Have you ever felt pressured to go along with the crowd? All of us have felt such pressure! It starts early and continues through life. I remember feeling such pressure, even in the first grade. I remember one episode in particular. This is what happened. Our teacher required that we eat a portion of every item on our plates. On this particular day we had greens, peas and corn bread along with other items. A couple of my buddies and I decided we would outsmart our teacher. We quickly drank our milk and stuffed that "gross food" into our empty milk cartoons. We thought we would out smart our teacher. The pressure was intense to go along with that scheme. Everything went well until our teacher discovered the scheme. Do you know what she did? She made us eat that conglomeration from our milk boxes. Can you imagine how gross that must have been? A mixture of greens, peas, corn bread, milk, ketchup and mashed potatoes was not a pretty sight. I learned a valuable lesson from that event. Peer pressure can get you into a lot of trouble.
Every day we face pressure. The pressure can be intense.
• Businessmen face pressure to produce.
• Coaches face pressure to win.
• Students face pressure to make good grades.
• Pastors face pressure to be politically correct.
Illustration: The Leo Burnett advertising agency did a nationwide telephone survey a few years ago on lying, cataloging when we lie, how we lie and why we lie.
The results were interesting. Ninety-one percent of all Americans confessed that they regularly lied… One out of every five admitted that they couldn’t get through even one day without going along with a previously manufactured lie. Guess what the survey revealed that we lie about the most: our income, our weight, or our age? This is kind of funny, since you cannot conceal a weight problem. In second place was money, and third was our age. There was also a contender that came in fourth: our true hair color.
Now here’s what I found most intriguing about the study: People no longer seem to care about lying. We accept it. It doesn’t bother us. We don’t get upset when someone exaggerates, falsifies, fabricates, or misrepresents the truth…The study found that in the past, people thought lying was wrong. Now, almost half of all Americans say it isn’t.
(James Emery White, You Can Experience an Authentic Life (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000), 121-122.)
So, what do we do about this pressure? How do we overcome the temptation? Good question. We have been studying the seven churches of Revelation. The church we study today, Thyatira, struggled with the pressure to go along. Look at the text. I want to handle this text in a unique manner. I want to ask some questions that grow out of the text in order to help us handle the pressure to go along. Consider the questions.
1. When facing the pressure to go along you should ask the question: who is going to rule my life? The believers in Thyatira were committed followers of Jesus Christ. However, they felt pressure from a lady who was given the name Jezebel. Whether this was a nickname or her actual name, we do not know. What we do know is that she was teaching false doctrines and that was okay to commit idolatry and sexual fornication. The believers in Thyatira had to decide, was Jesus going to rule or Jezebel. The same things happens with us.
• Is the boss going to rule or our conscience?
• Is the boy/girl friend going to rule or our personal convictions?
• Are our friends going to rule or will we take a stand?
Before Jesus started His ministry he faced the question of who would rule His spirit. He was tempted by Satan. Satan tempted Jesus with three tests. He challenged Him to turn stones into bread. He challenged Him to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple. And, he challenged Him to accept the kingdoms of this world as His own. Those three temptations struck at three temptations we face today. The temptation was to acquire power, prestige and possessions for personal benefit. Had he submitted to these temptations he would have allowed Satan to rule His spirit. He would have allowed Satan to be in control. This raises the question, who is going to rule your spirit?
The Bible says “No man can serve two masters.” Mt. 6:24
The New Testament uses the term “Lord” to describe God’s desire. God desires that Jesus have authority over our lives. He is to rule our lives. In our text Jesus is portrayed as having “eyes…like blazing fire” and “feet like burnished bronze.” vs. 18 This is not a literal description of Jesus. These are symbolic terms that describe His authority, power and position. The Bible says, "at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord."
Chuck Swindoll, in his book, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity," tells about a church in the Soviet Union a few years ago that was forced to meet secretly because the holding of house church services was illegal.
They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as they gathered on Sunday to worship the Lord, so they came at different times & casually walked into the house until they had all arrived. Then they would close the doors, pull the curtains, & quietly worship the Lord.
But one Lord’s Day, right in the midst of their worship service, two soldiers broke into the room, & at gunpoint lined the Christians up against the wall. One shouted, "If you wish to renounce your faith in Jesus Christ, leave now!"
Two or three quickly left, then another, & then two more. Again the soldier spoke, "This is your last chance. Either leave now & renounce your faith in Christ, or stay & suffer the consequences." Another left, & then another, almost hiding their faces in shame as they went out.
But the rest stood their ground, children standing beside their parents, trembling, some even crying as their parents stood with their hands in the air, fully expecting to be gunned down or imprisoned.
After all had left who chose to flee, the other soldier closed the doors, looked back at those who stood against the wall & said, "Keep your hands up - but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ. We, too, are Christians."
The two soldiers explained that some time earlier they had been sent to another house church to arrest the Christians. But in the process, they had heard the gospel & had accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior. But they explained, "We have learned that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by MELVIN NEWLAND)
Some of those believers were ruled by fear. Who is going to rule your life?
2. Next question, when facing the pressure to go along: is your faith going to affect every area of your life? (or) Is your faith only going to count when you are at church?
Illustration: Many years ago a small Jewish boy asked his father, "Why must we surrender our Jewish faith and start to attend Lutheran services here in Germany? The father replied, "Son, we must abandon our faith so that people will accept us and support our business adventures!" The young lad never got over his disappointment and bitterness. His faith in his father and his religion was crushed. When the lad left Germany he went to England to study at the British Museum where he formed his philosophies for life. From those intensive investigations he wrote a book that changed the world. The book was "The Communist Manifesto." From that book one-third of the world fell under the spell of Marxist-Lenist ideology. The name of that little boy was Karl Marx. He influenced billions into a stream that for 70 years ruined, imprisoned and confused many lives. Today, that system of thinking is crumbling, but only after people got a good look at its tragic consequences. The influence of this father’s hypocrisy multiplied in infamy.
Without godly faith, all of us are subject to distortions in our perspectives.
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Paul Fritz)
Thyatira was a church that practiced their faith consistently, when gathered with other Christians. Notice verse 19. Jesus said “I know your deeds; your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” However, when they faced the pressures of Jezebel they caved. Jesus said they tolerated the teachings of Jezebel. They went along with falsehood. Jesus called these the “deep secrets of Satan.”
Salvation is a gift offered to you by God. However, the practical outcome depends upon you. The other day I was reading in Ephesians when I was reminded of this concept. Paul said we should “put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph. 4:22-24
The practical outcome depends on you but you also must be determined. In the Old Testament book of Genesis we meet a man by the name of Joseph. At one point in his life he faced a sexual temptation from his boss’s wife. Rather than yield to the temptation Joseph ran, when faced with the temptation. Joseph was determined. The Bible instructs us to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” I Cor. 15:51
3. Third question: what price are you willing to pay to go along? Notice verse 22. Jesus said “I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely.” I have heard many older people say “you make your bed and you sleep in it.” That is a way of saying, every decision has a consequence.
I heard about a little girl who learned about consequences. The little girl’s mother explained to her five-year-old daughter that if she chose to disobey, she would have to live with the consequences. "Oh, Mommy!" she said with a terrified look on her face. "Please don’t make me live with the consequences. I want to live here with you!"
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Paul Decker)
The Bible says “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.” Gal. 6:7
Illustration: One of the most disturbing stories in the Bible occurred when King David committed a sexual sin with a lady named Bathsheba. God sent a prophet to confront David with his sin. Rather than using the straight forward approach God spoke to him through a parable. God allowed David to judge his own sin. The prophet, Nathan, told a parable that paralleled David’s situation. The parable made it look as if someone had done something terribly wrong to an innocent victim. David got furious at the parable and said the perpetrator should be punished with a four-fold punishment. The prophet Nathan revealed to David that he was the man and this would be his punishment. (Thought: we should be careful when judging others because we may be pointing a finger at ourselves.) David’s sin came back to haught him.
Illustration: I have been following the tragic story of Anna Nicole Smith’s life and death. Here is a beautiful young lady who paid the ultimate price for poor decisions. She yielded to the temptation to pose for Playboy magazine. She yielded to the pressures of fame and fortune. She yielded to the pressure and desire for money.
4. Fourth question: what outcome do you desire for your life? Do you want God’s approval or man’s approval? Do you want peace with God and peace with yourself or guilt and agony? Do you want to be able to look in the mirror and like what you see or turn away in disgust?
Bill McCartney retired as the head coach of the Colorado football team several years ago. His reason for retirement was not because he was unsuccessful as a coach. His teams had won the national championship. They had been in the top 10 many times. McCartney said that he was retiring because he wanted to reevaluate his priorities. He said, “I’m leaving coaching and I’m going to take a whole year to re-evaluate my priorities. Is God first? Is my family second? Is my work third?” When that year was over, Bill McCartney dedicated his life & talents to Christ, and threw his efforts into founding the men’s renewal gatherings that we know today as “Promise Keepers.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by MELVIN NEWLAND)
Are you thinking of an earthly reward or eternal reward? Are you thinking about the things that are short term or the things that last forever?
