 Let's open our Bibles to Revelation. We're in chapter 2, Revelation chapter 2. We're going to be looking today at verses 18 through 29. So you might want to open up to that passage. Some of you, many of you were with us last week. We had our baptism and it was a blessing. I have a short video to show you a little bit of how it went. It went really good. The Lord really blessed. We had quite a number of people we drowned last week and they needed to be. So it went really, really well. In the midst of everything, the Lord is still Lord. He still moves and we still see people getting saved and being baptized and that was a real blessing. A couple of announcements before we get into our study. Excuse me, we have, and I'm just reading from this. We have an outdoor fall festival. That's going to be Thursday, October 22nd. Is that for ladies only, Marie? It's for women or men who think they are, but we'll talk to you later. It's from 5.30 to 7.30 and there's going to be outdoor shopping. There are 40 local vendors, a gourmet food truck, the cafe, the chapel store will be open at 7.30. They'll be worshiped. My wife, Marie, will share a message with the ladies. It's free event, no registration required. As already mentioned, we have our men's breakfast on Saturday, November 7th at 8.30. You know, I really missed not being able to have the various men's breakfasts and things that we've done. And for the first time in 27 years, we were unable to have a men's conference. So we're starting our men's ministry again and making sure that we have a men's breakfast. It's already been stated. Brennan will be with us. Brennan Beehler is a great teacher. I love him. And tickets go on sale today. You're able to purchase your tickets online through the church website at the Gazebo. And I guess for breakfast they're going to have a bacon or sausage burrito. It's also orange juice, coffee, donuts. And it's a good opportunity to invite somebody. We have a Tuesday morning men's study fellows every Tuesday at 6.30 in the chapel. After the study, there's a time of fellowship. We call it Bible Brothers and Burritos because they always have burritos on Tuesday morning. It starts at 6.30. I invite you guys to be there. We've got a number of guys show up. I think 70, 75 were there this last Tuesday. A lot of guys are showing up. We invite you fellows to be there also. And we have the young adults Bible study that meets every Monday at 7.30 in the banquet hall. And we just recently started a study in the book of Job. And so I'd invite you to join us this upcoming Wednesday night as we continue our series in the book of Job. And one thing I wanted to share with you before I begin to teach. I've forgotten to share it first service. I could have shared it before this, but just real brief. But to me it's a blessing. I had mentioned to you, as we've been going through the seven churches and all, that the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 2 verse 9 had mentioned to you how that the Lord Jesus had said, I know your works, tribulation, poverty, but you are rich. And I shared with you about how some things matter a lot to you that are not necessarily material things in terms of, like things that are greatly expensive and all of that. Well, I should have shared this with you. So I'll share it now. When Marie and I, when we took our church to Israel, we had returned in February. And as we were going through the passport control and everything when we landed in LAX, they did something unusual. Normally you go through passport control, do everything, and then you go get your bags and go home. This time they had us go a second time, which they've never done before. And so when we went through it the second time, when they're inspecting your luggage and things, I had put my luggage down and I had a backpack with me. I carry my Bible iPads and, you know, extra clothing and all. And I had put it down, went through the inspection and then left and forgot to pick up my backpack. Now my backpack had, you know, like I said, iPad and had some clothing and things like that. But what it had in it was also something very special to me. Obviously those who know me know that I'm sentimental and there was a brush in it. And I can replace, I have a Bible, it's a traveling Bible. I have other Bibles that have more of a dearness to me because I've had them for many years. This Bible is a traveling Bible and I had just gotten it and I was using it for my studies in Israel. I had my Bible, I can replace my Bible. I had a sweatshirt that I like a lot but I can replace my sweatshirt, even iPads. But I can't replace the brush. You see that brush is the brush that I used to comb my son David's hair when he was three years old. And my son Joseph's hair when he was a little boy and my daughters. Very special to me, it's just a special brush to me, I lost that. And I was really upset, I was upset about that because that brush meant a lot to me. And Marie knew it and it's been since February and I was bothered. And even just a couple of weeks before this happened I was thinking somebody got those iPads and the clothing and maybe they needed them, could use them, whatever, they can be replaced. But I thought they probably took that brush and threw it in the trash. And that bothered me, it bothered me a lot because a little while back, a few months ago, my son David was over and he has his son, we call him baby David or little David, my grandson David. And I walked in and my son David emotionally is very much like me, he's nostalgic, sentimental. And I walked in and he was brushing his son's hair as I walked into the room and he looks at me and he's holding this brush in his hand and my son David says to me, Dad, is this the brush you used to use on me when I was a little boy? I said, yeah, I used to hit you with that all. No, no, I mean comb my hair. I go, oh yeah. Yeah, that's the brush that I used to comb your hair when you were the same age as your little boy there. Yeah, and he had tears in his eyes as he's looking at it and he says, and he's just combing his hair and it just touched him. Well, that brush meant something to me. It did. And guess what, Marie knew how upset I was. And she prayed and she said, God, please bring his backpack. Now, that's nothing, right? But guess what? We get a call from LAX and they said we found your backpack and I was able to get it. I just, I don't know why it felt like telling you that. I guess you're my church family and I want you to know that that's kind of where my heart, those things are the things that touch my heart because you have poverty. He says, but you're rich. It's the things that matter to me. It's not the material things. It's the things that have sentimental value attachments, you know, symbols and because that brush, believe this or not, it won't make any sense to some, but perhaps to others. My sons are actually already fighting over that brush. They want the brush because it means so much. It means something because their hair was combed with it and they want it for their, their children, you know. So I just wanted to say thank you to Jesus in front of you guys for that. It really, it really, it touched my heart and it mattered. With that said, we're going to look today at Revelation 2, 18 through 29. We're going to be looking at the church of Thyatira. And what we have here is a series of letters, seven letters to seven churches. And Jesus is speaking now to the church that is located in an area there called Thyatira. I'm going to give you some introduction in just a moment. I'm going to lay a bit of a context on you and then we're going to get into our study. So beginning at verse 18 in Revelation chapter 2, we read, And to the angel of the church in, oh, I'm sorry, I gave you the wrong one. I'm just testing you. No, verse 18. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira. Right. These things says the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. I know your works, love, service, faith and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess to teach and seduce my servants, to commit sexual immorality and eat things, sacrifice idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now, to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden, but hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels as I also have received from my father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so I'm going to do what I've been normally doing as we're going through this study together. I'll give to you a reminder, some context and all. I usually do that so that we can look at this letter and get a better understanding of what Jesus is saying to this particular church. I've been reminding you that each of these letters has at least three basic applications. You have what is called the primary. In other words, each one of these letters has a direct bearing on the church being named. You also have the personal because each church has people present at that time who need to hear what the Spirit is saying. And then you have an other element that's called the prophetic. Each church represented an era of the church throughout its history. Primary, personal, prophetic. Now as we've been going through these letters, Ephesus. Ephesus is the church from the apostolic age to AD 160. It's called the church in its infancy. Smyrna represents the church from 160 to 312. It's called the church under persecution. Pergamos represents 313 to 600 AD. And that is the compromising church. Well, today we have a chance to look at the church of Thyatira representing prophetically 600 to 1500 AD. And it's been called the church in apostasy. Now the word apostasy isn't a word that we use today very commonly. Apostasy by definition is a voluntary abandonment of the Christian faith and lifestyle. You voluntarily abandon proclaiming yourself to be a Christian and cease living according to the doctrines of Christian teaching. And so we're looking today at the church in apostasy. Now when you look at this city, it's called Thyatira. It was a small city. It was located some 48 miles southeast of Pergamos. Alexander the Great established it as a Macedonian colony after the destruction of the Persian Empire around 300 BC. Because it was located in a rich agricultural area, it was distinguished for its industrial activity and it was prosperous in trading commerce. It was especially famous for its purple dye. The origin of this church is unknown, but many commentators believe that it was founded through the witness of a woman named Lydia. You see, while in Philippi on the Sabbath, the apostle Paul had gone to share the gospel. It was recorded in Acts chapter 16 verses 13 through 15 where it says on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside where prayer was customarily made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. And one of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. As she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. If you consider me a believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my house and she persuaded us. And so commentators believe that the church's origin may have been due to the witness of this woman named Lydia, who came to faith in Christ under the ministry of the apostle Paul. Now, when you see in verse 18 how it says, these things says the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like brass. Well, each one of the introductions, the images are given to us are actually found in chapter one. And I'll begin by looking at the fact that in Revelation chapter one verse 13, Jesus is spoken of there as the Son of man. But here Jesus is referred to as Son of God. And that stresses his deity in contrast to the other title that he has, Son of Man. One verse emphasized that Jesus is the sympathetic high priest who understands us. And that's why he's referred to as Son of Man, because he understands us. That's what the writer says about about Jesus in the book of Hebrews in chapter four verses 14 and 15, where he says, So then since we have a great high priest who has entered heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This high priest of ours understands our weaknesses for he faced all of the same testings we do yet he did not sin. There's an emphasis on his humanity. There's an emphasis of him understanding our weaknesses. And the title Son of Man very often is used to awaken us to the reality that Christ understands us and is sympathetic. But in verse 18, he uses the title Son of God. And that emphasizes his deity and not his humanity. He's not relating to the church as the sympathetic high priest. He's referring to the church and dealing with the church as the judge. He's not bringing comfort to the church. He's bringing judgment if they don't repent. You see, Jesus as the Son of God is what is called an essential of the Christian faith. And it is essential to your salvation. If a person in this room or is watching right now online doesn't believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you're not saved. Because that's an essential. There are some things they call peripheral. There are things that your salvation doesn't rest on. But there are other things that are essentials. Your salvation rests on that. One of the things that is called an essential is that you understand Jesus is God in the flesh, the Son of God. That is called an essential. You see, using the title Son of God emphasizes his deity. And that's the key. In John's writing in John chapter 20 verse 31, John said, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. In 1 John chapter 4 verse 15, John said, if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he and God. It's an essential. 1 John 5, 12 and 13, he who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. You see, there are people who say Jesus is a great teacher, a good man, and a prophet. But they refuse to understand him as God the Son. And so that's what's called an essential of the Christian faith. To believe in Christ is to believe that he is the Son of God and he is identified in such a way. Now, here you go. Let me give you some insight into why he would refer to himself as the Son of God. Why would Jesus self-identify as Son of God? Because there was already a movement for Mary to be given greater honor. Mary the mother of Jesus to be given greater honor. The worship of his mother Mary was beginning in its seed to actually enter into church. As the Son of God, he rebuked the church that would degrade him and keep him the son of a human mother while exalting her above him as the mother of God and Queen of Heaven. That is a prophetic element of this title because he's already foreseen what is going to take place in the history of the church in the future. There's a commentator I use. His name is Gil. And he wrote, Mary his mother according to the flesh was but a mere human being but was being called the daughter of God and was set upon the same level with him and even preferred to him. And that was already beginning in seed form take place and later on and from 600 and all it began to become actually more of the practice within the church. So the prophetic element of this is that the seduction of worship from God to Mary was occurring and this the Lord will not tolerate. So he's identified as the son of God to remind the readers of his deity. Now when you look at the Virgin Mary when you look at Mary we need to remember that Jesus's mother exalted Jesus and did not exalt herself. In Luke for example in chapter 1 verses 46 and 47 Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God. My savior. Remember always that only sinners need saviors and she said my spirit rejoices in God. My savior. Or in Matthew 12 verses 46 through 50 how Matthew writes while Jesus was still talking to the crowd his mother and brother stood outside wanting to speak to him. Someone told him your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you and he replied to him who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples he said here are my mother and my brothers for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. He never said and father by the way but brother sister and mother. In Luke 11, 27 and 28 Luke writes as Jesus was saying these things a woman in the crowd called out blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you. He replied blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. And so there are those who even to this day elevate Mary to a place that she really should not be placed in. Jesus is the son of God and he needs to be in the primary place. And so I've had conversations in the past with people who have differences and all. I like to refer to John chapter 2 the passage of Scripture that speaks concerning Jesus' first miracle recorded in the Gospel of John when he was in the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee and how that his mother Mary had approached him you remember the story and she had said they have no wine and then Jesus' response his response to her was woman what do I have to do with you? You know my hour has not yet come why are you coming giving me directives at this time? And so I speak to people and I say you know it's an interesting conversation where she comes up and gives an order and Jesus basically says I don't listen to you I listen to my father but on top of that is when she responds and I tell people this I'll say it here in our fellowship I tell people this I say well if I'm going to listen to anything that she says then what is it I should listen to? And in John chapter 2 verse 5 this is what Mary said his mother said to the servants whatever he says to you do it that's what I do and so I respect Mary the mother of Jesus and I listen to what she said whatever he says to you do to do it what does he say unless a man is born again he will not enter into the kingdom of heaven what does he say I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me and so I listen to him and I listen to his mother my mom used to teach me to do that you know speak to Mary because God and Jesus are too busy well that was just my mom saying that because the Bible doesn't and so Mary said whatever he says to do do it the last time you see Mary is in the book of Acts chapter 1 verse 4 she's mentioned there but she was more than likely present at Pentecost and so what we have here we have an introduction from John's initial description of Jesus found in chapter 1 verses 14 and 15 and so it says in verse 18 who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass so it says his eyes are like a flame of fire when he says his eyes are like a flame of fire fire is a symbol very often in the Old Testament as well as the new as purification or purging so his eyes are like a flame of fire he's searching out he's making true judgment of that which is evil now when it says his eyes are a flame of fire one commentator noted that the people of Thyatira worship the sun god a god named Apollo and so Jesus using the phrase eyes of fire would remind the church of this form of worship Apollo worship he's described with his eyes bright and penetrating and he's searching the hearts of the people that's what he's doing he says in verse 23 I am he who searches the minds and hearts and that's what he is doing there now notice his feet were like fine brass brass is judgment it's a symbol of judgment and so fine brass speaks of holiness and firmness brass is often used to symbolize judgment he's the one who stamps out evil in verse 27 it speaks of him dashing to pieces these people like potter's vessels that shows judgment so this is a picture of Jesus who is a judge and so he begins here after his introduction with commendation notice verse 19 he says to them I know your works love service faith and your patience and as for your works the last are more than the first so he gives a commendation he says I know your works good works are established and expected God establishes us and expects us to perform them in Ephesians 2 verse 10 it says we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do let your light so shine before men may see your good works glorify your Father who is in heaven we're all called by God to perform good works as a matter of fact good works are very often in evidence of your salvation not that they're saving you but in evidence it causes me to remember that when I first got saved I was 20 years old and I was sharing with my mom about salvation and how to come to faith in Christ and all and I had already been sharing with my mom and my dad in Christ it was right after I got saved and I was standing in my parent's kitchen and my dad had a big big big window in the kitchen and I was standing and looking out and a guy driving one of these water delivery trucks was driving down the street I still remember as he hit the brakes and took a right turn and as he took a right turn he turned a little hard and one of the bottles flew out and hit the ground and smashed against the curb and so I went and I got a broom and I got a bag and I went and I swept it up and I put this broken glass this bottle into this bag went and dumped it in the trash and came back in the house and my mom looked at me she said something happened to you and I said why do you say that she says you would never have done that before because she's right I would have opened the window and laughed at the guy that's what I would have done that's the truth I would have laughed at him and called him a name or something and she knew that but she said it was that little thing little things you'd be surprised at the little things that you do that people notice that are out of the former character that they regarded you to have even a little thing like that good works are an emblem that God has done something in you and we are God's work in ship created in Christ Jesus unto good works and so he speaks concerning that he also speaks of love this love is the emblem it's the earmark of a believer you have a love for God you have a love for others he speaks of service that word service carries with it the sense of ministry of spiritual service you're serving in a ministry capacity he speaks of faith the word faith speaks of loyalty or faithfulness in other words you're dependable in your steadfast in your faith as well as patience you're enduring you're constant you see patience in the New Testament is the characteristic of a man or woman who is not swerved from their loyalty to God by even the greatest trials he says you have these things you have works and love, service, faith and patience and then he says as for your works you have even worked harder not less as time goes on in other words your good works are increasing unlike many churches they've continued being faithful over time you see when churches sometimes begin you have a lot of people who are excited about doing work for the Lord everybody wants to get involved they want to be part of this ministry or part of that ministry everybody in the church wants to be involved but after a while those who at one time were involved begin to kind of fall away and they stop serving and all but these people have remained faithful over time in Galatians chapter 6 verse 9 Paul said let us not become weary and doing good for at the proper time we will reap if we don't give up in 1 Peter 2 15 this is the will of God that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men their good works he's saying are actually increasing he says the last are more than the first but he goes on in verse 20 and he says nevertheless I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess seduced my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrifice to idols Jezebel anybody here have a daughter named Jezebel we don't name our kids that right there are two names in the Bible you don't name your daughter Jezebel and you don't name your son Judas those are names you don't use so Jezebel is proverbial for her evil yet we have this name mentioned here and notice what he's speaking about he's saying there is spiritual wickedness in your church the problem isn't something from the outside the problem is on the inside it's coming from within the church what have they done well this is your condemnation you have given a teaching position to a woman who is teaching error to the church now let's look at that for just a moment because people usually get upset about right now so here we go first women are not to be given teaching positions over the entire church they're not to be regarded pastorally why do you say that well I don't I remember one time I was listening to pastor Chuck my pastor as he was teaching and he was teaching through 1st Timothy and he got to chapter 2 verse 12 verse I'm going to quote to you in a moment and I'm wanting to hear what Chuck says about this particular verse the verse says I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man but to be in silence and so I'm sitting there wanting to hear from the mouth of wisdom and age because I was teaching this and I was going to be teaching it that evening and so I'm listening and I'll never forget what he said it was so simple he says I'm not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole that was pastor Chuck but that's what Paul said I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man but to be in silence let's develop that for a moment we're talking about Jezebel a prophetess so called that is infecting a church when you read your Bible women hold various roles in the church but they don't hold the office of pastor teacher obviously that prohibition causes some to get upset and some to get angry they believe that it's denigrating and devaluing women some will say if there were no women leading churches many churches would close their doors I was in the Philippines we used to have radio ministry and I was invited to go with a team from different churches to hold a pastors conference in Manila many years ago now and so we went and we held a conference with quite a number of pastors and their wives and while I was there I was given opportunity to not only speak to the main assembly but also to do a workshop and the workshop that I was giving was out of 1st Timothy and so there was a good group of people in that workshop I forget the number maybe 60 or more and there were all these men and it was related to 1st Timothy and all and so I gave a study and I quoted out of 1st Timothy 212 as I just did a moment ago and then I said any questions you might have we took a Q&A and I said are there any questions the very first person to stand up was a woman so I'm looking at her and I'm thinking she must be one of the pastors wives she wasn't she introduced herself by saying my name is pastor I think it was Imelda Marcos no that was somebody else she said my name is pastor so and so pastor so and so you're speaking before she spoke because she stood up I could see the men all looking at her and men were looking at one another that side long glance like oh this is going to be good that kind of look so I knew something was going on here I could tell just by the way they were looking at each other then she says my name is pastor so and so and she said to me I'll never forget this she said you say that women ought not to be pastors no I didn't but you say that women are not to be pastors you don't know the Philippines she says to me the men are weak and they don't lead and we need leaders in churches and the men will not stand up so the women do take that slap slap and so first men let me remind all of us as men were called by God to lead were called by God to lead take your leadership place that's what the bible teaches those are all women clapping by the way and then so I said to her I said culture does not dictate scripture scripture influences culture and because you have weak men does not give you permission to take a position that God has reserved for the men and so you cannot take your culture and read the bible through it the bible is intended to change your culture and what you really ought to be doing is praying that God would move upon the hearts of the men to take the place that the men ought to take because Paul said I do not suffer a woman to teach nor do you serve authority over the man she is to learn in silence and that's what God has called us to I'll say this quickly because I know people get all worked up over that so let me keep going and get you a little more you see this causes the younger generation to want to detach themselves from the church I was reading some things as to why young people don't go to church and reject yet and they give various reasons these aren't things I'm making up these are answers that were on a survey so why don't you as a younger person go to church we see older evangelicals that's what I am this church is we see older evangelicals as ignorant we see them as angry right wingers we see them as haters they hate homosexuals we see them as skeptical because they don't believe in global warming so were they wrong so far no angry right haters homosexuals that really turns them off they think of the churches as a sub-culture it's unwelcoming to the young and secular they reject Christianity's claim of being the exclusive way to truth and salvation they think that preaching and teaching of the pastor is really superficial it doesn't really reach me where I live well listen there are pastors who know this and sometimes the response is to water down the message so we try to become relevant but in trying to become relevant we become distasteful because we're not authentic many see the church today as what is called entertainment driven and it often has become that trying to reach people we try to become cool and we forget the power of God's word somebody once said you know being cool is what you are you could want to be 6 foot 2 but if you're 5 foot 8 it's just not any going to work and there are guys who want to be cool but they're lame let's face it it's okay to be lame God heals the lame I mean it's okay to be it's okay to be lame trying to be cool is ridiculous you just be yourself and people see through that right people see through it it's not authentic you just got that swoopy hair and those tight pants and that tight t-shirt and you look like you're 8 months pregnant with that tight t-shirt don't do that don't do that somebody said the church is going to have to become more authentic morally for the greatness of the gospel is now seen to have become quite trivial and inconsequential in its life if the gospel means so little to the church why then should unbelievers believe it and that's true now remember this Ephesus didn't tolerate false teaching but it was spiritually cold Thyatira was loving but lack discernment and that led them to tolerate false teaching and that condition exists today one church is thought of as loving yet it's not discerning about false teaching another church is rigidly orthodox but is cold and unloving we need to hold the proper study and teaching of scripture while loving people simultaneously this woman here that we're looking at Jezebel was giving a teaching position and she had not error into the church notice she's calling herself a prophetess and so because of this Jesus speaks sternly to the angel the pastor of the church he's saying you are tolerating heretics you're allowing them to enter the church and they are infecting it so pastor safeguard the flock against these things now that's the pastor's responsibility teach your people the counsel of God consistently in 2 Timothy 4 2 and 3 it says preach the word of God be prepared whether the time is favorable or not patiently correct rebuke, encourage your people with good teaching for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching they will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear they will reject the truth and chase after myths living in that day right now where people will follow things that are tickling their ears and their leaving places that tell them the truth Jezebel in the Old Testament Jezebel was the wife of a man named King Ahab there was a song about him many years ago Ahab the Arab you may never have heard it probably didn't you're all young Ahab she was introduced she had introduced idolatry into Israel in 1 Kings 16 30 and 31 it says Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him and it came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabot that he took his wife Jezebel he took two wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethel King of the Zadonians and went and served Baal and worshiped him so Baal worship was introduced through Jezebel and Jezebel obviously here is a symbolic name because it's emphasizing her wickedness she's influencing the people to do evil now in verse 20 Jezebel of Thyatira was bringing immorality and error into the church that was done by emphasizing love while neglecting teaching and moral purity again that's common even today as people consider tolerance more important than truth in the case of Christians it's a fruit of not reading the Bible as well as poor teaching a lot of times people are buying into things and I can tell through conversation with them they don't read the Bibles I can tell because they're accepting things that aren't in Scripture and then when you use Scripture to bring correction they don't want to hear it and so that's happening right now and what happened here is Jezebel's prophetic teachings allowed sexual immorality and idolatry into the church now when it speaks of these teachings there are commentators that look at this and they say it's very possible that Jezebel was bringing in the early strains of Gnosticism the word Gnosticism is a Greek word that speaks of knowledge or hidden knowledge the Gnostics were individuals there were different kinds of levels and different kinds of Gnosticism but the Gnostics were those who said that they had hidden knowledge there were Gnostics and we have that today by the way hidden knowledge I know something you don't know I had an initiation that gave to me an insight you don't have without that initiation we have that today but what happened is the Gnostics had entered in and there were different forms of it and one of the forms of Gnosticism the spirit is good and the flesh doesn't matter and so I could do anything I want with my flesh with my body because that doesn't impact my spirit you may want to know that when you're reading John's writings 1st, 2nd, 3rd John as well as the Gospel of John and Revelation has something to do with the Gnostic heresy that was already infiltrating at that time of the writing and so they thought that the spirit was good the flesh is evil they said in the end God is interested in spirit it doesn't matter what you do in the flesh and that means you can commit sexual sin, practice idolatry it doesn't matter it looks like she twisted the teaching of the grace of God to make anything permissible in other words since God forgives people of sins don't worry if you continue practicing them it doesn't matter well Paul had much to say about that in Romans chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 he said it like this he said what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound certainly not how shall we who died to sin live any longer in it no I have been saved completely and God is doing a work in me and the flesh that I the life that I now live in the flesh I'm to live in a way meaning my natural life I'm to live in a way that is submitted to the work of the spirit and so that's why the scriptures say not to fornicate and that's why the scriptures say not to be involved in idolatry because the grace of God wasn't given to you or me to continue in sin it wasn't given to us that I could continue going into sin living a sinful life and going to heaven and Jesus is making it very clear and notice what he says in verse 21 I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality she didn't repent she's been warned how was she warned well the Bible is very clear she refused to listen even though she would have been clearly instructed she refused now she certainly must have felt that based on her influence she was above correction but here's the real reason why she didn't repent she didn't repent because she loved what she was doing somebody told me a long time ago I told him that I had come to faith in Christ it was when I was first saved I said I came to faith in Christ and we were talking and as we were talking he said well yeah he said you used to drink and do those drugs he said because you liked an escape you were looking for an escape and I looked at him I said I didn't drink and do drugs because I was looking for an escape I drank and did drugs because I liked it I mean I was honest about it you mean I'm escaping oh yeah poor me no I liked it I liked getting drunk I liked smoking I liked it tell me I'm escaping no I did it because I wanted to and guess what that's what the Bible says because in John 319 this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil you love it you walk in darkness Scripture says because that's the environment you like to live in so when someone comes to faith in Christ they've been translated from darkness into the kingdom of God's Son you have the power of the Holy Spirit within you you have new desires that have been given to you and God begins to work within you so that your life is different grace is given to me not to continue in sin but to be free from its bondage so that I can now serve Jesus Christ and get away from that guilty life that I lived before and so he's saying this he says you won't repent in verse 22 indeed I will cast her into a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts I will give to each one of you according to your works so I'm going to cast her into a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her so his judgment is this she and her illegitimate converts are going to go through great tribulation now it's not the great tribulation it's great tribulation that speaks of great pressure and difficulty and those who have been influenced will also reap the consequences for that now why harsh treatment like this what's wrong with making a simple mistake well these aren't simple errors these are intentional she's lying she's a false prophetess and this lie that she's giving produces false hope and a false faith you see remember this always guys it's only the truth that sets you free error never will error brings you into bondage in Deuteronomy 12 32 whatever I command you be careful to observe it you shall not add to it or take away from it Proverbs 30 verse 6 do not add to his words he's a real liar he says in verse 23 I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know Jezebel is unrepentant but Jesus gives her spiritual children opportunity to repent he'll do whatever is necessary to purge the church of error so Jesus's word should awaken us to the importance of believing the right things what we believe produces the way that we live you see Jezebel's teaching produces ungodly fornicators in Colossians 3 25 it says but he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done there's no partiality notice how he searches the minds and the hearts and he gives each according to their works all the churches are going to see how he deals with error and they're going to learn not to tolerate sin well in verse 24 now to you I say and to the rest in Thyatira as many as do not have this doctrine I have not known the depths of Satan as they say I will put on you no other burden but hold fast what you have till I come he who overcomes and keeps my word until the end to him I will give power over the nations he shall rule them with a rod of iron they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels as I also have received from my father and I will give him the morning star let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches he writes to those remaining faithful to the Lord those have resisted false teaching notice how he speaks here notice in verse 24 that he speaks of the depths of Satan they thought that they could give the Spirit of God the Spirit to God and the body to the flesh and the devil they believed that they could plum the secrets and remain unscathed but that's not true and he's saying you need to turn from this evil doctrine stay away from it now he says also in verse 24 I will put on you no other burden in other words to the faithful there you're burdened by false teaching and moral living and the pressure coming from Jezebel that burden is enough for you to bear so hold fast verse 25 hold fast what you have till I come persevering your works your love in your service in your faith and in your patience until I come now that refers first to his immediate judgment that's about to take place on the church but in a wider sense all believers have to hold fast under intense pressure until he comes like Paul says in Romans 12 9 cling to what is good and he gives a reward to him I will give power over the nations those who remain faithful to Jesus will rule with him in his millennial kingdom in 2 Timothy 2 12 it says if we endure we shall also reign with him and then he says this I will give him in verse 28 the morning star the morning star is actually a title of Jesus in Revelation 22 16 it says I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches I am the root and the offspring of David the bright and morning star I want to share with you about that the promise that he is giving notice he says he who has an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says I will give him verse 28 the morning star let's talk about that for a minute as we close if I hold fast to you what do I receive from you Lord deep fellowship a deep fellowship that has layers of understanding of who he is and how he works there are people who get saved and they come to faith in Christ you get saved you come to faith in Christ but you are a baby over time you pursue the Lord in prayer in his word in fellowship you walk in his spirit and you begin to grow up you were young when you got saved but you grow up and you grow older over time you learn things of the depths of the Lord the kindness of God you learn things related to his patience and his timing you begin to learn a lot of things when you are young in the Lord you want him to do things instantly Lord I want patience give it to me now that's kind of the way we pray I want things now I don't want to wait until later my goodness if I want to make a long distance call I can call Israel within 20 seconds I'm speaking to somebody why don't you answer my prayers like that what happens in time is you begin to learn the ways of the Lord and as you begin to learn the ways of the Lord you begin to understand who he really is it's like using just a silly illustration young man meets a young girl man meets a girl usually what happens is there's something about her that attracts him most often it's her looks because we see better than we listen and so as we look at her we say you know there's something about her and you like her and she kinda notices you but not really so you do things for her to notice you my mom used to say we just show off but we'll do something she notices you you begin to talk now as you're talking to her in your very first conversation because you have an interest and as much information as you can from what she has to say in that first brief conversation so you become acquainted enough so the next time you see her you're able to remind her of some of the things that you spoke about you know I remember you go to this school here how was your classes then because you're gathering information because we're hunters and gatherers that's what we are and we're getting all this information now we've got this information we're gonna give her the impression we care so you ask her out for a date and you go out she actually says yes you do stuff you take a bath or a shower you comb your hair you go and you pick her up kinda cool kinda sweet kinda swab you open the door for her ooh you're a gentleman too what a great prize you've turned out to be and you show all this interest what you're doing man what you're doing is you're gaining information so you know how to use it later on you're learning how to communicate in the way she wants to hear now the women know this they're flattered by it but they see through us but we do it anyway but guess what you actually are learning things about her that you like I can still remember the first date I had with the girl who became my wife with Marie there were two things I remember the first date she gave me two commands on that first date the first command was if I get stung by a bee it's something that's bad for me I will go into shock get me to a hospital immediately it's the first thing she told me the second thing she told me is my name is Marie it is not Mary it is not Maria it is Marie so to this day she's Maria to me those are the things but I'm gathering information our first date I picked her up at 11 a.m she and I double date with a friend of mine we stay with them, we come home I drop her off at her apartment where she lived and I left and went home at 1 a.m 13 hours talking to this one woman 13 hours and we haven't stopped have not stopped we do that to this day we talk and talk we have our coffee together we spend time together we have our dates together constant so when I first met her I started learning things about her I pull up at a Bob's big boy on Euclid I go to the barrio you know because I was a high roller man and get her a burger she sits in the car she won't climb out of the car I got out of the car I walk in and I turn around and she's just sitting there and I walk back up to the door and I say what are you doing she says I don't get out of the car unless you open the door and I said well what do you want to eat and all of these things all in the first dates I knew her then but over the years I know her now in a way that of course how could I have known her this way when I first met her what am I trying to say I'm trying to say that fellowship and knowledge is more than just oh I know Jesus his name is Jesus Christ we're talking about simply knowing his titles his given name we're talking about knowing him this is eternal life that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent what are you saying that I'm going to have an age perpetual length of days no we're talking about fellowship a relationship with God so that I can become like a child like when the Psalmist writes and he says like a wean child my mother's breast without a need to tug on it for milk just to be satisfied just to hear the beating of her heart and that's what it means when it means you have fellowship with God you're not always making demands you just enjoy him and he says this is what I'll give to you I will give you the bright and morning star you will have fellowship with me in eternity you will know me you'll know all about me as I know all about you that's deep, abiding, permanent and joy filled and that's why we need the Lord because that's what it is I will give him the morning star you will know me and I know you he said I know my sheep and they know my voice I will know you and you will know me we will know one another now that's a definition to be with the one who loves you so much he gave up his life for you on a cross for you to be with him forever I will give you the morning star I will give you an abiding fellowship and you will know me as you desire what a blessing