The Failure of the Church
As those who profess to be
members of Christ's family today,
we must be on guard against
the same sins that God condemned in Israel.
Here's Gene:
Here in chapter 5, Isaiah pronounces
a series of woes on Judah.
In 5:20 he says:
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil...
And there he's being very literal.
But then he follows that with
metaphors that are pretty graphic:
...who substitute darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who substitute bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
And of course, that describes Judah
as Isaiah is prophesying the
words of the Lord.
In 21 and 23:
Woe to those who are
wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight. ...
What a statement that is.
I mean, that's a proverb, really:
...Woe to those who are wise in their own opinion
and clever in their own sight. ...
And that of course, describes exactly
what was happening.
Particularly the leaders in Israel,
including some of the kings.
...Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
who are fearless at mixing beer,
who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of justice.
And of course, here he's
talking about drunkenness.
People that are absolutely out of control
in their immorality
and all the things that they'e doing.
The injustice towards the poor.
And others that they should be caring for
rather than making them victims
of their evil, evil deeds.
So here we have this series of woes.
Now it's interesting that judgment came
as a result of these statements,
as a result of their behavior.
The prophecies were fulfilled.
They were taken into Babylonian captivity.
But these woes are repeated
in relationship to Israel
by Jesus Christ Himself.
So if you go to Matthew,
look at what we read.
And these are the words of Jesus:
But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
And he goes on there in verses 14, 23, 25, 27, 29.
Basically, saying the same thing"
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
And explains why.
Very, very strong statements.
Very similar to what Isaiah did
here in this Old Testament book.
And the conclusion, are Jesus' words of judgment:
...Snakes!
Brood of vipers! ...
That doesn't sound too much like
the gentle Jesus, does it?
But the gentle Jesus, in a sense, is saying:
What more could I do?
See God has patience.
Patience and that's why Jesus hadn't come.
That all will respond.
That [all will] come to knowledge of the truth.
But He's a Holy God.
And so He says:
Snakes! Brood of vipers!
How can you escape being condemned to hell?
This is why I'm sending you prophets,
sages, and scribes.
Some of them you will kill and crucify...
Fascinating thing is, that's what
happened basically to Steven
when he was stoned.
He was killed.
That's what happened to Peter
who was probably crucified upside down.
That's what happened to the apostle Paul
who was probably beheaded by Nero.
And the irony is that the
apostle Paul himself, when he was still called Saul,
was one of those who killed
and put people in prison.
And that's why Paul never got over the grace of God
in calling him to be the
great apostle to the Gentiles.
He just never got over that
grace and that mercy.
And so Jesus said:
...Some of them you will kill and crucify,
and some of them you will
flog in your synagogues
and hound from town to town.
Someday we can talk to the apostle Paul
about the number of times
he was flogged because of
his commitment to Jesus Christ--
in the synagogues. Beaten with rods
because of his faith
and what he was preaching
about God's grace and His mercy.
Now going ahead to the end of the story.
Again in Revelation, when Jesus
appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos,
He addressed the sins in the churches of Asia.
And if you can imagine there were
churches that came into existence
because of Paul's ministry in Ephesus.
For two years he ministered in the school.
He taught. People came from all over Asia.
They came from cities like Ephesus,
and Smyrna, and Pergamum,
and Thyatira, and Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.
And those are the seven churches
in the book of Revelation.
And if you can imagine Ephesus,
it's like a circle in that list--
the churches of Asia.
Some of us had the privilege
of going to modern Turkey
where they're excavating a
number of those cities
and identifying where
those churches existed.
It's a fascinating, fascinating experience.
But as you look at these churches,
you will see that Jesus Christ
dealt with them and disciplined them
because of their sins.
As believers. Or professed believers.
One of the worst was the
church in Thyatira.
And Jesus didn't mince any words
when He talked about their
sins and their evil.
And He uses an Old Testament
graphic illustration when He says this:
But I have this against you:
You tolerate the woman Jezebel...
And if they knew Jewish history,
which they certainly probably did,
or should have been taught.
They would know who Jezebel is.
She was the wife of Ahab
who was a king in Israel.
One of the most wicked kings.
He's the one that Elijah confronted
up on the mountain.
And where the fire came down
and the prophets of Baal
ultimately were destroyed.
She had her own prophets. She rebelled.
She wouldn't even bring those prophets--
her prophets of Asherah--
up to that mountain.
She was very wicked, evil woman.
She's a symbol of immorality.
And you see it here:
...You tolerate the woman Jezebel,
who calls herself a prophetess
and teaches and deceives My slaves
to commit sexual immorality
and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. ...
Now we don't know who this person was.
But Jesus identified her as a Jezebel.
A prophetess who claimed to be the truth
where she was teaching evil.
But notice God's mercy. Jesus said:
I gave her time to repent,
but she does not want to
repent of her sexual immorality. ...
And of course, if you know the story of Jezebel,
she had opportunities to repent.
She saw the judgments
that came on those prophets.
She saw what God did through disobedience.
But she refused right up to the very end.
And suffered a horrible death
because of her sin.
...Look! [Jesus said] I will throw her
into a sickbed and those
who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation,
unless they repent of her practices. ...
And if you know anything about
the Old Testament story,
she was thrown from a window above
and into the streets.
Where her body was literally
eaten by the dogs.
It's a horrible story.
But you can see the imagery here
and how Jesus was using this
Old Testament illustration to
illustrate the sins of the church.
...I will kill her children with a plague.
Then all the churches will know
that I Am the One who examines
minds and hearts, and I will give
to each of you according to your works.
In other words, Jesus said: If you repent,
you'll experience My mercy.
Thank God for His mercy
that extends to all sin--
no matter what we do.
But in order to experience that,
we need to respond to His grace.
Israel did not respond.
And this New Testament church
in Thyatira did not respond.
By the second century,
it had disappeared.
See, there's no guarantee
that a church that is alive, and well,
and strong, will endure
unless we're faithful to the Lord.
And all of these churches
disappeared off the scene--
even the church of Ephesus--
because of their sins.
So there are great lessons that we can learn.
And if you want to go in the
Life Essential Study Bible
to the book of Revelation
where we deal with these churches.
And the Principles that grow out of
each of these illustrations. It's a powerful,
powerful story of Jesus Christ
as He addressed the leaders
particularly of these churches.
So here's a Reflection and Response question:
Why do many church leaders avoid
administering discipline to members
who are seriously living out of the will of God?
As I thought about that question myself,
I thought: It's no fun.
It's tough.
You might be rejected.
Chances are you will be rejected.
And yet it is one of the responsibilities
that we have, particularly as spiritual leaders.
We have a responsibility to each other.
But particularly the spiritual leaders,
we have a responsibility to deal
with the sins of people
who are walking out of the will of God.
Who are part of the family of God.
And it's difficult to discover,
particularly in our culture today.
Because it's very easy to hide--
to hide in the crowd.
And that's why it's so important, I think,
to have structures in our church
where people who claim to be
believers will surface--who are walking
out of the will of God.
So that lovingly we can admonish them
and encourage them.
That step number one.
Is to reach out, encourage, and love,
and build them before they
reach a state, of in some cases, almost no return.
And sometimes we find out
about situations in people's lives,
when all the damage is done.
Some things are beyond our control.
I think some things are within our control,
if the church is functioning
as God intended it to function.
As I reflect back on my own experience
as a pastor for a number of years,
some of the most disappointing
experiences I've had are in
confronting people--lovingly as much as I could.
And have them say:
Thanks but no thanks. And simply walk away.
That's very disappointing.
But some of the most glorious experiences--
I wish there were more of them.
But are those who respond. And who say:
Thank you. Thank you, that you didn't let me go.
Thank you that you pursued me.
Thank you that you reached out.
And here's a beautiful verse
from Galatians that gives us a process.
I've called it biblical intervention:
Brothers, if someone is caught
in any wrongdoing...
Or trapped in sin.
It's a functional description of addiction
...you who are spiritual...
And that's a very important point.
"You"--plural. That's a plural pronoun.
Because this is a task for
more than one individual.
...you who are spiritual...
And it's interesting that in chapter 5
just above it, He's described people
walking in the spirit versus those
who are walking in the flesh.
And he's saying to restore others
is not someone who is still walking in
the flesh themselves and trying to
restore somebody else.
But you who are spiritual.
You who are walking in the spirit:
...should restore such a person
with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves
so you also won't be tempted. ...
And believe me, that's the gentle Jesus.
That's the Jesus that walks
the pages of the Gospels.
But there comes an end of course.
Where in essence, He's saying
what He said through Isaiah:
What more can I do?
But here Paul says, we should watch ourselves:
...[so we] won't be tempted.
Carry one another's burdens;
in this way you will fulfill
the law of Christ.
So here's the Principle to Live By:
As those who profess to be members
of Christ's family today, we must be
on guard against the same sins
that God condemned in Israel.