Revelation Ch2v18-29 - Stand Firm In A Compromising World

There you go. Nice and easy. 1, 2, 3, 4. I think we can manage that. So page 1, 2, 3, 4. Revelation 2, verse 18.

Revelation 2:18

It's God's words through the Apostle John to the church in Tyre Tyre. To the angel of the church in Tyre Tyre write,

these are the words of the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like

burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you

are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you. You tolerate the woman

Jezebel who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching, she misleads my servants into sexual immorality

and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I've given her time to repent of her immorality,

but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering and I will make those who commit

adultery with her suffer intensely unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead

then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds and I will repay each

of you according to your deeds. Now I say to the rest of you in Tyre Tyre, to you who do not hold to

her teaching and who have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, I will not impose any other burden on

you except to hold on to what you have until I come. To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end,

I will give authority over the nations. That one will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces

like pottery. Just as I have received authority from my father, I will also give that one the morning star.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Let's pray. Father, we thank you again for your

word to us. It pierces down to our very soul. It exposes our hearts and Lord, it is also the balm that can bind

them up. And so we pray for our brother Tyre as he comes this morning, as he preaches your word, that we would hear

what Tyre says, but most importantly, that we would hear what you say through him and from your word. Give us

ears that would hear your words this morning to us as a church. Amen.

Amen.

Thanks, Tyre. Do you want some water? Will I get you some water? No, I'm good, thanks.

Good morning. Every time I hear that passage to read out, I'm like, what am I have to get myself into?

But it's a fantastic passage. It's a great passage.

So, by the end of this, hopefully, we'll have three points. First point is Jesus sees everything.

In verses 18 to 19, we have compromise brings consequences. Verses 20 to 23.

And keep your eyes on Christ's return. 24 to 29.

And I asked Ralph to read it out, right? Because the Cork accent, we can't say it.

Tyre Thera. So I'm glad he said Tyre Thera because that's the right pronunciation as well.

So I was just making sure I had it right before I start.

So this is a letter from Tyre Thera.

It's a letter in one of the cities, in the seven cities that the letters are written in.

But Tyre Thera wasn't as special as the rest of them.

There's nothing big about Tyre Thera.

It was a wealthy city. A very wealthy city.

And if you remember in Luke, Luke chapter 16, 14,

Luke 16 · chapter mention

there was a lady that they came across.

Lydia. Do you remember Lydia and Luke?

Well, she was also from the city of Tyre Thera.

So in Acts 16,

there's a one who heard was a woman named Lydia from the city of Tyre Thera,

a seller of purple goods,

who was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

She was a seller of purple cloth.

And there's a hint in her selling in purple cloth is on about Tyre Thera.

See, Tyre Thera was famous for their trade.

They were famous for their marksmanship.

They were also famous for guilds.

So if you wanted to earn a living in Tyre Thera,

say if you were a carpenter,

and you had to join a guild,

that would be a wood caper,

a wood guild.

So in the guild,

you'd have to sell your stuff through the guild.

It was a way of livelihood.

It was a way that that's the way that they made our money.

But the problem was with guilds,

is when they met up,

they often participated in pagan worshipping.

They participated in pagan feasts.

And they worshipped idols.

And they practiced sexual immorality.

And that is the problem with the city of Tyre Thera.

This is why the letter of Tyre Thera exists.

Let's look at verses 18.

Verse 18.

I'm actually preaching from the ESV.

Just in case of your wording is different than I have.

I made this up in the ESV.

So verse 18.

Straight away,

in the start of this letter,

we just found out that this letter wasn't from John.

This message is from the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

If you can see,

Jesus introduces himself as a son of God.

Now the son of God was only used once

in the whole book of Revelations,

and it's used here.

That's significant.

Jesus is saying,

I am Jesus who is writing this message.

Because at the time,

there was a Roman Empire called Caesar.

He was known as the son of God.

So Jesus is reminding his church

that there is only one son of God,

and it's not Caesar.

That would have got their attention.

Can you imagine if I came up here this morning

and I said,

my name is Tyg,

I'm from Ballyvahan,

and you can call me the son of God.

He'd be like,

what is this for laughter?

That after being picked in a barrel,

after calling himself the son of God.

So that straight away

was after hitting the attention

of the church of Tythera.

Jesus wanted the believers in Tythera

to know exactly who was speaking.

Then he says,

His eyes are like a flame of fire.

He's saying this because Jesus sees

beyond our appearances.

He can see beyond what front we put up here

on a church on a Sunday.

This is something the church needed to know.

Jesus sees everything.

This is something that we need to know

every time we go outside these doors

and go into the world.

We need to be reminded that Jesus sees everything.

You see,

with me,

I don't know about you,

but sometimes I have this sin.

Now I believe that Jesus sees everything,

but I still have this thing in my head

that I can create this magic little dome

around this specific sin

that Jesus can't see.

Jesus sees everything.

We believe that God is sovereign.

We believe that he's all-powerful.

We believe he knows everything,

but when it comes to this specific sin,

we try to fool ourselves into it,

but he can't see

in this moment of our sin.

That is not the truth.

Jesus sees it all.

The message to Thyatira

is also a message for us.

Our hearts have not changed

since the times of Thyatira.

We are still tempted to hide our own sin

when it comes to God.

God.

His eyes

sees through

our reputations

that we put up

in front of people.

His eyes

sees right

into our hearts.

His eyes

penetrates

straight into our hearts.

God.

This also

reminds us in Daniel.

Do you remember Daniel's vision

that he had

in Daniel 10, 16?

His body like a barrel.

His face like a brilliance of lightning.

His eyes the flame and torches.

His arms and feet

like the

gleam of

polished bronze.

polished bronze.

This would have made sense

in the city

because of the craftsmanship.

They were bronze makers.

Some translations

in the NAV

says fine bronze.

Bronze here

represents

God's strength.

His stability.

and his judgment.

That's what they would have

known about the bronze.

Throughout the Old Testament

bronze was used

in the tabernacles.

Strength.

And later in the temples

it often symbolizes

God's righteousness

and judgment.

That's what they would have

heard when they heard

the word bronze.

Jesus is reminding

the church

that he's righteous

as pure

his standards

never change

and his character

is unchanging.

Jesus' character

is the same as it was

then

as it is now.

The world changes.

Culture changes.

Opinion

changes.

Jesus does not change.

Let's have a look

at verse 19.

I know your works

your love,

your faith,

your service,

your patience,

endurance,

and that your

later work

succeeds the first.

Jesus begins

verse 19.

Encouragement,

don't he?

can you imagine

being the church

and you're listening

to this for the

first time being read

out?

Can you imagine

hearing

I know your works,

your love,

your faithfulness,

your service,

your endurance?

The church must have

been thinking

yes,

we got this.

We got it.

He's acknowledging us.

We're doing well.

We're not that bad.

We're not worse

than the church

down the road.

We must be doing

better than them.

We're serving.

Look at us.

We serve.

We're loving.

The new guy comes in.

Hi, how's it going?

We love each other.

We're doing great.

And we're even growing.

In fact,

Jesus even says

your layer of works

is better than the first.

does growth in the church.

They must have been thinking

you got this.

But it also

raises

an important question

for us.

Do we sometimes

only focus

on what the good we do?

Are we ignoring

the sin we tolerate?

We can just kind of

balance the scale a bit.

You know,

we're living in a culture

we balance the scales.

Growing up in a culture

we balance the scales.

We're not too bad.

You know,

I know I struggle

with sin

but look how much

I serve.

I know I'm living

in disobedience

but I attend church

every week.

We balance the scale

all the time

in our life

even if we don't

realize it.

I know this relationship

that I'm in

isn't right.

But I'm generous.

I'm not as bad

as I was.

That's why I listen

to all the time

with the guys

in addiction.

You know,

I work with fellas

in addiction

and they'll be telling me

I'm not as bad

as I was.

You know,

I still drink a lot

but I don't black out

anymore.

I don't get arrested.

It doesn't matter.

We can't cancel

out our sin.

We can't.

We cannot

cancel out

our sin

what works.

It's impossible.

So we still

create this imaginary

kind of

scales in our head

and we justify

our behavior

to it.

You know,

I know I'm doing this

but look what I'm doing here.

It doesn't work like that.

It doesn't.

Only fooling yourself

if you think

that it works

like that.

Let's have a look

at verse 20.

But I have this

against you.

Oh.

That you tolerate

the woman Jezebel

who calls herself

a prophetess

and is teaching

and seducing

my servants

to participate

in sexual immorality

and to eat

food

sacrificed

to idols.

mic drop.

Can you imagine

hearing that?

Just after hearing

so encouraging

bang.

Everything changes

with these words

but I have this

against you.

Guaranteed

this.

Okay,

got your attention.

Despite all

the love

service

faithfulness

and endurance

Jesus still

had something

to say.

Hence the letter.

They were

tolerating

false

teachings.

They didn't

see the problem

in what they

were doing

when they

were worshipping

falsely.

Falsely.

They compromised.

using the word

Jezebel

here.

Jesus

is not

about a

literal person

that was in

the city.

Jesus

is reminding

us about

Jezebel

in the Old

Testament.

The verse

would suggest

that there was

a woman in the

city

in one of the

guilds.

there was

a woman

who was

practicing

teachings

that Jezebel

would have

practiced

in the Old

Testament.

And they

were leading

Christians

into sexual

morality

false

teaching

and she

taught herself

to be like

a prophetess.

There's the

contrast.

So Jesus

is saying to

him

and the

Christians

in the

city

were falling

into our

trap.

Go back

a small

about the

guilds.

You see

in the

guilds

because of

the trading

and the

guilds that

you have to

be associated

with when it

comes to

the trading

Christians

were under

enormous

pressure.

Because if

they didn't

participate in

these guilds

they wouldn't

have made

a livelihood.

They wouldn't

have survived.

But every

guild had a

patriot god.

That was the

problem.

In Taitara

there were

temples dedicated

to these

gods such

as Ateta

and Apollo.

Guild

members may

have been

encouraged to

participate in

all kinds of

ungodly

behaviour.

They

participated in

all sexual

immorality

to honour

these gods.

to whoever

the god

was

devoted

to in

the guild.

And there

was people

in the

church

who saw

what was

going on

and thought

nothing

wrong with

it.

They saw

Christians

participating in

such activities

and they saw

nothing wrong

with it.

wrong with it.

And the

feasts that

they're talking

about here

the meat

that was

served at

these feasts

first had to

be offered

up to

idols.

And if

you attended

these meals

you weren't

just eating

the food

you were

participating

in this

feast

in this

worship.

and if

you were

participating

in the

worship

you were

involved

in

sexual

immorality.

But some

Christians in

the church

were saying

it's not a

big deal

what else

are they

supposed to

do?

They went

along with it.

The church

went along

with it.

What are

they going

to do?

They're not

going to

stand out.

They won't

be able to

have their

livelihood if

they don't

part of

these

skills.

Their

families aren't

going to

get the

money.

They're not

going to

get fed.

So what

else are

they supposed

to do?

Some say

compromising

aren't they?

They were

compromising.

They were

compromising

with their

faith.

Christians

compromised

their faith.

But you

know what

was worse?

The church

tolerated it.

who always

noticed about

Jesus,

right?

Especially

in this

letter,

right up

here.

Look,

Jesus didn't

rebuke the

Christians,

did he?

He rebuked

the church.

He rebukes

the church

for tolerating

Christians

who are

participating

in such

rituals.

that should

speak loudly

to us as

a church

today.

If we

see something

in our

churches

that's

sinful,

we should

call it

out.

We shouldn't

compromise it.

We should

call it

out.

We are

called to

love

sinners.

We are

called to

show grace,

but we

were never

taught to

tolerate

sin.

We were

never

taught to

tolerate

false

teaching,

false

worship,

and we

were never

especially

to tolerate

an excuse

for sin.

We're not.

And I'm not

coming here to

talk about

your church,

I'm looking at

my own

church when I'm

talking about

this,

because our

church is

the same

as your

church,

I'm the

same as

you,

our hearts

are exactly

the same.

Every church

that you walk

in the door

to might be

different people

or different

chair or

different

seating,

but we

have all

the same

heart.

So don't

think I'm

talking in

here talking

about your

church,

you're

talking about

you as

the church.

Because it's

hard to spend

all your time

in an unbelieving

world,

isn't it?

Especially in

work.

You're walking

around in

work and

you're walking

around with

friends and

none of

them believes

in God and

none of

them believes

in Jesus.

And you're

staying there

long enough and

do you know

what happens?

You start

compromising with

your faith.

You start

engaging in

conversations you

shouldn't be

in.

You start

trying to

fit in.

You feel

lonely because

everybody's

walking away

from you because

you're a bit

strange.

You're not

engaging with

them but

then you just

feel like one

day I want to

be a part of

this.

So what

happens?

I compromise

with my

faith.

it's not

about

appearance.

It's not

about comfort.

This world

is, Christian

faith is not

about success.

It's not.

That's what the

world offers

you.

And do you

know what?

It'll never

satisfy you.

It doesn't

matter how

much this

world gives

you in

success,

acceptance,

or comfort,

you're never

going to be

satisfied.

Never.

Never.

Do you

want to know

why?

Because you

are not

created for

this world.

We are not

created for

this world.

We are

created for

the world

to spend

eternity

with our

King Jesus.

We're

created for

the world

that we

will be

glorified,

body,

no sin,

just like it

was in the

Garden of

Eden.

That's what

we're created

for.

So whatever

this world

offers us,

it ain't

going to

fix us.

And it

might give

you a

temporary

release,

but it's

not going

to give

you a

100%

release of

satisfaction.

It's just

a lie.

But remember

how Jezebel's

story ended?

Grossome.

What a

death she

got.

Kings

chapter 9,

verse 30

to 37.

All Jezebel

done in the

Old Testament.

She was

thrown out

a window,

trampled

on in

horses,

and the

dogs

mangled

her.

What a

way to

go.

She

thought she

was

untouchable.

She

thought God

himself

couldn't

touch me.

What?

Jesus is

reminding the

church that

she thought

Jezebel was

untouchable.

He's reminding

the church

that Jezebel

thought she

was a

prophetess.

God

himself

hasn't got

power over

me.

And God

ended her

life just

as it was

prophesied.

God's

judgment came

to Jezebel

and God's

judgment will

come to us

one day.

Her life

ended in

disgrace.

And one day

our lives

will end and

the question

is how will

our lives

end?

Will we end

our lives

in disgrace

rejecting

God?

Rejecting

Jesus?

Will we

end our

life accepting

Christ and

spending

eternity with

him?

That's the

question.

That's why

Jesus is

calling his

church to

remain

faithful.

We must

remain

faithful.

Doesn't

matter what

this world

throws at

us.

We must

remain

faithful.

even if

the

faithfulness

is costly.

We are

called to

stand

firm in

the

armor of

God and

not to

kneel and

worship

false

gods and

especially

worship

false

idols of

the

heart.

Let's

have a look

at verse

21.

I gave

her time

to repent

but she

refuses to

repent of

her sexual

immorality.

what an

incredible

statement

here and

there.

God

could have

judged her

there and

then.

God can

judge us.

We deserve

death.

He could

have come

down and

just judge

every single

one of

us.

He's

right to

do so.

He could

have done

a hair

with Jezebel.

He could

have gone

a hair

in

entire

era but

he didn't.

instead he

gave her

time to

repent.

Jesus

gives us

time to

repent.

That is

the mercy

of God.

Throughout

scripture we

see that God

is patient

didn't he?

He delays

his judgment

because he

delights in

showing mercy

and

giving people

the opportunity

to turn

away from

sin and

come to

him.

Can you

look back

in your

own life

and just

think of a

certain

moment in

your life

and see

God's

patience

in your

sin?

I can

look back

and see

many of

them.

How many

opportunities

had you

given you

to repent?

I can't

even.

If you're

here today

and you

think that

you're so

bad and

you're so

sinful you

can't repent

anymore because

you reckon

Christ said

or God

said God

will never

be sick

of your

repentance.

Never.

Repent,

repent,

repent.

Turn from

your sin

and come

to him.

He will

have the

patience

but

his

patience

has a

limit

in this

world.

Did you

ever hear

of a

talking to

a non-believer

sick of

hearing this

nearly

two or

three times

a week?

How could

a loving

God send

anybody to

hell?

Common

question

isn't it?

I never

heard anybody

ask the

question

how could

a holy

God

continue

to show

mercy to

people who

constantly

reject him?

That's a

better question

isn't it?

And I

include myself

in that

question.

How can

a holy

God

continue

to show

mercy to

me

who

continuously

rejects

him in

certain

parts of

my life?

Because

he is

merciful.

That's

so.

notice

here

that

Jesus

is

saying

she

did

not

want

to

repent.

Right

there

is a

heart

problem.

Jesus

says

she

will

not

repent.

She

wouldn't

repent.

This

is not

ability.

This

is not

a question

about

ability.

She

was

able

to

repent.

it's

not

about

ability.

It's

about

desire.

She

loved

her

sin.

She

loved

it.

How

many

people

loved

their

sin?

I

love

my

sin.

I

hate

it,

but I

love

it.

Double

mindedness.

We

choose

created

things

over the

relationship

of a

creator.

That's

what we

do.

That's

what our

hearts

do.

Our

hearts

go for

something

that is

created

in this

world

than

going

to

the

creator.

That's

the

idols

of

the

heart.

C.S.

Lewis,

our

hearts

are like

a conveyor

belt

for

idols.

It

just

keeps

coming

out.

What

can I

worship

today?

I

had a

coffee

this

morning.

Behold

the

God

that

took

me

out

of

bed.

Worshiping

idols,

it's

an

insult.

It's

an

insult

to

God.

We

worship

pleasure

instead

of

his

holiness.

We

worship

success,

money,

relationships,

approval,

or

addictions

instead

of God.

They

are just

some

idols

of

the

heart.

So let

me ask

you a

question

this

morning.

what

are you

unwilling

to

repent

of?

Is

there

an

area

in

your

life

where

you

know

God

is

calling

you

to

change

but

you

simply

just

don't

want

to

let

it

go?

I

know

how

that

feels.

For

years

and

years

I

kept

on

to

my

addiction.

I

didn't

want

to

let

it

go.

I

wanted

something

that

gratified

me

instead

of

relationship

with

God.

I

knew

it was

killing

me.

I

just

wanted

it.

I

loved

it so

much

I

even

more

than

loved

it

in

obedience

to

God.

And

repentance

only

began

when

I

stopped

making

excuses

of

why

I

was

drinking

and

surrendered

that

idol

to

Christ.

It

was

only

then

it

was

taken

away.

You

see

I

was

a

young

fella

!

And

my

mother

brought

me

to

be

psychiatrist

when I

was

14

because

she

said

there

was

a

want

in

me.

I

was

told

I

was

a

product

of

my

upbringing.

Loved

it.

It's not

my fault.

I'm a

product of

my

upbringing.

20

years later

he shouted

at my

dad's

face.

I'm a

product

of

my

upbringing.

He

said

you're

mad.

Victim.

I

was

a

victim.

Not

my

fault.

I

sin

because

of

this.

The

scale.

I

drink

because

of

my

family.

I

drink

because

of

my

livelihood.

I

drink

victim

victim

victim

victim.

And if

God

didn't smash

that victim

mentality

I'd

still be

a

victim

today.

I

am

not

a

victim

in

life.

I

am

not

a

product

of

my

upbringing.

I'm

a

sinner.

a

sinner

with

a

heart

that

loves

to

idle

something

that

gratifies

me.

Loves

it.

The

senses.

I

love to

hold

it.

I

love to

control

it.

I

love to

be

its

God.

I

love the

pleasure

it

gives

me.

I

love

the

temporary

release

it

gives

me.

When

you

start

looking

at

them

things

you

can

see

why

you

do

what

you

do.

We

do

what

we

do

because

we

love

we

love

our

sin.

Verses

22

to

23

Behold

I

will

throw

her

into

the

sick

bed

and

those

who

commit

adultery

with

her

I

will

throw

into

a

great

tribulation

unless

they

repent

of

their

works

and

I

will

strike

her

children

dead

and

all

the

churches

will

know

that

I

am

he

who

searches

mind

and

heart

and

I

will

give

to

each

of

you

according

to

your

works

yeah

but

you

said

it

wasn't

about

works

it's

not

it's

not

what

this

verse

is

saying

and

we

hear

the

children

you're

like

slaughtering

our

children

it's

a bit

gruesome

isn't

it

the

children

here

is

commonly

understood

and

it

was

referring

to

our

spiritual

followers

you

followed

the

teaching

of

Isabel

you're

one

of

our

spiritual

we

follow

our

teachings

we

follow

these

things

we

become

children

children

of

wrath

there

were

people

who

embraced

our

teachings

rather

than

literally

offspring

that's

what it

was

not

talking

about

our

children

people

who

fell

down

to

her

and

worshipped

her

they

were

our

children

but

just

remember

in

these

verses

I

will

throw

her

into

the

sick

bed

I

will

throw

into

great

tribulation

I

am

who

searches

minds

and I

will

give

to

each

who's

in

control

this

shows

that

Jesus

is

in

control

look at

all the

eyes

I

I

I

I

I

not

I

I

he's

in

control

the

same

Jesus

who

patiently

offers

repentance

also

offers

judgment

for those

who

refuse

to

repent

there's

a

twist

he

offers

repentance

still

if

you

don't

show

repentance

he

will

show

judgment

his

patience

has a

purpose

but

in

our

sin

if

we

didn't

live

in

our

sin

it's

only

in

our

sin

the

darkness

of

sin

is

only

then

we

can

really

understand

what

grace

is

when it

comes

to

repentance

if

we

didn't

live

in

sin

when

we

were

showing