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On Aug 01, 2010: Revelation 3:1-6 Sardis A Name That You Are Alive But You Are Dead · Teachings On This Day On FerventWord

• The book of Revelation is about the future. It's about the things that are going to come or the end times as we often refer to them. In chapter 1, verse 1, John tells us that this is about the things which must shortly take place. And these things that must shortly take place are the things that we'll be spending quite a bit of time in as we go forward in the book of Revelation. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting there. This book was written, John was given this revelation from Jesus Christ to present it to us that you and I... The Word of God. As we head into chapter 4, we'll deal a lot with the rapture of the church and talk about how the church is going to be caught up to meet with the Lord in the air. After the church is out of the way, the world below is going to endure and undergo some severe tribulation. Tribulation. Tribulation like the world has never seen before. Devastation, death, famine. It's just going to be massively terrible and horrific what is going to happen here on the earth during that seven years of tribulation as the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth for the rebellion of man against God. Well, that seven-year tribulation will come to an end with the return of Jesus Christ. When He returns, He will put an end to the battle of Armageddon that is taking place. He will set foot on the Mount of Olives. It will divide in two. And He will establish at that time His kingdom. And He will rule and reign on the earth for 1,000 years. The church who is caught up to be with the Lord forever will return with Him to rule and reign with Him on the earth for that thousand years. That thousand years will be a time of renewal as the earth will be restored and renewed to what it once was before the fall. People will live long again like they did in the Old Testament. And so it will be uncommon for a person to only live to a hundred. Hard for us to imagine now, but that is yet to come in the millennial kingdom. Also during that thousand years, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit. And so he will not be able to cause problems and wreak havoc as he does today. But it's going to be a time of righteousness. Even those who do not want to follow God, even those who do not want to be obedient, they will be And it will be a time of forced righteousness. And so, hey, you may want to rob that bank at that time, but you won't be able to. You will be prevented from being disobedient at that time. Well, after the thousand year reign of Christ, Satan will be released for a short time. And at that time he will lead a final rebellion. And so those who were forced to be obedient and forced to obey, forced to be righteous, but they really didn't want to, they'll have that opportunity to rebel against God with Satan. And Satan will lead a final rebellion against God at Jerusalem. But of course, that will be put down. Satan is no match for God. And of course, those who gather with him are no match for God either. And so that rebellion will come to an end. And then we will head into the great white throne judgment. At that time, Satan, his devils, his demons, his followers will be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation chapter 20 verse 15 also tells us... that whoever is not written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. And so the dead, those who have not believed in God, the dead of all time, of all history, will stand before God at that time for the final judgment. And if they have not been written in the book of life, they will be sentenced to eternal judgment or eternal damnation in hell. Then as we finish up the final judgment, the great white throne judgment, that ushers in the new Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth and the eternity that God has promised for us. And we'll be looking at that in chapter 21 of Revelation. And so these are the things... The Word of God, the Word of God. Before we get to looking at these things, we need to be prepared ourselves. We need to have our hearts checked. We need to be challenged and we need to make sure that we have right standing with God. And so here in chapters 2 and 3, what we've been studying, we're looking at the things which are. If you remember chapter 1 verse 19, Jesus gives us an outline of the book of Revelation. He tells John to write the things which he has seen. And the things that he had seen at that point are recorded in chapter 1, which is the vision of Jesus Christ. That's what he had seen when Jesus gives him that command. Then he tells him to write the things which are. And that's the present tense, the things that are happening right now. It was happening at that time as John was writing these things. But these are the things that we're still hearing about or receiving from God today. These are the things that God is working within the church. It's the church age that Jesus is writing. about and referencing here in chapters 2 and 3. And then finally, the third part of the outline of Revelation is he says to write down the things which will take place after this. And those are the things that we're going to get to. Those are the things which must shortly take place. The things we're looking forward to. But before we get there, God wants to work in us. And there's a preparation that needs to take place. In order for us to really understand what's going to be happening in the end times, we need to go through chapters 2 and 3 and to get our hearts aligned with His. To have an understanding of what God is speaking to us as His church. And so as we look at the letters to these seven churches, there's four different applications that we use as we look at these letters. The first application is the simplest. It's the application to the church that existed there in John's day. As Jesus was giving this revelation to John, there literally was a church in Thyatira. That was a city there in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. And it was going through a situation that Jesus is addressing. It was a... actual letter to this church that was really dealing with these issues and problems that Jesus is talking about. Well, the second application of these letters to the churches is it applies to the condition globally of the church, a general condition of the church at different periods in church history. We're not going to deal with that today, but in a couple of weeks, we'll go back and we'll kind of give an overview and recap the different points of church history and how these things align and relate to the things that have happened over the past 2000 years. The third application of these letters is that these things apply to individual churches. This church, Calvary Chapel Living Water and churches all over, take on and have the characteristics of different churches that Jesus is writing to. And it's a responsibility for us as a church to look and understand ask what kind of church are we? And is God speaking to us about these things? And how do we respond then to what He is writing to this church so that we might make things right and be in the relationship with Him that God wants? The fourth and final application of these letters, which is really where we're focusing as we go through these on Sunday mornings, is the personal application. That these are things that God is speaking to the church, but he also wants us to pay attention because he has some things to teach us. And he has some things to work in our hearts. He has some issues. And... us as individuals can be characterized or can be seen as different churches. You know, at some points in our life we might be more like the church of Ephesus or more like the church of Smyrna or more like the church of Philadelphia. And so as we look at these things, there's lessons that God is speaking to us and wanting to teach us. He has something for us to learn and to apply in all of these letters. And that's why Jesus says over and over in each letter, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He wants us to pay attention. And so I encourage you this morning, I invite you to stay engaged and to apply yourself and hear. God wants to speak to you. Do you want to listen? Are you willing to listen to what God would speak to you as we look at this letter that he wrote to the church of Thyatira? Well, we begin the letter in verse 18. It says, As Jesus is writing to this church that's located in Thyatira, he's writing to a small city. This church is located in a small city, not big and glorious and splendid like some of the cities we've seen already in Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos, some of those notable, you know, very commercial cities. This is a smaller city, really known for its dyed garments. If you remember in Acts chapter 16, Paul runs into a woman named Lydia who is a seller of purple cloth. And she comes from this area of Thyatira. It was noteworthy or known for its ability to be able to dye material in a rich purple or red like nowhere else. And so that was what was noteworthy about the place of Thyatira. And so it's not real splendid, not real glorious. They did have, of course, idolatry and things like that that we'll get into in a few moments. But as Jesus writes to this church, he introduces himself again with part of the vision that John saw in chapter 1. He introduces himself as the Son of God and he says, who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. He says to them, Hey guys, Church of Thyatira, Church at Calvary Chapel Living Water, individuals listening to this, I am the Son of God. He wants us to know as He begins this letter that He is the Son of God. Now in Thyatira, there was idolatrous worship just like we've seen at all of the other cities that Jesus has written to. And the primary God that they worshipped there in Thyatira was the God named Apollo, also known by other names in different times. But Apollo was the sun God. He was, according to Greek mythology, he was the son of Zeus, who is the chief of gods. And so he was the son of the chief God, according to Greek mythology. And so as Jesus introduces himself here, he says, you guys, you know, you're falling prey to these false ideas that Apollo is the son of the chief God, but I want you to know that I am the son of God. I am the only begotten of the Father. The worship of Apollo is being practiced by members of the church as we'll see as we go into the letter. And Jesus is bringing some correction here. He's saying, no, I'm the Son of God, not Apollo. He's a false God. I am the Son of God. I am the one and only Son of God. And being the Son of God, He is also declaring Himself to be equal with God. He has the same nature as God because, of course, Jesus Christ is God. And so as Jesus is introducing himself in the letter, he starts out making a bold statement, declaring himself to be the Son of God, which of course he is. And as he goes on to describe these characteristics of himself, his eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass, we understand how it relates because this letter that he's writing is a promise of judgment upon this church unless they repent. And so he references his eyes being like a flame of fire. Again, Apollo was a god that they were worshipping in that city and that worship was being practiced within the church. And Apollo is described as having eyes that burn like a fire or blaze like a fire. And so Jesus, again, he's bringing some correction. He's saying, look, there's some false worship that's going on. He says, I am the one whose eyes blaze like fire. And the significance of that is the purification. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his sight. And we'll see that even more as he describes that in the letter. But also he refers to his feet that are like fine brass. And the significance here, brass is a metal that represents to us judgment. It's a symbol of judgment. We see the bronze altar. Bronze is brass. are the same thing. The bronze altar in the Old Testament where they sacrificed the offerings to the Lord was made out of bronze. It was representative of the judgment that was due for sin. And so he... Presents himself as the one having the feet like fine brass as a representation of the judgment that will come unless they repent. And his feet being bronze is significant as well because throughout the scripture we see the crushing of grapes as symbolic of God's judgment. He presents that picture and that illustration for us to consider that judgment of God is often related to the wine press. In fact, in Revelation chapter 19 verse 15, there is Jesus is returning. It talks about him treading down the winepress, bringing the judgment that is due. And so he's introducing himself as a very serious person. He's introducing himself in a very serious way that the people would take heed, that they would pay attention, that he is the Son of God, that he sees what's going on, and that he is ready to bring judgment unless they repent. In verse 19, he says, And so as he's addressing the church in Thyatira, he has some good things to say from the beginning. He has some good words of encouragement for them. He says, look, I know what's going on. I know your works. Something he says to all of the seven churches. He says, I know what you're doing. I know what your lives are like. I know what you're going through. He expounds on this a little bit. He says, look, I know your love and your service and your patience and even the works that you've been doing, they're more now than they were in the beginning. And as you look at this, it's a pretty good lineup. It's some good stuff that's going on. Their works is their actions or their deeds. Their love, it's the word agape love. Their love for one another, perhaps, or their love for God. The service just means to minister or to serve one another. Their faith in that they believe God, they have assurance. They're patient as well, which is a cheerful and a hopeful endurance through difficult circumstances. And so as you look at these things that Jesus says, look, I know about these things in your life, it is a good lineup. And we would look on this and we would think, wow, that is awesome. You know, we would aspire to have these characteristics. But this is not the end of the letter. And in reality, there are some real problems in Thyatira that Jesus is going to address. And we're learning as we look at these things that these outward things, these things that Jesus commends them for, are not enough. They don't make up for sinful practice. They don't make up for disobedience. The church of Thyatira has some real issues that they must correct or else they will be judged accordingly. And so as we go forward in the letter looking at the church of Thyatira, there's five things I want to share with you this morning. Five points that we can take personally and we can take to heart and challenge ourselves with this letter that Jesus writes to the church of Thyatira. The first point is do not allow people to seduce. We must not allow people to seduce others. In verse 20 it says, So after all these good things, wonderful things, good job guys, I know your works and your love and your patience and your faith. But I have a few things against you. And these are some serious things. These are some real issues that need to be corrected. They need to be addressed. And what are these issues? Well, it's based upon the fact that they allow, he says, that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants. Now this Jezebel that Jesus is referring to could possibly be the name of someone, a woman who's calling herself a prophetess and it is actually the case that she is there in Thyatira and teaching false doctrine. It could also be the case though that it's It's someone else, but he's applying to that person, that individual, that group, that doctrine, the name Jezebel because of the significance that we find in the Old Testament from the person or the queen Jezebel. In the Old Testament, in 1 Kings chapter 21, you can also pick up the story with Jezebel in chapter 16 of 1 Kings. But in 1 Kings 21, 25, it says, There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him up. Ahab was king in Israel there in 1 Kings 21. And there was no one else like him Because he devoted himself to do wickedness or he sold himself to do wickedness and the reason why he did so was because Jezebel, his wife, stirred him up. Jezebel was not of Israel. He married her. She was outside of the nation of Israel and as he marries her, she comes in and she leads the nation into idolatry, into the worship of Baal, the god that they worshipped in her hometown, in her nation. And so Jezebel encouraged and seduced the people of Israel to idolatry, to worship this false god. Not even so much to turn away from the true and living God, but to include the worship of this false god along with the worship of the true and living God. And she stirred up in her husband Ahab, who is king, to sell himself. And so he devoted himself completely to practicing the things that were not of God. She was teaching and seducing the children of Israel. And in the same way, there's a situation at the church of Thyatira where there is a woman or there is a group or there is a doctrine that is teaching and seducing people to worship false gods. This lady, this group, this doctrine is seducing my servants, Jesus said. And people within the church are diving into idolatry. They're selling themselves into idolatry. And that's more than just bowing down to a statue. But they're involving themselves in a way where he says that they're committing sexual immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols. The church at that time was being convinced that sexual immorality was okay. That it was acceptable and is a part of worshipping these false gods. And so the church was being deceived to a huge degree. And there was a great deception, a great seduction that was taking place. And people were being led astray. You know, we live in a society today where sexual immorality is normal. And it's accepted. And even more than that, it's expected. It's expected. Sexual immorality is just a matter of fact for the society that we live in. It's in our entertainment. In our society, you know, the TV shows that we watch and the things that are on, it's just part of it. It's just normal part of everyday life, even for the younger generation or the younger shows, the teen dramas and such. It's just an expected part of that type of lifestyle. It's in our shows, it's in our movies, it's in our politics, it's in our entertainment, on our billboards. It's all over the place and unfortunately, in many of our churches as well. Sexual immorality is presented as okay, it's accepted and even expected. I was just reading an article, it was a couple of weeks ago, that the Presbyterian Church here in the United States have... have made a decision it still has to go through their denominational process but you know the higher ups the people in charge have started the process they've given the okay for practicing homosexuals to be involved in as members of clergy as ministers as pastors as leaders within the church and Not just, you know, those who proclaim themselves as homosexuals, but those who are practicing homosexuality. And what that is, is sexual immorality being presented, being tolerated. It's seduction that is taking place. It's happening all over the place. It's all around us. We need to understand that sexual immorality is not okay. That it is sin. Paul tells us, or whoever the author of Hebrews is in Hebrews 13.4, that marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. A sexual relationship is good and it's blessed within the limits that God has set. And those limits are within the marriage of a man and a woman. And marriage is honorable among all. And the bed is undefiled in that case. But anything outside of that, and I really mean that, anything sexually outside of marriage is sin. And if fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Sex before marriage is fornication. That is sin. And God will judge it. Sex outside of marriage, that's adultery. That is sin. And it's worthy of judgment. Same gender sex, that is homosexuality and that is sin and worthy of God's judgment. And the church of Thyatira was being seduced. They were beginning to practice immorality. They were involving themselves in these things that bring upon themselves the judgment of God. They were also involved in eating things sacrificed to idols, which is talking about that they were practicing idolatry. It's not something we would look at and maybe think, ah, I don't really do that, I don't bow down to images in my home. But the reality is it's not so much about the physical act of bowing down, but what's going on in the heart. And we are involved in idolatry when we persist in disobedience, when we know what God has said and we choose to do something else. When we know what God says, when we know what God has stated, when we know His commands, and we say, no, I want to go this way, that's idolatry. It's putting something else above God. It's giving something else priority before God. It's saying, my allegiance is here and not to God. And that allegiance is many times to our own selves. I'm more concerned about my comfort and my pleasure and my joy, and so I'm going to do what I want to do, and I'm not going to do what God says. or it might be allegiance to something else, whatever the case may be, persistent or consistent disobedience is idolatry. And so the church there at Thyatira was involving themselves in diving into immorality and idolatry. And it's something that is challenged for us today because these same challenges present themselves to us. We need to be careful. We need to be examining our hearts. He says to the church of Thyatira, I have a few things against you. Notice he says, because you allow that woman Jezebel to teach and to seduce. The problem that he had with the church was that they were allowing it within the church. That type of teaching and seduction is going to happen, but it should not happen within the church. It is going to happen. We face it all around us in the world, but it must not happen within the body of Christ. It must not happen within the church. And so we need to take heed. We need to pay attention. We need to be strong as it comes to these issues within the church. But again, looking at these things personally, I would encourage you and challenge you to consider the realm of responsibility that God has given to you. Maybe within the workplace, maybe within the home, wherever God has placed you and the responsibility that He's entrusted to you. I would challenge you to ask, what do you allow in your home? What do you allow in those areas of responsibility that God has given to you? Are you allowing the teaching and seduction to take place to teach people, to seduce them to live sinful lifestyles? You know, parents, I would challenge you to consider this and really pray through this. Not just, you know, say a quick prayer, but spend the week praying. Seek the Lord. Are you allowing your children to be seduced? Are you tolerating things that are teaching your children to live lifestyles that are contrary to what God has told us? Are you allowing your children to be seduced so that they think that sexual immorality is normal and accepted and expected and it's okay? Are you allowing seduction to take place that disobedience is kind of normal, it's okay, it's not a big deal? I think we need to challenge our hearts. What are we allowing? What are we tolerating? What are we putting up with? Jesus says to the church of Thyatira, I have this against you. You allow this to take place. Well, the second point we find in verses 21 through 23, and that is that we are to repent of idolatry and immorality. We must not allow people to seduce, but then also we must repent of those things that are going on in our hearts and lives. Repent of idolatry and immorality. Verse 21 says, And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. God says, I gave her time to repent... but she did not repent. People often make the mistake thinking that God's patience is His acceptance. Thinking that because God hasn't judged me, because I'm not seeing the consequences for my sinful actions, that must mean that God's okay with what I'm doing and how I'm living. And the reality is that time that God is giving is not saying, hey, I'm okay with your sinful practices. It's God saying, repent, turn and get right with me. God could just judge us immediately on the spot and send us to hell, but that's not what He desires. He's willing and He's desiring that none should perish. And so what He does is He gives us time. He's patient with us. And the time that we have is not a time to mess around or play with sin or dabble in the flesh or hold ourselves back from God. The time that you have right now is time that God gives you to repent. to turn and to get right, to change. Are you involved in sexual immorality? Repent. You have time right now. He's given you this time, this moment to repent. Are you involved in idolatry? Are you practicing disobedience, disregarding what God has said in a certain area of your life? The time that you have right now is time that He is giving that you and I might repent. Because this is serious stuff we're talking about. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 5, Paul tells us, For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Did you catch that? Do you hear what Paul is saying there? No fornicator, that's sexually immoral, no unclean person, nor a covetous person who is an idolater, because covetousness is idolatry, No fornicator, no unclean person, no covetous person has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. This is serious stuff we're talking about. This is why Jesus says repent. Because those who are practicing these things and those who are living this lifestyle, they don't have a place in the kingdom of God. The time that you have right now is time that God gives you to repent. It's not God saying, hey, I'm okay with your sinful lifestyle. It's God saying, repent. Repent. You have time to change right now. Verse 22. He says, Here Jesus is pronouncing judgment on those who practice these things. He says, He says, Listen, there is a great tribulation that's coming upon the earth. Seven years of tribulation. It's going to be the worst thing the world has ever experienced. We're looking forward to the rapture of the church as the Lord catches us up to be with Him before that takes place. But there are those who attend churches, maybe call themselves Christians, who we might look at and say, hey, they've got works, and they've got patience, and they've got love. Man, things are looking really good. But the reality is, their hearts are far from Him. And He gives us the warning, you better repent, or you will endure great tribulation. Repent, or you will experience the judgment of God. Repent. We need to take this seriously. This is something Jesus means. These are not idle threats. We must repent. He says, well, the word repent actually, it means to regret. But not just a regret or, you know, I'm sorry because I got caught or I'm sorry because I have to, you know, face these consequences. This word repent means to regret and it's a regret that's accompanied by a true change of heart towards God. He's talking about a real change, a transformation that needs to take place. So he says, repent. Unless they repent of their deeds, they will experience judgment. Unless there's a real change. You can have works and love and service and faith and patience and more works now than you did at the beginning. Lots of good stuff on the outside, but that does not compensate for not having a right heart with God. Any religion can do those outward things. Works and love and service and faith and patience. Any religion practices those things. But what's really necessary is a relationship with God. It's a right heart with God. And so the time that we have right now is a time to get right with God, to make things right, to receive the forgiveness that He offers, to let Him transform us and change us. The time that you have right now is time that God gives you to repent. Verse 23, he says, I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts and I will give to each one of you according to your works. Again, he's pronouncing judgment. This is serious. Again, he says, I will kill her children with death. Those who are involved in these things will experience death because the wages of sin is death, Romans 6.23 tells us. And as a result of this judgment that God will bring upon those in the church who are practicing these things, He says, all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. As a result of this judgment, we will all know that Jesus knows our hearts and minds. I am He who searches the minds and hearts, Jesus says. This is something again for us to consider. God searches our minds and our hearts. When Samuel was going to anoint the next king of Israel, he went to the sons of Jesse and he saw the oldest son. He was tall. He was good looking. He thought, man, this is a king. He looks like a king. You know, I think this is the one. And so he's ready to anoint him. But God says to Samuel, Samuel, don't anoint him. That's not the one. He says, man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. That's not the king that I've chosen for Israel. God looks at our heart. We look at each other and we see the outward. We see what we're presented. But God can see past those things. He searches your heart. Consider that for a second. He searches your heart. You ever lost something in your house and you know it's there somewhere and so you're searching for it, turning over every rock, opening every box, looking in every closet, examining every shelf. You know it's there. You're searching for it. Jesus searches your mind and your heart. He knows every dark place. He knows every crevice. He knows every corner and He knows every closet. And the amazing thing is He still loves you and He still loves me. He knows us through and through. He knows everything about us. He searches our minds and our hearts and He says, I will give to each one of you according to your works. He will deal with us accordingly. Because He knows our hearts, He knows our minds, and He knows our works. You see, what Jesus is saying here is that He wants our mind, our heart, and our actions completely devoted to Him. He wants our whole being. He wants our whole devotion to Him. Not just a little bit here or a little bit there. He wants all of us. To have, you know, one or two of these things, a mind or heart or actions, one or two of them is not enough. To have a love for God does not excuse the practicing of sin. And some people try to do that. They practice sin and they say, yeah, I'm living this way, I'm doing this, but, you know, God knows that I love Him. I have a love for God and I wouldn't doubt your love for God, but you're practicing sin. That love that you may or may not have for God does not excuse practicing sin. To do good works does not substitute for a wrong heart, or a right heart, rather. It's not enough to, well, yeah, my heart's not really right, and I know I don't love God, I don't walk with God like I'm supposed to, but I'm making up for it by doing all these good deeds and doing all these extra things. It doesn't work that way. God sees our hearts. He sees our minds. He knows our works. And He wants all of them to be devoted to Him. The church at Thyatira had good works. They had good things on the outside. But what was going on within? Well, there's some real problems there. God's judgment of us is perfect. Because He doesn't judge us based on just one aspect. But He judges us based upon our whole being. As we look at one another, we come to conclusions about one another with the limited information that we have. Only what we can see. And sometimes we try to make up what we can't see and imagine what their intentions or motivations or things in their heart were. But God sees it all. There's no guesswork there. He knows it all. He sees what is in your mind. He sees what is in your heart. He sees the works that you do. And if all of you does not belong to God, then His message to you this morning is repent. The time that you have right now is time that God gives you to repent. And you don't know how much time you have. We don't know. It's time right now to repent. My in-laws were driving down the freeway just two days ago. And as they were driving down the freeway, one of the wheels came off their vehicle and went spinning off. And praise the Lord, they weren't injured. They weren't harmed. Nobody else was harmed. It was a bad accident. There was damage, of course, to the vehicle. But their lives were spared. But you know what? It could have been the end. It could have been that their time was up. It could be that your time is up. We never know. It's unexpected. The time that we have right now is not time to mess around and count on tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll repent. Now the time right now is time that God gives us to repent, to get right. We can't put it off. We can't delay. We need to get right with God. The third point here in this letter is hold fast till I come. Look at verse 24. He says, Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. Now he begins really to address those who are not involved in the immorality and idolatry that is taking place. And he says, look, I know your situation. I know there's some of you who have not dived into idolatry. There's some of you who are doing good. You're walking with me. And that's true even amongst the worst churches. As we look around and we come to conclusions about churches and things that they're practicing, we must not write off everybody within the church. Even in the darkest church, there still may be the remnant, those who hold fast, those who are true to the things of God. And there's a remnant here at the church of Thyatira. Even in the midst of this false teaching and seduction, there are those who have stayed true to God. And I hope, honestly, sincerely, that that's a description of us today. that we are those who have stayed true to God, that we have not known the depths of Satan, that we're not practicing the things of idolatry and immorality. And so if that's you today, if you're doing good, if you're walking with the Lord, Jesus says, look, I'm not going to put on you any other burden. Just continue to be steadfast. He says in verse 25, hold fast what you have till I come. Remember Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Listen, if you're doing good, if you're walking with God, if your heart's right with the Lord, Jesus says, look, I'm not going to add burdens to you and pile on things and make it difficult for you. No, just make sure that you stay there. Stay there in right relationship with me, Jesus is saying. Stay there. Hold fast what you have. If you're doing well in your walk with God, stay strong. Don't be moved. Don't be swayed. And don't be seduced. Pay attention. Guard yourself. Like Paul warned us about in 1 Corinthians. He says, look, he who thinks he stands should take heed lest he fall. So take heed. Don't let your guard down. You're doing good. Great. Wonderful. God bless you. But don't loosen your standards. Don't allow compromise. Don't begin to sway in your convictions. Hold fast what you have. He says, He points our attention on His return where He wants us to be focused. Keep your eyes on His return and hold fast. Hang on. He's coming back. So stay the course no matter what the cost. Hold fast till I come. Point four. He calls us to overcome. In verses 26 through 28, He says in verse 26, And He who overcomes and keeps My works until the end, to Him I will give power over the nations. He calls us to overcome. Whatever condition you find yourself in, if you're in a position that, well, you find yourself in that place that you need to repent, that you're involved in idolatry, you're persisting in disobedience, or you're involved in immorality, involved sexually with others that you have no business being involved with outside of a marriage relationship. He calls you to overcome, to repent, to overcome those things that are keeping you from a relationship with God, keeping you from a right heart before God. Overcome. To those who are holding fast, to those who are doing well, He says, hold fast till I come. Overcome. The temptations that are coming, the compromise that presents itself, the seduction that is there, overcome. He calls us to be victorious. We have an opportunity to be victorious in Jesus Christ. We don't have to be subject to these things that hold us in bondage. He calls us to be set free. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, sets us free. He gives us the opportunity to overcome, to be victorious. He says, In Revelation chapter 19, it tells us in verse 14 that the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. As Jesus returns, the armies of heaven, that's us, the church, we come with him. And we rule and we reign on this earth for a thousand years. To him who overcomes, to those who hold fast, to those who repent. Verse 27 says, He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels, as I also have received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. Here he quotes from Psalm chapter 2, verse 8 and 9, where it tells us there that the Messiah will be given the nations, that he would rule them with a rod of iron. And Jesus says, look, I'm going to receive these nations, I'm going to rule them with a rod of iron, and you're going to be alongside me if you overcome. And so it's a promise to those who overcome, to those who hold fast, to those who repent, that we'll be with Jesus. He even says, I will give to Him the morning star. The morning star is a reference to Jesus. Look it up in Revelation 22, 16, where Jesus presents Himself as the bright and shining morning star. Our reward is Jesus. We get to be with Him. We get to rule and to reign with Him. We get to be part of His work if we overcome. And so we must repent and we must hold fast until He comes. And finally, point number five, hear what the Spirit says. Verse 29, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Hear what the Spirit says. Are you listening? Are you paying attention? God says, hey, can you hear me now? Are you listening? Are these things speaking to your heart? Are you taking the time and considering these things and how they apply to you? Listen, God wants all of you and not just a piece. And to have works and love and labor and patience and those things are great, but to withhold your heart from God, that doesn't work, that doesn't cut it. God wants all of you. He wants all of me. He wants our whole devotion. He wants our whole being. And so He calls us to repent if that's not the case. If we're devoted to other things, if other things have a higher priority than God, if we're practicing disobedience or practicing sin, He calls us to repent. He knows our minds. He knows our hearts. And He still loves us. And He gives us the opportunity to be changed. The time that we have right now is time to repent. It's time to repent. It's time that God is giving us to receive repentance. His offer of forgiveness and salvation. To receive the new life that He promises to us. It's time to repent. So the worship team is going to come up and lead us in a song. As they do, we want to give you an opportunity to repent. Jesus was writing these things to the church. And so I'm sharing these things with you, the church. Repentance is not just a message for those outside of the church. But it's a message for those within the church who have gone astray, who hearts have wandered, who have begun to involve themselves in things that are not of God. And God's message to us is to repent. Jesus was writing to the church, and I ask you as the church to hear what the Spirit is saying, to turn and to repent. Don't continue, don't persist in immorality and idolatry. But you know, maybe you're not part of the church. And by that I mean that you... Have never received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. You need to know that this is a message to you as well. You need to know that you and I have the curse of a sinful condition. It's not just that we do bad things here and there, but the reality is that our hearts are corrupt and wicked. And that's the real issue. And that's why we cannot save ourselves. That's why those good works and love and patience are not enough. Because the issue still remains, and that is our heart is sinful. It's deceitful and desperately wicked, God tells us. And so what we really need is we need to be changed. We cannot change ourselves, we cannot transform ourselves, but God can do it. And that's the good news. We have a sinful condition, that's not good news. But the good news is that Jesus Christ died upon the cross to conquer sin and to conquer death. He died in order to give us the opportunity to come to Him so that He could change us from the inside out, so that there could be a transformation that takes place, that He could change our hearts, give us a new heart, a new spirit. So this is an invitation for you as well. If you need to get right with God, if you want to be saved from your sinful condition, if you want to have your heart changed and receive the forgiveness that God offers to you, then during this song, We're going to be up here. Several of us, we'd love to pray with you. We'd love to agree with you about the work that God's doing in your life and help you to repent and to get right with God. If you've been a believer and you've allowed things in your life, you need to get things right, we invite you to come on up. Repent. The time that we have right now is time that God gives us to repent. If it's your first time, we invite you up as well. During this song, as they lead us in worship, we can be worshiping the Lord together, but if God is speaking to your heart, come on up. Overcome whatever obstacles may be in your mind already right now. What are people going to think? How are people going to respond? I don't know if I can change. Overcome those obstacles. Don't let them hold you back. Take this time to repent, to get right with God. God wants all of you, and He's got great things in store for those who will give themselves to Him. Let's worship the Lord together. And if you need prayer, if you need to repent, come on up. We'd love to agree with you about that work that God's doing in your heart. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.