THE CHURCH THAT TOLERATES.
Since God created the human race, Satan has taken an active aggressive role against the human race. His goal is to divide and destroy. He wants to seduce us away from the protective arms of our Creator so that he can drag us away to share in his eternal destiny. We have seen his work throughout history. We see that in the Garden of Eden Satan seduced Adam and Eve, convincing them that it would be better to “…be like God…” rather than to know God on a personal level. We also see this in the history of the nation of Israel. Their relationship with God was much like a roller coaster. At one point they were close to the Lord God and the next point they were worshiping false idols. Satan was constantly at work leading them away from the worship of the true God. As we come into the New Testament, we see that God has provided a way of escape for our sins. However, despite this provision, the work of the Devil has not been hindered. In the first century, he worked in the mind of the Roman king, Nero, and made him think that he himself was a god. As a result, Nero slaughtered Christians on a daily basis. Working our way up through history in the early part of this millenium Satan was able to work his way into the organized church and seduced its leaders with power and money. This led to the crusades, which in my opinion was one of the bleakest, darkest points in history of the Christian church.
These are just a few ways in which Satan has attacked the church of Christ. But today I believe he is taking a more subtle approach in his offensive. Though this tactic is subtle, I believe that it is one of the most aggressive attacks the church has experienced in a very long time. This attack comes in the form of pressure from our society to accept and tolerate sin. Unfortunately, this has erupted recently with the horrible incident in Wyoming with the brutal death of a young man who was killed supposedly because he was a homosexual. (Matthew Shepard) Because of that terrible incident, accusing fingers have been pointed to conservative Christian institutions such as Focus on the Family. These are institutions that hold to a true biblical conservative belief of God’s Word. I want to address this contemporary issue and compare it to this letter in Revelation two. What happens when we tolerate sin in our church? I think that question can be answered as we study this letter to the church in Thyatira.
First, let us look at what this church had that is blessed of God. We see this in verse 19, Jesus tells them “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience, and as for your works, the last are more than the first.” We see here that this is a very loving church. It was very comfortable to be a part of their worship service, which can be a very good trait for a church. But the problem that this church had was that it was too accepting and too patient with the things that were going on within this church. What this church lacked was a sensitivity to sin. Look in verse 20 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. So what is the problem with tolerance? Tolerance is a concept that is being pushed and taught in our society today. And this worldview that is being so promoted in our communities today has no business being a part of our churches, at all. Now, before I explain myself to you, I want to point out that there are two aspects of tolerance. First, there is the tolerance of persons. When you’re addressing the issue concerning tolerance of persons, I feel that there is no room for that type of tolerance in the church. You ask, “Why?” Because if you are sitting in a pew and merely tolerating the person sitting next to you, that is inappropriate activity for a Christian. I was reading in the Gospels recently about how Christ washed the disciple’s feet and I learned how washing another person’s feet was the lowliest activity that a Jew could perform on another person. This is the attitude we must have in our church toward one another. If you a just merely tolerating the person beside you then you have a problem. We are not called to tolerate each other we’re called to serve each other and to minister to each other and to build each other up.
But that’s not the type of tolerance I want to talk about this morning. This type of tolerance is tolerance of actions. To be more specific, I want to address tolerance of sin within the church. What is the problem with tolerating sin in our church? The first problem is that it compromises the integrity of the Word. See this Bible, this is God’s Word. “… it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous. . .” so that we, as God’s children, may be thoroughly prepared for every good work. We are on a journey in this life. And, as it says in the book of Psalms, this is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path. As children of God and as a body of Christ, we should follow this lamp wherever it should lead us. As we follow this lamp we use this to draw the line in our lives. In our Christian life we take this Word and draw a line in the sand and we say this is where God’s Word is and this is where I am not going to cross. I set my life standard based on where this Word is established. But too many times, as Christians, we take small steps away from this standard. We reason within ourselves, saying, “That lie is just a small lie and I’m just doing so I wont hurt their feelings.” And then we step across that line. We reason in our minds, saying, “ I didn’t study very well for that exam. I usually do pretty well but I just didn’t have time study like I needed too. It won’t hurt if I cheat just a little.” And you take another step away from God’s Word. Then you say, “ I know God has established the marriage covenant to be holy to be pure, but I have just fallen out of love with my wife. And this other person provides for my needs so much better. God wouldn’t deny me my feelings, would He?” Then you take another step away from the Word of God. Then you say, “This group of people call themselves homosexuals and I can’t deny them their feelings. They’re born that way. They can’t help the way they feel.” Then you take one more step, away from God’s Word. And before you know it you are so far away from the original line of integrity that God’s Word has drawn that you can barely see it on the horizon of your life. I want to challenge you today to establish God’s Word as the authority in your life. Go where it leads us, draw the line in our life where it calls us to draw the line.
It not only compromises the integrity of our church it also leads others astray. Look at the second half of verse 20, not only does Jezebel “…calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” When we compromise and tolerate sin in our lives we lead others astray. This leads me to ask this question, how many eyes do you have upon you? Sometimes we do things in our lives and we think this doesn’t affect anyone else but me. You have to realize there are many eyes around you watching what you do. You are constantly setting an example for the people around you. Younger Christians, younger children you need to set an example for them not leading them astray but leading them in the truth of God’s Word.
Not only does tolerance lead people astray, some may look at you and say, “You’re being intolerant so you’re being judgmental, and who has the right to judge another?” There was a time in history when I believe that John 3:16 was the most well known verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Unfortunately, I think that the most well known Bible verse today is Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Even worse than that, not only is it the most widely known, it is also one of the most misinterpreted verse in Scriptures. A person would look at this verse and say, “This says to judge not, so I can do whatever I want and you can’t tell me if I’m wrong.” This view could not be any further away from the true meaning of this verse. But we still have the question, what does this verse mean and how do we know if we’re being judgmental? We can find the answer to the first question by answering the second. Are we being judgmental? This depends on two things. Please turn to Matthew 7:1 and we will address that verse head on. (read)
I took this apart to determine the true meaning of this verse and I found some very interesting things. First, when asking the question, “Are you being judgmental?”, you have to deal with the issue of your authority. What is your authority? The word for “judge” in Matthew 7:1 comes from the Greek word “krinw”. One aspect this word has is that we assume the seat of judgement. When we judge as this verse indicates (Matt 7:1)what we are doing is putting on the judges robe, taking the gavel, sitting in his seat and we are defining what is right and wrong. We have become the authority. But that is incorrect for a Christian. Our authority is God’s Word. To illustrate I consider myself an ice cream conisuer. I love Ice Cream and eat it as often as I can. I especially like anything with chocolate, marshmallows and or nuts. Flavors like Heavenly Hash, Chocolate Nut Fudge are among my favorites. But one thing I don’t like is fat free ice cream. I think fat free ice cream is an abomination in our society. It adulterates the true integrity of what that ice cream is suppose to be. Ice cream has a type of integrity, and when anything is done to change that integrity you completely ruin the make up of this dessert food. And I think it is wrong. I’ll be setting up an ice cream committee to take action against the crime within our community. Now you may ask, “Aren’t you being judgmental?” Yes I am. I am the one who is determining what is right and wrong. You may not agree I would understand that. But I would not expect you to accept that type of judgmental attitude concerning fat free ice cream. But when I read in God’s Word and it tells me that certain things are sinful and should be removed from our lives and from our church and you say are you being judgmental there? I say no. I’m not being judgmental God’s is where the line should be drawn. We are not the ones who are the authority. It is always God’s Word. And when we draw the line where God’s Word draws the line we are within every right to accept that judgement and make it a part of our own lives. Not only is our authority being questioned as far as being judgmental but also involves our attitude. This word “krinw”, it not only involves the issue of assuming the seat of judgement but it also has an issue of condemnation. Being condemning. This deals with the attitude of the person. I read a definition of this verse that says, “that it forbids a bitter hostile unkind spirit which delights in finding faults in others.” Do you know someone who delights in finding the faults of others? It should not be a joy for us to see someone else falling. It should break our hearts. When you see a brother of sister stumbling what is your reaction? Does it make you look good? Does it make you puffed up and say I’m not as bad as they are. Does it give you a little bit of gossip that you can spread around that you can enjoy? Or does it break your heart, does it make you weep, does it make your heart bleed because a brother or sister stumbling in sin. Do you want to see a good example of this turn to 1 Corinthians 5:1-2. Paul is addressing the church in Corinth and there is a problem in this church. “It is actually reported that there is sexual immortality among you, and such sexual immortality as is not even named among the Gentiles - that a man has his father’s wife!” This church was accepting this person into their body they were accepting his immoral life. Not only are they tolerant of it, look in verse 2, “And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.” This church was not only tolerating this sin they were puffed up, they were proud that they could withstand this type of sin in their church. Paul said that it was something that should be mourned. What does Paul say they should do in this situation? Looking down in verse 5 “deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” What was Paul’s concern in this situation? He was concerned for the man’s soul. He said, this man was living in sin in your church and the sin will destroy him. If he wants to be a part of that sin turn him over to that sin in hopes that eventually, being in that sin , he would reach the bottom and that he might realize that what he has done is wrong and repent, rejoining the fellowship. Turning away from his sin coming toward a new purity in his life. Paul’s concern was not only for the church but was for the man committing the sin. Turning the man away from the church body was not the end, but it was a means to the end. It is a means to meet a pure godly body of believers. You ask if you are being judgmental. I tell you first check you attitude. What is your attitude toward that person? Secondly, check your authority. Do you make up the laws and try to impose them on others or do you draw the line where God’s Word draws the line?
As you reject sin someone may look at you and say, “You’re being intolerant; therefore, you teach hatred.” Intolerance of sin is not hatred. This type of intolerance is a great expression of love. When God’s Word draws the line to say homosexuality is wrong, that must be the line the believer holds to. Someone may say, “You are homophobic, these people were born that way. We have no right to judge.” I’m not homophobic. I am hamartiphobic. Now, I know I just made up that word but it illustrates exactly what I am saying. You Greek students may know that hamartia is the word for sin. I am afraid of what sin can do. I am afraid of what sin does in an individual’s life and in the life of the church body. Sin is like weeds in a garden. If they go unattended, they can overtake the entire garden and kill every plant within it. Sin has the same affect on our lives. If we leave it alone, it would go away. We must take aggressive measures to remove the sin in our lives so that we can be clean vessels, so that we can be used by God to accomplish His business. Not only do we continually run from sin in our lives, we are to also pursue the righteousness that God requires of us. John MacArthur once said this about the Christian life. “There is a sense in which, as long as we are in the body, we can never stop running. If we stop running from what is evil, it will catch us. If we stop pursuing what is righteous, it will elude us.” Such is the life of a child of God. You see, sin prohibits you from being the man or woman that God has designed you to be. This is what I am so fearful of. I am afraid of what sin can do in our lives and in our church.
Not only am I afraid of what sin can do in our lives and our church today, I am also afraid of what Christ will do. We all like to see Christ presented in the Gospels as a very loving, kind and caring savior. He healed the sick, made the lame to walk and the blind to see. He’s a loving God. What would He do to us? That perspective of Christ does describe an true aspect of His character, but if that is the only view you have of Christ you are in for a shock. Let’s look back at Revelation 2:21-22. These verses reveal another side of who Christ is. It reveals Christ as a judge of sin. First thing that I see in this verse is Christ presented as a judge who takes sin seriously. Look in verse 22, he says this in regards to Jezebel “Indeed I will cast her into a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.” You may look at that and say, “Isn’t that harsh?” Yes, it is. But, He is being hard on her for her own good. In Hebrews chapter 12:6 it says “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God is dealing with you as a son or daughter. “But if you are without chastening, … then you are illegitimate and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:8) God disciplines those whom He loves. Any time you talk about a relationship between God and his children you can always refer back to the relationship between a parent and a child. Those of you who have children know that you cannot allow them to do anything they want. There is a reason why parents practice discipline in their homes with their children. It is so they can teach them what is right and what is wrong. When you chasten your children, this shows that you love them that you care enough to teach them.
So here, we see that Christ is a judge who takes sin seriously. Not only that, though, He is also a judge that deals mercifully. Look at verse 21, what does he say about Jezebel “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.” And then again in the second half of verse 22 He said that He would do all these things, unless they repent of their deeds. Christ is merciful, Christ is giving her time after time to repent of her sin and rejoin the true body of Christ in purity. Why does Christ give all these opportunities to repent? Because Christ is merciful, think of all the times Christ has given you another chance. There are times in my relationship with Jesus that I ask why He puts up with all the things that I do. The reason He does that is because He is merciful toward us.
***(story of Theology professor concerning person taunting God)***
God gives us opportunities to repent and turn away, He chastens us and deals with us mercifully. Christ not only deals with us mercifully but He always deals with us justly. Look at verse 23a, “I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” Christ always acts justly. Looking at this verse you may say He is killing children here is that just is that fair? To address that question we must talk about who God is. God by his character is just. If at any time in His eternal being God ceases to be just, ceases to be fair than He ceases to be God. We as His children must accept God for who He is. Therefore, everything he does is just. With that knowledge in mind let us look at this verse. The question at hand is not if God is being fair, the question is what does God see in the situation that we don’t. What is there that we don’t see? We have a good judicial system in this country. But it has flaws. We’ve heard about innocent people being sentence to jail and guilty people being set free. But the flaw lies in the humanness of those judging. What to they have to go on in determining a persons guilt or innocence? There are the witnesses, testimony, evidence and the body language of the defendant. And based on these factors a judgement will be made. However, Christ is not limited in this way. Look at the second half of verse 23, “…I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.” Christ is not sitting on the throne looking at the testimony, looking at the witnesses, looking at the body language. What Christ does on the throne is he looks at you and He sees straight to your heart and he sees the kind of person you are and He always makes the right judgement. He always makes the proper authoritative decision in your life. So Christ is a judge who takes sin seriously, he deals mercifully and He always acts justly. Moving farther along in this verse notice something very interesting this is a letter to the church in thyatira. Up until this point He hasn’t addressed anyone in the first person yet. All the people He has been referencing has been in the third person. It’s not until verse 24 that He addresses the church of thyatira. This is what I call the remnant faithful. Look at verses 24 and 25, “Now to you I say and to the rest in thyatira as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast to what you have until I come.” The advice that Christ has for this church, this remnant faithful with thyatira is hold on to what you have until I come. The question I had when I read that verse is what do they have to hold on to? What is their foundation their rock that they can hold on to in order to wait until Christ’s return. I want to do a little logical deduction here, refer to verse 24 when He is talking in reference to these people. He says to them “Now to you in thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine…” What that means is that these people were not selling out to this doctrine that Jezebel was teaching and what was the doctrine they were holding onto. The were holding onto God’s Word. Two fundamental themes that run through the entire Bible that gives us a foundation to live our lives on. The first one is that the Word of God reveals sin. It shows us how far we have fallen.
**Basketball illustration**
In the book of James it talks about the Word of God as being a mirror that we can look into and we can see just exactly what type of person we are. We are not suppose to compare ourselves to each other we are to compare ourselves to what God’s Word says and it reveals that sin. But not only does God’s Word reveal the sin God’s Word also reveals a Savior. We don’t look at this Word and see how far we’ve fallen and God says well wish you the best. God doesn’t do that, He reveals a Savior. A Savior in Jesus Christ, who provides us salvation. The ability to enter into the presence of God. So this is the first thing they had to hold onto in Thyatira, the remnant faithful holding onto the Word of God. But that was not all they had to hold onto. Look again at verse 24, “…as many as do not have this doctrine [of Jezebel] who have not known the depths of Satan…” This remnant refused to experience what Satan had to experience, the refused what Satan was trying to sell them. What they accepted was the purity of God the purity that God calls us to.
***illustration of Hannah reaching for the cookie jar**
You may think purity is something we can not obtain. No we can’t obtain it on our own but when we desire purity so much than Christ will lift us up so that we can enjoy the purity that God can provide. This is the purity that he has given us to hold on to, this is the purity that this church in thyatira desires. This is a purity that we as the church should desire a purity that Christ can give us holding onto God’s Word.
In conclusion refer to verse 29, how does he close this letter? Verse 29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” When I read that I think everyone has an ear so everybody has got to hear. But the question is, do you truly have an ear for the spirit of God? Can you hear what He is saying to you, can you hear what He is talking to you about in reference to where you place your authority and what you desire as far as your purity is concerned. I want you to think about this issue of being intolerant of sin in your life. I want you to realize that if you are tolerating sin in you life than your bringing sin into the body of Christ. Sin is damaging I don’t want to judge you, I am not here to say how bad you are. What I want to tell you is that sin not only can hurt you but it will hurt the body of Christ. There is no such thing as a small sin, sin is like a weed that spreads out that affects everyone in your life. Sin is like a poison. If a poison was injected into your arm it would not stay in your arm but spread throughout your body. Sin will do the same. I want to call you to purity. I want to call you to respect the authority of God’s Word.
