1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 Revelation chapter 2, we're going to be looking at the next church and our walk through Revelation 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,160 as we're going through this section now and the letters to the seven churches and all 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,720 the various issues that were going on in these churches. 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,960 And we're coming now to the church in Thyatira. 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,040 And what's interesting about this church, a lot's interesting about this church, but 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:31,560 it's interesting that Jesus writes his longest letter to the most insignificant town in Asia 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:32,560 Minor. 8 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,400 Thyatira was not an important city at all. 9 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,160 It was the least important of all the cities in Asia Minor. 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,160 It was a city full of tradespeople who were part of these trade guilds. 11 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:49,280 And so Jesus writes this really long letter to them because from the outside they looked 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,400 like a pretty good church. 13 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:56,400 Just kind of depending on which day of the week you happen to look at them, they were 14 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,920 a church that had a serious issue and they were ignoring it. 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,200 It's kind of like something that we do sometimes. 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:08,000 I've done this a number of times myself where you get that, you go in your car, you crank 17 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,840 it up and you see check engine lights on, but you're driving and what do you think? 18 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,440 Well, nothing sounds too bad, right? 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,800 Like, I don't hear any problem with it. 20 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,880 I'm not noticing a difference in the drive. 21 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,160 So it must not be that bad after all, right? 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:23,160 And so what do you do? 23 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,000 You just ignore it for a while and you think, ah, if it was something serious the car would 24 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,000 be clunking or something, I would break down. 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:30,000 But it's not. 26 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:32,640 So we just ignore it and we allow it to persist. 27 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:37,040 But what happens is when we do that and we're actually just allowing that issue to persist 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,480 is we're allowing the issue to become worse, right? 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,440 And that eventually leads to disaster. 30 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,680 Like you could end up dropping your transmission or something like that. 31 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,720 All sorts of things can go wrong. 32 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,400 But there's an issue and if you know there's an issue, you've got to take care of the issue. 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:57,000 You can't just put it off and act like it's not a big deal because when you do that, it 34 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,080 gives birth to other issues and it can ultimately destroy. 35 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,720 And that's what was happening in Thyatira. 36 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,080 They had this known issue in their church and it was like the warning light in the car, 37 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:09,920 like, hey, check your engine. 38 00:02:09,920 --> 00:02:12,960 God was sending them this warning light saying, hey, check the church. 39 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:14,960 Make sure you're walking in accordance with the truth. 40 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,400 Make sure you're not drifting from the gospel. 41 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:22,240 But they had this issue in their church where they began to tolerate sin. 42 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,720 If you remember last week when we were looking at Pergamum, their big issue is that they 43 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:30,560 had started to compromise on the word of God and they started to compromise and allow sin 44 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:31,560 into their church. 45 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:38,480 Well, Thyatira, they were not only compromising, but they were tolerating sin in their church. 46 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:39,960 They were acting like it was not a big deal. 47 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,320 They were no longer dedicated to pursuing holiness. 48 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,280 It's a good thing we don't do that anymore, right? 49 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,720 I mean, you look at the church today and everyone in the church today is 100% committed to being 50 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,200 holy as God is holy, right? 51 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,680 That's our main goal, right? 52 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:57,680 No. 53 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,960 I mean, we're not very different from them at all, are we? 54 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,520 That's the thing that gets me about these letters when you read them. 55 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,000 You're like, oh, well, this was first century. 56 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:05,320 What does this have to say to me? 57 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,480 A whole lot, actually. 58 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,680 Because I would say today in the church, people neglect holiness just as much as they did 59 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:11,680 in Thyatira. 60 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,080 I don't think most church people today who come on a Sunday, who come on a Wednesday, 61 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:21,720 are thinking my main goal in life is to imitate Christ and to be holy as God is holy. 62 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,760 And I do that through relying on the Holy Spirit, walking in step with the Holy Spirit, 63 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,600 sticking close to Christ in His gospel. 64 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,480 We're just going about our day-to-day lives and saying maybe holiness will happen to me, 65 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:33,960 but it's not something I have to actively pursue. 66 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,840 Well, there you go. 67 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:38,360 That was the mindset there in Thyatira. 68 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,600 And so I was thinking about this and I was wondering, well, if we're not doing this, 69 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,320 what would prompt us to do this? 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:51,360 What would actually be the spark that lights the fire in the church today that would cause 71 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:58,200 us to take holiness seriously and pursue holiness as God calls us to do? 72 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,200 And so I want you to look there at verse 19 as we begin here. 73 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:09,320 Verse 19, Jesus says to this church, I know your works, your love and faith and service 74 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:15,840 and patient endurance and that your latter works exceed that of the first. 75 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,920 You see, that's a good thing to say about Thyatira, isn't it? 76 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:20,840 It's a really good thing to say. 77 00:04:20,840 --> 00:04:24,120 Thyatira had even greater works and service than Ephesus. 78 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:25,120 You remember Ephesus? 79 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:26,920 They were known for their works and service. 80 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:33,040 Well, Thyatira had that same works, those same services, and they had the love that 81 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:34,760 Ephesus was lacking. 82 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,160 Not only that, but did you notice Jesus said that they had the same type of patient endurance 83 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,520 that he said Smyrna had and Pergamum had. 84 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:48,200 To all onlookers, Thyatira appeared to be a church full of holy people. 85 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:53,480 They were a picture of holiness, but there was a big problem, as I said, in the church. 86 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:54,920 And you see it there in verse 20. 87 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,800 Notice what Jesus says to them. 88 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,240 But I have this against you, which is also, again, Jesus keeps saying this. 89 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:07,280 It's absolutely terrifying when Jesus says something like that to you, isn't it? 90 00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,520 I mean, he's doing the little, I'm going to start off with a compliment and get him in 91 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:11,520 a good mood. 92 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:16,840 And he says, but I do have this one thing against you. 93 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:23,360 Notice what he says, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess 94 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:29,560 and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food, 95 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,240 sacrifice to idols. 96 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:39,240 Now odds are that this woman's name was not actually Jezebel, right? 97 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,760 We don't even know for sure if there actually was a woman who was being a prophetess or 98 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,320 if it was the spirit of something going on here. 99 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,640 But it's probably not her actual name. 100 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:49,640 It's a reference. 101 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,560 It's an illusion to something. 102 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:52,560 Anybody know? 103 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:56,160 Yeah, Jezebel in the Old Testament, right? 104 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,080 Yeah, Ahab and Jezebel. 105 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,920 So she was the foreign wife of King Ahab of Israel, and if you remember what she did, 106 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,880 because she was a foreigner and a pagan, she brought in all of her foreign pagan practices 107 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:10,160 into Israel. 108 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,120 And so she was introducing foreign religion and paganism. 109 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,880 They were building temples to false gods. 110 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:21,280 And so they ended up contaminating the worship of Israel and the religion of Israel and basically 111 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:26,120 ruining the lives of the people of Israel, all because something from the outside was 112 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,440 brought in and it was allowed to stay in and persist while there. 113 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:36,400 And so Jesus is saying that there might be a woman who is doing that here, or he could 114 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,920 be saying it's the spirit of Jezebel at work in the church of Thyatira. 115 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:42,120 What is he saying? 116 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,800 He's saying that the church in Thyatira has brought false teaching in from the outside, 117 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:54,040 false practices in from the outside, false pagan ideas, and they have brought them into 118 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:58,960 the church and they're being allowed to continue and persist in the church and no one is doing 119 00:06:58,960 --> 00:06:59,960 anything about it. 120 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:03,320 Now here's the thing, right? 121 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:04,320 We're reading this together. 122 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:06,680 We're studying the Bible together. 123 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:13,200 Do you think if there was something going on in our church, like eating food, offered 124 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:19,560 to idols, and pagan practices, and persistent sexual immorality where all the church members 125 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,200 are involved in sexual immorality, do you think we would just turn a blind eye? 126 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:24,720 Do you think we would notice that? 127 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:25,720 Right? 128 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,160 It could be a little obvious. 129 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,200 So why weren't they doing anything about it? 130 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,200 Anybody know? 131 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,200 Okay. 132 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,400 That's a good suggestion. 133 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:41,720 Might have been common to them before they came to the faith. 134 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,720 Any other suggestions? 135 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,440 Yeah, exactly. 136 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:48,120 So how to deal with their trade guild. 137 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:49,120 All right. 138 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:54,920 So they were a city of people who were tradesmen, they all belonged to these trade guilds. 139 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:01,080 And basically what happened is all the people in the city belong to one of these trade guilds. 140 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:06,440 And what the trade guilds would do is they would gather together to celebrate these pagan 141 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,080 festivals and these worship these false gods and everything like that. 142 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:16,600 And when they got together for these gatherings, they would oftentimes eat food that was sacrificed 143 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,100 to idols. 144 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:25,200 Even as part of many of these festivals, they would engage in sexual immorality and all sorts 145 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,720 of different things like that. 146 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,160 And you would think the Christians will be like, I just can't do that. 147 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:32,400 I'm a Christian now. 148 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:33,960 That's not something I can do. 149 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:35,600 But yet they were doing it anyways. 150 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:36,600 Anybody know why? 151 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,720 Maybe our resident scholar again. 152 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,840 Yeah. 153 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:45,880 So they were put out of the guild. 154 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,840 So basically if they didn't do that, they would be put out of the guild and if they 155 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,000 got put out of the guild, they'd lose their job. 156 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:54,920 That was their livelihood. 157 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,080 And so I just want you to think about that for a second, right? 158 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,880 The guild was saying you have to participate because if you don't participate, you're out 159 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:04,880 of the guild. 160 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:06,200 Which means you're out of a job. 161 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:07,200 You're out of income. 162 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,920 You're going to be ostracized from society. 163 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,400 You're going to be a social outcast and we're all going to look down on you and you're not 164 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,080 going to be allowed to participate in absolutely anything. 165 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,240 And so the Christians there, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. 166 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:25,600 Christ tells me to do this, but the boss is telling me I've got to do this. 167 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,920 I've got a hard decision to make. 168 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,600 And this is something that a lot of Christians still deal with today. 169 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:31,600 Is it not? 170 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,320 I mean, I remember when I was working in a secular job, I would come up against things 171 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:40,480 all the time where it's like the company says to do this and it's okay to do this, 172 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,480 but this is what God calls me to do. 173 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,760 I've told this story before, but I've read the story of a man. 174 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:51,920 He was a salesman and he was working for a company and his boss told him, hey, we've 175 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:53,600 got a big client coming into town. 176 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:55,160 Here's what I want you to do. 177 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:56,880 I want you to meet him at the airport. 178 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:58,560 You're going to pick him up, take him to his hotel. 179 00:09:58,560 --> 00:09:59,920 You're going to check him in. 180 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,880 Then you're going to go out on the town. 181 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,360 You're going to take him out for dinner, whatever restaurant he wants to go to. 182 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:09,360 But your job is to get him nice and drunk and then you're going to start sweet talking 183 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,360 him. 184 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,040 You're going to take him to whatever strip club he wants to go to or however many strip 185 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,720 clubs he wants to go to and you're going to wine him and dine him and then you make the 186 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,040 sale and we're going to get the sale and you call it a day. 187 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,040 And the Christian said, well, hey, listen, I can pick him up. 188 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:26,040 I'll check him in. 189 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:30,560 We'll go out to eat together, but I can't go get drunk and I certainly can't go to those 190 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:31,560 strip clubs. 191 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:33,360 So I just, I can't do that. 192 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:34,360 I'm a Christian. 193 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:35,360 I follow Christ. 194 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:40,160 And his boss literally said to him, I don't care who you follow on Sundays. 195 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:44,200 Every other day of the week, you will do what I tell you to do or I will find someone who 196 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,000 will. 197 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,000 There you go. 198 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,160 Exactly. 199 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,080 This is what many Christians face today. 200 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:55,840 Get vaccinated or lose your job. 201 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:56,840 There you go. 202 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,800 I mean, it's a very real situation that we deal with as Christians today. 203 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,040 And this man was thinking, well, my wife doesn't work. 204 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:04,040 This is how we pay our mortgage. 205 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:05,040 This is how we pay our bills. 206 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,040 If we lose this job, we lose everything. 207 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:13,360 And so you have the option, am I going to be obedient to Christ or am I going to listen 208 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,400 to what the secular world says? 209 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,000 And I know this is a situation where it's easy for us to be in here and go, well, obviously 210 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,280 you follow Christ, but you, if you've been in that situation, it's a lot harder. 211 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:23,280 Is it not? 212 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:24,960 And many of you have. 213 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:25,960 This is what we face. 214 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:26,960 And it's not even just at our jobs. 215 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,760 It's what we face with societal pressure and cultural pressure, as Mr. McKinney just said, 216 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,280 hey, get vaccinated or lose your job. 217 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,920 Hey, your church has to abide by these new rules that we implement during COVID or else 218 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:38,280 we'll shut you down. 219 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:41,440 And then you're thinking, okay, well, this is what God tells me to do. 220 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,400 And this is what the world's telling me to do. 221 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:45,880 And I feel like I'm going to lose either way. 222 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:50,720 And we start stressing and we worry about this and we tend to forget that our God is 223 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,920 sovereign and can do all things, right? 224 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,600 That he takes care of his people, that he watches out for us. 225 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:02,480 It amazes me how many times we come into church and we'll sing songs like, I surrender all. 226 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,200 Come in on Sunday, I surrender all, lay it down. 227 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,600 We talk about laying our lives at the feet of the cross. 228 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,000 I'll follow you anywhere. 229 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,000 God is all powerful. 230 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:11,160 He can do all things. 231 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,520 And then we leave here and we go to work on Monday and the boss is telling us something. 232 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:18,920 We go, God, I don't know what you're going to do about this one. 233 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:20,520 This might be too hard for you. 234 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:22,560 It's too hard for me. 235 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,320 And we tend to doubt what God can do. 236 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:30,480 And I guess what gets me even more is how I think almost everyone in here, and we've 237 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,160 talked about this on another night. 238 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:38,200 I think everyone in here would say that if it came down to it, I would be willing to 239 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:39,200 die for Christ, right? 240 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:41,920 I think we'd all say that. 241 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:43,920 We all imagine that situation. 242 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:49,240 The gunman comes in and I'm like, okay, if I'm going to die for Jesus, let it be now. 243 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:50,440 I'm not going to denounce him. 244 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:51,440 They put a gun to my head. 245 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,120 I'm going to just stay true to Christ. 246 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,640 I'm going to remain faithful to the end. 247 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:58,920 We all say that we would be willing to die for Christ. 248 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:03,440 What amazes me is how few of us are actually willing to live for Christ. 249 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:04,760 Right? 250 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:09,520 It's one thing to say that you're willing to die for Christ, but are you willing to actually 251 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,440 live for Him? 252 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,400 Because oftentimes that's a lot harder, isn't it? 253 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:22,440 It's a lot harder to live for Christ when you're facing that pressure. 254 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,880 And you're facing the government, and you're facing culture, and you're facing society, 255 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:31,360 and you're facing all the unbelievers all over social media who are picking on you and talking 256 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,440 down to you and making fun of you, and they want you to conform, and they want you to 257 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:36,760 bring these things into your faith. 258 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,640 It's a lot harder then to take your stand and say, no matter what, I'm going to remain 259 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:42,640 true to Christ. 260 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,080 I'm going to remain faithful to Him. 261 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:50,080 And that's exactly what they were facing in Thyatira, but unfortunately for them, they 262 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,960 were neglecting holiness. 263 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:53,080 They weren't striving for it. 264 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:57,840 They were giving in, and it's because they had adopted the teachings of this prophetess, 265 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,440 possibly named Jezebel, probably not, because she was teaching basically the same thing 266 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:03,440 as the Nicolaitans. 267 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:08,040 Y'all remember the Nicolaitans from last week who were basically saying, hey, you're 268 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,680 making up a dilemma that doesn't exist. 269 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:12,840 You're manufacturing a problem. 270 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,560 You don't have to say, I believe in Jesus, and I can reject these things. 271 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:17,960 You can have it all. 272 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,680 You can believe in Jesus and participate in sexual immorality. 273 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,920 You can believe in Jesus and go live in sin all throughout the week. 274 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:27,720 You don't have to pick and choose. 275 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:28,720 You can have it all. 276 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:30,720 And they believed it. 277 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,200 And so they started saying, okay, we're going to live like this. 278 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,320 We're going to be completely indistinguishable from the world. 279 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:41,120 We'll say we love Jesus and believe in Him, but we're going to live just like the world 280 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,440 does all throughout the week. 281 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:50,760 She was basically saying the exact same thing, the prosperity preachers preach today, right? 282 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:52,720 You can have it all. 283 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:54,960 The world is your oyster. 284 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:56,960 Nothing is held back from you. 285 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:57,960 Everything is yours. 286 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,840 You just have to name it and claim it. 287 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:06,000 What she was actually doing is basically the same thing that the prosperity preachers do 288 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:12,720 when they identify a need or a felt need or some sort of weakness and then they exploit 289 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:13,720 it. 290 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,400 She was saying, hey, you don't want to lose your jobs. 291 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:17,400 I understand that. 292 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:18,400 That's tough. 293 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:19,400 You don't have to. 294 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:25,400 Just do what they want you to do because you can do that and be a Christian. 295 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,000 Same thing that the prosperity preachers do, right? 296 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,200 They'll say, hey, you want to be healthy? 297 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:30,200 You want to be wealthy? 298 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:31,200 I know you're struggling. 299 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:32,200 I know you're poor. 300 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:33,200 I know your health is in decline. 301 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,280 I know that the doctor has said this is incurable and you're going to die. 302 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:37,280 Doesn't have to be that way. 303 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:44,040 All you have to do is give to my ministry and God will bless you a hundredfold, thousandfold. 304 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:45,040 Give me 10. 305 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:46,040 There you go. 306 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,040 Yeah, give me 10. 307 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:48,040 God will give you a hundred. 308 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:51,680 You identify weakness. 309 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,680 You identify a need and then you exploit it. 310 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,360 That's exactly what was going on here. 311 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,800 They stopped taking holiness seriously, but I want you to understand something is when 312 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:07,800 Christians tolerate sin and we neglect holiness, we end up living double lives. 313 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:14,000 That's exactly what you see with many teenagers today. 314 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,280 This was my story growing up. 315 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,360 When I was in the church, we were there every Sunday, every Wednesday. 316 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:22,240 I was always in church. 317 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,000 When I used to get bored during the preacher's sermons, I would open a Bible and I would 318 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,480 just start reading just to keep myself awake. 319 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,600 I was in church and when I was at church, people thought, oh, he's just a good little 320 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,600 kid. 321 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:33,600 Look at him. 322 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:34,600 He's in church. 323 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:36,240 He's all dressed up in his little Sunday best. 324 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,600 Then I'd leave there and I'd go and live in sin. 325 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,080 I didn't see any problem with it. 326 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,600 A lot of our teenagers do that today, too. 327 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,760 They have a lot of parents fooled where they're like, oh, I know what to say. 328 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:48,960 I know how to smile. 329 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:50,160 I know how to act. 330 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:51,760 I know what to do. 331 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,560 I can play the part of a Christian. 332 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:54,560 I'm a good actor. 333 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,000 Then you go and live like the world. 334 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,400 You live in sin. 335 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:00,920 Many Christians do this, too. 336 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,680 We were kind of talking about this in gospel groups last week where you can be one person 337 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,720 at church, but then you're out in the world during the week and you're a totally different 338 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:10,720 person. 339 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:12,000 You talk one way in church. 340 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,200 You talk a totally different way when you're around other people. 341 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:16,880 You talk one way at church. 342 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,320 You go to work and you're like you would never even recognize that person. 343 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,800 It's like, that's the same guy that I was talking to at church yesterday. 344 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,760 You start living double lives and it's because we have neglected holiness and we're not 345 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:28,960 striving for it. 346 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:34,080 We think there's no big deal between living these fractured lives. 347 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:40,480 The problem is Jesus actually says in his word in John 17, 16 that as followers we are 348 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:44,000 not of the world just as he is not of the world. 349 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,720 We're supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. 350 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:53,160 Christians are supposed to be distinguishable from the world. 351 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:57,400 It's a big problem if we end up looking just like the rest of the world. 352 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,320 We do want to get in the culture. 353 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:03,840 We want to make a difference in the culture, but Christians should be distinguishable from 354 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:09,080 the world because we should be holy as God is holy. 355 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,080 So often we just return to our sin, do we not? 356 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:17,560 I mean it's sad too because it breaks my heart to see people who would claim the name of 357 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:24,440 Jesus, who would say they love Jesus, and then they go and indulge in the very sins that 358 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:26,640 made the death of Christ necessary. 359 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:30,080 How can we do that? 360 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:32,960 I mean you see people who say, I love Jesus. 361 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:34,480 I was baptized at this age. 362 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:35,760 I've been a member of that church. 363 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:37,000 I've re-dedicated my life. 364 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:38,000 I did all this. 365 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,040 I love Jesus. 366 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:45,320 And the very sins that nailed him to the cross and caused him to cry out in anguish, caused 367 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:49,560 us to cry out in pleasure. 368 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,320 And that's the state of the church today. 369 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:54,400 It's disheartening. 370 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,360 And these people are fooling themselves into thinking that they're actually Christians. 371 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:02,320 There are legitimately people who believe this who think that all they have to do is say, 372 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,040 I believe in Jesus. 373 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:05,360 Say I love Jesus. 374 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:07,600 Know that you've been baptized and all this kind of stuff. 375 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,240 It doesn't matter how you live. 376 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:16,640 But unfortunately the Bible says in 1 John that the person who continues in sin after 377 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:22,160 coming to a knowledge of the truth is not actually a Christian. 378 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,280 They're a liar. 379 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:24,880 They have deceived themselves. 380 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:33,080 No one who has actually come to faith will make a practice, a continual practice of sinning. 381 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:38,360 It's self deception and it's all over our world today. 382 00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:44,040 And so Jezebel was seducing these Christians in Thyatira and they did what so many others 383 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,720 do, right? 384 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,760 You see we look at her and we say, well she's entirely to blame. 385 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:51,360 And she does have a portion of the blame. 386 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:52,360 Does she not? 387 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:57,620 But here's what we need to understand. 388 00:19:57,620 --> 00:20:05,000 You can't be tempted by something that you don't actually want. 389 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,240 If you were trying to get me to do something and you said, I've got season tickets to the 390 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:13,480 Gamecocks, I'm not doing it. 391 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,840 I'll do the opposite of what you want me to do in that situation. 392 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:21,000 I'm not going to be tempted by that because I can't stand the Gamecocks, okay? 393 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,680 So I don't have any desire for season tickets. 394 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,000 You're not going to get me with that. 395 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,800 What if you said, I've got season tickets to Clemson. 396 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:30,800 All right, now we can talk. 397 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:31,800 What do you need me to do? 398 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:32,800 I'm free, you know? 399 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:33,800 Let's have a conversation. 400 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:40,960 You know, I make a lie to that but at the same time we need to understand what happens 401 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:45,160 when we fall into sin as we immediately look for someone to blame, don't we? 402 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,160 Anyone but us. 403 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,160 It's not me. 404 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:51,080 It might have been a mistake but I was tempted. 405 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,880 What's the favorite one we go to? 406 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,360 Who made me do it? 407 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:57,200 The devil made me do it. 408 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:58,200 Come on. 409 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,040 The devil can't make you do anything, okay? 410 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,040 He's not all-powerful like God. 411 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:05,680 He's a deceiver. 412 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,200 He's a tempter. 413 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:08,700 He's a master fisherman. 414 00:21:08,700 --> 00:21:10,600 That's basically all he is. 415 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,320 He just baits the hook, throws it out there. 416 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,320 He says, I just got to wait because I know what their favorite bait is. 417 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:18,920 I know what's going to cause them to jump. 418 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,120 I know what's going to cause them to walk away from faithfulness and holiness and truth 419 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:25,920 and compromise on those beliefs and indulge in sin. 420 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,240 I know exactly what they want so I just have to throw it out there, wait for them to take 421 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,240 the bait. 422 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,640 It is not the devil's fault that you sin. 423 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:38,080 It is not the person who tempted you to fall. 424 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,120 It's not their fault if you sin. 425 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:44,920 We sin because why, Joseph? 426 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:45,920 We want to. 427 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:51,200 And that's something no one in church wants to admit today. 428 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,720 They always want someone to blame. 429 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:55,720 Never look inward. 430 00:21:55,720 --> 00:22:01,760 The reality is we sin because we want to. 431 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:03,760 That's what Paul said. 432 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:04,760 Yeah. 433 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:13,320 Yeah, one of the best sections, Romans 7 is one of the best section on indwelling sin 434 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:18,760 and fighting it where Paul says, the things I don't want to do, those are the things I 435 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:20,680 do and the things I want to do. 436 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,320 I don't do those things. 437 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,920 And then he says, wretched man am I? 438 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:31,320 We look at our lives and we go, I know I shouldn't be doing those things, but you know, it's 439 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,120 a condition. 440 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:34,320 It's genetics. 441 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:35,320 I've inherited it. 442 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:36,840 It's a disease. 443 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:37,840 She made me do it. 444 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:39,520 You should have seen what she was wearing. 445 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:40,520 The devil made me do it. 446 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,920 We point the finger at everyone else because we don't want to look inward and say, the 447 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:49,480 reality is I have a sinful heart and still desire sin even though it nailed Jesus to 448 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,160 the cross. 449 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,800 So I want you to see how serious this problem is. 450 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,320 Notice what Jesus says in verses 21 to 23. 451 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:06,240 He says of Jezebel, I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 452 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:12,400 Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her, I will 453 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:17,440 throw into great tribulation unless they repent of their works and I will strike their children 454 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:18,840 dead. 455 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:23,880 I will strike her children dead and all the churches will know that I am he who searches 456 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,040 mind and heart. 457 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:30,840 Now I want to pause right there because I want you to see something that Jesus is saying 458 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:31,840 here. 459 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:36,800 He will not tolerate people who perpetuates sin or tolerates sin. 460 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:38,160 He is long suffering. 461 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:39,160 Is he not? 462 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:40,160 He is patient. 463 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:48,720 He, I mean, he abides with us through so much, but he says I gave her time to repent. 464 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,400 And she has refused. 465 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:56,000 There's a serious warning in there, is there not? 466 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:00,640 Because everybody on earth takes this life for granted, don't they? 467 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:05,680 Especially you look at younger generations, I mean kids, teenagers, even young people 468 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,160 like Joseph. 469 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:13,760 Not Joseph particularly, no, no, no, never Joseph, but those his age. 470 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,080 And they think I'm going to live forever, right? 471 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,040 That's the mindset of every teenager. 472 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,800 That's why they do so many dumb things all the time. 473 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,240 I'm going to live forever. 474 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,520 When God says there is a set time period that you have to repent. 475 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:34,680 When that time period runs out, there are no second chances. 476 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,640 We don't know what that time period is, do we? 477 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:39,600 Nobody knows the length of their life. 478 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:41,800 We could die today on the way home. 479 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:43,040 We don't know. 480 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:47,680 God says I have given you a set period of time in which you have time to repent. 481 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:49,320 I have sent people among you. 482 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:50,720 You have heard the name of Jesus. 483 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:51,880 You have heard the gospel. 484 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,400 You know what is true. 485 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,480 Repent now because there are no second chances. 486 00:24:56,480 --> 00:25:01,960 That's what he did with Jezebel here. 487 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,960 So she was going to face judgment. 488 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:11,440 And so my question is, when Jesus issues this warning and he says this is how serious this 489 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,040 issue is. 490 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:18,600 And these are the consequences of continuing to tolerate sin and abiding sin and reject 491 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:20,920 holiness. 492 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:26,080 What would it be that would actually prompt someone to take holiness more seriously and 493 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:30,080 pursue holiness? 494 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:31,960 Look at how he ended verse 23. 495 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:35,240 It's the part that we didn't read. 496 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:42,880 He says, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 497 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,240 This letter is full of terrifying things. 498 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:46,960 Is it not? 499 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:53,400 I will give to each of you according to your works. 500 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:59,200 Jesus says that on judgment day there will be a repaying. 501 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:05,880 And those who persisted in sin, and tolerated sin, and refused to repent, they will reap 502 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:08,320 what they have sown. 503 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,840 You see I think what he's wanting us to understand here is that we need to strive to live holistically 504 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:20,800 holistically holy lives because Jesus will repay us according to our works. 505 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,040 And here's what I think. 506 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,520 I think this is important in light of what we've already talked about with how we live 507 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:26,840 fragmented lives. 508 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:31,160 This is who I am on Sunday, but this is who I am on Monday and Tuesday. 509 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,840 But here I am back on Wednesday. 510 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,720 Now I go Thursday, Friday, Saturday, back on Sunday. 511 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:40,280 And we live these fragmented lives of who we are and how we talk and how we act and 512 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:45,280 treat others all sorts of ways, whether we're in church or out of church. 513 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:50,520 And I worry that for most Christians when they hear verse 23 and they see Jesus say, 514 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,720 I'm going to repay according to your works, they go, oh thank the Lord, that could have 515 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:56,720 been bad. 516 00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,840 Not going to have been bad, but I'm good. 517 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,960 And why do they think they're good? 518 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:04,680 Possibly. 519 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:08,880 Don't believe in works based salvation. 520 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:10,560 That would be one reason. 521 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:15,600 I think though that when they read works, they're going to think of something else. 522 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:21,920 I think they're going to go, I'm good because I was at church this past Sunday. 523 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,080 I've been a member of George's Creek Baptist Church since I was born. 524 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,200 Born in the Baptist tree. 525 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,120 And baptized in it later. 526 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,640 I've been in church my whole life. 527 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:34,640 I know the Bible. 528 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,360 I can tell you most of the books of the Bible. 529 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:38,120 I can quote some scripture for you. 530 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:39,280 I serve in the church. 531 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,280 I do all these. 532 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:41,280 So I am good. 533 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,280 I don't have to worry about it. 534 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,800 And let me tell you, here's my concern. 535 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,440 Is I think for some reason, I don't know what it is, but for whatever reason, Christians 536 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:56,240 tend to think God is only going to judge them based on what they do on Sundays and Wednesdays. 537 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:03,920 I think that's the mindset of most people who would call themselves Christians today. 538 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,760 They don't think about any of the other days of the week. 539 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:07,640 They think about Sunday and Wednesday. 540 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:12,120 Maybe a lot of people don't think about Wednesday, but at least Sunday. 541 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:17,720 And they think, when God looks at my life, He's only going to look at the Sundays. 542 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,320 And He'll see that I went to church most of the time. 543 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,520 Not all the time, but most of the time I was there. 544 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:25,480 And I even brought my own Bible. 545 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,640 And I was singing when we were singing the songs. 546 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:28,640 And I prayed when we were praying. 547 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,720 I even volunteered to pray one time. 548 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,760 I've done these things in church and for whatever reason, we think that God is only going to 549 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,840 look at Sundays. 550 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,960 I don't want you to notice what Jesus says here to negate that idea. 551 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,680 Look at verse 18 to begin with. 552 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:51,680 He says, into the angel of the church and Thyatira write, the words of the Son of God, who has 553 00:28:51,680 --> 00:29:00,200 eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are burnished bronze. 554 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,800 You see Jesus saying, nothing is hidden at all from His sight. 555 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,240 He has the eyes that are all seen, these eyes of flames. 556 00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:13,920 And then He even says down there in verse 23, I think it is, He says that He searches 557 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,280 mind and heart. 558 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,480 Nothing is hidden from Jesus. 559 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:20,680 He knows all. 560 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,960 Your darkest secrets, Jesus knows them. 561 00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:28,320 The things that you do on Sunday, not only does Jesus see those, but He knows your motivation 562 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:30,080 behind those things. 563 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,640 He knows what's in your heart while you're doing those things. 564 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,080 Your biggest secrets that you've managed to keep hidden from your friends and your family 565 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:41,320 all these years, Jesus knows about those. 566 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,920 He's all knowing and then He has these feet of burnished bronze, which is power. 567 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,800 It symbolizes His power, His authority, His strength. 568 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:55,360 He's saying He has the ability to execute judgment and execute it rightly because He 569 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,440 knows things perfectly. 570 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,360 And one of the things Thyatira was most known for was their bronze works. 571 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,760 And so Jesus is saying, oh, you think you've got some nice bronze? 572 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:08,000 Look at my feet. 573 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,200 I'm the one who has the true power. 574 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,560 I will execute this judgment. 575 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,600 And so you can even think of it like this. 576 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:20,200 I've heard it said before that the judgment of Christ is so pure that even those who will 577 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:24,000 spend in eternity in hell would eventually have to say, He was right. 578 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:29,240 I deserve to be here. 579 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,680 That could get you a little overwhelmed, right? 580 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,720 That's a lot to take in. 581 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,240 And so I want us to find comfort in these last few verses. 582 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,520 Look at verses 24 and 25. 583 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,800 He says, but to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold to this teaching, who have 584 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:51,880 not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you 585 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,720 any other burden. 586 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:59,080 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 587 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:04,000 He's almost, it's almost like a reference to Matthew 11 where Jesus says that His burden 588 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,000 is light. 589 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,000 His yoke is easy. 590 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,680 He's saying, I'm not putting anything else on you. 591 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,240 Just walk in accordance with the truth. 592 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:12,240 Just reject sin. 593 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:13,720 Put it out of the church. 594 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:16,640 Don't tolerate sin in the church. 595 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:19,920 Don't compromise on core beliefs. 596 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:21,560 Just trust in me. 597 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,280 Come from sin and rely on me. 598 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,200 He's saying, you don't have to be perfect. 599 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,480 I'm not looking for perfection. 600 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,840 I'm just looking for perseverance, continuing in the faith. 601 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,720 We don't have to be perfect because Jesus was perfect for us. 602 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:36,600 He says, I've done the hard work. 603 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,440 You just have to keep on keeping on. 604 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:40,840 Keep pressing forward. 605 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:47,120 Keep persevering in the faith and notice the rewards that He offers those who remain faithful 606 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:49,240 in the last few verses. 607 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:54,720 Verse 26, the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to Him I will give 608 00:31:54,720 --> 00:32:00,360 authority over the nations and He will rule them with a rod of iron as earthen pots are 609 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:06,280 broken in pieces even as I myself received authority from my Father and I will give Him 610 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,200 the morning star. 611 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:13,200 He who has an ear, let Him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 612 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:14,200 Now it's interesting here. 613 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,320 Remember what I told you at the beginning? 614 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:21,720 The Hayatira was the least important city in all of Asia Minor. 615 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:23,200 They didn't have any authority. 616 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:24,360 They didn't rule anything. 617 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,720 No one thought anything about them at all. 618 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,760 And Jesus says, you keep pressing forward. 619 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,520 You stay faithful to me and you're going to rule the nations with me. 620 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:40,360 They will get the right to take part in Christ's rule with Him. 621 00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,680 He's giving them the significance and then He even says to them that they will have the 622 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,680 morning star. 623 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,560 Uh oh, what's that? 624 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,240 Yes, good job. 625 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,320 Where do we get that? 626 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:56,320 Where do we get that? 627 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,320 Okay, I love that. 628 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:04,920 Mr. McKinney said in the Bible. 629 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:05,920 Very good. 630 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:06,920 Yes. 631 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:12,280 Okay, where in the Bible? 632 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:13,280 It is in Revelation. 633 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,960 It's in Revelation chapter 22 in verse 16. 634 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:22,320 If you want to just look to the end of the book real quick. 635 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:28,040 Revelation chapter 22 verse 16. 636 00:33:28,040 --> 00:33:34,800 Bible says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about the things for the churches. 637 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:40,480 I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. 638 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,920 It's interesting about this, I'm not going to go on a little side rant about it too much, 639 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:51,320 but when people hear the word morning star, who do they normally associate it with? 640 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:52,320 Satan. 641 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:53,320 Lucifer. 642 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:54,320 Yeah, Latin. 643 00:33:54,320 --> 00:34:00,080 Yeah, so in Latin, the word Lucifer just means morning star. 644 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:06,720 So in the Hebrew, in Ezekiel, when it was saying morning star, Latin Vulgate said Lucifer 645 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:11,640 and that's how the devil got his name, even though it was just a mistranslating. 646 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:15,800 It's just they were translating morning star, which was Venus and so you end up with Latin 647 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:19,280 Lucifer and that's been the name of Satan ever since according to people, but not in 648 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,480 the Bible, his name is always just Satan. 649 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:25,080 So, but morning star, there was even a TV show they made about Satan, which is always 650 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:30,400 a good idea to do, a culture that we live in, and they would call him Lucifer morning 651 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,800 star, which is hilarious that they didn't do the research to realize they were saying 652 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,440 morning star, morning star. 653 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:40,280 I don't know why they didn't put in the work to do that, but they made it his last name. 654 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:44,800 But in scripture, Jesus is the bright morning star. 655 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,320 He is the one and he is promising us here, I will give you the morning star. 656 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:49,320 What is he saying? 657 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,160 You're going to come and rule with me and you will have the fullness of myself with 658 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,840 you, the fullness of the presence of Christ always. 659 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,520 And that sounds amazing, does it not? 660 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,320 I mean, you take time to just meditate on that tonight and think about how wonderful 661 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:09,440 it will be to be in the presence of Jesus forever and never lack any of his presence. 662 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,760 You will always have the fullness of it for all eternity. 663 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:18,800 He says, that is what is offered to you if you will just press forward and remain faithful 664 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:19,800 to me. 665 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,560 And so, that's what he's offering us here, church. 666 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,560 And so, we don't need to miss out on that great reward, do we? 667 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:34,400 We don't need to be like Thyatira and tolerate sin in the church or in our own lives. 668 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,200 We need to put it out of our lives. 669 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:37,840 We don't need to be living these double lives. 670 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:41,600 We don't need to be trying to look like the culture and act like the culture. 671 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,240 We are called to be holy as Christ is holy. 672 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:47,320 And so, we need to pursue holiness. 673 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,760 We need to strive for holiness. 674 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:56,240 And we need to rely on God's grace and God's mercy and the Holy Spirit to be able to remain 675 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,640 faithful through all of life's circumstances. 676 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:04,600 As Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 677 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,840 Michael, you're back with us. 678 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:27,520 What about giving us a word of wisdom?