaotic environment
he says at this grocery store timothy
you make sure that when they go shopping
when they show up
we can’t change everything in society
but you make sure they’re hearing the
truth
meaning god’s view on whatever the
subject matter happens to be
the first thing we need to remind you of
since the church is the gross restore of
the truth
we need to remind us all what the church
is it’s not a fraternity or sorority
yes it has those relational components
in fact it’s called the family in first
timothy chapter five verses one and two
he says treat the older men like fathers
the older women like mothers the younger
women like sisters the younger men like
brothers he says yeah it is a familial
environment
but it is a familiar environment to
equip people with god’s point of view
the bible knows nothing of an unchurched
christian
there’s no such thing
a person says well i don’t have to go to
church to be a christian you’re
absolutely right
you become a christian
by faith alone in christ alone
to be part of the church is a commitment
to be identified and dynamically
involved with
a local body of believers who are
learning to live
kingdom lives under the lordship of
jesus christ
it’s identity and involvement
it’s not just sitting soaking and
sorrowing it’s
it’s serving a king and his kingdom like
our servicemen and servants women serve
the kingdom of the united states of an
army whatever branch they’re in we serve
the king of kings and the lord of lords
as his church
jesus said in matthew chapter 16 verses
18 and 19 i will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against
it and i will give the church the keys
to the kingdom
god doesn’t skip the church house to fix
the white house
he doesn’t skip his grocery store
if the culture wants to eat right
and so he says i will give the i will
give the church in matthew 18 the keys
to the kingdom
he says i’m going to give the church the
keys that’s access to me have keith of
the kingdom of heaven and if they use my
keys i will give them my authority
whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven whatever you loose on earth
will be loosed in heaven he says
i am going to give you my authority on
earth because you’re using the keys that
belong to me in heaven so how can we
have all these churches on all these
corners with all these programs all
these members all these leaders all
these preachers and still have all this
mess there’s a dead monkey on the line
somewhere
how can you have 11 o’clock on sunday
morning being the most segregated hour
in america
and people still using jesus’s name and
calling themselves the church
why
well because we’re using wrong keys
we got cultural keys racial keys
gender keys
what we don’t use are kingdom keys
he says and the way you know you’re
being the church
is the gates of hell shall not prevail
against you
hell can’t stop
you so you know hell can’t stop you
humans can’t stop you
because you’re using keys that belong to
a whole nother order
and those keys have to do with god’s
view on the whatever the subject happens
to be
so
he says
that we are to represent him as his
kingdom people
over and over again in the new testament
ephesians chapter 1 verse 22 and 23
jesus is head of the church and we are
his body to carry his viewpoint he says
to fill everything
that’s why we want each of you to become
a kingdom disciple who is a kingdom
servant that makes a kingdom impact
he says in ephesians chapter 3 verse 10
he says god checks with the church
before he deals with the principalities
and the powers
so if you’re trying to deal with the
principalities and powers
and god says i’m not going to skip you
to help them i’m going to start with you
because if i can’t get you straight they
sure not going to listen to me
and so he says to timothy timothy
you make sure the people who come to
this grocery store
this
food place spiritually
a people
who understand the church
that you’re not just showing up for
a service once a week or twice a week
you’re learning how to live out
a divine frame of reference in all of
life
and how do you do it
well he says
the church
how one ought to conduct himself
because that has to do with how you’re
living
in the household of god he calls the
church a family a household and then he
says which is the living the church of
the living god i hope everybody
understands god is alive okay the church
of the living god so we we’re not just
out here talking smack and talking up in
never never land and fairy dust
he is the living god and then he says
the church of the living god which is
the pillar and support of the truth
okay
now you have to understand what’s going
on here remember i told you
timothy is pastoring ephesus bible
fellowship
if you were to living in biblical days
and you went
to ephesus
everybody would be talking about one
thing
because located in in ephesus
was one of the seven wonders of the
world
it was called the temple
of artemis
or the temple of diana
it was one of the seven wonders of the
then known world people came from all
around the world to see this
massive tribute and statue
to the goddess of all gods diana or
artemis
when you read acts chapter 19 you will
see they built a whole economy around
artemis because that was that was like
you know going on vacation to some some
awesome like people going to italy to
the leaning tower pisa and they got all
the artifacts surrounding it and people
would buy and sell it became a place of
economic development and economic impact
so it was it was it was a beast that’s
why you went there
well
in the temple of diana
they had
a hundred pillars
you know the pillar in the building you
know it’s holding up the roof it comes
from the from the floor and holds up the
roof it this thing was so massive it had
a hundred pillars
sitting on the foundation to carry it up
to the rooftop
so paul didn’t just choose that word
he’s talking to timothy in ephesus
and he says
they got pillars to a lie
read acts 19. they got they they believe
in the wrong thing
and are giving it worship
they worshipping the wrong thing
and this hot mess we didn’t got
ourselves into as a nation it’s because
we got folk worshipping the wrong thing
and building pillars to it
it’s a hundred pillars and everybody’s
coming out of us and he says no no no no
you build a pillar in the church
to the truth
he says the pillar and foundation you
lay the groundwork for the truth and you
build up
people’s lives the pillar of their life
the pillar of their family the pillar of
their culture the pillar of their
society you build up things based on the
truth
not based on the pursuit of a lie
it is the ground he says and the pillar
of
the truth
he says because we want men to operate
differently the conduct he says that men
know how to conduct themselves
guess what god calls all of creation
god’s house
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because all of creation the earth is the
lord the fullness thereof the world and
all they that dwell in it
see this whole thing is god’s house
now if you go out and create your own
world
you can do your own thing
but the moment you insist
that your rules operate in my house
we’re gonna be in conflict
you’re gonna be in conflict because
your rules and my rules don’t they not
they not agreeing we are going to be in
conflict we are living in a world in
conflict with god
and so people are in conflict with one
another because folk are in conflict
with god because we do not want to
accept his truth
and and while the world can do that out
there he says believers those who named
jesus christ
he comes now to his final point
he says timothy
you make sure when they show up they
hear the truth
they hear it with clarity they hear it
with love
but they hear the truth
and then he says in verse 16
by common confession
great
is the mystery
of godliness
say that again
he says by common confession
something we all agree on common
confession this is something everybody
should be saying
great
is the mystery
of godliness
now that that statement didn’t come out
of nowhere when you read acts 19
verse 28
the people who had come to see artemis
said
great
is artemis
that’s what they say in acts chapter
19 verse 28
paul picks that up
and says oh yeah that’s something great
but it ain’t her
he says timothy
when the people gather at the grocery
store of truth
everybody
should be saying great is the mystery of
godliness
so let me talk about the word mystery
in the bible the word mystery refers
to something that was concealed in the
old testament that was revealed in the
new testament
okay
and it’s called a mystery that word is
used throughout the new testament to
refer to something that was either
unknown or unclear in the old testament
that has been now made clear in the new
testament when he says the word great is
the mystery this is a shout
great
is the mystery
of godline it was a confession he says
it was something they blurted out and
they said it at one time great is the
mystery of godliness
it was a shout and then they sang a song
because the rest of verse 16 is a hymn
it was a hymn that they would sing after
they cheered and shouted
he says
this
confession will make you want to shout
great is the mystery i haven’t even told
it to you yet and i feel like sheldon
great
is the mystery what was
concealed in the old testament that
wasn’t clear or fully revealed in the
sacrifices fully revealed in the worship
fully revealed in the jewish laws fully
revealed in the books of the old
testament has now
bam
been made clear so the question is what
is the mystery
he says let’s sing a song
and he recites to him
let’s look at the verses
the first verse
he was revealed in the flesh
that’s called incarnation
no he wasn’t
beginning in the flesh he was revealed
in the flesh
because unto us a child was born but
unto us a son is given the son existed
before the child was born it’s called
the incarnation god becoming a man in
flesh
it’s called the virgin birth
see what god did was he was in heaven
and went click click took a selfie
and up pops jesus christ in a manger
impregnated mary by the holy spirit so
that he’s fully god fully man and one
person and that leads him to want to
shout
great is this mystery in the incarnation
he goes to the next verse was vindicated
in the spirit
so he goes from incarnation to
vindication
what vindicated jesus why do we not make
jesus ordinary and we make jesus
extraordinary well the virgin birth is
not enough but in case you didn’t get it
he proved to be who he said he was and
the way he proved to be
what he said he was is by a sinless life
by his miracles and by his resurrection
so even if you didn’t believe what he
said
you could see what he did
so he moved from incarnation to
vindication let’s go to the next verse
seen by angels that’s visualization
the angel showed up at his birth angels
showed up in his temptation angel showed
up in his death angels showed up in his
resurrection and whenever he ran into
demons they shook
so the spiritual world couldn’t ignore
him and vindicated that he was who he
declared himself to be
let’s go to the next verse
proclaimed among the nations that’s
proclamation
that there’s nowhere you can go where
his name is not held in high honor
where jesus the christ is not given
the props that are due him
as the king of kings the lord of lords
the eternal son of god he goes to the
next verse he says believed on in the
world
that’s confession
you’ll hear people confessing the name
of jesus on every continent
you’ll find him in every hole you will
find him in the most inconspicuous of
places why because of who he was god has
made sure that people know and give
a testing to the uniqueness of jesus
christ
then he gives the final verse
of the song
song he says
taken up to glory
that’s the ascension after the
resurrection
after jesus rose from the dead 40 days
later he stepped on a cloud in his
glorified body
an angel showed up again and said why do
you men stand here gazing up into the
heavens this same jesus that’s gone is
going to return
i don’t know about you
but that makes a man want to shout
what is the mystery of godliness it is
the uniqueness of jesus christ
it has god become a man in the person of
christ so don’t you apologize for jesus
christ
don’t you be ashamed of jesus christ
don’t you hide him behind a bush just
because his person is offensive
anybody who gave his life for you died
for you rose for you ascended for you
coming back for you you don’t apologize
for it
you give honor to his name
he’s king of kings and lord of lords and
that is a common confession
everybody
who comes to church ought to confess i
don’t just believe in god that’s generic
i recognize his son
because the bible says in 1st
corinthians 1
truth is in jesus
because philippians chapter 2
verses 9 through 11
at the name of jesus
every knee should bow
and every tongue should confess
that jesus is lord to the glory of the
father so excuse me
if i stick with jesus
excuse me if i stick with the truth
excuse me if i speak it to the church
because he is
the mystery of godliness and he deserves
our undivided
and undiminished praise somebody stand
and give him a common confession
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god has a central location
that he has created and designed
to hold the truth
and deposit it in the lives of people
and that central location is the church
when the church is being what god
created the church to be
it lays a foundation where people can
know they can hear the voice of god
accurately proclaim so that they can
inculcate it into their lives for good
and for the benefit of others
when you go to church you should be
going to a location that’s not going to
give you
what men or society has to say but what
god has to say on every subject
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you