The Busted Church
Revelation 2:18-29
* When someone commits a crime, generally, they try to hide that crime & inevitably, the truth comes out so in the vernacular we say, “They got busted.” This means they were forced to face the truth.
* In simplistic terms, today I call Thyatira the ‘busted church’ because they ‘thought’ they were fooling everyone by the work they were doing. But Jesus knew the truth and busted their bubble, revealed, exposed them for what they really were.
* Today, this same Jesus looks at this church, at every church, inside every heart, and He exposes use for who we really are.
1) The Reality of the Busted Church – Reality is what we live in, it’s the truth and it’s the truth, whether we like it or not. Look at three truths;
a) Externally they looked good – At the MGM studios in Orlando there us (or used to be) a tour called “Catastrophe Canyon”. You are put into a little sitting area and are witness to a series of ‘staged’ explosions which send a million gallons of water down the mountain towards you. It’s kind of neat to watch this happen while at the same time, it is very life like (and you’re glad it’s not for real). Also, on this tour, you see beautiful houses which have been seen on TV. The front of these houses are picture perfect while the inside & and the backs are nothing. They are merely a façade, for show. Most of us have heard the phrase, “Looks are deceiving.” My mom used to say, “Beauty is skin deep but ugly is to the bone.” While she was not a deep theologian, she was a pragmatist of the best kind.
* To this church Jesus says, “I know your works, love, faithfulness, service, and endurance.” In other words, the Lord sees what everyone else sees about this church. He sees & He knows. But don’t forget that while people may see what we want them to see, our Lord looks deeper.
* 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us of this truth. This verse gives two views of life.
* Humankind sees only what we want them to see. As a church & as a church member, we are capable of pulling the wool over people’s eyes. We only let see what we want them to see. And folks, we capable of putting on a good front, a good show. We see so many come into a church body, join, and then leave in short order. I wonder if the reason could be that what they saw from the outside is not what they found, once inside. This reminds me of helping my mammaw gather chicken eggs. I discovered the hard way that the shell of a rotten egg looked to me to be generally the same as a healthy egg. The difference was not readily noticeable to me UNTIL the shell was broken.
* The Church at Thyatira gave all the external evidences that they were doing well. They had that plenty of resources; they stayed busy, & gave the aura of doing well. These things do not necessarily mean that you are seeking God, fulfilling your mission, or are pleasing to God. Jesus sees through the façade of man’s works. Today church after church and ministry after ministry gives the impression of ‘success’ while it is crumbling from within because it is only a mask or a front.
b) Internally they looked godless – Jesus (you know -the Son of God, the one with the eyes of fire, and the one who had the feet of brass) said, “I know your works.” In essence, He is saying, “I know the truth.” In other words, He says, “Hey, I know all you do. I see what everyone else sees and more.” Arguably, Jesus’ listing of ‘love, faithfulness, service, and endurance’ can have been a good thing. He could have been saying something good about the church. BUT, what ‘if’ He wasn’t? What if His words were, “I KNOWS ABOUT THE LOVE YOU’RE OFFERING” and it doesn’t measure up? I know about your true faithfulness and it’s not to me. Or even I know about the service your giving and, while it has some benefit, it falls short what I’ve called you to do.”
* Could He be giving a message to the church at Thyatira which extends to us in the 21st century? Could He be saying that, “remember the standard of love He called to in the upper room?” I said, “Love one another in the same way I have loved you” and candidly, the love you feign falls short.
* How different the call of love to be from the kind of love which is shown in the average church today. We show love inside the church to those who are ‘our own’, or until someone sits in our pew, or they take our seat in our SS Class, or has a different opinion than ours. God’s love is this, “I love you in spite of yourself;” “I love you when you are unlovable,” and I love you so much that my Son died for you.” This is what He calls us to.
* Love is only the first ingredient of our works. The same can be said for faithfulness, service and even endurance. Jesus’ call is for us to put the work of the Kingdom first in our lives. If the one with the eyes of fire and feet of brass were to utter the words, “I know your works” to would He mean that you have given HIM your best, or would it be an indictment?
* But He wasn’t through with Thyatira. Interestingly, Jesus says, “I have some things against you” but only mentions issues with ONE PERSON & He calls her by name. Jezebel . The name Jezebel takes us back to the Old Testament with King Ahab and the Prophet Elijah. Jezebel was a wicked, ruthless, and evil woman who gave women a bad name. This Jezebel was the same type of person. She led the people into idolatry and immorality.
* The HCSB uses the word “tolerate” while the KJV says ‘sufferest’ this woman, but the NKJV clearly says, “You allow” her to do this. This week I read “Preparing for Rain” by Michael Catt, the Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. This is the movie making church. Even though Sherwood Pictures is nationally known, Michael says, they still submit to the authority of the church. The Jezebels submit to nothing! They do what they want, when they want, like they want. It is reminiscent of the last words in Judges, ‘everyone did whatever he wanted.’ Nothing destroys the church of God like have a person (or people) who do not understand or refuse to submit to the authority of the church. The church is in trouble because they ‘allowed’ on person to pervert the church.
c) Fraternally they are fractured – First, we don’t use the word ‘fraternal’ very much but if you recall your college days, a fraternity was a close knit group of men. They were united, spent time together, & the connection lasts a lifetime. This should be the picture of the church. United around the one cause, one goal, and one aim of glorifying and introducing our Lord to this world. In this way, we go & make disciples. All else is vain. Their unity, togetherness, & fraternity were fractured into two groups. And it is right here that we discover the two groups in most churches.
i. The Corrupted – It is very clear that Jezebel and all those who follow her are consider by the Lord to be corrupted & will receive judgment from Him. (Read verse 22-23) Make no mistake, the name can be Jezebel, Nicolas, Balaam, Jerry, Jim, John, or anyone else; but to follow a person who is not God’s anointed leader will ultimately lead you to corruption. One thing about a corrupt leader, she/he is very skilled at deceiving people & can get a following. The result is always the same; judgment from God and division inside the family. It is interesting to me that He says, I’ll through her into a sickbed with those who follow her, I will kill her children, and I will give to each of YOU according to your works. This is the corrupted, those who have followed evil. Now see the 2nd group.
ii. The Committed – (Read verse 24). Jesus identifies the corrupt and then “rest of you.” That is, those who have not followed this evil person, you have not accepted her teaching & leadership, and have not know the deeper things of Satan. To you I say, “I know you are there. I know you are keeping the faith, so don’t lose the faith.” This truth from Thyatira brings home to me that inside every local church exist two groups of people. Those who put Christ first and those who don’t. It seems to me that scripture calls Christ’s group “The Remnant” because it is smaller in size but in a big way wants to see God do HIS work through them.
2) The Response to the Busted Church – Jesus has no interest in ‘busting’ us and then leaving us like we are. He is still a helper and healer. The ‘busted church’ is the church RIPE for spiritual healing, renewal, & revival. Consider three sources of eternal healing.
a) The Savior will be Exalted – Jesus always shows up in the way we need Him. To Thyatira, He identified Himself as the “Son of God, with eyes of fire, & feet of bronze” (vs 18). The title “Son of God” reminds us that Jesus was & is the ONE above their human idol (named Jezebel). As the Son of God lifted up, only HE has the power to draw the lost soul to God. Sometimes the reason so few people come to know Christ is because we do such a poor job of lifting up Christ. Most of the time it is with good intentions, but we lift up other things than Christ and wonder why people don’t respond to Jesus. Last Thursday night, I put two questions to our Deacon body (& these are the top questions for us today) First, “how can we glorify God in our community?” I’ve heard all the tired rhetoric of days past, but the real question for the real children of God at HBC is this: “How can we show God to this community?” Every decision we make, action we take, ministry we undertake, should be filtered by this thought. Our task is to Glorify God in our Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry and Missions. And it is only when we seek to exalt Him that Renewal will come. If there is to be spiritual renewal it will not come by activities, finances, & other stuff, it will be sent by a God who has been exalted by a people with a repentant heart. When the church comes to the end, this will be the result.
b) The Saints will be Embraced –There are several truth to understand. The Saints will be embraced by a loving God who sees & knows all. For those He KNOWS has kept a truly spiritual heart, holding on, there will be encouragement, help, and hope. If you have ever been in a personal struggle, then you know the peace of God which comes inside when the world spins out of control. It is this peace, this strength that God gives to those who don’t abandon Him, or run from the battle. The Bible says He is our strength, our rock, our protector, our healer, & even our rear guard. He envelops those who seek Him with all their heart.
c) The Sinners will be Exposed – You know what you have to admire about these letters to the churches; “God calls names.” God knows little of ‘they’ or ‘some people’, God knows who it is, & says “Jezebel.” Not only does He name THEM, but He names their sin. And He does so with one goal in mind, ‘redemption.’ He gives the most idolatrous & immoral the time to ‘repent.’ When God busts a church, His goal is revival.
