Tony Evans’ Moving Memorial Tribute Sermon Reflecting on the Life of His Wife, Lois Irene Evans

Pastor Evans’ Tribute Sermon for his beloved wife, Lois Irene Evans, preached on Sunday, January 5, 2020.

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.

a month ago I came before you with

reflections relative to my father’s

passing in November of this year little

did I know that a month later I would be

coming back to you with reflections in

the loss of sister Evans but I do that

today I come with reflections that I

hope will benefit you and me as we move

forward based on Paul’s words to Timothy

in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 where he says

in verses 6 through 8 – I am already

being poured out as a drink offering and

the time of my departure has come I have

fought the good fight I have finished

the course I have kept the faith in the

future there is laid up for me the crown

of righteousness which the Lord the

righteous judge will award to me on that

day and not only to me but also to all

who have loved his appearing lord give

me the strength this moment to minister

to your people so that as we enter into

this new year we will learn the lessons

from Paul that were so lived out in the

life of cyst Evans teach us from your

word your will and Jesus name

amen in baseball the most fulfilling and

successful thing that a batter can do is

reach home plate the whole goal is to be

able to circle and get home and see the

umpire go safe to be able to get safely

home is the goal of every baseball

player who comes to the plate he most

certainly doesn’t want to strike out

but even if he reaches first or second

or third his goal has not been met until

he gets home a few days ago cyst Evans

went home she went home and as I

reflected on her homegoing in this

passage the principle that dawned on me

was the best way to have a life worth

lived is to have a death worth dying the

best way to have a life well worth

living is to have a death worth dying

Paul is saying goodbye to Timothy his

son in the faith and in his goodbyes to

him he has some very valuable lessons

some of them most of them I saw them

lived out in the own in the goodbyes

that I just experienced

he begins at verse 6 by saying the time

of my departure is at hand he knew his

life was coming to an end he knew that

his time on earth was closing and he

wanted Timothy to know that it was ok

all of us have a time the Bible says

it’s appointed unto man wants to die and

after that the judgment all of us have a

time to go home

the problem is we don’t know the time we

really don’t know today who the old

people are in the church because how old

you are is not determined by your

birthdate but by your death date if

you’re fifty and only going to make it

to sixty you’re old if you’re fifty and

go live to be a hundred you’re still

pretty young but since you don’t know

whether you’re gonna make it to 50 or

100 you don’t know who the old folks are

here today many people think they’re

younger when they’re older than they

think because we don’t know that time

but when that time begins to dawn as it

did with Paul he said the time of my

departure is at hand

it became clear even though he made it

out of a number of other scenarios that

threatened his life he wasn’t going to

make it out of this one

one of the things I observed in life and

in Scripture is that when people walk

with God and he doesn’t take them

suddenly

he will give them a doing glimpse of

heaven while they’re still transitioning

from Earth he will let them know not

only that it’s time but it’s okay two

years ago when we found out that this

rare cancer had come upon sister Evans

we hoped we had all these plans prior to

that of when we turn 70 which we did

this year that things would change

things would be adjusted more time to do

this and that and then we got the sudden

shock of this rare disease the disease

of the doctor says has no cure we did

all that we knew to do this to see MD

Anderson Baylor went online what was out

of the country all of the options we

looked at hoping that this could be

arrested we would get good news from the

doctors

it seemed that things were not

progressing as they predicted and life

was not ending as quickly as they said

it would you were praying for us and we

felt the prayers extending time and

maybe just maybe God would cancel it

altogether but as time went on

particularly over the last month and a

half or so it became increasingly clear

slowly but surely the time of her

departure was nearing but simultaneous

to the time of her departure

where things taking place that we’re

letting us know she was dealing with

something outside of the Earth’s realm

for example she said to some who were

gathered in the room do you see my

mother

you see it she’s right over there by the

fireplace you do you see her why can’t

you see her on another occasion she said

my father there’s my father and there

was no one in the room physically she

was seeing something as the time of her

departure got closer a few days ago she

said two days two days

take me up two days two days take me up

two and a half days she was gone she

heard something she saw something as the

time of her departure got nearer like

Stephen in Acts chapter 7 but when he

was being stoned to death he says he saw

heaven open and Jesus standing on the

right hand of the Father

giving him a standing ovation when the

time of your departure comes you want to

be close enough to God that you can hear

things that other folk can’t hear

and see things that other folk can’t see

[Applause]

when pro football players enter the

league they enter the league planning

for a long career no draft he plans to

only make it a year or two in the league

they want to play 1015 years they want

to make all the money they can make

being successful as they can be make it

to the Hall of Fame if possible they

have long term vision and long term

goals but those of you who watch sports

long enough know that some of those

goals are out of their hands the coach

may cut them they may get injured they

may not reach the goals that they have

because no matter how hard you plan some

things are out of your head

you don’t know whether you’re gonna get

sick you don’t know whether life is

going to change whether you’ll be laid

off you don’t know all that’s down the

line therefore it is absolutely critical

since you and I don’t know deaf has a

way of surprising you death is the

number one killer

it’s the intruder that disrupts our

well-being and gives us grief who would

have thought that from a human

standpoint my greatest achievement the

Bible in the commentary would coincide

with my greatest loss who would have

predicted that and yet the time of her

departure got closer and closer and she

began seeing more and more as the pain

got greater and greater there was

greater spiritual clarity as she was

moving from an earthly reality to a

heavenly perspective Paul said the time

of my departure is at hand I told the

folks on New Year’s Eve that the three

most difficult words I heard and all I

could do was cry like a baby

that’s when she leaned over to me and

said let me go those three words let me

go then Sheehan emphasized that you have

to let me go it’s time months before it

wasn’t time months before there was a

different perspective but as Earth grew

dimmer and heaven grew brighter she said

let me go the thoughts even now of

rehearsing those three words breaks my

heart

but it became clearer and clearer it was

time Paul says the time of my departure

is at hand what was it about Paul that

prepared him for this time the time that

you and I will at some point face we

faced it with other loved ones but one

day we will face this time ourselves it

may hit suddenly but for most people

that comes progressively through illness

he says three things in verse 7 as he

talks about his departure the word

departure is a picture of an anchor

being pulled up so that the ship can

move from the dock to a new Shore the

first thing he says in verse 7 is I

fought a good fight I fought a good

fight I hope you know our fights aren’t

worth fighting far too many of us spend

far too much time with bad fights the

word good means that which is beneficial

or helpful he said I fought a good fight

the fights I had in life was to make

things better

Paul had a lot of fights he had a run

for his life he had people chasing him

he had here there are boats that were in

storms where he was fighting for his

very existence but he said I fought a

good fight I wish I could come here and

tell you following Jesus there will be

no balance I wish it was that simple

following Jesus there’ll be no trials or

troubles or difficulties

but the only reason you’ve got to fight

is something is fighting you

he just says if you gonna fight make it

a good one I fought a good fight

too many couples here or fighting bad

fights cuz you’re fighting over stuff

that is non beneficial it doesn’t matter

when you hit times like this and you

look back at the stuff you argued about

and thought about and bust about and

cussed each other about you you you look

back and say that was a bad fight cuz

that had absolutely no benefit to it it

was not beneficial Church members fight

overseas like that’s a good fight

folk fight over skin colour like that’s

a good fight cultures fight genders

fight they fight over stuff that doesn’t

matter if you at your time of departure

want to be able to connect with heaven

you better choose your fights wisely I

look at some of the stuff since Evans

and I disagreed over most of the time it

wasn’t huge stuff but when I look back

even the non huge stuff wasn’t worth the

disagreement or not talking for for a

day or whatever the result was why

because it wasn’t beneficial so when you

look at your battles in life you must

ask the question not am i fighting but

is it worth the battle he says I fought

a good fight I fought in the realm of

that which was beneficial he says the

first Corinthians 9 and I didn’t box the

air

I didn’t shadow box if it was a good

fight I went for the knockout punch cuz

if it’s a good fight if it’s beneficial

if it’s helpful if it’s life-changing if

it’s impactful if it will make a

difference you go for the knockout

[Music]

yes you fight for that relationship you

fight for those kids so that they don’t

go astray that’s a good fight you fight

for your well-being you fight so that

other people’s lives are better you

fight for your best self cuz that’s a

good fight he said I fought a good fight

all this last year it’s a two-year

process but the last year has been a

doozy and it’s been a fight it’s been a

fight fight with prayer and your prayers

our prayers of fight every day we went

to this treatment every day and we

fought we fought the good fight make

sure what you’re getting divorced over

there’s not something stupid

not a bad fight well that broken

relationship between mother and child or

our than uncle or co-worker and you is

it a good fight

the second thing he says is I finished

my course I finished my course it’s good

to know when your time is up that you’re

finished

since the Evanses words we’re not I’m

finished he said I’m done

same thing I’m done I’m finished Paul

was saying I completed what I was put

here to do

don’t waste your life so that when you

are finished you weren’t finished that

you never got around to what God created

and redeemed you to do that there was

nothing

eternal about your life where the course

that God had for you and he has a cause

for every believer to serve his kingdom

to serve their Lord don’t in your life

wondering why you lived I learned a

little bit more even than I knew

previously about my wife she got saved

at 9:00 that 9:00 her mother led her to

Christ

Herod her oldest sister she got on her

knees with the two of them and led them

in the process of trusting Christ as

their Savior at 15 she went to a camp

and was challenged there to surrender

her life to Jesus Christ fully and in

service to Him as the story was told to

me she got on her knees at the camp at

15 and told the Lord you can have all of

my life for any of your purposes I

surrendered to you even if that means I

will never marry or have children so

this was a serious moment where she gave

up everything over to Jesus Christ

this would lead to us meeting us

marrying but it would also lead to her

fingerprints being all over my life you

you would not maybe know all of that but

there’s no place that you go or that I

go that has not been touched by her

fingerprints I made it through school

because she typed the papers and

reviewed him when we started the church

with ten people she was the secretary

she was the hospitality person and she

was the music leader she was the pianist

while at the same time raising the kids

when the urban/alternative started she

would make the tapes we duplicate the

tapes put him in a bag take him to the

post office mail them then she would

manage things so that we got on the

radio so anybody who knows me anywhere

in the world only know me because her

fingerprints

[Applause]

and her motivation was something her

mother told her as she grew up all she

would say regularly is it’s for his

glory or for his name’s sake

so everything had the mark of God

associated with it

Paul says I finished my course I did all

that I was designed to do when it comes

time for God to transition me and you

and us you want to be able to say I’m

finished

Paul thirdly says I kept the faith I

didn’t walk away from my faith when

times got hard I didn’t give up on Jesus

our bedroom looks like a hospital room

but the wheelchair and a walker and all

of the things that come with hospice but

at any time she could be conscious you

would hear her calling on Jesus or

asking me or the kids to read scripture

or playing scripture on a CD or

listening to music on Christmas she had

very little consciousness on Christmas

we were got her in the wheelchair she

wasn’t able to walk she wasn’t able to

talk and any clear meaningful way we

gather the children and the

grandchildren the great-grandchildren

around we just say saying Carol’s about

Jesus

she just would move her lips trying to

mouth the words about Jesus the night

before she passed away a friend came

over and just sang to her songs about

the Lord she would grab her hand and

lift it up grab her hands with the lady

would put her hand down she’d grab it

and pull him back up put it down she’d

grab it and pull it back up when she

stopped singing she would paddle on the

leg she couldn’t talk but that meant

keep going keep going

the lady wanted to make sure she was

getting through and so she said if you

are hearing me and if you are worshiping

with me blink your eyes and she would

blink your eyes

in other words things got closed out

with Jesus never gave up on the faith

never walked away from God I don’t care

how bad things get you don’t walk out on

Jesus

you keep the faith

[Music]

you stay with the Lord Paul says I

didn’t give up

I kept when I wanted to give up when I

wanted to throw in the towel when I got

too tired I kept the faith I remember

this was a little earlier on when we

were doing chemo and radiation and go

everyday for chemo she said I want to

give my radiation guy a gift I said what

do you want to give him she said give me

a gospel track so I can witness to him

about Jesus she’s there trying to save a

life but wanting a track so she could

tell the radiation technician about

Jesus don’t you give up on the faith coz

when your time comes you want to be able

to hear heaven

Paul said I kept the faith I didn’t walk

away from my belief system just because

being a Christian became hard or because

trials come because difficulties are

there then he comes to his final verse

verse 8 Paul says now there is laid up

for me a crown of righteousness but not

for me only but for all those who love

his appearing now there is laid up for

me a crown of glory before he left he

knew that there was going to be an award

waiting last week or so since the

heavens rung out in the room award award

they’re calling me for an award

she kept saying award award they’re just

waiting for the song

there was anticipation about an award

before she was gone but Paul had an

anticipation about an award before he

was gone he said now there is laid up

for me when I came by the office

yesterday there was a plaque with a

resolution on it

the resolution had a quote on it from

sister Evans that I’ve never remember

ever reading taken from a magazine

article that she had written or bed

interviewed her and they included it on

their resolution let me read what she

wrote in 2012 as a woman that heard the

voice of God and stayed on track as much

as she could and with the plan that he

ordained and preordained for her life

I want to hear well done

I might not please all the people here

but I want to hear well done

because what he foreknew about me and

predestined for me I took time in my

life to really accomplish that I want to

leave a legacy and heritage for my

children and grandchildren and for any

woman that the Lord brought my way I

want to leave some inspiration and some

encouragement for them foremost in my

mind is I want to hear well done

that must be from this point on the goal

of everybody to hear well done to hear

God say you fought a good fight you kept

the faith and you finished the course

give me another moment

he says no there is laid up for me which

means that death wasn’t the end it

wasn’t a period it was a conjunction

since the ask Evans asked me she says

how long is it going to take my soul and

spirit to leave my body and go to heaven

how long is it going to take

I was able to explain it’s like a blue

with air when you prick it it goes pop

and the air escapes and the rubber falls

down to the ground the rubber once you

pop the balloon is useless but the air

that left it is still there when that

pop occurs and you close your eyes for

the last time the life of scarce the

body is dormant because it has no air

but the air is still there you’re very

much alive to be absent from the body is

to be present with the Lord

when you have that assurance that you

don’t get to stay dead when you die when

you have that confidence in the Lord so

if you are here today and you are a

Christian if you are here today and you

love the Lord then you follow him

because this life is your dress

rehearsal for eternity you say but it’s

hard but it’s tough but if I told you

that if I got you to eat squash for a

year and you didn’t like squash but if

you ate it for a year I would pay all of

your bills for the rest of your life it

would change your view of squash

your life may have squash in it but God

says if you’ll fight a good fight finish

the course and keep the faith I got you

covered for your eternal destiny so you

keep on fighting when a football player

retires when it’s over

he moves off the scene his teammate will

miss him if he gets cut or if he gets

too injured to play because he’s no

longer playing by his side but his

teammate has still got to keep playing

even though he misses his teammate my

teammate is gone but I’m gonna keep

playing my teammate is gone but I will

keep blocking and tackling I’ll miss my

teammate but the game of God’s kingdom

goes on so you keep going if something

were to happen to me the team mate maybe

God but you’ll keep playing

cuz God is still got you in the game

and as you remain standing if you are

here and you’re not a Christian so if

you are a Christian the only hell you’ll

ever have is the hell you get here but

if you are a Christian the only heaven

you’ll ever have is the little bit of

heaven you get here if you are not sure

of your eternal destiny get that cleared

up because what Jesus has done is he’s

taking the sting out of death on the

cross the father was driving in a car

with his son a bee flew in the window

bazoo going around the boy got scared

daddy daddy to be the father reached out

grabbed the bee in his hand after a few

minutes he released the be the bee went

buzzing the boy said daddy daddy to be

the bee he said boy don’t don’t don’t

worry that bee can’t hurt you it only

has one stinger that stingers in my hand

all I can do now is intimidate you what

a lot of noise Paul says old death where

is thy sting o grave where is thy

victory on the cross Jesus took the

sting of death so all defconn view now

is make a lot of noise and so I invite

you to go to Christ right now and to say

Lord Jesus I’m a sinner and I need a

Savior I accept you as my substitute

right now I’m believing on you for the

forgiveness of my sin and for you to

give me the gift of eternal life I’m

trusting you now alone for my eternal

destiny

you