Dear
Christian, ...Sermons by Rev. Ken Behnken on the
Letters from Our Living Lord about Our Faith and Life
Note: For sermonic studies such as these it is helpful to supply all worshipers with the text in the service folder or on an insert for their use during the sermon.
3. DEAR CHRISTIAN, TEST THE SPIRITS. Revelation 2:18-29
To the angel of the church in Thyatira 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 that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have 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 Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets: Only hold on to what you have until I come.
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end I will give authority over the nations, just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Greatest Danger
Christians have faced many dangers down through history. At times persecutions have pressed in against them and have led some to deny Christ, while others are actually strengthened in faith by persecution. More dangerous to the spiritual life is the corrupting influence of living in a society motivated by sensuality and love of money, which leads some to try to walk both sides of the street at the same time. Most dangerous of all is what our Lord warned against when he said, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
False teaching does not threaten the physical lives of Christians, nor attack the outward routine or organization of the Church. It attacks the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as a result threatens the very foundation of their relationship with him. That's why all the letters of Paul and of the other apostles are full of warnings against those who turn from the sound teaching of the Gospel to proclaim human philosophies within the church. And this is why this letter of the Lord to the church at Thyatira was one of sober concern and stern warning. The Christians of Thyatira were actually tolerating a false teacher in their midst.
The Letter Writer
As the Lord addressed himself to the Thyatiran Christians he identified himself with another phrase from the original vision John had seen of the Letter Writer. He called himself "the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze." This is the only place in Revelation where the title "Son of God" is used – but it occurs frequently in John's Gospel and in his Epistles. It establishes immediately who this one is who was writing to them and the importance of his concern. He is the one whose blazing eyes burn into the inmost being, the one who walks through history with a judgment that is ultimately just and immutable – and unavoidable.
Words of Commendation
First Jesus had words of commendation for them – words that any Christians would love to hear from their Lord: "I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first."
As you read Jesus' Letter to the Thyatirans as a "Dear Christian" letter to you personally you see that in this the Christians of Thyatira are models for you. You, too, are to display your ongoing relationship with the Letter Writer in deeds that grow out of faith and love. You are to serve him and to persevere in that happy service. What about it? Do Jesus' words describe your approach to life as one of his disciples? Would he say to you, "You are doing more for me now than when you first gave me your life in faith and love."?
That, unfortunately, may not describe some who become members of a church, who join with some enthusiasm and anticipation of new opportunities to be of service – but sometimes, after a brief time of service, they doze off into just a comfortable church membership, into "sometimes participation" instead of being wide awake to opportunities for service as Christian disciples.
Listen again. As Jesus writes his "Dear Christian" letter to you he surely wants to be able to say to you, "I know your deeds – in your church life and in your daily life. I know you are doing more now than you did when you first became my disciple. I know your love and faith, your service and perseverance."
Jezebel
The Thyatiran Christians, though faithful in service, had a serious problem. "I have this against you," wrote Jesus, "that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she is misleading you into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols." Their situation was weighty with danger for them. They were tolerating the presence of one who was actively teaching and promoting a spiritually destructive philosophy. And the fact that Jesus said that she called herself a prophetess suggests that she had even assumed a position of some prominence in the congregation.
Jesus called her "Jezebel." That, no doubt, was not her name, but it fit what she was doing. Back in Old Testament history, Jezebel was the pagan princess who became King Ahab's queen. As queen, she brought her worship of Baal to Israel and influenced her husband and the people to practice the sexual immoralities that passed for worship of the fertility gods. Her influence was deadly. Of King Ahab we read, "He did more to provoke the Lord to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him."
The "Jezebel" in Thyatira evidently was actively promoting a perversion of the Gospel that combined it with the prevailing Greek thought. The Greeks generally held to a philosophy called dualism. This said the spirit or the spiritual is real and lasting and good, while the material or the physical is a shadow of reality, temporary, and less than good. This view promoted an attitude toward life that said that as long as your spirit is right it doesn't matter what your body does. Apply it to the Christian faith and it suggests that as long as you know Jesus is your Savior it doesn't really matter if you indulge your sinful nature and its passions.
While promoting her false teaching Jezebel actually claimed to be leading people into deeper understanding of the freedom the Gospel of Jesus gives – what she and those influenced by her called "the deep things of God" or "the deep things of the Spirit."
Later in his letter Jesus sarcastically called such views what they really were: "Satan's so-called deep secrets" – showing the true source of such teachings. Jesus warned against their destructive results. "I will cast Jezebel on a bed of suffering," he wrote, "and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely unless they repent of their ways. I will strike her children dead." Think of it. So invasive and so deadly is such perverse teaching as it touches Christian faith and life that it can kill the spiritual life of generations – and bring the Lord's judgment on them.
Antinomianism
As we've seen, this "Dear Christian" letter is not just about ancient times. It speaks to every person and every society a clear warning about a permissive attitude toward immorality. In the life of the church this "Jezebel" attitude came to be called antinomianism – meaning "against law". It's the idea that because we are saved by what Christ has done for us the "laws" of the Bible have no particular claim on us.
That, of course, is true of the Old Testament ceremonial laws regarding sacrifices and dietary restrictions. Their purpose was to point God's people ahead to Christ. Since Jesus Christ has come, fulfilling their purpose, they have nothing to offer us, so Paul taught in his Letter to the Colossians that we Christians are not to be judged regarding such laws and practices.
But God's moral laws, summarized in the Ten Commandments, are another story. As they call on us to love God and love our neighbor – to live lives of honesty and purity and helpfulness – the Commandments continue to hold before us God's clear intentions for us. They will never bring us to salvation, for they continually reveal our fallings and our failings in thought and word as well as deed. But as we respond to God's forgiving love and live in Christ they become instruction in the way we are to live to the glory of our Savior. We are not excused from their principles in our Christian discipleship. Instead, we are motivated to put them into practice.
We surely are to take care that we are not antinomian in our own outlook – and that we do not tolerate the "Jezebel" of antinomian teachings in the church.
Other Jezebels
Another "Jezebel" of false teaching today, another "ism", is what is called syncretism. This word means a bringing together of creeds or beliefs, thinking of them and approving them as if they are all valid and lead to the same God. Those who practice syncretism congratulate themselves for being very tolerant and democratic.
In the aftermath of 9/11, when understanding Islam has become a prominent feature of newspapers and magazines, the need to be tolerant and understanding of all religious faiths has been extended to the point at which it is politically incorrect to suggest that some religious teachings are true and others are not. For example, when Pope John Paul's died, he was lionized by the media because he had reached out to Muslim leaders and prayed with them in a mosque, and had called a Jewish leader his "father and brother". That was considered the politically correct thing to do, instead of his being faithful to the Gospel and urging them to know Jesus Christ as God's Son and Savior. You remember that when Pope Benedict was elected many were concerned that he would be too traditional, too conservative.
Soon after 9/11 a friend of mine, a long-time Lutheran, said to me, "Because the Muslims and the Jews both trace themselves back to Abraham, and we Christians see Abraham as our spiritual father, we all worship the same God, don't we?" I responded, "Does it make a difference whether or not you believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God and that he suffered and died as God's Atoning Sacrifice for your sins and for the sins of the world?" He thought a moment, and he got the point.
Jesus called himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". And we Christians say along with him that we may come to the Father only through him, that there are no other "ways to the Father" – and so we proclaim his Good News to the world, proclaiming that the way to the Father is open to all who will put their faith in Jesus Christ. But because of this exclusive claim of Christ himself, and because of our confession of this truth as Christians, Christianity is increasingly under siege in our society, and we are accused of being intolerant bigots.
The Morning Star
Jesus' letter is to you, dear Christian. He says to you, "To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations, and I will also give him the morning star." To fully appreciate his promise you need to know that as this book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ through John approached its ending, Jesus called himself "the bright Morning Star", so what he is saying to us here in his letter is that he will give you himself – and you will be part of his Kingdom and live and rule with him forever. It's the best gift he could possibly give you.
Isn't that encouragement enough for you faithfully to guard his Truth, eagerly to walk in his Way, and continually to pursue the Life that only he can give – and thus make it you aim to do more and more for your Savior in Christian discipleship?
Remember, you've got mail! Next Sunday I'll open your mail for you again and read and explain another of Jesus' "Dear Christian" letters to you.
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