If Jesus Passed a Note in Church, What Would It Say? (Part 4 of 7)
(Series of sermon content original to W. Herschel Ford)
To the Church That Was Monogamously Challenged
Rev. 2:18-29
Oct. 29, 2006 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor
Introduction:
A What if you received a note from the hand of God, & the note pointed out certain/specific sins you’d committed, & He told you what to do about them? You’d do exactly what the note said, right?
1 The Bible is God’s note to you, pointing out wrong & how to deal with it.
2 You must deal with the God who wrote this book (the 7 churches did & so do we).
B Review of the churches:
1 Ephesus: first love (remember, repent, repeat)
2 Smyrna: broke & blessed
3 Pergamum: overcomers in the devil’s neighborhood
4 Thyatira: smallest town, longest message
a Huge temple of Apollos, son of Zeus
b 45 miles due east of Pergamum, known for its wool, linen, apparel, dyed stuffs (Acts 16:14, Lydia), bronzeworks, leatherwork.
c Guild or labor union network. Each guild had its own patron deity, festivals, & seasonal festivities that included sexual revelries.
d The two most common threats of the early church were idolatry & immorality.
e Jezebel (History? Compare to Balaam)
aa Ahab’s wife
bb Baal fan
cc Promulgated idolatry throughout Israel
C "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this: 19 ’I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. 20 ’But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 ’I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22 ’Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 ’And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 ’But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. 25 ’Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. 26 ’He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; 27 AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ Rev 2:18-29 (NASB)
1 Jesus told the faithful in Thyatira to stay faithful until He came (essence of the text in a sentence).
a The believer must stay faithfully committed to Jesus until rapture or their funeral (essence of the sermon in a sentence).
b I pray you will commit yourself to bringing unfaithful areas of your life into faithfulness by repenting (objective).
2 What in your life catches Jesus’ burning eyes first this morning? (Probing question)
a Let’s look at two promises Jesus makes that compel us to faithfully bring our entire lives under His lordship (transitional sentence).
b Pray
I The first promise Jesus made was "I know" "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:19 ’I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. (V. 18-19)
I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. (V. 23b)
A There was nothing that was not seen by Jesus’ flaming eyes.
1 He saw the good that the Thyatirian church was doing.
a Their work was twofold: love & faith
aa Love manifested itself in service (involved in ministry for the sake of others)
bb Faith manifested itself in steadfastness (handled the pressure)
cc He told them that they were better today than when they began.
b The true Christian, like Jesus, prefers to find good in the church.
aa Show me a person who speaks well of their church, & I’ll show you a person who is better than the one who is always criticizing the church.
bb Of course, some people never see good in anything; they’re miserable & we ought to pity & pray for them.
2 He saw the bad the Thyatirian church was doing, too. ’But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
a The church had allowed (tolerated) a false prophetess to influence some people & lead them into compromise (comparable to "Balaam" at Smyrna).
aa "Jezebel" was probably a label to describe her character. Jezebel was a wicked queen in the Old Testament (1 Kings 16-19) who influenced Israel to incorporate Baal worship into their worship customs.
bb The church at Thyatira had love (which Ephesus left), but didn’t judge false teachers (which Ephesus did right). Both extremes are to be avoided!
cc Unloving orthodoxy & loving compromise are both hateful to God.
b We haven’t moved too far from Thyatira (love all & judge none).
aa Because relativism has become so popular, the absolute necessity of faith in Christ for salvation has become increasingly unpopular (love all-judge none)!
bb Common view that the God of Islam, Judaism, & Christianity are all the same God is wrong!
cc God has not given us multiple choice. Jesus said* to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 (NASB)
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 (NASB)
dd What kind of heavenly Father would send his own Son to the cross if the plan of salvation was actually multiple choice?
B In high school, a photographer in Salem had a combined restaurant/photo studio (Pizza Man/William’s Photography).
1 Kids from all over the area would get their Senior pictures there & he would display them in the dining area of Pizza Man.
a I thought my face was clean/complexion all right.
aa My face in the picture, look closely & you can see chicken pox scars, blackheads, acne, bumps...I thought I looked O.K.
bb These things that I couldn’t really see with my eyes were caught by the searching eye of the camera.
b When God looks at us/church He sees all the things in our lives (good/bad).
2 The things we think no one else knows...He does.
a And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Heb 4:13 (NASB)
b He saw the saints/sinners at Thyatira, and He sees us!
Jesus let the monogamously challenged know that He knew about their unfaithfulness while giving them an opportunity to overcome their challenge (transitional sentence).
II The second promise Jesus made was "I give" ’I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. (V. 21)
...and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds (v. 23b)
’He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS (v. 26)
...and I will give him the morning star (v. 28)
A He gave the unfaithful time to repent (v. 21)
1 Jesus’ verdict was strong against Jezebel’s sin (& influencing other to follow suit), but his anger burned hottest against her refusal to repent.
a He had convicted/dealt with her over time & she refused to change her ways/thinking.
b Jesus gave judgment (suffer & killed her children).
2 Our only safety from judgment is repentance.
a Jesus judges evil; but He also offers deliverance to those who have fallen...if they repent & turn.
b It’s not only lost sinners who need to repent, but also disobedient Christians.
c If we don’t repent/deal with sin (individual/church), the Lord may judge us & remove our lampstand. ’Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. Rev 2:5 (NASB)
B Jesus rewarded His faithful (v. 26, 28)
1 He blessed the "rest" who stayed faithful to Him by staying away from Jezebel. ’But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. Rev 2:24 (NASB)
a How do we know who the "rest" were in Thyatira?
aa ’He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS
bb The proof of real faith in Jesus is keeping the faith & doing the will of God until our journey is over!
b What about those who don’t "hold fast"?
aa Calvinist: they were never saved in the first place; Arminian: they lost their salvation
bb They’d argue on why the person didn’t hold fast, but they’d both agree that the person was not/will not be saved.
2 He blessed the rest by giving them authority (v. 26) & access (v. 28)
a He’ll give them power over the nations (v. 26)
aa Way out yonder at the end of time, when others are abased, He’ll give them honor; glory when others are put to shame.
bb One day Jesus will put all His enemies under His feet & the faithful will be right there with Him, ruling with Him.
b He will give them the morning star (v. 28)
aa The morning star is Jesus Himself "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." Rev 22:16 (NASB) He’s giving Himself to us.
bb All that Jesus is will be ours/accessible when we overcome.
cc He’s the light, we’ll have the light to guide us; He’s the truth, and we shall know the truth & the Truth shall set us free; He is strength & we shall be strong in Him. He is the Comforter & we shall be comforted; He is life & we shall live forever.
dd Everything Jesus is/has are ours to enjoy when we’re loving Him/His truth/walking in His way. (What a blessing!)
ee There is something better than the blessing -the Blesser; something better than the gift-the Giver!
c Christ Himself is ours, Hallelujah!
Conclusion
A Jesus told the faithful in Thyatira to stay faithful until He came (essence of the text in a sentence).
1 The believer must stay faithfully committed to Jesus until rapture or their funeral (essence of the sermon in a sentence).
2 We’ve looked at two promises Jesus made that compels us to faithfully bring our entire lives under His Lordship.
a He said, "I know"
b He said, "I give"
B I pray you will commit yourself to bringing unfaithful areas of your life into faithfulness by repenting (objective).
1 You either believe you can hide sin from God or He knows/sees it all.
2 You can repent while there is time or risk missing your opportunity.
C What in your life catches Jesus’ burning eyes first this morning? (Probing question)
1 (IL) I wonder what would happen if we applied the same standards of loyalty to our Christian activities that we expect from other areas of our life? If your car starts once every three tries, is it reliable? If the postman skipped delivery every Monday & Thursday, is he trustworthy? If you don’t go to work once or twice a month, are you a reliable employee? If your fridge stops working for a day or two every now & then, do you say, "Oh well, it works most of the time"? If your water heater provides an icy-cold shower every now & then, is it dependable? If you skipped a couple of electricity bill payments do you think Ameren IP would mind? If you fail to worship God one or two Sundays a month, would you expect to be called a faithful Christian? We expect loyalty & reliability from things & other people-isn’t it reasonable then that God just might expect the same from us?
2 What in your life catches Jesus’ burning eyes first this morning? (Probing question)
3 Pray
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