Doctrinal Tolerance

Scripture Reading

Revelation 2:8–29 (CSB)

THE LETTER TO SMYRNA

8 “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

11 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

THE LETTER TO PERGAMUM

12 “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword: 13 I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me,, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna., I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

THE LETTER TO THYATIRA

18 “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: 19 I know your works—your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her works, 23 I will strike her children dead., Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets, of Satan”—as they say—I am not putting any other burden on you. 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations—

27 and he will rule, them with an iron scepter;

he will shatter them like pottery,—

28 just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

29 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Intro

PRO TIP: Look for repetition and ask a) what these repetitive themes meant in the Old Testament, b) what they meant to John as he heard the words in the vision, and c) how they tie together the passages in the Revelation.

Today we’re going to see the theme of Satan show up as a motif for the presence of evil, among these churches. That should cause us to pause and ask questions about how Satan might be trying to influence our church and other churches in our community.

FORSHADDOW:

Look at the doctrines or teaching in the text

Then look at how we should think about and prioritize doctrines—we know we are all growing in understanding and are incapable of believing everything perfectly all the time

How we are called to live out the doctrinal issues of the Revelation in our day—practical theology (the practice of living the ideas in the Bible)

The Text

What does the text say?

In each of these cities there are some doctrinal (teaching, what we believe) situations that arise.

Each situation is specifically referred to as being satanic (or evil) in some way.

Smyrna—Doctrine of Christ

Revelation 2:9 (CSB)

I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

Pergamum—Doctrine of the Supremacy of Christ (Nicolaitans)

Revelation 2:13-15 (CSB)

I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me…But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Thyatira—The Moral Doctrines

Revelation 2:20, 24 (CSB)

vDoctrinal Hierarchy

In a world where so many people—even in the same church—believe so many different nuances of truth, what is it that we need to believe?

Primary Doctrines

Doctrine of Christ

Doctrine of the Supremacy of Christ (close to the Lordship of Christ)

Moral doctrines WHEN they are clear in scripture and other churches are compromising them in order to save face with the culture.

Secondary Doctrines—practice based (i.e. practical)

Baptism (Mode, purpose, practice)

Lord’s Supper (What you should call it, how it’s practices, what it does/means)

All other moral doctrines.

Tertiary Doctrines—preference based

Practices: Our church doesn’t think it’s wrong for others, but we don’t practice…

Disputable Doctrines and nuances (ex. efficacy and extent of Christ’s atonement)

How you do evangelism (we shy away from invasive forms of evangelism like street preaching and door-to-door, focussing on relational/conversational evangelism, public presence, and online presence)

Living the Text

What doctrines do we need to be careful to live?

The Doctrine of Christ (cf. The synagogue of Satan)

The Doctrine of the Supremacy of Christ (Nicolaitans et. all were Jesus+ cults)

Our idols

Time

Wealth

Thought life (When I was talking to Jami, she found this to be a bigger problem.)

The Moral Doctrines (Nicolaitans and Jezebel cults)

We show our God-given holiness when we stand against the immorality of the world.

ex.

We don’t participate in sexual immorality

We don’t participate in carousing or drunkenness

We don’t participate in Gossip, Slander, or outbursts of anger

NOTE: Hypocrisy—None of this helps if we stand for biblical morality but we don’t allow truth to influence every area of life.