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Voddie Baucham - Tolerating the Intolerable · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: Want to read for you this morning. Two very recent
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Speaker 1: news stories. Bear with me as I will make the
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Speaker 1: connection known later on. You'll see that they're related, but
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Speaker 1: maybe not how they're connected to our texts today. The
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Speaker 1: first news story comes to us from Canada. A retired
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Speaker 1: Canadian couple who refused to give a homosexual couple a
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Speaker 1: room at their bed and Breakfast has been found guilty
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Speaker 1: of discrimination based on sexual orientation and ordered to pay
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Speaker 1: thousands of dollars in fines. Lee and Suzanne Molnar argued
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Speaker 1: that they had a constitutionally protected right to freedom of
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Speaker 1: religion and that the cancelation of the gay couple's reservation
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Speaker 1: was justified. The Molnars said the riverband Been Breakfast, which
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Speaker 1: has since closed, was also their home where they hosted
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Speaker 1: Bible studies. However, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal ruled
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Speaker 1: in favor of Sean Edy and Brian Thomas. They said
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Speaker 1: the bed and Breakfast was separate from their personal living
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Speaker 1: space and was operated like a hotel. Having entered quote
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Speaker 1: Having entered into the commercial sphere, the Monars, like other
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Speaker 1: business people, were required to comply with the laws of
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Speaker 1: the province that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation end quote.
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Speaker 1: Tribunal member Enid Marion told the Vancouver's son Thomas, one
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Speaker 1: of the gay men, said that he was delighted in
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Speaker 1: the ruling. He said, quote, sometimes you have to stick
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Speaker 1: your neck out, and we stuck our necks out, and
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Speaker 1: we feel good and vindicated that we that we did
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Speaker 1: for the benefit of the people coming behind us. The
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Speaker 1: monars will be required to pay more than four five
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Speaker 1: hundred dollars in fines. New story number two from The
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Speaker 1: New York Times July tenth. The Episcopal Church on Tuesday
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Speaker 1: approved an official liturgy for blessing same sex unions, enabling
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Speaker 1: priests who have the approval of their bishops to bestow
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Speaker 1: the church's blessing on gay couples, whether they live in
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Speaker 1: a state where same sex marriage is legal or not.
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Speaker 1: The adoption of an official right, significant in a church
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Speaker 1: in which liturgy is central, further solidifies the Episcopal churches
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Speaker 1: shift to the left on sexual minorities. A day earlier,
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Speaker 1: the church voted to approve a non discrimination policy that
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Speaker 1: will allow transgendered people to be ordained to the priesthood.
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Speaker 1: The vote on gay blessings, which took place at the
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Speaker 1: church's triennial General Convention in Indianapolis was one hundred and
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Speaker 1: seventy one to fifty. The vote was by the House
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Speaker 1: of Deputies, which includes lay people and clergy members. The
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Speaker 1: church has a bicameral structure, and its House of Bishops
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Speaker 1: overwhelmingly approved the new liturgy on Monday by a vote
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Speaker 1: of one hundred and eleven to forty one, with three abstentions.
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Speaker 1: This is significant because it's saying this is around to stay.
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Speaker 1: This is not a passing fad, said Mary A. Tobert,
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Speaker 1: founding director of the Center for Lesbian Engay Studies in
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Speaker 1: Religion and Ministry at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.
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Speaker 1: It's making a statement about the continued presence of gay
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Speaker 1: and lesbian people among the congregations of the Episcopal Church
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Speaker 1: and that their lives need to be marked by liturgy
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Speaker 1: as well. Why the juxtaposition of these two news stories,
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Speaker 1: because as we look at the letter to the church
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Speaker 1: at Diatya, what we recognize is that there is a
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Speaker 1: kind of pressure brought upon the church through either overt
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Speaker 1: or covert persecution that leads to one of two responses.
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Speaker 1: These responses are either number one diashura or a running away,
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Speaker 1: the church ceases to exist. You persecute the church into
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Speaker 1: non existence. We've seen this, for example in some Muslim countries.
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Speaker 1: We've seen this in some Hindu countries where people will
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Speaker 1: come in to a community where there is a church,
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Speaker 1: where there are Christians and will burn the church to
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Speaker 1: the ground. We've seen in some places, for example in
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Speaker 1: Indonesia and the other places, and the Philippines and others.
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Speaker 1: By the way, the overwhelming majority of Muslims in the
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Speaker 1: world are not Arabs. Most of the Muslims in the
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Speaker 1: world are Asians, not Arabs, and the most popular populous
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Speaker 1: Muslim country in the world is Indonesia. And so instances
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Speaker 1: where they will come in where a church on the
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Speaker 1: Lord's Day is having a service, they will bar the
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Speaker 1: doors on the outside and set fire to the place,
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Speaker 1: killing everyone in the building. So sometimes churches are just
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Speaker 1: eradicating it from certain places or communities by persecution. Other
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Speaker 1: times they are eradicated, but they compromise, and this compromise
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Speaker 1: takes a number of forms. One form is refusing to
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Speaker 1: preach the whole Gospel to the whole world. I believe
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Speaker 1: that's what we saw in the letters to the church
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Speaker 1: at Ephesus, there was a compromise on the gospel. There
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Speaker 1: was a compromise on that first principle, that first love
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Speaker 1: of proclaiming the gospel, witnessing the gospel, and by refusing
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Speaker 1: to preach the whole gospel to the whole world, we're
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Speaker 1: not refusing to preach the gospel at all. We just
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Speaker 1: tweaked the gospel so that we don't experience the persecution.
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Speaker 1: And so if we put our foot out there and
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Speaker 1: they stomp on our foot, we'll put our foot back down.
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Speaker 1: We'll just back it up a little bit. So instead
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Speaker 1: of preaching a gospel that speaks of sin and judgment,
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Speaker 1: we preach a gospel that just speaks of Jesus as
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Speaker 1: your friend. Will preach a gospel that says your life
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Speaker 1: is empty and Jesus wants to fill it. Will preach
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Speaker 1: a gospel that does not speak of sin, that does
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Speaker 1: not speak of judgment, and we will bury those aspects
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Speaker 1: in order to avoid the persecution. Another way is incorporating
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Speaker 1: false teaching. So in the first there are aspects of
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Speaker 1: the gospel that we just won't bring forth. In the second,
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Speaker 1: there are other things that we will bring into the
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Speaker 1: Gospel that simply are not true in an effort to compromise.
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Speaker 1: This is what Paul talked about and second tiventy four
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Speaker 1: one through four. Was it not when he wrote, I
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Speaker 1: charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
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Speaker 1: who is to judge the living and the dead, and
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Speaker 1: by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word. Be
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Speaker 1: ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and
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Speaker 1: exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is
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Speaker 1: coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having
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Speaker 1: itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit
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Speaker 1: their own passions, and will turn away from listening to
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Speaker 1: the truth and wander off into myths. This is the
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Speaker 1: second form of compromise, where we actually bring falsehoods into
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Speaker 1: our gospel. The third is failing to confront and discipline sin.
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Speaker 1: We saw this on last week, and we see it
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Speaker 1: again in this week. A failure to confront or discipline sin.
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Speaker 1: The classic example of this is in First Corinthians, chapter five,
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Speaker 1: of course, where Paul says, it is actually reported that
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Speaker 1: there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind
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Speaker 1: that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man
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Speaker 1: has his father's wife, and you are arrogant? Ought you
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Speaker 1: not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this
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Speaker 1: be removed from among you. There's a fourth kind of compromise,
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Speaker 1: and that is embracing the sinful aspects of the culture.
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Speaker 1: Here's what we see in the last news story about
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Speaker 1: the Episcopal Church in America actually compromising to the point
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Speaker 1: of embracing aspects of our culture that the Bible clearly
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Speaker 1: calls sinful. But what does that have to do with
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Speaker 1: the letter to the Church at Thiatyra. Brothers and sisters.
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Speaker 1: The answer is everything, because that is precisely what is
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Speaker 1: happening in the Church at Thiatyra. Although this church has not,
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Speaker 1: to our knowledge at this point through the letter, experienced
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Speaker 1: dire direct persecution, they are experiencing that indirect persecution that
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Speaker 1: often leads to compromise. So we find here Revelation chapter two,
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Speaker 1: beginning at verse eighteen, the longest of the seven letters.
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Speaker 1: It reads to the Angel of the Church of Thyatira,
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Speaker 1: write the words of the Son of God, who has
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Speaker 1: eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are
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Speaker 1: like burnished bronze. I know your works, your love and
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Speaker 1: faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter
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Speaker 1: works exceed the first. But I have this against you,
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Speaker 1: that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
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Speaker 1: prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice
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Speaker 1: sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Just
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Speaker 1: pause there for a moment. That's almost unthinkable, unthinkable, that
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Speaker 1: there is someone in the church who is actually enticing
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Speaker 1: people in the church to engage in idolatry sexual immorality.
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Speaker 1: I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent,
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Speaker 1: and her sexual of our sexual immorality behold. I will
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Speaker 1: throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit
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Speaker 1: adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation unless
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Speaker 1: they repent of her works. And I will strike her
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Speaker 1: children dead. And all the churches will know that I
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Speaker 1: am he who searches mind and heart, literally kidney and heart.
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Speaker 1: And I will give to each of you according to
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Speaker 1: your works. But to the rest of you, an Thia Tyra,
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Speaker 1: who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned
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Speaker 1: what some call the deep things of Satan, to you,
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Speaker 1: I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
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Speaker 1: Only hold fast what you have until I come, the
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Speaker 1: one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end.
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Speaker 1: To him, I will give authority over the nations, and
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Speaker 1: he will rule them with a rod of iron, as
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Speaker 1: when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I
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Speaker 1: myself have received authority from my father, and I will
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Speaker 1: give him the morning star. He who has an ear,
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Speaker 1: let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
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Speaker 1: This is a disturbing letter. These are disturbed ideas and
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Speaker 1: the occurrences. This is a disturbing confrontation, and it's disturbing
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Speaker 1: on a number of levels. It's disturbing because of what
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Speaker 1: was introduced into this church. It's disturbing because of what
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Speaker 1: was being allowed in this church. But it's also disturbing
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Speaker 1: in Christ's response, it is disturbing to think that there
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Speaker 1: is sin in the church, and that Christ says, it's
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Speaker 1: disturbing to us because we think, you know, the God
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Speaker 1: on the left side of the Bible is different than
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Speaker 1: the God on the right side of the Bible, and
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Speaker 1: the God on the right side of the Bible is
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Speaker 1: you know, lowly Jesus making mild with the sheep across
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Speaker 1: his shoulders, you know, hair like a shampoo model, hands
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Speaker 1: that have never done a day's work, fine beautiful European,
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Speaker 1: non Jewish features. That guy says he's going to kill people.
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Speaker 1: That's disturbing. We're not used to thinking about him in
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Speaker 1: this way. We're thinking about that Jesus who's always twittled
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Speaker 1: in his thumbs and pining away, just hoping that somebody
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Speaker 1: will come. That's not the picture at the end of
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Speaker 1: Revelation chapter two. And it is a bit disturbing. And
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Speaker 1: yet this is the word of God. So how do
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Speaker 1: we understand all of this? How do we apply all
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Speaker 1: of this? In order to do that, I'd like for
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Speaker 1: us to sort of move backwards a little bit, and
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Speaker 1: instead of going in the order that we find here
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Speaker 1: in the letter, we're going to start with the culture,
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Speaker 1: then analyze the church, and then look at Christ as
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Speaker 1: he is presented here. I think by doing this we'll
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Speaker 1: get a better grasp on why he's presented the way
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Speaker 1: that he is in this letter. First, a portrait of
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Speaker 1: the culture of Thiatyra. We read about this place elsewhere
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Speaker 1: in scripture. You remember Lydia the Cellar of Purple Acts,
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Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen verse fourteen. One who heard us was a
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Speaker 1: woman named Lydia from the city of Thiatyra, a seller
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Speaker 1: of purple goods who was a worshiper of God. The
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Speaker 1: Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was
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Speaker 1: said by Paul. It is understood by many that Lydia
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Speaker 1: was a convert who went back to Thiatyra, and that
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Speaker 1: that's one of the ways that the church was established
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Speaker 1: there in this Macedonian colony. What about the geography, Well,
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Speaker 1: we know that we've gone to the north. We started
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Speaker 1: in Ephesus, and then we went up north to Smyrna,
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Speaker 1: even further north up to Pergamum. Now we're beginning to
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Speaker 1: make the circuit. We're on a postal route, and so
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Speaker 1: the postal route goes from Ephesus up through Smyrna up
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Speaker 1: to Pergamam. Then it turns around and begins to go
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Speaker 1: down to the southeast. And the first stop when you
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Speaker 1: get down to the southeast is Thiatyra. It's a fortified
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Speaker 1: city located forty five miles southeast of pergam in a
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Speaker 1: broad valley that leads to the Hermas River. In one
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Speaker 1: ninety b c. And this is important. The Romans entered
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Speaker 1: the valley and conquered the city, which, because of its
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Speaker 1: location down in a valley, had little protection against superior forces.
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Speaker 1: It was a fortified city, but it could not protect
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Speaker 1: itself against superior forces from the outside because of its
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Speaker 1: location in a valley. Hold on to that. It will
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Speaker 1: be important. Thiahtyra was situated along the trade route from
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Speaker 1: Pergamam to Sardis, which we'll read about next week. From Smyrna,
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Speaker 1: which we talked about last week, a leading arterby led
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Speaker 1: through the valley to this city. Kind of centralized. So
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Speaker 1: we had this postal route that goes up from Ephesus
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Speaker 1: Smyrna and to Pergrimam and then comes down to Thighatyra.
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Speaker 1: But you could cut across from Smyrna over to Sardis
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Speaker 1: going through Thyatira. Well, you know, whenever a city sits
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Speaker 1: at a crossroads that one of the things that's going
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Speaker 1: to be known for is trade. So what about the economy?
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Speaker 1: Local artistans produce a variety of merchandise. There. They were bakers, painters, tanners, tailors, potters,
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Speaker 1: workers in wool, linen, and metal, chiefly copper and bronze,
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Speaker 1: which will be significant when we get back to Christ,
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Speaker 1: who identifies himself in this letter as the one whose
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Speaker 1: feet are as burnished bronze. There was also a significant
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Speaker 1: slave trade that came through Thiha Tyra. What about the
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Speaker 1: spirituality there in Thia Tyra? This is crucial to understanding
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Speaker 1: what's going on. Thia Tyra hosted a major cult of Apollo,
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Speaker 1: son of Zeus, and the deity associated with prophecy and
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Speaker 1: the son the Emperor was linked to Apollo and may
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Speaker 1: have been worshiped in thio Tyra as his earthly manifestation.
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Speaker 1: Although bronze working wasn't unique to Thiatyra, some scholars have
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Speaker 1: also pointed out that Bronze Workers Guild was significant in
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Speaker 1: the city. Four things you got to understand in Thiatya
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Speaker 1: to understand this letter. Number one, the guilds. They were
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Speaker 1: like our modern day trade unions. If you wanted to
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Speaker 1: work in the trades, you had to belong to the guilds.
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Speaker 1: If you wanted to work in the trades, you had
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Speaker 1: to belong to the guilds. There are also idols Apollo
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Speaker 1: and Artemis very prominent here in the city. There were
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Speaker 1: feasts to these idols that were often put on by
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Speaker 1: the guilds. So if you belonged to the guild, you
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Speaker 1: had to participate in the feasts to Apollo an Artemis,
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Speaker 1: which involved the eating of meats that were sacrificed to idols.
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Speaker 1: And in addition, there were orgies that involved cultic prostitution,
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Speaker 1: which were also part of these feasts put on by
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Speaker 1: the guilds that you had to belong to if you
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Speaker 1: wanted to be an Artistan. That helps us in our
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Speaker 1: portrait of the church. So here's the church in Thiatia.
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Speaker 1: The Church in Thia Tyra is not experiencing direct persecution.
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Speaker 1: In other words, Rome has not come to Thiatyra and
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Speaker 1: begun to run out the Christians. They are not being
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Speaker 1: fed to the lions. They are not being slaughtered in
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Speaker 1: the streets. On the contrary, the only thing that they're
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Speaker 1: dealing with, for the most part, are the guilds. What
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Speaker 1: do we learn about this church? First the good? I
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Speaker 1: know your works. We find in verse nineteen your love
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Speaker 1: and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your
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Speaker 1: latter works exceed the first several things are said, But
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Speaker 1: this is all. This is very short as it relates
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Speaker 1: to what's good about this church. We see that phrase
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Speaker 1: again I know your works doesn't appear in every letter,
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Speaker 1: but it's significant here Christ says, I know your works.
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Speaker 1: I am aware of your works, and there are good works,
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Speaker 1: your love and your faith and your service their love
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Speaker 1: and faith in service. Put these things together, and ultimately
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Speaker 1: what's being spoken of here is that this is a
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Speaker 1: church that is a faithful church, that is a loving church,
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Speaker 1: and that there are works of service being done in
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Speaker 1: this church. The kinds of works of service based only
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Speaker 1: on the words that are used here, that you would
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Speaker 1: find when people needed help because they couldn't be employed
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Speaker 1: by the guilds. This is a church where many people
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Speaker 1: couldn't find work, and they couldn't find work because they
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Speaker 1: would not join the guilds. They would not engage in
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Speaker 1: temple prostitution, they would not engage in idolatrous feasts, eating meats,
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Speaker 1: sacrifice to idols, and they did whatever they could to survive.
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Speaker 1: But there were many who probably had to rely on
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Speaker 1: the love and faith and service of the church. Then
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Speaker 1: there's the bad. Oh, by the way, before we get
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Speaker 1: to the bad, look at the next thing. Your latter
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Speaker 1: works exceed the first. This is a direct reference to
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Speaker 1: the church at Ephesus and if you remember what we
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Speaker 1: talked about the church at Ephesus and that first love again,
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Speaker 1: the primary love, that love of first importance is the
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Speaker 1: Gospel proclamation. Why would a church lose its lamp stand,
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Speaker 1: Why would a church cease to be the church? Because
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Speaker 1: the church cease to preach the Gospel. So if you
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Speaker 1: don't get back to your first love, that first work
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Speaker 1: of the proclamation of the Gospel, I will remove your
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Speaker 1: lamp stand. You will cease to be a church. By
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Speaker 1: the way, this is what has happened, in my opinion,
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Speaker 1: to the Episcopal Church in America. Their lamp stand is gone.
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Speaker 1: They're not a church anymore. They're not a church anymore
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Speaker 1: because the Gospel is gone. But he says, of fiatyra,
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Speaker 1: your latter works are more significant than your former works.
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Speaker 1: In other words, this is a church that is filled
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Speaker 1: with faith and love toward one another on the inside
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Speaker 1: and on the outside, consistently and constantly proclaims the whole
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Speaker 1: Gospel to the whole culture without compromise. And in fact,
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Speaker 1: they are increasing in their faithfulness and proclaiming the Gospel.
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Speaker 1: Sounds like a good church. Amen, They've just got one
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Speaker 1: small problem Verse twenty Again utterly disturbing. But I have
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Speaker 1: this against you that you tolerate that woman Jezebel. Now,
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Speaker 1: it's not likely that the woman's name was actually Jezebel.
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Speaker 1: There's a number of reasons that this is not likely.
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Speaker 1: Number one, that name is pretty infamous. Amen, that name
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Speaker 1: is pretty infamous. God like naming some again. Name is
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Speaker 1: pretty infamous. Okay. There's a second reason that there's imagery
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Speaker 1: throughout the letter to thiah Tyra that points back to
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Speaker 1: the Old Testament story of Jezebel an AaB. So, either
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Speaker 1: providentially there's a woman who's doing this whose name actually
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Speaker 1: is Jezebel, so that she could be tied to the
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Speaker 1: Jezebel of the Old Testament, or more likely, Christ is
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Speaker 1: referring to this woman as Jezebel because of the similarity.
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Speaker 1: Who calls herself a prophetess. He doesn't say she's a prophetess.
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Speaker 1: Notice that he does not say that this woman is
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Speaker 1: a prophetess. He says, this woman calls herself a prophetess
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Speaker 1: and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual
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Speaker 1: immorality and to eat food sacrifice to idols. Now, if
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Speaker 1: you read that out of its context, and you don't
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Speaker 1: know about the city. It makes no sense whatsoever. Why
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Speaker 1: does someone just walk into the church and say, hey,
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Speaker 1: I think it would be a good deal, your good
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Speaker 1: idea to talk about sexual limorality and eating meat sacrifice
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Speaker 1: to idols. Where does that come from? It makes no sense.
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Speaker 1: What's and what's worse? Why would anybody listen to someone
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Speaker 1: who walked into the church and said, Hey, I think
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Speaker 1: idolatry and sexual limorality are really great expressions of Christianity.
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Speaker 1: It only makes sense when you understand where they are,
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Speaker 1: and you understand the guilds, and you understand that there
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Speaker 1: are people in this church who sometimes miss meals because
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Speaker 1: they won't sign on with the guilds. It brings to
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Speaker 1: your mind the picture that we'll read about later on.
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Speaker 1: This idea of the mark of the beast. You're not
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Speaker 1: allowed to trade if you do not receive is marked
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Speaker 1: most assuredly refers to this kind of activity. No, John
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Speaker 1: is not talking about barcodes or RFID chips. Despite all
26:14
Speaker 1: that you hear nowadays. This woman, Jezebel, the name says
26:25
Speaker 1: a lot one Kings, chapter sixteen, verses thirty one to
26:29
Speaker 1: thirty three. We read about Jezebel, and then twenty one
26:33
Speaker 1: twenty five makes it a little clearer. We read in
26:37
Speaker 1: First King sixteen thirty one and thirty three, and as
26:40
Speaker 1: if it had been a light thing for him to
26:43
Speaker 1: walk in the sins of Jereboam, the son of Neback,
26:47
Speaker 1: he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of f Bil,
26:52
Speaker 1: king of the Sidonians, and went and served Bail and
26:56
Speaker 1: worshiped him. He erected an altar for Bail in the
27:00
Speaker 1: house of Bail, which is built in Samaria, and Ahab
27:04
Speaker 1: made an asherah. Now Bail is a fertility god. An
27:09
Speaker 1: asher a poll is a poll to the female version.
27:13
Speaker 1: So there's a male fertility god and a female fertility goddess.
27:17
Speaker 1: He marries Jezebel, and Jezebel has him committing idolatry by
27:24
Speaker 1: erecting these statues to fertility gods, which also refers to
27:30
Speaker 1: sexual immorality. Hence, when you get to the New Testament
27:34
Speaker 1: and Thia Tira, there's a woman who's promoting idology and
27:38
Speaker 1: idolatry and sexual immorality. What do you do? You refer
27:40
Speaker 1: to her as Jezebel. Ahab did more to provoke the
27:45
Speaker 1: Lord the God of Israel to anger than all the
27:48
Speaker 1: kings of Israel who were before him. That's a statement.
27:57
Speaker 1: Twenty one five we read there was none who sold
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Speaker 1: himself to do what was evil in the sight of
28:03
Speaker 1: the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel, his wife enticed. This
28:12
Speaker 1: name is significant. This name takes you back to one
28:18
Speaker 1: of the worst kings in the history of Israel, who
28:23
Speaker 1: was what he was in large part because of the
28:25
Speaker 1: influence of his wife, Jezebel. Now we come to Thiatyra,
28:30
Speaker 1: and there's a woman who calls herself a prophetess, and
28:34
Speaker 1: she is encouraging the members of the church in Thia
28:37
Speaker 1: Tyra to go ahead, join the guilds, be a part
28:41
Speaker 1: of the guilds, engage in those practices. You don't really
28:44
Speaker 1: mean it. After all, God looks at your heart. What's
28:49
Speaker 1: a little likedolatry and sexual immorality when you're trying to
28:53
Speaker 1: feed your family. He knows your intentions, all right. Her teaching,
29:06
Speaker 1: she calls herself a prophetess, and what is she doing
29:09
Speaker 1: seducing people to practice sexual morality and eating food sacrifices
29:12
Speaker 1: to idols. What about the influence looking Verses twenty two
29:15
Speaker 1: and twenty three. Behold, I will throw her onto a
29:19
Speaker 1: sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her, I
29:22
Speaker 1: will throw into great tribulation. So there's her, and then
29:25
Speaker 1: there are those who commit adultery with her. That's a
29:28
Speaker 1: direct contact with Jezebel. Now this could be a reference
29:32
Speaker 1: to individuals who are engaging in this practice with Jezebel herself,
29:37
Speaker 1: or it could be a reference to the fact that
29:39
Speaker 1: Jezebel is part of a guild, and these people belong
29:45
Speaker 1: to the guild to which Jezebel belongs, so they go
29:49
Speaker 1: with her to her particular guild and to those particular meetings.
29:52
Speaker 1: Either way, the outcome is the same. You have her
29:57
Speaker 1: and you have the individuals who are directly engaging in
30:00
Speaker 1: this practice. But then there's a third level, and I
30:05
Speaker 1: will strike her children dead. I will strike her children dead. Now,
30:14
Speaker 1: this I do not believe is a reference to her
30:18
Speaker 1: literal children, but to those who are following in her
30:23
Speaker 1: footsteps and in her teaching. If you follow the flow
30:27
Speaker 1: of this, Jezebel is engaging in this practice. There are
30:30
Speaker 1: those who have been influenced directly by her who are
30:32
Speaker 1: engaging in this practice as well. But then there are
30:35
Speaker 1: others who are indirectly influenced by her, who were also
30:40
Speaker 1: engaging in this practice as it grows in the church.
30:44
Speaker 1: So you refer to Jezebel, to those who commit adultery
30:47
Speaker 1: with her, and to her children more her children in
30:51
Speaker 1: the faith, if you will. This brings us to the
30:56
Speaker 1: portrait of Christ. The way Jesus is presented here in
31:01
Speaker 1: this text is significant. We know that in every one
31:06
Speaker 1: of these letters that two things are happening when Jesus
31:10
Speaker 1: is presented. One, that he's pointing back to his description
31:14
Speaker 1: in Revelation chapter one. Secondly, that he is pulling aspects
31:21
Speaker 1: of that description in Revelation chapter one into the particular
31:24
Speaker 1: letter that relate to the way that he will judge.
31:29
Speaker 1: For example, in the Letter to the Church at Ephesus,
31:34
Speaker 1: he introduces himself as the words of him who holds
31:39
Speaker 1: the seven stars in his right hand, and who walks
31:41
Speaker 1: among the seven golden lamp stands. Why is that important
31:45
Speaker 1: because he's threatening to remove lamp stands Smyrner. He writes
31:52
Speaker 1: the word of the First and the Last who died
31:54
Speaker 1: and came to life, talking about their tribulation and their poverty.
31:59
Speaker 1: His resurrection is significant to the Angel of Church, of
32:03
Speaker 1: pergmam right, the one who has who the words of him,
32:06
Speaker 1: who has the sharp two edged sword. Why is that important?
32:11
Speaker 1: Because he's going to judge them with the sword from
32:13
Speaker 1: his mouth. Now he introduces himself as the Son of God,
32:19
Speaker 1: the one whose eyes are a flame of fire, and
32:21
Speaker 1: whose feet are of burnished bronze. Why is this significant? Well, first,
32:26
Speaker 1: the reference to son of God. Now this reference is
32:29
Speaker 1: not taken directly from chapter one, it's significant here, one
32:37
Speaker 1: commentator writes, the speaker identifies himself as the son of God.
32:40
Speaker 1: The expression son of God appears only here in the book.
32:43
Speaker 1: It is a designation for the Messiah and is almost
32:46
Speaker 1: equivalent to the more frequently used title son of Man,
32:50
Speaker 1: and probably anticipates the quotation from the Messianic From the
32:54
Speaker 1: Messianic Psalm in verse twenty seven, there's a reference to
32:58
Speaker 1: the Psalm too, which implies the term. The name might
33:02
Speaker 1: also have captured the attention of those who were enticed
33:06
Speaker 1: by the Emperor cult into calling Caesar son of God.
33:16
Speaker 1: That was Caesar's title. Jesus says, it's not Caesar's title.
33:22
Speaker 1: It's my title. By the way, the site of Thiatyra
33:27
Speaker 1: exists under Roman rule because the Romans obliterated it almost
33:34
Speaker 1: in one ninety BC, the Romans came in and established
33:40
Speaker 1: their authority in their rule. In this fortified city that
33:43
Speaker 1: could not identify it could not defend itself against the
33:47
Speaker 1: quote unquote son of God, Caesar, Jesus identifies himself as
33:54
Speaker 1: the son of God. Caesar's title is one that is stolen.
34:01
Speaker 1: Jesus' title is one that is quite accurate. He is
34:06
Speaker 1: the son of God. He is the second person of
34:08
Speaker 1: the Trinity. Secondly, he has eyes like flames of fire. This,
34:16
Speaker 1: of course, is a reference from back in chapter one
34:18
Speaker 1: and verse fourteen. The eyes of flames of fire is
34:21
Speaker 1: a reference to the ancient of days and to the
34:23
Speaker 1: piercing eyes of judgment. Nothing can escape his eyes. I
34:28
Speaker 1: know your works. Why can he say this? Because he
34:31
Speaker 1: sees everything. He is omniscient. There is nothing that hides
34:36
Speaker 1: from him. Not only is there nothing that hides from
34:39
Speaker 1: him on the surface, but the idea of his eyes
34:42
Speaker 1: of fire means that he penetrates through the actual event
34:46
Speaker 1: itself to the intention in your very soul. He knows
34:53
Speaker 1: what you do, and he knows why you do it.
34:57
Speaker 1: There is no escaping And in case you're wondering if
35:03
Speaker 1: this is supposed to be an intimidating title, look with
35:07
Speaker 1: me in chapter nineteen, if you will, beginning in verse eleven,
35:14
Speaker 1: I told you this is my favorite description of Jesus,
35:17
Speaker 1: so I'll be surprised that I came back to it again.
35:24
Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen, Verses eleven to sixteen. Then I saw heaven opened,
35:33
Speaker 1: and behold a white horse. The one sitting on it
35:36
Speaker 1: is called faithful and true, and is righteous. He judges
35:40
Speaker 1: in righteousness. He judges and makes war. His eyes are
35:44
Speaker 1: like a flame of fire, and on his head are
35:47
Speaker 1: many diadems. And he has a name written that no
35:51
Speaker 1: one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe
35:54
Speaker 1: dipped in blood. And the name by which he is
35:57
Speaker 1: called is the Word of God. And the army of
36:00
Speaker 1: Heaven are rayed in fine linen, white and pure. We're
36:03
Speaker 1: following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a
36:07
Speaker 1: sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and
36:12
Speaker 1: he will rule them with a rod of iron. We're
36:14
Speaker 1: going to read that later in this very text. He
36:16
Speaker 1: will tread the wine praise press of the fury of
36:20
Speaker 1: the wrath of God the Almighty on his robe, and
36:23
Speaker 1: on his thigh he has a name written King of
36:26
Speaker 1: Kings and Lord of Lords. That's what is evoked by
36:34
Speaker 1: the idea of Jesus having eyes like flames of fire.
36:41
Speaker 1: His feet are like burnished bronze. This is reminiscent of
36:44
Speaker 1: both Ezekiel and Daniel. It refers both to the brilliance
36:48
Speaker 1: of God and also to the judgment of God. Not
36:57
Speaker 1: only do we see the importance of Christ in his description,
37:01
Speaker 1: but also in his warning. Notice what we see in
37:05
Speaker 1: his warning verses twenty to twenty four. Behold, I will
37:17
Speaker 1: number one throw her onto a sick bed. I will
37:23
Speaker 1: throw her onto a sick bed. Here's the first thing.
37:28
Speaker 1: He gave Jessebel time to repent, and she did not. Mercifully,
37:33
Speaker 1: he gave her time to repent, and she did not.
37:35
Speaker 1: By the way, this is a microcosm of what we
37:38
Speaker 1: have in Revelation as a whole. The world has time
37:41
Speaker 1: to repent. The world has an opportunity to repent, but
37:45
Speaker 1: it will not. They will not, and He will judge
37:49
Speaker 1: as a result of their failure to repent. But it
37:52
Speaker 1: says here that he will put her on a sick bed.
37:54
Speaker 1: There's a play on words here. Sexual im morality is
38:00
Speaker 1: the sharing of a bed together. Christ basically says, she
38:05
Speaker 1: is enticing my people to an impure bed, to a
38:09
Speaker 1: bed of sinfulness. I will put her on a sick bed. Secondly,
38:14
Speaker 1: those who commit adultery with her I will throw into
38:17
Speaker 1: great tribulation unless they repent of her works. By the way,
38:23
Speaker 1: why are they sinning with her? Because they do not
38:26
Speaker 1: want to experience the hardship of not being part of
38:29
Speaker 1: the guild. He says, if you don't repent, you will
38:33
Speaker 1: experience a hardship that is much worse than not being
38:36
Speaker 1: part of a guild. Finally, I will strike her children dead.
38:45
Speaker 1: I will strike her children dead. Two things, First, this
38:51
Speaker 1: is disturbing. One reason we find it disturbing is because
38:55
Speaker 1: we hate the idea of innocent children being brought into
39:00
Speaker 1: anything and being killed. Two things, Number one, there are
39:06
Speaker 1: no innocent children. They inherit their sin nature from Adam.
39:17
Speaker 1: We're not innocent. Second, he's not speaking here about literal
39:26
Speaker 1: children and the killing of babies. If you want to
39:32
Speaker 1: understand that, look at first Kings twenty one, Verses twenty
39:38
Speaker 1: to twenty four. Ahab said to Elijah, have you found
39:46
Speaker 1: me o? My enemy? He answered, I have found you
39:49
Speaker 1: because you have sold yourself to do what is evil
39:52
Speaker 1: in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring
39:54
Speaker 1: disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and
40:00
Speaker 1: will cut off from Ahab every male bond or free
40:04
Speaker 1: in Israel. I will make your house like the house
40:08
Speaker 1: of Jereboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house
40:12
Speaker 1: of Bashah, the son of Ahijah. For the anger to
40:17
Speaker 1: which you have provoked me, and because you have made
40:20
Speaker 1: Israel to sin and of Jezebel. The Lord also said
40:24
Speaker 1: that dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezrael.
40:30
Speaker 1: Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the
40:34
Speaker 1: dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in
40:38
Speaker 1: an open country, the birds of the heavens shall eat.
40:47
Speaker 1: There's the picture that Jesus is hearkening back to. He
40:55
Speaker 1: calls her Jezebel, and he speaks to her about the
41:00
Speaker 1: very punishment that Jezebel and Ahab experienced. In other words,
41:08
Speaker 1: Christ says, repent or there are consequences that will follow.
41:15
Speaker 1: Do you remember what happened to Jezebel when she provoked
41:19
Speaker 1: the people of God to this very same kind of sin? Repent.
41:24
Speaker 1: Or do you somehow think that that Jezebel experienced the
41:28
Speaker 1: judgment of God, but you will escape the judgment of
41:31
Speaker 1: God repent, Or do you somehow think that the God
41:35
Speaker 1: of purity and righteousness and wrath in the Old Testament
41:38
Speaker 1: is no longer that God repent. Don't just remember nadab
41:46
Speaker 1: and abai whu, but also remember in the New Testament
41:54
Speaker 1: that there are individuals who died. God's wrath is real,
42:06
Speaker 1: and this is just a foretaste, a foreshadowing. And all
42:16
Speaker 1: the churches will know that I am he who searches
42:21
Speaker 1: mind and heart, and I will give to each of
42:24
Speaker 1: you according to your works. We read about something similar
42:32
Speaker 1: every week in one Grinthians, chapter eleven. Do not eat
42:40
Speaker 1: of the bread or drink of the cup in an
42:43
Speaker 1: unworthy manner. Why because for that very reason, many of
42:50
Speaker 1: you are weak and ill, and some have died the
42:57
Speaker 1: very real judgment of God. Jesus says, I have warned
43:06
Speaker 1: this woman who calls herself a prophetess. And this is significant.
43:14
Speaker 1: Why is this significant? Because the idea of idolatry and
43:18
Speaker 1: sexual immorality is a reason that God's people went into
43:22
Speaker 1: exile in the Old Testament over and over and over
43:25
Speaker 1: and over again, worshiping at the altar of these gods
43:29
Speaker 1: who promote sexual sexual practices and idolatry. And he says,
43:41
Speaker 1: here you are understanding and having responded to the Gospel
43:48
Speaker 1: and to the completed work of my son, on whom
43:51
Speaker 1: I poured out my wrath on the cross, showing how
43:56
Speaker 1: indignant I am towards sin. And you will call yourself
44:03
Speaker 1: my people and yet identify yourself with the same idolatry
44:12
Speaker 1: and sexual morality that I have already judged numerous times
44:18
Speaker 1: in my word. By the way, and I debated doing this,
44:28
Speaker 1: but we just have to. You have to turn to
44:32
Speaker 1: Revelation eighteen. If you're uncomfortable with the idea of Jezebel
44:42
Speaker 1: and her followers experiencing this kind of judgment in Revelation
44:48
Speaker 1: chapter three, you won't be able to make it when
44:50
Speaker 1: we get to chapter eighteen. Listen to the similarities. After this,
45:01
Speaker 1: I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority,
45:06
Speaker 1: and the earth was made bright with his glory. And
45:09
Speaker 1: he called out with a mighty voice, fall and fall.
45:13
Speaker 1: And as Babylon the Great, she has become a dwelling
45:16
Speaker 1: place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a
45:19
Speaker 1: haunt for every unclean bird, a hunt for every unclean,
45:23
Speaker 1: detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of
45:27
Speaker 1: the passion of her what sexual immorality, And the kings
45:35
Speaker 1: of the earth have committed immorality with her. And the
45:38
Speaker 1: merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power
45:42
Speaker 1: of her luxurious living. Why are they doing this? They
45:46
Speaker 1: want to be a part of the merchant guilds. Then
45:49
Speaker 1: I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her,
45:52
Speaker 1: my people, lest you take part in her sins. Lest
45:55
Speaker 1: you share in her plagues. For her sins are heaped
45:59
Speaker 1: high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay
46:03
Speaker 1: her back as she herself has paid back others, and
46:06
Speaker 1: repay her double for her deeds. Mix a double portion
46:11
Speaker 1: for her in the cup she mixed, and she glorified
46:15
Speaker 1: herself and lived in luxury. And give her a like
46:19
Speaker 1: measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says,
46:23
Speaker 1: I sat as a queen, I am no widow, and
46:27
Speaker 1: mourning I shall never see. For this reason, her plagues
46:30
Speaker 1: will come in a single day. Death and mourning and famine,
46:34
Speaker 1: and she will be burned up with fire. For mighty
46:38
Speaker 1: is the Lord God who has judged her, and the
46:41
Speaker 1: kings of the earth, who committed sexual morality and lived
46:45
Speaker 1: in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her.
46:48
Speaker 1: When they see the smoke of her burning, they will
46:52
Speaker 1: stand far off in fear of her torment and say,
46:56
Speaker 1: alas alas, you, great city, you, mighty city, the Babylon.
47:01
Speaker 1: For in a single hour, your judgment has come. And
47:06
Speaker 1: it goes on from there. The third picture we see
47:17
Speaker 1: is christis coming king. We see this in verses twenty
47:21
Speaker 1: six to twenty eight. The one who conquers and who
47:26
Speaker 1: keeps my works until the end, Notice he does it,
47:29
Speaker 1: says who keeps my word until the end? He says,
47:32
Speaker 1: who keeps my works until the end? What is the reference?
47:35
Speaker 1: Earlier on when he commends the church. He commends them
47:38
Speaker 1: for their works, speaking of their faithfulness in the Gospel.
47:42
Speaker 1: The one who keeps my works at the very end,
47:43
Speaker 1: I believe here refers to the one who continues to
47:46
Speaker 1: proclaim the whole Gospel to the whole world. To him,
47:50
Speaker 1: I will give authority over the nations, and he will
47:52
Speaker 1: rule over them with a rod of iron, as when
47:56
Speaker 1: earthen pots are broken in pieces. Even as I myself
47:59
Speaker 1: have received authority for my father, and I will give
48:02
Speaker 1: him the morning star. There are two references here simultaneously.
48:06
Speaker 1: Number one, there is a historic reference to the way
48:09
Speaker 1: that this city fell to the Romans. He says, don't
48:13
Speaker 1: bow to this city that fell to the Romans. It's
48:15
Speaker 1: going to fall again, and it's going to fall to me,
48:18
Speaker 1: And if you are faithful, it will fall to me,
48:21
Speaker 1: and you will rule it with a rod of iron.
48:25
Speaker 1: There's a second reference, and it's a reference to Psalm
48:27
Speaker 1: number two, verses seven through nine. I will tell of
48:32
Speaker 1: the decree the Lord said to me. You are my son.
48:35
Speaker 1: Today I have begotten you. Hence the reference. Son of God,
48:39
Speaker 1: ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
48:42
Speaker 1: and the ends of the yearth your possession. You shall
48:44
Speaker 1: break them with a rod of iron and dash them
48:48
Speaker 1: in pieces like Potter's vessels. That's the reference. Christ says
48:59
Speaker 1: to his peace people, Endure, Endure, do not learn the
49:09
Speaker 1: works that this woman is teaching. Endure. There are a
49:13
Speaker 1: number of problems here, the first of which is that
49:18
Speaker 1: this teaching is being tolerated. The second of which is
49:21
Speaker 1: that this woman has not been disciplined by the Church.
49:29
Speaker 1: The third of which is that believers are actually being
49:34
Speaker 1: enticed for the sake of advancement in commerce to compromise
49:42
Speaker 1: with sin. Back to those two news stories, little couple
49:53
Speaker 1: in Canada who says, I'm sorry, we can't do that.
50:00
Speaker 1: It's wrong. They have to pay a fine and they
50:05
Speaker 1: lose their business. Christ says, to that kind of response
50:15
Speaker 1: to outward pressure to compromise with sinners, don't worry. The
50:21
Speaker 1: day is coming when they will be ruled with a
50:23
Speaker 1: rot of iron and crushed like Potter's vessels. And simultaneously,
50:34
Speaker 1: the Episcopal Church, we will embrace same sex unions in
50:41
Speaker 1: states where they're legal or they're not. This is going
50:45
Speaker 1: to be part of our liturgy. This is going to
50:49
Speaker 1: be part of our worship to God. This is going
50:53
Speaker 1: to be part of how we acknowledge the relationship between
50:58
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ and his bride. The church. This picture that
51:03
Speaker 1: anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb, This picture that
51:07
Speaker 1: anticipates Christ return at the end of the age, at
51:12
Speaker 1: the consummation of all things. Well, he will set all
51:16
Speaker 1: that is wrong right. We will create a liturgy, so
51:20
Speaker 1: that a relationship that resulted in firing brimstone on Sodomon
51:25
Speaker 1: Gomorrah can be identified with what we anticipate at the
51:29
Speaker 1: end of the age, in the coming of Christ. God
51:32
Speaker 1: help us. You see, we read about Jezebel and the
51:44
Speaker 1: church at Thiatyra, and immediately we go, how could anybody
51:51
Speaker 1: anywhere who knows the Bible even remotely that was acceptable
52:00
Speaker 1: in church? Newsflash. Not only do we have the Episcopal Church,
52:12
Speaker 1: who again, I believe that a lampstand has been removed
52:15
Speaker 1: the Episcopal Church in America, and a lot of the
52:18
Speaker 1: Christians in that denomination are leaving and uniting themselves with
52:22
Speaker 1: other Anglican denominations, mainly West African Anglican denominations, because they
52:31
Speaker 1: recognize that lampstand has been removed. But folks, what about
52:38
Speaker 1: the person who just says, you know what, I won't
52:43
Speaker 1: to engage in the actual immorality and the actual cultic prostitution.
52:52
Speaker 1: I won't actually eat the meat. But what I do is,
52:56
Speaker 1: I'll join the guild so that I can work, and
53:02
Speaker 1: I'll just go to the meetings where these things happen, because,
53:08
Speaker 1: after all, I mean, these people really need Jesus. So
53:11
Speaker 1: perhaps if I just go to the meetings, and I
53:16
Speaker 1: just go to the orgies, I can be a witness there.
53:27
Speaker 1: Wrong answer, wrong answer, Jesus says, don't participate with him
53:37
Speaker 1: and be a witness. Amen, Your greatest witness does not
53:47
Speaker 1: occur when you compromise with sin in order to advance
53:53
Speaker 1: yourself in the corporate world. Your greatest witness occurs when
53:58
Speaker 1: you are willing to accept even being fired for the
54:03
Speaker 1: cause of Christ. Because the witness of the Gospel is
54:07
Speaker 1: far more important than belonging to the guild. And believe
54:15
Speaker 1: me when I say that is going to become more
54:19
Speaker 1: and more prominent as the days go by. In this
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Speaker 1: culture in which we live. We will be called upon
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Speaker 1: to compromise more and more and more with the jezebel
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Speaker 1: idolatry of our day. A compromise won't cause a diaspora.
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Speaker 1: I don't believe that we're going to be killed in
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Speaker 1: the streets and that the church is going to be
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Speaker 1: run out of the United States. But what we we'll see,
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Speaker 1: and what we already see, is incremental compromises that say,
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Speaker 1: since this is the way that culture views this, since
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Speaker 1: this is the norm among us Let's tweak the way
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Speaker 1: we talk about the Gospel. Let's de emphasize some aspects
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Speaker 1: of Christ's character and overemphasize other aspects of Christ's character,
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Speaker 1: so that we can still be talking about Jesus, just
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Speaker 1: not in a way that our culture finds offensive. This
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Speaker 1: is where we live, and there are some of you
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Speaker 1: who will be called upon, perhaps in the very near future,
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Speaker 1: to take stands that may cost you your very livelihood.
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Speaker 1: Here's the question. Is the idea that you serve the
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Speaker 1: King of kings and the Lord of lords, and that
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Speaker 1: he is the soon coming king who will make all
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Speaker 1: things right enough for you? Is it enough for us?
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Speaker 1: I believe it is. God has made provision for his people.
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Speaker 1: Jesus will judge the living and the dead, who will
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Speaker 1: be rewarded according to our works. Know though, that it
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Speaker 1: is Him who works in us, both to will and
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Speaker 1: to work for his good pleasure. You do not have
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Speaker 1: to rely on you. Let's pray