Dr. Tony Evans delivers a powerful sermon unpacking the message to the church at Laodicea from the book of Revelation. Exploring the dangers of spiritual complacency, Dr. Evans challenges us to reevaluate our spiritual posture and invites us to open the door to Christ’s transformative presence in their lives. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/drtonyev… If you would like to download two encouraging, FREE full-length MP3s of Tony’s popular sermons: “The Sovereignty of God” and “How to Handle a Crisis,” you can do so by clicking on this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1atT9MJvXQN…

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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.

our world has so duped us so we wind up

buying things we don’t need with money

that we don’t have and our world is

duping us and Jesus says no I ain’t

going to dupe you 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 I’m the only

one who can give you what you really

need to be what you’re supposed to

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

be

Leo deia was a wealthy

city

known for three

things some 45 miles Southeast of

Philadelphia our last City and last

Church Le oia 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 Leo de 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

Le oysa right 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 leod

deia and our church

today I am the

amen a amen means so be it 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 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 while 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 is 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 Le oysa 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 Leo

deia Bible

Fellowship of

lukewarmness you are

lukewarm he says their lukewarmness that

is their stagnant spiritual

State they in

between Christian

commitment 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 Leo deia Bible

Fellowship y’all make me

sick and Jesus says this is the amen

talking this is the one who not going to

tell you what you want to hear I’mma

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 was it exactly about the

the co 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 I got it going

on got my job got my money got my car

got my house got my

clothes so my going to church is part of

my

style I go to Leo de a Bible Fellowship

cuz that’s what all Christians do but I

don’t go there cuz I need

Jesus I go there to fulfill my religious

obligation

you become so successful in your

financial district Your Fashion District

your pharmaceutical District that you

don’t really need me you just plating me

you don’t need me you just using me you

don’t need me you just acting and giving

the impression that you are close to me

and y’all make me

sick he says to the Leo deia Bible

Fellowship that you have allowed watch

this

now the definition of success in the

world to give you the definition of

success in the

church you think cuz you got money in

your wallet you think because you buy

the nicer clothes Drive the nicer cars

have the nicer job that somehow God has

brought BL you you been falling into

this false theology that if I got

stuff I must be blessed when actually

you and your stuff have made me sick and

you make me want to throw up and spew

you out of my mouth because you have

brought the world into the

church instead of letting the church

Define who you are and how you function

in the world they were

measuring the spiritual by the physical

let me say that again they were

measuring the spiritual by how things

look in the physical I am wealthy I got

this going on so I must be

blessed the fact is the physical and the

more of it you

have

camouflages the spiritual so that you

think the spiritual must be okay cuz we

got this

coding in the

physical and because the coding looks

good the inside must be okay cuz if I

wasn’t close to God why would I be

blessed like this if I wasn’t close to

God why would I have what I have

be where I am have the education that I

have why would all this stuff be okay if

I wasn’t close to God he says all that

stuff is is painting a false

portrait he

says let me tell you what you really

are second half of verse 17 you do not

know you are

wretched and miserable

and poor and blind and naked he

says None of what you think about you is

real that’s right that’s right 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

see it’s bad to be blind it’s worse to

be blind and not know you

blind it’s bad to be naked but it’s

worse to be naked and not know you

undressed it’s bad to be

poor but he says you don’t know how poor

you are it’s bad to be messed up and you

don’t know how messed up you are that’s

how messed up you are you’re so messed

up you don’t know how messed up you

are that’s what he

says

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 see you playing

church as lukewarm

Christians oh you coming to church you

part of Leo DEA Bible Fellowship but

you’re playing games with this thing you

you’re not you’re not committed to me

you’re not dedicated to me what you’re

doing is coming to

Showtime at the church you come for the

performance of the choir the performance

of the preacher you come for the

performance of the environment but when

it comes to your commitment you’re

trying to satisfy the public you’re

trying to satisfy the success of Wall

Street and and every place out there cuz

you got it going on in Leo to

see but I’m going to give you the amen

the so be it the final word the

conclusion and what I say is the bottom

line he says well I’m going tell you the

real deal you’ll make me want a

vomit what do you want me to do Lord

what you want 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 advice I advise

you to buy from me

gold because it’s a financial district

refined by fire so that you may become

rich cuz 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 iav 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 but see

that’s what the Saints in Leo DEA didn’t

want that’s why they didn’t know they

didn’t want the spiritual perspective

they wanted people to make them feel

good about where they are based on the

world’s perspective

yes and that’s not what the church is

supposed to be not the Church of Jesus

Christ The Church of Jesus Christ lives

on the truth and it lives on the reality

of the Son of God and it lives on the

proclamation of the spiritual and unless

the spiritual is put out front of the

physical and not the physical put out

front of the spiritual you and I will

live in deception individually and we

will live in deception as a church and

we will carry on Services while Jesus

wants to

[Music]

vomit unless the spiritual is out front

and that becomes the standard and the

gauge for every area of life then Jesus

says I can’t do anything with you

because you’re living based on a

facade based on a lie so Jesus says I

got some

advice for folk who put the physical in

front of the spiritual buy from me you

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

yes 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 zelous and

repent those who I love

I reprove and

discipline because I love

you but you don’t really know you cuz

you think you all that 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’mma put you in situations you can’t

dress up for I’mma put you in situations

to deal with your blindness I’m going

I’m going I’m going I’m going I’m going

to 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 cuz 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 I’m going I’m going to have to

deal with

you but it’s because I love you because

I don’t want to be I don’t want to be

divided from

you so what do you what do we

do okay watch this now 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 knock

he’s at the door of Leo deia Bible

Fellowship he’s knocking what does that

mean they having church and he not even

there so just cuz you having Church

don’t mean Jesus is in the

[Music]

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 is there anybody that can hear the

door anybody hear the door knocking

because I’m knocking the problem is

nobody listening they too busy shouting

they too busy praising they too busy

getting their Praise on they they I’m

knocking if anyone does here now he

comes from the church corporate to the

individuals in the

sanctuary cuz even though the sermon and

the message is for everybody Jesus knows

everybody not going to

hear so the question is how do you know

if you heard yeah 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 me yeah 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 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 said if anyone hears a

knock and opens up the door 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 cuz

he’s not going to force himself on you

this is By Invitation

Only but let me tell you something about

the

invitation the knock on the door is the

disturbance that I know I need to get

some things in order because I’m blind

I’m naked and I’m poor

spiritually now you know how it is when

somebody knocks on your

door and you said well who is

it and if it’s somebody who you don’t

want to see how dirty your house

is you know you got stuff all over the

place you haven’t cleaned up

yet so you start throwing stuff in the

in the

closet hiding stuff under

stuff cuz you want to create a

facade you want them to think you

clean you’re not clean you’re just

hidden it’s all it’s all hidden okay and

then you you open the door invite oh

come on

Jesus Jesus I know it’s in your

closet I know what’s under you know I

know what you got in the attic I know

what you got through in the garage I let

me explain something let me make this

easy 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

he wants to watch this dine with

you guess who’s coming to

dinner he wants to dine with you dining

means Fellowship it’s like when you say

somebody let’s have lunch together

you’re not just talking about the food

you’re talking about the fellowship he

wants this intimate relationship and he

already knows the reality cuz he already

told you you’re blind you’re naked and

you know and you’re poor so he already

knows what’s going on he wants to be

invited in for part of the cleanup he

wants to be part of the cleanup because

he’s the one who brought a lot of the

mess or the discipline to awaken us to

the knock and he says if you will invite

me in I will come in and Dy with him or

her and then he goes on and he

closes he says to him who

overcomes as our 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 to 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 into bread

is it legitimate for Jesus to eat if he

hungry absolutely but it’s not

legitimate for Jesus to eat if he’s

hungry if the devil’s providing the

food that’s called devil Foods cake so

see the devil if the devil’s providing

the food you you you he says it’s okay

to 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 cuz 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 you’re 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 re 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 let me tell you uh 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 a struggle like we

have to

[Music]

struggle yes inde but Jesus said he

overcame

him a bird one day

was walking on a

branch and then the branch

split so the bird had to make a decision

am I go this way or am I going that

way cuz if I don’t go anywhere I’m going

nowhere

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 Church

fied 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 and 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 thank you Lord 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

[Music]

close

a