How to Be a Loyal Church
Series: Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?
October 1, 2006
There are all kinds of people out there today who are ragging on the church…
a. The church is a place for hypocrites.
b. The church is responsible for all the hate and wars in the world.
c. The church is nothing more than a social club.
d. Organized religion is all about the money.
The Church doesn’t have a shortage of it’s critics. And even though many of it’s critics have a point… no one really has a right to criticize the church except for one person… it’s founder… Jesus Christ. He earned His right to critique the church, because he was the only one who loved her enough to die for her. It’s kinda like you as a parent… because you brought that child into the world…by your own sweat and tears…you’re the only one who has the right to look at them right in the eye and say, “I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it!” But let someone else criticize or in any way put your kid down… and you come out swinging! Right? Sure, that’s because blood is thicker than water.
And because Jesus gave His blood for His church (and nobody else did)… He’s the only one who really has the right to point out her shortcomings. In Rev. 2-3, that’s exactly what He does. But not as a way of tearing her down, but in order to build her up! His criticism isn’t full of selfish motives, or bitterness (like outsiders are)… His criticism is constructive and it comes out of a heart of love. Out of a desire to make His church better. To help her to live up to her potential. Because of what He’s done for us… we know His motives are pure.
If your son wants to be the best baseball player in the world, wouldn’t it be in his best interests to not only point out his strengths, but also his weaknesses? If you don’t love him enough to point out his weaknesses… how much do you really want him to succeed? If you ignore those weaknesses they’ll eventually negate the strengths! The same is true of Christs church. So Jesus goes over His church with a fine-tooth comb, inspecting for cracks, pointing out not only it’s strengths, but the weaknesses that will destroy it if left unattended.
Now, I was a 2nd child in my home, and if no anything about birth order… the 2nd child always watches the trouble the 1st kid gets into and figures out a way not to make the same mistake. I can’t tell you how many ‘spankings’ my older sister saved me from just because I watched her mess up, and then I avoided the same error! Well, that’s what we should be doing as we study these 7 churches out of Revelation. Watching closely as Jesus disciplines them, so that we don’t make the same mistakes. These are our older sister churches!
First, Jesus comes to Ephesus in Rev.2:1-7… The “Busy Church” and points out, “Sure, you’re working hard for me, but you’re doing it out of duty not delight”… so we talked about how we can be a more “Loving Church”.
Next Jesus comes to Smyrna, a church that was experiencing a tremendous amount of persecution… it’s the ‘Persecuted Church’, and instead of pointing out faults, Jesus encourages them to hang on! So from Smyrna, we can learn, how to be a “Faithful Church” in the face of persecution.
Then, Jesus inspects the church of Pergamum…”The Compromising Church”. Jesus told us that we are to be “in” the world, but not ‘of’ the world. It’s that fine line between relating to the world, but at the same time being different enough to attract the world . The Church of Pergamum crossed the line. Instead of changing the world, the world was changing them.
It’s happening in the church today. So we talked about how we can keep from making the same mistake in our culture.
This morning I want you to turn in your bibles to Rev.2:18-19, where we come across what I’m naming, “The Tolerating Church” of Thyatira, and hopefully from their experiences we can learn how to be a “Loyal Church”. Loyal to Christ only, as our Lord and Master. (READ) Again, just like all the other churches we’ve read about, the message starts out by reminding us who’s talking. Jesus gives us a description of who He is…and it may be different from the almost feminine, milk toast, 60’s hippy you might have…
Ephesus… he is “the one who holds the 7 stars in his right hand and walks among the 7 lampstands”. In otherwords, He OWNS the churches. We’re HIS and we’re accountable to Him alone.
Smyrna: He’s the “He’ the First and Last, who died and came to life again”. That means, no matter what happens to us, He has the first and last words. Not only did He plan our lives before we were ever born, but He sustains our lives and no matter what goes on in between. His plan WILL be carried out in the end, and He WILL be victorious! I like that! If you want to know the message of Revelation, in 2 words it’s this… “WE WIN!”
To Pergamum: He reveals Himself as the “one who has the sharp, double edged sword”. In other places in Rev. we see that same sword coming out of His mouth. It doesn’t mean He’s some kind of sword swallower from the circus, but it symbolizes how Jesus’ words cut two ways. If you accept them, you’re life will be blessed, you gain eternal life…but if you reject them, you’re life will be a mess and in the end, you’ll destroy yourself by your stubbornness.
In today’s message to us by way of Thyatira, Jesus identifies himself as “the one whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze”. –Rev.2:18.
Have you ever had anyone stare at you with eyes of blazing fire? We ‘men’ refer to it as…”THE LOOK”! It’s when you’ve said or done something really stupid… and your wife catches you’re eye and gives you… THE LOOK! (Ohhh… I shudder to think of it!) Well, if you think your wives stare is piercing… think about what it’s going to be like to look into the eyes of Jesus someday, especially if you’ve got something you’ve been hiding! When Jesus looks at us on Judgment Day, all bets are off!
· Everything we’ve done but never confessed,
· All the secrets we’ve kept but never revealed,
· All the thoughts we’ve thought, but never admitted…the motives, the lies, the jealousies…
ALL of it, will all be brought out into the open for everyone to see! Whoa! And then get this… His feet… feet like burnished bronze, so bright that I have to cover my eyes… are walking towards me! The symbolism is pretty clear: with eyes and feet like that, the Son of God can see into the darkest places, and stamp out any opposition to his rule. That’s a good thing to remember as we hear what Jesus has to say to His church this morning.
Again, like in most of the other letters, Jesus starts out with the good stuff about His church 1st . It’s like Mary Poppins used to say, “Just a spoonful of sugar, makes the medicine go down!” Jesus gives us the sugar first…” I’ve been watching you with my fiery, all seeing eyes and I commend you for your deeds… you’re doing good stuff out there! You’re helping people get their lives together, you’re reaching out to the poor… I especially enjoy your faith! I mean, I love how you trust in me for everything, and how you refuse to give up, even when life is tough. In fact, you’re growing and maturing! You’re doing more now, than you were when you started! Good job! Keep up the good work! BUT… I have a few things that are TICKING ME OFF! And I don’t mind telling you… I’m upset!”
And He tells us in vs. 20 what’s really gotten him riled up… (READ Rev.2:20)
Jesus is angry because he says, “You tolerate that woman, Jezebel!” Now if you know anything about the O.T… Jezebel was the wife of one of the most evil, immature Kings in the history of Israel. King Ahab. Ahab, was one of those weak-kneed, spineless, momma’s boys who wanted to be respected, but didn’t have a clue how to get it. If you watched the movie, “Gladiator”…the Caesar was that kind of guy! Ahab married a Sidonian princess who made the ‘wicked witch of the West” look like a Barbie Doll! She was a horrible woman… overbearing, treacherous, conniving, manipulative. She wanted to control Israel, but because she was a woman, they wouldn’t allow it, so she did the next best thing… she married the little jerk Ahab. As a result, they both got what they wanted. He got her to do his dirty work, and she got power! It was a dysfunctional marriage made in hell.
To illustrate just how twisted and pathetic this couple was, in I Kings 21, we read how Ahab decided he wanted a vineyard close to His palace. Only one problem… He couldn’t have it, because the owner Naboth, refused to sell it. Like a little preschooler, Ahab flew into a temper tantrum, and started to sulk. When Jezebel found him moping around, she asked him, “What happened Poopsie?” He blurted out, “ I want Naboths vineyard, but he won’t let me have it!” Ohhh… poor little Habby Poo! Don’t worry, I’ll get it for you!” So, she promptly brings up false charges on Naboth, (accusing him of cursing the King publicly), hires a couple of ‘thugs’, and has Naboth stoned to death! Nice lady! When the dirty deed is done, Jezebel comes in…
“Ahab! I’ve got a surprise for you! You’ll never believe what happened!
What is it? O Tell me! Tell me please!
“Naboth is dead! You still want that vineyard?”
Oh… yes, mommy, (I mean Honey!) I’m soooo happy now! Thank you! Thank you!”
He doesn’t even ask what happened to Naboth… he just goes and takes it over! That’s just one of the ways Jezebel got control of the throne! It was Jezebel, who was responsible for killing all of the Lords prophets and replacing them with the false prophets of Baal, with the exception of Elijah (only because she couldn’t catch him) . So she was a pretty bad lady…
And now a woman shows up in the church of Thyatira, that resembles her so much that Jesus calls her “Jezebel”! She’s lit. taken over the church of Thyatira! She was the ‘church boss’. And she was leading them into deception and sin! Now, the key word I want you to see in that passage is the word, “TOLERATE”. (Circle that word in your notes, or in your bible this morning.) Because the only way a horrible woman like this was able to get control of their church, was because they had lost their ability to discern between right and wrong. In Pergamum, the Nicolaitans were saying, “Assimilate”, but in Thyatira, those who followed Jezebel were saying “Tolerate”.
This word ‘tolerate’ is used a lot in our society today. Have you noticed? We’re asked to ‘tolerate’ all kinds of aberrant behaviors as normal. If you don’t believe that, just watch the Jerry Springer show sometime! I remember when I was in highschool and college, they used to say things like, “You know, I’m gay and you need to tolerate my lifestyle”, or “We need to be tolerant of other religions”. And I’d think to myself, “Okay, that’s cool! I don’t have any problem with that! We live in America and… you have the right to believe what you want, and I have the right to believe what I want. I may not agree with what you believe, but I respect your right to say it.” And then at some point along the line, (I don’t know when)… the definition of ‘tolerate’ changed!
Instead of meaning ‘I respect your right to have an opinion”, it became… “Not only do you have to respect my right to have any opinion or political view, but you have to ACCEPT my view… and not only do you have to ACCEPT it, but you have to APPROVE of it… and not only do you have to APPROVE of it, but you have to believe that MY truth is just as valid as God’s truth!” WHOA! I’m thinking… “That’s NOT cool! I can’t do that!” Because to accept every view as true, means that nothing is truth! If I say, 2+2 = 4, and you say, “No, 2+2 =6”. One of us is obviously wrong and one of us is obviously right… but we can’t BOTH be right! If we’re BOTH right…then math loses it’s meaning and ability to solve problems. See, truth is a very exclusive, jealous term by nature. There can only be ONE truth… for it to be a valid term. The Church of Thyatira had started to doubt that! They began to think, “Well, you say Jesus is true, but who’s to say that what Jezebel is saying can’t be true also? Maybe Baal is just as much a god as Yaweh is! After-all, don’t all religions basically say the same thing?” The Bible says, NO!
In the O.T. Jezebel and her 450 prophets of Baal faced off to Elijah and His God in I Kings18. They went to Mt. Carmel, and there, once and for all, they were going to decide who was the true God! Elijah laid out the challenge in vs. 21… (READ) “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” –I Kings 18:21 He said, “Let’s have a little contest! We’ll put a bull on an altar, and the 1st God to bring fire down from heaven and burn up the bull… is the true God! And just to prove that I’m a nice guy, you go first!” So the 450 false prophets put a bull on the altar and began to call out to Baal, “O Baal, answer us!” No answer. They cried out again… no answer. They began to dance around frantically, shouting, cutting themselves to get his attention. Nothing. This went on from morning til night.
Meanwhile, here’s Elijah standing calmly over to the side, leaning up against a tree with a smirk on his face. He’s probably getting a kick out of the show! Then as the day wears on, he begins to get bored and so he starts to taunt them… “Hey guys… got a problem? Maybe he can’t hear you! Shout louder! Or… maybe Baal’s meditating on some deep thought, or He’s on vacation somewhere in the Bahama’s. Could be He’s on a potty break! Whatcha think?” Of course this just made the prophets of Baal even more frantic, so they screamed and shrieked even louder. But still…nothing happens.
Finally Elijah’s had enough!. He tells them to go sit down. Then he calmly begins to re-build the altar of the Lord. He puts a bull on it, and directs them to saturate the altar with water, (not once, not twice, but 3 times), just to make sure that nobody can accuse him of stacking the deck. Then he steps back, prays a simple, short prayer… and BAM! Fire comes out of heaven hits the altar, and faster than you can say ‘greased lightening’… burns up the bull, the wood, the stones, the soil and the water! The people look at that, pause for a second in shock and then hit the ground face down, crying… “The Lord! He is God!”
Now, why did I tell you that story? Because today, Jezebels prophets of Baal are multiplying in our country…they’re saying…
· “There’s no one standard of truth, truth is what you make it!
· “All religions are the same & all roads lead to heaven”.
At the same time, the true men and women of God are disappearing. We’re tolerating things in our society today, that in past, would have been called what they are… SINS! Today, we’re wavering between two opinions. And we have to decide once and for all… what’s true, and who is God? If Baal’s God follow him… but if the LORD is God… we better follow Him!
Let me review for you again the two opposing views of Jezebel and Jesus. Let’s give Jezebel her shot at it first…(is that fair?)
Jezebels words can be summarized in two sentences. The Jezebel spirit will successfully deceive the church today if we believe these two sentences…
1. There are ABSOLUTELY, no absolutes!
See, the reason people say today, “You have to accept and approve of my lifestyle, because it’s just as true as yours”… is because they don’t believe in absolute truth. They don’t believe that there’s one standard of truth for everybody. In fact, the only absolute they believe in, is that there AREN’T any absolutes! According to many different surveys, 70% of today’s generation (both unchurched AND churched I might add), don’t believe that absolute truth exists. Instead, they believe that all truth is relative. That truth is a matter of taste. You can pick and choose it as you want. What’s true for you, may not be true for me…based on my experience or my situation. Some of you have heard this in your high-school classrooms…”We can’t tell you what is wrong or what is right. You have to decide that for yourself.” And so that’s what we do!
· If I believe it’s all right to have sex outside of marriage… well, that’s my truth!
· If I believe it’s okay to cheat on a test, because it’ll help me get ahead… then that’s truth to me!
· If believe that stealing helps even the score, that’s okay!
See, if there aren’t any absolutes… I can do whatever I desire, no matter who it hurts…just as long as I get what I want! Again, I agree that we should respect other peoples views, but in our society, we’ve emphasized personal choice and tolerance so much… that nobody believes in an absolute standard for right and wrong anymore! The bible teaches that there IS such a thing as absolute truth. That there IS such a thing as standards of behavior that are true for all people, at all times, for all places.
· God is absolute truth.
· God’s Words (as written down in the bible) are absolute truth…not just another holy book.
· The 10 commandments are absolute truth. They’re not simply a set of good suggestions.
There ARE some objective standards that I can live my life by. There ARE rules that I can base my decisions and teach my kids to base their decisions in life on! Truth isn’t a matter of taste, it’s a matter of God’s will for my life! People who don’t believe in absolute truth are 83% more likely to also believe it doesn’t matter what you believe about God as long as you’re sincere.
Oh really? I wonder if people who say that realize that most religions of the world totally contradict each other? For example…
· Christianity teaches the deity, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
· Islam denies the deity, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
· Hinduism says there are 1000’s of gods.
· Christianity says there’s only one God.
· Christianity says that Jesus is God and the Messiah.
· Judaism insists that Jesus is NOT God, or the Messiah.
See these opposing views can’t all be right. Sincerity doesn’t make a wrong way right, no matter how sincere you are. Now, once Jezebel has established that there really isn’t any absolute truth in the world, she can move onto her 2nd statement “…because ‘you’re’ truth is just as valid as mine…”
2. You Can’t Judge Me!
This is where the Church of Thyatira got into trouble! Jesus says in vs. 20 that…By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality.´. –vs.20b You say, “How does that work?” Simple! Once you establish that there’s no absolute truth, and that you need to be ‘tolerant’ of whatever truth I prescribe to… all kinds of immoral behaviors become acceptable! And if you ‘dare’ label what I’m doing as sin, you’re considered…prudish, holier-than-thou and judgmental…even stupid! In fact, the greatest sin in our society today isn’t sin. The greatest sin in our society is to be perceived as ‘judgmental’! It’s the ‘J’ word! The Thyatira Church had lost it’s ability to discern good from evil, because they didn’t want to ‘judge’ anybody!
“Wait a minute Pastor, I thought Mt.7:1 said”…READ Actually let me read the rest of the passage to you… READ Mt.7:2-5 Jesus isn’t saying that all judgment is forbidden. To the point that we can’t judge between what’s right and wrong… He’s talking about “hypocritical judgment” here. You know, the kind where you try and hold others to a higher standard than you’re willing to live by yourself. Condemning them for something you do! That’s a wrong kind of judgment. We’re also not allowed to judge people’s motives or attitudes. Only God can judge the heart, because He’s the only one who can see it! READ I Sam.16:7
But other than that, God’s people are urged, even commanded to judge between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil.
That’s what Jesus meant when He said, “Judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). We’re to judge what’s good and evil using God as the standard, not our emotions or feelings. Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers, “I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say” (1 Cor. 10:15). Clearly, God requires us to be discriminating when it comes to matters of truth. Go back to Matthew 7… Jesus says, “Don’t be a hypocritical judge, take the log out of your eye first, but once you’ve done that… you’re free to take the speck out of your brothers eye.” In otherwords, you can hold your brother accountable for obvious sins in his/her life, once you’ve dealt honestly with your own.
So Jezebel says, “There are no absolute truths, therefore you can’t judge me, therefore… I can do what I want!” Compare that with what Jesus says…
Jesus says…
1. “I am the ABSOLUTE authority.“
READ vs. 26,27 with me. Jesus says, “God has given me authority, and I’ll give it to the person who believes in me”. Did you know that when you stand for truth, (whether at work, at job, school ect.) that God gives you authority in your life and in the lives of others?
All the sudden, people who claim that they can do whatever they want, that truth is relative…get real defensive. In fact, just the fact that you stand for something unmovable, makes you a target. They want to get rid of you so they can go back to doing what they want to do!
Now, because Jesus is the absolute authority in this world, He’s able to say,
2. “I am the JUDGE”
See now we’re getting down to the real root of why people don’t want to have an absolute authority in their lives. It’s because they don’t want to be held accountable to it! Jesus says, “It doesn’t matter what you think, I am the judge, and I will judge sin…” READ vs.21-23 The ‘children’ Jesus is talking about here are the “spiritual offspring of false teaching”…people who listen and follow the teaching of Jezebel. Breaking God’s laws, (whether you believe they exist or not) always ends in death and destruction. Romans 3:23 says, “The wages of sin is death”. No matter what you believe, you can’t get around God’s laws. It impossible to break God’s laws… but they will break you!
What a lot of people don’t understand about truth, (especially liars) is that truth relentless…it’s patient. It’s unaffected by human opinion, majority votes, polls or the latest scientific theory. Eventually it makes itself known. People used to think the world was flat… truth won out. It happened with slavery, it happens in politics…if you’ve read the book, “Darwins Black Box”, you know it’s happening with evolution…the truth of creation is surfacing in the halls of secular science. No matter how good we rationalize our position, or how sincere we are… ‘truth’ is going to squirt out when you least expect it. Jesus told us that how we deal with the truth will decide our destiny. So when it comes to truth, the quickest, best thing to do is to listen and respond to Jesus’ 3rd declaration …
3. REPENT!
Twice Jesus tells Jezebel and those who hold to her teachings to repent. Because there IS absolute truth, and because there is a judge… we need to repent. Repent of our rationalizations, our arrogance, our stubbornness and pride. To repent lit. means to “turn around & change directions”. Jesus is saying, “You don’t have to be condemned. You don’t have to suffer for your sin. You can choose life!” In John 8:32 Jesus says, (READ) With truth comes freedom. Jesus wasn’t only speaking about freedom from things (dissapt., disease, confusion, hopelessness), but He was speaking about freedom to DO things (to love and be loved, to trust, to laugh). Being obedient to God’s truths doesn’t mean you give up pleasures and fun… it means you’re free to enjoy MAX pleasure without the guilt and the bad consequences! So far from being something you should be afraid of, or offended by… repenting is the most wonderful thing Jesus could tell us to do!
When it comes to repenting, I always wondered why some people repent and change for good, while others repent and change for a few days, and then go back to their former self, and then I came across this vs. in II Cor.7:10. I think it describes the difference between true, lasting repentance and temporary repentance… (READ) It’s the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow…let me give you 4 differences…
True Repentance…
A. ACTS on conviction, doesn’t need pressure.
Some people repent as a way to fix their broken lives, but when the crises is over… so is their repentance. That’s not repentance, it’s ‘crises management’! True repentance is like the tax-collector in Luke18:13, crying out to God when no one’s looking…”God have mercy on me… a sinner”.
True repentance…
B. ACCEPTS consequences, doesn’t avoid them.
Some people ‘say’ they repent, but in reality they’re just trying to dodge the consequences of their actions. They’re repenting as a way of keeping out of trouble, but they don’t really mean it… they just want us to forget and move on. (Jimmy Swaggert) True repentance on the other hand, wants to change whether they reap the consequences or not… they just want to be right with God.
True repentance…
C. ABHORS sin, doesn’t minimize it.
Fake repenters regret that they got caught, but they’re still in love with the sin itself. True repentance changes our desires and our “want to’s” Like Paul, in Rom.7:19, we say…”the good I want to do…the evil I don’t want to do”.
D. ASKS forgiveness, doesn’t make promises.
True repentance is more than just acknowledging our sin…it’s admitting our complete helplessness to do anything about it. Calling on God to do what we can’t do to bring about change.
From the beginning of recorded history until this last century, virtually every human philosophy assumed the necessity of absolute truth. But when tolerance (as the world defines it) is valued above truth, all kinds of destructive actions all the sudden become acceptable. Ultimately, we lose our ability to call anything wrong! The church will never be what Christ died for it to be, until we regain a passionate love for truth and a hatred for error. We can’t just condone sinful behavior as ‘acceptable’ and and expect to enjoy God’s blessing. Do you need to repent? Do we as a church need to repent? I think it would be the best thing we could possibly do!
