"Dear Church, Don't Fall For It" Revelation 2:18-29::You've Got Mail

a man Turner said book of Revelation chapter 2 we hope and pray once again I'm so grateful for an amazing team and that shared with us all last week come on let's thank our amazing staff that a great job where the woods at this service it's hard to preach revelation it's hard to teach revenue it's hard to read revelation so we understand the amount of medicine I do not take that lightly what a great support team and system that we have and we appreciate them allowing themselves to really help us in that amen I pray for the Peterson family pray for Pope family we've had some death in our church and so we want to lift him up during this time Revelation chapter 2 now listen I got one of the hardest ones I let them off easy last week serious y'all gonna see we're gonna see in a second so I need your own touch neighbor said he needs a room and he needs some room for his discipline Revelation chapter 2 I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible and this is the Word of God right to the angel the church in Thyatira thus says the Son of God the one whose eyes are like fiery flames and whose feet are like fine bronze I know your works your love faithfulness service and endurance I know that your last works are greater than the first but I have this against you you tolerate the woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and to cease my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat meat sacrificed to idols I gave her time to repent but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality look I will throw her into a sick man those who commit adultery with her into great affliction lest they repent of her words I will strike her children dead and all the churches will know that I'm the one who examines minds and hearts and I would give to each of you according to your works I say to the rest of your Thyatira who do not hold this teaching who haven't known the so-called secrets of Satan as they say I'm not putting any other burden on you only hold on to what you have until I come one who conquers and keeps my works to the end I will give him authority over the nation's he will rule them with an iron scepter he will shatter them like pattern pottery just as I received this from My Father I will also give him the morning star that anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches whew that's a lot even I'm telling you once again it says this in verse 24 I will say to the rest of you entire time who do not hold this teaching who haven't known the so-called secrets of Satan as I say I'm not putting any other burden on you only hold on to what you have until I come but time with his hours we continue an hour you got in my own series I don't preach from this stuff today I want to talk about dear church don't fall for it tell someone close he said neighbor don't fall for it don't fall lift those hands to heaven say Lord speak we need to hear you may be seated in the presence of God what am i found this memories growing up I'll never forget on Sunday mornings Sunday mornings that my house was big as we prepared ourselves to go to church look church we belong to the morning temple United Holy Church and my granddad was superintendent of the Sunday school and so I was secretary of the Sunday School so before we would go to church on Sunday morning he would drop me by Bojangles and we will pick up a chicken and cheese biscuit and going to church but before we would go to church early that morning my great thing that I love to do is in Greensboro is when I would go and look in the morning and the Sunday morning paper would be on the porch I don't know we don't get those anymore but that was a big deal for us because Sunday edition for the newspaper was the largest edition of the week you got everything in it the coupons all that good stuff and I used to get I just run to get it because I used to give my granddad the news the news section the sports section grandma I got the live section in the obituary section because she just liked to see you that and my favorite section y'all was the comic section Oh because that was the only time it came out doing a week in color it it was out and let me tell you my favorite comments a lot of great ones betta I mean it was some good comments my favorite comic strip was peanuts I love peanuts got him probably I had an affinity to peanuts because of the protagonist's the main character we had to say named Charlie Brown huh Charlie Brown y'all know y'all know peanuts Charlie Brown Snoopy Linus and Lucy right I used to love seeing them and for years I would read it and but there was one particular episode it happened all the time then it was one thing that I never really truly figured out in all the years I read peanuts and follow Charlie Brown is that there been some moments that the writer would pull out Lucy and Lucy who was a good friend to Charlie Brown he's always tricking with one trick every single time she would put a football down she'll tell Charlie Brown come kick the ball Charlie Brown get himself together he would run full-speed and every time he got close to the ball getting ready to kick it she would moving and he will fall on the ground I'm not talking about one time I'm not talking about two time every time Lucy did this Charlie Brown would do the same thing he would run try to kick it and she would take the ball and he would fall and I mean I'm not talking about a few times all the time to the point where I got so frustrated I wish I could talk to Charlie Brown I want to tap Charlie Brown on the shoulder and say brother man I'm a big fan but I gotta ask you why do you keep falling for the same trick cuz you and I know Lucy is gonna tell you to come kick the ball you gonna run and we get close to it you're gonna try to kick and she's gonna move it out of the way I mean maybe Charlie would tell me that like many of us that the reason he did it even though he knew what the end result would be he had a relationship with Lucy and maybe because he had an intimate relationship he knew her they were friends he kept falling for the same thing because of the influence she had over his life let me submit to you that I think that it's fair to powerful for us to really ponder today because if we look at our walk it's not the external things that trip us up it's the internal intimate relationships is the things that's close to us that calls us to fall no it's not the big things that calls us to lose ourselves but if we look at life it's oftentimes those things that are close to us is those people that give influence to our lives and if we're not careful we'll fall for anything that's what this fourth letter really begins to outline for us today it is in essence the interesting think about it it's the longest letter to the smallest city it's it's an interesting piece because in this letter that Jesus ranks to this church in Thyatira with piercing eyes and judgmental feet he tells him he says listen I see what you're doing I commend your good works but I got a problem and my main problem is you've allowed an individual amongst you Jezebel to cause you to compromise and become complacent with my word and because you've allowed her to make you compromise you keep falling time and time again that's powerful my brothers and sisters and as I hope that as we've been looking at these texts and I hope that as we've been navigating through the book of Revelation I hope that you understand the significance of the background revelation is powerful and I always tell people one of the best ways to get it is you got to understand what the Bible is trying to say these cities had their own particular lens and life they lived in Thyatira once again was the smallest the most insignificant of all the Seven Cities and churches that Jesus wrote to his interesting matter of fact the only significance it had was that it was considered a central city to the the the capital of Asia at that time which is Pergamus is about 40 miles in front matter of fact the only significance it had that if somebody wanted to attack the capital they had to go through it first which meant they built Thyatira to be conquered destroyed and rebuilt it wasn't a major religious center but it was known because of trade to have some some good commercial opportunities they they dealt well in wool and in bronze and they were famous for producing purple dye it is the hometown of that person if you are reader of the Bible in the book of Acts one of the first Christian converts her name was Lydia who sold purple dyed her hometown was Thyatira and when we began to study this this small fledgling church in this small insignificant town we learned that this church majored in some great work but the problem was they waffled in learning and maintaining the doctrine and the word that God had left for them in other words what I'm telling you is the main issue that this church was facing unlike Ephesus which in Ephesus they had orthodoxy but no love but I got Tyra they had love but no orthodoxy in other words they did not hear they did not stay consistent they did not make sure that they heated the wheel of God and because they did not heed the will of God God in our text brings warning to this church and I want to submit for you today because I'm just don't want us to think that this is just some obscure city in an ancient area but yet he's speaking to us today because just like this church had to make the consistent choice to continue to be with Jesus we too have to make the same choice and there is no such thing as divine relationship without personal accountability which means my brothers and sisters there will come a time when you're gonna have to make the choice there will always be stuff that would cause you to trip up there will always be stuff that if you think you can get away with it you do it but here we learn in Thyatira Jesus says here as for all I want you to do is when those things come to try to make you fall when those things come to tempt you and trip you you got to make the conscious effort that I'm not gonna fall for this I'm gonna stand for Jesus I wish I had some time because I would tell you that's a good takeaway point somebody ought to understand if you don't stand for Jesus you will fall for anything and it may not be big to other people but you know and God says I have a plan for your life I have a way that I want you to go but one of the things we wrestle with is that too often we compromise we get complacent we tolerate too much and the tolerance that this church had caused Jesus to bring warning that's what I've come to suggest to you today my brothers and sisters as we began to parse and piece apart this particular passage I need some time to slow down because I I see a couple of movements in the letter that I really want to share because I think that what he tries to convey to them is I want to give you what it takes to stand because if you don't know what to stand you will always fall I know some people are gonna say man least say ouch for me today practice that with your neighbor so they beliefs say ouch today it's gonna get tired I want you to hear me I need some space to deliver this but yet in our text he speaks to this church and his chief thing is don't fall for it I'm not sure where you are I'm not sure what you're facing I'm not sure what decisions are coming your way but I hear Jesus saying and the atmosphere don't fall forward you you're gonna be questioned you're you're gonna be pushed to one way or another and you have got to make the decision will I stand for Jesus he really is my brother sister there's a few principles let me give you to them real quickly and let me share some of the truths I think that Jesus wants to convey from this passage the first thing he says if we're gonna stand instead of falling the first thing we got to do is stay faithful in trials I love this watch this and as we've been doing with all of these I notice how Jesus describes himself he talks about his fiery his bronze feet his piercing as he looks at his his notion of power upon his feet and notice what verse 19 says he says I know your works that word Noah's an intimate word he he seems to say I got knowledge of who you are I've been I've been watching you I've been I've been taking inventory of you and notice what Jesus says he notice he said and I've got to admit y'all are impressive because you are really doing it real big when it comes to love when it comes to faith when it comes to a service and when it comes to endurance he said man I've been looking at you and I've been noticing all that you've been doing and as I look at you man you are marking off all high marks man you are loving church you are a faithful church you are a serving church and you are an enduring church and I appreciate that my brothers and sisters because what Jesus does is he affirms how they are committed to maintaining their works according to the kingdom of God and I appreciate that because there is a difference between what the Lord sees and what the Lord is looking for and what other people are looking for cuz you know how we are we can be fickle and we're so externally we want to know what kind of car you drive we want to know how many seats you have in the sanctuary we want to know how good is your worship experience we want to know how great is the preacher but notice here he does not judge them on the external stuff that we thinks makes Church popular and successful he says let me tell you why I appreciate who you are because when I look at you I see a people that don't mind loving one another when I look at you I don't see I see people who understand how strong faith needs to be when I look at you I see people that don't mind serving one another and when I look at you I see some endurance among you let me tell you something my brothers and sisters I appreciate that because when the Lord looks at us that's what you want the Lord to say you want him to say boy you are loving somebody boy you are faithful somebody girl you are showing up serving man you sure are doing the thing and God sent me to tell you that you need these things because they are the manifestation of one another because without one you can't have the other the first - matter of fact trust me in the text the first two these Christian attributes is what gives birth to the last - in other words you can't have Christian love and not produce Christian service you can't have Christian faith and not learn how to in do it you need both of them in other words I if I'm gonna serve right I got a love right if I'm gonna endure I've gotta learn it takes my fixie that's why some of us struggle because you trying to serve but you can't serve without love that's why some of us struggle because you're trying to endure but you can't endure without faith he says you need these together because together they help produce the required outcome that gives glory to my name and I love that he says you're doing good you are loving you are faithful you are serving and you are in doing and here what he said matter of fact he said your last words are greater than your first look what he tells you he said man let me tell you how great I think y'all are when I came before you were good but you weren't complacent you decided you wanted to be better than where you were before you love at a high level before but now you're loving at an even higher level you had faith at a great level before but now your faith has gotten even oh you serve at a higher level before but man you serve an above and beyond I wish some of us can testify cuz you know how sometimes we believe we've made it and we'll pat ourselves on the back and we think that we doing everything right as long as you know a couple of scriptures and long to serve a couple of months out of the year you think you've done well but here's my question if you were to put a curve on your service curve on your love curve on your faith and curve on your endurance would you be moving up or will you be staying the same and I'm here to tell you that when God has been good to you your aim should never be to stay the same but your aim should be let me be to better better tomorrow than I am today and let me be better today than I am yesterday in other words what I'm submitting to you is that you've got to learn how to grow in love grow in faith grow in service and grow in endurance his caveat what made this extraordinary deaconbrown was that they grew in the midst of tribes because it was hard being a Christian it was easier just to pull up your tip and not do it but he says something spectacular about you is that in the midst of your opposition and painting and problems you got better instead of getting worse that you didn't let your external issues cause you to ever fall back in what you knew give me honor so you allowed the pain the stuff that goes around you to fuel you up to better works let me help you child of God because I want you to know it's easy to love when people love your back is easy to have faith when you don't have no problems it's easy to serve when you feel appreciated is easy to endure when it's a straight line but it's hard to love when they don't love your back is hard to have faith when it seems like a struggle is hard to serve when they don't appreciate is hard to endure when you're climbing a mountain but tuck somebody close to you and tell him I need my trials because my trials make me better and they make me go higher and what God wants me to be that's the thing that he says I appreciate coz she stayed faithful in your trials it was the mid-80s and what had happened was perhaps what are the low marks of the Reagan administration there was an attack on a Marine barracks in Beirut matter of fact hundreds of people lost their life many were wounded one leader of that day of commander corporal by the name of Kelly was making his rounds to see some of the wounded people and that was actually a soldier their commander that had got badly bruised in the in their assault matter of fact he was laid up in a bed body bruised you can literally see the blood coming through the bandages he had wires and and tubes coming in matter of fact he was stated that he looked more robotic than human but when the commanding officer were coming by in motioned to the nurse he told her to come over and he gave her a motion to give him a pen and paper on a pen and paper with his badly bruised hand he wrote something quickly and and told the nurse give that to him she she folded up the man came by tapped the man on the shoulder to acknowledge his presence the nurse said well he wants you to have this when the man opens the note a smile comes on his face on the note was written two words simplify that's the Latin model for the Marines which means forever faithful in essence what he was trying to convey he says even though I'm in a bad situation even though I went through a tough time I still want you to know I'm on stage faithful I wish I had somebody because it's easy to stay faithful when he ain't got no problems it's easy to stay faithful when everything's going well but the true test of your loyalty to God is can't you stay faithful even in your trial I said if I'm if I'm gonna stand and not fall I've got to stay faithful in trials but then also he tells us in the second portion of this letter I've gotta learn how to stay firm against temptations I gotta slow down here because these verses lift up some things that some of us assume we know let me take some this danger in assuming with the Bible matter of fact that's why you got to make sure that you do proper exegesis historical-critical look at the Bible that's just a simple way of learning how to look at it in his context because taking a text out of context becomes pretense and oftentimes we hear words and we use our contemporary understanding without understanding why they were utilized in the space they were in Scripture so in this text especially the verses we had last couple of Sunday's you've heard some stuff that I know has caused your mind to wonder and in our text today these tears these words Jezebel and sexual immorality got your mind all over the place so let me slow down and explain to you what they mean in the context of this scripture because he's writing to a specific church let me deal with this first one Jezebel you know jessimae or you think you know jism a matter of fact you you wouldn't make I mean there are plenty of biblical names you would name your daughter Mary Debra Sarah boom chica if you want Mercedes whatever your proclivity but you would never name your daughter Jessica we don't just build around just like as if we've made her a loose woman we may heard this well I want to be clear there from a biblical perspective Jezebel representing something greater than looseness something bigger than being sexually promiscuous that's that's not the biblical understanding of Jezebel Jezebel we see her as she comes she's the queen of King Ahab first Kings chapter 16 - second Kings around chapter 4 and and so she got a rap sheet if you know homegirl was trouble hunger had it worked I mean she was killing prophets matter of fact she's about to make Elisha the prophet of God commit suicide she she rough she matter of fact she had a man by name Namath kills so that she could take the vineyard and give it to a husband but God wasn't upset with her over her rap sheet what made Jezebel from a scriptural standpoint someone that God hated was that she brought in foreign gods into the children of Israel's worship life see God's intent from the beginning was to keep the children of Israel pure a monotheistic kind of people they were only to have one God that's why whenever you read scripture God had an issue he didn't want people marrying foreign women why because the tendency is that you will accept their gods and God is a jealous God so when Jezebel married to a ham she basically said you can still worship Yahweh just worship Bayless WADL worship these other gods it ain't gonna hurt you and so God's biggest issue was that Jezebel was responsible for bringing in of the gods to be worshipped beside him so whenever you see scripture especially in this context that's what's happened it is now a spirit that is causing these people in this church to take their eyes off of God matter of fact there's been some conjecture that like I said that when you read revelation is not always about the actual word as much as it's about the symbolism the woman in the text and it's an individual this is an actual individual in the church it is said that we don't know her real name we've just given her title because of what she's doing in the church someone suggested is she the wife of the pastor that's being messy could it be some prophetess in that area that has infiltrated the ranks of the church talking about she got some deep revelation and she'd been speaking of people been following her and she's been causing people to fall off some have said perhaps in a small minority of the audience have suggested it could be Lydia one of the first convert because remember she was one of those who made a lot of money she was in essence a millionaire in that day because she ruled with purple dye could it be that she got the church and realized I'm losing money by claiming Christ maybe she was trying to figure out how can I claim Christ and riches at the same time so you have an issue at this church with this individual that's causing people to lose their focus on Jesus it says I'm an equal-opportunity preacher let me just be clear jessabelle don't have to be a female there can be some Jezebel million but for this church it was a female who had influence and she was causing those in the church to waver that's what this takes shifts because the wavering according to what we see in the text led to sexual immorality and eating meat represented to other idols well let's understand what's happening contextually in Thyatira there wasn't much there was it was really not a large town it was hard to make money so what they did have would say you could work according to to merchandise or meals or or what we would call today factory work they would they would produce wool and purple dye and bronze but here's the caveat if you were to work in those factories you had to be part of some trade unions or some guilds because these trade unions would be responsible for giving you work you couldn't get work by yourself you had to go through an intermediary which was the trade unions now what makes that significant that in Thyatira these trade unions started to take on a life of their own they started to have their own gods they started to have their own fellowships and what they call gill feast where they were sacrificed to their own particular gods and then if you stay long enough things will get out of control it started to be real crazy and I just think if it's almost like you went to an office party and you thought you was going for one thing but after a while stuff start going crazy like start going out stuff start happening and that's what was happening they were going above and beyond and most folk in that town figured out I had to go along with it why because if I don't I won't make money so what this person an individual in this church was basically telling the people listen Jesus understands you can love him but he understands you gonna have to do what you got to do you can compromise see long as you worship him on Sunday but you can compromise on Monday oh you can pledge allegiance to him in your heart by you see Jesus understand in essence what she was saying it was alright to do it even though you knew it was wrong and I know y'all so sanctimony that's why I love preaching at a verdict I don't miss y'all the last couple of weeks because you thinking to yourself I'm just saying pastor that wouldn't be me but let me just propose a few things for you because I know you're thinking in your sanctify my I never been a no gild feast pastor I ain't never ain't no meat that's been sacrifices lord knows I mean you all in my bender but I never had nothing immoral about anything side up let me just ask a couple questions that I don't mean to prod you and I'm not gonna say he'll um but but I mean I'm gonna bring it home for you because for most of us we don't think being complacent and and we don't think being tolerant is that big of a deal but what happens if it happens on your job everybody's doing it everybody's smudging their their account cheats and the spin she's just just to get a few more timing I mean you you you drove a hundred miles when you put down 150 I mean ain't no big thing I mean I mean everybody does it it's not a big issue I mean I know you're on a work trip but I mean I mean you know that was your your time but you just put it on a on the on the company car it ain't no big thing it ain't nothing but dinner it ain't none but then that's all and so it wasn't a big thing but your compromise oh you in class I know it's coming down to the finals for the for the for the semester and I know it's been a hard class and you think it's yourself your teacher told you you got to pass this or you will not pass the class but you thinking I got to work hard but but then you get worried that there's a few people in class I got all the answers to the test you think it to yourself now I gotta study but but I need to study because I really want to earn this grade but but you start thinking what I mean I'm just saying I mean I mean if they get it and then they pass it and then they mess up the curve but everybody I mean ain't no big thing I mean it's just one test it's just I mean who matters I mean everybody else do it I mean they've been partying all week and I mean I'm just trying to think I mean what do you do y'all hang or help me cuz you're being real quiet now because some of us gotta understand the true test of our conviction of Christ is not what everybody sees it's really in the moment with you gotta make a conscious decision for God I live and for God I'm gonna stand y'all don't help me here but I got a few people in here that'll be honest with the preacher that there have been some moments up that you were scratching your head you were thinking to yourself well I mean who's it gonna hurt it ain't nothing big I mean come on whose money is it anyway who whose situation is the evening right and that's what they were doing they were compromising and what Jesus was saying I can't trust you to stand for me all the time then don't be with me at all Oh y'all like that we don't like that today that's that's hard preaching for us we want to gray Jesus we want Jesus that lets us get away with everything we wanted Jesus that lets us do what we want to do and she said no you know my will you know my word you know it's supposed to happen and even if they causes some harm even though it may cause you some loss you gotta learn to stand for me even when other people won't that's challenge and this issue with this jessebella significant person here is that she was using what sure authority don't wean them off and I'm here to tell you somebody can testify that's why you gotta be careful who you let speak in your life because I know I'm not in here by myself every bad decision was preceded by a bad word come on talk back to me it was always somebody told you it's gonna be alright go ahead you got it don't worry about this how we always do and here he has an issue because Jezebel was causing his people to compromise matter of fact this is one of the harshest this letter is perhaps one of the harshest he writes and I can't scrub it from Scripture Jesus ain't playing with this spirit I know y'all wanna mile meet Jesus that roll around frolic in which she going around healing people Jesus is hardcore Jesus a thug I'm telling you y'all better you think ghost something you better check out Jesus he serious he says alright let me tell you how gangster he is he said look I don't gave her time to repent if she don't imma put her down on her sickbed y'all are hidden in street vernacular she better lay down before she did put down you know I'm saying I mean was cereal yummy okay I'm trying to I'm trying to got a link and she said don't take no Jesus real G like look no and ain't just gonna be her imma have a problem with if you with her you gonna pay for what she did okay y'all unlike me that's why I tell people be careful dealing with messy people because uh you won't get caught up in they say mess I wish to tell you she said watch this I told you what to do I said I'm a striker children dead you know all it matter of fact he said he ain't gonna be none private I'm gonna do it so everybody and they mama don't know what I will not tolerate in my church and I will give to each of you according to your works well y'all ain't like me I'm trying to preach the Bible but I know this ain't this ain't popular preaching I'm sorry maybe I'll come back next week I can shout you but this is deep for me because what Jesus says is go ahead think you think you're getting away with it I've been keeping a tally the whole time and when time I see y'all help me see okay see y'all in this new age kind of life see when I was growing up oh I used to do some crazy y'all pray for me I used to some crazy stuff but my parent my grandparents blessed a heart they didn't believe in sparing the rod Bell elbow fists none today and can I tell you something that there are two types of beatings I used to get one is if I did something there they would beat me right there that was bad I mean my parents didn't play none if you you act up in public you're gonna get beaten punk that's that was a safe but can I tell you what's even worse than that is what I did some crazy sometimes and my granddad would look at me and say imma get you when you get home now I don't know about you I we used to go straight home we used to have to ride somewhere and y'all here's was crazy I would think my granddad would forget we mean we'd be at the store we'd be at the drycleaners and after couple hours I believe in I'm good he don't forgot about as soon as I walked in the house I done told you what I told you now y'all helping me here and that's what God said he said look I ain't gonna forget what you did and so you better learn to repent because you gonna get it when you get home okay [Applause] y'all don't believe me y'all enough y'all ain't never y'all dumb time our generation I'm sorry you you got put in time' but where are my that know that you've had some sho'nuff beatings and whooping 's and switch it Oh help me hold it go and if it hurt down here I don't want to feel where they got a do of that there's gonna be some consequences so stay faithful and try to stay firm against temptation because if you don't there's gonna be consequences to pay you think it's small now oh but you gonna get it after why his final thing I'm done fine think we gonna stand a knife all you gotta learn how to stay focused on truth here I'm done yeah y'all look so bored I'm sorry he says I say to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold to this teacher they are some of you who stayed true you you didn't commit complacency and tolerance you didn't follow the crowd you didn't let what other people do persuade you and shift you and move you from your convictions in you you didn't follow Farley to what is called in the text that secret knowledge of Satan is in that day they had a sect of believers called the Gnostics who thought they had some secret knowledge and they would Lord this knowledge over people and say if you want to know it you got to follow us jesus said because you didn't do that cos you stood in that moment he said I got something for you but the first thing I need you to do watch with seven Birds twenty-five Oh hold on to what you have okay send 14 and catch it 9 and catch it let me try it again he said only hold on to what you have you don't stood you didn't fall finally you stayed mature he says here is what I want you to do hang on now see ok let me tell you I am 15 and shout 910 shout and you didn't shout it's because you want me to tell you that Jesus told them that if you just because you did all that I'm gonna bring you out of trouble because you did all that I'm gonna sign your name on some kind of thing you gonna touch 14 people and do 14 summer songs and then tomorrow you don't get what you want he says no that's not how this thing worked he says listen your reward for hanging in there your reward for being faithful for not moving when you knew my will is that I'm not gonna put Mon you up but what I need you to do is continue to hang on and I know that any popular preacher you don't want me to tell you something else but sometimes the words you need to hear ain't that God's gonna take you out of some stuff but sometimes the words you need to hear the prophetic word for your life is hang on in there I wish I could tell you that times will always be good they're not I wish I could tell you that you will never have pain in you probably you will I'm not gonna tell you that people will love you University they gonna hate you but what I can tell you is that God will never put more on you then you can pass and I have a few people at the 9:45 worship experience that can testify you know what the only thing I can do is just hold on I know some people been telling you why are you still in there cuz I just got a hold order I'm just believing and trusting that if I hold on to God the reason I'm holding on is because he'd been holding on to me the only reason I ain't lost my mind the only reason I've been cooking for Coker plus the reason I messed up it because I'm holding on to a God that's been holding on to me do me a favor I feel the Holy Ghost here now cut somebody close to you and tell them just hang gonna just hang on in there yes don't get rough but hang on in there it's gonna get tough but hang on I'm done I'm done and he said will you do that I'm done here i'ma give you two gifts he said I'm gonna give you watch this my power and my presence he said I'm gonna make you watch this a comfortable those who overcome I'm gonna give you an iron scepter and you're gonna crush them like clay vessels y'all mister so you forgot who he's talking to it's a small insignificant Church fire you're tired nobody wanted matter of fact they were considered the lowest of the low and so throughout their life and existence people had their foot on their neck but Jesus in our text said if we can learn how to hang on in there and don't compromise and don't tolerate I'm gonna righteously remix your destiny because I'm gonna flip the script when they had their foot on your neck I'm gonna put them under your feet because the same power the father gave me I'm gonna give to you which means if you hang on in there it won't always be like this I wish I had somebody that can help me celebrate touch somebody next to you and tell them it won't always be like this because he'll give you power that you never had before power to have tables turn power to move how you want you to he said I'll give you my power I'm doing saying I don't even go give my power because if you learn how to in do with me you rank with me but the final thing he says is I'm gonna give you the Morningstar okay Morningstar we see that in Isaiah he says it was the Morningstar that came out from heaven and ruled over the earth I see why you can't shout because you don't understand it's also found in Revelation chapter 22 around verse 16 it tells us who the Morningstar is in essence in Revelation chapter 2 he says I'm gonna give you the Morningstar who is this morning star who is Jesus referring to well in this text Jesus when he calls the morning star Jesus is referring to himself he was basically saying because you hung on in there you stay company you stay come you committed the Riddick reward you don't get up if you don't get me okay I know that ain't gonna shot everybody because some of you feel like you need other stuff you you feel like you need a new job you feel like you need a new home you feel like you need a new crew but let me tell you something why be on this journey with the Lord if we're not gonna get his presence at the end why would you even come to church and serve and love and sing if it was just to get a house and just to get a car why would you spend all this time just coming in church putting on nice clothes I'm shining your shoes I'm getting your wig straight if it was something temporal that the world can take from you but I don't know about you my brothers and sisters the reason I do what I do the reason why I stay committed like I do the reason why there have been moments in my life even when I wanted to quit I couldn't quit cuz I knew at the end of the day I was gonna get to see my Savior face to face I knew at the end of the day that I was gonna be able to behold the brilliance and the glorification of my master I knew one day I was gonna get to see Jesus his day get anybody here I know you can't get excited over there but they ought to be about twenty-five of y'all in the house they said just give me Jesus huh I'll take Jesus you need tail because for God I live and for God I shake somebody by the hand and say just give me Jesus huh I'll take the pain give me Jesus huh I'll take the hurt give me Jesus I'll take the ridicule give me Jesus do I got anybody here let sit just give me cheese everyone's salad I'm doing touch three people tell them just give me Jesus just give me Jesus he said look okay that was a wrong neighbor find somebody excited and tell him just give me Jesus the bright and morning star Lily in the valley play softly listen I'm done he said look I've seen your works they're great you do amazing when it comes to loving and faithfulness and service and enduring but you pick and choose when you want to follow my word allowing people to get in your ear and tell you it's okay you're given the wrong people influence and impact on your life and I've got a problem with it because you ought to know me so much for yourself judge you discern when you hear it listen I can't do that I can't do that but but if you don't know what's I just can't do that and see sometimes you gotta have the courage of your convictions I know it ain't popular now cuz you know we don't we're do what we need to do you know we get the hustle mentality but at what cost didja Bonhoeffer he writes one of my favorite theologians German theologian he harkens this notion called cheap grace he said we've cheapen grace he said we cheapen it because our get out of saying free card is our grace card I got grace but he said that's a cheaper form of grace he says that when you have a fitting grace you say well I'm not gonna use this and get out of here I'm gonna use this grace card to tell me I don't have to see him cuz I got greens I don't have to compromise cuz I got great see that's why my brothers sisters given this walk with God you can't change you can't judge your life based on the score midway through the game see too many of us we keep looking at our first quarter score and we down and you think is over you looking at your second quarter score you down and it's over you go on a half town losing and you think it's over now oh baby keep playing let me go and tell you by the time third fourth quarter over I promise you whatever the score was to get to the hill do whatever's necessary to make sure you're winning honor him now look like see you you can't judge your life based on halfway through the game ask the Falcons they've been there they thought they was gonna win you gotta play touch of my tail you got to play the whole game you gotta play whole gang always football season you'll know what's coming y'all might as well putting up y'all might as well but enough but the thing is god knows the outcome we just gotta wait to the end which means let me tell you wouldn't let me tell you when you really maturely you really mature you can look at the score and you lose it but you can still shout anything cuz you already know how this thing is gonna eat you don't let him touch them I tell you you can't make me doubt I'm I know too much about father in the name of Jesus we come we bless you we honor you we glorify you we thank you for this moment got to challenged us because we know that there are some things sometimes that causes us to stumble to fall and trip and God we realize that you look at the totality of our lives and you asked us a proverbial question can we stand for you God we admit that then sometimes that we haven't always stood like we should rely on some things to make us compromise tolerate that we know is against your will so God forgive us today forgive us for the time as we try to make a shortcut but give us for the times we cheapen your grace and God what we ask in this moment is that you just teach us how to hold on hang on in there got a thank you for your power and I thank you for your presence so God we're just gonna see this all the way through despite about difficulties in spite of the things that we face in every single day we already believe that the best is still yet to come the end has already been predicted you've already got the victory and from that position we're gonna follow you claim you this is our prayer the precious name of Jesus Christ we do pray

Channel: Tabernacle Baptist Church Augusta

Views: 4,297

Rating: 4.7368422 out of 5

Keywords: TBCAUGUSTA CHARLES E GOODMAN, JR. PG

Id: 6O6sxEwa62s

Length: 46min 4sec (2764 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 18 2018