Pastor Nate Prazuch, lead pastor at Christ the Word Church in Lakeville, Minnesota, exposits the Scriptures of the Bible verse by verse. Expository teaching and preaching sermons and classes are available here at the Exposit podcast.
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[00:00:20] We're on part four of the Fourth Church in Revelation and from here we'll see what the church in Thyatira had to deal with.
[00:00:30] And so, if you remember back the first week, we looked at the church in Ephesus.
[00:00:35] And Ephesus was a church that had good doctrine and they were concerned about the right things and they were doing good things.
[00:00:43] They had a good church, solid base, but they had lost their first love.
[00:00:46] They lost their first love.
[00:00:48] They forgot how much excitement there was in understanding how it was to feel saved.
[00:00:55] They forgot how much they loved Jesus.
[00:00:58] They were just going through the motions.
[00:01:00] Let me talk about Smyrna, the church that was really being persecuted.
[00:01:04] They were under the thumb of the Jews and the Romans.
[00:01:10] And Christ told them, I know what you're going through.
[00:01:12] And I died and I know a lot of you are facing death.
[00:01:17] But He says, I rose again and you believe in me. You'll rise too.
[00:01:22] And the church in Pergamum last week.
[00:01:24] The church in Pergamum compromised.
[00:01:29] The compromise with the world.
[00:01:31] It became okay with a little sin here, a little sin there.
[00:01:36] And now we see where it leads into the church in Thyatira.
[00:01:44] And I reminded us every week, I think, to think about our church
[00:01:48] and where our church might fall in all these different churches.
[00:01:51] Do we look like Pergamum? Do we look like Ephesus?
[00:01:53] Are we like Thyatira or Smyrna? Where do we fall?
[00:01:58] And a good exercise is also to ask ourselves individually, where do I fall?
[00:02:02] Where does my heart fall? Have I lost my first love?
[00:02:09] So as we look at Thyatira today, be asking yourself these questions.
[00:02:13] If you have your Bibles, please turn to Revelation chapter 2.
[00:02:15] We'll begin reading in verse 18 where the risen Christ is dictating a letter
[00:02:22] written down by the Apostle John.
[00:02:25] Verse 18, we read the words of Jesus.
[00:02:30] He says,
[00:02:30] End of the angel of the church in Thyatira, right?
[00:02:34] The words of the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire
[00:02:38] and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
[00:02:42] I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance
[00:02:45] and that your latter works exceed the first.
[00:02:49] But I have this against you.
[00:02:53] That you tolerate that woman, Jezebel,
[00:02:56] who calls herself a prophetess
[00:02:58] and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality
[00:03:02] and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
[00:03:05] I gave her time to repent,
[00:03:07] but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
[00:03:11] Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed
[00:03:14] and those who commit adultery with her,
[00:03:16] I will throw into great tribulation
[00:03:19] unless they repent of her works
[00:03:21] and I will strike her children dead
[00:03:24] and all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart
[00:03:28] and I will give to each of you according to your works.
[00:03:32] But to the rest of you in Thyatira
[00:03:33] who do not hold this teaching,
[00:03:36] who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan,
[00:03:42] to you I say,
[00:03:43] I do not lay on you any other burden.
[00:03:46] Only hold fast what you have until I come.
[00:03:50] To the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end,
[00:03:53] to him I will give authority over the nations
[00:03:55] and he will rule them with a rod of iron
[00:03:57] as when earthen pots are broken in pieces
[00:04:00] even as I myself have received authority from my Father
[00:04:03] and I will give him the morning star.
[00:04:07] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
[00:04:12] This is the Word of God.
[00:04:14] Let's pray.
[00:04:16] Dear Lord Jesus in Heaven,
[00:04:18] today we're coming before you to hear your words spoken
[00:04:22] to the Apostle John to the church in Thyatira
[00:04:24] and Lord I pray that it touches our hearts individually today as well.
[00:04:28] Last week when we mentioned that your word is living and active
[00:04:32] and so today we can understand and we can expect
[00:04:34] that it will affect our hearts too.
[00:04:36] And so Lord please lead me and guide me
[00:04:39] and guide those who hear this message
[00:04:41] to glorify you in every way in Jesus' name we pray.
[00:04:48] Last week, I see I think Pergamum and Thyatira
[00:04:51] are as they say inextricably connected
[00:04:54] because I think what happens in Pergamum, compromise
[00:04:58] leads to what happens in Thyatira
[00:05:01] as we'll see which is tolerance.
[00:05:05] You can't tolerate something unless you first compromise with it.
[00:05:08] Once you start to compromise things,
[00:05:10] okay I'll be okay with this thing over here, this sin.
[00:05:12] I'll be okay with that.
[00:05:14] Well the next step is now I'm tolerating it.
[00:05:17] And so we'll see here last week we said
[00:05:20] we talked about that frog in the boiling pot.
[00:05:22] He gets in and it's cool water and he's fine.
[00:05:25] He turned up to heat a little bit, a little bit.
[00:05:26] Doesn't notice it's getting hotter and hotter
[00:05:28] and soon enough he's boiled to death.
[00:05:31] And I asked the question back in the 80s,
[00:05:34] remember the old, the band, the Talking Heads?
[00:05:37] They had a song called, I forget the name of it,
[00:05:40] but the first line was how did I get here?
[00:05:42] Remember that?
[00:05:42] You wake up one day and you sing,
[00:05:44] how did I get where I am?
[00:05:45] How did I get here?
[00:05:46] How am I dealing with this sin and I'm okay with it?
[00:05:49] So keep these two churches in mind as we go through
[00:05:51] Thyatira, the second half of this pair.
[00:05:54] Thyatira was in that mail route.
[00:05:57] It was north of Pergamum, about 40, 50 miles.
[00:06:02] It was kind of out of the way.
[00:06:03] It wasn't a really important city in that part of the world.
[00:06:06] It was a smaller city, maybe about 300,000 or 30,000.
[00:06:10] Pergamum was large, 150,000 or more.
[00:06:13] Thyatira didn't have a port.
[00:06:15] It wasn't really a big city of education
[00:06:17] or politics or trade.
[00:06:18] It was just kind of there.
[00:06:19] Why does Jesus pick this church to send a letter to?
[00:06:24] Probably because there was an issue going on there in Thyatira
[00:06:27] that he thought it was important enough to address.
[00:06:33] Back in those days, the first century, Roman Empire,
[00:06:36] paganism ran wild.
[00:06:38] Caesar was considered a god
[00:06:40] and you had to pledge your allegiance to Caesar.
[00:06:44] As long as you did that, you could worship any other god.
[00:06:47] As long as you didn't say that your god was higher than Caesar
[00:06:49] and one of the chosen gods in Thyatira in any way,
[00:06:53] in any... anyway, was Apollo.
[00:06:57] He was considered a sun god
[00:07:00] and this may be why Jesus introduces himself
[00:07:02] here in verse 18 this way.
[00:07:06] Jesus says,
[00:07:07] And to the angel of the church in Thyatira, right?
[00:07:09] The words of the Son of God
[00:07:11] who has eyes like a flame of fire
[00:07:15] and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
[00:07:19] I think in the back of Jesus' mind,
[00:07:21] maybe he was thinking,
[00:07:22] I'll show them who the sun god is.
[00:07:26] I'm the Son of God and I'm coming with flames of fire
[00:07:28] in my eyes and burnished bronze on my feet.
[00:07:33] You think you're a god's warrior?
[00:07:34] Wait till you see me.
[00:07:37] So immediately Jesus calls himself the Son of God
[00:07:40] and if you remember, in Revelation 1,
[00:07:43] Jesus goes through the long introduction
[00:07:45] and he refers to himself over and over, seven different times.
[00:07:49] And now we go through chapters 2 and 3
[00:07:51] and he repeats those introductions for each church.
[00:07:55] He kind of splits them up.
[00:07:56] But in this case, Jesus deviates from chapter 1
[00:07:59] where he calls himself the Son of Man.
[00:08:02] Here in chapter 2 he calls himself the Son of God.
[00:08:06] And so...
[00:08:07] And it's interesting to note that this is the only place
[00:08:09] in Revelation where the phrase,
[00:08:11] Son of God is used.
[00:08:12] And so he uses it here to talk to this church
[00:08:14] for this reason.
[00:08:15] He means business.
[00:08:17] He's making a big, strong point here of who he is
[00:08:23] about Thyatira.
[00:08:25] We also know that from Acts 16, Lydia is from Thyatira.
[00:08:30] She was Paul's first convert in the European continent.
[00:08:33] Perhaps this is where Thyatira's church came from.
[00:08:36] She went back and told her family members
[00:08:38] and they started a church.
[00:08:39] This is decades past that, probably at least 30 years after Acts chapter 2.
[00:08:46] So there probably was somewhat of a church there already.
[00:08:52] She found the one true God in the Gospel message of Paul
[00:08:56] and started a church that lasted at least decades.
[00:08:59] And your first note, if you're taking notes, reflects this.
[00:09:02] It is this, only the Gospel of Jesus Christ
[00:09:05] opens our eyes to see him, the one true God.
[00:09:10] It's the Gospel of Jesus.
[00:09:12] What did Jesus say to Peter when he asked him,
[00:09:15] who do people say that I am?
[00:09:16] And Peter said, well, some think you're this person,
[00:09:18] some think you're that person.
[00:09:19] He says, who do you say that I am?
[00:09:21] Peter says, you're Christ the Christ, the Son of the living God.
[00:09:25] And Jesus said, blessed are you because you didn't learn this from the flesh,
[00:09:28] from man, you learned it from the Father.
[00:09:32] We supernaturally realize from God's work in our hearts and our eyes,
[00:09:37] He opens us to show us who He is.
[00:09:41] This is what happened to Lydia.
[00:09:43] And this is where this church probably came from.
[00:09:47] Moving on to verse 19, Jesus speaks to the church now.
[00:09:50] He says, I know your works, your love and faith and service
[00:09:54] and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
[00:09:57] This church was doing many works,
[00:10:00] and they were doing now more works than they had ever done before.
[00:10:03] They were busy doing good works.
[00:10:08] And in Jesus says, I know that, I see what you're doing.
[00:10:12] They were a loving church.
[00:10:14] He reflects on their love and faith and service
[00:10:15] and patience and endurance.
[00:10:18] They had all these things going for them through tribulation.
[00:10:22] Remember, all these churches were going through the first century
[00:10:25] tribulation of the Roman Empire.
[00:10:27] They're being hunted by Romans.
[00:10:31] Pressure was upon them by the Jews.
[00:10:34] Hard times.
[00:10:35] People were being killed for their faith.
[00:10:38] And this church at least was patiently enduring that.
[00:10:43] And Jesus commends them for their ever-increasing works.
[00:10:46] It's good to do good works.
[00:10:46] We should be doing good works.
[00:10:49] The letter continues, and again we hear the words
[00:10:51] we never want to hear from our Lord Jesus.
[00:10:54] In verse 20, he says,
[00:10:56] But I have this against you.
[00:11:00] We don't want to hear that from Jesus,
[00:11:02] but I have this against you.
[00:11:05] He says, okay, so you say, well what do you have against me?
[00:11:09] That you tolerate that woman Jezebel,
[00:11:13] who calls herself a prophetess
[00:11:15] and is teaching and seducing my servants
[00:11:16] to practice sexual immorality
[00:11:18] and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
[00:11:20] I gave her time to repent,
[00:11:22] but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
[00:11:25] Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed
[00:11:27] and those who commit adultery with her,
[00:11:30] I will throw into great tribulation.
[00:11:32] Unless they repent of her works,
[00:11:36] unless they repent of her works.
[00:11:41] He says, I have this against you.
[00:11:43] What is it?
[00:11:45] You're tolerating something.
[00:11:48] You're putting up with something.
[00:11:49] You're allowing something.
[00:11:51] What is it?
[00:11:51] This woman's teaching in your church.
[00:11:58] And I think it's safe to assume
[00:11:59] probably that Jesus was speaking about a real woman in Thyatira
[00:12:02] that was doing something.
[00:12:04] He's explaining it here, teaching false things,
[00:12:08] gathering followers.
[00:12:10] And it's probably safe to assume also
[00:12:12] that the woman in Thyatira,
[00:12:14] her name probably wasn't Jezebel.
[00:12:16] He's probably using Jezebel as a picture
[00:12:20] of what this woman was like
[00:12:21] because for one reason,
[00:12:23] I don't really think many people were named Jezebel
[00:12:25] for if you know anything about Jezebel.
[00:12:27] It's probably not a great name to name your daughter.
[00:12:30] But it was a way to reflect back
[00:12:32] and Jesus likes to do this.
[00:12:34] We talked about how in the Old Testament
[00:12:35] we get color from the New Testament.
[00:12:38] If the New Testament authors refer back,
[00:12:40] we want to go back and see
[00:12:41] why are they referring back to Jezebel?
[00:12:43] It must be appropriate here.
[00:12:45] If you remember Jezebel
[00:12:48] from back in 1st and 2nd Kings,
[00:12:50] Ahab, King Ahab,
[00:12:50] the king of the Northern Kingdom,
[00:12:52] of Israel, married Jezebel.
[00:12:54] While she was not an Israelite,
[00:12:57] she was a Gentile.
[00:12:58] She was a princess of a Phoenician king,
[00:13:02] Gentile, pagan.
[00:13:03] She had her own belief systems,
[00:13:05] her own religion,
[00:13:07] her own practices that were against
[00:13:09] the practice of the God of Israel's faith.
[00:13:13] And Ahab being a king knew better.
[00:13:17] But he allowed her in.
[00:13:19] He allowed her not only in to his life,
[00:13:22] but allowed her into his home
[00:13:24] and allowed her to bring in her pagan beliefs
[00:13:27] with her false gods.
[00:13:29] He even set up a temple
[00:13:32] and he set up an Asherah pole for worship.
[00:13:38] He compromised for a woman.
[00:13:44] And just like the church in Pergamum,
[00:13:47] he found himself married to this woman.
[00:13:50] Like Pergamum was married to the world.
[00:13:53] Remember that word, syncretism from last week?
[00:13:55] It's trying to combine two different belief systems
[00:13:56] and it just doesn't work.
[00:13:58] He tried to syncretize
[00:14:01] the true faith of the God of Israel
[00:14:03] and her faith.
[00:14:05] Oh, I'll set up an Asherah pole.
[00:14:07] I'll build a temple to your God
[00:14:08] as long as you love me and I love you
[00:14:10] and everything will be fine.
[00:14:13] We try to sell ourselves on that idea.
[00:14:16] But it's not fine.
[00:14:18] It's not fine.
[00:14:19] Ahab found himself one day compromised
[00:14:23] and he probably asked himself at some point,
[00:14:25] how did I get here?
[00:14:27] What was it?
[00:14:29] Was it infatuation with this woman?
[00:14:31] It could be for us infatuation with a pursuit in life.
[00:14:35] Could be a different, a love interest.
[00:14:37] Could be anything.
[00:14:39] But he found out that he loved this worldly woman
[00:14:42] more than he loved God.
[00:14:45] And he made decisions by that.
[00:14:48] Your next note says,
[00:14:51] the more you love the world,
[00:14:53] the less you will love the Lord.
[00:14:56] And it works the other way too.
[00:14:57] The more you love the Lord,
[00:14:58] the less you love the world,
[00:14:59] you realize, you know,
[00:15:00] the world really doesn't have
[00:15:01] what I thought it had to offer me.
[00:15:03] And you might realize this
[00:15:04] by getting older through life
[00:15:07] and seeing how things really don't pan out
[00:15:10] or you might realize
[00:15:11] because you're growing
[00:15:12] and you're loving love for the Lord
[00:15:14] just shows you, you know,
[00:15:15] this is more important to me.
[00:15:17] I need to know where I'm going when I die,
[00:15:19] what happens.
[00:15:20] I need to have a better relationship
[00:15:22] with my family, my wife, my kids.
[00:15:24] And that's more important
[00:15:25] than this thing, this person,
[00:15:27] or anything like that.
[00:15:29] But Abraham did compromise
[00:15:32] the true faith in God
[00:15:35] with his love for a worldly woman.
[00:15:38] Again from last week,
[00:15:39] God hates the mixture.
[00:15:40] That's why he shows us.
[00:15:41] Don't yoke an ox with a donkey.
[00:15:44] It's not going to work out.
[00:15:46] Don't mix fabrics.
[00:15:47] Don't mix seeds.
[00:15:48] All these strange laws.
[00:15:51] Why?
[00:15:51] He says, because I don't want
[00:15:52] my faith being mixed with anything.
[00:15:54] It's a pure faith.
[00:15:55] Keep it that way.
[00:15:56] Don't mix in paganism.
[00:15:58] You're going to be confused
[00:15:59] about who you're serving.
[00:16:01] Don't mix.
[00:16:03] Look at 1 John chapter 2.
[00:16:06] John writes,
[00:16:07] Do not love the world
[00:16:08] or the things in the world
[00:16:11] if anyone loves the world.
[00:16:14] The love of the Father
[00:16:15] is not in him.
[00:16:19] For all that is in the world,
[00:16:21] the desires of the flesh
[00:16:22] and the desires of the eyes
[00:16:24] and the pride of life
[00:16:24] is not from the Father
[00:16:26] but is from the world.
[00:16:28] And the world is passing away
[00:16:30] along with its desires.
[00:16:33] But whoever does the will of God
[00:16:34] abides forever.
[00:16:40] It says here in the ESV
[00:16:41] the desires of the flesh,
[00:16:43] the desires of the eyes.
[00:16:44] But we've heard it before too,
[00:16:45] the lust of the flesh,
[00:16:46] the lust of the eyes,
[00:16:48] the pride of life.
[00:16:50] That's how Satan tempted
[00:16:51] even the garden.
[00:16:53] And Adam and Eve went for it.
[00:16:55] They compromised on one bite
[00:16:56] of a fruit.
[00:16:58] I'll just have one bite
[00:17:01] and it threw humanity
[00:17:02] into sin.
[00:17:05] Just one bite did that.
[00:17:07] That's where compromise leads.
[00:17:10] I know it's just one step off
[00:17:11] the path of holiness
[00:17:13] or of righteousness.
[00:17:14] But where does the path lead?
[00:17:16] Because you don't ever just
[00:17:17] take one step on a journey.
[00:17:21] And after you take one step,
[00:17:22] two steps, a hundred steps
[00:17:24] you're going to get used to that.
[00:17:26] It's not going to seem so bad.
[00:17:29] And it's going to become a pattern
[00:17:30] and it's going to become a habit
[00:17:31] and then it's just going to become
[00:17:32] second nature.
[00:17:33] And then you're going to
[00:17:34] tolerate it.
[00:17:37] It's that one bite,
[00:17:38] that first bite,
[00:17:39] abehab compromised.
[00:17:41] The convictions of the God
[00:17:43] of Israel to Jezebel.
[00:17:47] He was spiritually unfaithful
[00:17:49] to God.
[00:17:51] We call that spiritual adultery.
[00:17:53] That's why so much is said
[00:17:54] in the Old Testament
[00:17:55] about adultery, sexual
[00:17:57] immorality, faithfulness.
[00:18:01] Think about the closest union
[00:18:02] we understand on earth
[00:18:03] is between a husband and wife.
[00:18:05] The Bible says they become
[00:18:06] one flesh.
[00:18:08] And if one betrays another,
[00:18:10] like Mike you mentioned
[00:18:11] in communion, Jesus knew
[00:18:13] betrayal was coming.
[00:18:14] Betrayal is hard to take.
[00:18:16] If your wife or your husband
[00:18:18] betrays that bond,
[00:18:20] that hurts a lot.
[00:18:22] God uses this picture
[00:18:23] because he understands
[00:18:24] we understand that.
[00:18:26] He says this is how I view
[00:18:27] when you serve other gods
[00:18:28] or other things.
[00:18:31] You're committing adultery
[00:18:32] against me.
[00:18:36] It's important.
[00:18:38] Ahab committed spiritual
[00:18:40] adultery because he allowed
[00:18:43] the worship of other gods
[00:18:44] in his kingdom, in his home,
[00:18:46] in his marriage.
[00:18:47] And God says don't do that.
[00:18:51] So just by leading
[00:18:54] Jezebel into his home,
[00:18:55] what do we think would happen?
[00:18:59] We know about Jezebel
[00:19:00] and First Kings that she cut
[00:19:02] off the prophets of the Lord.
[00:19:05] We know that she even killed
[00:19:06] many prophets of the Lord.
[00:19:09] King Ahab built a temple
[00:19:10] to bail in the capital city
[00:19:12] of Samaria.
[00:19:13] He built an Asherah pole
[00:19:15] for pagan worship because
[00:19:16] of his love for this woman,
[00:19:19] which led to him
[00:19:21] compromising with her beliefs,
[00:19:23] which led to the people
[00:19:24] of the northern kingdom
[00:19:25] compromising.
[00:19:26] And they thought well
[00:19:27] that the king's doing it
[00:19:28] must be okay.
[00:19:29] And that led to tolerating evil
[00:19:32] not only in his home,
[00:19:33] in his marriage,
[00:19:34] but in the nation of Israel.
[00:19:37] It led to tolerating evil
[00:19:38] of a nation.
[00:19:40] One man loved one woman
[00:19:44] and a nation fell.
[00:19:48] In 2 Kings chapter 9
[00:19:49] we read about Jezebel's demise.
[00:19:52] God anointed three men,
[00:19:53] one of them was Jehu,
[00:19:55] to judge Ahab Jezebel.
[00:20:00] In 2 Kings chapter 9 we read
[00:20:02] when Jehu came to Jezreel,
[00:20:03] Jezebel heard of it.
[00:20:06] And she painted her eyes
[00:20:06] in a dorned her head
[00:20:07] and looked out the window
[00:20:08] so she was getting all done up
[00:20:10] because she knows
[00:20:10] a man is coming to judge me.
[00:20:12] Maybe I can seduce him.
[00:20:15] Verse 31,
[00:20:16] and as Jehu entered the gate
[00:20:18] she said,
[00:20:19] Is it peace?
[00:20:20] Use Zimri murderer
[00:20:21] of your master.
[00:20:22] And he lifted up his face
[00:20:23] to the window
[00:20:24] and said,
[00:20:24] Who's on my side?
[00:20:25] Who's with me?
[00:20:26] I come in the name of Jesus
[00:20:27] or of the Lord.
[00:20:29] Who's with me?
[00:20:31] Two or three eunuchs
[00:20:32] looked at him.
[00:20:34] Verse 33,
[00:20:34] he said,
[00:20:35] Throw her down.
[00:20:36] She was looking out
[00:20:37] of a tower window.
[00:20:38] Saw Jehu coming.
[00:20:40] He saw her
[00:20:41] and he gave her a decision.
[00:20:43] Are you with me or not?
[00:20:45] I come in the name
[00:20:45] of the God of Israel.
[00:20:46] Are you with me or not?
[00:20:47] She said nothing.
[00:20:49] He said,
[00:20:50] Throw her down.
[00:20:52] So they threw her down.
[00:20:54] And some of her blood
[00:20:55] spattered on the wall
[00:20:56] and on the horses
[00:20:57] and they trampled on her.
[00:21:00] Then he went in
[00:21:01] and ate and drank.
[00:21:03] Jehu is there
[00:21:04] on a business trip.
[00:21:06] He's taking care
[00:21:07] of God's business.
[00:21:08] God told me to come
[00:21:09] and judge.
[00:21:09] He happened to judge.
[00:21:12] And he said,
[00:21:13] See now to this cursed woman
[00:21:15] and bury her
[00:21:16] for she's a king's daughter.
[00:21:17] She deserves a burial.
[00:21:20] But when they went
[00:21:21] to bury her
[00:21:22] they found no more
[00:21:23] of her than the skull
[00:21:25] and the feet
[00:21:25] and the palms of her hands.
[00:21:29] Verse 36
[00:21:30] When they came back
[00:21:31] and told him, he said,
[00:21:32] This is the word of the Lord
[00:21:33] which he spoke by a servant
[00:21:34] Elijah the Tishbite.
[00:21:36] In the territory of Jezreel
[00:21:37] the dogs shall eat
[00:21:39] the flesh of Jezebel.
[00:21:42] And the corpse of Jezebel
[00:21:43] shall be as dung
[00:21:44] on the face
[00:21:45] of the field
[00:21:46] in the territory of Jezreel
[00:21:47] so that no one can say
[00:21:49] this is Jezebel.
[00:21:53] Elijah prophesied
[00:21:55] the dogs will eat this woman
[00:21:57] and there won't even be enough
[00:21:58] to bury for someone later
[00:22:00] to come by
[00:22:00] and honor her grave.
[00:22:08] Her death happened
[00:22:08] just as the prophet Elijah
[00:22:10] had said in 1 Kings 2.
[00:22:11] He said,
[00:22:12] And of Jezebel
[00:22:13] the Lord also said
[00:22:14] the dogs shall eat Jezebel
[00:22:16] within the walls of Jezreel.
[00:22:18] This is how Jezebel
[00:22:21] is memorialized
[00:22:22] forever in Scripture.
[00:22:27] Not a good woman.
[00:22:29] Not a good teacher.
[00:22:32] Not someone to follow.
[00:22:35] So why do you think
[00:22:36] Jesus references Jezebel
[00:22:38] in this little church
[00:22:39] on off the beaten path
[00:22:42] so long after Jezebel
[00:22:44] lived and died?
[00:22:47] Probably for a good purpose
[00:22:51] because they were doing
[00:22:53] what Ahab and Israel
[00:22:54] were doing.
[00:22:55] They were tolerating it.
[00:22:57] He says,
[00:22:58] Don't put up with that anymore.
[00:23:00] It happened once
[00:23:01] and look what happened.
[00:23:02] Look who you're following.
[00:23:03] Look where it leads you
[00:23:04] and in the verses previous to this
[00:23:06] He says, I will come and punish the people, not only Jezebel, the people who are following her.
[00:23:13] So we don't have the excuse to say, well they taught me this wrong thing.
[00:23:16] I was just following my leader.
[00:23:19] Like in the trials at Nuremberg, a lot of the German soldiers was just following orders.
[00:23:26] Well you know what? That doesn't cut it.
[00:23:29] You know better.
[00:23:31] Jesus came to Thyre Tyrant and says, you know better.
[00:23:35] And I'm going to hold you to account for it.
[00:23:40] They were tolerating sin.
[00:23:41] So he picked the biggest, brightest billboard from the Old Testament of what it looked like in Thyre Tyrant.
[00:23:48] And he says that's what you're doing.
[00:23:50] They were tolerating sin and God will not tolerate sin in his church.
[00:23:54] What is a church?
[00:23:55] It's not just a building.
[00:23:57] It's you.
[00:23:57] It's the people.
[00:23:58] It's the congregation of believers.
[00:24:00] He will not tolerate sin in the congregation of believers.
[00:24:05] I think it was Ray Comfort from Living Waters Ministry said,
[00:24:09] Don't mistake in God's patience with his permission.
[00:24:15] Just because you're allowed to do something for a while doesn't mean God's okay with it.
[00:24:19] He gave Jezebel time to repent, but at some point judgment's coming and judgment's always coming.
[00:24:32] And all sin will be judged.
[00:24:36] So why should we tolerate sin?
[00:24:38] Because we all do.
[00:24:41] We all tolerate sin in our workplace, in our church, in our lives.
[00:24:47] Somewhere.
[00:24:48] Because we're not perfect.
[00:24:53] And as we saw from last week in Pergamum to this week in Thyre Tyrant because they're linked,
[00:24:58] your next note says our compromise with sin leads to our tolerance of sin.
[00:25:05] I don't know which one's worse.
[00:25:07] Our compromise of sin leads to our tolerance of sin.
[00:25:13] And before we know it, we find ourselves comfortable with sin.
[00:25:16] God forbid.
[00:25:20] God forbid we're comfortable with sin.
[00:25:22] Who's comfortable with sin?
[00:25:23] You know who's comfortable with sin?
[00:25:25] Satan.
[00:25:26] And his kingdom.
[00:25:27] That's who's comfortable with it.
[00:25:30] We don't want to follow Satan.
[00:25:34] He comes up in this passage in verse or two.
[00:25:40] I prayed about this next portion, whether I should include it.
[00:25:43] But I'm going to include it.
[00:25:45] Because it's public knowledge.
[00:25:48] It's in the newspapers.
[00:25:50] Just over the past few years.
[00:25:52] Now you can go back to the beginning of all time.
[00:25:54] But just in the past few years, two or three years, we've seen many big names.
[00:26:01] In Christian popular culture fall.
[00:26:07] Big names.
[00:26:09] And these people are falling not because they didn't put enough postage on their mail.
[00:26:16] They're falling for big reasons.
[00:26:18] Allegations and admissions and confessions of things like sexual misconduct.
[00:26:24] I'm talking about pastors and churches.
[00:26:28] Financial misconduct, abuse of subordinates, adultery, swindling, spiritual abuse, child sex abuse.
[00:26:38] And it goes on and on.
[00:26:40] These people have millions of followers.
[00:26:47] And they're all brought on by falling to temptations, compromising to sin.
[00:26:52] Little bit here, little bit there.
[00:26:53] Then tolerating it for a while.
[00:26:54] The next thing you know, you've got a big congregation.
[00:26:56] And the next thing you know, judgment comes.
[00:27:00] And the light comes.
[00:27:04] These people are like you and me.
[00:27:06] They're humans.
[00:27:07] They're tempted by greed or lust or fame or fortune or notoriety, whatever it may be.
[00:27:17] We know the names on this list.
[00:27:18] These are just some A-listers.
[00:27:24] You know, IHOP, Kansas City, International House of Prayer, Mike Bickel, last, I think it was this year, resigned.
[00:27:33] Robert Morris from Gateway Church in Texas.
[00:27:35] Big congregation.
[00:27:36] A lot of books written, resigned.
[00:27:41] Tony Evans, father of Priscilla Scheyer from Dallas, Texas, resigned.
[00:27:47] Carl Lentz from Hillsong in New York.
[00:27:49] Brian Houston from Hillsong in Australia.
[00:27:52] Hundreds of millions of people know these people.
[00:27:54] I mean, the Hillsong Music, Mark Driscoll from Morris Hill Church.
[00:28:00] I mean, these people were frontliners.
[00:28:03] T.D. Jakes from the Potter's House in Dallas.
[00:28:07] These are a few.
[00:28:09] And there's more that we've never heard their names, but they have congregations, big ones.
[00:28:16] They compromise their faith with something else, anything else, with sin.
[00:28:21] Somewhere along the line.
[00:28:24] And I'm no better than them, neither are any of us, but this just goes to show you that it doesn't matter how good you think you have it.
[00:28:33] You got to stay sharp to sin, because it's going to infiltrate.
[00:28:40] That's what it does.
[00:28:43] Somewhere along the line they woke up and they realized they were tolerating sin, but probably a little too late.
[00:28:49] They probably realized a little too late.
[00:28:53] The Lord will not tolerate sin.
[00:28:55] He was patient with these people for a while.
[00:28:58] I'm sure they had plenty of opportunity to repent or change or something.
[00:29:02] But at some point, like Jezebel, they refused and he came and he doled out some judgment.
[00:29:11] They tolerated sin too long.
[00:29:13] So why should we?
[00:29:17] Why should we?
[00:29:18] Your next note says, God's people should love the things God loves and also hate the things God hates.
[00:29:27] We can't just love the things God loves and call the day.
[00:29:30] We have to hate the things He hates.
[00:29:34] Sin, unholiness, worldliness.
[00:29:40] Now we should be praying for all these men and all their congregations because I pray that they find true repentance.
[00:29:48] I don't know any of their hearts.
[00:29:49] I don't.
[00:29:50] And we should be praying for their flocks, their followers because their followers as Jesus said will also be judged because they should have known better.
[00:29:57] So you should all know better.
[00:30:00] Don't just take my word for anything.
[00:30:02] Check it out in Scripture.
[00:30:03] One of the greatest models I've ever heard.
[00:30:06] Read your Bible.
[00:30:08] It's kind of a boring model.
[00:30:10] But it's a good one.
[00:30:11] Read your Bible.
[00:30:13] Don't get it from me.
[00:30:15] I shouldn't be your only source of truth.
[00:30:20] We should be praying for their flocks not to attribute those actions of those men to Jesus because it's easy enough to walk away from a pastor or a church.
[00:30:28] But God forbid, don't walk away from Jesus for something a guy did or a girl did.
[00:30:33] That's not Jesus.
[00:30:34] They didn't live up to what they were supposed to do.
[00:30:37] Jesus won't ever let you down.
[00:30:39] You could leave a church or a bad leader like a Jezebel over here, but don't leave Jesus.
[00:30:48] So we should pray for them, pray for their churches and we should also shudder.
[00:30:53] And I should also shudder and pray that it never happens to this church or to me because it can because I'm human.
[00:31:05] And so are you.
[00:31:07] That's why pastors always say, they say things like, I covet your prayers.
[00:31:12] It's kind of a weird thing to say because we're not supposed to covet, but we really appreciate your prayers because the devil likes to attack leaders.
[00:31:21] And so we appreciate your prayers.
[00:31:25] So this woman in Thyatira, a real woman, Jesus symbolically calls her Jezebel.
[00:31:30] He says she calls herself a prophetess.
[00:31:33] It's like saying, well, she calls herself a preacher, but she's not speaking for me.
[00:31:38] Note here that a prophet or a prophetess doesn't just refer to a person that can tell the future or that like a fortune teller.
[00:31:47] A prophet or a prophetess in Scripture is one who speaks for God through either direct revelation like the Old Testament prophets Ezekiel and Elijah and Moses,
[00:31:56] or by special revelation, special revelation is something like the Scriptures.
[00:32:02] The Scriptures aren't found in nature.
[00:32:04] A tree is found in nature.
[00:32:05] But the Scriptures are not found in nature.
[00:32:08] They're given to us by God, written down through the hand of man, guided by the Holy Spirit.
[00:32:14] The Scriptures are special revelation.
[00:32:16] The life of Christ, special revelation.
[00:32:19] So a pastor on a Sunday morning is prophesying because he's speaking God's word to other people, his truth.
[00:32:27] Now if you're on a Sunday morning and you're preaching something but it's not God's word,
[00:32:32] well, you might be preaching but it's not God's word. You're not a prophet of God.
[00:32:36] That's what's happening here.
[00:32:37] She was in the position to be leading and she was getting followers.
[00:32:41] She's calling herself a prophetess, but Jesus says she's no prophetess because she's not speaking for me.
[00:32:46] Look at what she's teaching.
[00:32:52] Thyatira was not facing the same external threat that Smyrna was from the outside.
[00:32:57] Thyatira was facing a threat from the inside.
[00:33:00] So we have to be aware of that too.
[00:33:01] There can be threats within our churches, not just from without.
[00:33:12] Thyatira was a loving church and they were faithful in service and they were patiently enduring.
[00:33:18] It seemed like a good church to be a part of, a lot of love and probably joyful and they had songs.
[00:33:24] But it seems here that there weren't really concern with doctrine at all.
[00:33:28] It's kind of the opposite of Ephesus.
[00:33:30] Ephesus had the doctrine down but they didn't really have love.
[00:33:33] They lost the love.
[00:33:35] So you can't have this but not that, but you can't have this but not that.
[00:33:40] Jesus says there's a good way to do everything here.
[00:33:44] You need the Sond doctrine but you need the love.
[00:33:47] And if you just have love and you let everything go, well that's no good either.
[00:33:50] You're tolerating sin.
[00:33:52] There's a way to do this.
[00:33:53] This is my church.
[00:33:55] When I say me I'm speaking like I'm Jesus.
[00:33:57] Jesus is telling the church in Thyatira this is my church, the church of Jesus.
[00:34:01] And I want it to be done a certain way he says.
[00:34:05] Church in Thyatira if it was around today, it would be considered a worldly church.
[00:34:10] We would probably call it a liberal church.
[00:34:16] What does that mean?
[00:34:16] Well Christian author David Wells wrote this and this is your next note.
[00:34:20] It says, worldliness works to make sin look normal and righteousness looks strange.
[00:34:27] What do they call Christians these days?
[00:34:29] Well you're strange people.
[00:34:31] You're not normal people.
[00:34:32] You look different than the world.
[00:34:34] Yeah like last week that's the point.
[00:34:36] What is normal for the world changes from day to day?
[00:34:41] It changes throughout the decades.
[00:34:43] First this is normal and then that's normal.
[00:34:45] Jesus says here's my standard.
[00:34:48] This will never change.
[00:34:51] Worldliness seeks to make sin look normal.
[00:34:55] Whatever you want, I'll affirm wherever you're at.
[00:34:58] You want to molest children and that's cool with you.
[00:35:00] Hey who might have judged?
[00:35:02] We all know that's wrong.
[00:35:04] Jesus is going to judge that.
[00:35:06] He says you know better.
[00:35:11] Christians are not called to be normal.
[00:35:15] We're called to be righteous.
[00:35:19] If the church in Thyatira were here today, it may have had a rainbow flag out front.
[00:35:25] You know the rainbow is a symbol of God's symbol, God's promise.
[00:35:29] I'll never destroy the world again by a flood.
[00:35:32] That's God's symbol.
[00:35:33] But nowadays we see a rainbow flag in the front of a church.
[00:35:36] We all know what that means.
[00:35:40] Or the signs that say all are welcome here.
[00:35:41] Well we all know what that means.
[00:35:43] I want to have a church where all are welcome here.
[00:35:46] But if you see a sign, we understand there's a difference with that.
[00:35:52] Churches like that in my own opinion might as well have a sign on the front that says
[00:35:57] sin tolerated here, come as you are and never change.
[00:36:01] We won't hold you to any belief system.
[00:36:04] If you want to come and just be as you are which is fine.
[00:36:07] But God's going to call you to change if you're living a sinful life.
[00:36:12] And you know what?
[00:36:13] Their message is well received, isn't it?
[00:36:19] The message is well received and the pews are full
[00:36:22] and they're full of people who think they're Christian.
[00:36:27] But they deny Christ in His teachings.
[00:36:31] And I always say that's the most dangerous place to be.
[00:36:34] To think you're Christian when you're not.
[00:36:40] What would Jesus say to those churches today
[00:36:43] if he came, wrote a letter to them?
[00:36:45] I think it might sound a little bit like this.
[00:36:49] And we say, like we're looking at Jezebel here,
[00:36:51] we understand you know the fruit, you know them by their fruit.
[00:36:57] The Bible says we know them by their fruit.
[00:36:59] Well what is fruit?
[00:37:00] Well it doesn't mean that you have thousands and tens of thousands in your congregations.
[00:37:04] Obviously we saw these people fall.
[00:37:07] That had tens of thousands of people in their congregations or more.
[00:37:10] That's not fruit.
[00:37:12] The fruit of a prophet, teacher, pastor is their teaching.
[00:37:17] Their doctrine.
[00:37:18] You'll know them by their teaching.
[00:37:20] Does it line up with scripture or not?
[00:37:22] If it does, you know them.
[00:37:24] And the Bible says a bad tree cannot produce good fruit and vice versa.
[00:37:31] The fruit of this teacher Jezebel in Thyatera
[00:37:36] showed who she was.
[00:37:38] She's teaching the practice of sexual immorality
[00:37:43] and she's allowing this food to be sacrificed to idols
[00:37:48] and to be eaten and things to be done that are against God's will and His word.
[00:37:54] That's an easy fruit to determine she's not of God.
[00:37:59] Jesus gave her time to repent, she refused
[00:38:01] and Jesus not only tells the church that he'll punish her
[00:38:04] but that he'll punish her followers.
[00:38:07] So again it's a warning to us to be careful who you're following.
[00:38:11] Check it with the scripture because he's going to hold you to account
[00:38:16] because we should know better.
[00:38:19] And not only that but it says he will throw them in the great tribulation
[00:38:23] and when he says her children, he's talking about the people who follow her.
[00:38:28] Not her kids, her followers.
[00:38:31] Verse 23, Jesus continues
[00:38:34] And I will strike her children dead
[00:38:37] and all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart
[00:38:41] and I will give each of you according to your works.
[00:38:44] I will give each of you according to your works.
[00:38:46] I remember and I don't know if it was an old proverb from somewhere
[00:38:50] when something like this,
[00:38:54] may you receive what you're pursuing.
[00:39:00] So for some people that would be a good thing.
[00:39:04] You'd like to hear that blessing.
[00:39:05] May you receive what you pursue
[00:39:08] because I'm pursuing righteousness let's say.
[00:39:10] And the Beatitudes, one of the Beatitudes,
[00:39:12] blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
[00:39:17] That'd be a good thing.
[00:39:18] May you receive it.
[00:39:19] But in the back of the mind of the person that hears
[00:39:22] may you get what you're looking for.
[00:39:25] Maybe they know boy I'm on a bad track
[00:39:27] and I've been pursuing some bad stuff
[00:39:28] and I hope I don't get what I'm looking for actually.
[00:39:31] I just want a little taste.
[00:39:33] I just want one bite.
[00:39:36] The old proverb says may you get what you're looking for.
[00:39:39] May you receive it.
[00:39:41] So it should have us check ourselves.
[00:39:43] What am I pursuing?
[00:39:44] What road am I on?
[00:39:46] Maybe I have to go back and turn around and repent.
[00:39:51] That could be heard as a blessing or a curse
[00:39:54] because we are going to be held to account
[00:39:57] for our deeds and who we follow.
[00:40:01] Because our deeds will affect other people too
[00:40:04] like these fallen pastors.
[00:40:06] Their deeds affected a lot of people
[00:40:08] and they hurt a lot of people.
[00:40:10] And some of them I'm sure walked away from that church
[00:40:13] and from God at least for a time.
[00:40:17] Careful what you do
[00:40:18] because your deeds will affect others.
[00:40:24] It could be an encouraging message or a foreboding one.
[00:40:28] It could make us rejoice.
[00:40:29] May I receive what I'm pursuing?
[00:40:31] Yes, praise God.
[00:40:32] Or it could make you shudder.
[00:40:38] Verse 24
[00:40:40] But to the rest of you in Thyatira
[00:40:43] who do not hold this teaching
[00:40:46] who have not learned what some call
[00:40:48] the deep things of Satan
[00:40:51] to you I say
[00:40:53] I do not lay on you any other burden
[00:40:56] only hold fast to what you have until I come.
[00:41:00] There were those in Thyatira
[00:41:01] who did not hold to the teaching of Jezebel.
[00:41:04] He's talking to these people.
[00:41:06] He says I'm not going to give you anything
[00:41:07] more to do any other burden.
[00:41:09] Hold fast to your true faith
[00:41:11] like you've been doing.
[00:41:12] I know it's hard.
[00:41:14] There were probably 30,000 people in Thyatira
[00:41:16] they say so this church they said
[00:41:18] might have been a couple thousand people
[00:41:20] spread throughout the
[00:41:22] not in one building but spread throughout the city
[00:41:24] maybe a tenth which is actually a large percentage
[00:41:26] in that time.
[00:41:28] So Jesus is saying I understand
[00:41:31] it's hard to change things in a church
[00:41:34] but keep the faith
[00:41:37] hold fast while this is happening
[00:41:38] because judgment's coming.
[00:41:40] Stay strong with me.
[00:41:44] Amidst all the unholiness
[00:41:45] even within their church
[00:41:46] he said just stay strong.
[00:41:48] I know who you are
[00:41:50] because something was going on in that church
[00:41:52] in Thyatira that little off the road place
[00:41:57] that Jesus refers to
[00:42:00] as having something to do with
[00:42:02] the deep things of Satan.
[00:42:08] That phrase is not found anywhere else in scripture
[00:42:10] the deep things of Satan.
[00:42:13] Well we're not talking about child sacrifice here
[00:42:16] we're not talking about
[00:42:18] something that bad are we God?
[00:42:22] This is how serious God takes
[00:42:24] tolerating sin in the church
[00:42:26] this is the deep things of Satan he said
[00:42:29] if you're doing these things
[00:42:30] they're satanic things
[00:42:33] combining the true worship of God
[00:42:35] with other things
[00:42:37] he says that's the gospel of Satan
[00:42:40] to lie to you and say you're a Christian
[00:42:45] and you're not
[00:42:46] that's of Satan.
[00:42:48] He says these are deep things of Satan
[00:42:52] be careful
[00:42:54] this is serious
[00:42:59] this is serious
[00:43:04] verse 26
[00:43:05] Jesus says the one who conquers
[00:43:08] and who keeps my works until the end
[00:43:10] to him I will give authority over the nations
[00:43:13] and he will rule them with a rod of iron
[00:43:15] as when earthen pots are broken into pieces
[00:43:18] even as I myself have received authority
[00:43:20] from my father
[00:43:22] the one who conquers
[00:43:25] well who's that?
[00:43:26] I haven't conquered many people have you
[00:43:28] we conquer because we're in Christ
[00:43:32] and Christ has conquered sin and death
[00:43:34] the one who conquers Christ
[00:43:37] if we believe through faith in Christ
[00:43:39] we're in Christ
[00:43:41] we're considered conquerors
[00:43:43] in fact we're considered more than conquerors
[00:43:46] we conquer through our faith in Christ
[00:43:48] because he has conquered
[00:43:52] in Psalm 110 the most
[00:43:56] referenced
[00:43:56] Psalm the most referenced Old Testament scripture
[00:44:00] in the New Testament
[00:44:00] Psalm 110 says all of his enemies
[00:44:03] are put under his footstool
[00:44:05] all of his enemies
[00:44:08] will be put at his feet
[00:44:09] that's a conqueror
[00:44:11] and we are heirs to that conquering
[00:44:14] if we're in Christ through faith
[00:44:16] your next note says all of our enemies
[00:44:19] are conquered
[00:44:20] if we are in Christ through faith
[00:44:22] all of your enemies are conquered
[00:44:26] if we're in Christ through faith
[00:44:28] not through hard work
[00:44:30] not through believing in yourself
[00:44:31] not through being a better person
[00:44:33] through faith in Christ
[00:44:35] that's how you're a conqueror
[00:44:38] verse 28
[00:44:54] I like to let scripture interpret scripture
[00:44:56] we should always do that
[00:44:57] Revelation 22 at the end of the book
[00:45:01] Jesus again speaking
[00:45:02] he says
[00:45:13] well there you go
[00:45:15] who's the morning star?
[00:45:16] Jesus Christ
[00:45:21] to those who have faith in Christ
[00:45:23] will receive Christ
[00:45:25] you may say well I thought
[00:45:28] I thought the morning star was Lucifer
[00:45:29] remember that does that come up at all in your mind at all
[00:45:33] because if it did you might be thinking about Isaiah 14
[00:45:35] and I want to address that
[00:45:37] because it came up today
[00:45:39] Isaiah 14 some people say
[00:45:41] well this is Lucifer
[00:45:42] here's what it says
[00:45:44] how you are fallen from heaven
[00:45:46] O day star son of dawn
[00:45:53] the idea of a morning star is to point out
[00:45:56] that how can there be a star in the morning
[00:45:57] because it's a star that out shines every other star
[00:46:00] you can be seen basically in the daytime
[00:46:02] that's Jesus
[00:46:04] a star that out shines all the others
[00:46:05] Revelation the book we're looking at
[00:46:08] was written in Greek
[00:46:09] the direct translation of this
[00:46:13] term morning star
[00:46:16] is actually easy morning star
[00:46:18] it's easy
[00:46:20] Isaiah was written in Hebrew
[00:46:22] different language
[00:46:24] direct translation from the Hebrew
[00:46:26] to English is bright star
[00:46:30] bright star
[00:46:32] so in the Hebrew you have a word in Hebrew
[00:46:35] Greek you have a word in Greek
[00:46:36] in our English at least
[00:46:38] in my recollection
[00:46:39] in the English as I grew up I learned this
[00:46:43] question of well morning star
[00:46:45] Lucifer's called morning star
[00:46:46] Jesus is called morning star
[00:46:47] who is it what's all that about
[00:46:49] kind of like one of these questions we might want to ask on a Tuesday night
[00:46:51] what's that about
[00:46:54] the Bible gives us answers
[00:46:56] in the Old Testament
[00:46:59] written in Hebrew
[00:47:02] the ones we all grew up reading said
[00:47:04] something like this
[00:47:05] morning star
[00:47:08] shining star
[00:47:09] the Old Testament English translations would say day star
[00:47:11] even Lucifer that name just means
[00:47:14] light giver or light bringer
[00:47:15] son of the dawn
[00:47:18] shining one even infamous one
[00:47:20] that means famous in a not good way
[00:47:22] those are all Old Testament
[00:47:24] Hebrew translations to English
[00:47:26] that we may have been familiar with growing up
[00:47:28] it was about 8 or so
[00:47:31] and remember
[00:47:32] Isaiah 14
[00:47:33] is talking about the king of Babylon
[00:47:35] it's addressing the king of Babylon
[00:47:37] not is that Satan no
[00:47:38] was he maybe in cahoots with Satan to some degree
[00:47:41] probably but it's written to that man
[00:47:45] is it morning star Satan
[00:47:52] here's the Greek
[00:47:54] I looked at 30
[00:47:55] different Bible translations in the Greek for this term
[00:47:59] Revelation 228
[00:48:00] where Jesus is talking about the morning star
[00:48:02] you believe in me I'll give you the morning star
[00:48:04] who's the morning star 30 translations
[00:48:06] they all say morning star
[00:48:09] Jesus is the morning star
[00:48:10] there's no question about it
[00:48:14] so people say well I think you're talking about Lucifer
[00:48:16] no this is Jesus Christ
[00:48:19] we got it from his own words in chapter 22
[00:48:21] we have 30 different translations
[00:48:23] the exact same way Jesus is the morning star
[00:48:29] it's Jesus
[00:48:31] I think that was kind of a side note
[00:48:33] but as we go through
[00:48:35] and the text comes up
[00:48:36] I just address what the text has before
[00:48:38] so in closing last week from Pergamum
[00:48:41] the problem was compromise
[00:48:43] just one bite
[00:48:46] this week we see
[00:48:47] what compromise leads to with tolerance
[00:48:48] now it's just a way of life we don't even notice it
[00:48:51] second nature
[00:48:52] you might not even see this in it's like I was talking with
[00:48:54] I think my wife earlier this week about how
[00:48:56] how can you convince a fish he's wet
[00:49:00] what do you mean I'm wet
[00:49:02] it's so prevalent
[00:49:03] it's the air we breathe
[00:49:04] it's all around us the sin in our culture
[00:49:07] and it's in our lives and in our churches
[00:49:09] we don't even notice it
[00:49:10] but it's everywhere
[00:49:14] it's like trying to convince a fish he's wet
[00:49:17] oh I'm the crazy one
[00:49:18] who's the crazy one
[00:49:20] no it's everywhere
[00:49:22] we have to be careful
[00:49:24] Mark Twain also said it's easier to fool someone
[00:49:26] than to convince them that they've been fooled
[00:49:29] people don't want to believe
[00:49:31] that they've been fooled
[00:49:33] and a lot of people have been fooled
[00:49:35] because they think certain sins are okay
[00:49:37] when they're not
[00:49:38] God hates evil
[00:49:41] and he loves righteousness
[00:49:45] let's look at how King Ahab was memorialized in Scripture
[00:49:47] 1 Kings 21
[00:49:48] here's what the Lord says about King Ahab
[00:49:51] there was none who sold himself
[00:49:53] to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab
[00:49:56] whom Jezebel his wife incited
[00:50:00] he paid the price
[00:50:01] he couldn't say my wife made me do it
[00:50:04] there was none who sold himself to do
[00:50:06] what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab
[00:50:11] Ahab sold out
[00:50:15] he was a sellout
[00:50:17] he surrendered the very thing he was
[00:50:18] opposed to guard forever
[00:50:20] no matter what
[00:50:21] the true faith of the God of Israel
[00:50:25] and he sold it out
[00:50:26] for what? don't sell out
[00:50:34] don't sell out
[00:50:35] not to the world
[00:50:37] not to a love interest
[00:50:39] not to a pursuit
[00:50:41] the world's passing away
[00:50:45] the people of God should love what God loves
[00:50:49] and also hate what he hates
[00:50:51] we get the love what God loves part
[00:50:53] but we need to hate what he hates
[00:50:55] God hates what will kill his children
[00:50:57] and sin will kill us
[00:51:00] and it will kill our relationships
[00:51:04] and we need to hate that stuff
[00:51:05] and get it out
[00:51:08] do we love righteousness?
[00:51:10] do we strive for holiness?
[00:51:11] are we hungry and thirsty for righteousness?
[00:51:13] do we hate sin?
[00:51:15] do we hate it enough?
[00:51:17] or do we tolerate it?
[00:51:19] and God forbid are we comfortable with it
[00:51:22] because you can't be comfortable with sin on judgment day
[00:51:24] and try to explain that one to your Lord
[00:51:30] left unchecked sin will
[00:51:32] kill us
[00:51:35] or it'll strip us down
[00:51:37] where our relationships are
[00:51:40] nothing but through our faith in Christ
[00:51:44] we become conquerors because he is conquered
[00:51:46] he is conquered sin and death
[00:51:49] something you or I could never do
[00:51:51] the victory of salvation
[00:51:54] from the punishment of our sins
[00:51:56] we know that alone we can't do it
[00:51:58] we can't wash our sins away
[00:52:00] go ahead and try
[00:52:02] we can't defeat death without Christ
[00:52:05] but we are victorious
[00:52:06] by working harder
[00:52:08] by fighting harder
[00:52:10] we're victorious by surrendering
[00:52:12] to Jesus
[00:52:13] I can't do it
[00:52:14] that's how you get your victory in Jesus
[00:52:17] I can't do it
[00:52:19] you do it for me
[00:52:21] as he says I will do it
[00:52:25] we're victorious by giving up on trying to defeat
[00:52:27] all these issues on our own strength
[00:52:30] we win by trusting Jesus alone
[00:52:33] to do it for us
[00:52:34] and his perfect life
[00:52:35] lived for you and me was given on a cross
[00:52:38] and God accepted that
[00:52:39] as payment for all your sin
[00:52:41] and by faith alone
[00:52:43] in Christ alone you're saved
[00:52:46] and all your enemies are defeated
[00:52:48] don't trust in yourself
[00:52:50] only in Jesus
[00:52:51] don't tolerate sin
[00:52:52] don't tolerate it
[00:52:54] don't stand up for it
[00:52:55] don't put up with it
[00:52:58] in your church, in your life
[00:52:59] and you'll receive the true morning star
[00:53:02] Jesus Christ
[00:53:04] amen
[00:53:05] please stand with me as we pray
[00:53:15] Heavenly Father
[00:53:19] I'm sure when we all get to glory
[00:53:21] you'll explain all these things to us
[00:53:23] right now we have questions
[00:53:25] right now we have pain in our bodies
[00:53:26] right now we don't see the end
[00:53:29] of our tribulation but you do
[00:53:31] and all we put our faith in is that
[00:53:33] that you know
[00:53:34] and we believe that you'll get us through
[00:53:37] and you'll get us there
[00:53:38] and that you have saved us through our faith
[00:53:41] Lord please encourage all of us
[00:53:43] no matter what we're going through
[00:53:44] we have our own trials we deal with
[00:53:45] like these churches
[00:53:48] but always strengthen our faith
[00:53:50] and show us that you have already
[00:53:51] conquered so that we can rest
[00:53:53] in your victory
[00:53:55] may you always be glorified bring us back
[00:53:57] safely next week we pray in Jesus name
[00:53:59] amen