The Corrupted Church

The world doesn't need a tolerant and compromising church.

Revelation 2:18-29 "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze: 19 "I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

20 "But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman--that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet--to lead My servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.

22 "Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.

24 "But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching ('deeper truths,' as they call them--depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.

26 To all who are victorious, who obey Me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. 27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. 28 They will have the same authority I received from My Father, and I will also give them the morning star! 29 "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.

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This church was doing some really great things, Jesus said that he knows "ALL the things you do" and he was pleased with their love, faith, service, and patient endurance. Not only were they doing all of those things they were also getting better at doing all of those things. They must have had a great discipleship program in their church.

Even though they were constantly improving in so many areas, we all know that there isn't a perfect church, it is easy for any church to emphasize certain qualities and as a result they tend to neglect something else. After Jesus commendation he let's them know where they needed to focus their attention.

This church would have been very popular in today's culture where tolerance is expected of everybody and absolute truth and values are not allowed. What God has said is wrong in His Word, many, even in the religious community, are now calling normal and holy. That is what was happening in the church at Thyatira as well.

It is interesting to contrast the churches at Ephesus and Thyatira. The Ephesian church was weakening in its love, yet faithful to judge false teachers; while the people in the assembly at Thyatira were growing in their love, but too tolerant of false doctrine. Both extremes must be avoided in the church.

-Warren Weirsbe

Jesus tolerated people that he didn't agree with without being mean to them, he tolerated people that were using him to get something from him and he tolerated physical abuse. In many ways Jesus was the most tolerant but in the essentials Jesus was very intolerant and narrow in his teaching.

The culture that Jesus lived in here on earth was very tolerant of things that he could not accept. Jesus never tolerated the sin and false teaching was all around him. Jesus hates the sin but he loves the sinner and wants to give him eternal life in his presence.
All of us have to decide how far we will go in accepting the cultural standards that our world embraces. Where do we draw the line in being friends with the culture around us without falling into compromise? Where are the boundaries?

We are citizens of another kingdom that we long to be in but for now we are trapped in a world that is ruled by sin and hostile to God's standards. This battle between the two worlds should create tension in us so that this world shouldn't feel like home to us. (Colossians 1:13)

Jesus words to the church in Thyatira to hold on tight are just as good for us today, he never says that it is going to be easier to live in this world, in fact he told us that we will have trouble but my love for Jesus should make it easier. Because I love him I am motivated to love what he loves and hate the sinful deeds of this world that caused him to suffer on the cross.

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The Sin Of Tolerance (billygraham.org)

Living A Lie

Judas wasted his life pretending to be a disciple.

 

John 13:1-2  Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to His Father. He had loved His disciples during His ministry on earth, and now He loved them to the very end.  2  It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

John 13:10-11  Jesus replied, "A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you."  11  For Jesus knew who would betray Him. That is what He meant when He said, "Not all of you are clean."

John 13:25-27  So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, "Lord, who is it?"  26  Jesus responded, "It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl." And when He had dipped it, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  27  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, "Hurry and do what you're going to do."

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The last Passover meal that Jesus would be around for was full of surprises, first there is the way that the location was revealed to the disciples (Luke 22:7-14), then there was Jesus taking on servants work and washing dirty feet during the meal, and then the greatest of surprises is that one of the disciples is going to betray him.

The news that someone would betray Jesus was a complete shock and nobody could say that they had a good reason to suspect Judas or anybody else. Judas has covered his real character so well that there was only one man that knew who he really is.

Judas must be tired of living a lie and deceiving the other eleven men in his small group. The rest of the guys are going to be in complete shock, none of them had any clue about what was in Judas' heart, none of them had a good reason to suspect Judas and they didn't even get it when Jesus told them in the Upper Room.

It is important to note that Judas was not a true believer; he was a hypocrite. He had never believed in Jesus (John 6:64-71), he had not been bathed all over (John 13:10-11), and he had not been among the chosen ones whom the Father gave to the Son (John 13:18; 17:12).

-Warren Wiersbe, "BE" Bible Study Series

There would be a lot of trouble if anybody knew, Judas was protected by the fact that it was so well hidden, I am sure that somebody would have turned on Judas in order to protect Jesus.

If I had this information about someone that was going to harm me then I wouldn't stay quiet about it and I certainly would not serve them by washing their dirty feet or allowing them to sit at my dinner table. Jesus kindness in serving Judas was the last opportunity to soften his hard heart.

Have you considered what it would be like to be a hypocrite living everyday with Jesus? Judas has seen Jesus know a man's thoughts on more than one occasion so he must have been troubled with the dread that Jesus knew that he was a fake and that he would divulge his real character.

John 6:63-64  The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe Me." (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn't believe, and He knew who would betray Him.) 

Judas teaches us that sinners need more than a good example to be saved, Judas had the best mentor he could have possibly had, everything that he had seen and heard should have given him a very awesome testimony but instead he has a very sad one.

Judas teaches us that we will encounter people that are not saved in the most religious circumstances. In every church there is a Judas that is so cleverly disguised that we will never know their true identity. Don't forget that Judas was plugged into a small group and he fooled all of the guys in his group with the exception of Jesus.

Wheat or Weeds

Matthew 13:27-30  "The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?' 'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. 'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. 'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'"

As long as we are in this world we will be forced to live with weeds, they are so easy to sow that the enemy just broadcast the seed and then he "slipped away" without tending to them. (Matthew 13:25) The enemy knows how to produce very convincing counterfeits and he knows that it is quite a challenge to know the difference.

We will always have deceivers and hypocrites in our midst, even in the church, and we will have to be patient to determine the difference. It will be difficult to know the difference until the fruit is produced and it is ready to harvest (Matthew 7:15-20)

Throughout church history there have been attempts to get rid of these sinful people but the trouble with that is they are never fully eradicated and the true wheat is often damaged in the attempt. The bride of Christ must keep herself pure and get rid of obvious false teachers but we must be careful and we must realize that we cannot possibly get rid of all of the weeds without damaging the wheat and harming its ability to produce fruit.

God is sovereign and he will not be fooled, we should examine our own hearts before God, we can fake it and fool all of our friends but the cost is extremely high if we reject the Light of the World and step out into darkness. (John 3:18-21, John 8:12)

Be Real

Be cautious because there are plenty of beliefs about Jesus that are not real.

2 Peter 2:1-3  But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

2  Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.  3  In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

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One of the most amazing things about traveling to Europe is to see their old castles and cathedrals that are made out of real natural materials. As an example take a look at the city of Oxford, none of the building materials are fake, most of our architecture is just a facade.

We live in a world where we are used to fake, plastic is used to replace all kinds of things, from building materials to body parts, we even have milk that comes from sources other than cows. With all of this fake stuff around it is easy to accept it all without questioning any of it.

There was plenty of fake in the Bible, from Abram lying about his wife being his sister (Genesis 12:10-13), Isaac tells a similar lie about his wife and then his son Jacob deceives him into thinking that he is actually Esau (Genesis 27:1-46) and then Jacobs sons hide the truth about what has happened to their brother Joseph. (Genesis 37:1-36) All of that deception is in one family in the first book of the Bible.

Ever since the original false teacher talked to Eve in the garden with his clever stories and destructive intentions there have been many more teachers of deception that have caused the fall of many. They slander the truth, seek to get into your pocketbook and they put the spotlight on themselves to feed their own ego. Some of them are like a snake but they can be like savage wolves or they may not look mean at all. (Matthew 7:15-23, Acts 20:28-32)

The apostles were God’s instruments to record His full and final revelation for us. The prophecies that they give us in the New Testament are the last revelation on God's timetable. There have been plenty of false prophecies since then and people that claim to have a vision from God. Muslims, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventist all claim to have a new revelation and the Jehovah's Witness claim to have another publication that must be used in order to understand the Bible.

Real Truth
John 14:6  Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me." John 17:3  And this is the way to have eternal life--to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One You sent to earth.

By promising a new life of freedom, the false teachers deceive people just like water-less springs and rain-less clouds, they build up people’s hopes only to disappoint. The only real hope that we have and the only real truth that we can build our life on is to know the only true God and His Son Jesus. If you are trusting anybody else with your eternal destination then you are playing a dangerous game. 

Even if you are a child of God you have to be careful that you have a real perception of who He is and what that implies about our lifestyle. We can be guilty of conforming Jesus to our idea of Jesus instead of continuously digging into God's word to see the real Jesus.

Help me Lord to know you more and to have a better picture of who you are and how I can better look like the real Jesus.

Choose Life

Jesus warns us to choose wisely in order to avoid disaster.

Matthew 7:13-14  "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.  14  But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Matthew 7:24-27  “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.  25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.  26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.  27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

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At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus made it clear that we have to choose wisely in order to avoid disaster. We have to choose between two gates, two roads, two destinations, and be sure that we are with the right group of people. (Matthew 7:13-14)

The gate that leads to life is very narrow, there are plenty of alternative routes but they are all going to the wrong place, Jesus tells us that he is the only path to God. (Matthew 7:15-16)

There are false teachers that will try and tell you that the path to God isn't narrow, it is cruel for them to say things that are not true, the consequences for accepting their teaching is so severe. The fruit that they produce is the best and most obvious way to discern who to listen to.

Once you know which teacher to listen to you need to be diligent in applying the truth to your life. It would be foolish to know that your teacher is not a false teacher and then ignore their instructions. The wise student will apply God's word to their life so that they can survive the storms that will certainly come their way. (Matthew 7:24-27)

I need to make the choices that lead to life with Jesus for eternity. There are very important choices to make everyday, the world is full of lies, the voices of the false teachers are constantly speaking to us. I need to discern which teacher I listen to so that I will not leave the straight and narrow because of their terrible advice.

Jeremiah 6:16-19  This is what the LORD says: "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, 'No, that's not the road we want!'    17  I posted watchmen over you who said, 'Listen for the sound of the alarm.' But you replied, 'No! We won't pay attention!'  18  "Therefore, listen to this, all you nations. Take note of My people's situation.  19  Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on My people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to Me. They have rejected My word.

I need to put apply God's word to my life so that I can avoid ruin and I should be a voice that speaks the truth to the people around me. I should help them to see the narrow road and the amazing destination that it will take them to.

Thank you Lord for your warning to your children to avoid Satan and his people that want to deceive us. Help me to always look to truth and wisdom to direct my paths.

Is It The Truth?

True or false questions can be the trickiest ones to answer correctly.

1 John 4:1-6  Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

2  This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3  But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

4  But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

5  Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them.  6  But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

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You see all kinds of scams reported in the news and you wonder how somebody could think they were being told the truth. We all should know that you cannot believe everything that you hear, people will lie to you just as fast as the devil does, maybe we are a lot more vulnerable to scams than we want to admit. It seems like the most outrageous lie will still have somebody that is willing to believe it.

Jesus warned us that Satan is the father of lies and he has a lot of children that act just like their father.  They may be the nicest people that you could ever meet but they are liars. There are people lying to you about the everyday stuff of the physical world as well as people that are false teachers that are lying about spiritual things. You need wisdom to help you test their motives so that you can know the truth.

John 8:44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Every teacher needs to be put to the test to determine where their teaching is coming from. The most important teaching that must be checked is what they teach about Jesus:

✔  Do they believe that Jesus is God?
✔  Do they believe that God's Son came to earth to pay the penalty that we owed for sin?
✔  Do they believe that Jesus covered our sins without any help from us based on our good works?

Just about all of the New Testament books have teaching about the dangers of bad doctrine and the people who try to teach it. The devil is okay with you knowing about Jesus but he doesn't want you to have the correct beliefs about Jesus. Wrong teaching about Christ showed up right away, Satan didn't want the truth to be known so he had plenty of subtle variations of the truth ready for those who do not want to believe the truth about Jesus.

The trouble with false teachers

Galatians 5:7-12 You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? 8 It certainly isn't God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. 9 This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.

The InterVarsity New Testament Commentary explains the problems that false teachers cause:

✔  they distract Christians from obeying the truth of the gospel (v. 7)
✔  they replace the call of God with their own deceptive persuasiveness (v. 8)
✔  they gain control over the whole church (v. 9)
✔  they cause confusion and discouragement (v. 10)
✔  they spread false reports about spiritual leaders (v.11)
✔  they emphasize sensational rituals (v.12)

We need to be concerned about the danger and keep our guard up but there is no need for Christians to fear the false teachers because those in whom God dwells can overcome those in whom Satan dwells. We should be motivated to dig into the word so that we will know what we believe and why we believe it.

I need to follow the truth as I finish the race that God has called me to run.

Living With Honor

Honor and respect are not very popular in these days of entitlement and selfishness.

1 Peter 2:13-17  For the Lord's sake, respect all human authority, whether the king as head of state,  14  or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.   

15  It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.  16  For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.  17  Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.

1 Samuel 2:30  "But I will honor those who honor Me, and I will despise those who think lightly of Me."

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Honor and respect are not very popular in these days of entitlement and selfishness, there are not very many people that are willing to deny themselves and live by a higher standard. There is a great need for authenticity and high moral vales in our country today.

It seems that the only time that honor is popular is when a con man is trying to benefit from lying about having a military award. The Supreme Court has even said that the right to free speech includes the right to lie about being a honored military vet.

Our government doesn't care so much about honor and valor but the Bible teaches us that we need to cooperate with God and value what he values, his agenda should be our agenda and we should be pleased to do his will. We should revere God and respect the standard that he has set for our daily lifestyle.

“The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training – sacrifice. In battle, and, in the face of danger and death, he discloses those divine attributes which his Maker gave when He created man in His own image. No physical courage and no greater strength can take the place of the divine help which alone can sustain him.”  - General Douglas MacArthur

God made the ultimate sacrifice and in doing so he has given us the highest honor that we could ever have. The cross should be a reminder of the greatest act of honor that has ever been done, God showed us how to sacrifice, he showed us how to stand up for truth, justice and purity.

Honoring God? Make it real!

Isaiah 29:13-14  And so the Lord says, "These people say they are Mine. They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. And their worship of Me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.  14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear."

History is full of people that pretended to honor God and the consequences for their insincerity are very high. In the Bible the nation of Israel shows us over and over again what it looks like when a nation doesn't honor God and live by the standards that he has set. Their false teachers and immoral government leaders took the people away from God and into ruin.

God gave us his commandments, he gave us an organized society with leaders to govern us and he gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us so that we can be members of society that live orderly, respectful and quiet lives.

Honor in the Proverbs:

Proverbs 3:9  Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Proverbs 18:12  Haughtiness goes before destruction; humility precedes honor. Proverbs 20:3  Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling. Proverbs 21:21  Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 22:4  True humility and fear of the LORD lead to riches, honor, and long life. Proverbs 26:1  Honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest. Proverbs 29:23  Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

Humility, avoiding a fight, fear the Lord and pursuing righteousness are the characteristics of a man that God will honor. I want to be found faithful, to live with authenticity, to live without compromise and serve others so that my Savior will say "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

That is the highest honor possible!