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December 5, 2004
Second Sunday in Advent
Revelation 2:12-17
Pastor Ben Berger

Behold, Jesus is Coming

"You can't handle the truth!" Jack Nicholson was on the stand. Tom Cruise was the prosecuting attorney trying to get the marine commander to admit that he gave the orders for the code red. PFC Santiago wasn't meeting the standards of a marine and needed to be brought up to par. Nicholson asked, "What do you want?" Cruise replied, "I want the truth." Nicholson retorted, "You can't handle the truth!" He's right, isn't he? Sometimes we can't handle the truth. We'd rather not hear it, deal with it or even bring it up. Today, as we continue to prepare for the coming of our Savior, we see that he comes to us with the truth, the sword of his word. Behold, Jesus is coming 1) to purge false teaching 2) to preserve the truth.

Each of the letters to the churches in Revelation begins the same way: with a command to write and with a description of the one speaking. Jesus said, To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword (12). It's important to note this description of Jesus. He speaks with a sharp, double-edged sword. That sword is his word, the truth. Each sharp edge has its own use. The first edge is the law; Jesus uses the sharp edge of the law to purge false teaching.

We're going to skip over the word of commendation for now and look at the word of criticism in verse fourteen. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Jesus criticizes the church for tolerating false teaching. Is Jesus talking to us? Yes, he is. Do we have those here who hold to the teachings of Balaam and the Nicolaitans? Yes, we do.

Perhaps we need to remind ourselves about the teaching of Balaam. We read about Balaam and Balak in Numbers 22-25. Balak was the king of Moab during the time when the nation of Israel was taking over the Promised Land by destroying everyone in their way. Rightly so, King Balak was afraid of Israel. He hired Balaam to curse Israel and Balaam agreed because he wanted the money. You probably remember Balaam best for his talking donkey, who tried to stop him from going. The LORD did not allow Balaam to curse Israel, but rather caused him to bless him. As a result, Balak would not pay Balaam. It appears that Balaam wanted the money so badly he devised another scheme for King Balak. He advised him to have the women of his country lure Israel into idolatry and sexual immorality; it worked. The teaching of Balaam is this: do whatever it takes to get what you want regardless of whom it hurts.

Do we have here people who follow the teaching of Balaam? Yes, we do; it might even be one of us. We do whatever it takes to get what we want. For example, if we want popularity at school, we might cut someone else down. If we want to get ahead at work, we might bad mouth another employee. If we want to be accepted, we'll join the group with alcohol, drugs and/or sex. We compromise the truth of God's word to get what we want. Maybe we even think like the Nicolaitans, who did whatever they wanted thinking that they would get forgiveness later.

Jesus speaks to us with the sharp, double-edged sword of his word, I have a few things against you. You tolerate false teaching. It's bad enough that it happens, but you TOLERATE it. That's even easier, isn't it? Maybe we're not the ones cutting others down, bad mouthing fellow employees, or joining in the sex, drugs or alcohol. But we're not doing anything about it either.

Jesus says, Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth (16). In other words, "you use the sword of my word or I will." And in this case, he is talking about using the sharp edge of the law. Jesus wants us to purge false teaching among us by confronting sin with his law. If we don't, he will.

First, we must confront our own sin. We cannot deal with sin in others until we have dealt with our own sin. We cannot look down on others as if we are better than they. We can only join others in confessing sin. If we have ever done something against God's will to further our own wants and desires, we must confess. If we have ever joined in cutting others down, bad mouthing or following the crowd, we must confess. If we have ever tolerated such behavior, turned our heads and looked the other way, we must confess. Then Jesus will forgive us. He will comfort us with the gospel, reminding us that he died for even those sins. He will assure us that he has purged the sin within us.

Then we must use the sword of the truth to confront the sins of others. This is tricky; we must remember that we are not judging or considering ourselves better than others. We are following the command of Jesus. The choice is plain: either we confront sin now or Jesus will confront sin later. True, doing it now is difficult; it causes pain and hurt feelings. It will be difficult to handle the truth but, the alternative is worse. If we leave the sin for Jesus, he will purge it with eternal punishment in hell. It would be better to suffer the hurt feelings rather than eternal punishment. We only have one reason to confront sin: so that we may offer the same forgiveness and assurance of life that Jesus has given us. We wish to not to lay on guilt, but to take it away through the blood of Jesus. We want all to know the truth of their forgiveness and salvation.

Now it's time to go back to the word of commendation that Jesus offers. Jesus is coming with the sharp, double-edged sword of his word to purge false teaching - and also to preserve the truth. To preserve the truth Jesus uses the second edge of the sword: his gospel.

In verse thirteen Jesus praises the church, I know where you live - where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city - where Satan lives.

Jesus praises the church for protecting the truth, even against Satan. Is he talking to us? Do we have those who have clung to their faith in the fight against Satan? Yes, we do. Satan lives here as much as anywhere. Are you kidding me? Tolerance for false teaching is rampant in our city, state, country and world. It's everywhere. Satan wants us to be afraid to hurt feelings and to confront sin. Our government allows abortion, society looks the other way at casual sex and living together and people even get excited about Desperate Housewives. Yet, we have here many faithful believers who have resisted Satan. We have not allowed Satan to rule our lives, but rather have clung to the name and faith of our Savior.

Jesus wants us to continue to protect the truth…out of love. There are three reasons to protect the truth of God's word. First, out of love for God and his word. It is in his Word that God shows his love to us. He makes his name known to us, revealing who he is and what he's done for us. It's in his love that he shows us his love by sending his only Son to live, die and rise for us and by sending his Spirit to give us faith.

Second, we protect the truth out of love for our own souls or the souls of believers and third out of love for the souls of others. We confront sin and purge false teaching from within us because we know the harm it can bring to our souls. It only takes a little bit of poison to kill. We confess our sins so that we can receive forgiveness. We confront the sins of others so that we can offer them forgiveness. We use the first edge of the sword so that we can use the second edge. Without the law the gospel means nothing. But, when the law helps us see the depth of our need, the forgiveness, life and salvation of the gospel is the most comforting message we could ever hear.

We also protect the truth to receive the gifts of the gospel. At the end of each letter, Jesus offers his gifts. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it (17). With the truth of his gospel Jesus offers us the bread that gives eternal life. He used manna to sustain his people until they reached the Promised Land; now he uses his word to sustain his people until we reach heaven.

On that last day Jesus will come to us with the sword of his truth. If we have confessed our sins, he will not use it to purge our sin in hell, but rather will use it to confer on us sainthood and eternal life in heaven. He will give us the white stone, which signifies that God has acquitted us - declared us not guilty. As God has written his name on us at baptism, so he will give us a new name to show that we are his.

Can you handle the truth? It may be difficult to handle the truth of the law - to admit that we are sinners and to confront sin in those around us. But, Jesus promises that when we do, he will speak the truth of the gospel. He will forgive our sins and give us eternal life. Like the marines, we use a sharp, double-edged sword. Jesus has asked us to be a few good men willing to purge false teaching and to protect his truth. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.