Now, how many of us in the room,
when we sense that there's something kind of going wrong in our bodies,
well, we just basically kind of ignore it.
We're just kind of like, well, I'll just kind of learn to tolerate that.
I can live with it.
No big deal.
Maybe it will go away.
But let's just say that your beloved spouse starts showing symptoms of serious disease.
Husband, you see your wife recognizing the symptoms, but maybe she's ignoring it.
For you to love your bride.
You speak.
You address these symptoms and perhaps the cause in your bride.
For not to, to ignore it would be unloving.
This morning, the risen, radiant, reigning Jesus, the bridegroom of the church,
deals with a cancer in the church of Thyatira.
Now, if you have not been with us over the last few weeks,
we've been working our way through the book of Revelation,
and now we find ourselves in chapters 2 and 3.
And chapters 2 and 3 are a collection of letters.
Letters, the risen Christ speaks to seven specific churches in what's now modern-day Turkey.
And these seven churches were on a circuitous trade route,
and each letter is given to a church one at a time along this route.
And this morning, we're in Thyatira.
We've looked at Ephesus, what Jesus had to say to Ephesus.
We looked at Smyrna, and last week we looked at Pergamum.
Thank you, Billy.
And this morning, Jesus has a word to speak to the church in Thyatira.
And with all these letters, the intention is for all the other churches to be listening in and learning.
They were all sent at once to these churches.
And so Ephesus would have been hearing with interest what Jesus spoke to Thyatira.
And we're listening with interest 2,000 years later.
Because the same risen, radiant, and reigning Jesus is speaking.
Speaking to us.
All these seven letters have a similar structure,
which I'm just going to walk us through gradually this morning.
And what you're going to see is Jesus addresses a malignant,
metastasized cancer in the church of Thyatira.
It's one of compromise, one of spiritual adultery.
And Jesus calls this church to stop the compromise and stop tolerating the compromise
and to hold fast.
Hold fast.
Because He's the Son of God who sees all
and is making His church holy.
Holding fast is Christ's prescription for holiness.
So would you open up your Bibles if you haven't already?
And let's make our way through this ancient letter with very pronounced application today.
So we're going to start by this church that is a trust, Theatira.
Now unlike Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum,
this church was basically kind of a nobody kind of a church.
It was the smallest and most unknown to historians.
But what we do know is it wasn't a political kind of hot spot
nor an intellectual bastion for the elite.
This was a blue-collar manufacturing town.
They had all sorts of what's called trade guilds.
And what a trade guild was was an interesting mix between a trade union,
a college fraternity, and a religious cult.
So like today, our labor unions, we have carpenter unions, steam fitter unions,
we have plumber unions.
Back in the day, they had similar trade unions as well.
And one scholar, Sir William Ramsey,
describes, lists some of these.
Wool workers, linen workers, these are all first century trade guilds in Theatira.
Wool workers, linen workers, makers of outer garments, dyers.
If you're familiar with Acts 16, Lydia,
who God opens her heart to the gospel in Philippi,
she was a trader in a particular dye from Theatira.
Leather workers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave dealers, bronze smiths.
Theatira was known for the bronze.
And shoemakers.
I mean, these trade guilds were basically gatherings,
unions of workers in a particular craft.
Work together by day, and then party together by night.
It was like a college fraternity.
Now, I know that not all college fraternities are like that.
But these trade guilds, they had these regular feasts and social events
that guild members were expected and required to be at.
And these things got raucous.
They oftentimes culminated in all sorts of sexual immorality going on.
Work together by day, party together by night,
and you throw in a little worship.
These trade guilds had a god of the guild,
a patron deity.
And at these feasts these guilds would throw,
there would be usually some kind of sacrifice made to a god,
and the expectation was,
if you're a loyal guild member,
you're going to partake in eating of that sacrifice.
Another scholar, his name is William Barclay, writes this.
These trade guilds had common meals together.
The meal would begin and end with a cup of wine,
poured out as a libation and an offering to the gods.
It was, in fact, the heathen grace before and after the meal.
Could a Christian join in a ceremony like that?
Still further, such a meal would almost certainly follow a sacrifice.
The token part of an animal would be offered on the altar.
The meat of it would be given to the worshiper
to make a feast for the members of his trade guild.
Could a Christian sit and eat meat which had been offered to idols?
Could he participate in a meal
where the meat had already been offered to Apollo or Artemis
or Thryminus, the local god?
Still further, this trade guild feast
not infrequently degenerated into carousals
where drunkenness and immorality were the order of the day.
Could a Christian participate in a feast
where drunkenness and fornication were the accepted thing?
So here in Thyatira,
the challenge of this church was blending in.
Blending into the life of the trade guilds.
I mean, it's not like today we don't experience that.
I doubt those of you who are working somewhere
are regularly confronted with the need
to eat a piece of meat sacrificed to an idol.
But we haven't changed that much since the first century.
There's still gods of the guilds.
Oftentimes it's money or fame,
and so your business may not be serving Apollo,
but it may probably, likely serving another god.
And the question is,
what are you being tempted to sacrifice on that altar?
Maybe it's your family.
Maybe it is your morality
to compromise in order to blend in.
This church in Thyatira
was regularly facing this external challenge
to compromise by conforming,
by becoming like those around them
who did not know Jesus
and were living like it.
But Jesus has something to say.
We're not to blend in.
We're to stand out.
We're in the world but not of the world.
And now Jesus wants this church
at the beginning of this letter
to see something about Him.
We're still in verse 18,
and we read this.
The words of the Son of God
who has eyes like a flame of fire
and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
We've looked at the church.
Now look at the Christ.
He's the Son of God.
This is the only time in the book of Revelation
that little phrase is used.
The Son of God.
And it's interesting
because Emperor Domitian
would claim that he was the son of Zeus,
Son of God.
This local god,
Therimnus,
also claimed to be the son of Zeus.
What Jesus is saying is,
I am the real Son of God.
And these words
have bearing on your life.
But there's more.
This appeal to this particular title,
Son of God,
it shows up in Psalm 2.
It's what Eric read this morning
to open up our service.
It's this son being talked about
who has been given the nations
as an inheritance.
This is the authority
of the all-reigning king.
And he's going to come back to this
in verses 26 and 27.
Its book ends this letter.
But what you need to see
is what else is said,
Jesus says.
He has eyes like a flame of fire
and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
These point back to the vision
from chapter 1 and verse 14
where Jesus shows himself
to John in his brilliant splendor
and John drops as though dead.
Remember Jesus puts his hand on him
and says,
Fear not.
Well those bronze glowing feet,
well they are the feet
that will trample down
every enemy of the Son of God.
It's just a matter of time.
Bronze was connotated
with weapons of warfare
at this time.
He's a warrior king.
But what captures me
and I'm guessing captures you
is those eyes.
Those eyes of flaming fire.
Those eyes see all things.
And what this represents
is the omniscience of Jesus.
He sees all.
He knows all.
And these eyes
just aren't perceptive.
They are purposed
to purify.
When his eyes fall upon his own,
they're intent
to bring purity
to his own.
Fire purifies.
And so what we see
at the start of this letter
is Jesus wanting this church
to be very aware
that he's the Son of God,
burnished bronze feet,
eyes of fire,
and he's about to speak
into this church.
Because there's something wrong
with this church.
He's going to purify it
in his love for this church.
Now for us,
both individually
and corporately,
we've got to live
in the reality
of what we're reading here.
There is nothing
that we can hide
from our Lord Jesus.
There's nothing
that we can keep
so far away of him
that he does not see.
His purifying sight
is as accurate
in penetrating today
as it was then.
He has purposed
for us as a church
to share in his holiness.
He wants to purify us
out of love for us.
He wants us
to experience
a holy health.
Have you ever thought
about it this way
that God Most High,
he is the Holy One
in all of the universe
and has it ever occurred
to you he is also
the happiest being
in all of the universe?
Holiness isn't a drudgery,
it is joy.
And our God experiences
that all the time
and he wants us
to share
in his holiness.
Have you ever been
to an eye doctor
and you're sitting
in her eye doctor chair
and she takes a light
with that little
refracting lens
and she shoots her light
through that
and it goes
and shines
into the back
in the very back
of your eyeball,
the very back
of your retina.
That light
penetrates
and pierces
for your health.
Those fire eyes,
they're loving eyes.
the fire eyes
of Jesus
penetrate
right now
into the depths
of the deepest
recesses
of your being.
He sees all.
Look at verse 23.
And all the churches
will know
that I am he
who searches
mind and heart.
It's Jeremiah 17,
9 and 10.
It actually starts
as I,
I am.
Ego,
Emi.
It's a claim
to be God.
I search,
I see.
And he knows
something is going
on in this
particular church.
He sees the cancer
and he's going
to purify it.
We've looked
at the church.
We've looked
at the Christ.
Now let's look
at his claim.
We see that
in verse 19.
He says,
I know.
He knows
because of those eyes.
He sees all.
And that phrase,
I know,
shows up
at the beginning
of every one
of these seven letters
to these seven churches.
He knows everything
going on
in every church
including our church.
And notice,
he says,
I know your works.
That would apply
to both
the God-pleasing
good works
they're doing
as well as
the God-grieving
works that they're doing.
And both
are present
in this particular church.
Now for those of us
who hear this
and for those of us
who are seeking
to be obedient
to Jesus
and all that
he's called us to
because of who he is,
this is actually
a comfort to us.
He knows.
But for those of us
in this room
who are walking
in disobedience
and you know it,
these words
should not be a comfort.
These should make you
a little uncomfortable
because he sees everything.
He knows what's going on.
But what I want
to remind you of
is that knowledge
is a loving knowledge.
His penetrating
and purifying gaze
is one of love.
He wants good
for us
and he wants us
to share
in his holiness.
This claim,
I know,
should ring
in your soul.
He sees.
And this knowledge
turns to commendation.
He has something
to commend
of this church
in Theotira.
Those eyes
see the good
in this church.
What's God pleasing
in them?
And we see that
with the words,
I know your works,
your love
and faith
and service
and patient endurance.
Four things.
And you can split it
into two couples.
Love for Jesus,
faith in Jesus
and how they get demonstrated.
Service to others
and the patient endurance
of hardship.
I know,
Jesus says.
I know your love for me.
I know your faith in me.
I know how you're
caring for others.
I know you're
holding up under pressure.
I know it.
I see it.
I commend you for it.
And then he says
in that your latter works
exceed the first.
Do you see that
in verse 19
at the end?
Do you know what
Jesus is saying?
Hey,
I'm seeing your growth.
You're further down the line
than when you started.
We don't know how
this church was planted.
Maybe it was Lydia
who came back from Philippi,
shared the gospel.
Or maybe it was Paul
when he was in Ephesus
in the mid-60s.
He was there for two years.
Maybe he made the trip
to Theatira
and preached Christ then.
We don't know.
But what we do know
is that they've made progress.
This church is growing.
There's a degree of health
in this church.
Now contrast that
with Ephesus in 2.4.
But I have this against you
that you've abandoned
the love you had at first.
Ephesus regressed
in their love for Jesus.
Theatira was progressing
in their love for Jesus.
Isn't it good to know
that this penetrating
and purifying gaze of Jesus,
he sees the progress
in his people.
And may we be like that.
May we be a people
who are growing
in our love for Jesus.
May we be a people
growing our faith in him.
And this works out
in our serving of others,
in our enduring of hardship.
May that be true.
That's the commendation.
And now the criticism.
Jesus critiques this church.
It's in verses 20-23.
And it's the hot spot
of this letter.
He says something
really strong to them.
He addresses the cancer in them.
He calls them
to address it themselves.
In verses,
verse 20 he says,
but I have this against you.
Could you just imagine
being in the church
and receiving this letter
from him?
You guys are doing great
in these areas,
but I've got this against you.
And what is it?
That you tolerate
the woman Jezebel.
That you tolerate
that woman Jezebel
who calls herself
a prophetess.
Self-appointed prophetess.
It's not that she was a woman.
It's that she was self-appointed.
And you tolerate this woman
who's a self-appointed prophetess
and is teaching.
Doctrine.
What Jesus later says,
it's the deep things of Satan
at the end of verse 24.
And not only is she teaching
this doctrine,
and seducing my servants.
It's misleading.
And not just any kind of misleading.
It's a seductive misleading.
And in that,
you've got to hear this.
This woman
was leading
the servants of Jesus
away from loving Jesus
exclusively
with an all-encompassing devotion
and leading them away
to worshiping other things.
The Bible calls that
spiritual adultery.
That's the seductive language.
She's leading them away.
Now,
you see the internal problem
going on.
Now,
you put that in the context
of the external problem,
these trade guilds,
and now you have a woman
in the church
who is actually permitting
Christians
to compromise
within the trade guilds.
That's the problem.
She said,
it's okay.
Okay.
It was some kind of distortion
of God's grace.
It was something
in which she was saying,
you know what?
In order for you
to really experience
all that God would have for you,
you need to participate
in the guilds.
It's okay.
When Jesus calls us
to follow Him,
He says in Matthew 16,
if anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself,
take up his cross,
and follow me.
It's either or.
It's either live for Him
or live for everything else.
And what this Jezebel
was teaching
is that you can have it both.
Not either or,
both and.
You can blend in.
He'll be okay.
It was cancer to this church.
And Jesus calls this woman
Jezebel for a reason.
It probably wasn't
her first name, really,
but this was a real woman
in this church.
Jezebel refers to
a woman back
in 1 Kings 16
who married King Ahab
who was a major loser king
to the nation of Israel.
And she caused Israel
to follow after
Baal and Asherah,
foreign gods of the time
who were not
the true God.
This Jezebel
in 1 Kings
seduced God's people
away from their devotion
to Yahweh
into spiritual adultery
with Baal and Asherah.
And so what Jesus
is saying,
this Jezebel
in Theatira
is doing
pretty much
the same thing.
She's seducing
my people
away from me.
Jesus is jealous
for our hearts.
He's to be our first love.
First place.
God's designed us,
our hearts uniquely.
Each of our hearts
has the capacity
to live for one thing
in an all-encompassing way.
One thing.
And Jesus says,
that's to be me.
We see the seriousness
with which
our risen Christ
deals with this Jezebel
in verse 21.
I gave her time
to repent,
but she refuses
to repent
of her sexual immorality.
It's like
he's called her
to repent.
We're not told how,
but he does.
And what's striking is
she refuses it.
She won't change.
She won't turn around,
change course.
She's going to persist
in what she's doing.
And so in verse 22,
he says,
behold.
Look what I'm going to do.
Mark this, church.
I am going to throw her
on a sick bed.
That's consequential language.
It's punishment
for what she's doing
in her lack,
her unwilling to repent.
You mark it
because when it happens,
you'll know what's happening.
It's me doing that.
And then he says
of her lovers,
those who commit adultery
with her,
those who are propagating
whatever trash
that she's teaching,
and those who commit
adultery with her,
I will throw
into great tribulation.
I will throw.
It will make you think
of when Jesus throws death
and the devil
into the lake of fire,
judgment.
And I will strike
her children dead
unless they repent
of her works.
I mean,
these children
were those
who held onto
this teaching,
who bought in.
Now this isn't
a picture of the Jesus
who is carrying
a little lamb around
on his shoulders,
is it?
Why is Jesus
being so hard?
Jesus,
what are you doing?
Why are you
punishing this Jezebel?
Why are you going to
cause suffering
to her lovers?
Why are you going to
strike dead
those who have
embraced this
and don't repent?
That seems really strong.
Here's why.
He loves his church.
He loves his church
and insists on
her exclusive
devotion to him.
He loves his church
so much
that he wants her
to share
in his holiness
and so he's
addressing
a metastasized
cancer
in this church.
If Pergamum
had a little
tumor spot,
Theatira
has a spreading
cancer.
And what Jesus
is doing here
is putting to a
stop on its spread
and then cutting it out
because he loves
this church.
And you know what's
probably almost
for me just
completely striking
is that
all those
who are trying
to seduce
his own,
he's giving them
opportunity to repent.
How's that for mercy?
Now let me bring this
back to verse 20.
Jesus says to this church,
but I have this
against you
that you tolerate
that woman Jezebel.
That's the criticism.
This church
was just
standing by
indifferent
to what this
woman is doing.
They are
permitting
this self-appointed
prophetess
to seduce
Christ's bride
away from him
and he holds
the entire church
responsible for it.
So here we have
a church
seeing growth
in one hand
but having a major
blind spot
in another.
And Jesus
addresses it.
Now,
excuse the
mixed metaphor
but
this entire
church
he holds
responsible for
ignoring
the cancer
of spiritual
adultery.
You all
tolerate
this Jezebel.
now what
should they
have done?
What would
have been
the thing
for this
church to do
instead of
tolerating it?
What should
they have
do?
Well,
Jesus has
words in
another part
of the Bible
in Matthew
18
where Jesus
explains the
process
of how to
go about
loving someone
and confronting
them when
they sin
against you.
And this
false teaching
is sin
against them.
She is
trying to
seduce them
away from
Jesus.
And so
if we were
in the
attire of
the time
you heard
this lady
kind of
espousing
compromise
you go up
to her
and you say
privately
you know
what I
don't think
that what
you're saying
is right.
It doesn't
sound right.
It's not
the right
response
to who
Jesus is.
And she's
like yes
so what
I'm going
to keep
on doing
it.
So then
you come
back with
somebody else
and the
two of
you maybe
three say
you know
what what
you're doing
is not
right.
This is
hurting the
church
not helping
the church
and she
says well
I don't
care
I'm going
to keep
on preaching
and then
you go
and bring
in the
church
bring in
the elders
and at
that point
if she's
unwilling to
repent
you kick
her out
for the
health
of the
church
for the
good of
the church.
we are
seeking to
safeguard
and encourage
an exclusive
devotion to
Jesus
at this
church
and we
can't tolerate
things that
are drawing
our focus
off him
not in
anger
in love
now this
raises another
kind of a
question
what are
the contemporary
cancers of
false teaching
today that
may have
infiltrated
the church
I like to
call them
false gospels
false good
news
and let me
just point to
two one
briefly
another a
little bit
more
there's the
false gospel
of the
prosperity
gospel
it's the
belief that
God's will
is for
everybody to
be experiencing
growing measures
of health
and wealth
it's not
true
and it's
cancerous
it doesn't
call us
to a
sacrificial
living for
Jesus
but the
one I want
to encourage
you to
think about
is probably
a little bit
more delicate
it's the
false gospel
of the
therapeutic
gospel
the
therapeutic
good news
and it's
this gospel
that is
propagated
in a lot
of therapist
offices
and pulpits
throughout our
country
here's what
this gospel
does
it seeks
to comfort
and help
people
by cutting
out
words
and concepts
like sin
and disobedience
and wrongdoing
and the need
to repent
you can smell
it first
and what it
ends up
training people
in
is
self
esteem
more than
self
denial
now I'll be
the first to
admit there's a
place for
counseling
a very helpful
place for it
in so far
as that
counseling
is calling
you to follow
Jesus
identifying
sin
as sin
calling you
to repent
where you need
to repent
helping you
live in the
good of the
gospel
this
therapeutic
gospel
is very
dangerous
if it goes
on unidentified
it actually
trains people
in
insisting
in
their own
way
the question
you need
to ask
is this
what does
Jesus
think about
that kind
of stuff
what does
he think
about
this
therapeutic
gospel
I know
it's not
necessarily
easy to
talk about
but you
must be
aware of
it
because
it's
seductive
it can
tickle
your ears
and lead
you away
so we
must be
vigilant
about
these
things
now
we can't
be a church
who ignores
this kind
of stuff
or is
permissive
of these
things
thinking
that they're
not a
big deal
when Jesus
sees them
as big
deals
as
seductions
away from
him
we must
be
vigilant
now this
is quite a
criticism of
this church
that
they
tolerate
this woman
Jezebel
and probably
some of the
most
impressive
words in
it
are these
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
you can't
take
Jesus
lightly
our
God is a
consuming
fire
it's a
terrible
thing to
fall in
the hands
of the
living
God
you
must
take
to heart
what is
being said
here
he sees
into
your
depths
and he
is
intent
on
purifying
you
and
purifying
his
church
we
move
from
this
word
of
criticism
to
now
a
word
of
correction
in
verses
24
and
25
he
says
but
to
the
rest
of
you
in
the
teaching
as
these
others
hold
tell
to
the
teaching
of
this
Jezebel
who
have
not
learned
what
some
call
the
deep
things
of
Satan
they
haven't
bought
in
to
you
I
say
I
do
not
lay
on
any
other
burden
you
don't
need
to
know
anything
else
but
this
verse
25
only
hold
fast
hold
fast
hold
fast
what
you
have
until
I
come
and
we
have
to
ask
hold
fast
to
what
contextually
we've
been
talking
about
holding
to
false
doctrine
Jesus
is
saying
no
I
want
you
to
hold
fast
to
true
healthy
doctrine
the
teaching
that was
handed down
from the
apostles
and there's
no greater
summary of
that
than in
1st
Corinthians
15
verses
3 and
4
Paul
speaking to
the
Corinthian
church
summarizes
that
which is
of first
importance
I
delivered to
you as
of first
importance
what I
also
received
that
Christ
died
for
our
sins
in
accordance
with
the
scriptures
that
he
was
buried
that
he
was
raised
on
the
third
day
in
accordance
with
the
scriptures
that
is
what
we
as a
church
must
be
holding
on
to
this
is
the
good
news
of
Jesus
Christ
revealed
in
the
scriptures
and
the
response
is
uncompromised
devotion
to
Christ
not
compromise
of
Christ
this
gospel
this
true
gospel
is
what
we
must
hold
fast
to
and
the
more
familiar
you are
with
this
true
gospel
the
more
likely
we
will
be
able
to
sniff
out
false
gospels
do you
know
there's a
division
of the
secret
service
that is
devoted
to
detecting
and
exposing
counterfeit
currency
and do
you know
how
they train
agents
to
recognize
counterfeit
currency
they train
them on
the real
stuff
and so
if you
are a
agent
in this
division
and you
are responsible
for identifying
fake
$100 bills
you know
what this is
going to
mean
it's
going to
mean
this
you're
going to
know
what
a
$100
bill
a real
one
tastes
like
you're
going to
know
what a
real
$100
bill
it sounds
like
when you
crumple
you know
what it
smells
like
when it's
wet
and when
it's
dry
and when
it's
burning
you're
going to
know
its texture
its
feel
all throughout
that bill
and you're
going to
see
and memorize
the details
the color
the proportion
the location
of special
features
you will
be so
aware
of the
real
stuff
that you're
able to
spot the
fake stuff
a mile
away
the
primary
way
we're
going to
safeguard
Christ
the
King
Church
from
Jezebel
teaching
is by
being
intimately
acquainted
with
Jesus
teaching
the real
stuff
the true
gospel
that's
how we
are going
to
combat
this
cancer
that is
around
us
in our
culture
today
this
corrective
to hold
fast
to the
true
gospel
we hold
fast
until
he
comes
did
you
see
that
we
patiently
endure
looking
towards
his
promised
coming
and
it's
speaking
of
promise
that we
move
from
this
corrective
to
hold
fast
to
now
the
closing
call
we
see
that
in
verses
26
and
29
we
read
this
the
one
who
conquers
or
the
one
who
overcomes
and
who
keeps
my
works
until
the
end
to
him
I
will
give
authority
over
the
nations
and
he
will
rule
them
with
a
rod
of
iron
as
when
earthen
pots
are
broken
in
pieces
even
as
I
myself
have
received
authority
from
my
father
and
I
will
give
him
the
morning
star
to
the
one
who
overcomes
to
the
one
who
is
growing
in
love
who
is
growing
in
faith
who
is
growing
in
service
who
is
growing
in
the
ability
to
endure
hardship
who
is
holding
fast
to
the
true
gospel
until
the
end
to
that
person
Jesus
makes
two
promises
to
him
I
will
give
authority
over
the
nations
and
he
will
rule
them
with
a
rod
of
iron
it's
back
to
Psalm
2
it's
back
to
Psalm
2
where
Jesus
is
saying
I
am
that
son
of
God
who
has
been
given
authority
over
all
the
nations
by
my
father
and
what
he's
saying
here
is
that
those
who
overcome
who
conquer
we
will
reign
with
him
we
will
be
a part
of
his
future
reign
when
he
comes
and
when
he
conquers
we
are
to
overcome
now
and
then
we
will
reign
with
him
then
that's
a
promise
for
us
to
bank
on
second
promise
is
in
verse
28
and
I
will
give
him
the
morning
star
the
morning
star
is
that
last
and
brightest
star
to
come
out
at
night
just
before
the
dawn
when
things
are
darkest
and
in
Revelation
22
16
Jesus
himself
calls
himself
the
bright
morning
star
and
so
what
Jesus
is
actually
promising
here
is
himself
to
us
you
stay
true
to
me
now
you
don't
be
seduced
you
don't
compromise
or
tolerate
compromise
and
I
promise
myself
to
you
I
promise
my
presence
you
will
see
me
face
to
face
I
will
wipe
away
every
tear
from
your
eye
it's
a picture
of
hope
our
bright
morning
star
to
which
we
look
forward
to
in
this
present
darkness
night
we
set
our
hearts
on
him
the
one
who
gave
himself
for
us
this
morning
we've
been
soberly
reminded
of
the
seduction
and
the
compromise
that
is
out
there
we're
living
in
modern
day
trade
guilds
and
what
we've
been
called
to
is
to
hold
fast
to
the
true
gospel
and
to
overcome
until
the
end
which
you
need
to
think
about
this
particular
letter
and
all
these
seven
letters
they're
love
letters
Jesus
is
loving
us
through
this
he
wants
us
to
share
in
his
holiness
and
he
and
he
is
purposed
to
do
that
by way
of
closing
I
just
want
to
close
with
a
word
of
comfort
and
some
direction
I've
been
praying
all
week
that
the
Holy
Spirit
will
be
doing
a
work
in
us
during
the
preaching
of
his
word
that
he
would
be
convicting
us
of
areas
of
compromise
in
our
life
of
blending
in
with
the
trade
guilds
if
you
have
been
convicted
by
the
Holy
Spirit
if
something
very
specific
and
concrete
has been
brought
to
your
mind
as
compromise
to
Christ
be
encouraged
by
that
that's
his
kindness
to
you
he's
wanting
to
help
you
share
in
his
holiness
and
he is
giving
you
now
time
to
repent
and
so
the
call
is
to
confess
to
repent
to
confess
your
compromise
with
specificity
and
concreteness
to
the
risen
Christ
and
he
promises
to
forgive
you
if
we
confess
our
sins
he's
faithful
and
just
to
forgive
us
our
sins
and
to
cleanse
us
from
all
unrighteousness
it's
1st
John
1
9
so
we're
going to
take a
couple
minutes
right
now
and
we're
going to
take a
couple
minutes
to
confess
our
sin
to
go
before
the
risen
Christ
and
say
God
bring
to
the
fore
whatever
compromises
in my
heart
and
then
confess
it
to
him
and
then
we'll
close
the
service
let's
do
that
now
Let
menos
t
bow
and
make
all
down
ways
to
come
to
die
not
Thank you.