06 - Revelation Series | The Church of Thyratira

here's something special today let them hear it we thank you we love you jesus name amen [Music] the postman of asia is making a clockwise route taking the letters that jesus gave to john there on the island of patmos and he's delivering them to each of the cities the first one he delivered to the church at ephesus and we found that in that letter we have a church that is a five-star church they're doing great except their love was waning their love for jesus their love for each other their love for the lost was waning the second church was a church at smyrna just a little ways north and as he got to the church of smyrna we find a church that's being persecuted brutally persecuted and yet they were remaining faithful even to the point of being put to death he continued his journey north and he came to pergamum and there he found a church that had right belief but they had wrong behavior well today he begins a southeasterly trip and he's going down to the church of thyatira now do you like to receive mail do you like going to the post box every day and pick up neither do i i don't like going to the mailbox i just don't because there's there's these things in there called contentment busters advertisement and it makes me want things that i really don't need and i really shouldn't be buying okay then they've got these things called political propaganda and our boxes are filled with political propaganda right now and then it's got this other thing that's just hideous it's called what bills yeah yeah we don't like bills every now and then we get a handwritten letter of encouragement we love those we we like those but let's say this week you head to the mailbox and you get a letter now a few months ago when you filed your income tax you lied that's right you you fudged on your income tax i know none of you would but let's pretend okay you fudged a little bit you cheated on your income tax and now you pull a letter out that says official business of the irs urgent do not destroy or ignore your supper attempts to go north right i mean you break out in a cold sweat you begin to hyperventilate well welcome to the letter written to thyatira if jesus were to write you a personal letter today i mean handwritten to you would you be excited to read it or would you be afraid to open it i think the pastor of the church at thyroid torah had this monumental lump in his throat and the the church was was sitting on pins and needles as the seal was broken and the parchment was was unrolled because here's the sermon in a sentence sent in my life and in my church is to be confronted and corrected not tolerated and ignored no you can't leave stay seated let's look first at the description of jesus we're looking at jesus beginning in chapter 2 of revelation with verse 18. and to the angel of the church and thyatira write the words of the son of god who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze i was driving through one of the neighborhoods here in universal city this week and i came across a house and two of our members were sitting on the driveway and i thought well i'm going to stop i hadn't seen him in a while so i was going to stop him and go up and talk and so i stopped i get out of my car begin walking up and two little dogs cute little dogs come running out to greet me and so instinctively i kneel down to greet the dogs and i hear the words don't do that they bite i perceived them to be sweet little gentle kind lap dogs but they were ferocious dogs that enjoyed taking hunks out of people's hands see perception can be very misleading and i fear that today there may be a misperception of jesus we picture jesus sometimes as a velvet covered savior that that he's still the the humble peasant carpenter become a itinerant preacher who traveled across palestine and was crucified and and would not bend or break a a twig and would not snuff out a wick but that was jesus then jesus now is totally different than that this description of jesus is the description of the angry god when jesus wanted to connect with humanity whenever he was being compassionate and tender towards us he would use the the title son of man but when he was referring to his deity when he was referring to his his holiness he would refer to himself as the son of god and he said that he has eyes like a flame of fire meaning that everything they tried to hide he saw everything they tried to hide behind he incinerated their well articulated excuses their complex explanations their personal justifications he obliterated with his laser gaze you need to understand that jesus is the carignotus the kerrigan noted what is that kerry no that would be cardiac we get a word cardiac meaning heart gannotus gnosis meaning knowledge put it together you find that jesus is the heart knower he knows our heart you see the references there that refer to jesus as the heart knower isaiah 29 15 says woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the lord who do their work in darkness and think who sees us who will know hebrews 4 13 says nothing in all of creation is hidden from god's sight everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account romans 2 16 says this will take place on the day when god will judge men's secrets through jesus christ as my gospel declares you see the church at thyatira had secrets hidden sins things they thought no one knew about thought they were getting away with stuff in their life but you know you can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time but you can't fool jesus any of the time jesus is revealed as the one who has eyes like blazing fire and then he's also revealed as having feet like burnished bronze if you're with me a few weeks ago you know that bronze in the bible always refers to judgment it was upon the bronze altar or the brazen altar that sacrifice for sin was made it was burned up indicating god's judgment upon sin and so as we see jesus here these are the crushing feet of judgment so last week we looked at pergamum and jesus is the one with the two-edged sword the most powerful force in the universe the spoken word of god today in this text we see him as the one with fires ablaze eyes ablaze and his burnished feet this is jesus and jesus is upset with his church let's go from looking at jesus to learning from jesus now the first thing we learn is really good okay the church at sartara had some things going for it look at verse 19. jesus says i know your works your love and faith and service and patient endurance and that your latter work exceeds the first now that sounds pretty good doesn't it they are a hard-working loving faithful patient just group of disciples who are actually accelerating in what they're doing not decelerating i mean they're going more and more now i like that condemnation commendation you know i might even want to join this church however in the midst of this garden of virtues there was a poisonous weed that was growing there was a cancer that was metastasizing there was an enemy being harbored in the church here comes that word we hate to hear but but i have this against you that you tolerate that woman jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols now jesus was first and foremost upset with the pastor of this church you see the word you there but i have this against you in the greek it's singular he's pointing to the pastor he says i'm upset with you pastor you the one who is responsible to deliver my message through i'm upset with you because you are tolerating a false teacher and her teachings in the church jesus calls her jezebel now i don't think that was her real name but the jezebel of the old testament characterized this jezebel in the new testament you see the jezebel in the old testament she was a queen of israel probably the most horrible queen israel ever had she was corrupt and she led king ahab into increased corruption and she corrupted the people of israel getting them to worship the pagan gods she put all of the prophets of god that she could find to death and then she housed and fed and clothed the prophets of baal at the end of her life we know what happened they threw her down from the city walls her blood splattered upon the wall horses trampled on her and dogs came and ate what was left a great bedtime story or mealtime bible story this prophetess jezebel in the church at thyatira was teaching and was seducing church members into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that was sacrificed to idols she was first appealing to their intellect with this creative teaching this this novel concepts that she was presenting to them and she was appealing to their sinful flesh with seductive attractive activity now to oversimplify for the take of time i've got to simplify she was telling them that it's okay to practice sexual immorality that it's okay to look at things to involve yourself in activities it's okay also to compromise your convictions so that you can better fit in with society you can avoid persecution and who knows maybe you might even attract the lost into the church if you connect with them on their same level field okay she was taught teaching them a form of sexual perversion say it's okay you're safe because you have been perfected solistically your soul has been perfected by the sacrifice of christ so it really doesn't matter what you do with your body you're going to heaven anyway one saved always saved so why not she was also teaching it's okay to gather with the pagans and worship at their feast and eat their sacrifices that have been sacrificed unto demonic gods that way you won't be losing your job you will not be pushed out of the guild you'll not be ostracized you'll fit in with society now folks does that sound remotely familiar today the spirit of jezebel is alive and well we live in a day of great seduction seduction interesting word isn't it to seduce is to attract into an activity that is harmful seduction makes behavior that is harmful look fun exciting beneficial productive progressive and harmless you see any of that going on in our day today things that we know are harmful to our soul harmful to our relationship with the lord harmful to the reputation of the church and yet it's made to look fun exciting beneficial productive progressive and harmless today everywhere you look be it pornography or fornication or homosexuality or adultery or materialism pride success abortion alcohol other drugs we are surrounded by teachings and seductions that lead us away from holiness and our generation is filled with it now here's the problem in thy retire it wasn't outside the church only it was now coming from inside the church it was being propagated among god's people among the gathering of the disciples of jesus and the church was not confronting it and not correcting you know i really i really don't like confronting or spotlighting the sins of our generation and yet i know i do it all the time i'm sorry but the perversion the perversion of sexuality the neglect of the lord's day the disdain for the body and bride of christ the neglect of the word of god immodesty of dress the slanderous tongue the corruption of entertainment and what one generation tolerates finish it for me the next accepts as the norm what would have been the dress of a harlot 20 years ago is now accepted fads in the christian community what would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap and i was a boy is now table talk in christian homes what would have received a triple x rating when i was a boy is now pg-13 behavior that once set us apart from the world is now embraced in an attempt to identify with the world and the thought of coming out from them and touching no unclean thing is the passage of scripture we conveniently ignore is it possible that the son of god who has eyes like flames of fire is watching and who has feet as burnished bronze is coming now i'll say i don't think we have a woman in our church that jesus would call jezebel nor a man in our church that he would call ahab but i think we have to ask ourselves is the spirit of jezebel finding root in my life is that spirit of compromise and corruption finding fertile soil in my heart are there forms of sexual immorality that need to be eradicated from my life have you allowed yourself to be conformed rather than transformed from sinful society have we compromised holiness in any way in an attempt to maybe somehow reach another one for jesus or to avoid being persecuted or being shunned for our belief and our obedience to the commands of christ have we remained silent to avoid conflict when we should have spoken in love the issue that jesus was upset about in the church was that they were not stepping up to the plate the unpleasant painful plate of church discipline church discipline was essential for the maintenance of holiness in the church you see the pastor wasn't preaching about it and those who were practicing it were not being confronted corrected and if necessary removed from the congregation now church discipline is designed to do one of two things one call sending believers back to righteous behavior number two purge from her midst those who stubbornly refuse to repent you see the bible declares that those of us who name the name of christ who claimed to be christians claim to be followers of christ and yet stubbornly live in willful habitual sin are to first be confronted and corrected and if that does not bring about repentance we are to be put out of the congregation you say pastor does the bible really teach that if you're not aware of this teaching and the clarity of god's word on this issue you need to study your bible because it is crystal clear this is a neglected responsibility of the church in the first century and in the 21st century now look at what else we learned from jesus since the church would not deal with the woman jesus would follow me to verse 21 jesus said i gave her time to repent i gave her time to repent he's not quick with his punishment he said i gave her time to repent but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality is he giving you time to repent is there some behavior in your life that he's saying look i'm giving you time to repent you know it's wrong he knows it wrong and yet you're continuing in that behavior and jesus said i gave her time to repent but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality behold i will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her i will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works and i will strike her children dead then all the churches will know that i am he who searches mind and heart and i will give to each of you according to your works now folks the last thing jesus wants to do is punish do you see that in the text it's the last thing he wants to do he is patient he is kind he is slow to anger he is abounding in grace abounding in mercy but he has limits he's given this woman time to repent no doubt the the spirit has convicted her over and over you know what that's like right there's something in your life and every time you do it you're like i shouldn't done done that i need to stop that i need to get serious about this and yet we just keep on doing it keep on doing it that's what she was doing time was now up he would now deal with her and her followers and anyone who picked up where she left off jesus would put them to death yeah jesus believes in the death penalty asked ananias and sapphira asked the church at corinth who had abused the lord's table and many had fallen asleep or they had died verse 23 tells us that this divine execution would accomplish something it would reveal something to the churches what would it reveal you see it in the text number one jesus knows everything searching the mind and the heart you can't hide anything from him and number two jesus deals with us according to our behavior that reveals our belief please don't miss that you know look at the screen 21st century believers are adamant in declaring that we are saved by belief not behavior and we are correct however belief that does not continually transform behavior is not saving belief that's why jesus often referred to behavior as the basis of his judgment of our lives and that's what he's doing in this text is it not it will be done to you according to your actions your works you see we need to understand that we are saved by grace through faith but saving faith will always transform behavior okay you got through the worst part it eases up right now as we listen to jesus i know it's been heavy but now he's no longer talking about jezebel and her followers are her children but now he turns his attention to the true church okay he's addressing those true believers that are there in the church of thyatira the true followers of him as we pick up in verse 24 but to the rest of you in thyatira who do not hold this teaching who have not learned what some call the deep things of satan to you i say i do not lay on you any other burden only hold fast what you have until i come the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end i will give him authority over the nations and he will rule them with an iron rod of iron as when earth and pots are broken in pieces even as i myself have received authority 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 folks this is good stuff here you see there were some in the church of thy tower that had not compromised and that had not been corrupted they had not been seduced i hope our church is filled with people like that i hope that is characteristic of your life and my life jesus said i want nothing more than what you're now doing what were they now doing remember what he said they were working loving believing enduring he said that's all i want you to do i want you to keep working keep loving keep believing and keep enduring to the very end and he said if you'll maintain those things your purity your non-conformity until i return or you die he says you will reign with me reign with me in the millennial kingdom that's what this is referring to now here's here's the principle how you live in this life determines how you live in the life to come now we're all going to go to heaven we're all going to be in the new heaven and the new earth we're all going to experience the new jerusalem but how you live in that experience is determined by how you live out this christian life now to the pure to the faithful in this life positions of responsibility will be given the ability to rule and to reign will be given during the millennial kingdom of christ upon the earth now we're going to talk an awful lot more about the millennial kingdom when we get to chapter 20. if jesus doesn't come back before that's going to take a while to get there right for now what you currently need to know is how you are currently living determines how you will live in that thousand year reign of christ upon the earth and throughout all of eternity then we get to add something more to it look at verse 28 and i will give him the morning star astrologically speaking that's venus okay as the sun begins to rise and it shines upon venus you can see the morning star which is venus okay now in the bible it's used in a couple different ways it's actually used in one reference as a reference to lucifer the bright morning star and that's a negative way the catholic church says it refers to mary and calls her the morning star but in this context it's very clear who he's talking about in fact if we jump over to revelation 22 verse 16 listen to jesus i jesus has sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches i am the root and the descendant of david what's the next phrase the bright morning star second peter chapter 1 verse 19 says the same thing jesus is the ultimate bright morning star now here's what i think is the best interpretation of what he's saying here to those of us who endure who maintain holiness who are not seduced into compromise and corruption in this life we will experience a close encounter with jesus in this life and throughout eternity you know we think we know what will satisfy us what we want in life but do you know what will really satisfy you in this life you know what you really want you may not be aware of it what you're hungry for it's jesus asaph the psalmist said it like this whom have i in heaven but you and there is nothing on earth that i desire besides you my flesh and my heart may fail but god is the strength of my heart and my portion forever the greatest need and the greatest desire of your life and mind is jesus yet for many churches and for many christians there seems to be a real absence of jesus a real absence a real lack of encounterment of christ now we know he never leaves us he never forsakes us but the awareness of his presence can sometimes grow dim the lampstand seems to be removed the illumination of the word becomes dim the transforming power of the spirit the peace of his presence is absence compromise and corruption will do that that's why i say to you today sin in my life and in my church is to be confronted and corrected not tolerated nor ignored is there anything in your life that needs to be confronted and corrected today we need jesus more than anything else we could ever imagine we need him you're not going to experience him if there's compromise and corruption in your life let's bow together father we call to you in the name of jesus wanting to live worthy of this calling that we have received wanting to live practically what we have become positionally in christ holy holy well jesus would you give us what we need and what we need is you lord would your presence burn away all those those stains and wrinkles all the blemishes that we have allowed into our lives that taint the righteous robes of christ in us that mar our experience of you in an everyday way lord jesus help us to walk in holiness lord as i read this morning who may ascend to the hill of the lord who may stand in your holy place only he who has clean hands and a pure heart give us clean hands give us pure hearts we need you lord we need you let's stand and sing this prayer unto our lord lord i come

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Length: 32min 2sec (1922 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 04 2020