1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:05,440 Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Hey, man, Sister, thank you for 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,120 the delivery of that very eloquent delivery of the 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,520 announcements this morning. Thank you so much. 4 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,800 Praise and worship team. Thank you so much for that very 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,480 anointed time of praise and worship. 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,280 What a blessing that was between that and the and the prayer. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,760 Wow, it was hard to move. It was a blessing. 8 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,360 I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles with me this morning 9 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,160 to the second chapter of the book of Revelations. 10 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,080 And we're going to look at we're going to start at verse 18. 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:40,280 And while you're doing that, I would like to just send out a 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,800 warm welcome to those who are watching on the different 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,400 platforms, whether it's on Facebook or if you're watching 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:55,600 on Grace FM or any platform that you may be watching on. 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,680 We, we want to welcome you. Also, those of you who are with 16 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,440 us this morning from behind prison walls, we want to welcome 17 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,240 you as well. We thank you for your choosing 18 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:12,120 to worship with us this morning. Why don't we pray that we can go 19 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:18,520 into the word of Godfather? We thank you for your 20 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,640 Providence. We thank you for Your grace and 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:26,600 Your mercy that You extend to us every single day. 22 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,400 We thank You, Father, that You are so gracious that You give us 23 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,520 Your Word, that You love us that much, that You give us Your word 24 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:42,760 that we may know You, that we may know Your ways, we may know 25 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,840 Your heart. We asked this morning, Father, 26 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,040 that You would make Your word real for us. 27 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:57,080 Lord, open up our hearts, open up our minds that we may 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,840 understand Your Word and give us that. 29 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:06,160 Will Lord, give us that desire to want to live out Your word, 30 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:11,320 that we won't be hearers only, but that we would be doers, nor 31 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:15,400 will we be forgetful hearers, but that we will be doers of 32 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,080 Your Word. Lord, every day may we endeavor 33 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,880 to be led by your Holy Spirit to do Your will. 34 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:30,520 I pray this morning, Lord, that someone is set free, that you 35 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,720 would take the shackles off of someone's minds and hearts this 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,200 morning, and may someone be set free. 37 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,960 May someone leave here today as a believer in the recipient of 38 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,920 your salvation. Father, we ask all these things 39 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,000 in the name of our Savior and our Lord in Jesus name we pray, 40 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:59,720 Amen. Well, as we take a short look 41 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:06,160 back at the the churches that we've already talked about. 42 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,680 Now we're in the in the process of the Book of Revelation. 43 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,520 We're in that portion where we are now looking at the things 44 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,760 that he that are now. The things that are happening 45 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:24,040 now, this is the church age. And in doing so, he talked to 46 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,360 the Church of Ephesus. He wrote a letter to the Church 47 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,600 of Ephesus. He wrote a letter to the Church 48 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,440 of Smyrna, and of course, the Church of Pergamus. 49 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:33,680 And now we're going to be looking at the letter that he's 50 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,480 written to the Church of Thyatira. 51 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,320 But what I want to point out initially is that there is a 52 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,000 progression. If you look at the things that 53 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,960 he's saying to these churches in his condemnation, these 54 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,720 churches, or his warnings to these churches, there is a 55 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:54,240 progression. For example, in the book of the 56 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,200 letter to Ephesus, he warned them about them leaving their 57 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:03,400 first love. In the book of Smyrna, there was 58 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,120 a persecuted church and there was no warning for them. 59 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:10,640 It was just a blessing and encouragement for them to 60 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:15,040 continue even in the midst of their persecution and the 61 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,640 suffering that they were going through. 62 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,880 But in Pergamus there was a warning of their comp, of their 63 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,440 compromising. And here in the Church of 64 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,200 Thyatire, you will see this morning that he's going to warn 65 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,880 them about corruption in the church. 66 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,040 So what I like to do is go ahead and read this whole letter and 67 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,320 then we'll go back. And we want to take a look at 68 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,960 the different parts that the Lord is saying to us that we 69 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,840 should heed. So in the 2nd chapter of 70 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:51,440 Revelations, beginning at verse 18, the word of God says this. 71 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,480 And to the Angel of the church in Thyatira write these things, 72 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:02,120 says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire in his 73 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,480 feet like fine brass. I know your works love, service, 74 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:11,320 faith and your patience. And As for your works, the last 75 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,280 are more than the first, nevertheless. 76 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,800 I have a few. Things against you because you 77 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,320 allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to 78 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:26,000 teach and seduce my servants, to commit sexual immorality and to 79 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:30,760 eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of 80 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,320 her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 81 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:39,320 Indeed, I will cast her into a sick bed and those who commit 82 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,960 adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent 83 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,360 of their deeds. I will kill her children with 84 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,120 death and all the churches. She'll know that I am he who 85 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:58,080 searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of 86 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,920 you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the 87 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,680 rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine who have 88 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:11,720 not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put you, I 89 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:16,720 will put on you no other burden, but hold fast what you have till 90 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,760 I come. And he who overcomes and keeps 91 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,600 my works until the end, to him I will give power over the 92 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,560 nations. 27 He shall rule them with a rod of iron. 93 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,000 They shall be dashed to pieces like the Potter's vessels. 94 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:39,160 And as I also have received from my father, and I will give him 95 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:44,640 the morning star, He who has an ear, let him hear what the 96 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,720 Spirit says to the churches. Amen. 97 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:55,320 So what we see here is a city. That's a little. 98 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,640 Bit different than the other three that we've already 99 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:58,480 studied. This is a. 100 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:01,480 Smallest city, actually. Actually, it's one of the 101 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,720 smallest of the seven cities that we will be looking at here 102 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,280 in the Book of Revelation. In fact, it's one of the 103 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:12,920 smallest cities in Asia Minor, but Jesus addresses them and, 104 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:14,880 and, and they're not a distinguished. 105 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,200 They're not as distinguished as the the Church of Ephesus or the 106 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:21,320 Church of Smyrna or Pergamus. In fact, they're actually 107 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,840 considered to be pretty much insignificant. 108 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:29,920 There was a author, Roman author by the name of Elder Plenty and 109 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,640 he stated the this phrase he refers to Thyatira and he says 110 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:39,680 in one of his writings Thyatira and other unimportant cities. 111 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,240 That's how he refers to Thyr Tyre as an unimportant city. 112 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,000 So it isn't underwhelming. It is underwhelming compared to 113 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,880 the other cities. It's located about 30 to 40 114 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,840 miles South of Pergamus. It's an inland city. 115 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,040 So we, the other was most of the others that we looked at were 116 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:00,600 coastal cities. And that's where they receive 117 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,560 most of their, their trade or that's where they receive most 118 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,160 of their, their, their, their money, their wealth from the 119 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,760 coast. But this was an inland city. 120 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,200 And it's known for its manufacturing and also for its 121 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:19,120 trade guilds or guilds. Now this is important, their 122 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,680 trade guilds. We're going to talk a lot about 123 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,600 that and how that impacts the Christians that live in that 124 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,680 area. This trade guilds or like a 125 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,280 union, OK would be like a union today or the you know when you 126 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,880 have a a plumbers union, you may have a carpenters union, you may 127 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:38,480 have a. A doctor, I don't even know if 128 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,919 doctors have a union I don't know but there's different 129 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:46,400 trades that we know that have unions and in in in this city 130 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:53,200 just about every trade had a union the other interesting 131 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:59,360 thing about this city is that this is where Lydia came from 132 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,120 now most. Of the the the. 133 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,840 Unions that they had were things like wool, Baker's leather. 134 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,280 They had unions for cloth and linen and purple dyes. 135 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,200 And that's where you may remember the name Lydia out of 136 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,440 the book of Acts chapter 16. She, you know, she was the the 137 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,240 the worker of dye, the seller of dyes, and she was actually one 138 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:23,960 of the first converts. In the city of Thyatira, when, 139 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:28,720 when Paul was there on one of his missionary journeys, don't 140 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,280 know if whether or not she was the one, It's not clear whether 141 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,240 or not she was the one who helped to start that church, but 142 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:37,440 we do know that she was one of the first converts that was 143 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,680 there. So this, these guiles, these 144 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:47,240 guilds rather these, these trade guilds that were there in in 145 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,240 Thyatira, they were very influential. 146 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:50,960 They had a lot of strength, a lot of. 147 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,440 Pull and if you weren't a part of these guilds, it was very 148 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:59,160 difficult to make a good living. I didn't rather jobs obviously 149 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:01,360 their authoritarian. There's other things you could 150 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:05,120 do, but you wouldn't make as much money doing those things as 151 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,320 you would being a part of the Guild. 152 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,360 They they, they were, they made it so that it was only those 153 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,800 that were part of their group that would truly benefit 154 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,840 financially from the trades. Now these no, no, no. 155 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,240 And you may say, well, why was it difficult for Christians? 156 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:26,360 And it was it was a very difficult area for Christians to 157 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,440 be a part of because most of the Christians weren't a part of 158 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,040 this Guild. Most of them were not a part of 159 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,680 this Guild now. And you would say, well, wait a 160 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:37,600 minute, if you want to make money and you concerned about 161 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:42,160 not making enough money to take care of your family, why 162 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,240 wouldn't you just join the Guild, right? 163 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:46,040 I mean, you know, couldn't you just do that? 164 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:47,600 Couldn't they just go ahead and join the Guild? 165 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:49,760 They they could, but it would be a compromise. 166 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:52,920 And the reason why is because these guilds were centered 167 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:58,040 around Pagan worship. They were centered around Pagan 168 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,320 wars. Each Guild had a a warship had a 169 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:05,680 God that they worshipped and they all had their own gods and 170 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:08,320 these and then the meetings that they had with these guilds were 171 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,680 all centered around idolatry and sexual immorality. 172 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,800 They may begin the meeting with a a meal and they would eat 173 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,240 meats that were sacrificed to idols. 174 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,160 Afterwards they would throw wine into the into the fire and that 175 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,120 would represent prayers to these Pagan gods. 176 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,440 Then of course, after that they would become drunken from the 177 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:38,280 excessive intake of alcohol, which then would then 178 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,760 deteriorate. Things would deteriorate into 179 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:47,080 the worship of these gods, which was sexual immorality and 180 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:50,560 attendance and participation in these, in these meetings were 181 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:52,280 required. If you were going to be in these 182 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,240 guilds, you had to attend these meetings. 183 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:57,840 And if you attended the meetings, obviously you would 184 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,440 want to participate in these festivities that they considered 185 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,000 to be worship. But no true Christian, obviously 186 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,880 no true Christian was going to put themselves in that position 187 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:15,280 to defile themselves with this idolatry and sexual immorality. 188 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:20,200 Therefore, it was very difficult for them to have jobs that would 189 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:22,640 pay enough to take care of their families. 190 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,440 You know many of us. Have had to make that decision, 191 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,880 you know, from time to time a job versus our Christian values. 192 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,920 Making a decision to do something that will compromise 193 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,760 our beliefs. Maybe a job put pressure on you 194 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:46,800 to embrace LGBTQ, put pressure on you to embrace abortion, put 195 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:53,320 pressure on you to embrace genderism or transgenderism, put 196 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:58,840 pressure on you to do things that are that are dishonorable 197 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:05,640 or things that are or that are less less than honest on a job 198 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,160 in order to keep a job. But they put those kind of. 199 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:12,760 Pressures on you in order to get you to conform, and that's. 200 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,280 Exactly what was happening here in, in Thyatira, these, these 201 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:21,800 people were put in this position between making a good living and 202 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:26,440 keeping their Christian values. So This is why this letter was 203 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,440 written to those who were holding on to their Christian 204 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,000 values. They were persevering. 205 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:37,400 They were allowing themselves to stay in the path of, of, of, of 206 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:41,320 representing the Christianity in a way that was true. 207 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,880 They were faithful to Jesus. They were faithful to the Word 208 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,280 of God. But then there were those who 209 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,800 were not. So Jesus sends this letter. 210 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,320 He sends this letter to the church and he acknowledged the 211 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,280 good and the bad of the church. And we should always consider 212 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,880 the source whenever we hear anything concerning the word of 213 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:06,520 God. You know, I, I, I, I, I always 214 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:12,800 love when kids and you know, your parents can probably relate 215 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,360 to this, but you know, kids when. 216 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,080 One of their siblings tell them to do something. 217 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,640 The first thing the kid asks is who said you Ever notice that? 218 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,800 You know, it's no. You got to get up. 219 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,440 Who said you got to go wash the dishes? 220 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,640 Who said time to come in? Who said so? 221 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,600 The source is always important. If Mom and Dad said it, yeah, 222 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,320 they'll do it. But if they said it themselves, 223 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:43,880 then you got to fight. You got to battle. 224 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,280 Well, if you look at verse 18 here, it says, it says to the 225 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:54,160 Angel of the church in Thyatira, these things says the Son of 226 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,640 God. This is what the Son of God is 227 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,040 saying. He introduces himself as the Son 228 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,720 of God. It's important that they knew 229 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,200 that this letter that they're reading now comes from the one 230 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,600 who have created all things, the one who has the authority over 231 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,600 all things, power over all things, the son of God. 232 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:23,120 The people in in Thyatira, they worship a false God. 233 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,800 They worship an idol. They worship a God named Apollo, 234 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:32,000 you know, surname Tyrannus. And, and he was the son of Zeus, 235 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,360 which was the son, which was the son God. 236 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,960 He was an idol. He was an idol figment of their 237 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,440 imagination. But Jesus asserts his deity by 238 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:48,640 saying I am the Son of God. And that's who's writing this 239 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,080 letter. Now over in Revelations chapter 240 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,920 1 and 13, he refers to himself as the Son of man, and that's in 241 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,560 his, that's in his humanity. He is the Son of man, the Son of 242 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:05,760 David, but in his deity he is the Son of God with all the 243 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:09,680 nature of God, with all the qualities of God, with all the 244 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:15,920 authority of God, with all the power and sovereignty of God, 245 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:20,480 all the divine attributes dwell in him. 246 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:24,240 So Jesus has the power of sovereign authority over all 247 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,440 things, and he's greater than the influences of the trade 248 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:30,600 guilds. He's greater than those 249 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,120 influences. He's. 250 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,560 Greater than the influences of these false prophets and false 251 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,360 gods. He's able and he's more, He has 252 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,320 more authority than all of those things, and he's worthy of our 253 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,240 trust. So he identifies him first as 254 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,280 being the Son of God. Also, he identifies himself as 255 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,640 being or having eyes as a flame of fire. 256 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:58,320 In Revelations 1 and 14, that's one of the descriptions that was 257 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,520 given that that John had concerning the resurrected Jesus 258 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,000 when he saw him. See, Jesus sees. 259 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,400 Everything with piercing eyes and penetrating judgement. 260 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:13,400 Everything. Nothing is hidden from his gaze. 261 00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:18,000 Nothing at all. None of our actions, none of our 262 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,760 motives. And he is righteous. 263 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,000 He's a righteous judge. He is the righteous judge. 264 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:26,960 I'd rather be judged. By Jesus than to be judged by 265 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:31,960 any man, by any man. He's a righteous judge. 266 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:37,880 But you know, sometimes we forget that he sees everything 267 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:42,640 and we tend to sometimes be overly concerned with what we 268 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,400 see in each other. What others see in us. 269 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,840 We, we get to be concerned about what others see. 270 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,080 We, we may watch our behavior if we're around certain people, 271 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,600 certain things we may not do around other people that we may 272 00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:00,760 normally do certain things we may say around other people that 273 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,440 we may normally say because we want to be mindful of what 274 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:08,320 people say. We're more concerned about their 275 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,000 opinion of us and, and, and, and, and the way that they see 276 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,880 us then we are anything else. But we forget. 277 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,360 We forget that he sees all, regardless of whether they see 278 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:24,680 it or not, regardless of whether it's done behind closed doors or 279 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,920 not, whether it's said behind closed doors or not, whether 280 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:31,720 it's thought in secret or in private. 281 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,640 He sees all. And we should live our lives 282 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,600 with that, with that acknowledgement, to know that no 283 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:45,480 matter where we are, because we are his, he sees us, He sees 284 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,600 everything. And even by even to this, this 285 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:54,040 small church that was in Thyatira who was considered to 286 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:58,600 be insignificant, was considered to be unimportant. 287 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:06,000 But yet Jesus sees him. You know, to us, for a lot of 288 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:10,920 people, we may be insignificant. We may not be important to some 289 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:15,440 people, to some organizations, we may not be significant at 290 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,960 all, may not be important. But he sees us, He sees you, He 291 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,720 sees me. He sees not only on that what's 292 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:25,440 on the outside. But he sees the. 293 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:31,240 Deepest things on the inside, the deepest things he sees in 294 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,200 US. It also says here that he had 295 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,800 feet like fine brass. Fine brass. 296 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,480 He had that description. That was over in Revelations 1 297 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,520 and 15. Brass is is can be represented 298 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:50,440 as divine purity, strength, judgement and steadfastness. 299 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,840 And that is the way that the resurrected Christ is. 300 00:19:54,520 --> 00:20:03,680 He's pure, He is almighty and he has he is the one who judges and 301 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,760 he's steadfast. He doesn't change. 302 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:10,560 He continues to be the same Jesus Christ yesterday, today, 303 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:14,600 and evermore. In the Old Testament, it was a 304 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,760 bronze order where sins were judged and where sacrifices for 305 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:23,200 sins were made daily. The bronze order. 306 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:29,200 So Jesus sees sin, He judges sin, He even punishes sin, but 307 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:34,040 he also forgives sin. And that's great news for all of 308 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:41,960 us. Over in verse 19, he says, I 309 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,920 know your works, your love, service, faith, and your 310 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,640 patience. As for your works, the last are 311 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,440 more than the first. So he knows it works. 312 00:20:53,440 --> 00:21:00,240 He sees the things that they do. He sees their love, their love 313 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,400 toward one another, and their love toward the Lord. 314 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:08,640 He recognizes their service, their kindness, their goodness 315 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,040 toward others. It was kind of well noted that 316 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,800 this particular church intentionally and 317 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,360 compassionately would reach out to the poor and to those who 318 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:22,720 have need. Psalm 41 would say that blessed 319 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:29,360 are those who consider the poor. So they were well looked at 320 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,400 because of the fact that they considered the poor. 321 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,040 They were also a faithful church. 322 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,000 They had faith. They showed loyalty, trust, and 323 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,640 fidelity towards Jesus Christ, and they were patient. 324 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,040 Even in the midst of all the things that they were going 325 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,440 through, even in the midst of all the temptation, in the midst 326 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:51,080 of everything that was happening in Thyatira, they were patient. 327 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:55,800 They continued to persevere, even join all that temptation. 328 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,640 It's interesting that the church authoritarian possessed 4 of the 329 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,160 fruit of the Spirit. And even in their trial and 330 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,280 temptation, they continue to grow in those things. 331 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:10,520 As it says here, the last is even more than the first. 332 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,440 So this is a church that continued to progress in 333 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,480 righteousness. They continue to progress in 334 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:22,360 those qualities that Jesus had also mentioned concerning them. 335 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,040 But then in verse 20 says, nevertheless, I have a few 336 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,400 things against you. Because you allow that woman 337 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,160 Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce 338 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,920 my servants, to commit sexual immorality and to eat things 339 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:41,120 sacrificed to idols. So despite of all those good 340 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,960 things that this church was doing, in spite of all these 341 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:49,880 great qualities that they have, Jesus has something against them 342 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:55,720 because he saw everything. And he said, you have this woman 343 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:59,520 there named Jezebel. Now, we don't know if that was 344 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,720 her actual name. In fact, many believe that it 345 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:06,640 wasn't her actual name, but it's more like symbolic because of 346 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,960 her character, because of her ungodliness and the way that she 347 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,200 handled herself. She was like the Jezebel of the 348 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:17,720 Old Testament. I just want to just remind you 349 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,240 we won't go back and read it, but Jezebel in the Old 350 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,440 Testament. She was called Queen Jezebel. 351 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,320 Actually, she was Ahab's wife and you can read about that over 352 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,400 in First Kings. But, but she was a Pagan 353 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:35,040 Princess. She was the daughter of a king 354 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,960 of the king of Sidonia, a Sidonian king. 355 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:39,800 Rather she was the daughter of a Sidonian king. 356 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,000 His name was ETH Baal. So they were worshippers of Baal 357 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:48,360 even in their homeland. So she grew up in a home that 358 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:53,120 was worshipping Baal. They even had a temple of Baal 359 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,000 back at the place where she was from. 360 00:23:55,280 --> 00:24:00,800 Now she married Ahab for political reasons and she tried 361 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:06,760 to mix the worship of Baal with the worship of the God of 362 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,440 Israel. And eventually she tried to wipe 363 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,680 it out all together. So she tried to kill off all the 364 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:17,720 prophets, all the old prophets that were the prophets of, of 365 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,360 the Lord. She tried to burn them all out, 366 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:22,280 kill them all so she would get rid of them. 367 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,320 If you remember, Obadiah was the the prophet who ended up hiding 368 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:30,320 the prophets of the Lord so that Jezebel wouldn't kill them all 369 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,960 because she was on that race. She wanted to get rid of it. 370 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,480 She wanted Belle Worship to be the state religion in Israel. 371 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,360 That's what she wanted. She was trying to take that 372 00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:45,200 over. This woman was just 373 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,560 unsubmissive. She was violent. 374 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:54,120 She was rebellious. She, I mean, she just exuded 375 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:57,520 ungodliness in just about every way you possibly could. 376 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:03,320 And she met with judgement and the judgement she met with was 377 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,560 death. So I don't, I don't think that 378 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,360 there's going to be any other women that would be named 379 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,720 Jezebel. I mean, I don't know anybody 380 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,560 that named their daughter as Jezebel. 381 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,280 I don't even know another Jezebel, to be honest with you. 382 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,240 I don't, I don't even know if that's a name that people would 383 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,440 use anymore. I mean, she, I think she ruined 384 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:25,040 that name. I would. 385 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,840 I'd be safe to say that she ruined that name for all girls 386 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:30,400 going forward. I don't know anybody know 387 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,880 anybody named Jezebel? Yeah. 388 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,360 See, I didn't think so. We could probably do this 389 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:37,640 anywhere and everybody would. It was still had the same 390 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,440 result. And I'm just like for guys, you 391 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:41,520 know? I mean, I don't know anybody 392 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,880 named Judas. I've never run into another 393 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,760 person named Judas. Never ran into another person 394 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,600 named Jeroboam. Never ran into another person 395 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,240 named Adolf. You know, I mean, those are just 396 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,040 names that people don't name their kids anymore because of 397 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:00,040 the the connotation. It's a negative connotation. 398 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,840 So no one names your kids those things anymore. 399 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,360 So this woman, Jezebel, apparently with this, whoever 400 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:10,840 she was, she was apparently very influential and persuasive and, 401 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,080 and she. Called herself a prophet and as 402 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,400 you see here in the scripture, it says that woman Jezebel who 403 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,440 called herself, calls herself a prophetess. 404 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:23,880 OK, she called herself that means that she was a 405 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:30,080 self-proclaimed prophetess. She was she wasn't sent by the 406 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,000 Lord. She just went and to do whatever 407 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:37,400 it is that she wanted to do. A prophet is one who is is a 408 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:42,040 spokesperson for God, one who brings the message of God. 409 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,760 A prophet speaks truth, not their own, not their own truth, 410 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,520 not their own understanding. It's a mouthpiece for God. 411 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,600 This woman was a false prophet, and she brought in a 412 00:26:54,600 --> 00:27:00,320 destructive, seductive doctrine that seduced the servants of 413 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,280 Jesus to commit idolatry and sexual immorality. 414 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:08,480 And that's the danger with people who bring in these, these 415 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:13,960 false ideologies or these these false doctrines, when those 416 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,000 things are allowed to come into the church, it destroys the 417 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,640 church and it leads people into a path of sin, into a life of 418 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:25,080 sin. And this doctrine was really 419 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:30,160 dangerous, you know, but Jesus, Jesus did warn all of us about 420 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,040 these these doctrines, these seducted these false prophets 421 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,160 who would come in and bring these ungodly doctrines over. 422 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:41,560 In Matthew Chapter 7, verses 15 and 16, he says beware of false 423 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,600 prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. 424 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,760 This is a woman. So they probably thought that 425 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,880 she would be harmless and she was probably a very friendly 426 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,560 woman. But meanwhile she was, she came 427 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,960 in sheep's clothing. But inwardly they are ravenous 428 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:58,560 wolves. This woman was a wolf. 429 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:01,360 She was a wolf. She was dangerous. 430 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,520 All she wanted to do was to tear up and to, to, to, you know, to 431 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,920 shred the, the sheep. You will know them by their 432 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,160 fruits. And I wanted to just mention to 433 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:15,880 you when it says by their fruits, it's not just what they 434 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,640 say, but it's what they teach and what they live. 435 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:23,320 That's their fruit, what they teach and what they live. 436 00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,200 That's how you know a false prophet. 437 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,520 She, this false prophet, she taught to people that it's OK to 438 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,760 participate in these guilds and to attend their meetings and to 439 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,560 participate in all the festivities that go along with 440 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,440 it. It's OK to do it, to engage in 441 00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,360 these sins because sins of the body, This is what she was 442 00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,600 teaching. The sins of the body has no 443 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,560 impact on the spirit, no impact on the spirit. 444 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:55,280 It's a, it's a Gnostic theology, you know, you know, you know, 445 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,360 they have so much knowledge that they have reasoned away God's 446 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:01,600 word of sin. And, and, and it's, you know, 447 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:06,680 whatever you do with your body has no bearing on your salvation 448 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:12,440 because it's your spirit or your soul to get saved and not your, 449 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,040 your body. So they, they teach these people 450 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,160 this thing. And so they start to go out and 451 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:21,440 think that they can sin freely and it has no consequence. 452 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,360 It has no bearing on your salvation. 453 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,200 And if they're convincing enough and they they tap into someone's 454 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:33,280 lust, so they tap into someone's desires or they tap into what 455 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,440 people want to do, they'll follow it if they're not rooted 456 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,800 and grounded in the word of God. And that's what it and that's 457 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,960 what it comes down to. But the whole thing is that you 458 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,960 know, you know, they'll, they'll, they made it sound like 459 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:52,400 it's fine to commit these sins in order to get a good paying 460 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,800 job. I mean, everybody got to work, 461 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,440 right? So does it matter if your job 462 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:00,760 would want you to do something that's ungodly? 463 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,320 Isn't it just important to have a job and take care of your 464 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,360 family? I mean, why would you go against 465 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,440 that and end up losing your income? 466 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:19,000 Why would you do that? I am so disappointed in some of 467 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:24,520 the responses that I've heard recently concerning Jalen or 468 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:27,880 Jaden Ivy. Just to give you a quick 469 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,920 understanding of this, Jaden Ivy is a basketball player, 470 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,000 professional basketball player, plays for NBA. 471 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,600 His mother actually coaches for Notre Dame. 472 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,040 They've always been godly people. 473 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:45,160 Jalen is always, even when Jalen was in college, he was very, 474 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:51,320 very aware of his Christianity and his faith and very outspoken 475 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,360 about it. A lot of interviews that he's 476 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,800 done where he ends his interviews with basically giving 477 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:01,760 the gospel to reporters. Well, recently, Jalen Jaden 478 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,400 decided that he was going to. I think he had an experience 479 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,960 where he had, you know, kind of restored his faith, strengthened 480 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:13,320 his faith in some way. And he had a a moment where he 481 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,120 did a video where he talked about his faith, but also talked 482 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:24,720 about the NBA's position on the LGBTQ celebrations. 483 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:28,520 He talked about that. And he says, yeah, they, they, 484 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,120 you know, they say come celebrate with us celebrating 485 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,880 Pride Week and Pride month or whatever. 486 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:37,760 And he spoke out about it. He's a Christian. 487 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:44,040 He's getting a lot more NBA support from other players that 488 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,200 are backing up his assertions with with scripture. 489 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,160 With Scripture. That is very impressive to me 490 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,240 and very encouraging. But there's a lot of other 491 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,120 people who are saying, oh, why don't you just be quiet? 492 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,520 He has an opportunity to make so much money in the NBA now. 493 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,120 He ended up losing his job because he had to open his mouth 494 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:11,200 and say something about what he believes when what he believes 495 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,880 is against what his employer represents. 496 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:23,160 So now we have to be quiet as believers and not be able to 497 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:29,000 share our faith or to stand on our faith because of what 498 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,160 someone else believes. So that was just, I mean, it 499 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,120 just reminded me of this situation. 500 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,400 Look, just be quiet and just go along to get along. 501 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:41,320 It's OK. You'll get a job out of this. 502 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,280 You'll get more money out of this, but if you don't do it, 503 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:47,280 you won't get the good job. So in other words, there's a 504 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,480 sacrifice. But Jesus told us at the 505 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:51,840 beginning of this, I'm the Son of God. 506 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,840 I'm the Son of God. I have power over all these 507 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,920 things. I'm worthy for you to put your 508 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:04,000 trust in. I'm worthy for you to be loyal 509 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:05,680 to. I'm worthy for you to be 510 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:09,320 committed. I can take care of you. 511 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:17,920 So some of these people obviously followed after this, 512 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,200 this prophet, this false prophet. 513 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,600 And then this is really just a deception from Satan to corrupt 514 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:27,520 a professing A professing believer. 515 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,600 Anyone who lives a life practicing sin, and this is 516 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,800 important. Anyone that lives a life 517 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:35,760 practicing sin does not know God. 518 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:43,440 First, John three and six, he says very clearly, whoever 519 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:49,840 abides in him does not sin, does not practice sin. 520 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:57,520 Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. 521 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,280 So we know God, we won't practice sin. 522 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,920 We all sin, we all blow it, and we say this about every week 523 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,440 that we have these. And that's why it's so important 524 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:14,199 for us to repent, to repent, to come to God and repent when we 525 00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:19,320 blow it, but not to practice sin, to live a life of sin. 526 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,480 If our lives are categorized as sin, then we have the question, 527 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,520 do we know God? Do we know God? 528 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,760 Why is it OK for one person to sin and someone else not to? 529 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:35,960 It's not. If we're Christians, then we 530 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,000 follow the word of God. We don't follow our lust, our 531 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,120 passions. We follow the word of God. 532 00:34:48,810 --> 00:34:51,610 And then he says, my servants, you know, you, you, you 533 00:34:51,610 --> 00:34:56,730 basically had had had, you know, you seduced my servants. 534 00:34:57,250 --> 00:35:00,930 In other words, what? Gives you the right to come in 535 00:35:01,050 --> 00:35:05,930 with some false doctrine to feed my servants. 536 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,600 These are my servants. These are the sheep of my 537 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:12,720 pastures. What gives you the right to be 538 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:17,000 able to come in here and teach something that doesn't come from 539 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:21,200 me? And we all need to remember that 540 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:24,720 we can't stand up here and just preach my ideas. 541 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,120 If I ever come up here and say, hey, you know what I wrote? 542 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,880 I just wrote something recently and these are my ideas about and 543 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:31,600 I just want you to hear it. And this is where we're going to 544 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:32,760 go. This is the route we're going to 545 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,240 go. Phenology, man, get out and run. 546 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,160 Run, don't walk out of here, run out of here. 547 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:44,360 We are God's people. We're the sheep of his pastures. 548 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:51,320 He gives us the food that we feed his flock with and it's his 549 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:55,720 word. We have no right to feed the 550 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,520 people of God anything other than the word of God. 551 00:36:03,690 --> 00:36:07,010 So he, he, he, he goes on in here and I just want to get down 552 00:36:07,010 --> 00:36:11,440 here to verse. Go down here. 553 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:16,880 To verse the end of verse 20 here he says that this woman 554 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,120 judgment who calls herself a prophetess to teach and seduce 555 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,400 my servants to commit sexual immorality and to think and to 556 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:28,160 eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent. 557 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:34,880 Listen to the I love this, I love this. 558 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,680 Even with all these things that she did, he says I gave her time 559 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,960 to repent. I didn't just judge her. 560 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,600 I didn't just you know, he was patient with her. 561 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,160 Even though she was leading astray his people. 562 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,400 Whatever sins that she was doing, he was patient with her. 563 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,240 It was not just a knee jerk reaction for him to punish her. 564 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:04,600 He was patient just like he is with all of us. 565 00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:11,480 He's patient with us. But there is a time when that 566 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,360 door closes on that particular grace, and there does come a 567 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:21,200 judgment, he says. I gave her time to repent from 568 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,760 her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 569 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,400 Verse 22 says, indeed, I will cast her into a sick bed, that 570 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,440 very same bed that she looked for for pleasure, that very same 571 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,160 bed that she used to satisfy her own lust. 572 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,640 He said. I'm going to turn that bed into 573 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:45,480 a bed of pain and affliction and suffering for her. 574 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,760 I'm going to put her in a sick bed and to those who commit 575 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,920 adultery with her means her followers, I'm going to put into 576 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,480 great tribulation. Now this unless they repent of 577 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,800 their deeds. Now this isn't talking about the 578 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,440 great tribulation as in the the great tribulation that will come 579 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:06,360 at the end times when Jesus Christ, right before Jesus 580 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,040 Christ comes back. You know, this is not that great 581 00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,400 tribulation, the one that we poured out upon the earth. 582 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,680 You know, he's not talking about this is tribulation. 583 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,280 This is Philipsis. This is that tribulation that 584 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:24,960 brings a crushing, A pressing affliction, a distress among the 585 00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,840 people. It's that tribulation. 586 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:35,760 Verse 23 says I will, I will kill her children with death and 587 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,040 all the churches will shall know that I am he. 588 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,640 I'm the one that searches the minds and the hearts I will 589 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:46,200 bring a you know, when he says I will kill her children with with 590 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:47,840 death, he's talking. He's not talking about her 591 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,520 natural children. He's talking about her spiritual 592 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,120 children, those children that have been like an offspring to 593 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:55,480 her because they have followed her doctrine. 594 00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:57,840 They've followed her way of doing things. 595 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,320 They've followed her down this path of sin. 596 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:06,320 They have walked with her and they have believed what she says 597 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:09,200 and they have responded to that. Those are the children he's 598 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:11,080 talking about. So I'll kill him with death. 599 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:15,840 I'll bring a plague, I'll bring a, a pestilence that will bring 600 00:39:15,840 --> 00:39:18,320 death. And there's been other times in 601 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:22,840 history where there's been those who have, you know, fallen into 602 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:26,680 sickness and, and some have even died because of their sins. 603 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:30,080 You know, Sapphira and Ananias, they were, they were, they were 604 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,680 dealt with with death. And then you have the, the man 605 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,800 by the, the pool of Bethesda who was healed when Jesus told him, 606 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,200 he said, look, now you've been healed, but now you know, don't 607 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:45,840 go and do this again because you'll have a worse, you know, 608 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,840 there'll be a worse thing come upon you. 609 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,160 Something worse will come upon you. 610 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,800 So there's that threat of sick of, of sin that can bring 611 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:58,480 sickness. And then of course, even with 612 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,600 the table, you know, you know what Jesus talked about in First 613 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,440 Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul talked about in first 614 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,400 Corinthians Chapter 11 when he said that if you, you know, 615 00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:14,560 those who take the cup of the Lord unworthily say because some 616 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:19,480 have, some have fallen sick, some have fallen weak, and some 617 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:26,120 have even slept death. So there can be a severe, deadly 618 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:28,240 consequence. To sin. 619 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,800 So he said all the churches will know that I am he. 620 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:37,320 So he's going to make this thing public so that the churches know 621 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:40,600 that you don't follow along this path because the same thing can 622 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,560 happen to you. The same thing can happen to 623 00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:47,440 you. Using them as an example, using 624 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:49,560 them as an example. And then he goes on. 625 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:51,680 He says that I'm the one that searches the minds and the 626 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:55,680 hearts, and I will give to each one according to their works 24. 627 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,960 24 says, He says that I, you know, now I say to the rest of 628 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:03,240 Thyro terror. Now he's talking about the 629 00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:06,040 people who did not walk down that aisle with them, who did 630 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,560 not go down to sin with them, who did not stand in a way of 631 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:12,040 sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful. 632 00:41:12,160 --> 00:41:14,280 He's talking to these people, OK. 633 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:18,720 And he says here you know to as many of you, and the rest of you 634 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:22,600 in Thyro terror as many has, do not have this doctrine. 635 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:28,040 That she was teaching have not known the depths of Satan, this 636 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:33,920 depths of Satan, because you know, these, these false 637 00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:38,600 prophets were telling the people that it is the depth of Satan 638 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:41,800 that you can, you know, they're just deep things of God that you 639 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,520 can go in and do all these things. 640 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:47,040 You know, you know, other people don't understand, you know, we 641 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,440 have a deeper knowledge of God and a deeper knowledge of his 642 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,800 doctrine and we can go and do thing. 643 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,320 We understand that you can do these things even though the 644 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,080 rest of them may teach something different. 645 00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,240 We got a deeper, I mean, that's what Gnosticism is really about. 646 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:02,600 Like they think of they thought they were really deep people. 647 00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,800 You know, they were deeper than what the Scriptures even said 648 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,360 and they convinced other people that, you know, it's a deep 649 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,160 thing to be able to, you know, to live this kind of life, to 650 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:16,920 understand that my body and my soul has nothing to do with when 651 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:21,720 I can sin with my body, but as long as long as my spirit deep. 652 00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:27,200 But that is nothing. But that's why Jesus said it's 653 00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:30,760 the depths of Satan. You know, there, you know, 654 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:32,880 there's a scripture that says that we can know the deep things 655 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,080 of God. This is the depths of Satan 656 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:40,720 because this is a deception. This is a deception to corrupt 657 00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:45,600 the people of God. And he exposed it. 658 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:50,280 He exposed it as they say. He said I will put on you no 659 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,560 other burden. You know, in other words, you 660 00:42:52,560 --> 00:43:00,000 know, you have already been acknowledged for your love, your 661 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:04,040 service, your faith, your patience. 662 00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:05,800 You've been acknowledged for that. 663 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:08,040 I'm not putting anything else on you. 664 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:09,720 I'm not putting any other burden on you. 665 00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:13,560 I'm, I'm, I'm not slowing down your walk by putting other 666 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:16,120 things on you and putting more responsibilities on you. 667 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,520 No, that's it. Just keep doing what you're 668 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:22,720 doing, but hold fast to what you have. 669 00:43:22,720 --> 00:43:26,000 Till I come, How long? Till I come. 670 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:27,120 And that's what we're waiting for. 671 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:30,080 We're waiting for his blessed return, and because we're 672 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,400 waiting for his blessed return, we have the hope. 673 00:43:32,720 --> 00:43:36,680 Of his return. Which helps us to stay in his 674 00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:41,840 word, to stay in prayer, helps us to watch out for destructive 675 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:46,440 things that will cause us to go astray from God's ways and God's 676 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:49,160 word. And then he says here as we 677 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:54,560 finish up in here, he says and he who overcomes. 678 00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:57,320 And keeps my works until the end. 679 00:43:57,520 --> 00:43:58,920 Praise and worship, teen, you can come forward. 680 00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,720 And keeps my work until the end. To Him I will give power over 681 00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:06,920 the nations. You know, we know that in the 682 00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:12,800 Scriptures. Jesus has said that to those who 683 00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:15,680 endure. If we endure, you know, there's 684 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:17,480 the scriptures that tell us in the epistles. 685 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:20,960 In fact, over in Second Timothy, he tells us that those who 686 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:26,720 endure shall reign with him. If we endure with Him, we shall 687 00:44:26,720 --> 00:44:30,640 reign with him. In Romans chapter 8 tells us 688 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,600 that if we suffer with him, we shall be glorified together with 689 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:38,920 Him. So we will, we will, we will 690 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:42,520 reign with Christ. And will reign the nations, as 691 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:46,280 he says over here in verse. 27 He says he shall rule them with 692 00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,920 a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces 693 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:53,360 like the Potter's vessels, you know, the nations, those who are 694 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:57,040 against God's Word, His word is going to crush them and they 695 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:01,640 will be, you know, almost like drawn into pieces, because he'll 696 00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:04,360 rule with a, with a, with a rod of iron. 697 00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:07,400 This rod of iron is a it's a shepherd's. 698 00:45:07,480 --> 00:45:11,560 It's also like a shepherd's rod, but it's a rod of iron against 699 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:14,680 those who have rejected him, against those who have come up 700 00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:17,640 against him. Psalm 2 tells us about how the 701 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:21,760 kings of the earth will come together and try to attack or 702 00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:24,240 dethrone God. But it's the you know, but he's 703 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:26,840 going to overcome them and Jesus Christ is going to sit on the 704 00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,440 throne. And when he sits on the throne, 705 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:30,800 we the. Church. 706 00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,240 Will reign with him in the Kingdom. 707 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:36,800 Glory to God. That's what we have to look 708 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,080 forward to. That's what we have to look 709 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,320 forward to. He says, as I received from my 710 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:45,680 father, you know, so we know that he received that, that, 711 00:45:45,680 --> 00:45:49,080 that, that the, the right to rule and to judge from his 712 00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:52,560 father. And then he will also share that 713 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:56,840 with us in the Kingdom. And I will give him the morning 714 00:45:56,840 --> 00:45:58,800 star. The morning star is Jesus. 715 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:03,280 The morning star is Jesus. You know the, the star that we 716 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,760 see, right? It's the last star that we may 717 00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:12,120 see in the sky right before dawn comes, right before the light of 718 00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:16,000 dawn comes, there's a star that shines brighter than any other. 719 00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:20,400 It's called the morning star. And Jesus Christ is the morning 720 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:22,800 star because he is going to be the star that shines the 721 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:24,800 brightest. And he will. 722 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:29,440 When he comes in, He's going to usher in the end of all darkness 723 00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:33,200 and all unrighteousness, and he's going to bring in light. 724 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:37,680 And righteousness in the new Kingdom, in the new Kingdom. 725 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:44,280 Then he says here in 29 and we close he who has an ear, let him 726 00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:48,200 hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 727 00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:51,880 You know, there's a lot of things that the church has to 728 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:56,360 deal with and temptation of, of falling into false doctrine is 729 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,040 one of those things. We see a lot of things in the 730 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:02,080 church today, a lot of things that are not godly. 731 00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,480 A lot of very ungodly and people were making decisions all the 732 00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:08,680 time about which direction they're going to take. 733 00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:11,160 It's the word. The only truth is the word of 734 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:14,000 God. The only truth is the word of 735 00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,600 God. And that's why Paul told the 736 00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:20,760 Bereans, listen, don't just stand here and take everything 737 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:22,440 that I said. Paul is saying this. 738 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:28,000 Don't just listen to everything that I take as the absolute 739 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,360 truth. Go in your scriptures and study 740 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:34,360 it out for yourself. The Bereans, he said they were 741 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:37,680 more honorable than anybody else than the Thessalonians. 742 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:40,960 The Thessalonians, they were more honorable because they 743 00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:45,320 searched the scriptures daily. They checked on Paul. 744 00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,520 So we should do that with each other. 745 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:51,760 Don't just take everything that I say. 746 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:53,520 Go back and look at this, study it out. 747 00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:57,720 Make sure what I said was true, it was accurate that it lined 748 00:47:57,720 --> 00:47:59,320 up. And if it didn't? 749 00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:03,920 It's your right to let us know, to let me know It's your right. 750 00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:10,760 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the 751 00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:13,520 churches. So the Lord searches our minds 752 00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:17,560 and He searches our hearts, but He gives us the opportunity to 753 00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:21,920 repent, just like He gave this Jezebel the opportunity to 754 00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,000 repent. So what is it? 755 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:27,360 Is there anything in your heart that the Lord is prompting, that 756 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:31,400 the Lord is letting you know that's there, that's contrary to 757 00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,160 who He is, or contrary to His word? 758 00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:37,240 Is there anything that's there that we should repent for? 759 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:44,800 Is there a pride that keeps us pursuing sin more than we pursue 760 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:48,920 Jesus? If it's there and it's prompting 761 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:51,040 you, letting you know that, repent. 762 00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:57,760 He's a loving, gracious God and He wants to forgive us more than 763 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:04,240 we want to be forgiven. So as we ready for communion, 764 00:49:10,230 --> 00:49:14,110 you know, if I could talk to that church, to people from that 765 00:49:14,110 --> 00:49:18,110 Church of Thyatira, I would ask that church to pray for me. 766 00:49:18,590 --> 00:49:26,310 Pray for us that my heart and that my mind would be able to be 767 00:49:26,310 --> 00:49:30,950 strengthened so that I would not fall into. 768 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:36,560 The temptation of compromise or corruption. 769 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:48,920 I pray that for all of you, I pray for myself, that we will 770 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:53,240 not fall into anything, we will not be tempted to compromise for 771 00:49:53,240 --> 00:50:00,880 anything, but that we would hold on, hold fast to the Word of 772 00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:05,720 God. To the promises of God, I pray 773 00:50:05,720 --> 00:50:11,800 that we can do that and that we encourage each other to stay the 774 00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:15,200 path. Lord Jesus, we thank you for 775 00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:18,720 your word, and we thank you for your sacrifice. 776 00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:24,960 We thank you, Lord, that you gave yourself, that we would 777 00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:29,760 have this salvation, this great salvation, eternal life. 778 00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:36,440 The disciples said to you when you asked if they would turn 779 00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:39,400 away with the others, they said, where will we go? 780 00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:45,960 You have the words of life, and we thank you for that, Lord. 781 00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:53,720 So, Father, on this day, as we remember your sacrifice, we 782 00:50:53,720 --> 00:50:57,320 remember your death, we remember your burial, and we remember 783 00:50:57,320 --> 00:51:02,120 your resurrection. Your sacrifice, Lord, is would 784 00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:05,600 pay the debt for all of our sins. 785 00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,880 And it's because of that Lord that we have eternal life. 786 00:51:13,120 --> 00:51:16,240 So on a night in which Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread. 787 00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:20,240 And then when he gave thanks, he broke it. 788 00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,600 And he said, take, eat. This is my body which is broken 789 00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:26,280 for you. Eat this in remembrance of me. 790 00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:36,600 Same manner he also took the cup, and after supper he said, 791 00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:41,760 This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 792 00:51:43,920 --> 00:51:50,040 Drink this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 793 00:51:56,040 --> 00:51:59,840 As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we do show 794 00:51:59,840 --> 00:52:03,560 the Lord's death till he come. If anybody would like to come up 795 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:07,200 and come before the Lord in prayer, or you can do it right 796 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:13,280 where you are, we all have the given the invitation to repent. 797 00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:15,080 Lord bless you.