What Will Jesus Find?

Introduction:

Jesus’ message to the church at Thyatira is similar to His message at Pergamum.

A vast majority of the church seems to be faithful to God, yet there is a group that has turned from following Christ.

Jesus reminds the church that He is the One with complete power and authority. He says “I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works” -

Thus, it should be no surprise that Jesus is able to “know” what is going on in His churches -

Neither is it surprising that He judges His churches. Jesus knows what each church is “made of” and calls each church into accountability since He will judge each church.

What will Jesus find in the church here? Will He tell us that we have been too tolerant and that we need to repent?

Works

Jesus clearly knows what kind of works His church is involved with. He expects the church to be working and active -

Many people today treat “works” as if it were a four-letter, curse word in religious discussions. Yet the Bible is clear that we will be judged “according to our deeds” or our works. We do not believe that our works will save us—salvation is a gift from God, it is by grace that we are saved. Yet, we will be judged for our works.

Hard, impenitent heart stores up wrath -

Patience and doing good, obedience, will be rewarded with eternal life -

David acknowledged that God judged people according to their works -

Will Jesus search and find us working and obeying Him?

We will not be judged by Christ by what the church did 5/10/15/20 years ago.

We will not be judged by Christ for simply being here and existing.

We WILL be judged by Christ for working and obeying Him.

Love

The church at Ephesus had left their first love -

Jesus did not see that problem in Thyatira. They had love -

When the Bible speaks of love, it rarely refers to an emotional, warm fuzzy, feeling. It refers to a committed devotion to the Father in heaven and Jesus Christ.

Love for the Lord -

Also, we must have a love for one another -

Will the Lord find this local church as a loving church who is committed to following Jesus with full complete devotion and treating one another with brotherly love?

If not, then we will be judged for abandoning our first love.

Faith

Faith is best understood as faithfulness, loyalty, and allegiance—especially in the book of Revelation (cf. ).

Satan wants Christ’s followers to be deceived by his lies -

The faithful will not be so easily deceived.

Faith demands a commitment of allegiance and loyalty to Christ. It is not just a one-time commitment, but a life-long commitment.

It’s not a faith that quits growing and developing, but a commitment that grows and becomes stronger.

Faith is not thin and shallow, rather it is not afraid to plunge the deep things of God!

Our faith must be mature and robust.

What sort of faith will Jesus find among us?

Service

The saints in Thyatira were recognized by Jesus for their service -

Jesus promises a reward to the faithful. Those who overcome will be granted authority -

The best leaders are first of all servants!

Jesus modeled service-leadership for us -

Jezebel “calls herself” a prophetess (). She exerted her own power and authority, exploiting it for her own purposes.

Jesus wants us to realize that the path of true leadership lies in being a faithful servant.

The reason many churches today do not have elders and deacons is because the churches do not want to be in a situation where they must serve and submit. When you have churches that do not want to serve/submit, then of course you will not have men who are servants and leaders in the church.

The picture of elders in the NT is not of a king or governor. It is a shepherd.

Will Jesus search the church here and find us as servants? Or are we fearful to serve God and serve each other?

Patience

Patience is a good quality and characteristic to have personally and as a congregation.

God has patience and longsuffering - ;

Followers of Christ are called to be patient -

The church at Thyatira was patient -

However, patience can morph into tolerance -

Remember, patience is a virtue but tolerance is an invitation for trouble.

Aly Pain, a blogger and leadership speaker says:

“Patience is defined as determination, resolve, tenacity, endurance and single-mindedness. All good qualities when you are reaching toward the goals ahead of you. It means taking a steadfast approach, but also a willingness to work and wait as things unfold.

Tolerance, on the other hand, is defined as lenient, indulgent, permissive, and long-suffering. Instead of waiting for things to unfold while continuing to work toward your goal, tolerance means putting up with something that is not working.

Patience is defined as determination, resolve, tenacity, endurance and single-mindedness. All good qualities when you are reaching toward the goals ahead of you. It means taking a steadfast approach, but also a willingness to work and wait as things unfold.

When we move from patience to tolerance, we shift from that steadfast resolve toward our goal to flat out acceptance of not reaching it. Tolerance means you are buying into excuses, doing the same thing over and over, and letting that goal slip away to the very distant future.

The trouble with confusing patience and tolerance is it allows us to justify not doing something about it. Where patience is tactical and methodical, tolerance is indulgent and lacks accountability.” https://www.alypain.com/patience-vs-tolerance/

https://www.alypain.com/patience-vs-tolerance/

Tolerance, on the other hand, is defined as lenient, indulgent, permissive, and long-suffering. Instead of waiting for things to unfold while continuing to work toward your goal, tolerance means putting up with something that is not working.

The patience of Jesus has an end -

When we move from patience to tolerance, we shift from that steadfast resolve toward our goal to flat out acceptance of not reaching it. Tolerance means you are buying into excuses, doing the same thing over and over, and letting that goal slip away to the very distant future.

“I gave her time to repent...”

Yet this Jezebel had spurned Christ’s invitation and command to repent. She outright refused to repent.

Therefore, Christ was promising His judgment and punishment -

Is this local church patient or tolerant?

Patient congregations will give time to repent but lovingly demand and expect repentance.

Tolerance: will

Tolerant congregations will not expect repentance at all.

Patient churches will seek unity through study and agreement on God’s word.

Tolerant churches will allow “unity in diversity” as long as no one causes division. (Yet, the whole “unity in diversity” mindset allows division and fracturing.)

Patient congregations will hear input from all parties to make a decision.

Tolerant churches will avoid making any decisions.

Patient churches will ask questions of those who want to place membership with us.

Tolerant churches will accept any without any inquiry.

Conclusion:

Jesus, the One who searches the mind and heart, and judges according to works—He is looking at us and examining us.

What will Jesus find?

He’s searching the mind—will He find faith?

He is searching the heart—will He see a genuine love?

He is searching and judging—will He see us working and obeying Him?

Give Jesus your love, faith, and obedience. So when He searches your heart, mind, and He sees your works, then He will reward you if you are found to be faithful to Him! -