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.
what does it look like when you leave
your first love
it means that you have to
find time for him when you have time for
other things
most folk don’t have to find time for
for this show or that show
cause it’s understood that when that
time comes and that show is on
i’m there the reason why we have to find
time for god
is because he’s not first love he’s when
i get around to your love
it has to do with priority he wants to
know he’s first
that he has been relationally
prioritized
not just programmatically
included first love is where there is a
fire for him
our final church to the final body of
saints is leo decea bible fellowship
leo decea was a wealthy city
known for three things
some 45 miles southeast of philadelphia
our last
city and last church
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
jesus as he does in each one of these
churches
introduces himself as he wants you to
see him now
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 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-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 geographical
reality
to express a spiritual reality
operating at laodicea bible fellowship
he says you are neither hot
nor 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
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 laodicea bible fellowship
y’all make me sick
i want to oh i want to throw
up when y’all come to church
it makes me want to vomit
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 did was it 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’ma tell you like
it is
and like it is you’ll make
me want to 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
and 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 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 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 save 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 gonna remove the blindness
so you see things as they really are but
i’m the only one
who can do that cause i’m not gonna lie
to you
i’m not gonna trick you nor am i gonna
be impressed by you
that’s why you need to i need to we need
to
be close to folks who want to give us
jesus perspective
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 those who i love
i reprove and discipline because i love
you
but you don’t really know you because
you think
you all had in a bag of chips so so 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
i’ma put you in situations you can’t
dress up for
i’ma put you in situations to deal with
your blindness
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 cause 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
[Applause]
him who i love i’m i’m going
i’m gonna have to deal with you verse
20.
behold i stand at the door
and knock okay
behold i stand at the door and knock 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
behold i stand at the door and i knock
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’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
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 i
you know you i i didn’t created
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
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 would 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 foods 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
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
[Applause]
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
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 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
i see you’re an overcomer i get to
interview you to be a close associate
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
i love the cute saying about being
authentic
be who you is because if you is who you
ain’t
then you really ain’t who you is now i
know that’s not the best english
but what it is is a call for being
authentic
that is not wearing a mask
not being hypocritical in
what you say versus what you do
but being for real putting a real face
on
or as the young people say not being
fake
where your authenticity is missing
in our imperfection god still expects
authenticity that’s why he allows for
repentance
repentance is recognizing where you’ve
not been right
getting right so you can begin to
function right
what we need are for real christians god
is not looking for
church goers because that can be fake
christians and certainly fake disciples
he’s not just looking for folk who carry
their bible but actually read it and do
what it says
he’s not asking for people just to
listen to music and sing it
but to express it in their lives he’s
looking for authentic
followers who demonstrate that this
christianity is for real
that they are that they’re not just a
christian
when it’s convenient they’re not just
speaking properly when it helps them
politically or economically
or to be people pleasers now he’s
looking for folks
who want to be for real and how they
react and act
every day ask god to help you today lord
i want to be for real
and that means that your your commitment
to christ must trump every other
commitment
a commitment to your race a commitment
to your gender
a commitment to your class a commitment
to your
economic resources he must be able to
override all of that
because if he can’t you’re not an
authentic christian
you’re a fake christian because you have
something
more important than your relationship to
christ
that governs your decision-making
[Music]
[Music]
you