To
Judge Ourselves
Part
14 – Jezebel
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org
| www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
We
spent the last year looking at what the Book of Acts had to say about the
founding, operation and behavior that the Lord expects from us as individuals,
and as a church, or congregation of believers.
We
then spent a few weeks looking at the letters that Jesus sent to the seven
churches in Revelation, telling them where they were going right, and wrong, as
well as what the punishments and rewards would be.
A
few weeks ago, I took all of those letters, and compiled them into one letter
from the Lord, to us.
Our
new series will take a look at each of the points Jesus made in that letter,
and we will not only examine our church as a whole, but ourselves as
individuals.
2 Corinthians 13:5
"Examine yourselves, to see whether you are
in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness."
2 Peter 2:4-10 "For if God did
not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell[a] and committed them to
chains of
gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if
he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a
herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the
world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an
example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;[c] 7 and if he rescued
righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for
as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his
righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to
rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of
judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge[e] in the lust of
defiling passion and despise authority."
We
have already looked at Jesus speaking to us about hard work, not tolerating
wicked people in the church, and
testing those who claim to be apostles,
but are nothing more than false prophets, and last week we spoke on perseverance, and enduring hardships for His name, Spiritually Rich during times of affliction and poverty, Slander, Not Being
Afraid, Where Satan Rules, Faithfulness, Deeds, The Open Door, First Love,
Repentance and Salvation.
Last
week we looked at False Doctrine.
This
week we will look at the warning of Jezebel.
SCRIPTURE
REFERENCE
Revelation 2:19-21 (Salvation by Works)
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 prophet. 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.
I.
MUCH ADIEU ABOUT
JEZEBEL
a.
v19 reveals that,
Jesus knew who was still obedient
i.
Some in the church, as in most who are in disobedience
to true doctrine of Christ, continued to love the Lord.
ii.
The Lord knew which ones.
b.
We see
"works" mentioned twice in the scripture here.
i.
The first, the Lord mentions with love, and faith,
service and perseverance.
ii.
It is in the positive sense of the word.
iii.
They were making their faith alive with deeds worthy of
repentance.
c.
However, Jesus then
mentions that they are, "doing more than at first."
i.
What they did at first was positive.
ii.
Our faith should cause good works, deeds from the fruit
of our spirit.
iii.
But they were now doing "more" than that.
iv.
This negative sense of the word Jesus uses, tells us
that the church was now relying on "works", or deeds for salvation,
which is incorrect.
d.
This is the
teaching of Jezebel
i.
To follow doctrines which lead to damnation
ii.
This false doctrine is Spiritual fornication and
adultery. Forsaking Christ and true doctrine, for other things.
iii.
This false doctrine of "working" your way
into heaven will cause many to think they can earn salvation, if they work hard
enough, they can obtain it.
iv.
Ephesians 2:8-10
"8 For it
is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s
handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do."
1.
True Doctrine of Christ teaches that Salvation is a
gift that no man can earn, therefore no man can boast or brag about his
salvation.
2.
We receive Salvation in Christ, so that we MAY DO good
works, through HIM...not of ourselves.
3.
What are the good works for? God PREPARED in advance,
thing we were to do for God, in the power of Christ.
e.
GOOD WORKS are not
OUR WORKS.
i.
But Christ, working through the saved, doing good deeds
by His power, for His purpose, in situations, and meetings in which He set up
in advance.
ii.
You do not meet people by chance or accident.
iii.
You have been saved to serve, and to fulfill a calling
that has been placed on your life.
II.
THE LORD GAVE THEM
OPPORTUNITY TO REPENT
a.
As with all the
sinning churches, the Lord warned them, and gave them time to repent.
b.
Did they repent?
i.
Unfortunately no.
ii.
Many churches still preach the false doctrine of
salvation by works.
c.
I spoke to a young
man once, who was going door to door preaching about his religion.
i.
He informed me that he could only go to heaven if he
got enough people to join his religion.
ii.
He could work his entire life, not knowing whether or
not he did enough, until judgment day.
d.
However, this is
NOT the doctrine Christ teaches.
e.
What Jezebels try
to accomplish today
i.
Doing things in opposition to what doctrines of Christ
teach.
ii.
Trying to control people in the church (witchcraft)
1.
Nahum 3:4 "all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution
and peoples by her witchcraft."
iii.
Trying to control the church by manipulating the Elders
(spiritual leaders)
iv.
Trying to control the teachings (or doctrines) in the
church
v.
Trying to bring in false doctrines as true, and spread
them among the congregation.
vi.
As well as other ways...
III.
What IS the doctrine Jesus teaches about
Salvation?
a.
God says in order to go to
Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
b.
First you must realize you
are a sinner. “For all
have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23).
c.
Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to
death. “For the wages [payment] of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This
includes eternal separation from God in Hell.
“ . . . it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews
9:27).
d.
But God loved you so much He
gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your place. “ . . . He hath made Him [Jesus, Who knew no sin] to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him” (2 Corinthians
5:21).
e.
Jesus had to shed His blood and die. “For the life of the flesh is in
the blood” (Lev. 17:11). “ . . . without shedding of blood is no remission [pardon]”
(Hebrews 9:22). “ . . . God commendeth His love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
f.
Although we cannot understand how, God said my
sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our
place. He became our substitute. It is true. God
cannot lie.
g.
My friend, “God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts
17:30). This
repentance is a change of mind that agrees with God that one is a
sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the Cross.
h.
In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian jailer
asked Paul and Silas: “ . . . ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And
they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved .
. . .’ ”
Simply believe on Him as the one who bore your
sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected. His
resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can claim
everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior.
“But as many as
received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even to them
that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
“For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans
10:13).
Whosoever includes
you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall
be saved.
Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now,
wherever you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer.
In Luke 18:13, the sinner prayed: “God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Just take God at His word and
claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No
church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the
saving. All of it!
CONCLUSION
God’s simple plan of
salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you
believe on Jesus Who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If
you believe on Him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive
forgiveness for all of your sins and His gift of eternal salvation by
faith.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall
gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark
8:36).
Do not trust your feelings.
They change. Stand on God’s promises. They never change. After
you are saved, there are three things to practice daily for
spiritual growth:
- Pray -- you talk
to God.
- Read
your Bible --
God talks to you.
- Witness -- you talk
for God.
You should be baptized in
obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as a public testimony of your
salvation, and then unite with a Bible-believing church without
delay. “Be not thou therefore
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord . . . .” (2
Timothy 1:8)
“Whosoever therefore
shall confess [testify of] Me before men, him will I confess also before My
Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).
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