Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / Thyatira: A Church That Tolerated Evil | Revelation 2:18-29 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

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Thyatira: A Church That Tolerated Evil | Revelation 2:18-29 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Of all the churches that Jesus addressed in the Book of
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  Revelation, what we are about to read and study together at this
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  time is the longest letter. Simply put, Jesus Christ has
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  more to say to this assembly than any other, and that should
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  prompt us to carefully consider what was taking place in
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  Thyatira that demanded such an extended message.
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  If there was one word to summarize what was taking place
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  that caused the Lord Jesus to offer this detailed
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  confrontation, it is this toleration.
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  Toleration, and I say that because that is the very word we
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  will see, at least in the ESV, that serves as a turning point
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  in the scathing report. And I want us to consider what
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  toleration means, having a proper definition before we
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  explore this letter. To tolerate involves any idea or
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  activity or person that is allowed or accepted when in fact
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  it is disapproved of. It is something that is
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  disagreed upon, and in this case you had an entire, well at least
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  a majority of the church that was tolerating something, More
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  specifically tolerating someone that Christ himself did not
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  approve of. And the reality of the matter
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  is, there are many behaviors that are taking place in the
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  church at large that Christ expects His people to lovingly
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  confront, but that is not always true.
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  If there is a main take away from this letter, it is that
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  tolerance is a recurring temptation for the church in
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  every age, and it is something that the individual Christian
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  and the church as a whole must be ready to resist for the sake
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  of Christ honor. There is that and many other
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  things that we are going to learn as we now begin to read in
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  Revelation chapter 2, starting in verse 18.
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  Again, this is the longest letter, but we're going to read
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  it in one sitting even now before we dissect it.
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  Revelation 2, verse 18. And to the Angel, the church in
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  Thyatira, right, The words of the Son of God, who has eyes
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  like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
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  I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient
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  endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
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  But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman
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  Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and
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  seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat
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  food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but
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  she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
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  Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit
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  adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless
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  they repent of her works. And I will strike her children
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  dead. And all the churches will know
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  that I am he who searches mind and heart.
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  And I will give to each of you according to your works.
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  But to the rest of you and thy Tyra, who do not hold this
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  teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things
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  of Satan, to you I say, do not lay on you any other burden,
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  only hold fast what you have until I come, the one who
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  conquers and who keeps my works until the end.
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  To him I will give authority over the nations, and he will
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  rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in
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  pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my
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  father, and I will give him the morning star.
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  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
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  churches. Father, we ask that you give us
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  ears to hear. We pray that you would destroy
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  all distraction, any obstacle in our hearts and our minds that
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  would interfere with what You want to say.
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  We believe that you have a word for this church and we want to
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  hear it with clarity and precision and power.
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  In Jesus name we ask these things.
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  Amen. It's clear from the introduction
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  alone that this letter is not going to be an encouraging 1.
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  What we see here just from the beginning that this is a serious
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  warning. And how do we know that?
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  Because the characteristics that Christ chooses to apply to
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  himself, the ones that He highlights, are associated with
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  judgement. You can almost translate the
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  first verse in the following way.
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  Before I say anything else to you, O people of Thyatira, my
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  people, I want to remind you of my authority.
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  That's why he says I am the Son of God.
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  And why that's important to say from the outset is because he
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  wants to inform this people that it doesn't matter who is saying
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  what in your church. It doesn't matter how many of
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  you approve of what is being taught in my church.
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  I am the one in charge of my church.
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  I'm the one that determines who does what and what is said.
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  I am the Son of God. Here's my authority.
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  And from his authority now he reacquaints them with his
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  abilities. What does he say?
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  He describes himself as the one who has eyes like a flame of
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  fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
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  Just in case you would reject my authority, let me tell you the
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  consequences of such a thing. My perception is perfect.
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  My discernment and my assessment is something that will warrant
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  judgment, because I am never wrong.
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  I see everything, I know everything, and I want to let
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  you know that if you deny my authority, you will have to face
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  my discipline. My eyes are like a flame of
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  fire, and my feet are ready to go to work and to trample on all
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  disobedience. Now, this is something for us to
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  consider because Jesus Christ is holy.
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  You're going to read some things and you're going to study some
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  things with me that may sound like it's Old Testament.
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  Now this is New Testament. This is the newest of the New
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  Testament. You can't get any more new than
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  this. We're the last book of the New
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  Testament. So you have some people who say,
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  you know, I'm more comfortable with the God of the New
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  Testament, the God of the Old Testament.
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  Let me shock you. He's the same God.
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  You can't make that distinction. And people who talk like that,
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  I'm afraid, have not read or studied the Book of Revelation.
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  But before Christ underscores any error in this church, He
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  wants to, He wants to point out some of the attributes that he
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  admires. And that's in one verse.
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  Here in verse 19. What does he say?
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  Well, there are 4 distinct characteristics that he
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  mentions. The first thing apart from the
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  general works is their love. I see your love.
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  More than that, I see your faith and even beyond that, I see your
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  service. I see your patient endurance.
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  I mean, if you heard about a church that was loving, that had
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  faith, that was serving, that was enduring patiently, you
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  would say give that church an A. Christ has a different grading
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  system. I don't think it's necessary for
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  us to look at these things separately.
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  What I do want to mention is the last part of this comment.
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  Notice what he says and that your latter works exceed the
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  first. So it's not so much that this
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  church was possessing these wonderful attitudes and these
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  actions. What Christ says is that they
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  were growing and excelling in them.
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  That over time I see that you're maturing in these areas, that is
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  becoming more fruitful and fragrant in your assembly.
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  I love this. I, I, I praise this, I commend
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  this. And here's what moved me about
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  this. It shows you an eye, the type of
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  growth that Jesus Christ celebrates in his church.
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  You know, you talk to ministers today and they love to speak
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  about numerical growth. We have more people attending
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  our services. Well, that could be good.
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  It could also be bad. And then you have others who
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  take pride in the increased giving.
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  Every member's meeting, you know, the ones that you have,
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  maybe once or twice a year, we'll look at our report.
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  We're having more people give, and that also can be a good
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  thing. But do you know what Christ
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  primarily praises the incremental transformation of
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  his people. That's the kind of growth that
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  Jesus Christ celebrates. It's not so much the size of the
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  congregation, it's the quality of its members.
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  And so he looks at, he doesn't mention how many are there.
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  He doesn't mention anything. The thing that he highlights is
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  you individually are growing in your love, your faith, your
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  service, and your patient endurance.
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  Here's that applies to US. Number one, does our
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  understanding of success in ministry align with the Lord's?
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  Do we celebrate what he celebrates?
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  Do we focus our investments on what Christ wants us to focus
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  on? Again, for many people, it's
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  let's fill as many seats as possible.
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  Our concern should be who's sitting in those seats and what
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  are they becoming and what do their lives look like once they
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  finish warming those seats for an hour and a half on a Sunday?
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  This is what the Lord is inviting us to, which invites
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  us, I think. Let's say, for example, every
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  church anniversary we celebrate in November, do we not?
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  I was reflecting a thought. We should be able to look back
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  and say that people at Maranatha Bible Church are more loving
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  than they were last year. We have more people serving than
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  ever before. Look what's happening to the
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  members at MVC. They are able, with greater
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  wisdom and greater patience, handle internal and external
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  conflicts, patient endurance. And I pray that that would be
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  the trajectory of this church. We will not decrease in our
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  affection, that we will not weaken in our acts of service,
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  but increase as time goes on. Unfortunately, that's all the
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  good Jesus had to say for this church for the rest of this
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  letter. Now he is going to bring up a
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  serious concern. There is going to be an issue
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  that he is going to target without reservation.
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  His main issues with a woman, her name is Jezebel.
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  Or is it? It's very unlikely that this
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  woman's name in this church was actually Jezebel because of the
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  history of that name, because of the scandal associated with that
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  name. It would be like anybody naming
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  their son Judas. Very unlikely.
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  So what we have here is a symbolic label that Christ
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  places on this individual because like Jezebel in the Old
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  Testament, this prophetess was an agent of Satan and Satan was
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  using her in this assembly to lure the people of God away from
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  the truth. And so she has Jezebel like
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  qualities. You can imagine the shock on her
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  face when this letter was read and she heard Jezebel and the
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  rest of the church for that matter.
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  There are three problems that the Lord highlights about this
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  woman. Let's look at them again.
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  The 1st is here in verse 20. Who calls herself a prophetess?
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  You have to read carefully. The issue here is not the
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  practice of prophecy itself. We see examples of even woman
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  prophets in the New Testament. Rather this individual is a self
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  appointed prophet. It's as though Christ is saying
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  I I did not Commission this woman.
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  She does not have my endorsement.
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  She's a self-proclaimed messenger, and this woman had
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  the boldness to walk into this church, build trust and fellow
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  members and telling them, did you know that I'm a prophetess?
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  I hear from God all the time, regularly actually.
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  In fact, I have such a close and unique relationship with the
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  Lord that I have been given access to unique insight and
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  revelation. And Jesus says she calls herself
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  that. She's not one of mine.
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  Church. Be careful of people who call
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  themselves prophets, especially online.
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  Can I tell you something? A person whom the Lord truly
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  uses doesn't need to advertise themselves.
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  They don't. God is really using somebody
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  speaking through somebody. One, it's going to align with
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  His Word, and two, you will, if you have even a hint of
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  discernment, recognize this individual is a real thing.
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  This person is a faithful messenger of God's Word.
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  So be careful. More and more are we seeing
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  people freely calling themselves different things, including
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  prophets and prophetesses, when in fact they hire themselves.
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  They're not of Christ, even though they speak in His name.
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  The second thing that is a troubling feature is how this
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  woman was teaching. Look again at verse 20.
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  But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman
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  Jezebel, who one, calls herself a prophetess, and two, is
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  teaching. Again, read carefully.
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  The problem highlighted here is not what she is teaching.
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  That's going to be brought up next.
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  The point of contention is who is teaching?
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  You see, the church in Thyatira was violating the clear biblical
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  instruction and mandate that women are not to serve as
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  preachers or teachers in the General Assembly of the church.
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  It cannot be any more plain than the words of the Apostle Paul in
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  First Timothy 212 when he says, I do not permit a woman to teach
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  or to exercise authority over a man.
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  Rather she is to remain quiet. That doesn't mean that when she
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  comes to church she's supposed to be mute.
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  It means that in the context of preaching and teaching the
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  worship time of the church, she is not to do what men alone are
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  called to do, and that is to instruct the people of God with
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  the Word of God. It's very possible that this is
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  the first time that some of you heard me quote this verse or
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  heard this was quoted at all in such a plain manner.
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  And so I'm aware that there can be thoughts and questions
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  emerging even now as I'm talking in your heart.
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  Well, let me direct you to a one hour message that we have on our
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  YouTube channel that speaks about in great detail what God
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  says about woman assuming the role of elder, pastor and
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  teaching the General Assembly in the church.
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  And I'm sure it will be helpful. And perhaps in the near future
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  we may have to even revisit that.
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  But see, this is what we can understand at this point.
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  It is completely appropriate for both men and women in informal
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  Bible studies and settings to be able to share insights and to be
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  able to express questions. The Bible even encourages women
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  to teach younger women how to be good and how to be faithful and
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  to disciple children. But when it comes to the church
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  gathering for corporate worship, Scripture clearly and undeniably
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  reserves the role of teaching for men.
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  And this is yet another example for us of how this series and
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  revelation is so applicable. Can I ask you something?
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  Are there fewer churches today promoting women to teach
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  congregations and pursue the role of pastor or more?
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  The reality is more and more are embracing this trend.
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  Mark my words. You listen carefully then,
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  unless the Lord comes and baptizes the wider church in the
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  fear of God again, to position the church, especially leaders,
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  to obey God in everything that he says, not what you like, what
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  He says, whether your flesh is comfortable with it or not.
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  Unless the Lord does that in this age, we are going to see a
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  greater attack on this mandate. And if you're a part of a church
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  like this one that honors and bows its knee to the authority
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  of God's Word, even in what he says for men and women in their
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  distinct roles in the church, prepare to be criticized.
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  Prepare to be slandered by who? The world.
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  I'm not concerned by the world. No, no even churches and
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  ministries that willfully dismiss this command.
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  But here's what we're learning. Why are we going through these
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  series, this series in the the seven churches in the Book of
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  Revelation? Because we want to know what
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  kind of church Christ wants and the church that Christ praises.
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  I'm not motivated one iota to be a ministry that popular
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  evangelicalism approves of. I'm not concerned about that.
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  I will stand before Jesus Christ, not before the popular
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  pastor Christ. And I want to stand before.
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  I'm faithful. And I hope you do as well.
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  Unfortunately, this church tolerated a woman who was
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  teaching with authority in the assembly.
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  But that's not the only thing. If teaching as a woman wasn't
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  disobedient enough, she aggravates her offense by what
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  she was teaching. Look here at the last part of
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  verse 20. Not just teaching, but seducing
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  My servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food
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  sacrificed to idols. This Jezebel, through her
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  teaching, was comforting and persuading other members, my
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  servants, Jesus says, to sin comfortably.
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  You know, some wonder, how was a woman able to climb and have
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  such influence in this congregation?
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  And there are some, though it's not explicitly clear, that that
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  believe that this woman was in fact one of the wives of the
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  elders, because the Greek word for a woman there is
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  interchangeable between woman as a gender and wife.
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  But that's not plain. Either way, what we want to
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  focus on is the essence of her doctrine.
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  What she was spewing out was that certain sins were
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  permissible, that you can engage and you can indulge in certain
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  ideas, this promotion, this illusion of freedom under the
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  guise of grace. And there's something about her
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  teaching, I believe, that I think makes it so compelling.
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  Scroll down to verse 24. Notice what the Lord says to
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  this remnant in the same church and we'll look at that in in a
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  moment here. But verse 24 says, But to the
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  rest of you and Thyatira who do not hold this teaching, who have
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  not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I
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  say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
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  Now the ESP has an interesting rendering of this verse in other
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  word for word translations like you know, the King James and the
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  new King James, the Lord is the one who identifies this teaching
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  as the deep things of Satan. So here in the ESP says what
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  others might call the deep things of Satan and those other
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  ones. Maybe you have it in your hand.
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  It's it's the Lord who's saying this is the deep things of
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  Satan. Either way, what Christ is
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  describing here can mean one of two things, or even really both.
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  First, whatever this woman was was conveying and communicating
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  was deeply disturbing and perverse.
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  But I can also mean this, that she was captivating an audience
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  because she claimed that she had deeper insights into spiritual
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  things. And this is something for us to
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  understand as well, because it's not about deeper things in the
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  Word of God. We should all long for that.
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  What I'm referring to is the unraveling of extra biblical
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  ideas on the basis of supposed prophetic authority.
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  So it could have been something like, let me tell you some of
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  the secrets to the spiritual realm.
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  Let me unpack for you basic baseless ideas of spiritual
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  dimensions and practices in the Scriptures that are, in fact not
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  in the Scriptures. Twisting truths, twisting
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  illustrations, twisting stories. In fact, maybe not even in the
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  Scriptures at all. Completely silent in the Bible.
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  Let me tell you some things that you don't know.
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  Let me exegete my personal visions and my dreams and my
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  encounters. They can't be validated.
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  Just take my word for it. I'm, I'm persuasive in my
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  speech, am I not? Don't, don't I look godly.
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  So let me tell you some things that I've experienced that are
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  applicable to you. Deep things, not deep things in
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  the Bible, deep things from your own experience, from your own
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  mind. You know, over the years as a
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  Christian, I've, I've been approached by people who have
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  invited me to listen to so and so because they're deep, OK.
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  And when I listen, I find out, yeah, they're deep.
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  They're in deep trouble because they're not saying anything
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  that's biblical. I'll never forget the time after
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  a few months, maybe close to a year of walking with the Lord, I
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  had somebody, we went to this conference and somebody
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  approached me. We got to know them a little
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  bit. He handed me a USB stick with
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  the series of teachings from this guy.
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  I don't even remember who the man was, but it was a series on
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  miracles, but unique miracles, miracles that you didn't think
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  you had access to. And there was more than one
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  sermon on how Christians have the ability on demand to
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  teleport, teleportation. And this man plucked a couple of
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  examples of how the Lord has done this.
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  But no, no, it wasn't how the Lord can do it.
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  It's how you can do it. And here's the most shocking
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  part, listening to this in the car with a friend.
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  And the worst part is you had people in the live audience
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  recorded, wow, literally saying wow, wow, wow.
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  What do you think this man got the confidence to speak in this
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  way? Think it was from the Bible?
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  No, no, no, no. It was 45 minutes of let me tell
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  you how it happened to me, how I went from here to here, how I
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  went from this country to this country, how I elevate into
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  heavenly realms and dimensions. You know you can do that too if
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  you have enough faith, deep things.
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  And this church was tolerating it.
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  I want you to be careful because ideas like this are gaining more
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  and more popularity. Thousands and hundreds of
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  thousands of views. I even just yesterday, last
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  night, I thought, let me just look this stuff up and I looked
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  it up and there hundreds of thousands of views.
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  I could barely stomach what was being said.
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  And they would pan into the audience and people, wow, they
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  don't know their Bibles. There's no way.
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  And you had a church here who loved this teaching.
• 25:21
  Christ did not. And we see here his
• 25:24
  righteousness, his zeal. You know, listen.
• 25:27
  As much as love is important, faithfulness is important,
• 25:30
  service is important, patient endurance is important.
• 25:32
  You know what we learn from this?
• 25:33
  Teaching is important to Jesus. It may not be important to you,
• 25:37
  but it's important to the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 25:39
  And he wants the church to partner with his heart.
• 25:44
  And so he demonstrates his zeal for pure truth.
• 25:50
  But listen, His passion for holiness is beautifully followed
• 25:56
  by His incredible grace in the following verse.
• 25:58
  So we look at verse 20. Now look at verse 21.
• 26:01
  I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her
• 26:06
  sexual immorality. You know what this means?
• 26:10
  This is not the first time that this woman was confronted for
• 26:13
  her error. I gave her time to repent,
• 26:18
  implying she was confronted before, perhaps by faithful
• 26:24
  Christians in the congregation, maybe directly by the conviction
• 26:26
  of the Holy Spirit. We aren't sure what is certain,
• 26:29
  though this is not the first time the Lord is dealing with
• 26:31
  her. Relish in the brilliance and the
• 26:37
  beauty, the astounding patience of Jesus Christ.
• 26:41
  He doesn't just give us opportunities to repent.
• 26:45
  He gives you time to repent when it's not your initial response
• 26:51
  to His invitation. Look how steadfast He is and
• 26:58
  calm He is. I gave her time and you and I
• 27:04
  have to understand that. When we look out and see false
• 27:07
  teachers today receiving millions, even billions of
• 27:11
  donations packing stadiums, I've thought this, Lord, why aren't
• 27:15
  you stopping them? Why are they growing in their
• 27:17
  reach and in their influence? And I learned something from
• 27:20
  this letter. He's giving them time to repent.
• 27:25
  He's giving the time to repent. And it could very well be before
• 27:28
  there is a public scandal with somebody who is not truly a
• 27:31
  messenger of God. They were private convictions,
• 27:35
  confrontations, the Lord dealing with them in their hearts,
• 27:38
  allowing people to come into their lives and speak into their
• 27:41
  lives. And unfortunately, do many do
• 27:45
  what this woman did with every opportunity received, she
• 27:49
  refused to repent. Have you ever wondered, just in
• 27:53
  a general sense, why do people refuse to repent?
• 27:56
  I mean, if the gospel is preached faithfully, if it's
• 27:59
  really given as good news, why do people swat it away?
• 28:03
  Why do they deny it? I believe in many cases for the
• 28:08
  same reason this woman did. They love their sin.
• 28:12
  Notice again verse 21, I gave her time to repent, but she
• 28:15
  refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.
• 28:20
  The reason why she didn't want to turn to the Lord is because
• 28:22
  she didn't want to give up her lusts.
• 28:25
  And here's something to consider.
• 28:26
  It's very possible that her influence in this church
• 28:29
  provided personal opportunities to indulge in her lusts.
• 28:35
  Did you know that what are the marks of a false teacher is that
• 28:38
  they are ravishedly driven by sexual impulses, and they'll use
• 28:47
  the persuasiveness, their personality, they'll use their
• 28:51
  leadership abilities to satiate those sexual desires.
• 28:59
  Here's a mark of a false teacher according to Peter and second
• 29:02
  Peter 2:14, They have eyes full of the adultery.
• 29:08
  This is in the context of false teachers.
• 29:10
  And what does he say? They have eyes full.
• 29:13
  They're leaking in their desire, in their pursuit of other people
• 29:21
  to gratify their flesh, their predators.
• 29:26
  And not just that, he says they have eyes full of adultery,
• 29:29
  insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls.
• 29:33
  They have hearts trained and greed accursed children.
• 29:36
  Who do false teachers attract? Unsteady souls.
• 29:40
  You know what is 1 sure way of being an unsteady soul?
• 29:43
  Not being filled with the word of God, being tossed this way
• 29:47
  and that way. The newest thing the the the
• 29:49
  more handsome preacher, the more beautiful, the more deep.
• 29:52
  That's how people are are taken captive.
• 29:56
  How do these false teachers thrive?
• 29:58
  How is it that they're so successful because they have so
• 29:59
  many customers. If you didn't have the
• 30:02
  customers, you wouldn't have the platform.
• 30:06
  I was listening to an interview the other day of somebody who
• 30:09
  went out into Mexico and spoke with one of the cartels, and the
• 30:14
  cartel admittedly said most of our consumers are in the United
• 30:18
  States. If we didn't have consumers, we
• 30:19
  would be out of business. How true it is.
• 30:23
  Even with false teachers, it's people wanting this and those
• 30:29
  who are naive, those who are unsteady are frequently taken
• 30:35
  captive. And this woman could very well
• 30:39
  have been partnering sexually with people that she was
• 30:42
  teaching. And as patient as the Lord is,
• 30:46
  there is a limitation to it. And for this Jezebel, there were
• 30:49
  no more chances left. So the only thing she can expect
• 30:53
  from now on his judgement. And this is what we read next in
• 30:56
  verse 22. Behold, I will throw her onto a
• 31:00
  sick bed. And those who commit adultery
• 31:02
  with her I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent
• 31:05
  of her works, and I will strike her children dead.
• 31:11
  A lot of these statements may not be surprising to us, but
• 31:13
  there is something in this passage that I think would make
• 31:15
  many professing Christians uncomfortable.
• 31:18
  I alluded to it earlier. Jesus Christ, even the New
• 31:21
  Testament, makes His glory and His reality known.
• 31:26
  Yes in His goodness, Yes in His grace.
• 31:28
  Yes in His forgiveness. Yes in his healing power.
• 31:30
  But can Ioffer you another dimension by real time
• 31:33
  manifestations of judgement? Are we in Exodus or are we in
• 31:40
  the New Testament? We're in the Book of Revelation
• 31:45
  and Jesus Christ says that He will make Himself known to the
• 31:49
  wider church. What does he say?
• 31:51
  How is He going to make all the churches know that He is the one
• 31:54
  who searches mind and heart? Pause.
• 31:56
  He searches mind and heart. That is an attribute that solely
• 32:00
  and exclusively belongs to Yahweh in the Old Testament.
• 32:05
  Many, many Old Testament passages say the Lord who
• 32:07
  searches mind and heart. What is Christ claiming here?
• 32:10
  I'm God, but what is one of the ways that He shows Himself to be
• 32:14
  the living God to His people? Well, in this case, by striking
• 32:19
  a false prophet with a sickness, by altering the lives of those
• 32:24
  who work with her, and by ending the lives of her children.
• 32:29
  Some debate. Is this her actual children or
• 32:32
  spiritual children? Either way, it's not good.
• 32:37
  So this is something for us to understand.
• 32:39
  Yes, the God of the New Testament, from time to time, He
• 32:42
  affirms His Holiness, He affirms His power, He affirms his
• 32:46
  presence. By doing what?
• 32:47
  Shaking a church that tolerates sin in such an undeniable way
• 32:54
  that other churches would realize and be reminded of the
• 32:58
  holiness of Jesus Christ, is that it?
• 33:05
  No, Christ has a message not just for Jezebel and her
• 33:08
  disciples. Look here at verse 24.
• 33:12
  But to the rest of you and thy Tyra, do not hold this teaching
• 33:15
  who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan.
• 33:18
  To you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
• 33:23
  Isn't it shocking you had real Christians in this church?
• 33:29
  You know what I thought? Why are you still at that
• 33:30
  church? I'll tell you why.
• 33:34
  Because they didn't have many options in that time.
• 33:36
  And that day they didn't have the luxury of picking up and
• 33:39
  saying we're going to the church down the street.
• 33:42
  There are many obstacles to that and again, very limited options.
• 33:45
  So they had no other choice. This was their church in
• 33:48
  Thyatira. This is where they went.
• 33:51
  This is where they could, to the best of their ability, obey what
• 33:53
  Jesus said and what the word of God says and not to forsake the
• 33:56
  assembling of the Saints. And so the Lord now turns his
• 34:00
  attention to these Christians who are enduring this.
• 34:05
  You can imagine the debates over fellowship.
• 34:07
  You can imagine the confrontation.
• 34:08
  You can imagine the atmosphere in that place.
• 34:11
  And he tells this remnant in this church, I want to encourage
• 34:14
  you. I do not lay on you any other
• 34:18
  burden. Only hold fast what you have
• 34:20
  until I come. I got to tell you, it was like a
• 34:26
  splash of cold water on my face when I meditated on this
• 34:30
  passage. It should move you to the core
• 34:35
  because this is something about the leadership of Jesus Christ
• 34:37
  towards the faithful. I'm sure you're aware of
• 34:40
  Christians who really want to please God, like they really
• 34:44
  want to honor God, but they have no rest in that pursuit.
• 34:49
  In fact, they're always burdened.
• 34:52
  They they always scrutinize their sanctification.
• 34:56
  They're running on fumes. They're always thinking, what
• 35:00
  else can I do, what more can I do in order to make God proud?
• 35:03
  That's how they live. They're miserable.
• 35:07
  And though Jesus is very much concerned about our growth, we
• 35:11
  just heard about it. I see that your works are
• 35:13
  excelling. Your latter works are excelling
• 35:15
  more than your former. Yes, He wants us to grow in
• 35:17
  these things. It is possible to walk in such a
• 35:19
  manner. Listen to this.
• 35:21
  It is possible to so Orient your life that Christ will look at
• 35:26
  you and all He has to say is just keep going.
• 35:30
  Just keep going. Yes.
• 35:33
  Are the times where you'll be convicted because of your
• 35:34
  limited fellowship of the Lord? Yes, yes.
• 35:38
  Will you hear a message from time to time that will ask of
• 35:40
  you more faithfulness and service to ministry?
• 35:43
  Sure. But you know what?
• 35:45
  The Lord is not interested in piling on you unrealistic duties
• 35:49
  and demands. His commandments are not
• 35:52
  burdensome and so it's possible to so again, align yourself to
• 35:58
  the truth of God's word and your life, your convictions, your
• 36:01
  priorities where all Christ can say keep going.
• 36:07
  You're right in the center of my will and all I asked you to do
• 36:10
  is remain there. Isn't that refreshing that
• 36:14
  refreshed me and understanding the mercy and the beauty of
• 36:19
  Jesus shepherding should empower you should give you life.
• 36:24
  He's not there looking. Oh, you're doing all that I'm
• 36:26
  asking. You know what, let me try.
• 36:27
  You know there are people like let me let me find something
• 36:29
  else for you to do because I just don't want you to be there.
• 36:31
  No, no, no, he's not like that. Keep going.
• 36:36
  Keep doing what you're doing as much as his grace is something
• 36:40
  that should energize as there's something else.
• 36:42
  Look at the end of verse 25. Only hold fast what you have
• 36:49
  until I come, until I come. What is the Lord doing here?
• 36:55
  He is placing before these faithful believers the reality
• 36:59
  of His second coming in order for them to be more faithful, to
• 37:02
  remain faithful, to remain steadfast.
• 37:05
  In other words, Jesus Christ uses the truth of His return to
• 37:10
  keep His people ready, robust, remaining, abiding,
• 37:21
  withstanding. How much do you think about
• 37:24
  Jesus coming back? If we want to be a healthy
• 37:31
  church, from what I learned here, I think we should talk
• 37:33
  about it a lot. I think it should be in our
• 37:35
  conversation. I think we should say it
• 37:38
  frequently. You know the Lord is coming
• 37:40
  back. It puts everything into
• 37:42
  perspective. It lightens the load.
• 37:45
  It helps you to endure even when there is problems in your
• 37:48
  church. Oh, this isn't the end of it.
• 37:50
  Thank God this is in heaven. As heavenly as these meetings
• 37:53
  can be, this is not heaven. Christ is coming back.
• 37:58
  Christ is coming back. And listen, we've been studying
• 38:00
  churches, have we not? And we as a church want to be
• 38:02
  the church Christ wants us to be.
• 38:04
  But let's be realistic because the Bible is realistic.
• 38:06
  What does Jesus say earlier? He says that I will give to you.
• 38:11
  Look at the end of verse 23. I will give to each of you
• 38:13
  according to your works. So as much as he's evaluating
• 38:17
  the church at large, every single one of us will have a
• 38:21
  personal report card. Listen.
• 38:25
  Which is relieving for many of us, I hope, especially for
• 38:27
  leaders. Because leaders can only say so
• 38:28
  much. They can only counsel so much.
• 38:30
  They they can only put on events to formulate fellowship.
• 38:34
  There's only so much that a leader can do.
• 38:36
  In the end, we all have to take personal responsibility.
• 38:40
  Oh, you went to Maranatha Bible Church?
• 38:41
  Yeah. OK.
• 38:42
  Well, I'm going to judge the pastors, But what did you do
• 38:45
  with all the sermons you heard? And what did you do with the
• 38:48
  opportunities ever given to you? So none of us can hide behind
• 38:52
  Daniel Ben or Mark Griffin or whatever church you might be
• 38:55
  representing here as you're visiting.
• 38:57
  And we can't hide behind anybody else either.
• 38:59
  We can't point to the congregation.
• 39:01
  Now, I as much as I'm evaluating the church, I'm going to give to
• 39:05
  each of you according to your works.
• 39:15
  Now what does the Lord do? We're wrapping things up.
• 39:19
  He's not finished motivating the remnant.
• 39:21
  He even wants to motivate those who are enjoying this false
• 39:25
  teaching. Verse 26, He says the one who
• 39:31
  conquers and who keeps my works until the end.
• 39:35
  To him I will give authority over the nation's prize, number
• 39:39
  one prize #2 verse 27. And He will rule them with a rod
• 39:44
  of iron, as when earth and pots are broken in pieces, even as I
• 39:48
  myself have received authority from the My Father prize #3
• 39:52
  verse 28. And I will give him the morning
• 39:54
  star. Let's break these down.
• 39:59
  The first two I get. I think most of us would
• 40:02
  understand. The only way these rewards make
• 40:05
  sense is if you believe in a literal millennial reign of
• 40:07
  Christ. Or else what does it mean that
• 40:11
  He will give authority over nations to us?
• 40:14
  What nations? What are we talking about now?
• 40:16
  No, not now. What about ruling them with a
• 40:19
  wrought iron? Now, is this symbolic?
• 40:22
  Is this allegorical? If you're honest with your
• 40:25
  interpretation of the Scriptures, this is literal.
• 40:28
  And it can only fit in one segment of redemptive history,
• 40:30
  when Jesus Christ returns to rule and reign from Jerusalem.
• 40:34
  And what we learn here is based on our faithfulness, we'll
• 40:37
  determine the extent of our reward, our governing rewards.
• 40:41
  Christians are going to have some interesting things to do in
• 40:43
  the millennial reign, and here's what we learned from this.
• 40:47
  If you're faithful with my word, if you're faithful with your
• 40:50
  judgments based on my word, if you're able to discern between
• 40:54
  right and wrong and even confront wrong, then I'm willing
• 40:57
  to promote you in my Kingdom to execute judgment, to make
• 41:02
  decisions. And so you're going to have some
• 41:05
  who are going to do what they are going to have authority over
• 41:08
  certain regions, and some we're going to share in Christ
• 41:11
  authority to execute judgment in the millennial reign.
• 41:14
  It's the last one that perhaps is the most mysterious.
• 41:18
  What does it mean by saying I will give him the morning star?
• 41:21
  That's interesting. And all these ideas you can
• 41:25
  imagine the speculations if you just honor the context.
• 41:28
  I think you have your answer. Does this idea of bright morning
• 41:31
  star appear in the Book of Revelation?
• 41:33
  Yes. Turn to in Revelation 22.
• 41:35
  There's where you get your answer.
• 41:40
  Revelation 22, verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my Angel to
• 41:49
  testify to you about these things for the churches.
• 41:52
  I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning
• 41:56
  star. So what is Jesus saying back in
• 42:00
  Revelation 2? I'm going to give you myself.
• 42:04
  I'm going to give you access to a fellowship with me that will
• 42:09
  be rich, that will be real, that will be unique because you pay
• 42:15
  the price of staying true to my word.
• 42:18
  You did not tolerate compromise in your life or in the church.
• 42:22
  And here's how we can translate this to our context.
• 42:25
  You might even be sitting here today, and I'm closing in a
• 42:28
  moment here. You might be sitting here today
• 42:31
  and you have been branded as legalistic, not because you're
• 42:35
  legalistic and somebody saying, hey, you're putting more into
• 42:38
  the Scriptures that needs to be there.
• 42:40
  No, because you love the Bible from family, from friends, from
• 42:48
  even other ministers who think you're too rigid with the Word
• 42:51
  of God, when in fact it's clear the Bible says this about men
• 42:55
  and this about women. You might be in doing even loss
• 42:59
  of fellowship and partnership and ministry because of what you
• 43:01
  believe in. Because you will not tolerate
• 43:04
  compromise no matter how it looks.
• 43:06
  Here's what Christ says to you. You will secure a friendship
• 43:09
  with me. You will win a friendship with
• 43:14
  me. And how appropriate is this
• 43:16
  message for us, especially with our cultural climate?
• 43:18
  As someone once said, today, compromising tolerance is seen
• 43:23
  as a virtue. The more tolerant you are, the
• 43:27
  more up to date you are with society and with philosophy and
• 43:32
  with ideology. In fact, the same individual
• 43:37
  followed it with this disagreement with evil and
• 43:41
  ideologies and beliefs and behaviors that are sinful.
• 43:44
  Disagreement now is generally understood as phobia.
• 43:51
  You're homophobic, you're transphobic, you're
• 43:56
  Islamophobic. If you disagree with it, then
• 44:01
  you're labeled as crazy or you have an irrational fear.
• 44:08
  So what does Jesus say? Label them how you want to label
• 44:12
  them. I'm going to give them the
• 44:14
  bright morning star. I'm going to give them myself.
• 44:18
  You may not have that promotion. You may not get more invitations
• 44:21
  to preach at certain places, but you'll have me.
• 44:23
  Isn't that the greatest reward? Well, how are we going to answer
• 44:30
  people? Say, what did you hear from
• 44:31
  Mother's Day at church? I heard about Jezebel.
• 44:38
  Let me end it in this way. I find it so heartwarming that
• 44:43
  Thyatira is not only mentioned in this context.
• 44:46
  There is only one other place in all of the Bible where we find
• 44:49
  the name Thyatira. Who knows it?
• 44:52
  It's in Acts 16. Let's turn there.
• 44:54
  And this is where we'll end. Yes, we've been looking at
• 44:59
  Jezebel, but I want to bring to your attention another, another
• 45:01
  woman from Thyatira. And this is when Paul and his
• 45:06
  missionary team were in Phillip High, and they met a woman named
• 45:10
  Lydia. Acts 1613.
• 45:14
  Let's read together as we wrap things up.
• 45:17
  I may say that a couple more times.
• 45:20
  And on the Sabbath day, we went outside.
• 45:22
  This is Acts 1613. We went outside the gate to the
• 45:26
  Riverside, where we suppose there was a place of prayer, and
• 45:29
  we sat down and spoke to the woman who had come together.
• 45:34
  One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of
• 45:38
  Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshipper of
• 45:44
  God. The Lord opened her heart to pay
• 45:47
  attention to what was said by Paul.
• 45:50
  Let's pause here. So Paul's in Philippi, and what
• 45:53
  was Paul's strategy whenever he went to a city?
• 45:54
  Where's the nearest synagogue where the Jews?
• 45:59
  Apparently there weren't many Jews in Philippi because on the
• 46:01
  Sabbath they had to meet by the Riverside.
• 46:03
  There was no synagogue. And so Paul hears about this.
• 46:07
  So he goes. There he goes.
• 46:08
  I hope we can find some Jews. And when he arrives with his
• 46:11
  team, they encounter a band of women.
• 46:15
  And we learned one of their names, Lijia, and she is a
• 46:18
  businesswoman. Fact.
• 46:20
  This is a little hint that showcases the historical
• 46:23
  accuracy of the Bible. She was a seller of purple
• 46:26
  goods. Thy Tara manufactured dyes and
• 46:31
  purple was the color of royalty. It was very expensive.
• 46:34
  So she wasn't just in business. She she was in luxurious
• 46:37
  business. She was up there.
• 46:42
  And here's what moves me about Lydia.
• 46:44
  And this is for all of us here, both men and women who are
• 46:47
  ambitious, who are entrepreneurs, who want to make
• 46:50
  a living and to be successful at it.
• 46:52
  Notice that her business did not corrupt her worship.
• 46:57
  Notice that her endeavors, notice that her plans, notice
• 47:00
  that her job did not take her away from adoring God.
• 47:06
  So she's here in Philippi and she goes, we got to worship God.
• 47:09
  It's a Sabbath. So she believed in the God of
• 47:13
  Israel. She didn't encounter the truth
• 47:14
  of Christ yet, but she is she's a seeker and she wants to honor
• 47:18
  the Lord. And so she she hears about a
• 47:21
  prayer meeting and she says, you know what, we're going to go to
• 47:22
  this prayer meeting. It's amazing how God blesses
• 47:25
  obedience, even if your obedience is limited because of
• 47:28
  limited revelation. So she comes in and she makes
• 47:31
  her way there. And we learned that Paul meets
• 47:34
  her. The Lord does a work on her
• 47:36
  heart, opens it so that she can hear what Paul has to say.
• 47:39
  And notice what happens here at verse 15.
• 47:41
  And after she was baptized and her household as well, so we
• 47:48
  don't know the exact chronology here, but she's with these band
• 47:51
  of women. They meet Paul and his
• 47:52
  missionary team. They hear the gospel.
• 47:54
  And guess what? She couldn't keep it to herself.
• 47:58
  She goes home and tells people about Jesus and they come to
• 48:01
  Christ. Now they get baptized.
• 48:04
  And it doesn't end there. She urged us, saying, if you
• 48:07
  have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and
• 48:12
  stay. And she prevailed upon us.
• 48:16
  So she showed fruit of true salvation that she wanted to
• 48:20
  serve and the way that she can serve with the opportunity
• 48:23
  before was to host this missionary team.
• 48:26
  She says please, please, please let me be hospitable to you.
• 48:31
  What a contrast to Jezebel from Thyatira.
• 48:35
  What humility, what grace, what priorities, what devotion to the
• 48:40
  Lord. And though it may be true that
• 48:43
  there are Jezebel's roaming in our churches and they're
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  multiplying, and with that there is the tolerance of Jezebel that
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  is multiplying, there are Lydias in churches as well.
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  And I stepping back this morning, going over some of
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  these things, prepared to preach today, was thanking God that
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  this church is filled with Lydias.
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  May the Lord protect you as you serve him and honor and with
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  your life. And May God reproduce Lydias for
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  his glory. Let's pray.
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  We've heard your voice today, Lord, and we want to be a church
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  that accepts the right things and rejects that which you
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  reject. Protect us from compromise.
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  We even ask, oh God, that this church would not be a mixed
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  breed, some who follow you and some who follow strange
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  teachings, some who pursue holiness and others who don't
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  care about it. Lord, may we be as a unit, as a
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  family, one in the same. So even now, Lord, wash over us
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  these truths with such force that we would all leave here
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  with a oneness of mind and affection and ambition to be an
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  uncompromising church in our lives personally and as an
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  assembly. Protect this pulpit in Jesus
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  name. Protect our ears.
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  Help us have discernment when people put things into our hands
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  or send us links. Help us more than anything else,
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  devour this word so that we can create that shield in our
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  hearts. We we know, Lord, we're reminded
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  how much truth matters to you, because it's your truth.
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  It's your voice, it's your word, it's your instruction.
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  We want to honor every part of it.
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  And even Lord, if there's one person here who might have been
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  disturbed by what was said, may they have enough integrity to at
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  least look at the Bible and see what the Bible has to say.
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  May all personal or human interpretation or opinions be
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  crushed under the weight of your authority and may we know true
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  freedom as we abide by your word.
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  We give you thanks for speaking to our hearts.
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  Again. In Jesus name we pray, Amen,
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  Amen, Amen. Church, let's stand, let's give
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  Jesus Christ all the glory for speaking to our hearts through
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  this book.