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