There are no Secrets

Today, I’m writing a paper with a heavy heart for our churches, having just learned of another pastor’s fall from the pulpit because of sexual immorality. Both locally and nationally, our fellowships are awash in the secret sins of sexual immorality. Extra-marital affairs, sexual relationships involving pastors abusing their positions of authority, pornography addictions, unchecked lust (mental adultery), and a myriad of other varieties. It’s in the pews, it’s in the pulpits, it’s everywhere. And I think many of us think we’re getting away with it. We think we can mock God in secret places while putting on a good show in public.

Christ’s words to the church in Thyatira need to be heard right now. Rev. 2:18-29. In many respects, the church in Thyatira was doing well. Jesus commended them, “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.” But, Jesus had a few things against them. The church was saturated in the often-secret sin of sexual immorality. They were doing the right things in public but were sinning in the secret places. Christ had two main things to say to them and to us.

There are no secrets with Me. In a recent paper [The Sound of Many Waters], we looked at the picture from Revelation 1 of Christ in His current glorious state in heaven. We looked at His majestic physical appearance to remind ourselves that while He is a tender friend, He is infinitely unlike our human friends. In Christ’s words to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2 and 3, He points each church to a specific aspect of His majestic characteristics. For the church at Thyatira, Jesus emphasizes that He is the “Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire.” (2:18) With the eternal and infinite energy of a consuming fire, He sees everything. In fact, He tells the church directly, “I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” (2:23) The Psalmist similarly proclaims in Psalm 139:1-4:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

If you are living in a secret sin of sexual immorality of whatever form, Jesus wants you to know in no uncertain terms that it is not secret. His eyes, like a flame of fire, see it. Every time. He knows every detail of what you’re doing. He knows what you think about it. He knows your inner motivations. He knows the excuses you make. He knows it altogether. He sees that you treasure that sin more than Him, and He feels grieved by it in His Spirit. Don’t fool yourself. There are no secrets, and the pain you’re causing Christ (and others and yourself) is real.

You’re not getting away with it. We sin. Nothing happens. We sin again. Nothing happens. We keep going about our daily activities. We keep going to church. No one knows, and nothing happens. Or so we think. We’re confusing God’s mercy with getting away with it. Jesus wanted the church at Thyatira to understand that He had “given her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.” (2:21) Time ran out. Judgment was at hand, and it wasn’t pretty. For those in unrepentant sin, time is ticking. You don’t have any idea how long God, in His mercy, will delay judgment. But, you’re not getting away with anything. Just because nothing has happened YET, does not mean that God has lowered His standards or that He doesn’t care anymore. God tells us repeatedly not to confuse His mercy for getting away with sin. Consider Isaiah 42:14 and 57:11 and Psalm 50:21:

“I have held My peace a long time,

I have been still and restrained Myself.”

“Is it not because I have held My peace from of old

That you do not fear Me?”

“These things you have done, and I kept silent;

You thought that I was altogether like you;

But I will rebuke you,

And set them in order before your eyes.”

The fact that God, in love, graciously holds back His wrath for a time does not mean you are getting away with anything. He is giving you time to repent, and the question for you, straight out of Romans 2:4-6 is this:

“Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds.”

This is heavy stuff, I know, and many times when I hear folks talk about topics like this, they back-pedal to protect modern sensibilities and end with something like, “but know that God loves you…He loves you no matter what you’ve done…we have hope in His love.” While true, these types of statements that I think are meant in gentleness are misleading and dangerous. God loves you so much that He gives you time to repent and repeatedly calls out for you to turn to Him. But, hear this, there is no hope for you apart from repentance. You’re not getting away with anything. You either repent and throw your sin at the cross of Jesus (in which case, Jesus will be your righteousness and will forgive your sin faithfully), or your sin will be judged against you. These are the only two options. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8. So, if you are willfully sinning in sexual immorality, repent and turn to God. Time is ticking.