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

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

Channel: Tony Evans

Views: 880,461

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Keywords: Tony Evans, Lois Evans, sermon, sermons, hope, Tony Evans message, Tony Evans sermon, Tony Evans wife

Id: Qa0quYA9pNU

Length: 38min 28sec (2308 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 10 2020