October 21, 2001

Revelation 2:18-29

A Church with a Split Personality

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – Kevin Stump, in The Plain Truth magazine, writes about a classic "Twilight Zone" episode where an American on a walking trip through central Europe gets caught in a raging storm. Staggering through the blinding rain, he chances upon an imposing medieval castle. It is a hermitage for a brotherhood of monks. The reclusive monks reluctantly take him in. Later that night, the American discovers a cell with a man locked inside. An ancient wooden staff bolts the door. The prisoner claims he’s being held captive by the "insane" head monk, Brother Jerome. He pleads for the American to release him. The prisoner’s kindly face and gentle voice win him over. The American confronts Brother Jerome, who declares that the prisoner is actually none other than Satan, "the father of lies," held captive by the Staff of Truth, the one barrier he cannot pass. The incredible claim convinces the American that Jerome is indeed mad. As soon as he gets the chance, he releases the prisoner, who immediately transforms into a hideous, horned demon and vanishes in a puff of smoke. The stunned American is horrified at the realization of what he has done. Jerome responds sympathetically. "I’m sorry for you, my son. All your life you will remember this night and whom you have turned loose upon the world." "I didn’t believe you," the American replies. "I saw him and didn’t recognize him." Jerome solemnly observes, "That is man’s weakness…and Satan’s strength."
2. Context – Our failure to recognize when Satan is working among us in both our daily lives and in the life of our church brings us a lot of grief, doesn’t it? The church at Thyatira had the same problem, and Jesus addresses that problem in this passage.

1. Scripture Passage

1. 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. ¹⁹ I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² 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. ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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 (I will not impose any other burden on you): ²⁵ Only hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—²⁷ ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. ²⁸ I will also give him the morning star. ²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
2. Let’s spend a few minutes looking into this passage and how it can apply to our lives.

1. A Conflict of Character

1. Jesus begins by identifying Himself as a Being of fire. He says that His eyes are like blazing fire – they burn through anything that gets in their way until the truth is revealed. His feet are like burnished bronze, metal that has gone through the fires of testing and refining and has formed a strong foundation. Jesus is telling the church in Thyatira, "Hey, I’ve been through the fires of testing. And I know the truth when I see it. So you’d better listen to what I’m about to say." He’s saying the same thing to us. He knows the truth about us when He sees it. So we’d better listen to Him.
2. Jesus then issues a strong commendation to the church in Thyatira. He knows their deeds that are a reflection of their strong love and faith. He knows their ministry and their perseverance in the midst of trials. He knows that they have come a long way in their relationship with Him, and that they continue to make progress as evidenced by what they do. You know, that’s a pretty strong commendation. Suppose a friend came up to you and said, "I have a friend who does what is right, who is full of love and faith, who serves the Lord and perseveres when things get tough, and who keeps growing closer to Christ, and his whole life reflects it. Can he help serve with you here in Sodaville?" What are you going to say? Are you going to say, "No thanks, we’ve got so many people like that we don’t know what to do?" Are you going to say, "No thanks, we’re overwhelmed with volunteers for everything we do?" Of course not! If you’re helping lead a ministry here, you’re going to start drooling and say, "How soon can we sign him up? When can he start?" Jesus wants to sign them up for a closer walk with Him, too, but there’s a problem, a serious one.
3. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. Do you remember the name of the prophet Elijah’s worst enemy? That’s right, it was Jezebel. Jesus is equating this woman in the church in Thyatira with one who’d been dead several hundred years. Why? Because the spirit behind the actions was the same. Jezebel was a priestess of Baal, the one who was worshiped through animal sacrifices and mass orgies. Baal was the one whose priests and priestesses would often dance in demonic frenzy and cut themselves in an attempt to take themselves to higher spiritual levels. Jezebel is the spirit that says, "If it feels good, do it." Francis Frangipane identifies this Jezebel spirit as the one who in many respects has taken charge of our country. It’s a demon of sensuality. No doubt the church in Thyatira tolerated this manifestation of evil because they loved this woman and were probably trying to win her back. Maybe it was through this love that Jesus tried to win her back. But in verse 21 He says, but she was unwilling. She liked the power she had to influence others. She liked the sensuality. She liked the freedom much more than she liked Christ. Our country has the same problem. There are people in our church who have the same problem. They love doing what feels good more than they love Jesus. I wouldn’t say that our church as a whole has this problem, but there are people in this church who do.
4. There are many people who identify themselves as Christians but who have not made the choice to give up their unholy alliance with the devil and follow Christ wholeheartedly. Maybe they started out on the right track, with a heart filled with love for Jesus. But then when the time came when He told them give up a sinful habit, they said no. So when a person under demonic influence came along and suggested a new freedom in Christ, or a new way of living, neither one of which fit with what the Bible teaches, these people said yes and left their most precious treasure behind – their Savior Jesus Christ. And before they knew it, they were following a form of Christianity that had nothing to do with Christ. Maybe that person who has been following Jezebel is you. Maybe today Jesus is giving you the opportunity to repent, to change your thinking, to follow Him, to leave this Jezebel demon behind.
5. There is a serious problem with following this demon – it’s called consequences. Jesus says that He is going to make this demon and her host suffer, to throw this woman on a bed of suffering. Those who follow her will suffer intensely, as the NIV puts it. This demon’s spiritual children, those who follow her false teachings, will be struck dead. Whether or not Jesus meant physical suffering and punishment, He certainly meant spiritual suffering at the last Judgment. And He clearly intended to remove her influence from the church in Thyatira. He adds, 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 teachings and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets… He’s saying that Christianity is not to be a system of secret knowledge, so that if you learn just the right secret you will be victorious and go to heaven. That’s what many so-called Christian leaders teach. Red flags should go up if anybody ever tells you that you could be on their level if only you knew what they know. That’s a lie of the devil. That’s listening to the Jezebel demon. Christianity, at its core, is all about being in close relationship with Jesus Christ – nothing more, nothing less. We do things that help us in that relationship, but there are no secrets to be learned.
6. Many of the people in the church in Thyatira knew this. They are the ones who Jesus was speaking to in verse 19. He knew their love and faith as reflected in their deeds. He knew their ministry and patient endurance in the midst of trials. He knew that they were growing closer and closer to Him. So He says this – only hold on to what you have until I come. "Keep doing what you’re doing! Keep loving me and having faith in me and letting that show in all you do!" "Keep on with the ministry and keep persisting when the going is tough!" "Keep growing closer to me!" He’s talking to the faithful ones, not the Jezebel followers. As a church, I believe we are striving to be faithful. But there are Jezebel followers among us. I’m not pointing fingers, and I’m not looking down on you. My heart breaks with sorrow because I know what you’ll be facing if you don’t repent! As Eugene Peterson words verse 20, But why do you let that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet mislead you into Cross-denying, self-indulging religion? The real God is so much better than any false god is! Following Christ, even though it doesn’t always feel good, is so much better than following a demon! What are you going to do? If you’ve been following the false gods of self-indulgence and self-fulfillment, what are you going to do?
7. Illustration – Gary Kinnaman, in Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe, wrote, What people do to themselves and to the ones they love boggles my mind. A friend from Australia told me his family's sad story. His brother, a Christian man, ended his marriage and, simultaneously, his relationship with his children - all for the wild love of another woman. Years later, when his brother confessed inconsolable remorse for what he had done, my friend Ray asked him, "Didn't you count the cost?" "Ray," his brother replied, "I counted the cost, but I greatly underestimated the consequences." The exact same thing happens when we choose self-indulgence over Christ. That’s why the Bible calls it spiritual adultery. We count the cost, but we underestimate the consequences. As Snoop Doggy Dogg said in a 1999 interview, When you're in the game of wrong, wrong comes back to you.

IV. Rewards

1. Just as there are negative consequences to following the Jezebel demon, there are great rewards for following Christ. Listen to Peterson’s translation beginning in verse 26 – Here’s the reward I have for every conqueror, everyone who keeps at it, refusing to give up: You’ll rule the nations, your Shepherd-King rule as firm as an iron staff, their resistance fragile as clay pots. This was the gift my Father gave me; I pass it along to you – and with it, the Morning Star! Who is the Morning Star? Jesus Christ Himself! To every conqueror, Jesus gives Himself. To every conqueror, Jesus gives the right to be a shepherd with Him. Sounds good to me! Sounds a whole lot better than suffering for all eternity! Which will you choose? Demon worship and eternal suffering, or true Christ worship and eternal reward. Which will you choose?
2. You know, Jesus isn’t trying to lay a guilt trip on us or to breathe fire and brimstone down our necks, although He would be within His rights. Jesus doesn’t deal in guilt trips – He convicts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He doesn’t breathe the fire and brimstone, because the time of judgment is not at hand. Speaking of the day Jesus returns to judge the earth, 2 Peter 3:9 says, The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. Or, as Peterson puts it, God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change. Peterson goes on, But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment. Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day – but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness. We tend to act like Jesus is keeping us from having fun when in reality all He wants is what He knows is best for us – living in such a way as to see our eternal reward.
3. Aaron Baker writes, When I was growing up, whenever we went out to dinner as a family, and the possibility of ordering dessert came up, my father would say to me, "Don’t order the apple pie." Now, my father was not a cruel man; he was not trying to keep me from ordering dessert. He wanted to protect me from disappointment. You see, my mother makes the best apple pie in the whole world, and my father had learned from experience that no apple pie could ever compare to Mom’s apple pie. In the same way, we do ourselves a disservice by substituting anything for Christ himself. Don’t be like some in the church in Thyatira and settle for Jezebel’s lies. Be like the others who held on to the Truth, Jesus Christ Himself. Again, who will you choose to follow?

V. Conclusion

1. Have you been caught in a sinful habit that you have refused in the past to give up? Or have you been buying into the teachings of some of the false teachers and prophets of our time who say there is a secret that you need to know in order to serve God and get on a higher spiritual level? Or have you simply been following the spirit of this country that says, "If it feels good, do it" or "I deserve the best"? It all amounts to the same thing. Worshiping someone or something other than God. If this has been you, guess what? You don’t have to live that way any longer. There is freedom from the power of sin and death. It is found in Jesus Christ and the forgiving and cleansing power of His blood. You can have hope. All you have to do is ask Jesus to forgive you and cleanse your heart, surrender your right to continue in this sin, pray the blood of Jesus to cover you and protect you from this evil spirit, and then follow Him.
2. If you want to take that step into the freedom that Christ is offering today, please take a bold step of faith right now. Come forward, kneel in front of the platform, and I’ll ask some folks who love you to come up and pray with you. If you want to be free from the lies of this Jezebel spirit by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, come forward now.
3. Let’s pray.