The Sin of Toleration | Revelation 2:18-29

Scripture

• Revelation 2:18–29

About this sermon

Introduction: The church faces trouble wherever it exists. The city of Thyatira was not a leading city. It was not politically influential in the way Ephesus or Pergamum was. It was not a city with a great reputation for religious influence either in the way that these other cities were. Its influence would have been found in its trade guilds, and its natural resources that allowed it to be profitable even if not highly influential. One of the people evangelized by Paul who came from Thyatira was Lydia (Acts 16:14). ESV Acts 16:14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, 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. The purple dye that she sold would have represented one of the industries and one of the trade guilds belonging to the city. But even in this city not known for its political or religious influence, about 40 miles to the east of Pergamum, the church was facing powerful cultural challenges. And once again, despite the good things that our Lord commends them for, there is something intolerable that has invaded the church. OUR LORD WILL NOT TOLERATE SOMETHING THEY ARE TOLERATING. This is a great test for the church of our time as well. Will we tolerate what the Lord of the church finds intolerable? Will we distance ourselves from what our Lord would have us confront? Will we ignore what He refuses to ignore? And do we recognize what is at stake in the matter of sinful toleration? NOTE: There is a difference between gracious love, humble patience, and sinful toleration. Even as our Lord confronts the sins existing in His churches, we are witnessing graciousness and patience. NOTE: If what you call holiness doesn’t embody that same graciousness and patience, we know with absolute certainty that it is not because your holiness has exceeded the holiness of the Lord of the church. On the other hand, if what we call graciousness and patience doesn’t embody that same jealousy for the holiness of God and for the spiritual health of God’s people, we know with absolute certainty it isn’t because your love exceeds the Lord’s love. This church was TOLERATING something intolerable, and Jesus confronts their sinful refusal to confront it. I. THE HOLINESS OF OUR GREAT SHEPHERD (vs.18) We talked about how the comfort of the church is our Savior. It is Christ Himself who is our confidence and our courage for the trials the church faces. When comforting His church, Christ begins with our knowledge of Him. But the same is true for the safety of the church. The greatest force for the holiness of the church is the knowledge of Christ Himself. His self-description demonstrates that. A. THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST One of the ways that you know you are not seeing Christ clearly is when you feel confident to do questionable things. ESV Romans 14:23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. What does that mean? It means if you can go forward in matters that you are not certain represent faithfulness to God, you are sinning. Your flippancy, your unholy boldness, represents a very inaccurate view of the authority and holiness of God. Illustration: If you were working for someone that had the authority to fire you, and if you knew that their standards were VERY high, and you had a choice of doing something that they might find unacceptable, would you just go do it? Only if you don’t care about that job. Well, if you care about pleasing Christ, you care about carefulness. And you don’t just care about it for yourself. You care about it for others, which is precisely why love doesn’t trample on the consciences of others. The point that our Lord begins with is that the very one speaking to them is THE SON OF GOD. What he says is ACCURATE. What he says is AUTHORITATIVE. It must be heard. It must be heeded. It must be cared about.

Topics

• Repentance
• Bible Study
• Prophecy & End Times